#Just found a comment by someone complaining about how short my ONE THOUSAND+ PAGES OF COMIC BACKLOG was because they were sick of

[booksnbolts]

and remember kids! If you complain about update lengths on Webtoon, you would not have survived the pre-Webtoon webcomic era.

[puckmeupfam]

Sap | Jeff Skinner

Word Count: 2287

Note: My autumnal aesthetic piece that I started in July. Title is based on the fact that this is entirely fluff without plot, and because it takes place in the Northeast with references to maple syrup, cider donuts, and leaf-peeping. 

Zipping your newly packed suitcase and pulling it off the bed, you heard the front door open signaling that Jeff arrived home from practice. It was a rare time when he had the weekend off. No games, no practices after the one he just finished, just free time which he chose to devote to spending with you. The two of you loved going on short trips whenever possible to escape the monotony of work and grocery shopping and Buffalo. Honestly, you could spend the weekend in Lackawanna and be happy as long as you were with Jeff. This particular weekend was special because it was now solidly fall. The temperatures were dropping. The leaves were changing. Swimsuits were being swapped out for sweaters. And golf was being replaced by hockey.

You had spent most of the summer in Markham. Coming from a smaller family, you were always enamored by Jeff’s. At this point, you honestly considered them to be your family, too. You loved talking to Jillian about her time in law school or asking Ben about his hockey career in Germany. It was also hilarious to watch the five siblings tease Jeff about his competitiveness or on-ice gaffs, but he was always a good sport about it and just laughed with bright red cheeks. You knew how much it meant to Jeff when he got to spend time with his family and experience that warmth and joy. The both of you were incredibly lucky that Buffalo isn’t too far away, but with his schedule, the uninterrupted summer was extra special.

As you were lost in your thoughts, you missed Jeff coming up the stairs and into your shared bedroom. His arms wrapped around your waist and his face found its way into the crook of your neck. The action brought an unconscious smile to your face as you leaned back into him.

“Whatcha thinking about?” he asked you, voice muffled against your skin as he lightly swayed. You shrugged in response, “We should probably get Andrea a birthday gift while we’re gone, something nice you know? Show we were thinking about her.” Jeff hummed in response. He rocked the two of you a bit before speaking, “Are you ready to leave?” You took a deep breath, inhaling his cologne. Turning your body to look him in the eye you smiled softly, “Almost,” you whispered, “we should probably get going before they decide they need you to individually kiss each fan.” This elicited a booming laugh from Jeff that you felt throughout your body, “The only person I’m kissing is you.”

After another minute of contentment, you shuffled him away from you to grab some chargers and last-minute necessities. He chuckled as he started pulling your suitcase down to the car, he knew how much you were looking forward to this trip. You had spent the last week researching and talking about all the spots you wanted to visit while you were away. Grabbing your purse and hoisting it over your shoulder you did a last-minute sweep of the house to make sure that everything was unplugged and you weren’t leaving candles lit or stovetops on. After your anxieties were quelled you went outside and joined Jeff in the car. He had already put your B&B into the GPS and he flashed you a large grin which you eagerly matched as he pulled out of the driveway.

This trip the two of you were going to Western Massachusetts. It was about a five and a half hour drive, probably longer since you knew you would be stopping for lunch and every state park that came your way. You synched your phone and started playing music, knowing that you had a playlist with the perfect ambiance. Jeff always teased you for making playlists for every mood, weather pattern, task, or aesthetic that came in your head. But when the soft chords came through the speakers and his fingers started a gentle tap against the steering wheel to the beat, you knew that it was appreciated.

In Buffalo, the weather was just cool enough that the seat warmers got turned on but not yet so cold that you were shivering. You were cruising down the highway, close to crossing city lines. When you glanced over at Jeff he had a small smile, like he wasn’t even thinking about it. Just watching the road with an underlying well of happiness. You took a minute to look at him, to take him in. His smile turned out to be infectious and you knew your face was probably spread with a dopey grin.

“You’re staring,” Jeff said, breaking the silence.

“You didn’t even look over. How would you know?” you complained.

“I could feel your stare,” he responded, looking over at you with a grin that took over his whole face. His statement made you burst out laughing. While the whole thing was funny and, you were sure that he really did get that weird feeling you get when someone’s looking at you, it made you think about how you were always so aware of each other. The two of you could be in a crowd of people at some Sabres bruncheon and someway somehow you could always glance up and see him already looking at you. Or when you would go to some team party, you always had a tendency to reach for each other’s hands at the same time.

“You would stare at you too,” was your response after you had realized that you went a few beats too long just staring into space.

It was Jeff’s turn to laugh, “what does that even mean?”

“It means,” you started, drawing out the word, “that you’re cute and potentially the embodiment of sunshine and everyone would stare at you if they could and I will simply not defend myself further.”

Jeff rolled his eyes at your dramatic tone and faux-seriousness. He swung his arm out over to you, holding it in the air until you grabbed his hand in both of yours. You pulled his hand into your lap and leaned further back into the passenger seat. Turning your head to the side to watch the city escape, your eyes unfocused and your brain turned to elevator music as your temple rested against the window. After a few minutes of contented silence, Jeff’s hand made its way to your thigh and squeezed, drawing your attention.

“Look at the leaves, babe,” he told you. The passing trees were dotted with warm-colored leaves of crimson, tangerine, marigold, and honey. It was absolutely gorgeous and seemed like a sign that your trip was only going to get better. You stared in awe for about a mile before you looked back at Jeff. His eyes flickered from the road to your face and the look he gave you, full of love and peace, made you feel so warm.

“They’re so pretty,” you said softly. You moved your hand to twine your fingers together and you watched his dimples come out in full force as he forced his eyes to stay on the road. After a few moments of contentment, you spoke again, “do you want me to tell you about the plant pigments that make these colors possible?”

Jeff chuckled, but you knew that your joke didn’t ruin the moment or anything else that you might think if you were talking to someone else. Because Jeff knew you, he loved you. He loved your bad jokes, your stories that you’ve already told him multiple times but just like telling again and again, the way you go into lectures to explain things that he had never thought twice about, your urge to talk during movies to comment on the scene or the actor’s personal life. He loved the best parts of you and he loved the worst parts of you. And this moment? Where you feel the light beaming out of your heart. It isn’t the moment. It’s just a moment in a string of hundreds of thousands of moments that you’ll experience with your favorite person.

--

After about two hours in the car, you were close to Syracuse and decided to stop for lunch. The two of you decided on a cute, local diner. Jeff parked the car and as you stepped out, you stretched your legs to rid yourself of the wobbly feeling from being in a car too long. The sidewalks were made of a red brick and there was a quiet hustle with people walking their dogs and couples going in and out of shops. The two of you walked side-by-side, but right when you were about to reach the door Jeff stepped ahead to hold it open for you. Stepping through you smiled at him and he followed you in. There seemed to be a typical lunch rush, but the restaurant wasn’t crowded. A waitress pointed you towards a booth and you slumped into it as Jeff sat across from you.

You both ordered coffees before cracking the menu open to see what they had. The pages were lined with different sandwiches, egg dishes, pancakes, and all the typical diner food that you loved. You settled on your order fairly quickly but Jeff scanned the pages until the coffees were brought out and the waitress was asking for your order. Handing her your menu, you explained what you wanted before both of you turned your attention towards your boyfriend.

“Could I have the brownie french toast?”

At that you raised your eyebrows at him incredulously. As the waitress walked away, scribbling your orders down as she went, Jeff looked back at you and laughed at your expression. “Cheat weekend,” was his explanation. He shrugged with an expression on his face like he was being forced to order what was likely the sugariest option on the menu. You threw your hands up to say you weren’t judging. Jeff quickly launched into a story about something Jack did at practice and that filled your wait until the food was brought to your table. Your boyfriend’s eyes widened comically when his food came out. It looked like there had been a blizzard of powdered sugar. It was topped with a whopping pile of whipped cream and a generous amount of rainbow sprinkles, just in case the brownie batter wasn't sweet enough.

Neither of you wasted any time in diving into your food and when you glanced up at Jeff after a few minutes you giggled when you saw that some of that whipped cream had ended up on his nose. You stealthily pulled out your phone to snap a picture of him. Once he heard the click of your camera he looked up at you which reignited your laughter.

“What?” he asked, chuckling lightly with you even without knowing the reason.

Without explaining yourself, you just reached out and swiped the sweet substance off his face before licking it off your finger. His response was just a sharp laugh with rolled eyes, head thrown back a bit at your antics. He knew full well that you were going to tease him for a long time for his choice of ridiculously confectionary lunch. You returned to your food with a shake of your head, but when you turned to take a sip of your coffee you noticed that Jeff had absolutely demolished his plate of french toast and was now trying to collect the remnant of whipped cream with his fork.

“It’s not going to be my fault when you crash from all that sugar,” you told him. He watched you dig your teeth into your lip to try and conceal the smile that was threatening to break through.

“Honestly, (Y/N), I’ve never felt better in my life. The sprinkles fuel me. I think I’ll make this my pre-game meal,” Jeff said with an air of seriousness. Sadly for him, but luckily for you, he had a genetic inability to suppress his smiles. You leaned back in the booth until your head hit the pleather upholstery and kicked your feet up to rest in his lap underneath the table.

“Don’t overwhelm yourself, I’m taking you to the Sugar Shack tomorrow and we’re getting the cider donuts.”

Jeff pulled a shocked and aghast face in response, “How dare you insinuate that I would ever be anything other than thrilled at the very prospect of cider donuts? You know, just because you said that I’m going to get two orders and we’ll see what you say when I eat those and yours too.”

You rolled your eyes so dramatically that you knew, if your mom were there, she would be telling you that they’d get stuck like that. Under the table, you kicked your legs up to rest in Jeff’s lap as he waved his arm to flag down the waitress for the bill. You sat quietly, just watching as he went through the monotony of thanking the waitress and putting his card in the sleeve of the bill. When he looked back at you, he smiled knowing that he caught you staring for the second time that day.

“You ready?” He asked you. A simple question, given that you were on a roadtrip with a predetermined destination. But with the opportunity to just appreciate him and your relationship, without the stress of your schedules or outside influences, it just felt meaningful. There was no one you would rather be with, during the happiest moments of your life or the worst. You felt a little misty with the joy of having him by your side.

“With you? Always.”

Pulling yourself out of the booth, you extended your hand for him to grasp and continued onwards.

[sevenseasofbangtan]

BTS REACTION — HOW YOU MET (IDOL VERSION)

Summary: Idol!BTS meet Foreigner!Reader

Warnings: None, except maybe light cursing, reference to a car crash and mentions of alcohol being consumed.

Note: In these scenarios, all members are fluent in English (or they can at least hold a good conversation). I tried to keep all the scenarios gender-neutral, although I had a specific vision in mind for Hoseok’s and Jungkook’s one, which involved a girl. If anyone wants me to write new scenarios or to rewrite these ones in a gender-neutral form, feel free to let me know.

KIM SEOKJIN (JIN)

It was a rainy day and clouds were filling the sky, hiding any trace of sunlight. As you walked through the streets of Seoul with your friend, an umbrella in one hand, you listed different possible activities you could spend your free time on. You both had just arrived in Seoul and although you hadn’t seen much yet, you had already fallen in love with South Korea’s capital.

Seokjin had a few days off from promotion, glad to get a short break from his hectic schedule. Even though he loved his job to no end, he sometimes needed some time off to himself, so he could go back to work feeling more inspired and relaxed than ever.

He had recently opened a restaurant with his brother and had decided to go lend a hand to the staff, seeing as someone couldn’t make it to work that day. He knew this was far from the stress-free day he had envisioned for himself, but there were two reasons why he felt compelled to head to the restaurant as soon as he woke up that morning, the first one being that he was one of the directors of said restaurant and that it only seemed natural that he visited and helped around from time to time, the second being that he was a generally very caring being and that refusing the request would simply be choosing to go against his core values.

Both your friend and yourself hadn’t yet thought of an appropriate way to keep yourselves occupied, but all you knew was that you were beginning to get quite hungry, your stomach grumbling every once in a while. You didn’t want to disrupt the course of your friend’s thoughts, but you thought it might be relevant to bring up the idea of stopping by a small restaurant to take a bite. As soon as you voiced your suggestion, her face lit up, and with a mysterious and excited tone, she declared, “Oh, I know a place where we could eat!” You agreed with a shrug, thinking to yourself that any restaurant would do at this point.

You walked in the streets for a good twenty minutes before finally reaching your destination, your friend becoming more and more excited with each step, but categorically refusing to tell you why. You entered the friendly-looking restaurant, analyzing your surroundings. On the outside, it looked as any other Japanese-style restaurant, but the inside was harmoniously decorated, suggesting the owner had great taste in accessorizing and inside decoration. A few plants were randomly displayed throughout the restaurant and the wooden touches gave a warm feeling, in contrast with the overall modern style of the building.

As you sat down to your assigned table and began flipping through the pages of the menu, after having spent a good half-hour waiting in line and complaining to (y/f/n), she called out your name and finally decided to tell you what had been on her mind ever since she came up with the idea of stopping by this particular restaurant: “You know about BTS, right?” “Of course! Who doesn’t?” “Well this place just happens to be owned by Jin and his brother!” You chuckled and commented, “Well now I get why you were so excited all of a sudden and why we had to waste thirty minutes of our precious time waiting in line! It’s certainly what’s causing all the hype surrounding this restaurant... This food better be worth the wait though!”

After having spent an overall total of forty five minutes waiting, the food finally came. You furrowed your brows in confusion as you heard several people gasping in unison when the waiter arrived with the numerous plates of meat, vegetables and other side dishes you would be sharing with your friend. As you looked up, you nearly choked on the water in the glass you were drinking from, quickly identifying your waiter as Kim Seokjin, Jin from BTS himself.

Seokjin had finally decided to step out of the kitchen, unable to stand the heat of the crowded area anymore, and as he saw two physically distinct woman sitting at a table, he specifically requested to attend to that table, intrigued and interested in the unusual situation.

In an attempt to make a nice first impression and as to project a good image of his restaurant, he formally introduced himself, trying to remember all that Namjoon and his English teachers had taught him about the English language over the years: “Hello! Welcome to Ossu Seiromushi! My name is Seokjin and I will be your waiter for today. Is this your first time here?” “Yeah,” the both of you answered at the exact same time. He quickly exclaimed, “Oh this is great! I hope that you will enjoy our food and that you will want to come back here next time!”

As your meal went on, Seokjin periodically came back to check on you, way more often than a usual waiter would, trying to hold some sort of conversation as much as possible given the fact that some fans occasionally interrupted the discussion to interact with their idol, and you had to admit that despite the situation, you enjoyed yourself quite a lot and already planned on visiting again soon, as suggested by Seokjin himself. You also had to admit the food lived up to your expectations, much to friend and your waiter’s delight.

When it was finally time to leave and to carry on with your day, it was with a heavy heart that you left the cozy building filled with delicious smells, knowing you might not be met by your friendly waiter the next time you stopped by in the future.

As you left the restaurant and as he headed back to the kitchen, Seokjin made sure to inform his brother about his lovely encounter and to make sure he kept an eye out for the two charming foreigners next time they came back.

MIN YOONGI (SUGA)

After having spent almost a year without seeing his family, Yoongi was finally returning to Daegu, having a brief pause in his busy schedule. As soon as he entered the familiar building that used to be his own house, he was greeted by Geumjae, his older brother, who had come over for the night knowing his younger brother was visiting, his dog, Holly, and the scent of his favourite dish, that his mom had so kindly decided to cook. Memories began flooding his mind and he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about his past life, before he even though of becoming an idol. He was glad to have a break, even if it was only for a few days, so he could remember what being normal feels like, although he knew deep down he would never be seen as a ‘normal’ person anymore, even in his hometown. In fact, he was almost an heroic figure there, seeing as it almost seemed like a miracle that a young man from this small neighbourhood had succeeded in the international music stage.

You had arrived a while ago in Korea, settling down in a small apartment in Seoul. However, your desire of seeking new challenges and to explore the unknown led you to smaller cities, including your current location: Daegu. You had rented a hotel room nearby for a few days and had instantly fallen in love with the more modest buildings of the residential neighbourhoods and the flora of your surroundings, even though this town technically wasn’t half as impressive as South Korea’s biggest city, Seoul.

You had decided to go out and explore the city once the sun began to set, so the streets would be nearly empty and you’d be completely immersed into the peaceful atmosphere of the area. You aimlessly wandered around the town, stopping in a quiet park to sit down on the grass, staring at the sky.

Yoongi had dragged his brother out with him, still feeling the nostalgia from his childhood. He knew the only time he could come out of his house without getting noticed by locals was in the late evening, so he waited until it was pitch black outside to leave the familial residence. As soon as he stepped out, the light breeze surrounded him and the sound of silence rang in his ears, making him feel at home again. He carried a conversation with his older brother while walking on the sidewalk, the only lighting being provided by the small shops on the other side of the street, the lampposts lined along the sidewalk and the thousands of stars in the sky. Soon enough, the both of them reached the park where they had shared so much memories back when they were still children.

You got up from your spot on the fresh grass, beginning to walk again. At this point, you had to admit you were a little lost, after having mindlessly walked through the city for an hour or so. The once warm temperature had decreased, leaving you shivering through the thin fabric of your shirt and your partly exposed legs, and you could barely see where you were going as the sun had completely set.

You were so absorbed in trying to find your way back, that you had completely ignored your surroundings. You suddenly heard some noise directly coming from behind you, yelling in surprise. Your screams were answered by those of two manly voices. You looked up, meeting the eyes of two young men, seeming as surprised as you did. You quickly apologized, embarrassed from causing such a scene, but the boys assured you there was no harm done and you shouldn’t worry about such a thing.

Soon enough, you initiated a conversation with the two men you found out turned out being brothers. The oldest was named Geumjae, while the youngest, who seemed to be relatively close to your age, was named Yoongi, a name that sounded oddly familiar to your ears. Having nothing better to do, you sat back down in the grass, carrying on with your discussion. It was definitely close from midnight, but it didn’t seem to bother any of you. The boys were intrigued about what had brought you to their city in particular, seeing as you weren’t from the area, so you shared your story without neglecting a single detail, as the boys sitting in front of you questioned you from time to time, seemingly interested in your adventures.

After spending so much time outside, you could barely feel your arms anymore, your body not being able to keep you warm for much longer. You kept shivering and Yoongi soon noticed, offering you his hoodie, as the well-mannered man he was. After having made sure he didn’t mind, you gladly accepted his offer, the soft fabric warming up your skin at the very first contact.

Yoongi finally asked you where you were staying and as you answered, his brows knit in confusion. “But that’s at the other end of town... How long have you been walking?” he asked, staring at you. You shrugged, having lost track of time. “You’re really going to walk all the way back there?” he questioned you, seeming perplexed. You finally admitted being absolutely lost. At your confession, Yoongi suggested he and his brother gave you a ride back to your hotel. You felt terribly embarrassed at the thought of having to burden the kind strangers with your own issue, especially at such a late time in the evening, but you were also very tired and definitely couldn’t make it back to the hotel by yourself, so you gladly agreed, endlessly thanking the two brothers for their kindness.

About twenty minutes later, Yoongi dropped you off to the address you had given him. Before you left, he stopped you and stated, “You should keep my phone number as well as my brother’s in your phone. You never know what could happen and since you’re far from home, this might be useful. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything. I might not always be available, but it might be worth the try anyway in case there’s a problem.”

With one last ‘thank you’, you exchanged your goodbyes and wished each other a great night, hoping you might get the opportunity to meet each other again in the near future.

JUNG HOSEOK (J-HOPE)

You had moved to Korea a few months ago to begin a student exchange program in university and you were definitely enjoying the new culture, as well as the new people you had met.

You did not expect to meet so many friendly individuals you had so much in common with and you had definitely become a more sociable person over the course of the past few weeks, much to your surprise.

You had met Dawon through mutual friends at a party and you were surprised at how well you both got along almost immediately. She was very warm and welcoming and her English was definitely above average, which made it easy to communicate, though you were also improving in Korean. You knew nearly from the start that she was Hoseok’s sister, but you never truly brought it up, well aware that she must hear about him and be compared to him more than enough as it is and there is no need to make matters worse.

Dawon’s parents were soon hosting a big gathering over at their house and Dawon had decided to invite her closer friends over, as well as her fiancé, since they were already expecting a large number of guests, and you felt incredibly blessed and honoured that she considered you as one of said close friends.

On the night of the house party, Dawon had texted you, claiming that one of the friends she had invited could not make it and that you were free to invite someone else to bring along. However, by the time you noticed her message, you were almost ready to leave and didn’t bother trying to reach anyone else.

Dawon, who was living in her own apartment, came to pick you up a bit early, as she had promised her parents to help set up the decoration and cook the different meals that would be served that night. As you got in the car, you noticed she was on the phone with someone and definitely seemed displeased: “What do you mean you’re not coming? I told you not to plan anything too time-consuming today so you’d be ready for the party! I already told my mom you three were coming! On top of that, Ga Young is sick and won’t be able to make it either...” The voice on the other side of the line replied, “I know, I’m truly sorry but I can’t make the cars in front of me go faster. I’ll do as best as I can, but don’t assume anything. If we can’t make it, have a great night and I’ll talk to you later!” Before Dawon could add anything, the other person you had recognized as Eun Hye hung up.

