#and like... series vegas >>>>>>>> novel vegas

[quiznak-ofgrayskull]

I think Vegas would like math. No reason.

[nicastamatis]

woulge you guys still love me if problematic yaoi made me insane

[slaytthaphan]

i love kp but sometimes i am just so disappointed by it like it could have had some great writing and focused on “how much are your morals really worth” and expanded on the so many of the characters struggles and storylines but the writers were just like “no i really want to make porsche so ooc and give no real backing to the his thoughts as he changes” like porsche was hurting a lot of people he cared about while trying to help them and they could have put focus on that but no silly mystery that makes no sense is priority because it shows how much kinn and porsche are connected (familial that is x)

[writer-in-theory]

tying you to me — i. i dared you to kiss me

Summary: From play weddings in the suburbs of Las Vegas to lavish hotel rooms in New York City, Spencer and Reader find their way back to each other every time. Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader Content Warnings: Smut in later parts (18+ only), mentions of bullying A/N: This is a rewrite of a wip series called "the way i love(d) you" that can be found here. Thank you so much @reidsaurora for beta reading!

Playlist Series Masterlist

The story starts how so many do: with a move.

Your parents moved to Las Vegas when you were barely a toddler for a job opportunity. They were nervous about your chances of meeting kids your own age—that is, until they met the Reids. The Reid family lived in the house across the street from yours, and neighborhood legend has it that they were the first to introduce themselves to your family (though Diana would often insist your mother was the welcoming one). Your parents were overjoyed to find out that they not only had a child of their own but that he was only two years younger than you. They liked the couple well-enough; your fathers able to bond over sports and your mothers talking about anything from the novels they’d read recently to all of the best spots in town to visit. 

Many kids became friends simply due to sheer proximity, and at first you and Spencer Reid were no different. When your parents spent so much time at each others’ houses, it was easy for you to befriend the boy. He was quieter, sure, and it took some work to find which activities you could enjoy together (the chess vs checkers debate went on for far too long, really), but he was the best friend you’d ever had. 

Your mothers would get used to the two of you constantly being around each other. Oftentimes, the two of you would go on what you called ‘adventures’, which really meant you’d be allowed by your parents to explore the small town together. Each day was different—some days you’d spend with Spencer in the local bookstore, and others you’d convince him to explore nature with you. No matter what, though, you spent your days together. Quietly, when you two were busy playing in the yard, your mothers would smile at each other and say, “You know, they’ll get married one day.”

Spencer was brilliant, and everyone in town knew it. Any time he was around they’d say the same thing: “He’s going to do great things someday.” You were never sure what sort of great things they meant or how they were supposed to know that so early on, but you did know that Spencer was special. He knew about things you didn’t even know existed, and could explain them to you so well you felt like an expert by the end of it. At first, your mother worried for you, scared all of the compliments given only to him would make you feel badly, but you’d enjoyed all the attention and would loudly proclaim to anyone who would listen that you had the smartest best friend in the world.

Perhaps, then, you might’ve seen this coming if you really thought about it.

The two of you sat in your secret hideout the day before school was set to start again. It was a hill in the Vegas suburbs that looked over the desert highway, found on one of your grand adventures. The first time you’d found it, it had taken nearly four hours for any of your parents to find you and Spencer. Immediately, you’d known that you’d come back if only for the feeling of freedom it brought. When you were there, it felt like you and Spencer were the only people in the entire world. 

“Can I tell you something?” Spencer asked after several minutes of quiet. He had a book open on his lap but he hadn’t turned the page in minutes. You had been drawing, but upon seeing the nervous look on his face you quickly abandoned your notebook. 

“What’s wrong?” you asked, turning on the blanket to face him. Your mother would be upset you got her blanket dirty, but she just didn’t understand that you had to bring it outside or Spencer would be upset about having to sit in the dirt. 

“You know how we were in the same school last year?”

Because you were two years older, you hadn’t actually gotten to see Spencer in school until last year when he made it to the elementary building. It was exciting, because you could see him in the lunchroom or even during library time. 

“Yeah! Sammy said second and fourth grade get recess together, so we can play kickball with all my friends if you want.” Already you were thinking about how well he could fit in with your group of friends.

Strangely, that invitation didn’t seem to lift Spencer’s spirits. Instead, he almost got sadder, curling his shoulders in a little more and picking at a loose thread on the blanket.

“We don’t have to play kickball if you don’t wanna. We can read books together or play hopscotch, or whatever you wanna do,” you tried, but no matter what you said Spencer wasn’t happy.

“They put me in middle school this year. I won’t see you at all,” Spencer sighed, staring at the thread in his hand. “They said I was too smart for elementary school.”

“Well, you are,” you answered, knocking his arm with yours. “You’re the smartest person in the whole entire world.”

“That can’t be true,” Spencer said, finally laughing for the first time since coming to your hideout. “I’m only seven, and there’s so many adults who are smarter.”

“Well, I’m older than you so what I say goes,” you told him matter-of-factly. 

You knew sometimes Spencer got sad when people talked about his brain. Your dad said it was because it’s a lot of pressure being so smart. That was the trouble with being so brilliant, you supposed. He was constantly being pushed forward and told to hurry up and do all the great things the adults wanted from him. Sometimes, you wanted to kick them all the shins and tell them to leave your best friend alone. He had so much time to be great, so why couldn’t he just be your friend right now? You wanted to, but you knew your mom wouldn’t approve so you never did it.

Instead, all you could do was support Spencer through whatever the adults were having him work on.

“I just…do you think we’ll be friends still?” Spencer asked then, practically crumbling your heart into pieces then. “We won’t ever see each other.”

“We’ll have to see each other,” you told him. “Every day after school, come here. We can do our homework and you can tell me all about being a middle schooler. I’ll bring blankets and snacks, and you can help me with my math homework.”

“Deal,” Spencer said with a grin, placing a bookmark between the pages of his book he’d been pretending to read. “You’re learning long division this year.”

“I know, and I still say I won’t need any long division to be a movie star.”

“What if you decide you don’t want to be a movie star?”

“That’s silly, Spence,” you laughed, resuming your drawing in your notebook. “Of course I’ll be a movie star.”

The two of you fell into quiet then, but you didn’t mind. Sometimes you could sit like this with Spencer for hours, both of you working on separate things but enjoying each other’s presence nonetheless.

“I’ll miss you this year,” Spencer said to break the silence. His face was all twisted up with an emotion you didn’t know but felt too heavy for someone so little.

“I’m gonna miss you too,” you answered, your voice a little higher in pitch as you fought to hold onto the joyous feeling of being with Spencer rather than the idea of being without him all year. You didn’t want to imagine the school without him, walking the halls without seeing that mop of curls or playfully sticking your hand in front of the pages of his book at lunch to get his attention. You didn’t want to think about having to make new friends, and you definitely didn’t want to think about Spencer having to do the same. Because you were outgoing and loved talking to people, but Spencer definitely didn’t. He was shy as your dad said, and that was okay but it meant he needed you around to help make friends for the both of you. 

Just as you screamed to the world how much you loved Spencer Reid, he quietly did the same every day. Sticking so close to your side at street barbecues that his arm constantly bumped yours, holding your hand after you stood up for him in the hallway, telling you that you were the prettiest girl he’d ever seen when he caught you crying over something another girl had said about your hair. You wondered who would keep him company in the cafeteria now that he’d be in the middle school building, or protect him from stupid bullies in the hallways.

“What if I don’t fit in?” he asked, watching you with near tears in his eyes. “I don’t know how to be a middle schooler.”

“My cousin is twelve, and I talk to her all the time,” you announced then, determined to come up with a wonderful solution to his problem. “And you know what she said?”

“What?”

“She told me that Hannah Walkins had her first kiss in middle school and she was the coolest girl in school.”

“What does that mean?” Spencer asked, and you sighed dramatically as if it should have been obvious.

“It means, that if you get your first kiss in middle school then you’ll be cool and popular!”

“But who would I kiss? I don’t know any girls,” Spencer said.

“Um, hello? I’m a girl, Spence!” you shouted, waving your arms around at the clear skip over you. “You could kiss me!”

“But you’re my best friend!”

“Right, so you know I don’t have cooties,” you countered immediately.

“All girls have cooties,” Spencer corrected, “I asked my dad and he said so.”

“Well your dad’s wrong,” you said. “You know what? I dare you to kiss me!”

And this, the gauntlet was thrown. You knew Spencer didn’t have to accept your dare, but if he didn’t then he’d be the biggest weenie for not doing it. The last time one of you didn’t accept a dare was when you refused to pick a book from the library outside of the kids section, and he hadn’t stopped teasing you for a whole week after. It felt like an easy solution to helping Spencer calm his fears about fitting in with the middle schoolers, all he had to do was take it. 

You stayed still as Spencer worked up the courage. Your heart raced as Spencer began to lean in closer, wondering quickly if this was one of those things your mom would gossip to her book club about if she found out. The second you felt his lips on yours, you squealed and leapt from the blanket.

Immediately you could feel your cheeks heat up as you shrieked, “Oh my God, ew!” You both were laughing while you each wiped off your lips, trying to forget that any of that had just happened. 

“So gross!” Spencer whined, “I’m never kissing you again.”

