#everyone seems to build their own but i am not that handy of technical minded

[guinevereslancelot]

they should make a rope tow for your backyard that you don't have to build yourself or spend 9k for

[airbendertendou]

SOMETHING SOMBER TO MiSS! ♥︎ chishiya shuntaro

synopsis : three years after breaking up, your ex-boyfriend seems appalled by how you've changed, and the new company you keep.

recomended songs — exes, tate mccrae ; bibi vengance, bibi ; diablo, lexie liu ; 505, arctic monkeys

cw ; typical aib death nd gore ; reader is a physical fighter nd i wont apologize abt it ; the militants themselves lmao ; oblivious reader who holds everyones attention <3

TAGLIST : @chaotickyrith @valleyofheartz

♧ ♡ if you have a blank blog [no bio, no user, no header or profile pic, nothing reblogged, etc] do not interact with my content. you will be blocked. ♢ ♤

— ♧ ♡ ♢ ♤ —

Oil fries in the pan as you flip the meat you're cooking, the side dishes already prepared and ready to eat. You hum with a nod, satisfied with the spread you've cooked — happy the recipes you read came in handy and turned out well.

The front door slides open and a smile falls onto your lips unconciously. You don't turn from the stove as you speak, "welcome home, Shuntaro!"

He grunts in response, kicking his shoes off and throwing his work bag to the side. Sliding up beside you, Chishiya eyes the food you cooked curiously, nodding his head the way you did earlier. You grin, "hard day? Did they let you work with patients today?"

"Still a student, technically," he responds. Chishiya grabs the cutlery you need, filling one cup with your drink and the other with his own. He grabs one of the dishes, absentmindedly setting it on the table. "Proabaly won't be around people for a while still."

You frown, following behind him. "That sucks. You're the smartest person in that building."

The left side of his lips quirk up, "thank you."

Hitting his arm lightly, you can't fight your own grin. "As if I needed to inflate your ego anymore."

The only sound is your eating — conversation with Chishiya never felt needed. You often found comfort in his silence ; found it easy to be in his presence. When your food is finished and you're washing the dishes, you notice him lingering in the doorway. You let him take his time — sometimes, your boyfriend simply needed a moment or two before his thoughts could escape his head.

But, he never spoke up. Chishiya simply stood there, staring at you and through you simultaneously. You blinked at him, hands still soapy, "everything okay, 'taro?"

“Let’s break up.”

You pause, a wobbly smile masking the strain in your throat. You face him fully, “what?”

“Let’s break up.” He doesn't meet your eyes as he speaks. He looks over your shoulder — looks to the pictures of you together throughout the two years you'd been dating.

“…why?” You wipe your hands dry, hoping to hide how they tremble. Chishiya eyes them through furrowed eyes — he noticed. You hide them helplessly anyways.

He shrugs passively, “I’m bored.”

“And nothing I say will change your mind?” It's now that he meets your gaze. It's dark — empty as he looks at you. Ice crawls into your chest, settling there as your breathing begins to get heavy. You nod slowly and look to the floor. “Okay. Let’s break up, Chishiya.”

You hope the sound of his last name burns him as much as it did you.

— ♧ ♡ ♢ ♤ —

Music hits the pool area as you walk out, nodding to the beat you hear. Grinning at those you're familiar with, you perk up at your chosen group. The ones who brought you in when you were lonely.

"Ni—ra—gi!" you sing as you approach him. Sat on his lap is a girl with her bikini top slipping down slowly. Her lipstick is smeared and her cheeks flushed as her eyes widen at your voice. "Oh, am I interrupting?"

Niragi glares — he's really just hiding his laughter, "you always do. What do you want?"

You hum slyly, going behind the girl to settle her bathing suit correctly. Her breathing picks up and her hips twitch at your touch — Niragi hides his snort. "Have some newbies Hatter is welcoming. Wanna check 'em out?" You bend so that you're eye to eye with the stranger, "or keep having fun instead?"

With a squeak, the girl practically launches from Niragi's hold and skitters away. You blink owlishly, "was it something I said?"

Niragi's loud, boisterous laughter leaves a trail as you sneak into the secret meeting. Aguni eyes you before rolling his eyes discreelty and tuning back into what Hatter is saying. It's the same spiel you were given — this was a free paradise that only called for your loyalty. Loyalty being the cards you earned every game, of course.

If someone was going home, it was going to be Hatter first and foremost.

You eye the trio standing in the middle of the room, watching as the shorter male fidgets. He glances around — meets your gaze and gulps. He mutters to the girl he’s with, tugging on the end of his shirt.

Grinning, you lean close to Niragi and lower your voice to a whisper. “Traitor.”

“Them?” He raises an eyebrow, incredulous. “You really think?”

You put your hand out, “wanna bet?” Niragi clicks his tongue as you wiggle your fingers, insisting he shakes your hand. “Hm?”

He shoves your hand away, “never making a bet with you. Not again.”

As the meeting concludes, you grin widely.

Your name is called as Hatter beckons you forward. He leans on the desk in front of his card display, grinning as his top men join him. He gestures grandly, his arms open wide. "Liking your promotion?"

It's a silent nod to the gun strapped to your thigh — to the absence of a bathing suit. Aguni crosses his arms lightly, sticking his chin out. You grin — recently, it's starting to look more and more like Niragi's teasing smile than anything like yours. "It's fun enough."

Hatter laughs loudly at your words. He nods his head, "rumor has it you could beat any of my militants, anyways. Would rather have you on our side — on my side."

Niragi slings an arm around your shoulders as he hums in agreement. "Not a good idea to get on this one's bad side. I've seen it — scary shit."

Hatter cackles again as Mira eyes you now. She tilts her head a little, deciding to speak up. "Wonder where that temper of yours came from."

You simply grin again, closing your eyes with a sweet facade. "An old friend. That's all."

— ♧ ♡ ♢ ♤ —

When he's recruited to the Beach, Chishiya isn't sure what to think. The man he was partnered with was lasered at the last second, leaving Chishiya in a remaining duo. The woman — Rei, she said — eyed him warily before nodding.

An unspoken rule of the Beach was the ability to bring more people in — more cards in.

It's a loud place, music booming and people cheering as if they aren't in danger. In the entry way of the hotel, there's a small crowd gathering, whooping and jeering. Chishiya unknowingly strays closer to the circle and away from his tour guide.

In the middle, a man with his hair half-up is laughing loudly. His arm is around someone else as they stand over the bleeding lump of a person on the floor. As he laughs, Chishiya can see the shine of a tongue ring gleaming in the lights. His arm is tapped and he's dragged back to the introduction of everyone.

For a second, though, Chishiya thought he caught a glance of you.

Hatter calls for a meeting, as he usually does to welcome newcomers. Niragi stands with his gun slung over his shoulder — Chishiya squints his eyes, thinking of how familiar he looks before his attention is taken.

A long, lanky figure begins to speak to Aguni. The only indication of the conversation is the raise of his eyebrows — he seems surprised by something. Aguni's lips part, as if he's going to speak, before he eyes Hatter and his mouth falls shut.

The door behind him opens and Chishiya feels cold. A shiver runs down his spine, trickling in line with the sweat that's built up. He keeps his eyes to the ground, as if he subconciuosly knows danger is around. A sharp, musical lilt of someone humming interupts the meeting in the room.

"The traitors," it can't be, "have been taken care of, your highness."

Stock-still and frigid Chishiya stands as you come into view. You look different — it's been three years — a wide, estranged grin on your face as you ignore the blood dripping down your face. Niragi saunters up to you, "the hell happened?"

"Had a knife," you let out an annoyed breath, sweeping at the cut above your eyebrow. "Not a very good one, though."

Hatter's laughter calls everyones attention back his way. His grin is just as wide as yours — just as corrupted and red. "Thank you, [Name]! For your sacrifice, the Beach will live another day."

You simply bow your head before standing with Aguni — the militants, Chishiya remembers.

Tilting his head, the blond secretly looks you over. You'd gotten toned — leg and arm muscles built and presenting themselves nicely in your shorts and shirt. You stood relaxed, surrounded by numerous weapons and threatening figures had no impact on you at all. Maybe you were part of that threatening crowd now — part of the fear that clung to the Beach.

Chishiya wondered if you'd noticed his differences as well — his longer, lighter hair and how he slouched more when he stood. He wondered if you'd even seen him in the first place.

Sharp, animalistic eyes catch his gaze. The lanky, tattooed figure watched him before saying something to the pierced one from before. Chishiya shot his eyes away before either had the chance to see him staring.

— ♧ ♡ ♢ ♤ —

"Seem to have caught the newbies attention." Niragi speaks casually as you roam the hallways. He lets out a snort, rolling his eyes and head until he's looking at Last Boss.

Last Boss grins, "always do."

You curl your nose, swatting away the rifle Niragi holds on his shoulder — it'd bounced your way one too many times. "We had a newbie?"

Standing in disbelief, Last Boss pauses in the middle of the hallway. He looks Niragi's way, mouth parted in shock before he's slowly shaking his head. "[Name], you are..."

"Something," a feminine voice speaks up. The girl is with a crowd of three, her eyes trailing up and down your body slowly. She turns to wink your way as her friends scatter. "Something, truly!"

With a giggle, she's gone.

Before they can comment, a bell is tolled, signaling the time for games. Niragi lets out a huff, following behind as you wrap your arm in Last Boss'. A stranger allowed their attraction for you to overcome their fear for everyone else. You had to be magic.

— ♧ ♡ ♢ ♤ —

You had to be magic.

It was a spade's game, to Chishiya's disinterest. He'd made an acquaintance — Kuina agreed on wanting to leave before Hatter, and had a history of combat. She would be useful in these games — except, they switched games at the last minute.

Chishiya couldn't have regretted it more.

You seemed to be the star of the show, everyone focused on you as your fellow militants grinned ferally. Poser — a four of spades where one player selected was not who they said they were. It should've been a hearts game, maybe diamond.

Said player could only be exposed by the color of their 'blood'.

Everyone was given a heavy, white t-shirt full of paint. Red meant you were human — blue meant you were an imposter. Chishiya gulps at the display in front of him. The red staining your skin wasn't just paint — he looked down apathetically at the two half-concious people who'd taken you on beforehand.

"You." A friend of yours is looking his way, at his pristine, unstained shirt. They tilt their head, "let us see your insides, hm?"

Letting out a huff, you swipe the sweat off of your forehead. Three others have joined you in your battle — think some of these people are actually dead. Standing straight, you see a newer militant cornering someone ahead. Shrugging, you saddle up beside them to help.

Your voice dies in your throat.

Dark, almost empty eyes meet yours and you hold back a gag. They shine sparsely, with disgust, maybe empathy and the smallest hint of regret. Your fist clenches around your trusty knife, praying to it that your voice won't break. "...Chishiya."

He almost jumps when he notices your attention on him. The stray militant has joined into the clump of fighters feet away — it's only the two of you once more. He lets out a breath, "[Name]..."

Your fist connects with his cheek before you can think. Chishiya stumbles back — doesn't have time to guard himself before you're nailing your fists into him once again. Your knees connect to the floor harshly as you go down, following his body as he collapses.

How dare he call you so casually? So lovingly? Your swing misses — Chishiya simply stares up at you. How dare he come into the world — this solace of sorts and destroy the walls you'd built? How dare he — three years later — still linger on your tongue and in your thoughts?

A choked, staggered sob leaves your lips as the voice overhead chimes.

"Game complete!"

Chishiya is still laying on the ground as you stand on wobbling legs. His eyes are half-lidded, hazy as he gazes at you, stock still. The red under his broken nose copies the red bleeding from his shirt. Not the traitor this time, at least.

You let out another sob before turning, grabbing the card and leaving the game.

— ♧ ♡ ♢ ♤ —

a part two is already in the works! have to figure out a definite plot, is all <3 if you’d like to be tagged in this series or any other aib work, let me know!! ♥︎

airbendertendou © do not copy, plagiarize, repost, or translate my content on any platform. if you see my content under any other name than my own, let me know. i only have this tumblr and an ao3 account under the same name.

[xxwritemeastoryxx]

Monster Part 2

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Damon Salvatore x Reader

Word Count: 2.5K

Warnings: None that I can think of.... 

Author’s Note: This one might be a tad bit slow moving for now. I promise things will pick up soon. 

Part 1 “There is no way an animal did that.” Y/N said as she watched Damon look over the file. She had watched as his blue eyes had widened as he took in the information before him.

Damon looked up at Y/N for a moment before he looked down at the file. The images were crystal clear. While there was a body laying on the ground, the head had been barely hanging on by skin, muscles and maybe a few bones. A whole chunk of her neck was gone.

Flipping the pages off on the other side of the folder, he had saw the date of the attack and the person who had filled out the report. Of course it had been Forbes that had signed off on it. He sighed softly, closing the file.

“Some animals,” Damon tried to come up with an explanation on the spot. He needed there to be something he could give her in that moment that wouldn’t derail his plan already. “they just attack with little reason. She could have just been at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Y/N wiped at the tears on her cheeks, wanting to be rid of them. She shook her head slightly. Nothing she read in the report or even her Aunt’s explanation had made sense. It made her head hurt as she tried to figure out what had been the truth and what wasn’t.

“Was your mom’s file on the list?” Damon asked curiously as he bent over to pick up the other files she had dropped when she had come across that one.

She shook her head slightly. “No. I was looking for another one when I saw her name on the file. I had never seen it and…” She took a deep breath hoping to keep the new tears that were beginning to build up at bay. “I was curious.” She then kneeled down to help pick up the mess of files she had made.

Eyeing the files on the floor as he picked them up, Damon noticed that a lot of them had been locals that had been killed in some shape or form over the last few decades. Most of them had different labels as to what had happened to the victims, but Damon knew better. Especially when there were a few that had been done by his own two hands.

Once they had all the files collected and organized, Damon handed her the stack he had picked up along with the ones he had found. He watched as she set the small stack she picked up and placed them on top of the ones he collected before standing. Sorting through them quickly, she pulled out her mom’s file and placed it back where she had found it.

“Thanks.” She said giving him a small smile once the file was back in its place. “I swear I’m not one to usually get emotional, it was just- I didn’t expect to read that.”

“There’s no need to apologize.” He said returning the smile. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions at the moment. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to get out of here and get the answers you needed.”

Y/N shrugged as she turned and started making her way back towards the table she had placed her bag on. “You really can't get answers when no one is willing to listen to the questions.”

“Wouldn’t you be able to talk to your Aunt about this?” Damon asked as picked up the list of files that she had set down on one of the shelves. Several of them had been checked off except for a handful of them. Y/N had been moving faster than he had with the few files he had collected.

