#this probably should have been two seperate posts oh well

[omni-writes-stuff]

Giving Dragon Age's Creation Myth and Elven lore a shot

(Some dumb ideas and ahead - below are some ideas of how I'd rework the lore) Creation: Spirits representing concepts came before humans and dwarves. They were raw, simple organisms that spawned into existence from the Fade. Where spirits resemble dreams and consciousness, dwarves and the other first-fleshy things were purely physical at first.

Titans were the "First Singers"; primordial shapers - preceding the spirits, they formed much of what makes the physical world today. Unlike the spirits, they are formed purely of Lyrium. They built their mountainous bodies. They then built the first beings with dwarves being their first children. Lyrium sunders dreams. It makes things fixed and more concrete. Without Lyrium, there would only be the ever-changing Fade. (It is unknown who made the Titans and the Spirits or what came before) More yapping under the cut (incl. the elf stuff)

Humans were accidents - essentially, dwarves that were made too tall and too "strange" for their liking. Because the Titans favoured dwarves, the humans were left to live elsewhere on the surface, whilst the dwarves lived in harmony within their makers. Some spirits decided that they wanted bodies too. Occassionally, they'd possess these simple vessels. This made certain beings more complex than intended. The Titans were annoyed by this so they consulted the spirits and made bodies tailored for them - the first elves were born. (They could have done better than tall, beardless dwarves with pointy ears but that's what they wanted. Who am I to judge?) Elves: After getting used to physical forms, the first elves quickly became more complicated. More "human" before humans or dwarves became self-aware as they are now. As such, they were the first to make many mistakes. Due to their spirit nature, the early elves were highly attuned to the concept they represented. Complex, yet still one-dimensional. Though immortal, they could not live as haphazardly as they could when they were spirits. Physical things break pretty easily, and these bodies were no exception. So, the elves needed guidance in order to survive. Thus the first Keepers were appointed. Some would later become worshipped by the modern elves as the Evanuris. Many, however, became forgotten. The Evanuris in particular rose to prominence, surviving the longest and performing many great feats during their existence. For all their brilliance, they were also prone to corruption, for they were still spirits at heart. At first, they learned many things from the Titans and were on good terms. But the Titans would not teach the elves their Lyrium song. Then, the Keepers led their followers to war with the Titans, even going so far as to force or coerce spirits into bodies. The Titans were winning. They were made of the very substance that could return the elves back to spirits. Then along came the Wisdom spirit who became Solas. Mythal chose well, for he tricked a Titan into learning its song. Using it, the elves safely forged a Lyrium Dagger and sundered the Titans from their dreams. Their most favoured creation, the dwarves, also suffered, due to being so heavily connected to their makers. The war was won. Before the last Titan was tranquilled, they warned the elves of a comming Blight. They didn't know what this meant at the time. The elves used the Song to harness Lyrium to their liking. They could shape the physical however they wished, just as they could when they were spirits. Only this time, they were complex enough to make wonderous things. They could make new beings, bodies and change their shape. But the Evanuris grew to see their dual natures as spirits and demons as a source of their growing corruption. So they attempted to rid themselves of their demonic aspect. The Evanuris (except Mythal) sundered themselves, creating the Archdemons, housed in terrifying dragon vessels made by June. Mythal instead accepted her dual nature. This didn't help. Even a benevolent spirit can commit heinous actions in accordance with its nature. Slavery, war, hubris and so much else only continued to fester. Their Archdemons were enforcers and generals, but they were also protectors. Then the Blight came - the Corrupted Song. The Archdemons agreed to try and end the Blight. It worked, to an extent, but they could only cast it away into the Void, where they had exiled so many others. In doing so, they became blighted and the Evanuris were forced to put them to sleep. For a time, there was peace, until Mythal was betrayed and murdered out of fear. That sparked Solas' rebellion against the Evanuris. To defeat them, Solas saw no choice but to divide the Fade from the Physical, creating the Veil. The Evanuris were tranquilled. Their spirits, cast into the Void with the other Forgotten Ones. Eons passed. The world changed. And the Blight sang from within the abyss, waiting for the day its song would escape its prison.

[hopalongfairywren]

HElllo hi i heard you were willing to ramble about egg lore? (<- knows nothing about egg lore but somehow ended up writing a fic about the egg and i need to pay for my sins)

Oh boy. Where do we fucking BEGIN! (This answer will be late and probably go on so many side tangents) Alright, so I'm just gonna recap the "smaller" events leading up to and surrounding the early part of the egg lore first. The Egg arc was so long I could probably make several long posts JUST for recapping the general events that happened in roughly chronological order as well as important tidbits to the egg lore. That's assuming either the ADHD spurred motivation fuel I'm running on while writing this doesn't dry up, or that I get the kind of motivation to write more posts this long from other asks like this. I'll also try to do more seperate posts on the more lore analysis-y side of the egg arc. So like how the egg's story was impacted on a more meta scale by the way the dsmp's story over all was being played out at the time by its' creators, the implications of its existance in both dsmp fanon and canon... IF I'm motivated to that is.

The Egg arc began when c!Badboyhalo found the "egg" in his statue room, which he was digging out to make way from the Dreamon Hunters (totally different lore plot, but that's for another niche dsmpblr blog) He soon showed it to c!Sam and c!Dream, and for context those two had been terraforming a part of the SMP close by the Badlands and therefore the statue room in order for Sam to complete the giant mega prison Dream had hired him to construct.

Bad was immediately drawn to the "egg" (which was called that because of it's shape and not because at that point it was confirmed the thing was an egg), where as both Dream and Sam were immediately weirded out by Bad's sudden affinity for it and the own bad vibes it gave off to both of them. Shortly after leaving the statue room, they spotted red vines growing by first by Hutt's Pizza - and then shortly after at Bad and Skeppy's mansion. This was extra concerning because they reasoned no player could have spread those growths up there on the surface, to those two different locations, in the time they were all down in the cave. This creeped Dream out enough he tried to manually remove the growth at the pizza place. This caused Bad to become agressive and he attacked Dream for 'hurting it', reasoning that the vines were beautiful. And it spread even more rapidly after that, with red vines being spotted growing around Jschlatt's grave, even on the Power Tower in L'manberg. Bad became even more attached to the egg and it's various offshoots, even nicknaming the egg "baby".

At this point most people on the server who interacted with the egg were, understandably were uncomfortable with the rapid spread of the vines and Bad's weird devotion to it. (Execptions to that being c!Puffy, c!Ponk and c!Antfrost who agreed with him) Bad and Ant eventually both started hearing voices from the egg, commanding them to spread the vines even further, while Puffy also started exhibiting the extreme fawning and obsession over the egg at that point. (She nicknamed it Eggy) Bad and Ant actively started spreading the vines; at c!Punz's tower and Sam's base. They also started urging other people to follow them back to where the Egg's main structure was, presumably in order to persuade more people over to becoming obsessed with said Egg. Sam tried putting a stop to this by trying to move the egg's structure physically, but he was stopped by Bad and Ant. The conflict was broken up when Punz came over, and remarked that he found the egg strange but "ultimately harmless." (Punz later elaborated that he was actually neutral on the egg and leaning towards viewing it as a potential threat, but to avoid direct conflict just wanted to see how everything would unfold. He also refused a proposal from Sam to fight Bad and Ant should the need arise.) Ponk was yet another case of someone initially opposing the egg but coming to view it favoriably. He had seemingly mixed opinions for a while, admiring the beauty of the vines but also being creeped out by the degree of devotion Bad, Ant and Puffy were showing to the egg over all. Ponk Eventually went to visit the Egg's main room and actually touched it. Like Bad and Ant, he reported hearing the egg make audible noises. Unlike Sam and Ant, he did not apperantly hear distinct words but rather "growling". Overtime, Ponk started referring to the egg as beautiful as well. Also he too began pushing for Sam to "join the egg" Leaving off here, with the next post (if it happens) being on the canonical timeline of events leading to most of the egg's followers disinfecting at that point, until probably the establishment of the proper eggpire. And then the red banquet of course gets it's own special post.

[practicedvmm13fullofpotatoes]

Leftenmost Window bits that drive me to insanity

(LONG POST. AGAIN. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED)

Sam went into the story and thought "You know what? Female character time"

"Cry. Cry, cry, cry" AJ, I LOVE YOU BUT YOU SOUND SO SILLY I HATE IT /aff

AJ using myself twice in the same sentence bugs me for some reason help

"But my Egburt isn't a killer" and AJ immediately says a hypothetical that completely ignores what Sam said

"Would you rather be a gardener who has to go to war or a warrior who has to learn how to plant a garden?" SIR WHY ARE YOU ASKING YOUR DAUGHTER THAT? SHE AIN'T GOING TO WAR, SIR, DON'T WORRY

"I think the second one's probably safer 😃👍" YEAH, PROBABLY

"Are you saying that my Egburt is the gardener who's gone to war?" "No, no--" If I had a nickel for every time AJ completely ignores what Sam said just to say a sentence that makes no fucking sense, I'd have 2 nickels. Honestly, it's odd how I only remember it happening twice

"Don't be too hard on father! He gets his words mixed up" Luke came in to save AJ but then screwed him over again on accident with "after that injury in the Boer War in South Africa"

SALLY AND EGBURT'S WIFE JUST BARKING AT EACHOTHER AND THE "ORDERRRR" FROM THEIR FATHER

"Thank you, sister" GIVE HER A NAME GODDAMN IT PLEASE THEY NEVER GAVE HER A NAME I'M SOBBING SO SO HARD

"He promised me he would" MA'AM? MA'AM. THAT'S A BIT SUSPICIOUS, MADAM

"Yeees, it's the- that time" TRYING TO GET THESE TWO TO SEPERATE SO IT DOESN'T ESCALATE BACK INTO ANOTHER FIGHT

"Uhoaohh"

"There's only one trench you should be in" Sam. Please. No premarital sex. Wait until you two are married/wait until Egburt comes back alive

THE FIRST TIME WE HEAR EGBURT IT'S AJ TALKING??

Sam mentioning his mother and then her just appearing "Aah! Oh the migraines!"

AND THEN LUKE CHIMES IN AND CALLS AJ EGBURT?? HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE EGBURT BUT NOOOO, WE NEED MORE SAM AND LUKE CHARACTERS WHO ARE CANONICALLY TOGETHER

"Thewomeninourfamilyhavealwayshadagift.." "O..kay?" SAM IS SO CONFUSED BY THIS SHE PROBABLY THINK HER MOTHER'S INSANE (SHE KIND OF IS THOUGH???)

TOM JUST GOING INTO THE AUDIENCE AND CROSSING THE SEA OF PEOPLE OR IN THE PLAY'S CONTEXT THEY'RE CROSSING A SEA OF SPIRITS THAT FIND THE MORTALS' SHENANIGANS TO BE HILARIOUS

"HEY, I'M NOT DONE! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M IN THE ASTRAL PLANE RIGHT NOW! D:<" IMPLIES THAT YOU CAN GET STUCK IF THE SPIRITS DON'T MOVE ASIDE??

"But- wait" SHE WANTS TO GO BACK?? THIS HAPPENS TWICE, BY THE WAY?? HONESTLY YEAH THIS IS PROBABLY WHY SHE'S ILL

EGBURT AND AJ'S CHARACTER LOOKING AT TOM'S CHARACTER AS IF HE DIDN'T GET SHOT IN THE THROAT PREVIOUSLY

"Neither did I" YEAH BECAUSE HE ISN'T A SCOT??

"What are you knitting over there?" "Scarf :)" "For you, Captain Egburt" SAM LEGIT JUST MADE LUKE EGBURT. HE WAS NOT EGBURT. HE WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE EGBURT

"Aye. That was me" NO BUT REALLY. YOU JUST SAVED A GUY WHO GOT SHOT IN THE THROAT AND SOMEHOW IMMEDIATELY FORGOT ABOUT IT?

Odd how Egburt didn't get shot when he stood up but Tom's character did. Same for AJ's character

DID SAM'S CHARACTER MOAN WHEN HE GOT HIT? I'M SOBBING SO HARD WHAT??

"How old are you?" HE'S YOUNG. THAT'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW 👍

"Medical Arena" WHY IS THEIR MEDICAL AREA AN ARENA? TO MAKE SURE THEIR PATIENTS END UP TRAINING SO THAT WHEN THEY RECOVER THEY'LL COME BACK BETTER THAN EVER? HUH???

Tom just going "😃!" when he and Sam said Egburt at the same time (Tom has the best expressions I swear) and then immEDIATELY TRYING AGAIN TO SEE IF THEY SAY IT IN SYNC

"It's me" "And her mother/And my mum" YOU MEAN BOTH OF THEM CAN JUST COMMUNICATE TO THE SAME PERSON? IS SHE GUIDING HER DAUGHTER?? PROBABLY, YEAH??

TOM NOT IMMEDIATELY CATCHING UP TO WHAT SAM WANTS TO SAY

"Lie down in the--" "NO, GET BACK" but aren't you two ALREADY in the astral plane? Is there an astral astral plane??

"The women in my family have the power to project their consciousnesses across space and time.. Well just space, I've not checked out time" Nah, sis, don't worry, your great great grandson has 👍

"I said I'll come back don't worry and then I kissed her on her forehead" LUKE WAS GOING FOR THE DIVORCE PLOT

"You're a gardener, not a warrior, a gardener!" Ah yes, referencing your father's nonsensical metaphor. At least she understood that part

"You took HER to OUR garden?" LUKE REALLY GOING FOR THE DIVORCE PLOT HERE PLEASE GUYS YOU AND YOUR FIANCÉ AREN'T MARRIED YET COME ON

Hans and Heimlich are such a duo I love them so much. "No no, I don't want to speak to you >:(" Why does it seem like there's more to this than just Hans not letting him drive. Why is there some romantic tension here and the other Hans is just the third wheel

"Just double-checking for the scene.." Hans and Hans' reactions are understandable. What scene are you talking about, Heimlich?

Tom's German soldier not knowing his team. Sir, you have trained with them. What do you mean you don't know that one of them listens to American music?

why did you call your father darling after he called you darling?

"She told you about that?" GIRL THAT'S HER HUSBAND, OF COURSE HE WOULD KNOW

SALLY BEING NERVOUS AND A BIT GUILTY. LUKE WAS REALLY GOING FOR THE DIVORCE PLOT UNTIL TOM CAME IN

"I have a closer relationship with father, he tells me more!" You mean your MOTHER? SHE'S the one who has the powers because the WOMEN of the family have the psychic powers.

