#Birdie Noir

[cage-cat-yt]

I realize I've drawn a lot of white men recently 😭 nothing wrong with it inherently, but I'll try to be a little more diverse with my next couple drawings to not grow stale.

Yeah that's about it time to work on my one shot fanfic again lol

[karinta-agogobell-unified]

Five underappreciated anime that I would recommend!

1. Canaan (2009)

This is, from what I understand, an adaptation of a side-story chapter for the visual novel series 428: Shibuya Scramble, guest-written by Nasu Kinoko and guest-illustrated by Takeuchi Takashi. That is to say, the Type-Moon guys — the creators of Tsukihime, Kara no Kyoukai, and the now-legendary Fate/Stay Night. However, Canaan doesn’t take place in the Type-Moon shared universe(s), since it’s for another company’s property.

That being said, the anime adaptation is quite comprehensible on its own terms, likely due to the adaptation being written by the prolific and highly skilled screenwriter Okada Mari (Hanasaku Iroha, O Maidens In Your Savage Season, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Maquia). Her writing imbues the narrative with enough emotional intensity to make up for the occasionally-convoluted nature of the plot, and the backstories of the characters are hinted at just enough so that the viewer can understand their relevance, without taking up too much precious screen time. It can be a little hard to follow at points, but I ended up understanding it decently well anyway.

The production values are very high indeed, due to the anime being produced by P.A. Works, and directed by Andoh Masahiro (Sword of the Stranger, Hanasaku Iroha, O Maidens In Your Savage Season). The action animation is consistently stunning, the characters are beautifully expressive, and the overall look of the show is fantastic.

And the voice acting is an absolute treat, with the lead role of Canaan herself taken by Sawashiro Miyuki, the antagonist role of Alphard taken by Sakamoto Maaya, and Nanjou Yoshino in the role of Oosawa Maria, the POV character for a lot of the story. The supporting voice cast is packed with talent too — Hamada Kenji, Tanaka Rie, Nakata Jouji, Tomatsu Haruka, Hirata Hiroaki, Noto Mamiko, and even Ootsuka Akio in a minor role!

The premise is sort of a science fiction type of thing, but set in the (quasi-)contemporary location of 2000s China, where outside of the sci-fi conceit, the setting is largely realistic. The tone and mood is mostly that of an action thriller, with some nail-biting suspense here and there, but there are some beautifully soft and tender moments as well — often involving Canaan and Maria. Yes, folks, this has yuri in it, although it’s (strongly) subtextual.

Anyway, I would recommend this to people who love Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Kara no Kyoukai, Fate/Zero, and probably also Cowboy Bebop.

2. Tetsuwan Birdy OVAs (1996)

This is distinct from the later adaptation of the original Tetsuwan Birdy (Birdy the Mighty) manga, called Tetsuwan Birdy Decode, which came out in the late 2000s — this one came out in 1996 and was produced by Studio Madhouse in their prime.

The main characters are Senkawa Tsutomu (voiced by Iwanaga Tetsuya), a hapless teenager who gets accidentally killed(!) by an alien spaceship on his way to school one day, and Birdy Cephon Altirra (voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono), a human-looking alien and an intergalactic government agent who saves Tsutomu by merging her body with his. Effectively, they become two people in one body, which can shift between the forms of Birdy and Tsutomu…. except Birdy still needs to deal with all the rogue aliens who threaten the safety of the galaxy, while Tsutomu needs to study for his high school entrance exams. From what I’ve been told, the premise is fairly reminiscent of Ultraman and other classic tokusatsu series.

It’s four tight episodes of classic ‘90s OVA goodness, with a fun and slightly silly sci-fi concept that is nonetheless wrung for some surprisingly effective drama at times. The main thrust of it, though, is action comedy — and it definitely delivers on that front. The fight scenes are superbly animated, including some early-career work from now-legendary animator Suzuki Norimitsu, and the character designs by Takahashi Kumiko (Witch Hunter Robin, Snow White with the Red Hair, Cardcaptor Sakura) are amazingly expressive. Birdy’s striking asymmetrical design is a particular favourite of mine. The direction by Kawajiri Yoshiaki (Cyber City Oedo 808, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D) is solid, and the writing is quite serviceable despite the brevity and premise.

Overall, I wouldn’t say it’s much of an intellectual watch, but if you just want a fun action-comedy ride with an extremely charismatic female protagonist and stunning animation quality, Tetsuwan Birdy is likely to be your jam. I’d recommend it to people who enjoy classic tokusatsu series, the original ‘90s Sailor Moon anime, and the less-depressing parts of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

3. Noir (2001)

This anime series is perhaps not as underappreciated as the others on this list, but I do still feel that not enough people have seen it. It was made by the studio Bee Train, and it’s the first entry in their so-called “Girls with Guns” trilogy (which isn’t actually a coherent trilogy, since they’re three different stories). The series was made right at the end of the cel-anime era, before the transition to digital colouring and compositing, so the masters were shot on film, but it was also made at the beginning of the slow transition to widescreen TV broadcasts, so it’s one of the very rare cel anime that’s in 16:9. This allows for a beautifully detailed look that, IMO, serves to offset the occasionally-limited animation and the frequent re-use of footage.

The premise is basically “secret assassins in France are caught up in weird intrigue and conspiracies”; as such, there’s a lot of very fun gunplay and kickass fight scenes, but also a lot of suspense and mystery. The writing is a little bit slipshod at times, but it ends up holding together, and the characters and (especially) the fantastically moody vibe make the show worth watching.

The characters are imbued with a lot of life and colour, both by their extremely attractive designs and by their voice actors’ wonderful performances. Mireille Bouquet, a young Corsican assassin and one of the two protagonists, is voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono; Yuumura Kirika, the other main protagonist who is a Japanese schoolgirl who has seemingly lost all her memories (but not her exceptional assassin skills), is voiced by Kuwashima Houko; and the mysterious Chloe, who shows up partway through the show, is voiced by Hisakawa Aya. There are definite yuri vibes between Mireille and Kirika, but as with Canaan, it’s all subtextual.

The main draw of the show, though, is its phenomenal soundtrack, courtesy of Kajiura Yuki (.hack//Sign, Kara no Kyoukai, Fate/Zero, Sword Art Online, Demon Slayer) in her very first anime scoring gig. It’s at times propulsive, at times dark and moody, at times beautifully serene, at times melancholy and nostalgic — and it’s utterly memorable.

I would recommend Noir to anyone who likes Canaan, Witch Hunter Robin, Ghost in the Shell, or anyone who just wishes that James Bond were a woman.

4. Flip Flappers (2016)

This anime was produced at Studio 3Hz and directed by Oshiyama Kiyotaka, in a dazzling yet underappreciated directorial debut that was presaged by his impressive animation work on Dennou Coil, Space Dandy, A Letter to Momo, The Secret World of Arietty, and The Wind Rises. Owing to this extremely solid animation background, Oshiyama was able to recruit a lot of prime animation talent for Flip Flappers, and it definitely shows in the stunning sakuga of the wild action sequences that pepper the show’s narrative.

