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moonbeambucky · 4 years ago

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Hey Neighbor (Part 16)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader Word Count: 2694 Warnings: fluff

Summary: You had a plan and then life came along with one of its own. With your future almost derailed you worked hard to get yourself back on track and finally everything seemed to be going right… that is, until your new neighbor moved in.

A/N: Feedback is always appreciated!

PART 15 | HEY NEIGHBOR MASTERLIST

Six weeks. That’s how much notice Bucky gave you until the wedding. You said yes to being his date before you had actually confirmed anything with work. The wedding was on the first Saturday in June but you would need to take off of work that Friday as well.

Technically one day off from Stark Industries wouldn’t be so bad and as predicted you were given the day easily. Unfortunately, you would have to take two days off at Metro-General and you really hoped that would be alright.

You hadn’t taken many days off since you began; a day for when you had food poisoning, another on the day of Wanda’s museum exhibit, but the hospital was a busy place and Elena was notoriously strict. Plus the more days you took off meant the more hours you would have to make up, which meant the longer it would take to fulfill your final requirement before graduating.

Once again, Marya’s words come to mind. Life will not wait for you so you needed to live it in the moment. It’s only two days.

With renewed confidence you knocked on Elena’s door and asked for the days off.

“Vacation?” she wondered.

“It’s for a wedding actually.”

Her dark eyes lit up at your answer. “Oh very nice. Where is it?”

“I’m not sure exactly. Somewhere in Long Island,” you chuckled, explaining that you were asked by a close friend to be his date.

After all these months of working together you realized this was the most personal conversation you’ve ever had with Elena. You had always tried to respect the boundaries of her as your boss but it was surprising as she seemed to open up first, letting down the guard she had carefully built up to protect herself while working in this field. Her approach carried over with her co-workers up until now.

“Mack was a close friend of mine once...” she said, turning the picture frame on her desk around towards you.

The photo showed her in the arms of a medium-brown skinned man with a dark beard and shaved head. Her whole face was smiling as she stared into his eyes and he was looking back at her like she was the only thing that gave meaning to life. Judging by their clothes you realized this was a wedding photo.

“You’re married? Since when?” You may have blurted that out a little bit louder than you expected but it was a bit of a shock considering she doesn’t wear a ring.

“Since I asked him,” she laughed. “Two years now, but we’ve been together for six and friends for a lot longer than that.”

Ahh now you understand what she was implying. “It’s not like that with me and Bucky. Well…” You bit your lip with uncertainty. “I don’t know. We’re friends and we kissed once but he’s dating other people and–”

“Yet he asked you to be his date.” She smirked, giving you a knowing stare.

Elena had given you the days off but part of you wished she didn’t. On the surface, Bucky was just a friend asking another friend for a favor but the more you thought about your history the more conflicted you felt.

From the moment he’s come into your life you’ve felt something towards Bucky. Sure his looks were undeniable but there was so much more about him. The passion he had for music matched what you felt for social work, and you connected, both of you realizing that each field plays an important role in helping people.

The more your friendship grew it felt like you were always meant to be in each other’s lives and you couldn’t imagine life without Bucky since he had become such a huge part of it. But you weren’t anything more than friends. That’s all.

The warm sun shines directly into your eyes as you exit the subway, trying your best to hear Peggy over the increased amount of people on the street. New York was always crowded but warm weather was a magnet that seemed to pull everyone out of their homes, drawing them outdoors to enjoy the beautiful day.

With Wanda on your left the three of you talk plans for Memorial Day weekend; it’s two weeks away and you’re trying to organize something for everyone to do together.

“I’m not sure if Sam has off or not yet but I do have some news,” Wanda said enticingly, biting her lip to contain her excitement. So many thoughts ran through your head as you waited for her to drop the details. “Sam and I are gonna move in together!”

“Oh Wanda, that’s brilliant!” Peggy said, her red painted lips stretching across her face in a beaming smile.

“I’m so happy for you two! When are you moving? And where?” you asked.

“His apartment is bigger so I’m moving there, hopefully by the end of the month but we’ll see. It’s hard with his schedule sometimes but I definitely want to be out as soon as possible.”

You offered assistance to help her pack and Peggy suggested making it a night with girls, with wine as a little motivation. “Yes, perfect!” Wanda agreed.

If only finding a dress for the wedding was as easy as helping Wanda move. You had already made a few trips to the department stores, trying on the perfect dress that fit like a dream and made you look incredible. Unfortunately, it cost more than your rent so it went back on the rack.

Your disappointing trip was made a little better by the promise of your friends to help you which is what you were doing now. One more block to go and you would be at the boutique you’ve never heard of before where Natasha was meeting you.

Opening the doors made you a little concerned. The place looked like it was from another planet. The glossy black ceiling stood in contrast to the bright white walls that were made up of three dimensional geometric tiles.

Silver accented the space from the large framed mirrors that leaned against the walls to the velvet pewter asymmetrically curved couch outside the dressing room. The clothes themselves looked normal at least, dresses of all kinds displayed on racks within silver frames, making them look like they were encased in glass.

Peggy and Wanda spread out to look for dresses, trying to find ones that resembled the overpriced gown you had only taken a selfie of to remember it by. Immediately you were drawn to a rack of flowy pastel colored ones, draping a few different styles over your arm.

In the middle of your search you heard Natasha call your name, and turning around to greet her you didn’t expect to see an unfamiliar face. She stood next to a man that towered over her small frame. A shock of ice blonde hair and matching bleached eyebrows caught your attention first before you moved on to his outfit, a red vest, leather pants and fur coat that seemed to only have one sleeve.

“Y/N, this is Taneleer Tivan, owner of The Tivan Collection,” she whispered the last line in a way as if you were meant to know who he was.

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you,” you said, though his facial expression didn’t change.

Though his eyes were surrounded by a smudge of dark liner you were able to see clearly the way he looked down in disgust at the dresses you held.

“Carina!” he shouted, and a moment later a girl came running forward. She wore a white vinyl dress that looked more like something you expected the store to sell, although her outfit is much more subdued than her boss’s.

She waited in silence with her hands clasped in front of her, in what seemed like a routine she was quite familiar with. “These are all wrong,” Taneleer said to you and suddenly the dresses were being taken out of your hands by his assistant. “I have much better in my collection.”

To your shock Carina was beside you again, ushering you towards a different section of racks that had more appropriate gowns despite neither her or her boss knowing what event you were shopping for. Thinking back, the pastels might have been a bit too casual anyway.

As you perused the new section you found an assortment of beautiful dresses, some absolutely stunning ones that had you worrying about the price. Natasha can certainly afford a lot more than you but glancing down at the tag you were surprised to see how reasonable things were. You took out a few jewel toned ones to try on that caught your eye.

“Y/N, what do you think of these?”

Peggy’s soft voice made you turn around. The first dress she held up was a satin one shoulder gown in black.

“Oh I like the design,” you said, pointing to the ruffles falling from the shoulder.

The next one she held up was a shimmering emerald dress whose classic mermaid style made you feel like you should be going to the Oscars instead of a wedding.

“Peggy, that’s too formal!” Wanda chimed in, huffing as she came over with more than a half dozen sparkly dresses.

She made room on the nearest rack to hang them, excitedly showing each one off to you. The first was a gorgeous sequined dress, rose gold sparkling in the light. It was undeniably beautiful but you had reservations. You were a guest at someone’s wedding and didn’t want to draw too much attention.

“This one is similar but you’ll see the difference,” she added, holding up another rose gold sequined dress, this one with a plunging V-neckline and a low open back.

“Wanda, that’s…” You stopped yourself from saying anything, grimacing uncomfortably at the dress that was so wrong.

“That looks like a slutty prom dress,” Natasha laughed, saying the thoughts you didn’t say aloud.

Wanda scrunched her face at Natasha before continuing with the next set of dresses. They were less eye catching as the others but still in the sparkly realm. You set aside a shimmering off the shoulder dress in turquoise that looked more like the ocean glittering in sunshine. The neckline was still a bit low but the back was more appropriately cut.

Natasha handed you one dress, a stunning red gown of flowing chiffon with a beautifully embellished bodice of lace and beading. The high neck of the dress complimented the tasteful open back design.

“Okay I’m getting overwhelmed. I have to start trying things on.”

With dresses in tow you made your way inside the fitting room and closed the curtain. Natasha sat across from Peggy and Wanda, checking work emails from her phone despite it being Sunday.

“Nat, did you get your wedding dress from here?” Wanda curiously wondered as her eyes roamed the store.

Her lips pursed as she took a deep breath. “I haven’t found a dress yet. I think we might have to push off the wedding again.”

“What was that?” you said, pushing open the curtains.

Peggy’s face lit up with a smile as you stepped out in a purple dress with lace detailing on the bodice. “You look beautiful!”

Your head turned towards the larger mirrors for a second to admire how you looked in the dress before you remembered the muffled conversation you heard through the curtain.

“Wait, Tash, did you say you’re pushing off the wedding again?”

She huffed loudly, leaning over and covering the frustration on her face with her hands. When she finally lifted her head you saw the desperation in her eyes. “I’m ready to say ‘fuck it’ and go to the courthouse.”

With Natasha’s ever increasing workload you’re quite surprised she hasn’t done this already. It doesn’t seem like she and Clint have made any progress since you’ve known them.

“Forget me,” she said, waving her hand as if to push the burdensome thoughts away. “That dress is pretty but there’s no wow factor.”

You looked in the mirror, realizing she was right. The next dress you put on was the red one Natasha picked out and that one definitely wowed but not in a good way. The bodice of the dress had an uneven cut that exposed part of your sides making you feel uncomfortable.

The one shoulder dress Peggy picked out was too tight but even if there was another size you didn’t like the satin. Wanda’s sparkly dress was a maybe but you weren’t completely sold on it yet. After changing in and out of a few more dresses you started to sweat and all you wanted to do was leave.

While hanging the dress you just stepped out of back up you saw there was one more left and your eyes lit up. You don’t remember grabbing this dress but it was meant to be from the moment you slipped it on.

It was a beautiful navy blue gown, with fluttering ruffles down the modest V-neck that also mirrored the back. Compared to some of the others this was a much simpler dress but there was something about it that felt right. It fit like a dream, flattering every part of you while still allowing for movement. Weddings mean dancing and the thought of dancing with Bucky made goosebumps prickle all over your skin.

As you opened the curtain you saw everyone’s jaws drop, their eyes lighting up as you stood in front of them.

“This! This is it!”

“You really think?” you asked, looking over your shoulder to see how it looks from behind.

Peggy nodded her head, “Definitely. It’s perfect.”

“Bucky’s going to love it,” Natasha added.

You rolled your eyes, missing the knowing look the three of them shared. “Guys, this isn’t for Bucky. I want to look good for myself.”

“And you do,” Wanda said, “But he’ll also appreciate how good your ass looks in that, damn!”

Rolling your eyes as they burst out laughing, you admired yourself in the dress a little longer knowing this is the one. You went back into the dressing room with Bucky on your mind. Sure, he might stare at you all night in this dress but the truth is it doesn’t mean much more than that.

Bucky was actively dating and the only reason you’re going with him to the wedding is so he doesn’t spend a weekend with someone he really doesn’t know. Panic washes over you as you worry about the near future. What if he meets someone he really gets along with before the wedding and he resents the fact that he asked you to go. What if he uninvites you? What if–

“Hey I found a really cute clutch to go with the dress,” Wanda said through the curtain.

You finished getting dressed, grabbing the dresses you didn’t want first. Opening the curtain you found Carina waiting beside Wanda, ready to take the dresses from you. You thanked her and took the dress you were buying, holding it up next to the clutch Wanda found. It was glittering gold with a metal trim on the opening.

“Oooh I love it.”

Carina was waiting silently at the register in anticipation of you bringing everything up to pay. As you took care of that Natasha said goodbye to Taneleer, kissing him on both cheeks. You thanked him as well before leaving and his mouth curved into the slightest smile.

Late lunch with the girls went by faster than you expected and you were happy to finally be home, hanging up the dress in your closet. You knew you had shoes that would pair well with it somewhere in your closet, a search meant for another day.

Before bed you decided to text Bucky, even though part of you was hesitant about it. You typed away quickly, sending the text and turning off your phone before he could respond. From the other side of the wall Bucky smiled when he saw a notification with your name.

You: Hope your suit game is good because I just bought my dress and it’s 🔥🔥

He couldn’t wait.

PART 17

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes series

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tysondabs · 4 years ago

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Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)

trigger warnings and contents: death/parental death, a cemetery visit, L.A. traffic, expensive whiskey.

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If he was a smart person, Tyson would have known he could just google his father’s details and find out where he was interred from there. One simple google would have done it, but not being an internet-first person, he resorted to texting Angela instead. She was more than happy to give him the details, and mention in so many follow-up texts how happy she was he had decided to go see him. The knots in his stomach started then, something inside twisting at the way she said she was happy, proud, and that Johnny would be happy to have him visit, he was sure. There was a succession of emojis, hearts, flowers. The sailor knots twisted themselves tighter.

He set off the next day, somewhere between 2 and 3 on the drive. Had taken another day off at work, more sour faces from Lisa and threatening that he’d all but used up all his vacation days this year, but fuck her; he let any thought of her pass not to ruin the day, started his beat up, paint-chipped Honda civic and hit the road. Stone cold sober, nothing in his system but the black coffee he’d slammed back minutes earlier.

Cruising down Silverlake Boulevard, some familiar scenes until he left the familiar scenes for unfamiliar road, then merged onto the freeway. It was fine until he hit bumper to bumper traffic. Now? Midday? Fucking hell.

He hated driving in L.A. on the best of days, but now, without music, and the heat, and stopping every two minutes as the cars crawled up the drive, he was starting to get stir crazy minutes into the journey. At the next stop he pulled out his phone, checking notifications; a thought occurred to him, or rather, a desire. Maybe he could text Sasha. But he couldn’t picture a way to word ‘going to see my dad’ to her without it sounding fucking weird or stupid, so he tossed his phone to the passenger seat and continued driving (only to pull it back up again a moment later because he forgot he had the GPS going).

At some point, he got too engrossed in his thoughts, and missed the turn into Cahuenga Boulevard. Fucking hell, part two. Maps rerouted though, and after a very long roundabout, he was finally at a stoplight, opposite some weird building-slash-cottage. ‘Valhalla Entertainment’, the banner said, and that rang a bell (wasn’t that Jude’s kid’s name?). 14 years in this city, and he had absolutely no clue which part this was. Somewhere between the Hills, before or past the Hollywood Bowl, he rarely came here unless it was a party. The distractions had him nearly missing his turn into Barham, but he pulled it just as the light turned green, the odyssey getting longer by the minute and it would be a miracle, he felt, if he made it at all. At this point, there was an itch to just Fucking Get There, wherever ‘there’ was. He drove past a flower shop, contemplated stopping but decided against it. What good were flowers anyway, he had something better with him — a bottle of Four Roses bourbon, sitting passenger seat beside him. Johnny liked that one. Or so he thought. At any rate, there was a photo of him holding a bottle of it somewhere on the internet, one he looked psychotically happy in, that was burned into Tyson’s retinas.

He drove past a sign for Universal City, and then a building loomed large, the New York Film Academy building (that made no sense to Tyson, why would the New York film academy be here? In L.A.? It made no damn sense). This entire city was Hollywood, it ate the city up and swallowed it whole, chewed and then spit it back out. That’s what it did to people, at least the ones who came seeking something in the realm of fame, anyway. Everyone else in the city was stuck under its heel, suffering and poor. The rich elite and the hoods; night and day contrasts. He knew which part he belonged to, and would prefer it over anything fancy that this town had to offer because it was all a farce, all an illusion. Though he wouldn’t begrudge any of his friends chasing fame money and success. He had plenty of those, and he hoped they could navigate the labyrinths in this concrete maze better than many did. Better than his dad sure had.

Forest Lawn Drive creeped up on him as buildings thinned out and disappeared, he was close now, he could feel it. Before long, there was a large white building beside a brick church, and he was here. He stopped at Information, gave the coordinates he was looking for and they directed him. Straight up that road and it was somewhere in the middle, coordinates marked. The knots got tighter now as the boom barrier lifted and he drove into the cemetery. Thoughts narrow, throat dry. He pulled up to the right space, or what he thought was the right space. A piece of trivia fell into his head, remembering that Lemmy was buried here too. Maybe he’d snap a photo for Emma, if he could find it, if he could even remember. He followed the numbers as he slowed his car, looking out at names, gravestones marked in the ground in even rows. He stopped the car at the assumed right spot, parked it by the curb and killed the engine.

Now the hard part. In his stomach sat a lead pretzel. His breaths dug deeper and he thought of a girl with fair hair to try and bring himself out of it. It sure would’ve been nice if she was here, maybe he’d even be cracking jokes right now. He tended to do that in her presence, even when he was peak anxious and scared; like when they were boarding that plane. But there’s no one here, just him and his multiple personalities, the angry ones and the sad ones this time mostly. It was quiet up here, and he saw someone walking amongst the graves, and a caretaker not too far from that person. The church stood behind him down the slight incline of the hill, and everything else fell flat, in neat green rows. He thought of another girl, one from many years ago. She knew his deal, knew how he would get on this day, he’d told her as much. And when that day came around one time, she surprised him with a trip. They drove out of town to some peak overlooking the city, she’d packed a picnic, and made sure they had a day of it. That had been real nice of her to do.

He couldn’t sit here and rehash memories endlessly to avoid what he came for though, and Tyson got out the car, grabbing his trusty tin and the bottle of whiskey he’d brought with. The lead pretzel undid itself and became a slithering snake. Walking amongst the rows, he looked at names, family lots. Looking out for the right one. None of them were the right one. Angela had sent directions, but they were haphazard and not exact. Some five minutes passed this way, Tyson beginning to wonder whether he was in the right section at all, passing name after name, some sounding famous, some not. Some with fancy words the grave, or markings, and flowers left by them. He passed one with a shitton of flowers; either a recent or old Hollywood star. He came down one side and down the next row, starting to wonder if he should give up here and move on to the section directly below this one, maybe it was there she’d meant — when it caught his eye, the gravestone in the corner of an enclave, sitting flush with the earth.

John Robert ‘Johnny’ Dobbs. Beloved husband and father. 8/15/1964 - 4/27/2001 And when the winds carry you home, Remember who it was that sang your song.

There were bunches of flowers shrivelled up beside the grave, two sets of them. His throat felt heavy, scratchy as he stopped and kneeled before it, wondering who’d left them. It was hard to swallow now, impossible.

There was nobody around, but even had there been, Tyson didn’t think he’d let that stop him from doing what he did. He tried talking quiet at first, but maybe Johnny couldn’t hear him that way. Who knows how this thing worked. He took a tentative seat on the ground and crossed his legs, sighing. Looking up and squinting to the sky that still had a sun up high in it, still far from sunset, nowhere near it. A sheen of sweat showed on his brow between the parts obscured by his backwards cap. He frowned, and spoke to some space between the grass and the corner of the memorial stone.

“Well… I made it. I’m here.” Now that he thought about it, he probably should have come on his birthday instead. Because this…this was fucking depressing. The 20th anniversary. Twenty years it had been since he died in that hotel room all alone, and not since the actual funeral had he ever thought to come here. “I know I don’t…come here at all…ever…but I just wanted you to know I think about you…think of how you are…don’t even know if I believe in that heaven or hell shit, who knows…”

He tore out strips of grass that were beside him, and arranged them in a little, methodical pile. “Maybe this reincarnation shit is real and you’re out there somewhere…maybe on another planet. That would be cool. You were too good for this one anyway.” Rip, rip, more pieces of green to join the little pile he was making. “I wanted to…wanted to, uh, say something, actually.” He sniffled, not sure when his nose had started running, but it had now.

“I’m sorry.” He couldn’t finish the rest out loud but he thought it. I’m sorry for ever being mad at you, for throwing tantrums, for being a shit son. I’m sorry for pushing you away when you would come back because I thought you had left us. I know it wasn’t like that now. It wasn’t like that at all.

The tears rolled freely now, another unexpected surprise from the day. “Wish I could…I wish I could find the…” he shook his head, over and over, anger mixing into the rest of the feelings churning inside him, so much frustration, rage. That things even turned out this way. Had it not been for that, his dad could have been here, alive. Disappointing Tyson in the flesh and Tyson in turn disappointing him, but alive at least. “Fuckin’... kill them all…every last one…” He’d do it, too, no one could stop him. Not even the thought of a life in prison. “I know why you were the way you were, is all I wanted to say. Shit, I’m like that too. Maybe it runs in our genes.” He looked up like he was talking to someone, like there was a physical body here receiving his words, looking back at him. “Wish I could listen to your stuff too, because it’s good stuff. But I can’t…sorry.” There were people out there though, who listened, and still loved him, and had not forgotten him. He remembered the messages from fans he would get. That counted for something, at least. Maybe they could all listen in his place, since he could not. He knew Angela didn’t listen to his stuff either, and there was something to be said about that. At least he wasn’t alone feeling like this.

He picked up the bottle of bourbon he’d brought with him and twisted open the cap. Tipping it back, he took a big drink, quenching his thirst, feeling the burn as the liquor travelled down his system. Gasping for breath as he pulled back, he poured the rest over all the grass. Here, all for you, he thought, some dark amusement to that. Probably haven’t had a drink in a long ass time, huh? He stopped when he’d all but created a puddle of whiskey before him that was getting too large. One more sip stolen of his own, and he placed the bottle right side up next to his gravestone. “That’s for you.” Surprisingly, the knot was easing up, or maybe it was put on hold. Maybe this wasn’t too bad. Maybe he could do it again next year, or in the summer when it came time for Johnny’s birthday. Twice a year.

Tyson let out a long breath he had been seemingly holding in, cheeks puffing out, chest heaving. He started to feel sickish now, queasy. Maybe he needed a smoke. Yeah. His tin came out, the usual stash of two prerolls in it. He hesitated, then pulled the spare one out, placing it next to the whiskey bottle. “I know you never liked this shit dad, but give it a try yeah?” he said, like he was persuading Johnny to change his mind on Tyson’s drug of choice. At the same time, lighting the other one he’d brought with him. “Don’t know what kinda shit you had back in the eighties, but this is good stuff. Promise.” God, he was going crazy, fully lost it out here, smoking a joint and talking to a gravestone. A fucking joke. But nah, it wasn’t him, it was the world that was a joke, and he was just fine.

He stayed some time longer, until he’d smoke down the joint to the end, the buzz it offered providing some sort of calm to his frayed nerves, definitely making everything better. In a weird twist of events he felt hesitant to leave now, but eventually he did, getting up, dusting himself off. Crossing eyes with a woman across the lot as he did, somewhere in a not-so-far off distance. He wondered if she was visiting someone, but her husband joined her, photo camera in hand and it became quickly apparent they were tourists. He felt some kind of bile about that, the temptation to cuss them out as he walked past high, but he resisted.

Fucking tourists.

Back in his now-overheated sat-in-the-sun-too-long car, he rolled the window down all the way, and breathed a long, relieved exhale again. His head went to the steering wheel as he tried to collect himself, pick himself up from what just happened. He was in a state but coming out of it, slowly, gradually. That hadn’t been too bad. He forgot half the things he’d wanted to say, but maybe he would think of them again on the drive back, write them down somewhere and then say them when he was back here again. If there was anything he wished for after all, it would be more time with Johnny. And Angela. He’d make a point to go back to Texas if it meant driving for two days. Alone. It was the tradeoff for spending time with his family, what he had left of it anyway, because in the end, that’s all you had, wasn’t it?

Talking himself through and down some weird freakout episode wasn’t easy, but gradually, in this hot ass car that wasn’t getting any cooler, he somehow cooled down himself. Then he pulled out his phone and dialled a number.

#self para #ft. johnny dobbs #death tw #parental death tw #grieving tw

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marshmallow-phd · 5 years ago

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Midnight Hours

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Sehun x Reader

Summary: For you, being a good witch was easier said than done. Something dark was lurking inside of you and the others knew it. When you’re forced to tag along with Soomi and help a local wolfpack face a coming evil, you’re sent on a path that breaks into a crossroads. While you struggle with your inner demons, could the wolf Sehun be the key to your ultimate fate?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I 15 I 16 I 17 I Final

It’d been a week since you were first forced to come here and… well, it hadn’t actually been that bad, to be perfectly honest. Yes, the house shook whenever a wolf or two decided they needed to run through the rooms or down the hall and quiet meals were nonexistent, but you got used to it after a while. The constant chatter and music in the house became background noise that lulled you to sleep.

The other note – whether a high one or a low one, you were still debating – was the fact that you’d successfully been able to avoid the orange haired wolf named Sehun. Meal times seemed to be the only interaction you got – if it could even be called that. The two of you were in the same room, but sat far away from each other, usually on opposite sides of the table. Sometimes, he wouldn’t sit down at the table at all, instead opting for the rarely used island seats.

Occasionally, eye contact would be made between the two of you before both of you swiftly looked away and pretended the incident never took place. As elated as you were to not have to converse with the insufferable wolf, you had an odd feeling that it wasn’t completely one sided. You couldn’t help but notice how quickly he left the room and how he seemed to disappear for hours at a time, sometimes not coming home until well after dinner. There wasn’t much to do around here and as far as you knew, the wolves preferred to keep to themselves, so you didn’t think he would be hanging out with people from town. Your curiosity too strong to ignore, you decided to ask one of the others where he was going.

“Who knows,” Baekhyun shrugged, never losing focus on the video game in front of him. “He’s always disappearing these days and he never really answers us when we ask.”

“I’m getting worried about him,” Tao said from where he was lounging on the couch. It was one of the rare moments that you didn’t see Lottie with him as well, so you figured she must have had work or something else that kept her away from the farmhouse.

