#i used a search engine to jot most of these down

[stormvanari]

• TW, Rakumo, Loopy, Sonore, and Silvia major in Visual & Permorming Arts. Specifically:

-TW takes Drama

-Rakumo takes Fine/Studio Arts

-Loopy takes Dance

-Sonore takes Music Theory & Composition

-Silvia takes Music Performance

• Ripley majors in History

• Berylis majors in Physical Education & Coaching

• Ilya majors in Mental Health Counseling

• Darian majors in Mechanical Engineering

• Yurei majors in Law (wants to be a defense attorney)

• Jasmine and Cherry major in Community, Family, and Personal Services. Specifically:

-Jasmine takes Textile & Apparel

-Cherry takes Culinary Arts

• Dynoraptor and Razor major in Criminal Justice

• Giulia majors in International Business Management

• Emilio majors in Physiology (he wants to become a surgeon)

• H majors in Zoology (she loves birds, so ornithology specifically)

In a university AU, or if your OCs are already in college, what do they major in? If they’ve graduated, what degree(s) do they have?

[ellaa-writes]

Good Dog

author note: Part 3 yay!! Series list found here. I actually edited this one, I know! Probably still mistakes lol, I love writing this type of Simon but mean Simon is still my favourite. Reader and Simon parts are going on at different times, weeks apart, just in case of any confusion of time line. Enjoy!

summary: His favourite words include; down boy, good dog, heel, fetch and his most favourite, get 'em. Well trained, and listens good. Loyal through and through. Always striving to be the absolute best. Ready to attack at all times, always on guard. Loves discipline, either giving or receiving. Working for a criminal mastermind, lurking in the shadows. You both trying not to be seen or noticed but after one unlucky night, all you both can see are the ghosts. He invades your life, if you both like it or not.

tags: Alternative Universe. Female reader. A/B/O dynamics. Alpha Simon, Beta Reader, Bad Scottish lingo (I tried). Very tame and a chapter filler.

You hadn't seen Simon in a few weeks, must have gotten bored you thought, eventually everyone leaves so why wouldn't he. Things felt different with him, like timed slowed down and life finally had a meaning.

You stopped in front of a news stand, big bold letters. OMEGA POPLUATION HITS AN ALL TIME LOW; leading scientists may have found a solution. You snatched the paper and handed the worker $5 telling him to keep the rest as you rushed back home paper in hand. The title wasn't what caught your attention, it was a few paragraphs down the words doctor and experimental procedure. Tossing your belongings on the dining table soon as you entered your grungy apartment.

Reading the article fully, then once more. Doctors have developed a experimental drug that could alter a Beta women's chemistry. Tricking the body into thinking its an Omega, a few experiments have been conducted and results have so far been proven successful. But they are searching for more Beta women to submit themselves into the program.

Those words playing over and over in your head, becoming an Omega, and having a loyal and supportive Alpha. Not having to worry about all the small things, not having to work and struggle to make ends meet. You could leave your pathetic life behind.

All Simon did was follow orders, being the good dog, he is. A successful mission out of the way, the Boss left before he did. Having to hurry back cause of his Omega. Simon used to have dreams about settling down, but that was before he became ghost. Stupid child aspirations, but mostly because he felt like he didn't deserve one. And who would want him as an Alpha, all teeth, and hard edges. It would be a punishment to be stuck with him until death, and death would be the reward.

You jotted the number down on a piece of paper and stuck it to your fridge. You didn't have to decide now, but you were tempted to.

Dealing with Makarov was easier than expected most of these men act tough on the outside but soon as you start pulling out their insides, they change their tune. He wasn't in too much of a hurry to get home, it's been two weeks since he last saw her, he's been keeping his distance, not wanting to poison her cause that's what he was poison.

It was very late into the night when he finally arrived in the city, driving down the desolate neighborhoods till he found himself parked in front of his apartment. Not the one across from hers but the one he bought himself soon as he had enough money too. The only thing that remained from his previous life. Cutting the engine and walking inside.

He still had a landline, hard wired into the wall next to the thermostat. He's never used it and has never had anyone call it. Not like many people have the number anyways, emergency he told himself when he bought and installed it all those years ago. Having the number updated in his file, but now it hangs there mockingly. Much to his surprise when he walked into his quiet home, a little red dot glowing from the device.

He ignored it at first, taking his clothes off to take a quick shower. To wash away the memories that still plague him, the water never being hot enough. He stood there in nothing but a towel around his waist. Staring at that glowing red light, missed call.

He should just delete it, but he decided to play the message. A voice came through the small speaker, one that he thought he'd never hear again. John Price.

"Oi Simon, it's John. Ain't sure if this dog and bone's still on the go. Tried your mobile, but it's saying it's disconnected. Anyways, thought I'd drop you a bell 'cause we're gonna be in the city for a bit. Fancy a chinwag, like the old days, yeah? So, give me a call, same digits as ever. It'd be proper nice to catch up, Simon."

It was silent for a while afterwards, only Simon's heaving breathing filling up the space. Not once did they call him while he was locked up doing time, not once did they reach out and say they cared. They were family once, at least he thought they were. Stupid.

All the rage simmering up inside of him finally boiled over the edge. Simon grabbed the stupid phone and slammed it into the wall as hard as he could, again and again until there was nothing left but broken pieces of plastic, wiring and now a hole in his wall.

It only took you three hours of pacing back and forth in your tiny apartment, the small piece of paper stuck to your fridge door taunting you. As the line rang you debated on hang up, forgetting any of this happened but it was to late. The reception answered your call, redirecting you to the head of the project. Giving a little info over the phone they scheduled you in for the same day if you could make it. It was on the other side of town, the side you hardly went to cause there was no need. Unless you wanted to make yourself feel even more shitty about your life.

He debated if he should call, be the bigger person the little voice in his head called out. They had their reasoning for abandoning him, for treating him like the plague, they had to, right?

You were on the bus, watching as the fading sun descended and the moon turned brighter. The glow of city coming to life, some many people out and about. You barely had enough money to and back, getting off at the stop further away. Walking the rest to save a bit of cash and take in the scenery. The air was crisp, it never got too cold during the winter season. Also, long as the wind stayed away it was a mild year so far.

To say this was awkward was an understatement. Simon sat across from the beta Scottsman, not much has changed he thought. The group of men still joking around like nothing happened like good ol' times, they kept trying to get him in on it. Simon soon realised that this was a mistake, all of it. Calling Price and picking out this bar. They weren't his pack anymore, they ditched him soon as things went south.

Simon's grip on his glass of bourbon tightened when Johnny yelled "Right Lt." the group getting quiet afterwards, Johnny knew he fucked up. Simon got up abruptly, taking a big gulp of the burning liquid amber, polishing off his drink before slamming it back down.

"Goin’ for a smoke." as he grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. Marching towards the front door. He could hear Kyle's faint call of his name, the beta man always playing mediator, Price holding Johnny back like an Alpha would a misbehaving puppy as Simon made his way outside.

"Bunch of fuckin' pricks." it was a whisper to himself, digging out his pack of smokes and shoving one into his mouth. Lighting it with ease as he sucked in a big lung full. The door to the bar opened and closed, fully expecting to smell the cigar-soaked Alpha but instead it was Johnny tail between his legs.

"I ken ye dinnae wanna gab about it." he tried but Simon cut him right off. "I don't." blowing a huge cloud in the betas face. "Weel, someone's gotta." he just wanted some fucking peace and quiet. "The start talkin’ or shut the fuck up." dropping his finished cigarette to the ground, giving it a good stomp before putting another to his lips.

"Things have changed, ye've changed. Ah ken everything's aw fucked up right now. We tried-" Simon huffed out a stiff laugh, not believing a thing the Scott was saying. He could see his lips still moving but he couldn’t hear what he was saying as a familiar scent caught his nose.

Before Simon could think a small body collided with Soaps as he stepped out towards the curb with a hand to the back of his neck. "Ah, fuck, sorry ‘bout that, lass." Simon watched in slow motion as you got knocked off balance. Johnny reaching out to help the poor thing but before, he could feel the growl coming from his chest and throat. Pushing the Beta to the side as he took a hold of you, bring you to his chest.

He could hear your lower whimper, there was something different about you. Your scent was sweeter, it was pulling him in like a bee to a flower. "Simon?" letting out in a shaky breath. "What are you doing here?" you looked up into his eyes. Your hands resting against his chest, the hard muscle underneath flexing, a low rumble coming from within. You’ve never seen him like this, so casual but also feral, eyes blown and panting.

"Am I interrupting ye in the midst of somethin'?" Johnny didn't know what the hell was going on. Looking at the Omega flushed against the old Alpha, he was just happy that after everything that happened it was nice to see his old lieutenant finally settling down with such a sweet thing. Simon finally broke his gaze from you, settling it on the Beta. “It was a nice chat, gotta go.”

"Come, I'll drive you home." he stated, gripping your upper arm as he moved you towards his car. The more you stood outside surround by people the more Simon got irritated. He couldn't put his finger on it, the changes within you. He'd been away from a couple of weeks; it was hard staying away but he had a responsibility and a job to do. "I can take the bus." you tried moving around Simon, spotting the other man who was now gawking. "Like hell." Simon held onto you firm, walking you to his car.

"See you around." the Scott yelled from somewhere behind. He couldn't wait to tell the other two men of what he witnessed. The grumpy old Alpha had found himself a sweet Omega.

The drive home was in silence, not even the radio to help ease the awkward tension building up in the car. When Simon pulled onto your street you gathered your belongings. "Wait." you snapped your head to the driver's side.

"What were you doing out so late?" he was trying to interrogate you "I had an appointment." you held your hands in your lap, fidgeting with your fingers. "Hmm" Simon grunted out, the whole way back to your apartment he had to stop himself from pulling the car over and pouncing on you.

Something wasn't right and he didn't like it or maybe he did. It confused him nonetheless and he wanted answers.

"You want to come up?" you don't know why you asked, why those words spilled out of your mouth. Simon was surprised too, cocking his head to side. "Sure." he cut the engine.

Once inside your apartment you didn't bother asking him if he wanted anything to drink. Unless he's into expired milk or tap water. The hulking man walked around your small place, picking things up and putting them down. Take in his surroundings, he already didn’t like you living in this area. He’s scoped out your apartment, the front door was a piece of shit, with a little bit of a jiggle and it popped open.

Walking towards your dingy couch he noticed the paper on the table, picking it up he scanned the words. You didn't.... His eyes found your form, busying yourself around your small kitchen. Shoving dirty dished into the sink to be forgotten about till later. Simon sniffed the air again, there was that familiar scent again. The smell of an Omega, the similar one that clung to his Boss, that filled every space of his home.

Omega.

He felt is heart quicken, his blood run thin. He's only had this feeling a few times, he was going to throw up and pass out at the same time. You noticed his completion pale, worrying you, grabbing a glass and filling it with your last bottle of water. Rushing to his side and calling his name.

Simon was so far away; he was in the middle of the raging ocean. The waves crashing over him, pulling him deeper under every unforgiving wave. Lungs full of burning salt water, gasping with arms stretched to the sky.

You could do the only thing you could think of you climbed into his lap. Curling yourself around him, rubbing your scent glad over his nose and mouth.

[mwolf0epsilon]

Summary: There was something strange on the tracks...

Prompts: The Departure | Dusk

[And so ends my very first crack at Traintober! I hope you've all enjoyed my quickly little drabbles, and Happy Halloween!]

