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[blindmagdalena]

Guilty Pleasures ( chapter three )

18+ 7.3k homelander x plus size f!reader. workplace harassment, stalking, voyeurism, assault (not perpetrated by HL), violence, smol murder, manipulation/gaslighting, hurt/comfort. nebulously takes place post s1. part 3/4. AO3 link. | Chapter Directory

Homelander will do whatever it takes to convince you that he's the hero you need.

It’s shortly after one o’clock when Homelander knocks a whimsical melody against your office door, deciding he shouldn’t be precisely on time, lest he look as eager as he feels. He can already smell your perfume wafting through the doorway–the same scent he feverishly pumped his cock to the night before–as a teaser of what’s to come.

“Come in,” you call from the other side.

Homelander takes in a deep breath, squaring his shoulders. He screws his eyes shut, pinching his expression in a tight squeeze before he replaces it with a flashy grin, squaring away his anticipation in favor of his showman persona.

“Goooooood afternoon,” he drawls, strolling in with the same feigned level of confidence he’s entered every other moment of your life since stumbling across you, whether you knew it or not. He’s taken aback almost immediately, slowing in how he closes the door behind him.

You look nicer than usual. Your hair is styled with more conscious effort, and he’s been in show business long enough to recognize the makeup on your face. The shine of your blouse is a quality silk blend, and he can’t hear the scrape of cheap cotton underneath it anymore. No, you’re wearing something nice below, too. His lips slowly spread into a self-satisfied smile. 

You dressed up for him. 

Homelander takes the seat set across from you, sweeping his cape to the side with a flourish. He watches you tuck an empty container–your lunch, presumably–into a side drawer of your desk. His eyes closely track the way you lift your thumb to the corner of your mouth and swipe residue from it, sucking the mess from your digit. A distinct pang of arousal hits him just watching your cheeks hollow.

Imagine what she could do with that mouth.

“And good afternoon to you, Homelander,” you respond, straightening up in your seat. His gaze briefly dips to the swell of your breasts as you adjust yourself, casually dusting away any remnants of your lunch. Saliva gathers on his tongue at the instant memory of you scantily clad in your sleep wear, nothing but a thin sheet of worn fabric between you and his hunger. His eyes snap back up before you can take notice of how they wandered.

Lucky for him, you’re busy splaying out the folder he brought you the day before, scanning over the list of bullet points he’d slapped together for the sake of having enough talking points.

“I wanted to start with your concerns regarding the marketing for your upcoming miniseries,” you say, glancing up at him.

He clicks his tongue. “Wow, alright. Straight to business then,” he says, absently rolling his palms over the ends of the armrests on either side of him.

“I’m very bad at small talk,” you say. Probably to diffuse any notion that you were being rude on purpose.

“Ch’yeah, I’ll say,” he says, smiling thinly. “Lucky that you’re good at your job.”

“Shockingly, I was actually a personality hire. I don’t know what any of this means,” you say, matching his thinly veiled snark while gesturing to the spread of documents in front of you. He snorts softly. You have a knack for using that sharp wit to diffuse, but he doesn’t feel manipulated. You actually are funny. “I was hoping you’d explain your concerns.”

Smooth segue, he thinks, his eyes narrowing appraisingly. He’s worked enough interviews to know when he’s being led, but he takes the bait anyways, widening his smile.

“Sounds great.”

Homelander knows that you’re sharp, good at your job, but he needs to needle you into giving him what he wants. He wants to understand you, and the stack of his films he found hidden in your apartment. What he gets in the meantime is ample taste of your silver tongue, parrying his every jab with an equally sharp counter.

He can’t keep the smile from his face.

Gradually a level of familiarity slips into the air between you. He can see some of that tension in your shoulders easing. He’s steadily wearing down the walls you’ve managed to construct.

“I still think audiences will be confused,” he says, feigning a profound concern, stretching out the time of your little appointment.

“Well, audiences are a lot like celebrities,” you say, the hard candied shell of your professional exterior thinning with every back and forth, poised to crack at any second.  “They’re smarter than we think they are.”

“Oohh, ouch,” he purrs. “Nice backhand you got there.”

A twitch at the corner of your mouth. He knows you’re fighting a smile of your own, and pride blooms warmly in his chest. He likes sparring with you, but he likes pleasing you even more.

“I disagree about market confusion. Your diehard audience will already be up to speed, your broader target audience will show up for anything with your face on it, and anyone more casual than that likely won’t have seen the miniseries anyways, so there’s nothing to confuse it with,” you say, scanning down through one of the pages of the document he gave you.

Perfect opening.

“And which audience is it you fall into, exactly?” He asks, cocking his head a degree. “I mean, given your position, I have to imagine you’ve seen my range of film and television.”

“I’ve done my due diligence,” you say vaguely. You’re good at answering without answering. Normally it would irritate him, but your forced aloofness combined with your closely guarded–and inexplicably secret–veneration of him makes it into tantalizing bait begging for the sharp sink of his teeth.

“So you’ve seen all my movies, then?” He extrapolates, setting a line of his own.

You chuckle, gaze flickering to him before back down to the pages. Too brief a glance to even come close to satisfying his hunger. “I didn’t say that.”

He scoffs lightly. “But you’re a fan of mine?”

“I definitely didn’t say that.” He can sense he’s hit a vein, and like any good predator would, he’s eager to bite into it.

“C’mon. Don’t tell me you’re shy,” he continues to prod, leaning forward slightly in his seat.

You inhale a breath that you barely prevent from sounding too obviously irritated. His grin remains untarnished by the scrutiny of your unwavering stare. There it is, that’s what he wants. The weight of your gaze upon him, evaluating, taking him in fully. He doesn’t care how he gets it, he just knows he wants it.

“You are shy,” he accuses, knowing you aren’t.

“I’m not shy, I’m a professional,” you say curtly, the scratch of your pen scathing while you write notations on the document.

Good, he thinks. More likely to slip up now.

“Jeeze,” he laughs. “You’re wound up tighter than my fictional manager in Darkest Day.”

“You didn’t have a manager in Darkest Day, that was Origins,” you correct. After a beat, your hand stills.

Homelander’s gaze slowly slides to meet yours. He watches your face fall and clicks his tongue. He positively relishes how your mask of indifference slips into subtle dismay at your misstep. Such a simple bit of trivia, and yet it spoke volumes.

Got’cha.

“You do watch my movies,” he said, tone dropping to a near whisper. He revels in the quiet way you groan, leaning back in your chair. 

“Only the ones I was paid to,” you say, straightening up in your chair, but he can hear the defeat in your voice.

“Liar,” he says through his perpetual grin. “Don’t be embarrassed. How long have you been a fan?”

“Stop,” you say, burying your face in your hands. Oh, this is good. Was he your first crush? Your favorite hero? He must be still, judging by the flush of heat moving through you. All that pretense, all that haughty glowering, and beneath it all you’re a fan girl. He almost laughs at the thought of the face you’d make if he called you that. 

“Which was your favorite?” He asks, burying the knife deeper, eager to cut through flesh and muscle and bone to get to the heart of truth beneath. “Bright World? Rise of a Hero? Justice Dawning?”

“I despise you,” you say melodramatically, digging your thumbs into your temples. “Also, Justice Dawning was cheesy, I’m offended you’d even offer it.” You try not to smile, but it happens anyway, and as soon as that secret little smile sneaks onto your lips it brightens Homelander’s eyes, reflecting your amusement back to you. Not just that, but amplifying it.

“You’ll learn to love me,” he tells you with confidence. You drop your hands, looking at him with subtle surprise. He holds your gaze. The earnestness of his words seems to dispel your mortification and replaces it with something more difficult to define, but he likes the shine it brings to your eyes.

The taste of your defeat is sumptuous. He’d prefer licking it straight from your tongue, but he’ll settle for this for the time being. An easiness settles into the air between you, deeper even than before your hackles rose with the lurking reality of your hidden opinion of him. It’s like a bubble has popped, dissipating uncomfortable tension, replacing it with something warmer.

He has every intention of turning up the heat even further.

The meeting moves forward. You work your way through his folder, and during a natural lull in conversation, he finally broaches the topic that’s been plaguing him since he stepped into your office.

“So,” he begins, interlacing his gloved fingers in his lap. “Gonna tell me what you’re all dressed up for?” He asks, wearing the same smile and speaking in the same tone he had when he baited you into admitting your secret love affair with his cinema.

He wants to hear you say that it’s for him, but he’ll settle for a flustered deflection. They’re as good as the same.

“Oh,” you huff with an airy little laugh, the sound like silver bells chiming. “I have a date tonight.”

You say something else, but Homelander doesn’t hear it over the tidal-like rush in his ears. He watches your pretty lips form words that he can’t understand. Everything falls out of focus as he tightly reins in the white hot rush of furious jealousy that floods his gut and erupts up the back of his throat like bile. He swallows the burn of it, jaw tight, and manages a tense smile.

“Great,” he barks, not realizing–or perhaps not caring–that he interrupted you. “First date?”

“First date,” you confirm, your tone less conversational than it had been a beat ago. The walls are going back up, but he’s too fixated on what feels like a stabbing betrayal.

“Exciting,” he says, adjusting his tone and mannerisms until they once more resemble something genuine. Something civil, despite the hostility in his gut. “Someone you know? Going anywhere special?”

“No, and not really,” you say evasively. He loathes how withdrawn you’ve become. You should be pleased he’s put off. Gloating even. It’s proof he cares, isn’t it? “It was his suggestion.” His. The leather of Homelander’s glove creaks subtly in the fist he makes. “I forget the name of the place,” you say, avoiding his gaze.

His right cheek tics. Liar, liar, pants on fire. People always underestimate his ability to read them.

You’ll learn not to lie to him.

“But you have an out if you need it, don’t you? Someone to bail you out in case he turns out to be some kind of freak,” he says, huffing the word with a lick of venom. It takes significant effort to keep the disdain from his face to imagine you as you are now sitting across from some nobody schmuck, lit by candlelight and smiling sweetly for them instead of for him.

“I always do,” you say, smiling thinly. He curates his own tone often enough to hear it in yours, and it pierces his ears like a thistle. He taps his fingers on his thigh, scrounging for something, anything else to needle you for, but your responses don’t give him much to work with.

“Well. If you did need someone–”

“I’m a big girl,” you interrupt, surprising him. He’s rarely interrupted. “I can take care of myself.”

At that, a thought strikes him. The slack line of his lips curls into a thin smile, and his hands relax on the armrests of the chair.

“I’m sure you can.”

Shaking off the aftermath of your one-on-one with Homelander proves to be more difficult than you’d anticipated. You replay it nearly moment for moment in your mind while freshening up after work. 

Homelander has an uncanny knack for moving through demeanors as though he’s trying hats, determining which one best suits the situation. One moment he’s a slick carnivore licking his chops in anticipation of his meal to come, and the next he’s every ounce the hero they market him as. He’d been relentlessly charming during the meeting, his charismatic smile becoming one you’d wanted to earn again and again. 

Then came the news of your date, and all at once Homelander possessed the ominous calm of a sentient statue. The moment still sends an eerie chill down your spine, even in recollection. How radically his appearance can change with mood or thought alone. You’d hate to ever see him truly angry.

“Get a hold of yourself,” you say to the bathroom mirror. You have a date tonight, and the last thing you need is to bring this kind of nervous energy to it. Powers or not, the commonality of man is easy to rely on, and you’ve developed the tactical mindset of an aloof cat. Never beg for what can be given freely. Never give more than you get. Never settle. “Be the cat,” you tell yourself affirmatively. 

A directive which, unfortunately, winds up being exceedingly easy to follow through the course of your date. James, bless his heart, struggles to wring more than the occasional piteous chuckle from you. Conversation with him is akin to drinking seltzer water–he is neither offensive nor particularly exciting, being only a step above plain water.

Perhaps James’ blandness isn’t entirely his own fault, but rather the basis of comparison he is subjected to. Throughout the night, you find yourself critical of the way he looks at you–or rather, the way he fails to look at you. Your thoughts keep drifting back to your meeting with Homelander and the way he looks at you. The intense ocean-blue caress of his eyes summons a blush to your cheeks even in hindsight.

He looks at you in a way that no one else does. It's as if he's trying to memorize the smallest details in your skin, to uncover every secret trapped behind your guarded gaze. He has a stare determined to lay you entirely bare to him.

James’ wine dulled ogling could hardly hold a candle to that. Looking into his eyes, you see only the planning for whatever dullard comment he was going to make next.

Still, it’s not until the end of your date–an exceptionally long two and a half hours thanks to a mishap with your order–that James displays a behavior unsavory enough to elicit a truly unpleasant feeling in you. He’s quite clingy after a few too many glasses of wine. He walks you out of the restaurant with an arm around your waist, and more than once you have to bat his hand away from the seam where your blouse is tucked into your skirt.

“You in the parking garage or the back lot?” He asks, smiling in a way he must mean to be salacious, eyes half-lidded like he’s lost control of them.

“The back lot.” Parking was a nightmare with how late you arrived after work. “Is that where you are?” You ask, hoping it isn’t.

“No, no, I actually took an Uber in,” he says, and you know immediately by the way he starts tapping your hip with his index finger why he chose to do that.

“Want me to wait for you here until your Uber arrives, then?” You ask, turning out of his grasp to stand face to face with him outside of the restaurant. It’s late enough now that the streets have calmed some, at least by New York’s standards.

James’ expression falters, but he tries for a recovery with a hopeful smile. “Well, you know, I was sort of hoping we might continue this elsewhere,” he says, slipping his hands into his pockets. Is he trying to look suave?

“Oh, no,” you say, putting forth your very best sympathetic head tilt, matched with a well placed brow furrow. “No thank you.”

This time his expression doesn’t recover. His hands lift from his pocket and he makes a helpless gesture with them, very nearly pleading. “Really? I thought we were having a nice time.”

