Tumgik
#anyway I might run other follow-up polls to this like when and where people would want something like this to be set
esoscreenshots · 18 days
Text
Just thinking about this as I mindlessly brainrot when watching the new Fallout show. I think the Elder Scrolls franchise would be infinitely more difficult to adapt than Fallout, just because explaining the world to an audience would take a lot more effort and there is way more cultural and physical diversity among the cast, not to mention a timeline that is several thousand years versus ~two hundred, a bajillion gods and kings and heroes and species of significance, a lot of interconnected trade networks and alliances, so on and so forth.
Whatever it ended up being, it would have to be a tiny infinitesimal snapshot fraction of what the entire Elder Scrolls lore can provide.
66 notes · View notes
Text
So, I may not have won the poll, but I’ve decided to continue on the hand lore anyway! I’m going to tag some people but I want to warn you all this contains heavy angst. Make sure to check the tags for trigger warnings!
Start
@daboyau
@phoebepheebsphibs
@littlemissartemisia
@foxolotlfreak
He had been patting himself down basically every second to make sure those things hadn’t left his fanny pack and then suddenly they just weren’t there anymore.
The heavy feeling in his chest started at that point.
He barely started forgiving himself for causing the first apocalypse, his brothers telling him he had no way of knowing what would happen.
Others were to blame, like Warren or Hypno for taking the key in the first place. The Foot Clan, for asking for them to take it.
Sure Leo’s showboating and carelessness were bad but it wasn’t out of malice. He didn’t want to destroy the world. He didn’t know.
But this time he did know.
He saw the worst things imaginable and knew how it effected the people he loves. All he had to do was to stop those stupid mushrooms from hurting anyone else.
Leo saw the look in Raph’s eyes when he admitted what happened. Raph insists that it was just a mistake, that con artist was grabbing at his fanny pack. They probably fell out afterwards or he took it and dumped it when it couldn’t be sold.
What Leo saw in his eyes made him feel differently.
It was similar to how he always looked at him during their missions after Leo became leader.
Judgment.
He can’t be completely sure that Leo wasn’t just being careless. That one distraction caused chaos and havoc throughout an entire multi universe competition.
Leo feels like Raph feels the worst about the little girl he was protecting at first. He was so sure he stopped them from getting her. How they got past him to the nurse’s office, he doesn’t know.
That hand is a big part of it at least though, that’s clear.
Leo feels more tears starting to come.
He’s lost all credibility now, hasn’t he?
Not just to his brothers, but probably everyone there. There’s nobody else to blame for what’s happening. There’s no way anyone else has screwed things up like he has.
His fingers twitch, rubbing his arms painfully.
He needs to calm down before he starts becoming too rough with himself.
Leo reaches into his fanny pack in order to grab one of the many fidget toys. His mouth forms a deep frown at not feeling a favorite of his in there.
So he lost it too?
Pathetic.
Movement in the side of his vision has him glance towards it.
The hand.
That freaking hand!
It has his fidget toy!
Did…..did it take the container too!?
Maybe he didn’t lose it!
It was stolen!
Hope starts replacing that burden in his heart and he stands up.
The hand starts skittering away, so he quickly starts following after it. He’s too distracted to realize that his brothers are also distracted. They don’t notice him as he leaves.
The hand gets into a room and Leo backs it into a corner.
“Finally! You’re not getting away this time. Maybe if I get rid of you the spores will go away again too!” Leo summons and raises his weapon, smiling out of pure relief.
His expression drops when the hand spreads its fingers, revealing some type of canisters between them.
They fall, quickly releasing “gas” that is all too familiar.
He tries to hold his breath and rushes towards the door he came in through. Leo is only quick enough to see the hand escape and the door close behind it.
Leo bangs on the door as hard as he can. Even if no one hears him, maybe his hands will break through instead.
Luck fails him.
He runs out of time.
The room is filled to the brim with spore smoke as, eventually, even his turtle DNA fails him. He finally has to breath.
Contaminated air fills his lungs with a large gasp.
He shuts his eyes tight and covers the sides of his head where ears might be if he had any.
As long as he doesn’t see or hear anything he should be safe until he gets found, right?
Wrong.
Horrific images flash around in his mind until he’s forced to open his eyes to stop them.
What he sees is absolute devastation.
It’s a war zone all around him. Everything is in pieces. Buildings, roads…..people. Shots are ringing back and forth, some of it looking like it’s from alien tech.
He knows exactly what the spores are showing him and it feels his body with a dread that should have been prevented.
Leo can’t move an inch.
It’s obvious to him that the spores are just showing him what he thinks the bad future looked like. The only information he has about it is what he got out of Casey JR. Admittedly, it’s not that much because his brothers made him promise to stop telling Leo about it.
It was impeding his recovery, Donnie said.
He wishes he knew more so that he could tell the loud, nagging voice in his brain that maybe this isn’t just what he made up to fill in what he didn’t know. That this has the possibility of being connected ninpo memories. That this is exactly what happened and is even more awful than he ever could have imagined.
Kraang appear in front of him.
Fear shoots through his veins. They’re not real. He knows this isn’t happening. It can’t be happening.
“What’s this? The leader of the resistance without his guard dogs? They must have finally abandoned their weakest link after you led that last squadron to their deaths. Culling them was highly enjoyable.” The kraang taunts.
Leo grits his teeth.
“Why can’t you just leave me alone!? Why is it always me!?”
The kraang laughs like he’s just been told the funniest thing in this war torn world.
“Because you deserve it. Every second of all of it! And even more than this!”
He can’t think of anything to retort. He’s so tired of everything.
“No last words? Good. We’ve all long since grown tired of your voice.” The kraang aims his hand at Leo, a light beginning to power up inside.
Fine, it’s all fake anyways. This might as well happen. Nothing he can do about it even if he wanted to. Nobody is coming to help him either.
The kraang keeps laughing the more his laser powers up.
No wonder Lou Jitsu always escapes in his more spy themed movies. Death rays take way too long to work.
He tears up.
Leo wishes his dad was here.
The laser finally powers up. The kraang smiles widely. Something red goes up in front of him.
Wait, what?
NO!
The laser fires.
Leo is suddenly grabbed and tossed away into safety.
He tries to quickly stand up, but something stops him.
Raph’s future clone is on keeping him to the ground, hidden behind a broken building where he can still partially see the kraang from before.
The original Raph had bought time for the clone to get Leo to safety.
Both of them were being erased, disintegrated.
Tears stream down Leo’s face as he stares up at the clone who stares back with a smile.
Leo knows fully well that anything he says right now won’t actually be said to anyone.
He says something anyways.
“I love you Raph. Thank you. For everything. I never told you.”
The clone smiles more.
“Big bros always know. Love ya too, Leo. Tell everyone else for me.”
Leo watches as the last parts of his brother’s clone floats away as ninpo into the air.
He’s suddenly somewhere else, but still in this future hell scape.
Donnie’s arm is around his own and Leo sees blooding pouring from a head wound. Usually it makes them look worse than they are and it’s not actually a concern but this definitely looks like it is.
“Leo…..put me down….”
Leo can’t stop crying.
“I told you I’m not leaving you here!”
That’s not his voice.
Well, it is and it isn’t.
Deeper, rougher, far more strained.
“Put me down!” Donnie shoves himself away from him.
Leo falls over trying to catch him but they both end up on the ground.
Oh, he’s supposed to be hurt too.
He sits up and tries to get Donnie up as well.
“I thought this apocalypse made you smarter. I guess you could never be as smart as me, even when they hit me like this….” Donnie says, staying put.
“Shut up! You’re coming with me! Mikey is just a little further!” Leo screams.
Donnie chuckles.
“You won’t even give me a pity laugh? I’m the funny one, papa used to say so.”
Leo desperately tries to stand.
Donnie yanks him back to the ground.
“Leo. Listen. I need a flavor. F-Favor, I mean. Favor….”
Oh.
Donnie’s not making it either.
“Anything, Donnie.”
“Stay here for a minute. It shouldn’t take longer than that.”
Leo chokes back his sobs as he begins clinging to him.
“Okay. I’ll do that.”
“This might be the brain damage, but I want you to keep talking. Don’t stop until….you know. Tell your dumb jokes, even.” Donnie clings to him as well.
Leo takes a shaky, deep breath, then starts talking about anything and everything.
The night sky is clear above them both.
It reminds him of when they shared a room and their ceiling had those glow in the dark starts.
They used to lay together like this and talk all night because of their shared insomnia.
Leo talks and talks and talks, getting some quiet responses from Donnie until eventually he doesn’t.
He doesn’t stop talking or holding until he’s being physically separated by Mikey and some other resistance members.
Leo doesn’t stop talking still. He wants Donnie to respond even thought he knows he never will again.
Mikey hugs Leo tightly and he finally starts crying so hard he can’t talk anymore.
It’s all over as Leo is placed somewhere else again. He knows this part very well. Mikey is shattering into golden pieces in front of him with a big smile.
Leo doesn’t care anymore that he shouldn’t be able to do anything.
He rushes forward and holds onto Mikey’s arm to try to help like his brothers told him they did before.
A chain wraps around Leo, moving him back to Casey just before Mikey fully disintegrates.
He was stupid to try in the first place.
A dumb decision.
Again.
Again.
And again and again and again and again and-
It never stops.
His brothers won’t let him die.
It’s not fair.
He doesn’t want to be the last one left.
It hurts.
He’s tossing Casey into the portal and Leo is gone right after, right in front of him.
Leo is drifting now.
A black, empty void.
He’s even more tired than he was before.
There’s no one else with him. He can’t even be reunited with everyone he lost, or could have lost.
It’s so confusing.
The prison dimension was pretty similar to this place. It’s even more even empty than that somehow though. Probably because kraang prime isn’t here with him.
Leo is completely detached from reality.
His eyes have dimmed as he sits on the floor, against the wall. He’s running out of time for anyone to be able to do anything.
He can’t hear the shouting coming from somewhere outside, not close by but shouting nonetheless.
Mikey noticed first that he was missing and now the others are in a complete panic. They lost him once and now they’re losing him again.
They don’t know how right that is.
As the situation only gets worse, a hand watches, perched up high on the ceiling like some kind of spider who’s carefully watching the webs its made.
There’s already one prey caught.
Three more to go.
Tumblr media
50 notes · View notes
snugglesquiggle · 19 days
Text
i feel a lil bad asking this right when a lot of people are excited for hostile takeover, but for financial reasons, i might need to start putting some of my energy into more serious original projects again.
i'm not pausing HT — i don't think i could stop thinking about those lezbots if i tried — but being able to take breaks to work on other things tends to be good for my energy levels in general.
and honestly, when i first started, i thought HT itself was just going to be a quick break from those projects, and now i'm four months in and my plans keep growing >.>
anyway, the purpose of this post is that i wanted to gauge interest. i know most people follow me for murder drones stuff, but do any of the original stories i'm considering interest you?
more detailed pitches for each of these can be found under the cut. honesty is appreciated.
a note before i pitch them — when i write original fiction, i post it to my site and a site for original fiction called royalroad. i'll probably reserve my ao3 account for, yknow, fanfiction.
the plan is that while the stories will eventually be available publically, supporters to my patreon will get to read several chapters ahead of everyone else.
Aurora Moonrise
It is the nature of comets to dazzle and destroy. These eldritch spirits from beyond the stars grind kingdoms to dust with joyful ease. Only the power of a daughter of the moon can repel them. There are none left. Aurora knows she is different. Her father is a plain man, and her mother is a mystery. Her prismatic hair, her divergent mind, her inability to weave common enchantments — it must come from her mother's side. But her mother is gone and no one will say why or where or anything. It's enough to make her want to fight someone. And Aurora fights — people, animals, spirits, it doesn't matter. She doesn't want to hurt them, but it's thrilling. She'll just have to become a knight — knights get to fight things, right? And knights get answers to who their parents were. When a cursed storm leaves Aurora glowing in the light of the full moon, she awakens new powers she can't control. Powers unheard of, except in those old stories. But the word on the lips of churchmen is witchcraft — communion with unnatural spirits that spells doom. Will she defend humanity? Or is she a threat to it?
pitching this one is hard, because the most interesting thing about is a twist reveal at the end of the first arc. at first, you can see it's framed to suggest — and Aurora initially believes — her mother is a "daughter of the moon", but of course, she's actually a comet.
as the poll option suggests, her inhuman heritage makes urges her to fight and hinders her ability to understand the basics of human social interaction.
this would be a long story, lighter in tone than the others, and structured like a fantasy trilogy, about Aurora journeying across the land doing what she thinks heroes do. along the way, she picks up several party members with their own weird baggage. all of them girls, of course, and it gets very gay by the end — but it's slow going because, yknow, aurora doesn't understand romance, either.
i'm very excited about this project — just thinking about it is enough to get me bouncing. you can actually read a four chapter teaser right now, and i have over 70k words of notes past that, with the whole thing outlined start to finish.
Thy Wretched Mask
Everyone wants to peel off their skin and scream into the night. You're just supposed to keep a handle on that. Beca's trying. Now on the run, she'll just have to get it right in a new town. She's got nothing to her name save a pet raven, but a little pickpocketing will change that. Maybe a burglary or two. As long as she doesn't tear someone's flesh apart in broad daylight, she could keep things controlled. It's a lonely life, but friendship is only temptation. She should just keep to herself. So why does she listen when the woman from the shadows talks? They're making an offer that could lift her off the streets for good. The catch? She has to kill someone. Again. That's definitely too much temptation.
once again, the most interesting parts of this are a surprise. Beca isn't human; she's saddled predatory instincts she doesn't understand. the "fungal possession" comes into play several chapters in. it gets intense enough that i believe it's one of the few times i've teared up while writing something, and it's so far the first and only time i've written something that explores topics of plurality, which is pretty personal to us
i say HT is the first time i've written romance (and it is), but TWM came close, and would have gotten even closer if i continued it.
i've already written over 20k words of this (unpublished), but due to the writing exercise it began as, it requires substantial rewrites; i cringe when i try to reread it, and it honestly makes the prospect of returning a bit unexciting.
this would probably only about the length of a novel. (original projection was novella length, but i think i want to flesh it out more.)
of all of my potential projects, i think this one is probably the biggest thematic overlap with Hostile Takeover. but uh, it's dark enough to make that look like a sappy romance >.<
Running Out of Skin & Time
Tomorrow, a lord will be flayed alive. Once his flesh, freely given, is woven into a vast frame, enchanted scars will turn him into a living portal, a gift that could turn a blightstricken town into a bustling trade nexus. Apnoe has woken up beside the same dead girl three nights in a row. The lord's flaying is tomorrow — same as it was for the last three nights. She's the only one who's noticed. Assassins lurk in the flaying festival's crowds, and when they strike the lord dead, the whole town watches their dreams crumble, and then Apnoe wakes again as if from a dream. She knew this quite well; on the first night, she had killed him. Scarred flesh grants magic. How deep a wound did it take to make every living soul in the city relive the same day? It wasn't Apnoe's, and she doesn't know why only she remembers, but then again, most scar magic treats her differently. After all, she's dead half the time. Apnoe would kill to end this nightmare — but it seems the only way out is saving a man who'll die tomorrow anyway.
of all the options, this story is the least well flesh out (no pun intended), but it has a lot of potential. a "time loop" where a character relives the same day over and over is something not enough stories explore well
(if it means anything to you, the inspiration for this fic was literally just thinking "what if the Shibuya Incident was a time loop?")
i call this "superhero fantasy" because, while i havent figured out the tech level (it's industrial, but how modern?), the magic system gives everyone unique and specific abilities that are easiest to imagine as superpowers.
the time loop effect itself is the rube goldberg interaction of half a dozen powers, and part of the fic is puzzling out just how it works, as well as puzzling out how to overcome the various powers arrayed against the lord.
it would be a very complex, cerebral fic, all about power progression and fight scenes, but at its heart, i want it to be the story of two dead girls who love each other enough to unravel fate itself
A Chimerical Hope
Duskroot is destroyed. A minor stronghold, its enemies were cunning and coordinated and its allies didn't lift a hand. As vultures at a corpse, mercenaries hunt for survivors. Awelah escaped Duskroot. She lost everything. Vengeance drives her, but can she kill a angel beyond death? Ooliri's mission is to aid the refugees. He has to prove he belongs in a family of medical geniuses. But healing isn't enough — can he bring the dead back to life? Makuja seeks safety among the refugees. Death and servitude leaves her gaze empty. It's easy to be a follower, but is there a purpose worth living for? First, the three need answers. A grand scheme is unfolding, and Duskroot was only the first step.
unlike all of the others, this isn't an idea for a story, or a plan for a story, it is a story, one i've written 100k words for. you can read it here
it's set in an expansive setting i've spent literal years thinking about with giant insects empowered by virulent mutant bat blood and cold black corruption pouring out from a hole in the sky.
it's also, shamelessly, only avoids being called naruto fanfiction by dint of sheer weirdness
Aurora Moonrise may be the story i'm most excited about, but ACH is the one with the most ambition and purpose behind it. if i could only ever tell one story in my life, it'd probably make it ACH. it might be over a million words if i ever finish it
but i also think it's probably too weird to get very popular.
And so on
if you can't tell already, i have a LOT of story ideas. before i ever watched murder drones, would you believe i was literally already working on a story about killer lesbian robots on a inhospitable frozen planet haunted by a creeping cosmic horror?
and i'm kind of tempted to work on a story about modular mushroom creatures that live underground. or a fricken pokemon mystery dungeon self-insert i've already finished one chapter of.
and of course, i have several other stories i could continue working on.
but like, the stories i've listed are the ones i can honestly say i might work on right now. and, practically speaking, the stories that might genuinely takeoff, if i dare hope.
9 notes · View notes
tanadrin · 4 months
Note
I consider myself bi but selected the poll result for lowered sexual attraction if the person had different genitals that what I expected. I'm assuming here that "sexual attraction" includes an actual desire/plan to fuck. If there wasn't any intent to *have sex* then I wouldn't find that person less physically or aesthetically hot. For me these two aren't always the same. Primarily the reason I went with that result is that at this time in my life I'm already partnered up with a couple of people I really enjoy having sex with, though I have a few sexual proclivities I don't share with said partners, so when I'm talking with people I'd wanna get into a sexual expirience/relationship with, I've got a few kinks/dynamics/configurations on my bucket list that I'm actively pursuing, (where genital configuration is relevent to those desires) and to be honest, prioritizing based on limited time and energy. I think my answer would be different if I wasn't currently partnered, or had endless time and energy, or felt like all my niches were fulfilled and was just purely dating/hooking up for the novelty of fucking new people (which I do also enjoy but again, finite resources). But, lately, I've mostly been using apps to meet people so usually it's pretty easy to figure out quickly if we're compatible sexually.
The real sexual hang up I do have is that at this point, I have pretty much written off other trans men/afab trans people as potential sexual partners, because of my dysphoria (though I have had great sexual partners in the past who were trans men, this is a thing that developed for me a few years ago and I don't actually expect it to be a long-term/identifying peice of my sexuality, it's just what's happening right now). So if I found out after chatting with a guy that he was trans masc (and I kind of don't care about his surg status/actual genital configuration! it's much more about the weird comparison games I can get into that are substantial boner-killers), I think I'd politely decline to take it further at that point.
Also given the amount of responses you're getting from trans people who previously considered themselves asexual or on the ace spectrum before transitioning/hrt, I find it pretty funny that I haven't run into many people with that expirience irl! I always thought it made sense given that sexuality and gender seem to have a lot to do with each other for a lot of people (I certainly thought I was ace until at least a year or two on T), though I doubt that's innate we live in a society that puts a lot of weight on the interconnectedness of those two.
Anyway don't know if that explains my answer much or just adds to the soup, but I'm digging all the responses.
I'm assuming here that "sexual attraction" includes an actual desire/plan to fuck.
Interesting. I assume that when people talk about "sexual attraction" they explicitly do not mean "an actual desire/plan to fuck." Attraction usually precedes such desire, and can exist even when no follow through is possible or wanted: monogamously paired people, for instance, experience attraction to people who are not their partners all the time.
I know for some people (e.g., many demisexuals) the two might be much more causally connected, but for people like me--i.e., who are pretty horny and have a pretty intense visceral experience of sexual attraction to lots of different people--the two can be quite unconnected. I'm attracted to loads of people I neither could nor would actually have sex with!
14 notes · View notes
icinch · 1 year
Text
How to Build an Email List from Nothing and Get 1,000 Subscribers in Just 7 Days
New Post has been published on https://www.cinchhomebiz.com/how-to-build-an-email-list-from-nothing-and-get-1000-subscribers-in-just-7-days/
How to Build an Email List from Nothing and Get 1,000 Subscribers in Just 7 Days
Tumblr media
Can you pick a topic, build a list of 1,000 and even promote your first product in just 7 days? Yes! Here’s how…
Tumblr media
First of course is to choose your topic or niche. If you want a head start, pick something that will interest your friends – preferably both your friends in real life and your social media friends. Let’s say you’re interested in marketing, and you’ve got some business friends in your hometown as well as more business friends online. This is a good topic choice to hit the ground running.
Next, reach out to those friends you already have a relationship with. Let them know about your new endeavor. In our example case, you might write the following:
Hey George,
Quick question for you: I’m starting a new project where I give out the latest marketing tips for small businesses like yours on how to cheaply get more customers.
Traditional advertising just isn’t cutting it anymore, and we need alternatives that don’t cost a lot and flat out work.
Anyway, thought you might be interested.
I’ll be emailing the latest ‘how-to’ info as I find it.
Want me to include you?
Jill
When they reply back, manually add them to your list. Yes, this takes a little effort, but it’s an excellent way to get started. Go through your phone, email and social media contacts and get as many people as you can this way. Don’t stop until you have a bare minimum of 50. 100 is better.
Next step – create a contest for your new subscribers.
Brainstorm a list of 3 to 5 things you could give to the winner of your contest.
Do a quick poll of your list to see which of those 3 to 5 items they would most like.
Put up a giveaway page and announce it to your list. Use one of the contest sites to make this easy. Your goal is to get them to share it with everyone.
In our example, you might write something like:
Thanks for joining me in my new project!
To kick things off, I’m giving away the book, “How to Get More Customers Than You Need.”
In fact, I’m giving away 5 of them!
And since this email is only going out to 100 people, your odds of winning are pretty darn good.
Here’s what you need to do:
Enter the giveaway by clicking here to leave your email address.
Take the special link you get when you register, and share it with your friends to improve your own odds of winning.
For every friend of yours that joins, you get another entry. Good?
Great! Here’s the link.
Jill
You might be concerned about the cost of the prize(s). You can either give away something you own or have rights to, or you can get a sponsor who gives their products away in exchange for you promoting them to your growing list. Or you can simply buy them yourself.
The point is, don’t let obstacles get in your way. There’s always going to be something – web hosting, web design, copywriting, etc., that tries to throw up a roadblock to slow you down or even stop you in your tracks. Don’t let it. Just keep moving forward and tackle each bump in the road as you get to it.
The main thing is to always stay focused on your objective. In this case, it’s 1,000 subscribers in 7 days, followed by the immediate promotion of your first product. (And don’t sweat this part, either. If you don’t have a product, I have two work-arounds for you coming up.)
Continue to promote your contest. Let other list owners know, let blogs know, let the world know about your contest. If you get one good list owner to tell their list about your contest, that alone can snowball into a thousand subscribers. Remember, those who enter the contest can then promote their own link for more entries, thus further increasing your list size.
The next step is key: Immediately start building rapport and delivering great content to your list. Give them exactly what you promised and a whole lot more. What you send them is of course going to depend on your niche. Just make sure it is info they can use to solve problems and you will do well.
Also inject humor when you can, write like you’re having a conversation with your best friend and enjoy yourself. If you’re having fun creating content, your list is having fun reading or watching it. That’s right – recording videos for your list is a great idea and can work to build rapport far faster than simply sending emails.
Finally it’s time to promote your first product. If you don’t already have a product of your own that fits this list, don’t worry about it. Choose something that your list wants and be an affiliate for that product. If you don’t know what your list wants, take a poll.
And here’s an even better technique than promoting an affiliate product – sell a product you haven’t even created yet. That’s right. Take a poll to find out exactly what they want. Then sell it to them. Let them know if it’s a book or video series or what. Let them know exactly what’s in it for them. Let them know that if you don’t get “x” amount of orders, you won’t make it. And lastly, let them know that because they are preordering before it’s even made, they get special bonuses and / or a special discount. Make it an offer they cannot refuse.
Just think: If you get 50 sales from your new list for $30 each, that’s $1,500 for a product you haven’t even created yet. Your results will vary.
Things to remember:
Your friends want to help you. Sometimes it’s easier to ask strangers for help than it is your friends and family. But the people who know you are the ones who will join your list first and promote your contest first. They get the ball rolling for you because they want to see you succeed.
Don’t hide. Yes, you can email until you’re blue in the face, and you will get results. You can also pick up the phone and call people to let them know about your new endeavor. Guaranteed, those you call will be far more likely to promote your contest and buy your product.
You might even randomly call people from your list just to thank them for joining. They will be blown away. In fact, send out an email to your list telling them you will call them on Skype for a 2 minute chat if they like – just reply with their Skype ID and you’ll call. Even those who don’t answer will be intrigued that you would do something like that. It shows you are a real person who wants to make real connections. And that counts for a lot.
You can also send private messages to people on your list through Facebook and Gmail if they have a Gmail address. Ask what kind of help they might need and what they want to accomplish.
If you want to make more sales of your first product, wait another week or two before promoting to build more trust with your list. Build rapport. Build a relationship. THEN promote your new product or future new product. Sales will likely double the amount you would make by promoting after just the first week.
Continue to build your list. 1,000 subscribers is a good start. Now go for 3,000. You can do it. In fact, it gets easier and easier as you go. Do lots of guest blogging – it’s a great way to list build.
Create a list-building incentive that drives people wild. This will take some brainstorming, but the perfect incentive is one that people would gladly and eagerly pay for with real money. When you figure out what this is for your niche, your list building will skyrocket.
Don’t get lazy. Building a good list quickly takes effort. Building rapport with that list takes even more effort. But in the end it can pay off big. VERY big.
0 notes
skyeet-the-writer · 4 years
Text
The Love Among Us
Chapter 1-- I’d Never Snitch On Daddy
Tumblr media
so i haven’t seen many corpse husband x reader stories on here, so i decided to upload one myself. i’ve been watching jacksepticeye’s among us videos and when i heard corpse talk for the first time, i was like, “hol up” and now i’ve been obsessed with him. also, go stream his music on spotify, it’s amazing. enjoy! x. 
 corpse husband x female!reader
summary: while playing among us, y/n watches corpse kill felix in o2. when his body is reported, however, she doesn’t tell who killed him. 
 word count: ~3.6k
warnings: swearing, mentions of death (not real death), mentions of murder (not real murder)
EDIT: before i wrote this and after i published it, i did not know that corpse did not like to be referred to as “daddy”. had i known this, i would have not even thought of posting this. and since i know now, i won’t refer to him as such in the future. thank you. (10/19/2020)
EDIT 2: this is the first part to my corpse x reader series. i will be adding chapters as we go!
next>
4 rounds before the incident
“I was in coms with PJ!” Sean exclaims. 
