Author's Beginning Notes:
Hello everyone! This is not the birthplace of this story, HOWEVER
I AM the original author.
I wanted to try out this site as well. Depending on the reception I'm gonna gradually update this work to its current state.
Currently twenty-one chapters exist stretching over more than 217,00 words.
Original Notes will be added depending on their relevancy.
Be aware that this is written in the second person. I hope that the cursive / bold stuff gets translated onto here, because it is important for the story. (
Cursive text
is your internal monologue)
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Original Top Notes:
Hello everyone!
This is my first story. It was inspired by the masterpieces "The OfflineTV Experience" and "The Amnesiac" by Dr_Sinner, as well as "The Exploration of the Streaming Industry" by anchorrobust. These stories were a pleasure to read, and me wanting to try it myself is the first reason I am writing this story.
The second reason is, that I am
not
a native speaker of English but want to improve my vocabulary, grammar and writing in general. I'm hoping to collect some useful feedback with this story and improve my writing skills. I considered running it through ChatGPT in order to refine the wording but that would defeat the purpose of practicing myself. I hope you can still enjoy it and if you do provide feedback, please be gentle! ^^
I noticed while writing that I have some problems with staying in the present, as it feels more natural for me to describe things in the past. With the idea of making the story feel more alive I tried to avoid this as much as possible - from the point where the "flashback" ends, but if I forgot to change a "said" to "says" somewhere or something please forgive me. I would also appreciate feedback on that, if it makes a difference or which way you prefer it.
Also, I use commas as a way to control the pace, so they might be used excessively.
Have fun!
----------------Moving into the World of Streamers----------------
Chapter 1: A life changing Penetration
Finally, the day of the convention was here. In the morning you put on a sleek white shirt under a black denim jacket and wore grey jeans, your outfit kind of resembling a suit. It had a good mix between looking good and bringing an illusion of formality to your appearance without overdoing it.
Due to some smart business decisions, you were pretty well off and were able to buy a VIP ticket for the upcoming OTV Meet & Greet. This allowed you to skip the line and meet the members earlier, as well as being able to stay a little longer on stage to talk to them. You had just moved to LA and felt this indulgence was worth the price.
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The air is buzzing in the convention hall, you can hear voiced all around, some music is being blasted somewhere in the distance and the microphone quality of the moderator is far from what you were used to. Still, you are excited to finally meet some of the people that had kept you entertained through many stressful nights and are hoping to make a good impression - even though it will probably be the only one they will ever have of you.
At last, the streamers are introduced to the stage, it isn't just OTV but also some of their friends like Valkyrae, Aria and Fuslie. The VIPs are being split up to meet them, surprisingly there were only 13 of you, possibly because it was still quite early - or maybe because of the ticket prices.
You would have a chance to walk freely on stage and meet all the guys and girls, but as a start the event organizers wanted to split you up and let you talk in smaller groups to each content creator, just to keep things from getting out of hand. You think Sydney would be a good start and you are the only one who signed up for her - so you are looking forward to some one-on-one time with the black-haired beauty.
Stepping on stage, she greets you with a cheery "Heyy!", on her face was a bright smile and she gave you an excited wave. You smile back and take in her outfit: She is wearing a dark T-Shirt with a tiger printed on the front, the picture being stretched out by her chest. Despite the temperature in the hall, she elected to wear long jeans that seem to be from pretty much the same material and color as your jacket, thinking this would be a good opener you begin the conversation.
"Hey, nice to meet you, are you wearing my jacket as pants or am I wearing your pants as a jacket?" you say with a grin and stretch out our arm, pointing at the material with your other hand.
Sydney looks down and gives you a chuckle after realizing the similarity.
"I think you didn't quite understand the concept of jeans, mister!" she joked. "Nice outfit though, you look like you have a date after this!"
"I wish, I just moved here from Europe, so I haven't had time to seduce anyone yet." You confidently respond, earning a slightly dazzled look for a second that quickly transformed into an expression showing that she was impressed by your response.
I wonder how much time I have alone with her... I didn't plan on this but maybe I can get her number?
Stepping a little closer Sydney asked "Oh, what made you move to LA?"
"I had just sold my firm giving me some free-time and I felt some time in the Sun would do me good." gesturing at your somewhat pale skin.
