#under the skin meta

[lunarriviera]

yet another shen yi meta [uts2 spoilers]

hi hey hello everyone i continue to be tormented with obsessive thinkings about s2 Shen Yi so i must holler about them/him some more, feel free to stop reading if you have not watched through approximately episode 11 which is where i still am. it's taking me longer to watch because i keep pausing to rewind/screenshot and/or weep in anguish about Him and What He Is Going Through. and how NO ONE IS PAYING ATTENTION. or insufficient attention. cf. Ryan Gosling in the Papyrus sketch screaming WELL IT WASN'T!! ENOUGH!!

[more. much more. behind the cut]

let's start here, with shen yi's artwork. in this scene he competed with AI to paint a chosen image and, surprising exactly no one, he won, partly because he's brilliant but tbh mostly because AI art is garbage and always adds dolphins, rainbows, and hands with six fingers.

but here's the thing: is no one going to question this? does anyone think to themselves "ah yes, shen yi is absolutely the BEST person in the world to make a painting in 30 minutes that depicts, quote, a lonely man on a beach." so here is this miserably hunched, despairing figure, surrounded by murky howling early-picasso blue, LOOKING IN FACT QUITE A LOT LIKE SHEN YI HIMSELF—even dressed like him (in the snowy white and dainty pastels he seems to favor this season)—and not a single person thinks: huh, wonder if this guy's okay?

in fact s2 seems to be repeated evidence of the fact that shen yi is Very Much Not Okay, and yet no one is really paying attention. he supports everyone else emotionally and they all seem to assume he either a) has no emotional blowback to deal with, or b) can deal with it himself unaided somehow. (through painting, maybe? but have you seen what he's painting lately? e.g. monstrous abusive parent figures, in some kind of breathless fugue state during which he can psychically hear lines from someone else's traumatic childhood?) he goes to li han's house to help her, which is so like him, and he says:

oh! you might think. well, maybe he will self-disclose a little? tell li han about some of his own personal difficulties that he's had to overcome, just to bond with her, get her to open up? HAHAHA ARE YOU NEW HERE, of course he doesn't, he just listens to her while she sobs out her tragic backstory, gives her a tissue, relates her struggles to a vaguely terrifying metaphor of his own device about a sealed room filling up ineluctably with floodwater, then smiles and takes her out for pizza. (totally unrelated but wow the product placement is heavy-handed this season. xiaomi! pizza hut!)

since we're talking about the li han case, consider this moment, too, when he interprets someone's house-person-tree drawing. does no one ever think, "for someone who talks constantly about love and connection, how interesting that shen yi has no family, refuses to date in very pointed and deliberate way, and lives alone with a cat."

shen yi knows all about love! never shuts up about love! constantly dispensing bromides about what real love should be like! and wakes every day ALONE from horrific guilty nightmares ft. creepy small girl in blood-red dress, pls will no one help this man pls he's drowning.

couple more bits and then i swear to god i'll shut up i'm starting to feel really stupid. but first consider this little story, in three parts:

"an image of despair" um okay well…technically it's just a dead body, albeit after a fairly grisly stabbing, but sure go off i guess

2. du cheng: wow even for you that was unusually poetic and weird

3. also du cheng: back to investigating the murder i guess [wanders away]

this kind of thing happens again. and again. either no one notices assorted horrified/devastated expressions on shen yi's face (in the way of classic extradiegetic reaction shots, where the camera sees them—we see them—but none of the characters onscreen do) or, when du cheng does notice, he's immediately distracted by his actual job, and/or the fact that he doesn't really know how to help his partner, because lbr he has all the emotional intelligence of a pony.

one more mini-story in three parts, and then i really will put a sock in it:

shen yi: why, what did i do. why are you looking at me like that

2. du cheng: bc you just lied your whole entire face off with alarming unsettling proficiency, since when are you that good at being dishonest

3. shen yi: hehe

in an earlier episode we also saw shen yi shouting at a suspect in the interrogation room, so convincingly that afterwards du cheng admits, you scared me. lol! says shen yi in carefree manner, i learned that from you! haha! agrees everyone, and they go about their business.