Resting your elbows on the back on the couch, you leaned forward and asked, “Why’s that?”

“He’s the only one who’s not mated.”

You jumped at the additional voice, not needing to turn around to see who’d emerged from their room.

Kris somewhat intimidated you. If his height wasn’t imposing enough, his deep voice – especially when he was scolding another member of the pack – added heavily to the mixture. The only times you’d seen him soften was when he was with his daughter or Evie. Whenever they came around, the hardness visibly melted away.

“Wish he’d hurry up and get mated,” Baekhyun muttered. He starting hitting the buttons on the controller with a little too much force. “Maybe then he’d stop giving everyone else crap.”

Kris smirked. “From what I hear, you deserve it, considering all the crap you gave Minseok and Yixing.”

“It was out of love,” the gamer insisted.

“Sure, it was. Keep it down, okay? I just got Mei down for a nap.”

Baekhyun sent him a mock salute. “You got it, daddy-o.”

Kris shook his head, keeping whatever comment was brewing in his head to himself as he ascended the stairs.

So was that what Sehun’s problem was? You should’ve concluded earlier that he was the only one left given that everyone else seemed to be paired off, but there were so many bodies here at any given time, they had a tendency to blur together. That didn’t mean that he needed to take it out on you, though.

He did apologize.

Kind of, you argued with yourself. It was a lame apology, but it was there nonetheless.

Blowing out air from between your lips, you pushed off the couch and headed up the stairs. You weren’t entirely sure where your feet were headed, only that you were letting them take you wherever they saw fit. And for some odd reason, they decided it would be a nice day to go outside. The air wasn’t too bad, if a little musty from an oncoming storm developing in the distance. You weren’t sure if it would make it this far, but you were sure the rain would be beautiful among the trees if it did.

Out of the corner of your eye you spot the side door to the garage wide open. Muttered curses and clanking metal escaped from inside. Your two options were to either continue on into the forest outstretched before you or investigate the source of the noise. Without thinking twice, you opted for door number two, quietly sneaking into the garage with as little noise as possible.

One of the fancier cars was sitting up on a pair of black plastic ramps. From underneath, a pair of long legs dressed in tattered skinny jeans with grease stains stuck out on the dirty concrete floor. Whoever was muttering under the engine hadn’t realized that they were no longer alone. You stood there awkwardly for a minute or two before making you presence know. “Do you need any help?”

Bang! “Ow!”

You flinched, knowing full well that that was your fault. “Oops. Sorry.”

The mechanic squirmed their way out from under the car and sat up, finally giving you a view of their face. Oh, great.

Sehun massaged the spot on his forehead that had connected with metal as he squinted up at you. “What are you doing here?”

You could have asked him the same thing. Wasn’t he supposed to be out running around on four paws avoiding the house and its occupants? Biting back the sarcastic answer, you decided to be a bit more civil this time around and shrugged. “I was bored and the door was open.”

Sehun shook his head and went back under the car. “Well, why don’t you go have a vision somewhere and leave me alone?”

“They don’t work like that,” you spat. Looking around, you saw that this place was any car enthusiast’s dream. The vehicles lined up ranged anywhere from vintage classics to shiny luxury brands. Shiny tools and gas canisters that suspiciously looked like NOS were scattered around the outer edges. How were they able to afford all this?

“Then how do they work?” he asked, pulling you from your observation. You blinked. Was he actually going to have a conversation with you? A civilized one, at that?

Interested in seeing where this would go, you leaned up against the tool bench, the sharp edge of the counter digging into your back. You crossed your arms and replied, “I’m not entirely sure. They just kind of come when they want to. A bit annoying, actually.”

The tinkering sounds of a wrench stopped. “So, you really have no control over them?”

“No, I don’t,” you confirmed. “I wish I did. Then I’d just make them stop.”

“So, you don’t like knowing what’s going to happen?” Sehun continued on with whatever he was working.

“It hasn’t exactly been showing me the future, not how most people would expect, anyway.” You were surprised by how easy it was to talk about this, especially with Sehun, a werewolf that you hardly knew. Then again, you’d never really needed to explain how the visions work before. While the power wasn’t exactly common among witches, it wasn’t entirely unheard of either, so most knew the basics of how they worked. “Sometimes, it’s a scene - a short one with zero context – or it’s a feeling. That’s how they started out. Most of the time, I can’t make heads or tails of what I’m seeing.”

“That… really sucks,” Sehun said sympathetically. It took you by surprise. You figured he’d throw another sarcastic fastball at you like that night in the kitchen.

Staring down at the ground, you muttered, “Yeah, it does.”

“So,” Sehun said after a long pause, “besides the blood moon and the blonde woman, have you seen anything else in these visions?”

You don’t know why, but your cheeks suddenly burned at the question. The only thing you had seen was the wolf. However, thinking back on it, the moment felt so intimate, you didn’t want to share. Was it one of these wolves you’d been with? You cleared your throat and answered somewhat honestly, “Yeah, there was a white wolf at one point.”

The clanging of the wrench hitting the floor echoed off the steel walls of the garage. What was that about?

“Do any of you have white fur?” you asked cautiously.

“Yeah,” Sehun replied quietly. “Me and Luhan.”

Luhan. The one with the hunter mate – er, ex-hunter mate. You had a strong feeling that it wasn’t him. Which only left…. “Oh.”

“Was the wolf… doing anything?”

“No,” you said a little too quickly. “No, he was just… there. Just sitting there. Only him. No one- Nothing else.” Way to play it cool.

Pushing himself out from his spot, Sehun sat up and looked at you. “Do you like white wolves?”

“What?” you scoffed. “W-why would I like white wolves? Why would I like wolves in general? Technically, our species are enemies.”

Sehun raised a challenging eyebrow. “And yet, who created who? Kind of hypocritical, wouldn’t you say?”

Honestly, you’d never really thought about it. Not in too much detail, anyway. The animosity was just something you’d accepted. “You… have point.”

“It’s kind of like the monster Frankenstein,” he continued. “A witch made werewolves, but then the witch turned around and was scared of what she’d made.”

You ignored the second part of his statement to keep from starting a fight. The history between wolves and witches was long and tangled, each side having a slightly different story than the other. You’d never really paid attention to that part of class, though. History wasn’t exactly your favorite subject. Literature on the other hand…. “Technically, Frankenstein was the doctor. The monster never had a name.”

Sehun stared at you for the longest with an unreadable expression. He didn’t seem angry or annoyed at your correction. The way his brow crinkled gave you the impression that he was thinking hard about something and you hardly doubted that it was his memory over the original sci-fi thriller.

With a soft grunt, he pushed himself off the floor and stalked towards you, coming closer until there were mere centimeters between you. Heat radiated from him. You could feel it flow through both his black t-shirt and your own blouse, warming you up to the point you thought you would break out in a sweat. His eyes stayed trained on you. The dark brown irises flickered back and forth as if searching for something hidden in your face. Your heart was beating erratically in your chest and you prayed that even with his sensitive hearing that he wouldn’t be able to pick up on it. That quivering feeling in your stomach that you’d gotten back in the kitchen that first night was back, stronger and more forceful than ever. Why was your body reacting to him like this?

Sehun leaned in farther, causing you to lean back as well to keep the safe distance between you. He had you trapped in a cage made of his arms, steadfastly planted on either side of you. There was nowhere to run. You couldn’t go any farther, but you didn’t want to. You could feel his breath against your skin and his face had blurred in your vision from the closeness.

In a soft voice that you had to strain to pick up on, he questioned, “Who’s to say the doctor wasn’t the real monster?”

You couldn’t answer him. All airflow in your throat had stopped. He came in more and your eyes slowly began to close, though only slightly. Only a millimeter more and your lips would brush. How would he taste? Would he be sweet like the forbidden fruit? Could a witch and a wolf-

In a second he was gone, snatching a screwdriver off the counter behind you and walking back cockily to his spot on the floor. Breath refilled your lungs. But there was no way in hell you were even going to acknowledge the stunt he’d just pulled.

Clearing your throat, you half scoffed, half coughed as you said, “You’re really going to use the cliché argument that’s discussed in English classes all over the country?”

Sehun lazily rose one shoulder and dropped it. “Got me an A at the time.”

You snorted. “In what? Your second year of high school?”

Just as he opened his mouth to give you an escalated retort, a soft voice called out for you.

“(y/n)? Are you in here?” Soomi cautiously stepped in through the door as if she wasn’t allowed in this building. Her worried expression evolved into a smile once she caught sight of you. Thank goodness she hadn’t shown up only a minute or two prior. “There you are. I thought we might go ahead and squeeze in a lesson today.” She looked over to see that you weren’t alone. “Oh, hello, Sehun.”

Sehun waved at her with the screw driver. “Hey, Soomi.”

You jutted out your jaw, annoyed. He was always so much nicer to her. Yes, technically, he’d known her longer, but she was a witch, too. If you were going to hold some hostility towards a group a people, shouldn’t it at least be equal?

“Let’s go,” you grumbled and you walked out of there passed Soomi. As soon as your feet hit grass, however, you skidded to a stop.

A new car you hadn’t seen before pulled into the front yard before cutting the endgine. The driver’s side door opened and a girl with tanned skin wavy chocolate hair stepped out.

“Kita!”

Junmyeon burst out through the front door and practically jumped off the porch as he ran to the girl who’d just arrive – so this was his mate.

Soomi was frozen beside you as Junmyeon picked his mate up and twirled her around. Happiness, complete unadulterated joy, was evident all over his face. The girl – Kita – was just as ecstatic as she pulled him in for a quick kiss.

Grabbing Soomi’s arm, you tried to pull her away from the scene as you whispered, “Come on. Let’s go.”

But it was too late. You were spotted by Junmyeon before you could escape. If it was any consolation prize, the tiniest bit of guilt was written on his face at the display of affection that just took place. “Soomi, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

Plastering on the fakest smile you’d ever seen her wear, Soomi waved a hand frantically. “No, no, don’t be sorry! It’s good see you’re back, Kita. (y/n) and I were just going inside to have a lesson, don’t mind us.”

“Well, that sounds interesting,” Kita said sincerely. You kind of wished she didn’t seem so sweet so you could actually dislike her. Logic was stopping you from that as well. She had no choice in matter either, so why be mad at her.

“Welp, we’ll see you guys later!” With a firmer grip, you tugged Soomi away, practically dragging her up the steps and inside the house. You didn’t let go until the two of you were seated at the kitchen table. For once the eating area was completely empty and you were grateful. Studying her face for any hint of a lie, you asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she insisted.

You didn’t believe her. “I still think we should have stayed somewhere else. It’s never too late, you know.”

Okay, so you were also trying to convince her not only for the sake of her own heart, but for yourself as well.

After that encounter in the garage, you were worried about things… escalating. You were finding that you had very little self-control when it came to Sehun. If anyone else had dared come that close to you, they would have been walking away with a black eye. Yet, you were so close to touching his lips. You were afraid that next time neither of you would pull away. And you refused to be the wolf’s fun chew toy.

Soomi shook her head as she opened to botany book she’d been carrying. “Why do you want to leave so badly?”

“Why don’t you?” you whispered harshly. “You don’t have to put yourself through this.”

In a rare show of frustration, Soomi slammed her hand down on the table. “I’m not putting myself through anything, (y/n). I am not hung up on something that never even happened in the first place. Now, please, drop it and let’s get into your lesson.”

You’d never seen her upset like that. Soomi was always able to keep her calm no matter what. You had really touched a nerve by pushing and you were regretting it immensely. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she somewhat smiled at you. “I know it’s because you care and I’m thankful for that.” Dropping the subject completely, she turned to the chapter she’d opened the book to and started explaining what wonderfully boring plant she’d be talking about today. Usually you spaced out or thought about other things while she talked, but today you stayed concentrated, actively engaging in conversation to make her happy.

Over the course of the next hour, the kitchen slowly began to fill with people. A few of the wolves, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol mostly, began working on dinner while a couple of curious mates sat at the table with you, listening intently to Soomi’s lesson. She answered every question they threw at her and it was obvious by her face that she enjoyed having attentive ears around her. When Junmyeon and Kita came in from the back door, you noticed Soomi barely looked in their direction. Sehun entered at some point as well, sniffing the air as if that was what brought him in here in the first place.

Just as the lesson finished up and the book was closed, one of the quieter mates – Dana – came running into the kitchen from the living room.

“We have a problem,” she announced through heavy breaths. Kyungsoo was by her side in a second.

“What is it?” He searched all over to make sure that she wasn’t injured in any way.

“I’m fine,” she said, gently pushing his hands away. “But I just got off the phone. Mina’s coming.”

“Mina’s coming?” Kyungsoo frowned. “What do you mean she’s coming?”

“Here. I mean she’s coming here. To town.” Dana ran a hand through her hair, worried. “She’s coming to visit me.”

The wolves and mates in the room exchanged troubled glances. Everyone else seemed to understand why this was such a big deal, but you were at an utter loss. So, you asked the first question that came to your mind, hoping to get a few answers.

“Who the hell is Mina?”

#exo #exo wolf au #exo wolf!au #sehun x reader #oh sehun #exo werewolf!au #exo werewolf au #exo supernatural au #exo series #Midnight Hours #untamed wolf universe

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jungnoir · 6 years ago

Note

prince!jaemin confidently kisses his princess when she will only awaken with her one true love’s kiss. distraught, he kisses you again, and again, desperation seeping through when nothing happens and knight!jeno averts his gaze full of shame

battlecry;

⇢ summary: love is cruel, ignorance is bliss, and all good kings must learn this. prompt belongs to @itsmultifandomtrash!

⇢ relationship: na jaemin/reader/lee jeno.

⇢ genre: prince!au, knight!au, angst. just angst. if you came here looking for a good time you will be attacked.

⇢ words: 5.8k.

⇢ warnings: unrequited love. sad boy gang.

a/n: I’m not sure where it went, but a few days ago, @trashknj tagged me on @nctangst‘s post about prince!jaemin where @itsmultifandomtrash sent in the above prompt and asked if I could write it! I got really inspired by it so I decided to give it a shot! hope I could do it justice~ my heart hurts :)

The palace was the quietest it had ever been since the day you were poisoned.

What used to be a sanctuary for laughter and happiness was now like a tomb; its silent walls would close in on you in the long hallways, its cool breezes now felt like icy fingers gripping at any piece of exposed skin it could reach. Royals would have dinner in silence. Nobles would visit with the utmost sincerity in their hearts as they offered their condolences to the king and queen for their daughter. Servants would meet each other’s eyes with grim looks, the question on everyone’s lips but never uttered for fear of reprimanding: would the princess ever wake from this curse?

When the witch had struck you, you had dropped like a rock. Days had gone by since the angry sorceress burst through the crowd of adoring subjects who’d welcomed you into town that too-sunny Saturday, cursing you where you stood because “tyrants should never smile”. It was in the wake of a recent law passed to abolish black magic, and while you’d never had a hand in the commandments of your country, you were the one who suffered the price.

Morbidly, the subjects were at least happy you weren’t dead, but a dreamless, wakeless sleep didn’t sound much better. Your chest still rose and fell underneath the sheer white fabric adorning your chest and your eyelids would flutter every now and then, but never did they open. Your fingers might twitch or your body might shiver when the cold night air would rush in from your bedroom window, but you did not cuddle into your sheets for any warmth. Your blood ran warm underneath your skin, but you were as good as dead.

The ordeal had arisen during the week that Prince Jaemin had come to visit you.

Pen pals since youth, Jaemin was your best friend and, soon to be, husband. You had confided in him for everything from the start of your youth until the moment you’d become a true adult in the kingdom’s eyes, a shining eighteen years of age which meant that you were that much closer to ascending to queenhood. Jaemin, too, was also soon to become a king of the neighboring kingdom of Na, and your parents had found it fit to put you two together. The arrangement had been announced only a few weeks ago, but they’d apparently been planning it since your tweens. Jaemin had been excited after years of writing to you, waiting to see you again for the first time since you were just children, and the week had been planned to a T. You’d meant to show him around the kingdom, show him the best of the crown city, and it was that particular day that you had to cut into the tightly packed tour for a quick public appearance.

Had Jaemin known that that day you’d be cursed into an endless sleep, he would have gone with you.

It was no secret to anyone in the palace how much Jaemin hated that he had not been there to protect you. Even when you both were far apart, your letters to him about your hardships and the snooty royals that’d come to visit would always spur him into a very long and very cheesy rant about how he wished he could slay your dragons for you. He considered himself to be your knight in shining armor, and you had never really disagreed. Yet, even with all his passion, he knew deep down that he would not have been fast enough to intercept the curse on its way to you. Most nights though, he dreams that he could have been.

So he’d stayed longer, written countless letters to his parents about how he refused to leave your side until you were all better, and the monarchs of Na and your kingdom were more than understanding given the bond you both shared. He’d stay forever if it meant that you would never be without someone by your side. He insisted that it must be him, had to be him, because he loved you and you loved him, and if you love someone the way he loves you, you don’t leave them for anything.

The only other person who seemed to feel that as much as he was the stoic knight at your chamber’s doors, stiff as a board and adorned in the armor of the kingdom’s military. He was already a higher-up knight by the age of 15, fighting many battles in the name of the king with what the prince had heard was nearly godly strength and will. When you had gotten a little older, the king decided to assign his best and youngest knight to you in hopes that he would guard your life as well as he guarded the lives of his men on the battlefield, and do that he surely did.

After the first two days of sitting by your side, clutching your hand in his until the warmth shared between them caused his palm to perspire, he decided that he could not take the silence anymore. The sounds of your even breaths seemed to only drive him slowly insane, the prince practically waiting for the moment they might stop altogether. So he talked to the knight instead.

“Did you grow up here? In the crown city?” Jaemin asked the knight one day, fingers still wrapped around your own. It was a hot summer afternoon, that much he could tell from the heat of the sun beating on his back through the balcony.

The knight did not stir, nor made any move to remove his helmet. The blasted silver thing glared at Jaemin from across the room, the only barrier he had between him and the knight. You had written fondly (and in great detail) of the great knight Jeno’s personality many times in your letters to the prince, so he knew not to take it personally when Jeno didn’t answer right away. It had taken you two years to get him to fully open up to you, and even then, you still suffered from Jeno’s quiet nature.

With nothing to do but wait, Jaemin just continued to watch the knight. He used the silence to examine the knight from head to toe, from boot to helmet. He noticed the sword slashes on the metal that scarred what he knew was once crystal clear. Some were closer to his neck, others closer to his left arm where the armor stopped and a mesh covering allowed for better movement of his arms. He’d once been told by his father that a man without a few scars had not yet become a man. Jaemin was sure Jeno had plenty.

“No, your highness.” Jeno finally answers, voice intense and echoing in the metal confinement around his head. Jaemin perks up some; he hadn’t expected such an answer so quickly!

“A nearby town, then? I hear most people only come to the crown city to live a better life. It is rather beautiful here after all, a city by the sea.” Jaemin hums fondly. You both were supposed to go to the beach on the weekend of his visit, right before he was set to return home for further kingly preparations.

Jeno doesn’t move still, but a hum mirrors the prince’s in the hushed room and it is nice. “Not nearby, your highness. I traveled quite a way to be here, but you are right about the last part. I came here for a better life. For my family, too.”

The prince’s chest swells with a sweet feeling; a boy as young as he turning to the crown city in order to make a better life for himself and family was not new under the sun, but he still rather admired those who did it. He knew that if he wasn’t born into such fortunate circumstances, he’d be willing to do the same in a heartbeat.

“I wonder,” Jaemin starts, wistful as he turns his gaze back to your peacefully sleeping face, “if in another world, I was like you. Perhaps, if in that world (Y/N) was still a princess, I would have been able to make it to her like this. Like you.”

Jeno somehow stiffens even more at this. Jaemin doesn’t notice, “Would we still have fallen in love? I’m certain we would have.” Affectionately, Jaemin reaches to cradle your face as a sick feeling begins to settle in Jeno’s stomach. The prince had no idea. “She has that kind of heart. She would fall in love with someone no matter their status, because she’s just that way.” The prince had no idea.

Jaemin smiles, lost in his own world as if Jeno wasn’t even there. It’s just you and the prince as far as he’s concerned, and he’s just dreaming of the day the court mage finds a way to wake you. He knows you’ll be waiting for him as he has waited for you. “I must sound so childish and naive,” Jaemin directs this to Jeno without looking away from your shut eyes, “but I know there’s nothing in this world or the next that could separate us. It just feels destined. Nothing could destroy destiny.”

The knight is happy he isn’t expected to reply, and that is maybe the last time he gets that feeling. The prince had no idea.

The conversations grow each day.

Jaemin would either wake from beside you because he’d fallen asleep next to you, or he’d be rushing from the royal guest’s quarters at the crack of dawn to your bedroom doors. He would always tell Jeno that when he was there, the knight could rest easy outside the room. It was really his way to talk to you aloud, attempting to coax you from your sleep as the court mage worked away on figuring out how to wake you. Since the ban on black magic, many of the mage’s dabbling in the arts had to be halted unless absolutely necessary, and this situation was deemed absolutely necessary. The court mage mainly worked with health and protection potions for everyday afflictions, so this meant that it would take a little longer for him to summon the right counter to a curse and make sure it worked on you. It didn’t matter to Jaemin or the king what it took, so long as you were awake and smiling again.

Until then, Jaemin was content with talking to you. He would recall times you’d spent together as children on holidays or brief visits, or he’d discuss some of the events you both chronicled in your letters to each other. Each conversation would end with a solemn “I love you”, each word dripping in sincerity. He’d been saying it to you as much as he was physically able to ever since he’d found out you were both to be engaged. He hadn’t rushed you to say it back of course, the king and queen assuring him that his feelings were most certainly reciprocated. They’d told him how shocked from excitement you’d been to hear the news, and Jaemin had felt like he was on cloud nine. You had never been so bashful with him in his whole life until that point, but he assumed that it was because you two had never really addressed the possibility of being something more than friends before… it was new territory. He understood that much.

Jaemin tried not to bore Jeno with countless questions about you (or even more specifically, questions about how you felt about him), but sometimes he just couldn’t help it. Like now.

“Did she talk about me a lot to you?” Jaemin asks over his dinner. The prince rarely spent time away from your room, even to eat, so the maids would bring him something up each evening. Sometimes, he’d wave a bit of your favorite foods in front of your nose teasingly, wondering if that might wake you. It never seemed to stop you from snapping to attention before.

It had been a week since the first conversation with Jeno and since then, Jaemin had requested of Jeno to not wear his helmet. He had hoped that without the obstruction, he’d be able to get more comfortable with the knight, but even without it the knight was as motionless as ever. Lips tightly pursed, eyes always facing forward, brows even. It was Jaemin’s goal to get the knight you cared for so much to like him. After all, he’d be seeing a lot more of him in the future.

Jeno takes his time to answer as always, thankfully never leaving Jaemin hanging, “A bit, your highness. She described you as her best friend.”

Jaemin blushes, looking down at his food. “Is that… so? I always wondered if maybe she’d make a closer friend here. I guess that spot was reserved for me. What else did she say about me?”

“That you were easily excitable, your highness.”

“Eh?!” Jaemin screeches. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

While others might have flinched away at Jaemin’s tone, maybe afraid they’d offended the prince in some way, Jeno does nothing of the sort because he knows it’s harmless. He continues to stand tall, though his eyes glide to Jaemin for one of the few times the prince had caught him doing so, “I assumed it was due to your childlike nature, your highness. I’m sure she didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

Still, Jaemin pouts. “I’m… I’m not easy.”

Jeno looks away from him just as slowly as he looked to him, “Of course not, your highness.”

“Hey,” Jaemin lightly scolds, “you don’t sound too convinced!”

The knight’s lip quirks up a bit and Jaemin really can’t believe it. Was… was the stoic knight really smiling right now? Had he really just made Jeno smile? “I’m sorry, your highness. The princess’s sentiments of you have left an impression.”

Jaemin huffs, though he’s happy that there seems to be a more comfortable air in the room now. Even if it was the smallest twitch in the lip, Jaemin counts Jeno’s smile as a success through and through. The pout leaves the prince’s lips finally, changing the subject, “Well, when she wakes, we’ll have to have a discussion about that. She can’t ruin my charming reputation without my consent.”

Again, Jaemin is surprised when Jeno makes a small sound. Almost like a… chuckle. Just barely there, his ears would have lost the sound to the wind had it not been such a soundless night. Jaemin laughs a little on his own, too, delighted. “Of course, your highness. Though I cannot promise her willingness to change her ways, I’m sure you’ll make a good effort.”

The prince shakes his head goodnaturedly, taking a sip from his chalice as he throws a glance your way. It feels odd to have you here but not have you really here, the prince thinks. How he wished you would wake and add to the conversation, but no such thing would happen just based off of intention alone. The court mage was getting close to exposing the counter to your curse, so he just had to wait a little longer. Imagine how thrilled you’d be when you found out that he and Jeno were getting along! Even being friends! He could see the pleased smile on your face as clear as day, as if you were really smiling at him inches from his face. He sighs contentedly.

Jaemin decides he’ll spend tonight talking to you again, but he won’t tell Jeno to leave the room this time. He doesn’t feel the need to be private in front of him right now, and if he can help it, the bond between the two of them might grow stronger just by listening to the adventures you both shared in your youth. “Thank you for talking to me again today, Jeno. I can see why she cares for you so much.”

Jeno had feared this before when he’d taken off his mask for the first time. He’d been able to keep himself emotionless in the face of the prince on several other occasions, but he isn’t sure he can hide the way his face falls at the thought. A swirling pit of guilt has begun to accumulate in his gut and has yet to disappear since the prince had gotten here. It had been so much easier before he’d actually met the prince to see him as some kind of battle, like the ones he used to face in his younger days. This wedding was your battle to fight, and Jeno would be guarding you every step of the way. Sympathizing with the very cause of his grief was the last thing he needed. Yet, here he stands, joking and laughing with the prince as if he isn’t the reason why Jeno’s nightmares are all of your wedding day, marrying someone that isn’t him while he fades into the background.

