#but now it’s not guaranteed that I’ll use my tablet every day. so to-do lists are out of sight out of mind for me

[uchiha-gaeshi]

When you realize that you’ve accumulated a whole slew of bad habits over the past 2-ish years…

[spongeekat]

Life as a Super Powered Omega Sucks (Chapter 1)

read on ao3

Masterlist Here

Summary:  Peter just got invited on his first lengthy Avengers mission, one that will prove whether he's fit to continue operating as a hero on the streets of New York. Unfortunately, he's also an omega disguised as a beta, and on the week of starting his heat. Unable to miss out on the mission for the sake of his future, he goes anyways, equipped with a dangerous quantity of heat suppressants and an optimistic outlook. However, he wasn't prepared to end up spending most of his time with Alpha and long term friend Wade. Will he survive the mission and get back in time to spend his heat at home? Or ruin his health and suppress his heat long enough that he can prove his worth to SHIELD and the Avengers?

Peter Parker wasn't exactly ashamed of being an omega. Sure, he hid his status like the plague- masking his scent with an artificial beta spray, using heat suppressants at any given chance, only going off them when it was guaranteed he had a free weekend to spare, and wearing clothes that highlighted his un-omega-like toned arms when he was feeling particularly insecure about it- but it wasn't out of fear of being seen as such. But if you needed a picture painted of why he chose to hide his biological assignment in lieu of presenting himself as neutral, the one word he could begin to create it with was ‘Alphas’.

Alphas secreted dominance with them wherever they went, leaving their cocky, charismatic scent all over public spaces. School was no different. From the days of 7th grade and up, when puberty started hitting Peter's classmates and kids were presenting left and right, the alphas took total control of the hallways. Big man Flash was the first to show clear signs of an alpha, and the rest of his crew of alphas and wannabee-betas fell right in line behind him. With the rise of Alpha-Beta and Beta-Beta relationships being accepted in society, omegas were far and few. Male omegas were even rarer, making up just 25% of the omega population. History taught the extremely fertile gender was previously discriminated against harshly by those that believed them to be nothing more than baby-making machines, and nearly eradicated, as only Alpha-Omega relationships could produce omegas. However,as the omega population went down, closely followed by birth rates, everyone had begun to realize the necessary role omegas played in re-population. As such, omegas were presently celebrated and respected; lusted after and worshiped by alphas and betas alike.

But that was mostly in their later years. Before alphas started to develop their sexual drive, they reveled in the chance to show their power over others, and omega girls tended to be their target. Peter saw kids shoved into lockers, thrown in trash cans, and pushed around on a daily basis. He’d only known 2 omega boys in his life, and the teasing had gotten so severe they eventually moved to homeschooling. Luckily, he hadn't presented, and when he reached 14, he was officially declared as a beta by the school nurse, giving him a pass to fly under the bully's radars at least a tiny bit more effectively.

Unfortunately, being born as the child of a purebred omega and a groomed Alpha such as Mary and Richard left you more susceptible to presenting than other children. So when Peter awoke when he was 17, a few years after he'd taken on the Spider-Man persona and met Mr Stark, sweating and clawing at his clammy skin mid-heat, he knew the universe was doing whatever it could to fuck him over. Besides just school bullies being an issue when it came to his identity, another major reason he had to conceal any evidence of his omega status was the fact that he was Spider-Man. Not only would he most definitely be looked down on by his enemies or perceived as weak, but with the Avengers hardly taking him seriously as it is, and police on high alert searching for an alpha with superhuman strength, he didn't want to risk losing any more respect from the public. He wasn't totally popular at the moment. Besides, being known as an omega, especially a male omega, publicly would narrow down the search quite a bit. What was he, one of 20,000 in all of New York City? Luckily, he'd been pretty successful in hiding it so far, even on days such as today when he was on the week of his heat and could feel the hormone changes already. There was some big-name-but-secretly-evil private investor from some big-name-but-sketchy company that had been quietly investing in illegal technology on the terrorist level, or at least that's what Peter had gathered so far. He always did have some trouble figuring out what Coulson was actually saying, especially when he was distracted by...everything. Particularly a shiny-- "And we can count on you for that, right, Spider-Man?" Oh yeah. That was him. "What? Yeah, yeah, of course." Peter flashed his biggest grin to show he had definitely been listening and not spacing out like the 20 year old kid he was, but Coulson obviously couldn't see it through the spandex of his mask. All intimidating and slightly patronizing pairs of eyes turned back to stare at him, and he felt himself melting into his seat in guilt. Coulson drew a long sigh, rubbed his temple, then turned back to the map projected on the screen. "So, to repeat for Spider-Man, this point of investigation on the building will be a stealth mission. We'll send Natasha and Steve to the ground floor to  take out the heaviest of the security, and once they take notice of you, Spider-Man should have plenty of time to access the elevator shaft and descend to the bottom floor unnoticed. Once you're there, you need to find a way to get Tony in so he can disable the bombs placed on each level. That way, our agents can effectively infiltrate the premise with as little resistance as possible, end the weapons trade in Cabo, and place as many of the workers under arrest as we can.” Now Peter was a little confused, mostly by how he had spaced out all the way from the Russia plans to Mexico, but he was at least a little too proud to raise his hand and ask.

“We already have your escort ready for your portion of the mission, Spider-Man, so don’t worry about that piece. We’ve already made contact and he shall be there tomorrow when you depart.”

“I need an escort?” Peter earned an intense frown for his comment, and he shut himself up right away. “I mean, yeah. A-Okay with Me.”

“Intelligence gathering will begin tomorrow. Meet here at 4 for your flight. Yes, Clint, 4 in the morning. Don’t be late, and don’t forget to bring any supplies you may need for a mission that may take up to two weeks. The majority of your time in Russia will be spent on hold as back-up, in case something goes awry, until we make our move on their transportation facility once we’ve acquired enough data. Keep that in mind when packing. ” With that, Coulson officially ended the meeting and began to gather up what he had brought over. Peter was happy to escape, until he realized what exactly Coulson had said. Two weeks? No, there was no way he could be gone that long. His heat was due sometime around Friday, maybe Monday at latest. Tomorrow, Tuesday, at earliest. He couldn’t go on a trip with the Avengers when it was so close. That would be a story he would never live down.

“Yo, hey, Mr. Stark.”

“Kid.”

Peter side-stepped Captain America as he shuffled past, ending up in front of the man who had brought him into this line of business in the first place. He wasn't aware of Peter's omega status. Mr Stark hardly trusted him enough to allow him to be an Avenger in the first place, so Peter had hacked into Karen's programming with Ned's help to keep her from relaying omega-related health information to anyone else but himself. "Hey, uh, he said this mission was going on for 2 weeks?”

“Yep.” Mr Stark answered as he shoved his expensive tablet into its case, depositing it in his bag. “Homework standing in your way?”

“No, no, that’d be totally uncool.” Peter mentally crossed that off his list of excuses he had prepared. “I just don’t know if I can like...keep my cover that long. I have a lot of people that expect to see me every day. I don’t think the flu will work again.”

“Then use the Stark Internship papers I signed.” Mr Stark sighed thickly, turning to face Peter with an impatient expression. Peter internally cringed, able to see the extra stress he’d been under reflected on his face. He was five seconds from being scolded. He could feel it like a truck about to run him over. “Tell them you’re going on a school trip. Use my card and book hotels for proof. Figure it out. You’ve known since yesterday it was this long.”

“I...you’re right.” Peter relented. Guess there was no helping it, then. He’d just have to make sure to make the mission went by fast. And bring as many heat suppressants as possible, no matter how ineffective they were on him. “Sorry. I’ll get it sorted.”

“Good. This is your chance to prove we can trust you as a part of this team.” Mr Stark continued, walking past Peter and towards the door. Peter kept up with him easily, shadowing him through the hallways of the tower. “You’re young, and that’s kept SHIELD off your back for years. Don’t let this mission be the reason you have to give up everything you’ve worked towards.”

“It’s that important?”

“It’s that important.” Mr Stark repeated back.

Peter hadn’t even begun to consider this may be some sort of test to allow him to continue to operate in New York without proper jurisdiction. However, that made sense. Why else would an entire important section of the mission be dedicated to him? Or at least he assumed it was important. He wasn’t paying attention during the rest to find out what anyone else was doing. In fact, what was the goal of their mission again-- ?

Mr Stark’s shoulder came up close to Peter’s face too fast,and he realized too late he had stopped walking. He barely managed to catch himself before he rammed into the taller man from behind, taking an uncomfortable step back. Mr Stark turned to face him with a suspicious expression, slight worry maybe-possibly mixed in there somewhere. “You’ve been acting weird since yesterday.”

Peter swallowed. Pre-heat brain. But he couldn’t say that. “I guess so? It’s probably just because I’m around all of you guys and-”

“Cut the crap. What’s up? Why are you so determined not to go?” Mr Stark eyed him, as if he could see through his facade if he stared long enough. “Are you hurt?”

“What? No, I’m fine. Totally good.” Peter insisted, only realizing his missed opportunity once it was too late. “I think I’m just tired. I’ll make sure not to stay out too late tonight for patrol.”

“Maybe stay home and sleep the entire night. I’m sure New York will survive for a night.” Mr Stark still didn’t look like he believed him, and Peter almost preferred being ignored.

“I’ll think about it.” Peter agreed, though there was no way that was going to happen when he was already going to be gone for an extensive period of time. “Anyways, thanks for the talk. I should really get working on my excuses and alibis and stuff.”

“Right. Try to take it easy.”

“Will do.”

Peter peeled out of the conversation before Mr Stark could press it any further. He sprinted through the hallways of Stark Towers, pushing on each window until he found the one that was actually able to be opened at this height, indicated by a small rush of wind detectable only to his sensitive ears. His gloved hands pressed lightly on the surface, letting the glass pane swing out after some resistance. Peter crawled up onto the sill, his path home highlighted between the numerous skyscrapers littered along the streets. The cars honking below gave a rise to his adrenaline, and then he was falling, leaping from the building to give himself enough distance not to hit the wall, but free-falling like a bullet through the wind. 10 stories or so down he finally caught his fall, webs shooting out from both wrists with a distinct thwip . His arms jolted at the end of his dissent, before he was soaring again through the air, waiting until the last second possible before he would let another strand sail out and grip onto a pole or a ledge. All the while, calculations of heat suppressants and calendar days ate through his brain. He was sure this mission was just going to last a couple days, and the 2 weeks warning was just precautionary. They’d be in and out within a few days, and he’d be home and in bed by Saturday at the latest. They were the Avengers! It didn’t take that long for these kinds of things.

Probably.

"Hey Karen?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"Falsify a good health report if Mr Stark tries to check on me. Also, can you tell me how much is in my bank account? Suppressants are pretty expensive."

"Of Course, Peter." Karen responded, making Peter smile as he felt slightly less alone. "I believe you have about 3 doses remaining at home, and can afford a pack of 12 from the budget pharmacy in Northwest Queens."

Shit. "Thanks, Karen." Peter would just have to make do somehow.

--

Peter was not awake, by any means, the next morning.

He had followed Mr Stark’s advice and passed out before midnight. However, that still meant he only got a few hours in before he had to be up and packed by 3. He shoved a few days of civvies into a bag, rolled up tightly to conserve space, basic toiletries and underwear, and of course packed the rest of the space with necessary tools in case he got unlucky enough to end up in heat; a week’s worth of heat suppressants (enough for a normal metabolism to last a month, but he was unlucky enough to burn through a day’s worth in a few hours), 2 bottles of faux scent to mask his, and anti-anxiety medication to take the edge off if he was in a difficult spot. With that, he snuck a quiet breakfast and left Aunt May a note, before taking off with toast in his mouth towards the hangar he was told to meet in.

Peter was surprised to find himself to be the only one in full uniform. Mr Stark had his suitcase in hand but had made no attempt to wear it even partway, Steve had on sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt, in similar style to Sam, though his wing containment unit was in his arms, Clint hadn’t even changed out of his pajamas, but he did wear his bow over his back, and Natasha was in her bodysuit without any of her normal accessories layered on. They were still waiting for Peter’s supposed stealth mission escort, as well as Scott Lang, but otherwise Peter felt quite out of place.

“Don’t tell me you’re a morning person, too.” Clint walked in front of Peter, eyeing his suit with a yawn that made him look half-asleep still. “Sam and Steve exhaust me even thinking about waking up this early. I can’t be the only one thinking this is ungodly torture.”

“I’m running on pure adrenaline right now. I only got a nap in last night.” Peter admitted in a low voice, stretching to work the soreness out of his muscles. Usually he could sleep in short spurts and still have some energy for the day. Today, however, his body decided to try to shut down every 5 minutes and force him into a coma. “Honestly, I hope this plane ride is long enough to get a couple extra hours in-”

“I KNEW OUR LOVE WOULD PREVAIL.”

“Oh no.” Peter blanched, and didn’t even dare turn around. “Please tell me it’s not who I think it is.”

“No one told you?” Clint tsked, giving Peter a pitying look. “Yeah, sorry. He’s the only one we felt complimented your skills enough to be your escort.”

“Spidey, we’re finally official teammates! Or I guess I’m more like your babysitter. That just takes all the sex-appeal  out of it. Ooh, wait. I’ll be the professor, and you can be my favorite student I give after school lessons to.”

“Please tell me this is a joke.” Peter swallowed hard, able to smell the alpha behind him from where he stood. Apparently he was the only one that noticed how intense of a scent the man carried with him, as no one else seemed as repulsed by the air.

“Sorry, dude. Can’t always get what you want.” Clint threw Peter a grin that was so smug he wanted to wipe it off his face. However, he made a mental note not to try to attack any of his teammates no matter the situation, and turned to face his battle head-on. Clint passed by the red-clad newcomer with a short, but crisp, high five, and gave the spider one last wiggle of his fingers. What a jerk.

“Heeeey, Deadpool.”

“I thought they were kidding when they said you were on this mission.” The mercenary - or ‘in the process of retiring from murder’ mercenary- crossed the distance on the roof, standing inches above Peter. He wasn’t intimidating, however. More like… a giant, annoying man-child.

Who Peter also happened to be sort of really good friends with. Like, to the point they played video games maskless at Wade’s Manhattan safe house and split pizzas when on patrol. And Deadpool knew his name and face. But he wasn't Peter's first pick to accompany him on a mission Peter was trying to prove that he was mature enough to be on.

“Ouch.”

“Not that there’s anything wrong with you, Pumpkin. But you gotta admit, if I get asked to join in on missions before you, something seriously needs to change about your job performance.”

“Pretty sure they only brought you along as a bullet shield. So you could distract the bad guys with your giant mouth.” Peter shot back, though all in good humor.

Wade made a dramatic gasp, one gloved hand shooting up to cover his lips in true theatrical fashion. “I guess it’s good my kink is getting used.”

“That’s...A weird kink to have.”

“Does it turn you on?”

“Not at all.”

“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.”

“Hey, Tweedledee and Tweedledum.” Mr Stark’s voice sounded behind Peter, jarring them both from their banter. “Get ready to board.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” Wade saluted in response, then glanced back down at Peter. “You’re sitting by me, right?”

“Definitely not.”

“Awww, Spidey!”

“Let’s go.”  Natasha ordered, her head peeking out from the corner of the craft.

Wade threw out his hand with a gentlemanly “after you.” Peter, unable to resist a moment of humor and making Wade laugh, half-courtesy’d in return and made his way towards the short ladder leading into the plane.

The inside of an Avenger’s aircraft wasn’t anything like Peter had pictured. Being sponsored by a billionaire apparently didn’t reap the benefits of travelling in style; rather than being filled with alien tech, or super advanced spy technology, or even genuine leather seats, the inside of the plane was rather bland. It featured a cockpit illuminated with buttons and levers that Peter hadn’t the slightest clue their true intention, only slight privacy given to the designated pilots at the front. Behind that rested a computer Peter had to resist the urge not to immediately ask to study, as well as spaces in the sides for weapons and storage. The seats were spaced so that there were 8 passenger seats, stretching along the length of the plane. Peter situated himself in the back, close to the hatch they used for for entering. Somehow, having an escape route made him feel more secure than the claustrophobia he would feel trapped between two well-respected heroes. Or maybe he was just self conscious. Either way, he sat himself down as far from the others as he could get, and shoved his backpack in his lap.

Wade decided to take the spot right next to him, despite 3 other seats remaining open, and Natasha -looking as judgemental as ever- took the space across.

“The Itsy Bitsy Spider ran up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out!” Wade apparently became quite the comedian under pressure, pulling out his katana Bea - or maybe it was Arthur- to start sharpening the length. Both the spider-themed heroes gave him an irritated look, Peter a bit more disbelieving he would bother one of the scariest members of the team, before Natasha cleared her throat.

“I’m sure I could find a way to make sure you don’t come back from death, if you keep this up the entire ride there.” The ginger commented dryly, crossing her legs in a way that Peter felt he was a second away from witnessing Wade’s true demise

“That would be my lucky day, cupcake.” Wade grinned back, sliding his katana back into its holster. Despite his cool exterior, Peter knew he thought Natasha was hot shit that could beat him to a pulp. “I’m quaking in my suit. I don’t know if I’m scared, or excited, but probably both.”

Scott swiveled in the chair placed just in front of the computer he had claimed, the metal loudly squeaking to catch their attention. “I am not dealing with you two arguing for 12 hours.”

“15 hours.” Bruce mumbled, though he remained primarily focused on a notebook filled to the brim with incoherent scribbles.

“I am not listening to you arguing for 15 hours!” Scott corrected, folding his arms in a fatherly fashion.

“I don’t even remember you being invited, LadybugBoy.” Natasha’s subtle but annoyed comment instantly sent Wade into a fit of laughter, jolting her from her anger. The change of Wade’s attitude was just enough for her to relinquish her dangerous atmosphere for a moment, and she settled calmly back in her seat.

“It’s Ant-Man.” Scott mumbled indignantly, which only served to make Wade laugh harder. The ex-convict turned back to his computer to rest his head, and for once in his life Peter saw Natasha crack an expression similar to a grin.

The conversation seemed to settle their nerves, as well as at the 4 AM call time, because the Avengers grew completely silent within the hour. Clint dozed off first, followed by Bruce (after he injected himself with some tranquilizer he often kept with him), and Natasha dropped into some weird relaxation that was close to sleep, with her body still tensed and at the ready to fight at any time. Scott was still sulking by the time Peter felt himself start to fall asleep, a yawn being the first sign of his body begging for a nap. Wade seemed to notice immediately despite the mask, because a gloved leather hand wormed its way to the top of Peter’s head to try to pull him in to his shoulder. Peter didn’t budge, giving Wade a deadpanned look. “Dude.”

“What?” Wade asked innocently, his arm retreating back to his side.

“I’m not sleeping on you.”

“I am the best goddamn pillow you will ever use.”

“We’re on a plane with the Avengers.” Peter said in an awkward whisper as if it wasn’t obvious, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“You don’t have to be shy about our secret relationship, Spidey. I’ve already told everyone you’re my lo--”

“Friend.” Peter cut in, groaning and sitting back in his chair with a huff. He had to admit, the seats weren’t very comfortable, and his stomach was tight with anxiety. Talking with Deadpool was easing at least a little bit of the pressure.

“Friend with benefits. Just as exciting without the emotional attachment. I like your style.” Peter didn’t really have the energy to argue against Wade’s ramblings, so he just let his eyes slip shut and tried to focus on staying awake, figuring he could just rest his eyes for a few minutes. Eventually his body grew numb enough he was a little more comfortable, and the rest was doing wonders for his scattered brain and anxiety.

His eyes shot open again when they hit turbulence, and he realized he had been passed out for an extensive period of time. Long enough that nearly everyone was asleep, including Wade, who was passed out on Peter’s arm. Peter stared at him for a few minutes, trying to decide whether to push him away and save himself the embarrassment of anyone seeing, or let him continue to slumber to make up for the nights he’d let Peter stay over on his couch and eat his fridge dry.

He ended up choosing the latter after an extensive internal debate, though most of it was because his arm was completely asleep under the weight of his large head and leather mask, and he didn’t have the strength in it to push him away. It worked out fine in the end, once Peter had grown tired enough to fall back into sleep, when Wade’s head created a hard pillow for him to drop his cheek on. And that was how they spent their flight, until Wade roused and immediately started teasing Peter for falling asleep on him, to the point he got up and changed seats out of annoyance.

There was a reason Peter had said no to sitting by Wade. He was an asshole. Comfortable, but still an asshole.

[badchoosey]

Perfect Match, Book One. Chapter 1: True Love, Guaranteed

You walk down a bustling Brooklyn street, the sounds of the city humming all around you. 

Karma: (Hope I’m not late!)

Soft music plays as you step into the hip venue of an upscale art show. 

Karma: Nadia! Hey!

You spot your cousin, Nadia, among the crowd. Her face lights up as she approaches with arms outstretched and wraps you in a tight hug!

Nadia: Karma! I’m so happy you made it!

Karma: Are you kidding? The opening of your new art collection? I wouldn’t miss it for the world. 

Nadia: Honestly, I have no idea how it blew up. But who am I to argue with the review of an art critic?

Karma: You mean glowing reviews from dozens of art critics?

Nadia: Oh, shush! Anyway, that’s not what I was excited about. 

Karma: Then what is it?

Nadia: I want you to meet my boyfriend!

Nadia waves over to a handsome man from across the room…

Nadia: Steve! Come say hi to my cousin!

Steve: Hey! You must be Karma! I’ve heard so much about you. I’ve been dying to meet you for weeks, but I’ve been busy at the animal shelter. 

Karma: Oh! Do you work there?

Nadia: Steve’s an investment banker. But he volunteers at an animal shelter. Amazing, right?

