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kisses4reid · 2 months

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convenient pt. 2 | ·˚ ༘ spencer reid ,,

pt. 1 (you cannot read part 2 with no context).

summary - he totally just cares if you pass your exams, nothing else. there is no other reason he keeps coming back to your convenience store.

genre - fluff, fem!college!reader x early season!spencer

warnings - school work, incorrect science stuff bc i’m just a girl

a/n - thank you all for the love on the first part!!! it was so surprising, especially since it was the first fic i’ve uploaded on this blog, i love y’all so much 🫶 thank you to those who suggested to make this a series, i would’ve totally made this a oneshot if not for y’all.

“you got any plans tonight spencer?”, morgan asked, taking his jacket off the back of his chair, passing spencer’s clean desk.

“uh, yeah actually.”

“really?” morgan stopped beside him, looking over his shoulder, a smirk crawling up, “with who?”

“moby dick.” spencer lied, morgan rolled his eyes.

“you’re no fun man.”

the doorbell rang, but after not seeing a certain skinny man for two nights, you’re mind starting to reset into the ‘studying grind mode’ it had been on before meeting spencer. stop thinking about spencer, keep studying.

three ladies dressed in short skirts, a white man with dreads (yikes), and a boy around 8 years old checked out with various items before a 3 minute cannelloni, bag of coffee, and an apple landed in front of you. before you could look up he spoke,

“how did your assignment go?” you jumped in your seat, nearly punching the man in the face before you placed a hand over your heart and sighed,

“good lord, you need to learn how to walk louder.”

spencer grinned. you scanned the cannelloni, he glanced at your hand still over your heart.

“rubatosis.”

“bless you?”

“the unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat.” you glanced up and saw him looking at your hand with a thin lipped awkward smile. you quickly put your hand down and continued scanning, pushing a loose strand of hair behind your ear.

“we all know words. like… vellichor.” you spoke, packing his things in the same plastic bag he brought just little of a week ago. he tilted his head,

“the love of used bookstores?”

“i saw old books in your car.”

“you were looking in my car?” he put his hands in his pockets, as he looked out the window to his parked vehicle, not planning to pick up his bag of ‘groceries’ anytime soon. only then did you notice his tie was askew, his hair a little disheveled, his eyes a little sunken. the doorbell rung, a middle-aged balding man walking in behind spencer.

“i’m observant. $12.98.” he whipped out a slim wallet from his back pocket, flicking through some notes to pull out a $20. you ruffled through the register for his change as he remarked,

“you didn’t even look at the register.”

“don’t need to, you’re predictable.” you reply with a sneaky smile, causing spencer to copy reluctantly.

there was an awkward cough from behind him, the middle-aged man. spencer turned back to you after realising that he was in fact in a convenience store, and you were in fact the only worker there. “sorry sir, um. bye.” he took his bag, the thin lipped smile becoming nearly as predictable as his late-night groceries.

“bye.”

the tall, awkward, superbly smart man who smelt like wood didn’t show up for 5 nights. you thought there were only three possibilities at his absence: sickness, death, or he’s learnt how to cook.

you thought the next time you saw him you would ask more about him. in between studying, classes, and working, there wasn’t much time for a social life in your day to day. or maybe you wouldn’t. maybe he wasn’t showing up because he wasn’t really a regular, just a guy who needed quick meals, coffee, and apples on those specific nights. that’s insane, you are insane, get back to studying.

you almost didn’t recognise him the next night. same clothes, same height, same cologne, different face. dark circles under his eyes, permanent lines between his eyebrows, and a purple bruise on his left cheek. it was silent, he was the only customer at 11:30pm. you both made eye contact while you scanned his items, (same things plus a travel first aid kit) silently observing his expectant expression before you broke the silence.

“i’m not going to ask.”

“i got hit with the butt of a gun.” he said matter of factly.

you halted, coffee bag in hand, and stared at him, squinting. “…okay. actually i am gonna ask. who would hit a librarian with the butt of a gun?”

he scrunched his eyebrows and tilted his head, blinking, “i’m not a librarian. why do you think i’m a librarian?”

you packed his things, “smart, dressed posh, just general mysterious good looking librarian vibe,” he handed you a $20, “you remind me of a pipe cleaner with eyes.”

he raised an eyebrow, breaking eye contact, “not the first time i’ve heard that.”

you laughed, thinking it was a joke. his shoulders relaxed, the lines between his eyebrows softening. he grabbed his things, “bye, y/n.”

“bye, spencer.”

you were so close to finding out more about him. how the hell does a man that looks like that get into so much trouble?

you finish your shift, packing your textbooks and now flat laptop, locking everything up and turning the lights off. it was 1am. and, spencer was asleep in his car.

you looked around and put your jacket around your shoulders before jogging up to his driver’s window. his head was lulled to one side, mouth closed, chest rising softly. you knocked, and suddenly he was wide-eyed and searching for something.

“spencer? what are you still doing here?” you speak just loud enough for him to hear behind the window, which he promptly put down. you had a split second realisation how crazy this was. checking in on a regular, watching a regular sleep, feeling safe enough to approach a man’s car just because he buys the same thing every night he comes to the convenience store.

“sorry, i didn’t mean to fall asleep. i- uh,” he wiped his face, “sorry.”

you look at him with concern, “it’s okay, just.. try not to look like you were waiting for me to finish my shift to kidnap me next time, okay?”

he sighed and nodded. waving goodbye, you started down the street, your apartment only being a block away. over the music now playing in your ears, you heard a car drive away, mixing with your confused thoughts about who this regular really is and what he does for a living. and how does he look that good.

he was back the next night, same black slacks, with a purple sweater a shade darker than your own.

“hey spencer, before i scan your 3 minute bolognese, coffee and bag of apples-“

“how did you get that perfectly-“

“i’m going to ask this and you’re going to answer, okay?”

you know nothing about this man, but talking to him like a good friend felt natural now. though, you still tried to avoid over stepping it.

“-though you don’t actually have to answer it. you are a customer and i can’t force customers to do anything but- seeing as though you know i’m a college student and that i work at this convenience store and that i sort of suck at biology- sorry i’m rambling,” you take a breath, “where do you work?” you finish, spencer smiling slightly. you were surprised he didn’t cut you off to stop you, like everyone else did. he didn’t answer at first, the squeak of your shoe against the floor displayed your anxious tell.

“i can’t tell you.”

you sighed, rolling your eyes and packing his stuff, he already had a $20 ready in his hand. you took it, fingers brushing slightly against his. “you suck, and your so suspicious. i should just call security.”

he looked around, fiddling his fingers together, “you don’t have security.”

you pointed to a dead cockroach outside underneath the warm street light. “yes we do. why do you think he’s twitching? he’s insane, he’ll hurt you.”

he chuckled, the sound bringing a shade of pink to your cheeks. “you don’t work on weekends.”

you squinted, eyebrows furrowed in confusion and maybe a bit of fear. “what.”

“i came in on a weekend and a man was here.” he explained as you nodded.

“yeah, no i don’t. why?”

spencer gulped, taking his bag, and smiling awkwardly, “nothing, bye!”

you waved, confused. also stressed, you hadn’t worked on your psychology assignment while waiting for him to show up.

pt. 3

taglist- @jeffswh0re @hypotheticallyspeakingwitch @wannabewolf @evysian @trashmonstersara

#criminal minds #criminal minds imagine #spencer reid #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid oneshot #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x yn #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds fluff

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gabessquishytum · 3 months

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Time and Night Endless have a problem. Their darling son Dream has been dating a man completely not of their class, a shameless and uncouth ruffian, by the name of Hob Gadling. While they did make their disapproval known, they were inclined to leave it at that, as surely this was merely a rebellious phase on Dream’s part; at some point he would come to his senses, end the relationship, and settle down with someone more suitable.

Except they have heard through the family grapevine that not only has Dream not come to his senses, but he is in fact planning on proposing to the dreadful man. That he has in fact purchased a ring already! Clearly something must be done.

They arrange a private meeting with Hob and offer him fifty-thousand pounds to break up with their son before the proposal, preferably publicly enough that they can be sure he did it, and so it decreases the likelihood of reconciliation.

Hob only hesitates for a moment before agreeing.

Time and Night walk away from the meeting feeling incredibly smug that they’ve saved their dear son from an inappropriate relationship with a blatant gold digger.

Hob walks away from the meeting pulling out his phone to call Dream. “Hey love, how would you like to con your parents out of a shit ton of money?”

Three days later, Dream and Hob have a giant blow-up fight in the middle of a friendly gathering—Desire was there filming the whole thing and had gleefully uploaded it to every social media platform they have, so the Endless parents can see for themselves. It’s pretty ugly: there’s accusations of cheating, loud negative allusions to their sex life, Dream even throws in a “my mother was right about you” for good measure. It’s a goddamn disaster of a shouting match that ends in the world's messiest breakup.

Time and Night would be horrified by the scandal if they weren’t so pleased with the results. Hob Gadling may not be an acceptable partner for one of their children, but at least he certainly does deliver. They wire the money to him with absolutely no remorse, considering it money well-spent.

A week later, a new video is uploaded to Hob and Dream’s social media accounts: the two of them side-by-side, leaning into each other's touch like love-drunk teenagers, fingers entwined and sporting beautiful engagement rings, as they announce their reconciliation and engagement.

“Communication has always been the key to a successful relationship, and all we really needed to do was sit down and talk to each other like adults. Any issues we may have had have been resolved, and if it weren't for the people close to us who didn't want to see us fall apart, we might not be here today,” Hob says, grinning ear to ear.

“I would particularly like to offer my greatest, most heartfelt thanks for our upcoming marriage to my parents,” Dream says with an evil glint in his eye. “They not only engineered our reconciliation, they selflessly gave fifty-thousand pounds of their own money to help pay for the wedding and honeymoon. We can't thank them for their kindness and support enough.”

Hob then grabs his fiance and dips him before kissing the life out of him, and that’s where the video ends.

Night faints and Time breaks a priceless vase.

(Desire also gleefully shares this video on the same platforms as the first one, and helpfully tags their parents with it to boot. It was actually fun scheming with their brother for the first time in a long time, and they may or may not be planning to stitch the two videos together into a small tasteful movie as a wedding present (and perhaps providing a copy to their parents as well))

-🪽anon

I love the "evil parent offers main character a lot of money to break up with love interest" vibe. Whatever happens you just KNOW its going to end badly for the parents!

And really, they should have known better. Hob is a shameless ruffian and an experienced conman, OF COURSE he was going to pull some kind of trick. He's actually really pleased because he was worried that Dream wouldn't get his perfect wedding, because Hob’s meagre salary won't stretch to a big budget. With the "generous contribution" from mum and dad, Dream can make his gorgeous goth wedding fantasies a reality.

Dream has an amazing time at the fittings for all the wedding outfits, and Desire even has a hand in designing the most gorgeous jumpsuit for Dream to wear at the reception. They're totally invested in this wedding and keep feeding Dream and Hob information about their parents latest plans to sabotage the big day. This leads to Dream getting in touch with their estranged younger brother, who is thrilled to a) be invited to the wedding and b) provide security on the big day! He's built like a brick wall so no attempted shenanigans will get past him.

There won't be any trouble at the wedding, anyway. Hob has a few of his old pals on the job, and they will make sure that the Endless parents are tragically prevented from reaching the venue on time. So sad. Its okay though, because Desire will be putting together a beautiful wedding movie for everyone to watch after the honeymoon!

When asked by their society friends about their new son in law, Night and Time will grit their teeth and smile. He's a very... resourceful man. Not what they'd imagined for Dream, but he seems happy enough. And there was a prenup, so it can't be that bad if (hopefully when) they get a divorce.

Yeah.......they're never getting a divorce!

#🪽anon #the sandman #dreamling

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mochamamii · 6 months

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mafia!nct: how you meet.

▹ a/n: hello loves, wow two uploads in a day? are you proud of me ? 🤭 it’s been so long since I wrote in the mafia universe! I hope you enjoy this, have a great day or night gorgeous 😘💕

▹ pairing: mafia!nct x reader

▹ triggers: mafia!au, crime, manipulation, violence, light smut

Taeil first meets you at your job. Taeil owns a plethora of companies, both small and large, and all used as a cover to launder and legitimize his behind the scenes criminal activity. You just happened to be a regular girl working at one of these companies, only working in an entry level position at a front desk you would’ve had very low chances of running into someone like Taeil at work. That was true for the most part, it had been at a company wide holiday party nearly two years working at said company before your paths finally crossed. You were tipsy and flirtier than usual that night, completely ignorant to the fact that you’d been chatting up your boss for the better part of an hour. Taeil was intrigued by your forwardness and wanted to keep seeing you. It was fun and exciting for you too, Taeil seemed like such a puzzle to you, he gave you very few details about his life and even fewer about his career. It’d be months after your secret rendezvous begins before Taeil reveals to you he owns the company you work for, and it’d take years for him to ever share that he runs a criminal organization under the table, if he ever actually did, because if he can get away with not telling you he won’t.

