every time i look at shayne's story i start crying again because this guy. this fucking guy who thought his career was over in his 20s. who joined smosh as a 'last resort', as a defeat of sorts as he mentioned many times. this guy. who met. his coworker at thE FUCKING AUDITION. WHO SAID SEE U AT WORK. AND THEN HE SAW THEM AT WORK. AND THEN THEY WERE SHIPPED. ANd they never dated, never realised they had something, probably due to all the pressure. later shayne mentions 'investing into his friendships' more than relationships as advice for finding the one. she mentions when he made her a care package when they were sick, and it proabably didn't occur to them for a while until shit slowed down during the pandemic, until there were less eyes on everyone. this guy who mentions being bad at dating. these guys who made a whole show about being 'bad at dating'. this guy who didn't know what to expect at smosh but made it spark up again, who helped shape it and make it what it is though hard work and immense dedication, mET THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE AT SMOSH. NO. HE MADE SMOSH WHAT IT IS WITH HER. THE PILLARS OF SMOSH. AND THIS GUY. IS NOW. FUCKING MARRIED TO THEM?? THEY'RE MARRIED???? WHAT THE FUCK
"Oh! Why do all the other romances in the epilogue get kisses while Astarion gets just hugs! Where is our kiss?!?!"
I think you're missing the point...
For non-ascended Astarion, nothing is more fitting or more perfect than that hug. Why?
This is a man that had been abused for over 200 years. A man who was forced to use his body to lure people against his will. A man who tells you that he has used his body sexually and otherwise that just the act of sexual intimacy has been tainted for him.
In Act 2, as he tells you all this, allowing an extremely vulnerable side of himself to be shown to you. Asking for reassurance that he was more than a cheap tool. What does Tav/Durge do?
They hug him. Hold him tightly. And the Vampire has no clue what to do because he, in 200 years, has never been touched like that unless it had sexual implications. For the first time, he is being touched for pure, vulnerable intimacy and love. And in that moment, he accepts the safety of your arms, and holds you. Craving not a touch of lust, but love.
So yes, a hug is far better than a kiss in my regard. At the end of the day, no matter what, he wants to feel that safe feeling of your arms. No expectations, just pure love.
as a Jew I find the antisemitic trope of the Wandering Jew endlessly fascinating and there’s a version of it that lives rent free in my head that I can’t get out
because yes, we have been cursed—not by G-d, but by man; not for anything we’ve done, but for libel against us—and the curse antisemites have forced on us is that we must wander forever. we don’t get a home, here or there. we aren’t allowed to put down roots in diaspora, but we aren’t allowed to return either; regardless of which we do, the nations try to drive us out and impose their sentence on us: you must wander some more
there is a deconstructed version of the Wandering Jew that I want to reclaim, not as a testament to our sin but as a witness to the nations’, how they’ve treated the wanderer in their midst. on some level, a witness to how the nations treat all wanderers: Jew, Roma, bedouin. but ultimately, a testament to the libel & persecution we as Jews have endured & persevere through
this Wandering Jew is a weary old immortal forced to wander by hatred that goes before him through the nations, who has seen those nations come and go, empires rise and fall, and bears witness to our plight through every one, waiting for injustice to be righted so he can finally rest
i once saw this video on tiktok basically saying that percy gets annoyed with monsters more than he gets scared of them because of his years of experience. and i honestly fuck with it. like, this man only feels true fear when the stakes are high as shit, like if the world or his loved ones' lives are on the line. other than that, he's just slightly spiffed that this hellhound bothered him because he and annabeth have a lunch date. or he's only mildly annoyed because he's just trying to spend time with grover on their "bestie tuesday's" but has to hit pause because an empousa decided they wanted a rematch.