“Good,” You agreed. How did people in movies ever want to do that kind of thing? It was so gross!

Once the excitement of the moment died down, the two of you ended up lying together on the blanket. The sun was beginning to set, which meant you’d have to walk back home to make it in time for dinner. But you could have a few more minutes with your best friend, hoping that you’d at least calmed some of his nerves about school.

“Thanks, Y/N,” Spencer told you. “You really are my best friend.”

“That’s what besties are for, Spence, I’ll always be there when you need me,” you said back. “As long as you promise never to kiss me again.”

Spencer laughed and held onto your hand then, squeezing it as if to say once more that you were his best friend. As the two of you walked, your hands slipped until only your pinkies were held onto each other, a constant tying you together even as you faced the new school year without him. 

“I promise.”

[im-an-anthusiast]

Who, me? 

Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Anthusiast, Ant, or perhaps Felix. Not as far as legal documents are considered, but what are you, a cop?

Yours truly is a queer in a homophobic Hellhole, so, yes, I am Gay AND European. I'm a he/they/it bisexual with some gender fuckery going on. You can honestly tell all this simply thanks to the fact that I look like the mafioso of the Alphabet Mafia if it was a real Mafia.

I either talk like this, this being the most pretentious Fuck to grace this Plane of Existence, or like God's silliest, most pathetic, whimsical plaything. I tend to monolouge, rant, or both.

I have quite a few obsessions interests!

Writing! I write poetry and about my WIP. I even have a Masterlist!

Blood, flesh, and the cannibalistic, anthropophagical consumption of it.

Insects, especially ants!

Roleplay and acting. I also highly enjoy Systems, so I adore TTRPGs. Pathfinder 2e and DnD 5e are personal favs.

bideo bames. I hold a special love for RPG and FPS games. My favs include Warframe, Baldur's Gate 3, and Fallout: New Vegas.

Visual Novels and Interactive Fictions. Cove my beloved.

Mythology and folklore are wonderful. I'm especially big on Greek mythos, but I love all of em. Japanese folk tales might be the most immediately concerning. The Farmer and the Badger, man...

I quite enjoy reading.

My beautiful partner!!!

I enjoy some Media

Books

Grew up on the Skulduggery Pleasant series

A Monster Calls is my favourite ever book. Made me bawl.

Love the Mistborn Series

Absolutely adore the Godkiller series. It legitimately feels tailored for me

Magnus Chase

Demon Road

Shows/Podcasts

Dimension 20

Game Changer

dropout.tv content as a whole

Red vs. Blue (where do you think I got my name?)

Malevolent

In my life and work both I am plagued by these motifs, and thus mention them (too) often

Blood, flesh, scars

Self-harm, self-sacrifice, self-destruction and related tendencies

Gold, talent, being good enough

Ink

Obsession (itself)

God-hood

Sweetness

Familial trauma

I use tags sometimes btw

#signed; fa - writing tag

#Felix's Friends - dedicated poetry tag

#Felix's Fashion - outfit tag

#ant talks ants - insect rant tag

#my flesh eating son and #yeah albion; #maxwell minnhett my son and #maxwell my dear and #maxwell my beloved; #santi my dear thing; #erin my dear; #calixte my sweet little child; #thomas dearest. - oc tags. that I'll clean up. eventually

Lastly, though most importantly, these are the people whom I love with all of my heart

@saphi-everything!!!!

@magnoliasandarson!

@the-lights-are-loud!

@squishykitty825!

@rustycamo!

@sleepy-boy-shit!

@uwathebestgirl!

@118sexen!

[strawbeerossi]

Friends Like You

Pairing: Gender Neutral!Reader x Spencer Reid

Description: After your father relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, you meet a new face at the school bus stop.

Content/Warnings: Some minor angst with Spencer’s past, bullying mention, some minor violence mentions, Spencer being a little awkward and sweet baby.

Word Count: 1.1K

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New mini series?? Let me know what y’all think!

AN: This should go without saying that it’s an AU where Spencer goes to high school at the appropriate age and not as a preteen! I thought it would be absolutely adorable. I hope you guys like it!

Spencer Reid never saw a day of peace in his life since he was a child. His father was a piece of shit who abandoned him as a child for his own selfish reasons, leaving a child with the burden of caring for his schizophrenic mother.

While he absolutely loved his mother and would do absolutely anything for her, a child shouldn’t have to be tasked with being a parent. While his friends were outside playing, he was sitting with his mother in bed while listening to her read an assortment of novels and other literature. 

High school was no easier than his early childhood. On top of caring for Diana, he spent most of his time fighting for his life within those hallways. The popular crowd, his peers, even certain teachers contributed to the anguish. There was no winning for him. 

It was a Thursday morning when he was standing at the bus stop, his satchel draped around his slender frame. He had a backpack but after too many times of it being pulled off of him and being hidden or defaced, he chose something he could have around him at all times. Nobody could just pull it off of him without dragging him with it. 

He had to figure that out the hard way.

The autumn air added a chill to the air, the crunching of the dead leaves on the ground signaling someone approaching. Typically he kept his head down to ignore the likes of Marcus Frank, Tyler Simpson, and Luke Halpert; three football guys who had a problem with the quiet, more socially awkward male who liked to fade into the background. Instead of being shoved and greeted with various ugly remarks, there was silence. There was the presence of someone beside him, so he let curiosity get the best of him.

What he saw knocked the wind out of him, even more than a punch to the gut from one of the men he dreaded seeing. 

You had recently moved to Las Vegas, your father getting a new job opportunity. It was an extremely hard move, one that drained you. The loss of close friends, family, as well as losing everything that you absolutely adored doing back home was something difficult. 

Your new house didn’t seem so homely, your neighbors were mostly old people who seemed uptight and had too many issues with the knowledge of a family moving next door. It wasn’t a welcoming city in the slightest so far. School couldn’t be that bad though, right?

Right?

Arriving at the bus stop was about as typical as it was back home, except there was only one person there so far. He was quiet and avoided your gaze, so you already felt like this was a bad start. 

‘Maybe I seem unapproachable?’ You thought to yourself. Some people did say that you suffered from a chronic case of resting bitch face, so maybe that was it? You were pulled out of your thoughts when you felt a pair of eyes on you. As your gaze lifted, it wasn’t long until you were facing Spencer. “Hi.”

Your tone was soft, almost quiet enough where Spencer couldn’t hear you. His face was red as he offered a tight lipped smile. “Hi. I’m- I- uh-” He laughed awkwardly while he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m Spencer.” He finally broke through his stammering. 

It was charming in a way. He seemed so sweet and shy. You suspected he had a hint of social awkwardness.

“Y/N. It’s nice to meet you, Spencer.” With a hand offered in his direction, he was slowly putting a hand up. “Did you know that our hands carry on average 3,200 different germs belonging to more than 150 species?  Your hands can have anywhere from 100,000 to a few million germs at any given time.” 

The sudden fact had your eyes widening as your gaze fell on the palm of your extended hand. “Are you serious? That’s how many germs lay in our hands? Good lord, no wonder why we are always spreading new diseases.”

The tone of your voice had Spencer letting out a soft giggle as he was reaching in his satchel to retrieve some hand sanitizer. “That’s why I always carry this.” He explained, pumping the disinfectant into his hands before offering some to you as well. 

“What other facts do you have?” You suddenly asked, rubbing the liquid into your hands as you were now staring up at the taller male. Spencer wasn’t used to this. Most people ignored him or they didn’t even look in his direction, much less ask him about the plethora of knowledge and statistics that plagued his brain. 

“Too many to name.” He admitted, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Ask me anything and I bet that I can tell you a statistic or a fact about it.” There was a rush of confidence, Spencer liking the idea of the possibility of having a new friend to listen to him.

“Hmm. Scotland.” You spoke while raising an eyebrow. “Oh! That’s too easy. Did you know that golf was actually invented in Scotland? Scotland is the country with the highest proportion of golf holes per capita in the world. The city of St Andrew’s has 12 golf courses.” He grinned proudly.

“Wow, are you some kind of genius or something?” You asked with a smile. “You could say that.”

This whole conversation was refreshing for Spencer. He’d never had anyone actively want to speak to him before. Most girls looked at him like he was an alien, the males would rather use him as a punching bag than speak to him like civilized people. 

He felt alone a good chunk of his life due to the fact he was.. Different from others. 

You were a rainbow shining boldly after a dreadful, miserable storm.

The school bus had rolled up not too long after though, the screeching breaks and the squeak of the opening doors were probably the most familiar thing you’d experienced. “After you.” Spencer spoke, gesturing to the open doors.

The vehicle was packed, other students scattered from other stops in the neighborhood taking up most of the seats, leaving just a mere few at the front being open. “You wanna sit with me?” You asked, the glasses wearing teenager beside you feeling the burn in his face, neck and ears from his blushing.

Despite his brain trying to give him rational ways to deny sitting with you, he couldn’t bring himself to say no. You were nice. You had a nice laugh and smile. You were safe.

Instead of verbally answering, he was taking the seat closest to the window with a soft smile, which prompted you to match his expression and fall down on the outer area of the seat. 

This was going to be the start of an interesting friendship.