Placing the files down on the table, Y/N began making her way back down the aisle to pick up where she left off. “She doesn’t like to talk about my mom’s death. I was seven when she died. Details like that,” she said as she nodded her head towards where the file was placed. “isn’t something you’d tell a seven year old.” She pulled the list out of Damon’s hands and moved further down the aisle. “Since I’ve lived with my Aunt, mom has kind of been a forbidden topic if we are talking about how she died.”

“I take it death is frowned upon in your house?” He asked jokingly as he made his way back to where he had left his own list and began searching for the ones he was helping her find.

Y/N laughed and shook her head slightly. “Depends on her mood I guess. We won’t speak of how mom died, but the moment you bring up dad, it's all ‘he’s dead to this family’ and an endless rant of how he left. It's not only me she is like that with. You should have seen her the other day when Sheriff Forbes told her he moved back into town.”

“That must have been a sight.” Damon said as he found another two files.

“My Aunt has a flare for the dramatics.” Y/N said as she grabbed the last file she needed on her half of the list and made her way back to the table. “She wanted a restraining order placed on him, she wanted an officer by my side as if I was some princess.”

“Besides the obvious, why does she hate your dad so much?” Even though he was curious, the information could come in handy if there was ever a need.

“You mean besides dad leaving me here to raise another family somewhere else?” She asked as she tucked the files into her bag before looking over to where she believed Damon had gone. “We needed help when I was younger. I got sick and between normal bills and my medical bills, we were about to lose the house. She called and left plenty of messages for my dad that I was in the hospital. He never showed, never offered to help. He didn’t care about what happened to me. My Aunt ended up having to borrow money from some of the founding families. Medical bills were paid off, my aunt was able to keep our home and pay off everything else she owed. Of course now any time the founding families come into her store, their purchases are free.”

“Perks of living in a small town.” Damon said as he made his way back with the rest of the files that had been on his list. “Everyone is friendly enough to help out.”

“Or they are looking for someone to use as a charity case.” Y/N said with a shrug as she watched him make his way over to her. She placed her hand out for the files as he reached her.

“Are you saying me helping you out is just because I think you’re a charity case?” He asked as he handed her the files.

She smiled at him. “I don’t know yet. I’m still trying to figure that out. You seem like you have an ulterior motive Damon Salvatore, and I plan on finding out what it is.”

“What makes you think I have an ulterior motive?” He asked with a smirk pulling at his lips.

“Lets see,” She said as she tapped her finger against her chin. “You wanted my attention at the bar earlier. While you wanted to talk but not flirt which suggests you weren’t looking for one of your normal lays that you tend to look for on occasion.”

“That’s not tr-” He began to say but she cut him off.

“I may not be a popular person in town to know everyone’s business, but I am observant, Damon. I’ve seen how easy it is for you to flirt your way into someone’s bed.” She shrugged slightly. “Either that or you’re really good at getting them to leave the same time as you.”

“Okay, you’ve got me.” He said holding up his hands in a mock surrender. “I indulge from time to time.” Y/N’s eyebrow rose and Damon didn’t miss it. “Alright, more than that. Are you sure you are a secretary? Because you’d make one hell of a lawyer.”

Y/N smiled, but shook her head.”Just a secretary.” She told him. “Like I said, I’m just observant of my surroundings. Which still makes me curious as to why you decided to help me out with this. I’m not one of your friends that you are constantly with.”

“I needed a change of scene.” He lied.

“And someone who is a workaholic and spends her time in the May-” She stopped herself as a thought passed her mind. “What do you need from the Mayor’s office?” She asked eyeing him slightly.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you think to much into things?” He asked avoiding her question. “Everyone needs a friend outside of the chaos they have going on around them, that’s all I’m offering. Scouts honor.” He said as he lifted his hand up. “No ulterior motive to get to the Mayor’s office.”

Y/N eyed him a bit longer before she sighed. “Alright, fine.” She said believing him.  Sure she used to be a wild kid when she had been away at college or out on her own, but since she had came back to Mystic Falls, she had been a bit of a loner. She had been able to count the amount of friends she had on one hand.

Damon had been telling the truth. He had no ulterior motives to get to the office she worked at. It was all about the Council meetings that he needed to be attending. Especially after everything he had seen tonight. Vampires were definitely not safe right now with Mayor Y/L/N about to change things drastically.

“Were you able to get everything you needed?” Damon asked as he took a step towards her. “I’m only asking since technically this place is closed and we’re holding up someone else from going home.”

Y/N’s Y/E/C eyes widened slightly. She had almost forgotten that they had been there after hours. Not to mention that she needed to get and get herself ready for her dad’s first official day as Mayor. “I’ve got everything.” She said grabbing a hold of her things.

“Good.” Damon said with a nod as he began to follow her out to the entrance. “Let's get you home.”

Y/N chuckled. “I can find my own way home.” She assured him as they passed the employee. “Thank you soo much.” She said to him and he gave her a slight nod as she pushed the door open.

“Come on, it’s late.” Damon said as he walked out and closed the door behind him. “I doubt you’d walk through town at this time of night.”

Y/N looked over her shoulder and gave Damon a smirk. “It’s a good thing I’m not walking.” She said as she crossed the street, back towards the Grill.

Damon watched from his spot as she made her way to her car and got in it. It was only a minute later that she started up the car and drove away. Damon shook his head as she did before heading to the Camaro. He was going to have a hard time with this one.

“Well?” Stefan asked the moment Damon had walked into the living room. “Did you learn anything about Y/N or her dad?”

Damon shrugged slightly. “I know her father is an ass and I haven’t even met the guy yet.” He walked over to the small table that held several crystal bottles with alcohol in them and poured himself a drink. “But he’s having her pull files from old cases over the span of several years that he wants to look over.”

“What about them?” Stefan asked taking a step towards Damon.

“They all have fingers pointing to vampires as being the actual cause of death and not the cover ups.” He said as he lifted the glass up to his lips and took a drink. “Y/N even came across the file for her mom’s death. You wouldn’t believe who the culprit was for that one.”

“Let me guess,” Stefan said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You?”

“Wrong.” Damon said as he turned and looked over at Stefan. “I had no part in her death but if the photos were any indication, that was hefty chunk of her neck you took out of her.”

Confusion spread on Stefan’s face. “You actually think I did it?”

“The dates go perfectly from one of your ripper binges.” Damon said with a nod before he took another drink. “Unless there was another vampire running around, dropping bodies like you did.”

“Where is this file?” Stefan asked, wanting to see the details that Damon had saw.

“In city archives.” Damon said with a nod. “They open at eight if you want to find it. I can give you the aisle number, and case number if you prefer.” Damon set the glass down and walked over to Stefan before patting him on the shoulder. “Not to worry brother, the actual files he is interested have been a majority of my past meals.”

Stefan rolled his eyes. “That news isn’t surprising. It’s also not surprising that he would want old cases like that coming into the office. If he was willing to take the founding families out of the council, he knows all about the town.”

“Which is why earning Y/N’s trust is an important part of this non existent plan that I have.” Damon said before trying to think of what he was actually going to do next.

“We could just always let Liz worry about it. We know she’ll give us the information we need.” Stefan said watching his brother. “She’s not going to let Caroline be in danger.”

Damon shook his head. “As easy as that would be, something tells me Y/N will still be of use to us in some way, even if she can’t get us into the council meetings.”

“Did she say if she could or not?” Stefan asked.

“No.” Damon said shaking his head once more. “I haven’t asked yet. She suspects I have an ulterior motive to wanting to help her today.”

Stefan chuckled. “Can you blame her? She’s had a mostly quiet life and you decided that now is the time to walk into it.”

“We hardly know her, how can she already believe that?” Sure Y/N had told him it was mostly her observations that told her everything she needed to know. To Damon, he couldn’t see how he hadn’t seemed to gain any trust with her.

Sighing, Stefan shook his head. “You really are oblivious to everything else when you have your mind set on something.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Damon asked raising a brow.

“I get that we have a lot of reasons not to worry about the people that live in town, but maybe if you actually paid attention, you’d know why Y/N has her guard up. And she’s not wrong.” Stefan shrugged slightly before heading upstairs, leaving Damon to figure out what he meant.

“Well that doesn’t help.” Damon said as he walked back over to the side table, pouring himself another drink.

Everything Tags: @rissyrapp20 @taylordrunkonwhiskey @thewolf-and-thesheep @wayward-dan

Monster Tags: @butifulsoul125 @brookelyn2890 @this-is-mycrisis @writingsoftheunderworld @voidnarnia @fandom-princess-forevermore @nicole-lynne

Bold names means I can’t tag you in this. Please let me know if you would like to be added or removed from the tag lists. 

[bronzedwingedgeneral]

Bronze Meet1ngs }:)

In which an Ancestor is meet and he is now everyone’s dad.

Discord RP Thread with @vampofaflyboy and @lassosandleashes

~

Summoner Last Thursday at 9:33 AM

You are still one Petrus Nitram, better and more commonly known as the Summoner and you are still seated with perfect militarist posture upon your chosen seating close to the off-world transport area, switching between watching the city as trolls, carapacians and trolls alike walk rush past you going about their days. It's nice, sitting back and people watching. 

... The other thing that you're switching between people watching and is looking over the map you were given. It's... really not that good. Not really no. But hopefully you'll... figure out what to do now. Mainly how to get where you need to go... whatever counts as law enforcement in this place (yes you know the building's called a precinct }:| shush)

Rufioh Last Thursday at 9:49 AM

You are Rufioh Nitram, and you’re currently walking to the precinct after getting your mandatory coffe, as you normally do, when you see an unmistakable set of horns attached to a troll on the bench. 

Your horns. 

You’re so shocked that you nearly let go of your coffee cup, but you don’t. That would be a disaster. But you take a deep breath and shake your head out to clear it. And you... walk right on up to him.

Summoner Last Thursday at 10:01 AM

Between one switch in your activity and the next you've got a troll seemingly approaching you, which has you tensing momentarily before visual cues and clues adding information to the troll before you. 

Adult moult, but much younger than you are. Bronze-blood from his eye colour, safer than being approached by random Highbloods on the street. And... oh well look at those, horns like yours but smaller, also with a bit of a healthier shine than yours because you... haven't exactly taken all the care you needed for them. Shame on you }:( 

You straightened yourself up as he approaches you, finishing looking him over you cock your head at him. "You uh... you need something?"

Rufioh Last Thursday at 10:15 AM

You take a deep breath as you approach the older troll, shutting your eyes. Wow, how are you supposed to react to possibly- probably, definitely- meeting your ancestor? A troll you’ve looked up to your whole life? 

You offer a smile and motion toward the map in his hands. “I figured... you might want some help findin’ wherever you’re lookin’ for... those maps are real awful.”

Summoner Last Thursday at 10:21 AM

You blink and then, "yeah, they're uh... pretty d*rn awful you know? Don't know how they uh, how they expect anyone to find anything around here." You fold the map in your hands, it's a useless piece of paper, an insult to topography everywhere, and then you offer your hand out to him as only's polite. 

"They call me Summoner, nice to uh, nice to meet you." Now don't make things awkward Petrus you've got this pretty good so far - "You've uh, you've got my horns huh? Nitram?" ... }>:( really Petrus?

Rufioh Last Thursday at 10:32 AM

You chuckle and give a nod. “Yeah... they certainly are... I think that’s probably why the police force tries to at least point folks on their way...” You switch the hand that’s holding your coffee and shake his. 

“Nice to meet you as well...” But then he says that and you can’t help but laugh a little. “Yeah... Detective Rufioh Nitram.”

Summoner Last Thursday at 10:38 AM

Oh well that's fortunate, meeting a police force...er? police forcer? police force member? The second one sounds less stupid, you're using that one now. You grin at the younger troll, a bit giddy with the fact that oh wow this is one of yours? That's... that's really... yeah. 

"Rufioh's a good name," you tell him, shaking his hand in a strong and firm grip. "This is uh," don't say anything about fate, you don't want to even thing about clown things right now. "A really good coincidence? Cause I'm uh, I'm trying to make my way to the precinct, try to help out and all that uh, jazz? All that jazz, yeah." 

But oh wow, oh wow this is one of yours oh wow, oh geez, oh wow... wonder if he has to deal with the whole... wing thing as well?

Rufioh Last Thursday at 11:04 AM

You’re really good at hiding how fr•ggen excited you are to meet your ancestor. Thank goodness your wings are beneath your coat, they might’ve been fluttering at this point. This was so cool. 

“Thank you...” You smile and make sure you have your own strong, firm grip. You’ve got to make a great first impression after all! “Seems like a great coincidence to me... since I’m headin’ into work now. But I’m sure we’ll all be happy to have you.” 

Are... are you technically one of your ancestor’s senior officers? That’s great.

Summoner Last Thursday at 11:19 AM

“Great.” You’re still grinning, still on this side of giddy, your descendant, your descendant, oh geez, oh WOW. “Can’t wait to uh, get into things.” You really can’t, you wanna get into things, get your hands dirty and steeped back into work. 

Also helping people, it’s been so long since you’ve felt like you were actually helping people, god you are so ready. 

You pick up your luggage, including the case holding your lance and stand up and oh you’re only so very slightly taller than him oh wow, oh wow your descendant

Rufioh Last Thursday at 11:30 AM

You drop his hand and take a drink from your cup to hide the giddiness that creeps it’s way into your own grin. On the inside, your 6-sweep-old self is bouncing up and down, barely not taking off into the air. But you’re cool. This is fine. You’re calm. “I’m sure you’ll get somethin’ to do pretty quick.” 

You watch as he gathers his luggage up, eyes landing on the case for his lance. Oh wow, oh wow. That’s the lance! No, calm, you can geek out later. “You’ll... probably want to use a room at the police dorms... unless you’ve already got your own place. Someone... else will have to help you with that.”

Summoner Last Thursday at 11:36 AM

“Yeah uh, probably will.” You are not always the best forward thinker, enough to be able to work and lead an army into battle yeah, but those big complex, expanded plans have never actually been your ah, been your strong point. 

“Besides, staying close to uh, close to base sounds pretty good. For the uh, the moment at least, until I learn the place better.” You can worry about problems as you run into them, as you tend to do. 

“Ready when you are.” You are so ready to get moving and grooving.

Rufioh Last Thursday at 11:47 AM

You nod, and run a hand through your hair, grinning at him and flicking one of your ears. You glance over his luggage, and figure you may as well offer a hand. “You... want me to take any of that?” 

“That is... a very sound idea... probably should’ve done the same when I first moved here... dorms weren’t quite up and runnin’ then though...” You shrug. Even if they had been, you were even more bullheaded and independent when you first moved to Derse than you were now. 

“Then lets get goin’.”

Summoner Last Thursday at 11:53 AM

“Yeah actually uh, bit of help’d be nice.” You probably don’t need it but hey, hey, yes. There’s not much in the way of thinking before you offer the case of your lance to Rufioh to take, if he wants to. 