It had barely felt like a day had passed since you both last professed your love to each other, since your only concerns were bringing up the relationship between you both to your parents. His biggest fear was that the king and queen would not allow him to court you, to one day marry you if you so wished. Yet now, his biggest fear was that that chance to tell them would never even come, and you would fall for your best friend, the prince, who seemed to know you much better than Jeno did. With time, your feelings for the knight would disappear, and Jeno would watch it all with a heart that would never repair itself.

And here this very prince was, thanking him. Thanking him for comforting him while the love of both of their lives lay unconscious mere feet away. It was sick. Though the witch had probably meant for the curse to hurt no one but you, the king, and the queen, they had seriously miscalculated the ripples this would have on everyone around you. Jeno knew the way the guilt ate at you tenfold, forcing yourself to lie to Jaemin about your “feelings” in order to not hurt him with the truth just yet. You were cornered with nowhere else to go and Jeno could do nothing but watch. Sadly, maybe you were at least at peace in this sleep, free from the clutches of heartache in your chest.

Jaemin thinks that Jeno is just taking his usual time with replying, unknowing of the turmoil that festers behind the knight’s quickly rebuilt facade, “Of course… your highness.”

Three weeks have passed since the curse and Jeno and Jaemin are what Jaemin considers “friends”. Their conversations are considerably longer, and this leads to Jaemin convincing Jeno to leave your room every once in a while for a change of venue. Usually, Jeno would protest to leaving you alone anywhere, but the other knights standing guard at your door promise that they would alert both the prince and Jeno of any changes in your condition if something happened. After a few trips around the palace, Jeno wasn’t as averse to the idea anymore. They’d even managed to make it outside more than a few times.

Their walks were usually full of talking (mainly on Jaemins’s side). Jeno had ended up showing Jaemin parts of the palace that you hadn’t yet gotten to show him, deciding you wouldn’t mind too much if he got used to his surroundings while you were still under the spell. Jaemin had never been the type to just sit still for a long time either, though the sadness and concern he had for you had cemented him to your side without a thought about it for nearly a month. Sometimes, they’d walk through the gardens and Jaemin would tell him about the flora back home. Sometimes, Jeno would request a special lunch for the two of them out near the lake. Sometimes, they’d just circle the grand hall and talk.

It was unusual for Jeno to be so close to a royal like you until he realized he fell for you and you him. This, however, was different. He could not readily consider Jaemin a friend, especially when the truth had not yet been revealed to the other, but he still felt… friendly. He had meant to stay as impartial to the prince as possible, an attempt to keep his soft heart from caving in on itself at the thought of ever telling him the truth about you and him. He believed that with as little attachment to him as possible, even possibly looking at all of Jaemin’s flaws alone to help him, he could feel less terrible for this setup.

But he still finds himself caring for the young prince anyway, and he wishes selfishly that you’d awaken because he isn’t sure he can do this without you.

According to the mage, the curse that had been used on you was emotion based. There was no amount of herbal medicine that could bring you back from this sleep, but they weren’t totally sure what was needed to jolt you awake. In some cases, a curse like this would be fixed with some kind of internal shock, some interruption of dreams, something that your soul would feel rather than your body. Knowing your waking was so close was happy and terrifying for Jeno; there was so much you hadn’t gotten to talk about since the announcement, and there was so much that needed to be talked about that Jeno had a hard time keeping mental purchase of them all.

Today, he can let himself forget some of them as he and Jaemin watch the sea from the highest tower in the palace. The salty air is refreshing to Jaemin, a prince from a kingdom that is surrounded by dense forests and rain rather than ocean water. “Jeno, do you get to visit the beach often?” Jaemin asks.

Jeno stands beside the prince whose arms are folded on the stone ledge, eyes squinted at the early evening sunlight streaking the blue water with ripples of white. Until Jaemin, he had never walked around for this long without his helmet on. It wasn’t necessary for him to do so inside the palace, rather just a habit of his from his battle days, but it also gave him the impassive and intimidating aura that kept people from messing with you (if they ever so thought to). He’d begun to dress down too, another thing he wasn’t so used to. Instead of his bulky armor, he adorned some of the less restrictive clothing for moving around on the palace grounds. It made him more approachable, much to his confusion. All Jaemin’s idea.

“No…” Jeno pauses, attempting to adjust to dropping the formal “your highness” when no one else was around, “I’ve been once or twice, but not for fun.”

Jaemin frowns, casting a glance at Jeno over his shoulder, “That should be a crime. You can’t live here and not get to visit the beach every weekend!”

Jeno scoffs, amused, “Have you ever thought that maybe I don’t want to go to the beach?”

Jaemin turns up his nose and shuffles a bit on his feet, “Well… I don’t know. You don’t?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, I just… have no reason to. I don’t have anyone to go with.” Jeno admits. He doesn’t add the last bit about how the one person he’d want to go with could never.

He doesn’t have to, it seems, as Jaemin does it for him, “I’m sure (Y/N) would love to go with you. You know, as a friendly day out. If only this whole class system wasn’t so royally unfair, you two could go and no one would haggle you about it.”

Oh, how Jeno had daydreamed about just that for so long. If only Jaemin knew. Jeno could only respond with his best response to things like that, “Maybe in another life, but not this one.”

Jaemin flips around so that he’s facing Jeno with his back turned to the sea, his elbows propped up on the ledge now. He is squinting too, but not from the sunlight, that’s for sure. “You shouldn’t be so cynical, Jeno. I promise that one day in the future, me, (Y/N), you, and someone special will go out to the beach late one night without anyone finding out to just be free. By then, I will have appointed you to nobility, had your family moved out here to live with you in a villa on a nearby island, and gotten you acquainted with a charmer of your choice. You’ll be living the life, Jeno.”

Jeno blinks at the absurdity of Jaemin’s claims, “I-I never agreed to any of that. And you should be glad no one higher-up is around to hear you speaking like that.”

Jaemin just rolls his eyes and kicks his foot out, back and forth, “Don’t you think it’s nice, though? I know I’ve only known you for so long, but I can really see how much you care about (Y/N). And, since we’re getting married, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. I don’t want you to feel like you’re lesser than us, Jeno. You should be able to be comfortable around us and your family deserves to see you more than just once a year. Wouldn’t you like that?”

Jeno can clearly see the heart in Jaemin’s words, even as his own clenches at them. The truth is obvious to himself of course: he wouldn’t like that, not all of it anyway. He’d rather stay the way he is now, several ranks below you, untouchable, than to ever feel like he had even the inkling of a chance of being with you the way he wants to. With Jaemin in the picture, it’s the best choice anyway. Jaemin can’t see that though, should never have to, because Jaemin has done nothing but be kind to Jeno this whole time. Jaemin has done nothing but embrace him like a friend, and Jeno… Jeno just can’t. It just cannot be their truth. Jeno knows he will never be happy unless it’s at the expense of Jaemin’s happiness, and that is now far too taxing of a reality to bear.

Jeno doesn’t get to answer him, probably wouldn’t have been able to anyway, because the sound of rushing steps up the tower’s stairs catch them both off guard. Moments after the source of the steps reaches the doorway to the octagonal room, sweat is coating the face of the servant who’d sprinted to find them. She tries to catch her breath as Jaemin straightens up to address her, “Are you okay? What’s the rush?”

The servant bows quickly toward the foreign prince, “My apologies your highness, I did not mean to interrupt your conversation with Sir Jeno, but I have important news. Princess (Y/N)’s curse has been solved: we know what will wake her.”

Jaemin and Jeno both stand to attention, eyes darting to each other and then back to the panting servant. “Really?” Jeno rasps, urgency bleeding through his tone like a gushing river, “What is it? What will wake her?”

The servant draws in a heavy breath and even dares to crack a smile, eyes locked solely on Jaemin as she answers, “The princess’s curse will break upon the kiss of her true love’s lips.”

Jaemin runs faster than he ever has before. He’s not even sure Jeno is behind him when he thrusts himself through your double doors, a triumphant smile on his face when his eyes fall upon your figure. The king, queen, court mage, and a few servants stand around you all awaiting his arrival. The minute he makes his grand entrance, the smiles that beam at him practically light up the room.

The king is joyous as he welcomes the prince, “My son!” He calls heartily. A stab to Jeno’s heart as he enters a few moments later. “Quickly, quickly. You must awaken her.”

Jaemin’s ears go a little red at the prospect of sharing his first kiss with you like this, in front of all these people, but he knows that it is to save you and bring you back from this curse. He’d do anything to hear your voice again. Meanwhile, Jeno can only stand a few feet away in a disassociated stance. He doesn’t want to believe he’s experiencing this right now. He wishes that he could be anyone else.

“My stars, my stars,” Jaemin whispers adoringly as he collapses beside your body. You still look serene, and he can’t wait to see your eyes opening to look at him. Him, him, him. His favorite thing is to be seen by you. Your eyes dancing with warmth in them when you’d greeted him the day he got here had been playing in his mind on repeat for the last three weeks, and now… now, you were going to be awoken by true love’s kiss. His kiss. “Oh my stars, forgive me that this is our first kiss. Please wake and I’ll make it up to you.” Jaemin clutches your hand in his and squeezes it tight, imagining that you’ll squeeze it back. You don’t, but it won’t be like that for long.

Unable to contain his excitement, Jaemin looks to Jeno before he swoops in, smile not wide enough to even try to show the extent of his excitement. His eyes lock with the knight’s, but Jeno looks like he’s seen a ghost. It almost stops Jaemin in his tracks, almost. His excitement gets the best of him as he tries to remind himself that Jeno may just be overwhelmed; the entire room is overflowing with expectation and if it wasn’t the adrenaline Jaemin was being fueled by, he might be shaking at the thought of kissing you awake. Right now though, he has no time to worry about Jeno’s reaction. He’s far too focused on you.

He takes your face between his hands and sighs at your beauty, before letting himself descend delicately. He whispers sweet nothings to you as he leans down, lips inches to centimeters apart. His lips are dry from gnawing on them incessantly and he scolds himself for not being prepared to give you a pleasant kiss, but he hopes you won’t mind.

Finally, he meets your mouth.

It’s his first time kissing you and he can feel sparks exploding in his chest. There’s a party going on beneath his ribcage, or maybe that’s just the rapid beating of his heart. This is everything he wanted and more and he’s so, so nervous. He can’t pick up on anything but the pounding in his ears and the pressure of lips he’s waiting for to meet his own. He’s waiting. He’s waiting.

He’s waiting.

He’s… waiting.

Jaemin pulls back some, still holding your face. You don’t wake. He leans down to kiss you again, this time quicker and a little more sober, but when he pulls back yet again, you are still asleep. His eyes, in his desperation, flicker to the court mage who looks as dumbfounded as he and the rest of the room. One kiss, one small kiss from your true love was supposed to wake you from your slumber without a doubt. It’s what his Book of Shadows had told him, what he knew to be true from tales long past, so it should have worked. Jaemin had done everything perfectly, after all.

The prince releases your cheeks and stares at your face. You’re motionless, just like you’d been for the last three weeks. His kiss… had done nothing.

So, he wasn’t…

The queen gasps when it clicks. Jaemin goes still when something entirely different clicks for him.

It should have been clear before.

Jeno is avoiding his eyes but there are tears staining his cheeks already. His lips are shaking like he’s going to full on bawl in a moment. No matter how hard Jaemin stares at him, Jeno won’t look. He can’t. He mustn’t. If he did, he might not be able to bear it.

Jeno should be happy with all other things isolated; Jaemin is not your true love, and any doubts he had that you might have unexplored feelings for the prince are crushed at the same time that he realizes what this means. There is no one else you are as close to as you are with Jaemin… except him.

He is always with you, always by your side, your confidant when writing a letter will take too long. Jaemin may have known you longer, but contrary to Jeno’s beliefs, he didn’t know you better. Jeno had seen more of the you that you are now than Jaemin had, and that meant something. Something terrible, something wonderful… depending on how you looked at it.

And Jeno knew the whole time, the prince realizes. He didn’t tell him.

“…so… you wouldn’t have liked that, then.” Jaemin whispers, and nobody but Jeno knows to what that he’s referencing.

“I’m so- so sorry.” Jeno’s voice cracks, full of more emotion than he’d ever shown the prince since they’d met. He can’t stop crying as he feels the world crumble about him. He knows what he should do next, but he never imagined that his feelings would be exposed this way. Never would have wished for it.

Jaemin is suppressing a sob because he knows that that’s what kings do. He couldn’t cry now. What would that make him look like? A babbling child in front of the people of the kingdom he was hoping to rule one day by your side? He could never. He should never… but he is mourning inside.

The prince stands with every pair of eyes on him except that of the knight’s. You lay still, unaware. At that moment, everyone wishes they could be you (Jaemin the most). He takes in a heavy breath, centering himself like his father had taught him to do when faced with a situation that he was unsure of. He breathes in, and out, eyes shut to block out the vision of Jeno sniveling a few feet away, though the sound is loud and clear in the dead silent room. He has to get this over with, and it’s now or never. No matter how badly he wanted it to be him, it wasn’t. He hates that it’s Jeno. But…

Jaemin steps away from you with a heavy heart, holding out a hand to motion to you. Jeno looks from the prince’s hand to you, then to the prince’s detached expression. “Then you must wake her, Jeno. Please.”

“…O-of course, your highness.”

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winchesterxxi · 6 years ago

Text

Waited (Brian May x Reader)

Pairing: Brian May x Reader

Request: “Brian May x Plus Size!F!Reader because i read somewhere that he likes his women bigger and i was like yasss! It can be fluff-smut where like the reader is actually pretty confident in herself and she struts around the house when he gets home in a new red lace lingerie set? please, brian may is becoming one of my faves.” + “hey could you do some brian x reader smut related to his song "fat bottomed girls"? I seriously need some smut to that song kakakakkakakakkaka thank you darling!” + “brian x reader or rog x reader for borhap? plsss”

Suggested Song: Obviously, “Fat bottomed girls” by Queen

A/N:Read under the cut for a Bonus Scene + Hope it’s okay that I joined the requests!

Word Count: 1749

Warnings: HAVEN’T PROOF READ BECAUSE IT’S LATE AND I WANNA GO TO BED + Sexual frustration, Filthy smut, because you ask and I shall deliver

Being in a relationship with someone and inhabiting the same space as them and 3 other people 24/7 was maybe not your favorite thing in the world. The bathroom? shared. Alone time? what even is that? Walls? Thin as hell.

Sure, that the farm was actually a really nice place for them to work on new music, and you adored them but how you missed being alone with Brian, snuggled in your shared apartment.

And you avoided as much as you could thinking about how sexually frustrated you were. The last time you two had sex was the night before coming to this bloody farm.

Of course there was Roger who would just jack off behind a closed door whenever he felt like reliving some tension but you couldn’t bring yourself to do the same, because for as much experienced as you were, no magic fingers could replace Brian.

“Roger, come on! I brush my teeth in there!” You yell at Roger from downstairs, his grunts being a dead giveaway of what he was up to.

“At least I’m doing something about it!” He would yell back.

But it hasn’t been easy for Brian either.

How do you think that the poor boy felt whenever he watched you change into your pijamas every night, stripping your bra off, and not being able to do to you all the things that he had in mind. Or when you would bend over the kitchen table to put on the plates for every meal and not do something about how your ass was in the perfect position for him to do so many things with and to it.

Brian was never one to be overly sexual or show much of a sex appeal, for he was fairly shy and it just wasn’t him, but this impediment was taking a toll out of him. Sure, he thought about following Roger’s advice and go knock some, but he just found that it wouldn’t be fair to you.

And you both just thought that this wasn’t at all obvious for the rest of the boys. How you were wrong.

They were having way to much fun with it.

“So, Y/N dear, when was the last time you and Brian fucked?” Freddie asked once during breakfast and both you, Deacy and Brian almost spit your eggs.

“Freddie, come on, that’s none of your business.” Brain would say.

“She’s my best friend, you’re my bandmate. You’re in a relationship because I introduced the both of you and you haven’t been having sex because I brought you all here. Brian darling, I own the business.”

A few more days went by and this one day while you were all having dinner, Freddie got a call from Ray saying that him and Roger were urgently needed in the EMI head office for a ‘serious talk’.

“I’m going with you guys. I’m in deep need to see something other than grass and cows and chickens and god knows what.” Said Deacy right before grabbing a coat of his and heading out the door.

And just like that, you were alone.

“Did they just?...” Brian questioned with an amazed expression on his face, gently pointing towards the door.

“I think so.” the same relived and confused look across your face.

“And all it took was a bloody call?”

You sighed with a smirk on your face, knowing full well what was going to happen in the next few hours. You weren’t even allowed to think before Brian took advantage of his long legs to stroll across the living room in your direction, eagerly connecting his mouth to yours.

“One man can only hold himself together for so long.” He whispered between kisses, as his mouth left bruises down your neck making you moan, aroused by this new side of him. Brian was always very gentle and sweet when it came to sex, but after so long apart, you knew this new side of him would emerge.

As he took of your shirt, you ran your hands through his very curly hair, gently tucking at it once in a while. He quickly picked you up by the butt giving it a harsh squeeze before pushing your back against the nearest wall. Before he could go any further you gently push him back by the shoulders.

“Just wait a bit.” you say as you quickly run up the stairs towards your shared bedroom.

“I think that I’ve waited long enough!” you looked to the bottom of stairs to catch a very frustrated Brian, with his hair even messier than usual and his shirt halfway undone. It sure was quite a sight.

“You’ll thank me later.”

Quickly running to your room, you rummage your bags looking for that one red lace lingerie set that you bought a few months ago andl that you packed knowing that it would come in handy. You quickly slip into the set and walk down the stair, swaying your hips from side to side.

Once you reach downstairs you search for Brian, who you couldn’t find where you left him. Suddenly you hear the sound of glasses clinking in the kitchen. Following the sound, you find Brian pouring himself a glass of water.

“Bri…” you call in a seductive voice.

“Y/N!, I thought you’d take a bit longer, so I came pour m--” he explained himself still with his back turned to you.

“Brian!”

He finally turns around, only to find you seating on top of the sofa’s back, on leg crossed on top of the other. The poor man’s glass almost slips out of his hand, but before that could happen, he places it back on the countertop. He couldn’t believe what his eyes were seeing. The red lace perfectly wrapped itself around your curvy body accentuating every detail.

“Come over here, baby boy.” Brian’s face went red at the use of that name but he happily obliged, once again strolling to where you were standing. “A whole big woman just for you.” You whisper against his lips right before he hungrily kisses them, once again picking you up and carrying you downstairs. Once there, you get away from his embrace, quickly closing the door and pushing him towards the bed, in which he sat ,admiring your beauty, as you dangerously strutted towards him.

His hands quickly found their way to the back of your thighs as his face came close to your full and round breasts. Just like that, he started kissing them, pulling you close to him by where his hands where placed.

Harder than before, you push him down to the mattress, pinning his hands above his head.

“This is pretty...hot.” He breathes out, your face inches from him.

“Oh honey, you haven’t seen nothing yet.” Now straddling his lap, your hands unbutton the rest of his shirt, quickly getting rid of it, forcing the same fate onto his jeans, leaving him only in his boxers.

You gently tug at the hem of his boxers, watching as he hissed beneath you.

“Y/N, today is really not a good day to tease!”

“I just love to see you beg for it.”

“Then please. Y/N, please! do something!” his wish is your command, you let his throbbing member free and lower yourself onto it, after having taken off your panties. Both of your mouths let an audible moan escape.

“Oh, how I’ve missed you.” Brian’s voice vibrates through your body as you start to gently bounce up and down on top of him. He gets up into a sitting position so that he can be closer to you. Your hands start to peel off your bra strips but his hand roughly stops you without even stopping his thrusts.

“Don’t.”There was something about how your big breast where constricted in the tight lace while bouncing up and down that set something inside of his brain of fire. “Leave it on.”

His thrusts just kept on getting harder quicker, the divine sight of you bouncing on top of him only sending him further into the state of pure bliss that you both reached at the same time. The only sounds to be heard being both your names, exasperatedly rolling out of your lips.

After a few moments, you both lay down on top of the now unmade bed, small drops of sweat dancing across your foreheads. Brian gently pulls you towards his embrace kissing the top of your head.

“The wait was so worth it.” he whispers against your now messy hair making both of you chuckle.

Bonus scene:

“I really don’t get it! Why the fuck would Ray call us for a stupid meeting, in the middle of us having dinner, may I add, and he wasn’t even there?!” Roger complains as he stumbles through the door into the living room, fur coat still covering him.

“Well, I don’t know but I think that he’s just being an asshole.” Deacy passes by him walking towards the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Freddie is just standing in the middle of the living room, not moving.

“Freddie, you alright mate?” Roger asks him.

“Roger dear, I thought that by the amount of times you’ve had those little adventures of yours you’d be smarter.” Freddie answers turning around to face Roger, whose brows are furrowed together. “What does it smell like?”

Roger sniffles the air like a puppy on alert and is quickly joined by Deacy who is holding a sandwich on his right hand.

“I smell nothing Freddie.” Deacon says, matter-of-factly.

“Darlings, I’ve gone to enough orgies to know what sex smells like, for fuck’s sake!”

Roger and Deacy exchanged looks before coming to a final realization.

“Those fuckers really went at it like rabbits while we were gone!” And in the exact moment that Roger finished his sentence the beep on the voicemail machine went off, signaling a new message. Deacy approached the machine and pressed play.

beep

“Hey Y/N, it’s J-,... Miami. They’ve arrived so you probably have around 15 minutes before they either figure out what’s going on or leave on their own, so use that time to do whatever it was so important for you to do that you couldn’t tell me!”

beep

After the look of realization hit everybody’s face Freddie finally spoke “If she was a cat, I’d adopt her”

“Freddie, you’d adopt every cat on the planet if you could.”

“True, but for this one I’d even build her a shrine.”

#brian may x reader #brian may #Gwilym lee x reader #bohemian rhapsody #boh rhap #bo rhap #bohemian rhapsody x reader #bohemian rhapsody imagine #winchesterxxi #mine #queen

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new-world-hope · 6 years ago

Video

youtube

QuakeCon Fallout 76 panel

Panel begins at around 37:50, but if you want to skip the panel intro (in which nothing happens) and a replay of the E3 trailer, go to 42:18. Panel includes Fallout 76 development director Chris Meyer, project leader Jeff Gardiner, and game director Todd Howard.

Important/noteworthy info (I’m sure this is riddled with spelling mistakes, bad grammar, maybe even conflicting info; if you notice anything, let me know):

In regards to questing and general feel, FO76 remains “very similar to the Fallout you know and love.” Howard describes it as being 80% the familiar feel of Fallout, with the other 20% being “really different.”

FO76 has more “adventure elements,” focuses more on what it means to live in the world. It “has to feel real” to the player. The game “has a slow burn,” and they want you to really feel like you are your character in this game.

FO76 uses the Quake III networking architecture.

According to Gardiner, Bethesda Montreal is working on the game’s graphics, while Bethesda Austin is comprised of gameplay and network code experts.

Bethesda debuts the Fallout 76 Perks trailer (in the style of similar animated Vault-Tec trailers which came out before FO4), including things like mutations.

Character creation in Fallout 76 is shown at 54:40. The CC has been improved over FO4, though no details on how or why are given. Immediately after creating your character, you are taken to a screen where you can take your Vault-Tec ID badge photo, using the game’s photo mode, which allows you to select character poses and facial expressions.

Photo mode can be used at any time throughout gameplay, and photos you’ve taken appear in load screens. These are randomized along with “curated photos.”

Loading screens do not appear often, but there is a “little one” whenever you fast travel.

You can change your character’s appearance at any point throughout gameplay, from your hairstyle to even your gender.

At 56:25, gameplay is shown of emerging from the Vault, including your first level-up.

Leveling up begins with choosing whichever one of your SPECIAL attributes you wish to increase, which is followed by choosing an available “perk card” under that category. This seems much less cluttered than FO4′s perk chart screen. Taking a perk again increases its rank up to a seeming maximum of three. Each perk card has a “point cost” which requires a certain SPECIAL level in order to equip it.

“The levels keep going up and up and up. We don’t want to make a game where you have to stop leveling, but we had to make some very interesting decisions on what that means for a multiplayer game for balance.

We see level-ups to level 2, level 4, and then level 42. At 58:37, at the level 42 level-up screen, the player is wielding a crossbow.

PERKS SEEN: (any words in brackets were cut off; all assumptions are my own, though any indicated with ? I am unsure of--KEEP IN MIND that the numbers are affected by PERK RANKS and are thus subject to change; the numbers here are taken from perks of various tiers; this includes things like “there’s no chance you’ll be addicted to alcohol,” which is a level 3 perk, in which we can assume the first two levels just have a lowered chance)

STRENGTH

GLADIATOR: Your one-handed melee weapons now do +10% damage.

THRU-HIKER: Food and drink weights are reduced by 30%.

STURDY FRAME: Armor weighs 25% less than normal.

EXPERT SLUGGER: Your two-handed melee weapons now do +10% damage.

BEAR ARMS: Heavy Guns weigh 40% less.

BATTERIES INCLUDED: Energy weapon ammo weighs 30% less.

BANDOLIER: Ballistic weapon ammo weighs 90% less.

EXPERT HEAVY GUNNER: Your non-explosive heavy guns now do +10% damage.

PERCEPTION

GREEN THUMB: You have a 25% chance to reap twice as much when harvesting flora.

PERCEPTI-BOBBLE: You hear directional audio when in range of a bobblehead.

PANNAPICTAGRAPHIST: You hear directional audio when in range of a Magazine.

ENDURANCE

SLOW METABOLIZER: All food satisfies hunger by an additional 15%.

VACCINATED: Chance of catching a disease from creatures is reduced by 60%.

DROMEDARY: All drinks quench thirst by an additional 15%.

PROFESSIONAL DRINKER: There’s no chance you’ll get addicted to alcohol.

AQUAGIRL: You no longer take Rad damage from swimming and can breathe underwater.

CHARISMA

HAPPY CAMPER: Hunger and thirst grow 40% more slowly when in camp or in a team workshop.

PHILANTHROP[Y? IST?]: Restore some of your [team’s] hunger and thirst when [you eat] or drink.

SPIRITUAL HEAL[ER?]: You regenerate health for [?] seconds after reviving anot[her] player.

SQUAD MANEUVER [perhaps MANEUVERING?]: Run 10% faster when part of [a] team.

STRANGE IN NUMBERS: Positive mutation effects are +% stronger if teammates are mutated too.

LONE WANDERER: [Wh]en adventuring alone, take 10% [l]ess damage and gain 10% AP regen.

TEAM MEDIC: [Y]our stimpaks now also heal [ne]arby teammates for half the normal strength.

BLOODSUCKER: [Blood p]acks now satisfy thirst, no [longe]r irradiate, and heal 50% more.

PARTY GIRL: The effects of alcohol are doubled.

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY: Your Luck is increased by 2 while under the influence of alcohol.

QUACK SURGEON: Revive other players with liquor!

BODYGUARDS: Gain 8 Damage & Energy resist (max 24) for each teammate excluding you.

HARD BARGAIN: Buying and selling prices at vendors are better.

INSPIRATIONAL: When you are on a team, gain 5% more XP.

INTELLIGENCE

FIRST AID: Stimpaks restore 10% more lost health.

CONTRACTOR: Crafting workshop items now costs 25% fewer materials.

MASTER HACKER: Gain +1 hacking skill, and terminal lock-out time is reduced.

EXOTIC WEAPONS: You can now craft Rank 1 exotic weapon mods. (Plans required) [Vault Boy is shown wielding a bow on this card]

AGILITY

MARATHONER: Sprinting consumes 20% fewer Action Points.

GOAT LEGS: Take 80% less damage from falling.

LUCK

SCROUNGER: 50% change to find extra ammow hen you “Search” an ammo container.

STARCHED GENES: You will never mutate from rads and RadAway will never cure mutations.

MYSTERY MEAT: Stimpaks generate excessive, edible meat. Higher Rads improve the chance.

MYSTERIOUS STRANGER: The Mysterious Stranger appears more often when using VATS. [This perk is at level 2 of 3; assume that the Stranger only begins appearing if you have level 1]

LUCK OF THE DRAW: Your weapon has a 10% chance to regain condition when hitting an enemy.

CAN DO!: [30%?] chance to find an extra canned good when you “search” a [?] container.

You can pick any perk that you meet the requirements for when you level up. More become available as you level.

Your stat level determines how many perks you can have active at a time: A character with 12 Strength is shown to have one level 3 perk, three level 2 perks, and three level 1 perks, adding up to 12. Cards can be worth up to 5 points, with each capping at different tiers.

Each SPECIAL stat has a cap of 15.

Charisma in FO76 is designed to share your perk cards with other players in your team.

Perk cards can be unlocked in card packs, which you initially get every two levels, until level 10, after which you get one every five, in addition to the single perk card you unlock every level. They come with four cards and a stick of gum, which can be used as a food item. The gum wrapper has a joke in it, all of which are written by Emil Pagliarulo (writer of such things as Oblivion’s Dark Brotherhood questline, Skyrim’s guard dialogue, and Fallout 4′s main storyline).

You can swap out your perks at any time.

There are “hundreds” of perk cards.

SPECIAL points cannot be increased after level 50, but you can still pick a perk card every level after that.

Beta goes live in October.

They fully expect FO76 to be broken at first; the beta will be used as a stress test.

FO76 will be updated regularly after launch; Todd states it will be a “different game” one, two, five years after it comes out.

On PvP, griefing: When you shoot another player, you do a little bit of damage, not full damage, described as an “invitation” to combat, like “slapping somebody at a bar.” If the other player engages, then both enter combat and do full damage. There is a cap reward to combat based on the players’ levels; you will get more caps for killing a high-level character than a low-level character. When you are killed, you can “seek revenge,” which doubles the reward for killing them.

An attacking player can still kill someone who does not wish to engage, but if they do (i.e., against their will), they become a “wanted murderer,” and get no reward for it (no caps, no XP) and appear on everyone’s map as a red star with a bounty on their head--a bounty which comes out of their own caps. They are also unable to see any other players on their map.

Sneaking removes you from the map (unless you are wanted).

When you die, you drop your junk items--think crafting materials, a large portion of the gameplay loop. You can store your junk in a stash. The point of this is to represent sunk time, to make sure you are preparing before heading into a dangerous area.

You can respawn at any fast travel point; the point closest to you is free, the Vault 76 entrance is free, but everything beyond that has a cap cost dependent on distance from you.

PvP does not “kick off” until level 5.

You are able to “ignore and block” players; ignoring blocks them for the session. (Assuming blocking means you won’t be matchmade with them again?)

There is a “pacifist flag” (mode) which sets the game so you cannot accidentally engage in combat, so that no one can trick you into fighting by jumping in front of your bullets (further preventing griefing)

PvP is balanced so that stronger players will indeed be harder to kill, but if you play cleverly and well you can still manage to come out on top; the cap reward will be incredibly high if you pull off a kill on someone much higher in level

Blueprint system: Save blueprints to a creation so that you can easily rebuild it if it gets destroyed, and so that it can be moved within your camp to fit it nicely with the terrain whenever you move somewhere new.

Camps can be destroyed so that you cannot grief players by trapping them inside a prison.

Example of a trap set by Bethesda employee: Player sat in the middle of the road playing a tuba, but built turrets in the foliage to the side of the road. When players attempt to attack him, the turrets turn on them and fire from the foliage, killing them first.

Camp can be moved so that players can move their camps around when they find a nicer spot, but players tend to settle in to a specific place to keep their camp.

There is voice chat for your team, and for the game world; area-based, so you can hear players near you.

VATS is now real-time. You cannot initially target individual body parts, and the ability to do that is a perk you can unlock. Percentage to hit is based on your Perception. VATS can be used to find players (as you can in other modern Fallout games).

VATS becomes more and more useful the more you invest in Perception.

Inon Zur is scoring Fallout 76.

Licensed music: FO76 has more tracks than have ever been in a Fallout game. There are radio stations you can listen to. There is a balance of “classic” tracks used in older Fallout games, as well as songs new to the series; they seem to be drawing most heavily from 40s music this time around. Howard says there is an “unbelievable amount” of weird, wacky 40s music.

Private servers are definitely happening, specifically because they want people to be able to mod the game. It’s going to be “very, very complicated,” but Bethesda is “committed to it.” They are in the process of solving that problem.

#fallout 76 #fallout #bethesda game studios #bethesda softworks #todd howard #quakecon #quakecon 2018 #fo76 #video #panel

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jpgluke · 6 years ago

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All planned out // A.I

Summary: teacher reader meets Ashton’s daughter and falls in love with Ashton (I honestly don’t know how else I could’ve worded this whatever)

Word count: 3.7k

Rating: PG? Idk it’s fluffy

A/n: hi guys this one has been sitting in my notes for like a week and a half without an ending and I was super inspired earlier so here y’all go!!!! Hope you love it as much as I do :^)

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Tomorrow’s your first day teaching by yourself. You have everything planned out so you shouldn’t be nervous but somehow you still managed to pick at your fingers thinking about it. You’ve always loved kids so ending up with a 2nd grade class had you through the roof with excitement. Planning things out ahead of time was somewhat relaxing for you.

You weren’t expecting the class you’d start with to be so small. The class was about 13 kids. But you still powered through the first day nerves and you seemed to really enjoy the size as the day went on. The kids seemed to have had a good day granted there wasn’t much actual learning today mostly crafts and talking about their summers. One girl particularly stuck out to you her name was Valerie. She was extremely quiet throughout the summer talk and you noticed she didn’t play with the other kids at recess. But it was only the first day so you couldn’t do much.

After two weeks of Valerie not speaking up in class you had her sit back while you sent the rest of the class to recess along with Mrs. Greene’s class.

“Am- am I in trouble?” Her arms were across her chest as she stood rocking back from her heels to her toes seemingly very nervous. Valerie was not the one to get into trouble usually. “No. No sweetheart. I just wanted to have a chat with you. I know you just moved here this year.” You pointed her to sit on one of the little bean bag chairs you had set up in the little book nook. You sat on the one next to her. “Did you know it’s my first year here too?” You nodded as her little eyes got all big. “Really?” She looked so surprised. “Yeah. I was pretty nervous about starting here. Were you?” You tried to see if she would open up and start talking to you. “I don’t know. I miss my friends back home. No one is nice here” the last few words struck your heart. “Oh no what do you mean by that?” Honestly you could feel the water start to form in your eyes. You could relate to this little girl. You’re family never stayed in a place longer than a year. The frequent moves made it nearly impossible to make friends. No one ever wanted to be friends with the new girl. “The girls dont want to be my friend because I like to read. Isn’t that stupid?” You almost let out a chuckle when she said that because you’re pretty sure those words have come out of your mouth at some point in your life. “We don’t use those words in this classroom girly” you shook your head. She immediately put her hands up to her mouth “I’m so sorry miss. y/n” as soon as she took her hands off her mouth to say something else the rest of the class comes fumbling in. You called a thanks down the short hallway to mrs Greene.

You tried your best to get the short blonde girl to speak up in class. You’d call on her when she didn’t have her hand raised but not too often to make her embarrassed only when you knew she knew the answer. She was a smart kid you just wish she’d make some friends. But since the day you had her sit back during recess she decided she wanted to stay in the classroom with you, sometimes reading a book other times chatting with you about anything and everything. You’ve grown to appreciate this wise 7 year old. Some days she asked if she could sit with you at lunch which you always accepted.

“Do you want my peanut butter and jelly. My dad always uses grape jelly even though I’ve told him I like strawberry.” She held up the sandwich that had the crusts cut off and you looked down at your cheese sandwich. “Hmmm sure. Do you want my cheese sandwich?” You held up the ziplock bag that had your name on it and she grabbed it and tossed her unwanted sandwich on your desk. She sat at a chair she pulled up to sit across from you. “How was your weekend miss y/n?” She muffled through a mouthful of sandwich. “It was alright. Didn’t do much how about yours miss Valerie?” She loved when you called her miss Valerie it made her feel like an equal to you. She was so smart for her age. What she lacked in social skills she made up for in her smarts. “My weekend was awesome! My dad and I went to some weird show that my uncle Luke put on. It sucked but we told him it was great!” She laughed recalling the events. “And after we all went to get ice cream.” Her smile taking over her face. “That sounds like fun!” You nodded as she continued going into detail about everything. “You should meet my dad. He’s so cool he’s like me but BETTER!” Her small voice echoed through the empty classroom and you let out a small shh because other classes were in session next door. “Oops sorry miss y/n but I’m not kidding he’s the funniest person I know” you could tell she loved her dad. “Well I’ll meet him at parent teacher conferences next week. I’ll tell him how great you’re doing!” You started to pack up what you didn’t eat and throw the rest of it in the garbage can. “Now get back to your desk the rest of the class is coming back” you made a shooing motion which caused her to pick up her lunch and put it in the tin box that displayed Spider-Man across it.

You were excited for parent teacher conferences. To meet all the parents of your students. You had everything planned out on what you were going to say to each set of parents or parent. The night was going so well each parent was so kind and friendly they all told you how much their kid loved your class which made your face hurt from smiling so much. The next parent was Valerie’s dad which you were extra excited about.

“Hi. I’m Ashton Valerie’s dad.” You were not expecting this. Ashton was absolutely gorgeous. He was also a lot younger than you expected probably just 30. He had a very strong accent “I’ve heard some great things about you, Valerie won’t shut up about you.” He laughed as he sat in the chair across from your desk. “All good I hope” you returned the laughter. “I wanted to talk to you about her old school life and stuff like that.” You shifted in your seat when you made eye contact with him. “Did she easily make friends? I’m kinda concerned about it because I think at this point I’m her only friend here.” He nodded his head slightly and let out a sigh. “She had a few of them. She’s a pretty shy kid. But the move was really hard for her. I mean living your whole life in one place and then just upping everything and relocating. So I’m not surprised if she hasn’t made very many here.” You nodded. He continued “but lately she seems happy. Whatever you’re doing here she’s excited to come and learn” he smiled which exposed his deep dimples. You could feel some heat rising to your face. Was he really making you blush? How ridiculous he was just complimenting your teaching. “Aw thank you. I enjoy having her in my class.” Your lips formed a soft smile back. As you looked down to your watch the 15 minutes allotted for each parent was almost up so you wrapped up the talk by saying how she was a great student and a pleasure to have in class. “It was really nice to meet you Mr. Irwin.” You stuck your hand out to shake which he grasped with a firm shake. “Please call me Ashton.” He flashed the dimple smile again. He let go of your hand and headed to the door but spun around to the sound of your voice saying “oh also Valerie hates grape jelly.” Which made him let out a hearty laugh “really?” He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Yeah we always trade when you pack her grape jelly sandwiches.” He shook his head in amusement. And let out a wow and with that he was gone. You had a few more parents to get through but you couldn’t get the sight of Ashton out of your head.

“My dad wouldn’t tell me what happened at conferences but maybe my favorite teacher will?” Valerie was extra chipper today as she munched down very loudly on some chips from her lunch. “We just talked about how much of a menace you are!” You joked with the girl as you played with your food. You have to be honest you couldn’t stop thinking about the short interaction you had with Ashton. He was so kind and spoke so lovingly about Valerie. You knew they had a good relationship by all the stories Valerie would share at your regular lunches but hearing him talk about her made you feel a different way. You kept thinking about those dimples.

It was your turn on pick up duty. Which meant you’d just stand in front of the school and escort kids to their cars or wave off the busses.

“He’s usually here by now.” Valerie was the last one to be picked up and she did not seem happy about it. She was tapping her foot very impatiently. she crossed her arms. It was only 15 minutes after school got released so it really wasn’t that long to wait but Valerie was typically one of the first picked up.

“Darling I’m so sorry.” Ashton came up to the doors but Valerie didn’t budge “I am very annoyed with you” she walked straight passed him and to the car and stood outside the door. Ashton hung back for a few. “I’m sorry I’m not a terrible dad there was a really big accident on the main road and i wasn’t exp-“ you cut him off to assure him you knew he wasn’t a bad dad. “It’s okay really I don’t mind spending a few extra minutes with my favorite.” You made sure to say that extra loud so Valerie could hear you. Which made her laugh and finally uncross her arms. “This might be out of line because you’re her teacher but do you maybe want to join us for dinner sometime? Valerie really likes you and it would probably make her super happy.” Ashton’s words took you by surprise. “Uh yeah sure I- I could do that yeah” you began to feel very flustered. You exchanged phone numbers so you two could figure out a time that would work for all of you. “Dad come onnnnnnnn” Valerie getting noticeably more annoyed with this delay she started tugging on the handle to the locked car. “I’m coming sweetheart.” Before he turned around he winked at you and flashed that unforgiving smile. which instantly made your cheeks turn a bright shade of pink quickly turning before he could see the effect he had on you. You went back to your classroom to bang your head against your desk a few times. But instead you just sat there staring at your phone as if he was going to text you right away. But that was exactly the case he texted you in no time.

“It’s Ashton. But you knew that. Anyways! Does Thursday night work with you?” You could feel a smile creep across your face. You just stared at the message not even thinking of a response just staring at the words on the screen. Thinking what those words would sound like coming from Ashton’s lips. His voice was sweet and smooth. You glanced at the calendar on you desk and saw you had dinner with you mom on Thursday so that wouldn’t work. “I actually am supposed to have dinner with my mom on Thursday is there another day maybe?” You sent the response and almost immediately got the read notification. Which made you super antsy just sitting there waiting for the reply. Watching the three dots go by indicating he was typing. You suddenly felt like you were back in high school waiting for the boy you liked to slide the note back to you while the teacher wasn’t looking. “The only other day we’re available is tonight. But that’s super late notice so it’s okay if you can’t do it haha” you looked at your calendar again at the blank space for today’s date. “No that works great! Do you want me to bring anything?” As you began to pack up your stuff your phone dinged to alert you of a new text from Ashton which you immediately grabbed and read because you have absolutely zero self control. All it said was to not worry about it and sent the address. Another message came in a few seconds later with the time. What were you getting yourself into?

After leaving work you went to get some coffee to give you some energy to get through the night. When you arrived at your house you scoured through your closet trying to find something cute to wow Ashton but still appropriate because it was a students house. You decided on a simple black dress that wasn’t fitted and a denim jacket over it to dress it down a little and headed to the house.

When you knocked on the door you were greeted by the short girl who grabbed your hand and yanked you in. “My dad can’t cook. But I don’t ever tell him. So act like you like it!” Valerie whisper yelled at you. Which you nodded aggressively to show you understood. She then lead you through the beautiful house. You noticed the family pictures placed along the entry way all lacked Valerie’s mother. You tried not to linger because you noticed the blonde girl was no longer in front of you. When you rounded the corner you finally see Ashton and he looked so natural. He was standing in the kitchen over the oven when he turned around to welcome you. “I’m glad you’re here.” Then turned to Valerie. “Set the table will ya kid?” Once the child let the room you wondered over to the kitchen and leaned against the counter where Ashton was cutting some last details for the dinner. “Thanks for inviting me. I honestly haven’t had a home cooked meal since I can’t even remember when.” He let out a soft chuckle which made that ever familiar feeling in your face every time Ashton was around rise to your face. “I wouldn’t get you hopes on it being any good.” He continued chopping what he was working on then looked up at you “I wouldn’t be surprised if Valerie warned you about it” “that was the first thing she said when I got here. Not even a hello first.” He then scraped the vegetables into the salad that was sitting on the counter. He looked like he knew what he was doing and honestly doubted if what he was cooking would be as bad as the child’s making it seem.

When dinner was ready you were ushered to their “proper dining area” as Valerie referred to it as. “It’s so weird sitting here and eating.” The 7 year old joked “we’re usually sitting at the couch watching some dumb reality show” Ashton seemed to shoot daggers at his child “well yeah we do that but we also eat a well balanced diet and at the table too.” He winked at the small mini Ashton who quickly caught on and amplified how healthy they were. “Yeah every morning before school we go running as father daughter and afterwards I hit the gym and lift some weights.” She then shared a glance between you and her father then proceeded to laugh throwing her head back. “What too much?” She held the stare of her father who was turning quite a lovely shade of red. Was his daughter embarrassing him? “Oh you know what I actually do the exact same!” You tried to play along. “Yeah before school I hit the gym and work our hard bro” you made a bench pressing motion over your head. Which sent Valerie absolutely mad she thought that was amazing. You looked over at Ashton while the laughter filled the room. He was laughing too but stopped when he made eye contact and gave you a sweet smile. You extended your leg under the table hoping his would be extended too only to be disappointed to feel nothing but you left it there for a bit just Incase he has the same idea. Valerie continued to joke about something that happened at school today. Something about Billy running into the bleachers in p.e which everyone apparently thought was hilarious. The entire time the small child bantered you and Ashton kept sharing small looks at each other. After the story was over Valerie asked if she could be excused so she could show you something. Ashton agreed and you all gathered your dishes and set them in the kitchen sink. Valerie lead you to the living room which had a big screen tv and a massive sectional she pushed you down in the corner of the couch and she stood in front of the tv. “Betcha didn’t know I’m a ballerina?” She then pressed play on the stereo behind her and a beautiful classical song started and Valerie put on a performance. While Valerie was showing off Ashton came and sat by your side. The distance between you two was a little farther than you had hoped. He sat there watching his daughter dance in the living room with the biggest smile plastered across his face. Even though you don’t know this man very well you could see how amazing he is just by how much he loves his daughter.

When the classical song ended you gave her a standing ovation and applause “that was amazing miss Valerie!” She curtsied and flashed the dimpled smile she shared with her father. “Alright miss ballerina I think it’s time for you to go get ready for bed? How bout it?” Ashton stood up and pushed her in the direction of the staircase. You grabbed the jacket that was lazily slung over the couch to put it on but Ashton put his hand on it “you don’t have to go just yet.” You let go of the jacket. “I guess I could stay a little bit longer.” You teased him and jabbed him with your elbow. He smiled and sat down next to you. A lot less distance this time he had his arm over the back of the sofa turned more towards you. “I don’t wanna like, over step my boundaries but I have a question.” You intertwined your fingers together trying to think of the best possible way to say what is on your mind without coming off to strong. “Shoot” his eye contact was undeniably distracting you and you blurted “what happened to Valerie’s mom.” Which you immediately regretted. You came off so harsh and inconsiderate. “Oh she- she left us when Val was just a baby. Like she popped her out named her and then left.” The eye contact was broken as Ashton stared down at his lap. In that moment you wanted to just hug him and cuddle up next to him. “Oh I’m so sorry.” You shook your head. “But you two seem to be doing great alone.” He let out a pretty loud sigh “Yeah we’ve had a lot of help. My best mates have been great influences in her life. You know the saying it takes a village” nodding in agreement at the very corny saying. “Ahh I’m guessing one of them is her uncle Luke? She told me he’s an actor?” Ashton threw his head back and let out a loud ha. “I guess you could call him that. He owns a small theatre downtown and puts on one man plays that are absolutely terrible. He loves it though so I support him no matter what.” The smile across your face only seemed to get bigger as the conversation went on. He continued to talk about his friends Calum and Michael. You returned the favor and talked his ear off about your best friend Rose. It was truly effortless talking to him. He was such a good listener. You didn’t even notice as you both were chatting you had scooted closer together. His hand grazed your bare shoulder and it sent shivers down your body. His fingers felt like fire for the brief second your skin connected. You could almost still feel the feeling. You definitely wanted to keep feeling that. “It’s getting kind of late I should probably head out.” You looked at the clock on your phone that read it was almost 11:15 “I do have school tomorrow. And I gotta get to the gym beforehand” the dead joke still made him let out a quiet laugh. “Okay I’ll walk you out. This neighborhood is not the best.” He grabbed your hand to help you up off the sunken couch. He didn’t let go of your hand as he led you through the house to the front door. “Here’s my stop.” You joked as you both stopped at your car parked in the driveway. “I guess it is.” His hand still connected with yours. You couldn’t help but break the eye contact to look at his lips. You really tried to restrain from saying something embarrassing. “I’m going to kiss you now. Is that okay?” Ashton’s voice was low and he was inching closer to your face. “I’ve been waiting all night” once your lips connected it felt like you were made for each other. His soft lips against yours was heavenly you wanted to stay here forever but it was mid December and it was very cold outside. But as soon as you pulled away from Ashton’s lips you were pulled back in with his hand on the back of your head fingers tangling with your hair. You let yourself go and cupped his face and deepened the kiss. After a few seconds of the intense kiss he pulled away. “I just might be hot for teacher.” He joked and pulled you in for another kiss.

#ashton irwin #ashton irwin x reader #ashton 5sos #5sos fic #fan fiction #michael clifford #luke hemmings #calum hood #5sos #tumblrsos #lukenetwork #exoticcal #idk what else to tag?

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darkmindsthinktwistedthoughts · 6 years ago

Text

Angel’s Rest

A piece based on the characters for the wonderful fic series by @naiyabladesinger . Hope you all enjoy it. - Aerion x

Warnings: references to bullying

Masterlist

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Angel’s Rest

Far away from the judging eyes closer to the citadel and the barracks at the Palace. A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the trees that surrounded her home. There was a rocky hillside that resembled a small cliff face that backed onto the building creating a natural wall of protection. It was quiet and peaceful here.

Dangling her feet in the hot pool, tiny wisps of steam ebbing over her legs, she leaned back on her hands and looked up at the sky. Some clouds skidded over the cyan blue, the smell of jasmine floating in the air. She sat and smiled to herself as she thought back on how she came to be here, feeling blessed.

---

When she was a child she had found herself in Eden. Body a bit battered and bruised, cuts to her arms and legs, vision all blurry from tears she was biting back. She had just run and didn’t care of the direction as long as it was away from them and their relentless teasing. After some time she stopped her lungs painful from the exertion and screamed into the empty space around her before finally breaking down in tears.

It was on her way back home that she discovered what looked like an old abandoned building on the edge of Eden. It was still in Heaven’s realm but it didn’t look like it had been used in years. It was covered in overgrown plants, something that was completely out of place in Eden where everything was always picture perfect. It captured her attention.

After dinner that night she decided to ask her father about it and was told there were many old buildings that were damaged during the last great war and that they had fallen into disrepair or were just left.

“Who owns them then Dad?”

“That would depend on where it is Cupcake. Most buildings were allocated to families and some just aren’t around anymore. The King would know more.” Her father said as he patted her head before kissing her good night.

---

The next time she saw it was after she had finished her training and been assigned to the legions with Uriel. She was of age to leave home and felt it was probably fate giving her a helping hand in finding a home that was far enough away from the others so she could actually relax and not worry about all the “Blackbird in Heaven” comments.

Thanks to the passage of time the physical side of the taunting had long since been put behind her but the words somehow they stayed and buried in deep under her skin ruffling her feathers stoking that fire inside her that wanted to push back and scream to see them burn. It was not something she wished to do.

It had taken a great many years to work out that she could not please everyone and she had to at least accept herself if she wished to be happy. That is a lot easier to say than do. There was however no denying that being in a position where she did not have to hear their remarks every day would benefit her mental health.

“King Elohim I was wondering if I might have a moment of your time?” She knocked lightly on his office door. He looked up from his desk and smiled warmly at her inviting her in.

“Well if it isn’t the little Firebird from the 9th legion. What might I do for you little one?” She held back a wince at the name. It was true she seemed to be a dangerous fire on the field. So she guessed the name was rather unavoidable. At least it was preferable to Blackbird.

“I was wondering about the big house in Eden. It’s close to the border by the river and cliff. There doesn’t appear to be a tenant in there.” She tried to explain the location as best she could. Most seemed to be unaware of it even existing so she hoped her father had been right and the King would know something of it.

“You must be referring to the abandoned Onsen. No one has had ownership of that since the war. The family that had it sadly are no longer with us. Why do you ask child?” He was still smiling so she figured it was as good a time as any to try her luck and ask for something. If you don’t ask you don’t get right?

“I… well. I’m of age to leave my family home and set up my own residence. I find it uncomfortable to be too near the palace or the citadel of Heaven and I was wondering if I could perhaps take ownership of the building.” She held her eye contact with him. Silently praying he wouldn’t ask for more details on the reasons why she should feel so uncomfortable close to the other inhabitants of the plane.

“Mmm very well. From what I remember the building is rather large and isolated. Are you sure you will be ok by yourself out there Firebird?” Elohim did not seem to mind giving away ownership of the building but there was a tone of concern for her present in his voice.

“Yes, Sir.” Standing straight she held her breath as she waited for final confirmation from him that she would indeed get her wish.

“Well, I admire your determination. Let me know if there is anything I may help you with.” His words relaxed her slightly allowing her to breathe.

“Thank you, my King, but you have already been more than generous. Excuse me.” The young soldier left the office and Elohim smiled as he watched her leave. Another angel entered the office and walked towards the King.

“King Elohim are you quite certain that was for the best?” Their voice carried a concern echoed in Elohim himself.

“Nothing is certain in this world Uriel. But at the very least I have faith in the face of such determination. I can’t wait to see what happens to that little Firebird.” Elohim returned to his documents.

Uriel watched her as she turned down a path in the courtyard. Tomorrow it would be announced he had his promotion and he would be an Archangel leaving behind the barracks. He would be commander of his own legion and thought that he really should try to grab his friend before she was overlooked during the change of commanders. He didn’t really know why but he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

---

It had been long and hard clearing away all the overgrown plants and trees from the Onsen. She had some help from Uriel who apparently wanted to help because he felt guilty about not telling her sooner about his promotion. And of course, her family helped too when they could.

After making sure the building was once again structurally sound and secure she finally could say she had her own home. Surrounded by the forest on one side, protected by a natural moat by way of the river and a natural barrier on the other sides from the high cliff.

The Onsen was a building that unless you knew it was there you would never find. She guessed it was perhaps some kind of charm but never questioned the reasoning for it. There was a staircase that led down the cliff to the building from above. It was easy to miss but the aged rock seemed to carry you safely to the home at the bottom.

It was a sprawling one level residence made from a combination of wood and stone. The gardens had lush evergreens, tall grasses, trees in blossom, great bushes of hydrangeas and chrysanthemums. If you were to visit Prime it looked like a very mature garden you might find in Japan.

The hot springs itself was one large pool that resembled a giant pond or mini-lake etched out of the natural bedrock. It stretched along one side of the building in a natural shape and a covered veranda on that side of the building provided a platform to access it from anywhere in the property.

Accommodation inside the building was large and spacious. She had far more rooms than she could ever really fill with anything of her own and too few friends in which to offer them a room to stay in as a guest. She counted the bedrooms one day there was 15 in total. Each would have easily fitted 4 people in one room if it had to.

“Well if I ever get told I can no longer work in the military I can always open my own retreat.” Her half laughed as the comment fell on no one's ears but her own.

The main room had seating surrounding a fire pit that was central to the room. A dining area was placed between that and the large kitchen that had long countertops and floating islands of white marble. It was open plan and full of light, she loved it. It was true at times she was reminded of the size and felt lonely but she would normally shake that off and continue with work.

---

She sighed again and kicked her feet in the water, ripples dancing over the surface from the movement. A lot had changed since then. She had become Uriel’s principality, been given gate duty, battled with her brothers, fought alongside them in that attack on Limbo and been given an emissary position which relieved her of the gate guarding but still wasn’t exactly packed with thrilling excitement.

Her mind wandered to the battles and she laughed to herself remembering the day Uriel announced to a whole battlefield that he loved her. It was a source of great enjoyment for her days afterwards as she acted offended and teased him for not telling her sooner. He took it in stride, too used to her little quirks to be hurt by them.

“Who would have thought that the Lord of Confusion would have ever felt like that about something like me?” Her words were a little more than a sigh as they fell from her lips. She closed her eyes and let the sunlight play on her eyelids.

It was nice to see family and hang out with the guys in Limbo though. She smiled as she thought about what they were all probably up to when a knock came from her front door. After a few seconds, it opened and Uriel stepped in calling for her.

“Aerion, you home?”

“I’m outside.” She called back opening her eyes again.

He came out of one of the sliding doors that was attached to her far too large kitchen carrying a couple of cups of tea and joined her at the water’s edge. Dipping his own feet in the pool.

“Welcome home.” She received her cup and smiled at him.

“I think that’s my line, my love.”

---

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cutiecrates · 6 years ago

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Cutie Reviews: Yume Twins August 18

I took a few days longer than I was planning on, but since I got my November Gacha Gacha crate (like three or four days ago <3<) I realized I should probably get to work on this!

This months theme: Dream Land (ᴗ˳ᴗ)

We are all about trying to make every part of your day cute and relaxing, and this month we are all about making sure you end your day on a cute note. This includes when you are heading to bed after a fulfilling day! Your kawaii box this month is packed with items that will help you wind down, relax, and drift off to dreamland!

Contest

Despite the items not being at all Pokemon themed, the Contest was to draw your most favorite Pokemon and include it with a pic of our Pokemon-themed item in the box.

The prizes included a Sailor Moon Luna Shoulder Bag, and a Sailor Moon Uniform wallet for Grand Prize, while runner-ups won a Sailor Moon plastic cup.

(I really, REALLY love that purse x3 I wish I had entered~)

Yume Prize

And again we’re bombarded with Sailor Moon (not that it’s bad of course), plus some My Melody action on the side. They had been doing a collab around the time this came out (or maybe right before?), so I think this was a cute idea~

Our special topics for this month featured Gudetama celebrating his 5th anniversary, and Sumikko Gurashi.

Sleepy Pokemon Cable Protector

Our first item is an adorable Pokemon cable protector blind box, themed after sleepy Pokemon. There was 6 available, including Umbreon and Espeon, Pikachu, Vulpix and Alolan Vulpix, and Eevee.

I love all of Eevee’s forms, and Pikachu, but Vulpix is my favorite Pokemon- so I really, really wanted one of them! But they all look so sweet, I’m not that disappointed.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It’s a really cute, high-quality figure. Even if you didn’t use it for the intended use, you could probably do quite a few things with it. But there is one thing bugging me; am I one of the few people who doesn’t get what a “cable protector“ is about?

I mean... why does the cable need protected anyway? It’s a really popular blind box trend in Japan, but I just don’t get it. I’ll still use it, but I don’t get it.

Don’t get me wrong though, if I got one of the vulpix I’d totally be super-excited to add to my collection.

Mini Cooling Pillow Cover

First of all, this fit a normal-sized pillow. If this is mini, I want to see what normal or large size to them is.

Anyway, this is a cooling pillow- a great item to have during summer when the warm weather can make sleeping or taking naps a real pain in the cutie. Especially if you end up tossing and turning, and often flip the pillow to find it’s cool patch, something I do often.

The pillow is made from cooling fabric made to instantly cool and remain cool by keeping a specific temperature. It came in a doggy-coffee themed design and was available in mint or indigo (the book mistakenly says “two designs”, but they’re both the same).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I’m not even going to lie. When I got this I took it out to try it right away, and I’ve been using it since (or at least until a month ago, because lately I’ve been using a different pillow. But it still works perfectly fine!). Even now when it’s winter, it’s cool to touch and doesn’t seem effected by the chilly weather, but I noticed it feels a tiny bit different. But it’s not uncomfortable or anything.

Not only that but it makes a really cute decorative pillow~

Kawaii Sanrio Notebook

This one goes great with my folder I got a few months back~

Besides being cozy for bed, it’s also nice to unwind by writing in a diary or journal, or recording your various dreams. So for this month, we get a Sanrio-themed notebook for that purpose. There are 2 designs, including Little Twin Star, and this one I got featuring Marumofubiyori, one of Sanrio’s newer characters. He is joined by his two toy friends, Kanikama the crab and Gyoniku the fish.

The inside of the notebook has a simplified design featuring Marumofubiyori, and this is the back of it. It serves as a little character section.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

What I like about this notebook is it’s high quality. Like the Sailor Moon one in the Doki Doki box I just reviewed, it’s thick and made from nice material, and it has a spiral binding. It also has a stretchy band to keep it shut, which you don’t see on too many of these notebooks we get.

I really don’t write in a diary anymore (I don’t have a life, so I don’t have much to say), and I never kept a dream diary either. But I will use it for something one way or the other.

Relaxing Puffy Plushie

This is the perfect item for bed and nap-time! A plush toy x3 I love plushies and stuffed animals. Not only was there six different cuties available, but when you squeeze their tummy they make an adorable squeaky snore. They’re also a little bit mochi-like so they can handle a little pulling.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

It’s a really cute and nice plushie, but I’m kinda bothered by the fact three of the animals are shown holding an item, while the other three don’t. Maybe it’s to make them unique or something- but to me it seems weird. Not only that, but doesn’t a squeaky toy kinda defeat the purpose of relaxing sleepy time?

Sumikko Gurachi Wash Towel

This is an important before and after bed item : D nothing feels better then washing your face after a long day, or a long sleep. It came in 2 designs (the other matching the cup I got some boxes back), and is 34cm x 36cm length.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Not only is the design really fun and cute-looking, but it’s a useful practical item that you don’t need to make exclusive for bed time. Other than that, a towel is a towel you know?

Kawaii Animal Bookmark

Our last item for the bx is this adorable bookmark set, featuring five different animals, each with four unique sticky note sets. A very detailed, but cute and simple-looking product.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It’s things like this that I really like- especially since I’ve been reading again these past two years or so. I could also see it coming handy for work or school, or if multiple people are sharing a book..

♡ Cutie Ranking ♡

Content - 5 out of 5. Everything was decent and cute, and I loved how it all had variety.

Quality - 4.5 out of 5. Quality is there for sure, but I’m not sure they were worth the price. I’m probably just being really picky but I just can’t see this specific box matching the price we pay.

Theme: 3 out of 5. It’s there for sure, but honestly I feel like there was a missed opportunity here. There are so many different things they could have put in here to say “this is specifically a dreamy-cute bed-time or nap item~“ rather than “it’s so practical you can use it at practically any time of the day!“. I mean that’s good and all, I like practically. But at the same time I would have loved to have more bed or nap-time worth items. Like maybe an eye mask, or a sleeping cap, a tooth brush , or maybe some cozy socks or some kind of relaxation item??

Total Rank: 12.5 out of 15 Cuties. It wasn’t a bad box, bu I can’t say it was my favorite. Practicality was definitely there and I do appreciate that and how cute everything is, but I was turned-off by missed opportunities and how it could have been so much better.

♡ Cutie Scale ♡

1. Sleepy Pokemon Cable Protector - They’re so cute and adorable looking! These would be perfect for pictures~

2. Animal Bookmark - I love it’s soft hues for the coloring, and how sweet each set looks. I would have been happy to get any of them.

3. Pillow Cover - It’s covered in a cute doggy and coffee stuff! I love coffee~ Not that you could tell since I’m always really tired.

4. Plushie - It’s cute, but... I don’t know, to me it’s lacking something.

5. Notebook - Same as below, but it's so sweet due to having so many different details/designs~ I just wanna cuddle Mofu whenever I see him~

6. Wash Towel - As adorable as Sumikko Gurashi is, this is a generic design from the brand.

Okay, so that’s it for this review! Since I got November’s Gacha Gacha I’ll probably be doing that one next before I resume August box reviews. It’s just easier this way. I’m planning on getting 1 or 2 more reviews done before Christmas, but in case I don’t I’ll just say Merry Christmas now!

Until next time, stay dreamy cute~

#pokemon blind box #sanrio #sanrio notebook #kawaii #yumetwins #yume twins #sumikko gurashi

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sonipanda · 7 years ago

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“Girl it’s still winter” a lot of people are probably thinking, but in my head I want it to be summer already, and these pair have been patiently waiting for me, so I couldn’t put them off any longer!

I have to admit I shouldn’t be wearing sheer, as I am due a laser session soon and you can see small niggly hairs dotted around the legs. Not a good look I know, but thank goodness that short skirts are not allowed at work so I can get away with covering up those niggles as much as I can!

Now Mona is once again a new brand to me; I came across it on Amazon and thought I would give it a go!

About Mona

“MONA was established in 1994. The products of our company are manufactured from the highest quality raw materials such as: lycra, elastil, stretch and microfiber directly imported from Italy. Our wide range of products includes tights, stockings, leggings, overknee socks and many other articles in many colors for every season. With modern machines and control of the technological process, we can ensure our products high quality which is important to meet your requirements. MONA products are characterized not only by high quality, but also the precision of execution and fashionable style. In addition to classic styles MONA offers to its customers carefully selected seasonal patterns and colors in accordance with current fashion trends.

Built over the years our products range includes wide choice of products for kids and women. Our collections stand out in the market with colors and designs. Due to the high diversity of products each client can find something for themselves.”

– taken from their website

The Spec

Colour: Black

Size: Small

Denier: 15

Materials: 88% polyamide, 12% elastane

Price: £2.85

Website: Amazon – Exclusive T-Band Tights Mona “Dalia” -15 Denier

My Outfit

Now what could I pair with sheers, that will cheer me up from grim day and still look fab? How about a white t-shirt tucked into a statement skirt and heels (of course!) I have done a similar outfit in this skirt when I had to review it along with a pair of Gatta Holdups (add link) so I thought I would bring it out once again but this time, but dress it brighter.

I left my hair down and kept my fringe back (I couldn’t be bothered with it this morning) and added small studs and off to work I go!

My Deets

T-Shirt: Dorothy Perkins

Skirt: Gatta

Tights: Mona

Heels: gifted via Amazon

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The Review

From The Website: Elegant, soft and comfortable tights. Gentle T-band tights transparent, semi mat with the kickers part. The biggest advantage that T-band tights carry is that they do not have a potentially unsightly reinforced part that may hang out from under a miniskirt. T-band tights can be worn with leotards too. Thong leotards will still leave a section of the reinforced area visible, especially in the back (and often in front too near the crotch area) but you’ll probably agree that that is far from unsightly.Great for everyday and evening wear.

Very High Quality

15 Denier

poliamid 82% , elastan 18%

Dalia

Brand New in Box with Tag

Made from top quality materials in the EU

The Packaging: so the front shows up close the waistband and some of the hosiery on the legs of the model. It gives you the brand name and the model including the size at the front, and then at the back, it goes into more detail:

“Thin exclusive tights, exceptionally female, perfectly transparent and adherent to body. They guarantee feeling of lightness and naturally deportment. Without top, with cotton gusset elegantly finished top”

My Little Opinion: Can Mona get someone to proof read the English or get an English translator!!! What the hell is all that about – exceptionally female?!

Once you get inside, you will see these neatly wrapped around cardboard and flat packed. I decided to just check them out before I get them on to see the quality; and I wasn’t too pleased.

I saw that these already had a few snags on them, and a small hole around the crotch area. Just to make it easier for you all to see, I slipped the cardboard inside so it could stand out (my camera always has a moment when the lighting is dark).

Getting Them On: as these already have slight defects on them, you will need to take extra care getting them on the legs, so hosiery gloves are a must in this case. I did the scrunch and roll on both legs, taking extra care over anklets as these are quite delicate to touch (and I really don’t want any more snags!)

As I move up the legs, (and at this point the gloves are still on) I find that I managed to get more snags around the thighs! I mean what is up with these???

On The Legs: now on the legs, these are great. They fit really well, have a gorgeous shine to them and feel amazing on too. They have a silk finish to them which means you’re legs won’t stay crossed for long!

The denier is just to die for being 15 – perfect for those who love to flaunt their legs and just want minimal coverage. I found it to be enough for cold days as I wouldn’t go any lower; I don’t want my legs to freeze off!

Now the quality I do have an issue with; to begin with they were snagged, getting them on they snagged and during the day they snagged. It’s a pair that is a one-off; wear the once and just chuck in the bin! I am pretty disappointed in these, but then again others in their brand could be much better.

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The Toes & Ankles: so around the feet and toes, these are great! They have great coverage, and there is plenty of wiggle room in them too. I didn’t find any snags around this part (thank goodness!) so they’re good to go with peep toes and open toe shoes.

Around the ankles, these fit really well and are fine against anklets as long as they aren’t sharp or have any rough edges. I put mine to the test with my silver floral one as the clasp can sometimes catch, but they were all good today!

The Waistband & Gusset: now this section is pretty interesting. When I got them out the packaging, I saw that these have the brand sewn in under the band itself, which is pretty cool!

The band itself is a nice thick one, which actually sits above the belly button, but the only bad thing is that you do feel it during the day. Normally a lot of bands, you find they sit lower and they’re comfortable to the point you question if they’re still holding up the hosiery, but I certainly felt it with these.

I won’t say it was digging in, but as it was quite high but not hitting chest level, it did dig in slightly when you’re sitting down. On the move it isn’t so bad.

Another little perk point is the design on the seams; I won’t show it fully on me, but they had a design on both sides which I thought was quite a nice touch.

The gusset is a plain cotton one; one that is soft and would be smooth and non-irritable against the skin.

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My Thoughts?

As much as I love the denier and the way they look, I can’t say I would recommend these. I can’t believe how many snags I ended up with (especially as soon as it came out of the packaging) and the quality is pretty rubbish.

I think these would be a one-off and straight bin once you’re done to be quite frank; I wouldn’t invest in this pair if you wish to keep them for longer.

Sorry Mona but I do hope that your other models are better than this pair!

Mona Dalia Sheer Tights “Girl it’s still winter” a lot of people are probably thinking, but in my head I want it to be summer already, and these pair have been patiently waiting for me, so I couldn’t put them off any longer!

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justanothercinemaniac · 7 years ago

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Epic Movie (Re)Watch #221 - Zombieland

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: Blu-ray

1) The prologue.

We are immediately given a sense of Columbus’ voice in the prologue, which is important because he narrates the entire film. From the beginning we get a strong sense of not only who Columbus is but the rules by which this film operates (in a literal sense, as Columbus lists his rules for surprising Zombieland). We get all the backstory we need: we’re dealing with fast zombies, world on the brink (or post) apocalypse, etc. It all works as a strong setup to a great film.

2) According to IMDb:

[Rhett Reese] the co-writer of the film plays the man in the white tuxedo with an assault rifle in the opening credits.

3) Columbus as the gas station.

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

We have been introduced to Columbus’ rules for surviving Zombieland (cardio, beware bathrooms, seat belts, etc.) but this is where we first really see them in action. Whenever a horror comedy is made it is easy to go low on one of those elements in favor of the other. The comedy has been established by Columbus’ voice but now we see that this film CAN be scary. There is genuine suspense on the scene as we practically wait (like Columbus does) to see if there will be a zombie attack. Not to mention they get in a good jump scare or too.

4) Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus.

As mentioned above, Columbus is our film’s main character. He’s the one we get to know best throughout his narration. That means he cannot - under any circumstances - be boring (or else the film will be too). And although Eisenberg’s performance may not differ TOO greatly from some of his other work, that’s largely because it does support the character. Columbus is interesting, developed, funny, and sometimes tragic. We get a sense of his fears (of which there are MANY) and how they can define him, but we also see him grow to face those fears for those he cares about. All of the characters are developed wonderfully in this film and Columbus is no exception.

5) Story is conflict, conflict is interesting. The two parts of the main bromance meet when they’re pointing their guns at each other. That just DRIPS with conflict and speaks to the wonderful heart of their relationship.

6) Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee.

From the very first moment Tallahassee shows up on screen you know he’s special. He just LOOKS badass and Harrelson ends up stealing every single scene of the movie. Tallahassee is largely enigmatic, but we do get to know him as the film goes on.

Columbus [seeing a zombie eat a corpse]: “I mean it makes you -”

Tallahassee: “Hungry.”

Columbus: “I’m worried about you.”

He’s developed throughout. You understand how much he fucking hates zombies and later you understand why. Sometimes when you reveal more about an enigmatic character they lose what makes them interesting (see: Jack Sparrow). But not with Tallahassee. I think this is a testament to Harrelson and the filmmakers for making him strong throughout.

7) This could really be a note thrown in while talking about Tallahassee, but I think it deserves its own recognition. The fact that such a notable part of this movie is Tallahassee looking for Twinkies gives the film two things: a strong through line and a unique character detail. Columbus’ analysis of why Tallahassee feels so strongly about this, about how it makes him remember a time when things were normal, also gives it heart. It’s not a joke just to be funny, there’s a reason behind it. I love that.

(GIF originally posted by @themarvsthompson)

8) I’m so tired of this idea that if you’re a guy who still has his virginity you’re some kind of loser. Like, fuck that shit.

Columbus [explaining how he was kind of a dweeb before zombies]: “Virginity: totally justifiable to speculate on.”

9) Amber Heard as 406.

There’s a pretty good chance that this is the only film I’ve seen Amber Heard in (that’ll probably change when Justice League comes out) and while it may not be exactly the part of the year, Heard really commits to it. In her human form you are able to invest in 406 really quickly, as Heard plays her fear and panic totally believable. But the actress also plays the part as a zombie which requires a unique physicality that not everyone can master. 406 as a zombie is freaking great though, with Heard bringing that unique movement to the character while also being really fucking scary. I dig it.

10) There are so many small jokes in this film I love I couldn’t possible list them all.

Tallahassee [about a zombie free place]: “It's all just nonsense. You know, you're like a penguin on the North Pole who hears the South Pole is really nice this time of the year.”

Columbus: “There are no penguins on the North Pole.”

[Beat.]

Tallahassee: “You wanna feel how hard I can punch?”

11) The scene with Columbus and Tallahassee in the grocery store shows off one of this film’s best qualities: it has fun with its zombie violence. It’s over the top and crazy making all the zombie killing just wildly fun.

12) The con Little Rock and Wichita run on the two guys is so interesting. For one thing actresses Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin are so good I’m 100% riveted by both performances. They give it their all even though it’s fake, even though they’re conning them. And the fact that it is a con, that twist to the scene, speaks to who they both are as characters.

Wichita: “Better you make the mistake of trusting us then we make the mistake of trusting you.”

Their trust issues with everyone but each other is great. The relationship these sisters have is developed wonderfully, defined by their interaction during the following car ride. We understand how this relationship works and the love they have for each other in NO TIME.

13) “Zombie Kill of the Week” discussion.

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Take a look at that scene, take a look at that production design. The film never calls attention to it but you 100% understand what has happened just by looking at it. The tanks, the banners, the propaganda posters, all speak greatly to the world we are currently in. Juxtaposing that against the sheer irrelevance of the conversation Tallahassee and Columbus are having about killing zombies is a perfect representation of the film. Incredible humor against a bleak landscape. (Note: the first half of the scene is not featured in this video, the one where they’re talking about zombie kills of the week. Just so you know.)

14) Abigail Breslin as Little Rock.

None of the main four characters in this film are weak, meaning Breslin is able to hold up against her cast members (including and especially veteran Woody Harrelson). There’s this sense of sarcastic humor, almost jadedness, and charisma that Breslin breathes into every scene. She’s basically twelve year old Han Solo fighting zombies. I love that.

15) I relate to Columbus in this moment.

Columbus [after Wichita highjacks his car and points a gun at him]: “I kinda like this girl.”

16) There are occasional flashbacks to life BEFORE zombies which could’ve really messed with the film (especially considering it’s less than 90 minutes), but they’re put in good spots and improve on the movie’s human element (which is incredibly important and I’ll speak more on soon).

17) Emma Stone as Wichita.

I love Emma Stone. I’d watch Emma Stone read the phonebook as a film. So I’m not exactly unbiased here, but I freaking love her as Wichita. The character is wonderfully layered, with trust issues being a defining trait but so is her love for Little Rock. The more she lets those issues go, the more she trusts Columbus and quits keeping him and Tallahassee at bay, the more fun we get to have the character/the more invested I am. But again, I’m hardly unbiased.

18)

Wichita [about Columbus, Ohio]: “It’s a total ghost town, it’s burned to the ground.”

The fact that this packs as much of a punch as it does speaks greatly to a really important part of this movie: it’s human element. In a movie called Zombieland there are probably more scenes without zombies than there are with them. Except you don’t notice this, you’re not bothered by it, and that’s because this movie isn’t about the zombies. It’s about the people living in Zombieland, living this world with zombies in it. We don’t spend as much time developing the zombies or the mythos there as much as we do getting into the characters who we are traveling with. Through trashing the roadside shop, through their time together, through their car ride conversations, through all of it. And it is done in an incredible way that just keeps getting stronger the longer the film goes.

Columbus [about Little Rock]: “It’s tough growing up in Zombieland.”

Wichita: “It’s tough growing up.”

19) Okay, the entire idea with “Zombie Kill of the Week” is a holdover for when this script was going to be a TV show. And it’s one of the best gags in the film.

youtube

20) I love the following car scene. If I could find a clip of it I would post it here, but it’s a bunch of little moments cut together which are so great (including a scene where Little Rock explains “Hannah Montana” to Tallahassee in an improvised moment). It’s one of my favorite moments in the film and I wish there was a clip of it online.

