#the character growth of it all

[bloodtwin]

i think ... maybe perhaps ... after puck gets more comfortable with saying i love you to his partner that he may also start calling them my love ... *curls up into a ball & sniffles*

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

License to Kitty.

[verdiris]

Here to provide your regularly scheduled MB fanart 😌🤝😌

[4lienat]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier // Captain America: Brave New World

[teophan]

a fantastic commission from @themetalhiro of my Dungeons & Devil Fruits 5e Sniper Marksman, Vinsmoke “Starfall Gunner” Beretta!

it was an absolute treat to work with you, looking forward to the next opportunity to do so!

[jeeyunspetrat]

i feel like i've zeroed in on what is so baffling about people being so pressed about buck's feelings being **ignored** or **dismissed** (other than people doing the exact same thing to eddie's feelings) and it's that people are looking at it like this:

buck hears that he doesn't matter to eddie -> buck's feelings are hurt and acts out irrationally in response to this due in large part to his abandonment issues -> therefore the resolution is that eddie needs to reassure buck and tell him he matters to him

when in fact what the show is saying is:

buck hears that he doesn't matter to eddie -> buck's feelings are hurt and he acts out irrationally -> the resolution is that buck is able to get past his abandonment issues and realize he is being irrational on his own because deep down he knows how much he matters to Eddie and furthermore that Eddie (and Chris's) happiness matters MORE to him than his own issues

When have we truly seen him work through his issues like this completely on his own? without maddie or bobby or eddie (or josh?) telling him how he should be feeling and what he should be doing? Like this is the character growth that people keep claiming over and over Buck doesn't get!!! But this is proof that he HAS grown!! Like this is what we've been waiting for when it comes to the Buck cycle of abandonment!!!!!!

When it comes to Eddie, Buck is finally able to see past his own issues COMPLETELY ON HIS OWN and take the steps to resolve the conflict between them before it truly gets out of hand. THAT is what was so great about that final argument scene -- we are finally seeing Buck work through and overcome his abandonment issues without requiring someone to reassure him or tell him how he should be feeling. Because Buck is finally secure enough in a relationship to do that. And of course it's significant that it's EDDIE he's able to do this for 🩷

[callmelinamfsnow]

“I’m family”

“So. is. he”

[lovealwayssay]

I would pay an ungodly amount of money for a Supernatural finale where Dean rescues Cas from the Empty and tells him he loves him too, Eileen comes back to be with Sam, and Jack chooses to live with the four of them in the bunker as a happy family.

[bunnieswithknives]

Sam will never stop growing because the visitor will never stop thinking about them ♥

[kofutofuu]

hints of red 🌤

[spookberry]

Tsubaki <3 <3

[secriden]

Just going to cry again (see: my previous post about the parallels between the storage room scene and the abandoned factory scene) about parallels and juxtapositions in the store room scene vs the one in Styles bedroom:

Both these scenes have such a tone of desperation and are characterised by an overflowing of emotions, but in drastically opposite directions.

(Note, some of what I say in this post directly relates to concepts and themes I talked about here, so it may not wholly make sense without that context.)

The scene in the storeroom is filled with frustrated desire. Fadel kisses Style because he wants Style's body and also wants to take his frustrations at Style out on his body. He doesn't need to look Style in the eye (and in fact very intentionally only does so only in small snatches) because this isn't about a connection as much as it is about a release. Fadel's kisses come fast, hard, and are intended to bruise more than to adore.

But episode 5's scene is filled with much more quiet and tender sort of desire. Style is kissing Fadel so much more slowly and purposefully. He keeps looking back at Fadel, checking in to see how he feels and whether Fadel is enjoying it. Everything Style wanted in Episode 3, he now gives to Fadel here, pours the secrets of his knowing and choosing Fadel anyway into the way he presses his lips onto Fadel's skin. His kisses linger, they carry a weight but are somehow infinitely gentle still; Style's kisses contain a purpose that Fadel's kisses couldn't in Episode 3 because in all honesty they were relative strangers back then.

There's also the way there's such a ferocity and carelessness in the way Fadel starts the encounter in episode 3 that is juxtaposed beautifully by the slow, tender, almost hesitant way Style slides his lips onto Fadel's. Both of them are in such different headspaces, between these episodes and its especially evident in the way they care so much more about the other person's comfort and how intentionally they showed that to the audience.

