#just maybe. it's bc he knows a certain someone likes his floppy hair

[saulguzman]

a late night in new mexico, 1999

#what mulder's awful haircut does to a mf #jimmy kept his bangs as saul so he could have more to work with for his combover but maybe #just maybe. it's bc he knows a certain someone likes his floppy hair #and liked adjusting his bangs #mcwexler #mine #txf

[rowanelliis]

hey hi hello i’m SLATER ( they/them ), twenty-five, currently living my worst life on the left coast ( pst ). i bring to you my twitchy, lonely son, ROWAN. he’s a part-time antique lover, part-time dishwasher, full-time ghost whisperer. ( or something like that,, we’ll get to it later. ) he fills the alone ranger plot, and you can find his bio/questionnaire HERE  &&  some quick stats HERE. follow me under the cut for a TL;DR bio and wanted connections !! @phqextras​

oh hello again ! as promised, here is the summarized bio, bc i get that it’s long and you have shit to do. that said ! if possible, i would really love if you read THE BIO before/instead of this. it’s just,,, better. and better is better.  anyway, here we go !

rowan was born in pleasance to a 22 yo anita ellis and a father who bounced shortly thereafter, but we don’t care about him

he sees dead people! always has. they vary in shape from faded human to amorphous eldritch horror, and they’re supremely unhelpful. they mostly dont talk and the ones who do dont really answer what youre saying, they just say whatever they want. they moan a lot tho. its annoying. he hates them. kinda.

anita was a fraudulent fortuneteller and genuine psychic. she just knew stuff. rowan figures whatever he is, he got it from her.

he loves her sm guys. she was the mf BEST MOM. we’re talking blanket forts. we’re talking homemade stews. we’re talking going to alby’s to try on outrageous outfits they couldn’t afford and then shoplifting some little treasure to delight rowan with on the way out. the BEST.

when he was eleven, he spent an afternoon in the sequoia grove and when he got back he learned that to everyone else, hed been missing for five days

so that was a whole thing

following a years-long downward spiral of her mental health, anita showed up at rowans high school in the midst of a full-on psychotic episode. he was taken away by cps almost immediately and sent to a group home a couple towns over.

when he got back to pleasance at eighteen, she was gone. missing, not dead.

since then hes been devoted to the cause of finding her but its been eleven fucking years and no one else seems to care so he do get down abt it sometimes

his main theory is that it has something to do with the sequoia grove. he thinks that maybe whatever happened to him as a kid happened to her, but on a larger scale.

he currently lives in the house that he grew up in and that his grandparents built, a giant ugly thing that hasnt been updated in any way since the 70s

hes bad at holding a job. hes bad at feeding himself. hes bad at sleeping. hes bad at forming and maintaining relationships. basically, hes bad at being an adult human.

ok so maybe he doesnt see ghosts. maybe his mom wasnt psychic. maybe theyre just crazy. that is a possibility. but its also possible its true. you dont know. leave him alone

ok now the fun part ! here are some connections id like to see for rowan:

actual friends (one or two, three TOPS. hes a loner ok)

i honestly debated whether i wanted him to have any close friends at all but yknow what! hes been in this town for nearly 30 damn years he can treat himself to a friend or two. these would be people who believe him, or at least have an open mind. they could be from way back or more recently. just people he’s comfortable around, and maybe goes to specifically for comfort. he needs a lot more of that than he’s getting.

hookups (past or present)

i think hes kind of slutty?? not in any active kind of way, hes definitely not aggressive or even confident, but he’s so starved for affection that i think he’d have a hard time saying no to anyone offering it. his sexuality is Undeclared but Not Straight, so he’s up for grabs. he’s also weak for...... how do you say..... les milfs. i mean he would never use that word but it is what it is. mommy issues doesnt even begin to cover it. on a related note! if your character is on the amoral side of the spectrum, this guy would be wildly easy to manipulate. just like, brush his hair with your fingers or call him good or whatever. he’s Weak.

exes (maybe one serious, no more than a couple more casual)

here are some great reasons to dump rowan:

will not remember your birthday or anniversary or anything

obsessed w his mom

sometimes sleeps with his eyes open which is creepy as Fuck

usually broke

lives in that fucking house

kissed someone else at your birthday party bc they had really pretty eyes and were standing really close and kinda smiled at him and he got overwhelmed

routinely talks to the air, sometimes aggressively. thinks hes covert abt it. is not.