“You’ve been here a while then?” It sounds like it, probably for the best too. Alternia, not the best place even after everything you and others have done to try to catch that. Derse was probably much safer for the younger bronze, younger bronze with your clan sign, and name. Oh wow.

Rufioh Last Thursday at 12:03 PM

You can’t stop your ears from perking up, or the slightest movement of a flutter from your wings under your coat. You get to carry his lance??? H•ck yes you will absolutely take that and carry it for him, feeling like a kid in a candy shop. 

“Moved over around my twelfth hatchday... so definitely.” And it was definitely for the best with how stupid you were back then. It’s a surprise you’re alive really. But so worth it.

Summoner Last Thursday at 12:09 PM

“Oh really?” That’s pretty young, though you don’t have a reference for how long ago that was. “How old are you now?” 

You walk abreast of him as he guides you towards the precinct, eyes sweeping over the buildings and streets you pass to help learn your way.

Rufioh Last Thursday at 12:17 PM

“Just turned 24 sweeps last month.” You shrug a bit. You’ve had equal time on both planets, so you can say that you enjoy Derse better. And, anyway, you wouldn’t have met your darlin if you hadn’t moved. 

You make an attempt at pointing out various shops and restaurants along the way, so you know he won’t starve by getting lost. Besides, he’s gotta learn it somehow.

Summoner Last Thursday at 12:28 PM

“Half your lifetime then.” Which sounds like a pretty good medium, though you’re definitely of the mind that the less one has to experience everything regarding Alternia the better. Or at least, everything wrong with it, which is most of it, some things are getting better, others not so much, but hey. Life. 

You definitely pay attention to the places he points out for you, marking them down in the slowly forming map in your head. Are you going to get lost at least once? Most likely yes, it’ll be fine that’s where the wings’ll come in handy. 

“Is there uh, anywhere with some greenery? Park or uh, or anything similar?” Please say there’s somewhere with grass and/or trees, even if it’s a dying tree you’ll take it.

Rufioh Last Thursday at 12:38 PM

“Yeah... I can say with complete... certainty... that Derse is a lot nicer than Alternia...” You glance over at him with a grin. “Probably would be down a leg or both... if I’d stayed.” Will that probably worry him? You expect so, but it’s fine. Because you still have both legs, and all your other appendages. 

Hopefully you’re doing a good enough job at showing him around as you lead him to the precinct. This... is not something you’ve done often. The last time you did, you’re pretty sure you were flirting the entire time. 

“Yeah... there’s a park. I can... show you more of the city another time... if you’d like.” You hum faintly. “Oh! And we have a garden... on the roof of the precinct I believe... might still be working on that actually...”

Summoner Last Thursday at 12:49 PM

“Yeah that uh, that sounds like Alternia.” The homeland, with all its... yes. “I’m uh, more than aware of the um, the kindnesses of the planet.” You were almost culled so many times because of your mutation it was not even funny at all. 

“Yeah, yeah I’d like to uh, see it later.” GREEN PLACES WERE SO GOOD. “Gardens are nice, I can uh, can into helping on that.” Let you at the garden you will bleed in it, but not really because that’s kinda weird and you’re trying not to bleed too much anymore.

Rufioh Last Thursday at 1:25 PM

“Yeah... almost lost my leg the half sweep before I came here...” You can’t help but chuckle. You had a lot of run-ins with... a lot of people over your mutation, but that’s the good thing about it. They can’t get you in the sky. “Yeah... only good thing is... it’s hard to get you when you’re flyin’...” 

“Next time we’re both free... I’ll give you a proper tour... unless someone beats me to it.” You don’t have the greatest green thumb, but you do definitely appreciate the green. “I’m sure it’ll benefit from the help.”

Summoner Last Thursday at 1:28 PM

“Don’t uh, don’t I know that.” Wings, a great big bother but oh boy do you love them and the freedom they bring you. 

“I’d appreciate that,” planning on spending time with your descendant. You’ll fall quiet for a spell until the two of you reach the precinct.

Rufioh Last Thursday at 1:39 PM

You smile at him and nod. Yeah, they were your favourite thing that your ancestor had passed on. You adore your wings, and flight. You couldn’t imagine your life without them. 

Another nod is your reply to that. Honestly, you really hope that no one will steal your chance to show your ancestor around your home. It was so cool to think that you get to work with him, and so nice that you seemed to have a much easier time speaking to each other than Horuss and Darkleer. And those things are what you quietly think about as you walk, arriving shortly at your destination.

Summoner Last Thursday at 1:45 PM

You definitely whistle at the sight of the precinct, now that, that is a neat building. A neat building where justice that doesn’t always lead to execution happens, its pretty sweet. And you’re gonna work there which is yeah, it’s pretty fr**king sweet if you do say so yourself. 

“This is where you uh, where you work huh? It’s nice.”

Rufioh Last Thursday at 10:17 PM

Your ear flicks toward him when he whistles, grinning to yourself as you lead him up to the door. Yeah, it is pretty sweet to work at the precinct, pretty d•ng sweet indeed. 

“It is... now how about we get you inside... to get started and meet everyone?”

Summoner Last Thursday at 10:25 PM

"Think that uh, that sounds like a pretty neato plan ya got." It really is, meet and greets are great and you're all kinds of ready to be stepping into that. You shift your grip on your luggage just the slightest bit, older joints telling you that keeping the same grip is not something you should keep doing.

Rufioh Last Thursday at 10:39 PM

You open the door for him and hold it so that he can go in ahead of you. You’ll find a place he can put his luggage for now... it’ll probably be your office. That just seems easiest. You do wonder, however, if anyone else is going to be as excited as you were to meet him.

Summoner Last Thursday at 10:48 PM

Stepping into the building and yeah, yeah it's pretty nice, pretty nice indeed wow look at this place. There's not blood coating most available surface, it's so cool. 

You take a few steps inside ears and eyes sweeping over the room slowly taking everything in, now this... this is what a cohesive and safe work environment looks like, one where individuals didn't have to worry about being culled over not reaching a quota or something stupid like that. It was... amazing.

Rufioh Last Thursday at 11:04 PM

You follow after him with a grin, ears perking up. You can’t look too excited when you walk in, or you might never live it down. Depending who’s in already. 

You smile and motion to your office. “You can put your stuff in my office for now if you want... so it’s out of the way.” You can’t help but to chuckle as you watch him take it all in.

Summoner Last Thursday at 11:10 PM

"Yeah, that's uh, probably for the best." You probably shouldn't just carry your lance around a law enforcement building, it's probably not the smartest thing to do? So yeah, yeah tucking that away is a priority, also setting down your own case and giving your fingers a rest? A good decision. 

You catch his chuckle and focus back on him, young, free of Alternia and the fate that would have been his, was almost your more time than you care to count, and you smile at him, smaller and more subdued than your previous grinning but still warm all the same. "It's just so uh, different. In a good way." You're just... so very pleased you got the chance to live long enough to experience all of this.

June 14, 2019

Rufioh Yesterday at 12:39 AM

“Wouldn’t want you to lose anything... or hurt yourself.” Yes, you were teasing your ancestor. Look how mean you are. 

You smile at him, a warm, genuine expression rather than the childishly excited grin that had been on your face since you’d confirmed that he was your ancestor. “It’ll be really nice to have you here...”

Summoner Yesterday at 8:00 AM

You roll your eyes but accept the teasing, it's good natured enough you're cool with it. 

"Hope so," it'll be nice to feel like your working towards a common goal again, you haven't since... for a long time. "I'm sure it'll uh, it'll be nice here." You like people, you tend to get along with others, you'll probably be alright. 

"Let's uh, set this stuff down and you can give me the tour yeah?"

Rufioh Yesterday at 8:16 AM

You grin and lead him into your office, setting the case down in one corner so it’s out of the way.

Once you’ve set it down you run your hand through your hair, grinning. “I really hope so... it’ll be so cool workin’ with you.” You flick your ear lightly and glance out your door, humming faintly.

Summoner Yesterday at 8:52 AM

You set your own case new to where he lays your lance's case, letting yourself take a moment to reassure that yeah, it's the same one as you gave him you idiot, it's not like he had chances to switch 'em out or something silly like that. 

Then you stand again, back to your full height, the movement easy and painless. Your joints only really give you issues in your hands these days, first signs that your blood-allotted life-spans starting to catch up with you. 

"You say that now," you grin. "All you know I could be uh, awful with the more um, official side of things."

Rufioh Yesterday at 9:13 AM

You don’t pay any attention to him checking the case, let the old man do his thing. You really don’t mind what he does. You’re busy checking for Horuss who all’s here. Pay no mind to the very soft, gay sounds Summoner. 

You turn back to him after your short gay time, and smile. You’re glad that he doesn’t seem to have joint problems at... whatever his age is. Because you worry about these things; probably not for the most appropriate reasons. 

“Like I’m not?” You grin in return, chuckling faintly.

Summoner  Yesterday at 9:19 AM

"Least I won't be uh, ruining your good name then." You return. 

You move back over to him and turn your eyes towards the floor outside, looking over the gathered mix of individuals out there once more. "So uh," you start. "Who's got your eye out there?" Yes you'd caught the noises and yeah you were a little curious about who they were directed at, though you wouldn't push of course.

Rufioh Yesterday at 9:32 AM

“Nah... I might’ve ruined yours with... many late nights stayin’ here.” 

“Aha... you heard that?” You blush a little and rub the back of your neck, your wings giving a little flutter. You got called out. “Horuss Zahhak... he’s the big indigo right over there,” You gesture to him with a smile. “Don’t tell him I was making those sounds... he’s not into pda...”

Summoner Yesterday at 9:40 AM

You snort there because yup, he sure did. Then you go quiet as you process what he's said, Zahhak huh? That's uh, not that common a clan-sign, not for indigos at least. "Haven't heard that name in a while," you muse, looking over the troll in question, similarities sure are there, physical stature, dark lenses and those horns... 

That's definitely a Zahhak if you've ever seen one. 

"Don't worry, I won't uh, won't rat you out." You're not that mean.

Rufioh Yesterday at 10:14 AM

You smile a little in embarrassment, wings still faintly fluttering. But that’s probably because you’re still looking at Horuss, how very gay of you. “Oh? You know Darkleer then?” 

“Thanks... kinda don’t want to fluster him... this early in the day...” You grin a little. “That’ll have to... wait until later...”

Summoner Yesterday at 10:20 AM

You can't really respond to anything he's said because your pan is just stuttering right now, stuck and trapped on the first thrown-away bit. 

"How do you know Darkleer?"

Rufioh Yesterday at 10:25 AM

You look toward him and flick an ear up in confusion. Should... should you not have said that? 

“He... works here...”

Skylla Yesterday at 10:26 AM

"Hey Partner got a minute?? Reckon I need---!" 

Hindsight be twenty-twenty when ya chose t' walk in his office at that exact moment. T' be fair, you were just with yer hounds, makin' sure they were all rested after another night o' training. Still, there's loads of paperwork and ya need some signatures. That is, until ya notice the other bronze in the room. With them looong horns. 

"Uhh.... this be a bad time..??"

Summoner Yesterday at 10:31 AM

You... don't know what to do with that piece of information right now. You're... ... 

You're something right now. 

But distraction comes in the form of someone coming into the office and yes, you will take that you are going to gladly take that, you're not really ready to think about... the other thing just now. Maybe later. 

Anyways! You turn your attention to the new face, oh another bronze? Neato! Your features shift from the blankness of a second prior to a warmer, welcoming one. "Not at all. Especially not if uh, you need to get something important done." There is never a bad time to cut in on sudden, dramatic revelations.

Rufioh Yesterday at 10:42 AM

You... feel like you’ve said something very stupid without even knowing it. Well cr•d... you hope you didn’t mess things up with your ancestor already. He just got here! 

And then Skylla walks in! Thank goodness for your favourite cowgirl! She just saved you from something very, very awkward probably. 

You smile at her and shake your head. “Nah doll... you’re fine. You need somethin’?” You perk up an ear, ready to scoot over to your desk to do work related things if she needs it.

Skylla Yesterday at 10:47 AM

"Ah... reckon I just need some signatures for them paperworks. For that last case we did." You explain slowly, glancing between yer friend and his very tall ohmygog that's his ancestor OHMYGOG IT'S THESUMMONERWHATINTARNATIONS---!! 

"Am I seein' right right now??" You can't help but blurt, your cheeks colouring in surprise. "You be his Ancestor??" Themotherfuckin'Summoner!?!

Summoner Yesterday at 10:55 AM

"The uh, horns give it away a bit don't they?" You chuckle, lifting your hand to rub at the back of your neck. "But uh, yeah," you offer your hand out to her. "They call me Summoner." Introducing with your actual name? Haven't done that in years and you aren't starting anytime soon, only a few trolls alive that know that one and maybe one more onto that now. 

Then you really hear her answer to Rufioh and your whole demeanour brightens. "You work here too?" TWO bronze bloods in law enforcement positions? That's so great!

Rufioh Yesterday at 11:05 AM

You nod and go over to your desk to find a pen to get those signatures for her. “I can get that for you right now doll...” Time for your horrible excuse for a signature, you should work on making that more legible. Yeah... that won’t happen. 

And then you look up at her and grin with all the childlike excitement you’d been holding in... after making sure he wasn’t looking. Skylla gets to see, and bond with you over, your excitement for your ancestor being the fr•ggen Summoner.

Skylla Yesterday at 11:13 AM

OHMYGOG HE IS THE SUMMONER!!! "Bless myy pumper yer the Summoner!" You give him a firm handshake, as one does, but there's also a wide smile 'cross yer face as yer eyes sparkle in delight. "Aye I do Sir! Skylla Koriga, at yer service Sir!!" 

You are acting like a wee lil' wriggler right now but it's the motherfuckin' Summoner you can't EVEN.

Summoner Yesterday at 11:20 AM

"Lovely to meet you Skylla!" Look at these kids doing law enforcement and proving that they could do it just as well as anyone else! Take that highbloods. 

"What do uh, what do you do for work?" You want to hear all about it, please.

Rufioh Yesterday at 11:27 AM

You grin and start signing the papers. You’ll let them chat, and actually do some work that needs to be done. 

But you’re sure you’ll be having a lot of excited conversations with her after this.

Skylla Yesterday at 11:31 AM

There will be some much excited conversations with Rufioh later!!! 

"I work the K9 unit!" Ya answer honestly, just bouncing a little on the balls of yer feet. "I'm real good with them woofbeasts! Also other cases, but myy priority is them." Wait what is he doing here---OHMYGOG WAIT. "Are yya also in law enforcement Sir??"

Summoner Yesterday at 11:44 AM

"Far as I'm uh, I'm trying to yeah." You've planned it, sent in an expression of interest before uprooting yourself from... what little you'd had left back on Alternia after everything. "Try to do some good where I can um, help where I can." 

