#aaand might as well reblog this too

[mimsynims]

Fool For Love

part 9

~~~

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8

~~~

Author’s Note: Aaand it’s finally done! I always have trouble wrapping up a story, and this one was no exception… but I hope you’ll enjoy it!

This will be posted at AO3 at some point. (In fact, if I write more BG3 fics I’ll probably post it on AO3 instead of Tumblr, as usual. And I do have a few ideas actually…👀)

Thank you all for the likes, reblogs, and comments <3 it has definitely helped me keep going!

~~~

Astarion x reader/Tav

Tags: (mildish?) angst, pining, pining while fucking, jealousy, minor Karlach/Dammon, finally a happy ending for these two knuckleheads

Summary: You thought you knew what you were doing when you let Astarion into your bed. He doesn’t have feelings for you, and vice versa. Only…now you do.

To begin with, you didn’t handle it well. You tried moving on, and that seemed to work. At least you told yourself that it did.

Then something happened that gave you hope. Perhaps he feels something for you too, after all?

~~~

You find him on the path close to the archway, in almost the same spot where you talked to Bex mere days ago. You take a moment to study him from afar. It’s hard to be sure when there’s nothing but the light from the moon illuminating him, but you think his shoulders look tense. Is this your doing?

You wish you could hug him, offer to him relax in your arms.

“I’m afraid your personal blood bank will be closed for a while,” you joke as you walk closer, hoping it will lighten his mood. “For restocking purposes.”

Astarion doesn’t turn around, and when he remains silent for several tension-filled seconds, you wonder if your quip was a mistake.

“Did you mean it?” he finally asks.

The question takes you by surprise and try as you might, you can’t figure out what he’s talking about. “I’m sorry?”

“You said that you’d do anything for me. Did you mean it?”

Oh. That. “Yes.”

Your heart starts pounding as he shifts to look at you. Silvery beams of moonlight caress his beautiful face, a face painted with apprehension — and possibly hope.

“And what does that mean?”

“What do you want it to mean?” you ask in return, because you’re not ready to say those three little words. Not yet.

“Nice try, Tav.” His jaw tightening, Astarion suddenly looks closed off. “If you’re going to play coy with me you might as well leave.”

With that, he turns away from you again — and it feels like a stab to the heart. “It means,” you amend quickly, “that I care for you.” You’ve never been good at expressing your emotions. Never been good at opening yourself up to other people. And it’s scary to do so now. “Deeply.”

Astarion scoffs. “I bet you said that to Gale too,” he says, and the bitterness in his voice stings.

“I– what are you talking about?”

“I saw you. You went to him.”

Acting without thought, you rush forward to place yourself in front of him to make sure that he looks at you; he needs to fully understand what you say next. “It wasn't like that, we only talked. Astarion, you’re special to me.”

You steel yourself for another cutting remark, but you’re helpless against the sad expression that replaces the anger. “So special that you decided to end things between us?”

Fool. You’ve been a fool. “I ended things because I didn’t think…” Taking a deep breath, you tell yourself to be honest. “I did it because I was jealous and I couldn’t handle the possibility of you breaking my heart.”

His brow twitches in confusion. “You were jealous? Of who?”

You desperately ache to touch him, but you hold yourself back. “Shadowheart. Halsin. Anyone that I thought was sharing your bed besides me.”

“Tav. Darling.” He sounds exasperated but hearing the endearment again sparks tingles of joy and hope inside your chest. “I haven't invited anyone to my bed since we started sleeping together.”

Oh. Oh. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” For the first time since you found him, a small smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. “I thought you knew that.”

“No. No, I didn’t.” To say that you’ve been an idiot is an understatement. You’ve let yourself see things that aren’t there because you are insecure. “I haven’t either, you know. Been with anyone else since you.”

The smile twists into something teasing and sultry that feels more like Astarion. “Is that so?”

“It is, and I honestly can’t believe you’d think anything different.” It’s true. While you wouldn’t call yourself unattractive, you’ve never really been one to draw the attention of potential lovers. You’ve had a few before Astarion of course, but in general, people have been more inclined to remain your friend rather than try to pursue something more. “You wouldn’t have looked twice at me if you had seen me on the streets of Baldur’s Gate.”

“Now that is just untrue, my dear Tav.” He reaches for your hand, taking it in his. “As you so bluntly pointed out that night, my motives for seducing you may partly have been driven by self-preservation, but I chose you for a reason — and not because you're our reluctant leader.”

His slender fingers grip you tighter and the touch is exactly what you need just then. “Is that so?” you echo, attempting to sound teasing. You fail spectacularly.

“I was drawn to you even before I started to develop feelings for you.” Lifting your hand, he presses a lingering kiss on the sensitive skin of your palm before resting it against his cheek. “At first, I thought it was the need for your body that kept you in my thoughts night and day. But as I got to know you better, I realised it was your mind — you — that held my attention.” Closing his eyes, he leans into the touch with a sigh. “What Cazador had me do… It taught me how to read people. But you…?” He opens his eyes again to look at you, and what you see makes your heart skip a beat. “I thought I had you figured out, but you continuously prove me wrong. And I appreciate that more than I can express.”

“Astarion.” There’s so much you want to say. So much you need to say. But in that moment, you finally find the courage to tell him what you should’ve told him weeks ago, so the rest will just have to wait. “Astarion, I love you.”

His eyes widen in surprise as something vulnerable flashes across his face. After five heartbeats — you know, because you counted — he lets go of your hand to gently cup your neck.

The kiss is soft and gentle. Careful. In a way, it feels like a first kiss.

“Why didn’t you tell me that instead of breaking up with me?” He kisses you again before you can reply. “There you go again, doing the unexpected.”

You don’t even try to hold back a smile. “Have to keep you on your toes, you know. And I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure it would be welcomed, you silly goose.” To your surprise, it no longer hurts as much thinking back to that night. “First you disappeared and then when I found you, you were sitting between Halsin and Shadowheart.”

“My my, were you jealous, darling?” he drawls in mock surprise. The bastard.

“Of course I was!” You very carefully wrap your arms around his waist, ignoring the ache from your injury. Because you need to feel him against you, pain be damned. “Why do you think I gave Gale so much attention?”

“And got yourself decadently drunk, too. It was a glorious sight.”

“Oh shush, you.” Despite yourself, you laugh.

“I have to apologise, though, my darling. I, too, was jealous.” His breath is warm against your cheek as he leans forward to rest his forehead against yours. “I could tell something was troubling you, but you kept being so elusive. I assumed… I thought that meant you only deemed me worthy of getting access to your body, and nothing more.”

“Astarion.” The sincerity and sorrow permeating his words make you feel like a villain. “Gods, I’m so sorry, too. At the time, I didn’t think you’d be interested in anything else.”

“I want anything and everything you give me, Tav.” You feel his fingers slide down your uninjured side, gripping you as firmly as he dares to. Lifting his head to get a better look at you, his eyes lock with yours. “I love you, with everything that I am.”

You can see the truth of it in his gaze, can feel it in his touch. He loves you. Was it always there and you were just blind to it? Or did he hide his feelings, just like you did?

It doesn’t matter, you decide, because all you need to know is that he’s in your arms.

“You have all of me, Astarion.”

“My beautiful Tav.”