Steve: Ah, it’s nothing. I’m just a guy who likes to do some good in his free time. Nadia here is the amazing one. The way her art makes me feel… It’s indescribable. 

Nadia: Aww, sweetie!

Steve: Now, if you’ll excuse me, Karma, I’ve got to replenish the hors d’oeuvres. We’ll talk later! My mini-quiches are going fast!

Steve gives Nadia a kiss on the cheek and hustles off. Nadia sighs, beaming. 

Nadia: Did I mention he bakes? He bakes. So… What do you think?

Karma: No one is that perfect. I’m calling bull. How much are you paying him?

Nadia: Ha, ha. Don’t be mad that I’ve found the ultimate boyfriend!

Karma: Really though. Where did you find this guy?

Nadia: I met him through a matchmaking service. They asked me some questions, then found the perfect man for me! They’re very exclusive. Super selective with their clientele. But I’m sure they’d accept you in a heartbeat!

Nadia reaches into her purse and hands you a business card. 

Nadia: You should try them out!

Karma: True love, guaranteed? I’ll believe it when I see it!

Nadia: That’s not a nooo…

Karma: I mean… What the hell? I’ll give it a shot. You’ve piqued my curiosity.

Just then, a voice calls to you from the crowd… 

Damien: Don’t tell me Nadia has got you drinking this ‘matchmaking’ service Kool-Aid too, Karma. You of all people don’t need some fancy matchmaking service. 

Your good friend Damien saunters over, seamlessly switching his empty champagne glass with a fresh one from a server’s tray. 

Karma: I’ll take that as a compliment. But you can’t argue with the results. Steve seems like a catch. 

Damien: Yeah, I talked to Mr. Perfect on the way in. Haven’t found any flaws or dark secrets yet. But give me time. 

Nadia: Really, D? We’ve known you for like, four years. I thought you would’ve dropped the tough, cynical act by now. 

Damien: I’m a private investigator. I catch liars and cheaters for a living. ‘Cynical’ is basically my job. 

Nadia: Don’t listen to him, Karma. He’s like the Grinch when it comes to love. Eros is the best matchmaking service ever! I’ll schedule you an appointment for a consultation!

Damien: Yeah! A vague, secretive company providing little to no contact information… What could go wrong? Just keep your guard up, Karma… Maybe bring pepper spray, or hold your keys like claw. 

Nadia: Ignore him. It’ll be amazing! I know you’re gonna find someone perfect for you!

Karma: Can’t wait!

Later that week, you arrive outside the address Nadia gave you. A sleek, unlabeled complex towers above you…

Karma: (Okay, this is a little weird. Not so much as a logo on the door. But the address looks right…)

You push through the glass doors to enter a warm, inviting lobby. A stunning woman strides gracefully across the room, the steps of her heels echoing through the halls. 

Cecile: Karma Park? My name is Cecile Contreras. I’m the Head of Matchmaking here at Eros. Welcome! You got here on the J train, didn’t you? I hope getting to the new Quincy Station wasn’t too much of a hassle. 

Karma: Uh, thank you… How did you know--

Cecile: We’ve done our homework. Eros has been expecting you, after all. Your cousin Nadia gave you a glowing referral. I’m excited to begin. Please, follow me. 

You follow Cecile through the pristine halls of Eros Incorporated…

Karma: I’m still a little overwhelmed by this whole thing. How can you guarantee true love?

Cecile: A good question. Love is a complex thing. But here at Eros, we’ve used the latest in behavioural science and technology to devise the most sophisticated matchmaking system in the world. 

Karma: So you think you’ve got people figure out… with some algorithm?

Cecile: Your personality, your wants, your needs… All of that makes you unique, like a puzzle piece. But somewhere out there is a piece that fits flawlessly with you. An exact complement. A perfect match. Our technology helps sort through the pieces to find yours. Simply put, the human heart is precisely out expertise. 

Karma: Sounds like a sales pitch. I’m not so easily won over by the slogans and buzz words. 

Cecile: Touche. But we stand by every claim. Give us a chance to convince you, and I promise you’ll be satisfied. 

Karma: Well… I’m already here. 

She leads you into a peaceful, softly lit room. A sweet, floral aroma and calming music fill the space around you. 

Cecile: Welcome to our consultation room. This is where we’ll be conducting our Perfect Match questionnaire. 

Karma: Is this the part where I tell you my middle name, my hobbies, and where I went to high school?

Cecile: Nadia sent us the personality profile you filled out, so we already have the basic information we need. Today will be all about finding out what you’re looking for in a match. 

Karma: Oh… Okay… So why does this place look more like a day spa than a quiz room?

Cecile: Oh, I assure you, our questionnaire is more than just a quiz. It’s a comprehensive interview, monitoring not just your words, but your biorhythms, your excitement, your emotional engagement… As such, we want you to be perfectly at ease. 

She invites you to sit on a reclining chair in the middle of the room, and instantly your mind drifts as you sink into the shockingly comfortable seat. Cecile sits on a chair beside you with a tablet in hand. 

Cecile: Simply place your hand on the palm scanner, and we can begin. 

You place your hand on the smooth surface of the chair’s arm. It hums and glows, and soon a soft chime sounds in sync with your own heartbeat. The lights in the room dim as your mind drifts, peacefully… 

Cecile: Now, relax. Close your eyes… focus on the sound of my voice… and speak from your heart…

Cecile taps on her tablet. You hear her voice from a distance as your eyes close… 

Cecile: I have twelve brief questions. Please answer as honestly as you can. 

You’re on a first date. Which makes you want a second:

Talking for hours about everything?

Being intrigued and left wanting more?

Karma: Being intrigued and left wanting more. 

Cecile: When traveling abroad, your perfect match would rather take you:

To explore ancient ruins, just the two of you

To a lively festival, bustling with locals

Karma: To explore ancient ruins, just the two of you

Cecile: You’re transported into a fantasy novel. Which character is more attractive?

A magnetic ruler, leading and inspiring the people

A silent, formidable warrior, fighting evil from the shadows

Karma: A silent, formidable warrior, fighting evil from the shadows.

Cecile: Your favorite childhood playground is being torn down. Your perfect match:

Takes you there for a farewell picnic

Steal you a piece of it to keep forever

Karma: Steals me a piece to keep forever. 

Cecile: Who do you imagine your partner hung out with in high school?

A close-knit group of friends

A rowdy bunch of outcasts

Karma: A rowdy bunch of outcasts

Cecile: Your match appears in a dream with an animal companion. What kind is it?

A fierce, wild hawk

A loyal, noble golden retriever

Karma: A fierce, wild hawk. 

Cecile: Complete the sentence. My perfect match can always:

Makes me laugh until I cry

Say the right thing to comfort me when I’m down

Karma: Say the right thing to comfort me when I’m down

Cecile: What would your ideal partner sing during a karaoke date?

A love song dedicated to you

A ridiculous theme song, just to tease you

Karma: A love song dedicated to me

Cecile: Your perfect match has just defeated a supervillain. What do they do next?:

Righteously condemn the villain’s actions

Spout a witty catchphrase

Karma: Righteously condemn the villain’s actions

Cecile: Your travel plans have fallen through. What does your partner do?

They point blindly to a map, and plan a new adventure on the fly

They have you covered no matter what, backup plan and all

Karma: They have me covered no matter what, backup plan and all.

Cecile: How would your partner clear out a building full of zombies?:

They devise a brilliant plan and execute it flawlessly

They charge in, guns blazing!

Karma: They devise a brilliant plan, and execute it flawlessly.

Cecile: You’re at a casino, and your partner is winning big. Why is that?

They take big risks, and it pays off

They’re savvy and calculating, and play the odds

Karma: They’re savvy and calculating, and play the odds. 

Cecile: You’re doing wonderfully, Karma. We have enough to find you a suitable match, but first, I’d like to ask if there’s anything in particular you’re looking for… I’m going to list a few traits that your potential match may possess… Let me know if any of them resonate strongly with you. For those who prioritize physical intimacy, we have many candidates with massage skills. We can refine our search to animal lovers and pet owners, who are often compassionate and kind. If you’re drawn to creative, artistic souls, we can match you with musicians. Last but not least, many people seek the culture and intelligence of someone who speaks many languages. Which of these appeals to you?

Karma: I’m looking for someone with a magic touch. 

Cecile: An excellent choice. Would you like to distinguish your preferences further? Remember, there’s no shame in being picky when it comes to love. You’re absolutely worth it. 

Karma: I’m fine with my selection. 

The lights in the room brighten, and you are suddenly aware of your surroundings again. Cecile looks up from her note-taking and smiles warmly at you. 

Cecile: That concludes the questionnaire. Not so bad, was it? Based on your responses, we’ll determine which of our sixteen personality types best describes your Perfect Match. I’ll have your results in a moment…

Cecile taps on the tablet before turning it to show you the display… 

“Your perfect match is an Activist… - mysterious, rebellious, sincere, logical - … Someone with passion, drive, and vision, an Activist fights to change the world… and will fight just as hard for you!”

Karma: Wow. Just like that? Are you sure this type is the match for me?

Cecile: Skepticism is completely understandable. But I encourage you to trust the system. I think you’ll find that our system may surprise you. 

Karma: Well… I guess I could give it a shot. So… What next?

Cecile: Next? Simply leave the rest to us. We’ll find the most compatible partner for you in our database and arrange your first date. You’ll be hearing from us soon!

Karma: Sounds like a plan. And what happens after that?

Cecile flashes you a wink. 

Cecile: Why, true love, of course. 

You step out of the Eros building into the brisk night air, the New York City skyline towering above you. 

Damien: Made it out of the Mystery Company in one piece, huh?

Karma: Damien? What are you doing here?

Damien leans against his old muscle car, pulling his jacket tight against the cold. 

Damien: Check your phone, lovebird. I called you a couple times. Wanted to make sure you hadn’t joined a cult, or bought a timeshare or anything… And also offer you a ride home. 

Karma: You just wanted the dirt on this Mystery Company, huh?

Damien smiles. 

Damien: Wow… You know me too well, Karma. Come on. 

Soon, you’re watching the city lights streak by through the passenger window of Damien’s car as you catch him up on your day. 

Damien: So, really… this Eros thing. You’d think you’d just swipe left and right like other apps. No, you know, go to a day spa for a fancy interview. 

Karma: Maybe it’s a little… unconventional, but it seemed legit to me. 

Damien; Unconventional is an understatement. But hey, whatever makes you happy. 

Damien pulls the car to a stop outside your apartment building.

Damien: … I actually mean that too. I want you to be happy. 

Karma: Oh, really? No sarcasm this time? No snarky retort?

You catch Damien’s eye as a slight smirk spreads across his face…

Damien: Despite my unflappably cool facade… I do have the capacity to care about someone. Occasionally. 

Karma: Don’t get sappy on me now, Damien. 

Damien: Wouldn’t dream of it. 

One afternoon that weekend, you’re lounging in your apartment when a knock sounds on the door. You open it to find… 

Nadia: Karma! I’m guessing you haven’t left your apartment today. 

Karma: What makes you say that?

Nadia: Because if you stepped outside, you would have noticed this on your doorstep!

Nadia hands you a pristine display of flowers with an envelope attached! You open the card inside…

Karma: It’s from Eros! ‘Dear Karma, True love awaits! We’ve found someone special for you, and have already arranged your first date. At the end of the night, we’ll survey you both separately. If you both feel a connection, you’ll be declared a Match! You need only come with an open heart… and leave the rest to destiny.’ 

Nadia: Well, I came here hoping to ask how your appointment went, but I guess I have my answer! I remember when I got my letter from Eros… I was so excited! This is gonna be amazeballs! Right?!

Karma: I think there better be a money-back guarantee. 

Nadia: Ugh, you’ve been hanging around Damien too much. Let yourself be hopeful! This match they’ve found is going to be great for you!

Karma: Let’s hope so. The details on the card say that Eros has scheduled our first date… For tonight!

Nadia: Wait, what? We’ve got to get you ready!

Soon, Nadia is leading you on a last-minute shopping trip. She pores over the card from Eros as you browse through outfits. 

Nadia: Tonight could be the start of your beautiful, perfect love story, Karma! You’ve got to make a good impression! Luckily, Eros has you covered!

Karma: What do you mean?

Nadia This card from Eros includes some style suggestions based on your Perfect Match’s taste! Perfectly tailored to impress him!

Karma: They can do that?

Your cousin pulls an outfit from the rack…

Nadia: This one! It fits the suggestion perfectly! Try it on!

Karma: I think I’m just going to go as I am…

Nadia: Well… if this person really is your perfect match, they should love you regardless! I trust in the system!

As the afternoon goes on and the sun starts to set, you finish prepping with Nadia… When a sudden knock at the front door sounds! You hurry over to the living room with Nadia in tow!

Nadia: Ohmygod, ohmygod… He’s here. Answer it, quick! Tonight will be the start of your beautiful storybook romance!

You try to calm your cousin as you open the door…

Karma: Relax, Karma. It doesn’t have to be a ‘storybook romance’. No one is expecting this night to be--

Hayden: Hi, I’m Hayden. You must be Karma….

Karma: I… um… wow.

[salty-donut-collecter]

Why not?

Part Two 

Part Three.    MasterList Trigger warnings: Swearing (I wouldn’t even read the prompts if this bothers you), sexual harassment, math homework, aggressive behavior, mentions of alcohol. (Feel free to tell me if I need to add anything, or if I’ve missed something)

Prompts: “Do I look like I give a fuck?”, “I don’t know what I’m feeling, but I’m feeling a lot of  it.”, and “Not to dictate your life, but drop your shitty friends.”

Avengers x Reader, Peter x Reader, and Maximoff twins x Reader.

A/N: Yay! Part two! Editing was interesting, and writing Steve and Bucky is fun, but I have a question for Y'all. Does Thor and Bruce’s interaction make them seem like a couple? Looking back, I think the subtext makes their relationship seem romantic, but oh well.  Have fun reading, and I hope you enjoy :)

Tony had left you soon after you’d talked about the whole Jerry and adopting everyone thing.

So, once Tony was gone, after he’s left his personal phone number in your phone, you decided to go inside. Your toes were about to freeze off in the cold anyway.

Once inside, you found no one to be inside. It was eerily quiet, and you almost wondered what’d happened to Jerry and Jenet, but you brushed the thought away. Perfect, you realized, quickly and quietly rushing up the stairs to your room.

Well okay, it wasn’t necessarily your room. It belonged to you and every other foster kid here. You shared a room mainly because you had to, but most of you preferred it anyway. This way, you all knew who was possibly being held captive by Jerry. It was easier to look after each other.

You looked around, smiling when your eyes landed on three vibrantly colored heads of hair. You smiled. The blue hair belonged to Malissa, the orange ironically belonging to Scarllet, and the black belonging to Katie, flowing into a really pretty purple ombre. It almost made you jealous; seeing Katie’s hair. It was the coolest you’d ever seen.

Scarllet and Malissa where, from what you could see, helping Katie with her math homework.

“You just add them. See? Two plus two. That equals four.” Scarllet shrugged, chuckling at the horrendously confused look on Katie’s face. This was hopeless.

You chuckled too, causing everyone else to immediately take conscious notice of your presence.

You smiled, opening your arms as Katie ran over and hopped up, hugging your waist, “Welcome home, Y/n!” she smiled as wide as she could, showing off the new gap in her teeth from losing her first tooth.

“I think I can take her if you want, Scar.” you winked, holding back a laugh as Malissa nodded vigorously over her shoulder.

They always found it difficult to explain things to Katie because they underestimated her intelligence. Maverik was the only other person, aside from you, who could explain the math just right. It didn’t really click unless either of you explained it.

You giggle, looking down at Katie as she pulled away, “Hey Kate!” you smiled, “Do you mind if I help you with your math homework?” you had to at least ask Katie before making the change without her. It was one of the room’s rules: Consult everyone that has to do with the change or agreement before making it so.

The youngest’s smile somehow grew at the question and she nodded, pulling you over to her bunk. “We’re doing addition and I hate it!” she exclaimed, rolling her eyes as she cleared a spot for you on her bed, “Mrs. Lucey is horrible! None of it makes sense when she explains it!” Katie complained, an aggravated sigh escaping her lips as she hopped up onto her bed again.

“I can’t wait until our paychecks come in and we get a router booster,” Scarllet sighed, “When we have Wi-fi, I’ll teach you how to do research on my laptop.” she grinned.

Katie gasped, Scarllet was really protective over her laptop. It was her most prized possession, and she was going to let Katie use it? She couldn’t wait!

Scarllet nodded, saying something about Katie needing to be able to get answers for herself if her teacher couldn’t provide them properly.

For a six-year-old, Katie was really smart. The only problem was her shitty teacher, whom you’ve already had to go and see four times this year about how poorly she’s been teaching her students. Everyone’s hoping she gets fired before Micheal goes and talks to her. The day he does will probably be the day she dies, whether she’s ready for it or not.

So, with a small sigh, you look at Katie’s horribly thought out worksheet, leaning over the poorly printed paper as you began to explain how addition worked and when you use it in everyday life.

Damn, you thought, a yawn escaping your lips as she finished the sixth problem, this is gonna be a long night.

Tony got to the tower in no time. Calling a meeting as soon as he was in the elevator, and thinking of who could adopt who, and how he could convince everyone, if anyone, to adopt these kids.

He paused for a moment, thinking about how he hadn’t met the other six kids, but he’d surely meet them later, right? Yeah, totally, he reassured himself. Especially if the team thinks about adopting them.

The elevator beeped, letting him know he was at his stop. He sighed, walking into the now full conference room as if nothing had ever gone wrong in his life, but when he made his way to the front, a small frown tugged at his lips. How was he going to do this?

“Okay, Tony, why’d you call us in here?” Steve asked, a sigh escaping his lips, a yawn following. He’d just gotten back from a mission in Brazil and needed sleep. Not another meeting. The last thing he needed was another meeting.

Tony turned once he was at the front of the room, taking a deep breath and clearing his throat, “How would you like to adopt a bunch of kids?” he asked, his tone sounded playful, but the look in his eye was quick to explain how serious he was.

“What?” Peter looked mortified.

“Not you. You’re too young to adopt kids, Peter. You’re young enough to technically be adopted.” Clint reassured him.

Peter nodded, calming down a little, “That-- makes more sense.”

Bucky looked to Steve for a second, before turning to Tony, “Why would we adopt kids, Tony? How does that sound like a good idea?” Bucky asked, squinting at the iron man as if he’d lost his marbles.

“Well, half of us are in same-sex relationships and the other half can’t have kids. I figured you might be interested.” Tony shrugged, then cleared his throat again, quietly continuing, “And I found seven kids who need to be adopted.”

“Seven?” Bruce exclaimed, his breathing picking up faster than he liked. One kid would’ve been stressful enough on its own, but seven? No way.

Thor placed a reassuring hand on the panicking scientist’s shoulder, “That sounds most delightful. How old are they?” he asked, looking unphased in the midst of things. Bruce wondered how the fuck he could be so calm at the thought of seven kids.

“Most of them are teenagers. The youngest is six, then there’s an eight-year-old, a fourteen-year-old, a fifteen-year-old, a sixteen-year-old, and two seventeen-year-olds, including Y/n, the new recruit we wanted.” Tony listed, looking down at the small tablet in his hand.

Natasha gave him a knowing look, “C’mon Tony, there’s more to the story.” she frowned, “Why do you really want us to adopt them?”

Tony paused, frowning as well, “Well, their foster parents sound like assholes for one.”

Steve’s eyebrows furrowed, “So put them in a different foster home.”

Tony managed a dry laugh, “That’s not how it works, Capsicle.” he shrugged, “Most foster homes suck,” he sighed, resisting the urge to go and get a drink, “which leads us to the second reason: Y/n wants me to.” Tony cleared his throat, “Well, she wants us to adopt this chick named Malissa before we adopt her, but I don’t think this Jerry guy sounds good for any of them.”

“Why does she want you to adopt this Malissa?” Thor asked.

Tony sighed. They were clearly having a hard time with this.

“Cause Jerry keeps giving her unwanted attention. You know, feeling her up and stuff.” he spat, glaring at nothing in particular.

Now the Avengers were concerned.

Especially Bucky and Steve, “What?” his eyes went wide.

“From what I’ve heard, she’s trans, so he’s trying to teach her what being a girl is ‘actually like’.” Tony sighed, his hands wringing as he tried to keep calm. He could tell that almost everyone here wanted to go and have a small ‘chat’ with this Jerry guy.

“And you let Y/n go back?” Steve asked, almost sounding angry, which he probably was. Add worry to the irritation from sleep-depravation and work, and that’s Steve right now. Listening to emotions as opposed to listening to reason.

“I can’t just take kids from their foster homes, Steve! I’m rich enough to adopt them, but money doesn’t let me break every law,” Tony exclaimed, his voice a lot quieter than everyone had anticipated.

Clint spoke up again, sounding a lot calmer than everyone looked, “Can we meet up with them tomorrow by any chance? Kidnap them before school to talk with them?” the last part was only a partial joke.

“Well, I can text Y/n to see if we can meet, but I don’t know if I can guarantee meeting tomorrow without breaking any laws.” Tony sighed, taking his phone out and looking at your contact information. God, this was going to be a long night.

It took the two of you an hour and a half, but you and Katie had finally gotten that stupid worksheet done. And as it turns out, you would definitely have to talk to Ms. Lucey tomorrow. If this happened again, you might even send Micheal to go and talk to her. Out of any one of Katie’s ‘siblings’, he’d be able to scare her into doing her job correctly. (The only problem would be the possible violence.)

Speak of the devil, and he shall come, you thought, your smile fading as Micheal walked in, showing off his newly busted lip. You were surprised his snake bites were still in mint condition. Maybe he didn’t have them in before the fight? Not probable, but possible.

