#junired

thank you for reading! im glad you do.

i think these 2 are inexplicably drawn to each other. there's this unspoken chemistry between them they go back and forth on exploring because of who they are as people; junia has gone so long without another person she feels silly entertaining the thought; al-hazred has been with the beast for so long that he feels ashamed to want anything more. now combine these feelings with their respective religious guilt which they both feel "im too grown for this" about.

junia practices arabic with al-hazred since she's rusty. he reminds her of home in some ways. she loves hearing him recite poetry. she's very curious about him despite having no interest in the occult. junia is very comfortable in the exoteric but there's something about him that she wants to know.

al-hazred loves to fulfill any request she has and loves to cook for her especially. seeing her eat makes her happy but especially because he cant taste things, so when its good and she feels good, he feels great.

it also made me consider their roles in the game context as the two primary healers. it seems very stressful, doesn't it? needing to grapple with your own relationship to your faith, maintain an solid exterior to not show that doubt, handle others' prejudice/expectations.. and then have everyone's survival depend on your ability to not crack.

though, i feel it's also worth mentioning they probably wouldn't feel the pressure at rock bottom in the same way. junia's faith acts as a beacon of hope when stable, but it becomes her own moral failing when unstable; it's not the religion, it's junia's fault as a person.

but for al-hazred, with (most of) the other party members? his faith and the power he uses are probably considered the same. its usefulness is more of a surprise when stable (maybe a pleasant surprise to some, maybe tolerated to others), and all preconceived prejudice/fear feels justified when unstable; he's treated as a representation for whatever concept of the faith exists in other peoples' minds.

and thats all with the nonspecifics of religion/ethnicity. add in the historical background of real-world equivalences? many things to explore about the religious-healer experience, and a solidarity they can only really have in each other.

[[ this made me smile soooo much you have no idea

[[ i felt that i'm really in the same boat. i really want to enjoy junia and al-hazred in same-gender pairings much more than i do here ... but these two together have so much of a pull on me. i think part of that is because of my own interfaith upbringing. i also choose to tackle them as a bi4bi couple and really focus on putting them on equal footing, which i think already sets them apart from other m/f ships that are already encoded within heteropatriarchy. she's not centering her life around a man, she's centering her life around her faith. a man in the same position happens to see her and value the complexity she deals with.

[[ what you've outlined is just perfect. especially hitting the nail on the head with the way prejudice and ignorance affects how these characters are perceived both by their co-hort and, to an extent, by us as the audience. especially when they deal with the same thing in different flavors, one is just more accepted. it's also this reason why i love seeing al-hazred as a reclamation of the original lovecraft character, he's a hero and brings value to his team. he's not so scary once you get to know him, and yeah i relate to that! it's a very real experience i've been through and will continue to go through.

[[ junia is also a breath of fresh air for me being that she's confident in who she is, her sexuality included, and she's someone of faith. it's not something you see every day, usually the story is being liberated from religion to be who you are (which is it's own unique story that deserves to be told) or accepting religion and abide by a strict code (which is a conservative narrative that only represses people)

he enjoys making things that take a while, that aren't necessarily difficult to make, but that take concerted time and effort to make well. his vegetable curries are really good, and he's modest about them while knowing they're great, but if he's really looking to impress you (like if you're bigby or junia, and he wants to see your face when he does it), it's going to be with the rare non-cove-tainted seafood; a dish with big chunks of carrot and tomato and long thin slices of onion, simmered slow in a heavy-bottom pot. fresh fish, with as much shrimp, mussels, and squid as he could get his hands on, spice levels adjusted for your tastes and not his (although he'll add extra chili paste to his after serving). he doesn't rush it, lets it cook down until it's practically a thick stew and the fillets are tender enough to melt in your mouth, and serves it over couscous that soaks up the broth, with strong acidic tea and fluffy bread. it tastes even better than it smells, somehow, and he's modest but not self-effacing, because he knows it rules and knows that now you know it, too.

bigby thinks the paprika is spicy and al-hazred is a good sport who only makes fun of him a little about it. junia's spice tolerance is mystifying and fascinating; it's high and she's very embarrassed about it.

[[ i will always accept HC asks!

[[ It is so So delightful you sent this because around the time you did I was already working on a fic about Junia and Al-Hazred sharing food that he made (excerpt below)

[[ i should note that that curry isn't a signature / traditional Arab dish. i've seen him getting associated with curry i think twice now so i wanted to put that disclaimer out there; it's not that he cant have it or cant enjoy it or cant make it. indian food is really popular in the middle east. i just want to be clear for folks reading since conflating arab and indian cultures happen a lot and not always on purpose.

[[ THAT BEING SAID ! stew is very universal and we've got plenty of those. slow cooking is great for multitasking which is something i could totally see him do as he gets other tasks done. i think he could make a great curry too based on being good at that method of cooking.

[[ i used to love a show called iZombie where zombies couldn't taste anything but preferred spicy foods since it was the closet. i kind of love this concept for Al-Hazred too.

i think w junia they both drift to each other and hover around the other, the thing is that junia isn't afraid of making a move bc shes not afraid of rejection. they're both interested in each other and learning more about the other person, they'll talk or sit in silence. they back each other up.

al-hazred avoids rejection, for whatever reason that is, possibly because he doesnt want the dynamic to change for the worse. hes fine with it as it is, and denies himself the idea that she's interested. he's out of practice, only really engaging with tbb for intimacy (maybe another reason why he'd avoid making a move; feeling like this relationship w tbb is a price he has to pay and nobody else should have to deal with the affects it brings)

My longest chapter yet at 7357 words. My most self indulgent chapter as well. Some light junired stuff, and some exposition on Miskatonic's library.