#‘comments are good for the algorithm so it’s good why does it bother you’

[rattusrattus3]

.

[imraespace]

HELPME 25K+ ISNT EVEN THE LONGEST THING IVE READ EITHER I REMEMBER READING SMTH THAT WAS LIKE… 160k words……. and then i saw smth with 1M but i didnt bother reading it bc IT WAS INCOMPLETE?? HELLO IT WAS STILL ONGOING LIKE WHAT MORE DO U WANNA ADD

im afraid im still waiting until the rin series is done …… when i actually read it ill interact pookie i promise 😋🙏🙏 i think w notes and stuff is really like stupid bc some ppl dont bother liking or reblogging esp with commenting like most of the time when i read fics i dont like bc I FORGET USUALLY AND BE LIKE wow that was good and then copy link and paste it into my notes if i wanna reread it and i rarely reblog stuff 💔 ive only been doing it more recently so my acc doesnt look dead but before that i reblogged an art post and then …. 10 months later i reblogged a fic for the first time HELP

i also heard that liking fics does nothing for the algorithm on tumblr and its mostly reblogs that gets it out there so i feel bad whenever i like smth and dont reblog ☹️☹️ i feel bad for all the writers on this app tbh they dont get enough attention for their fics LIKE THEYRE REALLT GOOD except for those … strange incest ones like rinsae…. but those arent included..! anwyays maybe ill join the darkside and start writing but even with editing its reallt hard out there i havent edited in so long and quite literally bc i have no ideas 💔 im gonna be in both realms where no one gets attention

- 🐙

GIRL WHAT I DONT HAVE THAT ATTENTION SPAN but watch me read a whole fic in out sitting.. WHATTATS 1M WHAT THR FAKX JUST WRITE A BOOK ATP

heheheheh🤭🤭

LMQO with me I just like I don't really reblog stuff I made a tag for it but I don't even use it.. I'll reblog stuff some day!

LMAO when I first got tumblr it was in 2020 bc of my um cringe mha era I used to be undercover here I didn't even like stuff then I complained when I couldn't find what I read or sum..

WHAT IF LIKING POSTS DOESNT HELP THEN WHY DO YOU HAVE

fr those insect/step sibling posts are a bit odd..

[lifeinapic]

With the number of daily active users on Facebook, it would be stupid to not consider putting more money into this platform as an e-commerce business owner. The bigger your presence, the easier it will be to attract more customers to your store. Also, it is worth mentioning that marketing on Facebook does not require some special skills. You can learn pretty much everything about it in a day or two. After, you will have to put your brain to practical use and apply what you have learned. Here are some tips to help you understand what you will be dealing with, and what you can expect as returns from your investments.Set Your ProfileEven though your point is to increase sales, a professionally-looking profile will play an important role. Visitors will not bother to give you their time if you show your incompetence here. Logo and a cover are given, but some neglect to fill the information on the business part of the page. Make sure all the blanks are filled.The attention span of an average person is not something you can regard highly these days. It takes a few seconds to get distracted. No business will function if they cannot get the people to at least look at what they have to say. While most posts will have a text in them, nothing works as good as images. The higher the quality, the better. Though it is worth mentioning that going all-in with images is a bad idea. Variety in content matters a lot, and there will be more on that later.Call-to-ActionEvery post should have a meaning. Don’t leave your fans hanging in the air and trying to figure out what the purpose of the post is. Ask them to share, like, try, subscribe, leave a comment, and so on. Encourage them in a way that they would want to participate.Contests and GiveawaysNothing increases engagement as much as contests. Even those who have not heard about your page before will join all the fun thanks to the word of mouth. As long as you are willing to offer people something for free, they will be more than happy to jump in and participate. If you have been using Facebook, you should be aware of various giveaways that ask you to share, like, comment, tag another person. Such a post has unlimited potential in terms of its reach.Facebook StoriesSomething that has been introduced quite recently. It would seem that a regular newsfeed of Facebook is not in the best place at the moment. Stories, on the other hand, are gaining more popularity. Something simple yet informative at the same time is bound to be attractive. Finally, this feature is the perfect example of an outside-the-box content, and it helps you become more intimate with your followers. If you feel like learning more about it, there is a Facebook stories guide at Oberlo website. Be sure to read that one.Figure the Best Time to PostEven if a post is interesting, it is still possible that it will not get enough attention because of the time it was posted. Facebook has a lot of weird algorithms, and it takes time to figure out how they work. See whether your engagement rate is better when you post on evenings, and what the difference between weekdays and weekends are.Promote on Other ChannelsRelying on Facebook’s natural growth would be naive at the very least. That is why it is important to promote yourself using other sources. Social media platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc. will not cost anything. Reddit and Quora sites are another great ideas because these two receive quite a lot of traffic every day.Trial and ErrorGrowing a Facebook page with the intent to sell is no different than any other internet venture. It is more than likely that there will be struggles at first, but that is only natural. As long as you are willing to test and learn from your mistakes, it means that you are ready to grow and achieve the goal.The bigger your Facebook page is, the more sales you can expect to make. And the fanbase will increase if you follow these tips. It will take time before things start to pick up, but you should be able to get there eventually.

[fromdevcom]

With the number of daily active users on Facebook, it would be stupid to not consider putting more money into this platform as an e-commerce business owner. The bigger your presence, the easier it will be to attract more customers to your store. Also, it is worth mentioning that marketing on Facebook does not require some special skills. You can learn pretty much everything about it in a day or two. After, you will have to put your brain to practical use and apply what you have learned. Here are some tips to help you understand what you will be dealing with, and what you can expect as returns from your investments.Set Your ProfileEven though your point is to increase sales, a professionally-looking profile will play an important role. Visitors will not bother to give you their time if you show your incompetence here. Logo and a cover are given, but some neglect to fill the information on the business part of the page. Make sure all the blanks are filled.The attention span of an average person is not something you can regard highly these days. It takes a few seconds to get distracted. No business will function if they cannot get the people to at least look at what they have to say. While most posts will have a text in them, nothing works as good as images. The higher the quality, the better. Though it is worth mentioning that going all-in with images is a bad idea. Variety in content matters a lot, and there will be more on that later.Call-to-ActionEvery post should have a meaning. Don’t leave your fans hanging in the air and trying to figure out what the purpose of the post is. Ask them to share, like, try, subscribe, leave a comment, and so on. Encourage them in a way that they would want to participate.Contests and GiveawaysNothing increases engagement as much as contests. Even those who have not heard about your page before will join all the fun thanks to the word of mouth. As long as you are willing to offer people something for free, they will be more than happy to jump in and participate. If you have been using Facebook, you should be aware of various giveaways that ask you to share, like, comment, tag another person. Such a post has unlimited potential in terms of its reach.Facebook StoriesSomething that has been introduced quite recently. It would seem that a regular newsfeed of Facebook is not in the best place at the moment. Stories, on the other hand, are gaining more popularity. Something simple yet informative at the same time is bound to be attractive. Finally, this feature is the perfect example of an outside-the-box content, and it helps you become more intimate with your followers. If you feel like learning more about it, there is a Facebook stories guide at Oberlo website. Be sure to read that one.Figure the Best Time to PostEven if a post is interesting, it is still possible that it will not get enough attention because of the time it was posted. Facebook has a lot of weird algorithms, and it takes time to figure out how they work. See whether your engagement rate is better when you post on evenings, and what the difference between weekdays and weekends are.Promote on Other ChannelsRelying on Facebook’s natural growth would be naive at the very least. That is why it is important to promote yourself using other sources. Social media platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc. will not cost anything. Reddit and Quora sites are another great ideas because these two receive quite a lot of traffic every day.Trial and ErrorGrowing a Facebook page with the intent to sell is no different than any other internet venture. It is more than likely that there will be struggles at first, but that is only natural. As long as you are willing to test and learn from your mistakes, it means that you are ready to grow and achieve the goal.The bigger your Facebook page is, the more sales you can expect to make. And the fanbase will increase if you follow these tips. It will take time before things start to pick up, but you should be able to get there eventually.

[reversedout-blog]

SEO Tips For Startups | Learn About All The Benefits!

Being one of the difficult tasks, comments are full of positive and negative reviews but still, startups have to work on SEO from the initial days. Although, startups should not solely depend on SEO. This is the reason why many startups look after shortcuts in the hopes that they will escalate the speed of their ranking.

In this article, we will try to clear all of your doubts as a startup and will tell you how startups can use SEO to have better and faster results. Our tips include some of the best startup SEO practices that you should use. So let’s begin:

What is the Difference Between Regular SEO and Startup SEO?

Is there any difference, what do you think guys? The answer is that Google has standard guidelines, and it does not bother Google if you are a regular SEO, an established institution, or a startup SEO. Google wants its clients to get relevant content for every query they search. A person who searched for a query does not know whether you are a startup or a regular business, so the requirements for both are similar regarding SEO.

The only point that differentiates the two is the resources. Startups do not have the resources that an established business has. Startups want to grow and have the determined willpower to be the biggest names in an industry. So this is a small SEO tip for your startup.

There are some standards that are the same for all, as Google does not compromise if you are a startup or an established one. So, regardless of your budget, keep Google guidelines in mind, as they are the same for all and there is no compromise in search optimization.

What Kind of Criteria Do Search Engines Look for?

Search engines have their own way of working and when we talk about SEO, it’s about the ranking positions of the pages that will rank higher. There are certain criteria set by Google regarding ranking, so your page should provide all the below-given points:

Quality Content

The content that you are providing on your page should be relevant to the title and provide unique information to your audience. The users should find the content useful when they search for a query.

Engagement

Your content should be clear and detailed so that your audience gets what they want on a single page. This will keep users more engaged on your webpage, hence a surge in ranking.

User Experience

Google cares about the experience of the user. So the content should be complete, and the information should be accurate so that your audience has a great experience. Additionally, if your site has good reviews, then it will attract a larger audience. So this is definitely an SEO tip to keep in mind.

Accessibility

It is mandatory that your page is accessible so that search engines can rank your webpage. So as startup SEO, remember to give access for better ranking.

All in all, the matter of concern for Google is that your content should be captivating, detailed, engaging, accessible, and optimized.

What Are the Standards Set by Google for Measuring Things?

When it comes to high-quality content or remarks about user experience, they are completely vague. So the question that comes to mind is how Google measures these ambiguous standards when only rigid data is available for work.

Further, there are three factors that help Google’s ranking as an SEO startup. They are:

Keywords

One of the important factors that must be present in your article is keywords. With changes to Google algorithms over the years, you must use each keyword so that they match the content and also the search query. So this is one of the important SEO tips for a startup, how keywords should be used to target an audience.

User Experience

Customers are a priority for any business, so the quality of experience your audience has is the most important. Complete information on your website will engage users for more time and hence will give a better experience to the client.

Links

There are many ranking factors in the Google algorithm, and one of the most vital factors is links. The page that earns the maximum links from trusted sources is likely to get the maximum engagement. The quantity of the content does not matter, it is the quality that makes the webpage more engaging and helps in ranking.

Location

One startup tip is to add your location so that users can connect with you. If your startup is related to the hotel industry, food industry, or any other business agency where location is vital, your web page ranks higher if somebody’s query is related to location.

Engagement Signals

To find out if your content is engaging, check the bounce rate, the number of times a page is visited, and the average time spent on the page. Being a startup you might have less engagement time, but it increases with time. There is a term referred to as pogo-sticking, meaning the client has shifted to another site since the required information they were searching for was not on your webpage. Engagement signals are a great digital startup idea, so work on providing useful content to increase the rate.

Build a website that is SEO-Friendly

A vital startup tip is to make a website SEO-friendly and for that, do not just get tempted to design a website and sign up for the lowest hosting provider that you find. If you are doing so, then you are stopping your prospects of growth. As we have already discussed, the experience of the user and the engagement rate is a primary part of a marketing strategy, and you have to make a website with SEO at the forefront.

Five Areas That Need Focus:

Code

One of the areas that need to be focused on is code, and it has an impact on the way the website is accessed on the search engine, how fast the pages are loaded, and how much your website is mobile-friendly.

While using WordPress themes or other CMS platforms, you need to be aware of the code. The benefits that you get while using WordPress are the templates that help you make new pages with a click and make content with a visual interface, you do not need to code everything yourself. So being a newcomer who is trying to gain knowledge about WordPress, this is one of the tips for a startup.

Working on building a website from the beginning for a startup is a hard task. For new pages, create your own template to reduce your work of typing the same code again and again. Grab knowledge about dynamic web pages so that you edit points. For instance, you might have to edit the website header manually every time but if you know about dynamic web pages then your work can be done easier.

Content

Finding content that solves your query is important for a user, this will determine how successful your SEO blueprint is. There are some points that you should consider and are vital startup tips for high-quality content. The content should be valuable, have internal and external links, the images should be added, and it should be optimized.

Startups try hard in the beginning, so they usually come with innovative content and there are a lot of chances that the content is unique and engaging with the audience. Large brands may have a shortcoming in this area, but as a startup, you have the benefit here, so use your innovative ideas to create captivating content.

Hosting

Hosting is a service where the content of a website is made accessible on the internet, so selecting the correct package is a must. Hosting is at the front line for a startup, so consider it an important startup tip that will assist you in making your firm grow faster and more sustainable. Page ranking which is an important factor for ranking is mainly determined by the standards of the hosting service.

What does the hosting package include? Do you have any ideas? The answer is the hosting package decides the count of the audience that can view your site and the quantity of data that can be moved from one site to another. For example, if there are more visitors trying to access the site than you have given access to with your chosen hosting package, then it will be an obstacle for your webpage.

