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avengerscompound · 5 years

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That Kid You Knew - Chapter 4

That Kid You Knew: An Iron Man Fanfic

Masterlist Previous //

Buy me a ☕ @iron-man-bingo Square: Unrequited Crush?

Warning: Some foreplay

Word Count: 2368

Pairing: Tony Stark x F!Reader

Summary: You had grown up knowing Tony Stark but as you’d gotten older you’d lost track of him. When you see him at a party you have a drug-fueled one-night-stand with him.

10 years later he finds you again and has to come to terms with the fact he’s been a father all the time.

Chapter 4

Tony’s lips pressed against yours. Gently at first, just testing the waters. They were so soft and the feather touch he used made your skin prickle. Your hands ran up to the back of his head and you tugged at his hair. He moaned and deepened the kiss. You parted your lips and right away there was the press of his tongue, hot and wet, touching on yours.

It had been so long since you had been with anyone, that you had completely forgotten that the last person you were with was this one. Your body responded on autopilot, craving his touch, wanting more and more.

He started guiding you back on the couch and you spread your legs, letting him move between them. His cock hardened and the press of it through his trousers and your own pants created heat and friction that sent currents of pleasure surging through you.

His hand traveled up under your shirt and finally, reason kicked in. “Stop. Stop, Tony.” You murmured, almost unintelligible.

“It’s okay. I have protection.” He whispered against your neck.

Your body seemed to want to betray you because you tilted your head back giving him more access to you even as your mind screamed how bad of an idea this is. “No. Tony. It’s not that. Please stop.”

He sat up and looked at you with both confusion and frustration written on his features. “What’s wrong?”

You sat back up and drew your knees up against your body. Your panties were soaked through and were making you slightly more uncomfortable than you already felt. “This is a bad idea.”

“I promise, we’ll be careful. I have condoms.” He said. “No more siblings for Owen until we are ready for them.”

You flinched. How long had he been thinking about this that he’d already planned you both having more kids? “Tony… listen to yourself. You have a son in there who only just called you dad.”

“I know that. And you’re his mom. We should be together. We don’t have to get married unless you want to but we should be living in the same place. Not just friendly acquaintances that live in different boroughs.” He said. The frustration was clear in his voice as he pleaded for you to see it from his point of view.

You sighed as that heartbroken feeling of ruining everything that you used to be burdened with suddenly came back full force. Not that you would have wanted to live with him back then either. It just so much worse now that you aren’t sure about it because now those things do sound nice. But the reasoning is wrong. “Do you really want to add the complication of dating me to the new thing you have just got going with Owen? What if we don’t work out? The custody stuff is hard enough to deal with while we’re getting along.”

Tony ran his hands down his face and got up and started pacing. When he spoke he was obviously worked up. “I want to try. I hate this. I hate that I barely know him. I hate I only get to see him when you say that it’s okay to and up until recently someone had to be supervising us. I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted kids, but I met him and I know I do now. But this wasn’t how I wanted to do it.”

You stood up and put your hands on your hips. “So is that who I am? You’re own personal broodmare? We move into your house so you can be with Owen full-time and when you feel like it, you get to knock me up again and then be a dad the way you feel is the right way to be one?” You hissed, keeping your voice at just above a whisper for fear that Owen will wake up and hear you fighting. “Do you even like me like that?”

Tony stopped and stared at you, putting his glasses back on. “I like you… we could… Fuck!” He groans loudly. “Fuck!”

“Tony! Keep your voice down!” You spat. “You need to think about him and not your fucking preconceived notions about what being a dad should look like. If you actually want this -” You said indicating between the two of you. “To be something more, we can’t just jump into it because you’re horny or you have some image of how things are supposed to be!”

You stormed off to your room. You thought maybe you heard Tony whisper your name but you’re too upset to care.

The next day when Tony came to pick Owen up, things were tense between the two of you. Owen picked up on it immediately and seemed to go into some kind of repair mode. It made you feel guilty as hell.

“Dad, why don’t we take mom to the zoo?” He suggested, looking from one of you to the other. “Or… or we could go see a show on broadway. Me and mom have been talking about seeing that Harry Potter one forever now.”

Tony sighed and put his hand on Owen’s shoulder. “I was hoping we could do something, just you and me today, bud.”

“I know… but…” He said, looking at you.

“It’s okay. You see me all the time. Go spend time with your dad.” You said.

“Maybe, can we have dinner together tonight?” He said hopefully.

You looked at Tony and he gave a slight nod. “Sure. I’ll cook something for the three of us.”

Owen looked between the two of you and frowned slightly. “Okay.”

Tony had ended up taking Owen to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum figuring there would likely be some Iron Man and War Machine things to show off to him. Owen kept looking back at him as they walked around. Each time Tony tried to get Owen to engage in one of the activities, the boy barely participated.

They sat down in the cafeteria at lunch and Tony looked him over as he ate his slice of pizza. “You don’t have to worry about me and your mom.”

“What’s going on with you guys?” Owen asked. “Yesterday you were happy and getting along and today you won’t even look at each other. Is it because I called you dad? I can not do that.”

Tony felt a pain in his chest. He reached over and put his hand on Owen’s shoulder and looked him in the eye. “It has nothing to do with anything you did. I love you so much, bud. That’s never going to change. I made a mistake last night. I really like your mom, but now she’s upset with me because I’m an idiot.”

“What did you do?” Owen asked.

Tony shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s not really the point. She was right. I need to worry about you and me first. Okay?”

“Please? What did you do?” Owen begged.

Tony let out a breath and ran his hand through his hair. “I kissed her.”

Owen’s whole face lit up. “But that’s not bad. Maybe you can go on a date. Mom never goes on dates with anyone.”

Tony shook his head. “I’d like to. But she’s right. What if we end up breaking up? You’re the most important thing. I don’t want to make things harder than they need to be.”

“You’re my dad,” Owen said simply. “No matter what happens.”

Tony looked up and smiled at him. “You’re a smart kid, you know?”

Owen laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

Over the next couple of months, things changed a lot. You decided that moving out was a priority and you ended up finding a Brownstone near his school with decent security, a small yard and a private entrance via an underground garage that would mean going in and out of the front door would be unnecessary.

Tony had decided the best course of action was to back off while you both just get used to each other as parents of Owen and while you dealt with the awkwardness of the kiss and your reaction to it.

Outside the news of Tony’s illegitimate son just became public knowledge so you both just agreed that he should release a statement and ask that the press respect his and your privacy. Not that they ever did.

Ever so slowly you moved on from the kiss and back into the functionally working family unit of two people raising a kid together. It was better that way.

You did still like him though. Not just like. What had started as a crush and a daydream of the three of you as a family, started to become real love. You loved him. He was Owen’s dad. He was the kid you grew up with. But he was more than that. You clicked. He was Tony. Your Tony. You just worried that when you rejected him before you shut the door on the idea. That maybe you’d ruined any chance of you ever being more.

You planned to move just after Owen’s birthday. Tony was excited to hold a party at the tower and had gone completely overboard decorating the party deck and buying gifts. He’d even invited all his friends as well as Owen’s. The Avengers all ended up being mobbed by children. None of them seemed to care at all.

“I seriously can’t believe you kept having a kid with Iron Man a secret.” One of the parents said eyeing Tony as he helped one of the kids reload their Nerf Gun. Her name was Melissa and you kind of hated her. That was the problem with other parents. You had to socialize with them whether you want to or not. “I’d be advertising that everywhere.” She continued. “God, the things I would do with that man.”

You took the cake out of its box and put it on a tray. It was large and elaborate and you weren’t quite sure why you hadn’t just let one of the staff deal with it. Perhaps it was the force of habit. “Well, he wasn’t Iron Man back then, so…” You shrugged and went searching for the candles behind the bar.

“Was it good? I bet he’s a huge dom. Did he hold you down and just fuck the shit out of you? Were there toys?” She asked.

Your eyes went wide and you felt your face get hot and you weren’t sure if it was from embarrassment or fury.

“He totally did, didn’t he? I might try and see if he’d like to go a round or two with me.” She continued before getting up and approaching Tony. Your hands clenched and released as the anger seemed to build in you. You watched as she approached him and sat down. Her hand went to his knee and he laughed. Whatever it was she just said, Tony thought it was hilarious and he laughed at it.

You dropped the candles on the counter and fled from the room, hiding in one of the maintenance closets as you breathed heavily and clutched at your chest. You had thought you had your feelings for Tony in check again. Was this jealousy or were you just disgusted by Melissa? You paced the small space not sure what to do.

Tony knocked on the door and poked his head in. “What are you doing in here, weirdo? I thought we were going to do the cake.”

“Sorry.” You said, shaking your head. “Sorry. I just… needed some space.”

Tony closed the door behind him and stepped cautiously towards you. “Well you’re not going to get any in here, are you? What happened?”

You shook your head again. “That… that woman… and you… she…” You babbled, trying to pull away from him.

He put his hands on your arms and looked into your eyes through the red lenses of his glasses. “I’m not interested in anyone else here.”

You couldn’t even bring yourself to look up at him. “She told me I should be boasting about having sex with you.”

He took off his glasses and cupped your jaw, stroking his thumb over your cheek. “You should be,” He teased. “Look at me.”

You laughed, relaxing a little and raising your head to meet his eyes. “She said she was going to try and pick you up. She wanted to go a few rounds with you.”

Tony chuckled. “Who doesn’t?” He teased. “But there is no one else I’m interested in.” The emphasis he put on the world else caught your attention. You tilted your head, leaning into his hand.

“Else?”

He nodded. “You’re the only one I’m interested in. I’ll wait as long as you need me to.”

“You will?” You asked.

“Yes.”

“You? Wait?”

He chuckled. “Yes. Me.”

“But you’re Tony Stark.”

He laughed a little harder. “I am aware of that, dear.”

“Tony?” You breathed. The sound of the party seemed far off and unimportant now. “What about Owen?”