---

~~~🌕~~~

When he was younger and still considered a relatively modern engine, Edward used to work at any given time of the day.

From the very crack of dawn to the tail-end of the witching hour and beyond, he'd been able to withstand some of the most arduous working schedules an engine of the time could ever be bestowed with.

Something which he'd greatly prided himself in.

But his time in the limelight had certainly come and gone, and as trains grew longer and heavier it became very obvious that his class was far too outdated to keep with the turn of the century. The modern commute far too much for an engine of his rather respectable age.

That grueling schedule belonged to both Henry and Gordon now. Sometimes even James. All three of them larger, stronger, and considerably younger engines than Edward. And this was fine by him, as he greatly enjoyed being able to take things slower these days.

There was, however, the rare occasion where Edward would find himself slotted to do extra work outside of his usual schedule.

The fat controller would either entrust him with exported goods trains that went outside of his usual route (including to the mainland), or he'd request that Edward inspect the lines at certain dates when there was sure to be some wear and tear from the past couple of months of service.

The latter had been what he was set to do, on this perfectly calm yet oddly eerie full moon night...

Charlie and Sidney had approached as the sun began to set. Still a little drowsy from their four hours of rest in the breakroom, but alert and chipper enough that Edward knew their yawns and bleary-eyed looks wouldn't be much of a problem.

He could have been assigned a replacement crew to do the inspection, but the two had insisted that they take the job instead. Reassuring their boss that, if Edward could do it, so could his trusty crew.

Besides, they knew the route by heart, and they also knew the parameters of the job. It'd be easier that they just do it themselves than leave Sir Topham Hatt to scramble in search of a crew with nearly as much experience, on such short notice.

The two men drank their respective caffeinated hot beverages to help wake them up a little more, and then set off to work getting Edward ready for the trip.

They wouldn't be pulling anything today. It was just Edward, his full tender, and his crew with a trusty clipboard and flashlights in hand. They'd jot down their findings, compile a report, and then swiftly deliver it to the fat controller's office.

And then they'd all get the morning off. A fairly simple in and out job made even easier by the bright shine of the full moon's light.

A win-win scenario!

They departed at dusk. Edward calling out one last farewell whistle to the kindly guard as he left the station, and enjoying the sensation of stretching his wheels without the burden of coaches or trucks to weight him down.

It wasn't often that Edward got to enjoy the thrill of a run all around the island. His age and his responsibility over his branch line, keeping him far too busy to go on joyrides. But it also wasn't like Edward was one to want for things anyway. He loved his work, loved his crew, and above all else loved the railway he served under.

The NWR having become both a home and a family to him.

Still, self-indulgence wasn't a crime. And he greatly enjoyed indulging in some guilty-pleasures. No one was perfect, after all!

Besides, the beginning of these inspection runs were quite dull. It was best to find some enjoyment out of them before the real work began.

"So far so good chaps!" Sidney called out, as he temporarily put his shovel down to wipe at the sweat on his brow. "Smooth rails, no overgrowth, and not a single fallen branch on the line."

"The lads have been keeping this part of the island nice and tidy." Charlie responded, as he kept a keen eye out. Occasionally reaching out of the cab window to give Edward a light pat. "And the weather's been perfectly docile... Odd for this time of year, but not unwelcome. Means there's less to clean up."

"It's been calm, yes." Edward added his own thoughts without hesitation. His crew rather loved involving him, which he greatly appreciated. "Even so, I've heard that Old Bailey has been complaining about the lines down by Hawkin Lake..."

"Ah..." Charlie scratched his chin in thought. "Yeah, people are wont to complain about the Peel Godred branch... Lots of odd happenings there."

"At the very least, the ghost is friendly." Sidney quipped as he went back to shoveling. "But I have to admit, the whole area looks pretty spooky after dark..."

"Shouldn't tonight." Charlie dismissed. "With how bright the moon's shining, you could almost mistake it for daytime."

Indeed, the full moon that night was rather bright. And as Edward made his way through the various tracks and stations, he couldn't help but to be somewhat enthralled by it.

The silvery sheen it cast upon Sudrian soil making everything look dazzling and almost enchanted.

Down to the piles of fallen leaves that had been raked during the day to be collected in the morning, to the very shapes of the hills and trees that they passed by.

The clear lakes looked the most stunning of all, reflecting the gorgeous sights surrounding them.

So entertained was he in taking in the beauty of the night, and his crew so busy with their tasks, that none of them noticed a figure darting from the woods and onto the tracks. Not until Edward glanced back up, only to find a living obstruction in front of his path...

"DRIVER!" He shouted in alarm as he instinctively applied his own breaks in a panic, before his entire world grew painfully askew...

Charlie and Sidney coughed and spluttered as they crawled and then climbed out of their poor engine's overturned cab. Broken glass cut into the palms of their hands, and where their knees met the wall (now temporarily serving as the floor).

The spilled hot coals had to be stamped out quickly before they threatened to cause a fire.

It was a chore, getting out and onto solid ground. But one that they managed surprisingly well, as they were lucky enough to not be as injured as they could have been in this situation. Edward on the other hand, was in much worse condition than them...

The old engine had been completely derailed, his tender twisted in another direction with it's cargo of coal spilled out on the tracks, and the rest of him half buried in the ground by the sheer strength of the impact.

It was hard to believe.

One moment everything had been fine and dandy, and then the next they'd suffered a rather brutal and unexpected accident.

It was almost unthinkable.

Never in their years of service had this ever happened to them. But that was a thought for later... Right now, Charlie and Sidney needed to do right by their friend.

"Oh dear..." The driver climbed onto a pile of upturned soil, noting how one side of Edward's buffer beam and footplate were fully interred. The one visible buffer was bent out of shape, and the twisted railing looked almost painful.

Worse yet was his friend's face. One side scratched up and reddened, as well as covered in copious amounts of dirt. Harder to ignore were the tears welling in Edward's eyes as he came to. Moaning in clear pain.

"Oh dear... Oh you poor lad..." Charlie mournfully put a hand to the undamaged side of Edward's face, trying his very best to comfort the frightened engine. "What a disaster..."

For what it was worth, the K2 class did his best to blink away tears and look to his driver and friend's face, before whimpering sadly.

"T-There was something on the tracks..."

There had been. Otherwise Edward would not have stopped nearly as abruptly. But whatever it had been, it had vanished back into the night. Likely a deer that had come inches away from death.

"Hey... Charlie...?" Sidney called out from the other side of the wreckage. He sounded confused. "You might wanna come have a look..."

Charlie hesitated in doing so. Not wanting to leave Edward by himself right now. But, on Sidney's insistence and their engine muttering that he'd be fine for a few minutes, he climbed back down and went to meet with the fireman.

What he saw made him pause.

There, on Edward's tender, were some rather odd scratch marks. Not the same as the ones caused by the crash, but rather... Well, they looked very much like claw marks.

"What in god's name...?" The driver stared at the deep gauges in disbelief.

"The hell did we hit...?" Sidney muttered to himself as he felt just how deep the scratches were. Stopping only when Edward yelped in response to the sudden jolt of pain.

"I don't know.... I didn't see any blood." Charlie admitted. "Whatever it was, we probably just... Grazed it...?"

"These are too deep to be a graze... But... Oh, it doesn't matter." Sidney groaned, dismissing the topic completely. "We need to get help..."

"We're not too far from the next station. Just 5 more miles... Can you make the trek, or should I go?" The driver offered.

"I'll go, you're limping." Sidney pointed out. "Keep the old chap company... He's in a bad way."

"I don't blame him... Poor thing." Charlie shook his head and made his way back to the front of their fallen engine. Hoping that rescue would arrive swiftly. For Edward's sake, more than their own.

Fortunately for all parties involved, the breakdown crew came remarkably quickly.

Henry had been on his way to do his Kipper run, when news of the accident had reached him and his crew. Ted had thought fast and called in to send someone to replace Henry (likely a disgruntled James), and then they'd promptly gone to help pull Edward out of the dirt.

The older engine's state was rather poor, as Charlie had previously assessed. But the damages were thankfully repairable, and Victor's prognosis was a very positive one!

Honestly they'd all been fairly lucky. Too lucky...

~~~🌕~~~

After being repaired and put back into service, things should have gone back to normal. Except they hadn't. As the days crawled on by, Charlie and Sidney quickly began to notice a rather odd shift in their friend's demeanor.

He was a little more impatient than usual. And not just when he was left to wait on someone else's connection points.

His boiler and firebox were also unusually temperamental, being either alarmingly noisy (the sound of boiling water and steam rumbling in such a way that it almost sounded like the gurgling belly of a great big beast), or spitting out the occasional hot coal (Sidney had almost been hit on the leg more than once, where nothing of the sort had ever happened before!).

Most startling of all was how grouchy he had become overnight. Grumbling and glaring as he went about his days, with the most sour disposition anyone had ever seen in him...

Needless to say, Charlie and Sidney were more than a little concerned for their engine.

"I don't feel well..." The K2 class would whimper to himself, only to then bark out an aggressive retort if anyone asked him what it was that he was feeling. "I don't know! Leave me be!"

His crankiness had gotten so bad that he even put Cranky to shame. Something which lead to the other engines attempting to avoid him to the best of their abilities (even Thomas and the twins).

No one was fond of being yelled at after all...

"Do you think it's trauma related...?" Charlie asked Ted one day. Knowing that Henry's fireman certainly had experience dealing with short-fused engines.

"It could be... It could also be pain related." Ted offered thoughtfully, as they discussed the issue. "Before his rebuild, whenever we got Henry's fire going, he felt a lot of aches and pain that wore his patience thin... It made him snappish. But he also felt bad about snapping at others, which ultimately only made him even more irritable..."

"He's been complaining of feeling unwell..." Sidney mused. "But we've taken him to the Steamworks repeatedly... No one can find anything wrong."

"Well... Edward is a rather old engine. Even if he's in tip top shape, perhaps he has the equivalent of engine arthritis?" Ted again suggested, trying to give them a different perspective. "The accident could have exacerbated it..."

"If that's the case.... Then there's really nothing we can do." Charlie looked down at his feet miserably. "You can't cure arthritis..."

"No... But you can try to manage the pain." Ted gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Talk to the fat controller... He'll understand."

And talk to the fat controller they did. For the foreseeable future, Edward was to have a lighter workload until whatever was wrong with him could either be pinpointed or (if they were lucky), sorted itself out.

Needless to say, the old engine wasn't happy about being confined to the sheds. Giving his crew the silent treatment for 'going behind his back', or so he muttered to himself whenever he thought they were out of earshot.

Charlie and Sidney were crushed by this, of course, but still did their very best to be there for Edward. And their efforts paid off.

With more rest, Edward's mood did improve slightly. And with continued patience and affection, he forgave both of them for pulling him from his usual services.

"I'm sorry I've been such a nuisance..." The old engine apologized sadly. "I just... Haven't been feeling like myself..."

"It's ok... You went through something awful old boy." Charlie very gently patted the bridge of his friend's nose. "We don't blame you for feeling a little off after that."

"And besides, we're made of tougher stuffs..." Sidney beamed happily, chipper as usual. "Now rest up. We're pulling a goods train tonight! Gonna be smooth rails all throughout, and another pretty moonlit night to boot!"

"I'll try to be on my best behavior, I promise." Edward smiled tiredly as he let himself rest in his berth. Tonight would be a good night.

Or so he thought...

The morning and afternoon came and went. Engines and crews alike going about their business and then settling in after they'd completed their shifts.

Charlie and Sidney, fully rested and ready for their late night train, made their way towards the lonely shed where they'd left their dear friend to rest peacefully without any intrusion.

Only to find it empty...

Flabbergasted, they both immateriality went to the stationmaster to ask if a replacement crew had been called in to take Edward instead.

Only to be met with even more bewilderment.

"No one's wanted to work with Edward as of late, other than the two of you that is..." The stationmaster explained. "As a matter of fact, no one's gone near his shed for fear of being yelled at..."

"But... But he's gone!" Charlie insisted, pointing to the very obviously empty shed. "He's not there!"

"....That can't be right... No one took him, I swear..." The man peered into the shed himself and stared in disbelief. "The hell...?"

"Do you mean to tell us someone stole our engine right under your nose?!" Sidney glared angrily.

"I'm telling you two! No one went near the sheds all day or night! I would have seen!" The stationmaster insisted. Clearly taking offense to Sidney's accusations.

"So what, Edward just rolled off on his own? He'd never do such a thing!" Sidney retorted, crossing his arms impatiently as he regarded the other man with suspicion.

"Oh sod off Sidney... I'm gonna go make a call to see if anyone's spotted him. I'm getting to the bottom of this..." The stationmaster snapped back before angrily stomping off into his office to do just that.

Leaving the two alone to stare at the impossibly empty shed. How in the world had an engine just seemingly vanished without anyone noticing?!

"I swear to god..." Sidney kicked a pebble and made his way towards the empty berth. Hoping by some miracle that there was any sort of clue as to what had happened to their engine.

"Nothing we can do about it... I mean... Someone would have noticed the old boy going around..." Charlie tried to placate his friend's clear irritation. "He's not exactly small."

"Yet, somehow, someone vanished him out of his shed without being noticed... I mean. It's not like Edward would have just sprouted legs and--" The fireman paused.

"And...?" Charlie raised an eyebrow.

Sidney remained quiet. He seemed to blink a few times while keeping his gaze glued to the floor, then looked to Charlie with absolute astonishment in his eye. Then, without so much as a word, he pointed down to the ground.

On the unpaved soil next to where the rails met the track, was a rather large imprint in the mud. An imprint that looked vaguely like a dog's paw print. Only, neither men had ever seen a dog quite as large enough to leave prints of such a size...

It looked like it could have easily dwarfed a bear.

"....What...What is this...?" Charlie stared at the impossible sized paw print, noting the presence of others that surely enough lead towards the outskirts of the station. Into the woods.

"...I have no clue... But we're about to find out." Sidney proclaimed, before going into the nearest utility shed to get a flashlight.

"I... Don't think that's such a good idea..." Charlie pointed out.

"Don't be daft Charlie." Sidney grumbled. "This is clearly some stupid kids playing a silly prank... Honestly..."

"I mean... It could be. But..."

"Charlie. Are you really gonna pretend whatever is going on in that superstitious mind of yours is anything but silly?" The fireman raised an eyebrow. He knew exactly what Charlie was thinking, and even the driver himself had to admit it was silly to think such things. But still... Something felt off about this situation.

"I suppose..."

"Then it's settled. We're getting our engine back."

The two men went into the woods, a single flashlight between them, following the tracks that could only have been faked by some punk kids with nothing better to do than bother the railway.

The large dog-like prints almost seemed like they went on forever. Taking them deeper and deeper into the woods, where both felt incredibly exposed and yet so utterly alone...

If something were to happen to them, no one would be around to help.

"I think we should go back..." Charlie murmured uneasily, feeling more and more unsettled as they kept following the tracks.

"Not until we get Edward back and show those brats what for..."

"Sid, I really don't think a bunch of kids would go quite this far with a prank..." Charlie insisted, trying to call his friend to reason.

"Kids get up to elaborate mischief if they think they're being clever and funny. Well, guess what you punks! This is neither!" Sidney hollered into the woods, waving his flashlight about.

"Sidney!" Charlie barked, before shushing his friend.

"Oh come off it Charlie! There's nothing to be afraid of! There's no big animals on Sodor that would pose any--"

A loud crack, akin to a snapping twig but larger, startled the two men out of their conversation. Instinctively, they turned towards the source of the noise. The fireman quickly bringing his arm up to illuminate it... Only to be met with something out of a bad horror movie.

"S-s-s-Sidney!"

"Oh my god..."

The stench of sulfur and the low growl of a monster, chilled the two to their very core, before raw instinct drove them to flee. A horrifying whistle that sounded more like a distorted howl, fallowing them to the very edge of the woods where they hoped they'd find refuge from the beast.

Edward had been right. There had been something strange in the tracks that full moon night...

And it had done something unspeakable to him.