“He is doing the liar voice!” Felix shouts with a laugh. 
“I’m not,” Sean tries to say, but everyone talks over him and the voting time ends. Everyone left alive, though it was only four people, had all voted for him and he yells at them as he gets ejected. 
stinky was not the imposter
2 imposters remain
The round ends and everyone unmutes themselves. 
“Lizzie, you saw Felix kill me and you did nothing!” Roomie yells as soon as the round ends and the imposters are revealed. 
“Yeah, because I was the other imposter.”
“Oh. Okay, well that makes sense.”
Everyone laughs and Ken starts the round again. 
“Wait, can I invite y/n to play? She’s doing her twenty-four-hour stream and she just finished playing Monopoly with Mark, Bob, and Wade,” says Lizzie, looking down at her phone as they all appear back in the waiting room. 
“Yes,” Corpse blurts out and there are a few laughs and chuckles. 
“You were quick to answer, Corpse,” Sean teases. 
“Shut up,” Corpse mumbles and there are even more laughs. 
Lizzie smiles and taps into her phone. “I’m gonna invite her.”
~
“I can’t believe that you actually made that deal, y/n,” Wade is telling you after ending the second round of Monopoly that you’ve played with them. 
You smile and cross your legs on your chair. “Look, I was going bankrupt and it seemed good at the time. Besides, Mark was going to win anyway, he owned half of the board.” Your phone buzzes beside you on your desk and you pick it up. “Lizzie texted me.” There’s a sound effect that plays in your headset and you look up at your screen and smile. “Thanks to _lorieplays _for donating a hundred dollars, that means a lot. Thank you so much.”
“Do you want to play another round?” Marks asks. 
You shake your head, reading the text from your friend in England. “No, I don’t want to lose to you again.” You laugh. “Nah, Lizzie wants me to play Among Us with her and a few others. It was fun playing with you guys.”
“It was even though you took all of my money,” Bob snaps. 
You laugh. “Yeah, yeah. See you guys later.”
“Bye,” says Mark.
“See y--” Wade begins but you cut him off when you disconnect from the call. 
“Oops.” You put a hand over your mouth and laugh. “Sorry, Wade. Okay.” You straighten up and glance over everything, making sure it’s all working properly. “I have to pee and I think my roommate ordered pizza, so we’ll be back after this short break. Enjoy this live feed of my pet rats.” You giggle and switch the stream over to a view of your two rats in their cage where you have a camera set up. You take your headset off and head out of your recording room. 
Every two months, you have a twenty-four-hour livestream where you play games with your friends from all around the world. Despite being only twenty-five, your Youtube channel had grown exponentially in the past three years and you’ve had the chance to meet lots of other Youtubers like Markiplier, PewDiePie, and your close friend, LDShadowLady. 
Currently, you’re on hour twenty of twenty-four and you’re beginning to feel the effects of not sleeping for a whole day. You had been drinking coffee and energy drinks for the past four hours and that seemed to perk you up for two hours max. But your roommate had ordered pizza and that would hopefully wake you up. 
After going to the bathroom and grabbing an entire box of pizza, you return to your recording room and sit down. You put your headset back on and eat a slice of pizza before switching the views back to you. “And we’re back. I hope you guys enjoyed my rats because I don’t. They keep me up at night.”
You read a comment while loading up Among Us and laugh. “No, they’re not dead. They’re sleeping. They do that a lot when they’re not fighting.” 
When you finally get into the game and entire the code, you spawn in. You also quickly join the Discord chat and wince when nearly ten voices hit you at once. 
“y/n!” exclaims Lizzie and the other voices die down for a moment before rising to greet you. 
You wince again but laugh. “Jesus, you guys are loud. Hey, Lizzie.” You move your character to the customize tab and go to try and switch your color. But then you frown and realize that you’re stuck with being dark blue. “Damn, I wanted to be white.”
“Do you want to switch?” Corpse asks. 
Your eyes widen you your stomach flips. You hadn’t noticed Corpse was in this game. Immediately, your chat became flooded with keyboard smashing and lots of “omg my shipp” and “y/n rlly said ‘anna oop-’” 
“Uh, yeah, if you don’t mind,” you manage to stutter out and take a bite of pizza as Corpse’s player comes over and the white option becomes available. You select it and also select the goggles in the hats menu. 
“How’s your stream going?” asks Sean. 
You shrug. “Pretty good. I’m super tired, though. I literally almost fell asleep while playing Monopoly with Mark, Wade, and Bob.”
“You went to college, right?” You’re pretty sure that’s Roomie. 
“Yep,” you affirm with a nod even though they can’t see you. “You’d think that those all-nighters writing papers and studying for finals would make me able to do this.”
There’s a laugh in the group and the round starts.
3 rounds before the incident
You scratch your eyebrow and sigh in relief when you’re the crewmate. You mute yourself and slide up in your chair. 
“I like being the crewmate,” you say, heading towards admin as a habit. “It’s a lot less stressful than being imposter.”
After doing your tasks in admin and fueling the engines, you stumble across a dead body in the lower engine and a vent closing. 
“Oh,” you say, and press the report button. You unmute yourself and begin with, “So I saw a vent close but I didn’t see who went in.”
“Who died?” asks Lizzie. 
“Felix,” says Sean. 
You smirk. “It’s always yellow that dies first.”
“Where was the body?” Ken asks. 
“Lower engine,” you reply. 
“I was in medbay with Corpse doing the scan so it wasn’t him,” PJ says and Corpse makes a noise of confirmation. 
This makes your cheeks heat up and you smack a hand over your mouth. Your chat explodes again but you decide to ignore it. 
“And I was doing wires in cafeteria,” Lizzie says. 
“Sean, where were you?” 
“I was in reactor doing the simon says thing,” he answers. 
You sigh. “I hate that one. What about you, Ken?”
“I was with Roomie in electrical doing the power thing. You know, the one where you have to divert it somewhere else.”
“So do we skip then?” asks Lizzie. 
“No one is super sus, so I’m going to skip,” you answer. 
When no one is ejected, you mute yourself again. “I dunno why, but Sean seems pretty sus. Because I didn’t see him on the way down from upper engine. But I guess he could have gotten there in time.” You shrug and run over to the trash chute in the cafeteria. “RIP to Felix, though.”
After doing the trash there, you head down to storage, running into Corpse doing the wires in there. You wait there to clear him and once you do, you run a few circles around him to get his attention and he follows you over to the trash in storage and watches you do that. After that, the two of you head over to electric together and do wires there. 
Suddenly, there’s a body reported and you unmute yourself. 
“Sean just killed Lizzie in front of me!” exclaims PJ. 
“PJ killed Lizzie,” Sean retorts, flipping the blame. “I watched it, he didn’t realize I was there and murdered her.”
“I watched PJ do the scan in medbay, he’s cleared,” Corpse says and you find yourself smiling for no reason. “Sean, you killed Lizzie.”
“I knew he was sus,” you say, grabbing another piece of pizza. You look at the box and your eyes widen. Had you really already eaten half of it?
“Wait wait, how am I sus?” Sean asks. 
You take a moment to swallow. “Because when I was doing fuel earlier, I was running down from upper engine and didn’t see you in reactor. Sure, maybe you could have gotten there earlier, but it was super weird.” 
The discussion time ends and PJ immediately goes to vote for Sean as well as you, Corpse, and everyone else still alive. Sean ends up getting ejected. 
stinky was an imposter 
1 imposter remains
“You’re such a detective, y/n,” Sean says when he gets ejected. 
You laugh. “I just play this game too much.” You then mute yourself and smile. “I am a genius.” 
You end up finishing your tasks quickly after that and then stand in the cafeteria and eat another piece of pizza and read some of the chat. 
“’ What am I going to do after this?’ I don’t know. I might play some Minecraft. Should I have a poll on Twitter? I’m stuck between public Among Us games, Minecraft, and taking random quizzes on Buzzfeed.” You smile and hear another sound effect and something pops up on the screen. “Thank you to coochie man for donating a hundred dollars, that means a lot.” You laugh at their name. “I love your name, by the way.” 
There’s some rattling in the cage behind you and you turn around to see one of your rats drinking water. You turn back to the chat and read another comment. “’ Do you have a crush on Corpse?’” You blush and smile, biting your lip. “I mean, his voice is hot. I’ve never met him since he lives in San Diego and I live in h/t, but yeah, I guess I do. I’ve been listening to his music for the past few days and it’s really good, you guys should go check it out.”
You look up and unmute yourself when a body is reported. “Who died?” you ask. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Are you already done with your tasks, y/n?” Corpse asks. 
God, even the way he says your name is making you blush. “Yeah, I get them done quick.”
“She does that,” says Lizzie, “She always gets her tasks done quick.”
“Ken is dead by the way,” says Roomie and your snort, smacking a hand over your mouth. “I found him in the hallway by navigation. Where was everyone else?”
“I was in cafeteria doing nothing,” you say, leaning back in your chair and spinning around just a little. “I think I saw PJ downloading while I was in there, but I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Yeah, I was downloading,” says Ken. 
After more discussion, Corpse points out that Jaiden had been following him and it looked like she had been faking tasks. 
“No I haven’t,” she says. 
“That sounds like something the imposter would say,” you hum with a smirk. “That’s pretty sus, Jaiden.”
Everyone else agrees and you all end up voting Jaiden out. 
jaiden was the imposter
0 imposters remain
You cheer as the round ends and a blue victory screen pops up for the crewmates. “Good game, guys,�� you say and play again, waiting for the host. 
~
1 round before the incident 
“Oh my god, I’m imposter again?” you groan and sigh when you spawn back in. “I was just imposter, I don’t want to be it again. I’m so bad at it,”
After another short round of you and Felix losing to the crewmates, you all agreed to play two more rounds before Sean had to leave. So you move your character to admin where PJ is and fake the card swipe before moving over to the admin security thing where you could see who was around where. Luckily, no one appeared to be near admin, so you quickly kill PJ and escape through the vent and come out through medbay. 
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” you whisper over and over, running down to storage. “That was clean.” You fake getting fuel and go back up to the upper engine. 
When PJ’s body is reported, you see that your fellow imposter, Sean, had reported it. You stay silent for most of the round and only say that you were in the fuel area when it was reported. 
“Yeah, I saw her run past electrical earlier,” Corpse says. You blush and glance at your exploding chat and shake your head. 
After everyone skips the round, you mute yourself once more and head towards navigation. “I hate this.” You drag the last syllable and watch Lizzie enter the room. You wait a moment before walking towards her and killing her, jumping into one of the vents. You let out a sigh and flex your fingers. “I’m so stressed.” You exit out of the vent into shields and your heart stops when you see someone else in there but you realize that it’s the other imposter, Sean, and you relax. 
You run past him and go to the trash compartments and pretend to unload those. And that’s how the rest of the round goes. You kill someone, someone reports it and you vote someone off. Eventually, you and Sean do a double kill and end up winning the round.
You unmute yourself. 
“Let’s go!” Sean exclaims and you smile. 
“I can’t believe you killed me, y/n!” shouts Lizzie. “I thought we were friends.”
You laugh. “There are no friends in this game. I’m not loyal to anyone in this game. You could be my best friend and I would fucking murder you.”
“That’s cold,” says Roomie as everyone else spawns back in. 
“Yeah,” you nod. 
“Wait, PJ disconnected,” says Sean, and you all end up waiting for him to rejoin. 
In that time, you look at your chat and say, “Hey, do you guys have any questions for who I’m playing with. I’m asking you, chat.”
“I swear if someone asks about my hands, I’m leaving,” Corpse says and everyone laughs. 
You laugh louder when you read a comment and read it aloud, “_Ironlady _says that you should be a hand model, Corpse.”
“Okay, I’m leaving,” you hear Corpse say over everyone laughing. 
“No, stay!” you exclaim, trying not to laugh. “C’mon, don’t leave.”
He sighs deeply and your brain goes fuzzy. “Fine. I’ll stay for you.”
You beam and your tummy turns. You ignore the whistles and remarks from everyone else and stand beside Corpse. You suddenly wish that the little bean characters could hold hands. 
When PJ joins the server again, Ken starts the round and you cross your fingers, hoping to get crewmate. 
0 rounds before the incident
You mute yourself and sigh when you’re a crewmate. “Thank god.” You let out a breath and go over to admin with everyone else. You swipe your card and go to the cafeteria to do some wires there. 
The game turns out to be rather uneventful. A few people die and two people are voted off before the game gets truly interesting. And that happens when you walk in on Corpse and Felix. 
“I’ve had this song stuck in my head for days,” you’re saying, walking from electrical over to O2. “And I can’t get it out of my head. Maybe singing it will help.” You hum the first part. “Don't go in there, you'll become one. Freaky creatures, monster party. Eyes of yellow, scales and feathers, tails in tethers. Turn the lights off. Bend the nightmare, you control it. Artful dodger, easy does it. Shut the closet, get under the covers. Snakes and lovers. Turn the lights off.” You do a little dance for a moment and continue hum the song, glancing at the chat as you go towards O2 after doing wires in storage. 
“Like, I know the song, it’s just been stuck in my head,” you explain. “And it kind of annoys me--”
But you stop as you enter O2 and watch Corpse murder Felix. Neither one of you move and you don’t know what to do. “Uhhh.” 
Then, without thinking, you turn straight around and make your way away from the scene of the murder. “I didn’t see anything!” you shout to no one. “I suddenly can’t see who murdered Felix.” You smack a hand over your mouth and stand in the middle of a hallway. “Oh my god, what do I do? I don’t want to snitch on Corpse, he’s hot.” You scratch the back of your neck and shrug, continuing on to reactor. “I didn’t see anything.”
You’re in the middle of doing the simon says in reactor when Felix’s body is reported. You unmute yourself and fidget with the sleeve of your hoodie. You know exactly who killed Felix. 
“--was in O2,” says Jaiden and you focus back into the conversation. “And I didn’t see anyone around.”
“I saw you heading that way, y/n, but I know it wasn’t you because I saw you do the trash in storage.”
You look at the screen when Sean talks to you and you chew your lip. “I know who killed Felix.”
“Who?” asks almost everyone at the same time. 
You close your eyes and swallow. It’s just a game, why are you taking this so seriously? Suddenly, a song lyric pops into your head and your stomach flips. You imagine yourself saying it and no one knows who you mean except for him. 
You open your eyes. “I’d never snitch on daddy.”
There’s a laugh in the chat and you blush fiercely, your livestream chat blowing up once again.
“I think we know who it is, then,” says Sean, laughing. 
“Yeah,” agrees Lizzie and your eyes widen. 
“Wait, what?” you ask, watching everyone vote almost as soon as the discussion time ends. “Wait, hang on, who--”
“We know who you’re talking about, y/n,” PJ tells you. 
You vote for yourself and your brain goes blank as you see that everyone voted for Corpse. He even voted for himself. They knew. They all _knew _about your feelings for Corpse. 
The round ends with Corpse being voted out and the crewmates win. There’s some talking, but you stay on the victory screen. You’re trying to decide if your mad or embarrassed or both. 
“I didn’t know you’d say that, y/n,” Corpse says, effectively breaking you out of your trance. “I thought you were gonna snitch on me.”
“You heard her,” teases Lizzie and you can tell she’s grinning. “She’d never snitch on you, Corpse.”
He laughs and you feel something in a certain place. “Oh my god, I’m gonna die of embarrassment.” You put your face in your hands, listening to your friends tease you in the chat. You suddenly want to jump out your window and run into traffic. 
“Don’t die,” comes Corpse’s voice through the onslaught of teasing. “I’ll be sad.”
“Fuck!” you shout and slam your hand on your desk, shaking your equipment and scaring your rats. “I’m so sorry, Corpse, that was really weird, I--”
“Stop.” He interrupts you and the chat goes silent and you look up at the screen even though you can’t see him. “It’s okay. It was funny.”
Your eyes widen and then narrow. Funny? He thought what you said was funny? How could he think it was funny?
But then he speaks again and he sounds oddly flustered. “Uh, I gotta go. Um, it was fun playing with you guys. Bye, y/n.”
“Bye Cor--” but then he disconnects and you’re left talking to no one. “--pse.”
There’s a long moment of silence until Felix breaks it. “I can’t believe you just watched me die and didn’t do anything about it.”
There are some laughs and you smile faintly, rejoining the game. “Yeah, uh, sorry about that.”
“Are you okay, y/n?” asks Lizzie. 
You blush and swallow. “I don’t know. God, I’m so weird.” You run a hand through your hair and adjust your headphones
“No, you’re not,” Roomie assures you. “He has a crush on you, too.”
Your eyes widen and you scoot up in your chair. “He does?”
“I mean, he called you pretty once during a game and said that he watches your videos a lot, so maybe.”
You groan and sink in your chair. “I’m gonna go, I need to run into traffic now.”
A few people laugh or chuckle and Lizzie asks you if you’re actually going to leave. 
“Yeah,” you tell her. “But not to run into traffic. I’m going to go play Minecraft to soothe myself.”
“Aw.” You can practically hear her frown. “Okay. Bye, y/n.”
“Good luck with your stream,” Ken tells you. 
You grin. “Okay, thanks, bye.”
When you exit the game and leave the chat, you scream. You actually scream and it’s loud. Your roommate even knocks on your door, asking if you’re okay. 
You look at them and nod. “Yeah, totally fine. Probably about to have a mental breakdown, but I’m fine.”
“Okay,” they say and lean on the doorframe. “But I’m not cutting bangs for you again.”
You laugh and nod. “Yeah, okay, fine.” They leave and you turn back to your stream, feeling like you’re about to cry. Corpse knows you have a crush on him. And it seems like he has one on you as well, but now you’re embarrassed because you called him ‘daddy’ on stream.
You rub your eyes. “Well, now I know what’ll be streaming on Twitter tonight,” you tell the chat. 
5K notes · View notes
makeste · 3 years
Text
but I just feel too tired to be fighting
this is a follow-up post to what I said in my recap the other day about this arc being the Deku Angst arc, as opposed to the Villain Hunt arc or the Deku SIXQUIRKS Exhibition arc. I feel like the fandom discussion tends to focus on the flashier parts of the chapters -- the sexy villains and the new quirk reveals and the Shindous -- each week, and so the quieter emotional beats sometimes get overlooked, especially since the character arc here is playing out in little bits and pieces over time rather than all at once.
this has always been a very reactionary fandom, and there’s a tendency to judge the chapters week to week without ever going back to look at how they all fit into the big picture. so I figured I would try to attempt that, and basically go chapter by chapter here to look at what exactly Horikoshi is setting up and how it all fits together.
so let’s start with the end of chapter 306, which is when the arc officially kicks off. specifically with the very last page:
Tumblr media
this is imo one of the best pages Horikoshi has ever drawn. I got the sense that this was a scene he’d had in his mind’s eye for quite a long time, and that he was excited to finally get to this part of the story. it’s extremely effective as both a chapter-ender, and an arc-opener. like, look at this:
it establishes the initial premise of the new arc -- the world is in chaos, and Deku is now seemingly on his own
it leaves the readers with a number of questions. why did Deku leave U.A.?? is he really on his own now?? why does he look so beat-up and exhausted?? what is he up to?? what is the world like now that all these villains have been unleashed and the heroes have been decimated?? and most importantly of all, what the fuck is going to happen next??
it pays homage to some of Horikoshi’s comic book influences -- Batman in particular
it dramatically hits us with that “THE FINAL ACT BEGINS” and lets us know that shit is getting real now
that’s some good shit. so much so that I think people tended to overlook the other notable thing about this page amidst all of the initial excitement and discussion and speculation about where the series was headed. and that is the fact that the final panel in this chapter is NOT the panel of Deku standing above the city. the very last panel, the one that this chapter actually ends on, is instead the close-up of Deku’s face. his face, which is covered in shadow; and his eyes, which have dark circles under them and are prominently missing the usual flecks of light that give him his signature “sunny optimistic shounen protagonist” look.
Tumblr media
not to mention this last line here, which is a call back to the very first time we saw the 14-year-old Deku way back in chapter one.
Tumblr media
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Horikoshi chose to throw this reference in. nor is it a coincidence that THIS is the scene he actually chose to end the chapter on. what this does is show us the drastic shift in Deku’s emotional state of mind, and his attitude towards being a hero. he’s gone from being thrilled and excited to being jaded and exhausted. he’s matured, but at a great cost. it’s always been his dream to be a hero, but “be careful what you wish for” is a popular adage for a reason. and right now he looks the furthest thing from happy.
and this is the emotional beat that Horikoshi chooses to end the chapter on. this is the panel that closes out the War arc, and begins the final act. to me the message could not be clearer -- this arc will be about the exploration of Deku’s character, and his struggle as he tries to live up to the expectations that have been placed on him as the Last Holder of OFA and quite possibly the World’s Only Hope.
it’s a character arc that builds on a lot of the things we’ve already learned about Deku over the course of the series, such as the fact that he is reckless, and that he focuses on others often at the expense of himself. but more importantly, it’s an arc that finally expands on the dark side of what has up until now been a net positive for Deku -- the power of OFA. up until this point, despite its ups and downs, it’s been a boon for Deku overall and has allowed him to pursue his dream. but now we’re finally reaching the point where the monkey’s paw part of the OFA blessing/curse finally starts to come into play. OFA gives Deku more power than he could have ever dreamed of, but it also comes with a built-in destiny that he can’t opt out of whether he likes it or not. AFO is on the loose and out there trying to destroy the world. and now everyone has pinned their hopes on this sixteen-year-old kid, and the question of whether or not the sixteen-year-old kid is ready is apparently not one that anyone feels inclined to ask (possibly because they’re afraid that the answer might be “no”).
he doesn’t have a choice in the matter. he has to do it, because there’s no one else who can. that’s the kind of pressure that is on Deku now.
and on that note, we begin the Deku Angst arc.
chapter 307
this in hindsight was mostly just a set-up chapter to better establish the current state of the BnHA world at large (spoilers: it’s not good), while also providing an answer for one of the big initial questions of the arc -- namely, “what happened to all of those villains that AFO released from Tartarus?” these are important things to touch on, but the pacing could definitely have been better, and the bulk of the chapter was dedicated to providing fanservice to all of the Shindou fans who spammed the most recent popularity poll (which, whatever lol). anyway, so this was the sole chapter thus far with absolutely no Deku development. thankfully the arc picks up from there.
chapter 308
on to the next one! this was the one and only chapter thus far which I think actually qualifies as an “exhibition fight.” this was definitely all about showing off Deku’s current powerset, as well as introducing us to another of the SIXQUIRKS. however, there was Deku development here as well, most notably in this scene:
Tumblr media
this is the scene that got a lot of people speculating that this arc was going to focus on Deku hunting down all of the old villains. but I think people got so caught up in that speculation that they overlooked what this scene tells us about Deku’s mindset. and yes, there is new information being revealed here, and it’s not just a rehash of the stuff we already knew. like yes, we know that Deku was shaken up by the recent encounters with Dabi and Tomura, and we know that made him start questioning why villains become villains in the first place, and all that good stuff, and that’s great. however, there are two additional important things that this scene helps establish for us.
the upcoming battle with TomurAFO is weighing heavily on Deku’s mind. this is something that will become a recurring theme in this arc. Deku is thinking about this constantly. the question of what to do when he finally encounters TomurAFO again is knocking incessantly at the back of his mind, and this won’t be the last time it comes up.
Deku is using these villain encounters as test runs. can Tomura be redeemed?? is he just being stupid and naïve?? or is this really something worth attempting?? the interesting thing about this is that Deku’s resolve to save people is usually so strong and unwavering that it’s more than enough to overcome any doubts that he might have. but this time it seems like the repeated objections posed by the Vestiges and Gran Torino have really gotten to him. it’s possible I’m just reading way too much into things, but to me it really feels like Deku’s recent attempts at Talk no Jutsu were meant to do more than just show his growing awareness that the line between heroes and villains is thinner than he once imagined. they’re also serving as trial runs for the real test, when it finally comes. if he can “save” even a villain like Muscular, there’s hope for him being able to save Tomura as well. and so that moment when Muscular rejects him out of hand is all the more disappointing to him, even if it wasn’t really unexpected. basically it wasn’t the answer that he had been hoping for.
aside from those little notes though, like I said, this was unquestionably an exhibition fight first and foremost. which is fine; we needed to establish where Deku is currently in terms of strength, and it was also just fun to see him kick some ass, ngl. in terms of story purpose this chapter was similar to 219, which showed us how Shouto and Katsuki had powered up after getting their provisional licenses. people who don’t care about those characters might argue that these fights weren’t necessary, but as someone who stans all three characters hard, I would disagree! but anyways, moving on.
chapter 309
in contrast to the previous chapter, this chapter focuses more on establishing Deku’s current mental state, as opposed to his physical state. and this is what we learn:
(1) Deku is ~technically~ being shadowed/accompanied by All Might and the Hawksquad (but in practice he’s avoiding them).
Tumblr media Tumblr media
(2) it was Deku’s own decision to leave U.A., and he did it because he didn’t want anyone else getting hurt in order to protect him.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
and finally, (3) Deku’s game plan is to stop Tomura and All for One before they reach full power.
Tumblr media
this last part is very important, because it means there’s a countdown in effect. as far as Deku is concerned, there’s only a finite amount of time before TomurAFO becomes unstoppable. which means that he’s not only under “gotta get stronger” pressure, but time pressure as well. he doesn’t have the luxury of taking his time and training in safety. he’s being rushed now; this is do-or-die.
this chapter is also the first in this arc in which we get to see Deku’s expressions without the hood covering up his face, and what we see is very telling. as previously stated, the light is gone from Deku’s eyes. he keeps his expressions very neutral, and the only time we even see a hint of a smile is when he hugs his mom in the flashback, and it’s clear from the dialogue (“it’s okay, I’ll come home to you”) that he’s doing it for her sake in order to comfort her.
but aside from that, this is very much not the Deku we’ve grown accustomed to. this is the chapter that really establishes his current mental state imo. above all else, he’s afraid that more people will get hurt because of him, and so he’s distancing himself from everyone around him. and he’s also morbidly preoccupied with the inevitability of having to face TomurAFO again, and soon. the chapter ends on the flashback of Gran giving him his cape, and telling Deku that “killing can be another way to save someone.” there’s a lot on this kid’s mind, to say the least.
chapter 310
this chapter opens with a gang of civilians who are trying to open fire on a nice fox lady whose only crime was walking around in the rain at night. Deku intervenes to save her, and it’s the first time in this arc that we see anything close to the “old” Deku, who just wanted to save people with a smile.
Tumblr media
but it’s bittersweet, because all the lady can talk about is how scared she was, and how horrible everything is right now. and so Deku, who feels responsible in a lot of ways for everything that’s happened, just feels that much more pressure to somehow make things right again.