Uptime records of the service provider should be considered, the type of security system they have, and the performance features that are available—for instance, web cache, CDN, and many more.

On-Page Optimization

A lot of attention is gained by on-page optimization. It is a vital tip for startups that you optimize every published page, and use complete knowledge for every subject you produce content about. This will be an important part of your SEO strategy.

Design

The visual design of the website is not seen by the search engine but if you mark the navigational structure and basic layout of your pages correctly, then it can be interpreted. Engagement signals are directly proportional to the user experience which means if your audience is engaged by the article, then the experience will also be better. This is one of the useful startup tips that you should consider.

User experience is one of the factors for mobile pages, but user experience will decline if you have slow loading times and high bounce rates, then Google will not have a reason to endorse your pages to the audience.

Points You Should Include:

Page URL: It should be expressive, legible, and have main keywords that are suitable for the web page. In most cases, this is similar to your page title without removing any stop words and formatted.

Page Titles: The title appears in blue link text in search results so as a startup tip, make it detailed, easy to read, and must have keywords within.

What Should Be Included in Your Article?

Headings

Your page should have several headings and should be segregated into small parts and must have suitable heading tags (h1, h2, h3, h4, etc.)

Keywords

Content in the article should have appropriate headings and keywords in the page title. A variety of words having the same meaning (synonyms) should be included in the main body so that there is no keyword stuffing.

Internal links

The main body should have links in the text of any pages that are relevant to your website. Links help in understanding the content easily and also increase the engagement rate.

Mobile Optimization

The webpage should be designed in such a manner that it is mobile-friendly. There shouldn’t be any flaws when your page opens up on a mobile device. The images should be properly sized. This is an important startup tip.

Content

The content of your webpage should be unique, captivating, and have detailed and useful information about the topic.

Images

Content should be broken down with relevant images and make them adjustable according to the webpage. You can do so by working on the compression of the file, adding the subject, and the keywords. This is one of the best SEO tips for a startup as if the image size is too large, the loading time will affect the audience.

Structured Data

The search engine gets the structured information about the content at the code level by highlighting the sections of the pages like articles, addresses, reviews, etc.

As a digital startup idea, we suggest that you make a website for SEO from the beginning and by doing so you will save a lot of money.

For a startup that has a limited number of resources, it can be difficult to create quality content. Firstly, make content that is captivating and engaging, and then find ways to get the required volume. The ultimate goal is to make content that has all the below-given points:

Shareable

If your audience finds out that you are giving them content that is beneficial for them and has up-to-date information, then they will definitely share it with friends so that they can also gain knowledge in a simple and better way. So as a startup, keep this digital startup idea in mind.

Valuable

Your content should be useful and valuable for the client so they want to read your articles only and do not shift to other sites.

Varied

One of the best startup tips is to make your content different from others so that it escalates the user engagement and ranking of the webpage. To do so, you can add images, videos, public surveys, and graphical presentations.

Actionable

By making all the content that you are publishing on your webpage useful, your readers can turn into more customers. This can be achieved by following all the startup tips and see the results. Work on the key points to make your content captivating and the user should feel engaged so that they keep on clicking the links to gain complete information.

Bottom Line

These are some of the digital startup tips that every startup should follow and consider to have quality content. If your content is liked by the audience, then it will increase the engagement rate and the ranking of the webpage.

Find the success stories of other startups and look at and analyze their content. Make a unique and attractive tagline so that customers are intrigued to read your content. The content should be approachable and friendly to the client to increase the ranking of your webpage. Follow all the SEO tips for startups and in time, you will see great results.

If you are looking for an SEO agency for your startup, consider contacting us.

Contact Us

At Reversed Out Creative, we understand the challenges and opportunities presented by AI disruption. Our team of experts specializes in web design, SEO, graphic design, and digital marketing services. Reach out to us through our contact form to learn more about navigating the evolving job market and embracing the potential of AI. Together, let’s shape a future that combines human ingenuity with the power of AI.

Content source: https://reversedout.com/seo-tips-for-startups-learn-about-all-the-benefits/

[ronwarrenphotography]

How AI Will Replace Wedding Photographers in the Near Future

Wedding photography is a lucrative and competitive industry that requires a lot of skill, creativity, and patience. But what if I told you that in the near future, you won't need any of those things to capture the most beautiful and memorable moments of your special day? What if I told you that artificial intelligence (AI) will take over the entire process of wedding photography, from planning to editing to delivery?

Sounds crazy, right? Well, not so much. In fact, AI is already making huge strides in the field of photography, and it's only a matter of time before it surpasses human capabilities. Here are some of the ways that AI will replace wedding photographers in the near future:

- AI will plan your wedding photoshoot for you. No need to spend hours browsing Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration, or hiring a professional planner to coordinate your theme, location, and props. AI will analyze your preferences, personality, and budget, and create a personalized and optimized plan for your photoshoot. It will also book the best venue, arrange the transportation, and handle the permits and paperwork for you. - AI will be your personal stylist and makeup artist. No need to worry about what to wear, how to do your hair, or which lipstick shade matches your skin tone. AI will scan your body and facial features, and suggest the most flattering and suitable outfits and accessories for you and your partner. It will also apply virtual makeup and hair extensions to enhance your natural beauty and match your style. - AI will be your photographer and assistant. No need to hire an expensive and unreliable human photographer who might show up late, miss the important shots, or ruin your photos with bad lighting or angles. AI will be your photographer and assistant, using drones, robots, and smart cameras to capture every moment of your wedding from multiple perspectives. It will also direct you on how to pose, smile, and interact with your partner and guests, using natural language processing and emotion recognition. - AI will edit and deliver your photos instantly. No need to wait weeks or months for your photos to be edited and delivered by a human editor who might charge extra fees or make mistakes. AI will edit your photos in real time, using advanced algorithms and filters to correct any flaws, enhance the colors, and add artistic effects. It will also create a stunning slideshow and video montage of your photos, synced with your favorite music and narration. You will receive your photos instantly on your smartphone or cloud storage, ready to share with your friends and family.

As you can see, AI will make wedding photography a breeze for you. You won't have to worry about anything, except enjoying your special day with your loved ones. And the best part is that AI will do all this for a fraction of the cost of hiring a human photographer. So why bother with humans when you can have AI?

Of course, this is an extreme and satirical scenario that may not reflect the reality of wedding photography in the near future. But it does show how AI could potentially affect and take over traditional wedding photography as well as all current wedding photographers. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on your perspective.

Some might argue that AI will make wedding photography more accessible, affordable, and convenient for everyone. Others might argue that AI will take away the human touch, creativity, and emotion that make wedding photography so special and meaningful.

What do you think? Would you trust AI to capture your wedding day? Or would you prefer a human photographer? Let me know in the comments below!

[captain-kelli]

Publicity Stunt // 02

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader Summary: Plans are made for your first date, but Steve flips the script. Will it work out in your favor? Word Count: 3.8K Warnings: Language A/N: A few things: 

I no longer do tags. If you’d like to keep up with this story, follow @captain-kelli-library​​ and turn on the notifications! 

There are some images with text, as will be the case throughout the series. You can find the descriptions for them in the comments for accessibility!

Since this is apparently needed - do not share my work anywhere else. Period. 

You could ignore the gossip rags, but the tweets annoyed you. These people weren’t being paid to assault your character and upend your life.

“Who does that kind of shit for free?”

Standing in your lab coat next to the quantum computer, you tweaked the position of the microwave lines. The rest of the team already left for the day, so you had the lab to yourself - perfect conditions for venting to an inanimate object.

“If all of those women actually knew Raheem, they wouldn’t want to be within five feet of him. He lowers the IQ of any room he’s in.”

Along with a team of first-rate scientists and cutting-edge technology, you were able to make considerable upgrades to Paradox in a short amount of time. You were proud of the early progress and expectant of what was to come. Every day was a reminder of the opportunity you earned.

“So then why am I still so damn mad?”

You knew the answer to this question, of course. You were mad because Raheem soured the deal. He stole your joy and sowed seeds of doubt amongst the public and your peers. And he was a fucker for that.

Straying away from the quantum computer, you walked to the chalkboard. You had to beg Tony to install it, declining multiple offerings for holographic screens spanning the whole room. You wanted to kick it old school. The chalkboard was where you learned advanced physics from your favorite professor at MIT. It’s where you wrote the first line of the algorithm for Paradox. It’s where you wanted to continue to work.

The chalkboard appeared on the big, empty wall the next morning.

You were working out a calculus problem when you heard the door to the lab open. Ignoring the new guest, you curled your tongue over your upper lip in stern concentration as the chalk scrawled across the classically green board. The newcomer wordlessly found a seat in your desk chair, the wheels squeaking as they rolled around in it. 

Minutes passed by, though you weren’t sure how many, and your frustration with the math’s lack of cooperation grew until the piece of chalk you were holding finally snapped in your hand. A variable was missing. And it should’ve been obvious.

But you were thinking about Raheem.

“Damn it. That stupid motherfucker, piece of shit, no good…”

The whistle was low and descended. “Haven’t heard that kind of language since Germany.”

When you turned around, you saw Steve Rogers sitting at your desk, leaning back in the chair with one leg crossed comfortably over the other. If he was offended by your colorful words, he didn’t show it, so you didn’t bother apologizing. 

“Just having a hard time cracking the code,” you said as your thumb gestured back to the chalkboard. “It’s all a part of the process.”

“Yeah, sure. I have that reaction to calculus all the time.” The right side of his mouth tugged up into a grin with his gentle sarcasm and it eased your anger. 

Dusting the chalk off your hands with the help of your lab coat, you walked away from the board and closer to your desk. Closer to Steve. “How can I help you this afternoon, Captain?”

His hands pushed off his knees as he stood up. “Please, call me ‘Steve.’” He was charming, you’d give him that. “I was in Stark’s office before this, chatting with him and his publicist. It seems they’re eager to get this whole thing moving.” His hand motioned between the two of you.

“Oh, is that right? What do they have planned for our first outing?”

Steve spun around and walked to the chalkboard. “See, that’s the thing. I don’t really like their idea.” He considered the available pieces of chalk and continued, “that’s why I came to talk to you.” When he found a suitable piece, he began sketching on a blank part of the board. 

“What do you mean you didn’t like it? How bad could it possibly be? And don’t get too close to the equations.”

He kept his visual attention entirely focused on whatever it was he was drawing. “Tony wants us to go to a new restaurant opening in the East Village. The publicist, I think her name is Miranda, says a lot of big names are supposed to be there. It’d be easy press.”

It was clear he had no intention of turning around and you were tired of standing, so you grabbed your chair and wheeled it over to the board. “What’s wrong with that?”

The chalk scratched in repetitive strokes as he spoke. “It’s a little obvious, don’t you think? It’s a lot for a first date - especially after you got dragged in the press.”

An indignant eyebrow shot up. “Hey! I didn’t get dragged.” 

At that, he looked over his shoulder at you. “You did. Not your fault, but you did.” Back to the drawing. “The press is smart enough to put two and two together. And if they’re not, Twitter will. If we’re actually going to do this, it should be believable. That’s all I’m saying.”

You and your brain full of post-quantum physics spun in the chair, thoughts of Raheem dissipating by the minute. Instead, you were wondering when the old man learned the subtleties of social media. “Alright then, Steve. What do you propose we do instead?”

Steve returned the piece of chalk to the basin, dusted off his hands, and revealed his drawing. “I’m told first dates are casual in this century, so let’s get lunch. Since you’re still new to the city, I thought it’d be fun to check out the Loeb Boathouse.”

On your board, he drew Central Park’s reservoir with the boathouse restaurant in the background and it was beautiful. 

“A working lunch. Okay.”

“Schrödinger, come to the robotics lab. We need to talk,” the text read. 

Tony started Friday morning scrolling through social media, looking for evidence of your appearance at Urban Seed Kitchen. When he couldn’t find anything, he had JARVIS scour the internet for any hint of your outing with Rogers. 

Nothing.

He remembered concocting the idea with Miranda. The publicist connected with the restaurant owners and secured a table for the two of you. She made several calls to journalists she had relationships with, tipping them off that you’d be there. He slowly and articulately explained the plan to Cap.

So, what was the issue?

There should have been stunning pictures of the two of you everywhere. Unless the two of you didn’t go. Which Tony suspected.

The question was, “why the hell not?”

“Because Steve came up with a different idea. I thought he would’ve told you,” you explained when you arrived at the robotics lab 15 floors above yours. Tony realized then that you hardly knew your imitation boyfriend - this was exactly his style.

“Well - he didn’t. Care to share?” Tony popped jellybeans into his mouth while awaiting your answer.

It was an effort for him to maintain his composure as you recounted Cap’s idea. If he was being honest, Tony would have had to admit it was a good idea. A perceptive strategy. He might have even gone so far as to confess that he wished the plan was his. But he was annoyed, so that wasn’t the way it went. 

“...so we’ll be going to lunch in Central Park tomorrow afternoon,” you said as the explanation came to a finish.

Tony put the half-eaten bag of jellybeans down on his desk and picked up a screwdriver. It danced between his fingers before he clapped it against his palm all the while wishing he could put together words like he could a machine. 

“If the two of you had talked to me about all of this, I could’ve pointed out the massive flaw in your little plan.” There was an edge to his voice that he didn’t attempt to hide, his frustration growing.

“Okay, Einstein. Fair. What are we missing?” 