There's hunger present in both scenes but what this hunger is focused on is so drastically different. In the storeroom, they're both mainly focused on a physical release; its primal and visceral but lacked emotional resonance. Fadel gives Style what he knows Style wants (that hint of danger, with the hand on his neck), but its not because he really cares about what Style wants on anything more than a physical level. In Style's bedroom, however, Fadel is drunk (intentionally and by his own design) and desperate to open himself up to Style on an emotional level. Meanwhile, Style wants that desperately too, but knows that Fadel shouldn't because of his own terrible secret. So this kiss is what they both will allow themselves - an honesty and a hunger for this deeper connection they can only share in act but not in words.

In the storeroom, Style wants Fadel to want more than his body but knows (or thinks) he can't push for it yet, so he remains passive, lets Fadel do whatever he wants, lets him turn and shove and place Style how he wants because at this point, this is all Fadel will give him. Here, Style is passive in spite of what he wants. But in the bedroom, Fadel is passive because it's what he wants; he wants to let Style do whatever he desires to and with Fadel's body. He wants to lay himself as bare as he possibly can, which is only physical, and so he does.

And because the encounter in Episode 3 lacked that emotional connection, the focus is merely their respective releases. There's a sense of two people trying to find pleasure and 'finish' while remaining emotionally disconnected despite actively having sex with each other. Because in some ways, they didn't really need each other in that moment to get there (there's actually a lot of truth in what Fadel says about it being easier to just jerk off alone). In sharp contrast, the scene in Episode 5 isn't focused on the destination but on the journey. Style is taking his time and Fadel is letting him - Style is choosing to worship Fadel's body, with his fingers, with his lips, to respond to his vulnerability with gentleness and tenderness and adoration. The goal has stopped being about finding a release, it's about allowing both these men to revel in the giving and receiving of pleasure.

The point of these scenes is to show to us the ways in which Fadel and Style have grown to care for and, dare I say it, love each other in ways that are so purposefully portrayed by showing the nature of their physical connection. Because the ways in which these scenes are the same and yet so wholly different showcases how their touches are now no longer merely tied to their senses any longer, but also to their hearts as well.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Get that man (pregnant)!

[alexiethymia]

mamao>jinshi

‘There’s nothing I can give him back in return.’

with LN vol 12 and vol 13 out in English, I can’t help but once again gush about these two. Because they are honestly one of the healthiest and most frustrating slow burn established relationship ships ever. I seriously love their development, how jinshi has come so far from his unhealthy tendencies towards maomao in the earlier volumes.

sure you can say that’s the least he could do, but it does matter a lot, for a person who’s restrained himself all his life, to get everything at his fingertips except for what he truly wanted, to still continue to restrain himself even when what he wants is already there for the taking if only he’d reach out. it’s an acknowledgment and full understanding of the unequal power dynamic between him and maomao, and giving power, at least as much as he is able, over himself to maomao in a way to make up for that unequal dynamic. it’s maomao who gets to decide now what will happen and how fast it will happen in their relationship moving forward.

which I think is brilliant from a story-telling pov because we can focus on the intriguing developments and politics while still getting small but perfect doses of the development of their relationship. not too much, but not too little either. it also makes for an absolutely hilarious dynamic because it seems like it’s maomao who’s getting frustrated this time around. because she’s also a person who restrains herself. she may be willful when it comes to medicine, but for something like this? I don’t think she learned to ask for what she wants either. she’s not used to it. so she teases instead. it’s fascinating to see that while jinshi has matured, maomao has retained that side of her, the one which unexpectedly likes teasing and triggering jinshi (oh but she better watch out once he snaps, but part of me thinks this is what she wants ultimately). like seriously, it may not be in-character, but the image of an increasingly frustrated maomao who has her attempts at flirtation constantly thwarted by jinshi’s monk-like almost masochistic self-control will never be not funny to me. I don’t discount the possibility that once she’s finally had it up to here, she’d be the one to just smack one on him and/or ravish him once and for all. I mean she was the one to steal a kiss first once she accepted Jinshi’s (and her own) feelings.