Luke did a complete U-turn from the divorce plot. AJ then took the wheel and turned the car back to the divorce plot. Thank God we have Tom to save the plot from being darker than it already is

"The Xavier house" THEY'RE THE XAVIERS??? YEAH I WISH I HAD KNOWN/REMEMBERED WHEN I MADE THE NUTB HEADCANONS

"And now I return it to my mind because it's- it's good" MADAM? MADAM THAT'S A BIT 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂, MADAM

TL;DR: Sally is the only Xavier to have a first name mentioned in the play & Mrs. Xavier is a 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴

[pareidolla]

hi!! holds up hand. in a more ideal situation (interpret that how you wish, maybe liike in the leaving together ending?) who do you think would broken have the healthiest relationsip with? both other voices and vessels.

oh, what a fun little question! upon reread i realize you might've meant a romantic relationship but i wrote this with mostly friendships in mind. however, i literally adore every broken pairing so i suppose this could still be read either way ♡

might be a little unexpected, but i imagine for 1-on-1 settings that broken would be hanging out with cheated most of time. ironically, where broken's bitterness tends to be ignored, cheated is way more friendly than people give him credit for.

broken frequently laments he's never been listened to, but cheated actually does listen to him! when you choose to surrender in the arms race, the other voices are against it, but cheated says it's worth a shot, and he's never harsh when speaking to him like the others. out of everyone he'd probably understand why broken has completely given up, and that he has good intentions despite. i can only think he'd be upset if forced into the apotheosis route (blacktabbygames on my hands and knees, please please please-), but most of his rage would be directed at the princess for rigging the game than anything the voices did.

i imagine cheated probably gently urges them to hang out together if broken's up for it. they'd do little activites like cleaning the church together, board games, sitting quietly as the rain falls, going out on a little rowboat on the lake to do some fishing and accepting their bad luck when it inevitably capsizes. divorced dad energy as i've seen someone say.

oh! as a bonus, for my own voices, chichi always huddles broken into his coat or offers it whenever it gets crowded since he knows broken doesn't do well with being looked at + broken reminds him of his family (flinching) :3c

hmm, as for the other voices, i think broken would have a nicest friendship with smitten and paranoid but they'd tend to clash more. which isn't a bad thing! smitten would definitely go overboard trying to cheer broken up and make him feel a little uneasy, while broken would undoubtedly assert that they are not destined lovers on equal footing with the princess, but i think they would still enjoy each other's company despite their differences. guys hated for their swag (unapologetically killing tlq).

paranoid meanwhile i think of as an exasperated mother hen. he wouldn't be overtly friendly like smitten or cheated but the first to check him over for any harm. have you eaten today? did you shower? you're making gloomy expression again, what are you thinking about? we need to go shopping later, your clothes are all ragged- and other clucking. the two are always pushing and pulling against eachother but i think of para as his closest friend because of it. tough love, baby!

as for the vessels⸻

WOUNDED WILD. ITS WOUNDED WILD AND IT'S NOT EVEN CLOSE.

(they make so violent. congratulations brokewild for inventing heterophobia 🎉)

i sometimes see posts where opportunist is jealous of witch/thorn and i think we should give tower the same treatment. her weird ass should stay grumbling by her temple's window as she watches broken and his friend clumsily dance in the garden. literally the virgin vs chad meme with these two.

i like to think in an au where they're seperate from shifting quiet that beast-wild would struggle with her personhood, and perhaps try seeking forgiveness from a deity since she can't forgive herself. she meets broken and they become sad little kindred spirits found whispering excitedly in the backpew.

and last but not least damsel! dambroken are quite similar characters in the sense they're both highly subservient to their lovers to the point of figuratively becoming nothing, so i always think of their interactions as the "and so, they were both bottoms" meme.

i actually think they'd actually clash a bit upon meeting. damsel's heart would break seeing her husband in such a sad state (in her mind everyone is just collectively married), and broken would probably be a little offput by how submissive she is despite being a princess. he'd get flustered if she tried to help him cook or clean and send her away, and outside the door you can see her mind kicking into overdrive trying to figure out how she's expected to make him happy if she can't do anything.

and maybe finally they'd have a quiet bonding moment where they sit and talk about their time in the construct. killing your lover and allowing your lover kill you seriously would have messed them up, and sharing pain with another lessens it. atleast a little.

tl;dr i love them your honor

[tricogarfield]

Ninjago Pokemon AU!!

So, I've been talking to my furrend about a Ninjago Pokemon AU. In all honesty, it's nothing more than the Ninja's Teams so far xD I don't know if I ever want to flesh it out or even do something with it, nor am I sure if I want it to be Pokemon in the Ninjago World or the Ninjago characters in a Pokemon World, buuuut, I thought I'd share the teams I have for the Ninja + some other characters that I gave a team! If anyone would be interested in seeing fanart or would want to know more about this AU, let me know and I'll try to deliver!:D

There's a little theme I had going on when deciding all these Teams. Of course, the type of the pokemon they have would match the person's element, but I also gave all of them at least one dragon type, to represent the elemental dragons! On top of that, I also added Pokemon that should represent animals and creatures the ninja befriended in the show (for example, Cole befriended Krag so I gave him a Yeti Pokemon) And lastly, I also gave them Pokemon that they may share with someone else or that was gifted to them by someone! Kai -Pancham -Rapidash -Turtonator -Incineroar -Mudsdale Soo, while my furrendo and I were talking, they mentioned how Nya and Kai seem like horse lovers and, I don't know how to explain it, but I loved it a lot xD Sooo, what better thing to do than to give Kai two horse Pokemon? Well, to explain my thoughts on his other team members, I like to think Pancham would be his first Pokemon! There's not that much of an explanation for this one other than me wanting to give him one ngl. Turtonator is his dragon type to represent his elemental dragon! I COULD have given him a Charizard, buuuut I think Turtonator is low-key cooler and fits him more. Incineroar may seem a bit random, but I gave it to him to represent him becoming a wrestler after Season 3! Though chances are, that he wouldn't have it on his team as much probably...eh, I'll think about that some more And for Mudsdale, it was a gift from Cole actually. Not sure when or why, buuuut yeah :D Nya -Coalossal -Kingdra -Dewott -Pawniard -Zebstrika I think the Theme I was going for here is showing now xD Coalossal may be the pokemon of Ray or Maya that was passed down onto her after the two disappeared. So perhaps it kind of functioned as a guardian when Kai and Nya had to look after themselves? And well, Kingdra is her dragon type! Though I'm honestly thinking about switching Kindra out for Dracovish...oh well Samurott and Pawniard represent her having been Samurai X :D The Zebstrika was a gift from Jay! My friend also said that Kai and Nya share a Salamence and, while I love that idea, I'm a bit unsure Cole -Flygon -Camerupt -Abomasnow -Banette -Sandslash -Lurantis Listen. I could have given Cole Garchomp for his dragon type. But like. I love Flygon man TAT Also, had to give him a Camerupt to mirror his Lava powers! Perhaps it's also a gift from Kai? Krag is also very dear to me, so I had to represent that glorbo somehow with Abomasnow. The Pokédex states Banette is a vengeful doll that was thrown away and forgotten by it's previous owner, so I think it's a nice nod to how Cole was starting to fade away in Day of the Departed AND how he landed in the Land of Lost things in Dragons Rising! And Sandslash and Lurantis represent the Blades of Deliverance, with Lurantis also representing Lilly a bit! I think either Lurantis or Camerupt would be his first pokemon! I'll put a stop to it at this point and post the team's of the rest of the Ninja in a seperate Post!

[fictitious-fluff]

This was written in 2021 for Tickletober2021. (also posted on @ticklishshenanigansau using their prompts) Posting this here to log my progress as a writer.

(yes i am p ry lc, have to seperate the name as I want this to be a seperate account that people that know me irl wont be able to find it by searching up my name)

-

Brush the Stubbornness Away

Prompt: Brushes / Paint

Fandom: Undertale

No pairings

Masterpost

What time was it. 6am? 7am? Either way it was early. Papyrus and Frisk were doing something in the living room, but what? Sans had never been woken up by noise before but I guess this was his unlucky day. He sluggishly sat up from his mattress, not being able to go back to sleep. Tiredly, Sans decided he should get some coffee or ketchup to help him start the day. He threw on his jacket and started walking out of his room. Teleporting when he was tired was never a good idea anyways. Walking down the stairs, he closed and rubbed his eyes, trying to get accustomed to the light.

"Frisk, can you hand me more yellow paint on your left?" 

One step

"Okay!"

Two ste- CRASH

Both Papyrus and Frisk's head snapped to the staircase. There was Sans, lying face flat on a puddle of blue paint with one of his foot in a paint can. "ngh... ow." Sans winced. Papyrus rushed over to Sans with a concerned look on his face. "Are you alright Sans?" he asked.

"yeah m'fine." Sans replied, pushing himself upright. "what are ya doing anyways? and why are ya doing it so early in the morning... "

"Oh! Frisk and I are just making a masterpiece painting. As for the timing... We thought you wouldn't be woken up even if we did it this early. Guess we were wrong." Papyrus stated. "You should get yourself cleaned up brother."

"m'lazy.. i'll just stay here and watch for the next 1 hour while ya do your thing. anyways, it's not that bad, see?" Sans pointed at his jacket. "it's just like my jacket, almost indistinguishable heh" he snickered. Papyrus squinted his eyes at Sans, giving him a 'seriously?' look which just made Sans's grin widen.

Papyrus thought about something for a brief moment and then smirked. "Well brother... Since you insist on not cleaning yourself on your own, let me help you." With that, Papyrus turned Sans's soul blue. Frisk peeked over, curious to see what Papyrus had in store. "Frisk, could you help me get the dry scrub brushes from the drawer in our toilet upstairs? Oh and a small pail of water if you are able to handle it. Thanks!" Frisk nodded and sprinted upstairs.

"!? uh... is it bad that i'm nervous and have no idea what you are planning? heh..." Sans stammered, while trying to kick the bucket off.

"Come on brother, I'm sure you can figure it out. You're good with crosswords aren't you? Just fill in the gaps using the 'clues'." Papyrus stated.

After the paint bucket finally came off, Sans thought about it for a moment. "paps i really have no idea what you're trying to hint at. unless it's trying to just scrub the paint of me or somthing. judging by your smirk though, thats probably not the whole stor- wait..." a thought seemed to occur is Sans's mind. "you're n-not thinking what i think you're thinking of right? please say i'm wrong this time."

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking of right now, then yes brother."

Gulp. "h-hey paps, let's not be too harsh. we can just talk about this o-okay?"

Just as Sans spoke, Frisk came running down. Trying to balance 3 scrub brushes in one hand while holding a pail on the other. She was trying to be as fast as possible yet not drop any of the brushes.

"Sorry dear brother but you've brought this upon yourself. I tried to be nice."

Sans considered teleporting away but soon realised that with Papyrus's soul magic active on him, it would probably be really dangerous to try. Persuading didn't seem like it was doing anything and using his attacks or soul magic on Papyrus to push him away was out of the window too, since he didn't want to risk hurting Pap. He was really in for it this time... doomed. Geez why had he not just listened?

"Thanks!" Papyrus exclaimed as Frisk handed him the brushes. "Feel free to join in whenever you feel like it Frisk."

Papyrus playfully grinned, holding up a soaked brush. "Ready?"

"please, no. we can calmy talk about this please!" Sans chuckled nervously. Eyes locked on the dreaded cleaning tool.

"Too late brother!" with that, Papyrus darted for Sans's ribs.

"gh! waiiiahaiitttahha pahaahaaaapppp- stahahhaap naahahhaa!!!" Sans cackled. His ribs had always been really sensitive, whether it be pain, or touch, and that was with fingers. Now, it wasn't just that, it was full blown brushes! Together with the cold water, the both made terrible combinations.

Damn he wished he had just complied.

Frisk looked in awe. Skeletons can be ticklish? How? She had so many questions swirling in her mind. However, she put her questions aside and dipped a brush in the pail, eager to help 'clean' Sans up.

"You can clean his feet if you want to Frisk."

"Okay!" Frisk chirped

"nohooooo waiiiiiieeeheett aha! oh gahaad staaaahaap! frihisk nahaa-" Sans cackled. "pleeheease! I cahaaan't ahaa!"

"Are you going to clean yourself now brother? Or do Frisk and I have to continue helping you?"

"yeheaahass!! pleheehease staahap oh gaahaad!"

"Hm.." Papyrus contemplated for awhile. "If I stopped now, who's to say you won't do it again? I think you should be punished a little longer juuusst to make sure."

"nahahaa! Iheem saharaahaeee" He regretted everything. Maybe he pushed pap's buttons too far this time, especially this early in the morning. However, something about this was... slightly fun? Maybe the bonding? Though, it was still maddening. "pleeheease nohoo ahah!"

Papyrus soon started to slowly work his way down to Sans's lower ribs. This made Sans shriek and squirm more than ever. He really tried his best to pull away but it was all futile. It was amazing how he hadn't kicked Frisk yet.

"plehe-pleeeheese merheeceehee!!!" sans wailed. "sstaahaaaa--!"

"Okay, okay I think the poor guy has had enough." Papyrus snickered, removing his gravity spell from Sans. "Frisk, you can stop now."

As both Frisk and Papyrus stopped, Sans gasped for air. "th..hff... thank... god...hf.."

"Do you need water?" Papyrus questioned.

"ys.. please... hff, thanks pap."

"No problem brother!"

"You all right Sans?" Frisk asked.

"ye.. hf.. i'm fine. thanks for asking kiddo." Sans replied.

"thnks pap" Sans said, gulping down the cup of water.

"After drinking your water remember to go shower." Papyrus reminded.

"i don't know- i'm still a little tired... and a couple more minutes of lieing here wo-" Papyrus glared at sans. "okay, okay! i'll go now! hehe geez." Sans then teleported upstairs to get himself cleaned up.

Needless to say, that morning sure had been an eventful, and messy one too.

[wixelt]

...On a much brighter note, we've somehow missed how much Marcy would love the hermit TCG, even if the only cards available would be the ones directly on the hermits' persons.

Until the drop ships, since the pilots probably account for a desire to shift the meta the Hermits have presumably been stuck with in the games they may or may not have been potentially playing.

Which leads into something else, because she may or may not be around when those cards come into circulation.

