#to sum it up simply. this show is good. but in the wrong hands we get another rick and morty fanbase

[anystalker707]

Healing

Pairing: Vinsmoke Sanji x [gender neutral] Reader Summary: Reader seems burnt out, so Sanji does his best to help his partner feel better Tags: Boyfriend material Sanji (the usual / lots of fluff a/n: i need him carnally

MASTERLIST

          Sanji looked at the door of the galley the moment you walked in, blinking in curiosity as he observed you walk past him and right to the cabinets, all in feigned casualty. Once you closed the door to the cabinet, and he saw what you had in hand, Sanji rolled his eyes and grabbed you by the collar before you could walk away.

“Sanji…” You clicked your tongue, turning around with a sigh.

“No, no,” Sanji scoffed. “Go put it back, dear! I already told you not to eat those! I use them, and they’re hard to find!” He put his hands on his hips, brows low as he looked at you.

“But Sanji…” You recurred to pouting; it was not new that he would get soft way too easily when it came to you. “I need to munch on something! Anything!”

Sanji pointed to the cabinet, face unchanging. “Put it back, dear. Come on.”

A sigh escaped your lips as you put the jar back into the cabinet, then turned to him, still with a pout and also slumping a little now. “Why can’t I have it? No love for (y/n)? You don’t love me?” You pressed your lips together, shaking your head in disappointment.

“Quit being dramatic, you know I love you very much!” He cupped both of your cheeks and pressed a kiss to your forehead. He smiled softly, observing you for a solid minute. “What’s wrong, hm? I’ve seen you come in here a little too much today. That or the way you simply spent all day long in the quarters, like yesterday, with no in-between. What’s going on, sweetheart? I didn’t even see you work out or train for a while, and you seemed very hyped up about it.” His thumbs ran across both your cheeks, caressing them gently.

You frowned a little bit. Was it that noticeable? Maybe it wasn’t just something as pointless as you thought it’d be. The past few days had been a little too monotonous. Too long without any interesting island, summed up with the nonstop training after the last battle—which you lost terribly—, left you in that terrible state. It slowly crept in after you took the first proper break when Sanji asked you to help him in the kitchen one day.

“Don’t overthink,” Sanji said as if he could read your thoughts, playing lightly with your hair. “Just tell me, sweetheart.”

Those blue eyes looking into yours with so much worry and care… Your heart fluttered as you looked back at him for a second before averting your gaze away.

“I’m not sure,” you said with a soft sigh, wrapping your hands around his wrists and caressing them gently. “I’m kind of bored of everything. Tired, even if I’m barely doing anything. I mean, I did try to do something else, but…” You shrugged.

On the previous days, you’d helped Nami with organizing her maps and clothes and also hung out with Usopp to listen to his stories while watching him construct stuff. Luffy was showing you the beetles he’d found around the ship as well. Even with all the laughing and good time you’d spent with them, you still had the same feeling afterward. It all was so bland. You just felt the urge to do something different from the usual and to lie down all day long at the same time.

Sanji furrowed his eyebrows. “Sounds like you’re burnt out, dear. Do you think that’s it?”

Burnt out… It made sense, honestly. “Hm, maybe,” you mumbled in defeat.

“Okay, at least we already have an idea of what’s going on,” he said as he ran his fingers through your hair and kissed your cheek, pecking your lips after. “I’ll finish what I’m doing and be back in a second, okay?” He smiled before he walked away to finish the dishes he’d been preparing.

You took a seat at the dining table in the meantime, silently observing Sanji cook. Sanji was so pretty and also so caring… It made your heart flutter in your chest while your cheeks heated up. At the same time that you didn’t want to bother Sanji, you also liked it a lot when he took care of you, so you didn’t really argue. He put some platters in the fridge and others in the oven before he started cleaning everything. The only thing he neglected was drying the dishes to put them back into the cabinets, but it was for a good reason.

“I’m all yours now,” Sanji said as he took his apron off and hung it before walking over, offering you a hand. “Come on, let’s do something relaxing, my dear.”

For a moment, you observed his hand. Would his touch be overwhelming? It was a fact Sanji could be quite touchy, even more so if you already started by giving him the freedom to, hence you needed to take a moment to decide whether you wanted it. It’s not that Sanji didn��t know boundaries—he did, and he made sure to respect each one of them very so carefully—, but it was more about how hard it was to let Sanji know about them or push him away.

Holding back a sigh was difficult. You slowly slipped your hand in his and stood up, quietly following Sanji out of the galley. As much as holding his hand and being with him was nice, everything felt so bland.

The shadow cast over the back part of the upper deck, near the tangerine trees, so Sanji took you there. There was just an unending sea to be seen, so you weren’t exactly excited while leaning against the railing to observe it. Some clouds littered the sky, but not that many.

As you turned your head to the side to look for Sanji, he showed up right in front of you, pressing his lips to yours immediately. The kiss was sweet and very gentle; he was treating you as if you were made out of thin glass, placing a hand on your hip with a light touch and another on the railing as he held the kiss. Sanji pulled away only for a brief moment, kissing you once more right after. The position wasn’t the best, with your head to the side like that, but the kiss was so loving. It made you feel so loved.

Eventually, the kiss was over. Sanji’s arms wrapped around you in a hug from behind, settling themselves around your waist. He kissed your shoulder through your clothes, then rested his chin on it. His touch was so comforting.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” His voice was soft next to your ear. “But I don’t think it’s as beautiful as you. Well, I don’t think anything is as beautiful as you.” And there he went with his cheesiness again, but you wouldn’t complain about it. As pathetic as it could be, it never failed to make you all fuzzy inside.

You hummed softly in response, leaning back against him.

“Sorry for neglecting you,” Sanji whispered. “Maybe if I’d given you more attention, this wouldn’t have gotten to this point.”

“It’s my fault,” you mumbled. “Maybe I pushed myself too much.” The way you’d been so immersed in your goals only became clear now, unfortunately, but trying to get it off your head never made you feel any lighter as it should’ve.

“If I had noticed, I’m sure things would’ve been different.” He sighed softly, hugging you tighter and burying his face into the crook of your neck. It tickled a little, but it was also so nice; you could barely hold back the smile that tugged on your lips. “But I’m helping you feel better, that’s for sure.” He kissed your shoulder again, slowly loosening his grip.

Your hand reached back to Sanji’s hair, stroking it lightly. “Don’t blame yourself!”

“But—”

“Sanji,” you groaned, making him click his tongue.

“Damn it,” he whispered with an air of playfulness in his sharp tone, making you chuckle.

“If you keep blaming yourself for every bad thing that happens to me, you’ll go crazy,” you said, turning your head to kiss the side of his face.

Only silence came from Sanji for a moment until he finally moved, kissing the side of your neck a couple of times. “Can’t help it,” he sighed and straightened his posture, but kept holding you. “Let’s talk about something else, though, pardon for bringing it up, my love.” He kissed your temple.

All the little touches were making you feel fuzzy. The worries you’d had about Sanji’s touches making you overwhelmed slowly faded away—you actually wanted to melt into his arms and spend the rest of the day there. He probably noticed how you felt, nuzzling your hair gently.

For a few minutes, Sanji let the silence hang between the two of you. He just held you there while the two of you observed the sea, getting lost in thoughts for a moment. Eventually, you snapped back to reality with a deep sigh, rolling your shoulders a little.

“Sanji,” you mumbled, “can we sit down or go somewhere else? My legs are kinda tired already.”

“Of course!” Sanji let go of you with a sigh. “Let me think about something else we can do, my dear.”

Sanji’s hand wrapped around yours, taking you with him as he walked down the stairs to the main deck again. He’d left you there for a moment before coming back with a blanket, which he extended over the ground, on a spot under the shadow, before he sat down. He set a pillow over his crossed legs.

You raised an eyebrow before lying down with your head on the pillow. “We could’ve done this inside,” you mumbled, looking up at him.

“Maybe.” Sanji shrugged. “But you’ve spent way too long in the quarters already. Breathe some fresh air. Do something different.” His fingers ran through your hair, sometimes gently massaging your scalp as he played with your strands. It was weirdly relaxing, even if you weren’t in the most comfortable place. Being with Sanji itself was comfortable.

You didn’t really know at what point it happened, but the next thing you knew was that you were waking up with Sanji gently tapping your shoulder. The afternoon sun seemed to be excusing itself already, giving place to the stars. The shade of blue that took over the sky was different from the one you remembered. For how long did you sleep?

“My love,” Sanji said softly, caressing your cheek. “I need to go get dinner ready. Do you want me to carry you back to the quarters?”

A soft groan escaped your lips as you stretched, your back aching a little from lying on the floor. “Can I help you with it?” You didn’t feel like leaving Sanji’s side just yet. Even if you couldn’t feel direct improvement in your burn-out state—at least yet—, being with Sanji felt so much better than anything else. You feared it’d all get even worse if you left him now.

Sanji smiled. “Of course. Get up so I can put these away.”

You felt a little light-headed when you stood up, groaning softly. Honestly, you could feel like you’d either have a headache or just be unable to sleep later on, but it wasn’t much different from what was going on the previous days. The fact Sanji was now helping you gave you some hope, though. Some comfort.

Sanji returned before you could notice, a hand on your lower back as he smiled softly and nodded to the galley, heading there with you.

At least, your mind was empty. There weren’t many thoughts bothering you now that you helped Sanji out with preparing the dinner—practically just assembling and heating up the stuff he’d started preparing earlier. All you focused on was getting everything done, making sure it was all perfect. You weren’t exactly inexperienced when it came to the kitchen; being around Sanji for so long did give you some practice that you could rely on.

A sense of pride and accomplishment took over you as you observed the table all set now. Sanji probably felt the same thing, but not only for the cooking. He wrapped an arm around your waist, enjoying the last few moments you had alone before dinner, and pressed his lips to yours softly.

“I’m here for you, okay?” He smiled.

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.

#one piece #opla #one piece live action #sanji vinsmoke #x reader #x male reader #x female reader #gender neutral #sanji x reader #fan fic #fan fiction #writing #one piece x reader #oneshot #scenario #opla oneshot

[itsjusthockey]

CAN YOU PLEASEEEE WRITE A MATT BOLDY X READER?? theres not enough and i don’t have any ideas to write my own 😭 if it helps, maybe a team usa boldy x reader he was so sweet and super humble then. he really felt like he didn’t fit in because everyone was so good and he always felt overshadowed by the other boys even tho he’s prob better than many of them now 😭

Good Enough - Matt Boldy

Just a short baby

Thank you for the request babe. I charged it a bit but I love it

More to come shortly

enjoy. wc: 840 (credit to gif maker) (don’t steal my work)

“Bolds, you’re gonna be late,” you glance at your phone screen, the screen showing that if he doesn’t leave-well didn’t leave five minutes ago, he’s not going to make his meeting on time.

He simply ignores you.

You wait one minute, then another, and finally turn over in the bed to look at him. His face is barely visible in the early morning hours, but you can make out the just of it. He’s staring, rather blankly, at the ceiling.

“Matty?” You try again.

Finally, he turns to face you, softly sighing and giving you a look that causes your heart to crack a bit. He looks sad, almost dejected, and you can’t fathom why. The night before, he’d been himself, and now the man in front of your eyes has none of the sparkle you’re used too.

“What's wrong, Matty, talk to me.”