You share another kiss, and then Astarion insists you both go back to camp to let you rest. The thrumming pain of the wound is there, but it’s easily overshadowed by the warmth blooming in your chest every time Astarion throws a smile your way on your way back. His hand is still linked with yours — it’s such a small detail but it feels infinitely more intimate than anything else you’ve shared with him so far. It’s impossible to stop smiling — not that you’re trying.

He follows you to your tent but to your dismay, he tries to leave after he has made sure that you have everything you need.

“Please don’t leave,” you say, refusing to let go of him. “I want you to stay. Stay the night.”

“Tav, my love, you’re in no condition to have sex.”

My love. It almost throws you off course to hear the new endearment. “Astarion, my love,” you counter, and oh, it’s worth it to see his reaction, “I wasn’t suggesting we’d have sex. I just want you close. Assuming that’s alright, of course.”

“Really?” He sounds just a tad surprised; that’s something you and he will need to unpack before going any further. But not tonight. “Well, that I can do.”

It takes a bit of careful shuffling around, but you manage to find a position that’s comfortable for you both without putting pressure on your injury.

He’s here. In your arms. You didn’t think you’d get to have this, but he truly is here. Your contented sigh is nothing but a muffled exhale into his curls but he doesn’t seem to mind, giving you a fond chuckle in response.

“Are you sniffing my hair, darling?”

“No.” It doesn’t sound convincing even to your own ears. “Well. Maybe a little,” you confess. “I can’t help that you smell nice.”

“Oh, I don’t mind, pet. Your scent is quite enticing too, you know.” You feel his chest expanding as he takes a deep inhale. “Drives me crazy sometimes.”

“Since you drive me crazy on a regular basis, I’d say that’s only fair.”

“Why, you little cheek..! Just watch me be even more annoying from now on.”

“You’re not annoying,” you say, trying to hold back a yawn. “You’re just a handful.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Of course–“ you lose the battle against another yawn. “…you will.”

You feel the press of his lips against your skin. “Quite right.”

“Astarion?” Your eyelids start to get heavy, and for the first in what seems like ages, you feel completely safe and relaxed. “I’m so happy I have you in my life.”

