SHITHEAD NO. 2 (IN NO WAY RELATED TO 1 OR 6)

back on my bullshit and im making it everyone's problem (any pronouns)

[frenetic--energy]

what i fucking love about this scene is that we know it's not really ryan, naim knows it’s not really ryan. there's no part about this that is naim being lulled, being seduced, being tricked, being gotcha!'d. it's not him but it wears his face; it talks like him, it caresses like him, it comes close and smiles and laughs like he would. naim is leaning in despite the danger, moth to flame, knowing full well what's in front of him and craving it anyway.

this is queerness as fantasy—what we could be if not for circumstance. it's queer desire in a world determined to treat us as aliens. more than any other moment in the film, this scene exemplifies leviticus thematically in one brutal, efficient stroke. they want us separate and alone and scared, but we don't have to be. loving hurts, and we love anyway.

[hystericalend]

thinking abt the wording of naim's "you shouldn't be near me. i shouldn't be near you either" break up attempt outside the church and how when ryan responds with a short, bitten-back "right." he can't quite keep the bitterness out of his voice. he understands why naim is scared, the cloying metallic scent of hot blood pouring down his neck is hard to forget; the throb of fresh stitches threaded across his ear a physical reminder. but the way naim says it strikes a nerve. shouldn't. should not. he sounds just like ryan's parents, like the pastor and the church and the boys at school. you shouldn't be near me, naim says. like he believes the entity is a rightful consequence for continuing to be together. ryan is hurt naim is trying to end things, but more than that he's frustrated by how readily naim submits to the fear. bc it's not i'm scared and i hurt you and im sorry, but the heavy judgement of shouldn't. naim reveals through this choice of words how shackled he is by his internalised homophobia and how naive he remains about their reality. he swallows the religious lie that what they "should" do is be apart, and their compliance will mean deliverence .

yet ryan knows better. he's scared too, but more than that he's fucking tired. he likes naim, likes him with an urgency and wholeness he's never felt before. but he was raised here, been in bandee seventeen years to naim's few months, and he understands what it means to be who they are. he acted on his queerness with hunter rather than entirely repress it, and had it made a spectacle in front of the church, enduring the hits and jeers and disapproving looks that followed. because it was a long time coming, wasn't it? naim thinks that by burying it deep, capitulating to the church and conforming, they will be safe. but when ryan reflects on the suffocating masculine pretense he put on everyday along with his uniform jacket and shirt, he realises that throwing the punches was never better than taking them. repression and conformity doesn't guarantee safety. they cannot change who they are and who they desire; the thing haunting them will simply change its face.

so: "right." he says, hands in his pockets, biting the inside of his cheek so he doesn't cry or yell or both. he almost leaves it there, turning away and walking back inside, but as soon as naim is out of sight ryan realises he can't bear to let him go. naim is naive, he's skittish, has proven to ryan again and again that fear wins out over whatever it is they share, but ryan loves him. so he rejects his petty knee-jerk "fuck you then" and swallows his pride. I don't want it to look like some other dickhead, he tells him, shoulders braced and voice tight, his entire body fighting against the vulnerability as if it were self-injury. I want it to look like you. it's a confession yeah, but also a plea. you can't hide from this naim. you can't run from yourself forever. you won't ever stop being afraid. but i can live with it if it's you. i want the thing that haunts me to wear your face, because it's the truest way for me to live.

[wheelermikes]

JOE BIRD AS NAIM REID IN LEVITICUS (2026)

[watchingthecredits]

the art of shaun tan and leviticus (2026) dir. adrian chiarella

never wait for an apology (2013) / never argue with an umpire (2012) / the shadow place (nd) / the water buffalo (nd) / rules of summer (2013) / the quiet town (2021) / terminal (2018) / the forgotten lesson (2017) / endgame (1998)

[cafevivi]

underrated naim reid-ism is how fucking impulsive he can be! he is inquisitive to a fault! love the scene where he's asking hunter about ryan— he's awkward, yeah, but he's not shrinking into his clothing! he's standing there and asking him! what about ryan? did it work on him? and because the costuming in the movie is clearly very intentional, i'd like to note that naim isn't bogged down in layers of ill-fitting jackets. in asking hunter, pressing him, he's unintentionally laying a bit of his soul bare, i think.

or when he's talking to jessica outside the hospital. he hesitates for a moment but then dives right in, do you think marnie saw you? when she died? obviously he's desperate and scared and looking for answers, but that doesn't stop him from asking quite literally the Worst Possible Invasive Question to ask!

or when he's in the mill w/ ryan and starts fights he knows he can't win! it's soooo good and i wish more fanworks capitalized on his tendency to ask invasive questions without a second thought in the heat of the moment. so much naim reid characterization online is making him timid and weary— which he can be, but ignoring his rudeness is doing him a disservice. ack!!

