#there's something about that interpretation that always felt. icky.

[melonisopod]

I am a little impressed Limbus Company incorporated my least-favorite interpretation of Heathcliff and actually made it cool.

[antiyourwokehomophobia2]

I don't know what your take on the whole asexual/aromantic discourse is, but have you noticed an uptick in people insisting that characters who are heavily implied to be gay are actually aroace? It happens a lot in one of the fandoms I'm in and it makes it so hard to have discussions about these characters. There's this particular character who is like deeply deeply traumatized and has completely reasonable trust issues due to it and I've seen so many people insist that that makes them aroace. It's such a reductive interpretation, but any sort of push back toward it gets you branded a bigot. And whenever I see people try to argue against it they always preface it with "if you have this headcanon you're so valid, it's so so valid, but" and it's like fuck off why do we have to do this shit?

Anon, don't get me started. I have so much to say about this.

I have seen so many people say that the reason that gay ships don't kiss as often as straight ships do is because "oh they don't need to prove their relationship by way of physicality! Their relationship is deeper than sex and kissing!!!" and it's like... no shit? Almost all relationships are deeper been sex and kissing lmao. The presence of sex and kissing does not take away from how deep a relationship can be. Two people wanting to have sex with each other are not more shallow than two people who don't. And for some reason, I only ever see this argued with regard to gay ships. Straight ships get to kiss all the fucking time. Nobody ever argues that straight people not kissing deepens their relationship.

There were some people who were upset about the men from Good Omens kissing in the season 2 finale, because they felt like it took something away. Probably the aroace headcannon that they had, and it's just so ridiculous. Like. We know you don't want to see gay people kissing on screen. We fucking know.

People will do literally anything but admit that they are fucking homophobic and think that two people of the same sex kissing is icky. Even if they identify as aroace, go put those fucking headcannons onto straight people and let gay people fuck nasty on screen. Y'all are so fucking annoying. Gay rights have not progressed so fucking far that we can put a stopper in gay people kissing on TV. We are not so deep into gay rights that you can throw a tantrum about wanting your gay characters to stay "good and pure" by never kissing or having sex with each other and not come across as homophobic. I don't care how much fucking representation you want. Gay people also need to be represented, and the majority of gay people kiss and have sex, so stop your whining every time that gay people actually kiss on screen. You sound stupid, selfish, and homophobic.

[dyaz-stories]

okay so i fucking hated the airport scene and i need to exorcise it by explaining why and making it everyone else's problem

jujutsu kaisen spoilers up until chapter 236

Okay, so to preface this, my main issue is that this part of the chapter strongly clashed with my interpretation of Gojo's character and, in my opinion, isn't a suitable farewell to him. I know that some people will read this and think "Oh, so you're just mad that things didn't go the way you wanted" and... yeah. You know, I didn't like that something I didn't like happened. That's not unexpected, but if you're not interested in reading that, I totally get it! I just want to go into more detail about why I wasn't happy with the way this went.

I also want to add that I have no qualms with Gojo dying. I'm not thrilled by the way it happened, but this happening is fully expected within shonen codes. I get the significance of it and why it needed to happen for the story Gege wanted to tell. That's fine by me.

Now, to the airport scene.

We'll start with the first panel, mostly as an illustration. This panel shows, from the uniforms to Gojo's glasses and his expression, that we are in the presence of "high-school Gojo". This is reinforced by the presence of Geto, particularly because the only time when we've seen the two of them interact normally was during the Hidden Inventory Arc.

On top of that, Gojo, throughout the airport scene, acts more 'naturally' than he does in the manga, Hidden Inventory Arc excepted. I'd argue that with his students and with everyone following Geto's defection, he tends to have this 'wall' up (both literally and metaphorically). He doesn't talk to them with this kind of ease.

My issue with this is that it very much reads like character regression. It's been a decade since high-school for Gojo, give or take, and for his farewell I don't find it interesting to portay him not as he was, but as he had been.

The obvious answer to that is that this depicts Gojo in the time period during which he was the happiest. I don't wholly disagree with that — especially considering the emphasis in this arc about 'the loneliness of the strongest' and the fact that this was likely the only time when he didn't feel lonely.

I just regret the lack of distance with this idea. Even if it was the time when he felt happiest, he wasn't his teenage self anymore. I wish this had been reflected more. Like I said — this, to me, doesn't feel like a farewell to who he was at the moment of his death, because I'm not seeing the Gojo I'd seen throughout the manga.

Another, less obvious counter-argument could be that this emphasises that Gojo was stuck in the past and couldn't move on from his years in high school. I don't think this is particularly proven as true through the manga. The importance he gives to training his students and his belief that they can become stronger than him seems to show an interest in the future, not the past.

This is the next one. My issue isn't with Sukuna being stronger than Gojo (I don't care about that). Considering the central part Mahoraga plays in Gojo's demise (as Sukuna states right after)

the line about the Ten Shadows feels icky to me, but whatever on that front as well. No, what annoys me about all of that is that considering all of Gojo's confidence up until the end, it... makes him look like a cocky idiot? Which, okay, isn't that far off when it comes to his characterization, I'll give Gege that, but it was always warranted up until that point. Being unable to see danger coming to that degree, especially with the Six Eyes, is kind of ridiculous.

It also lessens the importance of Sukuna's supposed admiration for him, imo.

It cheapens both his death and his character to me.

I'm fully aware that people have used this as proof of Gojo's selfishness and essentially as showcasing his adrenaline addiction, and I get that it would make sense if that was your read on his character, but it came out of left field for me.

Another answer to that argument could be that this is Gojo's perception and doesn't reflect the reality — maybe he thought that but Sukuna didn't — however considering the timing I can't help but feel that we, as readers, are at least supposed to receive it as fact.

This one is less of a criticism and more of a note. It's not uninteresting as far as characterization goes. I think it doesn't come as a huge surprise that Gojo would feel that way but I do regret that this was never explored before. I'm not convinced it was hinted at all that well either, and it doesn't help that the one example we have of him being 'adored' is Miwa being a fangirl. Once again, I regret that we don't see anything about his students here. I think it would have been warranted.

This is probably my favorite panel out of the bunch, which I don't think is going to come as a surprise. This feels like a callback to him being a teacher. I like it.

Okay, this is probably my least favorite part of this. Nanami has said things of this nature before, he's called Gojo egotiscal,

so it's not new that he believes that. However, that is echoed by Haibara (and other people apparently, hence "we all thought that") and also by Geto, since he's the one who concludes "was just proven right by your actions a second ago". I have to assume Geto, in saying that, is referring to Gojo's fight against Sukuna.

I kind of fucking hate that. First of all, what Nanami says is something that I considered to be blatantly untrue in the manga. As far as I'm concerned, Gojo was constantly portrayed as caring deeply for his students, wanting to leave them a better world, and while I don't think he wanted to protect people the same way Itadori does, it's not like it's absent from his motivations either.

(The second panel is him asking about the people that got trapped in his domain expansion, while in Shibuya. This showed he was worried for their well-being. His decisions in Shibuya were also motivated by his decision to limit human losses.)

Geto essentially agrees with what Nanami is saying, which I think is intended to tell the audience that Nanami is right. That's who Gojo is, the person who knows him best even tells you that. Again, this feels very high school Gojo, without the decade of character development and of caring for kids that he has necessarily done since then. It's also telling us that Gojo fought Sukuna because he thought he would enjoy it, not for any sort of higher purpose (I do also hate the "I had fun" panel that comes earlier, in case you were wondering lol).

I also think that this removes any notion of responsibility which Gojo would have shouldered by choice, which I think contradicts other parts of the manga. Honestly, to me, Nanami's take here is so far removed from what I had received from the manga up until that point that it's kind of jarring.

As mentioned before, due to Geto's intervention, I don't think this can be interpreted as "just Nanami's opinion". Due to Gojo's lack of disagreeing and the fact that this chapter is his last, I do think it's intended as the 'true interpretation' for Gojo's character, by the author that is (is it going to stop me? No, but I think authorial intention is interesting to look at/try to find).

This one I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to, because considering Gojo's conversation with Nanami at this point, he could be talking about Nanami. If he is talking about himself (and I do think that is the case), I want to put it on the record that I also hate it! Again, Gojo not caring about the students he's leaving behind, to me, does not feel 'right' or in character, and they're not mentioned once save for that one throw-away line about Megumi.

I'll discuss this real quick before concluding: is it a dream? I don't think it's that important here. Regardless of whether that's Gojo's hallucination in his final moments or truly the afterlife/the antechamber before reincarnation, considering the position this half-chapter occupies in the story, I don't think it alters my reading of it.

With that being said, I'm leaning towards it not being a dream in part due to Nanami's line about Haibara, which echoes exactly what we saw when Nanami dies.

This line is for the audience in my opinion, not for Gojo.

So where does that leave us? Well, to me, the heart of it is what I said earlier: this feels like a goodbye to high school Gojo, not the one we see through most of the manga, and that was who I wanted to see, and the one who I believe deserved this farewell.