It wasn’t meant to be a confrontation. Your tone was light. And you were open to feedback. Without the tension of an argument, the two of you could just solve the problem. The strain in Tony’s shoulders eased and then he continued.

“If we don’t let the press know you’re going to be there, the two of you are just going to lunch. We’ve gotta loop Miranda into these decisions so she can work her magic. Luckily, a 24-hour notice should be enough.”

His phone appeared from out of his pocket and he punched out a text to the publicist. It was such an easy fix that Tony was suddenly glad he heard the news from you just so he didn’t have to fight with Rogers. It made for a nice change of pace.

You were walking out of the lab, presumably to return to your own work, when Tony stopped you. “One more thing, I got word back from legal.”

With the door handle in your grip, you spun around. “And?”

“No dice. The non-disparagement clause only covers Paradox and Stark Industries, not your personal relationship. We’re sending a cease-and-desist letter as a formality, but it’s not exactly enforceable,” he explained.

You frowned and pushed further. “Can we sue him for defamation? If for no other reason than to rack up his lawyer fees?”

“Not if you want the press to like you again. Like it or not, he looks like the victim here, so our best bet is to move on from it. Give them something else to talk about, remember? Starting with lunch tomorrow.”

Tony watched as you nodded your head in defeated agreement. “Starting with lunch tomorrow.”

The motorcycle’s engine came to a whisper as Steve parked it on your block. You had offered to just meet him at the restaurant, but he insisted on walking through the park together. Sliding off the bike, he walked the short distance to your doorstep and rang the buzzer.

“I’ll be right down,” you said over the intercom. 

Steve stood at the bottom of the stairs of the stoop, hands stuffed into the pockets of his black bomber jacket. Unsure of what to wear on a fictitious first date, he kept it simple with a white t-shirt and jeans, so he was relieved to see you kept it simple, too.

The army-green utility jacket and ripped jeans said, “casual,” he thought. Though, the black heels caught his eye. 

“It’s a twenty-minute walk to the restaurant, you sure you’re good in those shoes?” His eyebrows rose as he pointed to your feet and you looked down.

“What? Don’t like ‘em?” Twirling at the top of the steps, Steve got a full look at you and had to do his best to keep it professional. 

“They’re nice - just not the shoes I would’ve picked for a long walk.”

“We don’t have to walk, let’s hail a cab if you’re that worried about me.” You came down the stairs now, meeting his gaze with a wink.

“I have a better idea.”

Moments later, Steve was cutting through New York traffic on his Harley with your arms wrapped around his waist underneath his jacket. You had complained about the lack of helmets and threatened to kill him if you died, less than subtle ways to demonstrate your feelings on motorcycles. In a calm, if not teasing tone, he assuaged every fear. Somewhere on Amsterdam Avenue, he silently grinned as you clung to his body even tighter.

As far as missions went, this one was certainly the most fun. The least life-threatening. Still, he lost sleep the night he volunteered. He had been convinced that Raheem was a dick and you needed help, but the plan was inherently dishonest. He questioned if there was not an honorable way to garner the positive attention from the press that Tony insisted you needed. He doubted the willingness of the public to believe what he thought was such an obvious lie. It was a decision made in haste and it worried him. But he trusted Natasha and Tony. And he already liked you.

Hours after he agreed to the arrangement, he made a silent promise to himself - if he was going to do this, it was damn well going to be believable. Otherwise, there was little point in doing it at all. That’s why he walked into your lab and flipped the script.

It did not, however, account for the pleasant flutter in his chest at the feeling of your hands on his body. He elected to ignore that altogether and focused on the mission.

He nestled the bike in a small, empty spot on the corner of 74th and Central Park West. The warmth of your arms disappeared as you climbed off the back and he quickly followed. It was only a matter of minutes before you were in the park and deep in conversation.

“You actually met the codebreakers at Bletchley Park? I don’t believe it.” 

It wasn’t often that Steve shared stories from the war - it felt like an entirely different life and version of himself - but when you were explaining how that moment in history impacted your decision to found Paradox, he saw an opening. 

“Scout’s honor. The invitation came after B.P. intelligence helped us take out three HYDRA bases that weren’t even on our radar. Monty was over the moon when the call came.”

The two of you walked side-by-side, passing the Bethesda Fountain, and you continued to interrogate Steve.

“Did you get to go into any of the huts? Did you see any of the ciphers, the bombes? Did you get to meet Alan Turing?”

Steve smiled wide at your enthusiasm, enjoying the way your eyes danced between each and every thought. He pushed that sensation down and answered your questions.

“No, nothing like that. Even though we signed the Official Secrets Act long before the visit, they kept every secret compartmentalized well. We did get a tour of the grounds and lunch in the mansion though. And Dum Dum Dugan disappeared with one of the girls from Hut 8. I remember that.” The memory made Steve laugh and miss his old friend.

The Loeb Boathouse came into view along with a spray of daffodils and cherry blossoms. Spring in New York had become Steve’s favorite after he came out of the ice. Like him, the city escaped from winter’s chill and sprung back to life. The kaleidoscope of colors renewed his hope in his newfound existence and eased the loss of a former life unlived.

To Steve’s delight, it was warm enough to sit on the restaurant’s patio overlooking the lake. You thanked the hostess after she shared the specials for the afternoon along with a recommendation of her favorite plate and then settled into your seat. Steve screened what he could see of the restaurant and park from where he was sitting.

“You said Tony made the arrangements for the photographers?” His voice was low as if he was on a covert mission somewhere in Eastern Europe. This was, after all, a job. Or so he kept telling himself.

You, he realized, seemed unfazed. Ignoring his question, you continued to study the menu, only looking up to ask, “do you think the panccheri pasta is too heavy for lunch?”

Instead of meeting his eye, you were looking past him at the dock full of rowboats and gondolas. Among them, Steve saw a man with a camera and understood your silent message.

 “After that walk? No, I think the pasta is perfect.”

The rest of lunch was a show. In between over-the-top smiles and brief touchings of hands, Steve shared a few more stories from the second world war in exchange for the history of Raheem. 

“It wasn’t some big love story. I could probably count on a single hand the number of times we ever muttered the words, ‘I love you.’ It was mostly business, although I wouldn’t have admitted it at the time. Our relationship served a purpose.”

Steve listened intently, recognizing the same could be said about your own pseudo-relationship together. He was lost in that realization when you asked, “what about you? I’m assuming you’re single now, otherwise, this arrangement would be problematic. But what about before? Have you ever been in love?”

Looking back over to the rowboats, Steve noticed the photographer had left and allowed his face to fall a bit. “Not in this lifetime.”

Thoughts of Peggy drifted lazily into his mind and a fondness bloomed within him.

“What happened to her?”

When he looked back to you, your elbows were on the table and your face was in the palms of your hands. You were leaning in. It wasn’t the best topic for a first date he could admit, even a fake one. But for once, the vulnerability didn’t unsettle him.

“Exactly what I would’ve hoped. She lived a beautiful, meaningful life and found love again.” Steve’s eyes went back to the lake as did yours and it was quiet for a time.

Eventually, the sound of your voice broke the spell of the exes. “Well, how do you think we did on our first mission, Captain? Objective complete?”

His face warmed when he looked back to you. “I suppose we’ll find out tomorrow, but I think it was a solid effort by the team,” he said, trying to sound serious while furrowing his brow.

The lighthearted tone of conversation returned on the walk through the park and back to the bike. And when your arms wrapped around Steve’s waist for a second time, he allowed himself the briefest of seconds to enjoy it.

You woke up on Sunday morning in a daze. 

Buried deep in a sea of pillows and a comforter, you soaked in the events of yesterday. Steve Rogers, as it turned out, was every bit as wonderful as the world suspected. New York felt more like home than it had since you moved here. And, for the first time since Boston, you felt in control of your future again.

If you still held any skepticism for the plan after yesterday, it disappeared entirely the moment you picked up your phone. 

Over 400 Twitter notifications. 15 missed phone calls. 192 unread emails. Scrambling to open a browser, you quickly searched for your name and, sure enough, half the internet was talking about your date with Steve. After perusing four or five articles, you felt it safe to say that the reception was positive and you breathed a sigh of relief.

It’s working. 

Closing the browser, you noticed more than a few notifications in your texts. The first one you opened was from Steve. “Objective officially complete. Well done.” You laughed at the winking emoji he used, continuously impressed with his determination to assimilate to this century. You shot back a response, “thankful for the strategic direction of army command.”

The second text you read was from Tony. “If you ever tell him this, you’re fired, but Steve was right. The pictures really sell it.” Though you promised to keep your lips sealed, you planned to tell Steve the moment you saw him next.

There were a few other texts from friends, shrieking that you didn’t tell them you had a date planned with Captain America. In an effort to keep up the charade, you indulged them with details of the lunch, acting as if it were real.

The last unread text was from Raheem. An aggravated sigh fought its way out of your throat as you finally opened it. “Can we talk?”

The two of you hadn’t spoken in months. The master tactician walked away from the acquisition a multi-millionaire and a media darling. You heard it through the grapevine that he landed a job as Chief Operating Officer at one of the leading hedge funds in Manhattan, a position that he undoubtedly bought and would use to line his pockets. He had a rotating roster of models that clung to his arm every weekend, or so it appeared on social media.

Can we talk?

What the fuck did the two of you have to talk about anymore? He got what he wanted from you - fame and fortune. There was nothing left to discuss.

“No. Delete my number.”

The phone pinged not a second later. “If you really didn’t want to talk, you wouldn’t have even responded. Come on, let’s work this out.”

He had a point, so you opened his contact profile and blocked his number.

Rolling out of bed, you decided to head to work. Yeah, it was the weekend and you didn’t have to, but you felt inspired by your afternoon with Steve. There was an incomplete equation left on your chalkboard and you had a good idea of how to solve it. The missing variable wasn’t such a mystery anymore.

On the way to the tower, you snagged a copy of the New York Bulletin and laughed when you found yourself on the front page. Life had flipped upside down in a matter of months, but it wasn’t all bad.

In the lab next to your unfinished equation was his chalk drawing. You always liked a clean board so you grabbed the eraser, but paused as it hovered over the sketch. When the idea occurred to you, you dropped the eraser in the basin and grabbed a pair of scissors.

The blades made quick work out of the article. Taking a magnet from your desk, you rushed to the board to hang the clipping that told the story of your first date alongside Steve’s drawing. 

Then and only then were you able to finish the equation, no longer distracted with thoughts of Raheem.

[iam93percentstardust]

so i want to talk for a minute about why it’s so important that you reblog fics on tumblr (yes, i know there’s a problem with art too but this is specifically about fics today)

first of all, let me kick this off by saying, if you’re reading this, this is for you specifically. yes, you with less than a hundred followers, you with less than ten followers, you with zero followers. there seems to be this misconception that it doesn’t matter if you don’t reblog something because no one will see it and i’m telling you right here, right now, that you’re wrong. it definitely 100% matters and i’m going to tell you why

last month, i reached a follower milestone and was very excited - for about a day and a half and then my excitement plummeted because what i realized was that i had just hit this milestone and yet the number of notes on my fics had never been lower. at first i was baffled. how could i have more followers than ever but be getting less notes than i used to? at the time, i was posting one to two ficlets every day so i thought maybe the quality was decreasing because of how much i was putting out and i just hadn’t noticed so i decided to take a break from posting ficlets and focused on my longer works and the events i was participating in

i went back to posting today after asking for prompts from followers yesterday and go figure, the number of notes is still lower than it was compared to posts from the beginning of the year, even factoring in the time that’s passed since then. so then i thought to check the notes themselves and what i ended up finding was that while the number of likes hadn’t changed, the reblogs had (interestingly, this drop in notes coincided with a post making the rounds telling writers to be happy with the silent readers who leave neither likes nor reblogs on works but that’s a story for another post)

this is when i went to a couple friends to complain that i didn’t know what i was doing wrong and made an off-hand comment about wondering if people were seeing all these posts begging for people to reblog and just not thinking it applied to them, which is when may - thank you, may - told me that yeah, that’s exactly what a lot of blogs think so let me tell you why it does actually matter that you reblog, even if you don’t think it does

firstly, as it relates just to the author, when you reblog, you’re telling the author that not only did you like their story, but you want to share it with everyone else too. i don’t know an author out there who doesn’t go through the reblogs and read the tags and i can pretty much guarantee that we all get that warm, fuzzy feeling when someone leaves a particularly nice tag

there are two common arguments that i hear for this point: what if i like something cringey and why does it matter if i reblog something when i don’t have any followers to share it with?

as for the first argument, no media is unproblematic and no media is something that everyone will consider non-cringey. there’s always going to be someone out there who thinks your chosen fandom is cringey and it’s best to realize that now and get over it. you can’t please everyone. besides, it’s your blog. why wouldn’t you want to post things you like on your blog?

as for the second argument, if it’s not enough for you that even just the act of wanting to share fics means something to the authors, then let me bring you to my second point: fandom is built on active, not passive, participation

we’ve all heard stories about the star trek fans who actively passed paper copies of fic around to share it with people. fandom was built on sharing those fics. friendships were built on sharing those fics. and if those fans had taken the fics they wrote and hidden them away, shared them with only a couple friends and told them not to distribute their works, modern fandom as it is today wouldn’t exist. we’d still be hiding our fics, hoping that we don’t get the all-terrifying dmca notice

along the same lines, tumblr is built on active participation. every couple of months, it seems like tumblr comes out with a new way to make it harder for content creators to share their stuff: the 2018 nsfk ban, shadow-banning, problems with the read more, and recently not being able to put links in your work if you want it to show up in the tags. all of this means that it’s up to us to keep fandom on tumblr going because tumblr isn’t going to do it for us

tumblr’s algorithm, unlike just about every other social media site, is designed around reblogs. this, in many ways, makes sense. tumblr is a blogging platform so of course its algorithm is designed around what gets shared. this means that posts that show up in the tags are the ones that get reblogged. the posts that show up in the On Your Dashboard, What You Missed, and Recommended features are all the ones that get reblogged. the posts that show up on the login screen, for those of you who regularly see it, are the ones that get, you guessed it, reblogged

so what that means is that, even though you might have only a couple or even no followers, your reblog counts toward that algorithm and that post gets bumped a little bit higher in the tag

which is why it’s such a big problem when people stop reblogging. i can’t tell you how many times i’ve seen a tag saying something along the lines of “wow this is so good, why doesn’t it have more notes?” well, typically it’s because anywhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of the notes on that post are likes, which means that tumblr’s algorithm counted my fic as worthless and didn’t bother promoting it

which leaves me where i currently am: reblogging my own ficlets over and over in the hopes that someone will like it enough to reblog it, tagging it with something as pleading as “if you like please consider reblogging” because if i use anything stronger, i get a whole bunch of people telling me that i can’t tell people what to post

no, you’re right, i can’t tell you what to post. the most i can do is beg and explain yet again why every reblog counts

[shoichee]

hello! may i ask some tips about the instragram acccunts the GoM + kagami could have? like of sort of post, amount of followers, stuff like that THANK U and have a great day !!

