#just try focus on the Feelings from the queries u get

[meltinglikeasugarcube]

hi hi, so what would you think abt writing a short cutie lil fic about Taylorxreader getting into an argument bc taylor is too possessive or like I don’t wanna say controlling but like lowk yeah 😛 bc I saw u said you like writing malicious and possessive Taylor

Warning: this is surprisigly explicit even though they don't have sex haha

Title: MY PRETTY LITTLE TOY

Word Count: 628

Pairing: Taylor Swift x Female Reader

Rating: Explicit

Taylor’s been ignoring you. You know the reason, but you’re not about to make a scene in public.

Her simmering fury is evident in every tight line of her body: the rigid set of her jaw, the dilated darkness of her pupils, the fleeting, sharp glances she throws your way from the corner of her eye. You swallow your pride, push down the urge to confront her, and focus on your job. It’s what you’re here to do, and no matter who she is to you, or to the rest of the world, you are damn good at your fucking job.

You’re a production assistant, mostly for television and movies. You met Taylor while you were part of the crew that filmed her interviews for a documentary. A clandestine affair with an A-list celebrity. It’s a secret so improbable, so surreal, that you often catch yourself wondering how you managed to pull it off. No one in their right mind would believe that this is what you do on your weekends – that she is what you do.

From the fragmented pieces you’ve gathered, Taylor isn’t one to deny herself anything. If she finds someone intriguing, pretty or handsome, they inevitably find their way into her bed. You were, apparently, one of the lucky ones. You don’t complain; the sex is incredible. But she is, undeniably, difficult. She operates by her own set of rules. She demands you when the whim strikes her, a possessive claim laid with a casual flick of her wrist. She’s controlling, obsessive, constantly needing to mark her territory, even though this was supposed to be just sex, a fleeting indulgence for both of you.

So, when you were working at the Grammys, lost in the organized chaos backstage, and she caught a glimpse of another crew member leaning in to whisper something in your ear, a harmless, work-related query, you knew you were screwed. You saw her a few times during the live broadcast, a glimpse across the crowded floor, and her eyes pierced through you, sharp and cold as daggers. Later, the exhaustion of the long day settling in your bones, a text message vibrates your phone, and you can’t help the flush that creeps up your cheeks.

T (2:07 AM)

Come to me.

You know exactly what she means, where she means. Come to my apartment now, no discussions, the curt command echoes in your mind.

So, you get an Uber, a knot of apprehension tightening in your stomach. You text her security detail, requesting access through the discreet entrance on the side of her apartment building. Climbing the dimly lit stairs, the fatigue from your grueling night of work weighing heavily on your limbs, you can’t shake the feeling that this particular visit might be less pleasure and more punishment.

Taylor answers the door still clad in her glittering outfit from the event, looking at you with raised, furiously arched brows.

“Before you say anything, I’m tired, okay? I only came here because we agreed—” you begin, your voice weary.

“Shut your pretty mouth,” she warns, cutting you off mid-sentence. “I don’t care if you’re tired. You let that man flirt with you all night, all fucking night. Every time I turned my head, he was there, hovering around you like a goddamn fly.”

“He was another production assistant, Taylor, I needed to talk to him about the lighting cues for the next segment—” you try to explain, the logic of your words feeling flimsy even to your own ears in the face of her incandescent rage.

“You needed to laugh at his pathetic jokes? To touch his fucking arm?” Her voice drips with sarcasm.

“I was just being polite,” you say quickly, the defensive tone betraying your unease.

“Ah, you were being polite,” she repeats mockingly. “Such a good little girl, being polite to random fucking men when you belong to me.”

“I—” The words catch in your throat, the possessiveness in her voice both thrilling and terrifying.

“I need to hear it from your mouth,” she says, stepping closer, invading your personal space, her breath ghosting over your face. Her eyes gleam with a predatory light. “Say it to me. Then apologize.”

“I’m not apologizing because I didn’t do anything wrong,” you say very slowly, very clearly, meeting her gaze with a defiance that surprises even yourself.

She grins, a flash of sharp teeth, and clicks her tongue.

“That’s not very good, is it? Not very polite,” she grabs your jaw, her fingers digging in just enough to make you uncomfortable, forcing you to look directly into her burning eyes. “You can’t be polite to me?”

You look up at her, your own anger starting to simmer beneath the surface of your exhaustion and apprehension.

“No?” she confirms, a question laced with a challenge, and you remain silent, refusing to yield.

Her grip tightens momentarily before she releases your jaw, her hand snaking into your hair, yanking your head back with brutal force. You gasp, the sudden pain making you instinctively drop to your knees. The impact sends a jolt of agony through your kneecaps.

“Still no?” she demands, her voice hard.

You remain still, your head bowed, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a reaction. She grabs a fistful of your hair, pulling your head back further, your mouth falling open involuntarily.

“Now, that’s what a good girl does, opening her mouth for me to fuck,” she sighs. “So you see how this can be confusing to me.”

She releases your hair, the sudden slackness making your head loll forward. She simply walks into her kitchen and returns moments later with a glass of water, offering it to you.

“All good?” she asks, her tone surprisingly gentler as you take a grateful sip. You nod. “You sure?”

You nod again, knowing this is how things are with her and the orgasm you’ll get from it will be mind blowing.

“Then you're going to stay on the floor exactly like this,” she says, her voice regaining its earlier edge, “and you won’t move until I say so. Until you’re ready to be polite.”

A flicker of rebellion sparks within you, despite the ache in your knees and the lingering sting in your scalp.

“And if I’m not?” you ask, your voice barely a whisper.

A predatory smile spreads across her face, her eyes gleaming with a possessiveness that sends a shiver down your spine.

“Then you’ll stay there all night, my pretty little toy, waiting for me to come back.”

[whore4abby]

fun lil req…

u and abby are studying together n she’s not doing a good job :(( so u offer some encouragement. for every question she answers right, u take a piece of clothing off. can be loser!abby or pervy!abby or BOTH 😵‍💫🤭🩷

show and tell; abby anderson

you try to tutor abby for an upcoming college asssignment. abby has trouble comprehending the questions…until you think of a little solution.

warnings; tiny mentions of nudity + sex, mndi

wc; 0.6k

abby keeps messing up the simple equations, she feels so stupid and just wants to pound her head against the desk in annoyance. her head beginning to hurt as she's starting to get so frustrated with herself. she throws her pen down onto her desk in anger and groans loudly.

“i can’t believe i’m struggling with this…i’m a complete idiot.” she mutters, putting her hands to her forehead and sighing heavily. the room grows silent for a moment but before abby could complain more about her stupidity she feels your hand on her shoulder.

“you’re not stupid, abby.” you coo and tuck some stray hair behind her ear. she sighs heavily and nods, looking extremely unmotivated and bored.

“i think i have an idea…” you smirk and she removes her hands from her face to look at you, noticing the smugness on your face and raising her eyebrows. “what’s your idea?” she asks softly, her breath hitching as your hand on her shoulder starts to trail down her toned forearm.

“for every question you get right…i’ll take something off~” you purr, leaning in close to her ear and staring at the goose bumps forming at the nape of her neck. abby’s eyes light up and her cheeks turn a deep red when she hears your idea she takes a deep breath, nodding her head frantically and smiling shyly.

she moves her focus back to her notebook and takes the pen back into her hand and tries to answer the question again. “alright…uhm…is the answer 9?” abby queries, hoping to god that its right.

“mhm!” you nod, lifting up your arms and pulling off your sweater, revealing your lace-trimmed camisole underneath. abby looks over at you and gulps, feeling the blood rush to her face and her heart rate starting to speed up.

you watch abby working on the math problem. noticing the slight blush on her face and her hands starting to shake a little bit as she clutches onto her pen. you can’t help but grin mischievously as abby looks so cute struggling to figure out the math problem.

“okay…42?” abby asks, her voice slightly broken and high pitched as she points to the question on the paper. you check over her answer and shake your head pitifully, “try again, baby~”

she puts her head back down, her pen frantically scratching against the notepad and her shaky fingers prodding at the keys on her calculator. her voice wavering as she struggles to keep her composure around you, “uhm…is it 45?”

“yeah. good job, abs…” you smile sweetly as abby finally gets the question correct, looking into each of her wide eyes before moving your eyes to look at her lips, quickly ripping your gaze away to pull off the camisole covering your torso.

you’re left in your bra, nipples hardening against the thin lacy material, watching as abby’s eyes dart from either side of your chest, lingering on the fat of your breasts spilling out over the edge of the seam.

you laugh at abby’s reaction, finding enjoyment in watching her become more and more flustered with each minute.

abby tries to ignore it. to ignore the way her heart is pounding and her head is starting to feel dizzy. she can’t help but bite her lip as she stares down at the valley between your tits with absolutely so shame. eyes bugging out of her head as she practically drools, imagining what you would look like without your bra on, tits bouncing in front of her face as you ride her.

“and would you look at that….that was the last question!” you giggle and close over her notebook with a subtle thud before standing up and grabbing your clothes. you quickly slip them back on while she watches, her mouth agape, lips parting and pressing together again as she struggles to form words.

“t-thats not fair!” she splutters and pouts at you, wanting nothing more than to reach out for your hips and to drag you down onto her lap.

“bye, abs~” you giggle and lean over to kiss her flushed cheek before grabbing your things and walking out of her room nonchalantly, looking back over you shoulder and waving at her innocently.

[pocmuzings]

advice needed: so im an admin for an rp and whenever a member comes to the admin account, which im mostly in charge of, and it's something i think needs an "emotional" response i pass it to my other admins because im really bad at being emotionally supportive. like you need logical advice im your man, but emotions are not my forte. and the thing is, i dont want to always pass it on to them, cause i feel like thats unfair to do to them all the time. so any advice?

if i’m being honest , i can’t tell you how to be emotional . all i can tell you is to approach these situations as if you’re the person asking . what advice would YOU want to hear ? it’s just being empathetic , but also being a listener . saying ‘ hey , i acknowledge this , and it making you feel this way . let’s discuss how to make it better and fix it .’  but , also ,  if you can’t find yourself able to help others , emotionally , then don’t push yourself to . emotional labour for others can be very taxing at times .  but also know that people are coming to you BECAUSE they feel comfortable talking to you and your team . that’s something you should pride yourself on . people don’t always come to admins when there’s a problem  . emotions aren’t everyone’s forte, sure , but you’re also an admin , sometimes you need to put that aside so you can BE an admin . don’t become a therapist , or counsellor , by any means , but maybe take time to listen and put yourself in other people’s shoes and think about how they’re feeling and why they’re feeling it . i know it’s hard , because sometimes you’ll be like ‘ i don’t understand what the problem is or why it’s a problem ‘ , and honestly ?? valid. but,  all you can do there is be honest and say ‘ i’m sorry. i don’t understand , but i’m trying to . could you please explain more about how you’re feeling , so i can try and help ? ‘  

i hope this helps . sorry I’M not more help . i really like helping people and their emotions so i can’t super relate to this , but i’m trying to , and i think it’s really nice u want to up your game and improve this part of urself , so u can be a better admin to the team and ur group ! 

[buckys-black-dress]

✄ chapter two: keep it cool like iced tea

a/n: here's chapter two! obvi this is just building the plot and storyline, but we're seeing the beginnings of the magic! anyways, let me shut up so u can read. ok bye!

wc: 2k

[fratboy!bucky barnes x fem!reader]

series masterlist

-

To say you sucked at pong was a vast understatement.

And although you really didn't want to make a fool of yourself in front of this very nice, very tall, very attractive guy, you can't help but feel like an idiot when you sink your first shot into a cup halfway through the game.

You're definitely on your way drunk with the amount of shots Natasha and Sam have scored on you, plus all the ones you've missed.

When Natasha told you to let loose tonight, you're not so sure this is what she meant, though. You see her laughing and giving you eyes from across the table, while your face is bright red. You brush off her looks with a roll of your eyes, darting them back to Bucky.

Bucky.

Bucky with the incredibly nice hands and arms, who seems to be making the shots for the both of you. Bucky who's been occasionally slinging an arm over your shoulders, paying close attention to you. Bucky who's been asking you questions about yourself, that you've returned back, and received witty responses to.

"So, where 're ya from, Y/N?" He asks in a slurred voice, but you can tell he's not exactly drunk yet.

"I'm from New York. You?" You ask, throwing back another drink from a shot that Nat made into your cup.

"No shit! I'm from Brooklyn!" He smiles, a big, bright smile that tugs at your heartstrings for some reason.

"I'm Manhattan born and raised, mister." You return his blinding smile.

"Small world, huh?" He laughs, once again wrapping his arm around you. "Can't believe we've never ran into each other before."

"Well, New York City's quite large, Bucky." You giggle, and he laughs back. As you feel your face warm up, he looks down at you with something akin to adoration in his eyes. Bucky towers over you, deciding that the pong game was over between the four of you.

He walks back to the kitchen, assuming that you'd follow him.

But he turns around to ask you in you'd like something to drink, and you're not there.

You're still chatting with Natasha and Sam, and it takes him a second to realized you wouldn't just follow after him. You didn't really give him the impression of being that type of girl.

Which is what intrigued him more about you. You weren't worshipping the ground he walked on, you didn't initiate conversation too much, and you didn't drool over him like every other girl he's met.