[bonefall]

hi! how did you put together the list of herbs clerics in your rewrite use? do you have any tips about researching that kinda stuff? especially for fanclans that don't live in england and wouldn't use the same plants the canon cats use

I actually have my process down to a science. Here's a super, super boiled down guide to "How To Research Likes Bones Does"

Step 1: Search Engine Phase

You start with, "Treatments for X", "X medicine," if you don't know a lot about the medicinal issue, learn about it. Find out what is used to treat it, the history of treatments.

Especially non-medication treatments. Lifestyle changes, physical therapies, woundcare if applicable. People are CONSTANTLY overlooking things as simple as, "drink more fucking water."

End off with herbal remedies. Note them. It's okay if you jot down quackery, we're going to sort the chaff in the next step.

Step 2: Check the species on iNaturalist.

You can make a custom search in the shape of a square of circle to check an area similar to your chosen region. In fact, here's the one I use to check for BB Expansions.

Once you've whittled down that this plant is used to treat whatever ailment, AND that it's region-friendly, now we're going to check if it can actually be used.

Step 3: "Is X safe for cats?"

MOST herbs you encounter are going to say "no," but look a little harder. WHAT makes it unsafe for cats?

For example, lilies contain saponins, which are so toxic that it will be eliminated from a list if you see that word. But other plants, like parsley, just cause stomach upset. That's understandable, cats are carnivores and you're not supposed to eat medicine like a meal.

Secret 4th Step: Take an interest in plants and animals that live in your chosen environment.

Today I learned that Male Fern is used to treat tapeworms traditionally. I did not know that yesterday. I marked down that this plant can be used to treat tapeworms.

Many herbs are like this. Knoutberry is high in vitamins. Clary is also called Eyebright because it has a special property when used in eyewashes. Stinky Bob treats diarrhea, liver issues, toothaches, and nosebleeds. You never know what you will stumble across, knowledge is never a waste.

So just write stuff down or make a mental note when you find something. Run it through Step 3 before deciding, but keep little lists around of possibilities.

[babbybones]

Oekaki updatez...

Monster Kidz Oekaki is still up and i'd like to keep it that way, but i need to give it some more attention and keep people updated on what's going on/what my plans are for it. so let me jot some thoughts down...

data scraping for machine learning: this has been a concern for a lot of artists as of late, so I've added a robots.txt file and an ai.txt file (as per the opt-out standard proposed by Spawning.ai) to the site in an effort to keep out as many web crawlers for AI as possible. the site will still be indexed by search engines and the Internet Archive. as an additional measure, later tonight I'll try adding "noai", "noimageai", and "noml" HTML meta tags to the site (this would probably be quick and easy to do but i'm soooo sleepy 🛌)

enabling uploads: right now, most users can only post art by drawing in one of the oekaki applets in the browser. i've already given this some thought for a while now, but it seems like artist-oriented spaces online have been dwindling lately, so i'd like to give upload privileges to anyone who's already made a drawing on the oekaki and make a google form for those who haven't (just to confirm who you are/that you won't use the feature maliciously). i would probably set some ground rules like "don't spam uploads"

rules: i'd like to make the rules a little less anal. like, ok, it's no skin off my ass if some kid draws freddy fazbear even though i hope scott cawthon's whole empire explodes. i should also add rules pertaining to uploads, which means i'm probably going to have to address AI generated content. on one hand i hate how, say, deviantart's front page is loaded with bland, tacky, "trending on artstation"-ass AI generated shit (among other issues i have with the medium) but on the other hand i have no interest in trying to interrogate someone about whether they're a Real Artist or scream at someone with the rage of 1,000 scorned concept artists for referencing an AI generated image someone else posted, or something. so i'm not sure how to tackle this tastefully

"Branding": i'm wondering if i should present this as less of a UTDR Oekaki and more of a General Purpose Oekaki with a monster theming. functionally, there wouldn't be much of a difference, but maybe the oekaki could have its own mascot

fun stuff: is having a poll sort of "obsolete" now because of tumblr polls, or should I keep it...? i'd also like to come up with ideas for Things To Do like weekly/monthly art prompts, or maybe games/events like a splatfest/artfight type thing. if you have any ideas of your own, let me know

boring stuff: i need to figure out how to set up automated backups, so i guess i'll do that sometime soon... i should also update the oekaki software sometime (this is scary because i've made a lot of custom edits to everything)

Money: well this costs money to host so I might put a ko-fi link for donations somewhere... at some point... maybe.......

[ahiddenpath]

For the fanfiction ask game: 17, 18, 25, 49, 51!

Citrus! Thank you so much for the asks! If anyone is looking for Digimon Adventure and 02 fanfics, you can read mine on FFN or on AO3 if you are logged in <3

17.) Do you have a writing routine?

A few years ago, I was big on finding a place with a closed door and lighting a candle (partly for vibes, partly to discourage wandering off). But these days, I try to be as informal as possible, so that it's easy to write anytime, anywhere. Sometimes, all you can do is get 15 minutes of copying edits into your draft or jotting down ideas, and those 15 minutes are way better than nothing.

18.) Do you enjoy research? Which fic of yours required the most research?

I enjoyed research a lot more about 10 years ago. Search engines are a nightmare these days! I tried to research courtship in Japan and France in the 1930s for Puits d'Amour, and there is. Nothing. Searchable on Google in English for anywhere except the states and the UK. I ended up purchasing some books on the history of courtship that are, sadly, still very US and UK oriented, and just. Making it clear in my fic that the countries portrayed are fictional, largely in part bc I just could not get my hands on the info I needed.

I did some medical research for Seeking Resonance that was really interesting for me at the time, and oddly, came up in my career just last week! I was floored lol!

25.) What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

I seem to be comparatively light on the worldbuilding and outlining. I love writing because flow state feels amazing and I love editing because it's challenging play. Often, I find that what I want to say evolves from the moods and ideas that occur during flow state. It's been interesting, because over the 12 years of publishing as ahiddenpath, I can see reflections of what I was dealing with personally at the time, and how I resolved that strain with the story. Of course, this kind of writing demands more editing later, as it's so freeform. But I enjoy editing, and I believe my love of writing and need to write are strongly connected to the fact that I use writing to deal with things, to understand myself, to challenge myself, and to grow.

49.) What fic of yours would you say is the best introduction to you as a writer?

How I write and how I think about writing is always changing and evolving, so I suppose my more recent fics? But for the digimon fandom specifically, I usually say After August. Like most of my stories, it's a character-based drama. Specifically, it's about the Adventure Chosen dealing with the loss of their partners and the difficulty of shifting from life as a Chosen in the Digital World to life as kids on earth. Each of them copes in a resoundingly individual way, and they reach out to one another to offer what comfort and support they can.

My works tend to be about people grasping for self-growth and dealing with their demons. They usually aren't plot heavy, although I've been pushing myself to explore plot-based stories recently.

51.) Does what you like to write differ from what you like to read?

One of my closest friends has a master's in literature, and she obligingly wrote me a list of what is... How do you say this? Expertly??? Considered the best literature available in the English language. I've spent the last several years feasting on that, hoping to learn and grow. So, um. My writing can't compete, lol!!!!!

But lately, I've gotten back into reading purely for fun, rather than growth/challenge/experience. I devoured three modern Greek myth retellings in like a three week span, and I have another waiting at the library for me to pick up! Typical, lmao!

The sudden contrast made me notice that, at the risk of sounding snobbish, books written because the narrative is fun, imaginative, and joyful to behold are a different experience than books that encapsulate some aspect of humanity with painful, exquisite, brutal clarity. It's like, hello reader, would you like enjoyment or an existential crisis???? It's been a privilege and a joy to grow from these uh... Literature degree required reading list books. But man it's fun to eat a novel like it's cake!!! OM NOM NOM MORE PLEASE!

I'm not sure if that answered the question at all, but I guess recently I am trying to explore books that I find delightful rather than personally challenging.

Thanks for the asks friend, they were a great distraction from some difficult stuff <3 I really appreciate it! I'm happy to take more if anyone is interested.

[arataya]

Ok. Finally have that deadline hit and it’s the weekend. So I can share the thoughts. Buckle up; I’m not going to even try to be concise.

Also, the standard “storytelling is an art, not a science, so ymmv” applies here.

I am coming at this as someone who writes for a living, but not novels. I’m a technical writer. (Yes, someone really does write all those instructions that come with all the products. Also yes, sometimes the instructions are shit—partly because of translation issues, partly because corporations take for granted that writing is a skill and just because everyone is taught/expected to write in school [also, yes, I know, the school system fails at this for too many, so ‘everyone’ might be wrong, but this is a tangent in a tangent, so let’s ignore that can of worms.] the CEOs seem to think that anyone can write instructions, but it’s like saying “anyone can cook, so why do we need professional chefs?” In an ideal world, every company would employ at least 3 technical writers, but yeah, everyone wave at the capitalist hellscape our current reality is as we also ignore THAT can of worms.)

Anyway, as a technical writer I have to regularly make documents that are 30-100 pages long, and I am sometimes making or maintaining documents that are 600 pages long. Granted, the difference in use case means there are few words per page compared to a typical novel, but the pages are often larger than typical novel pages, so I think the point that I regularly write long-ass documents still stands.

For transparency’s sake, I will say that I have not published a novel, but my most recent completed work of fiction is 15,000 words, and I have a draft that is 26,000 words and not even close to finished. So I feel qualified to talk about longer form stuff is my point, I guess.

So, how to you go from writing shorter stuff, like a couple hundred to a couple thousand words, to writing stuff that is tens to hundreds of thousands of words?

I think the secret is organization. Now, that can be intimidating, as people on this, the neurospicy webbed site, can attest. BUT I’m not talking a full spreadsheet mapping out every detail before you write the first word. I’m talking about taking a moment when you’re adding or removing things to think about impacts.

When writing instructions, sometimes I am given information about how the end product works before I am given information about how the product will look coming out of the box. So I have to stay organized. If the engineer makes changes to a part, I need to make sure that those changes are reflected throughout the instructions—not just the task that uses the part, but in the parts list, the task before the part that preps for the part, the four tasks afterward that rely on that part. (For the record—this is EXACTLY what caused my stress at work. The engineers changed a part 4 days before the deadline. Thankfully, I convinced my boss to give me 3 extra days, and so the instructions were still ready on time—sorry tangent again!)

When my professional work is still in flux, I use little symbols (my preferred is *** because that string of characters just isn’t going to show up normally, but you can use anything—XYZ, $&@, whatever) to mark that piece as in flux. Next to my symbols, I jot down some notes about what is changing and what information I still need. For example “***The screw length (and maybe NUMBER?) is changing here. Double check with engineer; also remember this will affect task 6 as well.”

The main reason for this is that I have to keep writing and working, even without all the information I need. So I jump around all the time. Work on the assembly instructions one day, work on use case A instructions the next, work on the parts list the third.

Then, when I get the information I need, I just do a search (Ctrl+F is my friend!) for the *** and find where I need to plug it in. Or if I think I’m done, I still look for *** and then go, “oh right, that piece needs more.”

In my longer writing, I do the same thing. I have a vague plan of what is going to happen, or a specific scene that I just have to write, so I write that as best I can. Then, when I get stuck, I go “***They get out of the cave safely—maybe Jane breaks her arm???? Still need to figure out if Jane trusts Frank at this point!”

I’ll also do a short bulleted list of “what comes next?” Which is a lot like thinking about the tasks for assembling a product in my professional work.

It might look like:

They get stuck in the cave, instead? Maybe they go back???

Frank has a scar that means….something?? He needs a badass scar!

Need to flesh out Jane’s meeting with Amber

And then it’s just a matter of writing little complete pieces until the story is incredibly long. Which, yeah, I know, that’s the hard part. But imo, if you know how to write a short story, you know how to write a scene in a longer story. Your scenes still need that intro, action, conflict, resolution that your short stories need.

I stuck with one specific thing that has helped my professional and personal writing when it is longer form. As always, your mileage may vary. Best of luck and I’m always happy to talk shop more.

I love your writing. It’s the type of writing that I love bc other than being easy to read, I admire it bc it accomplishes what I struggle with. It uses few words yet conveys across the idea efficiently, vagueness to its benefit.

Have you heard the phrase “I want to distill myself like poets do”? It comes from a tumblr post of someone trying to express the same thing as me rn.

Anyway the other part of what I wanted to say is that I’m autistic, and when I try to write, I always succumb to the urge to add as many details and overexplanations as possible to avoid being misunderstood. You’re autistic too, but your writing shines in doing the opposite, so I was wondering if you struggled with this too, and how you got better, or if your flavor of autism simply doesn’t manifest in this way and this isn’t a problem to you

Unfortunately, I do naturally tend towards condensed formats. So some part of this is just natural for me. If it makes you feel better, I tried several times to make serials while doing HFY and I never succeeded. I've also tried several times to write books, and I always just get kind of stuck. It's one of my big regrets, so if you have any experience in those, I'd love to hear it. Same from anyone else reading this, actually - if you've made the jump from short stories to long form, I'd like to know how you managed.

Still, despite it being a natural thing for me, I can give you three activities that I've done that improved my short story work very much.

First, improv classes. Attending them will help your writing in ways you will not believe, and also, as an autist, that shit's better than OT. My parents signed me up for some in the summer of my fifth grade year, and they were legit life changing. Way less social anxiety, better writing, I could sing their praises all day. If you do one thing on this list, do this.

Second, write poetry. I do not consider myself a poet, but I attend a weekly poetry writing club, and it has noticeably improved my prose. Find one and go. As you get better, try and constrain the poetry you write to things like rhyme and meter. Writing with artificial constraints is amazing for teaching people to be focused and direct.