Tumblr media
there’s also this extra throwaway line which is especially heartbreaking:
Tumblr media
“I can’t afford to be around anyone.” fucking ouch. just reinforcing once more how incredibly isolated Deku is right now -- not by choice, but because he feels like it’s not safe to let anyone else get close to him. and so he’s out here running around this dystopian cityscape in the middle of the night in the pouring rain all on his own, and neglecting himself to the point where All Might practically has to force a bento on him.
but does he complain? of course not. because his focus is never on himself. instead, when he settles down to eat, his thoughts immediately drift back to, guess who...
Tumblr media
it’s that time pressure once again. “unless I draw out One for All’s full power, I can’t stop any of this.” it’s just nonstop, I have to get stronger, I’m running out of time, I have to do better, and constantly thinking about that inevitable confrontation.
Deku is a thinker, you guys. and when left to his own devices he will overthink, every time. his mind will run in endless loops while he mentally works his way through all of the possibilities. and that’s one of his greatest strengths, don’t get me wrong, but at a time like this it’s also one of his greatest weaknesses. it’s just so fucking easy for him to get stuck in his own head, in his endless rambling thoughts and analyses. and without anyone else there to help distract him, or help him focus, he’s become fixated on his mission, and it’s slowly consuming him.
this, incidentally, is also the chapter in which we finally see Two and Three’s faces, and learn why Two in particular is so reluctant to lend his power to Deku. he appears to be the lone holdout at this point, so stay tuned on that, because I don’t doubt this will wind up being crucial to Deku’s future development, however it winds up playing out.
chapter 311
this chapter flips back to the Hawksquad for the first half, so we get a brief respite from the ongoing Dekuangst. right before we switch back though, we do get confirmation of something we had pretty much already guessed:
Tumblr media
like, that much was already apparent based on what we’d seen (the bags under his eyes; the fact that he refused to sit still in any one place for very long even at night), but it’s always nice to get the official confirmation so that people can’t dispute it lol. so yeah, Deku isn’t sleeping much. and not eating much either, if all he’s getting is the occasional bento from Dadmight. so basically not taking care of himself at all, huge shocker there. but this is something that’s important enough to the story that Horikoshi took the time to point it out in the dialogue, in addition to all of the visual clues we’d already gotten.
and just in case we needed to drive that point in any further, this chapter ends with the appearance of Lady Nagant! like yeah, no shit Deku isn’t getting much sleep, what with him having to fend off racist civilians and hired assassins every five fucking minutes. smdh. can he live??
chapter 312
so this is the chapter that properly introduces Lady Nagant, who maaaay or may not be one of the primary antagonists of this arc?? like, it’s really unclear right now tbh, but she gets hyped up by Hawks and AFO, and has a flashback and a mysterious past and a weird trump card (where did you go, Overhaul) and all that good shit, so yeah? one can hope at any rate.
but anyway. so to his credit, Deku’s first thought is to retreat, but he quickly abandons that plan once he figures out Nagant’s location. this is played off like a logical strategic decision at first, but the subsequent chapter quickly makes it clear that Deku’s decision to take the fight to Nagant is less rational than he might have you think.
chapter 313
so yeah. last but not least, the most recent chapter, in which Deku’s real reason for targeting Lady soon becomes apparent:
Tumblr media
what’s more, it quickly becomes clear that he miscalculated and probably would have been better off following Hawks’s advice, seeing as he promptly gets himself shot, and subsequently realizes that AFO gave Nagant an extra quirk, something he hadn’t taken into account. but instead of cutting his losses and running at this point, he doubles down instead and not only breaks out Smokescreen, but also the Third’s quirk which he has never even used before.
it’s worth noting that both En and the Third start telling him to chill at this point, and warn him that what he’s attempting is too dangerous. but tbh if they were expecting him to listen, they haven’t been reading the same arc I’ve been reading. once again, Horikoshi makes it clear that Deku has one thing and one thing only on his mind right now.
Tumblr media
of course. once again it all comes back to this. hunt down AFO. it doesn’t matter that he’s exhausted. it doesn’t matter that he’s just been shot twice. it doesn’t matter that Hawks, despite knowing what Deku was capable of with his OFA abilities, specifically warned him away from this one person only. it doesn’t matter that even the Vestiges are trying to tell him you’re going too fast and you’re trying to do too much and it’s too dangerous.
he just doesn’t care. long story short, the only thing that matters to Deku right now is tracking down and defeating TomurAFO. and as the person who knows him best once so aptly put it, “he doesn’t take himself into account.” and therein lies the major challenge of this arc.
and so this is where we’re currently at now. and this has been a very long post, but if nothing else, I hope I was able to get this one point across: there is absolutely no way that Deku will be able to defeat TomurAFO as he is now. not a chance in hell. somehow he’s managed the uncommon feat of waging a war of attrition against himself, which is really quite an accomplishment. he’s not taking care of himself, and he’s refusing to listen to sound advice from the people surrounding him, and is trying to skip ahead to the final boss battle before he’s ready, because the guilt and pressure from feeling responsible for the current situation are eating him up. the only way that the world can go back to normal is if he can defeat AFO; therefore he has to do it as soon as possible, because time is running out and everyone is counting on him. this is who Deku is. and this is what inevitably happens when his saving mentality is taken to extremes, and left unchecked.
anyway so to wrap up this post now, I do think this arc is a lot more cohesive than it’s gotten credit for thus far, and Deku is the glue holding it all together. I for one am loving the exploration of his character and all the subtle little angsty touches as we build up to the big moment, whenever it finally comes. just keep in mind though that if his decisions right now seem reckless and short-sighted, it’s because they’re supposed to seem that way, because Deku is not in a good mental state right now. the cracks are finally showing in our perfect protagonist, just like everyone has been wanting this whole time. he is just a kid. he is doing his best. he is trying far too hard to do his best, and it is hurting him so badly, but he doesn’t even realize. this arc is not an endorsement of the Angsty Nomad Hero lifestyle, lol. it’s the exact fucking opposite, and I think it’s being wildly misinterpreted with all of the emphasis on “oh look at that, he mastered another quirk with no effort”, as opposed to “oh look at that, he is shutting down emotionally and is a few more missed nights of sleep away from a complete and total breakdown.”
tl;dr the overarching storyline of this arc is all about Deku slowly falling apart due to his trauma from Jakku, and the subsequent pressure that was put on him by the Vestiges with their whole “GUESS WHAT, YOU’RE THE LAST USER OF OFA, THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S ALL ON YOU BUDDY” pep talk. and mark my words, things are not going to go according to plan. something is going to go terribly wrong here. whether it’s something happening to All Might, or AFO setting up a trap for him, either way Deku is being set up to fail in a major way. unless of course, someone (or a group of someones) manages to intervene first, and possibly stage an intervention or something. it’s what he needs right now, but idk if Horikoshi is going to make it that easy.
anyway, but in other words, the point of this arc is not to show how much stronger Deku has gotten and how he doesn’t even need his friends anymore. it’s the exact opposite -- the point of this arc is to show that Deku needs his friends now more than ever. that in spite of OFA and all of its mystical trappings and fancy SIXQUIRKS, Deku can’t do this alone. he needs his friends. that’s the core message. and right now, we are at the “I can get by on my own” part of the story. and the part we are all waiting for, but which is coming -- I guarantee it is coming, you guys -- is “the thing is, you don’t have to.”
and that shit is going to slap hard you guys. and I for one can’t wait. but until then, enjoy the angst.
490 notes · View notes
babbushka · 4 years
Text
Hide Your Smile
Tumblr media
Flip Zimmerman x Reader 
11.5k ; Warnings for: Dark!fic (graphic depictions of violence [drunken violent outbursts, domestic violence, domestic abuse {physical and verbal}], blood and gore, graphic brutal murder, mild stalking, possessive behavior), & NSFW content (Car sex/fingering)
Also available on AO3!
(this fic was written in collaboration with my amazing friends and followers here. Thank you all so much for voting in the polls to determine this oneshot, I hope you enjoy it!)
                                                       --------------------
You don't own me I'm not just one of your many toys You don't own me Don't say I can't go with other boys
And don't tell me what to do Don't tell me what to say And please, when I go out with you Don't put me on display 'cause
You don't own me...
Darkness, all around.
Nothing but hot wet earth, mud sinking under your feet, swallowing you whole.
Rain, thudding against the ground, against your back as you are chased by a monster in the night, bitter breath haunting the back of your neck, the hair rising on your arms only to be drenched down by the torrential downpour flooding your lungs.  
The world blurs around you, and you can’t tell, can’t tell which way is up, which way is forward. Things feel slow, thick, you blink but the spots only multiply. There’s a rush in your ears, a gruesome thud thud thudding – is that your pulse? You don’t know.
Blood stings your eyes, dirt caked into the backs of your molars. You can’t see, you can’t hear, you don’t know what’s going on, you see lights in the distance but when you run towards them they seem farther and farther away. Claws and teeth nip at your heels, you can’t stop running, can’t stop no matter how badly your legs ache, because if you stop even for just a moment, he’ll get you, and who knows what will become of you then.
Somewhere far away, a million miles away, Leslie Gore sings and your friends dance in a cookie cutter house in a cookie cutter town. But there in the woods, as something closes around your arm and drags you down to the ground,
you scream.
The party had been going well enough, hadn’t it? Josh hadn’t taken his hand off of you all evening, and wasn’t that something just dandy. Things had been getting tense between the two of you lately, you try not to think about all those heated arguments and cold shoulders that your boyfriend had dropped atop your head. You could ignore all of that now, he didn’t mean it, you knew that.
Maybe he did mean it, but he wasn’t meaning it now, as he dances with you in the dimly lit living room. You weren’t so sure what time it even was, gosh the rain was coming down so hard and making the skies nearly pitch black; why, it coulda been two in the morning for all you knew!
You give a strained smile to Josh for a brief moment, before laying your head back down on his chest. You think he looks relatively dashing tonight, dressed up for the party. New Year’s Eve 1962, could you believe it? Or well, it’d be 1962 in a couple minutes, but still.
You wore a mini-dress with the grooviest pattern you could find, some bright purple tights and white block heels, and you’d done your hair up so high you were sure you could feel it swaying on top of your head. It was very on trend these days, this sort of hairstyle. From what you could tell, anyway. You knew that this party was important for Josh, was important that he show up and make a good appearance with his football buddies, there were guys here that knew NFL draft scouts and he needed to impress them so he could get on their good side.
You wanted to look nice. He looked nice too, in his letterman jacket and jeans. Maybe he could have dressed up a little more, put a little more effort in. It was alright, it was fine. He gelled his hair down, that was more than you were expecting.
Thunder cracks across the sky and you involuntarily press yourself closer to him – he’ll hold you, won’t he? You wait for his arms to tighten around you, but they never do. Disappointed, but not surprised, you think.
“What’s your problem babe?” He asks, his voice slurred. You realize you’ve stopped dancing, stopped the short back and forth of your feet and he’d picked up on that.
“Nothing Josh. Just you know, the thunder and all.” You shrug, but he only scoffs and rolls his eyes.
“It’s not even real, it can’t hurt you, get a grip.” Josh steps away from you, away from the dance floor.
There are prying eyes there in the dark, and you’re embarrassed by the volume in his voice. He doesn’t realize how loud he can be sometimes, you know that, especially when he’s a little more buzzed than normal. He’s been getting more and more buzzed these days, you didn’t think it was good, was healthy. Just because he was of legal drinking age didn’t mean that you should dump alcohol into your body, not the way he did anyway.
“Right, of course Josh, sorry.” You grit your teeth, clench your jaw.
“Why don’t you go get me another beer, make yourself useful.” He dismisses you, turning towards his group of friends on the football team, towards bigger and stronger boys than he is, an attempt to weasel his way inside their group.
You’ve had quite enough of being dismissed, pushed aside. You’ve had enough. You’d been thinking of leaving him for a while, thinking about telling him what for, for once and for all. It never felt like the right time, something about him always made you feel like something bad would happen if you tried. But you’re at a point where you’re not being given any other choice.
You watch him laugh with his friends, with these college seniors, big boys on campus, and your heart races in your chest. A very small part of your brain fantasizes late at night about killing him, pushing him off some cliff or into traffic, an accident. Always an accident.
You’d never do it of course – of course not. Good girls didn’t kill their star athlete boyfriends.
But.
But maybe���maybe if something were to happen to him, you wouldn’t be so upset, would you?
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink?” The words tumble past your lips without much thought, and you don’t really even register it until the whole group of jocks go silent and Josh turns around slowly, menacingly, to stare you down.
“…What the fuck did you just say?” His voice is low, angry.  
“You’re supposed to drive me back home after this, I just want to make sure you’ll be alright to drive.” You’re unrelenting, shoulders square and jaw tight. If he thought he was going to be a jackass to win brownie points, then he had another thing coming.
The jocks only sip their beers, carefully watching. You wonder if any of them would come to your defense, but their silence is telling. You decide you hate them.
“I didn’t ask for your fucking opinion, I asked you to get me a fucking beer.” Josh shoves his red cup into your hand and you decide you hate him too.
Without another word, you accept the cup and with a forced smile, make your way to the kitchen where people are crowded by kegs and bottles.
You give a small sigh while you pour a cup of whatever shitty draft they’d gotten for the party. Part of you wishes you hadn’t come at all, you knew it could have only ended like this, being ignored and belittled all evening.
You wish that Flip were there, and you sigh again.
Philip ‘Flip’ Zimmerman, your best friend. The handsome basketball player, the guy who’s got his life together. A good job at the lumbermill, probably going to be a manager or something, the CEO one day. Smart, so smart! You can’t help but think of how many nights he tutored you for math with gentle eyes. And funny, and kind, and nice to you. He’s a couple years older than you and probably doesn’t think of you as anything other than a friend, but…but for a moment, you imagine what it might be like to call Flip your man.
You wonder if Flip would hold you tight when the thunder cracks across the sky, and a small smile threatens to creep up on your face. He definitely would, he’s done it before, hasn’t he? Given you his jacket to keep you dry from the rain, strong arms around your shoulders. Your cheeks begin to warm at the thought, at the way you can practically smell the cologne he wears whenever you’d rest your head on his shoulder.
You wish Flip were here. Or maybe no, maybe you just wish you were with him alone, were with him anywhere that wasn’t here. You wish you were cozied up on the couch in his Ma’s house, watching some scary movie and tucking yourself under his chin while you share a bowl of stove-top popcorn.
Lightning splinters across the clouds through the window in the kitchen, and you sigh again.
You had asked him to come, you really did try. But he said he was busy with work stuff, and he couldn’t. You admired that about him, his work ethic. He was so dedicated to everything he did, and even though you wanted to be selfish and whine and complain about needing his attention, you respected when he put his foot down.
Watching the froth begin to fade from the top of the beer cup, you think to yourself that tonight’s it, the last night you’d deal with Josh. You decide that you’ll go over, give him his beer, and then as soon as he drops you home whenever this party is supposed to end, you’ll tell him not to bother calling you ever again.
Something inside of you lightens up at the thought, like a weight slowly slipping off your shoulders. You can’t help but smile a little bit, at the thought of no longer being with him. Maybe…maybe if Flip saw you were single, he’d make a move of his own. Your head is in the clouds thinking about Flip, when you accidentally bump into someone on your way back to the living room.
A little bit of beer sloshes onto a boy’s shirt, and you recognize him as one of Josh’s new pals.
Before you can even open your mouth to apologize for the mess, he grabs you by the arm. His grip is harsh, and he yanks you around for a second, the beer spilling everywhere, all over the floor, onto your new white shoes.
“Hey J, are you gonna control your woman or what?” The guy – was his name Tommy? – sneers down at you. He’s tall, and he’s strong, you can start to feel a dull ping of pain on your arm where his fingers are digging in deep.
“I’m not his to control.” You wrench yourself out of the guy’s hold, stumbling backwards a few feet from the force of it.
Josh is up off the couch in an instant, infuriated with you.
He’s drunk, eyes glassed over like some shark, dark and empty. He backhands you across the jaw, sends you falling to the floor despite your best efforts, the crack of your skull against the wooden panels calling spots to your vision.
“Don’t ever speak back to someone like that, are you out of your fucking mind?” He wrangles you back up off the floor, grabs you by the front of your dress and hauls you up roughly, unkindly.
“Don’t touch me!” You shout, your nails scratching at his face, teeth bared in a rage of your own, pent-up anger that you’ve been swallowing for six months as you smack him across the face back in retaliation, angry and spitting, “Get off of me!”
Josh doesn’t let up, in fact he doubles down, kicks at your ankles so your knees cave in to try and support yourself as his hand shoots up from the collar of your blouse to wrapping around your throat. He drags you like that through the party, and you can’t help but wonder why no one is saying anything, doing anything? Do they not hear you? Do they not care?
“I’ll make you regret that – I’ll make you regret everything.” Josh hisses lowly in your ear as he forces you through the house by the scruff of your neck, sour breath of a drunken stupor stinging like a brand across your cheek.
“I already do.” You choke, struggling against his hold, against his hands.
You manage to elbow him in the stomach, hard, hard enough that he doubles over from the wind knocked out of his lungs, and you run.
                                            ---------------------------
Don't try to change me in any way You don't own me Don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay
I don't tell you what to say I don't tell you what to do So just let me be myself That's all I ask of you
Shoving through the crowd of people, a hundred faces you don’t recognize, smiles fading into confused glares, you run. 
Thunder, rain, lightning, music deafens in your ears as you look for the door. Why is it so dark at this party? Where in the house are you? Hallways lead to doors that lead to nowhere, and you can hear his footsteps, can hear him running running running after you.
Didn’t you pass through this room before? Where was a telephone, surely whoever’s house this was, surely they had a telephone. But who would you call? You couldn’t call your parents, couldn’t let them know you snuck out of the house. You could call Flip, yes, that was it! You’d call Flip, if only you could find a phone.
They laugh at you, the people at the party. Laugh with their drug addled eyes, high off mushrooms and LSD, acid trips going wrong wrong wrong. They dance and laugh and laugh and dance, chugging spiked drinks with wild abandon, lights flashing red yellow purple green blue, a cacophony of psychedelics.
He’s there, somewhere among them, he’s there, you know he is. The smack of your footsteps sound like gunshots against the wood, your head throbs. You want to sob and scream and shout and cry cry cry but you can’t do that until you are safe, and if you stay in this house, there’s no telling where you’ll find safety again.
Or at all.
You try every door, locked ones, unlocked ones, looking for a way out. Eventually you lock yourself in a bathroom, lucky that there’s a window. It’s a single story house, the jump isn’t far.
You abandon your shoes, they don’t stay on your feet that well anyway, and you don’t have the time to groan about the frigid mud that squeaks between your toes as you splash down onto the ground from the window.
“Help!” You cup your mouth and shout, hearing something, a twig snapping not too far away. You see him, he’s coming after you through a side-door, and you have to run, you have to go. “Oh fuck – ”
You bolt, freezing rain soaking your clothes.
You don’t know where you are, don’t recognize this part of town.
Josh knew the area, not you, not you. These were his friends, not yours, not yours.
You just run, hoping your legs carry you to safety, carry you away. There’s woods, in the distance. You whip your head around, try looking for a road, any road. Where’s the driveway? It must be on the other side of the house, it must be –
Josh is gaining on you, athletic legs more powerful than your own.
“You can’t outrun me, don’t even try, don’t bother, get the fuck over here!” He hollers at you, voice guttural and deep, primal in a way that strikes fear into your heart.
You wish you had something, a weapon of some kind, any kind, to fight him with, but you don’t.
So you run.
“Shitshitshitshitshit – someone help!” You toss your voice to the wind, the howling wind which carries sheets of rain, pounds it down sideways against your back, your face, hair sopping wet and sticking to your eyes, nose, getting in your mouth as you pant pant pant, sobs of terror spiking through your chest, salty tears whisked away by the rain.
You don’t know how far you’ve gotten, you don’t know if anyone can hear you, don’t know if anyone would even come if they did. You need to form a plan, need to put enough distance between you and this monster of a man, need to catch your breath.
Your adrenaline pounds in your ear as the earth slips and slides underneath your feet, your nylon stockings not doing anything to help gain traction. You skid your knees on rocks and trip over gnarled roots, but every time you get up, each and every time you have to get up, otherwise he’ll get you.
You can feel how close he is, his hands reaching out to tear away at your clothes, can feel the ghost of his fingers trying to hook around your dress, and you can’t help but let out a high-pitched scream, something that pierces into the blackness of night, something that sends the birds from their branches.
“How dare you! How dare you embarrass me like that!” Josh manages to snatch you, the both of you tumbling down to the ground from the momentum, rolling in the mud. It’s in your eyes, mouth, a sharp hot pain at your temple makes you think you’ve hit your head, maybe on a rock? You don’t know, you taste copper in your mouth. You feel hands, no, fists, hard against your jaw. “I’ll kill you, you whore, I’ll fucking kill you for embarrassing me.”
“Don’t touch me – !” You scream, searching the ground for something, for anything, relief flooding through your body when your hand closes around a rock large enough to do some damage.
“Quiet, just be quiet!” He’s annoyed with you, annoyed with how loud you’re being, as if you’re inconveniencing him by not taking a beating politely. You take in a deep breath and muster all the strength you possibly can, to slam the rock against his face, making him knock backwards with a loud, “Fuck!”
“Someone – please!” You cough and sputter as blood streams down your face, washed away by the heavy rain which does not relent.
In an instant, the hands are yanked away from you, and you scramble to get away as fast as you can to catch your breath. You cough and hack up blood, dirt, mud which grinds between your teeth, the pounding against your temple making you dizzy, making you sick. You feel like you’re going to be sick, the adrenaline rising up up up your throat.
“Who the fuck are you – ” You hear Josh start, before the sound of punches and grunts cuts through the air again, and you squint in the dark to see who came to your rescue, who heard your calls.
“Flip?” You nearly can’t believe it, can’t believe your widened eyes, but there he is – you’d recognize those broad shoulders and the pattern of his breathing anywhere. Despite all better judgement, you rush back to his side, slipping and sliding on mud as rain beats down with such fury as your best friend’s fists, “Flip!”
“You don’t get to touch her, ever again.” Flip does not yell, he does not scream.
He does not raise his voice, he is calm, eerily calm, unnervingly calm.
You almost don’t hear him speaking at all, from how softly his voice comes out as he kicks the shit out of Josh, as he holds his head in place and knees him so hard in the face once, twice, three times, hard enough that the sick crunch of bone and cartilage echoes the thunder all around you, and he goes limp.
But Flip doesn’t stop, he doesn’t stop beating Josh’s face in with his fist until the man is a mess of blood, teeth coming loose, broken nose and busted lip bubbling hot, steaming in the freezing cold air. He doesn’t stop still, and you watch in awe, in twisted admiration as Flip hauls the ragdoll of your former boyfriend up enough to get him in a chokehold and snap his neck.
Only then, does Flip drop him, face down into the mud.
You look at the lifeless body, and then up at Flip, who you find is already looking back at you. His chest is heaving, he’s panting, out of breath and exhausted. The rain has soaked him through too, but he’s not shivering, not the way you are. He must have ran too, had to have ran to catch up with you. You don’t know how deep in the woods you are, how deep he had to go to find you.
But he did, he did.
You’re numb, standing there. Numb from the cold, from the shock, you don’t know. You want to comfort Flip – and isn’t that fucked up? You wanting to comfort someone else right now? But you do.
Everything feels like it’s going to be okay now, now that Flip’s here.
“Oh my god.” You say, because you don’t really know what else to say, don’t really know what else to do other than stand there. You’re frightened, you can feel the fear bubbling up in your stomach, but there’s calm now too, a calm that’s got you more afraid than anything. You look at Josh, then back to Flip once again. “Do you think…”
“Are you okay?” Flip pushes the hair out of his face with a bloody hand and takes a cautious step towards you.
“Me? Yeah – yes I’m…Do you think you killed him?” You ask, holding a hand out to Flip.
You know he’s worried about scaring you, and warmth cuts through some of the chill in your bones at the thought. You extend a hand and encourage him to take it, smearing blood between your palms which the rain washes away, carries down into the wood in thick muddy rivers.
You’re not afraid of Flip, could never be afraid of Flip.
“Look at me,” He’s hung up on it, presses his forehead against yours and goes nearly cross-eyed in the dark to peer into your eyes, your soul, “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” You finally answer truthfully, taking another step closer to him, trying to get as close to him as possible. You feel safe, your brain screams safety with this man, with your friend, your Flip. “But I’m better now that you’re here. What are you doing here? I thought you had work.”
Confusion dawns on you, and you frown a little bit, just because it doesn’t make sense for him to be here right now, it doesn’t make sense for him to be here at all. Flip’s eyes widen a little, and even in the scant moonlight you can tell he’s blushing. He tries pulling away, but you don’t release your grip on his hand, warm and solid and real against your own.
“I just – I’m sorry I – well I got off early and I wanted to make sure that you would be okay so I came over and just kind of watched from the car in case you needed me for anything.” He rushes out in one big breath, winces, waits for you to berate him.
“Do you do that? Watch me from a distance.” You ask him, the both of you standing there in the rain.
You know it’s absurd, somewhere in the back of your head a small voice tells you it’s absurd to have a conversation like this while standing over a body in the middle of the woods, but you push it away, push it away and step closer to Flip. You’re not accusatory when you ask, you’re not condemning him – you’re just curious.
“No – I – well yes, sometimes, but only when you’re out with him.” He admits, nudging Josh’s back with the toe of his boot. His voice is dark, low, gritty in the back of his throat but he doesn’t yell, you sigh against him, your heart breaks for the anger in his voice, the sadness. You wish you never started dating this schmuck, wish you never said yes to him, wished that it had been Flip who asked instead. “I don’t trust him, (Y/N), I don’t like how he treats you. I worry, and I know that it’s creepy I know, I’m sorry, I’m not a creep I swear, I just. I care about you.”
You’re quiet for a little while, and then you move away from him only far enough to plant your stocking-clad foot onto the back of Josh’s head, push him deeper into the earth, the mud. The body gives no resistance, and a sick satisfaction makes your vision go blurry.
“Have…have you done this before?” You ask, that numbness starting to fade, the tremble of shock at what you witnessed, experienced setting in.
Flip looks like he would fall to his knees before you in that moment, as he blinks water out of his eyes, as he trembles too.
“No, I swear. I don’t even know what came over me, but I heard you screaming and begging and I couldn’t stop, I had to help you somehow.” His voice breaks, and all you want is to be close to him, so you go, go rushing into his arms, and he holds you tight.
He holds you and you hold him back, two people under the moonlight as lightning illuminates the body with picture-perfect clarity for a split second. He’s face down in the earth but you can tell, you can just tell he’s brutally mangled by the damage Flip did to him, and as you shove your face into Flip’s chest, for the briefest of moments, you smile.
“We have to get rid of him.” You say softly, trying to think of a plan, trying to think of what to do.
Flip gently pushes on your shoulders to separate the two of you, and shakes his head with a frown.
“We? No (Y/N), you can’t be involved at all, you can’t, just please go to the car and get dry and warm, I can handle this.” He’s sweet, so sweet with the way there’s sincerity in his eyes, but you’re not having any of it.