“Owen is my son. I love him. That’s not going to change.” He said. “I want you. I want to try this. Not because you're his mother. Not because I think I should only have kids with one person. I just want you. You are beautiful and brave and smart. I like being with you. I want to try being an us. I’ll wait until you see it too. But I’m not fucking any other moms at this party in the meantime. Okay?”

Your breath caught. You weren’t even sure what to say. You swallowed and nodded and he dropped his hand. “You gonna come back to the party?” He asked.

You took his hand in yours. “Just as second.” You said softly.

He looked at you and raised his eyebrow. “You okay?”

You nodded and leaned up. He closed the distance, pressing his lips to yours. It’s brief and tender and something about it centers you.

“Later okay?” He said, putting his glasses back on. “Party first.”

You nodded. “Okay.”

He kissed your forehead and headed back into the noise, you counted to three and followed after him.

// NEXT

#ironmanbingo3000 #tony stark #tony stark x reader #iron man #iron man fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #that kid you knew

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virmillion · 5 years

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Ibytm - T minus 15 seconds

Masterpost - Previous Chapter - Next Chapter - ao3

Words: 1,357

Logan furrows his brow and stares daggers at his computer, willing the trembling stacks of lines and curves to organize themselves into something intelligible. The towers of letters and numbers collapse, as does his head into his hands.

“Hey, spaceman, how much longer you gonna be here?” Roman asks, appearing behind Logan’s chair.

Logan buries his fingernails in his hair, massaging them toward the back of his head and playing with the arms of his glasses. “Ages, probably, and why ‘spaceman?’ Hardly a creative nickname for people working in a minor NASA offshoot. Couldn’t you do any better? It’s not like I’m the only one here wanting to be an astronaut.”

“Yeah, but you’re the only one here that’s so ridiculously dedicated to it. I mean, even Katie-Lee went home already, and she’s pretty much, like, head honcho or something.”

“You say that like I’m a new intern in need of exposition, rather than an employee who’s been well aware of her position for years. And it’s Miss Katie-Lee, which you’ll do well to remember.”

Roman drapes himself over Logan’s shoulder, stretching his arms over his head and blocking Logan’s view of the screen. “I don’t think I’ll be remembering that any time soon, but I suppose this is the part where I thank you for the suggestion.”

“Kindly remove yourself from my person. Unlike some people around here, I actually have important work to do.”

“Seriously? What is it, balancing more equations? Can’t you put that through google or something?”

“Google isn’t going to tell me in a clean five page report the exact moral conflicts related to launching a person into space and knowing their mission will take too long to survive a return trip, much less the mathematics required for them to build a system to get home on its own autopilot to pass along information they acquire at the destination that they can’t give directly from that long of a travel away. That’s not even taking into account the weight we need to factor in for the additional materials, or the mental toll we’ll be forcing on the traveler—we can’t exactly send someone with a terminal illness or someone on death row, since they certainly won’t be in the peak mental or physical condition necessary for the job, and you can get back to me whenever on how we break the news that we only want to give them a salary for the several limited months it’ll take to train them, before they get launched on what everyone knows to be a suicide mission. Everyone will know they’re doomed. Everyone.”

Barely even breathing, Roman slowly straightens. Well, it sounds like he’s barely breathing. Or, er, it doesn’t sound like that. All Logan can say for certain is that there’s an immense ringing in his ears that drowns out pretty much everything else. He drops his head to his desk.

“Are they actually planning a mission like that?”

“They want to be prepared for the unfortunately possible eventuality in which we might have to do that sort of thing. ‘We’ll have to make some sacrifices at one point or another,’ they say, as if I don’t already know that. As if I’m not already painfully aware of that. As if we don’t come into work every day knowing damn well that we’re all working ourselves to an early grave, because there’s virtually no way to expand our extraterrestrial horizons without losing a few lives along the way.” Logan winces at a sharp stab of pain against his temple. Another headache, no doubt.

“Even if it’s only a theoretical hypothetical, they wouldn’t have you working on it if they didn’t think it was a legitimate possibility.” Logan grunts a wordless confirmation at having heard the worry in Roman’s voice, but says nothing. Roman pulls out his phone and starts typing, only eliciting a response from Logan when whatever he’s doing flashes a bright light in Logan’s peripheral vision.

“What are you doing.” It’s not a question. It’s barely even an acknowledgement.

“Texting your husband proof that you need a vacation.”

“I don’t take vacations.”

“Duh, obviously I know that. If you took vacations, maybe you could be gone on an actual honeymoon.”

“Honeymoons are the free market’s way of draining more money from newlyweds who are too high on emotions to realize how much money they’re constantly flushing down the—”

“Yeah, I get it, communism for the win.”

“Socialism.”

“Same difference.”

“Not really.”

“Anyway, just go home and talk to Virgil. You need a vacation, and I told him that’s his new top priority.”

“As if he’d take orders from you.”

“He would if he knew his husband looked like such a hot mess-ra.” Roman flips the phone around, and Logan squints back against the brightness of the picture. Yeah, no, certainly not a pretty sight. Maybe he should start working out more. “Come to think of it, he does know you look like this, since I just sent it to him. So get a move on.”

“But I haven’t finished my—”

“And you won’t finish it if you don’t learn to take breaks between work sprints.”

“But I have a presentation on—”

“I do not care. Go home.” Roman leans forward and punches the power button on Logan’s monitor, clicking the screen into a peaceful abyss of black. “Go home. Please?”

Logan waffles between turning his screen back on (Roman only put it in sleep mode, after all) and slugging him for possibly damaging a solid couple hour’s worth of work, but a surprise third contender takes the lead for his attention. He shrugs his jacket on and rises, plucking a pen from behind his ear and dropping it in his pen cup. Roman gives a sigh of relief, and Logan wonders whether it was that obvious that he wanted to punch him.

“I hope you know how little I—”

“Yeah, yeah, everything sucks and you want to finish your work, I get it. Go home , Mr. Sanders.”

It is of this stern farewell that Logan is reminded as he tugs the front door shut behind him and steps into the apartment.

“You’re home.” Virgil sounds surprised, and Logan wonders exactly how guilty he should feel that Virgil would never expect him home in time for dinner. He also wonders whether this would be a good time to bring up how Virgril is always home, never getting an education or a real job or pursuing any passions, but Virgil never seems to be in the mood for that particular conversation. Logan is starting to suspect they’ll never realize that internal disparity.

Oh, right, he’s supposed to say something now.

“I’m home.” A very clever response, if Logan does say so himself. (He does not.)

“Why are you home so early?”

“Why do you assume I’d be late?”

“Because you’re always late.”

“I am early to every appointment and engagement I schedule.”

“Yeah, and you stay there late, which makes you late when you get to non-work things. Like when you get home late. Again.”

Logan hangs his jacket on the door and nods. “Right. Sorry.” He doesn’t really know what it is that he’s apologizing for, but he certainly isn’t about to admit as much.

“It’s fine.” Virgil’s tone makes it painfully clear that it is not, in fact, ‘fine,’ and Logan has no idea what to do about it. “Roman says you need a vacation.”

“Yes. Well, er, long day, y’know?”

“Right.”

“So I’ll just head off to bed early, then.”

“Sure. Set out some extra clothes, I guess. Maybe we can drive up north to see the leaves changing this weekend if you get out early enough. You probably won’t, but it’s worth a shot.”

Logan bites his tongue and heads into the bedroom. Why did Virgil get so mad about something so inconsequential as unpenalized punctuality? It’s not as if Logan getting home early (well, more like ‘just past on time’) should be seen as a bad thing—Virgil should’ve been happy at the surprise of being able to spend more time together. Maybe Logan should’ve just stayed at work.

#labhwrites #mine #i'll bring you the moon #ibytm

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kurly-quill · 6 years

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Hiya, hon! Ask, and you shall recieve <3 (when I get off my ass anyway)

Robin’s Nest Cafe Part 2

Pairings: DickTim, JayDick, JayTim, future JayDickTim

Rating: Mature for Language

Coffee Shop AU (sort of), Civilian!Tim (mostly?) Part 1 - Part 2

(2) The Nest

In the past four years or so, it became a well-kept secret in East End, that if you ever needed a safe place to shut your eyes, you might find it at The Nest. They don’t take names. They don’t ask any questions, and will take in anyone of any age. You’ll get a clean room, with a clean bed, and a square meal. Rumor even has it that folks sometimes leave The Nest with things like new job prospects or that last refill of medication you couldn’t afford in your pocket.

It’s not a long-term arrangement, but it helps when the winter rolls in and you don’t want to freeze to death.

The shop is quiet. But then, it’s never particularly busy either. Like, ever. She spends more time practicing her latte art than taking orders (“You’ll never get paid to doodle cats, young lady!” they used to tell her in high school. Well joke’s on you, Ms. Maximoff)

Tim is standing beside her at the counter, carefully wiping down the espresso machine like it’s his baby -- kind of accurate, since the only thing he loves more than that machine is her, obviously. Maybe. He better, anyway, if he knows what’s good for him.

It’s midway through her shift. Idly, she stacks the little espresso cups into a pyramid, knowing that Tim is silently judging her for it (“You realise we can’t use the cups now that you’ve touched all of them, right?” “So narrow-minded, Timmy. We can definitely use them for shots later!”).

Like Tim can’t afford the cups or something. But, appearances are still important for a place like this, she supposes. Barely getting by, but passed the health inspection! - that’s the look they’re apparently going for to the public eye. She gets it. Robin’s Nest cafe isn’t supposed to be high profile, or else The Nest loses its purpose. She flicks at her tower of espresso cups, leaning over the counter with her chin propped up on her hand, musing.

She thinks of a few years ago, remembers being at the end of her rope. How she had been ignoring the rumors about The Nest, passing them off as bullshit, until a cold front hit Gotham so hard it even had the Gotham-grade criminals running for cover. She remembers finally caving to the rumors, looking across the street at Robin’s Nest, brightly lit compared to the sorry excuses for street lamps that lined the sidewalk. Shivering, blue-lipped. All of the closest shelters were full, and the last time she’d slept in one, she’d woken up to a man reaching under her sheets, so like hell was she going back to one if she had other options.