He suddenly feels a surge of awkwardness. He sees you talking animatedly with Sam and Natasha, and now Steve has joined in the conversation. You were talking completely comfortably with them, much more comfortably than you were with him.

It makes him wonder what he'll have to do to get you to get like that with him.

What he'll have to do to make you trust him.

"Hey, Y/N, I was gonna head to the kitchen and grab a drink. Wanna join?" He questions, seeing his friends giving him cocked eyebrows in confusion.

Bucky could usually get any girl he wanted. Especially at a party like this one. Why was he so hell-bent on spending time with you?

"O-Oh! Sure, I'll join you." You excuse yourself from the group, and Bucky slings his arm through your waist to guide you through the crowd. You feel you stomach flip in a way you've never felt before, and feel your cheeks redden.

"So, what can I get you?" Bucky practically yells over the music, trying to meet your eyes. You avert them quickly, and simply tell him a vodka lemonade.

He hands it to you with a strange look in his eyes, and you give him a kind smile while taking your first sip.

"God, you trying to get me wasted here?" You gag with a laugh, looking into your cup and back to Bucky.

"Sorry, doll, might'a gone a bit heavy on the vodka. You still good to drink it?" He queries with genuine concern in his eyes.

And although you already well on your way to drunk, past tipsy, you give fervent nod, and give it another sip.

It was good.

-

As the night had progressed further, you had two more of Bucky's vodka lemonades.

And now, you were drunk.

You also didn't know where Natasha was, but she was probably off somewhere with Sam, so you weren't worried for her safety.

Bucky was still by your side throughout the whole night, offering to dance, and even just sit and talk.

Which is what you were doing right now. In the middle of the crowd, you were practically on top of Bucky while you two talked about anything from academics to your daily lives.

"So, in your major, what would you say was the dumbest thing someone's asked?" He laughs, and he's clearly also past the line of tipsy and has fallen into drunk, right with you.

"Uhhh... oh! One time, this guy-"

"Doll, I can't really hear ya." Bucky laughs

"Oh, sorry," You blush, trying to speak louder, but it still wasn't working.

"Do you- would you be okay with just goin' up to my room? Don't think we'll get much of anythin' done down here." He gives you a look that says 'I'm not gonna hurt you, unless you want me to.'

It sends a shiver down your spine, and you stand up, waiting for him to guide you up the stairs.

You knew you weren't going to have sex with him. You had only met him four hours ago, and no matter how many girls he could pull in that time, you were not interested in being one of them.

"Just so you know now, I'm not planning on sleeping with you." You burst out while you're halfway up the stairs, your eyes going wide at your own words.

"Huh," Bucky chuckles, "I know I have a reputation that precedes me, but I didn't think this is where that was going. Just wanted to continue to conversation." He smiles down at you, finally opening his door.

Of course, Bucky was lying right through his teeth. Of course he wanted to sleep with you. You were nice, smart, had a hell of a body, and had kept his attention the longest out of any girl he's ever met. But when it comes down to it, he was a boy.

And boys usually only thought with one organ; their dicks.

As the lamp flicks on, a small glow filters over the room, giving it a cozy feel. You, on the other hand, felt nothing but cozy.

"You can sit anywhere. Wanna watch somethin'?" He asks, tossing you the remote while you stood, frozen at the doorway.

"I- uh, sure?" You ask, more than you tell him, but sit down on his bed. You were careful to not flash him while you adjusted yourself, not sure of what to do.

The last thing you needed tonight was the most notorious playboy on campus seeing your black lace thong right now.

"Do you wanna change into somethin' more comfortable, angel?" Again, your stomach has butterflies trying to escape at his sweet words. But you knew better than to think too much into it. he probably said these names to every girl who's come into this very bed.

Ew, you think to yourself, this bed must have STDs sewn in the sheets by now.

"I- sure? If you have anything that fits, I guess." You grumble.

"Sure, I've got a t-shirt and boxers, if you want? Don't have much else, honestly." He laughs lightly, handing you the items and points to the bathroom in the corner of his room.

As you're standing in the middle of Bucky Barnes' jack and jill bathroom, you take a moment and think to yourself.

How did I get here?

Will he ask me to sleep here?

Does he still expect anything from me?

I hope not.

I'm really tired.

Ugh. Whatever. I'm too tired to think this much right now.

You pull of your dress that you couldn't stand to be in anymore, and put on the clothes Bucky had provided you with.

They were quite large on you, considering the guy was about the size of bigfoot. But you couldn't find it in yourself to complain about it right now.

You exit the bathroom, setting the dress down on the floor where you had kicked off your heels, and sit back down next to Bucky on his bed.

You feel your skin slide under the blanket that was thrown over him, and focus on the TV screen.

"So, what're we watching?" You query, trying to figure out what was playing.

Little did you know, Bucky was still thinking about the way you had looked when you walked out of the bathroom. It did something to him, seeing you in his clothes like that, for some reason.

The way you were practically swimming in them, and the way you knuckled at your eyes tiredly that made him want to hold you to his chest while you both fell asleep.

He was trying to shake the thoughts from his head, wondering what the hell had gotten into him with these thoughts.

Since when did he, Bucky Barnes, think about a girl like this? It was usually much dirtier and nastier in his head, but you were doing something to him.

"Bucky? Everything alright up there?" You giggle, knocking on his skull lightly.

"I- yeah, all good, doll." He shakes his thoughts away, focusing back on you. "I put on whatever was playing, didn't switch it because I didn't know what you liked." Bucky explains.

"Hm, well this seems good. We can just keep this on?" You suggest, realizing that Home Alone 2 was playing on his TV. "I love this movie. This kid's got some real class." You chuckle, now fully watching the movie.

"He's a genius, I'll give 'im that much." Bucky laughs, also fixing his gaze on the movie.

In the hour that passed, you two have made small talk about the movie here and there, and every time, Bucky's gaze became transfixed on you. With the glow of the TV illuminating your face, with the way you smiled and threw your head back when you laughed, he couldn't help it.

Finally, the movie had come to a close, and Bucky could tell you were fighting sleep. You were practically asleep sitting up against his headboard.

"You wanna spend the night here, doll?" He wonders out loud, looking over to you.

You shoot him a look, a playful glare with a hint of a smile.

"I mean, it's a bit late for me to head back to my dorm. But no funny business, mister." You point a finger at him, and Bucky holds his hands up in the air.

"No funny business, I promise." He holds out his pinky to you, to which you curl yours around, and latch on.

Once the lamp next to his side of the bed is turned off, you slide further down in his bed, trying to find a comfortable position. After a few minutes of adjusting, you snuggle your head into the pillows that smell like laundry detergent and his cologne.

"Goodnight, Bucky," you say out loud into the darkness while you both face each other.

"G'night doll. See ya in the morning." Bucky's voice is a low baritone, clearly about to succumb to the sleep he was fighting.

"See ya in the morning." You reply, finally letting your eyes fall shut.

That night, you dream of Bucky Barnes and his cologne.

And across from you, Bucky Barnes dreams of a world where this is normal. A world where you sleep next to him every night, and you wake him up every morning with a kiss.

Man, I'm totally fucked, is the last thought he has before falling into a sleep surrounded by you.

[fanfickittycat]

First Glance

TITLE: First Glance

CHAPTER NUMBER/ONE SHOT: One Shot

AUTHOR: fanfickittycat

FANDOM: Haikyuu!!

CHARACTERS/PAIRING: Ushijima Wakatoshi x Reader

GENRE: Romance/Fluff

FIC SUMMARY: Ushijima doesn't know why the girl tasked with covering the team for the school paper won't leave his mind

RATING: G

AUTHORS NOTES/WARNINGS: I’m putting this below the cut but you can also read it on AO3 here

“Is she back already?” Ushijima didn’t flinch when Tendo joined his side, only nodding stoically in response. He was observing the girl with such rapt attention, that Tendo was genuinely surprised; usually, Ushijima only had eyes for volleyball. Girls seemed to be out of the question. Even when the topic of girls was brought up in the locker room, he never paused to pass comment. In fact, he didn’t look like he was even listening to the conversation, instead methodically doing up the buttons on his shirt or neatly folding his kit.

“I hear she’s from the journalism club” he said, watching his friend’s face carefully for any changes in his features. The day had been so boring, and finally something interesting was happening. “Hmmm”. Nothing. “I guess she must want to cover the team going to the finals.” “Hmmm.” Nothing again. “Maybe she’ll want to interview us?” Ushijima cleared his throat “hmmm.” Ah, bingo. “You should talk to her” he nudged Ushijima in the side “you’re the captain after all.” Ushijima finally broke his gaze, looking down at the water bottle in his hands “I’m not good at talking.” Tendo opened his mouth to say something encouraging; to bolster his friend who always seemed to be confident in all his abilities on the court, but the squabble between Semi and Shirabu stopped him.

“Hey” Ohira said “don’t fight in front of the press, it makes us look bad.” The two setters continued to scowl at one another but stopped bickering. “It’s no way to act in front of a girl” Tendo added, slapping a hand on his teammates backs “especially a cute girl.” His eyes trailed over to look at Wakatoshi who’s impassive face was betrayed by the way his hands mindlessly fiddled with the blue bottle in his hands. “I guess she’s cute” Semi agreed “if you like that kind of girl.” “What kind of girl is that?” Ushijima asked, making his teammates look up at him in shock. “W-well you know…” Semi struggled to come up with the words to describe her “she’s clumsy, did you see the way she almost tripped coming in here?” “Yeah, but she got up again with that super determined face” Shirabu interjected “like she was so nervous she was overcompensating.” “She seems energetic” Ohira said “and tenacious.” “Those are good traits” Wakatoshi said offhandedly. “They are” Tendo agreed, egging him on “and she has pretty, long hair. I usually like short hair on girls but even I have to admit that it’s very becoming on her. Right, Miracle Boy?” Ushijima looked up at her again, observing the waves of thick, dark hair that flowed past her shoulders. She tucked a strand behind her ear as she continued to speak to Coach Washijo and note down the things he said in her notebook. “Yes” he agreed “it is.”

Ushijima continued to think about the mystery girl as he got changed. Who was she? Tendo had said she was here on behalf of the school paper, but usually whenever they were written about, it was a sandy haired boy who came by. Why had he never seen her before? He idly put his jacket on, pondering what the feeling in his chest was. A sort of warmth and tenderness. He hoped he wasn’t getting ill.

“Before you all go” Coach Washijo said, stopping the boys from leaving the gym “remember we have practise on Saturday, and I expect you all to be there bright and early at 6am. No excuses. Also, we’ll have a member of the journalism club with us this week so watch your mouths.” He looked pointedly at Semi, who’s cheeks flushed red, much to the enjoyment of Shirabu who nudged him. Ushijima wanted to ask what her name was, but they were dismissed in the next instance and it seemed pointless.

The girl stayed on Ushijima’s mind. That evening he had several hazy dreams all involving her. In one, he just remembered her looking at him and smiling so brightly that he managed to miss a relatively easy receive. In another, she was interviewing him, and he was struggling to answer coherently. He didn’t remember the last one very well, but in it she was holding his hands. He woke up with her phantom touch still on him. He turned his head to squint at his alarm clock. It was almost five am, way too early for him to consider rising. He closed his eyes again, but sleep didn’t find him. He took his phone off charge and looked for Tendo’s number to text. He had insisted that he get a phone, but he didn’t use it much.

U: Tendo, are you awake? I have a query. 4:58am

He didn’t expect to get a response and instead went to take a cold shower to focus his mind. The cold water was a welcome distraction, and he felt his body leave the dreamy warm state it was in. Today he had practise until noon, but nothing especially pressing to do afterwards. Perhaps he’d take a jog before dinner. He knew he should probably make time to review some tapes from their last practise game too. Despite him concentrating on his own schedule, his mind once again wandered to her. What would she do today?

He left the shower, padding back to his room with a towel around his shoulders. His phone buzzed.

T: What query could you possibly have at 5am??? 5:08am T: Lay it on me, Miracle Boy 5:09am

He picked up his phone, struggling to come up with a coherent sentence.

U: The girl has remained in my mind. I think I must be getting ill, should I tell coach today? 5:12am T: Sounds like love sickness to me ;) 5:12am U: I’m not familiar with that illness 5:1am T: -_- It’s a good thing you found volleyball 5:14am U: I don’t understand 5:14am T: We’ll talk about it later 5:15am U: Ok 5:15am

“She’s here” Ushijima blinked at the girl, standing before them. She looked sleepy, clutching a thermos as she greeted the volleyball team members. Her hair was tied up into a ponytail, which Ushijima didn’t like nearly as much as her hair being out. Still, there was something admittedly quite cute about seeing her like this; dreamy eyed, red cheeked, and cosy in her fluffy jumper. She shouldn’t be out here in the cold, watching the boys do laps, she should be tucked up in bed with her hair being petted gently. The thought made Ushijima flush. He resolved to himself that he was going to concentrate on practise and not on this girl, whose name he still didn’t know.

“So, lover boy” Tendo teased, as he shrugged off his track jacket alongside his friend “you like her?” The boys had entered the gym now to do some routine stretches before doing drills, and Tendo had taken the opportunity to speak up. “I don’t know her.” “But you think she’s cute?” Ushijma paused and swallowed “yes, I suppose so.” “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.” Tendo winked at him and Ushijima frowned. Surely, he had his back? In their current formation he tended to be behind the Guess Monster. He shook his head free of the thought and went to join the others.

