#also plz ignore the spaces between the photos

[isanyonetoknow]

To Win A Prince - reintroduction

So?

So what?

So why are you doing all of this? Traveling around the continent, doing ridiculous tasks... there’s always a motive for these things. 

Well maybe I don’t have one. 

I find that hard to believe. You had a nice life. No one leaves something like that without a reason. 

No one just... just gives everything up for nothing. 

... There is a reason. Some call it a bad one. 

And it is?

Love. I guess. 

Genre: (high) fantasy | POV: third person limited | Status: First Draft | WC: ~120k (projected but who really knows)

Triggers/Content Warnings: implied/reference violence, mild swearing. (excerpts with triggers will be tagged and this list will be updated if anything else comes up)

Summary: 

After receiving three ridiculous tasks from the king, ex-Knight Aurelius Lijne embarks out on a journey to accomplish them so that they can finally marry their best friend, the crown prince, in peace.

Along the way, they’re saddled with people from all forms of life--from the bard who’s only here for his finals to the elf who might be a spy but is definitely a convict and fugitive to the Fae who’s spent more years among cowboys than their own kind.

Then again, what did Aurelius expect, when one of their tasks involved stealing the Dark Lord’s shoes of all things? 

Current tag list (ask/dm/comment to be added/removed): 

@bigger-than-goofiest-fish​ @woodhouse-jay​ @lexwritesgayshit​ @andiwriteunderthemoon​ @lostinmyfictionaluniverses​ @anomaly00​ @bookofsummer​ @theworst-pirate​

[Posted 24 March 2020] [Updated 12 May 2020]

[elzemayne]

Show-Off

Pairing: Hawks x Reader

Genre: Mutual Pining; Fluff

Warning: None

Word Count: 928

Summary: Hawks likes you and his bird-brain wants to show it

Requested by: @raine-needs-help You know how male birds show off to female birds? Like they make themselves look pretty or dance or sing? I have a headcanon that whenever Hawks' crush is around he'll try to show off to impress them lol Like spreading his wings out to make him look cooler, even in public or in small spaces lmao Can I get an imagine of him doing that? (And maybe other things to impress the reader, if you can think of any) Also gender neutral reader plz, if that's an option :>

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You typed furiously on your phone as you waited for the elevator to arrive and take you to the top floor where the top ranked heroes were scheduled to have interviews and a photo shoot. As one of the event coordinators, you wanted to make sure today went perfectly.

“Hey there,” a friendly voice called out to you from behind. You glanced up, only two see the number 2 hero waving and making his way over to you. You shot him a smile as you tucked your phone away.

“Morning, Haw – I mean, Keigo,” you said, quickly correcting yourself.

You remembered the last conversation you had had with Hawks in which he had repeated told you to call him by his first name. It still seemed strange to you since you didn’t know of very many other people who called him that, but it made also made you a bit happy to know that you were deemed special enough to be this familiar with him.

“Nice catch, kid,” he said, shooting you a trademark smile as he stood beside you to wait for the elevator.

It took you a moment to realize that even though he was standing beside you, his wings were outstretched far enough to reach your back and maybe even farther. Your eyes floated towards the crimson feathers almost hypnotically and you found yourself wondering if his wings had always been that big.

That’s when you frowned upon the realization of your thoughts.

“Wait, why are you waiting for the elevator? Can’t you just fly up there and make a grand entrance?” you asked, amusedly. Hawks let out a light laugh which sounded like bells pleasantly chiming.

“Sure, I could, but come on – what would be the fun in that?” he stated, casually, putting his hands in his pockets coolly. You tilted your head a bit and bit your lip.

“You’ve been busy, right? I’ve seen you on TV a lot lately,” you stated, clutching the notebook in your hands just a bit tighter as you watched hawks casually bring a hand to the back of his neck.

“Yea, it’s no big deal,” he stated, flippantly. “Just saved some people and took out a couple of villains. All in a day’s work for the number 2,” he added, winking at you.

You felt the heat rise to your face and were about to respond when the elevator dinged and opened in front of you. A few people exited, glancing at you and Hawks and whispering excitedly, so you gave them a smile before stepping into the elevator.

Unbeknownst to you, Hawks had planned this since the moment he spotted you in the lobby.

He knew that he probably should be more focused on his work, but it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up on. The idea of being alone with you for more than even just a minute sent Hawks immediately in the zone and he was more than prepared to show you all that he had to offer. He knew he had caught your attention with his wings in the lobby and he was only tensing them at that time.

