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theresattrpgforthat · 3 months

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I was wondering if you had recommendations for a game that evokes the vibe of like The Thing (or Among Us) from the social angle - there is something here passing itself off as human, as *one of us*, and we need to find out who it is. Maybe with hidden roles? It seems like there's a lot of interesting space to explore there.

Thank you!!

Theme: Hidden Role Games

Friend, I've got more games for you than I thought I was initially going to find, and each one is in a different setting! Enjoy!

What We Thought We Knew, by Mouse.

You play as a group of friends who have known each other for many years- at the very least since highschool, and have gone through many transitional phases with each other.

It has recently been revealed to you that someone in your friend group has not actually been there for all of these events- they have been implanted in the group for whatever reason and all your memories modified to fit them into the narrative. None of you know who it is -- not even the fake.

In order to find out who the fake is, you must experience some of your core memories together again, moving through them like you are those versions of yourselves again, to try and spot the mistakes in the memories, the distortions that don’t quite make sense in the context of everything else happening.

The hidden role in this game is as determined by the GM, and the fake will not know that they are the imposter at the beginning of the game. The setting for this game appears to be relatively agnostic, so you could make this a fantasy setting, a futuristic setting, or even a modern setting. Characters have four stats: Head, Heart, Flesh and Beyond. The game is designed off of Caltrop Core, so when you roll your dice according to stat, there’s graded successes/failures. Players will also get chances to identify a distortion, which helps the group figure out what pieces of information don’t add up. If you want a game with mystery for almost everyone a the table, you might want to check out this game.

Jackrabbit Parole, by Willow Willis.

Well, you screwed up. Whatever you did, it was bad enough to land your ass in prison. Not just your average state-of-the-art correctional institution, either. This place is Bad News.

Parole? Don’t make me laugh. This is your life now. There’s no help coming for you and your fellow unfortunates. You’ll shit, sleep, work and eat when and where they tell you to for the rest of your miserable existence. If you want out, there’s only three paths:

Execution. Suicide. Or escape.

And since the first two don’t sound too promising, all you’re left with is jackrabbit parole.

Jackrabbit Parole is a game about prison escapees, one of which is a Snitch. The exact setting of the prison is up to you - the only thing that matters is that you’re stuck here unless you find a way to get yourselves out. You’ll roll to determine what your characters’ relationships are, and draw cards determine your roles.

There are two special roles: the Ringleader and the Snitch. The Ringleader has access to everywhere in the prison; the Snitch wants to get as much information as possible and pass it on to the guards. The Snitch profits by keeping everyone here, which means that players cannot communicate openly about their plans. The game plays over three acts, so I think it’s pretty easy to contain inside a single session, and it comes with some suggested settings if you’re not sure where to start.

Conspire, by Cherry Picked Games.

Conspire is a hidden-role storytelling game. Players delve into any moment of conflict, real or fake, and populate the scene with shady figures. They secretly assign objectives to these in-world characters and shuffle the roles amongst themselves. Everyone draws a role to inhabit and acts them out, not knowing who any of the others are or what they are trying to accomplish. What follows is an intense tale of bluffing, brokering deals, and shaping the very universe to your whims.

This feels like a GM-Less game, with all of the roles and motives of each character determined according to the setting and people created by the group at the table. Each piece of the puzzle is created collaboratively, so you’ll know what’s going on with one or two people, but not the whole picture. If you want a game that gives everyone the same responsibilities and has the flexibility to fit the settings in your head, this might be the game for you.

Eulogy of a Fool, by Kate.

In Eulogy of a Fool, all players are attending the funeral of a Fool. However, the Fool is in this crowd, having faked her own death to collect on a life insurance policy. Everyone in attendance must give a eulogy while the Fool tries to blend in and everyone else is trying to single out any suspicious persons.

This game consists of a series of cards, 20 of which are Identity cards, and 30 of which are relation cards. There will only be about as many cards in play as there are players for any given game, so I think having so many options allows for a different game every time you play. Each player will also have to give a eulogy about the deceased, using information given to all non-imposters, while the Fool will have to improvise as best as they can. Looking at the instructions and prep for this game, I think this game would be very easy to learn. There’s a script for the GM to follow while running the game, and the cards make it easy to generate characters on the fly. If you want a game that’s part ttrpg, part card game, this might be the game for you.

EUREKA, by @anim-ttrpgs

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is an original, fully fledged, 200-page 2d6 TTRPG from The Agency of Narrative Intrigue and Mystery inspired by The X-Files, Kolchak: The Nightstalker, and much more!

Eureka features investigation mechanics that let players take initiative, use their characters’ unique strengths to find clues, and deduce conclusions themselves rather than to just walking into a room and roll Investigate.

EUREKA’s main focus is on solving mysteries, but the way character creation is meant to be set up means that it is very likely that characters will have a lot of secrets, purposefully hidden from the rest of the group at game start. If you are playing a supernatural creature of some kind, your character will have plenty of reasons to keep their identity a secret. While the group is trying to solve whatever mystery there is, your characters will have to decide just how much they trust each—other, with dramatic reveals possibly prompting some thrilling and suspenseful moments. This game isn’t quite in it’s final form, but there’s a robust community currently play-testing it, and the folks behind the development are very eager to answer questions and help you get a game to the table.

Loyalty, by jackdawfactories.

You are the crew of a deep-space mining vessel who have just been awoken from stasis. You are coming in to land on a previously uncharted planet, and must investigate the nearby cave system for its utility to you - but of course, there’s more to it than that…

Loyalty is a game based on Ridley Scott’s Alien, and combines standard RPG mechanics with a hidden role aspect. Survive the horror you have unleashed while working out who - anyone - is the traitor in your midst.