“Me too, darling. Me too.” His hand slides down to find yours, lacing your fingers. “Now go to sleep, my love. I’ll watch over us. And tomorrow we will face whatever comes next. Together.”

~~~

[rinamars]

I always wondered what fics do my favorite authors read bc maybe if I start reading them too, I'll be able to write like them 😤 Kidding aside, can you recommend some Erwin x Reader fics that you really like/inspire you to write? I'm fine with on-going ones 🤩

little anon i could KISS you!! i've been looking for an excuse to make an erwin fic recs post so here we go *cracks knuckles* brace yourselves heheh (warning: most of these recs are 18+)

first of all: everything @riewritten has ever written. EVERYTHING. that goes without saying. her brain is so big. i wish i could take a trip inside her mind. rie ily

this is a story of the sea by shinzouing is a canonverse eruri x reader fic, where the three enter a relationship (or rather, erwin enters a relationship with both of them. levi and reader are idiots at first. the pining is so delicious though). where do i even begin to talk about this masterpiece? it broke me. it seriously broke me. i'm just going to say that the universe she has created in this story (as well as in the sequel which i'm going to talk about in a sec) feels so real and so right that when i finished it i needed a minute to remind myself what details that are ACTUALLY canon and what aren't. peak writing i swear. heartbreaking, but worth it.

after tiasots has broken your heart, go read beyond the sea by the same author and let it piece it back together!! it's currently being posted, and it's basically the continuation of tiasots BUT erwin survives at shiganshina (unlike in tiasots). again, same thing: peak writing, and a little universe it's sooo easy to get lost in. this story will end up living rent free in your mind, trust me.

aaand also set in the tiasots universe is certain obscure things!! it's three chapters, and in each of them they take turns between being dominant or submissive. this is smut that goes a lot harder than what you can find in tiasots but everything shinzouing writes is pure gold

to complete the eruri x reader category (aka the fics that made me go "i think i might be into the concept of throuples") there's two lovers by feelingthorny. it's also set in canonverse. erwin and levi are in an established relationship, one day they invite reader into their bed, and... Big Feelings ensue. i have another fic by feelingthorny by recommend, and oh man, she truly has a way of writing emotions that is so evocative and poetic, it truly drags you into the moment and you are able to feel exactly what they are feeling, they're so immersive. the smut parts literally drip with body worship, it's insane. beautiful.

the other fic by feelingthorny i HAVE to mention is close call. this one is pwp, but FUCK this erwin is SO DREAMY. and, as one might tell, the writing is just marvelous.

next, i recommend every! single! fic! that belongs to the to build a home series by nylondreams. the romance, the intimacy, the tenderness... ahh, they're so lovely to read. and *cough* the first fic in the series gave me a breeding kink *cough*

more recommendations in the "horny fics that also made me fall in love even more" category: e major, uncorked and treasured memories, all by whatsherquirk. delicious. that's all i'm going to say.

prying eyes by SecretsOfHarprocrates is in my opinion a depiction of erwin that's very close to how he'd behave in canon (if canon included sexy times)

four christmases by ghost_party was !!! ok i don't really know what to say about this one because it's been a while since i read it, but you have to trust me and check it out!!

i think that's all for now, i hope i haven't forgotten anything (if i have i'll just reblog this post and add more). happy reading <3

now PLEASE give me an excuse to make an eruri fic recs post (or even a levi one)

[venturelovebot]

Fluffcember Day Twenty Seven: Family Gathering mixed with Coming Home

A/N: These set of headcanons might be a little weird because I based it on "coming home from a family gathering", so hopefully that makes sense. Prompt list is by @fluff-cember! Written in headcanon format. Comments and reblogs are deeply appreciated but not necessary!

Warnings: None! Pure fluff!

🎄 A heavy sigh leaves your lips as soon as your hips hit the car seat.

🕊️ "Alright. So, we visited your family last week." You think aloud.

🪽 "Check." They smile.

⛄️ Sloan gets in the car next and buckles their seatbelt. You do the same.

❄️ "Aaand we just got done visiting mine." You add.

☕️ "Check." They repeat.

🍪 They start the car and it hums to life. You're immediately blasted with warm air and your cold face slowly begins to melt.

🎁 "All we need to do now is–"

💫 "Go home." You both say in unison.

🔔 "Haha, jinx!" They grin.

🎄 You shake your head as they start down the salted highway.

🕊️ The sun had all but vanished from the sparkling twilight sky. Stars flicker into view one by one as the world slowly continues to spin.

🪽 You reach for your phone and plug it into the aux cord.

⛄️ "I'm sick and tired of Christmas music." You huff.

❄️ You play something a little more to your tastes.

☕️ "Your parents seem to enjoy it!" They joke.

🍪 "Ugh! Don't remind me." You roll your eyes. "I love them to death, but... they're a little too festive for me."

🎁 "Mine can be the same way sometimes." They sympathize with you.

💫 You lean into the car seat and relax your stiff body.

🔔 The two of you had been dining, lightly drinking and playing games the entire evening.

🎄 You were so ready for some peace and quiet.

🕊️ "If you need me to drive just let me know." You tap their knee.

🪽 "I'm good! I promise!" They keep their eyes on the road as they head towards your shared home.

⛄️ "You're insane at board games, by the way!" They compliment you. "I'm telling you, I'd love to have you over for DND night."

❄️ "You know I don't understand that stuff." You smile from their kindness.

☕️ "I'll teach you the basics! It'll be a lot of fun, I promise!" They add.

🍪 "Maybe next year." You joke.

🎁 Though, to be honest, you have thought about joining them before.

💫 It's just...

🔔 You never really preferred going to gatherings of people.

🎄 As an introverted human being, one or two groups of people was more than enough to drain your energy.

🕊️ It wasn't that you didn't enjoy the company.

🪽 You were just... not huge on get-togethers.

⛄️ You could withstand it a little longer with family. Holidays were special occasions and all.

❄️ All you really wanted to think about right now was going home and having a nice cup of hot chocolate to unwind your nerves.

☕️ Maybe some television, or a good book, too.

🍪 Sloan, on the other hand, thrived in social situations.

🎁 They got along well with everyone despite their awkward sense of humor.

💫 It added to their charm more than anything.

🔔 You wish you knew what it was like to be an extrovert– if just for a day.

🎄 But, then, you wouldn't be you.

🕊️ "You're awfully quiet." They nudge you as they sit for the stoplight.

🪽 "Just thinking." You look over at them with a halfhearted smile.

⛄️ "About what?" They verbally poke you a little further.

❄️ "About you." You cheekily lie, but it isn't inherently false, either.

☕️ "Oh! Like how I'm handsome and charming?" They look at you with a grin.

🍪 "Uh huh. Strong and kind, too." You reach over to pinch their cheek. "Mom absolutely loved you."

🎁 "Iconic, because mi mama loved you, too!" They lightly laugh.

💫 Well, you certainly loved her as well.

🔔 You're glad after all the family gatherings you've been to, they all ended with good memories.

🎄 You felt more than welcome in both Mexico and in Canada.

🕊️ Nevada, too.

🪽 Perhaps that was the most important part of it all.

⛄️ Good memories with good people.

❄️ Your heart feels light and warm all of a sudden.

☕️ "We're almost there! Ready to crash for the night?" They ask.

🍪 "Absolutely." You answer.

🎁 It isn't long afterwards that you pull into the familiar drive way.

💫 Your boots get kicked off right next to theirs.

🔔 Gloves are stuffed in your jacket pocket. Beanie gets shoved in the free one, and it gets hung up in the closet in the very end.

🎄 "Hot chocolate?" They open the fridge.

🕊️ "You read my mind." You smile.

[hirazuki]

I'm an idiot and completely forgot that the only thing I was waiting on for a Maeglin cosplay was a longsword, which... I've now had for a month ^^;

SO threw together a quick costest for the lad today. Mostly pleased, though there are a few things I want to adjust; and I need to figure out if the reason his eyeliner/eyeshadow color isn't showing up properly is because it's too dark or because of this particular lighting/phone camera setup (I decided on dark blue for him, but it's not showing here the way it is in person).

Also, with thin clothing like this, compression bra/binding doesn't cut it for me, and I wear my silicone torso to change up how the fabric drapes on me -- so I wore it today, to make sure my clothes still fit with it on (as these are just my daily clothes lmao). Aaand, since I already went to the trouble of wearing it (it is a huge pain in the ass to take on/off), I figured might as well take some fun photos too -- enjoy, under the cut! XD

. . .

[Well, there were fun photos but tumblr won't make this post visible to y'all if I include them so T_T It was literally just shirtless + sword, good grief.]

Edit: I added them via a reblog, which you guys should be able to view below!