Now it was time for the real show to begin.

“Sorry, Y/N, guess I should’ve just flown up, huh?” Hawks said, feigning ignorance as he the doors closed.

He stood beside you and puffed out his chest, making his wings expand as much as they possibly could within the small space until they were practically enveloping you. He tried to act casual, but he couldn’t stop his eyes from staring at you, wanting to see your reaction.

You were startled at first, admitting that your previous thoughts were true – Hawks’ wings were much larger than you had previously thoughts. You watched in awe as the wings expanded around the four walls, stretching and swaying slightly, and once again you felt almost hypnotized by the rhythmic movements of the feathers. It was as if they moved up and down with each breath he took.

Each of them was so detailed and beautiful that you forced yourself to resist the urge to reach out and touch them. As the elevator hit a bump, you realized that you had been so awe-struck by his wings you had forgotten to respond.

“Oh! Y-yea…I mean no, no it’s fine,” you spat out, nervously, turning to face Hawks. “This is fine,” you whispered, feeling your heart beat faster as you felt yourself get lost in the sea of red that surrounded you on all sides as you realized Hawks was staring at you intensely.

There was a moment of tension between the two of you when the elevator suddenly dinged loudly, causing you to jump away from him just as the doors opened. Hawks smirked slightly, letting his wings shrink back slightly to let you out of the doors before following you into the hallway. He could practically hear your heartbeat pounding in your chest and knowing that he had made you have such a reaction made him puff up with pride as he forcefully contracted his wings down once more.

The two of you were quickly approached by staff workers from the event and they enthusiastically directed you where to go next. Hawks glanced over at you now and again, watching you smile and nod at the women. He knew that he had impressed you and he found himself wondering if his preening would manage to have a lasting effect on you at all.

If not, he would simply have to try harder next time.

[wp-yahoo-style-1042-yahoopa-blog]

Dating app Bumble wants to help you network professionally

Networking is a lot like dating: Present yourself as best you can, don’t reveal too many skeletons too early, and determine whether you’re interested in creating lifelong relationships. And Bumble, known as “her dating app” (as women are in charge of making the first move), is now making the case that the link between dating and networking goes even further.

A year after announcing its newest service, Bumble Bizz, the company launched it into the world in early October. It drew immediate accolades from Vogue, Fortune and Business Insider (which called the changes a “LinkedIn killer”). And while it may be a bit premature to mourn the death of digital networking standard bearers, Bumble Bizz seems eager to turn a cornerstone of career development on its head.

Like the original Bumble service, Bumble Bizz allows users — plus Bumble’s entire existing network of 21 million registered users — to swipe left (no) or right (yes) on other users who might become professional contacts.

When a match occurs between a man and a woman on Bumble Bizz (meaning both have swiped right on each other), the woman is required to initiate a chat within a 24-hour window or the match expires. If both users are men or women, either party can start the chat.

“We feel that professional networking is antiquated,” Bumble’s head of brand, Alex Williamson el-Effendi, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “On social networking professional apps and sites, you’re looking at dead-end connections. It’s just building a roster of people that makes you look more legit, whereas we’re facilitating networking connections that lead to conversations.”

Putting women in control

Bumble Bizz complements the reigning ethos at Bumble: Put women in control. “It’s our mission to end harassment and misogyny,” Williamson el-Effendi says. “All women experience this gray area when you meet with somebody in a professional setting, whether you’re looking for a mentor or looking for someone to hire you, and there’s a moment of that realization that someone might not be meeting with you for your mind. We’re trying to change that.”

Indeed, instances of sexual harassment and inappropriate messages on any number of relationship-focused sites and apps abound, including on LinkedIn. Whether that’s because there’s a seemingly infinite number of creeps ignoring boundaries between professional and personal platforms or because women aren’t the ones initiating contact is unclear.

Surely, there’s a bit of psychology that supports the notion that women should initiate conversations in new relationships, personal or otherwise. According to one study, societal expectations “encouraged [women] to resort to passivity or indirect strategies to shape their relationship outcomes, and many women developed a kind of learned helplessness or feeling of futility about changing the status quo.”

The study continues: “By giving women ‘permission’ to act first, all kinds of new relationships may emerge that would before have never materialized. And you don’t have to be hemmed in by society’s restrictions about who should ask and who should be asked.” That largely sounds like Bumble’s rationale, applied to either business or pleasure.