“I’m already involved, Flip, I’m not going to let you do this alone. Whatever it is, we’re in this together now. We can’t go to the police, they wouldn’t understand, they wouldn’t believe us. I’m with you.” You squeeze his hand lovingly in your own, and you can’t help but think how good it feels, how right it feels, to hold his hand.
“I think I have an idea, but first, we need to get him to the car.” Flip chews the inside of his cheek, a nervous tick of his that you always scold him for.
You don’t scold him now, there’s no time, that’s not what’s important now.
What’s important is hauling dead weight down the woods without a trace, without any evidence other than what will be washed away.
                                            ---------------------------
I'm young and I love to be young I'm free and I love to be free To live my life the way I want To say and do whatever I please
And don't tell me what to do Oh, don't tell me what to say And please, when I go out with you Don't put me on display
The body rolls around slightly, in the trunk. You’re in Flip’s dad’s '58 oldsmobile, the heat is blasting, and you hug your knees in the passenger seat, as Flip maneuvers through the winding Colorado roads. It had taken quite some time to get back through the car, out of the woods.
He had been parked out front, only a few feet from the driveway the whole time. All evening, sitting, watching, waiting. Hoping you wouldn’t need him, but prepared to do anything for you if you did. He’s silent on the drive to wherever it is you’re going, the radio is playing softly. The music helps calm your nerves, and you’re thankful for it, you try not to freak out.
The little clock on the dashboard says it’s only about midnight, but you feel like it’s way later than that. The rain fucks everything up, you think, the rain’s been pouring for hours and hours now, but it feels like days.
Every time the car makes a sharp turn, or goes up and down a hill, the body thuds against the walls of the trunk, and you just hug your knees tighter.
“Where are we going?” You ask eventually, voice soft. You’re afraid if you raise it, you’ll scream. Your throat hurts, you’ve done enough screaming already.
“Hospital.” Flip replies easily, not taking his eyes off the road, his hands at perfect ten-and-two. You wonder if he’s afraid of screaming too.
The thought of the hospital sends a spike of fear through your blood, makes all the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
“What? Why?” You demand immediately, confused, scared.
“You still haven’t stopped bleeding and I need to make sure you’re okay.” Flip says evenly. You can tell he wants a cigarette, you can tell. But this is his dad’s car, and he can’t smoke in it. You wonder what his dad would say to knowing that there’s a dead body in it, wonder if smoke would be more of an issue.
“No!” You shake your head, turning yourself towards him fully, a hand on his arm. “No, Flip please, they’ll call my parents and they don’t know I’m out this late, please just – let’s just get rid of him, and then take me home, Flip I’m begging.”
“But what if you’re seriously hurt? What if he did something severe?” Flip’s grip on the steering wheel is white-knuckled, and your stomach flutters as the windshield wipers beat back and forth, whisking the rain away.
“I’m okay, I promise I’m okay, I’ll be fine.” You don’t know if that’s the truth, but you have to believe that it is, you have to. “Philip, please.”
The use of his full first name convinces him, you don’t think you’ve ever said it before, not out loud anyway, not like this. He chews on his lip and sighs, nods his head to your supreme relief.
“Thank you.” You want to kiss him, want to embrace him desperately, but now isn’t the time. He’s driving, there are more important things right now, more important things to deal with. “What are we going to do with him? We can’t bury him in the woods, the rain’s logged all the dirt.”
“Logged – we can go to the mill.” Flip snaps his fingers, and it’s like a light bulb has gone off inside his head.
You just sit back and press a bundled up wad of wet napkins against the wound on your temple, hugging your knees, knowing that you’ll be okay, as long as you’re with Flip.
                                            ---------------------------
The lumbermill is a family-owned and operated affair. Flip’s grandfather had founded it sixty-two years ago way back during the turn of the century in 1900, and it had remained in the Zimmerman hands ever since. Once a small business, now stood a proud industrial center for logging and clearing away trees to produce more logs and square away neat pockets of land. Where there used to be only hand-held tools and traditions, now there were the highest-end types of machinery.
You thought Flip was brilliant, absolutely brilliant – you knew exactly what he was thinking.
Just last month, Flip’s dad had been bragging about the new woodchipper that had finally been ordered. You remember sitting at Flip’s Ma’s shabbat table and listening to him go on and on about the new sharp blades, how much more efficient it would make everything, not to mention how little waste they would have, considering the wood chips could be sold for all kinds of uses.
At the time, you had thought it was a little annoying how he wouldn’t let anyone else at the table get in a word, but now you’re thanking your lucky stars that you had been paying attention.
It’s strange, being here this late, being here at all. You’ve visited before of course, Flip has always been eager to show you around. It never felt like you were sneaking about or anything, not considering his family owned it, considering he’d own it one day too.
But it’s strange, with the flood lights filling the night sky with a brilliant white, the usually bustling lumbermill quiet, nothing but the sound of harsh rain clanging on machinery and metal roofs. Flip parks the car in the lot, reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out a key-ring. There must be a dozen keys on the little circle, but Flip seems to know exactly which ones are for what.
“Emergency backups of all the gates,” he explains, jingling it on his index finger for a second, “No one will suspect anything.”
You nod, chew on your cheeks. The thought of going back out into the rain is unpleasant, but you suck it up and open the car door, bracing yourself for a minute before the icy water plunges down the back of your dress once again, body already shivering.
He meets you at the trunk, pops it open. With the flood lights, you can see the extent of the damage to Josh’s face – if you could even call it a face anymore. It was nearly caved in completely, soaked with blood and mud, all the planes of a face that should push out were indented inwards. You manage a glance at Flip’s knuckles, and you see they’re busted wide open, and you suck in a sharp breath.
“Follow me.” Flip says, hoisting the body over his shoulder like a fireman would rescue someone from a burning building, and his boots splash in the mud towards where he knows the woodchipper is set up.
You regret not going back for your shoes now, as more freezing mud stains your tights. You regret dressing up at all, dressing for fashion instead of comfort. Flip is in a flannel and jeans, and normally you tease him for being like a cartoon character always wearing the same thing, you wish that you weren’t in a fucking miniskirt and tights in the dead of winter.
Lightning backs the machine dramatically, after a few minutes of trudging. The ground here is much more substantial than the woods, and you push your legs across a developed terrain instead of through the wilderness of the mountains. It stands tall, proud, the woodchipper, and you swallow a lump around your throat.
“Is that it?” You ask, close enough to Flip that you only have to raise your voice a little bit to compete with the sound of the rain.
Flip dumps the body onto the ground, goes over to the woodchipper and turns it on. You can tell that using it in the rain is a poor decision, but it’s the only option you have. Flip adjusts some settings, and the thing roars to life, metal blades whirring whirring whirring.
“Yeah but it – he’s too fucking big he can’t go in all in one piece, it’ll get jammed.” Flip runs a hand through his hair as he comes half-jogging back over to you, and you just blink for a moment.
“Okay then we cut him up.” You say matter of factly, your heart pounding in your chest, aware that time is not on your side, that you have to get this done and get out, have to get this done and go as quickly as possible, in case someone comes, in case someone sees.
“(Y/N), are you sure you want to do this?” Flip asks you seriously, puts his hands gently on your shoulders and looks into your eyes.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life.” You whisper, eyes wide, feeling more liberated and free, feeling so light, determined. Maybe it’s the shock, maybe you’ve lost your fucking mind, you don’t know. But you can’t stop now, you’ve done this much, you can’t stop now. “It can’t be too hard, like breaking down a chicken, right? Split at the joints.”
The analogy is lost on Flip, because as much as you love your friend, he cannot cook to save his life. Flip isn’t one to smile, and he doesn’t smile then, but you know he’s agreed with you because he looks around, tries to find something.
“Hold on.” He runs across the yard, finds one of the sheds that’s tucked against the back wall of one of the main buildings.
You stand there and wait, arms crossed, staring down at Josh. While Flip searches for whatever it is he’s looking for, you just grow more and more angry, watching rain flood the spaces in the dips of his shoulders.
“Fuck you.” You say to his lifeless body, “You say I embarrassed you? You tormented me. I wish I could have killed you myself. You’re lucky Flip did it, I wouldn’t have been so merciful.”
You don’t know what’s come over you, but the words sound like the most truthful ones you’ve ever told this boy, this husk of a monster, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. You can’t help yourself, spitting onto the ground in his direction, sneering through the rain, blinking it and the shocked fury out of your eyes.
Flip returns with an axe, brand new from the looks of it. The blade glints in the floodlight, freshly polished metal dripping with silver rivers of water as Flip swings it lightly in his hand.
“This should work, fuck, okay. Okay. Okay alright okay, you come over here, stand over here I don’t want you getting hurt accidentally.” He’s steeling himself, psyching himself up for this, and you put a hand on his back to calm him.
“Want me to do it?” You offer, not knowing the first fucking things about even how to hold an axe, let alone swing one.
“No, no let me.” Flip huffs out a laugh, shakes his head. You can’t help but feel silly for asking, you know there’s no way you’d have the upper body strength to cut through a person. You’d never even chopped wood before, and well, Flip was an actual lumberjack.
“Okay, I can count to three?” You acquiesce with a tremor in your voice.
“Please.” Flip whispers, getting the body into position.
You stand where Flip tells you, a little ways away, as he raises the axe high above his head.
“One…”
There’s a ringing in your ears, a pounding in your chest. You’re doing this, you’re really doing this, you can’t help but think. Flip plants his feet firmly on the ground, takes in a deep breath. You can see his hands flex and grip the handle, as he liens himself up.
“Two…”
Your face shakes, teeth rattling in your skull from where your jaw chatters, shivers in the cold. It’s so bright, so bright with all the floodlights, you feel like you’re being watched, you feel like you can hear the whispers, the murmurs of ghosts all around you, the ghost of this monster you’ve killed.
“Three!”
Hot blood sprays from Josh’s shoulder as the axe swings down, cleaves into his shoulder. The blade is bran new, terribly sharp, and it nearly goes all the way through. The bone splinters, you can hear it, can hear it slicing into pieces. Flip pries the blade out and lines himself up again, does not wait this time for your count before taking aim and slamming it into the body again.
Blood hot and thick bubbles up, gurgles around the wound, and when Flip tosses a severed arm away from the rest of the body, despite yourself, you turn around, brace your hands on your knees and throw up. Everything you ate and drank at the party comes back up in an acrid stinging cough that has you nearly choking, but you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand and get yourself together.
You don’t know how Flip has the stomach for this, for it, but he has a steady hand as he works on the other arm, separating it from the body.
The machine is still on, the machine is hungry.
You want to give it what it wants, you want to see the spray out the other end. Without waiting for his instruction, you pick up the arm, grab it by the wrist. You make sure there’s no jewelry, no watches or anything that could get jammed, and you rush it over to the woodchipper, drop it into the basin.
The sound it makes is horrific, the sick squelch and crunch of bone, the shredding shredding shredding of the blades. Mincemeat blasts out the other end, and even as some of it sprays back against the wind, even as some of it lands on your face, speckles of blood and guts and shards of crushed bone, you find that you’re grinning, because it worked.  
“Another one, give me another one.” You say eagerly, holding a hand out to Flip.
He smiles too, eyes too bright, as he gives you Josh’s other arm, hacked away in nice clean segments. He watches as you dump the second arm into the machine, gets to see as it eats up the flesh, grinds and slashes it into nothingness, watches as the bits of this man land in wet smacks on the dirt.
Piece by piece, you obliterate the monster that had tormented you for months.
Piece by piece, you free yourself of the hurt and pain, the lies and manipulation he shackled you with.
Piece by piece, you destroy the evidence, watch as it washes away, watch as the rain carries it down the drain, into the sewers where he’ll rot among the rats like he deserves.
The rain absolves you and Flip of the muck and grime of the deed, and now that it’s over, now that he’s gone, you close your eyes and tilt your head up towards the sky, letting the rain patter down onto your cheeks, your forehead. You feel clean, though you are cold, so so so cold, the only thing you can focus on is the cleanliness, the relief.
“You never should have fucked with her.” You hear Flip say, and that makes you open your eyes, makes your turn towards him.
Flip looks down to the drain, and you smile, because he looks lighter too.
                                            ---------------------------
You’re leaving the lumbermill, when it hits.
You’d been so caught up in the euphoria of getting rid of him, of this man who had made your life a living nightmare for far too long – that you hadn’t stopped once to think of the consequences of these actions.
“I – holy shit I can’t believe we did that.” It slams into your chest, the realization that you’re a murderer, you’re both murderers, you’re going to go to prison for this, they’ll send you to the chair for this, they’ll kill you for this the same way you killed Josh. Your heart races, pounds pounds pounds as dread and terror and fear all come rushing back, all come slamming down inside your brain. “What the fuck did we just do? Flip what did we do?”
Flip must have willpower of steel, because he doesn’t even blink when you whip around to face him, when you immediately freak the fuck out, when you start to hyperventilate, holding the sides of your head.
“It’s okay, it’s fine. Things like this happen. It was an accident that spiraled out of control, it wasn’t your fault, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Flip is calm, so calm, and that almost freaks you out more, maybe you were going to scream, maybe you were already screaming, you don’t know, you don’t know anything except you just murdered a man.
“Oh my god what are they going to say when he doesn’t come back to the party? Or go home?” You panic, shifting around too much in your seat, legs bouncing, back aching from the way you keep twisting and turning, “What’ll they do if they find the pieces of him?”
“You have to breathe it’s going to be okay, we’ll be okay – fuck, what was that?” Flip is cut off by a loud thud, the car coming to a complete stop.
Your eyes begin to well up with tears as you hiccup out terror, hands shaking. You want to slam your fists against the window, want to throw yourself onto the street and beg for forgiveness, you want to be sick, you want to tell Flip to drive and never look back.
“Oh no, oh no no no this is it, this is the karma catching up to us already.” You can feel the tethers of reality start to slip, black splotches dancing in front of your vision – will you pass out? Are you at your limit? You don’t know, you don’t know but the car isn’t moving, it’s not going anywhere no matter how hard Flip pushes on the gas pedal.
“Stay here.” He says, and you’re in no mood, no state to defy the instructions now.
Flip puts the car in park, gets out and shuts the door so water doesn’t come pouring in. You watch him through the warped view of rain on the windows as he walks around the car, his hands on his hips, trying to figure out what the fuck happened.
It doesn’t take him too long to find the problem, and he comes back into the car with a sigh, soaking wet and unsure of what to do.
“We’re stuck.” He tells you, and that’s the last thing you want to hear. A flat tire you knew he could change, even in the rain like this, but being stuck left nothing to do except wait for someone to come un-stick you.
“So we’re stranded out here?” Your voice creeps up higher and higher in octave as the consequences of that stab you through the chest.
You never should have snuck out of home, you lament, hot tears finally stinging the rims of your eyes. You never should have left home through your window, never should have agreed to the party. You never should have agreed to date this fucking guy, you think, because if you hadn’t maybe you’d be safe and warm somewhere, maybe you’d be asleep soundly in your bed and not stranded in the pouring rain, in the middle of you don’t even know where.  
“Yes but – but this is good. This is good, this is our alibi. We don’t know anything, because we were stranded in the middle of fucking nowhere in a ditch.” Flip knows you’re freaking out, he knows, he can feel it, can see it, it’s happening right in front of him.
“Wh—what will we say that we were even doing out here? What if someone asks why we’re here in the first place?” Your whole body wracks through with terrified sobs. “They’re going to kill us for this, Flip if they catch us they’re going to kill us – I don’t want to die, I don’t --”
He collects you in his arms and holds you tightly against his chest, rocks you to soothe you, calms you. The rain is unrelenting, and you wonder how much water the sky can hold, how many clouds are up there to maintain such a downpour. Flip’s arms are so warm around your shoulders, and his neck is blazing hot where you tuck your face against it.
“You called me to pick you up from the party, I came, we got lost, wound up here. It’s dark and raining, that’s all the truth.” Flip whispers, “We don’t know anything, we’ve been here, waiting for someone to pass by.”
You nod, because it’s all you can do right now. You had almost forgotten how cold you were, the stark comparison of your own body temperature compared to Flip’s making you feel even colder.
“I’m f-f-freezing.” You say, because you don’t have anything else to say, and Flip hums in the back of his throat.
“I don’t have any spare clothes, I’m sorry.” He frowns, but then you pull away for a moment, begin stripping off your dress. You peel away the layers until you’re in your bra and underwear, just wanting the wet cold fabric off of your skin. Flip’s hands drop from your body, and he nervously looks away with a very gentlemanly, “What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry – I just – I figured maybe if we use body heat – ” You explained, suddenly feeling stupid, feeling unwanted, feeling --
“Don’t stop, I’ll do it too, if you want. I’ll keep you warm.” Flip nods, understands what you’re doing now, what you mean. He looks at you cautiously, not ever wanting to be imposing, not wanting to make you comfortable. “Only if you want.”
You lick your lips and nod, and in mere moments, he’s shedding his clothes too, until he’s just in his underwear.
Flip climbs over the bench seat and lands in the back, laying down on his back and spreading out. There’s significantly more room in the back seat, and without another thought, you unclip the straps of your bra, letting your breasts breathe, before arranging all the clothes in the direct line of the heater so they might have a chance to dry, before climbing over too.
Flip welcomes you with open arms, and as you settle against him, body flush with his, your heart pounds. He rubs your back, warms you with his palms, palms which feel like the most comforting iron brand, heating you through.
“You know…” You whisper, listening to the sound of his breathing and the rain that pitter-patters onto the roof of the car, “I’ve been thinking about doing something like that to him for a long time.”
“Yeah?” Flip asks, voice thick.
You’re nuzzled against his chest, feeling the most safe that you ever have. The panic has subsided for now, for now at the very least.
“Yeah. It was never a real idea that I had, at least not in the beginning. But more and more lately, I’ve been thinking about how good it would feel if he were gone forever. I don’t know what I ever saw in him. I guess I just…I liked that someone liked me, wanted me. It felt good to be wanted, for a minute there.” You’re honest with Flip. Sometimes it feels like Flip is the only person you can ever be honest with.
“Just a minute?” He asks softly, teasing and playful in a way that makes you want to cry.
“Yeah, just a minute.” You whisper back, propping your head up onto your hands, looking at him.
“There are…other people, you know. Who are out there, who like you. Want you.” He looks back at you, eyes filled with apprehension, but hope.
“People like you?” You ask, hope in your own lungs, in your heart.
“Yeah, people like me.” Flip nods, caresses the back of your head with his strong, capable hand.
“You know, the entire time I’ve been with him, I wished I were with you.” You confess, because now feels like as good a time to confess something as any, doesn’t it? What’s this admittance, compared to the thing you have just done together?
“This isn’t the shock talking, is it?” Flip’s hand smooths around to hold your cheek, pinch at the apple of your smile, because you are smiling now, smiling how he hasn’t rejected you, how he never would have, now you know.
“No, no I promise. This is me talking.” You turn your face into his palm and press a light kiss to the creases in his hand, those hands, the hands which have only ever protected you, defended you, loved you.
“Why are you crying?” Flip frowns, confused, worried, but you shake your head, unable to stop, unable to quit the smile, the tears.
“Because I’ve dreamt about being in your arms like this for what feels like forever, and I – I kept thinking that there’s no way you could ever want me, I thought I was just delusional for thinking maybe we could be something. And here you are, coming to my rescue, the way you always do, and we’ve just killed a man but all I want to do is kiss you.” You huff out a laugh, a laugh that’s tinged with regret for the past, all the time that could have been.  
“Can I?” Flip asks suddenly then, innocent and gentle, “Can I kiss you?”
“Oh Flip, yes, please.” You nod, pushing yourself up a few more inches so that your lips can meet.
They press together in the softest, sweetest of kisses, and all at once it feels like the gates of your heart have been unlocked, and all the love you feel flows out with wild abandon.
Flip deepens the kiss when your mouth opens in a small gasp, and you let yourself be rolled underneath him. The car rocks a little from the effort, but you don’t care. A kiss or two becomes making out, and you feel your head fill with the thick perfume of lust, your whole body warm now, on fire almost. His mouth is hot, tongue thick and heavy against yours, but he tastes delicious, tastes like home.
He kisses you until your breathing begins to quicken, until the smallest noises start to moan and hum in the back of your throat. Your nipples are stiff, so hard from where they’re brushing against his chest, your arms looping around his shoulders, legs parting so he can settle between them.
“Did…did you two ever…?” He pulls away, lips kiss-slick and flushed, and you blink, forgetting all about your boyfriend, or one you used to have.
“No, no I didn’t want to, it didn’t feel right. Not with him.” You tell him honestly, suddenly feeling inexperienced, feeling self-conscious, “Have you?”
“No, I’ve been waiting for the right person.” Flip shocks you by blushing out his own truth. Your eyebrows shoot up, you really would have pegged him for a womanizer type, he was certainly handsome enough for it. But thinking back, you realize in all the time you’ve known him, he’s never once mentioned a girlfriend or even a fling, nothing. It’s always just been you, and him. Flip blushes deeper when you don’t say anything right away, stammers out, “I know it’s cheesy.”
“It’s not cheesy.” You shake your head quickly, dismissing the idea that you’d make fun of him for something like that. You’re relived, it means you can be together for the first time truly together.
You kiss him, invigorated, no longer feeling shy or inadequate. He kisses you back, and when your eyes close there’s nothing but the welcoming embrace of his warmth and affection to pull you in. Your mouths and tongues slide against one another, and your hips raise up, your underwear rubbing against his, wishing there were no barrier between you.
“We don’t have to if you don’t want to, I don’t ever want to pressure you or – ” Flip shakes his head, so caring, worried, nipping at the corners of your mouth.
“Maybe, maybe you could just touch me? Just for now, touch me and then, then we can see where we go.” You’re desperate for him though, desperate for him in every way.
He smiles against your mouth, and you smile too, his hands sliding down your body. He shuffles back a little, straddling your hips, knees digging into the upholstery as his hands roam your body, touch where he didn’t have permission to touch before.
He’s drawn to your breasts immediately, kneads them. He licks his lips and rolls your nipples between his fingers, and your back only arches for him, pushes your chest up into his hands further. His breathing is heavy, and you decide that you’re tired of holding yourself back from the things that you want – after this, after tonight, you won’t deny yourself anything ever again, you’ve spent so much time bending to the will of other people, from now on you are going to ask for what you want.
You cup the back of Flip’s head and push him down, gently nudge him. He takes the hint, immediately nuzzles his face into your cleavage, rubs against your breasts. His mouth latches around one of your nipples and he kisses and licks and sucks, and you moan, the pleasure going straight to your pussy.
So does his hand, tentatively skimming over your panties until your legs spread enough to give him permission. He tugs the cotton aside and you hiccup out a little cry of pleasure when he reverently pushes his fingers through your folds, pushes his way through into the tight wet heat of your cunt.
“Oh, oh, that feels good.” Your eyes fly open, hand tangling in his hair where he makes out with your breasts, grunting and groaning with need that the praise spurs in him. His fingers are more insistent, more purposeful, and his thumb swirls over your clit making your hips lift up up up against his hand. “Yes, yes! Flip – do that again, please do that again.”
“Good?” Flip lifts his head from where he’s been smothering himself in your tits, eyes so big and brown, eager to please.
“So good! Phil, it’s so good, I’ve wanted this for so – ah!—long.” Your head tips back against the seat as your toes curl, his fingers moving faster, your stomach expanding with each deep breath you take, trying to suck down the air, trying to lose yourself in the bright white hot light of pleasure.
“This doesn’t count as our first time, okay?” Flip bites a mark around the bottom of your ribs.
“Okay.” You grin, elated that this means maybe maybe maybe he’ll want to have sex with you again, maybe he’ll fuck you with his cock. Maybe he’ll want you forever, maybe he’ll ask you out and take you on dates and do all the things that you’ve always hoped but never dared to dream for.
“I want our first time to be sweet and good and gentle, and not in the back-seat of this car.” He fingers you faster and faster, and you struggle to pay attention to his words because his fingers are so thick and so full and they know just where to touch you to get your feet searching for purchase as you moan and whine and gasp. “I’m going to take you out to dinner and then a movie, and then I’m going to make love to you on a big bed with rose petals like you deserve.”
“Oh fuck – I’m – I’m gonna – ” You gasp out, hips rolling, undulating against his palm, grinding your pussy against the warmth of his hand to chase your orgasm, your body thick with pleasure, sweet and sticky like molasses in your veins.
“Come on my fingers, it’s okay, you’re okay.” Flip encourages you, presses a little harder, moves a little faster, the car shaking shaking shaking from the way your body trembles, rain thudding against the roof as your orgasm crashes through you, a wave of nothing but good, nothing but love.
“Fl-Flip!” You shout, eyes shut tight, the first couple hints of tears clinging to your lashes.
“You’re so beautiful, holy shit.” Flip strokes your pussy through it, coaxes out come that shines on his palm, shimmers on your inner thighs. He kisses your neck, your chest, bites and sucks and marks you so thoroughly, marks you as his, you’re his you’re his and he’s yours and, “(Y/N) you’re – you’re so beautiful.”
“Can I, I want you to come too, I want you to feel good too.” You try, you offer, but he’s still sliding his fingers through your pussy, two – no, three? -- stretching you wide, stretching you for him, for his cock. You want it, you want it so badly, want to be filled, but an aftershock of pleasure builds builds builds and you’re not sure it’s just an aftershock anymore, as your toes curl again, knees shaking, bones aching to come again, “Flip I’m, I think I’m – oh!”
“No, it’s okay, you don’t have to do anything for me, this is more than enough, you’re more than enough, thankyouthankyouthankyou.” He smudges the words into your chest, your throat, litters you with sweet nothings and gratitude, and you want to ask for his dick right then and there –
But there’s a sound, coming from the window.
A knock on the window.
Someone is there, knocking.
“Wait – what was that?” You freeze, the rose-tinted glasses ripped off.
Flip carefully pulls his hand away from your pulsing cunt, sucks your come off of his fingers until they’re clean. He reaches for something, anything, to cover you with, to cover himself with.  
“Cop.” Flip says quietly, and you want to panic but he shakes his head, “Don’t, it’s okay, follow my lead.”
You are suddenly very very aware, of what you both look like. Flip with his torn up fists, you with the split lip and wound on your temple. You’ve both finally stopped bleeding, but you know – you just know – that this officer is going to question you on it, normal people don’t go driving around in the rain with head wounds and split knuckles.
Fuck, you think, you haven’t even cleaned the car yet, there’s bound to be blood in the trunk from where the body had been stashed, what if the officer decided to search the car? There were no weapons in the car, but there didn’t need to be. Your stomach does little flutters of panic as the impending anxiety drips cold down your spine, and just hide yourself behind Flip’s denim jacket, cover up as much as you can, cover your face.
Flip rolls down the window, and a flashlight peers inside the car for a few moments, before you hear a resigned sigh.
“Alright you kids, come on, break it up.” The cop says, tapping his flashlight on the roof of the car. “The middle of the road isn’t the place for this kind of shit, let’s go.”
