#I’ve seen similar asks floating around other people’s inboxes at least that are asking for the same thing in the same way

[quosterswampdregs]

May I request some more sneezy feral swamp dergs? (I'm new to Snzblr hehe)

Heyyy welcome!

New to the blog I see! Unfortunately most of the content I do here is anthro only. I used to do some feral stuff in the past if you wanna go digging, but I stopped after things got too weird in my DMs (aka requests of feral, genuinely as animal as possible swamp dregs interacting with humanoids in ways I really don’t agree with).

I might do feral swamp dreg content, but IF I do, it would be in the same vein as the w/rri/r cats style, where it’s mainly interaction between other ferals where they talk and communicate. If you have specific asks around that vein, I might whip up something!!

Tldr: Feral Swamp Dregs from this point forward will not be sneezing in the context of humanoids, but will interact with other feral swamp dregs!

[bearseokie]

dear readers and writers

— a little advice i wish i would have heard before i started this blog and writing in general. sorry i’m that writer that makes post like these, i just want you to understand that things like this change everything. if this looks like a lot, just find the ones that pertain to you.

writers

➤ 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝

there are so many good works that come from you focusing on the genres you are most comfortable with, and only writing those is not a bad thing. it’s not a “you’re not growing as a writer” situation, it’s a comfort zone situation. just because smuts do well doesn’t mean you have to force yourself to write them. just because angsts come in bulk because you can never ignore the emotional bits of writing doesn’t mean that has to be the main focus of every work. just because fluffs are the most reblogged content doesn’t mean it’s the only genre people will enjoy from you. focus on what you love, others will follow!

➤ 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥

if you don’t consistently open your inbox, do it at least once. close it when you feel overwhelmed or at any time you feel necessary. don’t believe that you have to write them all in a short period of time. be statistical about it: only open it for a short game or blurbs. use the requests to fill in blanks or practice writing in different ways. play with the word counts. change up the tone. delete a few, you’re not obligated to actually write them, this is your free time and your work. but sometimes doing requests can change how you write, maybe even give you a breakthrough you wouldn’t have had with writing things from your own mind. and have fun.

➤ 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

filling the warnings up with silly little comments or parts from the story is important, too. even if it’s a paragraph’s worth of potential warnings or triggers, never skip adding them. even if you think it’s something not worth mentioning, it will be to someone. add as many as necessary.

➤ 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞

word counts don’t determine how good of a writer you are. from brilliant blurbs with two paragraphs and one line of dialogue, drabbles with less than a thousand words, or full on double digits fics: what counts is that you enjoyed writing it. it made you excited. you paused just to mention to a friend how much you love writing it. you got chills piecing together that one line. that energy gets put through your work and into your reader, seriously.

➤ 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭?

everyone reads. anything. everything. you name it, one person’s read it. whether your confidence in your writing ability is low or not, the process will only benefit you. and you get to spend time writing about some of your favorite people/characters, it’s a win-win. it’s no competition, only a fun time that you get to create and share with the world. try it.

➤ 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

the more detail, the better the mental picture. if you read something and love visualizing every scene, hearing every line, then you should work for the same within your stories. close your eyes and put your scene into your surroundings, every little detail counts. and although i said word counts don’t mean anything, if your brain does focus on you having large word counts (it happens to every writer, big word counts make you feel cool for writing so much), then this is a sexy step to use because it heightens that number pretty quickly.

short sentences look weird, but are better than run-ons.

vocabulary is sexy and thesaurus dot com is your best friend. need a word but can only think of something similar, you’ll find it there. used the same word three times now and think you’re starting to look insane, you are, use your sources.

you don’t need a banner or aesthetics for everything you write. the writing does all of the work itself. don’t stress about the accessories.

burnt out on writing the same thing / can’t think of what else to put down? break time. take a tangent, write something else, cut it off there (maybe post it) and leave the rest for the future, the cliffhanger or abrupt ending will have everyone on the edge of their seats. you’re still doing well.

if you’re writing to gain a following or have extensive amounts of notes to brag about, you’re into writing fanfics for the wrong reasons. hoping for feedback is one thing, feasting for it as your only source of inspiration for writing is just hurting yourself and other writers in the long run. write for yourself and no one else.

writer’s block? hell if i know, i’ve had it since before i started writing.

readers

➤ 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤

a little feedback goes a mile. a simple emoji as a reaction, keyboard smashes, even tagging topical things can make a fanfic writer smile.

but long paragraphs also go a long way. imagine watching a movie you love to bits, so much so that you go online and read reviews of it. that commentary can shift the way you look at the movie forever, and stick with you during other films. it’s the same with receiving and reading feedback on fanfics. I’m not saying go crazy critical with your feedback, do not do that unless the writer says they want criticism, but maybe writing why you love one particular line so much could change the way the writer feels about the entire work or make a reader begin to love the same line so much that they quote it or recommend it. it makes a difference!

➤ 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬?

tell the writer. this isn’t an “i wrote this and it mentions all of these other things, so you should have expected this” game. if it bothered you, it will probably bother someone else, and that needs to be told to the writer. i don’t know what to tell you if a writer writes back being degrading or negative about your concern for that warning, but i promise you that most writers will not argue with whether it should be a warning or not and will just add it. do not be scared to mention something that triggered you if it was not mentioned in the warnings. also, please remember writers are humans and cannot think of everything all the time. we might miss one or two warnings within the work when writing the description, so please tell us.

➤ “𝐈 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 ��𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠.”

pain. straight pain. your reblog shares that post with your followers. you like it, why wouldn’t they? that reblog stays on your page, it’ll be seen. the tags you put in could help others find more works on your blog, essentially helping more works be found. maybe they’re old and haven’t seen the light of the recent tags in months, but your reblog could help more people still see it, and that makes a difference. we all have those lazy moments where we don’t want to do all of the steps, but even doing them sometimes helps.

➤ 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐜 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞?

readers can scroll through the list for their preferences, find new writers that amaze them, maybe they gain the courage to put together their own fic recs list. all of those recommended fics are still floating around and being shared, they don’t get lost in the tags or the writer’s masterlists. you find/make a recs list: congratulations, you’re contributing to helping fanfics thrive (as they deserve). also, who doesn’t love an entire list right in front of them so they don’t have to go on a scavenger hunt to find new things to read? answer: no one.

