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shaekingshitup · 5 years

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Stay Grounded (Grindin Pt 2)

A/N: Writing this was a battle but I learned some things so it’s cool. Definitely don’t plan on anymore stories with these two. I don’t think I like Reader Inserts rn. But hey, he came back! If I told you I’d tag you and I didn’t I’m sorry. Idk a good method of actually keeping a taglist yet. D: This has been chillin in my drafts. Hopefully, you like it. Honestly, just thanks for reading! 💕

Word Count: 3.8k-ish but I swear it feels like 500 plot wise

Part 1

“Thanks Paul. I’ll see you next week,” you said as you placed one of your favorite regular’s drink on the counter.

“Bye Y/N” he called out on his way towards the exit. You checked in with your staff to make sure that they were doing okay. You weren’t an overbearing owner. You trained employees whom were competent and that you trusted to carry on your business when you weren’t there. But, you did your best to make yourself available to stop in when you knew your crew would be busiest. Plus, Grindin was your baby. You could never stay away for too long.

GRINDIN chimed out as another patron came in. You looked up to greet whomever it was with a smile.

“Michaela! Hey girl. Long time no see.” you greeted

“I know. I was honeymooning with my baaa-by,” she sang moving her goddess braids so that they were behind her back and making sure her diamond ring was on full display.

“YAS! Girl, I am so happy for you and Jon. I hope you two had a wonderful time. I see you over there Mrs. Kirk. Are you getting your usual today?” you asked.

“Girl, you don’t know the HALF of it. My boss paid for da baby and me to go on an all expenses trip to Bahamas,” you widened your eyes at this. You can’t even remember your last real vacation. “Originally we were just going to spend a weekend away in San Diego. But, he surprised us with a week long paid vacation to the one place Jon and I truly wanted to visit. I can’t quit smiling.” she sighed with one of the brightest smiles you’d ever seen on someone. You couldn’t help but smile back. “But anywho, I’m not here for the usual actually. My boss just got back to the country from some away business as well and I guess his time away switched up his tastebuds. He’s going to take a large Brew Thang and I’ll stick with my usual small, hot Bad n Brewjie with whipped cream.”

“Absolutely girl. Comin’ right up,” Michaela handed over the business card to pay and afterwards you transitioned over to the bar to start on the drinks.It was clear that Michaela had more to say. You could see it in her body language that she was holding on to something that she needed to spill.

“Somethin’ on your mind sis? Gone ahead and spit it out.” you assured her.

“What’re you doing tonight?” she asked out of the blue.

“I’ve got a lil date tonight. Why do you ask?”

“Wait. Sis, you got a nigga?” Michaela whispered quite loudly as she raised her left eyebrow. That got you a few glances from some people working at the countertop. You were certain that the one with headphones in had heard her loud ass too. She could be really nosey sometimes but you still appreciated her presence and her business whenever she stopped in.

“Hahaha. Not at the moment. It’s a date with myself because I deserve to eat well and be treated right -even if I’m the only one treating. Why? What’s happening tonight?” you asked trying not to reveal too much of your intrigue. Sure you had plans but if the offer was right, you could bend em.

“ Okay. So, my boss actually asked me to invite you to dinner tonight at The Liftoff because-“

“The Liftoff? Wait, who the hell is your boss? fucking President Barack Obama?” you damn near yelped as you stared at her with your eyebrows reaching the ceiling. In order to get into The Liftoff you had to have money. Not just a lil cheddar. But BIG BANK! More than that you had to have clout. If you didn’t have someone invite you, you were never getting in. Many people hadn’t even heard of it- you happened to have a few wealthy and loyal customers stop in every now and then and had overheard them discussing it once.

“His name is Erik. I’m not sure if you remember him but I guess he was in here a few weeks ago,”

2 weeks and 3 days ago sis. But hey, who’s counting? You thought.

“That was when I was out for my wedding. I guess it was a good thing too.”

Aloud, you feigned delayed recognition “Oh yeaahhh. Yeah, I remember him stopping in”

“He was planning on picking you up tonight at six to go to dinner and finish up where y’all left off..” she trailed and left the floor for you. She was not so subtly implying that you two had started something and she was all ears.

“Well, sis. You can let Mr. Erik know that I’m unavailable for the evening. And if he wants to see me, Imma need him to come in here and ask me himself,” you said placing both drinks on the countertop.

“You playing hard to get sis?” she countered.

“I’m not playing anything. I have standards and I know my worth through and through. If he can’t come ask me face to face himself, then the answer will forever be no.”

Michaela was shocked by your response but managed to get out “I’ll be certain to relay the message.” As she made her exit, she turned back to you. “I respect you sis. A lot of females see a nigga like him and are ready to hop over the counter at one of his slick ass lines. You’re bout to give him a run for his money- and he got plenty!” she cackled. With that she left and left you alone with your thoughts.

————————

When you made it back to your place, it was time for a shower. The smell of coffee was one of your personal tell-tales signs of how long you’d spent at your shop to make sure everything was in order. Right now, the scent was permeating around you. It had been stated on more than one occasion that you were a workaholic. You simply cared about your baby and wanted to make sure that you gave the best back to the city that raised you. So, it was always hard to establish boundaries for when you had to tend to yourself rather than Grindin. But today was your day.

The second you opened the door, you started shedding your clothes as if they were contaminated. You loved walking around your condo bare ass naked- without a care in the world as to who did or did not see you in all your glory. You adjusted your A/C to a crisp 68 degrees and headed to your bathroom to start your water. Grabbing your phone, you put on a fun playlist to dance to a little. Kiana Ledé’s “Bouncin” started playing out of your waterproof speaker and you hopped in to wash the morning away and bounce a little yourself. The rest of the day was going to be a self-care day. You had it all planned out. First, shower. Next, nap. Then, you planned on putting on a little makeup, serving looks with your latest fit, doing some shopping and then you’d take yourself to dinner. You made sure to do this at least once a month with yourself. Sometimes people would see you dressed to impressed and they’d take pity on you for being alone. But that wasn’t how you saw it at all and you let them know it. Whenever anyone gave you sad eyes or took it upon themselves to join you on your night out, you let them know that this was your intended personal time and that you weren’t crumbled or broken by not having someone to sit across from you.

Obviously, there were times you really wished that someone would take it upon themselves to treat you so you didn’t have to do it yourself. But, on these nights you made sure to be appreciative of who you were whether there was an admirer to acknowledge this or not. Your mind drifted over these things as you hopped out the shower and moisturized your body from head to toe.

Shower ✅

You re-entered your room and buried yourself beneath your covers. The silk sheets had been calling out your name since you’d step foot inside and you were done denying them their request. It was time for that nap. 💤💤😴

——————————————

FRESH OUT THE BOX

STOP, LOCK AND WATCH

READY YET, GET SET

IT’S AALL THAT!

called out from your bedside dresser as you stretched out your limbs and tried to reach out for the phone.

OHHHHHH, OH, OHHHHHHHHHHHHH

THIS IS ALL THAT!

THIS IS ALLL THAT!

“Fuck it,” you said as you hopped out the bed and began your performance. You grabbed your phone and used it as your mic as your bedroom became your stage.

Check it, check it, check it

Now this is just an introduction

Before I blow your mind

The show is All of That and yes we do it all the time

So sit your booty on the floor or in a chair

Ground or in the air

Just don’t go no-where!

You gave it all you had for the full 1 minute and 6 seconds only ceasing when the alarm tune was starting over from the top. Dancing was one of your favorite ways to wake up. It made you feel more alive and ready to conquer the rest of your day.

Nap ✅

You meander over to the kitchen to grab a banana and some cranberry juice before tossing on an oversized t-shirt and sitting in front of your vanity. Next on your list was makeup. You synched your phone’s bluetooth to your mirror and played your Self Love playlist to sing along to. You planned on applying a light beat and wanted to make sure you did so without getting any makeup on your body. Makeup was not your forté by any means but you loved to play a little and were able to copy all the simple tutorials. Today that mean browns all around. You dabbed on some foundation and two brown eye shadows, one that was subtle and another with more shimmer to compliment your natural glow. A little black eyeliner, mascara and nude lip gloss to bring it all together.

Makeup ✅

The fit for the evening was on point if you did say so yourself. A little casual but alluring nevertheless.

Jade green bottoms which accentuated your curves with a cream colored long sleeve shirt that had a very deep v cut. You were really playin into your sexy side for the evening and it made you feel bold and dangerous.

You went with rose gold accessories to compliment your brown skin and eyes. Your watch and lock necklace were simple but altogether the look had you feelin like you were an 11/10 and that was the goal. You always wanted to remember that you were desired-even if only by yourself. You removed your phone from the charger, responding to a quick text from Lu about your plans for the evening and when you’d be available, disconnected your music from the bluetooth mirror and headed to your front door to put on your heels.

Serve these fuckin looks ✅

———

You were on your fourth store and your Gummy Bear smoothie was all but gone. Thus far nothing was really speaking to you. You’d purchased some accessories and saw a lot of cute clothing items but nothing that was significant enough to bring home. Your shopping rule was : “If you don’t love it in the store, you won’t love it at home,”. You exited the boutique and made your way to the escalator ascending to the second level where you parked your car. You reached for your phone as it vibrated in your back pocket. Glancing at the screen you saw that it was Ray who was reaching out.

“Hey Ray J!” you laughed at the nickname he despised. His one wish was that you would stop calling him that.

“Y/N where are you?” he sounded concerned. He hadn’t even yelled at you for using the nickname that he couldn’t stand.

“I’m leaving the mall. What’s wrong?”

“Jaime had a family emergency and can’t close tonight. Eve is there but she’s still new you know. He had to leave and no one else is available to come in for him and close,” he said.

“Really? No Sherell, Chris or Rico?”

“No. None of them can make it. I would go in but I’m in Frisco right now. I know it’s your date night and I hate to do this. But, do you think you can close up?”

“Yeah.” you sighed, “Yeah, I can make it. It’s almost quitting time anyways. Plus I’m hella closer than you are. But just know you owe me! If you took your ass across the bridge on a whim, the dick better be good! ”

“Trust me boo it will be and I got you next time!”

“Yeah, whatever.” You hung up and wondered why the hell Ray decided to go to San Francisco on a whim when he was scheduled to be back up in case anything went awry for the evening. That was the whole purpose of the schedule that the two of you created. This was a perfect example of something unexpected occurring and yet he was M.I.A. You pondered these thoughts as you headed to your car and headed back towards your shop. You made sure to call and cancel your dinner reservation because that definitely wasn’t happening anymore.

Thank God I always keep a change of clothes at work you thought, cringing about how awkward it would be to slang coffee with your titties on full display considering you’d forgone a bra for the evening.

When you pulled up it was 6:30. The shop closed at 8 tonight so you had half an hour before you began pre-close. You walked in and scurried to the back to change into a merch sweater which read “Stay Grounded and some black leggings.

Eve was holding it down as best as she could. But it was evident that she was stressed.

“Hey, I’ll take the bar. You go ahead and ring em up, okay?” you offered.

She sighed and released a lot of the tension in her shoulders. “Okay.”

There were already 4 drinks waiting to be made. So, you got to work.

“Sorry your first night shift has been a bit of a whirlwind,” you told her once it had slowed down a bit. It was 6:58 and you didn’t anticipate there being too much of a let up. “Do you have your pre-close list with you?”

“Yeah. I was going to do the final bathroom check.”

“Great! Go ahead and get started. I’ll do most of the behind the counter stuff tonight. You focus on the customer areas. I may call you if orders get crazy,”

“Sounds like a plan boss!”

“Y/N!” you corrected.

Customers trickled in throughout the last hour. But when 7:45 came around and they saw that you were already cleaning up shop, most of them started to pack up their things and go. By 7:56 you were ecstatic. Everyone was gone. You just had to lock the door and then you could count money and tips, do a final sweep and mop and head out the shop. At least that was the plan, until you heard GRINDIN chime throughout the store at 7:58 P.M. You rolled your eyes. Unfortunately, this was no new occurrence to you. Customers were notorious for getting their final fix in the last few minutes before you closed up. Most of the time it didn’t bother you. But tonight, you were hungry and jaded that your plans for the evening had changed.

“Welcome! I just want to let you know that we will be closing in just a couple minutes here,” you called out without looking up as you wiped down the counter, “Let me know if you have any questions.”

“Yeah I got one.” the timber of his voice compelled you to stop and give him your full attention. You looked up to see Erik, dressed in a slightly less formal ensemble than when you’d first met.

He adorned a pair of dark trousers, a white button up shirt with polka dots and suede loafers. But, he still looked so..

“Delicious?” he asked.

Hol’ up. First he’s Barack and now he reads minds too?

“I’m sorry” you say trying and failing to hide your flustered nature. “What was that?”

He smirked. “It’s okay baby girl. I’m sure you got a lot to take in with your day and all,” he stated as he took a few steps forward which didn’t help to alleviate your confused state at all. “I said since you took the time to introduce me to something new. I haven’t been able to get you off my mind. How about tonight it’s my turn to show you something delicious?”

Your reaction came as if you were on auto-pilot.

“I would love to but I’m barely closing up shop. By the time I count the drawer and we find a restaurant and actually place an order it’ll be pretty late. You shouldn’t hold off on dinner on account of me,” you said.

Erik kissed his teeth. “Yo workaholic ass don’t know how to say ‘no’ to anyone who wanna show you a good time, do you?” It must have been a rhetorical question because he went on, “Gone ahead and finish up closing your shop. When you done, meet me in the back.”