“Our car is stuck, we’ve been waiting for someone to drive past to ask for help. Could you help give us a push?” Flip asks, and the officer looks at him like he’s crazy.
“No.” The man scoffs, before sighing again, realizing that he can’t just leave the two of you out here. “But I’ll call someone. Then off you go, okay? It’s late.”
“Thank you.” Flip says, and then, like some miracle, the cop goes back to his car, radios for a tow, and leaves.
                                            ---------------------------
You both are dressed by the time the tow arrives and pulls you out of the mud. Leaving the clothes in front of the heater did wonders, and though your dress is still fucking filthy and caked in mud, it’s not freezing, or soaked. You feel awful, Flip’s dad is going to be pissed when he sees the car like this, but Flip assures you that he’ll have Jimmy help deep clean the whole thing before his parents come home after the weekend.
The tow truck driver doesn’t ask any questions, doesn’t really talk to you at all. By the time he arrives, the rain has stopped, slowed enough as the storms moved across the mountains. You don’t say anything, just sit there and wait for the wheels to come free, holding your breath until the tow driver leaves too.
The radio is soft and gentle, the time on the little clock reads just past three. Flip drove all the way to your house with a hand on your knee, reassuring, comforting. You can’t help but think it feels so different from Josh’s hand, how gentle Flip’s hold is on you. You wonder if he’s trying to ground himself, or keep you calm. Maybe it’s both.
He shuts the lights off and the radio when he rounds the corner. Puts the car in park, and the two of you walk the last few yards to your house. It’s not raining anymore, not at all. That feels like a good sign, somehow.
“Will you come in?” You ask him softly, standing under the streetlamps, careful not to step on cracks in the sidewalk.
“If you want me.” Flip nods, and you smile, and he smiles, because you both know that you always will.
The climb up through the window is a little difficult because of how wet everything is from the rain, but you both manage easily. Your bedroom is warm, and you both shed your clothes in the tub of your private bathroom, knowing your parents wouldn’t ever look in there. You want to shower desperately, but doing so this late would raise suspicion, so you don’t, you’ll have to wait until morning.
But that’s alright, because for now it’s enough to be in clean clothes. Sheepishly, you offer Flip some of his own clothes, clothes that you’ve accumulated over all the time you’ve known him; jackets accidentally forgotten on your couch, sleep shirts and pajama pants he let you borrow that you never returned.
Flip doesn’t tease you for them, he only accepts them gratefully, and the two of you lay down on your bed in the dark. You face one another, so close that your noses almost touch. He’s so handsome, you think. You’ve always thought it, but up close, this close, it’s like the thought consumes your whole mind.
“We can’t ever tell anyone about this, ever. Not even when we’re old. This is something we take to the grave.” You whisper, rubbing the tip of your nose against his.
“Agreed.” He breathes, tucking some of your hair behind your ear. You lean into the touch, lean into him.
“I don’t want to think what would have happened if you didn’t show up.” You confess, and in the silence of the room, the thought of what might have been is more terrifying than anything you two had done together. Flip is quiet, but his jaw clenches as he gently touches the closed wound on your temple. You don’t know what prompts it, but suddenly you’re asking, “Do you believe in alternate universes?”
“Hm?” Flip frowns, and you shrug in the dark.
“You know, like, a different version of our world, existing in some other dimension out in space.” You explain, shuffling close to him, tucking yourself under his chin.
“I never thought about it.” He admits with a shrug of his own and you close your eyes against his throat, warming yourself with his heat as his arms wrap around you.
“Maybe there’s a world where this never happened.” You whisper, “Maybe there’s a version of us out there that never had to do this. Maybe there’s a universe where we’ve always been together.”
“We can be together now, here in this one. If you want.” Flip whispers back, and you can feel the rabbit of his pulse jump jump jumping in his chest, and you smile.
“Phil?” You ask, not opening your eyes, not moving, barely breathing, “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He responds right away, with enough feeling behind the words to make you think that maybe he’s loved you just as long as you have loved him, maybe even longer.
A grin spreads across your face as you snuggle up closer to him, impossibly close, suppressing a thrilled little bubble of laughter as he cards his fingers through your hair.
“You’re stuck with me now, you know that? Forever.” You tease with a smile in your voice – but you both know there’s some truth to it. No matter what happens, you’re bonded by this, this nightmare of an evening.
“Happy New Year, (Y/N).” Flip teases right back, kissing the top of your head, before you reach up to kiss him properly.
                                            ---------------------------
When the sun rises the next morning and you find him gone from your bedroom, tub empty of soiled clothing and the car driven away to the cleaners, you aren’t afraid, because there’s a note on your nightstand written in the most incomprehensible handwriting that could only be Flip’s, asking you on a date, and a brand new pair of heels to wear for it.
And when they ask about Josh you’ll say you don’t know, and when they launch the investigation you’ll testify lies, and when you attend his funeral you might shed a tear, but only only only if Flip’s there by your side, so you can stand behind him, and hide your smile.
You don't own me
I'm not just one of your many toys
You don't own me
Don't say I can't go with other boys
You don't own me
You don’t own me
You don’t own me.
                                            ---------------------------
Tagging pals!  @steeevienicks @heldcaptivebychaos  @solotriplets @formerly-anonhamster @lookinsidemyhead @candycanes19 @adamsnacc-kler  @whiskey-bumblebee @magikevalynn @tinyplanet-explorers @chelsjnov @romancedeldiablo @helloimindelaware  @autumnlovesadam @peterisparker  @goodboybensolo  @the-marvelatic @miasera @emily-strange @proxyfoxy @disaster-rose @hazydespair @yosoymuyloca​ @1-800-choke-that-snoke​ @ktellmeastory​ @anongirl007 @zimmerxman​ @okk--maaan​ @flapjacques​ @aweirdlookingtree​ @callmemania-pls​ @theold-ultraviolence​ @og-selene​ @pinkmoontribe-blog​ @schopenhauerdeathsquad​ @nekonaomitard​ @feminine-machinegun​
591 notes · View notes
kaizokuou-ni-naru · 4 years
Text
Some Reasons I Love One Piece
So I set up a poll to ask what I should do for my 4000 follower milestone, and something like 85% of the responses to my poll said you wanted me to do a compilation of stuff I love about One Piece! So hell yeah, get ready for me to talk about pirates for way too long (a sentence that could also serve as an accurate blog description).
Before that though, lemme just say- thank you all! Seriously! When I started this blog I figured I’d be extremely lucky to end up with like a thousand followers, and now I have four times that and it just keeps growing, which just constantly baffles and amazes me. I adore every one of you, and you’re providing me something fun and productive to do in quarantine, and I love you for that.
Anyways! Let’s talk good shit.
Let’s start with Luffy. The whole story starts with him, after all.
I love Luffy, just as a character. He’s one of my favorite protagonists in anything, ever, when ordinarily protagonist characters don’t really appeal to me all that much. I genuinely think he might be my favorite character in One Piece now that I sit down and really think about it. I love how unconventional of a main character he is- he actively shuns the idea of being a hero and is in fact the most chaotic neutral motherfucker on the planet, and yet he’s so friendly and loyal and fun that you straight up can’t not love him both in-universe and out. 
I also love the Strawhats just in general, both as a group and individually. Found family is one of my all-time favorite story tropes, and they do it better than like, the vast majority of stories out there. They’re all so completely unique from each other and play off each other so well and they really do feel like a family. I love how often Oda just shows them fucking around and hanging out. (One of my only gripes with post-timeskip is how much time they spend split apart.) I think it says a lot about them that I struggled so much when someone asked me to rank the Strawhats a few months back and had to rearrange the list like four times. I just!! Love them all!!
One of my favorite things about One Piece is that it’s the story of Luffy’s rise, and that it occurs in a world that’s so solidly scaled and well-developed that all progress he makes actually feels tangible and impactful. Some of my favorite moments in One Piece are the ones where we can see how far he and the crew have come and see other people’s reactions. His reappearance at Sabaody after the timeskip is my favorite scene in the manga, full stop. His entrance at Marineford and all of the Decks of the World cover stories delight me for the same reason.
Speaking of the worldbuilding, god it’s so good? I think one of the greatest potential strengths of a long manga is that its just got so much time to establish and build on so much information, and sometimes that leads to mangaka kind of tying themselves in knots with too much lore and explanation, but Oda just fucking nails it. 
I recently read a conversation during Zou where the Strawhats are talking to Inuarashi, Nekomamushi and the Wano folks about all their mutual acquaintances on the Roger Pirates- Brook asks about Crocus, Franky mentions Tom, etc- and I had a moment where I realized how in pretty much any other series all those connections might seem contrived, but in One Piece it works so well. So much time has been dedicated to establishing all these facts and characters and connections over years and hundreds of chapters that when they do come together, it just feels so satisfying. 
Like, at Twin Cape Crocus mentions he was a ship’s doctor and then mentions Roger as the Strawhats leave, at Thriller Bark we find out he’s Brook’s friend, at Sabaody in conversation with Rayleigh we find out for sure which ship he was a doctor on and that he joined them to look for Brook’s crew- and it all just falls together so nicely. One Piece is maybe the strongest series I’ve ever read in terms of how it establishes its characters and concepts and how they all fit into the world and cross over and connect with each other. The world of One Piece is huge, but it also feels so alive and interconnected, and that’s just wonderful. 
I love how hopeful One Piece is. I was talking to a friend a couple months ago who doesn’t watch it, and she kind of dismissed it as ‘a show where nobody dies.’ Which- setting aside the fact that that’s just not fucking true- my first response to that was, “So?” I think it’s nice that we can all know for pretty much certain that the Strawhats will achieve their dreams in the end. There’ll be a happy ending, and Luffy’s going to be Pirate King, we’ve known that from the start. The fun is in seeing how they get there. 
Aside from a few specific cases, I also really like how Oda does his character writing just in general. The female characters in One Piece generally get a bad rap, largely from people who haven’t watched the show and judge it on the (admittedly exaggerated) artstyle, but fuck if I haven’t seen such a widely varied and developed and flawed female cast writing-wise since- I don’t even know. Oda does a really good job of giving his characters, both male and female, unique and memorable personalities, which is super fucking impressive considering just how many there are. Similarly, I’m impressed by how new characters are introduced without getting repetitive or annoying, and very often those characters are really fantastic. I could talk about all the different One Piece characters I love and why, but we would legitimately be here all day. 
I also love how unlike a lot of long-running series like this, characters don’t just go away when their time in the spotlight is done. In just about any other series, characters like Buggy and Coby and Crocodile would just be gone and never to be heard from again after they’ve served their purpose. Instead you have the stupid clown villain from the second arc becoming a fucking shichibukai several hundred chapters later, and it makes sense in the context of the story! The whole concept of the cover stories works really well towards this aspect of One Piece, letting us see what all these other characters are up to without taking attention off the main story. This fits in with the interconnectedness I mentioned earlier, too. 
And I like how (and I know there are people who will argue this, I have had them in my inbox, but I do not care) One Piece has stayed so strong for so long. I’ve mentioned before that both of my favorite big arcs are pre-timeskip- Alabasta, for the civil war storyline and great supporting cast and villains, and W7/Enies Lobby, for the epic emotional highs and lowers + ANOTHER great supporting cast. But like, I’ve been enjoying the more recent arcs just as much! Honestly, now that I’ve finished Dressrosa, I think it definitely ranks up there among my favorites as well, for how chaotic and fun and high-stakes the whole thing felt when I was binging through it. I’m only a few chapters into Whole Cake Island so far but it seems very promising, and I’m really excited to get to Wano from what I’ve seen of it.
I haven’t even really touched on the art yet, either. I know the artstyle turns some people off of the series, for how kind of cartoony it is sometimes and how different it is from most other series, but honestly I just love it. I wasn’t sure about it at the start but it grew on me very fast. Hell, I have a whole tag (which I should use more) dedicated just to appreciation of pretty panels.
And the action scenes in One Piece are so fun and expressive and creative and almost always at least a little silly just by the nature of Luffy’s powers. I don’t think I’ve ever been bored during a One Piece fight. And the splash pages are frequently just breathtaking. I’m a writing person, not an art person, so I’m bad at putting this kind of thing into words nearly as well, but- yeah. One Piece Art Good. (My friend Narramin also has a really, really good series of posts about how great the visual storytelling in OP is starting here that I highly recommend, if you’re interested.)
Finally, I think my favorite thing about One Piece is that it’s all one story, start to end. I kind of touched on this above with the worldbuilding thing, but you can see what a ridiculous degree of thought and planning Oda has put into his story, and how well everything comes together. It’s the main aspect that got me to give One Piece a try in the first place- I heard how good and thought-out the long term storytelling is, and I just eat that shit up. I don’t think I’ve ever had the level of trust in a creator to handle and end their story satisfyingly that I have in Oda. It’s a good feeling. 
465 notes · View notes
kosakashuntaro · 3 years
Text
my kawauchi/okegawa agenda
apparently i have to post about kawauchi 5 times a day or i die immediately. ok
for a manga with a cast that’s 90% male, oresama teacher doesn’t really have any m/m relationships (one-sided or not) that could be viewed as romantic except for you know who... my favorite bastard kawauchi and local prince-loving bancho okegawa
to be clear this is very one-sided. i don’t think okegawa even gives a shit about kawauchi as a friend after the whole student festival arc happened and he definitely doesn’t after kawauchi went out of his way to hold him back a year. i don’t want it to become requited. kawauchi is a horrible human being and okegawa deserves someone much better.
my first point is that i’m pretty sure kawauchi IS canonically bisexual because of that one trivia from a popularity poll or something that said his type was “dainty girls like yukioka” and “manly men like okegawa”. kawauchi was shown twice to outright be attracted to yukioka even moreso than other characters, so i will pretend that this is definitely about romantic attraction. therefore he canonically has a crush on okegawa. what? no, i didn’t bother reading the original japanese text to check if it had romantic connotation or not. because i’m definitely right.
let’s go to his backstory in chapter #50. this is the only time kawauchi has ever been taken seriously in the series. basically he was an ex-delinquent who was already friends with goto, but he decided to live a normal life in highschool and dyed his hair black. but then he saw the 2nd year okegawa fend off against multiple 3rd years, and became so fascinated by him that he decided to do everything to get close to him. he’s so amazed okegawa’s power and energy that he doesn’t even want to fight, just watch him beat up others. look at his face! its the expression of a boy in love!
Tumblr media
by the way, his line right after this is “it’s totally romantic huh...” but it’s not like. in a love-romantic way, it’s romantic as in idealistic (like ‘romance dawn’ of one piece). throughout this chapter, okegawa keeps getting described as the person kawauchi longs for, although the whole point of the arc is that kawauchi is in love with the image of okegawa as a powerful, strong bancho, and not okegawa himself (until later on).
when okegawa gets defeated by natsuo, kawauchi feels betrayed that someone he admired so much would be defeated easily and lose their cool image. then he comes up with some cringe plot with kosaka i don’t want to talk about it. what matters is that kawauchi is stupidly affected a Lot by this incident to the extent of creating an evil plan, even though others like goto and okegawa himself don’t give a shit about it.
reading the 2nd half of this chapter makes me lose my mind so i’ll just summarize it in bullet points:
the big fight happens and okegawa provokes kawauchi to join in
kawauchi runs in out of excitement even though it’d ruin his and kosaka’s plans
kawauchi admits that he never wanted to be bancho, he just wanted to be behind okegawa but became disappointed when he was weaker than he thought
kawauchi goes off about how okegawa is like in his mind and how okegawa is “what i’ve wanted for so long”
okegawa beats him up
kawauchi gets an inner monologue about how much he respects okegawa. he’s just like “i’m happy to follow him” “i want him to go back to being cool again”
he asks okegawa what he’d do if his treasure got broken (referring to okegawa himself or his relationship with okegawa), and okegawa simply replies that he’d fix it
kawauchi cries happily knowing they can be friends he can still chase after okegawa again 
i think the scanlations made this seem excessively gay with them translating kakkoi as “handsome” instead of “cool” haha...
though when you think about it, isn’t this the only time in oresama teacher that a male character has shown a lot of emotion for another male character (aside from stuff like yui/hayasaka which always includes mafuyu)? i feel like it’s so vague that it could be taken either way...
but this is a okekawa post, so i get to say that it has a romantic meaning behind it. tsubaki made mayumiko basically canon after all. she supports the girls and gays.
anyway, the point of this was to say that even though he was initially in love with the idea of okegawa, finally confronting him personally made him fall in love with okegawa himself.
chapter #66 is the one where he and goto fight against each other so that okegawa can/cannot attend his final test that he needs to graduate. goto is a good boy so he wants to help okegawa graduate, but kawauchi is evil so he tries to get him to stay behind. he tricks goto into it by saying that whoever wins will become the next bancho.
as the public morals club point out, there’s no point to this because if okegawa stayed behind another year, kawauchi wouldn’t be able to be the bancho anyway... which was kawauchi’s intention all along. he doesn’t care about being a delinquent period without okegawa and goes as far as to sabotage okegawa so that he can stay with him in the same year. it’s not a case where he wants to be with the strongest, coolest guy anymore, he just wants to be with okegawa.
since he says he would look for a girlfriend if he wasn’t a delinquent, i feel like okegawa basically fills the role of a ‘boyfriend’ to him, even if they aren’t dating and okegawa sees him as a pest. there’s no reason he can’t get a girlfriend as a delinquent. okubo has one, at least.
Tumblr media
kawauchi totally prefers girls in general though, okegawa is probably just an outlier. half of his jokes are about him wanting to get a girlfriend, lol...
i wish i had more to say about canon events after this, but there’s really nothing... however it’s fine, kawauchi is just a joke character after the school festival arc anyway.
whatever, i truly think kawauchi has feelings for okegawa. in my twisted mind their relationship is like this:
kawauchi has a massive crush on okegawa and okegawa knows about it but simply does not care because kawauchi is annoying and he would never go out with him
even though he likes okegawa a lot kawauchi is totally casual about it, like okegawa is his number one love but he’ll nonchalantly flirt with other people anyway
it’s like some sort of eternal puppy love...
i don’t want to say “ship okekawa” because okegawa is too good for kawauchi, but i do want to say “believe that kawauchi’s feelings for okegawa could be romantic” since i think that’s true. did i tell you that okekawa was 23rd on the official character pairing poll btw.
however, i’m totally brain dead when it comes to kawauchi, so my thoughts might be totally off. but please consider it... i genuinely feel like there’s something behind this and it’s not just me. right? right!?
19 notes · View notes
imo-chan-imagines · 4 years
Text
『 Random acts of kindness | Haikyuu!! Headcanons 』
The everyday acts of kindness our boys do and think nothing of, but are actually incredibly sweet.
Characters: Sawamura Daichi, Kuroo Tetsurou, Ushijima Wakatoshi, Iwaizumi Hajime, Sugawara Koushi, Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi, Oikawa Tooru, Akaashi Keiji, Nishinoya Yuu, Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Kozume Kenma, Miya Astumu, Miya Osamu, Sakusa Kiyoomi, Hinata Shouyou, Kageyama Tobio, Tsukishima Kei, Yamaguchi Tadashi, Haiba Lev
Tags/warnings: Haikyuu!! (anime), no warnings, fluff, lots of characters I didn't realise how many I'd done until I came to type up the list 😳, a lot of cats and dogs, cuteness, headcanons
A/N: I've had an exhausting and busy week, and just felt like writing some comforting fluff. Thanks for reading! Please enjoy! ♡
And please consider voting in this poll (ends this Sunday 18/10/20) to help me celebrate reaching 100 followers! Thank you to everyone who's already voted! ♡
Tumblr media
☆ Sawamura Daichi ☆
Helps lost people find their way and regularly gives directions
We're talking off-duty, here Daichi puts the 'hot' in 'Hot Fuzz' 🥵
Hahaha, fuck 🙃
He's very approachable and warm, and gives excellent directions
He'll also walk them there if they don't understand or don't feel confident, even if it disrupts his day 🥺
And he's really good at helping lost kids and calming them down he feels so proud when he gets them back to their parents, safe and sound 🤗
×
☆ Kuroo Testurou ☆
Helps elderly people with their shopping bags and getting across roads
It goes against his nature to stand by and let an old person struggle, and even if they're not struggling, he always offers his services anyway
He has a soft spot for old people, 'kay? 🥺
He makes a point of getting the traffic to stop so it's safe, and letting them hold his arm as they slowly make their way across the street
They often tell him that he's 'a very sweet and handsome young man,' and 'nothing like the other young people you meet these days' and he blushes
×
☆ Ushijima Wakatoshi ☆
Gets things from the top shelves for people that they can't reach at the supermarket
It's a pretty normal thing to do, right? So he's chill about it
Except he will 100% walk down the entire length of the isle just to help if he sees you stuggling it's super cute 😩😍
But he won't smile or make idle conversation, or anything. He'll just nod courteously
It can be a little ominous, with his looming height and serious face, but most people take the gesture well 😊
×
☆ Iwaizumi Hajime ☆
Pays for the shopping of the person in front of him when their card gets declined or they don't have the right cash
He manages to offer in a way that isn't offensive or patronising he's honestly a life saver 🥺
He's very humble and casual about it
It's what he hopes someone would do for him, if he were in that awkward situation
And you never know what struggles people are facing, so his philosophy is to always be kind what goes around, comes around, my dudes 😌✌
×
☆ Sugawara Koushi ☆
Leaves snacks and a cute thank you note on the porch for the mailman
Or mailwoman! Or mailperson!
He hopes that the little gesture will brighten their tough day of work so precious, I can't 🥺🥰
There's usually a good selection, too no skimping here, no sirree 😌
If he's home, he'll give them a cheery wave through the window as well
Especially in this COVID-19 environment. Suga would really appreciate the services they're providing
×
☆ Bokuto Koutarou ☆
Spends time every week playing with the cats and dogs at the local shelters
This man is hoenstly a blessing, I physically can't 🤧
He loves seeing their little faces light up when he walks in, scruffling their ears and playing fetch, etc. and just generally showing them that they're still loved 🥺😭
And he helps take the dogs for walks too, so they get their exercise, and brushes them down, and rubs their tummies–
He wants to adopt, but he's not settled enough, so he knows he can't 😭 but it's his goal
One day 😖
×
☆ Azumane Asahi ☆
Always holds doors open for other people
We're not just talking the occasional, feebly held door
Asahi will ALWAYS hold a door open for anyone else
Men, women, children, old people, people with prams, whole families– literally everyone
He is TALL and STRONG, and he will be USEFUL
He will hold it open even if you're really far away, like the giant dork that he is 😂😂 you cannot escape
×
☆ Oikawa Tooru ☆
Often pays for the next customer's coffee in advance
Sure, it makes him feel good about himself. But, I mean, why not? What's so wrong with that?
Oikawa calls it SAOK-ing people (pronounced 'soaking') meaning: Secret Acts of Kindness Iwa-chan has told him to change the name, but he won't 🙄
Oikawa would love the touching joy of a stranger paying for his coffee in advance, so he gets a warm, tingly feeling when he thinks about it happening to someone else because if him he's literally beaming for the rest of the day 🥰
Tumblr media
☆ Akaashi Keiji ☆
Buys food and drinks for homeless people when he passes them
He sometimes stops to have a chat with them, too 😔🤧
He's the least condescending person you could meet if you're in trouble he's so genuine, I can't
Except for maybe Iwa-chan and Daichi. They're also very down-to-earth
He'll also give them all his food vouchers that he's been collecting in his wallet to help spread their costs
Akaashi finds it hard to watch other people struggling and suffering, and so always makes the time for it when he can afford to
×
☆ Nishinoya Yuu ☆
Helps make up the numbers for the kids playing games in the park
Be it soccer, dodgeball, basketball, volleyball, tag, or something else entirely, Noya loves to see the kids running around in the park, playing games and enjoying themselves
So he's only too happy to join in when they need more players he'll sometimes recruit Tanaka to help as well
Yuu fits right in with them, both in height and mentality 😂😭😂😭
He may or may not get them to call him 'senpai' 🙄😂
×
☆ Tanaka Ryuunosuke ☆
Helps fix people's cars on the road
Tanaka's one of those people that knows how to change a flat, and so can't drive past someone having car trouble without stopping and helping
He's also a pretty good handy-man in general, and is always willing to help out his friends and neighbours with their jobs that need doing
Like plumbing problems, putting up shelves, building furniture, etc. He's good with his hands!
Kiyoko: 👁👄👁
And he'll never charge a penny! He's all too happy to do it out of friendship and the kindness of his heart 😇
×
☆ Kozume Kenma ☆
Hosts gaming charity livestreams for various causes on a regualr basis
All the donations go directly to the charity of choice for the stream, not through him, so everyone knows it's legit 😇
He also donates gaming consoles etc. to charities and organisations that help kids who are in hospital
He's a huge advocate for charities and organisations that focus on helping people through gaming, like AbleGamers and St Jude PLAY LIVE, and regularly donates to them
Honestly, Kenma is an angel 🥺 👉👈
×
☆ Miya Atsumu ☆
Gives up his seat on public transport for old/pregnant/disabled etc. people
Look, Tsumu can be a little selfish and grouchy at times, but he's not a complete asshole 👉👈
There's a line, and hogging seats on public transport when someone else clearly needs it more than him is, indeed, the line 😌
He'll do it without a second thought or a fuss, and with a smile on his face but will be low-key proud of himself, ngl
He will also get offended if someone else doesn't give up their seat when they should, and may confront them about it 😳 like, what makes you so special that you can't do that simple courtesy that even he does??
×
☆ Miya Osamu ☆
Donates food to charities and shelters
Both store-bought food and from his own shop
Literally gets so depressed at the thought of people not getting to eat 🥺
This man LOVES FOOD. And people are out there not able to?!
He also has a scheme set up where homeless and stuggling people can come into his shop for some free onigiri
This man 🥺🤧 can I please marry him already?!
×
☆ Sakusa Kiyoomi ☆
Donates sanitary supplies like soap, toothpaste, antibacterial gel, pads, tampons, etc. to shelters on a regualr basis
Literally cannot abide the idea that people are forced to live without these basic necessities, simply because they can't afford them
It's almost for his own peace of mind rather than theirs? 😅😂 almost. He does actually care on their behalf, too
But he doesn't like to make a big deal out of it, and so donates anonymously
His donations are literally a godsend to those people, though 🥺😭
Tumblr media
☆ Hinata Shouyou ☆
Reads books to kids at the library when he's there with Natsu
And he's really good at it! He reads very animatedly, and really gets the kids engaged with the stories you can just imagine it
The kids all love him and bring him their favourite books to read!
And the parents all watch and compliment him on how good he is with kids
And this goofball just blushes and grins like a doof 😚 so freaking sweet
×
☆ Kageyama Tobio ☆
Always carries a spare umbrella with him to give to someone
He hates getting caught in the rain himself, so he keeps a spare just in case this precious baby 🥺
He's had to use it quite a few times, sometimes giving it to people he doesn't even know, so he ends up not getting it back and has to buy a new spare
But it makes him smile, if a bit awkwardly, to know that he's helped someone out, even just a little Tobio!! 😭🤧🥺
×
☆ Tsukishima Kei ☆
Steps into the road to allow room for people with pushchairs and prams
I know it might not seem like much, but this is Tsukki, guys 🙄
*Narrator voice* this is one small step for man, one giant leap for Tsukishima!
