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stardust-swan · 4 months

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Secrets to the Arabian Princess Scent 💐🧴🪷

So with Arab perfumes becoming popular in the West due to their strong projection and beautiful smell, and the Arab world becoming known for our knowledge on how to smell good af, I (a half Moroccan) am going to reveal some other ways we ensure we smell amazing to the girlies on Tumblr who are interested in Arab perfumes or just in generally smelling amazing 😍 Most tips are Moroccan but many apply to the Arab world in general (under the cut because this turned into a long post) ✨💞💐

1) Good Eating Habits: When my mother moved here to Europe, she was immediately struck by how the people seemed to smell like "pig." And that's no coincidence. You are what you eat, so coming from a country where nobody eats pig to one where everyone eats it, of course you're going to be struck by people smelling like it from the inside out. Not just that, but in the Arab world, it's also way less common for people to eat takeout and drink alcohol, whereas in many parts of the West, these things are a normal part of many people's diets and affects their natural scent. A lot of Arabs have also talked about how Westerners smell like "milk," and this is because Westerners tend to consume more dairy products than people in the East do. It's also common for Arabs to eat fruit as dessert instead of having cakes or cookies all the time (although speaking of cookies and cakes, the scents of rosewater, orange blossom water, almonds, honey, vanilla, oranges and lemons commonly used in Arab baking fill up the house with a wonderful smell while they're baking). Teas made from various herbal infusions are popular throughout the Arab world. Spearmint, peppermint, sage, cardamom, cinnamon, hibiscus, chamomile, anise, and thyme are commonly used to flavor tea in MENA. Dried lime tea is drunk in the Arabian Peninsula. Coffee flavoured with cardamom is also common. I especially like Turkish coffee. Spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves are commonly used in cooking, and the scent of them can cling to your clothes and hair. Herbs like mint and parsley, which have natural deodorising properties, are often used in meals.

I'm not saying that you need to cut any foods out in order to smell good, but you should consider reducing the amounts of unhealthy foods and red meats you eat, and make sure to drink plenty of water and eat veggies and fruit daily.

2) Keeping a Clean House: Here in Ireland, a lot of people don't clean their houses every day. I know multiple people that only clean their floor once a week, and have a couple of neighbours who don't do much cleaning themselves and just have a housekeeper visit to clean once a week. But in Morocco, people clean daily. The home is also deep cleaned once a week, we even wash the walls. We don't wear shoes inside, and not just that, but we also have different slippers specifically for wearing inside the bathroom. Living in a clean space is important for smelling good, because no matter what you do, you'll always end up smelling like wherever you live due to spending so much time there. The scent will cling to your clothes and hair. Which means if your house smells dirty, you will also smell dirty.

As well as making sure the house is clean, Arabs also make it smell pretty with extras. For example, in Morocco it's common to burn incense or bakhour (perfumed wood chips), and the scent permeates your clothes. People also keep pieces of musk in their wardrobes (wrapped in a handkerchief). It come in scents like orange blossom, jasmine, amber, sandalwood, chamomile and lavender. An unused bar of soap or a sachet of potpourri in your wardrobe will do the same job though if you can't or don't want to buy musk. The musk can also be used as a scented wax melt, a home scent (you just leave it in a bowl), a body perfume (rub it on your skin), a hair perfume (rub on your palms and run through the hair), or to scent bathwater. Solid perfume made from natural ingredients has the same effect. I like Lush Rose Jam solid perfume, as it smells like sweet roses and Turkish delight, and a little goes a long way.

Specific to Marrakech, you can buy jasmine balls which you just leave around the house (if you're not in Marrakech, you can just leave potpourri or dried flowers and herbs in sachets on your desk, bedside table, etc). The Marrakech herbal shops also sell sandalwood bark which you burn. Oud and amber are also burned. Herbs like lavender are sprinkled under carpets and rugs so the scent rises as they're stepped on. Room sprays from brands like Nabeel are used, which come in a range of lovely scents (like the warm vanilla and oud Kanz or the rich floral Raunaq).

3) Personal Hygiene: In the Arab world, people shower daily. In Morocco, we also go to the hammam (public bath) once a week, and we sit in the sauna room, and then rub our bodies with sabon beldi (black soap), a natural soap made from olive oil and black olives, leaving it on for a few minutes before rinsing it off. Then we scrub our skin with a kessa glove after it's marinated. Exfoliating dead skin regularly makes perfume cling to you better (if you order Korean bath towels from Amazon, they're very similar to Moroccan kessa gloves and you use them in a similar way). Then after washing our hair, we use a ghassoul clay mask (some people also rub henna into their skin). After washing the clay off, many people rub rosewater or argan oil into their skin before heading to the relaxation area to enjoy refreshments. As well as helping us smell good, it also makes our skin incomparably soft. When my parents were newlyweds, my father remarked on how he'd never felt a woman with such soft skin in his life before. My mother attributes it to regularly using the hammams before moving here.

Obviously not everyone has access to a hammam, but you can create a similar experience at home. Just sit in a steamy hot shower for 10-15 minutes, wash your skin with a natural soap and leave it on for a few minutes before rinsing off and exfoliating with a glove. Then tone with rosewater and apply oil to your body.

Dukhan treatments (smoke baths) are practiced in Sudan. Married women and brides anoint themselves with oil, before sitting over a chair with a hole in the centre. Under the seat, there is a pit, in which acacia wood, frankincense, or other aromatic woods and resins are burned in a clay vessel.

As well as showering daily (and using the hammam regularly if you're Maghrebi), many people in the Arab world also perform wudu (ritual cleansing) five times a day before praying.

Women commonly apply Musk Al Tahara (white musk), an attar that smells like vanilla, flowers and soft musk on the external parts of their vulva after periods.

Alum was commonly used as a natural deodorant in the Arab world in the past, and some still use it today.

Bidets are also common in the Arab world. In the Anglosphere they're uncommon, but it's easy to get a portable bidet (a small squeezable bottle with a nozzle) online.

We also wash our hands before meals, with a pitcher of water which is passed around the room. In Turkey, they use kolonya, made from fig blossoms, jasmine, rose, or citrus to disinfect their hands. In Morocco, it's common for women to scent their hands with rosewater or orange blossom water after meals.

4) Fragrances, Lotions and Potions: In the Arab world, perfumes are incredible. They're oil-based, so they have excellent projection and longevity. The olfactory notes commonly used in them are beautiful too: delicate rosewater and orange blossom water, exotic oud, sweet amber, vibrant roses and jasmine. In Morocco, gardenia scents are popular, even among men.

Emirati perfumes are the most well known in the West and are super good. Some personal favourites of mine include Oud Mood by Lattafa (Caramel, rose, saffron, and oud), Fatima Pink by Zimaya (Sweet rose that smells like a bit like Turkish delight. it's a dupe of the French Parfums De Marly Delina, however, the actual Delina smells very similar to generic rose oil perfumes you can get in the Arab world to begin with so Zimaya was basically able to dupe it to a T. Their version lasts really long too), Ameerat Al Arab by Lattafa (jasmine, a hint of oud, slightly citrusy. Also the name means "Arabian Princess" in English), Fakhar Rose by Lattafa (sweet, fruity, and very floral) and Yara by Lattafa (floral, amber, vanilla and strawberry). I buy my perfumes from Dubai Perfume Shop in Dublin, but they can be easily found online. Some well-known Arab perfume houses include Lattafa, Al Rehab, Zimaya, Al Qurashi, Amouage, Afnan, Ajmal, Asdaaf, Al Haramain, Armaf, Kayali, Maison Alhambra, and Swiss Arabian, but there are hundreds more.

As well as sprayable perfume, perfume oil is also used. It usually comes in rollerballs or small containers, is inexpensive, and lasts for ages. Like spray perfume, it comes in a huge variety of scents. You can also put it in diffusers or add some to cotton balls and leave in your wardrobe to scent clothes and linens.

Arabs know when to wear perfumes. For example, a rich, sweet, strong oud and vanilla scent will be beautiful in colder weather. But in warm weather, it will become cloying and sickly. Musk, amber and saffron are popular in winter, while rose, orange blossom and jasmine are popular in summer.

In the Arab world, many stalls in the Medina sell gorgeous oils, fragrances and soaps that are inexpensive. For example, the musk I mentioned above. As well as making your home smell incredible, you can also rub it on your body and you'll smell good for days.

Rosewater is commonly used as a toner and to remove makeup. In the town of Skoura, where my great grandparents were from, men even use it to shave with! Orange blossom water is also used in Arab beauty routines in a similar way to rosewater. You can apply either to a bath for extra luxury.

Argan oil is commonly used in Morocco on both skin and hair, as well as the less well-known but just as good prickly pear oil (which is very high in vitamin E). Pure argan oil actually smells mild and not fragrant (similar to olive oil), but for beauty, things like rose oil and menthol are commonly added, so it smells pretty good. Throughout the Middle East and North Africa, jasmine hair oil, castor oil and sweet almond oil (I like putting it in my baths and on my body) are easy to find. Usually Middle Eastern and South Asian shops in the West sell them too.

Honey and almond masks have been used since ancient times, and to this day are still popular. You can buy them basically anywhere. Homemade face masks made from honey and yoghurt or crushed figs and yoghurt are also used.

Aloe Vera is used to treat dry skin, acne, and sunburns. It has a cool and refreshing scent, perfect for the hot climate in many parts of the Arabian world. I like applying it after shaving as it's soothing, natural, and absorbs easily.

Frankincense, a resin used in the Middle East and North Africa for thousands of years, was traditionally used as a natural perfume. It's commonly used in incense. Frankincense oil is also good for the skin.

There are many beautiful scented soaps available in the Arab world. If you go to Turkish or Arab supermarkets, a lot of them will have a section where they sell hygiene products, including soaps with ingredients like argan, rose and oud, and olive oil. I've even found Syrian Aleppo soap before. You can just buy soaps from regular stores in scents like rose, jasmine, honey and almond, orange blossom and sandalwood for achieving that exotic scent though.

As well as using various oils, perfumes, and fragrant beauty treatments, Arab women also know how to layer these different scents to add dimension to them and avoid clashing. For example, a rose perfume over a vanilla lotion will always smell good. Other combinations that are good include almond and vanilla, rose and oud, rose and jasmine, lavender and lemon, rose and orange blossom, and orange blossom and vanilla. But there are many different combinations you can use to achieve a delicious scent that's unique to you.

I hope this was helpful, stay pretty ✨

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steveshairychest · 1 year

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After defeating vecna for a second time, Steve decides he's had enough of Hawkins and all things supernatural.

After hunting around for a few weeks, he scores himself a quaint little apartment big enough for him and for Robin when she eventually moves in after college. He doesn't sell his parents' house or demolish it like Robin suggests. No, he leaves it to sit and rot. He hopes his parents will come home one day and find it overgrown and falling to pieces, hopes they'll trudge up the steps to find the note that he had nailed to the front door that says, 'Welcome home :)'. Robin insisted on adding the passive-aggressive smiley face.

They move away from Hawkins and don't think about it for years. Sure, Steve still calls their friends who decided to stay there, and he often finds himself missing their company, but he doesn't miss the place itself. Only the people. He's made it very clear to them that he doesn't intend to step a single foot back into Hawkins until he dies. Everyone knows this, especially Robin, who's been informed on multiple drunken occasions that Steve wants to be buried on top of the hill next to Eddie so that he at least knows someone else in the graveyard.

But then he gets a letter in the mail, a simple letter in a white envelope and it haunts him for days.

The letter is from Wayne. His handwriting is rough and messy but familiar; they've been sending each other letters for a few years now. The cigarette ash smudged in some corners makes him smile. Most of the letter is just niceties; asking Steve how he is, what he's been up to, if he's found himself someone. Stuff he's used to. But then the words, 'I can't be alone for it Steve, I can't do it. I need you here. It's been 5 years, and the day still hasn't gotten any easier. I'd like it if you came to visit.' They punch Steve in the gut and leave him aching for days.

It takes him an entire week to call the number on the back of the envelope and confirm with Wayne that he'll be there. Just this once he'll go back to that retched place. For Wayne.

For Eddie.

The drive passes by in a blur, one second he's on the highway, the next he's passing by the Welcome to Hawkins sign and driving along the streets he thought he'd never see again. Wayne told him over the phone that morning to meet him at the cemetery, said that he wanted to get the hard part over and done with so that they could spend the rest of the day catching up and listening to Eddie's tapes. He'd be lying if he said he didn't cry for a solid 10 minutes in the car park, the memories that he had tried so hard to forget rushing back the second he lays eyes on Eddie's grave at the top of the hill.

He still remembers the hollow ache in his chest the day he helped Wayne pick out a spot. He had gone home that afternoon and begged Robin to make it stop, to hold him and tell him that the pain would go away. She had told him what he wanted, she had held him on the kitchen floor and promised he would never have to feel like that again.

She'd lied. That same ache spreads throughout his body as he trudges up the hill to stand before the shabby grave and the tears he thought he had left back in the car come bubbling back up as he stares down at the graffitied headstone. He hasn't seen it since the day he left. He forgot how overwhelming it is to see Eddie's name carved on the headstone.

"I'm sorry I haven't visited." He says through sobs, his vision blurred by tears as he plops down on the soft grass in front of the headstone. "I miss you." The words almost choke him.

There's the sound of footsteps behind him, boots crunching against the leaves and twigs. Wayne must have finally shown up. Steve doesn't turn around, he doesn't want Wayne to see his tears. He's supposed to be here as support. He's supposed to be the one coming up behind Wayne to offer his condolences. He stops beside Steve and sighs softly.