Dawon turned to you and said, “Sorry about that, I don’t want to ruin the mood or anything, but Eun Hye just called to tell me she, Soo Ah and Ye Rin got stuck in the traffic on their way back from I don’t know where, when I clearly told them not to plan anything today so they could come to the party and I already told my mom they were coming, but they’ll most likely not make it. Now you’re going to be the only friend of mine to come over...” She kept ranting, so you reassured her, “Hey it’s okay. It’s definitely not your fault and I don’t mind staying with you and your fiancé all night. I don’t think your mom will mind having a few less people to cater to tonight either...” “Thanks (y/n), you’re way too kind,” she answered. You smiled back at her and loudly declared, “Now let’s go get your fiancé so we can make it to the party on time!”

You soon left the city and reached the nice suburbs of Gwangju, where you were greeted by Dawon’s parents who excitedly welcomed all of you, glad to see their daughter and her lovely fiancé, and intrigued by the foreigner they both had brought along. You were scared of their reactions to your obvious cultural difference, but you were pleasantly surprised by the fact that they were very kind and interested in knowing about you.

Dawon dragged you inside, where you were met by a very familiar face, which left you speechless as Dawon exclaimed, “What are you doing here? Weren’t you on tour?” He frowned in confusion, replying, “What are you talking about? I told you I was coming back on the 5th.” “Oh I thought I had heard the 15th, my bad,” Dawon stated, chuckling. She then ran to hug her brother tightly. They were definitely a close pair. “Hoseok, this is my friend (y/n). You better be nice to her because all our other friends ditched us for the night and she doesn’t know anyone here but myself and my fiancé. By the way, just saying ... she’s single,” Dawon introduced you to her sibling with a playful tone. She then turned to you, saying, “(y/n) you probably already know my brother, but nonetheless, this is Hoseok.” You bowed to her brother and he did the same, the both of you smiling a bit awkwardly at Dawon’s introductions.

You all went on to assist their parents before the guests began arriving. Throughout the night, the four of you stayed together in a peaceful corner of the backyard, as Dawon stated she “would rather avoid the intrusive aunts and uncles constantly asking her about her private life”, to which Hoseok agreed.

You all discussed your latest stories and experiences, often having a good laugh at each other’s expense. The wine and soju you had all drunk surely helped loosening everyone up and making everything sound funnier than it really should be. Hoseok was very sweet, charismatic and down to earth, and it might’ve been the alcohol speaking, but you couldn’t help thinking to yourself that he definitely was very attractive. You thought it had been easy becoming friends with Dawon, but befriending Hoseok had proven being even easier. There was something about him that was so strongly compelling.

As the party came to an end and Dawon’s fiancé drove you all back to her place, she poked your shoulder, still a bit tipsy, commenting, “You know ... My brother really seemed to like you.” You turned to her and told her to stop saying such nonsense, but she continued: “N—No I’m not even kidding! Haven’t you noticed how he kept staring at you ever since you stepped foot in the house, how he laughed a bit more at your jokes than anyone else’s—“ “That’s because my jokes are funnier than yours and he knows that. And he was staring at me because I’m obviously very different from all of you guys,” you interrupted her. “Shhh — don’t interrupt me. He always filled your wine glass first and he kept leaning towards you. I know my brother, I know he’s not like that with just anyone,” she finished. You rolled your eyes and replied, “Dawon, I think you’re tired, just go to sleep and I’ll wake you up once we get to your apartment.”

She ignored your comment and before you could even react, she reached for your phone and unlocked it, already knowing your password by heart, and typed something in. She gave you your phone back and declared, “Here’s his number, since you seemed to be just as interested as he was.” You did not dare say anything, as you knew Dawon would not take any argument if you tried to prove her wrong. Were you being this obvious? As if she read your mind, she carried on, “You were way too smiley and giggly for your usual self, even when drinking. You should give him a chance, he can be a pretty nice guy sometimes even if he often purposely annoys the hell out of me. Anyway, when’s the last time you’ve been on a date?” “Hey don’t be so mean! I’m waiting for the right person, alright?” you affirmed in a jokingly offended tone. She laughed and claimed, “Well that right person might be my brother, who knows...”

Maybe Dawon was right, maybe you should give her brother a chance after all.

KIM NAMJOON (RM)

It was nearly midnight as you stared at the digital clock resting on your nightstand. After almost having spent a full hour tossing and turning in bed, you decided you had had enough and threw the blankets off your body, sitting up in the process. It had only been two days since you arrived in Seoul and you still hadn’t quite adjusted to the jet lag yet.

You threw on some very casual clothes and headed out the door, thinking some fresh air would do you good and maybe even help you fall asleep. You loved the fact that a lot of shops were open until very late, as you enjoyed the calm of the night. You abandoned the busy streets of Seoul’s most popular districts and soon reached the much more peaceful atmosphere of a mostly residential neighbourhood, taking advantage of the quietness that surrounded you. You had seen more than enough crowded places in the last two days and desperately needed a break from the obnoxiousness of the most famous landmarks.

You eventually spotted a small café on the other side of the road that seemed quite nice. As you entered the building, you were hit by the strong but pleasant smell of freshly ground coffee as well as the emptiness of the place, though that did not surprise you, considering that it was getting late.

You went through the list of possible selections on the wall behind the order counter and eventually settled for something simple as to not excite your brain more than it already was.

You stepped forward, greeted the lady in front of you and placed your order. As you were speaking you could clearly read on the woman’s face that she did not grasp a single word of what you were saying.

Although you had learnt some of the basics of the Korean language prior to your trip and that you were still studying the language to this day, you did not consider your skills good enough to have this kind of discussion, especially not at this time of the day, when your brain could barely function normally. Ever since the beginning of your trip, you had managed to avoid speaking Korean to anyone, as there was always at least one person available who could speak in English. However, as you looked around, you soon realized that it was only you and the barista, and that you had no choice but to find a way to communicate with her.

As you were reaching through your pockets to grab your phone in order to write down what you wanted to say on a translation app, you heard a manly voice behind you, making you jump slightly, “Excuse me, do you need help?” You turned around and had to do a double take. There was no way this man standing behind you could be Kim Namjoon, or was there? You decided to keep quiet and not bring this question up just yet. After having frozen for a few seconds while you processed your thoughts, you finally answered, “Ummm, actually, yes I do. I’d like to order something, but the employee only speaks Korean and I don’t master the language enough to hold this conversation.” He smiled sweetly and nodded, questioning you about your order.

Once you told him everything there was to know, he stepped forward and began discussing with the barista, who also seemed shocked by the man’s presence, ordering for the both of you.

“How much was it?” you immediately asked as he finished ordering and paying. He looked at you and smiled once again, declaring, “It’s free. I’m paying for you. Take it as a gift.” You quickly shook your head, arguing, “Oh no, I can’t accept that! You had to go through the trouble of ordering for both yourself and myself. If anything, I should be the one paying for the both of us.” He chuckled and replied, “This is non-negotiable. No matter what you say, I won’t change my answer. If you really want to make it up to me, why don’t you just keep me company while I drink my coffee? I’d sure love to chat if you want to. Get my mind off things, forget about my stressful day, you know?” “As long as you don’t have bad intentions, I’ll gladly accept this offer,” you playfully said, making him laugh.

You both found a clean table at the back of the room and sat down with your orders, chatting about anything and everything. At one point, you couldn’t help but ask him: “Is there a possibility that I’ve seen you somewhere before?” “There is, actually. My name is Kim Namjoon—“ “From BTS, right?” He nodded, as you continued, “Wow, I just want to say that I really enjoy listening to your music and that all of you guys are amazing artists!” He smiled shyly at your compliment, still not used to receiving such positive feedback from anyone, even after all this time, and then thanked you for your kind words.

As you had both finished your drinks and as you started to feel sleepiness weighing heavy on your shoulders, you decided to call it a night and head back to where you came from. However, right before leaving, Namjoon stopped you, cleared his throat and said, “Hey, um. I could give you my number, you know... just in case you ever need anything, or if you ever wanna chat again.” You nodded, answering, “Yeah, that would be nice...” And so you both exchanged your phone numbers before leaving.

As he watched you exit in front of him, Namjoon had a feeling he would be dialling that number soon enough.

PARK JIMIN (JIMIN)

You had just landed in Seoul no more than two hours ago, accompanied by your close friend. As soon as the luggage pickup and the customs were out of the way, the two of you headed off to retrieve your rented car from the car rental company located right outside of the airport, at a three minutes distance in the shuttle bus.

After nearly waiting for an hour in line, the both of you trading places between standing in line and a nearby seat every ten minutes, you were finally done signing the contract papers and had finally gotten a hold of the car keys that would belong to you for the next month.

A kind employee directed you towards the right car and then helped you pack your luggage into its trunk and backseat as necessary, before leaving the both of you by yourselves with this unfamiliar vehicle. You settled yourself in the driver’s seat, in common agreement with your friend, and began discovering and adjusting to its features.

It had been a long time since you both had last gotten any sleep and the darkness settling outside did not help at all. As you drove out of the car rental garage, you immediately noticed the heavy rain pouring from the evening sky, sighing deeply. Then, you were hit with the sight of the immensely dense trafic of the very populated city of Seoul, groaning in annoyance. Nothing seemed to be in your favour at this instant and you were quickly regretting your decision of taking the wheel in these conditions.

You had slowly gotten adjusted to driving and were slowly making your way towards the hotel where you had booked a room for the next few days in order to finally get some rest.

You reached an extremely crowded intersection and tried to pay attention to all of the surrounding cars as you turned around the street corner. However, you forgot to switch your focus back towards the front of your car quickly enough and suddenly —

BANG

Your car suddenly hit the one right in front of yours, making you and your friend scream in shock at the unexpected impact.

BTS were on their way back to their shared dorms after having performed on a music show. All of them were exhausted as it was getting late and they had been up since the early hours of the morning. As they sat at the back of the van, some fell asleep, some stared at the window and some kept chatting despite their low energy level. A sudden impact startled the passengers of the van as the driver let out a string of curses under his breath. Thankfully, the collision was not strong enough to cause any significant harm to anyone, but they definitely knew that the car would not be left intact.

You sighed, hiding your face behind your hands before brushing your hair back in despair. This was definitely not the most ideal way to start off your vacation and you were surely not planning on spending an important sum of money in car repair for a vehicle you had just gotten not even an hour ago as well as paying for the damage occasioned to the other driver’s car.

As you got out of the car and noticed the consequences, you couldn’t help the “Oh crap” that escaped your mouth. Soon after, the other driver also came out to inspect the damages. After eyeing the back of the van for a good fifteen seconds, he turned around to face you, angrily muttering in Korean, as you stood still, staring at him in confusion. Noticing you did not understand a word of what he was saying, he resolved in going back to the van to request an English speaking person as to discuss the incident with the foreigners who had bumped into their vehicle.

You had no idea what was going on and why the driver left you standing there without any explanation. Soon, you found yourself crying from anticipation, feeling a wave of panic overtake you, which was definitely uncharacteristic of your usually composed self. When all of this would be over, you would surely blame it on the lack of sleep, the stress occasioned by travelling and the jet lag. Your friend walked over to you, resting a soft hand on your shoulder in reassurance and questioning why you were in tears, but all you could manage to do was to gesture at your car and the van. You were so caught up in your thoughts that you did not notice the men coming out of the car.

BTS all sat in the van, curious as to what was taking so long. The driver soon came back and requested the only English speaking manager to come out, as the other individuals involved in the situation did not seem to speak much Korean. Said manager then turned to Namjoon and asked him to join him, as he wasn’t fully confident of his own English skills. Taehyung had fallen asleep on Jimin, who was beginning to feel restless and slightly bored. He decided to follow the two other men out of the car, despite the orders he had received to stay seated.

Namjoon approached you and your friend, firstly asking if you could speak English. The both of you nodded, encouraging Namjoon to continue. Your vision was still blurred from the tears and you were frightened by the situation, so you barely noticed the shocked look on your friend’s face and the three men standing in front of you. The manager began speaking, but didn’t know how to finish his sentence, so Namjoon took over once again: “Would you mind telling us what happened?” Your friend immediately responded, seeing you weren’t exactly in a right state to speak much, explaining the full situation in details to the good-looking man in front of her.

Jimin had always been extremely empathetic, a trait that would sometimes betray him, as he would excuse people that did not deserve forgiveness or as some took advantage of him. However, as he listened to your friend’s story and saw you standing on the side with tears pooling in your eyes, he couldn’t help feeling the need to walk over to you and try to comfort you as best as he could. 

You felt someone resting their hand on the side of your arm, so you looked up from the ground, freezing as you finally realized who the men standing in front of you were. Jimin smiled softly, asking if you were feeling okay. As you shook your head and once again motioned at the two vehicles, he spoke up again: “Don’t worry about it too much, it happens to everyone... My friend, Jeongguk, could definitely tell you something about it.” He chuckled, then carried on, “Seriously though, we can definitely afford the repairs that need to be done to the two cars. Don’t worry about it, we’ll take care of that so you can peacefully enjoy your vacation.” You quickly shook your head, embarrassed at the thought of them paying for your own mistake, but Jimin was having none of it and dragged you back to where the others were standing, suggesting his idea to the two other men.

The manager refused, saying he was being too kind, as you were still the one who had caused the accident. Jimin did not give up and quickly thought of a seemingly fairer deal: “What about we pay for our own car and they pay for theirs? I can handle the cost for the van without a doubt.” The manager still felt sorry for you, and easily agreed to the offer.

You gratefully thanked Namjoon, Jimin and their manager, as Jimin walked back to you. “Please open your phone and give it to me.” You did as told, not knowing what to expect. Jimin seemed to be writing something down, and as he gave it back to you, you realized it was a phone number. He glanced at your slightly confused face and claimed, “Here. In case you ever need anything, you can call me, alright?” You thanked him and you both exchanged one last smile before parting ways.

As you sat back in your car, your friend turned to you and asked, “What was THAT?!” To which you replied, “You sure we’re not asleep and dreaming?” It came out as a joke, but you truly felt as though you were in some kind of dream or unconscious state since the situation felt so unreal.

You finally drove to your initial destination, the hotel, and right before falling asleep, you stared at your phone screen, a fond smile on your face.

KIM TAEHYUNG (V)

BTS had just started filming a long awaited new season of Bon Voyage. In the past few days, they had learnt how to cook traditional foods, competed in an obstacle race against one another and flew over the area in an helicopter, trying to spot important features that were listed in a document that was handed out to them.

Today, they were yet again racing against each other, but this race was much different than the one they had previously done. They were being given a map of the city they were currently in and had to orient themselves without the help of electronic devices in order to get to a specific landmark before the others did, requesting help from locals if needed. The boys all started at an equal distance from the target, but they were all separated as to avoid some members following or helping out others, which would be considered as cheating.

Taehyung looked at the map in his hands, immediately drawing over what seemed to be the quickest path to take to reach the final goal from his starting point, then searching for the right street to head on. After walking for nearly ten minutes, Taehyung noticed that the road in front of him seemed to be going uphill on a long distance. He decided he would find a new itinerary, as the one he was currently on would significantly slow him down because of its increased difficulty.

He walked for another twenty minutes, before he stopped to take a small break. He stared at the street signs, then back at his map with eyebrows knitted in confusion. It seemed he had been going the wrong way all along, despite him making sure to look out for the different streets and avenues that would lead him to the landmark. With a deep sigh, he decided he would not waste time trying to find his way back by himself and would instead resolve in asking a local for guidance.

You were getting out of a small shop, a water bottle and your phone in hand. You had planned on meeting a friend in a park at the other side of town and thought it would do you good to walk the whole distance instead of going by car or public transportation, a choice that you were deeply regretting as you felt overly thirsty and tired not even halfway towards the destination. You had forgotten to bring something to drink, so you resigned in buying a water bottle and then kept heading towards your destination.

Taehyung noticed you walking out of the store and thought that you looked nice. He walked over to you, hoping you could help direct him.

You felt someone gently tapping your shoulder, then an unknown voice said, “Excuse me, do you live around here?” Confused, you turned around and nodded at the stranger’s question. As your eyes met his, they widened in surprise. You thought you knew who these eyes belonged to, yet there was no way Kim Taehyung could be standing in front of you right this instant, or so you thought.

He smiled shyly, then continued, “Sorry to bother you... My friends and I are not from around here and we’re competing in some kind of race. I’ll spare you the details, but now I’m — kinda — lost. Could you maybe direct me the right way?” You kept your excitement to yourself, not wanting to bother him while he was on some kind of vacation, and simply asked where he was heading, so you could help him out.

As he showed you his map with a big red dot on the target location, you realized it was relatively close to where you were meeting your friend. “This is going to sound weird, but I’m heading approximately the same way, so if you want, I could walk with you and accompany you until you reach your goal, then head off to my own destination,” you suggested. You knew this was not exactly the most prudent decision, as you barely knew the person standing in front of you, at least, not personally, and he might as well have been a psychopath that was planning on abducting you, but there was something about his charming face and genuine smile that radiated trustworthiness, reliability and kindness and you couldn’t help trusting and assisting him. Too bad if you end up getting killed, at least you’ll have spent your last minutes with a handsome man. Besides, he had a cameraman with him, so what could truly go wrong?

Taehyung gladly agreed to your offer, before stating, “Well, since we’re going to spend the next minutes together, might as well introduce ourselves properly. I’m Taehyung. Nice to meet you!” His introduction sounded so simple that if you didn’t know any better, you would’ve never guessed he was part of the biggest boy group in the world. “Nice to meet you too Taehyung, I’m (y/n),” you replied with a smile, handing out your hand for him to shake.

You didn’t waste any more time and started walking towards Taehyung’s destination. However, the man did not seem to be in such a hurry as he was before. He was fascinated by everything your city had to offer, even in the smallest details, and he often stopped and pulled out his expensive camera to snap a picture of something he thought was worthy of being captured. You had to admit he really had an eye for that and seemed to take some amazing pictures that you could only hope to ever achieve. He was very interested in anything you had to tell him about your city’s history, attractions and current events, as well as stuff about yourself and your life. He was very attentive, yet revealed very little about himself. Maybe it was the fact that he was constantly in the public eye that made him that way, so you did not insist on asking him more personal questions.

As you reached Taehyung’s end goal, you both figured he was clearly not going to win the race, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. He wasn’t much of a competitive person. Before you left and he went to join his other members, he cut out a small piece of the map and took his pen out, scribbling something on the paper and handing it to you. It seemed to be his phone number.

“Thank you so much for your time and help, I promise I’ll repay you for that. Just think of anything you’d like and let me know. Have a nice rest of your day and hopefully we’ll speak again soon,” he claimed, walking away before you could argue that it was not necessary of him to repay you for anything.

You went on to meet your friend and had to explain your late arrival as they gave you a skeptic look, but believed you anyway in the end. As you got back home that night, you plugged Taehyung’s number in your phone, a wine glass in your hand. As you were about to press send on your text message, you thought to yourself that it was definitely worth giving it a try and that the worst that could happen was that you’d be left with a funny story to tell.

JEON JEONGGUK (JUNGKOOK)

You had recently gotten a job at a relatively famous club in your city through a friend who already worked there. You weren’t exactly the type one would imagine working in a club, but you were gradually getting used to the loud music, the drunk people stumbling around and the flirty individuals, who’ve had one too many drinks and who seem to forget about personal space. Not that you were complaining about it, but working a few nights in a row could be quite exhausting and you definitely enjoyed your days off even more than you used to.

It was Friday night, which was already a busy night to begin with. However, at some point, you could definitely feel the crowd getting bigger than you had expected and the atmosphere being filled with an unusual level of excitement, which had you wondering what could be happening that had gotten people so thrilled.

It wasn’t a rare occurrence that celebrities would come and visit the club, but there had never been so much enthusiasm linked to it. Although you were curious as to what was happening, you couldn’t leave your spot behind the bar unoccupied, so you kept your curiosity to yourself and kept doing what you were supposed to do and what you had been doing all night: serving drinks.

It had been about an hour since the crowd’s intensity had reached a new high when two young men came to sit on the bar stools right in front of you. As you turned to face them, you immediately recognized Jimin and Jungkook from BTS, and god were they even more gorgeous in real life than you could ever have imagined! You thought to yourself that this must be the reason why clients had been so excited all night. Feeling slightly intimidated by their presence, you minded your own business, waiting for one of them to speak to you first.

After a few awkward seconds that seemed to last for hours, Jungkook turned to you, grinned and said, “E–Excuse me miss! Y–You really have n–nice hair!” He then turned to face Jimin, who was giggling uncontrollably at his friend’s behaviour. They were both very clearly drunk. You nodded and smiled, murmuring a quiet ‘thank you’, hoping the dark lighting would cover the fact that you were extremely flustered at his words. Drunk or not, Jeon Jungkook had just complimented you.

Turning back towards you, Jungkook carried on, “Can I pleaseee have um... maekju?” “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Jimin quickly corrected his friend: “Beer. He wanted to say beer. I want one too please.” You nodded and left to go and get the beverages, confirming that this was what they wanted as you came back.

Before giving them their orders, you jokingly claimed, “Just because you complimented me, doesn’t mean that you’ll have this drink for free!” Jungkook exaggeratedly gasped in a silly manner and replied, “Oh noooo! Why?” You rolled your eyes, although your smile clearly gave away your amusement. “Because that’s not how it works, sir.” “You can call me J–Jungkook and... and this is my friend Jimin! And Jinnie-hyung, Namjoonie-hyung, Hoseokie-hyung, Yoongi-hyung and Tae are somewhere else. It’s Yoongi-hyung’s fault if I’m like that now! He gave me all these drinks Ma’am!” You almost felt as if you were talking to a child and you couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of it. “What’s your name, Miss?” “(y/n).” “Lovely (y/n),” Jungkook drunkenly mumbled.