“Micheal,” you got up, forcing a cheery tone and a smile onto your face as you moved closer.

Micheal smiled back until you got closer and he saw the anger in your eyes.

“Micheal!” you exclaimed angrily, grabbing him by the front of his jacket before he could escape. “What the hell did you get yourself into this time?!” you asked, checking to make sure his lip would be able to heal. Without stitches this time. Last time he almost had to go to the hospital because the wound was starting to get infected and if that happened? Game over for everyone.

The punk just rolled his eyes, “Jerry’s an asshole and he thought a was talking back.” he explained, a hand massaging the back of his neck as he spoke, “He sounded drunk, but last time I checked, we were out of Alcohol,” he added, a smirk appearing on his lips because he’d been the one to finish it off. Alcohol was a small thing in the big picture, but like batteries, it was a very important factor. It generally meant the difference between a good night and Maverik getting a beatdown.

You sighed, letting go of his jacket and pushing him back a little.

Micheal, as always, was quick to retaliate, “You wanna go?” he asked angrily. So defensive...

You glared at him, your (E/c) eyes daring him to try something, “With my training and experience, you’d be down in a matter of seconds.” you reminded him matter-of-factly, “So don’t even start.” you snapped.

Micheal just rolled his eyes again, saying nothing as you looked to everyone else that had arrived since Tony had left. So far, the only person missing was Maverik, who should be getting home from work soon.

You sighed, turning around and walking over to the door, almost hesitating before locking it. If Jerry was drinking again, keeping the door locked wasn’t much of an option. Maverik could knock when he got home.

“Does that mean we aren’t having dinner?” a soft voice piped up.

You turned, meeting a pair of captivating blue eyes across the room. Chloe looked up at you, almost pouting.

“You’re hungry?” You asked, surprise filling your voice. Chloe always chose not to eat here, so everyone was always surprised when she decided to.

Chloe shook her head, her light blonde hair shifting over her shoulders as she did, “No, but I was going to eat something.” she sighed, “My stomach feels funny, so I figured I was hungry.” she added quietly.

Malissa looked to Scarllet for a moment before she went to check her temperature, bringing Chloe’s forehead to her cheek.

After a moment, she turned to everyone else with a grim look on her face.

“She’s got a temp.”

[thedarklightwithinus]

Straighten Up | Three

Summary; British Medic, Y/N Y/L/N has been brought in to join American Forces where she’s teamed up with a group of Marines. 

Pairing; Billy Russo x Reader

Words; 2.2k

Warnings; Nothing that I know of. Gif not mine. 

Previous Part; Two

_______________________________________

"Pretty sure you've brought along enough meds to sedate an elephant, Y/L/N. " Jones snorted, shaking his head in slight disbelief at the amount of medication Y/N had pulled from her kit attached to her vest. "Scrap that... Maybe seven." He added as Y/N laughed and shook her head. "Honestly, why did you bring all of that?"  

Y/N looked up, wondering is he was actually being serious. When she noticed his eyebrow raise slightly, she shook her head as a laugh left her. "This here," She motioned to her backpack. "Is a Unit One Pack...  Let me tell you now, it's not easy to fit everything inside it so don't start messing with it." She groaned as Jones picked up a wrap of bandage.

"There's so much shit there that I bet you can't even name half of it." Billy spoke up, a laugh coming from Davies when he had done. "Seriously, half that shit won't even be needed unless one of us sorry bastards forgets basic training." Once again, Davies laughed. Y/N frowned slightly as Castle sent her a look as if to tell her not to worry about him.  

"I can guarantee you now, Russo that this stuff would save your life, should you need it." Y/N muttered, ripping a piece of paper from her small notebook as she used it to separate a pack of tablets. "Besides, it's not up to me what I pack and what I don’t pack... I have to follow a strict packing list that was sent to my field officer back at Bastion."

Billy nodded slowly, understanding that what he had said wasn't called for. However, he was too proud to apologize and decided to make conversation rather than sit in silence for however long it took for Schoonover to radio in. "Why have you separated in into five groups?" He asked, looking as though he was genially intrigued.  

Y/N sighed as she looked away from where she was packing it back into her pack after insuring she had everything. "Because each group saves a life in a different way... Just like the six of us have our jobs, these groups do too." She muttered, smiling slightly at the look that had taken over his face. "Look, this one," She pointed towards the equipment that she had already packed. "Is fluid resuscitation which is one of the most important aspects to a critically ill patient." She pointed towards the next pile. "This one is for haemorrhage control which to me, is the priority of the five... Can't save a life if you haven't got the basic things to stop blood loss."  

Y/N continued on, telling the five mean about the other three groups of medical equipment she had been ordered to pack. Airway management, assorted equipment and battlefield medicine. For the most part, the five of them seemed genially intrigued. Of course, they had a little knowledge on medical treatment but it was nothing compared to what Y/N had spent a few years of her life studying both from books and actual casualties.  

Time seemed to pass by a lot quicker than it had done when they had first arrived at the compound. Before the six of them knew it, the sun was setting and the light that it gave off was slowly disappearing. Due to the fact that they had been given strict orders not to give away their position, Castle had given the order that anything with a light be either packed away or turned off.  

Once it had become too dark for them to see anything further than a few inches in front of them, Davies, Y/N and Billy were the first to succumb to sleep. An unofficial rota had been made by Castle that meant the three of them had four hours to sleep until it was time to switch to keeping a look out.  

It was Billy and Y/N who had the luxury of being on watch when the sun rose the next morning. The two of them stared out the door at the morning sky as mellow blues and pinks blurred together in a silver mist to create a gorgeous scene. Even when the world was drowning in grief and hardship, the sky remained beautiful. It was one of the things that kept Y/N's hopes up... If the sky remained vivid and powerful, then so could she.  

It was around midday when the first signs of news filled the six pairs of ears. The radio attached to the side of Castle's vest began to spit as Schoonover's voice came through much fuzzier than Y/N had expected it to be. "Alpha to zero one Delta, do you read me? Over." Y/N perked up slightly as she nudged Billy who was falling asleep against the wall beside her.  

Castle pulled his radio from his vest as he pushed the button in and raised it to his face. "This is zero one Delta, we read you loud and clear, over." It took a couple moments for the Schoonover's voice to return through the radio once more as the five of them moved towards Castle in order to hear better.  

"I've received your orders from Afghan nationals. Infiltration of the unmarked compound is to be put into operation immediately." Schoonover stated, his voice containing nothing but pure professionalism. "Airforce 9-2-2-5 have given you the all clear that any and all civilians have left the two-mile radius. From here on out, anyone you encounter should be treated as hostel. Once you have the building secure, radio in and I'll have Airforce Beta dispatched to your location. Good luck." With that said, the radio went dead.

"You heard the man." Castle spoke up, turning the dial on his radio of in order to keep it from being intercepted. "Get your kits and let's move." Y/N followed his orders, moving towards the corner where she had her pack. She pulled her arms through the straps and insured her helmet was secure before she grabbed her firearm and moved towards the door.  

One by one, the six of them left the small compound. Castle went first, his gun scoping the area to insure they were clear. Billy went next, keeping close to behind as he kept he lowered his gun slightly upon finding no immediate danger. Y/N followed after him, her eyes moving in every which direction as Davies followed her, Jones behind him as Henderson brought up the rear.  

The only sound that filled the air around them were the sounds of six pairs of boots crunching the gravel beneath their feet. It was as though they had agreed without actually speaking that it was best to not crack jokes as they had done for the first half of the mission. They were about to be, most likely, in contact with Taliban soldiers and though it was by no means new to them, the six of them still needed to prepare themselves mentally for what could happen.  

The sun beat down at them as they walked through the desert like conditions, seeking out the compound in which they were to infiltrate. The sand formed tiny dust storms around their boots as they kicked at the ground each time they took a step. Y/N brought her hand up and wiped at her forehead. It still amazed her just how bright and how much heat the sun actually gave of in other parts of the world. She was used to rainy days with sunshine making a rare appearance back in England.  

Though it was only a two-mile walk, give or take, to Y/N, it felt as though it had lasted ten minutes. She found herself wishing for more time to say her prayers which mostly ran along the lines of keeping herself and the five men around her alive. However, Castle's voice broke through the barrier she had put up. "Compound in sight!"  

Looking up, Y/N took a good look at the compound and found herself frowning. It was nothing like she thought it'd be. It was a complete mess, to put it politely. The window looked as though a child had boarded it up while the shabby wood panelling and the pealing door was bolted with rusty iron rods. It looked as though it had been standing in the middle of nowhere longer that Y/N had even been alive.  

As they moved closer to it, Castle came to a stop and motioned for the other five to come closer. He pointed at Davies and Jones before motioning towards the left side of the compound. He then pointed to Y/N and Henderson as he motioned towards the right side of building before, finally pointing towards Billy and himself before he nodded towards the entrance.  

Holding up three fingers, Castle lowered them one by one. Once all three fingers had been lowered, the six of them set of towards the compound, their knees bent slightly as they moved much quieter than any other time they had done.

Y/N followed after Henderson as the two of them moved around the right side of the compound. An opening that looked as though it had once been a side door presented itself to the pair just as they were about to walk past it. With a quick nod at Henderson, Y/N moved inside, keeping to a crouch as she surveyed the stone room with her gun. No immediate danger showed itself to the pair.  

A lone crate lay against the back wall which Henderson moved towards and began to check through as Y/N frowned and moved towards the source of light within the man-made room. She released a quite whistle as Henderson turned and raised a brow. Pointed up at the source, Y/N watched as he too frowned.  

A flickering candle light was mounted onto the wall, the wick still burning. The air was still as the flame barely flickered. It was steady and bright enough to relieve the darkness of the room, but it did nothing to comfort the pair. If anything, it made them more alert. If the candle was still burning it meant that someone other than them had been or was still inside the compound.  

Henderson stopped searching through the crate as he stood up and raised his gun once more. Y/N moved towards the door that lead her into another room of the compound. When she opened the wooden structure, her heart dropped as she raised her gun, her finger hovering over the trigger as Jones came out from the room opposite, looking slightly alarmed as he too, had his gun pointed at Y/N.

Before the two of them could even think, they had turned to the side, their guns trained on Billy and Castle who had just came out of the room to Y/N's left. The four of them lowered their guns as Castle shook his head slightly. "Clear... Compounds empty."  

"Whoever was here must've taken of recently... There's a candle that's still burning." Y/N said as she moved to let Castle into the room she was talking about. Jones took his pack of his back and began to open it as she moved towards the back wall of the compound that had an open doorway that lead outside.  

"Didn't know we were playing follow the leader." Y/N said, grinning as Billy wiggled his brows and followed after her.  

"Yeah, sure... You can be the leader this time." Billy replied, laughing as her nose wrinkled. Y/N took a quick look around to insure no one was hiding before she took her pack off and dropped it by her feet. Billy pulled a bottle of water from his own pack as he uncapped it.  

Just as Y/N was about to pull out her own bottle, a small flicker of light caught her eye to the left of her. She frowned slightly as she dropped her pack and took a few steps forwards, her eyes noticing that the ground had been dug up. It wasn't until she saw the wires and what was taped to the top that her eyes widened. "IED!"  

Turning on her heal, she saw the look of panic that overcome Billy's face as he dropped his bottle and took a look over her shoulder. Y/N knew she had seconds to take any sort of cover as her boots hit the ground rapidly. Before she even had time to breath, a body was knocking her to the ground and a small explosion filled the air behind her.  

It lasted mere seconds before it was over, the explosion being nothing like she had expected it to be. Y/N realized that she had her eyes shut tightly, as she forced them open. The ringing in her ears took a moment to die down and once it did, she finally got a good look at her surroundings.  

However, investigating the IED was the least of her worries as she remembered the body that had knocked her to the ground. It was then that she realized a heavyweight was pressed against her, stopping her from moving. Y/N's eyes widened as muttered one word. "Billy?" He groaned as he rolled himself off her, hissing as he pressed his hand against his lower abdomen. Y/N scrambled to her knees as she noticed her left hand was covered in blood. Billy's blood. "MAN DOWN!"

PART FOUR

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Straighten Up Taglist; @movokepwc  @aveatquevale-​  @clockworkteddy @assassinofmasyaf @asongofmarvelanddc @clockworkteddy @onebatch--twobatch @romanosgirl1978

[sassycassie-s-series]

All My Fault 3

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC, BatFam - Damian Wayne/Batman

Rating: PG-11 (minor violence and injections)

Notes: (Masterlist) Lots of POV jumping in this one. Hope I don’t confuse you too much. If you don’t like shots be a little careful.

Tag List (Open): @batboys-and-other-messes @welovegroot @nanna-the-batmum @probsjosh

Chapter 1, Chapter 2

^^^^^

Damian hissed as he peeled the gauze off his wound.

“Need a hand?” Jason asked.

“No,” Damian snapped. He tutted at the injury on his arm. “Tt. By the way, gossip-mongering is unbecoming on men like you, Todd.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jason said blithely.

“I heard you talking with Grayson last night as you passed my quarters. I assure you that my emotional investment in Cloudburst was never romantic in nature.” He changed the bandage, beginning rough before remembering Cloudburst’s gentleness and mimicking it. It felt better and hurt less to rewrap his arm carefully.

“Uh-huh. Sure,” Jason said, clearly unconvinced, as he plopped down at a table, kicked his boots up, and started to go through some old case files.

Damian’s hand drifted to one of the throwing stars sitting near him, but he stopped, clenched his jaw, and went over to the boxing corner. He wrapped his hands and began to beat the sand out of the punching bag. Jason didn’t say a single word.

Everyone else made their way into the cave eventually. Including Cloudburst. Damian was still boxing, and Jason was still going through his case files. Tim sat at the computer immediately and started running through some programs. “Timeways are still closed. Unlikely to clear up at any point in the future,” Tim announced. “And until we can get the devices to access broken entrances to the time-stream to make repairs, no one will be making any time jumps. Ever again.”

^^^^^

On that grim pronouncement, Tim swiveled in the chair to look at me. “Looks like you’re stuck here for a while, Cloudburst,” he added.

I bit my lower lip. “What… what about a speedster?” I asked. “Like, I mean, you know, Barry. Or Wally. The Speed-Force.”

Everyone exchanged glances. “Every speedster on the planet that we know of at the moment is lost in the Speed-Force, Cloudy,” Dick said. “Once the Time Bombs hit, the speedsters were the first responders. No one has seen nor heard from Barry or Wally—not even Bart—since then.”

“Oh,” I said. “Welp. Apart from speedsters I don’t know any other way to travel through time. Guess I’m stuck here.” I shrugged. “Oh well. At least I'm with you guys.”

“Eeeyyy!” Dick said happily, throwing his arm around me. “That’s right! Who better to be stuck in an unfamiliar future with?”

I awkwardly hugged him back and pretended I didn’t notice Damian shoot us a look from halfway across the cave where he was still boxing. I tried really hard not to notice at how attractive he’d grown up to be now that he was my age—and not wearing a shirt. Muscular, chiseled, with soft-looking skin where it was bare of scars and injuries. I’d always thought Dick was the pretty boy and Jason was the hot one—yes there’s a difference—but looking at an adult Damian I started to reconsider my sorting.

Head out of the clouds, Cloudburst, I thought sharply at myself. Head. Out. Of. The. Clouds.

I managed not to stare and went over to Jason. “Whatcha workin’ on, Jaybird?” I asked casually. Since we used to be the same age before last night, he’d always been the closest to me.

“Just seeing if any of these old cold cases have anything to do with the Time Bombs,” Jason replied.

“Need a hand?”

“No offence, Cloudy, but I doubt you’d even understand what’s going on.”

“None taken. Okay. I'm gonna go change into my workout clothes and see what I can get done,” I said. “Hey Dick, still wanna teach me how to fight with escrima sticks?”

Dick perked up. “If you still wanna learn!” he replied brightly.

I grinned. “Absolutely.”

Damian glanced at me as I passed him, gave me a nod, and went back to boxing. I nodded back.

^^^^^

Once Cloudburst was gone, Damian relaxed a bit, wiping off his sweat with a towel and leaning against a cluttered-but-organized table on his hands, panting.

Dick leaned against the same side of the table but facing the opposite way, arms folded, with an interested expression on his face. “What’s on your mind, Little D?” he asked. “You haven’t said a word all morning.”

Damian shrugged, grabbed a water bottle, and downed half of it in several big swallows. He sighed and wiped off again, just to get a bit drier. “She’s… she’s even more beautiful than I remember her being. And she literally hasn’t changed since the last time I saw her,” he admitted.

“So… was Jason right? Did you actually have a crush on her when you were a teenager?”

Damian ducked his head between his arms. “I'm not going to deign that with a reply, Grayson,” he snapped, but Dick noticed his younger brother’s neck turning red—and not from the workout. Dick started chuckling, making sure to be quiet even though Tim and Jason could probably hear him.

“Oh my word, you did!”

“Shut up!” Damian growled, hands clenching to fists where they were braced against the side of the table.

“C’mon, Dames,” Dick entreated. “Cloudy’s a great girl! And now you’re the same age! It’s easier to pursue her when she’s not eight years older than you.”

“Grayson, so help me—”

“Damian,” Dick interrupted. “I won’t tease any more. I’m telling you now that everyone here—except maybe B—would approve.”

“I'm going to go shower,” Damian muttered, leaving the Batcave completely instead of showering in the cave’s showers.

Dick snickered to himself as Damian left and strolled over to Jason. “You were right, Jaybird,” he said.

“I know,” Jason said.

“So… we’re gonna conspire to get them together?” Dick asked, perching on the edge of the table.

Jason glanced up from his case files. “Is that even a question, big bird?” Jason retorted.

Dick smiled. “That’s what I thought.”

^^^^^

“Focus up, Cloudy!” Dick said, tapping me in the head with a non-electrified escrima stick so I’d stop looking around the Batcave in worry. “This isn’t the easiest combat style to learn so you gotta really want it, you hear?”

“I hear,” I said, spinning my pair of sticks the way Dick did. My spin was a little clumsier than his.

“Bend your knees. We’ll start slow and work our way up, okay?”

“Okay.”

I felt like I was in some old martial arts movie, going through a training montage.

It was like a swordfight. Except it was nothing like a swordfight. Dick and I stood closer than I would stand with a sword, which meant we had to get in closer to our enemy to attack them, but still farther away than we’d be hand-to-hand, and we were going with both arms at the same time. Which was hard. I wasn’t used to attacking and blocking at the same time while holding weapons.

Dick was fast. He had a lot of experience with this method of combat—and I had none.

I did my best, but I got smacked around a lot. Dick wasn’t hitting me hard, but the practice escrima sticks still made hollow thwacks when they struck me and Dick would say, “Tag! You’re it!” every. Freaking. Time. I would grunt and attack with as much renewed energy as I could muster. Sweat was dripping down my face and chest and gathering on the back of my neck.

^^^^^

Damian tried really hard to focus on the task at hand while Grayson and Cloudburst trained. He was supposed to be tracing Time Bomb paths all over the city and where they had jumped backwards in time to mess up history.

He was having a difficult time focusing. Cloudburst’s occasional grunt of frustration or pain at getting hit by one of Grayson’s practice escrima was distracting. Every time she sounded hurt he wanted to charge over and shove his brother off of her, telling Grayson to back off. He settled instead for looking over his shoulder to make sure blood hadn’t been drawn.

He caught his lower lip between his teeth and turned back to the map on his tablet. Focus, Wayne, focus, he thought sharply.

^^^^^

Once or twice I thought I caught Damian glancing at me whenever I’d get injured. I hadn’t even seen him come back in the cave—we’d bumped into each other when he was heading up to shower and I was heading down to train.

Finally, after… oh… a half-hour of me getting the snot beat out of me worse than when I was barely starting my training, I tapped out. Jason threw me a water bottle over his shoulder without even looking. I sprayed some of it on my face, shook it off, and then gulped down half of it. Panting, I stumbled off the training mat and over to where Tim was sitting at the computer. “‘Sup, Timbo?” I asked. “Figure anything new out?”

“Not in regards to you being stuck in the future,” Tim said distractedly.

“Speaking of which,” Alfred piped up, emerging from the med-bay. “Eight years of mutating viruses and bacteria mean if you leave this cave without the proper vaccinations, you could die.” He set a silver tray with ten carefully-organized syringes on it on the table.

I backed away from him, dropping my practice sticks. “Oh no. No, no, no,” I said, fear sweeping over me. “I’m sure I’ll be okay. Really.”

“Miss McCloud, I understand your distaste for injections, however it is necessary.”

“C’mon Cloudy, shots aren’t that bad!” Dick urged, prodding me in the back with his practice sticks.

“They’re not bad when you only have to get one or two a year,” I retorted. “Ten in one sitting is not going to happen.”

“Here,” Damian said, pushing off the table he’d been leaning against. He had on a loose black tank top, black jacket, and black jeans. “Hold my hand. Squeeze as hard as you want. I guarantee you won’t hurt me.”

“I really would rather do one at a time…” I said.

“Just the flu vaccine for this year and the tetanus shot you missed, then,” Alfred said. “The other vaccines can wait for the coming days.”

I really didn’t want to get a shot if I didn’t have to. I refused to move from where I’d backed up over the training mat even though Dick’s escrima stick was pressed against the base of my spine. He was adding more pressure and I returned it, absolutely not wanting to get a shot.

Damian approached the edge of the training mat and held his hand out to me. “Come along, McCloud. I promise the pain will be minimal,” he said. “A small pinch, and then it will be finished.”

I bit my lip and took a single step forward.

Dick had been applying so much pressure to his stick on my back that my relent had caused him to stumble forward.

I pressed my lips together and pinched my teeth around them, simultaneously biting both lips as best I could. When I reached the edge of the mat, I took Damian’s hand. My pulse was already pounding and my stomach churning. I hated shots almost as much as I hated spiders.