but ghastly things keep happening to and near him. at least once per episode, shen yi makes a face like this, because people are jumping off cliffs in front of him or abruptly smashing things with hammers or just lashing out with all kinds of antisocial behaviors in his vicinity:

to be fair, he has other expressions. for instance he also repeatedly employs his patented creepy ruthless smile, of the "i am going to fuck you up" variety, an expression reserved especially for criminals:

as well, i'm also leaving out all the ridiculously adorable/domestic scenes with him and du cheng, in which they share candy, roast each other about assorted nonsense, briefly co-parent a child, and, you know. are just generally disgustingly married. but that's a different meta.

also, admittedly du cheng does SAY things. he says, "are you still having trouble sleeping," he says "do i not care about you?" and "don't push yourself so hard" and "if you run into troubles, don't try to take them on alone." (i am sparing you all these screenshots since this is a meta about shen yi but trust me i have carefully accumulated every single shred of evidence in which du cheng is protective.) but, as frequently as du cheng expresses concern, he also just keeps clapping shen yi on the shoulder in a brotastic way and then strolling out. which i fear is just not going to be adequate. ("i don’t think this is literally papyrus. maybe that was the starting point but they clearly modified it?" "well whatever they did, IT WASN'T!! ENOUGH!!")

i leave you with two final images of shen yi, seen here continuing to be very much Not Okay, and to quote the bernie meme, i am ONCE AGAIN ASKING YOU, drama, is anyone going to care enough about this man to stop him going over the edge of the cliff with Evil Art Critic Eugenicist Moriarty Weasel Man? because he will, he will do it. because he's lonely and he's misunderstood and he's—

[cane comes out and drags me offstage]

[lauralot89]

One Perfect Moment

(There's not full out vomit in this clip, but the character does gag and spit out food)

In Under the Skin (2014), an alien disguised as a beautiful woman lures men to her home, where they are then trapped and processed as meat for her planet's consumption.

By this point in the film, the alien has decided she doesn't want to participate in this any longer and has run away. Her first act of defiance, of trying to become human, is to eat cake.

It's interesting that it was a genuine connection with a human that convinced the alien to go rogue, but her first human act is so solitary. Maybe it's because she fears being discovered if she interacts with others, or maybe it's because she feels guilt for the men she killed. Or it could simply be that cake is easy. It's food. She understands food, that's why she's here.

Except she doesn't. The alien cannot eat. Whether it's a physiological impossibility or a taste/texture issue or some combination thereof, she can't do it. What should be a triumphant act of defiance, the first step in her journey towards human connection, ends with her gagging as others stare but keep their distance

I love the subtle ways that this outcome is foreshadowed: the extended shot of her hand trembling as she inches the fork toward her mouth, the way her jaw is shaking when she's trying not to gag.

And, as discussed in my last perfect moment, I love that the scene perfectly lays out what's to come. The alien wants to be human. She wants to experience human things. But when she tries, they are painful and impossible. When her later actions put her in direct contact with humans, this becomes even more pronounced.

[Cake is better than sex, but she can't have either one]

It's such a human desire and it's met with such futility. If you had told me before I watched this that someone could give me all these feelings about ScarJo failing to eat cake--well, I'd believe you because that sounds like me, but I wouldn't have thought this was how it would be done

It's a gorgeous tragic movie and it's a gorgeous tragic scene

perfect moment, no notes

[akanemnon]

Wow, not even 5 seconds in and they're already starting a fight.

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[sable-pigeon]

Tingsheng, Mei Changsu, and Xiao Jingyan in the early episodes of Nirvana in Fire

Looking at how early episodes of the show use Tingsheng as a way of bringing Mei Changsu and Jingyan closer together (with an end note about how, having fulfilled that purpose, he remains a connection that they both draw upon to communicate with each other).

Tingsheng is there from the very beginning of Mei Changsu and Jingyan's (re)acquaintance, starting from when Jingyan first notices Mei Changsu; Mei Changsu is talking to Tingsheng (and starting to realize who Tingsheng might be), and this leads into their first conversation:

The subject of this conversation is primarily Tingsheng and, most importantly, what Mei Changsu is offering: to teach Tingsheng, and also to get him out of his present situation, and, to his credit, Jingyan is listening (so much so that he will echo the same sentiment back to Mei Changsu in episode 33):

Checking in on Tingsheng is also what brings Jingyan, who by now has asked around about this mysterious individual, to Jingsu's next meeting, where Mei Changsu is very direct about why he's here, and reflects back what Jingyan has heard about him by recasting the previous scene as something solely towards that purpose:

When Jingyan next speaks privately with Mei Changsu, it's in the aftermath of Nihuang's matter in Episode 5, and a displeased Jingyan lays down an ultimatum about his limits, but is still willing to listen to what Mei Changsu has to say, and what Mei Changsu has to say explicitly links Tingsheng with asking Jingyan to trust him:

Jingyan is shocked to learn Mei Changsu knows Tingsheng's true identity, but he also has to acknowledge what Mei Changsu's silence means. In addition, Jingyan's frustration with having to keep that secret, alongside his recognition of the necessity of doing so provides another opportunity for Jingyan to hear what Mei Changsu is telling him:

The conversation ends with Jingyan continuing to process and getting up rather abruptly after Mei Changsu's salute, but even though he doesn't turn around, he does stop on his way out; he needs to thank Mei Changsu for saving Tingsheng, and we get the reaction shot from Mei Changsu to close the scene:

The next time Jingyan and Mei Changsu are onscreen together, in Episode 9 when Mei Changsu visits Jingyan at the manor he remembers so well, the atmosphere is markedly different from the last time we saw them, and Tingsheng, a settled Tingsheng who Mei Changsu did succeed in getting out, is there:

As in their first meeting, Mei Changsu helps Tingsheng up while Jingyan looks on, but the positions have changed: Mei Changsu has done what he promised and succeeded in bringing Tingsheng out and to Jingyan's side. Tingsheng's bow too, is different, he is no longer cowering, but saluting:

The warmth of the sequence is supported by the accompanying music, and Jingyan's acquiescence to Tingsheng keeping 'Feiliu's' present flows directly into his introduction of Mei Changsu to his subordinates, where, in far cry from their previous scenes, he specifically names Mei Changsu as his friend.

From the initial meeting through this gift sequence (which leads into their first truly collaborative scene), Tingsheng features in each of Mei Changsu and Jingyan's early interactions, and their discussion of him functions as a way for Mei Changsu to show his intentions and for Jingyan to believe in them.

Finally, even when Tingsheng is no longer central to their interactions, as he is in these early episodes, he remains a way for Jingsu to communicate sincerity to one other, whether by Jingyan reaffirming his trust in Mei Changsu after the infamous occurrences of Episode 33, or by Mei Changsu acknowledging his connections in the aftermath of the reveal.

[quadrantadvisor]

Always wondered what the fandom consensus about this is (or if there is one). Also, why do you think grimwalkers and/or Hunter don't have magic? Is it a natural part of being a grimwalker, is it because their ortet was human, or did Belos do it on purpose?

[moongothic]

I need to make a confession

I genuinely do not understand Buggy simps

Like I thought y'all were joking with the whole rooting for Buggy-thing but. No. People are actually seriously rooting for him. And I just don't get it.

Like. I can't tell if I'm missing something or if people are somehow completely misinterpreting his actual character. Like clearly it's meant to be one or the other and I can't tell which and I feel like I'm losing my mind because of it

'Cause the thing is that. Like. Until now, Buggy has been a pure gag character. He's no different from characters like Ceasar Clown and Spandam in that sense, he's just nowhere near as vile a human being as those other gag characters so he's marginally more lovable in what a pathetic fuck he is. But in the end, Buggy's just been there to be a punching bag (quite literally), because it's funny as hell to watch him eat shit And the reason it's funny IS because Buggy is a piece of shit. Again, not nearly as bad as Spamdam and co, but he's still a lying, cowardly, spineless douchebag who uses others for his own benefit and is willing to ditch anyone to save his own skin. Like Buggy was going to ditch his entire crew and flee by himself when the Shichibukai System was taken down and the Marines came for his head. He was going to leave his crew to die by themselves, without participating in the fight at all. Buggy was the one telling them to do the hard lifting while he'd escape, while the crew had no idea their beloved Chairman was going to abandon them. Literally the only reason Buggy failed to do that was because he was too slow and Crocodile got there before he managed to skedaddle.

He is essentially Usopp if Usopp wasn't willing to get beaten to death to protect his friends and their honor. Even fucking Luffy thinks Buggy is a pathetic idiot, and Luffy is the biggest indicator in the whole series on how to tell whether or not the readers should like a character or not. Not to mention, all the in-universe Buggy simps have been portrayed as (precious) idiots who can't see through Buggy's bullshit. Like every step of the story Oda has been trying to tell us that Buggy is an absolute loser.

