#if you’re wondering why the quality drops so drastically lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sweet-steddie · 5 years

Text

Safety Mode (g.d. & e.d.)

Summary: @zoenighshade555 and @zealousllamawolfknight each more or less requested that I write about the reader being uncomfortable or scared and the twins going into safety/overprotective mode, so I combined those requests and this is the result! I hope you both like it!!

A/N: Here is my actual fifth (5th) imagine on this account and I can hardly believe it! I have been having such a wonderful time filling requests and I’m so glad that people actually give a damn about my writing lol. Without further ado, here’s imagine # 5. Enjoy! And please send in requests if you have them!

3.2k+

I’m busying myself in the kitchen, making sure that the fridge is equipped with plenty of refreshments, then I’m raiding the cabinets and pulling out all the snacks that I’d purchased earlier in the day. Just as I’m emptying some chips into a bowl, a hand clasps lightly around my wrist, effectively stopping my actions.

“You don’t have to do this, babe,” Ethan insists softly over my shoulder. I crane my neck to look up at him and he looks mildly exasperated, but there’s a hint of a smile tugging fondly at his lips. “You’re a guest too, ya know,” he teases, smile now stretching helplessly across his face. I close my eyes and sigh out, leaning back into his chest and surrendering to his touch, my hand coming to rest on the counter top as I give up preparing the snacks.

“I know, I know,” I relent, opening my eyes to peer up into Ethan’s soft, droopy, brown ones. He blinks down at me patiently and my heart lurches in my chest for a moment. “I just want everything to be perfect for you guys. There’s some important people out there and I wanna make sure they have no reason to complain about this party,” I explain for the umpteenth time today. Ethan and Grayson had decided to host a party for their team and, naturally, plenty of powerful YouTube execs had been invited as friends of friends. In short, this party is a potentially wonderful opportunity for the boys to make a good impression and I want to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

“I know you do, love. But you’ve been running around all day and everything already is perfect,” he pauses to kiss my forehead lovingly before breathing out, “thanks to you.” I grumble unintelligibly in protest, knowing he’s right but worrying nonetheless. This pulls a laugh out of him and he throws his arms around me, walking us backward from the kitchen counter. “Mhmm, you know I’m right. Now chill out before I get Grayson in here,” he threatens playfully and I roll my eyes. Not a moment later, the man, himself, comes strolling into the kitchen.

“Why are we getting Grayson?” Grayson plays along, grabbing a chip from one of the bowls before casually gripping my waist and pulling me away from Ethan. I hug him around his middle as he settles his lower back against the counter.

“She won’t stop freaking out,” Ethan supplies bluntly and I chuckle into Grayson’s chest against my will. Grayson smooths a hand down my back.

“Baby we told you, everything’s okay. We want you to enjoy the party, too. You’ve been helping us set this thing up for days; you deserve to relax now,” he pecks the top of my head and I look up at him, at which point he rests his forehead against mine, our noses nearly lined up. “Can you promise me you’ll relax? Hm?” he murmurs sweetly, eyes searching mine for any sign of surrender. And at this painfully close proximity with his cologne wrapping around me like seductive vines and his cute little nose mushed up against mine, how can I ever say no to anything he asks of me? I sigh, physically deflating, a nonverbal agreement to his terms.

He rewards me with a dimpled smile and a kiss to my cheek, murmuring a “thank you,” against the skin before kissing it again.

“We should probably get back out there, Gray,” comes Ethan’s voice from behind us and Grayson begrudgingly loosens his hold on me, nodding his agreement.

“Yeah, probably,” he sighs out as I spin around to face Ethan, who’s already fixing me with a gentle smile.

“You be good, alright?” he teases, raising an eyebrow challengingly in my direction. I roll my eyes at him for the second time tonight, giving him a sarcastic thumbs up of agreement. “You’re feisty tonight,” he observes, but he doesn’t sound particularly put off by it. I crack a smile at that, accepting the hand that he holds out for me to take as we begin to stroll back out into the crowd of people, Grayson in tow.