This is a game in which more than one person could have a secret role. You draw a card from a regular deck of playing cards, and based on what kind of face you have, you are either an android infiltrator, or a human. Because the character creation is randomized, it’s totally possible to have an entirely human crew - but the players won’t know this, and thus the paranoia will still be present.

On top of this paranoia, you’ll be facing off against an alien, and the more you come up against it, the stronger it gets. There’s a win condition, a lose condition, and the possibility to eject a suspect out of an airlock. If you like heightened stakes and no good endings, this might be the game for you.

The Warmest Place to Hide, by Rosie.

The Warmest Place To Hide is a TTRPG homage to John Carpenter's The Thing.

It is the longest night in Antarctica, and something has made its way inside the research station at which you work. You and your teammates must work together to protect yourselves from assimilation - but when the creature can make itself look like anyone and anything, who can you really trust?

Create a base, populate it with crew, then see if you can survive an alien invasion.

This is the game for folks who want a direct re-creation of The Thing. As this is a Caltrop Core game, the rules are fairly minimal and use dice pools of d4’s. You can roll randomly for your character’s background, and choose an archetype that will give you specific skills and special abilities. You’ll also receive a random assignment of “Human” or “Something Else”. If you are Something Else, you always have to opportunity to take over any dead characters.

I’m not entirely sure how you communicate to players that they are Something Else without alerting the whole table; I’m assuming that this is the sort of game that involves passing a lot of notes. I think it might also be interesting if the GM introduces other threats that could kill players so that the Thing can approach and assimilate them without the players necessarily knowing who’s doing it.

#indie ttrpgs #tabletop games #dnd #game recommendations #asks #hidden role

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brittle-doughie · 4 months

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Infinity and Beyond - Looking Into The Sweet Signals from Space Update!

We’re finding the imposters among us with this one!

The aim of this concept is to have it be a multi-update deal akin to the Dragons storyline with how they say “like the dragon series, we’re diving into a story set in a rich, expansive universe”. This peaked my interest, I’d love to see what they have in store! I know there are some folks who like or don’t like the Dragons story, so I wonder what you all think of this!

Meet Astronaut Cookie! She’s cute, has an ice cream sandwich satellite for a pet, even has a cat cookie motif with her costume? What more could you want! Yeah, her skill might be a bit too reminiscent of Cyborg’s (who also got a skin after 84 years lol), but I’m willing to look past that.

Alright, I’m kind of vibing with the setting already, cookies are probably toothpaste, wonder if they clean your teeth when eaten. How does one “escape” or even fortify against a blackhole? The event itself sounds similar to the Sugar Maze event to me…in a way somehow. Wait, why is Stollen Cookie here?Also Planet H A M B O R G A R

I’m now getting Star Wars: Rogue One flashbacks. Just like Cyborg, it’s been 84 years since he got attention, so I’m happy to see he got a cool skin to deck himself out with!

The Surprise Bears. They can either go well or go very poorly, still means I don’t have to run over and over again for the god damn legendary ingredients. However, I do hope the challenges aren’t meant to be a cap in any way, since that already drags it down when you were able to AFK for hours beforehand, even if it sucked. Team Fight getting a gem boost might give me more incentive to play.

(Gmod flatline sound effect plays)

The Deal with Legendaries is canceled, y’all /j. I can’t keep up with their pace, bro. I’m over here trying to write it from time to time and they already have another one on the way, I’m dead. Xylitol Nova himself is getting flak for having a supposedly dull design unworthy of the rarity, I’m already seeing it in the QRTs on Twitter lol. For me, I’ll wait until I cast judgment, he has a pretty cool skin though…

———————————————————————

(Astronaut Cookie looked all around her new setting, seeing the city’s sleek, clean, futuristic design she hasn’t seen much of back on Earthbread. The cookies here didn’t look all that different too, save for their ingredients being possibly toothpaste in some capacity. She was caught staring at this one cookie in particular, she observed them inspecting the shield and instructing the robots to different spots close to the barrier, Xylitol Nova Cookie chuckled at her once he noticed.)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: Ah, I see you’ve taken an interest in one of my cookies. That would be Xylitol Y/N Cookie, they’re in charge of making sure the barrier is in peak performance, they’ve been hard at work ever since we’ve seen reports of the blackhole.

(Xylitol Nova walked over to them as Astronaut followed. Meanwhile, you were instructing both cookies and robots alike on the status of the barrier, making sure that no fault in any way was detected. Until the voice of someone very familiar to you called your name..)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: Hello, Xylitol Y/N Cookie. How are you doing?

(You greeted Xylitol Nova in return and proceeded to ramble on about the barrier. You did your best at trying to speak to him, but couldn’t ignore that cookie next to him staring at you. It also looked like Xylitol Nova wasn’t taking your analysis seriously with that smile of his, something that bothered you to no end!)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: How routine of you, Xylitol Y/N Cookie. Always thinking about the barrier when we haven’t had any issues in the past couple rotations. We have a guest here today and I’d like for you to meet her-

(You couldn’t, you had to inspect the rest of the barrier-when Xylitol Nova Cookie suddenly hugged you from behind with a strong grip, a scene that made Astronaut Cookie feel…envious. You complained and grumbled as you try fruitlessly to free yourself)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: Xylitol Y/N Cookie. You are taking a break from now until further notice, I’d hate to use my authority on you, but this is for your own good. Feel free to interact with your fellow cookies, come and see me in my residence, or even introduce yourself to our guest here~! (I’d prefer you pick the second option in my opinion)

(You continued to struggle until it felt tighter to move, you looked to your front to see Astronaut Cookie hugging you from the front, her head resting on your chest. You swear she’s…shaking a little bit?)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: What do you know? Even our visitor is agreeing with me, she appears to have taken a liking to you too.