THIS IS ACTUALLY HILARIOUS SINCE I BREATHE OFF OF INSTAGRAM LFMAO

[Headcanons]

Kuroko Tetsuya

HELP WHAT IF HE HAS NO PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA TOO—

professional lurker

never comments on anything unless it’s to congratulate under a friend’s post or something like that

probably started using it because Ogiwara moved from letters and texts to just... instagram (technology advancements, jazz hands)

his account is on private, and he only lets people he knows follow him

all of his posts are pictures to commemorate something or just really wholesome group pictures

DEFINITELY has that picture of the GoMs at his birthday OVA

DEFINITELY also posted the big birthday picture taken at the end of the party

and also had typed very sappy BIG paragraph captions for both of these posts, talking about the journey and him being grateful… y’know, him being him

HIS ENTIRE COMMENT SECTIONS ARE JUST EVERYONE SOBBING AND KEYBOARD SPAMMING??? ONLY LIKE MIDORIMA AND AKASHI POST COHERENT RESPONSES UNDERNEATH

@kiseryouta: kuROKOCCHIIIII!!NEJWIEISK

@momoiowo: TETSUU (ʃƪ˘･ᴗ･˘) YOURE SO SWEET REEEE

@a_daikiii: i stg quit being so corny no one died yet🙄 and @momoiowo relax smh

@shin_chan77: I suppose I can express some form of gratitude for being in my life despite you being a blood type A. (insert a giant paragraph after this)

@4k4shi: This was very touching to read, Kuroko. I’m very glad that our… (insert him going down memory lane)

Murasakibara has no comment LMAO

his entire Seirin team are his hype men under his posts

his profile picture is literally the gray default blank head because he didn’t even set up a profile picture for himself

he has like 20 followers max or something?

8 posts? like, he only posts on special occasions or big events

his occasional stories are always comprised of Nigou and blurry Kagami pictures/videos running away from Nigou UH OH (courtesy of @dust-of-fandoms)

@tetsuya11 for his user handle

@dust-of-fandoms JUST MADE AN INSTAGRAM FOR HIM HERE!!

Kise Ryota

uses his instagram account as a portfolio for his modeling career

majority of his posts are actually pictures he managed to snag from his frequent model shoots

it looks SO professional… but then you look at his IGTVs and his reel videos

his reels are either short clips of mini vlog series he does whenever he visits the GoMs or when he’s recording his Kaijō teammates doing tricks and dunks

his IGTVs are either skincare tutorials, fashion advice… or just… unexplainable, out-of-context shitposts of Kise running away from what fans assumed “a green-haired man” or some “captain”

follower account?? 124k

who wouldn’t resist a hot model?

DEFINITELY HAS A TIKTOK I CAN FEEL IT

@kiseryouta with an official verification next to it

people either love him or hate him

posts a casual selfie from time to time, and people praise him for “being real” LMAODOA AND HE’S JUST STARING AT HIS PHONE LIKE “??? IMIG BUT I JUST FELT CUTE TODAY”

his captions feel fake LMAO like: “Wow! today’s so pretty today!” as he puts a selfie post OR “What’s your favorite game?✨” under a professionally-shot model picture that does not correlate with the caption???

has posted shitposts on his stories and his fans are utterly confused… only the GoMs get it LMAO

Midorima Shintarou

ONLY reason why he has social media is because Takao convinced him that he could let everyone know the daily lucky items for each signs for every post he makes

so for the first 2 months of having instagram he just casually posts a “daily horoscope” report(?) for the day

his content attracted in all the astrology fans and people who are devoted to tarots

and he’s CONFUSED.

… Takao may or may not have played a hand in messing with the algorithms to expose his account to bigger audiences

once Midorima finds out he’s MAD LMAO *insert Takao pain noises*

either goes down two paths: just casually continuing to post the daily Oha Asa predictions without interacting with anyone OR deleting his account and making a new PRIVATE one just for communication/lurking purposes

so he can honestly have 10k followers if he chooses to be a horoscope account or like 3 followers on his private, take it or leave it

maybe he has two accounts if he feels that having instagram has its merits

definitely has a shit ton of random stuff/posts in his saved collections

boomer energy, like… what’s a “reels” feature?? people talk to their phone camera and record that?? he’s squinting really hard and scratching his head

either has 356 horoscope posts on his “main” or like 19 posts on his private

has a rubber duck as a profile picture for BOTH ACCOUNTS HELP HIM

@oha_asa_ for his horoscope account or @shin_chan77 as his personal because he doesn’t know how to change his username (thanks, Takao LMAO)

Aomine Daiki

he doesn’t give a shit about instagram LOL

it’s MOMOI who handles his account because he doesn’t wanna bother with it LMAOO

she would tease him and try to “encourage” him to stop lazing around by taking pictures of him whenever he’s snoozing and posting it

but he’s so damn good-looking that his sleeping pictures got some traction with new fans

Aomine is still sleeping

his account also has pictures of him eating at Maji burger or at a café, and of course Momoi is the one snapping these photos of him

he started caring about it a little more once Momoi told him that he can post videos of himself doing trickshots and one-on-ones to potentially find worthy rivals over the internet and meet up

so now his account (videos, reels, IGTVs) are all riddled with basketball/small parkour footage shot by yours truly, Momoi

so his fanbase is split between thirsty people and people who genuinely admire him for his skills… but I mean there’s also people in both categories, anywho

he’d totally follow his favorite Japanese idols on IG if they had one

also would follow any NBA-related accounts/players he admires

has like 2.7k followers (but growing really fast) with like 176 posts of videos and random pictures of him

his profile picture is literally a picture of him sleeping by Momoi

@a_daikiii

Momoi Satsuki

LOTS OF REALLY cute, playful selfies, and a lot of them are used with cute filters from the Snow app

sometimes would post herself doing a really cute Tiktok dance while in her school uniform

she doesn’t post too much; she’s actually more into posting IG stories and making highlights out of them and then making highlight covers have a coordinating theme together

very aesthetic theme on her feed overall hehe

definitely uses her account to comment on other GoMs posts, often commenting something snarky on Aomine’s and Kise’s

actually has 1-2 IGTVs on the Vorpal Sword’s big game against the Jabberwocks

doesn’t have much of full-body shots/outfit pictures other than mirror selfies because Aomine refuses to take good pictures of her

only when she sees Kise or Kuroko is when she can ask either to be a photographer

she’s definitely gotten a few small collab offers from small businesses, but she usually ignores them because it’s not exactly her thing

her profile picture is just a selfie with a sketch-line cat ear filter

uses a bunch of emoticons on her bio, captions, comments, everything

⌒(ㅇㅅㅇ❀)⌒ or ☆⌒(＞。≪) or .₊̣̇.ෆ˟̑*̑˚̑*̑˟̑ෆ.₊̣̇.ෆ˟̑*̑˚̑*̑˟̑ෆ.₊̣̇.ෆ˟̑*̑˚̑*̑˟̑ෆ.₊̣̇.ෆ˟̑*̑˚̑*̑˟̑ෆ.₊̣̇. you get the picture

967 followers… that looks way too specific, but it’s somewhere around there; a lot of them came from Aomine’s account after they saw who’s been taking his pictures, and they wanna learn more about her??

around 40 posts?

@momoiowo

Murasakibara Atsushi

Himuro showed him how to use the app, but Murasakibara doesn’t find ANY USE FOR THIS LMAOO

he’d probably only get on it to look at food on the explore page and drool about the cuisines

keeps tabs on local places/restaurants/shops on instagram; those are probably the only accounts he’d follow tbh

it’s probably like ONE post and it’s an old picture of a dango on a plate he ate like 2 years ago

I have this image in my head that he has a really cute bento art as his profile picture?? can you imagine a Rilakkuma-shaped rice as his PROFILE PICTURE?

his bio is definitely: “hungry”

and that’s it

27 followers, and it’s literally just his Yōsen teammates, the GoMs and probably some other classmates of his

his captions are literally empty or 1-2 words

@oomaib0

Akashi Seijuro

only uses instagram because it’ll be beneficial for his company and to expand social networks, plus getting those sweet business deals and engagement

he doesn’t mind seeing really wholesome videos on the explore page though

when he wants to relax, a cat video melts his stress away

laughs to himself while he reads all the shenanigans underneath the GoMs’ posts

DEFINITELY loses a few brain cells seeing trolls and idiots on the internet… especially on controversial or political ones LMAO

he at first had to REFRAIN himself and take deep breaths before he just scrolls on, but he eventually got used to them and can now easily ignore them as easy as he breathes air

he actually enjoys shitposts and meme videos?? like he may not completely understand the meme trends sometimes, but he’ll still find it amusing enough for a chuckle

he ends up being the one who uses instagram the most? like Kise posts a shit ton, yeah, but Kise doesn’t really sit down and just scroll endlessly; Kise releases out content, while Akashi consumes the content

he reasons with himself that it’s to study his current demographics for the company, and while that may be true, Akashi just enjoys social media, plain and simple LOL

he does get to study the behaviors of all the generations using the platform, young folks and old folks alike, and it does get him excited in using his analytical skills to try to figure out people BEHIND a screen rather than those in front of him

it makes a really good challenge for him when he wants a good mental exercise

he has a post or two about his horses, his manor, and a video or two on him playing his violin?? but most are business-related, them being advertisements or business contracts/offers… things like that

his highlights are all about Q&As regarding the company, his background, his skillsets, etc. like an actual resumé

actually links current world issue cards/petitions on top of his company website; he’s quite an advocate

he actually doesn’t post about basketball because that’s something very close to his heart since it reminds him of his late mother… having that mixed in with his company-related posts feels wrong to him

27k followers, most of them are business-related accounts AND some are some followers his father bought for him without Akashi’s input to inflate engagement, etc.

@4k4shi… oh he thinks he’s SO CLEVER FOR MAKING THIS USERNAME LOL with the 4 being his jersey number and the 4s looking like As… AKASHI PLEASE—

his profile pic is like a professionally taken picture, nothing less for our king

his grammar and syntax are impeccable on social media; after all, he’s still being judged for how he carries himself even on the media

Kagami Taiga

mukbang guy… DEFINITELY

hot guy eating nine plates of steaks

IGTVs are filled with mukbang videos because Kuroko said he could make a living off of his appetite

HE COULD MAKE MONEY OFF OF JUST EATING? SIGN HIM UP.

on his posts, he posts dishes he makes for the day/is proud of and talks about the dish and ingredients briefly in the caption

that, or he has pictures of his new basketball shoes LMAO

or all of his basketball merch

HE’S DEFINITELY POSTED PICTURES OF LANDMARKS AND OTHER ICONIC PLACES HE’S TRAVELED TO (*cough* in America)

has a generic Jordan brand logo against a dark background as a profile picture

doesn’t have his face anywhere unless it’s in a mukbang video

279 followers or something

why do I have a feeling that he’ll accidentally blow up when Alex takes his phone to do a quick selfie on it?—

@taiga10

[sickofthistoxicshit]

This is my 4x12 review - skip if you haven’t watched yet.💖

In my opinion the whole Treasure Hunt thing, had a S2 bank mystery vibe about it. Like the silly calm before the storm, again in parallel to right before when Buck was hurt.

I knew the Author jerk is alive the second I saw the actor who played it, the was not one show where he guest starred and wasn’t a jerk 😂😂

So since I did my own version of live writing, I apologize if this is a bit disorganized.

We got so much buddie bread crumbs, that eventually felt like a meal at the end of the episode so let’s start with: Both boys in sunglasses - oh WOW! 🔥🔥  

Bobby sending Eddie with Chimney and Buck looking thoroughly unhappy to be separated from Eddie. They nod at each other and while Buck frowns at Chimney, Eddie crosses himself before going to get geared up.

It was a small gesture but very significant because Eddie has already crashed in a chopper (in 3x15 and watched Hen and Strand crash in the crossover) he knows what could go wrong.

Chimney’s “cheer up you can go next time” doesn’t really reassure Buck. I think a “we’ll be fine” or “I’ll keep him safe” would have calmed Buck’s nerves a lot more.