On top of that, for the most part, the characterization of Gojo as done by other characters borders on character assassination, in my completely personal and admittedly biased opinion. It's not at all what I would have wanted him to go out on. Leaves a very bad taste in my mouth and makes me feel silly for caring.

What a sad way to go.

I typically conclude these kinds of posts by saying that I'm happy to discuss what I've said if you disagree, however for this one, I hope I've made it clear that my issues lies with the disparity between my interpretation of Gojo and this scene, as well as just what I would have liked to see, and it's therefore very personal. I do think that if Gege wanted me to have this interpretation of Gojo he didn't do a good job of getting me there, but if you disagree and you liked this scene, you know, more power to you. I don't think that means you're wrong. I just had a bad time reading it and I wanted to talk about it. With all that said you can 100% disagree obviously, but I'm not looking for a debate.

[nellie-elizabeth]

What We Do in the Shadows: March Madness (6x07)

Let's jump right in!

Cons:

So, if we're doing this Guide/Nandor thing, fine, I guess. It feels pretty unmotivated and lazy to me but okay! But then if we're going to do this, let's do this. The two characters haven't really interacted on screen, and in this episode it's just Nandor being encouraged to be brave and tell her how he feels, and then nothing comes of it? I guess I just think... if you want to use this idea as a vector for comedy, can we at least see some jokes being told about it?

With the knowledge that this show's ending is creeping up on us, I do wish I felt like this episode furthered Guillermo's plot a little more. It seems like it's just another episode reinforcing him as a loyal sycophant. The stuff with Colin was funny, but the episode ends with Guillermo happy and excited to be serving these new masters. I want him to like... foment a revolution, or quit, or something dramatic. Hopefully we'll get to see that soon.

Pros:

I love Sean as a character, and Lazlo's weird obsession/devotion to him is always a hoot. This is another sports-related misunderstanding, where the vampires think that Sean is undergoing something called "march madness" when in fact he's just... watching... March Madness. They summon a demon to help him, but it only causes him to have a minor heart attack, which of course ratchets up Lazlo's guilt and responsibility...

The reveal that Sean's wife believes that Nandor is mentally disabled and that's what the documentary about... I feel like in a worse show this would be a really icky joke where Nandor does a bunch of stuff that's interpreted a certain way, but instead it just became this kind of... sweet thing where this woman is being nice to Nandor and trying to help him since she thinks he might be struggling a little bit? I don't know. I thought it was charming. And I liked Lazlo trying to be Sean's helper. He's an utter mess at being there for people, but he wants to be there. It's nice!

In the Guillermo plot, I did love Nadja discovering a one-note gimmick where a banana is a phone, and then just running it into the ground. It was so funny to see how much everyone else's good will had been eroded, but Nadja was just blissfully ignorant that she was no longer being funny.

And Colin and Guillermo is a pairing that doesn't usually get a lot of play, so I liked seeing that! The long list of types of people one might find at the office really played to Colin's strengths as a character, leaning into the gimmick that he's an expert at being insufferably boring. I loved that there was somebody else at the office who was already the gay Mexican guy so Guillermo can't fill that niche. But by the end of the episode, after Colin kicks the shit out of him for seemingly no reason, he does get a role: he's going to be the shady guy who doesn't ask questions and gets shit done! Once again, back to the parallels with his job as a familiar...

That's all for this one! I'm really wondering what sort of status quo shifts or bigger plot developments we're going to see before it's time to say goodbye to this show forever...

8/10

[onlyjaeyun]

What especially gets me about certain fandoms, is someone will literally request something, then get mad you didn't copy and paste the idea they were thinking of from their brain, like if you have an exact idea of what you want, write it yourself, don't send me a request then get mad since my interpretation isn't what you wanted. That gets me as well, like this is a hobby, we are here writing for free, and you have the audacity to get mad I represent something differently than the idea you had built up of that idol in your mind. It's so irritating, since it robs the joy from something you enjoy doing, then you have people complaining why don't you do this or that anymore, and it's just like because of you.

I was in the NCT fandom right when 127, U, and Dream debuted (showing my age here since I was here the day they debuted), and it was a wild time, like 40 year old smut writers were interacting with 14 year olds, and like I don't even write smut on my blog since I personally just don't, but like that ain't gucci, ain't cool, interacting with kids young enough to be your actual child nah. Engenes seem to be a lot more respectful than other fandoms I've seen, which I feel is wonderful. Like the other day my whole feed was nothing but people sharing minors that write smut with each other so we can all block them, which I feel is so nice, since I remember in my NCTzen days, people would say stuff like oh it doesn't hurt anyone, and it's just like it's hurts me, my heart, minors don't need to see that stuff or interact with it they are children. I know, like you wrote like 10 things about him, then are all oh I didn't know his age, like I don't believe you at all, but okay; I'm surprised they didn't try to pull a 'I meant Taki Riki not Niki Riki' since Taki's 18. The only fandom I feel I can compare to the Engene fandom in how chill the tumblr writers are(or seem to be at least) is the Wanna One fandom, like I had some younger writer friends that called me mom; if anything was weird about the interactions, it was usually them, I'd be like 'go eat dinner and go to sleep you have school tomorrow', and then they would be all '1-800-get-that-dick go get laid you old lady'.

THIS THIS THIS!!!!! when i tell you back when i started writing it was mostly bc i barely found people who wrote content rhe way i wanted it to so i was like fuck it imma do it myself and i wish some people would do it themselves bc how are you gonna get your crusty ass in an inbox and requests smth super specific just to be UNHAPPY with what the WRITER and owner of the blog wrote like get the fuck out of here 💀

and yeah, i experienced similar things in the anime fandom like i lit had mutuals aged 17/18 and then moots who were in their thirties and besides one of them i just felt like both sides overstepped boundaries all the time like girl PLEASE 💀 that's probably why i always stick to my 99/00/01liner babies bc my irl friends are also in that age range and i feel the most comfy with them. (i dont mind you ger or older mutuals ofc) and honestly that whole riki part is just so icky bc they probably kew exactly what they were doing and only felt "sorry" bc they got called out for it yk? but yeah, older fandoms used to be way more chill when it came to the whole different ages but gladly i havent had any problem among engenes on here yet so fingers crossed 🫰🏼

[lymooniee]

Amy Rose Here ❀

Don’t mind me going on a tangent here, I just love these characters so much lol. Amy has always been one of my favourites growing up, I loved her spunky attitude, but how she was always kind and empathetic to those she cared about or wanted to help out. It sucks that her character was sometimes only ever seen as her “crush” for Sonic. Especially when she is so much more than that, in so many ways. I put crush in quotes as I didn’t really think of it this way, mind you it could be me defining crush differently. However, I’d honestly say that Amy saw Sonic more so through admiration and fancied his heroic personality rather than having infatuation towards him. Obviously this changed once Sonic Heroes came out if I recall, but in the Adventure games, she genuinely seemed more a crazy fan girl of Sonic than anything. I don’t entirely like calling her a fan girl, as that implies she doesn’t know Sonic as a friend. Although, in this case I’m going to try to differentiate it this way as I lack any better way of explaining it. Her feelings towards him when it comes to her admiration is one of a fan girl, but she deeply connects to Sonic in other ways as a friend when you shove aside that obsessive behaviour. I miss this Amy ngl, I felt there wasn’t anything wrong with her seeking to be similar to Sonic by helping others, the IDW comics help to show the balance between her admiration, but also her other traits. To me, when getting rid of any of her fan girl behaviours she becomes only known as kind and the one that talks about feelings which is fine, but her character goes through these sudden changes a lot. A little side note, but I also interpreted her asking Sonic to marry her in SA2 as a inside joke between them as he would say no, she wasn���t seriously asking him, but something they both could banter back at one another. This quickly changed to her being angry in later games, which bothers me because just icky.

Anyways… If this is a bunch of gibberish I apologize my brain hurts from brain rot lol

[magical-glimpse]

Hiiiii I asked about the dream earlier. Can I use an emoji to identify myself if I need further clarification? Like this —> ✨🫡✨ ehehehe

Thank you so much for the analysis, I went and read about the concepts and questions you raised. That made me think harder about the dream and how I felt too, because I realised my ask was full of my reactions to the dream rather than the original reaction in the dream.

Generally, I don’t like confined spaces IRL like caves, but in the dream, it was warm and dry and soft. Like, think fine and rich brown earth like alluvial soil. Even with the vampiric experiences, I was very comfortable and it didn’t feel icky. I was empowered. I think I was being fed with energy than it being taken from me? Now that I think about it, It was my waking self that was shocked by it because usually my dreams are always filled with lush green landscapes and many animals, a lot of colourful flora and fauna. I have had bad dreams too and I wake up feeling exhausted then. This time, I woke up feeling just shocked at the presence of a sexual theme which never happened before. But in the duration of the dream, it was slow and I didn’t feel like running away away or overwhelmed as I do with most of my bad dreams.