"But woofbeasts? How you enjoying that? They all good for ya? Aside from being woofbeasts and good for everyone because woofbeasts are all good." Tangent? Yes. Woofbeasts deserve tangents.

Rufioh Yesterday at 11:50 AM

You can’t help but to smile as you listen to them talk, ears perking up a little. You’re just liking your ancestor more and more by the minute. 

He’s so relatable with this right now. Woofbeast tangents are the best kind.

Skylla Yesterday at 12:13 PM

Yer gonna get t' do lawfolk stuff wit' the SUMMONER good golly miss molly you could cry wit' joy right 'bout now! You hope ya don't look as eager as ya feel; don't wanna be too much of a fangirl, even though ye totally are. 

"I adore woofbeasts! My lusus Lady, she be one too!" You explain. "And my hounds are a good bunch! I trained them up and paired a few o' them wit' a few other lawfolks, but they mostly are mine." Ya got a good bunch! Not too many, but enough t' help out 'round the city. Such good woofbeasts ya got!

Summoner Yesterday at 12:18 PM

“That sounds AMAZING.” It really does, wow, you are so happy for Skylla. “Even more so that you’re uh, you’re happy with what you’re doing.” Being happy with and able to choose your career is such a great thing you’re so glad they got. “You’ll have to show me them sometime.” Blatant invitation, please let the old bull meet your dogs.

Rufioh Yesterday at 12:20 PM

“I still need to meet them too...” Hint hint. Let the bulls cry over the woofbeasts Skylla. You smile at her and flick your ear. You love woofbeasts so much.

Skylla Yesterday at 12:22 PM

You laugh and nod to both them bulls before ya. "O' course! I'd love t' show them off to ya! They'd probably would really like ya both anyways." They're used t' you and how ya talk wit' them instead of at them. Woofbeasts are smart, especially yours!!!

Summoner Yesterday at 12:25 PM

“Then it’s uh, it’s decided. Gonna hold you to that one,” woofbeasts, woofbeasts, woofbeasts. But first, the rest of the precinct. “After I uh, see the rest of the place.” Save the best thing for last.

Rufioh Yesterday at 12:50 PM

You smile brightly at her reply, internally pumping your fists in the air. You like interacting with the animals, and you’d honestly enjoy working with them. If you could not be tempted to commune with them, but you always are, and always end up migraine riddled. “Woofbeasts and hoofbeasts last... I can introduce you to the hoofbeasts... but they’re really Horuss’s domain nowadays...”

Skylla Yesterday at 1:14 PM

"Oh Horuss' hoofbeasts are great!" You assure him. "They be real chill! Though they do like t' gossip now and then." You don't get hoofbeast gossip but then again you be biased for yer woofbeasts! 

"Oh right, ya gotta get settled in!" You so wanna include yerself on showin' him 'round, but he ain't yer ancestor. Ohbuthe'ssocoolUGH "What have ya seen thus far??"

Summoner Yesterday at 1:25 PM

“You’ve got hoofbeasts too?” You are loving this right now, but uh, best to avoid Zahhak territory while you can. For the uh, the moment at least. 

“I uh, know where the entrance is,” your smile turns sheepish because you’ve really just gotten here, you’ve seen very little yet.

Rufioh Yesterday at 11:53 PM

You smile happily and nod your agreement with Skylla’s words. Yeah... your darlin does a d•rn good job with the hoofbeasts. But yeah... yeah they do like to gossip. 

“Hadn’t gotten the chance to show him around yet...” You smile once again and flick your ear. “You... wanna join us?”

June 15, 2019

Skylla Today at 11:16 AM

OHMYGOGYOUREALLYWANNAJOIN--- "Aw I hate t' intrude on yer time together! But uh, iffin ya really want, I wouldn't mind?" 

Ya really gotta stop being so eager!! But you can't help it hhhhh---

Summoner Today at 11:19 AM

"I don't mind extra company," you also definitely don't mind the opportunity to chat at her about her experiences leading up to this point, send reports back and all about how well and FUNCTIONAL systems that aren't Alternia are and about the multi-bloodcasteial workforce.

Rufioh Today at 12:54 PM

“Well... I don’t want to bore the old man... on the first day I know him...” You chuckle and shake your head. It’s also so they can keep each other’s excitement in check. “Besides... it’ll be fun.”

Skylla Today at 1:31 PM

WELL THEN! "Then it'll be my pleasure t' help show y'all round~!" AHYOUGETTOBEROUNDAVENRABLELEGEND!!!! "Shall we then?"

Summoner Today at 1:33 PM

“Neato.” H*ck yeah this is going all kinds of good right now. “Lead the uh, the way!”

Rufioh Today at 1:35 PM

You grin and run a hand through your hair to muss it up a bit, giving them both a nod. “Let’s get goin’ then!”

Skylla Today at 1:45 PM

Ya lead them outta the office before lettin' Rufioh take the lead; is his t' lead after all. Yer just hopin' yer still lookin' calm and not extremely excited, cause ya totally are.

[caricatlc]

BASICS –

full name: alice marisol romero

nicknames: none

birthdate: 4 august 2025

birthplace: plattsburgh, new york

ethnicity: columbian, cuban, and caucasian

nationality: american, english 

languages: english, spanish

accent: slight bronx accent

APPEARANCE –

hair color & style: dark brown, usually kept waist-length and wavy, with green tips after breaking up with nigel

eye color: dark brown

height: five feet five inches

build: thicc. muscular but also hyper-feminine

skin tone: olive skin that rarely burns and tans well

personal style: 

grunge lite. alice prefers to be comfortable above all else, so soft fabrics and denim are her go-tos. when she dates nigel she adopts a more instagram ho aesthetic to match his, but her heart isn’t really into bodycon dresses if she cant accessorize them with doc martens and a flannel. 

distinguishing marks: expressive face

tattoos: ‘esforzada’ on back of neck ( x ), ivy on left wrist ( x )

piercings: two piercings in both lobes, helix piercing in left ear, daith and industrial in right ear, belly button

FAMILY –

parents: noah romero and lia villace

parental relationships:

while seth is more gregarious, alice is a quiet reflection of noah. as a result, their relationship deals largely in companionable silence. he’s not one to gossip with but always good help for moral quandaries. he’s also more likely to catch alice in the middle of doing something wrong,  but mostly just offers gentle advice and hopes for the best. alice really hates to disappoint her father.

lia is a fun parent. alice almost always has fun with her mother, even if the interaction ends on a sour note. she can run a lot of day-to-day thoughts past her mother-- lia is kept mostly in the loop about the goings on in her daughter’s life. however, some compulsion leads alice to remain silent about her love life as it seems like it would be much easier to let her mother believe that everything is going fine.

siblings: rex, seth, and michael romero

sibling relationships:

when rex came into their lives, alice understood the difference between her twin and an actually older brother immediately. she enjoys spending time with rex, and ever since she was young she was always content to tag along with her ‘fun’ brother.

what can alice say about seth? they know each other better than anyone else, and speak almost exclusively in snark. but opposites don’t always attract, and their very big, drastically different personalities clash and erupt frequently. when times are good, though, they’re each other’s biggest hype-man as they snap another selfie.

michael is a strange one, but alice will always hold a tenderness for her little brother. she’s helped house dozens of wild animals and filmed a vine or two in her time. while she’s not keen on him bringing insects into the house it’d certainly be difficult for her to turn him down for anything.

birth order: only girl, younger twin, middle child

status in family:

alice likes to think that she’s practically invisible in her family. she’s not as rebellious as rex, or as obnoxious as seth, or as rambunctious as michael. but alice is a quiet ride-along for almost everyone in her family-- she really holds good relationships with everyone in the house. for the most part, it really seems like her parents and brother just want the best for her.

distant relations: bash romero, second cousin

pets:

wells and bilbo, the dogs, are always happy to see her, but she’s also conditioned them to remain quiet if they want a treat from her nightly comings and goings. felix, the cat, is a good companion on a gloomy day, with alice finding comfort in his rumbling, sleepy purr.

FRIENDS –

close friends:

alice has known ellie albright since birth. or even before that since ellie’s parents attended the same birthing classes as alice’s. the albrights returned to italy for a few years shortly after ellie’s birth but the two girls were paired up again before they could even tie their shoes. they’ve been best friends ever since. ellie brightens alice up to draw out a softer side than alice rarely presents alone. alice makes ellie more assertive, unafraid to stand up for her friend if she thinks ellie needs help.

it took rumi thatcher a bit longer to enter the picture, but she’s not going anywhere. rumi’s dead-pan sense of humor endeared her to alice immediately after she moved into town in the forth grade. ever the calm logician, rumi finds great amusement in tempering alice’s hot temper. they share a mutual love of nature that often leads them to dreamy afternoons surrounded by beautiful woods.

technically considered a cousin through brotherly love, dallas hong is probably the only boy that alice can completely get along with. he’s certainly the easiest to get along with out of her brother’s crew, with his laidback guy’s guy charm. while she’s annoyed at how tall he’s gotten as they age, she knows that his easygoing personality won’t ever change on her.

tensions:

adam hudson has been seth’s best friend for years, but his and alice’s interactions have always been tentative. he has a way of confronting her with the truth when she’s least likely to accept it. their relationship is hard to define, atleast on alice’s part.

alice and dapne newcomb used to be friends, much to the chagrin of ellie and rumi. the brash blonde wasn’t  always a good influence, and they tended to clash over their many differences in opinion. it wasn’t until alice supposedly ‘stole’ nigel chadwick-wembley from daphne that their relationship fractured completely. daphne is the root cause for much of the suffering alice experienced in high school, so she’s not at all keen to rekindle the friendship.

if there’s one person that alice could do without ever seeing again, it’s nigel chadwick-wembley. he was her first real boyfriend, but the supposed fairytale beginning led to nothing but trouble, even if alice did her best to keep anyone from finding out about the more controlling aspects of his personality. they were on-again off-again for so long, but alice finally broke it off for good and never looked back.

there’s nothing wrong with ruby robbins-- in fact, she’s perfect. alice has always felt like she was competing with the other girl, even if that’s hardly true. they share similar interests but ruby’s easygoing demeanor makes everything seem so effortless in a way that alice can’t help but envy. she does consider ruby a friend, though, and would do anything for her if she asked.

crushes:

so much of the tension in alice’s relationship with adam hudson stems entirely from their mutual attraction. when they were much younger she was aware of it but content to ignore it, but as they’ve grown older things have changed. alice finds herself at odds with his ill-suited girlfriend and with him over it. ever since she kissed him on christmas, the muddled emotions there have only gotten worse.

the first boy that ever had alice truly starstruck was leo robbins. the definition of a cool, older boy, leo’s appeal quickly passed but she remained impressed by his sense of style and teenage rebellion. in fact, alice was quick to take up his mantle selling weed to a few of their acquaintances when leo decided to move on from the business. 

as a friend:

alice is a friend like batman-- she’ll come if you send out the signal. anytime anywhere, alice will be by your side if you’d let her. she’s fiercely protective of them and will want to help them achieve their goals no matter how trivial. she can be too blunt at times, which tends to rub people the wrong way if it’s not quite what they want or expect to hear. but she’ll have your back until the end, without saying ‘i told you so’ to anyone but seth.

PERSONALITY –

positive traits: enterprising, candid, empathetic 

neutral traits: self-sufficient, meticulous, noncommittal

negative traits: volatile, withdrawn, self-involved

astrology sign: leo sun / gemini moon, the confidence man ( x )

mbti: istp-t, the virtuoso

theme songs: i’m not okay (i promise) by my chemical romance / agnes by glass animals

aesthetic:

dyeing your hair in the bathroom, guitar calluses, jumping off the porch roof, lilac bushes, the solitary silence of 4 am, soil between your fingers and toes

LIFESTYLE –

partying habits:

a stoner to the max, alice deals quite literally in weed, inheriting a small client base from leo robbins. when she first started dating nigel, alice found she didn’t mind the party scene. there’s always fun to be had, and she can handle her alcohol. she’s also not necessarily opposed to experimenting at parties-- if there’s a good time to be had, alice will try a sporadic drug or two without feeling particularly inclined to do these things later on her own.  

smoking habits:

directly inherited from her father, alice took up smoking as an act of teenage rebellion and favors menthol cigarettes. she finds it calming to smoke late at night when no one is around, or whenever she is overwhelmed by the situation at hand. finds it to be a handy tool to escape social situations if things aren’t going well.

eating habits:

growing up in a four-child household has definitely made alice a bit food aggressive. she eats when the opportunity presents itself but doesn’t pig out very often. snacks usually seem like a good idea, and alice is content to bring healthy options when she can. late-night meals are a staple in her diet. salty-sweet combinations are her usual favorite.

excercise habits:

alice has been practicing aikido and tae kwon do since she was young, and as a result has adopted a fair amount of exercise and weight training into her daily routine. mostly she just works to maintain equilibrium and not lose any muscle mass or physical ability, but if she’s feeling particularly stressed or upset she’ll throw herself into her workouts.

work ethic:

it’s alice’s belief that she can work hard and play hard, so long as she meets the deadlines set out for her. she’s got decent time management skills and works best with a loose schedule where she can make the decisions about what to do, when. when it comes to school work, alice is content to maintain her good grades in order to fly under the radar with her parents. 

sleeping habits:

when alice feels tired she can fall asleep anywhere, but her penchant for the peace of nighttime usually finds her awake well into the early mornings. she is a deep sleeper, but an agreeable one. sharing a bed with her is not a bad experience as she’ll typically move wherever she is prodded without much fuss. she usually prefers to sleep with a loose comforter and top sheet and will cocoon inside. waking up outside of her typical routine can be a challenge, but once alice wakes up she is awake for good.

ideal living space:

alice’s bedroom at home is well-lit and cozy, with an abundance of houseplants in any available spot of sunlight. her walls are filled with things she likes looking at: posters of her favorite bands, watercolor prints she and ellie made, and endless photos of herself and her friends. she usually takes time once a week to clean up, as she has a tendency to drop clothes or books wherever they lay as she moves onto something else.

quirks:

despite being a fan of all things spooky, jump scares always get her good. she’s usually the middle person in the haunted house group, and subsequently is always getting picked on. she will let you borrow anything she owns, but it’s of utmost importance that you ask first.

