#tomjames

tomjames… i haven’t thought about them in ages… love them tho…

right now it’s tomjames… sighs and opens pinterest

pred vs prey symbolism at it again… and you’ll never truly know who the predator is. because they’re both the predators, they’re both the prey.

just because tom is a god and james is a mortal and just because james is a monster and tom is a human does mean they do not reverse the roles. it does not mean there’s not a small helpless little prey animal trapped inside them like a wolf n it’s meal…

and of course cannibalism as a symbolism as love but is really cannibalism when one is real and the other isn’t? is it really cannibalism when they are not the same? is it really cannibalism if their teeth never break skin?

i think the fundamental thing about tomjames is that neither feel human, and they do not feel real, and they both have these expectations to thrusted upon them and are expected to uphold them.

tom is a god— or at least he feels like one, he is the decider of what is sin and what is not— he is immortal he is living forever he is power hungry and driven and he is taking control of not only his life but the world— he is not some mere human nor his he some mere mortal—

he is ultimately someone who holds himself in high regard, who thinks himself better than others and while he is not ashamed to prove it he does not let this thought process put into the world. why? because the people around him, the people who see him for what he’s worth, well they’ll come to the conclusion on their own. a true god does not need to preach of his abilities, he just needs to show them and let the world relish in the knowledge they are amongst a god.

tom thinks he’s humble, he thinks he does a good job of hiding his thoughts about being better than everyone else. meanwhile it is obvious to those who are looking, really looking, that tom thinks he’s better than everyone else. but no one is looking. not one person. because he is unimportant until he makes himself important (wether that be the death eaters, politics, or a cult)

all this to say— he is not human, not in his mind, he is above that, which means he should not have to uphold these expectations.

(re: not feeling real, it is a battle in tom’s mind on whether entities like gods and goddesses exist— he has no proof of this besides himself and his inflated ego, he has no desire to find out if gods and goddesses really exist. he has no desire to find out if he exists. you spend your whole life invisible to others you’re either a god or you’re not real. and tom? he’s both).

james is a normal guy— everything about him is normal. even his flaws and weaknesses and everything bad about him is painfully normal. his desires? well. no they’re not normal.

his desires are more on the violent side and he can’t help it, can’t help the want the need the urge to hurt, to kill, to maim, to do irreparable damage. and it’s not intrusive thoughts, what it is instead is these basic desires, something that makes him fundamentally who he is. the reason he tries to appear so normal is because he feels entirely unnormal.

he isn’t human he is a monster only a monster can think these thoughts only a monster can want what he craves and only a monster can be convinced to do it. and that’s the thing— james can be pushed into hurting others, violently and physically. it does not make him comfortable with it, it does not make it okay, it does not change how he feels like a monster.

anyway all this to say— he is not human, because no human has desires like he has desires at least in his mind. he doesn’t act on them until tom convinced him too, he is good at reigning them in, good at pretending they don’t exist, but that does not mean they’re not there. it does not mean he’s human. which again means he should not have to live up to others expectations.

(re: not feeling real, when you spend your entire life on stage, in a performance, in the spotlight because you are adored by everyone who meets you and you can’t help but shine brighter than everyone else. well you stop feeling real, you stop feeling like your own person. you’re just pieces of what others want you to be and even if you don’t live up to what they want you are still a piece of them and not yourself).

there relationship is one of absurdity… one that doesn’t make sense… neither are human… neither are real but they both think the other is… they both try and make each other comfortable with their own desires but never quite succeed… they’re toxic theyre codependent they have this insane obsession with each other and no one can quite put their finger on it.

