#though I haven't really thought about the latter much since the show ended which makes me feel some kinda way

[pb-and-jammothy]

If you get this, answer with three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs! anon or not, doesn't matter, lets get to know the person behind the blog <3

Hi, wasn't expecting this, but cool!

I'm pb-and-jammothy, I'll probably answer to any variation of that pseudonym, except for Jim, and quite a few unrelated nicknames, here are some fun facts about me:

I'm British American, but in a kinda weird way, often this can be seen in my relatively shallow understanding about British or American things, and me using British and American spelling (though I tend to stick to one spelling of a word, it may just be an American spelling right next to a British one).

I really like cooking! I'm rather a picky eater for sensory reasons, and I'm really not a fan of trying new foods, so I'm rather proud of my abilities in the kitchen. Learning how to cook vegetables in a way where I actually enjoy them is an Absolute Game Changer whooo boy. My goal this year (which I've been achieving - 2 I've tried and been successful with and a handful ready to try next) is to learn new recipes for things I can make regularly.

I have 3 notes for fanfic ideas for a combined total of just under 14k words, with the separation being by fandom. I want to make progress in turning them from rambles about ideas into actual fics, but most of them are geared towards multi-chapter long-fics, which I've tried writing over the years, but haven't finished a single one, hence why my current ao3 accounts only have one shots published. Can't really work on any of them right now since I've got deadlines, but maybe this is a project for the summer (alongside reading a bunch of mythology books in prep for a Percy Jackson inspired ttrpg campaign I'm gonna run).

Uhh yeah, that's me. 😁👍

[shuttershocky]

Do go on about SpecOps the Line, I am ever so curious about Shutters Big Thoughts On Things Posts

I haven't played this game since it came out 11 years ago so while I actually want to talk about the level design and how the game brilliantly used "video-gamey" aspects like predictable spawnpoints that modern games try to hide to make a tedious drudge that drove you to be exhausted and mad like the protagonist, I don't remember it all that well.

So I guess i'll just talk about /that/ scene, and how much its power relied on the context of its time (read: what games were super popular then.)

Whenever Spec Ops The Line comes up, the talk always goes to the infamous white phosphorus scene, when honestly I think it's the one part of Spec Ops the Line where you actually need the context of its time to get why it became so notorious. If they tried to do a scene like that now, it would just be seen as done in really bad taste (and personally, even back then I thought it was in bad taste but that's me)

So for those who don't know, Spec Ops The Line is a 3rd person shooter about a team of 3 spec ops soldiers from America sent to investigate an apocalyptic Dubai, which got taken over by a US battalion led by a man called Joseph Konrad (they're very on the nose about this game being inspired by Heart of Darkness). Things turn to shit fast, the three guys are attacked by the locals and they have to fight their way out of a Dubai buried under a mountain of sand.

The white phosphorus scene begins with the 3 dudes finding themselves outnumbered but with a mortar. The gameplay then switches to a top-down view, similar to air strike screens in other shooter games like Call of Duty. All the enemies are lit up in white, the player hovers the aim over them, presses a button, and boom, they're gone. At the end of the sequence, the player finds a building packed with white, and blows it up getting a massive amount of kills.

When the sequence ends, the three guys go over to the site where the enormous number of enemies were and find that they had bombed a refugee camp. The only remains even recognizable as human is the charred corpse of a mother holding her child.

The three spec ops soldiers are utterly horrified, and the latter half of the game shows their mental states quickly unraveling from the guilt, at least, until you realize they might have already been mad even before they realize they had killed innocents, since they were happily bombing human beings with chemical warfare of the warcrimiest variety as long as they thought it was "the enemy".

I still hold some dislike for the scene since the scene was literally incinerating brown people to make US soldier sad (and like, there's no choice involved you actually have to do it to proceed with the game which brings up a whole bunch of arguments), but also, holy shit, this was in 2012.

The first Call of Duty Modern Warfare in 2007 (not to be confused with the more recent Call of Duty Modern Warfare) changed the landscape of triple A video games. It didn't just break records, it had such a gigantic audience and made so much goddamn money that video games started turning from a niche (though dedicated) hobby for nerds and children into a truly mainstream form of entertainment. And with that, came everyone chasing after Call of Duty's success.

By 2012 the market was swarming with military shooters (even more than normal for video games). I don't know enough history to know if this was literally US funded military propaganda (I know they actually commissioned their own military shooter games like America's Army but I don't know how heavy their hand was in the actually popular titles) or if this was sheer cultural momentum from the invasion of Iraq, but you get the picture right? A fuckton of the biggest games from the West all followed the same theme: You are an American soldier, you shoot the bad brown people and become the good brown people's hero.

The White Phosphorus scene in Spec Ops the Line took people by complete surprise. Its marketing and the box all told you this was yet another gung ho military shooter (though in third person this time instead of the usual first person), and then it dared to call its players monsters for unquestioningly killing everything in sight with glee. This was when Call of Duty was at the height of its popularity with both Black Ops and Black Ops 2 being some of the highest selling games in the whole franchise.

It was different. I don't want to say it was subversive given how it looks now, but it sure felt like it at the time, you know? It was shocking. Thought-provoking.

And it would never work today, not after Undertale.

[zippverschluss]

ep 9 notes

haven't checked the tag yet, need to sort through / document my thoughts first.

i'm a bit... disappointed, i guess? but i think that's owed to my expectations. after a week of collective theorizing i was (not so) secretly hoping for a sauruman VS gandalf style face off and so what we got felt a bit... pedestrian?

so i guess the gardener did hurt him after all, just not the 'shears-in-your-body' kind of inury? i honestly thought he'd stick to stalking.

speaking of which, i'll be disappointed if it's really garden dude using nayeon and not the other way round. nayeon being skilled in black magic and just using / playing men left and right to reach her own various ends and satisfy her needs would have elevated the character immensely. feels a bit disrespectful tbh.

speaking of disrespect, i suspected as much, but still... how can they have the mother not know? like honestly? how can her asshole husband tell the woman his son just broke up with about the illness but not his wife? i reeeaaally want hj to hex him... like, make him step on a lego everyday of his life. or have shampoo get into his eyes. something like that.

back in ep. 3 when sy saw hj in the dress and just last episode, we focused on his right hand. same happend during the proposal scene in ep. 5 and yesterday in the hospital with nayeon. i guess that holds significance?

were sy and ny ever intimate with each other?

i liked how they filmed the nightmare hj had.

also, how ambigious jg still feels. though i'm leaning towards ally who hasn't realized yet that he missed his shot. (also, does jg know the mayor is dirty? the mayor is dirty, right? playing footsie with the haum ceo? is that why he poached sy? to take on the mayor? and if he doesn't know, doesn't that just really undercut his character?)

did garden dude hit sy with some magic to make him black out? did that magic bring back his past memories? i thought he remembered when he woke up in the hospital.

but then i really don't understand the artistic decision process behind the scene in front of the hospital. that scene made (makes) me think i must be mistaken? how can he remember loving / killing her 300 years ago and the first thing he asks about is the in house messenger? (yeah, i know, he wanted her to go back on her word...) but even if he wanted to not let on, where were the longing / pining / loving eyes from last episode? the whole thing just felt very bland and weird.

also, poor rowoon. they obvs. didn't find hospital pants long enoug for him.

also, pls. don't push sick / hospitalized people. you don't know what tubes / needles they have sticking in or out of them. drama writers, find other ways to initiate physical touch. (just as lazy as drunk alley dude in ep 2).

i cared about ma and go for the first time. that scene was funny. i don't appreciate that once again show insinuates that a man is needed to keep a home in order, but since ma is freshly divorced it is plausible. for a moment i thought he was gonna choke her out or pass out himself. lol

also, re the hug, 'what kind of man asks that beforehand?'. the kind that respects boundaries and gives you the chance to say no? uncool ma, uncool show.

i guess no tentative friendships at work, but passive-aggressiveness?

loved the fireworks and the traditional music. was my favourite part of the episode. that slapped. wished they would have kept that music for the romantic scene.

there's still the option that him wholeheartedly embracing his feelings for hj brought upon the past memories. in which case that must be one long-ass hug. still, i'd prefer that scenario over the hospital-dream one. embracing his feelings because he remembers cheapens it a bit imo. its prob. the latter though seeing how he asked his mom about past lives.

his parents' bickering is getting on my nerves.

this episode felt really disjointed. i understand the cuts / edits were to not reveal too much, but at this point i'm just really annoyed by it.

for that reason bridge scene didn't have the impact it prob. should have had since i wasn't really sure what was going on?

spell scene too short, dress not as strange / pretty. but loved the music. also, what spell did she use? seduction?

i liked the child actors surprisingly much. i liked it even more that already as a child she had shaman capabilities.

i know tall people fall in love too, but man those hugs looked uncomfortable.

there's many other thoughts in my head but lastly: i guess only him remembers the past out of the two of them. i don't like that. at all. after 8 episodes it finally felt like they were on somewhat even footing when it came to knowledge about magic, spells, curses.... having only him remember once again means he knows more and is the proactive one, whereas she is only reacting and being driven by him. (but, if only him remembers, how can we as an audience see the things that only she can know? being brought to the shaman as a child? her premunition of the bloody hand?)

on that note, i hope the next kiss is initiated by hj. would be nice to see her express her desires / feelings. 3 kisses in and it's always him planting one on her. reciprocity is hot!! gimme gimme gimme!

[filmmakerdreamst]

Thoughts on Life with Luca? I was excited until I found out that they've made Derek a successful musician, for some reason?? (I remember him playing guitar in the series, but he couldn't really sing, that was part of the reason he needed Casey to front D-Rock) + they both have 14-year-olds now, meaning we're expected to believe they had a kid at what? 19? Believable for Derek, maybe, but completely out of character for Casey, IMO.