“Why do you always ask so many questions baby? Why don’t we just enjoy our time together and we can talk about my job another day…”

Johnny meets you at a nightclub. Because of the dangers involved in his line of work he’s become a shut in more or less, only going out when it’s absolutely necessary. He’d take drinking at home with friends over a noisy club but his associates and him had been having a string of successful pushes in the expansion of their clan. There was much to be celebrated. You were there with a group of friends also that night, out to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Johnny took notice of you right away. Shameless in his ogling of you, his eyes were fixed on you alone in the sea of bodies on the dance floor. He approached you with a pep in his step to offer you a drink which you accept, afterwards you offer him a dance which he accepts. On the dance floor your hands eagerly grip and squeeze at each other’s bodies. You two spend the night together that first night, a fairly brief and passionate situationship ensues after night one. For months your relationship with Johnny feels purely sexual, there’s not much about him or his life that you really know and he never seems eager to share. Johnny drags his feet on cuffing you officially for fear of involving an innocent person in his life.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’ve always had serious feelings for you. The only thing stopping me was wanting to keep you safe.”

Taeyong meets you after one of his associates dragged you into his warehouse. Apparently, you had been the witness to his crew “taking out the trash” as some would say…Instantly upon seeing you Taeyong realized you really were just an innocent girl who had been in the wrong place at the right time and not a secret spy from a rival. He pitied you. You had seen his face and plenty of the others faces’, releasing you could be risky but keeping you here was tiresome and more of a chore. Taeyong decided he would give himself a few days to decide what he wanted to do with you, he let you go home, under heavy surveillance of course. He needed to know if you were going to try and run to the police and snitch on anything you’d seen so far. Taeyong starts visiting your home in the evenings, he told himself it was a strategic intimidation tactic to keep you from calling the cops. Truthfully, Taeyong just wanted to be near you. He’d become really drawn to you, his visits getting longer and longer as he gets to know you better. It’s a nice slow burn before your relationship turns romantic. Taeyong is actually grateful he had met you in the manner he did, it was refreshing to start a relationship and wonder whether he should tell them about his career. You knew from the start, and that made courting you a guilt free indulgence for him.

“You know more about me than most people do. I like that and I want it to stay that way, I promise there’s nothing I’ll ever keep from you.”

Yuta meets you during the middle of a heist of all places. In his crew he was the go to man for high intensity missions like bank heists, and assassinations occasionally. You were on your way home from work when you made a stop to deposit your paycheck into your account. Your corporate slave job had yet to transition to the twenty first century and go digital with their payroll system. You were stuck with paper checks for now. Your interaction with the bank teller across from you was almost done when you jumped due to the fire alarm suddenly going off. The alarms went off followed by the sprinklers on the ceiling, creating a heavy downpour, drenching you and everything else. Yuta and his gang strolled in confident as ever, heavy machine guns in tow. They were the picture of frightening nightmares. Yuta made it known he was clearly in charge, barking orders at his crew, all of them moving in harmony. They cleared the bank’s reserves in minutes, sweeping the vaults like they knew the floor plan by heart. Yuta floated over to you as his crew began piling the bags of cash into their van. Yuta caught you hiding under a table near the back. He thought you were absolutely adorable the way you looked at him in fear. He pulled you from under the table to get a better look at you, he gave you a quick two second once over before nodding with a content hum and tossing you over his shoulder. You squealed and squirmed to get down but he only held you tighter spewing out nonsense like he had decided to keep you for a little bit.

“Stop squirming so much bunny…I’m not that scary am I?”

Doyoung meets you through a match maker interestingly enough. Doyoung was born into an infamous crime family, arranged marriages between associates was a common practice for families like Doyoung’s. As Doyoung begins to take the reigns from his father he knows a marriage is on the horizon he’d need to find a match from another strong clan to join forces with. You happened to be the daughter of not a fellow mob boss, but a wealthy man who earned his wealth legitimately.. As an only child your parents were eager for you to settle down and give them some heirs so you went to a matchmaker for help. By fate you and Doyoung had been paired together, he was introduced to you as your average successful businessman. The attraction was there immediately and a relationship between you two quickly blossomed. It was easy, you both had similar ambitions and goals. You fit together perfectly from the start. Doyoung isn’t sure he’ll ever reveal to you his real job, why should he when things are already great between you two?

“I never thought I’d meet someone this way, but I’m glad I did. I’m glad I met you, my other half.”

Jungwoo meets you through a mutual acquaintance. He was in the market to buy a second property, it would be a safe house for himself and other people close to him. He had a friend who recommended Jungwoo contact you. He was a busy man who needed a realtor to find the perfect location for him, that’s where you come in. You’d sold a number of properties to Jungwoo’s friend already who made sure to give him a stellar review of your work. Jungwoo was running out of time and his friend had convinced him well enough so he called you. Upon the first meeting in person Jungwoo was struck by your beauty. He forced himself to remain professional not wanting to be distracted. You’d begun working for Jungwoo for months at this point, sending him several properties you’d found throughout the week. It didn’t matter what you sent him, he always seemed so unimpressed and displeased with what you’d shown him. You were growing annoyed and worried that you’d never find a property he would close on. Truthfully, Jungwoo loved nearly every listing you showed him, he loved spending time with you even more. He wasn’t ready to close on something quite yet, he wasn’t ready to stop spending time with you, he liked talking to you. Jungwoo’s crush on you grows more every day, eventually he has no choice but ti confess his feelings after you nearly threatened to quit if he refused to finally close on a property.

“I just needed any excuse to be close to you, that’s where I’d always rather be.”

Mark meets you at the hospital. You were working an overnight shift. You were in your third year of residency, working under the guidance of your seniors. That night was like any other night until the doors of the receiving dock flew open and paramedics quickly wheeled a wounded man on a stretcher inside. You were among the staff called to attend to him. You learned from the paramedics that he had been in some kind of shootout. You helped assist the surgeons during surgery as they removed any bullet fragments still remaining. The man remained in the hospital until he was well enough. During this time you cared for him everyday, cleaning and dressing his wounds, checking his vitals, etc. Mark recovers quickly, he’s upset with himself for caving and going to a real hospital, it was a risky move but his clan’s only private doctor was preoccupied and the severity of his injuries definitely called for medical attention. The only good thing that came out of risking getting his identity exposed was the cute nurse who was in charge of caring for him. He was attracted to you and it wouldn’t be long before he asked to take you on a date. You say yes to his offer and the rest is history. Mark won’t outright admit to what he does over time you come to find out on your own.

“You don’t need to know everything about me just yet, I don’t want to scare you off so soon…”

Haechan meets you at a restaurant. He’s having a celebratory dinner with his clan, at the restaurant you waitress for. As luck should have it you were the one picked to serve the loud rowdy bunch of drunk men. Surprisingly the bulk of them left you to do your job without any pushback from them. All except one. The one who sat himself at the head of the table, Haechan. He couldn’t keep his eyes and hands off of you all night. Every time you walked by he’d wink at you from afar and when you were close enough he’d try to pull you into his lap. You were used to serving drunks of all kinds and had your fair share of customers trying their best to flirt with you, Haechan was the most aggressive customer you’d ever had. Haechan was diligent and persistent, he didn’t press further that night and made sure you were tipped well. You thought you had seen the last of Haechan but you were so wrong. Haechan came in almost every day after he first saw you, always requesting you as his waitress. You were uninterested and ignored his advances every time but Haechan could appreciate a challenge.

“That’s fine, ignore me now…I’ll come in every day until you respond beautiful.”

#nct yandere #yandere nct #lee taeyong #yandere kpop #kpop yandere #kim jungwoo #lee haechan #kim doyoung #johnny seo #yuta nakamoto #nakamoto yuta #yandere nct reactions #mafia nct reactions #nct reaction #nct 127 mafia au

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manuscrypts · 2 months

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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝒩𝒮𝐹𝒲 𝒜𝐿𝒫𝐻𝒜𝐵𝐸𝒯 — j.slaughter

warnings + tags — MINORS / AGELESS BLOGS DNI, female reader, mentions of sex, dacryphilia, blood kink, non-con kink, knife play, johnny slaughter being johnny slaughter, typical nsfw things

authors notes — I’ve been wanting to do an alphabet for some of the tcm characters forever, so why not kick it off with a dirty little johnny post? this is all for fun and games, so if you don’t agree w anything, that’s okay <3 I might make some more n/sfw alphabets if people want, too (also let’s pretend I’m not uploading this at 6am).

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

at first he wasn’t exactly understanding of aftercare, he was used to just fucking and leaving, you know, the whole family business. but once he got with you, you taught him what aftercare actually was and it became one of him favourite things — he’d actually look forward to it, not that he’d tell you that. the idea of holding you close to him, all sweaty and panting, both of you more relaxed than you ever could be, enjoying the silence and the come down from your shared high. what could be better?

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

his favourite body part of yours is definitely your ass and thighs, doesn’t matter whether they’re big or small, he just loves the soft parts of your body. he loves squeezing them, slapping them, biting them, laying on them — whatever, he is just borderline obsessed with them. but in all honesty, every single part of your body is his favourite, he’s just so into you that he can barely contain himself.

his favourite part of himself is his arms and hands, his muscular biceps and large hands make him feel manly and give him extra confidence, plus when he’s choking someone, seeing his hands or arms cover them completely kinda gets him going. plus he knows how much you love those parts of him, and that makes him like himself just that little bit more.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

he’s filthy when it comes to his cum, he’ll have it everywhere — he’ll cum on your face, your ass, in your mouth, and even forcing it into your cunt and breeding you like you deserve. he claims you as his and him having his cum in you or all over you just cements that fact. it tastes a little salty but mostly just normal, he likes to think he has a “good” diet just for your taste.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

johnny is a dirty little panty stealer, especially dirty panties. any time you’re showering or have gotten changed, he’ll pick up a pretty pair and shove it into his pocket, and he’ll act completely innocent when you ask if he’s seen them anywhere — he’ll just claim he probably ripped them to shreds when he fucked you, or threw them behind something accidentally. he loves smelling them while he’s masturbating (which isn’t often) but when he really misses you, then it just brings him that much closer to you. he has a secret little stash of them in his shack, tucked away in the back of a drawer, all different colours and styles just for his pleasure.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

no surprise but he is pretty damn experienced, but in the beginning he only really fucked for his own pleasure, not really caring about the other person. but when he got you, then all he wanted was to hear you moaning, to hear his name tumbling from your pretty lips. so he focused on and used everything he knew best, and of course he listened and learnt what you enjoyed — he basically became a god of fucking you, knowing everything that made you break, the things that made you quiver and come without him barely touching you.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

surprisingly, missionary is his favourite, mostly because he likes seeing your face while he’s fucking you, having his hands wrapped around your throat or pinning your hands above your head. there’s something intimate about the simplicity of missionary and he loves that. but he enjoys mixing it up a little, missionary that turns into a mating press, and whatnot.

his second favorite is doggy, but because he loves ass, and it makes it easy to wrap his arm around your neck and pull you back into his chest. a secret favourite as well is forcing you into the full nelson, because what wouldn’t be enjoyable about that?