It seemed as though the two friends were not there to party, since they spent half an hour discussing with you and drinking a few beers. Jungkook suddenly stopped you mid-sentence, asking, “M–Miss! I want your uh... phone number!” As soon as he finished speaking, he reached for his phone, handing it to you. “You need to put in your password so I can have access to it,” you stated. He quickly grabbed his phone back, unlocked it, and shoved it back in your face. You plugged your number in and gave the phone back to him, as he asked for your phone so he could give you his own number. He then insisted on giving it a try, to verify that all was working well.

After a while, you could see Jungkook dozing off on the counter in front of you, his excitement slowly being replaced by sleepiness. Jimin asked you if you could keep an eye on his friend, so he could go and gather his other friends, to which you gladly agreed. He soon came back with the other members of BTS who introduced themselves to you, all chuckling at Jungkook’s sleeping form on the counter.

You delicately patted his head to wake him up, so he could join his friends. He smiled up at you, then awkwardly hid his face back into his hands once he became aware of his surroundings and noticed his band mates staring at him.

When the time came for BTS to leave the club, Jungkook decided to pay for all of his friends, giving you definitely much more money than needed, adding, “Extra tip for an extra-nice barmaid!”

The next morning as you woke up, you tried texting Jungkook:

“Hey! It’s (y/n), the barmaid from yesterday night, in case you don’t remember. You seemed pretty drunk... How are you feeling this morning?”

You laughed at the short answer you received from his end:

“Sick :(“

You were glad he at least remembered you despite the drunken state in which he had met you. This seemed like the beginning of a pleasant and exciting friendship, and you couldn’t wait to see where this would lead you.

Author’s Note: Hi! I used to be excusemiihatesnakeu, but I recently changed my username. I haven’t written on this blog for a long while, despite having promised to come back with some content soon after having posted my first reaction. Truth is, not only have I been extremely busy with school, work, relationships, social life, etc. but it also takes me forever to write anything because I keep doubting my writing and lacking inspiration, which deeply discourages me of even trying to write anything to begin with. Despite still being extremely busy, I will challenge myself to write more, as it is somehow calming and freeing for me, and I will try my best to post more content in the near future, but please be patient with me, I swear I’m trying my best! By the way, sorry about the excessively long scenarios (and the uneven, varying length of those scenarios between the different members), I seriously cannot stop myself from writing once I begin. I’ve literally spent hours on this and I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind (lmao)! If you have any thoughts or (constructive) criticism that you would like to share, please do so in the comments or in my ask box (in which you can also request content). Thanks for reading my work and I hope you’ve enjoyed doing so! If you’ve read up to here, you clearly deserve an award! :)

[jackidy]

Saturated Sunrise

Rating: G Pairings: Demyx/Ienzo, others implied Characters: Various Setting: Post KH3

Summary: Observations were his thing and, in all honesty, Ienzo was a very interesting person to observe.

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Ienzo was strange.

Not in a bad way, Demyx thinks, watching the other flip through lab notes for something that he’d explained at least three times already, distracted by far too many things to take in most of the words. How could he not be? Recognisance had always been his forte, few people ever spent too long looking at strange folk with instruments playing for change in the town square, regardless of what world he was observing, it was always the same.

But now…but now he didn’t have an instrument to distract his fingertips, watching how something deeper than annoyance flickered onto Ienzo’s features, eyes break from the hastily scrawled pages of a report to the offended hand before back to his reading, muttering something quietly under his breath.

He’s switched his breathing, in through the nose, out through the mouth. A calming technique. Was Ienzo anxious or something else? Demyx cocking his head to the side as he tried to figure out his new found puzzle. As Zexion, he’d simply fix him a flat stare and sigh to exhibit his annoyance with him, name him a fool and go back to ignoring him but with Ienzo it was different, his reactions more extreme in the short term before simmering off into seemingly nothing.

Demyx wanted to know more.

Wants to know the differences between the two, were they as similar as Axel and Lea or were they the polar opposite, Ienzo had already provided evidence for this. The shock of seeing him and the hesitation to move forward, the way he’d cried when reunited with his father, it was different but good, an unexpected surprise that had only served to hook him in.

Perhaps its selfish to want more, Demyx contemplates, deciding to put his focus elsewhere, the computer he’d more or less draped himself across, the tea stain on Ienzo’s lab coat on the cuff of his left sleeve, maybe even the black screens on the other side of the lab that had put themselves to sleep about twenty minute ago. Anywhere other than Ienzo before his mind started to-

“You keep frowning like that and I’ll start to think you’re not Demyx.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been quiet for thirty minutes and now you’re frowning at nothing.” He teases, Demyx enraptured by the small, almost shy smile on the other’s lips to the point he forgets to react to the comment, seeming frozen in time as he takes it in. Oh, he could get used to Ienzo smiling at him like that oh too easily Demyx staring dumbfoundedly as Ienzo spoke again only for nothing to register, Ienzo raising a brow at him as that smile almost, almost, broke into a grin.

“What did you say Zex- I mean Ienzo, I didn’t hear you.”

“Nothing important.”

He’s teasing him again, standing from the desk and stretching, a resounding crack that made Demyx wince whilst Ienzo just sighed, as if relieved to hear it as opposed to somewhat horrified. “I think…I think I need a cup of tea; I’ll be back shortly. Please don’t touch anything.”

And he doesn’t. He just sits and watches the way Ienzo goes, wondering if he had missed truly was important or not.

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

It becomes routine, after a while, for Demyx to come by the lab after he’d finished his rounds, watching the shorter man as he worked, making mental note after mental note of the little changes in emotion and watching for the flashes, as Demyx now referred to them.

Fleeting yet fascinating, it feels strange this role reversal, where Demyx becomes the scientist and Ienzo the unknowing test subject, watching anger flash in blue eyes before resigning quickly to neutrality and ultimately to something sadder, guilt perhaps? Demyx had felt it enough himself but had never really seen it worn by someone else so clearly.

“You need a break.” He states, eyes flicking up from the screen to fix the Nobody with a reluctant stare, looking torn between arguing against the request and accepting it, pale hands coming up to Ienzo’s neck, picking at something just hidden by the collar. Another new thing he’d noticed, he picks at his neck when nervous or overloaded, Demyx contemplating stepping down before shaking his head. “A small break might clear your head and help you think straight.”

Ienzo snorts, rolling his eyes insolently like he’d heard this a thousand times before, no doubt from Aeleus or Even, the latter always seeming to hover around like a mother hen whenever the older scientist was with Ienzo, seemingly unaware of Demyx’s presence or, the more likely, choosing to ignore him all together. But still, the young man gets up, shedding his lab coat before discarding it on his chair and walking away from the desk, pausing to turn only when he didn’t hear following footsteps.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

He clicks his tongue, fixing Demyx with a stare only a fraction less intense than something Zexion would wear when scolding him. “You, me, break.” Short and sweet, straight to the point with little room to argue, not that Demyx ever would have, scrambling upwards to his feet, practically bouncing along with Ienzo to first the kitchen and then the gardens.

They take seat by a wall fountain, the stress in Ienzo seeming to melt away with the sound of the flowing water, slouching against the cold wall and nursing the cup of tea in his hands like it was the only thing still tethering the scientist to the mortal coil. He looks younger somehow, pinning his hair back with one hand as he sipped his tea, the slight breeze seemingly an ever-present threat to tarnishing both Ienzo’s drink and hair.

“You know, I could probably get you a headband or some clips after my next shift.”

“Wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

You’re never a bother, he thinks, a thought and belief he’s held for long enough now that he’s fairly certain it was incapable of changing into anything but. He’s talking again, eyes lighting up with almost childlike curiosity as Ienzo talks about his latest project, the thing that had been bothering up until the point Demyx had requested he take a break.

“Aerith asked me to look for someone.” The flower girl, a sweet woman who always brought flowers into the office when he dropped by to pick up the mail for the day, the only person he’d seen so far that could lecture his new boss on something without the Blonde glaring as fiercely at her as he had done with any irate customer who came in to complain about a delay or lost delivery. “Something about your boss and an old friend.”

“He has friends?” It’s a jest and he’s thankful when Ienzo smiles at it, unsure of it the younger man had ever met his grumpy boss, Cloud, to fully grasp the concept. Probably not, he only left the lab to eat, sleep and when someone bothered him enough to get out of his chair but, even then, he only went as far as the gardens. “I thought finding someone would be easy, you’ve got the database all set up, right?”

“Right but…” Ienzo pauses, the guilt creeping bag in as he seemingly sags under the weight of it, “but most of them are on world or I have a decent description of. I only have a name to go by and the barest hope that maybe one of the keyblade wielders has heard of him.”

Again, he’s scratching at his neck, frowning at the flowers opposite the pair almost intense enough to make them wilt under the seer force of it. A distraction, perhaps, to get his mind off of the thoughts of anxious and inadequacy that were surely plaguing him. “It’s a weird name don’t you think?”

“What is?”

“Cloud.”

There’s a pause, Ienzo freezing before he laughs, genuinely, Demyx struck by just how magical it sounded as shoulders quaked, racked by humour. He wants to hear this again, never thinking that he’d ever get the other to laugh so mirthfully, Ienzo wiping his face before fitting Demyx with a look like he was about to break down into giggles at any moment.

“Really?”

“Well yeah, it’s a dumb name”

“Your name is Demyx.”

“I didn’t pick my name!”

He starts laughing again, leaning against Demyx this time as he tried to temper the amusement down, covering his mouth as giggles threatened to bubble up all over again. “I don’t think he picked his name either, besides people in glass houses should not be throwing bricks.”

“I will throw bricks and stand proudly in the shattered remains of my hypocrisy.”

Ienzo is silent for perhaps a moment too long, Demyx shifting unconsciously under the gaze before shrugging and laughing to himself again. “I never knew you to be so eloquent.” It feels like a compliment so he’ll take it, Demyx hating the bubbling embarrassment at the other’s words, wondering if there would ever be a moment he doesn’t fluster at praise. It didn’t have to be from Ienzo, he’d nearly crumbled under the kind words of an elderly lady over a simple flower delivery.

“Might have picked up a thing or two from some guy I know.” He huffs, hoping Ienzo doesn’t pursue the subject and, much to Demyx’s relief, he doesn’t, simply humming and sipping his tea, a silence descending on the pair that is neither uncomfortable or stifling, just he sound of birds, the town below and the pouring water of the fountain acting as the only thing rupturing the otherwise serene silence.

The scientist is still leaning against him, Demyx choosing not to focus on the proximity, the way Ienzo seemed to fit just right there or the way the cavity in his chest seemed to thud, the echoing thunder within it hopefully not that noticeable either on his face or to the man leant against him. It might have been just minutes but, honestly, Demyx wishes it had been hours, Ienzo finally removing himself from Demyx to stand, offering a hand to the other.

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“Making me take a break and listening.”

He takes Ienzo’s hand then, pushing himself up more than letting the other pull him up but he finds he doesn’t mind, hesitating before letting go of the hand in his and mentally cursing himself as Ienzo, seemingly oblivious, made his way back to the castle without him. So much for observing his emotional changes, Demyx conceded, running a hand through his hair and refraining from just pulling at it. It’ll be fine, he supposes, following after Ienzo slowly as he attempted to get his thoughts together.

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

They meet outside the lab for once, Demyx finding the scientist in the kitchen as opposed to his usual place, lab coat abandoned once more in favour for an apron, the Nobody wondering how long he could linger in the doorway before Ienzo spoke up and summoned him forward. Maybe a while, he thinks, laughing under his breath, Ienzo was by no means unobservant but often lost himself in things, leaving him open to surprise on an almost regular basis.

His observations have become interesting, to say the least, notebook now brimming with excerpts and examples of how Ienzo reacted to things and how they differed from a typical human. Examples of how he’d exploded at Even in an argument the week before and how he’d crumpled as soon as he was away from the older scientist, looking to Demyx of all creatures to help him assess how he’d reacted.

A Human asking a Nobody how to feel, life truly was stranger than fiction.

“You know it’s rude to stare.” So Ienzo had noticed him, a small smile betraying the amusement the smaller man had in interrupting whatever it as that Demyx was thinking about. He’s wearing the headband that Demyx brought him, an admittedly joke purchase of the most ocean-based thing he could find in Radiant Garden, never expecting Ienzo to ever wear and yet, here they were, clownfish still visible even with the mass of hair doing its best to obscure it.

“Just thinking.” No lie to his words but not exactly a full truth either, Ienzo giving him an almost sceptical look before turning back to the chopping board, ignoring the blonde in favour of some shallots and garlic. Coming over to the join the other, Demyx takes seat at the worn kitchen table, far enough to be out of Ienzo’s space but close enough to notice the changes in body language, perhaps for the best considering his upcoming questions.

“Don’t strain yourself.” Ienzo retorts without hesitation, a small bounce in his step as he scraped the food from the chopping board into the frying pan, stirring once then twice before turning his attention back to the pile of ingredients nearby. “Should I even ask what about?”

“You, actually.”

Had he meant to be so honest? Demyx has no idea, biting his lip as he waited for Ienzo to react. Would he laugh or sneer? What response was he due to receive from the scientist who was simultaneously an open book and an enigma to him? He’s not entirely sure he wants to find out now that the silence has dragged on.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, about the conversation we had the other day.”

The silence is back, nothing but the sizzling of oil filling the air as Ienzo fell still, as if Demyx’s words had short circuited him, only moving when food began to catch, quickly chopping the rest of the meat on his board before adding it, a shaky breath before hands are under the tap. “I thought…we’re less likely to be interrupted in here, aren’t we?”

He’s never been here when Ienzo is cooking but he knows the labs and gardens at least always lead to another apprentice making an appearance and, if not them, then a keyblade wielder or former colleague that only served to quickly change the subject into something less important or for their conversations to die all together. Maybe Ienzo’s room but then, no, it wouldn’t do, someone would still interrupt them there.

“Yes but…” Ienzo trails off, rubbing his hands a little too harshly dry and swallowing, looking almost like a lost child as he looked between the stove and the kitchen table. “But I’m not sure if I…”

Demyx is ready for it this time, grasping the hand as it comes up to his neck, weaving fingers together where possible and giving his hand a light squeeze. Were his hands always this cold? Demyx wonders, taking in the shocked look of Ienzo and offering a small smile in response. No time for grins or quips, just open expressions and apprehension, pans moved off the heat before the smaller man can further burn his food. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, not until you’re ready.”

A tanned thumb rubs lines into the side of a pale palm, the focus back on breathing correctly in a bid to calm nerves and settle his old soul, Demyx watching as eyes closed and breaths came in slowly, a face slowly easing back into calmness after painting a picture so anxious it tugged and tangled his heart strings. He could kiss him, lord knows she wants to, biting his lower lip as he went over why that would be a bad idea over and over again, an inner mantra that he could not ignore.

He’ll be mad at you. He doesn’t feel the same way. He won’t want to be near you again after this.  Just because he’s nice to you and treats you humanely doesn’t mean he wants you.

Demyx has taken risks but this time, this time he’s not sure it was worth it.

“I want to I just…”

“You just can’t get it into words?” Demyx fills in, Ienzo sighing and nodding, finally opening his eyes only to avert them to the side, face screwing as if trying to process a thought before Ienzo sighs. Hit the nail on the head there, Demyx surmises, giving the other’s hand yet another squeeze in hope of either encouraging him to speak or reassurance, which ever Ienzo had the most need for at that moment. “Or is it something else?”

“Something else. Maybe. I’m not honestly sure.” He pulls his hand away then, wiggling it out of his grasp and pulling the pan back onto the ring, breathing slowly, exhaling and continuing on like the exchange hadn’t just happened. It’s not long before the sizzling is back, Demyx feeling somewhat lost in the kitchen as he waits for Ienzo to do something, unsure as to where his sudden cowardice to chase the conversation had come from. “It’s easier to ramble my thoughts if I keep my hands busy.”

It clears up nothing and yet everything, Demyx’s mouth forming a small o as Ienzo hums, adding more ingredients to the pot, the tension in his shoulders seemingly melting away with every movement and stir.  

“I’ve gone from bare traces of feelings for so long that now that I feel them at the level I should, it almost feels like drowning. My annoyance is anger and my anger is loathing, my insecurities scream at me deafeningly during the long nights and the moments alone in the lab when I can’t find answers.” He whispers his words, barely audible over the hissing of oil meeting stock, Demyx about catching the sight of downturned eyes and the accompanying frown. “Things that bring me joy make my heart pound louder than sirens and bells, my excitement and happiness over the littlest of things exceeds expectations in displays that are hard to tamper down.”

He sighs, anger bubbling back to the surface, movements becoming jagged, aggressive almost as he spat out his next words. “It’s ridiculous, I’m not- “

“I don’t think its ridiculous.” Demyx intersects, hand taking rest on Ienzo’s forearm as the other freezes once more, biting into his lower lip in a way that looks a touch too painful but now wasn’t the time to lecture, not that Demyx would have done that anyway. “You’ve gone from drips to an over spilling sink, you’re bound to struggle.”

The laugh surprises him, somewhat strangled and a bit raw, like Ienzo is using it to hide another emotion entirely from spilling from his lips. “When did you start making sense?” He chokes out, the heel of his hand wiping his eyes, perhaps wishing he hadn’t pinned his hair back so entirely.

“I always have,” it’s just nobody ever cares to listen.

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

The market is simultaneously busy enough for him to blend into the crowd but also empty enough that he’s had the ability to occupy the bench by Aerith’s for a solid 40 minutes without being interrupted by anyone beyond the aforementioned shop keeper who had simply brought him a drink and left after asking him if he was okay, slipping a flower behind his ear before leaving after confirming he was.

There’s something unnerving about her, though what caused Demyx to feel on edge around her he couldn’t place, assuming it was down to how she always seemed to know what had, is and would happen in the foreseeable future if you so much as stepped within five feet of her, her comment of how he could always give the flower to his friend if he didn’t want it making Demyx ask himself if he was so obvious that this practical stranger had sussed him out already.

It’s been eight days since the kitchen confession, Demyx knowing he wasn’t intending to ignore Ienzo but his feet had led him to this bench as opposed to the castle, pouring over his notes on Ienzo’s emotional state and the table of differences he’d made between both Zexion and Ienzo. The table was simple, almost childlike, one worded differences in lists under a name and a poorly drawn doodle of both sides of the coin, Demyx cursing himself as he realises the small hearts he’d drawn as almost a halo around Ienzo.

Oh, he’s a fool, staring at the page, blinking rapidly as if trying to erase the obvious signs of his affection as if Ienzo would ever see his scrawled notes that he was the subject to. Why would he? Demyx knew better than to expose himself like this to anyone, never mind the other, already shuddering at the imagined looks of the other apprentices and the laughter of everyone else.

“Looks like a twelve year old when hair is pinned back…is that supposed to be me at the bottom?”

Demyx jumps, yelling as he sends his notebook flying, scrambling to catch it, preparing to turn and shout at whoever had surprise him only to falter and clamp his mouth shut at the sight of Ienzo, still leaning over slightly and looking only marginally apologetic for scarring him. He’s lucky he’s cute.

“Is what you?”

Acting oblivious is perhaps not his best move, Ienzo fixing him a look that is filled with scepticism as he undoubtedly sees through Demyx’s façade, taking seat beside Demyx on the bench, slouching as he sighed. It’s not stressed this time, relieved, ecstatic almost, barely able to hide the pride from his features, relaxing in the silence that stretched between them. “Anyway, what brings you down into Radiant Garden? You normally don’t leave the castle unless I bribe you.”

“I found him.” He’s not seen the other’s eyes ever light up like that before, Demyx leaning back slightly as Ienzo leaned towards him, almost blinded by the sheer enthusiasm. Normally he’d make a comment, tell Ienzo to calm down for a second but the saccharine hit of endorphins that seemed to be flooding the human’s system was simply too irresistible to try and dampen. “I found Zack Fair!”

That would explain the lack of fanfare that would have come from finding Sora, he supposes, Demyx looking over Ienzo’s shoulder to his work place, Cloud in conversation with Leon and Cid looking stressed, before looking back to Ienzo and swallowing. The urge to kiss him is back, seemingly stronger than ever. “Knew you could, where was he then?”

“Game Central Station. Can’t say I’ve heard of it either but I got a name match at least.”

He continues to talk, Demyx just watching how animated Ienzo became with every word over what the finding of a new world meant, explaining his work with such vigour that Demyx responds without thinking, tucking a flyaway piece of hair back where it belonged having dislodged itself during the enthusiasm. Fingers trail along a pale jaw, tilting Ienzo’s chin up, swallowing thickly as his movements came to a standstill.

Maybe he should kiss him, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing after all.

But, as with all things, he’s interrupted, wincing at Cloud calling his name before sighing, dumping his notebook into Ienzo’s hands unceremoniously, huffing as he stood before giving the other an apologetic look. “Sorry, duty calls.”

He’s going to regret giving Ienzo his notebook, isn’t he? Perhaps, but the flushed look of Ienzo was a fair enough trade for him, silently hoping he hadn’t ruined the one friendship he truly cared for.

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

Three days until he sees Ienzo again and, for once Demyx isn’t sure if he’s unhappy that it took so long or that the break hadn’t lasted longer, still fighting the urge to run as he stands in the courtyard, holding what felt like a suspiciously empty box, the fragile stickers slapped across the brown paper being the only thing stopping the Nobody from just shaking the package.

From off world too, memories of Marluxia mentioning the Kingdom of Corona when he was still with the Organisation and Xehanort, a place of flowers and a princess with long hair trapped in a tower. Half the other worlds sounded like fairy tales, myths and legends but then Demyx knew full well they were. The Underworld still made him shiver, an itch he just couldn’t scratch.

Which wielder sent it? He wonders, Aqua being the safest bet of the lot of them, having gained enough of an impression of her from those talking about her to know she seemed the type to send something between worlds. Though, why she had to address it to the lab and not somebody specific he does not know, Demyx glaring at the package like it had gravely insulted him before heading in.