While the fantastic animation is a key draw of this show, the sheer creativity in the worldbuilding, conceptual, and visual design spheres also contribute to its inimitably psychedelic look and feel. The landscapes of the worlds contained in Pure Illusion — the dream-realm that the protagonists enter each episode at the behest of a mysterious scientific organisation — and of the “real” world are whimsical, storybook-like, and slightly “off” in a slightly unsettling but compelling way.

The dreamlike atmosphere pervades the narrative as well — very little about the mechanics of the world is specified out loud, relying heavily on symbolism and visual storytelling to do the heavy lifting for the audience’s understanding. This might be a turn-off for audiences who prefer to have things spelled out for them clearly, but the point of this story is not always to make perfect logical sense, but rather to work on an emotional and metaphorical level. And work, it certainly does.

The episodic structure involving the various worlds of Pure Illusion explores the concept of the Umwelt (the individual sensory “world” of a person or organism), as well as some Jungian concepts and archetypes, in order to express the strange and sometimes-scary developmental stage of adolescence. The characters of Cocona (voiced by Takahashi Minami) and Papika (voiced by Ichimichi Mao) undergo a metaphorical and literal puberty, a coming-of-age similar in some ways to that experienced by the protagonist of FLCL, but with significantly more yuri. In fact, this show has the most outright yuri of any of the anime on this list. But that isn’t very strange for what is essentially a psychedelic magical-girl show: lots of magical-girl anime seem to include homoerotic vibes in some form or another, from Sailor Moon to Nanoha to Madoka.

There are some minor flaws in the storytelling towards the end, IMO, but overall it’s a wonderfully impactful emotional journey to watch Flip Flappers. Plus, the OP and ED are both extraordinarily catchy tunes that I’ve found myself humming on many an occasion.

I’d recommend this anime to anyone who loves weird magical-girl stuff, weird yuri, and/or amazing action animation.

5. Claymore (2007)

An adaptation of the manga by Yagi Norihiro, this anime is considered by many to simply be “basic”, or at least simply “inferior to the manga”. Now. I haven’t read the original Claymore manga (yet! I plan to eventually), but I found this anime to be compelling nonetheless. And if it really is the case that the manga is better, then I definitely look forward to diving in.

Having been produced by Studio Madhouse in the mid-2000s, it’s unsurprising that the vast majority of this anime was outsourced to Korean animation studio DR Movie, a longtime powerhouse subcontractor for both Japanese and American animation alike. That said, the direction of Tanaka Hiroyuki (director of a portion of Hellsing Ultimate and frequent close collaborator of Attack on Titan director Araki Tetsurou) remains sharp, compensating for the sometimes-limited animation with good storyboarding and a strong sense of mood and atmosphere.

Another aspect of Claymore which helps make up for the occasional visual shortcomings is the soundtrack by Takumi Masanori. The compositions are a mix of harder rock and electronic elements with a strong orchestral backbone, as befits a dark-fantasy setting and mood — the faster pieces are edgy and propulsive, very appropriate for the bloody action scenes, and the calmer pieces have a melancholic beauty to them that sticks in one’s memory. I wish the soundtrack were on Spotify, but alas, it is not.

The other sonic element that helps this anime out immensely is its absolutely STACKED voice cast. The main character, Clare, is voiced by Kuwashima Houko, in a fantastic yet understated performance. The other main character, Raki, is voiced by the less-well-known Takagi Motoki, but nearly all the other roles — including many bit parts — are filled with industry legends. Teresa is voiced by Park Romi, Miria is voiced by Inoue Kikuko, Irene is voiced by Takayama Minami, Rubel is voiced by Hirata Hiroaki, Priscilla is voiced by Hisakawa Aya, Ophelia is voiced by Shinohara Emi, and Jean (whom I cannot help but ship with Clare: there’s so much homoerotic tension there!) is voiced by none other than Mitsuishi Kotono. Yes, they got three of the original Sailor Senshi VAs — and I don’t know why that’s funny to me, but it is. And all of the voice actors deliver killer performances.

The premise of the show, before I completely forget to explain it, is that of a dark fantasy world where demons called youma ravage human settlements, with only the titular Claymores to protect humanity. They are a guild of platinum-haired and silver-eyed warrior women who possess superhuman fighting abilities, due to the fact that they’ve been fused with youma essence, and wield the massive broadswords that give them their name. Basically, (s)he who fights monsters must become (partly) a monster to do so.

I’ve heard the vibe of Claymore compared to manga like Berserk, and I don’t know how true that is (not having read the latter for myself), but there’s certainly a lot of bleakness and monstrosity in this fantasy tale. However, the Claymore manga was published in none other than Weekly Shounen Jump, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that the story remains resolutely forward-looking, the protagonists’ arcs focussing on the power of grit, determination, true friendship and loyalty, and protection of the weak and downtrodden. It’s never cynical or sarcastic — always straightforward and sincere despite the frequent darkness of the story.

The writing is consistently solid, even through the controversial anime-original ending (the manga continues long past the point where the anime cut things off), so I’m not sure who to point to for that: Yagi Norihiro for writing the original material, or Kobayashi Yuuko (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Attack on Titan s1-3, Kakegurui, Casshern Sins) for adapting it cleanly for the screen? Either way, it made me want to read the manga to experience more of these compelling characters and their travails.

I would recommend this anime to those who enjoy Kill La Kill or RWBY, or just to those who enjoy powerful women hacking at monsters with massive weapons and making lots of blood spray out.

[historyhermann]

Bang, Bang, Pop!: Reviewing Girls With Guns Anime

Created in Microsoft Paint.

In recent years, there have been even more anime featuring girls with guns, expanding the genre. I decided to examine this genre and offer my thoughts.

Reprinted from The Geekiary, my History Hermann WordPress blog on Feb. 17, 2023, and Wayback Machine. This was the fifty-first article I wrote for The Geekiary. This post was originally published on August 16, 2022.

When you think of girls with guns in popular culture, you might think of Lara Croft, Sarah Connor, Alien, Foxy Brown, or Coffy. However, there are more than just hundreds of films featuring girls with guns. In anime, there are over 20 girls with guns series.

While there are many strong anime gunslinging girls, there aren't as many anime which are truly "girls with guns". It is a genre defined by series such as the 1980s sci-fi comedy and space opera, Dirty Pair, centered on two women: Kei and Yuri.

Since then, there have been many more series, including the recently-ended Vampire in the Garden and currently airing Lycoris Recoil. There are also older series such as Gunsmith Cats, El Cazador de la Bruja, Noir, and Otherside Picnic. This article reviews these six series and four others. It is sample of a much wider array of girls with guns anime.