(…Who was this?)

#brittle speaks #cookie run x you #cookie run x reader #cr x reader #cookie run #cookie run ovenbreak #cookie run ovenbreak x reader #crob x reader #crob #astronaut cookie #xylitol nova cookie #cookie run update

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crimeboys · 1 month

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#text post #mine

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valeriianz · 8 months

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Me: says im 100% not going to write anymore of The Proposal AU. Also me: "but what if--" tagging @valiantstarlights, my partner in crime for this AU lmao

this is part 4, aka the engagement story. part three, two and one, if anyone is keeping track (its not in any actual order, we run on vibes only in this house).

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

“Stop taking my hand!”

Dream slips his hand out of Hob’s with a pointed glare (and only a brief reflection of the instant warmth that shot up his arm from the touch). Hob, for his part, sighs with a barely contained eye roll.

“Sorry.” At least Hob sounds sincere, leaning in to speak quietly in Dream’s ear in the crowded room. “Force of habit, I guess. But you know…” He brushes his knuckles under the line of Dream’s jaw. “We are supposed to be engaged. Holding your hand is not the worst thing I could do to you.”

Dream’s skin prickles. “Is that a threat?”

Hob sighs again, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“It’s a tease. I’m teasing you.” He bumps his shoulder to Dream’s. “Lighten up. Have a drink.”

Perhaps Dream could do with a drink, especially if he’s actually thinking about what other debauchery Hob could get up to, outside of the limits of hand holding.

Snagging a beer out of the fridge, and forcing himself to smile as an aunt or grandma or someone comes up to him and starts asking him how he and Hob met.

They had developed this, on the flight here, to Hob’s surprisingly luxurious childhood home. The story wasn’t much of an exaggeration of the truth– they indeed worked together but had hidden feelings for each other and after years of dancing around each other, they finally realized they were crazy for one another.

It was easy enough to sell… perhaps not to the siblings who would loudly announce to Hob, “This is the same Dream who you bitched about on the phone? The one who didn’t let you come home for Thanksgiving last year? Who makes you go on coffee runs and harass writers?”

And Hob would shrug while Dream’s plastered on smile would sharpen to something deadly as he looked sideways at Hob.

“Ah, what can I say? I like a man who knows what he wants.”

It would appease his family, for now. Dream had a moment of realization himself.

He wasn’t aware Hob had such a large, welcoming family. His mother had immediately hugged Dream, smiling ear-to-ear, and Grandma Johanna had taken his hand and expressed to him how elated she was to finally see Hob settling down with “someone so handsome.” And now, at the welcome home party, everyone wanted a piece of Dream. To interrogate him or just meet him; meet the man who would make Hob honest. Who was now part of the family.

Dream had swallowed thickly. He wasn’t used to all the attention. Nor the care and playfulness of Hob’s family all around him. It was making him emotional and he didn’t know how much longer he could hover, an imposter among Hob’s fortunate family, with parents and siblings and aunts, uncles, and grandmother who all loved him and genuinely were excited that he was home for the holidays.

They all had no idea that it was all fake. Dream was a fraud. Hob and his relationship was purely transactional. The reality of Dream’s impulsive decision was finally crashing down around his ears and the room started to spin.

“Hey, you okay?”

Dream startled at Hob’s touch, no matter how gentle it was, on his shoulder.

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?” Dream bit out, blinking away the stinging in his eyes and going for a sip of his beer and scowling as he found it empty.

Hob’s hand, palm open, slid down Dream’s shoulders to his back, rubbing soothing circles between his shoulder blades.

“You look a little green.”

Dream huffed and tried not to relax into Hob’s soothing caress.

“This is all a little much,” Dream spoke honestly. “You didn’t tell me you had such a massive family.” Who love and are proud of you and are so quick to welcome me. So happy and eager to congratulate us and–

“Well, you never asked.” Hob replies simply, his hand dropping. Dream misses it immediately.

“Hey love birds!” Jo, Hob’s sister, pops up in their quiet space with a drink in her hands.

Dream tries not to jump at Jo’s sudden appearance, or bristle as she takes Dream’s left hand without permission to stare at the fake ring Hob and him had bought in the airport, realizing too late that they needed some kind of proof to their engagement.

Dream hoped Jo wasn’t some kind of jewelry appraisal. The silver band was simple, with a glass diamond inlay. Hob had a matching one. It cost them $30 each.

“I love the rings!” Jo gushed, thankfully dropping Dream’s hand before he could yank it back rudely. “Oh! You gotta tell us– who proposed to who?”

Dream can see the panic that crosses Hob’s eyes, which only grows larger with a nervous laugh as the family around them picks up on what Jo said and now everyone is interested in hearing the story.

Dream feels his heartbeat in his throat. They hadn’t discussed this. Hob and him had exchanged hobbies and interests and food preferences and allergies (Dream utterly bewildered at how much Hob already knew about him) but had somehow forgotten to build an engagement story.

“Oh, it’s not that interesting,” Hob laughs, an edge of hysteria to it. “Dream, honey, you were just mentioning that you wanted to rest–”

“Ah, c’mon!” Grandma Johanna prods, wiggling in her seat on the couch. “We’re all dying to hear it.”

“Yes, Hob.” Dream speaks with his own mischievous glint in his eyes. “I’d love to hear it from your perspective.”