[glorydioxide]

Well, apparently, a pinned post.

Name's Frankie, mostly they/them or he/him, but don't really mind an occasional she/her.

Things I am obsessed with: adult coloring books and colored pencils, Superjail!, #shtfoe (my and my partner's roleplay AU, Superjail and SVTFoE crossover, you might want to check their blog out, it's awesome), MARILYN MANSON, aaand that's kind of all for now, I don't posess a broad list of interests at the same time, too exhausted and low on energy to have a lot. I also occasionally enjoy playing Spiritfarer, Cult of the Lamb, Don't Starve and Terraria.

Things I also am: plural system (there won't be much stuff on this blog about it), amateur cover singer, prophet of Random, roleplayer, BPD enjoyer and day-to-day chronic fatigue survivor.

This blog is a safe place for:

- neurodivergent people, people with personality disorders (especially the whole cluster B, you are very welcome here)

- people with low/no empathy (I have none myself)

- proshippers (I am not into fanfiction and mostly cannot read it due to personal issues, but I am pro all things fictional and will not bully you over something you're into)

- trans-, enby and people who use various complex labels for gender identification. (I believe that no one can know you better than you know yourself).

- people of various religious and spiritual beliefs

- sex workers (I work for the industry as well)

This blog might not be safe for you if you are:

- a minor (I am and adult and do occasionally post/reblog NSFW or things that might be upsetting)

- an antishipper, and/or otherwise believe in thought crime (I do not, and while I will not harass you, you might quite likely be uncomfortable with what I post/reblog)

- a radical feminist (same as above, our views might be to different for you to be comfortable with my blog)

- a russia supporter (I am Ukrainian. Kindly gtfo)

- a bully (I do not participate in bullying and am quite likely to just block you if you try to engage me in it)

I don't have DNI's, so just check out the stuff above to see whether you feel like interacting. If you have any questions, feel free to send me an ask or reply to this post.

This blog is mostly reblogs for now, might start posting some of my own stuff soon.

[hieravian]

Uhh I noticed a lot of peeps have intro pinned posts so I'm making one too

Hi!! I'm Rhain, also known as Hiero sometimes, aaand I'm an 18 year old transmasc game art student! Any important info about me + my interests are here on my carrd. I also have commissions open right now which you can find here! it will help fund my university experience <3

This blog has been through many. Many. changes. but now that I have it aligned with my online presence elsewhere i think it's gonna stick now LOL. we ignore my pre-mass effect posts.

expect sporadic art posting, ocs, and some fanart alongside reblogs!! this blog's gonna be my space and i will treat it as such :D

I might be more picky about dms on discord but on here feel free to dm!! less of you want to steal my steam account here lols, i don't bite and am MORE than happy to talk about whatever!!

tag directory below the cut <3

art: #hieravian art reblogs: #hieravian reblogs misc: #hieravian rambles my oc universe: #hieravian universe: nivera or hieravian universe: other my characters: #character: [CHARACTERNAME]

veilguard spoilers will always be under #datv spoilers, sometimes #veilguard spoilers as well

[gay-ppl-real]

Next day reblog!

aaand a wee ramble about the making-of!

I worked v hard on this one. Made myself a new pencil brush for the lineart, because I wanted it to have that fine, slightly grainy feel of Clown's art but neither the baseline or my normal wobbly inking brush got it right, retrained myself on "how to draw the WH characters" to give it a fresh, softer, more canon look (and I do like the new ones a lot more. You might see them drawn in this style again going forwards lol), referenced very extensively for their winter outfits... had to make a colour palate up for Frank's one because there isn't actually a canon coloured version of THIS winterwear for him. Designed a new tartan for it, too... and came up with a new method for adding noise and colour tints!

For those who don't know, I've been making comics for a long-ass time now. I made multiple (total flop) original webcomics in my teenage years, I have an ongoing but on hiatus (also total flop) Slice-of-Life webcomic called Kosti and Opphi, you might have seen chapter 1 my IZ fancomic Sent PAK-ing here on my Tumblr, and I've been workshopping the story for a plot-driven fantasy comic on and off since 2020.

I'm always looking to improve the quality of my comics, and I've always felt like my pacing falls short and the way I structure pages is graceless and not very thought out. I think I often rush through dialogue and don't give enough time or space to things like establishing shots, atmosphere, and panels used to convey emotion and body language. So, my challenge to myself with this one was to pace it carefully, and lay it out so it'd flow well. I think I did okay!

I can never just come on here to do what I came to can I

Just wanted to post a short, 4 page minicomic. The culmination of a couple week's work. Please expand to view properly; I put a lot of detail into these :)

This scene and dialogue were pulled from the Studio Ghibli movie, Ponyo (2008). I've thought for a long time that Ponyo's "There's water coming from your eyes!" seems like a very Wally thing to say (especially if it's the first time he's seen someone cry!) and from there I just made up a scenario where the dialogue from that scene would make sense.

I've been thinking a lot about the Homewarming update (tis the season, y'know?) so Eddie ended up the Mum/Lisa stand in, making Frank the most obvious choice for a Sosuke stand in.

What DID happen to Eddie? Where did he go? I dunno, you tell me your theories! This isn't intended to imply anything/theorise about the Homewarming update or anything like that; just playing around with a fun idea :3

Aaalso while thinking about this I was hit by a Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind AU with Frank. Being a whisperer for giant bugs and having compassion for a recovering ecosystem? Being Nausicaa would be right up his alley! So mebe I'll draw something related to that soon.

[blockgamepirate]

Spoilers for the poll I just reblogged

Embarrassingly the one that didn't click for me was the ghost one

Despite the fact that I was a Joe main for years

In my defence, I never really imagined the Jhost thing happening on Hermitcraft. I always figured that was more of a separate Joe Hills stream lore thing I guess? Because AFAIK it never actually affects the actual Hermitcraft videos? Idk, it makes sense in my head. But I assume that for the purposes of the poll that counts.

Especially since Doc losing his arm is much more obviously something that definitely didn't happen on Hermitcraft, even tho in my mind that's more canon than the Jhost since Doc still has the robot arm on Hermitcraft even though it predates him joining the server... but it didn't happen in Hermitcraft

But yeah, Scar fed the NHO to the alien thing or whatever in s6, the turf wars happened in s7, Herobrine shows up in the Area 77 plotline in s6, I don't remember the Renbob lore all that well but that hyperdrive thing def sounds like a thing that happened and I probably even watched it happen I just don't remember anymore. Grumbot got introduced in s7 and expanded upon in s9 (maybe also s8? I don't know, I heard he was in Ren and Doc's lore somehow but I didn't watch any of that), aaand I assume the rap battle is about Helsknight in s7. Oh yeah and also the house swap in s7 altho I mostly missed that plotline, or at least the details of it. I think I only watched Stress, Zed, Cleo and Joe at that point and not even all of them consistently, and I don't remember if any of those four ever actually explained what the story behind the house swap machine was. Because I don't remember any of that. I might have heard about it on the recap but I can't retain information that I've only heard on the recap lbr.

(I really lost motivation to watch Hermitcraft around the mayoral election (I hate election arcs as I've mentioned*), and stopped watching completely around when the turf war started; that's the whole reason why I originally got into the Dream SMP which was just starting to become popular around that time as I lost interest in Hermitcraft (temporarily))

* yes, there was also an election arc on DSMP, and in fact that very nearly made me quit watching it too, and I probably would have if the timeline had worked out even a little bit differently. I happened to be just far enough behind (as I was catching up) that by the time I made it to the election arc, in real time it was actually already over, so I was able to literally just skip the whole thing lmao. Just as I had gone "ew, election arc, I'm not watching any more of this" I heard that the election arc had actually ended in some kind of disaster and that piqued my interest just enough that I checked out the stream where Techno joins the server (as it had just happened) and... that got me properly hooked. It was the perfect timing.

[writelives]

jealousy prompt i reblogged at some point | @jiwone asked: “Sometimes I wish you weren’t so hot.  Everyone ogles you and I hate it.” aaand... this one too.