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

he’s more serious but it’s because he gets lost in the moment, he’s so concentrated on making you come that he doesn’t really take the moment to be more relaxed. but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to laugh and joke on during it, he’ll often say things that makes you chuckle, especially when he’s being “sweet” — but he doesn’t make a habit to go out of his way to make a joke unless it’s to lighten the mood after an intense session.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

johnny is pretty well groomed, he often shaves his armpits and trims his pubes, mostly because of the hot weather so he likes to keep it shorter but also because he feels more comfortable. he definitely leaves hair down there though, and grows out his happy trail because he knows he looks good with it. and of course he leaves the little bit of chest hair he has. all of his hair is jet black, and pretty thick and straight.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

he can sometimes be nice and loving, slow and romantic. whispering sweet nothings into your ear, pumping in and out of you deeply, just showing how he loves you. but of course he has the moments, which is more likely, where he fucks you hard and rough, using you for his own pleasures. it all depends on the moment, the day, and his mood, but expect a bit of everything from him. but johnny has his own ways of intimacy, his own way of showing his love and being what he thinks is romantic, even if he is being rough the entire time.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

he rarely jacks off, instead he prefers having sex with you to relieve himself, but on the off times he does need to jack off, then he has specific things he’ll do. like stated he’ll sniff your panties or look at polaroids of naked pictures you took for him, picturing you riding him and moaning for him. he’ll edge himself a lot, too, your name always rolling off his tongue when he moves his hand nice and slow up and down his cock. other times he wants it over quickly, locking himself in the bathroom and fucking his hand hard and fast, just needing to come and get it over with so he can get back to his busy schedule.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

blood kink — need I say more? he loves eating and tasting people, and your blood is something that he loves tasting, especially when he’s balls deep inside of you. there’s something so intimate about licking the blood trickling down your neck and making love to you at the same time, something so intimate about sharing something like blood with each other. he also loves having you taste his, whether it’s from biting his lip or even just licking his wound when he accidentally cuts himself.

knife kink — again, a pretty obvious one, the man who walks around with a knife and cuts people up basically for a living? he likes the way you flinch under the cool steel of his blade, cutting your clothes off your body with it, leaving lines and marks on you. he’ll cut you if you let him, not deep enough to scar, but enough to get a little blood from you, two kinks for the price of one.

non-con kink — he loves having his way with you, especially when you’re begging him to stop or when you’re whimpering and crying. of course he doesn’t hurt you, instead he pleasures until you can’t take it anymore, until you want it to stop but he just won’t. sometimes he’ll grab you from behind when you least expect it, blindfold and gag you, tie you up and fuck you senseless.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

he’s a simple man with simple pleasures, taking you on a bed or the sofa in his shack is good enough for him, anything with soft padding for him and you to be comfortable. but sometimes he likes to mix it up, fucking you in a victims car or bending you over a table in his mothers house and having his way with you. it depends on his mood like usual, it doesn’t matter where it is as long as he gets to cum in you — but he does have a preference for the risky areas, the outdoor places where you have the chance to be caught, or even just places where he didn’t bother locking the door.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

he’s a pretty simple man so a lot of things you do turn him on, it can be as simple as seeing you all warm and bothered on a hot summers day or seeing you bend over picking something up off the floor. but some other things are a little meaner, like seeing you cry when you’re upset or when you’re annoyed with him and you pout all cute like. his favourite thing though, is when you’re angry or really upset, shouting at him, pushing him away or pounding on his chest to get him away — that instantly sends the blood to his cock.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

there isn’t much he wouldn’t do, or at least there isn’t really any hard no’s. but he isn’t a fan of threesomes, he doesn’t like the idea of anyone else touching you, pleasing you — he knows he’s enough for you and you’re enough for him, so why would you want to invite someone else into the bedroom? as for turn offs, there isn’t really many, something might turn his off once because of his mood or just how he’s feeling on that day but then it might not the next time.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

just like most people, he loves recieving and seeing you on your knees, especially when you’re choking and gagging on him. but he absolutely loves going down on you, he loves to pleasure you and anything that gets you moaning his name, he loves. he’s really good at it too, he was already good before he met you but he’s learnt exactly what gets you going, and god knows he can work miracles with that tongue of his. there are times he’ll go down on you for the sake of it, not even expecting it to be foreplay for sex. he’ll just push you up against something and drop to his knees, pushing your panties to the side and eating you out, then he’ll just go about the rest of his day like normal after making you come on his face.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

he goes between fast and rough and slow and sensual, but most of the time he likes it fast and rough. throwing you about and using you as a glorified fleshlight and making you come at his will is just too much to pass up. when he’s been more romantic or sensual, he likes to have you in missionary, his head buried in the crook of your neck where his moans and sighs are slightly muffled, and he can just push his cock into you nice and slowly.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

as much as he loves taking his time with you, he loves a good old fashioned quickie, bending you over some car or throwing you up against a wall when he needs to relieve himself. he’s worse with it when he’s had a bad day and something has annoyed him, he’ll practically hunt you down just to fuck you. he doesn’t have quickies every day, but it’ll be at least one or twice every couple of days.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

johnny is completely down for taking risks, fucking you in easily caught places and places that are pretty dangerous — the most noticeable place being near his mothers house, or even inside, he’ll drag you off somewhere when you’re visiting her and have his way with you then act like nothing happened when you can barely walk. he loves to experiment with you, too, after all he has some pretty out there kinks that you didn’t exactly like or ever think about trying, but he respects if you have hard no’s — he’s a lot more caring than he pretends to be.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

not so surprisingly, he has a lot of stamina, and can go a whole bunch of rounds, but usually he’ll tap out after two, or a very long session. he enjoys having multiple sessions throughout the day rather than all at once, because then he can burn off all that energy and anger he gets during the day. during a usual session, foreplay included, it’ll last around 45 minutes to an hour — after all, he really loves taking his time with you.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

so he’s pretty hit and miss with toys, he didn’t exactly like them at first. he was kinda insulted when you brought up the idea of having a vibrator / when he found yours, because he took it that he wasn’t good enough for you and that you clearly needed to have something else make you come. after you finally convinced him to just use it on you during sex, his entire world lit up. watching how easy it was to have you a quivering, blubbering, sniveling mess sent blood rushing straight to his cock — and now a lot of the time, especially during longer sessions, he’ll use it on you to tease or give his hand a little bit of a break if he needs it. he also loves making you use it on yourself while he watches, sometimes wanking himself off while you make yourself come.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

he’s a huuuuge tease, loves to edge you for as long as he can, it’s even better if he gets you to the edge of coming on a morning then he can leave for the day — but he tells you not to touch yourself, because he’ll know — sometimes he’ll even “check” during the day to make sure you haven’t made yourself come. if you’ve been good for him then he won’t tease you for too long, but it’s rare he goes a day without teasing you just a little bit. he just loves hearing you whimper and beg for him, and he gets off on being the only one that can make you come.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

johnny grunts and cusses a lot during sex, or even when you’re just teasing / going down on him. he has no issue being vocal anymore, although he was a lot quieter when you first got together. now he’s completely fine with moaning into your ear, and he actually loves moaning your name, he doesn’t even care who hears — he likes you knowing how good you make him feel, plus he knows how much it turns you on having him moaning and cussing when he’s deep inside you.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

okay I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it a million more, he’s actually really sweet to you, and treats you like an angel. at first he’d be a little mean, still saying things that would hurt your feelings or just scaring you by him being him — but once you’d been dating awhile, he’s the “hurt them and I kill you” type guy, the one that’ll kill for you, the one that’ll die for you. he’s so wrapped around your little finger it’s almost unbelievable, he’s so in love that he’d do nearly anything you ask — but he’s only like that when you’re alone, for the most part. when you’re around other people he’s super possessive and lets others know who you belong to, always having a hand around your waist or yanking you into the most sexually fuelled kiss when someone talks to you for too long. nonetheless, he’d protect you with his life and is actually really sweet, in his own way, of course.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

okay he’s got a pretty huge dick, it’s 7”-7.5”, and it’s girthy as all hell, to the point he needs to warm you up a lot before even thinking about trying to push himself into you. he’s not cut, and he’s got a big fat vein that runs along the underside of his cock and it’s super sensitive around there, too. the closer to the tip of his cock, the more reddish purple it turns, especially when he’s hard. oh and let’s not forget, he’s got big, heavy balls as well.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

he’s ridiculously horny, that man has a crazy sex drive and it was kinda hard to keep up with at first. he has a naturally high one anyway but it’s made worse by his obsession with you — he needs to be in you constantly, filling you, making you his. as soon as he wakes up he’s there being needy, he’s the exact same at night when you’re going to bed. and don’t be surprised if he doesn’t pull you round the back of a shack to fuck you during the day, too.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

johnny falls asleep instantly, there’s not a single thought behind that man’s eyes. and it’s made even worse when he tires himself out fucking you senseless a good few rounds before finishing — he’s the type that as soon as his head hits the pillow, he’s passed out snoring, mouth open, twitching and kicking you all night. or sometimes he’s just so still that you’re not sure he’s alive anymore, just perfectly motionless, couldn’t even be woken up by the end of the world.

#ꕤ 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 ⌨️#tcm #johnny slaughter x female reader #johnny slaughter x reader #tcm the game #johnny slaughter #tcm x reader #texas chainsaw game #texas chainsaw massacre

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briluvspnk · 4 months

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SWEET CITRUS ! — childe x fem!reader smau

🍊 | synopsis » the so-called class clown, childe, gets partnered up with his "happy crush", (name). little does he know that his "little crush" would be more than "just a crush", and that getting the attention of someone so focused with her studies would be as hard as passing the math exam he has next week. :')

the bank + in debts

( childe's grp! )

🐋 childe — the bank™

The rich kid, the class clown, the golden retriever, and the guy with barely surviving grades. No one ever sees him studying and that explains a lot. He's part of the basketball varsity team and is very active in sports activities though! So that's something. He's such a social butterfly that someone would mention a name once and he'd immediately be like "Oh! Them? I know them! I met them once dur-"

He lets his friends borrow money from him and also loves buying stuff for them and hence, receiving the title: The Bank. Though sometimes the "borrowing of money" gets out of hand and even others borrow from him and then forgets to pay him back 🤷‍♀️

🐮 itto — in debt #1

That kid who played with bugs. A lot. He's a good funny guy who gets along with almost everyone (some say he's the "real class clown" 🤷‍♀️).

He tries at school sometimes. Enough that he doesn't have to repeat the year. He isn't aware there's an assignment or when deadlines have been moved most of the time. "What do you mean there's an assignment?" "The deadline's been moved to next week? But I crammed this all night :("

Fun fact: he tried to join the basketball varsity team but didn't get in :<

❄️ kaeya — in debt #2

The school heartthrob ™. He has 183 dating rumors going for him and only 3 of those are true (definitely not an exaggeration). As the escort of the student council, there's no doubt everyone knows about him. No one ever sees him studying and yet he's still a consistent awardee?

⚰️ hutao — in debt #3

The social butterfly with... questionable interests and a personality. "Summoning the ghosts and asking the dead souls of students for answers" is a habit of hers during exams and graded recitations. She copies homework often.

"My goal is to copy from every smart person in our grade and I will determine the best smart person." (she has yet to copy from Diluc, Al Haitham, and Tighnari.)

💫 aether — in debt #4

Quite popular for being the "student who always goes to other classrooms" even though classroom hopping is prohibited (he got caught once or twice). He's the only one who isn't classmates with anyone from his friend group :') He has ok grades and is a reliable person during group projects.

🌠 lumine — in debt #5

The sassy girlboss who ALWAYS GOTTA BE WALKING AROUND. You will always see this woman walking around the school. She knows all the secret hangout spots and has caught a questionable amount of couples going on their little dates.

🎸 xinyan — in debt #6

The hot electric guitar player 😍 (no, author is definitely not biased because they used to main her). She often plays (and/or sings) during school events and carries during music projects. She uploads videos on twitter, youtube, and tiktok. :)

masterlist » previous » next

🌻 | a/n

» all the characters know or will know eachother. their connections will be shown as the story progresses :)

» the in debts #1-6 are arranged based on how much they owe, how often they borrow money, and how often they actually pay it back

» i swear the first chapter will come either today or tmrw 🥹

📨 | taglist » [closed]

@kentply

#genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #childe x reader #genshin childe #childe genshin x reader #🍊 sweet citrus!#genshin impact #childe genshin impact #genshin impact x you #genshin imagines

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baby-alien11 · 1 year

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Birthday scream (Y/N Ulrich Universe)

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! *Alexa, play 22 by Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version)*

P.S.: I had to search Skeet's house for this, it's so cool where he lives

I will have a Q&A for my birthday so you can leave your messages for me so you can get to know me better (actually is always open, so you can ask me anything whenever you want)

taglist: @volturi-girl-imagines @dessxoxsworld @aonungsgirlfriend @ethanlandryluver @wenvierismycomfort @aliciacat20 @gabbylovesreading @nikfigueiredo

Since you were born, your birthdays were special, it didn't matter if it was only the five members of your family or a small party with your classmates, you enjoyed it

When you started to go to the Riverdale set, they usually throw you a theme party acording to the season they were filming at the time (seasons three, four and five were weird parties), and in the weekends your entire family will spend a day together

Also, there was also the tradition that someone will be standing up by your bed with the ghostface costume at the moment you wake up, and the person was different every year

Things change because of COVID, making the celebrations family-exclusive, but due to the fact that the virus was slowing down, a big party was a good option

So, while you were still sleeping in your room, on the first floor there was comotion to prepare everything with your friends from Scream and Avatar (due to the filming of the last season, the Riverdale guys wouldn't be there)

"If someone, pet or human goes to the cultives garden, please be careful with the plantings", Skeet exclaimed making the breakfast with Matthew's help

"And if they want to go potty?", Mason asked helping with decorations

"They have a space for that in the garden", Naiia assured

"It's okay if I record most of the party?", Jamie asked with his camera on hand, "And uploading it on my channel?"

"For my part is a yes", Georgina, your mother, answered making a cake with Anna's help, "But Y/N is the birthday girl, so she has the ultimate answer"

"Should we inflate more balloons?", Bailey asked with Liana and Duane by her side surrounded with a lot of balloons

"I think we should fill the trampoline with some of them", Jack suggested, "It will be fun"

"Kids, we have enough with the castle jumper in the backyard", Skeet interrupted, "And I still don't know how she convinced me to get one for the entire day"

"Because she is the baby of the family", Melissa joked organazing some helium balloons

"I actually suggested her the idea", Trinity said whit a proud smile

"You are my new favorite kid", Jasmine said towards the pre-teen

"Wait, don't you have the tradition of using the ghostface costume?", Devyn asked suddenly

"Yeah, who's turn is this year?", Filip continued

Realising that they didn't remember who's turn this year was, the four looked at each other with panic

"What if we add a surprise factor this year?", Jakob suggested turning towards the living room where everyone was, "Who wants to wear the costume?"