Hob stares at Dream, utterly bewildered and then– Dream swallows nervously– his lips curl.

“Aw well, if my sweet Dream insists…” Hob takes up Dream’s left hand and kisses the top of it while maintaining eye contact and Dream’s pulse stutters.

“You’d never know it,” Hob starts, addressing the room, which the whole family has now congregated in. “But underneath this hard, prickly exterior–” he gestures with a wide sweep to Dream. “Is a big ‘ol softie.”

A round of tittering surrounds them. Dream stares at Hob, eyes widening as he suddenly realizes his mistake of giving Hob the reins. Putting him on the spot.

“He took me to the local carnival…”

Dream hates carnivals. The rides are rickety and dangerous and full of rowdy teenagers.

“... where I won him the biggest pink teddy bear in the darts game, after he begged me for it…” Hob turns to wiggle his nose in Dream’s face.

Dream feels his cheeks warm and jaw drop. He hates the color pink and would never beg for anything, let alone a stuffed animal–

Some family members are now studiously looking at Dream, seeing him in a new light, no doubt. And Dream nearly shakes with the indignity of it all. He doesn’t even know these people, but he will be staying with them for the next week and he absolutely will not lose face over Hob’s overactive imagination.

“And finally,” Hob grins at Dream, clearly having the time of his life putting his boss on the spot and Dream can only stand and wait for the punchline.

“We go on the ferris wheel– the sun is setting– all planned, I’m sure. And then–”

“And you kissed me,” Dream interrupts, causing all eyes to refocus on him. Dream swallows at the bewildered look on Hob’s face. “It was very romantic.”

He turns to address the room himself, feeling ridiculous but barling onward, leaning sideways onto Hob in a way, he hopes, is besotted.

“We walked off the ferris wheel to a group of carnies that Hob had hired, a quartet, to meet us and they sang ‘Cherish’ acapella.”

Hob’s brows shoot up into his hairline, stunned silent.

“The Madonna song?” Somebody asks, Dream thinks it’s Hob’s cousin, Fancis.

“The Association,” Dream spares them a glance and a vague gesture with his wrist. “It’s an oldie.”

Grandma Johanna puts her hand on her chest and makes a sound like, “t’aw.”

“And then,” Dream continues, delighted now to have the upper hand. “Hob joined them for the chorus.”

Jo and some of Hob’s cousins exclaim loudly, looking back to Hob, who is running a hand through his hair with a wide, uncomfortable smile as more of his family join in on the slowly building sound of laughter. Dream smirks and tugs on Hob’s arm to get his attention.

“You have a great voice, darling, don’t be embarrassed. I was very smitten.”

“Oh, I’m sure you were,” Hob says, his ears red. Dream would never admit it, but it’s a very cute look on him.

“And when you asked me to marry you, of course I said yes.” Dream tapped Hob on the nose, who’s eyes narrowed murderously. Dream smiled with teeth, uncaring how sarcastic he appeared now.

“Oh you guys!” Hob’s mother exclaimed, her expression reflecting utter joy. Jo was whispering something to Hob’s brother and snickered between themselves. “That’s very unlike the Robert we all know,” she gives Hob a knowing look. “I suppose love makes you do strange things.”

“Strange, yeah. That’s one way to put it.” Hob is looking at Dream again, his eyes glinting with revenge, most likely. But Dream doesn’t mind. He’s just relieved they got this out of the way, along with the bonus of managing to embarrass Hob in front of his entire family. A win-win in Dream’s books.

the song Dream came up with... which Hob would definitely, absolutely, sing to Dream on any other occasion lol

#dreamling #hob x dream #the proposal au #listen i was gonna write the kiss scene here too #but im gonna go in a different direction with that...#it'll be much better. you'll see #oh god does this mean im actually (kinda) writing this??#fucking hell lol #this is just for fun so im not worried about editing #be free brain worm!#my writing

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quixoticall · 6 months

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This Could Get Ugly 2. The Beginning

Summary: It's 1983 and The Downsides need another lead singer and you just happen to need a band--it's a perfect match. The only issue? You have to pretend to be in a relationship with your bandmate, Steve Harrington, but you can't help but be drawn to the band's broody guitar player.

pairing: s.h. x fem!reader, e.m. x fem!reader, j.b. x n.w., r.b x n.w.

SERIES MASTERLIST🎤

Previous Chapter🎺

WC: 2.4K

Warnings: Sexism, Murray Bauman

***

NANCY: Nancy Wheeler, former keyboardist for The Downsides.

I had been playing piano since I was eight, it was just one of those things my parents signed me up for to make me more well-rounded for college applications but I ended up loving it more than they had hoped.

I auditioned for the band on a whim, I was going to Indiana State at the time, getting my teaching degree but I loved playing the piano more than I would ever love being a teacher. To be honest, when I auditioned, I didn’t think they were going to take me, not even after I saw they had another girl in the band. Don’t get me wrong, I knew I had the talent for it, I just didn’t necessarily give off Rock and Roll vibes, but they accepted me anyway.

I had a feeling Steve liked me from the moment we met, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to him then. He’s Steve Harrington for God’s sake. Girls had posters of him up on their walls for the better part of the 80s. I just—I didn’t want people to think I got the spot because I was involved with the lead singer. I wanted people to know that I earned my place through talent. Steve was really disappointed when I turned him down, but he was always really respectful about it.

That didn’t mean he stopped being interested or that I didn’t feel his eyes on me during every rehearsal in the summer of ‘81.

1981

Of course, you knew that when you had been signed to Starcourt Records it wasn’t completely because of your talent.