"Hi." Steve says weakly and finally looks up at Wayne - except... it's not Wayne.

"Hi, Steve."

It's Eddie.

#DUN DUN DUNNN N #interpret this however you want <333 #steddie #tw mentions of death #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #st4 vol2 #steveddie #stranger things s4 #wayne munson

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russellsppttemplates · 5 months

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Do you think you could do a reader who has a fake shoulder which cracks randomly in cold weather and scares the driver because he’s never heard it happen before?

I had to get the muscle that keeps my shoulder in place replaced with a medical rope and screws. So now anytime it’s cold out my shoulder cracks really loudly randomly 🤭

Scares the crap out of my roommates 😂

Note: I had to go and look it up because I wasn't sure I knew what it was (I had some idea because Grey's Anatomy is my comfort show), and I hope it's okay!

Even though it wasn't the warmest day, the sun was still shinning and Charles wanted to take you out on a date before racing duties started tightening up his schedule and make it harder for him to show you just how serious he was about you.

"Ready to go?", Charles asked as you buckled yourself in the car, driving off when you nodded as you caught up with eachother's week.

"I forgot to ask", Charles tapped his forehead, "do you get sea sick?", he looked at you with wide eyes as he parked near the marina.

"I'm pretty okay with it, I don't usually have any trouble", you assured him as relief took over his features.

"Good, that's good - how could I be so stupid and not ask you if you would like the date idea in the first place?", he mumbled to himself before you took hold of his hand and squeezing it in reassurance.

"I said I wouldn't mind surprises", you tranquillized him before you left the car and walked up with him to his boat.

Charles started driving it, telling you the plans he had for the afternoon, "I know it's cold today, but when it's sunny like this, the coastline looks beautiful and I wanted to show you it and spend some time just the two of us", he smiled. He didn't mind his fans and he would happily sign and take photos whenever they approached him, and you had assured him multiple times that he should take all the time he needed to do that and that you'd just stand on the side without a worry, but like this, he could ensure no one interrupted you.

The breeze was getting chillier and Charles got one of his cardigan like sweaters from the room, "I always have spare ones here", he smiled as he helped you put it on.

The moment you pulled your arm to fit the sleeve, a loud crack was heard and Charles stopped what he was doing, "what was that? It came from your arm! Did I hurt you? We're in the sea, I need to drive back to the harbou-", he frantically tried to think of a plan as you giggled, "how can you laugh? Are you not in pain?".

"I'm fine, Charles", you said, getting it to crack again after a couple of attempts, "I had surgery on my shoulder because my muscles there gave me a lot of trouble - it's like I have a fake shoulder and it cracks randomly. It's all screws and medical rope though, I don't feel anything", you reassured him, "I'm sorry if it scared you".

"I wasn't scared for the noise, I just thought I had hurt you and that we were nowhere near a hospital", he raised his hands before pulling the piece of clothing on your torso and standing closer to your face. Your lips were right there, pink and plump as you warmed up.

"Do you know what would make it better?", you smirked, "a kiss - I think it would help a lot", you smiled.

(Thank you for sending this in ✨️)

#charles leclerc blurb #inês writes blurbs #f1 blurb #f1 x reader

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empty-movement · 10 months

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May I ask what scanners / equipment / software you're using in the utena art book project? I'm an artist and half the reason I rarely do traditional art is because I'm never happy with the artwork after it's scanned in. But the level of detail even in the blacks of Utena's uniform were all captured so beautifully! And even the very light colors are showing up so well! I'd love to know how you manage!

You know what's really fun? This used to be something you put in your site information section, the software and tools used! Not something that's as normal anymore, but let's give it a go, sorry it's long because I don't know what's new information and what's not! Herein: VANNA'S 'THIS IS AS SPECIFIC AS MY BREAK IS LONG' GUIDE/AIMLESS UNEDITED RAMBLE ABOUT SCANNING IMAGES

Scanning: Modern scanners, by and large, are shit for this. The audience for scanning has narrowed to business and work from home applications that favor text OCR, speed, and efficiency over archiving and scanning of photos and other such visual media. It makes sense--there was a time when scanning your family photographs and such was a popular expected use of a scanner, but these days, the presumption is anything like that is already digital--what would you need the scanner to do that for? The scanner I used for this project is the same one I have been using for *checks notes* a decade now. I use an Epson Perfection V500. Because it is explicitly intended to be a photo scanner, it does threebthings that at this point, you will pay a niche user premium for in a scanner: extremely high DPI (dots per inch), extremely wide color range, and true lossless raws (BMP/TIFF.) I scan low quality print media at 600dpi, high quality print media at 1200 dpi, and this artbook I scanned at 2400 dpi. This is obscene and results in files that are entire GB in size, but for my purposes and my approach, the largest, clearest, rawest copy of whatever I'm scanning is my goal. I don't rely on the scanner to do any post-processing. (At these sizes, the post-processing capacity of the scanner is rendered moot, anyway.) I will replace this scanner when it breaks by buying another identical one if I can find it. I have dropped, disassembled to clean, and abused this thing for a decade and I can't believe it still tolerates my shit. The trade off? Only a couple of my computers will run the ancient capture software right. LMAO. I spent a good week investigating scanners because of the insane Newtype project on my backburner, and the quality available to me now in a scanner is so depleted without spending over a thousand on one, that I'd probably just spin up a computer with Windows 7 on it just to use this one. That's how much of a difference the decade has made in what scanners do and why. (Enshittification attacks! Yes, there are multiple consumer computer products that have actually declined in quality over the last decade.)

Post-processing: Photoshop. Sorry. I have been using Photoshop for literally decades now, it's the demon I know. While CSP is absolutely probably the better piece of software for most uses (art,) Photoshop is...well it's in the name. In all likelihood though, CSP can do all these things, and is a better product to give money to. I just don't know how. NOTENOTENOTE: Anywhere I discuss descreening and print moire I am specifically talking about how to clean up *printed media.* If you are scanning your own painting, this will not be a problem, but everything else about this advice will stand! The first thing you do with a 2400 dpi scan of Utena and Anthy hugging? Well, you open it in Photoshop, which you may or may not have paid for. Then you use a third party developer's plug-in to Descreen the image. I use Sattva. Now this may or may not be what you want in archiving!!! If fidelity to the original scan is the point, you may pass on this part--you are trying to preserve the print screen, moire, half-tones, and other ways print media tricks the eye. If you're me, this tool helps translate the raw scan of the printed dots on the page into the smooth color image you see in person. From there, the vast majority of your efforts will boil down to the following Photoshop tools: Levels/Curves, Color Balance, and Selective Color. Dust and Scratches, Median, Blur, and Remove Noise will also be close friends of the printed page to digital format archiver. Once you're happy with the broad strokes, you can start cropping and sizing it down to something reasonable. If you are dealing with lots of images with the same needs, like when I've scanned doujinshi pages, you can often streamline a lot of this using Photoshop Actions.

My blacks and whites are coming out so vivid this time because I do all color post-processing in Photoshop after the fact, after a descreen tool has been used to translate the dot matrix colors to solids they're intended to portray--in my experience trying to color correct for dark and light colors is a hot mess until that process is done, because Photoshop sees the full range of the dots on the image and the colors they comprise, instead of actually blending them into their intended shades. I don't correct the levels until I've descreened to some extent.

As you can see, the print pattern contains the information of the original painting, but if you try to correct the blacks and whites, you'll get a janky mess. *Then* you change the Levels:

If you've ever edited audio, then dealing with photo Levels and Curves will be familiar to you! A well cut and cleaned piece of audio will not cut off the highs and lows, but also will make sure it uses the full range available to it. Modern scanners are trying to do this all for you, so they blow out the colors and increase the brightness and contrast significantly, because solid blacks and solid whites are often the entire thing you're aiming for--document scanning, basically. This is like when audio is made so loud details at the high and low get cut off. Boo.

What I get instead is as much detail as possible, but also at a volume that needs correcting:

Cutting off the unused color ranges (in this case it's all dark), you get the best chance of capturing the original black and white range:

In some cases, I edit beyond this--for doujinshi scans, I aim for solid blacks and whites, because I need the file sizes to be normal and can't spend gigs of space on dust. For accuracy though, this is where I'd generally stop.

For scanning artwork, the major factor here that may be fucking up your game? Yep. The scanner. Modern scanners are like cheap microphones that blow out the audio, when what you want is the ancient microphone that captures your cat farting in the next room over. While you can compensate A LOT in Photoshop and bring out blacks and whites that scanners fuck up, at the end of the day, what's probably stopping you up is that you want to use your scanner for something scanners are no longer designed to do well. If you aren't crazy like me and likely to get a vintage scanner for this purpose, keep in mind that what you are looking for is specifically *a photo scanner.* These are the ones designed to capture the most range, and at the highest DPI. It will be a flatbed. Don't waste your time with anything else.

Hot tip: if you aren't scanning often, look into your local library or photo processing store. They will have access to modern scanners that specialize in the same priorities I've listed here, and many will scan to your specifications (high dpi, lossless.)

Ahem. I hope that helps, and or was interesting to someone!!!

#utena #image archiving #scanning #archiving #revolutionary girl utena #digitizing #photo scanner #art scanning

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thebisexualdogdad · 11 months

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One piece preferences - How they spend halloween (GN!reader)

Luffy -

● trick or treating of course

● has a super detailed costume that he spent months making

● and starts ringing doorbells the moment the sun goes down and goes way past when the rest of the kids have gone to bed

● "Luffy it's nearly midnight I don't think people are going to open their door for you anymore"

● "but we're so close to finishing my trick or treating map, we've only got one more block to go!"

● has eaten all his candy two days after Halloween

Nami -

● hands out candy while watching scary movies

● she's made you guys a bowl of freshly popped popcorn and turns your favorite movies on

● also snacks on the candy in between visits from the kids

● pretends to be scared by the movie so she can cuddle with you

● falls asleep on the couch surrounded by empty candy wrappers

Sanji -

● throws the best Halloween party in town

● has to hire a bouncer because there's a line of people trying to get in

● as well as a bartender to make signature halloween themed drinks

● he spent the last week decorating your home

● and made all the appetizers for the party himself

● wears a couples costume with you that wins his own costume contest

Zoro -

● turns all the lights off and pretends not to be home

● unfortunately for him your neighbors saw his shadow walk by the window and started knocking on the door

● you convinced him to find something he could hand out

● so he gave the kids some ketchup packets he found in the kitchen

● "you really didn't buy any candy at all?"

● "Hey at least I didn't give them toothbrushes"

Usopp -

● favorite part of Halloween is getting to prank people

● hides in bushes and scares people walking by

● TP's random houses with giant trees knowing it'll be that much more difficult to clean up

● has you filming him so he can post the videos to tik tok hoping to go viral

● but of course the only one that does is the the video of a guy punching him after he jumped out at him with a fake machete

Shanks -

● is the guy in the neighborhood known for handing out full sized candy bars

● all the kids make sure to go to your house first

● you two sit on the porch handing out candy and playing card games

● Shanks compliments every single kids costume that comes by

● plus he's got wine in cups to go for the parents who need a little pick me up

● so he's the neighborhood favorite for both the kids and the parents

Buggy -

● runs the local haunted house

● goes all out with the a little too realistic special effects

● has had the cops called on him multiple times over the years because of the amount of terrified screams that can be heard blocks away

● you once had to convince a cop that the body he had hanging at the start of the haunted house was in fact not a real body

● and at the end of the night he's already planning on how he can outdo himself next year

Mihawk -

● doesn't even know it's Halloween yet everyone thinks he's dressed up

● "nice vampire costume dude"

● "I don't know what you're talking about"

● "it's halloween… and you're dressed like a vampire… right?"

● "this is how I dress everyday you peasant"

● you have to drag Mihawk away before he fights this dude

Cabaji -

● trick or treats and gets mad when people say "aren't you two a little too old to be trick or treating?"

● wears one of those "this is my costume" t shirts

● drinks beer while you guys are trick or treating

● steals candy from kids that don't have parents with them

● and then eggs people houses to finish off the night

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missmarveledsblog · 1 month

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IF SHE WERE MINE ( BRADLEY BRADSHAW X READER )

summary : when rooster finds reader stupid boyfriend cheating he doesn't mind telling him exactly how stupid he is for hurting a woman like that , a woman he dreams of

warnings: slight angst , fluffy i guess , there will be a smutty part two 😉

Every week , every day and every second Bradley " rooster" Bradshaw was convinced the universe was against him knowing the one woman he truly was in love with was in the arms of another because he was afraid to do anything so he ended up watching her kisses on someone else's lip , her doe love filled glances for him to another . He wanted his happy ending , the one where he got the girl . so now here he was stuck in another bar or club in town jake insisted on bringing him but never said why just he needed to be there , that it was going to be important . just as he was about to leave he watch as the asshole walked in with another girl on arm . Anger wasn't the emotion he could describe what he felt watching the man , the girl he loved so much and this prick was wrapped around another. No bradley was beyond the point of anger , maybe even homicidal . how could this prick take what he already have for granted.

" hey asshole what the fuck " he growled storming across the bar ignoring jakes calls.

" who's this baby" the woman had the nerve asked.

" the best friend of his girlfriend " he snapped not caring the woman flinched at the words.

" hey come on man be cool " .

" be cool , she's at home probably believing whatever lame excuse you gave to be with this trash , how could you pick anyone above Y/N i mean if i was with a girl like that hell all other women would be faceless because a face like hers would drowned out the world . she does so much for you and yet this is how you repay her cheap hook ups with other women in bars not even hangmans that bad" he snapped .

