#Not to mention I live in the Swing State they’ve been focusing on the most.

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

sarah (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): Georgia’s new voting law has captured headlines for all the ways in which it makes voting harder. It’s also not the only state considering these kinds of laws; there are nearly 20 states in which voting restrictions have already passed at least one step of the legislative process. More than 300 voting restriction bills, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight, have been introduced in state legislatures this year following months of fraudulent claims from former President Trump and his supporters that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. (Sixty percent of Republican voters still say the election “was stolen” from Trump.)

But understanding the effects of laws like Georgia’s is complicated. There’s not really solid evidence one way or the other that this law will hurt Democrats or help Republicans. It’s also a point that elides a more fundamental one: If one party increasingly supports anti-democratic measures, does anything else outweigh that?

Public opinion on voting laws isn’t clear-cut either — provisions like a ban on giving voters food and water (something the Georgia law did) are unpopular, but voter ID laws are broadly popular. So let’s address the politics, public opinion and research on voting laws to better understand the contours of this debate, tackling this chat in two parts:

First, how much does it matter that Republicans’ election security push is precipitated on a lie? That is, as there has been no evidence the 2020 election actually experienced wide-scale fraud, does that undermine Republicans’ argument?

And second, how much do Americans care about voting rights as an issue?

OK, first up — The argument from Republicans supporting these new laws. What do they want in the push for more “election security”? And how much does it matter, at this point, that there wasn’t actually wide-scale voter fraud in 2020?

nrakich (Nathaniel Rakich, elections analyst): IMO, the “Big Lie” is the key to understanding Republicans’ motivations. Everyone can agree that elections should be secure. But …

… the specific methods of voting being targeted by Republicans (almost half of the voting restrictions that have been introduced regulate absentee voting), the states in which they are targeting them (disproportionately swing states), and the timing of that targeting (after Republicans lost the 2020 election) all suggest that they are only passing these restrictions because they think they will help the GOP win future elections.

alex (Alex Samuels, politics reporter): But to your second question, Sarah, this is the narrative conservative lawmakers and many of their voters have bought into, right? That the 2020 election was supposedly stolen from Trump?

There was never — and still is no — evidence of massive voter fraud that Trump and his allies stated as fact. But because it was repeated so many times and with such certainty, large parts of the GOP electorate came to believe it. 

As long as the “Big Lie” continues to be pervasive, we’re going to keep seeing these efforts to get these restrictions passed, as Nathaniel notes.

nrakich: Alex, it’s an interesting question whether these Republican legislators actually believe that rampant voter fraud cost Trump the election or they are just going along with it because it’s politically convenient. But I’m also not sure it matters. Either way, they are making policy based on a conspiracy theory.  

sarah: Right, setting aside the question as to what extent Republican politicians buy the “Big Lie,” it is pervasive among Republican voters: In a March 30-31 Reuters poll, 6 in 10 Republicans said they still believed the election “was stolen” from Trump “due to widespread voter fraud.”

nrakich: And rank-and-file Republicans are correspondingly willing to make voting harder in order to get their desired outcome. According to the Pew Research Center, only 28 percent of Republicans now say “everything possible should be done to make it easy for every citizen to vote,” down from 48 percent in 2018.

alex: Republican politicians also seem to acknowledge that it’s likely they won’t win future elections without some sort of changes to the voting system. Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News that “mail-in balloting is a nightmare for us,” even though it wasn’t controversial before this past year. I think these changes are more about preserving power than about “voter fraud.”

And to Nathaniel’s earlier point, few Republicans lawmakers are doing anything to stop these bills from passing. Even the ones who don’t necessarily think there was fraud.

julia_azari (Julia Azari, political science professor at Marquette University and FiveThirtyEight contributor): The argument about election security boils down to an argument that people voted who shouldn’t have, right? That there were questionable votes. 

And so reforms based on the “Big Lie” hinge on the 2020 election having those kinds of irregularities. People might not come out and say it was because people of the wrong skin color voted — they might say, well, people should have been ineligible because of changes to early voting rules or whatever. But in the context of both the history of disenfranchisement of African Americans and more recent fears about people living in the country illegally voting, the implication is pretty clear. When the solution is to tighten up the voting rules, you have implied that the problem is the wrong people voting.

nrakich: Yeah, Julia, you see this in how surgically targeted some of these provisions are. For example, legislators in Georgia originally proposed banning early voting on Sundays, which would end the “Souls to the Polls” initiatives that are so popular at Black churches. That provision did not end up passing, but one that did — prohibiting food and water be handed to voters in line — will disproportionately affect urban areas, where there are both more lines and more voters of color.

alex: Myrna Pérez from the Brennan Center told us something similar, Julia. The bills we’re seeing now reflect “a real fear over the browning of America, and folks trying to protect what they have and keep the power for themselves.”

sarah: And as you all are saying, sometimes it’s hard to see that this is what these restrictions intend to do, because some of the more draconian measures don’t end up passing and the exact language of the measures that do pass isn’t quite so explicit (i.e., “This voting measure intends to disenfranchise Black Americans.”).

The New York Times’s Jamelle Bouie argued this in his essay on how it’s not an exaggeration to compare the current voting restriction push to the Jim Crow era. That is, a lot of the ramifications and larger purposes behind these bills weren’t immediately clear until all the pieces fell into line. “[T]he thing about Jim Crow is that it wasn’t ‘Jim Crow’ until, one day, it was,” writes Bouie.

At this point, though, do Republicans need the “Big Lie” to push through this agenda? 

That is, it feels like there is a shift at play here with Republicans increasingly distancing themselves from the election being stolen in 2020 and more so focusing on scoring points against how Democrats are now characterizing the laws (i.e., Jim Crow 2.0).

In fact, we’ve already seen some of this reframing in how Republican politicians criticized Major League Baseball’s decision to pull its All-Star Game out of Georgia over the new voting law, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warning CEOs to “stay out of politics.”

What’s Republicans’ long-term strategy? 

nrakich: Many of the new arguments that Republicans are pushing are in bad faith, though. For example, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has claimed that Georgia’s new law actually expands voting rights because it allows for more early voting. But that completely ignores the many more objective restrictions in the law, such as less time to request an absentee ballot and the need for absentee voters to provide voter ID — not to mention arguably the most concerning part of the law, the part that gives the state elections board the ability to remove local election officials.

alex: I agree. Republicans’ motivation, long term, seems to be anti-democratic. Even Trump dismissed proposals to make voting easier last year. So now the post-Trump strategy seems to be focused on how best to win elections, and even though Republicans have maybe not explicitly said they don’t think they can do that without overhauling the current system(s) in place, that seems to be what’s happening.

nrakich: McConnell’s request for corporations to “stay out of politics” is also pretty funny — he sounds like Bernie Sanders! What McConnell means, of course, is that he wants corporations to stop disagreeing with him politically. (Corporations have been intimately involved in politics for hundreds of years.)

sarah: It is a difficult position for a party that is traditionally pro-business to adopt this stance, too.

nrakich: Exactly, Sarah; it’s disingenuous. Republicans have historically wanted corporations to be more involved in politics — e.g., when they’ve defended corporations’ right to give money to political campaigns.

julia_azari: I mean, part of the founding ethos of the Republican Party was about creating a strong national economy based on free (as opposed to slave) labor. Nineteenth-century Republicans saw the purpose of government as being able to help American business grow strong.

So I read McConnell’s statement as “stay out of politics that challenge existing power arrangements.”

alex: Isn’t Republicans’ argument with MLB, though, that it’s overstating what Georgia’s law does?

nrakich: What do you mean, Alex?

alex: Maybe my Texas bias is showing, but Gov. Greg Abbott said yesterday that he wouldn’t throw out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers’ home opener after MLB adopted “what has turned out to be a false narrative about Georgia’s election law reforms.” (That’s straight from his statement.)

sarah: Right, Republicans are now attacking Democrats for overplaying their hand in how they’re describing what the laws actually do. But Nathaniel hit on this earlier — while there might technically be a longer early voting period in Georgia now, there is less time to request an absentee ballot and it’s harder to cast an absentee ballot because a voter must provide voter ID.

julia_azari: The inconsistency of the arguments the GOP has been using to defend their position is wild.

nrakich: Yes, Julia, it’s so bizarre! If you truly believe that “voting shouldn’t be easy” is a defensible position, you should make that argument (e.g., on security grounds). 

But instead many Republicans are insisting that they are the party expanding voting rights, which suggests that they agree with the premise that restricting voting is the wrong side of the debate to be on.  

julia_azari: I think this reveals a key asymmetry (or at least a potential one). Democrats can overplay their hand by stoking outrage in their supporters and end up being lambasted for being wrong or exaggerating. Republicans, on the other hand, don’t seem to suffer repercussions for changing up the logic of their arguments; instead, they seem to have found a strategy in attacking “cancel culture” whenever under scrutiny.

sarah: What’s also so hard to disentangle in laws like Georgia’s is there are really two things happening at once. First, there are actual changes to the voting process, but then there are also changes that affect how elections are administered, and in the case of Georgia, make it easier for politicians to interfere. 

Nathaniel mentioned it earlier, but take the part of Georgia’s law that now allows the Republican-appointed state elections board to remove local election officials and essentially remove the secretary of state’s role in ensuring the election was conducted fairly.

We know that in the 2020 presidential election, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger refused to kowtow to Trump’s demand that he find “11,780 votes,” but now that guardrail is gone.

A lot of what we’re talking about here is moot, though, if Democrats are able to push through their sweeping voting reform bill, H.R.1.

julia_azari: I’m on team “nothing else matters” once we’ve passed a certain anti-democratic threshold. And the provisions on election administration in Georgia’s law are worthy of a lot of attention — even if it’s not clear what they’ll mean in practice. 

The period between the 2020 election and the inauguration featured a lot of attempts to mess with the Electoral College votes. There was real drama over certification in Michigan, for instance. You’re seeing a move — even if it’s slight — toward the direction that people shouldn’t actually get to choose their slate of electors or that state legislatures can have a stronger hand in that process. This is like early 19th century stuff.

sarah: Is voting rights something Americans care about, though?

alex: Considering this is something some people fought for the right to do for decades, I’d say yes. Others might have a different answer, though, because not everyone votes.

nrakich: Historically, voting rights hasn’t been an issue that has motivated many voters; it barely cracks the list of the most important problems facing the country, per Gallup polling. It’s hard to get people worked up about wonky provisions like whether people should be able to register to vote on Election Day or sometime before, or whether there should be one week of early voting versus two. 

But I think framing these wonky issues as questions of rights and the health of our democracy has the potential to be very motivating. Especially if some voters (i.e., people of color) feel that their rights are being abridged.

alex: And I think that’s what Democrats have been doing so far: framing what’s happening in Georgia and other states as a “Jim Crow 2.0.”

That’s also probably easier to understand — and more motivating — than explaining the nitty-gritty measures in each individual bill.

nrakich: Look at what happened in North Dakota in 2018. The state passed a law that required voter IDs with residential addresses on them — something many Native Americans who live on reservations didn’t have. But the law appears to have backfired; Native Americans were highly motivated to exercise their right to vote in spite of the law, and Native American turnout skyrocketed.

julia_azari: Yeah, this is a pretty well-documented phenomenon. I want to make sure we clarify, though, that we are using this as an illustration of how important voting rights are to people, and not in the sense of “these laws are OK because there’s always countermobilization!” The latter caused so much angst on Twitter over the weekend in response to The New York Times’s Nate Cohn’s analysis of Georgia’s law.

alex: I’m torn on the countermobilization argument, because I’ve seen the same logic used to talk about Black voters (i.e., efforts to make it harder to vote will motivate more people and backfire against Republicans). But people shouldn’t have to surmount unconstitutional hurdles to vote!

I’m not saying you’re making that argument, Nathaniel, I’m just saying I’ve seen a few people argue that voter suppression isn’t real because a turnout gap didn’t/doesn’t materialize as expected.

nrakich: Agreed 100 percent, with both you and Julia. Even if a law doesn’t deter a single person from voting, it might still be restrictive if it imposes additional hardships on existing voters.

For example, even if people are willing to wait hours in line to make sure their vote gets cast, that inconvenience can have non-voting-related consequences, such as having to pay extra for child care or losing out on wages at your hourly job.

sarah: For sure, the most important thing is that people have the right to vote without it being a burden. But I also want to return to this question of electoral impact, because the research is really mixed on it. 

Some studies have suggested that absentee voting didn’t help Democrats’ margin in 2020, or as Cohn’s analysis of Georgia’s law suggests — it’s really hard to know whether this will impact turnout negatively in elections moving forward. But something we found in the research for our 2020 forecast was that if we account for changes in how easy it is to vote in each state based on a cost of voting index researchers have put together, states with higher barriers to voting tend to produce better results for Republican candidates while states with fewer barriers tend to lean more toward Democrats.

nrakich: I think a lot of nuance is called for when attempting to answer this question of electoral impacts. Discussions like these often lump different types of voting restrictions (or expansions) together, but not every voting reform is created equal. 

For instance, I am persuaded by the studies that show that changes to absentee voting laws are unlikely to change the outcome of an election. But political scientists have found that things like banning/instituting same-day voter registration actually can have significant effects! This thread from political scientist Charlotte Hill was very instructive in that regard:

The idea that making voting easier *won't* improve turnout is one of political science's worst takes. (And to be clear, many political scientists don't buy it.) In this thread, I'll explain why. Buckle up. https://t.co/NH1HH0YYuZ

— Charlotte Hill (@hill_charlotte) April 3, 2021

sarah: It also seems as if making voting easier is becoming an increasingly polarized issue, with far more Republicans now unwilling to say that “everything possible” should be done to make voting easier.

julia_azari: Yeah, on the question of polarization, this debate isn’t necessarily always going to be directly related to which laws help which parties, but rather how voters understand those laws in relation to their own partisan motivations — what they dislike about the other party, how their own identity motivates their partisanship. 

This thread from political psychologist Christopher Federico linking support for restrictions to racial attitudes is also useful.

Been digging into the new 2020 ANES release this week, and I got curious as to what might predict negative attitudes toward increasing ballot access. So, I took a look at the ANES items on early voting, voter ID, and felon disenfranchisement. (1/n)

— Christopher Federico (@ChrisPolPsych) April 2, 2021

sarah: Where do you all think the fight over voting rights heads next?

alex: Whether Democrats can actually agree on something and get H.R. 1 passed is a big open question. But there’s also how many of these restrictive bills actually pass and where that leaves Republicans two years down the line. 

If Republicans only pass a few dozen of these bills, do they continue pushing for them in future legislative sessions? (I would bet the answer is yes, but I’m curious to see how this progresses over time.)

julia_azari: A couple of questions I have been thinking about: One is the degree to which Trumpism within the Republican Party is about winning elections without winning majorities of the multiethnic electorate, and another is where standard political hardball ends and being anti-democratic begins. 

And at the risk of sounding stupid because I know these things are so intertwined at this point, I also wonder how to think about what’s about partisanship versus what’s about race. A really cynical take would suggest that elite Republicans are taking advantage of the salience of these demographic issues in order to produce institutional changes to consolidate power.

nrakich: I just think voting rights is an extremely nuanced issue that requires people to acknowledge a ton of realities all at once.

Some voting restrictions probably don’t affect turnout or who wins.

But others might.

But backlash/countereffects can scramble that calculus too.

But electoral impacts are only one small part of why these laws matter.

They matter in how they affect the convenience of voting too.

Regardless of impact, intent is important (e.g., it matters that Republicans are pushing voting restrictions shortly after losing a major election and crying “voter fraud” about it).

It matters normatively that it has become the position of one of the two main political parties that it should be harder to vote.

Regardless of impact, context is important (e.g., this is not the first time that a state like Georgia has tried to make it hard for certain people to vote).

It’s important to acknowledge the racial impacts/motivations of these laws.

“Voting restrictions” (or “voting expansions”) is an extremely broad term that encompasses a ton of more specific proposals, which should probably be judged on their own merits because they each have different impacts and are just or unjust to varying degrees.

[flowerfan2]

Part of You Indefinitely - Complete

It’s complete!  The Epilogue, below, brings this story to a close.  Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting.  If you were waiting until the story was done to read, enjoy!

Summary – An accident sends Patrick to the hospital and terrifies David.  What follows changes their relationship in ways David and Patrick never imagined.  A story of love and its challenges.

28k, M, David x Patrick.  Read the Epilogue on A03 or read from the beginning here.

Epilogue

David glances at the tub to make sure Patrick has settled in without drowning, and then heads into the kitchen.  Patrick needs less help getting around these days, but David still gets anxious around issues like slippery bathtubs and potential falls that might aggravate head injuries.  Generally Patrick lets David help him get into the tub, and out again, and David gives him privacy while he’s in there – if he wants it.  Patrick realized early on, though, that having David wash his hair was worth the indignity of getting help with his bath – David is excellent at scalp massage.

They don’t ever mention the safety handrail, although Patrick uses it every time.

Things haven’t been easy, not by a long shot.  They made the mistake of setting an unrealistic goal for Patrick to walk on his own – their one year anniversary – and when it didn’t happen, Patrick sulked for a week, and David tore his hair out wondering whether there was something he could have done differently.  But they’ve continued to see Margo, and dance in the living room, and Patrick’s condition is continually improving.

Now it’s almost two months to the day past their wedding anniversary.  In contrast to David’s grumpy-ass approach to monthly anniversaries when they first started dating, today they will be celebrating.

David is thinking about what to make for a properly festive breakfast – he’s leaning towards pancakes – when Patrick’s voice cuts into his daydreaming.

“David?”  

“Mm?”  He pokes his head into the bathroom.  Patrick has put one of their new products in the bath water, and the room is filling up with an enticing aroma, cedar and citrus and a hint of musk.  

“C’mere,” Patrick says, fixing him with an intent look.

David blinks and focuses on Patrick’s face.  Warmth blooms in his chest.  Patrick’s not just asking him to pass over a towel or bring over a fresh bottle of conditioner.  Patrick wants him.

It’s only a few steps over to the tub, but David can practically feel the swing in his hips as he complies.  He lowers himself to the floor, on his knees, his face next to Patrick’s.  “Need a hand with something?”

It’s just this side of too much, and as intended, Patrick is amused, biting his lip and smiling despite himself.  He seems to mull over his next words, and then just gives a little shrug and grins at David.  “Get in here with me already.”

David grins back and bounces up to his feet, stripping off his t-shirt and pajama pants.  He pauses when he gets to his briefs, just to make sure they’re on the same page, and Patrick reaches up and gives the hem a tug.  “Come on.”

David slides them off and turns to fold his clothes neatly on the counter, knowing full well it puts his naked ass on display for Patrick.  When he turns back, Patrick’s pupils are shot with arousal.  It’s good to know some things don’t change.

“Where do you want me?”  David asks.  They haven’t taken many baths together, at least not the sexy kind.  Luckily even though their small house has only the one bathroom, the renovations they did right before moving in included adding a tub large enough for them both.

“I don’t care, just get in here.”  Patrick breathes out.  

David gets in, but he’s careful not to let his excitement get the best of him.  Even before Patrick’s accident they had some near disasters in the shower.  It’s just a slippery place.

Finally he’s settled, facing Patrick, with his legs on either side of him, knees bent so that he can get close.  Patrick’s legs are mirroring his own, and they’re wrapped around each other, warm skin everywhere.  David ducks to press a kiss to Patrick’s knee, and slides his hands up his thighs to his hips.

Patrick lets out a little sigh and laces his hands around the back of David’s neck, nuzzling at his chin and jaw.  Soon his lips find David’s and they’re kissing, hot and wet.

“Mmm, you taste good,” David says.  “Three cheers for all-natural bath products.”

Patrick laughs against his cheekbone, his wet hands pulling at David’s shoulders.  “You taste good too.”  Patrick squirms closer and David tightens his hold on Patrick’s waist, not wanting him to slip.  Patrick leans in and captures his mouth, a hand sliding down to David’s ass, and David cups his hand around the back of Patrick’s head.  

Patrick nips at David’s bottom lip at the same time as he gives David’s ass a squeeze, and David moans into his mouth.  “Fuck, Patrick,” he breathes out, “what you do to me.”

David is shifting to try to give Patrick’s persistent hand on his ass better access when they hear a voice from the hallway.

“Patrick?  The door was unlocked, your mom is bringing in the—Oh.”

In retrospect, flinging oneself away from one’s intimate partner while in a bathtub is not a good idea.  But all David can think about as he tries to curl up into a ball, his legs still tangled with Patrick’s, is that he will never be able to face Patrick’s dad again.  And how much his elbow hurts from apparently slamming it against the side of the tub.

“Sorry!  Don’t mind me, I know we’re early, thought we’d stop by before – our mistake – we’ll just meet you at the motel, sorry!”  Clint’s voice trails off, and David hears a little snort from Patrick.  A quick glance up confirms that Clint is no longer standing in the doorway to the bathroom, but David can still hardly breathe what with the mortification streaming through his body.

“Babe, are you okay?”  Patrick runs his hands from David’s shoulders down his arms, pausing where David is clutching his elbow.  David feels a warm press to his skin, and his pries his eyes open to see Patrick dropping a kiss to what is likely to be a spectacular bruise.

David reluctantly meets Patrick’s gaze, surprised to find laughter lighting his eyes.  He feels his body slowly relax as Patrick’s arms loop around his neck.

