#aida when i catch u aida

[mysteriousmissme]

teru slowly collapsing to the floor is so sick and twisted can he js be happy

[kobunnie]

constantly thinking abt how i WILL write a new ending to the tbhk manga if it comes to it. w the way things are going i will be needing it for the better part of my mental health and stability

when i catch u iro when i CATCH u

speaking of tho i feel like more people need to get into tbhk bc its actually beautiful

like aidas artstyle and the STORYYYYYY

lit my favorite anime and manga of all time. if u arent into it u should consider it!!

[ammapreker]

• • •   content warnings for death, suicide, murder, mental illness, death of a parent, alcoholism • • •   note of importance: this request may contain spoilers from episodes one and two of the haunting of hill house

[ the nobles ]

• • •   nothing stays buried, they say. no secret lies so well hidden that it won’t, one day, be unearthed. 

b a c k s t o r y ,

• • •   whitethorn manor had, first, flourished under the gilded thumb of the noble family, wealth gathering beneath silver maples and crowns of secrets resting upon dark curls. then, tragedy swept across each and every noble soul, for all crowns carry their own curses. the curse of charles noble took the form of amber liquor poured tempestuously down his throat until he reached an early end. for these nobles, the curse befell them the instant they’d accepted the inheritance proffered by a bored attorney on behalf of the departed charles, a distant relative their father had only met once, perhaps, when he was a child, before his parents had passed. whitethorn manor adorned itself with a new brood — philip, isadora, five children growing in their shadow — who, at the time, had the gall to smile as their lives became poisoned forever. 

• • •   it began with isadora seeing ghosts at whitethorn manor. the sightings started slowly, a catch of something out of the corner of her eye that disappeared the instant she turned her head. before long, she’d begun having conversations seemingly with the air, her mind playing tricks until she spent her days lost, confused, wandering whitethorn in her nightgown. philip sought help, demanding answers from hospitals and refusing to believe his wife’s claims. for months, philip fussed and fretted over his wife, attempting to keep the children sequestered from his perceived truth, to no avail. slowly, he unravelled, desperate for ideas of how to continue, despairing as his three youngest children began to make their own claims of ghosts.

• • •   so, philip turned to god. and “god,” in turn, spoke to him and told him that his wife had been possessed. he confessed that, if something wasn’t done, philip’s children would suffer the same fate. philip dedicated himself to this decree absolutely. instead of medicine and doctors, philip turned to sermons and priests. he grew more ravaged until exactly a year after their arrival, on which day he, led by “god,” performed an exorcism on his wife. as a result, isadora died, the circumstances unclear. she’d wound up on the roof of whitethorn and promptly fell either by her own desires or philip’s hand, with enough reasonable doubt to never push the case to trial. 

• • •   the children, however, were taken from him, raised by their maternal grandparents in st. louis. their father claimed, later, that the manor had been at fault, which he’d believe for all his life. he never left whitethorn, claiming to be standing guard against the evil within it, until he passed away a couple months ago. in his will, he bequeathed whitethorn to each of his five children, all of whom have returned to seven devils, to whitethorn manor, to their ruination, in pursuit of the secrets their father took to his grave. 

r e q u i r e m e n t s ,

• • •   so, as you can tell, this request is vaguely inspired by the haunting of hill house with original twists thrown in. if you’re interested in this request and have never seen the show, no worries at all! everything you need to know, i’ve listed for you above. the only additions i’d make to that are just for clarity on their backstory. the nobles were born in chicago, where their father was from. their mother was originally from st. louis. they were raised catholic, which meant that the priests philip saw were mainly out of town. they moved into whitethorn manor in the summer of 2001 and isadora noble died in 2002. following the events described above, all five noble children lived with their maternal grandparents in st. louis until they came of age. in terms of current affairs, philip noble left whitethorn manor to be divided between his five children, but had not allowed them entry or left himself since isadora’s death. while some may be inclined to sell this piece of family history, dick’s set on combing through the manor for any clue as to what really happened that night — while allowing his ghastly (his true crime podcast) listeners to witness it. obviously, that’s sure to cause some drama. dick is also currently living in whitethorn along with whichever sibling(s) choose to. 

• • •   specifically, i’m looking for the two remaining noble siblings, based on the crains! i’ve also listed age ranges below, but i’m flexible! the only real requirements are that they be brunette caucasians, to match joe keery (my face for richard), and that their names be more classic and traditional. if you’re interested in joining the plot, please feel free to reply here or message me on discord at megan#1831!! 

[ the steven ] / richard “dick” noble, 29, joe keery, written by megan

[ the shirley ] / first noble, 27 - 28, female fc, open

[ the theodora ] / first noble, 27 - 28, female fc, reserved for aida

[ the luke ] / henry noble, 24*, male fc, written by nick

[ the eleanor ] / virginia “ginny” noble, 24*, alexis ren, written by maddie 

the * above denotes twins!

[nostalgicbones]

All EVEN numbered questions 😁💕

(this is so many i HIT TUMBLRS TEXT BLOCK LIMIT LOL. THANK YOU FOR THESE)

2. What musical got you really  into theatre?

WICKED!!!!!!!! wicked was the first soundtrack i listened to obsessively. i still adore it and try to catch any tours that come my way (i miss u wicked…)

4. Name three of your current Broadway crushes.

OH OKAY HM. well we all know i LOOOOOVE ben platt… i also ADORE sutton foster. (she was my first broadway love, probably) and ooo lets go with jeremy jordan how could you not love him

6. Favourite off-broadway show:

heathers!

8. 2013 Tony opening number or 2016 Tony opening number?

2016!! both are iconic though

10. A musical that closed and you’re still bitter about. Rant a bit.

DEAF WEST SPRING AWAKENING…. SO IMPORTANT…. DIED TOO SOON…. didn’t even get a tour :’(

12. Worst  stage to screen adaptation?

rent, i think. there’s something very off about the movie version to me

14. A musical you would love to see produced by Deaf West?

ohhhhh wow this is such a hard question because deaf west can add so much to a narrative!! i think i’ll say dear evan hansen, just because of how much i love the show and how it focuses on miscommunication, and how deaf characters would enhance that!

16. If you could go to a concert at the 54 below, who’s would it be?

BEN PLATT!!!!

18. Make a broadway related confession.

uhhhH back when i was 14 i spent like every night in front of a mirror lip syncing to my favorite songs…. ranging from popular to gimme gimme, naturally. i did it so often i still revert back to the mannerisms sometimes singing along now

20. Express some love for understudies and swings!

swings are LITERALLY the most hardworking people in the business. i cannot imagine keeping the amount of material they have to learn fresh and present in my mind at a whim… wow. also, for dear evan hansen specifically, they are all precious and adorable!!!! would love to see all of the understudies tbh

22. Which Disney movie should be made into a musical?

COCO!!!!!!!!!!!!

24. Name a character from a musical you would sort into your Hogwarts house.

EVAN. HANSEN. IS A HUFFLEPUFF!!!!!!

26. Best on stage chemistry?

ben platt and laura dreyfuss…. their connection was electric the whole room buzzed with it

28. What book, tv show, movie, biography, video game, etc. should be turned into a musical?

eleanor and park. if you’ve read the book, you know how important music is to the narrative already, so it wouldn’t be to hard to establish a musical identity. i think it would really fit in with the YA lean to musicals lately. and it would be some fantastic representation!

30. Favourite role played by Aaron Tveit?

(i just asked a friend to pick the actor)

this is tough dude… probably gabe in next to normal??

32. What musical has made you laugh the most?

that’s such a hard questions cause musicals always hurt so much you know!! they all usually make me laugh and cry. maybe thoroughly modern millie? or heathers! or in the heights, oh my god in the heights was great with timing. (i also couldn’t stop laughing during deh but half of that was secondhand nervousness)

34. A musical that has left you thinking about life for a long time or deeply inspired you.

both dear evan hansen and spring awakening have deeply affected my life. the longer i spend time with them the more i seem to discover about them! so they always keep me thinking. they tear my heart out and give me hope for the future simultaneously.

36. Name a musical you didn’t like at first but ended up loving.

hmmmm. rent, maybe? my first viewing was roughhh but the longer i ruminated with it and learned the backstory the more i appreciated it. also, the music is great!

38. Favourite dance break.

forget about the boy!!!!

40. What’s a musical more people should know about?

well i mentioned aida earlier… i also got to see an american in paris on tour and loved it! a proshot was in theatres about a year ago, if that ever happens again check it out

42. Name a Tony performance you rewatch and rewatch.

deaf west spring awakening!!!!! or hamilton. loooooooove. also dear evan hansen predictably

[ktliterary]

What I'm Looking For: Aida Z. Lilly

I’m excited to be open to queries for speculative fiction in upper middle grade, YA, and adult; in YA and upper MG contemporary, I am exclusively looking for stories from LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and other marginalized groups; graphic novels for upper middle grade, YA, and adult from author-illustrators with a unique story; fresh, modern, and original contemporary adult fiction that fits in with my wishlist; and narrative non-fiction (but no true crime).

Across all genres, the writing, voice, and characters have to hook me and make me feel something. I want stories about the good, bad, and ugly of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I’m also interested in cults, the occult, mental health, and magic. I’m looking for the kind-of-weird and completely amazing! Good writing is the most important aspect for me. I love great ideas, but I really need the execution of those ideas to be brilliant. I want to be drawn in within the first few pages, and I’m okay with not having all the answers (at first anyway). I want to read the story only you can tell. I want to accidentally learn things only you can teach me.

I love all things speculative—well, except horror (touches of it in other spec fiction are fine though). What really catches my eye is SFF with real issues tackled in thought-provoking ways, like Grossman’s MAGICIANS series (and show). This shouldn’t be super shocking since I grew up loving the ANIMORPHS series. I like a big, diverse cast with love in their hearts and problems in their lives. Even though these kids had to save the world, they still dealt with familial strife, romantic problems, the failings of adults, and the emotions that accompanied the war and the “normal” lives they had to lead. So give me ANIMORPHS for adults with even more diversity.

On that note, I want feminist projects (especially where feminism is unexpected) and books written by and about people from marginalized communities. As a first-gen Middle Eastern American, I enjoy hearing other people’s immigration tales. If you have written the next KIM’S CONVENIENCE, EMAIL ME RIGHT THIS SECOND BECAUSE I LOVE YOU.

I want ALLLLLLL the queer SFF please! There is so little of it, and it is so needed!

I like mythology (especially when it’s written as beautifully as Madeline Miller does it), music (Juliet, Naked and Daisy Jones & The Six are some of my faves), unreliable narrators, multiple viewpoints, stories that take place at college/grad school, flawed characters, a sense of humor, friendships (complicated ones, too), L.A. stories, tales of NYC, puzzles (think more Dan Brown, less National Treasure), and the atmosphere of Carnivàle, Darren Shan’s CIRQUE DU FREAK, Euphoria, and New Orleans. Magic and superheroes are some of my favorite things, especially when those characters act in a very human way and have very human problems (The Boys, Hancock, Super Ex-Girlfriend). I love a good origin story (even if I’ve seen Peter Parker have three of them onscreen…)

My taste veers from AMERICAN PSYCHO to HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (and lots in between). Engage me enough to make me laugh AND cry. Give me humor and heart (like Handler’s LIFE WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME); give me a character like Dr. Cox from Scrubs or someone Gordon Ramsay-esque, who secretly has a soft center. Conversely, I also want ALL THE DARKNESS. Because while I love the cuteness of Detective Pikachu, I also live for authors like Leïla Slimani, Bret Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk, who capture the ugly sides of human nature in sharp, acerbic light. I won’t shy away from your THREE WOMEN, TWEAK, EDUCATED, or MY DARK VANESSA.

Shows and movies I love: ALL THINGS STUDIO GHIBLI, Kim’s Convenience, Pose, American Horror Story: Coven, The L Word (both), Big Love, Fresh off the Boat (the book and show), Guardians of the Galaxy (and the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe), Supernatural, Lost, Modern Family, anything Mindy Kaling touches (books and shows), Workin’ Moms, Abrams’s Star Trek reboot, The Affair, South Park, Dexter (the books and show), Broad City, The Last Man on Earth (I nearly cried when they canceled this), Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Crash, What Dreams May Come, Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, Death Note, Straight Outta Compton, Monsters University, The Sopranos, How to Get Away with Murder, Stepbrothers, Zoolander, The Boondocks, Little Nemo, Selena, Shin Chan, Rent, Sweeney Todd, Dope, The Halloween Tree (the book and the movie), The Office, American Housewife, For Colored Girls, LotR, Mad Men, Mystery Men, Sons of Anarchy, Fringe, The King of Queens, Cloverfield, Super 8, Blade Runner 2049, Good Will Hunting, Adventure Time, Detective Pikachu, Good Boys

Books and authors I love: The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell (and his standup), Mira Jacob, Daisy Jones and the Six, There There, Eat a Peach, Convenience Store Woman, Double Cup Love, Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines, Born a Crime (and Noah’s standup), Tranny, The Hate U Give, Warcross duology, Leïla Slimani, Rainbow Rowell, The Heart’s Invisible Furies, The Time Traveler’s Wife, I Am Legend (the movie, too), The Amory Wars (and the music about them), Saga, Deadendia, The Devil Is a Part-Timer, Chuck Palahniuk, Kid Gloves, Zatanna and the House of Secrets, Sing, Unburied, Sing, The Wheel of Time series, Hyperbole and a Half, Bret Easton Ellis, Harry Potter (but not Rowling), Artemis Fowl, Riordan and friends, Life Will Be the Death of Me, The Interestings, Station Eleven, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking up with Me, Hey Kiddo, The New Kid, Furious Thing, Number One Chinese Restaurant, The Girls at 17 Swann Street, Ready Player One (and the movie), Wildwood, Red at the Bone, Juliet, Naked, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, Fun Home, American Housewife, Madeline Miller, Gaiman, Christopher Moore, Haruki Murakami, Patrick Rothfuss, The Goldfinch, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Kevin Kwan, Dave Eggers, My Dark Vanessa, All of us with Wings, Graveyard Shift, Life of Pi, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, America for Beginners, The Storyteller’s Secret, Never Let Me Go, Priestdaddy, Educated, Three Women, Augusten Burroughs, Furiously Happy, Okay, Fine, Whatever, Fights: One Boy’s Triumph over Violence, The Usual Suspects (Maurice Broaddus), V.E. Schwab, The Silent Patient, Uprooted, Pierce Brown, The Enderverse, Blake Crouch, The Hunger Games, John Dies at the End

Maybe not the best fit for: Political thriller Gross out Horror (some touches are okay in SFF) Picture books Chapter books Animal protagonists Flowery language in fantasy Very technical or math-heavy sci-fi Historical fiction WW2 or cops or Civil War/antebellum “Inspirational”

What I’m Looking For: Aida Z. Lilly was originally published on kt literary

[evrthquakegirl]

        what’s up y’all.  i’m penny,  20,  from chicago,  &  i never learned how to fuckin’ read.  i’m bringing forth  DAISY JOHNSON  for y’all,  and in short she can bring down entire cities bc she’s an inhuman,  and an agent of shield.  under the cut is the bio for her but honestly it’s long and if u dont wanna read it just know daisy johnson is a Woman who’s good side u wanna be on.  if u wanna plot just hmu with them likes or slide into my DM.

