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hellobunny044 · 1 year ago

Text

Panels. | Series

panel. in manga art, panels refers to the frame that wraps around one moment in time.

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an original Haikyū AU pairing Udai Tenma (the og little giant)

warning!! : containing some manga content.

word count : 3540

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Panel - 1

“Udai-san, this part and this one need to be reworked.”

“Which one?”

The guy with shoulder-length curly hair shifted, almost sending his chair to fly closer to the serious, glasses-guy. His face serious and his tone polite and organized, while beside him, the curly guy in his hoodie is casually listening to everything he says like an obedient puppy.

“The monologue is too long. It seems unnecessary and a waste of time. That’s it from me.”

“Akaashi-san, don’t you at least have something nicer to say to me?”

“That was the nicest I could be.”

“Geh.”

The curly black haired guy was, Udai Tenma, next to him was Akaashi Keiji, the editor.

Akaashi sighs, “There is also one thing I couldn’t agree with on the next page.”

“Which one?”

“This one.”

Following the editor’s finger pointing at a panel, Udai seriously listened to the way Akaashi specified the whole scene as ‘overly exaggerated’.

“It’s either you come up with another idea to picture the entire event, or you find another way not to make this panel look like this.”

In other words, a just-cut-it-out-of-the-page-and-good-luck-coming-up-with-something-more-worth-publishing.

“Do you think so?”

A confirmation from Akaashi had Udai nod in understanding. He takes his phone out and notes down everything the editor said while casually listening and answering what he needs to answer.

After Akaashi wrapped the discussion up, Udai casually decides, “Alright. I’ll hand it in in two days.”

“No can do.”

“Eehhh?” Staring at the editor’s serious face, Udai insistsing, “Why not?”

The editor sighed before he starts, “You have a fansign next month for this edition. Everything has to be published by the end of this month. I can only accept tomorrow at the latest, at seven in the morning.”

Udai started to whine, dropping his head on the table after Akaashi made a decision on the deadline. But to what end, though? The deadline had been decided and the dearest charming editor, Akaashi Keiji, is simply someone too savage to give a damn about anything when it comes to the deadline.

In the end, Udai did have to work hard to finish the latest edition of the manga tomorrow morning at the required hour.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Udai-san.”

Udai, with a helpless languid look, while hugging the manuscript sheet that Akaashi had corrected, turns around and stares at his editor pityingly. Still having a little determination to negotiate with the charming editor until there is a more humane leniency from him. He put on his most pathetic face in front of the editor, basically trying his best.

“If you understand, please go home and start working.”

Snorting, Udai jerks himself out of the room like some cranky bear, nearly flying, a little uprising against the unfair working hours. Or perhaps, he just hadn’t yet realized that everything is the result of his amazing skill to procrastinate and pile up all his work at one time, forgetting that he is only human and not a manga printing machine that can be pushed to go the extra mile.

But really, drawing is fun.

Since a long time ago, drawing had been an escape from fear, boredom, anxiety, and some random feelings that oftenly creeped up on him.

Whenever those unfamiliar, unpleasantly all too familiar feelings creeped into his mental frame, he would always tear up a piece of paper and start doodling. About anything. Whatever his eyes caught, or whatever his head imagined, or about some places wherever his brain took him to.

In the subtle sound when his pencil met the paper, there was the peace that flushed through, and it almost felt like he was in the heart of a serene forest. Then the chaos inside him would slowly die down.

There is peace in drawing.

Then here he was, back to the room where almost over twenty volumes of his manga were born. In a room where his pen met several strokes of paper in definite or indefinite lines, where his pen met the screen of his computer at busy hours before all those stories were brought to life as some book, namely manga, working for another extra special hour.

Udai Tenma was not a familiar name before the Zombie Knight Zom'bish manga became as famous as it is now. He was just a normal citizen, an ordinary guy living within the framework of a normal story somewhere in Tokyo.

Although he no longer yearns for those days, for those who still remember, they might recognize him better by a nickname other than his real name. Call it The Little Giant.

With that name, youths familiar with the volleyball of his day would immediately raise an eyebrow, amused, welcoming with a sky-rocketing expectation in the face of that particular figure who in his days was revered for his outstanding ability despite a fairly obvious weakness. The very figure to conquer the orange court of the famously annual national’s spring high volleyball tournament with some player known as the crows.

But those days are over.

Just like the beginning of a fiction novel, the past was left behind and the reader moves on to the next chapters, looking forward to what might lie ahead.

Udai Tenma is one of those readers who diligently turns the pages of the life story that fate had written for him.

His days as the little giant had come to an end when he decided to turn to the next chapter. Now, he is in the chapter where he is just the ordinary Udai Tenma, the manga artist Udai Tenma, living up to the result of his hard work creating over twenty volumes of manga, and is currently and will always be struggling with deadlines from his editor.

———————————————————

Udai-san, the deadline is tomorrow by seven am in the dot. Please don’t be late.

———————————————————

Udai grimaced as he read Akaashi’s message from the notification bar of his phone.

It’s not that he will pretend to be on a temporary memory-lost something funnier.

He is working hard.

Despite almost swallowing some of his curly strands as his mouth is busy munching some chips, his hands are busy working on what he had to fix on the entire panel.

“That damn Akaashi really is a dictator. He’s such a sadist. He really is one.”

His hands take a slight pause, scooping up a handful of chips that are almost gone on the other side of the table and feeding himself. He is busy. Very busy. Munching and working on those panels at the same time.

********************************************************

Udai could barely finish the latest volume of his Zombie Knight Zom'bish.

He grimaced at the fact that the editor is a sadistic perfectionist who alwa time, valuing time too much.

Of all the things that made him grimace more was how Akashi was always she looked like a pathetic misfit every time he handed in a new script.

At first glance, while waiting for Akashi to finish scanning the revised panels with his eagle eyes that always demanded the best of the best that he, as the artist, could come up with, Udai's feet shuffled anxiously under the table as his brain roamed, thinking about whether Akashi Keiji had ever once looked as pathetic as himself right now.

When Akashi Keiji is working as an editor, the room will be so quiet that Udai swears he could hear a needle dropping from the next room. Udai was even convinced that the charming editor had stppped breathing to look for mistakes that aren't worth publishing, to make sure that they wouldn't slip away from his eyes. But honestly, if anything, Udai couldn’t ask for someone better than Akaashi Keiji of all people.

One of the reasons would be that, "There are chips in the second drawer."

Udai had a bad habit of biting his finger as he waited patiently for the dearest editor to do his job scanning over the revised book. And Akashi, surprise surprise, apparently had gotten used to that bad habit of the manga artist, so, amusingly, he prepared the chips in his drawer. Knowing well that the artist had a high level of addiction to msg.

There will always be only a chip in the drawer and that's for Udai.

The curly-haired guy swears that Akashi is probably a hero who only ate healthy food on a daily basis, probably had been sworn over whatever good and bad throughout the heavens and the earth that he shouldn't eat chips.

Witnessing the way Akaashi Keiji being such a perfectionist that he is, making Udai almost lost the last trace of worthiness in himself.

If Akaashi Keiji is just a normal human being, then it should be that Udai Tenma is just a trash.

"Akaashi-san, you're indeed the most understanding person I've ever met in my life."

"Please eat something more proper at home, Udai-san."

Munching, Udai glanced at Akashi and replied, "I eat properly. It's just that, it's not complete if I don't get chips in a day. It's like my brain's freezing."

He held the chips solemnly in his lap while gazing out the window of Akashi's room.

Tokyo was slowly getting to start its bustling, busy morning as he would soon take a rest after this all was over.

"If you eat chips and work hard for the next volume, I don't have anything to say."

"I eat chips while working."

"You've always been on more chewing terms than drawing."

"For the record, I came just in time before the deadline, Akaashi-san. Let's not forget about that."

Udai ignored that Akashi sighed just after he spoke. It was the loudest and clearest he ever heard.

It was quiet for some time until Akaashi turned the last page and all the checks were completed.

Glancing at the table, Udai was still half-chewing when he asked, “Are you finished, Akaashi-san?”

Akaashi confirms, then adds, “If there are no obstacles, the publication will proceed as scheduled.”

Udai nods, “I guess I can rest now.”

“Please.”

Udai almost complains, but instead he helps himself to stand up and excused himself. “Then. I’ll go home and rest. Ja ne, Akaashi-san. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Udai had stepped away when Akaashi called out. So he stopped and turned back to the editor who immediately greeted him with a question.

“Are you free on the weekend?”

Udai frowns. He did not expect such a question coming from a guy at all.

“This weekend?”

Akaashi showed two tickets to Udai who was increasingly confused about what he was dealing with. “I got extra tickets for the theater show on the weekend.”

Udai paused for a moment, trying to figure out the best response in the midst of his confusion. Wait a minute. “We’re... going together?”

“No. I’m busy this weekend.”

Of course.

Udai feels betrayed by Akaashi’s flat, nonchalant answer. Something so obvious shouldn’t have been said out loud like that. And how do he explain this… he feels rejected and uncomfortable as his head went everywhere, to the most ridiculous things he could think of.

“You can go with anyone with those tickets.”

“Anyone?”

“Anyone. Someone of your friends or maybe your girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?”