She remembers her vow to herself-- that whatever happened, she wasn’t going back home. She would have frozen in an alleyway somewhere before that happened.

She remembers jaywalking across the icy street to the sidewalk just outside the shop window. But, as soon as she had gotten there, had taken a better look at the interior, she’d hesitated. A sort of hipster-industrial look with some hodge-podge, DIY-esque decor that’s not too shiny and clean and just worn enough to seem lived-in and welcoming-- It was that last part, of all things, that had made her clam up inside. Made her turn around to find some alleyway to go lose some toes in.

She probably would have, she muses, wiggling her toes around in her Adidas, if Tim hadn’t caught her just as she went to turn around the corner of the block. He’d ran out of the shop in nothing but a long-sleeve “World’s Okayest Barista” shirt, skinny jeans, and converse, all messy dark hair and pale blue eyes, and he had looked about three seconds from turning into an icicle. But in his hand, had been a drink.

“What d’you want,” she demands, defenses up on autopilot.

The barista fairly skids to a stop on the icy sidewalk, breath coming in visible plumes. The drink is shoved in her face-- she can see that it’s piping hot, and she’s suddenly acutely aware of how her nose and lips ache with cold.

“Take it. It’s hot chocolate.”

“Wow,” she deadpans, quirking a brow, “this is, like, a classic case of stranger danger.”

She notes how hard the barista is beginning to shiver, and wondered if he’s just an idiot for running after a homeless person on the wrong side of Gotham in ass-degree-and-dropping temperatures. (And in that getup, too, that screams: “please, oh please, ma’am, rob me, I’m a little nerdboy!” She could do it, probably, if she really wanted to.)

The barista grins sheepishly at her, shrugging.

“Okay, fair. I can make you another one back at the shop and you can watch me to make sure it’s safe to drink, if it makes you feel better.” She blinks at him. An idiot, definitely.

“Hate to break it to you, dude, but I’m broke.”

The barista holds up one finger. He fishes around in his pocket, pulls out his wallet (an open invitation to snatch it, that), and tugs out a little card. He holds it out to her, and she watches him carefully before taking it and reading-- she frowns. Flips the card over. The little card is small and sleek-- heavier than paper, PVC?-- and has a single bird-like symbol on the front. The back only reads:

For One - Redeemable at The Nest

“It’s a coupon.”

She swallows. No way.

“For a drink?”

The barista tucks his hands into his pockets. She wonders if he’s doing it because he thinks it looks cool or if it’s because he’s lost feeling in his hands. When she meets his eyes again, though, she’s distracted by how they sharpen with focus, flashing with a secret.

“Sure,” he concedes, shrugging again, “Or a room, if you want it. On the house.”

She blinks at him once. Twice. “You’re fucking nuts, aren’t you?”

The barista lets out a startled laugh, one hand coming up to cover his mouth. It shouldn’t be cute, and she really shouldn’t go there, but there it is. She’s officially the type to be charmed by dorky, early 2000s, sk8er boi aesthetic.

“Jury’s still out.”, then holds out a hand that’s white with cold, “I’m Tim.”

She notices that he doesn’t ask for her name, and she thinks over whether she should even tell him. After all, she’s only about 85% sure the guy’s not batshit crazy. But then, she’s probably in good company.

Oh, what the hell, she thinks, letting herself smile back at him. She takes his hand, and can’t even feel it with how numb her fingers are.

“Well, it’s Gotham, so crazy’s just the status quo around here. Also, name’s Stephanie,” she pauses and adds, more quietly, “And I think I’ll take you up on that room”

Tim shakes their hands minutely, and the movement has pinpricks of pain shooting up to her elbow, but already she somehow feels warmer.

“Oh, thank God,” he sighs, relieved, already turning to walk back towards the cafe, “I can officially no longer feel my ass. I barely had one to begin with. Please, let’s go inside.”

And, despite how cold she is, and how she aches, and how absolutely, completely shitty her life is right now, she bursts out laughing, nearly doubling over. It’s a miracle that she doesn’t fall over, considering she can’t feel her legs.

“I feel that. Not so much the last part though. My ass is great,” she snickers, trying to regain her composure. She sidles up just behind Tim’s shoulder to follow him back down the block.

“But, hey, you know, I’ll still take you up on that hot chocolate if you’re still offering.”

“I think I can manage that.”

She’s jarred from her reminiscing by the bell above the shop door. In an instant, she’s baring her teeth in the default hello, I work in food service, so please don’t be a prick!! smile.

“Hello!” she sings, upbeat, “Welcome to Robin’s Nest!”

Behind her, Tim’s got his back turned towards the entrance, wiping down the back counter and pointedly leaving her to do the customer servicing. She hopes he can feel her glare. Asshole.

She then turns her head and wind up locking eyes with a man in uniform. She balks.

Oh damn, says one part of her brain, because wow that’s a nicely-fit uniform.

Oh shit, says the another part of her brain, because that’s a police uniform.

Oh fuck, says the rest of her brain, because that’s Richard Grayson in a police uniform.

No, like, the fucking Richard Grayson™ .

Richard-fucking-Grayson gives her a smile that’s whiter than bleached tile floors, brighter than the goddamn sun in Metropolis. Stephanie’s missing all of her customer service cues and she will blame it entirely on that smile in the future if Robin’s Nest gets a bad review.

“Uh,” she says dumbly, standing up straight so fast she manages to knock all of her espresso cup pyramid over. She makes an aborted movement to try and stop them, realizes it’s a lost cause, so instead just stares Richard-fucking-Grayson in the face and lets them all fall in a tragic, drawn-out cacophony of noise as they clatter, one-by-one to the floor. Total power move.

The noise has Tim whirling around towards the front -- “Steph, what the-” -- but then he falls mute as he gets an eyeful of Gotham royalty in a police uniform. Yeah, same here, dude.

The silence goes on for so long that it’s become decidedly uncomfortable, so Steph tears her eyes away from glances in Tim’s direction --

And yep, that’s the creepy Tim.exe has stopped working stare of death that happens when his brain goes full-on computer mode and he forgets how to emote (It’s either because he’s worried there’s a cop in The Nest, or because Officer Grayson is just that hot. Actually, it’s probably both). Christ, he’s not even blinking-- they’ve had a talk about this, Timmy, get your shit together. “Hello! Hi!” she says, too loudly, diverting the officer’s (increasingly growing) concerned gaze back to her, “Can I take your order?”

The last cup makes a final, agonizing descent to the floor in the beat of silence that follows, while Richard Grayson blinks, a little amused but not overly surprised by the fact that he’s apparently been recognized.

“Hi,” he replies, too-bright smile back in place, “Sorry if I surprised you?” “No worries, Mr. Grayson. Just don’t usually get celebrities on this side of town,” Steph leans against the counter, falling back into her default teasing, “Just tell me you’re here cause of a good Yelp review or something, cause I plead the fifth if it’s for anything else.”

“Just call me Dick, please,” Dick chuckles, “And I just happened to be passing through. A friend told me that this place serves the best hot chocolate this side of Gotham.”

Tim twitches. “Bullshit,” Steph quips, “We serve the best hot chocolate in all of Gotham. Total, unbiased truth!”

Dick grins, “Then I guess that’s what I’m having.”

Steph smiles wide, making a show of punching the buttons on the register system, “I’ll be gentle with you, since it’s your first time -- Tim, one classic chocolate, for the man in blue!”

. . .

She looks again to her left when there’s no movement. Oh for the love of Wonder Woman--

“Tim.”

Tim snaps out of it with a visible jerk, blinking wide eyes as the past five minutes seem to play at hyperspeed through that ridiculous brain of his, and he opens his mouth.

“Right, yes. Okay. I can, that. Chocolate, sure. Hot. ” is what comes out, even as Tim’s eyes widen in horror at himself, the skin of his neck and ears beginning to flush red with embarrassment.

Steph’s jaw drops, because she’s never seen Timothy Jackson Drake lose composure like this in all three years she’s known him (not even counting that one time sex turned into a trip to the hospital that they both agreed to never speak of again). And well, she had never pegged Tim for a fanboy of all things, let alone of Dick Grayson, but there he is, moving through the motions of making his signature hot chocolate with the grace and poise of a robot chicken.

Dick, for his part, is looking at Tim in the bemused way one tends to look at a toddler that’s doing something a little bit weird but otherwise harmless. Steph is the best wing-woman ever, because she clears her throat to try and get his attention again instead of the other barista.

“Sooooo that’ll be 4.89,” Steph declares, “Will that be cash or card?”

Her tactic is thwarted -- Dick continues to look at Tim in mildly amused fascination as he digs around in his pocket before pulling out a few rumpled bills and, like, six Jolly Rancher wrappers. She tries not to judge too hard when the whole wad is pressed into her hand, even though they’re a little sticky.

She hands him his change before turning to see that Tim has finished the hot chocolate, complete with the snowflake-covered cup sleeves that Steph spent nearly three hours doodling that morning with a silver Sharpie (“Starbucks makes festive cup sleeves, Tim! We can’t be beaten by the competition!” “Why do I even pay you?”). However, Tim is just staring at the cup like it holds the solution to world peace and also this painful interaction. Steph clears her throat, and he flinches again. He slides the cup to the edge of the counter, way too slowly, like he’s thinking about it too hard, and Dick reaches for the cup in the way someone might approach a skittish animal. His hand closes around the cup and he lifts it, watching Tim’s face as he lifts it to his mouth. “Thanks,” he says with a gentle smile, but Tim steadfastly refuses to look the police officer in the eye. Arguably, this is worse, because instead he’s staring at the guy’s pecs. The barista then retreats from the counter, takes a full step back, mumbles something that was probably a “You’re welcome”.

“Well come on,” Steph interrupts, “I reserve the right to see you take the first sip.” Dick raises an eyebrow at her, teasing, “I’ll have you know that the Wayne butler makes some really great hot chocolate. It’ll be tough to beat.”

“Quit stalling and drink the liquid diabetes, Grayson.”

Without breaking eye contact with Steph, he does just that. Steph’s smirk grows when the man’s eyes grow wide.

He swallows, the flavor washing over his tongue, and looks down at his cup in amazement. Takes another drink, and groans. It’s a sound that Steph’s sure she’s heard on one of the more trashy pornos on her laptop, and knows it’s not just her mind going straight to the gutter when she sees Tim’s ears go bright red. “Wow.”

Stephanie grins, smug, “Like I said -- best hot chocolate in all of Gotham”

“I’m a believer now,” Dick says solemnly, taking another long sip. “God. Tell your management to open a store in Bludhaven -- I could single-handedly keep the business afloat if I could drink this every day.”

Steph snorts, jerking her thumb at Tim, who’s staring resolutely at the far wall.

“Tell him yourself, maybe then he’ll listen. I keep saying we should expand! If you ask me, every shithole town with a Robin running around the streets deserves Robin’s Nest to go with it.” Tim breaks his stupor to glance at Steph in a way that she’s come to learn is a warning, which she resists the urge to roll her eyes at.

Dick outright laughs. “Heh, well these days I’d say Bludhaven sees just as much of Robin as Gotham” Dick chuckles, “Might need to relocate entirely with criteria like that.”

He slides his gaze to Tim.

“Not that it’d be a bad idea to move shop. Seriously, Bludhaven has a lot of up and coming neighborhoods -- You would get more customers than you probably get in this area, and if the rest of your menu is as good as this hot chocolate, you’d be pretty popular.”

At this, Tim freezes, then turns, his face twisting into a slight frown, “Robin’s Nest belongs in Gotham,” he says, clipped, “Besides, we do just fine here.” The officer blinks, suddenly looking into sharp, ice-blue eyes that until this moment had refused to look at him.

“I’m sure you have some faithful regulars, around here,” Dick says slowly, a bit placating, “but I know Gotham pretty well, and a bit about business,” he pauses and says, not unkindly, but it nonetheless has Tim’s spine going rigid, “You’d get more revenue if you relocated down to somewhere in Midtown, even the residential areas. Why don’t you?”

Tim’s eyes flash, but nothing else gives away his irritation. Instead, he tilts his head in a curious gesture. “Well,” there’s a calm lilt to his voice as he asks, “Gotham pays its officers a higher average salary than Bludhaven. Why don’t you move?”

Dick’s jaw drops for a second at the barb, blinking. Then, his brilliant blue eyes light up with humor, and he laughs, long and loud. Even that sounds attractive, which is so unfair that Steph glares at the dangerous tilt of his take-away cup, willing it to spill on his uniform. The officer regains his composure, chuckles dying down as he regains his composure. “Woah, okay, touché then!” he acquiesces with a shrug, “But on that point -- It’s not really about the salary, the job. I work in Bludhaven because I’m needed there.”

At that, Tim’s blank face slips into a smirk. Steph sighs as he unties his apron and slips off his ball cap, clearly deciding that he’s done playing Customer Service for the time being. That means Steph is going to be manning the counter alone for the next few hours. Thanks a lot, Grayson. Steph doesn’t miss the way Dick’s gaze flicks interestedly to Tim’s fingers sliding through his too-long hair, brushing back and it away from his face. Steph feels the need to nod in solidarity. She found that move kinda hot too, once.

For a second, it’s not Tim the Barista standing there. Instead, it’s Timothy Drake, and Dick seems to stand straighter in attention. “Then maybe, Officer Grayson,” he surmised, in that slightly condescending way that Steph reckoned only those bred in high society could recreate, “Robin’s Nest is exactly where it needs to be.”

At that, Dick hums in what is more a surrender than an agreement. Wise, Steph thinks, to keep his mouth shut and spare himself the verbal lashing. Dick doesn’t seem to look very cowed, though, she notes, so much as intrigued.

Satisfied, Tim carefully lays his apron and hat on the far end of the counter, and passes through the front counter’s the swing-gate. He gets to the door at the far wall that Steph knows leads up into the stairwell that connects the rest of the building’s floors, Tim’s attached apartment included. Dicks eyes follow him all the way there.

“Hey Steph, can you hold down the fort for awhile while I go up? I need to do the ordering for next week.”

Steph sighs dramatically, gesturing to Dick. “What, and leave me alone with all these customers?”

Tim rolls his eyes. “Just pick up all the cups off the floor -- and no more building towers with the espresso cups!” Steph sticks her tongue out at him before he closes and locks the door. “Spoil sport.”

Dick is quiet for a few seconds, before he sighs, “I feel like I should apologize for pushing.” Steph stands up from where she’s crouching on the floor, her arms full of fallen espresso cups. Dumping them into the recycling bin under the counter, she huffs her hair out of her face, humming thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t take it too personally -- Tim just gets pretty touchy about the shop,” she hesitates, before continuing a bit more quietly “It was important to him, growing up. He bought the place after his parents died.”

At this, Dick’s expression falls, and suddenly she’s being hit with the most beseeching blue eyes she’s ever seen. Jesus H. Christ, those have to be against the Geneva Conventions.

“Would you tell him I’m sorry? I didn’t mean to offend him. . .” Steph physically resists the urge to wince at the intensity of the look, waving him off, “Yeah, sure, fine, I’ll tell him. Just jeez, quit it with the eyes.”

The eyes are still in the realm of small kicked animal, but less Sarah McLachlan, so Steph manages to survive as Dick’s expression turns thoughtful.

“Thank you.” A beat, then, “I think I’ll order another hot chocolate, actually, if you don’t mind.”

At that Steph raises an eyebrow, “For the road?” Dick clicks his tongue. "No,” he says, blue eyes twinkling with something like mischief, his grin suddenly sharp. His eyes, however, turn to the door that Tim had disappeared behind.

“It’s for a friend.”

To be fair, Steph lasts a whole 23 minutes.

“Hey, I mean, Timmy didn’t say anything about building towers with any of the other cups.”

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rissaroundtheworld · 7 years

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10,000 Leagues Over the Sea: A journey across the Americas and a triumpant return to chartering

This may be the longest stretch I’ve had without posting, which is unfortunate since I recently learned that more people read this than just my parents. On that note, hi everyone at Genzyme, thank you for following along!

When I last updated, I was laying low as an undocumented alien in Colombia while slowly remembering what its like to walk on a stable surface.* Aside from breaking a smorgasboard of international, local, and maritime laws, the trip to Colombia was reasonably uneventful. After setting anchor in Cartagena we immediately ran off the boat to eat in a restaurant, and didn’t look back for the entire month+ we had on shore. Yes, my bank account and I are currently in a fight, but we will work through it… we always do. We visited some of our favorite bars and restaurants, met up with old friends, and made some new ones. We traded in our Balboas for Club Colombias (roja, duh) and more or less neglected all responsibilities for awhile. I even took a shower in a REAL shower! **

[*In case you’re wondering, if you could walk before you can walk again after not doing it for awhile. Just like riding a bike!

**We actually have a very real shower on board, but when I came to the boat I proclaimed, in front of at least 4 people, that I would commit to not using it for the entirety of my stay on board. I generally shower in the ocean, or using our outdoor shower (not part of the no-use proclamation) but I have not set foot in the regular shower aside from cleaning it for charters. Four months… clean? Probably the wrong word to use here. ]

As quickly as I arrived in Colombia it was time for me to fly home. It had been six whole months, and I missed all the wonderful people in my life something fierce! The trip got off to a poor start as a weather delay prevented me from actually leaving on my intended date. I packed, drove the airport, checked in…. and then found out I would have to turn back and try again tomorrow. I was about to leave when the JetBlue staff pulled me aside and, in quiet voices, asked me the English word for an issue with a suitcase. The word in question was “dent,” which I happily shared with them. This opened the floodgates to a full blown English lesson on luggage – I taught them all the words for baby gear (crib, stroller, etc), luggage damage (dent, scratch, chip), and then headed back to spoil Nate’s dreams of having a night to himself. *** The next day I left one America for the other, and immediately reunited with my sister who conveniently lives within walking distance of the airport. She took me to a Colombian restaurant for brunch to help me assimilate back into the US of A. Perhaps it was the arepas, or the pitcher of mimosas, but I fell back into step easily and we quickly hopped into an Uber to head to Sutton. **** My time at home was a whirlwind of family, friends, food, and an absurd number of visits to Target. I threw a small pool party in hopes of getting to see all the faces that I missed, and it was very successful. ***** I managed to visit most of my favorite restaurants, get back to Central Rock, and of course, forced Tilly to cuddle me until her little doggy brain was probably begging me to leave.

[***He handled this well.

****Definitely not with champagne in water bottles. Definitely not.

***** Barring a “minor” glitch where, less than 24 hours before all of my friends were supposed to arrive, I completely shattered the 6 person glass table in the pool area, covering the already shimmering surface with tiny, un-collectable shards of glass. Don’t worry, only three people had to have glass pulled out of their feet, and one of them was me. May the odds be ever in your favor.]

From home, I flew to Medellin, Colombia, where we had “work” of a different nature: overseeing the final stages of the renovation of Nate’s new penthouse. For better or worse, the construction was behind, which meant our “work” was limited to buying a projector and speakers, which took approximately 5 hours out of the 10 days we had in Medellin. So, we did what people who live and work on a boat do for vacation: hooked up the new projector and sound system in our little AirBnb, ordered delivery for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and behaved like degenerate sloths for nearly a week. It was truly magical!

The time came to return to Cartagena, and now we were in full-blown work mode. The boat had been undergoing some major renovations ****** in a pretty sketchy marina. The first few cabs that I asked for a ride straight up said they wouldn’t go there; the man who finally agreed got too scared, left me on the side of the road, and drove off into the distance. Early-travel Rissa would have been peeing her pants in fear, but my experienced self knew that this would probably be ok. ******* I called a friend of a friend with a car, and he told me that if I stayed exactly where I was I would be safe. This dude has been shot 8 times, so I trusted his judgment. He quickly came and picked me up; I was pissed at the cab driver but no worse for the wear. The rest of my time in Cartagena was divided between working on the boat all morning, spending the afternoons/evenings with CHRISTIE who came to visit ********, and profusely sweating every single second. Seriously, Cartagena is the hottest place I have ever visited. Ever.

[****** The dining room table now turns into a bed, which means we can jam more of your fine asses in this boat. Come visit, friends!!

******* I’m so sorry, mom. Really.

******** Christie is a beautiful princess and one of my dearest friends and I love her so much and was sooooo happy to see her!]

Once Christie left, it was time to REALLY crank. We had a charter coming up, so there was very little room for error in our timeline. We bought out all the non-perishable items in Cartagena, stocked up the boat, and went to buy fuel. ********* In true South American form, when we arrived at the fuel dock the employees told us they were out of fuel. When we pressed further into when they would have more, they shrugged and said “not tomorrow?” Which was all we needed to know. No fuel refills for us. Now, I’m sure most of you reading have been in this situation in a car: you look at your gas gauge, think about how far you need to go, and occasionally think “ehhhh I can make it!” This mentality doesn’t work as well on a boat. If you run out gas in a car, you call AAA, you call your friend, a tow company, anything. In a boat? Not so much. Running out of fuel means drifting aimlessly in the ocean until you have enough wind to get you where you’re going. We met another boat who had relied entirely on wind to get them from San Blas to Cartagena… what should take 36 hours took them 10 days. To get back in time for our charter, running out of fuel was not an option. We did some calculations, closely monitored the weather, and for better or worse opted for the “ehhh, we can make it!” mentality. To be safe, we needed 10 hours of wind. We felt this was possible, and so we set sail. ********** About 20 hours in, with the fuel gauges dropping at a rapid pace, we checked the weather and realized that our chances of making to our destination, Puerto Lindo, were quite slim. We had two options: hope for wind to make it to Puerto Lindo, where we could check in with immigration and do the right thing and be upstanding citizens of the world, or dart straight to San Blas, guaranteeing that we have enough fuel to make it and that we arrive on time for our charter, but once again be undocumented aliens in a foreign land for at least a week. We unanimously agreed on option two.

[********* One of the many things I’ve learned about sailing is that, unless you have absolutely all the time in the world and no deadlines, you’re often not sailing. The name is very misleading. Fuel is a must.

********** A major part of this story didn’t fit into this narrative, which is that our anchor motor also broke during this time. In case you don’t know anything about boats, anchors are kind of important. And by kind of, I mean incredibly so. We lost an entire day just to fixing the windlass, which means our dire fuel situation now has a time crunch added to it. The plot thickens!]

This change in course meant that we would arrive significantly earlier than planned… a little TOO early. Because San Blas has so many (gorgeous!) reefs, trying to navigate in the dark is quite dangerous. Our new itinerary put us in around 3 am, far too soon for safety. So we did something I had never experienced before: we shut off the engines, left the boat on autopilot, and took a nap while floating aimlessly in the middle of the ocean. It was one of those moments where you realize how small you are in the world, which has recently become one of my favorite feelings. After a warm welcome by no less than 8 dolphins racing the boat, we arrived in San Blas and had to turn it up to 11 to be ready for our guests. There were a few things about this charter that made me nervous: first, they had been a referral from our good friends who also charter, but had to cancel due to some medical issues. We were so thankful that they trusted us with their guests, but also worried that the guests had come to expect one thing with our friends, and would be disappointed when our charter was different. The second was that they specifically asked for fresh seafood, which is the primary source of our food, but my cooking skills are still limited. I can make a mean sushi roll and goddamn are my fish tacos good ************, but we don’t normally make much with lobster (one of their specific requests), and I have little experience with some of the other delicacies available to us. It was time to learn. I’ll save you the stories of my emotional turmoil related to “should I give them what they’ve requested and risk it being awful, or not listen to their requests but ensure the food is good” and tell you that the universe was kind to me this week, and we ate like kings. Lobster risotto, baked lobster, conch fritters, fresh caught crab, seared tuna, fresh sushi with tuna and mackerel, fish tacos… not to mention all the non-fish meals we all stuffed ourselves with. I will allow myself to toot my own horn for just a second here: I was fairly confident in my cooking abilities at home, but I believe I have stepped my game up here, both in terms of ability but also adaptability. When you have to rely on the local Kuna to hopefully kayak up to your boat on the designated day, and hopefully have the items you’re looking for, to plan a weeks worth of meals for guests who are paying you to be on board… there’s a bit of a learning curve. But the moral of the story is, when there’s a will there’s a way, and now I make a bomb lobster risotto. ************ Our charter guests left, and the universe shined down on us once more. The Kunas pulled up in one of their larger boats which contain fresh produce, opened up a cooler, and there it was: ice cream. Still riding the high of our successful charter, we laid back on our new table-bed, opened up our cartons of ice cream, and ate ourselves sick. And with that, we begin prep for a packed season of more guests, adventures, food, rum…. And maybe some more ice cream somewhere in the mix. Until next time!

[************ yep.

************ You’re welcome, mom.]

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sarahburness · 5 years

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The Secret To A Happy Life Is Hidden In Your Daily Habits

“The key to being happy is knowing you have the power to choose what to accept and what to let go.” ~Dodinsky

It hit me as I cruised along at full speed on a busy motorway on my way to a friend’s house.

Shaking like a leaf, I pulled myself out of the car and stood by the side of the road. I desperately gulped in the fresh air, a frantic attempt at calming myself down.

This was the ninth day in a row I’d experienced a wave of panic so intense, it felt like I was about to die. It was utterly unbearable.

I’d been worrying about all the work I had left to do on my Master’s dissertation and berating myself for taking a day off to spend time with friends when I should have been working. All of a sudden, my throat closed up, my chest tightened, and my hands shook so much that I was convinced I would lose control of the car.

This was the final straw.

I’d been waiting for a magic solution, a miraculous savior, a quick fix that would snap me out of my near-constant state of worry. I’d been waiting for the universe to wave its wand and finally grant me a normal life. It wasn’t happening.

I wasn’t willing to face up to the work I needed to do in order to stop indulging in my bleak hypothetical predictions about the future. And more importantly, I didn’t even know what the work was. But that day, I made the decision to find the key to a happy life and to start putting in some serious elbow grease.

I just couldn’t live like that any longer.

That was three years ago.

What You Practice, You Get Good At

The problem is, for a very long time, I practiced worrying. About everything.

I worried about what people thought about me. I worried about what might happen to my health. I worried about whether I would have the career I wanted.

I also practiced managing this worry, and the myriad of unpleasant emotions that accompanied it, with food, alcohol, and sex. I used substances (and other people’s bodies) to make myself feel good, to take my mind somewhere else, and to give myself a moment to relax.

But underneath, the worry was still there; these “fixes” just masked it. Instead of paying attention to what was actually going on in my head and realizing that my thoughts were creating a reality that didn’t actually exist, I practiced covering up my desperation, hoping that this fix would be the one that actually worked.

I was constantly feeding habits that gave me short-term satisfaction or relief, that I knew were ultimately destructive. And I know I’m not the only one.

Many of us spend our days acting mostly out of habit—the foods we eat for breakfast, the route we take to work, even the thoughts we entertain. These become the actions we practice, over and over again.

And what we practice, we get good at.

What Do You Practice?

Here’s a little something to reflect on: What habits are currently running your life? What thoughts do you think every single day? And are these serving you, or not?

We might not think of habits as a practice, but that’s exactly what they are. Each and every day, we’re practicing being the type of person we want to be, whether we realize it or not.

My anxiety, despite being a very real (and often terrifying) experience for me, was a habit. I was practicing being the type of person who was constantly stressed out and worried about everything. Nowadays, however, I practice being the type of person who recognizes these thoughts, knows her limits, takes care of herself, and makes a different choice each time her old pal worry comes out to play.

Think about it:

How many times a day do we complain about things not being the way we want them to be?

How many times a day do we disengage from connection with others and allow ourselves to be distracted by technology?

How many times a day do we worry about things that haven’t even happened yet?

The answer is likely: a lot.

We’re experts at this stuff. After all, the key to mastering any skill is repetition; if we repeat a specific action enough, eventually we’ll gain fluency and competency at it.

This is why the true secret to happiness lies in our daily habits rather than in the “magic fixes” we often think will make us happy.

Daily Practices for a Happier Life

So what if we became conscious of the habits that are running our lives and switched them on their head?

What if we started practicing things we actually wanted to get better at? And what if, instead of making it some huge, life-changing mission, we simply set the intention to live this way, making small steps toward it wherever we could?

Remember: What we practice, we get good at.

With this in mind, here are a few suggestions for habits we could start practicing daily in order to live a happier life:

Kindness

Compassion

Generosity

Acceptance

Non-judgment

Presence

Listening

Forgiveness

Relaxation

The way these look in our lives will be different for everyone, but the intention behind them is the same—to notice our destructive habits and to make a different choice.

Personally, I’ve found three super effective ways to start bringing new practices into our lives.

1. Notice your autopilot.

We have to recognize our habitual autopilot mode in order to do something about it.

Becoming aware of the way we live our daily life—the choices we make, the people we surround ourselves with, and the stories we tell ourselves—helps us to remember who we really are and what we really want. It also helps us make more conscious decisions about how we act so that we choose our response rather than react out of habit.

The best way to do this is to first make a list of all the times you already know you tend to slip into autopilot.

For example, you might recognize that you frequently spend your lunch break scrolling through Facebook, and then you feel bad about yourself after comparing yourself to other people. Or, you might notice you regularly worry about worst-case scenarios when you’re lying in bed at night.

Once you’re aware of what you’re doing, you can commit to making a different choice the next time you’re in that situation, practicing a habit that doesn’t serve you.

I have to be honest here. This takes time.

In the beginning, it was difficult for me to recognize when my “worry” head was on because it felt so natural to me. But once I started paying more attention to my habitual thoughts and behaviors, I found it much easier to switch the script in those moments and instead practice some deep breathing to relax myself.

Action step: Take a moment to think about the times you already know your habitual autopilot-self takes over. What could you do to in those moments to break that pattern, re-engage with the world, and make a different choice?

Remember: What we practice, we get good at.

2. Focus on your physical sensations.

Another great way to practice new habits is to focus on how they make us feel in our bodies. I like to think of this in terms of openness (expansion) and tightness (contraction). I usually feel pretty open and soft in my heart space when I practice kindness, for example, and tight and tense in my belly when I practice being rude.

Our sense of expansion or contraction in our body can act as an “mindful shortcut,” giving us an easy way to determine what might be going on in our heads.

If we focus on how we physically feel in our bodies and the sensations our habits bring up for us, we can really start to distinguish between the ones that currently serve us and the ones that definitely don’t. Since our physical sensations often directly relate to our emotional experience, it’ll also provide us with a little motivation to continue practicing the things that make us feel expanded.

The issue most of us run into here is that we mostly walk around feeling completely out of touch with our bodies. In fact, it wasn’t until I really started to dive deep into yoga that I realized my body was constantly giving me important signals—and I was totally ignoring them.

The best way to begin observing your body is to sit in stillness and just notice your bodily experience, even if you start with just a few moments a day. The more you “check in” with your body, the more you’ll be able to tune in to what it’s trying to tell you.

When I started paying attention to my body, I noticed how different thoughts affected me in completely different ways. My worry made my body feel tight, tense, and achy, for example, whereas calm thoughts made my body feel soft, relaxed, and open. This helped draw my attention to my worrisome thoughts and choose to focus on my breathing in the present moment instead of on my “faux” reality.

Action step: Start your day by asking yourself one of these questions:

“How do I want to feel today?”

“What do I want to practice today?”

“How do I want to live today?”

Then check in with yourself regularly throughout the day (setting up a reminder on your phone helps!) to observe how your body’s feeling. Pay particular attention to your heart, solar plexus, and belly areas. Is there a sense of expansion or contraction? Does this align with how you want to feel? What are you currently practicing? And does this align with what you want to practice?

Remember: What we practice, we get good at.

3. Set an intention.

We can also practice new habits by simply affirming to ourselves that it’s our intention to practice them.

Intentions are perfect because they’re designed to be a guideline rather than a goal. With goals, it’s far too easy to beat ourselves up if we don’t reach them, but with an intention, we can just start over again.

If we set an intention to be kind, or compassionate, or generous in the morning, we’re also far more likely to jump at opportunities to practice this as we move through our day. It helps us make decisions that are more aligned with the people we want to be, since our intention will still be fresh in our mind.

For example, I’ve recently been setting an intention to practice forgiveness. I realized that I’d been holding on to so much resentment, anger, and blame toward myself (and others) about my anxiety. I felt so much rage about my past—the years I’d spent constantly trying to please other people at the expense of my own needs; my first boyfriend’s extremely controlling behavior, which left me feeling utterly weak; and the pressure I’d felt growing up to be “perfect.”

So every morning I listen to a forgiveness meditation, which includes repeating to myself, “I see and feel the pain you’ve caused me, and it’s my intention to forgive you.” Then, as I’m about to go into my day, I remind myself that it’s my intention to continue to practice forgiveness.

Have I forgiven everyone (or myself) yet? No. But that’s beside the point.

The point is that every single day, I’m practicing.

Action step: Decide on at least one new habit you’d like to start practicing. How can you set this intention for yourself each day? How can you remind yourself of this intention when you go off track?

Remember: What we practice, we get good at.

About Becki Sams

Becki Sams is a freelance writer, blogger, and personal development nerd. As a trained mindfulness meditation teacher and hardcore yogi, she’s passionate about anything that helps us all live more blissful lives, look after one another, and nurture this planet we call home. Subscribe to her email list for your free stress melt meditation and Unplug, Unwind & Recharge e-book.

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The post The Secret To A Happy Life Is Hidden In Your Daily Habits appeared first on Tiny Buddha.

from Tiny Buddha https://tinybuddha.com/blog/the-secret-to-a-happy-life-is-hidden-in-your-daily-habits/

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atakportal · 6 years

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The Skinny-Fat Solution by Anthony Mychal

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The Skinny-Fat Solution by Anthony Mychal

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Description:

It’s hard enough for regular guys to build muscle…but for us? For skinny-fat guys? It seems impossible with the typical advice.

That’s why I don’t follow typical advice. Instead, I use my own three step system. Wanna learn more?

Somewhere in Africa, a lion sits in the wild.

He wakes up to unknown food rations, weather patterns, and dangers. Yet he’s bold enough to handle his own life. His survival is his responsibility, and his responsibility alone.

Somewhere in a zoo, a lion sits in a cage.

He’s given food, shelter, and a safeguard from danger. He’s but a pawn, and not in charge of his own life.

Both of these creatures are lions; only one is king.

They have the same hardware — they’re made up of the same anatomical “stuff” — but the software makes all the difference.

Skinny-fat? You’re living in a unique cage.

Your software is broken. Your fat cells complicate things. Your body needs built back up in a specific way not only from a muscular proportion standpoint, but also from a overall body composition sequence standpoint.

I know these things because I was once in the skinny-fat cage.

I’ve come to be known as a skinny-fat guru of sorts, and I’m proud of that because I share your scars. Wider hips. Stretch marks on my lower back. Oh yes, the string bean arms, small wrists, lower chest fat, narrow shoulders, and the entire skinny-fat package was one there. But I’ve since learned how to live out there in the wild, and I’d like to help you do the same.

That’s why, when I had the chance to write for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s personal website, I wrote about skinny-fat syndrome. Now, I’ve been published a lot of places. But Arnold’s personal website? And skinny-fat as my topic of choice? That should tell you everything you need to know about me. (And maybe that Goku turning Super Saiyan changed my life. There was also this thing where a chick told me I had girl boobs in my skinny-fat heyday, but . . .)

It’s a complicated cage. It’s not one most people deal with, and here’s why this matters to you.

We typically learn from those that came before us and have done what we want to do. The problem with this for us? Most people that have done what we want to do didn’t start skinny-fat.

Why is it important? Because true-skinny guys don’t often have a flinch to fat. True-skinny guys, when they start training, carve out one path to muscle. The flow follows that one path. That’s why they can chow down on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all day and gain muscle without turning into lard. But if you’re skinny-fat?

You already have a path to body fat that’s paved and frequently travelled. The goal isn’t necessarily “fat loss” because that does nothing to fix what’s familiar. When you stop going fat loss berserk, you still have the paved path. And you’ll probably just get fat again. Now, fat loss is a part of the overall goal, but it isn’t the real goal. The real goal is to rewire the flinch.

Old school physical culturalists like Vince Gironda pioneered this idea with his relentless quest for an “X” shaped physique. This is important for you, too. It’s not always about “as much muscle as possible,” but rather about as much muscle possible in the right places. Physique is like a sculpture in that it’s an illusion. You can look a lot better with less clay if you know how to shape it right. But there’s a fine balance between getting overly detailed and prissy vs. knowing when to throw down hunks of clay in the right places vs. throwing down hunks of clay haphazardly. We need to be in the middle.

People are different. You are different. We can’t deny that some have better genetics for carrying and building muscle and being lean.

We don’t usually don’t fall in that bucket. Smaller and thinner bones make for smaller muscles generally. (I can wrap my fingers around my wrist and touch pinky to thumb.) The wunderkinds might have more muscle naturally or might build muscle with less effort or might build muscle using less effective exercises. Sadly, most people that “make it” don’t come from our background.

Our background, our “cage,” is a product of three things: nature (genetics), nurture (culture), and good old random chance.

It’s not that you can’t build muscle, it’s just that you can’t build muscle the same way the wunderkind does. Nurture is one third of the equation. You have control over this. Our body is aware of the world that it’s in, and so it “works” based upon this feedback. You created an environment in which your body said, “The best way for me to survive this is to be skinny-fat.” Sound depressing, right?

Because you have the power to change it. You are in control. You can step into the wild.

Without the wunderkind nature we have to create a wunderkind nurture.

And that’s the purpose of SOLDIER. (Sorry, no Mako involved. And if you know what I’m talking about we can be friends.) We live in an age of endless programs, and people running around like chickens without heads. SOLDIER is a three step system created with one single intention: you’re skinny-fat, you’re in that cage, here’s how you changed every possible aspect of nurture (training, nutrition, life) to break free. And I’m not talking about just seeing change, I’m talking about really adjusting things inside — rewiring the flinch.

This is where you learn the powerful barbell and bodyweight exercises that will best contribute to not only current “X” physique intentions, but also lead into exercises in the future. Some other work for fat loss is recommended, usually walking, sprinting, or rope jumping in a way that doesn’t interfere with the basic strength work.

Nutrition caters to muscle recovery but also promotes fat loss.

This is where you tell the body, “There is no option. The fat? It’s gotta’ go.” This is the stubborn fat phase, and is SOLDIER 2.0, which SOLDIER 3.0 laid a foundation for. We really jam home fat loss here, but only as much as necessary. We let 3.0 run its course because it’s best for muscle. When you go severe fat loss, muscle is usually on hold, so that’s why SOLDIER 2.0 is only a ten week thing for when it counts.

We ramp up fat loss specific work and make some changes to prevent the dreaded starvation mode and the body locking up its fat cells.

That’s why, after 2.0, I recommend making the muscles hyperactive while bringing nutrition to more of an autopilot feel. When you do this, you bring your body to a reset point where the muscles are hyperdemanding so any extra energy you happen to take in goes there and the fat cells get downplayed majorly. You aren’t actively seeking out muscle or eating for it, but that’s the point of the reset.

This puts you in the best spot moving forward.

And this brings us to The Skinny-Fat Solution.

The Skinny-Fat Solution is a comprehensive resource packed with PDF eBooks and other useful tools that, depending on your level of interest, take you through SOLDIER. As of now, there are three levels you can go with. I’ll run through all of them now, but you should also read about my “No Ass-to-risk Guarantee” that follows.