Damian guided me over to the table where Alfred had set the tray down. I let go of Damian’s hand long enough to boost myself up to sit on it.

“Which arm, Miss McCloud, do you prefer?” Alfred asked, picking up one of the smallest of the syringes.

“Left,” I said, staring straight ahead.

Damian took my right hand and stood just off-center to my right side. “Look at me, okay? Do not even acknowledge the existence of Pennyworth or anyone else in this room. You and I are the only ones who exist at this moment. Look at my eyes and concentrate on them. Squeeze my hand if you so require. Do try and relax your left arm.”

I licked my lower lip and did as he said, ignoring Alfred circling around Damian’s back to my left side and wiping off my skin to sanitize it. I stared straight into Damian’s left eye, urging myself to memorize the pattern of the hazel flecks in them. They were shaped like diamonds…

My left deltoid muscle started to sting. I clenched Damian’s hand hard, trying to distract myself from it. Look at his face, look at his face, look at his face. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it, I thought.

He gave me an encouraging nod, that almost turned into a smile. I flicked my gaze to his other eye, memorizing the pattern of flecks there too. His eyes were really green. Like, I’d seen some fairly bright green eyes on kids I’d gone to school with, but Damian’s had this vibrant, crystal-clear quality that I’d never noticed when he was younger.

My muscle stung again as the next injection went in. I gripped Damian’s hand even harder.

If I let my mind drift, it wandered to the hypnotic feeling that came with staring straight into Damian’s eyes and ignoring the rest of the world. Like when he’d initially brought me to the future the night before and reality sort of melted away like ice cream on hot pavement.

Alfred applied a Band-Aid to my arm. “There you are, Miss McCloud. All finished,” he said.

Damian gave me a look. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked quietly.

I hopped down off the table—and ignored how close to him I’d landed. Even though it was so close I could feel his body heat. “No I guess not. Thanks,” I said.

“Keep your arm moving so it doesn’t get sore,” Damian advised, letting my hand go and disappearing into the shadows of the cave.

I huffed and rolled my left arm around in my shoulder joint.

I caught Dick and Jason sharing a look as I crossed over to the training mat and picked up my practice escrima sticks again. “Okay, Dick. Let’s run through that exercise again. Just the exercise. Not the sparring.”

He spun his. “Whatever you say, Cloudy with a Chance of Rain,” he teased.

Next

[hypertensiongamedev]

You are a source of inspiration..Any recommendations if someone wanted to make a game of their own? (I.e what programs to use, things to look out for, etc)

I’ll get the expected answers out first. Here’s the programs I use (and the plugins I use for each of those):

Blender, which I use for modeling, rigging, and animating

Rigify plugin for rig creation (this comes bundled with Blender, you just have to enable it)

RetopoFlow for retopologizing high-poly to low-poly (has a free version in Github, the paid version just entitles you to technical support)

Substance Painter for texturing (this sometimes goes on sale on Steam, so watch out for it every time Steam goes on a discount sale)

Photoshop CC for creating GUI art, and image manipulation needs ($10 per month sounds fair for all the things it could do for me)

Unity for the game engine

StrangeIoC, an open-source code framework (I explain what it is exactly here)

TextMesh Pro for the GUI labels (free)

ShaderForge for making my own shaders (used to be paid, but it’s now free)

InControl, for user customization of controls (has an old, free version in github)

Unity’s Post-processing Stack for visual effects (free)

A custom AI plugin that I made, called INTLord

A custom game editing tool I made that I simply call Attack Editor (for now)

Visual Studio Community Edition (the free version) for the IDE

Resharper plugin for VS is immensely helpful for me (this is pretty expensive, but worth it for me as I use C# heavily)

Git for backup and version control

I use Git Extensions as the front-end GUI

Dropbox and Google Drive for backing up other things like raw art assets

Portable Kanban for keeping a todo list (I can recommend HacknPlan for an online alternative)

But I think the number one thing to look out for here is that, while it seems I’m able to do this game with ease, I can assure you that it is not smooth sailing all the time. I’m only sharing the end result of my work each time I post. All the mistakes and errors I encounter, I tend to discard and not share, but only because I think no one cares to really read about them. My point here is that even when I tell you what programs I use, just using those won’t guarantee you success.

If you’re having a hard time making a game, that doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for this, because I have a hard time too. It’s an inescapable part of something as complex as game development. I think what really makes a person not cut out for this, is when they give up easily when encountering difficult problems, like an overwhelmingly confusing bug, or getting a crash and finding out your work got corrupted. The proper response here is to approach problems methodically instead, and take steps so you tend to not encounter those things again in the future.

Don’t expect to get things perfectly the first time, but do take time and effort to improve each time you blunder.

There’s one pattern I see a lot with beginners who never get far: they love to complain. Don’t end up like that. If after all your best effort and research, things still don’t work, then I can finally concede that you have the right to complain.

These beginners would blame the engine, the programming language, or the art tool if something goes haywire, when, majority of the time, the mistake was their misunderstanding what the tool was for, and a way to solve it was in the user manual. So make sure you’ve done your homework before going on a rant.

Second thing: Practice a lot. They build your skill set. If you have no idea where to start, I suggest just making a simple game like tic-tac-toe in the game engine of your choice. The point here isn’t to build something amazing, it’s to get your feet wet with the tools you’re using. You’ll be doing it more to learn how to get graphics drawn on the screen, how to detect and react to user-input, how to code gameplay logic, etc.

The fact that you’re making a simple tic-tac-toe game helps ease the difficulty curve of trying out a new game engine. Then work out how to put a main menu on it, a highscore that gets saved to a text file, etc.

Then try out making a tetris game, then a side-scrolling platformer, etc. The more familiar you get with your tools, the easier it is to create more and more complex things.

There’s a theory out there that the amount of vocabulary you have with your spoken language influences what you tend to say (or even think!). I think it’s the same with you and your gamedev tools. You might have never gotten around to doing some crazy idea you had, simply because, lacking knowledge in your tools, you didn’t think it was possible.

I do game jam games to try out learning something new.

One thing you need to realize is, if you’re not having fun doing the nitty-gritty details of these steps in game-making, maybe you should reconsider your choice of wanting to make games, because this is how it is all of the time. Or probably at least consider specializing in one aspect instead, and get help with the rest.

The third thing to look out for is having no direction. What really helped me out with making this game is having a clear goal of what I want: a 3d action game about the last days of a terminally-ill henshin hero, taking place in a modern day city.

When you have no clear goal, you have no idea if what you’re currently doing is beneficial or detrimental to your game. You would have no yardstick to measure progress.

It’s fine to experiment without having decided yet what the game will look like, or what genre you’re going for, but I think even among experiments, the good ones are those that have at least some general direction of what they’re trying to test or prove.

This is the earliest photo I could find of my work on the game, dated 2014, Dec. 31. On my pen tablet display there is my early concept for Desparo.

There’s a lot of things to consider when deciding to make a game. I myself was thinking whether I make this game a turn-based, or a real-time action RPG. I was also wondering if I should do it in 2d or 3d, if I go with anime or realistic art style, etc.

I knew I needed to finalize my decisions if I ever hope to progress. I think the proper way to have done it would have been to make a turn-based RPG prototype alongside an action RPG prototype, and then compare the two. But in the end I just went ahead with the real-time action game, simply because I wanted to try out something new.

Sometimes, you start out making a game prototype with just boxes, and deciding it has potential, flesh it out further by attaching a theme/story/premise behind it. I think that’s also a viable approach. It just so happened Ghost Knight Victis started the other way around, with the story first before the gameplay.

And how do you get that spark of an idea of what your game should be? My game’s premise was a culmination of several ideas that have been brewing in my mind for a long time (years). After going through something pretty significant in my life and one lonely December, with two bottles of Tequila and playing through Transistor, all the incongruent ideas started making sense and fit together.

I’m not saying people need to go beat themselves up just to get something “cool”. In fact, if you have a content and happy life, consider yourself lucky if you couldn’t find inspiration to create something really artistic. Because those things tend to come from some deeply-buried, strong feeling, like anger or resentment. Then again, dealing with such thoughts are a normal challenge of growing up, living in a community, or even something as mundane as struggling with where to get a stable income. You just need to change your perspective on where inspiration comes from.

Fourth is to pace yourself properly. Match your expectations with what you can do at the moment. Aim too far out of your comfort zone, and you’ll likely fail, get discouraged, and stop trying. The trick is to aim only a little bit outside your comfort zone. You still compel yourself to improve, but at the same time, it’s a manageable amount of work for you.

Scrum and Kanban are the usual things to learn about here. I personally use Kanban a lot. The idea is simple:

As a task gets further along to completion, the more it moves to the right. But, you have one restriction: only up to 3 tasks at a time can be in the “Doing” column.

This means if you are already devoted to working on 3 tasks in the “Doing” column, and you want to work on something new, you have to finish at least one of those 3 first. This makes you concentrate on getting things done. It stops you from diluting your focus, trying to work on too many things at a time.

You could also decide to move a task from “Doing” back to the “Ready” column. But I normally do it only when either I realize something else is of more importance and I need to stop what I was doing, or perhaps I’m stumped and really can’t progress on that task, in which case I give up and swap it for a different task instead.

Scrum has a lot of techniques, but one thing I take from it is the idea of sprints. You do your work in a per 2-week period, called a sprint. On the start of each sprint, you decide what you will get done, and commit to finishing those tasks within 2 weeks. After those 2 weeks, you again pick which tasks to do for the next 2 weeks, and so on. This is also a method to help you focus on getting things done, because you only concentrate on a few tasks at a time, but it also forces you to take a look at the bigger picture and re-prioritize after every 2 weeks.

In my case, I don’t have 2 weeks. My sprint is only 2 days: every weekend. So I make sure each task I write in a card is achievable within 2 days. If I think a task can’t be finished in 2 days, I divide it into several subtasks.

For example, “obtaining items from chests” might be too complex, so I could divide that to these subtasks:

being able to define chests as a list of the items inside it, and being able to save that data to file

being able to place chests in the map, each chest being: a 3d model of the chest, and the data file saying what items are inside it

create the GUI art for viewing items inside a chest

put the GUI art in-game and adding code to allow it to react to user-input

implement the code for transferring items from a chest to the player’s inventory and vice-versa

Fifth is to concentrate on having a working, playable work-in-progress.

The thing to aim for here is that at the end of each sprint, whatever progress you make should be something that works in-game. It’s fine if you don’t get that all the time, but I think aiming for it helps pull everything towards that direction.

I think this video of Bayonetta’s prototype says a lot:

For reference, here’s how the final product looks like:

You can see from that prototype video that you can already start working on the gameplay even if you don’t have the art finalized yet (because the art can take a long time to get done).

I think that’s the wiser method of doing things, you get a playable work-in-progress without being stalled by the fact that the art is incomplete. It’s even better because it’s easier to adjust animations while they’re still rough: it’s less motions to re-arrange and tweak whenever you need to adjust it.

It’s also not good to base your judgement of how correct an animation is from just looking at it in Blender/Maya/etc. alone, because you aren’t seeing it being used in-game. For all you know, the sword attack you’ve been polishing for so many days doesn’t really work because the arc of the sword swing doesn’t really reach the intended target! Or maybe you didn’t realize that the swing is making the sword pass through the ground mesh unintentionally!

Or maybe there’s certain situations where your animation really just needs to be tweaked (when fighting inside narrow hallways, or when you are standing on a flight of stairs & attacking a target below you, etc.). It’s really better to test it out in-game as soon as you’ve established the key frames of your animation.

Frankly, this is something that I should learn to do myself!

And what about for the story? I think this is a neat trick in designing a prototype for your game’s story:

(the video’s about half an hour long, but it’s worth it)

The basic gist is that you design a “board game” out of your game’s story. And I think that’s the proper way to do things. There’s really more to it than what I just said, so I encourage you all to watch that video.

Sixth is to handle feedback as objectively as you can. As a solo developer, you will tend to see your game as your “baby”, something that in your eyes is a flawless creation.

Maybe you expect players to always do something, but turns out it never crosses their minds at all. That might be a symptom that you need to fix your game’s design.

Be clear with what you are asking feedback for. Just posting screenshots, and a vague “this is my game, suggestions and feedback are welcome!” will not help, because people will tend to give you suggestions that are not in line with the goal you have set in mind for the game, and you end up sounding defensive trying to explain things.

Explain your intent with what you’re specifically showing, and ask for feedback if people think your work achieved that intent or not. But start with a 2 to 3 sentence blurb that describes the premise of your game, to set the tone. Here’s a good tutorial for that.

Take the time to appreciate when people praise you, but don’t let it get to your head.You shouldn’t keep yourself in a circle full of yes-men, you will just not improve there. On the other hand, don’t think that just because you’re being the target of verbal abuse that you are finally getting the so-called brutally honest feedback.

You really have to ignore the emotional parts of what people post, good or bad. Read between the lines of what’s being said, to find the truly useful feedback you want for improvement (if there is even any in their posts).

But don’t just follow every suggestion that comes along your way. Sift through it and think about why someone said what they said.

In my first playable demo, many were complaining that the player should be allowed to move more responsively, to be able to cancel attacks into movement. But that went against my intention of giving it a Dark Souls type of combat (instead of a Dynasty Warriors style of combat).

I realized, people were having that problem because I placed far too many enemies in the level. No one suggested that I lessen the amount of enemies, but that was really my mistake with that one.

So there really was a problem, but their suggestion was not the best way to fix it.

Another example: When Magicka was still being developed, some beta testers complained that friendly fire ruins the experience, and kept suggesting to remove it, or at least have the option to disable it. But the developers doubled down on their decision to have friendly-fire, because friends hitting each other was part of the humor that they wanted to achieve, so they decided to leave it there, and they were right.

I’ll end all of this by saying, this is only my way of doing things. It’s perfectly reasonable if you discover a different way that works for you!

I always keep a bottle of Tequila handy under my desk.

[review-saas]

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It helps in developing confidence in your customers towards your marketplace.

Plus, it creates instant authority that leads to sales.

[✚] Category, Sub-Category & Smart Menu

Professionally crafted pages for all the categories/sub-categories.

Example — Graphic Designing is a category and Logo Designing is a sub-category.

Showcase associated services inside category/sub-category pages in a much elegant way.

It’ll make scrolling and finding services much easier for your customers.

Letting them find and order your services at a breeze.

[✚] Highly Converting Service Page

Showcase your offered services in a beautiful image/video slider that gives your customers a great idea of the services you are offering.

Plus, their free flow text editor lets you add a great description for your services.

The DUAL Impact of the slider and text leads to super high conversions from this page.

[✚] Smart Pricing

This feature alone is a game changer Set your prices as per your work.

Here are the various pricing options you can set :

Number of Hours

Time (Per hour or minute or second)

Duration of Script

Flexible Price

Fixed Price

Number of Units

Set Your Own Variables (XX price per YY variable)

[✚] Service Packages

Create three different packages for your services.

Example — Basic, Standard and Premium.

This is a huge profit booster. Simply because you get to offer more services at a better price.

[✚] Inbuilt Messaging System With Clients

MarketPresso comes up with an inbuilt messaging system that lets your customers message you in real time.

This increases the conversions drastically because your visitors are able to discuss their requirements first before placing an order.

Hence, a much higher probability of sales conversion.

[✚] Testimonials & Reviews

Freelance service customers show a lot of faith on other customers’ testimonials.

Show and hide the testimonials as per your wish.

Plus, you can add your own testimonials to add that additional impact.

[✚] Real Time Order and Message Notifications

You’ll receive instant notifications for orders and chat messages.

This lets you take action fast.

Definitely, a conversion and trust booster for your business.

[✚] Add To Cart

Self explanatory it is.

Add to cart feature will increase the average order value and your profit per sale.

[✚] Payment Gateway Integration

They integrate with the leading payment platforms — Paypal, Razorpay, Stripe & Flutterwave.

Plus, they’re adding more payment methods in the roadmap ahead.

[✚] Unlimited Hosting and CName Mapping — Whitelabel Solution

A.) Your marketplace will run on our blazing fast servers. So you never have to worry about the hosting for the servers.

B.) Their one click CName mapping feature lets you run the marketplace on your domain. Giving you the complete authority.

[✚] Custom Code

Retarget your customers or show custom pop ups or do any custom configuration with the ability to add your custom codes.

Very useful feature for top level customizations. They’ll teach you how to use it.

[✚] Languages Translation

Get orders worldwide because of our instant one-click language translation feature.

Pretty cool feature to give your marketplace a worldwide appeal.

[✚] Badges on Offers

Highlight your main offers for extra attention.

Highlighted deal grabs attention immediately and fetches more sales.

Just like “Menu of the Day” inside a restaurant. You can highlight your services like “Deal of the Day”, “Hot Selling”, etc…

[✚] Browsing History

They’ve taken inspiration to add this feature directly from AMAZON.

Surely, a massive feature to increase sales. Show your visitors the products they were interested in and crack more sales.

[✚] FAQ

FAQs play a huge role in sales conversions. They’ve seen that on 1000s of sales pages.

Pages with FAQs convert more. Just like I’ve also mentioned in the bottom of this page

Write down your own FAQs and show on individual category and service pages.

[✚] Email Integration

They integrate with all the leading E-mail service provider companies.

Your customers will immediately become a part of your contact list.

[✚] Mobile Friendly Platform

Your marketplace will be fully mobile friendly.

I’ve tested this on almost every single mobile & tablet device and it has come out with flying colors in every single one of them.

You will always bank in the extra mobile sales.

[✚] Fully Cloud-Based App

MarketPresso 3.0 is 100% cloud-based app.

So, you’re not restricted by the stupid limitations of Windows or Mac or Desktop or Tablet.

Whichever device you have and in any part of the world — you can have your marketplace up and ready in a matter of seconds.

[✚] User Management and Customers Profile

Inside your admin dashboard, you’ll find a super easy to manage user management portal where you can see all the details about your customers.

This will help you identify your best customers and you can plan your marketing activities around them.

[✚] Post Request

Customers in your marketplace can post request of the kind of service they’re looking for. This ultimately will give them what they want and leads to more sales.

The Pros

✔ Your Own Professional Branded Marketplace

✔ Become A “Go-To” Service Provider In Your Space

✔ List Down and Offer All Your Services

✔ Super Easy To Setup

✔ No Previous Technical Skill Required

✔ Works For Any Niche

✔ Charge Higher Prices

✔ 100% Cloud Based Platform

✔ 30 Day Money Back Guarantee Without Any Question Ask.

The Cons

❌ You need a good internet connection.

❌ The price will be increased soon.

So, I highly recommend you pick ‘MarketPresso 3.0’ now at a massive early bird discount as soon as possible… before it’s gone!

Final Verdict / Is it worth buying?

Freelancing is a 1 Trillion dollar industry! Surprisingly Bigger than even construction & transportation in the US.

You, Me & Everybody else would love to grab a share from this huge pie!

Have you tried your luck with it and saw no results? Well, I’m not surprised!

MarketPresso 3.0 solves every problem that a service provider faces being a seller on any existing Freelancing Platforms!

MarketPresso 3.0 transforms you from being only a Freelancer to giving you an authority of a Business owner!

The best part is with the DFY Edition, you already have 36+ MarketPlaces and 300+ services that you can readily start selling.

5000+ Freelancers and Agencies are already successfully Running their business using MarketPresso!

If you’re missing this now, you’re definitely leaving a ton of opportunity on the table.

AND the price is increasing day by day as well. I’ve this Special code ‘vip10off’ to get you the best price!

PLUS if you purchase from my Affiliate Link then you’ll also get my MEGA Pack of Bonuses.

So, do not wait till the price starts rising… And you end up paying more. Hurry up & grab MarketPresso 3.0 as soon as possible.