So when people are like "Mihawk and Crocodile are going to see Buggy's ambition and become full Buggy supporters themselves!" I just

Are we reading the same comic???? HELLO????

Like I'll give you this, it would be objectively the funniest fucking outcome imaginable, which would be on-brand for Buggy and his trend of falling upwards.

But between Mihawk respecting people who are willing to abandon their honor to protect someone dear to them, and Crocodile's deep trust issues (possibly rooted in being betrayed in the past), I can not fucking fathom the two ever genuinely siding with Buggy the "I will leave you to die by yourself to save myself" Clown. Not when the two (and most other characters, including fucking Galdino and Daz) have been able to judge Buggy's character accurately (like how Crocodile was like "I thought you'd have ran away by now" when he arrived at Emptee Bluffs, and Buggy was like "yeah no shit")

Not unless Buggy grows enough of a spine that he'd be willing to sacrifice himself for someone (or at least get hurt on someone else's behalf to protect them), more specifically Mihawk and Crocodile. And let's be real, right now, Buggy probably wants nothing more than to run away from the two before they do actually kill him.

I just

Buggy simps. I do not understand you. I don't understand how you've reached your reading of the character.

[artbyblastweave]

Drop your Lois Lane hot takes

(also if you're not a Superman fan, what would you recommend starting off with?)

So MAWS Lois Lane very pointedly has some significant character flaws, generally justified by her backstory and often the opposite side of the conventional "positive" Lois Qualities that she exhibits. Trust issues stemming from her canon-typical dysfunction with her father, upstream of her whole truth-to-power thing. Self-esteem issues and a sense of inadequacy, upstream of her tenacity and singleminded pursuit of her goals. Downstream from her self-esteem issues you've got a sensitivity to perceived betrayal or the idea that people are only pretending to value her. Self-assurance and confidence... that manifests as bouts of myopic thinking or lack of consideration for others. There's a level on which I like this more than S:TAS- she was fun in that, but the purpose there wasn't to give her any kind of arc. She's much more dynamic in this, she has a palpable crisis, and it all combines into a perfect cocktail demonstrating why she reacts so very, very badly to being out of the loop on Superman. In her position it's not insane to assume that Clark expressed interest in her just to jerk her around and sabotage her investigation more thoroughly. But in practice... I (and those watching with me, who joined me in screaming at the TV a bunch during the last couple episodes) felt that the narrative was both-sidesing the dynamic a bit uncomfortably, because Clark has very good reason to not trust Lois specifically with sensitive information. Their first interaction involved her manipulating him for the sake of advancing her career. She's been screaming from the rooftops that she dislikes Superman, wants to expose Superman's secrets, and he was on the verge of coming clean with her before that came up. She functionally threatens to kill herself to force him to out himself, right after he got back from the government (and very likely her father specifically!) trying to assassinate him. Very little of this was coherently voiced when they're having it out, and as a result it felt like the narrative was much more sympathetic to Lois's stance than Clarks, treating his concealing the information as the root of the problem here. And when Jimmy brings up that he's known for years but understood that it was probably a deeply personal situation that Clark would bring up when he was comfortable- that's not a catalyst for introspection about whether Lois is entitled to the information, it isn't used as the point to push the idea that both parties have valid motivations here. It's mostly just the catalyst for another gag where now Jimmy is upset that Clark told Lois first (without. You know. the context.) I walked away thinking that Clark doesn't have a disproportionate amount to apologize for in this situation. Not nothing, but not the brunt. The reconciliation arc really breezed past the fact that she threw herself off a building to force the issue. Any relationship where throwing yourself off a building is a tool in the toolbox seems like it might be on shaky ground, communicatively!

The thing is, well, honestly there's a few things. I'm willing to accept off the bat that I might be lily-orcharding a perfectly unobjectionable creative decision to some extent, because by default I'm really biased in favor of anyone trying to keep deeply compromising information about their identities away from their loved ones for fear of their negative reaction, and that's coloring the intensity of my negative response. Another thing is that I think the show is kind of a victim of the megashort season runs of contemporary cartoons- I mean we'll be lucky if we get 30 episodes of this show total, every arc is gonna be at least somewhat pinched when you get 10 episodes and change per season. And a third, final thing is that the season isn't over yet, and they've left themselves with a great springboard from which to address my misgivings.