[thestupidhelmet]

I’ve honestly never seen a fandom like this that insists they know the characters better than the creator of it. I’m thinking lots of thoughts

Truthfully, sometimes fans do. Or the actors do. Creators don't always put character first but plot or a punchline or whatever they think will make more money. The characters are then manipulated to act contrary to their established personalities or undergo what's called character drift.

As a novelist and short story author, whose education focus was creative writing and the study of literature, I learned about character consistency among the other elements that create a story and what's called its fictional dream by John Gardener (author and teacher of writing fiction). To quote him:

"If you're writing fiction then anything can happen -- so long as you earn it by making your world believable. Your readers will stop reading if you bore them or break their suspension of disbelief."

The T7S writers broke the show's fictional dream many times by manipulating characters to act against their established development (for plot and punchline). They even knew they were doing so in one particular instance and acknowledged it in the episode itself via dialogue (very meta of them, but the acknowledgement doesn't change the fact they didn't do enough to maintain the audience's sense of disbelief).

Major character shifts must be prepared for, grounded in the writing significantly, to make it a believable shift. It doesn't even need much, but it needs to make sense for the character. A good example of this is in the T7S episode where Red openly and serenely says, "I love you," to Eric. The whole storyline has Eric (among other characters) confused about Red's totally inexplicable change, a confusion the audience shares.

Later, the show reveals Red had been drugged at the dentist for a procedure and that the drugs hadn't worn off (substantiation of the momentary character shift) when he tells Eric he loves him.

A good example of a major character shift breaking the fictional dream and the audience's suspension of disbelief is Hyde drunkenly marrying a stranger during the two weeks he spends with her in Vegas. This change happens after Hyde spends almost a full season succumbing to then fighting against his marriage fears (from his traumatic childhood) to commit fully to the only girl he's ever been in love with for three years.

Struggling for a year to commit fully to a future with the girl he loves but able to commit fully to a future with someone he doesn't know longer than two weeks and doesn't love -- these are two different characters.

(It would have taken half a season to substantiate the change, another half a season to explore the change, another half a season for Hyde to understand his reasoning for the change and confront it, and another half a season for him and Jackie to reconcile. This storyline would have needed two seasons to make character-sense.)

This change goes completely against Hyde's long-established nature and development -- without any foundation underlying it. The writing doesn't substantiate the change. The season 8 showrunners expected the show's fans to accept the change without question. Their expectations were not met.

They broke the fictional dream to serve their own interests rather than the characters. If they didn't like T7S's seven years of development, they never should've taken the job. Instead, they warped the characters to their (the S8 showrunners') will until the characters were unrecognizable as themselves.

A show's audience is no different than the reader of a book. If a novel establishes that it's protagonist is a compassionate person, then readers expect that compassion to be consistent. It can be tested, pushed to the limit, even break -- but the choices must stem organically from the character, not the author's whim.

On Star Trek: The Original Series, although Leonard Nimoy did not create Spock in the character's most basic form, he did create much of what makes Spock who he is (as did one particular director in one early episode). Nimoy, the actor, imbued Spock with his own life experiences.

From the Vulcan neck pinch (logical, nonviolent Vulcans would have a logical, nonviolent way to subdue an assailant, he reasoned, rather than what the script called for: lots of physical fighting) to the famous Vulcan salute, to Spock's experience of being part of two worlds and feeling alien in both, all Nimoy.

Whenever a script veered from what Nimoy, the actor, believed was in Spock's character to do, he sent memos to whoever ran the show during whichever season, stated his concerns, explained them, then offered an alternative and in-character idea. Because he had the pull (no Star Trek without Nimoy, who was the show's biggest draw), his suggestions were always taken seriously and implemented.

And they were right. He did not create Spock, yet he knew Spock better than any of the writers did. Better than the man who created him.

And, yes, sometimes book readers or a show's audience know the characters better than the writers.

Gregg Mettler, the T7S writer brought onto T9S as a creator did not do his due diligence when creating the future of the T7S characters. By his own admission, the extent of his research was Wikipedia. He didn't rewatch the show. Quite frankly, he could have read the essays and metas myself and other fans have written to get a better handle (and understanding) of the T7S characters than he did from Wikipedia.

A portion of a show's audience often does understand and respect the characters better than their official writers. They put the characters first rather than creating buzz for the show, catering to network or actor or their own whims, or focusing on the show making money through stunt casting, etc.

While we can't affect what's put on screen, we have the freedom to discuss and debate what we see as character drift or character inconsistencies. To write fanfic that's more true to the characters than the show is.

I hold TV shows to the same standard of storytelling as I do novels. Unfortunately, the TV business does not. The all mighty dollar is what matters first, second, and third to many people in the industry. Not creative authenticity, originality, or consistency. I'm always pleased (and pleasantly surprised) when I watch a show where the characters are put first. These shows exist, but they're rare.

[spacemonkeysalsa]

I read about an evil magistrate in another Faerûn city, a few decades after Astarion had that job in Baldur's Gate and it has me thinking about his pre-vampire days, and my irl time as a Las Vegas law clerk. A lot.

Full disclosure: I feel a little guilty that I wrote so much on this topic rather than on one of my fics.

I wrote very little in July 🫣but it's because I was drawing and reading instead.

I read 13 books, but they were the first 13 Legend of Drizzt books.

And while writing fic, I've avoid details about Astarion's background as a magistrate, for reasons I've talked about a lot before, but I might need to rethink that, because one book in the Drizzt series just gave me SO MUCH context for what the world was like around the time that Astarion would have had this job, and also, what that job was like, and how it was very effected by geography and race. And I have THOUGHTS. Thousands of words of thoughts, apparently, below the cut.

TL;DR - The popular idea that pre-Cazador Astarion is the biggest possible asshole so he "earns" his fate is boring as hell, not actually supported by canon, or the examples of magistrates that we see in FR (who don't even need to be corrupt to satisfy cruel inclinations) and I deeply prefer going in a totally different direction. Below the cut is me working through my headcanon, and why I came to these conclusions.

I tagged this appropriately I think, but to emphasize, topics of relevance include horror movie tropes, torture, the deeply flawed American justice system, and the even more deeply flawed one in Faerûn as described by the Forgotten Realms novels I've read and the mentions/demonstrations in Bladur's Gate 3.

If you feel you need to avoid thinking about all of that, you are valid, and probably more correct than me for doing so.

And as always, it's just my opinion, based on my experiences. All headcanon is equally headcanon.

To start, I'm going to briefly reiterate that:

Astarion's canon backstory is thin on purpose and that all we really know about him is that he was a magistrate with not-red eyes who made an unpopular ruling that was unpopular for an unspecified reason and got jumped by Gur for a (heavily implied to be unreliable narrator influenced) reason.

That artbook is a developmental tool that is actually less likely to ever be considered canon than even a later stage developmental tool like a full manuscript outline precisely because of its position in the process.

But, before I get into what I read in Drizzt, I want to establish that my head space started from thinking about how much sadder it is if Astarion actually did have compassionate ideals and a balanced sense of justice prior to Cazador. The reason I think it's sadder is best illustrated by the choice to either make a doomed horror movie character sympathetic or an asshole. What happens to Astarion is basically a horror show, and some people prefer those fates are reserved exclusively for asshole victims. There's reasons to write this way, and it can be done well, but it's very easy to make it feel cheap and contrived and it's usually a sign of an amateur production, and a quick way to make an accessible film rather than a good one. Another option (which can also be done well or done poorly) is to harm characters who did absolutely nothing wrong.

To be clear, whether or not we like a character doesn't affect whether or not they "deserve" death. Horror movies often deal with totally disproportionate consequences, and the gruesome fate not really being "earned" can be an inherent part of the horror regardless of our sympathy.

But, I'm not sad when the evil teenagers in Toxic Avenger are killed. I am not that sad when Jigsaw's traps prove to be too much for his chosen victims. What happens to Julia's marks in Hellraiser doesn't move me as much as what's going on with Kirsty, even if they didn't deserve it, because they aren't particularly sympathetic.

And the thing about using characters like that is that it's not realistic. And to be clear, I don't think you always have to be realistic to tell a good story, in fact, please don't always cling to realism. But realism in characterization is usually a stronger choice, and should be considered generally. Most people are not as flat and unsympathetic as the asshole victims in slasher flicks. Even people who do bad things are not so one dimensional as to instill no sympathy in irl humans. I think people like to flatten Astarion in their mind, so that they don't have to confront the fact that very bad things happen all the time, and that most people didn't do anything to earn a horrible fate.

In the specific case of what happened to Astarion, even if he was a bad person, it's very difficult to ever make 200 years of torture, the loss of autonomy, exploitation on every level, including physical, sexual and psychological abuse, ever feel proportional. So at this point, some people need something to make it seem more just. Either because they hate the character, and want to feel that hating the character is objectively correct, or their worldview includes an idea of justice that can't accept such disproportionality.

And if you need that for your headcanon, dope. you're allowed whatever headcanon you want.

The "corrupt magistrate" thing isn't canon. It's headcanon. I understand that some people who really seem to know what they are talking about said it was canon, that's because they are wrong. People are wrong sometimes.