Perhaps the lab would be empty, Ienzo may spend most of his time in there but not all of it. He’s on a tea break, Demyx reasons with himself, finally took the initiative on his limits as a person and acted before he over worked himself yet again. It had, in part, been the reason for Ienzo’s argument with Even and Demyx can only dream that the message Even had been trying to get across had stuck.

Apparently not, Demyx sighs with resignation.

Sat at his desk as opposed to a computer, Ienzo had, of course, elected to take his break not outside of the lab but still in it, one hand nursing a chipped cup of tea whilst the other tapped a pen against the note book he was writing in, taking a brief break to think before noting something down again.

Maybe if he’s quiet he won’t be noticed, his cowardice coming back full force in the face of his feelings and it’s ridiculous, he believes, knowing full well he would have kissed the other the last time he’d seen him had the pair not been interrupted. Depositing the box is not the issue, the pen he sends clattering to the floor is, the noise seeming to become the loudest thing in existence, echoing beyond the walls of the lab and maybe out into the town square.

“If this is how you are when you’re trying to be stealthy, I see why you were always on public reconnaissance.”

He teasing him, still looking down at whatever he’s working on but humour still pulls of his lips to create some endearing mix of a smile and a smirk. Only on Ienzo would he find that expression endearing. It wouldn’t be wrong of him to think that maybe Ienzo hadn’t read his notebook after all, Demyx edging closer akin to a caged animal, swallowing back his fear of the situation.

Ienzo hadn’t read it. Ienzo was not aware he’d kept a notebook on his emotional ticks. Ienzo hadn’t delved into an admittedly creepy book containing both his thoughts about the newly reformed human and the differences between both himself and Zexion.

Only he had.

Demyx pales as he sees the notebook open, swiftly turning on his heel and making way to leave only for a hand to stop him, gripping the back of his jacket tight enough to stop him but loose enough to let him leave if he wanted to. He doesn’t. Despite the shame and feeling of regret welling up in him as Ienzo continues to hold the back of his jacket in silence.

Should he break it or leave it hanging? A spike of panic rising in his chest as the hand gripping him tightens, mumbling an inward prayer to himself for a favourable outcome as the silence is finally shattered. “I added another column, you’re rather observant when you want to be.”

He…What?

Turning back to face Ienzo and his work, Demyx takes note of the additional page ripped out from elsewhere in the book and stuck in, creases along the tape where the page had been folded in to keep it from sticking out. So there was another one, Demyx just about able to make out the words Child Ienzo from chicken scrawl, biting back a laugh at both the way his writing was better than an apprentice of Ansem’s but also the words written.

Little Weirdo. Quiet. Shy. Withdrawn.

Words from the other apprentices no doubt, Demyx sure he could place who had said what from what he had known of them whilst in the Organisation. But before he can even voice his guesses he’s distracted by the small doodle at the bottom, better than his vague barely Ienzo or Zexion doodles, of what Demyx guesses to be a child Ienzo. Miniature lab coat, neutral if not sour expression and ice cream? He’d never taken Ienzo to have a sweet tooth.

“There was one other thing…” Ienzo’s voice is gentle, fingers pulling at the hemline of his sweater vest as he looked down from the desk to his lap, breathing in the nose and out the mouth as he always did whenever the anxiety seeped into his system.

This was it. This was the time of his rejection, Demyx preparing himself to act like it was nothing, just water off of a duck’s back and nothing to be concerned about. “Look, you don’t have to-“

“I don’t really have days off but Even and Ansem both force me to take the afternoon off on Tuesday and Friday.”

Demyx can’t see his face but he can see the colour creeping along the other’s neck, hands still wringing the sweaters hemline almost to the point of distortion and oh.

Oh!

It finally clicks, Demyx biting his lip to stop himself from shouting in triumph, leaning down in one fail swoop to press a kiss to Ienzo’s cheek as the giddy energy eviscerated any self-doubt and regret he’d been stewing in for the past three days. “Then I will see you tomorrow, Zo.” The skip in his step is unmissable, practically bouncing out of the lab to finish his round so he can plan for tomorrow.

And if Ienzo hears his shout of celebration as the lab doors close, he doesn’t mention it.

[knb-holy-universe-blog]

I'm happy too! *hugs* Since we both loves him and your req open, i'm gonna ask for him haha! A happy one, whatever the topic you can think of. Mayu deserves to be happy afterall ❤️❤️❤️

I’m sorry for the looong wait, but since it’s BAE, it has to be special and hell Yeaaah he deserves to be happy. So, I wrote just a part and if you like it i’ll continue it ( I didn’t want it to be just a short random one, i didn’t want it to be half assed, I hope you like it darling

                                           My ice prince (Part one):

Most of people end up showing their true colors, trueforms by time, they got betrayed by their body language or by their behavior,but sometimes you can meet a whole different kind of people, a kind that buildwalls around them to get separated from the others. You can’t tell what theythink, what they like, what they hate, these people are a real challenge evenfor someone who knows a lot psychology…

Since my first day at university, I noticed someonespecial, yeah he’s so special, during the whole class while all the studentswere introducing themselves, creating their own bands to hang with or justhaving silly chat, he was all alone, not interesting in anybody… HE WAS INHIS OWN WORLD

I approached him, asked if I could sit butsurprisingly I got not answer, I was totally ignored by him. At first, Ithought that I’ve done something to make him upset but I wasn’t the only oneignored, so many students that tried to be friends with him (especially girls)got ignored. In the next class, the teacher gave us projects and picked twostudents in each project, when he got to project “3”, while looking down at thestudents list, he asked: “ Where is Mayuzumi Chihiro”, the silver haired guyraised his hand,

“You’ll take the third project with...mmm let me seemm the girl setting next to you”

At these words, I felt so nervous I was happy but alittle bit stressed to be with him in this project:

“Let’s do our best” I said trying to break this coldatmosphere but I got a threatening glare in response, my whole world wasbreaking down, I got ignored by the same game twice in just 2 hours.

“At least it’s one project, I’ll make sure to not sitwith him again and I’ll be alright” I mumbled to myself when the teacherdragged me down:

“I forgot to tell you, I’ll be teaching you twocourses this year and the other course just like this, is done on project andthese are two main courses that you’ll be having in the two semesters of thisyear”

“Sensei, please tell me we’ll be having differentpartners in the other course” complained a girl

“I’m dreadfully sorry but you will keep your partnernot just in the other course but also during the second semester”

This teacher broke you down, how can he be so cruel!

You looked at Mayuzumi blinking, “So this guy is goingto be my partner during the whole year?”

This is how things started with this ice prince…

I think that this surname fits him, he’s cold andunbreakable from the outside just like an ice and he’s handsome and charmingjust like a prince in some old tales. Well he’s no fun to be honest, he doeshis work very well but he’s awfully quiet and the time you spent with him inthe library preparing those projects is the most boring and tiresome part ofyour student life.

No, you never intended to spend your student life likethis, you expected something more active, like hanging out with friends, go toparties, enjoying events together but you found yourself just observing thismysterious guy and trying to read him, he awakened your curiosity.

These beautiful empty eyes of him, you knew that thoseempty eyes has some dark background, you knew that this cold guy had some storybehind and that this iceberg was broken from inside…. And here somethingstrange awoke in you, you can’t really describe this feeling but it was amixture of nostalgia, curiosity, compassion and maybe more but as said youcan’t describe it. All you know is that you wanted to hug him, to take care ofhim and to make his days better, and why not draw a smile on his stunning face.

What is this feeling?

Before you could even react you were all drown in him,the love’s waves have already taken you so far away, now you’re swimming in desireand passion for this guy, No you’re sinking in his eyes.

It hurts that he already noticed but didn’t react butyou already knew that he wouldn’t let you in so easily, if he was that easythen maybe you wouldn’t fall for him.

“Mom did you bring me that book that asked you about?”

“Darling why are so much interested in psychology”

“I just want to know, to read people”

“Ahha believe me, it’s exhausting, I work as apsychologist and that’s my opinion, sometimes you find yourself analyzingpeople without realizing”

“Mom did you bring it or not?”

“Mmmm it has like 1200 pages, do you still want it?”

“Where is it?”

“It’s funny what girls nowadays can do for the sake oftheir love”

You blushed: “No I said that I just want to know, it’snot about my love or anything”

“Of course, it’s on my desk” she said amused at thisawkward situation

“Yosh, maybe with this, I can learn more about youChihiro”

Reading people was always a piece of cake to you, yourmother is a psychologist so she taught a lot about psychology, in addition,you’ve always read thousands of psychology’s books but there was one person youcouldn’t read. HIM

Tomorrow:

It’s another day and you had to go to university asalways, you entered the room and spotted Mayuzumi sitting in the back.

“Ohayooo chihiro” you said in enthusiasm

Your response was silence with a bonus (deathly glare)

“I mean Mayuzumi kun”

“Kun” he raised an eyebrow

“Oooooh alright, Mayuzumi san, are you happy now?”

He went back to his light novel but as you arrived inthe table, he let you pass and that made you so happy, that’s a big progressyou’ve made. Yeah, before, he used to tell you to sit somewhere else becauseyou’re disturbing his quiet days but as time passes, and as persistent youwere, he let you in now without comments. And of course, you learnt to keepquiet especially if he has a book in hands, you learnt that you have to respecthis private space but today, you feel like you want to take another step andtake this relationship to a higher level.

“Mayuzumi san, are you free today?”

Silence…

You scratched your back head, you were thinking of away to distract him from his book before the teacher came in:

“I have an idea” you mumbled

You took a sheet of paper and wrote down:

“Are you free today? I want to go somewhere”

You passed him the note, but he was still reading. Yousighed thinking that it was a failure, but when he was about to turn the page,he took his pen and started to write. You felt so excited, your eyes weresparkling until you read his response:

“Go whatever you want Koroshi, what does it have to dowith me?”

You put your head on the table, wondering why did youfall for him?

When you raised your head, you caused the note to flyaway in another student’s direction, he picked it up and read it but you didn’tnotice, you were too busy with coming up with a new method to make him acceptyou.

When classes were over, Mayuzumi was ready to leavebut you were still sitting there and looking at him and of course, you couldn’tcome up with anything:

You’re spending the rest of the day ALL ALONE

That fact hurt you, you were feeling a littlepathetic. When Mayuzumi started walking away, a student showed up in front ofyou, he had a shining smile on his face:

“I’m free” he said as he showed you the note

You were shocked, how did the note got to him andbefore you asked, he added:

“This note came to me by coincidence, I think thatit’s our destiny to meet each other”

You werethinking of a proper response when someone else gave him one:

“It’s our destiny to meet each other, where do youthink you are? a movie scene? A romance book? You’re so pathetic”

It was Mayuzmi, you were so pissed off this time, herefused your invitation in the worst way and now he’s pushing off this poorguy, so you decided to do something that you will probably regret later, butnow you’re too proud to step back.

“Why is it pathetic? Who knows maybe it’s destiny”

His eyes were wide open at your words and that madeyou realize that he didn’t expect you to say a word. He turned to the door’sdirection and left.

“So were shall we go? Movies, arcade games? Karaoke?”he was about to add one more suggestion when you cut him off

“I’m sorry but I love someone else”

He laughed: “Someone else, this Mayuzumi, I didn’teven know that he exists, how could you like some crap like him?” he wasmocking you and disrespecting Mayuzumi

You sighed and arranged your hair with your hands, hewas waiting for you answer, to say anything but you just turned to the doordirection and left while mumbling to yourself:

“After all, Chihiro is right to act this way in aworld messed up like this, I can’t blame him” You were adapting the same attitude as him...

When got out of the room, you found him there, restingagainst the wall.

Astonished was the least that we could say:

“Mayuzumi san what are you doing here?”

He looked at you, his empty grey eyes fixed on you, itwas too intense and that could drive you crazy.

“You disappointed me, is this the kind of guy youlike?”

You caressed you hair with your hand, feeling likeyour forces were abandoning your body but your mouth was still on:

“Don’t be dumb, you already know what kind of guys Ilike, no you actually know the only guy I like, don’t you?”

He sighed, looked away and then left you there in thecorridor alone.

What does it mean ?

�r�*�

[auskultu]

Bill Harry's Pop Talk: The Yardbirds

Bill Harry, Record Mirror, 20 May 1967

KEITH RELF, Chris Dreja and Jimmy Page are quite angry about the continuous, almost hysterical attacks the pop world has been receiving from all directions lately.

Says Chris: "Recently someone else had a go—was it Sir William Carran? He not only complained about the money some pop artistes receive, he also talked about the money film stars earn. The answer to his complaints is to take away entertainment altogether—and if you take away entertainment, see what happens to the people.

"We believe in freedom within the bounds of common sense," says Keith, "freedom for the individual. This country is tightening up in so many ways. If the police powers continue to get stronger and stronger, we'll be in a Police State." Commented Jimmy: "I was walking along the street laughing and joking with some friends and we were stopped by a policeman and searched. Just for laughing and being happy. If you enjoy yourself these days they think you're on a Trip! But this sort of thing is happening to hundreds of young people, that's the terrifying thing. Two of my friends were taken to a police station and stripped just because they were out after midnight.

"All this sort of thing makes it hard on the pop groups who don't do evil things and look at the amount of pop groups being searched. So few of them have got anything to hide."

Keith feels so strongly about the subject he goes so far as to say: "It's hysteria that's got out of hand. I don't think the Tories would continue with the purge—as it appears to be. I think that it's a Government conspiracy attacking the pop people—because pop people are figureheads. They've perhaps thought that the West Coast movement in America has helped the taking of LSD by the American kids and decided to put up some sort of Government censorship here. I think this has what's helped so many of these ballads to dominate the Top 10 recently.

"But it's not only in pop, it's one generation against the other. Young people have an opinion and 'they' immediately think you're one of the drug takers. As far as the Press are concerned, they just want a strong story but they want something bad. They're not interested in the good things young people do any more. A short while back they gave THE BEATLES M.B.E.'s and look at the money THE ROLLING STONES and groups like us have brought into the country. Swinging London—its image, the designs of young people—all these things have brought money from all over the world into Britain. But now there's this bad image creeping in with the hysteria. Even when Prince Philip was talking about promoting the image of Britain abroad and saying we should stick up for young people, he got attacked for it."

Chris added: "I came back from the States and had a lot of money with me—dollars. I was treated like Royalty, they couldn't have poured more syrup on. Yet, when I was off to the Continent, they checked my money, were very snotty—it was a completely different attitude going out."

Jimmy pointed out the raid on a recent London club. "There must have been about a hundred police involved. They raided the club where there must have been over a thousand kids. They put up partitions and stripped and searched everyone. About three people were found with tablets. A small percentage—you'd find that sort of average in any age group. Yet all those police were tied up for over three hours –and I shudder to think how many important crimes were being committed, apart from the vast amount of public money wasted on the raid. Then there were all those hundreds of completely innocent kids—humiliated, their evening ruined, their money wasted and the further humiliation of having to wait for their parents to collect them at the police headquarters. Then the club owners must have suffered from loss of business as a result. "Yet there doesn't seem to be as much hysteria about the crimes and perversions of the older generation. Look at the West End, some of the seedy things in Soho. The bookshops, the filth, the smut that's sold. Look at the really genuine crime in certain parts of London. Look at the wife-swopping, the rapes, the perversions. I'll even go so far as to point out the crowds at football matches—the thrown bottles and the wrecked trains. But you must get our point by now."

Yes. It's true—I confirmed it with a National Pressman who said that his Editor wouldn't be interested in a story which shows the good side of the pop world. They were on the look-out for the odd sensational story. The Yardbirds and I are both for young people and the creative things they are doing. During the past four years the young people of Britain have given the whole world a complete new and exciting image of Britain—and have brought millions of dollars into this country. The number of wrongdoers compose a small minority and who is to say that the hysterical publicity they're getting isn't encouraging them!

[mrsbenedictbridgerton]

How not to fall for Killian Jones (and other failed endeavours)

SURPRISE! Hey @xerxesrises, tis I, your very tardy GFSS! This is one of those situations where what I set out to write bears little to no resemblance to what ended up on the page or what I had planned to write initially. Regardless, I hope you like it.

A huge thank you to my wonderful beta, nickillian/Ztofan, for all her tireless efforts to make my writing not suck!

Also on FF.NET and AO3

She wasn’t really good at any kind of resolutions - New Year’s or otherwise. Maybe that was why it was so easy to break them.

7:52 pm  Failure one: Not thinking of or fully considering the consequences

Bored and listless, Emma Swan drummed her nails on the surface of her standard issue corporate desk. Around her, the office was silent, its beige walls absent of the echoed sound of her workmates chatter. This was unsurprising, considering it was New Year’s Eve and almost 8pm but still disconcerting when used to the hubbub of the dozens or so coworkers who shared the twelfth floor. She stared at the phone for the hundredth time, willing it to ring and give her something to do, yet it remained stubbornly quiet.

Letting out a frustrated huff, she picked up her lukewarm coffee and knocked back an unpleasant gulp while she reminded herself that she had volunteered to work that night (and that it was triple pay that she badly needed).

It had seemed a great idea at the time; now, not so much.

She slipped her hand into the pocket of the red leather jacket that hung over her chair and pulled out a small, black leather notebook. It had been a gift from her closest friend and one time roommate - Mary Margaret - one that had started out as a trendy ‘bullet journal’ when Emma had complained one too many times about not being focused enough in her life. Her friend had sworn that this would change everything. Well, it hadn’t taken long for daily lists with twee little codes and pretty pens to be replaced with grocery lists scrawled in sharpie and the once pristine pages to be stuffed with receipts and business cards.

Emma flicked to the back and grabbed one of the number 2 pencils that sat in a pot on her desk. She scrawled at the top of the page: Emma Swan, 2016. And beneath began a start assessment of her life.

31 years old

Proud renter of a one bedroom apartment with a kickass view of Boston Harbor

Owner of a car older than she is

Single

Hopelessly addicted to hot cocoa (with cinn

Stuck in a goddamn rut.

 She underlined the last one three times. Tapping the eraser of the pencil against the page, she paused.

Mary Margaret had once told her that her problem was that she spent so long pondering what direction to take her life yet so little time putting anything into action (hence the damn journal). At the time she had brushed off the comment, but now, begrudgingly, she had to admit her friend was right. While Mary Margaret was always working on improving herself (and had even found just about the best still-single man in the city), Emma was still exactly where she had been for the past few years. That’s not to say that Emma was unhappy… just a little lost. Or maybe unfulfilled. And certainly lacking in direction.

Like her current place of work, for example. It was yet another one of those situations where her laissez faire attitude had led her down a path that she had not intended. See, this job was supposed to be temporary - a short work contract, earning her enough to pay some of her overdue rent and get her landlord off her back. An old friend, Ruby, had hooked her up after they’d met up for some drinks and Emma had bemoaned her financial situation. A few weeks working for Mills Security Systems seemed an easy enough way to supplement her bail bonds income (which had taken a nose dive that Spring) and when her friend had told her it was 20 dollars an hour for simply monitoring some alarm systems and taking a few calls, she’d been sold.

Yet now the year was drawing to a close but her ‘temporary’ contract was still going. She had just about paid back her rent when her car had decided to break down, maxing out her credit card and thus extending her supplemental job. She’d even became eligible for basic health care now she’d been there for so long…

Okay, so there were a few positives. She had her own desk - which was a step up from working out of the driver’s seat of her VW Bug. It even had three, half-sized walls around it which gave a modicum of privacy when she was sending WhatsApp messages during working hours. She did like the paycheck. It came in a crisp white envelope, once a week delivered to her little cubicle (the one labeled E. Swam in some clerical error. She’d changed the M to and N with a Sharpie). She liked the regular (ish) hours and the climate controlled environment that meant less time spent freezing in her car or apartment (heating wasn’t cheap during the cold-ass east coast winter). She even liked most of her coworkers. So far, so good?

Well, there was one particular fly in the ointment that made her resolve to quit the job as soon as possible even stronger: Killian Jones, the head of finance who she’d met that first week, and then tried to avoid ever since.

Okay, okay, let’s back up a little.

It had been her third day. She’d already jammed the copier and gotten scolded for taking someone else’s coffee cup from the break room (seriously, it was plain white and looked exactly like all the others). She’d been told to attend a team strategy meeting one floor up on 12 and arrived with her (non-stolen) coffee cup and a minute to spare meaning the only seat in the tiny room had been next to… him. Him being the most attractive man she had seen in a long, long time. Her quick assessment of him as she looked for a seat noted his glossy dark hair and piercing blue eyes and the nonchalant way he crossed his legs at the ankles as they sprawled out in front of him. It wasn’t like she was exactly an innocent gal, but the way he had looked her up and down as she approached the chair beside him had her stomach doing flips and an uncomfortable heat growing between her thighs.

Goddamn it.

(It had been way too long.)

Then as she’d sat, he’d turned and looked her in the eyes, taking her hand and shaking it firmly. He’d introduced himself and then asked her name, repeating it in his silky English accent. It had cut through her like a hot knife through butter and she’d known straight away that he was trouble.

Hey, if things had been different, if she’d met him at a club after a few drinks, she’d have made it quite clear that she thought he was highly fuckable and then added him to her ‘one and done’ list. But even Emma Swan, not exactly employee of the year, knew that one night stands with work colleagues were a recipe for disaster.  

Problem was, he was gorgeous. He was that easy kind of handsome. The kind that took your breath away but at the same time just suited him so well that you couldn’t help but stare, even as your cheeks flushed and your mind turned to goo. And then there was just something about the way he held himself, his manner and posture, that made her want to fucking swoon.

