#btw please tell me my photo making skills are getting better!
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peasant-player · 2 months ago
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Elrond with dramborleg
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"His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars."
This drawing was for @armenelols and @polutrope post about elrond using a family heirloom "dramborleg".
Oh boy I had so much fun.
My main thought while painting this was " what would be different about elrond?"
And the answer is alot but a the same time nothing.
Elrond is in a way a sad character he kind of lost everything and the only constance in his life is the heralded past of his ancestors/family and friends.
He almost can't remember his parents but he can read about them even maglor is ,despite being a kindslayer, described as strong imposing and a mighty warrior.
His own brother,who chooses mortality,is a revered king!
This elrond that I depicted here is not the lord of Riverdale. Not married yet.
This is a elrond who will stand between evil and his folk.
Just like his ancestors did.
He is holding a legacy of strong unrelenting men who did change the tides of war who done the impossible no one else did before them!.
This is also elrond who found out that his brothers legacy Numenor is at the bottom of the sea - because of sauron.
This is a elrond who becomes a lord for many different kind of elves because he is a different kind of elve.
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moo-blogging · 4 months ago
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some stuff about canon levi confessing? I picture he wouldn’t confess in words or something like that, but i’d really like to hear what you think. loved the pda story about him btw. thank u so much
Canon Levi is seen as cold, quiet, stoic, but very observant and caring toward others when you least expected it.
Nobody could tell that the infamously strict Captain Levi was in love. I mean, who had the guts to stare at his face as his eyes lingered on you slightly longer as you marched past him, or questioned that the Captain insisted you to make tea for the entire team and gave minimal comments on how you could improve your tea brewing skills. Not a single living soul saw Captain Levi in his office rehearsing the conversation he wanted to have with you before he sent Eren to get you. But in the end, he only asked you to carry the reports to Commander Erwin's office because he stuttered.
Levi didn't care about what he was wearing. He had his uniform jacket on most of the time anyway. But it caught his eyes whenever you wore a new shirt or a pair of new pants. His brows frowned when other guy cadets complimented your new clothes, but he couldn't bring himself to tell you you looked better in the old light blue shirt you got months ago.
So he did what he did best. He trained you hard. Only when you were dangling on the maneuver gear with your legs lifted from the ground, Levi could bark orders to you freely.
Go faster! Please survive.
Take sharp turns, pull back your strings and push yourself with the gas pressure! Come back with me.
Make sure you check your gas level before you get on your horse. Come back to me. Please.
Levi studied your postures, your fighting habits, and your careless mistakes. His tongue spitted the most venomous words, but his eyes pouring the deepest worries and concerns he had for you.
No, Levi couldn't say those words to you. He couldn't tell you how much he wanted to touch your skin, or hold your hands, or pull you into his arms. But when the nights got extra difficult to go through alone, Levi sat with you in silence. The fire crackling softly. Your mind somewhere else in the skies. Your body felt too heavy to move. Levi sat there, quietly replacing cold tea with warm ones, waiting patiently for you to drink it. And when you did, the warm tea flowed through your chest, and you exhaled deeply. Your shoulders finally dropped and you were ready to take on another day. Levi's heart eased too. How could you realise that he too held a breath for so long and let it go the moment you let yours go too? You wouldn't see how his brows softened when you told him you felt better and his tea soothed your soul. He said "clean up the table before breakfast, brat" but he meant "don't go where i can't follow".
It wasn't until Eren came back and awakened all the titans in the wall, Paradise Island went into a chaotic state. The Yeagerists took over the military HQ and declared that Hange and Levi had died. Heartbroken and shocked from the news, you hid away as they celebrated the beginning of a new era. You wandered into Levi's office, quietly going through his things before those untamed young cadets destroy it for no reason.
Beneath a stack of death certificates of the cadets who used to be in the same tea with Levi, you found a photograph you took in Marley. It was a group photo that Hange insisted on getting. But you noticed that there was a heart shaped hole on where your face was supposed to be. And then it hit you. Levi kept you in a locket and brought it with him to war.
Tears streamed down your face. Your heart ached and you struggled to breath. Grabbing on the edges of the photograph, you blinked the tears away, trying your best to look at Levi in the photograph. His brows were not frown, he seemed relaxed, like he had planned to keep you in the locket all this while. As if he was saying, "you found my secret, brat."
.
When it was all over, and the night sky was bright with stars, you sat next to Levi with his tea brewing by the side. Levi pulled the locket from his breast pocket and gently dropped it in your palm. You knew what was inside, but you were still surprised to see your face untouched even touch the locket was dented. Stuttering, Levi asked "may I..?" He needed to ask. He was a gentleman. "Yes," you needed to tell him because he deserved a clear confirmation. He rested his rough palm on yours. You leaned against his shoulder, and you both exhaled in relief.
The stars had finally aligned.
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hanjisunglover · 10 months ago
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heya! may i be ⭐🍰 anon if its not taken? (ik my user is exposed bc im gonna show a photo but ill still be an anon) thanks☺. but i have a thought to bring to the table anddd its abt jisung so you may love it or like it! but enough rabbling, let me tell you the thought.
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imagine if jisung looked like this everytime you give him head. like it'll be a calm Saturday afternoon and jisung just came from being at the dorms for the week. you were in the room with Bbama laying on your chest while you play your animal chef game on your phone. jisung comes in says hi and gives hugs and kisses then gets in the shower. after his shower he puts on a sweater like black shirt on and basketball shorts. then you asked him how was practice and his day went. he told you about it and talked about him being stressed a bit and how he needed some type of relief (*wink wink*). so you put Bbame down in his bed in the living room then come back to the room and started putting up your hair. jisung is a bit confused then he realizes,your about to give him head.he watches you sink to your knees on his side of the bed then look at him "ji,if you dont mind taking your shorts off for me?" you said in your always soft voice and he immediately started taking off his shorts. you see hes left in his black briefs,then you started softly kissing the bulge in them. jisung let out a sigh as he watches you with his plump bottom lip his in mouth. after your teasing, you pull down his briefs and his 7 inches springed out and softly slapped his belly button, it was a bit girthy but the stretch felt so good when he'll enter you. his pink red-ish tips' precum oozing out, it looked delicious and your mouth started to water. the shaft slightly curving up a bit. jisung looks at you waiting eagerly for you to take him in his mouth...
(im gonna leave this here and let you do your amazing magic and make this piece of trash wayyy better. and sorry if theres mistakes and sorry again for the basically huge paragraph or more. and btw, DO NOT feel pressure to write this! totally fine with me if you just react to it and not write ;) buttt ill see if you write it or not~ bye bye! 😘)
hello ⭐🍰 anon, sooo nice to have you here! AND OMG YOU DON'T GET IT HOW MUCH I THINK ABOUT THAT VLOG. your writing skills >>>, also it's pretty short but yeah
warnings: switch reader, switch hanji, oral receiving (m), praise kink, cum eating.
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Your eyes are locked in his, he's looking at you so impatiently that it's driving you crazy and still need even to taste his pre-cum. "Angel please, do- do something."
Your hands travel on his thighs, as your breath hits the sensitive head of his cock, Jisung grab lightly your hair driving your mouth to him, "show some respect baby," you make fun of him — just to see his expression getting darker, his grip gets stronger.
"Give me that mouth y/n," he hisses lightly, your tongue take the way from the base of his cock towards the tip, sucking as soft as you can, his head move back as his other hand grab the sheets under him. Your lips open enough to take half of his shaft in your mouth, the moans that he's letting out are the best sound that you could ever ask. His grab on your hair get tighter when you start to move your head up and down.
"God, do not stop.." His voice gets high pitch with a whimper, you're sucking his dick so well that his toes curls for the pleasure, he feels that he's gonna explode in your throat. Your eyes start to tear up for the deep throating that your beautiful boyfriend is receiving, the saliva run down to your chin making his view blurry for pleasure. He cum in your mouth, making you moan around his shaft cause the taste it's amazing and you just can't contain yourself from swallowing every drop of it.
Jisung moan even louder as his muscles tense up for the pleasure, your eyes are closing letting the tears for the intense moment that he just felt, his hands stroke your cheeks softly as your head move slightly up from his cock. "you're.. perfect."
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excali8ur · 1 year ago
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How did you get so good at drawing? And do you have any tips??? (Pls I'm a beginner help)
Honestly dude you never get good at art. It's sweet that people like my stuff but I still feel like most of it sucks and I think that's sort of an inherent part of drawing lmao. You've just gotta decide to keep doing it anyway because it matters to you
I do have a few tips for improving your technical drawing though:
Do figure sketching. If you can go to in-person life drawing classes that's great, and there'll usually be at least a few running if you live in a city/big town, but you can do it online too. Here are some websites I use: Line of Action / SketchDaily / Quick Poses. Try drawing with different lengths of time (so start with poses appearing for 30 seconds, then move up to 1 minute, then 2, then 5, then 10). Also don't feel too bad if the first few times you try it and the sketches don't turn out quite right or the proportions get messed up or you run out of time. It's part of the process & you'll improve the longer you keep at it. Just try to use longer & messier lines and don't focus on the details until you have basic shapes blocked out. (This is literally what I tell anyone who asks me for art advice because it's about the only drawing exercise I ever deliberately do lmao)
Draw real life subjects and not just from photos- it's more challenging but helps you develop your observation & sketching skills. This includes still life and landscapes/architecture as well as living things btw
Use references as much as you can. I suck at this but it'll genuinely make you improve faster if you do lmao. You can find loads of references on Google or DeviantArt but I also have some specific places I get them from: JookpubStock / Fat Photo Ref (requires registering but I can verify they're legit) / AdorkaStock / Teamwarchicken (actually my blog that I use for collecting images)
When you're learning to shade remember that you're shading a 3 dimensional object, and try to avoid just doing shading around the very edges of things. Same goes for highlights.
Try drawing in different styles and subjects you don't usually draw. If you can afford it try out different physical art materials too. It helps keep the art block at bay if nothing else lmao
Don't be a perfectionist. Learn to just say "good enough" and not obsess over mistakes. It's better to draw lots of slightly wonky things than one thing that you freaked out about getting perfect.
If anyone else has any other advice/resources then please add them! I do not know as much about art as people think I do hjfgjkhdf
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theluckyshadow · 3 years ago
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HOOYAAAAAA what would happen if SF9 accidentally got sent a nude by Ash? -🦔
I’m deceased. You know how to make me laugh dude
I feel like the gifs from the last one are accurate for this one as well lmao: HERE
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SF9 decided to watch a movie, nothing interesting really so Ash was texting away on her phone to her friend with benefits, Ateez Wooyoung, she was bored, he was horny so why not secretly sext- yeah real smart Ashlyn. Leaving the message app she quickly scrolled through her photo’s humming to herself to check which one she wanted to send.
Picture’s sent (ONE & TWO)
Ash: Xx, aw but aren’t I pretty Wooyoung?
It took a moment before she realised… that wasn’t Wooyoung. Fuck. She sat there wide eyed staring at her phone not daring to move a muscle- and it’s sent oh shit.
Inseong: Inseong chose to ignore the buzzing in his pocket. He hadn’t checked it until way after the movie- when it was over he noticed Ash look at him with worried eyes as he opened his phone… not what he thought he’d see on a Wednesday night.
“Ash.. no.” He starts.
“Ash yes?” She giggles before snatching his phone and deleting the evidence.
Youngbin: was in no way expecting to see something like THAT from Ash. With a cough he motions for her to come to the kitchen with him to get more snacks.
“Ash… you need to be careful with these kinds of photo.”
“Yes Mum I know.”
“Ash…”
“What it’s not like it was for you now can you delete that?”
Clearly she was a little more embarrassed than she’d like so he left it… for now. Later however he was going to lecture her.
Jaeyoon: He had no idea what to think. The top… was pretty? The robe. Oh she’s wearing that now… but she has a shirt on underneath so when did she- wait wait. His mind is a jumble, he’s just confused at this point because Ash can do her thing but sending this to him out of the blue was not it. Looking at her she had wide eyes as if she realised who she’d sent it too. So he resigned to delete the message and leave her be.
Jaeyoon: don’t think this is for me- I’m deleting this but be careful who you send these things too okay
It took barely a second before she quickly messaged back.
Ash: 🙏🏻 I’m so so sorryyyyy
Dawon: Feeling his phone buzz he couldn’t help but check to see what it was…. He didn’t expect an inappropriate photo, there was no face in the image so he was ready to call Ash out and ask why she was sending weird shit before noticing the message under the photo’s. Whipping his head towards Ash who was slowly getting redder (against her own wants even as someone who doesn’t get embarrassed) her wide eyes flicked between her screen and him begging him to not saying anything.
He would refrain for now… No he wouldn’t.
“Ash you should be careful with what you send people, tsk tsk naughty girl. Also the lighting was shit try a different angle.”
This gave way to a hoard of questions from everyone else and a very murderous woman.
Zuho: Ash texted him weird shit all the time. He wasn’t bothered by it at this point but just a tiny bit surprised. As was comfortable in her skin, she’s shown that since she joined SF9 often walking around without a shirt or just without pants and a large shirt she’d stolen from someone but having an image sent to him of her like this was… new. With practiced skill he tilted his phone so only he could see the screen and texted her.
Zuho: should I be flattered or insulted since my name isn’t Wooyoung lol
Zuho: looks good btw
Ash: oh fuck me
Ash: I’m sorryyyyy 🥺 but thanks bby
Zuho: focus on the movie horny bitch we’ll talk about this later
Ash: 🖕🏻
(he’s been demoted down to best friend instead of brother figure lol I feel better about being hor knee for him now) ^^
Rowoon: He’s probably the most protective of her next to Youngbin but when he got that text. His phone was suddenly across the room and while the boys were confused he was quick to get his phone and say he opened his phone to something that startled him whilst subtly motioning for Ash to follow him.
“Okay you are a grown woman you can do as you please but I need to know are you safe? Are you being forced to send photos like that?”
“No.”
“Because if you are I will murder for you please understand this.”
“I did it because I was bored and horny and so was Wooyoung.”
Within a blink her phone was snatched and Wooyoung was being called. Wooyoung got a shovel talk… actually all of Ateez did because they’d also found the messages between the two… whoops?
Taeyang: immediately horny. Okay maybe not that fast but who is he to let his sexual tension with her rest he’ll play it up TGE built up tension makes it very easy to flirt with the horny bitch that is Ashlyn Grace Lee so without a second thought he asks to keep it- if with blackmail too.
Tae: If I can keep the nude I’ll never tell anyone how good you look on your hands and knees
Ash: Deal
Tae: that was quicker than expected?
Ash: I’m not deaf I know you’ve jacked off to me
Tae: I have been outed
Hwiyoung: Youngkyun likes to think he has control of his emotions around Ash, especially the more carnal urges but one look at the pictures and he’d found himself squeaking beside her, fumbling with his phone and rushing out of the living room leaving everyone confused. He ended up just messaging her an apology for running off and saying she’s very beautiful.
Kyunnie: I’m sorry for running you are very pretty. Very pretty.
Ash: it’s okay I’m sorry I sent it to you
Kyunnie: it’s alright I don’t mind I just wasn’t expecting it…. At all
He ended up being fine later he just needed a moment to… cool off
Chani: Chani has never been more thankful for being an actor. He could school his expression well enough that no one would notice unless they were right next to him. Considering his was on the floor with Ash sitting behind him he decided it was best to pretend it didn’t bother him.
But later when they went to bed the lights off and everything he asked her about it and asked if he should delete it.
“Do you want to keep it? I mean it isn’t like you’ll share it so keep it if you want.”
Thank god for the dark no one needs to see how hard and how red he is right now.
TLDR:
Inseong: Ash no
Youngbin: ASH NO
Jaeyoon: Ash come on
Dawon: lol try different lighting
Zuho: … I pretend I do not see
Rowoon: yeets phone
Taeyang: saves into a password protected folder
Hwiyoung: squeals and runs away
Chani: unbothered king that’s actually bothered
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star-whores-a-new-hoe · 4 years ago
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Fast Friend//Obi Wan X Reader
Forever series:Part Two
Summary: As you get to know Obi Wan better the situation takes a twist.(Jesus Christ! Thanks for all the support on the last fic! I plan for this to be at least ten parts btw)
word count:1600
Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Like three cuss words, Typos.
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You laid on the soft sheets, eyes still closed. You could feel the early morning light shining through the window and warming your skin. You kept replaying the events of yesterday in your mind, still unable to believe them. I’m not really on another planet. You thought. When I open my eyes I’ll be in my room at home. You took a deep breath and opened your eyes. You were still in the strange blue bedroom. You groaned and rolled over, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. This is fucking insane. There was a quick knock on the door. Hugging your pillow tighter, you wondered if you should just pretend that you're asleep so you wouldn’t have to deal with crazy space stuff. It’s probably Obi Wan you thought. you got to your feet and shuffled over to the door. When You opened you immediately jumped back in shock at the creature that stood before you. “Jesus Christ!” You shouted.
“Please do not be alarmed.” The robotic creature said in a monotone voice. “I am medical droid 2-1B, I have come to complete your medical examination.” You calmed down slightly when you remembered that the Window guy had mentioned a medical droid. You nodded and moved out of the doorway for the droid to come through. “Um, yeah come on in.”                                                           *** Obi wan watched the city grow smaller through the glass elevator doors as he rode up to the apartment. Early that morning, when he had deemed it safe to leave you, he had left to go consult the only person he felt like he could about this matter. Anakin. “This is quite an unusual situation master but I doubt it’s anything that you and the other Jedi masters can’t handle.” Anakin said. “Yes, I agree yet...” he paused and stroked his beard, as if in deep thought. “There is something very different about y/n.” He recalled locking eyes with you last night. The sense of calm and connection that had washed over him was like nothing he had ever experienced. The elevator reached its destination and Obi Wan walked briskly to the apartment doors. he knocked but there was no answer. He tried again. Nothing. His thoughts immediately turned to danger. He had only left the apartment briefly and had been checking surveillance very diligently. Obi Wan was aware that Windu had sent a medical droid for the examination but besides that, The chances that someone had gotten in the apartment without his knowledge were very slim. His shoulders tense, He unsheathed his lightsaber and slowly opened the door so as to not be heard. When he entered the grand blue living area of the apartment. He could hear the faint sound of your voice coming from the bedroom along with the soft strumming of an instrument. Hearing no panic in your voice or any sound of violence, he put away his lightsaber and walked towards the bedroom. When he reached the doorway, He stood there in utter confusion at the sight before him. You sat on the bed next to the medical droid who was holding your ukulele while you directed it. You looked up when you heard Obi Wan’s footsteps and grinned at him. “Hi!” Obi Wan leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms in front of him. “Di- did you try to teach a droid to play an instrument?” You sat up proudly. “I didn’t try to teach a droid ukulele, I did.” You turned your attention to the droid. “Show him what I taught ya.”both you and Obi Wan watched as the droid strummed a few chords. You took the ukulele back from the droid. “Not bad for a robot with three fingers and a siringe.” Obi Wan looked at you with pure astonishment “Well, that’s a first.” Gently, you laid the instrument down on the bed and stood up. “Did the droid complete the medical examination?” You walked over to where Obi Wan stood and leaned against the opposite door frame, mimicking Obi Wan’s pose. “Yeah like thirty minutes ago, I got bored so I showed him some stuff on the uke.” Obi Wan noticed that your eyes were red and puffy. From lack of sleep or crying he did not know which and frankly, he was too afraid to ask. He nodded. “How long have you been playing that?” “For a good while, I teach kids to play at my local music store on the weekends. Thats where I was walking home from when... this all happened.”
You felt your chest tighten as you talked about home.The thought that you might never get back home had been haunting you, and it was truly terrifing. You leaned  your head against the door frame. “You play any kind of space instrument?” 
Obi Wan let out a short laugh. “I’m afraid  I don’t have time for such hobbies, I have however worked with young ones.”
“Really?”
Obi Wan explained to you what a padawan was, He told you about Anakin and his experience training him.
“Man that Anakin sounds like he was quite the handful.” You laughed
“Ohh believe me, he still is.” He smiled fondly, remembering Anakin as a youngling. “I am lucky enough to help out with the younglings in the jedi temple from time to time. It's very rewarding to see them grow into such fine jedi.”
“Yeah, I have a few kids that i’ve taught since they were like five. It’s really awesome to see how they’ve grown up, how their music taste and skill has changed and stuff.” You stopped for a moment, not sure how to phrase your question. “You know, I was thinking last night, how can I understand you? Like, you’re not speaking English right, it’s some kind of space language so why can I understand you?”
Obi Wan sighed. “There is a lot to this situation that we don’t yet understand young one.” 
You turned and walked out into the sitting room. “Any news on the book?” You said plopping down on the couch.
Obi Wan followed and sat down across from you. “We have several dedicated jedi working on it, but we can not decipher the language, I don’t suppose you can?”
You shook your head. “I glanced at it but didn't recognize it.” There was an award pause.
“Might I ask,” Obi Wan said tentatively. “What is Earth like?” 