" hey " jake yelled offended.

" you've got the most beautiful version of sunshine back home waiting on you and yet this is what your doing , your lucky she even picked your sorry ass spend time with , a girl like that is one in a million , you don't do anything to fucking mess that up or even risk losing " he ranted and raved .

" sounds like your more in love with her " the woman said softly not taking offence to his words towards her and moving far from the man she came in with .

" i do and i let a low life bastard take her before i couldnt even tell her how i felt " he sighed .

what bradley didn't notice in his verbal crusade was phoenix leading Y/N into the bar to catch the bastard red handed . nat, jake and bob caught him the night before and decided she would need to see it first hand , rooster was suppose to be there for her help pick up the pieces but she should know that jake didn't fill him in on the plans by looks of it . yet Y/N stood listening to her best friend telling her definitely now ex her loved her.

"Y/N shit hey baby " .

" really man " the three dagger squad members and the woman he was there with all deadpanned.

" Don't heybaby me what the fuck " she huffed.

" it's not what looks like promise " he scampered towards her .

" and you did you know he was seeing someone " she turned to the woman .

" no i didn't if i did i would not be here " she glared at the man .

" roo apologise from being mean to this woman " she turned to bradley .

" yeah sorry i didn't actually mean to call you trash " he scratched the back of his neck .

" no it's fine heat of the moment but i can see why you love her " she smiled .

" and you cheating shrimp dick of a man , you can't go around sleeping with multiple women with that thing no wonder the ladies of san diego are depressed , get your shit out of my place or i will throw it on the street as for the spare key leave it or my very big friends here will get it off you " she crossed her arms standing in front of the man .

" i'd go now and lady if you want good time blondey over there isnot too bad " she turned and walked off straight out of the door .

" follow her " nat ,jake and the woman yelled at rooster.

" oh shit yeah " he ran out the door. once he got out he could see her heading for the car park her head still high when she got to the car but the second he could see as her hand touch the door when the emotion of it all hit her .

not a second did he wait running towards her grabbing her into his arms as the sobs wrack through her body .

"i got you darling , i alway got you " he kissed top of her head just letting her get it out of her system .

" can you take me home roo , your home i don't want to be in mine " she sniffled wiping her eyes . god it broke his heart seeing her so broken and hurt but hell he wasn't going to lie he was so proud of how she handled it in the bar .

" course come on we can get your car later " he smiled softly leading her to the bronco .

" i get cheated on by a guy i only gave a chance to because i never thought you'd love me back like more than a bestfriend and it took him to cheat for you to say you love me " she turned to the man her laughs turning to a another wave of sobs .

" it's actually phoenix car i don't know how i was going to get into it " she wiped her eyes . he opened the door for he letting her in before he went to his own side her ex eyes locked on her , like he wanted to say something but when he seen the pissed glare from rooster he quickly changed his mind . while she sat there , her head a jumble mess of emotions from the hurt and heartbroken , down right stupidity of being with a man like her now ex, then the feelings of every word rooster said. a man she had known since she was a little girl , her best friend , the man she truly loved . the irony of it all was just exactly something life would throw at her she couldn't help but laugh.

" hey what's so funny" he smiled .

" oh shit i'm sorry really i wanted to tell you but come on your you , i don't deserve you OWW " He yelped feeling her pinching him .

" hey i will not sit here and listen to you put yourself down ok , your most amazing stupid man i know " she looked up at him , he was smiling brightly down at her . he'd always looked at her like this but this time it finally made sense , how he always looked at her like she hung the moon and star, the pure love she felt for him was reflected back and yet only now she saw it .

" i'm an idiot , i mean i should of known he was cheating and i was oblivious to how you felt even though it been staring at me all this time " she shook her head.

" thats me " he winked

" come on just give your brain a rest tonight we can talk about all this another time " he squeezed her hand before driving off .

"I don't wanna talk roo , I want you and roo "

" take me home or lose me forever " she chuckled.

" show me the way home honey " he kissed her hand .

Part two *

#top gun maverick #top gun fanfiction #bradley bradshaw #bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw x female reader #bradley bradshaw x you #top gun fandom #rooster x reader #rooster top gun

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turtletaubwrites · 10 months

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I Won't Waste It ~ Part 7

Pairings: Zoro x Fem!Reader, Sanji x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2,738

This is part 7 of the Series 'We've All Got Needs,' linked below:

We've All Got Needs Masterlist

Ao3 Series Link

Summary: You set ground rules with the cook and the swordsman, and spend some much needed time with a friend. Zoro speaks up.

Rating/Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content, Fem!Reader, 18+ Only, MDNI, Reader-Insert, Smut, Alcohol, Rough Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Swearing, Casual Sex, Overstimulation, Multiple Orgasms, Condoms, Shameless Smut, Hair Pulling, Aftercare, Friends With Benefits, Crewmates With Benefits, Relationship Discussions, Zoro is a dick at first, but he's learning

A/N: Alright friends, please don't get mad! Zoro can be a dick, but we love character growth over here! I hope you enjoy this installment, and the next will be posted tomorrow! 😊 (Y'all can thank medical leave for these quick updates, today was the first day I've left my house in a week, lol)

Scowling at your morning reflection, you leaned your elbows over the sink. I’m fucking beat.

You took a little extra time getting ready to try to make up for your exhaustion. Especially since breakfast was starting to feel like a battlefield.

As you greeted everyone, you noticed Zoro leaning against the wall. He followed, and sat next to you. Robin’s knowing smirk made you bite your lip, looking down at your plate.

Zoro kept a grip on your thigh under the table, while Sanji brought you a caramel latte with a flower design on the foam. Usopp had asked you something, but you couldn’t hear over the assault of attention, until your captain spoke up.

“I told you Usopp, Y/N’s sick. Chopper, can fevers make you go deaf?”

“Actually yes, a high fever can cause cochlear damage-”

“She’s not sick, she’s just been having trouble sleeping. Right, Y/N?”

Nodding, you gave Robin a grateful smile.

Needing some air, you avoided their eyes and walked out on deck, yawning as you stretched.

“You’re coming to my room tonight.”

Zoro’s whispered demand tickled across your neck before you turned to face him.

Yawning again, you leaned toward him.

“I can’t tonight, Zoro. I need to get some rest.”

Your breath hitched when you saw his eyes shift, and you took a small step back.

“What, now that cook treats you like a little princess, and you don’t want to fuck me?”

The sound of a lighter sparked behind him.

“I believe the lady told you she wanted a break, Marimo.”

Zoro spun, his fingers touching the handle of a sword.

“Fucking stop it, both of you. I’m not a piece of meat to fight over.”

Sanji looked at you with wide eyes, while Zoro clenched his jaw. You glared at him, stepping forward again. “And Zoro, I enjoy our time together, but there’s a line. You agreed to this, so speak up if you can’t handle it.”

Zoro’s lips pursed a bit, and it looked like he was grinding his teeth while you continued.

“Clearly we need some ground rules.”

You sighed, walking over to the railing. You caught Nami waving from the crows nest, and you held in a laugh, grateful to know she was there.

When you turned around you could almost see the violence in the air between them

Oh fuck, what have I gotten myself into.

“Okay, rule number one; no fighting over me. The whole point of this arrangement is to keep things casual, and I won’t put myself in the middle of your feud.”

Zoro's veins pulsed in his arms as he clenched his fists, and Sanji seemed to be desperately trying to ignore Zoro’s presence.

“Rule number two; no one gets their feelings hurt when I want to take a break. I’m fucking tired, and I’m not a doll you can use whenever you want.”

They both looked appalled, Sanji flashing hateful eyes toward Zoro as the swordsman swore, and started to apologize.

You held your hand out to stop them, and kept going, trying not to draw their eyes to the thumbs up waving from the crow’s nest.

“Rule number three; we need to come up with some sort of system to keep things fair. I don’t want to have to choose between you guys, and get caught in your pissing contest.”

Sanji looked at you with puppy dog eyes, while Zoro crossed his arms with his signature scowl.

You paused for a moment, feeling exhausted.

“So, what’s the system?”

“Let her catch her breath, moss head.”

“You don’t know what she needs, waiter.”

“Guys, seriously? Stop.”

They had leaned toward each other, and you could practically see their hackles rise.

But they went instantly silent at your words, and turned to face you.

You held in the shiver that ran through you at how these two powerful men just obeyed your command so quickly.

“Let’s alternate. One day with Zoro, then the next day with Sanji. And I get to take breaks without you destroying the ship.”

Zoro kept scowling, and Sanji still looked like everything you said was magic. Again, you had to bite back laughter at these two ridiculous men.

“Plus! You can both sleep with other people too!”

The blank stares they both gave you made you pause for a minute.

“... Okay then, good! Do we all agree to the terms?”

“Of course dear-“

“Sure-“

“Great! I’m going to get some work done.”

You practically ran away from them, chewing on the inside of your lip to keep from squealing. This is insane!

You didn’t want to spend the day in the kitchen making oils and tinctures until you’d seen Zoro again. They’d agreed to the rules, but you didn’t want to test his limit while he watched you spend the day with Sanji.

Instead, you spent it with Chopper. Now and then he’d share some interesting facts from his books while you were cataloging ointments, salves, and other supplies you’d made. Making sure they weren’t expired, and logging what you should make soon.

“We go through arnica cream like crazy, I’ll put that on our priority list.”

“Good thinking!”

It was so hard to be in a low mood around Chopper, and you found yourself smiling, even as you made your way through the hall to dinner.

“Y/N.”

Zoro’s voice was low behind you, and you took a breath before turning to meet his eyes. He was looking everywhere but you, and you’d never seen him with his shoulders slumped like this.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that.”

You stared, watching him struggle, clearly feeling shitty about this.

“No, you shouldn't have.”

You said it with a soft voice, but stayed firm.

He nodded, meeting your eyes.

“It won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”

You nodded, releasing a breath.

“Thank you, Zoro. We can talk more tomorrow if you want. I’ll meet you in your room after dinner?”

Zoro’s lip twitched just a bit, and that tiny smile made you feel at ease. He nodded, heading into the galley.

After dinner, you walked toward your quarters in a daze.

Nami caught your eye in the hall, and she flashed a bottle of wine from under her jacket while nodding toward her room.

You closed the door behind you both, then mock hissed at her.

“You thief.”

“Former! Now I’m a pirate. And pirates plunder.”

She took a swig before handing it over.

“I figured you could use some company that isn’t trying to stick a flag in you.”

“Oh, you are so right.”

You probably should have gone to bed early, but you had needed this time with your friend. You’d managed to spend a decent amount of time not talking or thinking about boy drama, but it inevitably came back up.

And this time it was all your fault. Maybe I’ve had too much wine.

“Soo, Nami?”

“Uh huh?”

She’d been digging in her closet, but twisted around to face you.

“Would you, uh… Would you want to join an arrangement with either of them?”

Her mouth fell open, and she laughed loudly before clamping her hand over her face and sitting next to you.

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to laugh like that.”

You were laughing yourself, leaning your head into your hands.

“No, it’s totally fine. This whole thing is fucking ridiculous.”

“No, it’s not that, I just…”

Her tone had gone soft, almost serious, and your laughter faded.

“I just, I don't know. I've never been interested in that. I’ve tried before, but-”

She glanced at you, then shrugged before staring up at the ceiling.

“I know it sounds weird. I love to hear about it, but I just… don’t want to do it myself. With anyone. If that makes sense.”

You smiled at your friend, touching your hand to hers.

“It makes sense, Nami. I don’t think that’s weird at all.”

She beamed at you, and you felt shivers of warmth for your friend.

“I’m just bummed you won’t be able to carry some of this load for me.”

“Ha, ew! I don’t want any of that load, you can keep their junk all to yourself!”

Finally crashing in your room later, you felt so filled with happiness that you didn’t even think about tomorrow.

Luckily tomorrow included the boys on their best behavior, although they were still vying for your attention during meals.

I need to set another rule for that.

You felt Sanji’s eyes on you as you left after dinner, and shivered as you made your way to Zoro’s quarters.

He let you in, as if he’d been waiting behind the door. You half expected him to pin you against the wall. Instead he led you in, sitting on the floor across from his chair. You took a seat, barely breathing. This was not Zoro’s typical stoic silence. Your knees fought as you tried not to bounce them.

He started to speak, then coughed, clearing his throat a couple times.

“I’m really sorry, Y/N.”

“I know-”

“I’m not good at this.”

He gestured vaguely between you, then looked away. You chewed your lip not to smile.

“I just. I like you. And I like what we’ve been doing together.”

“I’d say ‘like’ is an understatement, Needy.”

You caught yourself teasing his own words back at him before you could stop it. You had a second of panic, worried you’d pushed him too far.

Zoro looked up at you, his face tilted with that evil smile that made your pulse race.

He seemed to be fighting to keep his voice even, but the heat kept building.

“I promise to do better. Can you forgive me?”

Your breath was high in your chest as you felt the air shift around you.

“Yes, Zoro. I forgive you.”

He lifted onto his knees, coming only a fraction closer to you.

“Can I make it up to you?”

You gave a small gasp, and his smile of satisfaction made your eyes flutter shut for a moment.

“Y-Yes, please.”

Zoro was suddenly kneeling between your legs in his chair, hand fisting in your hair. He gripped you hard enough to make you whimper, loving the feeling of him taking control. He licked along your neck, sucking and biting your earlobe as his free hand gripped its fingers into your thigh. He pulled your hair even tighter, and you cried out for him as he chuckled in your ear.