Can we discuss for a second how HOT!! Eddie looked doing the aerial rescue? I mean WOW, I watched it several times. 🥵🥵🥵

The 118 sitting together trying to figure out the riddle was funny, everyone thinking how it’s a bad idea to even consider this to be a real thing, except for Buck, of course. 😂

And while the others are already considering how freaking horrible the rest of their shift  is going to be like, because it’s all over the news thanks to Taylor Kelly’s story.

Eddie called Taylor - Buck’s “girlfriend”, but we don’t see his face, we do get to see it, when Buck stresses (for what feels like the millionth time from the sigh and tone of his voice) that she is his friend not his girlfriend.

Eddie’s “Yeah, sure, right.” face is priceless!!😂😂  

Buck and Taylor plotting together again, is always hilarious, those two are disaster magnets, it makes for good fun. What bothered me was that Buck offered Taylor to pair up, but re-watching, everybody’s reaction didn’t exactly originally encouraged a teaming up vibe.

However the problem with human nature is - everyone love to obsess over riddles. 😉😉

Eddie jumping through the window into the fire truck? epic!

Eddie did suggest to team up to Buck and I love that even after Buck told him he’s working with Taylor, the look on Eddie’s face melted Buck almost immediately and had him suggesting Eddie joins the two of them. 🥰🥰

The scene in Buck’s apartment, with the three of them Eddie is right between Taylor and Buck in the shot and kind of “talking to himself” was so funny. - Gave me a BBC Sherlock scene between Irene Adler, Sherlock and John.

The way Martin Freeman stole the scene just by dropping small comments. I gotta give it to Eddie, out of all of everything in that scene, Ryan performance is what I’m going to remember. - Acting choices were made all throughout this episode by both Oliver and Ryan.

Also can we talk about the fact that Eddie is now stating little bits of knowledge like Buck now - “I can know weird stuff too” from 4x03 is so haunting me, these boys have totally rubbed off each other. (get your minds out of the gutters... for now anyway 😉)

I love how Eddie and Buck sit down and scratch, just thinking about the fire ants 😂😂

Buck being lowered into the septic tank - notice, Eddie is the one handling the rope, again, his expression worried while Buck is still down there, especially after having to drop him into the water.

I have noticed that Bobby sent Eddie up in the chopper, but is reluctant to send him under ground still 😉🙃

Buck’s “come on” when Eddie and Bobby made a face and walked away from the stench was so funny. Also super adorable on Buck’s part. 

I love how Taylor keeps shutting Buck down, it’s amusing to watch now that I know how the episode ends.

Athena being done with idiots the entire episode was hilarious! Angela is a queen!

I loved that 9-1-1 dispatchers were running a bet of places where the treasure may be. (Josh’s “Who thought that was a good idea?” and someone shouting “not it!” had me in stitches 😂😂)

Let’s take a break from buddie for a second:

Hen and Chimney joining the race and Bobby trying to hide his research from Athena was so funny, I mean, she is a police sergeant, there was no way she wouldn’t figure him out.

Bobby planning a future together, a life after the job, and Athena shutting him down. I do think this is what will come between them eventually. Athena making a unilateral decision, without considering even talking about a future with Bobby that doesn’t revolve around them working until they’re either forced out or buried six feet under ground. 

I find it interesting because it’s usually the other way around, my mom has been working on my dad to retire for years now so they can travel before both of them are too old to do it. So I kinda get where Bobby’s coming from.

In parallel though, Athena making the unilateral decision like Eddie did when he re-enlisted in 3x15. I do hope Bobby and Athena manage to work things out, I love them together. 

Back to the hunt:

Of course Athena worked out where the treasure is, Karen built an algorithm, and Taylor apparently helping Buck and Eddie figure it out bringing all three teams together.

Athena looking to Buck and Eddie asking them if they seriously brought their gear with them and Eddie pointing at Hen and Chimney to divert the attention from them about their med-kits. - like children trying to justify themselves to their parents. 😂😂😂

Wasting time negotiating about the money was hilarious, especially with Taylor in the chopper hovering over them lmao.

And then there was probie - Jesus! I laughed so much.  😂🤦‍♂️

Also Buck’s “I’m not doing anymore math”, as a reference to “she taught me math”, Buck’s not doing that shit. He calculated enough for one day and he is done!  😂

I do like that Oli and Ryan’s marks are closer together again ❣❣❣  

Eddie: “We didn’t kill him”  Buck: “We just wanted to” Bobby’s “Shut up” face killed me.

Probie selling them out “I don’t know these ppl.” You don’t say shit like this as a probie 😂😂😂

Also Rick saying “I didn’t actually think it was” and I'm just enjoying the moment, was awesome. I like it when he shows up in episodes, he and Athena make a good and amusing team. 

Back to buddie bread crumbs:

Everyone in Bathena’s house, including Taylor, who took the place next to buck, leaving Eddie to sit directly in front of Taylor and next to Chimney. - The “At this point I don’t trust anyone.” cuts to Eddie’s face, that looked as if he’s saying “Seriously dude? hurtful” - The fact that Buck stopped and met Eddie’s reproachful gaze even though they are not directly in front of each other says so much! 

Also the “Stop for a second and think about what you said.” looks from Chimney and the others are very meaningful. (#everybody knows 😉)  Buck sticking his foot in his mouth and him backtracking are shot directly from Eddie’s perspective. - hmm, I wonder why…? 🧐🧐

And to complete the meal:

Taylor placing Buck directly in the Friend-Zone category, was genius. And while Buck and Taylor have a fun energy together it never really felt romantically oriented. Also I have a certain feeling that seeing Buck and Eddie interact, at Buck’s place and at Bathena’s house and not for the first time either, she knows it will not work between her and Buck.

Buck, trying to feel something more for her, even if in a gentler and way sweeter way than the cursed ship I will not name, it feels forced on his end too - and Taylor lets him off the hook in a gentle way too, I like her for that even more. 

I really hope we keep seeing Taylor in a friend capacity for Buck, I think it’s good for him to have support and someone to talk to outside the 118. And I will absolutely worship Taylor if she will be the buddie catalyst, I mean Megan does ship buddie too, it will only be appropriate 😉💖

The episode in itself was pretty nice, I would have probably enjoyed it more if I watched it before LS who absolutely kicked me in the feels today. But I do know that just like 9-1-1 2x15 I’ll go back and watch it like a million times because it is a fun episode to pass the time, and the buddie crumbs were delicious. 

The promo kicked me in the feels too, I will not discuss it here right now, but I do hope that that last part won’t be a cliff hanger and we’ll have to wait an entire week for the rest, two weeks of frayed nerves are a LOT to suffer through 🙈

Sending big hugs out there to whomever needs it 🤗🤗🤗

[msgrumpygills]

Social Media Anon Here!

Firstly, never change Grumpy ;) you are probably the only person on Tumblr to LISTEN to another view and let it change a prejudice.

Secondly, the Padagram/Social Media change bus continues. Don't be fooled people will be looking at positive and negative reactions to that change on social media.

So here goes!

1. They are starting to market season 2 of Walker in Hiatus. That really doesn't happen. That means they know they need to target new viewers. They are acknowledging they have a problem. The main problem is Jared either didn't learn enough about production quality on SPN (Jensen/Misha were both more interested in behind the camera's) or that he thought he could stick a Stetson on and we all had such sh1t for brains we'd watch anything. So they need a viewer boost DESPARATELY and are going all out to (a) persuade Walkers remaining viewer(s) that it's worth sticking around and (b) get back old viewers or convert 1m+ viewers to season 2. So now we see all the cast (and Keegan has more followers than Jared and Lindsay has a VERY engaged following) trying to persuade their followers how fabulous Walker is. Expect this scrabbling to continue if they want their COVID paychecks.

2. Connected to 1, Jared has started trying to break out of the fandom bubble. I don't think he's trying for power couple (the clue in a power couple is that two FAMOUS people get together and create a super brand, here we have one niche C famous guy and a hanger on wife), I think we are in Jared profile raising and trying to raise his recognition score, which is probably a little low having half assed it in the last year and a half. He's doing it by scatter-gunning so I'm not sure it's going to stick.

3. Connected to 2,

(i) if I run my algorithm clean laptop with a "Jared Padalecki" news search, I get (a) a daily mail article on Jared "clarifying the rift" (b) a "hello" magazine saying he's been "inundated with support after death of "family member"" (c) the new york times article on Walker and Supernatural. It then goes into a variety of articles about Jared raising money for Holly's family (fucking atrocious in my view to use her death for publicity) and a series of derivative articles on his mantrum and later explanation. ONLY THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE MENTIONS WALKER other than as a throw away, all of the others link to Supernatural only. Walker isn't on the main radar of anyone as a show. It's not mainstream enough to mention. it has ZERO buzz.

(ii) if I run the same search on my compromised tablet, I get a SEA of fluff articles "jared padalecki goes to venice", "jared padalecki's wife wishes him a happy birthday" "jared padalecki goes to watch soccer" "jared padalecki goes to the wrestling". I'm expecting "Jared Padalecki defecates regularly" tomorrow.

At the end of that I get the same articles as in (i) but the majority of his publicity is still going through the fandom and the, not very viewed, endless zine type websites that update on every episode of every geek show every day.

So we are seeing, and I expect it to continue, a break out Padalecki, (who knows he and his forehead may wish to have a final crack at films), and a fluff Padalecki, trying to stay relevant a year after SPN relevance ended, because he hasn't got the same push for season 2 of Walker as he had for season 1 and Walker has zero presence. No one, not even the fans are talking about Walker.

Will it work? I don't think so. Keegan has 7m followers on Insta and that's because he's a photographer and writer and it's interesting. I would follow his account (I don't), but certainly it isn't a Walker instagram.

Jared is a clever guy, but he's boring on social media. He has a limited appeal. He does family snaps, hunk snaps, flogs orange pee and flogs his show. He says "family" and "mantra" a lot but that's really it. The clue is, if you didn't know who he was and came across his instagram you wouldn't follow him. Why would you? For a video of a guy running up steps? A smug picture of two middle aged men trying to flog you something?... (oh and lots of "brother" comments on Keegan's social media, which is irritating. It's like he thinks that is his repeatable formula and it isn't).

His media approach won't work because advertising and exposure pushes a product. In TV's case, it's not a one off product and there is a lot of competition. Product Jared needs to be more interesting (his mantrum's are the only exciting thing about him - and that is tragic) and his TV show just needs to be BETTER, well, a LOT BETTER.

Soooo, expect the Padapush to continue, but it's not about a couple, it's about individual marketing and for Jared breaking out of SPN bubble. For Gen, it's her tag along profile that she'll never break out of. She'll have to be satisfied with her superpower of being able to persuade people to buy toothbrush's and dog food (if she can).

Expect though the couple's bit to die off a little. Jared is getting over exposed. His engagement rating is plummeting (nearly 3% is a plummet) because of the repetitive photo content. He'll have to back off or people will switch off (I have already). What makes me laugh is.... from the dawn of time when cavemen took their wives 2 miles away for a new cave weekend.... NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN INTERESTED IN SOMEONE ELSE'S HOLIDAY SNAPS.... Gen and Jared apparently need to learn that lesson...

I might stop these posts now because, well, it's gotta be a bit boring for you and I write LONG. :)

Stay safe and wear your masks ;) xxx

I don’t want you to ever ever change, lovely! Also, I’m NEVER bored by your messages! You put so much effort into the research you do and the messages you send and it’s appreciated! <3 

I started following Lindsey on IG because she seems pretty genuine, and her cat is way too cute! Plus, I like her attitude. I haven’t followed her for the whole Walker season, but even she doesn’t post a lot about it. She posts interviews and then posts about that night’s episode, but other than that, nothing.  Can’t speak for Keegan, but how are fans and non-fans supposed to be excited about a show when the people STARRING in the show can’t be bothered? Maybe they’re all aware of how shitty it is or maybe they’re lazy, but it doesn’t make sense. 

I’m always interested to see the difference in an “algorithm-free” setting and one that has an algorithm. I always figured Google was the same for everyone, but seeing the difference in articles you’ve outlined is insane. It really just goes to show that Jared isn’t the star that his stans think he is. He’s not as important as they think he is, he’s just an actor.  It’s even more jarring to see just how little Walker is talked about at all. All of my devices probably have been “contaminated” when it comes to algorithm so I can’t really speak personally about the public and fans talking about Walker or not talking about it. I can say that on the posts about Walker from the Supernatural Facebook page, a good chunk of the comments are people saying they stopped watching, never got into it, or thought it was trash. There are only a handful of comments talking about how they enjoy the show. 

I think it was disgusting for him to use a fan’s passing for publicity. And no, I don’t think it was anything other than a PR stunt. Her family had a GFM going that was promoted by plenty of the case INCLUDING GEN, so you know he knew about it. But for him to make his own special one and then have articles posted everywhere about how charitable he is? That’s gross PR bullshit and I hope it backfires. 

I still follow a few Supernatural fans, Jared fans, Jensen fans, etc. on Tumblr and even they aren’t mentioning it. I think maybe the hardcore Jared stans post gifsets or whatever, but I don’t see much praise for the show itself, just Jared’s looks. Even the fans aren’t biting and that would make me reevaluate everything if I was Jared. 