I also looked into my attachment styles as you said, and I believe I grew up very quickly (boarding school tch) but always feeling secure at home. I wasn’t ever asked to not say what I want, in fact I used to suppress when I was younger. But my mom told me “even a mother wouldn’t know their child is hungry if it doesn’t cry. So cry or speak up.” I think that put things into perspective and I’ve always said what I needed to. Even in romantic interactions, I’ve always spoken my mind. If I’m in discomfort, I ask them to help me out. If I’m upset, I ask them to give me space until I feel emotionally stable to interact. If they’re not ok I give space and wait until they’re good too. I am not very confident with psychological interpretations, but I feel confident enough to say that I am very comfortable in my skin everywhere. Like, I often think if someone is “rude” to me, they’re not and it’s just their own insecurities burdening them. So I just let it be and move on because they’ll fight through it own their own.

…. Is this bad? 🥲 am I confusing things? 😭

Shall I add my big 3 for more personality context? ☀️ sag 🌙 & rising taurus.

- ✨🫡✨

None of it is bad !It's great that you are comfortable in your skin!

Maybe you had just consumed content about vampires that day lol In the end, only you can understand what having that dream brought you or what questions it raised, and sometimes dream exists just a salad of what you saw that day or as something fun yoru brain wanted to experience.No worries here.

[yourmoonmomma]

Hi, can I ask you an question about English? I remember you saying you’re open to help! It’s not my first language and I don’t really understand what just happened. My friends and I were talking, and this guy kinda zoned out. Someone asked him what he’s thinking about and he said ‘oh nothing just my expectations of X’, X being this person he has a mutual friend with and I think they met briefly and followed each other on social media, but I’m pretty sure he unfollowed her some time after. What does he mean by ‘expectations’ of a person, if they’re not really in contact or friends? I’m sorry if this is stupid but in my language you kinda only use ‘expectations of someone’ when it’s something you know really well. Thank you :)

Hello, of course!

I think in English, our interpretation of expectations would be very similar to yours, so I would agree that it seems somewhat odd to be used in this context, with someone he doesn't really know.

I'd say there are most likely two different things he could have meant though by saying that. One, he could have meant his "expectations" for the connection. Maybe he has a crush on her, and is pondering that. Two, and I think this is more likely what he means, what he "expected" her to be like vs what she actually is like. Maybe, upon that first meeting, he had some sort of idea built up in his head afterwards of what he thought she would be like. But after following her instagram a bit, he decided that she didn't fit into his made-up idea of her, and felt like she "didn't live up to his expectations". You can see this happen a lot with some people, and it always strikes me as kind of... icky? Because he assumed she would be a certain way from one brief meeting, and then decided she wasn't that "type of girl" after... seeing her instagram posts? Seeing her stories? Both of which are NOT a reflection of someone (usually).

BUT ANYWAY yes, I think the second example I've given is LIKELY what he meant by that, he just phrased it a little odd!

[sophieinwonderland]

This is a parody blog. This post was specifically mocking something an actual sysmed was arguing.

I still feel kind of bad about this one, because they seemed legitimately enthused to have someone willing to listen to their theories, absurd as they are.

But the prospect of turning it it into a massive "who is the most likely to be CIA" post was too tempting to resist, and at the time, gave me an excuse to reblog the anti-lies blog and promote it without making it too obvious it was me. (Because anti-lies tagged 4 different systems, so of course Sophieinwonderland would respond if she were tagged.)

She’s impersonating people with a trauma disorder

If you want to be really technical, anti-lies never mentions having a CDD, and very intentionally avoids identifying as traumagenic.

If you read this and interpreted it as saying they were traumagenic and had a CDD of some sort, that's on you.

Truthfully, even on a parody blog, claiming to have a disorder I didn't have felt icky.

Implying it is one thing. Saying that I'm a real system and refuse to call myself traumagenic suggests something, but it doesn't state it outright.

Also, another reason for this post was delivering sources to anti-endos who might otherwise ignore those sources. If you notice, each of the four systems mentioned had links to some sort of list of sources or other important resources I wanted to get to anti-endos in the anti-endo tags.

Me and Guardians each have lists of resources. With Cambrian, I was able to link to the r/tulpas AMA. With SAS, it was their post about why they changed, with the email from Colin Ross at the end.

Attention: After Talking to Another Real System, I've Come to Believe That the Endo Community is Being Infiltrated and Controlled by CIA Operatives

I need everyone to be aware and be vigilant because the threat is real. The endogenic community was invented to divide us and keep us distracted.

Having combed over several big potential CIA operatives, I've narrowed the field down to four possibilities. Remember that any or all of these could be CIA operatives, but I'm certain at least one has to be.

Possible CIA plants

@guardianssystem: This system claims to be a pro-endo "traumagenic" system as a way to give themselves authority. They have activity across multiple websites including TikTok and X. They're notable for compiling this document of "sources" to prove endos exist. This document is everywhere. It has suspiciously become the main compilation of endo sources that they love to link to at every turn.

@cambriancrew: They're a tulpa "system" who runs r/tulpas. For anyone who doesn't know, "tulpamancy" is essentially a form of brainwashing. Tulpamancers say they can change a person's brain to give them headmates, and they've convinced multiple "doctors" to back them. All of this sounds like MK Ultra stuff. Cambrian Crew, besides being an outspoken endo, appears to be well connected, and used those connections to help organize an AMA on r/tulpas. In this AMA, their CIA-paid doctors claimed to have conducted brain scans on tulpamancers that showed changes in brain activity when their tulpas were possessing limbs.

@sysmedsaresexist: A nefarious saboteur, Sysmedsaresexist posed as a prominent anti-endo voice for YEARS, building up a massive anti endo following on this site. Between their SysmedsAreSexist and JustAnotherSyscourse blogs, they practically single-handedly ran the "#shit endos say" tag dedicated to mocking endos. But then all of a sudden, they turn? And like CambrianCrew, SysmedsAreSexist appears to have a close relationship to "doctors," posting a screenshot of an email from Colin Ross, an expert in DID, that appears to support the existence of endogenic systems. All of this looks like a years-long psyop to gain people's trust and convert them.

@sophieinwonderland: Finally, that brings us to Sophie, another tulpa "system." She also has her own page filled with endo "sources" though not as detailed or widely disseminated as Guardians'. The more I looked into this one, the more disturbed I became. Sophie is, as far as I can tell, the system who started "The Future is Plural," the mass movement which we all know seeks to traumatize children en masse and give them dissociative disorders. She also openly brags about teaching people methods to dissociate and hallucinate, says that she believes she can rewire people's brains, and cheerfully is arguing in favor of propaganda.

Please, whatever you do, do not engage with these people. Not only to avoid harassing them, but because if they are indeed CIA operatives, it may not be safe to do so directly. I may be putting myself at risk just by talking about this aloud, and I believe they're already trying to discredit me, but I feel someone has to talk about this.

Community input in finding the spies is incredibly important.

Knowing all of the facts, I'd like to know who you all think is most likely a CIA operative.

[licncourt]

When you have the time, please write your opinions on episode 6! I really love to read your thoughts

Yikes, okay. I'm just going to do a bulleted list of likes and dislikes because there was a lot going on here. Thank you so much for caring about my ranting!!

Thank you also to @zisurru and vivienne1996 for talking to me about this episode for like three hours straight after it aired and helping me consolidate all these thoughts with their insight

Things I liked

Claudia! I always enjoy her being a stone cold bitch. She's so ruthless and so intelligent that you almost forget how vulnerable she is. Bailey Bass knocked it out of the park and I was cheering her on from start to finish this ep.

Despite how some fans seem to be interpreting it, I was glad Lestat wasn't really framed as being justified in his actions. I do think the severity of his attack was downplayed (more on that later), but it wasn't fully excused like I was afraid it would be

Louis swimming the Mississippi to kick Lestat's ass

Lestat's chess tantrum. That felt like the level of shittiness I would expect from him based on the book

Things I would've liked in another context

Claudia and Lestat's chess rivalry

The mentions of Nicki and Magnus (even if it feels too early imo). Any TVL content is fun in theory

The family conversation on the bench

The Loustat sex scene (I can't believe we only got one sex scene in a non-icky scenario)

Coffin cuddles

Sam Reid singing

The fight -> sex pipeline

Lestat and the dog

Things I hated

BATTERED WIFE LOUIS. He was written as so strangely and ooc in this episode and it made me sick tbh. Yeah, he's mad for a while and rejects Lestat's attempts to apologize, but he DOES let Lestat back into his life and tolerates a ridiculous amount of awful bullshit. Lestat seems worse than ever, begging to get back in the family and then immediately treating Claudia poorly, emotionally abusing Louis, and continuing his affair. Louis quietly puts up with all of it, even making constant excuses for the behavior and keeping himself sexually available. It's almost as awful a character assassination as Lestat just got in ep 5. Book Louis never felt like a sure thing for Lestat. He was always pushing back and using his strengths and advantages to go toe-to-toe with Lestat. He was never subservient or brought to heel like some terrified but overly-loyal dog. AMC Louis allowing Claudia to be abused like she is in the show is even more incomprehensible to me.

The racial aspect of this whole situation gets its own bullet point because ICK. At least Claudia called it out.