so linking it to the anime, there’s no doubt in my mind that maomao truly loves jinshi. like I don’t just mean logically how she could fall in love with him with how he respects her agency, and her knowledge, and her skill, while she respects what he stands for (and though she may not admit it), his kindness. I mean that it’s pretty clear to me that both jinshi and maomao’s love languages are acts of service. And with that thought of maomao’s, her worrying about being unable to give back to jinshi, shows to me that she’s worried about placing jinshi in the same position she was in as a baby. she may be ok now (or more like she repressed it), but maomao may have grown up feeling like never having enough (literally being left alone as a baby to cry for hours on end which isn’t anyone’s fault really but more of a matter of circumstance) until she made herself be ok with it.

and the fact that she sees nothing wrong about it when it comes to herself, but is worried about the same thing happening to jinshi, shows to me that her love isn’t as lukewarm as she thinks it is. bec inasmuch as jinshi goes above and beyond for her, maomao goes above and beyond for him as well, noticeably almost more than for anyone else. like maomao will perform acts of services for almost anyone, but for her to actually reopen the lid on her emotions, which she’s kept locked for a long time, shows to me considerable effort and care. because she recognizes the weakness in herself when it comes to emotions, but she doesn’t want to hurt jinshi by not giving him enough.

even when she prepared everything for what was supposed to be their first night, jinshi viewed it as her artisan’s spirit, but knowing maomao, it’s not something she would have done otherwise if she didn’t really want to do it. she refrained from food and drink, she prepared everything so jinshi wouldn’t have to worry. nothing about her preparations screamed transactional. bec again as much as jinshi wants her to rely on him, to burden him, maomao shows her love in how much she wants him to unburden himself. she wants him to be able to stop holding back without worries to the point that she’s willing to carry that burden for him. sure again you could see it as her being her perfectionist self, but again from what we know of maomao, she does indeed go all out, but only for the things she’s passionate about, for the things that matter to her. remember her failing the court lady exam? somehow, through everything they’ve went through, jinshi has become someone who matters so much to her that she’s willing to put in the work.

that interaction really showed how far the both of them have come, and through maomao becoming more proactive, and jinshi becoming more patient, showing the best way they show that they love the other. doing something difficult that’s not what they’re used to, sacrificing or bearing embarrassment, because despite everything, it’s worth it for the person they’re doing it for. if that’s not love, what is?

[thebramblewood]

Micah always trusted she'd get her hands on that Death card, but not like this.

Beginning / Previous / Next

Micah: Hey, Grim!

Grim Reaper: Ah, yes, the other Ms. Uchiyama. I expected you would find me soon enough.

Micah: I shouldn’t have to find you! My sister is pregnant, and all you can do is go on about your responsibility. If you were so responsible, she wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.

Grim Reaper: Naomi was hardly innocent in-

Micah: You were her boss. You put her job and her life on the line, and now you won’t own up! Guidry? What are you doing here?

Guidry: Micah, I’ve been trying to find the right moment to talk.

Micah: Well, it’ll have to wait. I’m kind of in the middle of something.

Grim Reaper: If I may interrupt-

Micah: No! As I was saying, you don’t get to weasel your way out of this. Maybe you and my sister aren’t meant to be. That’s fine. I’m not sure she’d want to be tied down anyway. But you will make sure she and this baby are comfortable.

Grim Reaper: Very well. She will find her paycheck deposited as usual in perpetuity.

Micah: That’s all? You’re just going to leave?

Grim Reaper: I have business to attend to just now. But hold onto this for me, and consider it a promise broken if I don’t return.

Micah: Now, Guidry, what is- OH!

Guidry: Forgive me if that was too forward, but I’ve been wanting to do it for some time.

Micah: You have?

Guidry: I think you’re a beautiful woman, Micah. But I feared

you’d want nothing to do with me, considering my… condition.

Micah: Oh, Guidry. Your ghostliness doesn’t scare me. I’m just overwhelmed. Romance has never been my forte, and it’s the last thing on my mind right now.

Guidry: I understand. I may wear my heart on my sleeve, but I prefer to take it slow. In fact, I haven’t been intimate with anyone since before my death. I’ve often wondered if being human again might somehow fix me.

Micah: I don’t think you need to be fixed. But I do know someone with experience in resurrection.

Guidry: Of course! Your mother! Would she really-

Micah: It can’t hurt to ask!

[myfandomtopia]

tired of the “middle book syndrome” claims I’ve been seeing for oathbound on tiktok yall just didn’t get it