I'm expecting "Jared Padalecki defecates regularly" tomorrow. This made me laugh way too hard!

who knows he and his forehead may wish to have a final crack at films You are on a ROLL!  Maybe I’ve become biased, but I can’t see Jared doing films. I mean, I could see him doing like a side character role or something small, but I can’t see him having a big part of a movie. Like I said, maybe that’s me being biased but I see him staying in TV. I could be proven wrong, but I don’t know. 

I agree about Jared being boring on SM. I used to get some giggles from his Twitter posts and even some of his early IG posts because they were goofy, clever, and candid. It showed his humor and was more personable. Now it’s just all fake and comes off as someone whose only motivation to engage with fans is money and that’s a big turn off. 

For me personally, I think that if instead of the “couple goals” bullshit that they try to push for their lavish trips, if they just posted cool pictures they took of different locations, activities, food or whatever, that would be more palatable than all the “Look at my hubster and I! We’re in Italy! Look at how in love we are!” But maybe that’s because I’ve become a bit of a photography nerd? 

I guess time will tell whether or not Jared will make positive changes and if Walker can be saved, but I’m not really optimistic about it. 

I AM optimistic about your takes on things so keep them coming! Long posts or not, I love them! <3

[cobaltusami]

Tropical Vacation pt. 5

Hey hi hello! I'm back at it again with another chapter! I'm scheduling this one to post so I don't forget. I really really liked this one, I put two of my favorite ships In here because of course I did. Kuzuhina and Komanami honestly make my gay heart happy. <3

Characters In this part: Lee!Hajime, Ler!Fuyuhiko, Chiaki, Nagito, Chihiro

Word count: 2,177

Part 1: [Click or tap here!] Part 2: [Click or tap here!] Part 3: [Click or tap here!] Part 4: [Click or tap here!] Part 5: You are here.

After the sun went down, Chihiro found that they couldn’t sleep, so they decided to sneak out of their room to go get something to drink. They took a detour down the stairs after they heard some soft murmuring coming from the lobby.

Upon investigating they found Chiaki playing video games while Nagito watched, chatting to her all the while. As they stepped closer to see what the game was, the floorboards creaked, Nagito and Chiaki’s attention snapped over to The Programmer who blushed in embarrassment for having interrupted them.

“I-I’m sorry! I was just on my way to get something to drink and… I was just curious what you were playing.” they sheepishly explained, looking down at the floor.

Chiaki smiled. “It’s okay,” she said softly, glancing back at the arcade machine. “I’m not sure what the game Is called, The letters are too faded for me to make out. You can come look If you want.”

“Ah! N-No I’ve distracted you enough, I don’t want to be In your way or anything.”

“Really, It’s okay.” She reassured them. “Come join us, Nagito doesn’t bite. If he says something that weirds you out, I’ll handle him.”

Nagito glanced at her nervously before looking at Chihiro. “Chiaki doesn’t bite either… She just tickles.” He smiled in exasperation.

Chihiro hesitated for a moment longer before approaching the two sitting on the bench.

It was a custom bench that Kazuichi made for her and Nagito. He made it after constantly seeing Chiaki sitting playing the game while Nagito either stood next to her or sat on the edge of the machine out of her way and watched. The two had become nearly inseparable over the last month, No one understood why. Chiaki never gave a straight answer when asked, always coming up with a joking answer to their question.

She scooted over, her leg pressing up against Nagito’s as she patted the seat next to her. He put his arm behind her back, his hand resting against the edge of the bench on the other side of her.

Chihiro sat down, studying the machine curiously. “What Is it like?”

“There’s a couple of games programmed into it, But this one is like Pac-man, with Monokuma’s head instead of Pacman. And the ghosts are different colored Usami’s.” Chiaki explained, hitting the start button on it.

The blue lights lit up the dim room and soft 8 bit sounds filled the quiet space, Chihiro smiled as they watched the game enthusiastically. It’s been so long since they’ve seen a video game.

After a few minutes Chiaki paused and turned to Chihiro. “Do you want to play?”

“Wh-What? No, I couldn’t. You’re playing, I don’t want to take over.”

“It’s no problem, It might be nice to watch someone else play for once.” she smiled, to get out of Chihiro’s way, she crawled up into Nagito’s lap, startling him. Apparently he had been zoning out.

“Are you sure…?”

“Mhm. Just hit that button to start.” She replied, pointing to the bright blue button.

Chihiro scooted over so that they were directly in front of the screen now, and hit the button to start. Instantly they were flooded with nostalgia as they remembered all those times they went to the arcade with friends.

They were pretty decent at the game too, once they figured out the A.I’s algorithm they were even able to get a high score.

“Wow, You beat one of my scores.” Chiaki remarked, surprised. Albeit pleasantly so.

“Ah! I-I’m sorry! You probably spent really long trying to fill up the leaderboard!”

“No, No, you’re okay. Really. It’s only a couple of numbers.” She reassured with a gentle smile. “I’m just glad you’re having fun… You really do apologize a lot, Don’t you?”

“I-I’m sorry.” Chihiro blushed. “W-Wait, No. I just… I guess I do apologize a lot… I’m sorr--”

Chiaki poked their side, causing them to squeak and stop mid apology. “That’s exactly my point. You don’t have to apologize so much… You’re okay.”

“Still, It’s impressive how quickly you were able to catch on to the A.I’s patterns and use It against It.” Nagito commented with a smile. “I guess that’s why you’re the Ultimate Programmer! You’re able to spot those things pretty easily I would imagine.”

Chihiro smiled sheepishly at the praise. “Yeah, I’m used to analyzing any kind of coding I can find. I like to deconstruct the coding and see how It works.”

“Kind of like Kazuichi when he finds something well built.” Chiaki replied, nodding In understanding.

“I’m glad there’s someone else here that understands these video games and how they work, I’m pretty useless when It comes to them.”

Chiaki narrowed her eyes as she turned to look at Nagito. “You aren’t useless.”

“Ah! Nonono- I didn’t mean It like that! I just meant I’m not good at games!” He quickly put his hands up in defense.

“I’ve got my eyes on you…” Chiaki mumbled, slowly looking away from him.

Chihiro giggled at the two, blushing and squeaking when they realized that they had giggled out loud and Chiaki and Nagito were now looking at them. “I-I’m sorry! I just-- eep!”

They yelped as Chiaki squeezed their side. “Stop apologizing, I mean It. If you apologize one more time, I’ll give you the same treatment I give him when he talks badly about himself.” She warned playfully.

“O-Okay, S-Sor…” They stopped themselves.

Chiaki climbed out of Nagito’s lap as he went to stand up and stretch. “Hey, You wanna try a multiplayer game?” She asked, Chihiro nodded eagerly and the two began to play a new game.

Nagito curled up on the couch, watching his girlfriend happily playing with her new friend. He smiled to himself as he whispered. “It’s moments like these that give me the most hope, watching you be happy Is the best hope of all.”

“Huh? Did you hear something?” Chihiro asked.

Chiaki shrugged. “Must’ve been the game…” though she glanced over her shoulder at Nagito and smiled at him, seemingly she heard him.

Later on In the night Fuyuhiko jolted awake as he heard his doorbell ring, that uneasy feeling was returning to him as he slowly approached the door. Upon checking his e-handbook he discovered It was two In the morning. He jumped when whoever was at his door knocked.

“You’re a yakuza for fucks sake.” He muttered to himself. “Stop being such a little bitch.”

He swung the door open quickly, immediately relaxing upon seeing It was just Hajime. “Oh… It’s just you…” He sighed softly, stepping aside to let him in.

“Sorry Hiko, I know It’s really late… But I couldn’t get to sleep.” Hajime apologized as he came Inside and shut and locked the door behind him.

“Yeah, I can’t really sleep either. I just dozed off for a couple of minutes.” He replied, setting down on the foot of his bed.

Hajime came over and sat down next to him. “You still worried about the students too?” He asked quietly, Fuyuhiko nodded silently.

Hajime smiled a little, putting his hand on top of his. “Yeah me too.” He said. “But for what it’s worth, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Hiko blushed, though he would vehemently deny such a thing. “H-Hey, I’m not a damn kid! I don’t need to be protected!”

The depressed student put his arm around the Yakuza’s shoulders and pulled him into his side in an affectionate half hug. “Fuyu, There Is nothing you can do that’ll convince me not to protect you.”

Fuyuhiko smirked slyly as he rested his head on the taller man’s shoulder. “Nothing, huh?”

“Nope, Sorry.”

Hajime closed his eyes, finally feeling himself relax a bit now that he was with Hiko. He'd had some horrible dreams of Fuyuhiko getting hurt or… worse.

However as usual, his relaxed state didn’t last long before It was ruined. The feeling of fingers ghosting against his sides under his shirt made him jolt back to reality with a string of tired giggles. “Hehehehiko Ehehehehehe… w-what ahahare you doing?”

“What’s It look like, Dumbass? I’m tickling you.” He retorted, amused.

Hajime continued to giggle as he squirmed, gently pushing at the Yakuza. “I cahahahan seehehehehe that, but whyhyhy?”

Fuyuhiko began to tickle Hajime’s belly, causing his giggling to quickly turn into laughter. “I’m showing you I can protect myself.”

“Byhyhyhy tickling mehehehe?! Ahahahaha!” He laughed, doubling over to try to block his stomach.

“If I can take you down, Imagine what I could do to someone else.” He grinned cheekily, tweaking his hips.

“GAHA! Ahahahahahahaha! Thahahahahat doesn’t prohohove anything! Ihihihi’m eheheheasy to tahahake down!” Hajime complained, falling backwards on the bed.

Fuyu was quick to settle himself on the brunette’s hips, his fingers nimbly dancing all across his sides. “Then how are you gonna protect me?? You should just let me protect you.”

“FUHUHUHUYU! NAHAHAT THE SIHIHIHIDES!” He yelped as he switched tactics to squeeze at the sensitive spot. “AHAHAHAHAHAA! STAHAHAAP!”

“Then stop all that crap about protecting me,” Fuyuhiko rolled his eyes.

“NOHOHOHO!”

Well, mistakes were made.

“No?? No!?” Hiko repeated as he leaned down, blowing a raspberry against his side. “What do you mean, No!?”

Hajime screamed, his laughter going up an octave as he arched his back from the sensation. “GAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAT THAHAHAAT! PLEHEHEHEASE!”

“I’m a Yakuza, I can protect my damn self!” He reminded him with another raspberry to his side. “Just cut that crap out, It bothers me.”

“WHYHYHYHYHY DOES IT BOHOHOHOTHER YOU??”

“Because when you say that It makes me think that--” Fuyuhiko stopped, his fingers resting on Hajime’s side as he suddenly grew silent.

Hajime giggled tiredly as he recovered from the tickle attack, he looked up at Hiko with a questioning look. “I-It makes you think what?”

He shook his head slightly, looking away from the taller man’s gaze.

The trapped Ultimate reached his hands up, gently cupping the Yakuza’s face as he turned his face back to look at him. “What does It make you think?” he repeated softly.

“It makes me think that something Is going to happen… to you…” He said quietly, reaching his hands up to rest against his.

Hajime frowned as Fuyu pulled out of his gentle hold and got off of him, opting to sit next to him instead. “Hiko, nothing Is gonna happen.”

“Then why would you say that?” The blond asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Because… I had horrible nightmares about something happening to you, and It makes me feel better to say that. It makes me feel like I have some kind of control over this.” He explained, sitting up.

Fuyuhiko’s face softened as he looked Into Hajime’s eyes. “Is that why you came over…?”

“Yeah.” He sighed, pulling him into his lap. “I had to see with my own eyes that you were okay.”

Hiko frowned as he wrapped his arms around Hajime, resting his head against his chest. “I couldn’t sleep because I was scared as soon as I did I would be woken up to the body discovery announcement…”

Hajime pecked a kiss to the top of his head, silent. He wasn’t sure how to make this situation better for either of them, the fact of the matter is that they’re never safe. Monokuma is always throwing out motives to try to tempt the students into killing, and there’s always that fear in the back of his mind that someone might fall for it one day.

“Hajime? Can you…” He trailed off, stopping his train of thought.

“What?”

“N-Nothing. Nevermind.”

“Hiko…? What Is It?”

“Forget I said anything.”

Hajime frowned, reaching his hand up the Yakuza’s sleeping shirt and brushing his fingers against his side. “Tell me, Or I’ll tickle you.” He gave an ultimatum.

Fuyu flinched at the gentle touch, his body shivering. “Fucking hell,” He muttered under his breath. “F-Fine! I was going to ask you If you’d stay with me tonight.”

Fuyuhiko blushed bright pink as he buried his face in Hajime’s chest without waiting for a response.

“Fuyu…”

“That’s why I told you to forget I said anything. Because It’s stupid.” He mumbled.

Hajime smiled warmly as he soothingly ran his fingers up and down the smaller man’s back. “It’s not stupid.” He said softly. “Yeah, I’ll stay the night with you.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to…”

“Hey, Look at me.” Hajime gently pulled the blond back to look in his eyes. “There’s no place I’d rather be than with you. Besides, I might actually get some sleep If I know you’re safe.”

Fuyuhiko blushed even more as he smiled. “Yeah, Me too.”

Hajime leaned in and planted a soft kiss to his forehead, stroking his cheekbone with his thumb. “You’re so cute, especially when you smile.” he teased lightly.

The blond narrowed his eyes as his neck turned pink from embarrassment.

“Hiko? H-Hey… Wait! DOHOHON’T! AHAHAHAHA!”

Welp, It was worth It to harass his boyfriend. At least Hajime didn’t mind being tickled, At least not by Fuyuhiko.