➤ 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐞?

tags to organize, fics to go through/find/read, oh my. let me let you in on a little secret:

have you ever had that moment where you suddenly remember one line or scene from a fic you read months ago, and you have the vaguest details to go off of in order to search and find it? your fics recs blog would have you covered, just scroll through the feed or the tags and boom, it’s at your fingertips.

now imagine someone else looking for more fics to read stumbling upon your blog. might look a little strange and coded to them, but eventually they navigate and find a new fic they’ll be talking about for months. they reblog it, add their own feedback, their followers see it and join in, and that writer feels immensely appreciated all because you started a recs blog and just-so-happened to reblog their fic. tah dah.

➤ 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐩?

well, so did i. i asked my followers on this blog and my recs blog to send in their favorite fics with some extra details and feedback thinking i wouldn’t get anything, but i got an entire list! guess what’s even better? that list went straight into the tags (thanks to tumblr working properly for once) and now anyone that searches up ‘kpop fic recs’ can find it at any time. same goes for your own. there’s no specific way of organizing a recs list, just make sure the links work and the writers are credited! it helps.

read more! it’s a vast world in your hands, enjoy the words that go along with it.

sorry for this technical rant/advice post, this has just been in me for a while and i wanted to talk about it. I might add more to this as things come up, but for now i hope this helps! <3

[airquietworks]

Lost at the Summit (IzuOcha) (Part 3)

Part 1, Part 2

Chapter 3: Story One week later, Ochako found herself alone in a cold bed, groggily awakening on what was supposed to be a lazy Sunday.

Izuku was conspicuously absent, the sheets with barely a trace of warmth from his body's departure. She frowned slightly at that - she liked the rare chance for lazy cuddles in the morning - but didn't think much of it. He must have been preparing breakfast or perhaps dealing with a phone call - which he should not take on a day off, but oft did anyway.

She let herself slide into her bedsheets, struggling to resist the urge to fall back asleep again.

The days were so busy now, conspiring to keep her and her husband apart. A couple of news outlets finally asked her for interviews about retirement, and though she dutifully squeezed them in, they did not get much traction. People were still too preoccupied with Deku's retirement, what that meant for the hero charts, and other news of the day as the world shifted around the fall of the world's greatest.

Ochako had buried herself in her work, intent to live her last days as a hero best she could. She tried her best to ignore people's ignorance of her, focusing on saving lives and helping people. But the days dragged and part of her could not let go of her bitterness. All of a sudden, retirement could not come soon enough.

She decided to start her morning as he usually did - reaching out and grabbing her phone from her bedside table. She idly swiped her fingers across it, checking the news of the day, always with an eye out for anything she should be aware of as a pro.

A glance through her emails yielded something unusual. Her inbox was flooded with messages with similar titles: "thank you," "Thanks, Uravity!" "You rock." It wasn't that uncommon to get an appreciation message from someone she rescued, but the sheer number of them was peculiar.

She opened one.

"Hi! I just wanted to let you know you're my favourite hero, and I absolutely love you. You kick so much butt! I remember seeing you leap into a burning office tower one time and save 20 people. It was so awesome!

I'm so sad you're retiring! =( But I'll keep cheering you on while I still can!"

Ochako grinned at that, her mood lifted by the message of appreciation, even if it was simple. She got them from time to time, but they never failed to make her feel good.

But it was strange. These messages were rarer in her aging years and she could not recall doing anything that would garner this kind of outpouring.

She went through a few more of the emails, all with variations of people sharing their appreciation for her, whether or not she had personally rescued them. Eyebrows furrowing at the strange situation, she checked through her social feeds to see what exactly was going on.

On social media, her mentions were flooded into the thousands, far more than usual. A word caught her attention, causing her eyes to widen.

"#WeLoveUravity" was trending.

It was not a massive trend, but there were still thousands of similar, heartfelt messages - shorter, but no less impactful. Pictures and stories of her throughout the years were being shared. A few noteworthy commentators were even discussing how little coverage she was getting since she made her retirement announcement two weeks ago, and the inherent sexism at play with that.

Ochako fell back into her pillow, trying to make sense of it all. Her heart beat faster, a nervous, excited energy taking hold of her as she watched everything unfold.

The world - at least, a part of it - was finally telling her story.

And Izuku probably had something to do with it. There was no other explanation she could think of.

More than a little perturbed at the idea her husband had somehow manipulated the masses, she got up, not bothering to change, and made a beeline for the kitchen to confront him about it and-

Thank him? Scold him? She was not sure. She loved the words being shared about her, even if it was probably just a passing trend that would fade quickly. But she did not want that to come because Izuku somehow campaigned on her behalf. They supported each other, relied on one another, but only to a point. She wanted her legacy to stand by itself - even if it came up short - instead of sitting on Izuku's broad shoulders.

But as she walked through the kitchen and living area, he was nowhere to be seen. The only traces of him were a few dishes in the sink, a plate of eggs on their dining table and an envelope next to it.

Pouting, she trudged forward towards the message. She opened it up and pulled the paper out, growing frustrated by the surprising morning.

"Dear Uravity,

I wasn't too sure about writing this message. But I saw what was going on and I figured I had to.

You probably don't remember me, and I don't blame you. We met about ten years ago, with a villain raid in the city. I was a new pro hero, fresh out of school. I was overzealous and got myself into a bad situation. I saw my life flash before my eyes as a monstrous villain towered over me. I was sure I was dead, but you knocked her away with one punch and got me to safety.

I'll never forget the care and comfort you showed me, your bright smile somehow making me feel like everything was going to be okay, even in such a calamity. I was about ready to quit right then, but you encouraged me, told me to keep on pushing forward. You were the brightest spot in one of the worst days of my life.

I just wanted to let you know how much that meant to me. I wouldn't be a hero today without you. I've been following you since then, and I'm amazed at what you've been able to accomplish. I was heartbroken when I found out you were retiring, but I understand. You deserve a comfortable life and a happy retirement.

I don't know how to end this, so I guess - thank you. You are my hero.

P.S. I'm not much of an artist, but a lot of people are doing it, so I hope you like the picture.

Sincerely,

Clearway"

The memory was foggy in her mind - she had dealt with a lot of villain-led attacks, and could only vaguely recall this one. But she was touched nonetheless.

She turned over to the next page and gasped at a glorious sketch of her standing atop a roof, still young, posing heroically, looking down on the city below. She was smiling, her short hair billowing slightly in the wind, her confidence radiating in the simple lines.

In her early morning stupor, the image pierced through her heart. It struck her hard to read how much it mattered to someone that she had saved them - a hero, no less. That someone would still remember that, even a decade later.

She took a seat, anchoring herself, trying to find a steady place to keep herself from floating away.