And if you have room for a third thing, maybe try finding a way to do extemporaneous public speaking besides the improv. I grew up Mormon, which involves absolutely insane amounts of public speaking from an early age, but I also did stuff like that in middle school NAL and high school speech and debate. Those all helped. They were stressful, and not terribly fun, but they did help, and it's a good skill to have.

I love talking shop, so thanks for asking! And just to reiterate my request from before, anyone that's jumped from short stories to novel length works, please, tell me your secrets. Plz.

[vishakhablogs]

How to Do Keyword Research For Your Blog? 2023

Introduction

In the ever-evolving world of online content creation, having a well-optimized blog is crucial for attracting organic traffic and reaching a wider audience. One of the key aspects of optimizing your blog for search engines is conducting effective keyword research.

By identifying the right keywords to target, you can improve your chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). In this article, we will delve into the process of keyword research for your blog and provide you with valuable insights and strategies to help you create content that resonates with your target audience.

If you are Looking For the Best Advertising Agency In Delhi to drive your business activities online and to overcome your competitors fast, then you should hire an Advertising Agency for your business who has extensive experience, inventive strategies, and a remarkable history of delivering outstanding outcomes. Here is Digital Triber which is one of the leading Advertising Agency In Delhi  with affordable cost. They have a team of highly skilled professionals and with the guidance of professionals along with effective SEO strategies you can achieve your business goal in a short period of time but in an effective way  I highly recommend considering Digital Triber as the Best Advertising Agency In Delhi  . 

Understanding Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of identifying the words and phrases that users enter into search engines when looking for information, products, or services. By targeting these keywords in your blog content, you increase your visibility in search engine results and attract relevant traffic.

However, it's important to note that keyword research is not just about finding the most popular or high-traffic keywords. It's about striking the right balance between search volume, competition, and relevance to your blog's niche.

Step 1: Define Your Blog's Niche

Before diving into keyword research, it's essential to have a clear understanding of your blog's niche. Defining your niche helps you identify the specific topics and themes that resonate with your target audience. By focusing on a specific niche, you can establish yourself as an authority and attract a loyal readership.

Step 2: Brainstorm Relevant Topics

Once you have defined your blog's niche, it's time to brainstorm relevant topics. Think about the main categories or themes that align with your niche and jot them down. For example, if you have a blog about fitness, your topics could include "strength training," "cardio workouts," "nutrition tips," and so on. These topics will serve as a foundation for your keyword research. If you have an wordpress site you should know about these Top 7 Best Free WordPress Plugins in 2023.

Step 3: Use Keyword Research Tools

To find the most suitable keywords for your blog, you need to leverage keyword research tools. These tools provide valuable insights into search volume, competition, and related keywords. Some popular keyword research tools include:

Google Keyword Planner:

Semrush

Ahrefs

Step 4: Analyze Keyword Metrics

Once you have identified a list of potential keywords using the tools mentioned above, it's time to analyze their metrics. Look for keywords with a balance of decent search volume and manageable competition. Avoid targeting highly competitive keywords, especially if your blog is new or lacks a strong domain authority.

Step 5: Consider Long-Tail Keywords

In addition to targeting broader keywords, it's important to consider long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are more specific and often have lower search volume but higher conversion rates. They can help you attract a more targeted audience and improve the quality of your blog traffic. For example, instead of targeting the keyword "fitness tips," you could focus on "beginner strength training tips for women."

Step 6: Analyze Competitor Keywords

Analyzing competitor keywords can provide valuable insights into what works in your niche. Identify your main competitors and analyze the keywords they are targeting. Look for gaps and opportunities where you can differentiate your content.

This analysis can help you refine your keyword list and come up with unique content ideas. If you have online business make it visible across the globe with the Advertising Agency In Delhi.

Step 7: Monitor and Refine

Keyword research is an ongoing process. It's crucial to monitor the performance of your chosen keywords and make adjustments as needed. Keep an eye on your blog's analytics to see which keywords are driving the most traffic and engagement. Additionally, stay updated with the latest trends and changes in your niche to refine your keyword strategy accordingly. Do you know the Difference Between Black Hat and White Hat SEO?

Conclusion

Effective keyword research is a fundamental aspect of optimizing your blog for search engines and attracting organic traffic. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can conduct comprehensive keyword research and create content that resonates with your target audience. Remember, it's not just about ranking high in Google but providing value to your readers. By delivering high-quality content consistently, you can establish your blog as an authority and drive sustained organic traffic.

[freelancersandeep]

What is White Hat SEO?

What is White Hat SEO Full Information

If you’re transferring ahead to your running a blog life, you then definitely have to be doing White Hat search engine optimization to jot down the content material of your internet site. But in case you do now no longer realize what’s White Hat search engine optimization? And how is it used? So nowadays I am going to offer you entire records approximately White Hat search engine optimization .Which will assist you in getting your internet site ranked faster.

For a blogger, your internet site is everything. And if the site visitors does now no longer come to the internet site, then he receives disappointed. But we need to research from our errors that why we aren’t capable of rank our internet site and what’s the most important purpose for now no longer getting site visitors to the internet site. The maximum vital issue for all of those is which you have a variety of information approximately SEO. If you do all of the paintings in your internet site in order that human beings can come in your internet site, then 100% you may have moved toward achievement very quickly.

What is White HAT SEO?

To bring the content of the block written by us to the top of the Google search engine, we optimize our written content well using On Page SEO and Off Page SEO, it is called White Hat SEO.

In White Hat search engine optimization, we do now no longer write content material preserving Google’s seek engine in mind. Whenever we write our content material, our complete interest is for the consumer touring our internet site. So that the individual coming can get all of the facts from us for which he’s looking on Google. And White Hat search engine optimization is executed with the aid of using following all of the policies of Google. In the sort of situation, our intention is that we offer actually correct facts to the people. So that he can come to our internet site for greater facts within side the coming time.

How do we use White Hat SEO?

It is quite simple to apply it, I am going to inform you a few factors which you’ll constantly want to keep in mind whilst writing an amazing quantity of content. And some of these strategies come handiest in White Hat SEO. Below you’re seeing all of the factors, out of which the primary factor is.

1. Quality Content

Whenever it’s miles mentioned SEO, it’s miles stated that “Contact is the King Of Blog” then this component is actually true. If you deliver excellent to the content material you’re writing, then 100% human beings certainly come lower back for your website. Example- You need to get a brand new computer and you’ve got a finances of ₹ 40000 and also you google to reveal me the nice computer up to ₹ 40000.

2. Structural Content

Talking approximately Google’s first choice, Google has usually favored structural content. In this, the usage of the proper headlines given with the aid of using you makes it smooth for the Google seek engine to index your article. And it’s also smooth for the travelling user, with the aid of using information the layout given with the aid of using you, he reveals out whether or not the records approximately his paintings can be observed right here or not.

3. Titles And Meta Description

You have to use the proper sort of identify or meta description on your written content. Like I actually have defined you absolutely properly in my vintage submit Black Hat SEO, for greater records, you could cross there and study it thoroughly. Here I might nevertheless like to inform you that on every occasion you need to percentage your Meta If you’re making a description, then best input the records approximately that you have written on your article.

4. Correct use of Keyword Research and Effective Keywords.

Whenever you’re going to write an article, then earlier than that recharge you nicely on that key-word and spot what different key phrases associated with its key phrases that humans are searching. And additionally hold in thoughts that there ought to be much less opposition on that key-word in addition to greater search.

If you try this then you could achieve success in bringing increasingly more visitors in your website. You ought to now no longer be at the back of the equal key phrases in certainly considered one among your posts. You can use a couple of key phrases to get your put up ranked. But the situation is that that key-word ought to be associated with that put up of yours.

In such a situation, where should you use your what’s score, I am going to tell you that below you are getting another list in which you can use all those keywords.

Title

Meta Description

Meta Keywords

Test

Alt Tag

Link

For more information visit this link

Want digital marketing services Click here

[mikesavagenewcanaan]

Mike Savage New Canaan  Just how to Find My Very First Classic Car Or Muscular Tissue Vehicle

Depending on what you desire, this can be really hard for the first time customer. Undoubtedly the initial thing that you require to recognize is what type of muscle mass vehicle you want. Beyond that the much more that you can discover that certain vehicle, that much better of that you will be.

A sad truth of these days is that there are a lot of people that will rip you off, if you do not know about the cars and truck that your looking for. Get a book regarding the vehicle that you have actually determined that you 'd like to have, read guide and learn all you can regarding the vehicle.

Take a notebook when you most likely to look at the vehicles, the factor that I claim automobiles, is that you should look at even more after that one of them. In the notebook you'll remember to help you pick the automobile that you desire. You will jot down the engine casting numbers, RPO codes, transmission codes, and back side codes.

Mike Savage New Canaan

You ought to always take down the vin code additionally, these numbers will aid you decide if you intend to purchase a car, or if you need to keep looking. When attempting to find your initial vintage car, or muscle car, you ought to never act to thrilled as you look at the autos.

Performing overly excited will make it simpler for a fraudster to tear you off. Play it off like you have two or 3 of them located, and now your attempting to decide in between them. This will place you ahead in the arrangement process, instead after that the person selling the cars and truck.

When attempting to find my first vintage car, or muscle automobile, the a lot more points that I place in my support, the better. Don't feel like your existing to them, believe me, they would do the exact same thing. Currently let's chat cash, and just how much of it to begin with.

Firstly let's obtain the idea of acquiring a vintage car, or muscle mass vehicle in good condition for $2,500. This very rarely occurs nowadays, and when it does it's just pure good luck. You ought to intend on costs concerning $10,000 to get a good starter vehicle.

When I state a great starter car, I indicate an automobile without a great deal of rust, and also tolerable regarding damages in either. I do not indicate a best cars and truck, so since we have that out of the way, as you consider these autos you should be taking a great deal of notes in your notebook.

In the long run you can contrast these notes to see which auto is the most effective one to start with. You need to contrast rate, problem of the cars, as well as if the auto is exactly what your searching for. You should purchase the one with the least troubles, that is the closest to precisely what your looking for.

If your preparation to build a show car out of this auto, you'll require to be a whole lot pickier then if it's an everyday chauffeur. Take a great deal of notes on the problem of the body, the interior, electric, and mechanical parts of the automobile, the listing must end up telling you which automobile is the most effective for the cash.

Mike Savage New Canaan

You need to always prepare to do some restoration work on the cars and truck, these are old autos, and also usually need some love. When situating my initial vintage car, or muscle cars and truck I always take note of the to the details. The great detail can conserve you a lot of cash in the long run.

By fine details I suggest does it have the engine that it came with from the factory? Does it have the transmission that it featured from the manufacturing facility? If you search for these kinds of things, you can save a lot of money when it comes time to restore the vehicle.

If you simply take your, as well as relocate a long sluggish as well as easy, you need to obtain simply the best vintage car, or muscle auto for you. But this is everything about how you do it, make use of the note pad as well as write down whatever that you discover that is, or isn't like it ought to be, as well as the moon is yours.

[bmdigitalutilization]

5 tips for SEO-friendly blog post

For some, writing for search engine optimization functions and writing to draw and captivate your audience look like conflicting desires. I absolutely disagree. Positive, the phrases you need to be determined for ought to be in a prominent area in case you need an SEO-optimized blog to publish. However, over-the usage of key phrases critically hampers the readability of your text, which you certainly don’t need to do. In reality, an excessive keyphrase density can even be a signal to google that you might be stuffing keywords into your text, which could negatively have an effect on your scores. 

This post provides pointers on writing weblog posts that can be search engine optimization-friendly and readable. Those two goals have to usually pass hand in hand as we believe that writing in comprehensible language gets you more visitors and continues them for your website online. All these tips are being used by well-known SEO Company around the globe. 

Before you start: do keyword research

Before you begin writing, you need to do keyword research. In case you want to dominate the quest effects, you’ll parent out which words your target market honestly searches for. These are the topics you have to write about and the keywords you should use for your text. While you’ve carried out your keyword studies and have a list of consciousness key phrases to jot down, it’s time to get on with writing. 

Here are 5 tips that will help you turn out to be a splendid weblog submission shared by the best SEO Company in Noida!

Writing Tips for SEO Pleasant Blog Post

mainly, your blog post has to be an amazing piece of writing. Whilst starting a brand new blog post, many bloggers simply begin writing, typing something that comes into their heads. Whilst this can paint for a few people who've natural writing talents, others can also want a little help. For my part, I always observe those ‘rules’ when I write a new blog. 

1. Assume before you write

Before you start, think carefully approximately the message of your piece. What do you want to inform your readers, or which primary query do you want to answer? What’s the cause of your article? And what do you want your readers to do at the top of the web page? Write down the answers to those questions before you start and consider the search reason a person may have. An easy way to get an insight into this is via searching at the search consequences for the quest term you need to rank with. 

2. Devise a shape for your post

To put in writing a readable and search engine optimization-pleasant blog post, you want to create a clean shape. This means that each publication has to have: some sort of creation (in which you introduce your subject matter); a frame (in which the main message is written); an end (in which you summarize the primary thoughts or draw a conclusion). In a few sentences, write down what you need to say in all three sections. You’ve now created a precis of your submission. This will help you create an established and readable weblog put up. Now real writing can start. 

3. Use paragraphs and headings

Every person makes use of paragraphs, but now not anyone uses them nicely. Don’t begin each new sentence on a new line just because it appears exceptional. Also, strive no longer to cause them to be too prolonged, as every paragraph needs to have its very own idea or situation. Ask yourself what the primary concept of every paragraph is. You must be capable of summarizing that most important idea in one sentence. If that’s now not viable and you want greater sentences to provide an explanation for the primary idea, you in reality want to apply extra paragraphs. Right headings also help your readers apprehend what a specific part of your textual content is set. In case you want human beings to discover their manner via your articles, use subheadings to lead them. Subheadings assist readers to experiment with your web page and make clear the structure of your articles. They’re not simply essential for readability, but for SEO as properly. That’s why I would also endorse the use of your keyword in a number of subheadings. I do mean some of them, as the use of your keyword in every heading will make the text clunky and unnatural. This can position people off analyzing similarly. 