I preferred the original pitch, which implied Casey & Derek's kids would be younger and that they would be two single parents, kind of co-parenting their kids together in one household. Though I guess the latter half of that could still happen, if this movie spawns a series and Casey gets a divorce lol

Ooof I honestly don't know how I feel about it. I've long made peace with the fact that Derek and Casey are possibly not going to be together - even though its a natural progression for their characters whether you ship them or not, so putting it off, is just delaying the inevitable in my opinion BUT I digress.

Yeah, their kids being 14 is a way of copying the original premise plus reliability because its easier to have older kids as the leads you know. Derek having a kid early makes sense for him. Casey's a bit of a stretch. All I'm saying is they better not have the Unresolved Sexual Tension that Derek and Casey have because that would be all kinds of weird. It wouldn't work as well. So I'm hoping for more of a sibling vibe.

Save the Sexual Tension for their parents aka THE PROS.

Derek being a musician makes sense to me simply because alot of emphasis was put on that in the original show. The filmmaking job possibly makes a little more sense in context, but I think the music thing is what Derek was really interested in because the show always treated the 'filmmaking' thing as a hobby for him.

I always imagined Casey being married and Derek being single. I made that prediction a while ago and I kid you not, I did a double take when I read the synopsis because it CAME TRUE. Realistically, I don't think it would of been possible for Derek and Casey to end up together. I have this mindset that they had a physical relationship in college but because of their families, they decided to end it and haven't really talked about it since.

Whether Casey's marriage lasts, it all depends really. (I hope it doesn't) But naturally it will pale in comparison when Derek walks back into her life, as do all the previous love interests in the Original show - at least to the audience.

They're never going to NOT love each other, because as much as Derek and Casey fought constantly, the two of them found a connection so deep when they were young that even though their lives went on different paths, different directions, they had that together. You can never lose that.

How their relationship will play out I don't know. Maybe Casey's husband works away, and Derek moves in to help look after the kids. Maybe it falls apart who knows.

Basically I'm expecting to like 70% of the show, as much as I like all spin-offs. The whole show could be shite, but as long as they get Derek and Casey's relationship right - I'm good.

[iremelwrites]

Loved your take on Alois! I dislike the second season because of how it handled it's characters, but your study does it so much justice. Do you have any further thoughts on Hannah and why she behaves the way she does?

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the analysis I haven't really thought into Hannah's character (not in the same depth as Alois at least), but I do think that fandom sometimes undermines her to this "abused maid who did nothing wrong" trope.

The demon realm seems genuinely boring if one is just sitting around and looking for souls to eat, over many centuries, so my take is that when she encountered Luka, Hannah was suddenly introduced to the concept of feelings, and I think that is what relieved her boredom (I think she even stated that in canon, I'm not sure though). Alois made a contract with Claude only at first, and it's unknown why and how exactly Hannah and the triplets ended up there. Demons eat hundreds of souls over their lifetime but I doubt that the souls they consume can actually influence how they themselves behave, so the idea that Hannah acted the way she did simply because she consumed Luka's soul (that is implied in the show) isn't really logical. She had to consciously allow that to happen, and I think the main reason for this initially was because she enjoyed the world of intense emotions that she was suddenly introduced to. She found Luka intriguing because he was a pure child, and by allowing his soul more freedom within her own mind (do demons have a soul?) she felt his feelings, which were probably drug-like to someone who's never experienced them before. So she did what Luka's soul wanted her to do: found his brother and stayed close to him.

I've wondered a lot about this myself, actually. If there are several souls within one body, especially in the case of Luka, who probably had something of a special position, can they all see and feel what the physical form is experiencing? And, if yes, this is a whole new level of S2 analysis because what are Luka's thoughts on how his brother grew up, and how he treats the demon that his soul is in? What does he think about the fact that Alois also made a contract with a demon, what is Luka's opinion of Claude? A lot to think about.

It's interesting whether Hannah began masking herself as a maid when Alois became earl or when the old Trancy earl was still alive. The latter makes sense because that way she could keep Luka near his brother. (Did she maybe also keep an eye on him when he was surviving for several years on his own?) Her being physically present during the worst years of Alois's life also adds another very very heavy degree to the story, one that's unfortunately not explored in canon. I don't think that Hannah felt a particular guilt about consuming Luka's soul and, essentially, becoming what ruined Alois's life. Not at the outset, at least. It was probably something like a game to her. She admitted in the OVA that she loves how unstable Alois's soul is, so despite the fact that she's not deliberately malicious towards Alois the way Claude is, she's still a demon who is still quite predatory in nature. She's physically incapable of feeling and generating genuine human emotions, since the first reaction of a human to Alois's mental condition would be to get him help ASAP. Even though she might have inherited Luka's sentiments on making his brother happy, her execution of that idea, in the long term, is objectively poor.

Demons aren't averse to death, since they're hard to kill and have lived for hundreds of years I think most of them have a fatalistic outlook on it (if they're not actively pursuing a goal like Sebastian, that is), and that's why I think Hannah accepted death so easily. The ending of her arc makes no sense though, she had an intense rivalry with Claude, why was she cuddling up to him in their final moments? Though she might have developed a fascination with the human world and its concepts, and may have modeled their household to a family dynamic in her mind, it's still kind of weird honestly.

In short, what we know about Hannah and her relationships with the other characters in canon is sadly crumbs of information which are difficult to analyze because there's so little to work with. Which is, again, very unfortunate because she seems like a potentially incredible character who could've been portrayed a lot better

[abysskeeper]

Trick 🐶 🍼 💘

@gothamcityneedsme I turned on.

🐶 - A Pet

(I did do a full post on her pets once upon a time. I think I need to start including the Opal Vulptilla in her eclectic little pack now though, which I haven't done yet. Novi needs another dog friend.)

"Oh, I have a number of pets and they're all special to me. I really shouldn't choose, but...Annovi was my first. I found her abandoned as a pup when I was younger and...well, sometimes you just meet the right people at the right time, including animals. We found each other at a time in our lives when we both desperately needed the other.

I worked tirelessly to care for her and nurture her back to health, and I think through that in a way I was able to show myself a little more compassion than I otherwise would have. I was...not blind to the similarities between our situations. If anything, I probably correlated them too much in my own mind, but it made me determined to see to it that she survived and thrived.

Novi hasn't left my side since. She's a calm and friendly companion despite her size and...sometimes threatening appearance. The only concerns you ever really need to have about her is if you intend to do me harm. The inverse, though, is also true. Otherwise, she's truly a good girl and has seen me through some of my darkest and lowest points in life in ways I often wonder if "real people" ever could."

🍼 - A Child (Theirs or Not)

"...It was not a thought I could stand to dwell on, but I knew there were a few kids who came after me. I was a success, it was inevitable.

On a night etched into my memory--one I wish I could forget--a friend (a family friend, as I understood it. He was young when he knew my parents, but I do not have the memory or context for such a thing) found me with a request. He asked me to rescue his daughter from a similar fate as my own, and if he didn't make it, to care for her in only the way someone who understood her situation could.

I promised to save her, and I told him the latter would not come to pass. He would survive his injuries and reunite with his daughter. He made me promise regardless, and I...I wound up swallowing my words. I do wonder if they were what damned him in the end.

I kept my first promise though. I did save her even before she suffered the same fate as me. I...I couldn't keep the second. I...I was young, and scared and...despite so desperately wanting to be a mother and to have a family of my own...I was not in the place to be a mother. I wasn't cut out for motherhood then, and if I'm honest, I'm terrified I never will be. She needed to not be entangled in what I was doing, anyways. She deserved to live a better life than that.

My eldest brother and his husband stepped up where I could not. They took care of her, they still take care of her. She's happy with them and living a life she deserves. I still get to visit regularly and stand as an influence in her life.

Though not easy, it was the correct decision to make. I do not regret it."

💘 - A Love Interest***

"Aheh...'a'. There really only is one, if I were to be truthful, no one else really compares. A fiercely loyal and dedicated individual who is a far better man than most people give him credit for, including himself. We are much more similar to each other than most would think, given how diametrically opposed we appear; and where we are not, those differences are the point of complementarities. The light of stars does not shine without the darkened backdrop of the night sky after all, and a burning fire is only detrimental to those who do not know the chill of ice.

...When we met, I wanted to save him. I wanted to free him from the chains of the life he was leading if only because I too readily recognized them, and I too quickly saw his potential for so much better. His situation was similar to my own, and despite acknowledging that, I still never considered that I was perhaps searching for my own salvation in trying to offer his, much less that he would desire to share it with me.

In the end, for all my hope he is the one who refused to let us be a tragedy. He is a better man than most, and my falling was quick. Words cannot begin to cover the depths of how dearly I love him."

***I'm including these even though I know I sent them to you already because I enjoy them immensely anyways. How often can I explore Trick talking about Tav? Too much.

[nataliaphantomhivesblog]

Shin Soukoku: The new generation of Double Black

This is my 3rd Bungou Stray Dogs post in a row, the brainrot is strong in this one.

This isn't necessairly a ship post, it's just dedicated to their dynamic in general! Take this as you wish<3

WARNING: MAJOR BSD MANGA SPOILERS (chapters 83-88) DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN THERE YET!!

In this post I will be talking about Shin Soukoku because I personally feel that people don't talk about these two enough.

As we all here know, Atsushi and Akutagawa's relationship is one of the most important ones in the series, mirroring Chuuya and Dazai's relationship.

One could argue that although Soukoku and Shin Soukoku are supposed to be parallels, these two dynamics are very different from each other.

I believe that something that ssk lacks is trust. Atsushi does not trust Akutagawa, even when they are teaming up together Atsushi can't help but feel wary around him.