You opened your mouth to say something and then shut it again. “Hold up.” You jumped off the couch and ran into the bedroom. A moment later you came back out holding a small silver rectangle in your hand.
“This is an iPhone.” You sat down next to Obi Wan. “Your entire social status on Earth revolves around whether you have the newest one or not.” Obi Wan could not tell if you were being sarcastic or not.
Turning on the phone, You scrolled through some of your photos. When you finally found what you were looking for, You handed the phone to Obi Wan. “This is my house.” You said referring to the picture that you had pulled up.
soon enough, the sound of conversation filled the beautiful apartment. The two of you talked into the late afternoon, sharing experiences and stories. Obi Wan listened intently as you told him of your life back home, your hobbies, and the stuff you did with friends.
He told you about his training as a padawan and the dumb shit Anakin would do. He even told you about Qui Got Jin but it was clear to you from the sad look in his eyes that his late master was a touchy subject.
You watched the jedi smile at some stupid joke you made. Maybe being stuck in this space place won’t be so bad if I'm with this guy. You thought to yourself.
Obi Wan sighed and stood up. “I’m afraid that  I must be going. I have business in the jedi temple that I must attend to.”
You stood up as well. “Of corse.”
“If you need anything you know how to contact me or the droids.” He paused and looked at you thoughtfully for a moment. “Y/n, I understand that this is probably very difficult for you, and if it makes you feel better, I feel that you are handling this remarkably well.”
You beamed at him. “Thanks, that means a lot.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow young one.” He said turning to leave.
“Oh one more question!” Obi Wan turned to you, cocking and eyebrow waiting for you to continue. “Why do you keep calling me young one?”
“He shifted his weight, trying to think of how to answer. “Well, I suppose it’s a term of endearment. And well, You are a tad bit younger.”
“Giving him a sly smirk you said, “Hmm, kinky.” You turned and walked into the bedroom. “See ya!” You called over your shoulder.
Obi Wan could feel a slight blush creeping up the back of his neck. “Umm, yes.” He quickly spun around on his heel and left.
On his way to the temple, Obi Wan thought to himself, If I’m not careful, I could end up getting very close to her. 
                                                           ***
Obi Wan strode into the jedi council chambers where Masters Windu and Yoda stood waiting for him, the expression on their faces grim.
He came to a halt in front of them. “Is there something the matter Masters?” Without a word, Windu took a data pad out and passed it to Obi Wan.
“The medical results from Y/N’s examination have arrived.”
Obi Wan examined it thoroughly. Everything seemed to be in order, that was until his eyes fell on your midichlorian count.
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louiserandom · 4 years ago
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Play Games with Me
Pairing: Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara | Rating: E
A/N: Commission for the amazing @rookie-d​💙💗 thank you so much! *hugs* 
Read on AO3 or continue under the cut :3 Ko-fi and fic commission info in the header!
Tobirama SenJERK has never had sex in his life, Madara types, as always brimming with spite when it comes to his least favorite person in town. Maybe on the planet.
Rereading the comment and satisfied that there aren’t any typos or any hint whatsoever at some kind of hidden affection (which isn’t there, never was and never will be, Madara reminds himself firmly), he hits ‘Comment.’
“Take that, you dumbass,” Madara mutters under his breath, and really, this could be classified as childish, were he not completely in the right to take vicious revenge upon the fucking asshole who dared refer to Madara as ‘so idiotic it’s pitifully adorable’ on his last stream. Hah! Like Tobirama isn’t the less intelligent one of the two of them; Madara has watched enough of his Uncharted 4 gameplay to note that Tobirama took twelve seconds longer than him to figure out arguably the most difficult puzzle in the game. And although Madara’s sub count doesn’t quite reflect his superior intellect compared to Senju’sーnot that he’s checked in a whileーit’s likely a testament to the viewers’ total lack of taste, if anything else.
(Two thousand, nine hundred and thirty four viewer’s, to be precise, according to this morning’s stats and minus the handful of Madara’s fake accounts that he created just in case to keep up with his chief competitor. Admittedly, it might be a tad annoying.)
A notification pipes up.
Hm, I wonder how you’d know that, MaddyGamerboy? Are you stalking me? I must admit, I’m flattered.
Madara sputters at the reply. At yet another butchering of his perfectly adequate nickname. The fucking nerve of the guyーand people fucking wonder why Madara hates his guts?
(Madara knows it doesn’t really help his case that he’s touched himself to fantasies of the younger Senju more times than he’d care to count, but hate-fucking a thing isn’t it? Hate-masturbation must be too, he supposes. Not the healthiest outlet for negative feelings, but it makes him feel good enough.)
(Heavenly, to be precise.)
I AM NOT, YOU SELF-OBSESSED DUMBASS, Madara types, simultaneously taking care of the half-a-dozen typos that appear of their own accord.
No.
Deep breath. Stop fingers from shaking. Think about something witty to say.
Pff, he writes, for lack of any better word to express his indignant huff, like I give a shit about you. You’re dumb.
It did sound much better in his head, but Madara has spent over a minute writing the comment already, and he doesn’t want to appear as if he’s thinking too hard on it.
He posts his answer, not dwelling too match on the number of likes on Tobirama’s comment far outnumbering the hundred Madara’s garnered. Again, Tobirama’s audience is clearly not the best judge of character.
“FUCK. YOU. SIDEWAYS, SENJU!” Madara shouts at the reply that follows, consisting only of the words:
Thanks for the sub btw.
“You fucking piece of shit,” Madara hisses. “Like eight fucking fake accounts do anything to boost your stats, I don’t even like all your videos from each one of them, you ass!”
I DID NOT SUB DONT BELIEVE HIM
I’m happy to have another loyal fan ;)
HE IS FUCKING LYEING!!!
With seemingly every single person in the comments raving about how it’s about time MadGamer69 and admitted he admires FlyingThunderGod’s skill, Madara has to consciously restrain himself from smashing his laptop against the wall.
“You can just tell him you like him, you know.”
Madara startles, almost stumbling to the floor when Hashirama returns with their drinks and quickly put-together snacks, always the one to rummage through Madara’s kitchen because Madara hardly cares what edible and inedible things existed there or what to do with themーthat’s Izuna’s job.
“I do not,” Madara snarls, as Hashirama flops next to him on the couch, “like that stupid clusterfuck you call a brother!”
“Madara!” Hashirama whines, with that ever-present pout on his face. “Be civil.”
“Yeah, when he returns the favor,” Madara glowers, grabbing a milkshake from Hashirama’s hand. “Did you forget that he fucking started it? Do I need to quote his “pitifully adorable how so much stupidity can fit in such a short man” again?” Madara can’t help flailing his arms a little, though far too conscious of this habit now since the Tobirama has started pointing it out. He makes up for it with what he hopes is a deadly enough glare. “Did no one in your family bother to teach him manners? Did you?”
Hashirama only sighs. “And did you forget,” he asks, “how before that you abused my invitation over to our place to hide his Golden Youtube Gamer Tablet?”
Madara groans. “It’s called a Gold Play Button. Idiot.”
“Now you’re insulting me,” Hashirama grumbles, “and who cares? The point is, you’d be upset too if he hid yours.”
“Youtubers care,” Madara says, “and also, that’s irrelevant, that was revenge for him making fun of my perfectly adequate gameplay.”
“To be fair, you were dying quite a lot in that playthrough...”
“He took twelve seconds longer to figure out that puzzle in the game!” Madara growls.
Hashirama rolls his eyes. “Well, of course, because that Yellow Flash guy was flirting and distracting him in the chat.”
Madara blanches. "That good-for-nothing pipsqueak was what?”
“See,” Hashirama drawls, “you are jealous. Why would you be jealous?”
“I-I’m not!”
“Madara, you are so far in denial, that as your best friend,” Hashirama says firmly, slapping a hand over Madara’s mouth before he can muster another protest, “I cannot stand by and watch you suffer. Anymore, that is, because this has reached a breaking point. So, please, for me, I am begging you, just try politely asking if maybe Tobirama would like to accompany you for coffee somewhere tomorrow? Maybe brunch? I mean, come on, I know you guys don’t hate each other anymore. Seriously, you guys seem like you enjoy arguments, and hey, who am I to judge how people express affection?”
“Affection?!” Madara shrieks, shoving Hashirama’s hand away.
“And please stop pretending you don’t have printed out screenshots of my brother’s videos hidden under your mattress because Izunaー”
“Is a fucking snooping rat!” Madara hisses.
Hashirama sighs. “If it helps you feel better, maybe Tobirama might possibly not feel extreme dislike towards you but actually the opposite,” he says, smiling nervously as Madara blanches.
Because... what?
He blinks, running Hashirama’s words through his mind again.
“And how would you know that?” he asks, suspicious. “I swear if you dared tell him anything about my possibly nonexistent feelingsー”
“Possibly?” Excitement starts bubbling in Hashirama’s eyes. “That���s progress!”
“Definitely nonexistent feelings, dammit!”
Hashirama, the asshole Madara calls best friend for some reason, giggles. “Don’t worry, I didn’t. I promise, stop glaring or I will start pouting,” he threatens, and Madara schools his expression back into a light scowl to avoid the infamous Senju pout.
Like a curse, memories of said pout curling Tobirama’s lips spring to mind, and Madara has to physically shake his head to banish those thoughts.
“Listen, the fact that we’re not as... aggressive as we used to be,” Madara says, “doesn’t mean we suddenly like each other.”
“Madara, you insist on coming along every time we hang out,” Hashirama points out.
“I like hanging out with you.”
“Yet every time we do,” Hashirama presses on, “you’re hyperfocused on bickering with Tobirama instead of talking about wholesome stuff with me. Did you even notice that I brought Mito with me the past few times and it was literally a double date?”
“Was not!” Madara shoves at Hashirama with his shoulder and stands up to pace, because there goes the tell-tale sweating of his hands, the fluttering in his chest and stomach and the memoriesーof him and Tobirama secretly filming the other on camera when they do stupid shit, their almost daily Best Playground Insult Contest that’s been memed half to death on Twitter, the one time they got separated from Hashirama and Izuna in Disneyland because they’d got caught in their arguments so much it devolved into discussing their favorite games and an actual conversation that had Madara’s insides tingling.
No.
No, no, no. If anything, they were just gradually becoming something not unlike friends. And Madara’s occasional fantasies behind closed doors were nothing but a means to a pleasant end.
Not. Feelings.
No matter how much he’s grown attached to the site of messy, white-gray hair that he knows is soft to the touch from all the times he’s tugged on it to irritate him. No matter how piercing Tobirama’s unique red eyes may look. No matter how objectively hot his recent workout routine video wasーand Madara knows he’d only watched it so many times because he wants to improve his own routine, right?
Right?
Madara groans. “Why are emotions so fucking confusing!” He slumps onto the floor and wraps his arms around his knees, hitting his head over and over again on his kneecaps because, “I don’t even know what I want from him, okay?”
There’s a brief silence before Hashirama joins him and keeps him from abusing his head further. “How about,” Hashirama suggests, rubbing a comforting hand on his back, “you just ask? Listen, he’s my brother. And you’re my best friend. You two fighting less and at least making an effort to get to know each other better?” Hashirama brings out the puppy dog eyes. “That would mean the world for me.”
Madara glances at him before looking away again, focusing on a random photo of the wall. One featuring Tobirama right after his university graduation with a wide smile on his face. Quite the adorable face, too, and the unprompted thought makes Madara want to descend into oblivion. Preferably forever.
“That’s difficult,” he says lamely.
“But not impossible,” Hashirama says, “and hey, it’s better than waiting for the Yellow Flash guy to actually make a move on Tobi and start occupying all of his time. He’s a really big fan.”
“Fuck Minato,” Madara scoffs, “the guy just showed up and is just shamelessly emulating Tobirama’s style. That’s dumb.”
“Dumber than you claim Tobi is?” Hashirama prompts.
Madara thinks about it. “You know what? Yes.”
“As I saidーprogress!”
Madara can never go through with his impulses to punch his well-meaning best friend, and so grabs the nearest pillow from the couch and smashes it into Hashirama’s face to shut him up.
Tobirama returns home only to find Hashirama and Madara standing by the front door, frowning as they watched something that sounded like a tsunami of some kind.
“Listen, it’s gotta be one of those black holes or something twisting that vortex. Look how stuff disappears right into it!” is his brother talking, and Tobirama is already heaving a frustrated sigh.
Please don’t tell me you think there’s a black hole on Earth.
“There’s no black holes on Earth, idiot! The nearest one is way off, like near Pluto or something,” Madara says.
Ah. Even better. Tobirama chuckles under his breath, crosses his arms and leans against the wall, observing the two idiots he knows and loves.
He mentally kicks himself.
Well, one of them, he loves. Of course he loves his brother.
The other is... complicated.
“And besides, that could just be the Loch Ness monster or a cthulhu or something. See how dark the water is?”
“Or maybe,” Tobirama says, making them both jump, “it’s a natural phenomenon that’s a tad too difficult for both your brain cells to comprehend? I’m happy to explain though.”
“I’m happy to see you fuck yourself,” Madara greets him his usual way, scowling despite the exceptionally conspicuous blush painting his cheeks.
The contrast never fails to make Tobirama’s heart beat faster. He hates himself for it.
“Mm, Madara,” Tobirama teases, “not in front of my brother.”
As expected, Madara starts spluttering, and Tobirama is left wondering again how he avoids making a total fool of himself in each and every one of his videos. It seems Madara saves most of his flailing for the comment section.
“You,” Madara snarls, pointing Tobirama’s way, “are an asshole, Senju, but spending time with the better part of society might do you some good. So see you at brunch tomorrow and do not be late.”
And with that, Madara gives Hashirama a cursory wave and stalks off, leaving Tobirama frozen on the spot.
Did Madara just?..
Tobirama blinks, swallowing heavily as he feels his throat running dry and his heart rate pick up.
No fucking way.
He must have imagined it. Through his stupor of trying to figure out what the hell just took place, Tobirama vaguely registers Hashirama’s facepalm.
“Sorry for that,” Tobirama hears his brother speak through the rush in his ears. “He meant, uh, will you please join him for brunch? Tomorrow at 11 am, Eggspectation?”
Tobirama blinks harder.
“I,” he starts, “I don’t... Did you blackmail Madara into asking me out?”
Hashirama looks scandalized. “What? No!”
“Did Madara just ask me out?”
“Well, yes, Tobi.” Hashirama chuckles nervously. “You sure you’re feeling okay?”
Tobirama glares. “The idiot’s wake up text to me today was literally a collection of trashy limerick poems about how much I suck. Sorry if I’m a little skeptical.”
“You,” Hashirama says, wincing as a long-suffering expression settles on his face, “you guys send wake up texts to each other?”
A moment of awkward silence hangs in the air.
“Sometimes,” Tobirama says, defensive, although the damage is already done.
“And you’re still not going out? Tobirama, you do realize he’s in love with you, right?”
“Don’t say things like that, Anija!” Tobirama snaps, hoping the dim lighting in the corridor conceals the blush he can feel heating up his cheeks. Fuck. Now he’s turning Madara. “Yet, I mean.”
“I’ll save the celebrations until after your date then!” Hashirama sing-songs like the idiot he is.
Tobirama resigns to his fate. “I hate you.”
“You love me.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“You’ll thank me for this.”
“If it goes well,” Tobirama glowers though it’s ineffective, really, against his brother’s bubbling positivity, and the sheer awe still coursing through him from Madara asking him out on a fucking date is actually enough to make Tobirama want to hug him. He refrains. "Now, thanks, Anija, but I have work things to attend to.”
“Sure! Just don’t forget, 11ー”
“Eleven eggs and uh, no expectations, got it.”
“Wait, Tobi, noー”
With no time to waste, naturally, Tobirama bolts into their apartment and straight to his room to choose an appropriate outfit. And to mentally prepare himself for something he’s almost given up hoping for.
Tobirama cannotーwill notーmess this up.
Tobirama makes sure to arrive about ten minutes early. Not because he’s worried or nervous, of course; maybe just a little, but mostly just to get his bearings beforeーfinallyーa date with Madara goddamn Uchiha.
Madara, who’s been Tobirama’s stupid crush since high school, and just as in love with gaming as he is, only that didn’t turn out to be such a great bonding point between them, as Tobirama had hopedーbefore he actually got to know his Anija’s best friend.
Madara, who seemed to dislike Tobirama at first sight and only grew to hate him more over the years as they both found more joy in arguing than they did in talking.
Madara, who, despite this, blushes every rare time Tobirama genuinely smiles at him or drops a suggestive joke, who has an arguably unhealthy obsession with Tobirama’s ass which he always ogles when he thinks no one is looking.
Madara, whose plastered ass Tobirama had to drag home the other week, amid drunken speeches about capitalist injustice, some wacky conspiracy behind the disappearance of the dodo bird and... something quite interesting.
 “Listen, Senju,” Madara was slurring against Tobirama’s shoulder, as the latter cursed every single nonexistent god that Hashirama had chosen that fucking day to go on a road trip with Mito, Toka and Izuna, leaving Tobirama in charge of this walking trash fire of a man. “Listen. Tobira... Tobi. Tobirama. You’re so hot.”
The words almost made Tobirama stumble.
“What, Uchiha?”
“And cute... So pretty, too, I wish you could see that...” Madara went on babbling. “I think you do. But still. Wish you could see me like I do. I mean see you. Like I do...”
“Tobira, you’re just, you’re unfair...”
“I hate you and I like you then I love you and I hate you again, why you’reー” A hiccup. “How do you exist...”
“I just want to hold hands and just... walk and talk and be together and...”
Tobirama watched in ever mounting confusion as Madara leaned completely into him, humming as he hugged Tobirama tightly and said,
“Is that too fucking much to ask...”
Tobirama stood, shell-shocked, with Madara whispering impossible nonsense in his arms, wondering if he was in a dream.
 The next day saw Madara returning to his usual self insulting Tobirama at every goddamn opportunity, which left Tobirama... confused.
Confused, and conflicted, and sleepless for the rest of the night, thoughts held captive by the utter idiot whose ultimate goal seems to be to ruin Tobirama’s life.
It’s maddening.
Of course, he’d suspected that Madara’s flailing and constant blushing interspersed with screams and insults (the most creative ones, reserved only for Tobirama, it seemed) were signs of not so much dislike, as the complete opposite. Of course, Tobirama had tried flirting with Madara, just bordering right there on the edge of suggestive, only for his advances to be seen as patronizing or condescending. And hearing Madara speak to him this way, in a drunken stupor no less, when he’d probably have no causeーor abilityーto lie is...
Maddening. Annoying. Exhilarating. A tantalizing opportunity. Maybe a glimmer of hope.
And of course, Tobirama told his brother; they never really had any secrets between them. And of fucking course Hashirama had a hand in convincing Madara to change his usual behavior, which is nice and all, but doesn’t help the nerves wracking through Tobirama’s body, nor the crippling fear that he’s going to somehow screw this up.
But no. Deep breath. Exhale. And remember Anija’s advice.
Tobirama takes the last turn before he’s faced with their meeting place, surprised to find Madara already there.
Even though he’s usually always late. Sitting inside by the window, looking out onto the street with a slight frown, Madara keeps worrying his bottom lip and, apparently, trying to break a spoon.
It paints an endearing picture. Tobirama sighs, feeling a smile tugging at his lips.
This man...
Tobirama comes in, approaching him slowly, allowing himself a few moments to watch Madara needlessly fix his wild mane of hair, appraise his reflection in the spoon, try out several fake-looking smiles before settling on a scowl and going back to his nervous tics again. With another sigh, Tobirama takes the few steps left to his date, repeating Hashirama’s advice over and over in his head.
Just be yourselfーand have fun!
Just a few minutes into their date, it becomes obvious that Madara didn’t get the same advice from Hashirama.
Or just didn’t get the advice, period.
With their orders made and beverages served, they’re left to wallow in a less than comfortable silence, broken only by Madara’s... uncharacteristic attempts at conversation.
“Are you enjoying the tea?” Madara asks Tobirama with all of the softness of a brick wall.
Tobirama isn’t used to the man being eloquent, much less polite, and he has yet to have at least one conversation with Madara that doesn’t devolve into a pissing contest. So theoretically, Tobirama should be enjoying this.
But it only seems wrong. Annoying. Not them.
He tries to recall if, maybe, their first meeting was an adequate exchange? Tobirama thinks to the day Hashirama first introduced them. Only flashes of spilled milkshakes and jibes at intelligence run through his mind, and of course that was the very first time he’d called Madara an idiot pipsqueak, receiving quite the lame ‘stuck-up dandelion’ in turn.
Unsurprising.
“Yes,” Tobirama says, taking another sip as he eyes Madara struggling on the other side of the table. Struggling to do what is the question: either sit straight, or assume a more relaxed posture, or reach towards his own drink, or avoid eye contact, even though he keeps glancing his way when he thinks Tobirama won’t notice. Tobirama does, every time, and that just makes the whole ordeal more awkward. “Nice weather,” Tobirama says, with about as much enthusiasm.
If Madara wants to play this stupid game, Tobirama will indulge. Just to see how long it takes for Madara to break and return to his blustering status quo.