“Take a twenty-minute break and then we’ll do three on three!” “Yes, coach!” The lapse in practise was a welcome one, and Ushijima wiped the sweat off his brow with his towel, grateful for the moment to breathe. “This is your chance” Tendo sang, jutting his chin out at the girl who was speaking to Semi. “It’s rude to interrupt” he said, feeling a sinking feeling in his chest as she laughed at something Semi said. What was this? He felt something brew in his chest that made his teeth clench in annoyance at his teammate. He gripped the water bottle, turning away to drink. “Don’t be angry” Tendo chided “I’ve found out her name…”

*** You stood, trying to follow the game but it was difficult to really grasp what was happening. The ball was shot back and forth with such ferocity that you worried it would hit you. How embarrassing you cringed, picturing yourself getting smacked in the face with the volleyball. You took a step back for safe measure, trying to remember what Haruki had told you.

“The piece is about emotion as much as it’s about sport.” “What kind of feelings can hitting a ball possibly inspire?” You said skeptically. Haruki smiled apologetically “I’m sorry you have to take over for me” “You didn’t ask for a family death” you said, feeling sorry “I’ll do my best.” “You’re a talented writer. Just put your own spin on it, like you always do. I promise this is the last time you’ll have to write a sports piece.”

You had to admit, that despite the dread and the unmistakable sinking feeling in your gut from being out of your depth, you were also in awe of the players. The way they were able to make split second decisions that ensured the ball’s return to the other side of the court; the constant movement… It was actually impressive.

The red-haired boy – you still didn’t know them by name – had an almost eerie gift for knowing what the opposing side was going to do. You scribbled it down, annoyed when you dropped your biro.

“Look out!” Your head tilted up to see your worst fear coming true. The ball was flying towards you and you felt like you had frozen, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. You braced yourself for impact, lowering your head again but the hit never came. You heard a scuffle near you, and you opened your eyes to see the tall one with the olive hair hit the ball away. He met your stunned eyes with his formidable ones. You’d heard of this one. Ushijima the captain of the team. Haruki had assured you that despite his daunting exterior and intimidating manner, he was nobody to legitimately fear. Unless you were on the other team that is…

He looked away first, running back to the court to be alongside his teammates without a glance back. You felt winded. Whatever had just happened felt so intense that it was strange to believe that it was only a couple of seconds long. The sound of a whistle blowing, and the shouts of the demon coach did nothing to snap you out of it.

“Are you alright?” you looked up again to see the captain looking down at you. “Um, yes” you felt your hands go clammy “thank you.” He nodded at you and a silence followed. “Is it always so…” you looked for the right word “dangerous?” The corner of his lip twitched upwards “sometimes.” “Why do you play it then?” He hesitated, looking wistful “I’m good at it and I like it.” It was a terribly blunt answer, but it made you smile. “You’re funny” you said which made him cock his head to the side. “I’ve never been described as humorous before.” “It’s a special kind of humour” you said, rewarded with a faint blush colouring his cheeks. “How is your article progressing?” He asked, clearing his throat. “I think I found my angle on it” you looked up at him “but I need to do more research. I don’t really know too much about volleyball.” “You can ask me. I know about volleyball.” You felt flustered “are you doing anything after practise? Maybe you could help me clarify all the technical stuff?” He nodded “I’m free.” “Cool.” “Yes… cool” he nodded at you, excusing himself to run back. You felt your heart race as you watched him go back to the court. For the first time since you’d been assigned the piece, you felt excited about volleyball.

[killthe-illusionarydreams]

Ashes To Ashes

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Reader

Request: ‘Please could you write a Fred Weasley imagine where you’re inside the burrow when Bellatrix sets it on fire and Fred runs in to get you out?? Thank you, I’m really loving you writing!’ For anonymous

Ps- i havent read the books or seen the movies in a while so I kinda went w the time it was fleur & bills wedding & intergrated it w that, sorry if its not what u wanted but I did write Bellatrix’s attack in x

————

Today was the big day. For today was the the day where Fleur & Bill were finally to be wed. For their celebration to erase war from anyones thoughts, today they were just two kids in love, not undercover Order Workers. Today they were simply girl & boy.

“Oi Y/N hurry up, Fleur’s asking for you” Ginny shouts practically breathless as she runs past your room, trying to find Hermione for the bride.

You pick up the gorgeous bouqet that earlier today you picked up from the florist for the woman and made your way downstairs into the living room. As you take a closer look, you notice something is off. Fleur was standing rigidly still, looking in the mirror unblinking.

“Fleur, darling, are you alright?”

The woman remained silent, Y/N had no idea what to do, she’d never seen her friend so paniced, so immobile. Ever since Y/N’s sixth year (after the Triwizard Tournament) the two kept in contact, maintaining a solid friendship with the other, who wouldve known that years later Fleur would join the family that you had already been apart of.

“Its okay to be nervous.” You sit beside the Frenchwoman “Just talk through it” grabbing her hand you pull her down to sit beside you.

“It’z all so scary Y/N. I love Bill, I really do, but what if he realises he doesnt feel the same about me and leaves me there?” She faces you, eyes glossed over

That caused you to frowm slightly “Bill loves you more than he loves life itself Fleaur, everybody knows that he’d do anything for you just to see you happy- not many can say that they have a person like that.” You smile lightly, thinking about your person. “You constantly say how much you love him, so if you stil feel that for him, theres no need to be scared of getting married-These are the normal pre wedding doubts, none of them are true. Besides, I’m sure if Bill tried to run away from such a gorgeous and talented person as you, Molly would raise havoc and go to the ends of the earth to get him back.”

Fleur looks up at you, smiling, but with stray tears going down her face “Thank you Y/N” she throws herself forward and hugs you “It’s just a big step & I’ve been so emotional lately because of-“ she hesitates

A look of realisation dawns on you and you beam, hugging her once more but tighter “You’re joking? Congratulations!” You give her a peck on the cheek “Does Bill know?” You queried as she shook her head

“Non, I only confirmed it a week ago. Please dont tell anyone Y/N.” She looks at you with pleading eyes and you vigorously nod

“Of course. I wont say a thing, this is your secret. But how about we start getting ready for your wedding hmm.”

As Y/N started to do Fleurs makeup, Hermione rushed in with the wedding dress that her and Molly had been making final adjustments to, Ginny was running around frantically trying to get all the guests in the right places and seats. Once commisioning your help to shout at a group of loiterers to leave the premises because they wouldnt listen to the red head girl. All in all, after many hours, Fleaur was ready.

“You look gorgeous.” Gabrielle beamed at her sister

“Stunning.”

“Ethereal.”

“I might just steal you from Bill” you wink and cause her to laugh and blow you a kiss “I’ll go get everyone ready, you still have plenty of time to relax.” Handing Gabrielle the bouqet, you rush out of the room, which proved to be quite difficult in heels. But bearing through the pain, you get outside and see rows and rows of the fragile golden chairs set on either side of the long purple carpet. The supporting poles to the gazeebo top were entwined with gorgeous white and gold flowers. As you look to where there was supposed to be an enormous bunch of balloons, you frown to see it bare.

“George!” You shout getting his attention “Wheres Fred? You were supposed to the balloons up ages-“ you feel strong arms pick you up and spin you around, making you let out a shriek of surprise, thankfully not loud enough to get the attention of the others

“I’m here my love, disposable at your command.” He purrs into your ear, sending chills down your spine

“Put me down asshole” you laugh and turn to face him, before you could manage to say anything you were taken aback at how he looked. “You got a haircut.” You stated plainly and ran a hand through his hair as he put his arms around your waist.

“Correction, George cut my hair when I wasnt paying attention so ‘people would be able to tell the difference between us’” he wrinkled his nose

You stare at him, dumbstruck “As if the hole on the side of his head wasnt enough.” Fred laughs and says thats what he said “I like it, it suits you.”

Fred grins and kisses you, “Lets face it Y/N you like anything when its to do with me.”

You roll your eyes and hum in agreement “Thats because I love you Fred. But I will seriously consider breaking up with you if you dont get the balloons up as you promised.”

Fred gives you a small peck & jumps back from you “I’m on it!” and runs over towards his brother to finally do what he had to. You smile at him, reminiscing at how you managed to fall in love with such an idiotic man, yet you could never wish for more. Fred Weasley was truly perfect.

Shaking your head you turn back to the guests that were not where they were supposed to be before shouting “Get to your seats and away from the food please! Thats for after the ceremony!” You swat their hands before adding “If you dont know where youre supposed to be, go to Hermione and Molly, they will tell you.” You motion to the pair before walking around to make last minute adjustments.

The wedding ceremony went beautifully, Fleur was walked down with her bridesmaids: Gabrielle & Ginny. When in sight, she rendered everyone breathless, she was ethereal, the most gorgeous a person could possibly look. Molly teared up from the get go at the sight of her eldest marrying, many more joined in when they said their vows. You could not believe that the day of your friends wedding had finally arrived. Throughout the entire sitting down portion of the ceremony, Fred was holding your hand and rubbing circles on it, an assurance that through everything you went through- you were still together- still alive.

*

The loud music was ringing through the field, dancing bodies surrounded you, but you paid them no mind, your main focus on Fred.

“Did I tell you how gorgeous you look Y/N?”

You laugh lightly as you sway to the beat “No, I must’ve missed it the other ten times you said it”

“Well you do, absolutely bewitching, are you sure you didnt use a love poition on me? I never knew feeling this was possible.” He jokes as he spins you

“Must be my natural charm and charisma that got you so captured Fred.”

“Must be.” He mutters softly looking into your eyes. Fred was completely besotted by you, more than anyone had ever seen him be, he just knew that Y/N was perfect. The way that she’d light up any room she walked in, the way that she’d never back down from a challenge, and just simply how she made him feel. Dear Merlin he loved the girl. “After this do you fancy going away for a bit?”

You look at him sceptically “Planning out your murderous fantasies are we?”

He laughs and shakes his head “You’re impossible. No, since the shops closed I thought we could go away somewhere before everything with the war kicks off, I want as much time with you as I can get.”

“Oh” you forgot that the wizarding world was on the brink of war “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that. But if you sneak George along i swear to Merlin I will live through my murderous fantasy & kill the pair of you.”

Fred chuckles again, before nodding “Promise, no George. I think he got an eyefull when he barged into our room without knocking.”

“Serves him right.” You mumble “I told him on multiple occasions to knock.”

The rest of the song died down and you stayed in Freds arms for a moment, before he was being wisked away to dance with Aunt Muriel, he held an awfully sour look as you giggled when she hounded on him to straighten his back, then saying that he was too tall.

“I’m a bit cold, I’ll go get a jacket then I’ll be right back” Y/N kissed his cheek & left to get back inside the burrow. Thinking nothing of it, she poured herself another drink, smiling to herself at how Fred would have to have another dance with Muriel. What an awful woman.

Unbeknown to the girl, a silver patronus intruded on the celebration to announce grave news. “The Ministary has fallen. The Minister of magic is dead. They are coming. They are coming.” Everyone scrabled to find their loved ones, to make sure that they were safe, but before Fred even had the chance to look for Y/N, everything burst into havoc. The gazeebo was now engulfed in flames, Death Eaters showing up everywhere to curse them.

“Y/N!” Fred shouted, frantically looking around for the girl “Y/N!”

He turned around and was greeted by a paniced Mr Weasley “Theres not much time Fred, I dont know where she is, you need to get to safety and leave. Now!”

Fred ignored his fathers protests and ran, dodging various spells being shot from either side. He had to find you, he had to know you were safe.

An abrupt crash jolts you back into reality, you get up to run and go outside but with a sudden ‘whoosh’ and black smoke- two Death Eaters appear infront of you.

“Shit.” You mumble & grab your wand, quickly dodging their spells you manage to knock one out & try to deal with the other. “You’re quite persistant-“ blue sparks shoot from your wand, the figure ran upstairs & you follow.

“And you’re associated with mud-blood scum!” A flash of green emerged from their wand that narrowly missed you, you grin

“You missed.” You kick a chair at the figure, momentarily distracting them to cast a spell “Stupefy! Petrificus totalus!” As the figure was knocked out & bound together, you walk over and spit out “Get a life, prick” snapping their wand in two.

In the middle of your fight, you had not noticed that the commotion outside had turned to an arsonists playground. looking through the window you call for Fred, hearing no response your heart stops, you leave the room & try to get down the stairs but now they were already engulfed by flames.

“Oh shit” you panic and shoot spells at it to stop the fire from spreading, but to no avail, it only got worse. Smoke was now clouding your vision, realising that if you were not to jump down you’d perish in this fire. Letting out a short breath, you hype yourself up for the leap of your life “You can do it Y/N. Come on” violetly coughing, you jump. Unfortunately landing a fair few stairs too high. Unbearable pain shoots up through your leg & you cry out in pain.

Sinking to the floor you couldnt even move, the pain in your arm and leg restricting you. This was it, this would be how you die. All alone, with no one to help you, no one to save you. In a burning house. Yet the only thought racing through your mind was ‘Is Fred safe’. Thankfully most of the fire was behind you, the staircase had completely gone up in flames however, the roof was begining to crumble down. A plank toppled down, narrowly missing you, but making the room next to you catch on fire.