Then Akaashi’s question came like a bolt of lightning, “You don’t have something like that?”

Udai laughed blandly. “No.”

His laughter was gone but a smile was forced to line his lips when he rewarded the editor with a more or less the same question. “Why don’t you take your girlfriend instead?”

“I told you I’d be busy this weekend.”

Udai was caught off guard. He was half taken aback when he asked, “You have a girlfriend, Akaashi-san?”

“Yes.”

“Eeeehh? But who?” It would not be an exaggeration to say that Udai was almost shrieking at that surprisingly unexpected fact.

But on the other hand, Akaashi was too casual about it.

“Of course it’s none of your business.” The editor responded. This time he added, “If you can’t take these tickets, you’d better go home and rest. Please reduce your eye bags by getting enough sleep and eating regularly. Your fansign is next month, Udai-san.”

Udai laughed, he shook his head as he said, “Akaashi-san, you must have been a strict nerd with an angelic heart.”

“Thank you. I don’t know if I have ever been a nerd for even once.”

“Geeeh.”

Akaashi’s brows lifted, watching the curly-haired manga artist, “hm?”

Udai turned after bowing very politely to Akaashi, forcing the editor to return the bow properly. He then excused himself politely and closed the door very quietly. Weekly Shonen employs one hell of an editor and it’s Akaashi Keiji.

********************************************************

After a long and fairly strict process, the 22nd volume of Zombie Knight Zomb’ish was finally released. Reader responses were varied, but positive responses dominated. Then after all the process was over, the long awaited fansign that had been scheduled had come.

If asked about how familiar he is with fansigns—given that he is a manga artist—then Udai would honestly say that to this day he is still unfamiliar with some interaction with fans or fan service in modern words.

At his first fansign, Udai barely said anything and just kept his head down, focusing on the part where the fans came to ask him to sign their books. It wasn’t until Akaashi came whispering to him, telling him what he should say and do when his fans came, that Udai improved.

It wasn’t just a newfound nervousness. Since long time ago, Udai had never been very good with people. He had never really grasped the full feeling of being attached to his surroundings. Or maybe, he had, but only briefly.

Today, however, as the manga artist Udai Tenma, when he was confronted with fans lined up to wait their turn for just a few seconds with him, he had to overcome that weakness of his.

Sitting behind the the table was Udai, dressed more neatly than usual: not in a hoodie or plain t-shirt wrapped in his usual dark jacket, but in a light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His hair, well... his hair remained in its usual style. Only, this time, he tried his best to avoid Mr. Akaashi always-demanding-the-best-of-what-one-can-give Keiji protests by styling his hair a bit neater.

From beside the desk where he sat, it was Akaashi who stood watching him like an owl from time to time.

“Good afternoon, thank you for coming and reading Zombie Knight Zomb’ish!”

In front of him was a quiet middle school student, reminiscent of the days when he was a student: the aloof, hostile, not really stood out, high-schooler Udai Tenma.

Udai wrote down that fan’s name after he spelled it and signed in the same place as where he signed it to the fan before him after learning that he had no special requests. Just like that, the youngster excused himself quickly from the spotlight. Udai was intrigued by the bit of the past that the fan brought before him, catching a little fragment of himself that used to hate attention in more or less the same way.

His smile lingered as he greeted the next fan who was surprisingly excited to meet him. Without prompting, she expressed her thoughts on his work. It was always pleasant to hear some people express their likeness about how good his works are, but to hear someone passionately declare an addiction to his work was something quite ridiculous and amusing.

Just before security let the next fan in, from behind came Akaashi who commented, “At least that person won’t be having an msg overdose.”

Udai still had a chance to reply, “Come on! It’s not that I’m addicted to some weirder things.”

“Alright. Please turn around and say hello to your fans, Udai-san.”

Udai returned to being the manga artist his fans had been eager to meet.

“Good afternoon. Thank you for coming and thank you for always reading Zombie Knight Zomb'ish!”

Udai didn’t expect that someone would talk about anything other than how much they loved and appreciated his work. He did not expect that the day would come when one of his fans would say something about him.

“Seeing you in person really amazed me. You have a very handsome face and a very sweet personality.”

“Eh?”

Udai almost stopped when he realized that of all people, he was the one who objected most to what was said about him instead of feeling grateful that one of his many fans was saying nice things about him in person. No, instead he was amused at himself blushing over the unsubstantiated accusation.

He swore he wanted to say something in his defense if only their time was not up and he had to attend to the next fan immediately. In the end, in a low tone under his breath, Udai said, “You must have the wrong person.”

Behind him, he caught an amused huff that made him take the time to slightly threaten the dreamy editor through his gaze. He had just enough time to return before the next fan arrived, more than enough to hear how the first thing the fan noticed was that the very editor standing behind him had a cute face.

That was definitely not something new. It was no secret that Akaashi had a charming face that attracted attention from the moment Udai first met him. As a man, Udai admitted that Akaashi had everything that made him worthy of being called a handsome man: a certain amount of coolness, a charming face, a serious and hardworking tendency in everything he did, a dexterity that he picked up from his days as a setter at one of Tokyo’s powerschools, and a fashion sense that was definitely a ladies’ delight. But definitely not with how fans express Akaashi Keiji in their dictionary.

Udai swore that he desperately had to hold back his laughter when the fan said that Akaashi looked like a baby owl.

If only Udai had enough time to pull out his cell phone, he would have taken a picture of Akaashi blushing. A super rare sight.

From then on, after the fansign, Udai started bringing up the fan’s words. It was clear to see how the strict editor Akaashi Keiji was caught off-guard by a fan praising him out of the blue.

At lunchtime, Udai didn’t stop teasing Akaashi about it, being so serious when stating that soon, the editor might be getting his own fans, or might soon be holding his own fansign considering that, at the end of the fansign, some fans had gathered and questioned whether the editor-san could get into the photo.

After quite happily colonizing Akaashi with the childishness he suddenly developed at the last minute, Udai excused himself and went to the toilet.

When he finished, Udai was walking at a leisurely pace. But fate wrote something different by still making him bump into someone even at the most leisure pace he took, even when he made sure that he paid attention to his surroundings this time.

Right in front of the corridor, a cell phone fell to the floor, followed by its owner he had just bumped into who immediately bent down to apologize and immediately followed to pick up her cell phone at the same time as Udai who also rushed to grab the phone for her.

Udai did not immediately get up when his eyes caught something he did not expect. Something unfamiliar yet familiar and warm in his memory. He stopped when the person he bumped into walked past him.

The sound of her footsteps gradually moving further away from her back, then stopped.

Seconds slowed in his world. The bustling sounds of the shopping center were drowned out by the silence that suddenly erupted through this unexpected coincidence. His heartbeat slowed down as if accounting for every second that passed. Inside his head, questions about this and that swirled around. He was not exaggerating anything to say that his world had once a blizzard. When the voice came, the snow in his world melted away, forcibly driven away with the unfamiliar warmth of spring bursting from the bottom of his chest when the voice rang in his ears.

“Udai... san?”

There were a few seconds that he missed before he helped himself to turn around, welcoming a presence he never dared to expect to be anywhere before his eyes.

His world turned into a black and white panel as all the color he knew returned to the girl.

“You’re... Udai-san, right? Udai Tenma-san. Right?”

Udai knew what name he would call, what he would say when his senses reconnected with that presence. Her.

He swallowed, swallowing all the feelings that came together in this unexpected encounter, trying to stem them with a little courage to open his voice.

“Sasaki?”

Sasaki Tsubasa, the one who is staring at him with a glimmer of newly flushed pleasure in her eyes. Her smile amused. Her eyes warm. Steadily, not awkward like him, she helped herself to face him properly.

“Oh. It’s really you, Udai-san.”

The time her smile bloomed, his world that once was a black and white panel, turned colorful. Just like when cherry blossoms bloomed during the first day of spring, she was there to color everything again.

“Thankfully, I didn’t get the wrong person.”

—

next chapter coming soon.

#udai tenma #the little giant #manga artist udai tenma #udai tenma the little giant #haikyuu #haikyu x reader #udai tenma x female oc #udai tenma and akaashi keiji #weekly shonen akaashi keiji #haikyu angst #my story #haikyu manga reference #haikyu post time skip #tenma udai #haikyu au #original story

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vypridae · 10 months ago

Note

For the character ask thing (if you're still doing it) how about Alastor and Angel Dust! Or maybe Husk if you're up to it?

ABSO FUCKING YES

(under cut)

alastor

my first impression

alastor showed up and i immediately went oh i love him

my impression now

STILL LOVE HIM SO SO SOOO MUCH . MY SILLY SCRUNGLIE !!!

favorite thing about that character

am i ALLOWED to say everything . (one of my favorite things is that hes canonically aroace, win for the aroace community congrats you guys !!!!! :D!!!!)

least favorite thing

it DIRECTLY conflicts with what i said before HABAHSHAJK but the fact that the fandom says its immediately aphobia to ship alastor with literally anyone because hes canonically aroace ... i love aroace people i have several ace friends + i think one or two aroace friends and also hes fictional and also l + ratio + fuck you i do what i want /j

favorite line/scene

I HAVE SO MANY OH MY GOD ... we'll just go with two from ep 8

+ "what just happened? ...ffffffuck."