21) Bill. Fucking. Murray.

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The video is not the best quality but it’s the only one I could find with the whole scene.

Okay, the first time I saw this was in 2012. I hadn’t laughed in movies a lot since then, it had kind of died out of me. This scene busted my gut and has me laughing like crazy still to this day. The best fucking scene in the whole film it is just pure, unbridled fun! Murray fucking shines! And the way it ends!? Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I can’t explain it in justice. Watch it. Watch it now.

22) When we learn the truth about Buck (that he’s Tallahassee’s son who was killed by zombies, not his dog), the fact that this film is a human story is clearer than ever. It’s this one scene, this one revelation, which catapults it from good to great. Before it was a really funny zombie comedy movie and now its something else entirely. It’s so much more human and relatable. I just really love the thought the filmmakers put into that.

(GIF source unknown [if this GIF is yours please let me know].)

23) One of my favorite pairings in this film is one which doesn’t get a lot of screen time and that’s Tallahassee and Little Rock. There’s this close to parental bond (more like uncle or older brother) they have and it comes through very nicely in the scene where Tallahassee shows Little Rock how to shoot.

24) Columbus and Wichita’s nightcap.

This is a great moment of vulnerability and honest connection between the pair. The fact that the film spends a couple minutes just going over their respective 1997’s means we get to know even MORE about them in an interesting way. As the audience we are treated to so much rich character information and development in not a long runtime and this scene shows that off beautifully.

25) I thought of this as Little Rock and Wichita get to the rumored Zombie-free-zone of Pacific Playland: the external goal in the movie is the amusement park, but that’s not what they’re looking for. What they’re looking for - what everyone is looking for - is something they had before the zombies. Columbus was looking for his family, Tallahassee is searching for Twinkies, and the sisters are looking for just a little fun that kids get to have. There all looking for a little bit of normalcy where they get to just be PEOPLE who can relax a little, something they end up finding in each other.

26) The extended climax of this film works for a few reasons. For one thing: Little Rock and Wichita being stuck on the drop ride creates a great amount of tension. The suspense and sense of risk is present throughout in scenes like the haunted house and Tallahassee in the prize cage (supported by slow-motion). That, and the zombie killing is as kickass as ever.

27) I haven’t really talked about this before but I like how this film is able to make their zombies a little unique in design. They’re not carbon copies of Romero zombies or 2005 Dawn of the Dead zombies, they’re their own thing.

28) This is Columbus’ climax.

Columbus [trying to save Wichita, stopped by a zombie clown (he hates clowns)]: “Of course, it had to be a clown. No, it HAD to be a clown. And it had to be Wichita for me to finally understand that some rules are made to be broken.”

He disregards his rules (specifically, “Don’t be a hero,”) in order to just do the right thing. To live for someone else for once. I dig it.

29) I always say you can tell a climax works because once its over all the tension in your body just vanishes. That is true for this film, once the zombie clown is dead.

30) Wichita’s real name - Krysta - is actually the name of Emma Stone’s mother in real life.

31) TALLAHASSEE GETS HIS FUCKING TWINKIE!

32) There are few films which are able to include their message in dialogue without being cheesy as all hell. This film is one of them.

Columbus: “And without other people, well you might as well be a zombie.”

33) And, if you stay after the credits…

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Zombieland is a freaking classic. Holy crap, I love this movie. It’s tight, funny as hell, and the decision to tell a human story above all else gives it an amazing beating heart. All four the main cast members are through the roof incredible, it’s got Bill Murray in it AS Bill Murray, I just really fucking love it. One of my favorite films of all time. Go watch it, it’s not that long.

#Zombieland #Emma Stone #Jesse Eisenberg #Woody Harrelson #Abigail Breslin #Bill Murray #The More You Know #Amber Heard #Epic Movie (Re)Watch #Movie #Film #GIF

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all-alone-he-turns-to-stone · 7 years ago

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We don’t believe what’s on TV - Chapter 19

<<…Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / Chapter 20...>>

Resume: I had an ordinary life, or that’s what I wanted to believe. I lost myself in the TV series that I listened to forget the normal boring life. What I didn’t know, however, was that my life would change completely overnight.

Finding myself in 2013 at Beacon Hills County.

This will be a Stiles x Reader but only further in the story

In this chapter: Talking, finding excuses, hiding the truth. But the truth can’t remain hidden, so are my feelings for someone.

Word count: 2308

A/N: Ugh again a day late I was sure yesterday was Sunday because I watched the new episode yesterday! Again I hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think of it! Thanks to @maddie110201 who proofread it for me (None of the gifs are mine!)

It was still raining when Scott and I went home. In the time that it took to walk from Stiles’ car who had kindly driven us home, to the door, we were soaked. All I wanted was to go to my room, go to bed and try to forget what had happened. Forget all the problems I had, the alpha pack, the darach, the classes I didn’t even pay attention to and especially the growing feelings I had for Stiles. Basically, I wanted to forget them. But I knew I couldn’t, I couldn’t let myself love him, I didn’t belong here.

So many questions remained unresolved. Why was I here, what about my world and my family? Did they miss me? Did I only disappear or was my body inanimate in the real world? And why the voice that was taunting me and forbidding me to speak was in my head? I couldn’t afford to love Stiles. It was dangerous, impossible.

Yet I knew it was too late for that.

By the time we got inside, ready to spend a weekend I hoped calm, I knew something was wrong. The lights were on and I heard voices from the kitchen. Scott and I exchanged a glance and walked to the noises only to find Melissa in full conversation with the sheriff. As soon as they saw us, the two parents turned to us, stopped talking and their looks fell on me.

"Y / N," Melissa began, crossing her arms. "The sheriff has questions," she finished, raising her eyebrows as if I had done something wrong.

"In private," he said to Scott, who nodded, patted my shoulder with compassion and left the room.

"Remember the papers you signed, Y / N?" The sheriff asked me once Scott had left the room, even though I knew it was useless since he could still hear from his room.

"I'm not amnesic at this point," I laughed softly as I ran my hand through my soaked hair to notice that Stiles’ father didn’t seem amused.

"You had to come to the station every week.” Melissa continued in his place and I put my hand on my forehead.

"I'm sorry I ... I forgot ... I didn’t… My mind is somewhere else ..."

"It's nothing," he said softly. "It mustn’t be easy for you. So much novelty, new school, new family, no sign of your past... "

I nodded softly.

"Nothing new then? No memory whatsoever? "

I shook my head.

"And you? Did you find anything?” Melissa began, but when she saw the sheriff shake his head, she understood. I wasn’t surprised.

"Stiles told me about you," the sheriff changed the subject, putting his hands on his hips, which made me raise my head quickly. "Actually he keeps talking about you, never stops," he laughed as he moved toward me. "If there is anything new, don’t hesitate. And don’t forget to come to the station every week. "

"Yes sir," I answered automatically, my brain still turning at a thousand paces since he had pronounced the name of his son. His son talking about me.

Eventually the sheriff left the house and I understood more or less that he had parked his vehicle farther not to alert anyone, which is why I hadn’t noticed his car. Luckily he had an umbrella because otherwise he would have been soaked as well.

Even when he was gone, my head was still turning and a little silly smile remained on my face.

"Is there anything between you and Stiles?"

"Hey? What? No! Who? What? Stiles? Eh?” I stammered out of my thoughts, seeing Melissa sketch a little complicit smile.

"You don’t have to tell me, I'm not your mother after all.” Melissa continued, raising her hands and I felt a little sad.

"For me you are..." I mumbled with honesty. Her smile grew and I realized that my words had touched her. "I have something for you," I continued taking my soaked bag and opened it where I took out the rest of the money to give it to her.

"Where did you ..." She started, but I interrupted her by putting the greenbacks in her hands.

"I sold my cell phone. Please take it, I know it's not much, but to pay back everything you paid me, food, school fees ... medical expenses ... "

"It's very generous Y / N ... thanks. I also have something for you. "

I raised my eyebrows, surprised, and saw Melissa turn to take something behind her and hand it to me.

"As you no longer have yours I thought it would be nice if you had one too," she said with a smile as she handed me a phone. Not the newest or the most powerful, but her intention touched me enormously. "I've already put my number on it and Scott's.” I took it in my hands and detailed it, just happy. I felt really like a family and a shiver of joy ran through my back.

"Thank you!” I told her by taking her in my arms but quickly backed up when I saw that I had soaked her. "Sorry! But thanks! "

"Of course," she said, winking at me. "Now you're going to change before you wet my floor!" She teased and I jumped of joy before going to my room.

Once changed, passionate about my new electronic device, I saw Scott pass the head in the door frame of my room.

"Can I come in? "

"Of course," I said to him by putting my phone on my bed and sitting down.

He came in, sat down beside me and played with his hands nervously before putting his dark eyes on me.

"We need to talk about what happened today. "

I sighed, closing my eyes.

"Actually, of everything that has happened since ..."

"I know. "

"Just now... after we get revenge on the twins, what happened? You looked panicked. "

I pondered for a moment biting my lip. I had to pay attention to what I was going to tell him.

"I heard ... something. Lydia heard the same thing, I knew something was up so I went to see. "

"What did you hear?” Scott asked as he moved toward me, focused on my words.

"A music. Dark and ... indescribable music. The music of the sacrifices," I confessed to him knowing that it wasn’t an unknown element and that I could divulge it.

"I see ..." He continued, staring into the void, thinking.

"Deu ... the man with the glasses, he knows my name, the blind man," I said, paying attention to my words.

"Deucalion, the leader of the alpha pack. Indeed, this isn’t a good sign. I… "

"Scott," I interrupted, taking his hand in mine. "Be careful. "

He frowned.

"Don’t do it at full moon ... you tried to warn us, didn’t you? Stiles told me about it. You tried to save all the victims so far. You know what's going to happen, but according to him, you can’t tell."

The voice was watching me. It didn’t seem happy that Scott and Stiles were starting to understand. I knew I couldn’t answer this question so I just fixed him in the eyes with my mouth closed.

"I have one last question and then I will let you rest," he began by changing the subject, seeing that I couldn’t answer. He took a breath before asking me.

"Do you like Stiles?"

I almost fell down my bed so his question surprised me. I felt my cheeks become hot and knew that they had to be very red and my heart began to beat too fast, betraying me before I even try to lie

"Why is everyone asking me this?" I laughed nervously.

"Down there, after the darach took Mr. Harris, your heart was distraught. I could feel all your rage and anger. Nothing seemed to calm you down. The same thing happened the night you had a nightmare where nobody could wake you up. And only one person managed to calm you down. Only one person succeeds in making your heart beat as fast as he can calm it down. "

"If you know the answer, why do you ask ..." I mumbled, lowering my head to hide the red that continued to invade my face.

"He's like an anchor ... it's odd to explain," Scott continued. "We, the werewolves, need something or someone to cling to our humanity, an anchor. And I have the impression that Stiles is yours. "

"Possible," I replied evasively, wishing that the discussion ended or changed. I was so embarrassed to be unmasked, that Scott understood so quickly. Stiles, my anchor? I liked the idea.

"You ..." Scott started, but blows at the door made us raise his head and interrupted him.

"Sorry to bother you," Isaac's soaked silhouette made as he came closer. "Scott, could I ask you a favor?"

"Yes? "

"Can I stay here? Derek threw me out and I have nowhere to go. "

"That's ..." Scott started looking at me. "I would have liked but there is no room left... "

Oh no. By my fault and my presence Isaac wasn’t going to be able to stay. He had to stay. I couldn’t bear the idea that he would have to sleep outside because of me. I had to fix that.

"No, he has to stay," I said, which caused Isaac to raise his head towards me, surprised.

"But ..." Scott mumbled, wondering surely where he was going to sleep.

"Take my room, I'm going to sleep in the living room."

"Y / N ..."

"I can’t accept taking your place," Isaac told me.

"And I can’t accept you sleeping outside on the street, Isaac," I continued.

In the end, seeing me too stubborn, Scott sighed and patted my thigh.

"You can sleep in my room, Y / N. It will be simpler in case you ..." He didn’t finish his sentence. It was true, if I slept in his room, I was less likely to have nightmares. But again that meant I entered his intimacy. And Scott might have been like a brother, he was still a boy.

"It will only be temporary," Isaac said and I sighed knowing that if I failed, Isaac would leave Beacon Hills for France with Mr. Argent and we will never see him again.

So that's how I moved some of my belongings into Scott's room while Isaac was showering to warm up. Melissa had difficulty accepting because she was going to have one more mouth to feed, but Isaac reassured her: he had inherited some money from his deceased father and could pay his part.

"Do you want ..." Scott started pointing at his bed, wondering if I wanted to sleep there. I shook my head pointing at the floor.

"I'm going to sleep on the floor. "

Scott insisted but I finally convinced him. He put several blankets on the floor near his bed to make it more comfortable, gave me a pillow and I went to bed immediately afterwards, exhausted from my day. Scott settled into his bed and Isaac said good night, followed by Melissa who did the same. Then we found ourselves in silence.

"Why do you want him to stay so much?” Scott finally asked me, whispering and from where I was I could only see his mattress.

"He doesn’t deserve everything that happens to him."

"Derek that threw him out is ..."

"To protect him," I whispered as I turned to the side.

"Yes ... he doesn’t want the alpha pack to find him again."

I sighed, changing sides again.

"It makes me think ..." Scott continued in a low voice.

"Hm?" I mumbled, still unable to sleep. Above, the mattress cracked a little, a sign that Scott was moving.

"When Isaac came back, his memories had disappeared," he began.

"Hmmmmmm?” I repeated, afraid of knowing where he was going.

"Deaton managed to get them back through hypnosis," he continued. "What if... if he could do the same with you?"

"I don’t believe in hypnosis," I mumbled to make him forget the idea. The voice bubbled with rage in my head at the thought that someone forced me to speak and I didn’t want to suffer so much.

"We should try. I'll ask Deaton tomorrow. "

"Okay," I ended up saying, hoping he would forget with everything that was going to happen.

"Ah, damn, tomorrow I can’t," Scott continued.

"What's the matter tomorrow?"

Small silence that made me straightens and sits on the bed.

"Nothing," he replied.

"Scott. I can’t hear your heartbeat and I know you're lying."

He sighed.

"I plan to go talk with him. With Deucalion. Derek wants to fight them but I don’t want another bloodbath. So I thought talking to him would be better."

"What? Don’t go there !!” I said a little too loudly.

"Y / N, I have to go! And I refuse you to come, it’s too dangerous, don’t even think about it! "

"It is dangerous also for you!” I replied and he sat down in his bed to look me in the eye for a battle of looks.

"I'm a werewolf I can survive a mortal wound!"

"Not if it’s ..." I couldn’t finish my sentence because a voice in the distance resounded.

"I didn’t agree for you two to be in the same room to hear you all night, go to bed!"

I lay down again in my hand-made bed, grumbling. He wasn’t going to stop me from coming. I had to come and I was coming.

And then I had another asset.

My hand tightened on my cell phone and I smiled softly.

Bonus point: my asset had a jeep.

In the next chapter: Changing something, the butterfly effect and damn Coach pisses me off!

Tags: @kwien-cee @saoirsewhittle @standalls @anonimereader06 @shantayok @thiscuriouslymiss @dashofsunshineblog @negative-love @sarasmismyonlydefence @sharenaloveyoux @hoedorshegort @tomlinsonlovers @brianaisasongbird @xcastawayherosx @reganf @quit-it-stilinski @captainsherlockwinchester110283 @bunnyboo10154 @pass-me-jeez-it @maddie110201 @lovelustmendes @imaginationgotmegood @5sospoplikerock @mmeyers915 @caitsymichelle13 @capandbuck @tegan-eva @zoejane28 @mysticalbanshee @artgurl559-blog @roscoes-backseat @teenwolfimagines1841 @jimmyisfab @robberytom

Next Chapter ->

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airoasis · 5 years ago

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How to learn any language easily | Matthew Youlden | TEDxClapham

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/how-to-learn-any-language-easily-matthew-youlden-tedxclapham-2/

How to learn any language easily | Matthew Youlden | TEDxClapham

Translator: Hoa Pham Reviewer: Denise RQ learning a language can suppose a little bit like rocket science, something out of this world and out of attain for the great majority of us. This is not a notion, however, simply held by using many English monolinguals on our island. It is usually shared by a lot of our linguistic cousins additional afield, say, in the U.S. Or Australia. Let’s be honest: on the subject of learning languages or speaking them, we’re the form of people that likes to think we’re fluent in a large number of various languages such as Geordie, Kiwi, Cockney, or what about Canadian? Do not get me unsuitable. I am very, very pleased with my Mancunian heritage, however i wouldn’t suggest it is a separate language simply but. In any case, we don’t need subtitles once we are observing Coronation road, now do we? Although i can see you two pronouncing, "I do." (Laughter) yet, regardless of this, if you happen to had been to go the Channel, or say, if you are feeling moderately extra adventurous, pass the Severn Estuary into Wales, there you might to find that talking one more language or being bilingual is with ease a fact.But, there and additional afield, many are still convinced of the fact this is a lengthy, difficult, moderately painful, and dare I say, daunting task. In this room of one hundred folks, i’d wager that at least 15 different languages are spoken apart from English. Actually, the final census of 2011 revealed that a stunning 22% of Londoners – that’s 22%, one in 4, practically – speak yet another language at dwelling apart from English. I actually, while a Mancunian, speak approximately 20 languages, and of those, around half I converse fluently. And the question I get asked via persons probably the most is, "Why?" (Laughter) good, the answer, for me as a minimum, is as an alternative easy. I am convinced studying languages, any language per Se, is surely convenient. And that i wish to exhibit you how. As a linguist, a polyglot, and a lecturer, i know what it entails to be trained and learn a language.And probably the most greatest barriers we’re confronted when finding out are myths. And i definitely think that we need to debunk them. In an effort to consider these extra simply, I came up with the nice and friendly sounding acronym D.I.E. (Laughter) which funnily sufficient, should you write it out no longer pronounce, if you happen to write it out, it’s one of the most words for ‘the’ in German. Fable quantity one: learning a language is conveniently too tricky. I will by no means be equipped to communicate another language relatively just like the language I used to be born with. Technically, you’re now not born with a language. Anyone right here could have ended up, with say, eastern as our first language. We had been effectively surrounded or immersed in the language in general from an extraordinarily early age. There are individuals, however, available in the market – many of them, in fact – who began to be taught a language, the 2nd or might be even the 0.33, so much afterward in life. And guess what? They’re now wholly fluent in this language or these other languages even perhaps extra so than in their so-called mother tongue.Why is this? Since there is not any cutoff date in which you have got to have learned a different language. Consider about how many people who say, "Ugh! My kids are doing French in college. I relatively want them to turn out to be fluent. However I can’t, no means, it can be impossible. I must’ve conveniently paid extra attention once I was once at tuition." good, reviews expose that while youngsters most of the time are so much faster at selecting up a brand new language than folks older than them, it’s truely us – that you could just breathe as a sign of relief – it’s us, the adults, who’re extra powerful at studying them. Why is that this? Because now we have the expertise of learning. We know methods to gain knowledge of already. Myth number two: languages are with no trouble beside the point. I don’t have to learn a further language in any respect.And as we hear, and regrettably hear rather lots – I was once going to do in a cockney accent, but I won’t do it at all. I will spare myself the embarrassment of doing that – languages … Every body speaks English, anyway. Good, besides the obvious advantages of talking another language – for illustration, monetary advantages and mental advantages, i.E., better pay, extra job possibilities, maintaining us mentally match, and truly serving to to stave off neurological diseases similar to Alzheimer’s- there are real hidden gemstones we will realize once we converse yet another language. How about getting an upgrade in your hotel room, as was once lately the case with my uncle before going to Turkey on holiday? He asked me if I would send him over just a few phrases and greetings in the language that he might try out in the inn.Turns up, caught over this suitcase, throws out a few sentences in Turkish, and bam!, he’s given an improve on his resort room instantly. (Laughter) You would now not normally get an upgrade on your resort room. I are not able to promise you this. Nevertheless, i will be able to promise that you maybe simply perhaps, through an additional language, will meet the love of your existence. We all keep in mind Jamie from Love clearly finding out Portuguese for Aurlia. And correctly, virtually one in ten Brits is married to any individual who used to be born overseas. Moreover, the Guardian stated on research showing that individuals who are able to converse two languages or extra better adapt or are higher equipped at dealing with issues, that they’re better at multitasking and prioritizing tasks. That is obviously a so much sought-after ability in our day and age when anybody appeared to be glued to our telephones. I wonder how many humans now who’re looking at this shall be glued to their telephones, and how many are clearly going to bilingual? Myth number three: you must be an expat and be in a situation where the language is constantly spoken, even to simply get a snatch of the language.There is no damage in without difficulty packing up and moving to a village within the center of nowhere, nevertheless it’s no longer really vital. Now the satisfactory unknown: my brother and that i – i’ll depart you to make a decision who’s who; he is clearly my twin brother – my brother and that i at the same time being headquartered in Berlin, Germany, determined to undertake the undertaking of learning Turkish in simply seven days. We decided to undertake the challenge of studying Turkish in simply seven days in an effort to show what you are able to do with the aid of effectively putting your intellect to it. I am no longer saying we all need to be going available in the market and studying a language in every week nor that it is simply possible to be trained absolutely the whole thing there’s in this sort of quick house of time. I will guarantee you, it isn’t. Perfection isn’t the intention right here.The purpose, nonetheless, is to get as good as we very likely can in a detailed language, within the shortest time viable. This means to the dismay of university teachers all for the period of the globe, "Take shortcuts." The first-rate factor about these shortcuts is we can observe them to any language that we would like to be taught. And furthermore, they’re so simple, you perhaps left thinking at the finish, "Why did not I think of that?" So let’s take a look at these shortcuts. Quantity one: analyze the similarities, focal point on equivalent factors. As audio system of English, we already comprehend so much about different languages, given the fact that our language itself, almost, is a Germanic language with the wealth of influences and vocabulary from a multitude of specific languages as numerous as Latin, Hebrew, or Hindi. Doing this will likely help strengthen patterns in the language and in addition will aid us to guess the that means and formation of phrases and things that we don’t yet know. As you see on this slide, for example, we are able to see how closely associated English is to fellow different Germanic languages and even to languages that are, in this case, Romance languages, however that English is a Germanic language basically.Shortcut quantity two: hold it easy. In the beginning sight, you could consider you are studying a language that doesn’t have that so much in common with our possess, however through focusing on easy factors, we will be able to learn it so much speedily on the grounds that each language has convenient elements to it. Some languages simplest have two or three tenses. For example, you grow to be saying ‘I had,’ in this one form, for ‘I had,’i’ve had,’ and ‘I had had,’ and ‘i’m’ also can be ‘I might be’ and ‘i would be.’ In different circumstances, if we seem at, for example, German, we’ve a case of developed vocabulary that is derived from a couple of simple words or verbs.On this case, we’ve the verb ‘sprechen’ which is ‘to speak,’ which has now long gone on and lent itself to turn out to be ‘besprechen’ – to discuss, ‘entsprechen’ – to correspond, ‘versprechen’ and ‘absprechen,’ and many others, and so on. Shortcut quantity three: hold it imperative. Especially at the commencing of our process, we have got to ensure that it’s valuable to us. Not all people is learning German with a view to talk about business with colleagues in Berlin. Consider about this. As speakers of English, we have no idea every single phrase within the Oxford English Dictionary. So why will have to we worry about remembering every single phrase we come upon within the new language? We readily have got to make it critical to our own exact challenge right now. When it comes to learning a language, maybe the most important aspect is time. And by using time, i do not mean years upon years of unending studying as some men and women still prefer to feel. How long does it take to gain knowledge of a language? How about if I were to inform you that half-hour per day are a first-rate and effective begin? Thirty minutes – these are minutes all of us have.Be ten within the morning, ten in the afternoon, ten in the night, or half-hour in conveniently one go to be able to work, to tuition, to tuition, out in the evening, assembly friends, while we are on the train or bus. We all have all these minutes that we are able to commit to gain knowledge of. Moreover, by finding out for smaller intervals and general intervals, we will not suppose so overwhelmed via the language. And even better, studying for average periods signifies that it is more effective, considering chances are that if you’re studying for once a week or once a fortnight, by the time you next come to gain knowledge of, you’ll have already got forgotten what you initially realized. The purpose hence is to fit language studying into our day-to-day routines and now not the opposite direction around. And by means of doing this, there’s no motive why after with ease one month, you are not able to get through in your new language. These energetic forms of studying, we have got to compliment them with what i might like to refer to as passive varieties of learning.Having breakfast: change the radio on and listen to a station within the language, turn out to be accustomed to the tune of the language. The song is not going to handiest help you get used to the sounds, to the intonation, and to the rhythm however the words you can hear will also help you companion them; given that you know the songs, and you can be competent to partner them with these songs, hence expanding our vocabulary. Had a tough day? Deal with yourself to a television series or a movie within the language, and put subtitles on, in English, and then, others can join and watch with you as good. We all know how all people seems to be going crazy about this Scandinavian television crime series on the second – a few of which had been dubbed into English; hold it long-established. By way of doing this, this may get you off to a quality begin to move on and to definitely grasp your language. There are three rules, i love to consult them as the golden principles of language finding out, that each and every and all people of us should be doing when going about learning a language. The primary rule is – stay up for it – the primary rule is live the language, speak it, learn it, write it, dream in it, sing it even; sing to your self.My brother and i once we began studying Greek, we decided to put in writing songs in the language. Do not fear, i am not about to embarrass my brother, and that i certainly is not going to be singing for you all this morning. That said, with a purpose to grasp the language, you ought to make it yours, possess the language. So why no longer put your mobilephone or pc in the language you’re studying? Number two: make mistakes. Sure, you heard me adequately. Make as many as you need.Why? On account that we be taught by means of making errors. It can be really the only manner we are able to get matters proper. As children, we’re even anticipated to make them. However as adults, we are frightened seeing that they make us consider susceptible. Admitting from the beginning we have no idea most likely the whole lot there may be to know about this new language will not preclude us from studying it. Additionally, it will really give us the freedom to go on and to grasp it. So go forth and make as many mistakes as you like. The last rule, and this is the most important one, and this is important: make it enjoyable.Grammar ideas aren’t consistently enjoyable. I mean, i like grammar, however I comprehend that not every person is so hooked in to it; now not certain why, though. But consider, some thing you are able to do in English, you are able to do in another language, so make it enjoyable. And actually, by way of making it enjoyable, by making the system wonderful, you’re serving to your self keep motivated. And the more stimulated you might be, the better your probabilities are of succeeding. So exit and let your ingenious juices waft. The great factor as well is why not try and get persons, other humans, concerned? Say, colleagues, acquaintances, and turn it into a small, pleasant competitors. Truely, studies show if you happen to get a pleasant competitors going, that your probabilities of succeeding are significantly better, and they increase your performance. Languages are mostly perceived to be the first-rate unknown. We prefer to consider of them as anything unfamiliar, and but, we know a lot about them due to the fact all human languages have their possess ordinary but attractive approaches of expressing suggestions, ideas, and fact, despite the fact that we’re not mindful of it in the beginning.Via now delving into the unknown and realizing the acquainted, we will be able to be able to grasp probably the most pleasurable, profitable, and effective abilities we possess as humans: human conversation. And who would face up to trying to be trained a language with these linguistic pearls? The first one could be, as you say in French, (French) Ayez Les dents longues, (English) which is ‘be bold.’ It actually manner, nonetheless, ‘have lengthy enamel.’ (Laughter) Mine are not that long. I might prefer to want you all in Italian (Italian) In bocca al lupo, (English) which is ‘just right good fortune,’ but actually way ‘into the mouth of the wolf.’ (Laughter) And eventually, as we are saying in Ukrainian, (Ukrainian) Skilky mov ty znayesh – stilky raziv ty lyudyna, (English) because of this "The extra languages you already know, the more humans you might be." revel in finding out a new language.(Applause) .