INTERESTS –

hobbies:

alice has been playing guitar and practicing martial arts since she was very small. her love for plants wasn’t fostered until later in life, but she prides herself on rehabilitating various wilted houseplants she happens upon. she loves a good smoke session and will make a whole event out of some rolling papers and a gram of fresh weed. she’s usually a pretty willing participant in any photoshoots that ellie cooks up.

best school subject:

science has always been a passion of alice’s. she’s a stem student through and through, excelling in maths and sciences from a very young age. through high school she took college level chemistry and biology courses.

worst school subject:

history always presented its challenges, but as alice grew older and her inability to learn much hands on coupled with the fact that most schooling was a little on the white supremacist side of the situation, alice tended to skip these classes as much as possible or spend as long as she could backtalking a teacher just trying to stick to curriculum. 

opinion of education:

alice doesn’t mind school itself-- college classes are perfectly designed to give alice all the free space she needed in a high school curriculum. but her not-so-stellar experience with the allegedly popular social scene made her more than ready to finally be free of high school.

career aspirations / achievements:

a perfect overlap of her loves of science and nature, alice dreams of becoming a bioengineer. she’s well on her way to it, quickly showing aptitude for higher-level stem courses from an early age.

favorite things:

her guitar, family breakfasts, american beauty, ellie & rumi, pop punk music, hand-rolled joints, ghost adventures,  her freshly-made bed, chocolate covered pretzels, restarting the bell jar,  when plants grow new leaves, her led zeppelin shirt ( x ), god of high school

boredom cure:

driving then walking, or just walking, as far as you can in silence, discovering a beautiful spot to watch the sun set, or rise, depending on when the urge strikes.

[poweredbycoffeeandwine]

All I See Are Stars

Hello Lovelies!!! I wrote this based on some in game dialogue. I wasn’t irrationally jealous....trust me. It was all Camille. ;-) So here are these dorks, the same two from my Kissing Day Fics (here) and (here), but pre-relationship because that’s my jam. Hope you enjoy this little bit of silliness. 

Camille Ryder x Liam Kosta - Mass Effect Andromeda - Pre-Relationship

"I've heard about HUS-T1."

"Good things I hope?"

"Impossible things. And about "goddamn Hammond."

"He made up for everything twice over."

"He'd have to. So what made you join? I bet you were very good at responding."

Camille couldn't help how hard her eyes rolled; her surprise that they hadn't detached was genuine. At least she managed to hold back a loud and unladylike snort. She seriously didn't need everyone in Nexus Security thinking she'd lost her mind. Standing at the console reviewing strike team missions was absolutely the reason she was here. It had nothing to do with the fake-blonde standing scant inches away from Kosta,laughing at his jokes, and reaching out to touch his forearm or bicep. She certainly hadn't been glancing over her shoulder checking to see the distance between them shrink. Camille was positive Kosta hadn't budged and Security Guard Barbie made all of the advances. Not that that should make any difference.

"Ugh. Get a grip," she mumbled to herself. She shook her head attempting to fight the unpleasant turn her thoughts had taken. Sleep, that was the problem; she needed to get more than a handful of hours in between missions. Obviously that is why she had turned into a shrew, hating a woman she knew nothing about. Normally levelheaded, she couldn't pin down why the conversation behind her was so distracting. She shouldn’t begrudge Kosta searching for companionship on the station. Goodness knows they were always so busy once they departed. Everyone on the team had ways of blowing steam. Gil had poker, Vetra worked her contacts to purchase everything she thought might come in handy, Peebee had her weird alien tech, maybe Kosta just needed a friend. An attractive woman friend, willing to listen to his every word with baited breath.

Camille had hoped she would be able to catch him and convince him to grab something to eat. Maybe even spend some time together not saving the galaxy. Just be regular people. However, seeing him with another woman had given her pause. She wasn’t about to interrupt if he was hoping to ask the Nexus employee out. They were both in security, and obviously had a lot in common. She was just a researcher, a self proclaimed nerd without exciting tales to tell. Ryder stared at the screen, planning the load-out and mission parameters for the teams Kandros had permitted her to use in the fight against the Kett. Nothing made sense. What's worse was that deep down she knew that she could do this from the comfort of the Tempest in her comfy clothes that nobody judged her for wearing.

Another high nasal laugh followed by Kosta's own rich, deep one, had her shaking. Maybe she could slink off without him noticing she was there. Of course, instead of simply leaving as quietly as she came, she chanced a glance at him only to make eye contact. He gave her a warm smile and waved her over. She had no choice now, it was wave and leave, possibly leaving him to feel slighted, or join the pair for a brief conversation and try not to make a fool of herself. Somewhere in the back of her mind that rational part of her was screaming for her to stop. For some reason she just couldn’t seem to heed the sound advice. "Hey Liam, we need to go. You ready to head out?" The look on his face spoke volumes. Did her voice always sound so breathless? Did she ever call him by his first name aloud?

Lips slightly parted, Liam continued to stare at her. "Yeah, yeah. Course Pathfinder. Following you?"

"Um..yes, well if you have things to wrap up," her voice wavered a bit, "you don't have to come with me. We'll ship out in an hour. So... right." She stalked away not quite understanding what just happened. There was no reason at all for that reaction. Her twin, Scott, was forever teasing her for being awkward, and right now was the first time his medically induced coma was a blessing. She would have never heard the end of it if he had been around to witness that mess.

She could hear Kosta's loud footfall catching up to her. He could never claim stealth; something she teased him about endlessly. Camille struggled not to pick up the pace. “Just be normal, just be normal,” she chanted under her breath. They boarded the tram together. Was it always this small?  "Pathfinder. Ryder. Sorry, my mistake," Liam shrugged. "Could've sworn you said we had the day. Just checking in. Building more bridges. All of that."

Ryder's face flushed, she felt like squirming. She had given the crew the day. Tann had called her to his office, and she had wanted to check in with Kesh, but she saw Liam from a distance and her feet had taken her to him. The rest of her team wouldn't be expected until the next morning. Clearing her throat she replied, "I got an urgent message from Bradley on Padromos. We're needed to investigate a situation." As the doors to the docking station slid open slowly, she turned sideways to squeeze out.

Not paying attention to her impatience he nearly shouted, "What! We better get a move on. Need me to round up the crew?" Camille winced. She really should have supplied a different excuse. People were going to take a situation on Eos seriously. The outpost was new, and fragile at the moment. Nobody expected the scientists she stationed there to last long considering the first two failed attempts to settle the planet. Not to mention Suvi and Kallo never received a similar message and would be able to call her bluff the second they crossed the threshold.

"No!" She squeaked. "I've already taken care of it. Didn't send you a message since you were nearby. Figured I would grab you and explain along the way." That sounded valid, right?

"Grab me, huh?" Liam smirked. "If you wanted me alone, you could've asked." He winked at her. Actually winked! She couldn't fight the blush spreading across her cheeks. She usually accepted his rapid adjustment from business to fun, but when she was the focus of his sass she became tongue tied. Ryder kept her rapid pace, practically running past those she would normally stop to touch base with. If only she had kept her cool. That woman just upset her. Throwing herself at Kosta like that. What did he have to do to get her to respect his personal space? All of that touching! The fluttering in her stomach stopped her dead in her tracks. Liam slammed into her from behind not expecting the sudden halt in momentum

They sprawled to the floor, limbs tangling as he attempted to swap their bodies positions. The air left her lungs in a hurry, tears in her eyes. "Shit, Cami. Ugh, Ryder. Pathfinder, are you ok?" Kosta lifted her from the floor, one hand on her waist the other swiping at invisible dirt, his eyes scanning for injuries. Camille stared at him, voiceless. The butterflies,the irrational and unjustified annoyance at a woman she didn't know, and the husky octave her voice took when she asked him to leave with her. She hadn't acted this way since she was a teenager with her first crush. She was jealous. Oh, no. Did he know? Did everyone know? Was she that transparent? "Andromeda to Pathfinder. You there? Shit, did I give you a concussion? I'm not explaining this to Lexi, Liam rambled, gripping her carefully around the arm, and pulling her towards the Tempest his other arm encircling around her back. "Don't worry. I've got you. We'll get you looked at proper."

"Yeah, it's ok. Just clumsy. You know. We can't tell Lexi. Then there will have to be and exam, and reports to be filed. Let's just keep this to ourselves," Ryder suggested, trying to ignore the pointed look he gave. Her skin burned where his hands were touching her. Skin to skin contact didn't do that, she just needed to get herself under control. She wasn't an angsty teen, she was technically over 600 years old. Her embarrassment was compounded by the crowd that had collected. Nexus employees hovering around them attempting to assist their only Pathfinder. Others gawking or attempting to hide laughter. If she wasn't trying to be a professional she would definitely facepalm or cry. "Nothing to see here. I'm fine. Thank you for your concern." She waved people off, hoping they would take the hint and get back to work. "Kosta, get your gear ready and make sure the Nomad is prepped. I'll get the rest of the team gathered."

He blinked and after a moment slowly asked, "Thought you said you did that already?" He crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, waiting for a response.

"I, ugh, yeah. I did. I meant...I was...I will wait for them. You know, to get here. Brief them on the development." Camille fought the urge to look down at her feet. Hands clasped behind her back slightly bouncing on her feet.

"Gotcha, no need." Liam smiled and casually tapped her in the arm. "I'll let you get to it." He turned and walked into the Tempest whistling a song as he did so. Ryder rubbed her arm, telling herself she wasn't watching his shapely rear as he departed.

"Seriously, Me. Get it together. Nobody will take the Human Pathfinder seriously if she is swooning." She opened her Omni-tool, and alerted Suvi and Kallo to their situation, then fired off a message to Bradley. What kind of Pathfinder hopes her first settlement is in trouble?

"Pathfinder, I am detecting an elevation of your blood pressure, and would like to ask you a question, if I may," SAM's smooth AI voice broke over her private channel. She jumped, forgetting that he would have been a silent witness to the entire exchange.

"Thank you universe, I needed salt in that particular wound," she muttered. "No, SAM. Not this time. Get back to me when the mortification wears off." Then a terrible thought crossed her mind and she added nervously, "Also, please don't mention this to Liam, or anyone. I just... Is it too much to ask that you just forget this ever happened?" She really wasn't looking forward to explaining to SAM what was amuck with her emotions.

It was certainly nothing she wanted to examine too closely herself. However, now that it was up front-and-center she realized she spent an inordinate amount of time wondering what Liam thought about decisions she made. Hoping it would please him when she helped a civilian in need. How often she found herself seeking him out at night when she couldn't sleep. Her mind full of missing her family, and regrets she could do nothing about. She thought it was because he understood her. He lost more than she had venturing across dark space. He took the risk, knowing his parents would only be alive in his memories, for the sake of adventure. In that moment she felt so foolish, of course she had feelings for Liam. It would be impossible for her to deny developing an attachment to him. How the lilting sound of his voice called to her. How easy it was to smile at the lame jokes he told just to ease tension with the crew.

The night he told her of his family, she was sure they had a moment. Waking up in his arms, safe and protected was something she hadn’t had in a very long time. If she was being honest all of her feelings scared her.  Being around him made her giddy and lightheaded, so much she saw stars. He entered a room, and the imaginary orchestra played cliche love songs while she tried not to stare. She realized that she subconsciously fought to keep him at a distance. But, that woman flirting with Liam forced her to see that she wasn’t ready to close the door on whatever was going on between them. But that side of her brain that steered her clear from trouble had her thinking having a crush on a teammate was a terrible idea. Wasn't it?

[yourhelpfulaffiliate]

What is the Best Way to Start Making Money Online With Affiliate Marketing?

Hello! My name is Kevin but for this website I have dubbed myself Your Helpful Affiliate. I have been researching affiliate marketing for years. On this website I share my tips and tricks for affiliate marketing. I share what has worked for me and what has not. In this post I will be giving you my honest opinion on what I think the best way to start making money online with affiliate marketing is.

The Quick Answer

While this affiliate marketing strategy is work intensive and more complicated than I can explain in a short paragraph, I am going to try my best. Right now I think the best way to start making money online with affiliate marketing is to create a multi media brand in a niche you personally care about and have had experience with. By creating helpful content and answering common questions on many different platforms under the same brand you can create a following as well as a presence in search engine results. You can suggest, review and promote affiliate offers naturally within your content as you talk about products and services you use. This strategy seems to me to be the best out of the bunch. It can have a very low start up cost and every piece of content you create for your brand can work for you far into the future.

Affiliate Marketing Strategy Expectations

I want to let you know up front this strategy can take some time to be successful, but at least you will know what you should be doing. I can not and will not promise or guarantee you will be successful using this strategy but I think it is the best one out there. If you do the work your chances at success will multiply.

The Affiliate Marketing Game Plan

These are the steps required by this affiliate marketing strategy. Learn The Rules For Affiliate Marketing Learn The Most Common Mistakes Pick Your Passion/NicheCreate A HomebaseFind Affiliate Offers Create Helpful Content Create A Resource Page To Suggest Solutions To ProblemsExpand Your Brand To New Platforms

The Rules Of Affiliate Marketing

The FTC Disclosure guidelines – https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/press-releases/ftc-staff-revises-online-advertising-disclosure-guidelines/130312dotcomdisclosures.pdf

The Most Common Affiliate Marketing Mistakes

Below is a short list of the most common affiliate marketing mistakes. Avoiding these will save you a lot of time and trouble. Picking Affiliate Offers Based On Commissions Instead Of Real Personal Experience Spamming Affiliate LinksTrying To Sell To Everyone Instead Of Your Target AudienceSpending Money You Do Not HaveFocusing On Quick Results Instead Of Creating Quality Content If you want to take a deeper dive into common affiliate marketing mistakes check out the blog post link below. https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/10-common-mistakes-new-affiliate-marketers-make/

How To Pick An Affiliate Marketing Niche

First of all, let us talk about what a niche is. A niche in the simplest terms is the category your content is in. For example, my niche for this website is affiliate marketing. This is the topic most of my content focuses on. Picking a niche can be tricky. It seems like a big decision right? Many people get hung up on this step. If you can, push through and just make a decision. As you start to create content you will get a better sense of what a good niche is. At that point you can even start a second brand, for now though let’s look at what is important when you pick your niche. A good niche choice should meet as many of the follow requirements as possible. It should - Be a topic you care about and have experience withHave a group of people interested in itHave products or services that benefit the people interested in itBe a topic you will not mind researching Be a topic you will not mind writing about Hobbies, personal interests and passtimes are good places to start looking for a niche that will work for you.