+ "you lack discipline, control, and worse? ɎꝊɄ'ꞦɆ ꞨŁꝊꝐꝐɎ."

favorite interaction that character has with another

every single time he interacts with lucifer KILLS me, especially the uh "i guess that's why charlie called it the HAZBIN HOTEL, ha ha ha!" "HA, HA, HA! it was actually my idea." "HAHAHA, WELL ITS NOT VERY CLEVER!" "HA HA! fuck you."

a character that i wish that character would interact with more

ANGEEEELLLL DUST ANGEL DUST ANGEL DUUUUST ANGELDUST AAAANGEEEEL DUUUUST PLEASE

another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

bill cipher (i have never seen gravity falls) (i've seen so many people compare these two though)

a headcanon about that character

demigray-aroace!!! also he is ungodly at cooking. ALSO HE HAS A TAIL FUCK YOU

a song that reminds of that character

i dont actually think i have one that isnt like... one of the in series songs . you have to understand i've listened to non hazbin-related songs like twice in the past month

an unpopular opinion about that character

hes fictional, thus you can ship him and make fanart of whatever with him, BECAUSE HE IS FICTIONAL. its like when you ship a lesbian and a gay character, its fine because yk what? they arent real! focus on the ACTUAL aphobia rather than someone (who has several ace + aroace friends) who just wants to have a little fun with a fictional deer man

favorite picture

whoever animated this scene .. i need .... mo re ......

angel dust

my first impression

his first lines in the pilot were him being an absolute dickhead and i immediately fell in love

my impression now

HES EVEN FUNNIER

favorite thing about that character

honestly his accent?? his voice ?? blake roman does such a good job at portraying him as a character oaugh . also just like, how much he genuinely cares for everyone in the hotel ogoguouguough

least favorite thing

if i say huskerdust as a ship how much hate do you think i'll get. ITS NOT A BAD SHIP!!! it just isnt my cup of tea, ive never been a huskerdust fan and so most huskerdust scenes in the show make me go eehhh . BUT ITS NOT BAD!! and i know itll end up being canon so ive gotten used to it

favorite line/scene

"this body was MADE to be exploited! i got the arms! i got the stamina! i got the legs, i got the lung capacity, HOHO, I GOT THE LEGS!! the gag reflex, the holes, the chest fluff that everyone thinks are tits..."

favorite interaction that character has with another

ironically . loser, baby was one of my by far favorite interactions angel has had with a character

a character that i wish that character would interact with more

ALASTORRRR

another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

its hard to actually think of one for angel because hes such a . hes such a guy AHABASHBA i guess i would have to say jax from tadc tho, specifically because they used to share a va back when michael kovach was angel's voice actor + tall lanky silly dudes

a headcanon about that character

INTERSEX ANGEL DUUUUUUST INTERSEX ANGEL DUST EVERYONE GIVE IT UP FOR INTERSEX ANGEL DUST

a song that reminds of that character

this is love by uuuuh air traffic controller!!! it, as saddening as it is to say this, makes me think of his "relationship" with valentino

an unpopular opinion about that character

If I Say I Do Not Like HuskerDust That Will Get Me Hate But That Is My Unpopular Opinion

favorite picture

once again ironically its this scene, its just so goddamn pretty and the song is really good and the lighting just abahbahah

husk

my first impression

CAT WITH WINGS!!!

my impression now

SILLY GUY !!! I LOVE HIM !!! hes so funny i love him

favorite thing about that character

the fact that he was an OVERLORD??? oh my GOD??

least favorite thing

again... if i say... huskerdust ... LIKE ITS NOT EVEN A BAD SHIP I SAID THAT ALREADY ITS JUST NOT MY FAVORITE AND IHGUGHFG !!! I LOVE BOTH CHARACTERS AS THEY ARE I JUST CANNOT FORCE MYSELF TO LIKE THE SHIP

favorite line/scene

from the pilot "you think you can buy me with a wink and some cheap booze!? well you can!", and also "I SWEAR TO FUCK IF YOU SAY DICKS!!!" from ep 3 AJAASJHASJHA

favorite interaction that character has with another

from ep 8 "THESE FUCKIN' ANGELS WON'T STOP COMIN'!" "HA!" "...okay, i walked right into that one"

a character that i wish that character would interact with more

i want to see husk and alastor more, like as a one-on-one duo. one of the only scenes we got with them was when alastor was revealed to be in some sort of deal or contract too, and he scared husk shitless (poor husk), but i'm so interested to see stuff outside of that . i want to see more interactions with them that aren't al threatening the shit out of husk BAHABHASB

another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

the one guy from the princess and the frog because they share a va i think

a headcanon about that character

i love love lvoe the idea that husk can do like bar tricks?? like make drinks in fun silly ways because hes a Bartender and he used to be the gambling overlord so he probably learned casino tricks n stuff

a song that reminds of that character

as with most of these answers, i Do Not Have One

an unpopular opinion about that character

BASED ON MY PREVIOUS ANSWERS FOR THIS SORT OF THING I'M SURE YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT TO SAY. i literally do not have any unpopular opinions except i can't force myself to enjoy huskerdust i am so fucking sorry it's so valid and everyone who ships it is valid i just can't AJAHJKASH

favorite picture

THIS SCENE PLAYS IN MY HEAD DAILY ITS SO FUCKING FUNNY, also husk NOT hating an (albeit accidental) sex joke is fucking hilarious to me

#xanbox #hazbin hotel #alastor #angel dust #husk #im not tagging anything else i dont think just cuz bahabhabah

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starstruck-thirst · 5 years ago

Text

Crimson Dance Card

Illumi Zoldyck: Part 2 ‘A Dangerous Foxtrot’

Previous- Part 1 ‘A Waltz Macabre’

Next- Part 3 ‘Insidious Quickstep’