Clark leans into the idea that he's the one at fault, begs forgiveness, and so on, but that's actually in character for this version; given that one of his biggest drives is to be accepted, it makes sense that he'd do whatever he thought he had to get things smoothed out as quickly as possible, even if there's still a lot going unaddressed below the surface. And Episode 7 (6?) is basically entirely about how Lois's character flaws, scaled up and appended to power, can turn out really really bad. Kryptonite is introduced in this continuity by a bunch of alternate-universe Lois Lanes who try to kill Superman without giving him the benefit of the doubt- all while never expressly communicating to anyone that the root of their concern is how badly things went with their own Supermen. Lois meets an army of herself and immediately, correctly assumes that they aren't on the up-and-up, that they're holding something back. And the episode ends with her in possession of both a Superman-killing tool and information engineered to set off her well-established paranoid tendencies about Clark.

So if the show is being smart- and there's a very good chance that it is- the next leg is going to be about how for a superhero, just being open about your secret identity to your loved ones isn't necessarily going to be enough to defuse the underlying tensions and failures to communicate; the fact that they really speed-ran the reconciliation is going to turn out to be deliberate, a bandaid fix on the deeper problem, and a much worse reckoning is in the pipes once it becomes obvious that Task Force X is headed by her estranged father. (Which seems like the twist they're going for with that- they've never said the general's name out loud, so I think they're going for a fakeout where we all assume it's Wade Eiling but it turns out to actually be Sam Lane.) However. I've definitely watched a bunch of shows where I kept going "If the show is smart," "If the show is smart," and then the show wasn't smart, and it just turned out that the writers themselves hadn't chewed on the implications of what they were depicting as much as I had. I've got high hopes, though.

(tagging @st-just, @best-wizard, and @howlingguardian, who all also asked for the elaboration.)

[saturnskyline]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: รักโคตรร้ายสุดท้ายโคตรรัก | KinnPorsche: The Series (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Pete Phongsakorn Saengtham/Vegas Kornwit Theerapanyakun Characters: Pete Phongsakorn Saengtham, Vegas Kornwit Theerapanyakun Additional Tags: No Smut, Subspace, Subdrop, Aftercare, Pete Phongsakorn Saengtham Needs A Hug, and similarly, Vegas Kornwit Theerapanyakun Needs a Hug, Vegas Kornwit Theerapanyakun Tries, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Shibari, Rope Bondage, as a calming mechanism, basically pete struggling to acknowledge his needs, and vegas trying to help, but don't worry they're working it out, Established Relationship, Post-Canon, Boundaries, Angst with a Happy Ending, no beta we die like elizabeth and sebastian Summary:

“Vegas,” he starts suddenly, then stops. He has no idea how to ask for what he wants.

Vegas’ brow furrows. “What is it, love?”

Pete inhales deeply. “Could you… do you think you could tie me up?”

—

Or, after a scene ends poorly, Pete has an idea for how Vegas can help him feel better.

— 

AHHHH it’s done!! i am so nervous and excited to post this, it took so long and i legitimately had a crisis over every word lol, but here it is!!! tagging the people who offered kind words during the writing process and/or asked to be tagged: @ba0shanblack @justanothervariant @thisautistic @t4tvegaspete @oceannacaldin @fanastraea @witski ily all mwah!! 💞

[lingeringscars]

i don't think shauna ever forgives misty for calling her and telling her about travis the way that she did

[sophiethewitch1]

will we ever get to see the Undertale fic? just out of curiosity :)

i mean yeah probably even if i don't actually want to be working on it. i have brain worms they must be expunged. but also which one are you talking about? maybe i can post a poll with the options and ppl can vote and ill do that one instead of bouncing around literally 4 separate ideas... even if i know nobody here wants to read sans undertale x reader in the year of 2024... bizarre girl bizarre

[lunarriviera]