Creating Your Homebase Blog Website

For this step I suggest creating a blog website because it offers the most benefit in the long run as a home base. Having a website allows you to build a brand presence online. This will be where you direct your audience. Pick A Website Hosting Service Provider

There are many options to choose from when it comes to picking a website host. I will compare my top 2 so you can make up your own mind. Both of these website hosting providers offer a discount to new users. This reduced price can be applied to 1, 2, or 3 years. Once this introduction period is over the price will go up, so I recommend paying for as much as you can up front so save money in the long run. BlueHost BlueHost is my number 2 suggestion for a web host. This hosting service is the one recommended by WordPress.org. It is, from my experience, the most suggested and used website hosting service out there. Below is my affiliate link for BlueHost. This affiliate link pays me commissions at no extra cost to you. https://www.bluehost.com/track/bestsignup/ Sign Up For BlueHost SiteGround This is my number 1 suggestion for a web host. I am a constant user of technical and customer support for lots of my website tools. SiteGround has fast and knowledgeable support that has never failed me. Below is my affiliate link for SiteGround. This affiliate link pays me commissions at no extra cost to you. https://www.siteground.com/index.htm?afcode=396e6bef564936572a09158dc1fa4373 Sign Up For SiteGround After picking a host you will need to install Wordpress onto your website. Your host should offer customer support to help you get this set up correctly. Pick A Theme There are plenty of free themes offered by Wordpress for you to choose from. Find one you like and go with it. This is another step many people get stuck on so if you can push through and make a decision you’ll save yourself quite a bit of time. My personal favorite paid theme is called Acabado. This theme was created for members of Project 24, which I will talk about later. This theme was designed to be simple, fast and easy to set up. Below is my affiliate link for the Acaboado theme. This affiliate link pays me commissions at no extra cost to you. Acabado

*Time And Money Saving Tip*

Below is a blog post that contains a few benefits to starting a blog website using Wordpress.org instead of Wordpress.com. If you have not set up a blog website before this post could save you hundreds of dollars! https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/hosting-moving-from-wordpress-com-to-siteground/ Develop Your Brand

Before you dive into setting up your website you need to develop your brand. I suggest picking a brand name with an available url that has between 2 and 4 words that pertain to your chosen niche. I use NameCheap to check availability and buy urls. They have great customer service and an app! This really comes in handy when I What to check if a url is taken while I’m away from home. Once you have decided on a brand name and a website URL the next thing I recommend you doing is getting a logo. The blog post below will walk you through how I get logos for my websites. https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/how-to-get-a-lost-cost-logo-fiverr-case-study/

How To Find Affiliate Offers To Promote

Finding affiliate programs and offers to promote is very easy these days. Simply search for a product or service on google but add the words Affiliate Program to your search. This is how I find most of the affiliate programs I promote. In the blog post below I talk about 15 affiliate programs you could join and promote. https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/15-affiliate-marketing-programs-sign-up-links/

How To Create Content For Affiliate Marketing

The content you create on your blog website Should be written with two things in mind, your target audience and search engines. Do you want to focus on your target audience because that’s who you’re trying to help and you want to focus on search engines because that’s how they’re going to find you. The formula for good affiliate marketing blogs goes as follows. You want to paint a picture of the story of the problem of your target audience. This way you can show that you understand the problem they’re having. Once you’ve done this you want to suggest a solution. This is where your affiliate offer could come in. In a clear and helpful way you should explain how the affiliate offer you are promoting will solve the problem they’re having.

How To Create A Resource Page For Your Affiliate Offers

The resource page is simply a page you can link to within your blog that contains information about all of the affiliate offers you would like to promote. Creating a page like this can increase your conversions up to 40%. This also allows your audience to see every product or service you are suggesting in one place. Once this page is created it can be very valuable to link to it anywhere you can. Places I suggest linking to this would be at the end of blog posts, in YouTube video descriptions, and in your website menu. If you can find other places to stick this link that seem to make sense do you go for it.

How To Expand Your Brand To New Platforms

After you’ve created a decent amount of blog content, a.k.a. blog posts, on your blog website you may wanna start considering expanding your brand to new platforms. I suggest using platforms where the content has a longer shelf life that’s why I recommend YouTube and podcasts. Setting up a YouTube channel or a podcast is easy and free. You can do this by simply downloading the YouTube app or a podcasting app and starting to create content on it.

What Is The Best Affiliate Marketing Choice I have Made?

I have spend years chasing the dream that I could make money online. Trying to figure everything out on my own was difficult, time consuming and unsuccessful. So what changed? I decided to find someone who knows what they are doing and learn from them. I know there are tons of gurus, coaches and teachers on the internet who want you to take their course. I was looking for the best of the best and I think I found it in Project 24. What Can Project 24 Do For You?

Project 24 is an online course designed to walk you through creating a blog website that can replace your income in a 24 month period. I love it because it takes all the guess work out of the whole operation. Just following the 60 steps in a timely manner produces results. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jLo89V_q3g&feature=youtu.be Below is my Project 24 affiliate link. This link pays me commissions at no extra cost to you. https://incomeschool.com/yourhelpfulaffiliate/P24 If you would like to learn more about Project 24 I have written several blog posts about it and my experience being a member which I have linked to below. https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/what-the-heck-is-project-24-the-best-make-money-online-course-ive-ever-found/ https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/project-24-what-you-should-know-before-you-sign-up/ https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/is-income-schools-project-24-worth-it/ https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/income-schools-project24-day-1/ Read the full article

[acashgirl]

Untitled Marvel Project: Part 5

THIS IS WHAT WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR! Hopefully it’s not utter disappointment, haha. Please enjoy, or don’t, and catch you on the flippity-flop!

(First) (Previous) (Next) (Index)

   You slept for hours that night and when you woke your pillow was still damp. The disorientation you felt was most likely from the dehydration you were experiencing which caused dizziness and kept you lying down. Pondering began, what was to happen now? Bruce seemed pretty opposed to you being here and Tony had even said you had put them in danger. Yet he also seemed interested in keeping you around but… Vision, he was under attack because of you and in danger because of it. But where could you go? This was… you don’t… what now?

“Friday, who is here currently?” “I am unsure if I can share that information.” “Well are Tony Stark or Bruce Banner in the building?” “No not at the moment. May I ask why miss?” Sighing to yourself you slowly got up and moved towards the door. “Miss what are you doing?” “I’d like to get some water, I’m feeling dizzy and I think I should probably get some before I need an IV. I was hoping to go to the kitchen.” “I do not believe that to be the best idea.” “Friday I may actually die from dehydration.” You had made your way to the elevator and were pressed against the door. “I suppose. Please stay calm.” You rolled your eyes at the thought that even the AI was concerned about the safety of everyone else. The door slid open and you stumbled in, the drop in your stomach made you feel nauseous. They opened to the familiar hallway in which you last left the Captain and headed towards the lounge. Eventually making it to the large room you got to the faucet and cranked it on drinking directly from the tap. It was so satisfying and automatically you felt better. You thought you had heard someone head up the stairs but you were much too consumed with rehydration. “Hey Friday is Mr.Stark- Uhm hi?” You had never heard this voice before, a higher pitched male voice but not childlike. He was definitely more of an adult. Feeling embarrassed over your animosity you sheepishly turned to face the curly haired boy who had waved to you over a week ago. “Hey, uh, who are you? I mean you’re the girl from awhile ago but I never uh- I never got your name. You know Mr.Stark he uh- he never did tell me-” On the spot you blurted out “I’m Y/N” “Y/N, oh uh- that’s a great name origin from latin or uh… M-my names Peter, Peter P-Parker.” You smiled to yourself, it was easy to tell he was becoming embarrassed. “D-do you need a glass? They’re um- they’re over here.” He placed his backpack that was slung onto his shoulder on the ground and made his way over to you. Looking over at you he reached up by your head to open a cabinet revealing glasses. He grabbed one and filled it with water glancing over at you quite often causing him to almost overfill the glass. “Peter!”  He snapped from his near trance and turned off the faucet, then outstretched the cup towards you to which you gently grabbed. “Thank you.” “Sorry about the uh-the-” “Thank you.” He smiled shyly and you could see the blush run to his face. “So Peter, you’re looking for Tony?” You made your way across the island and sat on the familiar stool. “Yeah I wanted to talk to Mr.Stark-” “Tony?” You raised an eyebrow. “Right Tony..,” The word seemed foreign to him,”Just tryna get in some combat training or uh- something.” He nodded and bit his lip. “Why are you so nervous?” “What I’m not, I’m not nervous-” “You’re starting to blush.” You took a sip from the glass. “What no I’m not, it must be the lights or… something.” Holding eye contact for a second you broke off and shrugged, “Yeah you’re right.” He let out a deep sigh, almost choking on air. You offered the water which he awkwardly declined. “So combat training?” “Yeah just tryna brush up my skills for the bad guys you know?” He lightly laughed. “Bad guys huh? Schoolyard bullies gettin’ pretty bad?” “Psh, I have them on lockdown. If they knew what I could do they’d never mess with me.” “If they knew? Sounds like someone has some secrets.” “Secrets, me? No-no I don’t have any secrets?” “I felt a question mark.” “I mean me being here already reveals my biggest secret.” “Which is?” He leaned in a bit and whispered, “I’m an Avenger.” You smirked, “Then why do you need Tony for combat training?” Stumbling over his words a bit he worked out an answer, “Well I mean t-this is technically h-his property, so uh, it’d be r-rude of me to just waltz i-in like I own the p-place.” You let out a laugh, “By the way, Tony isn’t here right now.” “Oh, well then I should probably get going-” “Huh?” “What?” Looking at you with wide eyes. “I mean..,” you sighed, “might as well try some honesty, you’re the first person to treat me normal, like any other person. I was kind of enjoying it.” “How am I supposed to treat you?” Finally you broke contact and looked into the glass, “Never mind, it’s nothing.” “Have they been mean to you or sumthin?” You glanced back up to see his face staring concerningly into yours. “No no, Tonys been very accommodating.” “Well then why aren’t they treating you normally?” You couldn’t face him, you didn’t want to tell him the truth. Granted that’s how the current situation had came about. Dammit. “Maybe you should go Peter.” Not facing him. “W-why?” This hurt. “I…I just want you to okay?” Your voice raised. “Look I’m sorry if I said something-” “Please.”   You couldn’t see his face but you felt the change, the whole atmosphere had dropped 10 degrees and you were freezing. Trust no one, even one with a good heart. The footsteps echoed around and as he swept up his bag he glanced at you, causing you to almost break. This guy was concerned and caring, even Tony hadn’t felt like this to you. He was different and felt so pure! All of this made your decision clear; you would never tell him and could never be close, you had to protect him from yourself. He left without another word leaving you to feel more anxiety about everything. Tears began swelling, you were so emotionally weak why must you always cry. Breathing in deeply they retreated back and you exhaled from your mouth and took a swig of water. “Have you eaten anything?” A familiar accented voice said. You look towards a hallway you hadn’t been down to see Wanda in a black camisole and military green pants. “Oh um,” clearing your throat, “no not yet.” “I could make some eggs if you make toast.” She smiled. “Yeah, that sounds great.” She walked over to the fridge and grabbed a carton and proceeded to retrieve a frying pan. “The bread is in that cabinet, any kind will do.” She motioned toward one near the ground. You crouched down and settled on a multigrain as opposed to the 6 other kinds you have never heard of. “So if you don’t remember, how do you know how things work?” You fiddled with the toaster, “Instinct I suppose. An action will just feel right or something I say won’t feel weird or maybe it’ll just blurt out.” She laughed, “At least you have that, don’t have to start all over.” “If that ever happens… no.” “Ah shit I forgot to turn in the stove top.” “I got it-” “It’s fine.” With a wave of her dainty fingers the knob flipped over. “Well that seems handy.” As you stared at the burner. “It has its perks.” She pushed past you, pan in hand, and placed it over the element, “So what about you? Your powers?” “They’re uh, they’re something.” “Well they must be handy as well no?” “No benefits I see so far.” You pulled a smile and turned on the toaster. “What can you do?” “That’s not… it’s not important.” “I remember when I first began playing with mine, so fascinating and magical, no wonder they call me a witch.” “Didn’t it ever scare you?” She smiled down at the eggs, “Of course, but there’s no use in being scared of yourself. I learned that awhile ago with an incident… Well that’s in the past. But now I know my limits and, to an extent, what I can do. I’ll probably never understand myself but I just keep trying.” The pop in the toaster caused you to jolt and turn back to it. “How do you like your eggs?” “Any way is fine.” You looked over your shoulder. “Okay than they’re done.” She moved the pan off the heat and held it over the island. A cabinet opened behind her and two plates hovered over to the counter to which she slid two eggs onto each place. “Toast please.”   You quickly grabbed the toast and nearly burned your fingers on the crisp crumbs. She grabbed a plate and motioned for you to follow her towards the large glass table. The two of you sat on opposing sides and Wanda released a sigh. “I am very forgetful today.” She waved her fingers and you heard a drawer open behind you. Two sets of silverware rushed over and landed gracefully on the table. “Yup definitely handy.” Nodding to yourself in self agreement. As you both ate away at the plates you heard some footsteps come up the stairs. “Wanda, uh you, what are you two bonding over? Telekinesis? Mind control? World domination?” “Hello Tony, does the thought of that worry you?” “I’ve faced worse.” Wanda smirked at you, maybe she was hoping you’d chime in, but you couldn’t face Tony as it felt wrong. “Uhm Peter was here.” You murmured. “Oh was he? Surprised he didn’t call… whelp he did. Who gave him my number again?” “You did Tony.” Wanda replied. “Right, why did I do that?” The fridge opened and then quickly shut. You felt like you wanted to say something else but nothing came out. Footsteps trailed close and you peered over to the edge of the table to see Tony bite into an apple. “So Wanda, did our guest tell you about her amazing powers.” He looked at you and smiled. “She didn’t seem all that comfortable talking about it so I didn’t press.” “Well you should,” he wagged his finger at you with the same hand holding the apple, “it’s a nifty party trick.” He walked away looking pleased with himself. You glared at his back but it was no use, you did want to show Wanda. She poked at what was left of her eggs, “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it.” You sighed, “I do. I want to not be afraid of them but I just have so many thoughts in my head.” “Like what?” “It’s… it’s too powerful, and then you add in my lack of memories and I could be a ticking time bomb! Wasn’t there someone like that? It feels familiar-” “One of Steve’ friends. His name was Bucky and he was in a similar ship to that.” “Bucky?” “He had some…issues.” “Had? What happened to him?” “That’s not important-” “Please tell me?” She let out a sigh, “He was nervous of what he’d do.” You leaned back in the chair, “Of course he was,” biting your lip. “But you’re not him, you don’t know-” “I don’t know myself Wanda.” Her face appeared worried as she looked into you while you looked into the ground. “I want… I want to show you.” She straightened in her chair and relaxed her face ready for anything. You placed your unused knife between the two of you and sighed. The two of you connected for a moment before you concentrated in on the metal. The discomfort began to appear and you brought it up your spine with the knife following. Past it you could see Wanda’ unsurprised face and you quickly blew out the pain. The blade exploded while keeping its shape as it self orbited and through the particles her wide eyes were scanning each inch of the expansion. You had noticed the discomfort was much less intense and slowly you closed the space, the knife coming back together as a puzzle. Slowly it descended back onto the table and lightly clicked onto the glass which cued you to look into Wanda. She inhaled and let out a sigh. “Well thats nifty.” You smirked at the comment and looked into your plate, “Pretty nifty.” She nodded and smiled at you, “You’ll be okay, I promise.” You copied her facial expression and nodded, “I’m uh- I’m going to head back to my room. Thank you for breakfast, I really appreciate it.” Widening the smile. “You’re welcome, and you can talk to me whenever. I understand.” “Okay.” You pushed out of the chair and traveled back to your room as silently as possible trying to not think of anything. You entered and exited the elevator and walked into your room dropping onto your bed. Well shit.   Some days had past with you just ducking in and out of your room for the bathroom or the kitchen; maybe if you ignored everyone nothing could be triggered. It was seemingly working but it was also very disheartening. No one had checked on you at all, not even Friday had asked questions. This time you knew most were home as you had caught glimpses of them as you’d scurry back to your room and yet nothing came out of it. They probably knew you needed space from the overwhelming situation which you should’ve appreciated, right? Sure. But eventually this became tiresome and the feeling of abandonment came back. You wanted to talk to them, you wanted to be friends, you wanted to do something. But the danger… what about that? How could they trust you while you’re like this? You lied to Peter about your name just to seem more normal but yet wouldn’t tell him about the one thing you did know; your power. So you decided to venture out and stop being a hermit.   The kitchen was the heart of the building and that’s where you’d be. You traveled down the familiar trail and saw the large window open yourself to the outside world. Gosh it had been forever since you felt real air. There was a door that led outside which drew you in and you turned the knob open. The air was slightly chilled and smelled fresh from the trees. You breathed in so deeply to seemingly flush out the air that now felt so stuffy in your lungs and smiled to yourself. This is where you wanted to be, how you wanted to feel; relaxed, no worries, happy. There was a bench somewhat down the expansive porch and you set your sight on it, quickly making your way down to it. You sat down and continued to stare into the trees blocking out all the other thoughts that tried to shove their way in. The atmosphere was quiet with just the wind quietly whispering through the buildings edges so it was easy to hear the door open down from you. Snapping your head in that direction you saw the familiar Peter in a flannel hesitantly making his way towards you. You stopped staring and began looking at the trees again. “H-hey Y/N.” “Hi Peter.” Still not looking at him. “Look I’m sorry if I had upset you, I-I really hadn’t meant to. I just-” “It’s fine,” you smiled down into your lap, “I was just… it’s just something I don’t want to talk about.” “I get it, everyone needs secrets right?” He let out an awkward laugh. You laughed yourself, “You can sit if you’d like.” “T-thanks.” Feeling his presence reside next to you. “So,” finally looking over at him, “What are you doing here today?” “Same as last, trying to get in some combat training.” As he nodded his head. “Why are you so adamant on that?” “I just want to prove myself y’know? I don’t want to be seen as this kid forever amongst superheroes.” “But you are a superhero.” “Huh?” He looked at you with wide eyes. “Well you are aren’t you? That’s what Tony had said-” “Mr.Stark said I was a superhero!?” “Uhm, yeah? Why is that so surprising?” You chuckled. “It’s just… Wow. You know I respect his opinion so much so hearing that he said that is uhm-it’s pretty cool.” He looked off into the area. “How do you feel about yourself?” Copying his position. “Myself?” “The opinion you should value the most is your own. Other opinions will change, constantly, but yours shouldn’t be so transforming. You are who you want to be and only you can change yourself. Yes I understand that Tony is a big guy but if you believe in what you are that is who you are.” He was staring at you, you felt it, so you returned the look. “What?” you said, curiously. “That’s really nice to hear.” “Didn’t you already know that?” “I think part of me did, but y’know you just depend on others opinions so much that you change yourself. I want to be seen as a hero to people because that’s how I feel. I want to do good for everyone.” “You don’t need to be a hero to do good.” “I know,” he looked back out but leaned toward you, “but it definitely helps.” You laughed, “Yeah I bet it does.”   Both of you looked out and sat in silence, his presence made you feel happy which in turn scared you; he was such a positive force and it radiated off him. Not to mention he was actually kind of attractive, yes Tony and Bruce and even the Captain all held their own rankings in your head but he was different. He made you feel different and was too relatable. The other men were dominant in your eyes, they were superiors, but Peter wasn’t that way. He wasn’t on your level, you definitely felt floors below him, but he wasn’t like them. “So what are you doing out here?” You felt his eyes on your cheek. “I haven’t been outside for while, it’s a big place y’know. I just wanted some fresh air.” You looked over at him which caused him to begin blushing. “Yeah-yeah of course.” “Why are you blushing?” You laughed. “What! I’m not-I’m not blushing-whaaat?” This caused it to happen more. “Oh my gosh it’s okay! Calm down!” You were genuinely laughing now and grasped his shoulder. “Well don’t touch me that’ll make it worse!” He was smiling and trying to shake your hand off. “What do you mean?” You replaced it every time it’d shrug off. “Stop it!” He swung his leg over now straddling the bench and tried grabbing at your wrist. You copied his motion and began trying to grab at his which led to an on and off poking match where either you were trying to grab him or vice versa. It felt great to laugh and smile and act like a normal person as opposed to the lurking thing in the shadows you had felt like. Eventually your grasped one of his wrists but he also caught your other one. “Looks like we're at a draw.” You laughed. “I mean I’m not one to give up so-” “Well neither am I!” “Guess we're gonna have to live like this forever.” He beamed a smile. “That doesn’t seem so bad.” “You’re the one blushing now.” “I am very aware of it!” With the hand holding onto you he tried poking your abdomen. “Well don’t touch me that’ll make it worse!”   He wholeheartedly laughed and you guys began rough housing again while keeping grip on each other. You felt so much joy that you couldn’t stop smiling and lost focus giving him the upper hand and he caught your other wrist. “Well it looks like I win!” You rolled your eyes and relaxed your body, “Damn I was looking forward to the forever part.” The blood ran to his face again, “Y-yeah me t-too.” You smiled and he slowly relaxed his grip while placing your hands onto your thighs, “Stay.” “They are not dogs Peter.” “I-I know that.” He smiled, embarrassed. He looked down into the space between you and him while you looked into his glowing face. He must’ve felt it because he returned your gaze and it made you smile. “Uhm kiddos don’t mean to break up day care but daddy’s here to pick up his little man.” You looked past Peter to see a suited Tony stroll over and place his hand onto his shoulder. This caused Peter to stiffen up just a bit and glance in that direction. “Hey M-Mr.Stark.” “Hello Peter, what are you two up to?” “Emotional bonding.” You replied. Tony looked through his yellow tinted sunglasses at you happily surprised, maybe he had missed your quick responses but it was too soon to tell. Peter on the other hand was wide eyed and beginning to blush again which yet again caused you to smile. “Well doesn’t that sound fun. Look so I’ve got some time on my hands and I just thought of a group activity we could do as a family.” Tony smiling maniacally towards you. “What’s that?” Peter glanced back over his shoulder not seeing your face drop at the thought of what could happen. “Well Petey you’ve been so adamant on some combat training that I thought maybe our little friend… Y/N, would like to learn something too.” Shit. You caught Peters turning head just in time to place a smile back on your face as he enthusiastically looked at you, “Do you want to come?” The internal struggle was very real. “Of course she does,” Tony stared at you, “She wants to be an Avenger right?”

