I Am Always Team Ex Who Haunts The Narrative.

lestat de lioncourt gaslighting, mansplaining, girlbossing, manipulating, gatekeeping and malewifing his way through unlife…

“please”

hannibal 3x12 || interview with the vampire 1x04

“And you liked to pick flowers”

“A little bit”

Every time I think about the fact that Akechi was Joker’s justice, and vice versa, I lose my mind at how intimate it is.

Akechi made you promise before he died to take down the man that had hurt you both, and when another man brought him back to play puppets he asks you to put an end to it as well. Akechi’s justice was never about him doing the final strike, his was allowing someone else to do it for him. His justice was having someone who cared enough to listen to him, and to do as he wished.

But for Joker, his justice was taking down the man who had killed his friend and framed him with his own two hands. His justice was deciding, that no, he refused to live in an illusion and then did something about it himself. Joker’s justice was taking the injustice done to you, and those around you, and being given the chance to end it yourself.

Akechi’s justice was having someone listen, and Joker’s justice was being given the chance to enact it himself. They perfectly mirrored each other, and understood what the other needed without even saying anything about it. It’s just so intimate, how could I not lose my mind over them?

I was so normal about his border in my podiatrist's office

I love when people see a picture of someone doing something Will Graham would absolutely never be caught dead doing, while holding a Fish and go “that is Will graham. I know this because of the fish”

Hannibal simultaneously acting affronted by being accused of his own crimes while also needing to hear every sordid detail of how it went down so he can tee-hee later and revel in duper's delight.

Hannibal (2013-2015) Interview with the Vampire (2022-)

And she’ll be what? A lap dog? No, not…not a dog. A daughter.

Hmm, any one notice this?

So a while ago I wrote a meta about how Stede isn’t actually oblivious to his feelings towards Ed, but I was really thinking about it at work today and honestly… Ed kind of is.

I know the running joke of Stede effortlessly being the most objectively romantic human on planet earth by sheer accident is hilarious. But did you ever notice that when Stede is actually trying to be loving on purpose, Ed Doesn’t Get it?

We can assume Stede started the ritual of them eating breakfast together cause it’s his quarters, and the intimacy of that clearly went right over Ed’s head cause he let Jack invade it without a second thought. Like Ed, honey, did the implications of a man wanting to eat breakfast with you and only you every single day seriously never register to you??

Stede plans a whole day together “treasure hunting” when he wants Ed to stay. The whole “you wear fine things well” business was pure oblivion on Stede’s part, this is him flirting. And he’s trying so hilariously hard to make this ridiculous idea work, but Ed still doesn’t get the gist. Luckily Lucius I-need-a-fucking-raise- Spriggs is here to save the day and clue Ed in to what at least this particular situation means.

…Which makes the gears clearly turning in Ed’s head during this moment absolutely precious and hilarious. Now he knows what’s going on. He sees that Stede’s excited to spend time with him in particular just like Saint Augustine, I mean a bunch more people will be also there this time, but still! And I’m sorry but the brief look of pure “Ed Exe has stopped working” when apparently the first thing Stede could think of was swimming is criminally underrated.

And look at that fond little smile it turns into, Ed knows full well that man has some cute little swim costume squirreled away somewhere ready to go after pulling an entire safari outfit out of his ass last episode 😂

Ok ok enough teasing Ed, back to the point.

We know Ed’s love language is physical touch. Stede’s is less talked about but I firmly believe his is quality time. Just like Ed is touch starved, Stede is shown to desperately want someone to spend time with. But that’s not just the way he receives love, it’s how he gives love too.

His way of saying I love you is to say “That’s me.” He’s the one who breaks the lock on his own bathroom door. He’ll be the one to show up at Ed’s restaurant and look at all the little Knick knacks in his gift shop on a slow day. Stede wants to be the one who’s there, who makes sure Ed doesn’t have to cry by himself, or feel silly about something he loves and put a lot of work into. He doesn’t ever want someone so deeply precious to him feeling as unwanted and isolated as he did back in Barabados.

And Ed ends up missing so many of these intentional gestures. Which isn’t a BAD thing, I just love all the little intricacies of two people with completely different love languages somehow making it work anyway. I think that’s part of why the bathtub scene felt so profoundly intimate, because their love languages work seamlessly together and they end up emotionally on the same page.