“How are you not….?”  David asks, at a loss for words.  “Did you know - I had no idea they would come here.  We were supposed to see them for lunch,” he starts to look around, wondering if he should get out of the tub and go after them, apologize.  “I’ll tell them it was my fault-”

Patrick barks out a laugh and grabs David’s hand off the side of the bathtub.  “Don’t apologize, and don’t go anywhere.  It’s okay.”

David glares at him.  “How is it okay?  Your dad just saw us-”  David waves his hand at the state of their now very less aroused but still utterly naked bodies.

“He’ll survive.  And so will we.  Seems kind of fair, though, it’s never happened before…”

David’s parents weren’t around enough while he was a kid to find him in that kind of compromising position, but that’s a topic for another day.  “Really?  They never came out to the driveway to shine a flashlight into your car to see what was taking so long?  Did you have a ‘door open’ rule for your bedroom?”

Patrick grins and pushes David’s damp hair out of his eyes.  “Rachel and I were very chaste in high school, for reasons that are a lot clearer to me now.”

David considers Patrick, the light in his eyes and his giddy smile, and it dawns on him.  “Oh my god. You’re – you’re kind of proud of yourself, aren’t you?”

Patrick shrugs, his smile stretching his cheeks.  “My gorgeous husband thinks I’m hot and wants to get it on in the tub.  What’s not to be proud of?”

*****

That night they gather at the café, the Roses and the Brewers and a few of their friends. Twyla had joked that it was a rehearsal dinner, and asked David whether he brought his practice bouquet, before presenting him and Patrick with a vase full of wildflowers for their table.  Looking around, David thinks they could have forgone tomorrow’s official party and just had this, instead, everyone they care most about in one place.  The food will be a lot better tomorrow, though.

David is sitting in a booth with Alexis, listening intently as she tells him about her latest PR venture.  He glances around the room, trying and failing not to look for Patrick.

“David, are you even listening to me?”  Alexis asks, frowning so cutely that David almost rolls his eyes.

“Of course.  You were saying that no one in the history of public relations has ever come up with an idea like yours before.”

She wiggles happily.  “It’s true!”  

David tunes out again.  He sees his mom and Marcy across the room, deep in conversation.  They’re waiting at the counter for drink refills, probably gossiping about their latest television show re-watch.  Marcy somehow has gotten Moira into cop shows – he thinks they’re watching something now with palm trees and tropical drinks and attractive men who are far too old to be jumping off buildings.

His dad and Clint are kicking back at the table next to him, with Roland, who wasn’t invited but showed up anyway.  David had been amused at how well Clint hit it off with Roland, until he realized that, like Patrick, Clint can befriend anyone if he wants to.  He’s well aware that Roland is likely telling Clint embarrassing stories about the two of them, but he doesn’t really care.  Again, like Patrick, Clint is able to see the good in people, and that apparently includes David as well as Roland.

Twyla slides into the booth next to Alexis, and Alexis gives her a genuine smile and a kiss on the cheek.  Alexis hasn’t made many lasting friends in life, but Twyla is definitely one of them.  Alexis compliments Twyla’s embroidered dress, and when she looks away for a moment Twyla winks at David, mouthing “she gave it to me.”  

Twyla excuses herself after a few minutes, saying she needs to check on the fryer (David does not consider how one could leave a fryer alone, this is not his problem to deal with tonight).  Then movement catches his eye and he finally sees Patrick coming around the corner from the bathroom.  He’s walking on his own steam, using a hand carved oak walking stick that David got from a new vendor �� it had been worth the two-hour drive to see Patrick grin as he discarded the ugly hospital one, tossing it into the corner of their closet with a flourish.

Patrick slides into the booth and David reaches over to pull him close, leaving his arm slung around Patrick and his chin tucked over his shoulder.  “Missed you,” David murmurs, and Patrick kisses him on his nose.

“I wasn’t gone that long.”

“Still.” David doesn’t have a witty response to this.  He doesn’t care.  Patrick doesn’t either.

He looks up to find Alexis beaming at them.

“What?”  David demands, with just a hint of annoyance.

“I knew you two could do it,” she says, giving them a trademark Alexis shimmy.  “I’ll be right back.  I think we need some champagne.”

When Alexis gets up Patrick turns to David, eyes wide.  “I wasn’t always sure we would,” he says softly, and David can see the echo of uncertainty in his eyes.  

“Me neither,” David says, not wanting to hide this from Patrick.  He puts a hand to Patrick’s cheek and brings their lips together, Patrick returning the kiss with a tenderness that almost brings tears to David’s eyes.  “But I’m awfully glad Alexis was right.”

*****

That night they’re lying in bed, David curled up on Patrick’s chest, stroking gently over Patrick’s arm and shoulder, when Patrick shifts a little bit and sits up.

“Would you mind grabbing my guitar?”

David tilts his head, confused, but slides out of bed and fetches Patrick’s guitar from where it leans against the wall.  “Taken by a sudden urge to practice your fingering?”  David asks, then snorts at his own unintentional joke.

They have in fact returned to engaging in all of their favorite sexual activities, but were both too wiped out tonight from the pre-party festivities to indulge in anything other than simple but quite enjoyable hand jobs.

“No, not tonight, thanks,” Patrick says.  

“Rude,” David retorts.

Patrick gets the guitar arranged where he wants it, and David waits more or less patiently to see what’s going on.  He refrains from making any comments about how glad he is that Patrick is playing.  Patrick has been understandably frustrated with how his accident has made so many things more difficult.  As of a few weeks ago, Patrick was still grumbling and cursing every time David caught him practicing.

David feels that all too familiar ache, but also a surge of pride, as Patrick finishes tuning.  Patrick’s too far away, though, so David scoots over behind him, sitting between him and the headboard with Patrick’s back against his chest.

“This okay?” he asks, hands resting on Patrick’s waist where the blankets are pooled around his body.  David likes it here, where he can watch Patrick play, but isn’t as exposed.

“Sure,” Patrick says.  “It kind of fits, actually.”

“With what?”  

Patrick twists to look at David.  “I was going to play this for you at the party tomorrow, but if it’s okay, I think I’d rather play it now.”

David searches his face.  “Of course it’s okay.”

“I mean, I’ll probably find some other way to embarrass you in public, but…”

“But this is for us?”  David asks softly.

“Yeah.”  Patrick knows how uncomfortable David was when he serenaded him at the store’s open mic night all those years ago.  Whatever he’s about to do now, David can weather it here, snug against Patrick’s bare skin, with no one to judge his reactions.

For better or worse, a good part of their early relationship had played out in public – their first date at the café, the open mic night, countless kisses in the store with its broad glass windows facing the street, even their wedding, which practically turned into a group activity for the town.  Lately they’ve been a lot more private, having to learn to relate to each other in the intimate space of their own home, with little else for distraction.  

They hit some rough spots, but David thinks they’re even stronger together than they were before.  Here in the privacy of their home they don’t have to perform for anyone, they can just be.  It has allowed them and sometimes even forced them both to be more vulnerable, whether they intended it or not.

Patrick turns back to the guitar and begins strumming.  His body is tense against David’s, and David isn’t sure why, whether it’s the thought of the party tomorrow, with friends and family all there to see how well Patrick has (or hasn’t yet) recovered, or something about the intimacy of the moment, David so close to Patrick that he can practically feel the music vibrating through him.

“I haven’t heard you play this before,” David says after a moment.

Patrick stops for a second, distracted.  “No, you haven’t.”  He starts playing again.

“Did you write it?”

Patrick stops mid-strum.  “No, I didn’t.”  He starts again.

“I like it so far,” David says.

Patrick stops playing and turns to mock glare at David.  “I’m going to murder you.”

David smirks at him.  “Then at least I won’t have to finish vacuuming tomorrow morning.”  

Patrick sighs and David wraps his arms around him from behind, awkwardly threading his hands under the guitar.  “I’m sorry,” David says.  “I love you.  You’re amazing.”

Patrick huffs, but he twists his head back towards David’s for a kiss.  “Can I play now?”

“I’m listening,” David says, pulling his arms out of Patrick’s way and settling them back on his waist.

Patrick strums the beginning chords with ease, not tense any more.  David relaxes into it too, smiling in anticipation.  

<i>This is the first day of my life.</i> <i>Swear I was born right in the doorway</i> <i>I went out in the rain, suddenly everything changed</i> <i>They're spreading blankets on the beach</I>

David recognizes the song as soon as Patrick starts singing the words.  Years ago Alexis had made him watch a video of couples and families listening to it together, and David had cried so hard he had to go hide in the bathroom.  At the time, David couldn’t imagine anyone caring for him enough to feel the way the singer feels, like they weren’t alive until they met him.

But Patrick does, and he’s singing his love to David now, head tilted down to look at the strings while David trembles at his back.  David leans his forehead on Patrick’s shoulder, his hands gripping at his sides.

<i>Yours was the first face that I saw</i> <i>I think I was blind before I met you</i> <i>And I don't know where I am, I don't know where I've been</i> <i>But I know where I want to go</i>

<i>And so I'd thought I'd let you know</i> <i>Yeah, these things take forever, I especially am slow…</i>

Tears are running down David’s cheeks and onto Patrick’s shoulder.  He feels like his heart is going to burst.  It shouldn’t be possible, how Patrick can make him feel so loved and so terrified at the same time.  

<i>And you said</i> <i>"This is the first day of my life</i> <i>I'm glad I didn't die before I met you…”</i>

At this line David chokes out a sob, holding Patrick tighter.  Patrick stops playing the guitar and sings on a capella, his voice getting huskier as he finishes the song.

<i>Maybe this time is different</i>

<i>I mean, I think you really like me…</I>

As soon as Patrick is done David shifts around and kisses him, shaky and breathless with emotion.

“So you liked it?”  Patrick asks, blushing and smiling delightedly.

“I love it,” David says.  He can’t stop crying or kissing Patrick, and it’s a mess, but he can’t bring himself to care.  “It’s perfect.  You’re perfect.”

When David finally calms down, Patrick wipes his face with his fingers, and kisses him again, long and sweet.  They curl up together against their pillows, exchanging kisses and endearments.  

“I wish I could sing to you,” David says into the soft skin behind Patrick’s ear.  “It doesn’t seem fair.”

“It’s okay,” Patrick says.  “I don’t need you to sing for me.”

“I sang to you in the hospital,” David confesses.  It’s not really a time he likes to revisit, memories saturated with the mind-numbing fear of Patrick injured and unconscious.

“You did?”  Patrick asks, shifting so he can see David’s face.

Patrick knows how David feels about public singing, how it scares him despite (or maybe because of) years of forced holiday party performances.  But here with Patrick, in the safety of his husband’s arms, David isn’t afraid of being seen.  And Patrick has just shown his heart to David once again.  This time, David isn’t going to hide.

He rubs a hand up and down Patrick’s arm and smiles at him, warmth spreading through his body.  “Yeah, I did.  Want to hear it?”

Surprised and pleased, Patrick nods, and David starts to sing.

<i>You'll always be a part of me</i> <i>I'm part of you indefinitely</i> <i>Boy, don't you know you can't escape me?</i> <i>Ooh, darling, 'cause you'll always be my baby.</i>

[xnovamore]

This I know baby

Written for the SamSteve Anniversary Week 2020 ran by @samstevesmallgifts. This is for the Day 4 prompt: Married

Summary: In his retirement, Steve picks up playing the piano. And he has the perfect song to surprise Sam with.

Read on Ao3

Steve's fingers traced idly over the piano keys. He stops and randomly pressing down on one before moving on. Over and over he moves back and back and forth caressing the keys almost lovingly waiting for those brown eyes to open and focus on him.

It was a perfect day. The sun had woken them at their usual 6 am and as usual they stayed in bed for another hour just talking and teasing each other until they rose to start their morning routine. Sam took the bathroom first while Steve tidied up the room and had his daily phone call with Bucky (today’s call was mostly about a movie Bucky seen recently and Sam. A sound had gone off in the background and Bucky was cursing in 5 different languages before hanging up. Steve would call him back later). Then Steve took the bathroom and Sam made them breakfast. He made those fluffy buttery pancakes they both love and they ate it while bird watching on their porch. Their house was a quaint one-story located outside of a small urban town. The town was lively, but their neighborhood was mostly quiet with the exception of neighborhood block parties and cook-outs. They were always the only ones out that time of morning, so it felt like, for a few brief moments, the world was theirs. Mornings with Sam have always felt like that.

Steve lightly caresses the keys again. Sam had fallen asleep on the couch a few hours after they ate like Steve told him he would. He was slumped over in a way that makes Steve worry over how uncomfortable Sam was going to be once he did wake up. He looks down at the sight of his own wrinkled hands laying gently against the wood thinking of the times he would pick up and carry a drowsy Sam into their bedroom with no problem.

Those days were long since gone.

Steve had known something was off after their final battle with Thanos and his mission returning all the stones. He could feel a change within his body but tests after tests showed his vitals as normal so eventually he let it go and enjoyed his life with Sam and their team. It wasn’t almost an entire decade later when their spooning in bed that Sam sees it. Steve’s first gray hair. More grays followed after that along with some of Steve’s serum given abilities faltering. The hearing in his right ear was the first to go then his vision worsen after that. He stopped being able to lap Sam and struggled lifting weights much lighter than he usually would. By the time he officially retired he couldn’t hold the shield anymore.

Losing his powers turned out to be both a curse and a blessing. It was extremely difficult for Steve to handle the thought of his body determining in fear of it returning to his pre-serum state, of being so weak and vulnerable to the elements there was no way he could continue doing missions with Sam and watch his husbands back. But then, one night a few days after they were told that the changes to Steve’s body were permanent, Sam had mentioned casually, “you know, I always wanted to go see the Grand Canyon.” He turned to him with a smile on his face and that look in his eyes that still made Steve’s heart race and said, “let’s go see the Grand Canyon baby.” They were on the way to Nevada the next day.

It takes a few moments, but finally Sam's eyes blink open and the man shoots up into an upright position. Steve winces at the same time Sam does as the man hands come around to rub at his back. Because he is a nice husband, Steve’s going to hold in the ‘I told you so’ and instead basks in the warmth that comes from those pretty brown eyes focusing in on him. They’ve been married for 14 years now, but still all it takes is a look and a lazy drowsy smile for Steve’s cheeks to heat. Sam’s chuckle in that low raspy voice only makes it worse. He jerks his attention back to the piano as arms wrap around his middle.

“Hey baby,” he presses a kiss to Steve’s cheek and mutters into Steve’s good ear. A habit that was no longer needed now that Steve started wearing hearing aids, but he still appreciated it all the same. “how long was I out.”

“Not long, a couple hours at most.”

Steve leans back into the embrace turning his head to deliver a proper kiss. Their lips move unhurried falling into a familiar rhythm of push and pull pressed together until there wasn’t space left between them. Eventually Steve pulls away. As much as he’d love to continue this, his elbow digging into the wood of the piano called him to refocus. He gestures for Sam to move back to the couch and returns his hands to the keys.

“Oh, are you going to finally let me hear what you’ve been practicing? I know you’ve been playing a new song”

“You weren’t supposed to be listening!”

“Relax I wasn’t. I even put on those earmuffs like you asked”

“Good.” Steve would have been upset if the surprise he was working on for months was already ruined. He glances back at Sam looking interestingly between the piano and Steve. He can clearly picture the man he spotted jogging that morning all those years ago. He had seen that face change many times throughout the years into the matured version it is now. No matter what age, Sam still takes his breath away.

A melody very familiar to both of them rings out into the room as Steve begins to play. He watches as Sam catches on almost instantly. With a delighted laughter, Sam grins like a fool as he plays through the song. He had perfected the beginning and the ending, but all week Steve struggled with getting the middle of the song right. He stumbled a bit, but Sam didn’t seem to care. His husband was up swinging around the room as he sung, “This I know baby

Girl, I ain't gonna let it sweat me, baby

I come up hard, but now I'm cool

I didn't make it sugar, playin' by the rules

I come up hard baby, but now I'm fine

I'm checkin' trouble sugar

Movin' down the line”

When he finishes Sam pulls him into a kiss laughing into his mouth. “Trouble Man, really Steve? You’re so cheesy.”

“Yeah and you love it” Steve whispers against his lips. “Happy Anniversary sweetheart”

“Happy anniversary Steve.” They kiss a couple more times before Sam starts pushing him back towards the piano. “Play it again!”

He does, and all the neighbors hear from the Wilson-Rogers house that night is the sound of laughter and Marvin Gaye.

[ryqoshay]

Heavenly Life: Cursed Blood

Primary Pairing: YohaRiko Words: ~5.8k Rating: T Warning: Fanciful Depictions of Violence Fanfic Fandom: Love Live! Sunshine!! AU: Angelic Time Frame: ??? Story Arc: Stand Alone Event: Fictober19 Prompts: 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 11, 13, 17, 22, 25, 30

Author’s Note: So I guess I’m writing a third fic now...

This chapter serves a dual purpose. First and foremost, it is a proof of concept for an idea that has been brewing in the back of my mind since I first starting writing Happy Life. And second, it is my entry for the Fictober19 event.

Worth mentioning that readers need not have read Happy Life or watched Love Live to understand what is going on in this fic. However, those who have watched or read may find the occasional Easter egg.

Links to Happy Life, the Fictober19 list, and the like will be in the Followup Post.

Edit: It was brought to my attention over on AO3 that I may have been overly cautious with my warnings and rating. Thus, after consulting a few other readers, I decided to downgrade things a bit. I don’t believe the violence depicted in this work will exceed the likes of what was shown in the Harry Potter movies, which retained PG and PG-13 ratings. Also, I do not intend the violence to ever truly be the focus of the story, merely a framing device and a consequence of the setting. The characters and their interactions should always take center stage as far as I’m concerned. As such, I shall try modifying the warning to “Fanciful Depictions of Violence” and the rating to T, and see if that works.

“So, they’ve made it this far…” The blue-haired girl observed from her perch above the chaos.

She hadn’t been summoned to battle, though she hadn’t expected to be, but there had been no ignoring the pillars of smoke rising or the sounds of battle coming from the direction of the gates. Upon arrival to her current position, it was immediately apparent that this was one of the more aggressive invasions in quite a while. Below, countless combatants fought to the death with all manner of sword and sorcery. Blades flashed. Magicks shimmered. Yet another chapter in the story of their eternal war was being written as she watched.

“Are we to join them?” A voice asked.

“Of course.” The girl replied to black kitten that had materialized on her shoulder. “This is our home as well, so I’ll be damned if I don’t help defend it.”

“You will likely be damned anyway.”

“You know what I mean!” She protested before gently swatting her familiar atop his head. “Anyway,” Her hand slid down to scratch under his chin “if nothing else, it will be fun. Trust me.”

“Always. I’m with you, you know that.” He replied before dematerializing. “See you on the battlefield, Master.” His voice emanated from the æther.

With a shrug of her shoulders, wings as dark as the Void sprouted from them and with a single flap, she was borne aloft. Then, with only a thought, her body was rendered invisible to all but all but the most powerful of entities. Finally, she descended into the fray.

Her first target was selected with ease, a single demon that had pushed a bit too far and was now separated from the rest of his line. Despite being alone, he stood pridefully over the broken bodies of several angels she did not readily recognize. Not that she cared much for their identities, and the angles would be reborn soon enough anyway, but the assault still required a response.

“Welcome to Hell Zone!” The blue-haired girl sneered as she became visible to the demon.

“Hell wha?” He baulked in confusion before a black dagger embedded itself in his chest. He grunted and reached to remove it, but before he could touch the hilt, the dagger dissolved, filling the wound with dark energies.

“Here, have another on me.” The girl said as a second dagger appeared near her hand. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it hurling toward her foe.

This time, the demon made no attempt to remove the summoned blade and instead raised one of his own, a giant axe almost as big as the girl herself. With a roar of anger, the demon charged. For her part, the blue-haired girl merely put a finger to her eye, pulled down its lid and stuck out her tongue. A mighty swing cleaved her from shoulder to hip, but her taunting smirk never faltered, even as her body dissolved.

“Wrong one.” The girl cooed into the demon’s ear from behind.

Before he could react, the toe of an ebon scythe protruded from his belly. “H-how…?” was all he managed to get out before the girl heaved upward to repay the favor bestowed on the duplicate she had left when teleporting.

“One down.” The girl cheered, twirling her scythe in triumph a few times before it disappeared.

“And hundreds, if not thousands more to go.” Her familiar stated from wherever he was. “We should find more, it has been far too long since I last tasted demon.”

“There’s one right here.” The girl gestured to the slain demon at her feet.

“Weakling.” Her familiar grumbled. “One defeated by you alone is not worthy of my fangs.”

“Hey!” She protested. “He faced off against all of these guys before we got here, surly they did some damage before going down.”

“A fair point.” The familiar conceded. “But I sense a more powerful foe in the next passage over. Shall we?”

A groan caught the blue-haired girl’s attention before she could reply. “Ah, still alive, are we?” She asked of one of the angels on the ground.

The angel’s eyes focused on the girl standing over her. “Cursed Blood?” She growled in recognition.

The girl rolled her eyes.

“Begone! Remove thy foul aura from my presence!”

“Tch…” The girl shook her head. “Yeah, yeah. I know you didn’t ask for it, but you’re welcome for the save anyway.” With that, she turned and headed toward the gates and the heart of the battle. “Ingrate.” She tossed over her shoulder.

The blue-haired girl took to the air and disappeared from view. Upon clearing the building between the passages, she immediately realized her familiar was wrong. There wasn’t a powerful foe over here, rather there were several. However, that did not stop her familiar from materializing, in his monstrous battle form, beside one of the demons and clamping his jaws down on its legs, nearly hewing it off in one bite.