It's the complete opposite of Soukoku since both Dazai and Chuuya have a partnership that is based on pure trust where both of them are capable of leaving each other's life on the other's hand without a second thought.

Trust is very important in a partnership since there will be times were one of them will have to take life-risking choices while having confidence that their partner will save them.

Fukuchi even points out that if Atsushi and Akutagawa had more trust in each other, he would've been defeated.

In the following pannel, Atsushi is reflecting on Fukuchi's words and you can see how he still struggles when it comes to being able to fully trust Akutagawa, which is understanable considering the latter has tried to kill him countless of times.

It is clear that they have a long way to go to be able to perfectly mold into the 2nd "Double Black". One important step towards growth is for them to start trusting one another.

But just because these two lack trust in each other doesn't mean their dynamic hasn't improved.

These manga pannels show us two things:

Atsushi is having a relazation about Akutagawa as a person, he isn't as bad as he paints him up to be. It literally helps Atsushi get a clearer picture of him since Atsushi has always had a very clouded view of Akutagawa.

Akutagawa kept his word and actually took in what Atsushi had said about not killing people. Atsushi's words impacted Akutagawa and affected him in its own positive way.

To give context behind this pannel: Fukuchi was intending to pin both Atsushi and Akutagawa against each other, more specifically, he wanted Akutagawa to get rid of Atsushi.

Akutagawa put up an act, he started acting as if he was going to kill Atsushi when in reality that wasn't his intention at all.

Akutagawa keeps up with his act, he knows that Atsushi won't be able to "fight" him unless he is fuled by something, and in this case it was by compassion. Atsushi's compassion.

The moment Akutagawa mentioned his lung condition and how he wants to fullfill his goal of killing/defeating Atsushi therefore making Dazai proud before dying, Atsushi did not hesitate to stand up and put up a fight.

Obviously, Atsushi was not aware that Akutagawa didn't want to truly kill him and that it was just a part of his plan.

There are major things to unpack here:

Akutagawa has vowed countless of times that he was going to kill Atsushi, and now that he literally had the perfect opportunity to do so, he deviced a plan to do quite the opposite.

Atsushi was willing to comply with Aku's wishes due to the fact that he has come to an understanding of Akutagawa as a person.

Akutagawa knew exactly what to say to fuel Atsushi into "fighting" him.

They both have come to a mutual understanding. That is a significant step for their dynamic to become stronger.

Unlike Chuuya and Dazai, these two lack balance.

When it comes to Soukoku, Dazai is the one who comes up with the plans while Chuuya is more of a fighter.

(That doesn't mean Chuuya doesn't contribute with the plans but its obvious his talent is focused on combat, same could be said for Dazai, he is a pretty good fighter but his talent is centered around strategies.)

Now I believe that Shin Soukoku shares Chuuya's strenght and combat abilities. Both Atsushi and Akutagawa have been able to defeat their enemies by merging their abilities together.

But when it comes to creating strategies... They aren't the best...

Of course it's going to be difficult for them to even be at the same intellect level as Dazai's, so I don't blame them for struggling.

It has been shown that Akutagawa has the skills to become a good strategist, his overbearing emotions are what eventually holds him back.

That's exactly what Atsushi is there for though. If Atsushi was able to influence Akutagawa into making him stop killing people for 6 months, Atsushi will most likely be able to guide Akutagawa into keeping his emotions in cheek during missions.

Sigh...

Dazai, you intelligent bastard.

Of course Akutagawa saved Atsushi.

He cares for him after all.

Atsushi, if only you knew how much meaning Akutagawa's sacrifice truly holds...

I really hope that Akutagawa will be able to survive this one since in my personal opinion there is still a lot of development and progress left for not only Akutagawa's character, but also for his dynamic with Atsushi.

This won't be the end of their dynamic.

Thank you for reading, I am incredibly thankful<3

[sparrowmoth]

I’m back in case nobody ever asked about your boy, so…. Carlos de Vil for the ask meme :)

@hoodpane Aww, thank you, sweetheart, I appreciate that! 🥰♥️♥️

1. Sexuality Headcanon

I headcanon (and write) him variously as gay OR bisexual since I can see it either way with him, for reasons akin to my thoughts on Evie in this post. Sometimes, I headcanon him as aspec, too, and that's been at the back of my mind with certain fics, but I haven't yet decided if I feel strongly about him fitting a particular label or if I'm just trying to figure out things for myself by projecting different labels at him idk.

Anyway, related (gender) headcanon that I can never shut up about: whatever sexuality I'm writing him as, he's always he/they nonbinary in my mind, my writing, my memes, just everything jdkaljgklsg. <3

2. OTP

Jaylos, my beloved! For me, there's no universe in which these two don't end up together, which is why they come out on top as my OTP, deeply fond as I am of the Rotten OT4 ship. Marlos and Carvie can be romantic or platonic, it's fine either way, but if Jaylos isn't happening, I probably won't bother. I just don't enjoy reading them in other ships.

3. BROTP

I think Jane and Carlos are really cute as friends. It makes me really happy to think about Jay and Carlos going on double dates with Jane and Lonnie (who are in lesbians together, change my mind you can't).

I'm also here for Chad being the bestie Carlos literally never wanted. Their dynamic is just so fucking funny. It makes no sense! Compels me though. And Mal, Jay, and Evie absolutely tease Carlos about it.

4. NOTP

No hate, but I'm not here for Benlos. I think it's cute that Ben clearly has a crush on Carlos, but I mean, it's Ben. Show me a VK he doesn't have a crush on lmao. I don't know, this ship just leaves me bored, so I'll usually take a hard pass on anything that features them together.

Less common nopes I've encountered: Gilos and Chadlos. Just nope.

5. First headcanon that pops into my head

In telling Carlos all those horrifying (and untrue) tales of dogs being vicious, rabid pack animals as he was growing up, Cruella liked to up the drama by growling, baring her teeth, even biting him sometimes.

This instilled such terror in Carlos that he thought to weaponize it, so, for years, he'd growl at his bullies and try to bite and claw instead of punching and kicking. The other kids found this strange at best and hilarious at worst—none more so than Harry Hook in the latter case.

Oh, he never let Carlos live that down, even long after he'd realized it wasn't having the desired effect. Harry would bark and growl at him in the street, laughing gleefully when he managed to startle Carlos.

Meanwhile, with Jay, Mal, and Evie, the nickname "pup" emerged as a soft, teasing reminder of the first impression he'd made on them as kids. Much to his exasperation, he's simply stuck with the nickname.

6. One way in which I relate to this character

Look at him, he's got anxiety. No, but seriously, that's definitely a big thing for me. The way his anxiety makes people underestimate him, both in canon and fanon, because it's easy to see just a scared little boy where, in fact, there are so many sharp edges, so much steel in him that's helped him survive.

I relate to that a lot, because IRL I find most people make the mistake of assuming anxiety is my personality ("omg you're so shy uwu," "you should talk more," "smile for me"), and well, they're wrong, but I didn't always realize that. I see something similar with Carlos on the Isle, in that he grows up being told that he's weak for so long, he internalizes that as a truth about himself when, in actuality, if he was weak? He'd have never survived. Not the Isle, not his mother, not his entire life.

7. Thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

chocolate-all-over-his-face.jpg jkdlajlkgsjlkg

Like, it warms my heart how excited he is about chocolate, but also I kind of want to be a mom for just TWO SECONDS and wipe his face before he gets out of the limo looking a mess like that jdkasljkgdlsjk

8. Cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

You know, he can be a cinnamon roll, but it would be a mistake to see that as the extent of his character. I'd say more than half the time it's just an act to get what he wants, which is valid of him. Jay and Evie flirt, Mal intimidates, and Carlos? He gives the puppy eyes so you don't notice the knife slip out from his sleeve before it's too late.

One of my favourite things about him is that he could have gone the route of problematic fave. He's capable of it. He just... chooses to be better than that, like in this scene from Return to the Isle of the Lost (Book 2), which is one of my favourite scenes in the whole franchise:

Cruella cackled with glee. “Go ahead, then, use it on me. Destroy me. With that ring you can obliterate me forever. Tell me to throw myself off this roof and I’ll do it. Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that what you have always wanted?”

Carlos felt the ring throb in his hands. He could destroy his mother, rid the world of another villain, and stop having nightmares once and for all.

“Do it!” Cruella cackled. “Do it, boy!”

He raised his hand, pointing the ring right at her. Then he dropped his arm down with a sigh. “No, I can’t. I’m better than that,” Carlos said, turning on his heel and heading for the elevator. I’m better than you, Mother. No matter what you’ve always told me.

That's my baby and I'm proud.