Ochako eagerly consumed the breakfast left for her - perfectly warm, the likely product of Izuku's meticulous planning and knowledge of her sleep cycles - smiling at the simple, sweet gesture.

But as she ate, her mind spun in circles at everything that had greeted her this morning. She ran through the words over and over, a mix of pride, joy, and anxiety swirling around, uncertainty at the centre of it all. Her heart sang with gratitude for the love people were showing her, but her brain refused to stop questioning it.

There were people out there who remembered her, cared about what she had done - she could not deny that. But she always knew that to be true. That ultimately did not mean her legacy carried that much weight in a world filled with heroes who did the same. It did not mean she had helped enough people to make a mark. It did not mean her story would be told beyond the day. It did not mean she could stand on the summit.

But she had to admit their words were making accepting that a lot easier.

The familiar sounds of the front door opening perked her ears up. She got up quickly, moving towards it, eager to tell her partner what was happening and confront him if he had something to do with it.

Izuku wasted little time before marching through the room with a wide grin on his face, wearing a blue hoodie, with an oversized yellow backpack. He nodded towards her despite the confusion she was sure was showing on her face. He walked over to the table, depositing the bag.

"Good morning. Sorry I left early; I had an errand I needed to run," he said sincerely, stepping forward and inclining his head towards her. She put a finger to his lips, stopping his attempt at their usual good-morning kiss.

"Good morning," she managed, though with a sharp edge to her tone. "Do you know what's going on?"

His smile stretched wide again as he disengaged from her finger, gesturing slightly towards the bag. "I do. I went on an early mail run when I saw it. The post office only left a few in our mailbox; there were too many to carry otherwise."

"A few…?" she trailed off as he opened the bag to reveal it was overflowing with envelopes, not unlike the one left for her on the table. She went slack-jawed at the sight, quickly reaching out to get a better glimpse of just how many letters they received. There had to be over 100, all seemingly written out, stacked neatly, but clearly crammed within the bag's tight confines.

So many people had sent her a personalized message. She ran her fingers along the envelopes, confirming that they were really there in front of her.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" he said, awe in his voice as he watched her, gauging her reaction. "So many people wanted to let you know what you meant to them."

Ochako turned her head to face him, feeling her eyes getting a little misty. She narrowed her gaze, gauging him carefully. "But how? I don't get it. Did you do something?"

His eyebrows shot up, and he suddenly looked a little nervous, his green eyes looking away. "I...may have made a post on a popular forum. But I promise I didn't say much, and I kept anonymous!"

He got a little flustered, his hands moving with his explanation.

"I was just so frustrated and upset at how sad you were about everything. I wanted to do something - I wasn't sure what. But I just wanted to vent and maybe show you a thread of people who did appreciate you. I just said there wasn't a lot of coverage about you retiring and how sad that was. I guess it got some traction, and people started posting more and somebody I didn't know said they should do fanart, and before I knew what was happening, it went viral."

He took a breath after his rant, gesturing to the letters. "And I don't know how, but somewhere along the way, someone thought it would be nice to do handwritten messages, too. My post may have started it, but I promise I didn't do anything else beyond that. This was because so many people do appreciate what you've done - because you are one of the best."

He stepped forward to grasp both her hands in his, holding them softly, brushing his thumbs over top. "I know that better than anyone."

Her heart stuck in her throat, Ochako struggled to come up with a response. She could feel a smile stretch across her face as she stared up at him, and she was helpless to stop it. The knowledge that somehow, all these people had sincerely wanted to do something for her...a part of her still could not believe it.

"I just...I just don't get it," she murmured. "I haven't done anything to deserve this."

"You've been leaving an impact on people your entire life. You do deserve this - and more."

On instinct, she hugged Izuku, conveying the appreciation that words could not. He embraced her in turn, the two of them holding one another for a moment, basking in the warmth.

His lips pressed a kiss into her hair. "Want to start going through them?" he suggested.

"I think I'd like that." Maybe then, she could banish the doubts, still clawing at the edges of her thoughts.

The two of them moved over to the couch, pressing up against each other, making up for the earlier loss of morning cuddles. Together, they started to read through some of the letters, each one sincere and heartfelt. Izuku took it upon himself to read many of them aloud, giving voice to the sentiments of the people she had saved, helping them ring more powerfully in her ears. They also admired the art together - they had a wide variety of quality, but she appreciated each one, and she resolved to collect them carefully as a keepsake.

A couple of hours passed and they barely put a dent in the messages. They carefully sorted them out, removing the hundreds in the oversized bag, placing them aside for later.

The miraculous letters slowly eroded her defences. The world had left its eyes on her, and she was far more beloved than she would have imagined. Perhaps history would be kind to her, after all.

Still, that irritating, nagging part of her mind knew it might yet be a flash in the pan. Viral trends did not necessarily leave much of a lasting mark. She felt so wonderful about the love of her fans, but how far that ultimately extended was hard to know exactly. Did it really compare to what other heroes were able to do?

Just as they stood up and agreed to take a break, Izuku grabbed her hand again, beaming at her.

"So...I was wondering if you'd be up to take a trip with me."

"Oh? What for?"

He looked strangely giddy, his feet rocking back and forth, a toothy grin plastered across his face.

"Well...I didn't plan for all this. But I did plan for something else. A surprise."

Her spirits buoyed by the lovely morning, she found his giddiness infectious, and she eagerly pumped a fist up to share in his enthusiasm. "Alright, sure! Where are we going?"

Izuku trembled with his excitement. "U.A. High School."

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

Together, they walked to the place where it all began, Izuku keeping infuriatingly cryptic about his plans. The city streets seemed so much more wondrous now after their morning together, the cloudless day painting it in vibrant light, the busy people she had protected for 35 years going about their lives peacefully; a peace she had protected.

They moved covertly, dressed in baggy, unremarkable clothing, with hoods up to disguise their faces as they made their way to the front gates of the school. It was just as imposing as it was back then, built upon the shoulders of the country's greatest heroes. She had belonged here, but after so many years away, the hallowed grounds had regained their intimidating stature. A part of her wondered about herself in relation to this anyone care that this was the school that had produced her? Would her name be listed amongst its greats?

She tried to clear her head, shaking it thoroughly. It would do her no good to get mired in such thoughts.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" He looked just as in awe of it as she was, even though he visited far more often than she did for guest appearances. "I really miss living here."

"Those were tough times. But a lot of good memories," she said, reminiscing about those wondrous early days.