Warnings: None (This will be a slow burn/ build friends)

~~~~~~

Flowers were in bloom in every conceivable space that the garden allowed them to. High standing topiaries created shade for the bright purple lobelias and pure white sweet asylum flowers to flourish. Elaborate pathways broke up the garden beds that held brighter flowers such as magenta and scarlet zinnias and bright orange marigolds. The colors were so vibrant and bright that it hurt the eyes.

Actually, it did hurt your eyes, which was why you were wearing a nice pair of sunglasses as well as a wide brimmed sun hat. Sure, the gardens were lovely, but one could only take such an onslaught of color all at once for so long.

“Are you listening to me?”

You hadn’t been. But it only seemed fair to look at your conversation partner and pretend you were. “Of course. Please keep going,” you said with a small smile as you turned to look at him with your full attention.

Tibor was a rather dull person. So much so that ‘bor’- as in ‘boring’- was part of his name. Or so you had thought somewhat cruelly to yourself when your father told you that he was you intended fiancé. He was nice looking enough: somewhat tall, blond, gray eyes, and tanned just the right amount for his skin tone. But it only served as an outward sign of his inward tedious personality for you. It was all so… expected.

“Oh! Well then. I was saying that after we got married we could honeymoon off content. I know of a lovely place that-,” and you stopped listening again.

The meandering people that were attending the gardens today were far more interesting by comparison, and you didn’t even know them. One woman stopped and pointed to a flower at her feet. Her male companion knelt and plucked a fuchsia gloxinia flower from the ground and offered it to her. She took it with a delighted giggle and you sighed, leaning on your arm as you watched the couple walk away.

Suddenly, you sat bolt upright. Just past the couple as they walked away had there been a blur of long black hair around a row of high bushes?

“Darling, are you alright?” Tibor asked, putting a concerned hand on your own. “You look as if you have seen a ghost.”

“I’m sorry. I thought I saw someone I knew,” you lied, looking back to your tea cup and lifting it to your lips for a sip. The bitterness of the afternoon black tea was soothing, even if it was starting to grow cold in the cup.

Tibor ran his fingers over yours in an attempt to be loving. “Maybe we’ve been in the sun too long. If you like we can relocate to the gazebo?”

“No, I’m fine,” you said with a tight, red lipped smile. “I think I might just be getting tired over all. Perhaps today will have to be cut short. I’m sorry, Tibor.”

“Of course, darling,” you hated how he said that word, so full of false romance and sativa sweetness, “whatever you need.” He patted your hand which only made you hate him more.

When he lifted his hand for another pat you slipped it out from under his grip and touched it to your cheek, tilting your head to one side to look particularly adorable. “Oh, Tibor, you are so considerate. I’ll call my driver to pick me up, I know you are busy so I don’t want to keep you.”

Tibor stood, in a fashion that seemed a bit too quick if you were asked, and moved to your side. “Are you sure? I don’t mind being a bit late for my meeting for you, darling.”

He put a hand on the side of your face and you wanted to vomit. “I’m sure. It wouldn’t be good for the image of the company for a junior partner to be late to a meeting. I completely understand.”

“You are such an angel.” Tibor leaned down and went to place a kiss on your lips, but coyly you turned your head just in time. To his credit, he realized and paused just a second before following through and kissing you on the cheek. “You’re always so shy,” he teased, staying in close proximity as he did so.

“Oh, Tibor. You know that I’m too shy to kiss in public.” A convenient lie. One you had established early on when he had kissed you without warning in front of several influential family friends. It hadn’t been particularly good, and you wanted to avoid such things in the future. Luckily remembering how awkward you had felt that day was enough to tinge your cheeks with pink.

Hesitating another moment, he kissed your cheek again before standing straight. “Please let me know when you make it home safely.”

“Naturally. I might do some errands first but I will make sure to tell you,” you replied in a tenor that was all too high and bubbly.

But he seemed pacified. With a satisfied nod he turned and left the garden as he pulled out his cell phone and called his driver.

The moment his back was around another topiary and out of sight you sat back in your chair in a somewhat undignified manner, feeling exhausted. The wedding was supposed to be in three months, but it felt like you were being choked with a collar of duty already. It had only been a month that this whole engagement had been put into place and already you were contemplating suicide.

Just the way you thought that made your mind reel back a month and a half ago to a lavish party where you saw your first dead body, slumped across a hard wood desk. The dark and cold eyes of his killer watching your every move. His dark hair pulled up into a ponytail and when it swayed you wanted to reach up and free the strands from their prison.

That had somehow helped you to feel grounded. The touch of the sun’s warmth on your arms was reassuring, but also beginning to grow too hot.

“Madam, are you finished with your tea?” a neutral toned butler asked, placing a testing hand on the teapot in front of you.

“Ah, yes. I am. Please take it all away. I’ll be going momentarily,” you replied, collecting your clutch purse from the table. “Thank you.”

The butler nodded politely and began to collect the cups and saucers from the table as you carefully slid from your seat and brushed the dust off of your skirt. “Seems too nice a day to go right home, I suppose I’ll walk about first,” you announced out of habit.

“A good idea, madam,” the butler assured with a bow before he turned to take the dirty lunch plates back to the garden’s main building where the kitchen resided.

You were glad that despite having chosen a nice sundress for the day, your shoes were very comfortable. You easily navigated towards the next garden section, away from the bright colored flowers into a more shaded area with tree coverage and benches next to dirt paths.

It was fortunate that many people didn’t like to come onto these little hidden sections, choosing instead to keep to the stone paths around the more conventional attractions. The dirt under your shoes crunched softly and the white noise made you smile as you slipped your sunglasses off, not feeling the need for them in the cover of the trees.

Birds sang out above you, and you whistled in response back before giggling at yourself for behaving like a child. But these little moments of solitude were quickly becoming the only time you felt anything like… yourself. Whoever she was. The person behind the giggles, poised movements, and well-defined makeup.

Was there more to you than all that anymore?

The bird that had just been communicating with you suddenly flew off, followed by several of its friends and you paused to turn around so you could watch them go. “That’s… odd,” you muttered as a black feather fell from the sky and slowly danced its way to the ground in front of you.

You looked back the way you had previously been going, trying to see if you could notice anything unusual- like a large dog- but nothing made itself known down the garden path. Something inside of you whispered, ‘Not that way.’

“Best not to question that,” you said aloud, turning on your heel and going down an alternate path. You hadn’t been persuaded to completely leave this shaded refuge, but you also were a smart enough person to listen to intuition.

If intuition had succeeded, you weren’t sure. The animals were rather quiet for a good stretch of your walk in this direction also. The heavy silence of the trees only being broken up by your footsteps was starting to finally get to you after a few minutes and you were starting to think to turn and go back instead of continuing to where the path would fork in about 20 yards. One of the forks would lead back towards the center of the garden where you could summon your car to take you home, and now it would be shorter than turning around. But was it safe to press on?

You stopped considering your options when the sound of heavy footfall on the dirt path in front of you tingled your ears. The realization of how the animals had been behaving hit you, they had all sensed a danger. While the steps sounded to be a human gait, who could they belong to?

The very real sense of possible danger slipped into your mind and you felt just a little scared. But just as you had the night you saw the body of Mr. Vojtech, there was also a sharp and distinct feeling of excitement as well. What if it was someone that wanted to hurt you? What if they took you away?

The notation was rather electrifying.

Black boots came around a dense bush ahead and you held your breath as the familiar form of Illumi Zoldyck merged from the lush forest fauna. He looked even more breathtaking than you remembered. Dressed for a day of walking around in nature with black boots, long pants, and a short-sleeved shirt. To your utter dismay his hair was also tied back into a loose ponytail. Not as high and tight as the first time you had met him, but not yet flowing in black water around his face.

You felt that cliché ‘rabbit frozen under a wolf’s gaze’ as you stood in front of Illumi, hands clasped over each other on your bag in front of your chest where they had subconsciously gone while you waited to see who would turn the corner. Slowly, to make it look deliberate, you lowered your hands to your waist, resting them naturally in a manner you had practiced since you were six.

Illumi stopped as he noticed you and visibly his posture relaxed just little. His shoulders sank to a natural relaxed position and the poise of the elegant man you had met at the party resumed instantaneously. “Miss. [last name], I’m glad that I found you here,” he said with a tint of a happy tone.

“Illumi?” you asked, and instantly regretted. How stupid was that to say? You licked your lower lip, noticing the slight increase in your heart rate, “I mean… Mr. Zoldyck. What are you doing here?”

Thoughtfully, he looked up into the trees and a slight wind rustled the leaves above the two of you. It was almost picturesque how the leaves separated just enough for some light to sneak through and land on Illumi’s white skin. A hand delicately brushed an escaped strand of hair away from his face from where the wind had pushed it. As the wind settled, he looked down to you again, letting his hand naturally fall to his side. “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” he asked conversationally.

“Yes, it is,” you replied with an impulsive smile that always came to you naturally during small talk. “It almost seems too nice of a day though. That feeling of something being too perfect to be real.”

He moved towards you with a fluid grace that felt out of place in this environment of dirt and greenery. Even the most cultured men you had met never moved with natural fluidity as Illumi. For him it was if he was in his element wherever he went.

It kind of made a girl jealous.

“You seem bothered,” he put a hand delicately on top of yours that were still clasped tight over your purse. “Did I frighten you?”

His look of concern as he tilted his head to one side made you feel a tiny sense of reassurance, until you remembered Illumi was an assassin. The thought of him killing you still didn’t seem to bother you, despite the slight fear you had felt just moments ago. But some part of you knew you shouldn’t take reassurance from a trained killer.

The tips of his fingers stayed with your hands as you responded, and for some reason that added to your growing calm. “Yes. I’m sorry but you did. I didn’t expect… well anyone, but especially not you out this far from the central area.”