This post contains spoilers for the ten series that I'm writing about. So, without further ado, let me begin!

Girls with guns are stars of the show in Lycoris Recoil 

Chisato Nishikigi defends herself from those trying to kill her in the show's sixth episode

This original anime series by Spider Lily and Asaura is all the rage. The /r/yurimemes subreddit is filled with posts of Chisato (Chika Anzai) and Takina Inoue (Shion Wakayama), the show's protagonists, as is /r/wholesomeyuri. The show's yuri subtext is often noted. Furthermore, the show's subreddit, /r/LycorisRecoil, has over 4500 subscribers. The show's story, characters, animation, and dialogue make it easy to like.

The series begins when Takina brazenly uses a machine gun against criminals, threatening the life of a fellow "Lycoris", an armed intelligence agent. The covert organization, Direct Attack (DA), fires her. She is then transferred to Café LycoReco, a DA front organization, where she meets Chisato, a fellow Lycoris. She also meets a former DA member named Mizuki Nakahara (Ami Koshimizu) and an Afro-Japanese man named Mika (Kosuke Sakaki) who runs the cafe.

The series pulls you in due to Takina's struggle with fellow DA agents who resent her, and villains who attempt to take down Lycoris. The same can be said about Chisato's mysterious past and a hacker named Kurumi (Misaki Kuno) joins the show's heroes. The series often focuses on growing friendship between Takina and Chisato, arguably with romantic undertones. Unlike other anime about girls with guns, Chisato only uses rubber bullets. This means that those she does not kill anyone, a practice Takina adopts, as they work together as a team.

Momo shines through in Vampire in the Garden

Momo defends herself from a vampire girl, Alicia

This original dark fantasy net anime features many girls with guns. Front and center is Momo (Megumi Han) who runs away from home, where she is a soldier, and trainee in a war against vampires. She meets Fine (Yū Kobayashi), queen of the vampires, learning to love life and experience music all at the same time. Unfortunately, her controlling mother, Nobara (Rika Fukami) sends out a search party to find Momo. She wants to bring her "back" to "civilization" and way from the purportedly "barbaric" vampires.

In the process, Fine and Momo grow closer to one another. Like many other girls with guns anime, there are many yuri vibes in the series. In fact, neither of these protagonists gets a chance to live together. They are chased throughout the anime and do not have a chance to rest. This is because society sees relationships between humans and vampires as "unnatural" and does not accept them.

The focus on the relationship between Fine and Momo parallels those who do not accept queer relationships and those othered by society. Rather than an anime solely about girls with guns, Vampire in the Garden is a mature dark fantasy filled with blood, death, explosions, and serious injury. Even so, there are scenes with a slice-of-life feel. This five-episode anime ends positively. Momo founds a society many years later where humans and vampires can live together in peace.

Gunsmith Cats exemplifies the girls with guns genre

Irene "Rally" Vincent at the shooting range in the episode "Neutral Zone"

This adventure-crime series is based on an eight-volume manga of the same name illustrated, and written, by Kenichi Sonoda. It is different than other series in this post because it is loosely set in Chicago. It centers around Irene "Rally" Vincent (Michiko Neya), a 19-year-old woman who operates "Gunsmith Cats" gun shop. She works with 17-year-old explosives expert and former sex worker named "Minnie" May Hopkins (Kae Araki) as a bounty hunter in the underworld.

The anime is an original video animation (OVA), released between November 1995 and September 1996. It is only three episodes long.  Some reviewers praised the animation as colorful, fun, and a "solid piece" of filmmaking. Others praised the action, artwork, and said it sounded like a "gritty" suburb of Chicago. Moreover, there were those who described the animation as smooth, said it has the same amount of humor as the original manga, but complained that the series should have been longer.

Like Vampire of the Garden and Lycoris Recoil, yuri themes are implied. Although Yuricon's founder Erica Friedman does not write about the anime on her blog, Okazu, she did review each volume of the five-volume manga, Gunsmith Cats BURST. In her reviews, she notes the yuri subtext between Rally and Minnie. She also noted that mafia donna Goldie Musso is a stereotypical "evil" lesbian. In the manga, all three of them live together. Otherwise, the series fits within the girls with guns anime genre.

Love, amnesia, and guns in El Cazador de la Bruja

Nadie, Ellis, and nuns shelter in a basement, hiding for people out to get them, in an episode

This 2007 series, a mix of modern Western, adventure, and yuri, is a classic girls with guns anime. It centers around Ellis (Ai Shimizu), a fugitive who has amnesia, an unknown past, and powers of some kind, and a bounty hunter named Nadie (Shizuka Itō). Both travel south in hopes of finding the key to who Ellis is, where she was born, and what she did.

In a review of El Cazadar de la Bruja first episode, Friedman noted that there were clear yuri vibes. But, she worried there would be another "ambiguously yuri" relationship like other Madlax series. However, in a review at the end of the series, Friedman praised the growing romance between Nadie and Ellis. She said it is different than Noir in more ways than one.

Others were more critical of this series, especially purported "filler" episodes. They noted that even the show's gun violence is restrained. This series is unlike other anime in this genre as it is set in the Southwest United States and Mexico. As a result, it shares similarities with Western animations like Nomad of Nowhere and The Legend of Calamity Jane. Both series have gun-toting female protagonists.

Girls with guns are at the center of Noir 

Kirika and Marielle in the front, with Chloe in the background, in an image on the show's now-defunct official website in 2003

This adventure anime is as well-known as El Cazador de la Bruja. It is often noted as exemplary of the girls with guns genre in anime. It centers on two female assassins, a Corsican woman named Mireille Bouquet (Hōko Kuwashima) and a Japanese woman with amnesia, Kirika Yuumura (Kotono Mitsuishi). Both journey together to learn about their past. They ally together and assassinate "bad" people under a code name: Noir. They face a French secret organization named Les Soldats, led by Altena (Tarako), which is out to kill them, and a skilled assassin named Chloe (Aya Hisakawa).

Friedman, who I've mentioned earlier, criticized the series for weak animation at times. But, she praised the show's music, settings, and yuri vibes in the series. She added that people will put up with the series, despite absurd storylines because it has an attractive woman with a gun. TV Tropes, on a page about LGBTQ fanbase of anime and manga, stated that the series garnered a "sizable lesbian fanbase" due to the "ambiguous" relationship between Mireille and Kirika. They also noted the subtle lesbian attraction shown later.

Director Koichi Mashimo described this series, Madlax, and El Cazador de la Bruja, as his "girls-with-guns genre trilogy". Some praised the 26-episode series for redefining girls with guns series, with an elegant, and sleek story. But they criticized it for having repetitive actions sequences. Others said that Noir was an original anime which "stands out". In the end, the series changed the girls with guns genre for years to come, although no series since then has been exactly like it.