"The best," he agreed as they arrived at the front gate, closed with a mighty metallic door. Security was still just as tight as ever.

"So...will you tell me now why exactly you wanted to bring us here?" Ochako pleaded, pouting at her husband, desperate to know what surprise had made him so delighted.

"Well, if they're not late, they should be...ah, there they are!"

He gestured towards the corner opposite to where they had arrived. A middle-aged woman with long, red hair and a kind smile walked toward them, carrying a small girl in her arms. The girl was positively adorable, with short hair like the older woman's, rosy cheeks and a bright smile as she looked around at the school, squirming excitedly.

Ochako looked intently at them and then back at Izuku, posing the question with her eyes. The pair of them looked vaguely familiar, and the girl was certainly cute, but she was pretty sure she had never met either of these people.

"Mommy, mommy, who are they! Are they the surprise?!" the girl squealed, pointing at the two heroes as they approached.

"Yes, that's right," the mother replied, her own excitement ringing clearly in her voice. She turned her head to regard Ochako, looking intently at her. "It's so nice to see you both. Thank you so much for this. I didn't imagine this would ever happen."

"Thank you so much for agreeing to my request," Izuku replied with a grin. "Well, Ochako, do you recognize her?"

Ochako regarded the pair again, putting on a gentle smile, but struggling to put names to the faces. The girl stared back at her with wide eyes, tilting her head slightly, studying her.

"Mommy...is that...?"

"Yes, that's right," the woman said with a laugh, kneeling down to let the girl out of her arms, the child practically vibrating with excitement. "That's Uravity."

It was like a volcanic eruption. The young girl - who could not have been older than five based on her size - squealed with delight, jumping slightly in the air, her hair flying about as she hurried over to the named hero.

Ochako chuckled at the sheer delight before her, kneeling down to meet her apparent fan. It was always fun to interact with the little ones. It did her heart good to see somehow, she could still inspire children.

"Hello there," she greeted the girl, pulling her hood down to show more of her face. The girl glomped her knee, staring up at her with wide, chocolate-coloured eyes, beaming ever-so-sweetly. "It's nice to meet you. What's your name?"

The girl giggled suddenly, squeezing at the fabric of her jeans.

"Yours!" she cried out, laughing as if that was the greatest wonder in the world. "Ochako!"

The hero felt as if her heart might burst from the shock and joy that coursed through it. She felt her eyes go wide, her gaze flashing up towards the girl's mother, who had a smile stretching across her entire face.

The realization came through her mind. She looked back to the girl at her knees, beaming up at her. Her memories flashed backwards, 35 years ago, reaching deep into the rubble, pulling a red-haired girl out, consoling her, hoping she could put a smile back on that face.

Haruka Akemi.

The elder Ochako snapped back to the present, looking down at the girl, who suddenly looked so much like the one in her memories. She gulped, struggling to contain the welling emotion of meeting her namesake. "Well, that's a lovely name for a lovely girl."

The girl blushed, her cheeks getting rosier, but the smile never vanished from her face, little dimples popping up in it.

"Wow!" the girl exclaimed. "I love that we have the same name. You're my favourite hero."

Ochako's heart squeezed at the sheer cuteness, her breath coming out in a little gasp, garnering laughter from the other adults present.

"Thank you very much," she responded, glancing back towards Akemi. "Hey, would it be alright if I held you?"

"Yeah!" The girl cheered, suddenly trying to scramble up into her hero's lap.

Said hero looked up to Akemi for permission, who provided a quick, affirming nod.

Ochako lifted the girl up, grinning as she yelled in delight, her arms reaching up towards the sky. She hardly weighed anything, even without activating her quirk.

"Yaa!" the girl cheered, giggling as Ochako lifted her up and down a few times. Ochako laughed with her, the child's mirth infectious, her heart soaring at the sheer joy of the moment.

But suddenly, she felt a strange tugging at her neckline. Curious, she looked down to see her clothes pulling away from her body slightly toward the girl she was holding.

"Watch your Quirk now, dear," Akemi said. Ochako looked up to see the woman moving ever so slightly towards the pair, without moving her feet, pulled by some unseen force.

"Oh, sorry!" the girl cried out, slightly panicked, the smile running away from her face. She took a deep breath, calming herself down.

Ochako noticed her clothes fall back to normal, the force gone.

"Is that...her Quirk?" Izuku said slowly, putting his hand on his wrinkled chin. She noticed his eyes lighting up, as it often did when an exciting new Quirk appeared before him.

"It is. We're not entirely sure about it since she got it last month, but we suspect,, based on my Quirk, she is increasing her gravitational force to pull things in." Akemi frowned, walking up to stroke at her daughter's hair. The girl had suddenly lost all her excitement, the colour drained from her face.

"Wow, that's quite a power," Izuku chimed in, studying the girl intently.

"It is. But we're a little worried about the risks if it gets too powerful. So we're playing it safe until she's a little bit older."

"I want to be a hero like you…" the young Ochako said suddenly, looking away from everyone. She was suddenly on the verge of tears. "But I don't know if I can with this."

"Ochako…" the girl's mother replied, her eyes widening, apparently startled by the sad comment.

Without thinking, Uravity took action.

"Hey. You know, when I was a little girl, people were worried about what I could do with my Quirk, too," she said, causing her younger counterpart to pull her head up.

"Really?"

"Yeah! People were always saying I needed to be careful or I might really hurt someone." She could remember once sending her father a little too high into the air, leading to him getting a sprained ankle. "So I had to watch out for a little while. But eventually, I got a little older and had enough control to really work with it."

The girl sniffled slightly. "Could I do that?"

"I know you can do it. Just listen to your mom and keep working hard. Reach as high as you can. If you can stay positive and work at it, I'm sure you could be a hero, if that's what you want to do."

The girl's face lit up brighter than the sun, bringing a matching smile onto her namesake. "I do! I will!"

Ochako held up a fist, letting it slowly approach the girl. "Then I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do as the next hero named Ochako!"

The girl slowly mimicked her hero, bringing her tiny fist into her counterpart's one. She held it there for a moment, before bringing it back in, beaming all the while. The torch was passed.

The hero handed the girl back to her mother, spirits buoyed, heart warmed to have helped make such wonder in a child so small.

"I wanted to thank you for everything you did back then," Akemi said, her smile as beautiful as her daughter's. "What you said to me...I never really got to thank you properly, but it was what I needed to hear. I don't know if I could have gotten through everything without it. I never stopped looking up to you after that. I even run a fan site - I was just a little nervous about trying to meet you in person again."