Born in the Hunan Province in China, Daisy was classified as an 0-8-4 as an infant. Her mother was ripped apart by Hydra for her regenerative Inhuman abilities while her father slowly warped into someone violently unrecognizable as he tried to make himself stronger so that he could bring their daughter home. After a village and two teams of S.H.I.E.L.D. died trying to protect her, she was sent to live at St. Agnes Orphanage. Despite desperately trying to make adoption work, especially with a family called the Brodys, Daisy never could and ultimately ended up spending her childhood in the orphanage, until she ran away at age 16 and dropped out of high school.

Under the alias Skye, she became obsessed with learning the truth about her parents’ identity. She learned everything that she could about computers and hacking which lead her to a ‘hacktivist’ group called Rising Tide. They shared similar ideals about freedom and the accessibility about information. She stayed with the group for two years, living inside of an RV.

Ultimately, however, this lead her to catching S.H.I.E.L.D’s attention. Her hacking ability put her onto Phil Coulson’s radar. He ended up recruiting her for his team, despite conflicting loyalties. With his ragtag group, Daisy became an invaluable member of their team, and helped Coulson to rebuild the organization.

As she worked to stop HYDRA, she finally, finally found her father. She discovered that her mother had an alien-based origin and was exposed to Terrigen Mist. This triggered her vibration based powers and attracted the attention of the Inhumans. They lead her to Afterlife, and there, she was reunited with her mother and trained to better understand her powers. Unfortunately, her relationship with her mother and father was short-lived. Her mother had been twisted by her trauma and ultimately tried to kill Daisy, killed in the process herself by Daisy’s father, when she didn’t go along with her plans. Her father had to have his memories erased so that he wouldn’t be a threat to anyone.

Finally assuming her birth name, Daisy Johnson created a group called the Secret Warriors. With her group of Inhumans, she combated HYDRA. Unfortunately, Hive controlled her mind, and under that control, she acted as his right hand woman. After the heroic sacrifice of Lincoln Campbell, she left S.H.I.E.L.D. and began acting as a vigilante known as Quake. Post her vigilante phase, she’s made connections with a certain Ghost Rider, and has made her way back to S.H.I.E.L.D.  After defeating the android AIDA with Robbie Reyes and bringing her friends back to the real world, Daisy’s now a valued agent who once again, runs the Secret Warriors under S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mentorship. Still, she has her rebel streak in which she’ll do things for Inhumans and her people on her own time - but her loyalty remains with Coulson and her team.

[tmntreasures]

Honor Among Thieves Ch.14

Note: It’s another long one, so I’m putting it under “Keep Reading!” Hope you enjoy! ;P

With the help of Raphael, Aida was able to wrestle Bonnie to sleep after about thirty or so minutes. Aida turned in for the night soon after, but the turtles stayed up doing their nightly activities. Once it was morning again Aida left for her family, but Bonnie was lost in deep sleep. Her eyes flickering, as her mind dreamed. It conjured a scene believable to what she was currently living in real life, except there was one thing out of place...

"Drake?" She narrowed her eyes in disbelief when she saw the rapper waltz into the main room of the lair with a baby in his arms.

"Yeah… Long time no see." He answered while staring down at the baby.

Bonnie grinned happily and clasped her hands together. "You remember me from the two thousand and sixteen concert? I stole my way into the backstage meet n greet!"

"Yup," He finally looked up at her as well as gazing around the room. "Sooo...This your crib?"

She scoffed and laughed nervously. "Nah… Just some stupid boys I know." She stopped and licked her lips. "Sooo... Can we have sex?" She asked.

Drake clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "I got a damn baby in my arms!" He gestured to the child.

"Well, just give 'em to the rat! He's old like a grandpa and stuff..." She shrugged.

"There's a rat here?" He raised a brow.

"Mhmm, and four turtles." She nodded and shrugged.

Drake couldn’t help but to laugh a little. "What the fuck?"

"I know, but you get used to it." She laughed with him.

He stared at the baby for a while in thought, before clicking his tongue again. "Alright." He sighed and put the child to the side.

"Yay!" Bonnie clapped her hands happily and quickly ran over to him. He put a hand to her check and leaned forward to kiss her. Right as their lips were about to meet, she could feel herself being shaken out of her dream. At first, she thought Drake was calling out her name, but after a few seconds the voice started to alter into someone else’s.

“Bonnie… Bonnie… Bonnie wake up!” Leonardo ordered as he shook her shoulders lightly.

She opened her eyes slowly as she was dazed. It took her eyes a few secnds to adjust and when she saw who was standing over her, she growled. "You're not Drake." She pulled her covers up and over her head.

"That is correct." He huffed and grabbed the blanket, yanking it off her.

She gasped a little and latched onto it, pulling it back to her. "Leo, fuck ooofff!" She grumbled as her head began to pound. "I mean- What time is it anyways, you shouldn't even be awake."

"It's seven in the morning, and you wanted jiu jitsu training. Remember?" He said before grabbing her by the ankles and pulling her off the couch.

"No!!" She cried out and dug her claws into the furniture, trying to hold on. "I was just kidding! I'm good!" She whined.

"There's no escaping now. Not even if I have to drag you to the dojo." He smirked and promptly did so.

Her hangover was starting to settle in hard, making it hard to resist him. "No, Dojo Daddy please!" She begged and she was pulled across the floor.  "Don't punish meee..."

Meanwhile, above the surface, Aida was prepping lunches for her siblings again. Riqui and Rosa were both sitting next to each other, their eyes glued to the comic book Michelangelo had lent to her.

"Aida!" Rosa looked up and pointed at the one of the pages, "What's this word?"

"Gonna have to spell it out for me," She responded as she began to make PB&J sandwiches. Breakfast took longer than usual to make since the twins got excited over the comic book. She had to tell them they were only borrowing it and told them to be gentle with it; of course then she had to scold them when they almost ripped a corner, which made them cry and then she had to calm them down. For six thirty in the morning, they were already being so emotional.

"D-o-u-c-h-e," Riqui answered for her.

"Oh, that's 'douche'," Aida replied.

"Well, what is it?" They both asked.

She hesitated, but before she could make something up, Montae hopped down the steps and answered. "It's a weird thing girls use to clean their coño."

"Montae!" Aida snapped at him and shook a finger, "Language! They're eight!"

"So?" He shrugged, snagging an apple from the fridge and dodging her slap. "I heard worse things from--" He stopped when he saw the comic book and snatched it from the table, ignoring the twins' cries. "W-where did you get this!?" His eyes were wide as he flipped through the pages before staring at the cover.

Aida furrowed her brow before answering, "A friend lent it to me so the twins could read it. Why?"

He snapped up at her and pointed at the thin book, "This issue is worth two grand and he let you give it to some babies?! Es un maldito idiota!"

"Hey!" She growled at him. "He's not an idiot, he's just nice!"

He huffed and shook his head. "Nice people are idiots, hermana," he clicked his tongue and shook the issue. "Betchu he's trying to get in your pants. Better watch it~."

It was her turn to scoff and she rolled her eyes. "Yeah right," She argued. "I'm not his type." She finished packing their lunches and snapped her fingers. "Go get Orlan and give me the comic book, it's time for you guys to go to school."

"But we're not done reading it!" Rosa complained.

"And you will finish reading it tomorrow," Aida explained. "There's no way I'm leaving any of you alone if that comic really is worth that much!" She held out her hand and glared at her brother.

 He hesitated and finally clicked his tongue, handing it back to her. "Fiiiine..." He stomped up the stairs and soon the four of them were ushered off to school before the girl returned to the lair below, the comic issue tucked safely in her bag.

"Stop it." Leonardo said sternly as he dodged the kisses Bonnie was trying to put on him.

"What?" Bonnie giggled and grinned. "C'mon, you can't say this wouldn't catch you off guard in a fight." She fidgeted trying to get out of the hold he had her in.

"No one would fall for this in real life!" He argued.

Bonnie clicked her tongue and smirked. "Your brothers did!" She perked her brows at him.

Leonardo growled and sat up on his knees. "If you're not gonna take this seri-" He stopped when he saw her trying to crawl off and he grabbed her by pants and pulled her back. "Listen!! Ugh... You're worse than Mikey, I swear."

"Uggh! We've been at this for hours! I haven't even eaten breakfast!" She groaned.

"It's called discipline! Once you actually participate, you can have food!" He responded.

---

Raphael was watching them from the other side of the room, chuckling at the torture Bonnie was putting his brother through. It was fun seeing Leonardo get frustrated and flustered; it showed the fearless leader had weaknesses after all.

"Wait, she's actually doing the training?" Aida piped up as she entered the lair.

"Yeah," Raphael answered, his eyes never leaving the girl's form as she struggled beneath the blue-clad turtle. "She's really putting up a fuss. It's really cute."

The latina girl raised a brow at him and smacked his arm. "Ooooh. The big one does like chocolate~." She teased.

"N-not like that!" He defended himself, shrugging away from her. "It's just...i-it's funny, okay? Leo says he can do sooo much better than all of us, but even he's having problems with her!" He grumbled and began to walk off. "Where's my egg? I need to keep practicin'..."

---

Bonnie huffed as she sat up on her knees. "If I manage to punch you in the jaw, will you let me go eat then?"

Leonardo scoffed, "You can tr-" He stopped and moved out of the way when she swung at him. "Like I was saying-" He moved again.

"Hold still will ya?" She growled and swung at him again. This time he caught her fist and countered her with a punch back in the arm. "Ow!!" She screamed and immediately tended to her shoulder. "What the fuck?" She hissed.

He shrugged. "What? I'm not allowed to hit back?"

---

"Yo, it's too early for this..." Michelangelo yawned as he strolled into the kitchen of the lair.

Donatello noticed Michelangelo walk in; the noise had awoken the tech-loving ninja as well, but he spent his time making some coffee and checking out the police chatter. "Mornin' sunshiiine!" He teased his little brother.

"Mmm" Mikey grumbled and dropped a pair of poptarts in a toaster. "How long have they been at it?" He yawned again.

"For a couple of hours," Donatello answered before turning to the monitors. "I kinda got good news though. I've been keeping tabs on gang activity and it looks like whoever was after the girls got bored." He frowned a little and shrugged. "So...they won't need us anymore."

---

Aida shook her head as she watched the two spar. "Go for his elbow!" She hollered at Bonnie. "He's ticklish there!"

"Nah, behind the knee!" Raphael added as he walked back to the viewing area, the egg in his hand. "He hates it there!"

---

"Look," Bonnie said in a hushed tone. "Let’s make a deal. I let you win, and you let me eat. Everyone will see how high and mighty you are. That's what you want right?" She nodded.

Leonardo smirked and shook his head. "You say it like you could actually beat me. Also, I'll get more satisfaction out of it if I can actually break you."

She groaned. "I'm not a fighter!" She whined.

"Well what would you do if ran into somebody while stealing?"

"I would run! That's what I do! I run! I could out run you!" She nodded.

He scoffed. "No you couldn't."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but an idea came to mind and she raised her brows. "Wanna make a bet?"

Leo mimicked her expression and crossed his arms. "I'm listening."

"We race, I win, you let me eat. If you win-"

"You will call me sensei. No more Dojo Daddy…" He interjected.

She smirked and shrugged. "Deal."

---

"A race?" Raphael echoed.

"I feel like I've seen this before..." Aida mumbled as she recalled the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. She looked at Raphael and held out her hand. "One hundred pesos says she wins."

He gave her an incredulous look and huffed. "I don't have that kind of money! Besides, I know how fast she is. Of course she'll win!"

Aida smirked and shrugged, "Dude, one hundred pesos is five bucks."

He furrowed his brow in disbelief, "Wait, seriously? Why didn't you just say that then?"

She wiggled a finger at him. "Because it's fun to see people who don't know get flustered."

---

"Alright," Leonardo stood up on his feet and held out a hand to Bonnie to help her up too. Bonnie huffed and stood up on her own. Leo sighed a little and walked out of the dojo. He nodded in the direction of the exit they used for the turtle van. Its pathway was clear since the van was currently waiting outside the sewers. "There." He said. "Well start at the entrance, go all the way down, and then circle back."

Bonnie laughed mischievously and walked to the couch to get her shoes. "You about to get schooled boy."

---

"Don't look so sad Donnie!" Mikey responded as he waited on his poptarts to be cooked. He leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms. "This just means we don't have to worry about them as much, aaannddd-" He pointed a finger at him. "It also means we can visit now!" He grinned.

"Visit?" Donatello furrowed his brow and smirked a little. "You really think they're gonna let us visit them?" He nodded off in the direction the girls were in. "Aida's got a large family, so good luck staying hidden from them. And Bonnie..." He paused and frowned, watching the girl getting ready for her race with Leonardo. "...I don't know if she'll want us to visit."

"Aww, c'mon. Bonnie?" Michelangelo looked over in her direction as well. "I think she just plays hard like Raph, but deep down inside she's got a creamy center."

“You ready for an ass whoppin?!" Bonnie taunted loudly as she bounced back and forth on her feet.