“Hold on. I

“Aht- aht- aht. This is no longer an option. This is the game plan. Close up, freshen up into some non-coffee gear and meet me out back. I’ll be there.” he said sternly and with that, he left.

Eve came out from the back of the shop with a broom in hand. You stood there frozen for a moment.

Did this negro just boss me around? In my own damn shop?? You thought.

Yes. Yes. He did sis. And you liked it so shut up and close up!

You locked the front door to bar anyone else from coming in and started counting the drawer. By the time you were done, Eve had swept, mopped the front and turned on the fans to help the floor dry quickly.

“Great job tonight Eve! I’m sure in the future it won’t be as.. disruptive. Either way, you killed it.”

“Thanks Y/N did you need me to stay or-?”

“Uh-uh. Go ahead sis!”. The second you locked the door behind her. You dashed to the restroom to freshen up and put on your clothes from earlier in the day. You rolled on some perfume and reapplied your gloss before you hit all the lights, locked the door, set the alarm and circled around the back of the shop.

When you got there, you came to a full stop and your jaw dropped. It was gorgeous. The back lot of the shop was decorated in lights throughout the trees. In the center there was a table for two, a whole ass waiter and was that music? You glanced around to find that tucked away in the corner there was indeed a harpist playing beautiful melodies.

“Damn girl and I thought I was going to surprise you with my view,” Erik said as you turned around to face him. He was holding a single purple daisy- which just happened to be your favorite flower. He placed it in your hands and pulled out your chair for you to have a seat.

“How? How did you do all of this and how did you know this was my favorite flower?” you asked with an expression of bewilderment taking over your features.

“I promise I’ll explain alldat baby girl. But first, I need to say I’m sorry”. This surprised you. You’d spent less than an hour in this man’s presence but he already didn’t strike you as the apologetic type.You placed your flower on the table and gave a nod of your head for him to go on. “When I met you a few weeks back. I meant to ask yo fine ass out right then and there. Unfortunately, that call that I got was urgent and it needed me to leave the country immediately,”. He finished.

“Oh my. Is everything alright?” you asked

“It is now. I handled it as I always do,” he stated with a conceited grin, “That’s why I came back to ask you out. I don’t leave anything unfinished.”

“Last time I checked this wasn’t an option. You didn’t ask nothin” He chuckled at that. The waiter came over at that moment to introduce himself, present the menu and fill up your water. He didn’t need to explain anything because there weren’t options on it. It was simply an itinerary for what your palette could expect. Appetizer, Entree, Dessert. They were all your favorites with a subtle twist. You were impresed. The menu was elegantly done and it looked fly as hell. You might have to keep a copy to give to Lu for inspiration.

“Well, actually I did,” Erik began when Duke, the waiter made his exit, “I was in earlier to ask yo stubborn ass-”

“You got one more time to talk about my ass before this becomes a solo event,” you interjected.

“Aight, bet. We can take a pause on that ass for now,” he smirked, “I was in earlier to ask you to dinner face to face, but yo people told me that you were unavailable for the evening. So, we made a few changes to make you available.”

“You what?”

“I paid ya mans Jaime a few bills to take the night off. Ray and Lulu was already on board,” you glanced down at the menu of our favorite foods again, “yup. That was them. They told me what you like. I just got the chef and made sure that Michaela hired the right people to make this vision come together. We all agree that it’s time for you to take a break, ma”

“Wait a minute. You bribed my staff? Plus, Lulu and Ray were in cahoots with you on this?! You barely even know me.”

“And? I’m tryna know you”

“I’m just sayin that’s a hole lotta trouble for a virtual stranger.”

“But you not a stranger. You the one that left me satisfied. Now just enjoy the rest of the evening and let me do the same for you,” he said as he picked up your hand and caressed it all the while never breaking eye contact with you.

“Okay.” you got out meekly. You cleared your throat and tried again. “Okay, Imma let you finish what you started,” you said

He smiled one of the most genuine and naturally alluring smiles you’d ever seen.

“ I can already tell you ain’t used to letting others take control. But don’t worry ma. I got this and I got you,” you were all the way blushing at this point, “Tell me about your day. Was it as brewtiful as you are?”

You laughed out loud as Duke placed your appetizers in front of you. “You corny.”

“And you like it,” You could already tell that he was going to do good on his word. You were leaving satisfied tonight one way or another.

Tag List: @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @shewrites02 @shewritestheblues @ghostfacekill-monger @sarcastic-sunshines @fd-writes @eyeknowmywrites @twistedcharismaaa @thadelightfulone @raysunshine78

#shaekingspeaks #grindin #stay grounded #erik stevens x reader #erik x reader #erik killmonger #black panther fanfiction #black panther #erik x black reader

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the-chanteloup · 4 years

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InuYasha RP Bio

Omg. I’m alive! Things have been so hectic, I forgot I had a Tumblr! Silly me. Well, I’ve returned, and with that return, I give you my finalized InuYasha RP bio!

So, I created this character about 18 years ago when InuYasha first aired on Adult Swim. I debuted her on Yahoo!Chat, and when that died, she sort of went into hibernation. With the series coming out, and this sudden surge of InuYasha, I really wanted to finalize her, and get her out into the world. :3

Name (last, first): Setsuna ( Of the Karyukai, The Flower and Willow World )

Nickname(s): Hanyou, Runt, Pup, Geisha

Age: 55 (Youthful appearance, commonly mistaken for 20-25)

Species: Half-Dog Demon, Half-Human (Hanyou)

Gender: Female

Birthday: Around the Winter Solstice

Life Story:

Left on the doorstep of an orphanage in the village of Sawara, in a shabby reed basket during a harsh winter was not the ideal beginning, but, all great legends must start somewhere. Luckily, warm hearts were in good spirits this cold night, and the overseers of this particular orphanage just couldn’t leave a bright eyed, bundle of joy out in the elements. Brought in out of the cold, and raised alongside human children, the pup never really knew she was different, other than having two black fluffy ears atop her head. As she grew, she was given a general education along with the other children, nothing fancy since they were considered the lower class, but enough to get her by should she ever take to selling turnips.

Unfortunately, all fairy tales have to end, and when her 16th year rolled around, she was tossed out into the world to fend for herself.

Being a small Hanyou had its benefits job wise, roaming gangs of thieves were always willing to have her tag along for heists, at a quarter of the profit for most of the dangerous work. But fate is a fickle mistress, and while perusing through a shop during a heist one night, she was detained by an older man named Ino Tadataka, with nun chucks. How embarrassing. She didn’t need superb Demon hearing to know her comrades had bailed, leaving her the scapegoat. However, before she could decide which hand she was okay with having chopped off, the old man offered her a deal. She would assist him in mapping some of the harder to reach places in the area, and in return he would house her, feed her and teach her to read.

Since climbing trees for an old man was a much better option than losing a limb, she hastily agreed, and spent many years assisting “Old Man Ino”, as she called him, in completing his map of Japan.

In the Spring of her last month with Ino, he referred her to an old friend in a village called Kanazawa in the Western Lands for another job. With no other real work leads, other than going back to stealing, she took the lead. When she arrived at the mapped destination Ino had given her, it turned out to be an exotic tea house. She swore on all the Gods above and below that she would knock the taste out of that old pervert’s mouth for this. As she stood outside making her proclamation to bash an old man’s head in, she was interrupted by the tea house’s 'mother', Kikuya. Seeing a rare opportunity to be the only tea house in the district with a Hanyou entertaining, Kikuya took her in instantly.

Amazingly, after several rough years of learning, she was finally “promoted” to the highest rank, Geisha.

Fast forward a few short years, just a few months from fully paying off her debt, she is one of the more popular girls advertised at the tea house. Fully skilled in playing the kokyū, flirting with men in a proper way, starting and losing games of Janken or Daruma Otoshi gracefully, and pouring hot tea in hazardous ways, courtesy of her quick Hanyou reflexes, she has acquired several frequent guests.

A Samurai named Yorimoto quickly became her favorite “customer”, and though they saw each other as nothing more than siblings, she developed a connection to the Human. He was never short on adventurous stories about fighting, and war, which she soaked up like a sponge, enjoying the romantic way he told of their honor code. Being half-Demon, she was naturally drawn to weapons and all their convenient ways of killing things, and eventually convinced Yorimoto to teach her how to use the Naginata. Unfortunately, it was highly un-Geisha like to swing around a “blade on a stick”, as her mother called it, so, under the guise of certain services, they met and trained. Several months passed, and her Samurai was called away to battle, but before he left, Yorimoto gifted her a Naginata all her own, for emergencies, of course.

Even though she was content to stay at her tea house and practice her Naginata in peace until the day when she could afford to open her own business, she also wouldn’t mind a little bit of adventure sneaking in and stirring things up.

Appearance:

Setsuna stands an intimidating five feet tall at her black ear tips, which has earned her the nickname “Runt”. Thanks to her Demon genetics, despite her small stature, she is sturdily built, muscular and has a curvy frame. She is a milky skinned Hanyou with loosely curled raven black hair that trails down to her rear, and cobalt blue, cat like eyes rimmed in coal eyeliner. Her ears are slightly fluffy, and sport two small silver hoops in each, a gift from her Geisha mother, Kikuya. Her claws are a soft pearl color; however, they are kept at a shorter length due to her kokyū playing and aesthetics for the tea house, but they still remain filed to a point and sharp.

Her only truly intimidating feature is a deep, guttural growl that could easily be mistaken for a much larger demon. Setsuna’s normal attire is that of a typical Geisha, minus the white makeup. Elaborate silk kimonos and obis, along with jeweled hair trinkets and pins. Her hair is never tied up, allowing her ears to remain out in the open. When she is training with the Naginata, she dons a black hakama, with a royal blue sash around her waist. Setsuna is almost always barefoot as she likes the feel of Earth on her skin.

Like all Hanyou, she reverts to a mortal Human form on the night of the new moon. She becomes weaker, as she loses all of her Demon abilities. Her hair fades to a dusty blonde color, and her eyes dull to a pale gray.

Personality:

Setsuna is usually the center of the party. Having trained with her Geisha mother, she can strike up conversations easily with almost anyone. She has a laid-back demeanor, seeming to just roll with the punches. A smile of some sort is usually found on her face, giving her an easy to approach look. She has an old wisdom about her, and is always available to offer advice or find an answer to a question. She tends to have a soft spot for animals and children, but she prefers both go home with someone else. Her one true weakness is a field of wild flowers, or flowers of any kind. Though she hates to admit it, she’s a sucker for romance and intimate physical touches.

Unfortunately, with a decent amount of Demon blood in her veins, Setsuna is not the quiet, demure creature one would expect when they see her in full Geisha attire. Having been raised by thieves, her mouth is dirtier than a sewer grate, and her mind has been likened to that of a lecherous old man’s. Even with traditionally excitable genetics, she is calm, collected, and calculating, preferring her enemies to either make fools of themselves or to wander right into her trap. Though she has never been in a true battle, the canine in her usually wishes a mother fucker would so she could let her Naginata bathe in blood. Of course, that doesn’t mean she goes looking for a fight, but should one happen to peek around a corner….

Good Habit(s):

She is very understanding, and a good listener. No problem is too dramatic, or small for her ears. She offers honest advice (This could be good or bad) She is fiercely loyal to those who have earned it. Her colorful background and lifestyle have given her a wealth of wisdom and knowledge, both useful and not.

Bad Habit(s):

Hot headed, she finds a boiling point rather quickly over certain things. Decently excitable, the World is a big adventure to a young Hanyou. Territorial, what’s hers is hers. Cursing bad enough to make perverts blush.

Like(s):

Walking in the forest, feeling the sun on her skin and the Earth on her bare feet. Having her hair done/played with. Food. Training with her Naginata. Playing the kokyū. Listening to stories, mostly battle and war stories. Thunderstorms at night. Wildflower fields.

Special Powers/Abilities:

Aside from the typical Hanyou speed, flexibility and agility, she has a natural ability to hide and camouflage herself due to her small stature. She’s also decently formidable in a fist fight. Intimidating low, guttural growl usually used for intimidation. Rapid healing.

Ambition/Life-long Dream:

Even though she longs for the thrill of battle, a more reasonable ambition would be to finally pay off her debts to Kikuya, and to open her own tea house that specializes in ‘unique’ Geishas like herself.

Love Interest:

Unknown.

Occupation/Job:

Geisha, entertainer, Hanyou

Notes:

Now, I know y'all who follow the series are looking at me like, "Uh...THAT NAME IS FAMILIAR" And, yeah, I know, trust me. I had a moment when the official announcement was made, but when I created Setsuna, I actually used the name from the manga Angel Sanctuary ( showing my age here ), and this character was never meant to follow any sort of canon story line, ever, she was always strictly AU. With all that being said, please don't come for me. xD I am smol and anxiety ridden. I really just wanted to have her bio published, because I love this little shit of a Hanyou. She was one of my very first creations and holds a pretty special place in my cold black heart. A few more notes: I'm totally up for RP! Feel free to send me a note or whatever. I'm pretty laid-back, and open to most scenarios.

I usually ship Setsuna with Sesshomaru, because it's adorable, but, I’m open to any ship.

She has no art. Like I said, this has been a long time coming, so I haven't had any art of her commissioned, but maybe in the near future I will. ( -eyeballs the extremely talented @destinyfall) But, I can give you details and photo references if you decide you would like to RP.