A slight amiable smile slid onto his face as he removed his hand from yours to put it naturally onto his hip. “I frequent this garden when I am in town for business. It isn’t as expansive as where I live though. But I guess when you don’t have that option you have to make do.” You nodded understanding the need to get away from people very well yourself. “What brings you out to the garden today, Miss. [last name]?”

“Oh, I was meeting,” for a flash of a moment between words you thought about lying, but something inside of you told you to tell the truth, “my fiancé.” Your voice had dropped noticeably from start to finish. Mentally you scolded yourself for losing face in from of the handsome Illumi. But you hadn’t wanted to admit why you were in the garden. In some silly fantasy in your head the assassin would one day ask you to dance again and perhaps try to kiss you.

You would let Illumi kiss you in public, you thought to yourself. Just the thought of a party of people seeing that sight and knowing you had escaped a marriage to the stodgy Tibor filled you with excitement, and perhaps just a touch of lust. Lust both for the moment of thrill kissing him in front of a room full of people, and lust of a more sexual nature that lurked below your more girlish desires.

He frowned. It was noticeable. “You don’t sound very happy about that,” he stated.

Manners dictated that you corrected him. ‘No, I’m very happy about my engagement.’ ‘Tibor is a perfect match for me. I worry I’m too boring for him!’ Something along any of those lines, but you couldn’t. The shame you felt for not being able to complete your duty in front of Illumi got to you and your eyes slid down to the dirt. The fingers that were laced over one another on your clutch tightened.

“Miss. [last name]?”

“I don’t have any interest in my fiancé. His family is old money, invested in my own family’s corporation even. But… I feel nothing for him.” You paused, feeling more and more childish as you stood there not looking at the man in front of you.

‘You are acting like a spoiled little girl! Get it together,’ you chided yourself mentally as you forced your eyes back to up look at Illumi who was watching you silently. The same leveled expression as the day he had watched you wonder into the scene of his own work. You labored a smile back into place. “But you have to do what you can for your family, right?”

He was quiet. No response came from him as he stood before you, potentially thinking about your sincerity? Finally, he moved next to you and offered his right arm out for you to take. “I want to walk you back to the front of the garden.”

“Oh, you don’t have to. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have distracted you from your nice day.” The denial of his time came so naturally that it was as if you hadn’t slipped up in your decorum at all.

“I insist.”

You took his arm with a hand, slipping it around his forearm and to his wrist. “Okay,” you muttered softly, feeling your body instantly react to touching his again. It was so slight, just like when you had danced, but you felt so alive. Excited was too simple of a word, but it was all you could think of as he started to walk the way he had come from. As you turned the corner away from the where you had been speaking, the memory of the fleeing animals so far from your mind that it could have happened a lifetime ago, you were grateful for your sunhat. Not only did the trees open back up shortly after that turn, but Illumi would be unable to see your cheeks as they turned an iconic pink.

“May I ask you a question, Mr. Zoldyck?”

“Yes. But I can’t promise I’ll answer.”

That seemed a fair response considering his life. “I hear you have siblings. Are you also the eldest?”

You couldn’t be sure as you weren’t looking at him, but Illumi sounded pleased. “Yes. I have three younger brothers.”

“Younger siblings are wonderful, aren’t they?” you said more to yourself than to Illumi. “I have one younger brother and one youngest sister myself. They can be… annoying sometimes, but I prefer a world where they are my siblings to one without them.” You laughed a little to yourself as you remembered your little sister at the age of 8 when she accidentally killed her pet fish by taking it out of the tank. “They remind you of how amazing the world can be. Learning things that you have known for years makes the world fresh for you.”

What sounded like a chuckle came from Illumi. “That is true. Watching my brothers grow up definitely has reminded me of some things.”

You wanted to ask what exact thing he was thinking of, but you didn’t want to push your luck. You had gotten at least this much and it felt like a bounty of information from an assassin.

Truth be told, you had tried to search the net for more information about the family after the chance encounter at the dance. But very little came up. The mountain they lived on was very public knowledge, how many supposable family members there were was public- but the sources weren’t ever sure.

“You didn’t ask me if you were my target this time,” Illumi pointed out as the front of the garden house came into view, a few couples leaving together having finished their own lunches and strolls. The woman you saw earlier now wore her fuchsia gloxinia in her hair like a prize. As she slid into her car the man that had been with her held the door open and watched her go with a smile. Your chest ached, and you gripped Illumi’s arm.

“I didn’t feel it mattered,” you responded. The ache in your chest was spreading and suddenly you felt a little sick in your stomach.

Illumi placed his left hand over yours and you looked up enough to see him just past the brim of your hat. “Are you alright?”

You noticed then your pace had slowed considerably. “Probably too much sun,” you told him realizing you felt somewhat sick. “Just sun sickness. I’ll be fine. Oh, I still need to call my driver! I was enjoying our conversation, so I forgot.”

Keeping up with Illumi, he urged your pace to quicken back to what it had been previously, and you matched it even though your stomach was starting to turn. “Don’t worry about that. You will just take my car.”

As the two of you approached the driveway, a black sedan pulled up and stopped perfectly in front of your path. A young woman with hair as black as Illumi’s stepped out of the driver’s seat. She seemed very pretty to you, with a serious face as she moved around the car to open the door with a slight bow at the waist.

“I don’t want to be a bother,” you said as Illumi led you up to the door. But in spite of your words you let yourself be urged to the car, and Illumi held your hand to steady yourself as you slid into the backseat. “Thank you,” you said sheepishly from the comfort of the car seat.

He nodded at your words and lifted a hand towards the woman still holding the door open. “Amane will take you where ever you need to go. Just give her the address.”

“What about you, Mr. Zoldyck?”

“I have some business to attend to and Amane will return for me.”

Amane nodded at Illumi to show she heard him, and on some unspoken order she left to return to the driver seat. “Well… if you insist. Thank you. I do hope that we can meet again Mr. Zoldyck.”

“Of course. I still plan to claim another dance,” he said with a smirk that you couldn’t quite place the intentions behind before he shut the car door and Amane directed the car away from the curb.

You muttered to the dark-haired woman your address before laying your head back on your seat. The ability to rest instead of walking was a real relief as the car made its way around the city back towards your home. You ran over the events of the afternoon. Dull Tibor, the nice walk, the birds, and running into Illumi.

Some part of you realized that he hadn’t asked you to take his arm so much as told you to. It should have taken your notice at the time, such a bold act against decorum. But, it had seemed so in place.

A fresh wave of feeling very ill rushed you and you were forced to stop the train of thought as you sat up again to try and stay focused on pushing past the feeling. Had you really gotten that much sun today? Perhaps lunch had been to heavy for such a warm day.

Grateful to see the building your family condo was in on the horizon was an understatement. Usually in the summer your family was in the summer home in the country, but with the engagement and many business matters coming up for the next month you had all been somewhat forced to stay where you were for the time being.

Amane pulled up in front of the doors perfectly. In fact, all of her driving had been perfect and perhaps was the only reason you weren’t feeling worse. “Thank you, Amane,” you told her as the doorman of your building came to the car and opened the door.

“You’re very welcome, Miss. [last name].”

A gloved hand offered itself down to you, and more than grateful for the assistance you took it. The black sedan left as soon as the door was firmly shut by the doorman and you made way inside to a blissfully controlled temperature environment that did a lot to help you feel better.

Stepping into the condo off of the elevator was a relief, and you didn’t remember much of making your way through to your room- kicking off your shoes and ditching your hat in an unceremoniously, bad-mannered fashion- but when you woke up at 3am you felt disoriented but much better.

You even managed to eat some food in the quiet kitchen, unsure of which family members where home and their state of unconsciousness. But admittedly you didn’t quite care as you nibbled some toast and egg. The gentleness of the toast was a nice carrier to the egg protein that you felt like you needed as your empty feeling stomach gurgled loudly.

The sound of someone saying your name caught your attention as the elevator doors slid shut in the front of the condo. You had been so out of it that you hadn’t even heard the elevator announce itself. Maybe you really had been sick. You abandoned your second piece of toast to investigate who was calling you, though your stomach groaned in remorse.

Your father stood in the living room, looking exhausted but happy to be home in his familiar environment as he let his body fall into a stuffed chair. You had only seen him throw himself about like that two other times in your life, so it was startling. “Daddy? What’s wrong?” you asked, going to sit on the sofa nearest to the chair.

“I’m glad you are up,” he said, rubbing his eyes as before righting himself so that while he was still lounging he was doing so with slightly better posture.

“I slept a lot longer than I had meant to. I didn’t feel very well when I came home from lunch with Tibor.”

His lips fell even further into a frown as he looked at you. For a moment you wondered if it was slight disapproval that you were still in your sundress at 3:30 in the morning. “Did I miss something important?” It had been a rare day off for you, not having to attend any meetings with your father or do any social calls- other than Tibor- for the sake of the company. So the paranoia that perhaps you had forgotten something in your enjoyment of the day easily slid over you as you mentally went back through your calendar.

“Do you like Tibor Waterman?”

The question struck you as a bit odd, but you responded quickly, “He is a perfectly fine gentleman.”

“That isn’t what I asked.” The serious and strong tone of your father hit you with a force you hadn’t felt since he scolded you as child. “Darling,” he slid forward in his chair to be level with your eyes, “Do you like Tibor?”

The corner of your mouth turned down and you gripped the hem of your dress in your hands tightly. “No. I find him boring. He has no personality, his attraction to me is played up in such a way that makes me feel like a useless doll, and I don’t find him handsome in the least.”

“But still you would marry him?”