“And I’m so glad for that,” you say, and even you can hear the corporate edge sliding into your tone, which doesn’t seem to soothe him any. “But it’s for the best that we part ways here, James. Thanks for your time.”

“But–” Your inarguable dismissal staggers him. He gropes for recourse. “I paid,” he blurts out, which proves to be his final mistake.

Your polite facade drops. “For what?“ His booze addled panic shifts into confusion. “F…For dinner, but I didn’t mean–”

“And that entitles you to fuck me?” No sense in mincing words now.

His expression morphs again, this time into mortification. “No! No, but–”

“You thought this would be a transaction? God, and here I was thinking your gravest flaw would be how mind-numbingly boring you are. But to be boring and stupid?” You scoff, waving a dismissive hand. “Goodnight, James,” you say, the kindest dismissal you can muster. You turn on your heel before he can sour the evening any further, and luckily for him, he doesn’t pursue you further.

Unbelievable. As if you hadn’t offered to split the check. As if he expected it to be a transaction that he cashed in your bed. As if the cost of dinner was worth anything more than a polite smile from you. As if.

New York doesn’t sleep, but it does grow very, very dark. You’re on a narrow street, not an alley exactly, but not a main road, either. Still riled up, you bring up the parking app on your phone as you walk, swiping through to get ready to pay for your crummy back lot space. A clatter brings your attention up, and that’s when you see them—two men. One wearing a black leather jacket, the other with a kerchief slung around his throat. 

You stop walking, caught between turning around, which would mean putting your back to the men up ahead, or continuing forward, which would mean passing within arm’s reach. They haven’t noticed you yet, or at least they’re pretending not to, but now they look right at you and smile.

The men don’t look dangerous, not like they do in the movies, but you know that means nothing—plenty of the worst people in the world looked safe. Yet the longer you stay put, the more you sense the ill intent wafting off of them like cheap cologne. “Hey, baby,” says one of them, moving toward you. “You lost?”

“No,” you say curtly, taking a step back. “Not lost. Excuse me.”

“You sure? We’re real good with directions,” says the second man, leering. Your eyes snap between them, phone clutched tight in your hand. “Y’look like you could use some.”

“No,” you say again, louder. How loud would you need to be for anyone to hear you over the sounds of the streets? Panic swells in your throat.

You don’t know how they got so close so quickly, but as you turn to run, a hand catches your collar. The guy in the leather jacket wrenches you back against him, one arm wrapping around your shoulders. Your phone clatters to the ground. 

“Hey now, what’s the rush?” He asks, yanking you backwards. “Get off me,” you snarl, but he’s squeezing you tightly across the chest, making it hard to think, let alone breathe. You struggle until you feel something hard dig into your hip. A knife? No. You realize coldly that it’s a gun, the handle of it jutting out from his waistband and digging into you. In a desperate bid, you twist in his grip, trying to grab it.

“Careful,” says the other one, moving in front of you, closing in. “She’s got spirit.”

You kick out at the other guy but he jumps back, laughing at you. They’re both laughing, relishing in your fear. Your fingers skim the gun, but you can’t quite get it.

The first man’s breath is hot and sour on your cheek. “Come on, now, let’s have some fun.” You slam your head back into his nose—or try to, but you only manage to clip his chin. Still, you hit bone, hear the crack of a tooth, and just like that you’re free, stumbling to your hands and knees as the man reels. You hit the ground hard, the shock of landing lancing pain through your arms and legs. The gun tumbles from his waistband. Without thinking twice you lunge for it, fingers successfully closing around the grip right before one of the men grabs your ankle and pulls.

The street bites into your elbows and scrapes your knee bloody as you twist around and raise the gun, barrel leveled at the man’s heart. “LET GO!” You scream, heart hammering against your chest. “Oh shit,” says the man in the kerchief, eyes wide at seeing you armed, but the other one sneers at you, blood spilling from his mouth. There’s fury in his eyes, and the unmistakable intent to hurt you. “You ever held a gun that big, baby?”

“Let go,” you say again, voice firmer than the tremble of your hands. Your finger flexes on the trigger.

“You even know how to use it?” He asks, using his grip on your ankle to pull himself over you, his other hand falling to your thigh. He gives a pointed squeeze as he lifts himself up to tower above you. He reaches to take hold of you again, but you won’t let him. Can’t let him.

“Yes.” You squeeze the trigger as you say it, bracing for the recoil, the bang. It’s always so loud in the movies.

Nothing happens. You panic, looking at the weapon in your hands in dull shock. The safety isn’t on. You pull the trigger again, but the chamber rings hollow. It isn’t loaded. You look up at the man as his shadow falls over you. He bares his teeth at you, painted an ugly dark red with the blood spilling from his mouth. The man laughs, a short barking sound, and knocks the gun from your hands with a harsh slap. It goes skidding away.

“Stupid bitch,” he says, raising his boot as if you were an oversized bug, something to crush. You close your eyes and scream as he brings it down hard.

Or at least, he started to, but his leg locks up halfway, and then he topples, a single horrifying sound leaking from his clenched teeth. Your eyes open just in time to see his body hit the ground, a smoldering wound smoking from his chest. An instant later, the second man falls. This time you see the flash of crimson light that drops him.

Homelander’s cape billows in the wind with all the majesty of the flag it’s designed after as he descends from the sky. He lands in front of you, backlit by the distant street lights that give him an artificial glow. He’s beautiful, a perfectly manufactured angel delivered straight from some market tested Heaven.

“Hey, you hurt?” He asks, reaching for you.

Awestruck, all you can do is stare at his outstretched hand. Tears well in your eyes. Shock is setting in the aftermath of all that adrenaline in your veins crashing your system. Through the blur of your tears, Homelander’s expression shifts from concern to that of determination.

“It’s alright, I’m here now. They can’t hurt you,” he says, bringing your arm around his neck while he slips his own around your waist, effortlessly lifting you from the ground. Before your gaze can drift to the corpses–whose burning flesh you can smell mingling with the acrid city air–Homelander rotates, taking them from your line of sight. 

With a flourish, he unhitches his cape from his shoulders and swings the fabric over yours. It settles on you heavier than you expected it to be, and impossibly warm. Moving back in, Homelader readily takes you back into his arms. He cradles you in his embrace, one hand cupping the back of your head, the other drawing lines up and down your back.

You try to choke out a sound, to ask him, how? How did he find you? How did he know you needed him? But none of the noises you make form any actual words. Your throat is too tight, and your tongue feels too big for your mouth, gnarled silent by panic. Everything is just too much. Your breaths only grow sharper as tears burn hot streaks down your face.

“Sssshhhhhhh,” he shushes by your ear, lifting you just enough to keep you on your feet, but take the weight of your body from you. His hold is compressive, but not oppressive. It takes everything you have left to lift your other arm around his neck while the sobs overtake you. He continues to hush you, whispering a menagerie of honeyed assurances in your ear, the core sentiment always the same.

I’ve got you. You’re safe now. I won’t let anyone hurt you.

You cry harder, coiling your arms tighter around his neck. He lets you cling to him, lets you sob away your makeup and soak the collar of his suit with the mess of it.

You don’t know how much time passes in your addled state of panic, but eventually your breaths begin to even out, though your heart continues to thunder. Your body isn’t convinced that the danger has vanished yet, eager to turn to flight now that your fight has gone.

“That’s it, just like that,” Homelander praises. “Breathe. Breathe. Good… Light as a feather now, okay? Like you can fly,” he tells you. The weightlessness you feel in his arms helps the idea, helps you to feel like you aren’t being crushed by the terrible weight of such a moment of horror. That’s all it had been, a moment–two at most–and yet the torment of it had felt hours long. Exhaustion falls over you in the wake of adrenaline, and you’re glad for Homelander’s arms around you. You doubt you’d be standing without them.

“Home,” you manage to croak. “Please.” You can still smell the man’s sour breath, the memory even more powerful than the stench of reality.

“I can take you home,” he coos, maintaining that same soothing tone of comfort. “Is that what you want?”

You nod, focusing instead on the vetiver fresh smell of him. You’ve never been near enough to him before to notice it, but now you fixate on it. Anything to drown out the stink of the alley. He smells so much cleaner, like fresh linen drying over green grass in the summer sun.

His arms flex around you before he adjusts them, lifting you smoothly into his arms. Your stomach flips the way it does when you go down a hill in the backseat of a car, gravity loosening its hold on you. You can feel the motion all around you, the wind ghosting over you, but Homelander himself feels motionless against you.

Flying. He’s flying. And so are you.

His cape shields you from the night air bite, pulled snug around you and secured where your bodies are pressed together. You haven’t felt like this since you were a child, cradled with such care and strength that feels beyond your comprehension. Homelander serves as both place and person–somewhere safe, someone kind–and you tuck yourself closer into the sanctuary of his arms, hands fisted in the protective fabric of his cape.

“I’ve got’cha,” he assures you, voice warm in your ear. 

Without a shadow of a doubt, you believe him.

Homelander doesn’t need to ask where you live. It’s an easy detail to brush off if you question him. He doubts you will with the way you’re clinging to him, though. You feel good in his arms, settling so naturally against the contours of them he might convince himself you belong here. He doesn’t mind your weeping when it comes with your arms around him, fingertips brushing the nape of his neck.

A small shiver rolls down his spine.

Of all the ways Homelander expected the evening to unfold, he hadn’t properly anticipated you. While he cradles you, he replays again and again the moment you were snatched. You fought without hesitation. You wrenched the gun free. The fierceness in your eyes as you aimed it had been exquisite. The resolve in your gaze as you fired it even more so.

He’d known you were confident, but that kind of clawing survival can only be learned of a person in action. He’s known many supposedly strong people–supe and human alike–who walk as stone giants, but shatter like glass when faced with any real danger.

You couldn’t have known that you weren’t in any real danger. You couldn’t have known that he’d told those thugs to scare you, but not hurt you. You couldn’t have known he’d ensured the gun wasn’t loaded. You fought as though it was for your life, and it enthralled him.

He hadn’t planned on killing them in front of you. They would have been loose ends to tie up after his heroic rescue, but somewhere along the line that stupid bastard lost the thread. He hurt you, bloodied those pretty knees of yours, and he moved to strike you. To grind you beneath his heel as if you were the vermin instead of him. For that–and for so flagrantly going against Homelander’s own direct order–you witnessed his downfall.

As far as he’s concerned now, everything happened precisely as it needed to. You’re in his arms now, and he’s still half hard from witnessing you choose fight when your instincts kicked in. You’re too fragile to choose it so readily. Your bones feel bird-like compared to the scope of his strength. Hollow and brittle. You would make for a hell of a supe, though.

Still, he won’t break you. He’s spent his entire life learning what it takes to snap bones like party favors, and more crucially, what it takes not to. Yours are safe from him. In fact, you’re the safest person in the whole world now.

Homelander glides down to a soft landing on your driveway. Your car will be an issue for another time. For now, he walks you to your front door before gently placing you on your feet.

“Believe this is you, young lady,” he says, leaving space for plausible deniability. If it occurs to you to interrogate him about it, it doesn’t show on your face. With hands still softly trembling, you fish your keys out of your purse. He watches you fumble with them for only a moment before he steps in behind you, one hand gripping your upper arm to steady and pause you while the other covers your shaking hand, helping you to slide the key into the lock and turn it.

Your hand fits nicely in his.

“Thanks,” you whisper. It’s the first thing you’ve said since asking him to take you home. He takes the liberty of opening the door for you while he’s at it, swinging it wide to allow you in. You grab his forearm, and he thinks you’re only balancing yourself, but when you don’t let go he steps with you, letting you lean on him as you guide him into your home. He closes the door behind the two of you, smiling to himself.

He may not need an invitation to enter, but it’s charming to have one.

Your movements are stiff, a slight limp to your gait. You fell hard, and the delicate flesh of your knee had ripped apart against the concrete when you were dragged. You hesitate at the stairs, but Homelander doesn’t. You inhale sharply�� when he scoops you back up into his arms with ease and starts up the stairs. He keeps his gaze ahead, but he can feel yours on him.

“Thanks,” you say again, the word barely more than a hiccup, adjusting his cape over yourself like a blanket.

“It’s what heroes are for.” He smiles. It’s a party line, one he’s said a hundred thousand times before, but you make him mean it. This is what heroes are for. To be worshiped and loved, understood deeper than pop stars and false idols like them. There’s a reverence in your stare that transcends the vapid starstruck way most people look at him. You understand now. You know how much more he is.

He brings you to your bedroom and sets you on the edge of the bed, adjusting his cape back up over your shoulders. You’ve scarcely let go of it since he wrapped you in it. Will you sleep with it tonight? He bets you will. The thought sends a pleasant tingle through him. 

“Alright, let’s get a look at those knees,” he says, crouching in front of you. There’s blood running down your left shin. He lifts the edge of your skirt hem just enough to catch a glimpse of shredded skin. It looks rough, dirty and embedded with bits of debris. He blows out a breath. “Got a first aid kit?”

You nod numbly. “Under the bathroom sink.”

It’s odd to see you so subdued. He forgets sometimes that you humans can be as emotionally fragile as you are physically. Surely the death of two measly thugs isn’t enough to break you.

Rising, he moves to your bathroom. He feels slightly unbalanced without the sway of his cape behind him, the garment as integral to his physicality as any limb. He rummages through until his hand lands on a bright red fabric pack with a zipper. He gives it a little toss and catches it, bringing it back to you, alongside a wetted towel. He gives the pack a victorious little shake.

“H’okay, down to business.” Homelander kneels before you, splaying open the kit and placing it on your lap. He’s never used one of these before, but he’s pretended to do it on set. How different can it be? He cups your leg, thumb absently smoothing back and forth on your skin while he uses the towel to gently wipe up the blood, dirt and debris from your shin and knee.