No sooner than we set foot back into the living room does someone demand their attention. Ethan nods his head in acknowledgment at the person speaking before giving my hand a squeeze and then letting it drop. He drops a kiss to my forehead, throwing in a muttered “have fun,” for good measure before heading over to the person who had called for he and Grayson’s attention moments ago. Grayson waltzes from behind me to follow his brother, landing a quick, playful slap to my ass that seems to go unnoticed by everyone but me. I feel a pleasant flush creep into my cheeks as I go to mock-scold him, but he’s already out of arm’s reach and I decide, instead to bite the inside of my cheek to ward off the ear-to-ear grin threatening to split my face.

As I collect myself, I take the time to observe my surroundings for the first time this evening. I had been so busy bustling about in order to maintain perfection that I hadn’t had the time to see how my many preparations had payed off. By the looks of the attendees around me, they paid off quite well. There’s a calm buzz of chatter surrounding everyone and the faint bass of music thumping over the speakers provides a nice ambiance while paired with the chattering voices. I breathe my first relieved sigh in several days as I calmly snag an hor d’oeuvre from a nearby tray and settle myself onto one of the plush, unoccupied couch cushions before me.

I make polite small talk with a few people here and there, all the while mindful to keep the conversations topical, at most. I want to make as little of an impression as possible; it’s the twins’ night, not mine. This flurry of exchanges takes up about a two hour block of time and I’m surprised to witness the night passing by without a hitch. From my spot on the couch, I watch as Grayson and Ethan mingle effortlessly. Their energy is unmatched within the room and all eyes are on them as they dance from person to person, from party to party, and do so with ease.

This is, without a doubt, the boys’ element. Socializing with people and - from what I’ve seen of them tonight and what I see with most of their interactions with others - leaving them alight with adoration and yearning for more comes naturally to them both. I smile to myself as I watch my boys work the room. Every once in a while, I’ll catch either Ethan’s or Grayson’s eye and they’ll shoot me a wink or blow a little kiss before continuing to network and charm their way around the area. I conclude that the night won’t be wrapping up anytime soon, so I decide to pass the time by playing around on my phone for a long enough time that I can later excuse myself from the party and retire to one of the boys’ bedrooms in seclusion for the remainder of the party.

As I aimlessly thumb through my phone, the sounds around me seems to fade away into a pleasant buzz of general background noise. I’m so immersed in my screen that I’m startled to feel the couch dip next to me. My head shoots up quickly, eyes comically wide at the interruption before I put a palm over my chest. “I’m sorry, you scared me!” I exclaim through a laugh and the man who had sat down reciprocates the sound.

“No worries. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he apologizes, eyes crinkling a bit at the corners as he continues to smile at me. We chuckle off the moment and I look back down at my phone as a means of transitioning from the awkward incident and back into my own bubble. My eyes are having trouble focusing on any one thing on my screen as I force myself to process the words and images before me instead of having to face the man again. “So, how did you hear about this party?” the man asks, causing me to look up at him again. I lock my phone at set it in my lap, figuring that it would be rude to continue ignoring him at this point.

I scan over his features as I go to respond, observing his casual, but quality attire and his slightly graying hair. He looks to be at least in his mid-to-late-40s. “Well, I know the boys. Ethan and Grayson, I mean,” I clarify, smiling politely as I continue my explanation. “We’ve known each other for several years and I’ve gotten to watch them grow as entertainers and I’m just so proud of them and so impressed with how influential they’ve become,” I can’t help but brag. Any chance I get to ramble about the boys’ accomplishments is a chance I take wholeheartedly. The man nods along as I speak.

“Yes, they’re extremely talented. My daughters are just,” he gestures around dramatically to find the words, “they’re just absolutely crazy about them. So needless to say, I’ve seen a lot of their videos. Very cool guys,” he praises and I laugh at the anecdote. A comfortable silence befalls us for a moment before the man speaks again. “Ya know, living here in L.A., being a single dad and all is, well. It’s interesting, let’s say that,” he says and I give him my attention, ready to jump into yet another boring attempt at small talk.

