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justmeinadaze · 1 year

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Good Neighbors Part 4 (Steddie X Reader)

A/N: This started one way and went another. Certain night time activities may have also been a factor but let's just say... fucking hell this got me🥵 .

Warning: Steddie relationship and all that that implies. (I regret nothing!) This one is a little rougher than the past ones but they are still cute as hell with her son and they still love our reader. She's definitely got a bit of brat thing going on.

Word count: 3443

You glare into the void as you sit outside your apartment on the stairs smoking one of Eddie’s cigarette’s that you stole out of his jacket pocket. Today had been Dylan’s birthday party which he absolutely enjoyed. A few friends and family came over including your boys. You allowed Charlie to make an appearance and that’s when things started to fall downhill.

You expected him to show up alone after work but he brought her. The woman that he cheated on you with in YOUR house on YOUR bed. You understood that Charlie was going to keep dating. Hell, you were technically dating. But the fact that he brought her of all people just triggered all those negative emotions. You tried not to let it show but your grumpy attitude leaked through.

“Hey, do you need help with anything?” Steve comes into the kitchen, gently touching your back. You jerk to the side away from him.

“No, I got it.”

“Whew! These kids are exhausting.” Your sister throws herself into a chair next to you. You reply with a subtle “hm”. Eddie’s eyes glance over at you with concern.

“You son is looking for you.” You jump at the sound of Eddie’s voice.

“Jesus Christ, Eddie! Do you always have to scare me?! Wear a fucking bell.” You put out the cigarette on the concrete and rise to head back inside.

He reaches out with his arm blocking you from entering the apartment. “Whatever is wrong with you right now, you need to get it in check because it has nothing to do with that kid in there. Don’t spoil his good time with your shit attitude.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, swatting his arm out of the way. As soon as you walk in Dylan runs to your side. “Mommy! Can Patrick stay over tonight?”

“Um, I don’t see why not.” You feel eyes watching you. You turn to see who they belong to, finding Eddie and Steve murmuring to each other.

“Dil! Come give me a hug. We’re leaving, Kid.” Charlie yells from the door. You son runs over to his father and Charlies lifts him into the air giving him a big bear hug. “Say goodbye to Vivian.”

“Bye Vivi.” He leans over wrapping his arms around her neck as she kisses his cheek and you feel the anger rise into your throat. They leave without acknowledging your presence and you’re fine with that. You didn’t think you could even pretend to be nice to her.

The only people left were now your neighbors. “Dylan, say goodbye to Steve and Eddie.”

“Are we leaving?” Eddie asks, his head tilted to the side.

“Yes, you are.”

“Oh, mom. Can’t they stay for a little bit longer?” When you shook your head, he began to whine.

“Dylan! Not tonight, baby, okay?”

Steve who had his eyes glued to you with his arms folded now walked confidently in your direction. “Ok, that’s enough of that.” He mutters under his breath. “Hey, Little Man, we’ll be right back, ok?” He grabs your upper arm roughly and drags you out the front of your apartment into theirs. “What’s wrong?” Steve pulls you closer to his face as he stares down at you angrily.

You try to pull out of his grasp but he just grips you tighter. “Right now, Steve, you are what’s wrong. Let me go!”

“Did something happen with Charlie?”, he asks

“I’m betting it’s the girl he brought.” Eddie came up to his side. “Is that thee girl?”

“I said let go!” You manage to get out Steve’s grasp with one strong tug.

“That’s a yes.” Eddie chuckles as he crosses his arms.

“Don’t do that. Don’t laugh at me! I don’t have to explain myself to either of you.”

“You’re right. You don’t have to but you should want to. That’s what people in relationships do.”

“Is that what this is?”

“Ah ah ah.” Steve holds up his hand and walks towards you slowly backing you into the living room wall. “I would be very careful with what you say next. We know you’re upset and we understand that but that doesn’t give you a license to be mean.”

You stand up straighter, looking him dead in the eye. “Say what you really mean. ‘That doesn’t give you license to be a bitch.’”