You nodded. “Of course. It’s what is good for the family right? Perhaps…. With enough time together I can start to find some of his charms.” Unconsciously your eyes slid away from your father’s to the glass coffee table. The images of marrying Tibor flitted across your mind. Seeing him every morning over coffee, getting texts from him while you worked on data sheets and letters, him making you have lunch together almost every day, coming home and having to slide into bed next to him.

His hands on your naked body.

It made a sense of dread wash over you. If white noise had a physical feeling it would be as if you were wrapped up in that. But you forced yourself to think of anything positive about him, trying to cope with the outlook of the future. His hair was nice. You touched it once when you had kissed his cheek. And maybe with time you could find the movies he showed you interesting.

“Darling,” your father called, and you snapped out of a mental image of trying to find joy in your dull marriage to look at him again. “The wedding is canceled.”

#illumi zoldyck//#hunter x hunter//#star fic #WHY NOT HAVE TWO SERIES? EEHHH?#this was unnofficially requested #crimson dance card #star fic series

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suckishima · 3 years ago

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there are people on twitter talking as if post timeskip won't be animated 😭 am i missing something? isn't that a major arc that has both brazil and jackadlers like why would they stop at the nationals arc- i don't even see the final arc being a movie personally. haikyuu still trends randomly even without any new news i think they'll split everything out properly

Omg haha I never even considered that they just wouldn't animate Brazil/Final Arc, that would be absolutely devastating! For me, so much of what makes Haikyuu so beautiful and powerful happens in the continuation from Nationals arc to the final chapter so I very much hope that doesn't happen lol.

And tbh, unless the show gets suddenly cancelled or something I just can't imagine that happening as like an Intentional Choice lol. And I don't think cancellation is likely either, bc you're right about the show still trends a lot. Haikyuu is one of the most popular manga series around right now, especially for a sports manga. The demand is definitely there to make more seasons.

As for it being a movie, eehhh I've seen some people theorize that on reddit too, but tbh as far as I know, there's no real evidence to say that they'll do that. They could do a movie, but I personally just hope they don't haha. I think they'd have to cut down on a fair amount of manga content to get Brazil/Final Arc in ~1h30 minutes, and honestly I kind of feel like making it a movie would leave a lot of anime-onlys feeling like everything after Nationals is "extra," like it's less a part of the overall story.

There's only enough chapters left to realistically get a 24-25ish episode season, and a 10-13ish episode season, and even then it'll need a little bit of padding. My personal preference for the best way to portray the rest of the narrative is to have the Nekoma match, plus the Fukurodani stuff, be it's own 10ish episode season, and to have it end right around the start of Kamomedai with the set up of Hinata vs Hoshiumi/the battle of the little giants. This way it keeps hype between seasons 5 and 6, and leaves suspense during s5 for anime-onlys too bc I feel like a shorter season has less of an implication of Karasuno winning the match. (like if it was 25 eps, they would know the Nekoma match isn't going to take all 25 eps, and imo it pretty heavily implies there's more matches to come after Karasuno vs Nekoma)

And then I think it would make sense to have s6 be an almost full length season with the Kamomedai match leading directly into Brazil before Jackals/Adlers. I think that would thread the storylines of Kamomedai and Brazil together nicely, and also make the timeskip less shocking for anime-onlys lol.

Like, imagine Kamomedai ends and then two years later a new season comes out and suddenly Hinata is 20 and in Brazil lol. I mean again, they could do it that way and I think it would still work, I just think the KaraNeko match getting its own season will flow a bit better.

#honestly as long as they don't cut out big chunks of content i'm cool with however they wanna divide the remaining chapters #and it will be interesting to see what they ultimately decide bc it is kind of an awkward amount left #and with the fukurodani/mujinazaka match wedged in the middle too (honestly that might end up as an OVA who knows)#hq #hq manga spoilers #ask #anonymous #long post

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moonstonediaz · 3 years ago

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for the ask game: give me recs please! they can be books, movies, songs, poets, artists idc i’m good w anything 😊

ooooohhhhohohohoh anon, do you know what you’ve done to me? recs for anything? buckle in, my friend, this might get weird

BOOKS:

The 7-1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle: i read this one last month and it was amazing! such a good murder mystery. it kept me hooked through every single page. if you love a good mystery, try this one out.

The Song of Achilles: this is already a widely known book, but hand to god i hadn’t heard of it before this past year. it…ruined me. in all the best ways. i shove it in everyone’s face now. if you haven’t read it—DO IT.

The Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead: one of my all-time favorite series. it’s about a succubus living in seattle who works at a book store. it’s got demons and imps and vampires and angels and nephilim and an adorably shy author. it’s so fucking good, i’ve read the series at least 5 times now. incredibly well-written.

anything by Richelle Mead, actually. i’m a huge fan of all of her work. i was introduced into her work with the Vampire Academy series and i’ve read everything she’s written since then. they just finished casting the VA tv series for Peacock, so that’s something to look out for!

MOVIES/TV:

i’m super into horror, so if that’s not your thing just skip on down. also worth noting that i rewatch a lot of stuff. like more than i think other people do.

The Conjuring movies: they’re all incredible. that’s all i can say.

The Haunting of Hill House/The Haunting of Bly Manor: they’re not the same story but they’re equally great. i’m getting ready to rewatch Hill House bc it’s been a while and it’s fuzzy in my memory. Bly Manor makes me sob. the queer story they tell hits me so hard and the ending leaves me a mess, but it’s so worth it.

Midnight Mass: a new addition! i almost didn’t watch this due to some comments i saw on twitter, but i changed my mind and. omfg. i wouldn’t have forgiven myself if i never watched it. (Mike Flanagan is?? a genius?? he also did the two Hauntings mentioned above. his work is incredible.)

NBC’s Hannibal: listen. i will never ever shut up about it. i went in watching it before i knew Hannigram-the-ship was even a thing. but 👀. pushing the ship aside, the show is amazing. the cinematography is beautiful, the sets are elaborate and elegant. i’m obsessed. as a fan of Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal, i didn’t know how i’d feel about Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal but he adds something special to the character that’s so intriguing to me. (i wouldn’t explicitly list this as horror, but it IS gory. be forewarned.)

MUSIC:

eehhh i’m hesitant to recommend anything in this category for two reasons. 1. i do not branch out very often, if at all. 2. i don’t meet a lot of people who enjoy the post-hardcore type rock that i’m in love with. but! i’ll say what my current favorites are:

Eidola: their lead vocalist, Andrew Wells, is….okay. you ever feel really down and you can feel yourself going to a dark place, and then you go outside and the weather is perfect—like, 65 degrees and sunny and windy—and you just stop and feel the sunlight on your skin and it’s almost as if it’s warming you up from the inside? and suddenly that dark place isn’t so dark, and you feel something like hope? THAT is Andrew’s voice to me. (also he’s a beefcake and i might be in love with him) and their lyrics are so poetic and beautiful and they strike me right in my soul. so, if i’m recommending any of their songs to anyone, i would have to go with Perennial Philosophy or Elephant Bones. or Tetelestai. or Dendrochronology. and Sri Vishnu Yantra makes me scream sometimes. they’re literally my favorite band, i’d recommend it all. and ok so, they do mostly clean vocals but they also have screams in most of their stuff. and that’s why i never recommend music, bc most people balk at it lol. but it’s not heavy metal. it is not. heavy. metal. people sometimes make that mistake.

Circa Survive: another huge favorite of mine. the same type of genre, no screamo though! i’ve been listening to them for, god, over a decade now. similarly to Eidola, their lyrics are very beautiful, and paired with Anthony Green’s vocals and their instrumentals i just?? i can’t describe it. i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about their albums, mainly bc their stuff goes back to when i was in high school. so listening to their discography is like being in a time machine for me. it’s hard to recommend just a handful, but some songs i’d recommend are I’ll Find a Way, Through The Desert Alone, Flesh and Bone, and their entire new EP, A Dream About Love. specifically Drift, but the EP is only 6 songs and they’re all great.

#i’d love to hear your thoughts if you try anything out!#OR if for some reason you’ve read/watched/listened to these already i have tons more to recommend #but this was getting long and my lil typing fingers hurt from the excitement #i’m cool i swear #t answers #anon

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learning-to-think · 5 years ago

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Quarantine Tag Game

Thanks @sciogli-lingua <3

1. Are you staying home from work/school? I am!

2. If you’re staying home, who’s there with you? My father and my 2 younger brothers. Mom’s still working.

3. Do you have pets to keep you company? Two cats, and a hen wandering in the garden.

4. Who do you miss the most? The physiotherapist. I’m dying for a session of electrodes... and their massage... and to talk to someone else than my family. Otherwise, I miss my friends just as much as before the quarantine, as I couldn’t see them before either ^^

5. When was the last time you left your home? Eehhh around March 20th I went out to send a letter (there’s a box at the end of our road, it takes less than 5min). Otherwise, I think two weeks ago I took my moped in the road, in order to use it ^^’

6. What was the last thing you bought? I have no idea, that was too long ago. Probably a meal lmao.

7. Is quarantine driving you insane or are you finally relaxed? A bit of both? Being at home with time to sleep and mostly freedom in my schedule have me finally relaxed, but having nobody to see and talk to except my family is slowly driving me insane, my scoliosis is hurting, and people are dying, so.

8. Are you a homebody? Yes, totally.

9. What movies have you watched recently? LOTR, the first two (the last one next Saturday), and Baby Boss.

10. An event that you were looking forward to that got cancelled? My English exchange student was supposed to come to France in March. :)

11. What’s the worst thing that you’ve had to cancel? I don’t know. Maybe the physiotherapists sessions? I really didn’t want to cancel them. I understand why we had to, and anyway they closed, but this body needs help, y’know.

12. What’s the best thing you’ve had to cancel? I didn’t really have to cancel anything myself, but going to school and having to take the exams??

13. Do you have any new hobbies? Nope, I’m still just reading and writing and learning languages and watching shows.

14. What are you out of? Nothing yet, I believe. I can’t even joke about being out of bed.

15. What music are you listening to? Depends on my mood:

Maroon 5, One Republic, Train, and whatever YouTube can think of

80s songs

Disney in Italian and Andrea Ceratto covers

15bis. What shows are you watching? Teen Wolf. Exclusively. It’s very rare for me to watch more than one show at a time ^^’ But in the past months I’ve been watching (and haven’t finished) Good Omens (but in German), A Series Of Unfortunate Events, Doctor Who and Et Tout Le Monde S’En Fout.

16. What are you reading? Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen by JKR.

17. What are you doing for self-care? Sleeping, but I’m not sure it’s healthy (as in, I think I’m sleeping too much), and having 4pm snacks. Also dressing as I please even if I don’t go out or see anyone :D

18. Are you exercising? Yes, at least once every two days. I kind of have to ^^’

19. How’s your toilet paper supply? Very well, thank you! It’s my dad’s job to make sure we never run out of anything (literally, that’s his professional job, so we’re having no problem)

20. Have you made any changes to your hair during quarantine? I’ve been letting it grow!! I fear the day when it’ll be too much and I’ll try to cut it myself. But right now I must admit It’s nice. I hadn’t ever see my hair at this stage, it’s all fluffy. Thanks quarantine for this discovery.

I’m tagging @thefuturelawyer @romancelangs @studypurple @katistudies @havetosavemyself if you want to do it :D

#tagged #tag game #thinking there

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hoopdiddies · 6 years ago

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I'm Not Over You //Ben Hardy x Reader (Part 1)

Summary: You had always loved Ben ever since the two of you met at university and became the best of friends. That feeling went out like a candle flame when the two of you parted ways until he re-entered your life...but this time with someone who has already occupied his heart.

Warnings: A good dose of fluff and a whole gallon of angst. (eehhh probably a some bad writing) This entire series is a slow burn...a freaking slow burn.

word count: 2.5k+

(Edited)

Laid out on the duvet of your bed is a black shirt with a clear, white, bold print on the front that says "Prettier Than You". You give it one more glance before cackling to yourself, thinking of Ben's reaction the second you give it to him as his birthday present.

"This is ridiculous." You mumble amusingly, folding the shirt neatly and eventually tucking it into a box which you are going to wrap up nicely. You feel as if Ben is going to question your ability to pick out a present once he unwraps the gift. You were never one to pick out expensive presents for him or your friends and of course, there were times you felt insecure about the items. In contrast to the pricey objects he gets for his birthdays from his celebrity friends, yours was a lot simpler.

It even is now.

I mean, a shirt? You scoff at yourself.

That's the best you could do for his 28th? You had your doubts and nearly decided to skip out on his party all because you couldn't afford a Rolex or a yacht. But the simplest things from you mattered greatly to Ben. He actually admired the shirt a day prior, before putting it back instead of buying it. And so you had to take the instinct and buy it for him.

Last year you got him tickets to a rugby game and even so, he lost his mind knowing you did...in a good way of course.

It made your heart flutter when he had shown up too early at the doorway on game day in a beanie all hyped up and flashing a full megawatt grin, just ready to drag you on full speed to the stadium. Ben had always loved rugby, he had always gushed about it fondly to you, ever since the two of you went to the same school and even until now.

You parted ways after graduation merely because of your jobs and surprisingly enough, you both came across each other once more the night you almost ran him over– which admittedly was the most awkward night of your existence. Since then, your friendship rekindled and you two became inseparable from then on.

The memory prompts a smile to ghost upon your lips, boosting your confidence to a good amount.

His smile.

How you love him.

And the intangible words in your head lower your spirits for a split second. You'd be fooling yourself if you think you'd ever have a solid chance with Ben when someone else had already taken that slot. Well you have been in some past relationships but they never worked out that well with how unruly the chemistry was, Ben's just different.

You snap out of your reverie and roll off the bed to get ready. You glance at the wall clock and realize you only have half an hour left before Joe arrives. With one last, tired look at your present, you start zipping around to get prepared.

You pull your hair up in a tight ponytail and scan yourself in the mirror. Nothing like a good sweater with dark jeans and back Converse to match. You've also touched up with a decent amount of makeup to hide the fruit of your labors; your eye bags.

It's a cold evening out and you wouldn't risk your health for a party.

"FBI! Open up!"

"For heaven's sake, Joe! It's unlocked!"

On the way of leaping to attend to the door, you trip over your own leg, blessed to have your arm break your fall. You groan in pain as you sprawl on the hardwood for a couple of seconds and the door swings open, revealing Joe in a leather jacket inlaid with a white shirt.

By the time his eyes find yours, he takes a sharp breath in to hold back a fit of laughter as he reaches his hand out for you to grab. "You always fall for the wrong people." He comments, trying to stifle a grin that is threatening to form.

You smile sarcastically and pull yourself up, dusting your knees afterwards. "You're such a gentleman."

"Haha. Are you ready to go? Benny boy's dying to have us there."

You turn around and walk to the couch where your wrapped-up present is seated. The most basic of presents. You give it a narrow once-over prior to picking it up, hoping it'll be good enough for Ben. It's getting difficult to purchase decent gifts these days.

"What do you have there?" Joe questions, taking light steps towards you. You face him without taking your eyes off the box and slowly gaze up at him. "What else. A gift for him."

His brows perk up slightly, sensing the dismay in your voice. "Y/N, he'll love it. He always does." Joe slips a hand onto your shoulder and you nod weakly at him. Joe is the only one in your circle who knows of your inner struggle and seeing you in pieces like this breaks his heart.

And so to brighten a bit of your evening, he briefly admires your appearance. "On a note, you look amazing tonight."

He smiles sincerely at you and you can't help but let out a faint chuckle, hauling him out the door and closing it behind you. "Thanks. We better get going."

He opens the door of the driver's seat for you and you gladly hop in, strapping yourself against the seat with the present tipped on your lap. Joe slips in next to you and starts the ignition, backing up from his parking spot and stepping on it.

The minute Joe parked promptly across the street of Ben's place, you feel your heart beat erratically of what's to come. Although you've seen him with his girl a few hundred times now, the prick of the reality hasn't gone away completely.

It probably never will.

But he's your best friend and his happiness is always your happiness.

It's always been.

After a good minute of zoning out, you snap your head up to Joe who's standing in front of you with his hand out, smirking at how you reacted. "He's waiting." He reminds you as he takes your hand to guide you out of the car.

You clutch your present tight against your side and shake your head, embarrassment crashing over you like a wave. "Damn, I'm sorry."

Joe lets out a mellow chuckle. "You'll be alright, Y/N. Besides, Lucy and Gwilym's there. We'll be okay."

"And Rami? "

Joe shakes his head as the both of you cross the bare street. "He had to be somewhere."

Well you got extra company with Gwilym and Lucy, right?

Several cars are parked just right across where Joe had parked his and the possible number of people present inside makes you uneasy inside. Even when you're barely five feet away from the front door, you can make out funky music blasting from inside. You and Joe swap odd looks before turning the knob and coming in to guests chatting, laughing and drinking.

You tut at the suffocating number of guests but then it's Ben's birthday so why wouldn't he? His place is big enough to accommodate a lot of people however you were never hardwired to enjoy a house party as heavy as this.

You make your way through unfamiliar faces to find your lineup with Joe trailing in closely behind you. "Have you texted Gwil?" You ask him loudly.

"Yeah, he and Luce are out back!"

"But that's a mile away from where we are!"

"Sorry to say we'll have to swim through this mess." Joe scratches his scruff apologetically and you grab hold of his hand, holding Ben's present close as you navigate your way through the sea of people.

You notice a couple of familiar faces, mostly the faces Joe and Ben hang out with. One of them gives you a smile as a greeting and you give him a nod, returning to the mission of finding your people.

You can't seem to find Ben anywhere half way through and so you and Joe decide to just wait for him out back. Joe has texted Ben that you guys have arrived and will wait for him with Gwil and Lucy. You reach the backyard eventually and spot the two having a good laugh by a tree. They notice you two approaching and Lucy doesn't hesitate to squeal and run to pull you into an embrace. "Y/N! You made it!"

You hug her back with your free hand as the other stays preoccupied. "Hey, Luce. Ugh, you wouldn't believe the crowd."

She rolls her eyes playfully at if irritated by the number of people as well. "That's why Gwil and I decided to wait for you two out here."

You approach Gwilym and he hugs you briefly. "Hey you, what do you got there?" He takes notice of the gift and your cheeks heat up in a blush. "It's for Ben. I saw him admire this the other day and he didn't have time to buy it because he was in a rush to get back to filming."

"You're a thoughtful person, Y/N. I hope you remember me like that as well." Gwil chuckles and you shrug happily. "Anything for you guys."

"By the way, where is Ben? We couldn't find him in that ocean of-" Before Joe can even finish his small complaint, a deep voice gushes from behind.

"Guys! You made it!" You all turn around in unison, seeing Ben beaming buoyantly at your presence with...his girlfriend waving sweetly by his side. Who knew it only took three seconds for you to finally opt for a heart transplant.

"Happy Birthday, mate! You're getting old!" Gwilym brings him in for a manly hug and Ben throws his head back a little to laugh. "How dare you." Pulling away from Gwilym's arms, he goes over to Joe and gives him the same hug, then to Lucy and finally, he turns to you.

His smile grows bigger as he outstretches his arms out for you to jump into. With his gift in hand, your legs sprint towards him involuntarily just seconds before you can even mentally command them to do so.

You throw your arms around his neck and he spins you around like he used to, when it was only the two of you against the world. "Happy Birthday, Benny!"

"In all the time we've spent together, you decide to call me that now?" He pulls away slowly and smiles at you, the corner of his eyes crinkling a little. Your giggles are becoming uncontrollable by the minute and you smile proudly. "I like how it just rolls off the tongue."

Unfortunately, that is what his girlfriend calls him and Ben just decided not to address the fact that you unknowingly called him that. You weren't reminded anyway. Seeing Ben become too comfortable holding you, his girlfriend steps in and clears her throat with a greeting. "Hey Y/N! Thank you for stopping by. "

You realize the position you're in and detach yourself from Ben. Joe coughs awkwardly from behind as he is fully aware of the things happening, confusing Gwilym and Lucy who are just minding their own business.