Claudia taking the caregiver role. Something that defines Louis' character in IWTV is how intensely he clings to the role of father to give his life purpose, even to the point of infantilizing Claudia until he drives her even more mad. Just like I can't imagine book Louis tolerating Lestat's treatment of his and Claudia, I can't imagine him being so okay with losing the dynamic of the only identity that keeps him going.

Lestat's priorities! Just like ep 5, another core tenet of Lestat's characterization has been done away with here. The motivating desire behind Lestat's controlling behavior and cruel self-preservation is his desperate love for Louis and Claudia and his fear of losing them. Louis and Claudia making him an important part of an established family unit was all Lestat wanted in the book, but AMC Lestat has one foot out the door all of ep 6 even after how hard he tried to get them back and how he reacted to their attempt to leave. The Antoinette affair is especially baffling because Lestat is never mentioned to have taken any lovers in IWTV until the final months of the family, a desperate attempt to get Louis' attention and a potential rebound as he felt his family slipping away. If anything, Lestat is TOO committed in IWTV, definitely not a reluctant and philandering husband or unwilling father.

Lestat's hatred of Claudia!! The lynchpin of their tragedy is that Lestat DOES love Claudia. That's his daughter, his pride and joy, his protégé, his baby girl. He loves her as much as Louis does but his generational trauma and the circumstances of her creation/existence drive the wedge further and further between them until something breaks. When Claudia tricks him into aiding in his own murder by pretending to want to fix their relationship, Lestat doesn't even hesitate to trust her. Even after she tries to kill him, book Lestat says he never regretted her, that having the chance to be her father and to love her was worth it. I don't see even a shred of that in AMC Lestat. Getting rid of that love between Lestat and Claudia takes so much away from the upcoming tragedy.

The train scene. Again, a very important aspect of Lestat that makes him redeemable later is his total unwillingness to ever threaten Claudia with harm. The fact that he not only threatened to kill her but also mocked her rape was horrid and totally bizarre. I don't know how they could ever even begin to redeem him at this point.

The oversimplification of Claudia's arc and morality. Making Lestat so black and white evil like they have in the past two episodes takes so much away from her complexity and from the depth of the story for the audience. What makes the climax of this part of the book (coming in ep 7) so compelling is that you aren't sure if Claudia was right, if Lestat deserves it, what fairness even is. In this case, she's just completely justified and killing the man who threatened her life and almost killed her father and who continues to abuse them. Again, the tragedy of IWTV comes from the pseudo-nuclear family the three of them create and the way it breaks down in the most extreme of ways, the trauma of the father and of the eldest/only daughter destroying each other while the mother is torn to pieces by a love for them both. It's a domestic horror rooted in love gone wrong.

**Bonus** The fan insistence that book Lestat was never faced with the prospect of Louis leaving and if he had been, the reaction would've been the same as in the show. That's patently untrue and it happened twice actually. The first time, his reaction was to make another attempt at winning Louis over to accepting vampirism, and when that failed, to go for the babytrap. The second time, he went on an angry spiel about how he had Secret Vampire Knowledge and so Louis and Claudia had to stay with him.

[just-antithings]

ngl it is always so disappointing to me when i see mutuals reblog anti proship stuff. like grow up. characters arent real people. i sorta got myself into a mainly anti occupied space before i knew what the terms anti or proship were or even that my mutuals were antis. it sucks cos we have had fun talking about our mutual fandoms etc but i know they wouldnt hesitate to turn on me if they suspected i was proship even though theyve talked to me enough to know im not "evil". one of them dmed me once after i reblogged something that could have been interpreted as an incestuous ship telling me i would make ppl uncomfortable. what makes it worse is that i in no way suggested it was about a ship or incest so they just felt the need to police me just in case. felt icky knowing there was someone silently studying my blog looking out for anything to harass me over. this person is also prone to coming out with "isnt [insert character] a child tho?" if ppl ship or gush about teenage characters. this is soooooo hypocritical of them personally cos when they were 18 they dated a 15 year old. the mental gymnastics they must perform xD smh.

(please only answer this if its on anon)

yeah that’s really frustrating, I’m sorry

[mysticalrambling]

Coming Home (C.E)

Chris Evans Fanfiction (Fanfiction Masterlist)

Summary: dad!Chris Evans. Chris comes home to his twins fighting and he scolds them. But he also takes care of their wounds with you and then you all go out to eat ice cream and have a family day.

Warnings: None. Minimum angst but fluff all the way.

._._._._.

"Where are the kids?" Your husband came and sat right next to you on the couch. It was a shock to him when he didn't see his two little munchkins clinging to his legs the moment he entered the house. It has been kind of their routine from the moment they could walk on their little two legs.

“They are busy playing in their play room. Why are you not happy about it?” You knew that after a full day of shooting, coming home to two energetic kids was tiring and stressful. So you were shocked when he wasn’t glad to have a moment of peace by himself.

“Well, they are a part of my routine now. It feels weird not having them jumping around me.” The three year olds have always been more attached to Chris than you. Initially, you were a little jealous that the twins focused all their attention on your husband but now you were glad. Having a piece of quiet while he handled the children was pretty awesome.

You both had pretty successful careers and when the twins came into your lives, you both decided that you would handle it all together. In the start, each one of your married girlfriend told you that you had to quit your job as the marketing head because being a mom was a full time job. You were scared and when you shared your concerns with Chris, he consoled you and told you that you would both do it all. Having successful careers while being good parents.

“Just spend sometime with me while Emma and Jason are distracted.” Pouring him a glass of wine, you leaned in to him with your head on his shoulder.

“That is a good way to spend my evening. How was your day, sweetheart?”

“It was hell. My boss gave me a project to complete with a bizarre timeline and when I couldn’t complete it on time. He just took it all out on me in front of my colleague.” Today was humiliating for you and you couldn’t wait to get home, drink a nice glass of wine and relax. “Hated it, babe. How about you?

“Well, my co star couldn’t get her part right so we had to do the same scene five times. We are behind on shooting now and I have to get up early tomorrow morning so that we can catch up to the schedule.” Sighing, he took a long sip of the red liquid and felt his muscles relaxing.

There was a moment of silence that enveloped the room and you just basked in it. “A crappy day for us both.”

“Indeed. Let’s do something exciting then.” He kissed you and just when things were about to get heated, a piercing scream interrupted the moment.

“What-What is happening?” He was still in a haze and couldn’t properly interpret anything.

“It looks like your kids are fighting again.”

“Are you going to handle them?”

“Oh no!” Laughing at his incredulous request, you picked up your glass again. “You wanted to spend time with them so go on.”

Chris got up from the couch and went upstairs. Emma and Jason love each other to death but they have been fighting from the womb. Emma is the stubborn one and while, Jason backs out most of the time. Sometimes, he retaliates and it turns real bad, real fast. They were pretty hot headed, just like you.

“What is happening here?” The dad mode was fully in place when he saw his little girl sitting on the floor with hands pressed to a bloody forehead and his little boy trying to console her.

“She pushed me and then I pushed her. Not my fault. But she hurt, daddy.” The panic in Jason’s eyes was evident.

“(Y/N)! Come here, right now!” You scrambled to your feet as soon as Chris’s voice boomed across the living room. “You never hurt your sister, Jason. This is not alright.” The stern voice was new for Chris but the situation required it.

“But, daddy-”

“No excuses, Mister. Now, apologise to your sister and no toys for you for the whole week.” He got in to action with the first aid kit that he took out of their walk in closet. Emma was still crying her lungs out even when Chris tried to console her. She was not letting him touch the wound and was squirming uncontrollably in his lap.

“Daddy, why you always bla- blame me? Hate you.” Hiccuping, he stuttered on the big words and then stomped out of the room. You tried to stop your son but he just ran past you.

“What is- Oh my god!” The blood was now soaking up your little girl’s shirt and she still wouldn’t let Chris touch the wound.

The one thing that your kids inherited from your husband was the fear of blood and stitches. The small three year old knew that a boo boo that hurts really bad will lead to stitches. You knew how to handle all three of your babies in situation like these. Taking Emma from your husband, you hugged her lightly.

“Bubba, I need to look at your boo boo and then you can have the Elsa bandage.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” When she removed her chubby, little hand, you were relieved that the cut was not big or deep. A bandage would just do the trick. You softly hummed a tune in her ears while you applied an antiseptic to the wound and then the band aid. She had tears streaming down her face and she was sniffling quietly. Chris took her from you when you were done and gently rocked her in his arms. He always loved it when both your children seeked comfort in you. It reminded him of how lucky he was to have you. “Where did Jason go?”

“I scolded his regarding this and he threw a tantrum.” When Emma heard Jason’s name, she further curled herself into his chest.

“Give her to me.” Raising her face by holding her chin, you sternly asked her. “Tell me what happened, young lady?”

With a guilty tone, she told you both that she was the one who pushed Jason first. They were both playing with the doll house that Chris bought Emma as her third birthday present. Jason wanted to add his toy cars to the doll house but she won’t allow it. She pushed him first and he hit his wrist on the small coffee table but then he pushed her back. When she fell back, she hit her head on the side of the wooden house.