It's been all but stated that False was, Well, but you haven't told us and no one asked where that leaves Marcy.

Because False doesn't seem like The Core's first or even fifth choice. Hermit or human. So why was it bereft of options?

Oh yeah! As soon as she gets her hands on TCG cards - whenever that is - Marcy becomes a near-instant expert, & gives all but the best Hermit players a once over. Post-Season 3, Beef arranges a "re-release", & adds an expansion featuring the Calamity Trio & a few of their other new friends.

But you're right. Marcy may not be immediately around when the cards come into circulation.

And that's something i've been trying to decide on.

I don't know if i've said it before, but my plan's that after True Colors, all three of the Calamity Trio are seperated from their mentor. For Anne & Sasha that's simple: Scar ends up on Earth, while False is left behind in Amphibia. But Marcy's been undecided for me for a while.

Because wherever Marcy is, Mumbo isn't.

And I already implied Mumbo was with the resistance, which leaves either Newtopia or Earth for Marcy.

And because of that I felt I should finally make a chart so I can track where each character is going into Season 3 (see at the end).

And from doing that, I came to a decision.

Marcy isn't with the resistance, & there are certain reasons she's not in Newtopia, either.

And the leading reason comes in the form of False Symmetry.

Its the middle of the climactic battle of True Colors. Gem's brought most of the Hermits back to their senses, but with Anne now both freed from Andrias' control & burnt out, that surge of ability has faded. Between that, Andrias' field generator & his other anti-Hermit countermeasures, things aren't going in the good guys' favor.

Half the Hermits - Grian, Doc, Mumbo & others - stand by Sasha & hold the line against Andrias, whilst the other half - Scar, Zedaph, Etho, etc. - stick with Anne & Marcy, creating a second defense line while Marcy gets the portal to Earth to open so they can all regroup on the other side.

Ultimately, the first line with Sasha are the Hermits that remain in Amphibia, while the second line mostly wind up on Earth.

False is in the second line, having stuck by Anne, the two fighting back to back.

That's until the last moment, at least.

False is the last member of the second line to make it to the portal, & is about to shout for the others to follow - not yet realising they've just been scattered by Andrias - when she sees the giant newt king charging toward an unwitting Marcy, burning sword raised as Anne calls desperately for her friend.

A million images flash through False's mind. Memories both good & bad. Recent & distant.

Among them, the visage of a woman who looks very much like False herself.

"No more."

Marcy yelps midsentence as she's suddenly shoved forward - Calamity Box dropping from her hands - tumbling into Anne's arms as she crosses the event horizon of the portal.

She hears Anne cry out in shock & despair... and turns in time to see False impaled through the chest by Andrias' blade, the newt king surprised but not deterred, sighing disappointedly.

"...Now look what you've made me do."

False meets Anne's eyes one last time, smiling confidently despite the clear levels of agony she's in.

"...A-A promise is a promise, huh?"

Anne can only shout in fear as everything goes white.

So it comes to pass that, thanks to False, Marcy doesn't get backstabbed, but now has to live with the guilt of the sacrifice someone else made to save her.

And that brings me to your second point. Why False for... that?

Well, Marcy was the first choice, & neither Sasha or Anne are on hand either, so rather than default back to Andrias, the Core decides that - maybe - one of these Hermit creatures would be a viable & powerful host, dampened abilities or not.

Among the Hermits, their first option would've been Mumbo, but he's gone dark, among those who fled Newtopia to form a resistance. And most of the other genius level Hermits are out of reach.

But those aside, the blonde they have recuperating in a tank - without respawn, False held on by sheer force of will for long enough to be hooked up to healing things - is actually a pretty viable host. False is smart & strong in equal measure, & will bring new ideas to the collective.

Whether she likes it or not.

The only real issue is that - like most Hermits - False has experience with false simulated worlds. But that's only a minor thing.

After all, False had her friends with her, then.

Now, though, she's all alone...

(Note: I'd known False was going to shove Marcy out of the way for a while - the whole Core!False idea coming not long after - & it was just what happened to Marcy because of that which I was undecided on.)

[catsrightnow]

Im gonna play around with making sentences in Koro Creole. Gonna try "I already ate. I made food. I am cooking. I will be full, I will not be hungry"

Here's a highlighted version- I'll try to keep colors the same for parts of the words throughout this post:

"I already ate. I made food. I am cooking. I will be full, I will not be hungry"

Pink is past tense ans blue is future. Idk how to seperate verb from tense in highlighting for english so I highlited the whole word. Orange is the negative

I've chosen those because it means I get to play around with a lot of different verb tenses.

First I gotta put it into spanish, so I think it would be "Ya comí. Hice comida. Estoy cocinando. Estaré lleno, No estaré hambriento"

(OH! this is gonna b rlly hard to read if you don't speak spanish, so I'll write a simple guide right here:

"Ya" means already, "Estar" (and conjugations- for these all the words that begin with "est" are conjugations in line with the tense seen in the english above). "Hice" (and later seen as "Hacer") is "to make". Also sibce the subject (I) and the tense (Past/present/future) are both in the same word as the verb, negatives are written before the verb- that's why "no" is at the front of "I will not be hungry/no estaré hambriento"

I think the rest of the words should be the same order as the english translation above)

But some of the conjugations change/are gotten rid of, and I think they would use the mandarin "Le" for past tense. But I don't like other particles (?) would be used. For future tense ... Since le is already used for past, the two options I have are using "[Verb] + nole" literally saying its Not using the past particle, instead indicating a future tense. I rlly like that and I think it could be interesting to look into how that developed. I could also use a mandarin particle again.

Oh !! Smth else that mandarin does sometimes (I THINK correct me if im wrong) is just implying that it's in the future with surrounding words. Like basically saying "Tomorrow I am eating"- technically using the present tense, but the use of "tomorrow" indicates that it's in the future.

So it then turns into "Ya yo comerle. Yo hacerle comida. Yo estar cocinando. [En el] futuro yo estar lleno, No [yo] estar hambriento"

Literally "Already I eat[Past Particle]. I make[P.P.] food. I be/am cooking. [In the] future I be/am full, not [I] be/am hungry"

I put a couple words in brackets bcs im tentative on their use. When using it in terms of conjugation, I think "In the" might be omitted is saying future. So it would be "Future I am full, i am not hungry" as opposed to "IN THE future I am full, I am not hungry". I also don't know if "I" would be repeated. It could be assumed that since the tense was assumed for the second half, the subject can be as well- like you only gotta state the subject or tense if it changes. So it's then like "Future I am full, am not hungry"

Altho.... Omitting the tense from the second half might cause confusion. That might be were "nole" comes in. Like if a sentence continues you restate that it's in the future. So it's them "Futuro yo estar lleno, no estar hambriento nole".

"Ya yo comerle. Yo hacerle comida. Yo estar cocinando. Futuro yo estar lleno, No estar hambriento nole"

We also gotta think about the english and portuguese influence. I've been focusing a lot on the mandarin since it's the most different, but english and portuguese probably have more influence than mandarin. Technically the changes in conjugation should be more reminiscent of english and portugese than mandarin but. Thats less fun.

Ohh we also have to assume that, at least in the pidgin stage, it wasn't all one language. Like since the language developed in argentina/chile, northeastern areas maybe had more portuguese influence while western parts might have had more mandarin influence. Especially since the mandarin mainly came from trade w/ chile, it would make sense for coastal towns to use it more than inland ones.

Moving onto pronunciation, there aren't a TONNN of sounds that are difdocult for english or mandarin speakers to say that are also in spanish, but there are some. Namely ʒ (Like in "Asia" or "Beige"), which I hear somes out as a J or S sound often (I'm just reading this off some stuff online btw, so I'm not 100% sure if it's right). I heard V also comes out as W a lot. So words like "Ver" or "Vamos" would be "Wer" or "Wamos". L's and R's also seem underpronounced/mixed? idk. None of those sounds (Besides the L, in le, but that's from the original mandarin) are in the provided sentences. It's a good thing to remember tho

I'll have to keep working on the vocabulary and grammer, but I'm happy with how it looks rn

[blackvail22]

9/18/23 -- 10:46pm

i dont remember if i told you this, but my least favorite coworker gave me their number on thursday. it gave me the ick in the moment because i really dont like them (for a number of reasons), but i now feel like ive been an asshole and that i should text them.

here are a few reasons why i dont like them:

actively supports things that i cannot (blue lives matter)

favorite artists are racist and support white supremacy

...this one i have to thoroughly explain

and look, i want to believe that we can seperate the art from the artist, but when the artist makes music about the problematic things they support (aka white supremacy) or has the stars and bars flag on their guitar, i dont think.... i dont think we can separate those two lol. and i also want to believe them about having DID, i do, but i have done so much research about DID and they really do not ever switch. i mean, they do switch into a country accent sometimes but its severely watered down and you can tell its.. fake. but also, when i first met them, they told me they did that because they do it when theyre bored. and they told our coworker that they do that because they have DID. sure, they could have it, but i just... i dont know. i cant believe it

i think i only really want to text them because i am feeling lonely and i dont want to be lonely anymore. i hate post-breakup stuff because ive thought about getting with people that i dont even really like that much as well as people i know would be bad for me. hell, ive thought about getting with him for the third time, and SURE -- maybe THIS time he's changed (he hasnt its been a month) but i feel like im rotting on the inside. i feel like im wasting time. i really want someone i could talk to and show my love for.

i cant be in love though; im severely.... clingy. its troubling at times, and i dont like it. there was a time in november of a certain year when i was talking to someone i severely liked, and they told me they had a crush on someone. i went .... insane. obviously, i dont think they knew about it, but i cried for WEEKS. sometimes i would cry so hard and so much that i nearly threw up. i screamed sooo many times out of anger, and i have so many videos and notes rants about it.. here is something i found from that time .. "... we're not fucking dating, but my god, dude, you make me feel like an idiot! ... ugh. i'm fed up, but i'm not gonna go away, and we both know that. fuck. fuck fuckf cufkc hfrsdakhfbaewk;bn"

i said a lot besides that, the most important parts i think, but the general thing i said was "you couldve at least told me you were busy. fuck you for leaving me for some other girl. her and i are probably just objects anyway" and OH MY GOD?>>>>??????> i genuinely dont believe that now, but i was so out of myself then (and almost every time im in love) that it KILLLLLS me

"i think tjis hurts so much because once again, no one will love me enough to see me in their future forever. i mean, youre still special to me, and talking to you is great, but i liked you romantically just because i wanted loved. i loved that feeling that i was chasing, but you ruined it and you crushed me once again. all well."

i love so much and so hard because i want to be loved and i want to feel love back. it makes it so easy for me to fall for someone because of that. it makes it difficult to differentiate the difference between love and the idea of love really easily. it makes me afraid ill never really find the authentic kind of love i long for. not only that, but when someone says they love me and shit and then say that im too much for them or say that im too crazy for them.

when i think back, though, i really do think i was in love with my ex-boyfriend and the person i had a crush on that i mentioned before. i really do think i loved them because i still feel that love i had for them. i was told that true love doesnt go away, and i think thats true.

or maybe its admiration?

i know im so young, but i feel like ive been alive for 1000 years, i swear! i feel like my heart shouldnt be this heavy for my age. nothing feels right anymore, and i try my best to make it feel better...

it feels like nothing workdss

(that took me 40 minutes to write because i kept getting distracted )

[quinthejester]

finally drew the twins! Amrod and Amras. Didn’t do as many sketches as usual because my hand has been acting up a lot lately, so I’ve been trying to take it easy. Regardless, I love these boys and have a lot of thoughts on them. 

Basically a lot of this is me looking at them and thinking ‘Oh, free real estate for making stuff up since not much is really said about them’. And I’ve done just that, so personality headcanons below:

(I ended up writing a lot oops, so decided to put it under the keep reading thing. TW: there is a brief mention of self harm at the end)

Links to the rest of the brothers before I delve into rambles: Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir and Curufin

(In Valinor)

So, while they were pretty similar, being the mischievous twins of the family, the two aren’t all the same and have some very distinct differences, I imagine. I see Amras being the more extroverted and confident twin and Amrod as a bit more introverted and sensitive. Amras was the one who was more actively mischievous, while Amrod was more subtle- but when around his brother, he’d come out of his shell more and the two could cause a lot of chaos together. 

Interest wise, both are very outdoorsy people. Running around, hiking, probably liked playing with Celegorm a lot when they were kids. However, Amras was always more into hunting and animals (and hunting style wise, he’s stealthy and great at setting traps; in contrast to Celegorm, who I see enjoys the chase more), while Amrod is more gardening and plants. 

Skill wise, Amras is a great hunter, but also a really good artist. He often sketches animals, plants, buildings, lots of still life, but often with notes which basically deconstruct the things he draws. And I see Amrod as being good at gardening, but very scientific about it as well, often seeing if he can crossbreed plants etc. Basically both take their interests in a very Noldoran scientific creative way, and their father is very proud. 

The two are each others best friend, and when together they act in a way that is nearly indistinguishable, and they were almost together. Though catching them on their own will make their differences more clear. Amrod is quieter, more gentle, and more shy, and while Amras is more imaginative and reckless. And while back in Valinor, Amras often seemed more carefree, he was the type of person to hide his true feelings behind a smile and people could rarely tell if he was upset- except for Amrod, who can always tell and push his brother to open up to him. 

(After the first Kinslaying to the ship burnings)

So, with my headcanon of Amrod being the more sensitive one, I also just see him as overall the most sensitive, empathetic and pacifistic of all the brothers. As a result, he was the most effected by the first kinslaying. Completely guilt ridden and horrified, wanting to stay home, atone, etc. Complete emotional wreck after the fact. Amras on the flip side kept his feelings pent up, but seeing how his brother looked, ultimately convinced Amrod that, when they arrive at Middle Earth, Amrod should just stay on the ship and Amras will just try make it seem like both he and his twin are there until Amrod is long gone. Amrod ends up agreeing to this, despite not wanting to seperate from his brother. And then the ship burnings happen, Amrod dies, and Amras both blames himself for coming up with the idea, but also blames his father, because what the hell. As a result, Amras grows to kind of hate Feanor, and the death of his brother causes Amras to just lose his old happier personality. 