SOLDIER 3.0 X PHYSIQUE TRAINING PDF gives you the program and teaches you the philosophy behind muscle building, specifically in a way that’s going to cater to an “X” physique. It’s a barbell and bodyweight training program.

SOLDIER 3.0 NUTRITION PDF will have you looking at nutrients in a way a casual Google search could never teach you. It gives you the nutrition basics you need in order to make any meaningful body composition strides—how to eat for losing fat, yet also what to consider for muscle repair and growth.

SOLDIER 3.0 QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE PDF gives you the most important nuggets of information from the training, nutrition, and posture/movement guides in one handy dandy place.

SOLDIER 3.0 POSTURE & MOVEMENT PDF teaches you how move. Period. It dissects the fundamental human movements in the squat, press, pull, and hinge, and also guts the issue of posture (as it’s often a skinny-fat sore spot).

SOLDIER 3.0 EXERCISE BREAKDOWN PDFbreaks down each “main” lift within the program and gives suggestions for substitutions. It also gives links to YouTube videos for demonstrations and is chock full of pictures and diagnosing common problems.

(6) SOLDIER 3.0 KITCHEN AND LIFE VOODOO sets you straight. Let’s face it. This journey effects everyone around you. This document is the real gem, in my opinion. It gives you some recipes and kitchen tricks as well as some tips on how to integrate changes into your lifestyle. It’s the stuff no one talks about, yet everyone does behind the scenes. How do you deal with nutrition habits at work? How do you deal with changing your life without de-friending your friends? How do you cook food in a time efficient way? How do you *gasp* enjoy eating vegetables? What spices make food taste good? Why is cheese the greatest thing in the world? (OK, so I don’t exactly tackle that last issue, but I’ll admit to the premise of it.)

+ FREE UPDATES FOR LIFE AND EMAIL CONTACT. I keep in touch with all buyers via email, sending them product updates and anything that crosses my nose that may be useful. This is why people that buy are students more than anything else.

SOLDIER 1.0: THE HYPERMUSCLE QUEST PDF, which tells you what you need to know about your new body, specifically that it probably wants to get fat again. Your fat cells are like Gollum in that they want their prescciioussss energy back. Inside, it also outlines the high frequency training philosophy that I like to use in this phase, which is how to combine high frequency bodyweight training and barbell training in a way that best fits your situation. It also shows you how to go about dialing back your nutrition so you’re not fat loss loopy, but yet at the same time not going into bulk mode. The goal is to “normalize” your body so that it cares more about muscle than fat. Warning: a side effect of this is usually getting jacked; just thought I’d let you know. SOLDIER 1.0 also begins to talk about how to transform some of the staple exercises into more powerful “X” physique exercises.

GMB PERFECTING THE PULL-UP PDF, I’m just going to lay it out there: I treat the barbell deadlift and chin-up like gold. Because they are gold. And because gold is important, I called in my friends over at Gold Medal Bodies to give you some training tips for the pull-up. Ryan Hurst (former gymnast) gives you a progression and proper form to go from 0 to 1 pull-up, and then even some advanced training suggestions.

THE INTERNAL MONOLOGUE PDF, I took pictures throughout the first year of my transformation. This PDF is a ‘lil special egg in the lot in that I self coach myself along the way from where I sit now. For instance, a few months in I actually look fatter than in the beginning because of how my body was losing fat. Just little informative nuggets like this I thought would be valuable.

Breathe easy. You are protected from internet scum.

My No Ass-to-Risk Guarantee is in place to prevent you from being misled or mistreated from online business malpractice. Your satisfaction is my guarantee. You may return this product if it doesn’t meet your expectations. Anytime. Anyplace. Even if my retailers refund period has expired (my retailer is ClickBank and they have a 60 day refund policy), I’ll handle it in house. Check out some testimonials, and then find out more about not risking your ass.

Your mind is swimming with ideas. It has to be. I know mine was.

There’s simply too much out there. P90X. Pilates. Bulking. Cutting. This method. That method. This gidget. That gadget. It’s overload. And sadly, most of it doesn’t work for us. I fell for the instant ab solutions when I was younger. (I even had one of those electrostimulation ab belts — one of my most embarrassing secrets.)

But I’ve done them all. I know your ultra low carb experiment zapped away your muscle. I know P90X didn’t put on the muscle you wanted it to and probably ruined your knees. I know your bulks left you with more fat than muscle. I know because I’ve been there. And I know what’s worked best for me and I can confidently say SOLDIER is that system.

Don’t make the same mistakes I made.

The question ISN’T if you have what it takes, it’s how much time you’re going to waste — how big of a hole you’re going to dig for yourself. It’s no coincidence that you’ve made it this far. You have what it takes. But the more important matter at hand: not getting lost in the thicket so that you can start making progress now. Every day of moving in the opposite direction carries potential irreversible damage.

If this means as much to you as it did to me, you can’t waste any second of your time — or dollar from your wallet — on something that sends you backwards in progress. That’s my back. Those are stretch marks. There. Forever. I could have prevented them by taking action quicker.

So you have a choice: You can stay in your cage. Or you can become king.

Here are some people that chose the latter. Will you be next?

Every document within the Skinny-Fat Solution are PDF files that are compatible with ADOBE and other like PDF readers. They come in a .zip file, which most operating systems can inherently unzip. There are no physical products shipped. And breathe easy. You are protected from internet scum.

My No Ass-to-Risk Guarantee is in place to prevent you from being misled or mistreated from online business malpractice.

First, your satisfaction is my guarantee. You may return this product if it doesn’t meet your expectations. Anytime. Anyplace. Even if my retailers refund period has expired (my retailer is ClickBank and they have a 60 day refund policy), I’ll handle it in house. Check out some testimonials, and then find out more about not risking your ass.

Anthony Mychal is one of the few people whose advice I trust implicitly, and it wouldn’t be hyperbolic to say his teaching has changed my life.

As a former skinny-fat (physically, at least!) looking to add muscle after reaching my solid base, his articles, and the TSFS / Chaos Bulk resources in particular, address my situation perfectly. He doesn’t just prescribe boilerplate sets of lifts, but also tackles the nutrition; lifestyle; and, importantly, the psychological baggage that comes with this body type.

I was lucky enough to jump on the Skinny-Fat Solution charter group membership, and being part of the Skinny Fat Solution coaching group has allowed me a privileged position where Anthony is on hand to offer advice and answer students’ specific questions and concerns. He is always exceptionally supportive, celebrating our achievements with us, without being afraid to dish out a bit of “tough love” where necessary (something I’ve benefited from on more than one occasion!).

In short, I am proud to call him my mentor, and hope to be able to do so for many years to come.

The “before” pictures here were taken before I found Anthony. I was able to lose some fat with “traditional” bodybuilding methods — frequent meals, no alcohol, etc. But I spent years bulking and cutting, only to get no where. It was SO frustrating.

Enter Anthony and his abundance of Skinny-Fat information, and I was able to stay stay pretty lean, gain strength, and gain muscle. I FINALLY feel like I’m making real progress, and Anthony has BY FAR been the biggest positive influence in that regard.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one more BIG thing. I was one of the biggest offenders of program hopping. There are soooo many resources out there, that are so different, and claim to be the best. I think I tried everything under the sun! Once I adopted Anthony’s policy to stick to a program, practice the Great Eight, and gauge my progress…things started to click!

I used to be your classic skinny-fat ectomorph. My body composition was born from too many video games and too little physical activity—a lifestyle that also caused debilitating back pain for me as a teenager. I was called names. Teased. I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin. I didn’t enjoy the way I looked.

At the end of 2008, I started exercising regularly. Training was usually three days per week with an hour of aerobic work thrown in. This exercise alone (without dietary considerations) helped with both weight loss and my back pain. But like most people, I fell into the trap of “bulking.” I got thicker, but my muscles didn’t exactly come along for the ride. Bulking didn’t go as planned.

In 2011, I fully bought into what Anthony preached, which turned out being a great decision because it worked. I started looking lean and athletic. My body felt better day by day and I lost 15kg in a relatively short time period. Every exercise I did improved. My pull-ups (that Anthony puts such high praise on) went from 3-4 reps per set to 11 reps per set.

All in all, Anthony’s perspective, and Anthony’s website helped me create not only a better body, but also a better life. I look and feel better than I ever have before.

It’s only a small exaggeration to say that Anthony saved my life because I really didn’t have much of one before. My entire life revolved around training. Working out was negatively impacting my life as it had put a strain on my finances (food, memberships, supplements etc.), my relationships with friends and family (go grab a pint? no way!), and my career because all my time and mental focus was being spent on this obsession.

But even with all of that sacrifice, I made very little noticeable gains. Everyone else worked out moderately, never followed any specific diet, and yet they were all in way better shape than me. I tried all of their routines but they didn’t work. I did every fad diet and internet program which just entered me into a cycle of constant failure and frustration. When I began working with personal trainers they attributed my lack of progress to not dieting strictly enough, not enough supplements, or that I was wasn’t pushing myself, or trying hard enough. Wrong.

I found that a problem with a lot of trainers is that many of them have been in shape their whole lives, and believe that those who are out of shape are lazy and make poor diet choices. If you have found your way here, chances are that this does not describe you. Most trainers don’t believe in body types, have no clue about frustration, failure, and the emotional weight of being embarrassed about your body.

What makes Anthony different from all the other trainers out there is that he can empathize with the skinny-fat ectomorph because he has walked in our shoes. He recognizes our struggle and truly understands what we are trying to achieve. His guidance has been both motivational and inspirational to me. The main thing that I think gives him an edge over everyone else is experience. He has been working with his own stubborn body his whole life. Not only has he figured it out for himself but he has helped many others in the same situation. This makes the likelihood of his methods working for you much greater as a good chunk of the guess work has been done. He acknowledges that we must train differently than the average person, and has solutions for our bodies’ stubborn nature.