Girls with guns are focal point of Otherside Picnic 

Sorowo aims a military-style weapon while Toriko sits next to her

This adventure sci-fi yuri series centers around two women. One is a college student named Sorawo Kamikoshi (Yumiri Hanamori) who enters parallel worlds named the Otherside. The other is the woman who saves her, a former Canadian special forces soldier named Torika Nishina (Ai Kayano). The series focuses on Nishina's quest for her friend, and their repeated attempts to return to the Otherside to gain artifacts, with the help of Kozakura (Rina Hidaka). However, the world affects them physically and mentally in ways they didn't expect.

Early last year, I began watching this series, excited to watch it since too many yuri anime are either set in schools or fantasies, with the implication that lesbian relationships will be short-lived and even replaced by heterosexuality. Unfortunately, this series did not deliver on that promise. Friedman criticizes the series for being a "children’s version of the novels". My bigger qualm is that the series did not deliver on the yuri that seemed present from the beginning, despite romantic vibes throughout.

Otherside Picnic remains within the girls with guns genre. Even in a few episodes, Sorawo and Torika save U.S. military soldiers from Okinawa who are stuck in the Otherside. Unfortunately, this becomes imperialist apologia. It glosses over problems with U.S. military occupation, and presence, in Okinawa, and Japan. It marks a low point for the entire series.

Girls with guns have an important role in Blue Drop

Yūko takes out a gun to defend Mari from harm in the show's sixth episode

This 2007 yuri sci-fi drama contains some girls with guns. On the manga cover, a girl named Shōta has a gun. On the other hand, neither of the show's protagonists, Mari or Hagino, uses a gun during the series. Instead, secondary characters like Yūko and Tsubael have guns. Yūko even confronts Hagino at gunpoint. Otherwise, there are armed sentries on the ships from another world.

Blue Drop delivers more on yuri themes than Otherside Picnic or even, arguably, Lycoris Recoil. And you don't even need on yuri goggles to see it. It is more than a "fun watch" with likable characters, some of whom are morally ambiguous. Instead, it is an enveloping story which draws you in, with its plot and animation. Even the ending is heartbreaking.

Since the series is usually put into the sci-fi and yuri genres, reviewers don't often put it into the girls with guns genre. Although there are fewer girls with guns in Blue Drop than other series noted in this article, it has positives which go beyond other series. It is a classic that can be watched over and over. The same can likely also be said about the affiliated manga which ran from 2004 to 2008.

Badass girls with guns are central to Canaan

Canaan about to fire her pistol during the show's opening

This 2009 mystery thriller is little-known, despite the fact that a Japanese game company, Type-Moon, created it. It's based on a special scenario originally outlined in 2009 game, 428: Shibuya Scramble. This anime centers on a gun-toting assassin and mercenary named Canaan (Miyuki Sawashiro). She faces a rival named Alphard Al Sheya (Maaya Sakamoto), a skilled assassin who heads a terrorist organization named Snake. Canaan also has a pretty reporter friend named Maria Ōsawa (Yoshino Nanjō).

Canaan and Alphard are both skilled at using firearms, as is ex-mercenary Siam (Akio Ōtsuka), Alphard's lieutenant, Liang Qi (Rie Tanaka), and many others. Predictably, yuri themes are spread throughout this anime. Canaan often saves Maria from sticky situations thanks to her ability to perceive people's emotions as colors. They clearly are attracted toward each other. The series ends with Canaan being, in the words of Friedman, "awarded equal status to Maria in her heart."

Otherwise, Canaan is action-packed, with fast-paced fight sequences and chases. In some ways, it makes me think of chase scenes in Carmen Sandiego, although the ones in that series are never filled with guns, but with other deadly weapons instead. This series is unique because Canaan is from an unnamed country in the Middle East, presumably Syria or Lebanon. It adds another dimension to the story.

Guns, love, and demons in Engage Kiss

Shu, Sharon, and Ayano pictured on the show's official website.

In this ongoing, and currently airing, romantic comedy, one character stands out as a girl with a gun: Ayano Yugiri (Lynn). She is the former girlfriend of Shuu Ogata (Soma Saito). He lost his memories of their relationship after partnering with a demon named Kisara (Saya Aizawa). To give her the necessary demon powers to fight, he kisses her, which erases a memory every time he does so.

While it seems, at first, that she chooses his memories to erase at random, it is later shown that she can choose which ones to erase. She even eliminates a time that Shuu and Ayano have sex, enjoy each other's company. She also eliminates a time when Shuu had sex with the demon-hating priest, Sharon Holygrail (Rumi Okabo), and poisoned her in a devious way.

Ayano has the most skills at using firearms apart from Shuu. It has not been revealed how she is so skilled, but she may have on-the-job experience. Unlike Lycoris Recoil, the only other people who use guns are the police, as the villains often manipulate demons instead. None of the show's characters without faults, and have all likely done deplorable things.

A gun-toting protagonist in Venus Versus Virus 

Lucia fires her gun in the show's opening

This dark fantasy and supernatural thriller centers around two girls with guns: Lucia Nahashi (Ayahi Takagaki) and Sumire Takahana (Minori Chihara). Although it has been rightly described as a series to avoid by Stig Høgset of THEM Anime Reviews. He argued that it is "lazy and dumb", with mild fanservice and violence. That makes it different from others in this genre, which are usually more violent and bloody.

In Venus Versus Virus, Lucia, especially, is skilled with use of a firearm. She works to protect Sumire, along with others, from harm that demons, known as "viruses", can inflict. Predictably they both bond in the process. Even so, the yuri themes in this story are not very strong, with neither Lucia nor Sumire appearing to be lesbians.

On the other hand, the series is strong as an anime that features girls with guns. As such, it is relatively well-established in the genre. In fact, when bullets hit Sumire, it causes her violent personality to surface, which can be harmful to anyone around her.

Closing thoughts

There are many other examples of girls with guns anime.  Some of the most prominent, apart from Dirty Pair, include Bubblegum Crisis, Miami Guns, Gunslinger Girl, and Burn-Up. One critic argued that while there aren't many true girls with guns anime, the ones that do exist have been so influential, it has created "an entire thematic genre and stereotype of anime."

Princess Principal and the film, Kite Liberator also fall into the genre. Even Izetta: The Last Witch might fall into the genre since Izetta rides an anti-tank rifle. Apart from Sabine Wren, Padme Amidala, and Zam Wessell, who tote guns in the Star Wars franchise, there's no Western animated equivalent of the genre. On the other hand, there are some gun-wielding women elsewhere, like Millie in Helluva Boss.

There are many girls with guns within anime, but even with newer series, it remains to be seen if the current trend toward more girls with guns will continue. Many of the series within the genre, such as Strike Witches, Michiko & Hatchin, Grenadier, and Upotte!! are years old. The same is the case for Madlax, set in the same world as Birdie Wing.