He smiles at you then and turns to Eddie who grins back, shrugging his shoulders. They both turn their back to you and head out the front door. You grab one of the pillows off the couch and scream into it. After a few minutes, you regain your composure and head back into the fray.

Dylan and Patrick are still on the floor playing the new video game your sister bought him. Steve was in the kitchen washing dishes as Eddie scrambled around the apartment picking up trash and bringing dirty plates to the sink. Neither of them acknowledged you as you walked through the door. You casually walk into the living room and sit on the floor with your son. The game pauses as his friend declares he has to pee and runs towards the restroom.

You tap Dylan on the opposite shoulder from you and he turns his head giggling when he looks the wrong way. He climbs into your lap and you wrap your arms tightly around him, kissing the top of his head.

“Did you have a good birthday party?”

“Yeah! It was so much fun. Thank you!” The little boy kisses your cheek and you feel your wall begin to crack.

“Hey. I’m sorry I snapped at you. Mommy’s just…exhausted.” You place the back of your hand over your forehead and dramatically sigh. He smiles at your theatrics.

“It ok. I know you were just upset because Vivi showed up. Daddy asked me if it was ok. I told him no.”

You felt your anger start to rise again. “Honey, you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know but she makes you sad.”

The mama bear inside of you snapped. You were angry that your son asked your ex not to bring her and he did anyway but now you were even more upset not just with Charlie but yourself because you thought you hid that pain better. Dylan was already going through enough with the divorce. You didn’t want to add to it in any way.

Patrick barreled back into the living room, grabbing the controller and unpausing the game.

“Hey! Not fair! I wasn’t ready!”

You slowly get up from the floor and head towards your bedroom. You knew you left your phone plugged in on the bedside table but it was now gone.

“Looking for something?”

Steve leans against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

“Where is my phone, Steve?”

His eyes zero in on yours. “You can’t call him.”

“I’m sorry. Did you just tell me I can’t do something?”

“I’m trying to help, Y/N. If you call him now screaming at him when you’re like this, it’s just going to give him more ammunition. You already have enough on your plate. Both of you.”

“I don’t need your help! I know how to handle my ex and I can take care of my son. Believe it or not, I did it for a whole 6 years before you two came into my life.”

“Wow, I guess we see where Dylan gets his tantrums from.” Eddie leans into the doorframe with both hands on either side.

“Give me. My. Phone.”

They both turn on you again leaving you standing there by yourself fuming. You run after them but stop when you see Dylan in Eddie’s arms. “Ok, Kid. We’re heading out now. Next time I come over I’m teaching you some D & D, ok?”

Dylan wraps his arms around his neck and thanks Eddie for the small guitar he gave him. Steve reaches out and takes the boy from his arms.

“It’s boring. You’ll hate it.” Dylan giggles, shaking his head.

“Thank you for my skates!”

“Hey, no problem, dude. Anyway, we can find to rep house griffin, right?”

Without meaning to, a small laugh escapes your lips. All 3 heads turn to look at you.

“Gryffindor, Steve.”

His eyes roll to the back of his head. “Whatever. Here, take this weirdo before I actually retain any of that.”, he says jokingly as he passes Dylan to you.

You place him on his feet. “Ok, boys, go get ready for bed. I’ll be right back, ok?”

Eddie and Steve are already halfway into their apartment by the time you catch up to them.

“Steven! Give me my phone.”

“Or what?” He smiles down at you cheekily as he slams the door shut.

#####################

A few hours later, you find yourself still awake, staring pensively at the ceiling. You know it’s not they’re fault. They did nothing to ensure your wrath but you couldn’t bring yourself back down from that ledge.

You were still running through the day’s events when a subtle bass beat grabs your attention. Opening your bedroom door, you hear it louder in the hall. You gently open Dylan’s bedroom but when you step inside you hear nothing. Closing his door, you follow the sound, finding yourself outside of Steve and Eddie’s apartment door.