The Price & Funnels

Front End : MarketPresso 3.0 ($42-$47) (See Details)

Option 1 — Lite ($42) (See Details)

Option 2 — Elite ($47) (See Details)

Can Sell Marketplace To Clients

Create online marketplace for any service you want to sell online

Can Create Upto 10 Marketplaces

Beautiful Profile page for branding

Category

Sub-Category

Smart Menu

Service Packages

Highly Converting Service Page

Smart Pricing

Real Time Order and Message Notifications

Inbuilt Messaging System With Clients

Add To Cart

Testimonials and Reviews

Runs On Their Ultra Fast Servers With Your Branding

Payment Gateway Integration

Add Badges on Offers

Add Custom Code

Global Languages Translation (Sell Worldwide)

Email Integration

Browsing History

FAQ In Your Marketplace

User Management and Customers Profile

Mobile Friendly Platform

Fully Cloud-Based App

Adding Blog/Content for Traffic

User login

Plus Done For You Kit :

Complete DFY Business Opportunity

36 DFY Marketplaces To Help You Sell Your Services With Ease

One Big DFY Marketplace Covering All The Services From All 36 DFY Marketplaces

DFY Selling Kit

120+ DFY Social media ads

DFY Client Selling Email Funnel

DFY Client Selling SMS Funnel

DFY Client Selling Outreach Checklist

DFY Client Selling Linkedin Funnel

DFY Client Selling Master Sales Call

Plus Bonuses :

Free Advertising Credits Worth $600-$800

Level 2 Fiverr Seller Training

Getting Clients — LinkedIn Training

AI Logo Creator Software

Hands On Workshop To Help You Build Your First Marketplace

AI BrandDomain Software

OTO 1: MarketPresso Pro ($87-$97) (See Details)

Option 1 — Lite ($87) (See Details) | Ninja Lite ($67) (See Details)

Option 2 — Elite ($97) (See Details) | Ninja Elite ($77) (See Details)

Immediate Order Upsell

Cashback Reward Method (Wallet)

Ability To Give Bundle Deals

Ability To Give Coupons

Ability To Give 1+1, 2+1 Giveaway Deals

Loyalty Points

Recommended For You Products (Like Amazon)

Bump Order Upsell

Ability To Send Special Offer Via Chat

Customisable Pop Ups For Showing Offers/etc

Unlimited Marketplaces

OTO 2: MarketPresso Platinum — Template Club & DFY Package ($49-$77) (See Details)

Option 1 — Template Club ($49) (See Details) | Template Club Ninja ($37) (See Details)

Option 2 — DFY Package ($49) (See Details) | DFY Package Ninja ($37) (See Details)

Option 3 — Template Club & DFY Package ($77) (See Details) | Template Club & DFY Package Ninja ($57) (See Details)

Template club for a ONE TIME PRICE

No Recurring

Agency Theme

Freelancing Theme

Local Business Theme

10 Done-For-You Marketplaces

50 Done-For-You Services Description in Internet’s Most Popular Niches

Done-For-You Marketplaces Crafted by 7-Figure Copywriters

OTO 3: MarketPresso Agency ($99-$297) (See Details)

Option 1 — Lite ($99) (See Details) | Ninja Lite ($33) (See Details)

Option 2 — Elite ($199) (See Details) | Ninja Elite ($66) (See Details)

Option 3 — Premium ($297) (See Details) | Ninja Premium ($99) (See Details)

Allow others to sell in your marketplace and take commission on every sale (just like Fiverr)

MarketPresso Whitelabel

OTO 4: MarketPresso Customer Success Package ($147) (See Details)

36 Done-For-You Marketplaces

All New MarketPresso Updates

1 Big Done-For-You Marketplace Covering All The Services From All 36 DFY Marketplaces

Complete DFY Business Opportunity

DFY Selling Kit

120+ DFY Social media ads to sell your services

DFY Client Selling Email Funnel

DFY Client Selling SMS Funnel

DFY Client Selling Outreach Checklist

DFY Client Selling Linkedin Funnel

DFY Client Selling Master Sales Call

One on One 45 Mins Strategy Session With MarketPresso Team

One Custom promotion ad video for your marketplace

20 Custom FB and Google Ads for your marketplace

Getting Clients Training

Social Media Marketing Agency and Scaling Training

Local Business Walk-Ins and “$500/Month/Client” Campaigns

Advanced Funnels Creation Program

Advanced FB Ads Program

Advanced Funnel Types and Secrets

Copywriting Secrets

Accountability and Tracking

DFY Sales Copies

Saurabh’s Personal FB Ads Checklist

2 Weekly Live Q&A Training in 2021

SB Inner Circle Group Access

OTO 5: MarketPresso Success Training ($97-$197) (See Details)

Option 1 — Success Training ($97) (See Details) | Split-Pay ($33) (See Details)

Option 2 — Success Training + Business + Skillset + Bonuses ($197) (See Details) | Split-Pay ($66) (See Details)

Getting Clients Training

Local Business Walk-Ins and “$500/Month/Client” Campaigns

Social Media Marketing Agency and Scaling Training

Traffic and Conversion Training

Advanced FB Ads Program

Generate and Control Traffic

Increase conversions of any business in any niche

Advanced Funnels Creation Program

Advanced Funnel Types and Secrets

Copywriting Secrets

Accountability and Tracking

8 Conversion Booster Apps

Saurabh’s Personal Facebook Ads Checklist

2 Weekly Live Q&A Training in 2021

SB Inner Circle Group Access

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How Exactly will MarketPresso 3.0 help me?

A. MarketPresso 3.0 will help you scale your revenue by helping you sell more services/products and get recurring clients.

Your own services marketplace will help you “Stand Out” from normal freelancers and service providers.

This will build instant TRUST amongst your potential clients and makes you the “Go To Person” for the services that you are offering.

Clients will be more inclined to work with you, pay you higher cheques & even refer you to their business friends.

Q2. How will I get Customers to my marketplace?

A. They’ve come up with multiple solutions for you :

#1 — You’re getting the blog feature with automatic google indexing inside MarketPresso. Share your blog posts there and let Google take care of the traffic for you.

#2 -You’re getting the complete “DFY Selling Kit” in their DFY edition deal today. It gives you everything that you need to convert clients on the go :

- 120+ DFY Social media ads - DFY Client Selling Email Funnel - DFY Client Selling SMS Funnel - DFY Client Selling Outreach Checklist - DFY Client Selling Master Sales Call - DFY Client Selling Linkedin Funnel

#3 -You’re getting Linkedin client getting training with the complete DFY Linkedin scripts that will get you orders.

LinkedIn is a high ticket client goldmine, you know that. From finding the high ticket clients to what to message them and converting them, everything is covered in the training.

#4 -Plus you’re getting the “Revenue Rolodex Training” inside the members’ area that gives you the exact strategies to use to get free traffic & grab clients from some of the biggest sites online.

Just follow the simple directions, and you’re off and running

#5 — You’ll get Facebook Ads training by Forbes recognised Co-Founder of MarketPresso which will help you bring your business in front of thousands of clients.

#6 — You’ll get “Getting Clients Training” inside the member’s area that will teach you how to find and convert the clients by bringing them to your marketplace.

Q3. For how much your competitors are selling?

A. This is world’s first ever marketplace builder. So they do not have any competition.

The upside of this is that private marketplaces have never existed before & you’ll be one of the first ones to create your very own marketplace. Which will help you build authority instantly.

Q4. Is this One Time Fee the Only Fee?

A. No MarketPresso will charge you 1% Fee of the overall transactions that will happen on your marketplaces.

Q5. Why shouldn’t I simply list my services on Fiverr/Upwork & all the other platforms?

A. I would say that those platforms are great and keep your services listed over there as well. Why to miss any additional orders? (I am an Optimist).

But there’re some HUGE advantages when you sell on your own marketplace :

⁃ You do not need to pay 20% Fees to those platforms.

⁃ Sell without competition. There will be no competition and reviews war with other sellers.

⁃ And the Biggest reason is, you’ll OWN the buyers list. This makes your business “Self Dependent” and not something that’s always dependent on them for the orders.

⁃ You can charge Higher prices because you do not need to lower your price because of the other competitors selling on those platforms

Q6. Will this platform be supported over the years?

A. Yes. MarketPresso has been developed by Karthik Ramani’s team that has created amazing products over the last 15 years.

Some of them are Everlesson, Rewardsly, Extempore, Skilexa & much many more.

You will see consistent upgrades happening over the years for MarketPresso. Heck, they’ve planned some amazing updates right after you join the platform.

All in all, you’re in safe hands.

Their customers love them. Because they listen to them and do the updates that’re necessary for your business growth.

Get started right away!!

Conclusion : I hope that my MarketPresso 3.0 review can help you to make up your mind more accurately & quickly. If you’ve any questions then you can e-mail me to softwareclip@gmail.com without any second thoughts. Thank you for reading. Good luck to you!

<<<Get Instant Access + HUGE Bonus>>>

<<<Check Your Jaw-Dropping Bonuses>>>

<<<Visit Official Site>>

[hellomissmabel]

The worst in us - epilogue

MASTERLIST

Pairing: Bucky x reader, Steve x reader

Warnings: Mentions of cancer. BuckyNat.

Word count: 1.500 - ish (not counting the recap from the last chapter)

Summary: Flashforward. Y/N is still at Stark Hospital and much has changed.

A/N: Inspired by the word “Onsra” (Boro) - that heart-wrenching feeling you get when you realise a love won’t last. Written for @howlingbarnes her “languages of Love” challenge.

Series masterlist

Previously

The next morning comes way too soon, falling heavy on your heart. The story never made it to the front page, so you guess Bucky was able to change Natasha’s mind after all. But the damage has long been done. You’ve tried hard to let go, to make amends with the future that has just slipped past your fingers. And often you still allow yourself to swing back to the memories that were stolen from you.

Wanda was there to watch it all, to watch you get carried away by your loss, your spirit and your heart fade away. But she was also there to watch you pick yourself up again, filling yourself with moments of magic and wonder. After a while, you even stopped pondering about all that’s left undefined. But you will always remember that day you learnt that there will never be love at the bottom of a hole you dug for yourself.

“So those are all the new interns?,” you ask Wanda while you oversee the abundance of young and enthusiastic souls march into the atrium of Stark Hospital.

Wanda finishes up her report on her iPad before she looks over the balcony and at the interns gathered a couple floors down. “Yeah,” she sighs slightly annoyed, “You’ve got one or two, I guess?” She pulls up the register on her tablet and her eyes swiftly scan all the names on the list and their corresponding departments where they’ll be starting their internships as of today.

“One of two? That’s even less than last year. Seems the gynaecology department isn’t as popular as it used to be,” you joke lightly, spotting a certain young man in the crowd and waving at him, to which he turns around in embarrassment. “Or maybe it’s just budget cuts again.”

“Is that your eldest?” Wanda points to where the blond used to stand before he decided to ignore you, his mother.

“Yeah, that’s my son,” you chuckle dryly and take a peek at which residents you’re getting this year.

Wanda hums, a little smile playing on her lips. “Is he walking in his father’s footsteps?”

“Nah, he wants to be a brain surgeon. Says brains are way cooler than fractures and intestines and all that jazz. Or babies for that matter,” you laugh together with Wanda until you see Pepper step out of the elevator with Tony by her side, addressing the horde. Wanda, as head of communications now, takes this as her queue to return to her post and start getting the remaining paperwork done.

Returning the tablet to the brunette, you throw a glance over her shoulder where your husband is watching his son, too. “I’ll see you for lunch?”

“Yup! Have fun with the fresh blood!,” Wanda shouts back before rounding the corner and hopping into the elevator.

Your eyes cross briefly and you blow him a kiss, to which he shakes his head and winks back at you. It feels good to know that nothing has changed over the years. Sure, you hit a rough patch when he almost found out about your infidelity, but things got smoothed out rather quickly.

Steve never found out the true nature of your beef with Natasha. He will also never know why every year, on your birthday, you receive the exact same postcard signed with a “B”. Steve doesn’t know about what could’ve been between you and Bucky, he doesn’t need to know that those postcards are Bucky’s way of saying he still thinks about you. It’s a silent agreement you wish to keep just that, silent.

Do you still wonder what could’ve happened? Do you think you’ve made a mistake? Maybe. Did you regret it? Maybe. But do you regret your marriage and your children? Absolutely not.

You continue to watch your son until it’s time for all interns to team up their corresponding doctors. Finding yourself a spot close to your husband, you both stand at the back, waiting for your name to be called out. Steve links his pinkie finger with yours, a gesture that has stuck around during the years, and he smiles down at you fondly, with that exact same sparkle in his eyes.

Hardly paying any attention to the ceremonial distribution of interns, you take his other hand and place it over your stomach. “It’s a boy,” you mumble right before Pepper proclaims his name. Steve doesn’t have much time to digest the secret you’ve just shared with him but according to the rumour mill, he walked on air the entire day. And just like you knew he would, he charmed all the interns, just like last year and the years before that.

And just like Wanda said, you had only one resident. Not even two, just one. But she was a pretty girl, easy on the eyes and very well-spoken. As you were giving her a tour around the hospital, she only asked relevant questions and never interrupted you. You would get along just fine and were actually looking forward to tutoring her and passing along your knowledge of the trade.

“So do you have any kids of your own?,” she queries when you’ve arrived at your office.

“Well, my son is actually here today as well. He’s a foster kid we adopted when he was sixteen. The family that was supposed to take him in backed out because they wanted a baby, not a teenager.” You give her a sour smile at the memory, walking her towards the lecture hall where she’ll have most of her classes.

“I also have twins and this little bundle of joy,” you rub over your swollen belly, “We didn’t plan him but he’s more than welcome.”

She laughs joyfully, impressed by the fact you’ve got three kids. “Unfortunately I’m an only child. I would’ve loved a little brother or sister.”

“If it’s any consolation, three kids is a handful, I can assure you that,” you assure her as you lead her back to the front desk to pick up her badge.

She nods softly, thanking Wanda as she hands the girl her new badge. “What are their names?”

You give her an amused smile, charmed by her curiosity. “Teddy is my eldest and the twins are Becca and Buchanan. I know they probably sound old-fashioned to you.” The girl blushes adorably, already giving away the answer.

“But my husband’s mother died when she was young and he was raised by his aunt Rebecca, Becca for short. As for Buchanan…,” you let the name rest on your tongue first, “I once knew a man with that name. It was his middle name, though. He left quite the lasting impression on me. But I never call my son by his full name, I prefer to use Bucky instead.”

“Bucky?,” she asks intrigued, her eyes big with surprise. “That’s what my mother used to call my Dad, too.”

You stop in front of your office again, your hand on the doorknob. “What did you say your name was again?”

“Ellie. Ellie Barnes,” she pipes up in her sweet voice. “Do you by any chance know my father? James Barnes?”

“I’m sorry but the name doesn’t ring a bell,” you lie smoothly, opening the door to your office and telling her to take a seat. She does so and neatly folds her hands in her lap, looking less nervous and more chipper than when she first shook your hand.

“So why pick gynaecology, hm?”

“My mother is battling against ovarian cancer and my Dad always held a silent admiration for this profession. I guess that’s why I’ve always felt drawn to this line of work.”

Bucky’s memory soars into your thoughts and you succumb to your curiosity, those impeccable blue eyes at the back of your mind taking the upper hand. “Looks like you’re pretty close with your father.”

“Yeah, he’s a good guy. And even though things weren’t always good or great between my parents, he moved to the Hamptons when she got sick so he could take care of her. We talk almost every day. He was very excited to hear I’d be tagging along with you. You’ve got quite the reputation, Doctor Y/L/N.”

“Y/N,” you smile softly,” please call me Y/N. No need for such formalities.”

She visibly perks up at this. “Thank you, Y/N.”

“Doctor Y/L/N,” Darcy pops from behind her computer, holding a standard-issue hospital phone to her ear. “It seems your pager isn’t working. But a woman just went into labour in the waiting room on the third floor.”

You exchange glances with Ellie. “Ready for some action? You can sit this one out of you want to. But I can tell you that watching from the side-lines isn’t nearly as exciting as getting in the action itself.”

“No, I’m good. I’ve got this,” she guarantees you, straightening her back while tying her chestnut locks in a messy ponytail, the exact same hair colour as her father.

However, it seems she inherited much more than just his hair colour, but also his charm, attitude and hypnotic eyes. You’d even dare say they’re more spellbinding than you remember but then again, it’s been years and you memory might be fooling you.

And if she truly is her father’s daughter, you’re sure she’s up to the task. Who knows, maybe she’ll even be as good as you. Or even better.

Fin

Tagging: @avengerofyourheart @a-little-hell-to-raise @marvelingatthewonder @mrshopkirk @hardcorehippos @knittingknerdy @winterboobaer @italwaysendsinafightt @viollettes @myserium @feelmyroarrrr @justareader @austinamelio @volklana @4theluvofall @bovaria @themcuhasruinedme @theoneandonlysaucymo @caplanbuckybarnes @nenyakj @amrita31199 @emilyevanston @minervaem @howlingbarnes @buchananbarnestrash @youandb @you-and-bucky @fvckingsteverogers @thatawkwardtinyperson @that-sokovian-bastard @abovethesmokestacks @marvelrevival @marvel-fanfiction @justanotherbuckydevotee @barnes-heaven @heartmade-writingbucky @buckyywiththegoodhair @captnbarnesrogers @mellifluous-melodramas @its-not-a-phase-hux @melconnor2007 @ivvitm1109 @toofuckinfabulous @ailynalonso15 @jurassicbarnes @hollycornish @delicatecapnerd @camigt1999 @learisa @curlyexpat @palaiasaurus64 @fanndas-snow-goddess @crisssivonne @yourenotrogers @tomhollandzs

Onsra tag list: @melavale @debzybrazy @supernaturaldean67 @tomboyk @shadowhunter7 @allyp1023 @sophiedarting @movingonto-betterthings @magicintheelements  @seeyainanothalifebrotha @redroomproperty @dsny87 @aquabrie @shortiiqt16  @lost-in-the-stories @themanwiththemetalarm @passiononfire  @lbouvet @sugardaddybarnes @c0ldhearted  @soymikael @ourdreamsrealized @aletheladyinred @mileysebschmidt  @evyiione @nerdyandproud9 @mizzzpink @salty-holographic-stickers @curlycals

@itsjaynebird @mauriccee (tumblr won’t let me tag you!) @with-a-hint-of-pesto-aioli (I’m sorry!!!)

[oliverphisher]

Cathryn Hein

Cathryn Hein is a best-selling author of rural romance and romantic adventure novels, a Romance Writers of Australia Romantic Book of the Year finalist, and a regular Australian Romance Reader Awards finalist.

A South Australian country girl by birth, she loves nothing more than a rugged rural hero who’s as good with his heart as he is with his hands, which is probably why she writes them! Her romances are warm and emotional, and feature themes that don’t flinch from the tougher side of life but are often happily tempered by the antics of naughty animals. Her aim is to make you smile, sigh, and perhaps sniffle a little, but most of all feel wonderful.

Rocking Horse Hill (A Levenham Love Story Book 1) By Cathryn Hein Buy on Amazon

Cathryn lives Newcastle, Australia with her partner of many years, Jim. When she’s not writing, she plays golf (ineptly), cooks (well), and in football season barracks (rowdily) for her beloved Sydney Swans AFL team.

Cathryn’s latest release is EDDIE AND THE SHOW QUEEN, book five in her popular Levenham Love Story series.

What are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?

Riders By Jilly Cooper OBE

Riders by Jilly Cooper

What an eye-opener this book was. All those horses! All that upper-class naughtiness! That promiscuous but oh-so-sexy cad Rupert Campbell-Black! It was Riders and Cooper’s other early books that had me on a desperate hunt for Australian equivalents but, sadly, I could find none. I knew then that I would have to write my own, so it was a bit of a shock to discover my stories turned out nothing like Cooper’s.

A Place In The Hills By Michelle Paver

A Place in the Hills by Michelle Paver

It was probably more a combination of reads (see above), but I suspect this book is the one that cemented my desire to write romance. Everything about it is romantic, from the opening line, “It was noon on the Day of Blood when he first saw her” to the south of France setting, the forbidden love of both the historical and contemporary characters, and the kántharos - or chalice, that binds them all.

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)?

I signed up for Dragon Anywhere, a dictation software that I can use on my phone or tablet and works as long as I have an internet connection. It’s $20 a month and such a handy thing. I can dictate at home or when I’m out and about, and it’s quicker than note-taking or typing. Once I’ve relayed the words, I just tell the app to email the document to me. Easy.

There is a learning curve with dictation but the more you do it the easier it becomes. My goal is to write the first draft of an entire novel with it. So far, I’ve only managed the occasional chapter, and notes and blog posts. I’ll get there though.

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

It reminded me why I write – because it brings me joy.

One of the books I’m most proud of is Wayward Heart and I wrote that just for me. It wasn’t contracted and I was resigned that it was unlikely to appeal to a publisher if I did shop it, which meant there was absolutely no pressure during its creation. I could make it whatever I wanted. So I did.

I love that book. It was written with absolute delight and I think that shows in the finished story. Wayward Heart was picked up by Harlequin Harper Collins and is loved by readers too.

Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?

I’m going to go with an oft-quoted one, which I think belongs to Nora Roberts – you can’t edit a blank page. Because it’s true, you can’t. Even the worst day’s writing can be turned around.

My process is to edit as I go, which means I’m always rewriting. Some days getting that raw page down can be incredibly hard (other days it can pour out fast and near-perfect – if only there were more of those… sigh). The words will be awful and wrong and the doubt-demon on my shoulder will start sniggering and telling me how terrible I am, and I’ll wonder why I’m bothering. Then tomorrow will see me picking up those raw bones and rewriting them into something good.

I love that part of the process. Mind you, I’d love it even better if the words came out right the first time but you can’t have everything!

What is one of the best investments in a writing resource you’ve ever made?

My workstation. I love this desk, although in some ways it’s been a lot of trouble. I bought it when I was working on my second contracted book, Heart of the Valley. It’s a commercial corner workstation with loads of space that I can sprawl my stuff over and lets me keep important things like my notes and diary, and collection of fountain pens and books close at hand.

It’s been trouble because with my partner being in the military we moved house a lot and it’s not only big but an awkward shape, and not designed to be pulled apart. Getting it into its current position took some serious manoeuvring and resulted in a couple of wall dings. Worth it though.

What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?

I’m not sure this is particularly unusual, but I do like to have a theme song for each book. If I can find the right song, I’ll play it on a loop over and over, across the day until it fades into the background and I barely notice it.

What happens then is that the songbecomes so entrenched with writing the story that hearing it acts as a trigger. I hit ‘play’ and am immediately thrust into the story’s world again.

The biggest hassle is finding the right song, with the right feel.

In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life?

I walk a lot. Being a keen golfer, I tend to walk a fair bit anyway but about three or so years ago I developed an eye condition that stopped me driving and forced me to walk more. Walking time makes for fantastic thinking time.

Want to solve a plot problem? Go for a walk. Or have a shower. That works brilliantly too.

What advice would you give to a smart, driven aspiring author? What advice should they ignore?

I’ve never prescribed to the “write every day” school. I do write most days, but I don’t get het up if I don’t. That doesn’t mean I don’t think about writing or my storieson a daily basis. If I’m in the middle of a book, I’m thinking about that baby all the time, sometimes to the point of obsession. But writing every single day? Nah.

I treat writing like a job because it is my job, and take weekends off. Although I do tend to do admin type stuff and write blogs on weekend mornings.

As for what advice I’d give... Finish your stories.

Every book you write will teach you something – even if it’s not what to do. Don’t fret over those words being wasted because they won’t be. Some will go the high-jump, sure, but you’ll probably find yourself later mining those stories for gems. You might steal back a character, a dramatic scene, or a setting. Maybe you’ll recycle the premise but approach it in a different way.