With anime production companies flush with cash, there is a possibility of further girls with guns anime in the future.

© 2022-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[bernkastel-ao3]

My idea for this is, first, to give myself something fun and unique to do that would have an element of surprise to it. It could also be viewed sort of as a gift, of an experience. From either myself or from you, which makes the poll element and the possibility that I won't know what I'll be encouraged to watch helpful to the experience.

Most of these are shows I've been meaning to watch, plucked out of my to watch eventually pile. The exceptions are Diebuster and Flip Flappers, which were added as a whim and which I've watched a few times before.

[youandme-and]

Smoke is on every edge of his clothing. It's a smell that's acrid, surrounded him as thick as the threat of death on a normal Monday. There were mornings as well as evenings he wanted to evaporate like that wispy vapor around him. It's familiar in his mouth, not as refined or committed as a pipe,as the next will be carelessly crushed if it suits him. The appeal of a cigarette is that it's disposable, but useful.

Given enough time, satisfying, even. But like everything else, it was good for just a few things, and then trashed with the others like it. All ashes. Nothing useful, or worth retrieving.

He suspects the tightness in his chest is a cough that won't come out. Whatever it is stays locked up, even when his fingers drift to the over-warm glass neck of the bottle to yank it from the floor; It tastes like perfume, and smells nothing like it to him.

" When I die, you're gonna cremate me. Easiest day they'll have."

[hana-no-seiiki]

OKAI THE BRAINROT IS NOT GOING AWAY IM INDULGING IT

LEGITIMATELY REWATCHED A FEW SECONDS OF CHAT NOIR AND WAS LIKE GODDAMN I WANT TO SEE THE ROBINS WITH THIS SLUT BEHAVIOR AAAAA

anyways

pairings: yandere! batfam x cat villain! reader.

just a little snippet im too lazy for more huhu

the real reason why some of the boys coveted the robin position so much wasn’t cause it gave them batman’s attention

no no no

it was because it meant that you would be inevitably be their rival and, if they’re charming enough, your friend.

you were harmless in the grand scheme of things, helpful in some cases. very much like your mentor, catwoman. only with a much more heavy appetite for chaos and being slutty around the robins and the robins alone

you didn’t care who it was under the mask, if they did not don it anymore you wouldn’t care less about them.

which brings us to our current situation

damian wayne was your latest victim. so far your favorite prey of all those that previously had his spot.

he was everything you liked about the domino masked hero: sassy, controlling, and ever so quick to take the bait that is your teasing.

but a small, itsy bitsy mistake on your part caused him to get horridly injured.

as such you took it upon yourself to take care of him that night.

he kept rattling on about “not needing your pity.” or how “a heinous criminal like you shouldn’t be even touching him” as if you two didn’t wrestle in more ways than one on the regular.

of course you ignored his pleas like always and healed him up

“why are you doing this? if not pity then—“ damian cursed as pain shot through his entire body. every time he was getting on your nerves by speaking too much you’d often dig into him harshly with your gauze.

“i wouldn’t want our chase to be over before you catch me.” you breathed out, wincing at all the blood before you.

heroes and vigilantes alike often dehumanized you. would say that you were some heartless, ruthless criminal with no regard nor compassion for anybody but yourself. but you could never get used to the blood and violence it took for you to get what you want — what you needed.

selina said that was your best trait

“after all, don’t you enjoy proving those stupid do gooders wrong?”

she’d say

you smile as you remembered the times you’d tease his predecessors. how you’d shower them with love, how you’d endear yourself to them. your little birdies til they weren’t. it’s amazing how blinded by love they were. they never even began to think that your flighty nature was the one at fault and not theirs for failing to keep their occupation.

perhaps you should thank bruce for his shitty parenting techniques.

damian never really thought much of you. he knew of tim’s little stalking hobby, of jason’s bloody shows of affection, of dick’s reckless attitude whenever you two fought. he just saw those as proof of his triumph, his superiority. if you acknowledged him then he succeeded. if you pitied him then you saw him as a failure.

then he realized he never truly understood them until this moment

but now that he knew just how much he has, that his brothers don’t. something that they would no doubt kill to have again…

he’ll make sure they never get you even over his dead body.

check reblogs for more cause ill be adding there for the uh 12-24 hours

[sizzleissues]

Can I just speak for a moment about how much I love my own future au for miraculous like guys its what I fall back on when all else is tired. I need to talk about it! Just the idea in general of the future lovesquare children — all the possibilities

Like look how sneaky she is - so cringe fail at all times

The au is primarily focused around the Emma - Adrien relationship. Adrien’s complicated feelings around his lineage and his renouncing of the cat miraculous while his daughter worships the old heroes -especially Chat Noir (and then becomes one herself). That as Kitty Bell, she tries and tries and tries and fails to be a hero like Chat Noir but she’s not like Chat Noir. She isn’t good at being Chat Noir and it’s so obvious to her that Plagg is disappointed. But she doesn’t fully understand that her desire to be like the old heroes is holding her back, she needs to be herself. When Plagg says she’s not like Chat Noir it isn’t him asking her to be more like him, it’s asking her to stop trying to be him.

And Adrien, oh Adrien, who just wanted to keep his family safe. Never thought any of this could return. Thinks at least his daughter is safe, at least there are new different heroes protecting them and they can’t be his daughter because he’s a better father than Gabriel so he’d notice. He should notice but he doesn’t until it’s too late and he has to find out her identity in the worst of ways.

And I need to write a fic on it so I can just finally feel it.

I doodle and draw them all the time and I’m redesigning everything as we speak. Literally drawing Ladybird and I can’t wait to talk about her too. The love square is so so gay in this I need you to understand. Kitty calls her Birdie (and my lady of course) and Birdie says ‘ma belle’ and so many more. And and I wrote them to do this I can’t be this obsessed

I want this to be a Paris haunted by the past. So fucking scared that it’s coming back. They saved the day 20 years ago but that doesn’t mean things were happily ever after and ooooooo things are just so fucking sweet and fucked up. And the young people just don’t get why people are so afraid. It’s all lalalala until the first big battles hit.

There’s so much in my brain I just can’tttttttt

[liliththeimp]

Demitasse

This is a fem! Reader x Simon Riley but film noir AU....so like....ghost in a zoot suit :D

I posted this on my ao3 a looooong time ago and never finished posting the last few chapters lmao so if this little summary goes good I'll go ahead n post the first chapter n make it into a series here!! 🫶

set in the early 1920’s, you’re a small time flapper trying to scrape enough money to move out of the mobster infested city called Linden valley, and go to college to become a nurse.

One night after a gig, you had a close encounter with a “fan” -the Ghost, as papers called him- saved you and made a promise youre not quite sure if he’d act on.

“You better start running back home little birdie. Eventually, you're gonna be mine.”

however empty the threat may or may not have been, you weren’t sure if you’d want to stick around to find out.