"Do you have more than one?", Jenna asked, "Because more than one would be cool"

"Or someone she won't expect", Duane said

"Just so everyone knows", Liana talked, "It's difficult to breath under the mask"

"True!", Matthew exclaimed

"Wait, has anyone seen Iggy?", Amenah, Mason's girlfriend talked, "I haven't seen him in a while"

"Wasn't he sleeping in the couch with the other pets?", Mason asked

"I think I saw Butters and Izzy going upstairs, along with Alaska, Rambo and Zeus", Xavier, Melissa's husband responded

"Jakob", Skeet said causing his son to look at him with a little fear, "When you went to see if your sister was still asleep, did you close the door after checking?"

"Not completely", Jakob laughed nerviously, "I mean, I didn't want to wake her up, so I didn't close the door"

Upstairs, you were already awake thanks to Butters who jumped into your bed to start licking your face, and noticing the other five dogs, you reach out to let them snuggle in your bed

And being wake up with your door barely open, you heard everything downstairs making you smile with fun

"If they knew I'm awake and listening to everything", you laugh to the pets

Hearing someone coming to your room, you decided to pretend you were still sleeping covering completely with your bed sheets, leaving the pets uncovered

After disscussing who would wear the costume, they choose the one who you never expect, and that was Bailey, who was walking slowly towards your room trying to make zero noise, with Jamie following with his camera to film

When they arrived at the room, Jamie stood in the door filming while Bailey started walking towards your bed noticing the pets laying at the feet of the bed

The moment you felt someone next to your bed, you were quick to jump and scare the person behind the costume, earning a girl-ish scream which you recognized

"Oh my God! Bailey?", you exclaimed in surprise kneeling in your bed

"Happy birthday", Bailey said taking the mask off, "Liana was right, it's hard to breathe in this"

"I didn't expected this", you laughed while she sat in your bed

"Yeah, last time I'm going to use this", Bailey said, "Jamie is filming also"

"Hi, happy birthday Y/N", Jamie spoke still from the door

"Thanks", you smiled, "Wait, who is here?"

"Almost everyone", Bailey responded, "Come on, breakfast is ready"

Without caring that you were still in you pajamas that consisted in a tank top and sweatpants. you went downstairs with Bailey and Jamie, seeing the first floor full

"Happy birthday!", everyone exclaimed the moment they saw you

Squealing of happinnes, you were quick to hug everyone in the place, watching all the decorations that adorned the first floor

"Did you like the way to wake up this year?", your mom asked while hugging you

"Actually, I was awake before Bailey entered", you revealed surprising everyone, "I heard almost everything"

"I'm sorry in advance for leaving the door open!", Jakob exclaimed

"I knew you were the one who leave it open", you laughed, "You always leave it open"

"Welcome to the club, man", Mason spoke, "I'm also the sibling who leaves the door open"

That comment made everyone laugh before getting to the kitchen to serve all the breakfast foods that was made, and sitting in the living room while the pets lay besides their owners

"So, what's the itinerary for today?", you asked sitting between Jack and Trinity

"We rented a castle jumper", Skeet answered, "Is in the pool backyard"

"No way!", you yelled with surprise, "Are you serious?"

"It arrived early in the morning", your mom responded, "And it's ready to use"

"We also bring a piñata", Melissa said, "We'll put it next to the garage"

"And we also bring three bags of candy to fill it", Xavier continued

"This day is going to be so fun", you smiled

"After breakfast, we'll spend time outside, then we will have lunch and you'll open your gifts", your mom continued, "And the cake will be the dinner, what do you think?"

"It's the perfect day", you smiled

After everyone ended up breakfast, you went to your room to change your sleeping clothes for a over-sized shirt and comfy shorts

"Baby, are you ready?", Jack asked entering your room, "The castle jumper is waiting for you"

"Totally ready", you smiled aproaching to him

Before both of you could leave the room, Jack was quick to softly hold your cheeks and share a small kiss

"Happy birthday", Jack said leaving a kiss in your forehead, "I love you"

"I love you", you responded with a love smile

Carrying you in his back, you and Jack went downstairs in direction to the pool backyard were everyone was already in the castle jumper

"Before everyone start to jump, we decided to make a rule!", Georgina exclaimed, "Everyone who is filmimg, promoting or working on projects be careful and don't do anything dangerous like backflips or jumping into the pool!"

"Please, is for your own safety", Anna continued

"If you don't follow the rules I will eat the two cakes that we have!", Matthew yelled, "I'm serious about that!"

Laughing for that threat, everyone that was in the castle started to jump and play while having fun and listening to the music that was on the speakers

After everyone was tired of jumping and the lunch was over, it was time for the next part of the party: the piñata and the gifts

"Okay, here´s how this works", Melissa said before starting, "Everyone will hit it three times to try to break it, if it doesn't break when everyone passed, anyone can hit it, of course, the birthday girl is first"

"And what do we do when the piñata is broken?", Filip asked

"Fight for your life for the candys", Xavier answered holding the rope from which the piñata hung on the thick branch of a three

"This sounds fun", Jakob commented

"Now, fictional half sister", Melissa spoke again handing the wood stick, "Let's start with this"

Smiling with excitement, you walk towards she was and took the wood stick to aproach to the white and pink flower piñata

"This looks so cute", you said refering to the piñata before hitting it hard surprising everyone

"Mini Ulrich has a strong arm", Jasmine commented

After hitting it three times, you passed the wood stick to the next person who was Naiia

For the next minutes, everyone took their turns to hit the piñata getting to break it slowly due to the hits, until it was Matthew's turn when he mannaged to break it, which caused that the young adults and teenagers throw themselves to catch the more amount of candies that were previously inside the piñata

That scene made all the adults laugh and take pictures of the fight for the candies

"Where are all the chocolates?", Devyn asked

"I saw Mason put them in his bag", Trinity responded

"Are you serious?", Mason exclaimed, "This are Amenah's favourite"

"Dude, just give us some", Duane said

"But you have to give us some of the strawberry lollipops", you yelled

"I don't have them", Duane answered with indignation

"Yes you have them", Liana argued, "I saw you took them"

After a little argument about the candies and everyone having all types, the group went back to the living room for the next part of the party

"Well, since we are the people who gave you life, it's fair we are first", your mom said

"Happy birthday tornado", Skeet continued leaving a big box in front of you

"Thanks mom, thanks dad", you thanked both of them before opening the box revealing materials for VFX make up, "Oh my God, thank you so much, this is awesome"

"Yeah, ours is better", Naiia spoke while Jakob gave you a medium box

A little nervous because you didn't know what to expect from them, you open the box laughing at the moment you saw the content

"What is it?", Jenna asked with curiosity

In response you lifted the white shirt with the phrase "child of divorce" which made everyone laugh

"We also get ones to ourselves", Jakob laughed

"I can't wait to wear this outside", you joked

"I'm next", Jack anounced giving you a big box, "Happy birthday gorgeous"

"Thanks babe", you smiled opening the box revealing a set of LEGO flowers, "I love them!"

During the next hour and a half you spend it opening the gifts that included more supplies for VFX make up from Matthew, a polaroid camera from Jamie, jewelry from Bailey, the 'email's I can't send' vinyl album from Trinity, a Thom Brown backpack from Jenna, books from Filip and Duane, aromatic candles from Jasmine, two pair of sneakers from Mason and Amenah, clothes from Liana, phone cases and accesories from Devyn, skin care products from Melissa and Xavier, and a sketchbook with supplies from Anna

yn.ulrich, jackchampion, masonthegooding and 128, 805 more

skeetulrich this is how my living room looks after Y/N birthday, because a whole day together wasn't enough

tagged: yn.ulrich, naiia, julrich21, jackchampion, melissabarreram, xavierzazuetaoficial, jasminsavoy, masonthegooding, amenahsoares, baileybass, lianaliberato, misstrinitybliss, jamieflatters, duane.evans_, devyn_nekoda

yn.ulrich this was one of my best birthdays ever!!

baileybass I can't believe I almost get hit by a piñata

› jasminsavoy I already apologized a hundred times

› kjapa did you have a piñata?!

› jackchampion yeah, it was a flower one, Melissa brought it

user497 I want to be friends with all of them

matthewlilard good luck with the kids, I'm already taking my flight

› yn.ulrich uncle Matthew, you know I love your gift, but you know what will be awesome as a present?

› yn.ulrich to know if Stu is alive

› matthewlilard okay, I'm going to block you, happy birthday

› julrich21 HAHAHAHAHAHA

#jack champion #jack champion imagine #jack champion scream #jack champion x reader #jack champion x you #scream #skeet ulrich #y/n ulrich universe #baby alien creations #ethan landry x reader #ethan landry x fem!reader #jack champion fanfic

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udretlnea · 1 year

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An Idealized Image

Prompt: You die after getting hit by a truck and inspect your suddenly ideal appearance in the new world. Inspired by this post by @mists-reading-nook

A/N: Man, starting a story with disconnected parts is fun and difficult. First time using this literary device so be patient with me.

Words: 755

You hadn’t expected getting hit by a truck to hurt so damn much. But you’d gladly do it again if it meant you’d protect a child from getting run over.

Although you were dying, you still could feel the barest sensations around you; vaguely there was muffled shouting and crying. Good, the kid was safe and the driver was getting yelled at. Not that that mattered to you anymore.

Oh well, at least it’s over now.

The first world has been chosen. Initiating upload link.

You thought you heard someone, but that’s crazy. You were dead. The dead don’t hear voices. Maybe this was one of those post-death auditory hallucinations. Do…do the dead even have those? Actually, I guess nobody would know…except the dying. Ugh. What a morbid thought. I expected myself to have prettier final thoughts.

Link established. Uploading soul to the Samsara system now. Beginning samsara cycle #1…godspeed.

There it was again. You started thinking that maybe you weren’t dead, when suddenly you felt your soul being pulled down…down…down into the darkness. Rather than become panicked you felt a sense of peace. You allowed yourself to be carried until you felt a shift in the pressure around you.

Before you could realize what was happening, you blacked out.

////

He’s not waking up…should I do it manually?

Hang on, what are those kitsunes doing?

You feel something tap-tap-tapping against your side. Your eyes flutter open, barely registering the fact that there’s green all around you. Turning your head, you see several orange foxes nudging your body. The sleep leaves you immediately. You surge to your feet and back away from them

They didn’t make any moves toward you. The littlest one stared at you with its big eyes; after a moment it seemed to be satisfied. It turned to the others and made a sound. It wasn’t long before they ran away, leaving you by yourself. Come to think of it, where were you?

Everywhere around, you can see plants, trees, and just general things you’d find in a forest-wait, forest!?

Oh no, where the hell did I end up? Is this some kind of spiritual afterlife? You run, not really going anywhere, just someplace to get your bearings. You find a small stream. Thinking quickly, you examine your reflection, fearful that you looked like a ghost. However, what greets you instead is your pristine face without any blemishes.

Huh? Is that…me? No, no it can’t be. I’m not that…I’m not this immaculate! This is a dream, this has to be a dream! You do anything you can to wake up; you smack, slap, and pinch yourself all in that order, but it’s no use. It seems you weren’t dreaming.

Defeated, you decide to examine yourself. Amazingly, your skin was smooth, but you don’t recall it being like that. Furthermore, your eyes were completely different. Since when were your pupils a yellow pinprick, or your irises a brilliant shade of silver? Most concerning of all was your hair. It was white as snow. You pull at it, looking closely at the roots to check if it wasn’t dyed. You looked rather beautiful. Additionally, you finally noticed that your clothes were different.

When you died, you were wearing a hoodie and regular pants and shoes. Now, you were wearing a simple white kimono; a closer inspection revealed that it looked like genuine silk. Confused yet satisfied with your examination, you looked at your surroundings. Everything was slightly dark as if it were nighttime.

Weird, but ultimately it doesn’t matter. What DOES matter is figuring out where the heck I am. You push yourself off the ground, shaking the dirt off of your clothes. You look around you, wondering which direction to walk towards when something catches your eye. Squinting, you could make out the silhouette of a city in the distance. It almost looked like Japan, but at the same time, it wasn’t. Well, there’s the path to civilization right there. Now all I need to do is get over there without trouble.

You notice a well-worn path. You take it, pleased that you took the first step in your journey. Hopefully, you’d find what you needed to know.

////

Elsewhere, a solitary figure was meditating alone in a different plane of existence. Here in this space, she would achieve eternity and resist erosion.

And then she felt it. A sudden wave of divine energy sent tingles throughout her incorporeal body. This was unprecedented…what could have caused it? She needed to know. She had to know.