[overthinking about blorbo follows] [quasi-spoiler for uts s2 e3] look okay so here's the thing. shen yi is an insanely gifted classically trained painter who now lbr spends most of his working life sketching holdup mugshots off of grainy cctv footage, an occupation that at this point for him has to be boringly straightforward. maybe once in a while there's a cool serial murderer and he gets to come up with a way to reconstruct an entire person's body from one molar, or invent some new shrimp colors or something. then he goes home and paints his fucking heart out all night and for what, who is seeing it? who is seeing him? (and don't say du cheng bc i love him but we all know he probably wears black because he's red-green color blind.) so here he is, showing his canvases in a little group exhibition and trolling quietly amongst the clueless spectators, and no one even knows who he is because he's not showing up at the gallery opening in a suit du qing poured him into, clutching a glass of room-temperature champagne. instead here's someone standing the correct distance away from the canvas and you can practically hear shen yi's invisible antennae go sproing. idek who this charismatic pointy-faced guy is yet, maybe he's under the skin's answer to sheev palpatine but the point is, no one who can see what shen yi is doing talks to him about his work. so when weasel man says "he's a genius" and shen yi gives that tiny smile that's so frail it's almost invisible— he gave that smile one time before in s1, remember? when du cheng says "it could be that shen yi is wrong—but that's impossible, so we're crossing that one out." it's a beautiful little character note from tan jianci bc very likely shen yi isn't even aware he's doing it. maybe he's even telling himself "oh please how dare this guy, who does he think he is, clement greenberg"—shen yi who literally set fire to his ambition in the service of honing a moral compass so ruthless and unbending you could set greenwich mean time by it. but somewhere down in there, always—inside any person who chooses a life devoted to making things—is the desire for those made things to be seen.

who was the last person who said "he's a genius" not about his police work but about his painting? the last person who looked carefully at all of his values, hues, lines, shapes, gestural movements, mark-making, brushstrokes, depth of field, play of light, and really saw what he was doing, enough to be critical of it? when you're a working artist and someone sees you well enough to critique you intelligently? the pleasure is breathtaking, frankly on a spectrum with the erotic. (you could also argue he's smiling ruefully at the declaration that the painter's having become a cop is what ruined his work; when shen yi possibly thinks: you know nothing, it opened up everything for me. but i'm not so sure about that. because did it? has it? do we know that?) tl;dr weasel man is holding out an opened box of fresh turkish delight and it remains to be seen whether shen yi is going to faceplant into it. but i for one could not blame him. it is exhausting to have an enormous part of your psyche be all but completely invisible for years on end.

[wistfulwatcher]

if you write any yellowjackets (literally about anyone) I'll give you my firstborn . ❤️

I'm assuming you mean fic? if so, and I cannot believe I'm saying this after a seven year dry spell, but:

Misty/Nat hit me hard. I'm about two thirds of the way done, and I'm not letting myself watch today's ep until it's finished!

Thank you for the interest/compliment! I hope I don't disappoint ❤️

[ziptiesnfries]

Sometimes I think "oh no what if I become a re-captured whumpee, I hope whumper doesn't discover what really gets under my skin"

MOOD LMAO

like, if they weren't smart enough to get it the first time, you gotta really hope they're still not smart enough to get it the second time

[armandismywife]

Reflecting on her role in the story during the infancy of Loustat having me spiraling into a full meta. Does anyone else think it’s Something to be analyzed that Lily vaguely physically resembles and narratively parallels Claudia? I guess it could be considered foreshadowing, in that Claudia essentially steps into the role Lily had after Lily gets chomped by Lestat off screen.

Lily existing to be the sexual prize object Loustat fought over in their first conversation, serving to establish Loustat’s initiation of desire for each other and facilitate their first consummation, and becoming an ultimately expendable accessory to their relationship. A Black woman that Louis seeks comfort in, sex worker he would go to see just to talk. I mean, you had him barging into the snazzy brothel absolutely desperate to see her when he was emotionally fucked up by Lestat, only to be informed that she died, pathetically. Certainly Lily had never been on Louis’s mind and the object of his concern when he didn’t need something from her, as that’s not how the transaction works.

Then, Claudia wholly and truly being created to serve as a bandaid for Louis’s sorrow, a comfort thing to help him manage his anguish about how many of his own people got hurt because of his lone act of racial vengeance. Balanced perhaps by Louis’s act of compassion to save Claudia’s life by begging Lestat to turn her, but also a desperate act of altruism to counteract the psychic weight of the harm Louis has caused. I feel like people forget the reason that Claudia was even trapped in that burning building came back to Louis crashing out thanks to the racism he endured breaking him.