“I knew you needed me to touch you like this. You need me to hurt you, just a little bit. Don’t you, Y/N?”

You couldn’t keep your back from arching, and he used the hand on your thigh to pull you roughly until you were sitting on the edge of the chair, quivering for him.

“Should I repeat the question, Needy?”

His dangerous words had your body aching, wetness pooling between your thighs.

“No. I, uh-”

“What do you need?”

He breathed those words against your lips as his eyes burned into yours.

You could barely hear your desperate whisper as you answered him.

“I need you to hurt me, Zoro. Use me, please.”

He forced his tongue into your mouth. His kiss felt like he was taking from you, and you moaned into him.

You fell back into the chair as he released you. Your eyes rolled back in your head as he pulled himself out of his pants, dragging a condom over his long, twitching cock.

“Wrists or throat?”

You looked back at his eyes, his growled words not registering.

“Pick one.”

“Uh, wri-wrists,” you whispered, almost panicked.

“Get on your knees.”

You joined him on the ground, heart pounding.

Zoro tore at your pants, dragging them down just above your knees before grabbing you by the hair again.

“Beg me.”

You almost went limp, his grip in your hair keeping you upright.

“P-Please fuck me, Zoro. Please let me feel your cock-”

Zoro shoved your head down to the side, and you caught yourself on your hands and knees. He moved behind you, and you whined. Needing him, dripping for him.

Feeling his length dragging along your skin, you begged even more. He leaned over you, grabbing and pulling you by the arms until you were upright, flush against the front of his body. He nipped along your neck while you shook.

“I’m gonna give you what you need. And I'm gonna take what I want. And you’re gonna keep your fucking mouth shut while I do it. Does that work for you, Needy?”

“Y-Yes, please, Zoro. I need you.”

He growled, and you gasped as he forced your arms behind your back. He pushed you forward, but held your wrists in one of his strong hands while he circled your entrance.

You chewed your tongue, panting with pain and pleasure as he slammed into you, so fucking deep. He used your arms like handles, pulling you while you whimpered, trying so hard not to scream.

Tears were streaming down your face, and you were overwhelmed, overpowered. Your pants still trapped at your thighs created so much pressure as he fucked you from this angle.

“That’s right, Needy. You want me to fucking use you. That’s why you’re being so good and quiet for me, huh?”

You nodded for him, whimpering as he shoved into you even harder.

“I can be that for you, Needy. I can be the one that makes you feel this way. Fuuck… Your pussy loves being used, doesn't it, baby?”

Tiny sobs left your lips as your body proved him right.

The angle he was holding you at was wearing you down, but he held your arms where he wanted you, forcing himself into your body as it tried to go limp.

You came on his cock, tears and drool leaving your face instead of screams. And he didn’t stop.

Zoro pushed you forward, using an arm to catch you before you hit the floor.

Then he shoved you face to the floor while he kept ramming into you.

“Finger yourself, Needy. I’m gonna take what I need now.”

Moaning, you tried to move your arms, but they were still almost numb from his grip. You didn’t need to though. The new angle, and Zoro’s groans above you brought you close again.

“Fuck, I know what this needy pussy wants, huh, Y/N?”

He fisted your hair as his thrusts became erratic. You moaned your ‘yes’ for him, writhing under his control.

“What do you need?”

Panting, you begged while he brought you again, your pussy milking him.

“I need your cock, Zo-Zor-”

You had to stop talking or you would have screamed. You shook under him, body bucking while you came so fucking hard. Even with your own body convulsing, you felt Zoro pulsing inside you, loving the moans he let out as he released.

You lay together, gasping and twitching, until the sensations were too intense and he pulled away, cleaning himself off while you tried to relearn how to breathe.

Zoro came back to you with a towel, cleaning you off before rolling you onto your back, and helping you slide your pants back on.

His face was unreadable, and you stopped yourself from asking if he was okay. He promised he’d use his words. I can’t let myself worry about his every expression, it’ll go too far.

You swallowed as you tried to listen to your own advice.

Then he sat against the wall again, dragging you to lay across his chest. Your breath froze as he gently stroked your arm while he rested his head against the wall to look at the ceiling.

You didn’t know what to say. This was the most awkward moment you’d felt with him so far, and you were trying so fucking hard to not take responsibility for this grown mans feelings.

“Thank you.”

You gingerly pushed yourself up, sitting against the wall beside him so you wouldn’t have to look up at him.

“For what?”

He met your eyes, his lips twitching into a small smile.

“For giving me another chance. I won’t waste it.”

Your lips parted as you stared into his deep, dark eyes. His words sounded so soft, so genuine. Your breath seemed caught in a strange moment, like you were somehow separate from the room you were in. Zoro didn’t look away.

“You’re welcome.”

Thank you for reading! 💜

TurtleTaub Fanfic Masterlist

Part 8

Buy me a coffee ☕🙏🏼

Tag List: @astheni-a

A/N: I'd love to hear your thoughts on Zoro here. 💚 I hope you enjoyed the ride!

#zoro smut #zoro x reader #Reader Insert #Fem!Reader #Smut #mine #One Piece smut #Opla smut #opla zoro x reader #zoro x you #zoro fanfic #zoro fanfiction #x reader #turtletaub fics

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wings-of-ink · 14 days

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Ask Guidelines

For the sake of streamlining my inbox, please follow the guidelines below when submitting Asks. I appreciate all your questions, but I simply find that I lack enough free time to spend with them. Some weeks are busier than others for my inbox, but I personally feel it's a bit unfair to those of you who may be waiting a long time for a response. Plus, I do need some "me" time now and again, no matter how much I love sailing around on here.

The biggest and most important thing: Reaction/Response-style Asks need to be paired down. These are lots of fun for all of us, but they take up a majority of the time I spend on the inbox. When you submit a request like this, please specify your top 2 (max of 3) characters (ROs, side characters, etc…) you want to know the answer for. If you do not specify, I will pick for you based on how quickly I can answer. I'll note, that if you are curious about both parents in GC, I will count them as 1 "person" so you don't have to choose between daddies.

Please do not submit multiple Asks with the same question for the other characters. This will just eat up my time, and I do not want to delete them, but I will have to.

If your question has been asked before, I will try to find a link to it for you (most of these I have tracked in a document). I haven't yet put together an FAQ since I really don't get a ton or repeats for the same questions. One day, I may make a searchable document with them.

Comments and error reports are still very much welcome. If you by chance do not want a response posted, please simply let me know if that is what you prefer. I generally like to post at least a little response to these for you, but if that makes you uncomfortable, please let me know in the Ask.

Music suggestions are welcome (for instance if a song makes you think of a particular character).

Art suggestions are welcome (if an art piece makes you think of a character and such).

Asks that are long/wordy are still okay, as long as they meet the other Ask criteria. I don't mind reading a lot since I can still do that fairly fast (and I totally understand the need for context or if you have several comments to make). I can be wordy myself, so I get it, sometimes you just want those details in there. You may not get a super long response in return, but I read every word.

Try to space out your Asks in general. If you have, say, 3 or more questions, I would appreciate it if you could give me a buffer of time to respond. A good rule of thumb would be to wait until you get your first question answered, and then you submit your 2nd question and so on. This will also help you gauge how full my inbox is (or how much time I have to spare). Much of the time, I try to answer Asks in the order they are received. The only exception to that is if I get ones that I either need to think on a bit or the answer will take me a while to write.

NSFW Asks are totally okay with me. There is not much outside of my comfort-zone. If something is too far, in my opinion, for a public response - I will simply delete it and pop a courtesy post out to try and signal to you that it is one I cannot answer.

I was hoping to avoid placing any rules on my inbox, but I never anticipated this many followers or that anyone would have quite so many questions or comments for my work. This is to ensure that I keep myself controlled more-so than any of you. I have so much fun chatting with you and answering questions, that the IF writing and planning ends up delayed. Since that's why we're here, I need most of my free time to go to the IF(s) and any extras.

I will make updates to this post as needed. There will be a link to at the very end of the Pinned Post too. If the inbox gets a bit crazy or is too much to juggle during crunch times, I will continue to pause it during those so I can catch up.

Thank you and take care, everyone! ^_^

~Lunan

#god cursed if #asks

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serxinns · 5 months

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Sweet tweats! Chap 1/ introduction

Yandere Bnha ships x undercover pro hero reader introduction

This is gonna be like a mini headcanon or fic series

The fic that inspired me is here please go support their other fics as well!

Summary: you're an undercover pro-hero who decided to disguise yourself in your grandma's famous bakery to help around the town you and your undercover agent friends assist into working in the cafe as well meanwhile your classmates have been worried about you ever since you had no contact with them when you graduated, after 4 years they finally found you and they'll never let you go~

• The alarm clock interrupted your sweet slumber you groaned your hair was in your face and drool soaked in your pillow you lifted your head enough to see what time it was "FUCK ITS 8:30" You ran all over the place your cat you named Xin watching you curiously with her head tilt to the side watching you running all over the place getting yourself dress brushing your teeth and everything once you get ready you grabbed xin put her in your basket and rode your bike to the bakery

• Once you finally got there you were greeted with your grandma hands on her hips glaring at you "hii.. gran-"

She hit you with the spoon before you could talk "You are late 3rd time this week! We already have 5 customers waiting here! And your little friend group are already here even latanya" Your grandma stared sternly at you getting ready to hit you again "Ow! Fuck sorry ma I'm just awfully tired from all the "baking" (code word for agent work something you and your grandma made between the two of you) your grandma rolled her eyes ND signed you and her knew she couldn't be mad at her favorite "grandchild you better not be late again understand?" She said as she glared again making your skin pale and sweat drop "y-yes grandma right on it!"

• You grabbed your uniform and apron and zoomed into the kitchen your grandma sighed holding xin and petting her while she purred "I don't know what to do with that child sometimes" xin Mewed at her response

• "Y/N WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN!?!" Ziki was yelling across playfully glaring at you while using his telekinesis to put multiple frostings on cakes and pack them in boxes "Jeez I just got here and no hello 🙄" you playfully rolled your eyes ziki was one of your bestie at the agency the two of you met when you went on your 1st mission you two formed a chaotic bond and he introduced you into his friend group

• Miharu is the strict dad of the group while ziki was the most unserious one And kitkari was the menace of the group

• The 4 of you somehow managed to keep the cafe in one piece without slipping up and causing problems Kari and Aleina work waitresses while Miharu, like, and you work as cooks and at times you work the night and as cashiers Your grandma is the boss who helps manage the cafe environment

•"FUCK YOUR HELLO WE NEED YOU AT THE CASHIER Kari got called in sick again" "Oh for fucks sake I told her that she needed to stop tryna take and eat the expired pastries i warned her that some of them had mold on it"

You groaned while ziki rolled his eyes "you know her she don't give a fuck if that was a year old she'll still try to find a reason to eat thats why we call her a big back betty " the two of you snickers and gigler childishly at the name "WILL YOU TWO STOP MAKING OUT IN THERE AND HELP ME ALREADY"

"AYO!?"

"REPEAT THAT BUCKEROO!?"

Third pov

• Tsuyu and Tokoyami decided to spend their small break strolling through the city to find a new place to eat "How about this one tsu it's your favorite" she thought for a second but she shook her head and sighed we went there yesterday i wanna go somewhere new somewhere we haven't gone before *kero*" The frog girl kept looking around Eagar to find something new,

• They walked a bit further downtown until they saw a small bakery tsuyu was in awe at how adorable and neat the cafe was "Yami this is it! This is the one!" She tugged softly at her boyfriend's jacket tokoyami's sweat dropped a bit "Are you sure we haven't gone to this type of cafe nor don't know how safe the area is .." tokoyami muttered looking around suspiciously while holding tutus hand protectively

•"It's ok it's just gonna be a quick in and out trust me plus i heard it was so good" Tsuyu held his hand tightly and looked "You don't have to go in there if you're not comfortable," Tokoyami thought for a minute staring at the cafe while staring at tsuyu which made him blush a bit he signed "I guess trying something new won't hurt.." tsuyu's eyes lit up a bit and started to do small ribbits "well cmon then let's go!" The couple walked into the cafe and it was hit with a warm sweet smell "hello welcome to the cafe!" "Oh yes h-" she paused for a moment when she recognized that voice

• "Y/N!?!" The green-haired girl looked shocked observing you to see if it was you, "wait...who are you again like I know you I just dont know where" You yelled out "We were best friends! *kero* see?" She pulled out her phone scrolled back a couple of photos and showed you a picture you and Tsuyu took together it was a selfie of you and Tsuyu posing at the mall riding on those animal cars "OMG IT IS YOU!" You open across the table and the two of you hug tightly "Wait..tokoyami!?" He was shocked that you remembered him "Wait you remember me too?" "OFC! we were always study buddies whenever we did class projects! And you always wanted to invite Tsuyu here~" Tokoyami blushed and looked away

•"Oh hush you know nothing" he muttered and you giggled "So what are doing these days it's been years! Jeez, I've seen you a couple of times on TV congrats!" Tsuyu's smile brightens "Well you know a bunch of heroes work and me and Tokoyami officially dating!" You squealed "Im so happy for you! The two of you are so cute together! Tsuyu and Tokoyami sitting in a tree-" "Don't you even start-" just when he was about to scold you dark shadow joined in "1ST COME LOVE THEN COMES BABY-" "dark shadow i swear to god-" he groaned while the two of you giggled like children even tsuyu managed a chuckle while looking at the two of you it was nice..

• "anyway what would you like! We got all types of cupcake flavors! Sweet potato, mocha, Mochi, dango, cheesecake, we even release sesame cookies!" "HMM I'll think I'll have the...mochi flavor cupcake how about you tokoyami!" Tokoyami kept staring at the menu carefully "can I have the Japanese cheesecake please?"

"Coming right up!" You use your Heelys and stroll to the back of the store you go back out to tell me that their order will be on their way

• After a few minutes, you got back with their order "Here you go one mochi cupcake and flavor cheesecake!" You handed them their treats in a small adorable box even tsuyu didn't want to eat the sweets or open the box "Thank you! Also, im wondering if can we catch up I really do miss you and I really really miss you alot we both do..heck I bet even most of our class misses you" you were a bit shocked at that statement "aw tsuyu ofc! Lemme write down my phone number and social media!"

You both gave each other your and their number "It was nice talking to you y/n! See you later!" Tokoyami quietly waved to you with a small smile, it was good to meet old friends maybe you could see them again as we-

"Y/N QUICK ZIKI CAUSED ANOTHER FIRE"

"I DID NOT"

Later that night tsuyu and Tokoyami were getting ready for bed "I can't believe we finally found them! *kero* after for so long" Tokoyami nodded "but we should've made our move quicker the others would get to them 1st and we'd lose them forever" "Patient Yami" Tsuyu said going over and kissing Tokoyami on the cheek "It's way too early to do anything we gotta play it slow to trust me" she climbed in the shared bed "once they fall in love with one of us they'll be ours~"

????? Pov

?????: hmm so they have a cafe I see~ I looked closely to my darling as they say goodbye to those PEST I can't wait to tell ?????? that we found them~ we're coming y/n~

#yandere bnha #yandere ua #tw yandere #yandere x reader #tw obsessive behavior #yandere class 1a #yandere mha #platonic yandere #bnha fluff #tw stalking

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helionpegasus · 2 years

Note

Hello! :) I saw your post a bit ago saying you were accepting requests. Anyways, can I please req Azriel x Reader. Reader and Azriel announce they're FINALLY mated, after YEARS off the IC being like, "Are you sureeeeeee you aren't together??" and them laughing it off. But.... Mor forces it out by being like, "Y/N, I have this cute friend...." and she's saying that because she wants them to finally admit it. Honestly I NEED FLUFF. Please, and thank you so so so much!!! <33

i'm on the mood of doing hc, and thought this req would match it so well. i hope you don't mind this being hc 🥹

- You met Mor at Rita's and bounded instantly! Seriously. Born to best friends.

- She presents Azriel to you in the same night, and was like "Cauldron, you look so good together".

- Azriel was slightly drunk that night. Wich made him talk so easily with you. For real, that male was babbling.

- A week after you met him again in a Coffee Shop and said "Hi, Az!" and he just awkwardly waved back.

- You said that to Mor in the weekend and she said he was just shy.

- Later you discovered that this male was shy around YOU.

- Azriel's confidence it's aways high towards any female he finds attractive, but towards YOU? The bat baby get rosy cheeks.

- Your relationship starts to get closer once he returns of a mission with a big cut on his chest and go directly to Madja, but she wasn't there. There was only her apprentice, you.

- You freak out a little, 'cause there was TOO MUCH BLOOD. But do your job really well, and Az was so grateful for you.

- You end up being the first person he runs to everytime he's needing medical assistance.

- A sword slice in his back during a battle? You fix it.

- An ice burn from spending too much time in the annual snowball fight? You can easily recover it.

- A paper cut from the multiple papers in his desk from all his missions of the month? He runs to you.

- The Inner Circle started to be unsure of your friendship when the two of you got so drunk that ended sleeping in the floor of the living room.

- Your head landing comfortably on his arm. His head resting on yours and his wing covering you body because the heat in the fireplace was long gone.

- They were almost sure you guys do have a things when Cassian says "It would be a pleasure to have you in my bed"

- The shadowsinger was FUMING. He was ready to start a battle with Cass in the middle of the dinner table. (Rhys had to calm him down)

- After that Az had a moment with himself to settle down and recognize his own feelings.

- The male was deeply IN LOVE. There was nothing more to do other than accept it.

- He gained the courage to ask you out on a date.

- "A romantic kind of date?" You asked him.

- "Yes." He said. His brain ready to combust if you reject him.

- "Sure. Where we're going" And the Illyrian male never smiled more brightly.

- You guys go to an Art Exhibit in Velaris. With works of multiple artist towards Prythian.

- His heart skips a beat everytime he sees your eyes shining seeing a piece you really liked.

- Later you go to a restaurant to have dinner, and you start having a deep conversation about the paintings and sculptures that got a place in your hearts.

- Azriel listening to every tiny feeling you had during the visit.

- He's a gentleman so he pays the bill and walked you to your apartment.

- Once you reached the door, you take the first step and kissed him.

- Your first kiss with each other was like landing on clouds. His lips so soft and gentle. His hands finding their place in your waist and in the back of your neck. Your arms around his shoulders.

- When you distance yourselves for a little breath and locked gazes, the bond snapped. For both of you.

- The world makes sense now.

- Once you two got inside that apartment, you don't leave it for 2 weeks. (You know what I mean)

- Azriel said to Rhys he got an emergency with his mom. Because he don't want to share any bit of you with anyone yet.

- "I think it's time for us to leave our bubble." You says caressing his hair. His face tucked in the space where your neck meets your shoulder.

- "I think you're right." He whispers, but makes no intention of leaving the place in your arms.

- Your bubble of happiness and comfort was gone in the day after. When you too appeared in the dinner on the River House.

- You arrived there first because Feyre needed some help with Nyx.

- Azriel got some duties after giving himself the sweet taste of 2 weeks without working.

- The mismatch made you sit apart from each other. But you stayed the whole time sending each other love pulls through the bond.

- Somehow the conversation went to relationships. And Mor says that you all should go to Rita's and find a lover for the night.

- You can feel Az mood change through the bond.

- "Mor, I think we all settled down at this point" Feyre said between giggles.

- "I, Y/N and Az are fully single" she says looking at you.

- The bond was burning hot from Azriel's jealously.

- "Y/N, I have a really cute friend that I think you'll like to meet" Mor said.

- "She's not interested." Azriel says in a hard tone.

- The whole IC stops eating to look at him, dumbfounded.

- Cassian with the biggest grim ever sharing glances with Rhys, probably talking in their minds.

- Feyre with wide eyes looking at Azriel and how he was ready to stab Mor with the knife he was cutting the meat.

- Mor switching glances between you and Az.

- "Do you guys want to tell something to us?" Rhysand asks leaning his back comfortably in the chair, ready to hear the story.

- Azriel only looks at you, before letting go of the thick shadows around him. Freeing his scent to your friends.

- Not only his scent, but YOUR scent. And mostly the scent of THE BOND.

- Cass didn't waste time and hugged his friend with shouts of happiness.

- Feyre and Mor coming to you while Nyx was babbling in his mother arms not understanding what's happening but happy whatsoever.

- Amren, Nesta and Elain just smiling and giving their congratulations.

- "So... Emergency with your mom, right?"

#acotar #acotar fics #azriel acotar #azriel imagine #azriel x reader #acotar imagine #azriel x you #acotar x reader #acotar x you #azriel

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chloeangelic · 10 months

Text

Hi! I’m not back yet, because my motivation to write is unfortunately in shambles after this past week, and I have to get a few things off my chest before I want to come back.

Baselessly accusing people of copying will do nothing but push writers off this platform, either completely quitting or, at some point sooner or later, opting for putting their content behind paywalls. I want to make it very clear, again, that I will never copy or rip any other creators off, with writing, art or concepts. Thematic or artistic similarities ≠ copying. This is my rule: If I’ve seen multiple creators do something (moodboards, covers, other artworks, tropes, concepts), I might also do my own spin, but I will not do something I have only seen one creator do, because I see it as unique to them. I have learned SO MUCH from my favorite writers here - I’ve learned what’s needed for me to find a piece of writing interesting and compelling, as well as how to do that myself so I can also create something captivating based on my own visions and ideas. That’s called learning.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’ve been accused of copying people I have publicly associated myself with on this platform, and it’s frustrating for me that nobody seems to go to ME first when they suspect it. Do you have any idea how awful it feels to frantically apologize to someone I’ve talked to for months, saying I’m sorry if people are pestering them and that I never want them to feel like I’m copying, then just sit and hope that their perception of me isn’t completely warped because some stranger decided they wanted drama? It hurts, I can’t lie. It makes me feel like I’m socially radioactive and that, eventually, nobody will want to have anything to do with me.

I appreciate the feedback on Seeking ch 1 SO MUCH and I wish I was able to take it in right now, but I still feel like garbage. It feels like writers are getting criticized and accused left and right, and either people hate your fics or they’re convinced you stole the idea from someone else. There’s a strange culture around here of hypervigilance around what might be considered copying, and I think people have forgotten that confirmation bias is a very real thing - if you’re looking for something, mental gymnastics will help you find it.

I do this for free, I spend hours brainstorming and writing, expecting nothing in return. I don't even have a ko-fi cause nobody has asked me to make one. What do people want from me?

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whatswrongwithblue · 25 days

Text

The Fire in the Sin

Chapter 23 - Don't Take That Sinner From Me

Word count: 6,049. Read on AO3. Series Masterlist. <- Previous Chapter.

Summary: The day Alastor leaves Hell and his wife behind and the events following.

Artwork shared with permission from @mooneggtarts. Please give them a like and a follow as their Alastor artwork is top notch. And although this chapter isn't from Alastor's POV, I saw this piece and knew it demonstrated exactly how he would be feeling during the events of this chapter.

Series summary

In the 1950's, Alastor met the woman he would eventually marry but unfortunately his Radio Demon persona went for her soul rather than her hand. He has to learn what it means to love, and cherish, without possessing and he does. Their relationship is beautiful, strong, unbreakable . . . but he carries a dark secret through their marriage for decades until eventually he has to face the consequences of that secret and leave her, without warning, for seven years. He returns, finding her at the Hazbin Hotel, and has to convince her to forgive him, while being literally bound to secrecy, unable to tell her any of things he now is desperate to explain to her.

(This is a duel timeline fic, timestamps will be a the top of every chapter.)

Chapter 23 - Don't Take That Sinner From Me

Pentagram City

2016

Mina fidgeted in the back of the cab, nervous and anxious about getting home that afternoon. She wanted to be back at the radio tower . . . but she also felt the need to procrastinate her return as much as possible.

Alastor had been off for weeks. Acting strange, distant, and mercurial. Oddly bossy and demanding. It was different than when a rut was approaching in a way Mina couldn’t quite describe and it had her on edge. He wasn’t outwardly aggressive or upset with anyone in particular that she could tell; he wasn’t ranting about his job or the other Overlords like he tended to during that time of year. But he was much more prone to his darker moods than usual lately. He’d go days without sleep, he was drinking often to the point of being wasted, he was dismissive of her to the point of being outright rude at times. And then other times it was like he couldn’t get enough of her; showering her with affection, apologizing for his behavior, telling her how much he adored and loved her. She’d asked him directly, multiple times, what was wrong, and he’d insisted on the fact that all was well. But he got strangely and unnervingly quiet each time afterwards, almost as if he was afraid to speak at all.

Mina had almost not gone out with her friends that day but they had planned this get together a couple weeks in advance and she didn’t have the heart to cancel it just over a feeling. She missed her family from The Pit terribly. When she had first quit her job several years back, she had enjoyed the free time it had given her, even if it meant sacrificing some of her power. But over time, it felt like she and her friends were drifting slowly apart; their life continuing on as part of Abaddon’s family while Mina’s became more and more wrapped up in Alastor.

She had broached the subject of returning – just part time – to her job with Alastor the night before and he had practically blown up on her. Yelled at her. He never did that and the things he had said hadn’t even made any sense, but one thing was clear - he wanted her to stay away from Abaddon.

It had been the worst fight Mina could recall them ever having and she had nearly left then and there, at least to spend the night somewhere else until they had both cooled off but Alastor had beaten her to it; disappearing without an explanation for hours.

She’d retreated to her oasis; the pocket dimension of ocean and stars, with their large bed nestled into the sandy embankment. Even with the sounds of the waves there to sooth her, she had tossed and turned for hours; alone, confused, and hurt, but eventually sleep had found her and when she woke up, Alastor was in bed with her.

Even in his sleep, he had been wrapped around her, clinging to her, in a way he usually only did right after sex, his ears pinned back and his face buried in her chest. In her unconscious state, she must have reached for him as well because her limbs were just as entwined as his, and her hands were cradling his head, holding him close to her heart.

He’d woken almost as soon as she had and with one look at his crimson eyes, so full of regret and anguish, she had forgotten what she had been angry about. They’d kissed, holding each other tightly, but when she attempted initiating more, he’d turned her down.

Frustrated and with her pride bruised, she’d pulled away from him and got ready for the day.

He’d followed her around, acting stranger than ever. Like a puppy dog that had been kicked and was desperate for more affection. Alastor barely let her out of his sight, kept touching and caressing her, even though he had clearly not been in the mood for more amorous activities.

It wasn’t unusual for Alastor to not be interested in sex despite wanting to spend time with her, but there was such longing in his expressions that morning, Mina didn’t know what to make of it.

She’d finally snapped, calling him out on being a confusing mess of a man lately, reminding him that she was not known her for patience, and he was lucky she’d been as nice as she was, given what an ass he’d been lately.

He’d smiled, grabbed her face, and kissed her before telling her all would make sense eventually.

She’d seen something in him then, a flash of sadness despite his smile, that made her almost cancel her plans for the rest of the day.

“There’s no need for that,” he told her when she had said as much. “Go, have a wonderful day. You deserve it, more than you know. Just remember,” he’d said, pressing his forehead against hers, “despite how my actions may make it seem, I love you more than anything. You are strong and capable, my darling wife, and I treasure you above all else. Don’t ever forget that.”

Mina couldn’t help but smile up at him at those words and gave him one last quick kiss goodbye before she left to spend the day with her friends.

But as the day wore on, her mind wandered back to his odd behavior lately, and worry began to creep in again.

The taxi stopped when the tower came into view and she stepped out without looking up at it, her face buried in her phone as she walked down the sidewalk. It was only when she got under the shadow of the building that she looked up and noticed something was off.

It looked . . . dim, somehow. The red glow that usually reflected off the glass wasn’t there. Must have been a trick of the light.

But then she stood for a moment, wondering why she wasn’t being transported up. It always happened automatically; not since the first days of her learning to master the art of signaling to the tower that she wanted in did she have to think about being teleported.

She sent the mental message and felt the sluggish delay but after a couple of seconds, her body turned to shadow and lifted up until she rematerialized in the main room.

That was where she really began to worry.

Everything was shut off.

Alastor’s control panels were always lit up. Even when he wasn’t home. His magic was infused into every nook and cranny of the place. Their home was alive with his essence.

Mina went over to the panels, running her fingers over the keys and nobs that always glowed, dread sinking into her gut as she realized how cold it all felt. But signs of Alastor were still everywhere.

A half full cup of unfinished coffee sat by his chair. A record left in the player that he must have put on after she left. A cabinet door left slightly ajar – he was always leaving drawers and doors open, especially when he was distracted.

Everything else looked entirely ordinary, just . . . powerless.

No signs of a struggle. And no signs of him having packed.

Mina shut those thoughts down quickly.

No one could get in here and cause him harm and he certainly wouldn’t have left her. Not to mention this was his original home; if they were to ever split she would be the one to move out, not him.

She looked down at her phone, suddenly more agitated with him than anything. If he had just carried a cell phone on him like everyone else did these days, she could just call him and tell him something was wrong with his workstation and to get his tail home and fix it because it was freaking her out.

Mina sighed, setting her phone down on his bench, and transported herself to their bedroom.

It was that room, more than anything else, that ignited her panic and set her on her downhill spiral.

The pocket dimension that had stood in their bedroom for decades was gone.

“No, no, no, no, NO!” Mina cried out, running across the room and screaming the last word as she hit the wall where the little oasis should have been. The wood paneling, completely ordinary, and very solid, thumped against her fist as she hit it. Their bed, which had been at its ocean side location ever since the night of the honeymoon, was now back in its original corner. Made up and tidy, it stared at her from across the room, looking very wrong and out of place.

It was then that she let herself really feel it; it was like the magic of the tower had been unplugged and it was in some kind of power saving mode, closing off the things that would drain it the fastest. The only thing that was left was her ability to move through the walls of the place via shadow and the protective wards were still up, but even those were already weakening.

The place was dying.

The source of its power was gone.

Alastor was gone.

Mina flew back upstairs and ran towards the old-fashioned phone on the wall, begging for it to still be working. She picked it up but there of course was no dial tone. It was as dead as everything else.

She slammed it back down on the receiver, feeling herself begin to hyperventilate, then she grabbed her cell phone and scrolled through her contacts until she found the one she was looking for.

The call was answered after several rings.

“Hello?” The woman’s voice on the other end sounded pleasant but confused.

“Rosie?” Mina asked, her voice so small and so very scared.

“What is it, darling?” Rosie asked, quickly switching to alarmed at the tone in her friend’s voice.

“Something bad has happened,” Mina said, squeezing her eyes shut as the tears began to fall. She sunk to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest, hugging herself. Although she was well over a hundred, she barely felt 10 years old in that moment. “I think Alastor is hurt . . . or worse . . . I can’t-“ she sucked in a breath, fighting the sob that threatened to tear from her throat. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Where are you?” Rosie asked, her voice firm and calm.

“Home,” Mina answered, “but it’s not . . . Rosie, it’s like it’s dead. Everything is turned off.”

Rosie breathed in a deep sigh, audible even over the phone.

“Come here, as quickly as you can. I’ll see what I can find out.”

___

“No one has heard a thing. It’s like he’s just vanished.”

Rosie set a cup of tea in front of Mina, who stared at it, uninterested.

She was nauseous and shaky, certain if she tried to eat or drink anything she would just puke it back up. Not even on her first day in Hell had she felt so uncertain and scared.

“Someone has to know something. Somebody did this!”

“Darling, you’re worried and that’s perfectly understandable. I’m at a loss as well. But if anyone took down The Radio Demon, they wouldn’t be keeping their silence about it. It’d make them the most powerful Overlord around.”

“What if it was someone else entirely? A Royal or one of The Sins. You know everything about Alastor’s work, who has he had problems with lately?”

“No one that I know of,” Rosie answered simply and went to take a sip of her tea.

Mina slammed her fist down on the table.

“Bullshit!” she yelled. “You’re his best fucking friend, Rosie! You have to know something!”

Rosie cleared her throat, set her teacup carefully back on the table, and levelled her gaze on Mina.

“If I knew anything, I would have told you first thing,” she said cooly.

Mina could see the threat in the woman’s black eyes but for the first time since meeting her, Mina truly felt no fear of the Overlord. She was too angry and too consumed over Alastor’s disappearance to care about her own safety.

“Then I’m wasting my time here,” she said and stood, scooting her chair loudly across the floor.

“Mina-“ Rosie said, standing, but Mina cut her off.

“Fuck you,” she spat, not looking around as she walked towards the exit.

“Now that is just uncalled for!” Rosie said, putting her hands on her hips. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to. I’m trying to help.”

“I don’t give a shit who you are anymore,” Mina hissed. “Alastor was your friend. . . . is . . . he is your friend.” Mina paused on the correction, disturbed at having slipped into past tense as if she had already accepted he was gone for good. “And all you can do is sit in the safety of your own home and drink your bloody damn tea. Some friend you are. What a powerful Overlord, the great leader of Cannibal Town is, if she can’t even figure out what happened here.”

“I’ll forgive you for that insult only because I’m certain he’s not dead and would have my head if I laid a hand on yours.” Rosie’s voice was icy in way Mina had never heard it and still, she didn’t care.

“You won’t have to bother killing me if I find out he’s dead. I’ll do it myself,” she said and slammed the door on her way out.

___

She found Niffty first.

Alastor was either dead or missing and Mina had to figure out which one it was before she decided on how to continue. And the fastest, easiest way to determine that was to go after the souls she knew he owned. If they were still bound, then he was still alive.

“Show me your chain,” Mina said, standing over the shorter woman.

They were in the radio tower, somewhere safe and alone, and Mina had already explained to Niffty what had happened that day. It was the middle of the night and still there was no sign of Alastor. The news networks and social media pages had made some mentions about the radio broadcasts being cut short, the airwaves around Hell were eerily quiet that evening, but no one had any good speculations as to why. They all assumed Alastor was up to something, not that he was missing.

“Why?” Niffty said, fidgeting and looking nervous.

She was also terribly upset and worried, her usual frantic energy more subdued.

Mina lowered herself to her knees so that she was more on Niffty’s level. She was desperate, angry, willing to go to more violent extremes than she had ever gone to before, but this soul was not one she could bring herself to be cruel to.

Short and impatient with, but still, she didn’t want to scare Niffty.

“If it’s still there, then we know he’s still alive. It would give me hope, Niff, if you’d just let me see it.”

“Okay . . .” Niffty hesitated and then raised her hands up as if holding something and as she did, the faint green chains appeared in her clutches then solidified.

Alastor was alive, his soul intact enough to keep the bond between him and Niffty as strong as ever.

The relief of it crashed into Mina and she immediately let out a sob, dropping her head into her hands and crying. A very large part of her had believed he was dead; had imagined the worst, most terrible fate befalling him, that he had suffered and been tormented before being snuffed out forever.

She felt petite arms wrap around her and realized Niffty was hugging her and felt her tiny body shaking as well.

“It makes no sense,” Mina said between her gasping cries. “He’s just gone.”

“I know,” Niffty said, her voice strained with her own tears. “I’m scared too.”

___

Neither of the two women were at all tired and there was no such thing as a last call at the bars in Pentagram City.

Fearing for Alastor’s safety and desperate to not lose anymore time, the two of them tracked down the other souls that he owned that he was most closely acquainted to; the ones who would be most likely to either know anything or be involved in a means of double crossing him.

Husk was one of those souls.

Mina had begun singing as soon as the bar door closed behind her, keeping Niffty well out of earshot. The patrons evacuated in under a minute but as Husk walked around the gambling table he had been sitting on, she grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the card table.

She had never been fond of him the way Alastor was. Mina found Husker to be too self-pitying, too lost in his drink and sorrows, and too bitter about life to be anything but a nuisance but for some reason, her husband seemed to enjoy keeping him around.

It pissed Mina off even more whenever Husk complained about Alastor, as if he wasn’t the one who had gambled his own soul away. As if he wasn’t lucky it was Alastor who had been the Overlord to take that bet and not someone who would treat Husk much worse.

With her singing halted, Husker snapped out of the trance she had put him in as she threw him to the table hard enough to knock the wind out of him.

“What the fuck,” he wheezed, gasping for air around her chokehold on him. “Mina?!”

“What do you know?” she asked, her voice remarkably calm and serious given the state of her mind.

“What are you talking about?” he gasped, grabbing at her wrists. “Where the fuck is Alastor?!”

“That’s what I want to know,” she said and let up on his throat, letting the demon sit up and rub his hands across his neck.

“Again, what the fuck are you talking about?” he grumbled.

“You haven’t noticed how quiet the radio was today?” she asked, tilting her head. “Alastor is missing and I need to know who knows about it.”

“You think I listen to that shit?” Husk said, looking around as if he just noticed the empty bar room. “I don’t tune into the radio much these days. And why would I know jack shit about Alastor going missing?”

“You work with him,” Mina said cooly. “You know him better than most. But we both know you hate him. That puts you in a pretty good position to be able to get rid of him.”

Husk’s eyes went wide as he realized what Mina was implying.

“I didn’t do anything to the bastard, though I wish I would have,” he said, pinning his ears back.

He reached for his pocket, likely going for his deadly set of playing cards, but before he could reach them, the long-pointed end of a needle was being held to his throat.

Niffty had appeared behind him, smiling down at the winged demon, waiting for him to give her an excuse to use the new weapon Mina had gifted her.

“You wanna go after anyone, you should be going after Vox. Everyone knows those two have beef,” Husker said, keeping his tone business like even if he was side eyeing the crazed woman holding his life hostage. “If you think you’re strong enough, that is.”

“I’ll work my way up there if I have to,” she said and motioned with her chin towards Niffty, who dropped her needle away from Husk’s throat.

“What, you’re not going to torture me for information?” Husker asked, shifting away from Niffty even as she jumped off the table.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Mina said dismissively, turning to leave. “But if Alastor doesn’t show up soon, it might be a wise decision to make yourself harder to find.”

___

It took them days to track down and interrogate the rest of the souls. They hardly slept or ate, barely caring for themselves at all. And they had nothing to show for it.

By week's end, Mina was completely strung out and going insane.

She had sent Niffty away and locked herself up in the tower. It was nearly completely drained of everything at that point. The wards had fallen and it took an enormous amount of her own energy to enter it.

It looked decrepit, inside and out. The metal of its base was beginning to rust and warp. A couple of the panes of glass had shattered. The walls looked like they would crumble any day now. Inside the air was musty and dank, reeking of mildew and dust.

Mina curled up on the floor of the main room; where Alastor had first shared his mother’s recipe with her, first slow danced with her, first shared the secrets of his heart with her. Where his last words to her were to never forget that he loved her.

She cried there on that floor, screaming out her anguish, sobbing until her back and ribs hurt. It felt like her heart would burst with the internal pressure of her pain. Her hands gripped at her hair, her head pounding worse than any hangover, her eyes aching from the never ceasing torrent of tears.

The not knowing was driving her to madness. Had he left her like this on purpose? Or was he stuck somewhere, hurting as much as she was, or likely even worse? Had he known this was going to happen or did he just suspect something might go wrong? Had he sent her away that day to keep her safe or to make his leaving easier?

She couldn’t think anymore; her mind was just blaring white noise, an asylum full of nothing but pain and panic.

The tower moaned and creaked around her, her ears picking up the distressing noise, even over the sounds of her cries. It didn’t matter. If it fell, she would fall with it.

Hours ticked by and then an entire day and night.

Eventually, her body gave into exhaustion and fell asleep.

She dreamed of him; of his arms around her, the glowing red of his eyes, his static voice singing in her ears, his skin caressing hers, the smell of him; whiskey and the smoke from his pipe and the woodsy coastal scent of swamp filling her senses.

Mina woke, alone and cold on the hard floor, but could still smell him.

She sat up with a start, hopeful and frantic, looking around for any sign of him.

But then she looked down and saw his shirt in her hands. She had pulled it from their dresser and held it to her face as she cried herself to sleep. It still smelled uniquely like him, and she lifted it to her nose once more, tears stinging her swollen eye corners, before she threw it to the ground and stood.

She was done searching. Done torturing and interrogating. Done wasting time.

Everyone in Hell knew he was missing now; the news was being broadcasted everywhere. Most were still afraid of him, respected him enough to not say much. But some were celebrating.

She would make them pay. Make them feel her pain. And in doing so, she would make Hell tear itself apart to bring to light the ones responsible for this.

___

This bruised and beating heart

It hungers for your pain

Fill it up until it stops

Stab it and bleed it black

This burning and thirsting throat

It yearns for the dark

Fill it up until I choke

Stopped by your silent attack

There’s children screaming in the streets

Their mothers dead under their sheets

And still it’s me you fear

My words the greatest threat your ears have heard this year

I won’t show you kindness now

You chose your hate

I chose my blade

So enjoy this bloody bed you’ve made

You won’t show your mercy then

You threw us out

You let us starve

So they’ll dance on your grave unafraid

The world’s a ruin of smoke and ash

But pockets are full of gold and cash

Of course it’s still me you fear

My words the greatest threat your ears have heard this year

Mina wrote that song when she first arrived in America. She’d thought she’d known the horrors of prejudice back home, but it was nothing compared to the class and race warfare that suffocated the most vulnerable of Americans. Black, Italian, Irish, Polish, Asian . . . basically if you didn’t have the perfect combination of last name, skin tone, and accent, the arbitrary and idiotic differences that divided the working class of the United States, you were barely seen as human. It had enraged her, filled her with hate, and she had found an even greater taste for violence . . . and the best muse for her songs and poems yet.

Now Mina was angrier than she had ever been. More blinded by her own pain, consumed by her own misery, than at any other point in her short life and far longer afterlife. And her power responded in kind.

The surge of it was practically humming through her nervous system, making her blood pound through her veins with more strength than even Abaddon’s blood had once given her.

And she put every once of that powerful intention, that driving force to find Alastor, into her most emotional, vengeful song she had ever put to paper.

Someone in Hell had taken Alastor from her and since she didn’t know who to focus her hate on, she focused it on all of them.

She walked down the main streets of Pentagram City, singing, and everyone who heard her song went mad. They attacked each other, beat each other, ate each other. Hordes of demons ran into shops, pulling innocent shoppers and business owners alike out into the street, who then heard her words as well and joined in.

There was little goal besides chaos. She simply let everyone feel what it was like inside her tumultuous mind but one thought came through loud and clear; one single clear message that entered the minds of almost every Sinner and Hellborn in Pride Ring that day.

Bring me Alastor.

Destruction reigned down all-around Mina as her Siren song took hold of the entire city. Those who were innocent, who didn’t know where Alastor was or how to find him, simply went insane.

Millions of demons went insane that day.

Hell had been torn to shreds. Mina had caught the attention of every Overlord, every Sin, and every royal Hellborn. Even the lower rings heard of the destruction that the Radio Demon’s wife set loose on Pride that day.

And Alastor was still gone.

___

Mina woke slowly, her body fighting to stay unconscious. Not from any drugs, illnesses, or maladies of the physical form; she simply did not want to face reality. She had been enjoying a dreamless state of bliss where her mind floated in nothing but darkness and quiet and yet, despite her wishes to stay that way, her body began to betray her.

She blinked her eyes, seeing a beam of morning light filter through her curtains. Black curtains, around vintage crank windows, and the dim light that streamed through them was tinted red.

When she had first begun spending nights in the radio tower with Alastor, his bedroom had been completely windowless. But as he began to experiment and grow his power with glamours and eventually pocket dimensions, he created the allusion of windows, complete with different daytime and nighttime scenery, even changing the seasons on a whim. But it was always images of Earth outside those imaginary windows, never Hell. They had enough views of Hell upstairs in the main room.

Mina sat up, wide awake now that she realized where she was.

This was her old room. Her old apartment.

Her ears twitched as she heard a thump from outside her bedroom door and then muffled voices.

She rubbed her eyes as she tried to recall the last thing she could remember. It was all just a blur of violence as she walked through Pentagram City and then . . .

It’s time to come home.

Abaddon’s voice from behind her. A rush of warmth. And then peaceful nothingness.

When she stepped out of her bedroom she was greeted by Abaddon, Niffty, and Rosie, who were carrying boxes into her living room.

“Ah, there you are darling,” Rosie said, setting a box down and clapping the dust off her hands. “How are you feeling this morning?”

Mina didn’t answer, just looked around the unfurnished living space and the dozen boxes that were scattered around the room.

Abaddon cleared their throat.

“We didn’t know what you would want to keep or not but we figured we might as well get out what we could before the tower collapsed completely.”

“Ooooooh, what’s this do?” Niffty asked, pulling out a bear trap that was nearly as big as her. It had been used as décor but was still perfectly functional. Thankfully Rosie bent down and carefully removed it from Niffty’s grasp before she could hurt anyone with it.

Abaddon chuckled. “You know, I never really cared for the guy, but I gotta say, I did like his style.”

Mina felt the burn of tears collecting in her eyes.

This was what was left of the life she had built with Alastor? Boxes full of a pathetic mix of the few materials they had collected together over the years. And now she was to do what? Just return to her life in The Pit with her broken heart and some mementos? She knew life would be easier to deal with if her heart had literally been ripped from her chest instead of this gaping hole that Alastor had left behind him.

She couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breath. She just stood there, staring at her friends, and silently began to cry.

“Oh dear,” Rosie said, and went over to her, crushing her into a hug. Mina buried her face in the taller woman’s bosom and sobbed. “There, there,” Rosie whispered, stroking her hair, “I know it hurts. And it hurts this bad because he really did love you. Does love you. I’m sure he’ll turn up again someday, darling, and when he does, he’ll have quite the tale to tell all of us. Just try and hold onto that hope, alright?”

Mina didn’t respond, just stayed in Rosie’s arms, clutching at her friend and weeping. She had been so awful to Rosie when she had last seen her and yet, here the Overlord was, supporting and caring for her.

The gates of Cannibal Town had just been coming into view when she had blacked out. Mina put the missing pieces together on her own then, that Rosie and Abaddon had worked together to stop her madness before she unleashed it on the one section of Pentagram City she would have regretted hurting. And then they had brought her here, kept her safe and out of the public eye, until she was ready to wake up again.

She felt Abaddon’s hand on her shoulder and heard their regretful sigh.

“Wherever he is, it’s not in Hell. I swear, Mina, I searched all seven Rings. There’s not a trace of him anywhere, I’ve never seen anything like it. But he’s most certainly alive. Or . . . well, his soul is.”

Mina sniffled, hiccupping as her crying came to a pause, and looked up at Abaddon.

“He’s on Earth?” she asked.

“It’s the next most logical place he could be. There are . . . other realms, but they would be outright impossible for him to get to.”

“Can you . . . would you send some of your hunters there to look for him?”

She knew Abaddon didn’t care for Alastor but they would do this for her. If not to just end her pain but to make Alastor answer for what he had done to her.

“I can do you one better, if you’re willing to keep a secret,” Abaddon said with the slightest twitch of a smile. They looked at Rosie who nodded at them to continue and gave Mina a gentle push at her shoulders, steering her out of her embrace to stand more directly in front of Abaddon.

They took her hands in their own, a golden glow beginning to shimmer around their silhouette.

“Work for me. You’d be the one bringing Sinners back to The Pit rather than punishing them and you’d get the chance to go to Earth any time a job is available. You know Alastor better than anyone. You would be best at guessing where he would be. You would have your family, your friends, and your home, all the security this place can offer you. And you could bring Alastor back yourself. Drag him by his antlers, if need be.”

Mina didn’t return their smile, nowhere near healed enough to begin finding humor in anything. But she turned her hand in their grip, bringing her palm against theirs and gave them a firm handshake.

“Deal.”

___

A week later

The tower still stood but just barely.

Several of the support beams had rusted completely through and fallen to the ground. The lattice was now a broken and wobbly mess that loudly groaned and creaked with every little breeze. The body of the building was tilted dangerously to one side.

Pride Ring’s very own Leaning Tower.

A cold, broken corpse. The perfect metaphor for her life.

Mina looked up at the thing, feeling her anger beginning to boil up to the surface.

She didn’t know yet if all of this was Alastor’s fault, but she had a sinking suspicion it was. He had known something would happen before he disappeared and had done little in the way of trying to warn her.

But he had been right about one thing. She was strong and capable. She would survive this and when Alastor got back, whenever that was, there would be Hell for him to pay before she would take him back.

Despite all her resentment, she couldn’t let his image continue to crumble away like this.

His radio tower represented him and whatever state it was in was how the city would view him. She couldn’t let it continue to rot away like this. It would be better if it was simply gone rather than slowly disintegrating before the eyes of Hell.

Mina stepped closer until she was completely covered in its shadow, standing directly beneath it, and placed her hands on one of the metal beams of the base.

There was no energy there anymore. The magic had been totally drained. It was just an ordinary building now, with nothing of Alastor remaining in its essence.

She felt the heat in her hand and pushed it out with her mind, watching the flames bloom to life and lick up the metal, crackling and sizzling audibly as it traveled up.

Angelic fire was more than just a hotter version of mortal flame. When directed by a true master, it could consume anything born of Hell, and Alastor’s tower was as unnatural as Hellish creations could get.

The flames spread from each joint where the beams connected, racing wide and up until the whole thing was ablaze.

Mina stepped backwards, slowly walking away from the ever-growing heat of the inferno but kept her eyes on it and staying inconspicuously out of eyesight of the crowd that was forming to watch.

She stayed in the shadows for the entire hour that it took for the ordeal to be over with and in the end, her old life had been burned away, leaving nothing behind but a large, smoldering pile of ash. Her deepest desire now was that Alastor would return soon enough to find it exactly like this so that he would see just exactly what it was that he had done to her.

Next Chapter ->

@inuhalfdemon @saccharine-nectarine @whoknowswhoiamtoday @redvexillum @visara-valentina

#hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor fanfiction #alastor the radio demon #alastor #alastor x oc #the radio demon #alastor radio demon #radio demon #the fire in the sin

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blubberquark · 3 months

Text

Looking for Group

Somebody posted on Discord

Does anybody want to collaborate on a [game] project?

but nobody answered.

Nobody said yes. Nobody said no. Nobody even asked follow-up questions. And yet, people in that server really do want to collaborate on games and projects. What happened?

Obviously nothing happened because the asker did not specify anything. What kind of project? With who? For how long? What should I bring to the table if we collaborate? I don't know. I was busy anyway. Maybe I can set up the asker with other people, who weren't busy. But this is not an isolated incident. Every day, thousands of people ask in chat rooms, forums, and mailing lists "Does anybody want to collaborate?"

Answering with yes is a risky move. Imagine being on the other side, and somebody asks an open-ended question... Imagine being on the other side of "I am having a software problem, can anybody DM me?"

Nobody wants to be on the hook to be somebody's personal tech support without at least knowing the kind of problem, and nobody wants to commit, even tentatively, to a creative project. It's kind of a red flag. What can you do to allow others to message you, to just tentatively get you to agree, to just agree to ask you for more details of your project? What should you do so people who say yes don't feel like they are wasting their own time, and yours?

1. Scope

The most important thing to communicate is scope. It's less important what kind of creative project it is, but how big. Is it an ongoing side project? A weekend? A couple of hours a week for a couple of months?

There is a world of difference between "Does anybody want to collaborate on a weekend project?" and "Does anybody want to collaborate on an epic story with 20 characters, multiple storylines, lore, 50 hours of side quests, and 800 pieces of unique loot?"

2. Stakes and Commitments

The next most important thing is commitments. This is doubly important if you are working with friends. Sometimes you want to collaborate on Ludum Dare, and if your partner is busy on that weekend, you'd rather know now. Sometimes you want to submit a demo of your game to some kind of competition or showcase, and it has to be ready at a certain point.

Sometimes you are really putting your heart and souls into a project, and your friend is just in it "for fun" and thinks you are ruining his fun by taking the project seriously. Your "One Story You Had Inside Yourself" can be your friend's "Learn C++ in 21 Days". Your "ticket into the glamorous games industry" can be your friend's "goof off with blender for a couple of hours and then try a different hobby".

It's important to talk out stakes and commitments with your friends, because you might be able to rope in a friend into a project without doing this. You could rope a friend into your project and he starts resenting you a bit because you are gung-ho about art, and your friend just wants to spend time with you, and you are exacting and controlling and ask him to revise the dialogue/animations/3D models he contributed.

If you are talking to strangers, you can't rope them in. They just won't agree to work with you without details.

3. Skills

If you are asking for collaborators in a programming discord, chances are you will get replies from other programmers. Chances are, wherever you ask, your post will be seen by many people who are good at the things you yourself are already good at. Are you a programmer looking for programmers, or a programmer looking for level designers and artists?

There are many reasons for three programmers or three pixel artists to work together, but by and large, you need people who complement your skill set, but fit into your work flow. If you are working with Unity3D, you probably want to work with 3D artists who have rudimentary knowledge of git and C#, even if they aren't supposed to code, and you need rudimentary knowledge of their modelling software and workflows.

So when looking for people to work with, you need to tell them what you can do, what you can't do, what you want them to do, and how you want to work together.

4. Topic/Idea/Design/Genre

This is point #4. This is deliberate.

You could probably take the previous 3 points and cobble together a "looking for group" post. People rarely do that. They usually have an idea they want to realise. Ideas are a dime a dozen though, and you can still pivot later, after you have found your group members.

It can't hurt to include this. What kind of project do you have in mind?

5. Management and Art Direction

There is one more big thing to consider: If you already have a project in mind, you are taking control of the project. You are the boss, you decide that you are looking for four people to collaborate on a science-based dragon breeding MMORPG, any four people who sign up know what they are getting into. It makes sense that the topic is not open for discussion. It also makes sense that you are the project manager, because you made a list of skills and work that needs to be done, and you have worked all this out already.