And this just goes to show that he's not as tough of a cookie as he looks
He doesn't like the idea of parents etc. and young children having to walk in the road he gets worried for them...🤭
And he does it consciously, which is important
×
☆ Yamaguchi Tadashi ☆
Spends time each week looking for the animals on the 'lost' and 'missing' posters around town
He hates to think of them out there, cold, alone, frightened–
It makes him feel nauseous just thinking about it 😣
My poor, precious baby!! He's too pure for this world!! 😭
It's not often, but sometimes he actually manages to find one and bring it back to its owner safely, which is a huge boost for his mood and confidence
He feels so valued and appreciated, and just happy that the little guy is SAFE 😇🤧
×
☆ Haiba Lev ☆
Helps strangers get their cats out of trees and other high places
What else is a tall, handsome, goofball-of-a stranger to do? 😌
Legit, he doesn't think twice. Tall people should use their height to help people, shouldn't they?
Sure, it doesn't always go to plan, and his arms sometimes end up looking like well-used scratching poles, but he's just glad to help 😇
It's good to see the cats safe and with their owners
♡°☆•♡°☆•♡
If you enjoyed, please consider voting in this poll (ends this Sunday 18/10/20) to help me celebrate reaching 100 followers! Thank you to everyone who's already voted!
Tumblr media
© imo-chan-imagines 2020
Tumblr media
82 notes · View notes
regrettablewritings · 3 years
Text
Modern!Jaskier x Reader Ship Meme
Tumblr media
Prompts taken from this ship meme
Which one texts like a straight white boy?: Of course it would have to be our resident white boy. It isn’t even that he necessarily means to, there’s just an embarrassing amount of overlap between the messages a straight white boy tends to text, and those of your rising star boyfriend. You’d look more into it if it weren’t for the fact that you know there’s no actual malice in it, and because it’s just so sad that it’s funny. If one were to go into the photos saved on your phone, they would’ve surely come upon an entire album of screenshots you’d taken over the years, from when Jaskier would be on tour without you to when he’d just be resting at home while you were out at work. Things like: “Wat r u up to 2nit, cutie? ;)” “I’m probably just gonna play whatever’s on my Watch Later backlog on youtube until I conk out.” “Wild!!! anyway wat would u do if i was there rn~?” Or “Do u miss me? :(” “Of course I do ya dingus!” “Ok....Can we do a quickie over videochat?” “Jas i’m at the store.” “The point still stands.” Or “Watcha thinkin bout? ;)” “About how The Great Gatsby becoming public domain means there’s nothing stopping anyone from making a drag show interpretation called The Gay Dragsby.” “Aaww w/o me? ;)” “...” “WAIT NO I THOUGT YOU’D SAY YOU WERE THINKING ABOUT ME SHIT NO.” “BUT ACTUALLY DO GO ON IM KINDA INTERESTD.” If it were anybody else, you would’ve blocked them. But this wasn’t anybody else. It was your Jaskier: Your foolhardy, constantly horny, but never-short-of-loving Jaskier. And besides, not for nothing, at least they were something you could get a laugh out of.
Which one cried during a fucking Disney movie?: Once again, Jaskier is the guilty party. It’s no secret that he’s the more emotional of the two of you -- he wore his investment in Titanic with pride, after all. But it is a secret that the particular Disney movie to make him cry was Hercules of all things! Not Bambi, not The Lion King, not even Beauty and the Beast, but goddamn Hercules! (On another note, he also cried to Coco. But that barely counts: Literally everyone and their mother has cried during Coco. The only difference here was that Jaskier could relate to being a young man so in love with music while coming from a family that discouraged the pursuit of it.) This isn’t a knock on anyone who enjoys the movie, mind you, but let’s be honest: Out of the Disney animated canon, Hercules isn’t exactly the most . . . emotionally cathartic or heart-string-plucking of the bunch. But just because it didn’t go out of its way to create a crying frenzy doesn’t mean that it’s lacking in some humanity. It is, after all, still a Disney film. The problem is, Jaskier can’t even quite express why it made him cry the night you both decided to watch it. Maybe it had something to do with a young man most people took as a joke trying to achieve greatness? And to be fair, “Go the Distance (Reprise)” and “A Star is Born” differently when you’ve done some growing . . .
Who put a goddamned fork in the microwave?: It only happened once, but you’d never let him live it down. You like to joke that you’d left him to his own devices for just fifteen minutes so that you could take a shower -- of which was completely true -- and that was all he needed for things to go downhill. Nobody wants to think they’d be in the wrong for trusting a 20-something year-old to not be his usually somewhat distractable self. But that particular day, said 20-something year-old decided to occupy that little spot of time to himself with TV and a plate of leftovers. And normally this would’ve been fine and dandy. But normally, Jaskier would’ve just waited for the food to heat before searching for something to watch. It shouldn’t have been too big of an issue that it went the other way around that day, but apparently it was. As much as he wanted to (which honestly wasn’t by much), Jaskier just couldn’t tear his eyes away from the images flashing on the TV. The baby blues were set on the screen the entire while -- up until he heard a faint popping. Followed by a sound he normally only heard in a cheesy sci-fi movie. The problem was, he wasn’t watching anything even remotely science-fiction-y . . . All you were doing when you exited the bathroom was going to grab your lotion. That was literally all you had any expectations for. What you hadn’t expected to come upon was your boyfriend, hollering and diving over the sofa in order to scramble into the kitchen and stop that strange, not-good-sounding sound. Suffice to say, you had to put your shower on hold; it simply had to wait for you to finish fussing, then again for you to finish laughing your ass off. And again because if you entered the shower still laughing, you’d probably slip and break your head open and then Jaskier would have to deal with another possible emergency caused by himself.
Who does the silly hands-over-the-eyes “Guess who?” thing?: You can both be guilty of it, but Jaskier without a doubt does it more. Sometimes he’ll emerge from “his cave” (aka the little nook in the apartment where he likes to mess around and write lyrics or arrangements) on a break and catch an unsuspecting you sitting on the couch or at the dinner table. Other times, it could just be when he comes back from running some errands or doing a quick interview at the local radio station. You don’t mind it much . . . Especially since you can get a rise out of him by purposefully guessing the wrong person. (“Hmmm . . . Could it be . . . my mail-order husband? Boy, that was quick. And all the way from Russia, too . . .” “Uh, no.” “The milkman, finally accepting my invitation to commence a torrid love affair?” “Okay, you know damn well -- ” “Or better yet: My hopes and dreams have manifested, oh, Waluigi, could it really and truly be you!?” “What in the absolute fuck --”)
Who puts their cold hands/feet on their partner?: Because it’s usually himself who presents as being the more mischievous of the two, and because he tends to run the warmest, it always shocks Jaskier when you decide to play dirty and put your cold limbs all over him. Is it childish? Yes. But are his reactions to the sudden feeling of icy flesh hilarious? Also yes. You love to creep up on him when he’s tuning his guitar or scribbling down lyrics, or just minding his own damn business by trying to actually turn in relatively early for once. You love even more to watch him jolt and release the most high-pitched yip a man of his build could ever even joke about making. You’ll still be laughing about it as he scowls at you, cursing your “ghoul hands” and demanding to know if he’s dating a corpse at this point. Of course, no matter how peeved he might be, you can always count on one other thing from his dramatic reactions: Him huffily grabbing your hands into his own and rubbing them warm, or him forcing a park of fuzzy socks on your feet. And just for extra measure, you can be sure that he’ll spend the rest of the night holding you close or cuddling you -- “For exchanging bodily heat purposes,” he will always reason.
Who had that embarrassing reality TV marathon?: You both are guilty of it, actually. The question should really be, who is the least shameful about it. As with most things regarding a lack of shame, it was, of course, our dear Jaskier. Being a musician with a growing following, the little attention whore just can’t miss out on an opportunity to show himself off to his awaiting public. A rising star with relatability and a taste for trash? People eat that shit up! So you’ve learned to be less surprised every time he decides to liveblog himself watching things like Love Island or any of the 90-Day Fiancee spin-offs. In fact, in more recent times, you’ve come to join in with him, adding your own corresponding Tweets and commentary. Though don’t be too shocked once he starts holding polls and letting the public decide what show the two of you should watch next.
Who laughs more during sex?: You do, completely through Jaskier’s own efforts. Jaskier’s always had a pretty lax view of sex. This didn’t change when he met you, of course, but how he specifically portrayed that laxness did undergo some metamorphosis. Before, the entertainer was much more intent on his bedroom experiences being a display of power and an ability to please. Something dramatic and to be taken seriously. He still sees the importance of satisfaction in the bedroom, mind you, but with you, he can’t help but feel more . . . comfortable. With you, it’s a little more okay if he accidentally makes a dumb noise that in no way can be salvaged as sexy. With you, it’s a little more okay if he struggles to get his or your pants off, or if he struggles with removing your bra. And with you, he’s come to find that he’s a lot more okay with sharing a giggle or being a little more loose about things. It’s fine if your fingers tickle him or if he struggles to think of something proper dirty. But it’s even more fine if you think something he says or does makes you laugh, but not in a way that discredits his efforts. When you laugh, it shows that you’re comfortable with him. Comfortable enough to be with him, and be truly vulnerable. So do forgive him if he can’t help but run his fingers up your sides in a tickling fashion, or sloppily string together an innuendo. He simply loves how golden your laughter sounds, even in the throes of passion, intermingled with sweet whimpers and pleas of his name. How the heave of your chest and rippling of your tummy bumpily sync in with the rhythm of his thrusts . . . He just wants to see your smile, your genuine mirth, and bask in it with you. Besides, it serves as excellent song inspiration for him . . .
Who is the little spoon?: It depends on the sway of the day, really. As a whole, you both take turns without much thought simply because you tend to just fall into your positions. Some days, you just happen to lay into him in a way that makes you the little spoon. Other days, he conks out next to you in a manner that most could consider would make you the big spoon (or jet pack). Neither side really fights how it plays out unless one or the other may feel small and vulnerable, or just plain tired and in need of comfort. You often find yourself playing the role of the more dominating position during those first few days after Jaskier returning home from either a quick tour, or after finishing a long week of hours upon hours in the studio, or whatever kind of press-related nonsense his management team told him he needed to do. For as much as your boyfriend loved the spotlight, the truth was he was still quite capable of burning out and needing time to himself. Or, at the very least, just time with you. Even if that means he’s asleep for most of it, with you clinging to his back as he drifts off into a much-needed sleep. He makes sure to return it tenfold when you need just the same. Sure, your occupation may not be of the same nature as his own, but that didn’t mean you were in any less need of his cuddling. In fact, with him being gone as often as he was, Jaskier couldn’t help but feel almost guilty for not always being able to provide you with the basic comforts of being a constantly present boyfriend. Hence why the moment he would see your fatigued body crossing the threshold of your apartment, he would be all over you, ushering you into a quick shower, followed by a quick and simple dinner or snack, and capped off with him cuddling about you from behind. It didn’t matter if you’d come home right in the middle of a writing frenzy, or even if he’d been in the middle of searching for a breakthrough with an arrangement -- for as vain and bullheaded as Jaskier could be, he knew he owed you at least this much. You already put up with so much of his nonsense; this was quite literally the least he could do, both for you and for himself. Besides, he who was he to fight against the feeling of you wiggling closer into his hold, to deny himself the sound of your soft breathing as you lay yourself vulnerable to him? The fact of the matter is that he simply isn’t. He couldn’t be. Maybe in the beginning when things were still so unsteady and uncertain, but never now, when things had become so . . . well, what he could only describe as being “the both of you”. The both of you, molded and entwined, never wanting to let go. Never planning on it, either.
25 notes · View notes
moral-turpitudes · 4 years
Text
Unfinished Business: Part 2
Tumblr media
Trigger Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Mentions of past abuse, Blood, Fighting, Swearing, etc. 
Characters: Thomas Shelby x Reader
+ random character/group I made up (Romboldi & The Black Hats)
Word Count: 3,548
Summary: Y/n’s secret gets out and the gang scrambles to put an end to the Black Hats. But one thing is for certain, nothing is more terrifying than when the hunter becomes the hunted.
Requested by: @msbzowy​ 
Part 1 | Part 2 
Tumblr media
Y/n took a deep breath before walking into the meeting room with Tommy, her hand slightly clamming up in his. Despite their love for her, she couldn’t shake the thoughts from her head about them possibly hating her.
Walking through the mahogany doors, the frenzied conversations stopped, as all eyes landed on Y/n.
Polly gasped and she immediately walked over to her, enveloping her in a huge hug. Ada followed, complimenting her new look as she made her way to her.
“What the fuck y/n you’re supposed to be ruling New York by now!” Arthur said rather loudly, coming over and pulling her into a rough embrace.
“Nice to see you too Arthur.” She said chuckling as she made her rounds around the room.
John handed her a shot and gave her a hug, with Finn and Michael joining in shortly after. She knocked the shot back and made her way over to a pregnant Esme and scowling Linda.
“Nice to see you both! Gosh I’ve missed you!” She said gently hugging Esme and awkwardly hugging Linda. She never did like her too much as Y/n noticed early on in their relationship.
After exchanging pleasantries she waltzed back over to Tommy, taking a seat by him and lacing their hands together. Polly smirked, her eyebrow raised at he interaction.
“So tell me y/n...how is New York?” She asked, taking a sip of her tea.
“Oh it’s...well it’s New York. Crowded, loud, cars everywhere. But there’s sky-high buildings that are being built, it’s amazing to see. She said taking her hand from Tommy’s and placing it in her lap.
“Do you like it more than Small Heath?” She asked.
“God no. I grew up here Poll. This is home.” She said, leaning back in the chair.
“Oi! Y/n, not to be so forward but what the hell are you back in this shit hole for?” He asked, handing her a glass full of whiskey. She smiled and took a sip, looking at Tommy.
“Is it alright if I tell them?” She asked, knowing Tommy usually handled the tough conversations.
“Go ahead love.” He said. Her heart jumped at the nickname, it’s been so long since she’d heard it.
Taking a swig of whiskey, she stood up and walked towards the head of the table slowly.
“So, I know last time we parted ways a bit harshly. But all past feelings aside, I actually came here on business...and it involves everyone here...” She said looking down at her drink in her hand.
“That doesn’t sound good. What kind?” Michael asked.
���Uh, Mafia business. Mr. Romboldi....of the Black Hats.” She said taking another sip of her drink.
“God them fuckers again? How the hell did ya get involved with those rats? He already blew our shit up last time!” Arthur said, his brows furrowing.
She looked nervously at Thomas, and he just quickly nodded for her to continue, all emotion leaving his face.
“Well, you all know how I can’t just sit around, so I went job searching when I got there. Not long after, I noticed how dangerous it was being there on my own. I was almost attacked a couple times...” She said brushing a stray hair out of her face. Gently steering the conversation away from that subject.
“Anyways...I needed protection, and plus, I had skills that other jobs didn’t need so I went to the source of why I left. I decided I’d work for the Black Hats but not to betray anyone, just to get money coming in, get some protection, and maybe some information over time. They don’t know I’m actually Y/n Y/l/n. I’ve been working undercover. I’ve been using an alias, faking an accent, and using fake papers to get my bearings in the gang. And I’m now their contract killer.” She said knocking back the last of the drink. She let the first half of the news sink in, walking towards Tommy, placing a hand on the back of his chair.
“Holy shit. Really?” John asked.
“Yeah. I’ve killed people all over the country to earn that spot. I’m not proud of how I got it, but I had to do what I had to do.” She said looking away, out the window at the people milling about.
“Oi! Bet they gave ya a nickname like one of them spies aye?” Arthur asked jokingly.
Y/n chuckled and nodded her head.
“It’s dumb but I liked it at the time. They called me Quick Shot.” She said chuckling.
“I got it on a mission when I was sniping for his men one night. The people that were on the list came up and I took them out quick, no one really knew where the shots came from but I was gone before they could find out.” She said.
“Damn.” John mumbled.
“But you’re back here though dear...why? Why does this involve us?” She asked concerned. Polly could always steer the conversations back to the problems at hand. Often times she had the most sense of the group.
Y/n walked away from Tommy and over to the whiskey and poured another glass as she spoke.
“As we all know, the last deal went sour to say the least, so he wants something else. He told me he wants Tommy’s gin. He wants to distribute it in America, and to get stocks and shit. So...he sent me here to persuade Tommy to pay full price for them running it back. He won’t be lowballed again. Over my two years there, I’ve unfortunately gotten to know how he works, and if he comes after one person he comes after the rest just the same. If Tommy refuses, he will most likely kill me and him, as well as anyone in relation to the Peaky Blinders.” She said sternly.
“My god...” Polly said, sipping her tea as she looked at Tommy. His face still the same. But y/n could practically see the gears turning in his head again, another plan in the works.
“So they don’t know you have history with us?” Ada asked.
“No. And if they find out, you might as well kiss me goodbye. They may be stupid but they can sense someone who’s faking. I honestly don’t know how I’ve made it this long if I’m honest.” She said sitting back by Tommy, sighing and rubbing her temple. The drinks going to her head slightly.
Tommy shuffled in his seat and got up, standing behind her chair, speaking sternly.
“I’ve made a plan. It must be followed exactly as I say. No exceptions.” He said, Ada rolled her eyes bracing herself for whatever wild plan was about to spew from his mouth.
“Y/n is going to call Mr. Romboldi from a pay phone to tell him I accept the offer. When they get here in a weeks time, we’re going to meet them in Charlie’s yard. I’m going to order crates to be shipped there with my fucking gin, and you all will stand by while I negotiate. To help Y/n stay out of their grasp, we’re going to place her on sniper duty. If they ask about her, don’t tell them anything, act like you’ve never met her.” He said.
“And what if word gets out? You know it travels around here.” Linda said.
“Then you’ll just have to keep your trap shut so it doesn’t. Not until this business is dealt with. I’m sure you can manage.” Y/n said annoyed. Linda glared at her. She was always a chatty one.
Tommy smirked, and looked down at his watch.
“Y/n?” Tommy asked.
“Yes?” She said looking at him, her eyes boring into his.
“You’re going to go to the pay phone tomorrow like we discussed, but try to keep it simple. I don’t want him asking too many questions.” He said.
“Alright. What time?”
“Noon”. He said, walking over and pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
“Okay.” She said, before making conversation with Ada and Arthur. Her laugh filling the room as she joked around just like old times.
Meanwhile, Tommy looked out the window, the plans rolling around in his head amongst the scraping of the tunnels that plagued his mind every day. A mix of dread and happiness filling his bones. As much as he was happy to see y/n back, he couldn’t stand people being out to get her and his family. And he couldn’t bear losing her again, especially to those men. He hated that they forced her to do certain things and now that she was back home, he wasn’t going to let that happen again. He knocked back his shot, the liquid streaming down his throat attempting to numb the pain he felt as he processed what happened over the last 2 hours. Just 2 hours ago he was coming back from a meeting with Johnny Dogs. Just 2 hours ago he was out taking care of things around the shops. Just 2 hours ago his life was half empty. The only things in it at the time were his family and the sounds of shovels scraping through the tunnels, consuming his mind. But then as if a prayer was answered by some god he didn’t believe in, there she was at his doorstep. And he was determined this time to not repeat the past.
“You okay?” Y/n asked, walking over to him. Her red heels clicking along the wooden floors. He sighed and turned around to face her, his tired eyes meeting hers as he felt himself relax a bit at her presence.
“How about we get out of here?” Tommy asked, taking her hand in his.
“Are we going to your place?” She asked. He nodded and she smirked, seeing his lips turn up in a slight smile.
“Everyone be ready by noon tomorrow. I’m heading home.” He said, taking y/n’s hand and pulling her out with him. Everyone sat there for a moment and Polly smirked.
“Are they seeing each other again? After what he did?” Ada asked her.
“I’m sure of it. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder and I think that’s true for them. He never wanted her to go Ada. He told me after she left that he regretted it but I told him whats done is done. But you know him....he’s never been one to let things go.” She said taking a drag from her cigarette.
“Who would’ve known Tommy Shelby had a heart.” She said chuckling.
The rest of them laughed as they went about their business. All of them wary about what the next week would hold.
Meanwhile, back at Tommy’s estate, he gave Y/n a quick tour around, before leading her up to his bedroom.
Her eyes widening at the huge room and lavish king bed.
“Wow. You really went all out here aye?” She said smiling, running her hands along the cotton sheets. He caught her hand, and took it, turning her around so she was facing him. He smiled slightly as he brought his lips to hers. She kissed back, dragging both of them onto the plush mattress, feverish kisses being placed on her neck by the one she thought she’d never see again. They continued their escapades, their worries for tomorrow quickly slipping away as the daylight faded around them.
The next morning Y/n awoke to the sound of Tommy’s light snores, feeling his arms wrapped around her in a protective embrace. She wondered how long it had been since he’s slept decently, knowing all too well how his thoughts kept him up at night.
She let him sleep though, quietly getting up to wrap her bare body in one of Tommy’s robes as she made her way to the master bathroom. She went in and cleaned up, slowly coming to as the hot water dropped over her skin. When she got out she dug through her suit case to find a black dress and light sweater and decided that would work for the day’s activities. She quickly tensed though at the thought of conversing with Mr. Romboldi in an hours time.
As she put her last bit of makeup on, she heard Thomas get up and walk to towards the bathroom.
“Good morning love.” He said, kissing her cheek. She smiled and touched it, still in disbelief that she was here with him. She hated that’s she was bitter before, but now she’s grated to be there.
“Morning. How’d you sleep?” Y/n asked.
“Better. Better than I have in 2 years.” He said. She smiled and turned to hug his bare form. He had a genuine smile on his face as he placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Tommy Shelby, I never knew such a smile existed.” She said. He chuckled as he stepped away preparing the bath.
“Are you going to go call him?” He said glancing at the clock on the wall.
“Yes. I’ll go to the shop as soon as it’s done and report what I hear.” She said gathering her things.
“Alright. If you need help call me. I love you.” He said.
“Love you too.” She said before heading into his room and out into the luxurious hallway. She took a deep breath as she got in one of the cars and drove to the payphone in town. She put the coins in the slot, waiting for the operator to answer.
The phone crackled as she held the metal device up to her ear. “Hello how may I help you today?” The operator asked.
“Hi. I’d like to place a call to 5023. New York.” She said. Then waited for the dreaded rough voice of the man who took her in, yet whore’d her out to his enemies.
“I was expecting to hear from you dear. How is that shit hole treating ya?” He asked.
“Fine. Nothing beats New York, sir.” She said in her fake accent.
“Did you accomplish what I sent you there for?” He asked.
“Yes. He will pay the full price for our services. You are to meet him at the place you went last time. I think he called it Charlie’s yard?” She asked, acting like she didn’t know where it was.
“Yes, I’ll never forget that dump. Tell him we’ll be there Monday. I’m boarding the ship in an hour. We’ll meet them at noon. Good job miss Anderson.” He said.
“Alright, I’ll pass that along to him. Thank you Mr. Romboldi.” She said.
“You’ll be back here in no time, don’t worry. We can’t afford to loose our best shooter to a grimy razor gang, plus, I have some new men who’d love to meet you.” He said, an evil tone lacing his voice towards the end as he egged on the conversation.
“Goodbye. See you when I get back.” She said hanging up. Not waiting for a reply. She took a deep breath and shook the thought of giving herself to more random men out of her head and got back in the car, looking out at the busy streets as she neared the shop.
She immediately went in and said hi to Ada and Polly who smirked at her, knowing full well she stayed the night with Tommy.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Polly asked.
“Just reporting to Tommy, is he here?” She asked glancing around.
“Not yet, but you can wait around here. I want all the details.” She said smirking.
Y/n smirked and sat down in a chair near Ada.
“Yes we fucked, what more do you want me to say?” She said taking a cigarette out of her pocket, Polly reaching out to light it.
Ada smirked “Well are you all dating or not? He hasn’t been with anyone since ya left for gods sake!” She said excitedly. Y/n’s eyes widened a bit in shock. Thomas Shelby not fucking around was something she’d never thought she’d hear.
“Well we definitely made up for lost time, but I don’t know if I’d call it dating. Hell, I just came back yesterday but I felt like I’ve never left. What do I make of that?” She asked.
“I think you should ask him. I’m sure he’s already said he loves ya. I can see it between you two.” Polly said. Y/n smiled remembering earlier at his house.
“Alright, I will.” Y/n said, watching the door, waiting for him to burst through.
Not 5 minutes later he did, walking straight into his office, his face expressionless as usual.
“Guess that’s my cue.” Y/n said sighing and reluctantly getting up.
“Good luck my dear.” Polly said before turning back to her work.
Y/n walked to the closed door before her and knocked three times, just as she did all those years ago.
“Come in.” Tommy said, his desk strewn with papers.
Tommy glanced up from his papers and motioned for her to shut the door. He quickly shuffled some of the papers away and sat up, his eyes on her as she took a seat in the leather chair.
“How did it go?” He asked taking a cigarette out of his metal case. Rubbing it on his lips before lighting it.
“Okay...I told him you’d accepted his offer and that you’d meet at Charlie’s yard on Monday at noon.” She said looking away from him.
He studied her movements, the way she fiddled with her hands, her eyes avoiding him, her brow furrowed with worry.
“What else did he say y/n?” He asked quietly.
She looked down as she spoke, tears threatening to fall.
“He said that I’d be back in no time. Meaning he probably wants me back any day now. He doesn’t know I’d be there with you all so I could just stay here as planned, but I don’t want them to find out I’m here. He said he had new men who’d love to meet me.” She said with a disgusted look on her face.
Tommy sighed and took a drag of his cigarette.
“I’m not letting them take you back, y/n. You don’t have to worry about that.” He said looking into her eyes.
“Well once his men find out I’m not back, he’s going to get word of it.” She said quickly wiping a stray tear from her face.
“If they do, we’ll just have to kill them then.” He said.
“What about the men back there? I’m not whoring myself out. I’m not doing that again. He’s a sick man.” She said as more tears fell. She hated doing things for her boss but it was a comply or be killed type of situation back then.
“You won’t have to do that anymore. You’re a blinder do you understand?” He said getting up and walking over to her. She got up and he pulled her into a hug, her cries muffling as she rested her head on his chest.
“I won’t let them hurt you. You’re safe here. Do you hear me? You won’t have to do that, I’m not ever sending you away again.” He said.
Once she calmed down, she looked up at him, his ocean eyes staring back at her.
“I love you...y/n I really do.” He said.
Y/n nodded and smiled. “I love you too.”
Later that night she got home late after joining the gang at the Garrison. Tommy was in the bathroom taking a shower while she was getting undressed and putting on a nightgown. She only had a finite amount of clothes, so luckily she was able to find the time to shop earlier during the day.
“I thought you’d be sleeping y/n.” He said as y/n sat up in bed reading one of Tommy’s books.