And you go on to have Claudia to be the ornamental third to Loustat; ultimately getting extinguished because she tried to free herself from their toxic circus. Lily may have been able to enjoy herself and get her share out of being a pawn in Loustat’s blossoming game, but like Claudia she did not get to consent in being booted from this reality as Loustat’s collateral. Claudia later getting SAed, and in season 2 again being objectified in the infantilization of her by the Theatre des Vampires harem; having to debase herself in a way, just like how the prostitutes to an extent have to to humor their clients’ whims.

Something something Lily and Claudia were both doomed from the start and that their stories depict how BW get used and abused by BM trying to nurse their own egos and have their pain muddled.

Louis might have been a ~Good Pimp who wanted the best for his girls, but he was still a pimp. For all we know in the present day he could be a hotep. I digress. Claudia and Lily were both victims of Loustat’s batshit bullshit.

the worst thing lestat did was kill this queen all she did was be an ally and fujo out

[snazzydwarf]

(This was written in July oh dear-)

You know how in a lot of fics a de-aged Danny winds up in Gotham either via Clockwork putting him there, or Danny goes through a portal (either through his own volition or not) and ends up being taken in by one of the bats?

Okay that, but what if he was never picked up and ends up falling through the cracks and becoming one of the many homeless children wandering Gotham's streets, but unlike all the other street kids who know when to keep their head down Danny just doesn't have those fear receptors... like at all- It's almost scary with how the kid manages to just not give a single flying fuck about what is going on.

So after a while of wandering the streets and getting acquainted with the Gotham's inhabitants everyone slowly get's used to the kid wandering around, dropping their guard and greeting him with smiles when he toddles around the corner, looking for his next meal or piece of scrap clothing.

Perhaps it's this show of trust they begin to notice the strangeness that hangs around him like a cloud. The shifting coloured eyes, the coldness in his skin that never seems to go away no matter how much clothing the kid gets bundled in.

The fact that no one knows where he goes once they take their eyes on him? Spooky to say the least, but they're Gothamites! One shady, possibly meta, kid ain't gonna change anything.

So he becomes a staple in everyone's lives, and eventually learned his name is Danny. He talks about having an older sister called Jazz, two best friends and a puppy he named Cujo. (who let their kids watch Cujo???) They also learned he had an innate fear of The Bats, whenever one swept into the streets during their nightly patrol he would just... disappear. He became unfindable and wouldn't appear until the next day.

At first they thought it was him finding a safe place to sleep while the night rolled around and the Rouges came out to play, but that assumption was quickly squashed when he was caught wailing on one of the Jokers henchmen. The white makeup couldn't even cover up the black and blue bruises that covered his face.

It was comical, if not a bit frightening to see this small child practically a baby sitting upon a knocked out, grown ass man. His little stubby legs dangling off the side of his body, too small to even reach the ground.

Of course nothing stays under the Bats radar for long so he end up eventually getting spotted. However none of the Bats where expecting such resistance from the civilians when they offered to take the kid.

Now whenever the little tyke is bumbling around and a Bat (or any other vigilante associated with them) is in the area, it's all hands on deck to distract Danny and get him somewhere else.

[maeselc]

Controversially, I think it was a logical and potentially even fairly interesting writing choice to give Ziyal romantic feelings for Garak, and it’s also totally believable that he didn’t have the emotional intelligence/wherewithal (or willingness to isolate himself even further) to reject her outright. I do get why it bothers people, and obviously the meta context is really unpleasant!

…but then I think about what Ziyal’s situation is. ‘I got rescued from a Breen camp as a young adult, and now I’m alone on this space station where almost everyone low-key hates people who look like me. Also, my dad who I just met sucks SO bad, but I am very traumatised and deeply alone and have been for a very long time so I want some kind of relationship with him. There’s one Cardassian here. He’s a screaming queen who is also my father’s arch nemesis, making him simultaneously the most dangerous and safest target for my sexual desires’. Like?? Yeah girl!! I’m sorry about all that but honestly, makes sense!!

Meanwhile, Garak is kind of a fucking loser (affectionate) whose Obsidian Order training did NOT prepare him for dealing kindly with a misguided young woman’s advances, but who absolutely would love to do anything at all to get under Dukat’s skin.