So like a rabbit startled by headlights, she’d decided then and there to not put herself in any situation where she’d be tempted to exercise poor judgment–no matter how freaking hot he was. When the meeting was over she’d scuttled back to the 11th floor as he was distracted by a coworker, yet not without the nagging feeling he was watching her as she left.

Of course, despite her efforts, that wasn’t the only time they had interacted.

A few weeks later, for Ruby’s birthday, a bunch of people had headed to a bar downtown after work to toast in her new age with pineapple margaritas. She didn’t think Killian Jones was exactly a friend of Ruby’s (though she’d mentioned offhand just how ‘hot’ he was in his ‘tight, ass-hugging pants’) so Emma hadn’t hesitated to tag along. But, unexpectedly, he had turned up, looking perfect in a pale grey suit and sky blue shirt, his tie removed and his hair ruffled oh-so-perfectly.

Emma had almost panicked. Which she knew was ridiculous… He was just a guy! She’d met thousands! But whenever she glanced in his direction (and she couldn’t resist), it seemed like he was wearing the most intense, curious look that had made her feel completely naked and exposed. It had ended up with her feeling hot under the collar and thoroughly frustrated. So she took the only action she could in such a situation. Putting on her best stony-faced look, she’d done her utmost to stay as far away from him as possible, practically gluing herself to the birthday girl’s side. Strategically, she had positioned herself as much out of his line of sight as she could, purposely avoiding his gaze. (And maybe, once or twice, when she had allowed herself to look again at him… maybe she saw an expression on his face that looked like disappointment.)

After that close call, they’d found themselves frequenting the coffee cart in the lobby together a few times. Waiting in line, she’d pretended not to see him, instead attempting to focus her attention on her phone. He hadn’t tried to speak to her those times. Clearly, her cool demeanor was working. See, the one thing Emma possessed in bucket loads, was self-restraint.

And I suppose the question that needs to be answers is why was she so adamantly avoiding this man? Simple. She just didn’t do relationships. After a couple that crashed and burned quite spectacularly, she’d came to the very adult conclusion that she was just not designed to be part of a pair.

Emma Swan did just fine on her own, thank you very much

Huffing softly, she opened a drawer and tossed the damn notebook away and out of her view.

 ***

8:31 pm

Time continued to drag painfully slowly.

Tink, the girl who usually worked the evening shift, was visiting family for the holidays and the rest of the team had split her tasks between them. Emma’s sole role tonight was to answer any customer service calls (thanks to Mills Security’s promise of ‘365 days service’) and log the details so the client could be contacted during normal office hours. She had zero idea why they just didn’t use a phone service.

She was staring at drunken photos on Facebook of friends celebrating at the parties that she could have been at when she heard a noise at the other end of the floor. She knew it was only her and a security guard working that night, so she immediately grabbed the pepper spray she kept in her purse and peered over the top of her partition. Then the sound of a bang behind her practically made her jump out of her skin and she spun around.

What the fuck.

It was Killian Jones, bending down to pick up what looked like a bottle of champagne that was rolling along the floor, his perfect arse exactly in her line of sight as it strained against his oh-so-tight dark jeans.

(She flushed as she imagined his ass sans those jeans.)

“Shit,” she cried as her heart raced and she tried futilely to look away, “You scared me!”

“Sorry,” he replied, sheepishly dropping his chin as he stood up. “Didn’t realize anyone was up here.”

With desperately feigned aloofness, she folded her arms. She could be cool. She was alone with the a guy she’d had some pretty R rated dreams about in a deserted office building. No biggie.

(Yeah, there had been dreams to… It had been a very, very long time and he was very, very attractive.)

“Well, I am. What are you doing here?”

He smiled. (Damn he had an amazing smile.) “Ah, I left earlier and realized I’d forgotten to file a report.”

She eyed the bottle in his hands. “And you thought you’d celebrate that fact?”  

“Oh, I need to keep this chilled. I was just up here to use your refrigerator - the one on 11 doesn’t seem to be working.”

“Right,” she nodded, relaxing just a little as the initial shock of his appearance faded. These were the most words she had ever shared with the guy. She vaguely wondered if he even remembered her name.

(Because she knew his: and that he had one brother and that he had moved from England five years earlier and that he owned a sailboat - yeah, her colleagues liked to talk and she was an apt pupil when it came to Killian Jones 101.)

“So you heading to a party?” she asked, feeling a strange mixture of jealousy and yearning as he nodded.

“That’s the plan,” he smiled, “My brother said I need to stop being a miserable sod and enjoy myself for the holidays.”

“Your brother sounds like my old roommate. She’s still offended I volunteered to work tonight rather than attend her potluck dinner.”

He smiled again, much broader, exposing his pearly white teeth and she was struck by the fact that when he did so, he looked even more handsome. Her heart did a little jump and she suddenly felt, well, a little shy.

“Well, I’d better-” she hitched her thumb towards her silent phone.

He nodded. “Happy New Year, Emma.”

“Happy New Year,” she echoed.

(She really did like the way he said her name.)

***

9:37 pm Failure two: Keeping promises to herself  

Twenty two minutes spent playing Candy Crush.

Thirty five on Facebook.

Eleven spent composing the perfect inspirational New Year post.

And not a single goddamn phone call.

The dollar signs that had convinced her to volunteer were slowly morphing into visions of the glasses of champagne she was missing by not attending Mary Margaret’s potluck. She pulled out the notebook and  flicked back to the list she had made earlier. Her life laid out in the stark grey lines of the pencil was particularly sobering. Sure, she was doing… fine. Better than many. Yet something was missing, she just wasn’t sure what.

Maybe Mary Margaret was right - maybe she did need to really make some changes this year. She’d never been one for New Year’s resolutions, but what could it really hurt to do something different? Because doing the same old things year after year wasn’t really getting her anywhere. Hadn’t she wanted to travel and see the world? To be brave and take some chances? (Secretly, she’d dreamed of opening her own bonds bureau for over a year.)  If nothing else she knew that she did not want to spend her next New Year’s Eve surrounded by grey partition walls and lingering regrets.

The sound of Killian Jones clearing his throat startled her and she jumped in time to see him standing now six feet away, the bottle of champagne he had earlier back in his hands and covered in beads of condensation.

“Shit,” she cried, placing her hand on her racing chest, “You need to stop doing that.”

“Apologies, love,” he said advancing a step closer to her desk.

“S’fine,” she replied, waving away his apology with her hand. She looked at the bottle of champagne with more than a little envy. “So you done?”

“Aye,” he nodded, his hair bouncing over his forehead.

“Then off to this party of yours..?”

He gave her an awkward smile and then tilted his head to one side. He opened his mouth to speak and then paused before dampening his lips and repeating the process. “Look, this may sound a bit mad, but what are you doing tonight?”

“Umm…” She gave him a curious look and then gestured towards her phone. “I’m the customer support til the automated system kicks in at one a.m. and everything is forwarded to India.”

“Oh, yeah,” he grinned rubbing his hand across his face. “Of course you are. Mills Security’s famous promise of US-based call centers.”

A peculiar light feeling bubbled in her chest as Killian Jones - object of her lust and fascination for months now - danced awkwardly from foot to foot-

“You see, the thing is, my brother-”

“The one who said you’re a miserable sod?”

“Aye, that’s the one.” He gave her a quick, searing glance and she felt a shiver ripple down her spine. “Well, he always says I’m too uptight. That I need to be more spontaneous.”

“Okay…” she said, wondering where he was going with this.

“So, Emma Swan, who has been avoiding me since I clapped eyes on her gorgeous self five months ago, how do you feel about joining me?”

Stunned, Emma felt like she’d been slapped in the face. But in a good way. “Huh?”

“The party. I believe it’s custom to bring a date?”

Her mouth gaped open.

What was her life right now? Was she not just minutes earlier contemplating doing something different and out of her comfort zone? It was like he was freaking psychic.

Immediately, her usual defenses flung right up, spewing out reasons why this was a very, very bad idea.

“But the calls-”

“You can forward them to your cell phone.”

“If they find out-”

“They won’t.”

“I won’t know anyone there…”

“You’ll know me… And, Emma Swan,” she blushed as he said her full name for the second time in the span of a minute, “I would really, really like to get to know you better.”

Oh shit.

Now this was unexpected and quite frankly, scary territory. She had sworn to stay away from him, but now that seemed like such a ridiculous thing to do as she stared into his beautiful blue eyes.

She looked down at her sweater and jeans combo.

“I’m not exactly dressed for a party.”

“You look great to me.”

She was running out of excuses. And actually wanting to make excuses.

A thought suddenly occurred.

“Just gimme a minute.”

***

Ruby Lucas, whilst a great girlfriend, was foremost known among her circle of friends for her active social life and exacting preparations. As such, she kept a selection of outfits in the breakout room lockers just in case of any last minute post-work drinks or dinner invitations that just could not be attended in her usual office attire.

Most of them were short, but since Ruby was a couple of inches taller than Emma, she was able to find a black wiggle dress which fit just about right, landing an inch above her knee, with cap sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. It was sexy, but not too sexy. (Since she didn’t know what this was - was it a date? She wasn’t an expert in last minute New Year’s plans when she was really supposed to be working.)

She dug out a pair of black pumps with a medium sized heel that were only a little too big and checked her reflection. She was pretty sure Ruby would not mind when she found out. She was actually pretty sure Ruby would quite the opposite of mind. Next, she grabbed the emergency makeup bag that also lived in the locker and added some layers of blush and mascara before finishing the look with a red Dior lipstick that even she had to admit was very flattering. A spritz of perfume before she ran a brush through her (thankfully, freshly washed) hair and she was ready. And her heart was racing.

Nervously, she stepped back into the office. A cool shiver trickled over her skin. What was she doing? She was about to turn back, when-

“Well now, I have to admit, that’s much better.”

She hadn’t thought it was possible to blush any deeper because of this man and she had been wrong. He gave her a slow, appreciative look, one that was hot and spine tingling yet not disrespectful. Her heart skipped a beat.

“Oh, this old thing,” she teased.

He held out his hand, “Shall we? I have a car waiting.”

“A car?” she asked.

He shrugged, “I’m CFO, have to take advantage of the perks at some point.”

“What the hell,” she shrugged in reply, placing her hand in his and letting him lead her to the elevator.

***

10:52 pm Failure three: A total misunderstanding of what she had gotten herself into

‘Party’ was perhaps a bit of an understatement.  The event was being held at one of those trendy little bars in Union Square with oversized art on the walls that contrasted with simple, neutral furniture and neon accessories. It was being hosted by a client of Mills Security, as it turned out, Killian had explained on the journey there that he’d been given the company invite.

It had been so hard concentrating on what he had been saying in the back of the sleek black sedan that had been waiting for them. Even though the back seat was pretty roomy by her VW bug size standards, they still seemed to be achingly close together as the car pulled away.

Then it hit her just how crazy this was! Five months of avoiding this man, only for her resolve to crumble in seconds. But she couldn’t find herself regretting her snap decision. He smelled damn good next to her. She peeked over at him, noticing how he’d left the top few buttons of his navy shirt open, showing a hint of chest hair. Her eyes lingered there. Biting her lip softly, she wondered just what that would feel like under her palms.

Down girl, she warned herself, puffing a breath of air over her face and trying to shift her focus onto anything other than him.

Upon arrival, Kilian had gifted the bottle of champagne upon the host (One August W. Booth, local furniture magnate and pretty skeezy in Emma’s opinion) before scooping up their own champagne flutes and observing the scene of the party in full swing.

“So,” she sighed, feeling a little awkward as she ran her free hand over the satin of her skirt and tried to think of something smart or witty to say.

“Maybe we should… mingle?” he suggested. She sighed in relief; she wasn’t quite ready to engage in solo conversation.

“I’d like that,” she smiled, taking his offered arm as they wandered into the crowd.

Up to this point, her attraction to him had been almost purely physical. But as they spent the next hour moving around the different guests and drinking just enough champagne to take the edge off her nerves, she started to see that he was really a great guy. Being one of those business-like occasions where most people don’t know each other that well, he was fantastic at putting others at ease and introducing himself (and slipping some of them a business card or two). He had the perfect combination of wit and charm that seemed to win over every woman - and man - in the room. And if she was a little proud of the envious looks some of them gave her, that was merely a bonus.

Finally, her feet began to ache and the two sought out a small table in the corner of the room.

“Wow, you really know how to work a room!”

He beamed before ducking his head a little at the compliment. “I’m generally better with people I don’t know.”

“Oh?” “I’m not the easiest man to get to know.”

Emma shrugged and took another sip from a fresh glass of champagne. “Well, it’s not like I’ve exactly tried to…”

“I noticed.”

“You did?”

“I tried to overlook the hiding from me at Ruby’s birthday bash, but by the third time you ignored me at the coffee cart, I was beginning to take the hint.” He pouted a little, his full pink lips looking so inviting that she could help but stare for a few seconds.  “Truth is, I’ve wanted to ask you out for ages.”

“You have?”

“Emma, I’ve been quite taken by you for months now.”

How was this happening? Her breathing began to quicken.

“But you were giving me very clear signals that you weren’t interested.”

“I don’t…” she began, ready to spout out her usual ‘don’t do relationships’ spiel, when she realized just how lame it sounded. “Yeah, I guess I did. But what about this-” she gestured to the party in full swing around them.

He smiled a little coyly before his gaze dropped to studying the glass in his hands. “Before I came into the office, I’d been on a call with my brother - he lives in England and you know, time differences made it past New Year there. He was quite merry and told me that it was about bloody time that I got over myself and started living a little.”

“He sounds more and more like my friend.”

Gently, he placed the glass on the small table in front of them. Looking up, his eyes flitted over her face. “Maybe we have something in common, then; people in our lives who care more than we think we deserve. I’ve spent years living in the past, Emma, using shit I couldn’t control as an excuse to not try to change. But then I spoke to Liam and then you were there and - do you believe in fate?” she shrugged, “Well I’m not sure I do either, but I figured if ever some higher power was telling me I needed to make a change, it was tonight when I saw you in the office.” Her breath caught in her throat as she absorbed his words. “And the change?”

“It was taking a chance and putting myself out there,” He edged a little closer on the loveseat upon which they sat, until their knees jostled together, “Honestly, I was fully prepared for rejection and having to begin to avoid you.”

Lashes fluttering like some paperback heroine, Emma let herself reply with a bright smile. “I’m glad you did.”

“So am I,” he whispered.

They tipped their glasses together, exchanging daring glances as they drank. The bubbles danced over her tongue the way only a really expensive champagne can. Slowly, the music around them changed from lively into something with a more mellow beat.

“Care to dance?” he asked.

“You can dance?”

“I have many talents.”

A peal of light laughter fell from her lips as she took his hand and let him lead her to where a few other couples were swaying together. He placed her arms around his neck and his own hands about her hips. The heat, the champagne and this intoxication of him made the room swirl pleasantly, tempting her to place her head on his chest, while a part of her deep inside hummed ‘this feels right’.

***

11:59 pm Failure four: Making sensible and rational decisions

The music became quieter as the minutes ticked towards midnight. The pair paused in their dance and Emma let her fingers brush against the tendrils of hair that spilled over his collar. He looked at her, his focus dancing between her eyes and lips until she thought she might burst with the tension.

“Hey, remember what you said about being spontaneous?”

“Yes,” he whispered, just as the countdown began.

This time it was her turn to focus on his lips. She knew that kissing him could be a beginning of something. It had been so long since she had felt that way about a man and that scared her. But not enough to stop.

Her fingers slipped from his hair to slide under the lapel of his thin wool jacket, hands drawing down over his shoulders and balling in the material, as she reached up on her toes. A second passed by, where their eyes met and both smiled, then there was a little jump in her stomach as she leant into him and pressed her mouth to his. Instantly, she was consumed by emotion: happiness, desire, fear- Until the simple physical motion of lips upon lips engulfed her completely, drowning out the countdown echoing around them. Her whole body tingled as he wrapped his arms around her pulled her body flush.

They fell apart to rousing shouts of ‘Happy New Year’, her fingers still tangled in his jacket, breathless and exhilarated.

“Wow,” she sighed, her senses slowly returning.

“Yeah,” he agreed. His cheeks were a captivating pink. Without thinking, she reached up her hand to brush against them.

“So, do you have any resolutions?” she whispered.

“Well, I definitely want to do that again.”

“Oh do you?” she teased.

“Yes,” he replied, his voice serious; the air around them suddenly thick-

And then it was as if the rest of the room faded away. He took hold of her hand, edging it back around his neck before crushing his mouth against hers once more.

Emma Swan was pretty sure she was drowning. Her whole body throbbed with need as she chased each motion of his lips. As first (or technically second-) kisses go, it was up there with the best; the explosive chemistry between them so palpable that the idea of not taking this further made her gut ache.

Resting her hands on his shoulders, she paused the kiss, whispering, “Follow me,” not waiting for a response before she took hold of his hand from her waist and pulled him with her towards the service area behind the bar which currently stood deserted.

“Kiss me,” she demanded, letting him push her against the wall, his hips anchoring her own in place so that she could feel his erection pressing heavily against her and making her wish that she was wearing a more forgiving skirt that would have allowed her to wrap her legs around him and seek out the friction she so wanted.

His needy lips did as she desired, desperately claiming her again: a little recklessly, certainly without restraint, almost bruising in their determination. One hand gripped her waist while the other snuck under the hem of her skirt, teasing her thigh while his lips found her neck. She let her hands thread through his hair, not caring if she mussed it up, just wanting this feeling to not end; wanting to be as close as she could to him and whatever magic spell he had placed over her.

Finally, he tipped back his head and took a few deep breaths.

“Emma, this wasn’t what I intended-” “You want to stop?” she asked, feeling slightly mortified at the idea she had entirely misread the situation.

“God, no-” he cupped her face with his hands, “I just don’t want you to think that this was my aim when I asked you to come here.”

She saw honesty in his eyes - she’d always been great at telling when someone was lying. Mary Margaret  called it her superpower. He was telling the truth.

“I don’t think that,” she smiled, “If I’m honest I don’t even know what’s happening right now,” she swallowed hard and then added, “But I do know I don’t want it to stop.”

A flash of understanding crossed his face and he tipped his face closer, “Well, maybe we need to take this elsewhere…” he let the words linger a moment between them.

“Is that car still available?”

He nodded and she became captivated for a moment by his unfairly thick lashes that curved back and further enhanced the mesmerising blue hue of his eyes.

“Then let’s go.”

***

The car ride was almost unbearable. There were too many thoughts in her mind to cope with being so close to him and not having him there and then. What was going on? What was she doing? What was he thinking?

And she was taking him back to her place.

Emma Swan did not bring men back to her own apartment - it was too intimate, it suggested she wanted more. But the invitation had fallen from her lips without hesitation and she’d given her address to the driver before she could overthink it.

Their hands rested next to each other, spanning the small gap between them. Emma counted the beats of her heart as the street lights zipped by. Then his fingers inched closer, slowly overlapping hers until he had taken hold of her hand. She looked at him, half hidden in the shadow of the dark interior, flashes of light flickering over his face.

God, she wanted to kiss him again. Waiting was such sweet torture - but she knew should she touch him like that now they would be consummating their new found chemistry on that very seat. So instead, she focused on the feel of his hands on her and let her eyes roam over his figure as he did the same. She could feel him study her decolletage and the exposed curve of her breasts thanks to Ruby’s predilection for low cut necklines.

Pulling up to the curb, she’d never been so thankful to get out of a moving vehicle, the pair tossing the driver a breezy ‘Happy New Year’ after Killian signed the chit.

Inside her apartment, she found herself once again pressed against the nearest wall, but this time with a lot less self restraint from both parties. His hungry lips tasted every exposed inch of skin as she clawed her fingers through his hair before yanking his shirt from his pants and sliding her palms up his back. He urged her hips apart and she felt the slit at the back of the skirt rip as she hiked her legs around him.

“Bed,” she demanded, tipping her head in the direction of her bedroom as they kissed their way across the living room.

After kicking open the door, Killian placed her back on the ground long enough for him to toss away his jacket and for them both to kick off their shoes. Then they were back, fused together, falling onto the bed as they pulled and tugged at each other’s clothes in a desperate search for the feel of bare skin.

The dress already ruined, she begged him, “Just tear it.”

With a guttural groan, he complied, foregoing the zip and yanking at the material until it gave way to the satisfying sound of threads splitting, leaving her in her simple underwear, as she concentrated on removing his shirt and fanning out her hands over his chest. His perfect chest, peppered with swathes of hair and just toned enough to say ‘hot’ rather than ‘gym obsessive’.

“You’re stunning,” he panted.

She palmed his hardness through his pants, earning another growl as her thighs clenched in anticipation of his generous size. “You’re not too shabby yourself.”

He yanked down the cups of her bra as she started to work on divesting him of his remaining clothes, suckling on a nipple as his hand worked the other into a firm peak, the sensation going right to her core where her body was practically begging her to take him inside.

“Shit,” she moaned as he took a second to help her with her task, before he was left gloriously nude and exposed before her - looking better than she could have imagined - so masculine and wanton with his erection jutting out proudly, demanding to be given attention. Bending forward, she reached out her tongue and ran it over his silky length, it jerked at the sensation, but before she could touch him he took hold of her wrist-

“You first,” he insisted and before she could protest he tugged down her panties, his lips once agains exploring her breasts as his fingers parted her folds and gathered the dampness that had already formed there. “Fuck Emma you’re so wet already. Such a delicious cunt.”

The unexpected language was surprisingly a huge turn on and she pulled his lips to her mouth-

“Waiting for you to fill me up, Jones.”

His fingers danced over her clit as he paused, inches from her mouth-

“So I’m Jones now, am I? Well I guess that makes you Swan.” Without ceremony, he pushed one thick finger into her quickly followed by another, her back arched from the bed until his lips muffled her moans. Inside her,  his digits found places that had her letting out breathy little moans.