Anyone else might take offense to the words he offered to her but when she heard such words fall from his lips, she took them as a compliment and her lips quirked into a smile as gaze settles on him. He's seriously so attractive when that jealousy shows, she likes to see it, she likes it when he's jealous in such a way she has never liked on another person before him. He was so special to her . . .

She makes it a point to lean against him in front of all these people, her arms snaking themselves around his neck and normally she'd be on her tiptoes by this point but she was smart enough to wear heels today that made her less shorter in comparison to him ( though she loved their height difference because it was everything to her to be smaller than him ).

❛ Well . . . You could kiss me right now in front of all these people so they know that I am yours and yours only. ❜ That'd be so hot, hell, everything he does is so hot that'd just be one more hot thing about him and everything. She speaks once more, so softly only he could ever hear just as she had her first set of words. ❛ Or . . . You could always gouge their eyes out later for daring to look at what's yours, my beloved jiwoon. ❜

Her words are followed with soft laughter, words only meant to be that of a joke. It was too bad she had no idea that he could easily contemplate those words that she spoke, that he could easily bring those words to life. Where she found a joke, he might find a true solution.

[littleblackwing]

Haha, making a blog-post on my tumblr other than just reblogging all the good stuff? What is this? Well, anyway, I just wanted to share some thoughts and it felt like twitter is not the best for this.

Soooooooo... I started learning Japanese! And your first thought might be “oh yay, good for you!” or “you are crazy” and I agree with that. I feel crazy but at the same time I’m curious, scared, overwhelmed and lost sometimes, I’m also motivated and I feel all sorts of different emotions. It’s going okay so far, I started last weekend and by now I know all hiragana/katakana (with katakanas I still don’t know all the combinations but oh well...). Also, the added challenge is that I’m doing this with English resources and obviously I’m not a native speaker but I think I can manage it somehow (since the resources in Hungarian are just... kinda crappy and old school, sigh...).

I want to document this journey a little bit so I hopefully won’t lose my motivation or goals. Although documenting is a pain and so is learning something new. Because let me tell you... I’m the most curious person about things but if I lose interest or something else happens... I tend to procrastinate and not just for a shorter time but for longer (or I just lose interest forever). And I hate that part of myself and I have been trying hard since last year to change it. It’s going really slowly but hey! I continued crocheting that blanket I want to send to my buddy. Also, I read some books (even though they were “only” light novels) and continued some others hobbies. So I think that’s an improvement?

At the beginning of January an ad popped up on Facebook for an online course about Japanese and I was curious and it bugged me, I almost submitted the application but then I didn’t. I wanted to read about it a bit more, think about if it would be worth it and then a few days later I decided I’m gonna apply. Then I went to this site but turned out I waited too long and didn’t check properly the sign up deadline, I was two days late. :D I was a bit bummed and angry at myself for not checking the deadline properly but I thought I would sign up in March when a new study group starts up. I was fine with this idea for a week or so but then it started bugging me again... I read tofugu’s advice on learning Japanese but it seemed a bit scary even though it felt the most efficient way and I knew I wanted to learn it as efficiently as possible. So I started reading about what else is there and found a few posts like this from Bonyari Boy and then u/SuikaCider‘s post on reddit and their live google document. They all seemed to be talking about the tofugu way but the way they described it seemed more possible to do it than tofugu’s guide. What does this mean? Basically, ditch learning the kanas by writing them over and over again for at least a month, just learn them under a few days and later you can learn the writing as well. Then start learning the kanjis using mnemonics and at the same time/or after you know like a few hundred, start learning grammar. That’s it in a nutshell, it seems easy enough right? I mean, there are obviously a lot more going on than this but it kind of motivated me. I started looking at the offered options to learn the kanjis and decided for now to try out the WaniKani site and then learn about Anki in the meantime. Also, every single one of these documents suggested to set up a goal you would like to achieve so I have a few in my mind. I mean it’s obvious that 86 is a big part of it right now but even if in a few years I won’t be so invested I’m going to be forever a weeb and there will be new stuff that may have a manga/light novel not translated to English and I will want to know what it is about. Or just understand some of the youtuber’s I watch without subtitles and some live events aaand those Japanese artists I follow on twitter, I want to know what they are tweeting about (or the little comics they post, it’s so tiring to use Google Translate and it kept translating poor Fido’s little “Pi” to “Bitch” - that was hilarious, though). And yes, it will take time (please Szi don’t give up ) but I was thinking if I can keep learning it intensively every single day for at least an hour it may take only a year or two... and that is such a little part of my life. I guess it’s just creating a habit out of it and placing it in my routine. It’s not easy as one day is only 24 hours long and I have to work, do chores and other things but yeah, here I go!

Well, this was a long read and if you are still here whoa, thanks! I can’t guarantee I will keep this up to date but I wrote this as a draft like 9 days ago and posting it now and since then I’m still doing WaniKani every day, so maybe there is hope? 

[marmota-b]

Aaand further thoughts on this subject sparked by the above reblog branch. I'll do a bit of tooting my own horn here, because I think I can use it to demonstrate the principles behind writing such a thing realistically. In a story of mine I have a Narnian lord - Peridan - working the fields. But, important distinctions:

One, he's not a king, he's a lord of a local manor. We know from canon that he's probably someone of high standing quite close to the kings and queens; but he's still in a different situation from a king. Those are his own fields in his own lands where he lives and he's directly responsible for them. Failure to work them properly one way or another could lead to starvation of people he's directly responsible for, and moreover even himself. Those fields are one of his main sources of income, too (and he needs that income to take care of his people; he's got employees for one thing).

Two, this is Narnia, most of the people aren't human and can't work the fields the way he can. When he's seen doing various types of lowly manual work throughout the story, it's largely because, well, those are often things that require hands with opposable thumbs that not all other Narnians can do, or it's things that need a bit of physical heft and a lot of other Narnians are tiny in comparison to a human. So there's a limited number of people who can do them in the first place and he's one of them; and often it's something he's doing because it needs doing right now. Or it's something he's doing because he predicts it will or might help his people later (and, again, he's often one of few people who can do it to begin with).

Not that I state all of this explicitly in the story; but I did think it through before publishing it, and try to make sure I cover my bases. I hint at some of it by having him do his bookkeeping at one point, too - this is someone who's running a household and needs to work with a budget. As another example, he has a spatious, representative hall in his house that gets used for humble practical purposes on an everyday basis but is still also used to hold a big celebratoray feast, and he mentions other feasts with important individuals at another point in the story - he doesn't strip it of its representative, ceremonial purpose, he just adds to it so that it doesn't remain just an empty burden around his neck for most of the time. And I try to paint his humbleness and good responsible leadership in other ways (like the way he treats other people and talks / thinks about these things). All these situations where he's doing all the mundane stuff are more supporting evidence of it than a shorthand for it; my POV character ponders the nature of it in contrast to less exemplary leaders. It's a sort of healthy balance of show and tell where I try not to rely solely on either of them.

So. Nuance and context. I can happily have my humble leader working the fields trope, as long as it makes sense in context and doesn't exist for its own sake. (When people say tropes are tools, it means that they are/should be used for a purpose.)