Really? Ok, they want to play. I can play.

You bang on their door with your fist but no one answers. You pound on it louder and continuously until finally it swings open. Steve stands there in just his underwear, with a hazy look in his eyes.

“Excuse me, ma’am. There are children trying to sleep. Can you keep the noise down?” He starts to close the door again but you block it with your bare foot as you stomp inside. Their dwelling smells incredibly strong like weed and cigarettes.

“Heeeeey!” You hear Eddie screech from somewhere in the living room. You walk over to find him lying on his back on the floor in his boxers, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. You narrow your eyes at him as you reach out towards the stereo and turn off the music.

He jumps to his feet, standing face to face with you. Grinning, he extended his arm, turning it back on. When you start to lift your arm again, he grabs your wrist and spins you in the opposite direction. Your body smacks chest first into Steve.

“We have the settings just right, you know.”

“Yeah, just right to annoy the hell out of me.”

They both laugh. “To be fair, Princess, you started it. Your bratty attitude annoyed the hell out of us today.”

“Technically yesterday being as its 2 am.” Steve cackles as he looks at his watch.

You roll your eyes, crossing your arms. “And I’m the one acting like a little kid.”

“Jesus, she still has that fucking tone.” Eddie whines as he smashes the cigarette he was smoking into the nearby ashtray.

“Oh, be careful, Eds. She’s getting that angry look again.” Steve circles around you like a vulture.

“Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”

“Oh Sweetheart.” Eddie starts sauntering around you as well. “We’ve been acting like you aren’t here all night. Haven’t we, Stevie?”

Steve smiles a Cheshire like grin. “Oh yeah. Since supposedly this,” he gestures between the three of you, “isn’t a real relationship or anything. Isn’t that what you said?”

A wicked grin spreads across your face as you laugh at them. They both stop moving, Steve in front of you and Eddie behind you. “I’m sorry. Did I give off the impression that I’m some timid little PTA mom who bakes pies and shit?” You stalk towards Steve guiding him backwards. “You can’t intimidate me, Steve Harrington. Neither of you can!” You turn to look at Eddie who was still in the same place with his arms folded.

Steve’s smile returned but there was something behind it, something that made your knees weak and your stomach flip.

“Intimidation isn’t the name of the game, baby. It’s humiliation.” He leaned his back against the wall looking down his nose at you as Eddie chuckled. His tone dropped so low you could barely hear him. “How do you think we felt when you were mean to us today? When you said what you said. Frankly we’re kind of tired of it. There’s no reason this has to be so difficult.”

Eddie comes up behind you, poking you in the side. When you turn, he shoves your phone into your hands. You look down at as if you’ve never seen it before. You were so focused on being angry at them that you forgot they even had it.

They both move away and leave you standing there. You hear the music begin to play again and the sound of them moving around behind you. Smoke suddenly fills the air and when you finally turn around you find them on the floor, Steve leaning back on Eddie’s chest as they passed the joint back and forth.

You sat diagonally from them and once again they didn’t acknowledge your presence. It hurt you but instead of being angry about it, you now felt like you deserved it.

“You were right, Eddie. Vivian was THEE girl. I came home during my lunch break to pick up something I forgot and I found them together. I found out later that everyone knew, our friends and his family. No one told me a god damn thing.” You glanced in their direction. They still weren’t looking at you but you could tell they were listening. “I know he’s going to be with other women. I know that. I know that they are going to be around my son and I know it’s not fair for me to be upset about it since you two spend almost everyday around him but… why does it have to be her?”

You crawl over to them, placing your head on Eddie’s tummy. “I’m sorry I took my frustrations out on you guys. That wasn’t fair, to you both or to Dylan.”

You suddenly feel Eddie’s hand caress your hair as Steve reaches down to grab your hand, intertwining his fingers with yours.

“I forgive you.”

“Yeah, me to.” Steve brings your hand up, holding it against his chest.