“You are going to apologise to him, Emma. I told you that this much anger is not alright, bubba.” Chris took her to the twin’s room that had two different themes running through it. Emma was never a fan of the color pink so she went with purple and Jason really loved yellow, so he got that. The room looked like a clown’s den but Chris was never the one to deny his children’s requests. They had his whole heart well, except you.

“Jace, Emma would like to say something to you.” Setting her on her feet, she went towards his elder brother by barely three minutes.

“I am sorry, Jacey. Never should have pushed you. Kiss your boo boo to make up?” He nodded gently when his sister climbed in to the body. Extending the bruised wrist, Emma held it in her hands and lightly pecked on it. Meanwhile, you got a numbing cream for Jason and you stopped in the doorway with Chris and watched their interaction. They were your and Chris’s two little bundle of joys and you both couldn’t get enough.

“I am sorry that I yelled at you, baby. You two will not have your toys for a week. But who wants ice cream right now?” They both jumped at the mention of their favorite treat.

Chris had a way with the children. He completed all their wishes from eating ice cream as dinner or buying the most expensive toys for them. Making them happy was his primary job and he fulfilled it with great joy. However, he knew when to step up. He knew when to tell them no because he didn’t want his children to be some spoiled brats. He knew how to mediate and that was one of the many thing that you loved about him.

“I will get your jackets while daddy will help you with your shoes.” Going downstairs, you placed Dodger’s food in his bowl because you were going to be out for sometime. Chris always turns a simple outing to a full blown family day. A walk in the park, dinner at a high end restaurant and then shopping at the mall.

“Let’s go.” He buckled both the kids in their respective booster seats and made sure that they both had their preferred stuff toys. God knows, if they didn’t have them on their car ride.

The ice cream place on the fifth avenue was your favorite because it was where Chris took you on your first date. Both the children went for chocolate ice creams and Chris cleaned them up after they were done anything. It was so wholesome to watch him perform his dad duties.

“Then Oliver tried to eat dirt and the teacher gave him a time out.” You never understood why your son was friends with that boy because all he ever cared about was dirt.

“That’s why I hate boys. They are dirty.”

“That’s right, bubba. They are all dirty and disgusting. You stay away from all of them.” Gently nudging him with your shoulders, you playfully scoffed at him. He was sometimes very protective of his children.

“Ollie said girls also have icky germs.”

“Yes. You also stay away from them.” Chris was full on laughing at the situation right now because both the kids were in some serious thoughts.

“Okay dadda.” They both started skipping on the side walk and already started bickering about who was their dad’s favorite. He took you in his arms and kissed you on the forehead.

“Thank you for all this, babe. I love you.” He was truly thankful for you and for everything that you brought in his life.

“I love you too. Now let’s buckle them in before they start pushing each other again.”

Hope you guys enjoyed it!!

._._._._.

A/N: Dad Chris Evans is a dream so I wanted to write a little blurb related to this idea. Hope you guys enjoyed it. You guys can send in requests but I will get to them a little bit later because I am focusing on my drafts right now. Tell me if you guys want to be added to the tag list.

Taglist: @justile

Like, comment and reblog.

[thisaccisdead]

montreal - roman hurt/comfort

pairing: this was written to all be platonic prinxiety, but can definitely be interpreted romantically !

warnings: unconventional self harm, non-graphic descriptions of wounds/injury

summary: a post-POF roman hurt/comfort fic in january 2021? yes <3

word count: 3.2k

notes: large portions of this were salvaged from one (1) night last summer at 4am when i was having a . time. the rest has been mainly recently written before i go to bed, with some extra bits added during my history classes B)) also shout out to [REDACTED]. u may not read this but if u do, i hope u know who u are & ilu

Virgil had been trying to calm himself down for the better part of an hour, as soon as they got back from the wedding fiasco; and he was doing a relatively okay job. Considering the circumstances, at least. Or so he thought, when he registered a spike in Thomas’s anxiety. This only served to make Virgil more anxious, because he had thought he had been doing well—until, he realized it wasn’t anxiety, not exactly, not fully—and it wasn’t coming from him.

Once he'd figured that out, it wasn't hard to trace the feeling to the imagination. He paused at the door. If this was where the strongest negative emotions were coming from, he already knew which side this was about. And could he really be surprised? Roman had wanted that callback for so long. Even at the court case, even when Roman gave Thomas his sentence, Virgil knew it killed him. And Virgil didn't do anything. Because he was so fucking scared of Thomas being bad, or of Janus winning, or something, and now whatever was going on was his fault, and--

And now was not the time for these thoughts. He breathed in. He opened the door.

Immediately, he was coughing out soot, heat burned his cheeks, his eyes blurred with protective tears forming against the smoke. It was hard to see, let alone process, what was happening. Then, he caught sight of the Dragon Witch. And he caught sight of—

“Roman!” Virgil choked on the yell, coughing again.

Obviously Roman couldn’t hear him from the distance, especially considering the brutal roar of the creature. Adrenaline kicked in, and as Virgil began to sprint towards the prince, he took in the entirety of the scene with alarm. Roman was...fighting, sure, except that Virgil had seen him fight before, and this... wasn’t right. Roman bested manticore-chimeras like it was a breeze, he HAD bested the Dragon Witch herself in every form she took, “just for training.” He always moved like he was in a ballet, not a battle, like it was more for show than challenge, and now...

Virgil watched Roman fall to a hard swish of the creature’s tail, and stay there. He almost expected the Dragon Witch to take mercy, or at least, to accept an early victory. But he watched her rear back, raise a taloned hand, the magma-red in her throat glowing brighter and brighter—just as Virgil got close enough to let fight win over flight.

Virgil crashed into Roman; they rolled just far enough that the swipe of claws only ripped the edge of Virgil’s jacket.

Immediate danger out of the way, Virgil clenched his eyes tight, trying to do it how Logan taught him. He found something that didn’t make sense--the grass. The grass was dry, therefore it should have been burning, but it wasn’t. He took that foothold to dispel all the fantastical elements of the scene, Dragon Witch and all her carnage blinking from existence. The new calm of the scene was jarring.

That just left a great big field, Virgil, and one absolute dumbass.

"What the fuck, Princey?!"

Virgil’s voice was distorted with stress, and Roman stared up at him wide-eyed, unsure—even terrified in a way that hurt. Virgil quickly pushed himself up so he wasn't pinning the other. Roman tried to copy this movement, only to groan, start coughing, and fall back again.

“Shit, I—“ Virgil looked at his hands and found red on them, looked at Roman and saw the color painting his chest. “I thought I dispelled all the imaginary stuff, why—?“

“Left brain sides can only dispel so much of what right brain sides feel,” Roman said, voice rough and thin and upsettingly casual, “Since they feel so real to me, you can’t get rid of them.”

“They feel…? Christ, ok, you need a medical kit, uhm—“ Virgil closed his eyes again; he was notoriously shitty at summoning things, and he had to concentrate for this—

“That’s ok; I’ve got it,” Roman said, letting out a quiet hiss as he propped himself up on one arm, and summoned the medical kit with the other, “You can go now.”

Virgil gaped at him in disbelief. When Roman attempted to stand up, and Virgil could no longer deny he wasn’t joking, he exclaimed, “Like Hell am I going, idiot!”

Roman just stared at him, and Virgil cursed under his breath. “Ok ok, let’s just... we should do this in the bathroom, uhm—“

Virgil awkwardly clambered over to Roman again, taking his hand, so he could blink them over together. He knew it would probably be more comfortable for Roman to sink in and out, but considering Virgil wasn’t practiced at that, he wasn’t going to risk screwing it up.

They apparated into the bathtub, and Virgil scrambled up, taking the med kit from Roman's hands.

Ok, ok, now Virgil just had to remember that one time Logan lectured them all on “Side Safety.” He took a shaky breath and washed his hands quickly, before turning back to Roman. He allowed himself to fully assess the prince this time and… Jesus. He was slumped against the back of the tub, having given up his attempts at composure while he thought Virgil wasn’t looking. His litany of scrapes, cuts, bruising, his shallow breathing, and--most of all--the wet, red patch slowly growing on his shirt, sparked renewed panic in Virgil.

“Ok, fuck, ok--let’s do this,” Virgil said, mostly to himself, as he knelt down by Roman to undo his already tattered shirt and take a wet towel to his chest. He had to suck in a breath at the sight of the jagged wound, a nauseous feeling catching up to him.

“You’ve already done a lot, you know,” Roman insisted. “You can--”

“If you tell me to go, Princey, I swear I’ll make these wounds worse myself,” he said, not meaning it in the slightest, which he would assume Roman knew--but the way Roman flinched and shut his mouth told a different story. “Shit, I didn’t mean that. Of course I didn’t mean that!”