Nuance is that he's perfectly capable of being the representative lord when needed, and he's doing all those things for reasons beyond "I'm a humble person who despises pomp" - I keep stressing that he's pragmatic. Context is that it would not make that much sense for the king(s) whose leadership role is inevitably less hands-on than that of a lord of a manor. Your humble responsible hands-on king is far likelier, on an everyday basis, to keep wading through documents and statistics and reports than mud and manure. But maybe you can, like I did with my Narnian lord, figure out a worldbuilding context where it does make sense. That's fine. That's good. As long as it's thought out and not just slapped on as a two-dimensional strawman shorthand.

I really don’t dig the “a good ruler hates kingly pomp and would rather be laboring simply among the dirt and the chickens” trope. I don’t hate it as a character trait, but when every. single. sympathetic. ruler. in a work of fiction has it, my eyes start glazing over a touch.

Like you can have a good (even a humble) monarch whose comfortable with pomp and formality. It doesn’t have to be an ego trip, it can be a matter of accepting the dignity inherit in the office.

[shingia]

suna, iwa, tadashi, and atsumus reaction to their s/o getting hit in the face with a volleyball and crying?

✗ HQ BOYS REACTING TO THEIR S/O BEING HIT IN THE FACE WITH A VOLLEYBALL

I LOVE THIS TY FOR THE REQUEST and sorry it took me so long to post it, school was kinda hectic 💀

-> suna, iwaizumi, yamaguchi, atsumu

-> reblogs are and will always be very sexc <3

pt.2

— SUNA

• let’s be honest here : his first reaction is to laugh. and it takes him a painfully long amount of time to realize that you’re actually not ok

• at first he thinks you’re being a bit dramatic, but then he replays the scene in his head and he’s like « oh fuck. that hit them in the face ? »

• absolutely PANICKING on the inside, but barely shows it - which is actually very reassuring

• he knows he’s supposed to check for any sign of a broken nose or any bruise on your cheekbones, but he can’t focus on anything while you’re crying

• unfortunately - and as we all know it - volleyball shorts don’t have pockets, so he doesn’t have any tissue close at hand

• he thinks about wiping your cheeks with his jersey, but he’s afraid that it might not feel very nice to have your cheeks wiped with an already sweaty cloth

• so he just uses his hands, and you have never seen him be so careful while touching you - he acts like you’re made of thin glass

• he’s really good at making people stop crying, especially when they’re physically hurt - probably has a lot of experience with his sister (my hearttttt 😩)

• absolutely babies you for the rest of the day because, as i said, he’s used to do that with his sis

• but it only takes him a day before starting to tease you. because now he thinks it’s peak comedy to give you huge warnings before throwing the smallest things at you, like an eraser or a hair-tie

— IWAIZUMI

• he has never ran so fast in his entire life, literally crosses the court in a split second

• if he’s the one who spiked it (first of all : how are you still alive ?) he’ll apologize for hours. but if someone else spiked it then they better start running now

• well, actually they have a few minutes to start running because iwa wants to make sure you’re not hurt too badly before he starts yelling at them (or hitting them, depends on who it is)

• he’s probably the one who reacts the most calmly, he perfectly knows how to handle the situation and immediately takes you to medicine cupboard in the storage room

• and the pain suddenly seems much less sharp now that you’re being taken care of by him. you’re not sure if it’s because of the ice pack or because he’s being extremely attentive right now. maybe both

• he most definitely orders you to go back home right after, but he promises that he’ll meet you there once practice is over : and the least you can say is that iwa is a man of his word

• aaand a man who takes the time to buy you a few snacks on his way to your house. mainly because he feels responsible for this little accident

• he probably forbids you to ever come to the gym ever again. and if you don’t listen to him then he’ll make sure that you at least stay as far away from the court as possible

• and he won’t hesitate to pause his training to tell you off if you try to come closer : he’s not joking

— YAMAGUCHI

• he’s absolutely mortified. why did he have to hit the ball so hard ?

• he is afraid that it might be considered as domestic abuse, poor boy is already thinking about what he’s going to say in front of a judge

• probably the most scared out of the four, and his reactions are a tiny bit dramatic

• because he lets out a literal scream when he sees you crying

• so you start to scream too because you think that your nose must at least be broken for him to have such a huge reaction

• basically you’re just two panicky messes who need the help of a third person to calm down (probably one of the third years because let’s be honest, the other first years probably didn’t even see what happened)

• i think yams would hug you for three reasons : 1. he hates to see you cry 2. he’s stuttering too much to apologize with words, 3. he starts to overthink everything and fears that you might suffer from internal bleeding or something, so he’s absolutely terrified

• he definitely needs to be reassured so please just tell him that you’re ok

• his biggest fear is that the impact might leave a bruise on your face, because he knows it’ll be painful to look everyday

• so he smears almost a whole tube of ointment on your face, and he won’t listen to any of your complaints

• also, he beats himself up pretty bad afterwards, so plz reassure him AGAIN because he probably thinks he’s the scum of the earth for hurting the person he loves

— ATSUMU

• *insert a thousand curse words in kansai dialect*

• his first reflex is to cup your face with both his hands and to apologize profusely. but atsumu is very very tactile so the best way for him to apologize is by placing as much kisses on your face as he possibly can

• but your face is already burning from the impact and your nose is still very sensitive, so you have no choice but to push him away and wince in pain

• that’s when he starts to panic : did you just break up with him ?

• he will never admit it but he is this close to start crying too

• everything he does from that moment on is to 1. make sure that the pain is going away, 2. make sure that you won’t dump him later

• and he knows he will be much better at number 2, which is why he thinks it’s more clever to ask for help for number 1 : so whoever is the closest to him is being ordered asked to go get an ice pack

• probably tries to blow on your face to cool it down, he’s trying his best ok ?

• once the ice pack is here, he lets you hold it against your nose yourself because he’s too afraid to hurt you again

• but then he feels bad for letting you do it : basically, he’s in complete panic

• once the tears have stopped, he has to physically refrain himself from booping your nose. and by that i mean that he literally holds his own hand back. it takes him a few days to allow himself to do it again

🏷 taglist : @toworuu @catwithangerissues @miyumiya @livy384 @k0u-minamo2 @fullsundear @hsjvwq @boo-marie @hiraeth-z @velvetvirgos

click here to be added to the taglist <3

[spitefulcrepechan]

Allow me to spend the next few minutes rambling about why yall are stupid for hating Ice Juggler Cookie just because they're "rude"

Also since idk Ice Juggler's gender I'll be using they/them pronouns for them.

So the major complaint ive seen people have against Ice Juggler is the fact that they're very passive-aggressive and rude towards people. Not rude as in like Devil Cookie rude but like Karen-level sort of rude

I can understand why, some people just don't like rude cookies, some prefer more mellow cookies like Herb Cookie or depressed cookies like Sea Fairy Cookie

My issue however is that people are unjustifiably hating Ice Juggler for being rude without seeing WHY they are so rude.

And I'm here to insert that knowledge into your skulls with 2 simple bullet points

1. Their job in the circus

Jobs aren't always fun, the very definition of a job isn't to be fun. While people can have fun or are content with their job, some people don't exactly like it for various reasons; Too stressful, bad work enviromemt, low pay, etc.

Some people could argue that working in a circus, specifically as a clown, would be a very fun job. Other's however could argue that its bloody hell. While I can't say this for anyone, I can see why that other side would say that.

Picture yourself as Ice Juggler, you're suppose to go around on stage, rolling a ball around beneath your feet while you juggly at ice cream scoops while people laugh at you. You're struggling to try and keep the ball rolling, keep yourself juggling, and make sure you don't crash into anyone or anything, coupled by having to jump from ball to ball. One slip up, and people will either laugh at you or boo in disappointment, and if you get the latter, your boss won't take kindly to that. But if you get the former, you're probably still gonna be a bit pissed because people are laughing at you getting seriously hurt. I know the intent of clowns are to be comically injured, but Ice Juggler isnt a cartoon, theyre a living breathing cookie who can get hurt. And while it may not be so bad the first time, having it happen to you over and over again could probably chip away at your sanity.