[fromdevcom]

With the number of daily active users on Facebook, it would be stupid to not consider putting more money into this platform as an e-commerce business owner. The bigger your presence, the easier it will be to attract more customers to your store. Also, it is worth mentioning that marketing on Facebook does not require some special skills. You can learn pretty much everything about it in a day or two. After, you will have to put your brain to practical use and apply what you have learned. Here are some tips to help you understand what you will be dealing with, and what you can expect as returns from your investments.Set Your ProfileEven though your point is to increase sales, a professionally-looking profile will play an important role. Visitors will not bother to give you their time if you show your incompetence here. Logo and a cover are given, but some neglect to fill the information on the business part of the page. Make sure all the blanks are filled.The attention span of an average person is not something you can regard highly these days. It takes a few seconds to get distracted. No business will function if they cannot get the people to at least look at what they have to say. While most posts will have a text in them, nothing works as good as images. The higher the quality, the better. Though it is worth mentioning that going all-in with images is a bad idea. Variety in content matters a lot, and there will be more on that later.Call-to-ActionEvery post should have a meaning. Don’t leave your fans hanging in the air and trying to figure out what the purpose of the post is. Ask them to share, like, try, subscribe, leave a comment, and so on. Encourage them in a way that they would want to participate.Contests and GiveawaysNothing increases engagement as much as contests. Even those who have not heard about your page before will join all the fun thanks to the word of mouth. As long as you are willing to offer people something for free, they will be more than happy to jump in and participate. If you have been using Facebook, you should be aware of various giveaways that ask you to share, like, comment, tag another person. Such a post has unlimited potential in terms of its reach.Facebook StoriesSomething that has been introduced quite recently. It would seem that a regular newsfeed of Facebook is not in the best place at the moment. Stories, on the other hand, are gaining more popularity. Something simple yet informative at the same time is bound to be attractive. Finally, this feature is the perfect example of an outside-the-box content, and it helps you become more intimate with your followers. If you feel like learning more about it, there is a Facebook stories guide at Oberlo website. Be sure to read that one.Figure the Best Time to PostEven if a post is interesting, it is still possible that it will not get enough attention because of the time it was posted. Facebook has a lot of weird algorithms, and it takes time to figure out how they work. See whether your engagement rate is better when you post on evenings, and what the difference between weekdays and weekends are.Promote on Other ChannelsRelying on Facebook’s natural growth would be naive at the very least. That is why it is important to promote yourself using other sources. Social media platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc. will not cost anything. Reddit and Quora sites are another great ideas because these two receive quite a lot of traffic every day.Trial and ErrorGrowing a Facebook page with the intent to sell is no different than any other internet venture. It is more than likely that there will be struggles at first, but that is only natural. As long as you are willing to test and learn from your mistakes, it means that you are ready to grow and achieve the goal.The bigger your Facebook page is, the more sales you can expect to make. And the fanbase will increase if you follow these tips. It will take time before things start to pick up, but you should be able to get there eventually.

[ofstarsandfireflies]

My list was progressing smoothly until I realised some of the movies I want to do I don’t even own, I just thought I owned.

Why is my brain like this?

It had been an accident.

An on purpose accident, but if you had asked Stephen if he’d wanted Tony’s consciousness to reside within his body with him while he tries to figure out how to return him to his own, Stephen probably would have looked at you like you’d sprouted a second head right before his eyes.

At first he’d thought the spell had succeeded and Tony’s astral form had taken control of the Iron Man suit.

But then he’d heard a voice.

Tony’s voice.

And Stephen had tried leaving his own body to see what would happen, only to find he couldn’t.

He was locked in and Tony was locked in with him.

So that’s what had happened and that’s what Stephen’s trying to remedy while listening to Tony snark at him as if Stephen weren’t the Sorcerer Supreme.

The constant arguing, which is hindering Stephen’s reading for the counter spell, and when he yells for Tony to shut up, his hand comes up and decks him in the face.

Stephen tries magic but somehow Tony’s stronger than him and just takes complete control over his hands to smack himself in the other cheek.

Wong walks in, raises his eyebrows at whatever it is Stephen is doing rolling on the floor, and walks away unnoticed as the both of them get their frustrations out and Tony allows Stephen to just lay on the floor, both realising this isn’t getting them anywhere.

Stephen stands up, a little shakily and feels Tony ground him, before beginning to read once again.

Tony doesn’t keep quiet for long, bored out of Stephen’s skull from looking at the strange text he can suddenly understand and seeing no fix to their issue, but of course Stephen won’t listen to him.

When Stephen decides its late and he’ll try again tomorrow, Tony is not tired and Stephen knows Tony will keep him up at night when they need sleep so he tells him if he shuts up tonight and lets them both rest, then tomorrow they will do what Tony wants to do.

Tony reluctantly agrees and allows Stephen to sleep, and the next day Stephen keeps his promise, deciding to leave the reading for another time.

They go to Tony’s lab where he wants to improve his suit and Stephen can think of nothing worse, but he made a promise and their current predicament is his fault so he relents.

He feels his hands begin to move, Tony’s hands somehow making them his own as he types into a display, moving holographic pictures around almost like magic.

And it’s almost addicting seeing his hands capable of the things he used to do.

If Tony were up for it, Stephen could do surgeries again, be who he used to be again.

It only when Stephen asks Tony if the pain in his hands is bothering him that Tony stops immedielty, having no clue Stephen’s hands were hurting at all.

But Stephen tries to backtrack, telling him he couldn’t feel it for the first time in a long time, and was worried Tony was just working through the pain, as it’s something he’s known Stark to do before.

Tony is silent for a moment before closing down the display.

When Stephen asks him what’s wrong, Tony just tells him they should get back to reading.

Stephen doesn’t know if the pain in his chest is from Tony or himself.

A few hours into their reading time, this time much quieter which is kind of scary knowing Stark and his loud ways, they find some information regarding the spell, and how the longer the souls remain linked the harder it is to seperate them and there have been instances where the two become one and share the body until death.

Tony makes a remark how they’re married now and Stephen ignores it because he doesn’t need to be thinking about that as he’s trying to find the counter spell, but it’s not there.

It’d been ripped out.

And not only that, but Tony’s and Stephen’s phones are going off, which can only mean Avengers business.

So Stephen heads there with an empty suit controlled by Friday and lucky for them the two get paired together for the mission.

It’s distracting having to relay orders to Friday from Tony while also listening to the team chatter in his ear, but it’s also a good thing that Tony has his back because not only does Tony’s intuition come in extremely handy while searching for survivors of the building collapse Rhino decided to go rampaging through, he also manages to use the building’s structure as a trap which stops Rhino in his tracks.

And it’s all thanks to Tony taking control of him and the suit.

So when Stephen asks him if he wants to go back to the lab tonight as well, Tony jumps at the chance, not realising Stephen is just using him to have the sense of feeling in his hands again.

Only, this time, Christine walks in and sees Stephen through the portal he’s left open, commenting on how it’s a miracle he can use his hands again.

And Tony wonders if that’s something Stephen wants.

If that would be their life if they can’t undo this stupid spell.

He supposes it wouldn’t be too bad, that they’d give up their hero lives for the mundane and just go about coexisting together.

But when he forfeits control over to Strange again and his hands start to shake like they always do, a darker thought enters his head.

What if Strange did this on purpose so he could have a normal life again?

So, once Christine leaves and Tony asks Stephen if he wants that normal life and the wizard denies it, it just sparks a massive argument.

Tony is inside Strange’s head.

He could deny it all he wanted, but the truth is it is something he wants.

Has wanted for a long time, and now he has a chance to grab hold of it with hands that won’t shake.

But Stephen wouldn’t do that to Tony.

It’s not right.

Keeping Tony like this with him isn’t right.

And Tony goes quiet and stays quiet.

He doesn’t answer Stephen, who’s gotten used to speaking out loud and having Tony answer him.

He doesn’t give any help or hindrance while Stephen researches a way to free Tony once again, nor does he speak up about going to his lab for any reason.

It’s only when Stephen starts to become concerned and begins yelling at Tony to answer him that he finally does.

He thinks Tony was doing it on purpose just to make him worried, but it turns out that’s not the case at all.

Tony had, for lack of a better term, fallen asleep.

He didn’t realise it had happened until he heard Stephen’s voice calling him back.

And weirder still, Stephen’s hands, which had been still all this time, begin shaking again.

Stephen is in a right panic now because the last thing he wants is for Tony’s consciousness to fade away when they are so close to getting him out, he knows they are.

But then it happens again, and each time it does, it happens for longer and longer, sometimes cutting Tony off half way through a sentence or throwing Stephen back into control.

Tony’s not scared, but he can feel Stephen’s fear at losing him and in an odd way it’s comforting, knowing he cares about him so much.

Out of options and with no way of saving Tony, Stephen asks Tony’s name to emptiness around him, receiving no reply.

He likes to think that Tony is safe with him, protected from everything.

He likes to think he can still feel his heartbeat within his own, bearing steadily as Tony sleeps.

And he still likes to talk out loud as if Tony could still hear him, as if what he thinks Tony’s reply would be is him answering back.

He’s not crazy.

He’s not imagining it.

At least his hands don’t shake anymore.

Quotes

“May I point something out?”

“Hello?”

“Yes?”

“Ok, who’s saying that?”

Stephen hearing Tony’s voice

“Now you can start living again.arent you happy?”

“Yeah...I can walk again.”

Christine seeing Stephen be able to use his hands again

“This has to stop.”

“What has to stop.”

“What I’m doing, what we’re doing.”

“It’s a simple algorithm even you can understand. If you don’t find the last of them he’ll find you and kill you.”

“No, we’re- we’re gonna get caught. It’s over.”

“Grey, you must understand-“

“No, No! Shut up! Get the fuck out of my head!”

Stephen and Tony fighting

We Are Me

Stephen may be the Sorcerer Supreme, but even he makes mistakes.

January, February

Missed a Day? Catch up here!

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10

Day 11

[seercayder]

No but I feel as though artists are probably experiencing one of the most hostile years of posting art online that they’ve ever experienced for maybe forever. And I mean this for both amateur artists and professionals (with maybe a lil bit of bias since I also do The Art).

Tumblr’s nudity ban has crippled any piece that is either NSFW or uses nudity as artistic expression and it ultimately drove away both the artists themselves and a lot of their fans, which destroyed any remaining traction for the artists who managed to remain. Tumblr is no longer an artistic freedom-friendly site and it shows, which is a fucking shame bc they genuinely have one of the better tagging systems than other sites and I believe that most feedback on art there has been positive and friendly, which has now gone the way of the dinosaur much like Deviantart.

Twitter has problems with image compression but their biggest issue is toxic abuse, which I find to be the most damaging to artists out of all the other problems i’m listing here. Both the lure of anonymity and the mindset that ‘Speak Loud In Little Words To Make Point Means You Are Important And Right’ has fuelled the absolutely vile comments I have seen directed at artists on the site. Although it’s mainly aimed at fanartists and ship artists, I have noticed unwanted (even rude) criticism on immaculate, well-done art pieces, which is extremely belittling and insulting because the artist (although they may be open to criticism) if they haven’t asked for criticism then that means that they are not in the right mindset to receive any, and therefore it is not your place to throw disparaging comments at them.

But the biggest issue with abuse on Twitter is obviously aimed at fan-artists, especially those those that draw NSFW or “problematic” content. I could go into a whole spiel about how a drawing of a fictional character doesn’t affect reality but in short: If you find disturbing art of a non-existent character (or hey, even non-disturbing art, it’s just something you don’t like) then ignore it. Don’t go and fucking bully the artist you psychopath. If it is truly illegal then report the piece and then see if it gets taken down. Because 90% of the time it won’t be taken down because it doesn’t go against guidelines and you’re just trying to police the site like you’re the thought-police, monitoring other peoples art as if you have the god-given right to. And if you’re a minor stay the fuck out of 18+ accounts. Don’t comment, don’t follow, don’t even look. I am absolutely amazed by the mindset that some children have to waltz into a space not made for them and having the balls to insult the 18+ artist, who have specifically said “no minors”, for posting icky content. It gets even worse when you see how they abuse the Privatter or Curiouscat links the Twitter artists provide, made for anonymous feedback or for being the final barrier for an adult piece that says “hey this stuff is NSFW, don’t click if you are underage, last warning”. I’m gonna go into this more when I cover TikTok in the next few paragraphs. But ultimately, the artists on that site are having to be constantly vigilant against abuse, and it’s not unusual for them having to spend hours going through their 1K+ followers and having to block every underage follower who just didn’t fucking listen to their warnings. Imagine how exhausting and irritating and down-right uncomfortable that must be; having to monitor every fan that sees your work out of fear that they’re a minor seeing adult content or that they could throw abusive comments at you. Horrible.

Instagram is saturated with bots attempting to steal your work or advertise it on their own page and feedback isn’t really a ‘thing’ on there. Also, their algorithm (which may have also been implemented on Twitter, I believe that the Twitter algorithm now avoids promoting popular artist terms, but I can’t be certain bc the Twitter post that pointed this out is long-lost in the depths of my timeline, bc again, no tagging system) is based more around sharing than likes, which can be a huge barrier to artists. Sure, you may like someones art and even leave a nice comment on it, but do you really want to share every piece you come across, especially if it’s not something you would show dear Aunty Susan who follows you? It’s infuriating that a whole site dedicated for images is so difficult to use for artists, and with Instagram implementing features that are similar to Snapchats ‘stories’ it’s clear they’ve moving in a different direction, focusing on momentary attention-grabbing photos. This is simply because Instagram is advertising itself as more of a promotional influencer site nowadays, and anything that could sully their reputation has to be thrown into the algorithm trash. NSFW art or just plain ‘bad’ art? Trash. If you’re not gonna make money for them then why should they bother? You wanna promote your art? Pay for it because the algorithm will absolutely be working against you.