I think I wrote six full-length novels before I was first contracted, and every one of those books have been raided and had parts of them recycled in some form since.

In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)?

I really want to say I’m better at limiting my time on social media but that would be a big fat fib. I’m trying though and I’m much better at scheduling now, which helps a lot.

Social media is an excellent way of keeping in touch with your readers and the writing community. It can also be a massive time suck and distraction from writing.

What marketing tactics should authors avoid?

I’m not sure I’d rule out anything specifically. Market according to your goals and target audience. Try things out. Make mistakes and learn from them. Although please, please do not be one of those people who friend or follow a person on social media, then once that person has friended or followed you back, you immediately reply with a ‘here’s my book’ message. Urgh. Even the thought makes me shudder. It’s stupid and rude and just about guarantees that person won’t touch your book.

What new realizations and/or approaches have helped you achieve your goals?

Readers don’t care who the publisher is. They just want your next book. Understanding that has allowed me to embrace self-publishing, in addition to releasing traditionally. Self-publishing means I can release more books for my readers in all sorts of lengths and formats. What fun!

When you feel overwhelmed or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do?

Walk. Take a shower. Or go and do something completely different, preferably something mundane or mind-numbing, like doing the dishes. It clears your head and lets creativity flow again.

If it’s a particularly stubborn or difficult issue, I book a get-together with my writer buddies so we can talk the problem through. Writer buddies are gold. I don’t know what I’d do without them.

Any other tips?

Make friends with other writers. Loved ones can be supportive, of course, but only writers truly understand the quirks of this weird life. They can empathise when you’re in knots over horror revisions or the bad cover the publisher wants you to accept or the scene you’ve ground to a halt over. And they can cheer with you and know how truly amazing it is when you’ve achieved something magical, like finished a book or reached a best-seller list or solved a thorny plot problem.

________

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source https://www.thecommunitywriter.com/blog/cathryn-hein

[talesofmundanemagic]

Gertie and Bridget go on a field trip

Thanks to the success of the bake sale, largely driven by Vivien’s school-famous cupcakes, the entirety of Flories Boarding School’s Magic Club was going on a field trip.

At six am sharp on a Saturday morning, the twenty or so students filed onto the bright blue school bus. It pulled out of the parking lot, and the club began the three hour drive to the coast.

Gertie took her seat next to Bridget, with Vivien and Ernest taking the two in front of them.

“I can’t believe how long this is going to take,” Ernest said, pulling out his phone to decide what music to listen to.

Vivien rolled her eyes and sat up on her knees to look over the back of her seat and talk to Gertie and Bridget. “What do you think it’s going to be like?” she asked. “I’ve never been out of the country before. This kind of counts, right?”

Bridget nodded. “I mean, we did have to bring passports.”

Mr. Jerson, the Magic Club’s faculty advisor, was talking with an unfamiliar man whose hair had been dyed a bright green. He nodded to Mr. Jerson, and stood at the front of the bus with a microphone attached to the bus PA system.

“Hello, everyone,” he said. “My name is Will, and I’ll be your tour guide on the way to and in the Mermaid city-state of Daallu.”

Vivien’s eyes widened and she sat back down to pay attention.

“Daallu, like all Mermaid cities, is on the ocean floor in international waters.” Will grabbed onto the closest seat to steady himself as the bus jolted. “That means that even though Daallu is close enough to our fine country of Crescyth to be accessed by underwater tunnel, the government here in Crescyth has nothing to do with Daallu. Every Mermaid city-state has its own government, and we’re very lucky that Daallu lets in human visitors. Not all coastside ones do, and for some of the deeper cities, you need all sorts of special visas, even for a day trip.”

The bus came to a halt again, pitching the tour guide back, and Will sighed. “You know what? I’ll tell you more when the traffic dies down.”

He sat back in his seat and turned off the whining microphone.

“This is so exciting!” Vivien said, bouncing in her bus seat.

“Yeah!” Gertie agreed. “I’ve never seen an animoid before! I have so many questions!”

“It’s possible you’ve met an animoid using a transformation spell,” Charlie Nessing said matter-of-factly, standing to lean over the seat back and correct Gertie. “And you just didn’t know. You shouldn’t make assumptions.”

"Was I talking to you?" Gertie snapped back, flushing. He was right.

"I'm just saying you shouldn't act like they're a zoo exhibit. It's rude."

"Who are you to call anyone rude, Charlie?" Vivien asked.

Charlie just glared and sat down again.

Bridget pulled out a deck of cards from her bag. “Want to play something?” she offered Gertie as a distraction.

Three hands of “Fox of Spades” later, Will stood up again.

“I have a list of things I’m supposed to remind you.” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “First, while the native Mermaid language is Mmeerruuk, they are much better at foreign language education in Daallu than most Mermaid cities, so you should be able to speak to everyone. They won’t accept your paper money, so I hope everyone followed the advice of the email Mr. Jerson sent out and went to an exchange for occozh, the Mermaid currency, if you want to buy any trinkets. Lunch and dinner will be provided, and we’ve taken into consideration all of your listed diets.”

Gertie grimaced. She was known to buy way too many souvenirs, so she and Bridget had opted to not get any occozh so they wouldn’t be tempted.

“You’ll be leaving your phones behind in the lockers, because I’m pretty sure you don’t want them to break, but if anything’s wrong, there are miraculously still payphones in Mermaid culture! Go to one and dial 753 for non-emergencies and 951 for emergencies. The Department of Outreach has been informed of our trip and will be able to contact me by emergency bubble. Hopefully you won’t need to, but it’s good to know just in case. This was all on the waiver you signed, and emergency numbers are listed on the payphones.”

Will stepped toward the bus dashboard. “Now we’re going to watch a quick film with more information for your visit. Before you get mad at me, it’s required.” He pressed a button and the TV screens throughout the bus flickered on.

“The city of Daallu has been around for centuries,” a droning narrator said over stock footage of a beach. “Originally, a garrison against human invasion, and then a mere trading outpost, it is now one of the most prosperous Mer-cities that still allows outside visitors.”

After fifteen minutes about the wonders of Daallu and Mermaid culture, Ernest put his earbuds in and Bridget pulled out a book.

“‘Quick’, yeah right,” Faye Nessing muttered, pulling up a puzzle app on her phone.

Despite her best efforts, Gertie’s eyes closed and she fell asleep. But Vivien held onto every word.

After what felt like an eternity, periodically interrupted by commentary from Will, the beach appeared. The bus pulled off the highway and into a small parking lot in a special “buses only” designated spot.

“And everybody off!” Will announced as the doors opened.

The students stepped off slowly, their legs stiff, taking in the sparkle of the beach and the brine scent in the air. Off to the right of the parking lot was a modern-looking wooden building with “Daallu Entrance” across the top. A glass hallway extended from the side, sloping into the water and beyond.

Will and Mr. Jerson led the way. They took care of all of the paperwork that needed to be done, handing over the stacks of forms that the students had filled out to the attendant at the front desk. The students milled around in the meantime, looking at the photographs of the city on the walls.

“The buildings are all round,” Gertie remarked, looking at the cityscape.

“Probably better physics,” Bridget said.

Vivien read the placard in the middle of the pictures.

“Wow, they use enchanted sand as their building material,” Vivien murmured. A series of the pictures showed the process - using glowing blue runes to melt down sand into gray blocks, stacking them together in the proper formation, and then using white hot magic to fuse them together. “Imagine if everyone in our society had the capacity to use magic like that all the time.”

“All right, we have two things for each of you,” Will announced. He held out two plastic boxes. In one was a bunch of normal-looking orange inhalers. In the other, what looked like small, round clothespins.

“The first is the Ambifion inhaler,” Will explained. “You take a puff and hold your breath for ten seconds. Then you do it again. It will grant you the ability to breathe underwater for two hours. When you start to cough orange, you’ll need to do the whole process over, or you won’t be able to breathe underwater anymore. That would, obviously, be very bad.” Will waited for the severity of that possibility to set in, then continued. “Wait until you’re in the entrance chambers to breathe it in for the first time, so you get as much underwater time as possible.

“The second is the waterproof clip. You get one for you, and one for your backpack or purse or what-have-you if you want to bring it. It will make your skin, hair, clothes, glasses, etcetera waterproof. We cannot guarantee it will fully work on cell phones, earbuds, tablets, laptops, non-magic cameras, calculators, or anything electronic. You will leave those behind in the lockers in the entrance chambers. You’ve all signed a form indicating you understand this.”

“Everyone take what you need,” Mr. Jerson said, and the students rushed forward.

Gertie put her inhaler in her pocket and affixed her waterproof clip to her belt. Bridget had a clip on her bag strap and one on the edge of her sleeve, and stuffed her inhaler in her bag.

“One more thing!” Mr. Jerson pulled a stack of papers and a bundle of pens from his satchel. “For fun, Will and I wrote up this little scavenger hunt. I waterproofed the paper and pens, don’t worry. You’ll just have to answer questions about places in the city that you can learn if you explore and ask questions. If you answer them all correctly by the time we get back on the bus, you get a Daallu postcard.”

Peter raised his hand.“Can we work in groups?”

“Sure, why not? Groups of four. Everyone needs to fill out a sheet though, and write who you worked with on the top.”

Bridget and Gertie took their scavenger hunt sheets and read them over.

“This could be cool,” Bridget said.

Gertie grinned in excitement. “I want a free souvenir! Let’s do it!”

“Bet we finish it before your group,” Charlie said challengingly, motioning to his two siblings.

“You’re on!” Gertie replied.

Mr. Jerson started through thick wooden doors that had been propped open and into the hallway to the ocean. As each student filed through behind him, they stopped and showed their passports to the security guards on either side, who checked them off a list. Gertie, Bridget, Ernest, and the Nessings had all qualified for entry much easier than their peers due to their standing in the practitioning community, and held up their magical passport cards without needing to wait in line.

They walked down the hall with the rest of the club lagging behind. While the tunnel started on the beach, giving a view of the sand and waves, it soon descended into the depths of the ocean. Gertie and Bridget stared out through the glass, admiring the various fish that milled in and out of the waving forests of seaweed and kelp.

“Give me some room, kids!” Will said, scooting around them to lead.

Charlie and Ernest frowned at being called “kids”.

“This hallway was built forty-seven years ago, as a way to regulate entrances to the city for trade,” Will explained. “Before then, anyone could take an Ambifion potion - though, back then you also would have had to drink them and that’s much more of a shock to your body - and sink into the water and try to get into the city. ‘Try’ being the operative word. Mermaids were, and are, very protective of their land.”

They took escalators down a particularly steep drop, and soon there wasn’t much to see in the dim, murky water. Occasionally a large fish would approach the hall, made visible by the interior lights, and the students would jump before it vanished again.

Eventually, the club reached the end of the hallway. There was a line of metal doors, each with a green light above it signalling they could enter.

“Your teacher will go in first, and then you all can follow him and meet up on the other side.” Will instructed. “Put everything you’re not bringing into the lockers. They’re water proof. Breathe in your potion last so you don’t accidentally lock it away. Then press the big red button on the outside door.”

Mr. Jerson stepped forward, opening one of the doors. The light above it changed to yellow as he prepped. It took a few minutes, but it eventually flipped back to green.

“Okay, all of you, one by one, into the chambers.”

Gertie and Bridget went into separate rooms. The left wall of Gertie’s chamber was entirely composed of lockers with keypads. As she stepped in, Gertie saw the locker that had been filled by the student preceding her slide backwards into the wall, and was quickly replaced by another. Gertie put her phone, earbuds, and keys (just in case) into the locker she chose, closed it, and typed in a code she often used for such things. The keypad was quickly replaced with a camera that snapped a picture of her face.

In Bridget’s chamber, she blinked away the flash, having opted to just put her entire bag into the locker at the last minute, minus the scavenger hunt sheet and her inhaler.

There was a lit sign above the exit door that said, “Please take your Ambifion potion.” Bridget held the inhaler to her lips and pushed down on the top, breathing in the bitter potion as the puff was released into her mouth. She held her breath for fifteen seconds - five longer than Will had recommended, for good measure - and repeated the process before stowing it in her pocket again. The sign went dark, and the big exit button filled with light.

Bridget reached out, and pushed the red button.

Immediately, the room began to fill with water. It was at her knees before she could react, but she realized she wasn’t feeling the cold and her shoes didn’t feel soggy. The waterproof charm was working.

She instinctively held her breath and closed her eyes as the water covered her lips, even though logically she knew the potion should be in effect.

Bridget waited a moment for the anxiety to settle in her stomach. Then she opened her mouth and took a deep breath. It felt just like breathing air. She opened her eyes. She could see perfectly clearly.

The room finished filling, and the front door opened.

Bridget stepped onto sand. Despite the waterproofing clip, she sank a little. She waddled forward until she was standing in the growing group of students surrounding Mr. Jerson.

“I know it’s a bit disorienting,” the teacher said. Bridget could hear him normally, despite being underwater. “You’ll get used to it.”

Gertie followed quickly after Bridget, grabbing her wrist as she pitched forward, not used to walking on wet sand. The waterproofing clip made it a lot easier, but there was still more resistance than walking through air.

Soon the entire club was in place, and turned to wait for Will to emerge from the entrance chambers.

When the door opened, to their shock, their tour guide swam out of the entrance chamber.

“One thing I should mention,” he said as his tail hovered just above the sand. “I’m a citizen of Daallu. I use an Anthroform transformation potion and a work visa for Crescyth in order to act as a tour guide.”

His shirt was still the same - a white button-up that seemed to be staying dry despite his lack of a waterproofing clip. He must have removed his pants in the entrance chamber, as his legs had fused into a green tail, seeming like a cross between a dolphin’s and an eel’s. Webbing had appeared between his fingers, its color a mix of his tail and olive skin. His green hair now matched the rest of his color scheme, and it floated back and forth in the water.

“We’re a bit behind on our schedule,” Will explained, swimming to the front of the group. “So you’re going to have to ask me any questions as we go. Come along!”

They walked along a path made apparent mainly by the presence of tall, unlit lampposts on either side of them. Small strings of lights wrapped between the posts, giving the appearance of natural sunlight.

“At night, the lampposts come on and the star lights go out,” Will explained. “Though letting outsiders come into the cities is a more modern practice, Mermaids have always ventured onto land. Many of the transformation potions that are used for a variety of purposes across the globe have their roots in Mermaid use. Anything that land dwellers had that Mermaids found interesting eventually developed a place down here, including light bulbs.”

Gertie and Bridget gasped as they entered the outskirts of the city. Immediately, the land went from empty sand plains to a bustling hub. The star lights were no longer solely on lampposts, but strung between buildings, crisscrossing upwards and resembling starlit clotheslines. Mermaids swam above the club in great layers and numbers; almost no one was down at their level. The rounded buildings had doors on seemingly every floor, allowing entrance no matter how far above the sea floor one was.

Fish swam alongside the Mermaids, in and out of buildings, apparently as ignored as a fly or pigeon would be.

“All right, gather around,” Will said, stopping in the middle of what appeared to be a city square. The sand had become cobblestone under the group’s feet, and it was a lot easier to walk. “That direction is the festival mentioned on the scavenger hunt.” Will pointed in one direction. “That direction is the downtown district, where things like the library and museums are.”

Mr. Jerson glanced at his watch. “It looks like we have two hours before our scheduled lunch.”

Will clapped his hands together emphatically. “Right. I’ll be leading a tour of the Great Daallu library, but if you want to skip that, feel free to go have fun and experience what Daallu has to offer. We’ll meet at the tower two buildings that way at twelve o’clock sharp.” He pointed at a blue spiral that stood above the other round buildings. “After lunch I’ll take you on our scheduled tour of city hall and Daallu landmarks. That one is mandatory.”

The groups of students who chose to participate in the scavenger hunt ran off, but Bridget stayed near Will for a moment.

She read off of the scavenger hunt sheet, “What’s one of your favorite locations in Daallu?”

Will grinned.“Whirltown. It’s a theme park with the best rollercoasters.”

Bridget wrote down the answer with the waterproof pen Mr. Jerson had handed out. “Thanks!”

Gertie, Ernest, and Vivien were already huddled together, making plans.

“Okay, Ernest and I will go to the downtown district,” Vivien was saying. When Bridget raised her eyebrows, Vivien explained, “There are questions about the orchestra house and art museums. They’re our specialties!”

Bridget nodded.

“Then we’ll take the festival and try to find these parks.” Gertie pointed.

“And we can all try asking the questions of people who live here,” Bridget said. “I got Will’s favorite location so we don’t have to ask anyone else that one.”

“They have roller coasters?” Ernest asked, upon reading Bridget’s sheet. “Nice!”

Gertie and Bridget moved through the city on foot, taking in the statues, the Merpeople, and the submarine-like vehicles that whirred above their heads.

“License plates are yellow and black,” Gertie wrote on her sheet, upon getting too close to a vehicle.

Even the food was different. It seemed to be mostly raw fish, and the girls suddenly worried about lunch.

The festival that the scavenger hunt sheet mentioned was spread across the sand plains just outside the city. Large, colorful tents had been pitched, each promising great food, fun entertainment, or souvenirs. Bridget pulled Gertie away from a stall with hats, reminding her she didn’t have any money anyway.

There were street performers with puppets and trained fish, child Mermaids swimming with their families, and music playing all around. The best part about the festival was that, since the tents were pitched on the ground, everyone was at their level down on the seafloor.

It was getting close to when Gertie and Bridget would have to leave and meet up for lunch, and they had filled out a good third of the scavenger hunt sheet, but no one knew the answer to the question they had come to ask.

“Hello,” Gertie asked a Merman tending one of the stands that sold food. “Which mayor founded this festival?”

The Merman grunted and shrugged and continued helping a customer.

“Excuse me, ladies,” a Mermaid swam up to Gertie, making direct eye contact so the human couldn’t act like she hadn’t heard. She was the only Mermaid they had heard speaking their language other than Will. “Would you like to buy some souvenirs?”

“No, thank you,” Bridget said, knowing Gertie would want to buy everything and they didn’t have a way to pay. She started to walk away, but Gertie didn’t move an inch.

Bridget glanced at the Mermaid, and was shocked to see that her irises appeared to be an unnatural purple. Bridget felt compelled to follow her, even without eye contact.

It was her enchanted left eye that kept her from completely falling victim to the charm. With it, she could see things that couldn’t normally be seen - enchantments, visions of the future, ghosts and the like. And it could see the spell radiating from the Mermaid’s eyes, all of its energy focused on Gertie.

“We have some of the best deals on wares,” the Mermaid continued, a picture of the ever-persistent saleswoman.

“Yes, thank you,” Gertie said eagerly, walking into the tent the Mermaid pointed towards.

“Gertie!” Bridget followed her sister.

“What?” Gertie asked. “I want to see what they have!”

“We-” They walked into the tent, cut off from the electric light of the outside, and were shocked by what they saw.

They had been inside other tents in the festival - ones with food, acrobats, or books. They were all filled to the brim, trying to cram as much as they could into their allotted space.

This one was empty.

Gertie finally seemed to realize something was wrong as the Mermaid’s spell wore off.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

There was a noise behind them and they turned. The tent’s flap had been pulled closed, and now three Mermaids, including the enchantress who had lured Gertie inside, were blocking their exit.

One of them had a gun.

“Hand over your money, tourists,” the gunman said. “And we’ll let you go.”

Gertie stared in shock at the gun. Could it even shoot underwater?

Bridget inhaled sharply, upon seeing the layers of enchantments on the weapon that allowed it to work in the sea. Gertie took her reaction to be a very bad sign.

“We don’t have any money,” Bridget said. Gertie nodded, and reached for her pocket. The gunman’s arm jerked to point the gun at her and she froze.

“I’m taking out my wallet,” Gertie said, trying to keep her voice even instead of shaking in fright.

The gunman nodded his permission.

Gertie pulled her billfold from her pocket and threw it to one of the other Mermaids. As soon as it left her hand, it lost the effect of the waterproofing spell and became soggy.

The enchantress caught the wallet and pulled out the soaking dollar bills that were worthless in the sea.

“What do you have?” the gunman turned the gun on Bridget.

She put her hands up, and tried to tell them that she had left her entire bag, including her wallet, in the entrance chambers. But instead, she coughed orange.

Gertie’s eyes went wide. “Bridget, the potion!”

Bridget coughed again, a cloud forming in front of her mouth.

“What’s going on?” the gunman said. “What are you keeping from us?”

“It’s just-!” Gertie started to shout, but then Bridget held up the orange inhaler as explanation.

“Is that a weapon?” the other Merman exclaimed frantically, reaching into his jacket.

The gunman pointed the gun purposefully at Bridget, panic and anger in his eyes.

But before he could squeeze the trigger, the Merman yelped and dropped the weapon. As it slowly fell to the ground, the metal took on a warm yellow color. By the time it landed in the sand, it wasn’t a gun anymore. It had been transformed into a banana.

The gunman fell forward, almost hitting the girls, as Peter Nessing tackled him. He’d used a speed spell to run through the tent flap and attack the mugger.

Gertie turned toward the other Merman, who had pulled out a knife and was heading towards her. She took a deep breath, and thought of the only spell that would help in this situation. The one she used to make ice with only a mini fridge in her dorm room.

“Freeze now,” she said in the magical language of Laux. She held her hands out, shooting the magic from her palms. The spell froze the seawater in a line as it whirled towards the Merman. It wrapped him up with ice, until all that was moving was his eyeballs.

The enchantress swum out of the way of the spell, looped through the tent and began to summon a hex in her hands.

Bridget sprayed the second hit of the inhaler into her mouth, and, while holding her breath, jumped up to grab one of the horizontal poles that served as the skeleton of the tent. She swung and kicked the Mermaid as she came around, sending her into the fabric wall that bounced her to the ground.