Character Headcanons

[gayfilmbro]

ok so just rewatched clueless and whenever i watch this movie i always feel like im being too harsh on it bc it's dubbed as a classic teen movie but they reallyyyy needed to do 1. more character development with cher earlier on and 2. more work on her and josh's relationship to make the ending truly work bc. i think they spent almost too much time at the start with the whole teacher match making and trying to find tai a boyfriend thing (the latter of which was completely pointless in the long haul like, tai hung out with this guy a couple of times, not even in a romantic setting, and was heartbroken enough when he didnt like her to keep 'momentos' of their short (non existent) relationship ??? that doesn't tie (ha tie. like tai.) in w her earlier characterisations at all and, even though she's been changed by cher we see that, in reality, she's barely been changed at all. she goes full circle. but anyway) and less on actually building up to the end of the movie.

their relationship, at the start of the movie, is shown as a sibling type relationship. josh is the older brother, teasing her even though he does care (see: when he drove to pick her up after being mugged, etc.) and cher actually has nothing positive to say abt josh at all, he's just lame and annoying. it's a very strange dynamic to start off with once you know that, at the end of the movie, they get together with one another romantically. almost as if the writers didn't realise that was the route they were going to take (even though they probably did since the movie is based off of emma by jane austen, but i haven't read the book so) when they started writing.

now, their relationship has some foreshadowing throughout the movie, sure, even if they are pretty much all one sided with josh going out of his way to help out cher because she's clueless, but this could easily be interpreted as platonic in my opinion. i remember watching it for the first time and, around two thirds way through they focused on josh's face as cher did something and i thought no. no fucking way are they gonna do this, right? you're joking. because it was so unexpected after the way they acted towards one another at the start of the movie ??? especially cher who, again, didn't have anything nice to say AT ALL abt josh towards the start, and by the end she was madly in love with him. there wasn't even a transition stage, a switch from josh being annoying to josh actually being an ok friend and someone she valued spending time with because that only happened after she realised she loved him. before that we didn't see her indicate any romantic feelings or touching or whatever towards him . there wasn't even a THOUGHT of romance, as we know from her narration/inner dialogue.

also when did josh stop thinking about cher as immature and lazy? when did he stop mocking her about being selfish and like her enough to defend her (when she'd clearly done something wrong) against someone who he was WORKING with even though he really enjoys the experience he's getting and doesn't wanna lose the opportunity due to a petty fight with a colleague/someone presumably his superior. we don't see how their relationship changes from his pov it's just one minute he's annoyed by her and the next he's sneaking glances at her? they should've at least made it consistent if they weren't going to clearly show his pov and had him subtly in love with her from the start but he's clearly just. not. also it's implied that he had feelings for tai so what happened with that? cher considered tai's view of their relationship by thinking there was no way they were gonna happen because she liked that skater dude but she didn't even think abt whether josh liked her or not?

they needed to spend more time morphing their relationship from "hating" to "loving" each other for the ending to truly feel satisfying, and also they could've done without it feeling extremely brother-sister like throughout the movie (even though they were. they were step brother and sister. i just. ok) with josh even calling her dad his own dad (WHICH IS JUST WEIRD, RIGHT?) anyway ive run outta steam on this one kinda forgot where this was going. on the upside christian is transition goals

[jengarie]

#showyourprocess !

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag up to 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

Thank you, @rinielle for tagging me! She chose the piece above (original post), and oh boy this one was a whole ass rollercoaster ride! Unfortunately, I hadn't turned on the timelapse feature for this but I'll try to go through each part of the process as best as I can!

The photos I'm gonna upload are gonna be a mix of screenshots and literal photos of my screen, because I'm taking some of them from my updates to friends, since a lot of the steps got lost in my painting process.

But before that, let me tag some other amazing creators!

@dragonji: this gif art!

@candicewright: this yibo painting!

@wendashanren: this gifset!

@mylastbraincql: this gif!

I haven't been able to keep track of who's been tagged so apologies if you've already done this! Also, no pressure to do it at all if you would rather not! <3

Planning

Sometimes, I get an idea first and find reference photos to go with that idea. But for this one, I sought out a reference photo first, and built an idea on top of it!

After that, I roughly sketch out the base pose. Usually, this looks very messy, but it doesn't really matter as long as I understand which part goes where!

The idea for the background didn't really come until the creation process because I don't think I really planned this to be a full piece.

Creation

Sketching

Honestly, from this point on, it's more of trial and error.

So, I redid the the initial base pose—made it cleaner and a little bit more detailed. See: the added definition in their arm muscles, the rearrangement of Wei Wuxian's legs, and Lan Wangji's hand on Wei Wuxian's back. If you look at the second photo, I also changed the pose a bit midway—I tend to edit as I go sometimes when I change my mind. (For this, I thought, given the Lan arm strength, it would be better to make Lan Wangji look more at ease carrying Wei Wuxian. This gets covered by the robes anyway though, so it didn't matter much in the end.)

I also started adding details to the base! I usually start with the face and then the hair! I usually go for the clothes next, but I dreaded the robes in this piece so I guess that's why I ended up with a basic idea of what I wanted for the background instead LOL I also figured out how I want the final crop to look like, so I blocked out all the other areas with an extra layer!

Okay, onto the part that killed me like ten times: the robes. There are a lot of interactions between their robes here given their pose, and not to mention they also have layers upon layers on each of them! So, to maintain my sanity and to keep track of which part is which, I color coded them into the most colorful sketch I've ever made.

Another reason why I filled in each layer of robe with a solid block of color, is so that all the lines underneath gets covered. Without all of the colors, the actual outline actually looks like the one on the right. What a nightmare!

I also ignored the crop again for this part, because it's always better to draw past your borders, in case you decide to rotate or tilt or whatever your piece later on. I didn't do the feet anymore though, because that I was sure wouldn't show in the final piece anymore.

After that, I did the sketch one more time and then started adding the base colors. (I didn't have a screenshot of just the base colors, and the final CSP file is a nightmare so I copy pasted the layers into a new canvas to show you guys :') )

By the way, I drew their robes flowing this way, because I wanted it to frame the lower arch of the moon behind them for the composition. It was a little frustrating that I couldn't get Lan Wangji's robes a little higher because of Wei Wuxian's legs but I later filled in the empty space with his forehead ribbon anyway, so it all worked out in the end!

Painting

Because apparently, I was a masochist back then, I merged the base colors all into one layer and started adding shadows to the robes. (These days, I add shadows first and then, merge. It's much easier this way.)

And then, I started painting! Again, I did the face first and then the hair, before finally the robes. This was my first time painting side profiles and honestly it was quite a pain to figure out LOL but !!! I think I did a good job and I'm proud of how it turned out. I again used reference photos for this one but I can't link any because they were just several random Pinterest photos that I didn't save.

Another thing to note is that I use the mesh transform tool a lot, especially on faces. That's largely why Lan Wangji's face looks so different in the latter two!

And then I went with the robes. Somewhere along the way, I realized I didn't like how I planned to do Lan Wangji's sleeves and the flowy part of Wei Wuxian's robes and I... decided, with much dread, to do them over. So I sketched on top of the painted layers and redid the robes, again.

It was at this point that I decided to take a break from this piece because it was honestly very draining! I think it took about three weeks before I decided to open the file again and continue it.

When I did, I just finished painting the rest of the robes and their hands. The blue details on Lan Wangji's outer robes were painted on a separate layer that I put on Multiply. I probably did more adjustments to the face and hair and stuff, because my painting process is honestly a mess :')

Final Adjustments

I added some correction layers on certain areas to fix some of the colors. See: Lan Wangji's sleeve becoming much brighter and paler; Wei Wuxian's legs having less contrast. And then I merged all of the layers (excluding the background) and added a bit of blur. See: Wei Wuxian's ponytail; the entire lower part; the flowing forehead ribbon. My reasoning for this is so that most of the detail (and therefore the flow of the eye) goes to their faces and expressions!

And then, I put a blue Overlay layer on low opacity to make Wangxian blend better with the background, added a bit of shadow on the inside and the lower sections and added the glowing details for the added flair. I initially wanted sparkles and/or stars but they didn't turn out as well as this did. I also upped the contrast by a little for the entire piece!

Aaaand, that's it! In truth, I did a bit more color adjustments to the whole piece, but I was a dummy who forgot to turn them back on before posting so ... oh well.

Posting

Before posting, I upload it either on my spare private Twitter account or on a drafted Tumblr post so I can check the colors on my phone. This is because the colors on different devices can look very different, and I would at the very least want all my pieces to look nice on both of my devices!

And then, once I deem it satisfactory, I just try to think of a caption and post! Some artists wait for a certain time where most of their followers are active, but I didn't have a lot of MDZS followers at this point so it didn't really matter to me.

It still doesn't really; I haven't actually been able to figure out when my MDZS followers are awake even now.

[rpg-elf-girl]

Shadows House

I have a lot of thoughts surrounding this particular show, both good & bad.

Allow me to give a quick summary for anyone who hasn't seen/read it!

Shadows House is about 'a faceless family of nobles who all live within this giant manor, the Shadows House.

When a Shadow comes of age they receive a 'Living Doll' to both serve as their face and to clean the soot they emit from their bodies.

The most important rule of the living dolls is "don't fret over trivial matters"

A task which is difficult for the ever curious doll Emiliko.

Watch this tale unfold as Emiliko & her mistress Kate navigate this ever mysterious Manor together.'

For a fan of slow burn thrillers, horror, slice of life, supernatural & mystery series' this has been an absolute blast!

It's not quite the combination of genres you'd expect from a show, but it works really well here!

In fact I was so into the anime that this is actually the first show where I broke down and read the manga!

Unfortunately there's no official English release, but at least there are some people translating the series!

As much as I'd like to go on about the manga, this post is meant to be more so about the anime so I'll (try to) leave it at that.

Though i feel obligated to warn anime onlys I'll likely refer the manga a lot in a spoiler section latter in this post I'll try to be vague but I can't guarantee anything. For anyone worried about that I'll lable it do you can read on until then.

Everything from the animation to the music was amazing & completely fit the mood of the story! I remember a couple scenes where I actually teared up because of this!

The Ending theme is an absolute banger! I've listened to that on repeat ever since I first heard it! And the Opening is also great! It's cool for it to be an instrumental, stuff like that is pretty rare! I also heard the song in the op as a motif in the music throughout the show! It really sets the right mood in each scene it's in! It's amazing for getting into each episode!

In terms of adaptation almost everything from the beginning to the end of the Debut arc was done amazingly well!

Even with the stuff they cut it still holds true to the spirit of its source.

The main important part that was cut is something that could easily be introduced latter if they decide to go for a second season, so I'm not too mad about that.

However! Everything after the debut is a bit of a different story.

There was a lot I liked about the last couple episodes but there were some parts that were immersion breaking for me.

I've been being vague up until this point l, but I'm planning on going into spoiler territory for both the anime and manga after this. So I'll make a quick spoiler free summary of my thoughts before moving onto that.