Not one to be left out of the fun, the blue-haired girl made a sweeping motion with her arm, summoning half a dozen daggers along its arc. The act of casting dispersed her invisibility, but the demons below barely noticed as their attention was focused on the giant cat attacking them. Of course, when the daggers rained down upon them, along with a bout of laughter, she was harder to ignore.

With each foe felled, the blue-haired girl became more excited. With each injury incurred, she became angrier. The manic mix of emotions drove her deeper into the invading forces. Her daggers flew in all directions, piercing all in their path. Her summoned scythe separated souls and limbs alike. And her decoys distracted the demons to allow her every dirty and demoralizing trick she could think of to destroy them.

At her side, her familiar fought as well. His claws shredded lesser foes while his fangs ripped sizable chunks out of the bigger ones. She was vaguely aware that he had likely swallowed at least thrice his own weight in demon, even with his larger form, but she cared little, so long as he was able to keep up with her.

This was her life. This was what she lived for. Life in this place was only interesting when the enemy invaded, which had been less frequent as of late. No doubt they had been building up their forces for this attack, so there was a chance that once repelled, they might stay away for a while. All the more reason to make the best of this assault and get in as many kills as possible.

Of course, there were plenty of angels around also engaged in battle. And while some were grateful for her assistance, if put off by her tactics, most treated her as had the one she had saved from the first demon. But their jeers and sneers went ignored as the blue-haired girl focused solely on the fight.

All was going well, or at least well enough. She and her familiar had just repelled an attempted ambush and were ready to move on when…

“Wait!” The blue-haired girl was halted by a hand grabbing her wrist.

She wheeled around. “What are you…” Her snarl was cut short as her gaze fell upon a redheaded girl and she immediately stopped trying to break free from the surprisingly strong hold.

Holy hell…

She was beautiful. A true angel.

Auburn tresses flowed down past her shoulders. A small, pink flower adorned a clip that held aside her bangs, but only on the right side for some reason. A few other highlights of pink stood out against the otherwise expected shades of blue and purple of the standard battle armor. Golden caps imbued her wings with a sapphire hue of angelic magic.

Golden…

By the gods… The girl’s golden gaze made the blue-haired girl’s heart want to sprout its own wings and take flight.

“Are you alright?” Her voice… “You look like you need healing.”

“I’m…” The blue-haired girl’s voice cracked, forcing her to clear her throat before trying again. “I’m fine.”

“You have a spear sticking through you.” The redhead stated firmly. “You are not fine.” She reached for the weapon in question but recoiled as though touching a hot stove.

“Careful with that.” The blue-haired girl warned.

“How is it not burning you?”

“Perks of the Curse, I suppose.” She shrugged.

The redhead’s eyes never left the spear, and after a moment of silence, her expression became one of determination. She took a deep breath and reached for it again.

“Hey, what are you…?” The blue-haired girl protested, turning in an attempt to keep the spear out of reach.

However, the redhead was too quick and was able to grab hold. “I’m sorry, but this might hurt a bit.” She explained before hauling back. Hard.

The blue-haired girl’s face twisted in pain as the spear was pulled free, but no more than half a second later, a warm, soothing sensation began spreading from the wound. She looked down to see the redhead’s hands glowing with a gentle pink aura as they fed healing magicks into her.

“There, that should do for now.” The redhead patted the area she had just healed.

“Thank you…” the blue-haired girl said after a moment. “But… why?”

The redhead blinked. “What do you mean, why?”

“Why did you heal me?”

“I’m a healer?”

“Yes, I know, but…”

“I mean, you’re an angel, right?”

“Technically…”

“But you’re at least on our side, right?”

“You mean you didn’t know before you…?”

“I assumed as much after watching you kill those demons, including the one who ran you through with that spear.” The other girl tilted her head with an expression of both confusion and concern. “Would you have preferred I not have healed you?”

“That’s not what I meant, I… uhm…” The blue-haired girl’s shoulders slumped. “I guess I’m just not used to it.”

“Not used to being healed?”

“Not around here, no.”

The redhead furrowed her brow as her concern grew. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“Perhaps it isn’t” The blue-haired girl admitted. “But such is the case for one of a cursed bloodline like me.”

“Cursed blood…” The redhead repeated. “Is that why your wings are…”

“Black? Yeah. They kinda stand out, don’t they.”

“They’re unique.” The hint of a smile tugged at the other girl’s lips. “And they suit you. I think they’re quite lovely.”

Lovely…? The blue-haired girl felt heat rise to her cheeks.

“A-a-anyway, I… should get back to the battle.” The blue-haired girl tried to get her composure back together. “Those demons aren’t going to defeat themselves.” She forced a chuckle. “Oh, but before I go, might I ask of you a favor?”

“Certainly.”

“Would you be willing to heal my familiar as well?”

“Absolutely.”

As if on cue, the air between them shimmered for a second before a black cat popped into existence. The redhead’s smile grew as she held out her hands, upon which the cat alighted.

“You have my thanks, m’lady.” The familiar offered his gratitude.

“And with that…” The blue-haired girl turned.

“Wait, I’m sorry.” The redhead reached out to touch her shoulder.

“Hm?” She turned back.

“I actually have a favor to ask of you as well, if you don’t mind.”

Mind? Did she mind? Certainly, part of her wanted to hasten her return to the fray, knowing full well it would take a few kills to ramp herself back up into her frenzy. But a different part of her wanted to do just about anything the redhead might ask.

“… Perhaps…” was the answer she heard come out of her mouth.

“I need help locating our captain.”

“Our captain?”

“Of the defense force?”

“Not my captain.”

“Oh…”

“No, sorry.” The blue-haired girl shook her head. “I know who you mean, I just… never mind.” She paused for a moment to think. “You know, I haven’t seen her out here yet, so she’s probably still back in the cathedral. Probably planning her counter strike.”

“Where is the cathedral?”

The blue-haired girl raised an eyebrow. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“I was just transferred.”

“You picked a hell of a time to arrive.” She couldn’t help scoffing.

“So it would seem.”

“Anyway, I’d say follow me as I know the area, but…” She glanced at her familiar. “How does the path look?”

The cat turned in the direction of cathedral and concentrated for a moment. “Not good.” He stated.

“Right, so teleporting it is.”

“Teleporting?” The redhead inquired.

“Yup. It’s going to take me a few jumps, but just hold on and trust me.”

“Alrii~aaah!?” The redhead panicked as she was suddenly several meters in the air, holding on to… nothing?

“Sorry, sorry.” The blue-haired girl apologized. “Force of habit with the invisibility, but I got you, you won’t fa… never mind.”

Of course she wouldn’t fall. She’s an angel. She’s got her own wings. The blue-haired girl mentally chastised herself.

Despite this observation, the redhead still clung tightly to her as though she was actually afraid of falling. And while the behavior struck the blue-haired girl as odd, she had to admit she didn’t particularly mind it. In fact, the redhead’s anxious expression was rather… cute.

A couple jumps later, the two landed in the courtyard of the cathedral.

“Ah, you’re here!” A blonde girl in front of a couple dozen angelic troops exclaimed happily as she stared directly at the blue-haired girl.

Gods damn it… She should have remembered that there was no hiding from one as powerful as her.

“<Now, now.>” The blonde said in an ancient tongue as she sauntered past the redhead and over to her. “<You should know better than to blaspheme in front of me.>” She wrapped her arms tightly around the blue-haired girl and with a single spoken syllable, forced her to dismiss her invisibility.

“<As if you actually care. Hey, let go!>” The blue-haired girl struggled vainly against the strong embrace. “Oh for the love of…”

“Hmmm?”

The blue-haired girl growled. “Here, hug him.” She reached over and snatched her familiar out of the æther. “You two always get along so well anyway.”

“<Pretty kitty!>” The blonde cried, releasing the blue-haired girl in favor of her cat.

“Hmph… I should just transfer his contract over to you one of these days.” The blue-haired girl grumbled as she watched her familiar snuggle against the blonde and start purring.

“Captain?” One of the other angels attempted to get his leader’s attention.

“Yes?” The blonde responded as she began to scratch the cat behind his ears.

“Our battle plan?”

“Oh yes, of course. Well, with our new arrivals, the plans have changed.” She gestured to the two girls beside her, flatly ignoring the looks of disapproval from many of her troops. “Give me a moment to debrief them.”

“Hey, I just came to deliver her.” The blue-haired girl said jutting her chin toward the redhead. “And now I’ll get out of your hair and back to doing what I do best.”

“The demons’ general is Jhank” The blonde stated, her entire demeanor becoming more somber as she dropped the name like a hammer.

The blue-haired girl cursed in the ancient tongue, ignoring the twitch of the blonde’s eye. “You know I’m not powerful enough to take him down, right?” She said after a moment. “I mean I suppose I can help, but on my own, his regeneration can overcome anything I can dish out. Hell, I don’t think your little squad here could take him on.” She glanced at the gathered troops, making a rude gesture in response to several leers. “You on the other hand.” She pointed to the blonde. “If you did your thing, we could have a chance. But you’d need the right window of opportunity. And for that you’d need a good…” It clicked in her mind. She closed her eyes, tilted back her head and released a sigh. “Distraction.”

“I knew I could count on you.” The blonde nodded.

The blue-haired girl gritted her teeth. “I haven’t agreed yet.”

“I know you will do what is right, eventually.”

“You know you’re going to owe me big for this, right?”

“Anything. Whatever your little heart desires.” There was no teasing in the blonde’s tone, she was dead serious. And that managed to bother the blue-haired girl more.

“I’d ask for that in writing, but I doubt we have time.”

“You know I never break my word.”

“Yes, but… oh never mind. Let’s just… get this over with.” The blue-haired girl flapped her wings once to take her up half a meter. “C’mon.” She said to her familiar. “I don’t think I’ll need you to show me the way, even I can sense that power.” She began to drift listlessly in the direction of the city gate.

“Uhm…” The redhead spoke up.

“Yes, I’ll be needing you to help protect my troops.” The blonde stated, finally acknowledging the other girl’s presence.

“Alright…” The redhead’s gaze drifted toward the departing blue-haired girl.

“She’s not one of my troops.”

“But…”

“She’ll be fine.”

“You guys coming or are you just going to stay here and chat?” The blue-haired girl tossed over her shoulder.

She didn’t wait for a response before she cast her invisibility and took flight. She avoided teleporting so as not to leave the others too far behind and ensuring the distraction she was expected to make would not be unnecessarily extended. Still, she made pretty good time in traveling to the gate, as she wasn’t stopping to fight every single demon along the way.

There he was, the lumbering behemoth of a demonic general. Jhank. The blue-haired girl wasn’t quite sure, but he seemed bigger than the last time she had seen him. His aura had changed as well. He was stronger now than she remembered.

For the briefest of moments, the blue-haired girl wondered if the blonde would be able to succeed in taking him down, even with perfect timing and aim. But she immediately dismissed the thought. She would have to have faith in the blonde, because if she failed… she didn’t want to think about that.

She approached the general from behind as he engaged a handful of angelic guards. She knew the latter didn’t stand a chance but would probably last long enough for her to make a quick analysis of the area to finalize her part of the plan. Landing near the entrance of a sizable stone structure and leaning against a stone pillar, she summoned a dagger.

Here goes nothing… She sent the summoned blade forth to strike the general squarely between the shoulders.

Jhank barely seemed to notice and finished off the last two angels with a single swing. He then reached behind himself to where the dagger had hit and scratched as though itching a insect bite. Finally, he turned toward his attacker.

“You.” The general pointed at the girl. “You’re a Tsushima.”

“Yes. I’m aware.” She crossed her arms defiantly as he approached. “Your point?”

The general leaned down until his face was barely a centimeter from hers. The two stared, unblinking at each other for what seemed like an eternity. The intense aura between them spread out, catching the attention of nearby combatants until an eye of uneasy calm had formed amidst the storm of battle.

Finally, he opened his mouth to speak. “Are you sure you’re fighting on the right side?”

“You asked me that last time and my answer hasn’t changed.” The girl replied defiantly.

“I see.” He stood back up to full height. “It’s been a while since I fought a Tsushima.”

“I know.”

Jhank’s laugh was like a landslide bearing down on a small village. “Ah yes, remind me, little one, how that fight went.”

“It didn’t end well.”

“For you.”

“Or anyone.”

“On your side.”

“Sure…” The blue-haired girl decided not to point out the losses on his side because she was well aware the general cared little for those below him, so long as he achieved victory.

“So, are you expecting a different outcome this time?”

“Of course.”

“Very well.” With speed that belied his size, he brought his sword down upon the girl, carving through her and the pillar as though they were little more than sea foam.

From her new position, the blue-haired girl watched her decoy disappear under the collapsing stone and prepared another shot. However, no sooner had the blade manifested than a red glow appeared around the general’s off hand. A hand that was pointing directly at her.

Two spells narrowly missed colliding in the middle as they both sped toward their targets.

“Tch…” The blue-haired girl barely dodged the fiery ball of energy, but when it exploded against the wall behind her, she was still peppered with shrapnel. The burning scent of brimstone filled her nose. Hellfire.

“You think I don’t remember your tricks?”

Not good. Not good. Very much not good! The girl thought as she sought a new vantage point. Not only did Jhank remember her abilities, he had gained new ones of his own. She cursed as she dodged another blast that set ablaze a statue that by all rights should not have been flammable. By the gods, how long was the blonde going to take?

A fierce roar caught her attention and she looked in time to see her familiar materialize and clamp his jaws down on the general’s leg.

“Blasted cat!” The general growled, swinging his sword.

Fortunately for the familiar, in battle form, his fur was as strong as any shield and the blade bounced off his side. Unfortunately, the sheer force of the blow still managed to deal damage.

Seeing an opening, the blue-haired girl teleported directly behind the general and summoned her scythe. However, the general, true to his point about knowing her tricks, swung his sword, seemingly blindly, behind him. Thus, instead of getting in a strike, she was forced to block.

The girl chastised herself for being predictable. Then how about…

She teleported into a position hovering just in front of Jhank who raised a curious eyebrow. She made quick eye contact with her familiar, who seemed to understand, before raising her scythe. The general wielded his blade around from the other direction, making it obvious he had no intent to block. But halfway through his swing, the familiar planted his feet and pulled, throwing the general off balance just enough for the blue-haired girl to dodge. She immediately used the opportunity to drive her blade into his chest.

“Not bad.” Jhank admitted. “I actually feel that.”

“Good, now feel this.” She heaved up to… do nothing. “Geh?”

The general chuckled as the girl quickly dismissed her blade and prepared to flee.

“<Lock on!>” A distant shout could be heard over the din of battle.

The blue-haired girl groaned as the tone the blonde chose was far too cheerful for what the situation warranted. Not that she was typically any better, but…

From on high, pure white energy radiated down like a sunbeam. A deadly laser that pounded down on the general, melting his armor almost immediately. For the first time since the blue-haired girl had arrived, his expression became one of pain. He tried to move out of the way of the attack, but found himself hindered by a sizable cat still attached to his leg.

Hindered, but not completely immobile, and he managed about half a meter with effort. However, black tendrils suddenly sprang up from the ground and wrapped themselves around his limbs.

“What the hell?” He bellowed.

“You’re not the only one who learned new spells.” The blue-haired girl said from nearby.

She clenched her fist and made a gesture as though pulling something down. Obeying the command, the tendrils began dragging the general back under the beam. For his part, the familiar redoubled his own efforts in the brutal tug-of-war.

This is it. The blue-haired girl allowed herself a smile as the general was set ablaze by the holy light. She was, however, a bit disappointed that he was not screaming in agony, despite having collapsed to his hands and knees. In fact, she was rather surprised as to how calm he had suddenly become.

“Vignari.” Jhank intoned.

“What?”

“Vignari.”

“Wait, no!”

“Yth shio wielg vhira!”

“Oh gods…”

“Tsushi

“Still here, are you?”

The redhead looked up to see the blonde enter the room and offered her a smile in greeting.

“Yeah…”

“You can’t leave her alone, can you?”

“I am a healer, you know.”

“I also know that I ordered you to protect my troops, not her.”

The redhead felt her smile fade. “But, I…”

“May I ask why?” The blonde cut her off. “Why did you disobey my order? Why did you risk yourself to protect her?”

“I… don’t know.” The redhead admitted as she turned her gaze to the blue-haired girl on the bed. “There’s just… There is just something about her…”

“Something?”

“Something that makes me want to protect her.”

The blonde snorted and the redhead looked up to see her making a poor effort to hold back a smile before eventually laughing.

“<It’s fine. It’s fine.>” The blonde waved off her previous seriousness as she approached the bed. “I had others who were able to make barriers to protect us. Not as strong as yours, but…”

“…”

“And I’m not mad.” The blonde continued. “In fact, I’m quite grateful. You know, she could use more friends like you. Honestly, she could use more friends in general, but I think someone like you in her life would do her a world of good. Might keep her out of trouble.” Her smile turned into a smirk as she gave the redhead a visual inspection that seemed to linger far too long in certain places, making the redhead shift uncomfortably. “Or maybe get her into some trouble.”

“Get her into…?”

“Yes, I know what you’re thinking. You’re reputation precedes you, Rikocchi; you’re a rule follower. But you don’t always have to break rules to get into trouble.”

“I’m… not sure I get it.”

“And who knows, perhaps I can use you to finally convince her to join me.”

“Join you?”

“I said earlier she isn’t one of my troops, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to have her under my command.” The captain explained. “As I’m sure you’ve seen, her skills would be invaluable to the defense of this area. And I’d prefer to have more control over them.”

“In other words, you want to put a leash on her?”

“Mmm… I think I’ll leave that up to you.”

Riko felt her cheeks heat up. “C-Captain Ohara!”

“Just Mari is fine. I’ve never been one to care much about all the formalities of rank and whatever.”

“But your other troops…”

“Yeah, I know, it bugs me, but I’ve pretty much given up on them. But you’re new, so maybe…” Mari considered before shrugging. “Anyway, I need to go make a report to Her.” The captain’s tone shifted strangely when she mentioned Her. “But there is one more thing.”

“Oh?”

“When she wakes up, tell that you have an idea about my debt.”

“I do?”

“She’ll know what you mean.” She winked, spun and was out the door before Riko could inquire further.

“Is she gone?”

Riko jolted at the unexpected question coming from the blue-haired girl. “Y-You’re awake?”

“I am.”

“How much did you hear?”

“Pretty much everything.” The blue-haired girl opened her eyes and smiled when her gaze fell on the small cat sleeping on her chest. “Hey, boy.” She cooed gently, running a hand from head to tail a few times, causing him to start purring. “So it was you I heard calling my name at the end there.” She stated, turning back to the redhead.

“Yeah.”

“Thank you.”

“Though I am curious if you actually needed it.” The cat interjected.

“Phobetor!” The blue-haired girl swatted him gently. “Even if I didn’t, it was still a kind gesture.”

“You didn’t need my shield?” Riko inquired, confused.

“My master is practically indestructible.” Phobetor stated.

“Practically?”

“Practically.” The blue-haired girl confirmed. “Jhank’s self-destruction spell was extremely powerful and your shield is the main reason I’m still here…” A thought occurred to her. “Say, why aren’t you over there?” She pointed to the other bed in the room. “Weren’t you right next to me when your shield broke?”

“I’m sorry.” Riko turned her gaze down and to the side. “I only had time to throw up an emergency barrier. I couldn’t cast all of the other personal protections on you that I already had on me.”

“Anyway, without your protection, that blast probably would have killed me.”

“Killed? But I thought you just said…”

“I’d’ve come back.” The blue-haired girl shrugged.

“You would be reborn?”

“No, I go through a bit of a different process. It’s…” She paused and put her fingers to her mouth in thought. “Listen, I can’t explain it, just trust me, it’s different. Less time consuming, but more painful.”

“Painful?”

“Extremely. And you saved me from that…” She winced as she tried to sit up and instead clutched at her side. “Or, maybe just most of it.” She barely noticed her familiar rolling off her chest before settling back down on her lap.

“I’m sorry!” Riko rushed forward to put her hand where the other girl was holding and cast a healing spell.

The blue-haired girl chuckled. “I’m fine.”

“You also think you’re fine when you’re impaled on a spear.”

“You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?”

“No, I’m not.” Riko shook her head. “For all I knew, that could have killed you.”

“And I just told you that I’d’ve come back.”

“And you just told me that doing so would be extremely painful.”

The blue-haired girl opened her mouth to counter but was cutoff as the redhead continued.

“As a healer and protector, it is my duty to ward against such things.” Riko crossed her arms decisively. “You seem like the type who is bad at taking care of yourself, so I intend to keep an eye on you. And as Mari said, you could use someone in your corner.”

“I’ve got Phobetor. I’m fine.”

“As fine as…”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” The blue-haired girl held up her hands. “I’m sorry, I just… I guess I’m not used to anyone caring so much, or at all really; they’re always so turned off by the whole cursed blood thing.” She sighed. “Mari cares, but sometimes I think it’s only because she sees me as another tool to used, another weapon to be wielded.”

“I get the feeling she cares more than she lets on.”

“Maybe…” The blue-haired girl shrugged. “But you know it’s not always like this.”

“Like what?”

“This.” She gestured widely to everything and nothing in particular. “This whole waking up in a bed thing after falling in battle. Usually I wake up where I fell. Or somewhere else; don’t ask. But never in a comfortable, clean bed with a friendly face smiling at me. I never knew it could be this way, but I think I could get used to it.”

“Or maybe you could get used to not pushing so hard and fighting to the point where you fall in battle?”

“Hrm…” The girl in the bed considered. “I don’t think that’s going to happen… although… Perhaps with your shields and wards and whatnot.”

“They can only do so much, as you’ve seen.”

“You came out of that blast unscathed, did you not?”

“I had some healing I needed to do on myself afterward.”

“But not as much as on me.”

“No, not as much as… why do you seem happy about that?”

“Because I survived.” The blue-haired girl proclaimed with a grin. “Another notch on the belt. Another achievement I can claim that ordinary angels would be incapable of.”

Riko observed the other girl warily for a moment before asking. “Is this war just a game to you?”

“Well…” The blue-haired girl rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, as though realizing her faux pas.

“Yes.” Phobetor stated in her stead, earning another swat.

“I mean, what else is there in life?”

“There are plenty of…” Riko started.

“What else is there in my life?” The blue-haired girl quickly corrected. “I mean here I am caught between two side at war, neither of whom really want me for me, but both are willing to use my power… so…”

The room fell into silence, an awkward silence that felt like it was lasting far too long.

“Perhaps,” Riko was the first to speak “maybe I can help change that?”

“You’d be willing to do that for me?” The blue-haired girl seemed like she wanted to believe, but her life experience warned her otherwise.

“I would.” The redhead stated definitively. “And not just out any sort of sense of duty either, in case you’re worried about that.”

The blue-haired girl stared at the redhead, gears spinning in her mind. Finally, a smile pulled at her lips. “I’d like that.”

“Good.” Riko nodded. “So, Tsushima, that’s your family name, right?”

“It is.”

“What is your given name?”

“You may call me Yohane.” A prideful declaration.

“Johannes?”

“Her name is Yoshiko.” Phobetor said.

“Curse you!” Yoshiko scolded her familiar.

“I’m no more cursed than you.” The cat seemed to shrug. “Because of you, I might add.”

“Because of…?” Riko tilted her head.

“As her familiar, my soul is bound to hers, and through said bond, the curse of her bloodline afflicts me as well.” He explained in a matter-of-fact tone. “However, be it labelled a curse, it has allowed me access to powers I would have lacked had I been summoned by a normal angel. To that end, I am grateful to serve Yoshiko as my master.”

“It’s Yohane!” Yoshiko insisted. “And of course you should be grateful to be my most elite familiar.”

“You’re only familiar.”

Yoshiko growled in frustration as Riko chuckled at the interaction as she got the feeling this was a fairly common thing between the two.

“So, Yochanan was it?” Riko asked after a moment.

“Yohane.”

“How about Yocchan?”

The blue-haired girl’s expression changed, and pink began to dust her cheeks. “A-alright…” She stuttered out. “B-b-but only Riri can call me by such a cute name.”

“Riri?”

“It’s only fair that I get to call you by a cute nickname as well.”

Well, it wasn’t exactly a name she would have chosen for herself, Riko couldn’t deny that the name was kind of cute. Kind of… maybe…

“You know, now that I’m awake,” Yoshiko continued, “I could really eat something.” As if on cue, her stomach grumbled.

Riko laughed as she stood up. “Alright, I’ll go see what I can find.”

“Oh, and whatever you find, bring some for Phobetor as well.”

“Alright.”

As the redhead made her exit, the blue-haired girl settled back down on the bed. Staring up at the ceiling, she thought this moment might mark the start of a new life. A more… heavenly life.

Author’s Notes Continued in Followup Post

[aweebwrites]

The Good Life pt. 2

Part 1

___________________

“Hey Nya. Getting a head start?” Jay says as he rolled up the sleeves of his engineer uniform, already seeing her inside the prototype.

“Yep. Just checking a few algorithms.” She says, fingers moving quickly over the interface of the device she had plugged into the vehicle.

“Nice. How's Harumi?” He asked as he went over to the tool shelf nearby.

Nya adopted her with Skylor last year. There was a freak incident and the apartment complex she and her parents lived in collapsed. She and few others had survived but her parents weren't any of the few.

“She's doing a lot better recently. Private school turned out to be the best thing for her, you know?” Nya says, still focused on the device. “The nightmares have lessened too. It's a slow recovery but it'll be worth it in the end. Maybe soon, we could set up a play-date for them both. Maybe it'll go better than the last one.” She says, grimacing at the memory.

Jay grimaced too. Harumi was upset that Lloyd got to have 4 parents when she didn't have any. At the time, she didn't consider Nya and Skylor as her parents. Cue Lloyd yelling back that his real parents were dead too and so was every single blood family member he had. Then Harumi yelled ‘at least you had family!’ and Lloyd had yelled the same and then they had both began crying and wouldn't stop. Those two months were rough since Lloyd started to disassociate and withdraw, not to mention the re-emergence of his nightmares. They heard pretty much the same was for Harumi but she threw temper tantrums instead. Jay had wished Lloyd would throw temper tantrums. He wouldn't talk to them or even look at them. It really distressed all four of them and had even caused them to one of the biggest fights they've had in a while. Eventually they all broke down and cried it out then camped out in the living room, watching Lloyd's cartoons.

“I'd have to check with Lloyd first but if they're both up for it, I don't see why not.” Jay says as he walked over with his tray of tools then laid back on the low board with wheels before sliding under the car, flipping on the built in light.

“Then it's a plan. I should drop in and say hi. Knock some sense in my brother if you guys need it.” She commented and Jay chuckled as he made sure the engine was in top shape.

“Don't worry. Lloyd can do that pretty well.” He says with a grin. “He still hasn't stopped calling him old man.” Jay snickered and Nya smiled, setting the device aside and getting out.

“Move over. Let's get to work.” Nya says and Jay grins, doing so.

_________________________

“You owe us lunch for covering for you that entire hour today.” Tox says as Kai clocked out for today.

“Fair enough. For now, I gotta go pick my kid up from school.” Kai says, slipping his security hat off and sliding it into his bag.

“Alright. Tell the kid I said don't do drugs.” Tox says and Kai paused mid walk then looked back at her.

“He's only 8.” He says, a little horrified.

“So? I was smoking-”

“Alright, alright. I get your point.” Kai says, a little disturbed but not surprised.

She was well known in middle school and most of high school for her no caring attitude and her smoking and drinking. Turns out her family wasn't the best but a large group of them had befriended her anyway and got her to stop self destructing.

“See you tomorrow!” He called over his shoulder before hurrying out.

He then checked his watch real quick once he was next to his bike.

“Alright. Still early. As long as there's no traffic, I should be there in no time.” He grinned then got on and rode off.

________

“The old man is late.” Lloyd says from where he was seated outside, waiting for Kai to get here now that school was over.

“My dad is always late.” Gene says from next to him, Brad already picked up by his mom. “Always doing science and forgetting then getting here an hour after school's out. He's so predictable.” He says with a scowl.

Lloyd looked at him as he hung his head with a sneer. Things between he and his dad have always been rough since his mom left a long time ago. Lloyd tries to make him feel better by reminding him that his dad does try but… He can only do so much. Lloyd looked up when a car pulled up and blinked in surprise then smirked.

“Well. He certainly wouldn't have rushed here in a panic if he didn't care.” Lloyd says lightly and Gene looked at him confused.

“Son!” Gene's head snapped up to see his father rushing over to him.

“Dad? Why are you-” Gene was cut off by him instead picking him up.

“I'm sorry son. I tried to make it on time but there was this massive build up in traffic and I couldn't get out of it and…” Gene looked at his dad surprised still then down at Lloyd who only smirked.

He then looked back at his father with a sense of guilt.

“It doesn't matter dad.” He says, cutting the rambling man off and he looked crestfallen. “You're here, aren't you?” Gene added with a small smile that lit up his father's face.

Lloyd watched wistfully as they hugged then looked down sadly.

I wished he had that…

He lifted his head once he heard the sound of a bike approaching. He looked alarmed to see Kai hopping off the bike before it even came to a stop.

“Shouldn't you be more car-”

“Are you ok?! I didn't expect all of Ninjago City square to be packed with traffic! I'm so late! Did anything happen to you?” Kai asked, holding him close after sweeping him off his feet.

Huh.

Lloyd smiled.

“Take it easy old man. You're just 20 minutes late. I'm ok.” Lloyd says, patting his chest.

“Way to ruin the moment Lloyd.” Kai huffed, carrying him over to where his bike was laying on it's side, still running.

“Yeah? You'll only be a moment if you don't hurry home. Daddy'll get worried.” Lloyd says and Kai had to refrain himself from swearing.

“You're right. Let's go.” Kai says, setting Lloyd down then putting his bike to stand then taking off the green helmet for Lloyd and putting it on for him.

He then swing into his bike and allowed Lloyd to sit in front of him since having him sit behind made him anxious. He couldn't see him that way.

“Ready?” Kai asked him, putting up the kickstand.

“Ready.” Lloyd grinned, holding on to the silver part of the handles.

“Alright. Here we go.” Kai says then pulled out, driving significantly slower than he does on his own.

Even though he doesn't want to get yelled at by his worried boyfriends, he'd rather take caution with their kid and arrive even later instead.

“Did you get homework today?” Kai asked from the speaker in the full mask helmet.

“Yeah. But only for social studies. I have to draw the solar system.” Lloyd says, pretending as if he was the one driving. “She says we can color them if we want.” He added.

“Nice. Do you need any help?” Kai asked and Lloyd had a flashback of all the projects and school work Kai has helped him with that somehow always ended up on fire.

“I'm- that's ok old man. I've- I've got this.” Lloyd says with a grimace.

“Is this about the fire thing?” Kai asked, brow arched under his helmet.

“What do you think?”

_________________

“It's strange for Kai to be late. Do you think something happened to him?” Zane asked, pacing up and down.

“N- ah. Nope. I just- ugh- think he may be- right there!- just running late is all.” Cole says, in a state of bliss from his place laying on the ground on a blanket with Zane pacing the length of his back.

“It's almost been an hour. If he doesn't get here by three then-” Zane cut himself off once her heard an approaching bike. “Oh thank goodness.” He sighed, walking off of Cole’s back and slipping his slippers on.

“Well. There goes my back massage.” Cole sighed, not bothering to get up.

“Lloyd! Welcome home.” Zane greeted at the door, his arms opened for his usual welcome back hug.

“Thanks!” Lloyd grinned, wasting no time to collect his hug.

Zane gave him a squeeze and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Why don’t you go help your dad out. He needs someone to step on his back.” Zane says and Lloyd grinned mischievously.

“Ok!” He yelled as he ran inside.

Kai walked up to Zane sheepishly.

“Kai Smith.” Zane says with both hands on his hips, narrowing his eyes at said boyfriend.

“To be fair, it wasn’t my fault. There was a huge traffic build up in Ninjago City.” Kai says sheepishly, parking his bike.

“To be fair, there’s something known as calling! I was so worried! The last time you ran this late, we were running to a hospital because you got into an accident.” Zane whispered the last bit, remembering the raw fear he got receiving that call from the hospital.

While it was some drink driver that hit him directly off his bike, Zane couldn’t help but feel paranoid every time Kai was later than normal- which was a rare thing. Kai may not know it but his daily commute is like clockwork. He always reaches home with Lloyd at 2:20, give or take five minutes. During night shift, he always comes home just in time to take Lloyd to school. Anything outside of his usual time gives Zane anxiety. Usually a phone call fixes that but he didn’t want to risk calling him while he was driving. Especially with their son.

“Oops…” Kai winced, scratching the back of head sheepishly before walking forward and taking Zane’s hand in his. “I messed up and I’m sorry. I promise I’ll call next time I’m running late.” He says sincerely and Zane sighed but nodded.

Maybe he was overthinking things but he had a really good thing here. He wants things to stay that way.

“Alright.” He sighed and Kai grinned then pecked his lips.

“How about I make things up to you and cook tonight?” Kai suggested and Zane thought on it.

Kai was the only other person in the house who could make food that actually tasted good and isn’t both burnt and under-cooked… Despite his knack for setting things on fire simultaneously…

“Alright.” Zane nodded, leading him in by the hand. “Oh. Jay called earlier. Nya will be dropping by for a visit.” He told him before they both paused to see Lloyd quite literally jumping on Cole’s back.

“S-save me…” Cole wheezed out, reaching a hand towards them as Zane smiled fondly and Kai snickered.

“I think you can handle this on your own.” Kai says then headed upstairs to change.

“No, Zane! Don’t leave me too!” Cole got out as Lloyd stomped on his back.

“Alright. That’s enough Lloyd.” Zane says, swinging Lloyd up and off Cole’s back, making him sigh in relief.

“I’m not a little kid anymore you know. You guys don’t have to keep picking me up.” Lloyd says with his chin on Zane’s shoulder as he carried him upstairs.

“I beg to differ.” Zane says, amused as they headed into his room that was filled with Fritz Donnegan posters up along with other characters from his favorite comic series Starfarer. “You’ll always be our little boy, even when you grow up big and strong like Cole. And I thought you liked to be carried. Do you need us to stop?” He asked, genuinely curious.

“I never- Well.. if you guys don’t mind doing it then I guess I don’t mind either.” Lloyd mumbled and Zane hid his smile.

“Alright then. I’ll go make you a snack while you get changed. Don’t forget to bring your homework with you.” Zane says, setting him down on his bed then pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Lloyd watched as Zane went before flopping back against his bed. He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. Four dads that loved him… He may miss his real dad to bits but at least he had them… In a way… This really feels like the good life people talk about so often about…

___________________________________

“What’s on the menu chef Smith?” Cole asked, wrapping his arms around Kai’s waist, pressing him against his toned body.

“Not me so you might wanna loosen up before Lloyd hurls.” Kai says with a smirk and Cole glanced over at Lloyd sitting at the kitchen island with his toys, looking at them in disgust.

“Alright, alright.” Cole pouted before heading out to the living space where Zane was.

“What are you cooking old man?” Lloyd asked, setting his Fitz Donnegan figure to stand.

“Salmon and steak.” Kai says as he slipped on mittens then opened the oven.

He flipped the slices again and closed it.

“I’m almost done and Nya should be here any second now.” Kai says, proud of his cooking.

“... Do you think she’ll bring Harumi?” Lloyd asked in a low, troubled voice and Kai paused to look at him.

“No. She and Jay are coming directly from work…” Kai told him. “Do… You want her to?” He asked tentatively.

“Not really…” Lloyd mumbled, squeezing his sludge figures.

Kai set aside the mittens and walked over to Lloyd, resting a hand on his head.

“That’s ok kiddo. Whenever you’re ready.” He says gently then smiled as Lloyd looked up at him. “You know me and your dads love you Lloyd. We won’t force you into anything you don’t want to do- not unless it’s for your own good.” He added once Lloyd opened his mouth, most likely to complain about cold medicine.

“Whenever you’re both ready, you can start over fresh. But for now, what do you think about cake for desert?” Kai says, spotting it in the fridge earlier.

“Cake time?” Cole asked, poking his head into the kitchen and Kai snorts.

“Not yet you dork.” He says and Cole slouched before slinking away.

“You’re one to talk old man.” Lloyd huffed.

“Why you little-” Lloyd giggled as Kai swung him up then settled him on his back. “There. That’s what you get for calling me an old man.” Kai says then returned to the stove.

“It’s hardly a punishment when you think about it.” Lloyd mumbled into Kai’s shoulder, holding onto him tightly as he cooked.

“I know.” Kai says and Lloyd smiled.

‘You’re so sappy papa…’

_____________________________________

(Tada! All done! I am polyninja trash and I am proud! UwU. Yes Lloyd calls Kai Papa in his had but he’s a little tease who likes when Kai gets mad about it. Anyways, I hope you guys like it!)

[boogiewrites]

Reports and Repertoire Pt. 3

Characters: Eddie Brock x Candace Miller (OFC)

Word Count:  4700+

Summary: As the month's pass, Eddie and Candace turn into good friends. As it goes when two people that are attracted to each other, spending a great deal of time around each other, the facades they've created to appear better than they are starting to falter. Sometimes this is a good thing, moving their relationship forward, sometimes this is a bad thing, making them have to stop and reflect on their decisions. Eddie has a breakthrough that will lead to the end of their working together on this case and Candy is left with making a decision because the rule of 'I can't sleep with him because we work together.' will shortly, no longer apply.

Warnings/Tags: Language.Fluffy, getting to know you, conversations of a sexual nature, mentions of mild violence.

Positive feedback is MUCH appreciated! Reblogs, likes, asks and comments feed me to write more! Let me know if you’d like tagged in my work.

My Masterlist.

Over the next two months Eddie and Candace find a lot of their downtime being dedicated to the case and to each other. They see each other at least once a week, spending entire Saturdays together as he starts volunteering with her at the shelter. They text each other almost every day, whether it's about the case or not. The topics had started to drift to things besides work as they'd gotten comfortable with each other.

About a month into the partnership, she'd muttered, "I bet Eddie would like that." while she was out with Stephanie. Her friend rolled her head obviously to her, giving her a knowing smirk. The flush in Candace's face let her know that this was certainly past just being co-workers.

They hadn't moved past being friends, there was still a line drawn in that sort of behavior. Even although their nights were spent practically on top of each other, hiding in dark, tight alleyways and him putting her on his shoulders to get a better shot for the footage they needed. Despite the physicality, there were still no obvious signs of romance growing that were going unnoticed. She really did like the man, and he seemed to like her as well. There was a comfortable nature of their relationship now, he'd let her come to his place, she'd let him come to hers. They'd even fallen asleep on the couch together while waiting for a video to finish rendering. But there were no stolen glances, no lingering physical touches to speak of that she could recall. The only sentimental advancement had been him switching to calling her by her nickname instead of her full name.

On one of their late nights, Candace talks to Steph on facetime. Steph is out and she sounds drunk and Candace is telling her to go home in a playful way.

"But Caaaaaandyyyy." she whines before she laughs loudly.

He watches the love on Candace's face as she laughs and points her finger to scold her friend, He keeps sipping away at his beer. Candy. He ponders the nickname. It fit her empathetic face and her kind actions. He lets a little smile come to his lips, watching her laugh and roll her eyes, the alcohol letting him get swept away in thought about how nice she'd been to him, what a good person she was, what a great friend she'd been.

She closes out the call, shaking her head and looks over to see Eddie watching her. "She's not usually that much of a mess." she smirks. The fact that she's defending her friend's drunken actions makes him speak before he thinks about it.

"She called you Candy." he states.

"Yeah it's a nickname." she shrugs dismissively.

"She call you that because you're so sweet?" he blurts out, he covers for himself by laughing and rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's a shortened form of Candace but...I don't mind that interpretation." her shoulders shake while she laughs.

"I like it, y'know." he shrugs as she doesn't take her inquisitive eyes from him. "Suits you." he gives a hesitant nod and a closed lip smile grows across her face.

"Because I'm sweet?" her eyes are confident, not shifting like his.

"Well...yeah." he looks down and lets out a nervous chuckle, cheeks flushing slightly. After a few moments of silence, Candace's eyes watching his anxious body language he speaks again. "You..." he pauses swinging his eyes back up to meet hers. "You mind if I call you that?"

"Candy or sweet?" she grins, surprisingly finding his behavior to be very adorable.

"Both?" he asks with a scrunched up face and tilted head, reminding her a puppy that heard a sound it was unsure of.

"How about this," she says, shifting her body towards his. "You can call me Candy in public, as long as you don't call me sweet around anyone else." she let's out a warm laugh that makes a dopey smile come across his face.

"I can do that." he says with an almost proud expression on his face that she found to be very charming. ---------------------- She didn't have to live in total denial about the fact that the man was attractive anymore to function around him, which was nice. He was human now, a peer instead of someone unreachable, but she had found that was making her more attracted to him, which she hadn't expected. By this point, most men were annoying her to the point of their level of attractiveness being irrelevant. But that hadn't happened with Eddie. Not yet anyway. It'd been almost two months, and she kept finding herself smiling when she'd see he texted her and she doesn't recall that happening anytime in her recent memory. She'd had a handful of racy dreams about him, but she wrote those off as her brain trying to take care of her needs that weren't being fulfilled and he was the closest male in her life.

------

One day she went over to his apartment unannounced, not the most polite thing to do, but she wanted to pick up her USB so she could work. When she arrived he answered the door soaked in sweat, tugging earbuds out of his ears.

"Hey." she says flatly, trying to ignore the way the white shirt clung to his body, the grey sweats that hung low on his lips. She had the thought that it wasn't her fault she was swallowing the drool the sight had caused if he was going to wear the official 'fuck me' uniform of hot guys.

"Oh hey Candy!" he says with a big smile, endorphins pumping away inside him. "What's up? Somethin' wrong?" his voice changes to concerned.

"No," she shakes her head, taking a pause that lasted too long. "I needed my USB, I know you said you'd bring it tomorrow but you know me." she shrugs and lets out a small breathy laugh.

"Yeah, work work work," he says with a teasing nod. She has to watch him walk all the way to the other side of his apartment and his solid, stocky form doing that masculine shoulder shifting saunter that caught her eye in the first place. He tosses the towel he'd had on his shoulder onto the weight bench after ruffling his hair with it. She rolls her eyes at herself and how the muscles in his arms and across his shoulder shifted as he did so. Man, she needed to get ahold of herself. And get laid, she concludes. She recovers in time for it to look like she wasn't staring at him as he returns with the object in hand. "Here ya go." he says entirely too casually for the way her pulse was speeding up.

"Thanks, Eddie." Why did it feel dirty to say his name when he looked like this?  "I'll see you tomorrow." she nods and turns quickly to walk in a controlled way, maybe she swung her hips a little more than necessary, maybe ran her fingers through her hair so her jacket would lift up enough to show her ass a bit.

He leaned out the doorway watching her leave, and man did he enjoy the sight of it. WIth the hormones still going as fast as his heartbeat, he lets out a low groan as she disappears down the stairs. Working out usually resulted in jerking off in the shower, and it seemed this would end no differently, but at least now he had some clear inspiration.

When Eddie was checking out at his local corner store, Mrs. Chen asking him why he was buying two packs of different beer instead of his usual one, it dawns on him he'd done so without thinking much about it. He knew Candace would be over at some point and she liked this beer, so he'd gotten it so he'd have it for her. He plays it off, but he can't lie to himself in the face of an obvious behavior like this. Not when it was coupled with varies other signs he'd swept under the rug.

He hadn't been looking for or expecting to find what he had in Candace. At first, she was a distraction. She quickly became a welcome one and with that, seeing her started to be something he looked forward to. At first, he'd focused on the work, assuming the feel-good hangover he'd have was just him being happy to get back out there again but it soon became obvious to him it wasn't only the work. He felt better when he was around her, like he was his old self again, someone that mattered.

The real turning point for their relationship together had been one particular night of hiding out. They were finally getting the footage they needed. Trying to remain non-partisan and let the events fold out how they may and only documenting, not interfering, had come to a head for Eddie. As the cops antagonized the two women to fight each other his fists clenched, he let out a low growl of a noise.

"Eddie calm down." Candace whispers curtly, eyes still on the camera screen.

"But look at 'em Candy, look what they're makin' those poor girls do." he almost whines, his toes gripping into his sneakers as he pushes up the sleeves of his hoodie.

"What are you doing?" she snaps at him in a whisper, grabbing his forearm and keeping him out of sight.

"I"ve got help them out, we can't just let 'em do this, we know them." he turns back to look at her before trying to move again but she yanks him back into the alley, setting the camera down in the direction of the action and pushing him against a wall.

"This is why we're here Eddie," she says sharply. "If we don't record it, we won't have evidence and if you intervene now, our cover is blown and no one will be getting anything for anyone. If they get hurt, the payout from a settlement they get will make it worth it if we do this right. There have been no deaths since this started, so just take a big breath, put on your big girl panties and let's do our job." she says just inches from him. Her tone is annoyed, her eyes serious as they burn into his emotionally torn ones.

As she holds him against the wall with both hands to his chest she can feel his heart racing. She keeps a strong look into his eyes and when his face wines and twitches, looking to the side to the sound of the women fighting she grabs his chin and makes him look at her. He feels sometimes inside him shift.

"Eddie. We've worked too hard to blow this now. And I'm not going to let you fuck this up for us." she says in an even, cool tone. Her whispered orders make his brain pay attention, despite her being shorter, although only by a few inches, he feels as if she shrinks him down with her actions.

His chest heaves only once more, before his eyes go back to a normal width, the deep blue now calmer, his brow lowering and resting heavy again above them. He licks his lips and swallows noisily.

"Okay," he whispers, a quick grouping of nods. With that she releases the rough stubbled cheeks under her fingers, hand still on his chest.

Her face softens but doesn't lose its edge. He notices the freckles on her cheeks, the sharp dip of her cupid's bow as his eyes nervously dart over her features. "You're right. You're right Candy." he says quietly. He averts his eyes like a scolded puppy, his heart still beating fast but no longer because of anger. He knew certain things about himself, what role he naturally fell into, and it seemed she also naturally fell into a certain role of her own with him at that moment.

She leans away, hand still on his chest, "Okay." she says softly, finally releasing the pressure on his chest that held him against the wall. His posture slumps immediately and she can tell he's ashamed. She's relieved he didn't fight back, although a part of her felt like she knew he wouldn't. -------- Back at her apartment, she's going over the footage to see what's salvageable, letting out a heavy sigh when his little episode makes the ending of the action unusable. She lets out a heavy sigh, putting her thumbnail in her mouth to gnaw at it as she stared at the screen.

"I'm sorry about that." he says again, unprovoked.

"I know." is all she says and from the corner of her eye she sees him slump again.

"I just-" he lets out a huff of breath. "I get really caught up in the work."

She nods, still looking at the screen. She wasn't mad at him, annoyed, but not angry. He'd apologized and done nothing out of turn since. "That happen often?" she finally asks, turning her head to him, resting her jaw on her hand.

"Oh, well...I mean sometimes, yeah." he says with twitching lips.

"Is that what happened with Drake?" she asks bluntly. Face set to that cold indifference to match her tone and he feels his chest tighten.

He hadn't expected the question, but he certainly deserved it. "I found out he was doin' these experiments that were killing people. I had to do someth-"

"No you didn't." she interrupts him and his mouth, hanging open like a fish closes again. "There are rules, procedures with these kinds of things. You're too smart to act like that, Eddie. You've got to get control of your emotions. If you don't they'll run away with you." she says before taking a deep breath and sighing, setting her back straight again on the couch. "You'll just keep sabotaging yourself if you don't." her face isn't as hard as it was, it wasn't exactly pity but he felt that the words came from a place of kindness even if they didn't feel like it.

"Yeah," he says quietly, looking away and nodding. "I know that. I do. I'm just-I'm sorry, alright?" he looks back over to her, swinging his head as if it were heavy.

She reaches out and pats his knee. "I'm not mad at you Eddie," she says with a frown. "I just don't want you to jeopardize this. Okay? It means too much to me and I need to know I can trust you." her hand stays on his thigh, he finds the touch comforting.

"You can." he nods, his apologetic voice soft in its delivery. "I'll do better next time." he leans forward slightly, and she sees in his eyes that he means it.

"Alright," she says with a friendly inflection. "But now we've got to go back again and try to get the last half of this footage. We'll have to see the same thing happen and you won't try to interfere next time, right?" her voice is back to its usual warmth, her hand squeezing his leg slightly.

"I won't. I swear." he feels the fear of losing this opportunity, the fear of losing her, this new woman that he'd ushered into his life at that moment. He bites his lip, brow heavy, and a solemn nod.

She returns the gesture, a quick pat to his knee again before her hands move back to the laptop to start dissecting the footage. She was only half paying attention. He really was sorry, she hoped he'd keep his word. She believed he would. She wasn't particularly pleased with her own feelings at his reaction though, she saw how pitiful he could be and instead of finding it to be a major turn off, his vulnerability was somehow very endearing to her. Maybe he was feeling fragile still, she didn't know the entirety of his personal life, just the glimpses he'd allowed her at his local bar, his apartment, the buzzed, late night conversations that got a little deep suddenly with the lack of sleep and physical closeness added to the concoction.

She didn't want him to let her down, she knew that for sure, and not just for business reasons. As she chews the inside of her cheek, messing with the brightness on the footage to see what she could improve, she realizes she'd really miss Eddie if she had to stop working with him. This project wouldn't last forever, they were in the final acts of it now and she feels an odd twisting in her stomach at the thought of not getting to be around him like she was now. She mouses over the same tract of audio again, hearing their whispers to each other over the background sound of the thumps and bangs of fighting. A thought and a problem for another day, she thinks, compartmentalizing the personal from the professional again. --------

Candace and Steph sat in her apartment. Candace had just been a guest on her friend's podcast, they were finished up and now Steph sat on the couch, one headphone in and messing with the recording software. Candace's phone rings, she sips from her long-stemmed glass and reads a text from Eddie.

"That who I think it is?" Steph grins, looking over with raised brows over her own glass as Candace.

"Yeah, he's gonna bring up my USB. Says he's got something to go over with me."

"I bet he does." she snorts.

"I've got two friends meeting for the first time happening here so if you could behave and not scare him off I'd appreciate it. We're close to wrapping this thing up." Steph opens her mouth and Candace points a finger in her face. "You make a condom joke I'm gonna throw this Moscato at you." she threatens with a smile.

"You're no fun." she shakes her head and laughs, eyes moving back to her screen. "I was gonna say I didn't know you were into voyeurism...wrappin' it up with me here. Maybe I should have you talk about that next time."

"Not that I'm not open-minded, but that never really did anything for me."

"You aren't really a, sit on the sidelines kind of person."

"Thank you." she smiles smugly. "I would be inclined to agree."

"I think your cold calculation mixed with your warm honesty will work well with my listeners," she says with a nod. "I mean, everyone fantasizes about a woman in a position of power don't they?" she smirks.

"I'll keep talking about the dichotomy of in the street versus in the bedroom if it'll help." she shrugs.

Steph had a podcast about sexuality, same subject of her blog that accompanied it. She'd started it after getting on at a sex shop years ago. It started as little blurbs about customers habits, finding people were fascinated with others interests and purchases so she decided to branch out. So it couldn't really be helped if she had sex on the brain constantly.

"What I like about you is you don't do the strong woman in the streets and the baby girl in the sheets." she grins, fingers tapping away at her laptop.

Candace shrugs, "I'm sure it's some deep seeded need for control and fear of losing it in a world of traditionally male power structures but being a bottom has just never really been my thing." she chuckles, sinking into the couch. "But you know me, I'm always down to try something new." she shrugs, taking another drink.

"And that's why I love you." she smiles, clinking their glasses together. There's a knock on the door. "Speaking of bottoms." Steph mutters in her wine glass and Candace feels just buzzed enough to snort and give an eyebrow wiggle in response. Steph is sure to watch every move the two make while they interact with each other. She's been onto Candace's coy little smiles and mentioning Eddie one too many times in their conversations as of late for her to not think something was going on between them.

"Hey Eddie." she practically coos out, meeting him with a pushed out hip and the wine glass in her hand.

"Hey Candy," he says, eyes bright and meeting hers. Steph smirks to herself at hearing that she's letting Eddie call her by her nickname. "I got your thing here." he says pulling one hand out the pocket of his denim jacket, handing it to her.

"Thanks for bringing it, you didn't have to." she says, ushering him in and shutting the door, taking the USB to her desk on the other end of the studio apartment.

"Nah, I was driving through." he lies. His eyes meet Stephanie's as she indifferently studied him, having noticed him watching Candy as she walked away from him. "You're...Steph, right?" he asks, pointing a finger at her, a friendly smile on his face.

"That'd be me." she smiles and nods. "Nice to finally meet the infamous Eddie Brock." she smirks.

"Oh." he lets out a huff of a laugh, Candace eyeballing her friend, a look of warning. She was making him nervous and she didn't want her to. "I don't know about all that." he shakes his head.

"Don't mind her. She's territorial over me is all." Candace interjects, patting Eddie's arm as she moves into the kitchen.

"Can't blame me." she shrugs, "Can you Eddie?" her voice is teasing and Eddie's eyes narrow slightly. He wasn't threatened but gives her a knowing smile in return.

"No I cannot." he says with a more certain nod, his eyes moving back to Candace.

Steph gives him a nod of solidarity. Okay, maybe not so much a total pushover. Eddie was updated in the profile she was building of him in her head. His retort had earned him a few points in her eyes.

"What was it you wanted to go over with me?" Candace interrupts the power struggle.

Eddie's mouth hangs open for a moment, gathering his thoughts as he pulls a small notebook out of his pocket. He motions his hand to Steph who had gone back to looking at her screen.

"Oh, you can talk about anything around her, it's fine." she says in an informative but obvious tone.

"I was tracking the locations again last night and I noticed somethin'." he says, standing next to her, bodies turned in towards the other, the notebook between them as Candy leaned in to follow his ringed finger as it tapped the page.

Steph stealthily watches from her seat. Look at that body language, she thought. Both touching and seeming totally comfortable with it, they were farther along than she'd given them credit for.

"I looked at the arrest dates and ran that with the patrols we observed, the nights they hassled versus the nights they actually booked anyone and it seems these two shifts, are the ones that have the most activity. Three officers rotating on them so far, they might be the ones doing this, I don't think it's all them in the area, just isolated incidents. So that means we've got tomorrow and Sunday night for potential action."

Candace and Steph both look at him with impressed looks on their faces. The boy was smart, they had to give that to him. A man with observation skills that keen, she thought they were only a myth.

"Look at you, Brock!" Candace says with a big grin, her hip knocking into his side. "That'll save us a ton of time." she says with an enthusiastic nod, taking a sip of wine.

"I thought, y'know, it'd help since I kinda went and fucked up the footage last time." he says quietly, lips pursed, eyes meeting hers that were still saying he was sorry.

"I think this cancels it out as far as I'm concerned," she says in a warm tone that makes him sigh in relief. "You want to try for tomorrow?" she asks, her voice inflected upwards with curiosity.

"If that's good for you, it's good for me." he shrugs with high brows that give over the reigns to her once again.

"Then it's a date." Steph snorts from the couch.

Candy frowns, one eyebrow quirked up at her friend who is looking rather smug and not making eye contact as she types away. Eddie stays straight-faced, only his eyes moving over to Steph. As he lets out a small laugh Candy's face shifts back to its normal pleasant expression as they meet eyes again. "You wanna pick me up at the usual time?" she asks, rolling her eyes at the antics of her friend.

"Yeah, sure. You wanna grab something on the way? That way I don't have to hear you complain about bodega hot dogs all night?"

Steph laughs from her seat. Candance fakes a look of offense taken. "They're awful, I make no apologies."

"Wasn't askin' for one." he says with an attractive smile, his shoulders hunching in defense, taking a few steps back towards the door.

She pauses, eyes looking at his face, quickly taking in the broad expanse of him so close before returning to his face. "That's a good idea. Gonna be a long night." she says, following him.

"Might get dangerous." he says, with a wrinkle of his nose and a tilt of his head as he stands in the doorway as she holds open the door.

"I know, but that's what I've got you for," she says softly with a smile, putting her hand on his bicep, pretending not to get distracted by how solid he felt. She gives his arm a pat and he gives her that quirky little half smile in return. "If we're together we'll be fine." she says reassuringly.

"You're probably right." he nods, looking at the ground, then only his eyes looking up to meet hers, shooting her a glance that takes her off guard with how good he looked as he took a moment to look her over. "I'll see ya at 8, Candy." he says in a soft voice, a little almost cocky nod to accompany it.

"See ya, Eddie. Be careful." she says after him, holding a hand up to acknowledge the order. She turns, back against the door to see Steph staring at her.

"My fucking god, are you KIDDING me?" she says with wide eyes loudly.

Candace shuffles towards her, shushing her before plopping on the couch next to her.

"He is somehow SO much hotter in person. Jesus Christ." Steph says exasperatedly, fanning her face. Candace let's out a sigh, taking a big drink of wine. "He wore the hell out of that denim jacket." she adds with a nod, looking to the door.

"He wears the hell out of everything." she quietly admits. "I squeezed his bicep. That was a mistake. He's...ugh..." she rests her head on the couch back.

"Bitch. Seriously." she says shoving her friend's arm.

"I KNOW," she says as if she's angry. "But we're working together, dude, I can't sleep with him." she whines, taking another big drink.

"Yes, drink more, wine makes you horny, I want some honest answers." she laughs, tilting the glass into Candace's mouth as she sputters and laughs. "He's too fine, Candy. And he was nice. When's the last time you met a hot, nice guy?"

"Never." she states with a deadpan delivery.

"When this job's over if you don't sleep with him I'm fucking going to!" she says with a grin.

"Couldn't blame you." she shakes her head.

"So are you going to? I mean, you clearly like each other, not in the playground like-like sense but genuinely as people."

"Which somehow means more, doesn't it?"

"Exactly. You don't have to go bringing feelings into it. You're both adults, both professionals. If this is a world where two smart hot people can't bang one out just 'cause then I don't wanna live in it!" she says loudly, taking a big drink of wine.

"I'll drink to that." Candace laughs and she and Steph clink glasses, realizing she'd have to make an actual decision soon, which prompts her to down the rest of the contents of the glass in one go.

Pt. 4 (NSFW)

@raceylacy​ @emerald-bijou​ @negansdirtygirl22​ @brianaisasongbird​ @vale0413 @izzy-the-ginger @chortletortoise @onomatopoetic-aesthetic @anrm1 @jademox

[entergamingxp]

Torchlight 3 Early Access Preview — A Set of Tracks Headed in the Right Direction

June 26, 2020 1:00 PM EST

Torchlight 3 is now in early access but does the third game in the series hold up the lofty standards of its predecessors?

Recently, Echtra has been making a ton of changes to their new Torchlight game. The team transitioned their old Torchlight Frontiers project from free-to-play to premium, renaming it Torchlight 3 in the process. They’ve also been slowly adding new classes, features, and updates. And now, the game is in early access to give the developers more feedback as they continue to build out the game. Over the past week, I’ve played about 10 hours of Torchlight 3. While the game certainly has a solid foundation that I hope Echtra can turn into a great game, the game still has a long way to go to get there.

Now, to be clear, 10 hours isn’t anywhere close to the amount I’d play if this were a full review. So, please, take everything with a large grain of salt. And, as a reminder, the game is still in active development. Things can and will change. Finally, I’ve only really put significant time into the Sharpshooter and Railmaster classes. There are two other classes that I’ve barely touched.

It’s also important to remember this is early access. There are, as expected, several bugs and kinks still being worked out. I don’t think it’s that helpful to talk about them at this stage, so I won’t be mentioning them. That said if you are thinking about hopping in now, keep in mind that Torchlight 3 definitely has some technical issues.

With all those caveats out of the way, let’s actually talk about Torchlight 3 as it exists in its current state.

In short, if you like classic action RPGs like Diablo 2 or Path of Exile, you’ll probably be fine here. The game plays exactly like its contemporaries. I’ve racked up thousands of hours in Diablo 2 and 3, so playing Torchlight 3 felt like slipping on an old glove. In some ways, that’s a good thing, but it also means the gameplay feels a bit old hat.

Take, for instance, the Sharpshooter. She’s your basic ranged damage-dealer. Sure, she has a few tricks up her sleeve (notably her ghost dog), but mostly you’re kiting enemies around and dealing massive damage to single-targets.

That’s not a bad thing. I had a ton of fun playing as a Sharpshooter because you have to constantly stay on the run. Her playstyle is engaging. You’re not just standing in one spot and swinging a sword. That said, she certainly feels like a character that could just exist in any other ARPG.

The Railmaster, on the other hand, is one of the most inventive pet characters I’ve ever seen. Instead of an animal or demon or whatever, the Railmaster has a fully automated train as his pet. You lay down a track and your train moves along it, firing at enemies along the way. As you level up, you can add new cars to the train, turning your train into a murder machine. It’s all completely unique and totally awesome.

If only all the character classes were that inventive. It’s hard to have any desire to play as a basic ranged class or a typical mage when you have a dude that uses an automated tank to fight off baddies. I’d love to see Echtra use their creative juices to dream up some other wild classes before the full release.

Outside of classes and combat, Torchlight 3 continues to feel like every other ARPG you’ve ever played. It has randomly generated maps. It has random packs of elite monsters. The one thing that helps it stand out just a little bit is the fort.

Early in the game, you discover a run-down fort that you decide to make your own. You have complete control over what its inside looks like. As I’m early, mine is pretty sparse, but there’s a ton of potential here. Importantly, your fort is account-wide. So, you can play on as many alts as you want and still contribute resources to your main character’s progression.

Being able to carry over your progression across your account might not seem like a big deal, but it is. Inside your fort, you have several items that provide passive bonuses to your character. For example, one is a luck tree that improves your loot drops. You can increase the bonus by feeding the tree unwanted gear. Since it’s account-bound, you’re not losing out on progress by trying out a new character. Instead of feeling restrictive, it encourages you to try out new characters. That’s a great move.

Outside of the fort though, there’s not much in Torchlight 3 that makes me want to play it over games like Path of Exile or Diablo 3. It just doesn’t do much new right now, and those games are much more fleshed out. Granted, they’ve had years to get there, so I’m not saying Torchlight doesn’t have a chance to be the next big thing in the genre. However, it does lessen my excitement for the final release.

I mean, look at Diablo 3. When it launched, if you wanted to play a new character, you just had to run through the campaign again. Later on, it added Adventure mode and completely revitalized the game. Instead of learning from that and incorporating it, Torchlight 3 just has you replaying the campaign when you start up new characters.

Now, can they add in their own twist on Adventure mode? Absolutely. I really hope they do. Echtra seems committed to making an alt-friendly game, so it certainly seems like a strong possibility. But it’s not there yet.

Things like this make the game feel old in a lot of ways. Just look at how the game handles skills. Compared to other games in the genre, Torchlight 3 offers a paltry selection of skills to customize your character. If all those skills are impactful, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. However, it does restrict the player’s creativity and ability to experiment.

Taking it a step further, Torchlight 3 doesn’t let you respec your character for free. You have to use an in-game resource. Personally, I thought we left that behind a long time ago. It even further makes you feel locked into a path and discourages experimentation. To me, that’s a mistake. Maybe the devs have plans to change it, but it just doesn’t seem like something that should exist in 2020.

At the end of the day, Torchlight 3 has a solid framework. The tracks of a good game are there, especially if Echtra focuses on things that make their game unique. More stuff like the Railmaster, please. However, in its current state, I don’t see why I would play it over something like Diablo 3 or Path of Exile. Those games are so much richer and more fleshed out.

Of course, Torchlight 3 might just get there. It is in early access after all. I’m excited to watch the game’s continued development and hope it can live up to its predecessors. The potential feels there. They just have to capitalize on it.

June 26, 2020 1:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/06/torchlight-3-early-access-preview-a-set-of-tracks-headed-in-the-right-direction/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=torchlight-3-early-access-preview-a-set-of-tracks-headed-in-the-right-direction

[cdg174]

Just another Babysitter: Part 6

Summaries are overrated.... Just read at your own risk... Ha haha!

Words: 1821

Masterlist

Dean’s pov.

“Come on.” I frantically dial Cas’s number into my phone. I woke up to read the motel clock blaring four in the morning. I also woke up to a missing angel and babysitter. “She’s barely back before she goes missing.”

Shortly after my phone begins ringing, I hear a buzzing behind me. I close my eyes frustrated, of course Cas forgot his phone. Sure enough when I turn around there it is buzzing away on the table. Hanging up, I head towards Sam to wake him but before I take two steps, the door knob jiggles. I grab my pistol from the kitchenette counter before stepping in front of Sam’s sleeping form on the bed. Gun pointed at the door the entire time, I slap at Sam’s legs.

“Psst! Wake up!” It takes nothing else for him to swipe a blade from beneath his pillow and swing it up at me. Sam realizes quickly that it’s just me and stands up at full alert when he see’s my defensive stance.

“Dean? What’s going on?” He whispers but I don’t get the chance to respond before the door swings open. Sam stands by me now, both our weapons at ready.

“Cas? What the hell?!” He stands in the door way, keys dangling from his palm but what’s alarming is how he carries Y/N in his arms.

“Shh...” Sam and I look at him puzzled as he gently nudges the door shut. “She’s finally asleep.” As if it’s the most reasonable thing ever, he just walks over to the farthest bed and places Y/N’s limp like from on it. He covers her up before facing us.

“Cas what happened?” Sam speaks sounding just as confused as I probably look.

“Oh! Right.” He takes a seat at the table before speaking again. “Y/N couldn’t sleep so we went for a walk. She had a bit of a break down as you would say...” I raise my hand to stop him.

“You know what? I’m tired. You’re fine and Y/N’s fine so why don’t you explain in the morning.”

“It technically is morning Dean...” He states.

“Later Cas.” I glare at him. “I’m going back to bed.”

Y/N’s pov.

Bacon. I sniff at the air, my eyes twitching when I recognize the smell surrounding me. It’s definitely bacon. I smile as I open my eyes, the aroma of food raising my spirits before the day has even begun. I sit up in the bed coming to the conclusion that Castiel must have carried me all the way from the bus stop last night. I don’t dwell on the thought long because my stomach rumbles at the sight of a paper bag, of food no doubt, sitting on the table. 

I rise with a skip in my step. I guess I haven’t eaten since Gwen’s house. It feels like so long ago when really it was barely a day ago. As I’m rustling through the bag on the table, my ears finally pick up on the muffled sound of water running. I look toward the bathroom and steam is rising from under the door. One of the boys must be in there. Pushing the thought aside, I pull out a burger from the bag and waste no time unwrapping it to take a starved bite from the delicious bun. 

Three bites in, the shower stops and there’s quiet movement behind the bathroom door. I don’t notice much as I sit at the on a chair, enjoying my meal. Not even a minute later, the door opens and a freshly showered and dressed Sam steps out, sweeping a towel through his wet shaggy hair.

“Hey.” He greets.

“Mmm.” Sam laughs at my full mouthed response as I’m still chewing my last gulp of food.

“Is it good?”

“I think I’m in love.” Comes my muffled response to which Sam smiles at. He sits on a bed and grabs a bag from the floor, stuffing some clothes into it.

“Dean dropped off that food before I got in the shower.” Sam looks at me before proceeding. “We all figured you’d want something to eat before we headed out. He and Cas are just filling up the impala and grabbing some supplies. They should be back soon.” Unsure of what else to say, I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

“Where are we going?” Without skipping a beat, he replies.

“Home.”

“She ripped a chunk of my hair out.” I spit every word as I tell Castiel of the time I got in a full on brawl in grade eleven. Sam and Dean chime in from time to time from the front of the impala, but otherwise only listen. They seemed kind of shocked when I started my story, they probably never thought I was capable of hitting someone. 

“That must have been very unpleasant.” Castiel looks at me with a twinge of pain in his eyes.

“Oh definitely.” I turn in my seat and part the hair on the back of my head. “She pulled off some skin too which left this scar.” I face Castiel again. “I actually needed stitches for it. At the time though, I had so much adrenaline pumping through my veins, that I didn’t notice until after I got a couple more hits in. I ended up knocking her out before I felt the blood running down my neck.” I catch Dean’s eyes in the rear view mirror and I can tell he’s giving an impressed smirk.

“How much trouble did you get into?” Sam can’t resist turning in his seat to both see and hear my answer.

“My next door neighbour was the principal of the school at the time. He saw how this chick bullied a lot of kids in school and around town. No matter how many times he warned her to stop, she kept at it.” I smile now. “He actually told her... No! Yelled at her, saying that everything she did to others would come back and bite her in the ass. He concluded by whispering that when that day came he would turn a blind eye.”

“Damn.” Dean laughs. “Then what?”

“Her day came and he saw it start but he walked away with a wink. He only came back when the both of us were on the ground.” I laugh now. “All he said was ‘Well, I did warn her.’ The rest is history.”

“You didn’t face any consequences?” Castiel tilts his head, questioningly.

“Ending up in the hospital for stitches was consequence enough. Otherwise nothing. Not even a detention slip.” 

“Lucky.” Dean murmurs.

“Yeah. You could say that.” I agree quietly.

Sam’s pov.

Dean is laughing at a joke Y/N has just told, as am I. Although I mostly laugh with Dean, I had only been half listening. I’ve been too focused on the fact that this is the most my older brother has laughed and smiled in one sitting in quite some time. Y/N’s even got a few chuckles out of Cas and whenever I turn around, I see the two of them playing rock paper scissors. More so she is explaining to the clueless angel how to play. I take a look around the car and with a big smile I realize that this is the most lively it has been in months.

Facing forward in my seat, my smile falls.

“Dean watch out!” He quickly slams the brakes and stops what must be inches from a dead deer in the road. We look at each other before taking action.

“Cas stay with Y/N.” Dean puts the impala in park as he and I exit to investigate.

We hesitantly kneel beside the deceased animal, wondering how is could have perished. I see some blood trickling from behind its ear, and low and behold the wound. I take a closer look, raising it’s head I expect an exit wound for a possible bullet shot, but nothing. Only an entry hole.

“Must have been a close range kill... Maybe a bow and arrow.” I wonder out loud. Dean looks closer at the bloody deer and based on him standing so fast, he see’s something I didn’t.

“Cas!” Then I notice it. It’s an angel blade wound behind the deer’s ear. Now I stand. There’s another angel in town and they’ve got our attention.

Out of nowhere a bright light blinds us all. Through the light, I hear what sounds  like Cas screaming and Dean calling his name again. Soon after he calls Y/N’s name but receives no response.

The blinding light recedes and once my eyes adjusts, I spot it right away. On a tree there’s a bloody angel banishing sigil and a red hand print to match. Cas has been sent back to heaven. Dean and I both look to the backseat of the impala, no Cas but also no Y/N. Except her door is open and one of her shoes is left on the edge of the highway, right in front of the bloodied tree. 

“Son of a bitch!” Dean rushes to the trunk to retrieve some weapons, passing me some. We both pause when we hear a distant scream from the same direction of Y/N’s shoe. Ever so quietly we hear the same screams.

“Sam! Dean!” They are far off but it’s no mistake what they’re saying. It’s Y/N.

We waste no more time and run straight into the woods, hoping to save our babysitter.

Y/N’s pov. 

“Let go! Let go of me!” I screech as the man drags me along through the forest. I have yet to see his face because he has not turned to face me once. I could not fight him when he dragged me from the car because I was blinded by that light. He is strong, too strong. The man is inhumanely strong but everything has a weak spot.

I reach for the collar of his coat and yank hard. He stumbles back as he is suddenly choked. Now’s my chance. I jab my arm in front of his face and punt my elbow under his chin. The man’s head is jolted back and up in the blow. His grip falls and I take no time running in the direction we’ve come from.

“Sam! Dean!” I yell as loud as I possibly can, never looking back. It’s not long before I hear running feet over my deep breathing. The down side, the footsteps come from behind me. Guess I didn’t hit him hard enough. In seconds, the man catches up and wraps his arms around me mid run.

“Quit it!” The man covers my mouth to prevent me from calling out. “Stop fighting!” I chomp down on his hand and he growls in pain. I go to run but he grabs my arm and forces me to face him. I gasp. I have only seen his face in pictures my mother shared with me.

“Father?!”

Special mentions:

@arazialotis @cyanpintglass

@goldenolaf25 @when-innocence-is-gone

@jaylynnaredsky @fallen-castiel @spnfanficfavorites

@anothertimeinspace @klleexy

@flare-chan003 @isnt-the-blog-youre-looking-for

@imnotalosechester @mary-meee

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@kayarisa @misguidedconqueress

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@msrylf  @palominojacoby @the-imaginarium-of-life

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@eemeile @super-who-lock---trash @imjustabloger

@dixonsunicorn  @mcdaring​ @bipolarchaos​

[abbygkane]

Skin to bone, my blood is a flow of rubies

Summary: Abby can feel the anger course through her veins as she makes her way through the hallways of the bunker. Her pace is relentless and more than one person has jumped out of her way after noticing the furious look on her face. She’s faintly aware of that fact that Bellamy’s walking behind her, his steps matching hers, his face grim. After he had informed her about Clarke and Jaha’s plan, she had raced out of the room and he had wordlessly followed her.

“Is it true?”“Mom I-,” Clarke starts, but Abby quickly cuts her off.

“It’s a simple yes or no question, Clarke.”

Abby can feel the anger course through her veins as she makes her way through the hallways of the bunker. Her pace is relentless and more than one person has jumped out of her way after noticing the furious look on her face. She’s faintly aware of that fact that Bellamy’s walking behind her, his steps matching hers, his face grim. After he had informed her about Clarke and Jaha’s plan, she had raced out of the room and he had wordlessly followed her.

Finally arriving at the quarters they’ve converted into a strategy room, Abby doesn’t even bother with knocking, she simply throws open the door, startling its occupants before barging in.

Without giving either Clarke or Thelonius the time to say something, she stops in front of them.  

“Is it true?”

Behind her, she hears the sound of Bellamy closing the door, but her gaze is focused on the two people in front of her. She’s surprised at how calm and collected the question came out because there’s a turmoil raging inside of her.

Her daughter’s eyes briefly flicker to Bellamy, who’s standing to Abby's right with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Mom I-,” she starts, but Abby quickly cuts her off.

“It’s a simple yes or no question, Clarke.”

At the curtness of her mother’s interjection, she snaps her mouth shut and tilts her head in such a way that reminds Abby so much of Jake when he had told her about his plan to inform the people of the Ark about its failing system, that she feels as if all the air is knocked out of her lungs. Clarke has the same determined gleam in her eyes Jake had, and Abby furiously hopes that this time she’ll be able to save her daughter and everyone else.

“Yes,” her daughter replies, her voice resolute and calm and Abby’s thrown back to a couple of months ago when Clarke had given her the you may be Chancellor, but I’m in charge speech. She's feeling just as helpless as she did all those months before but she won't relent as easy to her daughter as she did then. 

“Abby if I may –, ” Thelonius begins, and at the sound of the man’s voice, the anger that had been simmering beneath her skin rekindled and without giving it a second thought, Abby simply balls her hand into a fist and swings it at his face, her knuckles connecting with his nose with a satisfying crack.

The man staggers backwards, his face slack with shock as one of his hands covers his nose, trying to stop the flow of blood.

Clarke’s still standing next to him, looking completely gobsmacked and speechless at her mother’s action.

“You may not,” Abby grumbles through gritted teeth while flexing her hand, wincing slightly at the pain radiating from her knuckles, “Who do you think you are, making this kind of decisions!”

“It was my plan. I did what I had to do,” Clarke interjects, only to falter when Abby swivels her attention back to her and gives her a glare of annoyance.

“Don’t interrupt me. And enough with the I had to do it excuse. I'll get back to you in a moment,” she orders, focussing once more on the man she'd considered a friend for so long. 

“I don’t owe you any accountability. You’re not the Chancellor anymore,” Thelonius grunts out, his face contorted with pain and anger. 

“No, I’m not. But then again, neither are you. The days when you dictated the law are long gone Thelonius. Get over it and accept that you aren’t in charge anymore,” she retorts back, feeling a flash of satisfaction at the sight of his bruised nose.

“I’m only doing what’s right for our people,” he insists.

At that Abby can’t help but let out a disbelieving snort, “Forgive me for not bowing down to you and praising you, but the last time you claimed this, people swallowed a chip and lost their free will. Not to mention the countless of people who lost their lives. You don’t get to decide who lives and who doesn’t Thelonius. Those people outside of the bunker deserve to survive this nuclear meltdown just as much as we do.”

“As for you,” Abby continues in a softer voice, as she takes a step forward and reaching out so she can cup her daughter’s cheek.

“I know that you think that you have to do this, that circumstances have pushed you into making this decision and that you’ve got no other choice, but this isn’t the way Clarke. We’ve all made mistakes, none of us is innocent, I’m the last person to proclaim otherwise. We’ve all danced along the line between what’s morally right and not, I know that. I haven’t forgotten about my past actions. Or how I was prepared to inject Emori with Luna’s bone marrow and expose her to radiation. But this? Betraying our allies? Leaving people behind? What about Octavia? And Marcus? – She stops to take a deep breath- There has to be another way,” she pleads, wishing that her daughter will come to her senses.

"Kane would have done the same thing," Clarke cooly replies and Abby has to take a step backwards.

Her eyes widen as her hand slips from her daughter's cheek, and she feels as if she got punched in the stomach.

"Marcus would have never agreed to this," Abby exclaims, her voice trembling, both in anger and anguish.

"The Marcus you knew on the ark, the one groomed into stoicism and cold pragmatism under Thelonious," she continues, briefly giving the man in question a cold look, "He would have considered it. But this Marcus, my Marcus -," Abby falters, her voice breaking, "He wouldn't and you know it," she accuses her daughter, "and you -," as she shifts her gaze back to Thelonius, "You most certainly know it. Which is why the both of you have left him to die. Because you know he wouldn't have let you go through with this," she ends, refusing to let the tears that have gathered in her eyes fall.  

Both their silence is enough of a confirmation and the unyielding look in their eyes, makes her want to scream at both of them, but no amount of crying or yelling will make them change their mind or save the people who are still outside.

“There was no time for us to get Kane. We had to act fast,” Clarke states.

“Don’t -,” she snaps, “insult me. From what I’m told, you still had time to sedate and drag Bellamy to the bunker. This is why you didn’t want me to come to the conclave, isn’t it? Not because you needed my expertise in the bunker, but for the execution of this plan if things didn’t go the way you expected, if it looked like Octavia wouldn't win,” she claims.

“You’re our best doctor mom. I couldn’t risk it. Jaha advised that it would be better if you stayed in the bunker,” Clarke explains, the look on her face desperate as she tries to make her mom understand.

Abby lets out a hollow laugh, “Look at the both of you. Standing there, looking all self-righteous. Looks like you succeeded after all,” she states, levelling her gaze towards Thelonius, “You tried to shape Marcus into a new version of you and you did succeed for a while, but in the end, you failed because Marcus is a much better man that you’ll ever be. So now you tried to turn my daughter into your new protégé.”

“You want to know the irony of this all Clarke? You sided with the man who won’t hesitate to sacrifice people, while the man you locked out, the man you left to die, the man who’s been trying to ensure all of our safety, is the reason why I’m still alive,” she discloses.

At her daughter’s frown, Abby scoffs, “Oh, didn’t Thelonius tell you? If Marcus hadn’t taken the chip, Thelonius would have put a bullet through my head,” she elaborates, her voice hard and cold.

“Remember that Clarke. This is the type of person you’ve sided with.”

“Mom, I-,” Clarke starts but she stops when Abby raises a hand.

“No. This conversation is over, but don’t think for one second that I’m going to accept this. I’m not going to let all those people, including our own people, die. Their blood will be on your hands and trust me, it’ll never wash off.”

Without sparing either of them a final glance, she turns around and leaves the room, marching to a room where she knows maps are stored.

“What are you doing?” A voice calls out and when she turns around, she comes face to face with Bellamy, who's leaning against the door. 

“Looking for the blueprints of this bunker. There’s got to be another way in or out and if there is, I’m going to find it. So are you planning on helping me to get your sister and Marcus back or are you simply going to stand there?”

Her question prompts a weak smile from the young man and a look of determination flashes over his face.  

“Let’s go get our people.”

[gus-the-icreamman]

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When asked about the basic cost of an average package deal for SEO services, 60 reactions from 100+ participants including SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION companies and experts were obtained with exact price range billed by them for 10 key phrases per month including on-page marketing & off-page activities like articles marketing and social media marketing and advertising. Discover, with old school SEO”, the particular name of the game grew to become all about long-tail keywords. It will improve your own SEO over multiple engines simply by bringing a hike into your own SERPs. In brief, content and links will nevertheless be the foundation of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION in 2018. Technical SEO is heading to be one of the particular major SEO trends in 2018. Mobile SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION will probably be a high priority within 2018. While hyperlinks are still important and it can incredibly hard to rank nicely without links from all some other websites, content and on-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is becoming increasingly important. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) allows you to place your own website in front of your own target market without having in order to pay a single dime. It is important in order to keep your website and the particular users updated to get a good SEO ranking factor. A lot of of these so-called 'tweaks' include advertising and link-gathering, and We use SEO and article advertising for that. Since they're usually easier to position for than Head or Entire body Keywords, many SEOs focus upon Long Tail Keywords. In this particular post, we'll be looking from 10 Tools that are possibly for keyword research, competitor study, rank tracking, and backlink. Within 2018, SEO can be described as helping a website end up being easily found across the whole internet and not simply concentrating on rankings in search motors. Because organic brand mentions become even more essential for SEO ranking achievement, you need to monitor plus grow your positive brand says. Even though, it is usually bit time consuming to make a quality video, it actually is more than worth this. Great for traffic and SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION as well. When you are usually under the guidance of skilled SEO professionals, you may understand the particular real need and significance associated with improving visibility of the web site through search engine optimization strategies. Eventually a person can submit these pages upon various SEO sites or just submit the web page therefore the search engine spiders may crawl on your own created content. Traditional SEO is focused upon building (keyword relevant) links plus (keyword relevant) content. Don't get worried by them but make certain to use only natural hyperlinks and keep in mind that will their SEO potential may become a bit lower when in comparison to single links. SEO could be the bit of a minefield regarding small business owners; with normal Google algorithm updates and rumours over what is changing, really hard to keep up along with the latest news, including SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION trends for 2018. I must declare your talk about techniques and research based factors are really helping to improved SEO back linking. Although I actually asked about online marketing methods, nearly every marketing practitioner I actually reached out to mentioned SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION being crucial aspect of expanding either their businesses or their particular clients. 5. Implementing SEO methods enables you to gain beneficial knowledge of keywords used simply by your potential clients to discover the services or products a person offer. As a marketing strategy intended for increasing a site's relevance, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION considers how search algorithms function and what people search with regard to. If you've examine from the beginning, you realize that links are a important SEO ranking factor. I believe that will these types of trends can gradually force us to use the broad view in online marketing and advertising, instead of merely look at, intended for instance, SEO. Plus that is local SEO which usually has different ranking factors (Google My Business, citations, reviews).

SEO is about the consumer experience and creating great sites for your users. This particular really is more tedious plus tasking than inorganic SEO mainly because this is where all associated with the keywords get a complete blast of attention. In the article, we will consider ten important SEO trends, which are worth watching within the coming year 2018. Users' happiness is furthermore an excellent factor, that's precisely why one of the best strategies for SEO is to reduce down on as much content material as possible and only compose necessary information with necessary phrases to make the website super-fast for users. 5. SEO or search motor optimization helps you in obtaining good Google page rankings. Links and technical SEO are usually the largest pieces of the particular pie, but multimedia efforts for example video, photos, and podcasts would certainly be the game changer plus differentiator in numerous competitive markets. When we're looking regarding a bigger trend it's that will SEO and what we contact real marketing” will continue in order to blur the lines between all of them as the job of a good SEO becomes that of the conventional marketer - having in order to understand the user, the rivals, the marketplace and also the particular implementation side.

The traditional strategy to SEO has been based on creating excellent content that will is easily searchable via web search engine bots. To understand SEO, you'll also need to know how Google search works. Primarily, technical SEO is concerned along with how a website works, plus how search engines are capable to crawl and index our own pages. Some self-created link building strategies tend toward black hat SEO and are usually frowned upon by search motors, so tread lightly here. In the estimation, Google's actions around showcased snippets, knowledge panels, and much better instant answers in the Search results overall, coupled with more intense ads and slowing search development (at least within the Usa States), will lead to presently there being slightly less SEO possibility in 2018 than what we all had in 2017. These will not only make a lot of visitors your own website but help in enhancing your rank as per SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION. Off-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION isn't only about building hyperlinks. Position high or at the sought after position zero for local SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is extremely advantageous for nearby businesses, large and small. The particular benefits of SEO and research engine marketing are enormous. As much since things change online, they stay the same and content is definitely still king when it arrives to SEO. So while the particular Web is divided into HTTP and HTTPS websites, SEOs plus marketers are facing two typical difficulties with passing the referral information. When you are logged in, go to SEO Toolkit » Keyword Research » Keyword Overview. Fortunately right now there are a wealth of exceptional resources online including my SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION course online, which has already been set up to assist little business owners start the trip to learning how to develop their business online. For too long, SEOs have relied on simple techniques made to produce links within the short run. This visually engaging infographic is definitely a simple tutorial on a few important SEO Techniques and Methods for 2017 which you may easily use for all those on-site SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION elements such as blogging, Wp and title tags, meta explanations and many more.

Essential SEO work begins with discovering what phrases possible buyers enter into search motors like google. I really desired to understand SEO tricks used simply by the very best online advertising specialists myself, and share these types of details with other marketing experts, bloggers. Change in SEO trends is a result of changing Google algorithms. Previously, we all have rated the best equipment for digital marketing overall, yet we wanted to drill lower to review the best providers for SEO and content advertising to assist readers this 12 months. Apart from understanding these trends, competition analysis plus making a credible SEO procedure is very crucial, to obtain organic traffic on your web page. There are many factors to SEO, through the words upon your page to the method other sites link to a person on the internet. Rolled out on 1 saint August 2018, businesses and their own SEO teams would have seen the shift in rankings. Portable SEO will continue to end up being as relevant in 2018. Google focuses upon providing the best possible encounter for users, and you as well should do exactly the exact same. A website design revolving about the user will ensure visitors on your website and that will, in turn, will continue in order to gain SEO traction.

[mctvcker]

The Latest News for September 2018 You Need to Know on SEO

The entire 12 months 2018 is already in complete swing, and it is quick becoming interesting for SEO. With just about all that said…SEO is still regarding content and links. Use long-tail key phrases, full sentences and questions : although your present keywords are usually still important and play the big part in SEO, even more people are choosing to research in full questions now, mainly because they're speaking, instead of within short term. This is the component of an SEO strategy that will focuses on building quality exterior referral links that trust the given site as an power or source in the focused categories. Long gone are the days where very much of what one did intended for SEO was purely for SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (link building, highly optimized articles, content only for the major search engines, etc). Well, backlinks are the particular evergreen ranking factor of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, there's no doubt about this. But times are changing plus so does the things. I've been ranking video clips last few weeks for key phrase like SEO Outsourcing” and Wp training London” and some SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION agency terms here. The biggest craze of SEO 2018 according in order to me may be the use of Synthetic intelligence by the Google plus the increase in the quantity of character within the meta description. I actually see a couple of present trends that will continue in order to dominate SEO in 2018. Google offers stated on the record that will page loading speed is a good SEO ranking signal (and they will recently made PageSpeed even EVEN MORE important ). You are capable to boost your site rate by using a CDN, compressing images, and switching to quicker hosting. It is perhaps one of the most important Local SEO ranking factors for local business websites. SEO indicates exactly what it meant within 1997, right about the period I started writing about this. Easily expressed: Creating good, understandable, content that individuals feel required to share (a definition simply as frustrating now to these who want overcomplicated answers because it was two decades ago). Search Engine Optimization, which usually is also known as SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, is the process of raising the volume and quality associated with traffic to a website through search engines via organic or even search engine results. Traditional SEO is targeted upon building (keyword relevant) links plus (keyword relevant) content. The search engine search engine optimization (SEO) industry is still expanding in recognition and is worth a excellent $65 billion SEO helps shops rank in search engines such as Google. What's coming intended for search engine optimization (SEO) professionals within the coming year? In case you quality backlinks to your own blog post, you'll also much better search engine positions for the particular competitive terms like SEO Tips” with ease. SEO is the methodology that technically and topically aligns brand content and engagement along with searcher intent. SEOs are able to gain access to a lot more information compared to we ever could before straight from Google using Search System (like mobile friendliness of articles, and validation of structured data), and tools like the automatic assistant in the mobile Search engines Analytics app, which provides device learning insights to Google analytics data. Starting an effective Local SEO advertising campaign will allow your business in order to appear on Page 1 associated with Google's search results pages, each in the Map Pack” plus the Organic Listings”. To get success in 2018, it is necessary to embrace latest SEO approach which may be a combination of regional SEO, organic SEO, and Cell phone SEO, so that you will certainly be ready to dominate the particular marketplace search with best outcomes. Cell phone SEO in 2018 is heading to be all about Developing Web Apps (PWAs). SEO is getting more important every single year and all those who spend time on improving the quality and experience associated with their sites will benefit significantly. Off Page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION has to do with marketing techniques, for the purpose associated with ranking a website higher inside the search results. This will be a time-honored SEO practice known as broken link building. Consumer experience is going to become among the top SEO trends within 2018. Local SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION will play a great function in mobile searches is almost all about content.

SEO content re-emphasizes the purpose and meaning of what specifically is seen on the site, and it also increases ratings. The demand for AMP is expected to increase by 2018 and believe adoption of AMP will keep on to lead the top SEO trends. However, SEOs tend to prefer links increased on a page. On the SMB side, there is a higher expectation of SEO performance however often an inability to full (or pay-to-complete) hours dedicated towards improving content, links, or on the internet branding, ” which are almost all important to growing performance. Advanced SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION really doesn't have everything in order to do with acquiring links for any Website. As a good SEO, this means that a person have to significantly raise your own standards around quality content plus links in order to attain top search engine rankings. This will end up being a growth opportunity for content material marketing-specific agencies and a essential and justified budget line product for in-house SEO teams. This enables you to react quickly within case of unwanted new inbound links, and therefore avoid common SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION techniques like negative SEO assaults. SpyFu is the paid tool that uses eleven years of historical data in order to assist you find your competitors' most profitable keywords and the particular keywords they've useful for SEO plus ads. Hence, a person would not like to forget the importance of content marketing within your SEO strategy 2018. While that theory is usually sound (when focused on a single page, when the intent is definitely SEO 2019 Slide to deliver utility content in order to a Google user) using aged school SEO techniques on specifically a large site spread out there across many pages seems in order to amplify site quality problems, right after recent algorithm changes, and therefore this type of optimisation with no keeping an eye on general site quality is self-defeating within the long run. 1. I do not think Google uses the content within the comments as an on-page SEO signal. This site requires a fascinating approach to the SEO education, providing both blog page posts and interactive locations exactly where people can converse about SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION topics. A continued approach in the direction of optimizing the mobile experience will be expected as an SEO craze in 2018. As well as the particular neat thing about this SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION technique is that you no longer have to redesign any Sites. Search engine optimization is an inseparable part associated with digital marketing You have in order to be really competitive, observant plus innovatively impeccable to make your own mark while doing SEO. This article covers 2018 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION factors to pay attention in order to as well as ranking aspects for yesterday to tomorrow. The different strategies lumped into an SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION campaign all work together in order to ensure that a person offers the best experience possible, whenever we get into that, we all should mention how Google sights things. Back in times, people utilized to manipulate the particular search results using some popular black hat SEO techniques. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION ranking factors will continue in order to act as the bottom associated with SEO pillars in spite associated with whatever search engine updates. If a person are reading this blog today, you'd probably know what Research Engine Optimization” is. It will be quite commonly called SEO I am just giving you a quick short on Search Engine Optimization, sorts of SEO techniques, the methods involved in these processes plus so forth Seo is techniques that will search engines recommend as great practice and black hat SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is those techniques that lookup engines do not approve associated with. For SEO consultants who practice seo, they tend to generate results that be very long lasting. Follow along and you will have done your most readily useful Local SEO audit in know time. SEO strategies that will once were on top associated with the game might not utilize to the current search motors. 5. Mobile Initial Index @jambad 2018 SEO Developments - 5 Ways To Remain Ahead of the Curve SEOmeter 91 What exactly is this? Of course, there will end up being the normal offerings of incredible content, link building (acquisition) plus technical SEO (Auditing), but 2017 is going to be the big year for mobile. Essential I reached out in order to more than 60 SEO professionals and asked them how they will would define what seo is definitely now. Yes, We agree with you Karthikeyan Maruthai, We ought to Know Over Off-page SEO Processes to Achieve Quite Good Ranking. The particular top SEO trends 2018 consists of the maximum uses of movies and images. When Google was within its infancy, Keyword Density reigned over SEO. The Ancient greek philosopher Heraclitus said, Change is usually the only constant in lifestyle. ” If he were living today, one might think that will he was referring to Search engine optimization (SEO). I discover it as more of the need now for SEOs in order to make websites search engine helpful. Daily information and insights about internet marketing, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and paid search. Research engine optimization, commonly referred in order to as SEO, is the procedure of maximizing visibility by obtaining a website to appear higher on unpaid, organic results. If you do not upgrade your SEO Strategy plus just go with the present and traditional methods, it may be critical to boosting your own site ranking in search outcomes. In order in order to make the content of the particular business website more visible upon the internet and attract visitors, it is mandatory that a single seeks the services of expert SEO services. If we appear at the Google search outcomes, it shows at least a single video result in the SERP, which always came from Youtube . com (although it also a component of Google service), but movie marketing should be considered like a prominent strategy for SEO 2018. The SEO Book Key word Suggestion Tool aggregates search information and offers volumes, related conditions, and more.

We aren't saying that will SEO page ranking is simply no longer relevant; it is nevertheless, but it's a little even more complicated. SEO helps us create websites that are more search-engine helpful, and sites that deliver the much better user experience. 1. Whenever you publish an SEO-optimized video clip on YouTube, you improve your own visibility in Google as the whole. The importance associated with keywords in SEO has transformed a little bit. What is more vital that you understand that SEO is currently changing so that as all of us move towards the year 2018 only focusing on organic possibilities must not be your ultimate goal, rather using the evolution search engines right now there are multiple for you to increase your own site rankings. Many respondents furthermore anticipated User experience, user objective, link building, knowledge graph plus social media to be a single of the major trends in order to influence the SEO industry within 2018. The particular channel could be a group of different things: SEO, compensated search, email marketing, content advertising, etc. Being amongst the leading digital marketing professionals, we now have researched more than them and selects few that will will surely have a large weightage as SEO 2018. While not really applicable to everyone, if a person have a physical store or even simply want more local web site traffic, local SEO can provide you a nice boost. When asked about the essential cost of an average package deal for SEO services, 60 reactions from 100+ participants including SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION companies and experts were obtained with exact price range billed by them for 10 key phrases per month including on-page optimisation & off-page activities like articles marketing and social media advertising. Notice, with old school SEO”, the particular name of the game grew to become all about long-tail keywords. It will improve your own SEO over multiple engines simply by bringing a hike into your own SERPs. In brief, content and links will nevertheless be the foundation of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION in 2018. Technical SEO is heading to be one of the particular major SEO trends in 2018. Search engine optimization Professional ( SEO Expert ), one of highly rated Honest SEO Expert posses excellent order over organic SEO, purely white-hat SEO techniques, knowledge and genuine time industry connection with enhancing various theme website, e-commerce SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, small and large size company website's SEO. Thank a person for your awesome In-depth Guidebook, There are learnt some new SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION Strategies, I will start along with improving my site's Dwell Period Beside Creating Visual Content, I actually will really appreciate In situation you could Write an In-depth Guide about Creating Embeddable Images”, I must understand it better. The biggest trend for SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION in 2018 is evergreen, long-form blog content. Guest post- Guest post is usually second smart and effective away from page SEO technique after hyperlink building. So, the SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION experts will try to web page link your app with many various other business apps so that the particular search engines can index plus rank the app. Say, for example, I reveal this off-page SEO techniques write-up across my social channels. While videos are great regarding SEO, make sure you avoid create video content just due to the fact the format works better. The rise associated with Google-featured-content has provided its personal challenges for SEO practitioners. Our evaluations of the 10 leading search engine optimization (SEO) tools help you choose the right solution. The expression SEO, ” otherwise known because search engine optimization, ” provides increased in popularity over the particular past few years. The truth is that a person can get top Search Motor Rankings spending a little little bit of money and doing the particular work yourself or paying a good expert SEO company thousands associated with dollars to get your Web site for the first page. When you stop plus take a look back from where seo (SEO) started, really pretty incredible how far it can come in the past several years — even the previous couple of months. On the various other hand, focusing on mobile SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is a must, whereas cellular friendliness and user experience are usually considered as a major rank factor in SEO Trends within 2018. I must declare your point out techniques and research based factors are really helping to improved SEO back linking. Although I actually asked about online marketing methods, nearly every marketing practitioner We reached out to mentioned SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION being crucial aspect of developing either their businesses or their own clients. 5. Implementing SEO strategies enables you to gain useful knowledge of keywords used simply by your potential clients to discover the services or products a person offer. As a marketing strategy with regard to increasing a site's relevance, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION considers how search algorithms function and what people search with regard to. If you've study from the beginning, you realize that links are a essential SEO ranking factor. I believe that will these types of trends can gradually force us to utilize the broad view in online advertising, rather than merely look at, with regard to instance, SEO. Plus that is local SEO which usually has different ranking factors (Google My Business, citations, reviews).

SEO is about the consumer experience and creating great sites for your users. This particular really is more tedious plus tasking than inorganic SEO mainly because this is where all associated with the keywords get a complete blast of attention. In the article, we will consider ten important SEO trends, which are worth watching within the coming year 2018. Users' happiness is furthermore an excellent factor, that's exactly why one of the best methods for SEO is to reduce down on as much articles as possible and only compose necessary information with necessary words and phrases to make the website super-fast for users. 5. SEO or search motor optimization helps you in obtaining good Google page rankings. Links and technical SEO are usually the largest pieces of the particular pie, but multimedia efforts for example video, photos, and podcasts would certainly be the game changer plus differentiator in numerous competitive markets. When we're looking regarding a bigger trend it's that will SEO and what we contact real marketing” will continue in order to blur the lines between all of them as the job of a good SEO becomes that of the conventional marketer - having in order to understand the user, the rivals, the marketplace and also the particular implementation side.

The traditional technique to SEO has been based on creating excellent content that will is easily searchable via web search engine bots. To understand SEO, you'll also need to know how Google search works. Primarily, technical SEO is concerned along with how a website works, plus how search engines are capable to crawl and index the pages. Some self-created link building techniques tend toward black hat SEO and are usually frowned upon by search motors, so tread lightly here. In our estimation, Google's actions around showcased snippets, knowledge panels, and much better instant answers in the Search engines overall, coupled with more intense ads and slowing search development (at least within the Usa States), will lead to generally there being slightly less SEO possibility in 2018 than what we all had in 2017. These will not only produce a lot of visitors your own website but help in enhancing your rank as per SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION. Off-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION isn't only about building hyperlinks. Voice lookup is taking SEO to brand-new and exciting levels. After all of the particular above pointers, SEO is nevertheless all about your content plus links. Many small company owners (and marketing consultants) carry on to be using outdated SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION tactics. Off-page SEO very efficiently within promoting your company where sociable media, bookmarking sites, forums, blog page directory, Q&A, articles, videos, picture and infographic sharing, and record sharing play well. However, SEO - and search within general - is typically soloed into focusing on The Google” and not really considered intended for other tactics. 5. If the answer in order to item 4. is the reality that Google does penalise the particular site's rankings for repeating SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION heading mark-ups on the exact same page, then just one associated with two things can be the particular outcome - SEO heading mark-ups become almost redundant on long-scrolling pages OR Google changes the method of the repetition associated with the same mark-ups on these types of long-scrolling pages and treats areas as separate pages.

Plus spending all your time (or paying some SEO firm) in order to sit there and build inbound links for you personally laced with keywords… this is a waste of your own time and money. With a very aggressive technique, proper keyword research, great SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION content, on-page and off web page SEO, you could begin in order to see the rewards of ratings within a few months. Properly, Hyperlocal SEO should be out there right at the end associated with 2017, many experts believe this and so do I. Nevertheless, it may come anytime plus it's time to focus upon local search as your SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION opportunities in 2018. SEO is getting more important year after season and the ones who spend time upon increasing the high quality and experience associated with their sites will benefit significantly. In today's quickly shifting world, SEO techniques may change on a dime—and the particular worst part is that a person may not even know this. Hacks that could have gained you a front-page result simply because recently as 2016 are not really only obsolete now, but they will may even hurt your cyberspace rankings.

[orphans-forest-blog]

The Latest News for September 2018 You Need to Know on SEO

The entire 12 months 2018 is already in complete swing, and it is quick becoming interesting for SEO. With most that said…SEO is still regarding content and links. Use long-tail key phrases, full sentences and questions : although your present keywords are usually still important and play the big part in SEO, even more people are choosing to research in full questions now, since they're speaking, instead of within short term. This is the component of an SEO strategy that will focuses on building quality exterior referral links that trust the given site as an specialist or source in the focused categories. Eliminated are the days where very much of what one did regarding SEO was purely for SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (link building, highly optimized content material, content only for the various search engines, etc). Well, backlinks are the particular evergreen ranking factor of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, there's no doubt about this. But times are changing plus so does the things. I've been ranking video clips last few weeks for key word like SEO Outsourcing” and Wp training London” and some SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION agency terms here. The biggest craze of SEO 2018 according in order to me could be the use of Synthetic intelligence by the Google plus the increase in the amount of character within the meta description. We see a couple of present trends that will continue in order to dominate SEO in 2018. Google offers stated on the record that will page loading speed is a good SEO ranking signal (and these people recently made PageSpeed even EVEN MORE important ). You are capable to boost your site rate by using a CDN, compressing images, and switching to quicker hosting. It is perhaps one of the most important Local SEO ranking factors for local business websites. SEO indicates exactly what it meant within 1997, right about the period I started writing about this. Easily expressed: Creating good, understandable, content that individuals feel forced to share (a definition simply as frustrating now to all those who want overcomplicated answers because it was two decades ago). Search Engine Optimization, which usually is also known as SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, is the process of improving the volume and quality associated with traffic to a website through search engines via organic or even search engine results. Traditional SEO is targeted upon building (keyword relevant) links plus (keyword relevant) content. The search engine optimisation (SEO) industry is still expanding in recognition and is worth a excellent $65 billion SEO helps shops rank in search engines such as Google. What's coming regarding search engine optimization (SEO) professionals within the coming year? In the event that you quality backlinks to your own blog post, you'll also much better search engine positions for the particular competitive terms like SEO Tips” with ease. SEO is the methodology that technically and topically aligns brand content and engagement along with searcher intent. SEOs are able to gain access to a lot more information compared to we ever could before straight from Google using Search Gaming console (like mobile friendliness of content material, and validation of structured data), and tools like the automatic assistant in the mobile Search engines Analytics app, which provides device learning insights to Google analytics data. Commencing an effective Local SEO strategy will allow your business in order to appear on Page 1 associated with Google's search results pages, each in the Map Pack” plus the Organic Listings”. To get success in 2018, it is necessary to embrace latest SEO approach which can be a combination of regional SEO, organic SEO, and Cell phone SEO, so that you may be ready to dominate the particular marketplace search with best outcomes. Mobile phone SEO in 2018 is heading to be all about Developing Web Apps (PWAs). SEO is getting more important every year and individuals who spend time on growing the quality and experience associated with their sites will benefit significantly. Off Page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION has to do with marketing techniques, for the purpose associated with ranking a website higher inside the search results. This will be a time-honored SEO practice known as broken link building. Consumer experience is going to become among the top SEO trends within 2018. Local SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION will play a great function in mobile searches is most about content.

All of us make reference to them since ranking factors, plus they are usually the focus of an SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION strategy. Be conscious that this is actually the particular only possible way to actually lose rankings, because if within desktop search we have noticeable articles and pages that were removed within our mobile version, whenever mobile-first deploys, it will reduce that SEO visibility. Just before going cloud, LTP was currently one of the most well-known keyword research tools in the particular SEO field. Finally, Amazon will dominate e-commerce inquiries in 2018 via Alexa tone of voice, touch, and other innovative interfaces, leaving many e-commerce SEOs to target in on the content-side associated with their marketing. The huge array of search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques are typically organized under two umbrellas: black head wear and white hat. Making it relevant to these search queries and optimizing the particular blogs to align with these search algorithms would be the big win in stay forward of the SEO game within 2018. This enables you to react quickly within case of unwanted new inbound links, and therefore avoid common SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION techniques like negative SEO assaults. SpyFu is the paid tool that uses eleven years of historical data in order to assist you find your competitors' most profitable keywords and the particular keywords they've employed for SEO plus ads. Hence, a person would not like to forget the importance of content marketing within your SEO strategy 2018. While that theory is definitely sound (when focused on a single page, when the intent is definitely SEO 2019 Slide to deliver utility content in order to a Google user) using older school SEO techniques on specifically a large site spread out there across many pages seems in order to amplify site quality problems, right after recent algorithm changes, and therefore this type of optimisation with no keeping an eye on general site quality is self-defeating within the long run. 1. I don't believe Google uses the content within the comments as an on-page SEO signal. This site requires a fascinating approach to the SEO education, providing both blog page posts and interactive locations exactly where people can converse about SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION topics. A continued approach toward optimizing the mobile experience is definitely expected as an SEO pattern in 2018. As well as the particular neat thing about this SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION technique is that you may have to redesign any Web sites. Search engine optimization is an inseparable part associated with digital marketing You have in order to be really competitive, observant plus innovatively impeccable to make your own mark while doing SEO. This article covers 2018 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION factors to pay attention in order to as well as ranking aspects for yesterday to tomorrow. The different strategies lumped into an SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION campaign all work together in order to ensure that a person offers the best experience possible, whenever we get into that, all of us should mention how Google sights things. Back in times, people utilized to manipulate the particular search results using some popular black hat SEO techniques. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION ranking factors will continue in order to act as the bottom associated with SEO pillars in spite associated with whatever search engine updates. If a person are reading this blog today, you'd probably know what Research Engine Optimization” is. It is definitely quite commonly called SEO I am giving you a quick short on Search Engine Optimization, sorts of SEO techniques, the methods involved in these processes plus so forth Seo is techniques that will search engines recommend as great practice and black hat SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is those techniques that research engines do not approve associated with. For SEO consultants who practice seo, they tend to generate results that be very long lasting. Follow along and you will have done your most readily useful Local SEO audit in know time. SEO strategies that will once were on top associated with the game might not utilize to the current search motors. 5. Mobile Initial Index @jambad 2018 SEO Styles - 5 Ways To Remain Ahead of the Curve SEOmeter 91 What exactly is this? Of course, there will end up being the normal offerings of incredible content, link building (acquisition) plus technical SEO (Auditing), but 2017 is going to be the big year for mobile. For this reason I reached out in order to more than 60 SEO specialists and asked them how these people would define what seo will be now. Yes, We agree with you Karthikeyan Maruthai, We ought to Know Over Off-page SEO Ways to Achieve Really Good Ranking. The particular top SEO trends 2018 consists of the maximum uses of video clips and images. When Google was within its infancy, Keyword Density reigned over SEO. The Ancient greek language philosopher Heraclitus said, Change is usually the only constant in lifestyle. ” If he were living today, one might think that will he was referring to Search engine optimization (SEO). I discover it as more of the need now for SEOs in order to make websites search engine helpful. Daily information and insights about internet marketing, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and paid search. Research engine optimization, commonly referred in order to as SEO, is the procedure of maximizing visibility by obtaining a website to appear higher on unpaid, organic results. If you do not upgrade your SEO Strategy plus just go with the present and traditional methods, it may be critical to boosting your own site ranking in search outcomes. In order in order to make the content of the particular business website more visible upon the internet and attract visitors, it is mandatory that 1 seeks the services of expert SEO services. If we appear at the Google search outcomes, it shows at least one particular video result in the SERP, which always came from Youtube . com (although it also a component of Google service), but movie marketing should be considered as being a prominent strategy for SEO 2018. The SEO Book Key word Suggestion Tool aggregates search information and offers volumes, related conditions, and more.

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[quadren29-blog]

The Namesake

And yet to a casual observer, the Gangulis, apart from the name on their mailbox, apart from the issues of India Abroad and Sangbad Bichitra that are delivered there, appear no different from their neighbors. There are other ways in which Ashoke and Ashima give in. How in the world are Ashoke and Ashima supposed to choose which American customs to adopt and which ones to ignore? Should they only do what's easy, or make a big effort to fit in? Do you think they strike a good balance in the novel? 

On Poetry Soup I was completely caught up in the story couldn't put down the book. It made me laugh out loud at some points, and I even shed some tears. I agree with the reader who found Ashoke, the father, especially touching, saying so little, keeping so much to himself, and yet giving so much out of love. In some ways, it might have been predictable, but I think Lahiri was trying to make some points about the experience of second generation Americans and Indian culture in particular. It would be hard to do that without characters whose lives are somewhat recognizable. I found it beautifully written and completely engaging.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, though I felt it began and ended a bit sluggishly. The author has crafted a picture and story that seems to flow from a personal understanding of several cultures without focusing on only one, or writing from only one perspective. The most probable reaction to this book will likely be a focus on relationships. They are reasonably well-defined, and they are a bit more intricate than is often the case. I was most struck by the mother Ashima as a character, and by the relationship of Ashima and Ashoke as a picture. And, from those, I was driven to consider the state of immigration in the US today. There is such conflicted tension between the old and the new for immigrants. Many come here, and because of the vast freedoms granted Americans, cling fastly to the old cultures. Yet the children, and the breadwinner are thrust daily into American life, essentially becoming people vastly different from their 'origins.' Especially for the young people, the need to fit in was highlighted in this book. That left Ashima in a very isolated situation. She still had a bit of connection to her husband, who seemed able to inhabit both worlds; however, the children of the story are completely, and almost thoroughly, American for the part of their lives that are 'lived' in the time of the novel. I think immigration must have been simpler before fast, easy travel and instanteous communication, when people came here to seek better lives AND become Americans, and not just to accrue professional status, or simply a paying job. We consistently read about families of past times that were headed by parents who insisted their children assimilate, learn the language and customs, and were often embarassed by their own inability to speak English. As someone actively tracing my own roots I can see a downside to each of those circumstances in the long term; but, looking from an empathetic and humanitarian view, this book says to me that creating a complete and fulfilling life requires one to dwell primarily in the present, even geographically and culturally.

On Poetry Soup

A first day on Soup is filled with much awe The wonderful poems will make you smile Easy is it to fall for all Some enabled my mind, lingering a while Just the few Soupers I mention here Will blow you away with works of this year!

Janet Cervenka almost made us lust When she penned a piece on Heavenly's bust

Marvelous is the diversity of Jan Allison Such a dressed gem, and she's only blooming

Nandita then tells us that she's no Jan Indeed her craft is paralleled by none

Man! the lyrics never cease to flow for Dave So highly endowed with a skill many crave

You see, my first day on Soup I was greeted by SKAT Who so humbly laid down the welcome mat

And if there exist a bond no man can put asunder I have to say it's between SKAT and Linda

O! How can I forget 'Half of A Heart' A Sara Kendrick special, such design and art!

Who better to mend our Broken Wings Than the namesake with a quill in full swing

Yes Soupers always brighten my days Place me in velds full of beautiful haze And there I spot a Mystic Rose Defined so uniquely like a Kim Nunez prose

From a consummation a lover was denied To the hautiness of a lonely man's pride Whatever we plan to glimpse or scoop We tend to leave with more from Soup

“Gogol frowns, and his lower lip trembles. Only then, forced at six months to confront his destiny, does he begin to cry. 

At six months, Gogol is already refusing to participate in traditional Indian rituals. He's not ready to confront his destiny, and for much of the book, we wonder if he ever will be.”

“They've learned their lesson after Gogol. They've learned that schools in America will ignore parents' instructions and register a child under his pet name. The only way to avoid such confusion, they have concluded, is to do away with the pet name altogether, as many of their Bengali friends have done.

Poor Gogol. As the first born, he's the guinea pig for Ashoke and Ashima. The lessons they learn from raising him prepare them for the challenges of raising their second child, who finds more success in navigating the struggle to find an in America as a Bengali.”

“And yet to a casual observer, the Gangulis, apart from the name on their mailbox, apart from the issues of India Abroad and Sangbad Bichitra that are delivered there, appear no different from their neighbors […] There are other ways in which Ashoke and Ashima give in.

“How in the world are Ashoke and Ashima supposed to choose which American customs to adopt and which ones to ignore? Should they only do what's easy, or make a big effort to fit in? Do you think they strike a good balance in the novel?”

[gaiatheorist]

What have I ‘got’?

Brain damage, or ‘Acquired Brain Injuries’, depending who I’m speaking to, my ability so say, and spell ‘subarachnoid haemorrhage’ appears to be working against me, in the UK’s labyrinthine and convoluted disability benefit system, though.

I have a task on my desk, it’s a self-set task, and I don’t want to do it, but my Welfare Rights Advocate is proving himself unreliable. He’s supposed to be ‘supporting’ me with my PIP tribunal, but he’s evasive, untrustworthy, and a little bit patronising. I have a note of all the times he’s said he was going to do something, and then not done it, frustrating for me, because I’m out of my depth with the tribunal evidence. (I’m not, I’m fully conversant with the majority of the 300+ pages on my desk, most of it being the evidence I submitted in the first place. I’ve typed-up the notes I took contesting the speculation, omissions, and, shall we say ‘mis-recorded results’ from ATOS/DWP, so the Advocate can read them. I’ve also tidied up the bits I’d put in ranty capital letters, and toned down the swearing.) 

The task. When I was referred to Workplace Well-being, about a year ago, my Union Representative asked me to ‘write a list of all my difficulties’ to take with me. ‘Other’ people love a good list, don’t they? (’Othering’, there, watch yourself.) I didn’t want to ‘write a list’, mainly because I hate reflecting on all of the things ‘wrong’ with me, but also because loads of paper with just ‘things’ noted on them in a random order serve no functional purpose. The rep will have seen it as a memory aid, in case I forgot something, my functional/working memory does let me down on a regular basis, there are work-around strategies for that. I wrote the list, because I was very mindful of the need to follow instructions, but the original nurse who assessed me (before transferring my case to a doctor, who told me “This case should never have been assessed by a nurse, it’s far too complex.”) didn’t look at it. No reflection on her procedural-practice, there, she asked me questions, and I was able to answer most of them. The Union Rep was frustrated with me when she saw the nurse’s report, and asked me if I’d ‘really’ explained my difficulties. Well, Union Rep, yes, I did, that’s why the nurse is recommending that I’m ‘unfit’ for a minimum of 12 weeks, and need a full functional/cognitive assessment via Neurology. (Honestly, am I the only one who can read? Still haven’t had the functional assessment, either.) That was the start of the task, and I need to re-do it.

I was going to go list-style again, but break it into Physical/Intellectual/Emotional/Social categories. (Yes, I did support GCSE Health and Social Care lessons, about a million years ago.) Breaking my ‘list’ into categories gives me an element of control, I only have to focus on one ‘bit at a time, it reduces the risk of me becoming overwhelmed at having to think of all of it, all at once. Again. I’ve spent almost three years trying not to reflect too much on which bits of me no longer function properly, and the adaptations I’ve absorbed/normalised to keep myself, and others safe, now the PIP-system is making me do precisely that. A ‘list’ of all-that-ails-me still serves no purpose, it would be like the world’s worst shopping list, “Constant headaches, light aversion, sporadic tics and tremors, mood swings, sleep disturbance, have we any milk left, inattention.” It would just be a load of words, on some paper, the Advocate boldly stated that he’d write my ‘witness statement’ for me, I think he meant ‘impact statement’, but I’m not having a man who uses multiple consecutive punctuation marks in text-messages writing anything ‘for’ me. He doesn’t live in this state, I do. 

Right, it’s not going to be a list, it’s going to be a table, ‘Issue’, ‘Impact’ and ‘Adaptations/Strategies’, broken down into the ‘PIES’ categories, for ease of reading by other people. Yes, I ‘could’ potentially be shooting myself in the foot, here, because the adaptations/strategies I’m using mean that I ‘can’ complete the majority of the ‘descriptor activities’. Eventually. That’s what’s REALLY wrong with the PIP-system, apart from it being operated by shady individuals only interested in finding a way to refuse claims, in my experience. I didn’t tick the ‘unable to’ box for any of the descriptors, and I’m smirking now, about my ‘traits consistent with Autism’, I won’t lie, and it doesn’t matter how many times DWP/ATOS ask me the same question (not even bothering to change the phrasing, amateurs.) they will get the same answer, because this is my life. DWP/ATOS are using a one-size-fits-all template for EVERY disability claim, it’s the same form for every applicant/disability/condition, and it’s heavily skewed towards physical capabilities. ATOS/DWP are effectively banging a hamster through the star-shaped hole on a Fisher Price shape-sorter, certain tabloids and media sources are shouting at the hamster to stop being lazy, and run, and then the ‘assessor’ gives the shape-sorter a good kick, and ticks the ‘able to move 20m’ box. If you’re not paraplegic, or in a coma, you’re not disabled-enough for this system, ‘making work pay’, and all that, ‘we’ must be capable of something. (Side-smirk, because the ‘work related activity’ scheme in my area is run by Serco, do we think I’d suit a security-guard uniform?)

I spent 6 hours last weekend line-by-line picking through the ‘evidence’ DWP/ATOS might-intend to submit to the tribunal. I say ‘might’, because they’re asking the panel to dismiss my case unheard, SUPERB scare-tactic there. Some people would give up at that point, unfortunately for DWP, I’m not one of them. I say ‘evidence’ because most of the ATOS-end of it is speculation and opinion, there is literally no reference made to the medical evidence I submitted until now, when I’m effectively taking them to court. Process that, they’ve had a huge pile of medical evidence from me twice now, and they make no reference at all to it, focusing instead on my ability to ‘bend forward at the waist and reach mid-shin with both hands.’ The last nurse-practitioner that ‘assessed’ me has recorded results for a ‘test’ she didn’t do, and very-much ‘mis-recorded’ some of her other ‘informal observations.’ My functional memory fluctuates, but my stress/crisis recall is phenomenal, my A-level ‘General Studies’ exam paper had an article from a Spanish newspaper about foxes, the only question I couldn’t answer on my GCSE Maths paper was the spider-diagram one, when I was 11, my primary school teacher made the whole class copy from a reading book as a punishment. “A Dog So Small, by Phillipa Pearce. The tapping on the window woke him, fast asleep, and then wide awake, because of the tapping. Perhaps the pigeon always woke this early, he was usually tapping when the boys awoke. That was usually much later, with the smell of breakfast...” Put me under ‘test conditions’, or in a stressful/crisis situation, and my recall will be utterly flawless, I’m buggered if I can remember what I went into Tesco for, though.

My ridiculous memory aside, I have nearly 5000 words of annotation/points of contention with the ATOS/DWP evidence/reports, it’s possible that I’ve typed more words than the ‘assessors’ and ‘decision makers’, AND all of mine are spelled properly, even the really big ones. (Irritability, classic symptom of frontal lobe brain injuries, I get the “Can’t people READ/WRITE?” anger very frequently.) A couple of pages in, the boss decision-maker has recorded “has mental health issues” before even mentioning the brain injuries. I’ll leave out the side-rage at the lower-level decision-maker recording “she is not depression.” on another page, no, dear I’m not depression, but I am about to make your life less pleasant. 

“Has mental health issues.” is what triggered this pile of waffle, that, and REALLY not wanting to start the PIES-table thing. ‘Has mental health issues’ is what ATOS/DWP will likely use as their ‘get out of jail’ card, because when someone has mental health issues, the go-to option is medication, whack enough Prozac in us, and we eventually stop complaining about stuff, don’t we? Do I have ‘mental health issues’? Probably. Do I have any active diagnosis of a mental health condition requiring medication? No. I don’t know if they’re referring to my PTSD, or speculating based on my presentation at assessment. If they try to suggest that I am suffering from depression, I have medical evidence from two different doctors that I’m not, and the idiot who typed ‘is not depression’ onto the forms has undermined that ‘argument’ before it starts.

I was relatively functional within the parameters of my PTSD, actually, no, I was hyper-functional in many areas, which is why I was so very good at some parts of a career I no longer have. That hyper-functionality is hard-wired, but my brain is now re-wired, there are tangles of wires sealing up two aneurysms, and a third one just sitting there lurking in a ‘risky’ position on my Choroidal artery, if that one blows, it’s ‘Goodnight, Vienna.’ I’m still incredibly high-functioning, but only for part of the day, my brain effectively does a whole day’s work by lunch-time, because I over-process everything, I can’t ‘not’ do that. The over-processing causes my evidenced-damaged brain to tire more easily than a fully functioning one, by late afternoon, I can feel the fogginess starting to creep in, and I’m next-to-useless in the evening. My long-suffering son has observed his highly intelligent, incredibly articulate mother descend into cognitive fatigue, and sit in this armchair dribbling like an imbecile, and falling asleep. That’s our ‘normal’ now, when he’s back from university, and it shouldn’t have to be, I can’t imagine how traumatic it must be for him watching me ‘slip’ every evening, after being in the ambulance with me while the haemorrhage and hydrocephalus were crushing my brain. 

In a weird way, the PTSD over-processing has probably kept me alive. I’m constantly assessing for threats and risks. Constantly. It’s not as linear-simple as applying the cause-trauma to everyday situations, ‘that’ is never going to happen again, for reasons I’m not going to explain here. Constantly, and everything, it was exhausting enough before the additional layer of trauma added by the near miss with the chap with the scythe. CBT won’t unpick it, because if I don’t-assess everything I potentially place myself or others at risk of harm. EMDR can’t do anything to ‘desensitise’ my threat-perception that I haven’t already done myself. The doctors have never found a combination of drugs that balanced me properly, the hyper-vigilance is just a ‘thing’, background noise that was bearable before my brain injuries, it’s exhausting ‘now’, but threat-checking keeps me safe. (I will EXPLODE if DWP/ATOS try to label it ‘generalised anxiety.’)

If they’re not going with the PTSD (funnily enough, I don’t actually have a formal diagnosis, I slipped the term to my GP once, and he agreed, it just sort of ‘stuck’ after that.) it might be the ‘Depression?’ recorded on my initial discharge-notes from hospital after the haemorrhage. (Very irritable face, it’s the same as all of my other faces, you learn how to poker-face quite quickly when you realise that your first impulse on just about anything could land you with a criminal record.) When I was admitted to hospital, the medics asked the ex about my previous medical history, I imagine the kid might have replied “Have you looked in your sock drawer?” if his mother hadn’t been dying in front of him. The ex was useless on anything that wasn’t motorbikes, 1980s synthesiser music, or asking for more toast, the sock-drawer was a running joke between the kid and I, due to the number of times the ex would stand on the upstairs landing, and shout downstairs “Have I got any clean socks?” instead of looking in the bastard sock-drawer. Sock-rage, I haven’t had to deal with that for a very long time, there was some sort of force-field around the laundry basket, meaning he couldn’t put ANYTHING in it. All of his clothes, whether they were the clean ones I’d folded and put on his side of the bed, to encourage him to put them away himself, and stop asking me “Have you seen my Kraftwerk T-shirt?”, or the absolutely minging-filthy work clothes he’d wear for weeks on end, ended up on the floor at his side of the bed. The socks were even worse, he’d come home from work, take his socks off, and leave them in the living room. I stopped collecting them after a while, because I had enough ‘else’ to do without picking up after a grown man. Sock-rant over, the ex told the medic “I think she’s got depression, but I don’t know if she’s on anything for it.” If they’d asked him about motorbikes, or what order to put fillings in sandwiches, he’d have known that. 

So, ‘Depression?’ is recorded on my discharge-notes. I REALLY upset the nurse who’d recorded it, in a twist of fate, she was my assigned nurse after the second round of surgery. I was mad at the ex, I wasn’t angry with her, but, at the shift-handover she described me as ‘strange, controlling and manipulative.’ I’m not manipulative, am I?  

I probably ‘should’ be depressed, but my medical notes state I’m not, so, what have I ‘got’? (I’m putting that in quotation marks because it was the ex’s retarded terminology, a person may ‘have’, or ‘suffer from’ depression, they haven’t ‘got’ it.) What I have is a combination of brain injuries, and some maladaptive coping mechanisms. I have ‘had’ historical mental health issues, and I’m awaiting a neuro-psych assessment to see which diagnostic criteria I fit this time. I have multiple traits consistent with Autism, but I’d always assumed they were due to the traumatic/developmental/attachment issues, rather than an organic cause. Thinking back of myself as a child, yes, I would have ticked most of the boxes for an AS diagnosis. I have traits consistent with Oppositional Defiant  Disorder, which is a relatively new addition to the DSM-5, but sits neatly around my tendencies to generally be a Terrible Bastard. My sick-notes were all generic ‘stress related disorder’, because we don’t say ‘nervous breakdown’ any more. Elements of my disability fit the profiles for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, two of my nieces have disability-awards for fatigue, and they don’t have chunks of metal in their brains. I’m not neurotic, or a hypochondriac, which is a good thing, because the veritable telephone-directory of side-effects from brain trauma would have a ‘worrier’ setting up camp in A&E, there hasn’t been a single day since February 2015 where I haven’t been dealing with one side-issue or another. I probably ‘should’ be more anxious about my health than I am, but that way lies ruin, I assess myself every day, and ‘work with the tools I have’. 

Enough of this now, or I’ll use up all of my functional eye-time, and end up having an argument with myself about doing the impact statement ‘tomorrow.’ The PIP system is very flawed, it’s not in the least bit fit-for-purpose, and I need to ensure that my evidence is reasoned, accountable, and coherent. I am a very complex case, but my ability to articulate that is working against me, because the system ‘sees’ me when I’m lucid, not when I’m trying to put both of my socks on the same foot, or finding a meal from several days ago in the microwave. Throw into the equation that Universal Credit is also fundamentally flawed, and it’s fairly obvious why I’m having more wobbly/off days recently. My work-coach has cut me down to 10 hours per week of actively seeking employment, because she’s seen my health deteriorate during this PIP process. That’s all well and good, but I’m on a knife-edge financially, if, despite her doing what she can to reduce my ‘claimant commitment’, the computer system decides to invite me to apply for an unsuitable job, I’m at risk of sanctions. Poverty-porn, I have no heating, I’m sitting here in four jumpers, shopping once a fortnight, and eating once a day. I’m not asking for champagne and caviar, I’m asking for a disability benefit that would allow me to work part-time, because I’m not fully functional full-time.

What do I have? A pile of horrible paperwork, an unreliable advocate, and unemployment benefit that doesn’t cover my basic outgoings. What am I? I’m tenacious, resilient, determined, intelligent, articulate, reasoned, accountable, honest, and bloody exhausted from jumping through DWP’s various hoops.