As you were losing conciousness you hear a strained yell “Y/N!” You try to respond, but all that came out was a series of violent coughs “Y/N im coming, hang on!” You couldn’t see what was happening, i dont know if it was the thick cloud of smoke or the fact that you were breathing most of it in, but your vision blurred.

A faint figure emerged, breathless, trying to get through the flames & to you fast enough “Hey Y/N ive got you, im here.” You felt yourself being picked up & your body fell like a ragdoll. “Oh merlin dont die on me Y/N.” Was the last thing you heard before passing out.

*

The abrupt light and noise woke you up, yet you were unable to open your eyes, they were far too heavy for the little energy you had. Were you dead? Is this what death felt like?

“Stop pacing Fred, she’ll be fine.” You heard a voice say, however, unable to distinguish who it belonged to “shes a strong girl, the nurses said so.”

“Yeah they also said she’d wake up yesterday, so my apologies if I dont believe what they have to say.” He snapped

Fred. Oh yes, Fred. He came into the building to save you didnt he? So that answered your question of being dead. You were very much alive, but dear Merlin you were in unbearable pain.

“She’ll be up and about soon though? Her body was exhausted thats why shes sleeping so long right?” He continued, sounding unsure. Well if this is how they reacted to you passing out you wouldn’t want to know how theyd react if you died.

“And id appreciate it if I could sleep some more.” You croak out as you let your eyes open. Coming to face the whole clan of distressed red heads, Harry, Hermione & Fleur.

Fred snaps to face you and a look of relief washes over his features “Y/N” he whispers and rushes to your side hugging you “You’re okay. You’re alive. Thank Merlin.”

You try to chuckle, which abruptly turns into a wheze “I’m okay yeah, in a lot of pain but I’m fine.” Fred retreats from you, an apologetic look on his face.

“Come on kids lets give them some space.” Molly ushers everyone out of the room “I’m glad you’re okay Y/N” she sends you a smile and leaves the room for you and Fred to be alone.

Moments pass with Fred just looking at you with glassy eyes before he abruptly let out “You bloody scared me half to death!”

You motion for him to help you sit up “Oh I do apologise that me nearly burning in a fire scared you. I wasnt very happy about it either.”

Fred looks at you speachless, confused at how you can joke about it so soon. He remains quiet before letting out a big sigh and hanging his head into his lap “I thought I lost you.” He mumbles, barely loud enough for you to hear

“Hey, look at me.” You say and put his face into your left hand with the little energy you have “I’m okay, I’m alive. And so are you” he smiles faintly before you continue “Obviously as gorgeous as ever, so nothing irreversible happened.”

He laughs “Obviously.”

While in the room Fred filled you in on what happened, that after the Death Eaters showed up & they fought them off- Bellatrix Lestrange set fire to the burrow & he ran in to get you out. He told you that you passed out & that you had to be taken to St Mungos to treat your broken leg and the burn on your arm.

“The nurses said you were lucky to get out alive Y/N” he said lowly, not being able to bear the thought of your death.

“Im alive because of you Fred. Thank you.” You offer a weak smile “There were two Death Eaters in the house when it burned up-“

“Thats not on your concious to bear, Its on Bellatrix Lestrange.”

You nod, in all honesty you didnt feel bad that they perished in the fire- their downfall was their own undoing. But what was on your mind was the fire burn “When I’m better do you recon I’ll l have a cool badass scar?”

Fred shakes his head as he holds your hand, of course thats what Y/N is thinking about “‘course you will, It’ll become part of badass backstory.”

“Good” you mumble and close your eyes. After a long silence you relax back into your pillow, the sleeping draft & skelly-grow hitting you like a brick. You begin to mumble incoherent sentences

“Hey Freddie?”

He looks at your peaceful face, all calm against the pillow and responds “Yes my love?”

After a little pause of small mumbles, you ask “When I’m better, can we leave for our trip?”

“Whatever you want Y/N.” He smiles lightly & watches you drift off to sleep, hoping that ‘better’ would come along faster.

—————

Ahh okay hi! Omg this took so long to write, again sorry its not the actual bellatrix fire story, i jus forgot how it happened & when I remembered I wrote too much of it. <33

[princesskokichi]

Kiibo comforting Shuichi having a panic attack

aww... poor babey!!

shuichi must be going through a rough time and does deserve the love and comfort.

I personally love saiibou too!! this is a really cute request though and thank you for it ^.^

it’s very adorable and I tried my best with this one shsjs 💕

-Mod Mikan

[S H U I C H I]

The atmosphere of the room grew heavier as they were trying to find major clues that point to the killer.

The class trial was quite exhausting, as sweat started creasing down Shuichi’s forehead as he try to line up the evidence.

His face lit up, eyes widened like a light bulb has been lightened up and figured it out. “It was you... wasn’t it?” He queried, looking at the culprit nervously. “You’re the one who murdered Angie-san, didn’t you?”

Once again, the killer was busted... But this time they were going mad. If looks could kill, everyone in the trial room would be dead by now.

“Aha... I’m the killer you say...?” They asked, their voice being strangely calm as they interrogated. “Are you sure? Are you sure that I am the killer, Saihara? That piece of frabric was an imprecise evidence...”

They were shaking, it’s as if they could snap somebody’s neck just by looking at them right now. They lost it.

After a moment of argufying and in attempts of defending themselves, there was no use whatsoever. Eventually, Monokuma has already declared voting time. Shuichi, being quite nervous as he hesitated to — with the culprit on his tail after revealing them.

There they are... those eyes again. Those eyes that he has feared; it made him felt so frightened... felt so guilty. The culprit wouldn’t be able to forgive him as they get dragged to their execution any way, but he just had to do what’s right... right? Beads of sweat rolled down the side of his forehead as he hesitatingly votes for them.

Kiibo noticed him and got slightly worried.

Pits of anxiety churns Shuichi’s stomach as Monokuma announced: “Aaaand... you got it right once again! The killer who killed Angie Yonaga, was them all along, Upupupupu...” The black and white bear said, laughing in amusement.

“No... it can’t be...!” The culprit remarked, freaking out after getting caught. It was defenseless, yet the culprit made a threat towards the anxious boy.

“Saihara Shuichi... I’ll drag you with me to hell! Just you wait...!” They said, pointing at him with the scariest look on their face.

Shuichi was scared... he flinced, backing away to Kiibo as his hands were shaking. He tried to reassure Shuichi that what he did was right, but he probably wouldn’t hear him in this state.

“I’ve prepared a very special punishment!” They were still rambling on how much they despise Shuichi and wishes he was dead then they could’ve gotten away with it. Was it his fault...? “It’s... punishment tiiiiime!” The bear announced as he slammed the hammer onto the red button.

The killer was soon dragged to their execution by Monokuma, still seemingly fuming at the detective. They all watched them to their death, Shuichi not being able to watch as he was heavily breathing. He just couldn’t face the guilt and shame.

He could burst into tears right now as he was so scared, but he just have to... have to hold it together. Keep it together it will be over soon. It will be over soon... right? They were in the wrong, it is dreadful yet... he doesn’t want to die yet.

Everyone parted ways to their dorms after experiencing another shocking, yet exhausting moment. It happened often that they were surprisingly, yet sadly getting used to it by now.

It was outrageous... it was wrong but they couldn’t do anything about it at all. Nobody wanted this in the first place, it was all Monokuma’s fault, wasn’t it?

On their way on the elevator, the navy blue-haired boy stood there, remembering and having flashbacks of the late killer’s face. Their expression was horrifying that made him felt so scared and guilty.

He clenched his stomach as if he was about to be sick. Everyone in the elevator was slightly worried as they thought he will be okay.

Sooner, everyone parted their ways to the dorms... The heavy, dark atmosphere still draws in the dark night sky. Everything will be okay... if he could distract himself; at least it’s what he thought. Images of their expression still flashes inside of his mind.

His cheeks felt wet... his hands and feet were cold as he tried to stable and hold himself along the walls. He was shaking and panting. What is he gonna do now? It feels as if he couldn’t breathe as he gripped his hair, trying to make his way to his boyfriend’s dorm. He was hesitating, too. He wasn’t in the right state of mind and he was obviously frightened.

The boy gripped the handle onto the Ultimate Robot’s door as his cold, sweaty hands shook the doorknob.

The bot inside thought something was rattling his doorknob, so he decided to check it out; unlocking his door. It’s when he spotted his beloved boyfriend, on the ground panting. Everything was spinning and he couldn’t feel his hands anymore. “...S-Saihara-kun, are you okay?” He was constantly panicked, too.

He didn’t understand what’s happening to Shuichi? Is he okay? It wasn’t like him before and he seemed like he was not in the best state!

“Nonononono... K-Kiibo-kun...” His chest became heavy as he struggled to breathe. Kiibo didn’t understand why was his boyfriend acting like this, so he just crouched down to Shuichi’s level on where he’s sitting and just... leans in for a hug.

“Saihara-kun... Your breathing seemed to not be stable. Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked, his tone lacing in worry. He slowly pats his back and make slow, soothing circles on his back. “Shhh... It will be okay. Try to focus on the better...” He reassures, trying to calm him down.

“K...iibo-kun... those... eyes...” He said, choking in between his words.

Shuichi gripped his hands onto the bot harder for his dear life, “It’s okay... You did the right thing.” Kiibo reassures, catching on what he was so worried and panicking about.

Sooner, his breath slowly resolving back to normal from the bot’s comfort. He just has to make him calm down and reassure him, whispering little words to try and soothe the panicking teen. Slowly and sooner, his heart was beating back to its firm and normal rate.

He was worried for him too! He must’ve been having a hard time recently...

Kiibo’s embrace was warm... calmly like everything was okay and will be okay in his arms. He needed this right now...

Sooner it resulted in little snifflings. He’ll just have to hold him a little longer, he seems to be going through a rough time. They could be like this forever, Kiibo just wanted everything to be okay. They stayed like that for about a good thirty minutes.

Eventually, things were in peace in quiet. Kiibo still continued on rubbing soothing circles on his back. “I assumed you have calmed down for now, Saihara-kun... Would you like to stay with me tonight?” He asked.

There was no response, as Kiibo let go of the embrace, with a sleeping Shuichi. He looked so peaceful that he couldn’t help but smile. “Well then... I will surely take that as a yes.”

Then, Kiibo took him in and carried him to this bed with his own strength. He watches as his chest rises up and down in a calm demeanor. It was so peaceful... He wish he would be as relaxed as this... especially after what’s going on right now.

Kiibo laid down next to him, thinking that he has done his job and wishes the best for him. Although he’s a robot and didn’t understand human emotion that much... he is still trying his best and is willing to learn and take care of him.

He’s love him so much that losing Shuichi or seeing him distressed just tears his heart.

Kiibo will try his best to keep Shuichi safe, Shuichi is one top priority!

[blissfulsun]

I loove ur writing! Can u do a cute one ab how you don’t even realize your pregnant but Jeff and his friends start to notice little things and then he’s like baby do u think u r and ur like omg maybe and then u r!!!

hello darling thank you that means a lot!! U got me sO in the feels I think I’m ready to have Jeff’s kids after this😭💘

‘-and get me extra pickles’ it’s a simple request, one sentence, but it’s enough to set Jeff off.

The drive to pick up everyone’s food spent with his mind spinning in the passenger seat of Todd’s car.

You’ve been more tired lately, he recalls, falling asleep in his lap or arms the moment he’s stepped through the door.

He remembers how you cried when Joe and he put Nerf in a cute elf costume days before Christmas a couple of weeks ago, the way the tears fell even heavier when he jumped on the bed to cradle you in his arms and apologise.

It’s all he can focus on for the rest of the night, the possibility orbits in his brain while you sit between his legs on the beanbag, hands on your belly instead of hips or thighs.

He wants to tell you the instant he’s back at David’s, the sight of you in his sweatshirt and a pair of leggings, messy hair pulled up in a bun, he almost does.

Matt is the one to point out, ‘I thought you hated pickles?!’ to which you pause but eventually shrug.

‘Maybe I’ve changed my mind’ your words dismissing his query, but they stay with Jeff all the same.

‘Baby...when did you last- do you think you could be pregnant?’ he finally brings up in the car on your way home.

The question makes you pause in your search for a particular song on your guys’ drive playlist.

Thoughts travelling a hundred miles per hour before they finally settle on one, you’re a couple of weeks late.

‘I...’ you’re still unsure, lost on how he came to the conclusion before you could even consider the possibility yourself.

His hand wraps around your closest hand, picking it up to pepper kisses across your shaking fingers.

‘s a couple of things darlin’, we could grab a a test or two if you want?’ Jeff is careful with his words, excitement slightly muted as you come to terms with the theory.

Your nod is the only answer to pass between you before he’s taking a turn for the first grocery store in sight.

It remains quiet while you browse and finally grab at least four different types, still quiet when you get back in the car and through the door of your shared home, the bathroom door closing behind you.

Jeff is sat on the edge of the bed when you finally come back after the most torturous ten minutes of his life.

You’re crying he realises, his heart dropping in perceived disappointment.

Instead, ‘we’re having a baby’ you stutter out before jumping in his arms.