Roman glanced away, and Virgil reached to cup his cheek, an instinct he didn’t know he had. Luckily, he caught himself in time to retract his hand. They both avoided eye contact for a second; Virgil cleared his throat; and he reached for the bottle of hydrogen peroxide before pausing. He vaguely recalled Logan mentioning how strong alcohols would only cause more harm, and they should just stick to mild soap instead. He gave the cut a longer look-over—it was certainly not a pretty sight, but probably not as bad as it looked. It was large, but not too deep. Plus, as sides, it would heal itself without needing anything like stitches or professional medical work. The past scars littering Roman’s body were proof of that. Actually--had he always had this many scars? Virgil squinted. How often did he do this?

Virgil finished cleansing and bandaging the wound to the best of his ability, with little talk beyond the occasional, soft “sorry” at Roman’s winces. When he had finished, he gave Roman his hoodie (an action the Prince was too tired to take much notice of), since summoning a new shirt seemed like a waste of whatever energy he had left.

“Ok, Princey, all done. Uhm, are you—how, how are you?” Virgil mentally kicked himself.

A small, bitter smile tugged at Roman’s lips for just a moment. He opened his mouth and then closed it, and finally shrugged. “Thank you for your help.”

It hurt, Virgil realized. Roman’s quiet voice, where near-shouting was his usual speech. His unkempt hair sticking to his forehead, where it was usually styled to be very lightly and intentionally ruffled. The bags beneath his eyes where there was usually concealer. All of it hurt.

Virgil sucked in a breath. “Look, I’m sorry if I’m being annoying, but I hope you know there’s absolutely no way I’m leaving yet.”

“Virgil,” Roman almost said it as a whine, which was closer to his usual style, so Virgil considered it progress.

“Roman,” Virgil deadpanned back.

Roman huffed. “Maybe I need space to really explore my feelings, and you’re actually being a terrible friend right now,” he argued.

“Uh-huh, well being a terrible friend is always my favorite, so,” Virgil leaned down, fumbling slightly as he picked Roman up bridal style, “We’re gonna get you to bed, and you can explore your feelings by sleeping.”

“Great, now you’re damsel-in-distressing me,” Roman said sarcastically, but he leaned his head into Virgil’s chest as he did so, which kind of ruined his point.

“Yeah, yeah. Act more like Megara next time, and maybe it’ll be different.”

•••

Roman groaned upon waking up. His whole body ached, but mainly it was focused around a sharper pain in his chest. He let his eyes flutter open, only to find Virgil staring at him from his desk.

“Ah,” Roman uttered, a jumble of memories from the past few hours returning. They felt foggy and mildly icky, but mainly the pain in them was the numb kind of pain, the tired kind. Really, it was indistinguishable from the dull ache of his bruises and cuts.

“Yeah,” Virgil said, as though he understood, even though he couldn’t possibly. “Uh, wanna talk about it?”

It was clear Virgil felt awkward asking the question. It was unclear whether that was due to his tendency to be embarrassed by everything he said, or—far more likely—that he wanted to stop babying a stupid prince, and just go about his business.

Roman sat up, suppressing a wince as best he could. “Do you want to hear about it?”

“Of course I do.” Virgil said it without an ounce of hesitation. Roman’s breath caught.

“Oh.” Roman shifted slightly over, and Virgil took a seat by him on the bed. “Okay. Uhm. I don’t know, I just—I messed up.” What else was new?

“...What did you mess up?” Virgil asked, with an inkling of suspicion, like he knew what this was about. But it wasn’t that; it wasn’t the callback—that was over and done and dead. Roman had created so many fantasies, so many crazy scenarios where they could somehow still make it in that stupid movie, and it had always filled him with hope or crushing pain or something, but as of this afternoon? He didn’t even care. It didn’t matter.

So, Roman ignored the question, and instead commented, “Janus got accepted.”

“What the fuck.”

Roman observed Virgil’s stricken expression like an unsettling kind of mirror of himself when—

My name is Janus.

“Yeah,” Roman sighed, “I didn’t take it so well either.”

Virgil looked at him for a long moment, seeming to go through several series of emotions, before he was able to ask, “...What happened?”

Roman inhaled sharply. “I was wrong about being wrong about the wedding. Patton was also wrong; Janus was right, and then Patton was right because he wasn’t a total asshole to Janus, and I’m evil; Thomas hates me; whatever, you get it.”

He thought he would break down, saying it, but he felt oddly… fine. He sat, staring at the same spot as he was before, absentmindedly annoyed at the way his bandages itched. The normalcy of the situation almost made it worse. This sucked. This wasn’t even bad.This was the worst he had ever felt.

“Oook,” Virgil said, clearly not knowing where to start, “I—you—what do you mean: Thomas hates you?”

“Thought that one was self-explanatory.”

“He can’t hate you,” Virgil said with a laughable amount of conviction. “You’re still his… y’know.. goals. Desires. Hopes. Whatever. Just because this one didn’t go… perfectly, doesn’t mean you won’t keep—“ he struggled to find the phrasing for a moment— “...fighting, uh, valiantly for Thomas’s dreams!” he attempted at the encouragement with a weak smile.

Roman just shook his head. “No. I don’t know what he wants.”

Virgil’s smile dropped into confusion. “But… you are his wants.”

“That’s kind of the problem.”

Virgil seemed at a loss, and Roman felt like an asshole. Here he was trying to help him, and Roman couldn’t even be bothered to put on a smile to dismiss him from the duty.

“Please go,” Roman attempted weakly when he couldn’t find a more convincing argument in himself. He was meant to be an actor, but he knew he couldn’t hide the fact that he wanted him to stay, of course he did, so badly. He hoped Virgil would just quit with the chivalry and go despite that.

Virgil sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit, I'm going about this all wrong.”

Roman knew it probably wasn’t really him Virgil was mad at, but it was hard not to shrink away anyway.

“Look, Roman—“ Virgil turned to him, looked at him seriously, took his hands in his— “To be honest? I don’t care what happened. I don’t care who was right or wrong—I mean, we all know I’ve been in the wrong more than my fair share. It doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

Roman didn’t miss the ambiguity of the end statement. “But… look, you don’t get it. When you mess up, you’re still you. You’re still...,” Roman gestured vaguely, which upset his bandages, and when he looked down at himself, he took note of the black/purple hoodie he was wearing. He melted slightly. This was exactly the point he was trying to make, “You’re still... y’know. Important.”

“Wh—? Of course you’re important, Ro. You’re creativity—“

“Thomas has two of those.”

Virgil looked at him like he was stupid. “Right, as if you’re anything like Remus.”

Roman’s lip quivered at that, and he had to look away, which was so stupid. And suddenly he felt all of the embarrassment at once—of this situation, of everything that had happened before, of the way he was about to cry, in front of Virgil, after he said that, which must look so—

“Roman?”

A hand was on his cheek, softly turning his face towards Virgil’s, though Roman still refused to meet his eyes.

Virgil cursed to himself under his breath. “Shit, this is exactly what I was trying not to say.” He sighed, and Roman hesitantly looked up at him. “Look. Even if you weren’t creativity, if you weren’t hopes or dreams or any of it—if you were a completely pointless side, which you aren’t, but if you were—I wouldn’t care. What I care about is that you’re... Roman. That you bother me until I sing Disney with you, that when you put your heart into something, you do it to a stupid amount, that you make Thomas take trashy buzzfeed soulmate quizzes when he’s stressed, and that you fucking try so hard for everything, even when I’m being a little bitch about it,” he paused. With the hand on Roman’s cheek, he traced the line of a scar down his jaw. It was one of the ones Roman usually made sure to put an illusion over, he noted offhandedly. “I care, because you’re my best friend.”

“Don’t say that,” Roman choked out. He couldn’t handle it if it was a lie, and part of him couldn’t manage hearing it as anything but exactly that. “Just—just—“

“Oh, Princey..”

Virgil held him as he broke. Roman didn’t know how long they sat like that as he let everything wash over him for a final time, let it all truly sink in at long last. He took heaving, messy sobs, no doubt ruining Virgil’s shirt in the process—he was quiet, though. He shook silently, save a couple choked breaths, in the other’s arms--that was a habit he had taught himself long ago.

When Roman had tired himself out, when all that was left was the pain in chest, (which was also suddenly duller—he was healing fast, even for a side—) he pulled back from the embrace. Virgil didn’t move by much, kept them so their fingers were laced together, as they sat staring at each other.

“Uhm. Thanks,” Roman gave a shaky smile, “You really—uh... I... I said some stupid stuff, huh?”

Virgil hesitated before he spoke, as if he knew he shouldn’t ask this right now, but needed to anyway. “...Roman, why’d you go to the Imagination?”

Roman felt ice stab at his chest upon the question. He didn’t want to do this. They had already talked about so much that he shouldn’t have gotten into; this was meant to be the part where they either parted or watched a stupid movie. And this, out of everything, was the conversation he most needed to avoid.

“Uh—I mean, to let off steam?” Roman gave a laugh as best he could. “Obviously, it didn’t go to plan—“

“Didn’t it?”

Roman’s face fell immediately. He struggled to come up with an answer, and even if he had had one, he didn’t think the sound would come out. This was enough of an answer in itself

“Shit,” Virgil breathed. Roman couldn’t help but be mildly annoyed by his surprise—clearly he had already known, he didn’t have to make it a big deal now.