love interests (look im not actually into planning ships it just felt fair to rowan to balance this out a little)

here are some great reasons to date rowan:

will never, ever laugh at you or make you feel small

will give small, thoughtful gifts for no reason

cute floppy hair, doe eyes

once he feels safe with you, he will do anything for you, any time, forever

lives in that fucking house

you never knew a kiss could make you feel so wanted

maybe he’s special, you know? maybe he’s just something special

( ok that was gay ! now back to your regularly scheduled programming )

people who think he’s crazy (as many as possible tbh)

i know weve got a lot of believers here but honestly,,, even among believers i think hes kind of an outcast. the mf talks to himself. there are like 8 agreed upon stories around town and hes seen waaaaaay more ghosts than that. and non-belevers?? fuggedaboutit. i kinda see this as part of the reason he was rejected from the mystery gang. maybe someone it was like ‘ok im into checking this stuff out but that guys fucking nuts’. idk. what is life without struggle?? without conflict?? boring.

people who are using him for the story (whoever wants)

this could be a writer or reporter, but it could also just be someone whos interested in this kind of stuff. OR again, could be a non-believer who just thinks its entertaining to watch him. could be honest about their motives or straight up manipulating him into thinking theyre a friend or whatever. pretty open, i just think he would be a figure of interest to certain people.

someone who was present when his mom showed up at the high school (someones?)

this isn’t even a connection really so much as just A Thing I Want. i want someone who saw a tiny, angry-crying sixteen year old rowan drag his screaming mother down the hall of the science wing with their own two eyes. student, teacher, visiting alumni, parent or sibling who was at the school for some reason idk. maybe they pitied him and approached him later. maybe it was the thing that made someone decide hes a lost cause. it doesnt even have to ever come up. i just want someone to have that image in their brain. i want them to see it when they see what a mess he is now.

a final note! when rowan was a kid he was pretty open about the ghost stuff, mostly because his mom always believed him w/out question and he didn’t know it was something to hide. after the whole woods incident and the reaction of cps + the cops to his story, he learned to keep that shit to himself. unless he knows your character well, he probably wouldnt have discussed it w them directly. however! anyone around his age might remember the stuff he talked about as a kid or his mom showing up at the school (honestly that was dramatic enough the story may live on in the halls of nwhs today in some form or another). anyone around his moms age (40-50) might know how woo-y and sketchy she and her child were. there are certainly rumors about both of them. also, most people have probably seen him behaving strangely, ie. suddenly rerouting on the sidewalk to walk around what seems like nothing, telling something to fuck off under his breath, or just flitting his eyes over to a seemingly empty space over and over. he really does try to appear as normal as possible, but it’s difficult. i think most people see more than he knows, and more than he would like them to.

#[ roe; DEVELOPMENT. ] #phqintro #mental illness tw #i thought this wouldnt need a single tw #and honestly that would be a first for me #though only one is a first for me too sdjfnsjdfn #i really feel like i must be missing something this never happens #usually its like #just a parade of absolute horror down here in the tags

[sunsetsover]

ideas on ballum’s first date? and does ben enjoy running his fingers through Callum’s hair just as much as callum does? p.s hope your holidays improve 💕

thank you, they weren’t so bad but i’m very glad to be home lmao 💞

ok so i went a little bit overboard w this but this is me we’re talking about, it’s to be expected lmao but i did them in bullet points for clarity !!

so ideas for the first date:

it’s awkward as hell at first lmao

ben is still in a lot of pain from his injury because he isn’t fully healed, and also he’s lowkey a nervous wreck bc he realizes this a big deal for callum!!! but also it’s a big deal for him too!!! he likes callum!! he doesn’t want to fuck it up!! for callum’s sake, and the sake of their Thing that they have going already

and callum is highkey a nervous wreck for a multitude of reasons…. mostly it’s the gay thing bc it’s all so fresh and new and he still can’t walk around the square without feeling like ppl are staring at him…. and he realizes a lot of it is paranoia but also like….. he’s just split up w whitney, and everyone around walford knows them and knows him and what’s happened and like there’s just no anonymity….. he kind of wishes they could get on a train and go somewhere else, somewhere where they can slip into the crowd where no one knows them so callum maybe won’t feel like everyone is watching them and judging him but ben can’t risk going too far away from home yet….. which is fine it really is he’d rather be safe than sorry and it’s Just A Pint anyway not a big deal……. it’s just that callum kind of wants to crawl out of his skin a little bit….. no biggie……….