And then there’s laughter, happy tears falling from his own eyes as Jeff cradles you in his lap, your sniffles soft against his chest.

‘I love you, ‘m gonna love her just as much’ he declares, hand gently wiping away the tear drops on your cheeks.

He's referring to the baby as her only solidifies what you already know, she will be born into the happiest family you could ever wish for.

And if it’s a boy, well, he might just be a mumma’s boy & Jeff will love him just as much.

Besides, you can always try for a girl after.

[theartoflovingthomashunt]

dx:double vision[AU]

Masterlists: [Thomas Hunt x Alex Spencer] [Ethan Ramsey x Ellie Shepherd] [Love & Scotch: a crossover series] – – – Pairings: Thomas Hunt x Alex Spencer ; Ethan Ramsey x Ellie Shepherd Book: Hollywood U x Open Heart Word Count: ~900 Rating: General Prompt: Tokyo @choicesmarchchallenge

Background: This takes place in my Hollywood U AU... Alex and Hunt are engaged and planning their wedding. Ethan is an old friend who is struggling to keep a professional relationship with the newest member of his diagnostics team *** This is set in OH2 Chapter 3. ***

Synopsis: Ethan calls his friends to share a particularly interesting story from his day. 

Catch up on Love and Scotch

– – –

Hunt reached for his laptop, hearing the notification for an incoming video call. “It’s Ramsey.”

Alex slipped her robe over herself, then settled back on the bed. “You may want to put something on first.”

He walked alongside her kissing her once more before handing her the computer. “I’ll be right back.”

“Hi, Ethan,” Alex answered the call. She bit the corner of her lip as her eyes drifted away momentarily, enjoying her view of Hunt retrieving his clothes.

“It appears as though I have interrupted something?" Ethan questioned his brow arching curiously.

Her focus shifted back to the screen. “What? Uh, no. Sorry! We just got up.” (It was mostly true.)

“Are you feeling well?” He questioned, concern rising on his face. “Are you fatigued? Do you have any other symptoms?”

“We’re quite fine, thank you,” Alex smiled. “I can see why you’d be confused; being stuck in the past has that effect.”

Alex enjoyed the confusion spreading on Ethan’s face. He and Hunt were alike in that when they didn’t understand something immediately, their noses wrinkled and their eyes creased, they both needed to solve every puzzle presented to them.

“We’re in Tokyo,” she offered after letting him ponder her query for a moment. “I was asked to do some last-minute press promotion for my film.”

“Ah, I see” Ethan nodded, now understanding the time zone change and why they would have just woken up.

“My apologies,” Hunt offered, scooting into bed beside Alex, who pouted at his current state of dress. She much preferred the earlier view. “What can we do for you?”

“I actually have an amusing anecdote to share with the two of you,” Ethan started, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Is it about Ellie?!” Alex quickly questioned. Her eyes widened as she leaned a little closer, waiting for details.

“Not entirely, but I suspect you will still find it enjoyable nevertheless,” Ethan insisted.

“Do tell!” She responded cheerfully.

“Had this not happened in the middle of the hospital, I would have reservations about sharing,” Ethan started. He shook his head, thinking back to that moment earlier in the day. “One of my patients was suffering from hallucinations. During an episode when Ellie and I were trying to subdue him, he thought we were old friends of his. He referred to us as Tommy and Alex. Understandably, I thought of the two of you.”

“Tommy,” Alex giggled, nudging Hunt.

“Don’t,” Hunt grumbled. “You know how I loathe that. My name is Thomas.”

“Oh, Tommy boy,” Alex continued as Hunt cringed. His sister had been the only one who could get away addressing him like that, but it didn't stop her from the occasional teasing.

“What an interesting coincidence,” Hunt noted, attempting to ignore Alex's giggling.

“My thoughts exactly,” Ethan agreed. His lip twisted as he contemplated the story, searching for some possible meaning.

“See! Just another sign that you and Ellie are meant to be together,” Alex insisted. “The world is showing you that it’s okay. We made it through the hardships, so can the two of you!”

“I am quite certain the universe had nothing to do with it,” Ethan countered. “It was a passing comment by an ill patient. Nothing more.”

“And yet, you called us to tell us knowing full well I would disagree.” Alex narrowed her eyes at the camera. “You want to be with her, Ethan. Just let it happen.”

“Want has nothing to do with it.” Ethan sighed, running his fingers across his chin thoughtfully.

“You both deserve to be happy,” Hunt offered, nodding his agreement with his fiancée. “Even if that means exploring uncharted and difficult territories. I understand better than most the challenges of a complex workplace romance.”

“It’s not only that. I can’t give her the life she deserves,” Ethan replied, his tone more open than typical. “I'm not a boyfriend or a husband. That’s not who I am. Medicine has always been who I am.”

“Nor am I.” Hunt’s hand drifted over Alex’s. “My work was my art and that was who I was. Or, so I thought. If Ellie is your Alex, you’re fighting a losing battle, and trust me, it’s one worth losing.”

“She doesn’t need you to be something you’re not. She knows you, and she seems to admire you. All she needs is you. If you love her, that’s enough,” Alex insisted.

“I take it you agree, Hunt?” Ethan knew the answer, but he needed to hear it all the same.

“I do,” Hunt admitted. “Once you realize something–someone– is missing, no amount of distance or fighting it will fix that feeling. The only thing left is to give in and let yourself be happy.”

“I wish it were that easy.” Ethan threaded his fingers through his hair, lowering his head. His brow wrinkled with contemplation.

“I never said it was easy,” Hunt interrupted. “It will be anything but easy; however, the journey is worth every hardship.”

Ethan nodded, weighing all of his options. His own feelings didn’t matter. Her education had to come first. Her future was more important than his feelings. She was brilliant, and he knew she could be so much more. She had cured Naveen when even he couldn’t. She needed him to push her. He loved her enough to ensure her future; it was what was best for her. Whether that future included him...he couldn’t let himself consider it.

“Goodnight—or I suppose, good morning?” Ethan breathed. “Enjoy the remainder of your trip."

“Thanks,” Alex smiled softly. “Baby steps, Ethan.”

----

A/N: I will never get over that this is based on a canon scene where Ethan and MC are called Tommy and Alex by a patient when I had already been writing this series at the time. It will always be my favorite little coincidence/shoutout?

[milkygcf]

Hiii I c ur doing reqs. U don't have to do this one though. I'm sure you'll be getting many so only if it inspires you 💖 buuttt here goesss. Vkook x reader. Jealousy. Angst. plshappyending. kluvvyouuu.

//credits to @jjks for the gif!//

Pairing | jjk x reader (ft. kth)

Genre | angst, s2l

Warnings | none

Summary |  ❝ Hiii I c ur doing reqs. U don't have to do this one though. I'm sure you'll be getting many so only if it inspires you 💖 buuttt here goesss. Vkook x reader. Jealousy. Angst. plshappyending. kluvvyouuu. ❞

Word Count | 1.6k

Author’s Note | hi anon!! your request is finished! i tried to make it as angsty as i could, although it does stray a bit from the jealousy you asked for 😅😅 yet if you squint, it’s hinted! alongside this, i hope the somewhat happy ending satisfies your wishes! i also hope this is to your liking ❤ thank you for requesting ✨ ________________________________________________________________

Taehyung has to moderately be the most romantic fellow you’ve ever met. You’ve known the dork for a good four years, befriending him at a summer camp your parents practically forced you to attend.

During the span of time, you earned the pleasure to watch him evolve into one fine man. From wearing those ugly pink shorts he was quite fond of, to having half of his wardrobe being nothing but pairs amongst pairs of slacks. You have to admit - despite your imposing disdain towards that garment, you kind of miss it. 

You also miss the countless nights awake tallying the stars that scattered across the sky with him. Or perhaps all the times he’d invite himself over and insist you watch Avatar: The Last Airbender with him.

Anyway, back to Taehyung being the hopeless romantic he is - lately, he’s been hell-bent on trying to find someone he can share his life with. 

And by time, he did.

However, you are not that someone. 

In fact, you are the side character that doesn’t obtain as much luck as the main character does. You sit and stare in the sidelines, watching as Taehyung relished in the confines of euphoria with someone he now calls his soulmate. 

That soulmate is not you.

“If love was a thing, what would you associate it with?” He queried silently one night, fumbling with his phone. Your fingers coursed through his soft locks that splattered across your chest and you frowned. 

If love was a thing, to you, it would’ve been Kim Taehyung. It would’ve been his deep, rich voice, the way it soothes your very soul and leaves you wanting to hear more. Or the constellations in his eyes - those who suppress every memory he has ever endured. Eyes who spill tears and crinkle when his lips curve into a jovial beam.

There are a mass of qualities you consider to be a concept of love.

He took your lack of response as cluelessness, locking his phone shut and letting a sigh flutter out of his lips. “Don’t you think it’s something akin to a warm summer? Or like a walk by the sea, with the fresh, chilly breeze making your hair flow.”

“That’s a way to put it,” you shifted under him, “Although everyone has different perspectives of the very subject.” “And I hope one day I’ll be able to meet someone with that same perspective.” 

Taehyung’s wishes eventually come true. After a span of perhaps a month, he comes running to you with tears of joy sprouting down his cheeks, the most merry smile spread across his lips. He engulfed you in a jostling hug and pecked your cheek, his sentences nothing but a jumble of words that you couldn’t seem to comprehend. 

If you had known back then, you would’ve told him that to you, love was like a rose trapped in an eternal winter. To you, it was lifeless - non-existent. How could you know of such a thing when you skipped the basics and immediately jumped onto heartbreak?

You are in love with Kim Taehyung - that much was clear. 

Nothing could possibly define the state of your heart as you listened intently to the way his voice spoke ecstatically about someone he was going to share the world with. 

“She’s like a rainbow after a murky storm, Y/N, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so exquisite. Her eyes shine brighter than the crown jewels of England!” The way he interprets her makes you giggle - Taehyung always had a peculiar way of saying things. 

Although, the way your name rolls carelessly down his tongue makes you choke - no longer do you find it soothing, no longer do you find that same old caring tone laced into it. Like you were the only person he ever needed. You and him against the world. 

Heartbreak is a menace - god forbid someone ever experiences the turmoil it brings along with it. It is a plight that once you bump paths with, it encases itself around you and never fades. 

Unlike heartbreak, Taehyung becomes a distant memory. He does fade away - lets himself disintegrate in the nooks of your mind. You can do nothing but watch as he scatters any remaining thought of you and leaves it to his youthful moments in life. 

“Ah - sorry Y/N, we’re going out today! Our anniversary is soon, and we were hoping we could plan a small party.” 

“Right, yeah, that’s okay.” You lie right through your teeth, “Can we meet anytime soon? I miss you, you dork.”

Taehyung’s light laughter reverberates through your phone. Another fragment of your heart cracks and crumbles. “I miss you too silly! I’ve been a bit busy lately… What a bummer! I promise I’ll text you as soon as I’m free! Love ya!” 

You’re left with the eerie sound of your phone beeping. 

There’s a reason why you were never really fond of promises. They were meant to be broken - made to be hopes and dreams only to be twisted in the end. Unfortunately for you, the reason for your heartbreak never texted you back after that.

It’s your fault, really, you were the one who couldn’t come clean to your best friend. If you had told him just a sliver of your feelings, maybe things would have been different. Maybe you wouldn’t be watching raindrops trickle down your bedroom window alone. Maybe, just maybe, your sleepless nights would’ve been replaced with warmth spreading through your skin at Taehyung’s tender touch. 

You can do nothing but sulk now.

Except, you sulk until you stumble upon a stranger whom, just like you, battles the scarecrow lurking around them. It tore them down, made sure they praised regret for as long as they reminisce about each memory conceived with their last love. 

His name is Jeon Jungkook, and just like you, he lives with remnants of heartbreak staining his very soul. 

“She was the light of my life,” he announces grudgingly, eyes gleaming under the dimly lit night sky. “It’s like you finally start seeing colour. Like, actual colour, you get me?” 

Of course you do - you’ve been seeing that colour since you laid eyes on Taehyung at summer camp. 

“What about you?” Jungkook queries then, turning towards your slumped figure. Your fingers anxiously pick at the grass beneath you, a frown curving onto your lips. “Me?” Your voice comes out rather silent, a bit distressed. 

“What’s your story?”

“Well, Jeon, I thought I had everything until I carelessly let it slip away. A dumb move, really, it’s all my fault.” But in reality, how could you tell him? Was the result of rejection better than the state you’re left in now? You would’ve easily earned yourself an answer if you’d confessed. 

Jungkook looks at you with pity circling in the pits of his eyes. He makes it his mission to understand your anguish, what causes such disappointment in your features.

And then? He interlocks his fingers with yours and offers you a mellow smile. You turn to him with wide eyes, mouth agape as to what he was insisting. 

“In that case, I hope we can mend each other.” 

---

Taehyung has been out of it since the moment he cut the last call you’ve had together. Your very last interaction. Since then, he’s been throwing himself into his significant other’s arms, hoping that eventually, he’ll rid the guilt etching into him. 

Perhaps if he weren’t so foolish, things would have been different. How else was he supposed to spend his free-time now? He was used to your constant presence - your pearly whites out on show whenever he makes the dumbest of jokes. 

He craves the enjoyment he used to earn himself with you - the euphoric feeling bursting through him as he continues to relish on the beauties life offered with you.

It’s different now. 

The person he wakes up beside isn’t you - the same warmth he’d find himself aching for every time isn’t there. He finally found someone he could course life with, but it wasn’t you.

There’s a feeling nagging at him, yet despite how much he tries, he just can’t seem to fathom it. 

Taehyung is suddenly aware of his current standing. He’s aware of how you’ve become a distant memory - a fragment of his older life, a life he’s abandoned because he seeked out what he’d wished. 

But was it really what he’s always wanted?

His queries are answered when he spots you by someone else’s side. You’re smiling so brightly it’s almost humanly impossible. Something bubbles within the confines of his mind. It’s clear you’re with someone who’s clearly making you happy, although that someone’s not him. 

The very fact makes him feel somewhat conflicted, however he has no clue as to why he feels so distraught. 

You don’t notice his presence whatsoever, focus put directly on Jungkook and the little ministrations he was making with his hands. He was telling you about this one time he watched an animated movie and how he’d further on adapt to the idea of hearing bells when meeting his soulmate. It’s endearing - it makes you want to tune in to more.

Both you and Jungkook found solace in each other, trying to mend your broken hearts despite how challenging it is. You found comfort and happiness, and by time, you both let go of the burdensome heartbreak sitting on your shoulders. 

That, however, didn’t count on Taehyung’s side. 

And as he watches you be whisked away by a stranger he has no knowledge of, it finally dawns on him how he’d lost you due to his foolishness.

[predictionsfootball99-blog]

A Complete Beginners Guide to Football Betting

We have decided to pay all of the principles in one fell swoop, with a comprehensive guide to betting on sportsbetting. This may unite some advice that's been covered previously, like tips about how to manage your money efficiently, while also providing some info that we have wanted to pay for a while or about finding a decent sportsbook. We suggest that novice bettors make certain that you bookmark it, although this will be a manual that is long. Personally as you get your start this information will almost prove useful for you.

1. Start By Asking Yourself Some Personal Questions

Is Sports Betting Right For You?

If you are considering this kind of guide for the first time, you might be on the fence about sports betting. You may feel lured in by the promise of winning, while your side is screaming that the threat of losing is simply too great to risk it. And that is why you're going to have until you even bother with the remainder of this guide to do a little bit of soul-searching. Now, there are a few circumstances under which we wouldn't suggest that you take part in the practice of sports betting. For instance, if you do not have much money and are believing that sports betting will act as some type of"get rich quick" scheme, then you may want to flip another way. You can produce a lot of money online sports betting, but nobody wins each time. You wind up with lots of your cash stuck in venture if you're betting through online sportsbooks, so those who get rick might not always do this quickly.

Why Would You Want to Bet on Sports?

When you've taken the opportunity to choose whether sports betting is something to you need to do some thinking about why you have decided to take up the hobby of sports betting. There are some sports bettors out there, people who make a lot of their income from this hobby independently. Are you expecting to become one of these? Or are you? The reply to this query will determine the best way to go about betting in the first place. If you don't care about the experience and simply need a little bit of money, then you may sign up for our service, follow our selections, and not give another thought to . Heck, you might not even watch the games you've wagered , and only wait to look up the scores and see whether you left any money. You have the option of putting forth very little effort. This is not the way to go about it by any means.

2. Basics of the Sports Betting Procedure

Reading the Lines on the Sportsbooks

The very first of those principles if you want to be a sports bettor, you'll need to learn is to read the lines. The most important lines will be decided by the game upon which you are betting. In hockey and baseball, for example, most sports betting is done by the currency lines. In basketball and football, most stakes generally pertain to the stage spreads. Additionally, there Are numbers known as O/U or the over/under, which more Casual bettors will normally refer to as totals. There are two ways that you'll usually see money lines. The one which you'll see is the American system, however there's also a system you might encounter on occasion. We're going to go ahead so that you never need to worry about which system your sportsbook of choice has decided to use, together with how to convert them, and cover both. We will also let you know how to figure out lines lines that are no-juice and win rates. So that you may scroll beyond any info you understand we have bolded each significant point in this section.

Various Kinds of Bets You Can Make

The following are some of the most common types of wagers. Again, we'll daring each one so that you can scroll past any info you might already know. Because they are the most typical, we are going to start with money lines and we have already talked a bit about how to read them. You may be betting on money lines if you would rather bet on baseball or hockey. In basketball and football, it is only common to bet on cash lines if you're betting on the underdog, as currency lines for every one of those two sports tend to be quite high and cost a great deal of juice on teams.

When you gamble on the money lines, literally all you are betting on is whether or not a particular group is going to win the game. You will also find money lines on other types of bets, as a method of telling the payout for every to you.

Recognizing the Sportsbooks

So you know how to read the lines and you are familiar with a few different kinds of wagers that you can make. But who are the people currently setting these lines at the first location? More importantly how do they operate? Well, generally, their traces will be opened by sportsbooks . And while a few sportsbooks may set betting limits to make sure that you're putting down enough cash to benefit their profit margins, these limitations will normally be low when the lines are opened. Things start to change, but as more and more bettors make their plays. This is. As we've mentioned before, the oddsmakers need to make sure that equal numbers of bettors are betting on each side of the line if they want to make sure that they create a solid gain from your juice. As bettors make their plays the bookmakers seem to determine which side is getting stakes and correct the lines to try and lure more bettors to betting on the side that's been neglected by comparison. After the sportsbooks begin to attain a balance between stakes they will likely begin to raise the betting limits.

3. Making Sure You Gain From Sports Betting

Do You Know How to Be Profitable?

This sounds like a way but we are requesting it for a reason. We told you above, and you may observe that the way they were described by us kind of made them seem like fodder for the sportsbooks. Now, Do you feel they could have sounded that way if they were just rolling in the dough? No. And these are people who think that they've discovered a easy and safe way by making the bets on each game to maximize their profit margin. But sports do not function like that. There's not any such thing as a group winner, and you might notice that the decimal traces when we looked at lines in the above sections we gave you were much nearer than the decimal lines we gave earlier factoring out the vigorish. In other words, no matter what the sportsbooks are stating, the teams you are betting on might be more akin than you think, and there is no telling what may happen. Some sites that focus on giving guidance to people who have a fascination with sports betting have indicated tracking your plays year that was full before making a decision whether or not you feel you've got the edge that it takes to be a sports bettor. Now, since sports betting isn't a perfect art and you're likely to need to accept you will drop every now and then, the advantage you need is actually not too far above 50%, over the lines of between 52% and 55% depending upon the cash lines on which you are wagering. But only because that appears achievable doesn't mean it's easy for everyone.

Can You Afford to Hire Professional Assistance?

We linked our packages page at the start of this guide, but there are items that you will need to know about us (and really about all handicapping consultants) if you're going to bother with our services to start with. We recommend you make the most of what we have to offer if you can afford the help of winners such as ourselves, but you might still wish to know a little bit. Now, while a number of our opponents and we may occasionally mention win percentages, we covered over that these proportions don't need to be too high to be profitable. This means you're going to have to look at some other things when looking for assistance with your endeavors that are handicapping. If you're taking a look at a handicapper that offers a free trial, then look at tracking your selections and analyzing a number of the stats that we told you to analyze on your sports betting projects. It will be very helpful to have these numbers, although You'll work with a sample size. Obviously, another thing that you will need to look at is the price. If you have looked at Football accumulator you know whether we are the service for you. However, in fairness to you, we ought to suggest that you don't pick on a package that costs over the amount you've got on your bankroll. Remember that you won't always get your payouts instantly, so even winning with numbers can sense a lot. We are going to talk more about bankroll later on in this manual, after.

[vegetacide]

Coffee - Insomnia (TaG)

Veg-notables: Andddddd another one. This one is courtesy of Nutty cause she tossed a few lines at me.. So I ran with it. Anything below with a ** bracketing it was provided by her marvelous brain.

Likes and shares are awesome so thanks in advance. Reviews are my inspirational fuel so please feel free to drop a line.. I don’t bite ^,.,^

As per the norm.. All typos and mistakes are purely my own.

Special thanks to @gumnut-logic for the inspiration and the encouragement.

Part of the Coffee series.

Characters: Virgil, Kayo

Timeline: Post S.O.S part 2

Spoilers - VAYOR (cause these 2 give me life!)

ENJOY!!

**Kay walks up behind him with a steaming coffee in her hand**

Catching a whiff of the wonderful aroma - ‘cause the man was a bloodhound for coffee, Virgil pulled his head out of the aft VTOL access panel. The large cargo transport was nestled down close to the ground,  her massive weight settled on her aviation rubbers. Not her usual pre-flight position but this way made gaining access to her innards and all his tools a hell of a lot easier and only slightly hampered her module load up sequence

**“You’re up early.” She sipped her coffee knowing what his reaction would likely be. “Anything wrong?”**

Snagging a spanner out of the rolling tool chest, Virgil shrugged a shoulder. “Couldn’t sleep” and turned back to what he was working on, swiping the back of his forearm over his brow.  Kayo knew from experience how stifling the small, cramped confines could be even in the cooler environs of the hanger. The bead of sweat working its way down the curve of his spine paid testament to that fact

Even with the protective material of his coveralls pulled from his heavy shoulders, the arms tied loosely around his waist, it did little to alleviate the discomfort.  Though she had to admit she did enjoy the view because at some point he’d also ditched his shirt.

She briefly lost her train of thought as the over head lighting played across the hard expanse of muscles running up his back. The sinew corded and rippled with movement while he quietly argued with whatever he was working on with such intensity.  

**A slight frown, why wasn’t he sleeping? But that was quickly replaced by a fond smile as he smeared grease across his forehead. She reached out and brushed a hair off the smear. “Anything you want to talk about?”**

She watched his profile as his lips turned up slightly with the gesture, his head tilting subconsciously to follow the path of her fingers.  Straightening from his task he caught her palm in his and gave it a brief squeeze. “Couldn’t shut my brain off.” The spanner was tossed haphazardly into the maw of the access hatch and it hit with a dull thump. His frustration at his work was evident in the careless action.

Pulling a rag from his pocket he wiped his hands, leaning back against the great big green beast of a craft.  "You might find this surprising but occasionally I actually get up at a ‘reasonable’ hour.“ He air quoted, the flex of his biceps causing the muscles to bunch and thicken.

Kayo resisted the urge to snort,  his idea of reasonable and everyone else were two vastly different concepts. “If I didn’t know you so well I would actually buy that.”  She looked around at the array of tools and the scattering of miscellaneous parts that littered the usually tidy space. “You’ve been at this for hours.”

Virgil’s eyes lost their focus, seeming to stare off into the middle distance.  His hands fiddling with the oil stained rag, playing with the tattered fabric as he was drawn inwards in introspection.  

Kayo looked down and watched as the unsweetened brew swirled and trembled in the mug with her minute movements. The distorted reflection of Two wavering and looking back up at her from the cooling beverage like some omnipresent ghost.  "I’m a light sleeper. You never came to bed last night.” She peered up at him through the loose fall of her hair and watched the series of emotions play across his tired face. The muscles in his jaw flexing as he clenched and unclenched, deep in thought and searching for the appropriate response to her statement. The length of time needed to come up with a viable answer speaking volumes of his level of exhaustion.

Drawing closer, she offered him the still warm mug.  He needed it. She’d intended to use it to entice another response out of him, a playful one of teasing but this situation hadn’t been what she’d thought it was and it was obvious another approach was needed.  

Initially when she’d awoken alone with the sun creeping across the cold sheets on his side of the bed, she’d thought that he had just gotten caught up in his work again.  Engineering was more than just a mere job to him. It was a passion that allowed him to use his exquisitely talented mind and his creative soul for projects that aided in their every day work as emergency first responders.  

She’d lost track of the amount of times she had found him asleep in random places in and around the villa. So with that thought in mind, she’d headed to the crowded kitchen, ruffling a few heads in passing, grabbed the biggest mug she could find - really the thing was a bucket in disguise, and gone in search for the dark haired Tracy.  

What she’d found was definitely far from what she had expected.  He was withdrawn and quiet. The usual child like gusto that simmered beneath the surface of his calm exterior when he was tinkering away was absent. This was concerning and alarm bells started ringing loudly in her internal landscape. Klaxons of piercing noise that she couldn’t ignore.

She nudged the cup at him again and he absently took it from her outstretched hand, staring into it without really seeing it as the aromatic steam drifted lazily between them.  

A shoulder raised again in a shrug and he  dropped the tattered remnants of the rag over the lip of the hatch before tucking his arm around his bare torso. An action of self containment that she was well versed in reading in others but was shocked to see being used by the usually self-assured man in front of her. “Lot on my mind,  couldn’t put it to bed last night. So I came down here.”

“Like what?”  She queried. It was like pulling teeth with him sometimes but she knew that patience was her best weapon. He would speak only when and if he wanted to do so.  

He shook his head,  like he was trying to brush it off. “Everything.  Bramen, the Hood, Chaos Crew, Gordon…Dad..” He listed off, the last of which hung tensely in the silence. Cloying and heavy with so much more unsaid.

Kayo held her breath, not wanting to discourage him from speaking by jumping on the large, scary topic of the great Jeff Tracy. She’d danced around that subject for years with the Brothers and she knew what buttons could be pushed and which ones should be best left alone.  