“Can I ask you guys something?” They both mumble a hm. “Why the fuck are you both only in your underwear?”

Steve and Eddie howl with laughter causing you to laugh along with them.

“What did I tell you when you came in?” Eddie asks as he leans up on his elbows.

You think for a moment. “That you’ve been acting like I haven’t been here?” The boy nods his head. “I don’t get it.”

Steve inhales the joint in his fingers and places it in the ashtray before looking at you with those beautiful brown eyes. “You want us to show you?” He grins seductively when you say yes.

He crawls over you and you scoot out of his way to sit by Eddie’s head. Eddie pulls your lips to his, kissing you softly. He moans against your lips, grabbing your jaw with his hand, and turning you to see what the other boy was doing.

Steve had Eddie’s cock in his mouth, moving his head up and down his length. A sigh escaped your lips as you crawled closer to watch him. You gently ran your fingers through Steve hair causing him to groan.

“Fucking hell.” Eddie licked his lips as he watched you two with lust blown eyes.

“He tastes good, doesn’t he?” You whispered into his ear. “He really likes it when you swirl your tongue around him.” Steve did what you suggested and Eddie’s eyes rolled as his head fell back on the floor. You felt his fingers reach for you.

“Come here, Princess.” You maneuvered to him as he tugged at your sleep shorts. You pulled them and your panties down your legs, throwing them to the side. Eddie grabbed you moving you forward till you were seated on his face. You moaned as he wasted no time wrapping his mouth around your clit. Steve’s mouth came off of his friend with a pop as he continued pumping him with his hand, watching as you lift your shirt over your head and toss it away.

You lean your hands on Eddie’s chest for support as you ride his face. Steve meets you in the middle pulling you roughly by the back of the neck for a sloppy kiss. You can taste Eddie on his tongue and it makes your pussy clench. You whimper as you watch Steve pull away and spit on Eddie’s cock as he takes the boy into his mouth again. The sound of him gagging is enough to drive you over the edge. Your body shakes and your thighs try to squeeze shut as you cum on Eddie’s tongue. His hands fly up and hold your legs open as he helps you through your climax.

Both boys, as if reading each other’s minds, get up and switch places. Eddie’s mouth is replaced with Steve’s as his head slides between your legs. You feel Eddie’s hand on your back gently pushing you towards Steve’s dick and he growls into your cunt as your tongue licks the precum of his tip.

You gasp when you feel Eddie’s cock rub between your folds. Steve’s mouth wraps around your nub, sucking and flicking, as Eddie pushes into your entrance bottoming out almost immediately. He sets a brutal pace making it hard for you to not gag down on Steve as your pushed forward into him. The sound of Steve sucking and moaning drives you crazy and Eddie grunts as you clench around him.

“Oh my god.” Tears start to fall down your cheeks. “Please. Don’t stop. It feels so good.”

Eddie falls against your back reaching around to hold your tits as he thrusts into your deeper.

“There you go, Sweetheart. Show me how Steve likes it.”

You dig your nails into his thigh as Steve starts pumping his hips pushing him farther into your mouth. You feel him moan into your clit as you keep your head still as he fucks your face. His movements sputter as his cum hits the back of your throat. You swallow him and Eddie turns your face to kiss your lips. He pulls up right against his chest and grips your waist as he slams into your pussy. Steve’s hands cling to your thighs as he aggressively flicks his tongue against you.

You cry out as your feel the coil snap in your belly and you cum hard shouting their names repeatedly to the heavens. You start to collapse forward but Eddie holds your tightly to him as he thrusts roughly into you, grunting in your ear before he you feel his seed filling you up.

You fall to the side lifting your knee so you don’t hit Steve in the face. Eddie comes down with you, his arms still wrapped your stomach and chest.

Steve’s palm rubs your leg. “Fuck, that was fucking amazing.”

“I’ll say.”, Eddie pants.

“Baby, are you ok?” The sound of your sniffles causes them both to sit up at attention.