You had started to wonder, however, if Starcourt had given you a shot because they didn't want to risk litigation or maybe because those record execs had seen your name floating around in a magazine or, more importantly, your picture.

The more you thought about it, the more insecure about your place you had felt, like an imposter among others who had earned their spots. But, after one week of rubbing shoulders with the musicians over at Starcourt, you realized that to be able to make it, you were going to have to ooze confidence, even if that confidence was fake.

***

NANCY: We started playing gigs together around the Midwest. In the beginning, we mostly played covers but eventually, we started writing our own music. I’m not a great songwriter and, to be frank, neither is Steve, so a lot of the stuff we were coming up with was pretty simple but it worked for us. We went from playing weddings to actually getting gigs that paid money. I mean it was barely enough to cover gas to get there but it was something. I guess, for the sake of transparency, there is one more thing I have to talk about while we’re talking about this time in the band’s life.

Steve and I spent a lot of time writing music together. It was great, being able to get close. I thought we were becoming friends. He was still a bit hung up, though and one night, when we were up late writing at his tiny apartment, he kissed me. And I kissed him back.

The next day, I told him that that couldn’t happen again. I gave him my reasons and he respected that but still, I could tell he was crushed. I think that between the kiss and us having this talk, he had begun to hope that something would happen between us.

I think that’s what made me and Jonathan hurt him so much more.

1982

You didn’t necessarily like Murray when you first began to work with him but you did trust him. In the professional capacity at least. He never tried anything with you, which you appreciated although that bar was abysmally low.

You hadn’t known what to expect on your first day in the studio but you had a feeling that as far as the music was considered, you were in decent hands.

Boy, were you fucking wrong.

The moment you had stepped into the studio, Murray had handed you a stack of music, all unfamiliar and definitely nothing you had written.

“What’s this?” You had asked, eyes crinkling in confusion.

“A few contenders for an EP. The team over at marketing came up with some branding concepts and this is what we landed on.”

He then pulled out a thick folder overflowing with pictures of what you assumed the studio had wanted to mold you into. It was all bubblegum and teased hair and not at all what you had envisioned.

“Wait, Murray, I don’t understand. I have a brand, one that I've spent a lot of time curating along. This isn't me and this is definitely not my music. You said I could sing the music that I’ve written.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Murray hummed, condescendingly, “I never said that.”

“Well, if I can’t sing my music then I just won’t sing at all.” You were the full image of a petulant child, arms crossed and lips dangerously close to a pout.

Murray feigned concern for a moment before hunching down so that he was at eye level with you.

“You signed a contract,” he spoke slowly, “Starcourt owns you, and if you don’t like it, then talk to a judge.”

He turned away from you, leaning against the mixing console. He speaks again after what seems like an eternity.

“Listen, sweetheart, I’m not saying it’s ethical or right, but if you want to make it in music, you got to play the game. You can’t come in here, swinging your metaphorical dick around, calling the shots when you haven’t proven you can rake in the dough.

“Sure, you’ve got talent, but who doesn’t? Right now, there’s a line of girls around the block who can sing and write and are probably better at following directions, waiting to take your spot.

"Plus, I read the songs you sent over, you have some good lines but there's not a single song worth attaching Starcourt's name to. Take this as an opportunity to learn, to be better, to actually work for something for the first time in your life. You have nothing right now, so nothing is below you, not even this pop dribble they're giving you to sing.

"I’m not saying it’s always gonna be this way, but you have to prove to them that you can play before they take you seriously, and then if you got what it takes, you can start writing your own music. Hell, if you make them enough money, they’ll let you play the fucking didgeridoo and go out in a nun’s habit… well, maybe not the habit, but the point stands. So, can we stop acting like the spoiled princess we are for just one afternoon and get to rehearsing?”

You snatched the book of songs from his outstretched hand and with a smile on your face, tore it down the middle before stomping off.

It had taken five days of Murray, along with various other executives at Starcourt, pounding on your door at the Chateau Mormont—the hotel that was your permanent residence since you had turned 18— before you had even considered setting foot in Starcourt again.

All it took was a gift basket full of Champagne and half a dozen threatening letters from their legal team.

***

NANCY: Jonathan came on as our second guitarist. I remember when he came to the audition he was this quiet, super shy kid who barely managed to make eye contact, but once he had a guitar in his hands, he had this way of coming alive. He wasn’t a showman like Steve, but he was electric when he played.

We—I never meant for things to turn out the way they did but with Jonathan, it wasn’t much of a choice. I know this sounds so cliche, but we were drawn to each other. I remember, during rehearsals, even before we really knew each other, he and I would lock eyes from across the room and I would know exactly what he was thinking.

Soon, we were sneaking around together. We were getting more and more serious, it was only a matter of time, honestly, before the others found out. Jonathan wanted to come clean early on, he could tell it was causing me so much stress, but I didn’t want to tell anyone else. Part of it, was Steve, of course, but also, what Jonathan and I had felt precious and personal and ours. I wanted to stay in this bubble we had built for ourselves.

Of course, it was Steve and Robin who eventually caught us, making out in Jonathan’s car after rehearsals one day.

To say that Steve took it hard is probably an understatement. He skipped rehearsal for five straight days and when he showed up he had this new song he had written, this ballad called, “Regret You”.

“If I never had you, then why can’t I forget you / I hate myself because I could never regret you.”

Yeah, that was an awkward one to rehearse but, to his credit, it was a great song. It was the song that got us noticed.

1982

You had spent months recording your first EP, a five-song collection the studio had decided to name “The Setlist”. It was meant to be a play on your groupie status, or at least that’s what some intern over in the marketing department had claimed, a little too proud of himself for your liking.