“Yeah...” Madara clears his throat, eye twitching as he manages to hold Tobirama’s gaze for a commendable three seconds this time. “Hate the sun. I meanーI mean I love the sun. Ugh. It just, uh. Burns.”
It’s both saddening and funny to see Madara visibly deflate.
“Skin too sensitive, huh?” Tobirama starts small. “Just like your ego?”
Madara’s jaw clenches and his nervous look shifts into a glare before he looks away again, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to calm himself down before he flashes an unnaturally cheery smile.
“Heh, nice,” Madara grits through his teeth, “nice joke, Senju.”
Tobirama raises his eyebrow as Madara flinches at his own words.
“I’m glad you appreciate my sense of humor,” Tobirama says, barely reining in a smirk.
“Sure! You’reーyou’re funny.”
“And?”
“And what?” Madara frowns, confused.
“And what else am I?” Tobirama demands, feigning thoughtfulness. “A recent assessment of yours was that I look and act like a self-obsessed dumbass, I think.”
“No-no,” Madara blurts out, looking much a cornered animal, “I think you... you are... you look not at all so terrible today?” he finishes with a nervous chuckle, running a hand through his hair.
Tobirama wants to scream from the agony.
No. This won’t do, otherwise he might as well leave.
“Can you just call me a stuck-up asshole like you always do or recite one of those horrible limerick disses?” he demands.
Madara actually yelps. “What? No! I mean, wait.” He narrows his eyes. “Why?”
“Because you’re acting weird.”
“We’re on a date, if you were too stupーpreoccupied to get my invitation, Senju,” Madara says, jaw still clenched as he doubtless refrains from swearing, “and I’m being civil!”
That’s the advice he must have gotten from Anija, Tobirama thinks.
What a tragedy.
“Madara,” Tobirama implores, leaning his eyebrows on the table and meeting Uchiha’s gaze, “have you considered thatーI prefer it when you aren’t?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, thank fuck!” Madara slams his hands on the table, heaving a massive sigh as Tobirama laughs in relief. “I was ready to fucking die, you piece of shit! How does your brother stay so fucking kind all the time, it’s fucking torture!”
Tobirama rolls his eyes. “It’s a talent, naturally. Just like your talent at embarrassing yourself and mine at being awesome.”
“You’ve got it a little backwards, Senju,” Madara sneers, “but it’s excusable, given your level of intellect.”
“Twice as high as yours?” Tobirama parries.
“Twice as little.”
“That’s more like it,” Tobirama says, grinning despite himself, “I thought you were a decoy or something. You’ve told me to fuck off every single day since we first met and this was getting worrisome.”
Madara’s laugh is sudden, melodic, sending those irritating tingling sensations through Tobirama’s body. He makes an effort to appear outwardly calm.
“Maybe because you managed to piss me the fuck off every day that I’ve known you,” Madara scoffs, “but you’re all right sometimes. I guess.” He shrugs, feigning nonchalance even as he keeps nervously fixing and running his fingers through his hair.
A stupid, tantalizing habit. Tobirama imagines carding his own hands through the messy locks, tugging Madara’s head back toー
He forcefully aborts the thought process before he’s faced with a problem of the harder kind. “Oh, I’m sure we’ll try to strangle each other when we game together.”
“We’re playing today?” Madara asks.
Tobirama tilts his head to the side.
“You haven’t planned one gaming session after our date?”
“Um,” Madara says, blinking rapidly, “why should I be the one with the plan?”
“Because you’re the one who invited me,” Tobirama deadpans. And anyway, Madara is always the one to egg Tobirama on to gaming, which would usually only ever lead to semi-playful brawls and their fighting making Hashirama cry.
And without Anija there to assault them with his antics, Tobirama wonders what their play-fighting might lead to... and promptly shuts off those thoughts again. Control, dammit.
Madara opens his mouth, then closes it, sighs explosively and says, “All right, fair enough. But you’re the strategy pro here. And my thing is RPGs.” He smirks. “I can improvise.”
And Madara does, in fact, improvise, leading Tobirama on what he hopes is a satisfying daylong adventure. It’s strange, walking by themselves around Konoha without anyone else with them (not that they’ve taken to ignoring Hashirama and Mito anyway on their most recent group outings), free to talk about and do anything they want. Strange and perfect, the way Tobirama switches between poorly concealed bashfulness and his usual confidence, as their jokes and jibes at each other, every little prank they pull never fails to make them both laugh.
It’s perfect.
Just like Tobirama’s smile is, directed at him without any pretenses as they set off to explore the lush, gigantic forest surrounding the city, rumored to be home to mythical, many-tailed creatures. And that’s followed by their forays into an abandoned chemistry lab; the scares they get in the woods from intermittent growls coming from the shadows are nothing compared to the horror Madara feels when Tobirama insists on touching broken vials and experimental equipment, and going through doors with dilapidated ‘DANGER. CHEMICAL HAZARD’ signs.
“If we’re infected by some deadly and insidious poison,” Madara whispers as they explore the lab’s tunnels, “I’m going to fucking kill you before it does. Painfully.”
“It’s for science,” Tobirama says. “And trust me. We’re safe. I got a degree in this.”
“Youtube is practically your full-time job at this point. What the fuck else do you need?”
“The satisfaction of discovering something cool?”
“And deadly.”
"Unlikely.”
Madara groans, cursing his life, as well as his inability to say no to hisーapparentlyーnew boyfriend.
The boyfriend who’s just discovered another hidden pathway to a deeper level and has scurried off towards it like an excited five-year-old. Despite himself, despite his intent to keep complaining, Madara can’t hold back the grin tugging at his lips.
Still perfect.
Just like their lunch date which turns into a picnic by the Naka river, where Madara remembers meeting Hashirama way back when. Just like the first time Tobirama grasps his hand, fingers gently massaging it as he laughs at Madara stuttering to a stop from whatever rant he’d been on, heart in his throat and mind suddenly focused on whether his palms are too sweaty or not.
His mind goes blank. Eyes focus only on the man in front of him, whom he yearns to strangle just as often as he craves to tackle him onto any surface and ruin him completely. And it should feel wrong, it should be, only Madara hasn’t quite felt so right about anything in a long time, and with every minute they spend with their familiar bickering, just with a layer of something more behind it this time, it becomes harder and harder to deny how good being near Tobirama makes him feel. Happy. Complete.
Madara winces. Oh, gods. He’s waxing poetic now.
All worries about that fly out the window when Tobirama, without so much as a word of warning, leans in and draws Madara by his collar into a kiss.
Surprisingly, he doesn’t spring up to awaken alone in his bed like he always does, after dreams like these.
And, unsurprisingly, it turns out to be Madara’s best kiss to date.
Maybe he’s exaggerating, if just because he’s been craving this so damn much. Tobirama’s lips are hot, gentle, and welcoming against his, a curious tongue darting out to coax Madara’s lips open and deepen the kiss. The delightful drag of his tongue, his hands, rough and demanding on Madara’s chest, waist, thighsーit’s not long before he’s dizzy with it, barely holding back moans of pleasure for fear of sounding too desperate.
“Fuck,” Madara gasps as they pull away for breath, lips still touching as their eyes stay locked and he’s treated to Tobirama’s downright ravenous gaze. “That wasー”
Tobirama cuts him off with another kiss, then another, and it’s not long before they find themselves tangled in a mess of limbs and loose clothing. The hard ground presses against Madara’s back as Tobirama settles on top of him, ravaging Madara’s mouth with a passion that soon has his pants feeling too tight.
Fuck.
He groans, hips thrusting of their own accord and feeling Tobirama's own erection through the fabric.
Madara makes an immense effort to pull away, stifling a whine at the loss of contact.
“Bed,” he says, mortified at his own crudeness far too late after the word comes out. “Fuck, I meantー”
“Yes,” Tobirama growls, capturing Madara’s lips in another open-mouthed kiss before he hauls him up to start gathering their things. “Your place or mine?”
“Yours? Izuna,” Madara rasps, head too clouded to explain more in-depth, but Tobirama seems to understand.
“Anija shouldn’t be back for a while,” Tobirama says, a devastating grin on his face, “lots of time for us to play.”
Gods.
Madara scrambles to his feet fast enough to stumble, and for once, Tobirama has nothing to say about his clumsiness.
They all but crash through the front door, not even bothering to lock it as they rush through a cursory check to make sure Hashirama is out like he said he’d be.
“Fuck, thank the gods,” Tobirama sighs in relief before dragging Madara back into liplock.
Madara can’t hold back a moan this time, heat ratcheting up between them as he wraps his hands around Tobirama’s neck, pulling him closer as they stumble to the couch. Madara ends up straddling him just so that their cocks brush through too-rough clothing, kiss growing urgent and sloppy, as wandering hands touching every inch of uncovered skin.
Clothes fall away, leaving them both shirtless, and Madara needs a few moments to take in the miles of pale skin, so soft to the touch, toned muscles rippling as Tobirama squirms under him, gasps and groans escaping his lips in answer to every one of Madara’s touches. He leans in to mouth Tobirama’s neck, sucking bruising kisses onto the soft skin there pleasure flaring at the base of his stomach each time Tobirama moans and arches against him.
“You’re so sensitive,” Madara whispers, with a hint of incredulity. “That’s... fuck.”
“Yeah,” Tobirama rasps, eyes unfocused, “because... just get on with it.”
“If I knew this is what it took to finally get you to shut up,” Madara chuckles, “I would have tried this a long time ago.”
If he weren’t so sure Tobirama genuinely despised him. Butー
“I fucking wished you would!” Tobirama snaps, though the irritation rings hollow with the breathless tone.
Madara blinks in shock.
“You did?” Madara asks, moving lower to lap at Tobirama’s nipple, sucking the hardened nub into his mouth and eliciting another delicious whimper. “You thought about this? About my hands on you, touching you?”
“Yes!” The desperation in his tone only adds to Madara’s mounting confidence, one that he so rarely ever feels in Tobirama’s presence.
“My mouth on your cock,” he continues, heart hammering against his ribs as he trails kisses lower and lower, “would you like that? While I finger you, getting you ready to take me?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Tobirama’s hips jerk, making them both moan at the friction.
“Off,” Madara grunts, tugging at Tobirama’s pants with one hand as the other works the belt off his own. They scramble, a bit awkwardly, until they’re both naked and sprawled on top of each other, and Madara all but drools at the sight of Tobirama’s cock, hard and straining, beads of precum already leaking from the tip.
Perfect.
It’s tempting to just let go but Madara decides to take his time. Strokes Tobirama’s sides and chest, fingers his nipples, kisses every inch of skin he can reach, sucking bruises and biting slightly. He marvels at every little keen and groan he wrings from Tobirama, relishing how needy he grows with each second, how he moans Madara’s name, curses him and urges Madara to touch him, sliding his dick against his and huffing when Madara doesn’t do anything about it, before finally devolving into pleading.
Just what Madara’s been waiting for.
“Madara, please,” Tobirama’s whines, a soft, desperate sound that makes Madara groan in turn.
“Please what?” he asks, knowing he’s being a tease and enjoying the hell out of it.
Tobirama musters a pretty non-intimidating glare. “Just... fuck.”
“Tell me.”
“Fuck you.”
“Is that what you want?” Madara raises an eyebrow, making sure to wet his lips, letting his tongue gently graze the head of Tobirama’s cock. “I can bottom. I don’t mind.”
“Fuck!” Tobirama squeezes his eyes shut, heavy breathing interspersed with desperate whines. “Just... suck me off. Please. Now.”
“That’s it, Tobirama,” Madara drags out the syllables of his name, a smirk tugging at his lips, “when you ask so nicely, how can I refuse?”
He wraps his lipsーfinallyーaround the head, licking at the salty fluid gathered there, ears ringing from the heady feel of Tobirama’s cock against his mouth, his hands tangling in Madara’s hair, the sounds slipping from Tobirama’s lips that are borderline fucking obscene. Madara takes a breath to brace himself and takes Tobirama a few inches deeper. His length is hot, stiff, and heavy in his mouth as Madara presses the flat of his tongue against the underside, sucking hard, wringing another delectable whimper. Tobirama’s thrusts up, cock hitting the back of his throat, and Madara chokes for a moment, his own dick jerking at the sensation.
“Madara,” Tobirama breathes, “Madara, gods, you feel amazing.”
The words send another rush of pleasure through him, and Madara takes himself in hand to release some of the unbearable tension, stroking himself slowly as he relaxes his throat and sinks down to take Tobirama to the base.
Tobirama’s moan is a sweet, drawn-out melody. One that Madara enjoys making louder and louder as he starts moving, setting a fast-paced rhythm, uncaring for how debauched he may look, drool leaking out of his mouth and coating Tobirama’s cock, throat constricting around it as he takes him deep, lets him stay there, tongue gliding along his shaft. Tobirama soon devolves into barely coherent pleading, until ‘please’, and ‘more’, and Madara’s name are the only words coming out of his mouth.
It’s intoxicating. Overwhelming, far too much. Madara gives up stroking himself, the pleasure ramping up far too quickly, too soon, though Tobirama isn’t doing much better. Madara draws his lips up along his length, lapping up more precum gathered at the head, even as Tobirama’s hips jerk again and the hand in Madara’s hair tightens, urging him back down.
“Madara, please,” Tobirama keens, “I need...”
Madara has a pretty good idea of what he needs. He swirls his tongue over the head, descending again until his nose is pressed against Tobirama’s stomach. Madara swallows around him once, twice, a third time before he feels Tobirama nudging at his shoulder in a warning he doesn’t pay heed to, starting to bob his head again, wrapping his fingers around the base of Tobirama’s cock, using both his mouth and hand to bring him to completion.
“Fuck, Madara, Iー”
Madara lets out a muffled groan once he feels cum spilling against his tongue, swallowing rapidly as Tobirama’s cock pulses, again and again, through an orgasm that has him writhing and and trembling underneath him, hands tightening in Madara’s hair enough to hurt with the kind of tantalizing pain that only adds to the pleasure.
“You feel so fucking good,” Tobirama pants, watching Madara through white lashes, eyes dark and hazy as another shudder runs through him, “fuckーI want...”
Madara releases him with a wet pop. “Want what, Tobirama?” he whispers, voice too hoarse for him to speak properly.
Tobirama grips his shoulders in lieu of an answer, directing Madara to turn around so his back is pressed against his chest.
Then Tobirama’s hand wraps around his cock andーoh.
Madara has pretty much forgotten about his own pleasure, too focused on not coming too soon and making sure Tobirama was enjoying himself.
“My turn,” Tobirama murmurs against his ear, tone still breathless but with a commanding edge to it now that makes Madara shiver, “and lemmeーlet me hear you, Madara.”
Gods. He groans just from the sound of Tobirama’s voice. The feel of his teeth nibbling at his earlobe, his hand setting a quick, harsh rhythm that builds up the pleasure to impossible degrees. Tobirama’s heated skin pressed against his back, his thighs, the fingers of his other hand carding through his hair with a gentleness that contrasts with his harshness before.
It’s too much.
“Go on, Madara.”
Tobirama’s fingers swiping at the precome gathering at the head of Madara’s cock, smearing it over his shaft. His voice, a muffled whisper coaxing Madara to let go, to come for him, to say Tobirama’s nameー
“Just like that, Madara,” Tobirama grunts, “louder for me, come on.”
Madara thrusts into his grip, all but fucking into Tobirama’s fist at this point, moans his name as the heat grows unbearable the closer he gets to release.
“To-bi-rama...” He comes with a broken groan slipping from his lips as cum spills all over his stomach and Tobirama’s hand, each pulse coming stronger than the last, leaving him dizzy and boneless in Tobirama’s arms for however long it takes for his orgasm to abate.
Feels like forever. Probably a lot less. Time does seem to slow down, though, both of them collapsing against each other onto the cushions, breathing raggedly and curling into each other as Madara turns to bury his head in the crook of Tobirama’s neck.
It still seems unreal. Too perfect. So right.
They lie there for a minutes, coming down from the high, limbs tangled and lazy kisses exchanged here and there. Tobirama looks so peaceful, like Madara’s never seen him before: eyes half-lidded, hair messier than ever, sticking in every direction, skin still flushed and marked, all over, with hickeys and teeth marks, the mere sight of which has Madara’s dick stirring in interest, recent orgasm or no.
“You know,” Madara says, hands running over Tobirama’s chest, barely grazing his still sensitive nipples and making him shiver, “if this is the game you want to play, I’m really not against binging it. The rest of the dayーweekend, if you want.” Madara presses a kiss to Tobirama’s neck. “Make the playthrough as thorough as possible.” To his collarbone. “Unlock all achievements and, uh,” Madara trails his hand along Tobirama’s chest to his groin, past his length and to his ass, "explore every location.”
“If that was some thinly veiled euphemism,” Tobirama says, barely holding in laughter, “for you wanting to fuck me sideways...” Madara holds Tobirama’s gaze as his fingers hover just over Tobirama’s hole. “Then Madara, for fuck’s sake, stop trying to be subtle and get to work.”
Madara barks out a laugh.
“Whatever you say, Tobirama.”
Madara dips his voice low and deep, like he’s noticed Tobirama loves, and relishes the whimper it earns him. Relishes the way Tobirama arches against him, looking for friction, how delectable he looks, ready and responsive, so eager for Madara’s touch.
He knows then and there that if it’s up to him, Madara will do anything to make this last.
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makeste · 5 years ago
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BnHA Chapter 256: Fucking Superb You Funky Little Hero Eggs
Previously on BnHA: Aizawa and Mic’s frankensteined best friend Shirakumo, better known to us as Kurogiri, had his memories briefly restored through the Power of Friendship, and was all “YO Y’ALLS BETTER GO CHECK OUT THOSE HOSPITALS” before his head started steaming like a tea kettle and he randomly fell asleep. Aizawa and Mic were all “!!” and Aizawa was all “(ಡ ﹏ ಡ)” and Mic was all “Aizawa are you crying” and Aizawa was like “NO!!!” and then they left the prison and Nao called HPSC Lady who called Hawks and was all “eck-chay ethay ospitals-hay” because Hawks, as you recall, is still a secret agent and all that. Anyway so Hawks was all “EUREKA!!” in his head which doesn’t really add up but hey, and then the chapter ended with Dr. Ujiko dancing in sadistic glee as he watched Tomura get all mad scienced. It was pretty freaky. I could use some wholesomeness right about now so let’s see if this chapter will deliver.
Today on BnHA: Class 1-A shows off the fresh skills they learned during their assorted internships, such as “determination”, “enhanced search techniques”, and “becoming a literal blob of acid.” The Wonder Trio is a particular highlight, and All Might is all “my little baby off to destroy people :’)” as he watches Deku shred a robot to pieces using Blackwhip. We then cut to Aizawa and Mic, who may or may not be planning some rogue vigilante style investigations of the whole Noumu thing, or maybe they’re just brooding, but either way they’re interrupted by Mirio and Tamaki who come running in to get them to stop Eri’s quirk from going haywire, which, yikes. The chapter then ends with All Might handing Deku a notebook full of DETAILED, CATALOGED INFO ABOUT THE PAST SUCCESSORS AND THE FUCKING SIXQUIRKS. We just have to wait two more weeks to find out what that’s all about. 2020’s got some fucking zip to it so far huh.
so it’s about a quarter past 7 right now and it’ll be a miracle if I can have this recap up by 10pm tonight. surprisingly the wait for this chapter didn’t really bother me, but this Sunday/Monday release schedule is really doing a number on my punctuality. but anyways we’ll figure it out eventually. if memory serves, there’s about a 90% chance that this week’s jump will also be a double issue, so that gives me another extra week to get my shit together lol
(ETA: so that wasn’t too far off actually! I think a three-hour turnaround time isn’t bad for 3000 words lol. and actually it was more like two hours of reading/blogging and one hour of editing/photo cropping. anyway so in all likelihood either Sunday or Monday night releases will become the norm, depending entirely on how busy that particular Sunday is. not quite the same as getting the chapter on Friday and having the whole weekend to ruminate over it but we will adjust!)
anyway, so I’m somehow remarkably unspoiled for this chapter despite it having been out for nearly a week and a half at this point. so that’s something! let’s see what we’ve got here
yaaaay my babies
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All Might was offering free cotton candy, yes? I didn’t expect we’d cut right back to this lol, but you sure won’t see me complaining. I want to see what everyone else learned during their internships, and also what with the break and the last couple chapters being Tartarus-focused, it’s been about a month since I last saw my little hero eggs, and of course I missed them I’m only human
omg
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did the original dialogue really reference Skynet. Horikoshi truly gives no fucks about copyright. like one or two episodes ago the anime made some copyrighted reference which you could clearly hear in the Japanese but which the English subs hilariously glossed right over. I’m trying to remember what it was now. damn. anyways we millennials can never resist a good pop culture reference, facts
OH MY GOD AOYAMA
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THEY’RE EATING THE COTTON CANDY
TOKOYAMI EATING COTTON CANDY IS THE GREATEST THING TO HAPPEN IN 2020 THUS FAR. LET ME TELL YOU, WE REALLY NEEDED THIS
SHOUTO EATING COTTON CANDY IS THE SECOND BEST THING TO HAPPEN IN 2020. IT WAS VERY CLOSE
I STALLED FOR TIME SO MUCH AND I STILL DON’T KNOW WTF TO SAY ABOUT AOYAMA’S NEW ATTACK OH MY GOD. JUST. I DON’T KNOW YOU GUYS. THIS BOY IS REALLY OUT HERE SLICING ROBOTS IN HALF WITH HIS BRAND NEW LASER PENIS. THE AMOUNT OF FUCKS THAT HORIKOSHI GIVES IS IN THE NEGATIVES I DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY
OH ARE YOU STILL GOING
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is... what’s... ldkfj okay nothing to see here guys just the naked invisible chick getting all friendly with Aoyama’s beam boner. just manhandling his sparkle shaft. there are children reading this manga. I mean, they’re already mentally scarred from all the dead dogs and child quirk wine and whatnot, but still at what point do we put our goddamn foot down
anyway so somehow she’s redirecting his laser beam?? I guess with her light refracting quirk skills?? great job Hagakure with your help Aoyama can finally shoot lasers at stuff that’s behind him. you’ve mastered the power of making it so that he doesn’t have to turn around great job truly an internship well spent
“now I can yank light and warp it!” you go girl now you can whip that thing around like it’s a fucking fire hose I guess
YOOOOO MINA!!