+ i think it further highlights the difference between how ryan and naim handle the entity and by extension their identities. ryan doesn't push jessica, doesn't push anyone because at the end of the day, despite how tired he may be, he knows who he is and what life has in store for people like him. meanwhile naim questions and reaches for help, stumbling through conversations about the entity and what it does to people because he hasn't fully accepted himself either. ugh

[hystericalend]

"entity ryan lowkey seemed like it actually wanted naim LOL" yeah bc it's supposed to.. entity ryan panting like a dog, tongue wetting his lips, eyes blown and heavy lidded as it chokes naim, forcing his way into his mouth. how violating is that for naim? to see ryan's face as he's hurt, and have him look like he's getting off on it? the entity isn't just violent it's sexually violent, bc encounters with it are designed to be traumatising. the entity's attacks are sexually charged so that queer kids associate desire with harm, and fear it.

[kissm--arin]

They were letting themselves get vulnerable, just in case it was the real Ryan or Naim, because despite the horror and the fear, the entity couldn't take away the underlying desire and love between the two boys. It was a form of psychological torture, but used violence and sexual behaviour as it's means. Having the one person you want the most hurt you any time you give in to the feelings you have is something that would break anyone's spirit. Imagine how hard it was for Ryan and Naim to be intimate with each other when it was actually them, especially if alone, because they will always have this doubt over if it's the real one, or if the entity is learning more from their interaction.

We did not get to see Ryan's entity of Naim, but Naim's entity of Ryan was really good at pretending to care, pretending to be real, goading him into acting on it so it could attack. It was great at manipulating his emotions. Two scenes for me that really showed this were the one in Naim's garden (which I feel like I talk about too much so I'll talk about the other now) and the one at the mill during the fire.

Naim knew it wasn't the real Ryan and yet as soon as he heard the entity call his name, he turned back around and talked to him through that little window in the burning mill. The entity put on a good show of acting like this was real and that it was something "Ryan" needed and wanted to escape from the hell they are in. You can see the doubts and guilt building up in Naim, despite knowing it can't be the real one. He even goes with the police and his mother to the burned down mill just in case, after realising he can't find Ryan.

It has same principle as shock therapy, it's meant to make the person see their feelings, their desire and wants as something painful. It's to be feared, so you won't want to do it again. The more you continue to do it, to give in tonthose emotions, the more sexually violent the entity gets in its attacks, like raising the level of shocks.

[me-and-michael]

Leviticus really said yes life will be harder because I choose to be with you but I choose to be with you despite it all

[ms-demeanor]

“Meatless alternatives are getting so good, you should try them! I bet you wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference! In fact….”

Please

Please

Please stop trying to sneak-feed me meat alternatives.

I am willing to prepare and share a vegan meal with you, I’m willing to skip animal products in our group spaces.

Please.

Stop trying to sneak-feed me meat alternatives.

[ms-demeanor]

Mycoprotein is fucking cool, vat-grown meat is fucking cool, believe me I am fucking down for figuring out efficient calories and I’m interested in attempting to reduce or eliminate animal agriculture but you wouldn’t want me to sneak-feed you cricket flour, you don’t get to sneak-feed me your stuff.

[wmb-salticidae]

I wouldn’t mind if you snuck-fed me cricket flour, actually. If cricket flour is indistinguishable from regular flour then sure, go for it.

I really don’t know what the initial gripe is about, though. The anonymous person you quote is not trying to sneak-feed you anything. They outright say “meatless alternative.” Is your problem that they may have GMOs? I genuinely have no idea what your complaint is, because you’re talking about people sneak-feeding you meatless stuff but your pics are all about GMO corn starch or whatever.