(Just Amras headcanons, post Amrod death. TW: Mention of self Harm) 

Amras overall just becomes a more distant and cynical person. I imagine he does grow to sometimes pretend to be Amrod as a way of coping/or as a way to make it seem like the Feanorians haven’t lost as much as they have, convinced by the rest of his brothers, so that their enemies can fear all seven sons (idk if that makes sense, it’s hard to explain my thoughts). As a result, sources are mixed on whether Amrod is dead or not.

With my headcanons of Amrod being into plants and stuff, I see Amras as going out of his way to learn all about middle earth’s flora, sketching them and writing notes, all that. He learns the lands the best out of all his brothers, becoming highly skilled at surviving in the wilderness, discerning dangerous plants from safe ones, hunting. He very much became one of the best hunters and survivalists of his time.

I think out of his brothers, I see him as the most disillusioned with the oath and Feanor’s will. He’s bound by the oath, but holds a massive distain for his father and their cause. This anger and grief at what happened leads to him burning and scarring his hand, which has a tattoo of the star of feanor on it. All done in an unhealthy way to deal with his grief, anger, an attempt to regain some sort of control, to show his anger to his father for killing his brother, and to get rid of his father’s mark on him. 

I probably have more thoughts and I do really love these two, these are all my thoughts at the moment. 

I hope my rambles made sense. I am tired and have a lot of feelings. 

[luvbrie]

treasure reaction to idolcrush!reader getting eliminated on a survival show

pairing: [seperate] ot12 x reader / ot12 x idolcrush!gn!reader

HYUNG LINE || MAKNAE(ish) LINE coming soon !!

warnings: been in my ygtb feels lately… u get eliminated in a 1:1 match, also positions of the reader (rapper, dancer etc) are based off the member (e.g. haruto = rapper!reader), also this has been in my drafts for 2+ weeks so i wanted to post it even tho it's unfinished IM SORRY

wordcount: 1.3k words / bulletpoint reaction

hyunsuk

song — regular by nct 127

he fell in love with your performance omg

your talent: UNPARALLELED

you had so much potential!! he was excited to see you grow as a rapper omg

literally gets so soft when you get all smiley from getting a compliment from the main producer

but then…..YOU LOST???

this dude was SHOCKED

but at the same time he wasn’t

like honestly he’d know that popular idols will get eliminated because it brings in the moneyyy

but still!

he didn’t actually expect you to get eliminated so early on?

hoped SO BAD that there would be a second chance for you

like he’s just in denial for so long

he just. he refuses to believe that that just happened

he got super sad when you were saying your goodbye speech :(

he wished the speech was longer AND IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN bc it was like 4 seconds long and you deserved way more

it’s not even hyunsuk’s opinion it was a FACT

expect backlash from twitter user @i_am_not_hyunsuk99

jihoon

song — epiphany by bts

you both knew each other while you were training

he was bored and decided to spend his free time with the new trainees

jihoon actually found out abt the survival show thru you,,so it’s pretty much a given he’s already attached to you from the second you show up on screen

then you preformed and oh boy

he could cry at your vocals

he probably has already but i won’t talk about it to save his pride.

jihoon was SO proud of you :(

he was reaching for his phone to compliment you on your “win” and,, jihoon being jihoon, clown you over the small shake in your voice towards the beginning

he just freezes seeing the pure look of joy in your eyes

park jihoon IS MELTING. OVER YOU!!

he’s so whipped god help him

he was so ready to hear your name shouted through the mic as you moved on to the final line up to debut

he’s so cocky about it like he’ll lean back in his chair absolutely CONFIDENT you will win.

but then you don’t.

and he has to pause the video to physically go ‘???????’

he has to prepare himself cause he knows you’re gonna cry and just the thought alone breaks his heart

like hyunsuk, he gets upset when you do your goodbye speech, but it’s not the end.

because this man is a doer

a very, extremely impulsive doer

you don’t even have to wait a day to have your ‘ex’-manager show up at your door, telling you you’ll debut as a soloist, with jihoon standing beside them with a stupid smug grin on his face

yoshinori

song — spring day by bts

his heart is breaking even before you get eliminated, or before your performance starts

because the song you chose was actually in tribute to your best friend that was eliminated in an earlier episode

you two constantly were talking about debuting together, but of course, that couldn’t happen

after they got eliminated, you promised them you would debut, and that they just have to wait a little bit longer

you were paired against one of your other friends for the 1:1 battle too and yoshi knew this episode was going to kill him.

he tries his hardest not to sob his eyes out

instead he sobs his heart out

he thought your performance was perfect, and despite being a rapper, you sang part of the harmonies and he just closes his eyes and appreciates you cause HELLO!! YOU SOUNDED SO ANGELIC

after it was announced that you lost, he Didn’t know what to do with his life

like everything he’s ever known

a LIE.

no but seriously he’s so UPSET???

you thought he sobbed his heart out before well apparently he’s got two hearts cause he DID IT AGAIN

your ending speech was just ‘i broke my promise.’ and he wanted to just run through the screen and hug you

he’s not Ok

j-line has to step in and help out because yoshi just Stopped working and could only speak japanese

def will get teased about it later but he stands by it. he will argue with the wall if there’s a piece of paper taped on it that says ‘y/n didn’t deserve the attention they got’ bc NOPE HE’S NOT HAVING IT.

junkyu

song — grow up by stray kids

he’s dead

by the chorus, he’s literally all over you

literally doing puppy eyes at you as your sweet voice fills his ears

the song just hits too close to home and he’s constantly sighing in adoration

he is falling in love with how you chose the song because you wanted to let others know that success doesn’t come fast and it’s okay if it takes a while

the song isn’t even by you but the raw emotion in your voice makes it feel so real

throughout the song he’s just like ‘:o wahh… WAHH…’ but quietly cause he’s just so amazed…

please he’s so cute

by the time you’ve finished, he’s forgotten it was actually like 3 am and very loudly goes ‘WOOOWW!!!’

jihoon tells him to SHUT UP and sleep but he doesn’t because it’s ‘loving y/n hours’ (junkyu’s words not his)

but no amount of sweet fawning could prepare him for the next couple seconds of this episode

jaw dropped.

you… lost….

he sits like that for so long just looking around, looking anywhere but the monitor

it takes him a bit to build his courage to start the video again

dude this boy gets out a tissue and ‘wipes’ your tears as footage of you crying appears on his screen

he’s doing some sobbing himself

kyu buys you your favorite snacks and sends them to your dorm to attempt to cheer you up cause he’s too scared to see you in person

fears he will just end up Sobbing right in front of your face and he’d very much like to keep his dignity

but little did he know that jihoon caught a video of kyu wiping your tears through his computer monitor LMFAOO

jaehyuk

song — one in a million by twice

the way you’re singing makes him feel so nice

literally your choice of song has him at a chokehold

but like a very soft chokehold like he’s just forever chained to this song now

he’s so smiley throughout your performance omg

would be the king of praise but his vocab only consists of ‘aigoo’ and ‘cute’

actually tho jaehyuk is amazed by your performance

he is so proud of you pt 2

even if the only words he can get out are ‘they’re so cute!’ he feels so much more

he thinks you’re amazing as a person and your smooth voice just tops it all off

honestly could go on and on about you if given the chance

would scramble to add your cover to his playlist as soon as he can PLEASE

he screen records your performance

but he immediately stops it after hearing you lost

no, he’s not embarrassed or anything

he’s just ??? baffled ??? like there’s no way that you LOST

THERE’S NO WAY YOU LOST AFTER A PERFORMANCE LIKE THAT

furiously opens twitter and is pleased to see that the majority of people agree

although he wants to pull a jihoon and march right up to the producer to give you the chance you deserve, he doesn’t really know how to go about it

so he’s just sulking for the next week

or maybe two

he’ll start sulking anytime someone mentions it actually.

he’s so sad about it since he knows you worked really hard to get that far but he’ll send you nice messages on twitter

forgot to switch accounts tho so all the boys saw jaehyuk’s very heartfelt message to you and your elimination

TREASURE WILL NEVER LET HIM LIVE IT DOWN.

instant regret but at least you acknowledged him :,)

[emmet-appreciation]

I posted 1,306 times in 2022

That's 1,067 more posts than 2021!

328 posts created (25%)

978 posts reblogged (75%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@chipsncookies

@emmet-appreciation

@ingo-appreciation

@ingo-ingoing-ingone

I tagged 1,299 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#submas - 881 posts

#subway bosses - 876 posts

#subway masters - 874 posts

#emmet - 862 posts

#kudari - 844 posts

#ingo - 705 posts

#nobori - 687 posts

#pla - 267 posts

#pokemon legends arceus - 256 posts

#mun rambles - 183 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#🤔🤔 i think it's also worthy to note that they do tend to use the same pokemon on their seperate teams which makes me think they share haha

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Official Submas Appearances Masterlist

Want to consume offical submas content but don’t know where to go? Look no further than this post! I’m not perfect so I might miss some things but I hope this at least covers most of it (These are just directly copy-pasted from previous posts I’ve made in the past, but hey! I’d rather copy-paste than do hard work I’ve already done haha)

Links will be under the cut- and this post will probably be updated as Pokemon inevitably cashes in on their popularity and gives us more submas content <33

Pokemon Black and White / Pokemon Black and White 2

These were as simple as taking the first thing that popped up on a YouTube search, but since this is their original appearances I’m put it here. They come from Mixeli, who posts videos of Pokemon Battles on their channel.

Pokemon Black and White

Pokemon Black and White 2

Bulbapedia is fan-curated, but their commitment to sourcing information and sticking to canon makes them good enough to add here as well:

Emmet / Emmet (Quotes)

Ingo / Ingo (Quotes)

Pokemon Special 

These links come from readmanganato (NOTE: The ads here are NSFW, please use an ad blocker!), though you can alternatively use mangaowl.net, which should have better ads.

Chapter 487 (The Submas Introduction Chapter)

Chapter 488 (The Submas welcome White onto the Battle Subway)

Chapter 490 (The Submas watch White test out the Battle Subway)

Chapter 500 (White battles Ingo)

(NOTE: These are FAN translated works, you will have to buy the manga to get official translations)

Pokemon Anime 

Pokeflix features a library boasting pretty much every Pokemon Media there is, but for ease of access I’ve linked all the submas episodes here:

Beheeyem, Duosion, and the Dream Thief! (End of Episode Cameo)

The Beartic Mountain Feud! (End of Episode Cameo)

Crisis from the Underground Up! (The historic episode :D )

Battle for the Underground! (The historic episode, part two eeeelectric boogaloo)

Lost at the Stamp Rally! (Minor supporting role, but they battle here :>)

A Surface to Air Tag Battle Team! (That adorable lil flailing cameo)

Pokemon Masters EX

For those unfortunate enough to have not been around when the twins were first released and/or haven’t scouted them in gacha, YouTube is your best friend in getting that sweet, sweet pokemas content.

Official Release Trailer

All Emmet English VA / All Emmet Japanese VA by gladio.ogg

All Ingo English VA / All Ingo Japanese VA by gladio.ogg

See the full post

1,423 notes - Posted April 29, 2022

#4

Nephew added to the Party!

1,690 notes - Posted February 25, 2022

#3

source

Ingo the conductor is not having a good time

2,148 notes - Posted April 28, 2022

#2

Oh my god. Why am I so STUPID I should've realized he was quoting Emmet 😭😭😭

2,324 notes - Posted February 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Uncle ingo doodle before i go to bed

2,774 notes - Posted February 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[just-an-aussie-fandom-hermit]

Some #Only in Gotham posts because I’m stressed and this is my coping mechanism

Guys guys guys

So I was in Central City today visiting some friends earlier this morning, and then the city gets attacked by these... aliens? Weird reptillian cryptids?? Who knows, but they were not happy nor friendly. We were all at this nice cafe just vibing in the outdoor area when this bipedal, green-gray reptile thing pops out of the manhole outside the cafe and goes absolutely feral. He was super close to my group so I grab my croc repellant (for non gothamites, its’ basically pepper spray but really bad-smelling to ward off croc if he ever shows up) out in an instant and I sprayed it right in the face.

Then I grabbed the nearest thing—some poor old guy’s metal walking frame—and whacked the reptile in the back of the head and it crumpled basically instantly.

And after the JL had stepped in to deal with the rest of them (not many, from what I’ve heard, but better safe than sorry I guess), heaps of people were freaking out about it because, well, this is Central City, they don’t get this kind of crime, they’re not prepared for this, yada yada.

Then that manhole pops up and everyone freaks out again because “oh god they’re back” but it’s just Batman dragging a bunch of tied up reptiles out of the sewers using some kind of winch set-up. It was almost comical—a daisy chain of reptiles being lifted out of this manhole in Central City by our favourite Goth Cryptid.

The cops were completely floored. The civilians didn’t know whether to be more scared of Bats or the reptiles. I mean, it was literally the middle of the day, and it’s rare to see Batman in daytime in Gotham but I guess this was an extenuating circumstance, so I guess I see why they were scared.

Batman just looks down at me standing over an unconscious reptilian holding the can of croc repellant and he’s just like “I’m guessing you’re from Gotham.”

I was like “yeah. Can’t escape the damn cryptids wherever I am.”

And tHEN he LAUGHS. Like, it was a small and quiet snort but it happened and I’m still shook. I have officially joined the “I made Batman laugh” squad. I can ascend peacefully now.

He seemed super embarrassed but asked if my friends and I were okay before he turned on his heel and stalked over to Flash and Woner Woman, a daisy-chain of reptiles in tow.

#lmao #onlyingotham #Batman #IMadeBatmanLaugh #ITookDownAReptileCryptid #GothamIsWeirdOkay #WeGottaBePreparedForAnything

———

I just heard this Metropolis guy try and trash Bruce Wayne to his friend at this diner and like five seperate people (myself included) turned around to roast the hell outta him. Like, yeah, he’s a billionaire, which is a whole can of worms I don’t wanna open right now, but he’s basically the only reason this city’s still standing and functioning (especially after the quakes and the no-man’s-land bs). His kids—most are poc and would not have thrived in the system—are all successful and work with their communities to better other people’s lives. Bruce Wayne is basically the only reason I got through high school (and am now in college); a scholarship is the only reason most of my friends have enough money to make rent. He “accidentally” spilled wine on Lex Luthor when he made a sexist remark. Also, didn’t it come out recently that he’s basically been funding the JL o at least is a major financial backer? An icon. You can shut your mouth, Jeremy.

One girl Instagram lived the whole exchange (she was filming beforehand I think) and it was magical.

