#motu tickles

[puffy-fluffy272]

Okro headcanons?

Yes! Definitely! After hearing Orko laugh in the original MOTU show, I wanted to see him get tickled! Alrighty! Here's some headcanons for our favorite Trollan wizard!

Orko is ticklish on his belly, under his arms, ribs, feet, and yes, even his cute ears!

Orko's ears are ridiculously sensitive and will twitch with just one little touch. Once you start to tickle them, they will wiggle so much and might even tickle you back! While the outside of the ears are quite sensitive, the slits that lead to the insides of his ears are ultra sensitive!

Orko's laughter is very high-pitched and squeaky! Just listen to him laugh in the 80s cartoon. It's adorable! His laughter increases in pitch and squeakiness if you get him on his ears or belly.

Okro is definitely the person who enjoys being tickled a lot. Sure, he'd say for you to stop, but in reality, he loves it! When he has had his fill, he will put his hands on your arm as a way to tell you to stop. He'd possibly return the tickles as well.

Orko would make a great ler! He always wiggles his fingers when using his magic, and that can be used as teases for certain people. He has little claws on his fingers, so those would definitely tickle you! He can also use his ears since they wiggles around a lot. He would abuse those tickles teases especially with his cute voice, to get you even more flustered! Since he is a mage, he would summon feathers, use his magic, or spawn other tools to tickle you with.

[countrymusiclover]

62 - To Getting Rebekah Back

Part 63

Gemini Runaway

Tag list ask to be added @icefrye19 @secretdreamlandmentality

Dragging Aurora's limp body into a room of the Mikealson's compound I threw her against the wall while we waited for her to come back. Flipping my hair out of my face I scoffed leaning against the wall. "I don't see why we can't just do a mind dive on her like Klaus did with me when I was still a witch."

Freya began burning some sage in a circle in the middle of the room. "I'm shocked you're thinking about the safer option. A few minutes ago you wanted to kill her."

"Oh please. She's annoying me enough where I still want to kill her." Snapping my gaze downward to her slumping my shoulders. "But she's the only one who knows where Bex is."

She nodded her head seeing that she was waking up. "Took you long enough."

"Oh, are we to play a fun game?" Aurora asked, lifting her head up.

Freya burned some more sage around her. "Actually, yes, and now that my spell has made it so that no one can hear what happens…"

"Cause in case you missed it we're gonna have a lot of fun." Bending my knees I grabbed her chin in my nails flashing my fangs.

Aurora smiled up at me. "Raelyn, how I wish I could adore your flair. I can't forget the fact that you gave him what I couldn't."

"Ohh well I can rub it in your face after you tell us where Bex is." I wined releasing her chin from my hand.

Aurora made a nose looking at Freya now. "Oh, ok, so then what, pray tell, are we doing here?"

"I think I'll leave my sister in law to tell you what's next." She sat the sage down when I rose to my feet.

Crossing my arms over my chest I smirked wickedly at the vampire girl. "You're gonna tell us where to find Rebekah, or we're going to kill you."

Aurora made a disappointing face. "Oh. Hmm."

Raising my hand up I snapped my fingers drawing her up to me holding her by her throat. "Where's my sister in law?"

"Not telling." She snapped.

"Ah sha lana!" I responded where she grabbed her head falling on the ground.

"Still…not…telling." She groaned.

Turning on my heels I launched one hand forward, breaking her legs together at once. "Tenebris lapsus!"

Aurora fell on the ground but she began laughing where Freya stepped up, beginning spells of her own on her. She launched her around the room like a rag doll for hours. Until she landed against the dresser panting. "Uh!...Is that the best you've got?"

"Until I can kill you yes!" Baring my teeth together in frustration I clutched my hands into fists causing some fire in one hand. "Incendia! I'm gonna ask you again... where is Rebekah?"

She smirked, rising to her feet before Freya snapped her fingers causing her entire body to feel pain. "You're quite strong for an infant."

Vamping up to her I punched her across the face. Aurora ran towards me where we went back and forth hitting one another until I slammed her against the wall. “Ah! Uh... Uh... Uh! Ah! Uh! Uh! Ah! Agh! Oh! Rrgh! Ha! Ah! Uh! Huh!”

Freya clutched her hand forward causing the red head to hold her head yelling in pain for a few minutes. “Whoo! Ha ha ha! That actually hurt. Ha ha! Oh, I haven't felt pain since the 1700s... kind of tickles... and for that, I'm gonna make you suffer.”

“No you’re not actually.” I grabbed her by her shoulders siphoning from her.

She winced sharply. “Huh! Agh!”

"How about a werewolf bite, you psychotic, little bitch? Cause I know someone who doesn't have a relationship with you. Motus !" Growling in her ear I released her into the wall.

Aurora smirked where I wanted to snap her neck right then. “By all means if only I can laugh in your face when Nik heals me.”

Freya glanced at my direction growling through her labored breath. “Maybe Klaus would heal you, but I doubt he would heal your brother. Why don't you have your werewolf Hayley bite him instead?”

I smiled at the red head. “Hmm, that’s not a bad thought.”

Aurora threatened, crossing her arms over her chest proudly. “No one should dare harm my brother... Seeing as you're all going to need him if you want your precious Rebekah back.”

Our group was back in the dining room with Lucien clicking his tongue. “Longitude and latitude. Lovely.”

Tristan clinked his galls with his sister. “Well, despite our differences, I believe great strides were made today.”

Aurora smiled. “Hmm.”

Elijah made a threat sitting back down at the table. “Tristan, I can't murder you this very moment, but I could just as easily tear those eyeballs from your skull and feed them to your sister.”

Klaus warns him with me leaning against the armrest of his king chair. “Elijah, these are our guests.”

Aurora said back. “ Nik, it's so sweet of you to defend us.”

“Don’t get too comfortable with the idea!” I warned her by crossing my arms over my chest.

“You know, I doubted my brother's wisdom in bringing us all together today, but he was right. We must confront the harsh realities we all face and make difficult choices... To ensure our collective survival... And I have every confidence that my choice... Will be the right one.” Klaus got to his feet moving behind Tristian suddenly snapping his neck.

Aurora gasps at what he had done when he threatened her sternly. "Were you anyone else, the servants would already be mopping your blood from the floor. If you do not bring my sister home, Tristan will die slowly and in tremendous pain."