I really really loved this show but in my opinion the last 3 episodes were the weakest of them all. They went anime only for the ending. I don't mind that on it's own, but it was rushed and the writing was sloppy at times.

Now I'm not telling you to not watch the show! Most of It's really really good, and I can still see people enjoying the parts I'm talking about if they want to give the anime a try. Overall I've fallen in love with this series and I could never recommend it enough.

If what I'm saying is giving you bad vibes the manga is available and doesn't have the issues I've mentioned. You can look for a translation online, it didn't take me long to find one so don't worry too much about that.

Also! if you're an anime only who's finished the series and want to know where to pick up the Manga I'd recommend at least skiming through the beginning. I know it might not be what you're looking for but there were a bunch of small scenes that either got cut or were merged for adaptation purposes that I think are super cute & give more context to different aspects of the setting. However! Pay close attention during the "night watchers part" something important got cut .

~~~Now for spoilers!!!!~~~

I don't want to make it sound like I'm some manga purist who hates the very thought of the slightest change from the source. I'm anime only for a lot of different shows and I've always despised it when that type of manga reader reared it's ugly head.

While I'll admit some changes did bother me I won't make a fuss about the smaller stuff.

With that said!

I hinted earlier in this post that I didn't have a big problem with Robe-same being cut. That was because without them there it does make for a more complete story if they only get one season to work with.

If there is another season they can easily be introduced latter on. Like maybe Emiliko & Shaun can meet them when the Debutant class reunion is going on before they talk on the roof (or right after that) I actually think that would be the perfect time to introduce them (other than the time they were supposed to appear, but I digress)

Louise teaming up & being friendly with Kate can be explained with some dialogue changes at the first Debutant Class Reunion. Louise can say she was just trying to show off or that she just wanted to get back at Edward and that she isn't interested in helping Kate with her problems. Things can then go on as they did in the manga.

Kates being reckless & telling everything to John can be explained by her being extremely panicked when Emiliko went missing, as long as there are some lines of dialogue adressing this it's fine. Though I do wish she tried to keep some stuff a secret but couldn't because Shaun tries to interfer because he's still brainwashed, or something along those lines. It felt a bit weird after she just told Emiliko to keep that stuff between them. Still that could be explained by how panicked she was.

There are other things, but I don't want to drag the post on too long. Most of the issues can be fixed with little changes here & there.

I never had a problem with the idea of them going in an anime only direction. I just want to have a good time with the show.

Unfortunately I can't 100% vouche for the direction the show went in. There were elements that I can't excuse, even viewing it as it's own entity instead of an adaptation.

My main complaint with it is how they handled the brainwashing of Ricky & Lou. They didn't say a word when the Debutants were talking badly about Edward & even went along with a plan to go against him. It makes absolutely no sense!

Shaun freaked out when John only suggested that he didn't have to be loyal to the house. These guys were flat out rebelling against an adult! It felt like Ricky & Lou didn't have a purpose & were just there to be there.

The whole point of the coffee is to influence shadows against doing stuff like this. It makes the coffee seem pointless and the adults seem dumb for relying on it to control the kids.

I haven't even brought up the fact that both of their brainwashings were broken by something as simple as a few kind words. It straight up contradicts the rules established by both the Anime and Manga.

This becomes very apparent when you consider all the trouble John & Kate went through to free Shaun & Emiliko.

This was my biggest complaint, but I have some other issues as well.

The next big one is how they handled Edward.

1. Why on earth would he even consider kidnapping Emiliko when he had complete control of the childrens wing? Before this point he was depicted as being a lot more crafty than this. He could easily have Kate monitored or something.

2. Why didn't he use his powers to stop them like what he did to Maryrose & Rosemary when they fought back being taken to the adults wing? He's already shown off his power at this point, why not?

3. Why did he reveal his soot powers at all!? Especially while using his face in front of the kids! The whole unification thing is one of the biggest secrets of the house for good reason! There's no way he wouldn't get in huge trouble for exposing it to children!

Here are some other related questions.

Why didn't Kate, Emiliko, & John react to Edward using soot powers? They shouldn't know about unification yet so why didn't they act shocked, or say anything about it?

Is Edward being banished even an option in the Shadows House? Wouldn't the third floor lords just dispose of him rather than risk letting him leave?

How did John even get a veiled dolls outfit? Louise had to use her powers to get Kate one & she left a long time ago.

I can't think of much else at the moment, but I think you get my point.

Please don't take this as me saying that I hate the show because of these episodes. Even if I consider them the weakest of the series I still found a lot of parts to be very enjoyable!

Like I thought it was adorable When Edward was attempting to interrogate Emiliko & she kept being her sunshine self pretending to eat & falling asleep.

Barbara getting to tell off Edward for breaking the rules was great!

I loved seeing Shaun hatch the plan to get Kate into the adults wing to save Emiliko.

Seeing John (attempt to) sneak around the adults wing had me rolling!

The ending scene of Shaun, Ricky, & Lou singing gave me the chills.

(Though I wonder how they'd handle Shaun & Emiliko being brainwashed again since they already used the scenes where they're freed)

Kate & Emilico being propelled by John back to the children's wing was absolutely amazing! I found Shaun & Ricky running over to catch them to be super sweet! (Not to mention the way that scene was animated was absolutely gorgeous!)

Getting hints to what was supposed to come after the debut was nice, at least the groundwork is there in case this gets a season 2!

To (try to) wrap this all up while there were a lot of things I loved and disliked about this show I still had a really fun time watching it!

I kinda hope there's a season two just to see if they can tidy up the mess that the last few episodes created.

Regardless of whether that happens or not I came out of this with a series I absolutely adore.

Heck I could make a whole other post about the manga. (Hopefully one that's less ranty)

Anyway! I won't take any more of your time.

I hope you all have a wonderful day/night! And I hope to see you in my next post!

(Sorry if this one was a bit of a mess!)

[tribow]

So I watched MURDER DRONES

Yeah this is a bit of a weird one for me to talk about. This is a pilot episode directed by Liam Vickers and animated by the GLITCH animation team on Youtube. I've seen Liam's other works and they can be pretty good, but I'm going to try my best not to directly compare the old work to this one.

The pilot episode for Murder Drones got a lot of views, more than 3 million. It has been showing up on my youtube recommended for quite a while too. I was a little put off by the thumbnail and title, but I decided to finally check it out. (If you haven't watched it I'd recommend doing so before reading all this as I try to discuss my thoughts about it and I can only be so vague about a 25 minute pilot.)

Immediately I'm hit with the amazing aesthetic Liam is just so darn good at. It's this really heavy and horrific atmsophere that's juxtaposed by comedic banter and hijinks. There's always the crazy poweruful and maniacal chracters with wild expressions that somehow lack intimidation despite how dangerous they are. It's really cool.

The character designs are super good too. GLITCH does a really good job with the models and capturing Liam's aesthetic. The animation looks real nice too. In terms of visual quality this is very well done.

The audio is fantastic as well. It's so good I didn't even really notice it, and you know audio is good when you don't notice it. In all seriousness though, the audio mixing is great and many of the sounds really sell the impact of what's happening as well as providing great environmental detail as well.

Unfortunately this is where my praises end though. I love the production, but the way the story plays out was a disappointment. The premise is laid out very cleanly, humanity built highly advanced robots to do slave labor and then eventually wiped themselves out and killed all life on the planet. The worker robots are now free to do whatever they want, but unfortunately for the workers, some murder drones are deployed whose sole purpose is to murder the workers since the company who built the robots wants to get rid of them for vague reasons.

What makes this fall apart is first the lifestyle of the robots. It very heavily resembles a human lifestyle which is strange. They go to sleep, they have families, there's a school system, and other activities that seem very uncharacteristic of robots. This in itself isn't bad, the issue is that this lifestyle isn't really addressed in any kind of way. I dont get an answer for how the robots age or if they're organic in any way or why is there even a school. Not even a vague one. That is, I didn't have an answer until the second issue became increasingly more apparent.

The reason for the school and families and angsty main character? It's so the show can make fun of a trope. Every single joke feels like it's just poking fun at the trope it's representing to the point where it feels like there is no other reason for the trope to be there except for that purpose. Liam has jokes like this in previous works, but it's actually excessive here. There's nothing wrong with pointing a cliche here or there and having self aware dialogue is fine, but every other line feels like it's doing that. I wonder how someone hasn't experienced these tropes much even feel watching this. This may be alienating some viewers.

This issue also affects the 3rd issue as well and that's the character conflicts. This affects several characters, but I'll just talk about the big one. The main character has daddy issues and does not agree with his approach of dealing with murder drones, which is hiding away and building a wall the blocks the drones from getting in. She wants to fight back. So eventually she does fight back and it results in some fairly bad consequences. The father is suddenly faced with a dilemna: trust that his daughter's weapon works and shoot it at a drone, or put up a wall that should keep the workers safe. His choice was the latter, but later on this choice frames him as this bad guy when it seemed completely understandable given the situation? The walls have never failed up until his daughter messed up so is he really at fault for trusting what has worked before?

I realized that this doesn't matter though, because the trope is that the angsty rebellious teen has bad parents or something. Maybe this isn't the intention and the conflict is genuine, but even so the outcome is just unsatisfying.

I hate having these big issues with this pilot since I feel like these are problems Liam hasn't had before. If this pilot does continue I hope these problems can be addressed.

[soul-dwelling]