“I can’t, I have something on my mind.” She said, turning the pages.
“What is it?” He asked, getting in bed beside her. Kissing her shoulder as he watched her skim the book.
“Polly and Ada asked about us today. And Ada asked if we were together again...” she said, her heart racing as she spoke.
“Do you want to be together?” He asked. She took a moment to think, mad that she was so bitter before, but she decided to let those feelings go to make way for new ones. New beginnings perhaps.
“Yeah, I’d like to. Only if you promise to not boot me out again.” She said looking at him.
“Then we’re together then. And I’ve told you before love, I’m never making that mistake again.” He said kissing her shoulder before lying down. She smiled and closed the book, lying down and cuddling into his side for the night.
Tumblr media
Over the next few days, they grew in their trust and in their relationship more. And when they weren’t dealing with the matters at hand, they decided to tell the family, which wasn’t much as they all expected it.
Y/n looked around the room at all of them, finally feeling okay with herself and with who was in her life, and by her side. But she couldn’t shake the nerves of her past, as she still had to deal with them when they got there.
Monday came around rather quickly though, much to everyone’s dismay. Her stomach lurched as she got a phone call at her new desk at the shop.
“Shelby Company Limited.” She said nicely.
“Tell y/n y/l/n we have a surprise for her. Courtesy of Mr. Romboldi.” He said and then hung up.
Her stomach lurched again, but in fear. She got up quickly, her face paling as she steadied herself at her desk, walking with shaking hands to Tommy’s office. It was an hour before noon. An hour before she had to get to her position.
She barged in frantically not caring that Tommy was in the middle of discussing the plans for today with Arthur and the boys.
“Hello y/n. What is it?” He said putting his cigarette out and sitting back in his chair with an annoyed look on his face.
“T-they know. Thomas they know my name. They know I’m here.” She said fear dancing wildly in her eyes.
Within seconds the boys grabbed their weapons and their caps and headed out the door to Charlie’s yard. Thomas on the other hand stayed behind.
“What happened y/n?” He asked gathering his things.
“I um, I got a call a few minutes ago. And he said tell y/n y/l/n we have a surprise for her. Courtesy of Mr. Romboldi.” She said her hands shaking.
Thomas paced around while checking the rounds in his gun. He pulled out a sniper rifle and loaded it as y/n stood there.
He quickly shoved the gun into y/n’s hands and stared at her.
“Y/n. Hey. Listen to me. I’m not letting him get you. I’m taking you to the rooftop overlooking Charlie’s yard ok? They won’t notice you. You’re going to go there and stay there unless we need you on the ground ok? Just take care of the men around us.” He said.
“Okay...” she said and followed him out to the car. He stepped on the gas, booking it there. It was easier for her to keep calm when she was hunting down other people, but it was terrifying knowing she’s become one of the hunted.
As they sped down the dirt covered streets they parked outside of an abandoned 3 story building. He quickly looked around and led her up to the roof to where she could see clearly. The wind nipping at her neck slightly as she adjusted her position and steadied her breathing. She could see John and Arthur standing guard below holding two suitcases and Michael, Finn, and Isiah on the opposite side waiting. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tommy walk out into the middle of the area, checking his watch. As if on cue, a black dingy car pulled up as 5 men climbed out including Mr. Romboldi. They each had either a handgun or machine gun with them, along with a lone black suitcase.
She saw as Mr. Romboldi came near Tommy, sitting the briefcase on an old wooden table and opening it, revealing what looked to be a lot of money inside.
“I’m not here to take your money Mr. Romboldi, I’m here to give you your gin and your payment for your troubles.” He said as Arthur and John brought over the suitcases.
Mr. Romboldi smirked and lit a cigar. The smoke rising into the air.
“It’s not for you Mr. Shelby. It’s for y/n y/l/n.” He said.
“That name doesn’t sound familiar.” Tommy said, lighting a cigarette as he stared blankly.
“Are you sure? It sounds an awful lot like someone who we have workin’ for us by the same first name. You thought you could fool us y/n?” He said, loudly yelling the last part and looking around the rooftops.
Y/n quickly ducked down before he could look over towards the building she was perched on. Steadying her breathing as she waited.
Mr. Romboldi continued to ramble on.
“We know she’s here because she hasn’t came back to our headquarters, and my men are very fond of her. They’d know when a pretty girl like that goes missing.” He said. Still loud enough that she could hear.
Tommy blankly stared as he shook his head again, denying he knew her.
“Look, the only way we found out for sure was because one of them, a certain man she was seein’ mentioned her not visiting him. He was ya know...scheduled to see her one night this past week if you know what I mean...” He said chuckling.
“And he brought it up to my men and they contacted me while I was on that shitty boat. Now....I know we have a deal, and I’m accepting your payment this time, but I also have a deal of my own ya hear?” He said.
“I hear you. What’s the deal?” Tommy asked.
“You give me the money and the gin, and I pay you for y/n. She’s the best I’ve got in more ways than one despite her foolin’ us and I know she’s here. We researched into her little background and couldn’t find nothin’ on a fuckin’ Y/n Anderson.” He said taking another puff of his cigar.
“That’s unfortunate.” He said, growing tired of him talking. He motioned for Arthur and John to go as he sat up a bit.
“You ain’t leavin’ not with out giving me my girl.” He said. Her stomach turned over how he talked about her. Like she was some piece of meat ready for the wolves.
Tommy smirked and leaned in closer to him, one of Mr. Romboldis men pointing a gun at Tommy and walking near him until the barrel touched his temple.
He paid the gun little mind and continued.
“If she’s your girl...then why was she in my bed then aye?” He said, as he watched the older mans face grow red with anger.
“You bastard! I knew it. You can come on out y/n we have a ship to fuckin' catch.” He said yelling.
“I know for a fact that she wouldn’t want be with you. You’re just in a filthy razor gang!” He said. Tommy attempted to get up but not before the man clicked the gun a bit causing him to stop.
John and Arthur raised theirs as the other men stood guarding their boss, not getting a chance to reach for their guns. Arthur started beating one of them while John threw some punches and disarmed the other.
Y/n slowly raised her head up a little, just enough that she could get a clear shot.
Mr. Romboldi got up and took all the suitcases and walked to the car as Tommy tried to grab the mans arm to disarm him. He shot the gun, the bullet flying through the air at a random spot, hitting a building nearby.
Y/n aimed for the guys who were getting too rough with John and Arthur and quickly shot two bullets, each of them striking them in the head.
It gradually got more quiet as two of the 5 were dead. But Tommy still struggled with the man who held him at gunpoint taking a slew of punches to the face and chest. Michael, Finn, and Isiah fought the other two, giving her just enough time to find an opening to kill one of the men. She shot striking the man going after Finn, hitting him in the chest. The other guy soon ran over to Tommy, attempting to help the other man attack him. Tommy pinned one down laying punches on his face as blood sprayed up onto his dress shirt.
Y/n didn’t hesitate though, instead she shot the man who was about to attack him from behind.
As she took a moment to get her bearings, she saw Mr. Romboldi grab a machine gun out of his car, aiming right for Tommy who was slowly getting up after beating the guy to death. He unfortunately didn’t notice her boss aiming at him.
Before Tommy could pull out his own gun, he saw a shot hit the guys head. The once ruthless, balding, red-faced mafia leader from New York lying lifeless on the cold pavement as he bled out.
Tommy looked up and saw y/n. The smoke from the rifle still floating off the gun and into the air. He had never been so happy to be staring at the barrel of a gun, or more so the person behind it.
Without thinking, y/n got up and ran down the stairs and into the open area and ran straight to Tommy, not caring about the blood and dirt caking her shoes as she did so. He welcomed her with a warm embrace, as she looked up and examined his face, he was bleeding from his temple and his lip, but other than that he seemed fine. Despite his injured lip, she kissed him for a moment before he stopped her and looked down at her.
“Thank you, y/n.” He said.
She just nodded and embraced him again. Happy that she had the man that she loved back in her arms, and a job she loved to go to everyday. As crazy as it was, she wouldn’t trade this life for the world, no matter the cost.
87 notes · View notes
snkpolls · 3 years
Text
SnK Episode 66 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)
Tumblr media
The poll closed with 244 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.
--
RATE THE EPISODE 238 Responses
Tumblr media
“Assault” was a total hit with the fans, with 93.7% of respondents rating it a 4 or 5. Nobody gave the lowest rating this week, and only a couple of people weren’t as impressed with the episode. 
I wasn’t a fan of previous episode but GOD I’M BACK TO HYPE! This episode was so full of awesome scenes that picking just one favourite and one that made me most emotiona seems unfair
Incredible improvement. Almost reminded me of Season 1 with all the impact/shockwave flair at times
Was amazing
THIS IS THE BEST BY FAR AND EVERY CHAPTER IS FREAKING GOOD
It was a banger 
One of the best episodes in the ENTIRE SERIES. At first i was skeptical because the cgi often kept throwing me off but i was PLEASENTLY surprised how fantastic the last episode was
it was awesome
So proud of MAPPA with what they've done so far! Appreciate them! 💕
It was breathtaking and MAPPA did tje manga justice!
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ACTION MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 237 Responses
Tumblr media
Armin making his entrance by blowing up the harbor took the edge this week, with 28.7% most hyped up about the scene. Following closely behind with 26.2% of the vote is Eren using Porco as a nutcracker to eat the War Hammer Titan. 19.8% most enjoyed watching Mikasa fillet Porco’s legs, and 17.3% liked the scene where Sasha and Jean help take down Pieck and the Panzer Unit. 
Jean vs. Pieck was epic!
Levi was so awesome!  It was great hearing his voice again, just everything about him made my day.  this episode was perfect <3
NUTCRACKEREN
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS MADE YOU FEEL THE MOST EMOTIONAL? 237 Responses
Tumblr media
To counter the breathtaking action this week, some scenes also brought out our emotions. 25.7% were most affected by Gabi and Falco desperately calling out for Reiner to save Porco and help them. 20.7% felt the same pain as Mikasa as she watched Eren brutally kill another person. 15.6% were pained to see Armin’s reaction to his horrific action of destroying the harbor. At some smaller percentages, people were also emotionally touched by these scenes, in order: Seeing the Panzer unit’s pictures in their cabins, Porco’s desperate pleas for Eren to stop using him to kill Lara Tybur, and Reiner’s continued desire to end his own life. 
Seeing hange onscreen again has added 100 years to my lifespan.
ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW EERIE DID YOU FIND THIS IMAGE OF THE WAR HAMMER TITAN? 232 Responses
Tumblr media
Overall people weren’t too spectacularly creeped out by the haunting image of the War Hammer Titan at the beginning of the episode. About 45.7% of respondents feel they’ve seen things much creepier, while about 33.7% felt it was more close to the thing of nightmares. 20.7% were simply somewhere in the middle.
REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT GABI’S CHARACTER, HER SEIYUU TRULY WENT ALL IN ON HER SCREAMS FOR REINER. ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW BONE CHILLING WAS HER PERFORMANCE? 228 Responses
Tumblr media
Gabi’s seiyuu truly sold this scene and the fandom seems to overwhelmingly agree that she did a fantastic job, with nearly 93% of respondents ranking her performance a 4 or 5. Only a small handful were less enthused, finding the screams more annoying than impressive. 
I’m usually a defender of Gabi, but Falco and Gabi’s screaming annoyed the f out of me
SOME FANDOM SPACES SEEM TO BE MORE POSITIVELY RECEPTIVE ABOUT THE CGI IN THIS EPISODE. WHERE DO YOU FALL ON THE SPECTRUM? 225 Responses
Tumblr media
After much disappointment in the previous episode’s usage of CGI, people in the fandom are feeling a lot more pleased with it this week, with no one even ranking its usage as a 1. The majority felt that MAPPA did a good job, likely hoping that the trend continues.
I Thought the CGI Section in the opening bits looked incredibly wonky, But after that it was used well.
I've been fairly tepid on the CGI while acknowledging its necessity. However, this episode used in amazingly after I was a bit dissapointed with its use last week. Very satisfied with pretty much everything this episode.
DID MAPPA DO ONYANKOPON JUSTICE? 228 Responses
Tumblr media
Onyankopon finally makes his appearance and the fandom is overwhelmingly positive about MAPPA’s character design for him, with just over 87% of respondents either stating they are super happy with the design or that they’re straight up starstruck and in love. Only a small handful felt he could have been done a little better. 
Nailed it! Though I had to come back and see him in the rewatch. Was too focused on Hange and Armin. 
I honestly don’t care as he’s a relatively minor character in the manga
They did onion coupon really damn well
ONION COUPON!!!
He is significantly more bad ass looking than I assumed he would be 
He looks super cool but his voice is too soft. 
He looks even more like Finn than in the manga, and as a John Boyega fan I think that's a good thing!
Onion
Idc about his appearance, hope his character will just be portrayed correctly.
MAPPA HAS AVOIDED KEEPING IN SOME OF THE IMPLICATIONS THAT ZEKE COULD BE WORKING WITH ANYONE BUT MARLEY UP UNTIL THIS POINT. WHAT DO YOU THINK - WILL ANIME ONLY VIEWERS BE THROWN TOTALLY OFF GUARD NEXT WEEK? 223 Responses
Tumblr media
One of the joys for some manga readers when the anime seasons are running is seeing the way that our anime-only counterparts react to the story developments. One of the big plot twists next week will be that Zeke was working with Eren/The Survey Corps and people are eagerly anticipating the fan reaction to the revelation. 44.4% feel that anime only watchers will be totally thrown off guard and that MAPPA has done an excellent job of concealing this plot twist. 27.4% feel similarly positive about the fan reactions for this reveal, though a little disappointed there was a bit less room to theorize. 14.8% aren’t sure as they don’t really keep up with anime-only fan reactions, and a few either feel they’ve probably already pieced it together, or just don’t care. 
The Jaw might be down for the count, but jaws will still drop next ep.
I've been watching reactions from anime only people for this season and some are definitely putting together correctly that Zeke is in on the plan.
I listen to an “Anime only” podcast Where are you they literally called Zeke working with Paradis, but I’m not sure about others. 
I've already seen several theorize that Zeke is working with Paradis. The suspicious nature of his death in this episode clinched it for some of them.
Some of them will be surprised, but the ones who watch the anime more carefully and like to think about things most likely know that Zeke might work with Paradis.
MAPPA ADDED PICTURES OF THE PANZER UNIT TO THE INSIDE OF THEIR CABINS. DO YOU THINK THIS MADE THEIR DEATHS MORE EMOTIONAL? 227 Responses
Tumblr media
A small addition, but impactful nonetheless. 53.7% felt more saddened about the Panzer Unit’s deaths after seeing how strong their bond with each other was (or, alternatively, how hard all of the boys simped after Pieck). 37.4% agree that it added just a little more depth to the characters, though it ultimately didn’t do anything to move them too much emotionally. A handful don’t care or were just salty about the addition in general. 
Their screen time was short in general. It was a nice touch, definitely made me pause to get a better look and feel a bit bad for them.
That, and them screaming for Pieck as they get blown up :( amazing additions. 
I gotta be honest, I didn't even notice until I saw this question. I was too busy screaming over Sasha being amazing. It's a nice addition though.
Yes. It shows that the marleyan warriors were not emotionless monsters, but they had their lives, families, friends and were normal people overall. I felt really sorry for them. 
I didn't notice until I saw this question, but I do think it adds to the sadness. 
I was upset by their deaths because they and Pieck were a team and looked out for each other
I loved to see it! It really added more to their characters. The entire Panzer unit being Pieck simps, that is. 
They cut out the scene where the bullet actually HIT Carlo.
it just shows once again how complicated attack on titan is and how much their actions have consequences. no side is innocent
ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW DISAPPOINTED ARE YOU THAT MAPPA CUT THE PANEL OF PORCO SANDWICHED BETWEEN BURGER-CONSUMING PIECK AND COFFEE-DRINKING ZEKE? 225 Responses
Tumblr media
In the manga, we see a shot of Porco having a meal with Pieck and Zeke while he becomes distraught over the assault on his comrades. MAPPA omitted it, though for the most part fans didn’t really seem to care. Only about 21% of respondents felt something was missing without the small flashback, while the rest were indifferent or felt it never really fit in anyway.
ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW HAPPY ARE YOU ABOUT THE INCLUSION OF AN EXTRA LINE FROM PIECK TELLING FALCO TO RUN AWAY? 228 Responses
Tumblr media
As expected of the fandom, they agree that any new Pieck content is good content. Even though it was a small one-liner addition, the vast majority were very pleased with MAPPA’s scripting of this moment. Only a small handful felt it was unnecessary.
EREN USING PORCO AS A NUTCRACKER WAS SOMETHING THAT SURPRISED A LOT OF US WHEN THE CORRESPONDING CHAPTER WAS PUBLISHED. WHICH MEDIU, DO YOU THINK THE SCENE HAD A BIGGER IMPACT IN? 227 Responses
Tumblr media
A rare occurrence, but the fandom seems to agree that MAPPA excelled at adapting this scene and made it even more impactful than it was in the manga, with nearly 50% stating that they preferred the anime’s take on this moment. 35.7% feel that the impact was of equal strength in both mediums, and only 10.1% still prefer the original manga portrayal. 
I feel like the anime dragged it out a little bit and some angles were meh bc the cgi was more noticeable. I'll have to go back to the chapter to see how many panels were dedicated to the scene
Porco's seiyuu SOLD it. 
I think both are pretty equal but hearing Porco scream and beg for Eren to stop made it a bit more nerve racking.
titan eren’s face during the nutcracker bit was legit terrifying in a way I can’t quite explain 
The music, the voice acting, the scary CGI attack Titan. This scene was impeccably strong! I give it 100%
I felt more surprised in the manga because i didnt expect it, but in the anime porcos reaction made it more horrifying 
Hearing Porco made it even more impactful
Ngl, I was much more grossed out watching it animated than in manga form. Just all that blood and the swallowing...*shudders*
Eren was absolutely in the right here
The swallowing noises and the weird thick blood was absolutely disgusting 10/10
PIECK AND JEAN ARE CURRENTLY WORKING TOWARD THE SAME GOAL OF KILLING EREN IN CURRENT MANGA EVENTS. DO YOU THINK SHE’S FORGIVEN HIM FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE ATTACK ON HER AND THE PANZER UNIT DURING THE EVENTS OF THE LIBERIO ATTACK? 225 Responses
Tumblr media
Unrelated to the episode itself, but remembering that Jean was partially responsible for the deaths of people Pieck loved was something that had us thinking, and we were curious what others thought as well. 39.1% feel that Pieck would never be able to forgive Jean for his part in the assault, but is big enough to move on and leave it in the past. 25.3% don’t want to make a call either way, as Isayama hasn’t done much to explore this facet of her character. 14.2% feel she’s moved past it completely and has forgiven Jean for his role. Smaller percentages either felt she doesn’t hold him responsible at all, or that she will always resent him and is only working with him insofar as to reach her own goals. 
It's war.
dont care fuck pieck
I mean there's no indication that Isayama has even considered this in my opinion so the answer is completely speculative. So like my answer is "She forgot and moved on" :D
She still has a pain in her heart after losing the Panzer Unit, they were her friends after all. But Pieck is smart and she understand why Jean did that. Also, the world is in fire so she doesn't have a time to think about it now.  
The Alliance characters are not allowed to keep grudges (thought at least it fits for Pieck)
The scene with Panzer Unit was so powerful in anime that it detroyed all my Jeanpiku hopes I had after the last chapter :’) I think Pieck could come to an understanding and blame others more than Jean but I’m not sure if she’s ready to fully forgive
I think that Pieck doesn't hold Jean responsible, understanding that it wasn't personal and just counts it as a tragedy from the war.
Pieck seems to be really understanding character and full of empathy. She’ll forgive Jean as soon as he shows he’s sorry for what happened (and he probably really is as long as he hates the idea of killing people)
WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 233 Responses
Tumblr media
We’ve got a heavy episode coming, and a number of things to look forward to. As expected, 40.8% are most anticipating the scene where Sasha dies by Gabi’s gunshot. 31.3% are looking forward to seeing Levi confront and arrest Eren. 23.6% are most looking forward to the big reveal that Zeke was working with Eren all along. Only a small handful are looking forward to the Gabi and Falco content before they board the blimp. 
I'm NOT ready for the next ep...
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ON THE EPISODE?
This is where the fun begins both in anime only reactions and in seeing fantastic scenes brought to life.  
So good. Chills everywhere. Watched it so many times and still getting chills. The 3 minute sequence starting from Armin blowing up the port up to Pieck falling from the rooftop is mindblowingly good. Perfection. 
I remember being really sad when the WHT left the plot so quickly in the manga because it had the best titan design imo. I know we've seen her again in the recent chapters, but the WHT was even better with Lara seen controlling it. She looked so cool, calm and collected in that crystal the whole time. RIP Lara Tybur :( 
Ost are awesome !
Thought it was the best episode of season 4 so far. They kinda gave Hange the mappa egg head syndrome in their first full face shot though. 
It was phenomenal!! And really, if people still don't understand why Gabi goes off, they have their head in the clouds. Everything was so visceral and I genuinely felt fear for the warriors. It moved so quickly just back to back; I could taste the kids desperation. 
I think ending the episode with Reiner transformed is misleading yet strategic since it will tear apart the audience in the next episode.
This was the best episode by far! For a long time I couldn't get over how awesome the attack on Fort Slava in the first episode was and it remained my favorite, but this episode potrayed the war so well and you could totally feel the terror of the war with them!
So, so, so, so good. I was surprised by how emotional I got over it. Mappa is really making everything hit so hard!
Loved the episode! I believe this adaptation has even improved on some scenes (like Armin's tranformation and Gabi's screams), the ost and voice acting give it so much more power and the CGI looks better than in previous episodes. Really looking forward to ep 8 and the little surprises Mappa will give us with it 
This episode was really great, the 1st to get me truly hyped. I was very disappointed last episode because it felt very underwhelming was I watched it, so much so I didn't even want to participate in the poll last week because there was enough negativity about it out there and I didn't want to add to it. After staying away from others opinions and having watched this week's episode i gave 65 a rewatch and I honestly think it's a good episode, with small flaws here and there. I guess all the negativity can really affect how we perceive this adaptation. I realized I watched that whole episode looking for any moment mappa had messed up, moments that I knew people would complain about. This week I didn't and I enjoyed it a lot more. So even though it may not be like this for everyone, distancing yourself from all of the exaggerated "criticism" might just make you enjoy and appreciate it a lot more. 
I still strongly dislike how the CG Attack Titan looks but this episode looked MUCH better than the previous one and was even better lit, IMO. Armin looked beautiful, the colossal titan looked amazing and Levi looked the best he's ever looked to me. JEAN! He looked so good and so did Sasha! I absolutely love the character design this season and everyone looked fantastic. Loved it!
makes me wish porco hadnt died 
I think that I was so disappointed with the previous episode that I just lowered the bar. Either way I enjoyed this episode. I'm still very disappointed with the music choices and much they faded in the background even during climate scenes. But I did feel a lot better about the CGI specially since the barely used it in this episode aside from the titans. Oh man I cant wait the anime fandom reaction to Sasha getting shot. 
The episode was much better than the previous one. I loved it. I loved the moment of horrifying silence after WHT was eaten. The lack of music made the scene more serious and dreadful. Gabi's seiyuu made an excellent work as well. I didn't know I was going to say that but I think that Armin is pretty hot. In the manga he still has his cute baby looks, but MAPPA made his appearance more mature. Now I feel jealous of Annie ;P
WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 215 Responses
Tumblr media
Thank you again to everyone who participated!
15 notes · View notes
loveau · 4 years
Text
enemies-to-lovers!hendery
request: Could I request an angsty enemies to lovers AU with Hendery or Ten? Thank you so much for posting your writing
others: lucas | yuta | renjun | jisung
Tumblr media
it all started probably at some university party where a mutual friend or a friend of a friend introduced everyone in a group
since there were so many people, there wasn’t a lot of interaction to go on
but what you did know was that the dude named hendery???
yeah the most obnoxious person you’d ever met
and he thought you were the most judgmental person he’d ever met
to be fair his rowdiness comes with the friends he has nearby you’re bound to be the same way with yours
but it just seemed like he was so over the top and loud and it was annoying how you couldn’t have a conversation with your friends when he was literally screaming across the room
at the same time, however, hendery isn’t appreciative of your dramatic groans and eye rolls whenever he does anything and he feels so restricted from basically getting to have fun
and putting the both of the together in the same room is a chemical reaction that leads to an explosion
it basically started at that party and y’all were having fun and the mingling of groups was happening where everyone was getting to know each other
y’all didn’t really interact during the party besides hanging around the general area
but that didn’t stop you from giving each other the slight stink eye, which may have started on your part when he accidentally spilled some drink on your friend’s pants
and he thought nothing of it so he assumed you were just a stick in the mud and thought it was dumb you were there to cramp on his fun
obviously you hadn’t added each other on social media, so when hendery was doing something especially dumb you smirked and had been recording it
in all fairness it had started with you recording one of your friend’s rants about how nobody treats them right and how they deserve the perfect lover but there’s just trash people and their trash lists of who’s the best kisser or whatever
but all of a sudden your camera had switched to hendery’s group of friends where he was standing on top of a table and slipped off due to all of the snacks and drinks spilled on it
he ended up getting caught by his friends before he got hurt, but he clonked heads with one of them and was wincing while the others laughed or were more focused on whether or not he was okay
you were chuckling to yourself and captioned it ‘bet he doesn’t have any braincells if this is what keeps happening... makes sense alrdy tho 💀💀’
and you thought nothing of it until the next morning you’d woken up to a couple of messages and whatnot
you’d been debating whether or not you wanted to go to the bathroom and check later on during lunch after you spent some time to yourself but you chose to continue laying in bed and read through everything
a couple of the typical ‘what was the homework’, ‘lunch?’, and ‘did you know that this happened...’ type of things
but what caught your eye was the ‘hey, did you know that you have a bounty on your head rn?’
you were so confused because you had no clue what that was supposed to mean and typed back a simple ???
and one of your friends ten responded back pretty quickly and he was just like yeah, hendery apparently hates your guts rn so i suggest don’t run into him
you’re just like????? hUH????? who?????
he sends you a picture of himself and a whole group of others and he’s just like furthest dude on the left
you squint at your phone because wow ten you could have chosen a better picture or maybe screenshotted something huh
however once you recognize him, you’re like UH???? KnUcKLeheAD?
ten’s just like yeahh, apparently he found out about your story and has been asking everyone who you are
someone must have told him because ten sent you a screenshot of the story hendery posted that captioned your story with smth like
‘this person rlly don’t have anything better to do besides play therapist for their friends at a p a r t y :///’
you’re gaping at the message and it’s so bad you sit up from bed so fast with your phone in the tightest grip
like what??? and followed by that there’s another screenshot of another story that basically was some poll or something about whether or not you were fun or some lame-o
you were fuming at that and saw the username in the stories ten sent you and basically looked him up and found out who hendery was
your phone was practically thrown to the other side of the bed as you got ready for the day 
part of you was so confused as to who sent him the story but you were also really confused as to why he’d just project you onto his as if you’d see it (which you did soooo)
and you found yourself complaining to your friends about it like who would do that??? it was a joke anyways and plus why does he care when you barely know each other???
they’re all on your side of it too since most of them had met hendery that same night or only knew a couple of the other guys and him by extension
your food was feeling your wrath as you chewed on it and your friends tried to find a different subject to talk about
“hey, did you transfer classes like you wanted? 
you finally smile at that and give a satisfied hum to them
“yep, i finally got out of that blasted quantum mechanics class or whatever”
“why were you in that anyways?????”
you shrug and it’s just confusing to you because you were trying to get an elective course in but they decided to put you in a big science class where people with big brains and bigger egos liked to flex their knowledge and lord it over you when you didn’t understand
“doesn’t matter!! i’m in advanced hip hop dancing now! no more 8am lectures about one dimensional applications anymore”
“but you still have to wake up at 8am to walk across campus to the theatre rooms?”