Aurora croaked through tears. “You betray me after all your promises of love.”

Nik raised his voice at her getting in her face threatening her to bring her home. “I meant to keep those promises! It was you who shattered them when you took Rebekah! Now I have your brother, a sibling for a sibling. I want Rebekah back.”

Aurora got in his face vamping away. “You will regret this. Huh!”

Freya asked him with me standing by her hip. “After everything today, you just let her go?”

Elijah reassured her. “Aurora should be easy enough to control. We have Tristan now.”

Klaus shifted closer to his vampire flashing his golden wolf eyes into his. “Lucien... You will take me to Camille, and you will surrender the medallion, or you will meet an end so cruel, the devil will weep.”

Stomping around the knocked out vampire I didn't bother wasting time vamping to his place. The elevator door opened quickly where I noticed that Cami was waiting outside holding a daylight ring. “Cami, we have to go now.”

“I took that vampire guy's daylight ring. He can’t get out until dark.” She told me to hold it up.

Taking her hand in I rushed us back to the elevator tapping my foot nervously until the door opened again and I gasped under my breath. "Aurora, shit!"

"Hello again, Raelyn." She smiled wickedly. "You must be Cami."

Cami's heartbeat began to race in our vampire ears. "Raelyn, what do we do?"

"Don't worry. I can take her!" I revealed my fangs and the veins under my fangs to her.

Aurora backed us into a corner when she revealed something from behind her back. In her hands was a stake and a vial of some liquid that I could only assume must be werewolves venom or something. "Oh on the contrary dear girl. You see she won't be getting the upper hand against me this time."

"What the hell are you going to do to me?" I growled shielding Cami with my body. "Leave Cami out of this."

The red head shook her head. "Sorry not an option. You see, I need her for my plan."

"Raelyn - uh!" Cami grunted when Aurora shoved a needle in her body to the floor.

I attempted to vamp at her but she pressed the tip of the stake over my heart. "Ah ah not so fast, darling. You might be a witch but I can still stake you and kill you with this."

"You really are a bitch. Why are you doing this?" I bared my teeth.

She leans forward. "Cause I won't let you keep my lover from me. Now either you come with me willingly or I kill Cami right now."

"Why you little -" I cut myself off when she moved the stake over her human heart in a taunting way. "Huh…fine."

Aurora grinned, dragging the blonde human towards the doorway. "Excellent."

"Dic mihi, hva du vet…" I mumbled praying that she didn't hear me do my mind spell before I followed her through the elevator. "Nik, please find us before Aurora kills me or Cami. We need you."

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[basenji18]

Bedmates

One of a series of five shorts I did back at the beginning of the year. Total AU crackfic fluff, starring Queen Marlena and Evil-Lyn from MotU. Enjoy. Fluff, no smut.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s her own fault; Lena knows it.

It’s been work, finding room for the new people come over from the dark hemisphere. Not to mention finding room for the people who were here before. The royal palace is not the smoking crater Snake Mountain is, but Eternia didn’t escape unscathed.

It’s almost easier finding rooms for the darklanders. Some of them are quite at home in the tunnels underground. Clawful is happy out in the lake. They don’t all need rooms furnished with beds or dining halls with tables. They’re mostly very self-sufficient.

But Evie is, well, human. For a certain spectacular definition of human. Marlena knows she could survive down in the tunnels or out in the woods. She could probably magic up a nicer room than even the palace could offer, if she wanted.

But - she’s exhausted. That’s what Marlena tells herself, what she says to Evie when she makes the invitation. They’ve all been working so hard, and magic takes a physical toll and beyond. So. Maybe she can make her own quarters once she’s a little more rested?

It’s not the first time they’ve shared a room. Despite Keldor’s protests that the little blonde he brought with him was his wife, Miro separated them. For “propriety’s sake.”

(Oddly enough, he denied Keldor’s request to marry her again properly.)

They put the girls together. Randor is already engaged to Marlena, but the wedding is some distance off. Put the strange little girl with the future queen. Hopefully something will rub off. And it looks so good for the queen to be seen as generous.

The sorceress is unlike anyone Marlena has seen before. Somehow both wise and incredibly naïve. It’s a little while before Marlena realizes Evie has no sense of authority. Radically egalitarian, she’s as courteous to the servants as she is to Miro, and no more differential to Miro than to the children in the square.

(Miro, while a good king, is keen on his formalities. Probably why he doesn’t seem to like Evie much.)

She’s also a little too self-sufficient. Marlena hasn’t been totally sheltered; she’s seen examples of neglect. Evie is barely more than a child, but she takes charge like an adult. She’s evasive on where she was and what she was doing before she met Keldor. Lena listens, but doesn’t push.

She doesn’t warm to new people quickly. She doesn’t like overly clever people, or most aristocrats. Lena is a little jealous; the same people trigger her internal sirens. Evie often has the honest reactions Marlena wishes she could have.

The people Evie does like, she likes intensely. Keldor is one, obviously. When the boys are around and the two couples are allowed to be together, Lena watches the two of them. The tension melts from both of them, they relax into an unspoken connection, more like a couple grown old together than any newlyweds. Maybe part of it is literal magic, but Marlena hopes she and Randor reach that level of comfort someday.

Randor is not one of Evie’s favorite people. He doesn’t put her on edge like Duncan does, but Evie is almost aggressively neutral about his presence. Lena gets the feeling she is trying hard to like him for Keldor’s sake.

(Keldor is trying very hard, breaking his back to gain the acceptance of his father and the half-brother he never knew. It’s...not going well.)

Evie is tense around Lena at first. She’s just been brought to the hugeness of the capital, ripped from her mate, and placed with a stranger. Lena tries to be friendly. It’s the first volunteered piece of information when Evie finally tells her she spent some time in a girls’ home that was...not very harmonious. Lena tries to be reassuring.

It’s the night when things change.

The girls are under guard. Marlena is used to them, but Evie is not. The constant presence of armed men, even if they are there to protect them, has her like a rabbit living in a court of owls. Now the room is dark and quiet, and the man outside the door and the door itself and the wide world outside are invisible, gone.

It’s almost midnight when Marlena feels a light tug at the blanket, pulling her back from the edge of light sleep. Her heart rate jumps when she sees the two pinpricks glittering above the bed. Eyes. She wipes her own and tries to compose herself.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Coming around and sitting up. The shining eyes don’t blink. A whisper-soft voice floats down to her.