“You like that, Swan?” he asked, his eyes scanning her expression as her knees flexed and she pushed her heels into the mattress, trying to ground herself from the sensation of flying into the air.

“Yes,” she cried, her hands seeking something to also anchor themselves to him, finding his ass to be just as firm and round as it had appeared in his pants. She was now so slick that his hand was gliding silkily between her legs, harder and faster- until he fell back on his haunches, giving her a searing look, before his mouth joined his hands on the assault of her sex. His tongue flicked out to swirl around her clit and over her folds until she could no longer discern his movements in the high of sensation he was creating. Her body was folding in upon itself, the muscles of her gut and core tightening and twisting as they bended to his will, his free hand massaging her breasts and then she was spiraling out of existence into the heavenly bliss of release as the tension snapped and rippled from her in waves.

“You’re glorious,” he panted, suffocating her in an all-consuming kiss that tasted of her, pulling her back to reality and fueling her desire once again.

Reaching for his cock, she ran her hand over him, imagining how he would feel inside her while he rutted into her palm. She pressed her hand against his shoulder, trying to lay him on his back so she could return the favor.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, once again worried she was misreading the whole situation.

“Nothing, love,” he replied, still pistoning his hips as he laid a kiss to her forehead, “It’s just, if I can’t be inside you right now, I think I’m going to explode.”

Oh, she wasn’t going to argue with him-

“Top drawer of the nightstand,” she whispered, sitting up to watch him as he found a condom, palming her breasts as her whole body ached in expectation. It had been so long since she had gotten to this place with a guy, and even longer with someone who she could potentially care about-

It was right then, as he turned back to her, his face deliciously wrecked, that she recognized that was just it- there was something about him, something as still intangible in addition to his more obvious assets, an attraction brewing that was more than just superficial.

She liked Killian Jones. Really. Truly.

Stunned, she let craving for him roll over her again as he crawled back across the bed to her, caging her body in with his, a look of pure want on his face.

“Swan,” he whispered, with a crooked smile.

“Jones,” she replied, widening her legs to accommodate him, wrapping her legs around his waist until she could feel the weight of him pressing against her entrance.

He sank into her heat, every solid inch more perfect than the last, pausing once he had bottomed out until she pressed her heels into his ass, urging him into a sensual rhythm.

His soft grunts and moans had her hot and bothered, writhing against him, seeking out further friction as he alternated between hard, quick thrusts and softer, rocking motions. Normally, Emma would be vocal with what she wanted in bed, but he just seemed to know instinctively how to make her body hum. She gave as good as she got, encouraging him with muttered ‘yeses’ and ‘harders’, getting lost in the moment - not trying to draw it out. Because she knew this could never be a one time thing. Instead, she chased her peak, wanting him to join her, grinding against him, foregoing technique for desperate motions that had one single purpose-

It worked. In a frenzy of movement, she found herself falling once more, this time her body was gripping his, dragging him with her into dizzying, euphoric release.

To the heavy beat of heaving hearts, he collapsed beside her.

Minutes later, his fingers tangled in her hair as she lay against his chest, truth be told she was a little too warm, but had no desire to move as she soaked in the post-coital bliss. His other arm wrapped around her shoulders and he ran his hand over the naked skin within his reach.

“Can I ask you a question?” she whispered.

“Of course,” he said, punctuating his reply with a kiss to her forehead. “Anything.”

“Why me? I mean, you could have your pick of anyone, Jones.”

“You’re beautiful,” he answered, without skipping a beat.

“Please…” she clucked, rolling her eyes.

“And, well, it was really a choice between you and the security guard tonight,” he joked.

“Not funny,” she deadpanned, though tossing him a grin that showed she knew he was joking.

“Okay,” he nodded, “Well, when we first met I could see the guarded look in your eyes. I recognized it. Not many wear it so openly, but you, sweetheart, are an open book.”

Her instinct was to rebuff that statement, but she knew it was true. “I’ve been… hurt.” she admitted, “More than once.”

“Me too,” he nodded

“So pain is attractive to you?”

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?” He shook his head, “Not exactly, love. I guess I saw a kindred spirit in you? And though you may have tried to avoid me, you piqued my interest that day. I sought you out, tried to learn a little about you. Ms. Lucas is surprisingly chatty when she brings up the daily figures.”

“I may have asked a bit about you too.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes really, just don’t let that go to your head!”

He gave her a wicked grin in response. She sighed. That cheeky smile of his was probably going to be her downfall.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why did you have to be one of the good ones?”

“The good ones?” he asked, his brow creasing in confusion.

“You know… I’m pretty good at telling when someone is being dishonest.”

“Oh, for all you know, I’m just some dashing rapscallion, love.”

“You wish buddy.”

The pair fell silent for a moment.

“Can I kiss you again?” he asked, strangely nervously considering their current situation.

In reply, she rolled onto her front, running one hand through his hair, her eyes focusing on his mouth, until she kissed him once more.

“Mmmm,” he moaned, “I could get used to that.”

She dropped her forehead to his, her fingers drawing circles against his scalp as the reality of what this all could mean began to dawn on her.

“Killian, we work together…”

“We work for the same company, love, entirely different departments.”

“But still…” she trailed off, searching again for an out clause-

“Love, if you feel this was a mistake-”

“No,” she cried, placing a hand on his chest. “I’m just- Can we take this slow?”

The smile he gave her was a one she hadn’t seen - wide and bright, full of hope - “As you wish, my lovely Swan.”

She kissed him again, rousing them both to round number two.

***

31st December 2017

Emma Swan, 2017

32 years old

Cohabitating with a gorgeous man who loves her (and she loves him)

Still have kickass view of Boston Harbor but this time sharing her bed (and life) with aforementioned gorgeous (and amazing) guy.

Still owner of VW Bug older than she is, but better able to afford mechanic costs since…

Now owner of her very own bail bonds business.

Very, very, sickening happy, thank you very much!,

[johnmuffus]

Dropify Academy Review

Dropify Academy Review (Sebastian Bedoya Course)

In this article, we’ll go through Sebastian Bedoya’s Dropify Academy, a dropshipping course that claims to teach you all the steps and information you need to start your first eCommerce and live off your store, making thousands in an instant once you’ve followed the classes.

However, dropshipping has become so popular that almost everyone has their own course available, and finding a class that’s actually good and not just another cash grab can be a tough task for most.

Is Dropify Academy one of those? Or is it worth its asking price? Let’s find out.

What is it?

It’s an online course focused on dropshipping with Shopify, and it’s hosted with Teachables, which also means it’s responsive in all devices and easy to follow.

The course is very intuitive thanks to how simple It is, and it covers the basic steps while avoiding going too deep. It doesn’t really mention why it’s so simple, but it feels like it’s specifically targeted towards beginners.

The course explains the steps for building a website in one module, and it also has several videos on developing your marketing strategies, using different channels like Facebook and Instagram, emailing, and a few others.

The author is Sebas Bedoya, a young YouTuber. Despite having his own course, his YouTube channel isn’t really big, compared with similar gurus. Dropify Academy condensates the experienced he earned since starting out a year ago.

Unfortunately, you didn’t misread that part. His experience was a warning sign, but I was relieved to see that the course isn’t bad at all.

Target audience

Given the content, it’s an ideal course for complete beginners. You learn how to build your store from scratch, but it also teaches you about branding and the way your customers think. The first modules are very newcomer-oriented, and they provide a good foundation for building your first business.

All videos are short, most of them being less than 10 minutes, so they’re easy to digest, and some can feel quite entertaining. However, many videos fail to provide a full picture of the topics they’re covering.

That issue is what makes you realize its actual target audience: the first modules are great at explaining them the correct mindset and the foundations to start their dropshipping ventures. However, experienced people will likely feel the first modules like a waste of time before actually seeing some interesting content.

Who’s the author?

As said, Sebastian is an 18 years old YouTube personality who focuses on dropshipping. His channel isn’t as big as the most influential gurus, but he’s still close to 29,000 subscribers, so he definitely beats a large portion of most YouTubers.

His channel shows as created in 2017, but his first video is from August 2017 and has almost 9,000 views, and it’s an explanation of how he earned $10 thousand in a single day. The rest of his videos also follow your standard dropshipping YouTuber content, with the clickbait titles and emoji-and-Photoshop-filled thumbnails.

Despite the obvious red flags on his channel, he does have some videos offering worthwhile information about the business. For instance, he has a video explaining taxes and dropshipping, and a lot of people steer clear from it. He has another one explaining how you can exploit YouTube’s algorithm to help your videos go viral.

The less useful videos are just personal vlogs and some motivational content.

About his career, he says his online career started a year ago, and the Dropify Academy description states Sebastian discovered dropshipping in January. His last video was uploaded more than half a year ago after a constant stream of content, but he could just be dedicated to his course.

Reviewing Dropify Academy

Instead of listing all modules, I’ll just go through the general structure of the course.

First, you receive a video outlining the course with a link for a Shopify trial. Then there’s a 10-minute long video on creating your brand on Instagram and growing it before explaining and giving some tips about copywriting.

After that, there’s a module on building your website, and it provides straightforward videos explaining how you build the store, customize it, getting your domain, which apps you need, and how to create the necessary pages. The videos have enough depth to set them apart from what you can learn from YouTube.

The next videos focus on researching the products you want to sell. It goes through what makes a good product, the niches, how to research, and the last video is among the longest, explaining how to set up your listings.

You then go back to your site, and you learn how to build your store after your products. This is one of the most effective approaches to store design, and the videos are some of the longest.

Then, there’s a video on creating ads, but it’s just shy of 6 minutes, so it’s not really useful for people with knowledge, but it’s still good information for beginners. Afterwards, you go into Instagram advertising and influencers; the issue is that the videos average just 2 minutes, and it explains stuff you probably already know if you use the platform.

After Instagram, it goes into Facebook Ads, and this section sports 2 of the longest entries in the class. It offers some good insight, and some of the videos are great, but given the course’s price, it’s missing a few topics.

The rest of the content mostly feels like bonuses.

You have 2 videos on optimizing credit on Facebook and a Clickfunnels intro, 2 and 1 minutes respectively. Gabriel also introduces you to email marketing with an almost hour-long video. You have a case study from someone apparently making $60,000 every day, and there’s the steps guide to building a store from scratch, but it’s a deeper iteration of the videos you already saw.

More Info

The amount of topics covered definitely caught my eye, and that’s what made me get the course. It looked like an extensive masterclass, but once I finished the first few modules, I just knew I overpaid for it.

Don’t get me wrong; there’s some great content here. The Facebook Ads is exceptional despite the missing content, and I definitely picked up a couple of ideas and tips from it. But just like it had a couple of things I never thought, there was a lot of information I do know and was completely absent from this course.

While the videos aren’t boring, and Sebas is a good instructor, I had to fast-forward a lot of them since I was just hearing things I’m already aware of. Luckily, he usually goes straight to the meaningful content, so it’s hard to find a lesson that feels like filler.

What do you get with this course?

The first module jumps into product research, showing a 4-step method for finding “hidden gems”. However, it’s not as groundbreaking as he wants you to think: just a nice method for finding some products.

The first duplicate comes in the Facebook Ads module. It’s the same as his Tiger course, with 7 videos offering insight into getting started and setting up your account. I don’t know why he didn’t expand it since you can find courses with at least twice as much content as this section. Besides, it’s missing relevant updates.

The secret Instagram approach is also recycled from his Tiger course, and it’s not a secret. You probably already know it if you’ve seen videos on Instagram marketing.

An addition to this course is the print on demand business model and how Youssef teaches you to implement this strategy to your store on Shopify. He then compares it to using AliExpress.

You have a standard section on setting up your store, and it’s only different from Tiger in that it’s two shorter videos instead of a single long one. While the module focuses on a print on demand business, you can apply this knowledge to build any store.

You then get a couple of videos on growing your Instagram and building your brand account. This module stands out thanks to Youssef’s meaningful insight, and it’s something I was expecting, given his experience as a consultant. So I can’t really complain about this section –good job.

The last videos talk about live reviews for your store, and the last module about dropshipping in America.

You finally get a directory with verified suppliers you can use for your business, but beware that these will probably only work for US-based companies or residents. You can try as an overseas business, but you should just skip it unless you have an SSN or a reseller ID.

Final Verdict

This definitely isn’t a bad course by any means. I found myself surprised at the depth some of the videos went and the amount of knowledge Sebas has despite his age; he’s definitely wiser than a lot of the gurus I’ve found online, and beginners will definitely finish the course with all the basics (and some of the advanced) covered.

Nevertheless, I wouldn’t recommend you pay $357 for it.

Newcomers may see it as worthwhile, but experienced students will definitely feel they wasted a few hundred on it with the lessons they already know. Still, there are courses available for complete beginners that still go for much less, so there’s little reason to take this course above the rest.

If he lowered his price significantly, this would be a course I’d recommend without thinking about it towards those without experience in the business.

But as it is right now, you have zero reasons to spend that money on this course when you can get almost 10 times the content and depth for less money.

Best Alternative

The best alternative to this course is definitely eCom Elites. It provides hours of content in video lessons teaching you all the ins and outs of the business.

Franklin Hatchett, the author of the course, is one of the people who made dropshipping famous through his success, and his lessons have excellent content that will suit both beginners and experts for just $197 or $297 depending on the plan.

I hope you found this review useful and if you have any questions, please comment down below. I’ll be more than happy to assist you.

Once again, thanks for reading my Dropify Academy Review and I wish you the best of luck.

The post Dropify Academy Review appeared first on Only Genuine Reviews.

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[anthonykrierion]

10 SEO Horror Stories: Scary Tales from SEOs

  It’s that time of the year where people in costumes roam the streets, children can eat candy all they want, and creepy tales are told all over the world. But of course, it’s not just about ghosts and monsters. Us SEOs have our own “Halloween” moments that give us scares and nightmares.

I asked SEOs on Reddit to share their SEO horror stories and it was a ride reading all of them. While some are relatable, some are horrible, right out of an SEO’s darkest fears. Check out these stories from the folks at r/SEO.

The Website Redesign

Mass Noindex

Bad Sales

The Classic Panda Update

Ajax Murder

SEO Karma

Yellow Pages

The Lovely Visitors

Banned from Facebook

Forgotten Landing Pages

The Website Redesign

From Reddit user: Obio1

“SEO Horror story” is another way of saying “website redesign”. Right?

A website redesign should not be as scary as it sounds, but in the wrong hands, it can lead to an absolute disaster. The SEO and website developer should always be aligned when a website is undergoing a redesign. You would never want a beautiful website with no visitors.

Mass Noindex

From Reddit user: imdblars (Lars from Damgaard Digital)

I had a client whose web developer noindexed the site when updating and developing new stuff. First time I experienced this the rankings were like the red wedding episode of Game of Thrones.”

Noindex is your best friend if you want to keep unimportant pages from the search results but putting noindex in the whole website? That is just a horrible misuse of it.

Bad Sales

From Reddit user: thedecanus (Dean from Daysack Media)

My old boss sold local SEO to 3 different skip hire companies all within spitting distance from each other. They were all from the traveler community so as not to be messed with by any means. We got all three businesses to the top of the SERP’s but 2nd and 3rd place used to call up complaining Long story short, one company (#3) found out, threatened us, told #2 and they both drove over 200 miles to our offices with baseball bats.

Lucky, that got resolved without any violence – the two companies stopped using us and I’m pretty sure the guy at #1 never found out.

I have met a lot of SEOs who take clients that are direct competitors with each other and 100% it turns into a disaster. Just don’t do it.

The Classic Panda Update

From Reddit user: kris99 (Krzysztof from Pulno)

One of the sites I was a co-developer dozen years ago was in the top 20 domains hit by Panda/Farmer update and lost 90% of its visibility in one day. As I remember it was a loss over 100k unique users a day.

This one is a real classic. I remember when it was initially released back in 2011. Thousands of websites had the same experience as this losing a huge amount of traffic overnight. Definitely not a good memory.

Ajax Murder

From Reddit user: Ann_Yaroshenko (Ann from Jet Octopus)

AJAX allows web pages to be updated asynchronously by exchanging data with a web server. This means that it is possible to load parts of a web page without reloading the whole page. Despite Google engineers have significantly improved rendering of JavaScript for Googlebot, AJAX got its bad SEO reputation.

About the website:

Real-estate website 1M+ pages 4,5 M monthly visits

What was done?

We analyzed log files to see where the crawl budget was spent. Logs showed that Googlebot sent 38 M requests during the month. 23,5M (!) requests were wasted on ajax content.

What recommendation we gave:

1. Check content that is provided on AJAX and evaluate whether it is worth being shown in SERP. 

2. Close content that provides no value in robots.txt for Googlebot.

Key takeaway

Before closing AJAX content in robots.txt, consider carefully what content is there. You can accidentally block the part of your webpage and the content can become meaningless for bots

This one is quite technical but it’s terrifying and it’s a story you can learn from. When you have a website with a million pages or thousands of pages, you would want to have that crawl budget spent on important pages. 

SEO Karma

From Reddit user: milosmudric (Milos from SEO Brainiac)

Were hired by a client, we managed to rank him number one in the country for one of the most expensive services and two not so expensive. Somehow we had an insider information that they had around 2 sales per month for this expensive service and after our campaign, they had 4-6. So they definitely had the ROI after a couple of months, but they were not satisfied, so they fired us and hired another agency (They didn’t even know about Analytics, and they were looking me like I’m ghost when I told them that they must have had more calls for those 3 services. They couldn’t believe I knew…). So, the new company suggested redesign (probably because that was the only thing they knew how to do), Totally changed the content, all the page elements, without any redirection, etc. They lost all their rankings and traffic.

Still, for me, it was more a comedy than horror :)

This one is also a classic. An impatient client who switched to a different agency and totally messed up. Karma strikes fast in the SEO world.

Yellow Pages

From Reddit user: emuwannabe (Rob from Purpose Driven Promotion)

They poach clients with unrealistic promises and never deliver.

I’ve won back a few clients from them over the years. In fact, I just got another back this month after being away for about 12 months. HE spent about $300/month and you know what he got for it? A placeholder page that says “future home of BUSINESS NAME” he’s almost broke now – hasn’t had a new client in months he told me.

BUT he’s willing to come back to me because he knows I can deliver. He was all over page 1 for dozens of searches – many in top 3. All that went away with YP

This is more of a redemption story, but SEOs look at businesses that pay a huge amount of money for directories with horror. Luckily for them, we SEOs are here to help.

The Lovely Visitors (Fictional)

From Reddit user: AtomicMandark

I’m on google analytics, checking my website’s traffic. Even if it only has a few people visiting it, I’m really happy that my website has visitors. But there’s one weird thing I’ve noticed – 1 new user is added every week. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I allot time every week to go out and try to meet at least 1 person that’s willing to listen to me ramble on about my website.

This has been happening around a year now. Ever since I settled in my house, I always kept up my habit of going out every week. And historically speaking, the 1 additional user every week hasn’t stopped.

I found a way to check where the users are coming from. I won’t go into detail how I found out, but I’m gonna do it right now…

That’s weird.

Most of my site’s traffic comes from the same place… It’s my house. But I shouldn’t be considered as a new user since I’ve always visited my site. Is someone breaking into my house every week just to check my website? That’s absurd.

That’s why I checked what my CCTVs recorded

The hallway camera is broken? It doesn’t matter. There’s only one room at the end of the hallway – my basement.

Here’s the thing, the basement is where I take the people I meet every week. Once they wake up as I cut into their bodies… I tell them the story of how I created my website from scratch. I can’t help it. I’m so proud of my website and I want more people to know. It doesn’t help that they scream every time I tell my story. Cutting off their tongues doesn’t seem to shut them up. But at least I got to tell them my story.

They were all so lovely. But they always died while I told them my story. They couldn’t be the visitors, right? That’s impossible. But if they are… I guess telling them my story worked.

This one is fictional but I love the creativity in the story, it was a roller coaster ride. Pageviews from the dead? No thanks.

Banned from Facebook

From Reddit user: hanouaj

Kept posting links to my website in many Facebook groups until Facebook completely banned the posting of any link to my website in whole Facebook.

Social media is one of the easiest ways for websites to get their name out there. For most new websites, it’s their main source of traffic. Getting your domain completely banned from the biggest social media platform in the world is just pure terror.

Forgotten Landing Pages

From Reddit user: lalapranpriya

A client had an epiphany that it would be fun to delete all the landing pages of the site. When we asked their development team about it, they suddenly had selective amnesia.

Landing pages are critical for any SEO campaign. Having a disconnect between SEOs and web developers is already scary but deleting the landing pages from existence? What a nightmare.

Key Takeaway

All SEOs have their own stories on the horrifying experiences they’ve had whether it’s a broad core algorithm, bad links, and penalties. We all can relate to them. At the end of the day, these horror stories give us valuable lessons that can further improve our work as SEO professionals.

Do you have an interesting story to tell? Leave a comment below and share it with us!

10 SEO Horror Stories: Scary Tales from SEOs was originally posted by Video And Blog Marketing

[marcusssanderson]

60 Winnie The Pooh Quotes Everyone Can Relate To

Our latest collection of Winnie the Pooh quotes on Everyday Power blog.

Winnie the Pooh is a classic children’s book that has remained a favorite for many even to this day. The book written by A.A. Milne and published in 1926, is about a cute bear and her friends.

Due to the huge success of the book, Winnie the Pooh was later turned into movies, cartoons and theme park rides all over the world. Many of us probably grew up reading the book and watching the features.

Today, Pooh is one of the most popular cartoon characters. However, despite its cuteness and childlike nature, Pooh has a lot of wisdom. Pooh’s take on life has inspired so many fans. The cartoon character has advise on various issues including love, friendship and selflessness.