[biteofcherry]

What the Doms and subs at Ruby Garden dress as for Halloween?

ah, Ruby Garden on Halloween shenanigans

I once said Cherie would dress up as Dom!Ari and announce she's dressed as the scariest big monster 😂 I also can imagine her dressing up as some sort of pixie slash wicked fae. Obligatory with lots of sparkling glitter! 😆With wings on her back which Ari could grab when she tried to run away after mouthing off. I don't know what Ari would dress as up, but his shirt would undoubtedly be unbuttoned and slutty. Maybe he could be Oberon from Midsummer night's dream?

I'd love Darling in something sexy and beautiful, so she could feel stunning and hot - perhaps some elegant vampire lady or noir type femme fatale. Steve would match her accordingly (if she's a vamp, he's also a vamp, if she's femme fatale he's a fedora wearing mobster).

Perhaps predictable, but I like the classic theme of Red Riding Hood with two big bad wolves for Doe, Bucky and Curtis. They could also go as Red Hood, wolf and huntsman. It fits them and their kinks.

Andy doesn't mind the themes and costume parties, but he's not much into really dressing up himself. So he's gonna be Batman, but in a Bruce Wayne costume 😆 So a nice, expensive suit. And Birdie would be Catwoman - lots of lap worming, being petted, but also more reason to be a bit playful.

I think Lloyd would have fun dressing up, since he's wicked. I could see him in some type of devil costume, with horns and a pitchfork with which he could poke. If he's the devil, then Pumpkin is his caught angel, whom he'll get to torture as he pleases. Though I can also see him dressed up as Gomez Addams and have Pumpkin be Morticia.

See Nick totally surprise Bonbon and melt her heart by getting them high quality, beautiful regency costumes, so they can go as Anthony and Kate from Bridgerton, or Mr Darcy and Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice, because he noticed she loves those books and movies.

[ninadove]

23 for félix!!!!! okay so maybe i just want to look at pictures at him with you sue me 😌💘💜

23. Favorite picture of this character?

THERE’S SO MANY OF THEM

Him face:

Him face again (angry little birdie):

Him face (orange):

Him face (BRB gotta kill a god or two)

Him face (What do you mean he looks like Chat Noir? Can’t see the ressemblance.)

Him face (he's in control of the situation)

Him face (he's very much NOT in control of the situation)

Him face (he's in love 💜🦚❤️🐉)

Him face (he's hurt, he's healed)

THEM face (The sun is rising. Everything is going to be alright.)

Thank you for looking at pictures of him with me, Sunny! 💜🦚

Ask game here!

[byghostface]

Daminika pet names

Multiple pet names for each other↓(suggestion hcs):

Nika to Damian: Little birdie, champion, prince, heart of gold, sweet heart, tender heart, Dami-birdie, Fletchling(Tiny Robin Pokémon), dual heart, Vane(sometimes as a field code name)

Damian to Nika: Beloved, champion, princess, Victini(Victory Pokémon), lucky charm, habibti, Noir(sometimes as a field code name)

1．2 (dates and activities)．3 (taking care of each other, sleep habits, gifts) ．pet names．art styles．asking game

[cage-cat-yt]

Tlt human/tombsona ocs + Drunk Guy fanart

This took about 2 hours or something, it was hard but it was fun ^^ there are parts that I wish differently, but I'm really happy with how this turned out!!

Anyway, the ocs names are in the tags, I can make specific posts about them if you guys would be interested!!

Anyway, thanks for reading! Remember to hydrate and I hope you have a good day :)

[hobiebrownismygod]

Hey pal! I was wondering if you know some great Spider-Man blog recs to follow? Reallyyy need some good Spider-Man blogs...

@spidey-bie - super cool Sona and some great headcanons

@the-cat-and-the-birdie - writes awesome analyses

@daydreaming-en-pointe - cool Spidersona and writes some great fics

@therealloopylupin2099 - spiderperson role-play posts (Miguel O'Hara Peter B Miles etc) and an awesome person

@teatoptony - writes really good atsv fics

@hows-my-handwriting - gorgeous Spiderverse art

@s6onder - cute Miguel fics

@whaliiwatching - literally the most adorable hobie and spider noir art ive ever seen

@fiepige - awesome venom!hobie concept and really cool posts in general

@incorrect-spiderverse - funny asf fake Spiderverse text posts

@hobie-enthusiast - amazing fics

@ask-the-prowler - not really a spiderverse blog but funny as hell

some of these people update more regularly than other, but I recommend checking out their blogs as they're all heavily spider-man related!!

I myself still am fairly new to Tumblr, so I definitely don't know everyone but these are the ones that I see the most on my feed <3

[rabid-utmv]

drabble of skele!reader x Copper (Horrorfell sans)

Part One

Ugh, this night was dragging on and on. You were so tired, yet your sister had pestered you and pestered you until you caved. She’d dragged you out for a night of drinking, fun and time with her boyfriend and his brothers.

Red Serif was a renowned playboy, yet whenever you saw him with your sister, that title melted away little by little. He was utterly smitten with her. His bright red eyelights going fuzzy and large anytime he looked at her and when wasn’t he? His younger brother, Edge, was loudly complaining about the quality of the food beside him, seemingly unbothered as his brother paid half attention. Absent-mindedly murmuring, “uh huh.” Every few sentences as he watched your sister on stage.

Her sweet voice echoing through the mic as she sung along to the music, she’d tried to drag you into it. Her infectious excitement almost got you on stage.

But when you’d scanned the room just before saying yes to the karaoke contest, you’d clammed up. Instead using the excuse, you still had some of your drink left before she rolled her eyelights and dropped it.

She grinned at Red from her highlighted spot and his fanged maw grinned back.

“You really like her, huh?” Your voice just loud enough to be heard over the music, Red seemed to startle, entranced by your sister.

He looked at you, a friendly smile on his face, small beads of red tinted sweat appeared on his skull. He didn’t know that you knew how desperate he was to impress not only your sister, but you. Confiding in your younger sibling about how important family was to him and as you being the eldest, felt that your ‘approval’ was important.

His clawed fingers clenched around the glass, letting out a small chuckle. You felt your eyebrows pinch and his chuckle died quicker then hot coal dumped into water.

“er- uh! yer, i do, really- i do.” He thumbed at the collar of his shirt, pulling it away from his sternum then smoothing it back down, his jacket was absent; wrapped around the hips of your still singing sister. You could see his eyelights flick over your shoulder to her, incapable of pulling his gaze away for more then a second.

His brothers, cousins- you didn’t know, you’d hardly met them beyond a few encounters with dropping your sister off at Red’s home, all lingered somewhere around the club.

You noticed Noir come up to the bar to converse with Edge, who seemed to realise he’d lost his brothers attention, especially when you caught him scowling down at his elder brother before turning away.

You pulled your gaze away from his and he relaxed a fraction, a flicker of a memory of your sister surfaced.

