neil stealing kisses from todd whenever they're alone in their room. it usually happens when todd privately recites him a particularly god-tier poem or comes up with a genius answer to a trigonometry problem neil's having a hard time with. he'd laugh breathlessly in astonishment and the realization that his boyfriend is so, so amazing and lean over to kiss him chastely on the lips. most of the time, neil does it when todd's not even finished talking and the other boy would get all shocked and quiet all of a sudden - which leads to neil wanting to kiss him even more because of the adorable expression he wears everytime.
something that kind of bothers me about modern feelings toward the epic of gilgamesh is how it's been COMPLETELY watered down to being "gay". Bear with me as I explain.
this is more of an extreme example, but I see this take all the time (not the yaoi part. the gay lover part). it's boiled down to the fact that it's gay over literally anything else in the epic. Gilgamesh's lament to Urshanabi about Enkidu's loss is overshadowed by the fact that Gilgamesh is mourning his gay lover. Gilgamesh is on a journey because he lost his gay lover. Gilgamesh and Enkidu were gay.
Now I understand that with a modern lens, people tend to lock on to how unabashedly Gilgamesh mourns Enkidu, because it's gay and because it's the oldest written epic in human history. People feel deeply connected to the idea that people like them have been around since the dawn of literature. But placing exclusive focus on the nature of the relationship as gay, rather than why the relationship or its loss was important, erases the story the epic is trying to tell.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story about love, yes, but it is not a love story. It's about the fear of death, coping with loss, and desperation to stave off the inevitable. It's about the bonds of friendship, about hardship, coming to terms personal change and losing pieces of yourself as you learn and grow. It is about consequences, arrogance, death, second chances, mourning, yearning, loving and LIVING. The Epic of Gilgamesh is about the entire human experience and one man's struggle to accept it. What does it mean to have lived? What does it mean to have loved, and lost? What does it mean to die, and to be remembered? What does it mean to be human?
It is perfectly okay to find appreciation for the Epic because of Gilgamesh and Enkidu's relationship. But also understand that the world's oldest story is not about two gay men who loved each other. It is a story about being alive.
Mr. Sparrow. You will accompany these fine men to the helm and provide us with a bearing to Isla de Muerta. You will then spend the rest of the voyage contemplating all possible meanings of the phrase “silent as the grave.” Do I make myself clear?
Saying love is what makes life livable sounds cringy but it's true, it's the love I have for coffee that makes my mornings sweet, the love I have for sleeping that makes the nights beautiful and the love I have for happiness that makes me look for it
Oh my lord Todd is a new screenwriter who is on set to work on a movie, he is always extra involved with his movies because he has very specific visions of how things should be. Neil is a new actor they cast as the lead, it’s his debut role. They are thrown together on this set. The movie is a love story about two hopeless romantics who are doomed by the narritive? One of todds best works? Neil goes on to be Todd’s go to request when he is writing movies? Todd writes movies and characters specifically tailored to Neil? They eternally perpetuate each other’s careers falling in love in the process? While meeting friends and bringing light love and laughter into each other’s lives along the way?