Now, the biggest fucking offender for worst art-sharing site of the year is TikTok (no surprise there), which is absolutely rampant with reposts and uncredited artwork and a gateway for abusive comments against artists. Like the Ouroboros snake, it goes through the same pattern every time; People (usually minors) find art on Twitter or Pinterest and repost it, usually without credit or going against the artist’s wishes about reposting. Then it either goes two-ways: Firstly, if the piece is SFW it will get about five-seconds of interest, a like for the reposter and people will then just move on. TikTok is built entirely around short bursts of satisfaction, feeding a a constant loop of serotonin for a few seconds before you move on. So ultimately, people rarely then hunt down the original artist, especially if their credit isn’t readily available, and usually the original artists doesn’t see any rise in likes, followers or popularity and are usually unaware that their art is even getting any attention on TikTok.

Or, if the art is NSFW, it can go down the second way. It is reposted and, as the majority of TikTok users are under-18, many users find the image uncomfortable, especially if it is a bit more ‘out-there’ or of a ship they don’t like. The reposters sometimes find the image off of Privatter, which is even worse since the piece has been posted to Privatter not just as a final barrier against minors, but also as a form of directing the piece to a specific and niche audience due to it’s... spicer than usual NSFW content. I’m talking really specific pieces with really specific kinks. Now that piece is floating around TikTok, widely seen by the general fans of a fandom, who again, are usually underage. The viewers grow uncomfortable, as the piece is not made for them, especially since sometimes the reposter only posted the piece for shock-value, and would even encourage insulting comments by only posting the credits for the purpose of getting fans to throw abuse at the artist (”The artist is ***** but they ship **** and are icky”) and so the viewers finally decide to make the effort to hunt down the original artist, only to throw insulting and bullying comments at them, made worse by the fact that they are children who don’t have the sense to hold back and have been fuelling their mindset in the echo-chamber that is TikTok.

And as a result of a lot of this hostile feedback for artists, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a space for amateur artists who are just starting out, since the art community is becoming a little bit scary. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that new (or not even new but recently promoted) sites such as Artstation are becoming a better place for professional artists only, but it is very intimidating for learner artists. That’s not necessarily a bad thing - I believe that part of the reason for Deviantarts decline was that the tagging system was horrible, so good art was being drowned out by amateur, fetish content, so more advanced artists were distancing themselves from the site, especially if they were trying to build a portfolio for employment. I also find that fanart usually gets far more likes than more original art pieces, even if the original piece is amazingly good, which isn’t a criticism against fanart but posting your original piece on a site more aimed at professional pieces may help you reach your target audience better and improve likes and interaction. However, that does mean that if you are an amateur, or hell, just an average artists who is still learning, your best bet for exposure is posting your piece across multiple sites and very, very regularly, braving any abusive comments if you try anything slightly “spicy”. Which, obviously, become a very potentially toxic atmosphere and it’s not uncommon for artists to feel burn-out or depressed at their lack of attention or the cyber-bullying they may receive.

I’m not trying to say that posting artwork has always been easy, but there is definitely a more aggressive culture surrounding it and I think artists have to be aware that chances are they will face insulting comments, reposters, frustrating algorithms, cyber-bullying, a lack of interaction and burn-out as they try and appeal to websites that would do the bare minimum for you in terms of promotion.

This isn’t meant to be a post to scare away artists, I just wanted to point out that there is a big fucking problem and it feels as though it’s getting worse. Nowadays, websites have become a bit too comfortable targeting creators rather than fans when it comes to monitoring content and artists have been put under more and more pressure as they face more and more abuse that is rarely addressed, especially by the sites themselves that host the content. Things that are a huge punch in the face for artists, such as NFT’s, are becoming more normalised and it’s honestly just sad.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 1

(Link to the idea) that made me want to write it instead of working on my OTHER FICS.

(Master post)

_______________________________________________________________________

“Soulmate Searcher?” Marinette questioned with intrigue and confusion.

“Its an app that just got a global release!” Alya answered. “At first it was only released in America, but it became a huge hit and now it has international servers.”

The designer looked at her friend with even more confusion.

“So why is it so popular? And why did you want me to install it on my phone?” Marinette inquired.

“Its an app that lets you find the special someone who is your significant other. Alya explained. “Its a tried and true compatibility tester.”

Marinette’s intrigue dissipated, in her mind it was just like those cheesy magazine quizzes they put in magazines to see which celebrity  you would marry. Marinette had long outgrown that phase, especially when last time she took one it did not say she would be paired with Adrien but XY! Gross. 

“Oh. Well count me out. Those quizzes are just a load of...”

“No way lady dude.” Nino chimed in. “This thing is legit. It has the highest matchmaking app back in the States and it is like down to a science and stuff.”

Marinette looked at the DJ skeptically.

Alya placed her hand on her shoulder.

“ It is more then just a personality quiz. You put in your name, your age, dating age range, preference, and so on, and then you answer a bunch of questions that allows the app to gage your personality, mentality and emotional impulse. Then after thats done, it will match you with the top 10 people who have the highest compatibility with you in a 50 mile radius. You can see percentage rates and everything. Then you can decide if you want to message any of the people on the list or block them. They can only see your name, photo and the percentage.” Alya detailed.

“So then all a person needs to do is know what your answers are and copy them.”

“An interesting Hypothesis but sadly incorrect.” Max answered from behind the group.

“Sorry to intrude, but I too had my doubts about the app until I learned about how the app’s algorithm worked. All questions given are randomized and answering the questions the exact same way even if someone did get the same questions does not guarantee 100% compatibility. I made several dummy accounts and rigged them in order to make them both have identical questions and answers, but they did not achieve 100% compatibility.” The class egghead began to explain. 

“Having run the test numerous times with numerous accounts, the algorithm matches people with similar beliefs but not identical,  as having too much in common does not mean soul mate, it can be seen as suffocating. I have not yet cracked the theorem of how to get 100%. The highest I have been able to get is 93%.  It is as if it is a perfect formula for compatibility.” Max concluded.

Marinette had to admit her interest was peeked.

“So its a one time questionnaire and then done?” Marinette pressed with more interest.

“Well the first questionnaire takes an hour or two so it has enough data for a base compatibility profile. Then you answer 10 questions every day for 2 weeks to reaffirm any errors it might have made. Thats how the App is so successful. After about 2 weeks, your profile will be established. It was able to cut the margin of error down to 1.9%” Max exclaimed. “Its the pinnacle of mathematical perfection.”

“Thanks dude, couldn't have explained it better... really.” Nino thanked the robot enthusiast.

“Anytime, now I must head off. Markov and I have more tests to run.” Max head out and left the three teens to their own devices.

Marinette thought about it, she really didn't have much to lose trying it out.

“I even got Adrien to install it. He said he will fill it out after fencing.” Alya Whispered.

Marinette realized she had to do it. What if Adrien was on the app and some other girl had a high compatibility with him before she had a chance to try it. What if he fell in love with that mystery girl, got married and then bought a hamster!?

“Okay, I will take the quiz.” Marinette exclaimed with Confidence.

“Atta girl!”

______________________________________________________________________

Marinette had gone with Alya back to the Dupain Bakery in order to answer the questions in peace.

In Marinette’s room, Alya was relaxing as she watched the Designer answer the questions as honestly as possible.

“Now Girl, odds are the percentage maybe around the 70% mark, But Knowing you and Adrien, I bet you two will make it into the 80′s.” Alya answered.

Marinette nodded, half listening as she focused on answering.

“Nino and I got an 85%, which was pretty high. Ivan and Myléne only got a 79%. So no worries even if its in the 70′s”

“DONE!” Marinette exclaimed as she fell back. She was mentally exhausted. The questions were surprisingly more in depth then she expected.

She pressed submit and waited. Staring at her phone as it ‘processed her answers’

Alya stood up walking over to the bluish-black haired designer.

“Well.”

The list popped up.

Marinette scrolled through from 10 to 1. No Adrien. She felt herself sigh deeply.

“He isn't on it...” Marinette spoke defeated.

Alya took a look.

“Sorry girl, It might be he hasn't uploaded his profile yet.” Alya tried to encourage her friend who was burying her head in her pillow. 

“You think?”

“He is a busy guy, but also, you need to see who is number one on the list. A certain guitarist you happen to be fond off.” Alya said with a smile.

Marinette pulled her head up and took her phone. Sure enough, it was Luka who was number one on the list. He had an 80% compatibility rating with her, which was at least 20% higher then the guy in second place. Maybe this was a sign that she should move on from Adrien and ask Luka out.

“Maybe I should message Luka, If he believes in this sort of thing.” Marinette spoke with a blush on her face.

Alya nodded.

“Do what you think is right girl, Adrien or not, you deserve a guy that will make you happy.” 

“Thanks Alya, you are the best.” Marinette smiled sweetly at her best friend.

She clicked on the profile. The pop up asked if she would like to message the user Luka Couffaine.

Marinette paused, she was nervous about doing this. It was as if this was her crossroads. Would she go for it?

_____________________________________________________________________

“DONE!” Adrien exclaimed as he fell back on his bed. He was mentally exhausted as well as physically. He told Alya he would try out the app as soon as he was free from fencing.

“I don't get why you even bothered with those dumb questions.” A grouchy floating cat creature commented.

“Its an in depth Compatibility test Plagg. This could be the best way of finding My lady.”

Plagg looked at the model with skepticism.

“What makes you think that you would be matched up with Ladybug? You don't even know who she is.” 

“We are soulmates, so obviously we will have the highest compatibility.” Adrien answered with confidence as he sat up.

Plagg rolled his eyes.

“You do know just because you were picked to be the cat miraculous wielder doesn't mean your soulmate is ladybug. There have been Ladybug’s and Chat noir’s that haven't gotten together.”

“It isn't because we were chosen together. I can just feel it Plagg. I know we are meant to be. And if for some reason the girl with the highest compatibility with me isn't Ladybug, I will still likely find someone that I can find myself liking. But knowing my Lady, she and I will have a compatibility of 85 maybe even 90%” Adrien answered with a loving sigh. “Oh, its ready.”

Adrien smiles at his phone before looking at the list.

“Oh Kagami is on here. 79% Thats pretty good. But she is only number two? Huh, so then who is number one?” Adrien spoke aloud as he scrolled. As he saw the name that was number one his face turned beet red and and he fell back on the bed.

“Adrien!?” Plagg exclaimed as he flew to the frozen blond. “What happen.... oh no Fucking way.”

_______________________________________________________________________

Marinette was about to press the button when another pop up appeared.

“List updated?”

Marinette clicked out of Luka’s profile and noticed he was now at second place.

“Luka got moved to second.” Marinette spoke with surprise.

“What? Then whose first?”

Marinette scrolled up. Her eyes went Wide.

“ADRIEN!?!?” Marinette shouted.

Alya smiled.

“I knew it! I told you he would be on your list! And Number one to boot. So what  is the percentage. 82? 85% Like Nino and I?”

“100...” Marinette spoke hardly audible.

Alya couldn't hear.

“How much?”

Marinette turned her phone to Alya.

Alya’s jaw dropped.

“1.... 100%!!!!!!!!!!”

_______________________________________________________________________

Plagg could not contain his laugher. The blond was still frozen staring at his screen. Adrien had no idea how right he was. His Lady and him were perfect for each other. Plagg was absolutely loving every second of this. 

“P-Plagg.”

The black cat managed to calm down.

“Ye Ha HA! Yea Adrien?” Plagg responded between laughing fits.

“Marinette is Ladybug.”

Plagg sobered up quick.

“What... What makes you say that?” Plagg spoke, trying his best and failing at hiding the fact that Adrien was right. Thankfully Adrien was too out of it to notice.

Plagg pauses.

“Ladybug is my soulmate, Marinette scored perfect compatibility with me  on the soulmate app. Even with error included, the chances of that happening are…”

“It’s a silly quiz.” Plagg shouted. Tikki would kill him if Adrien found out at the wrong time. He had to play dumb.

Adrien thought about it, maybe he was overthinking it, plus Alya and Nino scored around 85%. Maybe the system was glitching out? 100% was unheard off according to what he found about the app, even with people who tried it and have been married for decades.

“I guess you are right… Besides, you answer questions each day, the percentages will shift. Maybe the system will correct itself, though I should ask Marinette what her thoughts are about the match up tomorrow. Though... even if it isn't Ladybug... Marinette is a pretty nice person to have good compatibility with.”

Adrien felt himself entertaining the thought of him and Marinette together. It seemed really, really nice. He found himself blushing at the thought. He quickly shook the thought off. He was getting ahead of himself. What if Marinette didn't feel the same way he did? What if Luka saw the compatibility score that Marinette got with him and decided not to date Marinette because of it. Marinette does really like that musician, what if Marinette hates him for ruining her chance at happiness!?

Adrien took a calming breath. He won't say anything, the app still needs to fine tune his profile. he is sure it will correct itself if it needs to within the two weeks, after that, he will look into it.

“I am sure that things will fix themselves.” Adrien said as he turned away from the cat Kwami, though part of him really hoped that the 100% would stay.

_______________________________________________________________________

THERE I FINISHED part 1

If you want part two, please let me know. I love hearing feedback and it feeds my impulsive need to write.