#roleplay #rp #literate rp #inuyasha #demon #original character

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rook-jensen · 5 years

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Rook Jensen - RP Profile

Basic Information

Full Name: Adrian Jensen Nicknames: Rook, Rookie, Gear Head, Grease Monkey Main Job: Machinist Off-hand Job(s): Dancer Crafts/Hobbies: Rook loves to dance and will take any opportunity to do so. He isn't shy in regards to cutting a jig and has an orchestration in every room of his apartment. In his spare time he likes to go down to the lake and feed the ducks or fish, finding both activities relaxing. He is also known to be a water bug, going for a swim where he is able. Race: Midlander Hyur Gender: Male Age: 28 Nameday: 1st Astral Moon, 6th Sun Hair: Black and messy. The in-game hair features a braid with feathers but he doesn't have either for his actual hair. Skin: A medium tan Eyes: Light blue Height: 6'1" Weight: 165 lbs

Biographical

Place of Residence: Gridania Place of Birth: Limsa Lominsa

Relatives:

Mother - Ruth Jensen Father - Kevin Jensen Eldest Brother - Alorian Jensen (Lore) Eldest Sister - Cherish Jensen (Cherry) Second Eldest Sister - Tina Jensen Second Eldest Brother - Noel Jensen Youngest Brother - Julian Jensen (Jules) Aunt - Elia Stone Uncle - Jerry Jensen (Deceased)

Enemies: None that he knows of Allies: None yet

Occupation: Mechanic

Tradeskill: Working on airships, magitek devices and vehicles operated with mechanical elements.

Appearance: Rook stands at a healthy 6'1" with tanned skin from years of intensive outdoor labor. His hair is black, short and unkempt, carrying the 'I just got out of bed' look all day long. He keeps his clothing rather simplistic and tends to wear the same pair of faded pants day in and day out. He rarely changes it up unless it is for work or a very special ocassion. He has a tribalesque tattoo that spans his right arm and the right half of his chest. He has silver bolts through both nipples and a line of small silver rings pierced in both ears. He prefers to wear thick, study boots especially for work purposes and a black short sleeved shirt. His eyes are a faded blue hue and often his smile is complimented as being charming.

(Tattoo Example. Art by Tidus Yumemiru )

Fashion of Choice: Rook is a simple man and prefers to stick with a black shirt, preferably short sleeved, and a pair of comfortable slacks. They seem to emulate a jean like material.

Armor of Choice: He wears protective gear when working on machines. Weapons of Choice: Rook is a machinist simply to fend off wild critters around his shop. But generally he prefers to stick to the pacifist route. Mount of Choice: Fenrir Bike / Regalia Pets: A sparrow named Arthur

Special Abilities: He can play a mean harmonica under the right circumstances.

History/Biography: Adrian 'Rook' Jensen was born in the farmlands of Limsa Lominsa. The fifth born in a line of six siblings, Rook never knew peace and quiet growing up. He often dealt with hand-me-down clothing, tools, and toys which meant he rarely had anything brand new for himself. His parents are Ruth and Kevin Jensen, two humble people who had to juggle a house full of rowdy children alongside the profitable farm they managed. He had a fairly happy childhood despite the full house, working the farm between going to school and fighting with his siblings. Rook is very close to his father who originally bestowed the nickname 'Rookie' to the young Jensen when he began growing interested in mechanics. Over time the name stuck and shortened to Rook which most address him by now.

When he finished school and became of age, Rook set out to pursue his dream of becoming a mechanic. He had always admired the work of Cid Garlond and read every book and report the man made public. He wanted to study magitek technology and bring more of it to Eorzea as a whole. Traveling with his best friend Maxeon, also known as Max, the two holed up together in a run-down apartment in Gridania to start their journey. The two struggled to get on their feet at first, fresh out of the homestead and trying to find their way. Each had to get jobs and work their way up toward the dream they wished to live. Max took a job as a server at a local bar/restaurant which didn't pay that well. Rook, on the other hand, took a job at a raunchy club table dancing. While he never had to strip he did have to dance in revealing clothing which he hated. He was subject to a lot of unwanted touches and groping, leaving a bad taste in his mouth for the entire industry. He endured the torment due to the fair amount of pay he earned in tips which helped to keep the bills paid. Max often brought home left over food from the bar so the two could eat for practically free, at least most nights. It was a very real struggle in the early years, yet both remained determined to see it through.

After facing their hardships head on, they eventually pooled enough money together to open up a mechanic shop in the heart of Gridania. While they still face financial troubles they are still better off than when they first set out. Rook tries to deliver the best service to every customer, pushing himself sometimes to the point of exhaustion to maintain a good business model. Max often has to act as a caretaker to his determined friend to make sure he takes care of himself while also performing his job duties. Despite all he has seen and done, Rook keeps his chin up and a smile on his face.

Personality

Alignment: Lawful Good Motivations: He wants to take after the greats like Cid Garlond, his personal hero. He has always looked up to Cid but has never had the pleasure of meeting him. He wants to study magitek technology and become a world famous mechanic. Disposition: Rook is a very cheerful fellow with a can-do attitude. He's generally happy to help where he can. He is incredibly optimistic and tries to keep a smile on his face where he can. But like all people he does have his limits and even if he tries to keep any anger in check, certain things can push him over the edge. Outlook: He sees the world as a place that can cause a great burden on a person if they're not careful. He tends to be welcoming toward strangers but with an underlying skepticism so as to not put himself in a compromising position.

Religion/Philosophy: Rook doesn't look too much toward the Gods or Hydaelyn herself. He believes that hard work and dedication is the best combination to success. Relying too heavily on the powers that be makes him feel lazy or as if he expects good things to happen to him for no reason.

Sexuality: Homosexual

Positive Personality Traits: Hard working, loyal, sense of humor, non-violent, curious, caring, light hearted, easy going, optimistic, family oriented, helpful. Negative Personality Traits: Naive, sometimes too trusting, avoids conflict, a little dense, works to the point of exhaustion, unhealthy eater, messy, disorganized, craves attention due to coming from a large family. Misc. Quirks: He has a slight fear of heights which can sometimes impede his ability to work on airships, but he is trying to conquer that fear.

Interests

Likes: Junk food, alcohol, machines, his bird Arthur, helping people where he can, socializing, taking a stroll in the woods, music, dancing, playing on his tomephone. Dislikes: Smokers, violence, shouting, foul smells, condescending tones, arrogance, the desert, people who get handsy, abusive people. Favorite Foods: Usually anything with high grease or sugar content Favorite Drinks: Alcohol, usually ale, or water. He's a simple man. Favorite Colors: Black, purple and blue. Hobbies: He likes to read even if it is mostly mechanic books, he loves to dance, and he enjoys hanging around animals to feed them or teach them tricks.

(Art by Tidus Yumemiru)

#Rooks Profile #ffxiv #roleplay profile #Rook Jensen #balmung #long post

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killerbaroness · 5 years

Text

Light of my Life (John Deacon x OC): Introduction

Relationship: John Deacon x OC Annie Boyd

Summary: Annie is a part-time bartender and meets John Deacon as his band plays, as they go through life changes, their relationship continues to develop alongside them.

Warnings: none for now, very slow burn

Word Count: 2,859

A/N: This is my first fan fiction ever. Let me know what you think! Also taking submissions for other one shots or series about Queen or Bohemian Rhapsody characters.

“Have a nice evening, sir!” The rotund man gives a courteous smile and a polite wave as he shuffles out of the bar. I smile as the last of the patrons have exited the pub. The lunch shift is now over, meaning a brief closing period before the pub reopens for the nightly entertainment.

Unwrapping myself from my tightly tied apron in the breakroom, I meander to the office where Hilly is counting registers and keeping financial records of the day. Hilly, the manager, is middle aged and hardened by this job. He has no issue stepping in when patrons choose to get mouthy with staff and has rejected quite a few customers in his day. But his employees were treated with utmost respect, especially those that were loyal in their positions. He understood the rigors of the customers’ behavior.

“Hilly, I’m headed out for a minute. Can I get you anything?” I ask peering through his office doorway.

He offers a simple shake of his head in response. I smile and begin to step out. “Wait!” he calls. I quickly return to hear him. “Would you mind checking the lineup for tonight? I’m not certain of who is coming in.” Nodding quickly, I return to the breakroom to check the monthly calendar.

Tonight calls for a headliner of Queen and The Weepers as a supporting act. I quickly grab scratch paper and jot down the bands before returning to Hilly’s office.

He looks up quickly to read the sheet. “Looks like you’ll be doing set-up tonight. Especially with Genevieve gone. Janice is here tonight, but since she’s new, I’d like her to keep working the bar.”

I nod, finding no trouble with the scenario. I typically filled in for Genevieve on her days off. But now that she has departed the bar for her after-university career, I’m beginning to fill in her old positions. “No problem, sir. I’ll be back in a few.”

My typical break from the bar, especially working doubles, includes a quick jog down to the café nearby. Lucille’s is a local shop. Not particularly known for anything, other than what I consider convenience. I smile and order a black coffee and a pastry to pick at on my walk back. Typically, after my quick rendezvous at Lucille’s, I take a stroll back to the bar and smoke a cigarette.

I take my time on my walk back. I rely on this time to just clear my head. To just walk and get lost in thought. Thinking about what the next shift will be like, what patrons will arrive, the joyous thought of getting to return to my bed once my shift completes.

I return to the bar, with my cigarette long gone, but not enough time to begin another. I return through the backdoor and put my belongings in my cubby. Checking the time, I have another forty-five minutes before the opening bands typically begin to show up and decide to continue this time by reading the paperback long retreated to the bottom of my handbag.

I’m returned to reality by Hilly rapping his knuckles on the doorframe. “I think you’re needed, darling. Looks like we’ve got some lost souls in the front room.”

I give a small smile to Hilly and ditch my reading materials before adjusting my apron and returning to the floor of the bar.

A threesome of people are staring big-eyed around Hilly’s establishment.

“Hello, can I help you?” I ask, afraid to startle this group of young boys, looking no older than eighteen.

One clears his throat, looking rather overwhelmed. “Hi, I’m Dave. We’re The Weepers. I know we’re a bit early, but this is our first performance that isn’t an open-mic night, and we just wanted to get everything right.”

I give a small smile. “That’s no problem. You lot get to go on first, anyways. Tell you what, if you could start bringing in your equipment, we’ll get you set up before anyone else gets here. See if we can do an early sound check.”

The boys look largely relieved. Offering big smiles to replace the anxious and confused faces of before.

“Also, if you guys have any questions, my name is Annie. I’d be happy to help you.”

They all mumble their thanks and quickly rush out of the bar. Hurriedly grabbing what they can to quickly get in a sound check and practice before other performers start arriving.

I watch the young boys, and smile as I’m cleaning up the taps and setting glasses out for Janice, our newest employee. I want to help her have a seamless evening. The boys are quite cheeky when onstage, and offer a good energy, that I hope translates once more people fill up the pub. Their sound is fun, and sure to entertain the large masses of university students that tend to fill the pub.

Shortly after the boys come up to the bar to collect their drinks and chat before our doors open.

My head snaps up as I see a foursome enter the pub. Assuming this is the other band, I go to greet them.

“Hey there, welcome in. I’m guessing you’re performing with us tonight.” I offer my sickly-sweet smile to the group.

“Hi there, we haven’t been here in a while. It’s quite good to be back. I’m Brian, and this is the rest of Queen,” the man offers. I am a little in shock as I attempt to crane my neck upwards to garner all his height.

“That’s no problem, would you guys like a little tour, then? Do you remember where our backstage and green room is?” I offer.

“I think we might be okay, most of us have been here and remember. But is it okay if we start unloading our things?” Brian asks.

“Of course! Just drop them off in our backstage room, and once this band finishes, we’ll get you set up.”

“Cool. Sounds good. We’ll be back in a moment,” a man with long blonde hair quickly says before sprinting out the door while the rest meander behind at a casual pace.

I return to the other band, offering words of encouragement, and continuing to make sure all the area is cleaned up for Janice tonight. Slowly I see a figure approaching the bar.

I turn to see one of the members from Queen come up.

“Hi there,” he says whilst fiddling with his fingers, “I’m new to the band and haven’t performed here before. Would you mind if I did get that brief tour? I’m not sure where to put some of the gear.”

“Oh well of course! My name’s Annie, and feel free to come to me with any questions tonight, regarding your performance or anything else for that matter.” I offer my hand out for a handshake, as I make my way around the bar

“John Deacon. Thank you, that’s very kind. I’m very new to all of this.”

“No worries. We get a lot of first-timers here. Being a smaller place, it’s easier to get people to pay attention. That band at the bar, this is one of their first shows. So, you’re in good company.”

“That’s a bit of a relief, if I’m honest. The rest of the band has been together for a little bit longer. But I’m still getting adjusted,” he admitted. He seemed very contemplative and a little on edge.

Unlocking the door to the green room, I shoved the door open to turn the light. “I promise you that you all will be great tonight. The people that come out to these shows are just happy to see a band is here. Nothing bad can happen. And when you guys are done performing, come and see me. I’d be more than happy to offer some celebratory drinks.”

John smiles brightly. “Okay. That’s good to hear. I could use a drink now,” he chuckles.

I smile at him, “Feel free to invite your friends, and we can arrange that. Green room is here, and the door backstage is across the hall. Feel free to set everything inside there. I’ll be at the bar should you need anything.”

“Thanks Annie. I’ll most likely take you up on that offer for a drink,” he grins.

Walking back to my station at the bar before the doors open to the public, I watch the rest of Queen come in with their equipment. Brian offers a small smile as he walks a case through the pub. And I notice the jumpy blonde-haired man wearing sunglasses and walking outside with a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

Following the opening to the public, The Weepers began to play. Their spritely singer had the audience smiling. Their fun lyrics made for an entertained crowd, as their once-nervous singer was now swaying with his guitar. He closed his eyes often and performed with what he could, even though he was in the smallest pub in town. The audience ate it up. And the band was evidently pleased as throughout their performance they made eyes to each other smiling as the set progressed.