#sagau #self aware genshin #genshin self aware #genshin imagines #it’s short but they can’t all be long. Or winners.#I’m satisfied I managed to include a somewhat cohesive story with hints of a plot #perhaps making a story with disconnected events will be easier than I thought.#genshin impact sagau #genshin fanfic #what if we started in Inazuma instead of Mondstadt btw?#I imagine Ei would be curious with you #oh we'll see where the plot goes

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fiepige · 9 months

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Theory time! (again)

What if Hobie also have powers that most spider-people don't?

When I first saw the this scene I thought it was supposed to symbolise Hobie havning a similar power to Miles, as he was able to break the barrier when the other spider-people couldn't! (Though this could also be because Miles loosened it like he mentioned himself!)

Having watched the movie several times now I'm not as convinced that this is the case, BUT it would also explain how Hobie knew that Miles could use his powers more efficiently if he used his palms and not just his fingers; if Hobie had a similar power he would know how it works!

(Another theory could be that Hobie is using a shockwave from his guitar to break the shield like shown when he introduces himself, though he also appears to have some giant speakers behind him in that scene).

ALSO: At first I thought it was just part of the way Hobie was animated, but I heard someone mention it in a youtube video and now I wanna bring it up too:

Can Hobie teleport?

If we look at the first GIF of him telling Miles to use his palms we can clearly see him suddenly appear much closer to Miles than before!

And in the next shot he appears to be back where he stood before! He actually does something similar another time:

I did not remove anything between these scenes, Hobie literally goes from lying on his back to behind the corner (top left) in a second. And once Peter B appears he's now behind Miles and Gwen (who have both turned 180 degrees to face Peter!) (I uploaded the video to better show what I mean)

Again this might purely be due to the way he's animated and the fact that he doesn't believe in consistency but I think it's fun to speculate nonetheless!

#This theory isn't super serious but speculating and comming up with theories is just so much fun #stay tuned for my next big theory post: is hobie left handed?!?#jk jk #but that is a serious question though #cause he wears his watch on his right arm #so maybe?#idk how to play the guitar though so I don't know if there's a way to tell be the way he's playing?#maybe he's ambidextrous? it would kinda fit him actually lol #hobie brown #spider punk #across the spider verse #atsv #across the spiderverse #across the spider verse theory #miles morales #my post #my gifs #my gif #my video

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callmemaeverick · 1 year

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Trouble at the Smithsonian - The Spy Next Door Part III

AN: Sorry for the late upload, you guys. The story was already written, but I’m just struggling with the chapter titles, lol. Im still not feeling the title as much. Also, so hard to find a suitable GIF to accompany these fics.

Ps: this was inspired by that episode on Modern Family

WC: 1.2 k (sorry, I went overboard)

Part I�� Part II

“You can’t be serious.”

You looked up at Peter’s face, surprised at the incredulity in his voice. “What?”

“You’re gonna wear that?”

The that he was referring to were your boots. Your high heeled suede Chelsea boots, to be exact. You had bought them almost a year and a half ago but you hadn’t really had the chance to properly wear them.

“What’s wrong with my boots?”

Peter looked at you like you’d grown a second head. He scanned you down and huffed out a disbelieving laugh. “You- you do know we will be doing a lot of walking right? The Smithsonian is like 20 museums.”

“Oh come on, it's not like we're gonna see all of them. 3 at most.” You assured him as you locked your door. “Besides, I’ll be fine! I’ve been looking forward to this since I was a girl and I wanna look my best when I visit places they filmed those movies.”

You knew it was highly unlikely that the Captain America exhibit was actually filmed in the Smithsonian or if they even have the Blackbird that was actually a Decepticon in disguise in the Air and Space Museum. But even the thought of standing close to your favorite movies sent a thrill through you.

“So you’re dragging me out to this place, on our off day, because you wanna check out the places where they film your favorite movies,” The look on his face had not changed. “Not for the museums themselves?”

“Well, no! Of course not! I am going for the museums… but I can’t help the geek in me from being also excited about the movies. I mean, c’mon. Transformers!”

Peter watched you do a little hop of excitement and shook his head. “Well, don’t come to me when your feet start to hurt.”

This time, it was you who scoffed at him. “In your dreams, Sutherland.”

~ One of the best things about going to a local attraction, or anywhere, really, on a weekday was that the place would still have people, but not so many that you get overwhelmed too quickly. It was one of the reasons why you applied for a special leave on a Wednesday to go to the museum.

In fact, it was actually Peter’s idea.

And just as you planned, finding a parking near the entrance was a cake walk. The both of you started with the Museum of Natural History because it was the one that contained your interests the most.

The moment you entered, it was like you were absorbed into another dimension. Your eyes went wide at the marvels before you and your heart thumped in your chest in excitement. Turning to Peter, you grinned wide before you grabbed his hand and ran into the first hall.

It was your first museum that day and you were already so happy. There were many exhibits on display. There was a hall full of fossils of ancient dinosaurs, huge and intimidating and you couldn’t help but feel like Ellie Sattler as you named them one by one. Then, more excitingly, you got to live out your Evie O'Connell fantasies when you climbed up to the second floor to the Ancient Egypt exhibit.

And Peter. Peter indulged you with a small smile on his face. Not once did he make fun of your abundant movie references and not once did he look at you funny. He followed you from exhibit to exhibit, listening attentively to every anecdote you made. He even pitched in some of his own memories when he could.

Before you knew it, the both of you had managed to clear 2 museums. And by lunch, your feet had started to hurt.

The Smithsonian was better than you thought it would be. And it was also bigger than you thought it would be. But being the stubborn creature that you are, you kept quiet. You had known it would happen eventually, but you had wanted to look your best more than you cared about the pain. The boots, while not that high-heeled, was not your normal attire. However, wearing them made you feel good and confident. It gave you a boost in height and a sexy walk.

Besides, you didn't have to look up so high to talk to Peter with them on. And you could better see the smattering of freckles on his face. That alone was totally worth the blisters.

The call of your name snapped you out of your thoughts and you blushed as Peter took his seat beside you and handed you a hotdog.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just... thinking where to go next."

"How's your feet?"

A muscle in your jaw ticked and your smile was tight. You bit into your lunch. "They're fine."

Peter eyed you like he knew you were lying, but let it go.

After lunch, the two of you made your way to the Air and Space Museum. But as you went through the exhibits, you began to lag behind as the pain in your feet slowly got worse.

By the third time Peter noticed you were not beside him, he has had enough.

"That's it. Come on,"

All of a sudden, there was a hand at the small of your back pushing you gently towards a bench.

"Hey, what?! Careful!" You exclaimed as you stumbled along, hissing when you stepped wrongly and aggravated your ankles.

"Sit.” Peter’s voice brooked no argument and reluctantly, you did as he asked.

"What's this about, Peter?"

"You're hurting." He nodded to your feet.

You opened your mouth to rebuke him, but he levelled you with a look that shut you up. There was no use in hiding it. He was right.

"Stay here." He sighed and disappeared somewhere in the crowd.

Disappointment churned in your stomach. You were pissed at yourself for being so stubborn, for ruining the whole day. Now both of you were upset and it was all your fault. You heaved a long sigh and reached down to massage your ankles.

The crinkling of a plastic bag made you look up and you watched as Peter approached you with a pair of flip flops he bought from, by the picture of the rocket on it, the museum gift shop.

"Put this on."

You looked at him incredulously as he knelt to place the footwear by your feet. "Did you just-"

"It's either this or you're walking barefoot. And I'm not about to let you do that. So, come on."

Something in you reacted oddly at the action, spreading warmth across your chest. You stared at Peter for a few beats as your thoughts ran rampant. But then you blinked them away, too shocked to examine them and turned your attention to the flip flops.

"But it's so ugly though," You complained, but toed off your boots nonetheless.

"Too bad. It's the only design they had." Peter took your boots and put them into the plastic bag as you grumbled, standing and taking a few steps.

"How is it?"

It was perfect. The cool air against your abused and pinched skin felt like a balm and the ability to wiggle your toes made a small smile creep onto your face. Before turning back though, you schooled your features to indifference. "It'll do."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah. You're welcome. Now, come on," He passed you, the plastic bag dangling from his fingers. "Jetstar is waiting for you."

"Jetfire!"

TBC

Tagging: @strnqer @thefictionalgemini @bcon24 @medievalfangirl @coldheartedmar @iamzuul

#peter sutherland #peter sutherland x reader #the night agent #gabriel basso #netflix the night agent #the night agent netflix #the spy next door series #mav's posts

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wienersmosh · 3 months

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rapid fire list of my smosh-related opinions:

noah grossman needs to have been phased out 3 months ago. people acting like FREELANCER contracts are so fucking ironclad and that's why smosh couldn't do anything are so disingenuous. they phased out saige in 2022, they could've very easily done the same to noah -- they just didn't want to.

eat it or yeet it was fun for the first few episodes, but they ran it to the ground when they realized it was a hit with the locals/casual viewers and they needed those numbers. it's SO absurd that they made 89 episodes and it got really boring, really fast. (i'm glad anthony got to be on it before they got rid of it tho)

i've always found garrett annoying and unfunny for the most part. he's maybe said one or two funny things in all of my time watching smosh and i will never understand how some people stan him or find him attractive.

to be clear even if they replaced garrett as host on eioyi, it would still be boring and stale to me.

i miss kimmy being on camera. she wasn't the funniest and the smiley sunshine persona can be a bit much but she was one of the better sketch actors imo.

i do not want the og smosh games cast back. it's also weird they keep bringing up smosh on their ogsog content. i'm glad they appear to be on good terms with ian and anthony but unless there's ACTUALLY a future collab in the works they need to stop namedropping smosh so much.

i don't necessarily miss saige on smosh but i do miss damien and saige as a couple.

i don't care if people don't like anthony or don't find him funny, but the way a LOT of fans (mostly on twitter and reddit) blatantly disrespect him, the fact that he started smosh, and him literally reuniting with his best friend, just bc they got rid of the unscripted series on main really pisses me off. also he's not to blame for EVERYTHING wrong with smosh today.

HOWEVER, that being said, i do believe there was a better way to transition smosh main. they could've had anthony do a speed run of all of their unscripted series to give them a proper goodbye, and THEN uploaded the sketches.

EBE was a hit or miss, but when they did it well they did it REALLY well.

other than ian, anthony, and finnerty, syd and olivia were their best sketch writers.

people who are genuinely mad that they have memberships now are overreacting. i get that paying for anything sucks but if you're an adult with a job in a first world country $10 USD a month *maximum* really isn't that much. also, they're independent now, that's just the reality of capitalism.

people who act like smosh is above any and all criticism genuinely terrify me. they're a youtube channel and a company, and as audience members we're allowed to critique them.

the old smoshcast was better than smosh mouth, but i might be biased bc ian did host most of them.

agree to disagree was a good series, but they botched it when they started using more serious prompts which caused a lot of viewers to lose respect for some of the cast for problematic opinions.

i used to like olivia but considering she was only in 30 videos last year and she really doesn't seem like she cares anymore, i don't get how they expect any of us to still care about her. also she posted something in support of israel on her story, but hardly anyone knows about it.

i love the guy but shayne doesn't need to be in every video. i get that he brings in the views, but jesus christ.

smosh pit theater is their best pit series, followed closely by beopardy.

i find a lot of their defy era series on pit eg sleepover, show with no name, put it in my mouth, etc to be really boring and i’m glad they got out of defy and sarah whittle was more in charge of pit.

i didn’t like angela at first but i love her now.

#smosh #smosh pit #i'll add more to this when i think of more

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simmonsized · 3 months

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Recently (over the last yearish) I completely rewrote and reworked a fanfic I started/worked on extensively when I was 17/18 years old, just for fun (I have done this sort of thing before, though usually recent stuff, only a few years out of date, which is how rng got published on ao3), and I was so lost in the sauce that it's now almost 25k, with scenes and side chapters still missing, and I just got really emotional because (warning novie backstory) I was so scared of my mom finding my extensive work of handwritten fanfiction while I was away at school, not because she would have gotten mad at me but because I am That Shy, that I burned it all (literally, lit on fire in the middle of the night and swept up the ashes and actually set my porch on fire briefly on accident) EXCEPT for this fic and one other, both of which I still have the original notebook paper copies of, and eventually uploaded to sit in my email storage forever (this is how I archive my old fic no it is not safe or very logical it's fine) or until I touched it again, which I actually did! The first time I rewrote part of this fic was seven years ago, actually, seven years from the time I first wrote it!

And I got emotional also because obviously she would be very embarrassed but I was just struck by the fact that this original concept is like 14 years old and I still loved it enough to write it all over again, twice, years and years later, and I think younger me would be baffled and delighted by how much longer it is now than it ever was before, and how much care I continue to put into things I refuse to publish, still, after all this time has passed, and after all the fandoms in between

#ill roll over and die before i tell u what its about but it is special to me to carry on this tradition #catch me again when im 38 i guess maybe ill finally finish and publish it

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coochiequeens · 2 years

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Protecting children from pedos is now “Puritan sex negativity” according to a pedo transwoman .

