Those are
gorgeous gifs, thanks so much for sharing them, Tula! I can't think of a scene that better portrays the incredible friendship between Mick and Josef than this one. I know that many fans see that scene as homoerotic, but personally, I see nothing homoerotic about the re-turning. Nor do I believe that Mick (or Josef!) felt any physical pleasure in that moment. Josef bit him brutally, drained him fast, and it
hurt. Mick gasped in agony, and his face, to me, showed only pain and sadness as he gave up his life.
The beauty of that scene, to me, is in the sacrifices both of them made: Mick, willingly giving up his short experience of humanity in order to rescue his beloved Beth, and Josef, willingly taking away Mick's dream of living as a human--and in the process, running the horrible risk that Mick would either die, or be caught in between as Sarah had been. The scene is filled with love--
deep love. But not erotic love, not to me. Mick said it himself: "Please, brother." Can there be a greater gift of friendship than to grant a friend's wish to take away the thing he's wanted most for as long as you've known him--to break his heart, maybe kill him, simply because he begged you to do this terrible thing? Only a brother would grant that tragic a gift.