I recently became aware that although I thought we were all playing the same game, a bunch of players have never seen what I've seen, because it's all missable content. And, because everyone knows there's a bunch of stuff they haven't seen, it's real easy to just believe any random person on the internet who tells you something is buried deep in the game that you don't know about.

This specific situation with Astarion's canon backstory is that you'll never find much in the game, no matter how much you play, because there's nothing to find. Here's the facts: -There was never anything about Astarion being corrupt in the game, in early access, or in any of the writing that made it to recording. It was an idea that was discussed very early on---like back when we almost had a werewolf companion, (RIP Helia, you would've loved what I put you through) and they went in a totally different direction. Essentially, just imagine what they ultimately ended up doing with Gortash, and know that they were thinking about doing something similar with Astarion, but a long, long time ago.

-In the game, he'll lie and tell you he's a magistrate in Baldur's Gate and that it's tedious.

-Or, if you wait to ask him about himself until after you know he's a vampire, he'll tell you he was a magistrate, punishing troublemakers.

-Backstory complete!

-Art books are great, and beautiful, and it's baffling to me to see fans treat them like canon content, because if anything, they demonstrate various attempts to put together a story that ultimately didn't land for the creators. I love using materials like this when I write, I create character sheets and artbooks for my work all the time, and part of their charm is the features that didn't make it into the final work. Minthara is no longer an elven cleric, Shadowheart isn't covered in tattoos, and Astarion isn't one of corrupt elite of Baldur's Gate, or even elite, or a courtesan. Stop bringing up the artbook, you're embarrassing yourselves.

-There's actual explicit dialogue in game in which Astarion says he doesn't remember much from before he was turned. He says the person he was is gone, nothing left but a name on a rock. That's what's intentionally in the game. I think this is brilliant, because I think his character represents loss in a really poignant way, and that if they included anything too detailed about who he was before he got turned, that would undermine this theme, in a way that's especially unnecessary. It's better to keep it purposefully blank. A void of nothing. I'm actually really surprised that they didn't do this for Shadowheart, given that she's a Sharran, but in her story, we actually see a really nice counterexample: she does recall small details about her time in the city. Coming back there triggers memories and if you find all three of them---[spoiler deleted, please message me if you want to know about this, I've been informed I shouldn't just shout this out, because some people like to discover this stuff on their own. But also I'm not a gatekeeper, if you really want to know, I'm happy to tell you]. There's none of that for Astarion, in fact, if you go to the cemetery looking for his grave, which is something I think a lot of us did, you won't find any mention of him anywhere, but you will find one of those Shadowheart memories if she's with you. You only get to see Astarion's grave briefly, if you're romancing him, and even then, he once again takes the opportunity to talk about the person he once was truly is lost to him (and to us) and gone forever, long before we ever had the chance to know him.

It's tragic, and kind of perfect.

And in the meta of all this, it's intentional that we'll never known him. We might think we do, but we literally can't, because it's not in the story.

Which is good because it would ruin the scene a bit if he'd been like "btw I was a real piece of shit lmao." Just like it kind of ruins the affect of the empty backstory to go ahead and add a backstory.

But. We're curious, we speculate, and we expand, that's what fanfiction is for—it exists outside of the canon. I usually write post-canon, canon-consistent content, but there's a possibility I'll need to add a few scenes from Astarion's mortal life in this one fic—maybe not, idk—but in preparation for maybe doing that (or not), I had considered working through what I think his life was life before he was turned, and the events leading up to Cazador capturing him. I wasn't sold on the idea, but I was thinking about it.

And, then I started reading Spine of The World, which features an actual magistrate from DR 1365. This one is um. Corrupt. Or, at least, we would consider him to be corrupt? He's actually doing his job perfectly according to the very messed up justice system in Luskan, where he works. They don't have a concept of burden of proof there, or of innocence at all after you manage to get yourself arrested, and instead essentially just torture people to death publicly and explicitly for entertainment. It's not chill. It's not subtle. They call it Prisoner's Carnival.

This magistrate has Astarion's exact job, in a different city and a few decades later (and those differences matter, we'll get to it) but the important features are the same. So, here's some things to note: being a magistrate is a position of limited power, you have total discretion over the prisoners given to you for punishment (minus a few notable exceptions that come up in Spine of The World), but that's it. It's not like an influential political position of respect or anything. It can't be, because they are beholden to laws they can't change, and cultural traditions that are non-negotiable parts of the community.

This guy is referred to multiple times are a carnival barker. And there's loads of magistrates, they all have different reputations and and ymmv on how sadistic they individually are in Luskan. In a later book, when this particular magistrate is brought up again to another magistrate in Luskan, it's clear that the carnival barker thing isn't entirely universal and that he's considered one of the really bad ones, but regardless, they all acknowledge that what he does is legal and "serves a purpose" and they all direct and orchestrate the torture and slaughter of prisoners, and they all admit that many of them are probably innocent. The magistrates, and more importantly, the people in charge of them, maintain the necessity of the system, and the fear it instils to keep troublemakers in line.

One of the more reasonable and intelligent wizards in the series (a guy called Robillard who I can't help but envision as Gale of Waterdeep, because almost everything he does and says makes him sound like Gale of Waterdeep) shocks Drizzt by defending this system of justice very passionately.

Actually, Drizzt's thoughts in general about the Prisoner's Carnival are S-tier Drizzt musings, I love a man who keeps a journal. Likes cats too. Drizzt is lovely.

Drizzt also notes that this is a popular system in human societies specifically. Other races don't go in for it so much, and tend not to participate unless it's as... um... you know... as the prisoners being tortured. I think it's interesting that he mentions that elves in particular (in his experience) are universally disgusted by it. It's also explicitly stated that Baldur's Gate is different, and a much preferrable place to get tried by a magistrate. That isn't in his journal entry though, that's earlier in the novel. A moment of foreshadowing.

The whole world is brutal, but Baldur's Gate is a bit more modern and open to change than other places. That's probably one reason it keeps getting featured and mentioned even though we've barely spent any time there in Drizzt's series so far. It's a bit more relatable a place to actually live in long term than somewhere like Luskan, where you may have to seek out real estate that's far enough away from the square that you're not constantly hearing the death screams of someone being drawn and quartered in front of a cheering crowd. So that's the basics of it, and getting back to Astarion and the backstory that I would personally novelize for him, we have options:

If I'm going to try to fit this into the context that I now have though, it's important to keep in mind that 1) Baldur's Gate is considered one of the "nicer" places to be tried and 2) culturally, elves don't go in for cruelty, especially not as systemic "justice." None of this has to apply to Astarion, but if I'm writing it, I'm not going to ignore this cultural context. At a minimum, I'm going to say that appointing an elf as a magistrate in a city that's known for being more progressively compassionate about their treatment of prisoners was probably pointed on the part of tptb. Baldur's Gate wanted him to set an example for these bloodthirsty humans about mercy and justice and the balance between them. Racism dictates that you don't go to a human for that. They're carnival barkers. If you want a more compassionate magistrate, appoint an elf. And from there, we get to decide whether or not Astarion met their expectations, or if he defied them. Because maybe he was an asshole. Maybe he was just as bad as his human magistrate counterparts. That's not outside the realm of possibility at all, there's an argument to be made that we write him as a counterweight to the stereotype. Astarion is written to be capable of anything, so you can literally go in any direction with his disposition.

But, considering how Cazador rages that he "made" Astarion, and Astarion doesn't even argue with that sentiment. I think it's more likely (and loads sadder) if this unmaking and making included a complete and total overhaul of Astarion entire sense of justice. I actually think the harsh sentiments that Astarion expresses at the tribunal in Ansur's trials are a really good example of the flickers of Cazador and the person he twisted Astarion into, than they would ever be indicative of who he was before getting turned.

That guy's gone, remember?

And if it's not obvious, I'm going in that direction with my fanfic. I'm going to say he actually thought he could help his community. He studied. He got this civil servant position. It was a bit disillusioning. It's better in Baldur's Gate than in other places, but the system itself is cruel, and he's rewarded for being cruel within it. It doesn't even matter that he originally got the job because they hoped he would be a compassionate elf judge amongst bloodthirsty humans, once he's actually in position, it's all about maintaining the status quo. That's what they actually want from him, in spite of their "progressive" leanings.

If anything, he's getting in trouble, and getting noticed by not quite being status quo. A soft-hearted elf, letting his charges get away with all kinds of mischief. I'd write him this way, because I think it then easily follows that Cazador takes note of him and targets him, precisely because he's too merciful. It's annoying.

And, little bit about me, I'm an attorney, and early on, during and right after law school I worked for a few judges.

If Faerûn is anything like the USA I figure that after a few years he has figured out that being a magistrate only gives him a limited amount of discretion and authority over the specific individuals who are brought before him.

It's really legislation that makes a difference and he is specifically forbidden from that. He rules from the bench, and hopes that if he's consistent and fair, and if nothing disastrous results from his rulings, (and if he doesn't get reversed too often, idk if that's a thing in Faerûn but it's a thing in America) then maybe he could eventually influence those who do legislate, but like, that's not his job. And it's going to take a long time because most of it's quite tedious and people don't pay attention unless it's someone they care about standing before him. Nobody cares about the vast majority of these people. His job is to stare at "troublemakers" who have supposedly broken the law, hear witnesses and confessions and denials and lies and decide what the truth is, and decide what's fair.