While you couldn't ignore the sense of accomplishment that bubbled below the surface, you mostly felt empty.

The whole thing made you think of your father, whom you hadn't spoken to in years but had a very staunch view on artistic integrity. He despised artists who 'carelessly churned out poor imitations of real art for money'. "To make art is as close as one can get to being god," he had explained to you once, with self-important tears in his eyes, "why would anyone sell that off? Art should mean something to the artist. Otherwise, they are a peddler of fake divinity."

Your father had never had to worry about money a day in his life.

That empty feeling was only exacerbated when, the Friday after you had officially finished recording, Murray had invited you to lunch with a particular proposition in mind.

“No, Murray, not gonna happen. Over my dead body and all that,” you spat from across the table.

“Listen, I don’t want to pull the contract card on you, but I will,” he warned with no real heat as he swirled his gin martini in one hand.

“Nice try,” you mirrored his pose, martini and all, “but the contract doesn't cover this, only original work. Not duets. You know that, I know that, so why don’t you try again and give me one good reason why I would even consider a duet with The Letterman’s.”

Murray gave you a look you had come to familiarize yourself with—one that was equal measures of pride and annoyance. It was the look he gave you whenever you bested him.

“How about the fact that they’re one of the hottest acts right now and being on a track with them would guarantee you a spot on the charts which is a great place to be at any point in time, but especially when you’re about to release an EP?”

Your face dropped in the way it only did when you knew Murray was right about something you didn’t want him to be right about. A look he had been starting to familiarize himself with.

"Fine, I’ll do it, but I want to spend as little time as possible with Jason. He’s a pompous ass.” “No disagreements there, sweetheart.”

The day you were scheduled to record with Jason and the rest of his band, he was an hour late. You hadn’t doubted for a moment he had done this on purpose.

When he finally had shown, he pretended not to know you, a game you had quickly caught on to, and made sure to respond with, “It’s so nice to meet you, Jackson” after he made a show of introducing himself to you which made the rest of his band and Murray guffaw.

Jason narrowed his eyes at you, his voice struggling to stay level, and said, “Watch it. We’re the ones doing you a favor here, remember?”

“I did you one first,” you responded, your eyes meeting his gaze, “remember?”

It had taken 20 minutes for his bandmates to calm him down, but eventually, the two of you got into the booth.

Your only priority had been to do your best job in as few takes as possible because you did not know how much longer you could tolerate being in Jason’s presence.

In the end, after a two-hour session, Murray had sent you both home, either happy with the finished product or at his wit’s end with the tension. Either way, three weeks later you had a duet with The Letterman’s called “It Was You” and just as Murray had predicted, it was quick to climb the charts.

You were getting noticed.

***

NANCY: Not long after Steve wrote “Regret You” we got noticed by a scout from Starcourt Records. I think at first we thought it was some sort of scheme, but it was legit. They had us record a few demos and in something like six months, they moved us to a house in Culver City.

The whole thing had felt like some sort of fever dream. I had to quit school and tell my parents. They didn’t even know I was in a band. Or seeing anybody. Needless to say, they didn’t take any of it well. When we got to LA, we did more test recordings and they even had us playing some shows at a few clubs on the strip.

Like I said: total fever dream.

But, when you’re under the thumb of a label like that, there are certain stipulations. One of the first things they told us was that they wanted to make our sound more modern and pop. We kinda

had an alternative, experimental sound back then. They said synth was going to be the new thing so they wanted Robin to learn how to play the synthesizer which meant that on certain songs, Jonathan would have to take over for bass. Also, they wanted Steve to be more of a frontman and less of a guitar player. Steve could always work a crowd, and they wanted to use that, especially with this new sound they had envisioned for us. All of this meant we needed another guitar player and, believe it or not, the label already knew who that was going to be. Eddie Munson.

NEXT CHAPTER 🎸

Taglist: @rexorangecouny

#eddie munson x reader #steve harrington x reader #stranger things x reader #nancy wheeler

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the-final-sif · 3 months

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So for those unaware, dasnerth is apparently banned from Karl & MrBeast challenge, accord to the discord message he showed today (1/29/2024), (which notably is from 8/30/2023)

basically, as it stands, almost all the "content" you provide by being in a video almost always gets cut out because you're generally pretty toxic, you take the gameplay extremely seriously which makes your time on-screen inherently destructive / toxic. If you are genuinely super interested in not being blacklisted, if you could just refrain from being toxic we can lift the blacklist. It would also mean reporting any exploits instead of abusing them.

A message he published himself, claiming he was only being competitive.

I've seen in response, certain people claiming that this is unfair, that he needs to be defended, or that this will inevitably lead towards toxicity towards people like Sapnap/Punz/Hannah.

This is not true, and I think people need to understand that there is a line between being competitive and being toxic to be around and effectively unwatchable and making others uncomfortable.

First, take note for a moment that Dasnerth has been banned for well over 5 months, and despite being very clearly and flatly told he's unwelcome, he's not only still stalking the discord to try to join stuff, but also then turned to twitter to kick up a fuss about the ban still being enforced.

This is pretty telling of him as a person. He's clearly been told that he's blacklisted and unwelcome, and five months later he's still trying to sneak in. That is a very clear indication of failing to respect boundaries, feeling entitled to participate in contests, and being unable to take no for an answer.

Putting that aside though, you can still clearly draw lines between taking competition seriously and being a toxic asshole in a game. I think a really good example of this is actually, weirdly enough, 5up's lobbies.