UGH tomjames…

(tw brief mention of suicide)

they have something weird and freaky going on and they’re the epitome of normal guy 4 freak… normal guy who literally works a nine to five and smiles at strangers and golfs as a hobby and is entirely boring but you have to listen to him because he’s conventionally attractive and he speaks like everything he says in important…

normal guy who literally just… exists… no one expects the anger issues or the way he is bad at dancing (yes these coexist in the same sentence)… no one expects the sheer amount of loneliness that radiates off him and his desire to please and make everyone happy… and no one expects how mean and rude and an asshole he can be. he’s just a normal guy.

no one looks at him and thinks “this guy created his own mommy issues by fearing his mother’s love was fake and literal nothing ever pointed to that theory but now he can’t accept love normally because what if it’s all fake” NO ONE EVER LOOKS AT HIM AND THINKS “wow he surely continuously thinks about dying for those he loves not in a self sacrifice way but in a suicidal way”

normal guy james potter everyone… he’s actually so abnormal and weird and he’s just charismatic and friendly. he has a charming smile and a normal job and no one ever thinks about how he wonders what it would be like to taste human blood or be drenched in the blood of his lover…

normal guy james potter who is normal about love and affection and can exist normally and be normal and do everything a normal guy does… he’s so normal guys trust me on this (even if issues are painfully normal and his flaws are normal and everything about him is so fucking normal that it’s WEIRD it’s ABNORMAL it’s FREAKY, god just have something really wrong with you james)

and tom… well tom is a freak… i think you talked about him perfectly here and how he’s a sociopath…

i think someone like tom riddle who’s not normal and everyone around him is vaguely (or not vaguely) aware of that fact is going to be attracted to the most normal fucking person on the planet… aka james potter… bland boring james potter who just happens to be hot and capture attention… truly ***** ****** (censoring for the lovers of him out there)

and the thing about tom? HES ALSO HOT… so it doesn’t matter if he has blank soulless eyes or a creepy not there smile… because people find him out…

and he’s also normal in the sense of manipulating everyone around him into thinking that he’s normal and that they’re the weird ones

he’d dissect live animals and kill animals and start fires and do things that are the making of a bad personTM while in the orphanage and yet… and yet all the kids around him felt wrong felt like something was wrong with them because tom just convinced them that it’s normal and to be disgusted by the nature of life (pred vs prey…) is to be weird to be wrong… to be a freak…

tom riddle born male manipulator…

he’s a freak he’s weird he’s a terrible person and he’s bad for everyone around him and people worship him and people hate him and he’s sick in the head but no one (and everyone) knows and he gives complexes to little kids his own age about the nature of life because he’s normal!!! he’s normal!!! he’s so fucking normal!!!

tomjames in the essence of themselves is just this freak4freak… normal4normal… normal4freak… and really it’s none of these and it’s something you can’t quite put a label on and they both fit both (freak and normal) because they appear both ways to the outside world

like… james is so freakishly normal so good at playing a part (actingactingactingactingacti—) that it freaks people out… but at the same time no one will ever suspect him of anything ever… his record does not extend past his history of bullying people and pulling pranks in high school. people try and find something wrong with this guy and they CANT… but there’s something wrong with him… something not quite right

and tom is just the flip side but also not? he does playa part he is good at acting he is normal but he’s also incapable of being normal and being anything besides a degenerate freak who fantasies about gaining power and torturing people and making people bend to his will and he often have fantasies of the sexual nature but he’s so disgusted by it he does not feel he does not feel he does not feel and even if he did feel he does not feel something as lowly as sexual desire…

going back to the “(pred vs prey…)” thing from earlier… they are that in my mind. BUT YOU CANT MAKE THEM JUST ONE THING… they’re both the predators and therefore both the prey… they are two aggressive dogs fighting and it’s bloody and messy and it reeks of violence and death… but then you blink and they’re deer frolicking in the tall grass behind your house…

full circle back to normal guy 4 freak and freak 4 freak and and and and

they’re indescribable and weird and freaky and abnormal and it’s a toxic and weird relationship and they can’t be normal but they’re also so very normal and it’s this weird thing of just stagnant…

is there love there? who knows. is there sex there? no we’ve established tom riddle does not feel sexual desire he is above that he is holy he is pure his hands are stained with blood but he has never sinned!!!!

anyway: here’s the tl;dr