Berkeley Police allowed a suspected pedophile to walk away from a sting conducted by predator hunters despite being shown evidence that he had been expressing interest in molesting multiple children, including an infant.

On August 20, anti-pedophile vigilante group Predator Poachers uploaded footage of a sting they conducted in Berkeley, California to YouTube involving a trans-identified male who had been purportedly seeking to meet a 9-year-old for the purposes of sexually abusing her.

The girl was in fact a decoy established by the group as part of a months-long investigation into the man, who went by the name Sophia Westfall.

Speaking to Reduxx, predator hunter Alex Rosen says Westfall first contacted the decoy’s Instagram account in April, and soon after began initiating sexual conversations with the child.

Rosen is a full-time anti-pedophile vigilante, and he and his small team have traveled across the United States conducting stings on predators since 2019. Ample evidence is gathered prior to a confrontation, and police are then called.

Rosen told Reduxx that the sting uploaded on the 20th had actually been conducted on June 7 when he and his team were in California.

“Sophia was one of the reasons we were in California but we actually had multiple suspects in the state,” he explained, noting that Sophia had been picked up by two different decoys on two different platforms — Instagram and Telegram. Rosen says both decoy accounts had been populated using altered and AI-generated photos.

Rosen provided Reduxx a number of screenshots belonging to conversations Westfall had with the decoy. Westfall tells the girl that he masturbates to thoughts about her, and suggests a number of ways he wants to molest her.

“I’m thinking of other things too, but maybe tickles too,” Westfell wrote in one message, “Kisses and touches all over. Kisses between your legs especially!”

Disturbingly, Westfall suggested that he wanted to sexually abuse the girl’s 6-year-old sister, saying “well, you know I love young girls. I’m just excited thinking how fun it could be to play in bed with both of you!”

The decoy then advised Westfall she also had a 1 year old sibling, stating “

she’s probably too young” for sexual activity, to which Westfall replied: “That doesn’t bother me. Never too young to start learning!”

While Westfall would ultimately establish a meet up with the decoy purporting to be 9-years-old, he also communicated with a separate one of Rosen’s decoys on encrypted chat service Telegram. That decoy was also intended to be a 9-year-old girl.

“He sent some very illegal stuff to our decoy on Telegram,” Rosen says, noting that it included extreme child sexual abuse material appearing to show very young children being sexually assaulted. Westfall also gave suggestions to that 9-year-old decoy on how to pleasure male genitals.

“Some people like stroking a hand up and down over it… or you can wrap your mouth around the tip and lick or suck,” Westfall says, continuing: “It can absolutely be exciting.”

The filmed confrontation took place at Strawberry Creek Park in Berkeley, where Westfall thought he would be meeting with the 9-year-old he had been interacting with on Instagram. Instead, Rosen and his team showed up with a bundle of evidence they had printed off.

In the dramatic video Rosen uploaded to YouTube on the 20th, Westfall is seen wearing knee-high-boots, a skirt, a pink top and a hat littered with trans pride flag buttons. He immediately attempts to walk away from Rosen when he is confronted, and is even defended by unknowing locals in the park who believe he is in need of assistance.

Westfall continuously says “leave me alone,” and “I don’t want to talk to you,” while hiding his face behind a medical mask. He refuses to answer any of Rosen’s questions, and simply paces across the park repeatedly.

At one point, the police show up — apparently called by bystanders who believed Rosen was harassing an innocent individual.

Rosen is seen trying to show police his bundle of evidence, and explains to multiple officers what his investigation had uncovered. But, disturbingly, police do not detain Westfall, and allow him to leave the park — which is full of children — without resistance.

Rosen tells Reduxx he was shocked by that decision.

“Based on what we showed them … It should have been an instant arrest. Especially with the lewd [images] he had sent. I have never had a predator who was trying to molest a 1-year-old, and unfortunately there have been a few, that was not arrested on the spot.” Rosen says, “[Police] said they needed to gather more evidence and check with the District Attorney. But a place like Berkeley, like New York City, they are known for not locking up criminals.”

Predator Poachers, Rosen’s team of anti-pedophile vigilantes, says they had calculated for a poor police response due to the location of the sting, but they had still been confident an arrest was going to be made because the evidence was damning.

“I was well-aware that I was doing this catch in Berkeley, and I knew what that meant for cop response. But I thought even then… this is just too bad that cops are going to make an arrest. I was that confident. Especially with [the suspect] sending my decoy child sexual abuse material. But I was wrong, sadly.”

Rosen also notes that Police had expressed frustration with him when he “misgendered” the suspect.

Predator Poachers has successfully initiated arrests in multiple states, and that 80% of the other suspects he had confronted in California had been arrested the day of his stings or in the days after he spoke to police, but Westfall still has not been charged with any crime.

“This person said they wanted to molest a 1-year-old. They sent child sexual abuse material on Telegram. There was horrific, horrific sh*t. All I can say is, we’ve gotten people arrested for a lot less.”

Reduxx reached out to the Berkeley Police Department, which did confirm it had an open case number related to the incident, and suggested the matter was still under investigation.

While Westfall deleted the Instagram profile he used to contact the 9-year-old decoy, he has an additional account on the platform. While it is now defunct, the profile was primarily focused on taking photos of women in public without their consent.

Westfall often placed extremely sexual captions beside the stealth images, and even featured photos of what appeared to be young girls he had taken.

On Twitter, Westfall is still active and posting. Amongst retweets of pornography, Westfall engages with trans activists and sometimes speaks on trans-related issues. The day after the sting, Westfall retweeted a post arguing it was “puritan sex negativity” to try and argue “drag and queerness” wasn’t inherently sexual.

His profile features a link to a defunct WordPress blog he maintained titled SaphikoSophia.

In 2015, Westfall made a post to the blog in which he praised a book titled The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex.

#Predator Poachers #Berkeley #california #sophia Westfall is a man

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tickly-trashcan · 1 year

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Troublemaker {Jay, Zane, Cole, Kai, Lloyd}

A/N: AUGHGHH this was so fun to write and i realized only after that i basically just made a repeat of my other ninjago fic but.... i love these guys so i think its fine LOL im really glad this was the first prompt because it got me super motivated and now im even more excited to write!! it was hard deciding who to make the lee so i just. picked them all basically and i am so so happy i finally got to write Lloyd with the other four because im not sure if i had yet??? anyways i hope you enjoy and i hope you have a lovely day/night!!

Summary: On a peaceful day, Jay decides to be a menace.

Word Count: 2.4k (under the cut!)

It was a rather nice day out. There was a cool breeze to compliment the warmth coming from the sun, the area was quiet and calm, and the Bounty was docked by a beach, meaning the only sound was distant waves. It was actually a great day… too great.

Most of the ninja were taking advantage of the calm and taking time to relax. Ninjago wasn’t always this calm, so they enjoyed the peace.

At least, they tried to.

Jay, for some reason, was bored. He had been tinkering with spare parts that his parents had sent him all morning, and he was finally tired of it. Perhaps it was the fact that he was naturally much more energetic than the others, or perhaps it was just the odd calmness that the day had granted him, but he couldn’t sit still or relax.

So instead, he decided to go and bug the other ninja.

He wandered around the Bounty, looking for anyone. Nya and Sensei Wu had gone off to the city that day, meaning it was only the ninja on board.

Jay found Zane in the bridge. He was plugged into the main computer, tapping away at a few buttons as the screen flashed. “What’re you up to?”

Zane turned his head slightly, trying not to shift the wires too much. “I’m trying to upload our recent route into the Bounty’s system so we can have it in the map database.”

“Sounds boring.”

“Pixal agrees,” Zane said, gesturing to his head. “I’m almost done, then I’ll take a nap. I feel a bit drained from the upload.”

Jay furrowed his brows. He came here looking for some sort of entertainment, not Zane heading off to snooze. Jay walked over to him and leaned on the back of the chair Zane was sitting in. “Do you want to watch a movie? We could use the computer.”

Zane shook his head. “Nya would kill us if she found out we watched a movie on this. She says we can only use it if it’s important.”

Jay grinned. “I can think of a lot of important movies.”

Zane didn’t respond, making Jay groan. He leaned over Zane and began to press some random buttons, making him gasp. “Jay, don’t! You could cancel the upload!”

Jay stuck out his tongue. “Fine… Poke, poke, poke.”

Jay began to poke at Zane instead, making him squirm. “Jahay! Stop it!”

“My hands need to do something! If I can’t press those buttons, I’ll press yours!”

“My buttohons are all intehehehernal! Stohohop!!”

Jay chuckled, poking at Zane randomly while avoiding the wires. He eventually gave up on the random poking and just scribbled his fingers against Zane’s sides, making him shriek and nearly fall out of his chair.

The computer dinged from the upload being complete and Jay stopped, now poking the computer’s dashboard. Zane scrambled to shove Jay away, still laughing. “Since when are you so grabby?! No more buttons!!”

Jay relented and laughed, running out of the bridge before Zane could scold him any further. He bumped into Cole on the way, who was coming back from the kitchen.

“What’s the hurry?”

“Zane kicked me out of the bridge!!” Jay whined, hoping for sympathy. Cole only chuckled.

“I don’t blame him.”

Jay opened his mouth to retort, but his eyes landed on a cookie that Cole was holding. Cole noticed Jay’s gaze and grinned. “Want some?”

Jay nodded vigorously and Cole immediately held the cookie high above his head. Jay gaped at him, making Cole laugh as he waved it around. “That is so not fair!”

“Someone else must’ve eaten them all; this was the last one,” Cole drawled, starting to walk away. Jay chased after him, trying to grab at the cookie as Cole chuckled. Cole was taller than Jay, so holding it above his head made it impossible for Jay to even try and grab it. “Isn’t snickerdoodle your favorite?”

“I just want a bite, Cole!”

“Should’ve grabbed it first, then.”

“Okay, now you’re just bullying me!”

Jay held onto Cole’s hip to try and boost himself up, making Cole jerk. Jay noticed this, taking a brief moment before flashing Cole a quick grin.

“Jay, don’t you dare,” Cole barely managed to speak before Jay shoved his hands under Cole’s arms. Cole immediately cackled, folding forward as he snapped his arms down. Jay was quick to snatch the cookie and run, laughing at Cole as he yelled at him. “Get back here!!”

He shoved the cookie into his mouth and ducked into one of the training rooms, silently chuckling as he heard Cole storm past. Jay looked up and saw Kai hanging off of a bar by his hands and staring at him with a raised eyebrow. “Should I be concerned?”

Jay shook his head, wiping his lips of sugar as Kai nodded slowly in doubt. He went back to his pull-ups, and Jay was not surprised at all that Kai chose to ignore his antics rather than involve himself. But Jay being Jay, he was going to try and get Kai involved somehow. “How long have you been training? I thought you’d be taking the day off.”

“I was, but I got bored. I can only play video games for so long before getting restless.”

Jay hummed, walking over to Kai. Kai scooted down the bar a little bit before continuing, eyeing Jay suspiciously. “If you think this is going to help you beat Cole in arm wrestling, you’re wrong.”

Kai huffed. “That’s not why I’m doing it! And even if I was, I’d have to be able to do this with one hand to beat Cole.”

“Then why don’t you try?”

Jay knew exactly how to taunt Kai. He knew how to taunt all the ninja, in fact, but Kai just happened to be the easiest. Kai pursed his lips in thought and Jay walked a bit closer. Kai couldn’t scoot any further on the bar, but he watched Jay like a hawk. It was almost like he knew Jay was up to something.

“C’mon, try it one-handed! I bet even I could do it one-handed if I tried…” Jay drawled.

Kai furrowed his brows. “Oh yeah? I could do it one-handed in my sleep!”

“Then do it!”

Kai didn’t move his hands. He hung there for a few moments in contemplation, and Jay finally grew bored. “You’re taking too long. Let me help.”

Jay grabbed Kai’s left hip and squeezed, making Kai shriek and jump. He let go of the bar with one hand and swatted at Jay, giggling frantically. “Jay, whahahahat the hehehell?? Stahahap!!”

“Prove that you can do it one-handed!”

“But yohohohou’re tickling mehehe!!”

“If you can do it in your sleep, you can do it while I’m tickling you.”

Kai whined, but his pride kept him from giving up. He struggled to pull himself up, both from the tickling and the sheer amount of strength it took. He almost managed to get above the bar, but then Jay grabbed his other hip. Kai fell flat onto the ground with a squeal as Jay laughed.

“You fell so fast! Oh, my— Oh, that was so funny!!”

As soon as Jay was met with a glare from Kai, he scurried away.

Jay was trying hard not to laugh as he snuck around the Bounty, now hiding from three of the ninja. As much as he loved messing with them, he very much did not like the repercussions, and now he was avoiding them at all costs. There weren’t very many hiding places left, however, so Jay quickly decided to duck into their shared bedroom.