You worked out regularly and your fit didn't hide that fact, you are taller than her, so when she clearly checks out your arms and chest you can see it easily, however, the sun did not bless you with a tan.
You can see Sydney smile and her mouth moves to utter some response, but you can't hear it as shock kicks in and you make an instinctive decision.
From the corner of your eye, you see a figure in a brown trench coat and a blue cap step towards the metal fence in front of the stage, reach into his coat, pull out a gun and take aim.
With what feels like no time at all you scream: "WATCH OUT!!!" and throw yourself on top of Sydney so she would fall beneath you facing away from the shooter.
*BANG BANG BANG*
Three shots and piercing screams can be heard, the hall echoing them to an ear shattering volume as you feel a sudden burst of pain combined with some warm liquid emerging from your side.
You see Sydney lying below you, pure fear in hear eyes as she looked into yours, you hear another shot go off before it all fades to black.
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The heart monitor is beeping steadily as you slowly awake from your slumber.
You emit a dark groan as you become aware of the massive headache you have, in trying to raise your right hand you quickly abandon that idea and let out a suppressed scream as a piercing pain shoots up through your side. You register some mumbling in the room and suddenly two hands touch your right arm. Slowly your hearing comes back, and you hear a female voice "Hey, hey??? Are you awake??? Talk to me!!"
Opening your eyes, you can't really believe it, next to your bed, which seems to be in a white hospital room, is Sydney! Standing at the foot of it you can see John and Jodi, and even Toast is here!
You blink a couple of times, seeing the worried looks of the two girls whereas the guys had more enigmatic faces -
is this a dream?
What happened?
Oh right, I got... shot?
Am I dead? Is this?
Heaven?
Why are they here??
"Hey...." You groan.
A sigh of relief was released from all in the room, Toast and John now clearly looking relieved as well.
"Am I....?"
"You're ok, the doctors said you will live." Sydney quickly interrupts you.
Her hands were still on your arm, shaking and you think you can almost see a tear in her eye.
Moments later a female doctor with red hair wearing a white doctor's gown over some scrubs walks into the room with a clip board. She begins speaking to the streamers in the room but you black out for moment, it couldn't have been too long as you wake up to Sydney shaking you a little too violently, leading the doctor to tell her off.
"It's fine. What exactly happened?"
You notice Sydney is now the only one in the room besides you and the doctor.
Presumably the doctor told them to leave because they weren't family members, but Sydney may have convinced the doctor to let her stay since... I guess I saved her life..?
Before the doctor can fill in the blanks, you yank your head around towards Sidney, surprising everyone and letting out a painful sigh as you fall back into the pillow - quickly regaining composure, you look at Sydney and say, with a face and voice full of worry: "Are you okay? Did you get hit??"
Sydney's face portrays a picture of shock, she did not expect you to worry about her whilst laying in a hospital bed, after a few seconds she quietly says:" No... thanks to you.. you... you saved me.."
Phewwwww
You let out a sigh of relief.
Guess it wasn't a waste spending my first couple days in LA in a hospital.
You chuckle to yourself.
How long have I been here anyway?
The doctor begins to talk again.
"You were rushed here from the convention, there were two bullets lodged between your ribs. There was a lengthy surgery involved to remove them and afterwards you were asleep for about 23 hours. You have been here for about three days, but you were lucky. You should take it easy for the next couple of weeks and get physical therapy, with this we expect you to make a full recovery." She smiled and Sydney lit up at her words.
"You hear that??!?!??? You'll be fine!!" she said with a cheer and threw herself over you from the side of the bed into a hug. You let out a painful groan.
"Oh sorry..." she stammers.
"No no it's fine, hahah" you let out a chuckle and hug her back with your arm that isn't hurting as bad.
"I will let you alone with your girlfriend now. You should be good to go once you feel up to it but sign up for that physical therapy before you leave. We haven't been able to get all your information yet."
With that the doctor left the room, leaving you in a confused state.
Girlfriend?
You shoot Sydney a questioning glance which she tries to avoid, but after a moment she comes clean.
"Soooo uumm... when the doctor sent out the others I kinda panicked and said I was your girlfriend.. so I could stay..." she says this with an apologetic smile awaiting your response.
You can't help but smile back at her, and you both end up giggling at the situation.
"Well, I guess I did have time to seduce someone" you jest while giving her a light push with your arm.