“Can I sleep with you?”

Marlena’s fully awake. She can’t see the girl with her eyes, but she sees her in her mind. A slender girl with white-blonde hair in a borrowed nightgown, looking at her. Wordlessly, Marlena scoots over, and pats the bed beside her. She’s fairly sure the sorceress can see. How could she not with those eyes?

A warm weight sinks onto the bed beside her and slides under the covers. Lena expected her to stretch out beside her, but Evie surprises her by winding her arms around her.

“Thank you,” she whispers. And then, “It’s frightening here.”

Lena is about to say empty words of encouragement. Then she thinks of the man outside the door, of the dour old man about to be her father-in-law. Of all the faces turned to her and focused on her as she ascends the throne. She runs her hand down soft white hair.

“I know,” she whispers.

Now twenty years later, after plenty of frightening things have happened to them both, she extends a hand to the witch as the sun goes down and everyone else has trickled out of the hall into their chosen sleeping chambers.

“I know you can find your own place, but...until you’ve rested a little...we did used to share a bedroom, didn’t we?”

She offers a smile, and to her surprise and relief (and pleasure), it’s returned. Not the haughty, teeth-flashing smile of the witch, but Evie’s little smirk. The kind she used to give when Marlena tried to explain again why she couldn’t pet the royal guard dogs. A pale hand slips into hers.

She doesn’t have the same nightgown anymore. It’s been twenty years, after all. But Marlena still finds one to lend to her guest.

(Those will be gone soon. Only skin in bed.)

It’s soft and green, and Lena gets tickled, and when Evie asks what she’s laughing at, Lena is forced to admit that with her short, white hair, Evie is the cutest dandelion she has ever seen.

Evie gets on her dignity for a second, but eventually she laughs.

They crawl into bed. There is one one outside. There are more important places, more vulnerable people right now for the guards to watch. The bed is bigger than the old single-width they used to share. The women stretch out, and silence falls in the dark room.

A light tug pulls Lena back from the edge of sleep.

She rolls over. Two faint lights shimmer on the pillow next to her.

“Thank you.”

Marlena doesn’t say anything. She stretches her arm out, and Evie slides into it. After a moment the lights disappear. A moment after that, Lena notices the witch’s breathing has changed. She’s asleep.

Lena stares up into the darkness. There’s a former villain and a former lost child in her room, asleep on her shoulder.

And she has a feeling she’ll be staying a while.

[albion19]

Ring of Fire

Deadpool inspired AU. @dontbeallupinmyfriesdawg (you said to tag you)

Or read it on Ao3

“Phasmatos incendia!”

They say that it can take a fifth of a second to fall in love. Now you might not believe me but it’s a scientific fact. They cut out a dude’s brain and weighed it or something but that doesn’t matter. Falling love is a rush, a hit or in my case a deluge of magic released from a 5’2 witch who has literally just set my ass on fire. Johnny Cash had it right, love fucking burns.

*

As a siphoner exiled from the coven that by rights should be mine I found myself at a disadvantage. But I haven’t let that stop me. If a coven, say south of the Mississippi, needed someone dead and that someone was a vampire? A vampire who has a drinking problem and liked to sleeze on pretty underage girls? Shit I’d almost do it for free.

Not really. I get paid with magic and money but mostly magic.

Damon Salvatore and his Boarding House of Horrors. He had slaughtered a coven during the 80’s or something and so far had got away with it. So I got amped on witchy woo and headed to Virginia for what I thought would be a simple vamp barbecue. I thought I’d even make a vaca of it, see some family…

I thought most of the Bennett witches burned in 1790. Clearly not.

*

She slammed me back out of the house with a vicious motus and now I’m on the grass. I’m attracting moths. I can see them fluttering. No, that’s my hair.

Bonnie someone shouts and the most beautiful woman in the world looks down at me. Her wavy brown hair glints in the fire, her green eyes shining like emeralds. The grass starts to burn around her feet. It could almost be romantic.

“…Hi.”

She screams and jerks back. “You’re alive?!”

“Only on the inside.”

She gasps and waves her hand and the flames dwindle until I lay smouldering. Smells like BBQ.

“Uh I’m like pork crackling. It’s making me hungry, is that gross?”

She grimaces as my skin starts to heal. I hope she stays around long enough to see me all shiny and new. “Oh my god. What – what the hell are you? You almost killed Damon!”

“He isn’t dead? Damn it. I wasn’t sure the shot landed between you setting me on fire and throwing me out the window. That was awesome, by the way.” I sit up and she looks aside. I’m half naked. My dick will have scabs. I cross my arms over my chest and start to shiver. She gives me furtive looks. She’s so pretty I want to staple my eyes open. 

“You better go or I’ll set you on fire again.”

“Promise?”

I smile and she frowns down at me. Am I making a good impression? The borrowed magic inside me is exploding, a butterfly orgy. If anything it feels replenished. Am I soaking her up without realising it? God I wanna roll her up and eat her she’s so cute. She growls at me as I get on my knees.

“Just go!”

“I’ll only come back. I had a mission and I haven’t finished it.”

“To kill Damon? I won’t let you.”

“Then you better give me your sweater.”

“What?” she blinks.

“If you’re not gonna let me go then can I wear your coat? Or are you just gonna use me and leave me like this?” I motion at my bare chest, which is now completely healed. Bewildered she watches as I get to my feet and stretch. Her eyes totally flick down to my navel before snapping back to my face. Ha.

“I…I didn’t say I wasn’t gonna let you go.”

“Yeah you did. I don’t usually get captured but I admit defeat,” I offer my wrists to her but she stands there frozen, her cupid-bow mouth open in a perfect circle of confusion. Wicked, lovely thoughts fill it.

“What?”

“Take me, I’m yours.”

“You – what?”

“Or you can let me go? I kill Damon and then we can go play some Skee Ball? Do you have that here? I also like ping pong.”

“Oh my god please stop talking,” she cradles her head, looking at the ground and then with sharp movements she rips off her long coat and flings it at me. It’s too small but it feels good against my skin. She smells like honey and magic.

I suck the traces of magic from the fibres and follow her away from the boarding house. Her friends have left her.