Later on, Robin (the newest one, with the swords) shows up and he’s like “thank you for defending the honour of Mr Wayne”. I was like “kid,,,, you don’t need to thank me but you’re welcome”. he just kinda looks at me for a second and says “you eat free tonight” and chucks a bunch of dollar notes at me and disappears into the wilderness (ie. an alleyway). It was so surreal.

#GiveWayneABreak #BruceWayne #LetTheManLiveHisLife #GothamitesProtectTheirOwn #EvenTheBatkidsAreProtectiveOfHim

———

Yeah so....... I just saw some of Two-Face’s goons about to enter a bank, weapons drawn, and I’m scared because their boss is in Arkham, and the Rogues’ most loyal people always get antsy and trigger-happy when their bosses are off the board. I’d dialed 911 when I first saw them and ducked into an alley.

But then I see one of them stop dead in their tracks—Goon A we’ll call him—and says “hey, Wayne’s in there”.

Goon B: “Oh, we’re not meant to go after Wayne. Pack it in fellas.”

Goon C: “Huh? why not?”

Goon A: “Boss-man said so. Wayne used to be his best bud. Helped him campaign to be DA and stuff. Went to college together. Nice man.”

Goon B: “Got no problem wth that. Wayne’s the only reason my boys got through school. Besides, we mess with Wayne, the boss and Harley will be on our asses.”

Goon C: “Huh. Fair enough. We’ll go to the other location then.”

And then they just,,,, left.

#EvenTheRoguesWannaProtectHim #BruceWayne #HarveyDent #TheGuysGotCaughtAfter #IToldDetectiveMontoya #AndSheJustSighedForAReallyLongTime #OnlyInGotham #GothamIsWeird

———

Today I was in a Zoom call with some of my coworkers on the other side of the world, sitting in the kitchen facing the living room, when Red Robin comes crashing through my window. I just kinda turned around to see if he was badly injured (he wasn’t, couldn’t even see any blood) so I just continued on with what I was saying and he sheepishly left through the same window.

My coworkers are looking at me like “Jacob are you okay??” And I’m like, “yeah man, that was just Red Robin, he has unfortunate luck with windows. Soon enough one of the other Bats will come knocking with a replacement or a cash refund. Though, I should probably just invest in plexi-glass.”

One of my coworkers went on a bit of a rant about “vigilantes causing property damage and disrupting the peace” and i’m like “Mark I’d rather Batman crashing through my door or window once a month to getting buried in my twenties in his abscence,” and he was like “yeah, fair enough” so we just continued with our call.

After my call, Blonde Batgirl shows up and apologises for the window. I ask about plexi-glass and if Red Robin is alright.

She’s like “yeah he’s fine but he’s getting Bat-Lectured for being reckless which is why I’m here. Also from what Oracle can tell you should be able to get plex-glass installed within the week.”

#OnlyInGotham #GettingBatLecturedDoesNotSoundFun #ThanksOracle #BatmanDontBeTooHardOnTheKid #Gothamite #MeanwhileInGothamCity #GothamCity #RedRobin

———

So, Red Hood piggy-backed me up to my apartment yesterday because my heel broke when I was fleeing from these guys trying to mug me (or worse) and I sprained my ankle. He carried me up four flights of stairs and helped me get into my apartment and wrap my foot properly.

I told him to take some of my nana’s lasagna (because our local vigilante needs to keep his strength up! Man’s gotta eat, and from what I hear he’s not swimming in cash) and he got real quiet for a while before saying “yeah, sure”.

So he ate some lasagna while I called in sick to work (who were very understanding, surprisingly).

Then after a little while he’s like “bye” and jumps outta my window.

An icon.

#RedHood #OnyInGotham #WeStanALegend #IHopeYouLikedTheLasagna #MyNanaSaysSheWillMakeMoreForYou #GrowingUpInCrimeAlley

[the-dragon-hearted]

I feel like we, as human beings should address the one overarching issue of not just the Dream smp fandom, but any place where people come together and discuss things they love. The issue: Debate. Discourse. Deliberation. Okay, that was three issues, but you get the picture. We, as a society (yes I'm throwing the 'S' word out there) need to get better at Debate. I get it, the four-year-olds on political stages have set a horrible example but I am here to give y'all a Tedd Talk on arguments, mostly pertaining to content creators but this can be used in any disagreement you ever hold. How to Properly Hold an Argument without being a Child in 4 Steps: Step 1: Never walk into a Debate expecting to change the other's mind This is a big one and it's one of the hardest to grasp. What? What do you mean? What's the purpose of argument if I don't convince the other they're wrong? The purpose of a debate is to offer your opinion and defend it against the world while you pick another's claim apart. Don't expect to change someone's mind. For your own benefit. If you see an opinion that is absolutely horrendus out there on social media, YouTube, Twitchchat, et cetera... and you click on it to refute it. You need to understand you're not refuting it to change that person's mind, but to display to the rest of your collegues why that opinion is, well... Bullshit. You live in a society where people are Ignorant, Misinformed, Sensationalists, or Trolls. Frankly, against certain people (namely trolls) you can't win. No matter what you say or how 'awesomely' constructed your argument is. You can not and will not win. All you can do is build up an opinion and post it and then suffer what 'deez nuts' jokes you get. Here, an example:

Troll: *insert terrible opinion here* Person A: No. That's wrong for reasons a, b, and c. You shouldn't believe that or spread it. Troll: lol, take a joke will you. You're so sensitive.

Naturally, this would upset you. I would be upset and it's okay if you are too. But you should not under any situation continue to feed the troll. Never expect to change someone's mind and never expect to win, especially against people like this. There is no winning in an argument, there's only hurt feelings and over-used claims. The best you can hope for is for your argument to sound and appear as the best option/opinion. Alright? Don't attack people and don't reply with pure emotion. Just breathe easier knowing you made a good argument, posted it, and the other is making a fool of themselves. Honestly, who's the fool? The informed person or the twelve year olds laughing about Bofa? Bofa what? Bofa deez - Aaand we're shutting it down there. So now you know what to walk in expecting in an argument. What do you do next? Step 2: Construct a solid Claim DON'T RUN! I SWEAT I'LL BE MORE CONCISE THAN THE ENGLISH TEACHERS OF HIGH SCHOOL! A claim is the core of your argument; the thing you're arguing about. It can be broad, it can be specific, but the most important part is that you stay on topic. Don't lose yourself to ranting. Always re-read what you type and delete any paragraphs that change the topic. For instance, if you're talking about the Dream speed-runs, you probably shouldn't go on a rant about the manhunts as they're two seperate catagegories and you'll look a bit confused. Step 3: Be mature, be concise, and do some research First things first: Don't deflect in an argument simply because you don't know something. Take your time, do research, form an opinion and come back to it. This will give you time to blow of steam AND stay informed. On the same note, absolutely do NOT use red herrings. Red herrings? Oh, that's when you deflect attention from the main topic with a shallow issue that's related. For instance, let's use discourse discusing a content creator's bias against... let's do something stupid like stuffed animals:

Person A: We need to talk about cc!So-and-So and they're Bias against stuffed animals. Person B: Sure, but there are so many children out there who are lacking connection and are never able to get stuffed animals due to strict parents. It feels wrong to only focus on one subject when there's a whole problem out there.

^^ This is a red herring. It's not always this obvious but for the love of all things good, don't do this. Second things second - this is SUPER important. Stop using Ad Hominem attacks in any and all debates. Ad Hominem attacks are the type that personally attacking your opponent instead of focusing on their position. I'm sure you can tell that politicians love that one - but it's actually an immature approach that cheapens your argument. To see it in practice:

Person A: I don't think it's a big deal that cc!So-and-So did blank and I don't see why everyone's making a big deal out of it. Person B: That's because you're a cc!So-and-So Stan. Person A: Well you're just a hater.

Right away you should be able to tell that there was no tangible argument against or for the content creator. Just a bunch of kids slinging mud on their opponents. Calling someone a 'hater' or a 'stan' shouldn't invalidate their opinion or bolster your own argument. Just because someone 'likes' or 'dislikes' something doesn't mean they can't talk about it, it just means they're likely to possess Implicit Bias or a subconcious bias towards something. Implicit Bias isn't a bad thing and it isn't something that invalidates an argument, it's something that should allow you to at least understand the reasoning for someone to hold a position. If you attack someone's personal standing instead of their opinion it only cheapens your argument because people now assume YOU have no idea what you're talking about and all you can do is hiss at your foe like a feral raccoon on drugs. No one wants to agree with a feral racoon on drugs, kind of how no one wants to agree with a politician. So, how can you better form an argument without mudslinging? It's a bit more complicated, but worth it. You research, you think before you type, you stay respectful, and... you listen to Step #4. Step 4: Sometimes. You have to accept that you were initially wrong. This one hurts. It hurts you and your confidence and all you can do is handle it best you can. I've taken debate and been in dozens or "professional arguments" (I hate that phrase) and I have been 'wrong' plenty of times. There's grace in that and it's an important lesson to learn. It is impossible to be right 100% of the time and it's impossible to be infallible. You have to accept that of yourself and those around you. If your opponent accepts they were wrong, do not continue to harp on them. That's cruel. Alternatively, if you realize you were wrong with your claim, you can admit you were mistaken and amend it. It takes a big person to do that and if your opponent has any decency, they'll recognize that. If they don't, congratulations, you've been arguing with a literal child. And now, you know everything about Debate. (That's a lie, but you know the basics and you can do a lot with the basics.) A good friend of mine once said that every opinion out there came from the mouth of both an asshole and an angel and we all have to be one of those things at some point in our lives. Debate, discourse, argument, all of that is hard and it can be straining or even toxic. Take a step back when necissary. Take a deep breath. Know that if you're feeling personally attacked, you're opponent is using immature methods to tear down your arguments. If you're argument is torn down and you don't know what to think, that's okay too. Take a breath, take a break, and allow yourself to mull it over. Forming your own opinion takes time and a clear mental space. You need both. So next time you see a troll, a jerk, an asshole, a hater, or a stan - don't let emotions get the better of you. Remember you are an intelligent person who is capable of forming your own opinions and NO ONE can take that away from you. Think, research, and then type.

TLDR: Don't expect to win every argument, don't expect to be always right, don't divert your opponents attention, don't personally attack your opponent, always be respectful, always do research, never do anything with pure emotion. Remember you're forming your own opinions and that takes time and space so give yourself that when you need it.

That's it! Best of luck Debating~

[erodasghosts]

memories & misconceptions | harry styles

prologue: the summer flashback

↳ read Thea’s version (tom holland fic) by @peeterparkr​

song: adore you - harry styles

after months of working on this with nancy (@peeterparkr) i am very excited to be posting the first part of our new conjoined series. this will be two seperate fics, telling two different stories. they are each reader inserts, but the harry reader in the tom fic is named kat, and the tom reader in this fic is called thea (if that makes sense?) so you kind of get to pick which you want to focus in on more :) but to get the full experience read both!

story summary: Not every relationship can last forever, but what decides when it ends? Is it the memories of when things were, or is it the misconceptions of the present. What is stronger in matters of the heart when love and friendship becomes a choice? Does pride dim our devotion enough for it to be forsaken?

And is obstinacy strong enough to erase the memory of a hopeful summer night? When a group of friends are reunited after years of unspoken truths and turbulent grudges,  old arguments and fights might ricochet, and though their history might be dense enough to drown them, it might be the one thing to keep them afloat. 

prologue summary: the beginning of what was thought to be an endless love, and of the distance that would only grow further.

pairing: harry styles x artist!reader

warnings: none?

word count: ~9.3k

a/n: i hope you enjoy, and please give any feedback!

story masterlist

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The wind brushed in through Harry’s bedroom window, pushing on the curtains with a calm and warm air. Summer always seemed so distant or quick to end, never stuck too long in the heat of it.

Summer struck you similarly to a craving that one can’t quite shake. People seem to dream of summer when finding themselves in the cold winter snow, yet wishing they could have just one last summer night when it is coming to an end. But summer was never meant to last for an eternity, and there were definitely things that no one wouldn’t miss when it did finally end.

Summer, though with its pleasant sunny days and warm nights, is about much more than just its weather. It was the time to be surrounded by friends, and an opportunity to feel that you had a supportive family. This was when lonely nights felt less empty, because you at least had the endless opportunities to see everyone together.

It was when new beginnings seemed to take place. There was a sense of security and possibly even courage that was placed within you at this time, allowing you to take some chances you might never risk otherwise. Even if summer wasn’t forever, and even if that courage would fade, you would try to take it in as if it was never ending. It was more beneficial and less damaging to just accept things as they came.

With the opportunity for new beginnings, you wondered what possibilities still would lie ahead. And not just for yourself, but your friends as well. You thought that maybe now, with summer getting closer to its end, you could find some of that temporary courage to use between yourself and Harry, and maybe Thea or Tom would find some for one another. Because if there was ever a time to take a chance in a new relationship it would be now.

“We’re playing this new song at Nana’s tonight,” Harry’s voice softly spoke above the flow of the wind, “I’m a bit nervous about it, we’ve only ever practiced it together...” he took a breath in. “It’s a great song, of course, because I wrote it,” he grinned, “but do you mind if I play it and you can tell me what you think?”

You smiled, looking up at him as you laid back on his bed, he was biting his lip anxiously. “Of course. I’m sure it’ll be great, I’m happy to help you still.”

He was sat beside you, one leg over the edge and holding his old guitar he used when writing songs. “Well, I’ve been working on it for a while,” he began to strum lightly with a quiet laughter, “just think of how much work and dedication I’ve put into this before being too harsh.”

“Oh, of course,” you laughed and placed a finger on your temple, “I’ll keep note of that as I’m judging.”

“Good,” he continued to play, nodding lightly. “But really, if you think it’s just complete garbage, keep that to yourself? My ego can’t take the damage of you not liking it.”

You propped your feet up on the headboard and raised a brow at him, “Are you ever going to start singing?”

“I am,” he chuckled.

Harry and Tom had tested out all of their songs with you and the others before playing to anyone else, using that to work out any changes they might want to make. Thea usually had more input, considering she had helped them write many of the songs they played. You and Andrew were still always happy to listen, and had some helpful feedback from just a listener's perspective.

You looked out the window, settling in as he cleared his throat to prepare. It was unclear as to why he was suddenly so anxious about playing a song for you, but you had decided to just patiently wait to listen.

“Be kind with your feedback,” He looked over.

Hitting his leg you scoffed, “For Christ's sake, Harry, sing.”