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THIS GIRL LITERALLY COATED HERSELF IN ACID AND DID A FUCKING BARREL ROLL AHHHHHHHHH. NOW THAT’S MORE LIKE IT, NO OFFENSE TO CAPTAIN DISCO DONG AND COMMODORE “I CAN DO EVERYTHING A MIRROR CAN DO” BUT THERE ARE UPGRADES AND THERE ARE UPGRADES, AND LET’S FACE IT, THIS IS THE REAL DEAL HERE
AHAHAHA I LOVE ITTTTT
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is it too late for Mina to actually change her name to Acidman. what is she calling herself now again?? Pinky?? come on Mina strike some fear into the hearts of your enemies
and now All Might and the others are applauding. I don’t see Shouto’s cotton candy anymore. boy fucking inhaled that shit
oh wow, they interned under Yoroi Musha? if memory serves me, and I’m honestly not going to bother to check right now, isn’t that the samurai dude who somehow beat Ryuukyuu in the billboard charts? not that I’m still salty about that, oh wait I absolutely am but anyways
OH MY
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IS THAT SOME KIRIMINA CONTENT UP IN MY PANELS. hot damn that is some cute fucking shit. Mina better not get any undue hate for this. everyone please remain calm this cute interaction does not threaten your ship in any way (unless you want it to in which case have at!!) and we can all have fun if we just play nice you guys
lmao All Might
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“WE’RE ALREADY ON PAGE FOUR AND THERE ARE TWENTY OF YOU, WE DON’T HAVE ALL FUCKING DAY CHILDREN”
so Satou and Ojiro learned how to punch harder and stuff. again, it’s fine, we can’t all be Acid Men. but meanwhile they interned with some lion guy named Shishido whom I INSTANTLY LOVE so that’s badass. only one character away from Shishida though, but that’s Horikoshi for you
OH MY GOD
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BLAH BLAH YES ENHANCED SEARCH TECHNIQUES ZZZZZ BUT FUCKING LOOK THOUGH AT THE FLASHBACK OF HIM YEETING THEM, YESSSSSS. THE OLD WAYS HAVE NOT YET BEEN FORGOTTEN, GANG ORCA YOU ARE THE HERO WE DESERVE
meanwhile Sero, Kami, and Mineta learned how to literally kill people with their quirks flkdjsflk
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(ETA: btw I really love that Mt. Lady’s internship emphasized teamwork. now there’s someone who’s come a really long way her own self. anyway I stan and she had better join the other two in the the top 10 real soon. come on BnHA society get with it.)
damn Mt. Lady what the fuck. “if you guys work together you can suffocate and electrocute villains to death with ease!” the government’s plan really is working huh; these children have become bloodthirsty, ruthless killers in a shockingly short period of time
anyways so Iida as we all recall learned how to be more footloose and fancy free, and meanwhile Kouda learned “smooth communication” from Wash, the literal washing machine man whom I also don’t still harbor a grudge against for inexplicably beating my dragon queen in the hero polls, and once again that is a lie because fuck you Wash! you’re adorable but fuck you!!
man this is taking forever why are there so many kids in this class. for anyone wondering why Horikoshi doesn’t focus on class 1-A as a whole more often and leaves them as supporting characters, this right here is why. I love these children to death but we would still be stuck in the basement arc. oh my god I just shuddered
Tokoyami mastered “improvement on all fronts” because I guess he kind of peaked at flying when it came to new moves huh. that’s fine for now
and Kiri mastered “making baddies lose the will to fight real quick” which sounds like some bullshit you’d write while desperately trying to pad your hero resume, except that it’s accompanied by this convincing panel of him chomping a steel bar in two or some shit which YIKES
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can confirm, if some demonic rock man came trotting up to me and snapped off some railing from some stairs and fucking snapped it like a twig with his GIANT FOSSILIZED DINOSAUR TEETH, I’d lose my will to fight pretty quickly too
and Ochako and Tsuyu learned “determination” smdh. Horikoshi did you fucking fall asleep towards the end of this segment or what
WHO IS MAJESTIC OMG
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excuse me did she just create a bunch of fucking dynamites. is that what those are. is my girl encroaching on my young son’s turf. because if she is, ENCROACH, MOMO, ENCROACH! FEEL FREE TO FUCKING IMPINGE, EVEN!! god, and I know I was bitching just a moment ago about these “lessons” becoming increasingly vague and intangible and motivational poster-y, but I read Momo and “predicting and acting efficiently”, and my thoughts immediately ran to Nighteye and Mirio’s fighting styles, and I was like “YESSSSSSSSS” because, I mean. YES, though
meanwhile Kacchan has learned...
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this fucking -- I swear -- YOU LEARNED WHAT YOUR FUCKING HERO NAME IS GOING TO BE YOU TROLLING PIECE OF SHIT. oh my god. Katsuki I swear to god I will take your internet privileges. NO SRIRACHA FOR A WEEK UNLESS YOU TELL ME WHAT IT IS
oh for fuck’s sakes
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don’t mind him he learned boom with five b’s and three oo’s what did you all do this week. and somehow Todoroki learned how to be even more fabulous
so All Might’s looking on in pride and giving Endeavor some mental props, and waiting for Deku to go do his thing too
sdfkj he’s thinking about the day he gave Deku THE HAIR and that “[it] feels like ancient history now.” DOESN’T IT THOUGH?
OH MY FEELS
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“you don’t look back at me anymore... and you don’t need to.” oh Aizawa’s dry eye has spread to me now huh. must be those January allergies. and that’s some nice bloop there kid. great jorb
someone tell All Might he’s not allowed to look on at Deku with this much fatherly love without giving me at least a week’s notice in advance
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sigh. now you’ve done it you two I’m going to become a big cat blob of feels right here and it’s all on you. you did this
oh my god a whole big panel of reactions from the other kids and I’m ( ˊᵕˋ )
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lol Kacchan can’t agree with anything even if it’s a compliment. and lmao, who the fuck was that who was all “TODOROKI FINALLY YOU’RE A FAST FUCKING HIMBO HUH!” like they really went and put that “finally” in there, like they were so fucking tired of Todoroki Shouto and his LANGUID FUCKING PACE all the fucking time, GOD, FINALLY SOME SPEED BOY WE WERE DYING OUT HERE
Mineta being happy for Deku also warms my heart, ngl. we’ve gone almost an entire chapter with Mineta not doing anything even remotely perverted, can it be, has Horikoshi finally chilled the fuck out. or did I just jinx it we shall see
also love how Deku is just reduced to an inkblot here and it still is him beyond any shadow of a doubt. and poor Sero, you are also being impinged on huh
lmao Mineta’s just socking Deku in the solar plexus out of comradery and Deku’s fucking vomiting on reflex and not even paying the slightest attention wtf
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I love this panel there I said it
so he’s going over and thanking Ochako for “that time” and says he’s using Blackwhip a lot better now. I assume he’s referring to when he first unlocked it and went hog wild and she was all “smh” and went and hugged him to put an end to that nonsense
oh, right!!!!
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I forgot about those!! looool Horikoshi’s 2020 resolution is to make everyone Spider-Man now huh. hey everyone guess what I LOVE THIS
oh my god this wholesomeness
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I fucking can’t?? yo I’m seriously living for this? I don’t get why some people think Deku inhibits Ochako’s character growth tbh. or that her story is becoming all about him. if it is, then it’s in the same way that Bakugou’s is. Deku keeps inspiring her to be better, ain’t nothing wrong with that. yes she has the crush, and she’s honest with herself and in tune with her emotions enough to be aware of it and to acknowledge it, but she refuses to be distracted by it. I actually really like that, because it shows that romantic feelings can actually exist and not be the central focus of a character’s story or their development. and I think the fear is that it somehow will become the focus, but so far I haven’t seen that happening, so it seems unwarranted to me
anyway
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shit’s cute
oh no Mineta’s doing something weird I fucking did jinx it I’m sorry guys. it’s a fucking fistbump dude relax
so All Might seems to be dismissing them now, and he’s saying something about how he reordered (?? rescheduled, maybe??) class so that Aizawa can watch later. that’s nice. he’ll need something to cheer him up, and if Acidman can’t do the trick I don’t know what can
and now we’re cutting back to the dorms!! dorm shenanigans yessssss
oh no shit wait
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these are not playful dorm shenanigans these are depressed Miczawa shenanigans to bring me down. nnnn
but Aizawa fucking knows something is up now, shit. that’s right son your babies are in danger
KLJKLGLKSH
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okay (1) HOW HOT IS AIZAWA THOUGH HOW DOES HE ALWAYS DO THIS
and (2) is “have a karaoke contest” code for “fuck shit up” or what. son of a bitch, having these two so personally invested in the Noumu arc now is such an unexpected and wonderful gift
MIRIO NO
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(ETA: but you all know Aizawa was about to say “I’d go and fuck shit up” though.)
I LOVE YOU BOTH BUT THEY WERE HAVING A SEXY ANGSTING MOMENT, MIRIO CAN YOU NOT READ THE ROOM!! DO YOU NOT SEE THEM BEING ALL ANGSTY AND DARKLY CONTEMPLATIVE!! YOU TWO OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW WHEN LOVERS ARE BONDING OVER THEIR ANGST WHICH ONLY THE TWO OF THEM UNDERSTAND! FUCKING GODDAMN
NO!!!!!
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[SLAMS HANDS ON TABLE] HORIKOSHI I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU LAY ONE FINGER ON HER PRECIOUS HEAD
NOOOO MY SWEET BABY GIRL
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oh my fuck that sweater is the cutest fucking thing and this girl has had no shortage of cute outfits let me tell you. BUT ANYWAY SHE’S SCARED AND CRYING NOOOO. holy shit her horn is fucking huge now I don’t feel comfortable with this at all, and Nejire is Best Mom for not giving a single fuck and holding and comforting her regardless of the risk, I love her so much
OH THANK GOD
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PALPABLE RELIEF. boys I’m sorry it was wrong of me to yell, you did the right thing interrupting their sexy brooding
BREAK ROOM AHHHHH THE SCOOBY SQUAD LIVES AGAINNNN
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it means you constantly amaze him!! you have so much potential he doesn’t even know what the limit might possibly be! don’t act like you don’t love it. or stop being so suspicious and trying to look for the hidden meaning and just accept the praise for what it is. you did good. now ask him if he’s heard any news about Best Jeanist :/
!!
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that’s right, he was researching and making faces a while back, are we finally gonna find out what all that was about??
DSLFKAJSLDKFH
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HE MADE A NOTEBOOK FOR HIM AHHHHHHHH HE KNOWS WHAT HE LIKES THIS IS AMAZING
DOES HIM GIVING HIM THE INFO IN NOTEBOOK FORM MEAN IT’S UP TO DEKU WHETHER OR NOT HE WANTS TO SHARE THIS INFO WITH KACCHAN. HMMM. OBVIOUSLY HE WILL, BUT THAT’S A REAL POWER MOVE THOUGH, DAMN
“PAST SUCCESSORS / QUIRKS” EVERYONE, THIS BOOK CONTAINS THE SECRETS OF THE SIXQUIRKS. AND THE PREVIOUS OFA AVATARS. THAT’S FINE I’M JUST GONNA. ...I’LL BE FINE. FOR TWO WEEKS. FUCK
shit. well I know it was coming, that’s another reason why I didn’t feel particularly rushed to read this chapter lol. I kinda wish I’d had the foresight to save the Korean scanlation though, just to compare. ah well it’s probably still lying around somewhere
and lol and here’s the bonus page, and this one I did see floating around tumblr haha
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I’m not sure how the three smartest kids in class are all present and yet not one of them had the foresight to consider that maybe, just maybe, this could be a bad idea. let’s let the kid with the combustible sweat handle the mochi I’m sure it’ll be -- [everyone immediately dies]. anyway so that’s some good friendly advice from Horikoshi there. happy new year friends!
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haec-est-fides · 4 years ago
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Filodox’s Trials of Apollo Reactions [Part I]
Welcome to part one of a reflective journey through Trials of Apollo ft. my original ebook annotations! I’ll be your host, 2020!filodox.
For this first episode, we’ll be going back to May 2016, the beginning of it all: The Hidden Oracle.
Annotations for this round are brought to you by 2016!filodox.
Is there anything we should know before we begin, 2016!me?
2016!filodox: I swore on the Styx never to read another Riordan book after he killed Octavian. And yet here we are.
... Alright then! Let’s get started.
But first, a more detailed overview on how this series will work: I will excerpt bits and pieces of the books based on what I highlighted / annotated on my first read. Beneath each quote, I will share what I wrote in the annotation. Below that, I will (occasionally) laugh at my past self, clarify the note, or say how my view has changed.
I encourage questions, comments, and concerns (of which there may be many), so go ahead and use that replies feature if you feel so inclined! However, these are just my opinions and (occasionally) emotional reactions, so no hate pls. <3 (Or, if you do send hate, pls make it funny.)
Now, diving right in with Riordan’s dedication!
To The Muse Calliope. This is long overdue. Please don’t hurt me.
2016!filodox: Hurt him. He didn’t even name the chapters.
As you can see, I had yet to experience Lester’s haiku and was already mad based on the table of contents alone. I went into this series very salty...
I inflicted a plague on the Greeks who besieged Troy.
2016!filodox: At least he did something right. Once.
I was just,,,extremely ready to die on Octavian’s hill. (Though I was a huge Troy / Aeneas stan before all this, just to be clear.)
Is anything sadder than the sound of a god hitting a pile of garbage bags?
2016!filodox: I actually find this particular god crashing into a dumpster quite amusing.
I also blamed Apollo for what happened to Octavian. I think that had a lot to do with how Apollo acted on Delos in Heroes of Olympus, basically disowning Octavian and whining about how some “creature” scammed him? That was bullshit. Apollo needed to own the fact that he blessed Octavian, but he just abandoned him and denied all the blame. TL;DR I had a grudge, okay?
My mind stewed in confusion, but one memory floated to the surface -- the voice of my father, Zeus: YOUR FAULT. YOUR PUNISHMENT.
2016!filodox: Wait, is this bc everyone blames Octavian and therefore Apollo? Bc lol but also no?
*cough* Octavian did nothing wrong 2k16 *cough*
Zeus will reconsider, I told myself. He’s just trying to scare me. Any moment, he will yank me back to Olympus and let me off with a warning.
“Yes...” My voice sounded hollow and desperate. “Yes, that’s it.”
2016!filodox: Apollo is a self centered frat boy, I forgot...but it is slightly...endearing? *narrows eyes*
Ah, how close I was to stanning Lester in the first chapter, when he was at his most “goddy”. You know, I actually made a rule for myself when I started reading Trials of Apollo that I would not under any circumstances stan Apollo. That was a naive goal, because it was never really a danger.
Regardless, Zeus had held me responsible for Octavian’s delusions of grandeur. Zeus seemed to consider egotism a trait the boy had inherited from me. Which is ridiculous. I am much too self-aware to be egotistical.
2016!filodox: I am going to Murder him.
*chef kiss* the hypocrisy ! the lack of self-awareness !
“I just...I assumed -- I hoped this would be taken care of by now.”
“You mean by demigods,” Percy said, “going on a big quest to reclaim the Oracle of Delphi?”
2016!filodox: That sounds like a decent quest, or you know, QUESTING FOR THE SIBYLLINE BOOKS
I’ve always said I can see the future but an inch to the left. Also, I don’t like Ella.
It warmed my heart that my children had the right priorities: their skills, their images, their views on YouTube. Say what you will about gods being absentee parents; our children inherit many of our finest personality traits.
2016!filodox: AND HE’S MAD ABOUT OCTAVIAN?!
I mean ?
Apollo, when Austin and Kayla show ambition: THEY GOT THAT FROM ME <3
Apollo, when Octavian (or Nero, or Caligula) shows ambition: srry i don’t know him ??
He had a weak jawline, an overlarge nose, and a beard that wrapped around his double chin like a helmet strap. His hair was curly and dark like mine, except not as fashionably tousled or luxuriant. His lips curled as if he smelled something unpleasant. Perhaps it was the burning seats of the bus.
2016!filodox: Nero ???
Not quite sure how to feel looking back at this moment. Call out post @ myself for instantly recognizing Nero, when afaik this scene was before we had any hints that Roman emperors were even a plot point? But here’s the thing: I don’t remember why I could recognize him so easily. I don’t remember where 2016!me obtained this ancient Rome knowledge. A mystery.
On another note entirely, did Nero really like,,,astral project into Apollo’s fever dream to address him directly? Because Rhea does. And sometimes Python does. But Nero? Can he do that?
The man laughed as flames licked at his purple sleeves. “You’re not sorry yet, but you will be. Find me the gates. Lead me to the Oracle. I’ll enjoy burning it down!”
2016!filodox: I too enjoy burning things down. # Nero confirmed
My only comment here is “oh you sweet summer child,,,”
Oh. Perhaps some of you are wondering how I felt seeing [Will] with a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend.
2016!filodox: No, actually. I wasn’t wondering. I was plotting how to kill you, them, and quite a few other people. Do you think I could trade you for Octavian?
Oh man, back at it again with the salt. XD
I could only remember my conversations with Octavian, the way he’d turned my head with his flattery and promises. That stupid boy...it was his fault I was here.
A voice whispered in the back of my mind. This time I thought it might be my conscience: Who was the stupid boy? It wasn’t Octavian.
2016!filodox: I can’t really...explain my emotions upon reading this. I’m still not quite okay, but this...it’s bittersweet in a way. I don’t know if this is a poor attempt at a proper closure, the author’s way of beating a dead horse, or just a way to make Apollo seem pitiable. Whatever it is... Octavian was important enough to remain in Apollo’s mortal memory. He somehow made promises to a god and had Apollo wrapped around his finger. And despite being so much like Apollo, the god blames him. Like everyone blames him. But Apollo also realizes, accepts on an infinitesimal scale, that “it wasn’t Octavian”. He wasn’t perfect, but neither is Apollo. Apollo is (at least) subconsciously admitting his own guilt in the whole affair.
...yeah. I will note that this bit isn’t meant to develop Octavian, but rather uses Octavian as a prop to support Apollo’s development? Which is why it still stings. Like thanks, I guess.
“Your judgement in the past has been...questionable. I wonder if you have chosen the right tools for this job. Have you learned from your past mistakes?”
2016!filodox: Nero has made plenty of mistakes to learn from
Love how I just assumed it was Nero back in chapter 10 and went with it, zero hesitation. Also love how I heard Python say Nero has made mistakes and went “oh absolutely”. In fact, here’s something funny in retrospect that will become more and more apparent: I did not like Nero in 2016. Or, at least, I thought I didn’t. There’s something really odd going on here that baffles me, looking back...
“A triumvirate is a ruling council of three,” I said. “At least, that’s what it meant in ancient Rome.”
“Which is interesting,” Rachel said, “because of this next shot.” She tapped her screen. The new photo zoomed in on the building’s penthouse terrace, where three shadowy figures stood talking together....
2016!filodox: Is it bad that I’m smirking? Because it’s getting interesting ~ *clear malicious intent*
Wow, edgy. Triumvirates are just a neat, Roman thing and I stanned.
“The last triumvirate I dealt with included Lepidus, Marc Antony, and my son, the original Octavian. A triumvirate is a very Roman concept...like patriotism, skullduggery, and assassination.”
2016!filodox: THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL EVERYONE. MODERN OCTAVIAN IS A VERY GOOD ANCIENT ROMAN. POLITICS, ESPECIALLY SHADY AF POLITICS AND POWERPLAYS, ARE QUINTESSENTIALLY ROMAN. Also, I’d like to note that it’s confirmed, in this universe’s canon, that Augustus was a son of Apollo.