As they ran offstage and came over to the bar, I had their beers ready at the three seats in front of me.

“You guys were amazing. They ate you up out there! I hope we’ll be seeing more of you guys soon,” I congratulated.

They nodded eagerly, sipping quickly, and watching Queen begin to set up. “Thanks for all your help tonight. We’ll be sure to talk to Hilly about coming back.”

Following a quick soundcheck, I approached the band asking if they needed anything before they began their set.

“I think we are all set on our end. We’re just ready to offer something more diverse to this crowd’s palette,” the lead singer offered.

“I’m sure they’d only be so lucky,” I chuckle. “Whenever you guys are ready, the stage is yours.”

The singer nodded and winked at me before taking the stage. His bandmates followed suit and were playing chords to prepare themselves.

“Good evening, we’re Queen. We’re happy to be back,” Brian said. He looked a little hesitant, but quickly overcame this as his bandmates nodded their heads in affirmation at his statement.

Quickly the long-haired drummer tapped his sticks to create a countdown before beginning. The song immediately rushed into an upbeat tempo. The sound demanding the room participate in some action. Whether listening or clapping. There was a necessary response needed. Queen was not a band to idly enjoy. Everyone began looking around at their table-mates, some with shocked looks on their faces, unsure of what to expect when they stepped on stage.

I stole a glance at John, who looked less nervous, but determined. His eyes were focused on the ground. But his hands were strategically plucking at the bass strings as deliberately as he could achieve his chords. Every now and then he would look up and offer a brief nod and some slight eye contact to his bandmates before returning to his focused state.

The band was energetic and had the crowd captivated. As the last chord was struck during their last song, the crowd applauded. A hearty reaction for a crowd of our size.

The band walked over following their set, still laden with sweat.

“I think I need a beer, darling,” the blonde said, looking slightly desperate.

Offering a small nod and a smile, I quickly poured from the tap and offered the drink as the man quietly sighed contently.

I filled all the orders for the four men, hearing them bicker about their performance. About what went well, what did not, when they should come back. During this conversation, John did not participate much, except for a few words here and there.

I offered him a small smile, which he caught and looked in my direction. “I think you were great tonight. They clearly loved you all. No reason to be nervous.”

“Thanks, Annie. I’m glad they participated the way they did, made it easier for me to ease up,” he said taking a sip of his drink.

“I bet, we haven’t had an audience interact like that the entire time I’ve worked here.”

John continued to smile back at me, about to speak when a he was cut off by the drummer, who I later learned was Roger, smacked his arm.

“Hey mate, we’re going to head out. Brian and I have to head back to the apartment. And as always, Freddie needs a ride.”

John quietly nods and wishes them all a good night, as they all depart and say their farewells.

“Perks of driving myself,” he mumbles. “I won’t die by Roger’s ancient van.”

I laugh under my breath as I clean up their glasses. Few patrons are left in the pub and we’re to close within the next half an hour. Janice is cleaning up on her end, looking a little flustered, but keeping up with her new position well. Most likely making lots of tips after this crowd.

“Janice, I’m headed out for a smoke break. You okay for a minute?” She quietly nods and picks up the used dishes to carry to the back. “Care to join?” I ask turning to John.

“Oh, umm. Okay, yeah,” he mumbles while grabbing his coat.

He follows me out back where I pull my cigarettes and lighter from my apron pocket, offering him one. He thanks me and begins to place it in his mouth.

“So when can we expect you lot back?” I ask after exhaling.

“Honestly, as soon as you want us back. The group talked about that crowd. While we’re used to bigger gigs, we love when they eat us up. Plus, we never come to the east side.”

“I mean, I’ll talk to Hilly, but we could do next week same time. The crowds love a routine. If you keep coming on Tuesday nights, so will they. Just call us and let us know.”

“Of course,” he smiles.

I’m realizing through the course of this conversation that John is riddled with boyish charm. While we seem to be the same age, he seems younger than me. I write that off as his shy nature presumably. But as the conversation continues, I think it’s equal parts shy, equal parts carefully deciding his words. He says little, but when he does it is impactful.

“So, what were you doing before Queen? You’re new to the band, right?”

“Well, I’m still at university. But had just started before I found these guys. They needed a bassist. Guess they had a few before me. But I auditioned, and I guess they liked what I had to offer. It’s been fun, but I worry that it’s just for the time being. I mean, we play pubs. We’re not doing much.”

“Who knows, maybe there is something more for you guys. But at the least, are you having fun?” He nods quietly. “Then that should be enough,” I say exhaling the last bit of my cigarette.

“You’re right. It’s nice to not just be in school. I have something to look forward to now.”

I nod, smiling at him recounting these experiences of his personal life.

“I have to head in, we’re closing soon. But I hope I’ll see you soon. You’re welcome to stay before we close out for the night.”

“No, I should head out. Don’t want to keep you guys busy, the sooner you clean up the sooner you leave, I bet,” he chucks his cigarette. “I’ll see you soon Annie, have a good night,” he smiles before walking to his car in the car park.

“You too,” I call with a wave.

I head in to the bar, to clean up tables of those that have left since I’ve been outside. I head to Janice to let her know she’s okay to head out.

“How are you feeling? Did you think tonight went okay for you?”

“Yeah, wasn’t too bad. Pretty busy, but everyone was nice,” she says wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

“That’s always good to hear, Hilly’s always here to deal with the not-so-nice, should you need him. But I honestly wouldn’t worry about that. I won’t keep you though. You need to go home, get some rest.”

“Thanks, Annie. I’ll see you on Thursday night,” she says as she hangs up her apron. “Oh wait,” she remembers reaching into her apron pocket. “Someone left this for you,” she says and smiles.

I open it up and see a phone number written with “John Deacon” written on the bottom. I can’t help but smile and slip it into my back pocket

#queen fanfic #John Deacon #john deacon fanfic #John Deaky #disco deaky #bohemian rhapsody #queen band #Queen

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stratus-skye07 · 6 years

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Sense Of Love [One] | Minho

Blinded By Fame

[Masterlist]

MINHO

Reaching a certain point in your career you start to think about how you got to this point. Sitting and thinking about the aftermath of winning my fight which will lead me to the championship. A place I’ve been to once before, only this time I’ll win.

Before leaving the building, I have to do my post match interview. It’s not my favorite part of the job but attention is on me and I have to make myself look even better than I already do. I put on my five hundred dollar sunglasses as I approach the podium with multiple microphones aiming at me when all the cameras begin to flash like crazy. Multiple hands go up as the question begin.

“Mr. Choi, how do you feel about the outcome of your fight?”

I shrug my shoulders at such a unoriginal question, “Sore but it came out as expected.”

“You’re going into the finals against Lee Chin-Hwa, are you going to be training even harder for your fight against him?”

“No, if it’s not broken then don’t fix it. I’ve been zooming through the tournament with no problem and I’ll win the same way.”

“You made it this far last year but you ended up losing the finals, aren’t you worried about coming out with the same outcome?”

I’ve tried very hard to forget last years finals but being reminded of it has given me a bitter taste of it. “I have all the confidence that won’t happen this year. I’m done answering question.”

Leaving the building gave me a sense of relaxation with the match being set and done. I worked my ass off just to get back to this point once again. I rose to the top last year but along with bad decisions I ended up losing in the finals. I’ve chosen to not take that path again this time which means nothing will hold me back from winning this year.

Onew, my manager, is driving me home while I take in the ease from be able to finally go home. I browse through the news outlets about tonight’s match and everything good has been said about my win. The only thing that articles tend to focus on is my attitude outside of fighting. Like being a professional fighter means I have to be nice.

Scrolling through more things I notice an article about me and the currently famous model, Jung Bohee. Which reminds me.

“Onew, can you contact Bohee and ask how her schedule is looking. If she’s not too busy let her know that I need to have another meeting with her.”

He nods, “Sure, but how many more meetings are you planning on having until you seal the deal with her?”

“Don’t start that again. You know I don’t have time for that. Meetings with her is as close as I will get to anything you’d want from me.”

“I’m only suggesting.”

“Well don’t, that’s not what I pay you for.”

“Yaah punk, I’m older than you. Just because I’m your manager doesn’t mean you can drop the honorifics and be an asshole to me!”

I plug my headphone into my phone and drown out his annoying rants about being my hyung. We may have grown up together but he’s still under my payroll. I can’t deny his loyalty though. No matter how much of an ass I am to him he still sticks around to put me in line.

My music gets interrupted by a phone call. The name on the screen reads Don’t Answer. I slide the red icon over letting my music come back on. That’s the twelfth time this week they’ve called. They can keep calling but my answer will still be no.

Once I get dropped off at my home, I immediately go to the bathtub to soak my body in before going to bed. It helps ease all the tensed muscles I used for tonight. Wrapping the towel around my waist, I reach the counter and look at myself in the mirror.

I touch the bruises on my face and sigh, “If I was meant to be a fighter why was I born with such a handsome face that gets hit sometimes? What a shame. Well at least I don’t have cauliflower ears.”

Noticing my phone light up I see the familiar number that I wasn’t expecting to see so soon. Duty calls though.

I guess that meeting is happening sooner than I thought.

Y/N

Closing time at last. The last customers heads out of the shop. I lock up the door and turn the sign to say closed. There’s still cleaning that needs to be done which comes down to my loyal employees. The same employees that are huddled over watching the T.V. that hangs in the corner of the wall.

“Can’t believe I lost a hundred bucks on this fight. I was so sure Minho was gonna lose.” Key groans in disappointment.

Taemin pats Key on the back, “Hyung, maybe you should retire in the life of gambling. You’re sense for betting is getting worse.”

“No, if it’s not broken then don’t fix it. I’ve been zooming through the tournament with no problem and I’ll win the same way.”

Key scoffs, “I really wish someone would knock him out.”

I grab the remote from the counter and shut the T.V. off, “If you two are done freeloading off our pay-per-view,” I hand a rag to Key, “The windows need cleaning,” I hand rubber gloves to Taemin, “and the dishes need washing.”

“Yes, ma’am.” They both say in unison. Key and Taemin have been working at my cafe, Hope Cafe, for as long as I’ve owned it.

Key and I went to school together growing up. When I first took over the cafe when my parents passed away he offered to work part-time for a little while but that ended up turning into years. His real name is Kibum but I call him Key for short. Whenever I’m not around he takes care of the cafe for me.

Taemin, our youngest, came to work when in his final year in highschool. Currently, he’s majoring in music and film at the university. I’ve advised him that it would be fine if he chose to quit to focus more on school but he continues to brush off my attempts and work.

I finish wiping down the tables and placing the chairs on top of the them to mop the floor. Before I start mopping, I begin carrying out the large trash bags from today. As I’m about to pick them up, Taemin comes to lift them with ease towards the dumpster in the back of the cafe.

“Weren’t you doing the dishes?” I ask.

He smirks, “I finished besides you’re too small to be lifting these and you shouldn’t over work yourself.”

“I can handle it, Taemin.”

After tossing the bag into the dumpster, Taemin stares at me for a few minutes, “How are your eyes?”

I scoff, “Not this again, Taemin. You know that I haven’t had an attack for almost a year now. I told you I’m fine. Is that the reason you don’t quit this place and focus on school?”

“You’re the reason I managed to get into that school, noona. I can’t leave you behind to work twice as hard and put your health at risk.”

“I don’t want you to use me as an excuse to slack off at school. Would it put you at ease if I went to the doctor?”

He slightly pouts, “Maybe.”

I pat him on the back, “Okay, eomma. I’ll go see the doctor if that makes you feel at ease.”

MINHO

The sun blinds me for a split second as I wake to find that it’s morning. Hearing movement in the bathroom, I quickly realize that it’s time to get up. I get out of bed to put on sweatpants as the familiar slender figure appears.

“Leaving so soon?” I ask her.

Bohee smirk as she sits on the edge of the bed to put her heels on, “I have a shoot in two hours or else I’d stay longer.”

The articles about us are wrong. We’re not a couple, we’re just each other’s stress relievers. I met Bohee at a charity event and we hit it off, physically anyway.

“Have you seen the latest news about us?”

She nods, “It’s not a bad idea, don’t you think?”

“I told you from the start this would never become anything more. Why? Are you starting to get feelings for me?”

“No, but you can’t deny that our popularity certainly rose from all the speculations. Wouldn’t you want to try?”

I sigh, “I have other things in mind to get people talking about me.”

She comes up behind me to wrap her arms around my torso, “You’re no fun. Then how about doing a photoshoot with me?”

“I’ll think about it.” I break out of her embrace, “You’re gonna be late.”

After my interesting morning and long day of lounging around watching fight highlights, I meet up with Jonghyun for some late night training before calling it a night. Jonghyun has been my trainer since I started fighting. Him and Onew are the only team I need to compete.

We go through numerous workout routines along with practicing my strikes and kicks before finally taking a break.

“Are you sure you’re ready for the finals?” He asks.

“What are you doubting me already?”

Jonghyun shakes his head, “It’s not that, but after what happened last year I just wanna be sure nothing like that happens this year.”

“It won’t. You can count on it. I have no intention of leaving that venue without the championship.” Both Onew and Jonghyun know the truth behind my loss at the finals last year but neither of them ever talk about it with me directly.