#education #english #humanities #language #learning #Social Interaction #TEDxTalks #United Kingdom

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batterymonster2021 · 5 years ago

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How to learn any language easily | Matthew Youlden | TEDxClapham

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/how-to-learn-any-language-easily-matthew-youlden-tedxclapham-2/

How to learn any language easily | Matthew Youlden | TEDxClapham

#education #english #humanities #language #learning #Social Interaction #TEDxTalks #United Kingdom

0 notes

dantelaw21 · 4 years ago

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Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 289

youtube

Click on the video above to watch Episode 289 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

Announcement

Welcome to Hump Day hangouts Episode 289 to one where Hernan looks continuously shocked for some reason.

Hi, how’s it going? Hernan Is everything okay. It’s great, man. I’m feeling like shit, but here we are. All right, good, good stuff. Well, keep going here. Like I said it’s Episode 289. Today’s the 27th of May 2020. I can see we got a lot of really good questions already today. But if you haven’t yet and you got a question, please put it on the page. First come first serve. And then I’m going to get into a few announcements. We’ve got some cool stuff that happened earlier this week. And then some last-minute announcements, things that we just found out about today that I want to touch on But first, let’s say hi to the guys real quick and see how everyone’s doing so

I’ll start to my top left here Bradley. How are you doing today?

Good. I’m good. I just edited the video description in YouTube because still had some stuff from the webinar we did yesterday. So anyway, but I’m good. Things are good. I’m back from taking a week off, and it sucked cuz I went away for a week camping and ATV riding, thinking that I was going to get away and get to enjoy it and it rained the entire week, all day every day and it was awful. It was fucking miserable. So I wish I would have stayed home and worked.

Yeah, man, speaking of weird weather that so I’m in the Bay Area. So we just hit 95 the last three days, which is like 34 Celsius. It’s just like, Okay, well guess I’ll go out in the morning, go for a walk and then come hunker in here, shut the blinds and turn the air just thinking. So that’s been my life for the past couple of days. So let’s head go with the happier weather report. Marco. How are you doing?

The sun’s out again. It’s the rainy season and he’s like the sun’s out. It’s rainy season man. Look, I live in paradise. All right, I can’t help that. Make some money. Right? First of all, go get the battle. You follow the Battle Plan.

make some money. Hire someone who will help you. Train, apply, and make money. lather, rinse, repeat. And then you can go find your own Fortress of Solitude where you can just watch the world go by and you don’t give up. Push your mouth but other than the outstanding weather

How are you doing marking things are going good. Things are good here man. Things are good. Yeah, I’m still like things are opening up a little bit here. Essential businesses and all that and all this other stuff, but I’m still self-parenting. I got three kids. They got to think about it and I’m not a spring chicken so that there’s another person that I had to think about right because I can go out or like one but I have to think about my family. Yeah. And what I might bring, bring home and closer to home to make somebody.

I knew personally died of this. It’s not as if it’s totally foreign to me like I don’t know anyone who is affected by this. I like what I do know. And so having it that cloth is not any longer six degrees of separation. it’s like I know and so no, it ain’t happening and we’re gonna see how this plays out and I’ll let everybody you guys can all go and enjoy yourselves you know to do whatever the hell you want and then let me know how that turns out and then I’ll decide after that second one what it is that we’re going to do but for now we’re cool we take it easy and that’s it, man. We did we just but my personal choice, right, my personal choice to do that. It’s not as if someone is forcing me to do it. I’m choosing that this is the best way for myself and my family. Enough. All right. Well, Hernan How about you man, things are like you’re moving into wintertime right? I always get

Yeah, it’s hot summer-like wait a second I was wearing a sweatshirt what hell’s going on? Yeah, actually actually all of you guys are well Marco Marco is like, you know, he’s in a good spot 20% but all of you guys are you know getting the nice season. I’m getting the shooting season. Yeah now so now but yeah man it’s good today was a good day.

Like warm-ish. But yeah, we’re getting into winter and all of that so see how that goes, could you? Oh, Chris How about yourself? Yeah, yeah can’t complain man sun’s out the sun is shining all day. I mean it’s dark right now and the best part of all Friday the gyms opening back up and stuff so things are really good standing. Well, I’m going to circle back around Bradley, you mentioned a webinar and I wanted to touch on that because we had Brian, a mastermind member, along with Bruno, and you all listening can get to know both of them better and see what Bradley has to say to about this go high-level system. And Bradley, you want to tell real quick, I’m gonna pop the link in where people can go and check out the replay. Do you want to tell them about the webinar a little bit?

Yeah, Brian, one of our mastermind members reached out and basically said that he was using a platform, an agency automation platform that consolidates a whole bunch of different services and such all under one roof. He reached out because he thought that it would fit really, really well with the 2xyoruagency training.

Because it does a lot of the stuff that I talked about in 2xyouragency about how to automate, delegate or eliminate because this platform consolidates a lot of services that you may have separate subscriptions for and I always call it duct taping them together using Zapier or some similar application. And basically these have integrated services that do all

All of the same things that many of these external services do that we put, you know, we connect via Zapier, and it’s all under one dashboard. And so it’s a lot more seamless. And there’s a lot of really cool features inside there, like one of the primary feature that was, is used to pitch this go high-level application or platform is what’s called database reactivation, which is a very easy way or a simple way for you to get your foot in the door as an agency owner with potential marketing clients because you can. So anyway, I can’t really go into depth right now about that, but it’s a really cool platform. I signed up my own agency on the agency level account level so that I can create a first of all, I’m gonna use it for my own agency, but second of all, so I could also create a case study for how I’m using it. I’ve got some really good ideas that I’m going to be sharing in that case study that I’m gonna be putting to the test and then sharing in the case study.

As well on how I’m using it and how to generate kind of exponential revenue growth from it, as opposed to just linear. And so anyway, I think it’s bad, it’s very valuable, I would encourage you guys to go check it out, it does come with a 14-day free trial. So once you see the webinar, you know, comes with some free or some, I think it’s free, or it’s like five bucks may be to pay for some of the training that Bruno had put together, what he calls the quick start training for that. And so you can get all of that. And your first 14 days determine if it’s for you or not, but I think once you see some of the potentials of this, it would be something if any of you are trying to grow. I think you should absolutely take a good hard look at it. Definitely. Yeah, no, I mean, I don’t do generally local stuff. But I check this out. And like I’ve been looking at it and I talked to Brian about all the details and like I was starting to be like maybe I could find a way to you just like no stop it. But like for anyone out there who’s dealing with especially local clients or can find the right use case

Yeah, just blew me away from the number of services and automation that’s packed into that suite of tools and how seamless that is, is pretty amazing. So definitely worth checking it out. Real quick to this one came up today. So we constantly get questions about GMB verifications, right? You know, hey, where can you guys do GMB verifications work in MGYB, when is it going to be available? I’m going to cut to the chase GMB verifications are available right now. As always, we cannot tell you how long that is going to be the case. So if you are doing lead gen if you’re needing a verification for some other reason, this would be a very good time to put your order in because not only can you order now what you couldn’t have yesterday, you can get a 15% discount today while we’ve got it opened up. Also, it comes with a 30-day guarantee. And it’s about I believe, 14 day turnaround time. So pretty quick. I’ll post all of that in the chatbox for those who are live. If you’re not just head to mgyb.co, and head to the store, you can look for GMB verifications there you can also get syndication networks, Rs drive stacks, SEO shield, link building all that sort of good stuff.

And circling back around. I wanted to touch on this real quick for those of you who are watching us for the first time, thank you very much whether you’re watching live or catching the replay on YouTube. If you want to go to the right place, head to semantic mastery comm slash HD questions every week, we asked you to limit your questions just to one. Unless you’re live, you can ask some more. You know, we get down there. We just want to make sure that everyone has a chance to ask their questions. So if you ask some questions, we may not get to all of them just before Warren. And then secondly, we encourage everyone to check out the battle plan and go to battle plan dot semantic mastery. If you want to get repeated repeatable SEO results that is for you. I’m not going to read the page to you you can go over there and check it out. But it is a fantastic tool that we recently just updated them released version four a month ago.

And then Bradley touched on this too if you’re an agency owner or a consultant that you want to get more clients, yes, you want to grow your revenue. Yes. And you want to scale your team, hopefully, yes. Then if you want to do that, head over 2xyouragency.com. There’s a ton of incredible training lets you crush it, whether you’re again, being a consultant, or if you want to build a true agency, and it doesn’t matter if that’s SEO, it’s other areas of digital marketing. It’s going to help you grow and make more money. That’s the bottom line.

All right, with that said, Guys, any other quick announcements before we dive into questions?

Good. All right. Let’s do it.

All right. Grab the screen.

You guys confirm when you see. See my screen.

Would You Recommend Ordering Another Drive Stack To A New Website Section Targeting Service Keywords In Different Locations?

So it looks like BB Now that might have been from last week. It looks like it was it will start with Bobby. Bobby says Hey guys, I got some questions. The first one was would you recommend ordering another drive stack to a completely new section of a website targeting a different service keyword in different locations on a large content site that would be perfect for the location sealed, am I right? Marco?

Yeah, that’s perfect for the extension. And it’s currently available and as a coupon sweep. So that’s what the drive stack expansion.

Yeah, we’re saying, Yeah, maybe if he already has the brand it because he’s saying another, right, a completely new section of the website. So we’re talking about the same website, money site. That’s how I’m seeing. I’m seeing something different.

He has a different service keyword, and a different location on a large content what so that’s, that’s just an inner page, I think what he’s describing the top of the silo. So you would aim the expansion on the current drive stack at that inner page, you’d get much more power going and extending that initial drive stack then you would be doing a completely different drive stack, g site. Sure, gotcha. Okay.

Would You Recommend RSS Masher To Drive Traffic To A Money Site And Lead Gen Assets?

The next question was GMB.Thanks again, I’ve not used them for lead gen assets but I have in the past I haven’t built since the updated the new version of RSS master which is even better. But to create the kind of like Kwazii PBNs and when I say PBNs, they’re not like what we would traditionally think of a treat PBN, these are real sites to generate real traffic and that’s the differentiator, right? having real sites generate real traffic. With automated content posting to them right through all the RSS feeds that you splice together and RSS masher and all the really cool shit you can do. You can take a look at the most recent webinar we did with Damon Nelson, about the most current version of RSS masher and see some of the examples of the sites that he builds are 100% honest.

Major content sites using RSS masher. And they’re freaking beautiful sites. And he’s generating affiliate income and, you know, like AdSense income. And so such using those sites because they do generate traffic, they look beautiful. But from an SEO standpoint, I looked at it as like, hey, this could be really good to generate, you know, in related content type sites that could feed traffic back to a money site or a lead gen site or whatever. So, I mean, I think it’s certainly possible to use it for that I haven’t done it myself just to be honest because it’s not the strategy that I’ve been pursuing. I’ve wanted to in fact, I even talked about it with my partners here. I would love to have some time to play with that and set up some sights but I haven’t done it yet. I think Marco. Weren’t you guys gonna try playing with that a bit. I know it probably hasn’t been done but wasn’t that on the to-do list?

It is being done. What we are currently testing it and we won’t like there is anything. I’m not personally doing it but I got my mini mastermind, which is where all the evil takes place where we can go after everything. And there’s a couple of people in there who have a license. And then one of them is using our license as I gave her our license to go and try it out. So they got together. Three of the people in my seven-person mini mastermind got together. And what they’re doing is they’re sharing information on how to make make it work in the best way possible. And then they’re going to come back and report it to me and we’re either going to make it available through MGYB as a service, or I’m not sure how we’re going to offer that but there’s definitely something in the works with that RSS masher. It’s just you guys if you go get it just be prepared because there’s a high learning curve is that simple software that you’re just going to go and plug and play

You have to be prepared to go through the training to go through the process, gathering up the feeds making everything look right. And then you know that that’s when the magic happens and I can’t wait to blast that. Now get it, give it a companion g site and drive stack, expand it, and then blast it with link building and some embeds and see what happened. I can’t wait.

Yeah, it looks good. As I said, I wish I had more time to mess with it. Because I think there’s a lot of potentials there as well. So, so maybe next Wednesday, or the following Wednesday, we can give people a preview. But again, the first ones that’ll get a preview, it will be my mini mastermind, and then the semantic mastery mastermind, the heavy hitter club, and then we’ll go public with whatever we have. It’s still a few weeks away, it takes time. That’s all

Is It Possible To Get An Iframe For A Drive Folder?

so Frank’s up. He says it is it possible to get an iframe for a drive folder tried adding a link into iframe generator and it came back saying the page was blocked from being displayed? also. Well, first of all,

The first part of that is Yeah, you can use to be able to do that. But no, I haven’t tried since the updates recently. Marco, can you? Yeah. Not through the iframe January? That’s why I tell people to code their own code. Yeah, because you can’t do it that way. You have to separate the, I can’t go through the process that you have to get the folder ID to be able to iframe it. And what you have to insert in an iframe generator is the entire URL, and you can’t do it that way.

Okay.

Publish to the web would be a file setting in the drive used to say publish to the web, it would give you an embed code for the file or for the folder, but I think that has been taken away correct recently. Uh, no. I can check that right now. I mean, go on and let me take a folder that has nothing in it. And we’ll just move on while you’re looking that up.

Do You Have Any Link Building Services In MGYB For T1 Money Site?

He says also with MGYB, do you have any link building services that could be used for tier-one money site or only g sites? Yeah, that while the SEO shield can point back to your money site, right, which includes the drive stack files and folders as well as the G site. Also, press releases could be used for tier-one money site, right where your money site tier-one money site is. It’s redundant. That’s like the Department of redundancy department. You know what I mean? So, yeah, your money site, again, press releases and the SEO shield? Those are the two things that I would recommend. Am I missing something?

No, no, no, I don’t think so. And I can’t find it. I can’t find published on the web by the way. That’s what I thought had been removed since the recent update. But it used to be able to do it that way. So hopefully that was helpful.

What MGYB Service You Should Use To Rank For A City That Is Three Hours Away From The Dealership Location?

Mohammed’s up, it’s up mom and he says, Hey, guys, a client is asking me if I can rank his Volkswagen dealership for VW related keywords in a city. Three hours away from where the dealership actually is.

Actually, how would I go about this? I know I can get a GMB from MGYB for the New City and add a new city page to the money site. What else would I do?

Well, the problem that I see with that Mohammed is it’s a dealership right? So if you’re getting a GMB for a dealership which is a storefront business, right with the customers come to the business location, and you’ve got a spammed GMB listing, that’s three hours away from where the dealership actually exists, then, how is that going to play with potential car buyers? When they’re looking to go to a dealership in their local area and they’ve come to find out it’s a spam listing and instead they’ve got to go three hours away to buy a Volkswagen. To me, I don’t think that would be advisable for the reasons I just mentioned. Maybe I’m misunderstanding the question. Anybody else interprets this another way?

No, that’s the way I’m I’m reading it unless the dealer is opening up a dealership in that city in which case, you would need spam. GMB. Right. Correct. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I am not willing to drive three hours to go look at a car, like my dealer has to be closed by where I can just jump in the car. 1015 minutes, I’m there and look at the car and decide if I’m gonna buy it. Because I’ll be people. Yes. I mean, the idea behind it is correct. People are going to first look online to find a car that they liked, and they’re going to find the dealer, then they’re going to go visit the dealer to see the cart. Who’s going to drive? Did you talk that to this dealership owner, by the way, and ask him Who do you know that’s going to drive three hours to buy a car when they can buy one mic in the city? I don’t understand the thinking behind that. Not only that, but don’t you think it would piss a potential customer off if they were misled to believe that a dealership was in their local area just to come to find out that it’s three hours away? I mean, it’s not just that like if he was promoting like ranked a page organically for the city that is three hours away, and says, Hey, we sell cars. Were our dealerships over here and they’re honest about where it is. It’s very likely most people are going to drive three hours away anyways, but at least they weren’t being dishonest about it. Whereas having a GMB for a storefront business where a store doesn’t actually exist, that I think in my view would piss me off if I put driving directions and go show up at this place to find out that it’s it doesn’t exist, and then I got to drive three hours away to go where I intended. What about other car dealers dealerships? wouldn’t they be pissed if you’re faking? A GMB and I just totally am in the area. I don’t think VW corporate would be too happy with that with you faking GMB. I don’t know how much trouble I mean, you can get into a whole lot of trouble behind that. talk to this guy. talk some sense and then

yeah, just find out what his intent is really. And maybe you already know it, Mohammed and it just wasn’t conveyed in that message.

Yeah, but yeah, I mean like I said if I was going to do anything it would be to try to just rank organically for that and just be honest about where the dealership is and why they should drive three hours away to purchase a car at that particular dealership.

SEO Shield Question

Alright, moving on uh, next question is Hello everyone recently I purchased an SEO shield and since I got some discount for link building, I also bought that so I placed the order for SEO shield and link building altogether. What I found out that instead of building the links to my properties, they pointed all the direct all directly to your money site. Okay, you can edit the URLs to build links to an M GI Bill, Why be disregarded that and build all the links to your money site? No continue can find that hard to believe okay. When I inquired from support about it, they said since you had provided the URL file, we built all the links around that. But they also said that they don’t recommend it. I’m a new user purchasing SEO shield first time and also not aware of the internal tech now technicalities excuse me of SEO SEO. So I provide all the information including the URL file because I thought it might be required to build the SEO shield since I bought the SEO, SEO, and link building. So I believe that SM support will follow the best practice since I’ve gone blindly trust SM for SEO related stuff. So my question is Why were the links built directly in the money site even when it is not recommended? No one will pay for the money to I’m not sure what he says.

Now, he says that the links can’t be removed. This website is my six months old hard work. I don’t want to degrade my website by any means. So what should I do now? Should I disavow the links pointing in the Excel sheet? Please suggest, okay, um, the first part of that. I’m not sure if you came to us cold and you don’t know anything about our methodology, then then I could understand where that confusion may have come from.

Perhaps we need to have that clearly explicitly outlined on this on the order page or the order submit Details page. In other words, if it’s not already, but

As far as what you know, we didn’t build all the links to your money site URL. If your money site URL was listed in your submitted URLs list, then some links will have been built to your money site URL. But in all of our training, we always suggest we actually won’t build links to your money site URL if we know that it’s in there. So I don’t know what to tell you on that other than and as far as disavowing Marco doesn’t ever recommend that I’ve done it in the past haven’t done it for years.

I don’t think Have you seen anything negative happen? We don’t suggest it, but I don’t know that it is going to cause any problems. Marco, what do you say about this? I say I have a really big problem with this guy. Right? Because this was sent to support at mg y v.co. And I heard from Deadia and he said, hey, look, you know what, what can we do it with this? What can we do for this person? So we’re looking to do the right thing. Here. Look, I can remove all I think I can remove all the links

But it’s gonna take a while I so we aren’t talking about it, he doesn’t even give support a chance to respond and let him know what the answers are. He comes here to a public forum to air the laundry. And I understand that. I mean, in no way Is this a recommended practice. But I mean, he submitted the URLs for us to build links to if you give us a spreadsheet, how are we to know that there’s a money site included in the spreadsheet? I mean, he’s assuming that we’re supposed to assume and look these, the logic behind this evades me because I just don’t see it, how we’re supposed to know that he’s submitting his money site from now on. And so now we know that we need to make sure that we tell people explicitly on the order form do not submit your money site URL. So thank you for that. But I don’t appreciate

This being aired on a public forum, where we’re taking care of when we’re looking to do what’s best for you and for your website. Not that anything bad has happened. Not that anything bad will happen. We don’t know yet what would happen, but it’s still in the discussion stage and he doesn’t even give it an opportunity comes publicly as Hey, you guys, I thought you were supposed to follow best practice practices and whatever else he says. And I just don’t appreciate it. Give us at least a chance to do the right thing. And then if there’s a problem, if there’s no resolution, then you come here and you speak to us publicly. I thought about writing to you by the way. Because I saw this, I saw the way he called it the ticket, come through and I know I’m supposed to stay away from customer service. But I thought about writing to him because I don’t see the logic. If he submits the URLs to build links. That’s what we’re going to build links to because the customer as always, right? So if you want links built to your money site, in spite of the fact that we don’t recommend it, and then we say, Don’t ever do it, we don’t do it. If you submit the URL, and it’s by mistake, and I’m not saying that you did it on purpose, if by mistake you included in my site, or you didn’t know, it’s going to get links built to it. Now, yeah, we are going to try to do the right thing. That’s all I can say. We were trying to do the right thing before, even after having come on a public forum, and then like hitting on my last nerve, we’re still going to help you out.

Yeah and I don’t know that it’s going to cause any problem. We just, we don’t build links, the types of links that we sell at MGB directly the money site, we always in all of our training suggest not to do that because that’s the whole reason for the SEO shield right is because and that’s why it’s named the SEO shield because it shields your money site, from all the external threats.

SEO and link building that you can do because link building to your money site can, doesn’t always but can create a problem. So it’s not a guarantee that you’re going to have problems because that happened, it might not cause any problems at all, we just don’t recommend it, we suggest not to do it, because there’s no need to because we push all the power to the SEO shield and use the SEO shield to launder basically clean any potential negative juice through Google properties and through high authority assets, that and push relevancy essentially, eventually to the money site. So again, we don’t know that it’s gonna cause a negative impact at all, we just don’t, we don’t test it. Because we don’t do that we always recommend building them directly to the SEO shield. Again, that’s the whole point of the SEO shield. So we have learned, we have now decided or just came to the realization that that needs to be very explicit on the order form, submit page, and that makes sense and we’ll make sure that we make that change and Marco and Dadea, our link builder, are going to do what they can for you. So hopefully that will suffice.

How Do You Use Press Release To Achieve Better Rankings?

Next question, SMS insurances total newbie here, I just ordered the press release. Not sure where to start. I’m clueless on what to do, and the advice would be great. This is awesome that you asked this question because I’m actually working on a little mini-course for press releases for people that want to order and not for SEOs. But for business owners. I mean, anybody can have access to it that they want, but it’s I’m doing a little mini-course for press releases.

For MGYB, in other words, a little mini-course on trying to teach a layman right or a business owner, somebody that’s not an SEO, how to get the most use in the best use the most traction from press releases that you order from MGYB. And I’ll have that done by next Tuesday for sure. Maybe even possibly will be available on by next Wednesday for people to go download as a Lead Magnet or whatever, we’ll see, I don’t know if I’m gonna have it ready by Tuesday. I don’t know if it’ll be ready on Wednesday for public consumption. That said, I can give you a brief rundown on it. Because I was actually working on that presentation earlier today. In fact, it’s over here. So I can show you that I’m not kidding, do it yourself press releases, leveraged PR marketing for your business. So this will be both a presentation as well as some of that stuff hasn’t been added yet. But it will be a presentation that will be available, as well as some videos. So it’ll be like a little mini training course, on how to get the best uses of press releases, and then what to do next as well. So really a quick rundown on that is, first have an understanding of what your keywords are that you want to promote, right? So your primary products and services, products and or services, or an event if you’re promoting an event, whatever, whatever you’re trying to promote. You want to have a set of keywords that you’re looking to promote. And you want to submit that as the primary keyword for each one of the press releases.

So the press release writers, the writers that they’re really good about creating brand plus keyword association. So if you submit the keyword that you want to be used as the primary keyword, they’re going to create that they’re going to use the brand name and the keyword in the title. Okay, which is very, very important. And then they’re going to write about whatever it is that you instruct them to write about. And you can be as descriptive about how to like, you can tell them the tone that you want, that you want them to write it in, you can tell them certain things that you want them to highlight within the press release. Or you can be vague, you can just say, here’s the URL that I want you to promote. And they’ll go look at the URL, also look at the brand and they’ll create a news angle story, that they’ll write a press release about so it makes it easy for you guys if you have something specific you want written about. add that in the writing description. If you don’t and you don’t know how to create a newsworthy angle, don’t worry about it because that’s what the press release riders do. So you can just submit a URL and say this is the primary

URL I want promoting, write a story about it right. And though they’ll figure out a way, which is why I love using it, because it takes the responsibility right off of us to come up with the angle all the time. They’re really good about that once the press release is published, or you want to also link back to whatever you’re primarily trying to promote. So for example, I like to, by the way, if you’re new SM, s and s insurance, you can go to our YouTube channel youtube.com slash Semantic Mastery and use the channel search feature. And you can even go to Google and search for a press release or PR silo stalking or press release, SEO, semantic mastery, something like that, and you can find a webinar it’s actually still on mg y v. If you go to the webinars tab on the MG y v.co. website, you can take a look, I think that was the last webinar that we did was PR silo stalking, and that’ll give you a really good description. It was almost an hour You know, I don’t know 40-minute webinar or whatever specifically about how to get the

Most uses out are the best use out of sight, press releases. So again, you’re going to want to have at least one URL that you’re going to promote, you can have up to three, I usually recommend only two URLs per the press release, unless you’re siloing press releases, in which case you’ll have three, three target URLs that you’re promoting within the press release because you’re going to be linking back to the previous press release within that silo. if all of this sounds foreign to you, just go check out that webinar that I just described. And then it will tell you exactly what we do to get really, really good results with press releases. And just an aside to kind of a point to kind of reinforce this is I was just talking in the mastermind two weeks ago when I did my last mastermind webinar, about how I have a GMB asset as a lead gen asset that I hadn’t done anything with it was published about a year and a half, maybe two years ago, but I never optimized it never did anything to rank it. And I did three press releases in one week to push that GMB asset and all it has is it’s a GMB location. You know, profile and it’s got a GMB website. It’s not connected to a money site. The money site is the GMB website. And I did three press releases in a week. And the son of a bitch disappeared from maps all together for about three weeks. But then it popped after three weeks of it like not even showing I thought it got it was doing a Google dance. But I’ve not seen one this drastic, or this is significant of a Google dance to where it like literally, the listing disappeared, it disappeared entirely from Google Maps. And then all of a sudden bounce it when it popped, it popped into number three, the C position in the maps three pack from just three press releases in a week. Now that’s those results aren’t typical, but I’m just sharing that because it does show you that and all I did was PR silo stacking method, the same one that I’m suggesting you go watch that webinar to learn the strategy. And it works guys. It really does work. So that’s what I would recommend is

Just first go look at that webinar. And then after you have published the press release, it’s always better to do like one press release isn’t going to move the needle much, if at all, but when you start to do the silo stacking with press releases, you can do significant damage with that, and in a good way, right, yeah. And then from there, the next thing you can do is do link building gigs to the press releases or to the organization page that we provide. When you order a press release. That’s something else and embed gigs. You can do embed gigs as well, but don’t link directly to your money site. Anyway, you want to comment on that anybody?

From dance is real man. Right? We tell people 21 days actually, it’s 20 days. But I tell people 21 days just to be sure they’re clear of it. And then that’s when you go and take a look at everything. You decide what to do, but it’s very real. I don’t know why more people don’t talk about that. They just see rankings drop and then they go try to fix it and they make things worse instead of trying to instead of the result being better.

You just supposed to leave it alone until like you said, it just comes back and then you decide.

Unknown Speaker 35:06 Yeah, what’s interesting is, like you said, for about three weeks, I haven’t seen something that drastic of a dance in quite some time to be honest with you. And so I was a little bit nervous. I was thinking like, What the fuck is going on with this, this listing? And all I did was a handful of GMB posts to that listing over the course of those three weeks that was it, nothing else. And like I said, it popped and when it did, it’s, it’s in the number. In fact, I just got a lead from that today for sure, for Tree Removal in that particular city. So it’s producing and all it took was three press releases, which again, is very, very powerful. So it used the exact same method I just mentioned was PR silo stacking, so just go watch that webinar. It’s done in the MGYB, webinar archive, and it’s PR silo stacking, and it works really, really well.

Okay, next question. DC SEO says, Hey guys, I received the ROI as part of my shield back and your wise keywords are the ones that gave your team they’re in the same niche, but very different to what I handed in Is this right? Mine didn’t have any location or mine, I guess he means mine didn’t have any location as per instructions and what I received that keyword plus locations from around the world. I’m in the UK as well as a ton of keywords that are irrelevant to my services. I don’t know how that could happen. Any, any suggestion? No, that doesn’t sound right. But this isn’t the forum for that is it support at MGYB.co. What happened? Give us the order number. We’ll go track it down. And if we have to do it over, we’ll do it over we’ll talk to the VA who built it. I mean, we take care of everything guys. We always do we always try to do right, by everyone. You have to do things in the proper forum.

Last week, end of last week or whatever, I think it was Friday, I announced that we had cracked the code that we were able to now extend the drugs tax because we had automated it. And then someone posted in all of our groups, well, what if I have a VA? How do I train them?

And so now, no matter where I respond, it’s going to look like I didn’t respond and all of the other I would have to go and respond in all of the other groups, the very same thing that I responded in the one group and it’s gonna make it look in the other in the groups where I don’t respond like I don’t care or it doesn’t matter or I didn’t want to respond or whatever. I don’t like guys do things in the right place. And at the right time, this first goes to support. If support doesn’t take care of you, then come to us and let us know. And then like, I know, one of the owners in MGB and I’ll have a talk with him and see what we can do about rectifying the situation, but it’s in here in a public forum. I can’t do anything for you.

Yeah, Fidel. If it was indeed a mistake on our end, then absolutely. We just kill that drive, stack, and build and one for you. So and it won’t, it won’t hurt you at all. So it’s not an issue if it was indeed our problem. If you submitted the wrong keyword file, that’s one thing, but if it was, somehow it got built with keywords that you didn’t submit, which is unlikely, but people are human things happen. So if that was the case, just bring it to supports attention, we’ll take a look at it and if that was indeed the case, it would just kill that stack and then go to a new one, and it won’t it won’t cause any problems. So that’s the beautiful thing about those guys and that’s also why we talked about using the SEO shield for clients and stuff like that because you get the accounts back and you could protect your work right? Because if something happens and you get fired or the client stops paying you I’ve had that happen where they just ghost on you, you know what I mean? The business still exists but they just won’t answer phone calls or emails when they owe you money that kind I’ve had that happen several times over my career. You can go in and just kill the drive stack, delete it. I don’t even set it to not public which is it’s changed now anyways and because it can still push power, even when it’s not indexable. But you can go in and just kill the damn thing or rework it to point somewhere else, you know, to meet to their competitor, that you can go land as a client. So that’s one of the beautiful things about it. So it can be remedied. That’s not a problem.

Can You Create A Subdomain, Rank, And Redirect All The Pages To Another Site While Maintaining Its Ranking?

The next question was, can you create a subdomain website and rank it and then redirect all the pages to another site? And the subdomain maintain its rankings? No, because the redirect will point to the new location and new locate the new location is going to replace the subdomain at some point, right? You can’t redirect a URL and have both the URLs still appear in search, or they might temporarily, and I don’t even know that that’s true. But Google will whatever the redirect is eventually that’s what will rank and the other one will fall out of the index entirely. Am I right in that, or am I missing something? I’m not I think you’re absolutely right. I don’t see how you can’t since you’re telling the bot through the 301 that the page or everything in that sub-domain moved permanently somewhere else. Yeah. You could use I mean, that’s what it is. Yeah, you could use a canonical. And it can both pages can rank. I’ve seen that many times, you’re telling Google with a canonical, like, hey, this page is similar to this page over here, give the credit to this page, right? And then Google sometimes disregards that and well, you know, both pages will index and they’ll both rank. And that happens. So I would suggest a canonical instead of a 301 if that’s what you’re trying to accomplish, but remember that just because you canonicalize. It doesn’t, you know, doesn’t mean Google’s going to honor that. It also doesn’t mean that they won’t honor it. Right? It just kind of it’s kind of a crapshoot. So yeah, what, what that is canonical is when you have similar or the same, and it doesn’t have to be two. It could be two or more, however many copies of that document. There is there exists. You can tell Google which ones the master copy is and to rank that one, rather than all the other. Now, whether Google follows the directive, well, that’s up to Google. And they’re not telling what they’ll do is right.

Yeah, and just to, you know, kind of reinforce that I’m working on a tree care project. for it, you know, for new, a new lead gen service provider that I got. And it’s a case study that I’m doing in the mastermind, and I use tags, tags to create location silos anyways, a Google, it’s a new site, right? And my blogger just started blogging for the location posts on the site. And the way that we’re doing building it out with using tags to create the location silos. Google was ranking the tag pages, but not, but not the posts that I wanted to be ranked. And it indexed the tag pages first, right and the tag pages because some in some cases, they’re unique tags, which means that the tag page is a duplicate of post, that if you guys understand how tags work, that’s what happens if it’s a unique tag, it’s only in one post, then the tag page itself is essentially a duplicate of the post. And so for whatever reason, Google index the tag pages instead of the posts, and so the tag pages were ranking for the keywords, but not the post. And so and I even set the canonical in the tag setting with SEO ultimate Pro, you can do that because you can go to what’s called the Global canonical manager, or even the code inserter plus module, you can actually go in and add like a separate canonical for each tag and all that kind of stuff anyway. So I added the canonical URLs for the tag pages to canonicalize to the post, right, when it’s a unique tag, you can do that. And but Google wasn’t honoring it. And about two weeks went by and so finally I went just this week, I just went to search console, and forced Google to recrawl the posts or excuse me, the tag pages because they had the canonical URLs in the HTML header to point to the posts that I wanted to give the credit to. Right and that’s what I want to be ranked, and it only took about 24 hours, and lo and behold, now the tag pages aren’t indexed, but the posts are, which is what I wanted. So again, it, you know, that doesn’t mean that that’s always going to happen, because it could be that Google doesn’t honor the canonical or doesn’t, you know, doesn’t recognize it for whatever reason, they, By the way, you can also check that when you submit inspect URL in Search Console. And once it inspects the URL, it’s going to tell you whether it’s in Google or not. And there’s a drop-down setting that your menu that you can click on to expand, it shows you additional details, and it’ll tell you what the Google recognized canonical is for that page, or that post whatever URL it is that you’re inspecting. Right? And so you can clearly see what Google seeing. So you can force a canonical, and then go ask Google to request indexing. And then once it does, you know you can look at the code that it shows like the rendered page and it’ll tell you the details of that and it’ll show you if it if it saw the canonical or not. So anyway, hopefully, that was helpful. Do you see SEO

Is It Okay To Embed MyMap Via Tag Manager?

Is it? Is it okay to embed the mind map via Tag Manager? I’m not sure how you would do that.

I’m not sure how you would do that. Tag Manager creates container codes, right header code, and Body Code. And then you inject things into that like scripts and tracking codes and pixels and that kind of stuff. And I don’t know what embedding a my map would do, or if it would even read. Is that something you have any idea about? Marco?

Hello, sorry. Yeah, sorry about that. I was talking intimidated might not I think you can. You can use iframes with Tag Manager not not only that, you can track them. Hmm. Am I giving away too much? Oh, nevermind.

I’ll have to play with that DC. I’m not sure. I’ve never done it. Don’t listen, go play with it. And then and then look at all the nice stuff that happens in there.

Okay.

Cool, well there you go.

Is It A Good Deal To Have A 1500 Monthly Retainer Plus Sale Percentage?

Unknown Speaker 45:03 Alright, so moving on next one is Josh says I am changing locations from my current office to a shared workspace and apparently with Google, this isn’t a verifiable address so they won’t verify my GMB profile with this type of address. With the MG y b GMB service will this help with this issue?

Is it a storefront or a service area business that would be my question. Can you get a listing right now a GMB listing through MGYB? Yes.

As we talked about with Mohammed’s question earlier, if it’s a storefront business, I don’t recommend using a spam GMB listing for any type of storefront business because you mislead potential customers because they think it’s in one location and you are indeed in another location. So the only time I would ever recommend using a spammed GMB listing, let’s call it what it is. As for a service area business where the actual physical location in the GMB profile is hidden from the public, so it makes sense. So again, if it’s a service area business, then yes, that would help you. If it’s a storefront business, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Any comments, guys?

No, I think that’s absolutely right, man. It’s a myth. You got to know what you’re getting into. Especially if you’re, if you’re going to spam it, right?

Yeah.

I’ve gotten away from doing spam, GMB listings just because the how much volatility there’s been in the last, you know, many months. Um, so I’m working more heavily on the organic side. Now, again, which has been years since I really pushed that. So it’s interesting, and that’s what the tree care project that I’m working on is, in part is a case study for the mastermind, is working on mostly organic rankings. I do have some GMB locations that are going to be incorporated into the project most of the organic rankings. And I’m also doing a lot of call ads call-only ads for Google ads. They are

If you’re very specific with Google call-only ads with your what I call Bullseye keywords, then you can get some pretty good results with that. It’s a lot less expensive than actual clicks to like, you know, regular PPC pay per Click type ads, pay per call ads are a little bit less expensive if you have very, very targeted keywords with location modifiers and such. So that’s what I’m working on right now.

What MGYB Service Should You Use Get More SEO Clients?

Lonnie says I landed my first client concrete company 1500 dollars per month plus percentage of sales. This is a good deal fucking a man. Congratulations, Lonnie. That’s all that looks like it looks like a really good deal. Absolutely. That’s a cherry deal for sure. So congratulations, man. I’m gonna hop in real quick and say it’s all relative, right? One congrats on getting that. Especially the percentage of sales and revenue. That’s a big one that I think a lot of people miss out on. But keep in mind too, this is totally dependent on what he’s doing for that. 1500 That’s true. You’d be getting worked to the fucking ground for 1500 but you know

It’s up to you, you You are the person who can determine whether or not that’s worthwhile. Yeah, that’s a great point, Adam.

And just know this, if it’s your first client, you probably are going to be work to death anyways. Because it’s your first client and you will learn over time, how to set boundaries with clients. Just talk to Mohammed who’s always here asking questions every single week. Mohammed’s been following us for a long, long time, and we’ve watched him grow considerably over the last couple of years. And he’s experienced a lot of growing pains and come here and ask for advice. And that’s what this forum is for Lonnie. So feel free to come back and ask questions every week. concerning how to handle certain situations doesn’t always have to be SEO related either. It could just be about how to handle particular clients, business operations, management, outsourcing, all that kind of stuff. Guys, we’re here to help grow your business as much as possible. Yes, we talk a lot about SEO. But there’s a lot of other things that we’ve all learned with our experience over the years on how to, you know, help you to avoid some of the mistakes that we’ve all made.

But just know that it is your first client there, it’s likely you’re going to be work to death for that client. And that’s okay. Because you’re going to learn a lot from that. And you’ll begin to learn how to start to set boundaries. And remember, you know, one thing I want to recommend is, you do need to also set like communication boundaries, I don’t know that your new client is is somebody that might message you outside of business hours or over the weekend and that kind of stuff. But I’ve got a lot of clients that still to this day do, but I’ve trained them that I don’t reply to messages after hours or on weekends. Unless it’s an emergency like I have a preschool client that had a site go down on over a weekend and I had my daughter and I did actually help him because he’s a really good client and me, you know, I felt for him and I wanted to help him but very rarely do I ever reply to anything outside of ours, because once you set that precedent, people will take advantage of it. I don’t know that they mean to be malicious, but they just think that hey, I messaged him at night and he answered me, so, therefore, it’s okay for me to ask questions at any time, I would recommend that you know, as your first client, you need to start to learn how to set boundaries right upfront.

Anyways, let’s get back to the question. Sorry, I’m glad that Adam put that into perspective, because I immediately saw that percentage. And my mind went to the mat, my mind always goes to the numbers, where I normally get this company to 100-200k a month recurring for you know, out of if it’s like Costa Rica, where they work around, like, it’s killer money, it’s killer money, but even if it’s seasonal, right, you can’t work in the winter, if what if they’re doing driveways or whatever it is that they’re paving. If they’re laying a concrete slab, you’re talking about 100 k easy and if you charge 10 to 15% of that recurring, then I’m seeing that as a really good deal. If you’re going to be worked to the bone and the client can’t close. Then you got a problem. So thanks for putting that into perspective.

Yeah, not to downplay it. Yeah, definitely just wanted to tell because the way he phrased it that’s what gave me the hesitation. It’s like, Is this good? Like, man, there’s no way for us to know you’re the one who’s got to do that. But you know, congratulations on doing that. That’s good to see. Yeah. And I mean, like I said, Just remember, as your first client, you will make mistakes, there’s no question, you will work harder than you probably should. And that’s okay. Like I said, you’re going to learn from that. So, you know, just keep that in mind. Remember, come back here and ask questions often and we’ll try to provide you as much advice as we can. He says, also, I’m looking for simple services I can use to get me in on getting clients and suggestions. By the way, I love the video lead gen 2xyoruagency. Well, there, there you go. You have the video lead gen system and 2xyoruagency which is great for prospecting and generating prospects, right? Don’t build that pipeline first. Right? And that’s super, super important in through having a full pipeline of prospects and making presentations sending proposals, right so pitching prospects, you will get better, you’re gonna lose money upfront, and that’s okay. But you will get better you’ll be able to polish your presentation and your pitch and your message and all of that. And so just that’s why it’s so important guys to fill that pipeline full of prospects so that you can make those mistakes. And not every prospect that you talk to is going like you depend on them to be able to put food on your table. If because if that’s the case, desperation comes through and everything that you do, and they can smell that from a mile away. And so I think it’s better to have a pipeline full of prospects because then it’s okay, you don’t need anyone of them because you have more behind them. Right, that makes sense. As far as simple services, I recommend getting the most updated version of the battle plan if you don’t already have that. A lot of that was covered in 2xyoruagency anyways, but the battle plan is a very succinct version of what we recommend to get results and timelines for doing so and all of that and it’s very inexpensive. So I’d recommend you pick that up if you don’t have it already.

I’d also say mgyb.co, I mean everything there for you to offer your clients, whatever it is that they want. Everything is their press releases, liquidity and anything and everything that you need to do to produce results for your clients in MGYB.co. And if it doesn’t mean you have a good idea of a product that let us know.

What Is A Money Site?

This is a great question from Josh, he says, And see, guys, this is the thing you know, I think we often forget. Because we’ve been in this industry so long that not everybody understands the terminology. He says one more quick question, what exactly do you mean by money site that means your primary digital asset so like, whatever your primary domain is that you host your, your website for your business on? That’s what we call a money site. Why? Because it’s the site that generates you money, right? A lot of the other stuff that you know, we talked about is tier-one branded entity assets. Again, big terminology for basically meaning like social profiles and stuff that you can build a branded profile or presence on that you’re going to link back to your money site, your money site is your Epicenter, right? It’s your point of origin, it’s the golden frame, you always want to drive, all traffic all leads as much as possible back to your money site, because you have control over that’s an asset that you own and control, having ancillary profiles on social media properties and, you know, web to Dotto properties, and all that kind of stuff is great. And that’s what we do with the SEO shoot as we build all that stuff out. But ultimately, you don’t own those platforms. They could be taken away from you by Google, by YouTube, by Facebook, whatever, at any time. So they’re great to have. They’re great to use. But it’s best to try to use those to push people push traffic back to your money site because you do have control over that. And there’s so much more than you can do that. So your money site is again it’s your self hosted primary domain asset for your business, your company, your project, whatever it may be. Anybody else wants to take a stab at that? Yeah.

It could be your Google My Business website. It could be that it could be your your G site. It could be, you know, a free WordPress blog or blogger, Tumblr, or wherever it is that you choose to blog from, like, you don’t have to have something that’s self hosted. WordPress, are a self hosted domain for you to have a money site. This is like you said, it’s the place where you plan to send people to in order to make money and edit in order to sell your product service or whatever it is that you want people to see or buy. That’s your money site. Why? Because it makes you money. Not to say that there are other places that could make you money like social media, but it’s the primary source of what it is that you’re planning to do. Yeah, that’s a great point because as we talked about a lot of lead gen assets that I have don’t have a self-hosted money site. They are just GMB website.

In other words, the website, the Google My Business provides you which is free. And ultimately you don’t have full control over that Google does. Right. So I, you know, I’m glad Marco brought that up. Because I just mentioned self-hosted website, it doesn’t have to be that recommend that was possible. But there are times where it makes sense to not build a self-hosted website, for example, spammed GMB listings, it might not be wise to go through the trouble of building out a, you know, a self-hosted site because of all the work that goes into it. Whereas, you know, in case it was to get suspended, you lose all of them, the work that you did, essentially. So in that case, you know, the GMB website becomes the primary website for that location. Or another option would be like Marco said, you know, Google Site g site, right, so sites.google.com, that they, Marco and Rob have done several projects using those as the money site, and it works. It works really, really well. So the money site is exactly what Marco described, which is whatever it is that you’re using to make money.

If you’re going to build a brand, I think it’s important to build a self-hosted website with the brand name as the domain name, because you can really grow the authority of that brand and you benefit from that in so many ways. So, it’s a great question though. Alright, so the last question and we’ve only got three minutes left, we’re gonna wrap it up.

What SEO And Lead Gen Contract Do You Recommend?

He says, Lonnie says I’m having trouble with putting an SEO and lead with I’m sorry, with put an SEO and lead gen contract. Do you have any recommended contract forms? No, I don’t, you know, you could probably just go online and find some templates that you could use. I personally don’t like to use contracts I, I mean, I have in the past, but typically, it’s only for bigger companies that, you know, they want the contract. I like to do everything on a verbal agreement. So that and I always say this to potential prospects or customers look, you know, if I’m doing my job, you’re gonna want to continue paying me if I’m not, you’re not gonna want to continue paying me and that’s okay. I also want to be able to part ways from that client if we don’t dive well, we don’t agree on things if it’s just not a good fit, and I don’t want to be locked into a contract either. So I don’t expect my clients to want to be locked into a contract. And sometimes that burns me, for example, I had a home inspector client, that, you know, I very clearly stated what the timeline was going to be on results.

I typically asked for, hey, give me this much time. And before that time had passed before I reached that certain level of time that I mentioned, he canceled services. And I you know, And to me, that’s really unfair for both of us because he wasn’t able to get the results that he wanted, because it wasn’t, you know, fast enough for him even though I clearly stated all of that before we agreed to work together. But at the same time, I put a lot of work into that and it wasn’t able to fully realize the efforts you know, for him or for myself for my own satisfaction because he stopped paying me before all the work had been completed, if that makes sense. Sometimes I wish I did have a contract in place. But for the most part, I like the ability to be able to walk away from a client. And I also like them to know that they don’t, they’re not locked into a contract that kind of eases that.

That low and lowers the barrier to entry, so to speak. However, that said, there might be a difference of opinion here for some of the other guys. And you guys have a suggestion for him.

Now, you know me, I don’t do contracts. I hate him. I hate him. He locks me into everything. And what if I want to go out and maybe the client doesn’t want to go well, what if I want to go? What if I can’t stand the client? I want to go and then I’m bound by a contract for a year with this guy that I can’t stand that knows more or supposedly knows more than I do, which sometimes happens.

If you know how to produce results, then always go, “Look, I’ll give you results.” But record the quality I always record the call that that call. We talk

Bradley, what is going to take this long? I always have that recorded even though there’s no contract and I let the guy know Look, I’m gonna record the call. And then you can always refer revert back to that’s a contract, believe it or not, that’s a contract. Right? And it’ll hold up in most courts. I believe in the US. It’ll hold up, it’ll hold up in Costa Rica.

That’s a good idea. And yeah, if you disclose that right up front, and then get it on the recording, you do agree that this is being recorded, and that’s okay, right.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. I’m going to be recording this, I’m just gonna point this way. This way, we can refer back to the conversation, you know exactly what took place. I know exactly what to put in you walk them through, you know that this is going to take about 90 days for results. thereabouts. Because if you don’t, then you go into the process because I have to set everything up. And then we get everything going. I’m probably going to get two results before but I can’t guarantee any Google experience tells me that within 90 days, we should be able to see something, and then we can work from there but I need 90 days from you.

Are you okay with that? Yeah, yeah, sure, you’re gonna get that nine out of 10. So now you have a binding contract now, at the end of it you tell at the end of those 90 days when we meet again, then we’ll decide if we continue.

Now real quick, I know Adam is if you’re still paying attention, I know we’re a little bit over, but I think you have a little bit of a different methodology. Is there any way you can comment on this? Um, yeah, I just I’m trying to think like, I don’t have too much of a difference it’s kind of constantly evolving. But yeah, I mean, as far as contracts go like I stay out of that I’ve never done anything. Okay. Yeah. And then, if he’s looking for actual he may just mean, he’s looking for an outline for like a proposal or an engagement proposal. If that’s the case, just contact support at semantic mastery comm will point you in the right direction. I know Hernan put one out there we had as a free opt-in that you could get as an outline. And that can be really helpful. I mean, I’ve used other people’s as a starting point when I’m changing services.

Adding something in just so that I have a good starting point then you tailor it kind of to your specifics.

Very good. Thank you. Alright guys, thanks everybody for being here is Chris were you gonna says something? I’m sorry. I mean like he is like a lead gen contract. I mean, like why not sell on a per lead basis? I don’t see there’s an issue you can do like a contract that states the price of the elite.

Yeah. So you should be fine that way. It should be super easy.

Sweet. Well, thanks for your input, guys. And thanks, everybody for being here. We will see you guys next week. Bye, everyone. Bye, everyone.

Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 289 published first on your-t1-blog-url

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