(but callum still goes on the date, because of course he does. he wants to go out for a drink with ben. he does. that’s not the problem. the problem is everything else.)

so yh they go to e20 (it’s not ideal but the alternate choices are the vic, which has too many prying eyes, and the prince albert, which is too much too soon for callum) and it’s really awkward at first bc ben can sense how nervous callum is - jumping at every noise and constantly checking over his shoulder and can hardly sit still

and at first ben is a little bit put out bc he hasn’t had a problem keeping a man’s attention in a Long Ass Time but then he remembers what he was like when he was in callum’s shoes and can’t really be mad at him lmao….. he just is maybe kinda sad abt it bc this date is Weak and callum deserved better

so after a while ben asks callum if he wants to leave and callum is like ’???? wtf no’ bc he doesn’t even realize how jumpy and distracted he is

and ben is like ‘it’s ok if you do, i don’t mind, i get it’ and callum is really just sitting there like ???

so ofc bc callum isn’t saying anything ben starts rambling like 'maybe this was too soon, you have just broke up with whitney and you’re still getting your head around things, i don’t want you running into things when you’re not ready’ etc 

meanwhile in his head he’s like ben u Fuckin Idiot!! u’ve fucked it up!!!!!!! u’ve pushed him too hard this is too much u should have just waited!!!!!!!!!!!

that is until callum interrupts his rambling by Very Firmly saying 'ben, if i didn’t want to be here, i wouldn’t be here’

that shuts ben up lmao

after that callum makes a more conscious effort to relax and actually pay attention to ben and it doesn’t take long for callum to actually relax and forget where he is and everything that’s happened and enjoy ben’s company

and ben keeps having a go at cal for making him laugh bc it hurts and every single time callum gets really serious and apologetic which only makes ben laugh harder :-(

by the end of the night they’re sat practically pressed together in one of those rounded booths and neither of them know how they ended up like that bc they were on opposite sides when they sat down but neither of them really care :-)

they don’t stay out too late bc ben’s still a little out of whack from his injury, though it’s callum that insists they leave bc ben keeps being like ‘one more drink’ even tho cal can see him drooping w exhaustion :-( poor ben just doesn’t want it to be over bc tho the date started weak they have completely turned it around :-(

ben perks back up once they’re out in the fresh air and immediately starts teasing callum abt the fact that he’s walking him home

“proper gent you, ain’t ya? i can’t remember the last time someone walked me home after a date.” “you’re injured, i’m hardly gonna leave you to walk home by yourself am i? what if something happened to ya?” “what, during the five minute walk between e20 and my dad’s?” “you never know.” “just admit that you’re hoping i’ll invite you in for a nightcap.”

callum kind of freezes up at that but ben just gives him That Look and a small shove and says 'i’m joking, callum’

when they’re at the door to the mitchell’s ben turns to him with this soft smile and says 'don’t take this the wrong way, but i think we’re a bit too old for snogging on the doorstep while my dad’s probably sat in the living room’ and callum laughs and looks at the floor all shy because he doesn’t feel too old. he feels like he’s sixteen years old and he’s just been on his first proper date and this is all new and exciting to him.

(he supposes it is, in a way.)

and then ben very softly asks 'wasn’t so bad, was it?’ and callum smiles at him and shakes his head and ben smiles back and whispers 'good’ and leans over and kisses him on the cheek - it doesn’t linger quite as long as the last one, but this one feels different. warmer. like a promise of more to come. and he can’t help but grab hold of ben’s hand as he unlocks the front door and squeeze it as they say goodbye :-)

and they’re both so fucking enamoured w each other in that moment that both of them forget to ask for a second date lmao

so yeah it’s a pretty good date in the end lmao

as for hair stroking!!

he never really gets into hair stroking at first on account of the fact that callum is just So Fucking Tall and he always has his hair covered in gel so he can’t just do it absentmindedly the way callum does…… 

the few times he’s tried it’s awkward and not at all suave and natural the way callum does it, and then callum will complain about ben fucking up his hair and ben will end up with a sticky hand and like… there are more fun ways to end up in that situation….

besides it’s not like ben isn’t physically affectionate in other ways !!! it’s just that hair stroking is more callum’s thing

that is until one day callum practically passes out with his head on ben’s chest and all ben can see is the crown of his head…. his hair lookin soft as hell… smelling good bc he just had a shower…. and like what is ben gonna do? not stroke it?

and he’s glad callum is asleep tbh bc he has to like… figure out what works best…….. bc it’s not like lexi’s hair and it’s not like paul’s hair and it’s not like he has much experience with stroking anyone else’s hair…. so he’s like. Experimenting

and then he starts scratching at the shorter hair behind callum’s ear and cal makes this little sighing noise and presses closer to him and ben is just like oh ???????????????

so he keeps trying different things and callum just keeps on making these happy sounds and pressing his face more into ben’s chest and it’s just like…. game over….. he can’t believe This is what he’s been missing out on

or at least it’s game over while callum is asleep bc ben is Shy and doesn’t want to make a bigger fool out of himself in front of callum than he does already……. but like once callum’s unconscious? it’s game over

and callum has suspicions bc he keeps waking up to ben’s fingers tangled in his hair but it’s weird bc like…. why does he only do it when he’s asleep?