[valisi-clark]

Qveertrash on AO3: “ Where did you get the idea of a sin-eater AU? The idea of sin-eaters is very interesting. They're like creatures that children get scared of. “ 

I’m answering this here under a cut because, of course, it’s a long ass story. The character limit on AO3 wouldn’t allow it. 

Thank you everyone who has supported The Sin-eater with your comments and questions and kudos and reads! 

It’s surprising to me, but my dad actually gave me the idea for the Sin-eater AU. About five years ago (way before I was even knew about Tumblr), I asked him what was one of the scariest/creepiest things he had ever seen as a kid. 

He told me that one of the things that scared him the most, when he was a kid, was an episode of “Night Gallery”. “Night Gallery” is the series that Rod Serling started hosting and writing after “The Twilight Zone” ended. It’s not quite as good as “The Twilight Zone” in my opinion. But there’s one episode called “The Sins of the Fathers”. 

My dad said the “The Sins of the Fathers” episode was one of the scariest things he can remember. I’ve watched it, and I agree. You can probably find the episode online for free now. Here’s a short summary of the episode: 

In times before electricity and running water, when people died, they called for the sin-eater. The sin-eater was shunned, basically exiled, and he didn’t have any social interaction with regular people. He’s unclean. But people still need him to rid the corpses of their loved ones from sin. 

The sin-eater marries a woman (how?), and he has a son. One night, a villager comes to their home and requests the sin-eater. The sin-eater’s wife says that she’ll send him. When the villager leaves, the woman goes to her young adult son and tells him that his father has died, and he has to eat for his father. But they don’t have enough money for food for the ritual. 

The woman tells her son to go to the house of the villager, steal the food, come back, and eat for his father. 

Naturally, this kid is freaked-the-fuck-out. It’s gross for one thing. Eating food near or directly off of a corpse? He does it anyway. He’s the next sin-eater. It’s his birthright. 

He goes to the house, steals the food, goes home, and eats for his father. The catch is that he’s not only eating his father’s sins. He’s eating all of the sin’s that his father ever consumed. All of the sins of the generations before him and whoever they consumed. While he’s eating, he’s also screaming. It’s unnerving and disgusting to watch. You don’t know why he’s screaming, but you can only imagine how that food tastes, what he’s seeing in front of his unfocused eyes, what he’s feeling inside of his guts every time he swallows. It’s terrifying. 

It’s also an amazing idea, and I fucking love that episode! It scares the shit out of me!

And sin-eating has been recorded as a real thing that people did. Not only in Europe, but also in Meso-America.

Here’s a quote from the short Wikipedia article about sin-eaters. This quote comes from a book called Funeral Customs, published in 1926: 

“Professor Evans of the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen, actually saw a sin-eater about the year 1825, who was then living near Llanwenog, Cardiganshire. Abhorred by the superstitious villagers as a thing unclean, the sin-eater cut himself off from all social intercourse with his fellow creatures by reason of the life he had chosen; he lived as a rule in a remote place by himself, and those who chanced to meet him avoided him as they would a leper.”

When I found these things out, I was absolutely fascinated. How is this custom so old (Meso-America), so recent (about 200 years), but I had to watch a fictional story to learn about it? Why didn’t I learn about it in Mythology and Folklore? I’ve read a lot of articles about sin-eating, but the Wikipedia page for it is so short? Have people purposely not recorded information about these people because they were so disgusted? Also, this quote says that the sin-eater chose this life? Is that something someone can actually choose? Is sin-eating the reason that we eat food after a funeral?! How does this affect my modern-day culture?!

I have so many questions about this custom and the people who lived through it. But sin-eating is still being used as a fictional character device because it’s so good! 

There are two types of sin-eaters: the kind that physically removes sin through the consumption of food and the kind that physically removes sin through some other means. 

John Coffey in The Green Mile by Stephen King is a sin-eater. I’ve read an article about that. 

When John Coffey removes the infection Paul Edgecomb, he’s technically removing the sin that accumulates in a human’s body as a flawed creature. There are sources that express the idea that sin becomes a physical ailment, sin leads to death through the accumulation of physical ailments in the body (religious texts, The Picture of Dorian Gray,  these two come to mind first). However, Stephen King steps it up a notch in The Green Mile by showing us the excrement process. When John Coffey releases that plague of black... insects? from his mouth, he’s excreting the sin that he’s eaten from someone. Therefore, he’s not storing it, and it won’t physically affect him over a period of time. Does that mean if he didn’t release it that the sin would physically affect him? Probably. Stephen King avoided that degeneration process by adding the release process. 

I’ve known for a while that I wanted to use sin-eaters in fiction, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to do it. 

At first, I imagined Erwin as a prince of a nation and Levi as the sin-eater? That crumbled so fast. Erwin’s characterization is difficult to fit into a monarchy because he’s so independent and compassionate. In strict monarchies, a prince may not even know how to dress himself. In the first plot that I thought about, the king (Erwin’s father) dies, and they call one of the royal sin-eaters. Erwin’s never seen one before. Levi shows up because the Ackermans are royal sin-eaters. But why would Erwin even be allowed to look at him? Because he’s curious?  Royal Guard Mike might agree to let Erwin look, but he’s definitely not going to agree to let Erwin build any sort of relationship with a sin-eater! That bullshit about royalty sneaking out to go see their lovers? Not a thing. A royal human is objectified. If something happens to King Erwin, the country would be in trouble, could be attacked before a new monarch is put into place. Erwin is an investment. And if he’s dependent on servants, how is he going to know how to sneak out with help? 

So I flipped it around. Make Levi royal. Make Erwin the sin-eater. Erwin fits into the sin-eater role better, but Levi doesn’t fit royalty, not unless he’s a militaristic king. The plot was complicated before I even started. So I backed off. 

I thought of the current plot a few months ago? And I sent the first chapter to @erwinsalive . She seemed to love it! And it made me happy to know that the world was so interesting to other people. She asked for more details, and I told her some of it. She made this face: ;-; 

That encouraged me to keep writing! I like that face! 

So then, I had to build the world. There were a few choices: How am I going to contain the sin-eaters? Solitary or together? I can put them behind a wall. Putting Erwin behind a wall always leads to something interesting. How are people going to recognize sin-eaters? Gloves with handcuffs built into them? But then when they escape, the gloves would be off. They aren’t going to keep people cuffed while they’re within the wall. I could separate the handcuffs, but eww... how are they going to keep their gloves clean? And it would be too easy to find a tool to remove them. That’s not enough conflict. It has to be more personal than gloves. Piercing? That could work. Levi’s knife work could come in handy if the metal is welded shut. Branding or tattooing? That’s the most traditional way to permanently mark government property, but.... then they would have to flay some of Erwin’s skin. Eww and oww. So let’s go piercing. Around the mouth area for the symbolism. Lips or tongue? Tongue. Then, if he pretends to be mute, he can hide in plain sight for a while. And also tongues... they’re great. A tongue bar with pieces that are gauged higher on either end. Then, you either have to cut the bar or cut the tongue. Done! 

Setting: Levi owns a tea shop with his Mom (dreams do come true), Fatal Sporadic Insomnia kills Kuchel (because those Ackermans don’t sleep well due to nighttime royal guard duty, and everyone knows it), Levi has to buy a sin-eater. The sin-eater is Erwin. Erwin feels guilty for even being himself. His emotionally tortured state fits into this skin. 

What about the sin-eater culture? Is Erwin’s going to have to eat his dad’s.... ugh! No, I can’t do that. It’s too sad. It’s too traumatic. I’ll never get him to rebel if I do that. I grossed myself out again.

How is sin-eating going to affect Erwin physically? In The Picture of Dorian Gray, the picture took all of Dorian Gray’s sins (a type of inanimate sin-eater), and the portrait was hideous by the end of the book. Will sin-eaters be affected? Will Erwin die young because he’s full of the sins of humanity? ..... I can’t do that. It hurt too much in canon. I’m not going to do that. He’s beautiful and healthy.