Even though the cartoon character was created almost a century ago, Winnie the Pooh is still loved by millions of fans all over the world. So in honor of this iconic cartoon character, below are some of the best Winnie the Pooh quotes that both adults and children can relate to.

Winnie The Pooh Quotes Everyone Can Relate To

1.) “You don’t spell it…you feel it.” —Winnie the Pooh

2.) “Some people care too much. I think it’s called love.” —Winnie the Pooh

3.) “If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.” —Winnie the Pooh

4.) ”Love is taking a few steps backward maybe even more… to give way to the happiness of the person you love.”- Winnie the Pooh

5.)” They’re funny things, accidents. You never have them till you’re having them.” – Winnie the Pooh

6.)” You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” – Winnie the Pooh

7.)” If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.” —Winnie the Pooh

8.)” A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.” —Winnie the Pooh

9.)” The things that make me different are the things that make me.” — Winnie the Pooh

10.) ”How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” — Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh quotes for every stage of life

11.) ”Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” —Winnie the Pooh

12.) ”It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “What about lunch?” – Winnie the Pooh

13.) “People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” – Winnie the Pooh

14.) ”I’m not lost for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” – Winnie the pooh

15.) ”Just because an animal is large, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want kindness; however big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo.”― Winnie the Pooh

16.) ”Think, think, think.” ― Winnie the Pooh

17.)” I always get to where I’m going by walking away from where I have been.” ― Winnie the Pooh

18.) “A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference.” – Winnie the Pooh

19.)” Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” – Winnie the Pooh

20.)” The most important thing is, even when we’re apart, I’ll always be with you.” – Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh quotes to make you smile

21.) ”Any day spent with you is my favorite day.” – Winnie the Pooh

22.) ”Promise me you’ll always remember: You are braver than you believe and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Winnie the Pooh

23.) ”I’m short and fat and proud of that!!” – Winnie the Pooh

24.) ”Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”  – Winnie the Pooh

25.) ”They are funny things, Accidents. You never have them till you’re having them.” – Winnie the Pooh

26.) “A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.” – Winnie the Pooh

27.) ”The nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops. Eventually.” — Winnie the Pooh E

28.) ”After all, one can’t complain. I have my friends.”— Winnie the Pooh

29.) ”Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” – Winnie the Pooh

30.) ”It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.” – Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh quotes that both adults and children can relate to

31.) ”If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” – Winnie the Pooh

32.) ”Could be worse. Not sure how, but it could be.” – Winnie the Pooh

33.) ”Spelling isn’t everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn’t count.” – Winnie the Pooh

34.) ”To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.” – Winnie the Pooh

35.) ”When you are a bear of very little brain, and you think of things, you find sometimes that a thing which seemed very thinkish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” –Winnie the Pooh

36.) ”Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” – Winnie the Pooh

37.) ”I was walking along looking for somebody, and then suddenly I wasn’t anymore.” – Winnie the Pooh

38.) ”Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.” – Winnie the Pooh

39.) ”One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries.”  – Winnie the Pooh

40.) ”Home is the comfiest place to be.” – Winnie the Pooh

More Winnie the Pooh quotes

41.) ”As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen.” – Winnie the Pooh

42.) ”We dint realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.” – Winnie the Pooh

43.) ”Goodbye..? Oh no, please. Can’t we go back to page one and do it all over again?” – Winnie the Pooh

44.) ”I must go forward where I have never been instead of backwards where I have.” – Winnie the Pooh

45.)” We need you, we always need you.” – Winnie the Pooh

46.)” I’ve found somebody just like me. I thought I was the only one of them.” – Winnie the Pooh

47.) ”Even if we’re apart, I’ll always be with you.”  – Winnie the Pooh

48.) ”We will be friends until forever, just you wait and see.” – Winnie-the-Pooh

49.) ”Sometimes the thing to do is nothing.” – Winnie the Pooh

50.) ”Doing nothing often leads to the very best of something.” – Winnie the Pooh

Other Winnie the Pooh quotes that are full of wisdom and wonder

51.) “So perhaps the best thing to do is to stop writing introductions and get on with the book.” – Winnie the Pooh

52.) “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” – Winnie the Pooh

53.) “You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” – Winnie the Pooh

54.) “I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time.” – Winnie the Pooh

55.) “And really, it wasn’t much good having anything exciting like floods, if you couldn’t share them with somebody.” – Winnie the Pooh

56.) “He said it twice because he had never said it before, and it sounded funny.” – Winnie the Pooh

57.) “It all comes of not having front doors big enough.” – Winnie the Pooh

58.) “There’s no difference between falling a thousand feet to the jagged rocks below and tumbling out of bed.” – Winnie the Pooh

59.) “I wasn’t going to eat it, I was just going to taste it.” – Winnie the Pooh

60.) “I did mean a little larger small helping.” – Winnie the Pooh

Which of these Winnie the Pooh quotes was your favorite?

Winnie the Pooh can be considered as one of the wisest cartoon characters. Whether an adult or a kid, we can all learn a thing or two from him.

Winnie the Pooh quotes are relevant at every stage of life. Hopefully, you’ve found these quotes helpful.

Which of these Winnie the Pooh quotes resonated with you best? Do you have any other favorite quotes to add? Let us know in the comment section below.

The post 60 Winnie The Pooh Quotes Everyone Can Relate To appeared first on Everyday Power Blog.

[bluebookweb]

The 27 Best Restaurant Marketing Ideas

Would you like thousands of new restaurant customers and a $277,547+ revenue increase for the next year?

Yes. Placepull found some brands have seen increases far greater than $277,547 in additional revenue using these ideas. All you have to do is learn these top 27 restaurant marketing ideas and you’ll see reduced costs, more customers, and higher profits worth $277,547 or more per year.

There’s only one catch – you absolutely must make the effort to carve out just 15 minutes every day to make these restaurant marketing ideas happen.

Once you do that, thousands of new customers will follow along with a minimum $277,547 increase in revenue. In fact, many smart, leading restaurants have used these very same restaurant marketing ideas to generate even more revenue.

We understand as a restaurant owner, marketing can fall by the wayside. We get it, you’re busy. But if you continue reading, we’ve given you a list of the best restaurant marketing ideas and hacks to gain literally thousands of new customers.

To make it easy, we’re going to split these ideas into external marketing ideas (things you can do outside of the restaurant to get customers) and internal marketing ideas (things you can do inside the restaurant to keep customers and help them spend more with you).

External Restaurant Marketing Ideas

1. Make Mouths Water

If you’ve ever made the mistake of going to the grocery store hungry, you’ll know how easily a simple picture of good food will make your mouth water.

The big food brands know what they’re doing – an image of a tasty dish is registered by the brain faster than any words can, and it triggers all of the pleasure centers in the brain.

So why not follow suit? You are likely to have some very good looking dishes on your menu. Photograph them, put them on your website, and the readers will likely make their decision to dine with you on the spot. Don’t even give them a chance to think about another restaurant.

We suggest hiring a local food photographer to come by for an hour each month and capture some awesome shots of your dishes, but if you’re up for a challenge, you can try it yourself. Learn about how to take Instagram topping food photos in this Gizmodo lesson.

Share them with your social media audience, post them to your Google page, and watch your community talk about coming in to try your restaurant.

The restaurant experts at Bread and Butter PR saw one restaurant in Buffalo, New York achieve a 13 percent increase in bookings just by posting great food pictures and telling commenters that they were excited for them to come by. That 13 percent increase in customers turned out to be a $93,436 increase in revenue for the year.

2. Answer That Bad Online Review

There is always one person who just loves to complain. Little things like their chair squeaking or the bar tender’s haircut – but it’s important that you validate their feedback.

It might be somebody’s fourth silly complaint for the month, but this is not an opportunity for you to give them a piece of your mind. Responding to their criticism in a meaningful and friendly way is a powerful tool for your reputation.

A good idea is to set up a Google Alert for your business name so you’ll be notified immediately when someone mentions your name on the internet.

Returning customers will always be your best customers, so by looking after them, you will see familiar faces filling tables consistently every night.

You may even wish to attract a complainer back in with a small offer. It also shows your other customers that you care a great deal about making it right. Which of course, you do. Doing the right thing will always keep your customers returning customers which provide you with the bulk of your income. Keep them!

3. Get Your Google My Business Listing Right

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes – you’re peckish and have a quick google on your phone for “restaurants in suburb x”. They like the look of your restaurant, but can’t immediately see your hours.

And just like that, you’ve lost them.

That may sound dramatic, but in terms of restaurant marketing strategies, solving this should be right at the top of your list.

Today’s customers are busy, and their attention span is shorter because of it. By having all of your basic information easily accessible, you greatly increase your chances of grabbing that time-poor, stomach-empty customer. Don’t take a chance here.

After you’ve read this article, head over to Google My Business to get it sorted, it only takes five minutes. The data analysis team at ToastTab noted a previously struggling restaurant in Anaheim, California saw an 18 percent increase in customers, meaning a $188,359 revenue increase for the year.

4. Be Part of Your Community

We’re not exactly talking charity here, but those people down the street, working in those offices or mowing their lawns in the surrounding suburbs – they’re your customers. They just don’t know it yet.

Engage them with a special Tuesday discount for locals, or provide vouchers to the local little league.

Get involved in the local social media conversations and be seen helping out where you can. Did somebody’s car get broken into? Offer them a hot meal.

How many new customers do you think you could get by being seen as a pillar of the community?

How often would your regular customers tell their colleagues, family and friends that their restaurant is the local best in the area? Invest your time in your community and they will repay you with full tables.

5. NAP Everywhere

Your NAPs (name, address and phone number, sorry nap fans) are all over the internet, and Google scours every page to look for it. You need to make sure that all three are consistent everywhere it exists.

Visit this free tool from Yext to lookup all of your listings and make sure your NAPs are correct.

This one’s easy enough you could get your staff to do it during quiet hours. We’re sure they’d appreciate the extra work.

The more consistent it is, the higher you’ll rank in Google searches, which means more brand new customers and more revenue for you.

6. Join Your Chamber of Commerce

This is a great way of engaging in your community, networking with local businesses, and even hosting events at your restaurant.

You should also be able to get a link on their website which Google will love to see.

Again, this is about becoming a part of the fabric of your community, and in turn, being the favoured restaurant of your community. This will make you a much busier restaurant and give you more revenue.

7. Use Instagram to Full Effect

For some reason, people just love taking photos of their food. Maybe even more than tasting the actual food. Go figure.

Let your snap-happy foodies do some free advertising for you by encouraging them to share their images on Instagram. Find out how to use Instagram effectively for restaurant marketing here.

This is free advertising from your customers themselves. There is no better advertising than word of mouth, which means new customers guaranteed.

8. Text Message the Masses

If your customers are let's say, a little more “old fashioned”, they are still likely to be familiar with text messaging or SMS (short message service).

You could offer your customers a small offer (e.g. 15 percent off their bill) if they sign up to your exclusive SMS deals. Each week you send out deals to your SMS subscribers, driving customers back through your doors.

This is a great one for filling up your quieter nights to keep your tables busy and cash flow up.

9. Spread the Word with Your Local Media

Despite the huge changes in technology in recent years, it’s likely that your local newspapers and radio stations are still going strong.

Therefore this is one of those restaurant marketing ideas and trends that are important to keep you relevant in your community.

Place an ad with an attractive offer, give vouchers to the radio station as prizes, or if you’re brave, invite a somebody to review your restaurant.

All of these are effective and relatively cheap ways to get respected local institutions to market you to your community. More awareness equals more customers.

10. Get Google Ads

You’ve probably heard this talked about a lot as part of a good restaurant marketing plan, but never did more than raise your eyebrows about it.

If you serve Italian food, it’s important that you turn up at the top of the page when someone googles Italian food in your area. Start here and learn all about it.

If you’re in the top Google results, you will see a huge increase in customers. You can guarantee you appear at the top of Google results by working with Google Ads. According to the marketers at Square for Restaurants, a Rochester, New York restaurant had a 46 percent increase in business in justone month by using this idea, leading to a $304,356 annual revenue leap.

11. Take Advantage of the Ideas in Your Community

Is the local school doing a production? Why not offer a discount for ticket holders for dinner after the show?

If there is a local parade, there’ll be a crowd; entice them in with a themed drink or meal to celebrate to occasion.

If you spent a little time each week checking your local Facebook events page, how many local events do you think you could take advantage of?

We’re betting at least a few events, and over 200 extra customers a week that need food and refreshment.

12. Make Sure Your Website Looks Good on Mobile

SmartInsights.com report that 72 percent of people searching for food do so from their mobile phone, so if your customers have to contort their fingers and squint their eyes to see your info from their phone, you’re losing to the restaurant down the street.

It’s not something you’ll need to do from scratch, just check with your web developer that they have optimized your site for mobile. This will help you convert more browsers to customers, resulting in more revenue.

13. Advertise on Facebook

Facebook is a marketing giant for a reason; you can really get down to the nitty gritty when it comes to targeting an audience. Are you looking for people who like Greek food, who live in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and are retired? Facebook has you covered.

Best of all you can get started with a budget of $5 a day. For a small investment you’ll be able to target your perfect audience, and turn them into new customers.

You can have a look at this handy free guide to get you started.

Well targeted customers are likely to love your restaurant, and return over and over – we think that’s well worth your time.

14. Make Yelp Work For You

We’re pretty sure you’ve heard of this one. Even if you don’t make your own Yelp page, someone else will, so it’s best you take control yourself.

As a restaurant owner it’s critical you get this one right, and monitor it like it was your restaurant’s blood pressure.

Here’s a good guide to get the most out of your Yelp page. Doing this will make sure that anyone looking at your page will only see good things – and that means – you guessed it, many more new customers.

15. Get Customers Through Email Marketing

Yes, email marketing still works. In fact, it provides the highest return on investment out of all digital marketing strategies. CampaignMonitor.com states for every $1 spent, it generates $38 in revenue.

The secret is to not hammer them with emails, don’t be pushy, and give them a reason to read it. That might be the return of a favorite seasonal meal or a special discount for that month.

These days it’s pretty foolproof with templates like theseto get you started.

This is one of the best ways to get your semi-regular customers to dine with you much more often, and all for a very low investment. If you spent $1,000 of your time on email marketing, you would see a $38,000 increase in revenue.

16. Use Someone Who Knows What Their Doing

In the past, you would have had to hire an expensive restaurant marketing agency. Traditional restaurant marketing companies are just that though – traditional. But as you’ve probably noticed, the trend in this list is the internet allowing things to be possible that weren’t before. Hire someone who knows social media.

17. Share the Good News

With all of the good things you’re now doing in your community, you might get some unsolicited free press. Now’s not the time to be shy, show it off.

Post it on your restaurant wall and social media wall alike – let the people know trusted sources are celebrating your business.

This all leads to more attention, and more customers walking through your doors, because they want to know what the fuss is about. Let your good press make you more money.

18. Understand Your Audience

While your busy plating the best meals you can, keeping everyone happy, as well as balancing your books, it’s easy to overlook your “brand”. That’s just marketing speak for understanding your audience. What do they like? What don’t they like? Is low carb important to them? Is good wine something they look for?

Talk to them. In person and online. You’ll find more often than not they will be more than happy to give you their opinion.

Once you get a feel for what your customers want, you can start to build your brand around that. This means communicating it in your promotional material, as well as on social media. The better you target your marketing, you’ll find your customers will be of a higher quality and spend a lot more per visit.

19. Keep ‘em Loyal

Carrying around a loyalty punch card, like some sort of caveman, is so 2008.

FitSmallBusiness.com reports that customers in loyalty programs return 200 percent more often, so get them loyal, keep them loyal, and increase your revenue.

Internal Restaurant Marketing Ideas

20. Steal Your Competitor’s Loyal Customers

This one is devious but can be very effective.

Offer anyone with a competitor’s loyalty card (e.g. coffee card) and offer to trade it in for a free coffee at your restaurant.

The first benefit is that you just took a loyal customer away from your competitor. Increasing your market share, one customer at a time.

And the second benefit is you now get to acquire a new local customer for a very low cost. If you do it well, you’ll have a new returning customer for the price of a coffee.

21. Place Your Window Seats First

It’s as simple as that – place your first customers by the window. It will make the restaurant look fuller from the street and every passerby will be able to see your happy customers enjoying your meals.

The team at Bread and Butter PR noted this strategy has been shown to pull in 18 percent more new customers in from the street. How much more revenue could you make with 18 percent  more customers?

22. Make Your Menu Easy (Really Easy) to Read

What terribly obvious advice you cry. Of course they can read our menu!

But if it’s a scanned PDF you’ve linked to on mobile, or a poorly formatted printed menu, that will drive people mad.It has to be sleek, concise and easy to read. You want them to see the menu and stay there reading it, not leaving to find something else because they are frustrated.

Keeping customer eyes on your menu makes them far more likely to book with you and not the restaurant down the road. Think of how many thousands more customers that would mean for you over the next year.

23. Get a Delivery Partner to Do the Work for You

Like it or not, it looks like online delivery services are here to stay. They definitely have advantages though, so have a look at the likes of Uber Eats, GrubHub and Eat24.

You do pay a fee per order, but you also cut down on costs for table service, dishwashing and the like.

You’ll also pick up new customers, so it’s great advertising. Cutting down on costs, free advertising, and more customers – what’s not to like?

24. Start Business Card Giveaways (With a Twist)

This is a retro one, but it’s simple and effective. Offer customers the chance to win a free meal for two if they drop their business card in the bowl.

The twist is you can then email them and tell them that they didn’t win this time, but they can join your email newsletter list (make sure you ask them) to win other prizes.

It also gives you a good idea about who your customers are and where they work. Again, this helps you target the higher spending customers which means much higher revenue per customer.

25. Make Your Ingredients Local

This one isn’t always the easiest (or cheapest) to do, but your customers will absolutely love it. It shows you are supporting your community as well as using the freshest ingredients possible.

Better local tastes means more loyalty from your community, which means more regular customers, which means more revenue.

In fact, a the data analysis team at TouchBistroreported one Corpus Christi, Texas restaurant were surprised to see a $124,223 revenue increase within the first year of trying out this idea.

While several factors may have contributed to their growth, they recorded over 250 reviews and social media comments raving about their local ingredients – helping get new customers in itself.

26. Don’t Offer Water

When we say don’t offer water, we don’t mean you can’t serve water, we just mean don’t put it on the table. When they see the beverages on your menu, they are much more likely to pay for that tastier, more refreshing option.

Just like that you’ve turned a labor cost into a profit at every table place in the restaurant.

27. Put a Box Around Your Best Menu Item

Pick your dish that has the highest gross profit. When you place that item on your menu, put a simple box around it. iMenuPro.com says “There's no single better way to draw attention to a high-profit menu item”.

You’re now far more likely to sell your highest profit dish.

Conclusion

You now have all of the tools to reach a $277,547 revenue increase in the next year by using these 27 restaurant marketing ideas and trends. You could earn even more than that – it’s up to you and the effort you put in every day to make these ideas happen. So are you going to make that $277,547 revenue increase happen for you?

Get started right now – immediately carve out 15 minutes a day to dedicate to putting these ideas into action. It’s just a small amount of effort per day, but it will lead to great rewards in the form of thousands of new customers and at least $277,547 of new income for the year.

Remember not every idea will be right for your restaurant, but try it, modify it and try again. You know your restaurant and your customers so you’ll know what’s working and what’s not.

What’s holding you back? It’s only 15 minutes per day and all of these ideas are more than doable. Make it happen as part of your daily routine and reap the rewards.

The 27 Best Restaurant Marketing Ideas posted first on happyhourspecialsyum.blogspot.com

[theconservativebrief]

By now, you’ve probably heard the story.

Last week, an actress and photographer, Rosey Blair, asked to switch seats with a woman on a plane from New York to Dallas so that she could sit next to her boyfriend. Blair proceeded to live-tweet as she observed the woman and her new seatmate chat and eventually start flirting, discussing their mutual love of working out and subtly touching elbows, all details captured and posted by Blair. Her thread went mega-viral, racking up 900,000 likes, getting picked up by national news outlets and earning Blair thousands of new followers.

Many initially thought the story was adorable, even if others found it creepy and intrusive. Then the incident took an even darker turn.

An online hunt began to find the identities of the couple, now identified by the hashtag #PlaneBae. The man, a former professional soccer player named Euan Holden, embraced the media circus, but the woman, uncomfortable with the newfound spotlight, hesitated. That didn’t stop the online mob from tracking her down. She began receiving crass, sexually explicit messages in the comments of her personal Instagram profile.

She deactivated her social media accounts and declined an invitation to go on the Today show. Blair and Holden appeared without her. No one asked her if she had any reservations or concerns about being made part of a viral story. All she did was board a plane and chat with her seatmate. Now she is a public figure, a hashtag, and a target. Millions of strangers on the internet want to know about her personal life.

The erosion of the division between public and private has been coming for a while now. Maybe it started with reality television and the dramatic storylines broadcast to millions about people just like you falling in love. (Though those people willingly signed up to become public figures.) Maybe it was already in the works before then: People have always turned other people’s lives into public spectacle regardless of their will.

When I was 22, I wrote my first paid article for a publication on the internet. My essay, written under my own name, was about what it was like to date with genital herpes. I expected maybe a few thousand people to read it on the Women’s Health website; it wasn’t even going in the physical magazine. At the time, I was an intern at a media company, less than a year out of college, and my only brush with fame was as a 13-year-old writer of moderately popular Harry Potter fanfiction.