*

She drives me to a rundown old plantation house and I get stiff even before we reach the property. I hide it with her coat.

“Hundreds of witches died here a long time ago. It’s a magic hot spot so don’t think you can mess with me here. They burned to death,” she adds significantly, cruel, as she pushes me through the door.

“Oh, this place is a crack den to someone like me.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. So do you bring all your dates here?”

“This – this isn’t a date. You’re such a weirdo.”

Shaking her head she leads me down a hall towards a grand but dilapidated bedroom. I fling myself onto the bed which expels a puff of dust, making us both cough. She tells me not to move, those feline eyes slitted before rummaging around under the bed. I hear some rattling and smile as she brings out a length of chain. She’s obviously done this before. It sends a spike of jealousy through me but I’m too turned on to focus.

I open my mouth to speak – didn’t even buy me dinner, not even first base – when she lifts a long slim finger and tells me to shut up.

“It’s only been an hour but I know every gross thing that’s flapping around inside your head. So keep it to yourself.”

I smile and zip my fingers across my mouth. I watch her as she goes about chaining my wrist with a manacle and then climbs up on the bed to fasten the other end to the top of the metal bed frame. She’s so small she has to stand on tip toe to reach. The butterflies in my stomach are waltzing and dinning. Foreplay is next.

“You want some help?”

“I want you to keep quiet.”

I tickle her ankle and she kicks me in the chest. I grab her foot and she looks down at me with murder in her eyes. I want to kiss her feet, grovel like a dog.

“You kidnapped me, all for a vampire who has a longer rap sheet than I do. Let me do my job unhindered and I promise I’ll come right back.”

She stares at me for a long time before she laughs, pulling her leg away. “I didn’t kidnap you, you’re insane. You’re a killer.”

“I am but I only hurt bad people. Are you like the reverse of me? You protect killers and abusers? What’s the salary like? No judgement, just curious.”

I know this seems like the wrong thing to say as she proceeds to give me the worst aneurysm I’ve ever had but it does serve a purpose. She screams a spell and snaps her hand into a fist and my head flares white like a star going super nova. Fuck she’s powerful.

Powerful but self-agonising. No self-respecting witch lowers themselves for vampires and she knows it. I’m going to kill them and save her. I’ll do it for free.

*

“What’s your name?”

“Kai Parker…Hey you’d be Bonnie Parker if we got married. Like Bonnie and Clyde? That’s neat.”

She excels a long breath before talking. “What were you promised for killing Damon?” she sits in a chair at the end of the bed.  She had talked to her friends on her phone but warned them to stay away. She didn’t want our alone time interrupted. Sweet.

“Ten thousand dollars and a season ticket to see the Seattle Mariners.”

“Ten thousand dollars to kill a vampire?” her eyes bug out of her head.

“That’s chump change. Bagging an Original is in the millions because of the domino effect.”

Bonnie sits back in her chair in amazement and then laughs. “My mom took down Mikael and now she lives in the middle of nowhere and sells paintings on Etsy.”

“Money isn’t everything…it makes up like 40% of my pie…I heard what your mom did, we all did in Oregon. Being a badass runs in your family. Your talents are wasted.”

“Trying to butter me up won’t work.”

“I’m not, it’s just the truth but now you’ve said that I’m starving. Seriously I’m seeing it running all over your skin like honey.”

“You’re gross,” she says but this time she looks away with a small oh my god is this guy for real smile.

“Wanna go for some Korean? My friend Oscar makes a mean Dak Galbi and he taught me how. Is there a kitchen here?”

“Yeah but no one’s lived here for like fifty years. Anyway no one is cooking anything.”

“I get cranky if I don’t eat.”

“Good.”

*

“Thanks for the pants. I found a stick of gum in the pocket.”

“Lucky you,” she paces before the bed, looking suspicious. It’s been hours and the butterflies have now settled down and promises of marriage is on their minds. I twist the silver foil into a band around my finger.

“You’re looking antsy, you should relax,” I pat the mattress but she ignores me.

“If someone paid me a lot of money to get a job done I would not let myself get willingly captured.”

“Uh you did light me up like a Fourth of July cracker.”

She waves her hand. “You walked it off. I’d still like to know how?”

I wave my hand right back at her, making the chain swing. “Just a little transference.”

She frowns but quickly understands. “You mean you transferred your injuries to someone else?! You’re a witch?!”

“Yeah. They deserved it. Like I said I only target bad guys.”

“But you’re still here. You could escape anytime you wanted if you’re a witch.”

“I could yeah but you captured me fair and square. Do you wanna come back to Portland with me?”

She blinks and then laughs in shock. “What? No.”

“Oh, thought I’d ask. Is it the weather? It’s not raining all the time.”

“It’s not the rain. You’re an assassin! I’ve known you for four hours.”

“I know it’s crazy right? It only took one fifth of second for me to know.”

She steps closer, frowning. “Know what?”

“That we’d get married one day.”

She scoffs and leaves the room. I sigh, watch her go and it actually hurts. 

“Damn, you’re fucking whipped man.”

“Oscar! My little dumpling. Sorry I’m really hungry.”

A short, middle aged Korean man stands by the wall with a grin. My childhood friend, partner in crime and fellow siphoner. I used to buy pot off him at magic school, that’s how we met. He’s my best friend and when I got out of my prison world he took me in after my coven shunned me. Not like I was their leader or anything…

“Ssh. I don’t want her to roast me alive too. She got you good huh? I found scorch marks.”

“I’m in love.”

“I heard. It must be like Inside Out inside you right now, those little guys running around and freaking out.”

“I feel really weird but it’s a good weird. I’m gonna handcuff her to me and bring her to Portland.”

He winces, shaking his head. “Uh, ask her out on a date, that might work better. Handcuffs are only for police officers and role plays”

I nod. Oscar usually reels me in when I’m like this. Thank fuck he arrived. “Right. Okay. So good news?”

“Okay so previously on the Siphoner Diaries: I decapitated Damon Salvatore and I’m about to go back to New Orleans to present his fangs.”

I smile. “Under normal circumstances I’d be bummed but I’d give you my entire fang collection if it meant she’d set me on fire again.”

Oscar places a hand to his chest. He’s a good man, a complete hippy shit but a good man. “Damn, I’ve never seen you like this before. I’m so happy for you man, sincerely. So you’re staying put?”