Using the app

Still, not everyone buys into those principles. “The girl messaging first thing might add a weird sexual tone to a business interaction,” says Sara, a 23-year-old paralegal from Detroit who shared her thoughts with Yahoo Lifestyle. “The reason Bumble works for dating is because it’s based on the idea that women are kind of in control and want to be able to filter their many suitors, but I think in the business world that’s very much not the case. It feels like it’s a too familiar narrative of women groveling to men in power.”

Others worry not about whose responsibility it is to initiate conversations, but about the fact that they might mix up who they’re chatting with on a platform that hosts professional, personal, and platonic matches in one space.

“I’m usually swiping around on Bumble when I’m with my friends, so I feel like I’d get my wires crossed and end up flirting with professionals in my network,” shares Soona, who works in tech and lives in San Francisco.

While the Bumble app keeps conversations from each of its three services in one spot, matches in a queue are distinguished by color: yellow for Bumble original, blue for Bumble BFF, and salmon for Bumble Bizz. Still, Williamson el-Effendi says you probably shouldn’t use Bumble with “tequila goggles” if you’re worried about messaging the wrong person.

While initial media coverage of Bumble Bizz has been positive (unlike the handful of first-person accounts that surfaced after the launch of Bumble BFF), some Twitter users are skeptical.

Has anyone tried @bumble_app’s BIZZ feature? Super empty in my region… but concept looked interesting. Not sure how I would use it tho

— Valerie Ox (@hellovalerieox) October 10, 2017

Just realized BumbleBizz will be filled w/ useless plz-hire-me talk. This isn't how you get a new job, fam. pic.twitter.com/6CtkOAgoun

— Jack Appleby (@JuiceboxCA) October 3, 2017

Just got an email from Bumble about a new Bizz mode. So taking all the worst bits of internet dating & applying it to a new domain – errrr?

— London Dating Man (@LondonDatingMan) October 2, 2017

I decided to try Bumble Bizz for myself (full disclosure: I regularly use Bumble for its original dating service.) I created a basic profile, and included notes about my previous employers and experiences.

Screenshot of my profile and interactions on Bumble Bizz

Then I began swiping. It took a moment for me to correct the habit of swiping quickly based on how I feel about a user’s profile photo. I forced myself to slow down and read each person’s blurbs. Many of the users I saw were young professionals or students, along with plenty of creatives (writers and media people), PR and marketing professionals, and a recruiter or two. Unexpectedly, I noticed an accountant who offers his services to others.

I made a point to swipe on nearly every media professional I saw. Of the few dozen swipes, I matched with five and initiated a conversation with my first match while waiting for others. (None of my other matches initiated a conversation with me before our 24-hour window expired.) Did I feel “in control?” Sure. But it was no empowering epiphany or anything.

Jury still out

To be sure, Bumble Bizz isn’t recreating the wheel when it comes to relationship-building apps, a space with more and more competition every day.

There’s Shapr, “the Tinder of professional networking,” Networkr, Let’s Lunch, and, surprisingly, Tinder itself (which some users use solely for making business connections.) Lest we forget, there’s also LinkedUp, a dating app that uses LinkedIn data to source matches, as does the League.

So far, Bumble has largely avoided the bad press that accompanies networking and dating apps. It’s also forged partnerships with a slew of multi-hyphenate power players, like InStyle editor-in-chief and social media savant Laura Brown, as well as actress-model-entrepreneur-activist types like Kate Hudson, Karlie Kloss, and Priyanka Chopra. So far, Brown is the only one to have made her partnership with Bumble Bizz public, via her Instagram, though Bumble confirmed that the latter three are working with the company.

I partnered with @bumblebizz because not only does it support women in the workplace, it protects them. I heard crazy stories of harassment on other networking sites, but here, women choose who they engage with. Brilliant, @whitwolfeherd! #bumblebizz

A post shared by Laura Brown (@laurabrown99) on Oct 6, 2017 at 4:45am PDT

Still, despite the big names it’s gotten on board, Bumble Bizz — currently available to iPhone users, and available to Android users come late October — may still have a way to go when it comes to how young professionals feel about joining its ranks.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Why this businesswoman says it’s a ‘disservice’ to go to ‘the man’ with a big idea

It’s ‘very, very rare’ for a brand to include size 30 clothes for women

‘Body pressure is just wrong,’ says Lane Bryant CMO Brian Beitler

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Alexandra Mondalek is a writer for Yahoo Lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @amondalek.