And it's emotionally heavy work. A lot of people describe being a magistrate as a political position, and that's not incorrect, but there's a valley of difference between Astarion's very hands on job, and what Gortash/Duke Ravenguard do. You are beholden to powerful politicians (like actual politicians) with a lot more influence who figured all this out long before they made the mistake of having ideals or believing in anything, or taking a job in which they would have to a) actually work with people to probable burnout and b) inevitably make a lot of people very angry regardless of what they did.

But, Astarion is still young, he's still got energy, he's not lost himself yet, he thinks he can handle this responsibility and he's wrong.

One day, someone is brought before him. This person is Gur and has supposedly broken the law. Other Gur are upset about the way Astarion ruled. He was way too harsh, or maybe he wasn't.

Quick sidebar: in court, I have watched people literally receive the death sentence and have zero reaction. Same with life w/o parole and other life ruining sentences. In my experience, what triggers an emotional reaction and anger targeted at a judge isn't the severity of the sentence, it's how the severity of the sentence stacks up against their expectations. The defendants (or their families, with proxy outrage) who get really angry, who try to attack the judge, or the ones who are so disruptive that we have to call it and go wait in the hallway while the baliffs calm things down, all have one thing in common: they legitimately thought they were going to just be sent home. They didn't think they were going to be held at all. For that reason, I actually saw a lot more rage from people who had committed minor offenses, because they didn't think what they had done was that big a deal, showed no remorse, ignored their atty, made no effort to express any respect for the law, or any victims, and then when the judge just decides to go with whatever the statute says, in light if zero mitigating factors, the defendant hears "60 days" for the very first time and assumes that the judge just made that up and hates them.

And like, I know it's fiction, and I'm speaking on a very niche experience that most people can't relate to. It's unlikely the writers had anything (let alone realism) in mind at all when they decided to be as vague as possible in the details about a character who embodies "loss" as a concept. I think they were vague because of the theme of loss. I think they were vague because of the theme of loss. I think they were vague because of the theme of loss. I think they were vague because of the theme of loss. I think they were vague because of the theme of loss.

But this sidebar is just to explain why whenever someone says "well he got beat to death for it so his ruling must've been racist and harsh" my knee jerk response is "not necessarily."

And sidebar within the sidebar: if I was going to fully novelize the story, I would actually go in the direction of having the ruling in question be uncommonly fair. I might hint at some racism though—nobody really talks about it below the surface level obvious stuff that's in the game, and part of that is because information about the Gur as a people isn't super accessible. But there is information, and synthesized: racism against the Gur seems pretty standard, especially for an elf who has had it up to here with human bullshit generally. Especially during that time period. He probably didn't have a good opinion of the Gur in life.

But, I have to assume that his animosity towards the Gur that we see in the game was at least affected by the fact that they beat him to death, and then, he spent two centuries as an undead being that they kill on sight with absolutely no justification needed. Like. I don't think it's wild to suggest that. I'm actually very confused by how much people push back on the idea that this could be responsible for his attitude, in part. And that's as far as I have combed through all this so far. Idk how much of it will end up in fic, but it's my personal headcanon now.

I love horror movies. I have watched so many of them it's embarrassing. My letterboxd is embarrassing. I do love several horror movies that feature asshole victims, but as I look at my very favorites, I'm noticing a pattern. I like to feel hurt. I like it when a movie doesn't shy away from dealing out universal, apathetic and disproportionate punishment to everyone. I can't think of anything quite so sad as seeing a perfectly normal, maybe even morally progressive person with their whole life ahead of them, and choosing to unmake them and twist them into a broken puppet in your own image. Sparing/saving no one and nothing in the process. Just make them lose everything, including their entire sense of who they are.

So, I'm going to hurt my own feelings with my Astarion headcanon.

[fandxmslxt69]

What have you been reading!? Tell me! ❤️📖

HI I LOVE YOU !!!

okay so i have been on a ROLL with my reading this past weekend so im very happy !!

FIRST: The Naturals, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. SO SO SO good it was a 5/5 star read, like i was actually unwell. its like..a YA mystery??? science and FBI and disturbing murders. actually frightening but it was SO SO GOODD!!! basically these kids have these freaky abilities that land them on the FBI's radars, which leads to these teens getting recruited by the FBI to be trained and to use their powers to help them crack cold cases!!!!! These powers are like...abilities that the FBI are trained to use, except the teens just HAVE them and its freaky. CUTE ROMANCE, AMAZING CHARACTERS & DYNAMICS, IT WAS DELICIOUS the mystery was so so yum i screamed. 10/10 JLB never disappoints. i got grey hairs from the stress and could not sleep after but so so worth it

SECOND: I finished Love Unwritten by lauren Asher. HVGNFHGN FGBHNFNGHNFGHNGBHNGHNGHH its a single dad romance <33333333 because smth about single dads heals me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! another banger by asher, though i think i gave it like a 4.5/5 bc i could not handle the stress and the second hand embarrassment was so bad i dropped the book for a week. HE"S A GRUMPY SINGLE DAD DEALING WITH PAST ISSUES SHE"S RUNNING AWAY FROM THE HORRORS OF HER OLD LIFE AND ENDS UP BEING A LIVE-IN NANNY AND TAKING CARE OF THIS GUY'S KID !!!!!!!!!!!!! ooooh and bc nooooothing EVER goes wrong with that right !!!!!!! WRONG. THEY FALL IN LOVE. lots of hot sex, 10/10 experience i recommend wholeheartedly.

THIRD: I reread a few Lynn Painter books (primarily betting on you, and better than the movies) She writes THE BEST rom coms EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. like when i say. her work heals me i mean it has HEALED ME. its gotten me through stuff. so so so so SO good. better than the movies is like the teen high school cliche romance which i never read bc they're always so ick ick ick but so. so good. third re-read. i loveher. i'd kill for her. the men she writes are too good.

FOURTH: I'm CURRENTLY reading Play Along by Liz Tomforde. It's the 4th book in her sports romance series and its SO FUCKING GOOD!!!! I did reread the first 3 books (Mile High, Right Move, Caught Up) GHEY ARE SO SO SO GOOD if i have not made it clear im actually a sports romance slut. the one im reading rihgt now is a BASEBALL ROMANCE???? never in my life but i am. i've always, shamelessly, been a hockey girl bc thats what the market mostly is but this series has opened my horizons. hockey, BASKETBALL(SO SO YUMMY) and now 2 baseball novels, and the upcoming 5th one is taking me BACK to hockey. UGHEFUGH THIS CURRENT ONE IS SO SOS GOOD THO!!!!!!! its like....they drunkenly get married in Vegas, he's been in love with her for AGES, its cute its fluffy its kept me up until 3am two nights in a row now (the splintering headaches are crazy...) and i've cried 4 times bc Tomforde's books always hit a little too close with the characters and i forget that sometimes. 10/10 im ready to cry some more when i finish it.

ummm yes that is it. i feel alive all over again. have i been giggling abt the scenarios of these books thinking abt where i'd put that in a fic absolutely!! that is why i read romance. im living my best life and its going great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

have you been reading anything LGG!!!!!! i know you were delving into the Cruel Prince last i checked!!! How's it going ?!?!

[urmultideadfandomperson]

Hey!! I hope you're having a wonderful day! I just saw that your requests are open and I wanted to request something myself.

How would the ARTW main sorcerers react to summoner being a renowned novel author?

MC is Renowned Novel Author

Character/s: Summoner (MC), Arcturus, Spica, Pollux, Alpheratz, Sirius, Vega

Genre/s: Fluff, Cracks

Warning/s: None

Summary: The Guides discover that Summoner is a famous author back in Mid Eartheim!

Requested by: Anonymous

Note: Hello, anon! Thank you so much for this ask! I sincerely apologize for the long release of this request. The loss of motivation and busy schedules have always been a hassle nowadays! Hopefully this will make it up for the lost time. May you enjoy you read!

Arcturus

Arcky found out when he saw you carrying a typewriter.

He was curious what it was, especially since he is unaware of such an item that belonged in Mid Eartheim.

When you told him about it, he gasps in surprise, eyes sparkling in delight.

He immediately turned into one of your fans, asking questions and getting updates. You were just awesome! The Summoner was a famous author!

If you want, you can let him read your novels. Arcturus' reaction will be overjoyed, honored to be able to read your novels.

This sorcerer will definitely dig down deeper in order to get more information and concepts that were scrapped.

If you like to put plot twists, Arcky would least expect it. You might hear him gasp loudly or see his face change to shock.

If you have a character who is bubbly and a people-pleaser, he will frown in pity and empathy, relating to the character a lot.

If you like tragedy, Arcturus always sobs to it. After reading, he will go through the five stages of grief for the deceased character. You actually broke him with a novel.

But if you write novels with spicy scenes... he cannot handle them very well. Arcturus' face turns red and he cannot bring himself to speak at all.

Overall, he loves you and your novels. He is so lucky to be yours.

"Summoner! I have an idea for your novel! Can I tell you about it?"

Spica

The sorcerer may or may not know what a typewriter is.

Spica deducted that it was used for writing purposes, but he cannot point a finger for what specifically.

So when he discovered you were a novel author, he is both surprised and impressed.