so, because he has learned from his other half Sneaky Bastard Ben, one day he fakes falling asleep just to see :-) and sure enough ben hands are in his hair within minutes - he starts off just gently rolling a bit of callum’s hair in between his fingers, but before long he’s full on stroking his fingers through the long part of callum’s hair

and callum pretends to be asleep for as long as he can but after a certain point he just can’t keep the smile off his face

and ben gets all huffy bc he’s embarrassed :-(

but callum just laughs and kisses ben’s chest and moves closer to him so he has easier access to his hair and ben resumes his stroking Immediately bc it’s like instinct now :-)

after that anytime they’re cuddling they basically cannot keep their hands out of each others hair

ben even takes to scratching at the hair on callum’s nape in public (when they’re sat down ofc bc callum is still So Fucking Tall) bc he can’t get to his favourite bit bc of the gel :-( so needless to say ben very quickly starts to hate the gel and tries to convince callum to abandon it but he won’t bc he thinks the slicked back hair makes him look Professional

ben pouts about it but he also kinda likes being the only one who gets to see his soft floppy hair now

anyway long story short, yes ben likes running his fingers through callum’s hair just as much as callum does, it just takes him a little while longer to catch on lmao

💖💖💖

#ballum #eastenders #calhighway #question #headcanon

[junjunkii]

BokuAka fic WIP

Your overused yet beloved florist-and-tattoo parlour trope but with a spicy modern magic twist. I think I’m gonna call it Blackberry Promenade 👌also I apologize in advance for the hella long post if you’re on mobile bc tumblr is shit and read more sometimes doesn’t work on here apparently

Akaashi Keiji makes things grow. It’s a fact of life. A lot of lives, actually, since he runs the ramshackle plant nursery on the corner of Wax and Ruthord.

Thing is, he’s one of those with that green-thumb kind of magic. He’s always been able to make plants grow like crazy. As a kid, he’d come home in the spring with the dandelion seeds caught in his hair bursting into yellow in the blink of an eye, he couldn’t play in his own backyard without making the grass need to be mowed twice a day, and sometimes, if they were fresh enough, he could make the cherry tomatoes in his salad take root right there in the dining room table.

Keiji needed an outlet. So his moms started buying him plants, letting him use his own money to expand his garden once he had a rather sizable collection. He always had a soft spot for succulents and how quickly he could make them grow without dehydrating them. They were soft yet waxy, and when he had bad days he could be uncovered up in the attic, blanketed by twisting and twining coils of aloe vera.

Sometimes it got out of control. But he doesn’t like to think about those times, and besides, he’s got it down now.

The brambles blooming from his skull serve enough of a reminder.

But anyway. Now is not the time to be reminiscing about his childhood. Keiji’s got a new neighbor across the street. Owl facts extraordinaire. Rather explosive. Headache-inducing, for sure, but so sweetly sincere Keiji hasn’t been able to quite get enough of him.

Bokuto Kourarou. Newest employee of the local tattoo parlour, Catte Black, and a regular loiterer at Keiji’s nursery, Aloe. Also hot. So hot. Like a tamale or something.

Keiji’s never had a tamale.

He’s also never had someone quite like Bokuto.

He does wish Bokuto would maybe buy something during his visits for once, instead of chattering on about his owl familiars and how wonderful they are with getting hard-to-find potions ingredients for him (it’s his hobby, and he’s very passionate about it). Bokuto chatters a lot. It’s not something Keiji is necessarily used to, but he finds himself yearning for it when he’s closed up for the night. Truthfully, he’d been rather lonely until Bokuto showed up- even in a huge city like this, friendships are hard for Keiji to find and maintain. Everyone just seems to demand so much more than Keiji is willing to give.

Bokuto, though… Bokuto is so easily satisfied it’s almost alarming. All Keiji needs to do, he realizes quickly, is listen to him. Bokuto wilts when he’s ignored, which is why, Keiji suspects, he spends so much time at the nursery, because Keiji loves listening to Bokuto talk. Could do it for hours at a time. Probably already has, actually.

There’s just something grounding about the guy (even though his constantly windswept hair makes him look like he’s about to take to the skies at a moment’s notice). Something that Keiji has been quietly wanting and waiting for his entire life. He doesn’t know what it is, just that he loves having Bokuto around, and wants to keep it that way for a long time.

