#lately for whatever reason i have been seeing a lot of posts across platforms

[jennycalendar]

had a cup of coffee last night — i do not usually drink coffee, not for any big reason, just because deviations from my routine have to be planned and when other drinks are on offer i default to the one i am most familiar with, and because i don’t usually drink coffee i didn’t realize that the caffeine would actually make my brain function the way that i am now certain my brain should be functioning. like i usually take an entire day to shower or cook or whatever it is but i cleaned the entire apartment and made my salad as well, and there was none of the “lying down for 3 hours for no reason doing nothing” in between? and now i am feeling very tangled and sad because i honestly did not realize my brain full on does work different on a lot of levels, and will need accommodations for things

[laurfilijames]

All week I told myself that on Sunday, I was going to write all day.

I opened my laptop up for the first time in two weeks. I haven't written a word since I finished editing Expensive and tried for over an hour to work on my series Like My Dreams.

I thought about it all week and have been so eager to continue it, only the words won't come.

I know it's not for lack of passion or wanting to; I think about this story (and all the other ones) constantly.

I've been trying to deny some feelings for a while, or chalk it up to getting too much in my own head, but today it's come down heavier than ever and what is ultimately responsible for blocking my creativity and turning my love for my stories from thoughts into actual sentences.

I'm lonely.

I've never felt so alone.

The Charlie fandom seems to be relatively non existent, or just extremely quiet.

I have no space. No where I fit in.

I'm on the outskirts, trying to find a spot, constantly seeing if there is a way I can have a place for my ideas, stories, and even friendship, and have it hold some value to the others I'm around.

The more I post on here, the less I feel seen.

Engagement on this platform has reduced drastically across the board, and it's effecting so many artists.

It's not about numbers. I'm sure some of you are probably thinking "your last fic has over 100 notes". Yeah. It does. Almost all of those notes are likes, and more than half the reblogs are my own.

What I'm seeking is engagement. Conversation. A likeness and kinship started by a common interest that blooms into simple conversations and thoughts shared.

Comparison is a bitch. I see so many people living the Tumblr life I wish to have. Asks, comments, reblogs of teasers and moodboards for upcoming fics screaming of excitement and praise and how eager they are to read it. People dropping everything they're doing to read the latest chapter of their friend's new fic.

I realize the many reasons why I'm in a different position than they are, but lately it's been screaming at me louder than ever that I'm lacking something meaningful or whatever I'm doing on here isn't enough.

I've tried creating a buzz around my stories. I am aware that most of the time I write for unpopular characters with a smaller fan base, so I set the bar lower but am still left feeling inadequate even when I write for the popular ones. Whenever I've shared snippets of WIPs in hopes to gain some excitement from my readers, it falls short. Usually it'll inspire me to keep going, to write better than ever and make this next fic The Best One that makes me so happy and excited to get out. (For Charlie, I'll say, and write something I'm so unbelievably proud of) and then sometimes it makes me wonder if I should bother continuing at all.

I know I am not owed anything by anyone and no one is obligated to read or comment or anything of the sort, and I am beyond grateful for the comments and support I do receive, and the friendships I've made, old and new.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm getting at here, I just needed to write it down and "talk" it out.

I've been battling the decision to continue writing but not share it. I don't want that to happen, because as much as I write these stories for myself, a lot of the fun of it comes from being able to share it with all of you.

Nothing dramatic is happening. I'm not leaving, and I will be writing again because I'm not at all done with what I have to say about these characters, I just felt this needed to be said and already feel a little lighter by sharing it.

Write your stories, comment on your favourite fics, scream with your mutuals about a photo or gif that inspired something in you, tell your writer friends and writers you've never spoken to but love their stories just how much you do... I promise it makes more of an impact than you know. 💗

[bryce-bucher]

.50 Caliber 3D Platformer Post #5

(Flashing Lights Warning near the bottom of the post)

UI UI UI UI UI:

I've been working on UI mostly the past couple of weeks. It has been, as usual, both very cool & fun but also hell and evil. To be more specific, I really like designing the visual aspect of UI, but implementing it is always so horribly tedious and boring that it is really hard for me to focus on doing it. Without fail, I always end up getting UI done very slowly because of this. I am really happy with what I've got so far though, and it has brought me one step closer to getting to the point where I can just start hashing out levels.

Making the Health UI:

The health UI was something I was extremely excited about implementing, so I eagerly decided to decide that it was time to make it. Let me step u through the process 4 fun.

For me, it always starts with sketching out something crudely in pen. I've had this sketch done for months now, so it was p cool to see it finally come to life in game.

Next I hopped into blender and began trying to make some kind of cool y2k-era greebled out shape, but making detailed machinery (or details in general) is not my strongsuit, so I ended up with this kinda neat smooth shape that I wasn't entirely happy with. It looked cool, but I really wanted to challenge myself to make something closer to the windows media player skins I was inspired by.

More Specifically, I referenced this Half-Life 2 windows media player skin heavily, and started with a ring that I could build little pieces and wires off of. I hope u can forgive me if I maybe made it too similar lol, but I tried to get creative and put my own spin on it. I think the shapes on the top left are the most similar to my reference, and those are not-so-coincidentally the first bits that I modeled. This is my first time modeling something in this style, and I suspect that I'll get better at it if & when I do it again.

Finally, I slapped some materials on, made a texture for one of the faces I had sketched out, and rendered out a few frames of it gently(ish) flashing. I then went into affinity photo and made little speedometer components to slot into the small circle in the top right and programmed some functionality to it. The plan is to have the face represent the player's current health, so I am going to need to make a few more and then animate it rotating into a different face. But yeah, I am super happy with it, and I think it is lookin p sick!

Other Stuff What I Made:

Other than the health UI, I also added in functionality and UI for completing a level and selecting a level.

I was very much inspired by killer7 for the sequence that plays when you shoot your target, and I am addicted to intense flashing lights, so I included a lot of that. There are already accessibility options to turn that off, so if it's something that could harm u or if you just hate it (coward????!!!11) you can disable them. I've always found intense effects like that very cathartic, so I'm probably gonna include similar visuals in a few different things I make. That being said, I do also always want to make the alternative visuals (when the accessibility options are enabled) to also be cool af and get the point across. The level select screen was also really fun to make, I basically just slapped together some textures of warn-out paper into a little files situation and placed that on top of an abstract background that I made in jwildfire.

Conclusion:

I have honestly really loved working on this so far, but there has been a lot of anxiety about money in my life lately, so I really do hope to get this out in a reasonable time. I feel like I say that a lot about this game, but it is because it's always on my mind unfortunately. I don't want to make it sound like I am making this game entirely for money or w/e though, it is definitely a labor of love. Anyways, I hope to get to a point where I can get some environment art done soon, and I cannot wait to show off whatever this game is gonna look like. Have a nice day every1!

[blakegatfield]

Junk News

"Three reasons junk news spreads so quickly across social media"

We have all been a victim, probably multiple times throughout a day, to junk news online. Emails, ads, articles, pictures, things we do not care to see, infiltrate our space on our devices.

Let us start with one of three reasons we find junk news spreading: Algorithms. In a perfect, optimistic world, algorithms can be helpful for us in our media experiences and what we want to find. I do believe that there are still instances for me personally that are for the best. However, as the article states, "instead of promoting the free flow and transparent exchange of ideas that is necessary for a healthy democracy, the personalisation of content has created filter bubbles that limit information flows and perpetuate bias." From my own experiences I have had videos pop up in the middle of my feed that barely relate to what I am usually viewing or clicking on. It will be political videos, food services, or users that are similar to the ones I follow - but are just extremely random people that none of my followers are following. This has a serious impact on individuals of course, but also businesses. If algorithms are implementing bias on what is "recommended" then who knows what will be assumed about a company platform. When false, biased news spreads, and spreads quickly to just about anyone, that can damage a company's reputation just as fast as the content spread. The solution to calm down rumors? To create a solidified identity within the company account. If people go and check the information posted from the business, they should know immediately whether the claims are true or not.

Moving on, we now have advertising.

This is probably the most annoying thing ever for me. Social media feeds are infested with ads. Like the article states, it is clickbait. The users are supposed to see an ad, find it interesting, and click on it which usually takes you to another tab on whatever website just popped up randomly throughout the feed. I have only ever done this a couple of times when the ad was about clothes, or shoes. Something kind of interesting to me. Lately, it will be for "rewarding" the users for expressing some type of bias, or searching for things they agree with or like. The ads are stemmed from user behavior (or so they say), and for me, they will not go away. Political ads, sports gear/equipment, and computer editing programs were the ones that I literally just found while writing this within one minute of scrolling Instagram.

Lastly, we have exposure.

Some social media platforms give the users an option to filter what content they see. For example, sometimes on TikTok a screen will appear saying "how do you feel about the video you just watched?" and you can give it a rating. There are settings to block similar posts, and to eliminate sensitive content on other platforms. I use these features a lot when I am on TikTok mostly. There has never been a more random, unorganized feed than that place. It is cringe that I even go on it in the first place, but there have been instances where videos are extremely graphic and the community guidelines just look the other way, I guess? Pretty confusing and annoying. Even when we filter things, junk news finds its way home. There will be codes for what we have just filtered, and new bias and junk will be thrown into our new desired feed. For me it feels like a never-ending cycle. It is so important for business to have a solidified background and stay consistent with posts, and also checking what is trending.

You never really know what the next viral rumor will be.

[jmdbjk]

Yo

Psst. It’s me:

Name: Yo mama. Not really. But if I told you, I’d have to kill you. Just kidding. You can call me jmdbjk. Or Ferg. Ferg works too.  

Sign: Aquarius. (sings very off-key: ...it’s the dawning of the age of Aquarius..) Not now though. We are way past the dawn of that age. That was actually back in 1970 or whatever year that song came out ... 1969... so now we may be getting to the late afternoon of Aquarius. Or maybe we’re already in next week of Aquarius...who knows. BUT!! the opening lyric IS: “When the MOON is in the Seventh House” ...so there’s that. 

Time: 6:54 p.m. when I began typing this. Let’s see how long it takes for me to finish. I can be long-winded...

Birfday: February 13. Yes, I share the magic number. 

Favorite band/artist: Duh... but before BTS it was a very eclectic mix. Seventies, 80′s, disco, rock, classic rock, alt rock, country, pop, dance, you name it, I have it. From Aerosmith and Alan Jackson to Yes and ZZ Top. 

Last movie: hmmm... hmmm.   (thinks) ... (looks at my netflix saved list, nothing there)... hmm.. (looks at my Apple tv saved list)... OHH!! it was ISLE OF DOGS!!! damn, that was 3 or 4 years ago. An animated movie set in Japan, follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog. It was pretty good in an artsy fartsy, quirky way. I don’t watch movies often. Obviously once every 4 years or longer. 

Last show: Run BTS Telepathy Pt. 1. Before that it was the episode of Our Blues with Jimin’s song With You. I don’t watch television either. Ever. Except that one episode of Our Blues. 

When you created this blog: I think I created it in August of 2021 so it’s been a year. My first post was Oct. 15, 2021. 

What you post: The pandemonium in my head. Whatever is on my mind. I write as a way to get rid of the excess that’s constantly swirling in my brain. And since last summer, my brain has been obsessed with BTS and Jimin, Jungkook and everything surrounding them. Actually, on the outside, I am very calm. But I love words and I like to write and I have a lot to say to no one in particular. HOWEVER! I am also a very very good listener. 

Other blogs: Long forgotten but also served a similar purpose as an outlet for me to express whatever was going on at the time.

Followers: 479. How on earth? Thank you for visiting my little space I created here! I do appreciate you all. Except you...YOU! you Kookie hater, go away. It’s ok, I blocked you so there, I did you a favor. 

Do you get asks: Yes, some of them are actually asks. 

Average hours of sleep: 6. Can function on 5 hours until late afternoon then its downhill from there. My  eyeballs prefer 8 hours but for some reason the rest of my body/brain says nope, too bad.  

Instruments: of creativity. I use instruments of creativity...pencil, brush, filters, words, fonts, colors, all digital of course.

What I’m wearing: oh, dang, I should have changed clothes before sitting down. I am wearing what I wore to work, a pair of skinny black pants and a dark teal t-shirt. With the appropriate undergarments. Barefooted because I kicked off my black leather platform sandals across the room. 

Dream job: Well, actually, I already worked at a few of my dream jobs... retail advertising was my first job out of college so I was exposed to a lot of upscale fashion and whatnot. It was a mixture of fashion illustration and photography. That was a fun job. Then I worked in creative services at a television station where I produced tv commercials. That was fun too. I won awards at that job. I have also worked for another tv production company and traveled a lot. The traveling was fun. Another dream job was working at the biggest ad agency in my city. It turned out to not be quite as fun as I thought it would. It was a good experience (that’s what we say when we are finally free from toxic workplaces but trying to remain positive). Now I am a graphic designer/art director/digital communications manager/video producing jackoff of all trades at a very large non-profit. 

Dream trip: Seoul. Period. I have traveled a lot. When I was young we lived in Canada, Australia, Singapore. I’ve been to 21 states including Hawaii. Multiple times. I’ve visited Japan and the Bahamas. Lived many years in Texas but now Louisiana is my home.

Favorite song: currently its Daydream by J-Hope. But my playlist for fitness walking is: Outro: Ego, Outro: Wings, Trivia: Just Dance, Daydream, Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey), Run BTS (the song), Dope, Boyz with Fun, Dynamite (queen), War of Hormone (don’t judge me). The beats are very crucial to keep up a fast pace. My “just listening for fun” playlist includes Mic Drop (Steve Aoki remix), My Universe (SUGA’s remix only), Airplane Pt. 2, IDOL, Serendipity, Euphoria, Trivia: Seesaw, Magic Shop, Love Maze, Make It Right, HOME, Mikrokosmos, Cypher 4, Baepsae, Daechwita, Base Line, Bad Decisions, Left and Right and others. 

Sidenote: I saw on twitter where Sungwoon will be going to do his military service on Sept. 5 and I almost started crying at work. He was crying on his V Live and I had to turn it off. I don’t even know what he was saying. So when it is the BTS members time to go I am going to be a hot mess. 

Thanks @onthecuterside for the tag! Now it’s your turn if you haven’t already been tagged: @shellbells-things, @wingzie, @ejassy​

It is now 8:23 p.m.  

And here is a present for everyone...a phone wallpaper I quickly made today because I only had four things going on at once so I had a few minutes to spare and because I needed to see these two every time I picked up my phone to look at my Tumblr notices:

[ynscrazylife]

can you do a oneshot where Human B!D is in the hospital for some reason? Her sisters are takin turns staying with her, but she's really bummed about missing game night so all the superfriends come and they have game night in B!D's hospital room?

 Game Night at the DEO 

Summary: The Superfriends and the eldest Danvers’ sisters adjust their game night plans to accommodate Y/N’s hospital visit.

Authors Note: Thanks for requesting!

Request to be on a Taglist (or multiple) here! (Taglists are at the end of the fic)

DCEU Masterlist | Main Masterlist

PSA: Do NOT copy, steal, translate, plagiarize, republish, etc any of my works on Tumblr or any other platform. Also, do NOT claim any of my works as your own. All of these works are either requests I’ve gotten that people have wanted me to write or original ideas I’ve had for works. If you happen to take inspiration from anything I’ve written and want to write something inspired by that, please a) ask me first and b) IF I say yes, credit me as inspo in your post by tagging me and link whatever work of mine that inspired you. Thanks.

header c @/mundodeseriess

Ironically, Alex and Kara had been sitting in Kara’s apartment, setting up the games for the game night which was the following weekend, when they got the news. Y/N had worked late that day for her job at the DOE and was sent on a last minute mission which was supposed to be simple and harmless right before she wrapped up for the night. Unfortunately, it was a trap. Some evil guys had wanted to lure out a superhero and when they did, they attacked Y/N. She just about managed to escape, but J’onn had to inform the older Danvers’ sisters that their younger sister was now in the DEO built-in hospital.

It was safe to say that the women did not take the news well. They dropped everything they were doing and Kara flew them to the DEO. Within minutes, the superhero and the agent had burst into the medical ward, frantic and yelling to anyone and everyone around about their sister and her condition. 

Luckily, J’onn had been sitting in the waiting room, also anxious for news since Y/N was like a daughter to him, but he managed to be a bit calmer than Alex and Kara. He rose from his seat and just locking eyes with the alien managed to calm the sisters down. In quick strides, they were standing in front of J’onn, eyes wide, wanting - needing - to hear what happened and some good news. 

 “The doctors are still doing tests to see the extent of her injuries, but she’s going to be okay,” was the first thing he said. 

Both Danvers’ let out breaths of relief and they slumped in the chairs across from J’onn, who sat back down as well. After a couple minutes of the trio just observing each other and their surroundings, Alex plucked up the courage to ask what she and Kara had been wondering ever since the phone call. 

“What did they do to her?” 

J’onn shifted his gaze to his lap. After a beat, he answered. “After she arrived at the scene, she stopped answering her comms since she was fighting. When she ran in the opposite direction of them, though, we checked in. All she said was ‘ambush’ and ‘too many’ before she stopped replying, so a team went out to her last known location . . . They found her unconscious-” he gave Alex and Kara a moment to process this. “-and two of the guys had ran after her. Our agents found them and interrogated them, and they admitted that they had faked a fight on the streets to draw a superhero out since they claimed they despised superheroes. They wanted to bring all superheroes down, but they didn’t except for Y/N to escape. They beat her up and hurt her real badly.”

The three fell into silence. The information was overwhelming, impossible to swallow. Both women were filled with great concern but also unbeatable rage, their minds conjuring up images of Y/N fighting and then running. It broke them.

They only snapped out of their thoughts when the doctor emerged, and her face was unreadable, lips drawn into a tight line, holding a slim paper in her hands. “Agent Danvers will heal,” she announced, and then glanced down at her paper. “She’s greatly bruised, cut-up, and has a minor concussion - she suffered no major injuries, though. We’ll have her stay overnight and then we’ll see when she can be discharged tomorrow.” 

The three nodded and scrambled to her feet. “Can we see her?” Kara asked, her voice sounding strained. The doctor nodded. 

Alex and Kara went in first to find their younger sister laying bandaged-up on the bed, but giving them a small smile. Immediately, the brunette and blonde rushed over to her, asking her if she was okay and how she was feeling. 

Y/N just sunk further into her pillows and took her sister’s hands, quieting. “I won’t lie, I’m not feeling great, but I’m okay - just really tired,” she admitted. 

They nodded and didn’t press her any further, allowing her to sleep.

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

The next morning and Y/N was eager to get out of there. She didn’t stop talking about the game night which was going to be that night and how she really wanted to catch up with everyone and play. Alex and Kara couldn’t blame her and hoped that she could get discharged, too, but were still a little concerned. 

They were her sisters, how could they not be?

Nonetheless, the doctor came in and instructed Y/N to stand up and walk around and see how she felt. Alex and Kara sat in their chairs, eyes darting back-and-forth between each other and Y/N, who nodded, easing herself out of bed.

She stood up and smiled — everyone else smiled, too — and prepared herself to take a walk around. However, after she took her first couple of steps, that was when her dizziness hit. “Woah,” she mumbled, putting a hand to her head and stumbling back.

Kara, who was closest, leaped out of her chair and steadied Y/N, gently pushing her back on the bed. The doctor frowned and checked her papers. “Dizziness isn’t good, what are you feeling?” She asked.

Y/N thought for a moment, scrunching her face up. “I think-I think those guys yesterday night . . . Now I remember, I think they blasted me with uh, this device that I’ve seen before. It weakens you. Drains you,” she said.

The doctor muttered under her breath, made a note on her paper, informed her that she’d have to stay at least one more day, and then left.

As soon as she did, Y/N explained that it must have been one of the DEO’s devices to her sisters (who knows how they got their hands on it), but pouted, unhappy that she wasn’t discharged.

Alex and Kara soon recognized this and had a silent conversation, resulting in Alex staying with Y/N while Kara made up a fake excuse to go out into the waiting room and make some arrangements.

She called the superfriends — Lena, Winn, J’onn, James, Brainy, and Nina — and told them that game night was still on, but held at a different location this time.

Everyone “RSVP’d” and at 7:00, they all showed up with Y/N’s favorite: PIZZAAA!

To say she was surprised to see everyone walk through the room’s door was an understatement. Her jaw dropped (especially when she saw the pizza) and she grinned, beyond overjoyed to see everyone. She didn’t care that she was injured, and gave them all hugs anyway (well, half-hugs, since she was laying down).

Everyone asked her how she was and she just responded with, “Better now that you’re here.”

Alex and Lena opened the pizza and got everyone slices while Kara got drinks. They ate pizza and turned on the med’s room T.V, which was filled with the basic channels but the superfriends did dramatized commentary to make Y/N laugh, and she did.

Afterwards, the games began!

Everyone split into teams, and everyone wanted Y/N on theirs. She ultimately went with Nia, and the teams were: Y/N and Nia, James and Winn, J’onn and Alex, and Lena and Kara.

First up was Pictionary! Y/N and Nia dominated everyone else. Then, they went into an exciting couple of rounds of Monopoly (which lasted forever), and Lena and Kara came out on top. To close out the night, they finished up with Never Have I Ever (lots of things got revealed there).

All in all, staying at medical wasn’t so bad. The bed’s mattress wasn’t horrible and Y/N got to have game night like she wanted to! She was never more thankful than that moment to have the amazing sisters and friends that she did.

Permanent Taglist: @natasharomanoffismywife @hehehehannahthings @paulawand @blackbat2020 @cerberus-spectre @marrymemcgrath @celestialbarnes @kathryndimitrescu @snipyloulou @big-galaxy-chaos

DCEU Taglist: @stephanieromanoff @basiclesbianbitch @hi-i-1 @mmmmokdok @acertainredhead

[illyria-12]

AOT Headcanons

I’ve been thinking of posting some of my headcanons and other shit here a bit more. I’m much more active on other platforms, but figured, why not? 

So have something I threw together at... I dunno, maybe 3am Monday morning? :)

Warnings: None that I am aware of.

Includes: Eren Jaeger, Armin Arlert, Levi Ackerman, Erwin Smith, Hanji Zoe, Reiner Braun (At present, maybe more added at a later date.) 

AOT Characters as Study Buddies:

Eren Jaeger:·        

Do not expect this boy to remember that he agreed to study with you. He could have agreed to study with you just a few hours ago, and would forget. He needs regular reminders.         

Remind him a couple of days before, the day before, on the day, during lunch and definitely make sure you text him after school.          

Is always late.         

He starts off really focused. Pulls out his books and notes and is eager to help.     

But he also gets very easily distracted. 

Will often check his phone. It’s a really bad habit he can’t seem to control. Whether it’s just checking the time or clearing notifications, expect his phone to be in his hand at least 60% of the time. Clearing notifications often leads to him scrolling through social media, sending snaps or replying to texts too.   

Will always involve you, telling you why he is laughing, showing the funny video or meme he has found or explaining a conversation he is having.

It’s entertaining, but not exactly the reason you are here...        

He doesn’t have a preference of where he studies, he is pretty content anywhere, but if you go to his place, he will frequently bring in snacks or order pizza. Also is much more easily distracted when at home.         

His attention span isn’t great, and although he loves the idea of being helpful and studying with you, he gets bored quickly.         

Can also get confused with his own notes.       

Will often try and get you to call an end to the study session rather than do it himself. It makes him feel accomplished that way; like he has done his job and you are the one who has had enough.Will often groan things like: 

“Are we done yet?”        

“My head/back/wrist/eyes hurt.”         

 Occasionally he will suggest ‘taking a break’, but once that has been agreed to, it is pretty much the end of studying for the rest of the night.

Likes to try and make studying as fun as possible. Bright colours, highlighting, bubble diagrams, sticky notes. You best believe his version of pop quiz is to write random answers on a sticky note and stick it to your forehead and then get you to ask questions until you get the answer right. 

Will definitely reward you with a kiss when you finally get it right.

Sometimes leaves sticky notes in your book of ‘motivational quotes' to make you smile when you eventually come across them.

Armin Arlert:-       

By far, the most committed study buddy you could have hoped for.

You have weekly study sessions at the library every Friday after school. 

Armin is always there before you, fully prepared; books laid out neatly on the table. Sometimes he even starts his homework while waiting for you. 

Is very much a fan of making a little itinerary of things you are going to work through on the day.         

Doesn’t mind odd conversation but is an expert at getting you back on the subject at hand. He can often even relate whatever you’ve said back to the topic... although sometimes it doesn’t make sense. But it’s still funny and endearing. 

“You know who else thought Mrs Bratton was a bitch? William Shakespeare.”         

Is incredibly patient.         

Is a great supporter, always encouraging you and praising you when you get things right.         

Would never admit it but he finds it cute when you just can’t wrap your head around something and then out of nowhere, the penny drops.

The faces you pull entertain him. Either when realization finally dawns on you or if you’re thinking very hard.       

“Hey, don’t worry, you got this... let’s just go through it again.” “That’s it! See? Told you you’d get there.”          

Will always make sure he brings you something to drink and snack on during session. Usually a sandwich, crisps or some chocolate to give you a bit of a boost.          

Doesn’t push you too hard, if you say you have had enough, he will generally leave it there, or try to convince you to do just a bit more, but never in a demanding sort of way.         

“Okay, shall we finish this page first?”     

“One more section? Promise.”         

Armin's biggest downside? He is so soft on you.         

Very often gives you the answers as opposed to forcing you to figure it out. 

Absolutely can not be stern. If you are feeling playful, or really not in the mood and start teasing him,he is quick to admit defeat rather than stand his ground and force you to get through the work.         

Absolutely will do 99% of the work on group projects but share the credit with you.

Levi Ackerman:·         

Will make it seem like he doesn’t want to study with you, but will ultimately agree. 

“Why don’t you ask ...... instead? Tch. Fine.”

At first he will always read what it is you have to do, and then proceed to tell you what you have to do, but not necessarily tell you how to do it.

Eventually he realizes you already know what you’re supposed to do... (you can read, Levi.) And then proceeds to actually help.          

Expect a lot of sarcasm and insults. He doesn’t necessarily mean them, but he will say them anyway.         

"Whining about it isn’t going to magically speed this up. Get to it.” 

Very rarely strays away from what it is you’re meant to be doing.

Complaining gets you nowhere with him.         

“No, we’re not taking a break, you should have eaten before.”         

It’s not that he doesn’t care, he does, but he also knows you will do anything to get out of studying when you’re frustrated, and tend to over-exaggerate. You’re not ‘starving’, he saw you eat at lunch... which was only a couple of hours ago.          

Likes to prioritize your subjects. Will take into account when assignments are due in, how difficult they are going to be and how long it will take to get done.         

Strict. Very strict.          

Prefers to study in a quiet and familiar place. Libraries or either of your houses where there are minimal distractions. 

Absolutely will not let you copy his notes. You’re welcome to read them, but he expects you to refer to your own. That doesn’t mean you don’t steal snippets here and there though, much to his annoyance.   

“Do you pay attention in any of your classes?”          

Very good at breaking things down and explaining things. You actually pick things up pretty quickly when studying with him, probably due to his ‘no nonsense’ approach.          

Will occasionally randomly test you to see if you’re actually paying attention and remembering what you are doing. He always smiles a little when you can answer his questions.          

Is not going to do the work for you, and certainly isn’t going to give you answers, you have to really work for them.          

Is patient until you start misbehaving.     

His occasional praises are a treat.

Erwin Smith:·         

Loves to study with you in different places. This man will plan a whole day for it.          

Will always bring a picnic when you study in a park. Happy to share a cocktail if you go to a bar, or a milkshake and burger if you go to a diner. 

If you do happen to study in a library, he will always take you for food afterwards. 

His notes are detailed and beautifully written and he has no problem with you using them.         

Don’t expect him to give you the answers though. Erwin is the sort of person who will ask you what you think. 

“How do you think we figure that out?”   

“What do you think we need to do?”       

“What do you think this means?”         

It’s not that he doesn’t know. But he wants you to try and figure things out yourself. As long as he can see you’re making an effort though, he is happy to guide you and let answers slip here and there, or word things in such a way that you suddenly have an epiphany and get the answer.

Is a great motivator and supporter.          

Doesn’t mind taking breaks every so often and uses this time to have general conversation with you. Nothing work related in the breaks, it’s meant to be a break.         

Is not above bribing you. Whether it be with food, physical affection, surprises... 

Yes, Erwin has in fact brought you gifts and refused to give them to you until you do the work and get it right.         

And he would do it again.        

Erwin knows a decent amount about a lot of different subjects and sometimes shares random facts regarding topics you’re studying about. Sometimes they are not at all relevant. But they are usually always interesting.         

You have this man’s undivided attention throughout the study session. Erwin is usually very busy , so when he does dedicate time to help you, he likes to be fully committed.          

Will ignore his phone completely. Texts, phone calls... everything, until you both take a break.

Hanji Zoe:·         

When the two of you get together to study, it is very hit and miss as to whether you actually get the work done. She is so intelligent, but also, such a ditz at times.          

Hanji can talk.         

Like, a lot.          

She very often will start off talking about a topic and swerve off into other lanes and get completely side-tracked.          

You once started off writing a biology paper and somehow ended up getting a history lesson about Ramses II, after learning all the details of the Black Death and even touching on Jack the Ripper.   

 But she is highly intelligent under her scatterbrain-iness.        

But can become very easily distracted. Especially if you start talking to her about something she is very excited or passionate about.          

Will sometimes forget to bring textbooks you need to use.         

Will hyper focus at times. Sometimes a bit too extensively. It can be very draining.        

Can be known for getting lost in the details.          

Never comes to a study session without a coffee for the both of you.

Absolutely has no problem sharing her notes with you, will often steal yours too.        

“A fresh set of eyes and all that.”        

“Ah, this is good! Who knew you were a certified genius?!”        

Has no problem pulling her weight on group projects, but also has no problem letting you take the lead... or do all the work.         

Tends to be much more productive closer to the end date of an assignment. 

Fidgets a lot. Always tapping a pen, nibbling on the end or twirling it between her fingers. Knee bouncing... almost constantly.          

Likes to take regular breaks to analyse and go over what the two of you have learned and accomplished so far and decide where to go from here.

Procrastinates.

Reiner Braun:·         

Reiner is always happy to study with you. Even though his calendar is pretty full, he will always make an effort to squeeze you in.          

Definitely the kinda guy to put a game night on hold, telling his friends online he will be back in a couple of hours to help you first.          

Always greets you with a kind smile and asking if you’re ready for the session.       

Doesn’t mind where you study, but does prefer to study at his house so he can give you a snack or something to drink.   

Really likes it when you go and study in the garden. It is probably his favourite place to study with you. Just because it is nice, quiet and peaceful.          

Very chilled out; will often make jokes and try his best to keep the mood light. 

Very patient; has no problem going over things multiple times and trying lots of different ways to try and help you understand.          

Likes to be close to you when you work together. Knees occasionally touching, shoulders brushing. Just give this man a reason to touch you in anyway shape or firm. A reassuring hand on your shoulder, a quick one armed hug in the chair, ruffling your hair, squeezing your hand... he is all about that shit.          

Will celebrate your victories and praise you constantly.        

“Hey, well done! See I knew you would get it.”         

“We’ve done a lot today, I’m proud of you.”         

Always down for a cuddle or a movie afterwards, or maybe even a walk through the park to get some air and unwind.          

Will digress sometimes but it’s very fleeting and he picks up exactly where he left off again easily.          

Has no problem with you taking some of his notes, or searching the Internet for answers.          

Will explain how he got the answer and break things down into manageable chunks for you.         

Chocolate is always on the table.        

If you get too stressed he will let you take a break.         

Will offer to give you neck, back or even hand massages if you get too stiff. 

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

[halpertstuna]

Could you do 8 and 10 on the prompt list with JJ?

A/N: i’m so sorry it took me so long to answer, i’ve been pretty occupied lately and so i didn’t really have time to write and when i did it was for ‘someone to stay’, anyway, here it is i hope you’ll like it🥺

and PLEASE don’t hesitate to send me requests, questions, messages whatever you want. i would love to make friends and mutuals on this platform plus i love feedback and would really like to hear your opinions(:

also, this turned out way longer than i intended it to be, it was supposed to be a blurb but i guess i’m just gonna turn it into a whole ass imagine cause why not

-> prompt list <-

word count: 1,899 (oops... guess i got a bit carried away)

prompts: “i’m not jealous!”, “you’re hot when you’re mad”

pairing: jj x kook!reader

warnings: a pretty heated make out sesh, jealousy?, platonic Kie, Pope and John B. oh and typos probably.

btw, i was kinda in a rush to post this so please forgive me if it’s not that good, i’m too lazy to edit this again (and this is the first time i wrote something that’s kinda smutty? i mean this isn’t really smut but you get my point. don’t know how i feel about it), anyways, if you’ve made it this far in my insanely long intro congrats! enjoy <3

-> masterlist <-

(gif credit: @anakin-skywalker )

—

It’s been almost two years since you started attending the kook academy, almost two years since you became one of the pogues.

On your first day there you met a brown haired hippie chick named Kiara. The two of you had chemistry together and were paired by your teacher to be lab partners.

On your first encounter you didn’t really talk, and on the following couple of lessons it developed to only small talk and warm smiles if you saw each other in the hallway.

Kiara didn’t like kooks, even though technically she kind of was one.

Judging by the way you dressed and the people you surrounded yourself, she didn’t think you were really the type of person she’d get along with.

But when the two of you got assigned to do a project together, you instantly proved her wrong.

You met up with her at the wreck, the two of you talked about the project then yourselves and bonded almost immediately.

You revealed that you actually hated the people you usually associated with, thinking they were all fake, stuck up snobs with their heads way too far up their asses, and the only reason you hung out with them was your parents.

You turned out to be really reckless and funny which she wasn’t expecting at all, but she liked, it kind of reminded her of someone, her best friend, JJ.

She was quick to introduce you to the rest of the pogues and they welcomed you with open arms into their group. You instantly befriended them and vice versa.

Just as Kie suspected, you got along extra well with one particular blond.

The two of you had a lot in common; you were both hot headed and impulsive which often got you into trouble. You two were pretty competitive, always challenging one another.

You being so similar was the reason you got along so well, but it was also the reason you fought a lot, neither of you ever willing to admit you’re wrong or be the first one to apologize, but you couldn’t stay away from each other for too long. The sexual tension between you two could be cut with a knife.

Hungry glances, longing touches, needy desires that were transparent on both your faces.

Everyone on the island could see it but you. You were both so terribly oblivious.

You tried treating him like the rest of the pogues, you pushed your feelings for him to the back of your mind, thinking he was just being friendly, knowing he was a flirt, and for almost two years, it worked.

But seeing him flirt with Harleen tonight was literal torture.

Harleen was your neighbour and former best friend. A tall, tan brunette you hated with all of your heart.

The two of you have known each other since birth, you were practically inseparable, but as you grew up you noticed she always wanted what was yours, and she always did whatever it took in order to gain it. Whether it was the new shoes you got for your birthday which she bought herself the following day, or the guy you told her you liked in middle school the week prior to her dating him.

With time your friendship grew toxic and you felt like she was bad for you, constantly bringing you down and never caring.

So you decided to defriend her and ever since that moment you despised each other.

You were sat on a log beside Kie at a kegger, Pope next to her as they argued about god knows what. You tuned them out, far too focused on each and every one of JJ’s actions, watching as he whispered in her ear.

He probably said something funny since she started laughing, leaning forward and grasping his bicep for balance, which made your blood boil, you felt like history was repeating itself.

The grip on your red solo cup tightened, you stared and it seemed as if lasers were about to shoot out of your eyes and burn her pretty face off, but you diverted your gaze down to your hand, jumping up slightly when you felt a cool sticky liquid on your fingers, noticing you accidentally created a hole in your cup of beer with your milky white painted nails.

“Wow, what did the poor cup ever do to you?” Pope joked, his and Kie’s attention averted to you the second they heard a pop coming from your direction.

“Huh? Oh, well it didn’t tell me how pretty I look tonight, take that as warning sign” you trailed, trying not to look suspicious, “are you sure it isn’t because JJ told that to the girl beside him instead of you” she implied winking, causing Pope to cackle with laughter.

“What was that?” You asked rhetorically trying to act intimidating, “oh nothing” she gave you an innocent look.

“Anyways... i’m gonna go get a new drink” you swiftly stood up and started walking until you made out John B. from afar who was stood by the keg.

“Refill?” He questions once he spotted you making your way towards him.

You nodded “I accidentally poked mine” you admitted lifting the ripped cup in your hand and pursing your lips as you came to a stop beside him.

As he poured you a new cup of beer with the tap head connected to the keg by a tube, you searched the crowd with your eyes and focused your attention on JJ again.

You’ve seen him flirt with a countless amount of chicks before - kooks and torouns mainly, but none of those times pissed you off os much as seeing him flirt with Harleen did.

I mean he probably didn’t even like you back, so why where you so pissed? It wasn’t different from any other time, except that this was Harleen. She was a bitch. But he’d probably catch on quickly, right?

He placed his hands on her waist and you clenched your jaw at the sight grinding your teeth, you were irritated by the whole situation.

John B. noticed, a sly smile spreading slowly across his face.

“Hey, want some peanut butter with that jelly?” You turned to face him, a dumbfounded look on your face, “what are you talking about?” You raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’re obviously jealous”, he chuckled at the bewildered look on your face and you felt your cheeks heat up. “am not!” You denied huffing.

“Tell that to the vein popping out of your forehead” he teased.

You gasped and jabbed his chest playfully with your elbow, you mumbled a “shut up” then channeled your attention back to the two.

Her hands were rested on his chest, like that wasn’t enough already to send you off the edge. But when he pecked her cheek you lost it.

Abruptly you stormed off from where you were stood, John B. shouted from behind you “where are you going?“ but you ignored him.

When you approached JJ and Harleen you clutched onto his wrist dragging him away from her towards the chateau, ignoring both her and his protests. You led him inside then turned around to face him.

“Hey! What did you do that for? It was going really good for me! This better be an emergency” he sneered.

“Are you fucking serious? Out of all the people in the party you chose to hit on Harleen?” You scoffed.

“What’s the problem with that?” JJ was clueless, he knew nothing about your and Harleen’s rivalry. You never told any of the pogues, well except for Kie but she didn’t recognise her as the one flirting with JJ.

“The problem is Harleen hates my guts and the other way around. We used to be best friends but she became toxic, trying to take everything that I had and I’m not going down that road again JJ”

Your words confounded JJ, what did you care if she flirted with him? It wasn’t like he was yours, although he really wanted to be.

Does you caring about whether they end up together or not mean you wanted to be his too?

Then he noticed what emotion your eyes held, he’d never seen it before on your face, but he immediately recognised it.

“Wait.. are you jealous?” He questioned, the corners of his lips perking up into a smirk when he noticed the furious look on your face from his revolution.

“I’m not jealous! Would everyone please stop saying that?! I’m mad ok?!” You defend.

“Ok! Ok!” He surrendered lifting his hands up in the air “but just know, you’re hot when your mad”. Your mouth slightly agape as you weren’t able to form words to deny, far too transfixed under the fact he directly called you hot.

He started walking towards you slowly, you didn’t want to cave, to admit you have fallen for his charms, so you backed up until you felt your back gently hit the wall. Chest rising and falling quicker as your breathing started getting heavier and your heart beat faster.

The second his hand landed on your waist you felt a million butterflies erupt in your stomach, he tenderly stroked the exposed skin of your v line between your low cut shorts and crop top. You felt as if the skin under his finger was being set on fire.

He brought his other hand to rest beside your head on the wall, he leaned in, inches away from your face. His breath mingled with yours, fanning your lips, it smelled of cheap beer and weed.

He slowly moved to your ear and extolled in a low voice “I mean, really hot”, his warm breath sent shivers down your spine.

He left a sloppy, open mouthed kiss on the skin under your earlobe and you could’ve sworn you were seeing stars.

When he detached his lips you bit down on yours holding in a whimper at the loss of contact as he brought his face back to yours.

His blue orbs gazed into yours, they seemed darker than usual, lustful.

He waisted no more time and captured your lips with his. You didn’t hesitate to kiss him back.

You wrapped your hands around his neck and pulled on the edges of his hair deepening the kiss. As your tongues fought for dominance, he brought his other hand to your ass and squeezed it causing you to moan, he took the chance and slipped his tongue in.

you tugged on the hem of his shirt and he got the message. He separated his lips from yours and within less then a second, practically tore it of his body and discarded it on the floor. The two of you were panting at this point, completely out of air but you didn’t care. Breathless, you reattached your lips to his, desperate to taste him again.

You caressed his much bigger length with your petite hand, signalling you wanted more and he groaned into the kiss.

“Up” he demanded mumbling agains your lips. You jumped up and wrapped your legs around his waist, he grabbed your thighs and without breaking the kiss led you into the spare room.

Almost two years of yearning and craving dissolved in that night at the chateau, and to think it happened because of Harleen.

As much of a bitch as she was, you did owe her that.

[katsukikitten]

Warning : 18 plus AU, adult themes, collage au

Part one Part two

"Mina, I really don't see why I have to wear this Bikini, I prefer a cutout  one piece." You say sipping your iced coffee as Mina packs her beach bag with sponges, rags, and tons of bottled water. You wait impatiently by the door of your shared, temporary dorm. 

"Becauuuusssse, I already told you! That Instagram post I made of all of us blew up, even with my large following. Remember how many people we brought in last time?"

"Yes, we made 45% more profit…" You bite at the inside of your lip as you think, adjusting your white t-shirt so it sat nicely above the black bikini bottoms. You weren't one to argue with numbers.

"Well now with the combined efforts with the shirtless boys we can actually use that allowance you got us for unlimited kegs." 

"No, Mina new windows and installation. They said the house was hot, which means winter will be brutal." You roll your eyes, "Unless you want to freeze this winter, personally I have no problem with freezing." 

She giggles at your joke, pulling you along as if you were the reason for being late instead of her. Mina spies Uraraka and Jiro waving them towards the two of you before she whispers softly to you.  

"Just, try to have fun today no matter what." 

You wondered if that was an omen, a jinx or if she already knew what lied ahead. Either way you would not being having too much fun. 

The four of you arrive just before the first customer's begin to line up and already you want to organize. Counting the heads until you see a certain ash blonde causing your normally cold blood to run hot. Too hot. 

"Mina?" Your voice dips low, as ice dances in the air around you, "What is he doing here?" 

"Who?" She plays dumb as the other two women greet the group of men. Harsh garnet cut to you as you steel your glare. 

"Oi, Icy Brat. What are you fucking doing here?" His voice grates your nerves and for a moment you see red. Thinking of freezing him and going about your day. Instead you choose to give him the cold shoulder, averting your gaze. 

"We're doing pairs for washing today. I'm glad you could make it" Kirishima beams, coming in for a hug, you take a step back offering him a polite smile. His smile doesn't lose an ounce of shine, it makes you respect him a bit more. 

"I'll handle the cash and direct cars then." You say pointing to the box, ready to grab the fanny pack and head to the street. Denki grabs onto you gently, releasing you as if you were hot to the touch.  

"No it has to be a boy girl ratio. I promise the outcome will be worth it, please!" This won't be the first or last time both Denki and Mina beg for your help. You look around at what must be their subconscious pairings. Jiro calls Denki over as the first car pulls up, Kirishima seems to wait patiently, his eyes lingering on bubble gum pink skin, while Sero is already guiding cars with Uraraka in tow. 

That leaves you and Bakugou who has his arms crossed, sneering at the customers. 

Your hope dwindles that today would be a good day.

Sero points to a blue car indicating that this was going to be yours to share with the hot head. Sighing you waltz over in your black wedge heels and begin your work. Bakugou looms over the wet car, sponge in hand. The two of you work in silence until the third car, a red coupe with a couple inside about to receive the show of their bi lives. 

They comment on the tension they feel between the two of you right away, they notice the glares and lack of communication. Even making small jokes about how funny it would be to see one of those cliche water fights between the two of you. 

"Icebrat, you're doing it fuckin wrong." Bakuogu barks, you ignore him, continuing to wash the car. Anger burns in his chest, never understanding why you acted so high and mighty. 

"Gonna give me the cold shoulder are ya?" He growls, eyeing the dirty water before a thought crosses his mind, "Love to see you ignore this."

His voice is sadistic before he throws the dirty water across the car onto your frame, suds and water cling to your white t, showcasing the black bikini top underneath. Your temper spikes enough that your shirt collects frost at the seams before you slowly remove it. Glaring at the hot head when you're done.  

"Fuck." The couple say aloud grabbing onto each other as they watch the scene unfold. Your powerful frame guiding you with a deadly clack of your heels. Your hands find the bucket of water Mina and Kirishima were using, your fingers tap the bucket and the water forms a film of ice at the top. Meanwhile Bakugou goes to "correct" whatever mistake you were making. The couple's eyes watch the unsuspecting Bakugou reach up their hood to clean a particular spot before water is dumped over his spiky blonde hair. 

You tap the back of his shirt making it stiff with frost, when he moves to face you it shatters away from his body. Revealing the sculpted plans of his abs and the scars of untold stories. 

If it weren't for all of that ice water Bakugou would have blown you sky high, he comes close to you. Huffing as his eyes become wild and wide. All you offer him is a deadly polite smile as you stare him in the face, unbothered and unphased by his towering presence. 

"What? I was only getting the spot you missed." When he says nothing you allow yourself to relish the silence, placing your hand on his shoulder capping it in obvious ice. 

"Are you giving me the cold shoulder now?" The question is nonchalant before you signal to Sero for another car as you walk to get more supplies. Sero whistles at a bristling Bakugou before leaning into the driver's side window to give directions. Before he can ask for a tip the driver is offering a twenty dollar bill while his eyes are flickering between yourself and Bakugou. 

"Mark us down as a regular." He sighs as his girlfriend does too.  Sero happily tucks the money into the fanny pack.

"Will do." 

Somehow the two of you manage quips and water pranks back and forth without killing each other. Making it through the long day but earning a high amount of tips. Mina clings to you as you count cash, sweat on her brow as the sun settles into an unbearable afternoon heat. 

"Uuugghhh how much longer mom?" She asks, sighing at your icy touch. You roll your eyes as you count the last stack. 

"Not too much hush." You place the money into the lock box, wondering how the hell the eight of you made so much money in just seven hours. 

"But I'm starving! Plus we still have to pick our rooms!" 

"You're that excited to move all of our items into what was a male dominated space?" You ask coolly as Jiro and Uraraka lean against the collapsible table. 

"I'm stoked." Jiro comments, her earjacks twirling themself as her eyes wander.

"It will be nice to be settled before the fall term." Uraraka sighs looking down at her phone, idly scrolling through her socials. The two women nod as the guys approach. You purposely ignore the hot head and allow your eyes to meet Denki's, although it takes him a few long seconds to meet your gaze. He was a little preoccupied with a black and white checkered bikini with matching Van's. 

"Earth to space cadet." Sero nudges his ribs subtly pointing to you as you gaze at him as a teacher would a student caught daydreaming. He clears his throat. 

"Well it seems your theory has paid off. We've made quite a bit of cash today." You lock the box before standing, reluctantly adding, "The pairing of female and male will be standard from here on out. Although we should only need a few more fundraising events depending on what the house needs. Which I trust won't be too much."

Three of the four boys shared a concerned look while the fourth knows how bitter your words were going to taste.

"We'll meet you at the house." 

❄💥❄💥❄💥❄💥❄💥❄💥❄💥❄💥

The four of you cannot deny the excitement you feel as yall walk up to the historical home. The upper balcony seems to wrap around the back but only partially in the front while the porch below stretches across the front of the home. The siding had been repainted and the banisters above and below are wrapped in what will be sparkling lights at night. A stately set of double doors catch your eye before they yawn open by the hands of Denki Kaminari who is trying not to visibly sweat. 

"Home sweet home!" Denki steps aside to let the four of you in with your belongings. Your eyes dissect the place as you press your tongue into your bottom lip, trying your best to keep your cool. This place needed a lot of what you deemed necessities. You notice the familiar dining room table as the foldable card table they had at the carwash surrounded by the cheap camping chairs you thought you had replaced. 

The only decent looking room was the living room and even then it was only thanks to you. The leather arm chairs were placed haphazardly around the new sectional you had delivered as it circled around the TV you demanded from the dean.

Denki watches your manicured nails rap against your skin as you think.  

"The window installation and insulation went smoothly?" 

"Yes." Sero answers as your eyes wander around the room landing on your mattress and platform bed frame resting against the wall in the nook by the study turned bedroom. 

"We didn't know where to put it since the bedrooms aren't sorted out for you lovely ladies just yet." Kirishima smiles but your mind isn't on why it is there. No, your mind is wondering why there is only one.

"Was I the only one to order my mattress?" You look towards your sorority who holds a guilty look before you glance at the three men who mirror the women. 

"Well I guess that is for the better. We can spend extra on them now anyway." 

"Are you sure? I thought the budget was tight." Denki asks, earning a rare boasting smile from you. You make your way into the kitchen and six ducklings follow. Your nail taps the stainless steel of a high end commercial fridge. 

"It was tight before but not after I got this." Smile remaining on your lips as you speak, "It was 3,000 off due to some cosmetic dents but I got it as a donation. An alumni donation." 

"Wow for free?!" Denki and Sero ask in unison, amazed by your skill. 

"For free boys." 

"Wow, Bakugou might love that fridge even more now. Every time he cooks he mentions how great it is." Kirishama laughs but a certain name causes you to freeze to the tiled floor. 

"Bakugou…" You turn to Mina with a deadly glare as ice crystals form in your hair, "As in Bakugou lives here?!" 

The silence echoes throughout the kitchen and all that can be heard is the hum of the fancy fridge. Just as you're about to snap, Denki intervenes. 

"Uh. Did you want to talk bedrooms?" 

"YES!" The girls yell pulling the boys back into the safety of the living room as you collect yourself for a moment. 

God you hated the effect his name had on you but even more so how stupid you felt. As if this was some half baked plan to leave out the important detail that the man you loathed most would be under the same roof. Finally after a few deep breaths the ice in your hair melts and you step into the living room with a level head. Reminding yourself that this house was going to be rent free. You would have a full sized kitchen and your own bedroom, this was a much better option than the dorms even if it meant Bakugou came with it. 

"There is one bedroom upstairs not claimed, the rest of us guys are up there too. Then that door next to the nook is the study, it's not huge but it has a lot of shelves and big enough to fit a queen. Um there are two bedrooms in the basement but it's not totally dark down there. Plus the second living room with the pong table is down there. What else?" Denki taps his finger to his lips, "Oh half bath is here. Full bathroom is upstairs and there is technically another full bath in the basement, it's just more 'open concept'." 

"Open concept?" Jiro asks, earjacks perking with curiosity. 

"He means no walls. Just a toilet and a shower head chilling next to the laundry sink and washer, dryer." Sero explains, again you tongue the inside of your bottom lip. 

"Girl huddle!" Mina shouts, pulling the three of you into a small circle, "I personally really would like one of the bedrooms in the basement. I'm loud and I wouldn't mind the late hours that come with the pong table. I am the QUEEN after all." 

"I want a bedroom in the basement too. You know my music gets super loud!" Jiro pipes in. Uraraka wants to say something but politely waits for you, instead you gesture for her to speak first. 

"I...I would be much more comfortable in the study. I don't mind it being small." Her brown eyes bore holes into the floorboards as you read between the lines. 

"I would be much more comfortable on a different level than all four men." Is what she means, you sigh internally, swearing this will be the last compromise you make for these women. 

"Then I'll take the room upstairs." You state before telling the boys the arrangements. You look at your watch to check the time. 

"If we leave now in the college van and trailer I borrowed we could get everyone else's mattresses tonight." You look around the room before asking, "So where is Bakugou anyway?" 

The three boys glance at one another, Kirishima speaks up. 

"He had a….previous obligation." He laughs, rubbing the back of his head. You narrow your eyes. 

"Let me call him. This is more important than whatever he is doing. It clearly isn't school related." You hold out your hand for the red head's phone, he pulls it from his pocket reluctantly. 

It rings before going to voicemail but that's never stopped you before. You call until he picks up screaming into the receiver. 

"WHAT THE FUCK I TOLD YOU NOT TO FUCKING CALL SHITTY HAIR!!!" 

"Enough with the dramatics, what could be more important than your other roommates deciding bedrooms in the house?" 

"Is that?!" A female voice screeches your name once she figured out who you are, "Listen here slut, I'm in the middle of getting my back broken and…" 

"Bakugou we are leaving in fifteen minutes. I advise that you get here on time. Otherwise we will leave without you." You interrupt the angry booty call. 

"And if I fucking don't, Icebrat?" You roll your eyes at the nickname as you sigh. 

"Then I'll spend your portion of the allowance on something else. Fifteen minutes." 

"OI!" Bakugou shouts before a woman's voice comes across the speaker.

"Stop ignoring me bitch and stop talking to my man!"

"Oh sweetheart your 'man' is only going to your place cause he sleeps on a crusty ass futon not because he actually likes you." Your voice is honeyed in venom before dipping low, "Bakugou be home or you forfeit the fucking funding for your bed."  

With that you hang up, passing Kirishima's phone back to him. Everyone shares a glance as they remember just how icy you can be, there was no threat in your voice. Only a promise to Bakugou. 

"Sero be a dear and help me take my mattress up." You ask lifting the box with the unbuilt frame with ease. Suddenly skittish Sero takes a moment to grab your mattress as Denki helps him bring it up the stairs but abandons Sero by the bathroom at the top of the stairs, forcing the tape hero to face this challenge alone. Sero only hopes the room neighboring yours is shut and he sighs with relief when it is. 

He helps you set the items into your room that is located in the front of the house.  You take in the view of the perfectly sized yet small bedroom. Two large sets of sliding doors that meet in the corner force you to place your bed against what you assume is the shared wall of one of your roommates. Sero swallows thickly as he realizes just why Denki abandoned him. He can see it in your eyes, the curiosity sparkling as you turn to face him, you're going to inquire about the room next door. 

Please Gods do not ask him. 

Don't fucking asking him please. 

"Who do I owe the pleasure?" You smile sweetly, praying it is Kirishima or Sero at the very least. Hell you'd even take Denki who sings loudly off key, as long as it wasn't Bakugou. You watch the raven hair man's face fall, his dark eyes avoiding yours as he answers and yet somehow you already knew. 

"Ba-Bakugou's" The room drops twenty degrees as the floor freezes beneath your feet, snow floating gently to the floor as Sero's breath puffs in the new found tundra. 

"SERO I NEED YOUR HELP MAN! JIRO'S DRUM SET AND AMPS ARE HEAVY!" Denki calls from downstairs, saving Sero's hide. The man rushes and catches himself from slipping before he practically jumps down the entire set of stairs. 

"How did she take it?" Mina whispers before following Sero's eyes to where your bedroom should be. Urakaka comes from the study with snowflakes dusting her hair and a shiver. 

"Well at least I'll never be hot in the summer." 

[caramelcal]

The Truth Hurts...{part nine}

Every time your soulmate lies, a mark presents itself on your body. In a world like this, people normally told the truth so that their soulmate didn’t have to deal with the consequences. But your soulmate? They seemed persistent to make your life hell, and mark your body until there was no skin left.

Word Count: 1.8k

a/n: i just finished this but im not gonna keep you guys waiting...i aint saying no more...

Taglist:  (comment if you want to be added, or you can message me) @itsjustmeiguessallrightthen​ @moonbeams-stuff  @cece-lives-here​ @aprilfire18​ @adrianaprox​ @slytherinrising​ @deadric

Warnings: Mentions of death, blood, betrayal, and swearing. 

disclaimer: i do not condone plagiarism on my work at all, this has not been posted on any other platforms, or on tumblr anywhere else but my account (rosemoonmist) if you see anyone plagiarizing mine (or anyone else’s account) please inform the rightful author ! thank you lovelies x

Previous   Masterlist   Next

Corey was dead and now that you stood in the Sinema, seeing the needle go in and Hayden’s eyes fill with mercury, you couldn’t help the shout that came out of your mouth. The Dread Doctors hadn’t been seen in five days, no new chimeras and no deaths but every sense of security that you had felt in Beacon Hills over the past few days was hopelessly ripped away from you at that moment. Not caring about the foe there, you ran towards Hayden who fell to the floor.

Hayden was holding her neck when you and Liam had rushed over to her, her eyes no longer filled with mercury.

“Her eyes,” You spoke, your voice wavering as Scott and Theo came running in, body drowning in worry for the younger girl as you spoke, “they filled with mercury. I saw it, a-and now she looks fine but her eyes-”

“It’s okay, she looks fine, maybe she’ll heal,” Theo replied reassuringly, making you turn towards him. He immediately picked up on your worry, pulling you closer to his side whilst you looked up at him.

“None of the others did, Theo. I can’t deal with another body,” You whispered back, peering up at his blue eyes, making him form a small frown. He knew what you had been through, he knew the pain and suffrage between dead bodies and new threats. He hadn’t seen the pain these troubles inflicted upon you when you first met, but now it was clear as day. The more he got to know you, the more he seen what a toll the bodies took on you, the way the supernatural secret depleted your mental health.

Maybe he should’ve stopped. Seeing the broken look in your eyes, the way your eyes were silently begging him to stop without your knowledge, the way that he felt a small bubbling feeling of guilt as he looked down at you, his soulmate. To be with you he knew he had to stop. But he didn’t.

. . .

“Lydia?” You called out in confusion, your phone up to your ear as you answered the unsuspected phone call.

All you were met with was silence. An impending doom seemed to filter over your head, you knew that the Dread Doctors were attacking, that’s why you found yourself at the school. Yet, it was stupid to be alone but you knew that. Everyone was all over the place and you had hardly heard from anyone all night, which certainly didn’t do anything to calm your nerves.

You just hoped that Lydia would answer, give you some sort of useful information, or just at least let you know that she was alright. That she was safe and well. Alas, you didn’t get that, and instead, you made yet another attempt to get the girl to talk.

“Lydia is everything alright?” You called out, voice loud as you tried to get some sort of reply from your caller, “Lydia?”

No voice came from the other side and nerves and worry etched at your stomach. What if something was wrong? What if Lydia was hurt, or the Dread Doctors had taken her? Yet, your mind didn’t stay on her long as a large and pained howl sounded throughout the air.

The howl was one you had heard before, pain etched through the noise in a way only you could unpick. Eyes wide, you whispered in horror, “Scott.”

. . .

Seeing your unofficial boyfriend’s nails embedded deep into your best friend’s chest caused a scream to come out of you that was unlike anything that they had ever heard. Lydia’s screams, no matter how daunting and loud they were, would never match the utter pain and betrayal in yours. Your legs felt weak, you felt sick and your eyes filled with tears as Theo got up, chest heaving in power.

Before you even had time to be rational, you ran and you punched him in the face. Your other fist came up to strike him again as he caught both of your hands, and you chose to flail your leg out to kick him, one without much power that done zero damage; a lot less than you hoped to cause. You wanted to make Theo feel pain, to equal his physical pain to the emotional pain he had caused you, and for the killing of your best friend.

His eyes still glowed yellow, and your breath caught in your throat as you stared at him, his claws which were covered in your best friend’s blood gripping tightly onto your wrists with no plans to let go. You were elevated above the ground, and legs flailed with the best attempt to escape but it was futile. Eyes staying focused on him you spoke, tears building up thickly, “You bastard.”

“I’m sorry this is how it had to be, y/n,” Theo replies coolly, with no guilt in his voice. He didn’t care, he had consciously killed Scott for no reason and you would never forgive him for this. Ever.

“It never had to be like this, nothing ever justifies this,” You spat back, tears clouding your vision and blocking your throat whilst you stared down at the corpse of one of your best friends.

“You’ll understand, y/n/n, you’ll understand one day,” Theo said before dropping his grip on you, going to walk away from you and out of the library, completely unbothered by the destruction he had caused.

“That’s my best friend, you dickhead!” You ran up behind him, shouting at the top of your lungs making him stop in his tracks, “You, you were supposed to be our friend, I’ve known you since we were kids...How could you do this?”

Theo looked over his shoulder at you before slowly turning around looking down at you with a dangerous look in his eyes. He stalked towards you, his stance wide, almost intimidating, “He was your best friend. Not anymore. There was no room for him in my pack.”

You maintained eye contact with him, e/c eyes trying to look into the blue eyes despite the darkness in the room. It was several moments before you spoke again, your voice bitter as you asked, “Your pack?”

“Yes, y/n, my pack,” Theo replied with a slight nod of his head, walking even closer to you until your bodies were leaning against one another; barely leaving any room for breathing as you stared up at him. He peered down at you, before flashing his eyes at you, his voice stony like he was trying to enforce power, “I’m your alpha now.”

He ducked his head down so that it was closer to yours, his eyes no longer glowing whilst you guys stood in silence. The tension was thick as you looked back up at Theo, feeling his breath fan across your face, almost as if he was going to kiss you. Then, he started to lean in, your lips slowly reaching each other before his face was flung to the side.

You took a step back, your hand still held up after the action you had just indulged in as you stared at Theo with wide eyes, for a human you surely put a lot of force into that slap.

“Let’s get one thing clear, Theodore. You are and will never be my alpha.”

His hand hesitated but he lifted it to his face, touching the area that was already starting to mark red of where you slapped, before an annoyed smirk made its way onto his face, making him laugh. The laugh was chilling but you didn’t care at that moment, you would not back down no matter what. Not after what he did to Scott. Theo could kill you right here, right now, if it meant that you didn’t have to join his pack.

He looked back at you, his face now annoyed as he pointed at you. You weren’t sure if he was annoyed that you slapped him, or if you had slapped him and in the process rejected his kiss, but that didn’t matter either. He bared his teeth slightly as he talked, taking one step forward but still maintaining a distance between the two of you, “You act like this right now, Princess, but in the end, you’ll be by my side.”

“In your fucking dreams, Raeken,” You spat out, anger filling every atom of your being. You had been expecting Theo to argue again with you, but he just smirked and walked out without another word, leaving you to drown in the betrayal and grief he had left behind.

The silence that filled the room was deafening, and a sick feeling rose to your throat as you turned around, now facing the steps. Taking steady steps forward, trying to support yourself before you fell to the ground from weak legs, you reached him, bending down and taking one of his hands in yours.

“Scott?” You said, shaking his body as tears came to your eyes. Your heart sunk when you didn’t get a response from the boy, and you shook him again, but with this time you shook him wildly, trying to scare him out of whatever haze he was in, “Scott!”

“Please Scott you gotta answer, wake up, please,”

Cradling your best friend’s body was not something that you ever wanted to do. Your arms were wrapped around Scott’s body, your head against his as you let out the tears, and despite the sobbing now over with, the tears never stopped. You were all alone, the warmth from Scott’s chest gone and leaving behind only a coldness that could never be filled by anyone else.

Ten minutes. That’s how long that you were cradling Scott’s body before Melissa showed up, and when you saw her, you couldn’t even speak. Your throat closed up as she saw the boy in your arms, eyes sheathed with tears that would be let out until the late hours of the night, heart too heavy to support itself.

She ran over, positioning him on the ground and pushing her hands onto his chest in rapid and quick motions. Opening your mouth to talk, you hesitated as you watched the mother try to grab some tiny piece of life out of her son, to pull it back out so he could hug her one last time, and your eyes got even glassier, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to bring my son back.”

“His heart stopped beating fifteen minutes ago. You can’t bring back someone who’s already dead.” You shook your head, eyes falling to your lap which was covered in your best friend’s blood.

“He isn’t dead. He’s my son. He’s an alpha!”

But was he really?

[guildedlily6]

You Plus Me Equals Soulmates Part 4 (Peter Parker x Reader Soulmate!AU)

Summary: Things continue to grow tense between Liz and Y/N after the results of the house party.  Meanwhile, things heat up between Y/N and Peter Parker.  Is Y/N Peter’s soulmate?  Or will Liz interfere?

Author’s Note: Hey, you may have noticed I’ve been posting parts for this imagine every day for the past three days, but I’m sorry to say don’t get too used to it.  I am writing mainly at night due to me having online school during the day (yay quarantine) which usually ends in me up until 4 or 5am.  There is a Part 5 in the makings because of the unresolved things in this part with Liz and more that I’m not going to spoil for you right now.  Click on the links below to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

Word Count: 2,824

Warnings: swearing, fluff (if that counts as a warning)

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

So it’s official.  My former best friend, Liz Allen, and Peter Parker are no longer going to homecoming together.  Partially because of me.  But maybe Liz and Peter were never meant to go to homecoming together in the first place.

It’s been about two weeks since the mortifying incident at Liz’s house party that ended up all over social media.  I was a school-wide meme for about two weeks before the Principle got involved and started handing out detentions and even suspensions to anyone who even mentioned the party or posted about it on some social platform.  Out of anyone in the school, though, Liz chats about it the most.  She won’t talk to me directly, but word travels fast when you’re 16 and the gossip of the school, so I hear every little thing she has to say about me.  So far, I’ve ignored it.  I have other things on my mind.

Peter Parker is sitting across the room from me in 7th period, writing something in his chemistry journal.  I do have to admit, things were extraordinarily awkward once he found out about the drama, pictures, and videos of me yelling “I don’t care about Peter Parker!” in front of everyone to see, but unlike Liz, I talked things out with him and we’re actually friends now.

Friends.  Do people really think about their friends the same way I think about Peter?

The answer is no.  Ever since the party, I couldn’t stop thinking about brown curls, eyes that hold such softness, and the familiar smile.

I’ve accepted the part of me that wishes to see a matching equal sign tattoo on Peter’s wrist, by now.  What I haven’t accepted is that confronting Peter about my newfound feelings is necessary in order to discover if he feels the same way and with the same intensity as me.

“That wraps up today’s lesson.  Homework is due tomorrow and if it is not turned in, it will be entered as an automatic zero,” rings the usual monotonous voice of my chemistry teacher.  I tuck papers and folders into my backpack, packing up just before the bell rings.

Slinging the backpack around my shoulders, I stand up only to notice someone is waiting for me.

Peter smiles gently.  “We have a Decathlon meeting today,” he reminds me. Right.  Liz is also in our Decathlon club, which is a small problem, but “everyone is a necessary member of our team” as Mr.Harrington would say.

“So are you and Liz going to fight or something?  I mean, you didn’t last week or the week before that in Decathlon club or in the hallways… or in any of your classes together, but if you do plan to fight, tell me,” Ned says eagerly, rushing to catch up with Peter and I.

“Liz and I are not going to fight, Ned.”  For the past week, Ned has been trying to convince me that the only way to settle things once and all for Liz and I is to throw down in the middle of the hallway, or something along the lines of that. Two weeks ago, I totally would’ve been up to forcefully shove my fist into Liz’s face, but now I’m not in the mood to get expelled.  Honestly, the whole mess shouldn’t be as big of a deal as it is.  I feel like I’m back in preschool, fighting over a toy.  Not only is Peter not a toy, but he’s also made it perfectly clear that he wants nothing to do with Liz.

However, Peter hasn’t exactly made a move to ask another person to homecoming yet.

Peter, Ned, and I walk into the gymnasium, other members of the Decathlon club already sitting in chairs.

“Just get seated please!  Today we’re going to figure who’s going to Washington with everyone for the National Decathlon,” Mr.Harrington announces while unfolding chairs.

MJ sees us and greets us with a nod that says ‘sup’, Flash looks at Peter and laughs, whispering something to his friend, and Liz regards the three of us with a yawn.

I sit down in between Peter and Ned.

“Alright, so all of you have paid the club dues which means you’re all technically allowed to go to Washington with us.  Who thinks they may have a conflict with the trip from April 30th-May4th?”  Mr.Harrington takes a seat, spreading out some papers before him on a fold-able table.

Peter’s the only one to slowly raise his hand in the silence.  I glance over at him with a questionable look.

Mr.Harrington raises his eyebrows.  “What is your conflict, Mr.Parker?”

“Well, you know I have the Stark Internship, and well, uh… Mr.Stark said that I should always be prepared for someone to call me so-”

“Hold on, lemme get this right.  Parker gets to miss out on the trip because of his ‘Stark Internship’?” Flash raises a single eyebrow, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

“Peter, you understand this trip is mandatory.  The conflicts are only for… well, only for serious things,” explains Mr.Harrington, peering over his glasses at Peter.

Peter blushes slightly, embarrassed.  “Well I- I don’t want you to… Uh, make Mr.Stark angry…”

He’s still pretending to have a Stark Internship?  Seriously, Peter, drop the act. You can’t quit the team.

Our Decathlon leader sighs.  “Peter I’m afraid you have to go on this trip.  You’re extremely valuable to this team.  Unless you wish to leave the team…”

“I- I understand Mr.Harrington.”

“So he’s off the team?”  Flash speaks up again, obviously excited by the possibility of Peter getting kicked out of the club.

“What’s your decision, Peter?”  Mr.Harrington asks.

“I… I guess I can’t do it,” Peter admits quietly.

I turn my head to look at him.

Really?  What are you doing?

“Well, okay.  If you change your mind, just email me, Mr.Parker.”  Mr.Harrington crosses something out on his paper before pushing his glasses back up on his nose and looking at Peter.

The rest of the meeting goes on as it does normally; reciting facts and sitting around listening to Flash and Mr.Harrington argue over whether ‘fergalicious' is a word or not.

__________Liz’s POV__________ I plan to get Peter back.  It sounds dumb and childish, but if I want to prove that I wasn’t humiliating myself in front of the school for nothing, this is how to do it.

Unfortunately, there’s some minor obstacles.  The first problem is that somehow Peter found it in him to forgive Y/N for saying she doesn’t care about him and now they’ve grown to be close friends within the past two weeks.  The second problem would be that Peter most definitely hates me.  Part of that may be my fault, though, since I haven’t bothered to try and communicate with him in any way in the last couple weeks.  The third problem is that I wish Y/N wasn’t mad at me.  Yeah, I’ve done some pretty mean things in the past, but none this bad.

My chin resting on the palm of my hand, I gaze at Peter from a few seats away.  Either he doesn’t notice or he’s ignoring me on purpose.  To be fair, I did say that I didn’t want to talk to Y/N or Peter ever again.

I shift my eyes to focus on Y/N.

I want my best friend back.

Was it really worth it?  No, it wasn’t.  But I guess it’s too late now.  I’ve already formed my plan, so no going back.

“Liz?  Hello?  Do you have an answer?”  Mr.Harrington waves a hand in front of my face.

I snap back into reality.

Was everyone watching me gaze longingly at Peter and glaring at Y/N? “Can you repeat the question?”

Mr.Harrington hits the table a few times with his baby toy hammer, signaling I answered wrong.  “I’ve already repeated the questions 3 times, and if you were paying attention, Miss Allen, maybe you would know that.”

In the corner of my eye I see Y/N smirk and shake her head with a look that reads ‘dumb ass’.

Whatever.

Anyway, my plan is to slowly release every single secret Y/N has ever told me out into the school until almost everyone knows everything about her.  At that point, Peter might be so embarrassed to be seen with her that he completely abandons her.  Next, I’ll make my move on Peter.

Obviously, I have some details to fix, but it’s coming together.  However, Peter not going to Washington affects a lot of my plan.  If he does end up going, every part of my plan will fall into place.

_________Y/N’s POV_________ After the Decathlon meeting ends and everyone is dismissed, I pull Peter out into the hallway.

“What’s the real reason for not going to the National Decathlon?”

“What?  I told everyone it was because of the Stark Internship-” but Peter doesn’t get to finish his sentence before I cut in.

“Yeah that’s what you told people.  But, like, a 16 year old kid doesn’t have a Stark Internship.”

Peter’s expression displays a bit of hurt from my words.  “You don’t believe me.” “No.  I don’t.  Sorry, I don’t believe you have an internship with one of the richest people in the world.”

“Well, I- I can’t tell you.”

Now it’s my turn to be hurt.

He can’t tell me?  Why not?

This slight pause gives me enough time to realize how close we’re standing.  There’s plenty of hallway outside of the gym for the both of us, but we choose to stand so close that if I leaned in eight more inches we would-

I dart my eyes back up to meet his eyes.

“Fine.  Okay,” I say.

“Did you want me to come or something?”  He questions.

“I- yeah.  I mean you’re my friend, right?  Why wouldn’t I?”

Friend.

He looks down, slightly disappointed.  Is he disappointed?  Why?

“Yeah, I guess,” he responds, shifting his backpack straps and taking a few steps back.  “I don’t know why there would be another reason,” he mutters under his breath.

“Hey guys what are you- did I interrupt something?”  Ned busts through the gym doors and pauses after seeing our faces.

“No, you didn’t, Ned.”

“Oh, okay.  So Peter, are we still going to your place after school for our Star Wars movie marathon?  My mom bought popcorn for me to take,” Ned continues, oblivious to the uncomfortable tension.

“Yeah,” answers Peter.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Y/N.  Do you want to come?”  Ned smiles warmly.

I say “Yeah sure, Ned,” the same time Peter cuts in with “I don’t really think-”

“Great!  You remember where Peter's apartment is, right?  If you don’t just, text one of us.”  Ned starts walking away, leaving Peter to glance apologetically at me.

“I’ll see you soon,” I say to Peter before walking away.

_______(Time skip)_______ I click send on a text telling Peter I’m at his apartment.

Was Peter actually disappointed when I said we were friends?  Aren’t we friends?  I think back to earlier.  How close we were standing.  Peter’s lips had looked soft and his eyes were inviting, but I hadn’t done anything.  Anything about what?  What even is my goal?

Soon enough, the door to the apartment opens and I’m greeted by Peter’s aunt May.

“Oh, hey Y/N.  Come on in,” May says while stepping aside.  “Peter and Ned are in Peter’s bedroom.”

“Thanks, Miss…” I stop myself, unsure of what to call her.

“May.  You can call me May,” she says, beaming.

“Thanks, May,” I say.  I walk past May and up to Peter’s bedroom, slowly opening the door.

“Hey Y/N,” Peter and Ned greet at the same time.  I take a seat on the floor, leaning against Peter’s bed.

“Hey guys.  When are you going to start the movies?”

“Oh we were waiting for you.  Do you want some popcorn?”  Ned holds out a bag of popcorn and I grab some, eating a few.

I get up and we all make our way to the living room.  May announces she’s going out and then leaves.  I take my seat on the couch.  Peter sits down a small distance away from me and Ned sits on a different couch.

All throughout the night, Ned munches on popcorn while the movies play and I slowly get drowsy.  I find myself leaning more and more to one side before I completely fall asleep, and so does Peter.

_________(Time skip)_________ I wake up to something moving beside me.

Why is the couch moving?  My mind is a big groggy.  I open my eyes.

I’m lying nestled into Peter, our limbs tangled in mess.  My eyes drift up and meet Peter’s, which are very much awake and very much flustered.

“I- I’m sorry… I just woke up and-”

“It’s okay,” I say, chuckling softly and quickly moving away.  At the loss of contact, I feel my heart sink sadly.

“Soulmates are usually naturally attracted to each other if seated or lying near one another.”  Where do I remember that from?  Right.  History Of Soulmates textbook I had to read in my psychology class.

I sit up straight and look at Ned, who’s still asleep on the couch.  Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi is playing on the TV.  I grab my phone from the table beside me.  It reads 8:35am.

I turn to look at Peter and realize I’m still practically draped over his lap.  I blush a bright red and once Peter notices, his blush matches mine.  Hastily, I scoot away from him and then stand up.

“Uh… where's your bathroom?”  I ask timidly.

“It’s down that hall and to the right,” Peter says, his voice still slightly raspy from sleep.

My feet carry me away, padding down the hall and then into the bathroom.  I close the door and look in the mirror, fixing my hair and straightening up my shirt.  After I finish touching up, I open the bathroom door, only to be surprised by Peter standing right outside.

I bump directly into his chest and he laughs gently.  I smile faintly and step to go past him, only for us to bump into each other again.  He tenderly grabs my shoulders and leads me to go past him.

I look up at him and admire his messy bed head and the adorable blush still on his cheeks.  He looks down at me with an expression similar to mine and then lets go of my shoulders, still smiling.  “Sorry,” he apologizes, turning to go into the bathroom and then closing the door.

Since when did you get so mushy, I think to myself.

I walk back out to the living room where Ned has now woken up.

“What were you two doing?”  Ned asks the question suspiciously, looking me up and down.

“Peter and I?  Nothing I- we… I just went to the bathroom and-”

“Together?”

“No!  I- I mean no.”  I look at my phone to see a text from my mom: when are you coming home?

“If you did, I mean I don’t judge, I personally was waiting for it to happen, it was just a matter of time before-”

“What are you two talking about?”  Peter walks in, running a hand through his curls.  My heart flutters at the sight.

Stop it.

“Congratulations on you and Y/N finally getting together,” Ned says and I think I’m ready to crawl into a hole and die.

Peter looks at me with an unreadable look on his face.  “What?”

“Peter and I aren’t together, Ned, we just- I just went to the bathroom and he happened to be outside. Nothing happened-” I quickly try to explain it all.  But Peter had a different idea.

“We could be together…” interrupts Peter.  I look at him, shocked.  “I mean, I was just saying- we’re not together- I was just suggesting…”

“Yeah.  Um…”  I try to find a response in myself.

Together?  Really?  Does this mean he feels the same way?

“Right.  This is a bit awkward… So I’m going to go.  Thanks for the marathon, Peter.”  Ned gets up, grabs the popcorn bag, and leaves through the front door. I pretend to be interested in the lamp sitting on a table.

“So…”  Peter starts off.  “I guess I should tell you this now.  That day when I asked Liz out, I had actually meant to ask you to homecoming.  I really like you, Y/N.  Extremely.  It’s like nothing I’ve felt before.  Like-”

“I’m naturally attracted to you,” I finish for him.

He grins with so much happiness it’s almost contagious.  “Yeah.  Exactly like that.”

“Can I- your tattoo.  What is it?”

He rolls up his right sleeve, showing his bare wrist with one simple tattoo. An equals sign.

We’re soulmates.

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

Hey so here’s some fluff, but the first kiss is yet to come.  Things will escalate from here, so make sure to keep reading.  Or don’t.  I can’t really control what you do.  Thanks for reading!

@disfunctionalcellmembrane @marvel4geeks

Part 5

[woopboopboop]

Golden

Note: Hello! This is my first writing ever despite being on this platform for quite a long time now. I thought of sharing my interpretation of Harry’s Golden track in a form of a fic. Hope you enjoy it! :)

Update: Hoooooooly damn! I never thought this will reach even a hundred notes when I posted it. This make me !!!!! really hard! I- OHMYGOD. Thank you for starting my year with a such a good vibe. Much love!

“I don’t know,” he sighed while talking on his phone. She shouldn’t have eavesdropped on their conversation but when she heard her name mentioned during the call, her curiosity got the best of her. Now, whoever is on the phone might have a little sneak peek of what their relationship looked like for the past months. “Well, one way or another she needs to let me in. This won’t work if it’s only one sided,” he continued on, cradling his phone between his shoulder and ear while putting a leather-bound journal into his bag.

This won’t work if it’s only one sided. 

That sentence kept on getting louder and harder to ignore throughout the day. And it totally didn’t help when she was left alone in the house with her lingering thought after Harry left for studio. At first, she just shrugged it off but then she couldn’t help but think of the things that she might have done wrong during their relationship. So far, their relationship had been nothing but great. All of the exchanged conversations and lovely gestures were like second nature to them. She knew that she was treading through the relationship carefully, not being really open about her feelings but she thought she will ease into it slowly and Harry being a kind human he is, didn’t seem to be complaining about it. In the midst of her thought, she didn’t realise that she was walking towards the sofa in the living room causing her to bump into it and losing her grip of the mug in her hand. The sound of the glass breaking after the mug came into contact with the floor was just the tip of the iceberg for the series of anxiety fuelled things that were going to be happening that day.

One sided.

At least that’s how he felt about their relationship right now. For him, when you form a connection with someone, it is all about balancing the giving and receiving scale. Despite his packed schedule, he would find a way in which he can give his time as well as self to her and so does she. The girl gives him a comfortable space where he is welcomed with so much love and no judgement. Throughout knowing each other, he had been open about his life to her. He would talk about the most personal things to the most ridiculous things and she would always be there, receiving what he has to offer with open arms. That is why he sees her as one of the lights in his life and people might think that it is a bit too much. Truthfully, he sees her as the sun that he is destined to meet all along in his dark journey on earth. And just like the sun, there is a part of her that he can’t really see. Despite being open about what is happening around her, she is not really open about herself causing Harry to be left in the shadow. If felt like she was holding herself back. That is when the scale of receiving and giving is not so balanced.

That day had been bad when she didn’t only break the mug this morning, but she also couldn’t seem to do the house chores properly. Now, it had been progressing to be the worst when the steak on the stove burned when she was cooking dinner. “For God’s sake what the hell is wrong today!” she yelled, frustrated over things that had happened today and her inability to keep herself calm throughout the day. It felt like her heart was trying to escape her body every time she thought about the call this morning. She almost threw the pan into the sink but then regained some control over the overwhelming feelings that resided in her. She didn’t realise that a tear escaped her eyes until the droplet landed on her hand while she was holding onto the sink, trying to calm herself.

Didn’t want to make a huge deal out of all the mess that was happening outside and inside of her, she decided to put everything aside. Reaching for her phone, she asked if Harry wants any take away food for dinner. It was about five minutes after she finished cleaning the kitchen when she received two texts from him.

From: Harry

07:03

S’alright, love. Had my dinner with Mitch.

 07:03

Gonna be back late. Don’t wait up.

To: Harry

07:05

Alright. Stay safe, babe.

 After sending the message, she decided to go shower and had dinner by herself. Leaving her and her thoughts once again.

Before Harry, there was literally no one in her life. To be honest, she didn’t really see the point of being in a relationship at first. For her, all of these are just a huge never-ending loop. Every single time is exactly like the one before. You will meet someone, get attached to them and then one of you leave. After that, you will start from the bottom again. “That’s a very negative way to look at it,” he said when he heard her opinion about love during her visit to his place. She shrugged from across the table and continued, “Well, that’s the truth isn’t it?” He looked at her intently, bottom lip tucked between his teeth as if he was trying to find the most suitable answer for the question. When his gaze lingered too long on her, she muttered, “Quit looking at me like that.” Avoiding his gaze when she felt her cheeks getting warmer. A small smile formed on his lips and he said, “To answer your question just now. Maybe.”

That was way before they were engaged in a romantic relationship. At that moment, Harry wanted to tell her that love is way beyond the simple stages that she had arranged it to be. Love is alluring and electrifying.  Unfortunately, he somewhat got lost when he stared into her eyes and decided to tell that to her in another time. Such as the time when he confessed her about his feelings towards her. She did look like she was about to dash out of his house that day but he quickly said that, “I understand if you don’t feel the same. It’s okay. Just thought that I get it out of my chest.” He didn’t want to scare her but at the same time he needed to tell her about his feelings. They were quiet for a moment before she told him that she has the same feeling but doesn’t really know what to do with it. Both of them giggle at her statement. She hesitated for a while when he asked her to be his lover. She worried if this relationship took a wild turn and left both of them heart broken in the end. But then she thought, maybe she could give love a fair chance this time. So, she did.

She huffed at the thought. Maybe she shouldn’t have given it a chance. The very thing that she tried to avoid from occurring to her, which is being heart broken, was looming over her. She felt her eyes sting as she heard This won’t work if it’s only one sided at the back of her head. What is one sided though? She did her best to love him despite her lack of experience and the fear of being heart broken. Will he end it? Will she be the one who ended it? He did sound like he was hurting when he talked over the phone this morning. Maybe it is better to break things off if she is going to hurt him further more? Her thought got distracted when she heard a loud footstep approaching their shared bedroom. Seconds later, Harry tall figure entered the room. “You back early?” she said after checking the time on her phone. “Yeah. Got a lot of work done and thought that we’ll continue it tomorrow,” he answered, walking to the vanity mirror. She knew that it might not be the perfect time to ask him about what happened since tiredness was very much present in his face and movements.

He removed the rings that adorned his fingers and set it carefully on the vanity. She cleared her throat to break the silence in the room and found a courage to look at his face in the mirror. When both of their eyes met, she carefully asked him, “Are we okay?” “Yeah. Why?” By this time, he was walking towards the bathroom to do his nightly routine. Her mind was racing a hundred miles per hour, trying to come up with a reason and then managed to say, “Nothing.” Her fingers messing with the blanket covering the lower part of her body. She never like confrontation in her life. Ever. So, when situation like this comes up, she would rather just sweep it under the rug and let it be there. But she didn’t know what made her so brave tonight. Maybe she was just desperate for some answers.

“I actually heard you while you’re on the phone this morning,” she blurted when he stepped out of the bathroom. His eyes were basically just staring at her right now through his tousled hair and she felt so small on the bed, so she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. “I heard that you said it won’t work if its only one sided,” she continued. Harry was very much confused as to what she was saying few seconds ago but now he caught up on what she was trying to tell him. “Well, if you could let me in more than maybe it will not be so one sided.” He really didn’t not want to sound nonchalant about the situation but he had been imagining just cuddling and sleeping since he got the privilege to go home early. However, he was confronted with this matter tonight. He made it clear in his voice that thing could be discussed tomorrow but she still pushed for some clarity. “What do you mean? Do you feel like I’m not giving enough?”

“Maybe. Look, I don’t want to talk about this right now. I am kinda tired.” Without saying any other words, he just slipped into bed and went to sleep. Before this they would have little arguments but they always managed to say sorry before going to bed but not tonight. She mustered whatever that was left in her to not breakdown by the overwhelming waves of emotions and quietly said, “Oh. Okay. Goodnight.” He didn’t reply, giving her some illusion that he was already deep in slumber. In fact, he was still a bit awake even though his droopy eyelids were forcing him to venture into dreamland. Feeling the cover moved and some shifting from her side, he looked over his shoulder to see that she was facing away from him.

When waking up the next day, her heart was still beating hard at the thought that sooner or later she needed to talk to him about what was happening yesterday. Harry, on the other hand, felt bad about last night. He wanted to talk about it but didn’t know how to approach her. As his alarm rang early in the morning, he cleaned up a bit and head to the kitchen to make both of them breakfast. “Morning, love,” he said, small smile on his face when he saw her entering the kitchen. She smiled back knowing that last night didn’t affect his gentle small gestures to her, “Morning.” They had small talk over their breakfast but every time she tried to steer the conversation to what happened yesterday, he seemed to be lost of words. Again, she didn’t want to be pushy about the entire thing and thought that she would confront him after their breakfast.

“Can we talk? About last night?” she asked, following him from behind as he walked into the living room. “Yeah, sure.” He sat on the corner of the sofa facing the television while she took a seat on the opposite corner. “Okay,” she muttered under her breath, collecting her courage. The nervousness was boiling inside her stomach and she tried to distract herself by tucking away a piece of stray hair behind her ears. “Are we okay?” her voice sounded so soft as if she was afraid she was going to break the television screen. He was a bit shocked by her voice but that didn’t stop him from asking her, “What do you think?” “You did say that I’m not giving enough. I thought I already gave my all. I’m trying to-” Her words came out desperate and she felt her heart picking up its pace when Harry said, “You thought?” Every word were emphasised and the worst thing was that he didn’t even look at her.

He thought that he would be the one approaching her about this matter. When she first started the conversation, he was a bit taken aback because he was not prepared. The only big question that he had in his mind at the time was “Why are you holding yourself back?” Throughout their relationship, both of them had been completing each other very well but as they were falling deeper into it, it is as if she was holding herself from falling with him. There were times when he thought that maybe she needs time, so he gives her time but slowly he began to question if he is unable to give her a safe and comfortable space to fall. “I’m sorry if you feel like everything is one sided when you’re with me. I didn’t mean to.” His heart ached hearing her apology. He wanted to make it clear it’s not a big deal. That she had been nothing but a sun guiding and supporting him through his darkest hours of life. That she had been nothing but golden. That the only thing that he wanted from her was for her to open up more. Let him in. It would not be enough if she knows who he is but he doesn’t know who she is. The words were fighting in his throat begging to come out but their attempt failed when he could just respond back with, “Hmm.” He could tell that she was getting frustrated when her eyebrow knitted together and a loud sigh escaped her mouth.

“What do you want me to say, Harry?” She was already on the edge. What is it that he wants from her? The tears were threatening to spill out but she held it in. From the corner of her eyes, she could see that he was leaning forward now both arms resting on his thighs. In seconds he was standing, walking away. “This is it then? Is this how break ups happened?” she thought. As his figure walking further and further away from her, she decided to speak up, “You know damn well Harry that I’m afraid to be in this relationship.” It’s true. More than anyone else, he should’ve known this when she had a negative overview of romance. And the reason as to why she agreed to be with him is because she overcame her fear of love and decided to give it a chance. That stopped him on his track and what he said next wasn’t what she was expecting. “Then why are you here?”

He didn’t shout or scream at her when he asked that but the question sure did leave a deafening impact on her. She felt her ears ringing and her sight became blurry. She wanted to walk towards him and scream in his face but she only managed to look at him in the eyes from where she was sitting on the sofa. “Because you convince me that love is beyond what I thought it was. That love is beautiful. So, I thought that I- I give it a chance. And- and when it comes from a person like you, I thought I could finally fall into someone safely but I guess not.” Her breathing grew heavy from each word and she felt like burying her head in the ground. With every word, he closed the distance between them and stood in front of her. She could feel him towering over but decided to fixed her gaze on the floor. The question of his inability to give her a safe and comfortable space to fall had been answered by her. “So, she did trust me,” he thought but there’s one more question left.

“You barely tell me what you feel about this relationship. Yes, we did what other couples do but I still feel like you’re hiding something from me. Like you’re holding yourself back. If you trust me for giving you a space to fall then why don’t you do it?” He sounded so hurt and a little bit offended. To make the matter worse, when her eyes met his, both of them mirror the same sad expression. Her head was pounding since she forced herself not to cry and she couldn’t help but let one or two tears making their way down her cheeks. She quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand. “I am trying to open up more. But it can be hard sometimes.” She saw Harry nodding his head and took that as a sign to continue. “What if- what if I fall and be completely open then suddenly one day you just left?” She shook her head at the horrible thought. “I’ve seen how it affects people, Harry. I’ve seen how it affects you. You were so heartbroken and I swear I could see the glint of it in your eyes even in the beginning of our relationship.” It’s true. She saw what love can do to people. Both parties were so open and when things came crashing down, there is nothing left but broken hearts.

He was listening so intently, trying to process the whole scenario. Initially in their relationship, he still felt the sting of heart break after his last break up. But that didn’t mean that he was walking into the relationship because he wanted something to distract him from it. He walked into the relationship because he thought that it was time and he found the perfect golden girl for him. The room was filled with the humming of heater and sniffles from her. “Why don’t you tell me that you feel that way?” His features soften when she saw her shrugged. She looked so lost. “I don’t know. I just-” She was cut off mid-sentence when she felt Harry held her hands. She could see that his eyes were glossy and his cheeks had a tint of red. “You can talk to me. You know that right?” She nodded her head. The beating of her heart started to slow down and her breathing stabilise.

He never knew that she was still very much hesitant about opening up about herself to him. “I’m sorry, Harry. I- I can leave if that’s what you want?” She was standing now, ready for anything that is awaiting to happen. He never thought that she would even consider leaving as an option. “What? No! No! I want you to stay. Do you not want to stay?” The last part came a bit hesitant as he was afraid that she would say yes. What would he do then? His fear of being alone and not being able to love someone, not being able to love her came creeping in. His grip on her hands were tighter, afraid if she would just turn into dust and disappear in front of him. A shocked look was present on her face and she shook her head. “Yes. I mean, no. I want to stay. If you want me too?” “’Course I want you too, love. What makes you think that I don’t want to?” They were closer now, just inches away from each other. “I mean, it had been one sided relationship, isn’t it?” She spoke softly. Harry titled her chin so that he had a clear view of her eyes. “That’s before I know what you feel. Now that I understand a little bit more, it’s not as one sided anymore.” His lips forming an assuring smile for her. Every word laced with affirmation and understanding. She smiled back, relieved that whatever heavy feelings surrounding both of them starting to fade away.

Sensing that she was not tensed as she was before, he pulled her into a hug. Both of them stayed in each other arms for quite some times. “I know I need to open up a bit more. Just- just give me time, okay?” she spoke into his chest, breaking the silence between them. “Whatever you want, love. I’ll be here.” He pulled them apart for a bit, kissing her forehead. He wanted to say that he will lose his way without her and that he doesn’t want to be alone, not without his golden girl. However, he kept the words to himself. Words can only go so far and to make sure this relationship remained strong, both of them have to balance out the giving and receiving scale. And he believed they will balance it in the near future.

For now, the most important thing is that they are together.

Harry and his sun.

[disneydreamlights]

Across the Stars: Chapter 1

AO3 | FFN

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Summary: Tensions between the Separatists and the Republic are climbing as the Senate debates whether there is need for an army. Anakin Skywalker, Senator of Tatooine, has recently returned to Coruscant to speak against its formation, resulting in an assassination attempt that forces him to reunite with long time friends Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and the newly knighted Padme Naberrie for his own protection. [Anidala]

(Or, an Attack of the Clones Roleswap AU)

A/N: What’s this? I’m publishing a multi chapter that’s actually a part of a series? Yes, yes I am. Updates should come every Wednesday since I actually completed this one before getting the genius idea to post it. After that it’ll just be whenever I finish another fic for it will be when the next one is posted. 

The air around Anakin felt charged as he worked on piloting it down for a landing. Normally, he was eager to return to Coruscant after a few days away from the capital planet, Tatooine still far from his favorite planet (though it got better every day. He was proud of Beru for all the help she provided, and he was doing a lot of effort on his own since he’d been voted into the Senate) but tonight was different. The air around the city had felt tense, prompting Anakin to be glad of his decision to fly a small, inconspicuous ship down to the planet. Somebody was after him, he just wasn’t really sure why.

He felt a flash of something, a warning in the air to be careful and wary. He closed his eyes, trying to remember what Obi-Wan and Padmé had taught him years ago, and immediately turned the steering wheel, rolling out of the way of a projectile that had nearly caught his ship. That would’ve grounded it instantly. “Kriff.”

He heard the beeping of his Astromech companion and security detail, yelling at him for his risky flying. “Come on Artoo, we’re fine.” More angry beeps. “I didn’t get hit.”

More beeps, this time sarcastic and irritated from Artoo. “If you’re just going to try to yell at me, be useful and call Mom.”

A holographic projection of his mother appeared moments later. “What is it Ani?”

“You’re already landed, right?”

“Ani?”

“Mom please.” He felt it again, the same disturbance, and this time swerved out of the way of the second attack.

Shmi Skywalker shook her head. “Of course we have, the last person on the cruiser just disembarked. Is something wrong?”

Well, if he was honest, he wanted to say everything was wrong. But he wasn’t about to worry her, plus it wasn’t like he didn’t have things under control in regards to whoever was firing at him. “I think somebody let slip that I wasn’t flying in with the rest of the delegation from Tatooine. I’ve got the situation under control and I have Artoo with me, so I’m fine. We’ll still be landing soon.”

“You ask me not to be worried, but it’s never easy.”

Anakin chuckled. “I promise I’m fine mom. Leave the worrying to Threepio. He’s always been better at it. Just make sure to clear the landing platform. If this goes wrong I don’t want our friend hurting anybody else.” Before she could respond, he hung up, not wanting to worry his mom more in case another attack came. “Ready Artoo? Time to make a landing.”

He was pretty sure R2 was ready to kill him by the time they finally touched down on the platform as he approached rapidly, wanting to avoid a third fire from their mysterious and very murderous new friend. In fact, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t in the ship at all as the bad energy continued to flow around him. “Artoo, let’s go.”

The droid and Anakin emerged from the ship, Anakin pulling up a hood on his cloak to hopefully avoid detection from whatever assassin has his trail. Barely a minute after he was off the ship and approaching the entrance to the building, he was pushed forward, scarcely out of the blast radius with his faithful droid. And he looked behind himself to see the small ship that he had arrived on was absolutely destroyed. “Message received.”

Somebody didn’t want him on Coruscant.

They’d regret trying to get him to leave.

-x-

“Peace is our objective here, not war.” Palpatine’s voice pulled Anakin out of the stupor he’d fallen into as the senator from Malastare concluded his request for aid from the Republic to deal with the Separatist threat coming onto the planet. If he was honest, had the senator not been pushing for the Military Creation Act, Anakin might have felt sympathy, but the creation of an army was not an action Anakin would ever defend. Not one founded on individuals forced to join an army.

He felt his mom squeeze his hand, though she stepped back before he moved the pod out, not wanting the attention on her, but rather on everything Anakin would say. “My fellow senators, when I arrived on Coruscant today to come to this very meeting, an assassin made an attempt on my life. I was fired at three times, and while my skills behind the wheel of a ship saved my life today, had the assassin only been slightly quicker on the uptake when I landed, it’s likely I wouldn’t have made it off the ship alive at all.”

The crowds started to talk amongst themselves, a sign to Anakin that he needed to push. “The reason I was targeted today was because of the bill we’re supposed to be voting on today. Of all the senators against the creation of the creation of an army, I’ve been the loudest, most open about my displeasure, and the one who everybody knows is willing to do anything to get the results I want. Somebody here wants to take that a step further, just to make sure that the bill gets through.” He looked over the other pods, and felt Bail’s approval much to his relief. The speech hadn’t been gone over or discussed with his former mentor, and Anakin had been slightly worried that bringing it up in the Senate would be unwelcome, but it seemed to have been a good idea, even if no prior words had been drafted.

Despite the approval from Bail, the Senate was getting tense, and shouting was beginning. “Ani–” His mom put her hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. He had to make his statement clear to the others.

“You’re all booing me, and for what? This whole idea is a joke. You don’t raise an army for protection. You raise an army if you want to start a war. It won’t deter the Separatists. It will embolden them, and then the fighting will be brought right to our planets. Our systems. Our people. You have to stop living in your delusions.” He slammed his fist on the pod in front of him. Not his best move, but far from his worst in the Senate. “People will die. Civilians drafted for combat will die. The people you force to fight this battle will be nothing but slaves.”

He had people’s attention, and their ire judging by the ever increasing yelling from the other pods. Which was good, it was what he wanted from the other senators. He wanted them to remember his words. “This ‘security measure,’” he said the words full of disdain, “that we’re all voting for is nothing short of a declaration of war on the Separatists, and unless you want to claim that you were the one who brought war to the Republic, you’ll vote with me against this bill.”

The outrage in the Senate was tremendous, but Anakin smirked, having done his job at riling up the chambers. Voices rang against each other as Mas Amedda called for order within the Senate to try to regain a semblance of control amongst the Senators.

After a few minutes, the Senate calmed down, and Palpatine spoke. “Due to the lateness of the hour and the seriousness of this motion, we will take up these matters tomorrow. Until then, the Senate is adjourned.”

-x-

Unsurprisingly, within an hour the Loyalist Committee was summoned to the Chancellor's office. Not a surprise, if Anakin was honest. He’d stirred up a storm in the Senate and even if Palpatine wasn’t mad at him (unlikely) the announcement that he’d nearly been a victim to an assassination attempt less than an hour ago was likely not welcome for him to hear, especially since Palpatine had been trying to get Anakin’s favor since he’d arrived on Coruscant five years prior.

Much more surprising to Anakin, was the presence of several Jedi in his office. Council members, if he recalled the faces correctly. He looked them over for Obi-Wan or Padmé in their midst, and quickly squashed down his disappointment at neither of his friends being present. “Senator Skywalker.” He looked down to see Yoda walking over. “Your tragedy on the landing platform, terrible. Seeing you alive brings warm feelings to my heart.”

“Thank you, Master Yoda. I’m just thankful I’d chosen to fly myself into Coruscant. The loss of life had I been on a transport with the rest of the members of my delegation would have been much greater.” Admittedly, a small part of Anakin still stung with resentment over the fact that Yoda refused to accept him into the Jedi Order, but he had mostly put it behind him. “Do you have any idea who may have sent the assassin?”

Windu approached as well, joining the conversation. “Our intelligence network thinks it may have been remnants from Jabba’s gang seeking revenge against you from when you overthrew them and brought Tatooine into the Republic.”

Anakin shook his head. “I think you’re wrong, Master Jedi.” He watched Windu raise an eyebrow and took it as a sign to continue. “I think the Separatists are behind these attacks.”

The room was silent, as though they were processing what Anakin had said. He didn’t blame them. Accusing the Separatists of wanting to kill the single person who was actively against the formation of a military against them wasn’t logical. But every part of Anakin just knew it was right.

“You mean to imply Count Dooku?” Windu asked, clearly skeptical of Anakin’s accusation.

“Not one hundred percent, but nobody else in his Confederacy would have the means or motive.” Or motive. He thought of Senator Bonterri for a moment. Onderon was a member of the Separatist movement, but she was certainly unlikely to try to level an attack on him given how closely they had worked when he’d been a teenager running around the Senate floor. He had little doubt the other senators who had left would be similar. Almost no other member of their group would have an interest in killing him if his hunch was correct.

“Count Dooku is a political idealist, not a murderer.” Master Mundi corrected Anakin, but he said nothing, letting the Jedi have their say.

“He was also once a Jedi, Senator. He couldn’t assassinate anyone. It’s not in his character.”

“Once.” Anakin frowned at Windu’s defense. “As in he’s not a Jedi any longer. There’s no reason to believe he would still hold to Jedi beliefs, and even then, I’m not arguing that he’s the killer, only that he hired one out.”

Before Windu could respond, Yoda spoke up. “Matters not, the killer’s identity does. For certain Senator in grave danger you are.”

“Master Jedi.” Palpatine looked away from the window he had been near to give a kind smile to Anakin, as though he truly wanted to protect him. “May I suggest the Senator be placed under the protection of your graces.”

“You really think that’s a wise decision under these stressful times.” Bail spoke up, and he was right, the Jedi council didn’t need to spare anymore Jedi from whatever peace keeping mission they were on.

“Chancellor, with all do respect, I don’t need protecting, I can handle myself–”

“I’m sure you can, Senator.” The Chancellor cut him off. “I know you are a great pilot, and have a lucky streak, but the situation right now is dire. I understand that you do not want the help of the Jedi, but perhaps you might be willing to accept the extra security if it were Jedi you were familiar with. Perhaps an old friend like Master Kenobi, or Knight Naberrie.”

Anakin clenched his hands into fists, feeling his nails dig into the palms of his hand. He desperately wanted to see Obi-Wan and Padmé again, that much was true, but he having his friendship with them used as a weapon against him soured his mood for a possible reunion, which further sank as Windu revealed that the two had just returned from a border dispute.

“Please, Anakin. You know how much I’ve desired to look out for you since you asked for our help. Allow me to arrange this one thing for you, my boy.” There was nothing more he could do with Palpatine’s plea like that, and while Anakin was sure there was some ulterior motive to what was going on, he had his hands tied.

With nothing else he could do, Anakin turned to face Windu. “Tell Obi-Wan and Padmé I’ll be in my apartment, and that I look forward to seeing them again.”

It wasn’t until he left the office that he smiled as he realized just exactly who he was seeing again.

[Next Part]

[a-dorin]

confession | n.m.

word count: 2,382

warnings: angst, heartbreak, drinking, mentions of smoking, sexual tension, lots & lots of kissing 

a/n: so i’m pretty obsessed with both noel miller & cody ko from tiny meat gang. i know this is different than what i normally post, but i hope you all enjoy it! 

feelin’ lost, don’t know what to do. but i just got some head in the back of my coupe. still feelin’ dead when i think about you.. 

juice wrld’s lyrics filled your ears, ringing as the bass of the speaker vibrating the entirety of the room. you took another swig of moscato, warmth seeping into your chest from the alcohol. you felt tingly from your toes to your head, your vision blurred from tears. you were sitting on the floor of your bedroom in your apartment, reminiscing on past memories with a broken heart. 

your boyfriend, well now, ex-boyfriend of six years broke it off about three weeks ago, the pain still apparent as you drank away your feelings. of course it was the only way you felt you could cope, as you weren’t much of a smoker. you didn’t want to set up a tinder either, as hookups wouldn’t fill the gaping void in your heart. the meaningless sex would only create a deeper feeling of loneliness and despair. so, you turned to binge drinking, in vain attempts to numb your heartbreak. with a dismal appetite, the only thing you could stomach lately was the alcohol. you grabbed whatever sounded best, making runs to the nearest liquor store almost every night. currently, you were on your second bottle of pink moscato, about one third of the way down. 

as you sat on your floor, supported by your bed, you phone vibrated on the floor next to your thigh, curiosity filling you to the brim as you pondered who could have reached out to you. when you read the contact name, your heart skipped a beat in your chest. 

noel - i noticed your post on your story. i’m really worried about you. i’m on my way over in ten after wrapping up this video with cody. 

you scrambled to your feet, dread filling you once you realized that you were in no state to see noel. but you knew he was adamant about coming over regardless. he was your best friend, the two of you holding a tight bond. noel was one of the main reasons why your ex dumped you. he thought that the two of you were too close, that you were cheating on him with noel. of course, it was a heaping pile of horseshit, as the relationship between the two of you was extremely platonic. 

as a semi-popular youtuber, your platform mainly consisted of random videos, ranging from roasting other content, to fashion videos where you vlogged a trip to a thrift store. your following amassed to about ninety-thousand subscribers on youtube, almost over a hundred thousand on instagram. you met noel at a party, through kelsey, cody’s girlfriend. since you were a friend of kelsey’s she introduced you to noel, who was with aleena at the time. however, the two of you hit it off, establishing a strong friendship.

a good portion of your following could be attributed to cody and noel, as you were a frequent guest on their podcast and videos. many of your fans commented constantly about how you and noel were the perfect couple, but you knew it would never happen. besides, noel was getting over his own heartbreak. 

aleena ended things with noel approximately three months ago, so noel was in a different stage of healing than you. he was realizing his own self-worth once again, the sadness disintegrating by the day. you yearned to be in that stage already, but the breakup was too recent, the wound scored across your heart fresh. 

running a hand through your hair, you let out a sigh as you attempted to look presentable. in your mind, you knew that noel wouldn’t mind, but you wanted to at least try. quickly, you wiped away the old mascara staining your eyelids. you washed your face, throwing on a new hoodie as well. you scooped up the empty bottles off the floor, tossing them into the trash can. the less noel saw, the better. 

a knock on the door interrupted the cleanup, a wave of anxiety washing over you. did you look presentable? would noel be able to see right through you? opening the door, you couldn’t help but smile as noel stood before you, an in-n-out burger bag in one hand, a handle of fireball in the other.

“thought you needed some pick-me-ups,” noel’s tone was cool as he strolled in. he inhaled, narrowing his eyes, “(y/n), it reeks of alcohol in here. how much have you had tonight?”

you swallowed, realizing you couldn’t lie as noel’s eyes glared at you, “only a bottle of moscato.”

“good god,” noel shook his head, “have you eaten?”

“not really,” you mumbled, subconsciously tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. 

“you need to eat then,” he tsked, shoving the bag in your hands, “i picked up your usual.” 

“thank you,” your voice was quiet, “you can set the fireball in the kitchen.”

“i’m locking it up,” he chuckled softly, “you’re not allowed to have any more till after you eat.” 

slowly, you walked over to the couch, jittery from the nerves and alcohol. you weren’t drunk by any means, but you were definitely buzzed. the fact that you hadn’t eaten wasn’t helping your case either, and noel could tell you needed the food as you wobbled towards the couch. after placing the handle in your freezer, noel came to the couch, sitting beside you. 

“do you wanna watch a show?” you picked at your food, taking small bites. 

“mmmm,” noel hummed, “only if you let me know what’s been going on lately.”

“fine,” you huffed, rolling your eyes. plucking the remote off the table, you clicked on the hulu app, settling on family guy. 

noel sat close to you, your thighs touching, “so, how are things?”

“awful,” it came out as a whisper, “i’m pretty brokenhearted, noel.”

“i can tell,” he murmured, “you’ve been acting different. i worry about you all the time, (y/n). especially when you shut yourself in your room, drinking away. the binge drinking has to stop. i know it hurts, i know it hurts so bad, but you can’t keep living like this.”

tears brimmed your eyelids, threatening to cascade down your cheeks. you stared at your food, unsure of an answer to noel’s remarks. carefully, you formulated some form of a response, “it was all just so sudden. i thought that we were happy together. i guess he didn’t feel the same. you know, i thought we were going to get married. he was talking about buying a ring and-”

“but you complained about him all the time,” noel countered, “you were extremely unhappy.” 

you snapped your head up, “you don’t know anything about how i’m feeling, noel.”

his jaw clenched, “i know enough. i know that you were unhappy with him. did you forget all of the times you would come to my apartment late at night? how scared you were to go back to him after every fight? he was a piece of shit who didn’t know a single damn thing about you. he couldn’t even remember your fucking birthday. how can someone who claims that they love you forget your own birthday? he was a joke. a joke that you dated for six years. i can’t even fathom how you dealt with his constant bullshit.”

noel’s tone was full of nothing but venom as he spoke about your ex, his brown eyes ablaze with a fiery rage. you were taken aback by his sudden spout of anger, “noel, are you okay?”

“i just want you happy,” his words were soft, full of affection, “that’s all i want. you helped me through so much, and i just want to give back. you mean a lot to me.”

heat spread through your cheeks, tinging them a pink hue, “you mean a lot to me too.”

noel sat up, face to face with you, his hazel eyes locked with yours, “i want to say so much, but you’re buzzed and i don’t think it’s good timing.” 

“noel,” his name tumbled from your lips, “please, just tell me.”

he swallowed thickly, sucking in a breath, “i may have feelings for you. like a lot of feelings.”

your heart fluttered at his words. the night you met noel, you were sure he was the most handsome man you had ever met. with his olive complexion, alluring hazel eyes, and beautiful smile, noel was definitely good looking. you were more so attracted to his quirks. you adored his brash and bold personality, how he said whatever was on his mind. you found his crude humor to be witty and smart, enticed by his jokes. most of all, you loved the way you could be yourself around him. however, you couldn’t ever make a move. at the time, you knew it was wrong. noel had aleena wrapped in his arms, while you were in love with your boyfriend.

but the attraction only blossomed into feelings as you spent more time with noel. with every trip to in-n-out, every podcast, every video collab, you felt yourself falling for him. constantly, you dreamt of an alternate reality, where you pursued your feelings for noel. however, those thoughts were always swatted away. of course, the two of you always swore that things were strictly platonic, but things had changed. noel was single, and so were you. 

noel continued, “i always thought about the what-ifs you know? what if we were both single? what if you had feelings for me too? i probably sound like a colossal idiot and all, spilling out my feelings. after all you just got dumped and i am still-”

he was cut off by your lips colliding with his, leg swinging over his so you could straddle his thighs, situating yourself on his lap. your kiss was sweet, the taste of moscato on your lips. noel sucked on your bottom lip harshly as your fingers laced themselves into his hair, tugging slightly as he grasped your hoodie, the space between you two nonexistent. he pulled you closer to him, his kisses desperate, aching for more. 

adrenaline rushed through you, replacing the buzz. noel’s lips met with your neck, his breathing ragged as he sucked on your skin harshly. you began to grind against him, skin grazing the fabric of his joggers. he groaned softly, his hand snaking underneath your hoodie, squeezing a  breast over your bralette. you could feel noel’s cock strained against his joggers, hardening against your thigh. the intensity was driving you wild as noel left a trail of love bites down your hair, your fingers tangled in his hair. 

noel wanted you more than he wanted to admit. he ached to feel your skin against his. to feel you. to fuck you. he craved the intimacy. but he couldn’t. not tonight. you were sobering up, but you were still pretty inebriated. noel hated the idea of taking advantage of you like this, while your heart was still vulnerable, your feelings displayed on your sleeve. it wouldn’t be right. besides, he wanted you to remember the first time.

he pulled away, cheeks flushed, “i don’t want to start anything while you’re like this.”

a large pout formed on your lips, “oh.”

“it’s not fair to you baby,” he murmured, the nickname sweet as it rolled off his tongue.

“can we cuddle then?” you arched a brow, anticipating a yes.

“of course,” noel grinned, wrapping an arm around you as you snuggled into his chest, “we can finish what we started tomorrow, okay?”

his boldness sent a shiver of excitement through you, “you want to come over tomorrow?”

“of course,” he replied, placing a tender kiss on your forehead, “can i not come take care of you? i know you love cuddles and good food. i have the day off tomorrow and i want to spend it with you.” 

“sounds good to me,” you yawned, covering your mouth, “if cody wants to come over with kelsey, he can. hell, spock can tag along too.”

“whoa, whoa, whoa,” noel teased, “let’s not get too eager (y/n). i don’t think i could keep my hands off you that long.” 

“you don’t want them knowing?” disappointment laced your inquiry. 

“cody would destroy me,” a sigh exited noel, his heartbeat thudding steadily, “if he knew i loved you, hell, he would rip me a new asshole and call me a softie all the time. he’d also yell at me for not giving myself enough time to recover from aleena.” 

“noel,” your heart raced, your eyes drifting up, “you love me?” 

“i mean,” he stammered, realizing what he just admitted, “i do. i love you (y/n). ever since i first laid eyes on you, i knew i wanted you. it’s always been you on my mind. lately, i haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. i get so worked up over you and i never got that way with aleena. you’re just so beautiful and we click so well. so yeah, i do love you.” 

the sincerity of noel’s words caused you to melt in his arms, “i love you too, a lot, actually. i’ve been hopelessly in love with you.”

“hopelessly huh?” he chuckled, running a hand through your hair, “well, consider me hopeless too (y/n).”

“i’m pretty head over heels for you,” you mumbled, feeling sleep overwhelm you. noel sensed your shift in mood, beginning to run his fingers through your hair. 

“get some sleep baby,” noel cooed, “i’ll stay the night.” 

“you don’t have clothes,” a whine escaped your lips. 

“i’ll be okay,” he hummed. 

it was only a matter of minutes before your breathing slowed, alerting noel that you were asleep, content on his chest. he reached over you, careful not to disturb your slumber. pulling a blanket from the other side of the couch, he draped it over your body, ensuring you got more of the blanket he did. eventually, noel dozed off himself, filled to the brim with joy. you were comfortable, and so was he. the two of you slept in each other’s arms, your head on his chest, his arms around you. 

at last, the two of you were together, happy to be in one another’s embrace. 

[hornsbeforehalos]

Waste Love: Part Twelve

Pairing: Colson Baker|Machine Gun Kelly x OFC Warnings: Language, Alcohol and Drug Use, Smut, Violence, Angst, Fluff A/N: Smut warning for this chapter!

As expected, the morning the interview was uploaded, everyone went nuts. 

Tiffany eventually disabled her messaging on all social media platforms, the constant buzzing of her phone’s notifications driving her up the wall. 

While the majority of the reactions were positive, there were plenty of hate wishers. Comments ranging from “finally!” To “she’s only with him for clout,” and other things like “let’s see how long it lasts this time.”  As well as even worse flooded her news feeds until she eventually just turned her phone off with a roll of her eyes. 

“It’ll blow over in a few days, babe, calm down,” Colson reminded her as they sat at her kitchen bar eating breakfast, his smile reassuring and sweet, “Promise.”

“I hope so,” Tiffany sighed, her lips flapping together as she exhaled deeply, looking down at her cup of coffee, “I’d like to be able to check my Instagram without the death threats.” 

“Smile,” Colson said suddenly, holding his phone up to take a picture of her quickly. She groaned and tried to reach for the device, but he quickly jerked it away and jumped from his seat, “‍Nice. I got this, babe.”

“Colson, no!” She argued with a whine, “I look like shit, please don’t post that.” 

“Too late,” Colson snickered, mischievous grin curling his mouth as he typed away. He dramatically hit the screen with a pop of his lips, beaming his signature smile at Tiffany as he proclaimed, “Posted!”

Tiffany narrowed her eyes and shook her head at him before standing, collecting their now empty plates and dumping them in the sink before leaning against the counter to finish her coffee. Colson approached her slowly, his hand reaching out to grip her hip as he leaned into her. She pressed her face against his chest with a sigh, setting her cup down before wrapping her arms around him. 

“Love you, Tiff.” He murmured before kissing the top of her head, squeezing her close to him. 

Tiffany hummed in response, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the feeling of having him near her. That they were trying. That things were gonna work out. 

“I’ve gotta get ready for work.” She stated with a groan, lifting her head to look up at him while still pressed against  his chest, “What are y’all gonna do today?” 

“Dunno,” Colson answered with a shrug, his face falling slightly as he caressed the side of her face with his fingers, “Prolly make sure everything’s set up for the flight back home and chill here.” 

Tiffany nodded sadly at the reminder that he would be leaving soon, her teeth finding purchase in her lip as she looked away. 

“Hey,” Colson started, tilting her head back to look at him with a finger under her chin, “It’s not gonna be for long.”

She nodded again with a sigh, swallowing the lump in her throat as she stood on her toes to kiss him. His lips pressed against hers softly, his hands on either side of her face holding her in place. 

“Imma take you out tonight.” Colson declared after they broke apart, a new determination sparking in his crystalline irises. 

“Yeah?” Tiffany asked, smirk painting her lips as she cocked an eyebrow at him, “Where to?”

“All over. Gonna show you off.” He replied, his hands snaking down her frame to grab two handfuls of her ass, “So don’t stay gone too late.”

Tiffany chuckled as she pulled away from him, turning to head towards the bathroom to get ready for work as she replied over her shoulder sarcastically, “Yes, Daddy.”

“Ya gonna get it, girl!” Colson called out with a silly voice as the door shut, the sound of her laughing on the other side of it making him smile even brighter than before. 

—

“Hey, girl, you almost done?” Norman asked as he walked into Tiffany’s office, his face concerned as he looked up from his phone to the woman, who was wearing a frustrated expression as she clicked away on her computer, “Kels called me to see if you were still here. Why’s your phone off?”

“It’s been off all day,” Tiffany shrugged, clicking a few more times but still unsatisfied with the image in front of her’s contrast. Sighing deeply, she continued, “And yeah. I give up on this stupid fuckin’ thing for today, it’s pissing me off.”

“Take your time, lady, it’s fine,” Norman assured as he leaned against the side of her desk, “Go home and get ready for your hot date.” 

Tiffany rolled her eyes as she exited the program before closing the laptop. She sat back with a huff, turning in her seat to look at her boss, “He tell you about where we’re going?”

“Nah, but he said for you to hurry cuz he made reservations somewhere.” Norman replied, reaching over and grabbing her hand, “So come on, let’s go.”

“Fine,” she sighed as she let him pull her up. She grabbed her bag and followed him out, helping him turn off the lights throughout the office space until they reached the parking lot. 

“He goes back to Cali here soon, don’t he?” Norman asked curiously as he walked her to her car. The wrinkles around his eyes softened as he watched her dim, disappointment in her eyes as she nodded. 

“Yeah, for a little bit before he starts the fall tour. It’ll be a little bit before I get to see him again. They’ll be here for a show in October though that I’m gonna go to.” 

“That’s not too bad,” Norman replied as they reached her car, “I’m about to be gone ‘till November prolly for the show.” 

Shocked at the new information, Tiffany recoiled slightly, “What? Not even for the weekends?”

Shrugging, Norman pushed up his sunglasses as he replied, “Diane and the baby are gonna be in Germany while she films this movie, so I really don’t have any reason to come home.”

“Well that fuckin’ sucks.” Tiffany huffed, yanking open her car door as she glared at Norman, “You’re just leaving me like that?”

“I’ll be back, sweetheart. Plus, I’ll probably even need you to fly down there for a bit at least once.” He answered with a goofy smile, his hands in his pockets, “You’ll probably be so busy you won’t even know I’m gone.” 

“Whatever,” Tiffany growled as she squinted at him, “This is a betrayal.”

“Oh whatever, crazy. Get in the damn car and go. I’ll call you if I need you tomorrow.”

“Fuck you, Reedus,” Tiffany deadpanned as she crawled into the vehicle, rolling her window down as she closed the door, “This isn’t over with.”

“Byeeee,” He cooed, waving to her before turning around and heading in the direction of his bike. 

—

“Are you fucking done yet, bitch?” Colson voice called out as the sound of the door opening and closing echoed through Tiffany’s apartment. 

“Almost!” She yelled back, her reflection in the mirror staring back at her as she adjusted her the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. She slipped her black flats on before smoothing the long, flowing skirt out one last time and exited her bedroom. 

“Finally, God damn,” He huffed in faux annoyance, his eyes drifting across her frame as he held the joint between his fingers out for her. “Holy fuck, you look good.”

“Well thank you, Mr. Baker,” She blushed, taking the joint from him and hitting it as her gaze raked itself over his appearance as well. The black v-neck t shirt he wore with matching colored jeans making the blue in his irises ever more vibrant, “You look pretty fine, yourself.” 

“Come ‘ere real quick,” He said, pulling her to him when she tried to move past him in the hallway. His hands snaked down her waste and to her ass to give it a squeeze as he breathed into her ear, “We can be a little late.”

“Oh really?” She smirked, feeling his lips brush against her neck as she hit the joint, exhaling as she spoke, “I thought we were in a rush.”

“Not anymore.” He rasped lowly, leading her back towards her bed while pulling her skirt up around her waist. She fell back onto the mattress, hitting the roach one last time before holding it out for him to put out. He disposed of it in the ashtray on the nightstand before returning his attention to her, his bottom lip caught in his teeth as lust danced around his eyes. 

One of his hands found her foot while the other trailed up her other thigh, pulling her shoe off as she kicked off the other. His long fingers wrapped around the arch of her heel before yanking her to the edge of the bed, his nails on her thigh scratching her sensitive flesh. 

“Mmm,” Colson hummed, licking his lips as he pulled her foot closer and kissed the top of it, eyes drifting as he watched her legs spread for him, “God damn.” 

A whimper left Tiffany’s throat as her body shivered with anticipation. She kneaded her own breasts through the fabric of her shirt as he kissed and bit at her ankle while his hand between her legs found her core. 

“No panties?” Colson smirked at her before pushing his fingertip inside, “Dirty whore.”

“Fuck you,” She breathed, rolling her hips into his hand when he crooked his finger, “You love it.” 

“Fuck yeah, I do.” He quipped back while his free hand worked open his belt to free his cock. A moment later, twin moans echoed through the room at the feeling of him filling her deep. 

“Fuck yeah, Tiff. Take it,” He grunted as he bent her in half, her legs hooked over his shoulders as he leaned over her on the mattress, “Take it, baby.”

“Colsoooon,” She mewled as he thrust hard inside her, her nails finding purchase across his back under his shirt and making him hiss. “Fuck, baby. Yes.”

Her muscles tensed and released against his throbbing cock, sensations of bliss circulating through the both of them. He continued to push in and out of her, her pussy dripping with arousal as she neared her orgasm.

“Holy fuck, yes, that’s it, baby,” He praised as he felt her tighten around him, “Gimme this pussy, girl.” 

“Fuck, Colson,” She gasped when he dug his hands into her hair with a sharp tug, her eyes rolling to the back of her head with the pleasurable pain, “Harder.”

“Yes mam,” He growled, his pace quickening as he drove impossibly deeper inside her body while tightening his grip in her waves, “Come on, Tiffany, come for me.”

“Shit,” She hissed, feeling her walls flex again as her vision began to blur and body began to quake, “Yes, Just like that.”

“Take my dick so good, baby,” He murmured against her skin, his lips dragging across her jaw to her throat to lick and bite, “Who’s pussy is this?”

“Yours, Colson,” She keened in reply, vibrating as the waves of orgasmic bliss finally crashed over her. Wetness flooded between them and Colson growled, unable to handle holding himself off anymore. 

“Fuck,” He barked, driving his hips into hers with a sharp thrust that knocked the wind out of her, his cock pulsing as it pumped his come inside her, “God damn, Tiff.”

“Fucking hell,” She breathed, her heart pounding and chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She tapped Colson on the shoulder to get him to move, the man breathlessly rolling off of her and onto his back.

“Okay, we really gotta go,” He chuckled, exhaling deeply before sitting up and looking down at her, “We’re gonna be stupid late for dinner.”

“You just killed me and expect me to be able to hop up and go to dinner?” Tiffany deadpanned, cocking an eyebrow at him, “Fucking hell.”

“Get up,” Colson commanded, smacking her on the bare thigh as he stood to tuck his dick back in his pants and buckle his belt, “Get up, get up, get up.”

“Okay, okay,” She replied, sitting up and running her fingers through her hair, “I’m coming.”

“Still? Damn, I really am good.” Colson teased with a wink, dodging the shoe she tossed at him as she stood.

She got herself put back together as Colson rolled another jay, the man yelling for her to hurry again as he waited in the living room.

“Oh shut the fuck up,” Tiffany replied as she came out of the bathroom. She plucked the joint from his fingers before he had the chance to light it, holding it between her lips as she put on her jacket, “You’d be late to your funeral.”

“Yeah, probably cuz I was waitin’ on your slow ass.” Colson sassed, smacking her on the butt playfully before stealing the spliff back, “Now come on, we got somewhere to be.”

“Where are we even fuckin’ going?” She laughed as she grabbed her purse before following him to the door.

“To get as drunk as possible, baby.” He winked as he held the door open for her, “Tonight is gonna be great.”

Masterlist

Tags:  @cobainscocaiine @coffee-obsessed-writer @through-thesilver-lining @daryldixonandfrogs @buckyscrystalqueen@mgkobsessed@iamdorka @creatureofthen1ght-v3@xxencagedxx@xxkellsvixen19xx @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk @bvibunny138

*credit for the bomb ass banner is to best friend @coffee-obsessed-writer

[comicteaparty]

March 7th-March 13th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from March 7th, 2020 to March 13th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is your overall marketing/promotion strategy for your webcomic?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I don't know if this counts as a strategy, but these are some of the things I do to promote my comic or my work in general. 1. Most important from what I've noticed (which I have been failing at due to stress and self-doubt lately) is to post updates to your comic frequently and consistently. It seems somewhat silly that simply putting your work out there is the best way to grow an audience, but it really is. Newly posted chapters frequently get shown on more pages and thus detected by the algorithms and potential readers. It also helps to establish trust with current and returning readers. 2. Participating in art/comic events, forums, and other comicking communities (such as this one). In a way, this isn't really marketing directly, but it is good to build connections with other creators! 3. Conventions! I actually have gotten a several new readers/followers from attending cons. It's also nice just to talk to people, get your name out there locally, and to make a little bit of money while at it. 4. Social media promotion. Tbh, this hasn't been super helpful to me, but more eyes is always a win in my book. I try to post almost every day, even if it isn't art or comic related. Having some kind of social media presence at all, even if it's small, shows people that you are working hard to connect to others. Also finding the right hashtags definitely helps with visibility.

kayotics

Overall, my strategy for marketing is to be authentic and just keep plugging my stuff. People will come if they like it. I work as a marketer for my day job, so I know what I COULD do, but I really don’t do that much since a whole marketing plan would take a lot more time than I have available to me. Some of the stuff I do otherwise: - regular updates. This ones pretty important for retaining viewers I already have. Any good marketing strategy is thinking about retaining people, not just getting new ones - self promo: this usually is on top webcomics or on social media. I get a LOT of traffic from top webcomics, and I get a good handful of people from social media. - conventions, like mentioned before, can be a great way to get people’s eyes on your stuff. I have a postcard that I hand out to people if they come by or they purchase something. - the thing I don’t do enough is post more art outside of the comic, or even just little previews. If I were dedicated to marketing, I’d be sharing sketches or illustrations on social media to grow my audience.

DanitheCarutor

Ah you know, I don't really have much of a strategy. At some point I promoted as much as I could on Twitter, adding my comic to those share/promo thread, getting in on relevant hashtag events, participating on WebComic Chat (whenever I remembered to). I've done a little promotion on forums, but there is really only so much you can do since only so many people hang out there and if your work is super niche like mine, they will pretty much avoid your promos at all cost. Lmao Other than those I don't really do much, at some point I attempted to use Instagram but the site/app is very stingy about offsite links. I also started a Facebook page, although if you don't have the money to boost your promos and don't usually have a lot going on with your comic outside of weekly updates, it won't get a whole lot of attention. I've also tried to be more active, but I'm not a good conversationalist, and I tend to be kind of a thread/conversation/mood killer so I try to avoid talking outside of Q&A prompts like this.

eli [a winged tale]

Same Dani, I used Instagram for a while too and I just don’t think the platform is a good fit for my vertical scroll comic (see exhibit 1) Twitter is a mixed bag as well and I think unless you have a solid following already, it’s hard to gain traction. What really helped was being on Webtoon’s staff pick for a couple days. I’m not sure how Tapas picked up but it’s reassuring that there’s a couple of followers gained every week when I posted regularly. So it really does sound like the first step is to have a steady update schedule (working on the buffer! Got a month’s work down today). It’s just challenging because while I could upload one page a week but on the vertical scroll sites it seems like a longer episode (6-7 pages) is valued more as a solid update. Love hearing everyone’s thoughts and hope to learn from y’all! (edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Consistency and con attendance were big ones for me, but something I learned worked well (and was really fun to do) was creating really fun, really dumb, non-canon bits of art every now and then. Following meme prompts or funny ideas from other people. If your comic can afford some humor being thrown its way, making people laugh is a great way to get some attention. No one needs to know the details of your story - they just need to relate to the characters/humor somehow. I had more than one person come across my dumb, meme-y ancillary art and go “Welp, I want to read your comic now.”

eli [a winged tale]

Memes to the rescue! What has been your favourite to do? And which one has surprised you in its relatability/popularity?

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Two shots of vodka.

Also that terrible sweater meme. Everyone is required to do the terrible sweater meme. People eat it up.

eli [a winged tale]

Too good

Ahh I can’t wait till I can actually write silly adult characters

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Now that you mention it, the nice thing about the terrible sweater meme is it works with a WIDE variety of comics.

eli [a winged tale]

I would love to do a meme with y’all

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

"Came for the story, staying for the sick memes"

Spring-heeled Jack

I try to post updates every friday when my new pages go up on Patreon. And then I make my big post when my tapas and website update at the end of the month. Between all that, I have little flyers that I carry with me and if I'm ever in a shop that has a little self promotion section, I plan on tacking up a flyer. I do conventions, and this will be my first convention season while actively making a comic, so flyers will be handed out then as well.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

My comic isnt very comedy-heavy, and even for the funny scenes, my sense of humor isn't compatible with most people's. So a lot of the memes out there just don't work. But terrible sweater meme doesn't have to be hilarious. It can be just cute, or even weird.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

For me, uh lmao. I sometimes make some funny strip panels and it was received well even though it's not polished for my liking lmao

Spring-heeled Jack

Keii, I feel you. I'm not good with comedy and my comic isn't meant to be funny, either, so I don't know how well a comedy meme will help me.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

overall, I try to be honest with just self promo and asking when I have a chance "Hey pls check out my comic lol"

eli [a winged tale]

Or maybe just something relatable? Seen a couple caption this on tumblr

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I think instead of memes, what I'm gonna do is my characters cosplaying more well known characters from works that have some tonal similarities with my own. This isn't just for advertising purposes; it's something I've been wanting to do for a long time for myself. But I'm realizing it can serve some of the same purposes that memes do.

Spring-heeled Jack

That's extremely cute!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Keyword being "SOME" Tonal similarities... Some of them aren't very similar but have a couple of parallels, etc.

Spring-heeled Jack

Oh for sure. Even if you could find that 'perfect match', it might not be a great cosplay for them, and give too much away

Are "draw the squad" prompts still a thing? I love those

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The One White Dude and the Tiger Dude in my comic will definitely cosplay Calvin and Hobbes at some point.

Spring-heeled Jack

LOL

omg please, Keii

eli [a winged tale]

YES

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yeah, not every comic will have super memeable humor - but whatever you can do to break down that wall between you and a potential reader and go “Hey! Look at this. Is this relatable? Do you get the reference? Etc” Is a very good bet

Also yes squad memes are PERFECT

You can boil down your comic’s relationships so simply.

Spring-heeled Jack

I have four couples in my comic so those "ship dynamic" posts might be fun

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

What are squad memes?

eli [a winged tale]

I also need to be educated about squad I mean all the memes

Spring-heeled Jack

OH MAN!! They are fun as heck. You can find templates and it's a very simple character design in the template, but the poses are super silly. And then you just draw your characters in place of those simple figures(edited)

If you google "Draw the squad" you will find a bunch

renieplayerone

Oh! Ill have to try that! These squad bases look fun!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I still have one of those I need to finish Back when I first started sharing my work, I was surprised and delighted at how quickly people shoved it through a meme filter.

Maybe that’s another thing! If marketing opportunities present themselves as a surprise, try running with them and see where they take you Within reason, of course. Never feel forced to follow anything that people respond to in a particular way. Just take it into account and see how you feel about it.

renieplayerone

(Im here to lurk on this week's question, i have no strategy and need ideas haha)

eli [a winged tale]

Omg draw the squad looks

too many to choose

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I love draw the squad poses so much TuT I wish I had more time to draw within more of them. I think I always get a little dishearten about making memes because I feel like I need to make my jokes full illustrations but I never have time for much extra content beyond ballpoint pen sketches :T

Mei

Honestly I don't have a marketing or promotion strategy for my webcomic. I make updates every week, and I post it on my twitter and kinda plug it there. I'm actually god awful at trying to make people read my comic because I'm a little bit nervous about it, to be honest. So I just sort of leave it there and see if people find it, half the time. That being said, I tried to promote it pretty hard at conventions last year. But that didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I'm hoping to make flyers with QR codes so that people can scan it, and it'll take them to the landing page/tapas for the comic. That might be a bit easier than getting them to just search the title, plus having a flyer is a nice bit of promotion if I get the opportunity?! Making memes and drawing characters in different clothes or in squad things sounds like super fun tho and I might look into that in the future

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's nice to hear everyone talk about this topic. TBH I had completely stopped promoting my comic because I got too scared of backlash, being a disappointment, etc. (Initially I'd attracted a number of people who weren't actually my target audience, and that led to some less than ideal results.) But some time last year, it occurred to me that 1) I'm making this comic for my reader self (or my "hypothetical taste twin" as I like to call it)... which means 2) I only have to appeal to people like me. So I started asking myself, "What would I have to say/do to get me to read this comic?" and that made it significantly less intimidating. I haven't actually started doing self promo (though I did start plugging my updates on Twitter at least). But most future self promo I do will be based on that ^ question.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(oh god, I was just checking out the latest update for one of the Korean webcomics I read, and the new episode is about a hikikomori... who says "I want to change, but I can't step outside because... maybe there isn't a single person out there who will understand me." THAT WAS ME but with comic promo. Well, I'm getting better and I also hope this character will, too, though knowing this comic his chances aren't so great lol...)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I hope that wasn't too awkward to share! Tl;dr I really think the "what would I have to say/do to get ME to check out my comic" is a good approach for anyone else feeling intimidated about doing self promos.

In the same vein, but on the opposite side of the coin: I'm curious to know, what were some things that got YOU to read someone else's comic?

Some of my own answers to that aren't very relevant to what we can do for our own comics: e.g. I'm Korean and when Naver has a new comic in their pro comic lineup, I may check it out. I'm also a member of SpiderForest and I check out the applicants' comics during the app season. Stuff like that aren't really good promo options that we can take. But things that may be relevant: - 'Evocative scenery shot that doesn't show the face/ doesn't focus on the face.' MY WEAKNESS. That kinda pictures feel subtle and kind of lonely to me, even if it's a group shot. And I like stories with those vibes. -Promo includes an evocative quote. Could be from the comic itself, or from something else like a classical literature or whatever. The creator of Ark (https://www.arkcomic.com/) does this sometimes and even though I'm already following Ark, those promos get my attention.

eli [a winged tale]

Definitely the art promo now that I think of it! Merch, posters, banners etc. If the art intrigues me, I definitely take a look at the site/blurb/first chapter

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I wonder if we can semi-workshop promo art at some point? Not really intensive like "change xyz" because that's not always feasible with art, but just impression feedback like, "this pictures gives me these vibes, and makes me expect this kinda story"

I would be curious to see everyone's even if we don't workshop

eli [a winged tale]

YES

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Yesssss

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Yes please. I don‘t promo besides update notices simply because I have no clue to start.

Mei

Sometimes I get really attracted by the style of the story? I immediately started reading Wolfsbane because the art was cool and different from a lot of whta I'd seen on Webtoon up until that point. And then the story was perfect for me. What keii said about writing for yourself is right. Patrick Ness once said you should write the stories your younger self would have loved to pick up on a shelf

and I think that's a pretty evocative thing. At the end of the day, you should be enjoying what you're writing (hopefully). And if you enjoy it and you're having fun making it, that can rub off on the people reading it, or you find the people who like that similar vein of story?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(It's also 100% legit to write stories for your current self )

Mei

(oh yes 100% that's what i'm doing HEHE)

Tolkein wrote LOTR because he was like

in love with worldbuilding

was there a market for such a strange type of novel at the time? No. Definitely not. Did he write it anyway? YEAH HE DID

Deo101 [Millennium]

I really wanna do an art workshop yes.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Aight, anyone who wants an impression feedback from me, post your promo art in #art_help

Warning, my impressions may be totally off lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

Also I don't do much marketing. Mostly I try to get in with communities and learn about making comics, I just want to improve my craft. All I really do is make my updated every week, and share whatever art Ive made on my Twitter or whatever

Okay! I think I only have my cover on my phone, but on my computer I also have my banners and icon. So I'll share all those in a bit when I'm at my computer

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(off topic but I'm sick, and when I'm sick or very tired I constantly misread words. I read "my banners" as "my bananas" and I was very confused for a couple seconds.)

Deo101 [Millennium]

My bananers

Feather J. Fern

I am terrible at marketing my own work, but I am very good at marketing other people's work. I use the "you would like it for this reason" to grab people. Unfortunately I can't do it for my comic because I am bad at seeing the good in my own work oof. I am getting better at it though.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's a really good way to do it!

And I can relate. My own hangup is a little different, but it can be extremely difficult to be brave for sure, whether in front of other people, or just in front of your own brain that constantly judges you.

Feather J. Fern

Yeah I was talking about a friend's comic and then the person I was talking to was like "Don't you write comics" and I was like "ahfoofjw yeah but don't look at them"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I was thinking a lot about the whole "it's like [well known work] meets [another well known work]" approach that was discussed earlier. And I think that could be relevant here. Like, think of something that has either influenced your comic significantly, or just happens to have some core similarities. How would you market that thing? Could you market your own thing using a similar approach -- since there are similarities?

I'd thought of a really good example to compare HoK to. Then I got sad because the said example is extremely obscure outside of Korea. But now I'm like, hey, people don't have to KNOW that work. I can do this differently. I can talk about HoK the way I could talk about it.

('it' as in the other work that's obscure outside of Korea)

Feather J. Fern

I do think that's a good fast shortcut but I don't like using it becuase the shortcut sometimes makes people angry when they don't get what they like out of those two things

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's why I said to NOT actually bring up the comparison work

Don't name it

Just list the traits that are shared in common

Feather J. Fern

Oh sorry

I miss read

(And my name changed colours all the sudden?)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's a confusing topic, so no worries

It means you leveled up

Feather J. Fern

OWO!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Say you want to compare your work to... I dunno, DBZ, because it's got super strong aliens duking it out barehanded, blasting ki-like energy attacks, etc. Don't name DBZ. Talk about your work the way you'd talk about your favorite aspects of DBZ. "My comic has super strong aliens duking it out hand-to-hand! YEEEAH!"

OH MY GOD I NEED TO DO THIS NOW.

Feather J. Fern

Yeah! That's what I would do. (But it also helps for me that my comic has no hard reference points) but for my new comic, people are gonna compare it to Zach Bell, and Angelic Layer i think

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm gonna write up some drafts that I will revise and tweet at a later time

Feather J. Fern

So I jsut got to you know, not promo it as such XD

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I want to do this too for a quick pitch

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Do it (shop talk or story help maybe?)

I'm writing a vomit draft for mine

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yee

Feather J. Fern

I think I will do it for Story help

(Also so I can help flesh out my new project lol lol)

eli [a winged tale]

Kei I might be suuuuper off since I read only the beginning but I sort of thought inuyasha but Korea and handsome boys

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Sometimes you don't even realize your story can be marketed as "blah meets blah" until much later down the line - I've only started realizing the number of existing properties I've absorbed unintentionally into my comic. It's not how I'd market it on a serious front, but to a friend for story help, heck yes.

But a lot of people on Twitter seem to do that strategy for PitMAD and it works great for them, so... shrug

I guess it still belongs in a "pitch arsenal," as it were

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, the one "blah" I just thought of is something I hadn't realized for all these years. But it makes so much sense now that I look at it.

eli [a winged tale]

See that’s where I got confused but I think this is what I’m gonna aim to do: - pitch to readers: inspiration but this awesome unique thing in the comic - pitch to other comic makers: the Logline - pitch to agents: comparison works if requested and longer pitch depending on their format - pitch to family: just read it plzthanksbye

renieplayerone

or alternative pitch to family: Please dear god never read this

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's me

Oof... Writing the 'promote your comic by talking about the traits it shares with Another Person's Work,' I made myself cry, and that is definitely a sign I'm on the right track.

eli [a winged tale]

Right track is good!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It took me years to even think of an 'other more popular work' comparison for Children of Shadow. XD But at the same time, it's really different from the works I compare it to, so it's hard to say 'Read this if you like X or X because it has a few similarities in theme and tone, but is still very much its own thing'.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah which is why I'm not even gonna namedrop my X.

I'm just straight up gonna talk about 'My comic has [this trait]' (and X shares that trait, but no one needs to know for the purpose of that pitch)

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

To answer the weekly question... I really don't have a marketing strategy. Marketing is my achilles heel, so I generally just throw pages up and hope someone sees them. I don't really understand social media nor do I have the energy to sink tonnes of time into it, which seems to be one of the biggest requirements for being picked up by algorithms. So my marketing strategy is just.., keep making comics and talking to other creators and hope for the best

eli [a winged tale]

I think that’s still solid Capn

Ultimately you need a product to promote

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's something that helps me, because while I can talk about my favorite works done by others, I feel stuck when trying to do the same with my own. So it's basically telling my brain, 'hey, you already know how to do it with other stories. Do the same thing with your own.'

eli [a winged tale]

So true Kei

renieplayerone

thats my strategy too. best case you market it great, worst case you've made a new friend so win win :3

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

My incredibly low numbers after 14 years of making webcomics beg to differ but... maybe someday I can hire someone to help me market.

eli [a winged tale]

I’m using the comic platforms rather than my own site so... sort of relying on their algorithms. I imagine it can be harder if you just post on your own website?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Sometimes the platforms don't help much if their audience isn't into the type of comics you make

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I post on both my own website and on platforms, but the algorithms for WT and Tapas don’t seem to like me, haha.(edited)

renieplayerone

yeah same

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

One of my top favorite webcomics got a front page feature on Tapas once, but it wasn't the kind of a story that gets a lot of traction there, so it still didn't get very popular. And that was in no way a measure of its quality. It is an excellent comic, just not a good fit for that particular place.

renieplayerone

I get far more views on my site, but I get way more engagement on Tapas and WT

I actually treat those two mirrors AS marketing for the main site(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

Exactly renie! Good perspective!

I never know what different platforms tailor to...

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Yeah, what Keiiii said. I make dark fantasy comics and both WT and Tapas favour romance, especially comics geared towards a female audience and drawn anime style. My comics aren’t particularly feminine and romance isn’t much of a focus, so they’re just not what that demographic is into.

eli [a winged tale]

I’ve been trying to remember how I came across my favourite comics and usually it’s through the art (interesting characters, unique dynamic style that I enjoy) and the first chapter holding promise (able to see what the character wants/will have to change into)

Romance has always been the best seller in the story world I think

Oh and most recently hiveworks and other web publishers have great recommendations too per genre

And comic conventions are always fun to meet creators. Sometimes If I feel I jive with someone I’m an instant fan

renieplayerone

I absolutely need to get better at having confidence enough to make friends at conventions x_x

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I have noticed my audience grow a bit since joining Spiderforest. They’ve helped me get a bit better at promotion, though marketing just isn’t my talent, lol.

renieplayerone

im always terrified haha

eli [a winged tale]

It’s a big step for sure renie! It took me like... three years going to VanCAF as an attendee before actually exhibiting and making friends(edited)

Mei

I know i'm late but i personally detest the 'this book is X meets Y!!', even though I get why people do it. I just wish they'd describe it to me like what if I'd never read either of those books......

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I would really love to get out to cons, they sound like a great opportunity for connecting with other creators. One of these years I’ll be able to get to one!(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah im usually kinda like "okay, well are you doing anything new or are you just doing those things :/"

renieplayerone

I exhibit with the Boston Comics Roundtable and I still havent gotten the courage XD

Mei

yeah, cons are really fun even to attend or to make friends! I find it really tough though, I'm so intimidated;;

yeah Deo... same... it's like

sure, I could pitch a story as two things. Like I don't know "The Walking Dead meets Shaun of the Dead" which is semi redundant anyway

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I only use it to give people a framework for the kinds of tones and themes they can expect from my work when I have to keep my explanation short and sweet.

renieplayerone

they should have badges that say "Hi i want to make friends but you are all so awesome its intimidating be kind"

Mei

or you know... use those words to just describe the story? It may be a personal preference, some agents LOVE comparisons

Yes renie, yes!

i'd love a badge like that like

pls talk to me i'm scare

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Sometimes a few words can’t fully describe a story as well as saying: ‘It’s a little bit like X meets X but if you add [insert unique thing your story does]’

Mei

I personally find that it depends a bit too much on people having read those books or stories before. BUT if you're pitching to an agent, they've usually read those books

so then they get a sense or vibe of like, what the genre is

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It’s all down to preference, really. Your own and the person you’re pitching to. If you don’t want to use comparisons to describe your own work, that’s valid, but try not to dismiss people who do.

Mei

so I get it, I just don't like it personally xD I think a lot of the times it takes away from your own voice and story

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That too is part of the reason why I'm not namedropping the works

Just having my self-promo self learn from my 'promo other people's stuff' self

Mei

yeah for sure, it adds that level of excitement to your own work that you'd give to others?

eli [a winged tale]

I think a cool exercise might be to check out someone’s work here and see how you would promote it

It’s always good to see from someone else’s perspective

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

yessssss, all of my friends have been much better at promoting than I am

mostly because they have no shame regarding it but they also just... know what sounds cool

Mei

Oh i'm very good at promoting my friends' work

I sold his DnD book to a kpop stan who doesn't like DnD and doesn't play, and it was a crowning achievement

eli [a winged tale]

Like for yours I’d probably say... Manta Ray princess finds herself very much dead but is given a second chance to revive her friends and save her kingdom... just need to find someone very much living and very much not afraid of the seaghosts they have become

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

SOLID

though now I imagine Phaedra as a Manta Ray in a dress which is... not entirely untrue

eli [a winged tale]

LOL omg I haven’t even thought of that! Just thought manta Princess is a hook

Mei

Me, pointing at Cheth "I mean look at him, LOOK AT HIM and tell me you don't want to read this"

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I guess for my work I market it from four potential angles: 1) The princess is cool and has a sword, 2) The villain is the best character, 3) The environments ain't bad, and 4) THERE'S A DOG

again, you gotta know who you're talking to and what they already like

eli [a winged tale]

In a world where a fallen god became trapped in the sea, a dead princess is given a second chance to fight for her life with a mysterious sea-bitten boy and undo the sea ghost curse that plagues the world.

Dammit I repeated world

Mei

hey... the environments are GREAT

eli [a winged tale]

Yeah Lady your environment shots are

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

ok I do try BUT BACK TO MARKETING

The number of times I see someone marketing their comic with very epic-sounding descriptors or broad generalizations... then that one day where they're finally like "oh, I have a character who turns into a hamster at nighttime" and people are like 'I'M SOLD'

And then they go ".... THAT'S WHAT YOU ALL WANTED???"

often it's those little weird details that get people interested

Deo101 [Millennium]

I wanna read about the were hamster please

Mei

sometimes I think the simplest and maybe slightly silly lines are what grabs people?

when things sound TOO epic i feel a bit intimidated

eli [a winged tale]

takes notes

Mei

but if someone were to sell me a big adventure epic as "it's hamsters and they fight the forces of evil" i'd read it

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

god yes

"Four small creatures band together to defeat a great darkness overwhelming their homeland."

No.

"Hamsters fight evil."

YES

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I.... I have no idea how to snappily describe my comics. XD

eli [a winged tale]

Same... I got to kids with wings for hair then my brain short circuits

Mei

i'd say it's the way you'd tell the story to a close friend

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

The best I came up with was 'Teenagers with supernatural powers team up with woodland critters to defeat monsters' but it sounds more adventure-y and doesn't really get at the fact that it's a dark story with horror elements and everyone's mentally ill.

Mei

like they come up to you and go "what's your comic about" "oh you know, my stupid comic's about mutant hamsters that take over the world" or something

(don't call your comics stupid none of your comics are stupid they are great)

Deo101 [Millennium]

"plant man and his goth boyfriend babysitting a ton of bozos" would probably be mine then

Mei

BEAUTIFUL

i'm sold

Deo101 [Millennium]

ghsakgjhgkhkgahgk my target audience...

Mei

i do think tho like this form of comedic one-lining may not work for something dark?

Unless you go "Spooky horror about cats that become humans at night!"

would need experimentation

eli [a winged tale]

It’s a balance I think.

Kids stranded on an island with weapons explore the darkness in human nature - Lord of the Flies

Mei

ooh yeah that's a good one!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

A space explorer stranded on a foreign planet must join forces with the indigenous population and save his ship before his life support runs out.

Alternately

Small man goes to war with small carrot people

Pikmin

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) I wonder if one could describe CoS the way how people might describe Evangelion, but with magical powers instead of mechs.

Teens, monsters, mental illnesses

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Probably. Though I've never seen Evangelion, but those three words work very well.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The relationship dynamics are way different, but yeah, those three things...

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Also add trauma and cute lil animals and you have Children of Shadow. XD

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Evangelion also has trauma (though I don't know if you'd like it; this isn't a rec, just a promo discussion!) and it was refreshing to see at the time

A teen trying to fight huge monsters, even if he was doing it inside an equally huge mech, could lead to traumatizing experiences, and it was the first time I saw that seriously explored

Hmm, so I guess "teens, talking animals, monsters, mental illnesses feat. trauma" ?

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I don't know if it's similar at all, but that description reminds me strongly of Eureka 7. Wow, was that series intense,

🌈ERROR404 🌈

I really liked how the end happened - it was a nice solution to the lack of budget issue and told the story of his psyche reall well

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Though Eureka 7 was intense in a good way. I found the ending kind of unsatisfying, but admittedly I find the endings of 90% of animes unsatisfying (probably a cultural clash). But I enjoy them for the journey more than the ending.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I haven't watched Eureka 7, but the storyboard artist (one of the storyboard artists maybe?) for that anime is one of my favorite artists.

DanitheCarutor

Ah, a little late, but regarding the snappy promos I'm in the same boat as Cap'n with not knowing how to make one. At least one that would be ridiculous and totally not fitting the darker themes. I agree with all the people who have a generally hard time coming up with a pitch for their work, while having an easier time promoting other people's comics. Honestly my comic can be super boring to people who don't like pretentious, non-fantastical, angsty, character study types of stories. So it's really hard to think of a way to make it sound interesting without spoiling anything. Man! That thing when people come up to you, asking what your comic is about! Me: "Oh! Ah, it's uh, kinda sad and it has uh mental illness" -trails off with uncomfortable laughter- Them: Oh cool. -has a look of complete disinterest- Someone was actually extremely enthusiastic about the vague description of my comic, which somehow made me a mix of uncomfortable and excited.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I saw the conversation about blurbs and I just thought of one for a comic I'm working on! "An ecologist and a bird have a conversation about ethics"

I haven't started the comic yet so please send your critiques(edited)

and first impressions

(of the blurb)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

"Angsty character study with a heavy dose of mental illness" <--- Could this descriptor work? @DanitheCarutor

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

kei said exactly what I was just typing

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Great minds

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh, i just realized i've read dani's comic

I think your description is fine?

The artsy, angsty comics I follow all have kind of short, tongue in cheek descriptions

it's hard to capture the tone of an emotional comic in one sentence so they either joke about it or make it intentionally misleading

for example Drop Out's description is something like "two friends go on a road trip" and Fritz Fargo's description is "a human dumpster fire in the 90s"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The dumpster fire one is insta-effective

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Dani, maybe make your description shorter if anything?

Something like, "An emotionally stunted alcoholic attempts to make amends"

and then follow it up with kei's line about it being an angsty character study

RebelVampire

Im not gonna stop the convo cause it is on topic. However, i do want to remind ppl these #creator_babble chats are permanently archived. So thats something to keep in mind if youre gonna workshop.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I asked before in this discord about making my own blurb better. The main critique I got was that I included too many things that I thought were interesting and unique that a new reader probably wouldn't care about. Like how the mc's powers work. But though it's unique and important to the story, it's not going to be a main reason someone reads the comic. I revised the blurb to remove extraneous info and make the tone of the comic more apparent, and I think now I didn't lose anything and made it more concise.

I think maybe agtahr could also be summarized a bit more succinctly

DanitheCarutor

Yup, you did once upon a time but said you stopped reading it a while ago. (which is totally fine, the reason is understandable.) The mix of yours and Keii's descriptions do sound a lot better than mine. Lol Thank you Fish and @keii’ii (Heart of Keol)! I've noticed people really like the word 'angst' when you describe heavy stuff. At least when I was a teenager everyone found it appealing. I'll tinker with it a bit and use Drop_Out and Fritz Fargo as a reference. Anyways, I'm going to stop talking now, don't want to bog down the main topic.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's a good point; 'the best things about this story' and 'things that should go in its blurb' have an overlap, but they aren't always the same.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Yeah, I did but I'll probably pick it up again eventually. I remember enjoying it. If you do want to keep talking, we can move to shop talk?

mirandalorian

babbling I have the first three episodes of my webtoon ready to post tomorrow and I’m really excited and feel kinda proud that I made it this far...even though it’s not very far. It’s far for me without posting immediately end babbling

Feather J. Fern

I forgot to ask, but if people are tabling at cons, do you guys have promo stuff at your con tables for your comics?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Mostly a business card, but yes

carcarchu

i never did but my table partner one year had free postcards she gave out with purchase / to passerbys with her comic info and an illustration on it

kayotics

I always keep free postcards to advertise my comic on the table right next to my business cards.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yep, the free postcards did wonders for me last year. They disappeared quickly!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Buisness cards and postcards~

Feather J. Fern

Seems like Business and Postcards are the way to go.

Mei

business cards!!

i might be making flyers/postcards for my comic next time though! :D

sagaholmgaard

I haven't done much to promote my comic but I've gotten some good ideas reading through this, thanks! I currently plug my updates in twitter and instagram with a cool/fun panel from the new page. I do also share WIPS and try to engage through my instagram stories (Asking things like, 'what type of benders would the Reclaim squad be in an avatar au' and making doodles for the answers), but that only reaches those who follow my IG. its good fun tho. I've done memes with the characters a few times but I didn't get much attention, LOL. But it's fun so maybe worth trying again

Spring-heeled Jack

Today I went into a locally owned comic shop and went to the guy that owns it and said "I'm a local artist and I'm writing a comic. Could I give you some small flyers to let people take?" And he said yes, and then asked if I have any physical copies. I don't yet but told him I'll bring some by when I have them. He then let me know he carries other local artists! Something cool to think about if you have a local comic shop.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ooo that's good to know

I droped off my zines at my local comic shop but maybe I'll drop flyers of my webcomic too lmaooo

Spring-heeled Jack

I also just ordered a business card carrier so I can tote some around with ease. I carry my flyers in my sketchbook. You should totally ask, it never hurts! Carry a few extra just in case you find yourself in a new area and find another cafe or comic shop.

I ran mine off on my at home printer on some nice quality but regular weight paper. I might need to get some more professionally done.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

I keep a handful of business cards in my wallet -- that way, any time someone says "hey, that looks cool, what are you drawing?" they get a card with the title and URL. Slowly but steadily burns through the supply.

DanitheCarutor

Seeing if my local book shops will carry copies of my comic when I print them eventually is something I'm kind of excited about! My town is hardcore into supporting local artists and writers, so that'll be something neat to try out. Although I'm a little nervous that the rating might be a little too mature for what the vendors want on their shelves.

I know of using postcards to advertise, but never heard of fliers. Maybe I'll give that a try.(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I use double sided business cards, so on one side, it showcases some of my art, and the other side has contact info, a link to my comic website, and a QR code. It's been pretty helpful so far at conventions.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

You guys have all these sophisticated answers to this and my answer is just "scream on every social media platform I can reach and every person I meet about my comic."

Though I may not scream at people irl,,,

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Let's see... I have a twitter where I repost my comic pages, and a couple mirrors that help reach different audiences. I've also carried around business cards that have my comic's URL on it. One fun strategy I've used is doing review-exchange things, in an I-critique-your-comic-if-you-critique-mine way (with the assumption that most people who read all the way through Super Galaxy Knights end up liking it). Though, that isn't really viable anymore now that the comic is 600+ pages, cuz nobody would ever agree to that trade lol. And... that's pretty much it? Though, I should note that my goal with Super Galaxy Knights isn't to make the most popular comic I can so that I can make a living off ads or patreon or print sales or whatever. If I ever do manage to make money off the comic, it'll be in "spinoff tech" (basically, video games or other media based off it). (it's the reason why a bunch of early Starstuff Stories fleshed out the abilities of the characters they focused on) I would like people to read the story because I think people would like the story, but it's not like my future depends on its popularity.

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

We (me and Q) are gonna (hopefully) tabeling at cons this year! I thought about doing free non permenant tattoos with our comic things. Also we have beautiful zines of the first chapter to sell. but a free postcard is also good

Desnik

promotional strategies...ah...the biggest thing I did for my first webcomic, RAWR! Dinosaur Friends, was simply update on a general platform (tumblr), using a consistent schedule and the same tags every time. That allowed some of the bigger biology/humor/critter blogs on tumblr to find me and I got a lot of people reading from their generous reblogs. I found some more niche crossover from sci-comm blog comments and dinosaur toy collector forums, because sometimes I'd have a comic that would coincide with paleontology news. It was mainly about finding my niche and bringing my stuff to that niche. To those struggling with finding readers, I would recommend distilling the contents of your comic and then reaching out to people who buy/read things like your comic. I've definitely made friends from general 'webcomic' forums and discords, but in terms of building a readership it's all about finding the niche and catering to it in a human way

In general I highly recommend shopping around for stuff like hobby blogs/forums/groups/discords that have some relation to the content of your webcomic. Those people DO want new content related to their hobby, but they don't really deal well with salesy pitches. Just be human and also a nerd for that hobby, too (nerdy enough to make webcomics about it)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, it's like fan comic for an existing IP with an existing fandom, except it's a fan comic of a 'thing' rather than an IP (e.g. you make a pirate comic? Great! Nobody owns pirates, but there are lots of pirate fans out there!).

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

The very first customer I had at the first con I tabled at, came over and said "I like ghosts! I like the ocean! I'll take it!" And wrote me later saying it was exactly what they were looking for.

And honestly it's all because I make sure every cover has something spooky and something watery, and the genres are in the title I make it very easy for people to understand what it might be like.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

omg the genres are in the title

that's genius

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Definitely not planned But it helps so much!

I think if authors have a rule on certain symbols/motifs they MUST make sure come across on covers/posters/etc, that can be a good marketing strategy. With some wiggle room, of course.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I... I feel like I can barely even describe what my comic is, which makes it so hard to market. 'Do you like comics with cute animals and eldritch horrors and angsty teens that have superpowers and hidden religious symbolism everywhere?!? Then my comic is for you!' What even is that demographic, because I sure don't know.(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) If you take away the cute animals part, that actually sounds like stuff a lot of teens are into/ a lot of people were into when they were teens. And most people love cute animals, so adding that to the mix, in theory, shouldn't reduce the accessibility too much. Buuuuut CoS has its unique flavor that's decidedly different from all the "angsty teens, eldritch horrors, religious symbolism" stuff I consumed when I was younger. I don't know how to describe that flavor, nor how to utilize it for marketing. But yeah, maybe some food for thought?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I've used short phrases that are sort of representative to describe my comic. Examples include "consensual mind control" "a guy whose ideal life is not being entirely alive" "friendship" and "anticlimactic conversations"

I have no idea how effective any of those are

someone tell me pls

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

As someone who just started reading your comic last night I think consensual mind control is a really cool descriptor. I haven't heard that too much before.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

!

that makes me happy

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) Heh, I'm not sure what that unique flavour is, either, but it might have something to do with me avoiding the typical 'chosen one' structure that most teen fantasy literature has. The characters are all (except Fawna) a part of the hidden world already rather than discovering it, and everyone's pretty much running around like chickens with their heads cut off rather than having any power over their situation (which is kind of a huge part of the theme of the comic). It's definitely different than the typical urban fantasy, so it's been really hard to find which audience that appeals to. From what I've gathered based on the people who comment on my website, it's mostly academics in college or beyond, for whatever reason. XD

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Honestly I think for almost all comics their first pages were what convinced me to keep reading. Even with Phantomarine I was ambivalent about the description but then I saw the first page, and though, yeah, I'm into this.

Maybe my own comic can be the same way

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Exactly the same with me and your comic - I was also all about that first page It's a powerful thing! I think for anyone about to delve into a comic - which is, by nature, a very visual thing - it's going to be that visual that ultimately pushes them over the edge.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

maybe my description should just be ascii art of my main character O-O | -(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

^ It's why I tinkered with the first page of HoK soooo many times even after it went live. But it wasn't enough; it still gave off the wrong impression as to what kind of a story one should expect. Finally, more than a year after I started posting it, I redid like 1/4 to 1/3 of chapter one from scratch. Even though it will never be perfect, I can live with it now. chapter 2 on the other hand... It's an imperfect intro to the right story, rather than an intro (good or not) to the wrong story.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

To be honest, my intro probably doesn't hit the right notes to explain what my comic is about, which may be part of my problem. It starts out seeming more like an anthropomorphic fantasy than a dark urban fantasy / horror story. That's just something I think I'm going to have to live with, because I'm tired of reworking old pages (I already do it far too much). I think my best solution is drawing a new cover that showcases the tone and subject matter better than the one I'm using now.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh god, you reminded me of the 3 cover pages I spent hours on only to later scrap. Then my current cover page I did in one hour after it came to me at 4am(edited)

and it was perfect

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

XD

and my page redoings were after the reboot.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Cap, I don't know how representative it is of the story but I looked up the Ashes cover page and it's very impressive

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Yeah, I already redrew my intro once.... and this is the third iteration of this comic. And I'm currently redrawing the first two chapters of my other comic. I'm so sick to death of starting over. -_-

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Oh, thank you!! I like to go all-out on covers, heh.

Kabocha

Promotion... ... is that a thing you can eat? ... A few things I've tried is business cards -- tweeting about it -- posting about it on dA... I try to stay away from services like Tapas and Webtoon because I'm not formatted for those sorts of things, and I fear I'll probably just frustrate myself. It's a delicate balance right now between remaining happy with my work and getting it seen, but overall, I guess I'm not too stressed about it since it's not a source of income for me... I just... like making comics. I've also done conventions -- Conventions are fun, don't get me wrong, but nowadays they're a really low return on interest for many shows for original stuff (except slice of life and "oh no I did a bad" types of zines -- people seem to really enjoy things like that since it's often pretty easy to relate to). They feel like they used to be easier for selling original work, but the market's gotten rougher because there's so much competition and only so many dollars. if I ever print, I'm probably going to have to lean on some marketing-savvy friends for help... Hopefully things haven't changed too much by then. I think the tool that's worked best for me in the past few years has been doing guest comics here and there, as well as using topwebcomics, oddly enough. TWC was pretty good for referrals when I started doing comics way back in 2006~2007...

sagaholmgaard

Since the topic is about promotion... Do yall know if there are any twitter hashtag events for webcomic creators? My friends in the indie game industry have certain hashtags that people can post in during specific times every week - do we have anything similar?

Kabocha

#Webcomicchat!

https://webcomicchat.com/for-creators You may also find this page helpful

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

#webcomicchat is great because you get to talk shop while talking about your own work! It's not just "look at my comic"

sagaholmgaard

Ahh!! Thank you!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I know some people do #WebcomicWednesday - not sure how official it is, but it gets some attention!

sagaholmgaard

I'll check that one out as well!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

There's also #comicartistsunite too

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

webcomicchat always looked like fun, but I definitively am on the wrong side of the globe for the times it's going on

mirandalorian

Promotion is difficult. I always feel like I'm being too pushy, even for something that's free. I also feel like I built up a following that had nothing to do with comics or art and so when I switched directions to head that way, i don't get the response I would like. Reading all the thoughts here has been really helpful tho. Just got to put them into practice

Feather J. Fern

I think my current attempt for promotion is at least being more willing to promote. I have to force my fear of "I shouldn't tell people because it's not as good as (blank)" and just shove my comic into a spotlight

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

If anyone is worried about bothering people, putting variety into your promotions will make things more palatable for people for sure. I have one person on my timeline spamming the same exact post over and over again, almost daily, and it doesn't seem to be doing them any favors There's no need for a promotion every day. The people I see that do a more-obvious promotion tweet, like, weekly, or every two weeks, seem to get good results from that Sometimes less is more

mirandalorian

I need to get to that point Feathery. And ya, daily is a bit extreme imo. But I have to figure out the good balance

Feather J. Fern

Even weekly I don't do it because I feel like I am spamming and I feel awkward

Oh! Speaking of promotions, one way I found I got my comic promoted was by doing guest comics for other people! I got lots of viewers after each guest comic I did

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, for social media promo, e.g. on Twitter, you want to make your actual tweets have value -- not just things being linked off the tweets. (This is where gag-a-day kinda comics have an advantage, because each strip has entertainment value and you can just post the whole strip in a tweet.) Obviously this doesn't apply to every promo tweet; so like, weekly promo tweet that's solely about the links, as mentioned by others, is fine. But yeah, aside from those, you wanna make your promo tweets fun to read.

Feather J. Fern

Also cameos! Cameos are a great promo

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Not gonna lie, I am lowkey paranoid about doing cameos. Someone I know had to remove their cameo of someone else's character, because that other person objected to their character being in the print version of the comic.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Uff

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh rip

Feather J. Fern

Oh man, that's rough.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'll never even print HoK but I can still imagine someone being all "NOPE, I CHANGED MY MIND" at a later time

Feather J. Fern

I am planning to do some cameos for other people, not that Go Figure will ever be in print but I can see that problem. I think what I would say is that if you want a cameo you have to be 100% certain

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Might be a good idea to have a very simple agreement thing you can have them sign

Feather J. Fern

Yeah I was going to have a written consent form

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

"I agree to let you do a cameo of my character, and to not be a jerk about it at a later time. Signed"

Feather J. Fern

Signed and dated by both parties XD

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

There's also the broad hashtags like #webcomics and even things more geared to genres like #drama and #fantasy and so on. Doing art memes helps sometimes, too.

mirandalorian

What do you think the best hashtags to use are? Is webcomics too saturdated?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm not sure about the best hashtags, but my biggest thing about hashtags on Twitter : don't use a bunch of hashtags in a single tweet!

For broad hashtags like #webcomics or #fantasy, I gotta wonder if anyone's actually checking those out...

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Yeah, I usually tag my update posts with #webcomic and my comic's name, but honestly I have no idea if #webcomic has ever helped out my post ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

mirandalorian

Ya, I typically keep it to two or less, but i always wonder if webcomic is actually useful lol

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

takes note to use something more specific than #webcomic in my next update tweet

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I think it may potentially be useful as a label for someone who's just found you on that platform, and is not sure what you're promoting. But beyond that...

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

I usually use #historicalfiction and #webcomic. Not sure which one helps more, but well, there it is.

mirandalorian

Ya, I should use the genre tag too.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Do people even search genre tags for that matter lol (a bit pessimistic, but still a genuine question)

like, I'll be the first to admit, I don't hashtag search to look for new comics to read. I don't think I ever hashtag search ANYTHING, unless it's like..... a very active trend that I am interested in (e.g. an upcoming video game that I'm looking forward to)

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Well, the tags are popular enough to be suggested by twitter so I'd think some use them, probably likeminded folk.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Same keii. I mostly use hashtags to look for fan art, exclusively on Instagram.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

There's also a trend of "art sharing" tweets. I have found a couple of artists and webcomics through that kind of event, but again, the turnover isn't anything to write home about.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I wonder if readers make use of the search more than us creators do?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I doubt it, Lee

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

:/

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I never use it as a reader, at any rate, though I don't know if others are like that.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Though, actually that's not true, I have used hashtags to look at more things being posted within art events. So inktober, mermay, hourly comic day, etc.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

But art event hashtags are useful, because -- like I mentioned before -- those tweets provide entertainment value without anyone having to click on offsite links. e.g. the #StartToFinish tag that's hot right now.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I have followed new artists from those tags though and then checked out their off-site stuff. It's definitely a more round about way than someone specifically looking for comics to read via hashtag

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

From my limited observation, when people are looking for comics to read, they tend to ask for recs rather than do hashtag search?

"Anyone know of some good magical girl webcomics?" etc

which is a bit of a bummer for us creators, because that is completely outside of our control. Nothing we can do about it.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

here's the popularity for the #webcomics tag

So SOME people use it.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight) I'm gonna guess it's mostly creators using them to promote, rather than readers using them to search.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Also it seems to be peak in popularity in the USA

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) the graph implies interaction, really.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

What counts as interaction?

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

tweeting it and searching it

what I'm saying is we can't know.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I don’t so much in Twitter, but I personally DO search hashtags on Insta to find new art.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's true, we can't know. I just personally can't imagine anyone searching for #webcomics to find stuff to read

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Insta is definitely hashtag game city.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, IG is a different beast

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Comics don’t generally gel so well with Insta’s format, though, so I’m usually seeking art and not comics.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

just to be safe, occasionally use it

To be honest, I'm probably more likely to find and become a fan of webcomics here on this server than any social media

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, I wouldn't say "don't use #webcomics" -- use it if you have no other, more specific tags to put. But on Twitter, you don't want too many hashtags, so if you got more specific ones... use those instead!

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

I feel somewhat self conscious in getting an instagram. But I'll get one most likely.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It might be a good idea to switch up your tags regularly? Choose two or three from a relevant list each update and see if any of those tweets get a noticeable boost in engagement.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Yeah that sounds a good strategy

speaking of, any other creators into historical webcomics?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I don't seek them out, but there's some that I read.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

yours is touching upon the historical keii with the joseon-style elements.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's definitely not historical but yeah, got the aesthetics going for it!

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Yeah!

I must admit, I'm a bit starved for like-minded creators. I mean people that create historical webcomics. I know and follow a few but that's not nearly enough.

(if I'm babbling too much for creator babble please tell me!)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Babbling is fine! But this might be better for #general or possibly shop talk as it's not related to this week's topic?

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

oh sorry, there's a specific topic here too?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, all the channels under CTP Activities have a... topic thingie that changes weekly

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

okay got it. I'll take it there. Sorry :/

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Don't be sorry, be glad to chat about this stuff in another channel

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

With insta please be mindful that if you‘ll always post with the same hashtags, their algorythmn likely will assume you‘re a bot.

mirandalorian

Oh really?

I definitely did not know that.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Yup, it‘s a big annoyance. At least it was that way half a year ago, how is the algorythm now? Nobody knows.

I kinda hate insta, but it‘s the platform with the most interactions for me, although I don‘t know if it goes beyound liking my panel cutout.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Instagram does it‘s darnest to lock the user into theor own ecosystem.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Yeah, hard same. I definitely get the most likes there, but I get very few referrals from insta.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Funnily, the only social media where I KNOW I got at least one reader from is pillowfort and their teeny-tiny webcomic comunity!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I keep wanting to hop over there, but also starting a new social media sounds exhausting TuT one day.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I need to start using PF

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

It‘s pretty chill, reminds me of the hey-day of livejournal, with great filtering - more intended to create many small communities than one giant pot like twitter.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I don’t think any platform’s algorithms like me. I get very low engagement no matter where I post. I’m just not good at figuring out what these platforms pick up.(edited)

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I still have three invites left for this week.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Does cross promotion work for you guys at all?

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

A little bit? But I think my comics are a hard sell, so I generally don’t get a lot of referrals when I cross-promote with other creators.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

It‘s how I found this community; but otherwise, nope.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Now I need to check out your comics Lee. I'm intrigued!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Haha, if you want to! If they’re not your cup of tea that’s a-okay.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I still have three invites left for this week.

@chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa] if you don't have plans for those invites, I would definitely take one and follow you first

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

About the hashtag thing on Twitter..... I have found the hashtags #webtoon #webtooncanvas and #celebrateCANVASday to be particularly useful for those of us publishing on Webtoon Canvas. I have gained a few new readers from this, and the official Webtoon Canvas page often retweets when these hashtags are used.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

That's good to know. I'm planning to start mirroring on Webtoon so I'll have to be sure to remember to use those tags.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I need to fix my series on WT first. But I'll give those hashtags a try once that's been done

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I tried using webtoon hashtags a few times, but their page never retweeted me. It seems either random, or there’s some hidden requirement for getting a rt.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

i use the tag sometimes but I found it more responsive if you have a vertical scrolling format comic

then they're more likely to respond to you

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Oh, yeah.... I use a traditional page format.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

same rip

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I do combine all my pages into long episodes at the ends of chapters, so it’s kinda scrolling, but they’re just traditional pages stacked on top of each other, lol. WT definitely doesn’t like that, but I don’t have the time to reformat hundreds of pages.

Feather J. Fern

Also promo thought, I randomly joined people's streams before and then got hooked on their comics after seeing them draw on twitch or something like that

Pistashi

I struggle a bit with promo stuff, because I get too self-conscious about self-promoting and I'm the type of person that ends up doing too much of it or none of it

at the moment I'm working on making a press kit and sharing it with some blogs and networks about comics

but still, what I usually do is join groups and try to talk with people that works with art and comics

this is kind of more inclined to networking and meeting new people to talk about what we like than promoting my work to potential readers

nothing wrong with that, but looking with a more critical eye I still have a lot to learn about building an audience and reaching people who could become future readers

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I wonder HOW much a large social media following is worth. Insta‘s shown me that it isn‘t necessarily translating into readers.

carcarchu

in my experience followings on different platforms are non-transferable. same goes with having a large following on your comic itself, doesn't necessarily mean having a lot of followers on your art accounts. that's why they say "don't build your sandcastle in someone else's sandbox"

Pistashi

that makes a lot of sense

kayotics

If you’re building your following around your own content (original art, comic updates, etc) then the likelihood that the following is transferable is higher, but it’s still not 100%. You’re competing with everything else on their timeline too.

RebelVampire

i think a thing to consider with webcomics especially when it comes to social media is that a good portion of people who follow comic creators on social media are other comic creators, not people who are just readers. and the good majority of comic creators do not have a lot of time to read other webcomics. While there are certainly exceptions, I see those very few and far in between. So the conversion rates for social media right now are super low until the dynamic of the communities on the platforms changes.

kayotics

I’d agree with that, but also having a social media presence has definitely opened up some doors to being seen by other creators, many of whom are professionals. It’s good for networking, might not be the best for gaining and retaining readers.

RebelVampire

Oh yeah for sure. My point was about conversion factor

its factor in networking is a whole other matter entirely

and is indespensible

kayotics

One thing that I didn’t mention for myself is that networking has helped a LOT with getting new readers. Word of mouth, is always the best way to advertise, and other webcomic people giving you a plug can see some really strong results