“It’s not like it’s for my sake. I just don’t want you to get hurt in anyway shape or form. You’ve worked extremely hard just to get back to where you are now.”

I scoff and rise to my feet, “You think I don’t know that!? I’ve been the one to push myself after hours.” Not wanting to get into an argument I head towards the treadmill, “You can go if you want. I’m gonna run for awhile.”

“Alright,” Jonghyun walks towards the exit, “don’t stay so late.”

I continue to work out for a few more hours before the tiredness began to set it. It was already getting late so I lock up the gym and head for my car. Reaching my car, my phone begins to ring. I read the number and immediately press the red icon to decline the call before putting it back in my pocket.

“So you have been ignoring my calls.” I roll my eyes at the annoying voice I’ve been avoiding to hear. I turn towards the ringleader being followed by his two stooged bodyguards that I never bothered learning their names, “To be honest Minho, I’m a little hurt. I thought we were friends.”

“I’m sorry you’re bad at taking hints, Hyun-Ki.”

He fake laughs, “How do you deny offers before even hearing the pitch first? Now that’s bad deal making.”

I shrug my shoulders, “Something tells me that I’ve already heard this idea before and let me tell you right now that I’m not doing it. So you can stop calling me and find some other poor rookie to sell that idea to again.”

“Minho, listen to reason.” He point to his group, “There are three of us and one of you. We’ll manage to convince you one way or another.”

I drop my gym bag in preparation of what’s going to have to happen next. I’ve never backed down from a fight and that’s not going to change just because of the odds. Things with this group will end dramatically if it has to.

“The answer is still no.”

As soon as I finish my sentence, Hyun-Ki’s fist connects with my jaw. It throws me off balance but it wasn’t enough to do a whole lot of damage.

“Why do you insist on doing things the hard way.”

I return the hit with a punch of my own which knocks him down. “It makes things more interesting.”

Everything goes crazy once Hyun-Ki’s little helpers get involved. One of them goes for my mid-section to tackle me down but I manage to keep my stance. The other comes at me, charging for my upper body but I punch him to give me a split second to handle the first stooge. I ram my elbow into his back then a knee to his face to get him to let go of my waist. I swipe under the second guy’s feet to take him down.

Everything takes a turn for the worst when the last thing I see is Hyun-Ki tackling into me like a football player. My vision blurs once the back of my head makes contact with the windshield of my car.

I try to shake off the hit but I get way too disoriented and my vision starts to fade in and out. Looking up I barely see the three figures standing over me.

“It didn’t have to go down like this, Minho. If only you did one simple thing like you did once before, we wouldn’t have had to ruin a perfectly good window.”

“What do we do with him?”

“Eh, leave him. If he lives or dies, it doesn’t matter to me. He’s learned a lesson either way.”

It got quiet all of a sudden. Everything looked foggy and unrecognizable. I feel so numb to the point where I can’t move a finger to pull myself up. This was really it. This is how my short pathetic life ends. All I can say is I wish I lived it better. The night gets darker and colder with no hope of surviving through it.

Suddenly, I begin to see movement through my foggy vision. A silhouette of a woman. She’s talking to me but I can’t hear anything. The muffled noises grow faint as my eyes grow heavy and then I see nothing at all.

Y/N

Over the years I’ve grown used to going to Dr. Park that it’s almost like going to the dentist for check ups. I truly believe that I’m healthy but those around me that know my past constantly tell me to see the doctor for review of my eyes. Just for their comfort I do so.

Dr. Park does his routine check of shining a light in my eyes and using a microscope to zoom into my corneas.

“So what is the diagnostic?”

He smiles, “Your eyes are in healthy condition. You’re vision is still in good shape. Have you been having any issues?”

“No, I haven’t. I’ve been doing well in reading things from a distance and close up.”

“You’re still wear your glasses though?”

“Yes, I sometimes get paranoid that I’ll strain my eyes so I still wear them at times.”

He nods as he looks through his notes, “Tell me Y/N, when was the last attack you had?”

“Almost a year ago. I haven’t had one since.”

“That’s good to hear. As long as you continue to live a peaceful life like you are now then there should be no change in your vision to worry about.”

“Can you write that down? My employees seem to think differently of me working and volunteering.”

He chuckles, “At least they care enough to do their work for you. You shouldn’t be complaining with employees like that.”

“I don’t complain but I’d rather not be dealt with like a fragile child. I wanted this operation so I wouldn’t be treated any differently.”

“Of course, I can’t really say anything since I began treating you when you were a child so in my eyes I still see you as that little girl that came to me all those years ago.”

I nod, “I’ve grown a lot since then, haven’t I?”

“You’re young, you still have more years to grow. Just continue the way you’ve been living and do your best to not overstress yourself. You have friends that care so don’t be afraid to lean on them for help when you need it.”

“Thank you again, Dr. Park.”

After the numerous check ups I’ve been having, each one has come out the same positive outcome. I begin to think that it’s safe, my health is set in stone and I can live without worry about what might happen within the next year. Yet, I hate to have that little piece of doubt that still lingers in the back of my head. I hope to one day not worry so much.

The sun has finally set as I walk back home. There was construction going on at my usual route so I decide to take the long way past one of the local gyms. I don’t really like to walk past there since a lot of the guys that workout there try to hit on me but it’s night time and the place closes. It still makes the places more creepy just walking through in the dark.

I shake off the creepy thoughts that make me feel uneasy as I nearly reach the end of the building where the crosswalk is. Suddenly, I hear a loud crash that scares me to a stop. I look at my surroundings in hopes that there isn’t some sort of driveby happening around the corner. I peek my head around the building. No one was there but one single car in the parking lot.

I continued to walk as if nothing was wrong. It’s not until I walk past the parking lot when I see legs sticking out from the side of the car. The window is completely smashed with the glass shining on the black pavement. Getting a little closer, I see a man lying there not moving.

I run over to him, “Sir, can you hear me?” His eyes flutter and his hand reaches out for me to take his. I notice blood pooling around his head when I begin to panic even more. “Hang on,” I take my phone out of my pocket to call for help, “I need an ambulance.” I give the operator my location and turn back to the man.

I lean back to look around for anyone near but the man pulls on my hand to keep me close. I squeeze his hand for reassurance, “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

MINHO

I could barely stay awake long enough to focus on where I was. I remember being in a car then the ceiling was moving but I couldn’t see where I was going. I kept trying to look for that silhouette that first came to me before I completely lost consciousness.

I begin to reach for that familiar hand again in hope to not be left alone but I feel nothing gripping my hand.

“Minho?”

I immediately recognize the voice, “Onew, where am I?”

“You’re at the hospital. What happened?”

“I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone at the gym like that.” Jonghyun’s voice comes from the other side of me.

I struggle to open my eyes from the brightness of the room, when I do nothing is clear. I give it a moment for my eyes to adjust but no matter how many times I blink they remain foggy.

“Onew...Jonghyun…where are you?”

“We’re right in front of you. Jonghyun is on the other side of you.”

I look around to see nothing but the lights and shapes of whatever is in the room but everything is unclear. “Why can’t I see you guys?”

“What do you mean you can’t see us?” Jonghyun worried voice asks.

“I mean I can’t see anything.”

The panic starts to set in once my vision never changes. It looks as if my eyes were being covered by multiple layers of saran wrap. The shock was almost enough to distract me from the hellish headache I have.

Onew called the doctor in to report the fact that I had no vision. My heart was racing the entire time I was waiting for him to bring the doctor in. Not being able to see who was coming and going made the wait even worse.

I hear multiple footsteps coming in, “Mr. Choi, I’m Dr. Chung. How are you feeling?”

“Besides the massive headache and the fact that I can’t see anything I’m just relaxing and having a grand time. Thanks for asking.”

I feel a nudge on my arm that must’ve been from Jonghyun since he has been standing on my right side this entire time, “Seriously, Minho.”

I wave him off as Onew starts to speak to the doctor, “Dr. Chung, can you please explain what’s going on with Minho?”

“Of course, it seems that the impact of the blow that Mr. Choi experienced to his head caused his brain to bounce off the front and back of his skull. We took CAT scans which shows contusions to the occipital lobe.”

I scoff, “Can you explain that in simpler terms?”

“The occipital lobe controls vision so it’s not unusual for it to cause temporary blindness. In your terms, your brain is bleeding but it’s not life threatening. They’re like bruises.”

“How long is temporary?” Onew asks.

“It’s hard to say. His brain should heal in a couple days, the maximum would be a few weeks but nothing past a month.”

I start chuckling at the sudden twist of fate that life has given me, “What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”

“I recommend that you see a counselor until your vision comes back. There’s a place we suggest to our patience. I can have the nurse give you the information.”

I shake my head, “A counselor? No thanks, I’m not that bummed about it.”

Dr. Chung clears his throat, I can imagine him losing his patience with me but I don’t care since I was screwed anyways. “Not for your emotional state. I mean a counselor to help you manage and get through your daily activities like normal until your brain heals fully.”

“That would be a great help for Minho since he lives alone and likes to live independently.” Jonghyun adds a lot of emphasis in the fact like it would actually help.

“I have another question.”

Dr. Chung hums in response, “Go ahead.”

“The person who found me. Are they still here?”

There’s a silence until the doctor awes, “The young lady that accompanied you here? She stayed for a short time but once she discovered that you were okay she left. She looked very pale so it was probably best for her to leave.”

“Did you by any chance get her name?”

He hums, “No, I’m sorry. She did seem very worried about you though. When you came in, she refused to let go of your hand. Perhaps she was your guardian angel.”

[Two]

#shinee #shinee minho #shinee choi minho #shinee Minho au #shinee Minho scenario #shinee Minho fighter au #shinee au #shinee fighter au #shinee scenario #shinee choi Minho au #shinee choi Minho fighter au #shinee choi Minho scenario #shinee angst #shinee smut #shinee Minho angst #shinee Minho smut

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ash-trash · 3 years

Note

🌈 - 👊 - 🙅 - 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 for each of your active RP charr >:3c

(( SCREAMS ))

(( Going to format this one a bit differently - I’ll list all the questions at the top, and then just go through each character, using paragraph breaks to separate the questions. ))

🌈 What is their sexuality?

👊 Do they have a warband? What role do they play on it? Who are the other members of their warband?

🙅 Who do they consider their enemy(ies)?

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Who is their birth family? Who is their chosen family?

Alcmene Chillhorn: Alcmene is asexual, though she’s homoromantic. Unfortunately, it took her a little while to realize that and now she’s got a few bad memories/experiences floating around.

Alcmene is the Legionnaire (formerly second-in-command) of Chill Warband, a Blood Legion warband that patrols the Shiverpeaks. Aside from her Legionnaire duties, she’s a capable frontline soldier, medic-in-training, basic radio operator, tactician, and general mom-friend. Other members include the Centurion Vyneera Chillcleave, ((and several other members that I honestly don’t remember right now)) Kayla Chilltooth, Zelra Soulchill...

Alcmene’s primary enemies are the Icebrood and Sons of Svanir, though to a lesser extent the Dredge as well. She also still hates humans with a vengeance, though she doesn’t let that get in the way of her civility, as far as duty is concerned.

Alcmene was born to a dam and sire she never knew ((and I never developed)), and her fahrar Warband ((also undeveloped)) fell in the war against humanity. The ceasefire disbanded what was left, leading her to join up with her chosen family, Chill Warband.

Aspa Spiterune: Aspa is heterosexual, though she’s not really interested in pursuing that. She doesn’t like interacting with anyone that much.

Aspa is a member of the Spite Warband, an Iron ‘band based out of the Iron shipyards in Ashford. She’s primarily a welder, using her elemental powers to fuse metal quickly, cleanly, and with no tools but her own paws, though she’s a sturdy combatant in a pinch. ((I don’t know any other members besides Tea’s Spite-gal who heroically gave her life so that another character could be born, so x3;; ))

As far as enemies go, Aspa’s primary one would be, uh, bad workmanship? Separatists are the most common issue she deals with on a regular basis, though she’s the kind of gal to consider everyone her enemy.

Aspa was born to a yet-undeveloped dam and sire, and her fahrar warband happens to be her chosen family - Spite. Though, if she’d had the choice, she’d have been born Blood, and would be out there kicking human booty.

Bathea Sorrowhaunt: Bathea is bisexual, but is too terrified of Legion charr to ever do anything about it. She’s hoping to find a nice Archborn that knows nothing of Legion life, but work keeps getting in the way.

Bathea was once a member of an (unnamed) ((I’m noticing a trend...)) Blood Warband, before an ‘incident’ led her to leave the Legions and flee to the Arch, where she joined the Lionguard. Now, she’s a medic, though her size, bulk, and Blood training mean that she acts as bruiser when needed (as much as she hates doing so).

Her enemies are basically the everyday issues she deals with - drunkards, troublemakers, and rabblerousers, as well as a variety of injuries from all sorts of sources. As far as outside forces, she probably mostly hates hostile pirate groups or privateers, as well as general bandits and thieves, as they cause her the most trouble. She’s not too fond of those battle-drunk followers of Balthazar, either...

Her birth family would have been the former Warband. While she loved them to bits, she hated Legion life, and so the aforementioned ‘incident’ (in which her unfortunate warband met a cruel fate...) allowed her the opportunity to move on, and find her chosen family in the Lionguard.

Black Spiraldancer: Black is technically heterosexual, but way too distrustful and paranoid to ever engage with anyone on that level. Black (who, for the purposes of telling them apart, will now be referred to as “Blak”) is a lesbian, and although she’s less paranoid, her sister has enough of a stranglehold on her to keep her away from any entanglements.