Ochako beamed at the woman, her eyes getting wet as the words left their mark. What she did back then did matter. It was not for nothing. She had made a difference, even if it seemed so small looking back.

"Aww, you didn't have to be afraid. I would have been happy to meet you at any time." She looked towards the small girl who bore her name. "Thank you for this. For her. I'm just...I'm honoured."

"There wasn't anyone more inspiring we could think of to name her after. And neither of us would be here today without you." The girl in question gave a toothy grin and thumbs up at her idol. "And she's loved you ever since she found out about it."

Ochako took a breath, struggling to maintain some composure. Seeing the happy family that her work had helped create made her feel more pride than just about anything, besides her own family.

"Mommy, why is she crying?"

The hero touched her cheek. Oh. She was. She supposed it could not be helped.

"I'm just...very happy," the hero replied, making sure to show it in her smile.

It was difficult to describe the overwhelming, surging emotions within her. Here was solid proof of her mark on the world, something impossible to fathom before this moment. Surrounded by such love, she felt eager to give some of it back out.

"Would it be alright if I gave you two a hug?"

The blush returned to Akemi's face. She buried it in her daughter's hair, but she opened up her free right arm. Her daughter reached out eagerly, tiny arms stretching forward.

Ochako stepped forward and embraced the two of them, hugging them close, though taking care not to crush her namesake. Akemi let out a little gasp, seemingly struck by being embraced by her hero, while the younger Ochako latched around her neck.

The hero felt warmed to the very core of her being, holding a small part of a much greater legacy. She had made a difference, and she was holding it. Right now, these two people were the world to her.

"Thank you," the hero whispered her heart into Akemi's ear.

"Thank you for saving me," was all the woman could manage in reply.

After a couple of autographs and a promise to keep in touch, the couplings waved farewell to one another.

The hero promised herself, right then and there, she would watch the girl grow.

"I can't believe you found her after all these years."

"It took a little doing, but it was worth it." Izuku's answering grin was just as wonderful as it was on the day they first met.

She took the time to hug him from the side, digging her head into his chest. "You're incredible, you know that?"

"I couldn't be without you," he whispered into her hair. "You set a pretty good example."

"Oh, hush." She disentangled herself from him, face aflame, touched beyond words but getting a little embarrassed at the avalanche of compliments the day had brought. "So, shall we head back home?"

"Well...I had one more thing in mind." He walked over to the towering gate, pulling a card out from his pocket and flashing it at a scanner at the side of the door.

Ochako jumped slightly as the doors slowly opened, revealing the campus and school beyond. She stared wide-eyed at the familiar pathway, where she had begun her real journey to becoming a hero.

"How did you…?"

"Retiring comes with some perks. Called in a favour or two," Izuku said, tucking the card back in and adjusting his yellow backpack slightly. "Come on, let's go!"

With a surprising amount of exuberance, Izuku forged ahead, laughing as they returned to the grounds of their youth. Ochako followed him, joining in, eager to see just what more he had in store.

Staring at the school ahead now, it did not seem quite so imposing. The familiar path, lined with the busts of heroes, was significant, but she could walk it just as well as she did when she first came here.

This was a place bathed in legacy, but she was a part of that, just as much as the incredible heroes who had come before her. After meeting her young namesake, she did not doubt that now. Whether or not the world recognized it, she had made a difference, and there was plenty of living proof.

She realized how lost she had gotten. What was important to her was helping people - and heroes - in pain, people who needed you. She had done that thousands of times. That mattered. It was enough.

"I wanted to be here for this," Izuku suddenly called out, snapping her from her thoughts. He surged forward quickly, a few steps ahead of her. "The place where we-EEEEEEEEEE!"

Ochako reacted on instinct, sprinting ahead and tapping her hand onto the backpack of her descending husband. She did not see exactly how he had managed to trip, but even he would suffer from a faceplant into the hard ground.

Her reflexes were still quick enough, though he came pretty close to tasting brick. He stopped awkwardly in the air, body hanging horizontally without its gravity.

A rush of nostalgia hit Ochako with full force. Her mind went back more than 40 years, when she reached out to save the boy who would come to save the country - and her. She had acted on instinct back then too, not wanting to let people get hurt when she could make a difference, even if preventing a fall was trivial.

Silence hung in the air between them, the realization hitting them both at the same time.

She started snickering at him. Uproarious laughter followed quickly.

"I...can...not..believe!" Ochako paused between words, struggling to breathe, keeling over slightly. "That you would fall here again!"

After forty years of heroics, standing at the pinnacle, the world's greatest hero was still felled by his own two feet. Some things never changed.

"I swear...I swear I didn't mean to!" he responded, legs kicking in the air slightly as the laughter wracked through him. She noticed a blush starting to come to his cheeks, a little embarrassment peeking through the mirth. "Gosh, I planned to be more...together this time. I couldn't say a word to you when we..."

His face scrunched up suddenly. Just as she prepared to release him, he turned in mid-air, reaching his hand out to pause her.

"Wait! Uh, can you just hold me here for a bit?" he asked, reaching around himself to take his backpack off his shoulders.

Confused but curious, she nodded, staring intently at her partner as she tried to make out what he was up to.

With a shaky hand, he pulled out a small envelope from the bag, reaching out to hand it to her, still hanging awkwardly in midair.

"One...one last letter," he muttered, tripping over the words as he had with his feet. His nerves were evident, but she could not understand what he had to be nervous about. "From your biggest fan of all."

She had a hard time processing the image before her. Izuku, reaching up, letter in hand, hanging awkwardly, his gravity stolen by her hands. Blushing like a schoolboy, a nervous little grin on his face. She did as he asked, taking the envelope and regarding it carefully, curious as to its contents.

Izuku took a deep breath as she opened it up. "I just wanted to bring you here to remind you. About the very first time you saved me...and I guess the latest time, too."

He held up his yellow backpack, a toothy grin coming upon his face. "I even tried to look the part best I could!"

"Izuku…" she was astonished at just how far he had gone to make her feel better. She felt a surge of affection toward him, even before she read whatever was in this letter.

It was strange, thinking of this place as the first time she had saved someone. It had hardly seemed like anything at the time. Little did she know how that simple gesture would intertwine their destinies forevermore.

He finally flipped himself back upright, well accustomed to moving without gravity. She quickly tapped her fingers together, releasing him. He was suddenly right in front of her, eagerly gauging her reactions.

"Well...whenever you want to," Izuku said, inclining his head ever-so-slightly towards the message she held in her hand.