“it doesn’t matter if you like what you do”
which was the best part since you took hip hop last semester and had some background in dancing before, so the instructor suggest you move to intermediate
but the worst part was the voice you heard behind you
“oh no way in-”
you whipped around and saw the shocked and irritated look on the one and only hendery
“you!” you pointed your fork accusingly at him and he has the audacity to look offended and point both hands at himself
“me???”
“yeah you! who are you to put me on blast to social media even though i’m a total stranger to you?”
“exCUSE ME?????!! the same goes to YOU!”
“tHE sAmE GoES tO YOu. it was a joke, especially by someone you barely know!!!! i didn’t want to have to see your face first thing in the morning to find out you got butthurt because you bonked your head as a kid and wanted to reenact that??”
hendery almost revolts backwards and holds a finger up
“first of all? do you think i’m happy about getting to see you first thing in the morning either??? and do you think i’d be happy seeing you at 8am every other day?”
you quickly put two and two together and you’re clenching your teeth
“you don’t mean-”
“yeah, see you in advanced hip hop, lame-o”
you (and practically the entire lunch room alkfnskfn) are left in shock as hendery takes his leave without even ordering food
you sit there in shock and think all of a sudden you might not like hip hop anymore
and you’re complaining about it to ten as he sits across from you at dinner, a couple hours after your lunch and having enough time to sit on it
“i should have taken modern dancing with you........ or maybe even ballet 3 with sicheng?”
ten only laughs and you scowl as he attempts to keep his snickers quiet
“you wouldn’t have lasted more than two days. you’d be itching to get your feet moving faster than they can get their toes pointed”
you roll your eyes because he’s right. one of the best parts of dancing hip hop was that you felt you could lose control of yourself in a more reckless way than the other styles of dancing could
“i hate it when you’re right?”
ten smiles at you and pats your shoulder from across the table
you’re just internally screaming that you have to wake up at 8am to see hendery’s dumb face again
“why is it because i’m right so often?”
“no, because i tend to owe you money because i lost the bet”
he snickers and then offers his student id to you
you take it questioningly and he pats the hand that has the id in it
“take it out at the dance studio. they’ve closed it from regular students after 9 since someone decided it’d be funny to steal one of the mirrors”
you roll your eyes but smile gratefully at him
“gotta love TAs with their magical access for ‘tutoring hours’”
“hey they’re actually convenient for when it doesn’t fit someone’s schedule!”
you’re already walking towards the door by the time he says that and you look back cheekily
“tell me that again when you haven’t used it for a private picnic date with someone you met on tinder!”
by the time you reach the dance studio you’re absolutely giddy and so glad you wore comfortable clothing to dinner so you didn’t have to go back to change
your giddiness changed when you already saw somebody in the studio
and as fate would have it, of course hendery had to be there, jamming out to some 80s hip hop song
before you could turn around and leave, he spun around during once of the dances and opened his mouth in shock
“there is no way-”
“save it! i’m just as shocked as you are”
he huffs and turns off the music and stands with his arms folded 
“well?”
“well what?”
he makes a face and over exaggerates your irritated one with a “wELl WhAt?!?!??!!!?!?”
you set your jaw and mimic his stance but the awaiting look in his eyes told you everything
“i’m not here to apologize if that’s what you’re thinking” you put a hand and put your other on your hip before he could say anything
at least he had enough respect to listen to your cue even though he exasperatedly threw his hands in the air and huffed loudly
“and even if i wanted to, i wasn’t so immature to go around asking everyone about who made me cry because they laughed when i decided to climb a table and almost fall because it was slippery”
“i didn’t cry” he’s got this childish tone to his voice and you know better than to instigate but the fiery look in his eyes only lights up one of your own
“i can give you a reason”
you don’t even realize you’ve stepped in the middle of the dance floor until he huffs out a laugh and meets you in the middle where you have your hands on your hips defiantly and a cocky smirk on your face
he hates it and you feel so powerful seeing him seethe
it only adds to your satisfaction that he ends the stare down by walking away rigidly
however it quickly melds into confusion when he turns the music on again, this time to a more recent song on the radio and one of the songs you were thinking of dancing to actually
he starts walking again, but in circles around you
he adds a spin here and there and a little kick of the leg
“what are you, constipated?”
he takes your comment in stride and backs away again to give you the floor
“you obviously came here to dance, and if you’re all talk about it then why don’t you up me one?”
“gladly”
there’s a bite in your tone but there’s even more snap in your hips
you don’t miss the way hendery’s eyes trail up and down as you flow into another move
you smirk once he trails back up to your eyes and instead of looking caught he only smirks right back
it peeves you a little how confident he looked now and he slowly clapped once you finished up another spin
“not bad for a freestyle”
you hate how much his ego has been stoked and you hate how you absolutely know how much he absolutely seemed to live for your annoyance with him
you two circled each other for a while, none of you really knowing who started moving first and why you both continued
but it was you who stepped forward first, and he responded in kind and it would have been so off putting that you both were so close
when he chuckled at your determined gaze you could practically feel his breath against your face
you felt the anger bubbling in your core once the warmth hit your cheeks
but a closer look at his eyes showed you that he was definitely affected by your snappiness with him and the irritation was practically pooling in his irises 
“you know, for someone who’s in advanced hip hop you sure don’t seem good at motor functions. you could barely stand at that party”
“you know, having fun tends to have that effect. but you wouldn’t know. nobody does anything with you besides stand against a wall and try to talk over the music. there’s a reason why the lyrics are the only words you’re supposed to be hearing”
normally you’d bite your tongue and walk away or tell him he’s being the immature one once again, but those words were dumb and it mad you livid
“funny, for someone who claims to move so well yet you haven’t really shown me anything”
in a flurry of motion, hendery has grabbed your arm and spun you around so that you fall hard into his chest
you can hear a huff of effort from him as he twirls you out again and then back into him but with his hand at your waist
his cocky grin makes you almost growl at him, but you were too shocked to say anything
“cat got your tongue?”
he releases you and then dusts himself off
“you know when you want to act up.......”
he gets in your face and the cockiness as dissolved into the pure annoyance that you are already familiar with from feeling it yourself
“make sure you’re not just all talk.” he turns and grabs all his stuff, but he waves over his shoulder before he leaves “see you in class”
and oooooOOOOOH do you see him in class the next morning
the instructor has greeted you since you transferred in the class two weeks in 
they were glad you decided to come in even though the class was already working on some dances and it would take a couple classes to see where you were at since it’d been a while and also with a different instructor
so..................
“hi, i’m hendery. i’m the student instructor/TA, i’ll bring you up to speed”
and GOSH did you feel so angry for waking up at 6am to have breakfast and having to walk across campus in the cold morning air just to figure out you’d have to work 1:1 with hendery for a couple of classes
and he wasn’t too happy about it either
mainly because he had some of your friends on his tail for blasting you on social media and all of a sudden it was talk of the two friend groups and even in some other circles
but while he was getting told off for being immature about it and even about being teased about his clumsiness and somewhat recklessness (which got old real fast)
you were also getting constantly teased by your “boringness” but also some people had the audacity to actually stop inviting you to some things because they thought so
little did you know hendery was sort of in the same boat because they were afraid he’d break something and when he heard that boy did he really want to
and both of your indirect interactions with each other in that method only fueled the spite you had with the direct contact with each other
the next couple of classes you purposely would hit him with an arm when you had it swung out or maybe accidentally stepping on his toes
but he was also quick to make sure to “accidentally” not teach you the full dance to a song or even give you the entirely wrong song to dance to
but the instructor assumed that it was because you were logged from all the physics shenanigans so they wanted hendery to run it through with you during class
you were practically seething over a lunch with your friends about all of this and they gave you tired glances
ten was the only one who seemed unfazed, as he was the only one in the two circles with direct connections to both of you
“i just don’t understand why this keeps happening. if he just wasn’t so immature and keeps insulting me about my way of spending time with friends then i’d stop fighting back”
“but you started it”
“we didn’t know each other, ten! it was just some light jabbing” you scoff at that because it was just so annoying at this point “besides, he was so obnoxious in the first place”
ten gives you an encouraging pat on the back
you groan and say you haven’t been able to spend a good weekend of fun in a couple of weeks thanks to wary eyes or not knowing where the parties are
“didn’t know you could have fun~”
you also smack ten but his cheeky grin lets him get away with it, like it does every time
but he soon makes up for it by giving you the location and time of another party by a friend of his and that he’d be there to hang with you
by the time you got there he was already tearing it up on the dance floor after taking one too many
he was all the more excited to see you though and had jumped into your arms happily and was laughing the whole time
“hey, you made it! you won’t believe who-”
but he was whisked away before you knew it
so you left to get something to drink on your own
somebody you vaguely knew recognized you and started chatting with you on the way
“hey, haven’t i seen you around before?”
“yeah..... i think we took physics together?”
“oh right!!!! i remember, you transferred out right?”
you knew where this was going since they obviously wanted to sound smarter in this situation
they had been your lab partner and it totally sucked to hear them complain about having someone ‘not competent enough to do anything’ as a partner
you only nod and listen to them ramble a little more, looking for someone familiar to latch onto so you could leave this conversation
until you heard
“i didn’t know you went to parties”
“uhhhh....... what made you think that?”
they shrug and they look amused to keep making jabs at you 
“well, i heard you were kind of a stick in the mud. not to mention you don’t really do much at parties, so i figured it wasn’t your scene”
“what? excuse me??”
“oh. well i thought since you were a little slow in class then you wouldn’t be doing anything besides standing around. the dorm’s more your place, yeah?”
before you can go off on the dude, the person’s shoved against the wall and they’re not going anywhere
especially when hendery’s face is in theirs
“that’s enough, buddy. you’re a little harsh, no?”
they give out a nervous laugh and look around to see if anybody is going to come to their aid, but the others have decided to keep moving and ignore what’s going on
you on the other hand are shocked to find that hendery’s here, much more that he’s defending you in a sense
“whatT? didn’t you...... you know, start all of this?”
hendery rolls his eyes but shoves a little harder
you hate to say it, but you were feeling pretty proud of this
“first of all, they did”
“hey!”
“but second of all, you’ve been skating on thin ice ever since you thought it’d be funny to start insulting someone as your first interaction”
“that’s RICH coming from you” and the person’s right, but they’re also toeing the line reeeeeal far with agitating hendery
“oh yeah? i didn’t realize how much of a stuck up twerp i sounded like before i heard those words coming out of your mouth”
you merely watch on and hendery takes a glance out of the corner of his eye to look at you
there’s a hard glare in his eyes but they soften a bit once you come into sight
you’re................... confused????
but you also recognize the anger in his eyes since the person also began jabbing at hendery, so you were prepared for his next line
“by the way... you hungry?”
“huh?”
and hendery had raised his fist up and the person recoiled hard
but it never made contact.....
they timidly looked up to see the fist 
he scoffed and straighted out his clothes as he backed away
“yeah, don’t act though if it’s just that. an act”
he walks away from the person and heads for you
“come on, let’s get you a drink”
you just stand there as he searches around for an empty cup and fills it with water quickly before walking you outside
you didn’t need to be pulled along to follow with him
you wanted answers
by the time you’re outside you just give him an expecting look with your eyebrows raised and he seems almost frustrated to admit his thoughts
“what, cat got your tongue this time?”
he chuckles as he remembers that one instance in the dance studio together but he hums, thinking of his next words
“i mean, i’m not sure how else to phrase it”
“i can wait. i don’t do much besides not have fun anyways”
at this he hangs his head
“okay, well i do feel bad about that. i didn’t realize how harsh those words all sounded until it was being played back to me”
“it took this long to figure out why i was upset by it and not just me being a ‘stick in the mud’?“
he nods and you can see instead of irritation.... there’s sincerity in his eyes now
a.......... sudden, but also welcome change
“yeah... well! no, not really.......... i kind of thought it was childish to keep this whole fighting thing going on, so......”
“why keep it on then?”
he shrugs and looks away, almost like he was embarrassed
“i......... really, really............. really liked the fiery look in your eyes whenever we’d bicker”
you laugh at that this time
“you thought it was hot?”
he almost whines out a “kinda!” but then groans and mumbles
your mischievous look makes him throw his hands up and he’s frustrated again but this time there’s a civil air between you two.... almost...... flirtatious
“yes! i thought it was attractive most of the way through... but even when you’re not mad..... you’re still pretty cute”
you find yourself blushing even though you’re practically glowing in amusement, but then you find yourself turning practically red when he defends himself with an almost equally red face
“and don’t lie!! i know you think i’m attractive too. i saw the way you were eyeing me when i was telling that person off. i was all macho man and you were swooning!”
“i was not!”
“i literally said don’t lie, didn’t i!”
and you keep throwing bickering comments back and forth, but it’s amusing and you both...... like it
after a while there’s a silence in between you before you make a light jab at hendery.... only this time it’s in a soft teasing kind of way
one that the both of you can stand and put smiles on your faces instead
“so you weren’t too chicken to actually land the hit?”
“shut up, i’ll fight if i have to”
“aww, even for me?”
and he’s silent at that but there’s a slight tint of pink you can make out from the lights outside
he purses his lips and decides now is the time to make the move to patch things between you two
“i still think there’s apologies left to be said”
“from both of us?”
“..... yeah”
and you hate to admit that you’ve also been super immature about it, but you’re pretty glad that it’s getting moved past now
but it was so awkward to just do this so suddenly
he notices the tension in between you and decides to make the first move
“okay........ let’s just start over..... hi, i’m hendery. i’ve seen you before. i’m the TA of your advanced hip hop class, right?”
“right! i think i can recall you staring at my butt a couple of times”
“shut up!!” he pushes you slightly but his grin tells you he’s not that shy to admit it and he’s goofing around now “besides...... can’t lie you’re kinda cute though”
and suddenly there’s a crash behind the two of you and you see ten bounding his way for you
“i cannOT believe it, wow! the two of you together and not ripping each other apart. BUT I knEW this would happen”
and you just look at each other like ?????????? huh?????
“that you would look so cUtE together!!!!! everything turned out juuuust right, like i thought it would since the beginning”
and all of a sudden you both made ten explain everything to the both of you
because ten had shared the initial stories to the other person, not thinking it’d go down like this
but most of it was forgiven since you were more distracted by hendery leaning against the railing and having that as an excuse to wrap his arm around you
and you were practically leaning into his side since it was ‘too cold outside’ while you were listening to ten ramble on and on about how his plan ended up being messy but he was living for it
while the both of you gave him an earful about how setting the two of you up could have been done where you didn’t hurt each other’s feelings for so long, he shut you up quickly with a
“oh please, you two bickered like an old married couple. with the way you guys act just get married already! some of those sparks weren’t just angry, there was some love in there too!”
“ten!”
“and do NOT get me started on the sexual tension-”
“TEN!”
152 notes · View notes
purplesurveys · 3 years
Text
1278
Social Media Survey
[joybucket]
What is your favorite social media site?  Either Twitter or YouTube, though I never use YouTube as a social media site per se so I guess this round goes to Twitter.
Do you use...
facebook? myspace? twitter? snapchat? instagram? youtube? pinterest? bzoink? another site with message boards? tumblr? deviantart? xanga?
Facebook
Do you get on Facebook every day?  Yeah pretty much all throughout the day. I used to never use it, like never ever; but back in college all announcements were coursed through Facebook so I was technically required to be on it regularly, and it was from there that I began to see memes and start to be more active. I’m a shitposter more than anything though and I rarely ever post stuff of my own. How many FB friends do you have?  I have 679 at the moment but I want to get rid of like 500 of them; it’s just such a long list to go through so I never get to proceed with my unfriending spree lol.
Have you ever been on a deleting spree?  HAHA I just mentioned that. I’ve always wanted to, but like I said 679 is already such an exhaustive list for me, and that’s considering I only started touching my Facebook in like 2019. I can’t imagine people who started Facebook in like 2009 and have 4000 friends aka most people I know.
Have you blocked a lot of haters?  I don’t have haters; at least I’m not aware of any that I have. Not that it’s something I care about at this point.
Do you get bullied online a lot?  No, but that’s also because I don’t really open the channels for people to send in hate. I don’t have Q&A handles like Curious Cat and I never pick out that option in Instagram where people can send in questions.
What's your favorite Facebook app?  Oh I never use Facebook for their apps. Are those still even a thing...? Anyway, I mainly go there to be on the hunt for stupid memes I can reshare or to watch videos that are either funny or informative.
Are you a fan of selfies?  I don’t mind if other people do it, but I think I’m honestly bad at selfies so I almost never take them. I’ve never figured out my angles or what filters look ok on me.
Has anyone ever called the police on you because they didn't like your status?  No but I have had my posts reported because they were deemed ‘offensive.’ Which is weird because my posts that have been taken down are those that speak out against disgusting men, which says a lot about Facebook runs their shit more than anything else.
Are you in any facebook groups?  I’m in nearly a hundred groups, both private i.e. for school purposes, and public.
Are you the admin of any groups?  Nah. Too much time and effort needed out of me.
Do you report abuse to group admins whenever you see it?  Yes. I report the post then leave the group.
What could make Facebook better?  They could put more effort into detecting and banning troll farms.
What year did you start using Facebook?  I made an account in 2012 because of a high school class that required us to upload this specific video-format homework onto Facebook (which in hindsight is such an insensitive homework considering that was nearly a decade ago when the Philippines was still severely behind in internet connection speeds?? Ugh). But I didn’t start actively using my account until around two years ago.
What is your current profile picture of?  Myself, posing in front of the sunflowers in school during the recent graduation season.
Did you like the old Myspace better than Facebook?  I was never a regular user of Myspace, so...
Pinterest
What are some of your favorite boards?  I’ve never had a clue what the purpose of Pinterest was. I mean I have an account...but I’ve also never gotten the hang of it?? so I never touch it hahaha.
Have you ever done a craft you saw on Pinterest?  Well no, because I’m terrible at arts and crafts anyway.
Do you have a Dream Wedding board? If so, what's on it?  No.
If you have a Dream House board, what does your dream house look like?  Ok fine this one I did start hahahah but I don’t even remember what I added on there anymore. I’m sure it was filled with modern-style houses with minimalist interior design.
Do you wish they'd bring the "like" button back?  I’m not even aware of this option.
Do you have a Bucket List board?  Not aware of this either.
Which do you like better: Just Girly Things or And That's Who I Am? The second one sounds less childish. < Same, and it sounds like it covers more.
Do you have a board for tattoos you like? If so, what are some of your faves?  No. The only one I ever made was the house one, then Pinterest quickly became boring from there when I realized there wasn’t much else I could do besides making mood boards.
Do you have a "Random" or "Miscellaneous" board?  No.
Have you ever reached the maximum number of boards?  No.
Do you have any secret boards?  No.
Have you ever had a Pin deleted because of copyright laws?  No.
Do you have a Color board? No.
Do you have an About Me board? If so, what's on it? No.
YouTube
Do you have a YouTube channel? If so, what is it?  Technically I do but I only have it so I can tailor video suggestions to my interests and so that I can like videos and subscribe to channels I like.
What kind of things do you post on YouTube?  I’ve never posted any video on there, not even private ones. I’m also not the type to comment.
What do you like to watch on YouTube?  These days YouTube serves as a stress reliever for me, which is to say I would typically go for humorous BTS-related compilations because there are sooooo many hilarious channels that make these great videos haha. Occasionally I’d go back to channels or series that I used to frequent, like Good Mythical Morning, Buzzfeed’s Worth It and Unsolved, Try Guys, Watcher, etc. 
Are you subscribed to any channels?  To so many.
Do you watch any vlogs? If so, what ones are your favorite?  Hm probably Jiwoo’s, though her channel is called Mejiwoo. I find her content calming and conversational and basically fun to binge-watch when I’m not looking for anything super super particular to watch.
If you have a channel, how many subscribers do you have?  0. I’m just a lurker.
Will you subscribe to my channel? (msg me if you want a link!)  Only if it’s really fit to my interests, I guess.
Do you watch music videos?  Rarely; not a fan of MVs in particular. I only really ever put an exception for BTS.
Have you ever watched a TV show on youtube?  Well no since their copyright team works hard and works fast lol. I do watch entire video game walkthroughs from time to time.
Have you ever worked out to exercise videos on youtube?  No, I can’t care less about working out tbh.
Have you watched Amanda Todd's famous video?  No. I’m scared that it might be too upsetting or triggering for me.
Have you ever looked up how to do something on YouTube?  Not really, I prefer looking up articles that can teach me step by step in words.
Do you get a lot of hate comments on youtube?  No, I’ve never posted anything on there.
How long have you been a youtuber?  Never been.
Instagram
Do you post on Instagram a lot?  I do 1-3 Instagram stories in a week, I would say. As for posts, I only have 4 in total and I don’t really feel the pressure to add more. I just post when I feel the want to.
Have you ever posted a poll on instagram?  Nah, I’m not too sure if anyone would participate so I’ve never tried. If you don't have an iPhone, do you wish you could use Instagram?  I’m pretty sure other operating systems can also use Instagram...
Do you have any followers?  Around 50, I think.
Do you like Instagram filters? I’ll use them sometimes to make my stories appear prettier.
Twitter
Do you think twitter is stupid? Hehe show me at least one person who doesn’t think so. < Coming from someone who regularly uses Twitter, agree. It is crazy stupid but stupid is what I’m there for. Which is honestly not always such a bad thing to me - I like that people are more themselves, more stripped-down, vulnerable on Twitter. People always seem to want to show off their best selves on Facebook and Instagram, so I’m actually kind of grateful that there is at least one social media out there where people can just be their clumsy, goofy selves.
How often do you tweet?  Probably a maximum of five a day. Nowadays I’m on there mostly to just scroll through my timelines.
Do you get on twitter every day?  Yes, both on my personal and fan account.
Bzoink
Do you make a lot of surveys?  I never make them but I try to take them as often as I can.
Do you take a lot of surveys?  Haha sorry, was one step ahead of you. Yeah, I do.
Do you post in the message boards?  Nah. I dunno if I’m even permitted to check the message boards on Bzoink considering I don’t have an account.
What types of surveys are your favorite?  Categorized surveys like this one or countdown ones can be fun, but at the end of the day I like sticking to the classic random survey.
Do you have friends on here?  Not on Bzoink, but here on Tumblr yes! There’s a number of people here I like keeping up with :)
Do you post all your secrets on here?  Again, not on Bzoink; but yep I share pretty much everything here.
What type of survey do you think I should make next?  Anything but basic/about me-themed ones that will ask for my name and eye color and weight.
Do you read peoples' answers to your surveys?  I’ve never made a survey.
Do you think you are good at making surveys? 
Do you try to make unique surveys?
What type of surveys do you want to see more of?
Random
This or That
Scattergories
Have You Ever
Are you like me?
About You
Personal, Deep Questions
Girly
Music shuffle
Would You Rather
Do you have this in your bedroom?
Long
Short
All About Your Crush
Fashion
Make-up
School
Music
Your health
Your friends
Confessions
Girl Confessions - how different is this from just confessions? Hahaha
R-Rated
Controversial topics
Myspace
Did you have a myspace when you were in high school?  I started an account in like 4th grade when Myspace was ~big, but I didn’t find it fun and everyone my age was on Friendster anyway, so I was largely inactive.
Do you use myspace now?  No. Is it still even around? I have no clue.
Do you miss bulletins? I didn’t get to join in on the fun so there’s nothing to miss.
Did you like customizing your profile with the old myspace?  Not attributed to Myspace but I did have a lot of fun customizing my Multiply and Tumblr accounts back in the day. That was a period where I really got to learn and play around with HTML :)
Did you have music on your profile?  Not on Myspace again but I did on Multiply! I had a cute little playlist that played the songs immediately as soon as you landed on my page hahaha.
Did you learn HTML when you used Myspace?  Tumblr, yeah. I believe the skills are still there but I’ll definitely be a bit rusty.
Did you have a customized cursor?  Oh, no. Wasn’t a fan of those as I found them a bit tacky.
Did you use glitter graphics?  Also found those tacky haha no, I never used those.
Do you remember posting glitter graphics on friends' pages?  Nope.
Did you make "dolls"?  I don’t recall ever making those.
Did you use photo captions?  Not sure what this is referring to so let’s just say no.
Did you have a photo slideshow on your profile?  Hmmm nope, I don’t think so.
Xanga
Did you have a Xanga account back in the day?  No. It wasn’t big here so I had never heard of it until I started taking surveys on here and heard people mentioning Xanga, actually.
Do you have a xanga account now?  No.
Did you post photos and quotes on your xanga page?  I never had any.
Snapchat
Do you use snapchat?  I did; I was superrrrr active on there for a time. It kind of just got old at one point, though, and my feed got more and more dead until I too just left my account dormant altogether.
What is your favorite filter?  There were a lot of cute ones on there that helped me be more confident with taking selfies but my favorites have to be the dog and flower crown ones.
Tumblr
Do you understand Tumblr?  I had a better handle of it when I ran a fan account that required me to be more active; but now that I really just go on here to take surveys I just use the basic functions and nothing more. But yeah, I understand just enough to get by.
Do you use Tumblr?  Yeah. Even on the days I don’t post surveys, I regularly go on here to keep up with friends I like keeping up with like Elisabeth, Lane, Steph, Lina, Julie :)
Other
What forum sites did you use to love that aren't around anymore?  There was one message board I frequented for this girly/tween magazine I used to collect, but I won’t share the name.
Are there any other great social media sites that you recommend?  I think this survey was able to cover all the main ones I use.
Do you use a photo editing site? If so, what?  I use apps instead of sites to edit my photos.
Do you ever use BeFunky.com?  Nope.
Do you use a video editing site? If so, what?  Nah, I rarely have to edit videos in a super intricate, detailed way. Apple’s video editing features suffice for me.
Have you ever downloaded fonts?  Very occasionally since it’s never necessary.
Have you ever used photobucket to upload an image?  No but I remember going on there back in the day to look for images. I never uploaded any, though.
Do you use iTunes?  Not anymore. I have an account on Spotify now.
Do you listen to music on Pandora?  No, never used it.
1 note · View note