You flinch, tense a moment before you relax. “Homelander, you really don’t have to–”

“Am I doing a bad job?” He asks, glancing up at you through his lashes. There’s a playful lilt to his voice.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” you say, the smallest hint of exasperation in your voice. He’s pleased to hear it. Perhaps you’re less wilted from the encounter than he thought. “I just mean that I can–”

“I know you can,” he says, and this time he definitely sees a flare of annoyance. You don’t like being interrupted any more than he does, but you don’t protest further. He smiles, triumphant, and focuses back on the task at hand, petting you the same way one might soothe a wild animal.

There’s a novelty in doing this for real that he hadn’t anticipated. It’s entirely unlike wiping away congealed red corn syrup from an actor. Your skin is sweeter, softer. He suddenly resents his gloves for the barrier they provide, despite his usual reliance for that very thing. He’s meticulous in flicking out the little stones embedded in your skin, spotting each one with ease.

Next, he tears open the alcohol wipes with his teeth and uses them to disinfect, rubbing at the sores. You flinch, sucking in a loud breath through your teeth. “Oopsy-daisy,” he says, switching to gently patting. He has no real concept of what you’re feeling right now. He’s never had a scraped knee before. The scientists at Vought had to get much more creative in order to gauge his capacity for healing.

He imagines they were disappointed to realize that, once damaged, he healed as slowly as a human.

“How’d you find me?” You ask, snapping him out of his unpleasant reminiscence. Your shock seems to have worn off entirely. You look more present, alert to his every move.

“Heard you scream,” he answers simply, unraveling a roll of gauze. That much is true.

“But how? How did you know where I was?” You push, watching him wind the white material around your knee.

“I didn’t,” he lies smoothly. He’s followed enough scripts in his life to do so very well. “If I’d known exactly where you were, I would have been there sooner. I was minding my business on 5th Avenue when I heard you. Familiar voices can…” He makes a vague gesture. “Cut through the din. Voices I want to hear.” 

He thinks he catches you flush at that. Just a touch. He bites back a smirk, pleased with himself. Does it matter if it’s true when it makes you look at him like that?

“I didn’t know your hearing worked like that,” you say, fidgeting with the hem of his cape.

His gaze flickers up every so often to watch your finger pick at the seam, inexplicably charmed by it. “Well, there’s some things not even a super fan can glean,” he teases, securing the gauze with tape. He expects to see a familiar indignation in your expression, but when he looks up, he’s caught off guard by the unmistakable fondness in your eyes.

“I was over the moon when I got my job at Vought,” you say quietly, like you’re whispering in a confessional. “I always wanted to work with heroes.”

“With me?” He pushes, lifting his brows.

Very slightly, you smile. “Yeah. With you.”

“Busted,” he says, his own voice equally soft.

You give him a little nudge with your foot. “Gauze won’t stay by itself. Need to use a roll of self-adhesive wrap,” you say, plucking the beige roll from the kit. He likes the shy warmth in your voice. He would have done much worse to see this side of you. Have the intimacy of your pain, fear and relief all to himself. This glowing affection you’re so full of. He feels drunk on the cocktail of it all.

“Right, obviously,” he says, taking the wrapping from you. “I knew that.”

“Probably should have put a gauze pad under it, too,” you continue, eyes heavily lidded, expression soft.

“Everyone’s a critic,” he laments, affixing the textured bandage around the gauze. You laugh, and the sound of it feels like a space he could belong in.

He checks your other knee, your elbows and your palms, but nowhere else on you calls for anything more than some antiseptic and a few bandaids. With the wrappings secure, he shuffles the mess of supplies haphazardly back into the kit, zipping it up much more bulging and misshapen a state than he found it in. He pushes it under the bed with the towel atop it, standing.

“Good as new. Or close to it,” he says, making a small show of dusting off his hands for a job well done. 

You stand, letting his cape slide off of your shoulders for the first time since he put it on you, the fabric pooling on the bed. You step forward, and of all the things he expects in this moment, you blow them out of the water by suddenly wrapping your arms around him, the soft curves of your body slotting against his in a way that trips something primal and needy in him. He puts his arms around you the second the shock wears off, holding you with the barest fraction of his strength.

Tension drains from your body. Were you nervous he wouldn’t reciprocate? It’s an endearing thought. He gives a deeper, brief squeeze. He can’t remember the last time someone held him.

“Thank you,” you say after a long beat, drawing back. He reluctantly loosens his grip, but not by much. He’s loath to relinquish you so soon after he’s gotten hold of you. “It’s not enough, but I don’t know what could ever be.”

I could make a few suggestions, he thinks, but he doesn’t give voice to the lewd thoughts that follow.

“I’ll never forget what you did for me tonight,” you say. Your face is so near to his, it makes it difficult to focus on anything other than the curve of your lips as you speak.

Instead of responding, Homelander leans in, eyes falling shut.

“Oh,” you say sharply, your soft body suddenly going tense in his arms, stopping him in his tracks. Both of your hands are braced against his chest now, creating a distance that feels craterous. 

He blinks, brows furrowed in confusion. “What?” 

“I’m really tired,” you say, tone shifting to mild diffusion. It reminds him of the way you spoke to James, and his ego stings with both the rejection and the comparison. He’d laughed listening to you reject that pathetic, simpering man. It seems less funny now. 

He scoffs an incredulous little huff. But I saved you, he thinks, indignant panic flaring in his chest. To his dismay, however, the thought doesn’t sound like his own voice. It sounds like James’.

But I paid!

Repulsed, Homelander swallows the thought like bile. If the comparison comes so readily to his own mind, there’s no way you won’t make the connection yourself. He feels his skin prickle like there are fire ants crawling beneath his suit. The memory of James’ pathetic begging is the only thing that keeps his composure together.

“Of course you are,” he says tightly. His smile is forced, slightly too wide. “You should sleep. Rest up. Take the day off tomorrow,” he says stiffly, rattling off lines like they’re pre-recorded. Only then does he surrender his hold on you, hands moving to his hips instead. You take a step back, and he stands straighter to disguise the sting of rejection.

“Thank you,” you say, tone indecipherable. It’s full to the brim with something, but nothing Homelander can parse in his current state. “I–”

“No need,” he dismisses, jumping on the opportunity to end the conversation on his terms. “Really. Just doing my job,” he says, tossing you a little two-finger salute off of his brow, already moving towards your balcony door. You don’t move, watching him from the foot of your bed, arms wrapped around yourself.

“Catch you at the office,” he says. He knows he’s speaking too quickly, but it’s all he can do to keep himself in check. Anger and misery broil in him like vinegar and baking soda, the caustic brew threatening to erupt.

“Okay,” you say, which isn’t particularly what he wants to hear. He turns his back to you, and his smile drops, his ego violently stung. With a force that billows wind through your bedroom, he takes off into the night sky.

You just weren’t ready, he tells himself, gritting his teeth. It’s easier to be angry than embarrassed. He wants to make as much distance between himself and your rejection, flying higher and higher until frost begins collecting on his lashes. He flies until there’s no sound, no oxygen, no life but his own. He flies until gravity releases him and he can finally relax, suspended by cold, vast space.

The earth glows beneath him, reflecting the light of the sun where it illuminates a distant portion of the globe.

Closing his eyes, he tips his head back.

He’ll fix this.

( chapter four )

[artdotpage]

Problems facing modern artists & creators

I've talked with hundreds of artists and creators about the difficulties they face trying to earn a living from their craft.

This post covers two of the big ones (social media algorithms & bargain basement marketplaces), and what tools are available to grow your business despite these issues.

Social Media Algorithms and Audience Ownership

Social media platforms are a godsend for getting your work in front of potential clients and building a loyal fan base.

However as you will all have experienced, it can take a mastermind to figure out what kind of content the algorithm wants you to post, and if you don't do that you'd be as well throwing your content into the void as even your own followers might not see your post, never mind new viewers.

It also means you don't truly own your audience, if you post something slightly controversial your account could be deleted without warning, or perhaps a billionaire buys the site and everyone flocks to a new platform where you have to start growing your following all over again.

Solution: Build a mailing list

This is perhaps the single best marketing tool available to any business, and is sorely overlooked by artists and creators.

It's cost effective and because you own your mailing list it doesn't matter what's happening on social sites, you can always keep in touch with them.

The tricky part is converting people into mailing list subscribers. However I've seen plenty of creators successfully build one by offering incentives including free digital downloads, early access to content, discounts on your store etc.

Those who sign up to your mailing list would be considered high quality followers, someone who is much more likely to convert to a paid client and buy from you again in the future compared to the average follower on social media.

Tools

https://art.page/

https://substack.com/

https://convertkit.com/

Losing clients to undercutting competitors on the same platform/marketplace

If you run your business on a marketplace or platform, your clients are one click away from finding plenty of other choices who are willing to undercut everyone else to land a sale.

These sites have no incentive to make sure that traffic you drive to your profile actually purchase from you. Whether a sale is made through your listing or another seller, they collect their fee either way.

They also use uniform designs which reduce you to a generic product listing. Whilst this can simplify the customer experience, it means you have no control over the sales funnel and ability to differentiate yourself, making it harder to convert potential clients into paying customers.

Solution: Direct clients to your own site

Use your own personal website to make sales from, there are plenty of options with no monthly charge and lower fees than marketplaces. This lets you make dedicated marketing pages showcasing your best work to make a client excited about doing business with you, instead of just being a generic product listing.

Take advantage of marketplaces purely for their customer base. Don't rely on them as your sole business platform. This way, any fees you pay are worthwhile to generate sales you wouldn't have had otherwise. 

Tools

https://art.page/

https://www.bigcartel.com/

https://squareup.com/

Interested in more?

There's plenty more I have to share on this topic, including:

How to properly use Print on Demand without getting ripped off

Streamline managing your business so you spend more time creating and growing your business.

How to better utilize your brand to connect with clients and increase sales

So let me know if you’re interested and I’ll get writing!

Transparency

I'm building https://art.page to solve these exact issues, with the goal to create the best all in one site builder for artists and creators that makes running your business easy.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digimon Adventure Reboot Sequel AU - Chapter 2: No Matter What You’ll Choose To Become

Summary: Taichi and Agumon arrive at Tachikawa Technologies and aren't just greeted by Mimi and Palmon, but also by Gomamon and Jyou - with the latter being close to a mental breakdown. Meaning to support him in practicing his internship application presentation, Taichi ends up reminiscing over what differentiates a princess from a queen - and a supporter from a leader.

Chapter list: [Prologue] [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Resources: [Concept] [Designs] [First Idea] [Playlist] [Ao3]

Word Count: 2940

Being allowed to freely enter the building of Tachikawa Technologies due to having special access privileges - for being friends with the CEO’s granddaughter - still felt surreal to Taichi sometimes.

Mimi had strictly taught him to never show up in hoodie and sweatpants at least. Making a good first - second, third and twentieth - impression was important to her and she did value a proper fashion sense too.

‘Fashion, huh?’, Taichi looked down on himself - blue button-down shirt, school trousers and sneakers were fine, right? - before walking through the entrance area, nodding towards the receptionist. Who was absolutely used to his presence, but still tended to flinch at the sight of the small dinosaur next to him - who did not have to follow any dress code whatsoever. To most people, Digimon were a known occurrence in this world, but more in a “digital hologram companion” sense. Akin to a Tamagotchi who could be projected into reality. They were usually considered to be AI-generated, but not everyone was used to their presence yet. Spreading knowledge, awareness and familiarity about them were just a few of Tachikawa Technologies’ goals. 

Taichi smiled to himself. Mimi was a person who had firm beliefs - not only in regards to company policies and the art of dressing herself. Always classy and feminine, prestigious, with a sense of business and casual luxury.

Suddenly, a glimpse of pink hair, covered in golden stars, flashed through Taichi’s mind.

The “Mimi in his dreams” usually wasn’t too different from the one he knew. Sure, she seemed to have a more extravagant, more experimental - and more daring - fashion sense. She also wasn’t the granddaughter of a company boss, he could tell, even though her family still seemed to have busy businesses abroad - considering how that Mimi seemed to reside in the USA most of the time.

So yeah, maybe her circumstances were a little different after all. Maybe she had gone through more hardship than “his” Mimi led on to have…

Taichi could still recognize her through the haze of a distant memory. A sincere, outspoken girl, a delicate yet strong-willed princess, who fought for what she believed in. Even if he was certain that she would have liked to prevent the fighting entirely sometimes…

As the duo rode up the elevator to meet up at their “usual space” - an empty office room on the 7th floor Mimi referred to as “emergency headquarters” -, they weren’t prepared for the chaos they were about to encounter. Mentioned room looked like it had been hijacked by the marketing department and left behind after a 3-day-meeting of heated discussions, tears and sweat. Several flipchart boards, books, folders, crumbled paper… A disgruntled looking Mimi with folded arms, Palmon as well as Gomamon - and a Jyou who seemed close to a mental breakdown.

“You’re late!”, Mimi said loudly not even a second after he had opened the the door, making Taichi raise both arms with an apologetic look. Agumon copied these gestures.

“We tried our best, promise! Jyou-senpai, you’re here too?”, he smiled a crooked smile, causing Jyou to look up. And the closer Taichi walked to the table he was sitting on, the more he noticed the dark bags under his eyes. “Let me guess, this is what our ‘emergency’ is about, right?”

Jyou only pulled a grimace and couldn’t even answer, before Mimi took charge:

“Precisely. Jyou-senpai has to practice his internship application presentation, so I gathered all of us here for additional mental support!”

Both Taichi and Agumon blinked at Jyou. That was surprising to hear.

“Since he’s been ignoring me fake-boo’ing him”, Gomamon explained as he sat on a stack of books on the chair on Jyou’s left, patting his arm. “You and Agumon will be part of our super judgemental crowd.”

“Thanks a lot, Gomamon…”, Jyou grumbled with a pressing smile, which was returned by a bright, toothy grin from the seal Digimon.

“You’re welcome, hehe!”

“Unfortunately”, Mimi elaborated before taking her seat at Jyou’s right side, while Palmon followed, “As always, it was impossible to gather everyone here, so… We have to make do.”

Taichi followed her lead as well - the table had been big enough for at least fifteen people to take a seat, but he picked the one next to Mimi, as Agumon actually sat down on the other side, next to Gomamon. The yellow dinosaur sniffed the air once more. 

“Mimi-kun has been very insistent on having you guys here, and, well, I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m not entirely sure if that’ll actually help in the long run”, Jyou confessed dryly and scribbled onto a notebook as if to play it casually. 

“You’re really nervous, huh?”, Agumon said, basically speaking Taichi’s thoughts out loud. From what he had gathered and ever since he could remember, Jyou had been pretty much set to join Tachikawa Technologies. Taichi knew he had been busy with his final high school year exams, so they had barely seen him around - and Taichi had no idea how tough it must have been to juggle both at once. 

“Seriously, what’s the deal here? I thought you already had it in the bag, Senpai?”

Jyou huffed in response to that, but at least the smile on his lips had become a little bit less tense. However, Taichi could tell by the anxious scribbling that things were not okay.

“I’m good with the theoretical side of things, studying and stuff like that, but… It’s still a different story when it comes to… Talking freely, you know.”

That checked out somehow - back in the Digital World, when he had been just twelve years old, Jyou had managed to give some impressive speeches. But even then, he had needed Gomamon’s or his friends’ support to succeed. Which, in Taichi’s opinion, was not a bad thing at all, but it still baffled him to hear that he was still that insecure about his performance.

Jyou-senpai had grown a lot in confidence in all these years, now that he was on the brink of adulthood - hadn’t he? It felt like a déjâ-vu to some degree, even though Taichi couldn’t put his finger on it - and immediately shoved away the possibility that his dreams may have had something to do with it... 

Trying to clear his head, Taichi glanced over at everything that was laid right out in front of him on the table: It was covered in utilities; a laptop and projector in front of Jyou, a folder with his CV, countless sheets of paper, both printed and manually written on, as well as pens and sticky notes in various colours. The handwritten notes were obviously by Jyou himself - he was more of an analog guy after all -, whereas Taichi was certain the printed notes were provided by Koushirou. The one right in front of him contained a timetable of the company’s achievements ever since it was founded. What a thorough effort. 

“He’s been a quivering mess”, Mimi explained eventually and stood up again, walking around the table. Her tone had been less sharp than before. Instead of judgement, her voice was laced with encouragement and excitement. “My grandpa will obviously endorse him once he has finished high school either way, buuuuut… I fully support him wanting to work for it, showing determination here.”

“Proving to be a valuable asset for the company early on!”, Palmon added and Taichi had to grin to himself. He leaned over to gain Jyou’s attention, whispering with a hand over his mouth:

“Valuable asset, is that a different word for slave?”

“Shh!” While he tried to sound disapproving of that wording, Jyou, apparently, couldn’t help but to grin himself now. Unable to suppress his amusement at Taichi’s humour, he hissed back with an underlying laugh: “Don’t let her hear that!”

“What was that?” Mimi rushed between them again, but both guys just jumped apart, simultaneously shouting “Nothing!” at her. Taichi still smiled though - the first measure of distraction had been a full success, Jyou already looked a tad bit less tense.

“Stop whispering and let’s get started. I trust that you’ll provide honest feedback in the end, Taichi-san. I’m still disappointed in you for not having joined our open hours the other day. Grandpa would certainly have liked to see you again!”

He did have to ditch the event at the company due to football practice the other day - and because he had felt groggy after a particularly restless night.

“Hey, maybe that wouldn’t be the worst idea!” Still distracted from his own troubles, Jyou turned towards Taichi. “Especially if you still don’t have any idea where you’re headed?”

“Uh, I’m not in a rush to be honest!”, Taichi deflected. It wasn’t even a lie after all, he simply didn’t feel like talking about his ‘potential’ again. “How about you, Mimi-chan?”

“Me? Oh, seriously, Taichi-san, what a silly question is that?” Mimi’s eyes started to shine as she positioned herself between Jyou and Taichi again. “I’ll take over this company and make sure to increase its appeal to customers and employees alike. We’ll be known for our high-class products - that’s what Koushirou-kun will provide - and our inclusive worker’s rights union all over the globe! With Jyou-senpai managing our HR department with class and dignity and me looking over our marketing campaign, we shall take over the Japanese tech market in the foreseeable future!”

The déjâ-vu washed over Taichi again - but in quite a different way. She really was more confident than “the other Mimi” - or rather, confident in other ways. Where the other Mimi still enjoyed being a “kid”, wanting to experiment and figure herself out more, his Mimi knew exactly where she was headed. With her white blouse and high-waisted burgundy skirt, hair open and wavy, unshaken and straight-forward.

Definitely more of a queen than a princess.

“Progressive as always, Mimi-kun”, Jyou said - and even Taichi hadn’t been able to overhear the glimpse of affection in those words. 

“So world domination is just around the corner, huh?” Taichi refrained from asking whether she intended to expand her reach to the USA specifically… 

“You laugh, but you won’t once it all comes true, thank you! So I have to disappoint you…” The enthusiasm in Mimi shifted a little, as she now looked at him directly. Unavoidably. “Senpai won’t have any time to become a doctor, as you suggested…”

“You did?!”, Jyou exclaimed in absolute surprise and Taichi could feel his heart sink a little. “Well, my brother is the one who’s a doctor in training, but…”

Panic rose in Taichi’s chest, his palms began to become sweaty again. He had no idea what had come over him when he had asked Koushirou about all the printed materials on his desk the other day. “Is this for Senpai’s medicine school?”, he had asked and Koushirou’s confusion had hit him like a truck. He hadn’t even stumbled about it being an irregularity, it had just felt natural to ask such a question… And now nothing made sense about it anymore.

The way Mimi looked at him now with narrowed eyes while Jyou’s were wide open left him struggling to find an answer.

“Taichi…?”, Agumon asked and so he just shook his head. ‘Stay calm, stay cool, you can do this… Nobody shall know.’

“Y-yeah, I was just saying that…”, he cleared his throat, putting his trademark smile back where it belonged as he faced Jyou directly: “You would, technically, make an amazing doctor, seeing how committed, responsible and… Reliable you are, I mean, in general.”

Both Mimi and Jyou gave him a blank stare now, completely flabbergasted - with the former’s face having turned slightly redder in skin tone.

“Well…”, Mimi began, exchanging a glance with Jyou as well now. “That’s an agreeable statement, but…”

Watching Jyou blush even harder at that caused Taichi to smile again - and took away a tiny bit of his nerves as well. It was ironic in a way. Mimi and Jyou had felt pretty familiar with each other within his dreams themselves - so he was relieved to see that their relationship had stood the test of time, quite literally. It was endearing to see them be so in sync with each other. It made him feel nostalgic… And melancholic.

Just like it had felt completely organic to ask about Jyou’s future career in medicine, Taichi had the impression that the dream version of Jyou must have gone through several hardships himself - and yes, just like with the Jyou he knew, there must have been more than just a few doubts and setbacks in terms of choosing his path. Taichi felt a sense of… Sympathy towards him, could relate to him in weird ways. 

As if he had been lost, not knowing his place and sense of self for quite some time. An emptiness he had eventually overcome to replace it with unwavering commitment. To become a doctor. To become the best supporter he could possibly be - and to Taichi, it was surreal to think that his other self had to learn to respect this version of Jyou first. They did seem to have developed a harmonious bond, but… Taichi knew it hadn’t always been that way. 

It was a little disorienting. But now Taichi knew that the Jyou he was familiar with had his own challenges to face. He may not have gone for medicine as his field of choice - but he was unwavering in his unique way. He didn’t seem as steadfast in his abilities as the other Jyou yet, but they would make sure he could get back on track. Determined to get the job in this company, to become the leader he had always wanted to be one day - instead of a supporter. 

As someone who saw himself as the leader of his group of friends, Taichi couldn’t have been more proud of his friend, admired him to no end…

“So, yeah, Senpai”, Taichi said softly - and more assured than before, “If there was ever a time you felt like I didn’t respect you… I wanted to let you know, you’ll do great, no matter what you’ll choose to become.”

Now Jyou’s head was completely indistinguishable from a tomato, a stark contrast to the grey shirt, dark blue pants and tie, all prim and proper. The perfect business partner, companion and ‘asset’ to Mimi he could imagine. Gomamon let out a giggle and patted Jyou’s arm again.

“See, you’ll do fine, won’t ya?!”

“Taichi, what’s with all that flattery, did something happen, did you break something on your way here?”

“Told you, he is being weird”, Mimi folded her arms again, but Taichi simply blocked.

“I’m 100% fine!”

“You seemed a bit scatterbrained recently, wouldn’t you agree?” She kept digging at him, now with a lower, more worried tone. “Sora-san and Koushirou-kun certainly do.”

The other Mimi was close to these two as well. However, she seemed to butt heads with Koushirou a lot more… Thinking back on their bickering didn’t correspond well with the image he had of them. With Koushirou being another key support in their little group, always keen to be of help to him, Mimi, whenever they needed him, almost a little obedient…

Suddenly, his vision became blurry, his thoughts became foggy and incoherent.

‘Not now… Please… Stay on course, Taichi. They’re just reflections, stop overthinking.’

“I think he just needs to sleep a lot more, so he won’t fall asleep with open eyes anymore.”

It almost seemed like Agumon had known that he needed a little help here, so Taichi just felt a surge of thankfness, lessening the panic a little more.

“I-it’s not even that bad…”

Hearing that, Jyou got in full alarm mode, grabbing one of Taichi’s hands over the table. “Have you been suffering from insomnia? That’s serious business, if you need me to look up meds or anything-”

“Huh, maybe you really are a doctor at heart…”, Gomamon cooed and Jyou immediately let go of Taichi.

“What?!”

Instead, Taichi felt both of Mimi’s hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her directly. A bold move - as unpredictable as Mimi could be and even considering how long they had known each other, overstepping physical boundaries like that was unusual even for her. Thus, all three Digimon in the room - and Jyou - gasped at the sight.

“Taichi-san.”

“Y-yeah?”

“You haven’t had a cold recently, have you? Ever felt weird after returning home after gate-hopping? Be sincere. I won’t accept any more deflection.”

Taichi’s eyes widened. This felt like the worst-case-scenario - he absolutely didn’t intend to make them get so worked up over him. And Mimi’s determined yet worried glance was both alarming… And heart-warming. The haze behind his eyes lifted a little, the fog disappeared. Bringing him back to the now.

He was glad that this Mimi was an anchor for him. Who knew how to approach and motivate people.  It was like the princess in his memory made him value the queen in the present a lot more.

Just like the Senpai that would lead the way alongside him.

Gently, he grabbed Mimi’s hands and put more distance between them again, smiling his everlasting smile:

“I’ve been fine. Nothing a good night’s sleep can’t fix and I don’t need any sleeping pills for that either. And you all worry too much. Thanks for caring, but we should focus on Senpai giving the speech of his life now, shouldn’t we?”

[pinkhorsepro123]

All Kindergarten Characters

... I've been working on this since I finished playing the 3rd game. I made the 2nd and 1st game kids like, 2 years ago, but I was rushing it and wasn't really proud. Now, I've finished everyone! Also will put hc's down below the cut... this took forever so, I only did basic colors. Keeping the psd though so I might add do some shading at one point.

Also this is a really long post below-

Here's the first game kids!

Jerome (He/Him)

-Heteroflexible

-His mom works constantly, wants to give him as much college money as possible. But wishes she would calm down, for her own sake and to spend actual time with her

-Plays basketball, but definitely not professionally. Spray-paints art for spare cash, and is thinking about starting a business on it.

Monty (Ze/Zim)

-AroAce, Gay

-Parents weren't well off until ze started using zis talent to make zis own business really young. Uses zis wheelchair whenever ze can, still working on perfect prosthetics.

-Unsurprisingly is going into robotics, sells things on the side too.

Billy (He/Him)

-Bisexual, Gayromantic

-Parents own Monstermon, so well off. But they aren't exrtremely wealthy, as their mom and dad gives money to charity often. They love their kids to death.

-Him and Lily are planning on starting a detective business together. He'll be dealing with the more business aspects, paperwork, finances, marketing, etc.

-Is lighter, and has splotches on his skin due to the experiments. Can't change since he never got his full on monster form.

Lily (She/Her)

-Polysexual, Polyamorous

-Lily will be dealing with the more detective aspect, talking to people, and seeking answers. Unsurprisingly.

Protagonist/James (He/Him)

-Pansexual, Polyamorous

-Dad is the reason he could control time at all, disappeared one day and him and his mom couldn't be happier about it. His mom works constantly, like Jerome's, but unlike her absolutely needs to. They aren't doing well money wise.

-Loves to draw digitally, and somewhat traditionally. Planning on making comics for a living

-The scars are added onto to show which is because of which game- 1 and 2 was easy enough to figure out all the scars he could have. but there's no all deaths video for the 3rd game yet. So might have to update his scar list at one point.

Nugget (He/They)

-Pansexual, Polyamorous

-Mom's are not from this dimension, which is unsurprising. They love their bby, and are secretly powerful. But they need specific objects to unleash said powers.

-Gonna go into construction/demolition

HM/Seth (They/It)

-Asexual, Omnisexual

-Is taken care of by their uncle and aunt. Parents were intense drug addicts, luckily only picked up smoking/doing weed from them.

-Has no clue what it will do as a career, works at a gas station fulltime currently

-Has a younger brother in middle school

Cindy (She/Her)

-Androsexual

-We all know how shitty her home life is from what the game has told us-

-Wants to be a fashion designer, unsurprisingly

Buggs (It/It's)

-Polysexual

-Dad's in jail now, it refuses to talk to him. Mom died in a car crash so lives with it's Grandma.

-Wants to go into wrestling, become rich then retire for the rest of it's life-

Felix (He/Him)

-Gay

-Don't need to mention how shitty his dad is. Him and Ted realized that fighting for dad's affection wasn't getting them anywhere, so finally made up. Protect each other from their father's rage as much as possible

-Is planning on going into business, but refuses for it to be his father's company.

Ted/Theo (He/Him)

-Greysexual, Queer

-Wants to go into theater, or at least some sort of acting.

Stevie (He/Him)

-Gay

-Has foster parents, and many foster siblings he could honestly care less about, is excited to become an adult.

-Wants to be a security guard

Penny (She/Her)

-Abrosexual

-Adopted by Bob! Monty put her back together after the events of the games (Probably with some convincing, but certainly doesn't regret it now. They're best friends.)

-Writes poetry! Unsure if she'll do it professionally, but inherited her mom's riches so doesn't really need to worry about it

Carla (She/Him)

-Bisexual, Trans

-Has a new baby sister!

-Her mom is dating someone, he actually likes them too. His dad died due to leukemia.

-Wants to do basketball professionally.

Ozzy (Xe/Xim)

-Asexual, Queer

-Parents are divorced, lives with xis mom. Their relationship had been set up by their parents so weren't ever in love, on good terms though. Mother owns a (legal) drug company, father enjoys being a garbage man despite having more than enough money to retire.

-Xe enjoys metalwork, probably gonna go into something to do with it.

Madison (She/Her, though doesn't much care)

-Polysexual

-Single dad, is in accounting. Mom went missing when she was 10.

-Is planning on taking over the company for Ozzy if they still get married (Were off and on dating since Kindergarten, and found they really loved and missed each other every time they were apart.)

Ron (Any pronouns!)

-Skoliosexual

-His dads are both very creative, but one works at a restaurant while the other sells their creations.

-They want to be a social worker!

Emmy (She/They, depends on the day)

-Demiromantic, Lesbian

-Is an orphan, eventually our wonderful nurse lady adopts her!

-Unsurprisingly mainly does gardening/sells plants, loves to bake though too!

Davey (He/Him)

-Polyamorous, homoflexible

-Lives with his mom and her boyfriend on the Everglades

-Already does so already, but is going to open an alligator reservation for rehabilitation, or for alligators to stay if they can't be released into the wild

Also I saw this

and knew immediately it was Davey. And the idea of him wearing crocs was from @alicesknife , genius!

The alligator he's walking is Aldin, one of Linda's babies! He's the runt and loves Davey, so he carries him around often! He only likes James, Nugget, Emmy and Kevin.

Kevin (They/Them)

-Heterosexual

-Is taken care of by their grandpa, has an older sibling who they haven't seen in a long time

-Unsure what exactly they want to do, but knows they want to help people.

-Due to how long they were in their monster form, is more obvious/can change into it on a dime. And feet are permanently changed too.

Austin (He/It)

-Intersex, Demisexual, Finsexual and Polyamorous

-Has an older sibling who's in another country

-Parents are in a poly relationship! They don't understand their son's interests fully, but completely support it. One's a teacher, one's a writer, one's a woodworker, and the last's a veterinarian.

-It and Alice are gonna start a business for fixing up fixer uppers together. He'll be doing mainly the destruction, and construction

Alice (She/Her)

-Demiromantic/Heterosexual

-Dad is a single dad, and she has two other sibings. Father is a doctor

-She'll be dealing with the designs and business aspects!

I FINALLY FINISHED MY LORD

I have work early in the morning, but I had to finish this today-

Anyways, uh, hope you enjoyed this long ass post

[mochademic]

100 Days of Productivity [Day: 89] || 100 Jours de Productivité [Jour: 89]

expect the unexpected; sometimes, it's going to be just what you needed.

this weekend I said welcome home to this little ragamuffin; a surprise [& early anniversary gift] from my partner. he's been keeping me on my toes, but life's been a little less lonely these days. my 3 month review at this new company went over well, & also came with a crazy promotion. hard work really does pay off, & it's nice to be working somewhere where my work does not go unnoticed.

the reason why I say this promotion is crazy, is because it's completely unrelated to my degree. I had been given various projects over the last few months – predominantly to do with bookkeeping & finances – that have resulted in me being selected to be the new company accountant. this work is not unfamiliar with me since it's something I do for my own small business, but to be doing this on a corporate level is humbling. it reminds me of a conversation I once had with my department head right before graduation. they were the person who I went to with many of my tearful vents and frustrations, & during this particular conversation they told me "do what you need to, but do more of what you're good at. that's how you bring the right things to your table." I held on to that for years. right now, I wish I could tell them thank you.

academic work:

-catch up on all unit reviews -re-write notes/organize

freelance work:

-catch up on all projects -continue signing up for markets -edit digital work -prepare shop listings

office work:

-answer all emails -complete payroll for tomorrow -review funding changes from last meeting -look at problems after system update

currently listening // Attention by Wyatt

Attendez-vous à l'inattendu ; parfois, c'est exactement ce dont vous aviez besoin.

ce week-end, j'ai souhaité la bienvenue à ce petit ragoût, une surprise [et un cadeau d'anniversaire anticipé] de mon partenaire. il me tient en haleine, mais la vie est un peu moins solitaire ces jours-ci. mon évaluation de trois mois dans cette nouvelle entreprise s'est bien passée et s'est accompagnée d'une promotion folle. le travail acharné paie vraiment, et c'est agréable de travailler dans un endroit où mon travail ne passe pas inaperçu.

La raison pour laquelle je dis que cette promotion est folle, c'est qu'elle n'a aucun rapport avec mon diplôme. Au cours des derniers mois, on m'a confié divers projets - principalement liés à la comptabilité et aux finances - qui m'ont valu d'être choisie pour être la nouvelle comptable de l'entreprise. Ce travail ne m'est pas inconnu, puisque je le fais pour ma propre petite entreprise, mais le faire au niveau de l'entreprise me rend humble. Cela me rappelle une conversation que j'ai eue un jour avec mon chef de service juste avant d'obtenir mon diplôme. c'est à lui que je m'adressais pour lui faire part de mes larmes et de mes frustrations, et au cours de cette conversation, il m'a dit : « Fais ce que tu dois faire, mais fais davantage ce pour quoi tu es douée. c'est ainsi que tu apporteras les bonnes choses à ta table ». J'ai gardé cela pendant des années. En ce moment, j'aimerais pouvoir leur dire merci.

travail académique :

-rattraper tous les examens de l'unité -réécrire les notes/organiser

travail en free-lance :

-rattraper tous les projets -continuer à s'inscrire sur les marchés -éditer le travail numérique -préparer les listes de boutiques

travail de bureau :

-répondre à tous les courriels -compléter la liste des salaires pour demain -Examiner les modifications apportées au financement depuis la dernière réunion -Examiner les problèmes après la mise à jour du système

chanson // Attention par WYATT

[femmefatalevibe]

any tips for getting into copywriting?

Learn the basics of copywriting & writing fundamentals/ marketing skills

Study the different types of copywriting (web/banners, email, social, ads, direct mail, sales letters, etc.)

Decide on your niche(s). Study everything you can about the industry, trends, latest news, customer demographics/psychographics, customer behavior, types of lifestyles/preferences they have, how they speak, where they spend the most time (IRL or digitally)

Craft an inspiration folder full of compelling copywriting examples you find when browsing on the web, going through your email, scrolling on social media, billboards, magazines, direct mail, etc.

Practice rewriting these examples with your own flair. Evaluate it, and keep practicing until you're proud of your copy.

Be as concise, clever, and convincing as possible. Keep your tone conversational (write like how you would speak), catchy, simple, and witty. Take out any extraneous or fluff words. Pepper in cultural references, puns, and relatable anecdotes understood by your target audience when relevant to your messaging/CTA

Create a portfolio with these mock-ups or projects done for family/friends (state they're spec work, not client-commissioned samples) or clips from an internship, school work, etc.

Craft a USP for yourself (including your niche, copywriting specialties, and the specific expertise you offer within your broader niche/service offerings that makes you unique)

Create an Upwork profile and share your services on LinkedIn (optimize both of these profiles)

Research local clients and small businesses within your niche. Also, take time to create a list of dream clients. Study their copy, brand voice, and keep tabs on updates regarding these companies' happenings

Learn the art of a cold email/LinkedIn pitch/Upwork proposal. Introduce yourself and your services to your prospect and share with them how you can fulfill a specific need they're seeking out (For local and smaller companies, feel free to offer suggestions. With more established companies, connect the dots as to why your experience/expertise is a great fit for their brand/target audience), and attach your work/link to your LinkedIn profile, website, and any other relevant hub for your professional services & content

Ask for referrals from friends/family to get started. If they're not a relative, get a testimonial to include in your portfolio

Follow up once if you haven't heard back from a prospective client after an initial pitch after a few days

Search for potential gigs on sites like Upwork/ProBlogger/People Per Hour

Once you land a gig, execute to the best of your ability and hand in your work by the deadline (strategies surrounding best business practices is a whole other post, lol)

Gather testimonials from all clients of successful projects. Confirm with clients whether you can use their work in your portfolio if you're unsure

Continue studying copywriting from books, courses, and everyday reading & living

Stay knowledgeable about advancements/updates in your field, keep updated on current events, and culture/social trends, and read a lot in general. Have interesting, multi-faceted conversations with others. Observe what makes people tick & remain engaged in a verbal dialogue or content

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

Don't panic!! Everyone please calm the fuck down and stop spreading blatant misinformation. Please.

Project 2025 is not even close to be enacted yet (if it will be enacted at all) and a lot of people are spreading blatant misinformation about what will happen if it goes into effect.

Your fanfiction is not in danger. AO3 is not being shut down just because the cheeto man is back in office. Smut is not legally porn, and even if there was a porn ban, it would be supremely difficult to enforce - as we have seen with Tumblr's porn ban, where porn blogs are still quite common.

Yes, in the era of streaming services, it is a great idea to buy a DVD player and collect your favourite movies and shows in physical form - but more because of economic sense in not paying for digital copies that you might not get to keep (due to the stupidity of streaming rights), not because the American government is going to somehow make all copies of that media disappear overnight.

Book bans are always about schools and government institutions (like public libraries) far more than they are about taking certain books out of the hands out of consumers. A lot of people making these posts seem to blatantly misunderstand this part. And it is sad that certain books might be taken away from those institutions, but it doesn't mean that those books will be made illegal entirely.

America loves capitalism, they love money, and they will always do whatever is in the best interest of making more money. They won't push tyrannical religious book bans onto independent book stores and corporations because it is bad business. Especially when the material being banned then just becomes a hot commodity that they could be making money off of via tax instead of seeing that money gone from them in a black market. (Because if a large list of books were banned, there would be a black market for those books.)

(Weed and alcohol legalization is deeply against a lot of people's religion and morals, but the government keeps it legal anyway because they make money off taxing it. It makes good business sense.)

Also, a book ban that aims to get rid of all queer and NSFW content would not effect AO3 because AO3 is not a commercial company or a government entity. They are a non-profit. And if - big IF - for some reason, AO3 was forced to ban all queer and NSFW material (which is the last thing the OTW wants and the exact opposite of their primary founding goal) someone would have to go through each of the millions of posts one at a time to read through them and determine if they have content in them that needs to be "banned". This still leaves a lot of room for posts to slip through the cracks - as we have seen with the Tumblr NSFW ban.

But AO3 won't even be affected, so it's completely theoretical.

If something sounds too illogical and horrible to be true - it probably is. As I said on another post: change doesn't happen overnight, negative or positive. AO3 isn't going to disappear tomorrow. The world isn't going to end and take away all your favourite things with it.

[ourtalechara]

Don't ask what I'm doing I'm not doing anything (VBS Data Stream guys look at it)

Kohane An Akito Toya and Luka

(actually nice and finished looking lyrics under cut)

Eventually, all walls meet demolition

So Wall Street had to keep the tradition

Their financial systems resigned to ignition

And out of the ashes, we have arisen

An empire is forged in the fire of ambition

In business, there isn't the time for attrition

Invest to suppress then ingest competition

Then each acquisition is new ammunition

When governments crumble and fall to the floor

That was paved with the graves of a corporate war

A fundament funded in blood just to shore

A foundation for founding our covenant

Born of a need for control of societal entropy

Enterprise at the price of your indemnity

Chart out the course and of course you were meant to be

Bent to the will of a corporate entity

Arasaka Security. You're in safe hands

We're the light in your screens, we're the lead in your veins

Then you wake from your dreams, so we can sell them again

In the light we distract with the shiny and new

So you're blind to the fact that the product is you

So let your brain dance and replay the dream

But don't drown in the data stream

'Cause we see where you are and we see where you go

'Cause we know what you own and we own what you know

From the top of all our towers, the corridors of power clearly need rewiring

Arasaka saw the spark and then embarked upon the path to turn that spark to lightning

There's no autonomous megalopolis so populous or prosperous you could reside in

And every citizen that's living in this city is a digit on the charts we're climbing

Political systems are too inefficient

They split like the atom and burned in the fission

Now every department and every decision

Defer to the herds of our corporate divisions

If you don't remember the ballot you cast

It's printed on every receipt you were passed

Each time you selected our products and services

We were elected in each of your purchases

What's left to do when you've got the monopoly?

Turn the consumer into the commodity

It isn't hard where you've hardware neurology

Honestly, do read the company policy

Take information and trade it for wealth

You pay it in each augmentation we sell

It's easy to cut out the middleman

When he's cut out most of himself

Arasaka Finance. Investing in your future

(chorus)

All that you say on the net we composite

To maps that go straight from your head to your pocket

Complain if you want, you're still making deposits

Of data — each day you log on is a profit

Society currently lists electronic

So isn't conducting resistance ironic?

We've plenty of skeletons locked in our closets

But yours are assembled from old-stock hydraulics

So lucky we know just the pieces you need

All plucked from your social media feeds

The places you go and the posts that you read

All snatched for a new algorithm to feed

Now, holding our gold isn't par for the brand

Our silver is sat in the palm of your hand

Quit whining and sign on the line in the sand

The supply does not get to make the demands

(chorus)

Arasaka Manufacturing. Building a better tomorrow

Name, age, qualifications

Race, faith, career aspirations

Political leaning, daily commute

Marital status, favourite fruit

Family, browser, medical history

Hobbies, interests, brand affinity

Fashion, style, your occupation

Gender identity, orientation

Lifestyle choices, dietary needs

The marketing contact you choose to receive

Posts, likes, employers, friends

Social bias, exploitable trends

Tastes, culture, phone of choice

Facial structure, the tone of your voice

If it's inside your head, we know

You can't escape the ebb and flow

(chorus)

When guiding the hand of the market

If it's holding a cheque or a gun

The fingers go deep in your pockets

And you can live under the thumb

You seem so surprised, what did you expect?

We're thinking outside of that box that you checked

The terms were presented in full to inspect

You scrolled to the end just to get to "Accept"

Arasaka would like to know your location

Arasaka would like to know your location

Arasaka would like to know your location

Arasaka would like to know your location

[pumpkin-spike18]

✨Weekly Progress #52✨ +Happy New Year 2025 ✨

So I survived another year...!

Some extra self-promotion here, but I'm running a raffle on bsky as thanks for 500+ followers!

The winner will receive a half body full illustration of whatever character they choose! To enter, follow me on bsky and repost the the raffle announcement!

Now... onto the weekly stuff! c:

Weekly Progress 2024 #52

Sketched Winter Jam full BG

Finished celebration art

Posted devlogs

Finished Winter Jam BG

Put together Winter Jam test animation

SWAK music writeup + discussion

Went through VA roster

Updated SWAK Jam schedule

Sent in Winter Jam files

Participated in Meet and Greet

Drafted End of Year Writeup

Drafted VA lines

Provided expressions list

Provided CG info writeup

Made base marketing schedule

Looking back at 2024 ⏳

It's been a year of ups and downs. Of trying new things, of failing, and getting back up again.

The Results of 2024 Goals

Finish SYVNH ✔

Finish BWOBK ❌

24 Illustrations ✔

Write a happy story ❌

Getting Bingo ❌

My biggest accomplishment this year is definitely completing Stuck in a Yandere Visual Novel...HELP!!

This was finished in May, but somehow it feels like a lifetime ago... The full story is 84k+ words, which is definitely the longest (finished) story I've written.

In this coming year, I hope I can get some merch completed for the game, and maybe redo some of the art since I think I've improved since I started development back in 2022.

I did "finish" 24 illustrations for 2024, but I might've cheated a bit based on my original intentions. In 2023, I said "24 illustrations not used in Visual Novels." This year, I didn't add the latter requirement, but I had intended to follow it.

However, come December, I was short 4 illustrations. Coincidentally, I completed 3 CGs for Spooktober and 1 animation for Winter Jam. Since I didn't have that criteria, I decided to add it into the count.

(The animation was too big and had to be uploaded as two files, thus pushing the last image to another row.)

...And now what I didn't succeed in :(

I accomplished 6 items, but they were not bingo. I only have myself to blame for making one of the requirements "10 VN BGs" 😂 Honestly some of these goals were so difficult, I'm surprised I managed to succeed in any of them.

I am quite sad that I couldn't finish much fanart for my favorite vtubers. I thought it'd be easy, but I often ended up spending time on commissions and projects.

I was pleasantly surprised that I completed more than 25 commissions as I counted them up! I really thought I didn't make it...;; Sadly, although I completed so many commissions... it still wasn't a salary I could live off of. If I didn't had savings, I would've been in big trouble 💦 This was definitely the biggest "down" I felt this year. The physical evidence that I could not make digital artist my career.

The team is still together for BWOBK! But we've all been busy with our own separate projects and various private matters. We still intend to work on it for 2025, though!

And, it'll definitely be one of my big goals for 2025.

...I don't even remember the happy story goal 😂 (I won't count my fanfics- they're also not that happy either, just slated for a happy ending.)

I wrote for two VNs this year. Sorry to say neither are happy.

Visual Novel Releases

Thank goodness I did not beat last year's record (9 projects) 😂 I would cry with pain...

This year, I submitted 3 "solo" projects.

*Disclaimers:

Most of the remaining work to release the full SYVNH game was mainly just me, but a number of people worked together to make it a reality.

A Sky of Falling Birds is still a demo.

But if I put all these in separate categories, it'd both look like I did very little + stretch the post even further 😅

I also participated in 2 jam projects as an artist!

I also participated in 3 other projects as an artist, but those games are currently not released. So... can it be said that I participated in 5 team projects this year...?

Does that mean I total to 8 projects this year...? Jesus, I didn't beat last year but I sure came close again 😭

A Year of Fan Projects

I participated in a lot of Ace Attorney fan events this year! You can see all of them in my art tag!

Last year, Arimia convinced me to join the DGM 20th Project Zine and although I cried at my own mistakes, I got through to the end! Paneling is hard... Drawing so much detail is even harder... There were definitely many tears during that zine.

See the post here!

Alongside that, I was working on two NaruMitsu Big Bang projects as an artist. I worked with some really great writers who wrote some amazing stories for our love of this pairing!

You can read more about both stories here and here!

Aaaand then after that, I fell in love with The Great Ace Attorney and spent a whole week speedily finishing as many chibi illustrations as I could for Ryuubowl Week, which celebrated the pair AsoRyuu.

You can find all the artwork I made for the week in this tag!

And then I also.. Wait, that's it?? Huh, I thought I did something for Golden Kamuy, too...

Well, I tried to, but ultimately I was so tired from everything else, I didn't get very far beyond one image per challenge/event. Ah, well... There's always next year.

Then... that's it for 2024. It's hard to summarize a whole year of my feelings in a single post (and keep it positive). It's easy to just show all my successes, but there were also many failures. Many attempts in projects that I won't talk about anymore and ideas that couldn't make it through the initial planning phase. There's much more than what I've shown here. But despite it all, I want to keep creating. I want to tell my stories and I want to see people enjoy them!

So I'm going to keep trying. It may not be the way I imagined it to be, I may have to try new methods, but I want to make it happen. And if you read everything and still want to stick around for this journey, thank you, and Happy New Year 2025~

[awkwardlyotherworldlyoracle]

From Confusion to Clarity, Charani’s Journey with NIDM Hyderabad

In the quiet lanes of Hyderabad, Charani sat by the window of her small apartment, sipping chai and scrolling through job listings that seemed endless and, frankly, hopeless. A fresh commerce graduate, she had dreams bigger than her degree, but no clear direction. Like many others, she followed the safe path, study hard, get a degree, land a job, and make your family proud.

But the job part? That wasn’t happening.

Every rejection email felt like a blow. She began to doubt herself.

"Was I not good enough?" "Do I even have the right skills for this world?"

Each day passed with rising anxiety and increasing pressure from family to “do something.” But doing what? That’s when the universe sent her a sign on her phone.

While scrolling Instagram late at night, she came across an ad that caught her attention: Turn your creativity into a career, Join NIDM, the Best Digital Marketing Institute in Madhapur.

There was something sincere about the message. Something different.

The next morning, Charani visited the National Institute of Digital Marketing (NIDM) in Madhapur. From the moment she walked in, the vibe was electric, young minds discussing branding strategies, faculty guiding live ad campaigns, and real-time dashboards showing actual website traffic data.

This wasn’t just another classroom. It was a gateway into a world she never knew existed.

She sat through a demo session and something clicked. “This is it,” she thought. “This is where I start over.”

The curriculum at NIDM wasn’t like traditional education. It wasn’t about memorizing notes or writing long exams. It was about, Learning how businesses actually grow online, Running live ad campaigns on Google and Meta, Creating SEO-optimized content, Designing creatives on Canva and Adobe tools, Studying real analytics and performance metrics, Getting certified by platforms like Google, HubSpot, and Meta

Charani had never felt more alive.

She discovered her passion for content marketing and brand storytelling. Her trainers at NIDM recognized her talent early and pushed her beyond her limits with love, patience, and mentorship.

In just a few weeks, she went from a confused graduate to someone managing a mini digital campaign for a real client through her internship.

That first “client call” gave her butterflies but also pride. She had found her purpose.Upon completing the course, Charani’s portfolio was stronger than ever. She had certificati ons, live project experience, and an impressive resume—thanks to NIDM’s in-house career support team.

Within two months, she landed her first role at a well-known digital marketing agency in Hyderabad as a Content Strategist. She worked on multiple projects, learned client handling, ran blog calendars, and built websites that ranked on Google.

But she didn’t stop there.

Fast forward to today, Charani is a freelance digital marketing consultant, partnering with e-commerce brands, wellness startups, and even international clients. She earns more than she ever imagined and works on her own terms. She also conducts webinars to help beginners just like she once was. Words from Charani to You “If you’re reading this and feeling stuck like I was please know that your story can change. I thought I was lost, but NIDM helped me find my way. Today, I don’t just have a job, I have a career I love, a skill that pays, and the freedom to create my path.”

“One Instagram ad changed my life. Let this blog be that turning point for you.”

If Charani’s story inspired you, it’s time to take your own first step.

Visit www.nidmdigitalmarketing.com NIDM Hyderabad – The Best Digital Marketing Institute in Madhapur.

[bizzbuzzcreations]

This Strategy Got Me 3x More Results in Just 7 Days

In the online world, everyone’s chasing one thing—better results. Whether you're a freelancer, a digital marketer, or running a small business, the focus is always the same: getting more leads, increasing visibility, and improving conversions. I’ve tested a lot of methods, but one specific strategy gave me 3x better results in just 7 days—without spending a single rupee on ads.

Day 1: Audit Everything Before You Act

Before doing anything, I audited my entire online presence—website, Google Business Profile, social pages, and previous campaigns. The goal was to identify what’s working and what’s holding me back.

This gave me clarity on how to increase business results in one week without wasting time on guesswork.

Tip: Use free tools like Google Search Console, Ubersuggest, and Hot jar to check traffic, performance, and user behavior.

Day 2: Create One High-Converting Landing Page

Instead of driving traffic to my homepage, I built a simple, focused landing page with a clear message, one offer, and one call-to-action (CTA). This alone helped triple conversions fast because the page was laser-targeted to solve one specific problem for my audience.

I optimized it using these key elements:

Strong headline with benefits

Social proof (testimonials)

Quick contact form or WhatsApp button

Fast load speed

This became the foundation of my quick business growth strategy that actually worked.

Day 3: Post High-Intent Content on Social Media

Next, I crafted value-packed posts for Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn—tailored to the pain points of my ideal audience.

I focused on:

3 quick tips (carousel style)

Client success stories

Before-and-after results

Engaging questions and polls

Each post was linked to my landing page. This step was crucial in learning how to grow website traffic quickly without ads and drive warm traffic organically.

Day 4: Run Email + WhatsApp Broadcast Campaign

Now that my landing page was live and getting organic traffic, I sent out a broadcast message to my existing contacts and email list.

The message format was:

Short headline

One-liner problem

Direct solution (linked to landing page)

Urgency (limited offer or time)

This step alone brought in over 100 targeted visits in one day, leading to new inquiries and conversions. If you want to know how to get more clients online in a week, reactivating old contacts is an underrated goldmine.

Day 5: Collaborate with Micro-Influencers

On Day 5, I partnered with 2 local Instagram influencers relevant to my niche. Instead of paying them, I offered them a free trial of my service in exchange for a shout-out.

This brought new traffic and boosted my brand awareness overnight. When it comes to ways to boost online visibility in 7 days, influencer marketing—especially micro-collaborations—works like magic.

Day 6: Create a Google My Business Offer

If you’re not using Google My Business (GMB) correctly, you’re missing out.

I updated:

My profile with accurate services

Added fresh photos and videos

Created a special 7-day offer

The result? 5 new inquiries from people searching locally.

If you're a small business, this is one of the fast lead generation tips you must try.

Day 7: Analyze, Improve & Repost

On the final day, I used insights from:

My social media (which posts got the most engagement)

Landing page (which CTA worked best)

GMB and WhatsApp (which keywords people searched)

Then I doubled down on what worked:

Reposted my best-performing content

A/B tested landing page buttons

Scheduled the next week’s content in advance

This kind of consistent review is the base of any 7-day plan to improve marketing performance.

Final Thoughts

I didn’t use paid ads. I didn’t work 14 hours a day. I simply applied a focused, smart plan—and the results were real.

If you're looking for the best marketing hacks to increase engagement fast, the answer isn’t more tools or more content. It’s a clear offer, a strong message, and consistent outreach.

Whether you're just starting or already running a business, this is a proven digital strategy to get results in less than 10 days—and it can work for you too.

By outsourcing tasks like payroll, IT, and customer service, you save money, get expert support, and focus on what matters most. With 24/7 service and global talent, BPO helps your business do more—while spending less.

[seventeenlovesthree]

“My best friend is finally getting therapy and part of his healing process is becoming my employee”

@taikouvember Day 5 - Hope: Something you would like to see happening for them

Short Fic Summary: Koushirou struggles to get new employees for his start-up company and hiring processes go rather slowly, even with the support of a very engaged team. He absolutely isn't prepared to hear that their most recent New Hire for the marketing department is someone very familiar to him... (Because I always wanted to write a fic about their set-up as coworkers at Koushirou's company while using a ridiculously long and cheesy light novel title - and because we all know that this would be the best type of therapy for Taichi!)

Word Count: 3287

“Excuse me, Izumi-shachou?”

The door to Koushirou’s main office opened and the HR manager came in.

“Kawashima-san”, Koushirou greeted her, accompanied by Tentomon bowing down next to him. She immediately smiled at the ladybug, who had become some kind of mascot to the little start-up company.

“Hello, Tento-san. I just wanted to hand in the sheet of New Hires we acquired today.”

“Ah, thank you very much”, Tentomon took the folder with the CVs in place of his partner, who let out a sigh of relief. It had taken several weeks to get the hiring process going, the main team in office consisted mainly of acquaintances he had made thanks to the network he had been building together with his American friend since he was 16. Since his tech company wasn’t exactly known too well yet, competition in regards to personnel proved to be rather difficult – especially in non-technical fields.

“We only had three applicants this time, but Takano-san actually found someone he intends to add to the marketing team core, so that may be a good sign!”, Kawashima explained and seemed rather cheerful about the announcement. Just like Koushirou, Kawashima Shiho was still in her early twenties, but pretty dedicated to get all administration duties done – which Koushirou was more than thankful for. She had joined the company around six months after he had met at a technology fair and Koushirou, who had mainly focused on getting technical acquaintances on board, had been pretty lucky to have stumbled across her. Things had gotten better back then – especially after the name Izumi Koushirou had become more well-known after appearing in the media thanks to the Eosmon incident a few months ago. Which was also when he had been contacted by Takano Hideki  – a marketing specialist in his mid-thirties, who had been more than fascinated by the intent of the company.

Providing gadgets for the growing network of humans partnering with “Digital Monsters” wasn’t exactly a market he had experienced before. And so, Koushirou had slowly but steadily gathered a little team of tech – and Digimon – enthusiasts. It wasn’t a lot, especially since he couldn’t even yet afford hiring too many people at once, but he had high hopes that things would improve.

“Three is more than we anticipated, so this is indeed a good sign”, Koushirou replied, “Thank you for attending the hiring meetings in my place, Kawashima-san.”

She shook her head in response.

“That is my job after all and you’ve been particularly busy with reporting the company project results to the finance team. Also, as company president, you don’t even have to be at all the hiring meetings for the other departments”, she added with a smile, which he returned wearily. They really needed the marketing team to make sure the company would gain more publicity – and thus, new potential clients and supporters if he wanted to maintain all of this. His American friend still provided financial support – though he didn’t plan on depending on that forever.

“And that’s also what this list is for! I met all three of the New Hires myself and I would assume they’ll be suitable additions to the company.”

“That is good to hear. I would still really like to meet them myself”, Koushirou admitted – he wasn’t exactly an office-shut-in and regularly tried to stay in touch with the different departments as much as he could. He also had veto rights in regards to hiring and felt like he had to at least look over the company structure to some degree. But by trying to micromanage everything, it did remind him a little of the times he had to look over Iori, Miyako, Ken and Daisuke during their school days…

“… You really should get to meet them, Koushirou-han.”

Both humans turned to Tentomon, as the Digimon urgently stared at one of the sheets after he had browsed curiously through the folder. Koushirou could, at this point, read his partner perfectly to be able to tell that something wasn’t right.

“Why, what do you mean, Tentomon?”

“Well… You may want to have a personal talk with one of them at least.”

Hearing that, he raised an eyebrow and took the folder out of Tentomon’s claws – only to immediately freeze the moment he saw the application picture…

Kawashima blinked in surprise and confusion. “Is something wrong?” Having her own curiosity piqued, she glanced at the sheet as well. “Oh, he was a very interesting applicant, we weren’t completely sure whether he would fit the role, but Takano-san seemed very intrigued by his attitude and presentation, so I trust that we made the right choice by hiring him.”

“… Do you know if he is still in office?”

“Oh, he probably is still talking to Takano-san, I assume. Like I said, he was highly impressed by him.”

“E-excuse me, then…” With his lips pressed together, Koushirou bowed and, to Kawashima’s even greater surprise, almost stormed out of the office. Leaving his HR manager and his Digimon partner behind, with the former still being at a complete loss.

“I’ve… Never seen him that frantic before, does he know the applicant?”

“Oh, ya see…”, Tentomon chuckled, bashfully rubbing the back at his head after pointing at the man with the confident smile on the application picture, “He may actually know Yagami Taichi-han a little too well…”

~

“Shachou?!”

Takano didn’t react any less astonished as Kawashima had just a few minutes ago when Koushirou almost slammed the door to his office open – which wasn’t like anything their usually composed and cool company president had ever done before. Besides the main IT and tech work space and Koushirou’s main office, the floor mainly consisted of the HR, finance and PR/marketing offices. Paths were short and so it didn’t even take him a minute to get here.

Their New Hire didn’t seem exactly surprised – instead, he looked like he had been haunted by a ghost when his eyes met Koushirou’s. A certain sense of “Damn, I didn’t think I’d meet you just yet” was in the air.

“Is something the matter, Izumi-shachou? You look rather distressed?”, Takano asked and Taichi became even more pale.

“I… Just talked to Kawashima-san and came here to greet our newest company member personally”, he smiled a forced smile – and Takano found himself laughing.

“See, I knew you would leave an impression early, Yagami-san.”

“Y-yeah… That’s one way to put it”, Taichi smiled in return, which led Koushirou to cough.

“Takano-san, would you mind if I talked to Yagami-san alone for a few minutes?” The way he pronounced his name – the family name of the person whose first name he had probably said a million times before – felt odd, foreign and just plain wrong, but his brain was running on autopilot right now anyway. What was happening here, why was it happening, was this a prank, was he dreaming?

“Absolutely not, I am sure you’ll be just as pleased with him as I was, just please call me back when you are done”, Takano said. Despite being more than ten years older than himself, he was oozing quite a relaxed and confident aura, still seemed very “in touch” with his younger colleagues… But Koushirou couldn’t tell how much he actually knew.

“Thank you very much…”

With that, Takano left his little office space and the two long-term friends behind, who remained quiet, still maintaining – somewhat uncomfortable – eye contact… Until the door was closed and the air seemed clear.

“Taichi-san, why on earth didn't you tell me that you applied to my company?! When did you intend to tell me this, just – how did you even come up with this idea, what was going through your head?!”, it eventually bursted out of Koushirou in waves, so he couldn’t even keep his voice low anymore – didn’t even care anymore if the entire office heard him like that – and Taichi just apologetically raised his arms.

“I wanted it to be a surprise! I obviously knew you would learn about it sooner than later, but, knowing how freaking busy you were recently, I kinda thought it’d take at least until tomorrow!”, Taichi responded, but Koushirou still stared at him as if he had lost his mind. It was true that they had barely been in touch in recent weeks due to his finance report – but also because of something else.

“And what a surprise this is! Also, that doesn’t explain why you applied here, I mean… What happened to your job at the pachinko parlor?”

“I quit there. You said it yourself once, I was even more miserable every time I went there, and according to my therapist, it was just adding up to any mental issues, so… Yeah, I finally had the guts to quit.”

Taichi had finally started seeing a therapist. After losing Agumon, he had shut himself away for several days – up until Hikari, Koushirou and the others eventually couldn’t bear leaving him to his own devices to rot away in his flat anymore. It had taken quite a few attempts, speeches, crying and shouting to get through to him, reminding him that he didn’t have to deal with all of this by himself for him to finally break down. Years of self-isolation, years of pent up trauma, the feeling of loss, of his partner, of his sense of self… It had all come together, culminating in several painful realizations.

There hadn’t been an immediate solution. Instead, there had been a few fights and fallouts even, several weeks of searching and making use of Koushirou’s connections to find a therapist that was capable of taking over this case. Obviously, not a lot of “normal” humans were even in the position to relate to anything Yagami Taichi had gone through in his young life of only 23 years, but… It was worth a shot. And Koushirou had been glad that Taichi had accepted the opportunity despite having rebelled against the idea for a long time. Whichever path it may lead him towards, it could only have gotten better in his opinion.

However, he had not expected to suddenly see his best friend standing here in his office, dressed in suit and tie, not just as a visitor, but as an actual… Employee. His employee. And… As what even?

“I still don’t understand… Why did you apply to our marketing team, of all departments? How does that relate to your studies?”

Now it was on Taichi to cough and, apparently, collecting himself.

“See… You know, I picked up writing my thesis again, right?”, Taichi explained calmly – which was an unusual sight, but it also calmed Koushirou down a little as well.

“You’re writing about the relationship between the real and the Digital World and how its relations may result in a symbiosis between the two…”

“Yeah. And once I’m done, I will have to present my thesis orally as well and, you know, I was talking to my therapist about that… He said I’m currently lacking experience to pull something like that off. Speaking in front of a crowd of people, being convincing…”

Hearing that, Koushirou felt a little sting in his chest. The Yagami Taichi he had known for the majority of his life used to be capable of pulling people along just by being himself, by letting his charisma show, his natural sense of leadership. To hear that someone externally had come to the conclusion that he was currently not in a state of being his naturally contagious self anymore was… Daunting, to say the least.

“And… Part of me knows that I want to make that symbiosis happen. Kinda, at least. So… I need to be able to sell that vision somehow. I have no idea how to do that yet, but… I want to learn how to do it.”

Seeing Taichi so vulnerable, so open to him… Hadn’t happened in a long time. Yes, he had seen him cry several times before, but he hadn’t witnessed him… Explaining himself so surely yet unsurely at the same time.

“Then I heard Hikari and Takeru talk about how you’ve been struggling to get people to work for your company and…”, Taichi hesitated, “Yeah, I saw the open positions listed on your screen the other day too.”

Koushirou frowned. Again, they hadn’t talked a lot in the past weeks, hadn’t even seen each other in person for a while, so… He really must have worked hard on his application there. It made the sting increase even more. Made him feel like the worst friend in the world.

“I had no idea…”

“Like I said, it was… Kinda meant to be a surprise, you know?” The grin on his face felt genuine, but Koushirou couldn’t shake the thought that he must have forced himself to keep quiet about it too.

“But… You could have asked me! I could have introduced you to Takano-san even sooner and-“

“No!” This time, Taichi actually seemed steadfast about his decision and, most importantly, more confident again to put his foot down. “That’s the point, I didn’t want to be hired based on, well, knowing the CEO. I don’t want handouts, Koushirou, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you. This was a crazy idea in the first place and I brought it up to my therapist, even if it felt stupid and out of place after everything that happened, but… I wanna figure out what I really want to do now. And what I’m capable of, on my own.”

Admittedly, Koushirou had never been to therapy himself, so he wasn’t exactly aware of how it worked, but if Taichi was already able to put his vision into words like that after just a few months… It really must have left an impact, Koushirou thought to himself while listening patiently.

Of course, when the subject of therapy had been brought up by Hikari for the first time, Koushirou had done his research – like he always did whenever he was not familiar with something. Thus, he remembered that there was something along the lines of exposure therapy. So whatever Taichi and his therapist must have brewed up together, it did feel like Taichi intended to face his demons, all of his insecurities heads on, taking on a challenge like this.

A part of him had almost assumed that Taichi would end up distancing himself from him even further, from everything in order to avoid hurting even more. Who could have blamed him for wanting to get away from everything that could potentially remind him of the part of himself that he had lost?

But now, Taichi really seemed to have gathered enough courage to do the opposite instead.

“So… Takano-san doesn’t know that you know me?”, Koushirou asked softly, causing Taichi to scratch his chin.

“Eh, I would say he still somewhat looked through me”, he confessed, again with a grin – one that felt a lot more like him though. “I knew way too much about this place and I’m pretty sure he saw me around before, but… I tried not to bring it up. But he’s actually a great guy, so talking to him made it all feel less stupid after all.”

Despite of how furious Koushirou had been before about not having known about any of this, about being left out of the picture… It also felt like, by choosing this path in particular, here of all places, Taichi was intending to step closer towards him specifically as well. Even if he hadn’t let him in on how it looked inside of him for a long time, even if he had shut him out just like everyone else… Now that the tables had turned, in just the blink of an eye, Koushirou couldn’t suppress a smile, even if he had wanted to.

“You mean getting into ‘marketing’, mh?”

“Yeah, wild, I know.”

Koushirou’s smile widened.

“I presume you’ll be responsible for texting and being a PR representative of the company – and less for designing then?”

This time, Taichi pulled a grimace – and Koushirou knew he had hit a nerve there. His political sciences studies would come in handy, that he was certain about – however, talking convincingly to politicians still required a significantly different skillset from selling their ideas to the general public, including clueless stakeholders and, especially, the media.

“I know that tone, Kou, and I don’t like it! Mind you, I was practicing technical stuff with Hikari, I know photoshop and such! I’m not a kid anymore and way past the point of bluescreening your computer! Trust me!”

“No, no, I believe you!”, Koushirou laughed out loud – furthermore, he could not help but notice just how much he had missed Taichi’s presence. Bickering like that, being like this together, felt like putting over a warm, comfortable blanket he had hidden away in a closet for a long, long time…

And in the end, it was true – not only did he believe Taichi, he had always believed in him as well. And deep down, Koushirou knew better than anyone else how capable Taichi could be when he was at a hundred percent.

“Good! But yeah, Takano-san will do the visual designing stuff, I’m here to provide the input.”

“Interesting.” So that was most likely what Kawashima had been referring to when she had talked about Taichi’s ‘performance and presentation’ coming off as intriguing, Koushirou mused internally. Somebody must have done their homework up front and Koushirou was convinced that Takano had dug up quite a bit. Probably must have been aware of their ‘relationship status’ as well. “So by input you mean… Processing your experiences and present them in a neat package?”

“Pretty much”, Taichi smiled a crooked smile. He really had come a long way, considering how casually he was already conveying this. Maybe this would really prove to be a key element in getting Taichi’s spirit, and eventually Agumon back? Koushirou had seen him make miracles happen if he set his mind to it, so maybe his therapist had been onto something there. “So, you’re not mad at me anymore?”

Taken off guard by that reply, Koushirou blinked at him.

“I… Wasn’t exactly mad in the first place”, he said truthfully, all glimpses of potential anger had completely vanished after all and Taichi’s gentle tone was something he had never really been able to stand a chance against anyway. Instead, there was a weird sense of… Wary giddiness now. “Just… I did not see any of this coming.”

“Well, but then I was already successful in a way.”

“You really were.”

“Heh… So be sure to see me around a lot more in the future, Izumi-shachou, Takano-san was talking very highly of you.”

Avoiding to tell him that they wouldn’t even be in the same team and thus, probably not getting in touch much, Koushirou couldn’t tell if he was ready for them to be actual coworkers yet. He couldn’t tell if there would be rumours and gossiping, whether there were other complications he hadn’t thought of yet. All he could do was trust in Takano’s judgement, Taichi’s persistence and his own ability to separate their newly founded professional bond from their private bond. Things would absolutely be different from now on, but – it was genuinely making him a bit more hopeful for the future. For the sake of his company – and for Taichi’s sake as well. Most importantly, setting all rationality aside and letting his emotions do the talking, he wanted to believe that this arrangement would eventually improve their friendship again rather than harming it.

“We’ll see about that, Yagami-san.”

Little did he know that it would end up being an entirely different experience from anything he could ever have imagined…

[unichacmedia]

Top 10 Social Media Site Trends That Will Dominate 2025

By UniChac Media

Social media in 2025 isn't all about shares and likes anymore - it's about search, sales, AI-powered discovery, short-form video, and engagement in real-time. Every platform is changing at lightning speed, opening up new opportunities for brands to create communities, create leads, and convert.

Here are the top 10 social media platform trends that are revolutionizing the digital landscape this year — and how savvy marketers are leveraging them.

Instagram:

Reels, AI, and Monetization Features Rule Instagram is more focused on Reels than ever in 2025. The algorithm gives top priority to short-form video content, particularly if it's:

Entertaining or informative

Shot vertically

Utilizes trending sound and effects

Key Trends:

AI Captioning & Suggestions: Instagram's AI now suggests content between languages and categories — increasing discoverability.

Creator Monetization: Subscriptions, badges, and affiliate capabilities are enabling creators to monetize content into cash.

Instagram Notes & Channels: Brands are leveraging Notes for announcements and Channels for more in-depth community interaction.

If you're not posting Reels regularly, you're missing reach.

LinkedIn:

The Emergence of Personal Branding & B2B Content LinkedIn is no longer a resume graveyard. In 2025, it's the place to go for:

B2B lead generation

Industry thought leadership

Professional video content

Key Trends: Native Document Posts and Carousels still kill it.

Video-first content — particularly behind-the-scenes and opinion content — is exploding.

LinkedIn Newsletters are becoming mini blogs for personal branding and email list growth.

Brands and founders are both making LinkedIn their virtual stage.

TikTok:

From Discover to Direct Shop TikTok is a search engine, content destination, and shopping mall all wrapped up. It's the #1 platform among younger viewers (Gen Z + Alpha).

Key Trends:

TikTok Shop is reshaping eCommerce with in-video purchases.

Search Behavior: People now search "best cafes near me" or “top SEO tips” directly on TikTok.

AI-Generated Video Creators and smart voiceovers are trending.

If you're not on TikTok, your brand might be invisible to the next generation.

YouTube:

The Short + Long Content Combo YouTube still rules for deep educational content, but YouTube Shorts has changed the game.

Key Trends:

Shorts are popular in YouTube's mobile and homepage.

Searchable Video Descriptions & Tags are more important because of YouTube's overlap with Google search results.

Podcast + Video Hybrids are popular as long-form content finds new relevance on YouTube.

Marketers are applying Shorts to drive, and long-form videos to convert.

Facebook:

Paid Reach, Groups, and Retargeting Though organic reach has reduced, Facebook is still key for paid campaigns, community building, and cross-channel initiatives.

Important Trends:

Facebook Groups now integrate with Messenger and Events.

AI-Driven Ads: Campaigns now leverage Meta's Advantage+ to optimize creatives at scale.

Cross-Platform Retargeting with Instagram and WhatsApp makes it a retargeting beast.

Facebook isn't exactly sizzling, but it still brings meaningful ROI.

Pinterest:

Visual Discovery Meets eCommerce Pinterest has become an almighty visual search engine + shopping aid in 2025.

Trendy Trends:

AI-Powered Personalization surfaces content based on history of pins, searches, and trends.

Pinterest Trends Tool can forecast what users will search next.

Shoppable Pins & Rich Pins connect directly to product pages.

Perfect for fashion, home decor, food, and DIY brands — Pinterest covertly drives purchasing intent.

WhatsApp:

Sales Funnel + Customer Support WhatsApp Business is thriving in 2025 — it's now being utilized for everything from lead nurturing to direct sales.

Key Trends:

Catalogs & Product Collections built within WhatsApp

Quick Responses & Automated Flows for FAQs, order status, and service queries

Facebook/Instagram Click-to-Chat Ads straight into WhatsApp

DTC and service brands are making WhatsApp into an individual CRM.

Threads:

The End of Real-Time Microcontent Meta's answer to X (Twitter), Threads is picking up steam in 2025, particularly for brands seeking real-time conversation minus the toxicity.

Key Trends:

Short Text + Image Hybrids

Sprint-like commentary, memes, and opinion-sharing

Instagram integration increases exposure

Threads is the new playground for brands wishing to talk freely, straight, and quick.

X (Previous Twitter):

Monetization & Media Hub With Elon Musk at the helm, X has transitioned from microblogging to creator-oriented, subscription-based media.

Key Trends:

X Premium supports lengthy posts, videos, and monetization

Video Podcasting and longer content are incentivized

Ad Revenue Sharing with creators lures influencers and publishers

Still appropriate for news, crypto, tech, and quick-reacting brands.

Snapchat:

AR, Real-Time, and Gen Z Engagement Snapchat might not be topping the headlines, but it's a must for interactive campaigns, geofilters, and hyper-local brand experiences.

Key Trends:

AR Lenses & Filters now feature shopping tags

Spotlight (Snap's TikTok-style feed) is picking up creator momentum

Snapchat for Web lets desktop creators stream and chat in real time

Ideal for young, fun, fashion-conscious, or local audience marketing.

Conclusion: Adapt or Be Ignored

In 2025, each social media platform serves a unique purpose. The winning brands aren’t everywhere — they’re strategic about where and how they show up. Whether you’re selling a product, offering a service, or growing a community, knowing where your audience spends time (and how they behave there) is key to success.

Need a multi-platform strategy? Unichac Media can assist you in creating a strong social media presence optimized for the strengths of each platform.

Let's discuss. Claim your free social media audit today — designed for 2025 success. For more information https://unichacmedia.com/

[vastlyforgottenpenumbra]

How Abu Dhabi Businesses Are Thriving with Digital Marketing in 2025

In the heart of the UAE, Abu Dhabi continues to evolve—not just in its skyline, but in the way businesses connect with their audiences. Whether it's a luxury boutique on Al Maryah Island or a local food delivery service in Khalifa City, businesses today are rapidly shifting how they market themselves. And the fuel behind this growth? Digital marketing.

At TheRealMarket, a leading digital marketing agency based in Abu Dhabi, we've helped dozens of local brands transition from traditional advertising to impactful, results-driven digital strategies. The trends are clear: being visible online is no longer a choice—it's a necessity.

A Changing Landscape: Digital First, Always Post-2024, consumer behavior in the UAE has gone through a massive transformation. Smartphone penetration is above 96%, and users spend an average of 7+ hours a day online. Whether people are looking for a nearby salon, a financial consultant, or an interior designer—they're searching online first.

This means if your business isn’t showing up where your customers are looking (Google, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok), you’re missing out on massive opportunities.

What’s Driving This Digital Boom in Abu Dhabi?

Hyper-Localization Digital marketing allows Abu Dhabi businesses to target very specific audiences, such as:

Residents in specific communities (e.g., Al Reem, Saadiyat, Mussafah)

Language-specific users (Arabic, English, Urdu, etc.)

Interest-based groups (e.g., fitness enthusiasts, luxury buyers, tech-savvy consumers)

Using geo-targeted ads and local SEO strategies, small businesses can now compete with big names—something that was impossible just a few years ago.

Strong Government Push for Innovation The UAE government has actively promoted digital transformation across all sectors. With initiatives like UAE Vision 2031 and smart city programs, even traditional businesses are now encouraged to digitize. This includes building better websites, running social campaigns, and using analytics to track performance.

High ROI & Lower Costs Compared to traditional billboards or newspaper ads, digital marketing offers better return on investment (ROI). A well-optimized Google Ads campaign or Instagram promotion can reach thousands of potential customers with just a few hundred dirhams—and every click is measurable.

How Abu Dhabi Businesses Are Winning With TheRealMarket At TheRealMarket, we’ve seen success across industries. Here’s how we help:

✅ Optimized Website Design We don’t just build websites—we build conversion machines. Every website we design is mobile-friendly, SEO-optimized, fast, and focused on converting visitors into leads.

✅ Google Business Profile Management We help local businesses get noticed on Google Maps and local search results. With proper keyword use, positive reviews, and regular updates, you start ranking within weeks—not months.

✅ Social Media That Sells From TikTok videos to Instagram Reels and LinkedIn lead generation, we create customized social media strategies that engage and convert.

✅ Localized SEO & Paid Ads We use a mix of Arabic and English keywords, competitor analysis, and location-based campaigns to bring you traffic that actually matters.

Case Study (Anonymized) A local beauty salon in Abu Dhabi saw a 260% increase in bookings after we revamped their website and launched a Google Ads campaign targeting women in Al Khalidiyah and Al Bateen. Within 3 months, they became one of the top-ranked listings in their niche.

What Can You Do Today to Stay Competitive? Audit Your Online Presence: Search your business on Google. What shows up? Is your info accurate?

Invest in Local SEO: Make sure your business is optimized for “near me” searches.

Leverage Social Media Ads: Organic reach is declining—use paid campaigns wisely.

Track & Measure Everything: Use tools like Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, and UTM links.

Partner with a Local Expert: Agencies like TheRealMarket understand the cultural, linguistic, and digital dynamics of Abu Dhabi better than anyone.

Final Thoughts In today’s fast-paced digital era, Abu Dhabi businesses can’t afford to rely on word of mouth alone. The shift is clear: the future belongs to brands that are visible, engaging, and digitally smart. Whether you're a startup or an established enterprise, it’s time to align with a strategy that actually works.

At TheRealMarket, we don't just run campaigns—we build digital ecosystems that drive real results.

Want to grow your business in Abu Dhabi? 📞 Contact TheRealMarket today and let’s build your digital success story together.

[eastlondonprinter1]

High-Impact A1 Poster Printing in London – Fast, Reliable, and Affordable

Posters remain one of the most powerful and affordable marketing tools, and nothing stands out quite like an A1 poster. At East London Printer, we specialise in A1 poster printing in London for events, business promotions, educational needs, retail advertising, and more. If you want big, bold, and beautiful posters, we’re the team to trust.

In this blog, we’ll walk you through why A1 posters are a great choice, how we ensure top-quality results, and why East London Printer is the best place to get them printed — even on the same day!

What Is an A1 Poster?

An A1 poster is a large-format print measuring 594mm x 841mm. It’s big enough to catch attention from a distance, but small enough to be displayed in indoor or outdoor areas without overwhelming the space. A1 size is ideal for:

Event promotions

Sale announcements

Product launches

Art and educational displays

Business presentations

The key advantage? Maximum visibility without the cost of billboard-sized printing.

Why Choose A1 Posters?

Great Visual ImpactA1 posters grab attention. The size allows you to include large visuals, bold fonts, and clear messages.

Versatile UsageFrom concerts and theatre shows to real estate listings and menu displays, A1 posters work in all kinds of settings.

Affordable AdvertisingCompared to digital ads or flyers, one well-placed A1 poster can bring a high return on investment.

Quick TurnaroundEspecially with us! We offer same-day A1 poster printing in London for those last-minute needs.

Our A1 Poster Printing Services

At East London Printer, we use the latest printing machines and high-resolution inkjet technology to produce vibrant, high-quality posters. Whether it’s one piece or a bulk order, you’ll get:

Full-colour prints with sharp details

A choice of matte or gloss finish

Thick and durable paper options (170gsm, 200gsm, or higher)

Edge-to-edge printing

Same-Day A1 Poster Printing in London

Need your poster printed and ready today? We’ve got you covered. We understand that marketing opportunities can pop up suddenly, so we provide a same-day printing service for A1 posters. Place your order early in the day and collect your posters later that afternoon or evening.

Our East London location is easy to access, and we offer pickup or delivery options for your convenience.

Why Choose East London Printer?

✅ Fast Turnaround – Same-day printing available

✅ High Quality – Premium paper and ink

✅ Affordable Prices – Competitive rates for all sizes

✅ Friendly Team – We’re here to help with layout or design

✅ Locally Based – Support a local East London business

We take pride in delivering every job with care and professionalism. Whether you’re a business, a school, a designer, or just someone promoting a gig, we’re happy to help.

Get in Touch Today

Ready to print your next A1 poster? Whether it’s a rush job or a planned campaign, we’ll make sure you get high-quality prints, fast.

📞 Call us: +44 (0)20 7041 9649 📧 Email us: hello@eastlondonprinter.co.uk 🌐 Visit us: East London Printer

Let us help your message stand tall and proud with our trusted A1 poster printing service in London.