#Longest lasting hyperfixation alert!

[acronym49]

Beeeeeel

I love this man so much he's kind he's protective he's open-minded he's the glue that holds everyone together aaaaa

[natikoko]

Marlon and Off the Hook’s dynamic

I’m brainrotting around them like I need someone who’s as blorbo thoughts about them as me I need it I NEED it

Marlon needed a place to stay after Octo Expansion. Off the Hook has a mansion with plenty of bedrooms (you see where this is going)

They have a little bit of trouble adapting to Marlon’s aloof, almost detached personality in the beginning. They’re friendly, yes, but their demeanor can be intimidating and off-putting. She has trouble making friends because of it. Truthfully, neither Marina not Pearl are unfamiliar with such quietness.

They’ve lived together for years. I joke around a lot (and everyone I write) and say that Marina and Pearl are like moms to Marlon but I interpret their relationship as something different. They’ve all been through a weird shared experience that only a handful of people can say they went through and they love each other unconditionally. They aren’t really moms, they’re a unit who all support one another that kinda breaks the boundaries of a parent-child relationship. I can’t explain it in a way that makes sense

These three are very emotionally entwined with one another. They know what the other needs or what they’re feeling, even by a simple glance. Pearl and Marina both wear their hearts on their sleeves (albeit In different ways) and Marlon rarely outwardly express anything (she doesn’t know how to). They usually decipher what’s up with Marlon by looking at her very closely and inconspicuously— her eyes usually give it away, or if her frown is deeper than usual

They’ve adapted to each other’s strengths and weaknesses but they still tend to clash. Marina’s overthinking and natural emotionality tends to cause problems with Pearl, who’s bad at expressing and communicating sometimes, and Marlon’s unpredictability causes problems with both of them. They compromise in rather surprising ways

This household is straight up autism. Whenever they’re together, Marina and Marlon are definitely building something or planning to build something or talking about something they’ll potentially build. They’re constantly talking about their hyperfixation of the last few months and talking about how to improve upon their inventions created during this period. They end up creating a hybrid eliter combined with an sloshing machine, somehow. It’s illegal in all of turf war and is classified as a military-grade weapon. Pearl watches seventeen hours worth of indie music documentaries and underground Celtic rock shows and chonkes out immediately afterwards

- Marlon follows a strict schedule and becomes overwhelmed if it’s broken. Pearl hates following schedules. It’s hard, but they eventually come to a compromise on it— after like, so many arguments about it

Doesn’t live with OTH anymore, but visits frequently and usually brings others. Sometimes visits without notice during the night when she’s homesick.

Marlon straight up disappears for days at a time. A few rare times, weeks. Marina and Pearl, nor the agents know where she is. The longest she’s been gone is two weeks. She turns up eventually, but no one knows where she’s been. (Spoiler alert: it’s angsty)

They unintentionally mother the hell out of Marlon. It’s completely unintentional (a quarter of the time) but they’ve got plenty of money and Marlon’s barely surviving her 9-5 at Ammo Knights, so her income is like, almost always from those two (the amount of money they give her is enough to pay month or even years worth of rent and then some)

[therainbowwillow]

Dracula Daily May 8th thoughts:

SPOILER WARNING: THIS IS MY SECOND READ-THROUGH

-A lot of people pointed out Dracula’s abuse via isolation, forcing Jonathan to become entirely reliant on him. The fact that Jonathan has now fully recognized what’s being done to him and is unable to escape it takes it all up a notch. I also wish that my good friend Jonathan had not gone on this particular business trip :(

-Jonathan fighting his own fear to remain sane is a theme for him and later, for Mina as she tries to convince herself that she & the others will be able to take down Dracula, maintaining her humanity. I like that their themes and motifs are so similar (the holiest love fr) but why can’t it be like… flowers and rainbow motifs or something? :(

-Becoming increasingly sleep-deprived is bad news for horror & tragedy protagonists of all stripes but maybe Jonathan isn’t making the worst choice by trying to stay alert given his circumstances.

-The shaving incident! I’ve always wondered why Dracula enters the room when it’s clear that Jonathan is shaving in a mirror. Is it a mistake? Does he throw out the mirror in hopes that Jonathan will mistrust his own eyes or has he decided that he no longer needs a facade? The important real estate details are mostly settled and now Jonathan is his to torture?

-Jonathan’s “well darn, now I can’t shave” line is such an abrupt change in tone. I don’t think it’s entirely genuine. I think he’s trying to distract himself from the clearly much bigger problem: that his host is an undead horror and he is now without the only item in this castle that can be used to confirm that he’s not mad and that Jonathan himself remains alive and human. He’s trying to find other solutions, but knows the mirror was better.

-This whole entry feels so desperate. Jonathan’s reflections on how far a “stone” would fall from the castle feels painfully personal and like it is not at all about stones. Jonathan knows he’s trapped and understands that escape is impossible.

-The image of Jonathan running around the castle, desperately trying to open all the doors is heartbreaking.

-Jonathan pieces everything together way faster than I remember him doing!

-Hey, now we know what presents Jonathan was given on the way: the crucifix, of course, garlic, wild rose, and mountain ash.

-Yay! Appreciation for the crucifix lady!

-Dracula, despite being fully aware that he is imprisoning Jonathan, is pacing around a room, infodumping about Transylvanian history to him. I guess the Brides don’t make good conversation?

-“What devil or what witch was ever so great as Attila, whose blood is in these veins?” I appreciate that, with vampire context, this either means Dracula is related to Attila the Hun or had drunk his blood (or both).

-“Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace…” These blood-related double meanings are incredibly clever (and also probably on Jonathan’s mind currently…)

-“…for everything has to break off at cockcrow—or like the ghost of Hamlet's father.” Ah, there’s the first of the Hamlet references! My script has a note on Jonathan’s references. I was so excited when Hamlet came up last year! It’s my longest running hyperfixation (shameless plug: @withasideofshakespeare is my sideblog!) and I love that Jonathan also likes it.