I’ve learned about the mental aspect of training, which is often forgotten, and it has been beneficial not only to my training but in other areas of my life too. Our bodies react to stress, both physical and mental, in a different manor than the rest of the world. I still train hard and consistently but I never exceed what my body or my mind can take.

My results are that I am the best physical shape that I have ever been in. I have the lowest body fat percentage ever, greatest definition, increased flexibility, and increased aerobic endurance. I look great, feel great, and am comfortable with my shirt off. I train in a way that has become my lifestyle which means that it’s all uphill from here. I’ve finally found a method of training that is giving me real and noticeable results. I got my life back and I got the confidence that I always wanted.

Years ago, when I started training, everything I did was more or less the exact opposite of what Anthony teaches. In the few years I had been training I only made small gains relative to how much effort, time and energy I was pumping into my workouts! Before long my skinny fat body was only ever so slightly more muscular and a hell of a lot fatter. This drove me to quit working out and just giving up.

I was out of the gym for close on 4 years and had become very overweight, very weak and very very unhappy. I decided enough was enough. Doing some research lead me to a number of websites, Anthony’s being one of them. I instantly enjoyed reading his articles and the theory made sense to me. Before too long I was pumped to get started again.

I implemented his eating style, his diet tips and his training protocols. Now, a year later, I’m down 65 lbs, about 3 times stronger then when I started, and much much happier. Anthony’s help and teachings are a huge part of what got me to where I am now, and his helpful nature was very greatly appreciated.

Anthony is one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure to talk with. He is a seriously knowledgeable man in this field and is more then happy to share it with everyone. Even if you have a specific question and email him looking for help, he will reply. This is something that is very rare in this industry, even for “Personal” trainers that you meet in person.

I owe so much to what he has thought me, its changed my life forever. I have no doubt that he can do the same for you.

I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to fully change my body composition the way I want. But one thing I know for sure – following Anthony’s advice has changed my life! It’s much simpler, healthier and relaxed, at least in terms of training and nutrition.

I used to change workout programs and nutrition strategy every 2-3 months. I was spending hundreds of hours studying all that was available about how to lose fat and gain muscles. I always hoped that next program would be the one. It all just made me hopeless.

Anthony is not a businessmen. He’s not like most of other experts who have done big internet business in fitness. I don’t have anything against it. But this guy really wants to help people, without having any kind of financial benefit for sharing his knowledge, wisdom and advice.

As former skinny-fat ectomorph there is no better person to teach by his own experience. Besides he knows a lot about the athleticism in general. Also, very important, he is gifted to transfer his knowledge in so simple and practical way that anyone can understand and immediately apply.

Finally, I know exactly what I do and why I do that particular exercise, why I do that many sets and reps, why I eat what I eat and when I eat… It’s that simple! I just regret there was no “Anthony” some 15 years ago.

I am excited to tell you since discovering Anthony Mychal I have found the required faith that I can reach my goals. Seeing the proof with Anthony’s transformation I now know that I too can build a more muscular body. I have been primarily on the skinny side of Skinny Fat for all my life. I am now following Anthony’s recommendations found on his blog, The Skinny Fat Solution and Chaos Bulk programs. Today I am making gains not seen after over a dozen years of lifting weights. Even after religiously following another popular skinny guy 5 x 5 program for a frustrating few years. I have learned that pull-up are vital and I need to do bicep curls in order to reach my goals. I highly endorse Anthony’s recommendations and his products.

Ant’s approach to strength, conditioning and nutrition is unique in that he has taken the logic and common sense of some of the best in the game and applied his own experiences and knowledge to create systems and ideas tailored towards those of us from a genetically disadvantaged background. On a personal level, Ant’s writing and guidance has finally got my training and nutrition moving forward after years of spinning my wheels. I look better than ever before, and although I have a long way to go to reach my physique and strength goals, I know that Ant’s guidance will help get me there. His ideas just make a lot of sense, and he presents them in such a way so as to make the seemingly complex easy to understand. He is also conscientious; on many occasions I have pestered him with mundane, interesting or challenging questions, and I have always received a reply. His products deliver great value for money, and if you have a question, he will answer it. What more could you want?!

I had two big problems with my body. First, I didn’t like it. Second, I had lower back pain. Sitting in a chair all day really takes it’s toll. I thought I was helpless.

Then I found Anthony’s blog, and read The Skinny Fat Solution. Everything that Anthony teaches with The Skinny-Fat Solution helped me so much, the exercises, the nutrition guide, and even down to the way of life that he proposes.

Now I’m not only free from back pain, but I’m also happier with my body. It’s a journey and I’m just starting, but I can already tell that it will be a sweet ride. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been, and I only look forward to the future. There are a lot of fitness guys who teach how to train. Only a few teach how to train in a healthy manner. And not many have the empathy of Anthony.

No-Ass-to-Risk Guarantee Continued

Let’s start back from the top: My No Ass-to-Risk Guarantee is in place to prevent you from being misled or mistreated from online business malpractice.

Second, the training program makes use of barbell training. There is no alternative program, because I don’t compromise my stones (what I feel works best) to appease others. In order to introduce those unfamiliar, I created the “Dissecting the Great Eight,” “Perfecting the Pull-up,” and “Leveling Up the Upper Chest” guides to truly turn over everything I program. It’s fully comprehensive.

The nutrition protocol makes use of intermittent fasting, which is going for prolonged times without food. The best way to think of intermittent fasting: it’s a nutrition strategy that has you skip breakfast and eat lighter through out the day.

In regard to typical results, I always give the same disclaimer with any digital product: One of two things will happen when you buy my products. Either A: You might buy it and never use it. You might even return it because you’re too lazy to use it, read it, or value what’s inside. Or B: you’ll get it, follow through with the plan, learn something new about yourself, and see the resultant knowledge shine through with improvements in your body or life. Things with the body take hard work. If you’re willing to chip in your share you won’t be disappointed.

If you want to purchase any of these guides alone, or if you have any questions…

|| anthony -at- anthonymychal.com ||

Email me. I’m a human, so I understand if you have any questions. And yes, I’ll personally respond.

Click here to get The Skinny-Fat Solution by Anthony Mychal at discounted price while it’s still available…

#anthony #mychal #skinny #SkinnyFat #Solution

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gbhw1hec · 7 years

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We are giving you latest and updated Doodle style Sales videos that will drive traffic and improve your sales conversions. That is the reason we are giving you these videos as a part of the front end offer to boost your sales to the next level.

Module #4

(Value : $200)

Professionally designed Graphics

We will provide you with complete set of professionally designed graphics for selling the product. It will include necessary artwork to sell the product and make it more convincing; you’ll be able to edit these graphics at your own convenience. Hence, we will provide the images in both PSD format and PNG format.

Module #5

(Value : $190)

Animated Banners

Why create banners yourself when our team is working hard to make it easy for you.

Yes, we are also providing you with superbly designed animated banners that will drive traffic and convert sales instantly.

Module #6

(Value : $30)

Professionally created expert Email Templates

In this module, we are providing you with professionally written email swipes that will substantially leverage your sales and profits.

You can always choose any one of them, pick a subject line and send it to persuade further.

Module #7

(Value : $120)

Professional Minisites

What more can you ask for…and we have already done that for you. Yes, we have professionally designed the Sales Pages for you to just use them for your sales funnel.

You do not have to invest your time and energy in hiring professionals or writing on your own.

These templates are ready to use to improvise your sales.

Check Demo Here

And, there’s still more to come. In Addition, We are providing Bonuses!!… If you buy TODAY, you get free access to 3 remarkable bonuses

Bonus 1: Cheat Sheet (Valued at $17)

This cheat sheet is a practical tool that will guide your customers with easy to follow steps of the whole training.

Each and every aspect of training is broken down into easy and executable steps that will help customers master the process and keep entire training at their fingertips.

It makes the entire package more lucrative.

Bonus 2: Mind Map (Valued at $7)

Mind Maps will be a broad outline of the entire training program.

With this handy tool, the customers will have a comprehensive understanding of the complete training and they will absorb the contents easily.

Bonus 3: Top Resources Report (Valued at $17)

This is a comprehensive Research Report on effective YouTube Channel income including: Videos, Tools, Training courses, Forums, Affiliate programs, Demographics, Infographics, Facts, and Case studies.

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What Experts Say About It

I was impressed by the depth of this course. You covered several YouTube Channel Income strategies for different types of businesses and scenarios. I don’t know how you can do YouTube Channel Income without this course

Francis Ochoco

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Pallab Ghosal

I highly recommend this product to any business that is looking forward to use videos to grow their business and boost profits. This product is a high quality work with latest and proven YouTube Channel Income strategies that are sure to excel

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You can’t ignore Videos neither can you miss the marketing opportunities offered today through that means. YouTube Channel Income with the 76-page detailed guide and everything offered along with it is a must-have resource, answers all the questions you may have and provides a solid knowledge on how to become successful with YouTube Channel Income.

John Delavera

www.johndelavera.com

Simple yet Smart ways to make tons of money with this PLR product:

What you can do ?

You can bundle it with other products.

You can offer it as a bonus to your existing product and make your customers happy.

You can use it in your other video products or for your webinars.

You can distribute it to your affiliates for they promote you.

You can also create eBooks and may be create multiple eBooks out of it.

You can retain paying members by adding this product to your paid membership site.

You can rename, rebrand or customize it and claim full authorship. Everything is upto you.

What you can’t do ?

No, you may NOT sell or giveaway private label rights (non-transferable PLR).

No, you may NOT sell or giveaway resell rights

No, you may NOT sell or giveaway master resell rights

No, you may NOT giveaway the main eBook for free. Must be sold for at least $7.

Our YouTube Channel Income PLR comes with a special 30 Day 100% Money Back Guarantee!

We want you to be totally psyched about our products. If at any time within 30 days of purchasing, you are not 100% satisfied, you may return it to us for a refund. No questions asked.

So, Are you ready to get started????

YouTube marketing is tough, continuous and tedious, yet it can outclass all your marketing strategies in terms of business growth.

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This really is a Golden content!

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he opportunity with special discounts now.

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