4. Use transition words

Transition words help human beings experiment through textual content and apprehend the connection between sentences and paragraphs. As an example, let’s say that there are three reasons for human beings to shop for your product. You need to use sign words like: ‘initially’; ‘secondly’ and ‘subsequently’. Additionally, words like ‘however’, ‘further’, and ‘as an example deliver a clean signal to your readers. Readers will immediately get that an end will comply with phrases like ‘to sum up or ‘in brief’. Transition words are therefore very important to add structure to your textual content. 

5. Use related key phrases

Stuffing your article with your consciousness keyword makes it much less attractive to read, and it is able to additionally harm your rankings. Google is getting smarter, and it wants you to write down content that users will love. It doesn’t want you to use your cognizance keyword in every other sentence and has different approaches to research what your textual content is ready. One of the approaches that google understand the topic of your text is by means of spotting synonyms and other key phrases that are related to your recognition keyphrase. That’s why you ought to use synonyms and related key phrases during your copy.

[imaginesbymk]

“Find Me Under The Giant Rabbit.”

Reservoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction One Shot

SUMMARY: I read a Reddit fan theory that Mr. Pink survived, escaped the cops, got arrested and was then put on parole - leaving behind his old life and lying low as a waiter at Jack Rabbit Slims. What happens when you show up to the restaurant one night?

PAIRING: Mr. Pink/Buddy Holly waiter x Reader

TAGS: swearing, smoking + mentions of basically everything that happened in reservoir dogs which is the heist, violence, etc

NON REQUESTED

WORD COUNT: 2,870 (it’s long i’m sorry)

AUTHOR’S NOTE: this is probably the cheesiest thing i’ve ever written, and it’s nothing tarantino would ever put in his films, also there’s no way PF and RS can legitimately tie in together 100% even though there are some factors to support otherwise, but i wanted to write this and see something lol :( leave a like/reblog + feedback!!!

[gif credit]

YOU put your car in park, shutting off the engine, and observed it from afar. It was one hell of a big restaurant, almost a bit too cartoon-like. There was a giant anthropomorphic rabbit on top, and the lights claiming the name were glowing a bright red and yellow. Mind you, this was in Los Angeles, so who wouldn’t blame you if you took one look at Jack Rabbit Slim’s, and mistake it for a restaurant at Six Flags? 

Dozens of bikers came in with their motorcycles, yet their engines couldn’t even overpower the chatter coming from newcomers left and right. You ignored a heavy tattooed biker dressed in all leather and denim catcalling you from afar, and you reached the front desk. 

A man dressed in uniform, most definitely in character, tipped his hat at you and led you to a table with only two chairs. You weren’t expecting anyone to join you in the other seat across. So what if you went for dinner by yourself? You didn’t bother asking anyone to join you for that matter. Not anyone you could think of at the top of your head would be any less boring.

You began tracing your fingers around the rim of the ketchup bottle when not even five seconds after sitting down, a lady approached your table with ruby red lips. 

Of course, you thought. Servers were dressed up as icons from the 50s era.

“Marilyn,” you say in awe.

“Close enough,” Instead of being seated in the Marilyn Monroe section being served by a Marilyn Monroe-looking Marilyn Monroe, you were greeted with a tall Mamie Van Doren, who is just as breathtaking as Marilyn refilling everyone’s coffee mugs from the other side of the restaurant. “How about I get you started with drinks?”

Ricky Nelson’s performance on stage came to an end when Mamie arrived with your food. You looked around the place while eating. People weren’t eating by themselves. Families, friends, dates, all of them occupied their seats. Now that you’ve noticed, you sort of wished you brought someone with you, otherwise the seat across from you is used as a footrest. 

So there, you propped your feet on top, and relaxed… then you sat upright. Your eyes fixated on the waiter in his section, which were the cars back in the 50s used as booths. You watch him walk towards one of them. The couple was a young woman in a blunt bob cut with bangs, and a man wearing a black suit with long black hair tied back.

You squint your eyes. It couldn’t be...

“Hi, I’m Buddy. What can I get ya?”

You blinked, dropping the half bitten French fry from your mouth. Holy fucking shit.

It was all coming back to you. The news broke out about the heist going wrong at the wholesale, all dead except for one, a cop who laid dead on the ramp inside the rendezvous was identified as Mr. Orange. Since he wasn’t supposed to know where you were from, Mr. Pink never turned up to your door as an emergency hideout, or to drag you with him on his getaway because he never had one. You never heard of him ever since. 

Here he was, Mr. Pink, alive and well, wearing glasses. What the hell happened? How long has he been working here? Is he supposed to be Buddy Holly?

“How do you want that cooked? Burnt to a crisp or bloody as hell?” you hear him ask the man in the suit who ordered a steak.

“Bloody as hell, and oh, yeah, look at this- vanilla coke.”

You noticed the irony. He left you in a black suit - and he comes back in white. Like he’d ever want to be caught dead in white, or pink.

“What about you, Peggy Sue?” he asks the woman, jotting in his notepad. You recognized the pun.

“I’ll have the Durwood Kirby burger, bloody. And… the five dollar shake.”

Were you about to laugh? Call out his name? That was enough for you to get antsy in your seat, but you didn’t want to draw attention. You saw him again while finishing up half of your meal, giving the couple their drinks and disappearing back into the kitchen. He was doing his job, but it wasn’t like he was giving his one hundred percent. For someone who preached to the Gods about professionalism, Mr. Pink sure lacked work ethic. Every employee was on point with their character impersonations as if you had travelled back in time. Meanwhile, he acted like himself and seemed bored while wearing an emotionless face, as if he hated his job and epitome of his existence. It was never a dull moment for him whenever he was with you, though.

You got up to use the restroom.

“We’re lucky we got anything at all. I don’t think Buddy Holly’s much of a waiter,” you heard the man at the booth tell the woman as you walk past them, spotting their food from the corner of your eye. It’s no surprise hearing that. Mr. Pink never looked like the type to work at a job like this.

You sat back down and soon, Mr. Pink reappeared, standing over to the side and watched the announcement of the twisting contest, smoking a cigarette. You see him eyeing two pretty blonde women walking past him, and he looked back his way, now in your direction.

He finally did what you wanted him to do, and he stares at you for nearly a solid minute.

You waved awkwardly. 

Mr. Pink tosses the cigarette in a random person’s ashtray and disappears behind the door once again. You darted out of your chair, and marched your way to where he headed, just as the couple he served got up on stage to participate in the twisting contest.

A Zorro waiter jumps in front of you. “Stop right there, mi amor!” his eyes darted at you through the cheap black mask he was wearing. “I believe the bathroom’s on the other side of the bar.”

“Where’s Buddy?” you ask Zorro.

“I’m afraid Mr. Holly is taking a quick break from unenthusiastically serving love birds in their cars.”

“Can you tell him I’m looking for him?”

“Once I see him.” Zorro then took out his sword and pointed it at you, a grin plastered on his face. “Now, shall I escort you back to your dining spot?”

Although you were aware this guy was only in character, you didn’t wanna risk getting kicked out, or having a realistic looking sword ripped through your body. You sighed and turned around, heading back. You noticed at your table a folded napkin beside your empty plate. Mamie Van Doren was last seen there, her back facing you with her heels clicking away on the tiles.

“Excuse me!” you called after the waitress. She ignores you, smiling down at new customers at an umbrella table.

Cocking an eyebrow, you used your finger to flatten the crease and read the note in bold handwriting.

FIND ME UNDER THE GIANT RABBIT. - BUDDY 

You threw the door open and ran outside, precisely under the giant rabbit of the Jack Rabbit Slim’s sign, just like he said on the napkin. You felt like an idiot checking every direction to find no one. Not a lot of the bikers were seen riding or hanging out around the parking lot, some people were coming and going, but you couldn’t find Buddy Holly.

Defeated, you turn to walk back inside. 

Mr. Pink rushed out the door and caught his breath. It looked like he was chasing you down before you could take off. A song used for the twisting contest kept playing from inside.

You didn’t run up to him and jumped in his arms or anything dramatic in that matter. You both stared at each other.

A few days before the heist you two stood across each other waiting for Mr. Brown and Mr. White inside the hideout. It was a quiet moment, not an awkward one. He just took that opportunity to study you, as you did him. It took him that moment to realize he was warming up to you. 

“Well hello there, Buddy,” you smile smugly.

YOU and Pink loitered at the side of the eatery, where the back door to the kitchen was located. He had taken off his fake glasses, showing his full frame.

“Okay,” you watch him lean against the wall, lighting his cigarette. “Talk to me. What happened to you?”

“What the hell do you think? Cops tagged me when I tried driving away. I was put behind bars, and by some fucking miracle this place took me in when I needed money.”

“You didn’t know any other crime bosses looking for a lanky dude?” Pink rolls his eyes at your joke. “I know the heist went terribly wrong, I saw the news. Everyone’s dead as Dillinger.”

“That briefcase had a shit load of two million dollars worth of stones,” Pink blew smoke out. “I swear, if that asshole undercover cop was never sent to set us up, I could have been enjoying a cocktail in Santorini. You’re lucky you called in sick that day.”

You shuddered, remembering how god-awful the illness was. “Never again. I felt like I was being hot glued to a sauna.”

You remembered the day of the heist. In fact, you mentally prepared yourself for something that you’ve never done before. You braced for what was supposed to go smoothly as Joe promised. Instead, you were woken up by the worst case scenario above 38 degrees. You were thankful Joe took it easy on you and promised another job next time. 

“All right, your turn. What did you do after that shit show went down?” Pink asks you.

“Just did my own thing. I wasn’t there so the cops never searched for me.” Pink took a slow drag, staring at nothing. He didn’t really look the same as before. Still lanky, except his hair was a bit more darkened and styled in curls, possibly because Buddy Holly had it permed that way. But his face read that he had been through a lot. Normally you felt zero pity for assholes like him, but you managed to blurt out, “I missed you.”

Pink, blowing out smoke in the air, eyed you up and down and furrowed his brows. “Likewise.”

Not only did it suck not being able to make money, you also couldn’t do it with Mr. Pink. As much as he kept his professionalism to a T, he squeezed in time to get along with you. It was no wonder Joe hired you - you were different than the guys, you moved differently and never felt small. Mr. Pink was drawn to that. 

Maybe that was just an understatement. He grew intimidated by something he expected to experience the least from in the job, and of course, straight out of a fairytale, you had to stop and ask yourself if you felt the same way, and if what you felt was right. Neither of you had any idea. It was against the rules to give out personal information to each other, and Mr. Pink took those rules very seriously, even if it was just one job that he most likely wouldn’t come back to unless a higher pay was involved and Joe Cabot liked him enough to recruit him again. 

If Mr. Pink grew too attached, if he let his guard down for one second, God forbid something would have happened to you. Without a doubt, he would have heavily blamed himself and walked away from the job without saying another word. 

His options were to wait until after the robbery to make a move, or do his job, get paid and leave. Whether or not it was out of selfishness was out of the question. Mr. Pink is already selfish in an intuitive kind of way, he’d rather avoid spiraling into a wave of emotions for one person - so he chose the latter.

“What?” Pink looked at you, feeling a bit tense. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Huh? No. It’s nothing,” you blinked, realizing you were staring at him longer than you should have. You shook your head, most likely shaking off the intrusive thoughts. Maybe this wasn’t a good time to tell him what’s on your mind. 

If anything, he’s most likely sleeping with the Marilyn Monroe waitress. “It’s just… you shaved the goatee.”

Pink nodded, looking a bit annoyed that there was no facial hair left on his chin to rub. “Buddy Holly had a clean face. For the record, the only advantage of this job is that I’m under disguise. Other than that, this place is a circus. I’m zooming back in time whenever I clock in.”

“It’s a 50s themed restaurant,” you state. “Working here sounds like fun. At least you get to dress up and experience pop culture.”

He scoffs. “No, fuck the 50s. Shit was all I Love Lucy and those puffy ass dresses.”

“They’re called poodle skirts, Pink.”

“Like I give a fuck what they’re called.”

“You know Buddy Holly smiled. He was a singer and a guitarist. If you keep up the attitude, no one’s gonna tip you. Nice Guy Eddie told me about your rant on tipping.”

“Ha! And? You will never find me up on that stage performing That’ll Be The Day, moving like a fucking animatronic.” Halfway finished, Pink tossed his cigarette aside and looked at you. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

You felt your cheeks flushing. Fuck. “I am?”

He nodded, putting his Buddy Holly glasses back on his face. “Yeah. It’s a breath of fresh air seeing you here.” He stares down at his wristwatch for a moment.

“Your break’s done?”

“It’s been done,” he says. “Fifteen minutes ago.”

You shook your head, chuckling. “You’re so fired.”

“This isn’t the first time I stopped caring, so my boss isn’t gonna bat an eye.” He had his hand wrapped around the back door which was supported by a wooden block to keep it open. “Look, I’ll see ya arou-”

“Pink?” Your heart rose up to your throat.

He turned back to you. “Hm?” 

You just had to do it. You reached up and kissed him softly. Pink didn’t shove or curse at you. His features softened, pulling you close to him and kissed you deeply. Even when you two pulled away, his arms didn’t unwrap from your waist. His forehead was pressed against yours now.

“My name’s Y/N,” you tell him.

He stares at you, no snarky, sarcastic comment left for him to give.

“I know you’re not willing to give your name up just yet, you can’t fully trust me, and I get that, but I won’t tell anyone what happened. You got lucky, I think… but I’m really glad you’re okay.”