Ohhhh, wait. I think I’d watched the HBO series Rome by 2016, which would at least partially explain my ancient Rome knowledge. (Amazing tv show btw!)
“He heard them talking in Latin.”
“Latin? Were they campers?”
Pete spread his hands. “I--I don’t think so. Paulie described them like they were adults. He said one of them was the leader. The other two addressed him as imperator.”
2016!filodox: !!!! (obligatory 💕)
I was such a simp for Latin in high school. And the Roman Empire. Still am, but hey.
“The Beast is planning some kind of attack on your camp. I don’t know what it is, but it’s going to be big.”
2016!filodox: Runs in the family I guess
The Octavian / Triumvirate parallels are everywhere... 👀
“The emperors made themselves gods. They had their own temples and altars. They encouraged the people to worship them.”
2016!filodox: # deify me
*smacking my past self with a stick* You stop that! Edgy child!
Anyway, a much better point here is like,,,the Imperial cult was huge in the ancient Roman world. Looking at Apollo’s explanation here, why did only the “worst” three emperors get to be immortal? Did famously “good” emperors like Augustus and Marcus Aurelius have the option of becoming minor gods, but they chose Elysium or something? Are there slightly less infamous emperors just hanging around anywhere as minor gods? A lot of Roman emperors live on in human memory is all I’m saying.
“Wait!” Will said as I reached the door. “Who is the Beast? Which emperor are we dealing with?”
“The worst of my descendants.” My fingers dug into the doorframe. “The Christians called him the Beast because he burned them alive. Our enemy is Emperor Nero.”
2016!filodox: I honestly can’t believe it took this long to reveal this? Was anyone surprised?
Nero’s reveal is rather late in the book compared to Commodus, Caligula, and even Tarquin iirc? But it makes sense, being the first book of the series. Also love how 16-year-old me was like “this reveal is silly because everyone, like me, recognizes Nero on sight” and didn’t question that assumption at all.
“Germani.” Instinctively, I moved in front of Meg. The elite imperial bodyguards had been cold-blooded death reapers in ancient Rome. I doubted they’d gotten any sweeter over the centuries.
2016!filodox: BITCH. See? This is why I love Rome. They knew what they were doing.
Ngl, as someone of Germanic heritage, I felt really represented by the Germani, which is hilarious on so many levels.
He tried to compensate for his ugliness with an expensive Italian suit of purple wool, his gray shirt open to display gold chains. His shoes were hand-tooled leather, not the sort of thing to wear while stomping around in an ant pile. Then again, Nero had always had expensive, impractical tastes.
2016!filodox: I don’t exactly like Nero, and actually think he was quite the shitty emperor, but I guess I mildly respect and “like” him on principle (in this book at least).
OH YOU SWEET SUMMER CHILD. I was so convinced that I didn’t actually like Nero, despite all of the lowkey evidence to the contrary? Who hurt you, past me? (Lmao, it was Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio.) My working theory is that I was too much of an Emperor Augustus stan at the time to admit liking Nero. It’s hysterical. Look at me equivocating like a champ.
I’d been so proud of my son, the original Octavian, later Caesar Augustus. After his death, his descendants became increasingly arrogant and unstable (which I blamed on their mortal DNA; they certainly didn’t get those qualities from me).
2016!filodox: I’m glad Apollo and I can agree on something. Augustus was amazing and those who came after him...significantly less so.
See! The propaganda really got to me, what can I say?
Nero clasped his hands as if in prayer. “Oh, my. It seems we’ve had a slight miscommunication. You see, Apollo, Meg brought you here, just as I asked her to. Well done, my sweet.”
2016!filodox: This was obvious but I still find it...gods, the only word I can think of is “delicious”
. . .
“The Beast killed my father. This is Nero. He’s -- he’s my stepfather.”
I could not fully grasp this before Nero spread his arms.
“That’s right, my darling,” he said. “And you’ve done a wonderful job. Come to Papa.”
2016!filodox: Okay, but we should have known this since it became apparent her weapons were Roman. Also, oof. Also also, WHY did Riordan feel the need to add that last line? Why?
ASDFGHJKL: I CAN’T
“After the fire, we’ll rebuild,” he said. “It will be glorious!”
2016!filodox: The amount of times I have used this very logic is worrying.
For (some) context, Firelord Ozai is my favorite character from AtLA. <3
The scene might have been funny except that the Germani were now back on their feet, five demigods and a geyser spirit were still tied to highly flammable posts, and Nero still had a box of matches.
2016!filodox: Oh, I find this plenty amusing!
The emperor stared at his empty hand. “Meg...?” His voice was as cold as an icicle.
2016!filodox: The various ways his tone / voice have been described throughout this conversation are just 💕
*looks at camera like I’m on The Office*
Seriously, though. Nero’s voice is like the central descriptive element of his character because he’s so manipulative. It’s really cool and a great use of detail.
[Meg] turned to Nero. “You told me never to lower myself to my enemies’ level.”
“No, indeed.” Nero’s tone had frayed like a weathered rope. “We are better. We are stronger. We will build a glorious new world. But these nonsense-spewing trees stand in our way, Meg. Like any invasive weeds, they must be burned. And the only way to do that is with a true conflagration -- flames stoked by blood.”
2016!filodox: Real 👏🏻 Gods 👏🏻 Require 👏🏻 Blood👏🏻
I was way too enthusiastic about this whole situation, wasn’t I?
Nero grinned. “Good-bye, Apollo. Only eleven more Olympians to go.”
2016!filodox: Wait, shit, WHAT
Having read Tower of Nero, this probably had something to do with Python interfering with the Fates, huh? But does that mean it’s more Python’s plan or Nero’s? If this was Nero’s plan (with his 12 kids literally replacing the Olympians) that’s,,,really fucking bold.
Then I heard the screaming from Camp Half-Blood.
2016!filodox: Music to my ears ~
I’m presenting every edgy detail of my annotations so I have a proper case file when I inevitably have to face the question “On a scale of one to ten, how relatable is Emperor Nero and why should you have realized it’s a ten sooner?”
In a flash of silver light, the camp’s magical barriers collapsed. The Colossus lurched forward and brought his foot down on the dining pavilion, smashing it to rubble like so many children’s blocks.
2016!filodox: Payback! Dear gods, I can’t stop smiling! I’m just like “YES!” I know this will all probably get fixed or whatever but I’M HAVING A MOMENT.
I’ve learned to appreciate the small wins. <3
Percy grabbed one of the crown’s sunray spikes. He sliced it off at the base, then jabbed it into the Colossus’ forehead.
2016!filodox: As much as Nero is FAR from my favorite, I really don’t like defacing ancient (or replicas of ancient) statues and art...
This is where I just start laughing at myself tbh. I was so insistent on not liking Nero. Like, I sound like I’m in denial. Peak equivocation. What happened to that heart emoji a few chapters back? Why did I suddenly make it about *checks notes* ancient art? Updated translation: nooo don’t ruin the Colossus Neronis it’s so sexy aha
Just as the [arrow] reached its apex and was about to fall back to earth, a gust of wind caught it...perhaps Zephyros looking kindly on my pitiful attempt. The arrow sailed into the Colossus’ ear canal and rattled in his head with a clink, clink, clink like a pachinko machine.
2016!filodox: HOW MANY EX MACHINAS IS THIS ?! The dryads, the arrow, Percy, the enchantment, and THIS ?
One of my criticisms of Trials of Apollo in general is just that the stakes are so much higher and Riordan usually solves that problem by having his heroes win on long odds. The chances of them succeeding at like,,,anything they attempt are astronomical, but of course they manage. It’s not surprising but it does get a little tiring.
“Yo, Nico,” Leo called, “please tell me that’s it for the physical abuse.”
“For now.” Nico smiled. “We’re still trying to get in touch with the West Coast. You’ll have a few dozen people out there who will definitely want to hit you.”
2016!filodox: Oh I’d love to hit him. With the flaming, Imperial gold payload of an onager. Preferably WITHOUT the Pontifex Maximus attached to it -- unless of course you mean the false pontifex, Jason Grace.
Leo was the salt in the wound for this one, ngl. He rekindled my undying ire over Octavian’s death. As I said at the beginning of this, I was extremely ready to die on Octavian’s hill after Heroes of Olympus. That sentiment sticks around for a while...
And we can call that a wrap!
Though it may seem like it, my annotations are not, in fact, a compilation of Nero’s greatest hits. There are a lot of scenes of his that I love (naturally) but I didn’t have anything to say about them when I first read the series. Maybe I’ll share those another time.
In any case, I hope you got something out of this ridiculously long post! Until next time! <3
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notwhoiwanttobeyet · 4 years ago
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imagine spending all your time and energy fantasising and dreaming about going back to school after summer break and discovering their is a new girl ™️ in your class who thinks you look lonely because you’re the quiet kid ™️ and so she sits down next to you and you introduce her to your friends who are all talkative so you know they’ll keep her company and then she’s sitting next to you in maths class and she mutters “oh gosh darn it,” and you’re like “you good?” and she makes EYE CONTACT AHWFHOAWF like she LOOKS AT YOU AHIWFBWAB and then you really, truly realise oh shit she’s absolutely beautiful and i am most certainly going to fall in love with her but lets repress all emotions like always :) and so she’s like “i just can’t seem to figure out how to do question 17 of the practise exercises!” you swivel in your chair to face her and you’re like “well let me help you,” because you think are eternally screaming and are trying to come off as some form of cool but you have crippling anxiety- you hope that your maths skills can impress her because surely, that’s something that would definitely impress this ✨QUEEN✨ of a girl.  anyway being the A+ maths student you are, all those extension classes paid of because at this moment, you just helped this stunning girl. blah blah blah she’s like “aw thanks,” and you smile and are like “anytime,” because you’re not smooth. then you put on your todoroki kinnie playlist and repress all emotion. she sits with you and your friends at lunch break - they all seem to be getting along well surprisingly - but you know it’s only temporary and she’ll soon find out we’re weird and have  a secret society that’s like a frat boys but feminists and then she’ll leave and join the nice girls ™️ because that’s always what happens. the next day she sits opposite you which is shocking but because you’re bad with ✨feelings ™️✨ you know she’s really pretty and you’re gonna fall in love with her but are in denial and are a confused mess. anyway, you like talking to her which is weird cause you’re not much of a talker. she continued to sit with you and your friends the next day. and the day after. for the rest of the week. and the next. and then you realise this could quite frankly be permanent. now you’re thinking it might be okay to get attached. rather than view her as a straight girl you like but will ignore her existence but she’s straight and you’d never have a chance with her (basically what happened with sophie who this isn’t about), you begin to open up to her as a friend would. she now sees you’re not the quiet kid and you’re actually maybe on crack but also serious and witty at the same time and stress about everything but are also the comedian of the group who makes everyone’s day’s a little better but is also ignored completely. she realises you are for sure a very complicated person with too many layers to count. and she doesn’t plan on unravelling them. yet. she’s invited to your next group picnic where the whole gang’s together. she sees how you walk in front of the group on your own on the grass to the side of the footpath, like you’re the quiet kid nobody notices but also as though you’re the alpha male ™️ who is leading the way. everyone else is chatting and laughing and seem to be paired up. “is she- like-,” the new girl says to two of your friends in particular that i’m gonna keep anonymous (e and n). “she’s- we never know,” one girl in particular that i’m gonna keep anonymous (e) responds, shrugging. they yell your name and you turn around, screaming a “YEAHHHH??” with a smile on your face. fascinating, new girl thinks. you continue to make sure everyone is paying attention when crossing roads and give everyone the all clear at every crossing. you arrive at your group’s regular 🐞picnic destination🐞 you welcome new girl, it being her first time at an offical group gathering. she feels valid, but she just smiles and says thank you in reply. you then seperate the group in half to plan the two supermarket trips so that half the group can go buy candy and drinks and chips and food we don’t need while the other half looks after phones and bags, etc. you ask who wants to go on the first trip with you and new girl says she will. you and your friends venture to the store. you enter the candy isle and once everyone’s busy choosing, you say you’re off to the fruit section if anyone wants to come. new girl looks to the others - n and c - mid conversation and says she’ll go with you so you won’t be alone. you two make it to the fruit section and spend the walk over laughing at yourself, explaining that you just like fruit and don’t know why everyone always laughs at you for being healthy 🤷‍♀️you then add in a sly i like your outfit, btw which makes her smile., but it’s true. it’s floral and she looks extremely pretty. she hesitates and then responds with “thanks,” and gives you a look like she’s asking if it’s a i like your style kind of scenario. you look away, pretending you don’t see it but you do and say “where do you think the others will be?” and bring up the story about how e ate a full box of ice cream sandwiches at the last picnic. fast forward, you’re all bonding having a good time at the picnic. you decide to take some group photos as always as a momentum. you take a whole bunch off photos of your friends with snapchat filters and L prompts for you, her and new girl to take a selfie, which you do. you tell everyone you’ll add the photos to the group story. then you remember new girl’s not in the story and ask if she has snapchat. she says yes and you scan her snapcode and it’s a mega score. you add her to the group chat and the story and take a photo of her when she’s not looking and send it to her. when she sees it she runs over saying “stop ittttt!” but in a cute kind of way. anyway fast forward you grow closer and you begin to trust her but your anxiety is telling you not to but you tell yourself to enjoy this while you have it. few months later you guys text like every day and you’re comfortable around her. and she’s part of the group and everything’s amazing and you can’t believe this is real. you did a group project together so things are clearly good if you’re trusting someone to keep your average up. one day you’re in class doing independent work. you’re listening to spotify and an add comes up for a new movie that’s coming out and you say something like “ohmygod i keep getting this one ad,” and new girl looks over and is like “omg yeah that movie, it looks good tho, have you seen the full trailer?” and you start bonding over this movie and you throw in the fact that you won’t end up seeing it most likely because  you never go to the cinemas with anyone and then she throws in a me too. wait we should go together! and you’re like “yes omg,,,” and then you discuss how you’ll have to plan out all the details or you’ll have an anxiety attack and won’t end up going, which she says is totally fine. later that week you’re planning out the details and once you both report back with the all clear from your parents she promptly says it’s a date. and you freeze up in full gay panic because you’ve secretly been falling in love but you’ve been repressing the feelings because you just adore her company and you’re happy if friends is all you’d ever be. WIAT THE FUCK THIS SONG CAME ON AND IT SOUNDS TOO MUCH LIKE THIS FANTASY AHEWFHAWHIF. anyway, you hesitate cause you’re *gay panicking* and know she’s just joking, then you respond with lol you’re trolling and when she doesn’t respond you type her name in ALL CAPS twice and say YOU CAN’T- NO COME BACK WAIT- you’re so confused but your heart is pounding with excitement, like maybe, she feels the same. there’s like this sliver of hope that’s masking your brain, even if you know it won’t be true. you face time her. she picks up, looking like she’s dying eternally. she laughs as you scream “Y/N YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?” in like a friendly manner of course. and she laughs so much you’re like “ThiS iSn’T fUnNy!!” which makes her laugh more. you’re pretty sure she’s blushing as she covers her face with her hand. “you’re trolling, right?” silence. “do you want me to be?” you freeze. how the FUcK- i- howrespondtothat. you cover your face with your hand, breathe as she laughs and you say “are. you. trolling. please i’m going to die from heart failure, my brain’s about to explode!” when you get no response you smile and say, “it can be whatever you want it to be.” she smiles and blushes more, instinctively covering her face with her hands. “so it’s a date then?” she says. she’s still covering her face and you can see her shaking. you sigh, and then smile. “yes, it’s a date.” “cool.” “cool.” anyway i’ve already fantasised about the actual date and i’m getting too lazy to type the aftermath but fast forwards like a month later and you’re dating and you feel like you’re the happiest you’ll ever be and you want this to last forever. anyway this fantasy is your only source of serotonin and when you go back to school and this doesn’t happen, well, i don’t know, might as well die.
but yeah, who would do that. 
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justanotherzosofangirl · 6 years ago
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Everlong—Jimmy Page Smut
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Thanks for 600 followers guys! Here is my gift for you. Btw the next part of Front Page is almost done, should be up later this week!
Author’s Note: Okay time to come clean: I’ve officially become a whore for Jimmy Page’s stomach. I blame that damn photo of him with John Stamos; the photo would be even hotter if it were only Jimmy, but beggars can’t be choosers!
This picture has kept me up these past few nights, So much so that I have to share this recurring dream I’ve had.
And the title is inspired by Everlong by the Foo Fighters, seemed appropriate! Plus I swear I heard it in my dreams!
Enjoy! As always, feedback is encouraged!
Summary: If you’re stressed
May I suggest
Sex with Jim is best
You may soon be obsessed
You threw open the door to your apartment—flat, you thought to yourself (been in England six months and you still haven’t mastered British slang)—and kicked your heels off. It had been a long, hectic day at the publishing company you worked at and you just wanted to curl up with your husband and go to sleep.
That was the plan, until you dragged yourself into your bedroom and found Jimmy sprawled out on the king-sized mattress, sleeping soundly...and looking absolutely beautiful.
His long, ebony hair was framed around his perfect face, his usually intense features softened by a blissful slumber. Even from your spot in the doorway you could hear his gentle breathing patterns, his chest rising up and down rhythmically.
Your eyes couldn’t be stolen from the sight of him; his blue Hawaiian shirt was completely unbuttoned, exposing his chest hair and stomach. You’d never said it aloud for you knew he was quite sensitive about it, but you loved Jimmy’s stomach. You’d spent many a lazy day lying down together, your head resting on his belly while he’d run his long and limber fingers through your hair.
There just wasn’t a flaw in Jimmy Page; you’d been with him long enough to confirm that. Regardless of how he saw himself, he was perfect to you, and that was all that mattered.
That, and possibly the two of you getting a little intimate after your shower.
—————————————————————
You emerged from the bathroom in a plush terra-cotta robe, smelling of lavender and vanilla (two of your husband’s favorite scents; you liked them too because they helped you relax). Even though you knew love making would only serve to make you even more sweaty than you were before your shower, you wanted to feel your absolute best when you were around him.
And now here you were, clean, relaxed, and horny. You need only to fall into bed with your love to gain the fourth emotion you craved: satisfied.
You slowly tiptoed your way over to Jimmy, carefully crawling up next to him and kneeling in the corner of the mattress next to his head. Licking your lips, you closed your eyes and delicately lowered your head down to his, cusping his angelic face in your palms.
You placed a soft, warm kiss on his full pink lips, which had a sleeping beauty effect. His eyelids fluttered open, revealing his hypnotic green eyes.
“Y/N,” Jimmy whispered in a sleepy tone. He leaned up and wrapped you in a warm embrace. “You’re home late. Everything all right?”
You nuzzled your head in the crook of his neck, breathing in the bewitching scent of his hair. He smelled faintly of rainy roses; clearly he’d used the new shampoo you bought him, and clearly you were smitten with it.
“Just a long day,” you murmured between planting love welts on his neck. “I’m just happy to be home, with you. How was your day?”
Jimmy’s rough-yet-gentle fingers traces circles on your back, his other hand tilting your chin up to kiss your nose.
“Productive,” he answered with a slight chuckle. “Eric and Jeff and I had a run-through of our set list for the ARMS concert next week, went extremely well.” His face became a little more serious as he looked downwards for a moment. “It was just like old times.”
You took Jimmy’s hand that had held your chin up and placed it in yours, giving it a gentle squeeze. Even though it had been three years since Led Zeppelin had disbanded, and even though he and Robert were still performing together on occasion, and even though he still got that twinkle in his eyes when he played...things just weren’t the same. Jimmy would always insist that he was fine, but you knew him better than that. He was never one to wear his heart on his sleeve; he coped with sadness by strumming his guitar...and speaking with you.
“You know, I don’t doubt for a second that you’ll ever stop what you’re doing, babe,” you looked him in the eye as you reassured him wholeheartedly. “For every bump your road has taken, you keep going forward, and I love that about you.”
Jimmy smiled and shook his head. “And that’s what I love about you, you remind me there’s still a reason to play.”
He pressed his lips to yours in a kiss that quickly escalated from gentle to passionate as your hands reached for his thick, dark mane. You kneaded your fingers through his curls, eliciting groan from deep within his chest.
“Now, if you don’t mind,” he panted between kisses. “I’d like to play with you.”
You were already aiming to rip his shirt off before he finished delivering his invitation. “Yes,” you whispered hotly into his ear. “I wanna play too.”
His shirt was off by this point, and he was deftly undoing the knot round your bathrobe. Once the robe was to the floor, Jimmy brought you closer to him, your head nuzzled in his chest and your legs wrapped around his waist.
Your eyes were closed as he peppered your cheek with kisses, moving down to your neck, sucking a deep love welt right above your collarbone.
You gripped onto his shoulders as he continued to mark you up; the desire that you’d suppressed all day at the office was gradually increasing with each moment.
“Mmm,” you sighed as you ground your hips on his thigh. Your movements were slow and fluid; you could tell Jimmy was getting more and more hot and bothered each time you moved closer to his ever growing erection.