One day Keiji finds himself at Catte Black on his day off. Konoha and Kozume, his only employees, had effectively shoved him back out the door when he had tried to enter (Kozume’s telekinesis may or may not have been involved in that particular act).

“You never take a break!” Konoha chided, crossing his arms and filling up the narrow doorway. “You’re going to run yourself into the ground, Akaashi, come on. Go out and let loose a little!”

“I need to tend to my plants!” Keiji protested. A little shiver of unease squirmed low in his gut.

“You’ll see them tonight when you come home,” Konoha said, flippantly waving his hand at him. “Now shoo.”

It’s true, Keiji lives right above the nursery and sees his plants every single day, but he still felt out of his element. “At least let me get my wallet and things,” he tried.

A black shoulder bag floated lazily over Konoha’s head. “Here you go.” Kozume’s voice drifted out behind it.

Keiji tried to glare at him but a snickering Konoha was still all he could see. He shoved the strap over his shoulder and huffed. “Guess I’ll go shop around.” He rolled his eyes. The brambles twitching on the crown of his head felt itchy. He absently scratched off a tiny bud, and it immediately uncurled into a perfectly pink little blackberry flower in the palm of his hand.

Keiji froze. Konoha seemed to know what was up, and called over his shoulder, “Yo, Kozume! Get his hat!”

Keiji’s floppy blue sunhat hurried out straight into his hands, and he gratefully smashed it onto his head, covering the mess his mistakes had planted in him. “Thank you,” he sighed.

“Yeah, no problem.” And now Konoha is watching him far too carefully, so Keiji abruptly turns heel and begins to walk along Wax, pretending to window shop but not having the slightest intention of doing so. He’s distracted, wondering how his plants are doing with him so far away, if Konoha and Kozume are taking the utmost care of them, if there’s going to be some unprecedented amount of customers and if he needs to be there and if his plants-

He pauses in front of a glittering display of leopard-print lingerie with magic-powered, moving decorative wings on the back of the bra. Maybe Konoha was right, and he really does need to loosen up. He blinks. The panties two feet from his face morph into a tiger stripe pattern. Keiji wrinkles his nose. He probably doesn’t need to be that loose. He keeps walking.

Unless… does he? What exactly is he looking for out here, if nothing more than a distraction? But he doesn’t think morphing panties are exactly-

-oh!

Keiji nearly smacks himself in the face. How could he have been so stupid? Bokuto’s right across from the nursery! Keiji can just go visit him!

He does a full 180, walking briskly back the way he came, almost running over someone’s sniffy-nosed daughter in his haste. He doesn’t apologize, because both of them take one look at the scars criss-crossing his face and hands and recoil.

The one-handed grip on his bag strap turns into two. Just ignore it, he reminds himself firmly. They don’t know anything.

Keiji gets almost a two-second glimpse of the sleek black-and-red interior of Catte Black before something very feathery and very angry launches itself at his sunhat.

He yelps and hastily scrabbles to grab at it with both hands, dropping to crouch in a tight ball on the floor at the same moment that someone screeches “JELLYBEAN!” at the top of their lungs.

Needless to say he is thoroughly disoriented by the time the shrieking mess of bird is removed from his head. Luckily, though, he doesn’t seem to be hurt. His attacker apparently was more concerned with scaring him than doing him any actual harm.

“Jellybean, I told you, you can’t rush at someone just because they have a big hat, big hats are not threatening-”

Keiji shakily stands up as someone chastises the irritably hooting bird and comes nearly face to face with none other than Bokuto Koutarou.

“And don’t give me that look, I- oh!” Bokuto stops in the middle of his sentence, mouth hanging open. Then he excitedly straightens out his back, grinning wide- the barn owl squawks as it nearly tumbles off his gloved arm. He deftly dodges the wing thrusted straight at his nose. “Akaashi! What are you doing here?”

“Day off.” Keiji hasn’t let go of his hat, and won’t quite look away from the owl either. “So this is the notorious Jellybean.” He’s heard a lot about her skittishness towards strangers. Bokuto said that she loves him, though.

She bites Bokuto’s ear. He continues chattering as if this did not happen.

Keiji stares.

“Um. Akaashi? You still with me here?”

His ear is bleeding. “Shouldn’t you get that taken care of?” Keiji asks, fairly concerned. He finally drops one hand to point at the injury.

“What?” Bokuto raises his free hand to pat at his ear, then brings his fingers, slick with blood, back to his line of sight. He blinks.

Then he’s off all at once, forcibly shaking Jellybean off his arm and tearing away the thick leather to free both hands. “Jelly!” he cries. “That’s my bad ear and you know it!” He trips over the front desk, where Keiji is startled to see a man sitting back languidly  in the rolling chair, feet crossed at the ankles and hanging over the edge of the dark cherrywood. Keiji didn’t even notice him.