Michelangelo cringed at her remark and licked his bottom lip. "Uhh.. Besides! If we can't hang out with them, we'll just take them out! Go to the Statue of Liberty,  watch a basketball game or something." He finished and just as he did his poptarts popped from the toaster. He immediately went after them and flinched back when they burnt his fingers. "Ow!" He hissed and stuck them in his mouth.

Donatello hummed in thought and shrugged. "I guess so..." He was a little hopeful the girls would still want to be friends with them; after all, their three other human contacts did.

---

"All I hear is a lot of bark. No bite." Leo held out his arms and shrugged. "Aida! Count us down," he ordered and then got into position.

Raphael sat on a ledge and grinned, still fiddling with the egg. This was going to be great! Leonardo could finally get a taste of just how tricky this girl was; then he would have to admit it was never his fault she got away in the first place! He tapped Aida's arm and grinned, "Be sure to record the ending. I wanna re-watch Leonardo's face when he loses."

Aida giggled and nodded before holding her hand in the air. "Five...! Four...! Three...! Two...! One, GO!" She slapped her hand down, signaling for the two to begin.

As soon as the final word left Aida's mouth, the two were off. They were head to head for a while, sometimes one advancing the other, but neither of them ever got too far behind. When they were coming up to the turn, Leo glanced over to Bonnie for a moment and saw that she was looking right back at him. She gave him a mischievous grin before looking forward again. This was where she kicked it up.

Instead of touching the floor with her hand and turning back, she kicked off the wall in front of her, using the moment to give her a boost. She dashed off when she touched the floor, and it was double the speed she was running before. Leonardo cursed under his breath when she cut the turn so cleanly; wondering why he hadn't thought of something like that himself. He thought about how he might make it if he pushed himself into a sprint, but realized it was an useless effort. She was fast, really fast. Faster than him, but he was gonna finish this race. Even if it was after her.

Bonnie cackled when she crossed the finish line. Taking in a deep breath and grinning at Leo when he came in several seconds after her. "Dojo daddy for life!!" She pointed at him.

He stared down at her and thought about excuses he could make to justify his lost, like how she was smaller and thinner than he was, and how in a real race if she didn't touch the ground she would be disqualified, but he knew there was no glory in being a sore-loser. Instead he stood tall and smiled at her. "Good job." He patted her shoulder and walked past her. "What would you like to eat? I'm cooking."

Bonnie blinked in surprise at how well he was taking the loss. It was definitely not the reaction she expected, or the reaction she wanted. "…Wait, what?" She called out to him.

---

"Aww what? Leonardo's gonna cook?! I would've waited if I knew that!" Michelangelo whined and tossed down the half eaten-poptart in front of him.

Aida grinned and cheered loudly, "Yeaaah! Kicked his ass puta!"

Raphael was grinning widely and threw his arms in the air, inadvertently throwing the egg across the room. "Yeaah!" He cheered and ran up to Bonnie, scooping her up easily before setting her on his shoulder. "Ya did it! Ya beat his smug lil' face!" He held on to her legs as he spun around, laughing and grinning.

Bonnie gasped a little when Raph picked her up, though she smiled when she saw how excited and proud of her he was. She giggled and puffed out her chest, placing a hand to it. "Well, ya know. Somebodies gotta do it~"

Leonardo rolled his eyes and went to the cupboards. "Do you like pancakes?" He hollered out.

"Hell yeah, I like pancakes! Oh!--" She snapped her fingers and pointed. "Throw in the nutella we got!"

Leonardo chuckled and sighed. "Fine."

"Ooh! And we still have some strawberries left I think!" Michelangelo added.

"Woohoo! Pancakes! Pancakes!" Aida began to cheer as Donatello rose from his seat.

"Wow! You actually beat him!" The lean turtle beamed, clearly impressed. He knew she had been fast, but not that fast. The girl really was like a rabbit.

"I told you guys," Raphael huffed, still carrying the girl as he walked over to their little dining area. "But did you guys listen? Nooo!" Very slowly he squatted down and slid her to the floor, smirking proudly when he noticed he didn't hurt her this time around. Bonnie stood up proud, placing her hands on her hips and grinning widely.

Michelangelo walked over to the kitchen table and pulled out a chair for him to sit in, He leaned back in it and crossed his arm. "I always knew she could do it." He smirked.

"How?" Leonardo asked as he mixed the ingredients together for pancakes. "We just decided to have a race."

Mikey shrugged and kicked his feet up onto the table. "I could see the urge for a challenge in your eyes." He clenched his fist at his brother. Leonardo rolled his eyes.

"Man, I forgot how good that felt." Bonnie put a finger to her lips and smiled more. She glanced around at the other turtles and raised a brow. "Anyone else wanna go? I can wear heels if it would make it easier on ya." She teased.

Donatello laughed and raised a hand, "I'll go! But, please don't wear heels. I see April wear those and don't know how she does it..." Without thinking, he pulled out a chair for Bonnie to sit in.

Raphael, of course, jabbed his thumb into his own chest. "I'd like a rematch! This time, I won't get stuck in no alley!" He grinned, loving the idea of a second chance to catch her.

"Okay, we watched the same race right?" Aida gestured between herself and the giant turtle, sitting next to Michelangelo. "She fuckin' flew!"

"Well, yeah..." He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "But I still wanna try!"

Bonnie couldn't help but grin ear to ear from all the praise she was getting. It reminded her of her younger days in high school when she was on the track team. "Try all you like big boy, but you ain't gonna beat me~" She said, sliding into the chair Donatello had pulled out for her.

"Oooh, I'll try," He grinned playfully. "And one day, I will!"

"I'm good." Michelangelo replied. "I know when I'm beat." He nodded.

Donatello rolled his eyes but smiled, sitting down at the table. "Better get used to it," He told Bonnie. "In case you haven't noticed, Raphael is stubborn. Once he's got his mind made up, nothing will change it."

The large turtle huffed, "Damn right!" He paused and began to search frantically for a particular item. "H-hey! Where's my egg at?"

"You threw it, remember?" Aida answered. "Right before you picked up Bonnie."

He grabbed his head and groaned. "Arrggh! Damn it! I was doing so good!"

"Well, you managed to pick Bonnie up without crushing her," Donatello grinned. "So I don't think you need it anymore."

"Wait, that's why you were carrying that thing around?" Bonnie raised a brow at Raph. "Practicing for little ol' me?" She teased and poked him in the arm with a finger.

He blushed and shrugged away from her. "W-well, you know. I was sick of making you cry..."

"Aww!" She cooed and squeezed his arm. "You do have a heart afterall!"

"Or a hard on..." Michelangelo mumbled.

Raphael punched Michelangelo hard in the arm but kept the smile on his face. He took the spot in between the girls. The five of them talked as they waited for the food, laughing and having a good time.

After about fifteen minutes, Leonardo came to the table with two stacks of pancakes. One shorter stack coated with nutella and strawberries, and a larger regular stack. He sat the nutella pancakes in front of Bonnie, and then the regular pancakes in the middle of the table for everyone else to share.  He passed out plates and silverware before setting down next to Donatello. "Dig in." He said.

"Oooh!" Bonnie cooed and grabbed a fork. "This looks so good! I can't believe you act-" She stopped and shook her head. "Thanks."

Leonardo waited with his fingers intertwined for everyone else to dig in before he did. "You're welcome." He smiled and nodded.

Donatello took four pancakes while Raphael grabbed six. Aida only took two and nodded at their stacks. "Better be happy you boys work out so much. Otherwise you wouldn't have six-packs," She nodded, taking a small bite.

"Well, Leo's cooking is really good." Donatello said around a mouthful of food. "But we get so exhausted from training we hardly ever have time to cook."

She frowned a little, "Is that why you guys order so much pizza?"

Raphael shook his head. "No. We order pizza 'cause it's great."

She clicked her tongue and shook her head. "You clearly have never had good tacos."

Mikey jabbed his fork into the stack, pulling three pancakes back to his plate. "Tacos are so messy though." He argued.

“What about sushi?" Bonnie chewed on her food. "Seems like something you guys would be into."

"Sushi's great." Leonardo nodded and grabbed him a plate of pancakes. "But it takes long to make, and fresh fish is better than frozen. Which we aren't going to get any of around here."

Aida chewed her food quickly in order to argue. "But wait. You guys are turtles. You can swim!" She gestured to the room, "Just go for a swim and find some fish in the river or something!"

"Are you talking about the Hudson River?" Donatello pointed a fork at her. "You do realize that river is disgusting right?"

"And you guys live in a sewer," She shrugged.

"Sure, but we're clean about it," Raphael counted on his fingers. "And we're not eating the shit people flush down."

"Not to mention all that pollution might mutate us more than we already are," Donatello chuckled before taking another bite.

"Speaking of which..." Bonnie swallowed. "Is it-gonna rub off on us?"

"What?... The mutation?" Leo raised a brow.

"Yeah." She shrugged.

Leonardo laughed. "No." He shook his head and smiled. "Well, at least I don't think so?" He looked to Donatello for reassurance. "I mean, April and the others have been around us for a pretty long time and no mutations yet." He laughed again.

Raphael shifted in his seat and swallowed. "Well...April's thumbs are kinda wide actually." He pointed to his own thumb, "I don't remember them bein' that way when we first met."

Donatello shook his head, "No, they were like that. It's called 'clubbed thumbs'." Aida cringed a little at the confession, but sighed of relief when the purple turtle corrected him.

The red turtle turned to Bonnie and nodded. "Okay, you're good."

"What's wrong with a little mutation? You guys could be the first giotles!" Mikey chimed in.

"Giotles?" Bonnie repeated.

"Girl turtles!" He grinned and laughed as well.

Bonnie closed her eyes and shook her head. "I should've known." She sighed.

Aida huffed and pointed, "If I had a choice to mutate into something, it wouldn't be a turtle. I'd be a mongoose."

Raphael snorted and shook his head. "A what? That sounds ridiculous. How is that better than a turtle? Can it even swim?"

The girl shrugged, "No idea, but mongooses fight and eat snakes for breakfast. You gotta admit, that's pretty bad ass."

He wiggled his fingers and acted impressed. "Oooh, snaaaakes! So scary~."

Leonardo chuckled and sighed. "Sooo, you girls must be excited to sleep in your own beds again, huh?" He raised his head.

Bonnie's eyebrows perked, and she didn't realize what he had meant right away. "Huh?"

Leonardo blinked and returned her confused look. "Uh...You guys get to leave." He said slowly.

Her eyes grew wider and she was quiet for a few seconds before speaking again. "O-Oh! Right!" She stared down at her plate in thought. Somehow, this place had felt like a second... She frowned at the thought, not wanting to admit it.

The thought didn't shake Aida too badly since she was able to return to the surface every morning. However it still made her frown a little. "Well, sure but...we'll still be allowed to visit right?"

The question took Donatello off guard so Raphael answered instead. "What's this? You sayin you're gonna miss us?"

"I figured I'd ask so I know if I gotta steal something first to get down here." She grinned.

"Of course!!" Mikey jumped in happily. "Visit us whenever you want!"

"Just try not to bring anyone else back with you... We'd like to keep our status unknown to the public." Leonardo added.

"Aww darn," she snapped her fingers, "I was hoping to bring my whole family!".

"Oh, speaking of which! How'd the kids like the comic?" Mikey asked.

"The twins loved it!" Aida beamed. "Montage says the issue is worth a lot of money..." she frowned and nodded off deeper into the room. "I brought it with me so they wouldn't ruin it."

"Yeah, Donatello said it was worth a good amount but-- There's not much we can do with money so I never really worried about it."

"Wait..." Aida looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "You knew it was valuable. And let a bunch of kids read it anyway?"

Mikey smiled a little and shrugged. "Why not?"

"W-well..." she started, completely caught off guard by his selflessness. "Most people wouldn't let kids look at something worth that much..."

"Hmm, it is worth a lot isn't it?" He tapped a finger on his arm and looked up in thought. "You guys don't have much either... Why don't you sell it?" He looked back down to Aida.

Leonardo blinked in surprise and nearly choked on his food. He bumped his fist to his chest to clear his throat. "Wait, what?"

"What?" He looked over to him innocently. "Like I said before, we don't really have much use for money. Practically everything down here we either found, or made." He shrugged again.

"Y-Yeah, but Mikey.." Leo fumbled for words.

Aida's eyes widened and she smacked her head on the table. "No way! I'm not selling your comic book!"

"Well technically, it's not even mine, I just found it." He stuck out his tongue. "Just do it! I want you to have the money! You need it!"

Aida was conflicted. On the one hand, the issue was worth enough to keep her family in the house and fed for a month or two. On the other hand, guilt made her hesitant. They had caught her stealing numerous times, hadn't turned her in, and kept her and her friend safe from a mad man. If she accepted, she would feel like a bum.

"I'm not going to sell your comic book, Michelangelo." She stated firmly. "I...I'll get a job instead!"

Mikey went to speak again, but Leonardo jumped in before he could. "That's very admirable of you Aida." He nodded. "And we're gonna hold you to it." He pointed at her and smiled a bit.

Mikey huffed and leaned back in his chair with crossed arms. He was disappointed when she wouldn't take his offer, and thought he was doing a good deed, but he couldn't force her to do something if she didn't want to. He hummed and tapped his finger on his arm again. "Well... If you ever really need it. The offer still stands."

She nodded at Leonardo before turning to the smaller turtle. "Thank you," she squeezed his arm a little and smiled. "I mean it."

"You're welcome." He said and returned the smile.

---

Bonnie was still fixated on her plate. She touched her food with a fork every once in a while, but didn't put anything in her mouth. She couldn't believe this was really happening. Right now, she was sitting at a table with four, teenage mutant ninja turtles; eating a home cooked meal with them like they were family. Her heart skipped a beat when the thought crossed her mind. Soon they'd be taking her back up the surface and saying their goodbyes... She thought she'd be happy when she left this place, but now she was unsure.

Raphael frowned at Bonnie, noticing the change in her mood. Before he could say anything, Donatello spoke first.

"You okay Bonnie?" The leaner turtle asked, genuinely concerned.

"Huh?" Bonnie perked up. "O-Oh! Yeah, I'm good. My stomach just hurts a little cause I ate so fast." She clenched on to her gut, trying to make the lie a bit more believable.

"Oh," Donatello shrugged, "Well, we should have some medicine if you need it..." he trailed off.

Raphael stared at the girl, knowing she was lying. He knew that tone and that look before. Though he didn't know why she was lying, he still felt a little upset. Things were starting to get good and feel normal. What happened to change that for her all of a sudden?

"Nah, I'll be alright." She waved him off and stood up from her seat. "I'm gonna hit the shower... If we're done with training, Dojo Daddy?" She raised a brow at Leonardo.

He shook his head but smiled. "We're done for the day."

"Good." She nodded, and left the table.

Raphael wanted to go after her but figured she really did need a shower to let whatever she was feeling out. He took another bite before standing. "I'm gonna read some comics."

Inside the shower room, Bonnie had the water running, but wasn't in the shower just yet. She was sitting on the toilet with the lid down, thinking about the conversations they had at the kitchen table. She was going to be leaving this place soon, so why wasn't she happier about it? When she thought about the four turtles and how she got to know them her eyes watered and she clenched back the tears. "What the fuck? This is so stupid!..." She hissed and wiped at her eyes. She sighed and looked up to the ceiling, thinking how she didn't want to say goodbye. Somehow the creatures imprinted on her; though she didn't want to admit it. She wouldn't... With a nod of her head, she had made up her mind and decided that she'd would leave tonight, without saying goodbye.

[zevakritpel]

Hell-bent: Chapter 4- GET'CHA HEAD IN THE GAME

<Chapter 3       Chapter 5>

Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke

Pairing: Aokise, MomoRiko, Kagakuro, MuroMura, more???

u can find this on AO3 lol

Summary: Adult AU, Criminal Underworld AU. Where Kagami Taiga is a young heir suddenly targeted by 6 rather dangerous members of the criminal underworld (each with their own set of personal troubles), and Kuroko is a bodyguard with a dark past.

Warning: Violence, Strong language, a lil dark and angsty sometimes. Getting spicier ;^)

[Saturday. 12:49. Forgive Me ]

All good things must come to an end, as the smitten public in this café know all too well; they look on tearfully, sighing with collective disappointment when the dangerously good-looking pair finally take their leave. Though they depart now, perhaps the beauties will one day return to grace the shop once more with their presence...one can only hope.

"Th-thank you for your patronage! Please come again!!!"

Back out on the street, Momoi and Kise get ready to part ways.

"Geez, that Dai-chan...he actually took off," Momoi sighs, shaking her head apologetically. It's not like she hadn't been expecting this, but come on. At this rate, she'll have to leave it to Ki-chan, and though Momoi gets it, she's concerned the model may be too consumed with thoughts of Tetsu-kun and the game to give Dai-chan a proper 'challenge' (so to speak).

...Or not. One side glance at Kise's profile is enough to dispel most of Momoi's worries: yeah, that's a nice expression he's got there.

"Oh, I doubt he's gone far," the model mutters in an uncharacteristically dark tone, staring fixedly on something in the distance. After a pause, he snaps his gaze back momentarily to Momoi and flashes her one last farewell grin.

"Thanks for today, Momocchi. I'm sure we'll talk soon."

"Take care, Ki-chan!"

Momoi waves goodbye, then turns to start walking in the opposite direction.

A large part of her hopes that Ki-chan succeeds in coming through to Tetsu-kun tonight, but....well, realistically....

It takes her a solid half hour to reach her next destination, as she makes a point of dipping through back alleys and secret short cuts to get to the more unsavoury part of this cesspool of a city.

Finally, at the end of a long string of dilapidated buildings and deserted houses, lies an old, rundown Catholic church. Judging from the shattered stain glass windows, the vulgar graffiti splattered across the walls, and the layers of grime that have accumulated around the grounds, it would appear that this church hasn't been in use for a long, long time.

After a quick check of her surroundings (doesn't look like she's been followed), Momoi pushes past the heavy oak wood doors and enters the building.

The air inside is dusty and stale, as expected, the floor littered with dirt, cobwebs, and is...that a dirty condom?  Not to mention the rat that Momoi's pretty sure is crawling out by the long-unused altar...still, she's too struck with a wave of nostalgia to be particularly bothered.

Even all dark and abandoned, places like these always remind her of the old days, with Tetsu-kun and Dai-chan, when the three of them would sneak out and hide between the pews of the orphanage chapel a lifetime ago...

A small cough from the far left side  interrupts Momoi's sentimentality, a signal to the information broker that it's time for an update.

She takes a seat in the confessional booth, and as she does so, the screen between compartments slides open.

"Sakurai-kun. What an interesting rendez-vous point you chose. But did we have to talk through the confessional, or-"

"S-sorry. I didn't want to be followed so I... and, in case anyone sees...in any case I'm really sorr-"

"O-oh, no, no it's fine. So? What do you have for me?"

"Sorry. She ended up taking the bait, but before I could do anything, some third party group moved in and attacked."

Whoah whoah whoah.

What.

"Sor-...I mean, what's this?"

"I'M SORRY. I'm really really sorry."

"No, it's okay, Sakur-"

"-So sorry-"

"It's oka-"

"Sorry. I didn't plan ahead for that kind of situation."

"It's not your fault, you don't need to apolo-"

"SORRY. I DIDN'T CONTACT YOU EARLIER BECAUSE THE INCIDENT MADE ME PARANOID AND I WAITED TO MAKE SURE I WASN'T BEING FOLLOWED, SO I'M SORRY I AM WORTHLESS AND INCOMPETENT"

Having to deal with the likes of Aomine for about two decades has certainly helped Momoi develop a hardy patience, but she isn't sure she'll ever be advanced enough to properly handle the mess that is alias Sakurai Ryou.

"Sakurai-kun, you didn't do anything wrong. Is there anything else you can tell me about what happened?"

"Sorry. There was another guy with her, he looked kind of stupid. Got shot in the right shoulder."

"A subordinate?"

"Most likely."

"How's Aida, then?"

"They clipped her, but she was able to drive away in time."

"And the assailants, what did they look like?"

"They drove past in a black SUV, I couldn't get a proper look. I'm sorr-"

" You did a good job, I'll look into the rest of that later today and contact you after that. Thanks for your hard work!"

Momoi escapes before Sakurai takes the opportunity to squeeze another hundred apologies.

What a troubling development...

Could it be something to do with Muk-kun's news earlier this morning, or is it something else entirely....?

Whoever it is, how dare they get in the way of her fight with Aida Riko. Since Ki-chan's working hard tonight, Momoi must also step her game up.

Speaking of Ki-chan...Momoi wonders how Dai-chan is holding up...

[Saturday. 13:03. Just So We're Clear, That Is A Gun In My Pocket And I'm Not Happy To See You]

By the time Aomine realizes the warm weather is getting to him, he's already made it halfway home, with his shirt clinging to the sweaty skin of his back, and his head and throat suffering from sharp dehydration pains. Probably should have reconsidered walking home under this sun in a black shirt, but it's too late for regrets now.

For some reason, Aomine was too preoccupied to notice all this until now.

Luckily, an oasis in the form of a vending machine is close at hand. Aomine heads straight to it, rifling through his pants' pockets for loose change. He wants Aquarius, but what kind should he get...

Aomine slips the money through a slot, and presses the button for his desired sports drink, and...

Hm. Presses it again.

....one more time.

.................six more times, very rapidly.

Inhales deeply, then tries another button. Nothing.

Okay. If that's how things are going to be, then it's time to change tactics. Gripping either side of the vending machine, Aomine begins channeling his rapidly- growing rage through his hands. He gets in a ready stance, about to show this damned contraption exactly who it's dealing with.

However, before Aomine even has the chance to engage in battle, a hand suddenly reaches under his arm and makes a selection.

A bottle of mineral water immediately drops down from its holding place, and the difference in change rattles out: transaction complete.

".....................Goddamnit Kise.."

"Hey, Aominecchi~. Long time no see."

Ahh..

That voice...this is a hundred times worse than he imagined it would be.

Aomine turns around, dark blue eyes narrowed menacingly to glower at the real fucking problem beaming back at him.

"'Hey~' my ass. Do you wanna die? You'd better buy me my drink right now."

"Ehhhh?? That's what you have to say aft-...ah ! He walked away! Aoooomineeeecchiiii waiiit!!!"

There's a bench sitting under the shade of a bus stop some fifty meters away, and this is where Aomine waits, legs outstretched, for Kise to catch up.

There's really no chance of running away now, huh...

No non ono . What? It's not like that. It's ..not. Like. That.

Before Aomine has the chance to settle his thoughts, Kise is already bouncing back, equipped with a clear plastic bottle.

"Here!" the model chirps, tossing the drink into the air for Aomine to catch. He remains standing, siding himself next to the bench...close enough that Aomine can smell the faint scent of his cologne.

"Tch. Why'd you get me lemon flavour..."

"You left before telling me what you wanted!"

Aomine freezes. Hearing Kise say those words, even out of context and in that playful, pouty tone, is momentarily jarring, for reasons he doesn't fully want to understand. He recovers quickly by twisting the top off his blissfully cool bottle and drains half the contents in one go.

"Oh, you're drinking it anyways..."

"So?  What do you want."

The corners of Kise's mouth twitch, and he leans his shoulder against the metal post next to the bench before responding:

"....You were there earlier, right?"

Geh.

"This is the first time in years Aominecchi has come close to me, of course I'm going to take the opportunity to see you."

Ah fuck.

Aomine shifts, so that his body is facing slightly away from Kise, and flips the bottle in his hand nonchalantly.

"Ah, that? Don't misunderstand. It's because Satsuki told me-"

A silence ensues, long enough for Kise to move closer to Aomine, tilting his head to the side expectantly for the rest of the explanation.

"-Because Satsuki told me to do it............By the way, what's with the glasses? They look stupid?"

Nailed it.

"Oh, these?" Kise taps the red frames, golden eyes blinking innocently as he tries to adjust to the abrupt subject change.

"My manager told me to try and hide my face when I'm out during the day, otherwise the fangirls get too much-"

"UGH"

God, the earnest way he answered is annoying in itself, but more importantly: what, is he Midorima to seriously think that throwing on a pair of glasses counts as a disguise?

"I want my concern back..."

"Hmmm?! What's this, Aominecchi was worried about me?"

"Huh, who'd be concerned about a fucking idiot."

"sob.....Aominecchi..."

There's a sudden lightness in Aomine's chest, as if a weight has been pried off him. Though he'd rather die than admit it, he wonders if  perhaps this is relief from the knowledge that in spite of everything, Kise's stupid brightness hasn't dimmed out. Even if it's a false light, the familiarity of this banter alone is somehow ....comforting.

Carried away by this rush of this strange new feeling, the (more-or-less unemployed) fighter opens his mouth to speak...

"Kise-"

...only to be interrupted by the untimely buzzing of Kise's phone. Fucking classic.

"Ah sorry Aominecchi, can you hold that thought? I need to take this."

The model steps aside, casting an rueful look at Aomine as he raises the phone to his ear.

" Heyaaaaa P-chan <3.  It's so unusual for you to call me!!"

.............Who is he talking to?

Aomine looks away and swallows the rest of his sports drink, ignoring Kise as he chatters away into his phone. No, no, no, the false light is flashy and annoying, after all.

Hpmh.

"Ehhh? Right now? Well, if it's P-chan it's okay, but you'll have to take me to karaoke to make up for it! Ok ok, see you soon."

The model hangs up with a small sigh, then perks up again, raising two fingers in a V.

"Sorry, Aominecchi, looks like I have to go~. Let's catch up another time?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Bye."

Kise turns to go, and as he does so, the silver chain around his neck lifts up from the movement, and the cross at the end catches a flash of sunlight.

"Ao...minecchi?"

By the time his mind catches up to his body, which moved of its own accord, Aomine becomes painfully aware that he's gripping Kise's wrist.

Ahhh.......no going back now, huh.

[Saturday. 14:00. ..........]

"....................................-"

"Mi.....tobe?"

"!!!!............."

"AHaa aww hey...so it must have been you I heard calling out to me..."

"......................."

"Hey, hey, don't say that. This is nothing, I'm totally fin- *cough* - fine. Oooh that smarts..."

"................................"

"'You should've been there' ..?  Oiii. Riko gave you an important mission, right, so like, there's no way that's tru-"

"................."

"Mitobe..?"

"........"

"Yeah....me too."

[Saturday. 14:10. Obligatory Indirect Kiss Moment]

"Aaaaah, all that hard work today's made me hungry. Let's stop in here, Muro-chin."

Himuro isn't sure what part of curb stomping a couple of two-bit thugs, sleeping for another six hours, then dragging said thugs halfway across the city to go appliance shopping constitutes as 'hard work', but it's fine. At least that business is done and over with (the installation people are coming tomorrow to restore peace to the Araki safehouse once more).

He follows Murasakibara through the convenience store entrance, pretty worn out himself by the events of the past 24 hours; all he has to show for today's efforts are a massive bruise and a deep sense of dissatisfaction.

Well, not everything is bad; spending time with Atsushi outside like this is nice in its own way.

Murasakibara's fearsome stature attracts attention no matter where he goes, but he's especially eye-catching when in the proximity of snacks. It takes under a minute for the killer to burn through half the store, returning to Himuro already cradling an obscene amount of food in his right arm.

"Was it really alright that we left those two guys like that in the end... you know, you're too brutal, Atsushi" Himuro scolds, accepting the bag of potato chips Murasakibara is trying to place into his hands (what's this? He needs help?? There's actually a limit to how much food Atsushi can carry???) as they head towards the freezers.

"Ehhhhhhhh, isn't Muro-chin way more violent than me?" Murasakibara drawls, extracting four boxes of popsicles at once with his free hand.

In light of today's events, and the events of many a time in the past, Himuro finds himself unable to deny this; Atsushi makes a fair point.

At the cashier, they encounter a dead-looking employee that doesn't so much as flinch at Murasakibara's mountain of snacks. Himuro can't help but feel impressed by the youth, whose dull eyes have seen Too Much from working in convenience store retail.

Ten plastic bags later, and they're out the door again.

"So, about that...." Himuro starts, speaking over his shoulder as Murasakibara comes up behind him, rustling through his purchases to open a bag of candy.

"I did something unnecessary, right? It feels like my meeting with Haizaki Shougo somehow set him off..."

Murasakibara rips the wrapper off a lollipop with his teeth, sucks on the candy pensively for a moment before taking it out of his own mouth and slipping it between Himuro's unsuspecting lips.

"Mmmmm, I think that guy getting involved was pretty inevitable. Anyways, it's Kise-chin's problem now, so Muro-chin definitely shouldn't worry about it."

Strawberry flavour. Still warm from Atsushi's mouth- ah, no, focus, Himuro. Focus.

"Kise...oh, Ryouta. He's another one of you 'Miracles', yeah?"

"Mmmhmm. He'll probably be first coming after your Kagami Taiga, so if you want-"

A shadow crosses over Murasakibara's abruptly displeased face, and the veritable giant grabs Himuro's hand and begins to pull him into a quick pace away from the convenience store.

"Atsushi? What's wrong?"

Murasakibara checks his shoulder, then mutters:

"If we stay any longer, we're gonna run into someone reeeeally annoying. I'll tell Muro-chin everything, so let's just get out of here."

Himuro doesn't have a single complaint with this arrangement.

[Saturday. 14:24. Someone Reeeeally Annoying]

"Don't laugh, Takao!"

"Ahahaa I'm cr-..ahh, Shin-chan, I'm crying ahahhaaa. That thief just ... ahahhaa...to you of all people...and took your bag...do they know they fucking stole a stuffed mouse like.. what're they going to do with that? .... i can't.....owww my stomach hurts."

"Don't be so loud. And this is a serious problem, my life is in danger if I don't have my lucky item with me, this is no time to be laughing!"

"Aha, I know, I know. Let's stop in this store first, I'll call someone to deliver you a new taxidermy    mouse..... I can't believe I just said that out loud, I'm gonna pee my pants..."

"TAKAO!!!"

"Ooh, watch your step, Shin-chan, you almost walked right into that pothole. Jeez, you weren't kidding about the bad luck."

"I am not in the habit of 'kidding'"

"Haha ohhh Shin-chan."

[Saturday.15:01. Pure]

What's Riko supposed to do when she's hard-pressed for information on a large, mostly unknown enemy, but the person to whom she delegated the task of finding certain crucial facts is currently kneeling at Koganei's bedside, fingers intertwined with Koga's own as the two of them snooze together peacefully in spite of the urgency of the situation?

[Saturday. 18:33.  Resolve]

Kise shivers.

Carefully, so as not to rouse the peacefully-sleeping P from her slumbers, he stands up from the edge of the bed and checks the time: still a bit too early, huh?

The model sighs and looks down at the inside of his right arm; the place where Aomine had grabbed him to pull him back still burns with the memory of the touch.

In the end, the other man had just hurriedly scrawled a 7 digit phone number onto Kise's forearm and sauntered off with the flippant parting words: "I guess I can take one for the team and listen to you ugly cry after you fail tonight. See ya."

How very like Aominecchi, this brash, roundabout kindness. Kise had thought his original intention in approaching Aomine was to force him into acknowledging him, but now the model is not so sure. Rather than settling a score or being noticed, this is more like...

Kise presses his hand against his chest and takes a deep breath.

This feels good: whether it's playing with everyone again, this business with Kurokocchi, that business with Aominecchi, his modeling, his other jobs, even the lovely P-chan over here... there's a thrill here, a sense of life.

That's why he's not going to let anyone take this feeling away from him.

Not again.

[Saturday.19:11.  Jealousy Is An Ugly Thing, Dorothy]

Haizaki Shougo is in what some people might refer to as a 'bad mood."

He shakes his right hand out, flicking off some of the blood dripping from his scraped knuckles. Seems like the usual form of stress relief isn't working.

Meeting Atsushi's Ichimatsu doll has lead him to some pretty annoying information (...and speaking of which, as if that fucking one-eyed doll had the nerve to leave without putting up a proper fight? The fuck, so boring.) and now Haizaki has to take care of this shit all over again.

Isn't it embarrassing, the way the so-called 'Miracles' are all still repeating the same bullshit as when they were brats? Playing their shitty 'games' again, hyped up on a sense of superiority while hiding from how fucked up their lives really are...it's pathetic.

And then there's that fucking Ryooooouta.

Haizaki licks off some of the blood off his thumb, smiling a little in spite of himself.

There's no doubt in his mind that the new development has caused that bitch to get ahead of himself again.

If it isn't Haizaki's job to put him back in his place, then what is?

[Saturday. 19:25. Danger: Do Not Cross]              

"Uhhmm, Seijuro-kun...haha.. this is not.. what we agreed on.."  Client Xy stutters with an unpleasant laugh, openly agitated. He mops a bit of sweat off his forehead with the white handkerchief crumpled in his hand.

Akashi closes his right eye and regards the man in the seat across from him with a silent, piercing golden-orange gaze. His legs are crossed, and the only movement he makes is the tapping of a closed folding fan rhythmically against his knee.

Pitiable, how little it takes for Xy to start snapping under the pressure.

"I mean, really, Seijuro-kun, I thought the Akashi syndicate wasn't affiliated with the yakuza? If I'd known, I never would have...I have a hard time believing your father would-"

Akashi gives one final tap before holding the black fan out in his slender fingers in gesture.

"My father," he begins softly, with eerie temperance.

"No longer has any control over my business."

He does not elaborate, and Xy is at least wise enough to let that one go.

"It's just, n-no one told me you were going to get the Araki clan involved in this," he continues, trying to speak indignantly, which would be more convincing if he wasn't covered in nervous sweat.

"Is that why you sent me such a pleasant surprise last night?"

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Oh? Perhaps your men were the ones from last Thursday, my mistake. It is difficult for me to keep track of all the disobedience."

This is Akashi's idea of a joke: he doesn't make mistakes, and it's not difficult for him to keep track of anything, because he is perfect.

"Now l-listen, I don't know what you're insinuating, but if it's the case that others have been retaliating, maybe you shouldn't be so full of yours-EEP"

Xy's blathering is cut off quite suddenly as Akashi flicks his fan open, revealing it to be an ornate tessen.

"Do you understand, Mr. Xy, that the only reason you are still breathing is because I am gracious enough to allow it? You are useful to me, but not so useful that I will tolerate any more insolence from you or anyone else."

It's unclear whether Akashi's surprise weapon or his unyielding glare is more threatening. Either way, Xy looks like he's about to pass out.

"Though it may not be to your liking, I believe you will find I am complying with every detail of our arrangement. Should you test me, or question my methods again, I will not show mercy a second time."

Mercy isn't exactly the right word, and Client Xy gets that. He really does. Akashi Seijuro has a role for him to play, and he's in too deep to back out now, for fear of ending up having to choose between dying in the ocean or the mountains. Or whatever happened to the 'pleasant surprise' he actually did send out to Akashi the other day.

Fucking kids these days are horrifying.

Naturally, Xy stumbles out of Akashi's residence as fast as his legs, jellied from fear, can carry him, leaving Akashi alone in this cold empty home once more.

After sitting in silence for a couple minutes, Akashi blinks several times and pulls out a shogi board from the living room table.

[Saturday. 20:07. A Date...???]

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko begins, regarding the heir's handstand pushup routine with an inscrutable look in his eyes. The consequent reveal of chiseled abdominal muscles from gravity pulling Kagami's black shirt down is not going unnoticed.

How troublesome.

"Not that I am complaining, but you have not expressed a single wish to go outside today."

"Yeah, so?" Kagami grunts, tucking his right hand against his back and balancing his whole weight on the left. A bead of sweat rolls down his temple.

"Not like I have anything to do out there, anyways."

"Is that so? You were pretty adamant about being 'freed'. Are you sure there is no one you would like to visit, at all?  I can always make arrangements..."

"Who would I even visit?" the heir mutters, slowly returning his feet to solid ground, and straightening himself back up to a standing position. His cheeks are still a little red from all the blood rushing to his face.

"I've only been living here for a couple of months, it's not like I really know anyone besides Aida's men... and you, I guess."

"...................."

".....w....why are you looking at me like that?"

"How sad. That the young master is unable to make any frien-"

"Sh-shut up, Kuroko!"

Oh dear. Teasing Kagami is far too easy. Truly, the young heir is a pleasant surprise in many ways.

"Then, did you want to go out anyways?"

"Huh?"

Kuroko gestures to the door with his thumb.

"That burger place we went to yesterday....I liked the vanilla shakes."

Taiga stares down at Kuroko for a few moments with his double-brows furrowed, as if processing the bodyguard's words, then grins.

"Fuck yeah, let's go."

It's almost certainly too dangerous to be wandering about at night in these trying times (Kuroko has no doubt at least one of the main players will make their move tonight), but the bodyguard finds that, aside from the initial objective of wanting to bait the enemy, he there's also these knew sentiments coming up: Taiga clearly doesn't have it easy, but he's so strong-willed and bright that Kuroko can't help but want to see him shine brighter.

His determination is now absolute: Kagami Taiga will be protected, at any cost. This does not impede Kuroko's initial objective; rather, it serves to strengthen his will with no regrets.

"Yes, let's go."

[Saturday. 20:10. Hello?]

"I'm going on ahead," Kagami calls over his shoulder, shoving his hands into his pockets as he heads towards the elevators. He presses the down button and waits, feeling strangely excited.

Honestly, he had thought that this personal bodyguard bullshit was just Aida making him suffer, and even though Kuroko is still infuriating and a little spooky, Kagami finds himself thinking it might not be such a bad arrangement after all. He's interesting, to say the least. And it's true, Kagami hasn't spoken one on one with people outside Aida's circle lately, so it's ...well. Fun.

The light above the elevator lights up with a PING, and Kagami steps forward as the doors slide open.

But he can't move.

Every nerve in his body tenses up, as if to brace itself from the sensation of overwhelming bloodlust suddenly aimed directly at him. Something like a glint of gold flashes by him, and the sensation fades just as quickly as it had appeared.

Heart pounding in his chest, Kagami looks around, alarmed, but is only surrounded by empty halls.

The elevator doors close shut.

Kagami's trained ears hear nothing save for the sound of his own breathing. And yet, he's sure there was something...someone there.

What the hell is this? Could it be-

"Kuroko-?"

"Guess again <3"

Notes from AO3: i hope one day Momoi and Kise return to that coffee shop with Himuro, thus completing the trifecta of KNB in-universe beauty queens. Tho I'm not sure it's safe for the innocent public if that trio ever gets together...

naturally, by the time this ever happens, Ahomine will have riko to join him in jealously watching from the safe distance of the noodle shop. such is the fate of irritable possessive people whose love interests are far too popular and carefree.

also RIP muro and midorima in every bit i write for them, ever lol sorry you two i always make you suffer

THANKS AGAIN FOR READING I HOPE YOU ENJOYED AND WILL CONTINUE READING THIS SILLY STORY OF MINE

[ourmrmel]

Mel Feller Illustrates Persuasive Ads and Letters

Mel Feller Illustrates Persuasive Ads and Letters

 Whether you are writing a marketing message to one person or a million, your chances of having an impact on them really takes off when you understand what makes them tick. You are then in a strong position to tailor your message directly to their interests, problems, needs, and aspirations. Easier said than done, but that's where market research, asking clients the right questions, personal observation, and marketing plans fit into the picture.

  A marketing plan, even an abbreviated one, can be an invaluable starting point in the development of an effective ad, commercial, promotional brochure, or sales letter. Doing an analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) associated with your business or the services you offer can serve as an excellent launching pad for writing persuasive advertising and sales messages.

 Laying the Groundwork

 In addition to a dash of writing talent and marketing knowledge, creating effective ads and letters require a clear focus. Knowing exactly what outcome you are aiming for before you begin writing is comparable to mapping out your travel route before embarking on a cross-country drive. For example, if your goal is to generate leads or to qualify prospects, your strategy might be radically different than if you were trying to make immediate sales or simply attract visitors to your web site.

 Sell The Sizzle not the steak

 The copywriting process tends to flow a lot more smoothly if you have in front of you three lists consisting of benefits, features, and competitive advantages. Organizing them on one page in a column format is the easiest, most efficient way to manage the information. F.Y.I.: There may seem to be a thin, if not invisible, line between "features" and "benefits", but understanding the distinction can make all the difference in your marketing success. Features are important and need to be mentioned, but benefits are the selling points that clients and prospects can relate to and identify with. Benefits are features that have been personalized, elaborated on, and projected into the future. It answers the questions "What's in it for me?"..."Why should I care?"...or "How will my life be enhanced by buying your product or service?"

 Crafting the Message

 Catching people's attention and arousing interest can sometimes be as simple as incorporating your strongest selling point into the headline or the first sentence of your ad or letter. Several tried-and-proven headline devices for drawing people into your message include asking an intriguing question, making a thought-provoking statement, or beginning the headline with the words "How To". Headlines that convey a sense of urgency, contain a short testimonial of a satisfied client, or have the feel of a news announcement also have shown to get people to stop and read.

 By the way, one of the most powerful and successful advertising headlines of all time, which was also the title of a best-selling book written in 1936, is "How to Win Friends and Influence People", by Dale Carnegie. The title/headline is filled with benefits, it contains the words "How To", and it speaks directly to everyone's strong desire to be well liked, to be in control of their lives, and to feel important. Another popular book Carnegie wrote tapped into that same formula. It is entitled "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living." Apparently, that double-barreled approach was especially effective for him.

 Many well-intended ads, brochures, and letters start out with a good head of steam, but peter out as they approach the decisive moment, namely: the call for action! If you do not make it 100% clear exactly what you want the prospect to do after hearing/seeing your message, and if you do not give them a compelling reason to do so, there is a good chance you will lose them.

 As the acronym AIDA suggests, a response-producing ad or letter must first grab the Attention of the target audience, arouse Interest, trigger Desire, and then prompt Action. Without all four of those "cylinders" firing at the appropriate time, that delicate sequence of events could quickly come to a grinding halt.

 Mel Feller Career Highlights

 Mel Feller offers career and leadership coaching to executives, entrepreneurs, and other coaches. Mel is also a life coach and usually advises his career & leadership-coaching clients on work/ life balance and other issues.  Mel actively coaches other coaches one-on-one, in groups, or through Master Minds and laser coaching.  

 His coaching specialty is helping high-performing people to accelerate their progress by gaining clarity, alignment with their talents, and focusing on what is meaningful to them. He also works with people who feel stuck at work or in life and helps them create momentum to get into the work they dream of and feel good about their lives overall.

 Mel Feller Loving What He Does

He also offers business-consulting services to entrepreneurs who are visioning, launching, or trying to scale their businesses for profitable growth.  

Mel is a motivational speaker who makes several appearances a year and will speak to large and small groups.  He will also offer to customize a speech or workshop/ retreat for your organization. He is also a newspaper contributor and blogger; blogs under several blogs he owns and contributes to several more.

As a certified coach, Mel has studied with Franklin-Covey Institute, The Financial Institute for Life Transformation; Coaching For Success Elite Coaching; and is a member of several Boards and  Associations. Mel also has an MA in Human Resources, marketing and strategy/ policy and a MA in Public Administration from Utah State University and a BA in Political Science, Accounting and Legal Studies with High Honors from Weber State University.  Previously, Mel worked as a Chief of Staff for a United States Senator.  

 What distinguishes Mel is that he has been a high-powered executive; a stay-at-home/ work at home single dad at one time; and an entrepreneur so he understands what the challenges are for C-Suite executives and what they are for Stay-At-Home parents’ thinking about re-entering the workforce.  He has done it and he gets it!

 Most coaches do not have the level of business experience that Mel does so it gives he a helpful vantage point to coach CEOs, senior management teams, C-Suite level and middle management level executives.  He personally worked with senior managements, CEOs, and Board of Directors on business strategy issues so he understands what it takes to thrive and persuade in that environment firsthand.  

 Mel understands how to help people create momentum for change in their life and how to break through the barriers holding them back.  He is a big believer in taking concrete steps forward every day.  Mel was stuck and more than once and so he knows firsthand how hard it can be to change your life to pursue your dreams, but he is living proof that it can be done.  

 It is his mission to help you get into the life you dream about, to convince you that you can make a living doing what it is you want to be doing, to help you feel like you are living your purpose and in congruency with your values.

 “Truth telling, honesty, and candor: I loved you Mel Feller! You have so much energy and knowledge! I truly hope I get another opportunity to be coached by you. I see myself a little clearer now, and it’s not so bad.”

Lisa Mathews

 “Mel Feller you added more value than we can possibly see right now. Mel Feller, you are warm, inviting, and accommodating. Thank you for coming alongside us in this transition!”

Vanessa Cavanaugh

“Mel Feller the best education session that we have attended in many years! Thank you so much — I am very excited to put everything you have taught us into practice!”

Michael Randolph

 “Mr. Mel Feller, Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving a marvelous keynote at our Symposium! While we have not yet collected the official feedback, the unofficial feedback was that You Were a Hit! I heard nothing but compliments regarding your presentations. Thank you for making such a positive impact on our attendees! ”

Lyle Cunningham VP

 "Mel Feller uses his humor, compassion, and direct nature to help bring out the best in me. Mel Feller is committed to helping me live...I mean, really live, life to its fullest."

Jose Rodriguez

 Mel Feller Links

 https://www.instagram.com/mel.feller  

 https://ourmrmel.tumblr.com/  

 https://www.pinterest.com/cfs360/  

 https://twitter.com/melfeller/following  

 https://wordpress.com/page/melfellerinternetbusinessinnovations.wordpress.com  

 https://dribbble.com/melfeller  

 https://biggerpockets.com/forums/79/topics/49008-larry-goins-bootcamp  

 https://txbusinessdb.com/p/mel-feller  

 https://xindex.com/c/12031660488/mel-feller-financial-services-group-inc  

 https://buzzfile.com/business/Coaching-For-Success-940-569-9260  

 https://melfellerrealestateinnovations.wordpress.com  

 https://myspace.com/mfcfs360  

 https://goodreads.com/user/show/86266194-mel-feller  

 https://mfcfs.contently.com  

 https://alignable.com/wichita-falls-tx/coaching-for-success-360  

 https://quora.com/profile/Mel-Feller  

 https://about.me/melfeller  

 https://independent.academia.edu/MelFeller  

 https://medium.com/@mfcfs360  

 https://melfellerentrepreneurialideas.wordpress.com  

 https://about.me/melfeller  

 https://thecoachingoffice.com  

 https://quora.com/profile/Mel-Feller  

 https://linkedin.com/pulse/reflections-journaling-mel-feller-mel-feller  

 https://creonline.com/finally-my-first-deal  

 https://etrainingguide.com  

 https://reitips.com/open-letter  

 https://thecoachingoffice.com/testimonials.html  

 https://fortunebuilders.com/student-success-old/testimonials/page/9  

 https://agrandpaslove.blogspot.com  

 https://plus.google.com/u/0  

 https://youtube.com/channel/UCk_zDXJgadnWwmab0PhaIkQ/videos  

 https://linkedin.com/in/mel-feller  

 https://challengesinlife.com  

 https://melfellersuccessstories.com  

 https://melfeller.com  

 https://melfellerbusinessblog.com

[wjwilliams29]

Copy: 23 Rarely Used Copywriting Techniques to Create Fascinating Content

Writing is an art and discovering the secrets of boosting your readers’ engagement can transform you into a master of copywriting. Setting the right tone, answering to questions, drawing attention, adding personality and bringing your content alive with visuals or interactive data are just a few techniques that can get you where you want.

You know that warm feeling you get when you speak with one of your friends? You talk, he listens, he asks questions and so on. You understand each other. A similar feeling can be established with your readers as well. How, you may ask? It’s not a bulletproof formula but for sure it will be extremely helpful to follow the next 23 rarely used copywriting techniques to help you boost your engagement.

Use the Serial Position Effect

Make Your Visitors Feel Important by Offering Exclusive Content

Use the “Bizarreness Effect” to Draw Attention

Use “Powerful” Keywords like “New”, “Free”, “Now”

Use Copywriting Formulas to Create Captivating Content

Be a Unicorn in a Field of Horses

Take Advantage of the FOMO Technique

Include Emotions, Promise, and Main Keyword to Make Your Headlines Viral

Create a Persona Based Content Strategy

Be the First to Jump on Trends

Ask Your Target Audience to Contribute

Pack More Personality into Your Content

Perfect Your Writing Tone to Your Readers

Craft Good Stories That Sell

Give Your Content a Quick Credibility Boost

Leverage Emotional Triggers in Your Content Marketing

Build Social Media Friendly Content

Use Statistical Data to Enhance Your Content Marketing

Transform Your Q&A into an Article to Help Your Audience

Use Social Proof to Back up Your Content

Make Your Content More Visually Interactive

Define the Purpose Behind Everything You Write

Make Your Content Familiar to Resonate with Your Audience

  1. Use the Serial Position Effect

  The serial position effect refers to the situation when a person recalls the words from the beginning and the end of a list rather than the ones from the middle. According to a study made by Indiana University, the participants were able to remember the first and last words from a list of 20.

  Following this technique, you should write the key points of your sales pitch or any other important information at the beginning and end of your blog post.

  Source: https://copyhackers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/serial-position-effect.png

  2. Make Your Visitors Feel Important by Offering Exclusive Content

  Another technique you can use to boost your engagement is to offer content your readers couldn’t find elsewhere. Make them feel important; they will start to appreciate you more. Don’t you love it when someone is sharing with you a piece of information that has never been said to anyone else?

  Exclusive content comes in different forms: a webinar with a script for those who sign up, training opportunities, e-books for subscribers, news from conferences and events in the industry turned into blog posts.

  3. Use the “Bizarreness Effect” to Draw Attention

Using ridiculous material to be better remembered instead of common material translates into the bizarreness effect. This technique is borrowed from Psychology. Studies have shown that people were able to recall nouns presented in bizarre sentences such as “The dog rode the bicycle down the street” rather the nouns from the common counterpart “The dog chased the bicycle down the street”. On the other hand, some specialists say the bizarreness isn’t the thing that enhances the memory, but rather the distinctiveness of the meaning.

  You can use the bizarreness effect to be spontaneous and say something indubitably wild.

  4. Use “Powerful” Keywords like “New”, “Free”, “Now”

  Another valuable copywriting technique is taking advantage of powerful keywords in your content. Persuading words can have a stronger impact compared to other types. When talking face to face, it is easier to make a point due to the use of intonations and body language. In writing, it is a bit harder. The best call will be to use strong keywords to point out key notes in your content.

  You can take advantage of powerful words in order to convey emotions. For example, you could use:

ridiculous instead of stupid;

entertaining instead of funny;

delightful instead of nice;

magnificent instead of beautiful.

  Beside using vivid adjectives, you might try having verbs that are more expressive. It is recommended to use first person pronouns such as “I” and “you” to give the impression of having a dialogue with your reader. Also, try to use causal prepositions such as “because” or “due” to give arguments and demonstrate your affirmations. It was proved in a study where people have shown more will to heed to a request after the word “because” was used.

  Words like “new”, “now” and “free” can also have a strong impact on the audience if they are used at the right moment.

  5. Use Copywriting Formulas to Create Captivating Content

Whether we want to tell a captivating story, write a killer content or have inspiring headlines, you can use these formulas to boost the engagement. Until now, I’ve mentioned the 4 U’s Formula: Urgent, Unique, Useful, and Ultra-specific. A similar formula is the 4 C’s: Clear, Concise, Compelling, Credible.

  If you want to offer benefits through a blog post, you could use the Before – After – Bridge formula. “Before” is the situation where you imagine a problem that doesn’t exist. “After” is the situation where you resolve the problem. The “bridge” is the way to get there.

  A formula that has been used for a long time is AIDA, where you have to grab the reader’s attention, offer interesting information, develop desire and create the action.

  You could also try the Picture – Promise – Prove – Push (PPPP) formula. Using it, you can paint a picture to grab the reader’s attention, then make a promise, provide support for your promise and determine your reader to take action.

  A good way to catch the reader on the “hook” is by using the Open Loop tactic. It is used more often in books to create suspense through a cliffhanger. At that moment you hold back information to grab your reader’s attention and make him read the whole post.

  The “3 reasons why” is another formula to help you write engaging content. You have to answer three questions, as the name says it:

Why are you the best?

Why should I believe you?

Why should I buy right now?

On the web, you’ll find lots of other formulas that can help you discover what works best for you.

  6. Be a Unicorn in a Field of Horses

  Be smart and seek guidance from tools such as BrandMentions to spy on your competitors who write about topics you’re interested in. Search and read what they’ve written to find ways to have vivid content, and different approaches to the topic to “steal” their audience. If you have something new to write about, make a research to see if your competitors wrote something similar and how they handled the topic.

  After you’ve done your homework, tie it all together with a value proposition. A well-known quote says “Be a unicorn in a field of horses”. For that you can apply the 4 U’s formula: be urgent, unique, useful, and ultra-specific.

  If you follow some of the lesser-known copywriting techniques we’ve talked about so far you can create your own formula to differentiate yourself from the competition.

   7. Take Advantage of the FOMO Technique

  FOMO is the acronym for fear of missing out, and some of you may know this feeling. Taking advantage of this technique involves using information such as limited offers, discounts, and other exclusive events, to lead your readers towards an action.

  An example of a limited offer from Starbucks can be seen in the next photo:

  This technique works very well for millennials. From a study made by Eventbrite of 2,100 adults (507 of whom were millennials aged 18 to 34) it resulted that 69% of millennials fear missing out social events.

  Due to FOMO, it is a blooming era for live events. It works very well for “selling” experiences through blog posts out of a product such as meeting your favorite influencers at a conference, having a personalized balloon ride in your holiday, exceeding your dreams by doing the sport you like, listening live your favorite singers at a festival and so on.

   8. Include Emotions, Promise, and Main Keyword to Make Your Headlines Viral

  Headlines have a significant impact on whether your content gets opened or not. You have a headline for a blog post, for a SlideShare presentation, for a video, for an infographic, for a news article, for an ad, for a webinar, for a guide, for an e-book, for almost everything you write online.

  Around 80% of readers never make it past the headline, leaving almost 20% of them who will read. But before that you need to past the test of showing awesome in the search engines. And these statistics say a lot about how important the headlines are. You should have clickbait headlines to increase the open rate.

We live in the fastest phase of human history, and we can’t afford to make the reader lose interest in our site/blog after reading the headlines. We must create desire and interest from the beginning. Say no to low CTR!

Below you can see an example of a compelling headline for a webinar. Isn’t it true that it makes you sign-up?

It gives you the guarantee you’ll find out hints to recover your site if it got hit by the Penguin penalty.

  While searching online, you’ll find lots of useful resources that can offer you guidance on how to create top headlines. Learn how to write killer headlines and to increase your readers’ engagement by following Jeff Goins’ formula. There are five elements. If you combined them, you would be able to trigger the desired actions.

Number – 3, 10 are best used in the headlines. Using a number in the headline is highly convertible. 36% of headlines use now a number.

Adjective – use unique adjectives to create a powerful emotion. For example: brilliant, atrocious, stunning, smart, bizarre, dazzling.

Rational – the way you offer added value such as reasons, tips, secrets, hacks, tricks. Please, don’t ever use things.

Keyword – a short phrase that tells us what the content is about.

Promise – what’s in it for me? For example, our headline promises “copywriting techniques that will boost your engagement”.

This is the formula designed for success: Number + Adjective + Rational + Keywords + Promise

Using Jeff Goins’ formula, you can transform lifeless headlines into sparkly ones. For example, “Best Travel Destinations in Europe” can turn into “5 Brilliant Travel Destinations in Europe That Will Spark Your Wanderlust” having “travel destinations in Europe” as a keyword.

  Below you can see an example of an inspiring headline for a webinar following the formula written above:

Source: http://image.slidesharecdn.com/buzzsumo-webinar-march-20161-160323161442/95/10-ridiculous-hacks-to-5x-clickthrough-rates-1-638.jpg?cb=1458838636

  Also, you can try using BrandMentions to help you to find inspiration for your headlines by looking at your competitors.

  It’s important that your content covers all the elements you wrote in the headline.

   9.Create a Persona-Based Content Strategy

It is mandatory to know your audience before you even start writing. Start studying what your reader likes, dislikes, what his habits are, what type of content he consumes, in what part of the day he prefers to read, where he comes from, where he is from and other similar demographic and interest characteristics.

  After you’ve collected data about your audience, use it to create your content marketing persona. Track your analytics and set metrics to help you deploy trends.

   10. Be the First to Jump on Trends

  Every copywriter should follow trends in his industry to bring fresh content. A smart way to engage your audience and attract new readers to your site is having worthy content. You can do that by keeping up the news to bring valuable information to your visitors.

  A good way to start would be to subscribe to news sites, specialists in the field, watch Google Trends, read publications in your industry, create a Twitter list of influencers you know they deliver hot news as they happen, follow trending hashtags about your main interest. These are just a few ways to keep your eyes open to trending stories. After you’ve gathered all the information, you need to start writing about a trending topic to make your blog post newsworthy.

   11. Ask Your Target Audience to Contribute

  Smart copywriters know that asking their readers to contribute is an influential copy writing technique. People are anxious to see their work promoted by a brand.

  One of the most used ways to ask your audience to contribute is to share photos on social media. Sending emails to contacts to answer a survey, asking questions on blogs or using real reviews to write a blog post are other ways to contribute. Be bold, and try other unique ways to do that.

  Kenneth Cole came with an excellent way to make people contribute. The company organized a selfie contest. The brand offered fans the possibility to take a selfie and enter a contest to win free shoes every month for a year.

  If you know you visitors take selfies, you should try something similar. Selfies are widespread, and it’s simple to engage with the audience. They are personal and can easily lead to an action. The owner will receive likes, comments, and new followers. You can write an article about the pictures you receive and start a story.

  Another example is the Christmas Story by the travel agency Rolandia Travel. Last December, the company wanted to offer its readers a soft presentation of how the Holidays are celebrated in Romania.

    Travelers could send a short story about how they spent their Christmas in Romania along with a few pictures as a gift of sharing for those who were far from home, but not only. The best stories were published on the blog every week.

   12. Pack More Personality into Your Content

  Personality is that something that makes you unique. Personality is that something that can differentiate you from the mass, is that something that defines your personal style. Just like a person has it, a brand should have it also. Brands have been developing through the time; they began to have anthropogenic qualities and be more humanized. The personality of a brand can be translated into a unique selling point, a motto or other forms of expression in order for people to know that is about the brand and nothing else.

  For example, the personality of Coca-Cola might be connected with happiness, fun, friends, family, being together due to the images and messages communicated consistently in numerous Coke campaigns. Below, you can see how a Coca-cola ad looked like in the 1940:

  Source: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/coke-ads

Now, in the 20s this is how an ad from Coca-Cola looks like:

Source: http://www.realites.com.tn/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/coca-cola.jpg

You can see that the message and the way of showing smiling people remain. Both images express happiness, friends, fun.

  For a content, personality can be expressed through a unique voice, a style, maybe a personalized closing or a type of personalized covers for articles and so on. Besides that, the content should always reveal the personality of the brand.

  13. Perfect Your Writing Tone to Your Readers

  For a copywriter having the right copy tone is like having the perfect light for a photographer to shoot the subject. For a painter it can be the right muse.

Your writing tone can either create interest or kill it. The wrong tone can wreck a good piece of information.

When you talk with someone and use a certain tone, you can determine how your interlocutor will respond. A similar situation can be when you use a specific tone in your writings. If the piece of information is entertaining, then the reader will feel cheerful, if it expresses anger he will get angry, if it’s painful he will feel the pain, if it’s boring he won’t have the patience to read it entirely and will leave your site.

  There are multiple ways to express your opinions. Take a look at this questions, for example:

Would you mind if I borrowed your pen, please?

Can I have your pen?

Pass me that pen.

  Make a difference between formal and informal writing. If you started writing in a casual mood, then stick to it. Don’t make sudden changes, inject unexpected signs of cuteness to become casual or start using a technical language to become more formal than usual. If you have multiple collaborators that write on your blog, make sure they follow the same language. Avoid being inconsistent.

  Here are a few marketing tips to help you shape your tone:

don’t be too casual or too stiff;

don’t use dialectic or slang language;

don’t use offensive language (swear or use racism);

be clear by ordering your words properly in a sentence;

use singular pronouns (me, you);

have a personal way of expressing your opinions and wisdom within a topic.

  Now, ask yourself: “Do I sound like my visitors expect me to?”

   14. Craft Good Stories That Sell

  There is no doubt that a good story can captivate us really bad. Let’s be honest. Hasn’t it happened to you to stay up at night reading a good story to find out how it ends? If you succeed sketching a story in the right manner you could transport the reader down the funnel in order to determine him to take an action.

A good story has the gift to help the reader get into a state of well-being.

But how could you do that, you might be asking? I’ve picked up a few tips to help you with that:

paint a picture: use imagery and lots of details to be more expressive.

appeal beyond those 5 senses: remember that there are different types of people. Some of them are more visual, others more auditory or olfactory and so on. Make sure to take advantage of sensory words.

suspense: you can capture their attention by adding a tint of tension and get them to finish the whole article. Try giving your audience something exciting to read.

killer opening paragraph: a good story can be used as an opening paragraph to allure the audience into getting to the main part of your topic.

have a model: To make your arguments stronger, you can use a model to show the changes it suffered. You can take examples from your experience or the ones you’ve heard of. Your audience can relate with the people who went through a similar situation.

   15. Give Your Content a Quick Credibility Boost

  It is ok to write your opinion and give advice, but are you credible? Are people trusting you?

Credibility can be a point sale. People can decide to buy your product depending on whether they trust you or not. Your affirmations should be based on data.

You can build trust if you follow a few guidelines:

cite sources: well-known field specialists usually offer credibility due to their background. Search for credible sources and specialists to back up your claim.

take advantage of your years in business and your experience.

name innovations and awards: if the context asks for such kind of references, use them. These are evidence of your success.

offer independent survey results: if you’ve run a small research, use the data to back up your arguments.

have media coverage: a great impact on your readers’ credibility would be to have presence in the news and business publications. If your brand is newsworthy, then you will also get authority in the field.

   16. Leverage Emotional Triggers in Your Content Marketing

  On the web, you can find lots of bloggers that offer great advice, write captivating content and give informative tips, but don’t know how to connect with their viewers on an emotional level.

  The content can have emotional or rational triggers if we follow the classification regarding consumer behavior from psychology. Leveraging emotional triggers is a technique used in psychology to persuade. It can also be used as a copywriting tip, for the same purpose.

  In order to stimulate emotions, you have to write content that helps the reader and make him experience a sensation while reading. You can be informative, but try not to exaggerate using a cold voice. If you do so you risk losing your readers because they won’t recall a thing and might never return to your site. We must remember that we write for people, to create a connection with them and to be on the same wavelength. This means you could talk from your experience in a friendly manner, share personal examples, be authentic, ask your audience questions and try to answer to them, share experiences together.

“Emotions are complex and move in various directions. Modeling emotional feelings and considering their behavioral implications are useful in preventing emotions from having a negative effect on the workplace.” – Boundless

Psychologist Robert Plutchik created a wheel of emotions. The most comprehensive way to illustrate the emotions experienced by a human being.

Source: http://www.efoza.com/postpic/2014/03/plutchik-s-emotion-wheel_309528.png

  Studies have shown that the positive emotions toward a brand have a higher influence on the loyalty of the consumer rather than its trust. Also, they can help you to communicate more effectively.

  Negative, as well as positive emotions, have an influence on a person. When someone experiences something like that they want to do something to avoid the bad feelings. If you talk to your readers and provoke them negative emotions, they will follow you more carefully to reduce their discomfort.

When people are involved with the message, they listen attentively and process using the central route. Emotional appeals create involvement.

One of the most important characteristics of the emotional triggers used as a copywriting technique is they can lead to actions.

  Before you take a step forward, it is crucial you know your business and your audience very well. Although connecting with your readers on an emotional level is important, make sure you resonate with them. Be careful to make your audience feel the emotions you wanted it to experience.

   17. Build Social Media Friendly Content

  After you wrote your post, you should promote it. To make your life easier and not work twice as much, try and make your visual data expressive and relevant to your content. Always make a cover for your content to boost your reach. It is proven that tweets with images receive 18% more clicks and 150% more retweets.

  The cover can be used as social media content. Also, I recommend you to make a short description about your topic that you can write as an intro or meta description, as well as a tweet on Twitter or as a post on Facebook and so on.

  If you follow these simple guidelines, your readers could easily share your content, too. The visibility of your content will be improved, and other Social Media metrics could experience growth.

   18. Use Statistical Data to Enhance Your Content Marketing

  Cartograms, scatter plots, time series, diagrams, charts, histograms, matrix, dendrogram, area maps are just some ways of portraying statistical data in your content to make it more animated. To have traffic-driving content type you can create visual content out of statistics.

  You can try and create interactive charts or use gifs to maintain your audience focused on your content and increase the user experience. This is just an example:

  Source: https://d13yacurqjgara.cloudfront.net/users/57127/screenshots/1917495/attachments/329078/productpage2-2.gif

  You can use Visme for animated charts and Canva or Piktochart for static charts. Below, you can see how a chart in Piktochart looks like.

    If you use charts, it is easier to understand and to visualize the information, rather than reading chunks of text and numbers.

   19. Transform Your Q&A into an Article to Help Your Audience

  You can find value in your Q&A. More than that, you could find value in the questions you receive from your readers. First, you should make a list with all the questions you have, then categorize them. Make them sound actionable and sell the idea behind. After you’ve done the final list, you can start writing your blog post, give examples.

  Another great source of this kind is Quora. You can search for the best answers in your industry in Quora and transform them into a new blog post. There is a good chance you will get some helpful information and good feedback from your readers.

   20. Use Social Proof to Back up Your Content

  “Social proof” is a phenomenon where people think that how others are acting in a given situation is the right way to respond in a similar event.

  Imagine you want to go to a restaurant and have dinner. You have the possibility to choose from a crowded restaurant with a waiting list and an empty restaurant. You probably think the second one has crappy food. The waiting list is proof that the first restaurant has good food, right? You’d chose the crowded one, wouldn’t you?

  Psychologists name this behavior “social proof”. If there is a crowd, that means it is good. The more the people, the more it means something better must happen there, you’d think. Following the crowd is in our nature. It is a simpler decision.

  You can attract your audience with the “social proof” technique if you make a blog post out of reviews for your product, have endorsement for your brand, use testimonials in an e-book, write a best practice post from your clients’ experience, write case studies from the data you extrapolated about your customers.

   21. Make Your Content More Visually Interactive

  Visual content includes infographics, videos, gifs, pictures, presentations. Images are a great asset because they are stored in our long-term memory. It’s not a secret that infographics are highly shareable.

  70% of all your sensory receptors are in your eyes. Sources say it takes us less than 1/10 of a second to understand a visual scene.

  The article’s cover comes first on the content. You should be very careful how it looks since it’s the first image the reader sees. Having puppies wearing boots might be captivating, but they are not always relevant.

Source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9a/57/db/9a57dbd3367259a2db12a34a71cbcd0c.jpg

  Along with a strong headline, the cover is a core element for boosting engagement, so make sure you chose wisely.

  Get creative and combine the visuals to be interactive, to surprise the visitor and engage him and make him stay more on your site. For example, you could create an interactive how-to guide, or you can simply display unique information. Check the next screenshot to see an example:

Source: http://blog.thinglink.com/marketing/interactive-infographic-arsenal

  If you hover over the plus sign (+) you can see a pop-up box with additional information.

  Biz Brain created an interesting way of displaying information about “where does coffee came from”. It shows a journey from bean to cup through a fun and attractive infographic.

    It gives the right amount of information without overwhelming the reader. You can scroll down the page to see the whole process.

    It is one of the most detailed infographics I’ve seen. More than that, it offers an experience. The fact that is interactive gives you the feeling you take part in the whole process. In the end, you “receive” a cup of coffee. You engage in the act of planting the seed, harvesting, processing the beans, milling, exporting, inspecting, roasting, grinding and brewing.

  It is an excellent way to captivate the reader and share useful information in a way he can remember. You can work with an agency or a freelancer if you want something more complicated or search for tools to help you create the desired visual impact.

  More tips to create interactive content:

make an interactive calendar to follow past and future events;

have a virtual assistant for an online product or service right on your site;

create an infographic from a how-to video;

turn presentations into gifs;

compile interviews into an e-book;

upload customer’s videos about your product on your website;

   22. Define the Purpose Behind Everything You Write

  While the content is blooming and lots of marketers start to write for the sake of having news content on site, the internet becomes crowded. Don’t get me wrong, it is fine to have a big library of content as long as the information is useful, it has a purpose and answers pertinent questions. Don’t get lost in the pile of dull blogs and boring content.

  Make a list of topics, research and see which one will bring more traffic, correlate with the trends and what your audience wants. After you’ve done the analysis you can make a plan/structure for your topic to cover it all. Then implement it. Start writing and always remember what you’ve promised in the headline. Your purpose is to bring arguments and examples, show case studies or other types of information that will confirm your affirmations.

   23. Make Your Content Familiar to Resonate with Your Audience

  Your content should provide value to the readers. What better way than make it personal? But what does personal mean?

  Personal content can be written from your own experience. You can collect data and present it through case studies on the blog, convert your presentations into new articles. Below, you have an example of a SlideShare presentation turned into a blog post.

  Another way to have personal content is by sharing information from a conference you’ve been to or follow up from a webinar you’ve organized. Beside that, you should use informal writing such as “don’t” instead of “do not” or use the first person pronoun: “We have the possibility to look at our analyzed site and make a conclusion”.

  Conclusion

  Writing has never been an easy job. Especially now when the internet is constantly changing and the readers are harder to attract on the site.

  Think about the fact that you need to be convincing and express more in words to draw attention. People can be easily distracted if you don’t captivate them and keep them engaged. If you are using words that have more sway than others, you might have a positive change in their engagement. Following the “seductive” techniques we’ve talked until now, you’ll have a good change to get the results you’re expecting. Make sure they follow your brand guidelines.

  Design your plan and try to implement it correctly. After that, always follow the results and your metrics to increase conversion rates.

The post Copy: 23 Rarely Used Copywriting Techniques to Create Fascinating Content appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

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8 Techniques That Helped Me Improve My Writing During Ten Years of Blogging

Epic copywriting is an integral part of driving traffic and making conversions.

Smashing Magazine even states that “it’s not uncommon for proper copywriting to increase search traffic by 50 percent and conversion rates by 30 percent.”

But being a great copywriter requires more than simply being great at writing.

You need to have a fundamental understanding of human psychology to be able to persuade readers to buy your product/service—you need to know what motivates people to purchase.

Plus, there are several other variables that will impact your approach, including your audience, overall aim, and desired customer reaction.

This graphic from ABC Copywriting offers a nice visual breakdown of the specific elements of great copy:

But how can you become a world-class copywriter in a short period of time if you have only minimal experience?

It took me 10 years to improve, figuring out these techniques. By practicing them, you’ll be able to improve a lot faster.

1. Learn from the best

If you’re just starting out, I suggest diving in head first and absorbing as much information as you can about the process.

Unlike other forms of content writing, copywriting is a highly specialized field and requires a unique approach of its own.

I’m a proponent of reading books from some of the brightest minds to get their take on things.

They’ve been there, done that, and can get you to where you need to be.

Some specific authors to check out include David Ogilvy, known as The Father of Advertising, and Bob Bly.

This list of 50 attributes of a great copywriter from Jeff Bullas can be helpful too.

I also recommend checking out this list of 75 resources from Kissmetrics specifically designed for those who want to become great copywriters.

This covers the entire spectrum and is ideal if you’re just getting your feet wet.

2. Get in the habit of practicing your craft

There’s a definite possibility that you’ll suck at your first attempt at copywriting. Don’t take it personally.

But you would be amazed at what can happen with enough continual practice.

Even in as little as a week, you can make tremendous strides.

You’ll learn to be more efficient and will develop hacks for streamlining the process. You’ll also discover what works for YOU.

That’s why I recommend practicing on a daily basis if possible.

3. Study the psychology behind purchasing decisions

As I mentioned earlier, psychology is a key element in copywriting.

In order to persuade someone to buy something, you need to understand their thought process and behavioral patterns.

Copyblogger has an interesting article that highlights seven psychologically-backed copywriting tips.

In it, you’ll read about the concept of mirror neurons—neurons in the brain that “activate when you ‘observe’ something happening, and then transfer some of the feeling on you.”

I think a good example of it is the Allstate’s “Mayhem” ad campaign.

You know, where they say “mayhem is everywhere” and show disastrous scenarios like a tree branch falling on your car?

These commercials are good at making you envision and feel what it would be like if it happened to you. In turn, you’re more inclined to buy their insurance.

The point I’m trying to make is that your copywriting should resonate with readers and make them feel something.

You need to get in their heads and truly understand what makes them tick.

In turn, this should guide your copywriting and help you create more potent copy.

4. Do your research

Effective copywriting isn’t just clever wordplay. A big part of it is great research.

Why is research so important?

For one thing, it makes your content more authoritative.

By including relevant statistics, case studies, and quotes from experts, you back up your argument.

It shows that your copywriting is based on objective facts and not merely an opinion.

Anyone can make a claim, but when that claim is backed up by data, it becomes credible.

It also adds a layer of depth to your content.

When you take the time to research, you’ll inevitably gain a deeper understanding of a topic.

You’re more likely to see the big picture rather than just bits and pieces, and this should be reflected in your writing.

When you put all this together, it’s going to be helpful in building trust with readers.

Trust is obviously important because it’s going to make it easier to persuade your prospects to buy.

Even if you really know your stuff, I still suggest you get in the habit of performing some preliminary research because it’s going to add a new dimension to your copy.

5. Work on your headlines

Quite frankly, it doesn’t matter how great your overall content is if the headline sucks.

In fact, “on the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.”

If your headline isn’t captivating, very few readers will make it to your call to action (CTA).

While it may seem easy enough on paper, creating a great headline can be pretty tricky.

But I’ve come up with a formula for streamlining the process to ensure you create attention-grabbing headlines.

In one of my previous articles, I talk about “the four u’s of headline writing:”

Your headline should be unique.

Your headline should be ultra-specific.

Your headline should convey a sense of urgency.

Your headline should be useful.

Here’s an example of a great headline. It’s quick and to the point:

6. Master the art of the opening sentence

Just one rung below headlines on the importance scale is your opening sentence.

Once you’ve caught the reader’s attention with an awesome headline, you want to motivate them to read through the rest of your content until they ultimately reach the CTA.

And this always begins with a well-written opening sentence.

What do I mean by well-written?

It needs to be short, engaging, and able to reel in the reader immediately.

Here’s a perfect example from Chartbeat:

If you look at the opening sentence, it meets all three of the criteria mentioned above.

It simply says, “It’s not enough to just count clicks and page views anymore.”

This is obviously short and to the point. It’s engaging because it gets readers wondering what they should be assessing if clicks and page views aren’t enough. And it also makes them want to read on to find out what solutions Chartbeat offers.

What’s the takeaway?

Work diligently at perfecting your headline and opener.

If you’re able to do this, you’ve already won half the battle, and you’re in a position to capitalize on the maximum percentage of leads.

7. Use the AIDA formula

AIDA is an acronym created by copywriter Gary Halbert.

It stands for:

Here’s a breakdown of how it works…

You start by grabbing the reader’s attention with an awesome headline and opener like we just discussed.

You build interest by touching on their needs, wants, and pain points as well as ways your product/service can solve their problems, improve their lives, etc.

You create a desire to buy your product/service by clearly explaining its benefits.

Finally, you insert your CTA to encourage your readers to take action right away.

I’ve found this simple formula to be incredibly helpful for guiding my copywriting.

While the specific details will vary depending on your audience, industry, and product/service, the AIDA formula always works and will keep you on track.

8. Be meticulous about spelling and grammar

Did you know that “poor grammar on websites scares 59 percent of people away?”

Spelling and grammar mistakes can be the kiss of death for your business because it makes you look unprofessional and diminishes your credibility.

After all, would someone trust and want to buy from a company that doesn’t know the difference between your and you’re?

A study was even done to determine the biggest mistakes a company can make.

According to the findings, the overwhelming number of respondents (42.5 percent) said they were most influenced by spelling and grammatical errors.

As you can clearly see, poor spelling and grammar can be a real deal breaker, and your conversion rate is going to take a big blow.

This is why it’s so important to be incredibly thorough and even borderline obsessive about proofreading your copy before it’s published.

I also recommend using a tool such as Grammarly to help you catch grammar errors.

It’s a free Chrome plugin, and it will greatly reduce your mistakes.

Conclusion

There are countless people who are great writers but lousy copywriters.

Mastering this craft demands a unique approach and a specific skillset.

Fortunately, it’s possible to learn how to become a world-class copywriter in a fairly short period of time if you’re willing to put in the effort.

Even if you’re just starting out, following these tips and techniques should put you on the fast track to quality copywriting, which means two important things.

You can convert more of your leads AND increase your profitability.

What do you think the most important aspect of copywriting is?

from Quick Sprout http://ift.tt/2hYOIJf from Blogger http://ift.tt/2iYVMqX January 06, 2017 at 09:37PM

[targetedseo1]

8 Techniques That Helped Me Improve My Writing During Ten Years of Blogging

Epic copywriting is an integral part of driving traffic and making conversions.

Smashing Magazine even states that “it's not uncommon for proper copywriting to increase search traffic by 50 percent and conversion rates by 30 percent.”

But being a great copywriter requires more than simply being great at writing.

You need to have a fundamental understanding of human psychology to be able to persuade readers to buy your product/service-you need to know what motivates people to purchase.

Plus, there are several other variables that will impact your approach, including your audience, overall aim, and desired customer reaction.

This graphic from ABC Copywriting offers a nice visual breakdown of the specific elements of great copy:

But how can you become a world-class copywriter in a short period of time if you have only minimal experience?

It took me 10 years to improve, figuring out these techniques. By practicing them, you'll be able to improve a lot faster.

1. Learn from the best

If you're just starting out, I suggest diving in head first and absorbing as much information as you can about the process.

Unlike other forms of content writing, copywriting is a highly specialized field and requires a unique approach of its own.

I'm a proponent of reading books from some of the brightest minds to get their take on things.

They've been there, done that, and can get you to where you need to be.

Some specific authors to check out include David Ogilvy, known as The Father of Advertising, and Bob Bly.

This list of 50 attributes of a great copywriter from Jeff Bullas can be helpful too.

I also recommend checking out this list of 75 resources from Kissmetrics specifically designed for those who want to become great copywriters.

This covers the entire spectrum and is ideal if you're just getting your feet wet.

2. Get in the habit of practicing your craft

There's a definite possibility that you'll suck at your first attempt at copywriting. Don't take it personally.

But you would be amazed at what can happen with enough continual practice.

Even in as little as a week, you can make tremendous strides.

You'll learn to be more efficient and will develop hacks for streamlining the process. You'll also discover what works for YOU.

That's why I recommend practicing on a daily basis if possible.

3. Study the psychology behind purchasing decisions

As I mentioned earlier, psychology is a key element in copywriting.

In order to persuade someone to buy something, you need to understand their thought process and behavioral patterns.

Copyblogger has an interesting article that highlights seven psychologically-backed copywriting tips.

In it, you'll read about the concept of mirror neurons-neurons in the brain that “activate when you 'observe' something happening, and then transfer some of the feeling on you.”

I think a good example of it is the Allstate's “Mayhem” ad campaign.

You know, where they say “mayhem is everywhere” and show disastrous scenarios like a tree branch falling on your car?

These commercials are good at making you envision and feel what it would be like if it happened to you. In turn, you're more inclined to buy their insurance.

The point I'm trying to make is that your copywriting should resonate with readers and make them feel something.

You need to get in their heads and truly understand what makes them tick.

In turn, this should guide your copywriting and help you create more potent copy.

4. Do your research

Effective copywriting isn't just clever wordplay. A big part of it is great research.

Why is research so important?

For one thing, it makes your content more authoritative.

By including relevant statistics, case studies, and quotes from experts, you back up your argument.

It shows that your copywriting is based on objective facts and not merely an opinion.

Anyone can make a claim, but when that claim is backed up by data, it becomes credible.

It also adds a layer of depth to your content.

When you take the time to research, you'll inevitably gain a deeper understanding of a topic.

You're more likely to see the big picture rather than just bits and pieces, and this should be reflected in your writing.

When you put all this together, it's going to be helpful in building trust with readers.

Trust is obviously important because it's going to make it easier to persuade your prospects to buy.

Even if you really know your stuff, I still suggest you get in the habit of performing some preliminary research because it's going to add a new dimension to your copy.

5. Work on your headlines

Quite frankly, it doesn't matter how great your overall content is if the headline sucks.

In fact, “on the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.”

If your headline isn't captivating, very few readers will make it to your call to action (CTA).

While it may seem easy enough on paper, creating a great headline can be pretty tricky.

But I've come up with a formula for streamlining the process to ensure you create attention-grabbing headlines.

In one of my previous articles, I talk about “the four u's of headline writing:”

Your headline should be unique.

Your headline should be ultra-specific.

Your headline should convey a sense of urgency.

Your headline should be useful.

Here's an example of a great headline. It's quick and to the point:

6. Master the art of the opening sentence

Just one rung below headlines on the importance scale is your opening sentence.

Once you've caught the reader's attention with an awesome headline, you want to motivate them to read through the rest of your content until they ultimately reach the CTA.

And this always begins with a well-written opening sentence.

What do I mean by well-written?

It needs to be short, engaging, and able to reel in the reader immediately.

Here's a perfect example from Chartbeat:

If you look at the opening sentence, it meets all three of the criteria mentioned above.

It simply says, “It's not enough to just count clicks and page views anymore.”

This is obviously short and to the point. It's engaging because it gets readers wondering what they should be assessing if clicks and page views aren't enough. And it also makes them want to read on to find out what solutions Chartbeat offers.

What's the takeaway?

Work diligently at perfecting your headline and opener.

If you're able to do this, you've already won half the battle, and you're in a position to capitalize on the maximum percentage of leads.

7. Use the AIDA formula

AIDA is an acronym created by copywriter Gary Halbert.

It stands for:

Here's a breakdown of how it works…

You start by grabbing the reader's attention with an awesome headline and opener like we just discussed.

You build interest by touching on their needs, wants, and pain points as well as ways your product/service can solve their problems, improve their lives, etc.

You create a desire to buy your product/service by clearly explaining its benefits.

Finally, you insert your CTA to encourage your readers to take action right away.

I've found this simple formula to be incredibly helpful for guiding my copywriting.

While the specific details will vary depending on your audience, industry, and product/service, the AIDA formula always works and will keep you on track.

8. Be meticulous about spelling and grammar

Did you know that “poor grammar on websites scares 59 percent of people away?”

Spelling and grammar mistakes can be the kiss of death for your business because it makes you look unprofessional and diminishes your credibility.

After all, would someone trust and want to buy from a company that doesn't know the difference between your and you're?

A study was even done to determine the biggest mistakes a company can make.

According to the findings, the overwhelming number of respondents (42.5 percent) said they were most influenced by spelling and grammatical errors.

As you can clearly see, poor spelling and grammar can be a real deal breaker, and your conversion rate is going to take a big blow.

This is why it's so important to be incredibly thorough and even borderline obsessive about proofreading your copy before it's published.

I also recommend using a tool such as Grammarly to help you catch grammar errors.

It's a free Chrome plugin, and it will greatly reduce your mistakes.

Conclusion

There are countless people who are great writers but lousy copywriters.

Mastering this craft demands a unique approach and a specific skillset.

Fortunately, it's possible to learn how to become a world-class copywriter in a fairly short period of time if you're willing to put in the effort.

Even if you're just starting out, following these tips and techniques should put you on the fast track to quality copywriting, which means two important things.

You can convert more of your leads AND increase your profitability.

What do you think the most important aspect of copywriting is?