As Peter held his target in a headlock, causing him to pass out from lack of oxygen, Bridget walked over to the enchantress, looking for something to restrain her.

A vision flashed before her eye; the Mermaid had a knife.

Just as the Mermaid reached up to stab Bridget, she jerked out of the way and caught the hand the blade was in.

“Nice try,” Bridget snarled. She stood on the Mermaid’s tail and twisted her arm until the knife fell to the ground.

Charlie Nessing walked in from the opening of the tent, where he had stayed after rendering the gun useless. He cast a spell that lit the sand under the enchantress blue. It began to shift, and though she struggled, the Mermaid sunk right into it. Bridget jerked back from the heat of the transformation, now understanding why the Merman had dropped his gun.

Charlie finished the incantation and the heat dissipated. The Mermaid struggled, but remained stuck in the sand. She snarled, and began shouting at the students in Mmeerruuk.

Gertie ignored her and went to Bridget, putting her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Bridget nodded warily, the familiar fatigue of seeing a vision taking its toll despite her adrenaline rush.

Charlie, as well, was worse for the wear. He panted from the effort of his spell and let himself collapse onto the sea floor, taking deep breaths.

Gertie kneeled in front of him. “Thank you so much for helping us.”

“Please. Like we were going to let you get shot.” Charlie rolled his eyes. “What were you thinking, looking straight into a transfixion enchantment? You’d be dead if we hadn’t seen you.”

Gertie shook her head. Even when saving their lives, Charlie had to be a jerk. She just said, “Thank you,” right as the tent flap burst open, revealing three uniformed Mermaid police officers, ready to cast incapacitating magic.

“Freeze!” one shouted.

Charlie, Peter, Gertie and Bridget all raised their hands in surrender.

Gertie struggled not to giggle at how one of the Mermen was already quite frozen. The relief was getting to her.

The police swam in, Faye Nessing behind them.

“Oh thank goodness you’re okay.” She ran up to Peter and threw her arms around him. “Mom and Dad would have killed me!”

The police placed handcuffs on the unconscious gunman. After studying Charlie’s handiwork, one of the officers threw her hands to the ground with a spell, and the Mermaid Charlie had sunk was uncovered, only to be immediately taken into custody.

The policeman stroked his chin as he studied the Merman Gertie had frozen.

“Is he alive?” he finally asked.

Gertie nodded. With the last remaining power she had, she cast the spell that would release the Merman, the one she used to thaw frozen meat before cooking at home. The ice cracked and melted, leaving the Merman shivering, but alive. He too was cuffed and led out of the tent.

It was then that Will and Mr. Jerson burst into the tent. Their eyes were wild, and they only started to relax when they took in everyone’s calm posture.

“Is everyone okay?” Will asked.

The students nodded.

“How’d you know where we were?” Faye asked.

“Magic bubble,” Will said offhandedly, pulling aside one of the police officers to speak to him.

The last officer wrote down the students’ statements and took pictures of the scene of the crime. “Surely you know you should be more careful in cities,” she said to them.

Bridget glared at her. “Surely you’re not saying it’s our fault that we almost got mugged.”

“Come on,” Mr. Jerson said, gesturing the students away from the tent. He didn’t want the Mermaid officers to start pointing fingers at humans. “Let’s get back to the meetup spot. It’s time for lunch.”

“One second,” Gertie turned to the police officers, and whispered so the Nessings couldn’t hear. “Do you happen to know which mayor established this festival?”

[michaelina520imvu-blog]

How to get 20k imvu credits test now

RELEASED IMVU API For Unity

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[howtoloseweightfastsafely]

How Much You Really Need To Eat For Steady Fat Loss (The Truth About Calories and Macronutrients)

For starters, you should know this...

NO matter what anyone, especially any health expert or media personality or Facebook/Twitter superstar tells you...

If you're overweight now and you want to be skinny, fit, and healthy for life, find out how many calories you need per day to maintain weight, and then methodically subtract from that number.

It is the one and only scientifically proven, a zero-nonsense method of knowing how much YOUR specific body needs to function at its highest level, day in and day out.

We start by calculating your BMR or your Basal Metabolic Rate.

This is the amount of calories that you burn by just sitting on your butt all day. If you're new to this, you may be shocked but this number is pretty darn high!

And you may think, well my body burns so much in one day...and I'm eating so little, so why am I not losing weight??

Introducing...

5 unusual reasons why 90% of people on a diet fail within the first 90 days (avoid these diet traps and you'll be laughing all the way to a beach-ready body)

1. You're not eating less calories, CONSISTENTLY enough to lose weight.

a. Weight loss is a process. It's not a one-and-done thing.

b. You need to stick to your calories day after day after day to see results. And if you half-ass it by not tracking intake, you don't realize that you're actually eating more than you need to for weight loss.

c. Personal admission: I'm guilty of this myself. I thought I "had it" during a recent program and decided to not count my intake (aka "half-assing" it). In my head, I have convinced my foods added up to 2,200 calories a day, which would help me lose about 1 pound per week while retaining muscle. But on Day 4 I decided to track my intake, and lo and behold, I was eating 2,750 calories. It's that easy to get off schedule, while somehow convincing yourself you're doing OK.

2. You haven't made a concentrated effort to reduce inflammation, insulin resistance, and liver clogging

a. This will ruin your efforts to lose weight.

b. Simply put, if your body is dealing with the deluge of inflammation and insulin problems, on top of the excess strain placed on an already clogged liver... the last thing your body is going to do is pay attention to your expanding fat stores.

c. Make sure you use a smart diet and exercise plan, like the one in this book, to address these issues and take a natural herbal supplement, like InvigorateNOW, for added protection.

3. You think you're eating a lot less than you actually are (this has been reproduced in countless studies).

a. The truth is we're simply terrible at estimating calorie intake. And this goes both ways.

b. Overweight people think they're eating much less than they are, and skinny people trying to gain weight and/or muscle think they're eating much more than they actually are. And they both fail.

4. You actually are eating less than you're burning every day, and you ARE losing some weight, but your protein/carb/fat ratios are poorly calculated or non-existent

a. As a result, you're losing so much muscle that you still look like you have the same amount of fat on your body as before. (This is "skinny-fat" syndrome.)

5. (This one is the best scenario, and surprisingly common) You're actually losing weight, with lots of it being fat (as opposed to muscle), but you're not tracking your results and so you don't realize that you started at 180 for example and that you're now 173....all you see is someone who isn't "super hot" and "fit" yet, and you say "screw it, this isn't working". And then you fall into the trap that a large % of people do.

The truth is there are few people who enjoy counting their calories and macronutrients, but there's no smart way to lose weight and build a lean physique without it.

Luckily, there are some great web sites that help a lot with this (Fitday is probably the best on the Internet and several apps for smartphones and tablets that can lend a helping hand, as well.)

Anyway, let's get to the basics.

A pound of fat has 3500 calories. If you're a regular Joe or Jane, you burn between 1,500 and 2,500 calories per day on basic functions like keeping your blood flowing, your body temperature regulated, and your brain pumping out thoughts. If you're a regular Joe or Jane, you also typically eat a few hundred calories (about 300 based on research) more than you need to maintain your weight.

The good news is you don't actually have to make too drastic of a change to start getting the results that you want. The bad news is, even non-drastic changes can be really hard to make - your body is desperate to hold on to its fat and keep homeostasis at all times, so you've got your work cut out for you when you're trying to lose weight. However, by knowing your optimal calorie and macronutrient intake every day (and keeping a food journal) you'll take out most of the hard work and put yourself on the path to success.

 Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the previous article about "A Nutrition Crash Course To Build A Healthy Body and Happy Mind"

Read the next article about "The Easy Way To Determining Your Calorie Intake"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.

Topic 1: How I Lost 30 Pounds In 90 Days - And How You Can Too

Topic 2: How I Lost Weight By Not Following The Mainstream Media And Health Guru's Advice - Why The Health Industry Is Broken And How We Can Fix It

Topic 3: The #1 Ridiculous Diet Myth Pushed By 95% Of Doctors And "experts" That Is Keeping You From The Body Of Your Dreams

Topic 4: The Dangers of Low-Carb and Other "No Calorie Counting" Diets

Topic 5: Why Red Meat May Be Good For You And Eggs Won't Kill You

Topic 6: Two Critical Hormones That Are Quietly Making Americans Sicker and Heavier Than Ever Before

Topic 7: Everything Popular Is Wrong: The Real Key To Long-Term Weight Loss

Topic 8: Why That New Miracle Diet Isn't So Much of a Miracle After All (And Why You're Guaranteed To Hate Yourself On It Sooner or Later)

Topic 9: A Nutrition Crash Course To Build A Healthy Body and Happy Mind

Topic 10: How Much You Really Need To Eat For Steady Fat Loss (The Truth About Calories and Macronutrients)

Topic 11: The Easy Way To Determining Your Calorie Intake

Topic 12: Calculating A Weight Loss Deficit

Topic 13: How To Determine Your Optimal "Macros" (And How The Skinny On The 3-Phase Extreme Fat Loss Formula)

Topic 14: Two Dangerous "Invisible Thorn" Foods Masquerading as "Heart Healthy Super Nutrients"

Topic 15: The Truth About Whole Grains And Beans: What Traditional Cultures Know About These So-called "Healthy Foods" That Most Americans Don't

Topic 16: The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)

Topic 17: The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "meal" On Ridiculous Juice Cleanses)

Topic 18: The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)

Topic 19: How Chemicals In Food Make Us Fat (Plus 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply)

Topic 20: 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply

Topic 21: How To Protect Yourself Against Chronic Inflammation (What Time Magazine Calls A "Secret Killer")

Topic 22: The Truth About Buying Organic: Secrets The Health Food Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

Topic 23: Choosing High Quality Foods

Topic 24: A Recipe For Rapid Aging: The "Hidden" Compounds Stealing Your Youth, Minute by Minute

Topic 25: 7 Steps To Reduce AGEs and Slow Aging

Topic 26: The 10-second Trick That Can Slash Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Mortality By 37% (Most Traditional Cultures Have Done This For Centuries, But The Pharmaceutical Industry Would Be Up In Arms If More Modern-day Americans Knew About It)

Topic 27: How To Clean Up Your Liver and Vital Organs

Topic 28: The Simple Detox 'Cheat Sheet': How To Easily and Properly Cleanse, Nourish, and Rid Your Body of Dangerous Toxins (and Build a Lean Well-Oiled "Machine" in the Process)

Topic 29: How To Deal With the "Stress Hormone" Before It Deals With You

Topic 30: 7 Common Sense Ways to Have Uncommon Peace of Mind (or How To Stop Your "Stress Hormone" In Its Tracks)

Topic 31: How To Sleep Like A Baby (And Wake Up Feeling Like A Boss)

Topic 32: The 8-step Formula That Finally "fixes" Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested (If You Ever Find Yourself Hitting The Snooze Every Morning Or Dozing Off At Work, These Steps Will Change Your Life Forever)

Topic 33: For Even Better Leg Up And/or See Faster Results In Fixing Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested, Do The Following:

Topic 34: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 35: Part 1 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 36: Part 2 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 37: Part 3 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 38: Part 4 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 39: How To Beat Your Mental Roadblocks And Why It Can Be The Difference Between A Happy, Satisfying Life And A Sad, Fearful Existence (These Strategies Will Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity And Show You How To Fulfill All Your Dreams)

Topic 40: Maximum Fat Loss in Minimum Time: The Body Type Solution To Quick, Lasting Results

Topic 41: If You Want Maximum Results In Minimum Time You're Going To Have To Work Out (And Workout Hard, At That)

Topic 42: Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time

Topic 43: How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain

Topic 44: Nutrition Basics for Fast Pain Relief (and Weight Loss)

Topic 45: How To Track Results (And Not Fall Into the Trap That Ruins 95% of Well-Thought Out Diets)

Topic 46: Advanced Fat Loss - Calorie Cycling, Carb Cycling and Intermittent Fasting

Topic 47: Advanced Fat Loss - Part I: Calorie Cycling

Topic 48: Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling

Topic 49: Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting

Topic 50: Putting It All Together

Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com

[hunnybadgerv]

ON WRITING

The wonderful @painterofhorizons tagged me in this

Is there a snack you like to eat while writing?

I’m actually not a big snacker most of the time, even less so during writing, because with any luck my hands are too busy for that. But I’m more of a salty snack fan--Gardetto’s Rye Chips are my current go to. Though on my desk currently there is a box of Toffifay, and I did nibble on one of those while I was writing a scene earlier. 

What time of day do you usually write?

I don’t have a set writing schedule and it can really happen at any time of day. Last night I didn’t even start until 10pm, but this morning I worked on two pieces and was finished with them by about 10am. There’s no rhyme nor reason to it. It just happens when it happens.

I have a notebook with me at all times and I sometimes jot notes down there or tap them into my phone--it’s usually inspiration, ideas, lines of dialogue. Though once or twice I’ve written pages worth of information in the waiting room of this place and that one.

Where do you write?

Maybe about 5% of the time it’s writing on the go. 10% of the time it’s hard copy writing--old school: fountain pen and notebook. 85% it is written on the computer at my desk, surrounded by my geekdom.

How often do you write a new fic?

Far too regularly, probably. 

While I can be disciplined about writing, I’m fairly undisciplined about what I write. I used to try and force myself to write by a schedule and it only guaranteed that I didn’t write anything. So now I write where the lightning strikes. I don’t call it a muse per se, because I never know what will flare. Sometimes it is a prompt, a WIP, or another idea that comes out of nowhere or pops up from form of inspiration. 

Do you listen to music while you write?

It’s about 60/40. Most of the time I will listen to music. Sometimes it’s just random, or from one of my massive playlists in particular styles. Every once and awhile I find one song perfect for a scene, then play it on repeat while writing and revising it. I’ll usually even link it or note it in the document notes so that I can go back and listen to it while I’m editing it later.

But yes, often I listen to music while I’m writing. And almost always listen to music while revising and editing, so that I can focus.

Paper or laptop?

Paper, tablet, computer, and phone. Paper and computer for writing, the other are for snippets and notes. 

Do you have a special pre-writing ritual?

I would say no. But thinking about it. I kind of do. I usually end up skimming other pieces that are in the midst of writing or I go through my current sprint list (I use project management software to track my WIPs, prompts, and writing projects I want to complete). 

But it’s not all the time. Sometimes I get the urge to write and just jump in. Other times, when I’m trying to be a good little writer and am reminding myself to write--those times I often review either my prompt lists or pieces that are in the drafting/revision process.

What do you do to get into the writing?

Sometimes it just pops up. Other times it’s like a confused toaster. I press the button down and have to wait for it to pop up--from time to time, it doesn’t pop up. But most of the time, I can woo myself into writing something.

Do you have a reward system for word counts?

No. I do track them though--I have for quite a long time. Although this year I started tracking words written and the number of pieces written and posted. 

But sometimes I institute a reward system for writing, especially if I haven’t written in awhile. I’ll make myself wait for something I wanted to do until I’ve finished this or that piece.

Is there anything else about your writing process your readers don’t know?

I’m easily distracted, but since it’s taken me more than two years to get back into writing one of my WIPs I’m pretty sure anyone who reads my work knows that I get distracted. 

Sometimes I have to write a does of fluff especially if I’ve been writing angst lately.

I get frustrated by the ways that some of my minor story arcs in my WIPs are currently structured. It actually distracts me from writing those stories sometimes. 

Tagging a few of my favorite friends and writers - please don’t feel obligated though: @ofmanynames, @chyrstis, @vorchagirl, @ladyamesindy, @pierceaholic, @block-of-writers, @joasakura, @inuy21, & @uriellactaea

[rainygalaxynerd]

Brave New World - Chapter 59

Warnings: Canon typical violence. Severe injuries. Cliff hanger.

Summary: It’s D-day, and Team Slay Dick are ready. They have plenty of tricks up their sleeves so it should be easy. Right?

A/N: No one answered my question about whether or not I should post this before I know when I’ll be able to post the next chapter so now I’ll post it anyway. I’ve had it up to here (stretching hand as far as it goes and jumping as high as I can) with moving and I need virtual interaction. Feed me feedback, please.

This is part of a chapter story. Link to mobile friendly master list here.

Tagging: @jencharlan @jotink78 @kbrand0 @twenty-onepages @winchesterprincessbride @vibou25 @deandoesthingstome @littlegreenplasticsoldier @mrsjohnsmith @fangirling-instead-of-working

Sam cut through their argument, his voice doing the weird echo thing. “We have to go. If she wants to come, let her come.”

Dean clenched his fists and jaws and swallowed against the horde of swear words threatening to escape his mouth.

Cas placed a gentle hand on Dean’s shoulder, a silent calming gesture as they filed out to the parking lot. “If Sam says she should come, it will be alright.”

Chapter 59 - End Game

Dean glanced in the rear view mirror and scowled at Caitlin in the backseat. She stuck her tongue out at him. For the next few miles he kept his eyes on the road. Another glance, another scowl, an arched eyebrow and a lopsided smirk before Caitlin stuck her tongue out again.

Cas watched the interaction with fascination. “Is there something wrong with your tongue? Do you require help?”

Caitlin snorted. “Why don’t you ask Dean if he needs an iron to smooth out his forehead?”

Cas’ reply was cut short by the sound of Caitlin’s phone.

DICK PICKS FROM SPACE ARRIVED. EN ROUTE TO SUGAR LAND. -C&G.

“Roman took the bait, he’s headed to SucroCorp,” Caitlin told Cas, loud enough for Dean to hear her. Then she showed Sam the screen and he gave her a thumbs up.

Ten minutes later, the Impala pulled to a stop in the emergency track inside a long, curved tunnel.

Hands shaking, Caitlin texted Charlie back: WE’RE HERE. -C&CO

Less than a minute later another message ticked in. CAM CONTROLLED. CRASH IN 10…

Caitlin closed her eyes and swallowed, Dean’s stricken expression when they had showed him the fake video, fresh in her mind.

“Where did you get that?”

“Oh my gosh, was this really your car? We found some photos on a website with car wreck pictures and then manip’ed them into this.”

“That’s baby, alright.”

“Holy shit. How did you survive?”

Dean had turned his back and stomped out of the room.

Sam had come over and sighed at the sight of the wrecked Impala on the screen. “I was driving when the truck hit us out of nowhere. Dad had a bullet in his leg, Dean was barely breathing as it was. They told us, at the hospital, he wouldn’t make it. Dad wouldn’t hear of it. One minute my brother’s dying and I’m screaming at my Dad to fix things, to do better. The next minute, Dean’s okay and Dad’s dead.” Sam had shaken his head. “Did a hell of a number on Dean.”

Now, the cameras in the tunnel stored Charlie and Garcia’s manufactured footage real-time. Within the next few minutes, a traceable 911 call from the scene would alert authorities and three ambulances and a police car would be dispatched to the scene. They would be redirected elsewhere through scrambled radio communications before arriving.

Dean picked the lock to the dusty storage room for “CREW ONLY” and soon both ends of the tunnel were blocked by yellow and black striped barriers and signs saying “BLOCKED” and “ACCIDENT.”

Sam set up a bunch of flashing blue lights, so the reflections of what would seem like a bunch of emergency vehicles were visible when entering the tunnel.

Caitlin and Cas spread caltrops across a fifty yard section just ahead of the bend.

Sam and Dean set up a row of cardboard boxes containing crystallized borax and C4, working quickly and efficiently.

Caitlin’s phone startled them all. NEAT TRICK. DICK 1 STILL SUGARBOUND, DICK 2 COMING UR WAY, 3 CARS, 7 GOONS.

“Fuck,” Dean spat. “Why didn’t we think of that? How do we know we get the right Dick?”

Sam read the text and Dean’s expression. “Because the real Roman will be the one coming here. Trust me.”

Dean patted Sam’s shoulder and nodded. As he walked away he muttered to himself: “I fucking hope you’re right.”

Caitlin and Cas dragged a four gallon tank of borax over to the storage room and Dean figured out how to connect it to the sprinkler system.

They armed themselves with shotguns, extra shells and a machete each and nodded at each other in silence.

Dean handed Caitlin the detonator for the C4, his hand shaking bad enough that he almost dropped it. She caught it and he grabbed her wrists. “There’s an emergency exit inside the storage room. If things go south, you leave, promise?”

Caitlin frowned, the idea of leaving her friends behind and running from man eating monsters on her own every bit as horrible as staying in the killzone.

“I need you to live, please?” Dean’s grip on her tightened.

“Okay,” she said, shaking her head. As he let go of her, she reached out and stopped him. “But Dean, don’t make me do that. Don’t let things go south, okay?”

Dean leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “Okay,” he said hoarsely.

They took their positions, Caitlin in the store room, Sam and Dean by the fake emergency lights, Cas invisible somewhere in between.

They waited.

XOXOX

Charlie and Garcia watched their screens rigidly, whatever cameras they could access along Roman’s route to ensure that nothing unforeseen happened, keeping an eye on the Winchesters standing in the tunnel, faces grim, guns ready.

A knock on the motel door startled them both, Garcia letting out a squeak.

Morgan pulled his gun and went to stand behind the door. “Who’s there,” he yelled.

“Me. What the hell are you two doing here?” Hotchner’s annoyance went through the door with perfect clarity.

Morgan put his gun away and opened the door. “Sorry, man. We’re working this ca…”

Someone kicked the door hard from the other side and it banged into Morgan’s left cheek bone. His teeth bit down hard on his tongue at the impact, flooding his mouth with the metallic, stale taste of his own blood. He shot out his arm to stop anyone from entering the room. Too warm, too strong fingers wrapped around his wrist and snapped it like a twig. Morgan yelled and pulled against from the iron grip around his wrist. The pressure simply increased.