“I… Princey—Roman…” Virgil looked him up and down, and Roman wanted to curl up and hide. “...how many times?”

“Not many,” Roman mumbled. Virgil must have known he was pushing the subject too far, because he just frowned and said,

“OK. I mean...it’s not OK, obviously, but you already know that, I just—“ he sighed. “Just… can you talk to me? Instead? Please? When you feel like… that.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Roman responded hastily, wanting an out from this topic.

Virgil gave him a look. “I’m serious. I mean—look, you don’t even have to talk about it if you don’t want. Just, come to me first, yeah?”

Roman’s face burned; he was embarrassed; he wanted to shrug this whole thing off, or roll his eyes, or maybe scream in annoyance. But the rational part of him knew Virgil was right. “OK,” he agreed softly, “...Thanks. For everything.”

Virgil looked surprised, and then flustered, and then waved off the earnest reply. “I mean, it wasn’t--I didn’t--it’s not like I did anything really--”

“You did.”

Virgil’s face softened. “Yeah, well... you’d’ve done the same for me. You... have done the same for me.”

Roman smiled gently at him. “By the way, Virge--” He hesitated. He was about to sound like a real dumbass if Virgil had only been saying this stuff for comfort’s sake. But making a fool of himself was becoming a theme for him anyway, so he continued, “You’re my best friend too.”

I love you.

In the same beats Roman thought it, Virgil squeezed his hand lightly 3 times. A breath passed between them. An understanding. That Roman couldn’t say it out loud, and Virgil wouldn’t.

Instead, Virgil fell back across the bed, bringing Roman with him in the motion. Roman let out a startled gasp and elbowed him lightly. “Hey! I’m injured, that could have been a fatal impact for me!” he whined.

Virgil snorted. “Yeah, yeah, OK. So, do you wanna watch a stupid movie, or what?”

[inkykeiji]

Hey, my beautiful Clari! How have you been? I hope you are feeling well and enjoying your time💞💞💞

I’ve been meaning to ask you something; as we read on the prequel of the bmb pieces, reader’s best friend and mother aren’t fond for tomura. How is the relationship between tomura and the rest of reader’s social circle?? What do they think of him? Do her friends and family approve the relationship between him and the reader due to the fact that he’s wealthy? Do they even UNDERSTAND its dynamic??

From what we’ve seen so far, it seems likely that they disapprove daddy tomura’s controlling nature that resulted to the isolation of the reader from her family and friends. Poor reader, being in the centre of this…

I wish you only the best, take care💖💞💖💖

hi sweetpea!!!! <333 these past few days i have been feeling physically icky but other than that i am okay, thank you!! i hope you are doing great as well <3

tw: mentions of a toxic relationship, the implications it has etc

good questions! so reader’s bff + her mother were like, chief in her life—the two that have known her the longest and initially were the most important to her, being her childhood best friend and her actual parent lmao. because of this, they weren’t just about to let her slip from their grasp into tomura’s, and they knew much more about her relationship and what goes on within that relationship than anyone else. but even with that being said, the details they were aware of just barely scratched the surface of her very complex relationship with this man, and they ultimately were not able to convince her to break it off. she still keeps in contact with her mother on occasion, though the relationship is strained and tomura disapproves of it. her best friend she no longer has contact with.

outside of them, her social circle consists merely of her university friends, whom she more or less met around the same time she met tomura (she was in her first year of uni when she met him!). as such, they’re ‘surface level friends’/casual friends, for lack of a better term: she hangs out with them and does fun stuff with them (dinners, day trips, spa trips, little outings to local events, etc) but she isn’t necessarily close with them.

they know she’s dating tomura and that he gives her a very pretty sum of money to go out and have fun with, and they think she’s soooo lucky because he’s such a handsome, rich man, but they do not know very much about his extremely controlling, possessive and abusive nature. for example, they’ve obviously witnessed her having to check in with him and call him/text him photos of where she is, but without any other context, they all just interpret that as him being a protective boyfriend who cares a lot and likes to be in the know. they have no idea that a hefty punishment awaits her at home if she fails to comply with these things. as such, no, they don’t truly understand their relationship dynamic or even the basic transaction (for lack of a better term) that happens between reader and tomura (that of her obedience and submissiveness for his protection, care, doting, and money) that is one of the base tenets of their whole relationship.

her university friends only began to realize that there was something much deeper, much heavier going on here when she was forced to limit her contact with them after the threats began, and that when she did occasionally hang out with them, it was now always with that mysterious man with the inky hair and scars + tattoos. things became more secretive, and there were several questions she couldn’t answer with anything other than extremely vague responses. they didn’t press, though, because she seemed ‘okay’ and they all felt like it was really none of their business anyway.

she isn’t extremely close with any other family outside of her mother, so they do not know much about her life with tomura, nor do they necessarily care (and that’s how she prefers for it to be, honestly)!

[zai-doodles]

Juvia is a lesbian post 

So I was going to post this after I redesigned juvia but I have a headache and can't draw so that's not gonna happen for another day or two but I want to get these thoughts out now 

Disclaimer that this is just my headcanon, no I don't hate gruvia, yes I'm aware I'm taking this too seriously, yes I'm aware Juvia’s behavior is meant as a joke, no I don't care if u ship gruvia or disagree with me bc its an anime and u can like whatever u want and ur valid ok? Ok. 

This isn't gonna be like a formal fic or something bc I'm a bad writer so this is me just verbal barfing and I figured I'd put it somewhere 

ON TO THE TED TALK 

Juvia as a kid was v isolated from her peers due to her magic, she was constantly bullied no matter how hard she tried to fit in. And she really did try ya know? She couldn't help the rain but she tried. I think because of Juvia's lack of interaction with other kids she only understands human interaction in extremes, maybe from stories she would read or something along those lines, she would read romances bc romance is in everything of course. And the story would always end with the boy and the girl falling in love. Maybe she noticed how other girls would talk about boys they liked and wanted to join in, except,,, when juvia thought abt it, she didn't really feel the things described in stories for boys. 

That can't be right. Can it?

No, it can’t be. Juvia wants to fit in. Juvia wants to talk to girls about boys. Juvia likes boys. 

Juvia from an early age figures with kid logic that if a boy is nice to her, juvia is supposed to like that boy. Bc, that's how it works obviously. 

That's how it's supposed to be. 

I think juvia's behavior is a side-effect of overcorrection. Deep down juvia knows something isn't quite right with how she feels so she does everything she can to make it overtly clear that she likes boys. Juvia works in extremes, the kids at school didn't like her rain so they hated her, in stories boys saved girls so they fell in love. Over time juvia developed her specific form of affection, an all-or-nothing approach where she would give her everything bc isn't that what girls are supposed to do for boys they like? It's only natural she hates other girls because they were competitors. Plus hate was a much easier way of explaining that some girls made her feel different.

Of course, the build-up of all of this led to her meeting gray. At that moment juvia did fall in love, she felt seen, for the first time in her life she felt like someone cared about her, he saved her life after all. Of course, she fell in love. It was still different though. It wasn't quite what stories described even though this was a textbook setup for that sort of thing. 

Wasn't it?

Of course, juvia continues expressing her love the only way she knows how in her extreme sort of way but somehow even more so than she ever had in the past.

She threw everything into this bc if she was ever EVER going to fall in love the way she's been hoping for her whole life it HAS to be him, he saved her life and he CARED, he was perfect. 

There's one problem though, gray is uncomfortable.

Ok, so my biggest problem with the writing of this ship is that Gray is painted to be an asshole most of the time for not liking juvia or returning her feelings which feels icky to me bc no one is entitled to someone else's feelings just bc they like u? (Yes im aware that u could argue gray was just in hard-core denial about his feelings,or that he fell in love over time,  no I don't care if u ship gruvia or interpret their feelings differently this is my hc u don't have to agree ur opinion is valid plz let me have this). 

It's different with gray than other guys Juvia has "fallen in love" with. It's different bc he cares about her and juvia genuinely does care, she's honestly never felt this strongly about a boy, and making him uncomfortable doesn't make her feel good? 

Juvia has friends who aren't a boy she's pursuing for the first time. And they're all so nice. She notices first with gajeel, a man of course but bc juvia is so focused on gray she doesn't even entertain the thought that she would feel anything romantic for gajeel. She barely notices that she loves him too. She doesn't notice how she falls in love with the entire guild bc they r her family. Her home. And they love her. 

Maybe gray and her finally have a talk about boundaries, maybe it's the build up of her guild mates, while supportive still trying to explain to juvia that she shouldn't stalk gray or hate other women just cuz. 

But juvia learns.

And Juvia realizes something about herself.

I think juvia loves gray and gray loves juvia but I think it's platonic. They make each other better and build each other up so well and Juvia doesn't want to make Gray uncomfortable and she realizes that Gray rejecting her feelings doesn't hurt as much as she thought it would? Isn't being rejected by someone the worst kind of pain there is? So y is she so calm? Y is she happy just knowing he's still going to be her friend? 

And above all else she feels

Relieved 

I think it takes juvia a while to process this new information.