“I’m fine. That was just really good.” You laugh as you wipe your tears and they chuckle with you.

Steve gets up and heads for his bathroom, bringing back a towel as he cleans between your legs. You reach out and caress his cheek. “Will you guys stay with me tonight?”

They share a glance. “Sure. Um, what are we going to tell Dylan?”

“Nothing. He’ll think I had a sleep over like he did. Just um, clothes please.”

They rise to their feet bringing you up with them carefully. Steve disappears as Eddie helps you get dressed. When his roommate comes back, he is now wearing flannel pjs and a Hawkins high athletics shirt. He throws Eddie his shorts and a t-shirt.

Steve lifts you into his arms as he carries you across the threshold and back to your apartment. He places you on the bed and curls in behind you. Eddie tiptoes in closing the door behind him.

“Kids are still passed out.”

“Good. Hopefully they sleep in.”, you murmur.

Eddie climbs in on your other side and without hesitation you fling your arm over his tummy. He smiles at your closed eyes as he takes your hand in his and kisses the back of it. You three pass out, limbs tangled together, and happy as can be.

#steddie x reader #steddie fluff #steddie smut #steddie fanfiction #steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson smut #eddie fanfic #eddie stranger things #steve fanfic #steve smut #steve stranger things #joe keery #joseph quinn

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nihoniums-fantrolls · 2 years

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A Diva's Punishment

Finished the little thing I wanted to write for DEA and violet :) enjoy.

Violet was standing there, right in front of The Enchantress's lounge. Her hands were gripping the inside of her cloak anxiously, her stomach forming all kinds of knots. The inside of her cheek being ripped apart by her nervous biting.

A shy knock on the door echoed in the hallway.

" Come in " a sweet voice called from the inside .

"Greetings, your shining glory -" the younger troll began as she opened the door.

"Oh Violet!" The singer lit up, her leg crossed on her seat "How great to see you here, Darling! I was just thinking I had something to tell you"

"... You.... You Called me here, if I'm not mistaken-"

"ah, no Matter" The woman dismissed with a swift movement of her hand. "You're here now"

With grace, she pulled a paper from under her vanity, holding it to the other.

"The crowd was not as fiery as usual" she started with a mellow face. A single, fake tear rolled down her cheek, as her head tilted to the side sadly. "Are you alright? Your writing has been lacking as of late, dear"

Her tone may have been sweet, but It possessed a bitterness to it- it was clear that the Enchantress was not satisfied with her little ghost writer's work.

Her words sent shivers down Violet's spine. She knew exactly what they implied, she knew exactly what would come next.

"I-I- I can explain-" she stuttered, and instinctively, her legs slowly sinking within her own shadow. Any words coming out of her mouth were a jumbled, incomprehensible mess.

"Oh, Darling you are not getting out of this like the little coward you are" The Enchantress coldly stated, jumping off from her seat and firmly grabbing the smaller troll's face, a disappointed look in her eyes. With a strong, swift movement, she pulled Violet right out of her shadow. A look of pure Terror filling her eyes as the Enchantress was staring down at her.

" you disappointed me, you know I hate being disappointed, right?"

Violet's went cold, as if all of the blue was sucked out of her face. Not this, everything but this. These simple words, 'you disappointed me', filled her with dread.

"Please- Please no- I-I promise I'll do better!"

"I have to make sure of it, darling" and with a sickening smile, the Enchantress began to sing. Her voice was as clear as Cristal, every note was hit perfectly, so much so it sounded... Uncanny.

The words she was using didn't seem to make sense, but they flowed flawlessly with the Melody DEA was singing.

Her voice was slowly enchanting Violet's mind- to her dismay. Her sight and thoughts became foggy, and before she knew it, she was surrounded by a thick, white mist. Again. The song of the Enchantress sounding like a strange, distant chant.

Violet's heartbeat began to quicken, she held her head, shaking it left and right. 'this isn't real this isn't real-' she repeated to herself in despair. She has already went through this- she shouldn't be affected by this- and yet, she couldn't help but feeling the terror slowly building up inside her.