“For now,” I say as he moves back into the shadows as Bonnie approaches. “I’m gonna take her back to Portland with me. Not in a bad way, I’ll do it right. We’re gonna have triplets.”

Oscar looks at the tattered remains of my clothes and chains before disappearing. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

“Who was that?” Bonnie demands, entering the room.

“A ghost from a Korean horror movie, thank god you got back,” I say as she scans the room but Oscar is gone. We decided to split the winnings, no matter who bags the head. It’s how we work. Bonnie rolls her eyes and moves to the side of the bed. She sighs. She doesn’t look upset so I guess she doesn’t know yet.

“I got you a Twinkie, it was in my car. It’s probably a dozen years old but -” I snatch it out of her hand before she can finish and rip it open with my teeth.

“Fanks.”

*

“You killed him!” she screams, slapping me out of a daze. The candy was nice but not enough. Even as an acne ridden teenager I knew the importance of a nutritional diet. No one else was gonna look after me.

“Huh?”

“Damon! He was killed!”

“Well it wasn’t me. You’re my alibi.”

“Then who was it?!” she hisses, kneeling on the bed. God she smells so good. I want to lick her. I bet I could taste her magic in her sweat because I can smell it she’s so close. She yanks at my hair and I laugh.

“I don’t know! Probably another competing merc. We all get offered the assignment. It wasn’t me.” I shrug and I watch the anger drain from her face, replaced with guilt.

“Oh god, this is all my fault.”

“Hey, no it’s not. Come on, was he really your friend?”

“Yes!”

“When’s his birthday?”

“Uh…”

“What’s the last thing he texted you?”

“…I need a favour.”

“Which was?”

“None of your business,” she snaps.

“Did he say thank you? I’d say thank you.”

“Like you have any friends.”

“I do, a good one and we appreciate each other. I get that and I’m a fucking freak of nature. You deserve nothing less.”

She sits weakly, all fight gone and tears rim her eyes. She has long, fluffy black eyelashes, like spider legs. They’re drowning and I wipe the tears away with my thumb. She lets me. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I want to. Why do you think I’m here? A fifth of second is all it took.” 

She stares at me for a long scrutinising time before shaking her head and looking aside. “You’re a sociopath.”

“Kinda, I mean I was. It’s a long story. So now that I’m no longer in Buffy mode you wanna hang out for real? Do you like Karaoke?”

She sniffs, blinking and then gives a small nod. “Yeah.”

“Awesome.”

*

“The taste of love is sweet When hearts like ours meet I fell for you like a child Oh, but the fire went wild…”

[masterzii]

GameDev

I periodically get emails from indie devs who are just getting started. They're looking for advice. Sometimes, their questions are so relevant to the kinds of things that I'm currently thinking about that I end up typing way too much in response to them. Seems like a waste of typing for just one person's benefit. I post what I typed here, hoping that it will benefit multiple people.

In this case, the person was looking for advice based on specific games that weren't total failures, but didn't sell as well as they were hoping. They were thinking about giving up, getting a job, etc.

The games in question are here:

Pillar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z7AAJbMFeU)

The Path of Motus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXEjMuZmVww)

It's a little weird to make a public example out of someone, but it's hard to understand what I wrote without this context. And furthermore, I think this particular designer is doing something pretty cool, and above-and-beyond what I usually see from first-time designers that email me. So I feel okay elevating the profile if this work while also dissecting it at the same time.

To summarize the question with condensed quote:

I've come to the conclusion that maybe my games just aren't appealing to the mass amount of gamers. Both titles are really strange conceptually... but then I see your games do very well and I feel that debunks my theory as your games also stand out conceptually. I also feel I've made a mistake in taking too long on my games. Perhaps I need to churn out games faster and work on building up more of a following. I'd appreciate hearing any thoughts or advice you have. What do you think helped your games have financial success?

Here's what I wrote in response:

Well, Step #1 is email me so that I watch your Pillar trailer and have my mind kinda blown by the vibe that it's giving me. :-)

Really complicated and haunting feeling. Reminds me of the feeling that I got years ago from "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream."

Next step is read this Reddit post of mine:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/7wnud8/note_i_didnt_make_any_money_until_game_14_if/

And gird your loins to keep failing and not give up yet.

That said, when I look at these games, I'm not at all shocked that they're not selling well. I can't put my finger on it.... but there's something about the presentation that feels a tad amateurish. I think part of it may be that you're overshooting your abilities in terms of content creation/animation/etc. You're trying for a "pro" polished look, but falling short. I mean, these games don't look as put-together as Braid, for example, but they're clearly shooting for something like that. Whereas, The Castle Doctrine achieves a cohesive "nu low-fi" look, and no one would try to compare the look to Braid.

I'm too close to One Hour One Life to judge it properly (I absolutely LOVE the way that it looks), but I think that other people describe it's look as "charming". Somehow, these simple cartoons "work" and are seen as cute. Again, the low aim disarms people a bit. It's not pixel art.... but it's like the hand-drawn equivalent of that. Doodles. My first non-pixel-art game in like a decade, but I somehow hit a different kind of sweet spot.

So that's the look component of it. The Pillar look is actually the better of the two. The only thing that feels slightly off on that one is the walking animations, but it almost works anyway.

Next: WTF are we doing in these games?

Weird new games need to be CRYSTAL CLEAR about how they are innovative. The trailers need to get people's gears turning, and make them understand exactly why they've never played a game like this before.

Take a look at the The Castle Doctrine trailer or the One Hour One Life trailer. After watching those, you really have a deep understanding of how these games work (the trailer is almost like a tutorial), and you can clearly see why there has never been a game like this before.

And that may be another canary in the coal mine moment for you. Even if your trailer did explain it better, would the core "what people are doing in the game" part be mind-blowing enough to even be included in the trailer?

"A game where you build security systems and then try to break through security systems designed by other people"

"A game where you're born as a helpless baby to another player as your mother, and you live an entire life in one hour"

Pretty much everyone I've ever told those elevator pitches to (even non-gamers) was instantly intrigued.

I often wait until I have that kind of idea before making my next game. A "Holy crap!" idea. An idea that is so obvious and perfect that I rush too Google, hoping that no one else has thought of it yet. An idea that will make everyone else say, "Why didn't I think of that?"