Virgil was always there for his younger brothers when they needed an ear to listen and a gentle reassuring guidance but when it came to himself, he played things close to the chest. Not wanting to show any sort of weakness for fear of worrying the others.  

Well, she’d come against that wall enough times through why he was putting it up around her of all people was beyond her. He showed her so much of himself but for this one thing.  The barricade for which he secreted this part of himself from her, sturdy and unmoving no matter how many times she attempted to surpass it.

“Virgil,” She placed a reassuring hand on his solid forearm, the flesh unyielding as he tried to clamp down on his emotions.  His fist straining and clasped tight against the forced calm he was trying and failing to project. “Don’t hide from me.”  

His brows flinched at being caught out on that but she knew that she had to try to probe the well built wall to get him to open up to her. The need for him to share in his burden spurring her on.

His eyes finally met hers and the raw emotions in them had her catching her breath.  “What is it?”  

Pushing away from his ‘bird, he put the mug down on a workbench, stalked a few steps away and stopped.  Hands on hips, his gaze down cast towards the hard floor “I gave up.”

“Gave up?” Kayo let the confusion show in her voice. “I don’t understand.”

“On ever finding Dad.” The confession brought rough hands through his hair and he turned back to her with a sudden flash of anger,  frustration that she knew was directed solely at himself “I’ve been lying to everyone. Being supportive. Keeping up an act for everyone, Alan..Gordon.. Scott, but I’ve been lying for a long time.”

Kayo followed him as realization dawned on her. Putting herself in front of him, a nonverbal shout of support for the man that she had years ago unwittingly fallen head over heels for. “And now Braman..” She supplied.  

The retrieval of Braman had changed everything for all of them.  Jeff Tracy was alive, somewhere in the vastness of space and now they were planning a rescue.  Albeit it was crazy, considering the distance and the resources both physically and mentally need for such a task but they were going to attempt a rescue nonetheless.  

Virgil gave a weak nod, his shoulders slumping. “I gave up. Resigned myself to the fact that he was dead, let myself grieve and started to pack it away…  All this time…I shouldn’t have..Dad wouldn’t have given up on me if the roles were reversed. He would have moved heaven and earth for us.. Why couldn’t I for him?  He’d be ashamed..”

“Virgil,  you can’t blame yourself for this. It was a logical conclusion that all the information we had supported..”

“A Tracy never gives up…” Was his only response.  It was the unofficial family motto.

Kayo’s heart ached behind her sternum.  He’d never whispered a word about any of this to her.  He’d been carrying this guilt around for nearly two weeks since the hidden message had been found and she’d had no clue. With just three little letter hidden amongst a sea of codes, they’d all been consumed with new found well spring of hope and an insane plan of action had been decided on.  

The time since spent amidst a mad smash up of planning and research and material gathering. Schematics and supply lists. And of course there was Gordon, recovery,  repairs to Four.. in all that time she’d never had the faintest clue that the fervid hope that had overtaken the island hadn’t in fact been felt by all.

Cupping his cheeks, her ran her thumbs across the dark smudges of guilt that hung doggedly below his eyes and turned his face up to hers.  Her lips brushing at his smeared forehead. “Virgil, you are a good man. No matter what. This, ” She stated pointing around at their surroundings, “Is all proof of that and more.  Even not knowing what had become of your father all those years ago, you still kept going. No matter the cost or the sacrifice and that makes you a good man. Your father would be proud at what you have accomplished, how many lives you’ve saved with all that you and your brothers have lost.  Never doubt that.”

She paused, leaning her forehead against his. “But, you are still human.”  Fallible, ambivalent. Mortal. Traits that they all carried within them, “Don’t let this tear you down.”  She hoped that it wouldn’t, prayed fervently that he could and would push past it. Find the strength she knew he had and use this to fuel him to be even better than what he was. Now though, was not the time to lecture him.

She stood silent before him, her head to his own and looked across the short distance. A distance tiny in actuality but which felt vaster than she had ever felt before. This man,  this loving, caring savior of others carried with him a great many weights and all she wanted, wished with everything within her was to help hold him up and ease his burdens like he did for all of them.

Regarding him with his eye held closed, he brow low she knew that  her words would stir within him, churn the swirling self doubt and contempt he hid away from everyone. His body quivering slightly as he breathed in haltingly,  trying desperately to once again find the safe harbour within himself.  

She knew once the storm had calmed and the torrent of emotions had stilled,  he would examine what she said and compare them against his own self image. Assess and reconstruct and disassemble so that he could try and bring himself back up to an even keel.  It would take time and patience and her love to guide him through it but she would be there for him for as long as he needed her.

With another shaky breath, lips grazing hers own, his words fanned her hope and the sun strained to break through the clouds. “I love you.”

Softly smiling she took his stained hand, she gave a gentle tug. With her coaxing she knew that sleep for him would finally come and she lead him away from the unfinished work, the disarray of tools and parts,  the mess of everything that he’d pulled out and scattered about.  

With a sympathetic look and a love that emboldened, she pulled him forwards. Towards the heart of the home where she hoped sleep would find him.

The mug of coffee left forgotten and chilled on the scuffed surface as their footfalls echoed across the great, hollow expanse that was his Father’s dream.

The End.

[rosettahart]

Glass-says: Chapter 3

Chapter 1, Chapter 2

Ao3 link

Summary: Patton tries to convince Virgil to become friends with Logan. He has no ulterior motives whatsoever...

Warnings: None that I could find.

Chapter 3

Virgil finished adding the requests onto the cue and slid his headphones down to his neck with a huff, closing the laptop in front of him. He checked the time on his phone. 10:44a.m. He had a few more minutes before Math started, but he wasn’t sure if he was going or not. He checked for any new messages, dejected when he noticed that Princey hadn’t responded to his texts. Maybe he should go to Math. It would at least keep him busy until lunch.

Virgil got up to stretch. He couldn’t hear anything so he assumed that Patton had left him to his work to go do something else. The quiet was calming. Virgil took a deep breath, enjoying the peace.

“Virgil, you have to become friends with the new kid!” Patton squealed, making Virgil jump and clutch at his jacket in panic.

If Virgil became friends with Logan, then Patton wouldn’t have to worry about him not having any living friends. Logan would also have a new friend, and as an added bonus, Patton could get to know the beautiful teen better.

“Give a guy some warning before you barge in yelling! Do you want me to curl up into a panicked ball on the floor!?” Virgil lectured Patton, removing his glasses from his bag just so he could glare at the ghost.

“Sorry, Kiddo. I’ll be more scare-ful next time.” Patton grinned, elbowing his friend.

Virgil grimaced.

“Were you meaning the same dude we almost ran over? The one I knocked to the floor in the hallway not even two hours ago?” Virgil asked, a skeptical look on his face.

“Yes, him!”

“Yeah… I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Any sane person would avoid someone who’s seemingly out to get them.”

“But you’re not out to get them. Both times were accidental. He’d understand-”

“Let me cut you off there, Patton-” Virgil raised a hand, preparing to explain himself.

“Virgil, you need to stop coming to these conclusions.” Patton took hold of Virgil’s hand, looking into his frustrated blue eyes.

“But I can’t help it. I-”

“Just give him a chance. I think the two of you could become really good friends. All you have to do is introduce yourself and apologize on my behalf… Since I can’t really do that myself.” Patton chuckled lightly, lowering his gaze.

Virgil let out a sigh. Patton was clearly still feeling guilty for that morning and the only way he was going to get over it was if Virgil gave the friend thing a shot. He rolled his eyes. Wouldn’t hurt to try, right? Before he could give it another thought (and probably back out), he let the word slip. “Fine.”

Patton immediately tackled his Kiddo into a hug, squeeing in excitement.

“You’re gonna love him, Virgil! He’s smart and cute and perfect and amazing, and-” Patton ranted, his eyes practically sparkling.

“You already have a crush on him.”

“This time is different, Virge, I can feel it. It's a new kind of crush. He's just so…dreamy.” Patton gushed.

“You've literally had a crush on at least three percent of the students and you've only been here for a little over three months, Pat. Also we just met Logan this morning! How is this time different?”

“This feeling is just… well, it's just not the same. I don't know how to explain it.”

The bell rang, pulling Virgil's attention from the pining ghost. He collected his backpack from the ground and shook his head at Patton jokingly before packing away the glasses.

“Bell, I guess we should head to class.” Patton laughed, pulling Virgil's arm into his own, smiling to himself.

Virgil faked a groan at the spirit, giving in to the smile that crept up on his face. He exited the technical booth and theatre and out into the library. It was a huge open space with plenty of places to study in comfort and books for days. Virgil could see students running to the change rooms below, beyond the huge glass wall overlooking the gym to his left. He continued on to the hallway, the Math classroom door now straight ahead. Students were filing in one after another.

Virgil anxiously reached for his hood with his free hand, but it was intercepted, Patton gently pushing it back down. He felt his friend’s head lean against his shoulder  comfortingly. Patton lead him into the room. The teacher wasn't there yet, so his classmates weren't all settled in their desks. Virgil felt Patton practically bursting with excitement for some unknown reason and was suddenly dragged to the back of the class.

There, sitting in the back row, was Logan Steele. He was going over some of the questions in his Math textbook. Virgil realized this all too late as Patton stopped them to the right next to the boy���s desk. He was ready to turn around and make a run for it, when Logan gazed up at him. There was no avoiding this kid. It was like fate was trying to make the two friends already. Fate, or maybe just Patton. Virgil felt a little push from behind to get the two closer.

Logan stood up from his seat and extended his hand out to Virgil after fixing his glasses. Patton squeezed his pal’s arm. He was a ball of energy, practically bouncing up and down. Virgil swallowed, unable to bring his own hand up so Patton moved from his left arm to his right. He brought the hand up, putting it in Logan’s.

“Go on, Kiddo. Just say hi.” Patton encouraged, letting go of his friends arm so he could watch the two and provide support.

“Hi…” Virgil managed to get out, shyly peeking up into Logan’s eyes from behind the safety of his black bangs.

“Greetings. I’ve been meaning to offer my apologies regarding the events that occurred earlier this day. But was unable to, as you ran off before I had gotten the chance.”

Wait… why would Logan feel the need to apologize for nearly being run over? He had been standing on the sidewalk! Virgil took his hand back, trying to understand.

“You want to tell me you’re sorry?”

“Yes, I believe that is what I just explained.” Logan confirmed.

Mr. Wilkes finally entered the classroom, everyone taking their seats. Logan reluctantly took his, slightly upset that he had been interrupted, but quickly reminding himself that he could continue after class and that he should focus on the lesson. Virgil sat in the desk to the right of Logan’s and swiftly removed his textbook, notebook and pencil from his bag.

It was difficult for Virgil to pay attention to what his teacher was explaining on the whiteboard. He kept glancing over at Logan, hoping it would help him figure out the strange teenager. When the bell finally rang, it had felt like he had been in there for ages.

Virgil packed up his things and then turned to Logan before he could lose his courage that he had been building up all of class.

“Why do you feel the need to apologize to me? I almost ran you over! I’m the one who should be asking for forgiveness, not you!” Virgil pointed out, the words spilling from his mouth at lightning speed.

“While you did almost drive over me, you also sped off after I said something that obviously upset you, and for that I am sorry.” Logan responded patiently, closing his bag and resting the strap over his shoulder. “Shall we continue this conversation over lunch? Or is our business settled?”

Virgil stared at Logan in surprise for a second before following him out of the classroom and over to the stairs. He could hear Patton joyfully hopping down each step, close behind.

“Ask him to join us!” Patton pressed Virgil, nudging him.

“Well… I mean if you want to you can join u- me. Only if you want… I eat up in the technical booth, it’s much quieter in there compared to the cafeteria.” Virgil offered, shyly.

“That will be adequate.” Logan stopped at his locker to put away some of his things before retrieving his lunch. He grabbed his Social Studies and Language Arts textbooks and followed Virgil as he awkwardly lead Logan over to his locker, pulling out his lunch and trading out his own textbooks.

They took a shortcut through the theatre and into the booth that overlooked all the seats and the stage through a one way mirror. The stage was decorated with props and painted scenery in preparation for the production they were putting on next week.

Logan and Virgil situated themselves on the bean bag chairs in the back corner of the room, Logan uncomfortably attempting to find a good professional way to sit in the thing, while Patton giggled uncontrollably as he gave up and opened his lunchbox. Virgil hid a smirk behind his hand as he pulled out his own lunch.

“Virgil, may I inquire as to why you were wearing glasses earlier? From my observations you have no need for them.” Logan queried.

Virgil swallowed a bite of his chicken wrap whole, sweating.

“Um… They're non prescription glasses?” Virgil lied. He couldn't exactly tell Logan about Patton.

“May I see them?” Logan questioned, unconvinced. Why would Virgil wear non prescription glasses to school only to cast them aside at the first sign of another person? The only reason for the non prescription glasses would be for style, would they not? They had to provide some purpose.

“What do we do!?” Patton squeaked, clutching onto Virgil's arm. He was not ready to meet Logan yet. He needed at least another day to fawn over him unnoticed.

“You can't!” Virgil blurted out, but quickly backed up the statement as he noticed Logan's furrowed brows. “I left them in the car.”