“You needed this,” Jimmy breathed as he placed one of his hands on your breasts, his other hand propping up your back for support while you kept riding his leg. “Didn’t you?”
“M-more than you know, honey,” you sighed as you brought your hands down from his shoulders to his lower stomach, pausing for a second to enjoy how soft he felt. You didn’t squeeze him, just deftly brushed your hand across the smooth surface of his skin before you moved your palm to the rim of his white jeans.
Your eyes were locked on each other as you continued to pleasure the other one’s bodies, him massaging your now-fully hard breast and you palming his hard cock underneath the fabric of his boxers—pants-- and pants which they called trousers here in your new home.
“Ah, Y/N, I needed this too,” Your husband said in a husky voice as he pressed his forehead to yours.
You kissed the tip of his nose in response.
“I know baby. I’m here. We’re gonna relax together.”
You continued to move your hand up and down his bulge at an agonizingly slow pace. It was erotically ironic: his manhood was aching with tension but his face was melted in pleasure.
Jimmy was moaning for you at this point and, feeling mischievous, you placed the hand that wasn’t feeling him up on his right shoulder and lightly shoved him back so his head hit the down pillows with a soft thud.
“Love, what are you—“
“Jimmy, let me take care of you, please?”
He looked at you with wide eyes at first and then let out a chuckle. He had such an angelic laugh, so warm and childlike.
“Permission granted.” He smiled. You knew he preferred being in charge, but you just couldn’t help yourself. Your sexual tension was all but boiling over now.
You smirked at him and took your hand off his cock, never once breaking eye contact.
Slowly, very slowly, you brought your head to his and planted a soft, innocent kiss on his now full lips. Your hands massaged his tense shoulders as you worked your lips down his body, sucking a love welt near his Adams Apple then nuzzling your nose into his patch of chest hair. His hands caressed your back as you continued to worship him, relishing your loving moves.
“You’re beautiful, my dear. Whatever did I do to deserve you?” Jimmy murmured in a trancelike tone.
“Mmmmmm…” You hummed against his chest in reply. You kissed the space just right above his stomach area, mustering all the willpower you could to contain your joy at arriving at the favorite part of his body.
Tracing your fingers down his arms and bringing his hands in yours so your fingers were intertwined, you placed kiss after kiss on his soft, heavenly belly. You made sure not to spend too much time on this area though; you knew Jimmy was waiting for you.
As you moved downwards towards the edge of his pants, you placed one final smooch on his happy trail and brought your hands to the sides of his hips.
“Take me, now,” he ordered.
“Y-yes, sir,” you replied as you hooked your fingers against the sides of his trousers and pants, moving them lower, lower, lower until he was free, cock fully erect.
You wasted no time positioning yourself between Jimmy’s legs, your lips kissing his tip and placing one hand on the length.
“Ah, woman, what are doing to me?” He cried as your skillful mouth moved up and down his length. You felt his hand come to prop your chin up slightly so your eyes were on him.
“Look at me,” he said. “Look at me while you please me.”
“Mhm,” You grunted. This was typical of him but you enjoyed it. As much as you wanted to treat him he insisted it be the other way around.
You continued to suck him off, your pace increasing as his hips gradually lifted upwards so his cock was now hitting the very roof of your mouth.
“Ah!”
Your mouth suddenly filled up with his hot, white seed. You took it all in, refusing to let any drop go to waste.
You carefully separated your lips from his cock, the two of you panting in unison and looking at each other reverently. You crawled your way back up to him, his arms enveloping you in a loving embrace.
“My giving angel,” he sighed with a kiss to your cheek. “Always treating me. Now I must treat you.”
You squealed in delight as Jimmy flipped you over so he was on top of you, lying on your back and resting your head on the gossamer pillows. You knew what was coming.
Jimmy moved to the foot of the bed, looking at you with an expression of the utmost desire on his face. He got on his knees so he was eye level with your dripping center.
“I’ll take good care of you, my love,” he promised as he climbed into position so that. “How can I not, when you clearly desire me?”
He chuckled at this, making you pout slightly with want. “Jimmy, I—“
Whatever you were about to say was abruptly cut short as Jimmy worked his magic. His hands were securely clamped on your knees; you felt his soft, full lips planting warm kisses on the inside of your thighs, causing a moan of absolute pleasure to fall from your mouth.
He looked up at you with those hypnotic green emeralds, a mischievous smile plastered on his face. You smiled back at him with needy eyes; he knew what he was doing to you. It may have been teasing, but you were slowly unwinding and succumbing to his power.
You were relaxing.
Jimmy inched himself further onto the bed, his hands moving up to your narrow waist now as you lowered your legs on his shoulders. Kissing the spot just above your sex, Jimmy lowered his lips to your hot center and dipped his sinful tongue inside your core.
Gripping the sheets tight in your hands, your breathing became heavier and heavier with each agonizing lick of your walls.
“J-Jimmy, don’t stop,” you moaned. The more his tongue roamed around your clit, the more you felt the all-too familiar sensation that you never tired of.
“Ahhhh,” Jimmy groaned in ecstasy. He was devouring you until the very last drop, taking his time to treasure your sweet taste. He, too, was becoming undone—by your nectar and your voice.
Yet still not as undone as you were becoming. You could feel your orgasm bubbling to the surface, but you held on if only to enjoy the sensation a little longer.
“H-Honey, I—Aaah!” With a screaming bubble of curse words and your husband’s name, you unleashed your full glory on him, and he gladly lapped up the last of your honey.
You were panting heavily when you felt Jimmy’s lips pressing on your stomach, slowly making his way up to your face. He smiled adoringly at you, making your heart melt.
Planting a kiss on your forehead, Jimmy embraced you in a protective hug, ensuring the two of you were both comfortable.
“I dunno what I’d do without you, Y/N,” Jimmy whispered into his neck. “You are, without a doubt, the best thing that could’ve happened to me.”
You smiled and nibbled his ear. “Likewise,” you replied, inhaling his heavenly scent once more. “You complete me, babe, it’s true.”
Jimmy looked at you and smirked. “Now let’s complete each other then, mhmm?”
Before you had a chance to respond, you gasped sharply when you felt his aching manhood gently nestle inside you, your hands instinctively reaching to his shoulders for support.
God, he felt good.
Jimmy smiled down at you with the look of desire; he was reducing you to a puddle and he knew it.
His hips moved up and down in a steady pace that was so rhythmic you could have sworn he was just playing you a song like it was no big deal.
You were lost in a sea of ecstasy as Jimmy’s thrusts gradually increased in speed.
“Christ, Y/N,” Jimmy grunted as you gripped his back tighter with each movement. “Beautiful.”
You could only scream in reply as he continued to milk you of all your worth, your eyes never breaking contact with each other. Your goal of satisfaction was nearly achieved as you felt yourself reaching the precipice.
His palms were grasping at your hips, you could feel his nails digging into your flesh. This sharp little pain was eclipsed by the much greater sensation of Jimmy moving himself in and out of you more and more quickly. The only sounds were your cries and his grunts, and the inevitable skin-on-skin slapping as your bodies became one. His lower stomach pressing to yours with each heavy thrust into you as deeply as you could take him.
Tears were streaming down your face at this point; he brought his lips to your cheeks to kiss you.
“You’re...you’re amazing…” you said between breaths. “I’m gonna cum, Jimmy.”
“Let go, my angel, let it go.”
With a final, nearly wall-shattering yell of your husband’s name, your orgasm overtook you, feeling the weight of the world lift from your shoulders and the sensation drown your entire body in pleasure.
Jimmy followed suit shortly thereafter, his voice hoarse with pleasure as he screamed your name back to you. You both panted a bit as you continued to gaze into each other’s eyes, soon erupting into a fit of lighthearted giggles as he pulled out and rested his head between your breasts.
“Well, my pet, are you relaxed now?” He looked up at you and planted a kiss near your heart, which was pounding madly.
You smirked as you stroked his curls. “More than ever. Another thing I love about you: you’re so therapeutic.”
Jimmy chuckled lightly at that and came up for a kiss. “I could compose a song about the things I love about you, darling.”
You sighed as he settled back into your breasts.
“I’d love that, Jimmy, but you need to sleep. We’ve got all day tomorrow to keep...playing for each other.”
You grinned mischievously at one another and snuggled up for the night, thankful tomorrow was Saturday...and how soft Jimmy’s stomach felt against yours.
Life was good.
———————————————————————
Taglist: @sailawaysweetsasster @ritacaroline @honeydewgroupie @basementmermaid @tremble-and-shake @rocknrollababes @the-honeydripper @girlofthemoon75
And thanks to @ledoftherings as always for being an amazing editor and an incredible friend!
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the-quiet-winds · 6 years ago
Text
Shake it till You See it
so this one was an idea i had that @ichlugebulletsandcornnuts and i wrote together and, to be quite honest, it is hands down one of my favorite ones we’ve ever done (not including the ward au because that is our damn CHILD but you understand (which btw the first part of the next installment should be up tomorrow))
this one is pretty soft overall, but there are some moments of self-deprecation. otherwise, we should be pretty good.
being on tour had given the queens the opportunity to travel all over europe, and the producers told them that in the future they were planning on taking the tour global. right now, the queens were in Spain, and aragon had delighted in the opportunity to show her fellow queens around. on this particular day, however, both jane and parr had decided to stay at home while the others went to a nearby beach; parr immediately retires to the tiny room she’d commandeered as an office in their rented accommodation, while jane decides to get some cleaning done. the other queens, as lovely as they were, did not seem to have ‘keeping tidy’ mastered in their list of skills. it was a tie between boleyn and katherine as to who was the messiest with their belongings, and so jane decides to tackle katherine’s room first. she starts by sorting the large pile of clean laundry sitting on the desk that katherine had never got around to putting away. she starts placing them in the correct drawers, but upon opening katherine’s sock drawer she’s faced with a notebook. the cover is plain pink and jane picks it up, frowning slightly. she was going to put it back, but then a photo falls out of the notebook and drifts to the floor.
jane picks it up and a wave of nostalgia washes over her.
the picture is of jane and parr from when they were in finland, touring helsinki. parr had taken the picture, jane remembers with a fond smile. the two of them had been sitting at a table outside a tiny cafe, eating finger sandwiches and drinking iced tea (a horrifying concept to jane, but it wasn’t absolutely horrible). the moment captured in the picture was when jane let out one of her trademarked ‘mum puns’, as they were called, causing katherine to uproariously laugh and jane to grin quite goofily at katherine’s reaction.
jane smiles down at the photograph for a moment or two. she opens the notebook, intending to just tuck the photograph in the pages, but the page it falls open on catches her eye.
there was a photograph of her and katherine, both fast asleep at an airport. katherine’s legs were tucked under her and her head was resting on jane’s shoulder. next to the photo were some sparkly silver star stickers, placed seemingly randomly across the page, and underneath were the words “Glasgow Airport, 23rd December” written in pink glitter pen. in smaller letter underneath it reads “me and jane talked about the brönte sisters - she loves them (note to self: read bronte sisters?)”
a rush of affection runs through jane’s system at the note. she’s suddenly struck with a memory of seeing katherine toting around one or two brönte books not too long after.
the opposing page is all written in fine green ink:
“it’s christmas! jane loved the CDs, she says she’s going to listen to them all the time. she got me this gorgeous jewelry box from stockholm and i think she wants me to put a picture in the lid. i just don’t know which one to choose!”
a soft smile grows on jane’s lips; she remembers vividly katherine running into her room a week and a half after christmas to proudly display the box, complete with a photo of the two of them at their London press night. both of them had been shocked at the positive response and had giddy smiles on their faces, wearing the gorgeous dresses they’d bought specifically for that occasion. from what she’d written, it seemed as if katherine had agonised over the choice for that full amount of time and the thought was sweetly endearing to jane.
she doesn’t even realise she’s turning the page until it’s already happened, eyes already skimming the next passage.
“18th January - we arrived in norway yesterday and the first show was a blast! lots of positive reception.
last night i had a stupid nightmare. the usual. i don’t really know how, but when i woke up, jane was there. she did that thing with my hair that calms me down.”
there are some water droplets on the page, presumably tears to jane.
“i don’t know what i did without her, to be honest.”
jane stares down at the page, heart aching for katherine. “oh, sweetheart,” she murmurs, even though there’s nobody around to hear her. she looks over at the opposite page, where katherine had stuck a ticket to Oslo Aquarium at the top.
“19th January - we went to the aquarium! just me and jane. i think she wanted to make me feel better after last night. when we were in the cafe jane went to pay for everything and a woman asked me where ‘my mum’ got her coat from!!” the word ‘mum’ was underlined three times and jane stares at it, trying to work out if it was meant to be positive or negative.
jane knows she shouldn’t keep reading. these were katherine’s private thoughts, obviously not meant to be read by anyone else.
but jane’s curiosity was killing her.
she flips the page.
“katherine’s 2am thought #46” is written across the top. “jane really really REALLY loves when her mum puns”
this brings a smile out of jane and she gives a small laugh. the journal continues on like this, memories and tickets and photographs littered throughout. one page features a small sketch of a person; it was difficult to tell who it was supposed to be due to the fact it was unfinished and had a scribble through it, with “WHY CANT I DRAW” written in biro underneath. jane frowns. she personally thought the drawing was quite good. the next page was even worse, however.
katherine had just written the word “stupid” over and over again, in shaky handwriting and with tear stains littering the page.
jane’s heart twists and her jaw falls open in a small gasp. it seems so logical, jane realizes, that katherine would have some (...a lot, really) of self-esteem issues. jane hates knowing that she’s suffered in such a way and somewhere, deep down, promises that, if she can help it, katherine will never feel so low about herself again.
little does she expect, when she turns the page, to read a similar sentiment echoed in katherine’s words.
“25th January - we went on a walk this morning. there was a woman with a little boy, she was helping him learn to ride a bike. jane tries to hide it but i know it got to her, seeing that. i wanna try and make her feel better. i don’t know how, but i’m gonna try. she deserves to be happy.”
tears well in jane’s eyes and the little statement. she then very clearly remembers what must have been that evening when katherine came into jane’s room, blanket around her shoulders and ‘wuthering heights’ clenched in her hand, shyly asking if they could read together. it was a tender moment, one which ended in katherine asleep practically in jane’s lap at that point. it had, in fact, made jane incredibly happy to share something she loves with someone she loves
jane is flipping through a few more pages when suddenly there’s a clatter of the front door being thrown open and a gaggle of overexcited voices float down the corridor. jane hurriedly goes to shove the journal back into the drawer, but a charm on her bracelet catches on a page and as she yanks her arm away the page rips.
she doesn’t even realize the page ripped and simply closes the drawer and hurried back to where she was folding the laundry.
katherine walks in a moment later, hair slicked back from the water, a ‘six!’ tank top and gym shorts over her bathing suit.
“oh, hey jane,” she says surprised, but not displeased at having this particular guest in her room. “whatcha up to?”
katherine’s eyes fall on the single discarded page and picks it up. her eyes widen. it’s the page from her journal where she had simply written ‘stupid’ over and over. she looks at jane with wide eyes. “what were you doing?” she asks fearfully.
jane freezes, eyes widening as she spots the page in katherine’s hand. “I-” she starts. “I was just doing some tidying, love.”
“how did this end up on the floor?” katherine asks, voice with a thin veneer of calm over the clear panic. jane doesn’t answer for a moment. she doesn’t want to tell the truth, doesn’t want to admit that she violated katherine’s privacy by reading her personal thoughts, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out how the paper ended up outside of the journal, and jane knows that katherine already knows the answer to her question.
jane deflates, shoulders sagging. “i’m sorry, love,” she says quietly, not meeting katherine’s shocked and probably hurried face. “i didn’t mean to, i just opened the drawer and saw the book. then something fell out so i went to pick it up and i was stuck. please forgive me, kat.” jane looks down, ashamed, waiting for katherine’s response.“nobody was meant to see that,” katherine says quietly. she doesn’t know how to react; she mostly just feels embarrassment. her cheeks flush as she thinks of jane reading the parts where katherine is thrilled to be mistaken for jane’s daughter, or the stupid childish stickers she’d put on some pages, or her self-pitying rambles. she’d be surprised if jane could see her as anything except a stupid little girl after reading that, and she looks down to avoid eye contact.
jane notices katherine’s cheeks and ears burn bright red. katherine isn’t mad, she’s embarrassed. about what, though? what was she not meant to see?
she suddenly remembers seeing ‘mum’ underlined three times on the aquarium page.
“i’d be honored if someone thought you were my daughter,” she says quietly and suddenly.
katherine looks up, eyes wide and almost disbelieving. “r-really?” she asks, voice practically reaching a squeak. jane nods, not reaching out to her but just subtly opening her arms, in case katherine wanted a hug. just as she predicted, katherine lets out a tiny, slightly embarrassed noise of happiness and darts into her arms. her hair and clothes are still damp from the water but jane doesn’t mind.
“i still shouldn’t have looked at your journal, though, kat,” jane says as she hugs katherine. “and for that i really am sorry, I promise you it won’t happen again.”
“it’s okay,” katherine squeaks. a thought strikes her and she pulls away. jane panics, hoping that katherine didn’t have a sudden change of heart. katherine digs the book out and flips wildly on it, looking for a certain page. she blushes heavily as she shyly hands the book to jane.
“this is like the only good drawing in here,” she says, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
the sketch is in dark pencil, a drawing of her and jane together on the couch. katherine looks to be curled up, head on jane’s lap, the other woman’s hands gently resting in her hair.
“kat, this is brilliant,” jane says softly, eyes transfixed on the drawing. katherine fidgets slightly.
“you really think so?”
“i do,” jane smiles. katherine looks uncertain for a moment.
“would you like it?” she blushes again. “the drawing, i mean. you can have it, if you want.” she shrugs, as if nonchalant, but her cheeks pink and ruin the effect.
“i’d love it, sweetheart.”
jane, remembering what else she’d seen in the journal, sets it down and katherine’s heart sinks. it only gets worse when jane takes her hands and tugs her to the bed, where they sit down next to each other. jane turns to face kat before speaking.
“about what else i saw in there,” she starts and katherine cringes, knowing exactly what she saw and what was about to come.
she didn’t expect jane’s hands to leave hers and gently come to cup her cheeks, tenderly bringing her face up so they were eye to eye.
“kat, love,” jane says, “i know that you have a lot of...,” she searches for the right words, “self-esteem issues, perhaps.” katherine flinches slightly, so jane strokes a thumb lightly on her cheek. “i just want you to know that you can talk to me about anything, and i’ll never judge or think anything less of you.”
katherine looks down, and then back up at jane, eyes wide and uncertain. jane does her best to pour all the love she has into her reassuring smile, and katherine sends her a weak one of her own.
“thank you,” she says quietly. jane tucks a strand of hair behind katherine’s ear.
“it’s no trouble, love. i’m here for you, always.”
katherine’s eyes well with tears again, and jane hopes they’re tears of relief.
sure enough katherine’s resolve crumbles as she falls into jane’s arms, mumbling words of thanks and love into the crook of jane’s neck.
jane gently strokes her hair. “always, love. always.”
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fanfics4all · 6 years ago
Text
To Love Is To Lose
Request: Yes / No Hello! Can I please request #75 (“ You’re one hell of a girl. ”) with Oliver queen or Barry Allen where the reader is also a vigilante and Oliver/Barry slowly fall for her when they end up doing a few missions together? Btw, I love your writing, it’s always so good ❤️❤️❤️ Anon
Request are closed <3 Have a nice day/night
Barry Allen x  Fem!Reader
Oliver Queen x Fem!Reader
Word count:  3695
Warnings: Death, gang
Y/N: Your Name
A/N:  I based the Reader on the DC vigilante Shado (I know she was in Arrow but in this she was never in the show!) But the backstory and everything is from Shado and I just changed it a little bit. I wanted to use an already existing vigilante because I’m a HUGE DC nerd!
PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!
If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you!
Masterlist
(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)
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Before I was born my father was part of the Yakuza. He was sent to America sometime before World War Two had broken out. He was sent with a large amount of gold to establish Yakuza operations in America. Because he was Japanese, my father was placed in an internment camp when the war broke out. A group of soldiers suspected him of having Yakuza ties, but my father was strong and loyal. No matter how much they tortured him he wouldn’t tell them where any of the money was located.
Years after the war my father met my mother and they had me. We were living a normal life, until some retired soldiers decided to try again. They threatened me and my mother. My father didn’t want to see his family harmed so he turned over the gold. They didn’t keep to their promises and hurt my mother, she died because of them. My father had committed seppuku not long after to atone for failing the Yakuza. His disgrace then fell upon me. The Yakuza had taken me back to Japan where I was raised to kill the Americans who dishonored my Yakuza family. They had trained me in martial arts and Kyūdō, which is the Japanese art of archery.
Once I was eighteen, I left to return to America and started killing the men that disgraced me. Two of the former soldiers used the stolen gold to build a shipping business, as well as a drug trafficking operation. The blood that followed me got me into the view of a local vigilante, his name was the Green Arrow. I had evaded him for years, he even recruited, what people call metahumans, to aid him in catching me. Not even the so called fasted man alive could catch me. Our paths did cross however, an ally of his, the Black Canary, was captured by one of the men I was after. Him and his people had tortured the poor girl. I had showed up almost at the same time the Green Arrow and his team did, he even brought his little speedster friend.