You reach out to gently brush his cheek, hoping to entice him to lay out the thought playing his mind. You watch as he ponders, his gears turning, and then, after a moment, he finally speaks.

“I don’t honestly know what’s going on. I just woke up with a horrible feeling. One I haven’t had in a while.”

He tightens his lips after he speaks, almost as if he hates admitting any type of feeling out loud.

You go over what he says In your mind, and then you counter him, shuffling a bit closer to him.

“What feeling?”

As you ask it, you begin gently tracing your hands on his chest. You know he always relaxes when you do this, and once you start, you visibly see the tension in his face lessen.

“I feel like I’m not good enough like I don’t deserve to be here. I feel like I’m not a good fit, just like at juniors.“

His voice catches a bit, and you cuddle even closer to your boyfriend. You hate that he’s feeling this way. What he is saying couldn’t be less true, but Bolds is his own greatest enemy. He beats himself up like this, and it kills you when he does. You’ve never met anyone like him, someone so sweet, kind, and humble to a fault.

“Matthew,” you gently tap his chin, forcing him to meet your eyes. “We all get bad days. We all have bad thoughts, too. But please, baby, never think you’re not good enough to be where you are. You’re such an amazing player and an even better person. No one in this world deserves you, and no team does either. Minnesota is lucky they have you here.”

He stay quiet for a minute, and you would pay any sum of money to hear his thoughts. Instead of speaking, he pulls you in closer, hugging you as tightly as possible and molding your bodies together. He holds you so tight, almost too tight, but you find yourself gently rubbing his back anyway. A few minutes into his hold, he speaks again.

“You’re wrong, though.”

You’re about to fight him. Beat it into him that he is literally everything, but he interrupts you before you can start.

“You deserve me.” He kisses your forehead. “Actually, it’s more like I don’t deserve you, but I happened to get lucky coming here.”

You smile into him, tugging him impossibly closer and giving him a light kiss on his lips. You stay that way for a bit longer, and you can feel his tension leaving him as the minutes tick by.

Eventually, Matthew moves from your embrace and grabs his phone, tapping at it. He finishes, tosses it far away from the two of you, and slithers back into your arms.

“Your meeting?” You question, eyebrow raised.

He gives you a small smirk and then gives a small kiss to your jaw.

“Didn’t you know? I’m sick.” He fake coughs, and feels his forehead. “I let the GM know I need a personal day.

You roll your eyes at the boy in front of you but nonetheless pull him back into your hold deeper. It isn’t usual that you both get a day like this, so you’ll embrace sitting here and being with him for as long as you can. You have a few ideas of what you can do to let the day pass, and that includes movies, food, and reminding him as much as you can that he’s the best man you know.

#hockey #hockey boys #imagine #nhl imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine #hockey x reader #nhl hockey #nhl x reader #matt boldy #minnesota wild #hockey blurbs #hockey blurb #wild hockey #nhl blurb #nhl24 #nhl fic #nhl fanfiction #nhl players #nhl #matt boldy x reader #matt boldy imagine

[tomkaulitzssgirl]

Omg hii could I request something fluffy where Tom and reader are going to a party or sum so he goes out for a while and comes back to reader crying in their room cause she’s insecure and thinks she looks bad in everything and Tom shows her js how pretty she is (If yk what I mean😏) if ur comfortable with it tho you don’t have to

Stay safe🫶🏼🫶🏼

Change your mind | Tom Kaulitz

you huffed as you picked out some dresses from your wardrobe, not really knowing what to wear for the event you had that night.

your boyfriend tom had to go to an after party with his bandmates after the concert and of course he wanted to bring you as well.

he always wanted to show you off and make everyone see how beautiful his woman was.

but tonight, it was different, you didn’t have the energy to do anything and your insecurities were taking a toll on you.

you had always fought with overthinking about your image, and now being una. relationship with a star, it was too much to handle the media and their comments.

because of course, there were bad comments about you whether it was about your style, looks, personality and relationship.

it brought your anxiety to the top.

tom knew about that and many times had to comfort you and shut down what they said about you during interviews. he was so angry and sometimes blamed himself because he was the reason they talked about you.

when you guys were together and paparazzi saw you, he always hid your face and covered you until you would be our of their sight.

but you didn’t always want to bother him with your insecurities, knowing he liked when you were confident, so many times you shut down and hid your feelings from him.

“baby, i’m gonna go out with the guys for a bit, be ready around nine pm okay?” tom said as he walked into the room, smiling when he saw you already choosing what to wear, thinking it was because you were happy to go out and not because you were panicking.

you simply nodded while biting down your nails, accepting the kiss on the forehead he gave you before walking out of the room.

hours passed and you were still fighting to choose a dress, your make up wasn’t good and your hair was already ruined by you sweating trying to find something in the meanders of your wardrobe.

soon, frustration took over you and tears formed in your eyes. you threw the dress you held in your hand on the ground angrily before going over your bed and throwing yourself on it, beginning to cry your eyes out.

your thoughts became clouded and only negative things were in your mind, like how could tom be with you? he had fucked many models, why choose you?

you were literally sobbing out loud, your tears falling down your neck and on the mattress.

when tom came home and approached the room. he heard you immediately and he slammed the door open.

he saw how the clothes were a mess on the ground and understood what was going on but he wanted you to tell him.

“what’s wrong, meine liebe?” he asked sitting down on the bed, his hand on your back.

you hid your face with your hands not wanting him to see you cry but he took them away. “hey, stop hiding from me, what’s going on?”

his heart broke seeing you so sad.

“n-nothing looks good on me.” you managed to say, looking down and tried to wipe away your tears.

“baby, you know that’s bullshit.” tom softly said, stroking your cheek before taking you in his arms, making you sit down on his lap.

he hugged you tightly against his chest, kissing the top of your head over and over. you calmed down as he whispered sweet nothings in your ear.

“you know you’re beautiful baby girl…”. he grabbed you chin and made you look up at him, “we don’t have to go, if you want we can stay home and just relax.”

you shook your head knowing how he liked partying, “n-no, you can go, i will wait for you.”

tom smiled at how you were able to still think about him even when you were upset.

“no, i wanna stay with you.” he kissed your cheek, slowly going down your neck, “and make you see how beautiful you are…”

your breath itched when you understood what he meant, suddenly heat spreading between your legs.

“you want me to change your mind, mh?” you nodded at his words, needing him more than ever.

tom smirked, getting up with you still in his arms. he placed you infront of the mirror, his hands quickly going under the t-shirt you were wearing.

he removed it gently throwing it on the floor, beginning to squeeze your breasts. you were now just in your panties, nothing more.

“you look like a goddess.” tom said kissing slowly down your neck making you tilt your head to give him more space. he sucked on your skin as his hands went through your whole body.

he lowered your panties before undoing his own pants with one hand, the other one going down to play with your clit.

a gasp came out of you as you watched his finger move quickly and easily inside you.

all of a sudden he bent you over, you’d hand coming in contact with the desk infront of you for balance.

he didn’t waste no time, he immediately inserted himself in your entrance, taking his time to make you get used to his size.

“t-tom… oh my god!” you moaned loudly as all his length was inside you. he smirked and grabbed your hair, tilting your head towards the mirror.

“look at you as i fuck you.” tom started to push inside you, your breasts bouncing with the thrusts. one hand was on your hip and the other made its way around your neck.

he put two fingers in your mouth, making you suck on them as he kept his pace steady.

“so beautiful, i wonder why don’t you see what i see…” he whispered in your ear, groaning right after when you started clenching around him, “say you’re beautiful.”

you tried to speak but those words had sent you over the edge and you started to tear up because of it and also because of the pleasure.

“say. you’re. beautiful.” he said with every push, going deeper inside you. you could feel him in your stomach.

“i-i’m beautiful…” you said with a soft voice, between the moans.

“say it louder. louder or i’ll stop.” tom said starting to play with your clit again.

“i’m beautiful!” you managed to scream loudly, your eyes rolling with pleasure.

he understood that he had found your sweet spot and kept hitting it, until the knot in your stomach was too much for you to contain.

“i’m c-coming tom! keep doing it!” your voice was broken because of you crying and you kept whining over and over, until he finally took you to your climax.

tom came right after you, continuing to push to ride out your highs, before stopping and keeping you still as your legs trembled.

he wrapped his arms around you tightly, kissing your cheek repeatedly, still making eye contact through the mirror. “i love you so much.”

“i-i love you too.”

“and you’re gorgeous, everything looks good on you even if you don’t see it.”

you smiled weakly, being tired and overwhelmed with emotions. he picked you up and took you the the bathroom, filling in the water in the bathtub as you waited sitting on the sink.

“roses?” he asked picking up the petals you had put in a jar. you nodded smiling happily at him, loving the way he was taking care of you.

he added the roses and then went between your legs, kissing you sweetly as you guys waited for the bathtub to fill.

the night ended with cuddles, as tom washed your body and hair, repeating you over and over again how amazing and gorgeous you were.

#tokio hotel #tokiohotel #tom kaulitz #fandom #fanfic #writing #masterlist #tom kaulitz imagines #tom kualitz x reader #tom kaulitz fanfic #tom kaulitz x y/n #tom kaulitz x you #smut #fluff

[pommedepersephone]

I feel like I'm the only one in the Good Omens fandom who doesn't get the subtext behind the "aim for my mouth but shoot past my ear" quote. Do you have thoughts to share on what it means to you?

Ooooh do I. This is probably one of my favorite lines in all of Good Omens. And that is saying something because I'm one of those with an old dog-eared copy of the book AND the S1 script book, both full of underlines (don't tell Aziraphale, he'd be horrified). So, here is my unhinged passionate explanation of what that line means to me, and how I think it actually applies to multiple moments through S2, specifically moments where there is some kind of performance/deception taking place. I will try to keep this only marginally long, so I will break down the three moments I think are MOST important, and then sum it all up at the end. Ready? Here we go!

What the line means in 1941

"Aim for my mouth but shoot past my ear" clearly applies to the mechanisms of the bullet catch in S2E4, so let's start there. What does the bullet catch tell us about their relationship? First, they are always being watched. By humans (the audience) but also by their respective sides (in this case Hell). Second, they have to pretend they don’t know each other but still have ways to communicate throughout their charade. Third, they HAVE to trust one another. Like, a LOT because - Fourth, their relationship puts them both in danger.

In this context, the line is really interesting because the idea of aiming for the mouth and shooting past the ear can also be interpreted as speaking and acting in ways that either pacify or confuse those watching, but that clearly communicate to one another. There is SOMETHING about the fact that in the presence of the Nazis Crowley speaks very plainly but in a way only Aziraphale would REALLY understand - “If the bomb does land here, it would take a real miracle for my friend and I to survive it” - yet when they are being watched unaware the line that the Nazis manage to get is “banana, fish, gorilla, shoelace with dash of nutmeg” because never, not even alone, do they speak in a completely straightforward manner. This does not mean they do not communicate, it means they communicate in their own language.

What the line means in Job

But wait! There is MORE! Because 1941 isn’t the first time we’ve seen these two perform for an audience! "Aim for my mouth but shoot past my ear" also applies in Job. There is one big difference - at the start of the story, Crawley is performing alone. He is saying all the right demonic things - "I want to. I long to destroy the blameless children of blameless Job, just as I destroyed his blameless goats." And at first, Aziraphale is in the audience, unaware of the sleight of hand taking place in front of him. But Crawley offers to read him in by showing him… the crows. And Aziraphale ends up stepping into the roll of magician’s assistant as Crawley works to save Job’s kids, human and otherwise.