You pull yourself together and smile warmly at Rosy, Ben's girlfriend. You don't have a problem with her, you never had. She seems like a decent lady. Beautiful, good intentions, not coming off as conceited but oftentimes, you just feel as if she and Ben don't synthesize well.

And no, it's not the jealousy.

"Hey. And you're welcome. Just stopped by to drop this for Ben." As if his ears perked up, Ben whips his head at you and you wave the wrapped box in front of him. Rosy's lingering smile shrivels as Ben's eyes light up in wonder like Christmas lights in the middle of unwrapping his present.

As he pulls out the shirt from within, he chucks the box away and gasps in awe. "You," he holds out the shirt still maintaining that genuine beam of appreciation, "didn't have to!" Like a kid who had just received the first thing on his wish list on Christmas morning, he immediately slips it on, determined to flaunt the quality and the sentimentality imbued in it.

Your eyes flicker at the print on the front and giggle amusingly, your heart jittering at how happy and contented he looks. He turns around to Joe, Gwilym and Lucy, shrugging good-naturedly at them. "Yes, Ben. You're pretty. But you overqualified as a woman." Joe comments sarcastically, referring to the time they had to dress up in drag.

"See? Y/N is an exemplar of thoughtfulness. Learn from her, Joe." Ben retorts cheekily, making Joe roll his eyes heavenward playfully.

Lucy holds a thumbs up at Ben, quite impressed and Gwilym shakes his head, too delighted by it. Overwhelmed by the thought put into his gift by you, Ben embraces you once more, only tighter this time, and mumbles happily against your shoulder. "Thank you, Y/N. I really love it."

The smile taking form on your lips cannot be stopped. "Anything for you." You break your hug almost too quickly to prevent Rosy from getting the wrong idea. Ben smiles at you endearingly once more before making his way to Rosy, whom he kisses briefly on the lips.

Ouch.

"Thanks for coming guys. I'll get back to you in a couple of minutes and Y/N..."

You raise your brows at Ben in question.

"I wanna talk to you later about something."

You simply nod and watch him disappear into the house with Rosy around his arm. You stay that way, looking over the back door in utter silence, just before Joe's voice snaps you out of it. "How hard did it hit you this time?"

You turn around quickly and give him a confused look. "What?"

He offers you a drink and purses his lips deliberately. You get the idea and shrug it off. "It was just a kiss. No big deal."

"Yeah, a kiss shared between them and them only."

"Let's just have a drink, Mazzello. I could get drunk and forget this by tomorrow." You swipe the drink from his hand and he chuckles softly, ushering you gently back to Lucy and Gwilym. Of course, however chaste the kiss was it still hit you like a bullet train but what can you do?

You'd seen them share more heated kisses before and they still crushed you like an anvil. The feeling is but the same, and you wonder why you still can't get used to it.

End of Part 1.

I'll be posting part 2 sometime tomorrow uwu

Tags: @mrsmazzello

#ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy #borhap cast #borhap cast x reader #borhap imagine #queen

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horrible-monstrosity · 7 years ago

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14 wait, doesn't the poster ursula has on her wall while she's thinking about the lost words have the lost words on it? it sure has fucking something on it. Fucking seven of something. That look like words. Hmm

-now the op is using the seven words as a motif alongside the main trio even though it's only relevant to akko. like, sushi and latte aren;t helping her find them. nor do they even know what they are. nor does akko, actually, she kind of just keep bumbling along into them. ... and there's no background. just grils in a white void. lol ok real nice effort you're putting into every layer of this anime trigger

ursu arbitrarily declares it's time to engage infodump/exposition. that's good writing. then she conveniently gets interrupted. good writing. nice to know the only thing keeping both Akko and the audience from learning E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G and the dissolution of all tension is random intrusive bullshit events. And that if Ursu had arbitrarily decided to tell Akko everything even a day earlier this would have been avoided. Or any time earlier, starting with when Akko picked up the god damned rod.

"No matter how hard I try..." So the shiny stick just works when it wants to, regardless of whatever Akko does or tries to do with it. Even though she's supposed to be learning that hard work pays off, or something. No, seriously, what is this supposed to be teaching her? It's definitely "or something", but beyond that it's basically just fucking nothing. Or nothing coherent or consistent, anyway. Maybe she's supposed to learn not to rely on the stick- she didn't use it during the festival show, after all- but in that case the seven words arc might as well just be discarded.

the theme of this episode is "we've done this shit already"... again. Last time, the school lost washing and cooking services because the stone was stolen, implying the stone just powers some automatic system, because if there was anything else to the system it should have been able to at least keep partially working. This time these fairies who were suddenly working at the school this whole time and providing all these services go on strike and the exact same thing happens. What? Oh, and they're complaining about not having enough magic power and also they block off the source of the magic power so no one else has it so it's also basically the same as last time. Just, like, by putting mattresses in the openings between the pillars the magic output is completely blocked off. What? Oh, it works because they're magic magic-jamming mattresses. But... if you need magic magic-jamming material to block magic, shouldn't it still be getting through the pillars themselves? Or the floor of the top room of the tower? Why would those be magic-jamming material? Again, why are there no backup systems? Why is their preciois magic power just being belted out into the atmosphere and not at least like fucking piped out through the floor of the tower room so they have some control over where it goes and can make better use of it? Why is everything so fucking retarded?

sushi tried to make akko's soop disgusting, because she;s just the most god-awful fucking person on earth and needs to take a long ride off a short helicopter. i don't know why akko is friends with her. i don't know why she's here. why

so hey guys, hey. guys. i bet you haven't heard this one before- i'm gonna blow your minds. okay, you ready? okay here i go. i'm gonna go. here it is guys- technolgy is evil and thomas jefferson was a witch

Sigh... Look, I'm already on Croy's fucking side. I've said it before for multiple reasons, this school and the staff running it are just fucking unbelievable. It's beyond providing an ideological opposition for Akko, if that's what it's even supposed to be in the first place, and into me wondering how this institution has not just burnt to the fucking ground already. Or, you know, someone ain't stole their fucking stone for good already because it's RIGHT THERE FOR THE FUCKING TAKING And it's fucking causing problems like the apparently MASSIVE amount of energy being wasted from the sorcerer's stone when they're having a fucking energy crisis. Then when the fairies are miserable and decide to make everyone else miserable with their reasonable demands they just bleat "but it's umpossibullllll" because their heads are so far up their asses that remaining in the stone age takes precedence over shit like not just adjusting to the modern age but the IMMEDIATE DEMANDS OF THE SCHOOL THEY'RE ATTEMPTING TO RUN. I mean, this is the school that was somehow still running while its students were starving on nothing but potatoes so apparently they just don't give a single fuck anyway but come on

And here comes Crois, offering an actual fucking solution to the schools' problems, and the faculty just blow her the fuck off because everyone needs to just keep wallowing in misery because MUH TRUDICHIONNNNNNSSFFSFSSFF ... But because it's this show, she's evullll. Because fuck you and everything, I guess. Why am I supposed to hate her? Because the script says so. egh

By the way, it was already shown/implied the wands and brooms store a little bit of energy when the grils leave the school. Why is what Crois offers any different from that? Also what *was* that random little line graph whatsherface showed everyone? Was it energy use over time? Energy production by the stone? Remaining unused energy? Whatever it was, it was also made completely pointless right afterwards when she showed the battery figures. Which were also kind of stupid because the output of the stone is just the full battery... yeah, no shit.

I will say I do actually like Akko siding with the fairies. It actually shows some character growth on her side, the ability to see beyond her own selfish desire to have her magic and her hot baths back, but at the same time it's ambiguous how mature it really is given how easily she was swayed (ie nigh instantly). So it's interesting; it shows growth but also shows room for more growth. It sets her character on a trajectory. Would be nice if the show could follow through on it.

... But then it leads to this really weird scene where Akko bitches at Diana about not knowing the value of hard work because she's rich. But... before this it was Diana bitching at Akko about not understanding the value of hard work because Akko was too much of a dreamer or whatever. Which is it? What is happening? I guess there's some kind of mutual misunderstanding between the two on how to do hard work right, but the show, you know, doesn't actually support that in any way. Like, I dunno, actually take the time to show both Akko and Diana working hard, and to show each of them doing whatever it is the other is bitching about, in a way that allows viewers to compare and contrast them and thus actually understand what the fuck they're supposed to be getting out of this. You know, THE MOST BASIC FUCKING SHIT.

Eehhh...

it's really painfully obvious the showergirls didn't murder the fire fellow but the other fiaries jump to the most retarded conclusion immediately because of course they do Also, they're supposed to be the petty bitches of the show, but they basically did nothing wrong here. It's just a reasonable exchange of goods (firewood) for service (hot water).

Akko and ko can just run up into the tower room and start trying to take down the barriers. So A) there's nothing stopping any random belligerent student or ill-intentioned interloper from coming up there and fucking with it (well, we already knew this from the episode where the lizards steal the stone, but it's just so nice to go over the exact same fucking shit again isn't it?) and B) there was nothing stopping the fucking TEACHERS from coming up there with some actual firepower and taking the barriers out so at least the school could return to semi-functioning. Or any sufficiently belligerent students.

croy saves the fucking fire fairy's life but gosh darned she's sure the generic fucking bad guy villain isn't she o boi. She's got some stupid overly elaborate plan going on so she can cackle and look ominous about what's TOTALLY COMING while doing absolutely nothing actually threatening at all. Nice fake tension there, Trigger.

sigh...

For anyone who's actually been following along with this, which I'm entirely sure is no one, my next post on this series probably won't be about a specific episode but instead a look at something... interesting I found regarding the show. So, uh, you have that to look forward to.

#triggered by trigger

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