“What are you doing here?” He asked me with a growl.
“Doing what I was trained to do. What are you doing here?” I asked with narrowed eyes.
“A member of my team in in there and I’m getting her back.” He said drawing his bow and aiming it at me.
“So I don’t have time for you tonight, get out of my way if you don’t want an arrow in your skull.” He growled and I smirked.
“You’d never hit me, I’m here to kill the men inside.” I said and went to go in.
“Wait!” The voice of the speedy guys said.
“What if we work together?” He asked and I raised my brow at him.
“Work together?” I asked and he nodded.
“Yeah, we all want the same thing right? So why not?” He asked and I looked at them.
“I work alone.” I said and turned my back on them.
“Extra hands couldn’t hurt.” He said and I rolled my eyes.
“If I say yes will you shut up?” I asked annoyed and he nodded.
“Fine. But I kill Lawton.” I said and the Green Arrow nodded.
“Fine.” He said and I nodded. We all went inside and did our things. The speedster distracted them, while Arrow and I shot arrows at them. He was aiming to wound, I was aiming to kill. The Green Arrow’s friend shot at them also only wounding them. Arrow went to get the girl that was tied to a chair and I saw Lawton running. I ran after him and decided to get the high ground. I ran above him and dropped down in front of him. I looked up at him with a glare and he pointed his gun at me. I grabbed it from him and knocked him to the ground. I aimed my bow at him and he looked up at me with fear.
“Please! I have a family!” He begged and I narrowed my eyes at him more.
“So did my father!” I growled and he looked at me confused. I pulled down my mask and his eyes widened.
“You’re Yao Fei’s daughter… You look like your mother…” He said shocked and I pulled my bow back more.
“Don’t you talk about my mother! Or my father!” I shouted at him, apparently this caught the attention of Green Arrow and his friends.
“You killed them! You and your friends hurt my mother and killed her! You made my father kill himself to atone for what he did!” I shouted and he cowered in fear.
“I’m sorry! Please I have a daughter!” He said and I gave a humorless chuckle.
“Then she will grow up without a father.” I said and pulled my arrow back once more.
“You die in the name of the Yakuza.” I said and released my arrow. It hit him right in the left eye and he was dead within seconds.
“That was a little harsh.” I heard the voice of speedster.
“He deserved worse.” I said pulling my arrow out.
“Awww gross!” Speedster said.
“Get over it speedster, it’s just a little blood and his eye.” I said pulling his eyeball off my arrow.
“It’s actually Flash.” He said.
“Well, I must go.” I said turning and walking away.
“Wait!” Green Arrow’s voice said.
“I’m not letting you catch me Arrow.” I said and rushed off. That was the last man. I sent his eye back to my Yakuza family and they were pleased with my work. They said my disgrace from my father was repaid. I had finished my mission and I was able to come back. I didn’t want to though, I didn’t want to follow in my father’s footsteps. I just wanted to fix his mistakes, but I had become the best of the best. I should have known I wouldn’t be able to escape this life. But because I was the best of the best, I knew I could hide from them.
Oliver’s POV
I watched as the mysterious vigilante fought with us. She was a killer, but she was amazing. She was like what I use to be, but ten times more violent. Once we took care of everyone I went to get Loreal. She was in bad shape, but she would live. Once she was safe we all heard yelling coming from one of the halls and I noticed that the girl was gone. We all followed the shouting and saw her holding a man at arrow point.
“You killed them! You and your friends hurt my mother and killed her! You made my father kill himself to atone for what he did!” She shouted and he cowered in fear.
“I’m sorry! Please I have a daughter!” He said and She gave a humorless chuckle.
“Then she will grow up without a father.” She said and pulled her arrow back once more.
“You die in the name of the Yakuza.” She said and released her arrow. It hit him right in the left eye and he was dead within seconds. My eyes widened when I heard her say Yakuza.
“That was a little harsh.” Barry said.
“He deserved worse.” She said pulling her arrow out.
“Awww gross!” Barry said looking away.
“Get over it speedster, it’s just a little blood and his eye.” She said pulling his eyeball off my arrow.
“It’s actually Flash.” Barry said.
“Well, I must go.” She said ignoring him and turned walking away.
“Wait!” I called out to her.  
“I’m not letting you catch me Arrow.” She said and rushed off.
“Who is that exactly?” Barry asked.
“I have no idea, but I think I know how to find her.” I said and we left to get Loreal help.
Y/N’s POV
It’s been a month and I’ve avoided any contact with the Yakuza. I was free. I didn’t want to give up my alter ego, well my main ego I suppose. After all this is what I was made to do. I would take care of some of the criminals in Star City, the Green Arrow wasn’t too fond of this. He’d have to catch me to make me stop and we both knew that was impossible. Or so I thought… I had gotten a lead about a criminal and was following it. Unfortunately I came to found it was false and the Green Arrow was there waiting for me with speedster.
“We meet again.” The man in green said with his deep voice.
“You set me up!” I growled and he nodded.
“So what? Gonna take me to jain now? Or am I going to have to kill you both?” I asked holding up my bow.
“Whoa! We just wanna talk!” The guy in red said with his hands up. I narrowed my eyes at him and he took off his cowl.
“See? Trust.” He said and I raised my brow. I looked at the Green Arrow and he took off his hood and mask.
“Oliver Queen? Interesting.” I said with a smirk, even though they couldn’t see it with my mask on.
“We’ve already seen your face so there’s no need for your mask.” Oliver said. I lowered my bow and took off my mask.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Your help.” He said and my eyes widened in shock.
“The Green Arrow wants my help?” I asked with a smirk.
“We need help. We can’t do it alone and we need someone skilled.” He said and my smirk grew.
“What’s in it for me?” I asked.
“The feeling like you did something good.” Barry said and I rolled my eyes.
“What’s the job?” I asked.
“We’re going after a man named Constantine Drakon. He’s an incredible martial artist and has outwitted us far too many times.” Oliver growled.
“I can tell you right now I’m way better than him.” I said and they nodded.
“That’s why we need you.” The speedy guys said.
“What’s your name?” I asked him.
“Barry Allen.” He said with a smile.
“You look like a Barry.” I said looking at him.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“Y/N Fei. But you probably know me as Shado.” I said.
“Shado. That’s what you call yourself?” Oliver asked.
“Most people don’t see me coming.” I said with a wink.
“So will you help us?” Barry asked with a small blush.
“Sure, I get to kill some baddies.” I said with a shrug and a smile.
“We’re not killing.” Oliver said and I gave him a look.
“They deserve it.” I practically growled.
“Y/N, we don’t kill.” Barry said softly and I rolled my eyes.
“Fine.” I said and they smiled.
“Well I have to go.” I said putting my mask back on and turned away from them.
“Wait how will we get in reach with you?” Barry asked. I smirked and hopped up the building next to us. I shot an arrow at their feet with my number of my burner phone on a piece of paper wrapped around it.
Three Weeks Later
The two boys were texting me nonstop. It was kind of cute. They both had asked me to help them on missions besides the one they actually asked me to help with. They were actually sweet and wanted to be friends with me. This was new to me, I never had a friend before.
Finally they told me where to meet them to talk about the mission. I arrived at the location and Barry was standing outside.
“Hey Y/N!” He said with a huge smile on his face.
“Hey Barry.” I said with a small smile.
“How are you?” He asked slightly awkwardly.
“Fine. You?” I asked.
“I’m good! I mean just catching some mettas, but I guess you knew that seeing as I am a hero and all…he…” He said scratching the back of his neck and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Did anyone ever tell you you’re adorable?” I said without thinking. He looked at me with wide eyes and a blush.
“U-um no…” He said nervously.
“Well you are.” I smiled.
“T-thanks.” He said.
“So what is this place?” I asked looking at what looked to be an abandoned building.
“Oh! This is the Arrow cave.” He said and I looked at him like he was crazy.
“This place?” I asked and he nodded.
“Come on, it’s way cooler than it looks.” He said opening the door. He walked inside and I followed him confused. He walked into what looked like an old office and smirked at me.
“This is the Arrow cave?” I asked confused.
“No, this is how we get to it.” He said and then a wall opened up to reveal an elevator.
“What the hell?” I asked shocked. Barry just smirked and walked in.
“Well, are you coming?” He asked and I nodded. I walked in next to him and he pressed a button. We went down and the doors opened up to a huge area with computers, weapons, a lab, and a few other rooms.
“This is the Arrow cave.” He said still smirking.
“Whoa…” Was all I could say.
“Oh! You two are here!” A blond girl said getting up.
“Um, who are you?” I asked confused. I’ve never seen her before.
“Oh right! I’m Felicity, the one they all call Overwatch.” She said with a kind smile.
“Right… I’m Y/N, the one they call Shado.” I said and she smiled.
“I know, you’re really incredible with a bow, ya know, minus the whole killing part.” She said and I nodded.
“The bow and martial arts is all I’ve ever known.” I said with a shrug.
“Your parents didn’t let you have fun?” She asked and I tensed up a bit.
“My parents are the reason I do what I do.” I said coldly.
“Hey, Felicity, don’t you need to check on the plan?” A man said walking over.
“Huh? Oh! Uh, yeah! Nice meeting you Y/N.” She said and walked off.
“Sorry about her, Y/N.” He said with a smile and Oliver walked over beside him.  
“It’s fine.” I said.
“Y/N, this is John Diggle.” Oliver said introducing him.
“Hello.” I said with a small smile.
“Well it’s nice to meet you, but I should go help Felicity.” He said and walked away.
“What’s the plan?” I asked Oliver and Barry.
“First, I want you to meet my team.” Barry said and dragged me away from Oliver.
“Guys, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is Cisco, Caitlin, and Iris.” He said and I gave a polite smile.
“You’re the girl who can shoot better than Oliver!” Cisco said.
“She is not!” I heard Oliver shout and I couldn’t help but giggle.
“I’ll out shoot you any day Arrow!” I called back with a smirk.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Caitlin said with a smile.
“Yeah, happy I can meet the girl Barry can’t stop talking about.” Iris said with a smirk.
“Iris!” Barry said with a blush.
“She’s joking, I don’t talk about you a lot.” He said and I nodded with a smirk.
“Right… It’s nice to meet you guys.” I said to his friends.
“So shouldn’t we get this plan going?” I asked.
“Yeah.” The two boys said.
We all went over the plan a few times and where everyone was going to be. Once we finally all got on the same page we all started to get ready. I grabbed the bag I brought and pulled out my costume.
“Where should I go to get dress?” I asked.
“Oh, right over there.” Oliver said pointing to a room.
“Got it.” I said and walked into the room. I put on my tight black pants, my black and red top with one sleeve so my dragon tattoos with my parents names showed, my black boots, and my black mask that covered the bottom half of my face. I put my hair up put it in a tight braid. Once I was finished I walked out and everyone was looking at me.
“You guys okay?” I asked confused as I walked over to my bag. I pulled out my bow and knives.
“Yeah, we were just waiting for you.” Barry said with a blush.
“Okay… anyway, ready to go?” I asked and everyone nodded. We all left, except for Felicity, Iris, Caitlen, and Cisco. We got to the location Felicity told us to go to, it was an abandoned warehouse.
“Barry, check the perimeter.” Oliver told him.
“On it!” He said and he was back with in seconds.
“All clear, but there are a few guys in the back room.” He said.
“I’ll take care of them. I said walking over to the building.
“No killing Shado.” Oliver said and I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever Arrow.” I said and hopped up the building. I walked over to the back of the building and hopped down through the skylight. There were six guys and they all looked at me shocked, I had the upper hand. I grabbed two of my knives and tossed them into two guys legs. They fell to the ground and by then the other guys came to their senses. They all took out their guns and started shooting at me. I jumped, weaved, and dodged all of them to get to a safe spot. Once I was out of their fire, I pulled my bow back and shot three of them in the knees. There would probably be permanent damage, but at least I didn’t kill them! There was only one guy left and he tried to sneak up behind me. He grabbed me and I smirked. I pulled out one of my knives and stabbed him in the arm then flipped him on his back. I pulled back my bow and shot him in the leg and his other arm. Finally they were all down and I opened the back door for everyone else.
“Whoa…” John said impressed.
“This was nothing.” I said with a shrug.
“You’re one hell of a girl.” Barry and Oliver said at the same time. I smirked and then they glared at each other.
“Guys, Constantine just arrived.” Felicity’s voice ran through our ears.
“We’re on it Overwatch.” Oliver said still glaring at Barry.
“Come on boys, you can fight later.” I said with a smirk, they couldn’t see it with my mask on. They snapped out of it and we all went to our positions.
“Everyone ready?” Oliver asked.
“Yep.” Barry said.
“In position.” John said.
“Ready.” I said with my bow at the ready.
“On my go.” Oliver said. We waited for a few minutes and then he jumped down. We took out the little guys while Oliver was dealing with Constantine. Once they were all dealt with, Oliver was on the ground with Constantine’s foot on his throat.
“Barry!” I shouted and he looked at Oliver. He nodded and ran at Constantine ready to take him down, but he was punched in the face.
“Goddamnit!” I growled. I jumped down and shot my bow at him. He caught it and looked at me with a smirk. He got off Oliver and ran at me. He grabbed me by my throat and lifted me off the ground. He looked at my exposed arm and then back at my face.
“Yao Fei… Your father?” He asked like I could answer. I glared at him which he took as a yes, by his smirk.
“You’re Yakuza.” He smirked again.
“You’re going to be one of my finest kills.” He said and I smirked. I grabbed one of my knifes and plunged it into his side. He dropped me and I took a deep breath.
“Not today.” I said and he growled.
“You’ll pay for that!” He shouted, but before he could even get up Barry put handcuffs on him.
“You’re never going to hurt anyone ever again.” He growled and Oliver walked over. He shoved him against a pole and shot rope to tie him to it.
“Overwatch. Tell the police they have some guys here.” Oliver said and she notified them. We all left and went back to the Arrow cave so everyone could get looked over.
“Y/N, we should really check you out.” Barry said.
“I’m fine.” I said undoing my braid and letting my hair down.
“You were almost killed.” Oliver said and I rolled my eyes.
“If you think that was almost killed you’re insane.” I said looking at the two boys.
“You’ve had worse done?” Barry asked shocked and worried.
“I was part of the Yakuza Bar, their training is serious.” I said and Oliver looked at me.
“I thought you were part of the Yakuza?” He asked.
“I was, I’ve been hiding from them for months now. I cleared the wrongs my father did to them the night you got your friend back. They wanted me back in Japan, but I do not wish to follow in my father’s footsteps.” I said and they looked at me.
“I’ll keep you safe!” They both said at the same time then glared at each other again. I smirked.
“I don’t need protection, but thanks anyway.” I said.
“Well if you ever need a place to hideout, this place is yours.” Oliver said.
“No way! Star labs is way safer and in another city!” Barry said.
“Right… Well thanks for the offers, but I don’t think I’ll need them.” I said smiling.
“See ya Arrow, Speedster.” I said picking up my bag and walking away.
“You know they’re both head over heels in love with you right?” Iris asked when I walked by her. I looked back at the boys and sighed.
“Yeah, but relationships and friendships are just more people you can lose, or people can use against you.” I said and walked out of the Arrow cave. I can’t be with anyone. I’m just a shadow in the background. Someone no one can actually know…
Tag list: @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear @xrosesareredx @herokyolachan @ashwarren32 @hollie-blogs @schisbro87 @lover-of-books-and-teas @nerdygaloresposts @alex--awesome--22 @teenwolfbitches2 @genius2050 @drw0301bieber @tigermillionaire-philanthropist @marveloverdcsstuff   
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stopplayshuffle · 5 years ago
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MINI MANSIONS CONCERT: WHY CONFIDENCE MATTERS IN WHAT YOU LOVE
 On Monday, June 24th 2019, I attended a Mini Mansions concert at The Independent in SF CA. I’ve seen Mini Mansions perform live before when they opened for Arctic Monkeys at the Bill Graham Civic Center in SF on October 20th 2018. However, this is my first time seeing them at their own show for their own tour. That night was incredible, not just because of their performance, but because I got to actually meet two members from the band.
If you are not familiar with who Mini Mansions are, I’ll give a bit of background. Mini Mansions is a music trio made up of keyboardist/vocalist Tyler Parkford (touring keyboardist for Arctic Monkeys), bassist Zachary Dawes (the Last Shadow Puppets), and guitarist/vocalist/ (former drummer?) Michael Shuman (bassist for Queens of the Stone Age). Mini Mansions is a side project for the three members since, as you can see, each of them are involved in other projects.
I became familiar with them through Arctic Monkeys, since Alex Turner was featured in their 2015 album, The Great Pretenders (track 6: “Vertigo”, if anyone was interested in what song). Then I saw them perform live when they opened for Arctic Monkeys. This isn’t their first time opening for them either, since they opened for them before in their previous tour. Needless to say, they have a strong relationship with those Sheffield lads. While standing there and feeling curious to what their other music was like apart from “Vertigo”, I came to find that their setlist was pretty good. Their music is unique, which is too simple a word to describe the kind of music they make. It’s like vintage ‘60’s rock n’ roll distorted with psychedelic elements, accompanied with groovy bass lines (compliments of Zach Dawes), poppy piano hits (thanks to Tyler Parkford), and bluesy guitar riffs (from multi-instrumentalist Michael Shuman). I am a huge fan of vintage rock/pop, like the Beatles, Beach Boys, you get the picture. So hearing something that is similar to that kind of music will most likely capture my interest. And I was definitely interested in Mini Mansions.
The concert itself was pretty cheap, about $15 a ticket. After spending about $105 for Muse, $120 for Mike Shinoda, and about $70 for Arctic Monkeys, I was pretty stoked how affordable this show was. I didn’t want to stress myself out by trying to arrive 4 hours early to get a decent spot. My mentality was, whatever spot I get is what I get. My sister, Jenni, and I arrived at the venue about 45 minutes before they opened the doors, and to my surprise, there wasn’t a lot of people waiting in line. There were maybe about 6 or 7 people waiting before us. I’m guessing everyone else had the same mentality as I did going into this concert. I was relieved that my feet wouldn’t be worn out from waiting so long, and I now had the energy to withstand the entire show. When we were finally let into the venue, I walked straight to the front of the stage, not using my peripheral vision to catch anything weird or exciting. While standing in front of the carpeted stage with a tape that ran across the edge reading “NO DRINKS” my sister tapped me on my shoulder and asked, “isn’t that Mikey working the merch booth”? as she pointed towards the corner that was diagonally across from where we were. I was like, “No, I don’t think so”, because why would a band member work their own merch booth, right? At least that’s what my dumbass thought. But then I squinted my eyes towards the direction she was pointing at, and as my eyes were adjusting in that dark room, with only a dim light hovering around the merch booth, I could tell from the gelled back hair that it was indeed Michael Shuman. He was wearing an all-black outfit: black moto jacket, black t-shirt, black skinny jeans, and black shoes. Pretty casual. This is the exact opposite to the outfit he will later change into when he will perform, which was a white satin suit with some watercolor accents on it.
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It was like having two personas, one being the regular guy selling band stuff and the other is the performer. I thought it was cool that he was working the merch booth because he wasn’t acting like he was too good to sell his stuff.
Jen asked me if I wanted to buy something, and despite the fact that I needed to save as much money as possible to have enough for my rent and other bills for the summer before school starts I said, “Hell yeah I wanna buy something!” But at the same time, I kept staring at the front of the stage, and I was apprehensive because I got a decent spot for the concert. The woman next to me told me, “You totally should, they’re really nice, I mean I’ll try to extend my arm out as much as possible to save your spot”. God, what a nice woman. I thanked my fellow concert friend and walked up to the line. There was only two people in front of me and they seemed to be a couple waiting next to each other, so I wouldn’t have to wait too long. But the girl took a while figuring out if she wanted a black Mini Mansions shirt or a white one. At this point, Zach Dawes was also at the booth helping his buddy, Mikey, out with making sure he had enough merchandise at the table. She asked Zach for his opinion, “which color do you like best?” And Zach, with his calm voice says, he liked both of them. I don’t even remember which color this chick went with, but they finally left the line, and I was finally next. I was standing face to face with Mikey Shuman, with only a plastic banquet table in between us. My eyes kept darting from his face to the posters to the left of him.
He actually spoke first and said, “Hi. How are you?”
And like a square I responded with, “I’m good, how are you?
“I’m good!” He said back, “What can I get you?”
“Uhh, may I have that poster please?” I pointed to the poster, which was signed by all 3 members.
“You may” with a dip at the end of “may” (what a polite gentleman).
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(I put the poster on the stage so I can take a picture of it. No one was playing yet, btw. But that’s how close I was to the stage).