Within the white void she found herself trapped in, Violet saw a short, young troll from afar. Her hair was braided and she was wearing a long, indigo dress with small open black shoes. In her arms was resting a plush toy Violet would recognise instantly - it was her sister's. What was she doing here? She shouldn't be here-

"Azalea!" Violet yelled, rushing to small girl and embracing her withing her arms. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? What are you doing here?" She carefully held the small girl's face, looking at her in the eyes.

Azalea's stare was full of tears, she looked scared, mortified. "Vivi I-" she sniffled "I don't feel well-" before Violet could even question her, the troll started to melt in her arms, screams of agony echoing within the perpetual white void, mixing with the chantings to create a sinister, chaotic melody.

"AZALEA !" Violet shreeched in pain as she saw her little sister decompose right in front of her eyes "no- no no NO AZA-" she desperately attempted to piece back what little was left of her, as a torrent of tears was rolling down her cheeks- no, not her. She has done everything to protect her- this shouldn't be happening- Violet cried and cried and then...

.....

The chantings stopped, and with it, the white mist that was surrounding Violet also faded abruptly. It took the girl a few minutes to properly ground herself- where was she? What just happened? Who was there with her? The troll found herself lying on the lounge's floor, her eyes feeling wet but no tears were coming down.

The Enchantress was looking down at Violet, a sick and twisted expression of satisfaction on her face. Gently, she lifted up Violet's chin, with a disgustingly sweet smile. "now, Vivi, write something more.... Exciting next time, mmmokay?" She gave a gentle kiss of the troll's forehead, whispering sweetly "you're better than this, dear" and then she left, waving goodbye. Violet was left alone, distraught, unable to think as her mind was replaying her Illusion again and again.

The troll wrapped herself in her cloak, shivering like a lost kitten, and hugged herself tightly as tears began to run down her cheeks.

She despised this, but it was for her own good in the end... Right?

#niho's writing #the enchantress #dea #violet ommbra #hehhhehhehe #:3c

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malusienki · 9 months

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i started putting together a little friend group of ocs that i’ve dubbed “the theatre kids” for now but idk if should post them here cuz this is mostly an opera-related blog …

though i might because i HAVE posted one of them here before (their name was vivi) and i like yelling into the void

#ash’s ocs #oc stuff

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khuns · 4 years

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anyway scenes we don’t talk about enough include:

#khun willing to follow baam to the ends of the world?? same #tower of god #khun #khun aguero agnis #baam #vivi yells into the void #tog

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everythiinggoes · 4 years

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do we have a dalton group chat or something :(

#dalton #cp coulter #man i miss those days #back in ??? 2011??? 2012?????#fuck its been nearly ten years?????#vivi yells into the void

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astrofireworks · 4 years

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HI I HAVEN’T LOGGED ONTO HERE IN TEN MILLION YEARS BUT YALL ASTRO GOT WEIBOS!!!!!!!!!!!

mj’s

jinjin’s

eunwoo’s

rocky’s

sanha’s

#GUESS WHAT BITCHES ASTROFIREWORKS IS BACK AND BURNING LET'S GOOOOO #I HAVENT TRANSLATED FOR ASTRO IN TEN YEARS BC OF TANGRAM BUT LET'S GOOOOOOOOO #aM I GONNA SUB FOR THEM YOU BET I AM #vivi yells into the void

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beihonglin · 5 years

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[about subbing.]

alright y’all sit tight and buckle up, i’ve held this in for three months now but today i saw a youtube comment demanding to know why it took so long for eng subs for a certain show to come out and i think some things should be made clear.

fan subbers are not obligated to do the subbing we do. we are people with our own lives who are busy with work and school and life. the time spent subbing takes away from our study time, our down time, or time better spent doing more productive things.