In the case of The Castle Doctrine, I had at least 5 designer friends of mine sheepishly admitted to me that they had been working on exactly the same game. So I was right to be nervous about someone else doing it first. Then I saw the movie The Purge. A lot of people were thinking along the same lines around that time....

And if you have that kind of idea, it's easier to communicate that in the trailer and get people really excited about it.

Finally: Value proposition

When people decide to plunk money down for a game, they are generally doing one of two things:

They are so overwhelmed by the emotions stirred up by the very idea of your game that it's an impulse buy. Games with extremely evocative visual styles can often pull this off. The Last Night is a great forthcoming example of this. It will make enough people scream HERE DAMMIT TAKE MY MONEY that it will sell well no matter what. Hyper Light Drifter is another. These are first-week games. These games are like Levitron Tops. The idea of a floating top on your coffee table is enough.

They conduct a careful research project about your game, and the math works out to them. This is a deep game that they could get into for a long time and reap many weeks/months/years of enjoyment out of. They kick the tires, pinch the fabric between their fingers, heft the thing in their hands.... yes, this is gonna be worth $20. These games are like backpacks. You spend some time finding just the right one. You're going to be wearing it on your back for a while. (Monkey-on-my-back metaphor is not lost on me here.)

Single-player games usually have to rely on #1 to sell well. There are a few exceptions---usually some kind of endless building games where what the player does is up to them (Stardew Valley, Factorio, Subnautica), or steep-curve rogue-likes (Spelunky, Nuclear Throne). Emergence and long-term replayability is key, either way.

Sadly, as a result, I think single-player games are kindof a dying breed in the modern ecosystem. We're not going to see many Braid or Fez type success stories these days. And the few that do succeed will do so on raw emotion alone (pure #1). But the road is currently littered with big-budget single-player indie failures that totally would have been successful five years ago. Also, we must keep in mind that even Braid- or Gone Home-level success is small potatoes next to Stardew Valley or Factorio.

Thus, I'm skeptical of the indie apocalypse. People are just generally playing different types of indie games now than they were before. The old guard is experiencing system-shock when their short, consumable, single-player games aren't selling like they used to, and first-time indie devs are experiencing the same thing for the same reasons (because first games are almost always short, consumable, single-player games). But indie games are making way more money now than they ever have made.

So, if you're making this kind of game.... you REALLY better be sure that you're punching #1 square in its impulse-buying heart. If your game's initial impression gives people pause, it's already over.

But it's much more viable to target #2.

Many people played The Castle Doctrine every day for 11 months straight. Many people have played One Hour One Life 900 hours over the past seven months. Can your game do that? If so, then it can fit into the #2 ecosystem.

These games are NOT first-week games. These are the types of games that have their biggest week a year after launch, when people collectively realize just how deep the value proposition of the game really is.

Multiplayer is the easiest way forward. But there are also single-player paths here, as mentioned above. But my first "hit" game (14 games in, Sleep is Death) just happened to be a multiplayer game....

Even so, you still have to have a tiny bit of #1 in there to get people intrigued enough in the first place that they conduct the research project and find the value proposition. But it doesn't have to punch them in the heart. It can also tickle their brain conceptually. If they walk away from the trailer musing about the game, that's the seed that will grown into a research project where they will eventually decide to buy it.

But most importantly, you're only two games in. You have a lot of learning to do, and you will keep getting better and better at designing and making and selling games. Go back and look at my second game, and imagine if I had given up there.

[countrymusiclover]

91 - A Family Dessert War

Part 92

Gemini Runaway

@icefrye19 @secretdreamlandmentality

Clutching one hand into the bedsheets I moved my other into Nik's open hand. Throwing my head back I winced through the pain. "Just some more pushes." The doctor said to me, while we had been in labor for a few hours.

We had been put in the hospital overnight when I went into labor. Cami and Hayley were in the waiting room outside. And my brother was watching all the kids back at the compound with the rest of the Mikaelson’s. "Urgh! I can't do this."

"Rae, Rae hey look at me." Klaus turned my chin with his thumb and index so I'd look him in the eye. "You are the strongest person I have ever seen."

I sniffed through tears feeling some more contractions. My hair was in a bun but my baby hair was sticking to my forehead. "Nik I….it's too much - god!"

The doctor spoke to me while I moaned in more pain. My knuckles were turning almost white at how tightly I was clutching my hands closed. "Just a few more pushes, Mrs. Mikaelson."

"Ahh!" Klaus kissed my forehead before I gave what strength I had left. Shutting my eyes tightly I screamed, finally feeling relief go through my body. A baby’s cry filled the hospital room where I laid my head against my husband's chest when he sat on the edge of the bed holding me closer.

A nurse laid the baby down wrapping a blue blanket around the infant. She then came over and handed it to me. "Congrats Mr and Mrs. Mikaelson you have a beautiful baby boy."

"Oh my gosh. He's perfect." I whispered, hugging the baby closer onto my chest once I had sat up some more.

Klaus shifted closer beside me on the bed once the nurse had left the room with the doctor to fill out the baby's chart. "He has his mother’s eyes."

"And his father's hair." I grinned leaning forward and kissing him gently.

Klaus put his head against mine staring down at our baby boy. For once we got to have a normal pregnancy. And we had recovered information we believed would defeat the Hollow for good. "I'm sorry to interpret but have you had a name picked out?" The nurse peaked her head inside the doorway.

"Raelyn, I thought we were still deciding." He raised a brow at me, running his fingers through my messy hair.

Snuggling into his warmth I looked down at our son. "I actually had one name in mind. Henrik Artemis Mikaelson."

2 years later

"Sssh sweet boy." Henrik was whining while I laid him down in his crib upstairs in the compound. My braid fell over my shoulder while I rested my hands on the side of the bed frame. Handing him the baby werewolf stuffed animal we got him he cooed sucking on it and falling asleep soundly.

Walking down the stairs I found Klaus and our daughters sitting around the breakfast table. "How is he sleeping now? Also good morning, love." He asked me to get up from his chair.

"Morning, Nik." I smiled, kissing him gently. "Thankfully getting him that stuffed animal wolf and having you put your scent on it. It actually works to help him sleep."

He wrapped his arms around my waist resting his chin on my head. Burying my face into his black shirt I smiled enjoying the simple morning until something hit my nose. “Off what the….why you little rascals.” I chuckled seeing that it was cream from a cup cake that Missy had thrown at me.

“I was aiming for daddy. But he’s too high.” She pouted in her chair with her pigtails falling over her shoulders.

Hope picked up another, handing it to Alina who used her magic. “Cause you’re supposed to do it like this, Motus!”

Nik scrunched his nose when the cupcake hit him in the face. Covering my mouth with my hands I couldn’t contain my laughter when the desert fell on the ground and his nose was covered in cream. “Ohh..Nik.”

“Awe, that's adorable. Although I don’t think you will be so brave when the tickle king comes to attack his princesses.” He wiped away the cream vamping towards them with a cheeky grin.

Hope screamed jumping from her chair running around the table trying to stay away from him. “Oh no!”

Missy squealed, raising her hand and launching some more cupcakes at her father. But he dodged them easily. Alina raised her hand to her necklace using her magic, slowing her father’s vampire movements when she got the chance. “Morator!”

“Raelyn, did you teach them that?” Klaus glared at me while he was forced to be frozen in place.

I slowly walked towards him with my hands behind my back. Wisseling a toon I smiled innocently at my husband. “Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t. We have had our hands full with a newborn baby so how would you know?”

“Rae, don’t make an enemy of me. It won’t end well for you. It should be us against them in this cupcake war.” He sent me a glare where I saw his eyes turn golden for a split second.

Getting closer to him I put my hands on his shoulder where his eyes focused on mine. Gripping his shoulders under my fingernails he winced slightly but smiled when he felt the spell wear off. “See you can never be mad at me. Now shall we?”

“Ladies first, heretic queen.” Klaus gestured his hand forward with a bow making me chuckle at the playful side that only we got to see compared to the rest of the world.

Turning my head towards my daughter’s I joked knowing I would never hurt them ever in my life. “Are you scared yet?”

“No way.” Hope crossed her arms proudly.

Alina got in a running stance, smirking. “Bring it on, hybrids.”

“Maybe a little scared.” Missy gulped with her nervousness.

Klaus and I smirked at one another before we both picked up cupcakes and lightly threw some at them. They screamed when they ran behind the table using it as a shield. Missy throws some at me but I spun out of the way throwing my hair around. “Ascendo. Ha ha mommy.” Hope giggles when she clocked me in the face with a couple getting me covered in cupcake mess.

Klaus smirked, flashing his hybrid eyes at them. I vamped around the table launching some cake at Alina’s shirt. “Reboundus.”

“Chronolos.” Missy raised her hands, slowing down the impact of the desert hitting them.

Alina smirked like her father moving her hands around and one across her face. “Imitantor pupulus.” She moved her hand and I watched as I followed her actions of throwing the cupcake in my hand like she did at Hope. I gasped covering my mouth with my hands since she forced me to throw a cupcake directly at my husband without any control.

It was a few hours where we ended up being stained in chocolate cake and cupcake icing. “Ha ha ha. I think it’s time we clean up this mess.”

“Awe can we keep playing.” Hope whined even though there was cake in her hair.

Missy raised a cupcake up eating it where she had cake covering her face. “And can we get more cupcakes, maybe strawberries next time?”

“Maybe next time, sweetie. Now go get changed okay.” I chuckled trying to wipe some icing off my fingers but it was just getting worse with me doing it.

Hope sighed heading up the stairs with Alina and Missy going after her. Once they were gone I leaned into Nik’s chest when he wrapped his arms around my waist. “So shall we head to a shower to get rid of this mess, hmm?”

“Baby, Henrik is sleeping in our room. We can’t do that while the kids are here.” Spinning around in his arms I drape them over his shoulders giving him a half smile.

He leans forward kissing me deeply, moving his hands to hold my face in his hands. “We can if we are just really quiet, my heretic queen.”

“Fine, but we have to really be quiet.” I chuckled before he picked me up bridal style vamping me upstairs. My back hit the shower wall where he turned the water on not caring about our clothes. I smiled when he held me up with my legs wrapped around his waist crashing his lips onto mine.

Klaus pressed his lips deeper onto mine moving his fingers down my shirt. He didn’t waste a second more before he yanked my shirt over my head and onto the floor. “Oh Nik!” I moaned when he ran his fingers through my hair.

“You gotta keep quiet, remember.” He warned me, smirking at me when I yanked his shirt over his head using my vamp speed switching our position where he was the one against the wall.

Cupping his face in my hands I drew his lips up onto mine. “Stop talking, Niklaus.” He followed my instructions, crashing his lips onto mine moving one hand to my legs about to yank them off with the water soaking us head to toe.

We ditched the rest of the clothing and saw the cupcake icing fall down the drain until someone vamped into our bedroom calling our names outside the locked door. “Klaus. Raelyn, I need your help now!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I threw my head back in annoyance until Nik buried his face in my neck kissing me again.

He nuzzled his nose into my neck with my hands in his hair. “Sssh Rae. Just don’t say anything and she’ll go away.”

“Klaus. Raelyn, the Hollow has taken over Andrea’s body!” Hayley banged on the door where we both finally separated enough to look each other in the eye.

Glaring at him he let me down where I shrugged my clothes on quickly. “I will be very happy once we end this Hollow thing.”

“Same here, Rae. Let’s go take that woman to hell.” Klaus smirked tugging me outside where we grabbed the girls and the rest of our family to go find Andrea who was now the Hollow.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[masterzii]

"My Games Didn't Sell Well" --- Here's my advice for you.

I periodically get emails from indie devs who are just getting started. They're looking for advice. Sometimes, their questions are so relevant to the kinds of things that I'm currently thinking about that I end up typing way too much in response to them. Seems like a waste of typing for just one person's benefit. I post what I typed here, hoping that it will benefit multiple people.

In this case, the person was looking for advice based on specific games that weren't total failures, but didn't sell as well as they were hoping. They were thinking about giving up, getting a job, etc.

The games in question are here:

Pillar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z7AAJbMFeU)

The Path of Motus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXEjMuZmVww)

It's a little weird to make a public example out of someone, but it's hard to understand what I wrote without this context. And furthermore, I think this particular designer is doing something pretty cool, and above-and-beyond what I usually see from first-time designers that email me. So I feel okay elevating the profile if this work while also dissecting it at the same time.

To summarize the question with condensed quote:

I've come to the conclusion that maybe my games just aren't appealing to the mass amount of gamers. Both titles are really strange conceptually... but then I see your games do very well and I feel that debunks my theory as your games also stand out conceptually. I also feel I've made a mistake in taking too long on my games. Perhaps I need to churn out games faster and work on building up more of a following. I'd appreciate hearing any thoughts or advice you have. What do you think helped your games have financial success?

Here's what I wrote in response:

Well, Step #1 is email me so that I watch your Pillar trailer and have my mind kinda blown by the vibe that it's giving me. :-)

Really complicated and haunting feeling. Reminds me of the feeling that I got years ago from "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream."

Next step is read this Reddit post of mine:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/7wnud8/note_i_didnt_make_any_money_until_game_14_if/

And gird your loins to keep failing and not give up yet.

That said, when I look at these games, I'm not at all shocked that they're not selling well. I can't put my finger on it.... but there's something about the presentation that feels a tad amateurish. I think part of it may be that you're overshooting your abilities in terms of content creation/animation/etc. You're trying for a "pro" polished look, but falling short. I mean, these games don't look as put-together as Braid, for example, but they're clearly shooting for something like that. Whereas, The Castle Doctrine achieves a cohesive "nu low-fi" look, and no one would try to compare the look to Braid.

I'm too close to One Hour One Life to judge it properly (I absolutely LOVE the way that it looks), but I think that other people describe it's look as "charming". Somehow, these simple cartoons "work" and are seen as cute. Again, the low aim disarms people a bit. It's not pixel art.... but it's like the hand-drawn equivalent of that. Doodles. My first non-pixel-art game in like a decade, but I somehow hit a different kind of sweet spot.

So that's the look component of it. The Pillar look is actually the better of the two. The only thing that feels slightly off on that one is the walking animations, but it almost works anyway.

Next: WTF are we doing in these games?

Weird new games need to be CRYSTAL CLEAR about how they are innovative. The trailers need to get people's gears turning, and make them understand exactly why they've never played a game like this before.

Take a look at the The Castle Doctrine trailer or the One Hour One Life trailer. After watching those, you really have a deep understanding of how these games work (the trailer is almost like a tutorial), and you can clearly see why there has never been a game like this before.

And that may be another canary in the coal mine moment for you. Even if your trailer did explain it better, would the core "what people are doing in the game" part be mind-blowing enough to even be included in the trailer?

"A game where you build security systems and then try to break through security systems designed by other people"

"A game where you're born as a helpless baby to another player as your mother, and you live an entire life in one hour"

Pretty much everyone I've ever told those elevator pitches to (even non-gamers) was instantly intrigued.

I often wait until I have that kind of idea before making my next game. A "Holy crap!" idea. An idea that is so obvious and perfect that I rush too Google, hoping that no one else has thought of it yet. An idea that will make everyone else say, "Why didn't I think of that?"

In the case of The Castle Doctrine, I had at least 5 designer friends of mine sheepishly admitted to me that they had been working on exactly the same game. So I was right to be nervous about someone else doing it first. Then I saw the movie The Purge. A lot of people were thinking along the same lines around that time....

And if you have that kind of idea, it's easier to communicate that in the trailer and get people really excited about it.

Finally: Value proposition

When people decide to plunk money down for a game, they are generally doing one of two things:

They are so overwhelmed by the emotions stirred up by the very idea of your game that it's an impulse buy. Games with extremely evocative visual styles can often pull this off. The Last Night is a great forthcoming example of this. It will make enough people scream HERE DAMMIT TAKE MY MONEY that it will sell well no matter what. Hyper Light Drifter is another. These are first-week games. These games are like Levitron Tops. The idea of a floating top on your coffee table is enough.

They conduct a careful research project about your game, and the math works out to them. This is a deep game that they could get into for a long time and reap many weeks/months/years of enjoyment out of. They kick the tires, pinch the fabric between their fingers, heft the thing in their hands.... yes, this is gonna be worth $20. These games are like backpacks. You spend some time finding just the right one. You're going to be wearing it on your back for a while. (Monkey-on-my-back metaphor is not lost on me here.)

Single-player games usually have to rely on #1 to sell well. There are a few exceptions---usually some kind of endless building games where what the player does is up to them (Stardew Valley, Factorio, Subnautica), or steep-curve rogue-likes (Spelunky, Nuclear Throne). Emergence and long-term replayability is key, either way.

Sadly, as a result, I think single-player games are kindof a dying breed in the modern ecosystem. We're not going to see many Braid or Fez type success stories these days. And the few that do succeed will do so on raw emotion alone (pure #1). But the road is currently littered with big-budget single-player indie failures that totally would have been successful five years ago. Also, we must keep in mind that even Braid- or Gone Home-level success is small potatoes next to Stardew Valley or Factorio.

Thus, I'm skeptical of the indie apocalypse. People are just generally playing different types of indie games now than they were before. The old guard is experiencing system-shock when their short, consumable, single-player games aren't selling like they used to, and first-time indie devs are experiencing the same thing for the same reasons (because first games are almost always short, consumable, single-player games). But indie games are making way more money now than they ever have made.

So, if you're making this kind of game.... you REALLY better be sure that you're punching #1 square in its impulse-buying heart. If your game's initial impression gives people pause, it's already over.

But it's much more viable to target #2.

Many people played The Castle Doctrine every day for 11 months straight. Many people have played One Hour One Life 900 hours over the past seven months. Can your game do that? If so, then it can fit into the #2 ecosystem.

These games are NOT first-week games. These are the types of games that have their biggest week a year after launch, when people collectively realize just how deep the value proposition of the game really is.

Multiplayer is the easiest way forward. But there are also single-player paths here, as mentioned above. But my first "hit" game (14 games in, Sleep is Death) just happened to be a multiplayer game....

Even so, you still have to have a tiny bit of #1 in there to get people intrigued enough in the first place that they conduct the research project and find the value proposition. But it doesn't have to punch them in the heart. It can also tickle their brain conceptually. If they walk away from the trailer musing about the game, that's the seed that will grown into a research project where they will eventually decide to buy it.

But most importantly, you're only two games in. You have a lot of learning to do, and you will keep getting better and better at designing and making and selling games. Go back and look at my second game, and imagine if I had given up there.

https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/9k8wsi/my_games_didnt_sell_well_heres_my_advice_for_you/