“Alright, alright,” he caved, still with a boyish smile.

Resting your hands on your stomach, you waited for him to finally start. He was turned back, looking down at the guitar and strumming with more intent now. Whatever the song, you figured it would be good considering his nerves. It must’ve been something important to him, since he had worked on it for so long and was so hesitant to actually share it. You wouldn’t push.

He took in a last calming breath before beginning. “Walk in your rainbow paradise,” his voice was quiet, “strawberry lipstick state of mind.”

It sounded smooth, tranquil. Mixed with the breeze and the soft echoing of conversations downstairs, the song and his singing felt so natural, as much as the sun felt natural when kissing your skin.

“I get so lost inside your eyes,” he smiled back at you. “Would you believe it?”

Feeling yourself tense up a bit, you suddenly found yourself putting more care into listening well to the lyrics. It must’ve meant something to him, with his nerves and all, so you wanted to give it more attention.

“You don’t have to say you love me, you don’t have to say nothin’, you don’t have to say you’re mine.”

His shoulders were more relaxed now, though there still seemed to be some tension. Every few seconds you noticed him glancing over at you, awaiting your reactions to each lyric. You were unsure of your own reactions, not wanting to give much of one in the case that your assumptions might be false.

But what else was there to assume about it all? Every piece of the song gave the impression that it was carefully crafted to be about one person in particular, and you nearly didn’t dare to imagine it could’ve been about you.

You recalled a conversation with Thea from just days ago, about a fear you had when it came to Harry. He and Thea were so much louder, and much more open than you had ever considered yourself to be. And so you had known about your feelings towards Harry for a good while at this point, but those had yet to be shared with him.

It was this fear of what saying it out loud might mean, how it could make things change. It was summer now, though, and those fears were meant to fizzle out with the cold winter weather and the rainy spring days. Summer was your opportunity to take the chance in saying it now.

“Oh, honey, I’d walk through fire for you. Just let me adore you, like it’s the only thing I’ll ever do.”

Maybe you wouldn’t admit your feelings at this exact moment, but soon. With more effect than summer was having, the words he sang seemed to give you a boost of confidence. What was the worst that could happen in assuming that it was about you?

Though less dramatic to the nod to your struggle with telling him how you felt, even the lyric about lipstick had been fitting for you. And, sure, it still could be considered a generic thing, but you were choosing to be optimistic now.

“You don’t have to say you love me, I just wanna tell you somethin’. Lately you’ve been on my mind.”

Feeling a burning in your cheeks now, you sat up to readjust yourself as casually as you could. Your backs facing one another, and shoulders side by side, Harry continued on. You could’ve sworn there was a pink tint on his cheeks too, causing a faint smile to form on your lips.

How in character of him to be saying these things through a song. It was probably feeding into his need to be theatrical, though he was still mindful of your own need to be more secluded as he sang with just the two of you there.

His anxiousness about playing it for you was making more sense now, because regardless of who it was about it was deeply personal. But his nerves were rarely so affected, it only proves acceptable to assume that he was in such worry because he was sharing something that was meant for you, with you.  

Coming to an end, Harry cleared his throat and sat his guitar down beside him. “So, uh,” he brushed his nose, “what’d you think?”

With a puckish smile you replied, “It was… colourless.”

“What?” He turned himself, crossing his legs and leaning closer nervily. “What-what do you mean colourless?”

“Well,” you pursed your lips, “I guess I just… it’s a bit…”

“A bit what?” He pressed, “C’mon, I’ve been terrified of playing this for you.”

You smiled, looking at your hands and twisting your rings around, “I would say that it was a bit on the nose.”

You could see him visibly relaxing, a small smile on his lips and his usual confidence returning.

“I wanted to be straight to the point with this song, y’know?” He sat taller, “Figured that I should say it as it is, get my message across… but that doesn’t make it colourless,” he emphasized with an amusing grin. “That was just rude.”

“You asked for my opinion,” you shrugged, holding back a laugh.

“I wasn’t expecting you to say that, though!” He laughed.

The sun peeked in through the window above the bed, warming your skin in some sort of a comforting way. Any tension or nerves had been eased, and the both of you were simply melting into that moment now.

Silence was something that tasted so sweet when it was shared with Harry, yet it was so sour when alone. It wasn’t a panic or worry of what might happen next, but instead it was more like a reassurance that whatever might happen, it would be golden.

“I’ll try to be compassionate next time.” You let out a dramatic puff of air, “Though it’ll be rather difficult for me, I’m sure.”

Harry reached over, a doting look in his eyes, and caringly tucked a bit of your hair behind your ear. “I would appreciate any effort you could put in, my heart can’t seem to handle the brutal honesty.”

Knees rested against one another’s, Harry let his hand settle on your leg just below where your own hand had been lying. Maybe it was much more like fiction or fantasy than you had ever really wished for, though Thea would adore hearing about that part of it later, but it came so easily.

Fingers grazing delicately, Harry was leaning closer in. Taking the chance now, right at the end of summer, was a somewhat terrifying option. Yes, it was still your opportunity for a new beginning, but time was running out. If things wouldn’t work out, where would that put you in the fall?

It didn’t really matter to you anymore, that what if possibility. You were far too distracted by what was in front of you right now to be worrying so much about the future. Whatever may happen before the seasons changed, you would deal with it when it came.

Tracing his fingers up along your arm, Harry’s eyes flickered between your eyes and lips. Letting his hand rest now on your cheek, you could feel your face warming back into a blush. You both closed your eyes as you were nearing into a kiss, only inches away.

Your summer courage was coming back through, pushing you to close the space between.

“Guys, I’ve got some shit news!” Andrew’s voice rang from the stairs before he rudely shoved the door open.

You pulled back from Harry quickly, that feeling of security seeming to fade. Harry bit his lip, a small frown on his face from Andrew barging in. Andrew hadn’t known, but he very well could’ve squashed that new opportunity had you and Harry not been so determined already.

“Is no one going to ask what my news is?” Andrew sat dramatically at the end of the bed.

Harry chuckled, “What’s your news?”

“Oh, thank you so much for asking, Harry. Glad to hear you’re interested.” He cleared his throat, straightening his posture and holding a theatrical tone. “Thea’s invited Dickolas to the show tonight.”

Sharing a glance with Harry, you were both a bit annoyed that that was all that was interrupting the two of you. Which, that was bad enough news so you could somewhat understand his urgency. Still, it came as an inconvenience to how things were finally developing with Harry.

Regardless, Andrew was likely there to stay now and he had pretty well ruined the moment you had before, so you’d hopefully pick it up later.

“She invited him?” You turned yourself around, letting your legs dangle from the edge of his bed. “Why the fuck would she invite Nick?”

“Something about… needing a bigger crowd, which is true, but…” Andrew scrunched his nose, “Dickolas? He will just ruin everything.”

“I s’pose he will,” Harry mumbled, he seemed more sulky than you had been. “You’re here a bit early?”

“By like… five minutes,” Andrew chuckled, “what’s crawled up your ass? Did I interrupt something?” He wiggled his brows, “Were you two finally making a move on each other?”

You wondered if Andrew ever got tired of being invasive, though you hadn’t really minded him all that much. He seemed to be the only one in the group that could always call the rest of you out, which was a bit of an annoyance.

His childish comment had actually left you a bit embarrassed, considering how new that occurrence still was. It was typically so easy to get under your skin, but something about Harry made you cave any time that sort of teasing had to do with him.

“Piss off,” you hit Andrew’s shoulder. “We should be leaving to help Nana at the cafe anyway.”

Harry watched sorrowfully as you stood from the bed, “Oh, you guys should go ahead, I still have to get ready.”

It was as if he was remembering something last minute, some reason that he needed to stay.

“You sure?” You picked up your purse, “We could stay with you.”

“Andrew can keep me company,” he smiled widely, clapping a hand on Andrew’s shoulder. “We won’t be far behind.”

“Thank you for volunteering me,” Andrew jested.

It was a bit odd. Harry could take a great deal of time getting ready on occasion, but you didn’t really see the need for tonight. Really, you already thought he would’ve been ready to leave just as he was. It wasn’t something to make a fuss about, though, and you figured you might easily over think it if you sat on the idea for too long, wondering if it might have something to do with the song and kiss.

Ignoring Andrew, Harry stood to follow after you as you left. “Hey, I’m…” his voice was low, “sorry about him interrupting. We should talk more after the show?”

“That’d be great,” you smiled and lazily looked through your purse. “I can give you more feedback about that colourless song of yours.” You joked, testing to see how things left off.

He smiled, leaning against his door frame. “Maybe some kinder feedback this time?”

“Possibly,” you gave a devilish smile. “There were definitely parts of it that stuck, though. It’s an absolutely terrific song…” Pulling a tube of strawberry lipstick from your purse, you placed it carefully in Harry’s hand, “for being so straightforward.”

Glancing down to his hand, he closed his fingers carefully around the tube. “Straightforward seems to be getting me somewhere, so I will take that as a compliment.”

This was the perfect season to convince yourself to go through with any action you might have feared otherwise. Harry had taken advantage of that with his song, and now you were stepping forward too even if it was just with lipstick. But that had seemed to be enough for him.

“Will you be cheering me on?” He had a melodramatic pout, “With such a small crowd watching us play I can use an extra amount of your support, less people to cheer me on and such.”

“Didn’t you hear?” You smiled teasingly, “Dickolas might be showing, he could bring in an entire herd of people, you know. You won’t need my support anymore when you’ve got an entire crowd watching.”

“I’d rather drop the band entirely than have support from Dickolas,” he scrunched his nose. “What would that say about Pandora’s Signs if we attracted people like him?”

Pandora’s Signs. Such a corny name Harry and Tom had chosen for their band.

Andrew peaked over Harry’s shoulder, “Are you two wrapping this up so Harry can actually be ready on time? Would be nice if he wasn’t late to his own show for once.”

Harry rolled his eyes, pushing Andrew back without even turning to face him. “We’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.” He pressed another smile towards you, “Not that Andrew is right or anything, but I probably should start getting ready.”

You could hear Andrew mumbling to himself as he went back to entertaining himself, already annoyed by Harry. Why he had put up with Harry, or the rest of you for that matter you would never understand. Andrew had just been a very patient person, you thought.

“Andrew is absolutely right, you’re almost always late.” And he had been, even if just by a few minutes. “I probably should be leaving now.”

Though knowing he should let you go, he wanted to grasp onto every second he could get.

“So that whole… moment has really ended, then?” He reached for the door knob, slowly pulling it further shut for a bit more of privacy from Andrew.

“I suppose it ended when you decided not to lock the door beforehand,” you joked, gently placing a soft kiss on his cheek. “I’ll see you at the cafe.”

It wasn’t exactly the type of kiss either of you were hoping for, but you could settle. Harry had a cheeky smile, gently squeezing the lipstick you had given him as you left. You had been waiting to see how things would play out between the two of you, and reality seemed to be turning out better than you had ever imagined.

You were thanking the burst of summer confidence, an excitement filling your stomach as you made your way downstairs. Thea would be the first person you’d tell, you thought she probably couldn’t wait to hear it all. You had been gushing to her for weeks about Harry, and Thea had always so carefully listened. She had likely been a huge factor to where your confidence with him was coming from too, always the first to support your feelings of him.

And you had tried your best to do the same for her, even as you struggled a bit more to show your enthusiasm. It made you question how things had been going between her and Tom, especially since you had started helping him to catch more of Thea’s attention. You had known about her feelings for him for some time, and his feelings for her were becoming increasingly more obvious.

As hopeful as you were about the two of them, it seemed to be taking them much longer to get together than it had been taking you and Harry, even if the events surrounding the song were new. Tom had struggled to just be more upfront about his feelings, nervous of what she might say. And, for once, Thea was equally as anxious.

But maybe they had gotten further while you were up with Harry, summer could’ve been helping them just as much.

“Because it’s Dickolas Thea, he…” Tom’s voice came from the kitchen, sounding annoyed and a bit disappointed. “He is a dick.”

“And you aren’t?” Thea spat back quickly.

Or maybe summer wouldn’t be helping those two at all. What reason would they have for fighting? And why would they choose Nick, of anyone, to fight about?

“I mean, they both are dicks.” You turned into the room, agreeing with Thea promptly. “Why would we want to put up with two dicks?”

Thea froze up, turning her gaze towards you now. She seemed fairly taken back by seeing you, maybe just not expecting you to so suddenly walk in as they fought. But there was this look in her eyes, one that nearly seemed hurt just when seeing you.

“Oh, haven’t thought about that,” she pondered before saying coldly, “then Tom doesn’t have to come.” A simple solution, then there wouldn’t be two dicks attending the show.

“It's literally my band?” Tom glared at her. They had seemed so hostile with one another.

“Maybe so but Thea makes a point,” you shrugged. Looking over to Thea with a smile you said,  “Seems like an even trade with them.”

You made your way to stand beside her, crossing your arms with a placid grin. Whatever was going on between them, you figured you would have agreed with your best friend over Tom. Though you were close friends with him too, he could be a bit dim. Besides, you still figured that it was only a childish fight between them, not that any of it was being taken seriously.

“See?” Thea smirked, tilting her head mockingly. “Besides, I really do think that more people seeing you guys would be better, I don’t think a bunch of old farts is a great audience for your wanna be farty band.” She was right, honestly. They could use a better audience. “Anyway, I need to… go talk to Harry.”

Thea was making her way out, leaving you in more confusion and Tom was left in anger, it appeared. Though you thought, too, that he seemed a bit hurt by what she had said, specifically about the band. The fight didn’t seem to be as petty as you initially thought anymore. The realization that it might be serious between them made a bit of your joy leave, and you now were anxiously observing them trying to figure out what was going on.

“About what, exactly?” Tom asked, nearly walking to follow before stopping himself.

“The power of friendship.” Thea replied callously without stopping.

“Are you two…” you glanced between them, “okay?”

“No, thanks for asking,” Thea said easily. “See you there, my great friend,” she smiled at you before turning back to a frown, “and Tom.”

Watching as she left, you were utterly lost. Things were not at all similar to how you had hoped they were between them, and it was much different than the vibes between you and Harry just minutes before. What had you just watched? And what had happened beforehand to lead to it? Surely it had to do with much more than just Nicholas.

“What the fuck did you say to her?” You glared towards Tom, feeling stronger about defending Thea than him. Thea was never so petty without reason. You followed after her, “Wait, Thea, what’s going on?”