The man uncrosses his feet and slides open a drawer, tossing a small crinkled tube of something at Bokuto with a certain catlike grace. He doesn’t even look, just keeps tapping away at his phone.

Bokuto catches it without looking either.

Keiji wonders exactly how prone Jellybean is to biting, or how prone Bokuto himself is to injury.

By the time Keiji tears his gaze away from the admittedly attractive man at the desk, who hasn’t paid either of them the slightest actual attention, Bokuto has already slathered his ear in bright blue salve.

Keiji finds himself staring yet again. “Uh, what-?”

“Oh, the ointment?” Bokuto interrupts excitedly (he tosses it to the texting man, who catches it and shoves it back in the drawer- all without looking). “Kuroo helped me make it! He’s an amazing chemist!”

“Stop, Bo, you’re making me blush,” Desk-Man drawls, finally looking up and grinning at the both of them. Oh, so this is Kuroo. His mouth slants way over to one side and his eyes glitter a dangerous kind of gold. Keiji feels a shiver slip down his spine and straightens up, hyperaware of the nervous curl and release of the blossoms beneath his floppy blue hat.

“Good afternoon, Kuroo,” Keiji greets evenly. “Bokuto speaks very highly of you.” He’s not lying. Bokuto squeaks loudly.

“Chill,” Kuroo says, and first Keiji thinks it’s a response to Bokuto’s high-pitched exclamation, but then Kuroo locks gazes with him and raises his eyebrows. “Put the magic away, I’m not dangerous.”

Keiji stiffens.

Bokuto looks curiously between the two of them. “Akaashi? Kuroo? What’s going on?”

Kuroo narrows his eyes. “What’s under your hat?”

Keiji inhales sharply. Everything around him seems to redden and dim. He can feel how tightly he’s gripping his bag strap, can feel it digging into his palms. But he can’t feel the pain of it.

His scars buzz.

Bokuto immediately recognizes the wide-eyed panic of a cornered Akaashi Keiji and firmly steps in between them, crossing his arms and staring down at Kuroo. “Hey,” he says. Sharp. “Stop intimidating Akaashi.”

Kuroo lifts his eyes to Bokuto’s resolute expression, then drifts away back down to his phone. “My bad.”

Keiji shoots a glare at him and scoffs under his breath.

Kuroo looks back up, running a hand through his already messed-up hair. “I am sorry,” he says, and finally sounds sincerely apologetic. “I’m a bit suspicious by nature. Had quite a few run-ins with unusually powerful magicians in the past, probably severely traumatized by it, blah blah blah.” He glances at a particularly deep gash right under Keiji’s left eye. “I’m just trying to keep everyone safe here. You understand, right?”

“I do,” Keiji says quietly, and breaths out slowly, loosening his white-knuckled grip on his bag. “And unfortunately this is not something I can just put away.” Kuroo’s eyes are far too bright. He doesn’t blink. “You understand, right?”

Kuroo seems almost surprised before snorting and swiveling around to finally stand up. He’s tall. “I like this guy,” he declares.

And that’s that.

Another employee slips into the front room, peeling off plastic gloves and absently clicking a tongue piercing against their teeth. Keiji can hear it clearly from well over five feet away.

“Ah, you must be Akaashi Keiji,” they say, looking him up and down. “Bo won’t shut up about you.”

Akaashi flushes. “Is- is that so,” he tries to say calmly, but it comes out a bit staggered. Tongue-tied.

“T-Terushima!” Bokuto stutters, red-faced.

The employee- Terushima- ignores him. “You here for a tattoo? Piercing? Tour? Boyfriend?”

“I’m just visiting Bokuto on my day off,” Keiji says.

“So boyfriend then,” Terushima concludes. Keiji opens his mouth to protest but they bulldoze right over him. “I’ll give you a tour then, if you’re going to be visiting more often you might as well know your way around.”

Akaashi opens and closes his mouth, not sure which point to refute first.

Kuroo rolls his eyes. “Just humour them, would ya? They want to show off their work to you.”

Akaashi looks to him hesitantly. “Why?”

Kuroo grins. “Well, you’re pretty cute, aren’t you?”

Keiji freezes, mouth clacking shut. Then he turns on his heel and storms right out the door.

It swings shut.

There is silence.

“What did you do that for?” Bokuto wails.

“I didn’t know he was going to react like that!” Kuroo snaps, but he’s already opened the door and is making his way down the sidewalk to where Keiji is stalking away with the tensest back muscles Kuroo has ever seen.