The envelope contained two pieces of paper, folded carefully together. She opened up the pages, her eyes met with his untidy scrawl. It could be difficult to read - he had developed his handwriting more for speed than legibility - but she had long since grown accustomed to it.

"To the world's greatest hero,

Hello! My name is Izuku Midoriya, and I have been a fan of yours since I was 16 - about 40 years. I might actually be your oldest fan!"

She let out a chuckle at that, Izuku joining in. I was always struck by just how determined you were - and how brightly you smiled. Even when you faced setbacks, you kept maintaining this incredible aura. It must have been hard on you. I wanted to help you, but I also knew it was something a hero had to do; reassure others even in the darkest of moments.

Being back here, Ochako could remember her first Sports Festival, and how brutal that setback had been. It was tough putting on a brave face. She put on a false smile too often back then, but it was a skill that could come in handy.

I've watched you every step of the way, and it was incredible seeing how fast you grew. How strong, how kind, how heroic you were. It drove me to want to be better. I know I would not have been the hero I am today without you.

You may not realize it, but I owe so much to you. At that entrance exam at U.A., there is no chance I would have made it without you. You saved me that day, and you've had a knack for doing that ever since.

She smiled at the memory of their exam together, even if it was fraught. From day one, they had managed to pull each other out of the fire often.

When I've fallen, you've lifted me up. When I doubted whether I could do it, you gave me a name that always meant I could. I've watched you blossom into an absolutely incredible professional. You inspire and help so many people. You are ridiculously kickass.

She snorted at that one.

My favourite moment of yours was your fight against the Renegades. The way you alternated your Quirk so smoothly and took out so many of them at once is - well, you know the rest.

"Nerd," she teased, garnering another chuckle from him.

You are the world to me. Everything we've built together, accomplished together - I'll make sure no one ever forgets it. You helped me tell my story - you helped make sure my story even exists. I will make sure they know yours.

I've left something to remind you of just how far you've come. The world may not recognize it, but I know we stand at the summit together. And I never would have made it here without you.

Thank you for always saving me!

Your number one fan, Izuku Midoriya

"Izuku...I…" her throat clogged up, rendering her speechless. Standing here, she could fully remember the incredible story she had helped create. How could she have doubted she had not left her mark, when the truth stood there before her, his eyes bright, standing at the top of the world, her right by his side?

Her story would be told. Their story. Together, in everything. She could see it now.

"Hang on. You should see the fan art first." Izuku looked sideways, blushing, adjusting himself away ever so slightly. "...Maybe even the first one?"

Startled, Ochako turned the page over, gasping at the sketch of herself. It was a little worn, clearly done with a basic pencil on an aged piece of paper. But it was surprisingly detailed around her face - far more than some of his older sketches. The descriptions highlighted her various costume features and abilities. She noticed a few crossed words like "cute" and "incredible," the page bearing the first signs of his love for her.

"It's the first sketch I ever drew of you. I usually cycle through these pretty fast, updating things. But I wanted to keep that one, even back then. When I first drew it, I realized I went too far and put it away. But I never wanted to get rid of it. Eventually, I realized it might make a nice retirement gift."

She reflected on the old sketch of herself - young, naive, courageous, simple. She drew a hand across the worn page, a gateway to the past, thinking upon how the image of her had changed, how much more she had done since then.

"Thank you, Izuku. It means so much to me." She stared up at him, his green irises shining down at her, the same passionate flame still there within them, even if they were now surrounded by more wrinkled flesh. "And thank you for saving me. Now, and always."

He grabbed onto her shoulders; she could feel the strength still so present in his arms despite how worn they had become. They beamed at one another, as best friends, partners, and everything to one another.

"This is where our journey together began," he stated simply. "Where our story began. And this is where the rest of our lives will, too."

She placed a hand over the top of his, holding it to her, staring fiercely back at him. "We got some adventures left in us after all, right?"

"The best is yet to come."

She acted then, grabbing onto the neck of his sweater and pulling him in for a deep kiss, her heart igniting at the contact, as surely as always.

They pulled away, the passion of the fleeting moment staining both their cheeks, suddenly sheepish about such a brazen public display of affection. Fortunately, nobody was around to witness it.

Ochako carefully put the letter and drawing back in the envelope and tucked it away in a pocket, turning back to the path where she had begun her journey, leading toward the gate out to the rest of the world.

She held out her hand for him, and he took it, intertwining their scarred flesh together.

They walked out towards the sunlight, the rest of their story left to tell.

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

AN:  Written for the IzuOcha Temple Discord Server Big Bang Event. Prompt: "Thank you for always saving me!" Thank you very much to Mal for editing this and for Xylveon for the incredible artwork provided for the fic. You can also find it at https://twitter.com/Xylveon700/status/1294469669361840129. Please show Xylveon some appreciation! Thank you to the organizers for putting this on, it was truly wonderful to be part of.  Please leave a like and/or reblog if you enjoyed it ! ^_^

[kinetic-elaboration]

May 25: The Finale

So here's how I stand with The 100 now that the finale has aired.

I still haven't watched anything past 4x10, but I'm reading spoilers on my dash and keeping up with the general outlines of things. Before the finale aired, I was starting to get curious about developments again and thought I might just wait for the last ep to air and then binge the final arc maybe over the long weekend or something. Now that I know how the season ends up, my interest in watching has plummeted and while I think it would be silly of me to say 'I'll never watch it ever' (those are very much the sort of words a person like me later eats), I have no interest in watching it any time soon. Maybe over the summer. Sometime. Eventually. Who knows?

The biggest reason to watch the last episodes is to be able to have an actual leg to stand on for complaining purposes but frankly not being up to date on canon hasn't stopped me yet, lol. I just disclaim all complaints with 'I'm one of those annoying people who bitches about developments in episodes I haven't seen' and leave it at that.  

I don't want to be like the anti's, hating the show and talking about how much I hate it but sticking around in fandom anyway, raining on everyone else's parade. It worries me that people might come across my ranty posts and think that of me. But... okay, look, I have done a lot of complaining going all the way back to season 3 and I'm up front both about what I don't like in the show and about why I'm here in the fandom anyway. I like the fandom, I like the characters, I like the universe, etc. I still want to engage in the transformative-works aspect of the fandom. And honestly I've never been a meta writer or engaged in speculation or predictions so looking only at what I produce, content-wise...whether or not I like the canon or even whether or not I'm caught up on it makes no difference. It will matter even less now that we're in the hiatus and there's no new material to speculate on in the first place.  