He is a bookworm, himself. He is certain you have done a great job in writing the novels (especially since you're famous back in Mid Eartheim).

Spica is highly honored to be able to read your novels for free! Because, wow. The Summoner is a novelist!

As much as he enjoys the read, there are times where he will suddenly turn into a book critic.

Not that he will insult the book and disgust the characters and writing. Spica will be giving constructive criticism, also giving some tips on how to improve the writing.

Spica will binge read your books if they are an entire series. You cannot stop him.

If you write angst and tragedy, the sorcerer will just silently mourn. He will not cry, he will not scream. He will just be quiet.

If you write spicy scenes, Spica will be a bit flustered. He has read other scenes like this before (ayo?? 🤨📸), so he can handle it. He is one of the professionals he reads smut with a straight face.

And when writer's block attacks you again, Spica will do his best to help you get motivation. But if you need some rest, then he will also help you relax.

"Your writing style is very unique, Summoner. I'll be looking forward for more of your novels,"

Pollux

He found the typewriter. He started to use the typewriter.

Pollux was basically playing around with it, typing on every single letter while making the weirdest sentences ever.

So when you told him that you use to typewriter for work purposes, he got curious. And when you told him that you were a renowned author...

... he immediately stopped.

NO WAY! You use this thing to make books?!

Pollux now treats the typewriter as a sacred item. As if he is going to play around with something to important.

And to avoid breaking it because his bad luck is awful.

Anyway, he will definitely books that has some action and cool fighting scenes. If you do write action novels, this sorcerer is BLESSED.

Being the tsundere he is, Pollux will not admit that he is in love with romance scenes. He says he dislikes romance, and yet he is often found blushing and giggling about it.

If you like to add plot twists in your stories, he will overreact and begin to screech. Then he will rant to you about the entire twist, still in disbelief.

As for the spicy scenes... he fails at keeping calm, always opening and closing the book with a red face. He even almost threw your book at the intense intimacy the characters shared.

"Summoner, summoner! I can't believe you added another plot twist in the part! I need to tell you about it!"

Alpheratz

He was just napping somewhere nearby where you were working. Because of the noise the typewriter creates, his nap was disturbed.

Alpheratz questions you with a grumble why it creates noise, and you tell him that the typewriter is just like that.

And when you finally revealed that you were a well-known author in Mid Eartheim, his eyes shot up and the urge to sleep was gone.

Believe it or not, Alpheratz is actually a bookworm. Not many is aware of this fact, but whenever a book really gets his attention, he will read it.

He likes to ask questions about the book and its concept. Hearing about the unique structure of the novel will get him hyped up to read it more.

Sometimes, he likes to read your novels as bedtime stories. He goes to a certain chapter that is calm like a memory, reads it, and goes to sleep in peace.

If you are letting Spica borrow a certain book and Alpheratz is craving to read it, he will sneak in and snatch the book when Spica is not looking. In the end of the day, Spica will be confused where the novel is while the latter reads it happily.

If you write romance, he would not mind at all. He does not hate romance, though he doesn't really like them either. Alpheratz is neutral with romance.

If you like to write spicy scenes, he is the second sorcerer who can read the novel with a straight face. But when the night arrives... use your imagination~ 😜

The sorcerer enjoys giving ideas like Arcky, though he is calmer. Instead of going to detail, he simply explains the whole picture. He wants you to use his idea to make another novel.

In conclusion, he is in love with your novels. He is blessed by the stars to be able to read your treasures in Mid Eartheim.

"Summoner~... I had a dream in my nap and it was nice. Maybe turn it into a new novel? Don't worry, I won't push.",

Sirius

You already caught his attention not by the typewriter, but by your vocabulary whenever you speak.

Deliberately? Pulchritudinous? Equivocate? Fathom? My, Summoner, those words are very complex.

Sirius somehow knew that you were an author. Maybe because of your use of words? Or perhaps you bring that typewriter everywhere? Could it be that you were a famous novelist in Mid Eartheim? You will never know; it's Sirius, after all.

That does not mean he is not impressed, though. The sorcerer really is surprised! He just does it so casually, you thought he is being nonchalant.

Whenever he reads your book, he gives constructive criticism but... they sound like teasing instead of actual advice.

Sirius is not much of a bookworm. For him, reading is more people who enjoys indoor activities. He does praise your works, though.

But if you write a fantasy novel and it has a map on the page? Oh boy, you might have gotten his interest in that book.

Sirius is neutral in romance. He does not hate it, yet he does not like it either. However, he will dislike it when it includes self-sacrificing because of, well, what happened to Polaris.

And when you write spicy scenes, this man is SHAMELESS!

He will not hesitate to read the book around you, even doing facial expressions and adding sound effects as he reads. As you listen (in embarrassment), Sirius will laugh.

But if you play your cards right when you tease him, you might find yourself seeing Sirius with a flustered expression.

"Summoner, what is this character saying? Their speech to the antagonist is quite bland and monotone, don't you think? Let me show you how it's done,"

Vega

He already knew it was a typewriter when he saw it. However, similar to Spica (if he knows what a typewriter is), Vega cannot point out where it is used for.

Vega is mildly envious at your vocabulary. He speaks very formally, but your way of speaking sounds like you belonged in royalty.

When you finally revealed that you were a famous author back in Mid Eartheim, Vega was so shocked and so proud of you.

It was a vague memory. But in the back of his head, he can remember how you once always dreamed of writing books and let the people read it.

And now that you achieved that dream, Vega is more than happy for more. In fact, he will fully support your career.

The sorcerer always compliments your novels. No matter how old it is, no matter how inexperienced, no matter how bad, he is still proud and impressed in your works. At least you can write something!

If you choose to write a novel about your friendship, Vega will be both happy and uncertain. He is joyous because it is an honor to be written in your novel. But also hesitant, as it brings back bad memories as well.

Either way, Vega is the type of person who will love romance. As a matter of fact, Vega craves romance. The intimacy, the kisses, the beginning of a relationship... it is so beautiful for him, especially if it is with you.

If you enjoy writing angst, Vega actually cries. He tries not to let the tears spill. But when a certain sentence or event happens in the book, he breaks down.

And if you like to write spicy scenes, Vega will use a straight face at first before it eventually turns into a blushing mess. He cannot even look at you in the eyes!

"Why not use these ideas for your new novel, Summoner? Everyone will enjoy it, I am certain. Perhaps I can help?"

[mlmshipbracket]

ROUND 1: POLL #9

Mercival/Montanewt art by dalooch on Tumblr

ROUND 1 POLLS [HERE]

PROPAGANDA BELOW

Vegas Theerapanyakun/Pete Saengtham:

Got loyal bodyguard who will give his life to his mafia boss and the insane villain with daddy issues. NS/FW [SPOILERS] in brackets -> [Pete decides to fuck Vegas because of how sad and pathetic he looked after the sad passing of his pet hedgehog. Vegas eats Pete's ass out in his torture/sex dungeon safehouse that Pete had been a prisoner in up until recently. Vegas is a brutal murderer who kills and tortures like nobody's issue and then cries into his ramen because Pete chose to escape the safehouse instead of staying with him there. Vegas tells Pete he loves him while Pete is in the middle of beating the shit out of him]

Henry "Monty" Montague/Percival “Percy” Newton:

Look these guys manage to be one sided love AND mutual pining AND slow burn despite having their first kiss like 20 pages or so into the first novel. There's a whole novella just about their misadventures trying to have sex for the first time which granted us the insane quote of: "I want to be the only thing touching him. I want to be the only thing that ever touches him again. I will be envious of every shirt he ever wears, the cuffs of his coats, the trousers going soft with wear where they rub his inner thighs."

[iamfujoshiwe]

VegasPete Rambling

I usually only read Japanese Manga. I even filtered my search to strictly show only Japanese Manga. And out of nowhere I have this urge to try watching Live Action BL Drama I filtered them to Japanese too. But to be honest I'm not fond of Japanese BL Drama. Well maybe my taste is just different from others (I only watched a few of them so who knows). Sometimes the acting is weird. I guess a good comedy/gag in manga is just not translated well enough in live action.

Aaannndd in the middle of searching BL Drama I discovered the fckn "KINNPORSCHE THE SERIES". I saw them a few times on tumblr. Some gifs. Some fangirling posts. I was sceptic about Thai BL. I didn't even know Thai BL exist until now. But I decided to give it a try anyway. And boy do I fell hard. HARD!!! It altered the chemistry in my brain!! KPTS had aired two years ago and I just found it now???? Have I live in the cave all my life????

From ep 1 I immediately fell in love. The acting, the character's chemistry, and everything is so amazing. I didn't sense any awkward acting/dialogue I usually saw in Japanese BL Drama (No offense really, it was just me). I literally stopped reading all my followed BL/Non BL Manga and and even stopped reading the new ones too.

All the time my mind just screaming "WHAT A FINE MAN" everytime Porsche appeared. But for real Apo is soooooo good looking.

And when Kinn appeared I just got distracted by his chest. Sir, buttons exist for a reason you know. What grudge do you have with them? (Not that I mind of course). Mile is born to play Kinn.

Then I met VegasPete couple. Let me tell you, when I have obsesssion I really do obsess them to oblivion. Having tunnel vision about them. VegasPete takes the cake.