If you don't know 5up, he's a guy who plays among us. When he was starting out, he often played with what were called "sweat lobbies". These lobbies often devolved into yelling, shouting, insults, etc. 5up was noteworthy for generally not falling to that level. You can watch how awful of a viewing experience this is here. These lobbies are very competitive, and also suck so bad 5up left despite generally being willing to tolerate a lot of bullshit.

Contrast this to his later lobby that he built with Hafu, a very experienced streamer with a much calmer vibe. The morning lobbies that they built are known for being relatively serious and competitive, but not being toxic messes. Here's a good example, In this game 5up played an amazing crewmate much like the XQC, and caught Steve and Tina (Tinakitten) as imposters. Tina's distressed but not angry or being mean, and Steve compliments him on figuring out! It's a complete flip of the above. People sometimes yell and get excited, throw a bit, or get a bit salty, but it's nothing like what you see above with the constant screaming and insults. People from other lobbies that are more chaotic come in and are generally surprised by how seriously they take stuff.

To go even further, 5up also plays in the stell lobbies, which are very competitive and take the game very seriously. Listen to a meeting in the stell lobbies. Nobody is yelling, even when directly accused. They all remain calm and polite. They're still playing the game very seriously, they're playing to win, but nobody's being toxic or mean.

There's a difference between being competitive in a fun way, where you take a game seriously and try to win, and just being an asshole and disregarding good sportsmanship. It's perfectly valid for contests to ban players for violating good sportsmanship and abusing exploits. Technoblade was a very competitive person, but even when he's being teasingly toxic to squidkid for example, it's clearly in good fun. The two of them became friends. There's a fundamental level of respect there, and nobody is going over the top.

So yeah, while we don't have the specific behavior cited, it's perfectly valid for an event to ban someone for being toxic, and no, banning someone for being toxic isn't bait or eliminating competitiveness. It's just showing an asshole the door.

#sif speaks #dasnerth #morning lobbies #discourse #5up #the gender ratios also speak volumes #sweat lobbies were 80-90% men #hafu lobbies and stell lobbies are about 50/50 #stell lobbies actually sometimes end up female biased #it's always interesting seeing certain people from old sweat lobbies #get pulled out and into the morning lobbies #the one with easyrod was fascinating #since in the sweat lobbies he was a huge yeller #and then in the morning lobbies he seemed a bit unsure but polite #spoke when asked and tried w/o being a dick #shocking what a good environment can do #also if anyone wonders about my person beef with xqc it was this

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pondering-and-wondering · 10 months

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Witnessing fandom drama go down that youre not a part of is honeslty such a bizzarro experience.

Like its not that hard to communicate to people before things blow up just buck up and talk to people in the dms like DAMN.

#among us imposter vibes #Thoughts

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hiraya-rawr · 1 year

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ive brought this up before but— vision discrimination. yeah let's talk about it again <33

i had less than 40 minutes of sleep before my 7:30am lectures okay i just got home and it's almost 6pm

a reason why diluc also hides his darknight hero gig is because pyro users are both feared and hated for being "out of control"

BUT WE ARENT HERE TO TALK ABOUT DILUC (i just had to add that thought before going to the real topic)

Sumeru banning pyro allogenes because obviously as a nation of wildlife and representation of the element dendro, they just don't vibe with pyro users

Cue, you (a pyro allogene) sneaking into sumeru for some important reason. and you end up living there 🤩

it's like that imposter game among us 💀

and you somehow end up befriending three men (3 men YOU RLY SHOULDNT TALK TO)

the general, the scribe, and the forest ranger head.

ofc you're doing everything you can to hide the fact you're a pyro allogene bc you want to live in this happiness a little longer

so when you get attacked and cornered, you continue to hide your ability because archons forbid they find out and force you to leave the place you call home

it's fine with you, really, a few fights won't kill you—

until one of your friends is in danger and you don't hesitate to use pyro to save them

and comes all the drama of finding out, the guilt of lying to them; as government workers, it's kind of their job to uphold laws especially one as important as banning pyro allogenes and sudhsjxjwjxh

good night ill take a nap first

kofi support!

#hira brainrot #genshin #genshin impact #alhaitham #cyno #tighnari #diluc

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wolfblood-of-anubis · 5 months

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HOA Among Us Gameplay

Seasons Greetings! Are you a House of Anubis fan? Do you find yourself wanting a chance to experience being the characters themselves? Did you play the Among Us game at some point in your life? Do you want to unite with your fellow HOA fans and accuse them of murder?

Well, this is the place for you!

Listen, as Sibuna followers we’re on top of anything spooky and creepy. Let’s put ourselves to the test and have a nice gameplay of Among Us. Maybe three rounds, maybe more depending how we’re feeling after.

We play as characters, try to be in character for as long as possible. If you’re Fabian or Nina, be super sleuthy. If you’re Patricia never stop accusing people or causing fights. If you’re Jerome… you’re probably the impostor.

When?

On December 27th, on 5PM AST (time is a default and available to change if contacted) we shall connect and play a rousing game of Among Us, dress up and name ourselves after our chosen HOA character and figure out the two imposters among us. You heard that right, folks! Two imposters.

I will be posting the game entry code 10 minutes before we begin so everyone can get settled.

Which Among Us map will we explore?

Map will be The Airship (it has a very Anubis House vibe to it). But since it’s also larger than most, I suggest practice playing it solo. For more information, please DM me and I can teach you how. If not, the map can always go back to the original setting: The Skeld.

Now, who are you going to be?