Logan pushed up his glasses, sneaking a glimpse at Virgil's left sleeve that had bunched up a few seconds ago but was now smoothing itself out. This wasn't the only thing Logan had noticed. The way Virgil had tripped over thin air, the way his jacket had been pushed against his back as he fell into that other student, the way he was seemingly dragged by something over to his desk to meet him and the way he unnaturally raised his arm to shake his own. Logan was only just beginning his investigation into the mystery of what Virgil was hiding, and the outburst had only proven his suspicions that it was tied to the glasses somehow. There had to be a logical explanation for all the strange anomalies that followed the boy, and Logan would find it and the sooner the better.

Chapter 4

Taglist:

@kittiebrick @absolutesandersidestrash

[ourfavcanadianshawn]

Just One Glance|S.M|Mini Series|Part Two

<<last part|masterlist|next part>>

just another one of those love at first sight stories

A/n: So I actually got a lot of feedback to turn my little 400 word imagine into a series, so I decided why not a mini series? Also thank you to @siennarossi for helping me with this! So here it is, enjoy!

word count: 1173

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, always ready to be looked through and something waiting to be found. She seemed nothing but captivated by his eyes when he lifted his sunglasses from shielding them. His eyes were pools of the color deep sienna, enriching flakes of golden caramel floated within them which seemed to highlight the corners of his mouth, which were fighting a smile. A humbling emotion peered through the golden flakes, sending a slight shiver down her spine.

Her y/c/e orbs lured him in, they made him look as if he was studying her. Studying her eyes like a foreign dictionary as every word became more beautiful than the one before.

“Can I sit?” His voice as smooth as honey spoke, throwing a gentle point to the chair across from her.

An aroused feeling exploded inside of her as a indulging smile plundered it’s way onto his face. His perfectly aligned teeth shined brighter than any of tens of thousands of stars in the night sky could ever.

“Can I?” His voice spoke again, this time a little unsure and louder, thinking maybe she didn’t hear him.

Her mind plunged from her trance and she shifted her gaze to the seat ahead of her, “oh! Of course.”

He smiled again, but this time he let out one the most celestial laughs she had ever heard. The laugh echoed through her skull as he took the seat across from her.

“So…that’s a nice mug you got there…” The stranger pointed to her face and mimicking a circling motion.

Y/n cocked her head a little and furrowed her eyebrows, “pardon? What mug?”

“I-I’m sorry. I just I don’t know. I’m not used to talking to pretty strangers…and once again that was cheesy. It was a pickup line I read off of Instagram. Y’know what? I’m just gonna go,” he flushed red from embarrassment and started to rise from his seat.

“Wait no! It’s okay. I…I…I like…cheesy…” Her voice grew insecure with her response as she grasped his wrist in her palm. His head snapped down to where she had conjoined themselves together and shot her a relieved look.

“Oh um okay…well, I-I am Shawn,” he took his seat again and introduced himself.

A grin debuted onto her lips as she replied, “hi Shawn, I’m Y/n.”

The two now acquaintances shook hands and smiled at each other.

“So Y/n. I know this is kinda weird—who am I kidding, it’s very weird but you seemed like a nice person I just wanted to say hi…” Shawn explained.

“Really? Okay. Well hi,” Y/n chuckled, closing her binder, wanting to focus on the mystery man in front of her.

“…and I also saw you staring at me from across the street,” he concluded, nodding his head in reference to the street.

“Oh uh yeah, I uh. I-I liked your…” Her eyes wondered around his head frantically and landed on his hair, “…shades? Yeah they’re really bad ass. What kind are they?”

“Umm,” Shawn brought the sunglasses off of his head and examined them, “I believe the new Tom Fords.”

“Ah, and those cost one thousand dollars so I think I will stick with my five dollar knock off Ray Bans I got in Mexico last year,” she took the sunglasses from his hands and examined them as well.

“Do you mind?” She asked as she motioned to her face. The slightest smirk became plastered across her face, causing her dimples to become more evident.

“No, by all means go ahead,” Shawn waved off. He guided his chin onto his hand as he observed her putting the glasses on.

Y/n slid the glasses up the bridge of her nose to cover her eyes. A charcoal tint took over her vision as everything she saw turned a light shade of black.

“So how do I look?” Y/n queried, flipping her hair over her shoulder. The big rimmed glasses took up a good third of her face and in which caused Shawn to chuckle, “like a bug.”

“Well then, try on mine,” she snickered as she placed her black knockoff Ray Bans in front of him.

Shawn agreed and propped her glasses onto his nose. The small frames began to squeeze his head, a small feeling brewed inside of him that they could burst.

“How do I look?” Shawn mocked Y/n, tossing imaginary hair over his shoulder. Y/n burst into laughter as Shawn did so. Her breath became unmanageable as her eyes filled with tears.

“You-u l-look like the-e girl from-m…that one vine with-h braces,” her words were barely audible as she attempted to compose her laughter.

“Oh the one girl that’s like,” Shawn turned his head around and started making a similar beat to the song in vine with his mouth. He started to shake his head as the beat got more faster. A beat came from his mouth that sounded like a beat drop caused him to turn to Y/n with a idiotic smile playing on his face.

“Yes! That’s it,” Y/n laughed again, clapping at Shawn.

“Well then I don’t want to keep these on for much longer.”

Shawn passed her glasses back and snatched his off of her nose.

The two caught their breath from laughing and just kept a clean smile on their faces. A silence stirred in the air as they just gazed at each other as if they have known each other for years.

“So um, are you from around here?” Shawn ruffled his hair, interrupting the silence

“Yeah I am. I go to a University that’s just ten minutes down the road. How about you Shawn?”

“Nah, I would love to though. I’m just here because I am in a band and we’re on tour.”

“Oh really? That’s so cool! Are you a big band?” She beamed, stirring her iced coffee with the straw.

“Um…” Shawn checked his phone to see a text from Andrew that read, ‘congrats on the Grammy nom,’ and he returned his gaze back to the lady in front of him, “nooo.”

Y/n nodded her head and glanced down at her phone. She unlocked it and sure enough knew he was lying.

“Really? You’re not popular?” She added.

“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘popular’,” he added air quotes.

“Did I also mention that I’m a intern at Peoples Magazine?” She laughed.

“What? You-u huh—no no I am-m just…kinda, what?” His face burnt up from frustration and he stared at her in utter shock.

“No, I’m just joking. My sister just sent me a reminder that I’m going to a concert tonight with her…Shawn Mendes, weird huh?”

“Uhhh very…” Shawn shrugged, trying to compose his mind after the confusion.

“So you’re actually an international singer? Wow, I feel betrayed,” her hand flew to her chest to mimic a hurt expression.

“Well other than that, I guess I will be seeing you at the show tonight?” Shawn leaned back into his chair.

She rolled her eyes and stood up from her seat, getting ready to leave, “I guess you will…”

[freshleadprovider]

Key takeaways from the C3 Conductor Conference 2021

Hey there, Last week was the online version of this year's C3 Conductor conference, and I asked my team members who attended to compile the brief notes around the small workshops that happened. So, without further ado, here are some key takeaways from the conference, session by session: Video 1- Introduction to the conference Video 2- Elements of a perfect pitch with Daymond John The key take away- 1. Prioritize your customers Learn about their goals Hear your client's requirements and find ways to save their time, energy, and money Focus on the target audience of your client Offer results and make sure that you deliver what you promised Compensate when required Research your client and try to find common ground to connect with them Give power to your clients and make them feel important while you listen carefully to their instructions Build a story around your products so that they resonate with the audience Be warm, friendly and make everyone feel comfortable enough to reach out to you for discussion Offer knowledge to clients Design a pitch that influences the core value of the audience and resonates with the cause Check up on your customers and value their feedback Video 3- Content and collaboration with team SEO Do your SEO oriented research before starting a content piece Use SEO tools in content creation Write H1 Tags, description, and headings before you start a piece, and follow it strictly Content must resonate with the clients and have relevancy Use workspaces to see how the SEO crafted content is performing and track the performance Have defined KPIs- e.g., driving traffic to the site, client conversion rate, etc Perform competitor's research Give credits where it is due in the team and openly communicate where you can perform better Have open communication about the goals from the content with all the teams Share the impact the content has across the site Be transparent about the revenue generation to everyone in the firm Use tools like Google Analytics to keep track of performance Analyze user behavior Analyze global traffic data and have an insight into it Video 4- Evolving Organic Marketing Focus content upon what people are searching on a local and global levels Focus on producing performance-based content that drives organic traffic, sales and generates leads Create content that resonates with the audience and answer the queries typed in search engines Have your employees understand the complete process and impact of organic marketing, topics, and keywords. It will help to perform content that satisfies the viewers' demand sitting on the other side. Include data in your content strategy and keep updating it periodically to create significant results. In case of doubts, go back to the basics- • Explain to clients what you are doing and why you are doing it • The benefits of the process • Involve other experts and focus on how the results will affect the brand image and how this content is adding value Video 5- Adapting SEO to customer evolution with Agility Consumer behavior changes over 2020 pandemic • Fluctuated demands of goods • Increased standards and bars of online shopping, for e.g., introducing product trackers, better user experience, quick deliveries, etc. • User behavior changed as customers ensure that the essential workers are wearing proper gear for protection. • The companies noticed the shift in the demand for seasonal products and other things which were not very popular earlier. • Companies are more focusing on the visual aspect to create content as per the status of their surroundings. An example of this will be adding images that involve masks and social distancing. • Be available for customer support to show that you are here to help if things go wrong with your products. Provide a simple DIY solution to the applicant as well. • Be willing to change your plans and adopt a new strategy. Also, be quick to act on the new plans. Video 6- Content predictions 2021 Key takeaways about the content in covid struck time Increase of- • Up to 70% in web browsing • 61% on social media consumption and • 30% in the online purchase was observed during covid Increase in content consumption as people are constantly present on the digital platform How to design your content? Research for keyword competitors as well as business competitors before you work on a strategy Work on creating authoritative content reviewed by the subject matter experts Mark the impressions of content and learn the pattern about how people are engaging with the content, what are the breaking points, how many people are completing the videos etc Google rewards educational long-form guides References are helpful in posts Engagement should be your number one priority Have different metrics to measure success, like engagement, revenue, conversion, organic traffic, and more Have a brief SEO optimized structure at the beginning of the article Have a streamlined process among all the teams helping in content generation and present your content in a committed fashion among the audience Keep changing with the customer's needs and provide value Provide specific guidelines to the writers about the type of post you want Content prediction for 2021 Hub And Spoke Approach • Mark a core content and make other copies supporting and revolving around the same content, including social media posts, email, podcast, video, etc. • Use tools like answer the public and repurpose the content that proves beneficial for viewers. • Add different multimedia and go beyond the texts to reach your client and gain more visibility. Focus on different ways the audience can consume the content. Strategist shift mindset • The content should be focused on your brand and justify your services. • Create the audience persona if you are writing for B2B or B2C audience Content credibility The credibility of the authors is required to ensure that the content is of high authority. You must be hiring subject matter experts to write technical content for the viewers. Remote work and more opportunities Online dependability has opened more opportunities for talent, and employers have access to this talent pool. Red flags *Disconnected and inefficient content production from different teams provides no value to the audience *Having tons of content does not immediately mean success *Avoid having to optimize your content once it has been written. *Rather have a complete research framework on your table before you start writing the content *Not giving enough time to publish the blogs *Divide the work as per the expertise, and avoid doing everything on your own Video-7 Core web vitals update What is Page Experience update about? • It will be launched mid-June and will end by august • It will have 3 core web vitals apart from existing search metrics • The update will be applicable for mobile searches • A visual indicator with great page experience will be added to the page, but the valuable content will still be the most valued component over page experience signals • Apart from the pre-existing signals like mobile browsing, safe browsing, HTTPS no intrusive interstitials, another 3 core web vitals ( loading, interactivity, and visual stability) are added Loading (LCP-Largest Content Paint) • Time required to load the main content of the page, be it text or the image • Time taken should not be more than 2.5 seconds Interactivity (FID-First Input Delay) • Time required by the browser to open a link the user has clicked upon. The delay could be because of Java scripts or the involvement of the browser in other things. • Time taken should not be beyond 100 milliseconds Visual stability (CLS- Cumulative Layout Shifts) • It refers to the stage where you click on a link but jumps from one page to another page you don't want to see • The time allotted for this is 0.1 sec which implies it should not happen ever and leads to a bad user experience Page experience affects your performance The increase of page speed from 1 sec to 6 sec increase the page bouncing rate by 106% Websites fulfilling the core web vitals criteria make it 24% less likely for anyone to leave the website Optimizing web vitals lead to an 8% increase in sales Although it will not kick you back in the search engine results, it is still going to affect your rank, especially if you are ranking in the top SERPs What can you do? Track the KPIs you are ranking for and keep an eye on your competitors' ranking just after you. Use Google search console to get the data for indexed pages and page experience reports. Use Page speed insight tool to get breakdown results for mobile and desktop and work where the improvements are required. Use Deepcrawl to get multiple page metrics and get them categorized. Also, get the issues reported with HTTPS pages in config and issue reports. Perform an audit for your site to fix as many issues as you can. submitted by /u/randomvariable10 [link] [comments] https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/n1th09/key_takeaways_from_the_c3_conductor_conference/