“but wait, surely it doesn’t take that long to sub a show? i see gifs on tumblr / translated transcriptions on twitter, so i know people are capable of translating things but nobody will sub the whole episode / it takes so long for eng subs to come out.”

it takes. so. much. time. in case you’re not familiar with the process (i know i wasn’t, before joining a subbing team), i’ll walk you through it with personal examples.

(1) obtaining the raw video:

content is often hosted on iqiyi, youku, tencent. unlike youtube, these platforms have little to no ‘fast’ ways to download the videos. for example, iqiyi uploads their episodes as .qsv files, which, due to their non-standard format, cannot be opened in any normal multimedia player and require the use of iqiyi's proprietary software. in order to decode the file and make it usable, downloaders have to find ccodes and ckeys, which takes time. to make it worse, these ccodes and ckeys change every few weeks, which means downloaders have to go on a hunt for them all over again.

even if you could find an online downloader for videos, video parsers such as this one often give you very little control over the quality of the video - most of the downloads end up looking like someone chewed it up and spit it out.

this means that whoever obtains the raw video has to use methods like coding or terminal just to get the hd file, which takes time and effort.

from here, the raw video goes to two people: the transcriber and the timer.

(2a) transcribing the video:

this is a step i skip when i am subbing alone or when i’m subbing in a team that are all chinese-speakers, but when i’m working in a team that has typesetters who don’t speak chinese, we have to provide a transcription along with our translation so that they can match the words on screen with the translations they put in. in some teams, there are members who only transcribe, but in smaller teams, translators have to do it ourselves.

transcribing takes time - it can take anywhere from half an hour to two hours for a five minute segment, depending on how used you are to typing in that language.

(2b) timing the video:

for me, this is The Most Time Consuming part of subbing - it’s the part i dread when subbing alone. it involves making sure your subs appear at the same time as the corresponding characters on screen, and often, if your subs appear even a couple of frames off, the entire sequence will look strange to the viewer. timing involves small adjustments made over and over again just so your subs look at least presentable.

it requires precision, which takes time. and it requires practice and being comfortable with the timing software - if you’re starting out with new software, you might take more than two hours to time a five minute segment.

even worse is when a video comes without chinese subtitles (rip all of us who ever had to sub these) - we don’t have a frame of reference and have to decide how to time by ourselves. we have to take into account sentence length and how fast viewers can read per second, how long a clause can be before viewers forget what was in the previous clause, and we have to make these decisions in tandem with how fast the people on screen are speaking. which takes time.

(3) translating the video:

i think this step is often what people reduce subbing to and is what most people are familiar with seeing, but i cannot stress this enough - it also takes time.

personally, i take an hour to clear five minutes worth of dialogue on a good day. and then i take additional time for the sfx captions. and then additional time to proof-read and make sure i didn’t mishear, misinterpret or mistranslate things. most of the time, interviews love using internet slang or gaming terms and for those of us who don’t game or spend most of our lives on weibo, it’s an extra step for us to search for the term, understand its meaning and the context in which it’s being used. which takes time.

when a video comes without chinese subtitles and the members on screen happen to Love Screaming Over Each Other... replaying the segment over and over again to try and hear what they’re saying takes time. and patience. and eardrum abilities.

in a team, it also involves proof-reading each other’s work. our translations team always proof-reads each other’s segments in case we catch something the others missed out on or mistranslated, or in case semantics are awkward and we have to restructure a sentence. i’m very, very lucky in that the subbing team i’m in have different strengths - one of us is better at chinese and explaining complex phrases, one of us is good at pragmatics and catching nuances and suggesting rephrases and one of us is good at semantics and making sure things are grammatically accurate. but sometimes teams are unbalanced and it takes extra effort to make sure things still turn out in the best quality possible.

in some cases, we can discuss one (1) word choice for a full ten minutes because there simply isn’t a phrase for it in english and we have to t/n it, or because multiple english words map to the same chinese word and choosing the wrong one will provide a wrong connotation. in other cases, we know that some scenes will be talked a lot about or giffed a lot by international fans, and we have to make sure that the translations have to be as accurate and as nuanced as possible so that nothing gets twisted. and in the worse case scenario, a wrong word choice can change a fan’s whole impression of a member.