Anything thoughts on big shonen series like One piece or Naruto?

One Piece: Probably the best plotted manga, if not the best manga, out there, currently in publication or otherwise, just in terms of plot setup and payoff. I have not done well keeping up with the manga and anime, so I am ignorant about a lot of what is going on right now, so I can't speak very well regarding the anime's pacing and some animation problems and animation highlights.

Naruto: I wish I had kept up on the series, as I have some thoughts about Naruto's role as a trickster--although that obviously has changed by the time we get to Boruto. I just haven't gotten into Boruto, the anime (when it was on Toonami) or the manga.

And for a few others:

Dragon Ball: I pretty much really like only Super for its tighter plot (yes, even that way-too-long tournament finale), more time engaging with the characters, animation that at least to me was easier to follow and cleaner, and a good portion of Saiyaman thrown in. I do wish Vidal was brought back for more fighting, though.

My Hero Academia: I have been struggling to get through a lot of it since the Meta Liberation Army Arc, in terms of trying to figure out, "Is this too dark?" "Does the animation seem limited in the anime because they were busy working on the third film?" "Should we be getting back to the high school stuff or is that no longer relevant?" and "Is the pacing off or rushed?" Add to all of this that the spinoff manga Vigilantes has taken a long time to wrap up and has the same "fridge a woman character" problem that the main manga has had.

Bleach: I lost track. I think I saw the final episodes of the first anime when they were on Toonami, and I just didn't feel much.

Haikyu: I enjoyed a lot of what I saw in the anime and the manga--but then I skipped to the manga's finale, which spoiled a lot of anticipation for me, which is my fault, but it does speak to a problem I have with sports-focused series: once you know the outcome, it's kind of hard to ever feel interested in re-reading or re-watching it (barring some sports series like Hajime No Ippo / Fighting Spirit).

Gintama: I did not think I would enjoy that series as much as I have. There are definitely problematic parts of it, although I think for the most part the show matures beyond those parts and gets better. I wasn't satisfied with where the anime ended: yeah, it's obvious the adaptation wasn't done yet, but that was such a troll ending. At least there is a real finale in the new film...Too bad COVID is making sure I'm not about to set foot in a movie theater to see it. So, I'm stuck waiting for that film (and the second live action film) to get official home video releases.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba and Black Clover: I am so behind on both of these and don't feel comfortable commenting on them without a re-read and a re-watch.

Attack on Titan: I'm ambivalent, especially given its politics. Granted, it's debatable whether it's shonen.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Can something be too bizarre that you struggle to keep up with the plot intricacies and decide, "I'm just going to sit back and turn my brain off"? Yeah, yeah, I know, I should have figured that much with a title like "bizarre."

Hunter x Hunter and YuYu Hakusho: I struggle to keep up with the former, I really enjoyed the latter on a much later re-watch.

Jujutsu Kaisen: I only wish other series handled the complexities of representing death and loss as well as the story's initial setup did, and how it has continued to approach that topic. I'm not a fan of body horror, so getting through some of it is rough.

And for some lesser appreciated ones:

Magu-chan: God of Destruction: This one is just delightful, relaxing, and funny, like a children's introduction to Lovecraftian horror.

Bungo Stray Dogs: Again, debatable whether this is shonen, but intricate plots, lots of back story to dig into, humorous character interactions, deep lore into the giants of Japanese and United States literature, and some well-animated adaptations from Studio BONES.

[msmarvelouswinchester]

The One Where Everything Goes Wrong - 1

Summary - Dean Winchester is the most charming man you have ever met so when he asks you out on a date, you say yes because what can be better than going on a date with Dean but sometimes somethings don't go the way you have planned them.

Pairing - Dean Winchester x Reader; Sam Winchester

Warning - Fluff, Angst-ish, mentions of hydrophobia, and fear of sharks, panic attack

Word Count - 2550

A/N - This is a collaboration with @miss-nerd95/. @bucky--barnes . It has been planned and written by both of us. This will be a two parter! Hope you like it.

Spn dividers by @talesmaniac89

You threw your head back, groaning in frustration. There wasn't a single piece of clothing that you felt was appropriate for your date. Skimming through the closet for the third time, you glared at all the different pieces of flannels, flip side of being a hunter, before you finally noticed the long floral dress at the back of your closet.

“This will work,” you muttered to yourself as you picked the dress, happy that you found something worthy.

Dean Winchester, a name that was enough to make the demons of hell and the angels of heaven tremble with fear but for you he was just Dean, the man who had successfully stolen your heart at the very first ‘hello’, so you needed the date to be perfect. Even though you were head over heels for him, you never uttered a single word about how you felt and neither did he. The fear of being rejected by him, hearing him say that he didn't feel the same kept your mouth sealed shut for a long time.

So it all came as a surprise when you were lying on the bed in a motel room with aching muscles because of a rough hunt and mind filled with the vicious words exchanged between you and Dean and the door to your room slightly opened, revealing the said man standing in the doorway with an unreadable look on his face. It all happened so quickly as Dean crossed the room in long strides to stand at the foot of your bed and confess his feelings for you, no longer wanting to hide it in case something bad happened.

After putting on your dress, as you touched up on your makeup, you smiled softly remembering the fond memory of his lips on yours for the first time that night before he asked you out on date. You looked at yourself in the mirror feeling content with how you looked.

Yet unbeknownst to you, Dean was running around in the bunker like a headless chicken trying to plan the perfect date.

“Will you sit down for a minute?” Sam rolled his eyes at his brother who was pacing across the war room, eyes focused on the floor, lost in thought.

“She loves junk food right?” Dean asked, at which all Sam wanted to do was punch him.

“You know her better than me, but to answer your question, yes, she loves all those greasy food items which increase your body cholesterol. No wonder you're made for each other, but I really feel sorry for when you'll have kids,” the younger Winchester smirked.

“Stop teasing, you don't get it! I love her, Sammy-”

“I don't get it? Dude, I was the one who was sick of both of you dancing around each other,” Sam grumbled, “if it wasn't for me pushing you out of that door back after that hunt, you wouldn't have asked her out. Now stop freaking out like a fifteen year old going on his first date!”

“I'm not freaking out. I'm just nervous,” Dean said.

“Wow, would you look at that? Dean Winchester, the ladies’ man, is nervous about a date,” Sam chuckled.

“Shut up.” Sam rolled his eyes at the green eyed hunter for the second time that morning, “She makes me nervous. What if I fuck up?”

“Don't worry. Everything will be fine. I just can't believe I'm the one giving you dating advice right now.”

“Shut. Up. And I know it's going to be fine. I have it all planned out. A visit to the aquarium and then a little picnic underneath the stars, she's going to fall in love with me,” Dean made a sound which resembled a giggling teenage boy.

Sam was grinning until he processed the words. “Wait. An aquarium?”

“Yeah, why are you saying it like that-”

“Dean,” you stepped into the war room, interrupting the brothers. Out of habit, you were about to bite your lip but you remembered the lipstick you had put on, so you just settled for playing with the ring on your finger, waiting for their reaction.

Both the Winchesters just stared at you, mouth opened which made you more anxious. Was there something on your face? Shit, you looked around the War Room where Dean had asked you to meet once you were ready, why didn't they have any mirrors in here?

Clearing your throat, you shifted your gaze on the man standing beside his brother, the latter sitting on one of the chairs of the table. He looked dapper in the dark jean jacket which he traded for his usual plaid and contrasted it with a plain white tee he wore underneath Although you loved seeing him wrapped in flannel,this new look of his made you go weak in the knees and you sure would have melted into a puddle on the spot had Sam not interrupted your thoughts.

"You look beautiful, Y/N." He harshly nudged Dean, at which the latter glared at him before looking back at you. Nodding, he almost sounded like he was in a daze. "Yeah, you look great, sweetheart."

You blushed, tucking a loose strand of your hair behind your ear, "Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself. Shall we go? You still haven't told me where we're going Dean."

Sam got up from his seat and spoke hurriedly, "Yeah about that, Dean, I don't think-"

Dean narrowed his eyes, "I'm telling you for the third time, shut up. Don't ruin the surprise."

"But-"

"Nope, we're going now. Sweetheart, are you comfortable in those heels? We may have to walk a bit."

You waved goodbye at Sam, who dejectedly sat back down, pinching the bridge of his nose once you were out of the door. This was going to end in a disaster.

“Milady.” Dean held Baby's door open for you, one hand on the handle and another on the window of the black impala. The tips of his ears turned red when your hand touched his as you slid into the passenger's seat.

You gave him a nervous smile, as he walked to the other side and got into the driver's side, pulling the Impala out of the Bunker’s garage

You looked out of the window as Baby’s engine purred, the scenery familiar as you drove out. Glancing at him, you prodded, "Can you please tell me where we're going? You know I don't like surprises."

Dean's tongue peeked out to sweep across his bottom lip, as he stole a glance your way. He chuckled before focusing back on the road.

"You'll find out when we get there." You huffed in annoyance, crossing your arms indignantly as you looked away.

"Aw, sweetheart don't be like that." Rolling your eyes, you held in a smile as you shook your head. "Not until you tell me where we're going."

Dean laughed at your pout, "I can just tell you that you're gonna love it.

You uncrossed your hands, your left tracing the outline of the almost rolled down window, the other on the seat beside you. A blush crept up your cheek when you felt his hand clasp yours, fingers entangling.

"I guess I'll let you off the hook just this once. But at least tell me how much time we need to get there."

He squeezed your hands in his as he beamed at you, eyes shining. "We're almost there. We ain't leaving Kansas City."

And so you relaxed as you moved closer to him, your head resting on his shoulder until a huge building with 'Sea Life' written on it with pictures of the habitats of the same appeared in front of you.You visibly paled as you realized that the Aquarium was where you were heading, thankful that Dean couldn't see your face.

"We're going in there?"

You felt him nod lightly. "Yup!"

Why he didn't notice the quiver in your voice you didn't know, but you surely heard the excitement in his as he parked the car. And that's when you decided, you were going to tough it out, everything else be damned.