He checked if it was clear and breathed a sigh of relief, finally allowing himself a small snicker of triumph. The door opened and he whipped his head around, expecting any one of them to be there. But it was only Lloyd walking in with a plate of cookies. He and Jay made eye contact and stopped for a few moments, both knowing they were caught.

“You say nothing, I say nothing,” Jay quickly spat. Lloyd nodded, shutting the door behind him as Jay sighed in relief.

“They’re all totally pissed at you,” Lloyd said, offering a cookie to Jay, who took it gratefully. The two of them sat down on Lloyd’s bed after Lloyd set the plate of cookies down.

“I’m hardly even doing anything! They just can’t handle my humor, I guess.”

Lloyd downed a few cookies, making Jay raise an eyebrow. “Easy there, you’ll give yourself a stomachache.”

Lloyd grinned. “I built up a resistance to stomachaches when I was younger. I could eat that whole plate if I wanted.”

“Oh really? How resistant is it?”

“It’s basically steel.”

Jay reached over and began to poke at Lloyd’s stomach, making him flinch and huff. “Doesn’t feel like steel. Feels pretty squishy, actually.”

“It’s a fihihigure of speeheeheech! Jahahay!” Lloyd giggled, swatting Jay’s hand away. Jay smirked.

“I don’t get what you mean. If you’re resistant to sweets, shouldn’t you be resistant to tickles too?”

“I dohohon’t think thahahahat’s how it works! STAHahap!!” Lloyd fell back on the bed, trying to curl up while Jay followed him, chuckling.

“If it’s like steel, is it shock resistant too?”

“No, Jay, dohohOHOHON’T!! Nohoho, not thahahat!” Lloyd squealed when Jay began to use small sparks of electricity to tickle him. Lloyd was quickly in a fit of hysterics as Jay laughed with him, not even hearing the door as it opened.

“Looks like we found the troublemakers of the day!” Kai announced loudly, making Jay immediately freeze. Lloyd continued to giggle softly, shoving Jay away as he quickly tried to bargain with the three that were staring at them with hard glares.

“Cole, I only ate one cookie!”

“You did not! You ate at least four!” Jay immediately tattled, trying to get at least some of the wrath taken off of him.

“Trying to save yourself in this situation is hardly feasible, Jay,” Zane pointed out, crossing his arms. Jay gulped and tried to make a run for it, only to be caught by Kai and practically tackled to the ground.

“I suggest you run while you can, Lloyd!!” Jay squeaked out, but Lloyd was already in Cole’s clutches and spilling nervous giggles and squeals.

“Zane, can you get his arms?” Kai asked, making Jay shake his head frantically. He heard Lloyd burst into bubbly laughter from the bed, already begging while Cole tickled him.

“Zane, can you leave my arms alone??” Jay pleaded, but Zane was already pinning his arms down while Kai cracked his knuckles. Jay’s eyes widened and he chuckled nervously. “C’mon, you guys know I was just messing around, right?”

“Don’t worry. We’re just messing around too. Right, Zane?”

Zane nodded with a small grin. Jay looked at him and was about to try and bargain, but Kai’s hands found his underarms before any words could be spoken. Jay snapped his mouth shut and nearly exploded from trying to keep his laughter in, not wanting to give any of them the satisfaction of him laughing.

“Why are you holding back? Laugh!” Kai taunted, raking his hands down Jay’s inner arms before scribbling underneath his arms. Jay arched his back and shook his head, his face turning bright pink from holding in his laughter that was trying to force its way out.

“Zane, wanna help?”

“No!!” Jay gasped out when Kai pulled his hands away from his underarms and instead went towards his tummy. Zane nodded, clawing at Jay’s ribs while Kai scribbled all over Jay’s tummy.

Jay couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore and was quick to break into a fit of shrieks and hollers. Combined with Lloyd’s own frantic cackles, the room was rather loud. Neither of them were quiet when they were tickled, so it was quite the party for everyone’s ears.

“Yohohohou guhuhuys suck!! It tihihickles so bahahahad! This isn’t fahahahair!!” Jay whined, trying to pull his arms down when Zane targeted his underarms. Kai had finished warming up with the frantic scribbles and was now honed in on teasing and pinching Jay’s lower tummy, occasionally squeezing his hips as Jay practically screamed.

Lloyd wasn’t faring much better. Cole had Lloyd pinned in his lap and was holding him there with one leg while he tickled him relentlessly. He squeezed Lloyd’s hips and thighs with one hand and had the other hand shoved under Lloyd’s arm, sending him into complete hysterics as he tried to squirm away.

“I’m sohohohorry, Cohohohole!! I’ll nehehehever do it agahahain!!”

Cole hummed. “Somehow, I doubt that.”

“I prohohohomise— NOHOHohoho!! Anywhehehehere but there, plehehehease!!” Lloyd hollered when Cole suddenly had both hands clawing at Lloyd’s ribs. He threw his head back and nearly pulled both of them off the bed as he squirmed. Cole chuckled at Lloyd’s reactions, glancing over his shoulder for a brief moment.

Jay was wiggling and flopping as much as he could, bargaining and pleading as he was tickled to bits. At some point, Kai had managed to slip his hands under Jay’s shirt and skitter his fingers across his bare tummy.

Cole eventually relented from tickling Lloyd, patting his back lightly while Lloyd didn’t even try to move out of his lap. He hiccuped with giggles as Jay was given a break as well, immediately curling up and swatting at Kai and Zane.

“That wahahas so uncahahalled for,” Jay said after a few moments, squawking when Kai wiggled his fingers at him again. He scooted away while Kai laughed.

“It was so not uncalled for. You’re lucky we didn’t give you chores instead,” Kai said, a small bit of triumph in his voice as Zane and Cole nodded in agreement.

Jay pouted, but he didn’t say anything else in protest. Lloyd timidly pointed over to the cookie plate. “There are still some cookies if you want some.”

Cole chuckled, bouncing his leg a bit so Lloyd jolted in his lap. “A peace offering, huh? I’ll take it.”

Kai grabbed the plate and passed it around. Everyone took a cookie and it did seem to work as a peace offering because the group was chatting as if nothing had even happened. Jay made a mental note to himself to have a stash of cookies in order to get himself out of trouble later on.

#ninjago #lego ninjago #tickle fic #jay #zane #cole #kai #lloyd

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heliza24 · 7 months

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Character arcs and themes in The Seven

I spend a lot of time in my other main fandom writing meta about dramatic structure and character development, because I’m a playwright and a writer and I can’t turn that part of my brain off even when I’m in love with a show. I haven’t seen a whole lot of meta do that for Dimension 20 yet. I think people might be a little hesitant to write meta for D20 because Actual Plays are based on improv and don’t have a single author, so it feels like a medium we can’t dig into in the same way. But I don’t think that’s true! Once the campaigns are shot and uploaded, they’re complete texts that I think deserve the same kind of loving scrutiny that we offer our other favorite TV shows. So let’s spend a minute talking about character and story structure in Dimension 20, and why I love The Seven so much.

It’s a kind of accepted maxim that DnD shouldn’t have a main character, and I think that’s very true for home games, where the point is that each friend should be having an equal amount of fun. But I think actual plays are a little different. The fact that they are observed innately changes them (like the way that particles do when they are observed by scientists) and I think the D20 structure, where campaigns are limited to a run time akin to a long TV show, does that even more. A protagonist is traditionally the character who answers the dramatic question of a piece, which is the driving question that moves the narrative and themes of a story forward. I think a lot of D20 seasons end up having a protagonist, or character that is more intricately linked to the central questions and themes of the campaign than the others. Some DnD purists may not like that, but for me as a story nerd? It’s what makes the whole thing work.

I think The Seven is a perfect example of this. Each one of the six PCs is so well developed. The first episode of this campaign is one of the most effective of any season I think, giving us such a great grounding in each character’s home life, and the personal conflicts that arise from it. It kicks off Antiope’s complicated relationship with leadership, Katja’s desire to be recognized by her father, Penny’s struggle with perfectionism, Ostentatia’s complex feelings around providing for her family and keeping up with the Joneses, and the way that Danielle’s go-with-the-flow attitude has made her less likely to fight for belonging. And Sam? Sam is struggling with feelings of abandonment as she deals with a transphobic birth mother, a best friend who kidnapped her and then died, and an adopted mom who is moving away after a divorce. Sam is being overwhelmed by change in her personal life even while her friendship group threatens to break apart. And change, and how we choose to accept it or fight it, is absolutely at the core theme of The Seven. To be fair, every other character is also struggling to figure out how she feels about the change going on in the party, and that’s a core part of each girl’s journey. But most of them are balancing a personal question alongside the question of the fate of the group (for instance, Antiope has to decide if she will obey or defy her parents, and whether or not she will take the internship and remain with the party. They’re related, but they’re also distinct questions). Sam is the only character whose personal question hooks directly into the central themes of the campaign, and that sets her up perfectly to become the protagonist of the season.

I think the dramatic question of The Seven is not, as I first thought, Is change good? But actually How do we accept change with grace? And Sam is the character who figures out how to answer this question. Persephone’s performance as Sam is out-of-this-world good. She instinctively moves towards conflict and scenes that add depth to the narrative, and her portrayal of Sam’s pettiness as a defense mechanism is alternatively hilarious and heartbreaking. Her decision to step away from the others and speak to Talura creates a thematic parallel between her and the Eidolon and creates a connection that drives the back half of the season.

From the moment the lore became clear, I was obsessed with Brennan’s decision to parallel The Seven Maidens with seven goddesses. The Eidolons went through a similar change that the Maidens are currently going through; in order to seek a better future, they dispersed and assumed a new form. The one who cannot accept this change is the one intricately linked with change as a concept; for Talura who represents endings and death to be the one still holding on to her sisters is profound and heartbreaking. The fact that she forms a connection with Sam feels so meaningful. Sam is probably the Maiden most acquainted with change; she’s the only one of the girls who has gone through a gender transition, and the only one who has been adopted and effectively changed who her parents are. But both Sam and Talura are holding on to stability and resisting change with all their might.

I think it’s a credit to the incredible cast that even with Sam in a slightly more central role, none of the other PCs feels undeveloped. I don’t think there’s a weak link at this table, and each player had a moment where they made me laugh and cry. I love the way that Aabria acts as a leader at the table for other players and also a leader in-story as Antiope. I’m obsessed with the way that Rekha can switch seamlessly between horse girl humor and a heartwarming description of Katja’s inner child. Becca’s quick improv makes Penny so charming (and I have genuinely never laughed harder than the Laertes scene). Every spell that Erika casts as Danielle is beautiful and magical and I loved seeing her begin to assert her own desires. And Izzy is just hilarious as Ostentatia and does so much to unite the group into a cohesive party (I fucking love you!).

The other reason that each character feels complete and whole is that they each have an opportunity to answer the questions that are set up in the first episode. The penultimate episode, when each Maiden has the chance to confront time and her own death, lets each player create a moment when their character stares down her demons and learns an important lesson. This is really a classic Brennan move, and it’s one of my favorite tricks that he does to help create a cohesive storyline that fits into the confines of the season episode number. I jokingly described it to @bluedalahorse as that inevitable point in the campaign where Brennan “looks straight into a player’s eyes and calmly asks them if their character will achieve self-actualization”. (Also Lou totally calls Brennan out on this in Fantasy High season 2 when Brennan casually asks “so what’s your character’s greatest fear?” when they head into the Forest of the Nightmare King. “That is the most Brennan thing I’ve ever heard!” Lmao yes it is!) Those moments are always my favorite in any season, because I can feel the oxygen get sucked out of the room as the story magic starts happening. The fact that it’s improv, and that the player may not rise to the implicit question Brennan is asking, is part of the suspense. But in The Seven I think each player knocks it out of the park, and I can’t watch that episode without fully weeping.

Even the way the final battle goes down reinforces the theme of learning how to accept change. By a happy accident of dice and initiative order (and I, think, a slight thumb on the scales on Brennan’s part) the battle allows Sam to complete her arc and answer the dramatic question of the show. Sam uses her reaction to save Zelda from Telura’s attack, so she’s powerless when Telura launches a power word kill spell against her. After she goes down, Penny is next in initiative, and although she can’t do anything to revive Sam, is able to remind Telura that The Seven are her sisters, not unlike Telura’s own. Ostentatia is next in initiative, but Brennan has Izzy hold her turn because (I’m assuming) he wants to let Sam/Persephone hit a story beat before Ostentatia revivifies her. Instead he skips to Danielle, who has a connection to Anima, the eidolon of life, who Telura is currently partially presenting as. Danielle and Anima are able to encourage Telura to let go, and to let Sam live, before Brennan switches to a short role play moment between Sam and Telura. It makes total sense that Sam would be able to talk directly to Telura in this state between life and death since Telura is the goddess of death. Sam is able to comfort Telura in this moment and acknowledge that although she’s scared of change, she’s learned that it represents opportunity as much as it represents an ending. “Sometimes change happens,” she reassures Talura, “but it doesn’t mean it will be worse or that you can’t find joy in what happens. And if you never try you’ll never know what can be.” In that moment Sam has completed her character arc; she’s a totally different person from the girl who was desperate to keep her friends exactly as they were at the beginning of the campaign. Her new conviction convinces Talura that it is ok to let go, and to become scattered through the world as the concept of death like her sisters have already done. Ostentatia revives Sam, and Talura stops attacking. “We can’t promise the future will never hurt,” the other eidolons tell Talura, “but we can promise that if we’re together it will be worth it.” And that’s the real lesson of The Seven: people will grow and change, but that doesn’t mean we can’t hold each new version of our loved ones in our hearts. We can keep our friends close while still giving each other the grace to become the people we were meant to be.