[ms-demeanor]

I have celiac disease and a corn allergy and a relative who wanted to try to pass off impossible burger as ground beef to prove how good meat alternatives are.

I don’t care about “gmo” and I dont care about the fact that it’s “textured protein” I care about “corn” and “wheat” and I care that people without food allergies rarely know how inescapable some of those allergens are.

“Oh, I checked the ingredients, it doesn’t have corn”

Okay but does it have maltodextrin, modified food starch, xanthan gum, caramel coloring, dextrose, or glucose syrup?

If it does have any of those things do they specifically say “from potatoes,” “from tapioca,” “from cane sugar” or “from rice”?

If it didn’t did you check the manufacturer’s website? If that didn’t say did you call the manufacturer?

Sometimes I’ll use almond or coconut flour as a replacement for wheat flour when I’m cooking. I do not try to pretend that my alternate flour chocolate chip cookies are wheat flour chocolate chip cookies because most people don’t expect to run into coconut or almond when they pick up a chocolate chip cookie. I don’t try to hand them to people, wait for them to eat a cookie, and say “hah, bet you didn’t think gluten free cookies could taste good, huh?” because if I did that to someone with a severe allergy it could kill them, but also because people should have a say in what they’re eating.

I’ve got no problem with beyond beef or impossible burger describing their products as meat alternatives, I’ve got no problem with GMOs or the fact that quorn is made out of a heavily engineered protein. That’s all very neat, actually.

But I do have a problem with people trying to sneakily serve meat alternatives without considering that doing so is shitty for a number of reasons.

[hapalopus]

Also, insect protein can cause severe reactions to people with shellfish allergies, so that’s another reason not to feed cricket flour to people without telling them.

[tyrannosaurus-tex]

And by severe reactions to shellfish/insect protein they mean ANAPHYLAXIS.

That’s medical speak for:

IT CAN KILL YOU.

Anaphylaxis can cause you to have difficulty breathing or stop breathing at all. It can cause a critical drop in blood pressure or send you into medical shock.

Never sneak ingredients into someone’s food. Especially if you know they have dietary restrictions, but even if you don’t know. They may not have told you.

[headspace-hotel]

shellfish is just ocean bugs so it makes sense.

Anyways dont poison people

[d1s4strous]

eighteen inch nails: i want to fuck you like two animals

[queer-as-city-folk]

four and a half inch nails: i want to fuck you like half an animal

[onceuponawhine]

Your maternal grandfather:

Fuck that dude

Meh (leaning negative)

Meh (leaning positive)

Love that dude

I don't know her

Another nuance

Remaining time: 5 hours 26 minutes

[onceuponawhine]

Your paternal grandfather

Fuck that dude

Meh (leaning negative)

Meh (leaning positive)

Love that dude

I don't know her

Another nuance

Remaining time: 5 hours 27 minutes

[charcoalowl]

happy sister carpenter i don't want to wednesday

[elliespectacular]

"you wouldn't want that in real life" yeah i know it's called playing pretend, try to keep up

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

*walks up to a group of children playing raptor* you wouldn't want to be chased by raptors in real life, i say smugly with my vast knowledge as an Adult.

[only-alter-idem]

gideon: camilla understands me because her necromancer is overbearing too

camilla: i owe palamedes five bucks, these bitches ARE in love

[the-haiku-bot]

camilla: i owe

palamedes five bucks, these

bitches ARE in love

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

[valtsv]

i know i haven't hit rock bottom yet because i still have x reader tags filtered on here

[thelesbianjeffthekiller]

[valtsv]

huh. those rocks sure do look awfully close all of a sudden.

[rowan-e-ravenwood]

new top contender

[chernozemm]

I'm sorry but vaccines are so fucking cool. You're telling me that I just need to drop by my doctor, feel a pinprick, maaaybe feel a bit off for a day and then I have statistically significant, incredible chances of either completely avoiding getting a certain illness or at the very least have a pretty string guarantee my body will kick its ass swiftly??? Fucking magic potion.

[godpup]

hey it's me the dog that loses. bet on me

[godpup]

ok honestly at this point i think it's probably for your own good that i advise you to stop betting on me. i'm literally called the dog that loses. the race is rigged. i am predetermined to lose every single time.