“And sometimes, it’s refreshing to see a young, pretty face like yours,” he continues and that’s when an alarm sounds off in my head. The mood has shifted drastically and it has my heartbeat speeding up uncomfortably in my chest. I choose not to address his comment and instead, give a tight-lipped smile that doesn’t even begin to reach my eyes. I become fidgety in my seat, preparing to stand up and walk away in a way that won’t invite Ethan’s and Grayson’s suspicion. I’d rather vent about this creep later on than have the boys loudly defending me in front of their company.

“Would you wanna get outta here? Business parties are so boring,” the man presses and I scoot over to the edge of the couch furthest from him, keeping my eyes downcast, not that he seems to be taking the hint. “My place is a lot quieter and my daughters are out for the night. We could,” he pauses to scoot a bit closer to where I’m sitting and my stomach lurches out of discomfort, “get to know each other better.” he propositions suggestively. Before I can muster up a quiet, venomous response, another voice beats me to the punch.

“Do we have a problem over here?” Grayson’s voices slices through the tension and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see him in my life. He’s standing beside where I’m sat on the couch and I immediately stand to my feet, grasping his hand in both of my sweaty ones. His jaw is set, nostrils slightly flared and eyes are hard as steel, a stark contrast to the way that he softly encompasses my hands with his big fingers. The man sitting on the couch looks, for lack of a better word, caught. Caught in the act of creepily advancing on me moments earlier as I so obviously portrayed my unease. He doesn’t reply right away and that isn’t good enough for Grayson. “I asked you a question,” Grayson presses impatiently.

My eyes suddenly land on Ethan, realizing that he’s standing opposite of Grayson and I, arms crossed and jaw equally set as he stares down at the offending man. Together, Ethan and Grayson have the man flanked and he looks like this is fact hasn’t escaped him as he nervously splutters out a response.

“I don’t really think that’s any of your business,” he defends weakly, but he refuses to meet either boy’s eye. “I was just having a private conversation with this lady and I don’t appreciate you eavesdropping-“ he goes on, but he doesn’t get a chance to finish.

“No no. No. You being a fucking pervert and making a lady uncomfortable is absolutely our fucking business. And especially when it concerns this lady,” Grayson emphasizes, referencing me. “And especially when you’re at our fucking house. You have some nerve, showing up here and acting like this,” Grayson fumes and I can tell that he’s fighting to keep his voice down.

“It’s time for you to leave,” Ethan cuts in firmly while stepping closer to the man, arms now dangling at his sides menacingly. The man on the couch actually has the audacity to look affronted.

“You’re overreacting a bit, don’t you think? It wasn’t that big a de-“

“Leave or I call the police right now. I’m not fucking kidding, you need to go,” Ethan doesn’t allow him to finish that sentence. The man scoffs, narrowing his eyes, first, at Ethan and then at Grayson as he slowly rises to his feet. He glares at me briefly before I feel Grayson physically tense up.

“Don’t you dare ever look at her like that. Get the fuck out,” Grayson spits and I free one of my hands from his grasp so that I can run it soothingly up and down his tensed bicep. His eyes never leave the man as he makes his way pitifully to the front door. If he had a tail, it would be tucked between his legs. It’s not until the door closes behind him that Grayson’s body relaxes a bit.

In realize, all of a sudden, how silent it’s gotten around us since the event unfolded. I dare to take a peak around and notice that most eyes are on the boys and I. One brave person takes the opportunity to speak up, a woman who had been here since much earlier in the evening.

“Thank god that creep is gone,” she announces amidst murmurs of agreement. What follows is a general chatter, likely about the drama that just ensued, but the atmosphere soon returns to normal. I take some solace in that just as Ethan grabs my attention again.

“C’mon. You wanna hide out for a while until the party dies down?” he suggests softly, but he looks like he’s still on edge from the interaction.

“Yeah, actually. Thanks,” I agree, following Ethan as he turns on his heel and heads in the direction of he and Grayson’s bedrooms. Grayson’s grip stays secured on my hand as we follow Ethan through the house. I notice that he’s yet to speak since he had banished the sleazy man from the house. When the three of us reach Grayson’s bedroom, he closes the door behind us and leads us to sit on the edge of his bed, Ethan sitting on my other side. The three of us are silent for a moment.

“You guys didn’t have to do that. But I’m glad you did anyway and I just want you both to know that I really appreciate it,” I start softly, caressing Grayson’s large hand with my thumb and reaching out my free hand to grasp Ethan’s, giving him the same treatment. “This night was supposed to be all about you guys and I’m sorry that creepy fuck ruined it for a minute,” I express, my anger flaring up at the mere thought of the slimy man that had aided in causing a scene earlier. Grayson releases a heavy breath through his nose before speaking.

“If I’d had it my way, I would’ve beat that guy’s ass to a pulp. How dare he make you feel like that,” he seethes, eyes closing out of pure frustration. When he opens them again, they hold a considerable amount of concern. “Are you okay? How are you feeling, baby? What do you want me to do?” he questions in quick succession, eyes searching my face. I free my hand from his to run softly through his locks. I could kiss him silly right about now.

“You’ve done more than enough, Gray. What I really want you to do is go back out there and enjoy the rest of your party,” I insist, turning to Ethan. “I want both of you to enjoy your party. Don’t look at me like that,” I softly chastise as Ethan begins to pout, obviously feeling just as sour as Grayson about the whole situation. I could kiss that pout away, easy.

“I think Grayson will agree with me when I say that the only way we’ll enjoy the rest of the night is if we get to spend it with you,” Ethan declares and I watch as Grayson nods immediately.

“Yeah. Yes, that. It’s already been over five hours, I think we should call it a night anyway,” Grayson says and he looks right into my eyes as he continues, gaze never wavering. “I don’t wanna leave you in here. Please?” he asks my permission to cut the party short, knowing how much I’ve fussed over it. My initial reaction is to argue with him about it, but then I really look at him and, honestly, he’s already won. He has those droopy, puppy dog eyes trained on me just right and I’m putty in his massive hands.

“Okay,” I relent easily enough and Grayson smiles out of relief and I’ll do anything to make sure that smile stays there, I decide. He looks past me to address Ethan for a moment.

“E, get rid of everyone. I’m gonna stay in here with our girl,” he says that last part while looking back at me with a pleased smirk. I shake my head at him fondly before turning to face Ethan. Our hands, that have since been clasped, separate and I use my fingers to brush through his loose curls.

“Yeah, E. Get rid of them,” I playfully repeat Grayson’s command, giving him the go-ahead and he smiles down at me.

“Yes, ma’am,” he affirms, pressing his lips briefly to my cheek before standing up from the bed and making his way out into the living area to clear the house out. When the door clicks shut, Grayson wraps his arms around me and forces us both to fall down on our backs, causing me to erupt in delighted laughter. He scoops me up so that I’m halfway on top of him, head resting on his chest and knee bent with my leg thrown over top of his. The bass of the music playing in the living room has stopped and I hear the front door open, meaning that Ethan must have successfully brought the party to an end.

“I’d never let anything bad happen to you. You now that, right?” Grayson speaks up, hand caressing soothingly over my leg that’s propped on top of his. “Ethan wouldn’t, either. You’re always safe when we’re around. Always. Okay?” I look up at Grayson as he finishes talking, catching his searing gaze and using a hand to cup his pretty face. I don’t doubt a single word that he’s said.

“I know, Gray. I know.”

82 notes · View notes

lia-nikiforov · 7 years

Text

Winter 2017 Anime watchlist

Lmao this was supposed to go up last week but it takes me forever to write these things up orz.

Anyway, we’re 1/3 of the way into this barren Winter season, and thus my watchlist has shrunk significantly. I think I’m currently watching what, 10 shows? vs 23-ish last season? Anyway we’ve had a couple neat surprises this season, but it’s mostly the sequels that are keeping everything interesting. Also there’s quality hatewatch material which I hadn’t had in a while.

Because I fucked up, this time I’m going from best to worst rather than the usual opposite

Top Priority

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju: Futatabi Sukeroku-hen

To no one’s surprise, Rakugo maintains it’s tightly written character drama in top form. The direction is still unusually creative and masterful, especially considering this is a DEEN anime, production team deserves every kudo. If season one was a tragedy, season 2 is gearing up for a story of salvation. Every week I go in completely prepared to suffer and am repeatedly surprised by how happy I feel at the end of each episode. Scenes like Yakumo consoling a sleeping Konatsu with her father’s rakugo or his performing an old play in Sukeroku’s style for Yotaro are as heart-wrenching as they’re heartwarming. S1 was a strong contender for anime of the year 2016 (and for me it was a toss up between that and YOI) and season 2 seems ready to pick on that and go for a second run.

High-Priority

Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto saga

Honestly this one had my full devotion guaranteed when they decided to commit to those thick af Kansai accents. I am also very pleased with the budget this is getting, it looks reeeaaally nice. Kato’s designs have translated to animation greatly (not that this was a surprise since they did that pretty well on the first series too). The plot seems to be moving rather fast so I wonder if they won’t suffer to fill in the full cour (although this arc is quite long) but for the time being I’m excited to get the Kyoto otaku in me continually catered to.

Yowamushi Pedal: Next Generation

I was a Little dubious about how well they’d manage the transition of Makishima’s departure, and while killing him off was rather abrupt to the point I’d even say the guy was fridged for the sake of Onoda’s development, they did a rather good job in setting Teshima as the new role model for the 1st years (who is also very dreamy). I also laughed my ass off with how gigantic they made Ashikiba who is a rather delightful addition to the cast. Kudos to you show, you’ve got me excited in a new season even without my favorite character.

Little Witch Academia

It’s hard to find something to say about this show other than it’s energetic, lively and fun to a fault and that Sucy is still Best Girl. It’s very easy to tell how passionate the folks at TRIGGER are about this project and I’m glad they didn’t give up and continued to work on it even if it was poorly received by Japanese audiences. The show reminds me a bit of The Worst Witch, which I used to love in my early teens so there’s also that.

Kuzu no Honkai

This is such a fascinatingly disturbing show to watch. Like watching a trainwreck I guess, except that it’s not a trainwreck in the sense of Hand Shakers, but in you’re just watching all these horrible people destroy each other and self-destruct emotionally and it’s really interesting. I’m particularly invested in Hanabi’s internal struggle and self-deprecation. Could complete dispose of Moca (whose choice of nickname makes my skin crawl) but otherwise I’m constantly at the edge of my seat waiting for the next developments. I also continue to be rather fond of the vagina imagery in the ending, and I appreciate that there’s actually a show that treats female sexuality in a layered, human way, for purposes beyond otaku titillation.

All Out!!

This show continues to grow on me with its unique approach to team dynamics. The fact that rugby teams are so big gives us an interesting opportunity of seeing many characters take the spotlight at different times, and this show’s cast continues to be funny and extremely likable to the point that even if Gion has had to sit out most of the games, and even if there isn’t as much focus on Sekizan as I’d like, they’re still engaging and fun. There have also been genuinely emotional peaks, notoriously when that one guy quite the team and it crushed Sekizan’s heart. Also kudos for how even in-show Sekizan’s amazing hair is considered cray-cray

Classicaloid

Honestly this second cour just keeps getting better? I don’t know how they did it but they managed to make me not care about whether we’ll ever get some semblance of plot or explanations, I could watch the Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin and Liszt doing nonsense stuff show all year round. Whoever wrote the Fish!Schubert episode should get an Oscar and a Nobel Prize

Here we make a drastic leap between things I’m loving and things I’m just eh-watching

ACCA 13-ku Kansatsu-ka

Aaaahhh what should I do about you, show. Ep 1 was okay, ep 2 was great, ep 3 was kind of nothing. There’s obviously way more than meets the eye in this allegedly peaceful country and once that starts to unfold the show will start gaining momentum, hopefully, but as it is I think it suffers greatly from how inscrutable the main character is. I have no idea of Jean’s motivations beyond his love of cigarettes (and I feel they’re overdoing it, unless they plan to make the tabacco thing a crucial part of the plot later on, they’re hammering the whole ‘tobacco is rare and this guy is weird for smoking’ thing way too hard) so we’re at this weird position of not really knowing where we’re going. I’m intrigued enough to keep watching, but I certainly hope we get some form of interesting developments sooner rather than later.

Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans

The writing continues to be notoriously better while the story gets more and more tragic and I still don’t know how to feel about it. Seeing bad guys cheating their way to victory always upsets me a lot, and seeing people die meaninglessly only adds insult to injury. I’m in too deep to drop it at this point, but I honestly can’t forgive how they didn’t even give us that final revenge moment against the Kujan kid. Also every time Atra brings up her dream life of being part of a polyamorous marriage with Mikazuki creeps me the fuck out because obviously Mikazuki doesn’t have the emotional maturity to engage in any such relationship

Onihei

I’m very uncertain about what to do with this show. First episode was promising, with murky direction, but interesting setting. Episode two was mostly unimpressive, the final twist was rather predictable and the moral outcome wasn’t particularly satisfying. And then episode three put me to sleep. My first impression was that the dyamics between Heizo and his thief-turned-snitch subordinate would be the core of the show, but the latter seems to have been mostly sidelined in favor of focusing on the coolness of Heizo. Which isn’t a problem per say, but the execution just isn’t working and they’re completely wasting the Edo setting, with the cases turning out quite generic. I don’t know, ep 4 is already out so I guess I’ll check that out and decide from there (watched episode 4 already, fell asleep again which I guess is as good a sign as any that this isn’t working for me,but I’m too lazy to move it to the bottom. Dropped)

Hate-watching

Hand Shakers

Why is this pile of steaming garbage over the mediocre (and gross) show? Well, this one’s gross too, but exceedingly terrible is always better for ironic entertainment than plain boring stuff. At least Hand Shakers keeps me engrossed with its terribleness. Honest to good, even if I hardly remember what the previous episode was about, I’m always looking forward to the next one, I enjoy the terribleness too much.

Also, this is a little insignificant, but this is the first time I see any reference to the Japanese immigrants in Brazil (th, which was kind of a big thing back in the 1930s, in any anime I’ve ever watched, and since I had to look up into that for my thesis, it felt kinda nice to see it and understand why Brazil of all countries.

Super Lovers 2

This is so boring. Even when they try to address the issues I had with the previous season (mainly questioning the nature of Haru and Ren’s relationship), they always do it half-assedly. No drama, no tension, no resolution and certainly no semblance of any plot progression and it’s becoming increasingly tedious. The introduction of the new host guy could add at least some drama to the plot, but I’m not holding my breath. The dog continues to be cute

I dropped Marginal #4 since episode 2 and I can’t quite remember what it was about other than there was a long sequence of one of the guys desperately looking for his “lucky undies” and I’m too old for this level of juvenile “lol undies” humor. Turns out “not putting me to sleep” wasn’t that strong an asset after all.

Anyway really dead season but the scarce good stuff is really quite good, and the truly terrible stuff is so terrible it’s hilarious so overall the season doesn’t feel as terrible as it could.

#winter anime #anime watchlist #showa genroku rakugo shinju #ao no exorcist #yowamushi pedal #kuzu no honkai #little witch academia #all out!!#classicaloid #acca 13-ku kansatsu-ka #gundam iron blooded orphans #onihei #hand shakers #super lovers

197 notes · View notes