Everyone has an absolutely incredible moment in the final battle (Antiope killing Charity! Katja tripping the earth eidolon!) but the way that Sam completes her character arc is especially special to me. As a former teen girl and someone who values her friendships above everything, this lesson that we can love our friends through change is close to my heart. It’s one I keep learning over and over, and I love the way it was explored in The Seven.

#dimension 20 #d20 #The Seven #d20 the seven #my meta

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amadeusgame · 1 month

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The World's Longest And Most Sentimental Development Log (Marketing Retrospective)

It's been a month since the demo release, and Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~ Episode 1 ~ Waltz has just reached 100 wishlists on Steam. I'm incredibly grateful for the support and interest.

Because this has been the month following a major release, most of my efforts have been focused on communications as opposed to development. I still want to discuss these efforts, both as a retrospective for my own reference, and in case anyone else finds it enlightening. This was meant to be a short and to-the-point marketing discussion, but it accidentally... and inevitably... transformed into something incredibly long and sentimental.

The long and short of it is that I've had an overwhelmingly successful month by my standards. Discussing marketing means I have been analyzing why that is. In doing so, I slowly became aware of just how much of my entire life has been building up to this.

I originally planned to mention other things in this update... discuss the recent demo livestream, announce an upcoming "100 wishlists" celebration... but those no longer really suit the tone of this update. I will post about them another time. I wasn't prepared to celebrate 100 wishlists this quickly, anyway! I had no idea I would get that much in the first month! I'm not ready to make that announcement! I would like to do something appropriate for this milestone, so please give me some more time to put proper thought into it.

You can reference here for the livestream video and other resources: https://linktr.ee/amadeusgame

I don't expect very many people to read the rest of this. But I am writing it anyway because it's important for me to express. And if you got anything out of the Amadeus demo, you probably got the fact that I am a bit of a long-winded and sentimental person. Bearing that in mind...

On Marketing Amadeus

Overall, I tried a lot of different things—many of which flopped—based on the question "what kind of communications would I like to see, as an audience?" Some combination of all of these somehow worked. I don't think it is particularly useful to try and pinpoint what specific individual things made Number Go Up the most, because the real takeaway was that I put enough messages out in enough places that over 100 real actual human beings came across them and were interested in what I am making. That number is probably tiny to people trying to earn a living in games, but as someone just hoping to get my art out there... the number 100 is significant and motivating.

I am happy to share the things that I've tried, and my impressions of how well they worked for my situation and purposes. Before that, though, I must stress that having assets to share in these communications in the first place was an invaluable step, especially since visuals and aesthetics are a very core part of my game.

Creating Marketing Assets

(When uploading a game to Steam, there are approximately 8 million different aspect ratios and dimensions you need to create branding assets for, so I chopped that source poster up into different pieces and spent about a week just making different combinations of them to suit various needs.)

Again: I was not thinking ahead to the Steam page when I drew this in October, not really. I was just drawing something that I wanted to draw, inspired by art that inspired me. If I hadn't indulged that desire and "procrastinated" a bit, I wouldn't have the assets to advertise the game when it came time for launch! This is something that I've experienced again and again throughout the process of development: making things for fun, doing things on impulse, taking breaks and indulging whims... many of these activities somehow end up being essential for the game. If I had refused that self-indulgence to focus on Important Development Stuff, I wouldn't have the cool piece of art I needed to successfully advertise the finished game on launch. Moreover, the final art in the game would not be as good, because I wouldn't have gotten ideas about art direction from making this poster.

(Also... I wouldn't have had as much fun making the game. Since this game's budget is $0 and all of my free time, it REALLY matters that I am having fun while making it.)

Even more important than these visual assets, though, was the trailer. How many games have I checked out just based on the trailer? I recently purchased Raging Loop on Steam, a game I have been considering for months, because I finally watched the trailer and realized "okay, this game is me-core." The trailer is so important. It's not about how pretty the trailer is; it's about whether the trailer shows me a game that I, in particular, want to play. I don't know who my audience is, but considering my goals and inspirations, I think it is something along the lines of "hipsters who love some combination of Umineko, werewolves, and unique aesthetics." So I needed a trailer that would connect with those people. A trailer that, if I watched it, would make me realize hey, this game is me-core.

Making a trailer is its own skillset, though! Completely separate from game development. Communicating something in video form is different than communicating it in another medium.

Fortunately... I have actually done a lot of just-for-fun video editing projects very recently! I edited together a "trilogy" out of roadtrip camcorder footage I took, and also put together the video for an audio-visual collab album. I already have tools and a workflow that I like to use.

I am developing a game, but it has helped me so much to have experience making a stupid trilogy of camcorder footage roadtrip videos.

I worked on those video editing projects because they were fun. I had absolutely no ulterior motive. In doing so, I still gained an important skill that transferred directly to marketing Amadeus. As someone who has always struggled to focus on just One Thing, it's incredibly affirming to realize that having done a lot of random stuff is actually really helping me as a solo game developer. I feel like I've finally found an art form where this is an important skill, and not a hindrance or distraction.

So... well, I suppose this means that I have no useful advice for other developers. I want to be honest about my experiences, and my experiences are that I only was able to prepare good marketing assets for Amadeus because I did a lot of for-fun art projects outside of game development. From my perspective, this is amazing news: it tells me that allowing myself space to be an artist and a person outside of this project has actually helped make the project itself better. It tells me that there are no downsides to being experimental and giving time to other projects too. But to anyone reading this hoping for some advice on putting together marketing assets, I'm sure it's the least helpful or relatable thing in the world. I'm sorry about that.

Getting the Word Out

Once the demo released, it became a matter of presenting the materials I had in the right ways, and in the right places. This is what I have been spending most of my waking hours doing this month. A non-exhaustive list of everything I've tried:

E-mailed all of my professors from grad school whose courses influenced my compositions for the game in some way. (This wasn't so much about the numbers, it was just motivating to get nice comments back. :D)

Joined a few Discord servers for communities dedicated to indie game developent; tried to engage in meaningful conversations there and check out other games while also sharing my own work. (I'm asking others for a favor, to take a look at my work, so I try to check out theirs too in return.)

Posted the trailer on the Visual Novels subreddit. (This flopped.)

Posted weekly* on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and a few other places. (This has been the bulk of my ongoing communications; see below!)

Posted on a forum I joined last year to discuss music composition.

Found and followed a lot of other indie game devs making things that interested or excited me.

Shared it in a Discord server I moderate** as a "creative mod." (I host monthly art-focused events, curate spaces for sharing art, etc.; see below.)

Shared it with basically all of my friends! Especially friends who are also artists and creators!

To sum, I used every single available avenue to talk about it. But I really need to expand on the two points bolded and asterisked above. I have something additional to say about them, and I cannot overstate how much it matters.

*Weekly Posts

As indicated, ongoing weekly posts on various platforms are the meat of my marketing. I post regularly, but it's really important to me to not just post the same stuff all the time and annoy everybody. I try to highlight different aspects of the game each time, use different framing, and do a variety of weird and silly stuff. Some things perform unexpectedly well and others are complete flops. But I think it's been key to not be afraid of failure and just try things. That way it's still interesting to the people who already checked out the game, while hopefully reaching new eyes too!

(Full disclosure, however: sometimes I will do something that has 0 chance of doing numbers, just because I think it would be a fun thing to post. Since I am completely self-motivating on this project, I have to do things that are self-indulgent, or I will burn out. So, hypothetically, I might be compelled to, say, post a photo taken on an Instax analog camera of the game hooked up to a CRT TV.)

(Step 1 of marketing is to have fun and be yourself?)

BUT ALSO!

AND THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS POST!!

I only have any sort of audience on these platforms because of other, unrelated things I've been doing for years. I met a LOT of people on Twitter and Instagram through cosplay and Tales of Symphonia speedrunning, who stuck around somehow. I met some people on Tumblr from recent Ghost Trick ROMhacking, and others from Homestuck meetups in 2012. I met people on Discord from a forum about video games I joined in 2006. I was already connected with a lot of like-minded people to share my game with! I know—I KNOW—that this is something that is only easy to say in retrospect, but: doing stuff and meeting people over the course of a lifetime has added up. I hope that this will continue to be true, and maybe some people who find me through Amadeus will stick around for whatever comes after, once I've fully completed the 5-episode story I have to tell here. And I will see it through.

So, please bear this in mind when reading about how I promote my self-indulgent game every week on Instagram. I did not attend Anime Expo 2015 in order to build an audience for the visual novel I would make 9 years later. I was just meeting and connecting with other cosplayers, because I thought I would still be doing cosplay indefinitely. But many of those connections have persisted over the years, and some of those people are interested in my game. None of this seemingly-unrelated life experience is wasted. In the words of one of my teachers from grad school, "it's an accumulated life." I have ended up somewhere unexpected, and I did not plan to end up here, but all of those past experiences were still a part of getting me to where I currently am.

**Discord Server Mod

I want to highlight this particular place where I've promoted my game, because it's important in a way that connects with basically all of my rambling above. I want to make it clear that absolutely everything that went well this past month started so much longer ago than that.

In this point, I am not saying "step 1 of indie game promotion: simply have been a creative events moderator on a Discord server for years first!" as this is incredibly useless advice. Hear me out for a moment.

About 2 years ago, there was no "creative events" moderator on this particular Discord server. It was mostly a space to talk about video games with friends. You could also post art there if you wanted, and you might have gleaned a react or two.

Also about 2 years ago, I began to think very deeply about my relationship with art and the internet. When I was a tweenager, there was this video game forum—a forum that migrated to the Discord server in question recently—where you could post your art (usually video game fanart, but could be anything), and the moderator would always engage with it and provide meaningful, thoughtful feedback. That space is one of the biggest reasons I drew so much when I was younger, and worked so hard trying to learn how to draw and shade and color better, because I wanted to have my efforts praised, and I knew they would be.

2 years ago, I desperately needed a space like that again. Lacking one, I decided to pick up the torch left behind by the moderator from my tweenage years, and become the person who would always, always provide thoughtful engaging feedback when people posted their work there. Literally some "be the change you want to see in the world" shit. I knew that someone else doing that for me fundamentally altered the course of my life, so I wanted to try and be that for others if possible. More selfishly, I hoped that this would also create the much-needed space for me to share my work and get feedback and responses, too.

Now, about 2 years later, that channel is pretty active. People regularly share their creative works, and it is one of my favorite places to post my own stuff because people are really good about engaging with each other's stuff there. It's been one of the most important places for me to share progress on Amadeus, because that external motivation helps a lot. And once the demo came out, I have absolutely no doubt that this server was a significant proportion of the initial support and momentum it received on launch.

I did not even have so much as a delusion of being a game developer when I made these changes in the Discord server. I was working in IT and considering applying to music school. I just wanted to build a community around art.

So, why am I writing about my 2-year journey as a Discord mod in my development update about marketing? Hopefully it makes a bit more sense now. I'm really trying to emphasize that the marketing I did this past month didn't start last month. It started 2 years ago on this Discord server, it started in 2006 when I joined that video game forum. Really, my marketing efforts have gone as well as they have because—whoops, I am tearing up writing this—I have made a lot of incredible connections in a lot of communities over the years, and now that I have something very important to me that I want to share, they have really helped support it. I've had some friends go so far above and beyond what I would ever ask them to do in sharing my game, and that kind of support just... I can't put a number on it; it's invaluable.

In Conclusion

Go to conventions and meet cosplayers. Speedrun a 6-and-a-half-hour-long JRPG from 2003 on Twitch. Join a forum and when it migrates to Discord, organize art events and comment on other people's work. Draw self-indulgent stuff and make silly roadtrip videos scored with Logic Loops. Make 90% of a ROMhack of a Nintendo DS game. Get completely obsessed with other visual novels on itch.io and write essays in their comments.

My name is Leo, and my marketing advice is You Only Live Once. I hope this helps. Have a wonderful evening and I look forward to presenting you with a more coherent update next month.

#amadeus: a riddle for thee #indie game marketing #devlog #indie game dev #visual novel

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