“What?” She was making her way upstairs. “Nothing, he’s just being an idiot…” it was odd for her to deflect. “Wait what’s… What happened with Harry? Why are you blushing? Did you kiss?”

“Wait, what? I’m…” you brushed your fingers across your cheeks, feeling a smile reappearing as you thought of what had happened. You were still excited to let her know, but that wasn’t what was more important at the moment. “No, we didn’t kiss, but…”

“But?” Thea was grinning widely, just as excited as you had been.

It had nearly been enough to distract you from whatever it was she was so harshly avoiding. What happened with Harry felt so unbelievable, the perfect sort of storybook thing that Thea had always gushed about. And even if it had so abruptly ended, you were excited to imagine where it might go from there, and you knew that Thea would have a few ideas to imagine out with you.

You shook your head lightly, more concerned about her and Tom. “You’re just avoiding whatever happened with Tom.”

“Nothing happened,” Thea insisted. It didn’t seem true, “But you’re the one avoiding whatever happened with Harry, please!” She shifted the focus again. “You guys were there for about… an eternity, what happened? You’re smiling like an idiot.”

She was right, you still were. You really were trying your best to hide it, but the feeling was too lively for you to just block it off.

“I am not avoiding it, I’m actually happy to share but I’m just concerned for you…” Which was true, but her distractions were slowly working. “Was I really blushing, though?”

“Well, what happened?” She nudged your arm.

Would it be bad of you to just let it go? You didn’t want to push her, but she seemed really upset about something. Letting it go for the moment seemed to be best, you could ask her about it again later, and maybe then she would be more prepared to talk.

“I’m expecting to hear about Tom later, but…” you caved, letting yourself smile excitedly again, “Harry wrote this new song, and he was playing it for me… he seemed pretty nervous to share, and I guess it… I mean, it seemed to… be about me?”

It had sounded so over-the-top as you said it out loud, but even just the memory of it was stirring up the butterflies in your stomach. You were still processing it, honestly, and it was just too enthralling.

Thea must’ve agreed on that, because all she could seem to do was let out an entirely thrilled scream. You laughed a bit at her reaction, almost wanting to shy away from the attention but being far too ecstatic to do so.

“And?” She asked you, a shine in her eyes now. “What did you do?”

“I… I mean, we were close to kissing before Andrew had interrupted…” you admitted, “and then on my way out I gave him my lipstick, like he had mentioned in the song.” You glanced at her, waiting for her reaction.

“Shut up,” Thea smiled, “you should’ve bloody kissed him in the moment you twit!”

“I know, and we had been so close!” Regrettably close, because it hadn’t happened.

“And how do you feel about this?” She asked, stepping closer to you as she went on. “Are you finally admitting it? That you fancy his stupid ass?”

Now that you might never admit, because what a shame it might be. You had admitted it, to yourself and very indirectly to Thea only once before. You didn’t really need to say it for her to know, it had been very plain to see, but she still had to tease.

You had been telling her all about him for weeks, though most of it she knew herself from being his friend too. But there were things you had learned about him no one else knew yet, though some of the things were small. Harry was interesting to you, and it was easy to learn more about him because he had always wanted all eyes on him.

“Well I never said that, did I?” You joked. “And I could’ve chosen much worse, like Tom or something.”

That struck a nerve in her, her eyes going a bit cold again. “Fuck him.”

You raised your brows, shocked by her response since she had rarely used such words. “So you’re cussing now, what happened?”

As excited as you were to be sharing everything that happened with Harry, wanting to go on and on about it, really, you couldn’t help but be brought back to noticing whatever was happening with her. If something happened, you would’ve rather talked about that than go on about your own more positive experience.

Thea never wanted to take away from your happiness, or anyone’s for that matter. “What happened is that you almost kissed Harry and you’re being stupid and avoiding it.” Which neither of you believed. “So, what’s up with that?”

“Hmm, sure, that’s all.” You weren’t convinced, how could you be? If you kept pushing, though, you worried what her reaction might be. “But I don’t mean to avoid it, for once, it’s just that Andrew came in. After the show, though, maybe I can get my lipstick back from him, you know?”

“I’m pretty sure he wanted the lipstick,” she began, a smirk on her lips, “so then, how about when he gives it back, you use it so he can actually taste it.”

Thea had her lips puckered, leaning towards you as she made kissing noises. You were trying your best not to laugh, wanting to avoid her comment entirely.

“Anyway, I’ll tell you how that goes!” You cleared your throat, “You’re sure you don’t want to ride with Tom and I?”  

“I’d rather jump off a cliff,” she rolled her eyes, quick to change moods again. “No… I’m joking, I…” Thea pressed her eyes shut, “I just need to talk to Harry about one of the songs… But I’ll see you guys there.”

“Uhm,” your lips pressed together, “yeah, alright.”

Thea looked over your face, noticing your response and worrying that she sounded too cold.

“Yeah, and if you get the chance, please break his neck.” She smiled lightly again, trying to brighten your mood.

It was false, a faulty wall she was putting up so you’d let it go. You could understand not wanting to talk about whatever it was, but it was a little odd that she was acting so withdrawn. And you had recognized her need to please people, so the fact that she kept changing it back to you and Harry wasn’t much of a surprise, though it still hurt in a way. Like she hadn’t trusted you enough to tell you what it was.

You figured it was a worry more in your mind, and you wouldn’t overreact just yet. “I’d take any excuse to do that,” you smiled back, “but I do expect an explanation once I’ve done it.” A subtle way of trying to make it an easier topic maybe.

“It’s nothing, y/n.” She said quickly. “See you in a bit.”

With another faux smile, Thea turned back and made her way up the stairs. Maybe you had pushed her too much. You had noticed that she didn’t want to talk about it, and you were angry with yourself for not just letting it go. But, you recognized too that you were only trying to help her. You were concerned about not just her, but Tom too really.

It didn’t make sense that they were fighting then, and that it had been bad enough for Thea to just walk away. That hadn’t been the worst of it, you would’ve known if it was. Whatever the worst part was had something to do with so much more than just you, or even Dickolas.

You still wanted to help them, and although Thea hadn’t been so open to accepting your help, maybe Tom could use it. You did still side more with Thea on it, having no background on the situation, but it couldn’t hurt to ask him for his side of the story.

Trying to shake off your last exchange with Thea, you went back to the kitchen to talk with Tom.

“Were you really that bothered by her inviting Nick?” You chuckled, “I mean, I don’t blame you for being pissed about it, seeing as how crusty he is, but it did seem that you were being a bit dramatic.”

Tom was running a hand down his face, leaning against the counter and sitting in his own bit of pity.

“Nicholas is… he’s an urchin and I don’t want him at my show,” he complained. “She just… decided to invite him out of the blue, like it was nothing.

“The show is open to the public,” you pointed out. “And Thea can invite whoever she wants, even Dickolas.”

“Yes, but why did she choose him?” He asked tiredly. “It was like she did it just to be against me, you know?”

“Don’t be so self centered.”

“You weren’t there when she invited him,” he retorted. He was quick to be so defensive, just as Thea had been. “She… she doesn’t even like him, but you know who does? Her bloody father.”

Your brows knitted together, “What does that have to do with it?”

It was true, that Thea hadn’t even liked Nick yet her father had. But her father hadn’t liked Tom or Harry, which didn’t seem to make much sense to you knowing what you had about Nicholas.

“She probably just invited him to please her father,” Tom explained, pushing off the edge of the counter, “And if he shows, at least she’ll be spending time with someone her father actually approves of, and if not she still tried.”

Thea was known to be a people pleaser, you couldn’t deny that. And she had often done things just for her father’s approval, so he was right in that sense too. But it wasn’t of malicious intent, or at least not often.

You had probably known more on the topic than Tom, considering how much longer you knew Thea and just the types of relationships you each had with her, so you knew that deep down her reasoning wasn’t just to get back at Tom. You hadn’t witnessed their fight, or her inviting Nick, but you knew Thea.

“Which do you think it is then?” You asked him, pressing your lips together. “Is it that she did it to go against you, or she did it because her father likes Nick?”

He looked at you, somewhat dumbfounded by your question. “Both,” he replied. “He has always preferred Dickolas over me, and she was just taking the opportunity to… to hit two birds with one stone. Inviting him would make her father happy, and she was being petty and trying to get back at me for before.”

“Before?” You asked, growing more and more curious. “What happened before?”

Tom’s gaze snapped to meet yours, as if he was suddenly remembering that you were actually there talking with him and he wasn’t just ranting about to himself. He had said too much, or at least much more than he was hoping to say at this point.

“No, nothing, it’s…” his mind was scrambled. “Maybe, well, maybe I’ll tell you about it later? We should just enjoy tonight, shouldn’t we? We’ve got a show to get to.”

A sudden change in his tone, Tom was guiding you outside with him to his car. You had actually been getting answers about whatever happened, and now he was just avoiding it as plainly as Thea. Prying did no good, so you thought it would just be better to drop it now before he too might get more defensive on the matter.

The fight that happened between them was something that they wanted you to think was nothing. They wanted you to believe it was petty, and that it could be let go of quickly. But if that were the truth of it, Thea would’ve just told you what had happened, and Tom would’ve too even if just to complain. You knew them, and you knew that it was more than they cared to admit.

You also knew that trying to force either of them to talk about it would only make the situation worse. They would become defensive, and they would possibly shut you out entirely. But, if they were ready to talk about it then they would. What worried you, though, was imagining when they might finally be ready, if ever.

Riding to the cafe with Tom, the sun seemed ever so slightly dimmer than it had been before. The breeze was still blowing the same, but the warmth in the air seemed to be fading.

“I’m sorry about all of that back there, with Thea and all.” Tom said meekly. “It was a stupid fight, and I guess I’m just sorry you caught the end of it.”

Maybe you’d get to figure out more about it sooner than you thought.

“It seemed like your usual joking banter, just…” you thought, “a different tone.”

He scoffed lightly to himself, “We had been arguing before, and then she invited Nick which just seemed to make things worse.”

“So I’ve figured out,” you chuckled. “But what in the world had the two of you so torn up?”

Tom sighed, pausing to think before saying anything more. He still seemed to have an endless rush of thoughts going through, and you could almost see him trying to figure out which to focus on first. It was like he was trying to be careful with what he said, possibly avoiding any more conflict like before.

“We were just talking about…” he took a long breath in, he seemed nervous.

It was a type of anxiousness you had seen before, though having not yet connected it. He was talking so softly, and there was a light touch of pink across his cheeks. Why had he cared so much about whatever Thea’s father thought, and even about her inviting Nick?

You had known about his crush on her, and maybe that had something to do with it. His nervousness would explain that, and so would his total confusion as to the thing with Nick too.

“Wait,” you were grinning ear to ear. “Did you… did you finally tell her about your crush on her?” If he had, why was she so upset? “How did you manage to fuck that up?”

“I didn’t,” he said quickly. “I didn’t tell her that.”

You frowned, “Oh?”

“No, I…” he licked his lips, “I told her that I liked you.”

What?

Tom was glancing at you, trying to take in your reaction, but you didn’t have much of one. You couldn’t really process what he said, because it was completely out of pocket.

“What… What do you mean?” You turned to him.

“I told her that I like you,” he repeated, as if that would help. “I said I liked you, and that I thought we were a good match. And, I mean, we’ve been getting closer so I thought that maybe…”

“You’re joking,” you shook your head.

“No,” he had a nervous laugh, “I’m not.”

What was he trying to get out of this? Was it some stupid joke? Was it just to mess with you after the song and all with Harry? You wondered if maybe it was some stupid test he was putting you up to before things with Harry went any further, since he was his best friend. Even Tom wasn’t that low of a person, though.

“You’ve got to be joking,” you didn’t know what else to say.

“Would it be so bad if I did like you?” Tom asked, and you swore he already knew the answer.

“You don’t like me.” You shook your head again.

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes I do,” you scoffed, “because I know that you like her.” Meaning Thea.

“Maybe I don’t anymore.”

“Tom, be serious.”

“I am being serious,” he glanced over at you, growing annoyed. Of course he had the nerve. “I don’t think I like her anymore.”

“You don’t think?” What was he even saying? “And that’s enough for you? You aren’t even sure if you don’t like her anymore but you’re so sure that you like me?”

“Yes,” he replied, “and it doesn’t matter about her because I know that I like you.”

“Fine, I’ll amuse this.” You turned in your seat to face him, “If you do like me, why? What has made you change from wanting to be with Thea to thinking you want to be with me?”

That was the real issue here. It made no sense, it was coming from absolutely nowhere. There was nothing pointing to the thought that he might like you, and you weren’t sure what you did that would’ve signaled to him that you might like him too.

“Well, for one,” he began carefully, “we’ve been spending more time together--”

“So I could help you get with her.” You clarified. Was his reasoning really that simplistic?

“But being around you just made me realize that it’s you I like.”

No you fucking don’t, Tom.” Running a hand through your hair, you weren’t sure how to react at the moment. “Stop being so stupid.”

“I’m not being stupid,” he shook his head. “Why is it so hard to think I could like you?”

“Because I have literally been helping you to get with my best friend!” You scoffed, “What is about me that is making you be so fucking dumb?”

“I’m not being…” he bit his lip. “Why won’t you just listen to what I’m saying?”

“Because it’s a lie, and you’re not making any sense.” You said simply.

“It is not a lie, why would you think that? Is it…” he glanced over, “is it you think you aren’t good enough?” Was that a serious question? “Or--or is it that you’re afraid to admit anything because of what it might mean?”

There was nothing you had feared to admit to him, because you were comfortable with where your friendship with him stood, or you were before this conversation. Things were easy with him because he was the one from the group that was just like you. You knew that he understood why you were so careful when it came to sharing the truths held deep in your heart, because he had always had the same explanations for himself.

But regardless of his usual understanding, he didn’t seem to understand at all right now. The things he was saying seemed so random, having no evidence to back even a single word out of his mouth. And had he really mistaken your friendship for more? Wasn’t it clear of your intentions with Harry?

“Admit what, Tom?” You had had enough at this point. “Admit that you’re being a selfish prick?”

“No, admit that you actually do have some sort of feelings.” Tom probably thought he was being a genius. “But that’s what would be great with me,” he was backing himself up again, “I don’t want you to be pressured into that sort of thing. I understand how hard it is to be so open with someone, you wouldn’t have to force yourself into change with me.”