What I find interesting is the way you can think about mouths and ears here - Crawley lets him hear the crows bleat (shoot past my ear) which lets Aziraphale understand who Crawley really is. Then Crawley offers him the ox rib (aim for my mouth) which in some ways makes Aziraphale begin to actually examine who HE is. Both are necessary if they are going to eventually become An Us, and it really starts here, with Job.

What the line means in the Final Fifteen

By the time we get to present-day S2 “Aim for my mouth but shoot past my ear” has taken on such a deep meaning for these two man-shaped beings. Their communication is so rich and layered, where they speak in metaphors and puns and have rituals like the I Was Wrong dance. I mean, just look at this silly little act of love -

I. Simply. Cannot. These two! They deeply enjoy one another. BUT this very complicated language they have developed together only works when they are ON THE SAME PAGE.

What happens in the Final Fifteen? They stop speaking the same language. For the sake of this analysis, we are assuming that Aziraphale is feeling threatened, and is aware that Metatron has ill intent, okay? Okay. In that context… just like 1941, they are AGAIN being watched (this time by Heaven), pretending they don’t know certain things about each other, need to trust each other and their relationship has put them in danger. But here is the kicker - they have slipped back into their roles from the start of Job, except reversed. They don’t have the same information and awareness. Fell the Marvelous is desperately putting on the performance of his life, and Crowley doesn’t even know they are on stage. There was no time for a backroom conversation to discuss the finer points of the trick. In the end, Crowley decides “fuck shooting past your ear, you aren’t hearing me."

And in the MOST devastating way possible, these two aimed for the mouth and shot right past each other's ears. Ouch. OUCH.

*Clears throat, dries eyes* in summary, this little line of poetry does a heavy lift for S2. It applies to scenes where a performance/sleight of hand is taking place, but it reads differently in each one. Importantly, "Aim for my mouth but shoot past my ear" only works out when they are properly partnering not pretendy partnering. If there is information withheld, or they aren't in agreement (this applies to Edinburgh toooooo) things just implode. They have to have TRUST for this to work.

Just in case I seem even remotely normal at this point, here is the little poem I wrote after watching S2 the first time, as the brainrot started to take real hold:

aim for my mouth and shoot past my ear

tell me the lines but show me your eyes

so i learn how hearts can hide truth in lies

here beside you

aim for my mouth and shoot past my ear

i promise to burn you if you hold the match

you walk through fire but i'll turn to ash

a shade grey for you

aim for my mouth and shoot past my ear

show me the words i can't seem to hear

give me something to hold as i go through my fear

and here return to you

#aim for my mouth but shoot past my ear #good omens meta #ineffable idiots #good omens brainrot #its the poetry of it all that kills me #emily dickinson would approve

[fan-a-tink]

Young Royals S3 thoughts

EP 1

First word of the season is crown prince.

The queen is ill. taking pills. Simply depressed or something else too? 

„Was this how you imagined it would be?“ „No, this is better.“ My heart.

Settling the video issue outside the courts. Simon just wants it to be over - Linda why are you not listening to your son?

Fuck you Rickard for telling everyone about Simon and the drug thing anyway. That was so unnecessary!

And then they all just signed anyway?

The queen having a breakdown scares the shit out of me. Wille is going to have to take over so soon, and the responsibility will be the death of him and Simon.

Madison is the only one seeing that something is actually wrong with Felice, and she’s trying to be such a good friend. 

Farima seems cool!

Simon grounded. wtf, I don’t like it. And it’s not exactly his fault he didn’t tell Linda about everything that was going on - like she has to take some blame there too.

Vincent you fucking idiot. I hate you. You don’t get to blame Wille for this. And don’t you DARE talk to a reporter.

That kiss, in the library, and everyone going absolutely quiet - AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

Crown prince.. and your boyfriend! - AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

I’m not sure they are really listening to each other, actually. Please guys, no more miscommunication!

YES, Wille!!! Show off your boyfriend and shut down their reactions with that look of ‚that’s my boyfriend, and if anyone has a problem with that, they have a problem with me!“

Fucking hate Vincent. „You and Wilhelm can sit together on the bus out to the slums.“ Fuck you Vincent. - Also, is it bad that I think August actually handled that situation really well?

Sara, my love - do you need a hug? 

That heart on the hand is a heartstopper reference, and no one will ever convince me otherwise!

So Marcus talked about Simon to the press. As if we needed any confirmation that he was a dickhead. Good riddance.

Simon don’t respond to the tweets!!!!

Foolish. But brave. - Yes, that sums up Wille pretty well :)

Wille saying „I wish I could ask him“ about Erik breaks my heart. Look at his eyes when he says it! There is so much grief which he has not processed at all. 

Sara going to Micke. I love that he takes her in, but also, she should really talk to someone else, not rekindle the extremely strained / non-existent relationship with her dad which was so traumatic to her! Saraaaaaaaa, please talk to your mum, or a therapist. Anyone!

Wille waking up peacefully smiling and redrawing the heart on his hand. This is joy. 

Ok that initiation shit sounds traumatizing as hell - who the fuck thought that would be a good idea? 

And no, Vincent, shut the fuck up, you don’t get to blame Wille for any of this!!!! Just fuck right off!

Did Simon keep that seat for Wille? 🥰

Simon’s expression at ‚Is it true? Did it happen to you?‘ And ‚what about the other stuff?‘ - just not able to comprehend how Wille could have done any of it. Ohhh, I smell drama on the horizon, and I don’t like it.

I love that them hearing about the restrictions makes them hold hands even tighter. I love that they can just do that now, in public, in school, in front of everyone. Still not over it. 

The new principal’s smile gives me serial killer vibes.

Aaaaahhhhh, I’m not ready for the drama, I’m not ready for the discussions, the tensions, the secrets, for any of it!!! I’m scared to keep going, because I don’t want them to have to go through any of it - haven’t they suffered enough? Haven’t we suffered enough? 

#young royals #young royals season 3 #yr s3 spoilers #young royals s3 #yr s3 #yr spoilers

[twistedoverbloat]

Sum funny with the Dracoian ( but Lilia is being dad here so no Romantic with him )

Yuu went shopping at the thrift store in the town close to the school and bought new clothes that is not hand-me-down from the guys in campus, and one is a very nice short sleeve black dress, the guys enter the Ramshackle and see her in that dress and blushed ( not Lilia, he's just see how it played out because he ship them with the magicless human )

Unaware for Yuu she is wearing a wedding dress that is from the Valley of Thorns

How are each of the guys reaction?

Since Lilia is being dad I think that Silver would see her as a little sister!

So Yuu didn't have a lot of dresses but Crewel gave her lots of money to got o a store to get some! Lilia decided to come too and show her a shop in the Thorn Valley. She agreed since she wanted to see his home land.

As they got to the shop they went straight to the dress section Lilia took 10dresses off and shoved her into the dressing room "Now my darling daughter! Try those one while I get more!" Yuu rolled her eyes and replied "OK dad!" Lilia chuckled and rushed off.

Yuu tried on a green, blue, pink, black, a maroon, and other different colors. But there was this one dress that really stood out to her. It was a white dress it was floor length, off the shoulder, and it had a few gems in it, with some butterfly sewn on. She tried it one and it fit like a glove!

She walled out and a few people gasped as she looked into the Mirror "Dad I think I should get this one!" When she did get a response she turned at saw Lilia holding back tears. She walked to him "Dad what's wrong?" Lilia hugged her and wiped his tears "You should get that one dear." Other customers agreed with him "Oh I liked the black and green one too!" Lilia nodded.

After purchasing the dresses they didn't hear the cashiers telling Lilia congratulations on his daughter getting married. Lilia simply smiled and thanked them.

When they got back Yuu rushed to Ramshackle to change and show the boys! Their going to love the white one! It makes her feel like a princess! When she finished all the boy's were in the living room. Lilia was the first too see her in it again "Oh my dear daughter you look so beautiful!" All the boy's turned to see Yuu slowly going down the stairs.

They all had their eyes on her. When she God down silver got up and held her hand bringing her to the center of the room. She smiled at them "What do you think? I really love this one!" Malleus was the first to react "You look just like a princess dear." Yuu smiled and thanked him.

The first years rushed up to her "You look so good!" Deuce said as he spinned her around. Jack nodded as his tail wagged fast, Sebek nodded too as he couldn't speak at the moment. Epel was clapping his hand "This was a real steal!" Ace didn't say anything too.

Kalim then walked up "You look like a bride!" Jamil shook his head "Kalim you can't just say that!" Riddle was Pink in the face "The Queen of Hearts would have wanted the dress red!" Yuu rolled her eyes at that. Floyd and Jade popped up behind her "You look like a lost princess here!" Floyd said Jade smiled "And the fact your at the Villian school makes it seemed as we kidnapped you." Yuu laughted "Please if I was kidnapped I would have escaped already." The boys chucked too.

Azul was stuttering "You could be a model! With that dress." Vil nodded "You do have the grace for it." Rook belted out different love poems and comprising of her to the moon. Leona smirked seeing her. "You look like a uppity princess." Ruggie rolled his eyes "Better than you." Idia was flushed. She looked like Persephone! Ortho was clapping his hands "You look amazing!" Yuu smiled at the boy and thanked him. Cater began to take so many photos, as Trey was complementing her hair.

Silver watched them all not to get close to his sister. He even did the head cutting motion. Yuu was oblivious to all of this. No one has the guts to tell her she was wearing a wedding dress.

#fem yuu #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland yuu #Lilia: *proud dad moment* #Yuu: I want this dress! *holds up a wedding dress*

[jedimaesteryoda]

It seemed so simple, changing hands. It wasn't. Every instinct he had was wrong. He had to think about everything, where once he'd just moved.

This sums up the changes made to Jaime’s character with the loss of his sword hand. Before, he was one of the best swordsmen in Westeros, he could say whatever came into his head and do whatever, knowing he had the skill to back it up if it came down to a fight. He admits that his identity was in his martial ability.

Now, with his martial ability taken away, he can no longer act impulsively, but he actually has to think. In place of his sword hand, he has had to learn to use his head. We see him grow in A Feast for Crows in the Second Siege of Riverrun. The first siege was the site of his worst defeat where his impatience and recklessness resulted in a huge strategic setback for his family that almost cost them the war. This time, he managed to take Riverrun without a fight, albeit by threatening Edmure into commanding his uncle to stand down. He tells Cersei to ask Mace to take Storm’s End, and even Cersei comments “for a moment you sounded quite like father.” Jaime is showing that he is more than just some meathead, but actually is an effective commander and capable would-have-been Lord of Casterly Rock. 

He also starts rethinking his life, and realizes a lot of what he subscribed to was wrong. After Aerys, he simply stopped caring about anything, and became a jaded cynic who just coasted through life and did whatever Cersei asked him to do. He didn’t care about the consequences of his actions while thinking “no one understand me” like a nihilistic emo teenager. He deliberately avoided thinking about anything, but now he has to think about his place in life with the loss of his hand, his identity and his family. 