“You don’t have to-”

“I’m serious.”

“Y/N,” he says your name for the first time. “You don’t have to go all sappy for me. Karma came in hot. Jesus Christ, I mean, I left you.”

“Not really. You didn’t know me. The cops had the place staked out the entire day, there was nothing you could do.”

He looked down at his shoes. “All right. But still, I feel shitty. Can I at least make it up to you?”

“How?”

Pink shrugs. “I get paid tomorrow.”

“Good for you,” you reply. “Save it like you’re gonna lose it.”

“I’ve had this job for a while now, I got enough to last. But once I win the lottery, I’m gone.”

“To Santorini?”

“With a cocktail in my hand. But that’s besides the point, right now I got enough to take you out on a date… if you’re down.”

“Where would you plan on taking me? Here?” you laugh.

“You’re funny. How about the movies? Overruled, I’m taking you to see a movie. I gotta know where you live first. It’s okay to know now.”

You nodded, you couldn't argue with that. Besides, you two would just be making out in the dark the entire time.

His hand was back on the handle of the back door. Pink pulled it open, looked back at you and smiled for the first time tonight. That warmed your heart, and you were certain it warmed his. He watched you stuff something inside his pocket square as you told him your address. He went back inside, shutting the door on you. You walked back to the front of the restaurant to pay for the bill, and went straight home. 

Mr. Pink shuffles past the chefs in the kitchen, feeling through his suit pocket to pull out his notepad and whatever you stuffed inside just moments ago.

I didn’t even serve them. Is this supposed to be for Mamie Van Doren? He stares down at the dollar bill crumpled in his hand. His frown suddenly transitions to a small but genuine smile. 

Fuck it. Nothing could stop him now. He definitely owes you a date night. He quickly stuffs the tip back in his pocket square, and comes out the sliding door. 

THE END

—

TAGLIST: @locke-writes​ @aryn-the-bearheart​

[wealthonnet]

An 11 Step Solution To A Profitable Blogging

To begin with, almost everyone is interested in learning how to make money online, and I have discovered that starting a blog is one of the most effective methods to do so. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate to you how it is possible for you, too, to learn how to make money blogging by describing how I combine several strategies that I have discovered on the internet in order to generate daily income for myself.

When I first set up my blog, I follow a step-by-step plan that consists of eleven different steps.

I will provide you with a list of the top eleven step by step guide that I utilize and highly suggest to anyone who is serious about generating a significant amount of money online later on. When people are first starting out with blogging, one of the most important details that they sometimes overlook is the requirement that their blog have content that other people would be interested in reading.

In this regard, many bloggers have their eyes closed, and if you visit fifty different blogs, you will notice that the vast majority of them will tell you they are aware of how to make money with blogs, when in reality all they will tell you is where they went on vacation or how many cars they own. If you do this, you will notice that most bloggers are lying to you.

Are you prepared to find out how you may make money blogging?

Continue reading this article and get started monetizing your site if you answered yes to the previous question. I am not going to sit here and instruct you on how to run your blog; that is something that is entirely up to you. However, I am going to share with you the 10 different strategies that I use to generate money on the internet. It is entirely up to you whether you put these strategies into practice or not; the decision is entirely in your hands.

Finding a Niche/Topic is the First Step

Stop using the computer, get a pen and some paper, and find a place to sit where you can relax but yet maintain your concentration (if you are just starting out this step can be a pain because we all want to know How to Make Money Online and we want to know how to make it NOW). Consider a subject that piques your interest, jot it down (this helps since you will be more dedicated to trying instead of giving up in a day or two), and then check to see whether it is something that other people are also interested in. Ask IQ helps me determine what's trending, and VRE Toolbar tells me how many people are looking for specific topics online. These are just a few of the methods I utilize to generate ideas for potential topics (this is also useful later on to get traffic). Make a note of your top five keywords; you'll want to utilize them in your blog at some point in the future. In all, make sure you do a little bit research on how to find a profitable blogging niche.

Second Step: Create Your Own Blog

Discover and construct your own blog using either a free platform like Blogger.com or a paid service like WordPress. Although using free services like blogger is popular among blogs these days, my personal preference is to utilize WordPress. When you set up your blog, the tool that you use to gather information beforehand about niches/ topic selection will provide you with all the assistance you need. Create your own material, ensure that it is unique, and ensure that it is instructive. This is one of the most important aspects to take into consideration when learning How to Make Money with Blogs. The content of your blog should incorporate some of the keywords that you jotted down in the first step of this process. You should make every effort not to overuse them since it gives out negative signals to the search engines, which is absolutely not what you want to happen.

Step 3 - Get Google AdSense

Create an account with Google Adsense and place the code in the sidebar or footer of your blog. Mind you, to get Google AdSense approval, make sure you publish top notch quality contents in your blog, and after three months, you can apply.

There are many other methods in which you may personalize your advertisements, such as by incorporating text links or picture links. My personal preference is to use solely text links because they are simpler to include into the design of your site and do not divert attention away from the material being presented. You shouldn't expect to become a billionaire from using Google Adsense, but it is a quick and easy method to get some extra cash on the side.

If you want to track where your visitors are coming from in terms of direct visits or through the results of search engines, then I would recommend that you use Google Analytics. Just like before, you can receive all the assistance you need to set this up from inside the program itself.

You should also make sure that your URL is included in Google's index.

Step 4: Finding Something to Sell

You can skip this step if you have no plans to sell anything and are content with the revenue that Google Adsense is coming in. Finding an affiliate network that you wish to join is the first step you need to do if you want to optimize your revenue and actually discover How to Make Money with Blogs. ClickBank and Commission Junction Jvzoo, Partnerstack etc. are a few of affiliate networks that I would recommend becoming involved with. You may sell everything, from apparel and movies to office furniture and pet supplies, as well as video games, diet advice, and audio software.

The Fifth step is: Bookmarking on Social Media

There is no kind of marketing that is more effective than word-of-mouth communication, but social bookmarking is a close second. You are going to want to make things simpler for other individuals so that they can accomplish this. You can Google search for social bookmarking sites and you will see lots of tgem that you can use. These sites allow users to share their favorite bookmarks and webpages with other members of their online community.

It is not necessary for you to provide links to these services on your website; nonetheless, you should make it possible for users to your site to do so.

The sixth step is to compose articles.

I would recommend that you create articles with a link to a review on your blog, regardless of whether it is focused on a particular product, such as a certain MP3 Player that you are pushing, or if it is just focused on providing people with knowledge. If you want your article to get published, you should aim to have at least 500 words in it, since this is the minimum requirement for submission to the majority of article directories.

You can submit your articles to any one of the hundreds that are currently available. EzineArticles, Article Dashboard, Amazines.com, Isnare, and SearchWarp are some of the Top Article directories that I make use of on a personal level. I also make use of a handy piece of software known as Article Submitter. This program will submit your articles to over 600 article directories, which will save you a significant amount of time and allow you to concentrate on writing your blogs instead. Seek to understand the Secrets of Article Marketing as it will help you in getting sales and traffic to your blog or website

Ping your blog is the seventh step.

Pinging refers to the process of notifying blog directories of any new content added to a blog. This should be done whenever new information is added to a blog. There are some blog hosts that will automatically send out pings whenever you make an update, but if you want to err on the side of caution, you should also do this manually.

There are a few Ping services that I utilize, and one of them will send a ping to many blog directories all at once. PingMyBlog would be my first choice, but if for some reason that site was unavailable, I would switch to Ping-o-matic as my second option. Keep in mind that you should only ping when you update, or else you run the risk of becoming blacklisted, which is undesirable.

The Eight step is to check out Quora and Forums.

Making use of the individuals you intend to attract to your blog is one of the simplest and most effective strategies to attract targeted traffic to your site. I would recommend that you sign up for at least one forum that is related to the subject that you are writing about. However, you shouldn't simply dive right in and start posting comments in the hopes that people would look at your blog; they won't.

The trick is to include a link to your blog in your signature and to become an active member of the forum, submitting subjects that are pertinent to the conversation and initiating arguments within those issues. If you supply someone with helpful information, there is a greater likelihood that they will click on your link. The more posts you make, the more your link will display.

Quora! functions in a manner that is analogous to that of online discussion forums; however, the site receives thousands of unique users on a daily basis. If you don't already have a quora account, create one now. Once you're logged in, search for questions that are relevant to the subject of your blog, and give thoughtful responses to those questions. You will then be able to insert the link to your blog, and similar to the discussion forums, if you provide an answer that is helpful, you may not only have earned recognition!, but you may also have earned a visitor to your blog.

Updating Your Blog: This Is The Ninth Step

This may be accomplished in a number of ways, one of which is by adding fresh information or reviews to your blog; in this case, I would recommend that you update it at least once every couple of days. Because search engines thrive on fresh and unique content, this helps to maintain a positive relationship with those search engines.

Including RSS feeds on your blog is another another method for keeping the information up to date and maintaining its overall freshness. Be sure that the feeds are pertinent to your site and that they supply the readers with information that is useful. People that visit a blog about World of Warcraft probably aren't interested in reading feeds about knitting, but maybe they are?

Step 10 - Become an Affiliate Blogger

Who is an affiliate blogger, and how are they different from other affiliates and bloggers? One unique thing out of many is that they simply set up a personal business blog where they promotes their products with outstanding affiliate blogger techniques.

The Eleventh Step Is a Bonus Step

If you sell your own product or publish a newsletter, make it simple for people to sign up to buy it or subscribe to it so they can receive updates and information. This makes it easier for you to get in touch with the visitor again in the future to provide them with more useful information or to sell them items.

If you follow the methods outlined above, learning How to Make Money Online is simple.

It is vital to keep in mind that you will not become a millionaire overnight from your blog; instead, being wealthy will require a lot of hard work and effort on your part. This is one of the crucial things to keep in mind if you do not want to grow discouraged with your blog. If you are truly serious about learning how to make money with blogs, then you need to keep at it, and sooner or later, you will have a "blossom!" moment. As things begin to fall into place, you may find yourself thinking to yourself, "Aha, so that's how they do it." It's possible that your time will come sooner than you anticipate.

RESOURCE: How To Start A Money Making Blog In 2022 (A Comprehensive Guide)

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2021 Prompt #8: Adroit

(More Franks and Tataru shenanigans. I think I officially have to call them siblings after this one and my day 1 prompt!)

Adroit – clever or skillful in using the hands or mind.

“Greetings, miss! Welcome to the Carpenter’s guild! How can I help you?”

Tataru smiled at the man behind the desk. “Hello, ser! My name is Tataru Taru, I’m here to speak with Timbermaster Beatin about a commission!”

“Ah, yes. I was told to expect you! Go on in, the guildmaster is at the back of the room, just up the stairs in the corner!”

She thanked the man and entered the hails of the guild. The sounds of hammer and saw beating wood into shapes filled the room. The smells of lumber and sawdust pervaded the air.

She climbed the stairs and approached the gray-haired elezen she knew to be the Timbermaster. He was intently examining a set of documents, but turned at her approach.

“Ah, lady Tataru! Good to see you again. The Elder Seedseer did let me know to expect you. I gather this is not about you finally deciding to become one of our number?”

Tataru giggled. “Sorry, Timbermaster, not today. No, I’m here on behalf of the Scions. Several of our number were….away for an extended time and only recently returned. However, because of the nature of their mission, they had to leave everything behind, including their weapons.”

She reached into her traveling pack, withdrew a rolled parchment wrapped in green-colored string, and handed it to him.

“I mean to make a gift to them of a faithful recreation of said weapons, and need a truly masterful carpenter to recreate the shaft and head of this staff. The original was called Nightseeker.”

Beatin unrolled the parchment and set it on his table, looking over the plans with interest. “Hrrmm…..yes, quite intricate. This wood, I’ve not seen its like anywhere in Eorzea. Half of the challenge shall be in sourcing something suitable! I presume you’ll be asking Serendipity to assemble the pieces and provide this gemstone, here?”

Tataru nodded. “Indeed. So what do you think, sir? Can you do it?”

He stood, glancing over the array of other documents on his desk, then shook his head. “Unfortunately, Lady Tataru, not in any degree of soonness. Mistake me not, under other circumstances I would relish this challenge, but unfortunately, the guild is swamped with commissions and too few skilled carpenters to pull them off. Most of my days are spent instructing and sifting through aspirants. I would not be able to give this project the time it deserves.”

Tataru looked downcast. “Ah, I see, I should have expected as much.”

“Do not despair, my lady, for though I am unable to undertake this challenge, there is another option! I would entrust a commission of this level only to one other, my greatest student, and perhaps my only equal in the ways of woodwork. I can get in touch with him, I’ve no doubt he will be able to complete it to your satisfaction”

Tataru brightened. “Excellent? What might his name be? And do you know where I can find him?”

“I do not know where he might be, but I can reach him via linkpearl! Name the place and time, I shall ensure he is present. As to his name, well, he goes by ‘Old Man’ if you can believe it, though his surname is ‘Franks’

Tataru had pulled out the small ledger she used to keep her appointments and was checking through it when she stopped. She looked up to the Timbermaster. “I’m sorry, did you say ‘Old Man Franks’?”

“Indeed, milady. It’s a strange moniker, yes, but you get used to it.”

“Hyur man, about 6 and a half fulms tall, white beard and well-coiffed hair?”

“Yes, indeed, milady! Are you perhaps already acquainted with him?

“I…yes, but I had no idea he was so skilled in Carpentry that you considered him your equal! I honestly had no idea he had any skill in carpentry at all. I know him as-” She stopped suddenly, then looked back to her book. “It…it doesn’t matter. Um, can you ask him to come to our headquarters in the Rising Stones say…this afternoon?”