At first I have this thought: Every actor in KPTS is so good looking so why this vegas character is… not as good looking as them? (Yeah I want to kill my past self for that).

I have this funny feeling about thai actor's voice. Maybe because Thai language is a foreign language to me. I don't hear them often, as opposed to english and japanese (and my main language of course). That's one of the reason why I filtered my search to just Japanese BL Drama. But Vegas' voice OMG. I adore his voice so much. And Bible speaking english is just * CHEF'S KISS * I melted everytime I listen to his voice. BIBLE SPEAKING ENGLISH IS A GIFT TO HUMANITY!! AND THAT HUMANITY IS ME!!!

When VegasPete plot took off, my focus immediately shift to them (I am sorry Kinn and Porsche). I can't count how many times I rewatched their scenes.

I definitely have to include Pete's cry in Yok's bar (when he met vegas after he had ran away from safehouse) and swimming pool (after Vegas got shot). Such a raw emotion. 100 point for Build! I come to love him because his crying voice lol.

Vegas and Pete easily become my favorites. So naturally I have to search for their actor right? And thus began my search for Bible and Build…..

ONLY FOR MY HEART TO BE CRUSHED! MY SHIP HAD SUNK ALREADY!

Build's scandal on his old socmed post? His scandal with Poi? I don't really mind. But Build talking bad about Bible? Yeah my heart couldn't take it. It's in pieces (In a way I'm glad because when all the chaos took place I haven't entered the fandom yet so I never encounter their fan's toxicity). But I respect their decision to go their own way. I know it's not healthy for them to continue working together. So yeah I am sad but their mental health is more important.

Soooooo now I'm still deep in VegasPete swamp (with occasional breaking down when I remember BibleBuild). I choose to sink in VegasPete fanfictions on ao3. And woah there are soooo many amazing author there. Their fics are spectacular! I can't thank them enough for doing God's work creating those holy VegasPete fics.

Oh and anyway I read VegasPete novel too. But I don't like it…. their character are too different from the show. Honestly fanfictions are waaay better…. KinnPorsche novel too. One chapter and I was like nope, I couldn't bring myself to read further. End of story.

And that's why as of now I still can't read manga or watch any other BL Drama. Damn VegasPete! (Affectionate). My waiting list are Not Me The Series and Last Twilight. I hope I'll collect enough braincell soon so I can start watching them. There are so many BL and Non BL manga I haven't continue reading.

[bisexualbard-writes]

Kim, who hasn't met chay yet, is trying to convince a hotshot music producer to work with him And he does research on how to woo this guy over and learns he's really into novel sexy experiences. Kim really need this producer because he's trying to show off sex appeal but like. He's actually an awkward boy who's never had sex, HE NEEDS THE HELP. And he doesn't consider it using his mafia resources in his music career if he just BRINGS the producer to a brother his family owns. It's not like Korn is paying the guy off directly. But just to be safe he brings the guy to a minor family brothel, one of vegas' new ones. The concept is that this brothel is a series of gloryholes all in one room. Some of them are normal gloryholes, some of them are bigger ones where there's a large hole with a flap, where it's just some guy's bottom half sticking out the bottom, with legs tied up to the wall. Kim is... not really into this at all. But it is pretty novel. There's multiple patrons in the room with their dicks hanging out of their pants as they go along and try each hole for a few minutes before moving onto the next one

The producer seems to be having fun at least, Kim is TOTALLY GOING to get him to work with him Mostly he just thinks it's weirdly dehumanizing. a lot of the guys in the holes are completely flaccid, he can't even imagine how bored they must be on their side just getting dick after dick pushed into them seemingly at random beacuse they can't see what's going on Kim sees it on a guy who's got his legs tied up to the wall AND THEN a little WIK lyric tattooed on an ankle (more excerpts from the group chat with @snickerdoodlles, @shubaka, and @thecookieofdoom below the cut)

bard he's DELIGHTED, he's not super famous yet, and each of his fans actually mean the world to him. So he watches over the guy in the hole with the wik tattoo for a bit, and then some guy comes along and sticks his dick in chay and Kim is like YEAH. SHOW HIM A GOOD TIME. But the patron only stays for a few miuntes??? He doesn't even touch his fan's dick at all?? it somehow got MORE flaccid as the fucking went on??? And Kim isn't going to lose his virginity to a gloryhole, that would be silly. That wasn't the Plan for tonight. BUT like. That's his fan! He could totally just like. Give him a bit of a hand job. Help him get comfortable. shubaka maybe Kim lightly stroking Chay's tattoo to hype himself up and maybe Chay gets really worked up over that

bard Behind the scenes Chay is definitely rating each person who uses him on a scale of "how likely they are to be wik", it's his favorite game. He knows it's like 0% chance Wik would even know about a filthy weird place like this, but he likes to imagine cookie (snickerdoodlles) Chay feels someone touch his tattoo: a fellow Wik fan! :D!! bard YES Chay rates the timid tattoo stroker as like, 20% chance of being wik because he's so timid, BUT maybe he's another wik fan! Or maybe the lyrics just spoke to him!

Chay likes the tattoo toucher the best, he's always very polite about getting Chay off but for some reason he won't fuck Chay?

shubaka what if kim strokes chay to the rhythm of one of his songs (he should vary his technique right? keep things interesting? how does one normally do these things?) and chay is like... wait a second? is that...? this is a true wik fan <3

bard Kim absently mindedly humming which is when Chay realizes what the rhythm is, and starts humming too. They can't see each other, but they can HEAR each other just fine

Chay isn't allowed to talk though, or he risks unemployment for breaking the fantasy

cookie (snickerdoodlles) Kim's gloryhole fan harmonizing with him is like. Doing Things for Kim lol

bard Chay has like, a whole setup back there. He has water, he has his phone, he even has like, a switch or soemthing. A treat he bought himself after being REAL BORED some nights.

shubaka is he reading/writing wik fanfic during some of those boring nights? 😂

bard omg he definitely is sometimes he puts in headphones and watches wik music videos on repeat

cookie (snickerdoodlles) it's to help with his job, Chay is very ready to moan to his favorite singer showing off his tummy or that fucking tongue thing

(also: awkward Pavlov reaction consequences, hashtag-WHOOPS)

bard One night Kim comes along and goes straight for Chay's hole only to find there's another guy there JUST LIKE. FISTING CHAY???

cookie (snickerdoodlles) hndnsksjndjd

Kim is Extremely Impressed his fan can take that, but also trying to see if his fan is enjoying it, like that's a lot this patron BETTER be grateful 

bard After that patron leave this fan's ass is actually gaping open???

Kim didn't know that could happen irl?? (he really doesn't pay attention to anyone else here)

cookie (snickerdoodlles) hndnsksjjsjs Kim has eyes for one(1) ass only

bard And like. Kim can't NOT lick that ass after that. It's GAPING. it needs soothing!

(we're ignoring anything to do with necessary hygine for now, I don't have the brains to think about how to make this safe. OR MAYBE I JUST DON'T MAKE IT SAFE. those kimchay freaks)

Moslty I'm thinking about the 10 guys who left their load inside Chay already that night

cookie (snickerdoodlles) Kim wasn't thinking about that when he first decided to kiss Chay's ass, but I vote he discovers he's Into This

bard The feedback loop of Kim learning a new sexy skill with Chay, using that in a wik performance, and then Chay getting off to the wik performance while he's working. The tongue things Wik is into really remind Chay of his favorite patron

shubaka oh but what if kim starts fingering chay, like he's desperately trying to scoop out all of the come in chay's ass and muttering about "how dare they leave him like that" and oh no he doesn't have any water around to help wash it out... gotta use the next best thing (spit). and then well, he tried to be safe and just clean chay up but oops now his tongue is also in chay's ass. 🤷‍♂️

[vegaseatsass]

My Stand-in Ep 4 spoilers

Now for a happy post! My Stand-In doing intimate partner violence and toxicity correctly, and by correctly I mean so so sexily <3 Loving this series a lot and recommending it to all my friends lmao. Certainly did not expect it to escalate to this level. My inner Vegas bitch is purring. Just a few notes I wanted to touch on before I get to read what everyone else is saying!

This is now a Wut hate blog! Wowie! Imagine hearing your mentee friend sweetiepie nong was knocked out and chained up in a basement by his deranged (a-affectionate) ex, and reacting like whew! Thank GOD you didn't stand me up on purpose! Lol ya know, I suspected your abusive partner was maybe abusing you, it feels so good to be vindicated in this :') I knew you were a good egg! Anyyyyyyway, no I CAN'T do a thing for you, I staunchly point blank refuse to do anything to support you now that you're isolated, blacklisted, vulnerable, financially desperate and alone. FIND YOUR OWN MEANS OF FINANCIAL SECURITY BUDDY oh but if you do something risky just know I'll be very mad at you and reject you as my nong and isolate you even harder <3 hope this helps!