(4) typesetting the video:

for dialogue subtitles, this involves finding a font that is readable by everyone and a style that will be visible against all backgrounds. it involves making sure they stay in the same place and are of the same style (all aligned left, a certain number of pixels from the bottom etc).

for sfx captions, this involves matching your english font to the chinese font used so the scene style isn’t incongruous and matching styles like outlines and shadows so that the colour scheme remains the same. in some cases, there is no space for the sfx translation, and typesetters have to blank out the original to make the translations visible. in many cases, they move, so typesetters have to animate the text, which takes extra effort.

for multiple-episode shows, typesetters have to make sure that the styling remains consistent and visible in all settings, which make the thought given to these choices all the more important.

in some teams, typesetters don’t speak chinese, and have to refer to transcriptions and corresponding translations to typeset correctly. this takes time. in the cases where the original video comes without chinese subtitles, typesetters have to decide in which order the noise and mayhem should appear on screen. this takes time.

and in the first place, this assumes that you have the software to do hard-subs - something not all of us have.

(5) encoding and posting the video:

this step takes the least effort but it still needs So Much Time - converting the aegisubs or premiere pro file into an .mp4 requires a media encoder, and adobe media encoder more or less takes three hours to encode a three hour episode. sometimes, it exports as an .mov and you have to handbrake it to get it to an .mp4 file, which takes extra time.

uploading it on youtube also takes time - it takes an hour to get a two-hour video uploaded, and it takes another few hours for it to process so that you can publish it in 1080p.

some of our laptops don’t have enough processing power to go through a three hour video - even encoding a half-hour episode can slow down our laptops so much they’re pretty much useless until it’s done. some of us even don’t have a media encoder on our laptops and have to run to computer labs to get it encoded. and if the closest one is on campus twenty minutes away and it’s snowing outside? good luck.

people who gif casually or translate in blocks of text on twitter don’t have to deal with steps (2), (4) and (5), and that’s where the difference lies - even if they’re capable of translating things, the sheer amount of effort and time it takes can deter people from trying.

in addition, most of the time, the content we sub is copyrighted so we can’t even monetise the eng subs - we get nothing out of subbing.

the reason why we do it anyway is because we love the show or the people on the show and want to share that with an international audience. we’re fans and for some of us, that’s justification enough to put in the time and effort needed to get more love and attention for our faves.

and that’s why we appreciate it when people ask us, “hi, would you be interested in subbing this show?” most of these requests are polite and include an “only if you want to” add-on (which frees us from the obligation to agree), and it lets us know that you’re following our faves and lets us know what kind of content you’re interested in. most of the time, most of us don’t even need a ‘thank you’ in the comments (although they are very much appreciated), because if we see comments laughing over a certain member’s actions, it means someone else is loving our faves too and to me, it makes the effort worth it.

i understand people asking, “why does it take so long to sub?” out of curiosity, because before i joined my subbing teams, i knew nothing about the process. but going, “why is it taking so long to sub?” is different, and demanding that a show be subbed when it takes us ten hours of work to let you enjoy a twenty minute video? that’s not fair.

tl;dr: don’t underestimate the amount of effort it takes to sub a show. subbers have their own lives and are not obligated to work on your schedule.

if you’re still thinking about demanding subs faster, consider joining the subs team. otherwise, shut up and enjoy the fact that fans are putting in time and effort for your entertainment for free.

#vivi yells into the void #translations #anyway i'm tired of fans complaining that things take time #especially when you don't know the subs team members personalyl #i know a lot of people complain about yhsubs not updating but one of the translators is in premed and her schedule has been Insane this year #we're in the same club and one of my friends is her roommate and i still barely see her #and to those asking about the new trainee18 show?#i'm the only one translating for it and i've been packed this semester i havent even watched past episode six #much less sub episode three

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