After all, it wasn't everyday that you went on dates with Dean; if you could face the vampires that killed your parents, you could certainly walk through those rooms which had glass separating you from water and the creatures-

Nope, you weren't going to think about it.

But as he got out of the car and walked towards your side, offering his hand to you with a shy smile, you returned it. You climbed out of Baby, taking his hand into yours.

Well, this could work if you put all of your attention on Dean instead of, uh… your surroundings.

You could feel your heart beating loudly against your chest as you walked through the doors, Dean showing them the tickets and the hopeful look he sent your way made you swallow your apprehension and the request him to move your date someplace else. You nodded at him, somehow conjuring up a small smile for his sake.

Showing you the small catalogue, he started listing the types of the creatures that were in the aquarium, telling you that there was a special exhibit they had just built and couldn't wait to see it. You could tell that he had planned this out and you just couldn't mess it up. You knew he was loving the aquarium tour since you had seen him spending time in the Dean Cave - watching Shark week.

His hand was still in yours as he pulled you towards the first tank and you immediately closed your eyes when you saw that you were nearing the big blue filled with small blobs of other colors, not realizing that you had stopped until you felt a tug, opening them to see beautiful green orbs narrowed in concern.

"You okay, Y/N?"

You bit your bottom lip, a small "Yeah," coming out of your mouth, hoping he was convinced.

Well, as it turned out, he did. You shoved your face in his shoulder, thankful for the double layers on his skin because he couldn't feel your breaths becoming rapid as the room became colder the further you walked in, but at least you had Dean, a literal human furnace to distract you, his hand warm in yours.

"You're excited right?" His voice was giddy as he asked. "Of course," you answered, cringing at the high pitch of yours.

When you finally reached it, you left his side to go to the small metal plate at one end of the exhibit bearing the information as he looked at the fishes, "Hey Y/N, you gotta see this one, it's called an Angel fish. It looks awesome with streaks of brown and black. Don't you think it kinda looks like Cas?" You laughed at that, but you weren't going to look at the fish, not even if your life depended on it.

"Yeah! Click a picture to show Sam later. This is really interesting," you pointed at the small panel without turning your gaze.

Well that trick of yours worked for the rest of the tanks. At least for some time it worked.

Dean slipped his hand back into yours, squeezing it, "Now it's time for the special thing I told you about." You didn't know if you were feeling offended or worried that Dean didn't notice the way you were behaving.

A wry smile tugged at your lips as you saw what he was referring to. It was a dome, a tunnel you had to walk through while the water surrounded you from three sides, and you shook your head, pulling him away from the entrance of the tunnel.

"Hey, you know what Dean, we haven't kissed once during our date. It feels wrong, let's go make out in the washrooms or something." He was taken aback by your sudden brashness but he licked his lips, a smirk etching on his face, "I did think of it, but I wanna make this as cheesy as possible. I wanna kiss you on the second part of the date."

All colour drained from your skin as your eyes widened, "What second part?"

And for the first time that day, Dean frowned which made you feel bad. "I thought that this was going good. I had just planned a picnic after this. Don't worry, if you're not having fun, we can directly go home. The exit is at the end of the tunnel."

You groaned in frustration. "No, no! I'm having fun. Trust me, I am enjoying this! Now let's go." You had survived without any mishap till now and you could do this. All you had to do was walk. Or so you thought.

The moment you stepped in, Dean hurried to the glass, you decidedly not looking anywhere else but the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Y/N look, a shark!" He grabbed your face moving your head towards it and your breath caught in your throat and not in a good way.

You trembled, pushing Dean away to sit down, your head cradled in your hands as you pulled your knees closer, trying to think about something else but even with your eyes closed, the blue glow given off in the silent environment still seeped in through your eyelids and all you could think of was the big fish on the other side of the glass.

You didn't know what happened next, all you could feel was the rapid pounding of your heart, your sweaty hands and not being able to breathe.

Dean kneeled next to you, dumbstruck at how the date went sideways, unable to know what was happening or do anything, fear creeping in as he froze. Normally he was quick at thinking on gun point, but seeing you on the floor like that puzzled him. “Sweetheart, what is it?Please say something.”

You tried to talk but you couldn't. You were shaking and it was impossible for you to form any sort of coherent words. “I-out.” You choked out .And that was all it took for Dean to get into action, putting one arm under your knees and another on your back as he picked you up in bridal style, making sure that your dress was positioned properly before running out of the exit towards the Impala. He could feel you shiver in his arms, cursing under his breath as he quickly unlocked the car and sat you on the back seat.

He held your hands, rubbing your palms, blowing on them as he whispered, "Hey, look at me. You're okay. We're out of there. We're never going in again. Breathe. I'm here with you." Over and over again in your ears.

You tried matching your breath with his as you eventually calmed down. You took a few minutes as your breath evened out before you opened your eyes, only to see the worry in those beautiful green ones again.

The ride back to the Bunker was short and silent. You didn't say anything, you didn't know what to say, feeling that it was your fault as you looked at Dean's scrunched up eyebrows through your peripheral vision.

What you didn't know was that Dean felt the exact same.

Let us know if you want to be tagged in the next part (Part 2)

Feedback is highly appreciated!

[queenhollyberry90]

Double or Nothing 2021 Predictions

Alright, who's ready for Double or Nothing! This'll be my second time liveblogging a ppv so I thought this time I'll put down my predictions to see how right or wrong I am so lets go!

First up is Anthony Ogogo vs Cody Rhodes and if they have any balls Anthony will win this bout. They haven't really been building this up outside of American vs foreigner and I honestly could care less about this match but they keep promoting the fact that Anthony is an Olympian and he's been on a winning streak. Last year they made a mistake is having Cody beat Lance Archer for the TNT title halting his momentum so let's hope they learned from their mistake and do the right thing and let Cody take the l.

Hikaru Shida vs Dr. Britt Baker DMD- They've been building this one up for some time and I honestly can't wait, Britt has shown that she can be an absolute badass while Hikaru has shown that she's been the champ for a reason, although on the flip side of that that only really gets shown when it's not a squash match and she hasn't been used as much as she should. It's been pointed out by both AEW, critics and fans that the women's division was hit hard buy the pandemic with injuries, travel restrictions and a rather green division. With the world getting back to a relative normal it's time for AEW's women's division to enter into a new era and get a new champ. Winner - Britt Baker

The Young Bucks vs Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston - This one is a bit hard for me to call because on one hand I, as those who've seen my aew posts, knows I have a great dislike of the bucks. They're to spot heavy and while they are more then capable of having great matches and help elevate other teams I just find that they are generally not that balanced with their in ring work (if that makes sense to anyone but me). I have a great love for both Mox and Kingston, the latter more so than the former, and while they're not high flyers or super technical they're both super passionate and are bruisers. Mox and Kingston however haven't been built up enough as an actual team and are more allies then anything, having them working together more would make them going for the titles more believable. Winner - Young Bucks (boo! lol)

The Pinnacle vs The Inner Circle - Just gonna keep this one short because I also care not for this match outside of wanting the end result to be the Inner Circle breaking up. It'll still be entertaining since Aew does good with cinematic matches. Winner - The Pinnacle

Miro vs Lance Archer - I'm looking forward to this one simply because it's monster vs monster and I enjoy both of these guys. They might be big but they're also agile, Lance more so then Miro. Winner- Who cares, it's gonna be fun. It'll probably be Miro though and I'm ok with that

Sting and Darby Allin vs Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page - I completely forgot this match was a thing and almost posted this without this match being included which tells you what I think about this feud. Winner - honestly I don't care

Hangman Adam Page vs The Machine Brian Cage - This is gonna be good story telling. I've been warming to Brian Cage, although my daughter will tell you that she's always liked him from the get go, and she has, but this one is gonna be an easy call. I just hope that Brian moves away from Team Taz, as sad as I am about this cause I love my boys, but he's been showing that he actually has a personality (finally) and needs to lose so he can break away and be able to shine since both Ricky and to an extent Taz's personalities over power everyone elses. Also Adam needs to go on to face Omega and win at the next ppv. Winner - Hangman

Casino Battle Royale - I honestly have no idea about the winner for this because honestly it's gonna come down who the joker is. I would fucking die if it's Bryan Danielson, like in the best way possible. The only thing I think I know for sure is that Sydal and Cage are gonna come out of this continuing their feud. Winner- ?

Pac vs Kenny Omega vs Orange Cassidy - This match is gonna slap and it's gonna slap so fucking hard. It's the one I'm looking forward to the most. I hate Omega in the best way possible (I do however think he doesn't need the Good Brothers and I want them to go away). Winner - Kenny Omega

[one-boring-person]

I Trust You.

Marko (The Lost Boys) x Chiraptophobic!reader

Warnings: very vague mention of abuse, but they do not apply to the reader necessarily.

Context: The reader suffers from chiraptophobia (the fear of physical human contact/touch) and has somehow found themself in a friendship with Marko, who has somehow managed to understand how to not constantly need to touch his friend to show affection, until they take a ride on the Ferris wheel.

A/N: This was interesting to write, so j hope it's turned out alright. I guess I took a little inspiration from Death Stranding's Sam, but I thought it would be fun to do which it was. I hope it's enjoyable!😊💛

Masterlist

It took Marko weeks to finally figure out why I always shied away from his advances, why I'd stared uncomfortably at his offered hand until he withdrew it when he'd tried to shake mine in greeting, why I always wore gloves even in the suffocatingly hot summer air (despite him doing the same), and why I wouldn't go near people I don't know personally, often doing my hardest to steer clear of others in general. Rather than ask, he tried to work it out for himself, observing my behaviour and mannerisms for hours on end, though he still couldn't get what was up with my actions. He'd had to ask for some help from the others, though only David and Dwayne could offer any plausible reasons as to why: maybe I'd been abused in my past and was now averse to unfamiliar human contact, or maybe I was a germophobe. When the young vampire had asked me about both, I'd quickly denied them, thinking that it is unlikely he'd understand the real reason for my odd behaviour. It was only when he saw another person try to shake my hand that he finally noticed the emotion passing through my eyes at the prospect, at which point it all clicked into place. I was afraid of the contact.