Don't get me wrong I love Joe's abusive partner though <3 what a man <3 LOVE that his first line of defense is negging. You? Break up with me? Loser! I'm better than you! Lmao like the reason Joe can't believe Ming loves him even when he does start trying to tell him that he loves him isn't just that their whole relationship started as a proxyfucker situation and a lie. It's because Ming spent their whole relationship telling Joe he didn't love him!! :') :') :') They literally both just want someone to be nice to them for five seconds and Joe is able to be nice for five thousand seconds but Ming can't pull it off for more than a minute at a time before trying to get control of the situation again by being a dick. Until his boyfriend is presumed dead. LOVE THAT FOR HIM <3333333

Ming and Sol pulling each other's hair and like having a full-on cat fight was honestly hilarious, 10/10 no notes every show about trained buff men should have slap fights. for ME

Lastly!! the real reason I wanted to post is just how fascinating I find Joe's swing from "we're in love and we're going to get married" the first time Ming smiles at him into "you're full of shit Ming! Don't lie and tell me you actually care about me, I KNOW I was just a sex doll to you and you always loved Tong only!" Like I said, I think Ming playing it cool their entire relationship did not do him any favors re: convincing Joe at this late and chained-up stage that he was actually cared about lmaooooo but I am also torn between thinking that if Ming HAD been able to convince Joe he loved him in that moment, Joe would have sincerely fucked him with the chains on, and let Ming keep him there indefinitely as his basement boyfriend... and between thinking Joe's all-or-nothing reaction to Ming's affections was self-protective survival instinct, getting him the fuck out of there even if a small part of him not only wanted to believe Ming but did believe Ming in that moment. Like he couldn't LET himself believe Ming BECAUSE he needed to not give into the unhinged toxicity, rather than because he actually doesn't think it's possible for Ming to have started out using him but come to love him. Or maybe it's his broken heart and hurt pride that make it impossible to allow that his honeymoon period with Ming was fake but what came after it was real on Ming's end. Does any of that sense? What do u think?

I know nothing about what happens in the novel and that's making this an incredibly incredibly wild and fun ride but also may mean my interpretations are missing very obvious-to-the-readers context. Alas! But I am truly having a ball.

[dlstmxkakwldrlarchive]

HARD 8

■ throw of two dice that lands on 4, the two digits form Jonghyun's bday 0408

Dice (commonly known as craps), is a game often played for money where the player (referred to as the shooter) rolls 2 dice hoping to roll a winning combination. The number 8 can be obtained three ways.

The 'easy way' by rolling a 6 and 2 or a 3 and 5, or the 'hard way' by rolling a 4 and 4.

'Hard' numbers are any 2 pair combinations: 2 and 2, 3 and 3, 4 and 4, 5 and 5, and 6 and 6. Betting on the 'hard' number combination results in a larger return when it is thrown.

■ Hard 8 is the eighth novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum

Hard Eight revolves around a child custody fight, rather than a criminal bail bond, and marks the (sometimes repeated) departure of the series from Stephanie chasing bad guys to Stephanie being stalked by the bad guys.

Stephanie is asked by her parents' next-door neighbor, Mabel Markowitz, to find her granddaughter, Evelyn and great-granddaughter, Annie, who have disappeared. During a messy divorce with her ex-husband, Steven Soter, Evelyn was forced to post a child custody bond, and Mabel used her house as collateral. If Evelyn is not found, then the bond company will foreclose on her house, and the money will be forfeited to Steven. ×

so its like being watched/hunted but also to hunt and watch (?)

■ Hard 8 is a crime film written and directed by paul thomas anderson:

Sydney Brown, a well-dressed senior gambler, finds John Finnegan, a homeless man, forlornly sitting outside a diner. He offers him a cigarette and buys him a cup of coffee. John tells Sydney that he lost his money in las vegas and he needs $6,000 for his mother's funeral. Sydney offers to drive John to Vegas, where he helps John win the money. ×

SHINee members recent outfits suggest a casino concept; like their first pic together, the dice keyring onew & key wore recently and onew recent outfit in his ig live

SHINee 8th Album HARD = 하드

SHINee 4th Album ODD= 오드

Also the blue sky dress code for their fanmeet could hint to something:

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

sunflower, chapter six

A/N: I wrote a little bonus blurb to this chapter, check it out here ♡ (and the smut in the beginning is from this fic I wrote a while back, just changed the names)

summary: opening the door to see the person you like, right after you read some delicious smut? Sure, that’s not gonna make it hard for you to concentrate…

warnings: reading an erotic novel, mild embarrassment, teasing, being all hot and bothered, talk of virginity, the smut she’s reading is just from this stranger things fic I wrote a while back

word count: 1015

∼ gentle reminder that feedback, but especially reblogs are the way you support writers on here ∽

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“God, you’re so fucking cute!” Lorenzo squealed and nipped your boob.

“Being such a good girl for us,” Dmitri groaned in your ear, causing the hair on the back of your neck to stand up.

“Making all those gorgeous sounds,” Lorenzo chimed in, “you’d think you were the musician.”

Jaw slack, breath ragged, your eyes darted across the page. Completely curled in on yourself in the weird position you’d found yourself in on the couch. It didn’t matter that your left leg was starting to go numb, you could not move even an inch, just sit there, and take in the story.

A few rhythmic knocks ripped you away from your daze. Practically tossing the paperback onto the coffee table, you straightened yourself out and went to answer the door. Face completely flush, a tomato really, you swung it open.

You should have predicted that it would be Spencer standing there, honestly, who else would it be? But to see him immediately after reading something like that made you look at him just a little differently, not that you hadn’t been drooling over him before, this was just a new kind of high.

You attempted to say hello, but choked on your words, just standing there, with heavy lids.

“Hey,” he smiled, waiting for you to let him in, and when you didn’t move to do so he quirked an eyebrow, “may I come in?”

Although you didn’t really register his words, you still nodded but didn’t move aside for him. A tingle fluttered down your spine at the sound of his voice. It did not help he had been the star your mind had picked in the imagining of the book’s plot. Picturing him doing the things… saying those words…

“Y/n? are you okay?”

Closing your eyes, you raised a hand in an effort to make the time stand still in order to find the answer to that question. Where you okay? Yes. Yes, you were. Now that he was here, standing in front of you, were you still okay? Maybe?

Deciding to just hum in agreement, you finally moved to the side, letting him pass, closing the door behind him.

Finally finding some words, you asked, trying and failing to sound casual, “how was your day?”

Looking around the room a bit, he smirked, “it was fine, though probably not as good as yours.”

Scrunching up your face in confusion, he raised his eyebrows at you and nodded down towards your coffee table.

Oh god. Oh fuck! It was still there. Why did you just put it on the table? Why not hide it behind a pillow? Rushing over to snatch it up, you swiftly hid it behind your back, “it’s nothing,” you tried.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” he grinned, walking around you, trying to get a look at the cover, “hearts aflame by-, what does it say? I think it’s got to be a pretty good book to cause this reaction from you.”

Scrunching your face up, you threw your head back and admitted, “okay, yeah fine. I was reading a, uh, romantic book. I’m allowed such luxuries as erotica! Why, do you have a problem with it?”

Immediately losing his short-lived teasing mood, he defended nervously, “what? No, I don’t have a problem with it, I’m from Vegas, I don’t have a problem with it,” then quickly added, “I’ve read my fair share of erotic literature as well!”

“Well, good,” you exclaimed awkwardly, then turned and hid it somewhere in your bookcase. “There is no problem with me reading something like that, even if I haven’t-, I-,” struggling to figure out how much you wanted to share, ”I can still enjoy them even if I can’t fully relate.”

“Oh,” he said quietly, then promptly widening his eyes in realization and repeating, “oh! Oh okay!”

You’d expected him to have a different reaction when he found out. You were 25 after all. “Okay?” you hesitated.

“Oh, yeah,” he reassured nervously, “I was around your age too when, you know.”

“Oh, okay,” you nodded slowly.

“And you know, I don’t expect anything from you, I mean even if you weren’t a virgin, you’d still-, I,” looking down at his hands, “you decide when, how, even if! I’d still be completely contempt with that!”

“Well, um, I do want to do stuff,” you looked down at the floor, “with you, at some point… I think about it quite a lot…”

“You do?”

“Yeah, Spencer. I might be a virgin, but I’m not a nun,” you giggled.

“Oh,” he blushed, “okay.”

Quiet surrounded you for about a minute before he quipped, “so that book…” biting his lip to hide a growing smile, “you think I should read it?”

“Um, I don’t think you’d like the plot. I mean, Cherry Vixen is good at what they do, but it’s no Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”

“Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like it,” he smirked, cocking his head to the side, “maybe it could teach me a little more about you-”

Cutting him off you suggested, “oh, okay Spencer,” searching, trying to find some subject that could make him stop, “how about we play some chess?” coming up with the solution as you spoke the words.

Getting the hint, he stopped his teasing, “sure. You wanna go use mine?”

“Well, I don’t have a board, so yes,” you stated, “also, you should probably teach me because I have no idea how to play.”

“Deal,” he agreed with a warm smile.

Muttering under your breath as you walked out into the hallway, “hah, yeah, I’d like to see you try and do those things…”

“What?” he asked.

“What?” you echoed.

“What did you say?” he chuckled lightly.

“Nothing! Let’s go play some chess and forget about this…”

Walking in front of you to unlock his door, he reminded you teasingly, “oh, but I have an eidetic memory. Even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t dare to forget.”

next chapter

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