His experience post-losing his hand has forced him to grow up. Having returned to King’s Landing, he admits "that boy I was . . . when did he die, I wonder? When I donned the white cloak? When I opened Aerys's throat? That boy had wanted to be Ser Arthur Dayne, but someplace along the way he had become the Smiling Knight instead.” Looking at things from a fresh perspective, he realizes that he doesn’t like who had become and pursues a different path trying to create a different legacy from the one of the Kingslayer. He helps Brienne to find and protect Sansa, giving a Valyrian sword to someone he originally mocked to protect a person he would never have cared about before. He also starts building relationships with his kids, supporting Tommen when he fled Tywin’s funeral and defending him against Cersei.

Rather than doing whatever Cersei asks and idealizing her, he reevaluates his relationship with Cersei, and realizes it wasn’t what he thought it was and neither was she. He recognizes that she had been sexually manipulating him throughout their relationship. By the end of A Feast for Crows, he has effectively broken up with her. His disillusionment with her parallels his disillusionment with his House’s cause. He finds that he doesn’t like their allies, the Freys and Lady Sybell Westerling, and it is slowly dawning on him that they aren’t the Good Guys™. 

With the loss of his hand, he generally went from an impulsive, nihilistic man-child to a thoughtful, self-aware adult. 

#asoiaf #jaime lannister

[merlin-reboot-when]

Bbc Merlin made two big mistakes.

1) They told a story about a young sorcerer trying to survive in a land where magic is punishable by death. One of his end goals is to legalise magic again. The biggest opposing party in this objective is the tyrant king who started a genocide. This is a very black and white conflict, there is no both-siding this. On the one side you have a mass murderer, on the other side are people who are being killed for existing.

Now the series does establish that Merlin is the good guy and that magic isn't actually evil, but then they go ahead and constantly frame Uther as a guy who is really not that bad. Sure, he killed some people (hundreds or even thousands) - whoopsie. But come on, at least he's trying. And think about Arthur! The emotional comfort of one person is totally worth letting people die for.

At the same time they keep bringing in villain of the week type of characters and like 90% of those are evil magicians who are consumed by their thirst for power and/or revenge or monstrous beasts which are also creatures of magic. They rarely introduce "good" sorcerers or creatures.

To sum it up: They frame the victims of a genocide as evil, almost blaming them for their own plight while making excuses for the people murdering them. It would make sense to explore this part of Camelot's history if the conflict was more complex, but it really isn't that deep. They waste way too much time dragging out this black and white conflict as described above.

2) (Screen)time is being wasted on the wrong conflict, yes, but in my opinion also on the wrong characters.

Arthur's character development is inconsistent at best. He wildly swings back and forth between believing in some magic being good or at least neutral and then condemning all magic as the world's true evil. He learns time and time again to be less arrogant and self-centered and snaps at Merlin again in the very next episode. I enjoy Merlin & Arthur's banter as much as anyone, but if you're not even taking Arthur's character anywhere then why waste so much time there?

Merlin and Arthur as a duo also go through the same dance routine three times a season: Merlin discovers a plot against Arthur, but fears to simply be dismissed if he says anything. Eventually he does say something and, surprise, Arthur reacts dismissive. In the end Arthur learns that Merlin was right all along and he should trust him more. Three episode later Arthur doesn't remember he already learned this lesson, the cycle repeats.

Gaius is important to the story because Merlin needs a dialogue partner to talk about magic. But Gaius also holds Merlin back a lot and keeps him from growing. And so just like Arthur, Merlin doesn't really learn much from his experiences, his life barely changes of the course of 5 seasons. He's still living with Gaius and still relys on him instead of becoming more independent.

So we have four characters / dynamics (Uther, Arthur, Gaius and Merlin) which the show keeps focusing on even though they're not that complicated at all. On the other hand we have side characters that are supposedly important like Gwen and the knights and we know very little about them. It almost seems like they become less important the longer the series goes on, that's not how this works!

You can't say "This is the once and future queen, there are prophecies about her and she's the most important person in Arthur's life" and then she never really does anything! The knights too. Merlin and Gwaine are best friends (kind of), but do we ever see them casually hanging out? Nope. Percival is one of the most famous knights from the myths, yet we only know his name and that his family is dead. How did they die? Who even was his family? Does it mean he lost his parents, did he have a wife? We will never know. There are so many amazing characters they could've included more, but they never did.

So while I love the series in general, these two points really rub me the wrong way.

#bbc merlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #uther pendragon #gaius #long post #in this essay i will

[linklethehistorian]

what are your thoughts on verlaine?

Oooooh, what a good question! 👀 My anon friend, let me tell you, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to be asked my thoughts on something like this — much less something that is so particularly fun and interesting for me to tell you about. 🥺💖 

I’m so sorry it took me so long to answer this, but I really had a lot to say and I wanted to answer it carefully; I will probably throw the rest under the cut due to it including a lot of spoilers for Fifteen and Storm Bringer (obviously), and also because it might be a little bit long. In the future, I will try to be better about answering in a more timely manner with these things — life willing, at least. ^-^’

(Given that I’ve primarily marketed myself as a BSD/Fifteen/Storm Bringer-centric blog, I’m, of course, going to be answering this under the assumption that you’re inquiring about BSD!Paul Verlaine and not the real life author that was his namesake. If I’m wrong, though, please feel free to correct me, and I’ll be more than happy to follow up with a post about the other, as well — though I should warn you that my opinions regarding said irl historical poet might be more than a touch more harsh and controversial than the average person…)

In any case, I hope you enjoy!

For me, BSD Paul in particular, both as a character and as an individual, is such a complex matter that there really is no one simple answer that can appropriately sum up my feelings for him — at least, not in a way that would do those thoughts and emotions any justice.

In fact, the state of mind I’ve had regarding Paul over these four years has been so deeply multi-faceted and constantly changing until just recently that the reply I would have given you had you asked, say, even just a year ago, would probably have differed very greatly from today — much less if you’d asked me at the beginning of it all.

In the very beginning (back in March 2018, when the book’s first edition was handed out in theaters alongside showings of DEAD APPLE), I honestly hated him — at least, as a person. As a character, as a plot device, as a part of the narrative of Fifteen, I thought he was great, but mostly exactly because he was seemingly so easy to hate. 

You see, what you have to understand is that, at this point in time until around, say, August of 2019 (when the second edition of the book with added artwork and the quite-important bonus chapter was released to the public), we really didn’t have all that much to go off of regarding him; we knew that he was Randou/Arthur Rimbaud’s partner, we knew that they had gotten into a fight while on their mission to retrieve Arahabaki, we knew that he had betrayed Arthur and that their relationship was seemingly one-sided, and we knew that, ultimately, he had survived, but that was about it. Beyond that, the only things we had to judge him with were Arthur’s extremely rose-colored view of him, and their irl namesakes’ tragic, abusive disaster of a romantic relationship.

Now, contrast that with Arthur, whom we actually did know quite well already (yes, Storm Bringer may later have added a few extra facts to the mix and further cemented in stone things that were already obvious, but even without any sequel or second edition to the first novel, we already had an incredibly deep and vivid picture of who Rimbaud was as a friend, a partner, and especially as a person), and the answer we had was abundantly clear: Verlaine, whatever his motives may or may not have been, was the one genuinely in the wrong, because even if there had indeed been an argument between them, there was never any need for a betrayal. After all Arthur went through purely for his sake — after all the fond ways he spoke of him and the times he broke down over him, along with a multitude of other factors I don’t want to end up rambling on and on about here in a question that isn’t revolving around Rimbaud — there was simply no way that Randou couldn’t have been convinced to follow along with him given just a little more effort or time, unless Verlaine was doing something so horrendously morally atrocious that even his helplessly emotionally dependent partner couldn’t be swayed to join him. Mix in the fact that Asagiri-sensei famously loves himself a huge helping of real life parallels, and you have an easy picture that Paul took advantage of Arthur’s kindness and, at the least, emotionally abused and manipulated him as such, whether 100% intentionally or otherwise.  Really, in the eyes of myself and at least a vast majority of our then-small circle of fans of the book — if not all of them — there had never been a question of,“Was Paul in the wrong?”  We all knew he was — Asagiri-sensei was never even in the least subtle about it; it was simply a question of to what extent, and for what reason.

After the second edition of Fifteen released and the bonus chapter featuring him was officially out, we finally had our first glimpse of him directly, outside of Arthur’s affection-skewed point of view, and, without having the context Storm Bringer would later provide, it…wasn’t pretty in any way. As a matter of fact, it only just solidified this idea of, “Wow, he’s an absolute heartless bastard, not just to Arthur but also to Chuuya — even whilst he claims to care about him as a brother — and I hope all of the worst things in life happen to him for eternity.”  He was the character I purely loved to hate — the apparent embodiment of all of the worst parts of humanity wrapped into one undeservingly, superficially beautiful form. Of course, he wasn’t without his own twisted form of care for Chuuya — that much I knew — but it was such an incredibly sick and unhealthy take on familial love that it bordered on demented. And honestly, I was living for it.

I think it was sometime in between that time and the release of Storm Bringer that I really started to seriously openly dabble in front of my friends with the idea of a Paul who perhaps did have some part of him that cared about Arthur in some equally sick and twisted way, and would eventually come to realize his wrongs and regret his actions far too late, but that was primarily for the entertainment value of the concept, and even then, I still completely hated him just as much as before.

It wasn’t until well after Storm Bringer came out on February 27, 2021, and I had had a good deal of time to think over his situation and actions, that I slowly started to soften my opinion of him a little. Don’t misunderstand me; I still think he’s a bastard and a major asshole for a lot of his actions, but I do feel bad for where he was coming from and the inner conflict he faced, even if that in no way excuses what he did. I think his story is, like Arthur’s, very sad, extremely interesting, and incredibly well-written, and an obvious love letter to their irl counterparts that involved a ton of very careful, impressive research into the poets’ lives (I would talk about this in greater detail, but I already will be discussing it in my article and its future follow-ups, so for now I will leave it said as-is). As a character, he is easily one of my most favorites in the entire series — probably just below if not every bit as much so as Arthur, who is my highest on the list.

Speaking less from a narrative perspective and more on how I think of him as a person, though, my opinions are split: on one hand, when we’re speaking of the past, I really hate him for what he did and I think he’s a terrible person, no matter how sad his backstory and his inner troubles are or how good his intentions may, at times, have been. But then, on the other hand, in the present, I have to admit that I do pity him and care about him, and I know how much he means to Arthur, to boot. I think his situation is very tragic and I genuinely believe he is sincere in his regrets. Which…speaking of that…

Before I say this, I’m just going to give a quick disclaimer that I suspect this is going to be an extremely hot take to a lot of people (some of them even my dear followers >.>), so….I’m just going to gently advise that if you love Dazai a lot and don’t want to see anything negative about him, you should probably click off of this post before this paragraph is over because, although I too love Dazai as a character very much and I do believe he is sincere in trying to follow what Odasaku asked of him by being in the ADA — and that he has indeed improved in a few ways over the years — the following is going to be very frank about him and it’s not exactly the prettiest point I’ll ever make. So yeah. This is your little warning sign to click off if that would upset you. 💖

(I’d also be willing to make a post sharing my thoughts on Dazai someday if anyone ever asks. He, too, has a lot to unpack about him, though I’ll probably be doing that in my article anyway, so…maybe a moot point.)

The truth is, though, the more and more I’ve learned over the past few years, the more my view of Dazai as an individual has, like with Paul, shifted, although in this case more in the opposite way of how it has for Verlaine, and at this point, I have to admit that, as surprised as I am to have ever reached the point of saying this, I actually respect Paul a whole lot more as a person than I can respect Dazai, because, despite staying in a “dark” job, at least Paul did the one thing Dazai has yet to ever do: truly, genuinely, sincerely admit he was wrong, have remorse for his actions, and verbally apologize to someone he hurt deeply — and with an extreme amount of real emotion, no less.

He had the heart to actually search his soul and acknowledge that he fucked up instead of just trying to move along and change his lifestyle while never apologizing face to face for the damage he did to so many people. And that’s very big of him, very strong, and admirable. That is the one thing I will gladly give him in the end. For as much as I may hate his treatment of Arthur in the past, and of Chuuya, and the people said brother cared for, I can still respect the Hell out of that.

If you want to know my take on his canon relationship with Arthur, I’ll link that at the end of this post as a part two, because I know some people don’t like talk about ships, canon, ambiguously canon, noncanon, or otherwise, and I really want to give people the chance to easily back out on that one if they want to.

But yeah, that’s essentially my thoughts in a nutshell! There’s a lot of stuff here I’ll probably end up elaborating on a lot in my article, but

TL;DR: Although my history with him has been a little rocky and I still love to affectionately hate on him as an individual from time to time, I actually do love his character a whole, whole lot (I find him incredibly interesting and inspired, and he might be my 2nd favorite character), and I do sympathize with him a little, and actually have respect for him on a certain level! 

[Read Part 2 here.]

#linklethehistorian #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd spoilers #paul verlaine #bsd paul verlaine #stormbringer #storm bringer #bsd novels #bsd stage play #fifteen #Thoughts #my thoughts #ask #anon #thank you so much for asking 🥺💖 #this was so much fun to answer #sorry this is super late #paul is so complex

[ramoth13]

Hi, I saw your post about giving the Amazon LOTR show a chance. Wondering what your thoughts were on the showrunners saying they're trying to write "the novel that Tolkien never wrote"? Because to me that makes them seem extremely arrogant. IMO it's not possible to separate Amazon from the directors of TROP, because the whole thing is Bezos' brainchild- he hired the showrunners to make the show for him. It's not like he just happens to be financing it. Just my two cents, wonder what you think.

Mae g'ovannen, mellon nin!

Hey! Thanks for the comment, I sincerely appreciate it. We need more friendly discussion in places like this.

So, I think that quote is something that should be given context, because without context it does sound bad. The thing is, Tolkien never wrote the story of the Numenorians and the forging of the rings. But not because he didn't want to. When he originally set out to write the Lord of the Rings, he wanted to publish The Lord of the Rings AND a version of what we now know is The Silmarillion, side by side. However, the publishers took one glance at his ultra unwieldy, freaky history book and said absolutely not. He never got to tell that story, but not because he didn't want to. Christopher T, on the other hand, goes through the writings and publishes (posthumously) a highly edited and revised version, but again, this is the history book we all know and love but not what the Professor would have done (he was constantly changing things and making huge edits until his death).

Now that's not to say the book isn't a masterpiece, I wrote my master's thesis on it and I will absolutely say it's my favorite book in the world, but that doesn't change the fact that Chistopher had to heavily edit and change what was written to make the coherent story we know. The Professor simply left too many loose ends and changes without revisions to earlier sections (hence the 12 volumes of The Histories of Middle-Earth).

Tolkien's lifelong dream was to use the Silmarillion as a roadmap to write the novels of the stories we read about in that book of history, which is where Christopher got the materials to "finish" The Fall of Gondolin, The Lay of Luthian, and The Children of Hurin. But one novel that is conspicuously absent from that trio is the story of Numenor and the forging of the rings.

Thus, when they say that they are making "the novel that Tolkien never wrote" they mean that this is supposed to be a down to earth telling of the Numenorian story and the story of the forging of the rings, like Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit books. However, I don't think they mean that they are going to do something that the professor was incapable of doing, rather they are trying to do what he was unable to. He had so many stories started and left undone (one wonders at what he could have written given time). I would have loved to read his version of the Fall of Fingolfin, but alas...

As for Bezos's brainchild, I think there are two things to consider. First, the Tolkien estate sold the rights to this story (with extremely heavy constrictions/demands on what could and could not be done with the story) for an insane sum of money. The most, in fact, for any TV show ever made. The fact is, the way it was set up, there were very few people in the world who could have even attempted to make this show. Considering the price tag, only one of a few dozen could even try. If it wasn't Amazon, it would have been one of the other mega-studios, and other studios did have the chance to outbid Amazon in the purchase. Now someone might say "No one should have made this into a TV show at all" which is an argument I understand, but not one I have much to say on. And the second thing to consider is that the Tolkien estate could have said no (and has, many, many times before).

Now, money does not automatically equal a good show and there are many things that could go wrong, I'll grant you. But the one thing this show has going for it is that this story (more than all of the previous Tolkien adaptations that came before it, Peter Jackson's movies included) is heavily controlled by Tolkienian elements (the Tolkien estate has the power to veto any script elements, it's in the contract, then there are the scholars on deck as mentioned, etc.). Though Tom Shippey left the project because of a breach of contract involving an NDA fairly recently, I know he spent much time with the project and had a hand in many of the elements we will see. He's an incredible Tolkien scholar and just one of a few on board.

Bezos, with all of the money in the world (almost literally), cannot control the story and that gives me hope.

With that hope in mind, I recently read an article that many Tolkien scholars and fans (including The Tolkien Professor himself, Corey Olsen) were able to view a small portion of the show and I'll let you see what they said for yourself here,

All of that to say, I'm not saying this show will be good, I have no idea, in truth. But I think (and hope, oh how I hope) that there are enough people working on the show that realize these stories will not be taken lightly by the fans and longtime middle-earth enthusiasts and therefore, will do all that they can to do it right.

But again, it's all about hope. As one famous poet once said, "hope is the thing with feathers"

Here's to hoping it flies high above the Shadows of Mordor and the smoke rising from the dungeons and forges Angband.

Ná Elbereth veria le, ná elenath dín síla erin rád o chuil lín.

~ ramoth13

#ramoth13 #jrr tolkien #amazon lotr #lord of the rings #silmarillion #the hobbit #rings of power #corey olson #christopher tolkien #jeffery bezos

[politicsarecool2]

“These sayings/insults are incredible gems from an era before the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words! I hope you delight in them as much as I have. 😅♥️

1. "He had delusions of adequacy. ” Walter Kerr

2. "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”- Winston Churchill

3. "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. - Clarence Darrow

4. "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”-William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

5. "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

6. "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it.” - Moses Hadas

7. "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” - Mark Twain

8. "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” - Oscar Wilde

9. "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one.” -George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

10. "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one.” - Winston Churchill, in response

11. "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here” - Stephen Bishop

12. "He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” - John Bright

13. "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.” - Irvin S. Cobb

14. "He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.” - Samuel Johnson

15. "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up. - Paul Keating

16. "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.” - Forrest Tucker

17. "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?” - Mark Twain

18. "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” - Mae West

19. "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.” - Oscar Wilde

20. "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination.” - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

21. "He has Van Gogh's ear for music.” - Billy Wilder

22. "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But I'm afraid this wasn't it.” - Groucho Marx

23. The exchange between Winston Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison." He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

24. "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln

25. "There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." -- Jack E. Leonard

26. "They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." -- Thomas Brackett Reed

27. "He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them." -- James Reston (about Richard Nixon) —Robert L Truesdel”

From FB

Unknown MP on witnessing Winston Churchill fail to wash his hands in the members WC after urinating .."At Eton, we were taught to wash our hands!". Winston .. "At Harrow, we were taught not to piss on our fingers!" 🤣

More…

“Dorothy Parker reviewing a book

This book is not one to be tossed lightly aside but hurled with great force.

Parker on Margot Hemingway

Who broke he leg

She broke her leg by sliding down a Barrister.

Margot Asquith to Jean Harlow - who always pronounced the T at the end of Margot.

“ no dear the T is silent - as in Harlow.

Dorothy Parker and a rival were heading towards a door

“Age before beauty “said her rival motioning DP to go first

And Pearls before Swine said DP and she sailed through the door.

Disraeli was once asked the difference between a misfortune and a Catastrophe

He replied

If Gladstone were to fall into the Thames that I suppose would be a misfortune

But if someone were to pull him out that would be a catastrophe.

French Catholic ambassador took the English Protestant ambassador to a gallery and showed him a painting which he knew would enrage him

A painting of Christ with the French King on one side of Christ and the Pope on the other side.

Without missing a beat the English ambassador thanked him for the informative tour and said

I always knew that our Lord was crucified between two thieves but until now I never knew their identity.”

#cute sayings #quotes

[komal-ween]

Mh so, Fred had a hard time or sum with Gregor, his other best friend, and like, he was being and asshole and all with him so I proposed to talk to him on Fred's behalf and. My god.

Alright so, I started the discussion with him already altered and hyper and took almost nothing of all the situation seriously, but that dude really got on my nerves, he kept lying so obviously and trying to turn things his way, to make me the bad one, to make Fred the bad one, thinking that his mind games would work on me. Who's gonna tell him I grow up with a manipulative mom and that the best thing I know how to do is dealing with manipulators. Poor thing. "Yeah but I'm not the only one bad here" do I look like I care? "No I didn't do this" yes you just admitted doing it three texts ago? "No I didn't react badly to him pulling for that character" ehm you made him come to me frustrated and hurt cause he wanted the character so bad but didn't want to upset you by pulling for it cause he knew you'd react in a bad way, which you then did? "But he did the same thing to me, you say I can't pull for anyone Fred cares about?" Yes? I'm literally morally gray, my poor little miao miao can do anything he wants and you just gotta shut up while you can't even try to make something that'd upset him, that's it, you can't 'but that's a double standard' me, I simply don't care.

I had already talked to him a first time, back in like March I think, and though I'd made it clear that he gotta stop whatever he was doing to hurt my best friend, he didn't. I tried to be reasonable the first time, told Fred to try and give him another chance, he seemed willing to try and do better, it was all for nothing. He did this to himself, I'd warned him, haven't I? Of course I did, he's lucky I can't physically go there and break his legs as I said.

I couldn't stand him from the very first time I talked to him, when Fred talked to me about him I was angry at him obviously but chose to give him a chance to prove himself to me, and he did. He showed me how much of an asshole he can be when he puts himself into it.

Anyway, at the end of the day he tried to guilt trip, gaslight and manipulate me, failed, tried to ask explanations from Fred, he ignored him, so when he understood where this were going he blocked Fred and then me, not without leaving with some gems. But, Fred lost his now ex best friend and I don't know how to feel about it cause on one hand yeah I know this was the best thing for him, that their relationship wasn't healthy, that he's not supposed to feel like walking on eggshells when talking to his best friend, that it was doing him more harm than good, that he kept stressing himself over Gregor for so long and that he needed to stop for his good. I mean, I know that leaving him was the best thing for Fred, but. What if it's all just my fault? What if I was just jealous? Envious, even? What if I didn't do everything I did with, how to say, pure intentions? What if I just wanted to get rid of him? What if I didn't push Fred to drop him only because he was not a good friend for him? After all I've been in Fred's like for like a little more than two years now while Gregor has been for a lot before me and it almost feels as if I was nothing more than the new friend creating chaos in his life just because.

I'm not gonna answer these questions cause I know they're meaningless and that that's not who I am now and all, but. Just. What if.

Not to mention my existence dilemma with Gregor himself cause I still wonder if I have- wait, some background first.

So, Gregor wanted to get to know me a random day after hearing about me from Fred or whatever, and since the very beginning I didn't like him, as I said before. I tried being friendly as I always do and he got the wrong idea, but when I confronted him on Fred's behalf the first time I clearly said to him hey listen, I never really liked you. And that's it, you know? We kept casually talking after that and bla bla, I was being friendly as always cause that's just how I interact with people, yeah I kept making fun of him at any given opportunity but I don't think any of thatw as anything serious, until the recent discussion in which I told him again that I didn't like him, and he acted all shocked as if I had told him that his whole world had been a lie and, you know, just making a fuss out of it, "so you're admitting just like that that you've always hated me?" No honey I don't hate you, if I did hate you, well, you wouldn't have fingers to type it to anyone, believe me. And that's it I mean, I'm still wondering if this was my fault or not, if my behaviour should have been different and everything else.

But who knows, anyway that's how things are now, Fred got him (almost) out of his life and Gregor blocked me everywhere and I gotta say that it actually felt pretty good saying all those things to him, I would have paid to see his reaction, his face expression change everytime I played with his little mind messing up whatever he was trying to say, it really felt almost freeing. I'd definitely do it again a hundred times, expecially because of Fred, I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for him. And nothing, that's it, I just really hope that Fred can feel, I don't know, a little better because of this, I mean, he got rid of a toxic friendship that was slowly draining him and that seemed to give him yeah moments of joy of course but also madness and anger and frustration that quite covered everything good in that relationship. Don't know where this is going so I'll just leave it as is

#mine #fred #gregor

[xmystophalesx]

Hard to believe the year is already at the midpoint. Maybe it is just the human need to find patterns in things but it really felt like Black Metal dominated 2021. This year there doesn’t seem to be any dominant genre with incredible releases coming out every week from a very wide variety of styles. This week, however, seemed to be dominated by Melodic Death Metal, but not completely. I love this variety that I see from week to week. The diversity in metal is one thing that makes it so infinitely listenable. Whatever your mood, there is something in the overall Heavy Metal sphere of genres to get you through. Angry? Death and Thrash Metal. Happy? Power, Hard Rock or Traditional have you covered. Contemplative? Progressive Metal will be the fit. Super laid back? Sludge and Post Metal will keep that feeling going. I could go on but I think you get the point, so let’s get to the highlights for this week.

Light Creates Shadow-Ghosts Pass Through, Running From the Body (Post)**

This one will definitely be in that category of something to listen to if you are feeling extremely laid back. Sludgy Post Metal that has a bit of jam band quality to it. Only 5 songs on this one but it clocks in at 41 minutes so you have an idea what you are in for. Long songs that never feel repetitive or feel like they were extended for no reason. Not normally one of my favorite genres, but I can’t deny how damn good this album is.

Municipal Waste-Electrified Brain (Thrash/Crossover)**

Most people will know who Municipal Waste is that read this blog. There were some rumors a few years back that they were calling it a day and moving on to other projects. Well, after hearing this album I am very glad they didnt. This is the exact definition of what Crossover Thrash is all about. Great riffs with killer breakdown mosh pit sections while keeping that Punk Rock style aggression. I have been a fan of this band since I first heard them in the early 2000s and I can say for certainty, this is hands down their best overall album.

A Lie Nation-Sociopathology (Melodic Black)**

Melodic Black Metal with a decided Death Metal slant in its aggressiveness. Nice variety in the song writing with some serious groove to the riffing here and there. Fantastic mixture of styles going on here.

Sweet Pain-Swallow This (Hard Rock)**

This is 100% all out AC/DC worship but done incredibly well. Not a lot to say here but If you miss 70s or early 80s AC/DC, give this one a shot. Nothing new here, but who cares? Sometimes you just want some catchy Hard Rock that reminds of you of another time.

Animalize-Meat We’re Made Of (Heavy/Traditional)**

From one good feeling to another. I saw the terrible album cover and was almost sure I would not like this album. Started it up, and it is some REALLY well done Traditional Heavy Metal. The production really stresses that feeling as well. Easily discernible bass and guitar solos that are just simply perfect for this genre. Man, that album cover is hideous though…lol

A Fitting Revenge-Omnipresence (Melodic Death)**

Like I said in the opening, there was a LOT of REALLY damn good Melodic Death Metal albums this week. You can’t go wrong with any of the ones I gave the two star designation to, but I felt it would be redundant to talk about all of them. So I picked this album for the killer songs that move from Melodic Death to Thrash and even a bit of Progressive in the amazing musicianship. Absolutely PERFECT production really makes everything stand out on its own while the mix accentuates the whole of the band being even better than the sum of its parts.

That will do it for this week. Glad I got this done as we are dealing with a bit of a covid outbreak in our house and I am just now showing symptoms. Hopefully, being vaxxed and twice boosted keeps me from getting it too badly. Fingers crossed. Until next week and, as always,

BANG THY HEAD!!!

All worthy of a listen if you like the genre

*= standout in that genre

**=best of the week regardless of genre

Chaos Frame-Entropy (Progressive)

Sealed-Disciple (Melodic Death)*

Diamond Dust-Ten Years in Dust (Thrash)

Theosis-Overture of the Damned (Melodic Death)**

Impunity-Los Dias Del Odio (Thrash/Death)

Ayecyoti-Living Breathing Nightmare (Brutal Death)

Ravenoir-In the Womb of Sin (Death)

Atapaskan-Humans (Death)

Exiles Erosion-Filth Aura (Death)

Scendra-Eyed Tree (Melodic Death)*

Haunt-Windows of Your Heart (Heavy/Hard Rock)

Horizon Ignited-Towards the Dying Lands (Melodic Death)*

Sweet Pain-Swallow This (Hard Rock)**

Cellar Stone-Rise and Fall (Hard Rock)

Flames-Resurgence (Thrash)*

Wolfs Moon-Psycho Underground (Heavy Power)

Ribspreader-Mountain Fleshriders (Death)*

Xaon-The Lethean (Symphonic Death)*

Protector-Excessive Outburst of Depravity (Thrash)*

Municipal Waste-Electrified Brain (Thrash)**

Devils Tail-Desolation (Melodic Black)*

The Xebellian Triangle-At the Banks of the Rubicon (Symphonic Melodic Death)*

A Lie Nation-Sociopathology (Melodic Black)**

Spire of Lazarus-Soaked in the Sands (Technical Death/Progressive)**

Circus Nebula-The Second Coming (Heavy)

Echelon-Open Wide the Adminite Gates (Death)

A Fitting Revenge-Omnipresence (Melodic Death)**

Sacral Night-Le Diademe D’Argent (Heavy)

Devonian-Kneel and Follow (Progressive)

Abhorrency-Climax of Disgusting Impurities (Death/Black)

Breathe Your Last-Apocalypse (Death n’ Roll)*

Ironflame-Where Madness Dwells (Traditional Heavy)**

Perdition Temple-Merciless Upheaval (Death)

Animalize-Meat We’re Made Of (Heavy/Traditional)**

Hysterical Blindness-Notre Heritage (Black)

Boss Keloid-Family the Smiling Thrush:Live at the Foel Studio (Sludge)*

Chaos Engine Research-Faces (Death)

Conjurer-Pathos (Sludge/Doom)*

Light Creates Shadow-Ghosts Pass Through, Running From the Body (Post)**

Shah-Fire and Brimstone Collection (Thrash)*

With 5 mind your own damn business looks out of 5, Municipal Waste takes the Pick of the Week.

#black metal #metal #music #classic rock #folk #hard rock #hardcore music #rock #death metal #punk #melodic death metal #heavy metal #heavymusic #heavyrock #traditional metal #melodic black metal #youtube #extreme metal #melodic death #melodic metal

[dirt-grub]

things i fear greatly if dan vs does get rebooted;

Imposter Dan’s entire concept as a character (he will be a tumblr sexyman and there will be discourse wars about shipping him with any other character)

The animation quality still being bad flash despite attempts clearly being made to make it look better

Dan being allowed to fuck 

#THIS WAS IN MY DRAFTS and yeah #the list is actually huge because jesus christ #to sum it up simply. this show is good. but in the wrong hands we get another rick and morty fanbase #and its cute and funny with a really small fanbase but actual real dan mandel 1) responding to fans the way he does and 2) using his name #for a caricature of himself? oh yeah this will be a shitstorm eventually #and like im here for it im just gonna stand like 80 feet away out of the splash zone with a margarita and a loaded gun #it is peace on earth when a group of people liking a cartoon are just a bunch of queer folk and also the show ended 10+ years ago #if we get ex v*ltron stans making callout posts about how dan is a bad person actually (which duh) and you shouldnt like the show #brawling with the exact opposite who justify everything any bad character has done ever then we will be in hell #many fears head full but at least i am not a teenager and will absolutely jump ship like a smart person when it starts to go DOWN #connor talks

[myherowritings]

PART 3. ACCIDENTAL SUGAR DADDY?

SUMMARY. Todoroki Shouto was a wealthy, young CEO who inherited his father’s enterprise. You were a barista at a local cafe who wouldn’t mind some extra cash. One day, Shouto came in during an early morning shift and tipped you such a large sum of money, you were certain it had to have been an accident. To your surprise and complete pleasure: It was not.

PAIRING. ceo!todoroki shouto x barista!reader

WORD COUNT. 2.4k

GENRE. ceo/barista au, fluff, eventual smut

WARNINGS. none in this chapter

A/N. happy new year y’all! :3 i hope you have a good 2021 and here is some flirty ceo!shouto for u to enjoy as we enter the new year hehe ;) thank you for reading and i hope you enjoy! xx sof

SERIES MASTERLIST

© myherowritings — all rights reserved. reposting, modifying, copying, or translating of any kind is not allowed. do not read my writing as asmr. do not plagiarize.

“I heard you dropped by this weekend,” you said as a greeting, a playful smile on your lips. “Looking for me?”

If the tips of his ears didn’t tinge pink, you would have guessed Shouto was completely unaffected by your words. 

“Mn.” He drew his attention away from your gaze and pointedly adjusted his cufflinks. “Good morning to you too.” 

You laughed, accepting you wouldn’t get anything out of your attempt at teasing. “Morning, Shouto. How was your weekend?” 

The cafe was quite busy this hour, but Miyazaki took over the other register to alleviate the stress (though, what she really said was so you and pretty boy—who happened to be rich rich—could talk). Whatever the reason, you were glad for a small break whenever you could get it.

“You could say it was busy,” he replied, sounding a bit tired. For the first time since you met him, you actually noticed how exhausted he looked. You wanted to put cucumbers on his eyes and lay his head down on your lap to coax him to sleep. Nonetheless, he smiled softly at you. “And yours? I hope you were able to have time to rest and relax.”

You nodded. “I just slept a lot and caught up on the shows I missed throughout the week.”

“The real way a weekend should be spent.” 

His voice was teasing but he didn’t sound mocking. Just...somewhat playful. There was something about his tone that made you want to hear it again.

“Something tells me you need a weekend away where you could just relax and do nothing,” you commented, tapping the back of your pen to your chin. “Do you not have any days off at work?” 

He considered this. “Depends what you mean by day off.” 

“If you have to ask that, that probably means you don’t have a day off, huh?” you said with a frown, holding your hand over your chest as you sighed dramatically. “You poor thing. Overworked and tired. Maybe I should steal you away one weekend and get you to just relax.” 

You were only half-serious.

“Maybe you should,” agreed Shouto, sounding full-serious.

“Maybe I will,” you blurted before you could stop yourself. Maybe you could if you actually had his number… Then, feeling shameful you said, “But, ah, anyway, what can I get for you today? We actually have cheese danishes again!”

His face brightened. “You do? I’ll take five dozen.”

With a laugh you took down his order. You really weren’t sure where all these pastries were going when he bought it, but judging from his expression, you figured it must be somewhere good. 

“And for your drink?”

“This time I’ll have a large green tea with almond milk, please.” 

You nodded but tilted your head to the side in question. “No coffee with extra shots of espresso today?” 

“I add too much sugar and creamer to my coffee,” he admitted sheepishly. “And with all the baked goods I’ve been eating I realized I may have had an excess amount of sweets lately.” 

With an understanding laugh you patted his hand that was resting on the counter woefully. “I can definitely relate to that. If too many sweets are bad for you they shouldn’t have made it taste so good.”

Shouto glanced down at where your hands touched, an expression you couldn’t quite discern on his face. Averting your gaze, you quickly pulled your hand back. Was that inappropriate of you? Did he find it too pushy?

“Oh— Sorry about that,” you said, rubbing your elbow with your opposite hand. “Got a bit ahead of myself there.”

“No, it’s fine.” He blinked once. “I didn’t mind.”

Unsure if he meant anything by that and unsure if you were reading too much into things, you simply brushed the topic off and moved on to getting his order in telling him the price. 

“Paying by card again, I’m assuming?” you asked before hitting the appropriate button on the screen.

“Correct.”

By now the sight of the sleek and pretty credit card was one you grew rather fond of as he scanned over the payment terminal and signed his name. Was it weird you wanted to examine his signature more closely? Shouto seemed like the type of person who would have a fancy signature that somehow looked like art. 

As per routine, you told him his order would be ready for pick up at his right and, before he left the register, he thanked you and gave you another $100. 

Did it feel any less strange than the first time he tipped you? Not really, no. But you still weren’t going to complain about a generous tip from a willing customer.

Before he left with his cheese danishes and cup of tea in hand, he stopped by next to you with a small smile. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N.”

You grinned back. “Can’t wait, Shouto!” 

— ✩ —

This went on for a whole other week. By this point, he had given you over $1,000 in tip and you were starting to feel like you should give him something in return despite him assuring you he didn’t expect anything. 

When you told your friends about the nice guy you met while you were working and they asked for the details, the first thing they said in response to your situation was, “Sugar daddy?” 

Before they planted that thought into your head, you just took it as a rich businessman who hated the rich and believed in redistribution of wealth—you couldn’t complain about that. That made him even more appealing, if you must say. But once Kaminari and Ashido whispered those two words, you couldn’t help but see the comparisons. 

You had no issues with sugar daddies or sugar babies; as long as they were two consenting adults, what did it matter to you? It just wasn’t something you were looking for at the time and you didn’t want Shouto to get the wrong impression or involve yourself in something you weren’t ready to. 

As you commuted to work for your next morning shift, you told yourself today was the day you’d thank him one final time for the tips, but tell him you couldn’t accept anymore. You were sure he’d be understanding but you also hoped it wouldn’t deter him from coming to see you. That was the last thing you’d want. 

“Mrs. Miyazaki,” you said between customers. “When Shouto comes in, do you think I can step away from the register to talk to him for a little? I promise it’ll be brief!”

She waved her hand dismissively. “That’s not a problem. Are you finally going to ask him out or something?”

You scratched the back of your neck. “Or something, yeah.” 

Thankfully, by the time Shouto arrived today, it was later than he normally came, meaning rush hour was almost dying down. 

“Good morning! Someone’s a little late today,” you teased. “Overslept?” 

“I wish,” he sighed wistfully. “I had a meeting early this morning and it just ended. Didn’t have a chance to pick up some coffee or pastries beforehand.” 

You frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that. I hope whoever was hosting the meeting at least provided you guys drinks and snacks!” 

He paused. “He did, but… I just thought yours were better.” 

Smiling at the compliment, you preened. “Well, I can’t say I’m not surprised. And I’m glad you were able to drop by still. Would’ve missed you too much otherwise.”

Again, you were only half-serious.

“Hm. I would’ve missed you too.”

And again, he seemed full-serious. Not that you minded. 

After taking his order and watching him pay, you pulled him to the side, looking over at your boss so she knew what was going on. She gave you a brief nod as you turned your attention to Shouto. 

A lapse of silence went by and he spoke up, “Did you have something you wanted to say?” 

“Yeah, actually.” You wrung your fingers nervously, hoping you wouldn’t say anything to offend him since you knew his actions were coming from a kind place. “I just wanted to say… I’m not really looking for a sugar daddy right now.”

He blinked once. Then twice. “Pardon?” 

You stared at him, unsure what to say. 

“I— Sorry. I wasn’t… It’s not my intention to be a...sugar daddy either.” Shouto’s face flushed a bright pink that made your own cheeks warm up in response. 

“But the—the money? I just… I guess I thought…” You winced.

So he wasn’t trying to pick up a sugar baby… Well, this was awkward. But regardless, you think you’ve gotten close enough to him to the point where it would feel weird accepting money from him. 

“I’m sorry if I was unclear. It really is just a tip to show appreciation for your service here.” 

You shook your head. “No! Sorry, that makes sense! My friends just said… And then I…” you trailed off, feeling a million times more flustered than when you started. “Sorry about that. The sugar daddy mishap aside, I still wanted to say that I really appreciate the tips you gave, but I don’t think I can accept them anymore.” 

Slowly, he nodded, adjusting the collar of his dress shirt. “I understand. Did something happen?”

“No, nothing happened!” you were quick to assure. “I really am thankful, but… I think we’ve gotten too close for me to be comfortable accepting that much money, you know?”

Shouto tilted his head to the side, listening intently. 

“Like,” you tried to explain, fiddling with your apron, “over the past few weeks I just think we’ve gotten to know each other more and I think of you as a friend of sorts now.” You peered at him through your lashes, hoping your words were making sense. “I think as a relationship develops—for me, at least—adding money into the mix can cause weird power imbalances if not communicated properly. And I just don’t want that for us.” 

He thought through your words for a while before agreeing. “I get what you mean. I wouldn’t want to unintentionally make you feel like you owe me anything, so if you’re not comfortable with it, I can stop.” 

“Thanks, Shouto,” you said with a beam, glad he was so receptive. Really though, what else did you expect? From your interactions with him you took him to be kindhearted and open. Of course he wouldn’t be upset over this. “But just to be clear, this doesn’t mean you should stop coming! Right? I don’t want to stop being your friend or anything!” 

With a small laugh, he nodded. “Sure. I wouldn’t want to part with my favorite cafe. And I’d like to keep being friends as well.”

Those words warmed your heart. You really were nervous about this confrontation earlier; you didn’t want voicing your opinion to mean ending your friendship. (Although, if you sharing what you were comfortable with was enough to end a relationship, then you supposed it was bound to be a toxic and stifling one in the long run and it was good to know in the beginning to end it before it could grow.) Turns out, however, that you didn’t even need to worry about that. He was understanding and sweet and you were glad to have gotten this out of the way.

“Well, as new friends,” you said, gently nudging his side, “maybe we should get to know each other more? Exchange numbers… Hang out outside of this cafe…” You ran through some suggestions, almost bouncing on your feet in excitement. “I mean, I know you’re always so busy and might not have much free time to hang out. But— If you’re ever free one weekend…” 

“I’d enjoy that,” he cut in, saving you from blabbering your mouth off and accidentally embarrassing yourself. “Didn’t you say you’d steal me away from work to relax? I’m still holding you to that.” 

The beginnings of a smirk formed on his face as he looked at your flustered expression. Was he teasing you?

You huffed, pretending to be insulted by his playful mocking. “Guess I’ll really have to do it then.” 

“Guess so.”

“Maybe you should give me your number first so we could plan it.” 

“Okay.”

He handed you his phone and you handed him yours, both of your adding your numbers to the contact list. Smiling, you held the phone in front of the two of you to take a contact picture of yourself for Shouto’s phone. To your complete surprise, he laughed before promptly following suit and taking a selfie for his contact image. 

“Cute,” you said when he handed you back your phone. 

“You too.” 

Placing your device back in your pocket, you looked at him, hand on hip. “Since when did you become such a smooth-talker? Am I going to have to guard my heart now?” 

His only response was a shrug, but you could see hints of a smile playing on his face. The two of you seemed to be smiling a lot lately, you couldn’t help but notice. 

“I should probably let you go to work now—and I should go back to mine.” You gestured to the growing line at the front of the store. Your manager looked like she had things under control, but you didn’t want to take advantage of her kindness. “You should text me later though. If you want.”

“I’ll do that,” Shouto promised, picking up his drink and pastry boxes from the side counter. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N. And… I’ll message you soon.” 

As you watched him leave the store, you were certain you had a silly look on your face as you stared in a trance. 

“I’ll turn my phone off silent just for you!” you said to his back, hoping he understood what a momentous occasion this was. Your phone was always on silent (unless you were playing a game, of course). But for Shouto, you could handle hearing the obnoxious ringtone and text tone. 

With an amused expression he nodded before waving goodbye.

Later on that day, at the end of your shift, you noticed a new message from a certain someone that made your stomach flutter.

Shouto: Hi there. It’s Shouto :)

You never knew those four simple words would be enough to keep the grin plastered on your face up until the moment your head hit your pillow to fall asleep. But, damn— Were you glad that happened to be the case. 

a/n: whY WAS SHOUTO AND Y/N EXCHANGING NUMBERS SO CUTE idk that scene got me all blushy and :DDD HFJDKSF like taking a selfie with shouto and getting his number? only goal in life BFHFGF,, also y/n said no more tips how we feeling? ;o 

what to expect in the next part:

an unwanted visitor ಥ_ಥ

shouto has a...proposition for y/n 

FLIRTING FLUFF SO MUCH CUTENESS U MIGHT CRY

y/n struggles with their fEeLiNGs~

#A LITTLE EARLIER THAN NORMAL BUT I HAVE TO GET READY FOR NYE AHH #bnha #bnha x reader #bnha imagines #bnha fanfiction #mha #mha imagines #mha x reader #mha fanfic recs #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #todoroki shouto #todoroki x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #todoroki shoto x reader #shoto todoroki x reader #bnha x y/n #bnha x you #bnha fluff #todoroki imagines #bnha scenarios #mha scenarios #todoroki x y/n #shouto todoroki x reader #shouto x reader #shoto x reader #bnha todoroki #todoroki shoto

[fandomlit]

neutral, chap. 4 (dream smp x reader)

series summary (in game!au) when an exiled tommy finally rebels against a manipulative dream, he finds safety in neutral territory, a place owned and guarded by you. staying in your safe haven opens up the younger one’s eyes to your way of life, while also revealing your deeper past before neutral; a past that involved a war for your love.

chapter summary after waking from a taunting nightmare, tommy expels some late night energy on some wandering mobs. you give him another lesson about taking care of himself, even when working hard, and tommy asks if you’ll teach him archery, which, of course, doesn’t go without entertainment.

warnings nightmares, mob killing

previous | series masterlist | next

gif cred belongs to @halcyoncraft

he was running again. he didn’t know where or from what, but his legs carried him far and strongly, weaving him through trees and grass and other obstacles along the way. he didn’t know how in danger he was, but he wasn’t going to stop and find out.

then he tripped.

when he flipped onto his back, it was that goddamn mask staring down at him, the lips just under it laughing, “you’re so weak, tommy! did you do anything while you were in neutral?” then his axe came down and tommy braced himself for the pain and release of death.

he woke up instead.

sweating under his covers, tommy sucked in a harsh breath as he sat up. he threw the soft cotton off of him, running a warm hand down his face. it was just a dream; he was safe in neutral.

looking out of the window next to him, he saw the moon still high in the sky, casting a cool light into his bedroom. dream’s words rang through his head like a bell, and he rubbed at his temples with a sigh. was he actually getting weak? was relaxing such a bad thing? at the very least, some part of him must have thought so to conjure a nightmare like that..

with another sigh, tommy lifted himself out of bed and flipped open the ender chest. he drew out his sword before heading to the main floor of the house.

when he reached the bottom of the stairs, a voice called out to him, “tommy?” his heart nearly stopped for a moment, before peeking into the kitchen and realizing it was just y/n. she sat in candlelight, writing in a small journal with a slice of half-eaten pumpkin pie next to her. “are you alright?”

“yeah,” he breathed, his voice still heavy with sleep. “just gonna go kill some mobs.”

she nodded. she looked tired, and a part of tommy felt bad knowing that she was most definitely going to wait for him to return. “okay. have at it, kid.”

he nodded, turning to leave the kitchen. before he did so, he pursed his lips and looked over his shoulder to y/n. “you should go to bed.”

she gave him a smile, scribbling something down in the small journal. “i will, tommy. just gotta finish this up..” his natural curiosity was drawn to the small book, and he almost asked y/n what she was writing. but then dream’s voice rang through his mind again, and tommy silently headed for the doors of the house.

the night air was refreshing on his warm skin, cool and still as the moon illuminated the frontal beauty of neutral territory. he took a deep, calming breath of that crisp air before focusing on the task at hand: proving to himself that dream was wrong. that dream is always wrong.

after about twenty zombies, ten spiders, countless creepers, and a few endermen, tommy finally felt the burn in his arms become nearly too much to bear. he panted as he struck down one last spider, turning and finally deciding to return back to the comfort of y/n’s home.

he sheathed his sword when he finally entered the house, going straight to the kitchen to see that y/n was still awake and writing in her small journal.

“ready to go to bed?” he asked gruffly.

she looked up slowly before nodding, placing her quill down and capping her ink. “any trouble out there?”

“no,” he spoke, shaking his head. “wrote everything you needed to?” y/n blew out her candle and went to join the boy in the doorway to the kitchen.

“as much as i could, anyway,” she shrugged, smiling lazily as they began to walk toward the stairs. “what was your nightmare about?”

tommy was slightly startled, but a little too tired to react drastically to y/n’s deduction. “how’d you know i had a nightmare?”

“i’ve had them before,” she said simply. “and it seemed natural that you’d expel some energy onto mobs after such a thing.”

“you’re smart,” tommy credited.

“thank you,” y/n yawned.

they continued to climb the stairs in silence as tommy considered his words. “i was being hunted by dream again, but this time you weren’t there to save me. he called me weak and killed me.”

“so you wanted to prove to yourself that despite allowing yourself peace, you didn’t have to sacrifice your strength to get there,” y/n summed.

the boy half-smiled. she was spot on, as always. “exactly,” tommy breathed. 

y/n was silent for a moment as she thought. they stopped at the hallway to tommy’s room and it then occurred to tommy’s tired mind that her room was downstairs; she was walking with him because she cared about him. 

“honestly, tommy, if this is a real concern for you, then there is no harm in taking time out of your day to work out and train,” y/n spoke. “but the most important thing is to recognize when enough is enough, and when enough becomes too much. you’ve allowed yourself peace and care for the last two weeks, and achieving such a state doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice fighting or training; it just means that you need to be more aware and in tune with yourself as you’re doing it.” tommy nodded.

“don’t overwork yourself, is the summary here,” she said, picking a cobweb off of his shirt. “let yourself do the things you want, but make sure it’s not wearing you down. that’s taking care of yourself.”

“alright,” tommy spoke quietly. “thank you, y/n.”

“of course, kid,” she smiled. “get some sleep, alright? if you have another nightmare you’re free to bother me.” tommy nodded again. “good night, tommy.”

“good night, y/n,” he yawned as she turned to head down to her room. he made sure he heard her door shut before finally heading to his own room.

...

“can you teach me archery?” tommy questioned the next morning at breakfast. it was a question that had bugged him since y/n had first revealed her skills just a few days prior, and since he was going to start training, he figured that might be a good place to start.

“sure,” she chuckled as she scooped some more fruit onto his nearly half-eaten plate of french toast.

“why the laugh?” he questioned through a mouthful of berries.

she shrugged to herself. “your curiosity is showing.”

“i’ve been wondering about it since you took out the mob,” tommy admitted. “if i want to get stronger.. i think this is a good way to.”

“perfecting a skill is the perfect way to get stronger,” y/n voiced. “of course i’ll teach you, kid.” she smiled and he turned back to his breakfast with his own grin. “finish up your food and meet me in the basement; we gotta get you a bow first.”

tommy hadn’t been in the basement of the house yet. he opened the heavy, dusty trapdoor and assumed y/n didn’t go down their often either. he slid down the ladder easily and was immediately hit with heat.

y/n had a welding station upstairs in her shop area, but the basement had a more broad and intense version of that area. several anvils, all cracked and rusted and adorned with different materials were scattered in a sort of pattern amongst the space, a fire burning high in a fireplace at the far side of the room. seeing no sign of y/n, tommy moved to the room to his left.

the next room held a large nether portal, as well as a small farm for netherwart. the dark room felt empty to him, and he had to remind himself that he was in fact in y/n’s house still. he remembered she had said that she didn’t like going to the nether.

“i’m in here, tommy!” she called out. he took another left into a small storage room, where y/n was rustling through a chest. “how tall are you, kid?”

“6’1”,” he answered.

y/n smiled. “you’re a lot taller than i’ll ever be.” she took out a pretty oak bow, slightly scratched and obviously old. “you’ll have to use this for now, until i can make you one that’s your size.” he took the bow from her hands, shrugging.

“it’s fine.”

“good,” she hummed, still shuffling through the chest as tommy took the time to look around the small room.

“what’re the dispensers for?” tommy asked, staring at the wall that held the three stone tools.

“im nothing if not prepared, tommy,” y/n spoke as she took out a quiver and began to fill it with arrows for him. “in case of emergency, those dispensers will set off flares to let others know that im in trouble or that neutral is in danger.”

tommy nodded, still looking at the obviously unused dispensers. “smart.”

“i hope so,” she sighed, handing him the quiver of arrows. he strapped it around himself as she continued, “let’s just hope i never have to use them, yeah?”

“yeah,” he chuckled. she gave him a smile, hoisting her bow higher in her grip.

“you ready to shoot some things?”

...

“relax your shoulders,” y/n reminded. tommy did so, his fingers still white with effort against the taut string of the bow. “don’t pull so hard, tommy. you’re shaking.” he sighed as he let the string and arrow go limp, lowering his bow as y/n approached him closer.

it was his second day of archery training, and he was still missing nearly every target. y/n was a calm and collected teacher, offering him advice that was pointed directly for him and reassured him that there was no rush in the learning process. but after missing fifteen or so shots in a row, tommy was getting frustrated.

and it didn’t help with sapnap and george staring at him through the kitchen windows.

“doin’ great, kid,” sapnap encouraged weakly, taking a drink of the lemonade y/n had lovingly prepared for the boys. just watching the older man sip made tommy’s mouth dry, but he was determined to make five shots in a row before taking a break.

tommy glared at the man before turning his gaze back to his mentor. “ignore him, tommy,” y/n spoke gently. “nick couldn’t hit a target if it was three paces away.”

“that’s a lie!”

“im kidding,” y/n laughed, placing a hand on tommy’s shoulder and turning him away from the distraction that was sapnap. “but seriously, there’s almost always going to be someone watching when you shoot. the more you can tune them out, the better. just focus on your aim--and make sure your grip is looser. you’re gonna snap that string in no time otherwise.”

“loose grip, focus on aim,” tommy breathed and she patted his shoulder as he turned back to the target ahead of him. he hoisted the bow up slowly and pulled the string back just enough that it wasn’t fully taut. he made sure his aim was a little higher than his target, and released the whizzing arrow. the arrow pierced just outside of the center ring.

“perfect,” y/n smiled. “now, do it again.” and he did, taking another deep breath and allowing himself to focus in on the feel of the rough wood on his fingertips, and the tight string he was pulling. the arrow hit just beside his last. she nodded encouragingly. “keep going.”

tommy could feel his heart start to thump in his chest from the excitement of his accurate aim. he took another calming breath and watched as the arrow lodged closer to the center.

“great aim,” she complimented and he grinned as he pulled another one back, trying to contain his shaking as he aimed. the arrow shot lower than his previous, but on the target nonetheless. “still a good shot. one more?”

“yeah,” tommy nodded, licking his dry lips as he retrieved another arrow from his quiver. heart still thumping with utter excitement and pride at y/n complimentary words, he quickly released the arrow and his smile dropped as the arrow lodged into the ground before the target.

“hey, that’s fine!” y/n assured as tommy groaned and dropped his head. “four in a row is an amazing improvement, tommy. you should take a break and reward yourself.”

tommy sighed, looking to the shameful arrow. “yeah. alright.” he dropped the bow to the ground along with his quiver. he looked to his slightly splintered fingers. “im gonna go.. wash up.”

“alright,” y/n smiled as tommy scampered away. she entered into the open kitchen, smiling at her guests. “you boys doing alright?”

they nodded. “when did you take up parenting, y/n?” george giggled. she rolled her eyes as she went to pour her and tommy their own glasses of lemonade. “no, seriously! you care for that kid a lot, it-it’s not a bad thing!”

she sighed, leaning against her counter as she sipped at her lemonade. “i know you two haven’t always agreed with him in the past, but i think tommy’s a good kid. i like his ethic, and i think he has a lot of potential. but that being said..” she shook her head. “he’s so young.” the boys nodded. “he’s been thrown into such a life of chaos and destruction, and im not saying he’s at all innocent, but.. i think it’s good for him to learn that there’s more to this world than just war and enemies. there’s...”

“neutral,” sapnap finished for her. she let out a laugh.

“yeah, neutral,” she agreed, tapping her fingers against her cold glass. “but, yeah, if teaching him peace and self care is motherly of me..” she shrugged. “then i guess im alright with being a parent.”

“that’s sweet,” sapnap nodded. “i hate it.” the three of them laughed, y/n laying a light slap on the man’s arm before tommy’s voice called out to her.

“y/n! can i have some help?”

“im coming!” she called back, setting down her glass of lemonade.

“go help your poor son,” george teased, resting his head in his hand as he gazed at y/n amusedly. she rolled her eyes.

“behave, you two,” she laughed before leaving the kitchen.

there was a moment of silence before george spoke, “i do think it’s quite sweet how y/n’s taken tommy in. i think it’s good for both of them.”

“you say that now,” sapnap sighed, leaning back in his chair. “but just wait until tommy’s back to feeling 100% and y/n’s going around saying “pog” all the time.”

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