“Akaashi- hey- Keiji, hold up, I’m sorry if I upset you-” Kuroo reaches out to grab Keiji’s shoulder but thinks better of it, and decides to swiftly step in front of him to get his attention instead. “Hey.”

Keiji immediately stops. He won’t look up, the brim of his hat covering his face completely. “What do you want?” His voice is wracked with the tiniest of tremors.

Kuroo immediately feels terrible. “Hey, listen, I obviously said something that didn’t really… well, I upset you, and I don’t want Bo’s day to be ruined because I fucked up and chased you off.” He reaches out hesitantly, and, seeing no resistance, gently touches his hand to Keiji’s elbow. “I am sorry. I don’t think I’ve given you a very accurate first impression of me. In fact you probably think I’m an asshole.”

“Just a bit,” Keiji huffs, but he lifts his head, and scuffs his dirt-dusted boots on the cool gray pavement.

Kuroo exhales heavily, partly in frustration with himself, but mostly in relief. “Let me start over, alright? Back in the parlour?”

Keiji lets himself breath for a few moments, takes the time to ground himself in his surroundings. The chatter of passers-by as they mill from shop to shop, the hum and buzz of brooms flying overhead, the low whistle of a lazily wandering breeze. The smell of the crepe stand across the street, fresh berries and heavy cream and golden frying batter, rich and sweet. The contrasting chill of spring on his nose and cheeks.

Kuroo’s eyes are so, so bright.

“You’re housing something, aren’t you?” Keiji tilts his head to the side, speaking just loudly enough so only Kuroo can hear him.

Kuroo mirrors him, bangs falling in front of one eye. He grins. “Am I?”

And just like that, they’re on a level field again.

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#haikyuu #bokuaka #ao3 #fanfic #writing #bokuto koutarou #akaashi keiji

[ntshastark]

(this is a post abt my opinion re: the whole iron fist race controversy. please don’t read the beginning and think i’m defending the show, i simply say the good stuff first and the bad stuff last - also it’s 3am so this is a mess

ETA: i edited it a bit after waking up and added some stuff - it’s still a mess tho)

ok so when the danny casting was announced i was one of the few people who didn’t get mad at marvel, mostly bc i didn’t raise my expectations for an asian danny like most of the fandom. and, as i said on this post, i didn’t think marvel casting an actor whose skin color matched the character’s was a reason to be mad at them, especially to the point of boycotting the show. and i still think that, bc if you can overlook danny being white when buying/reading his comics, i don’t see why you couldn’t when watching his show. and who knows, maybe they’d manage to pull off not being racist despite the whole ‘white savior’ thing. i mean, the great wall did it. like, i didn’t really have much hope on it bc daredevil exists, but i was willing to give it a chance. and then the reviews started coming out saying it actually was a racist mess so i was like, yeah, ok, now ppl have all the reason to boycott it.

(parenthesis to explain why i joined the doctor strange boycott but not the iron fist one: i boycotted doctor strange bc of the ancient one whitewashing and the whole tibet thing, not the white saviorism. yes, it’s an annoying trope but if you threat and develop the poc characters well - which ds didn’t - i don’t personally think it’s that serious of an issue individually - as in: the problem is not really the trope itself, but how often it happens. it’s like the sexy lamp thing, it’s annoying, but imagine if we were gonna organize boycotts to every movie that does it. i even was gonna watch iron fist on an illegal site but my college started so i only had the - also very busy - weekend to finish it and illegal sites didn’t have subtitles yet - my first language isn’t english

also: a boycott is different than simply not watching. boycotting is collective, it’s organizing and it usually ends up with the ppl who participated getting mad at those who didn’t)

tbh after watching the show i don’t get why the bad reviews. as my friend put it, it was “not incredible, not exceptional, but good. the kind of show that we’re always wasting time watching but if it’s marvel/netflix everyone goes WOOOAAHH”. imo it was a lot like daredevil, just less gritty. and less racist.

now, keep in mind that i’m a white brazilian, so, while i’m affected by lack of/bad representation on international media, my understanding of what is racist to asian ppl doesn’t exactly come from first-hand experience. but like. the thing with daredevil (especially season 2) is that all asian characters were villains (plus elektra who’s on a grey line here) and had no personality. they were just walking fighting stereotypes. barely even talking. but iron fist had 1. the monks and colleen among the good guys. and, granted, the monks don’t really show up but colleen was amazing. i loved her, loved her characterization (disclaimer: i’ve read only like 4 comics with colleen in them), loved her friendship with claire, loved her relationship with her students, loved her storyline, especially loved how she was the one to defeat bakuto instead of danny, i’d be fucking pissed if that didn’t happen like that. (also a parenthesis to talk abt how the only undeniably good characters on the show besides danny were all women, 2/3 of them being woc - 2/2 if you’re not pretending, as i am, that that ooc barbara kean-esque mess of joy’s last scene never happened) 2. the villains were incredible. madame gao was still a stereotype, but at least she was explored more - and her men weren’t all asian, and were actually military-ish, so no “army of ninjas” mess again. and the one-episode ones were incredible (i’m talking abt the ones from the challenge - ...except the russian dudes tbh - and lewis tan’s character jfc - more on this later). like, even if they had little screentime, they were all unique and fun and i’d totally watch a show about them.