Explaining to him what chiraptophobia is was surprisingly easy, though he was a little disappointed by this fact, being a very touch-driven person when around others, even when not in a relationship, though he did manage to take it in his stride, taking time to inform the boys of this as well, in case one of them accidentally made me uncomfortable. He'd nearly ripped Paul's head off when the taller vampire tried to wrap his arm around my shoulders, only letting up when I told him it was alright, that there was no harm done, despite how uneasy I felt afterwards. Since then, Marko has become almost like a bodyguard for me, making sure no one ever comes into my personal space, all while keeping his distance, too, respecting my limits.

We became fast friends, so much so that he eventually told me his secret, revealing his true self to me on one of the nights we chose to hang out together, alone, on the beach, a night I'd never forget. Naturally, I'd been shaken by this revelation, but soon grew used to the idea, knowing that my friend would never hurt me, not intentionally. After a few months, I finally felt comfortable enough to let him touch my gloved hand, though it still made me feel a little uneasy, the sensation of another person's fingers on mine unfamiliar and disturbing to me, but it made the vampire unbelievably happy, a bright smile plastering itself across his face for the rest of the night. He tells me he had to fight off the urge to hug me, for which I'm very grateful - touching a covered hand is very different to being enveloped in an embrace. Since then, he's taken any chance he can get to hold or touch my hand, always beaming like a beacon when he does so, my discomfort in the contact fading a little over time, though I'd soon found that it was only with the curly haired blonde that my body reacted like this, having asked Dwayne to try at some point, to see if it improved overall. Having come up negative in this test, I gave contact one last try with David, who never seems to take off his gloves, only to find that his touch made me uneasy as much as Dwayne's had, despite the two layers of cloth between our respective fingertips. The memory still sets me on edge, though I am well aware it has nothing to do with either David or Dwayne, rather my own mentality.

A shiver goes up my spine as I feel a hand slip into mine, though I quickly recognise the young vampire stepping in beside me, my stance relaxing again when my body realises whose touch it is, though my arm still remains a little tense, out of habit. Reassuringly, Marko swipes a thumb over the back of my glove, glad that I haven't rejected the contact yet, meaning I'm doing better than normal.

"Hey Stranger." He greets, grinning widely at me.

"Hey Blondie." I reply, smiling back at him in return, before casting a quick glance around for the others, "What'd you do with the other three?"

"They're around. Not sure where." The young vampire shrugs, dismissing the question quickly, "How was your day?"

"Not too bad. I didn't get much work done though, I was too preoccupied."

"Preoccupied? With what?" Marko inquires, raising an eyebrow at me in confusion, though his lips are still quirked up into an amused curve.

"That's for me to know, and for you to figure out." I chuckle, tapping the side of my nose secretively.

"Challenge accepted." He smirks, eyes lighting up at the prospect.

I smile at him as we walk, knowing he'll figure it out eventually, the answer being a little closer to home than he thinks.

"Anyway, how'd you sleep?" I question him, eyeing the Ferris wheel off to the side of the Boardwalk.

"Better than usual, actually."

"Oh yeah? How come?"

"Paul didn't snore so much for once, and David wasn't muttering in his sleep either, so it was pretty quiet, altogether." He explains, smiling when I laugh at the mention of David.

"Wait, David talks in his sleep?"

"Yeah, but you can't tell anyone! And especially don't tell him that I told you, or I'll have my ass kicked to the moon and back." Marko grins, biting his thumb as if nervous, though I'm aware that this is one of his signature mannerisms.

"That's a lot of ass-kicking. Probably quite impressive to watch. " I muse, noticing his arm lift slightly, as if to give me a playful slap on the arm, as he normally would've done with someone else, only to briefly squeeze my hand instead, shaking his head in mock exasperation. I grin at him, before turning my gaze back towards the Ferris wheel, admiring the glittering lights in the black night sky, wondering what the view is like up there.

"Wanna take a ride?" Marko interrupts my thoughts, eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Huh?" I blurt out, not having heard his question, quickly snapping my eyes back to his.

"Do you wanna go on the wheel with me?" He repeats, gesturing with a nod of the head to the great circular structure a little way away.

"I would love to, but I don't have any money on me tonight. I forgot my change." I say, somewhat remorsefully, using my free hand to pat my pockets to check for any loose coins, though I'm well aware I have none, having spent it all on food earlier in the evening.

"Who said anything about you paying? Come on, it'll be fun!" The blonde vampire promises, pulling me into the crowd, which parts around us thanks to his reputation (and choice of company), meaning no one comes into touching distance. At one point, my arm brushes past some surfer's bare bicep, which sends uncomfortable shivers and goosebumps through my body, the bitter, irrational fear that comes with it soon biting at the back of my mind, my pulse picking up slightly in response, my muscles turning rigid under my clothes. Marko notices this, briefly stopping to make sure I'm ok, before turning to memorize the surfer's face, most likely intending to take it up with him later, before we continue on, swiftly reaching the shortening queue for the Ferris wheel. Beside me, Marko fidgets and shifts in place, clearly eager to get on the rotating structure, his thumb between his teeth as usual, doe eyes focused on the ticket booth.

"Calm down, Blondie. The wheel isn't going anywhere." I laugh, watching the people around us as they amble to and fro, inching out of the way as a group of made-up girls push past, wincing as I brush against Marko, only to feel surprised when I don't feel the usual discomfort rising up in me from the contact, setting a train of thought into motion. I barely notice as the queue diminishes, only really returning to the present when we reach the booth, at which point Marko buys two tickets and leads me into one of the seats. An attendant comes over to help us secure ourselves, but Marko quickly stares him down, doing the job himself with efficiency.

Not too long after, we've reached a decent way off from the ground, our feet swinging gently in the air as we watch the Boardwalk from above, grinning and joking with each other as we take it in turns pointing out random individuals, making comments about them until the other laughs. At one point, the young vampire manages to spot David, Dwayne and Paul, making some sort of remark about how the leader's hair "looks like a pineapple from the top", before comparing the latter's to a mop. I do my best to hold back my laughter, but it only results in me nearly choking as he starts pointing out more and more likenesses between his friends and everyday objects, tears threatening to spill as I struggle to contain myself. It is only in this moment, that I realise one thing, but it takes me a couple more minutes to act on the thought that has sprung to mind.

Slowly, I pull off my left glove, teasing each finger out of their designated space with a deliberate hesitation, wriggling them a bit once I've exposed them to the air, enjoying the sensation of the light breeze around my heated digits. Marko makes a point of ignoring this, turning his gaze up to the star-strewn sky instead, only to snap his eyes back to mine when he feels a single finger touch the skin of his hand. Gingerly, I trace it over his knuckle, expecting to feel a rush of discomfort, my movements careful and calculated, knowing this is the first time in years that I've had deliberate contact with another person's skin. From my fingertip, it feels as if an electric shock has travelled through me, butterflies suddenly appearing in my stomach. Biting my lip when nothing bad happens, I continue this movement with the rest of my fingers, cautiously slipping my hand into his, enjoying the feeling of his icy cold palm against my warmed one, my eyes finding his shocked ones as our fingers intertwine. In them, I find a tonne of questioning, though he makes no move to actually ask, instead remaining quiet, carefully tightening his grip around my hand as he tries his best to feel as much of my soft skin as he can, the calluses from the handlebars of his bike rubbing slightly.

"What does this mean?" He eventually queries, elated that he can finally hold my hand without a glove being in the way.

"It means that I trust you. I've had no reaction to your contact, and I think it's because I enjoy being with you, and also because you've increased my confidence levels a lot since we first met. I've been trying to figure out why I'm ok with you touching me and no one else all day, which is why I was too preoccupied to work, but I finally worked it out." I inform him, telling him part of the truth - in reality, my trust goes a lot further than wanting a platonic friendship.

Marko is quiet for a moment, as if not quite understanding what I've told him.

"You trust me?" His voice is laced with disbelief, eyes fixing on mine again.

"I do."

Eyes widening again, he smiles, his other hand coming up, as if to try and wrap me in a hug, but the awkward positioning of the barrier, as well as the reminder of my usual discomfort, stop him in his tracks, his hand tightening around mine instead .

"I'm really glad you feel that way, (Y/n). Not many people do." He chuckles, referring to the naturally predatory air he gives off, being a vampire and all, still surprised that I let him touch me.

"I feel safe around you because I know you're my friend, but not many people can have the same claim." I point out, watching the view a little, enjoying the sight of the many glittering lights sprawled out before me, admiring the tiny orange specks of fires on the beach, as well as the rapidly moving headlights of a train passing through the outskirts of Santa Carla, most likely heading out towards the Bridge.

"Fair point." Marko agrees, still staring at our joined hands, which he continues to do until we reach the bottom of the wheel again, at which point he has to let go in order to remove the barrier from our laps. As soon as we're back on the Boardwalk, however, I slip my hand back into his, a small feeling of warmth welling up in me as I see the bright smile splitting his face, clearly happy that I've willingly made contact with him again.

A whistle behind us draws our attention, the sound belonging to a grinning Paul, who approaches us, along with David and Dwayne, who are both smiling at the sight of us, the latter more so than the former, though both seem glad to see their friend happy. As they come closer, I make eye contact with Dwayne, who lifts an eyebrow in questioning, a smirk making its way onto his face when I silently give him a nod, knowing he understands what it means.

I've fallen hard for the blonde vampire who's helped me get over my fear.