Black and Blak have never had a warband, only ever each other. Black and Blak are merchants, peddling used/pre-owned goods for discount prices. Black tends to specialize more in acquiring merchandise, while Blak has the better personality for dealing with customers and closing the sale.

Black and Blak’s primary enemies are the Adamant Guard, pesky lot that stick their snouts where they don’t belong. Really, their enemy is “law enforcement” anywhere, or anyone else that might object to their goods being liberated to provide stock for the ‘Black market’.

Black and Blak’s birth and chosen family is simply each other. They’ve only ever had each other, and as far as they’re concerned, they only ever want each other. It’s just the two of them, against the world.

Crusader Sootwalker: Sootwalker is heterosexual, and as much as she’d love to pursue it more, there’s not a lot of potential partners that can keep up with her size.

Sootwalker is currently a member of the Soot Warband of the Vigil. She’s a bruiser, beater, battlemaiden, and all-around behemoth on the battlefield. Other skills include eating, more fighting, more eating, and sleeping. Other members include Sootpaws and Sootcrawler.

Sootwalker’s primary enemies are Kralkatorrik, the Shatterer, and all of the Dragonbrand/Branded.

Sootwalker’s birth family is an (undeveloped) Blood warband, though her chosen family is certainly the Vigil. She’s made many friends and battle-brothers in her time there, especially among her new Vigil Warband.

Domitus Shardspirit: Domitus is pansexual, and is pretty casual about what his partner has or doesn’t have.

Domitus is a member of the Shard Warband, acting in his role as scout, tracker, spiritualist, communer, and general hippy. Other members of the warband include Centurion Traikill Stormshard, Soho Moonshard, Legionnaire Grimm Shardheart, Firiann Fellshard, Karnelion Shardgrin, and too many more to name.

Domitus’ primary enemies would be whoever Shard’s up against at the moment, of course, though as far as personal vendettas, top of the list would likely be Charr industrialists and Asura, as well as Dredge. Dom has a deep dislike of the way these races meddle with nature.

While he was born in the Shiverpeaks and raised in an outpost fahrar as part of Glare Warband ((hah, finally one I have developed)), Dom’s chosen family is partly Shard Warband, and partly something more personal - his loyal fernhound, Foof, and the small commune of nature spirits that call him/his belongings home.

Fyra Shalespine: Fyra is pansexual and is always down to get down, though she much prefers being a guide and mentor rather than a participant.

Fyra is a member of the Shale warband, where she’s the majordomo of meditations, chief of chakras, and master of massagetherapy. She’s also a solid fighter when she puts her mind to it, and an experienced voice of reason. The only other member that I remember is Caligus Torqueshale.

Fyra’s primary enemies are triple: whatever Shale’s dealing with; Mordrem and other desert nonsense; bad vibes. She spends a lot of her non-Warband time working with others and sometimes, it’s a bit too draining.

I talked a bit about her birth family in a previous answer, but her chosen family is simple, yet elaborate: her warband, Shale; the Vigil; and anyone she happens to be sharing her time with, whether for a minute or a lifetime.

Einn Úlfursdottir: Einn’s bisexual, but with a male preference.(That said, she’s taken, so.)

Einn isn’t a charr, silly!

Einn’s enemies on a day-to-day basis tend to be icebrood and Sons of Svanir, which seems to have multiplied lately, though she also faces off against Dredge, Jotun, and just general critters and beasties of the Shiverpeaks.

Einn’s birth family is unknown, as she was found orphaned. However, her chosen family, at least for most of her life, was her adoptive parents, Maja and Úlfur. Now, without them, she’s searching for a new family to take their place as her ‘pack’.

Graf Towercleave: Graf is heterosexual, though at his age he’s kind of given up on that sort of thing.

Graf is a member of the Cleave Warband, where he functions as resident old man and occasional sword-swinger. Sometimes he tries to do magic. It almost always does not go well. Other members are currently Legionnaire Rrul Rivecleave, Dexious Fiercecleave, Lexus Frostcleave, and Fiana Spiritcleave.

Graf’s enemies are naturally the Dominion, though he bears a special hatred for the Sons of Svanir and Icebrood after what they did in Bjora. Ultimately, he hates all dragon minions.

Graf’s been through several families in his lifetime - from his fahrar warband Field, to his Vigil warband Thunder, to his current warband Cleave. He’s no stranger to battle-brotherhood, and takes his family bonds where he can. That said, he still maintains a lot of contacts within the Vigil, and thinks of many of them as family still.

Ink Voidbreath: Ink is asexual and doesn’t really have any interest in that sort of thing.

Ink is currently gladium, with no warband to speak of. Prior to that, they were ((Spoilers for Lunar story)) a member of Breath Warband, acting as assassin, general-purpose caster, voice of reason, scout, and occasional medic.

Ink’s enemies tend to be conflict in general - positioning themselves as the enemy of strife, they find that they have enemies in both sides of the Charr-Human conflict, in both sides of the Charr civil war, and now they’re not really sure where their allegiances lie.

Ink’s birth family was an (undeveloped) Ash warband, though after their grisly demise, Ink grew disillusioned. Even in their time with Breath, they never felt part of a “family”, so it’s hard to say that they’ve had a “chosen family” since their first warband.

Keele Rustsocket: Keele is bisexual with a strong female preference.

Keele is currently part of the Socket warband, a Pact mechanic warband where she serves as an airship mechanic and engineer. I’ve not created any other members for it.

Keele’s enemies are any sort of Dragon or Dragon Minion, though she admittedly has a personal hatred for any remaining Mordrem, after the events of the Pact Fleet in the Maguuma Expedition...

Although Keele left behind her “birth family” to join the Pact, she maintains regular contact with them and they all get together for drinks whenever possible. That said, she gets along quite well with her new family, Socket, as well as her many friends and “coworkers” amongst the Pact. She’s even made quite a few friends in the BLTC, during her time in the Aerodrome!

Kreyn Fluxlift: Kreyn is a lesbian, though she is absolutely too dense to know when anyone’s hitting on her.

Kreyn is currently part of the Flux warband, where she serves as an engineer and designer, specializing in lifting bodies and aerodynamics. Other members include Legionnaire Grarr Fluxforge and a few others whose names I don’t remember.

Kreyn’s enemies include long sentences and complicated words, as well as other unscrupulous inventors who might be trying to steal her ideas. Other than that, aside from a general dislike of ghosts and humans, she’s relatively insulated from any real enemies.

Originally part of Bolt Warband, many of Kreyn’s initial ‘bandmates were killed or injured in a horrific accident. Following that, she moved into Flux Warband, where she is now. She’s quite happy with her new family, and although she checks on her former ‘bandmates occasionally, she has trouble remembering to on a regular basis.

Kurra Fogshroud: Kurra is absolutely a lesbian.

Kurra is part of Fog Warband, stationed in eastern Ashford, where she serves primarily as a sniper, though she occasionally doubles as a master of disguise.

Kurra’s enemies are primarily ogres, with whom she’s engaged in a daily battle. She also has to contend with ghosts, devourers, bats, gargoyles, and all sorts of other annoying beasties, but absolutely her biggest beef is with the ogres.

Kurra’s lucky in that her birth and chosen families are one and the same: Fog Warband! So far, aside from one or two unfortunate deaths, Fog’s been the same from fahrar to present day.

Kyrdra Sparkdawn: Kyrdra is polysexual, mostly preferring anyone that she can top.

Kyrdra is currently a part of Spark Warband, of Iron Legion, a bottom-of-the-barrel scrapper Warband that’s effectively a punishment assignment. She’s a scrapper in name and trade, using her brute strength to bust apart even the most resilient of wreckage. Other members include Legionnaire Sparkspring, and the now-deceased Sparkjaw and Sparkwire.

Kyrdra’s enemy is basically the whole world - it certainly seems like it’s out to get her! That said, her biggest beef is with Flame - partly because they’re what ruined her life in the first place, and partly because they keep making trouble while she’s just trying to scrap wreckage. She’s also not very fond of Forged (and those damn Choya....)

Although Spark isn’t her first warband, she hates her original ‘bandmates and would hunt them down if afforded the time. Even so, she doesn’t get on well with Spark, and often clashes with the Legionnaire, Sparkspring. She’d never let herself admit to liking any of them, though she does (in private!) mourn the loss of some, such as Sparkwire or Sparkjaw.

Lad Duskpillager: Lad is very gay and prefers fellow nasty bois.

Lad is part of the rough-and-tumble Pillager Warband, where he fills in as part-time bruiser, part-time mad scientist, part-time experimenter, and full-time horrible creature. Other members include Cur Blitzpillager, and their Legionnaire.

Lad’s enemies are far too many to count, including the Adamant Guard, his fellow ‘bandmates, capitalism, and just about everything. His biggest struggles are mostly with the law (especially the Adamant Guard and the Peacekeepers) and with his fellow ‘bandmates (who, strangely enough, don’t enjoy being experimented upon!)

Lad doesn’t really have a chosen family - his initial Warband was devastated, and since then he’s simply been looking for a way to continue his work. That said, Pillager is currently home, so they count! He doesn’t hate them, at least, and sometimes they get up to some really fun mischief.

Morak Stillwater: Morak is heterosexual, though he’s mostly a hormone-crazed youngster and would probably bone just about anything.

Morak doesn’t have a warband, instead being part of a pirate crew. He serves as navigator, first mate, occasional fisher-charr, and by virtue of being the only one with a beast, the beastmaster.

Morak has a few enemies, though his biggest is probably the man, man. He’s a rebellious youth who resents Lion’s Arch and its leadership for what it did to his family, and although he’s mostly struggling to get by, all his spare energy is definitely put towards sticking it to the power.

An Arch charr by birth, Morak’s family was taken from him by Scarlet’s invasion. Although they’re less a family and more just a bunch of unfortunates thrown together by circumstance, his current “chosen” family is his crew, under the leadership of Captain Yeens.

Naphtha Seizetar: Naphtha is what I’d call demisexual, though she tends to have more of a female preference.

Naphtha is currently a member of Seize Warband, working as a researcher, where she’s developing ways to convert organic biomass into post-processed hydrocarbons (AKA turning corpses into fuel). Other members include her Legionnaire, Kharra Seizespark, and Nenqe Seizebabe Seizeshield.

Naphtha, as an Iron researched, fortunately doesn’t have many enemies, though already in her time with Seize she’s developed a dislike for rock elementals, separatists, spiders, grawl, dredge, and Inquest. Her biggest challenge is probably Clonky... that bastard.

Originally Naphtha Rotplate of Plate Warband, after an industrial accident, she’s eagerly signed on to Seize Warband (though a little less eager after meeting the Legionnaire), making the trio her chosen family, although she shows a disturbing level of anthropomorphism towards her “rot vats”....

Olmakhan Firedancer: The unnamed Firedancer is bisexual, and although he has a female preference as far as romance/company goes, his sexual attraction is stronger for other men.

He’s not currently a member of any warband, instead being part of the Olmakhan, a tribal society of Charr living in a small cluster of islands off the coast of Elona.

The Olmakhan unfortunately have more than their fair share of enemies, between Awakened/Palawan loyalists, the Inquest, dangerous beasties, Djinn... any one of these is a weight upon his conscience, though all of them together pushes the Olmakhan to the fringes of survival.

Living his relatively sheltered island life, the boy’s birth family happens to be his chosen family, his Olmakhan friends and fellow villagers. Recently, however, he’s taken to traveling the newly rediscovered world, and is starting to pick up new friends along the way, though the amount of letters he’s sending home would make a Sylvari blush.

Rakk Smokewraith: Nasty bastard boy. Rakk is pansexual and will bone down on anything that moves. Evil wicked man.

Rakk is a member of the Smoke Warband in truth, where he acts as a spy and infiltrator, searching for Renegades, Flame, Dominion, and anyone else that Ash Legion has determined to be a Charr of interest. However, part of that is his cover identity as Rakk Blackpowder, of Powder Warband, where he’s an Iron engineer, using his small size to squeeze into narrow tank compartments.

Rakk’s enemies are the Legion’s enemies: Old Flame, Dominion, Frost Legion, Renegades, and just general traitors and criminals. Any Charr that goes against the Legions becomes part of his growing list of enemies.

Despite still being a part of his fahrar Warband, their assignment(s) means that they don’t interact much, if at all, now that they’ve graduated. So while he’s still a part of his birth family, so to speak, Rakk’s chosen family is certainly much more important to him. Unfortunately, that’s still not much, because it’s composed primarily of barkeeps, informants, and various Charr offering questionable services.

Ruya Starchaser: Ruya has no idea what she likes, and certainly not much interest (or time!) to pursue anything, though inside, she’d find that she’s pretty evenly bisexual.

Ruya's abandoned any sort of Warband life, and now is part of the Priory instead, as described in a previous post.

Despite being a huge nerd who just wants to look at the stars, Ruya has to deal with a number of desert annoyances - Palawan loyalists and leftover Awakened are the biggest threats, though the occasional Iboga or remnant Branded continue to be issues as well.

Ruya has no regrets about leaving her ‘birth family’ behind, quite content among her ‘chosen family’ in the Priory. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for her), that chosen family tends to be about 70% books, 28% telescopes, and only 2% or so other people, usually when she’s giving a lecture...

Rylka Miststone: Rylka is pretty solidly heterosexual.

Rylka’s a member of Mist Warband, a relatively new warband composed of revenants, intended to be the Legions’ test-group for these new abilities, given how un-cooperative Tribune Brimstone has been in sharing details.