And before you ask "Well, Ice Juggler can just get a different job if they don't like it!" You're still just be assuming shit simply by force glance. The circus could probably give them decent pay and they seem to be capable of doing their job right, so they may WANT to leave their job but they may NEED to keep it, either because Ice Juggling's the only good thing they're good at (duh its in the name) or because theyre need to money.

2. How they're treated at their work place

Even if they do passionately love juggling and rolling on balls, the way their boss, Choco Cup Cookie, treats them is just atrocious

(Credit to Royal Mike on youtube for the screenshots)

An example being how Choco Cup Cookie tells Ice Juggler Cookie to shut up after judging an audition of someone, later saying "someone might hear you"

Publicity is one thing but the welfare and the freedom of your employee's speech is another, and this is clear evidence that Choco Cup neither cares or is ignorant about how Ice Juggler feels about shit.

Now some people may assume that Ice Juggler is being way too mean about the cookie's audition, but we dont exactly see what the cookie's audition was. It could have been atrocious, it could have been brilliant, we're never told this. We just know that Ice Juggler found it awful and Choco Cup found it "not so bad", which may hint at it actually being as awful as Ice Juggler implies but for now, again, its just speculation.

The point here is that Choco Cup isn't allowing Ice Juggler to voice their opinion/criticism, especially when theyre doing a task THAT GIVES THEM THAT OPTION. The cookie auditioning asked to be judged by Ice Juggler and Choco Cup, and Ice Juggler gave them their judgement, to which Choco Cup tried to shut them up for.

Aaand to make matters worse, Choco Cup's literally telling Ice Juggler that they're not allowed to express their emotions, which Choco Cup's clearly aware of, since it'll damage the circus' reputation.

Dunno about that but clearly that is a sign of some major fucking mental manipulation.

If you have to say that one's emotions will ruin your company, then honey, your company is already running straight towards hell

Especially when you have to physically shut them up. (For context for those who weren't around during this event (like me), its Banana Cookie's turn to audition and its implied that Choco Cup covered Ice Juggler's mouth giving the *URMPH*)

And before you assume that Ice Juggler is being a douche solely for being a douche

Bitch

Literally saying that Banana Cookie's performance wasn't all that bad. Wasn't great, but wasn't horrid either.

EVEN BANANA HERSELF SEEMS AWARE ABOUT ICE JUGGLER'S CRITICALNESS AND WANTS SOME OF THEIR CRITICISM

AND WHAT DID GUD OLD CHOCO CUP COOKIE DO?

Put words in their fucking mouth

Am i making my point clear?

Can you see why ice juggler is so pissed? Because their boss is literally prevent them from being anything more than an ICE JUGGLER

Literally go to hell choco cup

Sorry that this one was alot longer than part 1 but i felt like i had to expand a bit more on this cuz theres a lot to unpack here. Theres some more atrocities Choco Cupfuck has done but this is prob enough to show a good reason why Ice Juggler is rude af

Anyway i hope yall like this post and while youre valid for disliking Ice Juggler, i hope you at least understand why they have one of the reasons you potentially dislike them for. Feel free to add your optinions or anything i missed, reblog, whatever

[period-of-nocturne]

"I'll be right back", I said. Well here I am one minute and thirty seven second later (no) to elaborate on line distribution ! (no full song tho) Mostly on RPG, a bit on Jigsaw Puzzle and if I'm not lazy on the Otome game but I might let that one up to you to see my vision. Especially now that I made a bad move and everything I had already typed just went gone… But nevermind !

Restarting again cause of a stupid manip… I guess that fits with RPG after all… xD I'll mostly go on the dub part more than the song I realized right now while cheking the song that the first line is "Yearning to be a hero someday", hello Tsukasa Tenma Followed by "Gathering a group of four" hi Emu Ootori

"This is a bug right ?!" Unfortunately no, Nene. It's not. (btw Mafuteru and the Tanuki are Nenerobo and Mikudayo of course) any scream during the chorus part is indeed Tsukasa Tenma

Aaand here we are, the conversation part Rui : So everyone, let's teamwork, okay ? Now you need to close you eyes and imagine it hard enought to pretend it's real, but can't you picture Emu going too fast and leaving everyone behind while Nene desperatly try to make her come back and slow down ? Because I can Then Nene call the guys for help… But Tsukasa is busy screaming and running for his life because of Rui's antic (Typical day at Wonder Stage) Nene complaining that if Rui does that to her she'll never forgive him while Tsukasa… keep screaming

I really have nothing for the singing part guys so let's fastforward… To Tsukasa's special attack, of course. This man screaming an absurd special attack name so proudly, can't you already hear him ? Emu : huh ? (geniune confusion) Nene : huh… (cringing) Rui : Huuuuuuuuuuuh ? (smug) Tsukasa : OMAERAAAAAAAAAA !

Now's the only serious part, the bridge is Emu and Rui. "At the end of the world (the show ?), on the other side (backstage ?) if we finally defeat the Demon King… When the end roll plays (curtain close?)… Where will our tommorows be ?" Or to put it simply : "What will we do once everything will end ?" … Yeah the plan was to ruin y'all's day with that one

"That may not be a bad thing, after all" "It want to spend my whole life venturing, staying up late with you playing RPG !" WxS-coded end of song, damn. I'm gonna cut here and reblog again for the sake of not doing a stupid manip again

Can I keep going about songs HCs. I have a damn full list of "Mafumafu songs that would fit PJSK characters" you need to hear me out. I'll go in team order (I have none for VBS btw) So for Leo/Need I think I think Yuurei would be a really good Ichi Shiho duet. It's like, them during the main story There's Merry Bad End that I want for Honami too. Also because of main story. And she would kill that laugh. (It honestly fits Mizuki too I think but I have too much songs for Niigo) For MMJ I only have one and it's specifically for Airi It's I couldn't become a super-nuko after all. Half because Airi is allergic to cat but loves them like Mafu, half because if you replace "super-nuko" with "Idol" it also fits her in the main story to some extent. For WxS it's actually an AtR song and a SoraMafuUraSaka song (you know which one) The AtR one is underrated, would fit WxS a LOT and would be freaking cute. a girls alt would be especially cute here accroding to my brain. It's One Know-How Way to Change the World The second one is obvious, you know it's RPG already. But I have some specific thing in mind for it ! I'll just develop that later because it'll would be a lot of typing to add in this too-long post. And here come Nightcord at 25, who already have two of his song. But hey tell me you don't want to hear them on Jigsaw Puzzle. Some lines fits them so well I think I'll also elaborate on that. Also I think it's the most likely to become real if I pray hard enough for it. It's now Mizuki time, I have two songs for them ! The first is never talked about, it's Tosenbo (it means "keep out" "stay away") I beg you to check the lyrics. And the MV. We could put a cherry blossom, carnation, Mizuki and Ena and it'll be peak Niigo rep. The second is a well-too-known and a bit obvious, it's I Want to Be a Girl But I don't even say so because I believe in transfem Mizuki, I just think it fits in regard of them wanting to be cute and... everything. She could come out at anything else than transfem (very unlikely tho) and the song would still fit you know ? But there's really few chance this one becomes real to avoid people thinking anything is confrimed about her I think. My last one is for Kanade, it's Hitodomoki. It'll obviously never get real, this song feels too personal to be added in a rhythm game. But it makes me think of Kanade nonenthless. Well, Mafumafu wasn't the choosen producer for the Untilted for nothing, after all. Also her soft and... "weak" voice would kill it I think. (that sounds Ironic but really I think it'll become a strenght here) I lied I still have some ! For mixed units ! Things that will never exist ! Yeaaaay ! (crying in a corner) I have FPS for the CGO Squad Nene would be Urata, Toya Soraru, Emu Mafu and Akito Sakata, basically (it's not about colors it's really the vibes they give and the line distribution) And in a similar way, I think about their Otome game song for the boys. I also have some thoughts I need to elaborate on for this one But basically, Tsukasa would be Soraru, Rui is Mafu, Urata is Akito, and Toya is Sakata by elimination. It needs a bit of adjustement but it works well I think Well that's a lot of songs. Go check that (or not) whenever you want I guess. I'll be right back with a bunch of line distributions because there's never too much brainrot

[queenofbaws]

Just cause you reblogged that second prompt list, can I get 4 or 10 from those dialogue prompts for climbing chrash? Both are just so perfectly them that I couldnt decide, so I'll let you choose which one moves you best.

(not quite) six sentence weekend

The three of them might’ve been newbies to this particular game, but the Washington family had been steeped in this bullshit since time immemorial; there was really only one thing that could make a publicist grimace like that (especially one as Teflon-slick as Conrad-fucking-Bishop), so Josh didn’t even wait for him to make his way across the rest of the room before he started his own little survey.