From the outside however, it looks like Gray rejected her and now she has been in quiet thought for like 2 days and everyone is waiting for her to explode. 

Gajeel sits with her a lot I think, a form of solidarity (can u tell i love juvia and gajeel being best friends???). Lucy tries to engage her in conversation about nothing in particular and it works a few times and she gets juvia to laugh so she counts it as a win. 

This continues for another day or so, different members of the guild making sure to keep an eye on her, never really leaving her alone unless she asks, just being there for her without her even asking.

I don't think juvia realizes that they're doing this, she knows it's happening obviously but she doesn't fully process it until someone, maybe lucy or levy or another one of the girls, asks if she's ok. 

I think that's when juvia really realizes that the days after getting rejected by gray and just focusing on herself surrounded by her friends she realizes how much they all care.

How much they love her.

How much she loves them.

How she may have a special place for gray in her heart but it was never romantic, it wasn't about that. It was about how he made her feel safe.

About how she wasn't sad that Gray rejected her because he wasn't the ONLY one she felt safe with. 

Juvia probably starts crying at this realization, probably to the horror of whoever asked but juvia starts laughing and smiling and she realizes she's never felt so good just from being HONEST with herself.

I think it's awkward with her and gray for another few days but eventually they move past it, I think juvia is still overbearing at times but now it's more evenly spread out to other guildmates as well.

And now she finally allows herself to be friends with the other girls of fairy tail. It's like a veil is lifted ya know? 

She doesn't have to pretend to hate them to sell her story.

She can be friends with them.

They don't have to talk about boys to be friends.

Juvia doesn't have to like boys to be friends with them.

I think it takes longer for juvia to fully accept that she likes girls but she gets there eventually with her family by her side. 

I mainly like this idea bc it plays with juvia's themes of extremes and acknowledges the idea that too much of anything can be a bad thing, I don't like how juvia's stalkery behavior is treated as a joke or quirky bc she never actually learns from them and gray is treated as the one who needs to change when my man's literally??? Doesn't shouldn't be forced to accept someone's feelings just because she's nice and in love with him?? Bc that's not how real life works????  Again u can ship gruvia and like juvia as she is, ur valid and I love u im simply projecting😌😌. I also think this interpretation really shows the whole power of friendship thing fairy tail loves to preach and honestly im such a suckered for found family troupes so ye. 

I think gray and gajeel r the world's best wingman for juvia no I do not take constructive criticism.

This concludes zai projecting onto juvia for 50 pages im sure no one read this whole thing and if u did i'm sorry and I love u, plz ignore the typos I did not proof read this and just kinda typed oop

[hamliet]

when does a relationship become queerbaiting? theres a book that i really like and the 2 male leads characters have a lot of storylines and arcs where they get closer and i think some of the tropes used can be similar to the typical romantic tropes, neither of them end up with anyone at the end of the story since its more about found family and the long journey the whole cast goes through. they even get shipped by another character as a running gag. personally i always saw it as being open to interpretation but recently the revised edition of the original novel came out and there were several lines those 2 characters had about each other that were kinda toned down, i didnt think much of it but i saw a post about how it was clearly baiting and the author was being homophobic for toning it down. i didnt think it counted as baiting since as far as i know, the novel was never advertised as anything with romance and the author never pretended they were gonna end up together. i am definitely a little weirded out by the decision to change those specific lines but a lot of the story stayed the same, including a lot about their relationship so idk what to think.

i guess im more confused on if it counts as baiting, or even substext??

Sooooo I am not the best person to ask about this, because I’m a cis woman who has thus far in life only been attracted in a romantic sense to cis men. I can talk a bit about baiting as a general concept in fiction, but you should definitely take it with some grains of salt. 

Baiting, for me, is like deliberately playing up an aspect writers have no intention on delivering on. Usually this is done for ratings, to tease fans, fanservice, etc, but without payoff, it is just bad writing. Red herrings are good in writing, but only can be successfully used if the actual result is more satisfying than the herring. This applies to writing in general, not just to romantic ships. However, when the baiting involves historically underrepresented groups for no reason other than to get fans to spend money consuming the story, I think we can all agree that becomes something more grotesque than just bad writing: it’s insensitive, socially irresponsible, frankly hurtful. 

Some common examples are Bridgerton which has a gay character, who is extremely minor, yet they played up this character in advertising. Also, Rizzoli and Isles I think actually had its producers mention deliberately playing up the lesbian subtext to hook the audience without ever intending on following through. 

That said, context also matters. Like, there are aspects of the culture of the work’s author, the target audience, and such that come into play here also (so like, romantic tropes differ by culture. For example, enemies to lovers is common in Asian stories but less in the west, and the “girl who pursues a guy” is extremely common in Japanese shonen in particular, while it is very much a cringe trope that almost never results in romance in American fiction. So if a writer reads, say, tropes that are common in America into a Japanese work and says it’s baiting, that’s quite possibly not the intent even if it may have been the experience of the reader. So even if there was no intent, there can still be hurt, and that hurt can be real, if that makes sense. 

The definition of what constitutes ‘baiting’ varies. I do think that, in true Tumblr fashion, the term gets thrown around a lot and loses its intended meaning, or is so rigidly defined that creators can meet the letter of the “not a bait” requirement while ignoring the spirit of it.

To start with the latter: regarding something hitting the letter of what most wouldn’t consider baiting yet not really the spirit, let’s look at The Rise of Skywalker. This movie had a genuine lesbian kiss in it... between two characters we’d never seen more than a glimpse of while others are celebrating around them. Since it has a kiss, it’s not baiting, right? Well... the director deliberately said in the lead-up to the film that he included it because he “wanted LGBT people to see themselves in the film.” If “see yourselves in the film” is like a nanosecond of background, then, like... idk. Baiting or not, it feels icky, and I know some people consider it baiting and some don’t even if they don’t like, love that representation. But I think this is more queerbaiting than like, Nobara and Maki, who don’t have explicit romantic coding. 

Going back to the former, in terms of ‘queerbaiting’ losing its intended meaning... I think there are a lot of really poorly written romantic ships out there, often het, while a lot of same-gender relationships are really well written regardless of whether there’s romantic coding within the text. The main emotional energy in stories with 90% male characters (as frankly many if not most stories are, great job world) is probably between two men. There’s just so much more potential with well-written characters who share a lot of screen time, so of course people are going to ship them. In my opinion, this does not inherently make it baiting, but it certainly creates an environment that lends itself to baiting even if the writers aren’t intending to do this. 

Like, you could say the main emotional energy in BNHA is Bakugou and Deku. However, Bakudeku is 100% not queerbaiting. It’ll never be canon romantically (I don’t even ship it lol). There has been nothing to imply romance between them even if the main emotional message can be seen in their development. Deku/Ochaco is likely to be canon, but there is a significant lack of genuine emotional energy between them (the story’s plots and themes don’t coalesce around their relationship), so it’s probably going to feel forced. In contrast, Naruto/Sasuke had an actual kiss in canon, which while played for laughs is a lot more direct romantic coding than anything between Bakugou/Deku. I actually don’t think the majority of Narusasu is baiting, but I definitely think that one moment in chapter like 3 was really poor fanservice for yaoi fans, and has not aged well at all. 

It is also the case that fans can confuse headcanons with what is actually in the text, and that just never ends well. For example, Clover and Qrow’s ship in RWBY: a lot of people read Clover as gay, which led to “bury your gays” outrage when he died. A member of the crew stated explicitly they had never intended for Clover to be a love interest for Qrow, and truthfully here was nothing strictly romantic in their relationship--nothing like a kiss or a declaration of love or a parallel to another romantic couple. Hence, I don’t personally consider it queerbaiting or bury your gays, but a lot of fans felt that it was and their pain is legitimate even if I think textually the argument isn’t there. The one thing I do think is true about this in particular is that there was also no strict platonic coding, which encourages headcanons. Clear writing, yo. It can help. 

Note the word “can” not “will,” because strict platonic coding doesn’t always fix things, either. In what was probably a reaction to the outrage over Clover’s death, you had extremely blatant platonic coding of Ruby and Penny’s relationship this season leading up to Penny’s death. Ruby refers to Penny as “our friend” three different times, wherein “friend” sends a platonic message and “our” sends an even stronger message that it’s not about the two of them despite the fact that their friendship is one of the sweetest and most interesting in the show. A lingering Ruby-Penny hug then is followed by a lingering Penny-Weiss hug, then Yang, then Blake, etc. The writers went out of their way to hit people over the head with “platonic” and yet they have still gotten accusations of bury your gays and queerbaiting because people will see what they want to see in a story. 

Seeing what you want to see in a story also isn’t inherently bad. People who are underrepresented are going to have to read themselves into stories because Lord knows writers ain’t incorporating them well enough if at all. It’s why “Mary Sues” are common in fanfiction, which is primarily written by people who are not straight white men: because where the hell else are we to see ourselves in fiction? So essentially the macrocosm of culture creates this problem, both in terms of baiting and the misuse of the term, and the only fix is a shit ton more good representation.