Hotchner stepped into the room, keeping Morgan’s wrist in a grid lock, a cruel sneer on his lips. He aimed a gun at Charlie and Garcia.

Garcia stared at her friend and coworker with wide eyes. “Hotch, what are you doing?”

“That isn’t Hotch,” Morgan gasped, failing to loosen the fingers around his wrist with his other hand.

The Leviathan impersonating Hotchner moved the gun from Garcia to Charlie. “Don’t even think about it.”

Pouting, Charlie drew her hand away from the bottle of soap on the table.

“Shouldn’t they have been here by now?” Dean waved a hand in front of Sam’s face and repeated himself.

Sam shrugged. “Depends. They could have detoured for backup but I guess the girls would have told us.”

Just then, the sound of cars sounded down the other end of the tunnel.

“Woah, here they come,” Dean warned Sam.

With a nod, Sam turned to face the incoming threat.

The sound of popping tires never came. Instead, the cars slowed before entering the caltrop zone.

“Something’s gone wrong,” Dean muttered, exchanging a dark glance with Sam.

“Sam and Dean Winchester!”

There was no mistaking Dick Roman’s smooth, arrogant tone.

“I know you’re waiting around the bend, ready to fire everything you’ve got at us. Before you do, you should know that we have your friends at the King’s Rest Motel. They’re alive and relatively unharmed. If you cooperate with us, they might stay that way.”

“You’re bluffing!” Dean’s shoulders slumped in defeat, despite the defiant words. Of course, they weren’t bluffing.

“You’re welcome to come closer and watch the livefeed. So far that just means the real time video recording but if you don’t comply, it might become more literal than that.” The words carried an audible smirk.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean muttered and shrugged at Sam.

Together they walked forward, feet scraping the asphalt to avoid stepping on their own useless caltrops.

Three black continentals blocked the road, eight men waiting in front of them. Roman stood his ground in the middle, the closest goon to his right holding a laptop turned to face Sam and Dean. It showed the unmistakable images of Morgan, Charlie, and Garcia tied up in Sam’s room.

“What do you want,” said Sam, arms crossed in front of him, back straight enough to make him tower over everyone.

“What you stole, of course. Your guarantee that you’ll stop fighting us. In other words, the tablet and your lives.”

Dean scoffed. “You’ll eat our friends as soon as we’re gone anyway. No reason for us not to fight you right now.”

“With what?” Roman smiled. “You rigged the sprinklers to drench us in borax?” He reached behind him and brought an umbrella up. “You can’t harm us.”

“Yeah?” Dean mimicked Sam’s crossed arms. “What are you gonna do? Shoot us?” He winced at his own words as they left his mouth.

Roman laughed. “What a novel idea.” Seven guns left their holsters and aimed at the brothers as their wielders clicked the safeties off.

Sam’s eyes widened and he turned to Dean. “Dude! What did you just say?”

Dean threw his arms out: “Duck and cover.” He pushed Sam hard, back toward the line of explosives.

Caitlin listened from her hidden position. Things had gone south. When Dean yelled duck, she hit the switch and turned on the sprinklers, crossing her fingers that it would buy him and Sam a little time.

The Leviathans had the others. Her heart thumped against her chest. They might die.

Cas. Castiel. You can save them. You’re the only one who can.

Roman cursed as the sprinklers came on, bullets flying everywhere, his sizzling underlings firing blind. He held out the umbrella, allowing at least one of them to aim.

“Cease fire and take cover! No, not you, you idiot,” he hissed at the flustered dimwit at his side. As soon as everyone was protected he pointed ahead where the Winchesters had just disappeared out of sight. “Let’s do it right this time.”

Roman brought out his own gun as they advanced across the treacherous ground. The completely borax-free caltrops were a nuisance, nothing more, and they soon had the Winchesters back in their sight.

The tallest were limping. leaning on his brother. Roman took aim and fired a two deliberate shots. He watched with satisfaction as the two of them went down in a heap.

“Seriously?” Leviathan Hotch gave Morgan an incredulous stare. “You two do nothing but flirt outrageously day in and day out and you’ve never done the dirty? Not even that weird biting each other’s lips thing you humans find so entertaining?” He looked between Morgan and Garcia, momentarily stunned into silence. “You should’ve gotten it out of your system. Then maybe you’d spend more time working and less time frustrating everyone with your oh-so-clever banter.” A roll of the eyes made it clear how clever the Leviathan thought their banter was.

Morgan met Garcia’s eyes and she gave him a small nod. His lips curled up as he leaned his head back to sneer at their captor. “I thought your kind were an ancient race, akin to a natural disaster on a cosmic scale. And yet, here you are spewing the same ignorant, barely concealed misogyny humans with below average intelligence tends to hide their insecurities behind. What are you afraid of?”

The Leviathan narrowed its eyes [Hotch’s eyes, dammit] at him. With a huff it turned to Charlie. “I’m surprised you‘re still here, little turncoat. Don’t you think your new friends here know about all the crimes you’ve committed? Don’t you think they’re just waiting for the right moment to snap a set of handcuffs around your wrists?”

Charlie shifted in her seat. “Plenty of nice jobs for me in the White Collar division. I was never really a black-hat. More of a grey-ish kinda pink hat.”

The Leviathan smiled, teeth showing. “You’ve been planning to get caught, haven’t you? Hoping to get access to their old-fashioned paper archives to find out who fucked up the case against your parents’ killer?” It chuckled. “You’re delusional. Accidents happen. You just don’t want to carry the guilt alone.”

Charlie’s face was white as a sheet except for two red spots high on her cheeks. She kept her lips pressed together, hands clenched in their bonds.

Garcia nudged Charlie’s leg with her knee, her ankle protesting against the rope. She caught Charlie’s attention and smiled, shifted her eyes to the Leviathan and back before rolling her eyes vigorously.

Charlie’s breath hitched on an aborted giggle. Her head snapped back when the Leviathan backhanded her.

“Do you think this is a joke? Do you find your situation funny?” Another slap hit her other cheek. “What do you think is gonna happen when my boss gets the Word? You’ll get to mosey on out of here, no harm, no foul?”

Charlie spat a mixture of spit and blood on the floor, breathing hard. She swallowed and met the Leviathan’s eyes dead on. “I think we’ll be dead before the sun sets no matter what and I’m not gonna waste my last hours crying about my past to satisfy your sick sense of humor.” Her eyes widened and the corners of her mouth quirked upward. She focused on Garcia. “That sounded totally badass, didn’t it? We’re going to die trying to save the world and I’m mouthing off to the bad guys. Penny, we’re HEROES.”

Garcia scoffed. “Martyrs, more like it. But, your enthusiasm is admirable.”

Charlie’s face fell.

Castiel materialized behind the Leviathan and swung his machete in a wide arc. The severed head slid off its neck and rolled across the floor.

Charlie stared at the gorish spectacle, mouth hanging open. “Dude! Telefrag!”

Cas caught the monster’s head by the hair and carried it to the bathtub.

The head opened its mouth. “Think you’re a hero now, Castiel? Do all your friends know what you’ve been up to? We remember. Changing sides now won’t wash you clean, nothing will.”

Cas glared at the thing as he let go and turned the tap, cold water trickling into the tub. “My Father disagrees.”

The head rolled its eyes. “You’d think I failed psychological warfare 101,” it sighed.

Cas tilted his head, confused. He shrugged and paused. A small smile grazed his lips. “Why don’t you get clean?” Cas threw a bar of soap into the water and left. It only took half a minute for the water to rise high enough to drown the agonized screams.

Cas loosened the first knot on the ropes tying Morgan’s hands behind his back. There was a strange pull inside him, growing. The world tilted sideways, his surroundings blurring and fading. The carpet was scratchy against his cheek and smelled like onions. He blinked furiously as another Leviathan stepped through the door.

“Hello old friend. You look unwell. I guess the sigils I just activated are working.” The Leviathan kicked Cas hard in the stomach. “No flying, no powers.” It bent down and easily trapped Cas’ hands behind his back. “The combination of the inverted Solomon’s key keeping you here and the extensive angel warding might turn out to be deadly,” it said, tying a rope around Cas’ wrists.

Pain lashed through Sam’s left side when he hit the ground, twisting to spare Dean’s suddenly limp body as much as possible.

Dean stayed silent, heavy and motionless as he landed halfway on Sam.

“Dean? Dean? Where are you hurt? Dean!”

Sam padded down Dean’s back, feeling the warm, sticky wet blood. He shifted, gently rolling Dean off him.

Dean’s eyes were open, brimming with terror and pain. His mouth worked furiously but Sam couldn’t hear a single sound. Dean’s lips had a bluish tinge that seemed to worsen quickly.

Sam put a shaking hand to Dean’s back, following his spine up, up. There. Slightly to the left but still on point, just below the base of Dean’s skull. The entry wound. Dean was paralyzed from the neck down

Sam slowly maneuvered Dean onto his wounded back side. “Dean, the bullet hit your spine. You’re not breathing right now, so I’m gonna do it for you, okay? Cas will fix you in sec, so hang in there, Dee.”

[captainonlinemarketing]

CB Traffic Bots Review | Don’t Buy Until You See This Honest CB Traffic Bot review and Bonuses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR5JGF1jIsM

Get CB Traffic Bot And $3000 Intensive Bonuses For Free: https://tenfunnels.com/CbtrafficBot2

If you want to profit, you only need one thing… Traffic! And in September 2020, the “holy grail” is… Unlimited free buyer traffic! With unlimited buyer traffic, you can dominate any niche: affiliate marketing, ecommerce, social, digital , local or video… and finally profit with any website or affiliate link!

That’s what makes this new traffic software I just discovered so powerful. What is it? How does it work? Let’s find out all the details about it in my CB Traffic Bots Review below!

What is CB Traffic Bots?

Do you want to get buyer traffic? I’m talking… unlimited traffic to any website or affiliate program? Then you need this 100% done-for-you traffic generation suite.

After $10,000 in development costs, it’s here! A new software pre-loaded with thousands of buyer keywords, hundreds of proven niches… that lets you get build a  complete affiliate marketing in 30 seconds… and start getting traffic in as little as 60 seconds.

CB Traffic Bots is a cloud-based software, which creates complete affiliate marketing AND free traffic campaigns. The software allows you to launch instant traffic-getting campaigns for 60x hand-picked ClickBank affiliate programs.

With CBTrafficBots, you can…

·         Get free traffic from 6x viral traffic sources (with over 1 billion monthly visitors)

·         Generate ClickBank affiliate commissions in just 4 clicks

·         Steal 60x done for you campaigns for 60x affiliate programs hand-picked by Chris (a Platinum ClickBank vendor and affiliate)

How? because it’s… all done for you! So you login to the software, click on one of the 60 pre-loaded affiliate programs… quickly launch new campaign (all the content is DoneForYou). Then turn around and start driving unlimited buyer traffic to that affiliate link.

And yes, you can also drive this traffic to any website URL or blog that you or your clients own! Traffic Bot lets you drive BUYER TRAFFIC to ANY product, service or website you can think of! With NO backlinks, content writing, keyword research or domain names needed EVER.

PLUS, you can use this to promote 60x pre-loaded offers – or any niche you want. This is THE solution to get free traffic, make sales and bank commissions in September 2020!

So don’t hesitate to check out the next parts of this CB Traffic Bots Review as I’ll show you how powerful it is.

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 Key features

Here’s everything you get today:

·         Brand New Affiliate Traffic Software

·         6x Free Traffic Sources In 4 Clicks

·         60x Affiliate Campaigns In 2 Clicks

·         60x Preloaded Affiliate Programs

·         Get Unlimited Free Buyer Traffic

·         100% Done For You Content

·         100% Done For You Niches

·         Step-by-step Training

·         Promote Any Website or URL

·         60 Day Money-Back Guarantee

CB Traffic Bots Includes Everything You Need For Daily Affiliate Commissions:

·         DFY affiliate programs x 60

Click once to pick a proven niche… click again to choose from 60x profitable affiliate program. It’s all done for you and preloaded into the app!

·         DFY complete campaigns x 60

The creators have personally hand-selected every top offer into the app & pre-loaded “done for you” campaigns for EVERY affiliate program.. all just 4 clicks away!

·         DFY free traffic x 6

Click ONCE to share your site to SIX secret traffic sources, which get over 1.3 billion visitors a MONTH. And ALL 1.3 billion of these people are looking for the EXACT kind of products you’ll be selling!

·         DFY affiliate training x 1

You’ll get A-Z, step-by-step training showing how to launch your campaign for the maximum results.

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 And that’s not all, there are are ton of the other exclusive features that are in development and will be added in the next update:

·         7-in-1 Software & Training: ALL Cloud-based & DoneForYou

·         Get unlimited buyer traffic to ANY website or affiliate link

·         105,000 Websites preloaded -New “AI” traffic search engine

·         101,000 Google/YouTube Keywords – Get Free Traffic

·         Create affiliate websites for any keyword – in 60 seconds

·         Spy on 500 Domains in 103 Niches – in 1 Click

·         300 million visitors – plug into Bing PPC in 60 seconds!

·         100x domain searches in 1 click: find premium brand names

·         The software is cloud-based, so you can login right from your browser – on PCs & Apple Macs, even Mobile Phones& Tablets

The first 50 people will be getting 7 additional software tools in 1… which include:

·         Niche Money – pre-loaded with over 100 profitable niche keyword lists for ClickBank, Amazon, JVZoo & eCommerce

·         Keyword Titan – find low competition keywords on Google and YouTube… to discover easy keyword opportunities with low competition

·         AutoWebsiteBot – creates websites, pre-loaded with content & affiliate links, for any niche in 60 seconds

·         Domainaveli – register hidden premium domain names – with the ultimate website name software – 100 searches in 1 click!

·         Done For You Theme – a WordPress theme, custom-built for Google traffic, that ranks for keywords, fast.

·         AI Traffic 2.0 Search Engine – a search engine of 18 traffic opportunities across the top 200,000 websites

And That’s Just The Traffic Bot Software… they’ll Also “Get”

·         A Quick Start Guide To Get You Profiting

The simple document breaks down the system… in just a few pages (with links to all the cloud-based tools), so you can get started… in just a few minutes!

·         Bing PPC LazyAffiliate PDF

Want to get started in literally 2 minutes? Combine my AutoWebsite software (DoneForYou content+affiliate websites) with Bing PPC. This 30 page PDF explains all. Cutting edge for June 2019!

·         Plus Training Videos For Each Of The Software Tools

Do you like to dive deep into all the powerful features? Then you’ll love our training video series! It’s the best way to master the advanced methods, like the 18 traffic methods preloaded into the AI Search 2.0 software, for example!

Honest CB Traffic Bots Review: Is it worth buying?

In fact, if you crack the traffic code today, you can get leads sales and commissions from any website or affiliate program online forever. Sounds great right? But there’s a problem…

How do you actually generate unlimited buyer traffic in September 2020… especially if you don’t have time or money to…

·         Create expensive content that goes viral

·         Build thousands of backlinks for Google SEO

·         Invest a huge $20 testing budget for ads and PPC

·         And you don’t own a proven website to turn that traffic into sales?

And imagine having to repeat that for every niche. No wonder the average person knows they need traffic but just doesn’t know how to get it in 2020.

If you want to profit with clickbank in 2020, you need to pick a profitable niche, choose from the right affiliate program and then get free traffic fast. Now imagine having to do that for the 10,000 affiliate programs on clickbank.

It’s no wonder new affiliates don’t have the time or the cash to make daily profits with clickbank in 2020,,, until now that is.

But what if there was a solution that could do everything for you so that choosing a buyer niche was done for you, finding profitable affiliate programs was done for you and driving free buyer traffic was done for you?

In fact everything to make clickbank commissions was done for you like you outsourced everything to one of the top clickbank marketers on the planet. Sounds impossible right? Well not anymore… That’s where CB Traffic Bots comes into play.

This the world’s first cloud-based software suite that does everything you need to finally get buyer traffic to any website or affiliate link in 60 seconds. From a huge, untapped 1.3 billion traffic pool! Just imagine getting REAL daily buyers.

If you’re brand new, don’t have a list and even if you don’t have a website, you don’t need one because everything from a to z is done for you. CB traffic bots automates every aspect of profiting with clickbank.

This turnkey app is packed with 60x the top converting offers from the world’s biggest affiliate network and you get to keep 100% of the commissions from every sale.

In fact all you need to create your affiliate campaign and start getting traffic is click four buttons… and no, you don’t need to write a word of content, create videos or even worry about traffic. It’s all done for you in just four clicks away.

This is a blazing NEW way to drive UNLIMITED BUYER traffic to ANY website or affiliate program. You get FREE traffic from Google for the best BUYER keywords… And in LESS TIME than was ever possible before.

As I said, you’ll always own 100% of the traffic and get to keep 100% of the profits. This is the solution for affiliates and beginners hungry for traffic and sales.

Literally everything you need to start making the daily clickbank commissions you’ve always dreamed of is done for you by CB traffic bots. It t can work for you as long as you have a browser to run the app on.

You can dive into the free traffic pool whenever you feel like a cash down. You could be making money with dozens of affiliate programs every month just like they are doing and with no monthly fees, no cost, no setup time, no writing and no worrying about traffic.

It’s the software I would have wanted when I started out.

CB traffic bots has been in development for over 12 months, and the creators have been an elite clickbank marketer for over a decade and if you’re still reading this CB Traffic Bots Review, you can still get this software app now.,

But you need to take action right away because with thousands of people hitting this CB Traffic Bots Review page, this has to be a limited offer soon. They’ll move to a monthly recurring price and it will be a steal at $97 per month.

Why pay a thousand dollars in a week when you can get it next to nothing today? This is your chance to skip the learning curve in one move. So be sure to grab it with both hands.

The smart marketers know that clickbank is hot right now, but this opportunity won’t be around for more than a few days. In fact they’re going to increase the price every single hour and then at the end of the week, the price will jump up to a recurring monthly price.

Now you can get in at the ground floor at a tiny one-time fee!

In addition, You will be getting my ultimate huge bonuses at the end of this CB Traffic Bots Review!

 Get CB Traffic Bot And $3000 Intensive Bonuses For Free: https://tenfunnels.com/CbtrafficBot2

 How does it work?

In this section of CB Traffic Bots Review, I’ll show you how easy it is to get started with this software.

Now here’s how it works…

Step 1: enter your clickbank affiliate id first

Log in to the cloud-based software and enter your clickbank affiliate id. That’s click one and don’t worry if you don’t have a clickbank account yet, it’s free to join and getting your id takes just a few seconds.

Step 2: Choose your affiliate campaign

Next select your buyer niche, that’s click 2. This loads up the creator’s list of profitable offers. Then choose the affiliate program you want to profit with. That’s click 3 and that’s it.

Just like that you’ve honed in on a $100 a day affiliate program. The creators make it sound so simple, but remember as clickbank elite super affiliates, they know what sells. That’s why they personally hand selected every top offer into the app to maximize your profits.

And that’s not all. They’ve also pre-loaded done for you campaigns for every affiliate program with banners, headlines and text… all done for you. Simply click once to pick a niche and to choose your affiliate program.

Just like that, their campaign appears ready for you to steal, edit and tweak if you like swapping in a new banner, headline or video… or simply let they do the work.

If you’re an advanced marketer, you can edit their templates too. For example, replacing your affiliate link with another website url or other affiliate link. That means when you’ve exhausted 60x done for you campaigns, you can tweak them to promote anything you like.

Your license includes full customization rights.

Just like that, this incredible software has built an entire campaign for you around your affiliate program filled with content, banner, headline, call to action, video and of course your affiliate link.

To pay a top marketer like them to create your campaign would cost $5k or more. But they’re all pre-loaded into this powerful cloud-based app with done for you campaigns just a click away

Step 3: click to get free traffic time

Now for the fun part, getting traffic this is normally the hardest part. But with CB Traffic Bots, all you need to do is click once to share your site to 6 secret traffic sources with over one billion buyers.

As a clickbank platinum marketer, I’ve experimented with dozens of traffic methods… some are free but slow, some are great but expensive, most are simply too hard for even pro marketers like me.

But in 2020, the creators of CB Traffic Bots have found 6 specific places you will want to promote your affiliate links on. 6 secret sites you can share to in one click.

In total these secret sites get over 1.3 billion visitors a month, and all 1.3 billion of these people are looking for the exact kind of products you’ll be selling.

it’s the combination of their 6 secret traffic sources with their 60 hand hand-selected affiliate programs that makes this one-stop software app so powerful.

Literally everything you need to start making daily clickbank commissions is done for you… from niche selection to choosing the affiliate program, from creating your campaign to creating your video, from finding the best traffic to actually getting the traffic.

Pricing

For a limited time, you can grab CB Traffic Bots with early bird discount price in these options below. Let’s pick the best suited options for you before this special offer gone!

Frontend – CB Traffic Bots – $17-20 (hourly dimesale!)

The core software that lets people launch ClickBank affiliate campaigns that get traffic

OTO 1 – Unlimited Edition – $29

Upgrade to launch unlimited campaigns, for unlimited traffic and affiliate commissions

OTO 2 – Autopilot Edition – $39

Activate 60x affiliate programs PER DAY, and over 1,500 campaign instantly preloaded

OTO 3 – DoneForYou Edition – $197

Let their elite team site up a done-for-you site FOR YOU (all we need is your clickbank ID!)

OTO 4 – Reseller Edition – $197

Earn 100% across the entire funnel selling this top-selling Warrior offer as if it was your own!

OTO 5 – MegaBundle Edition – $97

Get access to an insane 37 software tools that cost the creators over $300k to build!

Get CB Traffic Bot And $3000 Intensive Bonuses For Free: https://tenfunnels.com/CbtrafficBot2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR5JGF1jIsM