There are 15 slots for a full Among Us gameplay and if we have more than 15 people interested, I suggest to repeat the activity with the others the next day on Dec. 23rd. Anyone interested in replaying can do so as well if there are slots available for the next day.

Until then, the characters provided are listed below. Please write in the replies if you are interested and which character you would like to play as! Remember that this is a commitment for December 22nd!

characters not available will be crossed off

Nina Martin - @incorrectsibunaquotes

Fabian Rutter - @fakeosirian

Patricia Williamson

Amber Millington - @find-y0ur-j0y

Alfie Lewis - @wolfblood-of-anubis

Jerome Clarke

Joy Mercer - @katexxr

Eddie Miller

KT Rush

Mara Jaffray

Willow Jenks

Mick Campbell

Trudy Rehmann

Victor Rodenmarr Jr.

Whoever picks this spot gets to choose from the rest of the many side characters/recurring characters over the years. Examples include but not limited to:

Poppy

Piper

Rufus

Sarah

Vera

Mr. Sweet

Mrs. Andrews

Benji

Evil RFS

Caroline Denby

Harriet Denby

Letdown

Chat option ideas:

- we can stick to the Among Us chat box

- or we can make a Discord call and all chat on it during voting and emergency meetings. Another fun thing about Discord is you can just type your message rather than speak if you don’t want to.

let’s explore the chaos of anubis house, shall we?

also, big thanks to @yackers for the hoa gifs, excellent as always!

@find-y0ur-j0y @frobisher-smythe @frobitcher-smythe @incorrectsibunaquotes @thechosenanubis @fakeosirian @joysmercer @joymercerssecretgf @tess-or-no @lialovesstuff @katexxr @dreaming-of-galaxies-and-stars @whispers-of-gallifrey @inseacure-possum @thereofrin @almostlikequake @sibunaaanubis @sibunator

#ive been wanting to do this for a while now and i hope you guys like the idea #among us solo is fun for the tasks but the idea of playing with ya’ll as hoa characters makes me wanna cry #spoiler: i’ve picked alfie; i wonder why; can you tell he’s my favorite #i have his outfit planned and everything #i am a-dog i need my j-meister now; who’s it gonna be #i had this idea that whoever ends up being the sibunas need to just lie a lot about what they were doing #house of anubis #sibuna #hoa #alfie lewis #eddie miller #fabian rutter #nina martin #patricia williamson #joy mercer #kt rush #amber millington #jerome clarke

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lemonthepotato · 1 month

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Reminder: What Peaches allegedly went through is horrible, if true, but that does not excuse him from what he did to Rosa. As an autistic person, his and Lio’s actions remind me of downright horrible bullies I’ve dealt with (I am not a victim of bullying, at least in the traditional sense, but it’s a long story.) and it’s deplorable the way they treated her.

Peaches has called people the r slur, and another derogatory term for an autistic person based on the word aspergers (I have my own issues with the term itself anyway) and clearly enjoyed what he did to Rosa. In some of the audio recordings he released, he did show remorse for what he did to Rosa, however, he went into those conversations with Lio with the intent of recording and publicising it to throw Lio under the bus. I was only vaguely aware of the Rosa call before, and Lio had given me weird vibes, but I always excuses his behaviour with “oh, well, they’re predators, who cares if he’s mean to predators?” But nope, turns out he just treats everyone like shit. And that’s the thing with these moral grandstanding people. They channel their anger into self-proclaimed righteousness to avoid being seen as the unhinged mf they are. Nah. Fuck ableists. Fuck this shit.

Deplorable behaviour. To think it took 3 hours for anyone to say anything. Everyone who was in that call should be ashamed of themselves, even if they were silent. You’re an enabler.

I hate these internet vigilantes. I actually give a shit about these topics, so here are some resources about topics I care deeply about.

Fuck ableists. Bye.

Here’s the video of these grown adults bullying a mentally handicapped woman for not having a job and needing a carer for three hours. Oh, and she’s not the predator in this case, she just didn’t ban the predator, and likely didn’t even KNOW there was one in the server, might’ve not even had permissions to kick them! I run a server, and unless someone is a very obvious troll, I don’t just let my mods ban who they want, most servers don’t. Seriously. This video is repulsive. Check tags.

Video #1 - Lio tries to act scary

Video #2 - Cowards in a VC harass a neurodivergent woman for 4 hours

Video #3 - A video of a cute dog unrelated to this ableist nonsense

Edit: btw the rosa call isn’t the only fucked up call these two participated in, but that wasn’t what my post was about so I didn’t mention it. u can google shit bou it. Might wanna look int2 the Jibz and Robert situations respectively. :) Senate sure be a lovely bunch of people, ay? Oh, yeah, recently found out ‘ay’ is pronounced ‘I’ and not ae. Unrelated. Also talking about shit like this just pisses me off. Really fucking much.

Edit 2: I said I was “vaguely aware” of the rosa call before. Turns out I was pissed about it 8 months ago and completely forgot, cuz I liked two comments from back then on the original call (not the 4 hours one) criticising it. Btw, the comment section there is full of ableists. Have fun reading that.

Edit 3: LioConvoy released his video. While I haven’t finished it, I have mixed thoughts on it (like I’m skeptical of some things but generally the screenshots don’t make Peaches look good regardless) I just got to one part, and can I just say how fucking funny it is for Peaches to have a genuine fit over not getting imposter in among us? That’s all I wanted to say.

#tw ableism #cw ableism #lemons random rants #lio convoy #hopeless peaches #tw grooming (referenced in linked video)#tw misogyny (in the video)#tw victim blaming (can be seen that way in the call.)#tw shaming #tw ableist language #tw r slur

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