And there, almost perfectly at the ten o’clock stroke of his mental map, they were.

Now, he could’ve done a lot of things. He could’ve…well, for one, he could’ve put his drink down. Didn’t. Could’ve. He also could’ve nudged Ashley. Again, didn’t, but again, could’ve. He could’ve cleared his throat and proposed some sort of bullshit toast in front of all these fine people. Didn’t, could’ve—the same old song and dance. What he really wanted to do, though, what he really, really, really wanted to do, was jam two fingers into his mouth, whistle like a drunk uncle at a football game, and watch as they all jumped clean out of their skins. Ah, but even that he didn’t do.

Could’ve. But didn’t.

He waited until Conrad had more or less waded through a solid three-fourths of the mingling public (stopping every so often to slip someone a business card or exchange fake-ass greetings, even once or twice shaking hands with people who he only vaguely recognized from his pop’s days of sitting in the director’s chair) before bringing the others in on it, speaking lowly over the neck of his bottle. “Hey, so am I crazy, or—”

“Yes.”

He slid his eyes away from Conrad and towards Ashley and hoo boy. He should’ve known. Should’ve figured, really. She was in prime form, their little auteur, the corner of her lip pulled in tight between her teeth, the nail of her thumb peeling madly at the nail polish on her other hand. Of course she would’ve seen them—she always did. Still, Josh just sighed, propping one of his elbows up on Chris’s shoulder to use him as an impromptu armrest and prop in his unbothered act. “You didn’t even hear what I—”

“Don’t need to,” she shot back just as quickly, doing the little routine they’d grown accustomed to since all of this attention from the public began again; a neat little tug to the hem of her shirt, a rolling of her shoulders, fingers tucking her hair behind an ear. It was her own ‘too cool to be affected’ shtick. He didn’t find it terribly convincing, but that was probably just because they spent so much (some might even say too much) time together. “Even if I didn’t already know what you were going to say—which I do—that friggin’ look on Conrad’s face just sort of…seals the deal.”

That was when Chris decided to be a part of the conversation, of course. Picking on Conrad always seemed to have that effect, like it was somehow helping him get some measure of decades-late comeuppance for all the playground teasing he’d been the brunt of, back in the day. “Why are we looking at Conrad’s face? There’ve gotta be better things to look at. Example: The sun. An open nuclear reactor. A…oh Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ.”

Aaand there it was.

He polished off the last sip of his drink before setting the empty bottle down, slinging his newly free arm around Ashley’s shoulders so he stood connecting the two of them like some sort of parasitic ivy. Not an unfit metaphor, really…not when you stopped and thought about it. “So what’re we thinking?” he asked, “Happy hosts? Vengeful victims? Personally I’m sort of feeling the asshole artists route, but I’m, as always, open to suggestions.”

“Heyyy guys.” As he took his usual spot just to one side of their huddle, Conrad’s grimace became more of a wince. “Sooo…if you haven’t noticed, we kind of have a, well, let’s call it a reunion on our hands here.”

His answer was flat. “Aw man. Seriously? Here? Now? Say it ain’t so.”

“Do you think they’re going to leave decent reviews on Rotten Tomatoes? Or should we just sorta assume they weren’t into it?”

“An excellent question, Cochise. Perhaps we should butter them up.”

“Oh ha ha, this is real funny for you guys. Emily slapped me upside the head while I had a concussion, then threw me backwards to feed me to those things.” The sheer force of Ashley’s glower seemed to crank the room’s lighting down a couple notches. “Pardon me if I’m not really feeling up to like, sitting down and offering to sign her friggin’ book.”

“For what it’s worth,” Conrad piped in, “I’m also not especially looking forward to dealing with that one. Sooooo…”

“So,” Josh picked up where he left off, “What I’m hearing here—and stop me if I’m wrong—is that we should be the ones to take the situation into our own hands.”

His silence spoke volumes. The exasperated look on his face spoke libraries. “That is absolutely not what I’m saying, Wash.”

“Mmm, pretty sure that’s the gist I was picking up too.” Chris met his eye with a pop of his eyebrows before leaning over past Conrad to glance Ashley’s way. She groaned (as expected), but all it took was one well-placed, “Ash, c’mon,” for her to fold like wet origami.

She took her phone out of her pocket, and though the frown on her face might’ve had passersby believing she was genuinely put out, she didn’t make so much as a single move to shrug Josh’s arm off her shoulders. The lady, he thought, doth protest too much. “This is just gonna make them madder…” she said in a singsong, typing out a quick message and hitting send, immediately turning her attention away from them and towards the refreshments table.

Josh couldn’t help but grin as, lo and behold, Taylor lifted her head from what she was doing (read: making a point to find and demolish only the most expensive of the alcohol offered at this little premiere whats-it), glanced at her phone, and then turned to them with an expression every bit as intrigued as it was put-out. She mouthed something their way, and though she had that frustrating habit of exaggerating the movement of her lips as she spoke, it was easy enough to translate. ‘You sure?’

He nodded, sliding his hands up to the back of Chris and Ashley’s heads to bobble theirs along with his. Taylor smirked at that, raised an eyebrow in a second silent question, and that time it was Ashley who took the reins. She held her hands together in front of her in as subtle a way as she could, then spread them apart in a pantomime of an explosion.

“Oh I hate this,” Conrad muttered, though he too simply folded his arms and tilted his head to get a better look. “You assholes make this job so much harder than it needs to be.”

“Your fault for signing onto a Josh-Wash production, my good man,” Chris snickered. “You knew what we were about from the get-go.”

“That doesn’t mean I hate it less, Hartley. You get that, right? Just because you’re making me richer than God doesn’t mean I have to—”

But whatever half-assed complaint lay beyond that word, well, they just weren’t meant to know; that’s when Taylor made herself real comfy-cozy, plopping down into an empty seat not at their table but close enough, leaning over and saying in a voice more than loud enough to cut through the buzz of chatter from the who’s-who, “Oh holy shit! You’re all the Blackwood kids, aren’t you? Fuckin’ sick!”

Josh waited until the first of them (Sam, of course, it was always Sam) whirled around in their seat before he dropped a wink their way, giving a prim little finger-wave with the hand hanging by Chris’s shoulder. “Let the reunion begin, friends and fans. I’m feeling so goddamn…hospitable.”

[anditendshowyoudexpect]

ATTENTION DETECTIVE ANNA FANS

English subs for season 2 of Detective Anna made by yours truly can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13mhdlnphRbZIA8YKL8N14njn9PSmvZSl

or here: https://dl.subdl.com/subtitle/1789766-2512472 (but you should stick to the GD link bc i might occasionally make corrections, so the most recent version will always be there)

i am doing this absolutely for free and whenever i have spare time and often i don't have the time to rewatch the episode after i'm done, so please forgive any typos, translation (shouldn’t be anything big tho) and timing errors. this started as a favor for a couple of friends but this fandom is small enough for all of us to be friends, so enjoy :)

i add the new files (two at a time) to the folder roughly once a week (and occasionally update the older files too when i find some horribleness, so if you plan on rewatching the show more than once, you probably should check and redownload as needed - or maybe just simply wait until i'm all done. i will be, eventually)

reblog (even if you’re not a fan, you might reach someone who is), tell your friends

upd: Stars Media is uploading official translation on one of their YouTube channels

upd2: aaand my work here is done! season 2 is now fully subbed, so if you were waiting for me to finish, the wait is over, go ahead and watch it (and then you might just as well read my fanfic set after season 2)

upd3: and here is the soundtrack to both seasons

upd4: since not everyone knows how to work subtitle files, i'll copypaste one of my comments to this post. i probably should have done this sooner. to use these subtitle files, you need to download the videos, either from youtube (there are sites and browser addons for that) or, if it's safe for you, from torrents, e.g. this one. you will need your video files and your subtitle files have the same name - then your video player normally automatically loads subtitles as you watch the video (here's what Microsoft says in case i wasn't clear)

here is one option graciously shared by the lovely @ka10019 : (1) download the SRT files, (2) use the (completely free) VLC media player to stream Star Media’s YouTube content, (3) while video is playing use VLC’s “Add Subtitle” option to link the corresponding SRT file. Very easy 😊