We are looping back to point #2 here. Why should people commit to your project if you are holding the reins? What do they get out of it?

You should communicate as early as possible what the creative freedoms are, what kind of tone you want to pursue, and how free your fellow artists are to express themselves.

In a commercial project, you can have control because you pay people. If you are doing a game jam project, or just any unpaid hobby collaboration, you should consider giving the others some creative freedom.

In a game jam, you could just decide that somebody else gets the creative control when you pivot to a different idea. In a large, commercial project, it makes sense to delineate how much creative freedom an individual artist has. In an open-source project, the maintainer can just review a patch and decide not to use it.

Ideally, you should communicate early on how weird or wacky you want the result to be, whether you want something with broad commercial appeal, with a sombre and serious tone, or if anything goes. That would be a bit much for the initial post, so just give a hint whether this would be a good project for somebody who really wants to put pigs and frogs in every game, or a good project who wants to make a character based on her ex boyfriend that the player can shoot in the groin. Sometimes people have the most specific ideas...

If on the other hand you have no idea what kind of creative direction you want to go, maybe you shouldn't go this route at all. If you want to give creative control to a yet to be determined team member, why not join another team instead? If you don't know where the project is going, you can't really plan who and what skills you need anyway.

Examples:

A good request for a collaoration reads a bit like a dating profile or a job ad. It covers the five points mentioned above.

Hey, I am Robert, art director and senior gameplay programmer at Blubberquark Software. I am fluent (among other languages) in Python, C#, Lua, and Haxe. I would like to join a team working with Unity3D, libGDX, löve or Flixel for the upcoming Ludum Dare game jam, in the Hamburg area. I like to use Blender, Gimp, Wings3D, ASEPrite, TrenchBroom, LDtk, Tiled, Ogmo, or Crocotile 3D. I also learned some 3DS Max and Cinema4D in university, but I don't have a license for those.

Here's a fictionalised version of myself, looking for a game jam team. To be clear, I am not looking for a team, but if I was, I'd make sure I don't need to learn a new set of tools for a weekend game jam. I'd try to make sure we all know how to use the engine, and we all know how to use the same source control, and we can all build and run a project before the jam starts. I wouldn't want to do a Ludum Dare remotely, so all this goes in there.

Since this is about Ludum Dare, scope and stakes are clear, and the skills I would use are in there. Skills that are irrelevant to Ludum Dare are not mentioned. Topic and creative control will depend on the jam theme, which is TBD.

Hello, we are Jim (programming) and Julius (level design, turn-based games expert). We are working on a fantasy JRPG called "animecha generica" that we hope to sell on Steam. We already have a gameplay prototype with placeholder characters and pixel art, but we would like to work with a skilled artist to create more interesting character designs and expressive/emotive portraits for the conversation system. If you join us, you would create characters, character portraits, quest lines, and dialogue, and we would split the revenue thee ways. We are also looking for a musician (work for hire basis).

This sounds like an early-stage commercial project. There is an engine and a prototype, but the design seems to depend on the content, and the developers are looking for somebody who can contribute the content. The scope sounds rather large (probably at least 5 hours of gameplay, maybe more) and the time commitment would be full-time until release. The artist they are looking for would do a little bit of everything, from art direction and narrative design down to art assets, and there would probably be a lot of overlap between the roles of two developers and the artist. Everybody wears multiple hats.

This sounds really risky, and the success of the project would depend on none of the three developers screwing it up.

Hi, I am Takeshi Kovacs, and I am making a new game engine based on Vulkan rendering, with its on scripting language, but optionally scripted in Python or C#. If this sounds interesting to you, I would like to work with you on a small game project of your choice, and help you realise your game design to test the viability of my Vladimir-and-Estragon Engine. Pick any weekend game jam of your choice. Pacific Time Zone only.

This seems low-pressure, and of limited scope. It could be a good after hours project, but it's probably not necessarily a good fit for a beginning programmer. You'd learn a new and unproven engine and scripting language. Apart from wasted time, it can't hurt that much to try. If you are a beginner, you could try to implement Pong or Tetris with Takeshi's help.

If you take up this offer, you would enjoy significant creative control, but the main objective would not be to produce a game for people to enjoy, but example code, or a game mechanics as a proof of concept for the engine.

We are making an open source shmup written in libGDX. We are always looking for new contributors. We have 100 stars on GitHub, and 50 players, according to our analytics. For the next release, we would like to add new levels, new power-ups, more ships, more content. Play our game [here] or build it from source by [following] [these] [instructions] [(Outdated Wiki Page For Ubuntu 20.04)]. If you have experience with Steam Workshop, talk to us on [our Discord].

This project has a medium scope, semi-mature code base, and low time commitment. You could probably contribute some content, or a patch to the engine, and nobody would really rely in you to stick around. On the other hand, you have little influence on the overall game design. You could certainly try: You could make a pull request that completely re-vamps the gameplay, but at that point, you might as well start a hostile fork.

We at secret studio are making otome dating simulator. Want to have demo ready for PAX Moonbase. We are looking for multiple character artists who can draw our characters on-model on a work-for-hire basis, and two additional writers for our writing team. We are looking for candidates who have experience with authoring systems like twine, ink, Ren'Py, Visual Novel Maker, or RPG Maker. Experience with YarnSpinner is a plus, but not required. You have the opportunity to design your own otome love interests and story lines. You will be expected to work under our creative director.

Like the JRPG example above, this is a commercial project with a large scope and fixed design, but these people are looking to hire more people who wear fewer hats each to create content quickly. This looks like a job ad for a paid position. It should be! You would have some creative freedom, but since this is a commercial project, you will have to stick with the marketing demographics and write romance storylines for girls who like boys, and any ideas you want to convey have to fit into that framework. It looks like they are using YarnSpinner and an undisclosed game engine, and they are willing to teach you how to use their tools on the job, but they seems to expect a writing background, and some prior experience in the tools/workflow/production side of visual novels specifically.

Hi. My name is Jeff. I work in theatre and I produce radio plays. I have podcasting and sound recording equipment at work. I play the guitar, badly, and I can borrow an old Moog synthesiser. I want to collaborate on a game project, by producing foley sound effects, or recording short stings and jingles. I know some QBasic from back in the day, but I haven't programmed much since then. I have licenses for Ableton, Photoshop, and Autodesk Maya.

Jeff is looking for a group. Jeff is not looking for a big commitment. He is willing to help a project out. Jeff has listed some skills and things he could contribute to a project. He is not looking for a new full-time job, but maybe a paid side gig.

Hi. I am Raven Siege Tank Banshee Medivac, a sophomore student majoring in computer science and underwater basket weaving at New England University, Arkham. I can use Blender, Photoshop, and and Logic Pro. I would like to help out with an open-source game project. I would also consider doing a puzzle platformer together. I know some PyGame.

There is almost but not quite enough to go on in this one. In what capacity would Raven work in a collaboration? What kind of scope is right, here? Maybe Raven would like to work on that shmup written in Java, but as far as the puzzle platformer is concerned, we don't know why Raven can't just make it solo with PyGame and Photoshop.

TL;DR

If you want to find people to work together with, you must communicate scope, commitments, and skills you need and skills you bring to the table. Explaining what kind of idea you want realised is also important, as is creative direction, but not as important as the first three. Your post should look like a job ad. Read your post and think if you would join that project or ask that person to join yours.

#game development #project management #indie dev #game jams

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writingforatwistedworld · 2 years

Text

Here is a little something I searched out from what I have written so far. As I see it, I am way better at headcanons but I hope you still enjoy it. Criticism is always welcome! Anons are allowed. Just... Be kind, ok?

Otome au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

(If you don't know me, I'm a yandere blog and this is just the beginning of a small project of mine so if you wonder “why is this in the yandere tags?” We will get there. Just not today.)

WARNINGS: Suicide, overall pretty fluffy, death, murder, full piece more warnings!

Sweet poison

Purple. Since you had woken up in this place you had been greeted with the color more than you would have liked. The clothing, the rugs, heck even the curtains were dyed in a deep tone.

Pulling the belt around your waist a bit tighter you looked at yourself in the old, broken mirror. Everyone could see that the poor thing had been through a lot. Sometimes you and your five other roommates joked that it was the mirror from that one time the king had lost control and threw one of his most prized possession, his eyes in looking glass version, out of the window.

Deeming yourself presentable you stepped out into the halls. It wasn't like you had been gotten into trouble for looking less than “alright” but you had heard all of the stories from the youngest in your room when you are spending your first night here, finding out that the king was not fond of tardiness, especially when it came to one’s appearance. Though, you had to admit that he did have rather nice taste when it came to clothing.

Entering the kitchen the smell of baked bread hit your nose, reminding you of times when you would run on the street as your game avatar blocking the way of random NPCs, asking them for bread out loud even if they couldn't hear it.

“Having a nice morning?” Turning your attention once more to the here and now your attention wandered to one of the bakers who were busy preparing multiple of the baked necessity for living. Well, at least one of the necessities needed in middle Europe during the medieval times. “Oh yes, most comfortable.”

A servant leaving the warm room ogled you on his way out, reminding you of the gazes that you earned during the first week of working here. And who were you to be angry about that? A stranger no one knew appeared out of the middle of nowhere, asking confused where they were whilst having no greater knowledge about the world surrounding them. At least until you realized that you were currently in the Otome game that you played before going to bed only to wake up as a character that didn't even exist in it, yourself.

Walking through the room until you reached the dirty plates you started scrubbing. Your job to keep a roof over your head and some warm food in your stomach was godsend. Who knew if you had this much luck if you had woken up in the middle of the forest which stretched out to the south of the castle? What if you had ended up in the place the fifth bad ending happened? That one cave, trapped in a hole without a way out...

Shuddering you shook off the thoughts flying around in your head. There was no time for this now. After you had scrubbed the dishes you needed to get more water and after that it was your duty to clean the inner courtyard. Not that you minded. The last few days had been especially joyful having been joined by a young man with black hair and a (sometimes way too) chatty personality. Having ended up here before you had the chance to play any of the routes of anyone living in the Shaftlands made your knowledge of who was who a bit limited but there was no way an important character would clean with you. The old well was also way too dangerous for someone of a high position to get close to it. As such you deemed it safe with whom you spend your time with. No way anyone of the dateable cast would come.

You were doomed. No way out. Nope. This was your last day in any of the worlds. Staring at the black haired male in front of you you thought you heard something in the background break. Probably your sanity. “What was your name again?”

Giggling the man with which you had cleaned this place for many days now repeated his name once more. “Neige Le- just Neige.”

You called bullshit. Only nobles had family names and even if you had believed him that he had none there were still the whispers of the other servants. Stories about the cast aside half-brother, the actual heir.

Well wasn't that pretty? Now you had to worry about having gotten in touch with a main character. You might as well just jump into one of that so called “Rook”’s arrows yourself. No need to chase you, hope was at this point futile anyways.

But on a more important note, wasn't this game based on folklores? Slowly your gaze slides to the well, then back to Neige. Well. Neige. Well. Neige... doves surrounding you two, practically singing some love song which you usually expected in some way too cheesy romance film.

If fate wanted to be even more spiteful then it should give you a white horse and you would look exactly like that corpse-kissing weirdo. Oh damnation, why are you such an ironic jerk?

The only thing you were able to do was to give him your best clueless smile and act as if you had no idea who he truly was. If you had a mirror you would have rather said that the usage of your facial muscles looked more like you had bitten into something horribly sour but it seems to do the trick. “Ah I see. I must have misheard the first time.”

Giving you once more a giggle that sounded more and more like the princes produced 1937 you felt once more how your soul was close to just excusing itself and searching for escape at the pearly gates.

“Mon Dieu! Quel spectacle effrayant!” And there it went. Your soul said bye bye. No way this kind of adrenaline spike was healthy. Seemingly also being close to meeting his creator Niege jumped up, sadly right into your side which made it seem like there was more between the two of you going on than it truly was. He was determined to serve you an early healthy portion of “slightly too sweet apple”, or rather you assumed he was. His action did make it seem so.

Whilst you were still busy de-petrifying yourself the oh-so-hidden prince next to clasped his hands, beaming up at the hunter sitting in one of the trees. “Excuse my rudeness but are you my brother's friend? The one who is always talking to him?”

Sliding elegantly between you two the young man separated the two of you, sending a smile to Niege. “Oui! Pardon my rudeness but it seems like our friend over here is still busy.”

Giving you a glance, telling you more than someone with telekinesis could ever do you frantically nodded. “Absolutely! I... I still have to... uh... Bread! Yes! Bread! The bakers asked me to help!”

Being seemingly satisfied with your answer the hunter turned you abruptly around, pushing you gently towards the servant's entrance.

Hurrying inside you almost tripped after seeing two figures looking down at you and the two other individuals still standing there. It was easy to see that the two were of high class but what frightened you the most was how aggressively the taller one pulled the curtain shut. Was this the reason why the servant sleeping next to you was mending so many times one of the hellish pieces of woven fiber? If the press would already exist then the headlines would be hilarious. Probably something akin to the lines of “King rips up curtains. The weaving industry is booming!” or “Anger management issues! The King has gone wild!” Although, that last one wasn't so funny.

Great! Now even the rest of the cast was aware of your existence! How much money did you serve throughout the last few weeks? The best thing possible to do now was to get onto a boat and search for Hakuna Matata. Preferably one that was far away.

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