Therefore, sin-eaters aren’t real. They are a collection of unfortunate descendants of humans (immigrants) who were scammed by the government. “Eat sins for our people, and we’ll take care of you.” Over one hundred years later: “You’re fucking disgusting, and you are easily replaced and less than human. You will remain quarantined. The food we give you is now overpriced. We’ve just increased your taxes again.” 

And when I tell the story from Erwin’s point of view, you’ll see what sparked the fire of rebellion. I’m excited to write it. 

Thank you again for the wonderful question! I love talking about the writing process. I hope you find this, qveertrash! Thank you for your support! 

[aquadeco]

Progress Update 4

Hey everyone!

It’s time for another “work-in-progress” update, a weekly post where I share my progress of making the AquaDeco mod. I’m almost caught up with the things I have yet to show you. So let’s close that gap!

Today it’s mainly about the “other things” you could find in an aquarium. I’m talking about the backstage areas, the stuff that goes on to keep the aquarium in good condition.

“Bench”

One idea I had floating around in that dark void, was a couch kind of a bench. The in-game vanilla benches, to me, seem mostly suited for outdoor use. Of course, they work on any path, anywhere, but I wanted something softer. More of a lounge-y feel. A couch or a large “Fatboy”.

Here’s (above) a screenshot of the first version. I went for a somewhat more generic design, so it is not only (visually) suited for peeps on beaches. In the image you can see that I’ve stacked a couple of the triangular benches over one another. You can’t really stack benches on the same tile, but the object is so big that two separate benches, connecting to a path corner, overlap.

Although I did like the cosy feeling of a pile of peeps enjoying a lolly.. this iteration didn’t work well, visually that is. The technical side worked fine, but there was a lot of walking/clipping through the object. I was happy with the direction though, so I started adjustments.

Here I’ve made the benches quarter (of one tile) sized. The idea is to be able to make you’re own bench, in a modular way. Or use them for in a diner, or a small toilet for instance.

Another issue came up with this though. Because the benches are placed on the sides of paths, they are offset from the center on the tile grid. Using quarters like this - and being able to pair the up next to each other to make a half, for example - ..it gets fiddly and confusing. It’s not clear to see where the origin of a placed piece is located, and you can easily replace one when accidentally stacked on the same tile. All in all, this design didn’t work as smoothly as I wanted it to be. I do really like the concept, I think this could be really neat and handy..

Talking about visually communicating; When they’re all side by side - and the majority is vandalized - it’s easier to see. But you might not have spotted that some benches, are also vandalized in the first image of the same scene that was shot a bit earlier in time. This is not very helpful. You should be able to see, clearly, what’s going on. This is especially true in a potentially busy theme park with lots going on on-screen.

To display vandalism, he vanilla benches get replaced by a “broken” model variant. This is something (currently, as I’m writing this) that I have yet to learn to implement. If that is possible at all, at this time.

Above you can see that I’ve tested to see if I could hide an object within the bench model. I did this to see if the hidden object would become visible when the bench gets vandalised and thus tilted at an angle. But sadly the object (the trapezoid/cube within the triangle) also tilts with the bench, as a single object.

Fingers crossed things like this will become easier to implement in the future when the modding tool gets an update. Until then, I’ll make the buttons on the couch fabric easier to see (if I didn’t remove them already in the last iteration - if so, I’ll add them, or some other detail), so the tilt is easier to spot. I also wanted to remove the border along the bottom, kept it for this reason (see below: the couch in the middle has one of four vandalized). But, this is the best I can do for now and I hope it works well enough!

Now your guests can have a bit more comfort as they enjoy your aquarium, cinema, theater, restaurant, museum, library etc. And I’ll add a non-triangle one in the meantime, if you want a “regular” version.

Right, enough about that bench! Still keeping it in the homeware realm with another way to chill.

Fans

When I think of the aquarium, a reptile house or any other indoor humid atmosphere at the zoo - or perhaps in an actual, real-life, outdoorsy, tropical climate (not the climate I’m in, or used to) - I remember how warm and humid it is (also, the smell). This might be not as common as a memory, but it is real (I convince myself).

Keeping theme parks in mind, combined with the warmth of the simulated exotic exhibits; I figured that we needed some air!

Aside from the table fan, there’s also a separate fan without a stand. Both can be resized and custom colored. In the image above you can see some tests of applications. Of course you can use the fans for keeping your waiting peeps cool in the queue, build a hovercraft, airship or perhaps using it as a wind effect in a dark ride or coaster. Anyway, you can use it for whatever!

Sadly, does not actually cool anything, it’s just decor. But, it definitely tries;

This was also to try out some other, less complex animations. Turns out, it works really well. I found a way to avoid the use of invisible collision triggers, which is amazing to know. Doing it this new way makes my animated objects selectable and recolor-able etc. in-game! It’s not a solution for all circumstances, but it’s a good way (easier for the player, as they function like any other object without special cases) to at least try to incorporate in all the animated assets (if the animation is not too complex).

Technical Equipment

If you want to keep your lovely livestock “a bit longer”, you will need to install some hardware to keep them happy!

Here are some pieces to cater to those needs. Instead of making very specific aquatic equipment, I chose to make it so you could build your own - or as a result use it for other things as well. :)

Above you can see a large reservoir, which would be the water filter and a metal foundation plate. Also, a basic metal cabinet, and a monitor screen. I still need to google to find out how these types of “electro technical closets” are called (please fill me in if you recognize something, I used no reference for these :P).

Ah yes, and you might have spotted the buttons and triggers. These could be placed on the cabinets, or be used somewhere else in the park in any combination. I will also add a “facing up” variant of each button and trigger. I mainly based these on how I remember coaster control booths (which is me saying, with no reference but my memory). I used no reference, mainly to not get caught up in too much detail, as they are quite small already. It, again, is more the idea of it, than the actual thing. But, if I missed a crucial part that’s missing, let me know!

One thing that I know is missing, is a water heater/cooler. And other equipments of basic aquarium keeping. Those are still on the to-do list! :)

If you actually hate machinery with a passion, and are only hear for the animals. Thanks for enduring, so much, and here’s something I worked on today:

Work in progress model of the (..or a) new shark! The model in the image here is not done, I’m working on optimizing the mesh and such (this was taken before that). After that will come the animation bit.. But that will be next time! I am still not caught up.

I’ll be on the Parkitect sub-Reddit or in the Discord for comments and such! :)

Thanks!

[yourhelpfulaffiliate]

What is the Best Way to Start Making Money Online With Affiliate Marketing?

Hello! My name is Kevin but for this website I have dubbed myself Your Helpful Affiliate. I have been researching affiliate marketing for years. On this website I share my tips and tricks for affiliate marketing. I share what has worked for me and what has not. In this post I will be giving you my honest opinion on what I think the best way to start making money online with affiliate marketing is.

The Quick Answer

While this affiliate marketing strategy is work intensive and more complicated than I can explain in a short paragraph, I am going to try my best. Right now I think the best way to start making money online with affiliate marketing is to create a multi media brand in a niche you personally care about and have had experience with. By creating helpful content and answering common questions on many different platforms under the same brand you can create a following as well as a presence in search engine results. You can suggest, review and promote affiliate offers naturally within your content as you talk about products and services you use. This strategy seems to me to be the best out of the bunch. It can have a very low start up cost and every piece of content you create for your brand can work for you far into the future.

Affiliate Marketing Strategy Expectations

I want to let you know up front this strategy can take some time to be successful, but at least you will know what you should be doing. I can not and will not promise or guarantee you will be successful using this strategy but I think it is the best one out there. If you do the work your chances at success will multiply.

The Affiliate Marketing Game Plan

These are the steps required by this affiliate marketing strategy. Learn The Rules For Affiliate Marketing Learn The Most Common Mistakes Pick Your Passion/NicheCreate A HomebaseFind Affiliate Offers Create Helpful Content Create A Resource Page To Suggest Solutions To ProblemsExpand Your Brand To New Platforms

The Rules Of Affiliate Marketing

The FTC Disclosure guidelines – https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/press-releases/ftc-staff-revises-online-advertising-disclosure-guidelines/130312dotcomdisclosures.pdf

The Most Common Affiliate Marketing Mistakes

Below is a short list of the most common affiliate marketing mistakes. Avoiding these will save you a lot of time and trouble. Picking Affiliate Offers Based On Commissions Instead Of Real Personal Experience Spamming Affiliate LinksTrying To Sell To Everyone Instead Of Your Target AudienceSpending Money You Do Not HaveFocusing On Quick Results Instead Of Creating Quality Content If you want to take a deeper dive into common affiliate marketing mistakes check out the blog post link below. https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/10-common-mistakes-new-affiliate-marketers-make/

How To Pick An Affiliate Marketing Niche

First of all, let us talk about what a niche is. A niche in the simplest terms is the category your content is in. For example, my niche for this website is affiliate marketing. This is the topic most of my content focuses on. Picking a niche can be tricky. It seems like a big decision right? Many people get hung up on this step. If you can, push through and just make a decision. As you start to create content you will get a better sense of what a good niche is. At that point you can even start a second brand, for now though let’s look at what is important when you pick your niche. A good niche choice should meet as many of the follow requirements as possible. It should - Be a topic you care about and have experience withHave a group of people interested in itHave products or services that benefit the people interested in itBe a topic you will not mind researching Be a topic you will not mind writing about Hobbies, personal interests and passtimes are good places to start looking for a niche that will work for you.

Creating Your Homebase Blog Website

For this step I suggest creating a blog website because it offers the most benefit in the long run as a home base. Having a website allows you to build a brand presence online. This will be where you direct your audience. Pick A Website Hosting Service Provider

There are many options to choose from when it comes to picking a website host. I will compare my top 2 so you can make up your own mind. Both of these website hosting providers offer a discount to new users. This reduced price can be applied to 1, 2, or 3 years. Once this introduction period is over the price will go up, so I recommend paying for as much as you can up front so save money in the long run. BlueHost BlueHost is my number 2 suggestion for a web host. This hosting service is the one recommended by WordPress.org. It is, from my experience, the most suggested and used website hosting service out there. Below is my affiliate link for BlueHost. This affiliate link pays me commissions at no extra cost to you. https://www.bluehost.com/track/bestsignup/ Sign Up For BlueHost SiteGround This is my number 1 suggestion for a web host. I am a constant user of technical and customer support for lots of my website tools. SiteGround has fast and knowledgeable support that has never failed me. Below is my affiliate link for SiteGround. This affiliate link pays me commissions at no extra cost to you. https://www.siteground.com/index.htm?afcode=396e6bef564936572a09158dc1fa4373 Sign Up For SiteGround After picking a host you will need to install Wordpress onto your website. Your host should offer customer support to help you get this set up correctly. Pick A Theme There are plenty of free themes offered by Wordpress for you to choose from. Find one you like and go with it. This is another step many people get stuck on so if you can push through and make a decision you’ll save yourself quite a bit of time. My personal favorite thing is called Abacado. This theme was created for members of Project 24, which I will talk about later. This theme was designed to be simple, fast and easy to set up.

*Time And Money Saving Tip*

Below is a blog post that contains a few benefits to starting a blog website using Wordpress.org instead of Wordpress.com. If you have not set up a blog website before this post could save you hundreds of dollars! https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/hosting-moving-from-wordpress-com-to-siteground/ Develop Your Brand

Before you dive into setting up your website you need to develop your brand. I suggest picking a brand name with an available url that has between 2 and 4 words that pertain to your chosen niche. I use NameCheap to check availability and buy urls. They have great customer service and an app! This really comes in handy when I What to check if a url is taken while I’m away from home. Once you have decided on a brand name and a website URL the next thing I recommend you doing is getting a logo. The blog post below will walk you through how I get logos for my websites. https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/how-to-get-a-lost-cost-logo-fiverr-case-study/

How To Find Affiliate Offers To Promote

Finding affiliate programs and offers to promote is very easy these days. Simply search for a product or service on google but add the words Affiliate Program to your search. This is how I find most of the affiliate programs I promote. In the blog post below I talk about 15 affiliate programs you could join and promote. https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/15-affiliate-marketing-programs-sign-up-links/

How To Create Content For Affiliate Marketing

The content you create on your blog website Should be written with two things in mind, your target audience and search engines. Do you want to focus on your target audience because that’s who you’re trying to help and you want to focus on search engines because that’s how they’re going to find you. The formula for good affiliate marketing blogs goes as follows. You want to paint a picture of the story of the problem of your target audience. This way you can show that you understand the problem they’re having. Once you’ve done this you want to suggest a solution. This is where your affiliate offer could come in. In a clear and helpful way you should explain how the affiliate offer you are promoting will solve the problem they’re having.

How To Create A Resource Page For Your Affiliate Offers

The resource page is simply a page you can link to within your blog that contains information about all of the affiliate offers you would like to promote. Creating a page like this can increase your conversions up to 40%. This also allows your audience to see every product or service you are suggesting in one place. Once this page is created it can be very valuable to link to it anywhere you can. Places I suggest linking to this would be at the end of blog posts, in YouTube video descriptions, and in your website menu. If you can find other places to stick this link that seem to make sense do you go for it.

How To Expand Your Brand To New Platforms

After you’ve created a decent amount of blog content, a.k.a. blog posts, on your blog website you may wanna start considering expanding your brand to new platforms. I suggest using platforms where the content has a longer shelf life that’s why I recommend YouTube and podcasts. Setting up a YouTube channel or a podcast is easy and free. You can do this by simply downloading the YouTube app or a podcasting app and starting to create content on it.

What Is The Best Affiliate Marketing Choice I have Made?

I have spend years chasing the dream that I could make money online. Trying to figure everything out on my own was difficult, time consuming and unsuccessful. So what changed? I decided to find someone who knows what they are doing and learn from them. I know there are tons of gurus, coaches and teachers on the internet who want you to take their course. I was looking for the best of the best and I think I found it in Project 24. What Can Project 24 Do For You?

Project 24 is an online course designed to walk you through creating a blog website that can replace your income in a 24 month period. I love it because it takes all the guess work out of the whole operation. Just following the 60 steps in a timely manner produces results. https://youtu.be/9jLo89V_q3g Below is my Project 24 affiliate link. This link pays me commissions at no extra cost to you. https://incomeschool.com/yourhelpfulaffiliate/P24 If you would like to learn more about Project 24 I have written several blog posts about it and my experience being a member which I have linked to below. https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/what-the-heck-is-project-24-the-best-make-money-online-course-ive-ever-found/ https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/project-24-what-you-should-know-before-you-sign-up/ https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/is-income-schools-project-24-worth-it/ https://yourhelpfulaffiliate.com/income-schools-project24-day-1/ Read the full article