Finally, and most importantly, I'm really honestly not here to ruin or even put a damper on anyone else's fandom experience. I tag my negative posts as negative. I censor names when I'm talking shit about specific characters or ships. I don't go into people's inboxes and I don't even have a Twitter but if I did, I wouldn't use it to harass other users or people who work on the show. Like, I just want to sincerely love the first two seasons, the general concept, and the characters, while bemoaning the state of the show as it is now. (Also, tbh...sometimes complaining is fun and the vast number of people who leisure-complain on any number of topics is evidence enough of this phenomenon—at least I'm honest about taking pleasure in the occasional bout of this is so fucking stupid inconsequential-rage.)

As for what I actually think of what I've heard of the finale.... I've tried to write this up a couple of different ways and I think (hope) I've FINALLY distilled my thoughts.

The two things I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT WANT out of the finale were (1) for the characters to go to space and (2) a time jump of pretty much any sort. So now that those two things have happened, my brain has basically short circuited. I cannot even comprehend this. I literally don't have the words. Maybe I sound hyperbolic, but I'm just trying to explain how much disdain I have for these two plot points. I can't even fathom how anyone ever thought this would be a good idea; it's like I'm in an alternate entertainment universe. It's ludicrous.

My problem with the space launch is that it crosses the disbelief line for me. Obviously there's a lot of faux-science in this show and everyone has a different line as to what is reasonable-enough if you don't think about it too hard, and what is just absolute nonsense but, for whatever reason, this is my line. I don't know what the details were on the actual show come launch-time but just the concept of launching a space craft from a post-apocalyptic wasteland is so ridiculous that I cannot imagine a way to squint or turn my head or angle my screen so that it seems even remotely tenable. A ROCKET LAUNCH. FROM THE RUINS OF POST-NUCLEAR NEW YORK. Like ?????????????????????????. I previously described this possibility as sounding to my ears like riding a pegicorn to New Jersey to get the magic potion from Raul (s/o to my freshman year roommate for the Raul in-joke, so useful to me so many years later), and that's still how I feel.

My bigger problem is with the time jump. To put it briefly, it's a new show now. The combination of Radiation 2.0 and the time jump has cemented that.

I've felt for a while now that whatever it is I'm watching now isn't what I originally signed up to watch. I've seen a few other posts to similar effect, and even my mother (who acts as my Typical Casual Viewer one-person control group, even though quite obviously she is not representative of a typical cw viewer at all—still she's not in the fandom so she is completely untainted by what goes on in these parts)--even my mom said she thinks JRoth/the writers are basically telling a completely different story now than they were initially. I've had, and am still having, a hard time articulating exactly what makes it fundamentally different (as opposed to merely a show that's evolved over time, as long-running shows do), or even when exactly it happened. But I guess at its core the complaint is: this is supposedly a show about "the hundred," and of that group almost all have been killed or lost to the ether, and the remaining members have had their screen time chronically cut short to accommodate a growing cast of characters who have increasingly little to do with that core group or its original purpose or journey. The complaint is  partly one of frustration at the large number of delinquent deaths and the small scraps of screen time given to other alleged mains, and partly a more general annoyance at the loss of the whole meaning of the affiliation "the hundred." What does it mean to be a member of the hundred anymore? Basically nothing. And when it ceased to have meaning (by which I mean S3), the show became, in essence, a different show.

Obviously there's a counter to this whole general complaint (that the show is too bloated with characters generally and/or Grounders specifically), which I've also seen floated out there recently, which is that destroying everything on Earth will allow something more like S1 to flourish again, and a new emphasis to be placed on the core young people. To this I say, first, it's way too early to tell what S5 will be. And I'm in a particularly bad place to really engage with this argument, given how much of even the current canon I've missed. BUT I am skeptical. First, we were told S4 would feel like S1 again and IMO it most definitely has not. Second, most of the hundred are dead and/or gone—I'm not just talking about the toll among the original mains or even the original named characters, I'm talking about how 42 of the original captured teens made it out of Mt. Weather and all but 4 of them were never heard of again. So even if the show returns to caring more about, say, Monty than it does about Grounder of the Week, nothing can undo the destruction to the original concept; nothing can really solve the problem of which I'm complaining. And third, I don't think the writers think they're writing a bad show; I mean, they're the ones who brought us down this path in the first place. This, what we've seen over the past 2 years, IS JRoth's vision. Yes, sometimes showrunners make a mis-step and readjust course, and I thought perhaps that would happen for S4, but it hasn't, which means that he doesn't think S3 had the problems I think it had, which means there's no reason to think S5 will be any better than S3 or S4 were, at least from my POV.  

But anyway as I was saying—

Maybe there's been room for argument about this same show/different show question up to now; it's a fuzzy sort of concept in my mind with which I'm not entirely comfortable—I feel a bit like I'm just Complaining About Change like an old grandma, tbh. Despite how it sounds, I do want to be open-minded about others' creativity and to give the benefit of the doubt to ongoing projects/unfinished stories. Regardless, ending S4 in this way is a pretty big sign that the theory, whether or not it was right before, is right as of now. Is there any way to more effectively raze the ground and salt the Earth than to literally raze the ground and then skip ahead 6 years? I have a million problems with this large time gap, but on the top of the list is that, like everyone over the age of 25 knows, a person changes dramatically between the ages of 18 and 25, or 16 and 22, just in the normal course of events, apocalypse(s) not withstanding. The writers have given themselves carte blanche to do literally absolutely anything with these characters. Even for a show that's barely cared at all about consistency over time in pretty much any aspect, that's troubling. (Also, like, I signed up for a show about a bunch of teens in the forest, not a group of twenty-somethings...doing whatever they'll be doing in season 5. I feel a tiny bit like a promise has been broken, sorry.)

So having basically established that whatever this show used to be, it's not that anymore, I guess the question is: what is it now, and do I like it? I think this is the question every viewer basically has to ask themselves, consciously or no. For me, what I've seen the last two years is some mismash of GoT, general dystopia, repetitive story lines, action sequences, and nonsense "science." The plot is ridiculous,  the pacing is terrible, the emphases are (for my taste) in all the wrong places, the characters are shoddily drawn, and often times, it's fucking boring. It's a bad show. Things like loyalty to a few characters, interest in a few story lines, and sheer curiosity/inertia have kept me here despite it all, but at this point I feel the balance has just shifted imperceptibly the other way. Jasper's death has a lot to do with it (he was my favorite, he had the only good or even coherent story of S3, and the way his death and its aftermath were handled were so insulting one could easily justify a decision to stop watching as mini-protest), but I think that it was more the (very heavy) straw on the camel's back than anything else.