ok, so i’ve said the good stuff (and some bad ones, but always with a “but” after them). now onto the bs:

honestly, the biggest problem with this show is the main actor. i hate saying bad stuff about actors but finn jones was just not the right choice. and, yes, partly bc he’s not asian.

as i said on the beginning of the post, i was more than willing to give white danny a chance. after all, comics!danny is white and is a beloved character nonetheless (even if i’ve read basically nothing with him yet). but, god, it was torture to watch that show and see all the occasions where asian!danny would have not only fit perfectly but made it better and been able to say/do stuff that people need to hear/see, not to mention certain uncomfortable-to-watch moments, especially between him and colleen, that would’ve been fixed by that. like, honestly, i can number so much stuff on this show that would’ve been improved with that - even by a creative standpoint like holy shit i’m not even a writer and i’m itching to rewrite that whole show with asian-american!danny, it’s not only begging to be done by the story itself but it’s also such a fun challenge, it’s such a fucking huge missing opportunity, it’s so frustrating.

and like, the whole “he’s gotta be an outsider” thing (which has been refuted many times already anyway) isn’t even valid bc davos is played by sacha dhawan, who is british of indian descent. and, granted, india is in asia, but it’s so different from east asia that ppl usually forget it’s in the same continent (i guarantee you that the ppl using that outsider argument do). so it basically confirmed that danny being an outsider was never about race, but about not being born in k’un lun.

but anyway, as i said, it’s partly bc he’s not asian, but there’s definitely more.

i’ve already seen ppl commenting on how weak the fighting scenes are, especially to a show that’s supposed to be about that, and i agree (even if there’s some pretty neat acrobatics here and then). while that’s definitely not the actor’s fault, i can’t help but wonder how much better they probably would’ve been with an actor who’s a martial artist himself and could do his own stunts. i mean, this character is supposed to be the 2nd best martial artist in the marvel universe. so much of him is about the fighting, having someone who can actually do that stuff would’ve made the filming a lot less restricted bc they wouldn’t have to worry about not showing his face while doing more complicated stuff (which reminds me: the stunt double’s face is clearly visible when danny attacks those two first guards in the last episode).

but my biggest issue with finn jones’ danny is the way he looks. first of all, he’s a skinny kid with floppy hair. he looks exactly like what we in brazil call “estudante de humanas da federal” (aka a history/geography/philosophy/sociology/etc major from a public university. just google “estudante de humanas”, you’ll understand what i’m talking about - it’s not a pejorative term, just not exactly the ideal look for the character). basically, he’s a punk bitch. he looks ridiculous. when he’s doing (what assume is) tai chi it’s fucking laughable. the whole way he moves is just wrong, and the way he looks just accentuates that, which is why they should’ve hired a skilled fighter to play the part - or at least someone who looks like one. i repeat: fighting is such a huge part of danny’s character, it makes no sense to hire a skinny dude who looks like couldn’t even kick my ass. he just doesn’t sell it, it looks like i’m watching a comedy. like my friend said, “the dude spent 15 years training and his arm is thinner than mine”

i mean come on

like, look at lewis tan (yesss we finally got here) during his fight on ep 8. zhou cheng’s movements /mocking danny/ /while drunk/ are SO much more fluid and natural, it was fucking torture to watch that and see what we could’ve had like jfc LOOK AT THIS

THAT’S WHAT THE IRON FIST FIGHTING SHOULD LOOK LIKE I’M SO MAD MEET ME ON THE FUCKING PITCH @ MARVEL

ETA (25/03/17):

[link]

not to mention his body. like, hotness aside, that’s what an actual martial artist’s body looks like. y’know, with actual muscles. and i’m not above mentioning how show!danny has a beard bc finn jones looks 15 without it.

and honestly his acting is good but nothing stellar. i could swallow this pill if i had a cup of “ok but at least the guy is a fucking terrific actor” to help, but he’s just... nice.

#f: marvel #g: marvel films #u: mcu #g: marflix #s: iron fist #t: talk post #mari rants