“What the hell does that mean?” What was he looking for here?

“We know each other so well, and that’s part of what made me realize how I feel about you.” He moved closer to the edge of his seat, gripping the steering wheel tighter, “Think about it, right? That’s why I was even coming to you about Thea, was because you could understand my feelings already. We don’t have to change how we express them for Thea or Harry, because we already understand each other.”

You knew that he could be an idiot, but was he truly so arrogant?

You didn’t mean to completely dismiss however he was feeling, because for all you knew he really could’ve developed feelings for you, but you really didn’t believe that it was true. If anything, you thought it was just some misinterpretation that he had done with his own emotions.

“What you’re saying is that because we both have the unhealthy coping mechanism of just shutting down we’re suddenly meant to be?” You mockingly nodded, “What a bloody genius you are, Thomas.”

“That’s…” he sighed, feeling more defeated, “no, but… We get each other.”

“And they’re doing their best to get us too.” You fought back, “That’s sort of the entire point of having any relationship with someone, is getting to know who they are. And that’s what I like so much about being with Harry, we’re still learning about each other.”

“Well, yes, but we’re already comfortable with one another in that way.” Why was he still insisting? “Don’t you see how simple it could be for us? We wouldn’t have to make all these huge changes to be with one another. We would already be comfortable in knowing who the other is.”

“I don’t want to be like this for my entire life,” you pleaded, “and I know you don’t either. It’s exhausting, and it’s crappy.” This was something you didn’t think you needed to explain to him. “And Thea always helps me with that, and now Harry is too. It’s not like it’s a bad thing that we’re growing as people because we’re around them.”

“Growth isn’t what I’m trying to talk about, I’m just saying that… you don’t have to force yourself into any change, you know that?” Tom really looked to be concerned.

“If you don’t want to be with Thea anymore can you just say that?” You sighed, “You’d be a fucking idiot for saying it, but it would make things less complicated.”

He scoffed, “Even if I did still like her it wouldn’t matter, she clearly doesn’t like me.”

It finally was feeling like you were getting somewhere with him.

“Why are you saying that?” Had something happened that you didn’t know about? Was that what was upsetting Thea earlier? “Is this what this whole thing is about? Did something happen with her?”

The entire feel of the atmosphere had changed, the sun now hidden behind the clouds. It was as if you were finally asking the questions he was hoping to avoid.

Tom was hesitant to reply, now avoiding looking your way completely. He looked like he hadn’t known what to say but almost as if he was thinking of the perfect response. You knew he might try to lie, or to just take the opportunity to end the conversation then.

Shockingly, he ended up cracking. “I told her that I liked you just before we left, when we were having tea downstairs...” he admitted, “and she hadn’t seemed to care, but you’d think if she did that she would’ve been…” he shook his head, “I don’t know.”

You hadn’t been there for that, obviously, but you already were guessing Thea’s reaction to him telling her that. Why would he even say something so stupid to her? Was he testing to see her reaction? Was it just some dumb teenage boy’s idea to see if she might fight for him? He was disappointingly thick.

“That’s what this all is about?” You questioned. “You stupidly lied about having feelings for me and she was taken back, and you took that immediate chance to just assume the worst?”

“Why do you think it’s a lie?” His voice was low again, giving up on defending himself.

“Because it doesn't make sense, Thomas!” You snapped. “I thought things were going so well, with me and Harry and the song, the-the lipstick, even--”

“What?”

“And I have been helping you, so you could get closer to Thea because that’s who you like, not me, and that was going so beautifully too.” You rubbed your temples, squeezing your eyes shut tightly. “Why are you now saying differently?”

How had you even ended up here? Fighting with Tom about something so petty.

He was being a fool, which he often was anyway. And this wasn’t just you trying to convince yourself that he didn’t like you, though that was definitely occurring as well, but it was that you genuinely didn’t believe it. And maybe you should’ve heard him out more, but the consequences of him saying that wouldn’t affect only him. It was already affecting Thea, and your relationship with the both of them. It begged the question of what else, and who else, this would affect.

“I just thought that if she cared she would have shown it.” He sounded totally defeated, actually taking it all in now. “Because if she did have any sort of feelings, she really fooled me… when I told her that all she could do was go on and on about Harry, and how opposites attract or whatever the fuck, so it was like the final nail in the coffin to me.”

He took a pause, pressing his lips together and sitting back a bit further. Even if he was an idiot, he did seem upset about her reaction. You knew his feelings for Thea were true, and maybe he really hadn’t realized that she liked him too. Thea hadn’t told a soul about her crush on him, she hadn’t even said it to you and you were best friends, but it was easy for you to see how she felt. Tom was hurt, and it seemed confused too.

“So you just spewed out that you liked me?” You asked quietly.

“No, no, I-” he sighed. “I really thought- or think?” He didn’t seem sure. “That I liked you. I guess I was just being stupid, though, right? I was just misreading all the signs, and I assumed far too much.”

You thought for a minute, trying to piece everything together. “Maybe I was just your fallback, since you thought that Thea wasn’t interested.”

Tom thought about it, though he didn’t seem happy about the idea. Who could blame him? It wasn’t exactly a good situation for anyone involved at this point.

“It’s just,” you began again, “what if you only liked me because I was there, I was familiar and I was someone you were comfortable with… and when you thought that Thea might not like you, you needed that familiarity?” You were trying to figure it out for yourself as much as you were for him.

He parked the car, silently taking the keys out as he considered your theory.

“That makes sense, doesn’t it?” You adjusted in your seat again. “That it was just a misunderstanding, because it seemed like a simple solution?”

Tom wasn’t giving you much of a reaction, and you had hoped that meant he was just realizing it too. That had actually made sense, it was a clear explanation to why he was saying everything that he had. It wasn’t out of spite, thought parts were, but it was just a mixup and confusion of his emotions.

“Yeah,” Tom finally said quietly, “that makes sense, I guess.”

He didn’t seem fully convinced, but you’d take what you could get because this was the simple solution to your own problems. It made things less complicated, and maybe it would allow you to clear things up with Thea. You wouldn’t have to worry about what those consequences might entail if what you thought of was true.

“Okay, yeah… great, right?” You nodded to yourself, frantically putting your purse over your shoulder and getting out of the car. “That’ll explain it all, and then things between us don’t have to be weird. And you can tell Thea, right, that it was all just a misunderstanding? You can explain, and you can tell her the truth of it now?”

He was much more quiet now, “Right, of course.”

And that was all you needed, for him to agree with you that it was all just a mistake, a misunderstanding. Because that’s what it had to have been, otherwise it was messing with everyone’s relationships and that wasn’t something that you wanted to deal with losing.

Now it was back to the focus of summer, back to focusing on the warmth of the sun and the calming twist of the breeze. You had your answer, and Tom had realized your truth. You convinced yourself that wasn’t an anxiety you would have to deal with for any longer.

“We should be going in now, to help get things ready.” Before he could say anything else, you went in to quickly distract yourself with any little task.

Knowing your way around the cafe well enough, you helped to set up the tables and such after having a brief conversation with Thea’s grandmother about the night. It was mindless enough work, just to keep you busy until the others arrived too. You wondered how much longer they might be.

Tom was inside now too, sluggishly getting his guitar ready. Had you cut off the conversation too soon? Surely not, how could’ve you? The solution was found, and it was clear as day… and hopefully not as mud.

When the others had finally arrived, you could feel the weight lifting off your chest. You weren’t focused on just Tom anymore, so that anxious aching was fading away. Though, part of you worried about telling the others about what had happened with him. That wasn’t something you could just hide away, was it? Especially not from Harry.

As you silently kept on setting up, Harry came up to talk to you, and that was when all worry seemed truly gone. The memory of earlier was still so warming to your heart, it clouded all other fears. Instead, you could feel those butterflies again, and the evening was brightening once more. Because it was warmer with him, you knew just what to expect.

Things weren’t as complicated as what Tom seemed to think they were between you and Harry, in fact things were so easy. You complimented one another very well, at least that’s what the two of you had thought.

“Oh, before we go on,” Harry smiled and took the lipstick out of his pocket. “I really would like to try some of this lipstick after the show.” He gently closed the tube in your hand, “But maybe I could get the taste from your lips?”

He laid a kiss on your knuckles, giving you a quick wink before going up on the stage to perform. Another smile appeared on your lips as you held the lipstick closer to your chest. It was moments like that that you dreamed of in the summer. That alone opened up so many new doors, and it included opportunities that you couldn’t wait to explore. That was the excitement of summer, even if in the simplest of ways.

You took your seat with Thea and Andrew, and the music began not long after. Thea seemed more relaxed now, and less upset about that entire issue with Tom. In fact, you had noticed her giving him a kiss on the cheek just before he went up on stage, and he now had red lipstick left where he had kissed her. You figured that was a good sign, they must’ve shortly talked things through.

Even Andrew, though he was a bit annoyed when his (rather new) stepbrother arrived, hadn’t let the night be spoiled. Everything was going so shockingly well.

As the music was coming to an end, you went behind the counter of the cafe to find some shirts that you had left there earlier that day. You had finally finished your design for a new logo for Tom and Harry, and you got it printed onto some shirts for them. More positive news for that day, helping to cover up your worries some more.

And when the music did end, you all gathered together in your excitement. Complementing their show, going on about how this one was by far the best show they had had, even if you all said that every single time. And the joy continued when you showed your new design for them, it was Pandora delicately holding a hawkshead flower. Things were so bright again.

Nana gathered you all for a picture together, thinking this might be a moment that all of you might want such a keepsake for. And this was just another day closer to the end of summer, yet for once it didn’t seem that this would all fade with the season.

read Thea’s side here

next chapter

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[seaswalllow]

liveblogging observations, all condensed into one post since it’s so late: 

- oh shit. the suit. the suit. AND THE COAT?? eret has raised the fucking BAR

- stomping boots to stomp the fuck outta the egg lmaooo

- o h? an overthrow arc, you say? “we need to do something abt this for the greater good of the server” eret my beloved. 

- eret please one of the pro-omelettes is going through her own identity crisis and everybody else is either dealing with the prison

- the most casual declaration of war: “i’ve decided that i don’t like all of this red shit around, want to help me destroy it?” iconic. 

- “i’ve not had any detrimental effects” hmm. hmmmmm. 

- “i’d break the egg but i’m afraid it’d unleash whatever’s inside the egg on the entire server... i’ve fucked up enough times, i’d rather not fuck up again” [tucks this into my eret observations]

- there’s so many egg outposts klkgjhsgjhds i, for one, think it would’ve been hilarious if they all built their rooms around the egg’s nest and just barely avoided running into each other down there

- LMFAOOOO two of the best builders on the server and they’re hunkered down in a little tiny room in an abandoned, flooded base. that’s... a badass, and lowkey sad aesthetic

- “badboyhalo seems to be the main mouthpiece. one thing that we should keep in mind is- i don’t think that’s really their fault. we can’t hold this against them. i don’t want to hurt them.” foolish my BELOVED thank you

- “i don’t know if we destroy the egg, do we destroy their minds?” if nobody’s got me, i know foolish’s got me!!

- eret’s 20.5 days played vs foolish’s 26.6 days played on the server, this is so fucking funny, foolish’s been here for barely a third of the time eret has

- “definitely not eret and foolish’ secret base” i love these fools, this is a comedy

- very interesting how c!eret’s definition of power has changed, i think? from claiming kingship was power to recognizing that fear is no more powerful than respect and knowledge?

- “there’s too much sad in this smp” “if everybody got mental health help, so many problems would be solved” you both are so right

- “one diamond or blow up a piece of history” when you put it like that,,, KDSKJLH 

- chat: sees michael art

- chat: goes feral

- eret theory: vines are related to the mortal plane, somehow. c!eret believes that in fucking with the natural order of things, the egg accelerated, and that the vines started accelerating after wilbur’s failed revival. now these theories may not necessarily be correct but again: it’s fascinating how much more connected to this side of matters c!eret tends to be/ pass themself off as? 

- “it wasn’t wilbur that came back, but something else?” mentions of ghostbur seeing two, then one figure. 

- anyways egg-breaking time

- “it wasn’t always peaceful for me. since i’ve arrived, i’ve kept the peace, though.” foolish lore foolish lore, callbacks to being a former totem of death?

- “not many people live in this area anymore” foolish please you don’t have to call that out because i will Cry. partially the bloodvines forcing them to abandon it, partially everybody drifting. 

- “after l’manberg, everybody split off” yeah. :tears:

- ah eret lore discussion with foolish,,,, “after my betrayal, i’d hoped that things would go back to how they were” correct me if i’m wrong, but the VODs from way back then also showed quite a bit of thirst for power, right? there’s a character analysis waiting here

- “seperated them infinitely more, and now i’m just holding on to what little i have left, i guess” gamers i WILL cry don’t test me!! 

- “when i think of the egg, the first thing i think of is i don’t know” oh man, yeah, that’s probably not something that a fuckin ancient totem god is used to, huh

- i will say tho, my guy, “nobody’s fighting the egg anymore” bro they’re either underground, absent, or fighting a different concern,,, u should talk to tommy pspspsps talk to tommy or fundy or niki- ah. eret-syndicate conflict potential,,, hmhmhm

- punz is canonically a valorant pro player and i agree with this

- after the egg: ant’s power: can speak enchanting table, ponk’s power: can speak for the egg, punz’s power: gets a new fit, and bbh’s power: he can swear. he’s been unleashed, oh fuck oh shit-

- ah, so the end of the stream is where foolish drops the fuckin lore bomb, okay. [1:24:54 is where it starts!]

- “cleaning up the mess of the wither cult” “what?” “what do you mean?” “are you thinking of a different person, or-?”

- “nope, you, eret, one with the glasses, one with the netherite armor” 

- “u h”

- “it was a while ago, i suppose.”

- foolish and eret both are confused as fuck and y’know what, fair enough. 

- worldbuilding! cults outside of the smp, trolls, mountains! i love it here, foolish, eret thank you for feeding us

- “i’ve been here for months-” “well, i do agree, you’ve been here for months, but you’ve been elsewhere, eret!”

- “have i shown you my eyes before?” “trust me, i know what your eyes look like” followed by “the sunglasses are a new look for you”

- HELLO???

- “you’re not scared?” i’m gonna make a post on this in one fuckin second

- “we’ll catch up, old pal” WELL OKAY

- to the person saying “let’s go old man hd dementia” in chat: i’m already wheezing please