I guess the tl:dr version of this is GOODBYE BITCHES I'M DONE and yet I still can't even promise I won't be watching Season 5, like I can't predict how I'll feel in a year.

[topicprinter]

Full disclaimer, I'm not trying to sell anyone anything, I see too much of that now and I don't want to add to it. This is a short list of ways I've marketed my company outside the normal social media and google ads that everyone seems to be so caught up in. I've run several business now, mostly services, including a pressure washing company and a commercial refrigeration company. I've since sold the pressure washing company and am trying to get a energy management company off the ground. For most of you, this stuff is common knowledge, however I see a lot of new entrepreneurs here that only want to deal with online marketing.​1: Don't forget the basics.This one isn't too special, but I find people forget that not everyone is glued to the internet 24/7, and a lot of people straight up ignore Facebook ads. So this summer I payed my brothers kid to go door to door in several neighborhoods (1 per weekend) and drop an informative flyer along with a "save the tax" coupon in people's mail boxes. On average, for every 100 flyers (one weekends worth usually) I'd get roughly 10 new leads, half of which lead to paying jobs, each job averaged $250 and it cost me around $150 for 100 flyers and paying the kid $50 cash to deliver them. $1250 for $150 is a around a 833% return. The reason this worked so well for me is for two reasons, one is people don't think about "extra" services like, in my case, pressure washing. They see the flyer, look at their walk way and decide that they should have it cleaned. Secondly, timing is everything, I sent the flyers out in late spring before people had a chance to clean their own walkways, driveways etc. Honestly I never looked into mail delivery, I looked at it as a way to help a kid out with some summer spending money and keep my costs low. Another key point here is location, are the people in this area your usual clients? If not, then you might be wasting your time. Again, I don't think this is news to anyone but I was surprised by how many other business owners I've spoken to that have completely given up on physical marketing and switched to 100% digital.Overall: $150 in material and labour, average of $1250 return after finding the correct market and time.​2: Your car is a billboard.I'm sure 90% of you have some sort of decal on your car or truck promoting your business, but when you stop into the market where do you park? I made a habit of anyways parking somewhere that stood out. If I go to the mall in my company truck I'll park at the very back near the exit away from everyone else. If I'm between two other cars in the center of the parking lot my logo isn't visible. Parking away from everyone else allows people to see, read and remember my decals as they drive out. On top of this I made sure to drive my company truck as much as I could, you're paying to own your car and you paid to have your name plastered on it, get it out there. Another key tip here is keep it clean, people are more likely to call a company with a clean, professional appearance than some rusty old pick up that hasn't been washed in two years.Overall: $700 for custom decals on my truck, unknown ROI but I can account for at least $3000 in jobs from people seeing my truck. I wish I had a better way to track this other than asking people "how did you hear about me".​3: Sponsoring events, sports teams etc.When ever I mention this I always get the "But I can't afford that" response. Truth is, you probably can't afford to have your company name tossed around at a NFL game, but you can almost always afford to sponsor a youth league or other small local event. Be smart, if you run a clothing store geared towards young females, look for a dance studio or gymnastics club that would be willing to plug your store all season for $1000 and a member discount. You'd be amazed how many small organization will go for this and it gives you a whole year of advertising. Obviously, do some research, if that dance studio only had 15 kids, and the same 50 people coming to each event it probably isn't worth it. The other side is sponsoring specific events. In my case, I found out about a 1/8th mile mud drag racing event about an hour from my city, I called the organizers and offered to give away a few $250 gift certificates as well as wash one of the trucks on site to show off my mobile services. All in it cost me around $700, but I landed two commercial jobs cleaning heavy equipment. Again, this comes back to knowing your market, I also lost money twice sponsoring events, one was car show and one was a small county fair.​Overall: If you can find your clients this is a great way to gain some business, however research is key. I figured that a county fair was the best way to pitch my business to farmers, turns out they're too busy doing their own thing. However if you catch them knee deep in mud when their in a great mood, you get to go wash some tractors.​4: Always leave a business card.This one is super simple but so many people forget about this. Business cards are dirt cheap and very professional looking. Every time I see a cork board in the entrance of a restaurant or a shop I ALWAYS take the time to put one of my cards on it. Every time I do a job I make sure to leave a card. The more cards you have floating around the more chances you have of being seen. This past summer I went through over a 1000 business cards for my pressure washing company. I hand those things out like candy, even if I'm just giving someone my number for an unrelated reason I'll always give them a card. I've heard so many people say "I ordered 1000 business cards and they lasted me years!", thats wrong, they shouldn't last you years they should be distributed as fast as possible.Overall: This one is a no brainer, but people only seem to hand out cards to people they've already sold to. Everyone could be a customer or a client, everyone gets a business card.​5: If no ones talking about you, start the conversation.Alright, I've been called shady, manipulative and a whole list of other things for this one. But it works, and it's currently my number on marketing tacit with my energy management company. I've had no problem landing commercial clients, however I've struggled a lot with residential clients. So what I did was start a second Facebook account under a different name, join a big local Facebook group and make a post about how high my heating bill was and what I can do to fix it, once the conversation got started I got my wife to plug my company and explain a bit about what we offer without making it sound like a sales pitch. It was something like "You know you can get company X to come over a audit your house for fairly cheap, it's a lot better than throwing money at things you don't need". It. Blew. Up. I had over 20 inboxs from people who were commenting on that post and got several jobs from it. It was by far the best method I've ever used to kick start a business. Those jobs landed me other jobs via word of mouth and most of those people who comment on the original posts are heavy Facebook users and they're constantly tagging me in similar posts. It's been the holy grail of marketing for me in term of residential work. For some, it's a little too deceitful, but oh well, it works. I think it's because people don't like being sold to, we're flooded with advertisements all the time and more and more people want real recommendation from other people rather than a Facebook ad. I've retired my fake social media accounts, but it was a excellent way to kick start my company after I sold my pressure washing business.Overall: This, in my opinion, is gold. It's been my best campaign so far and it keeps on giving. Social media is good for much more than traditional paid ads.​In the end, most of you seasoned business owners will know a lot of this little tips and tricks and probably more that I don't know about. But I spend a lot of time creeping this sub reddit and everyone is so caught up in SEO this and Facebook pixel that. Those are excellent ways to attract business, I use them, but it never hurts to get back to basics.