Beatin looked perplexed for a moment, then began searching for a stylus. “Certainly, milady! That is in Mor Dhona, correct?” He jotted down a few lines, on the table itself she noted, and then picked up the plans she’d given him. He rerolled them and tied the string before handing them back to her.

“Yes, it is. Um, thank you again, Timbermaster. I….I look forward to speaking with your student.”

“Take care, milady!” he replied, returning to the pile of requests on his desk.

Tataru walked away in a bit of shock, before clearing it away with a shake of her head and left the Carpenter’s Guild, making her way to Gridania’s airship landing.

A few bells later, the airship taxi landed in Limsa Lominsa. She took a small bit of time to enjoy the smell of the sea air (and of course the myriad delicious scents coming from the direction of the Bismarck) before making her way to the area of the city reserved for the Blacksmiths and Armorer’s guilds. She entered in the rear door, where she knew guildmaster Brithael had his personal work area, raised above the guild’s halls so that he might inspect any of their work quickly.

The master blacksmith was in fact at his own desk, dealing with some paperwork. When he aw her enter, he immediately stood and regarded her with a warm smile. “Ah, now, ‘ere’s a sight fer sore eyes! Tataru Taru, o’ the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, ‘ere in me halls! Tha Admiral did drop a note sayin’ to expect ye and to makes sure I take yer commission. So what can an old smitty do ya fer?”

Tataru smiled. “Good day, master Brithael! Thank you for your no doubt greatly demanded time. I’m hoping you can create a weapon for me, one that one of our order’s number recently took up, but had to leave behind on a recent…expedition. What he did…it was extremely important to our mission of safeguarding this star, and I want to make a gift of a faithful recreation.” She pulled out a rolled up parchment, this one tied in a red string, and handed it to Brithael.

The blacksmith unrolled it. “Well well, a gunblade? Your man a Garlean or somethin? No, wait…” He pulled it closer, his eyes squinting as he pored over a certain section of the plans. “Aaaah, I see what we got ‘ere. Heard bout these. Bozjan make. Th’ Garlean versions are knock-offs of this design. Mass produced in their factories. This, tho, this looks like it took some real heart to hammer.”

He rolled up the parchment. “Sadly, lass. I can’t help ya.”

“What? Whyever not?”

“Hang on, lass, lemme finish. I ain’t had no experience makin’ no gunblades. I could hammer out the pieces, sure, but I ain’t no engineer. Got no real idea how to assemble summat like this properly. We do the occasional flintlocke in here, but even I can see that there’s way more t’ it than anything like that.”

“However, I do know a man that can probably help ye out”

“You know of an engineer that can assemble this If you presented him the pieces?” Tataru asked.

Brithael smiled. “More ‘n that, he can certainly hammer ’em out as well as me! Man’s the best smitty I ever trained, hell I ain’t afraid to say it, he’s probably better ‘n me if’n I’m honest! Moreover, I know he’s more’n acquainted with them Machinists over in Ishgard. They tend to produce their own guns, but he’s shared the plans with us in case they need more’n they can produce. Hells, I think he mighta helped found the bloody organization? Anyroad, his name’s ‘Old Man’ Franks. Course, that ain’t his real name, he just-“

“-goes by it, yes. I’ve met the man, actually” Tataru interrupted, a little quietly. Her eyes were wide.

“Oh, ‘at’s right, you spent some time in Ishgard, didn’t ye? Issat where ya met ’em?”

“S…something like that, yes” Tataru replies, her face a bit dazed with this realization.

“Well, I can get a message to ‘im. Don’t think he’s in Limsa at the moment. Want me to have him meet ya somewhere?”

“Er….yes. Um, the Rising Stones, this afternoon, please. He knows the way there. Thank you, guildmaster.”

“Not a problem at all, milady!”

Tataru turned and slowly walked out, still trying to process what she had just heard. A master Carpenter AND Blacksmith? She knew Franks liked to build things, and she’d seen him helping in the Ishgard restoration before, but how in the hells had he gotten to be a carpenter and a blacksmith good enough that the actual guildmasters considered him their equal? Or when?

She supposed she’d get the chance to ask him that this afternoon. She had a final stop to make

A few hours later, and another airship charter reached Ul’dah. Tataru loved the way Ul’dah smelled, the air full of spices and scents from all over. She wasn’t a tremendous fan of the heat however, so she made her way to the goldsmith’s guild as quick as her legs would take her. Once she arrived, she started to move towards the receptionist’s desk, but a voice called from the workshop “TATARU”

“Hi Sera!” she calls back. Both race to meet each other, colliding into a hug at the top of the stairs that led to the workshop floor.

Serendipity finally pulled back and beamed at her. “Oh it’s been so long, Tataru! When the Sultana of all people showed up and mentioned you would be dropping in, needing a big favor, I was so excited to get to see you again!”

“Me too, Sera! We are absolutely getting something to drink to catch up, but first, you wanna see what the favor is?”

Serendipity clapped her hands, excitement all over her face. “Yes! Do you need some jewelry? Ooooh, a big date perhaps? Did Wedge finally-“

“SHHHHH shshhshsh! No, I actually have a couple of magical arms i need created!” Tataru replied, blushing furiously. “One of them is an Astrologer’s Star Globe, the other is a staff. I’ve got a carpenter to shape the actual wood, I just need the gemstone made for it and set inside.”

She quickly dug into her pack, handing her two rolled parchments. One was tied in green string, the other in blue.

Serendipity’s expression changed, professional interest replacing teasing grin. She took the parchments, unrolling the green-wrapped one first “Oooh, this is pretty! Very intricate work on the staff, I hope your Carpenter is good, that’s going to be some precise work. Good size gem on it, too. Looks like an azurite maybe? Or perhaps a star spinel? We’ll have to chat a bit more about what this staff’s used for to determine what’ll be best to use here. What about this other thing…”

She then unrolled the second parchment. “Oh, a Star Globe, very nice. We’ve been getting a lot of commissions for these out of Ishgard, seems like their guild is growing very nicely. This one’s really ornate though, I like it. Okay, I think we can make these happen for sure, lemme just check my….oh. Oh, dear. This can’t be right? Oh, it is. Oh, that’s not good.”

Tataru looked worried. “What? What’s wrong, Sera??”

Serendipity turned back to her with an apologetic grimace on her face. “I’m so, so sorry Tataru. I forgot how backed up I am on commissions. I really want to help, I do, but I’ve already missed some deadlines as it is!”

Tataru looked downcast. “Oh…I don’t suppose there’s anyone you can foist those on to help me get these made, can you?”

Serendipity shook her head. “No, I can’t do that, everyone else here is either just as busy or isn’t yet skilled enough that I trust them with commissions usually reserved for me. Although…there MIGHT be someone who could make your items in my stead? He’s actually really good, remember those music boxes I told you about that played different arrangements of the same song but harmonized beautifully together? It’s the man who made those! He’s really fantastic, I just don’t want to commit on his behalf! I can get him a message, though, want me to have him meet you later?”

“Um, well, yes, that would be nice. This afternoon at the Rising Stones would work well, if he’s available. Aaaand I’m almost afraid to ask, but…his name wouldn’t be Franks, would it?

A look of surprise came across Serendipity’s visage. “Why, yes, actually it is. ‘Old Man’ Franks. Do you know him? Do you know why he wants to be called that? He’s not even really all that old!”

Tataru just blinked, staring off into space. Then she rubbed her temples, as if trying to massage a headache. “Of course it’s him….it was him the first two times, why wouldn’t it be now? Heh heh heh”

“Uh, Tataru? You okay?”

She looked back up to Serendipity with an apologetic smile. “Oh, sorry, Sera! I’m fine, just a long morning. Lot of airship travel and all. Yes, please, send ‘Master Franks’ a message to meet me. Do you still have time for a drink this evening, with your backlog?”

“I’m hoping to be able to get caught up today, yes! Looking forward to it!”

“Great! I’m gonna head back to the Stones and finalize everything, but I’ll meet you tonight at the Quicksand?”

“See you then!”

Tataru practically ran for the door.

It was early into the afternoon when Tataru opened the door to the Rising Stones. Most of the Scions were out in the field, save one person who sat at one of the tables, idly reading. She walked right up to him and glared.

Without looking up from his book, Franks spoke. “Oh, hey Tataru. How did your meetings with the guildmasters go?”

Seven hells, was he SMIRKING?

She stamped her foot. “Oh, don’t even! You know EXACTLY how they went! Why didn’t you TELL ME you were some kind of avatar of Byregot that knows how to craft practically everything??”

Franks threw back his head, laughing. “Well, to be honest, I kinda have a bit of a cheat going, thanks to the Echo, you know?” He stopped laughing and turned to Tataru. “And I remembered how much you struggled with wanting to find a way to be more useful to the Scions. I also remember that you were justifiably very proud of yourself for all the crafting skills you’ve learned, and I didn’t want to make it seem like I just usurped everything you accomplished nor step on your toes or anything like that.”

“Are you crazy? I wouldn’t have thought that! You should know me better! I know this isn’t some competition! We’re all in this together, and you’ve been hiding skills I could have allocated for us to use!” She pointed a judgemental finger at him “So now I’m gonna! Your first punishment is you get to make everyone’s weapons while I sew their outfits!”

“Your wish is my command, ma’am! Let me know if you want some extra hands with the fabric, I can weave too!”

Tataru just glared at him.

[aeondeug]

So I’ve been thinking about like the complaints about suggestions for books that consist of nothing but a name, genre, and the fact that it is f/f. And while I do think there is a weakness to this in terms of certain ways of recommending, I do think that there is a strength here to be appreciated. One I’ve made use of in the past with other things. Which is bulk. Sheer bulk.

Now if your friend just gives you a single rec that is just a title, genre and that it is f/f with nothing else and further inquiry gives you nothing else then like. Yeah. That’s not terribly useful. Now if it’s just a list of like four books that provide nothing else? Yeah. That’s not very useful. But if it’s a list of like ten books? Twenty? Thirty? Now we’re in business.

Because you see there is a problem with the shorter and more detailed lists. And it’s that they’re short. You have four or five good books that you liked. You have two or five authors that you know now. But that’s it. You have maybe five name tops. Where do you go next? There is also the danger of repeated recs being useless. I’ve found several lists now where Gideon the Ninth is suggested and while I do agree with that suggestion heavily like. If I see it on a list that’s a dead spot on the list. And if there’s only like three to five entries on the list then that’s a significant chunk of the list dead to me.

But let’s say I’ve got a list of like thirty books and Gideon the Ninth is there. I’m just told that the books are all lesbian sff and Gideon the Ninth and Tamsyn Muir are there. Ok that’s a dead spot, but I have twenty-nine spots left to check. I can then take all those names and type them into a search engine and look up summaries myself. Perhaps I’m not in the mood for some of them now, but think I might be later so I jot the name down. Maybe a few are hitting what I really want so I look into those. Maybe I end up hating some of the books on the list and can’t finish them. That’s the danger of the game. But the point is I have a lot more names and faces to work with now. I have to do the research work myself, but I have A Lot More Names. I have more possibilities.

I have to do more work on my own but the person constructing the megalist? They don’t have as much to do. They just have to take a bunch of books they’ve read and liked or at least heard a tiny bit about and liked the sound of. They just have to go LESBIAN SFF YOOO and then produce a linear list of titles and authors. Maybe at most give links to goodreads pages or something. Which means that the list maker can make these faster and easier. Maybe they make more of these lists. Then I look at them and begin my work on my own. Me and the list maker I don’t even know are silent partners then.

but like i’ve got a bunch of names

I really like this approach for yuri manga because yuri manga is something I’ve read to hell and back. Which means that most shorter lists of the titles people talk about? I’ve read those. Each of those. The giant mega lists I run into this to an extent but I have a greater chance of finding a new name to look into. Shorter lists with summaries I just tend to look at and go “Oh well I’ve read all these already”. And while I could go to okazu and look up Erica Friedman’s never ending reviews like. I’m not looking for a review. I’m looking for more yuri. A lot more yuri. Maybe most of it’s trash and I agree with Friedman’s take on these titles being trash. But I don’t care. What I want is More Yuri. I want as much as possible, so that I can read through it all and know all there is to know about this genre. A giant soulless list is more useful for that than Friedman’s curated little reviews that I have to click through.

If you see a big mega list with nothing but a general theme and some names like. Don’t go “Oh well this is useless” just yet maybe? Maybe think of it like “Oh boy! A chance to gain lots of data points real fast!”

[mellifluoushood]

Into The Dark - C.H. AU [Chapter 1]

A/N: Hello and welcome to my first series! This is an alternative universe with Calum Hood as a tattoo artist. Inspired by the thought of Calum with a nose ring, this is what happened. Thank you to @calumscalm​ @toofadedtofight​ and @dukehoods​ for helping me iron this idea out! Moodboard credit to @ammwritings​ !! Thank you so much!! xx Synopsis: Full-time college student, Seraphina Sallow, works as a receptionist for world-famous tattoo artist, Calum Hood. Their friendship blossomed when she wrote an article about his tattoo parlour, Fallen Angel Tattoos, for a journalism project at school. Since then, she’s been working as a receptionist at his parlour to put herself through school. As college tuition increases and her social security checks get smaller, she’s beginning to struggle to keep up with her payments. And then, a fallen angel shows up in the parlour, offering her the solution to all of her problems. But, at what cost? (TEASER) Genre (this chapter is): angst / fluff / smut / normal Warning: heavy mentions of drug use (smoking weed), strong language, weapons (firearms) Taglist: @calumscalm @gigglyirwin @ammwritings @loveroflrh @dukehoods @toofadedtofight @babylon-corgis​

Her giggles bounce off the black walls in the parlour. It doesn’t quite harmonise with the sound of the tattoo gun buzzing along a client’s skin, but it doesn’t sound out of place. At least not to Calum. The laughing and snorts have become a regularity in his shop. It had started as a quiet shop, the only noise coming from a playlist he made weekly and the occasional small talk clients would make with him. But, her laughing bounced through the door one day, alighting the energy of the parlour with something lighter, happier.