The herpes article went viral. Not just “few thousand retweets” viral — I mean invitations to go on daytime television viral. Two days after my essay went up on Women’s Health, I was featured in a trending article on the Washington Post website. It was aggregated from there on Yahoo, Jezebel, and eventually even The Daily Mail, where an enterprising staffer tracked down my private Facebook profile and raided it for photographs to use in their article.

There I was, smiling brightly in a picture my mother had taken as my father blew out his birthday candles. Of course, they cropped my father out, leaving me grinning and alone as hundreds of Daily Mail readers wrote comments underneath attacking my character. This slut, this shameful whore. She should kill herself for having an STI.

The next year I would find myself at the center of a new controversy when Genius, a well-funded startup that mostly writes annotations on song lyrics, launched a new tool allowing their users to annotate any website, anywhere. I wrote a blog post detailing why I thought the product was unethical, as it ignored the consent of the website creator and let strangers essentially scrawl graffiti on our intellectual property. I was also concerned it would be yet another tool in the hands of abusers, stalkers, and harassment mobs to come after me on my personal blog; since going viral, I had spent a year receiving horrifying sexual emails from strangers.

Sam Biddle, writing for Gawker, found my case unconvincing. His argument boiled down to my status as a public figure. “It’s brave and noble of Dawson to publicly try to combat the stigma of STD infection,” he wrote. “But when she writes ‘we need more voices to challenge the single narrative of herpes,’ she’s already acknowledging her place in public—it’s right there in the ‘we.’ If you want to advocate for a cause in front of an audience (and judging by the fact that her website has a ‘Press’ section, I’m assuming she does), you have to take what comes with it. Dawson says she has a blog ‘to have total control of how I write and who interacts with me.’ If only this were possible! Unfortunately, this is a fantasy, and will always be so.”

Chelsea Hassler, writing for Slate, argued the contrary position: That as a blogger with a few articles published, I was not someone who rose to the level of a “public figure.” I was an individual, an amateur. She wrote, “There’s a substantive difference between critiquing the work of a professional journalist or blogger and critiquing the writing of an individual who is using her blog as an outlet to communicate with other likeminded people.”

People like me pose a challenge to traditional understandings of the public-private divide. I write about my personal life, and sometimes I get paid to do so. I have fewer than 20,000 followers on Twitter. I’ve had a handful of short stories published in anthologies by indie houses and my blog has steady traffic, but I don’t have a Wikipedia page. Would you consider me a public figure? At what point did I become one? Would it change your mind if I told you I’ve never wanted to be one?

I don’t think there is any such thing as a “private person” anymore. The vast majority of us constantly groom our internet presence, choosing the right filter on Instagram for our brunch and taking polls of our friends about our next Facebook profile picture.

We don’t think about this as a public act when we have only 400 connections on LinkedIn or 3,000 followers on Tumblr. No one imagines the Daily Mail write-up or the Jezebel headline. We actively create our public selves, every day, one social media post at a time. Little kids dream of becoming famous YouTubers the same way I wanted to be a published author when I was 12.

But there are also those of us who don’t choose this. We keep our accounts locked, our Instagram profile set to “friends only.” Maybe we learned a lesson when a post took off and left the safe haven of our community, picked apart in a horrifying display of context collapse by strangers who we didn’t intend to speak to. Maybe we are hiding from something: a stalker, an abusive ex, our family members who don’t know our true queer identity. To some of us, privacy is vital.

A woman boarded a plane in New York and stepped off that plane in Dallas. She chatted with a stranger, showed him some family photos, brushed his elbow with her own. At no point did she agree to participate in the story Rosey Blair was telling. After the fact, when the hunt began and the woman took no part in encouraging it the way Holden did, Blair tweeted a video in which she drawled, “We don’t have the gal’s permish yet, not yet y’all, but I’m sure you guys are sneaky, you guys might…” And her followers did not disappoint.

When people called Blair out for this blatant invasion of privacy, she blocked them. Because she, apparently, wanted to control her own boundaries. Later she tweeted about wanting a job at BuzzFeed.

I don’t know what the woman on the plane is thinking or feeling. I don’t know if she’s afraid or angry or mildly amused but inconvenienced. But I know how it feels to see strangers scrawling obscenities on social media accounts and email inboxes you once considered safe, commenting alongside your friends and family members. I know the sour humiliation of knowing everyone in your life can see that strangers have written about you — your parents, your co-workers, your exes.

Even when the attention is positive, it is overwhelming and frightening. Your mind reels at the possibility of what they could find: your address, if your voting records are logged online; your cellphone number, if you accidentally included it on a form somewhere; your unflattering selfies at the beginning of your Facebook photo archive. There are hundreds of Facebook friend requests, press requests from journalists in your Instagram inbox, even people contacting your employer. This story you didn’t choose becomes the main story of your life.

There is no opting-in, no consent form, no opportunity to take it all back. It feels like you are drowning as everyone on the beach applauds your swimming prowess. What do you have to complain about? Why wouldn’t you want publicity?

It’s clear that to Blair, the violation of this woman’s privacy is less important than Blair’s growing platform and ambition. It is not a romantic comedy for the digital age. It is an act of dehumanization.

A friend of mine asked if I’d thought through the contradiction of criticizing Blair publicly like this, when she’s another not-quite public figure too. But Blair is not just posting about her own life; she has taken non-consenting parties along for the ride. While Blair uploads gorgeous Instagram photos to celebrate her body on her birthday (I say this genuinely: You go, girl), the woman on the plane has deleted her own Instagram account after receiving violent abuse from the army Blair created. As the content creator of this media circus, Blair is responsible for the behavior of its fans. When faced with the opportunity to discourage their privacy violations, she has done the opposite: “I’m sure you guys are sneaky.”

You become a public figure the instant that someone else decides you are worthy of interest, even if you are minding your damn business. Maybe you will tweet a joke. Maybe you will squint in a friend’s photograph. Maybe you will yodel in a Walmart. Or maybe you will board a plane.

This essay is adapted from a blog post that originally ran on Ella Dawson’s website.

Ella Dawson is a sex and culture critic whose writing has been published by ELLE, MTV, Women’s Health, and more. Find her at elladawson.com and on Twitter as @brosandprose.

First Person is Vox’s home for compelling, provocative narrative essays. Do you have a story to share? Read our submission guidelines, and pitch us at firstperson@vox.com.

Original Source -> The dark side of going viral

via The Conservative Brief

[devnasirali]

Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images

Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images can help us in knowing more about girls. Cute girls use their instinct in knowing what is best for them. Girls who are confident can feel good and look good as well. Quotes for girls can be usually found on social network profiles. Quotes or sayings are written by famous writers. Most often people remember these girls quotes rather than their authors. These quotes will remain on the minds of the people and will always be found in books. Most importantly these quotes about girls can create a great impact in our lives.

Words are more powerful nowadays. In fact, it can make people change their minds and at the same time inspire them to do certain things. Girls quotes are quite popular nowadays and most people use them in their social networks. During the old days, people post their cool picture, but now they use quotes in their profile page. Here are some quotes for girls that you can share to your friends or you can use in your social networks

Cute & Stylish Girl’s Quotes

Nowadays every girl update their social profiles picture and status on whatsapp, facebook frequently and for this you need new cute girly status and stylish girly quotes regularly. To solve this problem we give you best charming and cool Whatsapp Status for girls and we updated this post regularly. Our huge collection of girlish attitude quotes will surely reflect what every girl has in mind and now its up to you, how you use these status and convey your feelings.

When a woman tells you about her problems it doesn’t mean she’s complaining…It means she trust you.

Avoid comparing yourself with others. If you do, you’ll lose the chance to see the beauty in you.

Tall guy + short girl = cute ….. but short guy + tall girl = awkward.

Don’t be a woman that needs a man …. Be a woman a man needs.

Someone asked me, How’s life….? I just smiled and replied, She’s fine.

Girls are like telephones.they love to be held and talked to,but if you push the wrong button you get disconnected.

What a girl really wants is for one guy to prove to her that they are not all the same.

Behind every in-trusted girl, Is a boy who lied, cheated, Broke his promises to her.

A true lady doesn’t demand, She thanks and true man doesn’t promise, He commit’s.

I hate boys who can’t treat their girls right, disrespect their mom’s, don’t want a job and want to smoke to fit in.

The most precious gift you can give a girl is the gift of your time and attention.

Excuse me …. Please empty your pockets …. I think you stole my heart.

Every girl deserves a guy who will say, “I can’t imagine my life without you”.

I hate boys who will continue to argue with a female. You will never win. Girls keep going until they get the last word, or piss you off.

Beautiful Status of Girls

A GIRL is the most beautiful part of Gods creation.

If you can make a woman laugh, you can make her do anything.

Treat your Lady with Respect because one day You’ll need Your Daughter to be treated the Same…:)

A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.

Girls are like phones. They love to be held, talked too but if you press the wrong button you’ll be disconnected!

Dear God I don’t want anything from you just bless my mom-dad with hot son-in-law!

When a woman tells you about her problems it doesn’t mean she’s complaining…It means she trust you.

Avoid comparing yourself with others. If you do, you’ll lose the chance to see the beauty in you.

Tall guy + short girl = cute ….. but short guy + tall girl = awkward.

Girls are like telephones.they love to be held and talked to,but if you push the wrong button you get disconnected.

Related Articles :

30 Best Inspiring Girls Quotes Ideas With Images

Charming Cool Whatsapp Status For Cute Girls Quotes and Images

60 Most Stylish Cool WhatsApp Wallpapers 2017

Cool WhatsApp Status for Girls; Because you are really Cool

Cute Status For Girls

If a man expects his wife to be an angel in his life, Then he should first create a heaven for her.

Holding a girls hand in public is just another way of saying you are proud to have her.

Dear Boys I have sent you a “Friend Request” Not a “Marriage Proposal” so kindly stop over acting :p

Every girl is an angel. Don’t waste time in selecting unique. Instead spend time in understanding them.

The problem with us girls is that we fall for boys who gives us the sweetest words they never really mean.

She can be your best friend, Worst enemy or a real sweetheart. It all depends on how you treat her.

Girls with the prettiest smiles, Always seem to tell the saddest stories.

Treat her like a queen and she will treat you like a king. Treat her like a game and she will show you how it’s played.

Never Judge The Beauty Of A Girl By Her Profile Picture.. Judge It By The Photos She Is Tagged In..!! 😉

Behind every in-trusted girl, Is a boy who lied, cheated, Broke his promises to her.

A true lady doesn’t demand, She thanks and true man doesn’t promise, He commit’s.

I hate boys who can’t treat their girls right, disrespect their mom’s, don’t want a job and want to smoke to fit in.

The most precious gift you can give a girl is the gift of your time and attention.

Boys never realize how much one little thing can hurt a girl.

He thinks he’s a player, But he doesn’t know she’s the coach.

Short Status For Girls

With women the heart argues, Not the mind.

I`m a girl. I can be complicated without explanations.

Every girl deserves to be treated like a princess.

Girls give & forgive. Boys get & forget.

Dear boys, Please surprise us and text us first? Love every girl.[/sq[

[sq]Women are meant to be loved, Not to be understood.

Wait for the boy who will do anything to be your everything.

When a girl says, “I`m done,” it really means, “fight for me.”

I hate boys who think they can get any girl.

Nothing is sexier than a girl who knows how to take control.

Girls, if he only wants your breasts, legs, and thighs, send him to KFC.

Girls are not toys.. You can’t just drop them when you get bored.

Read More : Awesome Style Status

Tall guy + short girl = cutie 🙂 but short guy + tall girl = awkward.

Don’t be a woman that needs a man …. Be a woman a man needs.

Someone asked me, How’s life….? I just smiled and replied, She’s fine.

Cute Whatsapp Status For Girls

I’m the type of girl that puts on her better smile, her better outfit, and better attitude and shows him what he left behind.

Excuse me …. Please empty your pockets …. I think you stole my heart.

Every girl deserves a guy who will say, “I can’t imagine my life without you”.

I hate boys who will continue to argue with a female. You will never win. Girls keep going until they get the last word, or piss you off.

You will find a girl prettier than me, smarter than me, and funnier than me, but you will never find a girl just like me.

I’m a girl. I overreact. I underestimate. I overestimate. I over think everything. I dream big. And when I say I love you, I’m not lying!

The sweetest things you can do for a girl are the little things that let her know she’s in your heart and on your mind.

I’m not one in a million kind of girls. I’m once in a lifetime kind of woman.

A woman brought you into this world. Therefore you have no right to disrespect one.

Silence is a girls loudest cry. You know she’s really hurt when she starts ignoring you.

Women are like stars, there are millions of them out there, but only one can make your dreams come true.

Facebook Status For Girls

Google must be a woman, it knows everything.

Make up is overpriced, hair products are overpriced, body products are overpriced, clothing is overpriced, being a girl is overpriced

Dear Girls, Always remember The charming boys are just better liars.

A girl`s smile hides thousand words, a girl`s tears hides thousand feelings.

I hate texting you first, because it feels like I`m annoying you.

Men wear the pants in the relationship but women control the zipper.

Dear Girl, don’t worry if you’re still single. God is looking at you right now saying,”I’m saving this girl for someone special.

Women are wiser than men because they know less and understand more.

Every girl needs a good guy who can help her laugh when she thinks she’ll never smile again.

When a girl cries, it’s not usually over one thing. It’s built up anger and emotions that she’s been holding in for too long.

I`m a girl but I rather hang out with boys because it is less drama.

Best feeling ever is when you lose weight, and your boobs stay the same size.

Men are like a deck of cards. You`ll find the occasional king, but most are jacks.

Interesting Girls Quotes with Images

#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

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These are just some of the best girls quotes that can help us understand about girls.  Some girls are simple while there are also others who are always fond of fashion.  They want to wear the latest trends in order to stand out among friends.  They want to be updated with the current news and activities in the fashion world.

If you enjoyed reading this post then you will surely love reading our other posts such as Coolest Whatsapp Status For Girls With Quotes and others.

100+ Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images

Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images can help us in knowing more about girls.

100+ Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images

Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images can help us in knowing more about girls.

100+ Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images can help us in knowing more about girls.

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Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images

Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images can help us in knowing more about girls. Cute girls use their instinct in knowing what is best for them. Girls who are confident can feel good and look good as well. Quotes for girls can be usually found on social network profiles. Quotes or sayings are written by famous writers. Most often people remember these girls quotes rather than their authors. These quotes will remain on the minds of the people and will always be found in books. Most importantly these quotes about girls can create a great impact in our lives.

Words are more powerful nowadays. In fact, it can make people change their minds and at the same time inspire them to do certain things. Girls quotes are quite popular nowadays and most people use them in their social networks. During the old days, people post their cool picture, but now they use quotes in their profile page. Here are some quotes for girls that you can share to your friends or you can use in your social networks

Cute & Stylish Girl’s Quotes

Nowadays every girl update their social profiles picture and status on whatsapp, facebook frequently and for this you need new cute girly status and stylish girly quotes regularly. To solve this problem we give you best charming and cool Whatsapp Status for girls and we updated this post regularly. Our huge collection of girlish attitude quotes will surely reflect what every girl has in mind and now its up to you, how you use these status and convey your feelings.

When a woman tells you about her problems it doesn’t mean she’s complaining…It means she trust you.

Avoid comparing yourself with others. If you do, you’ll lose the chance to see the beauty in you.

Tall guy + short girl = cute ….. but short guy + tall girl = awkward.

Don’t be a woman that needs a man …. Be a woman a man needs.

Someone asked me, How’s life….? I just smiled and replied, She’s fine.

Girls are like telephones.they love to be held and talked to,but if you push the wrong button you get disconnected.

What a girl really wants is for one guy to prove to her that they are not all the same.

Behind every in-trusted girl, Is a boy who lied, cheated, Broke his promises to her.

A true lady doesn’t demand, She thanks and true man doesn’t promise, He commit’s.

I hate boys who can’t treat their girls right, disrespect their mom’s, don’t want a job and want to smoke to fit in.

The most precious gift you can give a girl is the gift of your time and attention.

Excuse me …. Please empty your pockets …. I think you stole my heart.

Every girl deserves a guy who will say, “I can’t imagine my life without you”.

I hate boys who will continue to argue with a female. You will never win. Girls keep going until they get the last word, or piss you off.

Beautiful Status of Girls

A GIRL is the most beautiful part of Gods creation.

If you can make a woman laugh, you can make her do anything.

Treat your Lady with Respect because one day You’ll need Your Daughter to be treated the Same…:)

A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.

Girls are like phones. They love to be held, talked too but if you press the wrong button you’ll be disconnected!

Dear God I don’t want anything from you just bless my mom-dad with hot son-in-law!

When a woman tells you about her problems it doesn’t mean she’s complaining…It means she trust you.

Avoid comparing yourself with others. If you do, you’ll lose the chance to see the beauty in you.

Tall guy + short girl = cute ….. but short guy + tall girl = awkward.

Girls are like telephones.they love to be held and talked to,but if you push the wrong button you get disconnected.

Related Articles :

30 Best Inspiring Girls Quotes Ideas With Images

Charming Cool Whatsapp Status For Cute Girls Quotes and Images

60 Most Stylish Cool WhatsApp Wallpapers 2017

Cool WhatsApp Status for Girls; Because you are really Cool

Cute Status For Girls

If a man expects his wife to be an angel in his life, Then he should first create a heaven for her.

Holding a girls hand in public is just another way of saying you are proud to have her.

Dear Boys I have sent you a “Friend Request” Not a “Marriage Proposal” so kindly stop over acting :p

Every girl is an angel. Don’t waste time in selecting unique. Instead spend time in understanding them.

The problem with us girls is that we fall for boys who gives us the sweetest words they never really mean.

She can be your best friend, Worst enemy or a real sweetheart. It all depends on how you treat her.

Girls with the prettiest smiles, Always seem to tell the saddest stories.

Treat her like a queen and she will treat you like a king. Treat her like a game and she will show you how it’s played.

Never Judge The Beauty Of A Girl By Her Profile Picture.. Judge It By The Photos She Is Tagged In..!! 😉

Behind every in-trusted girl, Is a boy who lied, cheated, Broke his promises to her.

A true lady doesn’t demand, She thanks and true man doesn’t promise, He commit’s.

I hate boys who can’t treat their girls right, disrespect their mom’s, don’t want a job and want to smoke to fit in.

The most precious gift you can give a girl is the gift of your time and attention.

Boys never realize how much one little thing can hurt a girl.

He thinks he’s a player, But he doesn’t know she’s the coach.

Short Status For Girls

With women the heart argues, Not the mind.

I`m a girl. I can be complicated without explanations.

Every girl deserves to be treated like a princess.

Girls give & forgive. Boys get & forget.

Dear boys, Please surprise us and text us first? Love every girl.[/sq[

[sq]Women are meant to be loved, Not to be understood.

Wait for the boy who will do anything to be your everything.

When a girl says, “I`m done,” it really means, “fight for me.”

I hate boys who think they can get any girl.

Nothing is sexier than a girl who knows how to take control.

Girls, if he only wants your breasts, legs, and thighs, send him to KFC.

Girls are not toys.. You can’t just drop them when you get bored.

Read More : Awesome Style Status

Tall guy + short girl = cutie 🙂 but short guy + tall girl = awkward.

Don’t be a woman that needs a man …. Be a woman a man needs.

Someone asked me, How’s life….? I just smiled and replied, She’s fine.

Cute Whatsapp Status For Girls

I’m the type of girl that puts on her better smile, her better outfit, and better attitude and shows him what he left behind.

Excuse me …. Please empty your pockets …. I think you stole my heart.

Every girl deserves a guy who will say, “I can’t imagine my life without you”.

I hate boys who will continue to argue with a female. You will never win. Girls keep going until they get the last word, or piss you off.

You will find a girl prettier than me, smarter than me, and funnier than me, but you will never find a girl just like me.

I’m a girl. I overreact. I underestimate. I overestimate. I over think everything. I dream big. And when I say I love you, I’m not lying!

The sweetest things you can do for a girl are the little things that let her know she’s in your heart and on your mind.

I’m not one in a million kind of girls. I’m once in a lifetime kind of woman.

A woman brought you into this world. Therefore you have no right to disrespect one.

Silence is a girls loudest cry. You know she’s really hurt when she starts ignoring you.

Women are like stars, there are millions of them out there, but only one can make your dreams come true.

Facebook Status For Girls

Google must be a woman, it knows everything.

Make up is overpriced, hair products are overpriced, body products are overpriced, clothing is overpriced, being a girl is overpriced

Dear Girls, Always remember The charming boys are just better liars.

A girl`s smile hides thousand words, a girl`s tears hides thousand feelings.

I hate texting you first, because it feels like I`m annoying you.

Men wear the pants in the relationship but women control the zipper.

Dear Girl, don’t worry if you’re still single. God is looking at you right now saying,”I’m saving this girl for someone special.

Women are wiser than men because they know less and understand more.

Every girl needs a good guy who can help her laugh when she thinks she’ll never smile again.

When a girl cries, it’s not usually over one thing. It’s built up anger and emotions that she’s been holding in for too long.

I`m a girl but I rather hang out with boys because it is less drama.

Best feeling ever is when you lose weight, and your boobs stay the same size.

Men are like a deck of cards. You`ll find the occasional king, but most are jacks.

Interesting Girls Quotes with Images

#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

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Girlish Coolwhatsappstatus 022

Girlish Coolwhatsappstatus 023

These are just some of the best girls quotes that can help us understand about girls.  Some girls are simple while there are also others who are always fond of fashion.  They want to wear the latest trends in order to stand out among friends.  They want to be updated with the current news and activities in the fashion world.

If you enjoyed reading this post then you will surely love reading our other posts such as Coolest Whatsapp Status For Girls With Quotes and others.

100+ Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images

Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images can help us in knowing more about girls.

100+ Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images Interesting Girls Quotes and Sayings with Images can help us in knowing more about girls.