I didn’t want just a poster, (which I didn’t plan on where I was putting while watching the concert) I wanted something with it, so I asked Mikey if I could buy the CD that had Mini Mansions written in yellow on the top left corner, with a stuffed toy bunny on an illuminated plate. It was their first full length album they ever released, and I didn’t have that album yet. Which by the way, is hard to come by. It was sold out on Amazon for a while, and sold-out on their website too. I tried going to Rasputin Music a few months ago at the mall where I live to see if they had it. The cashier said there was something by Mini Mansions there, but I couldn’t find anything. I tried looking at a record shop in Santa Cruz, but no Mini Mansions CDs there either. I think it may have been available again on their website, but I waited on buying it, but I don’t remember exactly why. I think I wanted to avoid shipping fees and wait for it to be prime available on Amazon. Or maybe I was hoping I will find it in a record shop around where I live.
Anyway, I asked Mikey for the CD and he asked, “This CD right here?” He pointed to the CD.
“Yeah”
He then looked in another box, and when he put the box down empty handed he said, “Wow that was the last one”.
“Cool!” I responded with, like the fucking shy idiot I am.
It took me a while to get this album, I’m glad I waited so I can actually buy the album from the band themselves, but I wish I could’ve responded better.
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(Photo of CD taken after the concert on my desk)
What happens next is so surreal that it took me a couple of days to comprehend that it happened. It’s nothing even that spectacular it’s just something that had never happened to me before. He tapped on the tablet the items I was purchasing and told me my stuff was going to be 35 bucks. I handed him my card and he actually swiped my card into the card reader sticking out from the tablet and asked, “Can you sign right here, please?”
This was mind-blowing to me, because I’m thinking shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t I be the one asking you to sign me stuff. But I signed the tablet, in a way like I’ve never been excited to sign my name to a purchase before. I couldn’t believe I was buying band merch from the actual band member himself, it was awesome. After he gave me my stuff, I handed them to my sister and asked him if I could shake his hand. The guy puts the tablet down and sticks out his hand and I’m fucking touching Mikey Shuman’s hand. I thanked him, and if I wasn’t enough of a square, my sister noticed an awkward silence and finally said, “I think you guys are great and I’m really excited for the show!” Both Zach and Mikey said thank you and both shook Jen’s hand. I thanked Mikey again and leaned over to shake Zach’s hand and went back to the front of the stage.
Obviously, I was excited that I met two of the members from the band. I couldn’t believe I actually talked to them. But I still felt unsatisfied, not with them of course, but with myself. I want to be a music journalist and interview bands and study music as a career. Because I have anxiety issues, including a bit of social anxiety, I am always awkward and shy when I meet people, which does not help me in the long run at all. There were so many things I could’ve asked Mikey: What do you like to play more, bass, drums, or guitar? I love how bluesy you get in The Great Pretenders, what was the inspiration for that?  I couldn’t even ask him something as basic as, hey how are you liking SF this time around? Anything weird happen to you yet? Ever been to Oakland? My God I suck. I could’ve even said, Wow, this is the last CD? No way? How lucky am I? Such a missed opportunity to connect with the band, and actually work on my people skills when I meet musicians for the job I want. Despite the fact that I wish I could go back in time to alter how I met Mikey and Zach, I was still grateful for the encounter I had. It’s not a common thing for me to meet the people who make the music I like.
Their performance was also great. After watching two openers, Tyler Parkford finally came out, but to set up his keyboard directly above me. He bent down and plugged some wires in. I’m sure it’s creepy having people stare at you while you’re doing something, so I looked away so he can do his job. But at one point I looked back up at his direction and while he was standing behind his keyboard, he looked at me and I smiled at him. I was happy that he smiled back. Unfortunately I never got to talk to Tyler that night, but I’m hoping I will in the future.
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After Mikey sound checked all of the equipment, they began to play. They started off with “Freakout!” which is what they started with when they opened for Arctic Monkeys. The song isn’t super intense but has an upbeat tempo that is perfect for getting the crowd going. They mostly played songs from The Great Pretenders, but incorporated a few from their upcoming album, Guy Walks into a Bar… So we were getting that mix of relaxed familiarity from being able to sing along with the songs we already knew, and the excitement from the new songs from the album that has yet to come. A variety of uplifting emotions that was getting the crowd pumped. The song I connected to live the most was “Works Every Time”. “Works Every Time” is from their upcoming album, but they released it on their EP with the same title first. Since the song had been out for some time now, I was already familiar with it, and enjoyed the calm soulful singing of Parkford and swaggering bass lines of Dawes. The kind of sound that someone can listen to while driving late at night. But hearing it live was a different experience for me. The dreamy tone from the piano was more upfront, maybe because I noticed it more? I don’t know, but it was lovely.
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Zach was a little shy when I met him, since he didn’t really say much; however, on stage he wasn’t shy rocking out those bass lines with his buddies. The guy has mad rhythm with his bass, and he didn’t look nervous on stage. If he was nervous, then I couldn’t tell because he played each song so naturally. I know if that was me up there, I’d probably mess up a lot from nerves, since I can barely sing right while singing karaoke with two friends.
When it came to the more fast tempo songs, especially “Mirror Mountain” all the guys got really into it, but Mikey was not shy of wailing around and screaming loud into the mic. I enjoy watching him get this intense honestly, [even though a couple of the audience members who I talked to at the Bart station after the show told me, at another Mini Mansions concert they went to in Sacramento, were afraid of Mikey potentially kicking them sometimes while he was rocking out, but luckily he didn’t]. His punk rock energy bounced across the entire stage, and as a direct result I got pumped watching him go. There was a point during “Mirror Mountain” when he bent down real close to the edge of the stage. He puts the mic close to his lips, and his palm held the back of an audience member’s nape. He sang close to this young man’s ear, and the young man smiled, probably from the attention he was receiving from Mikey, but he was also leaning back, possibly because he was trying not to get too close to him. Looking back at it now, I didn’t know what was going through that kid’s head, but he seemed unsure of how to react when the singer/guitarist for Mini Mansions was singing physically close to his face. I wouldn’t know either, to be honest, if that was me.
Needless to say, there’s a level of boldness that is needed to get that close to someone, without having that internal conversation wondering if you’re doing too much or just enough. He just did it.  While performing, he used his entire body (from his voice to his legs) to express himself, and while some people would think that’s too much or bold, either way, people are looking.
But that’s the thing when you express yourself in something you care about, may that be writing, food, books, or music, it will show. With Mikey, Zach, and Tyler they used their talents to create this interesting concoction of vintage inspired contemporary indie rock. They went with what they had, released it, and was able to perform it in about every part of the world.
In the end, they are going places with it, this thing that they love, or at least what it seems to me they love. In other words, they just went for it. I wish I could possess at least half the confidence of what they have. Maybe if I did, I would’ve been less awkward when I met Mikey and Zach.  Now, I’m not saying confidence is the only thing a person needs to pursue what they want, but confidence helps push someone toward what they want. With confidence, you can stand on a stage and exercise your skills in front of people, you can be yourself without the fear of judgement, you can talk to someone you’ve never met before and have a great conversation. With confidence, you just go for it.
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sillyfudgemonkeys · 6 years ago
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Who’s worse and why: Futaba or Makoto?
I mean if you’ve read this blog you probably know who I’m gonna choose, but as for why….welp under the cut
I’d have to say Makoto, both as a person and as a character. I know my bf ranks Futaba as the worse solely because of her BS hacking. And listen, for me Makoto and Futaba are both freaking close, and me saying “Futaba’s hacking isn’t as bad as Makoto” is more an opinion than fact, and shouldn’t boost any positive feelings/pride for Futaba fans because I chose her hacking over Makoto. Her hacking is HORRIBLE I was to make that clear, I still hate it. I’d probably hate Futaba more if it wasn’t for the fact that Makoto gets a single amount of criticism that we all have to come and explain ourselves (that’s the only good thing about Futaba is that her fanbase doesn’t come for my throat, but it also doesn’t mean I think about how crappy she is/think as critically about her as much as Makoto). 
With that out of the way I’ll give reasons for disliking both of them:
Makoto:
She never gets dragged. So you might know that I hate the P5MC, I think he’s an asshole and never gets called out on it (and not just he has asshole options, but he does asshole things we can’t not do). One thing I hate is that he drags like Anne, Ryuji, and Yusuke a lot like you wouldn’t believe (like people who are very dedicated to him). But I don’t recall really ever getting a single drag options for Makoto, WHEN SHE WASN’T ON THE TEAM AND SHE WAS AT HER WORSE (even when she drove off our only lead). It was mostly neutral stuff, defiant (not the same as asshole), or begging her not to tell on us. It’s just weird that a lot of other characters will get dragged for not really doing anything wrong, but she DOES screw us over and we don’t get to drag her at least once?
Gets away with A LOT of shit. Like she victim blames Anne, and Anne apologizes? And then has the audacity to say Anne and her are the SAME?! No boo, Anne didn’t know about the abuse, but YOU DID. Anne didn’t report the abuse because she didn’t know, you admit you didn’t report it because YOU DIDN’T CARE ENOUGH. You stalk us, take photos and video recordings without our permission (btw illegal in Japan and would be thrown out in court), but then get surprised when we (mostly Anne/Ryu/Yusuke since they can talk obvie) get mad at you? Complain about how people don’t know your struggles when they yell at you, but you are literally the one causing their grief (so of course they’d yell). Was literally an asshole from the get-go from introduction(she literally insulted Anne from her first words, no wonder Anne didn’t like her) , and pretty much the reason why every scene started to go to shit (only time she didn’t come in like an ass was the scene they called her useless in, and 1) considering her track record they probs assumed, and rightfully so, she was coming to put more pressure on them, which they didn’t need, and seque into 2))
Number 2, she was being useless to the PT! She didn’t do shit while investigating, instead just hovering over us being like “did you get the info? You know will happen if you don’t do this. SO you better do this!” And it’s like???? Bitch, you didn’t even bother to help. You’re useless in the one thing you can do (cause we know you won’t help in the Metaverse). Hell she wasn’t even the person who broke the news about Kaneshiro! We heard a rumor about it on the train as the MC/Mona before Makoto did! But the game made us freaking wait cause we needed the illusion of her doing like…ANYTHING. She also drove away our one gd lead, like WHAT THE FUDGE?! We’re all out here busting our asses and you are just sitting on yours, you really are useless. And she also withheld vital info…..
Withholding info. She does this twice, once during the Kaneshiro arc where we have to waste time investigating this one kid (and we know she knows cause he goes to her after we talk to him, upset cause she might’ve blabbed, oh if only, but like she could’ve asked him questions and she could’ve relayed the same info but NO!). She also doesn’t tell us about Sae’s Palace, and like….that would’ve been FANTASTIC considering we were all like “oh man wish we had a Palace we could go into” the entire gd game.
Her actions and words about her don’t line up (wow awkward sentence XP). People keep describing her as “scary” and “oh man you better not make her mad” and like acting like I should be scared of her. But like???? She’s really such a pushover, she needs to be saved countless times, she showcases no hidden fire-y side (in fact Anne shows that off more, but no the game is too busy dragging her through the mud for some reason). Hell even in the dance games, her and Anne’s reaction of Futaba trying to grope them is different. Makoto is shy and tries to run away iirc, Anne looks like she has the face of murder (Futaba better sleep with one eye open, like jesus what was that game thinking, 1) poor taste to do that to Anne, 2) doesn’t seem like she was having fun and…..that’s so out of place). Just….it’s just really annoying to hear it over and over, and then she needs help over and over. Like she puts up barely any resistence to the guys hitting on them at the beach, all while Anne is ready to throw down and raising a shit fit (understandable, but why isn’t Makoto????) and then if you say “you guys did well” MAKOTO is the one that responds and is like “Oh thanks but it was getting dicey” like bitch you just stood there, Anne was ready to cut a bitch, why are you responding you didn’t do anything????
She takes up too much screen time doing nothing. Her big job is to connect the player with Sae…..and she does a shit job at it. We learn pretty much nothing about Sae or her relationship, except it’s strained (but not TOO strained). She explains easy to understand stuff, but like we already had Mona for that so no need for her. She’s shit at her role as a strategist, 1) she doesn’t do a whole lot of it, 2) the few plans she’s come up with, the majority have failed, 3) her role is useless in a game where we already have a leader and choices are supposed to “matter” so why sin’t the MC just a double duty strategist? 4) Her CoOp ability should’ve already been a part of Futaba’s/Mona’s skill set (like with past Navis). She adds nothing, instead takes screen time away from other characters, as well as removing choice from the players (and possibly coming up with their own plans as well as ideas to utilize everyone). 
Futaba:
Her hacking is unrealistic and OP. Just….it’s just bad in and of itself.
Her hacking removes choice and other means to get around a problem. So many times it’s just “*points at something* Futaba hack it” and it’s done. Like Sae’s dungeon, a lot of people say it showcased Goro’s abilities, but all I remember is him saying “Futaba I choose you! Use hack” and that’s how it mostly went down. So like Makoto, her role screws the player out of a more enriching gameplay experience. 
Also takes up too much screen time. I mean it’s mostly for her stupid hacking too, but if it wasn’t for that and her it could’ve been utilized for other characters. It’s also weird cause she takes up a lot because of her mom, but we don’t get a whole lot about her mom…..it’s mostly just a plot device rather than a character. It just leaves you unfulfilled. 
Her mental illness is horribly written, pandering (in a sense of people thinking it’s cute and you should date her cause of it, not them having a character with mental illness in and of itself is pandering just the……fetishization of it is), and inconsistent (her gameplay and story segregation, aka CoOp and main story segregation, is just so appalling). I think I did one rank of her CoOp and she was all like “MC only you helped me. You’re the reason I started to get better! I can only go outside if you are with me MC! MC MC MC! PT who? Only MC!” and then literally the next f****ing day the main story progresses, she’s waiting outside with Yusuke and everyone is like “You went outside by yourself?!” and Yusuke’s like “nah I picked her up” HMMMM YOU SEEM FINE WITH THE PT WHAT’S THIS ABOUT MC ONLY?! It’s also…..I hate her crush, it’s soooooo unhealthy. She starts to become SO DEPENDENT on you, and is saying some very worrying things like “I don’t think I can do this on my own without you” like all the time. And apparently if you romance her she suddenly becomes more independent, which I don’t think would happen….romancing her route sounded more like I’d encourage her behavior rather than her deciding to just suddenly not do that. The friendship route was the only time it felt like it was realistic, we turn her down and we help her make one more step by herself and let her walk around Akihabara alone within a safe distance and then she gets used to it so it’s possible for her to leave all by herself later. Only time it was semi realistic, because any other time they just bring the freaking mental illness up whenever they freaking please. That’s also doesn’t take in the fact how they “cured” her so they could have a beach episode. A crash course and friendship isn’t gonna cure you suddenly (and it’s not like they actually stole her heart, which I hate she keep saying they did), and that’s an unhealthy mindset and unfair to a friend who wants to help but isn’t fair to put the burden on them to cure you. 
She’s kind of an asshole, like Makoto is an asshole before she joins, but Futaba…..I just dunno how most people even get along in the PT. It’s not social awkwardness, she’s just a straight up douche sometimes and I don’t like it (esp when you can’t call her out). It’s not just her, Yusuke is too and so is Mona (and Ryu is to Mona but he’s not an asshole, but he’s not 100% a good boi, but MC is also an asshole too, but sometimes he can be good). 
I also just don’t like her dungeon. Like how it’s written. But I could say that for most of P5′s dungeons. It tries to imitate P4 but…..doesn’t do what P4 did right. Her’s just steps on my toes even more cause it’s more closer to P4 than any other dungeon, and it’s a gd shame they didn’t expand on P4′s way of doing it (aka you don’t get the info basically handed to before going into the dungeon, there’s actually a revelation as you go through XP)
(Not points against either, but I find it weird that it feels like Futaba is closer to Makoto rather than Anne…..like nothing is special between Futaba and Makoto for them to be kinda like that, but like Anne was the one to technically appealed to Futaba to get her out of the closet…..You’d think she’d cling to Anne more….Sorry more of a confusing writing issue but since we were talking about these two and my mind wandered 8U)
Edit: I think I answered all my points (albeit it’s the abridged version), but god forbid I missed a couple.
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cantdance · 6 years ago
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carlycrays replied to your photo “marvel writers and editors trying to decide what to do with loki in an...”
Oh, sweet summer child, you clearly don't know how this works. Loki literally can't stay dead. That's a canon rule. Also, while Marvel hasn't had the best track record with the transgender community, when have they made transphobic jokes at Loki's expense?
nothing has ever made me jump out of bed and race to my computer faster than seeing this message. what is it this weekend that makes people feel like they need to answer my joke posts with a novel telling me how dumb i am?
first of all, allow me to allay your fears. at this point i have read over 400 issues of the original 1966 thor series, and i am still working my way through the rest. ive also read several of the modern retellings of the old comics, journey into mystery (2011) with kid loki and all the tie-ins, loki: agent of asgard, both of the angela series, vote loki, jane fosters entire run as the mighty thor, loki: sorcerer supreme, infinity wars (2018), the current thor series, and now war of the realms. ive also read a little thing called the mythology, as well as a few other modern adaptations. so, to recap, thats easily around 500 issues of asgardian comics, as well as the originating material, and assorted other sources. i know what the fuck im talking about, and i am not your sweet summer child, you condescending ass.
beside that, i am a real human being deserving of basic respect, and if this were actually a case of me not knowing something, you could easily communicate that without being so patronizing. people do it all the time! there are tons of things that i dont know about. unfortunately for you, this is the one thing i know a LOT about.
as for when loki has been subjected to transphobic jokes, well, thanks for giving me an excuse to make a post that ive been meaning to make for a while now. let me start off by saying: loki is genderfluid, and i am genderfluid myself. this list contains things that i personally found to be insulting or uncomfortable. not every trans person may agree with me, but that doesnt mean it doesnt need further examination. this list may also not be exhaustive because im not going to spend hours trawling through comics at 10:30 in the morning no matter how badly i want to prove you wrong.
we all know that loki was officially recognized as transgender and bi/pansexual (depending on your preference i guess, i like them as pan) in loki: agent of asgard (2014). however, never once does anyone in the series use any of the actual WORDS to communicate this. never does anyone say “genderfluid” or “transgender” or “bi” or “pan” or “queer” or even “lgbt”. odin calls them “my child who is both a son and a daughter” which is very binary and not a great take on genderfluidity, but hey, odin right? this isnt part of the list, i just think its something that people need to talk about more.
anyway, after that is when the bullshit starts. i mean, ignoring how making loki a queer-coded villain from the beginning was scuzzy, ignoring the almost 50 years time where they did play that role, and ignoring the whole lady loki thing where they were pretty much portrayed as a man pretending to be a woman. heres the list:
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vote loki (2016) issue 1 by christopher hastings and langdon foss
loki “turns into a woman” because it might do better in the polls. the reporter whose name i dont care to look up points this out because thats a totally acceptable thing to do when you see a trans person. after these few pages it never comes up again. lokis genderfluidity is being used for a cheap joke here. dont even get me started on how female-presenting loki is portrayed as being more clean and feminine than male-presenting loki, which is in and of itself a form of transphobia: that transgender women have to be ultra feminine to be accepted as the gender they are.
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the mighty thor (2015) issue 3 by jason aaron and russell dauterman
loki summons a bunch of other versions of themselves for seemingly no reason, and of course all of them are presenting in a masculine way because lokis genderfluidity is only acknowledged when convenient. lady loki from dark reign pops up and says that since shes the only REAL female loki, its her job to fight jane as thor. now, im not going to sit here and unpack all of that for you, so please fire up your critical thinking skills and try to decide why exactly this is bad.
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infinity wars (2018) issue 5 by gerry duggan and mike deodato jr
i went and scanned my physical copy of this just for you. here we see loki leading their team to talk to the child version of gamora who lives inside the soul stone. once they get there, emma says that she and ms marvel will go in alone because it “calls for a womans touch” and loki would just get them killed. in case youre missing the subtext, emma is saying here that loki cant do this, but a woman can, which means she is calling loki a fake woman, or at best, shes completely ignoring their gender and calling them a man.
these are just the three examples that stick out the most in my mind. its worth mentioning that the only time loki has “become a woman” (i hate using this phrase btw) is in those couple pages in vote loki, and the only time that loki has been actively called genderfluid was in squirrel girl (2015) issue 27. yknow, squirrel girl. the series that no one takes seriously and will insist isnt canon even though it is?
there is a very insidious form of quiet transphobia simply in the fact that no one at marvel will acknowledge lokis identity, much less say it out loud or use the correct terminology. in fact, ever since agent of asgard (the series that cemented lokis trans and pan-ness) ended, many writers including jason aaron and gerry duggan have all but ignored that it happened, erasing the progress that loki made as a person as well as their newly gained autonomy and, indirectly, the fact that they were ever confirmed as genderfluid and pansexual.
one last thing that i want to say is that while it may be a rule that loki never stays dead, subjecting a trans and gay character to repeated deaths for the sake of furthering plot is NOT a good thing. having the gay come back does not erase the fact that you buried them in the first place. being that loki is amab, this is extra sketchily tied to violence against trans women, which is a point that we all need to consider.
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