“Opal- your eye contact is SO intense.”

You hummed, looking over at your sister as your fingers paused the braids you were making with your scarf around your head, your white skull disappearing under the silky gold fabric.

“Y’know monsters and humans get nerves over eye contact, yet you’re pinning them down like a small animal anytime you talk to them.” She leant against your dresser; half dressed for the day out you both had planned. Her phalanges tapped a rhythm against her ilium.

“Well,” guilty you searched for an excuse reason for your intense behaviour and came up short. Instead, you gnawed on your tongue, your fingers resuming the braiding.

She raised her eyebrows, a look of ‘gotcha’ triumphing her expression, “Red especially!” Her white eyelights tracked the movements of your phalanges as you worked on the braid.

That’s where you frowned, pinning your sister with a look, “you know perfectly well why I’m hard on him.” She shot you her own look and you huffed, realising you’d done exactly what she’d just accused you of.

She rolled her eyes, pushing her hip off the dresser to walk behind you, her fingers taking over the work of braiding as you watched her in the mirror. “I know, I know,” she soothed, herself mainly, you guessed, “he is trying! A-and so am I.” She stuttered out.

“Birdy-” you started.

She cut you off, “Opalll.” She near whined out, “give him a chance? He’s so sweet, he got me this necklace I’ve been eyeing the past month.” She shrugged a shoulder, gesturing to the tear drop pearl necklace hanging around her neck, resting beautifully on her sternum.

“Just, the eye contact, its pretty intense.” She added on, you snorted, rolling your eyelights playfully as she finished the first braid.

“I can’t help it.” You replied, your hand curling as you rubbed the underside of your jaw, your hand moving down to adjust the gold chain around your neck. The bright gold glinted in the warm light of your room; the offset of your warm toned jewellery compared by the silver accents your sister wore.

You both enjoyed wearing different coloured scarfs around your heads, styling the long fabric into looks to match your design, you usually chose to braid the fabric. It was trendy, joining in on hairstyling was a tad bit difficult as skeletons.

She hummed as she gathered your scarf into sections, “you don’t have to mask around them, y’know?” Her voice taking a softer tone, one that made your eye twitch uncomfortably.

“Yeah…” You sighed out, looking down at your crossed legs, tucked up and onto your stool.

You’d been shocked, yet comforted, when you’d been diagnosed as autistic. It was weird, out of your teen years and sitting by yourself in the doctor’s office as he went through the diagnoses, what it all meant, what they could do.

Your eye had twitched again when he explained that there wasn’t a ‘cure’ for it.

You weren’t sick. Or ill, or broken or-

“Hey! All done.” Your sisters cheery voice broke through your thoughts, her hands tucking in a few stray flying pieces of fabric as she finished.

You smiled at her in the mirror, fixing your shirt to pull higher up your neck, moving the braids over your shoulders and off your sensitive bones.

“Thanks birdy,” you stood, smiling down at her.

She smiled back, but the little twinkle in her eyelights had you pausing. Her smile morphed into a gremlin smirk, her arms wrapping around your torso before you could dodge her.

“Ugh, okay,” you groaned, your arms awkwardly lifting into the air as she poked her tongue up at you. You tolerated it, for the period she deemed she must ‘hug’ you, showing her love, or whatever, ugh.

Your bones prickled as she let go, “thanks,” she whispered, smoothing down your rumpled clothes as she stepped back out of your bubble.

“Hrm,” you grunted, giving her a side eye as you pulled on your shoes, “you needed it,” was all you said before you ushered her to go and get ready.

Your hand clenched around the sweating glass you were drinking from, you didn’t really like it, whatever it was. Your sister had hailed down the bartender and ordered two of the same, the music rumbling too loudly for you to catch it before he was sauntering off.

Your flat look was met by a giggle from your sister.

The same flat look that now graced your face as Red sweat beside you, looking for words to fill the gap you’d dug.

“she’s real sweet, tha kindest- an’ I mean it, girl i ‘eva met.” He surprised you by placing a hand on your forearm, your bones prickled. But for the sake of your sister, you didn’t flick his hand off.

You glanced at him out the corner of your eye, he wasn’t looking at you, his eyelights fuzzy as he gazed at your sister. “she’s ain’t scared o’ much, darin’ fer someone so small.” You hummed at that, your finger wiping away some of the condensation on the side of the glass. “her laugh is infectious, she cracks jokes better then me! even boss laughs.”

Your lips twitched up as you listened, your soul softening. You didn’t notice how he’d looked back at you, catching something you didn’t hear.

“she’s helpin’ us branch out, discover new things, explorin’ and all that. i ain’t neva met someone so bright as ‘er, she’s like a damn star.” His hand moved to your shoulder, your eyelights flicked to it as he continued, “and i’m real grateful yer given me a chance with ‘er. yer sister, she’s near everythin’ to me.”

Something ached within you, the love that poured freely from his mouth, so openly enthralled with Birdy that you could feel it.

“Red! Opal!” Your sisters voice cut into the lull of silence between you both as you absorbed his words.

She easily hopped into Red’s open arms, his hand leaving your shoulder to catch her much smaller body. His sharp teeth pressed against the top of her head, nuzzling softly.

She smiled up at him, her skull flushed from singing and the alcohol she was slamming down. She’d already made it through a handful of drinks as you nursed your first.

You looked at your sister, her head tilted to glance at you, a silent question present. You softened and slowly nodded.

She squeaked and grappled you into a hug, Red startled as did you, but he was quick to recover, his large arm wrapping around you to pull you in. The two of them embraced you as you froze, an awkward grimace of a smile on your face as you half stood half sat during their hug.

“Ohhh! You big goober!” Birdy’s voice cut over the music, she squeezed her face into yours, having pulled you down to do so. Red pressed another nuzzling kiss to her skull, his fuzzy eyelights looked to you.

You nearly jumped when his hand landed on your head, affectionately rubbing your scarf-wrapped head as Birdy continued to coo into your shared hug.

“BROTHER, WHY ARE YOU SMOTHERING YOUR DATEMATE AND HER SKELETON SIBLING?” Edge’s voice was your ticket out, squawking with embarrassment you prise yourself out of their arms.

Hopping back up onto your stool as you smooth yourself out, the shared loud laughter of Birdy and Red making your embarrassment grow. You shot her a withering glare, causing her to choke on her laugh and look away.

Even Red cowed at the look on your face, Edge merely blinked before his loud voice started again, “WELL, NOIR FOUND A BOOTH FOR AS ALL TO SIT IN, THEY EXPANDED IT SO THE REST OF US COULD ALL JOIN IN THE SAME ONE.”

Birdy clapped her hands, “perfect! Are we able to order from the table?”

Red stood from his stool, his hand loosely placed on her hip as Edge answered, “YES, THEY HAVE THIS WEIRD APP THINGY,” his voice disappeared under the music as he led your sister and Red away, all of them disappearing quickly into the sea of humans and monsters.