Rylka’s got plenty of enemies on her plate. Separatists, Old Flame, Dominion, Frost Legion, leftover Branded, Ghosts... anything that threatens the Charr is a threat to her, almost on the level of personal affront.

Rylka’s life goal is to get close to (and emulate) Rytlock Brimstone, and so her ideal chosen family would of course be Rytlock himself. Failing that, she’s at least surrounded herself with fellow loyal-minded Charr, though she isn’t particularly close to any of them.

Sela Lunarstep: Sela’s somewhat bisexual, though she’s almost exclusively male-preferring.

Sela’s the Legionnaire of Lunar Warband, where her skills include espionage, sabotage, assassination, direct combat... anything that Ash needs doing. Her loyal soldiers include Grus Lunarspark, Malin Lunarstone, Xyx Blacklunar/Corax Lunarcaller, and many others.

Sela’s enemies are plenty, as well as her personal grudges. Ultimately, her enemies are whoever the Legion pits her against. That said, she has a particular hatred for traitors, especially Renegades, and a bit of personal beef against ghosts.

Although Lunar Warband is technically Sela’s birth family, almost their entire number has been whittled down over the years, leaving only Sela and Grus as the two remaining original members. The rest of Lunar, despite coming later, is absolutely Sela’s chosen family - they’re hers, her soldiers, and she’s happy and proud to be her Legionnaire; she’d do anything for them!

Sentinel Glassblade: Sentinel Glassblade is absolutely not bone-able. Very forbidden. Do not. (Strictly speaking, her mind is too twisted and warped to really think in that sort of vein anymore, and her body doesn’t respond much either. Once upon a time, she was quite heterosexual.)

Once a feared Ash Legion Centurion, now she’s little more than an outcast Sentinel, though she’s found a place in the Glass Warband, among other members like Glasscutter and Glassedge. Despite the deterioration of her mind, she retains a bevy of skills including tracking, combat, and interrogation (although the latter isn’t very useful against Branded...)

Glassblade’s enemies are, primarily, what remains of the Brand, and the Branded that inhabit it. As a Sentinel, she’s doomed to wander the Brand and work to contain its horrors for the rest of her life. Though somewhere inside, she definitely harbors a grudge against the treacherous soldier that landed her in this position...

Born to a rather well-known dam, Glassblade quickly rose through the ranks of her “birth family”, becoming a Centurion at a young age, though that’s all behind her now. She certainly didn’t choose the Sentinel life, and even among her new warband, she keeps herself distant and elusive. The closest she has to a chosen family is her devourer, Grendel, which has (for some reason) stayed by her side for years now.

Skara Weldblast: Skara is polysexual with a mild preference for the ladies (and a strong exhibitionist streak).

Skara’s a member of the Weld Warband, where she works as an engineer. She’s currently researching metallurgy and explosion-based welding techniques, looking to reuse old munitions and materiel to create new alloys. She works under Legionnaire Rallus Weldcog.

Skara doesn’t have much in the way of enemies, besides empty kegs and boredom. Still, she’s not immune to the troubles of the Charr as a whole, and definitely bears hatred for ghosts, separatists, and all the other troubles plaguing Charrkind, especially the Dominion of late.

Skara can find a “family” just about anywhere - after a long night of drinking and partying, just about anyone nearby is a member of the family! She’s certainly not picky, and although she loves her warband to bits, she’s pretty generous with her caring nature.

Wassail Ciderpride: The boy is pretty evenly bisexual!

Not technically a Warband, though the Cider brothers do call themselves “Cider Warband” from time to time! It’s Wassail and his brother Wurzel Cidersnout, with Wassail in charge of water supply and some of the more inventive drinks, such as Zapple.

As every brewer knows, Wassail’s biggest enemies are poor sanitation, bad water quality, and mold. Aside from those, the worst that the Brothers have to deal with is the occasional issue on their way to a market - bandits, at worst, which isn’t so bad. The Boys have it easy.

Wassail’s pretty happy with his family as they are - he’s got a successful and fun business/career with his brother and father and they have lots of great times and fun memories.

#long post #thank!#quality just drops like a rock halfway oops #will edit later

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scribblindown · 7 years

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Chocobros at Hogwarts

Harry Potter x Final Fantasy XV

Noctis Lucis Caelum:

House: Gryffindor The Sorting Hat had the hardest time trying to sort him between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, but eventually settled on Gryffindor. Not because he’s “brave and fearless” exactly, but because Noctis would like the strength to protect his friends.

Blood Status: Pure-blood He is directly linked to royalty, and some people say that he’s a descendant of Merlin. His father was Minister of Magic up to his death.

Boggart: Marilith, the creature that gravely injured him as a kid, and is the reason for his bad back and legs that even the best Healers couldn’t fix. When he grows older and eventually slays her, his boggart changes to him not being able to save his friends, leading to their death.

Wand: Cypress wood, Dragon heartstring, twelve and a half inches, not very flexible or springy, but durable. Cypress wood is associated with nobility, and one great wandmaker was always honored to meet a match with cypress wood, because he knew that that wizard would die a heroic death. Dragon heartstring leads to powerful wands, and while they can change allegiance easily, the core bonds strongly with the current owner. Be warned, it can be prone to accidents, almost temperamental. Low flexibility means that the wand isn’t very prone to adapting or willingness to change.

Patronus: Carbuncle

Favorite class: History of Magic, because that means he can sleep through it.

When Noctis arrived at Hogwarts, everyone was already gossiping about who he is or who his family is, so he remained very lonely in the beginning. He had Ignis and Gladio, who were three years ahead of his year, but he thought that it was embarrassing to rely on them for friendship, so he mostly stayed alone.

Some of the Slytherins call him “Blood Traitor” because his lineage is so prestigious, yet he acts very casual with everyone, and is almost awkward, as if he was beneath them.

He was excused from Flying Classes because of his bad leg, which would lock up and tense if he was on a broom for too long.

He can be found in the Gryffindor dorms on his free time, sleeping on either one of the couches or in his bed, or in the Great Hall.

But he also has a habit of going to the Great Lake to fish, which the teachers always tell him not to do, but he does it anyway.

His wand is chipped at some places, but otherwise still in good quality. He doesn’t treat his wand very well, and always has close call moments where he almost snaps it.

Such a pureblood pleb, and wouldn’t understand muggle customs very well. Prompto told him the Chocobo Moodle outfit was the height of muggle fashion as a joke, and Noctis took him seriously. He wore it out in muggle public, even when Prompto told him that it was a joke, he continued to wear it anyway.

He has a black cat as a pet that his father got for him as a gift, and they both take afternoon naps together. He uses the family’s owl to send letters to his father.

He has the best affinity for Apparition out of everyone in his school year.

Prompto Argentum:

House: Hufflepuff No question whatsoever, this boy was made to be the most loyal and unyielding wizard that has ever walked down Hogwart’s halls.

Blood Status: Muggle-born Prompto was actually a result of a magical experiment with all intents and purposes were to make artificial life, so the proper classification would be Magical Creature. The experiments were put to a stop once the Ministry of Magic found out what that wizard was attempting to do, and Prompto was taken in and put up for adoption. There was a mix up, and he ended up being adopted by the typical nine-to-five muggle couple.

Boggart: His boggart would be his friends hating him for his origins, calling him a monster or turning him away for what he is. Once he was constantly reassured that they don’t care what he is and, “What does it matter where you’re from anyway?” His boggart changes to his friends dying one by one.

Wand: Ceder wood, unicorn hair, twelve and a half inches, springy Ceder wood is meant for people who have a strong character and unyielding loyalty. Ceder wands find people with powerful judgement. Unicorn hair is the most versatile of the typical three cores, and is the most faithful, as they tend to stick to their original owner. It is also the hardest core to turn to the Dark Arts.

Patronus: the one and only chocobos.

Favorite class: Care for Magical Creatures, but he has a strange talent for Charms that can make Ignis slightly jealous.

When he came to Hogwarts he was a bit on the chubby side, so they submitted him to some bullying from some rather mean Slytherins, but the people of his house saw him as a reliable and nice guy. He’s just a bit insecure and shy. He then met Noctis and everything changed.

Colin Creevey 2.0

Despite everything he was genuinely excited to go to Hogwarts though! His parents were a bit hesitant, because they always saw him as different, but eventually let him go when a professor came to talk to them.

He brought an old camera with him to capture all the wonders of being a wizard.

He went through a Neville-level transformation! He started to slim down a bit late first year by running laps around Hogwart’s Quidditch pitch early in the morning or across the Great Lake. He finally slimmed down to what he looks like now during the summer of his fourth year.

He loves Hogsmead, and always gets so excited or a cup of butterbeer or a trip to Honeydukes.

Even though he slimmed down, he still likes to treat himself more often than not. He can’t resist cauldron cakes, pumpkin pasties, and licorice wands.

It’s a surprise that his wand is still usable. He’s very clumsy with it, and during his first year he always flicked it very hard or slammed it against the tables. He has chips, splinters, and wear and tear.

He has a little dwarf owl that he begged his parents to get for him. It doesn’t grow to be any bigger than his hand, and he loves it to bits. It’s the color of a toasted marshmallow, and can barely carry any packages that’s any heavier than a letter, but Prompto always encourages it and awards it as if it were able to bench press Gladio.

Someone please give me Prompto’s DLC outfit, but Hogwarts version.

He gets super excited when he learns how to get his pictures to move and talk. During the summers when he’s away from Noctis and them, he usually talks to the pictures that he has of them.

Gladiolus Amicitia:

House: Gryffindor Truly is the house of the brave, and Gladio has the heart of a lion. There was no doubt that he would end up here, but the Sorting Hat did ponder for a second or two about placing him in Ravenclaw.

Blood Status: Half-blood While the Amicitia are an old and prestigious wizarding family with a family tree that can be traced back thousands of years, Clarus ended up falling in love and marrying a half-blood witch. The Amicitias are known for being the Shields to the Caelum family, a tradition that was born thousands of years ago, and created by an Unbreakable Vow by their ancestors, but as the years went by the newer generations made the tradition more relaxed and easygoing than it was years ago.

Boggart: failing as a Shield. Even though the whole helpmate thing isn’t as serious as it was before, Noctis gets into more trouble than Gladio would like, and with the tensions between the pure-blood supremacists and everyone else, he worries for his friends.

Wand: Blackthorn wood, dragon heartstring, fifteen inches, and only the slightest bit flexible. Blackthorn wood is an unusual wand wood, but is known for being best suited for warriors. Dragon heartstring produce powerful wands and flamboyant spells. Their owners are usually fast learners, and just like stated above, they are prone to accidents, and are just the slightest bit temperamental.

Patronus: a bear. The guys call him “Papa Bear” to tease with him sometimes. Bears represent strength and wisdom.

Favorite Class: Defense Against the Dark Arts without a doubt, but he enjoys the reading material for Astronomy, Alchemy, Muggle Studies, and Magical Theory.

Some nasty Slytherins would gossip and call him “a waste of proper blood,” due to his half-blood heritage that “soiled” his family’s lone line of purebloods.

But they would only say this at a distance, and a fool would try to say it to his face.

He would get detention for fighting, but it wouldn’t be for wizard dueling. Nope, Gladio uses his fists only.

When he turns seventeen, the first thing he uses magic outside of school for is making the three-minute cup noodle wait go by faster.

He can be found exercising on his free time, or in the library reading every book on every shelf. Girls who are smitten with him would probably catch glances at him from around the shelves’ corners.

He was on the qudditch team for a short period of time in the Beater position.

Unlike Prompto, whose wand is in poor condition simply because he doesn’t take good care of it, Gladio’s wand is worn down because he’s dueling all the time. He’s either practicing spells, or has his wand disarmed from him. That or he’s literally knocked off his feet. He spends money every now and then for the upkeep of his wand.

He doesn’t have any pets, but they have a family hawk to send letters and Iris wanted a cat or a ferret.

If he had a Yule Ball during his time in school, he would have a line of girls just waiting to ask him out, but he would turn them all down for the quiet girl that hangs around the library.

Unfortunately, being charming and handsome is a double-edged sword. He always has to watch out for his food being spiked with a love potion.

“Want to dare me to camp in the Forbidden Forest?” “No, that’s crazy.” “I’m going to do it anyway.”

Swears that he fought a dragon with his bare hands.

J.K. Rowling likes to name her characters after flowers, so Gladio ‘s family fits right in!

Ignis Scientia:

House: Ravenclaw Smart, talented, organized and almost perfect and everything he does, Ignis’ wisdom beyond his years brought him to the house of the wise.

Blood Status: Pure-blood Just like Noctis and Gladio, his lineage is ancient and prestigious. Many of his relatives have been known for being upstanding members of wizarding society, or boasts having many high-end positions in the Ministry of Magic.

Boggart: being useless, being a burden. It’s the image of everyone leaving him behind because he’s no longer an asset to them. Ignis works twice as hard as everyone else to be as efficient and helpful as he can be, sometimes taking things over completely so that he can prove that he’s needed in order to having things run properly. Of course, everyone knows this, but sometimes he needs to tell that to himself.

Wand: Beech wood, phoenix feather, thirteen and a half inches, surprisingly swishy. Beech wood is for the young and wise beyond their years. Full-grown, they would be rich in understanding and experience. Not for the narrow or weak-minded. Phoenix feather is a rare core type, but you can always expect great things from the wand’s owner. They have the longest range of magic, but can have a mind of their own. These wands are also the pickiest. People with surprisingly swishy wands are either very loyal or very unloyal. The owners would have a hard time coming out of their shell, and opening up to people, but once they do, they’re known as charming, has unwavering loyalty, and has the ability to make hard decisions.

