inna_handbasket

D.Grayman WHAT?

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:35:12 GMT

The presence of this poll made me feel a lot better about this chapter in general, if only because I now know that a lot of other people were having the same reactions I was having. I'm especially confused because DG kind of lost its draw for me way back around the stuck-on-a-boat chapters due to change in story and art style, I JUST got fully invested in it again right before the break, and now the same thing has happened again. Bugger : \ So! This is pretty much just a rehash of some of the options available in this poll, but I wanted to elaborate on a few to get'em off my chest:

1. What is with the round faces and shaggy hair all of a sudden? And the Noah? I feel like the manga's getting turned into some sort of bizarre BL title. Was I the only one that thought the Noah's new outfits looked like something a character from Ai no Kusabi would wear? Bishounen JasDevi, ftw?! O_o (PS: I am going to feel like the biggest raging dickhat ever if the mangaka turns out to have carpal tunnel or something and this new style and the shirts were just easier for her to draw than the usual hair/faces and Victorian garb)

2. And then the story mutated. A) I really hope Hoshino-san isn't planning to do that thing that every other shounen manga (*cough*Bleach*cough*) likes to do and break her characters into little tiny groups all running around in different places at once for five gabillion chapters. B) It often seems to me that Hoshino-san's idea of who and what the Noah are seems to be a constantly changing thing. Which, you know, isn't necessarily bad, but it gets a little...jarring. Also - Manga!Science and Manga!Theology, in the house whut.

3. I am strangely sad about Tokusa, for all that he was only around for one chapter before. He just looked like he was supposed to be interesting.

4. LINK. HE COME TO TOWN. So where the fuck is he now? He is usually stuck to Allen like glue; I think someone else on this comm even pointed out that he's basically like an Allen GPS, so how the hell did he get lost? I admit that the unexpected crush I wound up developing on him is a big reason I got all interested again. And there I was congratulating myself on (for ONCE in my cretinous existence) getting attached to a character that looked like he might have to get regular screen time if only because his job literally entails following the main character around all the time.

5. I like Kanda. I do. God knows he would NOT like me because he is the kind of person I feel constantly tempted to poke at, Lavi-style. It pretty much goes without saying that my life in the Black Order would be incredibly short and violent. But I like Kanda. I just don't usually find him all that interesting. He was just threatening to get that way, and now...I am not sure if that storyline's been abandoned or what.

6. On a final and more positive note, Link's popularity seems to be experiencing a major surge right now, which makes me very very happy. You go, Two-Spot.

To fail or not to fail

Thu, 14 May 2009 23:00:21 GMT

The Fail Test

Place X's next to the stuff you've done. If you get over 50, you fail at life!

1. [ ] Forgot to put the lid on the blender, turned it on, and had everything fly out
2. [x] Gotten your head stuck between the stair rails (I was a very young child if that helps any XD;; )
3. [ ] Broken a chair by leaning back in it
4. [x] Had gum fall out of your mouth while you were talking
5. [x] Choked on your own spit while you were talking
6. [ ] Had people tell you that you are blonde when you're not, or had people tell you that your blonde highlights are going to your head
7. [ ] Been caught staring at your crush by your crush
8. [ ]Have looked for something for at least 5 min then realized it was in your hand
9. [x] Tried to push open a door that said pull
10. [ ] Tried to pull open a door that said push

Running total: 4

11. [ ] Have actually believed someone when they said that they knew how to make a love potion
12. [ ] Have hit yourself in the process of trying to hit something else
13. [x] Have tripped and fallen UP the stairs
14. [ ] Have actually exploded marshmallows in the microwave
15. [x] Have gotten gum stuck in your hair
16. [ ] Had gum fall out of your mouth while trying to blow a bubble
17. [ ] Have had the juice from a mini tomato squirt out and hit somebody else when you bit into it
18. [ ] Have had your drink come out your nose because you were laughing so hard
19. [x] Have called one of your good friends by the wrong name.
20. [x] Have skinned your toe because you were playing soccer or kickball with flip flops on or you were barefoot

Running total: 8

21. [ ] Have put a sticker on your forehead, forgot it was there, and went out in public with it on
22. [ ] Have jumped out of a moving vehicle
23. [ ] Have run into a closed door
25. [ ] Searched for your cell phone while you were talking on it
26. [ ] It has taken you longer than 5 min to get a joke
27. [ ] Have gotten your hair stuck in a blow dryer
28. [ ] Have gotten your hair stuck in a fan
29. [x] Tripped on a crack in the sidewalk
30. [x] Said o'clock after saying how many min after the hour, example: 5:30 o'clock, or 6:15 o'clock

Running total: 10

31. [ ] After someone told you that there was gum on the ground, you stepped in it
32. [ ] Put on a white shirt even though you already knew it was raining outside
33. [x] Have walked up to a stranger because you thought they were someone else.
34. [ ] Ever been kicked out of a grocery store/off their property
35. [x] Touched the stove, the curling iron, a hot pan, etc when its on, even though you knew it was hot
36. [x] Taken off your clothes to change into something else then accidentally put the old clothes back on
37. [x] Wondered why something wasn't working then realized it wasn't plugged in
38. [x] Put the cereal in the fridge, or put the milk in the cupboard
39. [x] Walked into a pole (I can't recall specifics, but I know it's happened at least once -_- )
40. [ ] Wore two different earrings or shoes on accident

Running Total: 16

41. [x] Put your shirt on backwards/inside-out without realizing it then left your house
42. [ ] Tried to take a picture of someone's eye with the flash on
43. [x] Gotten a ring stuck on your finger because you put it on even though you knew it was too small
44. [ ] Walked out of the bathroom (stall) with toilet paper stuck to your shoe without realizing it
45. [x] Went to go do something/go get something, then when you got there, you forgot what it is was that you were going to do (ALL THE FREAKING TIME)
46. [ ] Picked up someone else's drink and drank out of it by accident when your drink was right next to it.
47. [ ] Fallen out of your chair while trying to pick something up
48. [x] Have poked yourself in the eye (Does stabbing yourself in the face with an X-Acto knife count?)
49. [ ] Have gotten in the shower with your socks still on
50. [ ] Melted your hairbrush while blow drying your hair.

Running total: 20

51. [x] Have done enough stupid things to make a test
52. [ ] Have accidentally stabbed yourself with a pencil
53. [x] Have sung the wrong verse to a song without realizing it
54. [x] Have given an odd answer to a question because you didn't hear the question in the first place and didn't feel like asking what it was
55. [x] Told someone you were the wrong age because you seriously forgot how old you were
56. [ ] Looked into an overhead purposefully while it was on
57. [x] Got up early and got ready for school/work, then realized that you didn't have school/work that day
58. [x] Forgot your own phone number
59. [ ] Have tripped on a cord after someone told you to watch out for it
60. [x] Have ever laughed at a joke that no one else thought was funny

Running total: 27

61. [ ] Done the Macarena to the electric slide or vice versa
62. [ ] Said "funner" then had someone make fun of you for it
63. [x] Have repeated yourself at least twice in the same sentence
64. [ ] Brought up an inside joke with the wrong person
65. [x] Didn't do the backside of an assignment because you thought that there wasn't one because you had already looked and forgot that there was another side
66. [x] Did more work than you had to on an assignment because you didn't read the directions
67. [ ] Corrected someone's grammar/pronunciation then figured out that you were the one that was wrong
68. [x] Put something in a special place so that you would remember where it was, then forgot where you put it (If it leaves my sight I'll never find it again)
69. [x] Put ice in your drink after the glass was full of liquid and had it splash out
70. [ ] Told a lie then forgot what it was that you had said and got caught

Running total: 32

71. [ ] When wearing goggles, you pulled them away from your face and let go so that they would come back and snap you in the face
72. [x] Forgot to make sure that the lamp was off before you replaced the light bulb
73. [x] Ran into a door jam
74. [ ] Told someone that you hardly ever do stupid things, then immediately did/said something stupid
75. [ ] Told someone to watch out for something, then you were the one that ran into it
76. [ ] Have purposely licked playground sand (...what?)
77. [ ] Have purposely and repeatedly flicked yourself with a rubber band
78. [x] Gotten so hyper that someone actually thought you were drunk when you weren't
79. [ ] Have been so hyper you actually scared people
80. [ ] Put duct tape on your body then pulled it off to see if it would hurt

Running total: 35

81. [ ] Put duct tape on your hair then pulled it off
82. [x] Put a clothes pin/hair clip on your lip, figured out that it hurt, then did it again
83. [ ] Sat and wondered why men's dress shirts have a loop on the back
84. [ ] Made up a code name for someone so that you could talk about them to someone else and no one else would know who you were talking about
85. [x] Have gotten a hairbrush stuck in your hair
86. [ ] Used the straw to blow the straw wrapper at someone
87. [ ] Shaved your tongue because you thought your taste buds looked funny (OW, GOD WTF?)
88. [ ] When at a restaurant, you used your spoon to fling stuff at people
89. [ ] Have flung forks at people in a restaurant
90. [ ] Tripped and made the waiter drop the food.

Running total: 37

91. [ ] As you are writing, you move your head back and forth with your pen/pencil
92. [ ] Have drawn finger puppets on your fingers then named them
93. [ ] Have wrapped someone in a roll of toilet paper
94. [ ] Have used somebody else's toothbrush without even realizing it wasn't yours
95. [x] Have started telling a story and forget what you were talking about or what happened in the story
96. [ ] Read a whole book but during the whole book you weren’t even paying attention
97. [ ] You have spelled your own name wrong before
98. [x] When lying in bed you look for pictures in the texture of the ceiling
99. [ ] Have used your calculator as a form of communication in class
100. [x] Have popped a balloon in your mouth

Final total: 40

Well, that was cutting it a little closer than I would have liked, but at least I could say a big hearty "NO" to the tongue shaving thing : D;;; (God I hope no one's actually every done that)

WTFReborn

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 07:27:21 GMT

Finally doing some major catching up on Reborn; first, drive-by impressions not so good. What is going on with the art? Had high hopes for the Varia return at least, and so far all I've gotten out of it is that Levi's facial hair horrifies me, Bel's box animal looks like a Disney movie extra, and his brother is apparently Mello from Death Note. I have also decided I pretty much officially hate the box/flame/ring system. It is silly, overcomplicated, and lacking a firm, thought out operating system. This all makes me very sad. Also - did Xanxus CARRY that frigging chair all the way out into the woods just so he could sit in it and look cool or what? That kind of cracks me up XD;;

Addendum: Okay, so, I REALLY want to find Xanxus box animal cool and all, but OHMYGOD, all I can think of is Napoleon Dynamite. I am going to hell XD;;;;;

EDIT: Okay, I didn't quite see that coming. So the real deal is yet to come, huh? Well, that makes me feel a little bit better about recent events. All of the enemies (with the exception of Gamma's crew) were coming off as either hugely uninteresting or downright irritating to me, but maybe they were supposed to. Hm. We'll see how the real Funeral Wreaths turn out.

Also: DINO GOT HAWT, FTW

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:29:56 GMT

Me: Um, hi there. I was looking for Orihime; have you seen her around?

Kubo Tite: Orihime who?

Me: Uh. You know - Orihime! Sweet girl - orange hair, brown eyes, kinda busty, fights with little flower barette people?

KT: Kinda busty? Hmmm...oh! You mean the rescue-meat!

Me: ...I beg your pardon? O_o

KT: The rescue meat.

Me: Rescue m - wha?

KT: She's over there rehearsing her lines. *points*

Me: Um, she's just sitting there looking kind of wide-eyed and freaked out.

KT: Yeah. Like I said, she's rehearsing. See, she just said "Kurosaki-kun."

Me: ....You make me sad, sir.

KT: Hm? Oh crap, there's a fight coming up, I gotta pull something outta my ass for Ichigo to use - you might wanna turn away, this can get pretty gory.

Me: What are you - OH MY GOD O______________________O

KT: Damn that stings. Every time you think you're used to it, something proves ya - uh, hey, are you okay? You look a little freaked out. I did warn you.

Me: I didn't know you meant LITERALLY! I think I'm scarred for life O___O

KT: Yeah, well, them's the breaks. Watch out for Ulquiorra's tail on your way out.

Me: Sure, whatever, I just wanna get out of - wait, he has a tail?!

Me: O__O

NERDRAGE

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:15:57 GMT

FUCK YOU, KUBO TITE. FUCK. YOU.

Burning Fight-o!

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:52:46 GMT

So after three million years of procrastinating, I am finally about to pick up my pencils and try to draw again. Someone wish me luck. I'll probably need it where I'm going, especially if this one pic I've got in mind works out. Oh livejournal name, if this pic works out, never will you be more appropriate >_>;;

Fic: Common Sense

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:36:55 GMT

Title: Common Sense
Characters/Pairing: Gaou/Marco, Marco/Himuro
Rating: G
Summary: Sometimes you just have to stop and think.

Common Sense

“God, I’m so sorry, Marco,” Maruko frowned anxiously as she held a wad of slightly bloody tissues to the side of his head. “Tako’s just a cat, I know she didn’t mean it.”

“It’s all right Maria,” Marco said, calmly. “I’m not going to get mad at Tako-chan just for acting like what she is.”

He glanced down at the happy bundle of calico fur that was nestled against his hip, purring obliviously, and gave it a friendly scratch behind the ears to show there were no hard feelings.

“I know,” Maria said, biting her lip. “I really am sorry, though; they were right there, I should’ve known better than to just hold her up to you like that – that was just common sense.”

“Hey, hey, don’t be so serious, it wasn’t your fault.”

He gently grasped the wrist that was supporting the makeshift dressing and reeled its owner in to drop a quick kiss on the tip of her nose.

“That’s better,” he said when she was forced to crack a smile at the silly gesture. “As pretty as you are when you’re worried about me, I like you better this way. Besides – if I can’t be mad at Tako-chan, then I could certainly never be mad at you.”

He rested his chin in the crook of her bent arm and smiled up as endearingly as possible.

“I’m not worried anyway. I know I can trust Nurse Himuro to make me all better.”

Maruko laughed sheepishly as she let him pull her closer.

“I guess I should be glad for that since 'Nurse Himuro' was technically the reason you got hurt in the first place.” She toyed with the white streak that ran through his hair and added, “And I like how even that doesn’t stop you from making a play for me.”

“But that’s what you like about me, isn’t it?” Marco smiled up at her, fondly. “I don’t give up easily.”

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

“So, the colonies,” Marco said, flopping back on to his bed.

“Yeah,” Gaou replied. “The report’s supposed to be in by Monday, so if you don’t want us to fail, we’d better get started.”

“Don’t worry,” Marco waved a hand in the air, unconcernedly. “I know all about that, it’s in the bag.”

Gaou eyed him dryly. “This is why people call you cocky, you know.”

Marco turned his head, a sly grin on his face. “Really? And here I’d been thinking it was my awesome powers in the bedroom. I feel obligated to prove something, now.”

He propped himself up on one elbow, roguish smile still in place, and patted a spot on the bed invitingly.

“Wanna help?”

Gaou smirked back at him from the floor. He stood, easily abandoning the book he’d held, and made his way to the bed where Marco made a show of giving a long, luxurious, full body stretch before casually tucking his arms behind his head. Gaou rolled his eyes at him, despite appreciating the little display. He rested a hand on the pillows behind Marco’s head and leaned in close – only to be pulled to a halt when a shrill series of electronic notes erupted behind him.

“Dammit, let me turn my damn phone off. It’s probably my sister wanting me to take her somewhere or something, so if I don’t turn it off now she’ll just keep calling.”

He turned around with an irritated sound to reach for the phone on the floor. He’d barely moved, though, when he heard Marco swear loudly behind him.

“Ow, Gaou wait, ah, waitwaitwait, your hair – wait!“

Gaou frowned and turned back quickly, trying to see what Marco was making such a fuss about.

“What are you – “

“AUGH!”

“ – yelling about?”

When Gaou looked down, it was to find Marco sprawled half on and half off of the bed, clutching the side of his face. He looked up slowly at Gaou, features fixed firmly in a deeply aggrieved expression.

“I told you,” he said mournfully, “to wait.”

*

Several minutes later, Gaou watched from a kitchen chair as Marco’s mother piled ice cubes into a towel. She handed it to her son and watched as he gingerly applied the packing to the side of his face.

“Well. It’s certainly not as bad as it could have been.” She carefully tilted Marco’s jaw to the side with a finger. “I suppose next time you’ll know what to do before engaging in certain, ah, athletic, after school activities, hmm?”

Marco directed a pained look at his mother and the obvious amusement she was having a hard time trying to suppress.

“Come on, Mom. Please?” He winced at the unpleasant feel of the ice water soaking into his hair.

“Well, it’s just common sense, love.”

At the deeply saddened look he gave her in response to that, she laughed and said, “All right, I’m sorry, I’ll leave you alone.”

She ruffled his hair lightly and set a bottle down on the table in front of them.

“Here’s the antiseptic. You know what to do.” She gave Gaou a little pat on the arm as she passed him and added, “Make sure he doesn’t bleed to death, won’t you?”

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

“So you were playing football when this happened?”

The school nurse stared incredulously, eyes moving from Marco to Kisaragi and then back again. When neither boy responded other than to stare at his feet in silent embarrassment, she shook her head in disbelief.

“All those safety measures and padding and you couldn’t be bothered with this one little thing? What on earth were you boys thinking?”

She sighed and went off into the other room, presumably to get some first aid supplies, still shaking her head in disapproval.

After she’d gone, Kisaragi cleared his throat and shifted, fidgeting with the helmet he still held behind his back.

“Should I – should I go back and tell the others you’ll be a little while?”

Marco sighed and rubbed a weary hand over his face.

“Don’t bother Kisaragi, it’s not like it’s an emergency. It shouldn’t take more than ten or fifteen minutes, I’d say; I’d probably be back by the time you started practice again.”

“Right.” Kisaragi fidgeted a little more, still looking at the floor. “Still. It was a little surprising, wasn’t it? I mean who would’ve thought that your helmet would’ve just gone flying off like that? I guess - oh.” He stepped back respectfully as the nurse returned.

“All right,” She handed Marco an icepack and set a handful of gauze, cotton balls, and packaged antiseptic wipes down on the table next to him. “Just hold that on there till the swelling goes down and then use what’s on the table to patch yourself up. I’d stay around to help more, but I’ve got two kids with stomach bugs in the next room to keep an eye on and I think you’re old enough to take it from here.”

She turned to go, a slightly harried look on her face, but stopped and looked back at him before she reached the door.

“Really, dear,” she said with an exasperated sigh, “you must be at least seventeen by now. You need to start showing a little more common sense at your age.”

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

“All right! Hakushuu will start the game on offense!”

Marco smiled at the referee’s words. Maybe he’d been spending too much time around Gaou, or maybe it was from facing opponents like Deimon’s Hiruma, but lately he’d noticed his anticipation levels just before a game seemed to be at an all time high.

He shrugged his jacket off onto the bench before starting for the field, barely able to keep the eagerness from affecting his usual unhurried stride. He’d almost reached the lines when he stopped short, remembering something.

“Ah, damn!”

His hands leapt quickly from one side of his head to the other. He looked around for a suitable recipient until he saw one of the first years, Jounouchi, seated on the bench. He would do.

“Hey, I need you to do something for me.”

The kid looked up in surprise when he realized the team captain was speaking to him. He immediately sat up straighter, trying to look as useful and attentive as possible.

“Can you hold on to these during the game? I don’t want to lose them.”

“Uh, sure!” Jounouchi held out his hands automatically to take what Marco was holding out to him. He blinked. “You’re giving me your – earrings?”

The boy stared blankly at the jewelry in his hand. Then his eyes widened in realization.

“Oh! Of course, you wouldn’t want to have them in during a game would you, that’s just – “

“Common sense? I know.” Marco smiled wryly. “That’s what people keep telling me.”

Notes:
I love Marco's earrings. I think they're sexy as hell, but every time I look at him wearing them during a game all I can think of is the epic injury potential.

You also gotta love how in ES21 world football helmets go flying off at the merest nudge to the wearer. Brain damage, ahoy!

Dear Manga

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:15:29 GMT

So I am way, WAY behind on all of my manga. For various reasons I have just purposely let it all get so far ahead of me, usually because it is either being awesome and I don't want to burn it up all at once (Eyeshield) or because it is boring or disappointing me horribly and I keep hoping that maybe if I let it ride long enough it'll stop sucking (Bleach, Naruto, Dogs, Tenjou Tenge).

Since these little "letters" are based on the last time I took a look at what was going on in the story, they may be quite out of date, but I wanted to express my feelings somewhere.

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

Dear Eyeshield:

You are awesome. My god am I ever glad I came back to you. I haven't caught up to the last two arcs because I know you're going to end soon and I want to stretch things out as much as possible, but I accidentally spoiled myself on fandomsecrets the other day (like an idiot) and I understand that you have brought Gaou and Marco back. I just wanted to say thank you for that. No, really.

THANK YOU.

You don't know how happy that makes me. I honestly never expected to see those two again, and while I'm making a fuss over them because they're my current favorites, it's pretty goddamn awesome all around that you decided to bring so many great characters back at all. Thank you for not forgetting them. If I see Rui again, even if it's just for five minutes because his bike broke down somewhere, you will officially be the greatest thing ever.

*

Dear Bleach:

1. Stop. Wasting. My time. Either do something or GTFO.

2. STOP turning your awesome female characters into two-dimensional damsels-in-distress whose only purpose is to stand around with their hands clasped, waiting for their rescuer (it's technically rescuerS, but we all know that Ichigo is the ONLY ONE THAT'S ALLOWED TO COUNT, EVER, ZOMG) to come for them. I cannot tell you how much this fills me with RAGE and SADNESS.

and

3. A whale? Seriously?

*

Dear Naruto:

Stop sucking. Please? It breaks my heart when you suck.

Also, please try to remember what an awesome ensemble cast you have. You gave the world such wonderful characters to fall in love with (male AND female!), and now you seem content to simply ignore them. Why?

PS.
Sasuke, stop sucking or GO HOME.

*

Dear Reborn:

I am...not sure how I feel about you at the moment. For one thing, I don't know if I like the direction the story is going in now. I know everyone else seems pretty excited about the changes, but I honestly kind of miss the old "slice-of-life-on-crack" style of writing. It just felt more intimate. This switch to the "mission-on-the-run" format (which I get enough of from Bleach and Naruto) seems a little jarring to me, and it breaks up the characters in ways I don't like.

And the rings/box system, ehn, it just seems kind of confused and needlessly over-complicated to me. It looks kind of cool on the surface, but overall it comes off to me like the mangaka felt there needed to be a big advanced fighting/weapons system since that's what all the cool kids were doing, so she stuck it on there for the hell of it. It's like bankai + pokemon in a box. But whatever.

The art style is bothering me a little bit, too. It's not bad, and I still quite enjoy the composition and color work, but the regular weekly art is a little sparse and messy looking to me. I'm not sure if that's a stylistic choice or if it's just a result of having to adapt to getting your work out on time every week. Hrm.

Of course, if you bring Lancia back I will probably shut my piehole about ALL of this and be happy with anything I get.

*

Dear Dogs:

You are very pretty. But overall - kind of boring. And admittedly, I was kind of expecting that since the art from the original Dogs manga was it's biggest selling point for me, but now the art doesn't even look the same anymore. And yeah, your plot moves slower than dial-up internet.

*

Dear D.Grayman:

You jumped the shark on me somehow and I'm not exactly sure when or why. I hate to say it, but I think it was sometime way back on that damn boat; I seriously thought that whole thing was never gonna end. Even aside from that, though, there's something missing that I can't quite put my finger on.

I do know one contributing factor is the art. It looks so much messier than in the beginning, and so much more generic. One of the reasons this series first caught my eye was the unusual art and character designs, and now it looks like everything else. Sadness.

*

Dear Tenjou Tenge:

What. The fuck?

Yeah, thanks for jumping the shark like a million years ago Oh! Great. I'm not even sure why this is here.

But yeah. In conclusion - thank god for Eyeshield.

Cultural Exchange

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:57:58 GMT

Italy and Japan are at war. Sort of. PDA negotiations start now - gird thy loins.

Cultural Exchange

Marco squinted down at the open book in his hands, trying to make himself focus on the words there. He didn’t ordinarily mind his studies at all, but since the Dinosaurs’ loss to the Devilbats last year, he found it hard to concentrate on classes when he knew he’d much rather be out on the field, training for the new season. It made it very hard to learn. Like right now - he was pretty sure he’d been staring at the same three sentences in his history text for the last five minutes, and he still had no idea what they said.

The dense shadow being cast over the pages wasn’t helping. Marco had been gamely trying to ignore the distraction, but he was starting to get eyestrain, which was just silly when he was sitting in full daylight in the middle of a park. He stared down at the meaningless passage on the Meiji Era for several more minutes before finally giving up and turning to the shadow’s source, sitting beside him.

“Gaou - no offense - but is it absolutely necessary for you to be this close to me all the time?”

Gaou stopped glaring at a nervous-looking group of first years that were having lunch in the grass several feet away and turned to look down at Marco.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, frowning. “I’m not any closer to you than normal.” His frown deepened. “And what do you mean 'all the time?'"

Marco winced. He knew he had to pick his next words carefully.

“Gaou. Listen. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, and don’t take it the wrong way, but – for the past three weeks you have been herding me around like a sheepdog. I mean I can’t seem to go farther than three feet out of your shadow without you getting bent out of shape about it.”

He watched Gaou’s face as he spoke. In the distance, one of the first years risked a peek at them and went white at the black scowl he saw on the savage-looking second year’s face.

“Don’t make things up. I haven’t been doing anything out of the ordinary and I can’t help it if you’re always underfoot.”

He folded his arms and leaned back against the tree they were sitting under, redirecting his unpleasant gaze up into its branches. People nearby looked amazed when deceased or terrified birds and wildlife didn’t start raining to the ground around him. Marco wondered if he realized how stubborn he looked.

A great big immoveable mountain of stubborn. And it was all up to Marco to conquer that mountain.

Lucky, lucky him. He sighed and forged manfully on.

“Come on, Gaou. You’ve got to admit you’ve been following me everywhere lately. Everywhere I go, you go. That didn’t used to happen. And even when we were together, you never used to glower at everyone and sit this close to me all the time. I mean look at this,” He poked a finger at the nonexistent space where their sides were pressed together. “You couldn’t fit a credit card through there.”

“That was before.”

“Before what?” A glare as the squirrels and the birds got a momentary reprieve.

“Be-fore.”

“Before what? Before sex? No it wasn’t!”

“Well I’m saying it was!” The glare went back to the unfortunate lunch group.

“And I’m saying we were having sex before that and you weren’t doing it then, so what’s happened in between then and now?” Now it was Marco’s turn to frown. “Say?”

He reached up and tugged at Gaou’s sleeve, trying to get his full attention.

“Hey, quit shortening the first years’ lifespans and talk to me.”

No response. The corner of Marco’s mouth tipped downward.

“Well, all right. Have it your way.” He sighed and glanced back down at the book still open in his lap. He turned a page. “I’ll just assume it’s about Harao and we’ll leave it at that.”

He contemplated his schoolwork for a moment more, riffling the pages between his fingers. He wasn’t too surprised when he looked back up and Gaou’s face was only a few inches away from his own.

“Who said anything about that weak Taiyou worm?” Gaou’s jaw was tense as he gritted out his words.

Across the grass, the little flock of first years finally decided to take flight, leaving bento and utensils scattered behind them in their haste to get away.

Marco was less impressed.

“Nobody had to say anything about him. It’s kind of hard to ignore that your, your problem –“ Marco gestured at the tiny gap between them, “ – didn’t start until after our first spring game, and that was right after we started practicing with the old Sphinx players.”

“He went around kissing you all the time.”

“I know.”

“With his tongue.”

“I know! I was there, believe me, I know, no one was more aware of it than me!”

The discussion had moved a little further out of control than Marco had been anticipating. He’d known that bringing up Harao was a little risky, but, well.

The simple truth was that Marco had a little trouble taking the guy in question seriously enough to get mad at, even if he had been sticking his tongue in Marco’s mouth on a fairly regular basis for a while. Because – really? Who went around frenching people because they’d been told that it was “very European?” The British exchange student that had laid that one over on Harao must have gotten a really good laugh out of it. Marco would’ve very much liked to locate the guy and sit him down for a special talk. He strongly suspected that Banba wouldn’t have minded a little chat, either.

The first time Marco had been subjected to one of Harao’s random tonsil exams – right after he’d innocently mentioned his (nearly nonexistent) Italian heritage in conversation – he’d wound up feeling sorrier for Banba than for himself. The usually dignified lineman had looked like he’d rather be banging his head against the nearest wall of lockers than having to explain his teammate’s bizarre social habits to the baffled Dinosaurs.

Marco had never shared that sentiment more than now.

___

“But you never cared!” He stared up at Gaou in genuine frustration. “You never cared before. Or at least you said you didn’t. And it didn’t seem like you did. Did you?”

He peered hard at Gaou’s expression, trying to decipher what was there. His chances didn’t look too good; the focus of his attentions was looking pretty confused himself.

“I – “ Gaou stopped and ground his teeth together, then started again. “I didn’t care before. That guy’s just an idiot with no real strength or skill. It was fine until – “

Another pause. More grinding.

Marco found himself reflexively checking his pockets for Gaou’s mouthpiece while he waited for him to speak again. When he finally did, every word was forced out with careful precision.

“I was fine until that Hiruma Youichi.”

Oh.

“Oh.” Marco shifted uncomfortably. “That.”

Gaou shot him a sharp look.

“That. ”

“When he kissed me?”

A growl. “If we’re calling it that.”

Marco cringed. He knew exactly what Gaou meant when he said that.

Harao had been pretty thorough in his upholding of fictional European customs, but what Hiruma had done had been more like an oral deflowering. And Marco hadn’t even thought he had a flower anymore.

He wasn’t sure if Hiruma having done it – at a game, in front of an audience – for no other reason than to fuck with his former opponents’ heads made the whole thing better or worse. Although if he were really pressed about it, he thought he’d have to say “worse.” There were just some situations in life – like getting grabbed, groped, and bent over backwards on a football field by a gun-toting, gum-snapping psychopath and tongued within an inch of your life before a full game’s worth of onlookers – where positive words like “better” just ceased to be an option.

“Ahhh. Well. If it’s any help, I generally try not to think about it.”

“Hn.”

“The whole thing, really.”

“Nn-hn.”

“You know. The part with Harao kissing me. The part with Hiruma kissing me. The part with you stomping across the field and picking me up like a doll and kissing me right after Hiruma. On a field. In front of fifty thousand people.”

“He started it. And it was not fifty thousand people. Don’t exaggerate.”

Uncomfortable silence settled over them.

Almost ten minutes of awkward tension later, Marco decided he’d had enough, if only because he was going to permanently maim the pages of his book if he didn’t find something else for his hands to pick at. Sighing, he turned and tucked the book back into his bag and started to get to his feet. He didn’t quite make it before a massive arm grabbed him around the waist and pinned him to the ground. Startled, he tried to sit back up, but then Gaou rolled on top of him.

“Why are they allowed to do things like that and I can’t even stand next to you? You’re not even doing anything with either of those guys, so why do they get more rights than I do?”

His expression was oddly sullen. It was a look Marco wasn’t used to seeing on Gaou’s face, and he was at a total loss as to how to react.

He’d really meant it when he’d said that Gaou hadn’t seemed to care about what had been going on with Harao during their weeks of practice with the former Sphinx. Even aside from the fact that the whole thing had been more like some bizarre comedy act that he had accidentally stumbled too close to than any sort of threat to either of them, Marco would have ordinarily been a bit more concerned. But it was Gaou. Gaou just tended not to think like most other people – like anyone else Marco knew, actually.

In Gaou’s world, people said what they meant and they meant what they said, or they were just cowards or liars that weren’t worth bothering with. The same went for your actions. Actions spoke louder than words, so whatever you did around Gaou, he was going to assume you damn well meant. So if Marco had truly wanted to be kissing Harao Kiminari in the locker rooms, he would’ve been doing it instead of, say, hiding in the showers (the sanctity of which had thankfully not been violated) until Harao left.

But everyone had limits. Marco knew that. And he also knew that if there was a boundary-breaking, envelope-pushing, line-crossing, zone-violating head case dangling a bale of damn straw over a testy and overloaded camel’s back, it was Hiruma Youichi. The man was a wild card if there ever was one and adding him to any situation, no matter how stable or well established, was going to get you explosive results.

Marco still wanted to know just how Hiruma had found out about them in the first place. He’d used Harao as a convenient excuse for the impromptu make-out session – “Just bein’ friendly, Fuckin’ Eyelashes, don’tcha know it’s how they do it over on the Continent?” – but the very significant look he’d directed across the field at Gaou hadn’t been without intent.

(The fact that his manager and kicker had had to literally drag him off the field on his back while he screamed with laughter in the auditory void left in the stands after Gaou set Marco back on his feet might have also been a tip off.)

They hadn’t mentioned what they were doing to anyone else, mostly because it had never seemed necessary. Two guys having a lot of sex after randomly jumping each other in the locker rooms one night (Gaou still blamed Marco for that. He’d said it was his fault for suddenly smelling good all the time. Marco still didn’t know what he was talking about, but he’d decided to take it as a compliment and leave it at that) just didn’t seem like a thing worth letting people know about.

Add in the fact that they were both still in high school and hadn’t been planning on whatever it was they were doing in the first place – Marco had hardly even given the thought of other guys much consideration before, much less Gaou – and it wasn’t too surprising that they hadn’t bothered sitting down and defining their relationship. If that was even what it was. Either way, it looked like Marco was about to have to find out. And he had no idea where to start.

It would have been nice if he could’ve referenced his previous relationship with Maria for help, but she’d never been the type to get jealous. It had been one of the things he’d found attractive about her. And now, here he was, facing the issue with Gaou, instead. Who was still frowning down at him, waiting for an answer to his question. Marco very much wished he knew what to say.

“Ah,” he started hesitantly. “Do you…do you want to do things like that? I mean in front of other people?”

Gaou looked surprised. Apparently he hadn’t thought this out very far, either.

“It’s not that I want to it’s that – it’s that I should be able to, shouldn’t I? Why can’t I?”

Marco frowned.

“It’s not that you can’t. It’s just more that it would be…uncomfortable. At least I would be uncomfortable. Wouldn’t you?”

“Other people do it all the time.”

“Tasteless people. People with no, no – quality.”

“So I’m supposed to care about what other people think of my quality? Why should I care what other people think? I never have before.”

Good point.

Time to try another angle.

“It’s not like I have a problem with everything. I mean look,” Marco waved a hand alongside the two of them, ”You’re lying on top of me in the middle of a public park and I haven’t freaked out, right? But there are just – “

He stopped, sighed, frowned. How to put what he was trying to say into words?

“There are just some things – some things that are private and some things that are public. That’s all. You know what I’m saying? And you have been following me, lately. Not hanging out, but following. That’s weird. I mean you even showed up at that model fitting I was helping my mom out with and the last time I checked, fashion design was not a driving interest of yours.”

Marco met Gaou’s eyes with as much earnesty as he could. He meant what he was saying, and what he was saying wasn’t that he didn’t want Gaou around or that he was afraid of what other people would think if he were to touch Marco in public. It wasn’t about that. It was about…personal taste. Everyone had their different preferences, their different feelings on what you did or didn't do with the person you were with.

When Marco had been with Maria he’d always enjoyed their casual touches. He’d liked to lean over her and kiss or smell her hair; he’d loved putting an arm around her and pulling her close, or having her lean on him whenever they were just sitting or standing around together. He’d never been much of a hand holder, though. He didn’t know why. Something about it made him just the tiniest bit uneasy, that feeling of not having both of his hands immediately at his disposal. Maria had thought it was funny.

He never tried to get really serious with her around other people, either. Sure, he’d kiss her, touch her face, things like that. But never anything involving open mouths, nothing he wouldn’t have done in front of his own mother. Or her mother, for that matter.

Even when he’d invited her into the bath with him that one time, it’d been more a bittersweet jest than anything else. He’d have never really made such an offer seriously – not without kicking everyone else out of the bathhouse first. That was private. No one else needed to see that because it was just for them.

He just wasn’t sure how to explain that to Gaou.

“What if…what if there was some name I had for you. A nickname, just between us. And one day I just started addressing you that way all the time.”

“Again. Why do I care? What kind of nickname would you even want to use?”

Marco stared blankly up at the clouds and tried to think of something appropriately saccharine and humiliating.

“All right. Pookie Bear. What if I decided I wanted to go around calling you Pookie Bear out in public all the time, and – don’t look at me like that, I’m being serious!” Despite his words, Marco couldn’t stop the grin spreading over his face in response to the look of flat incredulity on Gaou’s face.

“Why would you ever want to do something like that in the first place? You never would, you’re being ridiculous.”

“Ah, ah, ah!” Marco quickly swallowed his laughter and raised a finger. “That’s not the point! The point is, if I, for whatever reason –“

“Brain disease.”

“For whatever reason, I did decide I wanted to call you Pookie Bear and by some miracle you decided not to drop me off at the nearest mental hospital or landfill or whatever, it would definitely be something private, yes? Something just between us, hm?”

He looked up at Gaou, waiting for a response. Gaou eyed him back, practically dripping skepticism.

At length, he said, “That would take a very big damn miracle.”

“Shut up and answer the question, you know what I mean.” Marco rolled his eyes and thumped Gaou on the shoulder.

Marco could see him struggling to come up with an indifferent answer for several seconds, with no success. He frowned at Marco at last, and sighed heavily.

“Pookie Bear? Really?”

“Pookie Bear. Really.” Marco silently congratulated himself for being able to say it with a straight face. Gaou looked to the side and scowled.

“All right, fine. I get it. I can kiss you in front of people and you can call me – my name, I guess – but the kissing can’t get serious, no more stalking, and you can’t call me Pookie Bear or any other stupid name. Ever.” He huffed and then slumped forward over Marco, resting his face in the grass.

“And,” Marco added, “if Harao or Hiruma or anyone else tries anything again, I won’t just avoid them, I’ll tell them to knock it off. Or hit them with a cola bottle. Something. Although Hiruma would probably shoot me for that.”

Gaou snorted.

“And if anyone tries something with me?”

“Um. I think you’re probably pretty capable of handling that on your own.”

“So if that Deimon guy – “

Marco had never felt the muscles around his mouth turn down quite so quickly or so violently before.

“No.”

Gaou’s eyebrows rose. He sat back up.

“That was fast.”

It hadn’t been just fast. It had been automatic. Marco could feel his face getting hot.

Now that other parts of him, like his libido, had had time to take a look at it, the basic concept didn’t seem so bad, maybe even a little bit hot. But when it came right down to it, just. No. No.

“No.” Marco scowled and slanted his eyes to the side so he didn’t have to look at Gaou. He felt like a sulky girl.

Gaou stared at him a second longer, one eyebrow still cocked – before he grinned and just started looking amused.

“So that’s settled, then. No making out in public, no pet names, and no one gets to kiss Hiruma Youichi. I’m fine with that.” Definitely, very amused.

Marco glared at him, face still redder than he’d like.

“Glad to know I’m here for your entertainment.” He said, sourly.

And then his mood suddenly lifted when he remembered something.

“By the way,” he said, smirking, “rather than Hiruma coming on to you, I think we might want to be worrying more about Harao.”

Gaou frowned. “What do you mean? Why would I worry about him?”

“Well, he seems to think quite a lot of you since that game, you know. I would honestly expect a very enthusiastic greeting the next time you see him. You see, after you walked off again, he came up and told me how surprised he was. Said he’d been thinking you were – “

Here, Marco’s voice altered in imitation of Harao’s signature, haughty diction.

“ – a rough, uncultured brute, but thou hast proven thyself to possess far more couth and savoir-faire than one had first thought.”

In more normal tones he said, “He did say that you were a bit, ah, “showy,” but that that could be forgiven due to the excitement of the game and all. I thought that was nice.” He beamed cheerfully.

Gaou, he was gratified to observe, looked about as close to horrified as Marco had ever seen him. He couldn’t help what came next.

“You know,” he continued benignly, “I’m sure Harao wouldn’t mind thinking up a much better nickname for you. Brutus, maybe? Or maybe Caesar. Oh no, I’ve got it, Big Caesar, that’s better. Or something more Egyptian, like Pharaoh, I mean you’ve got “king” in your name and all, so – ow, hey, Gaou!”

Marco wheezed with laughter as a stone-faced Gaou placed one dinner plate-sized hand on his chest and started applying pressure, squishing him straight down into the dirt.

“Stop. Talking.”

Marco almost couldn’t speak through his laughter.

“I will as soon as you – ah! Hey! Hey, what are you doing?”

“Shutting you up.”

Gaou still had one hand pinning Marco in place, but he’d stopped trying to crush him and had started biting along the side of his neck, instead.

“You realize this – hah – this goes completely against the rules we just – nn – just established?”

“You don’t like this?” Another sharp nip, right behind his ear.

Marco hissed, softly.

“No, actually I think all of my higher brain functions just shut off. I think I actually felt them stop working.”

“So why are you still talking?”

“Because I – ahhh! – because I don’t want this conversation to have been totally pointless!”

“It wasn’t. Everything goes into effect tomorrow. This is the interim period.”

“I see.” Marco turned his head to give Gaou better access to his jaw. “What about the Hiruma clause?”

“You see him around here?”

Paranoia actually made Marco do a quick check of the trees around them.

Fortunately, he didn’t see anything other than some kids on roller skates and an admittedly rather scandalized looking elderly couple walking their dog.

“Nope, can’t say I see him anywhere.”

“Fine, then.”

Marco sighed and put his arms around Gaou’s neck. He idly picked up a hank of thick, dark hair and started playing with it, separating it into smaller sections.

“Ohhh, we’re gonna get kicked out of the park,” he sang softly, looking up at the trees. “Any minute now, I’d say.” His breath hitched at something Gaou’s teeth did to his shoulder. He swallowed a small moan and added, “And you can stop grinning all over your face, I’d say too.”

“You can’t even see my face, how can you tell what it’s doing?”

“I don’t have to see it. Some things you just know.”

A low chuckle next to his neck sent pleasant shivers through his skin. He decided he could definitely deal with one more day of lawlessness. There was just one last little thing…

“Okay, one more thing.”

A sigh. “What?”

“No more roaring, either. Okay? I mean it’s fine at games, whatever, but not – “

“I get the point.”

“I know. It’s just that last time, all of the not-fifty-thousand people present got it, too. They were still rubbing their ears and shouting at each other after they left.”

“Marco?”

“Right. Shutting up now.”

“Shut up.”

“Right.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Fic Notes: Because I'm lame and talky. And a language/fan-dork.

Mm-kay, so aside from having been generally AT WAR with this fic for a month now, one of the things I was a little concerned about was Marco's whole "I'd say" thing, and whether or not I wanted to include it somewhere. When I first saw it mentioned on Wikipedia as something he said all the time, I immediately wondered if that was really what he was saying since it sounded pretty odd. I took it to a patient friend of mine who is awesome and reads Japanese, and she confirmed that it's not a direct translation, but that's because there really isn't one.

Your Lingual Geekery For The Day:

What Marco is actually saying when he says "I'd say" is "Cchuu hanashi" which is a slurring of "Tte iu hanashi."

Tte = Quoting or quotation, iu = to say, hanashi = the noun form of "speech," so to talk or to speak

So. No direct translation for that, really. At least partly because Marco is apparently a big freak and that's just a really weird, manga-characterish thing to say. My friend even snagged a passing coworker who's a native speaker, and he pretty much said that that was fucking bizarre and nothing he'd ever heard used in actual conversation. If I was going to try to translate that, I'd probably have to resort to something like "It's a matter of - " or "The matter of - " Using "I'd say" was pretty awesome on the translators' part imho, and I kind of have to wonder what they said when they first encountered that.

I also asked my friend about Gaou's "guys with weak sperm" thing because I thought that had to be too awesomely hilarious to be true. So I was all prepared to be disappointed when he turned out to just be saying "those weak/impotent guys" or something, but no! Gaou is just awesome and that is really what he is saying! He says "seieki ga tsukkanai" or "seieki ga usui."

seieki = sperm, tsukkanai = can be translated as "lacking" or "empty," usui = weak, watery, diluted

So. There's your pointless, ghetto Japanese lesson for the day. I thought it was interesting. But I am also obsessed with these characters and a complete dork. Yaaaayyy!!! XD;;;

(If anyone disagrees with anything here, please feel free to chip in. I trust my friend completely, but I don't trust me not to have accidentally screwed up or misinterpreted something she said OTL)

Kink Meme

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:27:06 GMT

130 words
Yukimitsu/Hiruma. Hiruma gives up a bit of control for once.

Rate of Return

The blindfold covering his eyes prevented Hiruma from seeing the look of careful concentration on Yukimitsu's face, but that didn't stop him knowing it was there. He felt slender fingers ghosting along his throat and down the front of his bare abdomen, and grinned. There were calluses and scars on those long pale scholar's hands because of him. Hiruma had helped forge their owner into the newer, stronger creature he was today, but there'd always been potential in those hands. When they touched him now it was with both deft technique and delicate strength, the two things that defined Yukimitsu Manabu. When he spoke, his voice was soft, but sure in Hiruma's ear.

"Hiruma-san, I'm starting now."

Hiruma's grin widened beneath his blindfold. He'd never once regretted that ice cube.

___

430 words
Ishimaru/Yukimitsu

Having invisible!hot!sex in the clubhouse with absolutely no one noticing.
It's totally obvious who's requesting this.

Practice Makes Perfect

I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THIS *FACEPALM*
And actually, I have no idea who's requesting this, but I hope it's all right. Good lord, I can't believe I did this XD;;;

Ishimaru smiled when he felt a breath shudder out under his hand as it slid up the warm skin on the side of Yukimitsu's ribcage. He kissed and nibbled his way gently around the soft flesh on the side of Yukimitsu's throat, just under his jaw, while his other hand kept up its gentle, stroking rhythm on the other boy's cock. He admired the heated flush that had spread across Manabu's face and down his neck as he gasped and made tiny hiccoughing noises. He came a minute later, trembling as he pushed himself down further onto Ishimaru's cock; Ishimaru hissed sharply around his own orgasm and then sighed, letting his eyes fall shut and his face fall forward to rest in the soft, silky black hair behind Yukimitsu's ear. For a while he just sat there, inhaling the good smell of soap and clean sweat and Yukimitsu and listening to the sounds of their breathing slowing down. His eyes opened again though, when he heard the snap of a file folder shutting.

"So that's the plan for next week, got it you fuckin' shrimps?" Hiruma unfolded his legs and stood up, tucking a green file under his arm. Around the table, the rest of the team nodded, making general sounds of agreement.

Ishimaru sighed softly, wiped his hand on the towel tucked under his jersey, and began doing up the fronts of their pants under the table where they sat. No one had noticed earlier when Number 16 had quietly slipped into Number 30's lap as they'd all settled around the strategy table after practice to hear Hiruma go over the game plan one more time. A few people did look over now, as Yukimitsu carefully got to his feet.

"Oh, Yukimitsu-san, are you okay? Did Ishimaru-kun have to help you up just now?"

Yukimitsu's face was still flushed and Ishimaru thought he looked adorable as he quickly assured their worried teammates that he was fine, just a little out of breath from earlier. Mamori, still concerned, came over to rest a hand against Yukimitsu's forehead. Her eyes widened.

"Oh wow, Yukimitsu-san, you're still really warm! You shouldn't overdo yourself out there!" She frowned up at him with obvious worry.

Yukimitsu laughed, one hand coming up behind his head. "Ah, it's all right everyone, I'm really fine. I feel great, actually." He looked back at Ishimaru and shared a smile with him.

“Really," he said, sliding a hand under the table to brush against Ishimaru’s fingers, "I’d have to say that today's practice couldn’t have been more perfect."

AND OMAKE. BECAUSE I HAVEN'T CAUSED ENOUGH DAMAGE:

Hours later, Hiruma unwrapped a fresh stick of gum and popped it into his mouth as he inserted the disk from one of his surveillance cameras into his laptop. He’d already reviewed the footage from the ones he had planted at other schools and throughout his own, so the last thing to check on for the day was the clubhouse camera. He wasn’t expecting anything particularly interesting since he’d been there all day himself, but as he blew his first bubble, his eyes caught something odd.

He blinked and swung his feet off the table to lean closer to the screen, clicking the play back a few seconds to watch again. His eyes widened. He grabbed the play bar and backed it up again. Then again.

And again.

One more time, to be sure.

At some point, the bubble popped.

Finally, after several eye-straining replays, Hiruma sat back in his chair and scraped the gum off his face.

“Well hell. How about that?” he said aloud, staring up at the clubhouse ceiling. He sat there for some time before sighing and straightening up again. He reached for the mouse and was moving the cursor towards the control that would wipe the disk clean for reuse tomorrow, but stopped himself at the last second. He frowned at the frozen scene on his monitor.

It went against his nature to discard any sort of information collected on others, but he also saw no point in keeping useless data lying around. And there really wasn’t anything he could do with this; Track Star and Baldy usually did what he said without requiring much additional intimidation, and they had no screaming fangirls that he could sell this to. Still.

He tapped his finger slowly against his mouse and stared at the screen, deliberating. Minutes passed before his face finally split into a fang-filled grin and a cackle.

“Oh well,“ he said, still grinning as he moved the cursor over to save the file, “no sense in wasting good porn.”

___

160 words
Marco/Maria

Maria is reluctant; Marco convinces her

The Man Who Was Only Looking At The Top

“Marco,” Maruko said for what she thought was probably the fourth or fifth time. “Are you really sure about this?” Marco smiled up reassuringly at her from his place on the bed.

“I’m really sure, Maria,” he said, his voice as confident as ever. “I trust you completely, you know.”

“Well…all right, then.” Maria bit her lip as she looked down at her boyfriend’s bound, naked body. She was feeling seriously conflicted. “You do know I was just kidding when I said that bit about us doing it if you tried it first?”

“Ah,” Marco said with a wink, “but you did say it.” Maruko sighed. She looked down hesitantly at herself and gingerly adjusted the strap-on around her hips. She looked back down at Marco.

“You really want to have sex with me, don’t you?” she said dryly. He beamed back up at her in response.

“Well, I did say I was only looking at the top, didn’t I?”

___

200 words
AnyoneXHiruma
Bondage kink,
read the YukimitsuXHiruma with blindfold and now I want more

Paid In Full

"Well," Marco tugged on the chains that held Hiruma's arms suspended over his head. "Don't you look nice?"

Hiruma sneered.

“Don’t get too comfortable with it Fuckin’ Eyelashes,” he said, his usual wide, sharp grin in place. “This only happens because I want it to happen.”

“Oh, we know,” Rui’s voice was dry as he looked up from where he’d just finished securing the black bands that buckled around the top of Hiruma’s left thigh and shin, keeping his leg bent at the knee. “Trust me, we wouldn’t try anything this insane with you any other way. The consequences would be too awful to think about.”

“That’s all right with me,” Kid added from where he stood slouched in the corner, back propped against the wall. “It’d be uncomfortable any other way, don’t you think?”

Across the room, Takami cleared his throat.

“Either way,” he said, pushing up his glasses as he turned to frown at Hiruma, “Isn’t this an awfully strange way of doing things, even for you? And you’re really serious about it? That after this, all of our debts to you will be gone?”

“Oh yeah,” Hiruma licked his lips and grinned even wider. “Paid in full.”

___

1,300 words
hiruma/shin/kid - ropes

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys

Or demons or monsters and such.

“Fuck.” Hiruma glared at Shin and then at the length of broken rope held in his hand, lip curled back over his fangs in a look of disgust.

It was the kind of expression that Satan probably reserved for puppies that peed on the rugs in hell. Shin directed his solemn gaze at the rope before stating the obvious.

“It broke again.”

Hiruma shot him a look that could have burnt holes through a steel door. He snapped his head to the side and shouted.

“Fuckin’ Cowboy! Get your freaky fuckin’ eyebrows over here, the fuckin’ monster did it again!”

A few feet away, Kid looked up from where he’d been stooped over a small, rapidly dwindling pile of some of the same rope that Hiruma was holding. He sighed and passed a hand over his brow when he saw that Hiruma was right.

“Already? I didn’t even get to finish the thing.” He sighed. “And I was almost sure those knots would hold this time.”

He stood wearily and ambled over to where Shin sat naked on a metal folding chair, Hiruma standing over him like an angry harbinger of pointy doom. As soon as he got close enough, Hiruma snatched the hat off his head and whacked him in the face with it.

“This isn’t fuckin’ working! You said you were gonna do it right this time, and now look! He fuckin’ broke another one and now we’re runnin’ outta rope, aren’t we?”

“We are running out of rope.” Kid confirmed with a sigh, rubbing his hand over his abused cheekbone. He looked sadly at Shin. “Couldn’t you try to be a little less, ah…?” He trailed off, waving a hand at Shin, who was now shrugging off the remains of his attempted bonds, and then at the heap of discarded pieces of frayed and shredded rope from earlier attempts.

Shin regarded his two would-be sexual captors seriously, trying to come up with a suitable reply.

After careful consideration, he said, “It looks as if I am ill-suited for this. All my training was to make me stronger in order to compete with Eyeshield 21 at the Christmas Bowl, but now it looks as if it has also made me unsuitable for this particular form of sexual fun. I apologize. I have failed you both. I will continue to try harder.”

He bowed his head and looked at his lap. Somehow, the neglected erection there only added to the overall image of contrition being projected, rather than detracting from it. Kid winced.

“Aw, come on now,” He moved over to rub a soothing hand along Shin’s back. “Nothing to get upset over.”

“Bullshit, this has wasted the whole first half of the fuckin’ evening. If this were a game I’d kill you both.”

“Ah, well, but maybe it’s for the best…”

Deprived of a hat to pull down over his eyes, Kid had to settle for tugging his fingers through his hair to hide the little bit of nervous relief he was feeling. As nice as he thought Shin would’ve looked in bondage, he’d been feeling some guilt over their activities.

There weren’t many certainties in life - something that Kid knew better than anyone - but he had still been pretty darn certain that what they were doing right now was not what his coach had had in mind when he’d schooled his ace player in knots and rope-tying.

Next to him, Hiruma dragged his fingers through his own hair looking frustrated.

“The only thing that would be worse than this would be trying to tie up the fuckin’ caveman,” he snapped, poking Shin hard in the left bicep.

He didn’t seem to notice the glazed expression on Kid, who had been unprepared to have his brain shanghaied by the terrifying thought of a tied up and furious Gaou Rikiya.

Most of the terror came from the thought of what Gaou would likely do to the parties responsible for his captivity once he got free again, but also from the thought of what it would possibly take to restrain such a beast. He stared blankly at the wall for several seconds before Hiruma snapped him back to reality with a cuff to the back of the head.

“Did you hear what I fuckin’ said, Fuckin’ Eyebrows?”

Kid blinked.

“Elevator cables,” he said.

Hiruma stopped trying to skewer Shin through the arm and stared at Kid.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He peered suspiciously at him. “Did your brain leak out your ears in the last five seconds and I just missed it?”

“Ah,” Kid winced and quickly banished the mental image of the Dinosaurs lineman trailing elevator cars in his wake as he rampaged down the streets of Tokyo. “Sorry, I was drifting; what did you say?”

Hiruma eyed him for a moment – before letting a slow, wide grin spread across his face.

“I said, Fuckin’ Cowboy, that since the freak of nature here can’t be used for this, and I’m sure as hell not getting strapped up tonight, that we’ll just have to tie you up instead.” He was slapping the piece of rope he held against his palm, eyes lit an unholy yellow.

Kid’s eyes widened. He saw rope burns in his immediate future.

“Now, hold on,” he raised his hands placatingly in front of himself as he moved carefully around Shin. “Let’s not be - ”

He was going to say “hasty” but he never got to it before Hiruma planted one foot firmly on his midsection and gave him a push that sent him toppling backwards into Shin’s lap. He started to slide towards the floor, but strong arms wrapped around him from either side, holding him firmly in place. A second later, Hiruma’s foot landed on the edge of the chair between their spread legs, further preventing anymore downward movements.

Kid looked up, his sense of dread growing, only to have his hat slapped firmly back on his head before he could meet the other man’s eyes.

“Cheer up, Fuckin’ Cowboy,” Hiruma said, whacking the top of the hat as he grinned, dementedly. “The Incredible Fuckin’ Hulk and I’ll make sure you have a good time. Ain’t that right, Fuckin’ Monster?”

Shin sat up a little straighter behind Kid.

“I will do my best to make up for my earlier shortcomings.” He turned his head so his voice was close and warm, right in Kid’s ear – Kid wasn’t sure if that was intentional or not. “Sempai, I promise to do everything in my power to ensure you enjoy yourself. Please feel free to relax.”

Strong hands moved up his front and started undoing the buttons on his shirt. Kid looked down at them in mild dismay, then back up at Hiruma one more time.

“I guess I don’t really get much say in this anymore, huh?” He smiled crookedly.

Hiruma leaned closer over his own knee and grabbed Kid by the back of his hair. Now it was his turn to speak directly into his ear, sharp teeth grazing the skin.

“Should’ve been an outlaw, Cowboy. We get all the best shit.”

He looped the piece of rope around Kid’s neck, dragging the rough fibers over his skin, slow and deliberate. He reached up and stole Kid’s hat again, this time dropping it onto his own head. A hand dragged one long finger upward along the center of Kid’s now bare chest until it reached the front of his neck where it formed the shape of a gun. The point dug into the underside of his chin, forcing him to look up. Hiruma smiled. He took aim at the center of Kid’s forehead and pretended to shoot, blowing imaginary smoke across the top of his fingertip when he was done.

“Giddy up, Cowboy.”

Shadow Play

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:54:32 GMT

Shadow Play

It’s late when Agon slips into his brother’s room, crawls into his bed. Unsui is turned away on his side to face the wall, but his eyes are open when his brother leans in behind him to breathe next to his ear.

“Let’s play, Unko-chan.”

You be me and I’ll be you.

It’s a game they’ve played since they were children. Agon always had too much energy, and on the nights he didn’t feel like sleeping he would climb into his older brother’s bed for a story, for a game, for charades.

The rules and the requirements changed as they got older, but the game still gets played on nights when Agon is bored and in need of distraction.

You be me and I’ll be you.

The hands that slide up his shoulders are deliberately gentle, painfully supplicant in the way they touch, just like the voice that keeps whispering in his ear, jeering.

“Brother. Brother you’re so strong. Brother let me help you, I am so weak, but I’ll help you any way I can, won’t you let me, won’t you let me?” Unsui closes his eyes against it. He wants to be asleep. He wants to be somewhere else far away from here. He wants to be someone else or for Agon to be someone else, someone who is less mocking, who isn’t so cruel, who is far too old for games. Especially games like this one.

But you have to play the game. Those are the rules.

“Everything is for your sake.” Agon places a soft, open-mouthed kiss on the side of Unsui’s throat, a mockery of devotion. “I live for you.”

Unsui closes his eyes for a moment.

“I know.”

He can feel the breath hitch in his brother’s throat when he grabs him there, slams him into the mattress as hard as he can, knocking his head into the wall. He buries the fingers of one hand in Agon’s hair, close to the scalp, jerks his head viciously to the side, backhands him across the face with the other. His goggles are knocked askew with the force of the blow, and Unsui grips them until he can hear the plastic crack before ripping them off and tossing them aside. There is blood on Agon’s face now; it trickles from his nose past his lips to stain the grin that’s still hovering below. It stays there, floating in the semi-dark of the bedroom, even when Unsui climbs on top of him, wraps his fingers around his throat, and starts to squeeze.

Without the tinted lenses of the goggles covering his eyes, Agon should look more familiar to Unsui, like someone closer and more beloved. Instead, the sick excitement shining up from his face is even clearer, eager and unsettling on features so like his own, and Unsui wishes he’d just left them on. He doesn’t want this. He wants to stop.

He can feel Agon bucking up against him eagerly, can feel that he’s hard, and now there’s a hand moving between his legs, sliding up to curl fingers into the loose sweatpants that Unsui wore to bed. Unsui’s stomach rolls and he wants to jerk away, wants to drag Agon off the bed and throw him out into the hall. He wants to cry or scream or throw something, shake his brother by the shoulders and ask, "What’s wrong with you?"

But he plays by the rules. Unsui always plays by the rules. It’s what his brother's always liked best about him.

He wants to stop. The places where his fingers are digging into Agon’s flesh are going to be dark with bruises tomorrow, and Unsui will have to look at them since Agon won’t bother to cover them up.

This girl, he’ll say with a smile, if anyone asks. This real kinky hellcat, you know?

Agon’s fingers are loosening around the unwanted, involuntary erection between Unsui’s legs; his eyelids are fluttering as he struggles for air. Unsui wants to stop. He wants to stop so badly, he wants to check Agon’s pulse, to stop the blood still running from his nose, to find his stupid goggles and put them back on his face so he won’t have to look at him anymore. He wants to show his brother mercy, he wants to stop, he wants to stop.

But Kongou Agon would not show mercy. Kongou Agon wouldn't stop.

So neither does Kongou Unsui.

You be me and I’ll be you.

He finally lets go when he feels Agon jerk underneath him as he comes. He gasps, sucking in air desperately as he rolls to the side, choking and clutching reflexively at his throat. Unsui turns away as he begins to cough and moan.

___

In his mind he can see Agon kneeling on his bed, back when they were small. His arms are raised over his head with the little fingers curved into claws as he crouches forward, eyes bright with excitement as he grins at Unsui.

“Let’s be dragons again, Unsui! This time I’ll be the green dragon and you be the red one. You be me and I’ll be you!”

___

Unsui stares down at his hands. They wouldn’t look any different to him than normal, except that now there’s a little spot of Agon’s blood there, smeared against the ball of his thumb.

“You be me and I’ll be you.” He says it aloud. Agon chokes into his ear.

“Yeah.” His voice sounds a thousand times more satisfied than it should, thick and bruised and painful as his arms come up to loop around Unsui’s shoulders. He rests his head against the side of his twin brother’s face.

You be me...

Unsui stares down at his hand and the stain from his brother’s blood. He wishes he’d stopped. He still wants to.

“I can’t be you.” He turns his face away as Agon reaches for his bloody hand, brings it to his lips and kisses it. Unsui flinches at the lazy pleasure in his voice.

“I know.”

++++++++++++++

Optional Notes: (highlight if you're bored)

Well, I wasn't going to do this, but I decided I'd put it here just for explanation purposes. The whole concept for this fic came to me when I was lying around in bed trying to work on this whole other story. I am not really a fan of this pairing or of Agon, so I was pretty surprised at how easily it wrote itself, especially since I couldn't get the damn thing I wanted to work on to go anywhere at all(but ain't that always the way?).

I sat around forever trying to figure out where the hell this came from, and I finally decided it's mostly Agon's fault. I'm afraid Agon is just not my cup of tea(NO offense intended, Agon fans). I'm not even sure why exactly; he's certainly a jerk and all, but I've liked characters in other fandoms that made him look like a freaking angel.

I tried to rationalize it by saying things like "Well, look what he did to Kurita, you love Kurita!" or "He treats women like crap!" But I'd probably marry Gaou, who fucking brutalized poor Kid, whom I also love. And although I can't bring any specific examples to mind, I am sure with my long history of fondness for bastards and weirdos, there is someone I have loved that was a jerk to women. So what is it? I don't know. I just can't get myself to like him, and so it bothers me a bit that a part of my brain still likes to acknowledge him as being physically attractive. Because he is a bastard, but he's kind of a hot bastard, and finding him both hot and undesirable at the same time forces me to think about him more than I ordinarily would if only because it drives me a little crazy >__>

I do like Unsui. He frustrated me at first with his strange tolerance of Agon's bad behavior, but when I found out why he acts that way I wanted to give him a hug and tell him how sorry I was that life just sucks like that. I'm a competitive person with a younger brother myself, and I have to admit I would've absolutely hated it if my entire life had been about being constantly outstripped in everything by my younger sibling.

Their relationship as siblings is kind of hard to interpret. I think I could almost like Agon if he ever showed even an iota of concrete emotion towards his brother, but he never does. So it's hard to tell how they feel about each other. Sibling relationships are funny things, anyway. When you grow up with another person like that you never know exactly what you'll get. You could be closer to them than anyone in the world, you could just be so used to them you take them entirely for granted and couldn't care less, or any of the million places in between.

Canonically speaking, I think it's hard to tell exactly where they stand without further development. But if I try to think about them having any sort of sexual contact, I think it would have to be a bad situation, something that could only happen within the bounds of an abusive relationship. Not a sexy, mutual, "fun" kind of abuse, but the kind where it's all about one person blatantly taking advantage of another. Which is why this turned out so dark. Um. I felt...pretty bad for Unsui after I wrote this. I got interested in the concept though, the concept of there being this game, something that started out so genuinely innocent and wound up becoming this twisted form of roleplay that would serve as another way for Agon to exert the power he had over Unsui.

Unsui strikes me as the kind of person that would love his brother. It might be the kind of dutiful love you feel towards a sibling because, hell, they're your sibling, but I do think it would be there. Certainly as a child; I think he'd have to have been close to Agon at some point, if only because they freaking lived together and were obviously so close in age. I think it would be a terrible feeling to start out life close to a person and then grow up and have them leave you totally behind without ever even knowing if they cared or missed you. I think it probably hurts Unsui a lot to know that Agon thinks of him only in trivial terms - I think it would have to. So I wanted that to be in there as well.

In summary, I think this entire fic was just my brain trying reconcile all this crap at once. And for some reason I...felt like I needed to explain that. Ehm. Okay, going away now, hope I didn't offend you or bore you to death! XD;;

The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v11.0 - Teikoku Alexanders

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 07:42:35 GMT

The Teikoku Alexanders version:

View Poll: The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v11.0 - Teikoku Alexanders

Other team polls can be found here:

Deimon Devilbats

Oujou White Knights

Seibu Wild Gunmen

Zokugaku Chameleons

Taiyou Sphinx

Nasa Aliens

Kyoshin Poseidon

Bando Spiders

Shinryuuji Nagas

Hakushuu Dinosaurs

The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v10.0 - Hakushuu Dinosaurs

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:23:38 GMT

The Hakushuu Dinosaurs version:

View Poll: The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v10.0 - Hakushuu Dinosaurs

The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v8.0 - Bando Spiders

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:13:11 GMT

The Bando Spiders version:

View Poll: The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v8.0 - Bando Spiders

Other team polls can be found here:

Deimon Devilbats

Oujou White Knights

Seibu Wild Gunmen

Zokugaku Chameleons

Taiyou Sphinx

Nasa Aliens

Kyoshin Poseidon

Shinryuuji Nagas

Hakushuu Dinosaurs

Teikoku Alexanders

The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v7.0 - Kyoshin Poseidon

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:00:28 GMT

The Kyoshin Poseidon version:

View Poll: The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v7.0 - Kyoshin Poseidon

Other team polls can be found here:

Deimon Devilbats

Oujou White Knights

Seibu Wild Gunmen

Zokugaku Chameleons

Taiyou Sphinx

Nasa Aliens

Bando Spiders

Shinryuuji Nagas

Hakushuu Dinosaurs

Teikoku Alexanders

The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v6.0 - NASA Aliens

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:57:53 GMT

The NASA Aliens version:

(*rolls eyes at self* I don't know why Apollo is here, I guess I figured he wasn't always a bastard, so maybe someone might go for him. EVEN PEEING CHICKENS NEED LOVE!!!)

View Poll: The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v6.0 - NASA Aliens

Other team polls can be found here:

Deimon Devilbats

Oujou White Knights

Seibu Wild Gunmen

Zokugaku Chameleons

Taiyou Sphinx

Kyoshin Poseidon

Bando Spiders

Shinryuuji Nagas

Hakushuu Dinosaurs

Teikoku Alexanders

The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v5.0 - Taiyou Sphinx

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:56:21 GMT

The Taiyou Sphinx version:

View Poll: The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v5.0 - Taiyou Sphinx

Other team polls can be found here:

Deimon Devilbats

Oujou White Knights

Seibu Wild Gunmen

Zokugaku Chameleons

Nasa Aliens

Kyoshin Poseidon

Bando Spiders

Shinryuuji Nagas

Hakushuu Dinosaurs

Teikoku Alexanders

The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v3.0 - Seibu Wild Gunmen

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:38:59 GMT

The Wild Gunmen version:

View Poll: The ES21 Would You Hit It? Quiz v3.0 - Seibu Wild Gunmen

Other team polls can be found here:

Deimon Devilbats

Oujou White Knights

Zokugaku Chameleons

Taiyou Sphinx

Nasa Aliens

Kyoshin Poseidon

Bando Spiders

Shinryuuji Nagas

Hakushuu Dinosaurs

Teikoku Alexanders