Without their voices or the distraction of you watching your sister, the heavy beat of the music filled your ears. The deep bass felt like it was attempting to vibrate the bones of your body away from you.

Your hands clenched around the glass, some small part of you wanted to go after them, but they didn’t ask you to come.

You were left with your dilemma, do you follow? Do you stay? Isn’t it too awkward now, trailing after them like a lost puppy, hanging onto the shirt of your sister like a lifeline in the club?

Nerves crept up on you like a shadow, keeping your rooted to the bar as if your drink was the anchor keeping you there. Watching the figure of your sister disappear into the crowd like the beam of the lighthouse fading in sea fog.

You pulled your gaze from the crowd, the prickle of anxiety dancing over your skin as you stared wide-eyed at your still not finished drink.

No one seemed to bother you for a bit, monsters and humans alike giving you a small berth of space.

Not until a figure shadowed you from the strobing lights of the club, you hadn’t noticed for a moment. Not until you tilted the glass, half considering downing it to get it over with so you could order something else, and the sweat that had gathered on the glass was hardly noticeable.

The bright lights didn’t reach you; something was blocking them. You looked over your shoulder.

Someone.

Probably one of the largest monsters you’d ever seen was standing behind you, you blinked as you recognised him, Copper. Red’s eldest cousin, you’d caught his disappearing form a few times when you’d gone to Red’s huge home. But he’d never stuck around, seemingly just walking around a corner whenever you were there.

You’d summed it up to him maybe not liking humans, or maybe you made him nervous? Your sister had reassured you that maybe he was busy, sharing a secretive look with her boyfriend as you mentioned it.

You’d dropped it after the handful of times happening, really just summing it up that he didn’t like you. His cousins, Edge, Noir, Rus had all been friendly, happy to meet you as the sister of Red’s girlfriend.

Copper stared down at you his one dark red eyelight looked to small as he did, his empty socket half lidded. It gave him a mixed expression, yet it was the first time you’d seen him so up close. The crack that trailed up from his open socket was, to put it plain, nasty. The jagged, aggressive looking hole in the top of his skull was hard to notice from your seated position, but even then, this skeleton towered over everyone in the club.

What mostly caught your gaze was the golden false jaw he had; the pointed shark-like teeth that lined it glinted almost threateningly in the shadowed light he casted.

Both large wounds made you feel sick, but you swallowed passed it, your eyelights dragging away to look him over. His large, huge, maroon jacket was unzipped, revealing the cream sweater underneath. What fascinated you was the black fur lined hoodie that framed his head like a lion’s mane. The dark fabric of his jeans stretched around the swell of his thighs.

Dear stars.

His thigh was mid-level with the bar top. You gulped silently, if you lifted your arms, you could rest your elbows against the bar top whilst you stood. Even with your tad extra height.  

He shifted, eyelight breaking away from yours as he sat down in the stool. From the panicked expressions of the bartenders, you all thought the same thing, would that hold him??

The stool creaked as he sat, sinking pathetically under his weight. He blinked, at least he looked a tad embarrassed as he avoided the now grumpy looks of the staff. His arm rested up on the tabletop, his presence added to the berth everyone already gave you, this side of the bar now basically empty.

You didn’t notice, to busy staring and blinking owlishly up at the giant skeleton.

“don’t… like your… drink?”

You flushed, his voice was sinfully deep, a baritone so many octaves below your own that he easily rivalled the bass of the music. It felt inferior to even consider the bass deep now that you had heard Coppers voice.

He quirked an eyebrow and you bit back a squeak when you realised, you’d just been staring at him and letting him watch your face grow hotter and hotter by the moment.

“Not really,” your lips pulled, an awkward smile on your face.

His shoulders seemed to relax a smidge, a tightness you hadn’t noticed in the corners of his sockets reducing slightly as you replied. “so, what… do… you like?” Each of his words seemed carefully picked, as if he was plucking each of them from a book to cut out and glue together.

It was an effort you realised, for him to talk. Something eased in you, there wasn’t a sense of overwhelming dread as you responded, you didn’t realise that the fear of saying something wrong had disappeared.

“Sweeter drinks, this one’s- ehh, a bit to hard for my taste.” He snorted at your response, his huge, clawed hand lifting to gesture the bartender over.

You blinked, “um! Do you-” fuck, you internally thought, attempting to grapple yourself enough to spit out your sentence, “Elderflower and apple!”

The bartender gave you an odd look.

Shit, shit, shit.

“Do you have anything with Elderflower and apple? V-vodka, by chance?”

She perked up as she finally caught what you were poorly attempting to pass along, “yep! Want me to mix that up for you now?”

“Yes- yes please.” You grinded out, your phalanges squeezing the glass you currently had tight.

The bartender turned to Copper, “anything for you, sir?”

He half glanced at her, “same thing.” She nodded, disappearing down the bar to start mixing them for you both.

“Oh- you don’t have to get the same thing as me!” you jumped in, fuck, you hated feeling like this. Swimming into these interactions, unknown monsters, even worse, he was a hot and unknown monster!

He smirked, the metal gold jaw twisting up with the expression, you chalked it up to magic for the solid metal to be able to shift like that, “s’alright treat… i’d like… ta try it.”

[bootyshitter]

Marinette Dupain-Cheng poem, please?

Hi guys did you miss me and my poems?

Thanks for bringing me out of retirement

My friend

I might do this again. Enjoy

a little birdie from Paris told me that marinete got a beau..

who is it? I think you already know…

it’s Damian Wayne.

and by god did that put chat noir in pain.

but heh… what if she wasn’t in love, but merely insane?

cause the way I call him shat noir I just know he be shitting in those pants… Poo, pee, butt, crap.. call him the avatar of toilets

I got off topic

but the way Marinette turned into the joker is jojo crazy bizare

as she drives around Gotham in her hot pink car

how come she’s got the miraculous

and the way her and Damian Wayne together is so randomness

and this is her dark and twisted theme song.

In the daytime I’m marinette

Just an evil girl with a twisted life 😈

but I have a secret..

another day..

I’m back in Gotham…

but when I look at him. I’m SUPER ROTTEN!

he SHOOTS ME!!

I HAVE A GLOCK

Lookin at him like .. it’s murder o’clock 😈

cause in marinatte and I’m not ladybug …

IM LADYBAD.

And I got hella bands

No one knows the depths of my pain. The world is unaware of its own banality. I hide my rage behind a mask of sanity. I got one thing to say…

Bruce wayne spreads so many stds in Gotham it’s insaanity…

And the writer of this poem wants hawkmoth to

Save me… you sexy ass dilf do you like DICK?

Thank you!

[kora124]

Chat noir: Hey birdy bleu ! What's on your mind ?

Le paon bleu: The inner workings of my mind is an enigma