Calum remembers the day as if it were yesterday. He had finished a tattoo, sanitising the skin and wrapping it with Saniderm when the silence was broken by the sound of the bell ringing above the door, followed by an eruption of giggles and an, ‘I’m here, I’ll call after I’m done.’. His eyes had rolled as he muttered a ‘finished’ to the customer before standing up and walking to the front desk. There stood a woman, a little younger than him, searching her large tote bag for something.

“Can I help you?” Calum deadpanned, looking at the woman whilst taking money from the customer. He knew he was being rude to both the customer and the woman, but the customer had been asking him questions the entirety of the tattoo and the woman was too cheerful to be in a dark, quiet parlour.

“Oh, yes, I’m here for...” she pulls out a small notebook and a recorder, flipping open the cover and looking at the name, “Calum Hood. I’m Seraphina Sallows, I have an interview with him.”

“That’s me,” Calum raises his eyebrows, a little irritated this reporter hadn’t bothered to look him up, or even know his name when she stepped into the parlour.

“Oh, hello,” she smiles. She extends her hand. Calum doesn’t take it. Instead, he walks from the front desk and to his station. Seraphina purses her lips but follows him. He sits on the tattoo chair, waving her to sit in the spinning chair he usually sat in. She sat quietly, unsure of how to act around him. Her smile tended to put her interviewees at ease, but instead, it seemed to make Calum more jaded, tenser. 

When she sat down, he looked at her from head to toe. Besides from her smile and laugh, she didn’t exactly scream ‘bright’. She had dark brown, curly hair with a straightened fringe hanging just over her groomed eyebrows. Her eyes were a dark shade of brown, much like dark chocolate that seemed to sparkle in the fluorescent lighting. Calum thought he saw hints of green around her iris’s perimeter. She had olive skin that was tanned, covered in small handwriting tattoos. A few rings decorated her fingers that gripped a black pen, notebook open in her lap to jot down notes. She wore an oversized shirt that hung over what he presumed were shorts. He could see scattered tattoos along her thighs and calves. The only thing bright about her was her teeth that gleamed whenever she braced her pearly whites. Through the fabric of her shirt, he could see a navel piercing. He noted the nose ring on the right side of her nose. The only thing bright about Seraphina was her name, her smile, her teeth and her voice.

As the interview went on, he had noted her morbid sense of humour and lack of optimism about her future, even though she was in college. Her voice was light, resonating just the right tone in her chest for her 5-foot 2-inch stature. He was intrigued, to say the least. He wondered why she put off such a happy persona when she very clearly was not happy.

Since then, he’s learned that she is happy. She’s happy in her own way. Calum couldn’t describe it to anyone if they ever asked, he had never been the best with his words.

“You done, Miss Slap Happy?” Calum questions, walking in from his station to say goodbye to his client. He barely acknowledges the client once his eyes land on Seraphina.

“Done with what?” She rolls her eyes at him, giving the client a gleaming smile and announcing the total. Along with the tip, Calum had made good money off this customer. 

“Done with being annoying,” Calum deadpans as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. She rolls her eyes at him once more. It’s all she ever seemed to do around him. Except for smile. She smiled around him a lot.

“You’re one to talk, Mister Grumpy,” Seraphina uses a baby voice at the end. Calum just nods at his client before returning to his station to sanitise it before close. Seraphina follows the customer to the door, thanking him for his business and locking the glass door once he’s left. She can hear the sound of the spray bottle along with the squeaking of the paper towel rubbing along the metal rolling table and leather of the tattoo chair as she approaches his work station.

“Are we still on for drinks?” Calum asks, referring to their Friday night ritual. Drinks at Steve’s before either going home or hopping over to a club for more overpriced drinks. She quickly turns around, trying to conceal the guilt on her face,

“I can’t, I thought I told you last week,” she frowns, her attempt at sounding genuine quite feeble as she turns off the computer. Calum rounds his corner from his station, furrowing his brows.

“No?” His voice has an edge to it. He notices the way she swallows before replying to him, 

“I have plans,” she simply states, not willing to share what she was up to. Calum makes a face,

“Care to elaborate?”

“It’s not important,” she shrugs, trying to conceal the lie. Calum picks up on the way that she tried to lighten the tone, but there was something underneath her words that poke at Calum. 

“Whatever,” it’s his turn to roll his eyes. She looks down at the desk, biting at her lip when her phone vibrates in her pocket. She quickly fumbles for it, reading the address from a blocked number before shoving it back in her shorts. Calum watches as her facial features fell at the sight of whoever texted her. He could see the way her eyes had begun to develop small drops of something that he didn’t recognise. He had never seen that look in her eyes before.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” Seraphina shrugs off Calum’s attitude, a fake smile winding its way up to the corners of her mouth. Calum scoffs before turning on his heel, unlocking the front door and slamming it behind him. 

She flinches at the sound of the metal edges hitting the doorframe, her own heart seeming to flinch at Calum’s mood. She pulls out her phone, texting an ‘on my way’ before collecting her bag and leaving the shop, locking the door behind her. 

She looks down either side of the sidewalk, turning left and finding her car parked on the side of the road. The old, beat-up Corolla was on its last leg, but she simply didn’t have it in her to buy another car. And neither did her bank account. She unlocked the door, the dark blue showing a few scratches around the handle, looking to her left and right again, before getting in. It’s stuffy and warm, the upholstery absorbing all of the heat from sitting outside all day. She starts the engine, quickly peeling out of the parking spot before heading for the address.

She looks at the abandoned building. Its grey walls are tagged with graffiti, that begin to cover the boarded-up windows. She notices the broken beer bottles in front of the door. She doesn’t see anyone outside. She pulls out her phone before sending Calum a quick, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t make it tonight.’ He sees her message almost immediately, leaving the words ‘Read 19:57′ under the blue box. She sighs, pulling her hair out its bun and her fingers along her scalp. She looks up again, jumping at the sight of a man appearing at the entrance of the building. 

She turns off the engine of her car, stepping out, looking left and right again, before shutting the door and locking it. She walks around the hood, tucking her hands across her chest as she approaches the man in front of the door. She recognises him as the client she had spoken to earlier in the day,

“Roy,” she nods her head at him. He smiles at her,

“Seraphina, I’m glad you could make it.” She stands in front of him, planting herself a few feet away from him, “I didn’t know if you’d take me up on my offer.”

“Yeah, well,” she shrugs. Her voice is no longer bright and her teeth no longer shine. Roy is smiling as if this is completely normal for him.

“Alright, let’s get started. You’re going to need this,” he reaches underneath his shirt and produces a handgun. It looks heavy as he holds it, “A Glock 19. Best for beginners,” he holds the barrel of the gun, handing her the grip. She doesn’t take it immediately. She simply stares, watching as the black shines under the street light a few feet from where they’re standing. She looks to her left and right again, looking for any sign of a security camera or cars passing by. 

“Go on, it isn’t gonna bite,” he jokes. Her brown eyes look back at him and she swallows, hard. Uncrossing her arms, she reaches for the gun, slowly. When she grasps her hand around the grip and looks at Roy for further instruction. He releases the gun and it’s heavier than she anticipates. She catches it before she loses her grasp and it clatters to the ground.

“The safety is right next to the trigger. You take that off when you wanna shoot it, otherwise, it’s best if you keep it on. You cock the gun by moving the slide back. Make sure you have the safety off when you do that so you’re prepared to shoot if you need to,” he points to the spots on the gun. She barely absorbs his words as the heavy piece of metal shines back at her, almost as it’s taunting her.

She swallows again, nodding and looking up at Roy. She shakily checks to see if the safety is on before stuffing it in the band of her shorts. It feels stiff against her bare thigh, the metal a shocking cold. The cold always used to reboot her system when she was in shock. This kind of cold, only made it worse.

“You ready to meet the boss man?” Roy chuckles, leaning against the abandoned building and crossing his arms over his chest. She licks at her lips, using her front teeth to bite down on her lower lip. She shrugs nervously,

“I guess.”

Across town, Calum sits at the bar by himself. He’ll be damned if he doesn’t get his one night off. Saturdays, they opened the shop late, so he could be out till whenever he pleased on Friday nights. He had phoned Michael to join him. He didn’t want to drink alone tonight. When Michael walks through the entryway, he’s surprised that Calum’s alone at the bar. Michael approaches, slapping a hand on his tense shoulder,

“Hey, mate, what’s up?”

“Nothing,” Calum mutters, sipping at his whiskey on the rocks.

“What crawled up your ass?” Michael takes a seat next to his friend, signalling the bartender for a cider.

“Nothing nice, I can tell you that,” Calum tries to joke, but his voice comes out more like a growl. 

“Where’s Seraphina?” His friend asks. Calum shoots him a look as if to say ‘don’t bother asking’, but Michael’s nosiness isn’t to be battled.

“I’ll ask again,” Calum turns his attention back to his whiskey, “Where’s Seraphina?”

“I don’t know,” he chuckles dryly, tossing back the glass. He gulps down the brown alcohol, no change in his facial expression, “Said she had ‘plans’.”

“And that was it?” Michael pushes.

“Yeah, Michael, that was it.” Calum snaps, flagging down the bartender for another whiskey. He was just starting to feel fuzzy, his stomach beginning to bubble with warmth, spreading a buzz throughout his blood. Michael sips at the bottle that had been placed in front of him, biting at his inner lip, trying to stop himself from asking more questions. Instead, he pulls out his phone, typing a quick, ‘Where are you?’ to Seraphina. 

Her phone buzzes in her pocket as she stands next to Roy. She swallows, ignoring it as the man approaches her. His bald head shines in the dim light of the seemingly abandoned building. There are few lights in the back room, barely illuminating his facial features. The only things she can notice about him is the hollowness of his face and the sharp bones protruding from his cheeks. He has something between a five o’clock shadow and scruff along his jaw and above his upper lip. His green eyes are piercing, taunting as they look her up and down.

“You’re Connor’s ex-girlfriend,” he states with an amused tone. She nods her head.

“Thought you broke up with him to get out of this mess,” he presses.

“Circumstances change,” her voice is quiet. The boss barks out a laugh, turning around to the beaten up table holding bags of lord knows what. She looks at his stained white wife-beater. It’s covered in smears of brown and red.

“Well, I’m glad to have you aboard,” he turns around to look at her, sitting on the edge of the table. His mouth widens into a smile, revealing teeth that hadn’t seen the inside of a dentist office in what looked like decades. She subconsciously runs her tongue along the front of her teeth, “A hot little piece of ass like you will be real’ good for business, real good.” He runs his eyes up and down her legs again. Seraphina swallows once more.

“What were you thinking of starting with? Just some bud, or were you looking to make a bit more?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Well, I think you should go with more,” he reveals his teeth again in some form of a smile, “With you being in college and all, fending for yourself.” His words send a shiver down her spine. She suddenly feels hyper-aware of the piece that’s sitting on her left hip, the cold seemingly burning an imprint into her skin. The hair on the back of her neck stands up and she can feel the blood rush out of her face.

“O-okay,” she stutters. His smile goes wider,

“Let’s start you with some bud and some blow. Those are our best sellers, and I’m sure a lady like you won’t have a problem selling them.” She nods as he grabs plastic bags of white powder and green nuggets. She had seen this exchange plenty of times from a safe distance of a car parked across the street, the man hiding in the shadows, only hands holding bags visible in street lamps. She would watch as Connor looked left and right before taking the bags and stuffing them into his pockets. 

“This bag has three others inside of it; a twenty bag, a fifty bag and an ounce,” he hands her the weed. She takes it slowly, trying to stop the shaking of her hands, “This bag also has three: half a gram, gram and a ball. I’m assuming you know what those go for,” he raises his eyebrows at her. She nods slowly before taking the plastic bag in her free hand.

He turns around and sits at his table again, “Let me just make something clear. If you don’t sell it all, you pay me for it. If you sell it all and aren’t honest with how much you make, you will pay for it. If you take it and keep the money for yourself...” he chuckles. The warning bells in her skull begin to ding at a high rate, “Well, you can fill in the blanks.”

Michael checks his phone for the thirtieth time as it seems like Calum knocks back his fifth glass of whiskey. Calum stopped responding to Michael’s attempts at conversation around glass number three. He’s been sitting in silence, staring at the bar top in front of him, his fingers wrapped tightly around the glass. Michael’s about to open his mouth again when a voice interrupts them,

“Hey, guys,” Seraphina’s voice is breathless when she approaches the bar, smiling at the bartender and ordering her usual. She sits in the open seat to Calum’s right. He lifts his head to look at her for a moment, noticing the small sheen of sweat that had begun to accumulate on her hairline and the redness lingering in the whites of her eyes,

“You’re stoned.” He states, looking back at his whiskey, knocking it back once again. He signals for his sixth.

“No,” she chuckles, “Just warm.”

“Yeah, sure,” Calum scoffs, watching as the bartender switched out the empty glass in front of him for another full one.

“Anyway, how are you, Michael?” Her attention turns to his blonde friend. She directs her voice towards him, but her eyes scan Calum. His black nose ring his still snug against his nostril, his array of roses tattooed on his neck still there, his brown, curly hair resting on top of his head the way it normally does. He’s wearing the same black t-shirt he wore earlier. His eyes are still the same dark brown they’ve always been. She’s checking to see if he’s changed when the reality of the situation is that she has.

Michael’s voice begins to chatter on as Calum’s gaze wanders to Seraphina. Her shoulders are tensed, her posture straighter. And that’s when his eyes spot it. The barrel of a gun outlined in her jean shorts.