Patronus: a phoenix Ignis’ name basically means fire, and this pairs up with the fire bird quite well. Phoenixes are also known as elegant, and while they can be independent and stubborn, are also being affiliated with healing and caring.

Favorite class: Transfiguration, but he does well in every class.

Ignis would be a prefect during his school years, and a teacher’s pet, or “insufferable know-it-all.”

He takes full advantage of the prefect’s bathroom. He would lock himself in there for hours on end, getting rid of all the stress from classes and taking care of his kids friends Prompto and Noctis.

He would stand up for the muggle-borns being picked on and the little underclassmen that are being bullied.

He watches over his family/childhood friend Noctis, and would feel a bit upset that Noctis pushes him away in favor of loneliness.

A Hufflepuff prefect would let him in on the secret of getting to the Hogwarts kitchens, and he would start baking to cheer Noctis up and in hopes that he would share them and make friends.

Is rarely seen without his partner, Gladio from Gryffindor.

If we are talking about canon Harry Potter timeline, Ignis would lose his sight during the Battle of Hogwarts.

He uses his Hogsmead trips to get more quills and parchment. It’s a very business-like trip. Gladio would have to drag him to the Three Broomsticks for a cup of butterbeer.

His favorite sweet treats would be pumpkin pasties and toothflossing stringmints, but everyone wonders how he can eat that with a straight face.

Noctis used to collect Chocolate Frog cards when he was kid, and while Ignis wasn’t very adverse to eating that many sweets, he used to buy a whole bunch to help Noctis out, so Ignis eats Chocolate Frogs every now and then for the nostalgia.

Ignis wanted a cat, but decided that an owl was more useful, so he got a great horned owl with the same swept up hairstyle as him.

He doesn’t play quidditch on a team or professionally, but when he plays with his friends, his positions are either chaser or keeper.

Unlike his friends, his wand would be in perfect and pristine condition. He polishes it regularly, and cleans it to keep those pesky fingerprint smudges away.

#harry potter #harry potter au #noctis #noctis lucis caelum #gladio #gladiolus amicitia #prompto #prompto argentum #ignis #ignis scientia #ffxv headcanons #ffxv #ffxv imagines #final fantasy xv #final fantasy 15 #final fantasy

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krestmarketinggroup-blog · 7 years

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Writing Headlines that Serve SEO, Social Media, and Website Visitors All Together - Whiteboard Friday

Posted by randfish Have your headlines been doing some heavy lifting? If you’ve been using one headline to serve multiple audiences, you’re missing out on some key optimization opportunities. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand gives you a process for writing headlines for SEO, for social media, and for your website visitors — each custom-tailored to its audience and optimized to meet different goals.

Click on the whiteboard image above to open a high-resolution version in a new tab!

&lt;span id=“selection-marker-1″ class=“redactor-selection-marker”&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

Video Transcription Howdy, Moz fans, and welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. This week we’re going to chat about writing headlines. One of the big problems that headlines have is that they need to serve multiple audiences. So it’s not just ranking and search engines. Even if it was, the issue is that we need to do well on social media. We need to serve our website visitors well in order to rank in the search engines. So this gets very challenging.

I’ve tried to illustrate this with a Venn diagram here. So you can see, basically...

SEO

In the SEO world of headline writing, what I’m trying to do is rank well, earn high click-through rate, because I want a lot of those visitors to the search results to choose my result, not somebody else’s. I want low pogo-sticking. I don’t want anyone clicking the back button and choosing someone else’s result because I didn’t fulfill their needs. I need to earn links, and I’ve got to have engagement.

Social media On the social media side, it’s pretty different actually. I’m trying to earn amplification, which can often mean the headline tells as much of the story as possible. Even if you don’t read the piece, you amplify it, you retweet it, and you re-share it. I’m looking for clicks, and I’m looking for comments and engagement on the post. I’m not necessarily too worried about that back button and the selection of another item. In fact, time on site might not even be a concern at all.

Website visitors For website visitors, both of these are channels that drive traffic. But for the site itself, I’m trying to drive right visitors, the ones who are going to be loyal, who are going to come back, hopefully who are going to convert. I want to not confuse anyone. I want to deliver on my promise so that I don’t create a bad brand reputation and detract from people wanting to click on me in the future. For those of you have visited a site like Forbes or maybe even a BuzzFeed and you have an association of, “Oh, man, this is going to be that clickbait stuff. I don’t want to click on their stuff. I’m going to choose somebody else in the results instead of this brand that I remember having a bad experience with.”

Notable conflicts There are some notable direct conflicts in here.

Keywords for SEO can be really boring on social media sites . When you try and keyword stuff especially or be keyword-heavy, your social performance tends to go terribly.

Creating mystery on social, so essentially not saying what the piece is truly about, but just creating an inkling of what it might be about harms the clarity that you need for search in order to rank well and in order to drive those clicks from a search engine. It also hurts your ability generally to do keyword targeting.

The need for engagement and brand reputation that you’ve got for your website visitors is really going to hurt you if you’re trying to develop those clickbait-style pieces that do so well on social.

In search, ranking for low-relevance keywords is going to drive very unhappy visitors , people who don’t care that just because you happen to rank for this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should, because you didn’t serve the visitor intent with the actual content.

Getting to resolution So how do we resolve this? Well, it’s not actually a terribly hard process. In 2017 and beyond, what’s nice is that search engines and social and visitors all have enough shared stuff that, most of the time, we can get to a good, happy resolution.

Step one: Determine who your primary audience is, your primary goals, and some prioritization of those channels.

You might say, “Hey, this piece is really targeted at search. If it does well on social, that’s fine, but this is going to be our primary traffic driver.” Or you might say, “This is really for internal website visitors who are browsing around our site. If it happens to drive some traffic from search or social, well that’s fine, but that’s not our intent.”

Step two: For non-conflict elements, optimize for the most demanding channel.

For those non-conflicting elements, so this could be the page title that you use for SEO, it doesn’t always have to perfectly match the headline. If it’s a not-even-close match, that’s a real problem, but an imperfect match can still be okay.

So what’s nice in social is you have things like Twitter cards and the Facebook markup, graph markup. That Open Graph markup means that you can have slightly different content there than what you might be using for your snippet, your meta description in search engines. So you can separate those out or choose to keep those distinct, and that can help you as well.

Step three: Author the straightforward headline first.

I’m going to ask you author the most straightforward version of the headline first.

Step four: Now write the social-friendly/click-likely version without other considerations.

Is to write the opposite of that, the most social-friendly or click-likely/click-worthy version. It doesn’t necessarily have to worry about keywords. It doesn’t have to worry about accuracy or telling the whole story without any of these other considerations.

Step five: Merge 3 & 4, and add in critical keywords.

We’re going to take three and four and just merge them into something that will work for both, that compromises in the right way, compromises based on your primary audience, your primary goals, and then add in the critical keywords that you’re going to need.

Examples: I’ve tried to illustrate this a bit with an example. Nest , which Google bought them years ago and then they became part of the Alphabet Corporation that Google evolved into. So Nest is separately owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Nest came out with this new alarm system. In fact, the day we’re filming this Whiteboard Friday, they came out with a new alarm system. So they’re no longer just a provider of thermostats inside of houses. They now have something else.

Step one: So if I’m a tech news site and I’m writing about this, I know that I’m trying to target gadget and news readers. My primary channel is going to be social first, but secondarily search engines. The goal that I’m trying to reach, that’s engagement followed by visits and then hopefully some newsletter sign-ups to my tech site.

Step two: My title and headline in this case probably need to match very closely. So the social callouts, the social cards and the Open Graph, that can be unique from the meta description if need be or from the search snippet if need be.

Step three: I’m going to do step three, author the straightforward headline. That for me is going to be “Nest Has a New Alarm System, Video Doorbell, and Outdoor Camera.” A little boring, probably not going to tremendously well on social, but it probably would do decently well in search.

Step four: My social click-likely version is going to be something more like “Nest is No Longer Just a Thermostat. Their New Security System Will Blow You Away.” That’s not the best headline in the universe, but I’m not a great headline writer. However, you get the idea. This is the click-likely social version, the one that you see the headline and you go, “Ooh, they have a new security system. I wonder what’s involved in that.” You create some mystery. You don’t know that it includes a video doorbell, an outdoor camera, and an alarm. You just hear, “They’ve got a new security system. Well, I better look at it.”

Step five: Then I can try and compromise and say, “Hey, I know that I need to have video doorbell, camera, alarm, and Nest.” Those are my keywords. Those are the important ones. That’s what people are going to be searching for around this announcement, so I’ve got to have them in there. I want to have them close to the front. So “Nest’s New Alarm, Video Doorbell and Camera Are About to Be on Every Home’s Must-Have List.” All right, resolved in there.

So this process of writing headlines to serve these multiple different, sometimes competing priorities is totally possible with nearly everything you’re going to do in SEO and social and for your website visitors. This resolution process is something hopefully you can leverage to get better results.

All right, everyone, we’ll see you again next week for another edition of Whiteboard Friday. Take care.

Video transcription by Speechpad.com

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onlinemarketinghelp · 5 years

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5 Free Marketing Channels You Should Prioritize in 2019 http://bit.ly/2ZxuMUj

Which marketing channel should you use?

You don’t want to get this wrong.

A good marketing channel will work with you to grow your business. A bad one can work against you.

And time is of the essence.

When your marketing budget is close to zero, you can’t afford to waste what little time you have on a dead-end marketing channel.

So, which marketing channel should you choose and which ones are most suited to you and your business.

Read on to learn more about five free digital marketing channels worth exploring in 2019.

What are Marketing Channels?

Marketing channels are platforms, tools, and strategies that businesses use to communicate with their target market in an effort to sell their products or services.

For example, you might use Facebook advertising to promote your new line of women’s clothing. Or you might hand out flyers to promote your next pop-up store.

There are countless types of marketing channels in 2019.

However, in this article, we’re going to focus solely on five free digital marketing channels.

Why Focus on Digital Marketing Channels?

Before digital marketing channels became widely available, businesses would usually have to spend money on advertising, promotions, and sponsorships.

In other words, you needed money to make money. Today things are different.

Free digital marketing channels can be harnessed by anyone with a computer, an internet connection, and a passion to succeed.

Take social media.

Never before could the average Joe communicate with the world’s population. Using social media marketing channels, anyone can grow a following and build a business with just a few bucks.

What’s more, digital marketing channels are easy to scale.

Regardless of whether it reaches 10 people or 10,000 people, it still only takes a few minutes to create a social media post.

So which free digital marketing channels are available in 2019?

A Complete List of Free Digital Marketing Channels in 2019

Before we explore five free digital marketing channels in depth, here’s a complete list of free digital marketing channels in 2019, along with links to learn more about each of them.

Owned Digital Marketing Channels

Your website

Your blog

Email marketing

Social Media Marketing Channels

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Twitter

Snapchat

Quora

Organic Search Engine Marketing Channels

Google Search

YouTube

Bing

Other Digital Marketing Channels

Influencer marketing

Tinder (guerilla marketing)

Podcasting

5 Free Digital Marketing Channels You Should Prioritize in 2019

Here is a rundown of five types of marketing channels in 2019 that you can use to grow your business – for free.

First up?

1. Social Media Marketing

Social media is the perfect digital marketing channel for scrappy entrepreneurs looking to start a business.

It’s free, it’s powerful, and when done right, can effectively drive sales.

A massive 79 percent of the U.S. population uses social media and the opportunity available is incredible.

For example, Instagram has grown to more than one billion monthly active users.

Plus, more than half of Instagram’s users visit the platform at least once per day and 70 percent of Instagram users actually want to consume content from brands.

So how can you succeed with social media marketing?

Social Media Marketing Tips

1. Choose the Best Social Media Platform for Your Brand

There are tons of social media platforms in 2019, but not all are created equal.

Some social media platforms are more suited to people with certain demographic or psychographic characteristics.

For example, Instagram tends to be better for Millennials, Snapchat is great for marketing to Generation Z, and LinkedIn is usually better for business-to-business marketing.

In fact, 92 percent of B2B marketers prefer to use LinkedIn over all other platforms.

So do some research to ensure that you choose the best social media platform to connect with your target audience.

2. Prioritize Relationships over Sales

It might sound counter-productive, but the way to sell more is to focus on relationships, not the sales themselves.

This is because, at its core, social media marketing is relationship marketing. The time for the hard-sell is further down the sales funnel.

Social media marketing is all about the long-term.

The idea is to develop a genuine connection with your target audience over time. This way, you’ll build a following of loyal customers and advocates who regularly purchase your products and promote your brand.

Do it right and it will pay off handsomely – for example, repeat customers spend 67 percent more than new customers.

3. Be Consistent

Relationships take time, so consistency is vital.

You have to show up and develop an intimate, authentic brand presence that your followers enjoy interacting with on a regular basis.

This is why we post around two or three posts per day on Oberlo’s Facebook page.

Plus, this is another reason to choose just a handful of social media platforms to focus on.

If you try to use them all, it’s likely that you’ll spread yourself too thin and find it difficult to maintain an effective social media schedule.

2. Influencer Marketing

There are many social media influencers that will partner with you to promote your products or services to their loyal and engaged followers.

It’s an effective way to get your products in front of your target market.

But why does it work so well?

Influencer marketing harnesses a powerful social phenomenon called “social proof.” This refers to the fact that people are heavily influenced by others’ opinions, actions, and recommendations.

Other commonly used forms of social proof are product reviews, testimonials, and case studies.

There are six key types of influencer marketing campaigns: