#love getting snug as a bug and then realizing what day it is tomorrow

[hauntinglyethereal]

.

[daydream-believin]

The Never-Ending Roadtrip (Autumn in New York, pt 2)

summary: (ch 1) Reader joins Douxie in the quest for Nari’s safety. He’ll need company won’t he? - ch 10) an end to our NYC journey

warnings: swearing, alcohol mention, lots of food, NYC, pizza rat

word count: 6k on the dot

a/n: i wrote most of this when i should have been sleeping,,, so yeah. i wanna go to nyc now. HERE IT IS THE FINALE BON APETIT Y’ALL

Y/n opened her eyes very slowly. In the in-between of sleep and wake, her brain had painted a picture of her old room in the bookstore. Yes, she could still see the curtains blowing in the breeze let in by the open window. The early morning glow on the floorboards. Douxie’s soft snoring filling her ears. Yes, yes, she was home and everything felt right. And then, slowly, it wasn’t. The warm wooden floorboards faded into a white carpet, and suddenly she didn’t know what she was looking at anymore. It was disorienting. She wasn’t in her own bed. Right. New York.

She turned over onto her back and was startled when she realized Douxie was actually there, next to her. His snoring wasn’t her dream, like it had been many times before when this exact thing had happened to her. Right again. Douxie loved her back now. That was an actual thing in real life and not just her dreams. Y/n supposed it would have been weirder if he wasn’t next to her. In the scheme of things. But that didn’t mean she would be used to it any time soon. But that was good. A pleasant surprise every morning. A little burst of serotonin, as a treat.

Y/n looked at the little hot pink alarm clock. 5:48am. Good! Right on time. Just enough minutes to get everyone out the door by 6:30 as was planned. Douxie… was not going to like this. She looked over the wizard’s sleeping form. She’d let him have his rest while she showered, leaving him blissfully unaware of what’s to come. Even then he might put up a fight. Y/n popped her head into the living room to check on Nari. Still sound asleep, snug as a bug on the fluffy couch with Archie. All good. She preceded with her morning routine.

Y/n pulled on her sneakers. She supposed she really must wake Doux now. They were running out of time. She stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of him. If an awake Douxie was cute, then a sleeping Douxie was absolutely adorable. All Y/n’s adoration belonged to this man who was sound asleep, and therefore could not fully appreciate her doting. She had to get some pictures. Just a few, then she’ll wake him up for sure this time.

Y/n was leaning over Doux, getting closer for a better angle, when she heard his voice, muffled by the pillow he had his gorgeous face half buried into. She strained to be able to make out what he was saying.

“y-y/n…” The dopiest grin spread across his still-sleeping features.

Y/n heart was filled with so much love it might burst. And her face was so hot it might catch on fire. He was dreaming. Of her. It looked like it was a good dream, too. Even when unconscious, he stilled cared for her. His snoozing brain could have conjured up anyone, anyone in the world he’d met in the last nine centuries, and it chose her. What a wonderful feeling it was to be chosen. He had married her, she knew he had chosen her, but it still felt special to be chosen again, and again, and again, as it would through the future to come. She didn’t even know why she had done it, asked him to marry her, that is. What had possessed her. Even as she did, she had half expected him to brush it off, or maybe offer a ‘someday’, but never in her wildest dreams would she have expected him to take it as seriously as he did. Never would she have expected him to be so eager. To declare, tomorrow. She ran her hand down his arm.

“Dewdrop, you need to wake up.” He half-opened his eyes, before groaning and shutting them again in defiance. Five more minutes. Douxie was not a morning person. Neither was Y/n, but she always seemed to be up before him still. He needed to get back to her anyways. She was waiting for him in-. Someone tapped his nose repeatedly. Fine. Awake it is then.

Douxie finally opened his eyes, taking in the form of the goddess leaning over him. Oh. Maybe this was better than the dream. Were her hands on him? Yes, she was stroking his face. This definitely was better. With the small price to pay of being awake. He’d pay it happily. Give her all he had. His time, what he was made of, was a sacrifice to the most beautiful goddess. Aphrodite be damned.

She pulled him out of bed by the arm and led him to the shower. “Come on, get ready, we have to go.” She started the process of braiding back her hair.

“Wait,”

“What?”

“Stop, I want to do your hair for you.”

Y/n laughed, dropping the strands in her grasp. “Okay.”

Douxie brushed through his own drying hair and tossed it back. He went to go find Y/n, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, scrolling through a website on her phone, double checking a time. He sat next to her. Douxie ran his fingers through her locks.

“Hmm, I’m thinking… a pretty five strand.”

“and I’m thinking you need to put on some clothes first,” She pointed to the towel wrapped around his hips, “You can always braid my hair later, but you need to be dressed so we can walk out the door. We’re on a time crunch here, Dewdrop.”

“So be it.” Douxie smiled as he got up to go fulfil his wife’s request.

Now fully dressed and actually ready to go, Douxie busied himself with Y/n’s hair again. “How are we on time?”

“We should be good, as long as you don’t do anything too fancy.”

“I won’t-”

“You said five strands, like a challah bread or something. That’s fancy.”

Douxie laughed, “Okay, but it won’t take long, I promise.”

Douxie’s fingers made quick and clever work of the strands of hair. He made sure to keep it tight, but not too tight. He used to see lovers plait each other’s hair back in the day. He would look on longingly, wishing he had someone to do the same with. And now he did. Maybe he would consider growing his hair back out, if it gave Y/n the same opportunity. Not the manbun though. He was not considering bringing back the fucking manbun by any means. But having Y/n plait it every day, that would be pleasant. Not at all a cringey hairstyle. And Y/n had mentioned to him how pretty she thought past-his long hair was.

He pulled the strands further away from her neck as he was getting closer to the ends. He had to admit, he had planned on doing something a little fancier, but this would have to do. Y/n seemed anxious to make whatever deadline she had given herself. He leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to do this,” he chuckled, and his breath on her ear made her shiver, “You cannot imagine how many times I’ve dreamed of running my fingers through your hair, My Love. It just. Looked so soft.” Douxie pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. “And… Done!”

Douxie leaned back to admire his work. Simple, like she wanted, but very intricate the same. Y/n turned around to him as she headed for the bathroom mirror, taking note of how proud he looked. She turned her head this way and that in the mirror.

“Wow, this is so cute, Dewdrop. How’d you get so good.”

“Thank you, centuries of practice you see.”

Y/n giggled as she checked the clock. 6:34. “OH come on we’re gonna miss the subway.”

~~~

The subway was a magical place. Y/n sure thought so. All you had to do was step down a random staircase in the middle of the sidewalk, a nifty portal, and suddenly you were in an underground maze of commuters. Nari thought the turnstiles were odd. She just walked under it, and no one around the seemed to care, so Y/n just let her. Paying one less fare was no sweat off her back. The tiles that lined the wall were very dirty. There were mystery stains on the floor. Well, not that one the she just pulled Nari away from. That was definitely dried blood. The sound of a million grumpy people milling about and the coming and going of trains was all that Y/n could hear. She gripped Douxie’s hand tight as she double checked the map to see if they were about to board the right line. The 4 train would take them to the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station, right where they needed to go. This was the right way.

Right before the train arrived, Nari pointed to a spot across the hall. “Look, Archie.”

Crawling up the side of the platform was a rat. A big, fat rat. A big, fat rat with something in its mouth, carrying it up to the top. Once the rat did pull his prize up to the platform, it was plain to see. A slice of pepperoni pizza. Douxie had no idea where such a creature would acquire a perfectly whole slice of pizza this early in the morning, or, at all. Maybe it someone dropped it last night and abandoned it? The rat looked a bit scruffy. Did he have to fight off other rats for this prime piece of pie? This month had started of pretty normal for Doux but now he was standing in a subway station, holding the hand of his wife, pondering the secret life of a New York rat with a slice of pizza in its little mouth. Marvelous. Douxie felt Archie dig his claws into his shoulders, and making a chattering sound.

“Please Arch, we don’t have time for you to eat that rat.”

“But you just know it tastes like pizza, it’s got the grease all over its fur-”

“Archie, I fucking swear-”

Doux was cut off from his swearing by the train pulling in. The people who exited it rushed past, all having somewhere to be. None of them stopping to take in the wonder that was the pizza rat. Archie was sad to board the train and leave the rat. He’d get over it. The crowd of people all rushing in at once startled Nari. She clung to Y/n’s side. Since it was so early in the morning, a lot of commuters filled the train, and there wasn’t any seating left by the time they got there. Douxie gripped the ceiling bar, Y/n gripped his arm as if it was a ceiling bar, and Nari held on tight to Y/n. Douxie stared out the window in a trance as the world wooshed by him. This truly was a bizarre situation to be in. If you had told him last month that he would be here, he would have, well, not laughed, since his life was strange enough that he wouldn’t doubt it, but he would at least harbor some disbelief. There was their station.

Y/n checked the time as they stepped out onto the platform. 6:59. They needed to hurry. She tugged on Douxie’s arm. “C’mon!”

They made it to the Brooklyn Bridge just in time. Douxie was still confused about why Y/n was so adamant about being here so early in the morning. As they walked over it towards Manhattan, he understood. The early morning sun started rising just as they started the walk. The city skyline was glowing. The brilliant pinks and oranges painted the sky and everything around them. Each skyscraper glittered with the light reflecting off the windows. It was breathtaking.

The walk itself was quite relaxing. Douxie wouldn’t call the air fresh, smog and all that, but it was nice, cool and crisp. Pigeons flew by, adding their two cents in conversations only they could understand. The cars on the road next to them zoomed past. Every car had a person, and that person had somewhere to be at this early hour. Doux hoped they made it to their destinations safely. Every once and a while he would hear a honk, although he wasn’t sure from where it came. Douxie put his arm over Y/n’s shoulder to pull her closer to him. The journey from Brooklyn to Manhattan took about forty-five minutes, but it was peaceful thinking time, and Doux was grateful. Sure, plenty could go wrong, with them being on a bridge above the ocean that they were sharing with lots of fast cars, but with Y/n so close to him, he was able to put all that out of his mind.

As they reentered Manhattan, Y/n took no time at all in leading her family to a diner. She was hungry, okay? She needed breakfast. And coffee. Surely Archie would agree with her. It was food time.

Diner coffee was the best. Douxie didn’t care what fancy gourmet stuff the trendy coffee shops came out with, diner coffee would always be the best. It just had a certain je ne sais quoi. Maybe it was the vibe. Whatever it was, it was just what he needed right now at 8:00am. Not only was he unsure of how he made it this long without any caffeine, Douxie was kind of surprised he was getting away with having Archie with him, in all these places, in broad daylight. Guess his shoulder cat wasn’t the strangest thing New Yorkers had seen. Said shoulder cat was scarfing down a plate of eggs and bacon.

Y/n told Doux the rest of what she planned on having them do today over breakfast. Not much else, but enough. They’d still be out of the house until evening. That was fine. He couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be than wherever she was. As they left, they passed by a couple of kids inputting songs into the jukebox with devilish smirks. They were leaving just in time then.

Next up was a ferry ride to Staten Island. The ferry was constant, running every half hour, therefore they only had to wait a few minutes before it arrived once again for them to board. They found their seats on the upper deck, as per Y/n’s request. Apparently, this was because their reason for riding the ferry was not in fact to get to Staten Island like Douxie had thought. The purpose of the trip was to look out and see Bedloe’s Island and Lady Liberty who made her home there as the ferry cruised by it.

Y/n made Douxie hold Archie up so she could get a picture of him with the statue in the background. Archie was used to the strangeness of his familiar and his wife so the dragon cat didn’t question it. Archie_the_emo_kitty fans were going to love this. Y/n also got some of Nari and the gang. And a couples picture, but sadly, kissing Douxie’s cheek for a photo just didn’t get the same reaction as before. He was still a little pink though, as he was during all her showers of affection, so Y/n counted that as a victory.

Staten Island is hailed as the greenest borough, and thus the perfect place for Nari. After letting her run through a park for a while, they grabbed lunch at a Sri Lankan restaurant before taking the ferry back. Their clothes would smell like curry and spices for the rest of the day. Delicious, and worth it.

~~~

“Why are we going to a bar at 2pm?”

“Oh, you know, I figured day drinking was the next step for our vacation vibes,” Y/n answered Archie sarcastically, “Yeah, no. We’re just going up there to look out their window for the view.”

“You humans and your obsession with views.” Archie really didn’t see the big deal here. Whatever. He’d have to go whether he liked it or not.

Looking out over the city form the skyscraper bar’s wide window, Douxie felt uneasy. This bar’s claim to fame was this window that offered the view of the Empire State building. A building that used to be the tallest in the world. And then a younger and brighter architect built a higher one in Dubai. Makes sense. Nothing ever lasts long. He looked down at Y/n standing beside him. Maybe something would last long. He’d do everything in his power to make sure of it.

The last touristy thing Y/n wanted to see for the night was Broadway. It was getting chillier now that the sun was sinking, and Douxie magicked Y/n up a coat that was thicker than his old hoodie that she had been wearing nonstop since she stole it he gave it to her. However, she had been complaining about it losing its smell lately and telling him he needed to wear it again. Although she’d yet to let him have it back. She looked cute in the new coat. She looked cute in everything. Douxie was biased.

Broadway was covered in bright lights. The rows of theaters advertised their shows on big, dramatic signs. They weren’t going to go see any of the musicals, but it was fun to stroll down the street and see everything it had to offer. The world was bathed in an opulent gold, even the light in Y/n’s eyes as she led him down the way. Fitting, she was golden. Douxie felt like everything she touched turned to gold, like that old myth. He supposed that made him golden too.

One last stop before they went home for the night, a grocery market. They passed by so many Italian restaurants on their way from Broadway, Y/n was craving gnocchi. After hearing her talk about it during the walk, Douxie was too. Douxie held the handbasket while Y/n gathered the produce they needed for the soup. Plums were in season, and Y/n convinced Doux to let her make a few into some sweet rolls. Well, not convinced, he was all for it, she just had to ask. His cheeks were tinted just ever so slightly pink. He knew she’d known him for a really long time, so of course she knew all his favorite foods, but it still made him feel special that she’d take the time to memorize it. To memorize him. They got the cream, eggs, and butter they needed before starting the journey back to the apartment. Douxie carried all three of the bags. He wouldn’t let Y/n or Nari take one. He appreciated them offering, but, it’s not like they were heavy.

The ole’ valentines suite was just as lovey dovey as when they left it. They got to work on dinner as soon as they took off their coats. Nari and Archie took their places perched on the couch. The thing about being cute is you never have to work for your dinner, someone is always feeding you. It was alright, Douxie liked it this way better anyhow. This way he got to cook with Y/n as a special thing, just the two of them. They used to cook with each other a lot back when they were roommates. In fact, every weekend they put aside time to cook a meal together. It was tradition. Douxie had always wanted hug Y/n from behind while she stirred whatever was in the pan. He couldn’t do that then, but he definitely could now. Every time she had lifted a spoon to his lips, instructed him to taste, had been a knife jammed into his chest. She was always right there, so close he could touch, and he couldn’t do anything about it back then. He’d have to make up for lost time then.

Y/n put the potato pot on to boil and started on the sweet roll dough, asking Douxie if he’d chop up the vegetables for the soup. Aww, guess he had a job and couldn’t just spend this whole time hanging on her. Oh well, he’d chop. That was often his role in their cooking exploits. He’d admit, he had almost chopped his fingers a few times when he got too distracted sneaking glances at Y/n. He was a danger to himself really.

Y/n set the dough out to rise and started pitting and slicing up the plums. They wouldn’t need them for an hour or so, but might as well get them prepared and set aside. Douxie was still chopping the soup veggies, albeit slowly. Y/n thought he looked like he might be a little too far into his head.

“Hey Dewdrop,” Douxie looked at her, puzzled, “lets sing something to pass the time, yeah?”

Douxie was happy to sing with his beloved, and Y/n was happy to get Doux distracted from whatever was bothering him. And it was fun. Really fun. Y/n forgot how much she missed singing with people. Douxie’s voice meshed really well with hers. She really couldn’t believe that he liked her voice and that it was as pretty as he had been telling her lately, but she didn’t really care about that anymore; whether or not her voice was good or if it was embarrassing. She just liked singing, and sharing that with Doux felt special.

Potato mashing was a fun way to let off steam, Douxie had found. The more anger you let out on the potato, the better it was. Reminded him of back when Merlin would put him on kitchen duty for a day as punishment. He took out his frustrations on the potatoes then too. The old kitchen master encouraged it. After Douxie mashed those potatoes for her, Y/n added in the flower and salt, and began kneading the dough. Now Y/n didn’t know about mash potatoes for anger management but dough kneading was where it’s at. This was just gnocchi dough though, so it wasn’t worked too hard.

Now for the fun part, making the shapes. Now you could just go with the normal fork rolled gnocchi, but where’s the creativity in that. No, Douxie and Y/n liked to have little competitions of who could come up with the coolest looking gnocchi shape whenever they made this recipe. This time, Douxie won by making his dough ball into the form of a little rat, a tip of the hat to this glorious city they were in, and Y/n lost her shit. She wouldn’t let him make any more though, they didn’t need to be eating rat soup. That would be disrespectful to ratatouille.

Eventually, Y/n did start standing around stirring the pot of broth, and Douxie got his blessed hug from behind opportunity. Yep, this was just as good as he dreamed it would be. He got to watch what she was doing from over her shoulder, pepper her neck in kisses, and every now and then she’d turn to grab his face and kiss him too. At one point, tired of the short pecks, Y/n fully turned around, throwing her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a more serious kiss. Y/n was obviously the more forward one in this relationship, but it still took Douxie by surprise every time. A good surprise, the best kind even. Each and every kiss they shared became the new favorite moment of his life, this one was no exception. Their lips moved together slowly, taking the time to savor every second of each other’s presence. Maybe a little too much. They didn’t pull apart until they heard Archie make a gagging noise. Y/n laughed as she turned back to the soup. Douxie shot Archie an angry glare before going back to his place over her shoulder. Yes, this was the most perfect way to spend an evening, rude dragon-cats aside. The soup smelled heavenly. But he didn’t want it to be ready quite so soon. Soup could wait, cuddles were priority right now.

But of course, the soup did finish cooking, and the lovebirds had to separate. Y/n though it was adorable how disgruntled Douxie was at this development. Actually eating the soup cheered him right back up however. It was delicious, It was the best soup they’d ever made. Must be the love. And the cuddles. Yeah, that’s what made it so tasty. This was honeymoon soup.

After dinner, Y/n got to work on the sweet rolls. After kneading the dough one last time and rolling it out, she let Nari help her place the filling and roll em up. The little goddess thought rolling up the dough was entertaining, and she liked how the end result looked like little roses. After putting the bake in the oven, Y/n gravitated over to that floor to ceiling window.

The city never slept, and it was just as abuzz as it was during the day, if not busier. Y/n sat cross-legged on the floor, gazing out at it all. Headlights of cars flew by. Pedestrians strolled with their shopping bags, bundled up in coats and scarves. Every moment passed was the present, and then suddenly it was the past. Y/n couldn’t tell the future. She couldn’t guess what person or car she would see next, and who knows what or who will walk by in this city, New York. There was a way to expect it and yet no way to know for sure.

The oven timer dinged, and Y/n got up to take the rolls out. The sugary smell filled the apartment. Y/n tried to swat Nari’s hand away from the just-out-of-the-oven pastries, but turns out the heat didn’t affect the veggie lady’s hands at all. Nari had heat resistant paws. Y/n supposed that probably came in handy dealing with that other Order member that was all fiery. Douxie was the real one she had to watch. It seemed he never got past the moppet stage of not thinking about the consequences of putting a molten hot sweet roll in his mouth. And he was good at sneaking them too, from all his years of doing so in the castle. Y/n rolled her eyes at his antics, but secretly thought it was cute. After the rolls had properly cooled, she took her own to-go as she found herself pulled back to that window once again.

Y/n ate her plum roll, watching it all, thinking about the future that was simultaneously always present and never coming. Y/n felt Douxie sit beside her, silently. He had yet to say a word to her after a few seconds, so she scooted a little closer to him so she could lay her head on his shoulder. Soon she felt his arm wrap around her, pulling her in tighter against him. Y/n waited another beat before speaking up, “Hey,”

“Hey.”

“I was wondering.” She said slowly.

“Yeah?”

“What happens after this?”

Douxie was taken off guard. He cleared his throat, “uhhh, I-”

“Like assuming we ever do defeat the order, which we will,” Douxie smiled at her confidence, “what’s next for us, Dewdrop?”

Doux had to take a moment to think. It’s not like he hadn’t thought about this himself, and if anything being able to give Y/n a good future consumed a lot of his thoughts, but he’d never been able to find a plan he felt like he could stick with. “I- I don’t know, Love. I’m sure we could return to Arcadia, if that would be something you would want. I’d never really settled down anywhere before that little town. And, I think, I’d want to go back.” Douxie’s eyes stared unblinking into the city lights, “It’s home now. In a perfect ending where everything resets when the war’s over, that is.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “We’ll have to wait and see. Things never really stay the same for long. Even if we can’t go back, we’ll find home somewhere. We’ll go home.”

Y/n pulled her legs out from under her, bringing them in close to her chest. “It is something I would want. Take me home, Hisirdoux. Is that a promise?”

Douxie took her hand and kissed her knuckles, “That’s a promise.”

The silence enveloped them once again. Stars knew how long they sat there, looking out in silence. Y/n practically fell asleep leaning on Doux. She yawned really big and Douxie smiled fondly as he got up, taking care to not disturb her too much as he scooped her up bridal style. “Come on Love, let’s go to bed.”

After gently placing Y/n in bed and snuggling in with her, Douxie let himself savor this now mundane moment between them. It was strange to think that just last month this simple thing would have short circuited him. He heard her giggle sleepily and raised an eyebrow.

“If we ever rebuild the bookshop, I want,,” She trailed off. Now Douxie was curious.

“Yes?” He further prompted.

“I want to make half of it a tea room, can we do that?”

“I- yeah I can certainly see about that.”

Y/n giggled again, “With fancy teacups?” she said groggily.

Douxie smiled, humoring her, “With fancy teacups.”

“Aannddd. And. Maybe,,” she whispered, “a baby.”

Douxie took in a sharp breath. Wow. He tried his best to keep his voice from cracking, “and a baby.” He wasn’t sure if Y/n even heard him as she was now snoring in his arms. A baby. He’d give her every baby she wanted. Raise a whole brood of moppets. Or just the one. Or none if she changed her mind. He’d be happy either way. But there was something about the thought of her wanting to have a baby with him that just made his whole face flush. He probably wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight now. Douxie was anything but new to insomnia, but he’d never had such a sweet thing to be the cause of it before. His heart was going to melt. He pressed a kiss to Y/n’s hair. Yeah, he would be happy to melt here with her.

~~~

No early start to this day. Y/n didn’t have many things planned, so sleeping in was the main event of the morning. Douxie was completely okay with that, encouraged it even. He rarely got a day off to sleep in. And with Y/n in his arms? It was that much sweeter. But eventually they did leave the house, grabbing some leftover plum rolls on their way out for breakfast. They couldn’t just keep Nari indoors, it didn’t take long for her to get antsy. There was still plenty of things to do and see in New York so off they went.

First stop of the day, the flat iron building. They stood on the sidewalk across the street from it, the crowd instinctually parting to walk around them without caring.

“look at it. It’s triangular.”

“It, it sure is.” Douxie kinda looked to the side, unsure of how he was supposed to be reacting.

“Yeah I didn’t know what I was expecting.” Back in the subway and on to the market then.

Specifically Chelsea Market. Douxie got a weird feeling as he walked through the doors. Strange, he felt like they were being watched. Which of course they were, they were in one of the most populous cities in America after all. But like, a different, more sinister feeling of being watched. He brushed it off.

They wandered through the shops for quite a while. Y/n and Archie had decided that they needed to see everything that the market had to offer before they picked something. Douxie was just hungry. These damn foodies he lived with were always making him wait for lunch. Just pick something. Food was food. Most of the time he could say no to Archie but there was no way he could say no to his wife, ever. He had to work on that.

One of the signs caught Y/n’s eye immediately, Fat Witch Bakery. Well, they couldn’t not check that out. Once inside, they discovered the little shop exclusively sold brownies. Good brownies at that. Douxie wasn’t found of brownies, or anything chocolate flavored, but he had a couple bites of Y/n’s. It was okay, one of the better chocolate things he’d had. Y/n scarfed the rest down.

“Mmmm, good thing we don’t live here, or I’d be a fat witch myself in no time.”

A lot of the market was decorated for Christmas already, despite it being October. The lights were pretty. Y/n was disgruntled they skipped Halloween though. Douxie had to laugh at her little pout when she complained about it. She really was the cutest thing on the planet. He couldn’t help teasing her about it, which she responded with mock anger. He gave her a quick peck to help placate her. It worked.

They came across a seafood place and suddenly Archie was done looking around. It was nice to have some fresh fish, as they were on the coast. Archie missed that about California. All this traveling inland was depriving him of his proper seafood diet. Dragons like him could only eat so many hamburgers before they got sick of it. Fresh caught fish was the best food that existed.

After finally having lunch, it was time to head over to the next sight-see. Grand Central Station. They had nowhere to be, no reason to use the station for its intended purpose. Douxie guessed this was just another thing Y/n wanted to stand in and look at. He didn’t quite get it himself, but he thought it was adorable that Y/n had so many things she wanted to see, so much of the world she wanted to touch. He wanted to take her everywhere. He was old, and had seen so many things that not much amazed him anymore, but not her, the world was still magic in her eyes. He loved seeing that twinkle in her eyes, made him feel like he was shiny and new too.

Douxie posed with Archie in front of a clock for Y/n in the station. Doux stuck out his tongue, giving her the sign of the horns while Archie stood on his shoulder, trying to look tough. She snickered as she took the shot of her boys. She took photos everywhere they went. Not of the tourist destinations, per se, but of Douxie, Archie, Nari, interacting with them. Her family, having fun. Good memories to be stored. She was slowly rebuilding her association with the word family into something positive. Every passing day, her past felt like more of a bad dream. The future may be uncertain, but at least there would be love in it.

Nari wanted to go visit Central Park again. There was a petunia in one of the gardens was a particularly good conversationalist, and Nari wanted to ask them how their day had been. The park was a great way to spend the afternoon, so of course they’d indulge the veggie lady without qualm. Y/n was looking forward to getting to explore more of the park they didn’t see last time.

As they were walking around a corner, on their way to said park. Douxie got that strange feeling once again. They were being watched. He tried not to let it show. He didn’t need Y/n to worry, and he was confident he could take care of whatever it was that was making him feel this way. He was Hisirdoux Casperan, successor of Merlin Ambrosius and currently the most powerful wizard alive. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect his family. If whatever was stalking them dared to show its face, he’d be ready.

There was a scruffy man on the street corner, shouting about the end of the world.

“The world’s gonna end, we’re all gonna die!”

This man wasn’t completely crazy, but it’s not like he actually knew what was going on in the world of magic. Douxie tossed him a coin.

“Not on my watch.”

[thatgirlwhowrites01]

hot head

part 11 | masterlist

social media au

zuko x reader

this is a very long and fluffy update and I hope it makes up for my lack of posting these past couple days 🥺🥺💕💕💕

Zuko POV

“What is your partner’s name again?”

“Uncle, they aren’t my partner,” carrying a tray of used tea cups towards the back of the shop, I cleared my throat as I set it down by the sink for washing later. “Their name is y/n.” I folded my arms across my chest and faced towards Iroh, a grin displayed clearly.

“You’re telling me that my nephew is doing all this work for a friend?” he laughed.

“I’m doing all this work because you’re letting us stay in the loft,” my hands pointed to the stairs, “Besides, I owe them a favor and they’ve never been to Ba Sing Se, it’s the least I could do.” Which wasn’t a complete lie. I did owe them a favor, after everything I did I’m surprised they even responded to my initial dm. The only problem was keeping uncle out of the loop. He always had a knack for knowing when I was being sneaky and although it was a sense that came in handy when I was a child, as a fully capable adult it has now become annoying.

“What do you plan on doing tonight?”

“Um, I’m not too sure, I’m just planning on showing them the main spots of the city and then maybe some dinner.” I tried to play it off cool, but inside my heart was pounding at a rate far from healthy.

“Just make sure when you guys get back to lock the doors and wash any dishes you use, I’ll be in around nine in the morning tomorrow.”

“I will, don’t worry.” I watched as uncle took the shop key off the hook on the back wall. He tossed it to me with a wink, “Have fun Zuko.”

The shop was now mine for the night and I still had a couple hours before I had to leave to pick y/n up. There wasn’t much left to do since I had been here all day to help with customers and cleaning. I finished setting up the loft early this morning, it wasn’t anything super fancy. A couch that could be folded into a bed was pressed to the side wall and a nice mattress layed towards the back. I set up some fairy lights and a couple lanterns placed on tables around the room to add a relaxed ambience when lit tonight.

I can’t explain the feelings I’m having, nervous? Excited? I’m not sure, it’s hard to say. When Azula first told me about y/n she described them as this ugly, manipulative, mean person. But they aren’t like that at all. I remember when I first watched their video, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them. They were beautiful, and the way they laughed made me feel warm inside, something I haven't felt in a long time. Azula insisted they were bad, and unfortunately I believed her. When they retaliated against me I didn’t know how to act, it filled me with rage because no one ever retaliates against me. I genuinely did hate them for a while but when the private investigator told me about what happened with their mom I wanted to take everything back. They had already been through so much and I was taking away something that could potentially work out really well. Despite what happened in the past I want this night to be a sort of ‘peace treaty’ if possible.

Y/N POV

The circumstances weren’t exactly ideal.. Zuko, the one who bullied me relentlessly with his twitter fingers was going to be my tour guide of Ba Sing Se for the night. The warnings from Katara and all my other friends wouldn’t leave my head and I couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that they were right. I did forgive too easily, but it was too late to cancel and plus I’ve never been to the city before.

I packed a small bag with a change of clothes and a couple miscellaneous items, being unsure of what the night would bring I made sure to pack some pepper spray too. I don’t think Zuko would try to hurt me, but being in a big city with one of the biggest jerks I know I had to come prepared.

It’s nearing five in the afternoon and my nerves are starting to get the better of me. Anytime now Zuko would be here and I’m starting to realize how awful this situation is. I could taste blood in my mouth from chewing on the inside of my cheek, “fuck,” I said while reaching for my phone. Almost on instinct my fingers swiped to Katara’s name in my contacts. The monotone ring droned on until I heard her pick up on the other line.

“Hello?”

“Katara, I’m freaking out, Zuko’s gonna be here at any moment and I don’t know what to do,”

“Hey it’s gonna be okay, are you sure you want to do this? I can always just make up an excuse for you so you don’t have to go?” I can tell she desperately wants me to say yes, but I can’t bring myself to do it.

“No it’s okay, I just really need someone to talk to until he gets here,”

“Okay, I promise it’s gonna be alright. You’ve got a whole army waiting up tonight to make sure you’ll be okay. Sokka, Suki, and Toph are gonna come over to Aang’s house with me and we’re not going to sleep until you’re back at wherever you’re staying.”

“Okay,” I laughed “If I don’t send updates by 11 send someone”

“Will do, Toph said she’s been ready to practice some knew boxing moves”

“Can’t wait,”

Our conversation went on for several minutes until I heard a knock on my door. “Coming!” I yelled and quickly ended the call, rushing to grab my bag. My hand curled around the handle and realization hit when I opened the door to see Zuko holding a bouquet of sunflowers. I smiled “Are these for me?”

“Yeah, I figured it’s the least I could do to make up for stuff.”

“Thank you,”

He seemed different than in his videos. His face was softer and his voice less harsh. I followed him to his car which was, to put it lightly, much nicer than my mini-van. I’m not even a car person but it was polished black with dark tinted windows and red rims, definitely something I could see him driving. He opened my door,  allowing me to slide in and fully appreciate the car. Leather seats accompanied a ‘new car’ smell and the front displayed a touch screen for controls. Shitty person or not, he rides in style.

After pulling away from my apartment the car fills with a low volume of slow RnB, “I’m not too sure if you  have anything specific in mind that you want to do, so I figured I’d show you my favorite parts of the city and grab something to eat, maybe some drinks?”

“That sounds great to me,” I smiled.

The rest of the car ride was silent, but with the mix of the sun close to setting, RnB, and the scenery I didn’t feel the need to talk. For a Friday night the traffic wasn’t that bad, we worked our way through it easily and stopped outside of a tea shop.

“This is my Uncle’s shop, there’s a loft on the top he said we could use for the night.”

“That’s so nice of him,  I’ll have to come back sometime to say thank you.”

I waited behind Zuko as he fiddled with the door. Now that I am standing next to him it was clear how muscular he was. The tight green shirt fit snug around his shoulders and biceps, his back muscles flexed while giggling the door handle. Finally it popped open and my focus changed to the space we were entering. It was cute and tiny, tables lined the walls and the bar had several stools flipped on top. I followed Zuko as he climbed the stairs to the loft.

“I washed and made the bed for you so you don’t have to worry about bugs or  anything,” Zuko pointed to the bed. I walked over to throw my bag down on the mattress “This place is so adorable, I love it!”

“Tea is my uncle's passion, when I was younger and he first started this shop I worked for him. This place is practically my home away from home.” He sat down on the couch facing me.”

I nodded, taking the place in. Fairy lights danced around the ceiling twinkling in a way that was mesmerizing. “Are you hungry?” Zuko asked.

“Is that even a question?” we both shared a laugh, “Come one, I know the best place for some pho.”

***

“And then, I practically threw up all over the place!” I laughed uncontrollably through my mouth full of pho,  “I can’t believe that,  in the middle of church?!” Zuko’s comment made me laugh even harder. “I swear! My mom was so mad it took everything in her power to not to drag me out by my hair!”

The night was going incredibly well. After a couple awkward ice breakers we somehow got on the subject of disappointing our parents and now we were the loudest table in the restaurant. Zuko was so much easier to talk to than I expected, and we had a lot in common.

“Excuse me, but would you and your partner like any dessert?” I was too busy laughing, I didn't even see the waiter approaching.

“Oh, they aren’t my partner.” I couldn’t help but snort which in turn made Zuko start laughing again, “I think we’re ready for the check if that’s alright” he said with as much composure and he could muster. I waited until the waiter was out of sight, “Partner” I snorted again. “Hey, the guy was just trying to find out if you were single,” I rolled my  eyes at Zuko’s comment. “Whatever..”

“It’s the truth! I bet everytime you go out you’re bombarded with people trying to get  with you!”

“Mhmm for sure, but I only  grace them with attention if they can guess my favorite color.”

“What’s your favorite color?” Zuko stared at me, rolling his lips to hide his smile.

“Why would you want to know? Are you trying to gain my attention?”

“I just want to make sure I know who I’m dealing with, they say you can learn a lot from people’s favorite color you know..”

“And who exactly is ‘they’?” I asked while crossing my arms.

“I prefer to keep that a secret.” He said while mimicking my stance.

We laughed together again at the stupidity of our argument. The waiter came back with the check and I reached for the cash I brought but before I could even get it to the table Zuko handed him a few $20’s telling him to keep the change. Warmth rose to my face “Thank you, I could’ve at least split it with you,”

“No worries, this is your trip and I wanna make it special.” he smiled, “Come on, there’s something I want to show you.”

We began walking the silent streets of Ba Sing Se, I admired all the little shops along the way. There was so much to do here and so many different people to meet. I think I have fallen in love with the city. When we came upon a small turn Zuko asked me to close my eyes.

“Why?” I smiled, I didn’t really care for the reason but I enjoyed teasing him.

“Just do it,”

With my eyes closed he grabbed my hand. I felt a jolt of energy race through my body. His hands were warm and calloused and much bigger than mine. The same warmth I felt at dinner returned as I tried suppressing my smile to no avail.

“You’re gonna love this.” he said, I could almost see his grin in my imagination. As he guided me I could hear water splashing and turtle ducks quacking. I was so excited I almost opened my eyes. Eventually he stopped me, “Can I open my eyes now?” I asked, wanting to know what he had led me to. “One sec,”

He shifted behind me, I could tell he was standing close because the heat radiating off of his body touched the back of my neck. “Okay, open.”

I was greeted with the sight of a beautiful fountain lit from all around, I felt like I had entered another world. It was so beautiful, the lights reflecting off the water made it even brighter. “What do you think?”

“Zuko, this is so pretty. I love it”

“I’m glad, this is one of my favorite spots. Especially at night.”

“I can see why,”

He made his way right next to me. We were standing so close our fingers grazed each other. I smiled at him nervously, unsure of what to do. “Do you want to feed the turtle ducks? I’ve got some bread”

“Yes!!” I said while practically running towards the animals in the fountain. I sat on the ledge which was a bit wet but not uncomfortable and Zuko took a seat next to me pulling a bag out of his pocket. He handed me a couple pieces to throw into the fountain and I wasted no time throwing it in.

They swarmed the area close to us splashing water as they ate. Zuko and I krept closer and closer together, if I moved my head it would bump into his shoulder.

I felt his hand fall on top of mine and I looked up. His eyes looked into mine and fell to my lips, the tension building had me leaning closer. His hand came up to gently cup my cheek while my eyes fluttered closed. Our lips met  with a heat, my breath caught in my chest due to the sudden sensation.

The kiss was slow, but short. This was better than the kiss Haru and I shared back at Aang’s grandparent’s house. This was electric and made me feel something.  We pulled away, my forehead falling on his. I could feel my heart beating through my chest.

This felt right.

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[daphne-fandom-writing]

4 times you meet Chris Evans at Disneyland

Word count: 2334

Warnings: smut at the 4th encounter

Request: Hi! I really like your blog! I was wondering if you could do a Chris Evans x reader where it's 4 times they run into each other while they are at Disney World?

Okay... I'm SO SORRY that it took so long. I hope you're still around anon! And that I did this some justice. Any of you that stocked around, thank you for that!

I also think that this is the longest one shot I ever made.

______________

This was the first time you visited Disneyland. You and your friend Y/F/N arrived on a monday, you didn’t want the business of a weekend and you had the week of from work. After dumping your stuff at the hotel you were staying at, the two of you went your way to the park. To say it was overwhelming would be a massive understatement. Every ride, shop and generally every building looked vibrant with lots of colors and shapes. It’s cliche really, how everything looks magical. 

You knew that Disneyland was a loved holiday destination for some well known people so the thrill of possibly seeing a celebrity only made the week more fun. This wasn’t the primary reason for visiting the park in any way of course, that reason was to unwind while being able to reach out to your inner child again.

The two of you decided to go and eat something before you went on any rides. You chose for a quick snack on churro’s  because nausea didn’t really seem like a nice idea on your first day there... Any day really. The first ride you two were going to go on was the Big thunder mountain rail road. The line wasn’t too long yet and the ride looked fun. 

On your way there you passed many people, sometimes bumping into them and shooting as fast “I’m sorry” and carrying on. You enjoyed the bright sun providing a comforting warmth while looking around you. You were just about to say something to your friend when you spotted a certain famous Chris a few steps away from you. 

“Y/F/N! Look” you bumped her arm and slyly pointed toward Chris Evans. “I’m gonna go and try to talk to him.” Your friend wasn’t big on the Chris department but she did walk along with you. You just made eye contact and were able to muster a “Hi mr. Evans” when he was pulled along by a young boy. He had an apologetic look in his eyes and you heard him say that he was sorry before walking along with the boy. 

Just a little bummed but mostly excited to know that Chris Evans is in the park you’re at at the same time as you, you walked to the ride with your friend. 

_______________

The first day in the park was a success, your rode tons of rides and ate delicious snacks. It was time to get some dinner at the hotel you were staying at. The place was packed but you were able to be seated at the last table in the restaurant, it was a table meant for two but that didn’t bother you. 

You looked at the menu to see so many choices, from italian to mexican to plain old american meals. You decided to order a dry white wine first and then look at the menu once more. Just when you had read through the thing once and were ready to go and pick something a waiter interrupted you. 

“Hi, I’m sorry to disturb you. We have two people that need to be seated and these two chairs here are the only two left, would you mind letting them sit here? You don’t have to of course, we could figure out something else.” You shared a look with your friend and decided that you didn’t mind. 

“Yes of course, we’re not gonna use them.” The waiter looked awfully relieved and went to get the two customers.  When he returned your breath got knocked out of your body. No one other than Chris Evans was the customer he talked about, he was together with the young boy again. When they reached your table Chris caught your eye and spoke up.

"Hello, are you sure you don't mind us being seated at your table? We could always wait or try another place."

"Yes of course, don't worry about it. What's two chairs when they're not gonna be used?" You smiled at them and Chris took a seat next to your friend while the boy got seated next to you. The lot of you ordered some drinks and the waiter went to get them.

You turned to the boy "Heya buddy, what's your name?" He looked at Chris and he nodded.

"I'm Miles" he looked a bit shy. "That's a cool name! My name is Y/N and this is my friend Y/F/N."

Chris smiled fondly at the exchange. "I'm Chris by the way"

You grinned "Oh I know." And winked at him. He looked surprised before a look of realization dawned upon him. "I thought I recognized you, you came up to me at the mountain railroad right?"

This time it was your turn to be surprised. "Yeah I did, didn't think you would remember to be honest." Both of you smiled and you blushed a little. The drinks came and you ordered some trustworthy pasta.

You chatted a bit with your friend and when the food was delivered you dove right in.

"So," Chris began. "How long are you going to be staying here?"

"Until friday, we arrived today." You told him and Chris explained that they were gonna be staying here for the same amount of time.

"I took this kiddo and his parents for a week of unwinding." He ruffled Miles' hair who immediately reacted by shoving his hand away.

"That's a really nice thing to do!" You smiled and caught his eye. Chris scratched his neck. "Family, am I right." You took another bite and nodded.

The rest of the dinner was shared in casual small talk. Soon enough you were grabbing your things.

"I'm glad that you guys let us stay at your table. I hope we meet again this week." Chris gave you both a hug.

"Who knows? And I'm glad that we let you stay as well!" You waved at Miles and gave him a fist bump before you all went your separate ways.

The rest of the evening was spent fangirling and stopping yourself from daydreaming too much.

______________

You were off on your own the third time you met Chris. Y/F/N was having an evening in the hotel and you wanted to explore the park some more. You were going to see a special hero event that was hosted in the evening. All of the marvel characters were supposed to be there and you could meet them, get pictures the whole deal. It seemed like a nice experience so off you went. 

It was pretty crowded when you eventually got there, you were a little late too because you lingered at the beautifully lighted buildings. You kept on the sidelines for a while, watching the kids meet their favorite superheroes. You smiled fondly at the exchanges and the actors that made their day.

After a while somebody bumped into you, he turned around to say sorry but instead smiled brightly. 

“Y/N hey!” He went in for a hug and you hugged him back. “Chris hi, I was hoping I’d run into you again.” He smiled brightly.

“Are you checking out the competition?” You nodded at the group of superheroes a few feet from you guys. Chris burst out laughing putting his hand on your shoulder for support. 

“Something like that, but mostly enjoying the enthusiasm of the kids and the park at nighttime.” You looked at him.

"Yeah, me too. The park looks even more magical in the dark. Plus, it's a little less warm so that means less sweat." Chris snorted. "That's a big plus indeed."

You stood together watching the kids for a while until Chris spoke up.

"Do you want to... explore the park a but more with me?" He ran a hand through his hair.

"That seems like a great idea!" Chris immeadiately looked relieved. "Great! Let's go!"

The two of you walked around, visited some venues and met some of the characters. You talked about life, movies, space and much more. Eventually it was time for some food, more a snack than food but it was Disney so who cared anyways. You settled for some ice cream and sat on a bench together.

"I must say, this has been a great turn of events. Instead of walking around alone, I actually had tons of fun!" You confessed with a big smile on your face.

"I can't say I disagree." Chris said before eating some of his ice cream. He managed to get a bit of it on his face.

"Don't move." He suddenly sat very still, expecting a bug or something around those words. Instead you wiped away the ice cream on his cheek and licked it off of your finger.

"You chose a good flavor." You deadpanned before bursting out in laughter. Chris joined you.

After the ice cream Chris walked you back to the hotel.

"Hey Y/N?"

"Yeah?" You turned to look at him. He was blushing a bit with a shy smile on his face.

"I'd like to take you out on a dinner somewhere this week. Would you be interested?" You smiled at him.

"Really? I'd love that!" He let out a breath that he had been holding.

"Great! Tomorrow at 7? I'll pick you up here?"

You gave him a kiss on his cheek, "It's a date." You walked into the hotel feeling giddy and rushed to your friend's room to tell her all about your night and your upcoming dinner.

______________

The fourth time that you met Chris was totally planned. You were in the middle of styling your hair when your friend walked into your room.

"Okay, what are you gonna wear? You need to smash him away!" You thought for a bit and realised you only packed one dress. It was burgundy and snug, not too revealing but not too boring. You showed it to Y/F/N and she nodded approvingly.

"Perfect!"

After finishing everything about your outfit and make-up, you settled for a natural look, you packed your bag and gave your friend a hug.

"Have fun, don't do anything I wouldn't do." You snorted and made your way to the front of the hotel and realizing that Chris was already there. He wore a simple white blouse with some snug black dress pants. He turned around and looked like he was having a stroke.

"Wow. You look amazing Y/N." You blushed and kissed his cheek. "You're not too bad yourself Mr. Evans."

He offered his arm and you looped your arm through his. He leaded you to a nice little Italian restaurant, it wasn't too crowded and smelled amazing.

You ordered a pizza that you shared, you laughed at the cheese dripping on his face and he laughed at the tomato sauce painting your lips. All in all it was a funny date and before you knew it you had your dessert in front of you.

As you finished your dessert Chris excused himself to go to the bathroom. When he returned you grabbed your bad to pay for the food.

"No need, I already paid." You glared playfully at him.

"You sly fox." He just grinned and motioned for you to walk outside with him. You walked back to the hotel. When you arrived you stopped to talk a bit more with Chris.

"I had the greatest time tonight Chris, thank you." He smiled.

"Me too, I'm actually pretty bummed that it' over already." You smirked and closed in on him. "It doesn't have to be..." you inched closer until your lips touched. His hand moved to your waist and neck while your arms clasped around his neck in return.

His lips felt soft and full and his beard tickled your skin. You pulled back for some air and smiled at him. "Want to come in for a bit?" Chris nodded and you were off to your room.

As soon as you closed the door behind you Chris was all over you, kissing you with a passion that you haven't experienced in a long time. His hands wandered all over you body until he reached the zipper of your dress. He looked at you for consent and you nodded at him.

He pulled the zipper down while you worked on the buttons of his blouse. You let your dress fall to the floor while he took of his shirt. When he looked up a smile appeared on his face. "God you're beautiful."

You took his hand and led him to the bed. When you reached it Chris picked you up and laid you on the bed, he was on top of you within a second. You worked on his pants while he hand his mouth on your neck sucking, biting, licking. You got the button of his pants and moved to take off your bra, when you looked up Chris had taken off his pants and underwear. "Wow. You're perfect."

Chris blushed and smiled. He went to take your panties off, looking at you again for approval. "I'm all yours Chris." His smile made way for an animalistic smirk. He took off your underwear and kissed up your thighs until he reached you core.

He started licking, sucking an nibbling on your most private parts making you moan and writhe beneath him. As soon as he added a finger to the bunch you felt you stomach tightening and it didn't take much more until you came undone. You moaned his name and pulled his hair making him moan in return.

He came up to kiss you. Then he moved to his pants to grab his wallet and grab a condom from it and rolled it on. He positioned himself on top of you and eased in. You moaned. "Chris, oh my god." He was perfect in every way.

He started moving, slow at first but picking up speed and his thrusts became harder and harder. You moan and pull his hair, he moans and kisses your lips, neck and chest. You're getting close to your release and suspect that he is too.

"Chris, I- I'm close." You manage to get the words out in between thrusts. "So am I." He thrusts hard and deep and goes to play with your clit. "Cum for me, fuck you feel good." A few more thrusts and you come around him, when you do you feel him cumming in the condom.

He rides out his orgasm, takes off the condom and falls beside you panting. "Wow."

"I know." You snuggle into his side and pull the blankets on top of you.

The two of you fall asleep, exchange phone numbers, e-mails, the whole deal. After your trip in Disney you make the whole long distance thing work.

You live happily ever after. Dreams do come true in Disneyland.

______________

Tags:

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@nbarnes

[ohmytheon]

A Little Misunderstanding

Well, @littlemangalover, I’m your @fullmetalsecretsanta this year! I’ve never done one of these before and I chose a year where I don’t have nearly as much time, but I really wanted to do this and I hope you enjoy this fic! It, uh, got a lot longer than I intended. Like ten pages long. I just wanted to be sure it had all the things you liked. Basically, I’ve read a lot of fics where Roy and Riza are confused as Ed’s parents and then the new chapter really inspired me, so... this is what came out of it.

It all happened because of a series of circumstances -- unfortunate ones, if you were to ask Roy or Fullmetal -- but once it had started, there was nothing they could do but roll with it. Normally, Roy didn’t mind it. He liked when his well-executed plans did as he expected, but he had learned that the ability to improvise was key if he was going to make it to the top. Still, that was typically Fullmetal’s area. The kid had some plans, clearly proven by his State Alchemist title at the age of twelve, but he was still a kid.

Which was one of the reasons why they found themselves in such an awkward position.

For the most part, Roy and his team stayed in East City. It was where he was stationed and where he had to be in order to remain close to people going to the top. If he was shipped off to some country town, there was a chance that he would never recover. You couldn’t make a career in a town where the sheep population rivaled the people. However, when the intel that the men accused of robbing five banks in the eastern and southern parts of Amestris were hiding out in one of those towns, he left the city without hesitation.

They had gotten the information from none other than Edward Elric. He and his brother had been staying in the town searching for some old textbooks when he’d recognized one of the wanted men in the local grocery store. No one else would’ve known who they were unless they worked in the military and the town was small enough where there weren’t soldiers regularly going through. The perfect thing about Fullmetal spotting them was that the bank robbers had no idea that they’d been pegged.

Having a kid as one of his subordinates came in handy sometimes.

Roy and Riza arrived a day later in plain clothes. They did not want to alert the criminals that the military was onto them. They had to take a train and then travel by car to the town. Fullmetal did not look happy to see them at their hotel room, arms folded across his chest while wearing a deep frown. He looked more like a child than Roy had remembered from the last time he’d been in East City. Just as petulant as well, judging by the look on his face.

“Fullmetal.”

“Colonel.” There was definitely an unspoken “bastard” left off at the end.

“It’s good to see you, Edward,” Riza spoke up.

Immediately the kid brightened up. Of course Riza had that effect. She was being nice, even smiling. It was like Fullmetal had put Roy out of his mind.

“Lieutenant Hawkeye!” Alphonse exclaimed from inside their room.

Riza pressed a finger to her lips. “It’s Elizabeth today. We don’t want to tip anyone off.”

How a suit of armor was supposed to look abashed was beyond Roy, but somehow, Alphonse managed it. He nodded his head, his suit clanking anxiously. Roy could picture a child biting his lip and keeping quiet, but he had only ever seen a picture of Alphonse from when he was ten, shortly before he and Fullmetal had performed human transmutation. Alphonse was eleven now. Would he look different now?

“So what’s the plan?” Fullmetal asked once they were all inside the hotel room.

“We need to corroborate the intel and then we can come up with a plan to capture them,” Roy explained.

“You don’t believe me?” Fullmetal demanded.

“I like to see things for my own eyes,” Roy replied without missing a beat. Had he been as sensitive as Edward at his age? Maybe it was different since the kid was smack dab in an adult’s world. Despite his teacher’s harsh ways, Roy had still been allowed a childhood. Dropping his bag next to the foldout couch, Roy smacked his hands together and then put them on his hips. “Now, time to go sightseeing.”

Fullmetal scoffed. “Why would anyone believe that you’re here to sightsee? There’s nothing here by sheep, cows, and corn.”

Roy made his biggest lopsided grin and looped an arm around Riza’s side, pulling her snug against him. “Because we’re on our honeymoon and our car broke down, so we’re staying here until the next train to West City arrives tomorrow.” She rolled her eyes, but said nothing and didn’t pull away from him. She knew that it was part of their cover and he was being over the top to tease Fullmetal. Sometimes, he really thought he loved her for how much she not only put up with him but went along with his antics.

Meanwhile, the poor kid became flustered, his face turning red as he pressed his lips together and turned away from them, folding his arms across his chest. “Whatever.”

The small town wasn’t much to speak of -- there really was very little to sight see -- but they made the most of their day. They checked out the market, buying a few items, and then the very local shops. All of the owners were enthusiastic to have new visitors and gushed over the young couple. It wasn’t until the second shop though that they stumbled across their first huddle.

“It’s so nice of you to take that young boy in,” an elderly woman told Roy as he paid for a few trinkets at the front counter. She wore glasses nearly an inch thick and a shaky smile. Really, what were her kids thinking forcing this woman to work? She should’ve been relaxing at home, knitting or something by the fire.

Still, the comment threw Roy off. “Pardon?”

“Your wife’s son,” the woman continued. “He’s obviously not your biological son -- not with that hair and those eyes -- but he looks up to you. It’s so sweet.”

Roy’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. It took all his willpower not to explode. How he was able to remain so passive was almost beyond him, but he didn’t flinch. Instead, he turned to glance back where Riza and Fullmetal were looking at a shelf of sheep trinkets. They weren’t much to look at, but they examined them together like it was something special. Fullmetal must’ve said something amusing because Riza smiled down at him and replied. Whatever it was, it had the kid ducking his head and smiling shyly in return.

It struck Roy quite suddenly how young Edward Elric was and how long it had been since his mother had died. Only a year since he’d tried to raise her back to life using human transmutation.

“Um.”

He didn’t know what to say. Part of him screamed to deny it, but then, it would cause people to start questioning just what he and Riza were doing here and who Edward really was. Small towns like this meant a lot of loose lips, which was really something they couldn’t afford. If the criminals they were after found out that there was a group of mysterious people in town, just like them, then they’d get spooked. He pictured this woman telling the man who ran the little restaurant across the street about what she’d found out about Roy and Riza. The robbers ate there every night for dinner.

So, Roy did the only thing he could think to do that would control the situation as much as possible and cause the least amount of damage: he went with it. “He’s a good kid. A little stubborn perhaps, but I’m proud to be his father.” Leaning against the counter, he turned to face the other two in the back of the store. “Hey, son, do you want a soda?”

As if he hadn’t even considered what Roy had just called him, Edward looked back at him. “A soda?”

“Yeah,” Roy replied, “do you want one? It’s a lot different than the ones from the city.”

Edward shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, I guess--” And then it finally hit him and he looked as if he was going to choke on his own tongue. Only Riza putting a hand on his shoulder calmed him down. His face turned red again and he turned his back to Roy, grumbling something under his breath that only Riza could hear. Poor kid didn’t even realize just how better it made the whole act.

“Add two sodas onto my order,” Roy told the elderly shopkeeper.

The woman beamed at him. God, what had he gotten them into?

*

Just as Roy had suspected, it didn’t take long for word to travel around the small town. After the third person had made a comment about their “blended family,” Edward looked like he was going to throw a fit, so they decided to head back to the hotel. The kid just didn’t know how to handle this new wrinkle. It didn’t help that people had begun to ask how Edward was handling his new family.

“You all look so cute!”

“Such an inspiration for families.”

“Now make sure you mind your father.”

Roy had to clamp a hand over Edward’s mouth before he could exclaim that Roy was not, in fact, his father and gave the sweet lady a big smile. “Sorry, he’s getting so cranky from hunger. We should probably get back to our hotel room.”

“Oh, why don’t you come to my husband’s place!” the woman told them, practically shoving them in that direction before any of them could respond. “Well, it’s the only place to be honest, but it’s better than surviving off of snacks from the hotel.”

In a matter of minutes and with very little chance to protest, all three of them found themselves standing just inside the doorway of the small restaurant that they’d been casing out earlier. This woman would’ve made an excellent recruiter for the military. She found them a table, gave them menus, and was off without so much as a goodbye.

“What are we doing here?” Edward mumbled as he looked over the menu. “Alphonse is probably worried about us. We’ve been gone all morning and afternoon.”

“I believe we’re eating,” Roy pointed out, “son.”

Edward gripped the menu tightly and wiggled in his chair. “Stop calling me that.”

“We have to keep up this charade for now,” Roy replied without looking at him. The menu was simple, but it was promising at least and he was really hungry. “A family does make us look less suspicious.”

“Well, you can be my dad,” Edward snapped, “but I don’t have to be happy about it.”

Roy shot him a grin. “Likewise.”

Riza sighed from behind her menu. “Please stop fighting, you two.”

“Fine,” Edward mumbled. Roy cleared his throat. “Mother.”

It shouldn’t have been amusing, but seeing Edward squirm almost made Roy chuckle. Admittedly he had been a little concerned that this whole family charade might upset the kid, but it just irritated him. Not that it was difficult to do. Edward seemed to be in that stage of puberty where everything was annoying.

Just in that moment, the door swung open and three of the four criminals that they were surveying walked in and took a table. They had been here long enough that the staff knew how to great them. None of them were mean and actually were quite pleasant, but then they had to be, lest the villagers get the wrong idea of them. A small town also meant that they would not hesitate to oust anyone unwelcomed. However, judging from the peculiar friendliness of one of the men, they weren’t as unknown as originally suspected.

“I think one of them might actually be from or around here,” Roy pointed out after their drinks were refilled.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Riza added, taking a sip of her sweet tea. “He knows the waitress and not just in the ‘regular at a restaurant’ sort of way.”

“How do you know?” Edward questioned.

Roy inclined his head towards the kitchen door. “See how he always speaks up first and the waitress always defers to him? Their close proximity? Her casual demeanor with him compared to the others?” Edward attempted to covertly look at what was going on at the other table, but just sort of looked like he was oggling the young waitress like, well, a kid going through puberty. “That’s not flirting. No awkwardness, no blushing, no fidgeting. She’s very comfortable with him. She knows him.”

“That would be why no one in town seems concerned with them, unlike us,” Riza said.

“Which will make it a little more difficult to apprehend them without any complications,” Roy murmured as he set his menu back down on the table. They might have to even call in reinforcements. He did not want to admit to being wary of using his alchemy in such a small town, especially one that had been in the borders of the Ishval War, but if it came to it, he would not hesitate to use it. “Do you know where they’re staying?”

Edward shrugged his shoulders. “Not at the hotel.”

“Hm.” Roy looked around the restaurant. “Can you go to the counter to get the waitress’ attention? She hasn’t been back in a while.”

Although Edward looked affronted by the idea, his stomach growled at the same time. The kid seemed to always be hungry. Did he eat enough on the road? Not that it mattered to Roy. He just didn’t like the idea of one of his subordinates passing out from hunger while on the job.

Grumbling under his breath, Edward stood up and made his way to the front, all without realizing that Roy had followed him. The second he neared the table of the criminals they were watching, unable to avoid them on his way, Roy bumped into Edward just enough to trip him up and send him sprawling right into the man who seemed as if he was from this town. The action caused Edward to knock the man’s drink over and spill it all over him. Everyone at the table jumped back into shock while Edward sputtered and tried to regain his balance.

“Oh my god!” Roy exclaimed as he reached out to help Edward. “I’m so sorry!”

“What in the--?” Edward immediately tried to fight back, but Roy held onto him tighter.

“He’s so clumsy,” Roy continued as he helped Edward stand up, keeping his hands on Edward’s shoulders to stop him from rearing at either one of them.

The criminal who had his drink spilled on him sat in shock, looking down at the damage. Considering that they were in a small town, Roy knew for a fact that the man’s clothes were not cheap. The stain was serious. He had the same outfit back in his closet. It would cost some money to get it dry-cleaned. “Do you know who made this?”

“I…” Roy blinked. “I’m not into fashion.”

“This is designer!” the man exclaimed.

“I’m so sorry,” Roy repeated. “My boy… Well, my wife’s son… He has a tendency to not look where he’s walking. He didn’t mean it.”

The man glared up at them and the rest of his friends looked equally ready to fight. “You think I care that your woman didn’t teach her boy how to walk?”

Roy feigned nervousness, lifting his hands from Edward’s shoulders to raise them up in surrender. He had been worried that Edward might explode and try to fight all of them, but Edward seemed too preoccupied with staring agape at all of them in silence. That was for the best. The both of them knew that Roy could take all of them out right now, but then they would miss the ringleader that was probably at their base right now.

“Look, I don’t have the cash on me now, but if you give me the address of where you’re staying, I’ll send you the money to have it cleaned,” Roy told them, sounding almost pitiful. Edward looked as if he was choking on his tongue, kind of like a son would if he caught his father sniveling to other people. “We’re just in town for the night until the next train comes in. I don’t want any trouble. It’ll upset my wife.”

All of them glanced back simultaneously as Riza, who was watching the situation with curiosity. Their waitress had showed up too. She looked more nervous, clinging to her notepad tightly, but was just as close-lipped. Maybe she was in on the whole thing. They would have to question her regardless. The men at the table seemed to loosen up at the sight of Riza though. A pretty woman almost always disarmed men.

“It’s your all’s honeymoon from what I heard, right?” the man asked. Roy nodded his head while Edward made a grunting noise. “Well, you’re lucky I’m feeling generous.” He wrote down the address of where he was staying on a napkin and handed it to Roy. “Don’t skip out on me without paying me back or that kid’s gonna be looking for a new dad again.”

Roy smiled blandly. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Thank you.”

Another one of the guys leaned back to get a closer look at Riza. “Pretty thing you’ve got there. I wouldn’t leave her alone for too long.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Roy replied, injecting as much nervousness into his voice as possible. Not that he really had anything to worry about. Any one of these guys would be sorry to bother Riza. He knew for a fact that she had least three concealed guns on her person. She never left home without one.

Before Roy could steer Edward back to the table, the guy with the ruined suit piped up, “Hey, I think you forgot something.”

Both Roy and Edward turned around and Roy asked, “Pardon me?”

“An apology,” the guy said, a smug grin edging its way onto his face.

“What?” Edward exclaimed, unable to stay silent any longer. “I’m not--”

“Apologize to him,” Roy told him, trying very hard to make it not sound like an order from a commanding officer but more like from a parent. He honestly didn’t know what that sounded like now that he thought about it. Master Hawkeye’s commands could send fear right through Roy’s heart and half the time Madam Christmas didn’t even have to say anything to get Roy to hop to it at Edward’s age.

The idea that he didn’t really know how to be a parent struck Roy so suddenly that he almost faltered.

“Are you kidding me?” Edward demanded, glaring up at Roy.

“No, I’m not,” Roy replied. “Apologize to him.”

Edward pressed his lips together, as if refusing to let any apologetic words slip out of his mouth, and continued to glare at him in defiance. Roy almost sighed. Had he been this much of a little shit at this age? Or did it come from Edward knowing so much beyond his years? This kid had the rank of Major, after all. Unbelievable…

“I’d listen to your pops if I were you kid,” a third man said.

Quick as a whip, Edward reared on them. “He’s not--” But then he clamped his mouth shut and frowned at all of them. By now, Riza was getting more curious and gave Roy a look asking whether she needed to jump in, but he gave her a tiny shake of his head and she stilled in her seat. Edward clenched his fists at his side, but then took a deep breath, looked to the side, and grumbled, “I’m sorry.”

The three men at the table laughed. Roy could tell that Edward was not turning red from embarrassment but anger and he needed to get them away from the table as quickly as possible. He promised to send the money to fix the suit to the address given and practically pushed Edward back to the table.

The waitress opened her mouth, but Roy cut her off and spoke directly to Riza, “Darling, I realized after that whole incident that I left my wallet back in our room at the hotel. Maybe we should just order something from there.”

“Is everything alright?” Riza asked.

Roy chuckled anxiously. “Oh, yeah, you know your boy -- clumsy as can be.”

Riza raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as she stood up from the table. Roy apologized to the waitress and all but rushed them out of restaurant. Edward seemed too overwhelmed with the suddenness of everything to make a scene and Riza knew to comply without any arguing.

Right before they stepped outside, one of the criminals shouted, “See you soon, sweetheart!”

Riza turned around as if to say something, but Roy slid an arm around her waist and said loud enough for others to hear, “Ignore it, love,” and tugged her out the door. The three of them made their way back to the hotel with an inspired sense of speed without speaking. Electricity crackled between all of them as they hurried down the street. Edward kept looking back over his shoulders while Riza watched their sides and Roy looked straight ahead.

They got back to the hotel in no time. However, the moment Roy shoved Edward into his room, Edward spun around on them, Alphonse leaping up nervously behind him, and shouted, “What the hell was all that about?”

Slipping his hands into his pockets, Roy coolly responded, “Just getting some info.”

“I’ve got coffee all over me!” Edward exclaimed. “And we looked like...like...” He was red in the face by now. It wasn’t anger, Roy realized. It was embarrassment. He was twelve years old and even worse he’d been made to look like it. Edward was an alchemy prodigy. He wasn’t used to being his own age. “We looked like idiots!”

“Well,” Roy replied, “we’re not supposed to look like military.”

“You could’ve blown them to smithereens and gotten them to answer everything,” Edward said.

“And I would’ve looked like a domineering, arrogant jackass doing it,” Roy countered. “You don’t get it, do you? People hate alchemists around these parts. During the Ishval War, many places were destroyed by alchemists in order to end it.” He could still picture buildings blowing up due to his own alchemy. It was too raw, too fresh in his memory. He could smell the smoke. “You want everyone in this town to turn against us? They’ll choose those criminals over us.”

Edward scoffed and folded his arms across his chest. “I didn’t serve in the Ishval War. I didn’t do anything.”

“You’ve still got that silver pocket watch, don’t you?” Roy snapped. “Don’t kid yourself, Fullmetal. They’ll hate you the same as me.”

For the first time since Roy had met him, he saw Edward falter. It was just a flicker, a moment of hesitance crossing his face, but it was enough to let Roy know that he’d gotten under the kid’s skin. Good. Some lessons were harder than others to learn. The hardest one that Edward would learn would be that he was hated just as much as he was loved for his status as a State Alchemist. Innocent as he may be, human transmutation notwithstanding, the public’s view of him was tainted by his title.

“So we can’t do anything because we don’t want the military to look bad,” Edward surmised, sounding as moody as any twelve year-old boy.

“Every soldier is the face of the military and our actions reflect on it,” Roy told him, regaining his collectedness. Riza would comment on him losing control later. It was her duty to point these things out. He didn’t like it, but he needed to be reminded of every mistake he made. If he was going to make it to the top, he couldn’t make silly mistakes like that. “To be frank, the military has the lowest rate of approval in the East. It’s our duty to fix it.”

“Normally catching crooks does that.”

“Not when they’re a part of the community.” Roy knew that he hadn’t appeased Edward, but it was enough. He seemed to have calmed down and whatever tension lay between them was the usual. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled out the card with the criminals’ address written on it, holding it between his fingers. “Tomorrow. We know where they’re staying. It’ll be quick and quiet.”

At least Roy hoped so. Edward was not known for “quick and quiet”.

With a wave of his hands, signaling that he was done and tired, Edward turned his back on them and retreated to the bathroom. Alphonse asked if they wanted tea, but Roy declined and he and Riza retired to their room. It was a room with one bed, keeping up with their cover as a couple on their honeymoon, but luckily it came with a couch that Roy had already proclaimed as his. There would be no awkward fighting for the bed. Both of them knew that Roy would sleep better on the couch. He did so at home often and had fallen asleep numerous time on the chase in the study back at Riza’s home when they were kids.

“Them being from here complicates things,” Roy pointed out as he gathered his things to take a shower. “The town will be on their side no matter what.”

“We’ll have to use more force,” Riza said, “and that will make us look bad.”

“Why do you have to do our job and look good doing it?” Roy complained. He caught his reflection in the mirror in the bathroom. He was only in his mid-twenties, but he felt so much older. This job was going to give him gray hair. He didn’t like that much either.

Riza smiled. “Now you sound like Edward.”

Roy shot her a sharp look. “That sounds close to an insult.”

“My apologies, sir,” Riza replied, though the fondness wasn’t completely out of her voice.

She ducked her head as she took her pajamas out of her suitcase. Light pink long sleeve button up shirt and pants. Very modest. And yet it still caused Roy’s throat to constrict. They were going to sleep in the same room tonight. Sure, they’d shared tents in Ishval, but it had never been just them too. Hughes had usually been there or another soldier. That was just how it was.

This would be the first time since they were kids that they shared a room while sleeping. It had been awkward then too. Couldn’t have been otherwise. Two teenagers going through puberty sleeping just five feet away from each other. Roy had been miserable.

Shit, he was miserable now.

It was too soon to make a joke about it. Part of him wanted to tease her about joining him for a shower, even though he knew that both of them would understand that it was just a joke, but another part of him knew that it was too soon. One day, he could say something like that and she’d just roll her eyes, but right now, if he said anything flirtatious, he knew that she’d blush and feel uncomfortable. It had been over two years, but some things were still raw.

(He tried very hard not to think about how he wanted to fight over the bed until they finally conceded to share it -- because they were professional and they could remain that way -- just so he could be close to her, breathe her in, feel her near him, until they woke up entangled in one another’s arms-- No, no, they couldn’t do that. It was just a dream. He couldn’t let himself think that way. There was a long road ahead of them.)

They went about the rest of their night in silence, readying themselves for a morning that they could not be prepared for. No matter how many plans Roy came up with though, he always seemed to forget one thing now: Edward liked a put a wrench in plans.

*

When Roy woke the next day, it was to the smell of fresh coffee. He opened up his bleary eyes to find that Riza was humming to herself and walking around the room, already dressed for the day in a pair of reasonable slacks and a sweater. He rubbed at his face and pushed himself up in the sitting position on the couch. Thankfully, his back didn’t protest too much. Still young.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“Just a little after eight,” Riza replied as she checked one of her handguns.

Roy flopped back on the couch and groaned. “Why are you awake then?”

“We’re still working,” Riza pointed out.

“I assure you HQ won’t know if you sleep in out here.”

While Riza gave a noncommittal noise in response, Roy grunted irritably. Still, he dragged himself off the couch and found his way to the small table where a second cup of coffee sat. She had been quiet while getting ready, careful not to wake him up before, but she kept him on time as well. He didn’t like it. He’d kept his own schedule while studying alchemy under her father. Oftentimes, he had to eat the poor breakfast she made cold because he’d been up late leafing through textbooks the night before. The military didn’t care about that though. He’d learned that the hard way.

“Still not a morning person, I see,” Riza said. It was one of the few times she hinted to something more personal between them. He’d noticed that she kept more of a distance from their past than he did. Maybe it was because she was better at being professional than him. She had come to him, but he’d asked her to be his adjutant. He had to work on that.

“I don’t need to get up when the sun rises to do my job,” Roy grumbled, cradling the cup of coffee like it was his lifeline to the world.

Riza smiled, but said nothing else. This was very much like one of their breakfasts back when he had been her father’s alchemy apprentice. It didn’t sting as much as it used to these days.

After getting ready, they knocked on the room across from them. Alphonse answered, of course, letting them know that Edward was still sleeping. He slept a lot. It was strange. Edward was a ball of energy when he was awake, but he had an even worse habit than Roy of falling asleep in all sorts of places and for long periods of time. It took very little time for Edward to get ready once he woke up (ah, the hygiene of a near teenager). He met them in the living room, yawning, before stuffing a bagel in his mouth.

“Now what?” Edward mouthed around the bagel.

Roy tried not to roll his eyes. “Now we catch the bad guys.”

Edward swallowed a bit and took the bagel out of his mouth. “He just gave you their secret address like that?”

“To fix a four hundred thousand cenz suit?” Roy waved a hand. “I’m surprised he didn’t follow us here to make sure I gave him the money on the spot.”

“So what’s the plan?” Edward asked.

“We go there, we capture them -- quietly.”

“What about me?” Alphonse asked.

“We need you to stay outside, in case any of them try to escape,” Riza told him. When she noticed Alphonse’s slight disappointment, she put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m used to staying behind and watching outside as well. It’s not very fun, but it’s extremely important. When someone knows their back is being watched, they feel a lot safer.”

That perked the boy right up. The suit of armor was so big that Roy had to remind himself that Alphonse was a year younger than Edward. He was talented enough to take the State Alchemist exam as well, but the rigorous and invasive questioning would’ve been too much for him. Edward could hide. Alphonse could not. They couldn’t let anyone else in the military know that there was nothing inside that suit but a soul. He would’ve made for an excellent subordinate unlike Edward, who was unruly as they came.

As they made their way to the house where the criminals were staying, a few people greeted them on the street. Everyone was so friendly here. It reminded Roy of the towns just on the outskirts of the Hawkeye house. Those had been small as well. He’d gotten to know everyone there by the time his first year of apprenticeship ended. There wasn’t room for cold or elusive people in towns like these. He could never in a place like this, not anymore.

“Refrain from using alchemy,” Roy ordered. “I’d like for this to be a clean capture.”

Edward huffed. “Okay.”

*

It was not okay. It was not clean. It was nothing like Roy planned.

First, the guy that had been making some offhand comments about Riza wouldn’t leave her alone. The man had had the gall to tug on her hair, which she was growing out and was now at her shoulders, leaning in close enough to smell her. Thinking that Roy was just some pathetic husband, like he could do whatever wanted and Roy would do nothing. And he hadn’t. He had made a move, but Riza had given him a sharp look that stopped him. For the mission. She could handle a creep.

It turned out that Roy did not have the same strength and resilience than she did. He had to bit his lip to keep himself from saying anything and clench his fists in his pockets. The smile on his face was so forced that it actually hurt and he knew that it only made his cover better, but he didn’t like it. He hated playing such a weakling when he could’ve lit everyone in here like a bonfire.

However, Roy’s ability to control himself didn’t matter, not when Edward was right there. He literally shoved the man away from Riza, causing him to stumble back into a chair and fall over backwards. “Don’t touch her!”

“Easy, kid,” the ringleader laughed. He hung in the back, watching everything happen. Roy kept a careful eye on him as well. He was the most dangerous of the four. Out of all of them, he was the only one who had fired his weapon and killed two guards when they were robbing banks. He seemed so easy-going now. “He wasn’t hurting your mom.”

Edward glared at him, but said nothing. A small blessing, in Roy’s opinion.

Until the creep crawled onto his feet. “That kid has a metal arm!”

Instinctively, Edward grabbed his automail arm. It was still new to him. He’d had it for little over a year. Roy knew from his research that automail surgery and recovery usually took three years, but Edward had done it in one so that he could get his State Alchemist license as quickly as possible. He was still getting used to it. Knowing its strength and weaknesses and knowing his own in return.

“An accident from when he was young,” Riza reassured them, pulling Edward close to her like a mother would. None of them could see that she’d also pulled out her service weapon behind him.

The ringleader of the bank robbers tilted his head. “You know, I heard of a story recently -- really inspirational -- of a young boy who became a State Alchemist.”

“Really?” Edward’s jaw was clenched. “How young?”

“Oh, the ages vary depending on who you ask,” the man continued in a lofty voice, “but the name is always the same: the Fullmetal Alchemist.” He chuckled. “Now, of course, people assume that this alchemist is always covered in metal. It goes with the name, you know. But some…”

Edward was practically grinding his teeth. “Some what?”

“Well, some people say that he isn’t covered in armor, but he has automail limbs,” the man finished. In a flash, he had a gun out and pointed directly at Roy. Everyone in the room tensed up while the ringleader still looked as calm as could be. Roy thought back to the reports of the robberies. This man had killed without hesitation. He didn’t show any signs of remorse. “Who are you?”

Riza didn’t move a muscle. Roy pressed his lips together. Edward was almost growling.

Roy knew that look in Edward’s eyes and it wouldn’t do them any good. He took a step towards them, but froze when man squeezed the trigger, shooting right past Roy’s head into the wall. Everyone flinched and it had to have taken everything in Riza not to pull her weapon out right then and there. It wouldn’t have done them much good, not how that everyone else had their guns trained on them.

This was bad. This was very bad. Edward was going to lose it.

“Edward,” Roy said as calmly as possible, “don’t do anything stupid.”

“Like hell,” Edward snapped back.

The man they had dealt with at the restaurant laughed. “What did I say to you about listening to your father, kid?”

“He’s not my father!” Edward screamed. He slapped his hands together and pressed a hand against his automail arm, causing an explosion of alchemy light burst into the room. Roy’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw a large metal dagger cut through Edward’s sleeve. He’d turned his arm into a weapon. It was, quite honestly, an incredible and unique feat of alchemy -- one that he didn’t have time to think about as Edward leaped to attack the man pointing a gun at Roy.

A few things happened at the same time: the ringleader squeezed off another shot; Riza had completely brought up her weapon to shoot; Edward had launched himself over the couch; and Roy threw himself to the side. Thankfully he missed getting shot and rammed into the man with the ruined suit. They tumbled to the ground together and Roy was able to knock the gun out of his hands. Without thinking, Roy punched him right in the face and knocked him unconscious.

There was so much commotion going on around him, so loud, that Roy was almost certain that the entire house would be destroyed. Gunfire, shouts, the explosive telltale signs of Edward’s alchemy. It was a disaster. A fire roared inside of Roy, burning so hot that he knew it was the only thing he could do. He stood up, surveyed the scene, and snapped his fingers together. A simple spark turned into flames, knocking all of the assailants to the ground. Fire caught onto their clothes and on some of the furniture, causing them all to panic.

“The Flame Alchemist!” one sputtered.

Roy flapped his jacket and harrumphed in irritation. “And now you’ve ruined my suit.” He fingered the hole that one of the bullets had caused upon flying through it. “This is much more expensive than what he was wearing.”

“Why in the hell did you wear it here then?” Edward demanded, panting and sweating as he stood over one of the men to make sure he didn’t get up.

“It was the cheapest one I own,” Roy replied.

Smoothing his clothes, he walked over to the ringleader, stepping over broken furniture and wounded men. He carried the air of a man in uniform without being in one. None of the criminals moved, their eyes latched onto the white gloves that they’d ignored. Many city people were so squeamish about the country that they wore gloves. They hadn’t suspected anything else from a man as cowardly as Roy had appeared.

The ringleader spit on the ground. “Dog of the Military.”

“Sniffed you out well enough, didn’t we?” Roy crouched down to his level. “You’re under arrest for bank robbery, resisting arrest, attacking an officer of the government… Oh, I’m sure I can think of a few more.”

The man nodded his head to Edward, who was helping Riza gather the other three criminals. “The child is your subordinate then?”

“The Fullmetal Alchemist, as you guessed,” Roy said.

“How low do you have to be in order to use a child to get what you want?” the man demanded.

Roy smiled cruelly. “I’ve killed more men than you. I’m as low as they come.”

When Edward glanced back at them, curiosity mixed with his usual irritation in his eyes, Roy let the cruelness slide out of him and turned it into a smug grin. It was the kind of look that pissed Edward off, the only kind that Roy wanted to let him see. It was easier that way. Edward didn’t need to see Roy as anything else but a lazy, arrogant, power-hungry bastard. He didn’t need to see the monster, the insecurities, the hopefulness, the desperation, the man. It wouldn’t help either of them.

Once the criminals were taken care of though, the soldiers they’d called in for reinforcements last night picking them up, Riza found Roy alone in their hotel room. He wasn’t getting their things together like he’d said, but drinking another cup of coffee. He couldn’t drink. They were still working, after all.

“I noticed something during our attempt to apprehend the suspects,” Riza said.

“Yeah?” Roy asked.

“Your flames started out around the ringleader,” Riza pointed out. “It would’ve been better and safer for you to start out with the assailant closer to you.”

Roy took a sip of the coffee. “Really? I didn’t notice.”

“Of course not,” Riza replied, although she knew damn well that Roy had already mastered pinpointing his flames with his alchemy.

He had started with the man fighting with Edward, then to the men shooting at Riza, and finally the man he’d fought with. It had only been a few seconds difference, but seconds could be a lifetime on the battlefield. This hadn’t been a battle, but it was the closest action he’d seen since leaving Ishval. Even now, he felt his heart racing. Maybe it was the coffee. Yeah, he’d blame it on that. He could blame a lot of things on something else. It was one of his many talents, including not thinking of things.

(He could look at Riza and not think of how unlikely it was that he would ever have a family. He could see her and not think of all the things that would pass him by. It was his own doing, after all. He’d made this choice and he had to stick with it. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t think about how it felt to be a father, even if it was fake and only for a day. Didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt. He just had to be better at ignoring it. That was all.)

[my-emotional-self]

Let Me Protect You Chapter 3/?

vPairings: Chris Evans x OFC Emilia

Chapter: Three

Word Count: 2,561

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Swearing

A/N: Holy long chapter guys, but I’m not even sorry about it. I hope you enjoy! Also, I have tried tagging people for the last chapter, and I am so sorry if it is not tagging correctly.  I’m hoping to try and figure that out soon for you all!

 When I woke up on Thursday, the first thing I noticed was that I was in the guest house, on the new bed Eric bought me.  I know for a fact that I had fallen asleep on the cough inside Eric’s house.  I’m not a sleep walker and I’m normally a very light sleeper.  Surely I would have woken up if someone carried me here.  I guess Eric could have done that, but he just doesn’t seem like he would have enough muscles to do so.

Not dwelling on that thought any longer, I head into the bathroom to relieve myself.  While washing my hands, I get a good look at myself in the mirror.  Dark circles encase my hazel eyes, and my hair is extremely disheveled.  

Tossing my hair into a high ponytail, not wanting to deal with the raging mess on my head, I head into the kitchen.

“I’m definitely going to have to do some grocery shopping soon” I mutter quietly to myself.

With nothing to eat or drink from, I decide to walk the few seconds it takes to cross his lawn, and bug my brother.  

As I come close to his back patio door, he is sitting at his island counter drinking coffee.

“Good morning sunshine” he says as I walk through the door.

“Ugh, you are such a morning person, it’s disgusting” I manage to say while stifling a yawn.

“Boo hoo, get used to it now that you are living here with me.”  

He’s an ass, but I love him.

“I have fresh coffee made if you want.  Help yourself.”

I cringe when I hear him utter the word coffee.  I’ve never been a fan of that stuff; even the smell sometimes makes me want to gag.

“No thanks, just water is fine.  Hey, will you go grocery shopping with me sometime in the next few days?  Once my stuff arrives, I’m going to want to be able to cook for myself so I’m not mooching off of you all the time.”

“Yeah, I can do that. We can go Saturday if we aren’t too hung over from the party.  You know, I don’t mind you here mooching off of me; otherwise I wouldn’t have invited you to come live with me.  But it will be helpful for you to have your own groceries because I tend to work late hours during the week” he says.

“Sounds like a plan Stan, will we hop off the bus Gus?  Make a new key lee, no need to be coy Roy.”

Eric doubles over laughing. “I’ve missed your weirdness of speaking movie and lyric quotes”.

“I try” I say with a smile on my face.  Not a real genuine smile, but I perfected looking happy enough to trick people. Nobody can really tell the difference between a genuine smile, and a fake smile from me.  Eric might be able to, but I think I have him fooled.

Time Skip, Late Thursday Night

The rest of my belongings had arrived during the afternoon.  Eric and I spend the entire afternoon and well into the evening putting everything into its rightful place.  Of course with me being slightly OCD about organization, it took a little longer than it should have.

Lying in bed, my mind drifts to Charlie; wondering if I will ever be able to recover emotionally from what he did to me.  I wonder if I will ever be able to full open my heart to another man.  Maybe it’s best to just stay single forever.  No one to push my emotions to the brink of my mind feeling like it will explode.  Only having myself to blame for my whacked out sensitivity.  

I can’t help but think about Chris Evans as my head becomes heavy with sleep.  I remember an interview where he talked about he was a sensitive guy. Huh, maybe I’m not the only person out there.  Maybe I’m not alone in this.  

Friday Afternoon

Eric’s P.O.V

I’m a little worried about Emilia and if she is going to be able to handle this party tonight.  Maybe it’s too much for her too soon.  I know how heartbroken she is over this whole Charlie incident.  But man does she hide it well.  To the average person, they wouldn’t be able to tell a difference from fake happy Emilia, and her genuine happiness.  It’s all in her eyes; that is where you can spot the difference.

She has our mothers’ eyes. If someone could give my sister any compliment, she will be overjoyed if they say she has beautiful eyes.  She considers it her greatest accomplishment in life.

Right now she is getting ready for the party in the guest house; not knowing Chris will be here any minute to help me set up.  Fuck, I truly hope she doesn’t get too mad at me for not warning her sooner.  But that is what older brothers are for, to pull stunts like this on their little sisters.

The front door opens and in walks Chris, carrying a bunch of bags.

“Hey Eric, where do you want me to put all this food?”

“You can just set it on the counter for now.  Thanks for coming over early to help me set up”.

“It’s not a problem. It’s not like I had anything going on anyways.  Are Renner and Grillo coming tonight”?

“Yep and a few others might show up too.  And then there are a bunch of other industry people coming too, some work friends of mine, and I invited my closest neighbors too.  That way we don’t have to worry about noise complaints from them since the party will be outside in the backyard.”

“Smart thinking” Chris says as he gives me a thumbs up while walking to the fridge to grab a beer.  

I hear my phone ring and I look down to see Emilia calling me.  Shaking my head and rolling my eyes, I put my finger up to my lips, letting Chris know to be quiet as I put her on speaker phone.

“You do realize we live on the same property and it would take you ten seconds to walk your ass over here” I say as Chris shakes with a silent laughter.

“Hardy har har, you should quit your day job to become a comedian.  Anyways asshole, please tell me you have ice over there.  I’m kind of getting nervous about tonight and I was going to start my pregame drinking, but alas, no ice”.

“Yeah come on over, just make sure you’re dressed appropriately” I say trying to hold in my laugh.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?  I’m wearing clothes dumbass, I’m not in my pajamas”.

Chris and I both lost it and barked with laughter the second she called me a dumbass.

“The hell Eric, do you have me on speaker?  Is there someone there with you?” she asks with confusion.

“See you in a jiffy Emilia” I laugh then hang up.

Emilia’s P.O.V

I stared at my phone after Eric hung up on me.  What the hell was that idiot talking about?  I slip on my flats, grab my iceless drink and start walking over to the house.

As I get to the sliding glass door, I notice my brother does in fact have someone there with him.  I can’t see who it is, as their back is facing me.  But he is wearing a black baseball cap, and a grey tshirt; which looks pretty snug over his wide shoulders and thick arms.

I walk through the door and see Eric smile and wave at me.  I wave back and his friend turns around.

Chris fucking Evans. I fucking knew it.  My dipshit brother will be getting an earful from me tomorrow, that’s for damn sure.  

My head falls back as I take a quick breath and compose myself. “Of. Fucking. Course” I mutter, maybe a bit too loud.

“Hi, I’m Chris, you must be Emilia” he says as he extends his hand for me to shake.

“I am” I say shaking my head “but we hug in this family”.

Chris grins at me, “so does my family, I just didn’t want to overstep any boundaries.”

For the first time in what feels like years, I smile.  A genuine smile.  We embrace in a hug and what I felt initially shocked me.  I felt safe.  I felt safe in the arms of another man that was not my brother.  

“It’s nice to finally meet you.  Eric talks about you all the time.  All good things though, I promise” Chris says as we break away from our hug.

“It’s nice to meet you too, big fan” I say, disappointed in myself that I geeked out and didn’t keep my mouth shut on that last part.  

“Well thank you, I do aim to please” he says with a devilish grin.

“You”, I say pointing to my brother, “have been demoted in the hugging department”.

“You can’t be serious” my brother says with fake sadness taking over his face.

“Oh but I am dear brother. Chris here gives amazing hugs!” Turning to Chris “Has anyone ever told you that you give great hugs?”

His head tilts back as he gives a laugh “actually I have heard that before”.

The doorbell rings and it breaks my eye contact with Chris.

“That’s probably the guys here to set up the karaoke stage” my brother says as he excuses himself to grab the door.

“So, I’m guessing Eric told you about my situation that led me out here to LA” I say as I walk over to the freezer to grab my ice.

“Yeah, he did mention it. Look, for what it’s worth, I am truly sorry you went through that.  Nobody should ever have to go through that.”

“Thanks” I say with a half-hearted smile.  

I take my drink, and take a few big gulps, knowing that I am really going to need this liquid courage as soon as possible.  

Eric walks through the kitchen into the backyard to show the guys where the karaoke stage is for them to set up.  

“Do you like karaoke?” Chris asks me.

“I do, but my version of karaoke is just me singing alone in the car, or in the shower.”

“Oh come on, you have to try tonight!  It is a blast, and it’s quite a freeing experience.”

“We will have to see; I may need quite a few more of these drinks if I’m going to get on a stage and sing in front of a bunch of strangers.”

“At least I’m no longer a stranger, so that’s one less thing you have to worry about” he says giving me a wink.

Oh my fucking god, this guy is going to be the death of me.

We start getting ready and setting up for the party.  The karaoke stage towards the corner of the yard, and a table with food and beverages was closer to the front of the house.  A few inflatable floating devices were lounging in the pool just waiting for people to use.  

I found it really relaxing just how easy it was to talk to Chris.  The conversation between the two of us was flowing easily, and even when it did become silent, it wasn’t awkward.  I always found that to be the worst part of meeting new people, that awkward silence.  But it never happened and I was relieved.  

The party guests had started arriving and soon the sky was dusted in hues of pinks and oranges.  I always found myself at peace during this time of the day; the sky was always so beautiful, like a painting, and I could get lost just staring at it.

I was standing towards the fence at back of the yard, overlooking the cliffs and bluffs that scattered behind my brother’s house; the mountains in the distance.  I’ve always been enamored with mountains.  Coming from Minnesota, I never got to see mountains, and I always thought Mother Nature was remarkable in creating such beauty.

I felt a presence behind me and turned my head to see Chris standing there.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it” he asks quietly.

A small smile appears on my face as I nod. “It truly is.  It’s so different back home, it always amazes me just how much I’ve been missing out by not traveling and seeing what other places have to offer with their views.”

“I’m really enjoying the beautiful view I have right now” Chris says, never taking his eyes off me.

Was Chris Evans, Cap himself flirting with me?  Damn, I figured he was a smooth man, but not this smooth.  I had to give him credit for that.  It was a pretty cheesy line, but I have to admit, I’ve always preferred the cheesy, dorky pickup lines.  

Chris’ P.O.V

I noticed Emilia standing by herself at the back of the yard, looking into the distance.  She looked beautiful just standing there. She was wearing ripped black skinny jeans, black flats, and a thin ¾ sleeved white shirt.  I noticed she wore lots of bracelets; some on her right wrist, but many more scattered her left wrist.  

I start walking my way towards her, thinking about the last few hours we spent together setting up. She was so easy to talk to.  I’ve never met someone right away where the conversation just became natural.  With my anxiety, I know it can get in the way; especially regarding meeting new people and having conversations.  I’m truly happy that didn’t happen with her.  There is just something about her that makes me want to get to know her. The more I look into those beautiful hazel eyes of hers, I just get lost within them.  I know she just ended a really long relationship, and I won’t push her at all.  Hell, who am I kidding?  I don’t even know if she would ever want to date me, or anyone else for that matter. If we can at least be friends, I’d be happy with that.  Maybe one day it could turn into something more.

After talking (and flirting) with Emilia a bit, I noticed she put her arms around herself and gave a slight shiver.

“Are you cold?” I ask as I lean an arm around her shoulder, trying to warm her up.

“Just a little bit” she says tilting her head to look up at me.  “I’m going to run into the guest house and grab a sweater real quick.”

“That sounds good. Why don’t you meet me over by the bar area and we can grab you a drink.  I’m getting you up on that karaoke stage at some point tonight.”

She gives me a small laugh and an amused look as she starts walking towards the guest house “We’ll just have to see Evans.”

Looking around as I make my way over to the bar, I see Jeremy Renner and Frank Grillo talking with Eric.  After Emilia gets here, I’ll have to take her over there to meet them.  

Standing at the bar mixing my drink, I feel arms wrap around me from behind.  I turn around with a big grin on my face, thinking its Emilia, and immediately I scowl.

“Minka” the disappointment evident in my voice.

Tag List: @evansfanficweekly @ssweet-empowerment @always-an-evans-addict @patzammit @tachohead13

[miraculousstorytelling]

Three is Better Than Two

@larvesta Hope that you had a wonderful birthday! I really love all of the amazing art that you create, and I especially appreciate how you create such soft and sweet images with the rarest pairs. Thank you for being such a lovely part of the ML fandom.

This fic was inspired by your piece here!

AO3 Link

Each start of the new year began just like this. Marinette would wake up, close her eyes, and hope. The first day of school meant new students and new chances to meet her soulmate. Plus, it also meant a chance to finally have a class without Chloe Bourgeois. At this point, she wasn’t sure which would be better.

By the end of the day, she not only hadn’t found her soulmate, but she was also still in Chloe’s class. On the bright side, she’d made a new friend who was willing to stand up to Chloe, and instead of a soulmate, she’d gotten a kwami and the chance to be a hero.

Still, Marinette stared down at her wrist and frowned, rubbing her thumb over the bare skin, wishing as she always did, that tomorrow would be the day she’d gain a mark.

Marinette knew it was dangerous to fall in love with someone who wasn’t her soulmate. Despite the sparks between her and Adrien when he handed her his umbrella, there was no mistaking the blank wrists after their fingers brushed across each other. He wasn’t her soulmate. She had to accept that.

That didn’t stop her from tripping over her words and her own two feet every time she got close to him. That didn’t mean she didn’t silently daydream about him during class, wondering what his soulmate mark would look like. That didn’t keep her from imagining a lovely golden sun blooming over her wrist and wishing for the impossible.

Chat Noir had been convinced they were soulmates. He begged her to try touching skin to skin just once to see during one of their first patrols. So, she indulged him, secretly hoping he was right, and brushed her cheek over his. When she dropped into her room moments later, detransformed, and checked her wrists, Marinette bit her lip and blinked back tears building at the corners of her eyes.

Blank as always.

It was almost worse when Adrien and Nino began to bond so easily in those first few weeks of class. Every time they laughed together or brushed elbows or traded playlists, she couldn’t help but think of what a beautiful couple they’d make. She couldn’t help but remember why she’d always liked Nino so much on the few occasions that they interacted. She couldn’t help but imagine a golden sun on his wrist, too, and the mental picture warmed her heart in a way she couldn’t quite understand.

Then came the days Alya, Marinette, Nino, and Adrien would share lunch, and Marinette would laugh at Nino’s jokes and swap stories about their chemistry teacher. One lunch, she figured out mid-bite exactly why she felt so light and pleasant when she was around Nino, and frankly, it was entirely unfair. As if being Ladybug wasn’t complicated enough, now she had to fall for two boys who weren’t her soulmate at the same time? So much for ladybugs being a symbol of good luck.

Eventually, Marinette fell back into her normal routine. Wake up, run to school, try not to make a fool of herself in front of Adrien or Nino, ignore Chloe, try to stay awake in class, fight an akuma, go to lunch, work on homework, help her parents at the bakery, go on patrol, finish designs while struggling to keep her eyes open, and stare at her wrist while falling asleep. The want and emptiness that filled her every time she looked at her blank wrist faded with the monotony of routine.

She could almost understand the akuma they faced now, calling herself the Blank Canvas and stealing soulmate marks from everyone she saw. Ladybug had no qualms about fighting her, which might have been the only benefit to not having any soulmate mark. Just as she was swinging down to face the villain, however, Ladybug saw a pair of civilians running down the street.

Unfortunately, Blank Canvas saw them, too, and Ladybug barely managed to change direction fast enough to scoop them up and out of the way.

“Hold on!” she shouted as she flew off, the two of them pressed close and wrapping their arms around her neck.

Only once she was on the ground a safe distance away did she realize who she’d transported. Adrien and Nino landed beside her, glancing around for any sign of the akumatized victim.

“Stay here. I’ll draw her away from you,” Laydbug said, turning away from them and hoping the way her pulse spiked wasn’t obvious to anyone but herself. Neither of them were her soulmate, she reminded herself as she aimed her yo-yo and prepared to swing away.

“Wait, Ladybug!” Adrien spoke up from behind her.

She soared off before she could hear what else he had to say. She had a job to finish, and the last thing she needed was for Adrien or Nino to see Ladybug blushing over them when she should be saving Paris.

Chat Noir caught up with her moments later. “I think we need to talk when we finish dealing with this akuma, milady.”

“Something bugging you, kitty?” she teased.

“Not exactly.”

She didn’t have the chance to ask for further explanation, and Blank Canvas proved to be more of a challenge than either expected, which meant a lull in the puns and banter they typically enjoyed during fights. Chat Noir seemed somewhat distracted anyway, Ladybug noted as she paused to strategize, but he was still holding his own.

A cataclysm and lucky charm later, and they were helping a confused girl to her feet, checking to see if she was okay. Once they were sure everyone was back to normal, Ladybug and Chat Noir ran off to a rooftop just out of sight.

“Wait, Ladybug-”

She turned to look at him. “We only have a couple minutes left. Can it wait until patrol tonight?”

“No, it can’t.” He frowned. “I’m sorry, but I think both of us are going to be figuring out who we are pretty soon anyway.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I got my soulmate marks.” Chat Noir sighed. “Nino did, too, which means yours are probably there under the suit right now.”

“Marks?” she asked. “What are you ta-”

She froze when she realized. Having multiple marks wasn’t unheard of, but it was rare. Of course, it always complicated things, because all three had to touch each other at once to trigger the marks, and if that was the case…

“Adrien?” she whispered, taking a step closer to him.

He raised a brow. “You recognized me?”

She nodded. “We g- Um…” She hesitated, then she sighed. “Well, you’re going to figure out anyway. We go to the same school.”

“We do?”

She chewed at her lip. “Did you already tell Nino?”

He looked away. “Not yet, but he’ll probably figure it out pretty quickly.”

She offered her hand as their miraculouses beeped in unison. “Let’s tell him together, then.”

Ladybug couldn’t believe her luck when they spotted Nino only seconds later. She landed beside him. “Need a lift?” she asked, wrapping an arm around his waist.

He slipped an arm around her shoulders, and she flew off, barely catching sight of a ladybug mark on his wrist.

Chat Noir followed and landed beside them in a quiet alley.

“Look, I get it if you can’t tell me who you are or anything,” Nino began. “I’ll figure out how to cover this up. I can always say I only have one mark, and I bet Adrien would do the same…” His voice trailed off as Ladybug’s transformation fell in a burst of pink light.

Chat Noir stared. “Marinette?” A green light followed, leaving Adrien behind.

“Adrien?” Nino asked, looking between the two of them. “You guys are Ladybug and Chat Noir?”

Marinette glanced down at her wrists, and sure enough, a black cat with bright green eyes was on her left wrist, and a blue treble clef was on her right. “I don’t believe it…”

Adrien held up his hands, showing her the ladybug on his right wrist and the matching treble clef on his left. “I knew we were soulmates.”

Nino let out a slow breath, slowly taking all of it in. “This explains a lot, actually.”

“Tell me about it.” Marinette grinned. “I thought I was awful for loving both of you at the same time.”

“Me, too,” Nino admitted with a small smile.

Adrien reached out to take each of their hands in his, marveling over the twin black cats on their wrists. “I just can’t believe I get two soulmates.” He pressed a kiss to both marks. “It’s pawsitively purrfect.”

Marinette laughed. “So, the puns are a you thing, not a Chat Noir thing.”

Nino chuckled. “Oh, they’re totally an Adrien thing.”

As it turned out, puns weren’t the only Adrien thing Marinette learned about over the course of their relationship. Cuddling was also an Adrien thing. Spontaneous gifts were certainly an Adrien thing. Surprise love letters might have been her favorite Adrien thing.

Of course, she also learned about Nino things. Hugs when you needed them the most was a Nino thing. The perfect playlist was a Nino thing. Endless snapchats, ranging from hilarious to confusing, was a Nino thing Marinette simultaneously adored and teased him about.

Marinette had her own things, too. Sharing cookies and croissants and macarons was a Marinette thing. Fashion advice and fixing clothes was a Marinette thing. Planning the best surprise dates was a Marinette thing.

Marinette had a knack for finding the best gardens with secret hideaways where they could sit in the grass and relax together. Adrien would watch, enraptured while Marinette would lean over to peck Nino’s lips, each enjoying the soft and sweet way the other would move closer and murmur praise into the corners of the other person’s mouth. Nino would gently push her towards Adrien, reminding her he needed some attention, too. He’d watch over Marinette’s shoulder while Adrien would taste Nino on Marinette’s lips, warm as sunshine against her chest. Marinette, comfortable and snug between them would duck out of the way and cup the backs of their necks to push them together, insisting they couldn’t leave Nino out. Nino would smile and lean in for his own kiss, savoring the feeling of his best friend and soulmate’s hand in his while Marinette grinned up at them. Together like this, they felt like home, and nothing could be better than that.

[titfest]

Title: The Chocobro’s Night Routine

Rating: T (just some slight suggestive themes)

Word Count: 2,701

Pairing: Gladiolus/Prompto/Noctis/Ignis

Summary:  The chocobros’ sleeping routine wasn’t something to laugh about. Even when the whole group was tired and aching for a bed at just 7pm, the team’s resident clown duo always found a way to stay up until 1am with all the ruckus and commotion they caused, and today was no exception.

A/N: Just a little something I wrote since I caught the ffxv bug and couldn’t stop thinking about these precious boys. I hope you enjoy! It’s also posted on my AO3 if you wish to read it there. (I’m always here to rant about ffxv and thank you to ADyingFlower for talking ffxv with me and reading this!)

The chocobros’ sleeping routine wasn’t something to laugh about. Even when the whole group was tired and aching for a bed at just 7pm, the team’s resident clown duo always found a way to stay up until 1am with all the ruckus and commotion they caused, and today was no exception.

After defeating several packs of voretooth, defeating magitek soldiers and having find their way around the terrain because someone (Noctis) just had to get lost, they finally made it back to the motel with much groaning and whining (Prompto). While Ignis checked into the room, Prompto and Noctis were already far gone with sleep and exhaustion. Prompto leaned a little too much against Noctis causing the prince to slouch sideways and slowly begin to slide over more and more. He was close to actually falling over, if it wasn’t for Ignis who caught him in time and started dragging him by the arm away from the Regalia.

Prompto was too out of it to even take a step forward. If he did he would’ve found himself face planting on the ground. Luckily Gladio was there to pick him up and throw him over his shoulder. It had Prompto whining at first from the sudden movement but he was quick to relax in Gladio’s hold and decided to take a quick nap on the way to their room.

Once they made it to their room, Ignis managed to unlock the door with Noctis still leaning against him and grumbling about it being too cold outside.

“Yes, yes, I’m sure once we’re inside you can warm up with a bath.”

Noctis smiled at the thought and was ushered inside by Ignis with Gladio and Prompto in tow. Immediately Prompto was thrown onto one of the beds with Noctis floating over and depositing himself next to Prompto. Their hands immediately grasped for anything that could feed them warmth and found each other, thus resulting in tangled limbs and blonde hair shoved in Noctis’s face.

Gladio laughed from the opposite bed as he watched the two snuggle up to each other. It reminded him of two chocobo chicks getting together for warmth late in the night.

Ignis found the scene endearing as well but had to sadly step in to spoil the tender moment.

“As cute as this, you do realize that I will not allow either of you to go to bed dirty and with those filthy clothes on.”

“Aw! Iggy, the bed is too warm!” proclaimed Prompto.

“Just a few minutes,” mumbled Noctis from Prompto’s mess of a hair.

“Ha, just a few minutes is a whole hour in your dictionary,” said Gladio. Noctis and Prompto still didn’t make any movement to get up, and as such resulted in Ignis sighing and looking to Gladio for support. They locked eyes and a whole conversation was exchanged between them before Gladio pushed himself off the bed and made his way to the two cuddling chocobo chicks. “Alright, time to get up.” Grabbing Noctis by the waist he hauled him up and started dragging the struggling prince to the bathroom.

“No, Gladio let go of me!”

“No can do princess, just sit tight and maybe i’ll be nice enough to wash your back,” Gladio said with a snicker.

Noctis complained by saying that he’ll just make him do it instead but the rest of his sentence was cut short as the door to the bathroom shut, blocking out any other noise that might’ve come from the inside.

Ignis took a breath of relief and started discarding his jacket along with his shoes and everything else in between. Prompto was still recovering from losing his only warmth and rolled around in bed until the blankets and sheets started wrapping around his body like a cocoon. Ignis chuckled, discarding his shoes and walking over to the bed.

“Prompto?”

“Hm?”

“You know you’re still going to have to take a shower as well.”

“But Iggy-”

“No buts,” Ignis spoke sternly. “Both you and Noct were thrown around too much during our hunt, resulting in more dirt on your uniform than usual.”

Prompto looked deflated with defeat, giving out a simple, “fine,” as he started unraveling himself from his nest.

Leaning down, Ignis placed a kiss along his cheek but immediately pulled away and stepped away from the bed when Prompto tried wrapping his arms around Ignis’ neck for another kiss. He looked at him with shock.

“If you wish for another kiss then maybe i’ll give you another one when we’re inside the bathroom, if you so desire.”

Prompto was quick to go red and stand up and out of bed with excitement. “S-sure!”

Prompto’s exuberant nature always left Ignis with a smile on his face, enjoying the way the young chocobo would chirp and flap around the room in joy. It was always something he quite enjoyed, whether it be out with the rest, or behind closed doors.

Speaking of closed doors, it seemed like Gladio and Noctis were taking their sweet time in the shower. Not that Ignis would blame him, but he sure hoped that Gladio wouldn’t leave the prince too tired for exercise tomorrow, he thinks, trying not to admit that he had a similar plan for Prompto in mind.

He allowed Gladio and Noctis a few more minutes in the bathroom before having to knock against the door and urging them to get out before they took up all the hot water. Gladio answered with a grunt with Noctis tried and failed to give a response. Ignis let their antics be and just five minutes after he spoke the door to the bathroom was slammed open with both Gladio and Noctis stepping out looking refreshed and rejuvenated. It didn’t take a scientist to figure out what kind of antics they got into.

“Oh dude, you better have not dirtied the whole place or else Ignis is going to get pissed,” Prompto said as he began to discard his shirt on his way to the bathroom.

“It isn’t dirty,” Noctis retorted. “Besides, the water washed all of it away.”

Prompto still wasn’t convinced.

“Not to worry Prompto, I’ll make sure the bathroom is clean and spotless. Besides, with how long both of you took, it wouldn’t be much of a problem if both Prompto and I decide to take our own time as well.”

“Oh! Can we take a bubble bath instead? I bought some cool chocobo shaped soap at the last stop we made!” Prompto looked ready to explode as he dug through his bags until giving an “aha” with a yellow chocobo shaped soap in his hands.

“I can’t see why not.”

Prompto yelled in excitement and hurried inside the bathroom. Ignis held the door for him and made sure to give Gladio and Noctis a look that told them to behave themselves before shutting the door.

“How much you wanna bet they’re gonna be doing the same thing?” Gladio asked.

“Bet? Oh Gladio it’s a fact that they will, you should have seen the look Specs was giving Prompt.”

“True.” Taking a seat on the couch he patted the spot next to him, signaling for Noctis to come. Without another word, Noctis threw himself across the couch and sighed happily. He leaned against Gladio who wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him snug against his side. Noctis gave a hum of approval, enjoying the warmth emitted from the shield and took the opportunity to close his eyes for a while as Gladio took out a book to read.

“Already going to sleep?”

“Naw, just want to close my eyes for a bit.”

Gladio simply hummed and went back to his book with Noctis still laying by his side. Occasionally he shifted from one position to another, trying to relieve the soreness in his back until he found the right spot and  sighed in content. By this point Gladio was already running his fingers across Noctis’s hair, enjoying how quickly his damp hair dried up and became soft in his hands.

“Mm… feels good,” Noctis mumbled.

Gladio made sure to continue doing so for however much time kept going until the door to the bathroom was opened by a smiling Prompto humming the Chocobo song. Ignis stepped out after him, looking like he just got back 10 years in his life. This didn’t escape Gladio’s eyes.

“So, had fun in there?” he said with a playful tone in his voice.

“Yup!”

“Marvelous.”

Gladio’s laughed roused Noctis out of his half-asleep state and brought the prince back to reality. Opening his eyes, Noctis noticed Ignis sitting on one of the beds still toweling his wet hair while Prompto laid on the other bed in pajamas and phone out.

“Kings Knight?” Noctis asked, already moving from the couch to grab his phone and lay next to Prompto.

“Oh yeah, you’re going down!” Prompto loudly proclaimed.

Noctis made a noise like he didn’t believe Prompto and laid right next to him. “Psh, yeah right.”

Gladio and Ignis watched the two with a fond smile on their faces as the noise from Prompto’s and Noctis’s phone started filling the room. Since the day was a long and arduous one, Ignis found no problem in letting the boys have some extra time before bed since he did love spoiling them sometimes. Getting up from the bed he began making his way towards the small kitchen situated in another room of the motel and thought of making himself a warm concoction before going to bed himself. Gladio stalked behind him.

Leaning against the doorway to the small kitchen, Gladio watched Ignis work with skilled hands as he prepared the water and tea leaves for something warm to put him to sleep. While it was rarely mentioned, Gladio always loved watching Ignis cook, especially when one could see his fingers without the gloves getting in the way. Ignis always had long and bony hands that reminded him of the hands of a pianist. He was always entranced by them and couldn’t deny that they were skilled in many other ways than just cooking. Getting lost in thought for just a second too long he didn’t notice Ignis walking up to him and entering his domain of personal space.

“Gladio?”

“Oh shit!” Another thing about Ignis is that he was the stealthiest of the four and could easily sneak up on any one of them without the slightest of sound. “Sorry, got a little lost in thought there.”

“No worries, I was simply asking if you wanted me to make you some tea as well,” Ignis said as he pushed up his glasses. Gladio stared at those fingers again and wished he could bring them up to his lips to kiss and taste.

“Naw, I’m good.”

Ignis kept his eyes trained on Gladio for a seconds longer before chuckling. “You were enjoying the view weren't you.”

“Heh, nothing can ever escape your eyes.”

“Of course, you were practically stripping me. I do believe that I must remind you that it is very late and we should be resting up for the day ahead.”

Gladio sighed. “Yeah yeah, I hear you Specs, I’ll keep myself restrained.”

Ignis hummed, a smile adorning his face. He went to pour himself the tea in a mug and began walking out of the kitchen, of course not before stopping at the entryway and glancing up at Gladio with tempting eyes. “That does not mean we can’t indulge in a little bit of fun for a later time,” and with that said he exists the kitchen, hips swaying with every step he takes.

Gladio watches him go, eyes trained low on his hips. “That guy is definitely going to be the end of me someday,” he utters.

Turning off the lights he too goes back with Ignis to see both Prompto and Noctis making out on one of the beds. Prompto laying on top of Noctis and slowly sliding one hand under his shirt while Noctis makes quick work of massaging Prompto’s butt. God, Gladio and Ignis wish they could see a show but time has gone by way too fast leaving them already in the am hours.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough,” Ignis speaks.

Prompto is the first to pull away but looks up at Ignis with a pout on his face. “Aw, but we were just getting to the good part.”

“Mm, sure were,” Noctis comments.

“As delightful as that sounds, it is already 1am and you two should be heading to sleep,” Ignis states. He walks over to the opposite bed and sips his tea as he watches both Noctis and Prompto untangle themselves from each other. Of course just because Ignis says something once doesn’t mean they’ll get it all the way.

Prompto and Noctis do stop making out with each other but instead whip out their phones and start up the app for King’s Knight.

“Boys,” Ignis says, with a higher octave.

“Hey Noct, I bet I can get a higher score than you on the new campaign.”

Noctis makes a doubtful noise. “Yeah right, you’re on.”

And like that they’re tapping away at their phones again, trying to trip each other up by elbowing the other or getting in their personal space.

Ignis sighs. Knowing them they won’t listen to anything he says until at some point after 3 AM, so he’ll just have to use his secret weapon.

“Gladio.”

“I’m on it.” Walking across the room, Gladio hovers over Prompto and Noctis who are still laying in bed elbowing each other and reaches down to wrap his hands across Prompto’s waist. Prompto doesn’t have enough time to complain or do much of anything before he’s being pulled up from the bed and carried across to the other one.

“Wait Gladio wha-!”

“Pipe down, you’re going to wake up the neighbors.”

Ignis makes sure to move out of the way as Gladio throws Prompto into the bed. Prompto jumps from the force and tries to scramble back up, but Gladio pushes him back down before he can do so. Slipping in next to him he pulls Prompto snug against his chest, arms wrapped around his waist and chin on top of his head. He gives the biggest sigh of relief ever, as if his muscles that were cramped all day had finally relaxed now knowing that he was laying in bed.

“Gladio what the heck?!” shrieked Prompto. He tried moving away, even just pulling his hands up to look at his phone, but Gladio had him in too strong of a hold.

He simply uttered a, “you’re warm, just go to sleep,” and closed his eyes, quickly falling into slumber.

Prompto pouted next to him but quickly dismissed his anger after a yawn left his mouth. Maybe he did feel a little bit sleepy, just a little.

Noctis who laid in the other bed stared wide-eyed as Prompto and Gladio got comfortable in the other bed.

“Time to go to sleep your highness,” said Ignis next to him. He took his last sip of his tea and sat down at the edge of the bed. Taking off his glasses he laid them on the nightstand and pulled the covers out to get into bed.

“But what if I don’t want to?” asked Noctis, following suit and getting under covers with Ignis.

“Well we can’t have that can we. You need to be well rested for tomorrow and that requires a at least 7 hours of sleep.” He turns off the remaining light in the room and pulls the covers over, beckoning Noctis to come closer and wrapping a protective arm around him. “Would you like me to rub your back so that you can go to sleep?”

Noctis hides his face in his pillow and nods.

Ignis gives him a knowing smile and pulls up Noctis’ shirt from behind and starts rubbing his back. Not soon after Noctis is already in a deep sleep with Ignis following as well. Gladio and Prompto have been asleep ages ago. The moon outside is at it’s peak and the chocobros inside are finally resting for another long and adventurous day ahead.

[mnmiyukiko18-blog]

(This can be a private publish so if that isn’t your factor then it is best to move on.)

2017 was lots like 2016, but on steroids. That meant a 40% improve in the enterprise, which sadly came with much more stress and angst. I did figure some things out and managed to make some selections that I plan to place into apply in 2018.

Nothing Succeeds Like Success

Last yr I was lastly snug calling Blind 5 Yr Previous a hit. I’d made it. But that got here with a number of unusual baggage that I wasn’t totally positive the right way to deal with.

It was uncomfortable to put in writing about how success may be troublesome when you realize that others are struggling. But I can solely write about my own experience and acknowledge that some would take my words the flawed method.

Trust me, I perceive that these are good problems. But they’re issues nonetheless. In 2017 those problems grew. The very healthy revenue I had maintained for the past 4 years rose by 40%.

I stared at the run price all year long type of dumbfounded. For actual? That a lot! It’s not that I lacked confidence and didn’t assume I’d make it. The number was just past what I anticipated.

Cash and Happiness

Cash is a wierd beast. One among my favourite items final yr was When life changing cash, isn’t by Wil Reynolds. He captured a substantial amount of what I’ve struggled with over the past few years.

I’m at a spot the place bills aren’t an issue and I can primarily do what I need to do. My daughter needs a brand new tennis racquet, I buy one. Ought to we exit for dinner tonight? Why not. Need to vacation on the seashore in Maui? E-book it!

The power to do this stuff makes me very totally different from a majority of individuals and that scares me.

The factor is, I don’t want an entire lot extra. I’m not trying to get a better house or a greater automotive. I don’t have a need to purchase crazy costly clothes. Hell, I spend most of my days in sweats behind this pc.

Extra money isn’t inherently dangerous. I imply, I do stay in some of the costly areas in the country and I am all about putting more in the direction of retirement and school. However both of those at the moment are on monitor so the additional cash doesn’t truly do that rather more.

Extra money hasn’t made me happier.

Time and Stress

The additional work created a lot more strain. There’s less time and extra expectations. That mixture doesn’t translate into more happiness. Under no circumstances.

It’d if I simply needed to coast on fame and churn out regardless of the minimal quantity that was required to maintain the cash rolling in. However I’m not wired like that.

I’m not trying to mollify and appease, I’m trying to rework and build. Each shopper is totally different and requires research and due diligence to find out the best way to greatest deal with their search and enterprise points.

I really feel the obligation of being a great associate and in delivering outcomes. I don’t like cashing checks when a shopper’s business isn’t shifting in the appropriate course.

Communication

I find it onerous to respond shortly to something I consider requires larger thought. Meaning I’m sluggish and often don’t communicate nicely. I’ve come to the conclusion that this can be a function and not a bug.

Can I get higher at telling individuals when I’m taking more time than they need? Yes. But I comprehend it gained’t go away utterly. I’ll typically slip right into a cycle of not responding and then pushing aside responding till I have one thing more materials and when I don’t the guilt increases and the response then have to be that a lot better so I delay … once more.

I do this much less now than I used to. But I comprehend it’ll still happen occasionally and I’m uninterested in feeling dangerous about that. Some shoppers simply aren’t a match for my work type. And that’s okay.

Referrals and Aid

Much of what I describe above is why I continue to obtain referrals. Good work gets observed and in an business rife with pretenders individuals happily promote those who really get the work finished.

I love referrals. However additionally they come loaded with further stress. Because you don’t need to let the individual referring you down. It’s not misplaced on me that they have sufficient confidence in me to belief them with one among their very own connections.

What I’ve discovered in the last yr is that more of these individuals perceive the bind I’m in. I have solely a lot time and I’m not all the time the suitable individual for a business. I specialize in giant scale B2C sites like Pinterest and Genius. It’s not that I can’t do B2B. I simply don’t take pleasure in it as much.

In order that they inform me up entrance that it won’t be a match or they could even ask if further referrals are serving to me or not. I inform you, it’s an unimaginable aid when referrals are put in this context.

I often still take these calls although. I discovered that just having a conversation with a referred lead is effective. I don’t need to be the solution. I might help decide what they actually need and may typically join them with colleagues who I trust will do a very good job on their behalf.

I grow to be a link on a sequence of expertise and belief. This can be a highly beneficial and scarce commodity.

Professional or Prima Donna

The crux for me was in understanding my value. Not solely understanding it however believing in it. Do I deserve that lawyer-like hourly price? I don’t do lots of hourly work now but I find it a great way to help extra people without the overhead of stress.

Legal professionals have an outlined set of experience that many others don’t. Hopefully additionally they have a monitor document of success. So how does that examine to my enterprise? The regulation is relatively secure and transparent. However search is the other. It modifications and it isn’t clear in the slightest.

In fact two legal professionals can interpret the regulation in a different way, simply as two SEOs can interpret search in another way. But extra so at this time than ever, the ignorance in our business – or pure disinformation – places a premium on connecting with true specialists.

It’s not just discovering somebody who will help you figure out your search points. It’s stopping them from following dangerous advice and throwing good money after dangerous.

My default is to say that I’m fortunate to be in a position the place I have extra business than I can deal with. However it’s not likely luck. I put in the time and I get the outcomes. I work arduous and am always trying to hold my edge. What is it that I’m not seeing?

I use this as context to elucidate why I’m not prepared to relinquish my work type. And I’m making an attempt to acknowledge that it doesn’t make me a prima donna. It simply acknowledges that I’m an skilled in my area and that I need to be glad.

It’s uncomfortable to cost a high price and dictate particular terms of engagement. It’s like the Van Halen rider the place they demanded M&Ms however no brown ones. I guess you are able to do worse than being the search equal of David Lee Roth. Notably if you understand the historical past around that famous rider.

Letting Angst Go

2017 was about embracing my worth and believing in my experience. It was about letting my own misgivings and angst go so that I can do the work I take pleasure in and be completely satisfied doing it.

Perhaps this sounds straightforward to some. Nevertheless it hasn’t come easily for me. Whereas I don’t achieve validation from others, I don’t need to be a type of people who are out of contact and troublesome to work with.

I absolutely dropped the ball on some leads and a few shoppers in 2017. Never to the point the place it harm their business. But individuals have been irritated. I am really sorry for that however … I not feel (overly) responsible about it.

I needed to do the most effective work. I took on an excessive amount of. I tried my greatest. I’ll get up and check out my greatest tomorrow.

I’ve discovered to say no more typically and not really feel responsible about it or feel prefer it’s a missed opportunity. I’m not trying to build an company and scale up. I’m a high-touch marketing consultant with restricted time constraints.

Raising Charges and Changing Retainers

Based mostly on this I raised my charges. It’s the second time I’ve completed that in the last three years. And I did it as a result of one in every of my shoppers informed me I ought to. It’s good when shoppers are searching for you as much as you’re for them.

I additionally determined to take away the hourly most in my retainer agreements. Up to now, I had a clause that primarily ensured that a shopper wouldn’t monopolize my time beneath a retainer settlement. I built in a hourly most simply in case.

The problem was that by having that hourly maximum they have been all the time considering of the retainer in phrases of the variety of hours worked. That wasn’t what I was about. It isn’t about time. It’s about experience and outcomes.

This video on How To Worth Design Providers spoke to me so clearly.

I didn’t watch your complete video. I imply, who has 36 minutes! However that one phase was sufficient for me to know that it wasn’t the hours individuals must be paying for however the expertise.

This made an enormous difference because I not have dreary conversations about whether I devoted enough hours to help the retainer. I hate those conversations. They make me indignant. So now I don’t have them.

Advisor Gigs

I also sought out extra advisor positions in 2017. I didn’t quite nail down easy methods to greatest structure these engagements. And I did a awful job of juggling those relationships versus my conventional relationships.

But that’s how you work these things out. You stub your toe and transfer on making an attempt to not make those same errors again. 2018 already appears good on this entrance with quite a lot of fascinating relationships where I can leverage my experience in search and advertising.

I constructed most of my long term shopper relationships on trust and including business value beyond conventional search. And while I might take advising positions based mostly on my main experience I’m in search of people who value my bigger information set and insight from scores of shoppers over the previous ten years.

I’ve discovered quite a bit about what makes one start-up succeed the place others fail.

Continuous Schooling

Change is all the time a continuing in search. And I’d say that the speed of change is growing. I’m lucky to work with some unimaginable technical groups. So once they say something I don’t fairly understand I don’t just nod alongside.

I ask them to elucidate it. I tell individuals when I don’t know one thing. I’ll tell individuals I know sufficient to know something is off however not sufficient to inform them precisely what’s mistaken. This is the way you build experience and achieve belief.

And in 2018 I’ve requested a number of builders I belief to take an afternoon to speak to me like a five yr previous about JavaScript frameworks and how they deliver content to the page. Now, I understand the subject. However I need to study more.

One among my belongings has been to have sufficient technical information to know when someone is blowing smoke up my nether regions. A variety of what I ask individuals to do (instrumentation) is boring. As such, many builders inflate the complexity of these tasks. Asking a number of pointed questions shortly reduces that inflation and will get the work achieved.

I don’t feel like I have that degree of confidence on JavaScript frameworks. I can inform half of the builders I work with have an analogous degree of data to my very own. And when a developer admits as a lot we will simply collaborate, debate troublesome questions and figure issues out. However many developers aren’t going to confess to ‘good enough’ information.

Studying more is all the time a priority.

Outsourcing

Then again, I can’t do every part. I typically need to but there’s simply not enough time in the day. This weblog wants a makeover and I’ll should get another person to do it. I need to let my tinkering ways go so I can develop and give attention to different tasks.

And there are different tasks in the works. Prior to now I’ve had concepts, purchased domains and considered constructing one factor or one other. Nice ideas! However they never went anyplace. A continuing movement of renewing domain e-mail notices remind me of the missed alternatives.

The most important obstacle in these tasks was … me. I needed to do all of it. I needed to build the precise website, which could require studying a brand new programming and database language. After which I’d want to truly write all the content material after which do all the advertising and promotion.

Ain’t no one acquired time for that.

Properly, perhaps some individuals do however I’m not one among them. Regardless that I might, and part of me thinks it might be fun if I did, I shouldn’t spend my time that approach. So I’m working with people to spin up two sites and one potential device.

Danger and Danger

I anticipate that it is going to be troublesome for me to let go of some particulars. I’m guessing the tasks can be messy, complicated, aggravating and hopefully rewarding in by some means. But truthfully, there are specific lyrics from Contrails by Astronautalis that remain my guiding star.

The actual danger isn’t a slipped grip at the fringe of the height The actual danger is simply to linger at the base of the factor

Every time I take a danger I am comfortable I did so. I can’t inform you that it all the time labored out. However in some methods … it did, with enough time and perspective.

In each failure, I can select how that helped get me to the place I am in the present day. I’m not saying things couldn’t have been simpler. They might have. I simply determine to seek out the constructive out of those conditions.

That’s not some saccharine ‘everything happens for a reason’ tripe. Screw that. I can just tell a story the place the ending is … pleased. I have most cancers however it’s one which’s simply treatable. That’s a win in my guide.

Telling myself these stories and deciding that I’d quite dwell on what turned out proper as an alternative of flawed helps me take the subsequent danger. It’s my job to take heed to that stressed itch and move my story ahead figuring out I might have to do some modifying in submit production.

Observations

There have been loads of business modifications final yr that had a meaningful influence on my business. I made a decision to criticize less so I wavered in adding these observations because they’re not notably rosy.

However the following issues formed my yr from how I strategy search evaluation, to how I achieve further information to how I educate shoppers.

The Google we knew is just not the Google we’re coping with in the present day

I’ve been lucky to satisfy and speak with various Googlers all through the years. They’re overwhelmingly good individuals making an attempt to do the best factor by customers. The power and keenness they’ve around search is … inspiring.

But Matt Cutts left and Amit Singhal was replaced by John Giannandrea as the top of search. That doesn’t appear to be quite a bit. But for those who put your ear to the tracks and skim the tea leaves you acknowledge that this was an enormous change in path for Google.

Machine studying is front and middle and it’s a vital a part of Google’s algorithm.

It’s not that good, passionate individuals aren’t nonetheless at Google. They are. However the setting is definitely totally different. We’re talking about individuals, specialists in their subject, given new course from a brand new boss. How do you assume you’d feel?

I consider understanding the people who work on search is an asset to understanding search. That’s extra true immediately than ever.

Business Content Is Lacking

I wrestle to seek out good content to learn nowadays. We lost our greatest investigative journalist last yr along with one other passionate and sensible editor. Danny Sullivan and Matt McGee are sorely missed.

I used to take great satisfaction in curating the business and Tweeting out the most effective I might find every day. It was a gentle stream of 2 or three Tweets a day. Now … it’s perhaps twice every week. Perhaps I’m just over-the-hill and not finding the brand new voices? Perhaps I’m not dedicating sufficient time to combing Feedly?

But I’m discouraged when I open up a prime tendencies of 2018 publish (which I know is a mistake) and see ‘water is wet’ statements like ‘featured snippets will be important’ and ‘voice search is on the rise’.

As an alternative of bemoaning the dangerous, I want to point out people like Paul Shapiro for nice technical content and Cyrus Shepard who appears to have taken up the mantle of curating our business. There are other nice specialists like Bill Slawski and Bartosz Goralweicz on the market contributing however … there are too few of them for my taste.

And there are others who clearly have information but aren’t sharing proper now. I’m not going to name them out. Hell, I’d be calling myself out too. I assume they’re all busy with work and life. Being business well-known doesn’t make their lives better. The truth is, it causes extra problems. I get it, however I wish we all had extra time to move the conversation forward.

Extra knowledge isn’t the problem, it’s the shortage of interpretation and evaluation.

The conversations I see occurring in the business are often masturbatory and ego driven. Somebody needs to be right and someone needs to be incorrect. Actual debate and true exploration look like an endangered species.

As an example, figuring out that Google is relying closely on machine studying, shouldn’t the business be taking a look at analyzing algorithmic modifications in a unique approach.

Right now, modifications in rank are typically tied to an update in the mapping of vectors to intent that renders a special mix of content on outcomes. One can watch over many months as they check, study and adapt on query courses in pursuit of optimal time to lengthy click metrics.

I find the calcification of search fact to be harmful given the speed of modifications inherent in our vertical. On the similar time, the most recent things don’t substitute the tried and true. It’s these contradictions that make our business fascinating!

Past that, many are working off of a very restricted knowledge set. The truth that one thing labored for you on the one website that you simply tried it on won’t mean much. In fact, we’ve also seen individuals with a lot bigger knowledge units make errors in interpretation.

And that’s where things seem to have gone off the tracks. I don’t mind correlation studies. They provide another level of knowledge for me to think about amongst numerous other knowledge factors. I assign the findings from each correlation research a weight based mostly on all of my other information.

That signifies that some will receive little or no weight and others extra based mostly on my understanding of how they have been carried out and what I see in apply across my shopper base. We don’t need much less knowledge, much less content or fewer techniques. We have to higher perceive the worth of every and the way they mix to assist achieve search success.

In consequence I see much more appetite for hiring progress engineers over SEOs largely as a result of they’re prepared to check and adapt as an alternative of proselytize.

The Issues That Matter

I’m most cancers free! It’s been almost three years now. And in 2017 I couldn’t use recovery as an excuse for my eating habits. So I misplaced 25 kilos.

For those , there’s no actual magic to dropping pounds. Journal your food and take in fewer calories than you burn. It’s not all the time enjoyable or straightforward however it works.

I gained 10 of that back in the previous few months of the yr. This was partly because I lost my tennis partners, which meant no calorie burning exercise cushion that allowed me a number of days of indulgence each week.

Fortunately, my daughter is now lastly getting back to tennis after bodily remedy for a patellar subluxation, which is a dislocation of the kneecap. Her second in two years.

It turns out her thigh bone doesn’t have as deep a divot for her kneecap. It’s almost flat, which suggests she’s vulnerable to dislocations. The orthopedist talked about that this additionally meant that when it did slip out it wouldn’t harm almost as much. Seems I’m not the one one who can inform a narrative that depends on the constructive versus the destructive. #callback

My wife, then again, has tennis elbow, which is way extra painful than she or I realized. She’ll be present process a process soon in hopes that it helps her tendon to bounce again and heal absolutely.

Things are literally fairly good regardless of all this and the fact that my daughter is a youngster (yikes) and my wife just had sinus surgical procedure. I’m around and I’m happier, which I hope is as infectious as this yr’s flu.

Postscript: Depart A Remark // Subscribe (RSS Feed)

The Next Publish: Monitoring Hidden Long-Tail Search Visitors The Earlier Submit: Google Index Protection Report

The post What I Learned in 2017 appeared first on Tactics Socks.

[icon-devcodapage]

(This can be a private publish so if that isn’t your factor then it is best to move on.)

2017 was lots like 2016, but on steroids. That meant a 40% improve in the enterprise, which sadly came with much more stress and angst. I did figure some things out and managed to make some selections that I plan to place into apply in 2018.

Nothing Succeeds Like Success

Last yr I was lastly snug calling Blind 5 Yr Previous a hit. I’d made it. But that got here with a number of unusual baggage that I wasn’t totally positive the right way to deal with.

It was uncomfortable to put in writing about how success may be troublesome when you realize that others are struggling. But I can solely write about my own experience and acknowledge that some would take my words the flawed method.

Trust me, I perceive that these are good problems. But they’re issues nonetheless. In 2017 those problems grew. The very healthy revenue I had maintained for the past 4 years rose by 40%.

I stared at the run price all year long type of dumbfounded. For actual? That a lot! It’s not that I lacked confidence and didn’t assume I’d make it. The number was just past what I anticipated.

Cash and Happiness

Cash is a wierd beast. One among my favourite items final yr was When life changing cash, isn’t by Wil Reynolds. He captured a substantial amount of what I’ve struggled with over the past few years.

I’m at a spot the place bills aren’t an issue and I can primarily do what I need to do. My daughter needs a brand new tennis racquet, I buy one. Ought to we exit for dinner tonight? Why not. Need to vacation on the seashore in Maui? E-book it!

The power to do this stuff makes me very totally different from a majority of individuals and that scares me.

The factor is, I don’t want an entire lot extra. I’m not trying to get a better house or a greater automotive. I don’t have a need to purchase crazy costly clothes. Hell, I spend most of my days in sweats behind this pc.

Extra money isn’t inherently dangerous. I imply, I do stay in some of the costly areas in the country and I am all about putting more in the direction of retirement and school. However both of those at the moment are on monitor so the additional cash doesn’t truly do that rather more.

Extra money hasn’t made me happier.

Time and Stress

The additional work created a lot more strain. There’s less time and extra expectations. That mixture doesn’t translate into more happiness. Under no circumstances.

It’d if I simply needed to coast on fame and churn out regardless of the minimal quantity that was required to maintain the cash rolling in. However I’m not wired like that.

I’m not trying to mollify and appease, I’m trying to rework and build. Each shopper is totally different and requires research and due diligence to find out the best way to greatest deal with their search and enterprise points.

I really feel the obligation of being a great associate and in delivering outcomes. I don’t like cashing checks when a shopper’s business isn’t shifting in the appropriate course.

Communication

I find it onerous to respond shortly to something I consider requires larger thought. Meaning I’m sluggish and often don’t communicate nicely. I’ve come to the conclusion that this can be a function and not a bug.

Can I get higher at telling individuals when I’m taking more time than they need? Yes. But I comprehend it gained’t go away utterly. I’ll typically slip right into a cycle of not responding and then pushing aside responding till I have one thing more materials and when I don’t the guilt increases and the response then have to be that a lot better so I delay … once more.

I do this much less now than I used to. But I comprehend it’ll still happen occasionally and I’m uninterested in feeling dangerous about that. Some shoppers simply aren’t a match for my work type. And that’s okay.

Referrals and Aid

Much of what I describe above is why I continue to obtain referrals. Good work gets observed and in an business rife with pretenders individuals happily promote those who really get the work finished.

I love referrals. However additionally they come loaded with further stress. Because you don’t need to let the individual referring you down. It’s not misplaced on me that they have sufficient confidence in me to belief them with one among their very own connections.

What I’ve discovered in the last yr is that more of these individuals perceive the bind I’m in. I have solely a lot time and I’m not all the time the suitable individual for a business. I specialize in giant scale B2C sites like Pinterest and Genius. It’s not that I can’t do B2B. I simply don’t take pleasure in it as much.

In order that they inform me up entrance that it won’t be a match or they could even ask if further referrals are serving to me or not. I inform you, it’s an unimaginable aid when referrals are put in this context.

I often still take these calls although. I discovered that just having a conversation with a referred lead is effective. I don’t need to be the solution. I might help decide what they actually need and may typically join them with colleagues who I trust will do a very good job on their behalf.

I grow to be a link on a sequence of expertise and belief. This can be a highly beneficial and scarce commodity.

Professional or Prima Donna

The crux for me was in understanding my value. Not solely understanding it however believing in it. Do I deserve that lawyer-like hourly price? I don’t do lots of hourly work now but I find it a great way to help extra people without the overhead of stress.

Legal professionals have an outlined set of experience that many others don’t. Hopefully additionally they have a monitor document of success. So how does that examine to my enterprise? The regulation is relatively secure and transparent. However search is the other. It modifications and it isn’t clear in the slightest.

In fact two legal professionals can interpret the regulation in a different way, simply as two SEOs can interpret search in another way. But extra so at this time than ever, the ignorance in our business – or pure disinformation – places a premium on connecting with true specialists.

It’s not just discovering somebody who will help you figure out your search points. It’s stopping them from following dangerous advice and throwing good money after dangerous.

My default is to say that I’m fortunate to be in a position the place I have extra business than I can deal with. However it’s not likely luck. I put in the time and I get the outcomes. I work arduous and am always trying to hold my edge. What is it that I’m not seeing?

I use this as context to elucidate why I’m not prepared to relinquish my work type. And I’m making an attempt to acknowledge that it doesn’t make me a prima donna. It simply acknowledges that I’m an skilled in my area and that I need to be glad.

It’s uncomfortable to cost a high price and dictate particular terms of engagement. It’s like the Van Halen rider the place they demanded M&Ms however no brown ones. I guess you are able to do worse than being the search equal of David Lee Roth. Notably if you understand the historical past around that famous rider.

Letting Angst Go

2017 was about embracing my worth and believing in my experience. It was about letting my own misgivings and angst go so that I can do the work I take pleasure in and be completely satisfied doing it.

Perhaps this sounds straightforward to some. Nevertheless it hasn’t come easily for me. Whereas I don’t achieve validation from others, I don’t need to be a type of people who are out of contact and troublesome to work with.

I absolutely dropped the ball on some leads and a few shoppers in 2017. Never to the point the place it harm their business. But individuals have been irritated. I am really sorry for that however … I not feel (overly) responsible about it.

I needed to do the most effective work. I took on an excessive amount of. I tried my greatest. I’ll get up and check out my greatest tomorrow.

I’ve discovered to say no more typically and not really feel responsible about it or feel prefer it’s a missed opportunity. I’m not trying to build an company and scale up. I’m a high-touch marketing consultant with restricted time constraints.

Raising Charges and Changing Retainers

Based mostly on this I raised my charges. It’s the second time I’ve completed that in the last three years. And I did it as a result of one in every of my shoppers informed me I ought to. It’s good when shoppers are searching for you as much as you’re for them.

I additionally determined to take away the hourly most in my retainer agreements. Up to now, I had a clause that primarily ensured that a shopper wouldn’t monopolize my time beneath a retainer settlement. I built in a hourly most simply in case.

The problem was that by having that hourly maximum they have been all the time considering of the retainer in phrases of the variety of hours worked. That wasn’t what I was about. It isn’t about time. It’s about experience and outcomes.

This video on How To Worth Design Providers spoke to me so clearly.

I didn’t watch your complete video. I imply, who has 36 minutes! However that one phase was sufficient for me to know that it wasn’t the hours individuals must be paying for however the expertise.

This made an enormous difference because I not have dreary conversations about whether I devoted enough hours to help the retainer. I hate those conversations. They make me indignant. So now I don’t have them.

Advisor Gigs

I also sought out extra advisor positions in 2017. I didn’t quite nail down easy methods to greatest structure these engagements. And I did a awful job of juggling those relationships versus my conventional relationships.

But that’s how you work these things out. You stub your toe and transfer on making an attempt to not make those same errors again. 2018 already appears good on this entrance with quite a lot of fascinating relationships where I can leverage my experience in search and advertising.

I constructed most of my long term shopper relationships on trust and including business value beyond conventional search. And while I might take advising positions based mostly on my main experience I’m in search of people who value my bigger information set and insight from scores of shoppers over the previous ten years.

I’ve discovered quite a bit about what makes one start-up succeed the place others fail.

Continuous Schooling

Change is all the time a continuing in search. And I’d say that the speed of change is growing. I’m lucky to work with some unimaginable technical groups. So once they say something I don’t fairly understand I don’t just nod alongside.

I ask them to elucidate it. I tell individuals when I don’t know one thing. I’ll tell individuals I know sufficient to know something is off however not sufficient to inform them precisely what’s mistaken. This is the way you build experience and achieve belief.

And in 2018 I’ve requested a number of builders I belief to take an afternoon to speak to me like a five yr previous about JavaScript frameworks and how they deliver content to the page. Now, I understand the subject. However I need to study more.

One among my belongings has been to have sufficient technical information to know when someone is blowing smoke up my nether regions. A variety of what I ask individuals to do (instrumentation) is boring. As such, many builders inflate the complexity of these tasks. Asking a number of pointed questions shortly reduces that inflation and will get the work achieved.

I don’t feel like I have that degree of confidence on JavaScript frameworks. I can inform half of the builders I work with have an analogous degree of data to my very own. And when a developer admits as a lot we will simply collaborate, debate troublesome questions and figure issues out. However many developers aren’t going to confess to ‘good enough’ information.

Studying more is all the time a priority.

Outsourcing

Then again, I can’t do every part. I typically need to but there’s simply not enough time in the day. This weblog wants a makeover and I’ll should get another person to do it. I need to let my tinkering ways go so I can develop and give attention to different tasks.

And there are different tasks in the works. Prior to now I’ve had concepts, purchased domains and considered constructing one factor or one other. Nice ideas! However they never went anyplace. A continuing movement of renewing domain e-mail notices remind me of the missed alternatives.

The most important obstacle in these tasks was … me. I needed to do all of it. I needed to build the precise website, which could require studying a brand new programming and database language. After which I’d want to truly write all the content material after which do all the advertising and promotion.

Ain’t no one acquired time for that.

Properly, perhaps some individuals do however I’m not one among them. Regardless that I might, and part of me thinks it might be fun if I did, I shouldn’t spend my time that approach. So I’m working with people to spin up two sites and one potential device.

Danger and Danger

I anticipate that it is going to be troublesome for me to let go of some particulars. I’m guessing the tasks can be messy, complicated, aggravating and hopefully rewarding in by some means. But truthfully, there are specific lyrics from Contrails by Astronautalis that remain my guiding star.

The actual danger isn’t a slipped grip at the fringe of the height The actual danger is simply to linger at the base of the factor

Every time I take a danger I am comfortable I did so. I can’t inform you that it all the time labored out. However in some methods … it did, with enough time and perspective.

In each failure, I can select how that helped get me to the place I am in the present day. I’m not saying things couldn’t have been simpler. They might have. I simply determine to seek out the constructive out of those conditions.

That’s not some saccharine ‘everything happens for a reason’ tripe. Screw that. I can just tell a story the place the ending is … pleased. I have most cancers however it’s one which’s simply treatable. That’s a win in my guide.

Telling myself these stories and deciding that I’d quite dwell on what turned out proper as an alternative of flawed helps me take the subsequent danger. It’s my job to take heed to that stressed itch and move my story ahead figuring out I might have to do some modifying in submit production.

Observations

There have been loads of business modifications final yr that had a meaningful influence on my business. I made a decision to criticize less so I wavered in adding these observations because they’re not notably rosy.

However the following issues formed my yr from how I strategy search evaluation, to how I achieve further information to how I educate shoppers.

The Google we knew is just not the Google we’re coping with in the present day

I’ve been lucky to satisfy and speak with various Googlers all through the years. They’re overwhelmingly good individuals making an attempt to do the best factor by customers. The power and keenness they’ve around search is … inspiring.

But Matt Cutts left and Amit Singhal was replaced by John Giannandrea as the top of search. That doesn’t appear to be quite a bit. But for those who put your ear to the tracks and skim the tea leaves you acknowledge that this was an enormous change in path for Google.

Machine studying is front and middle and it’s a vital a part of Google’s algorithm.

It’s not that good, passionate individuals aren’t nonetheless at Google. They are. However the setting is definitely totally different. We’re talking about individuals, specialists in their subject, given new course from a brand new boss. How do you assume you’d feel?

I consider understanding the people who work on search is an asset to understanding search. That’s extra true immediately than ever.

Business Content Is Lacking

I wrestle to seek out good content to learn nowadays. We lost our greatest investigative journalist last yr along with one other passionate and sensible editor. Danny Sullivan and Matt McGee are sorely missed.

I used to take great satisfaction in curating the business and Tweeting out the most effective I might find every day. It was a gentle stream of 2 or three Tweets a day. Now … it’s perhaps twice every week. Perhaps I’m just over-the-hill and not finding the brand new voices? Perhaps I’m not dedicating sufficient time to combing Feedly?

But I’m discouraged when I open up a prime tendencies of 2018 publish (which I know is a mistake) and see ‘water is wet’ statements like ‘featured snippets will be important’ and ‘voice search is on the rise’.

As an alternative of bemoaning the dangerous, I want to point out people like Paul Shapiro for nice technical content and Cyrus Shepard who appears to have taken up the mantle of curating our business. There are other nice specialists like Bill Slawski and Bartosz Goralweicz on the market contributing however … there are too few of them for my taste.

And there are others who clearly have information but aren’t sharing proper now. I’m not going to name them out. Hell, I’d be calling myself out too. I assume they’re all busy with work and life. Being business well-known doesn’t make their lives better. The truth is, it causes extra problems. I get it, however I wish we all had extra time to move the conversation forward.

Extra knowledge isn’t the problem, it’s the shortage of interpretation and evaluation.

The conversations I see occurring in the business are often masturbatory and ego driven. Somebody needs to be right and someone needs to be incorrect. Actual debate and true exploration look like an endangered species.

As an example, figuring out that Google is relying closely on machine studying, shouldn’t the business be taking a look at analyzing algorithmic modifications in a unique approach.

Right now, modifications in rank are typically tied to an update in the mapping of vectors to intent that renders a special mix of content on outcomes. One can watch over many months as they check, study and adapt on query courses in pursuit of optimal time to lengthy click metrics.

I find the calcification of search fact to be harmful given the speed of modifications inherent in our vertical. On the similar time, the most recent things don’t substitute the tried and true. It’s these contradictions that make our business fascinating!

Past that, many are working off of a very restricted knowledge set. The truth that one thing labored for you on the one website that you simply tried it on won’t mean much. In fact, we’ve also seen individuals with a lot bigger knowledge units make errors in interpretation.

And that’s where things seem to have gone off the tracks. I don’t mind correlation studies. They provide another level of knowledge for me to think about amongst numerous other knowledge factors. I assign the findings from each correlation research a weight based mostly on all of my other information.

That signifies that some will receive little or no weight and others extra based mostly on my understanding of how they have been carried out and what I see in apply across my shopper base. We don’t need much less knowledge, much less content or fewer techniques. We have to higher perceive the worth of every and the way they mix to assist achieve search success.

In consequence I see much more appetite for hiring progress engineers over SEOs largely as a result of they’re prepared to check and adapt as an alternative of proselytize.

The Issues That Matter

I’m most cancers free! It’s been almost three years now. And in 2017 I couldn’t use recovery as an excuse for my eating habits. So I misplaced 25 kilos.

For those , there’s no actual magic to dropping pounds. Journal your food and take in fewer calories than you burn. It’s not all the time enjoyable or straightforward however it works.

I gained 10 of that back in the previous few months of the yr. This was partly because I lost my tennis partners, which meant no calorie burning exercise cushion that allowed me a number of days of indulgence each week.

Fortunately, my daughter is now lastly getting back to tennis after bodily remedy for a patellar subluxation, which is a dislocation of the kneecap. Her second in two years.

It turns out her thigh bone doesn’t have as deep a divot for her kneecap. It’s almost flat, which suggests she’s vulnerable to dislocations. The orthopedist talked about that this additionally meant that when it did slip out it wouldn’t harm almost as much. Seems I’m not the one one who can inform a narrative that depends on the constructive versus the destructive. #callback

My wife, then again, has tennis elbow, which is way extra painful than she or I realized. She’ll be present process a process soon in hopes that it helps her tendon to bounce again and heal absolutely.

Things are literally fairly good regardless of all this and the fact that my daughter is a youngster (yikes) and my wife just had sinus surgical procedure. I’m around and I’m happier, which I hope is as infectious as this yr’s flu.

Postscript: Depart A Remark // Subscribe (RSS Feed)

The Next Publish: Monitoring Hidden Long-Tail Search Visitors The Earlier Submit: Google Index Protection Report

The post What I Learned in 2017 appeared first on Tactics Socks.

[badgerrose-blog]

(This can be a private publish so if that isn’t your factor then it is best to move on.)

2017 was lots like 2016, but on steroids. That meant a 40% improve in the enterprise, which sadly came with much more stress and angst. I did figure some things out and managed to make some selections that I plan to place into apply in 2018.

Nothing Succeeds Like Success

Last yr I was lastly snug calling Blind 5 Yr Previous a hit. I’d made it. But that got here with a number of unusual baggage that I wasn’t totally positive the right way to deal with.

It was uncomfortable to put in writing about how success may be troublesome when you realize that others are struggling. But I can solely write about my own experience and acknowledge that some would take my words the flawed method.

Trust me, I perceive that these are good problems. But they’re issues nonetheless. In 2017 those problems grew. The very healthy revenue I had maintained for the past 4 years rose by 40%.

I stared at the run price all year long type of dumbfounded. For actual? That a lot! It’s not that I lacked confidence and didn’t assume I’d make it. The number was just past what I anticipated.

Cash and Happiness

Cash is a wierd beast. One among my favourite items final yr was When life changing cash, isn’t by Wil Reynolds. He captured a substantial amount of what I’ve struggled with over the past few years.

I’m at a spot the place bills aren’t an issue and I can primarily do what I need to do. My daughter needs a brand new tennis racquet, I buy one. Ought to we exit for dinner tonight? Why not. Need to vacation on the seashore in Maui? E-book it!

The power to do this stuff makes me very totally different from a majority of individuals and that scares me.

The factor is, I don’t want an entire lot extra. I’m not trying to get a better house or a greater automotive. I don’t have a need to purchase crazy costly clothes. Hell, I spend most of my days in sweats behind this pc.

Extra money isn’t inherently dangerous. I imply, I do stay in some of the costly areas in the country and I am all about putting more in the direction of retirement and school. However both of those at the moment are on monitor so the additional cash doesn’t truly do that rather more.

Extra money hasn’t made me happier.

Time and Stress

The additional work created a lot more strain. There’s less time and extra expectations. That mixture doesn’t translate into more happiness. Under no circumstances.

It’d if I simply needed to coast on fame and churn out regardless of the minimal quantity that was required to maintain the cash rolling in. However I’m not wired like that.

I’m not trying to mollify and appease, I’m trying to rework and build. Each shopper is totally different and requires research and due diligence to find out the best way to greatest deal with their search and enterprise points.

I really feel the obligation of being a great associate and in delivering outcomes. I don’t like cashing checks when a shopper’s business isn’t shifting in the appropriate course.

Communication

I find it onerous to respond shortly to something I consider requires larger thought. Meaning I’m sluggish and often don’t communicate nicely. I’ve come to the conclusion that this can be a function and not a bug.

Can I get higher at telling individuals when I’m taking more time than they need? Yes. But I comprehend it gained’t go away utterly. I’ll typically slip right into a cycle of not responding and then pushing aside responding till I have one thing more materials and when I don’t the guilt increases and the response then have to be that a lot better so I delay … once more.

I do this much less now than I used to. But I comprehend it’ll still happen occasionally and I’m uninterested in feeling dangerous about that. Some shoppers simply aren’t a match for my work type. And that’s okay.

Referrals and Aid

Much of what I describe above is why I continue to obtain referrals. Good work gets observed and in an business rife with pretenders individuals happily promote those who really get the work finished.

I love referrals. However additionally they come loaded with further stress. Because you don’t need to let the individual referring you down. It’s not misplaced on me that they have sufficient confidence in me to belief them with one among their very own connections.

What I’ve discovered in the last yr is that more of these individuals perceive the bind I’m in. I have solely a lot time and I’m not all the time the suitable individual for a business. I specialize in giant scale B2C sites like Pinterest and Genius. It’s not that I can’t do B2B. I simply don’t take pleasure in it as much.

In order that they inform me up entrance that it won’t be a match or they could even ask if further referrals are serving to me or not. I inform you, it’s an unimaginable aid when referrals are put in this context.

I often still take these calls although. I discovered that just having a conversation with a referred lead is effective. I don’t need to be the solution. I might help decide what they actually need and may typically join them with colleagues who I trust will do a very good job on their behalf.

I grow to be a link on a sequence of expertise and belief. This can be a highly beneficial and scarce commodity.

Professional or Prima Donna

The crux for me was in understanding my value. Not solely understanding it however believing in it. Do I deserve that lawyer-like hourly price? I don’t do lots of hourly work now but I find it a great way to help extra people without the overhead of stress.

Legal professionals have an outlined set of experience that many others don’t. Hopefully additionally they have a monitor document of success. So how does that examine to my enterprise? The regulation is relatively secure and transparent. However search is the other. It modifications and it isn’t clear in the slightest.

In fact two legal professionals can interpret the regulation in a different way, simply as two SEOs can interpret search in another way. But extra so at this time than ever, the ignorance in our business – or pure disinformation – places a premium on connecting with true specialists.

It’s not just discovering somebody who will help you figure out your search points. It’s stopping them from following dangerous advice and throwing good money after dangerous.

My default is to say that I’m fortunate to be in a position the place I have extra business than I can deal with. However it’s not likely luck. I put in the time and I get the outcomes. I work arduous and am always trying to hold my edge. What is it that I’m not seeing?

I use this as context to elucidate why I’m not prepared to relinquish my work type. And I’m making an attempt to acknowledge that it doesn’t make me a prima donna. It simply acknowledges that I’m an skilled in my area and that I need to be glad.

It’s uncomfortable to cost a high price and dictate particular terms of engagement. It’s like the Van Halen rider the place they demanded M&Ms however no brown ones. I guess you are able to do worse than being the search equal of David Lee Roth. Notably if you understand the historical past around that famous rider.

Letting Angst Go

2017 was about embracing my worth and believing in my experience. It was about letting my own misgivings and angst go so that I can do the work I take pleasure in and be completely satisfied doing it.

Perhaps this sounds straightforward to some. Nevertheless it hasn’t come easily for me. Whereas I don’t achieve validation from others, I don’t need to be a type of people who are out of contact and troublesome to work with.

I absolutely dropped the ball on some leads and a few shoppers in 2017. Never to the point the place it harm their business. But individuals have been irritated. I am really sorry for that however … I not feel (overly) responsible about it.

I needed to do the most effective work. I took on an excessive amount of. I tried my greatest. I’ll get up and check out my greatest tomorrow.

I’ve discovered to say no more typically and not really feel responsible about it or feel prefer it’s a missed opportunity. I’m not trying to build an company and scale up. I’m a high-touch marketing consultant with restricted time constraints.

Raising Charges and Changing Retainers

Based mostly on this I raised my charges. It’s the second time I’ve completed that in the last three years. And I did it as a result of one in every of my shoppers informed me I ought to. It’s good when shoppers are searching for you as much as you’re for them.

I additionally determined to take away the hourly most in my retainer agreements. Up to now, I had a clause that primarily ensured that a shopper wouldn’t monopolize my time beneath a retainer settlement. I built in a hourly most simply in case.

The problem was that by having that hourly maximum they have been all the time considering of the retainer in phrases of the variety of hours worked. That wasn’t what I was about. It isn’t about time. It’s about experience and outcomes.

This video on How To Worth Design Providers spoke to me so clearly.

I didn’t watch your complete video. I imply, who has 36 minutes! However that one phase was sufficient for me to know that it wasn’t the hours individuals must be paying for however the expertise.

This made an enormous difference because I not have dreary conversations about whether I devoted enough hours to help the retainer. I hate those conversations. They make me indignant. So now I don’t have them.

Advisor Gigs

I also sought out extra advisor positions in 2017. I didn’t quite nail down easy methods to greatest structure these engagements. And I did a awful job of juggling those relationships versus my conventional relationships.

But that’s how you work these things out. You stub your toe and transfer on making an attempt to not make those same errors again. 2018 already appears good on this entrance with quite a lot of fascinating relationships where I can leverage my experience in search and advertising.

I constructed most of my long term shopper relationships on trust and including business value beyond conventional search. And while I might take advising positions based mostly on my main experience I’m in search of people who value my bigger information set and insight from scores of shoppers over the previous ten years.

I’ve discovered quite a bit about what makes one start-up succeed the place others fail.

Continuous Schooling

Change is all the time a continuing in search. And I’d say that the speed of change is growing. I’m lucky to work with some unimaginable technical groups. So once they say something I don’t fairly understand I don’t just nod alongside.

I ask them to elucidate it. I tell individuals when I don’t know one thing. I’ll tell individuals I know sufficient to know something is off however not sufficient to inform them precisely what’s mistaken. This is the way you build experience and achieve belief.

And in 2018 I’ve requested a number of builders I belief to take an afternoon to speak to me like a five yr previous about JavaScript frameworks and how they deliver content to the page. Now, I understand the subject. However I need to study more.

One among my belongings has been to have sufficient technical information to know when someone is blowing smoke up my nether regions. A variety of what I ask individuals to do (instrumentation) is boring. As such, many builders inflate the complexity of these tasks. Asking a number of pointed questions shortly reduces that inflation and will get the work achieved.

I don’t feel like I have that degree of confidence on JavaScript frameworks. I can inform half of the builders I work with have an analogous degree of data to my very own. And when a developer admits as a lot we will simply collaborate, debate troublesome questions and figure issues out. However many developers aren’t going to confess to ‘good enough’ information.

Studying more is all the time a priority.

Outsourcing

Then again, I can’t do every part. I typically need to but there’s simply not enough time in the day. This weblog wants a makeover and I’ll should get another person to do it. I need to let my tinkering ways go so I can develop and give attention to different tasks.

And there are different tasks in the works. Prior to now I’ve had concepts, purchased domains and considered constructing one factor or one other. Nice ideas! However they never went anyplace. A continuing movement of renewing domain e-mail notices remind me of the missed alternatives.

The most important obstacle in these tasks was … me. I needed to do all of it. I needed to build the precise website, which could require studying a brand new programming and database language. After which I’d want to truly write all the content material after which do all the advertising and promotion.

Ain’t no one acquired time for that.

Properly, perhaps some individuals do however I’m not one among them. Regardless that I might, and part of me thinks it might be fun if I did, I shouldn’t spend my time that approach. So I’m working with people to spin up two sites and one potential device.

Danger and Danger

I anticipate that it is going to be troublesome for me to let go of some particulars. I’m guessing the tasks can be messy, complicated, aggravating and hopefully rewarding in by some means. But truthfully, there are specific lyrics from Contrails by Astronautalis that remain my guiding star.

The actual danger isn’t a slipped grip at the fringe of the height The actual danger is simply to linger at the base of the factor

Every time I take a danger I am comfortable I did so. I can’t inform you that it all the time labored out. However in some methods … it did, with enough time and perspective.

In each failure, I can select how that helped get me to the place I am in the present day. I’m not saying things couldn’t have been simpler. They might have. I simply determine to seek out the constructive out of those conditions.

That’s not some saccharine ‘everything happens for a reason’ tripe. Screw that. I can just tell a story the place the ending is … pleased. I have most cancers however it’s one which’s simply treatable. That’s a win in my guide.

Telling myself these stories and deciding that I’d quite dwell on what turned out proper as an alternative of flawed helps me take the subsequent danger. It’s my job to take heed to that stressed itch and move my story ahead figuring out I might have to do some modifying in submit production.

Observations

There have been loads of business modifications final yr that had a meaningful influence on my business. I made a decision to criticize less so I wavered in adding these observations because they’re not notably rosy.

However the following issues formed my yr from how I strategy search evaluation, to how I achieve further information to how I educate shoppers.

The Google we knew is just not the Google we’re coping with in the present day

I’ve been lucky to satisfy and speak with various Googlers all through the years. They’re overwhelmingly good individuals making an attempt to do the best factor by customers. The power and keenness they’ve around search is … inspiring.

But Matt Cutts left and Amit Singhal was replaced by John Giannandrea as the top of search. That doesn’t appear to be quite a bit. But for those who put your ear to the tracks and skim the tea leaves you acknowledge that this was an enormous change in path for Google.

Machine studying is front and middle and it’s a vital a part of Google’s algorithm.

It’s not that good, passionate individuals aren’t nonetheless at Google. They are. However the setting is definitely totally different. We’re talking about individuals, specialists in their subject, given new course from a brand new boss. How do you assume you’d feel?

I consider understanding the people who work on search is an asset to understanding search. That’s extra true immediately than ever.

Business Content Is Lacking

I wrestle to seek out good content to learn nowadays. We lost our greatest investigative journalist last yr along with one other passionate and sensible editor. Danny Sullivan and Matt McGee are sorely missed.

I used to take great satisfaction in curating the business and Tweeting out the most effective I might find every day. It was a gentle stream of 2 or three Tweets a day. Now … it’s perhaps twice every week. Perhaps I’m just over-the-hill and not finding the brand new voices? Perhaps I’m not dedicating sufficient time to combing Feedly?

But I’m discouraged when I open up a prime tendencies of 2018 publish (which I know is a mistake) and see ‘water is wet’ statements like ‘featured snippets will be important’ and ‘voice search is on the rise’.

As an alternative of bemoaning the dangerous, I want to point out people like Paul Shapiro for nice technical content and Cyrus Shepard who appears to have taken up the mantle of curating our business. There are other nice specialists like Bill Slawski and Bartosz Goralweicz on the market contributing however … there are too few of them for my taste.

And there are others who clearly have information but aren’t sharing proper now. I’m not going to name them out. Hell, I’d be calling myself out too. I assume they’re all busy with work and life. Being business well-known doesn’t make their lives better. The truth is, it causes extra problems. I get it, however I wish we all had extra time to move the conversation forward.

Extra knowledge isn’t the problem, it’s the shortage of interpretation and evaluation.

The conversations I see occurring in the business are often masturbatory and ego driven. Somebody needs to be right and someone needs to be incorrect. Actual debate and true exploration look like an endangered species.

As an example, figuring out that Google is relying closely on machine studying, shouldn’t the business be taking a look at analyzing algorithmic modifications in a unique approach.

Right now, modifications in rank are typically tied to an update in the mapping of vectors to intent that renders a special mix of content on outcomes. One can watch over many months as they check, study and adapt on query courses in pursuit of optimal time to lengthy click metrics.

I find the calcification of search fact to be harmful given the speed of modifications inherent in our vertical. On the similar time, the most recent things don’t substitute the tried and true. It’s these contradictions that make our business fascinating!

Past that, many are working off of a very restricted knowledge set. The truth that one thing labored for you on the one website that you simply tried it on won’t mean much. In fact, we’ve also seen individuals with a lot bigger knowledge units make errors in interpretation.

And that’s where things seem to have gone off the tracks. I don’t mind correlation studies. They provide another level of knowledge for me to think about amongst numerous other knowledge factors. I assign the findings from each correlation research a weight based mostly on all of my other information.

That signifies that some will receive little or no weight and others extra based mostly on my understanding of how they have been carried out and what I see in apply across my shopper base. We don’t need much less knowledge, much less content or fewer techniques. We have to higher perceive the worth of every and the way they mix to assist achieve search success.

In consequence I see much more appetite for hiring progress engineers over SEOs largely as a result of they’re prepared to check and adapt as an alternative of proselytize.

The Issues That Matter

I’m most cancers free! It’s been almost three years now. And in 2017 I couldn’t use recovery as an excuse for my eating habits. So I misplaced 25 kilos.

For those , there’s no actual magic to dropping pounds. Journal your food and take in fewer calories than you burn. It’s not all the time enjoyable or straightforward however it works.

I gained 10 of that back in the previous few months of the yr. This was partly because I lost my tennis partners, which meant no calorie burning exercise cushion that allowed me a number of days of indulgence each week.

Fortunately, my daughter is now lastly getting back to tennis after bodily remedy for a patellar subluxation, which is a dislocation of the kneecap. Her second in two years.

It turns out her thigh bone doesn’t have as deep a divot for her kneecap. It’s almost flat, which suggests she’s vulnerable to dislocations. The orthopedist talked about that this additionally meant that when it did slip out it wouldn’t harm almost as much. Seems I’m not the one one who can inform a narrative that depends on the constructive versus the destructive. #callback

My wife, then again, has tennis elbow, which is way extra painful than she or I realized. She’ll be present process a process soon in hopes that it helps her tendon to bounce again and heal absolutely.

Things are literally fairly good regardless of all this and the fact that my daughter is a youngster (yikes) and my wife just had sinus surgical procedure. I’m around and I’m happier, which I hope is as infectious as this yr’s flu.

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(This can be a private publish so if that isn’t your factor then it is best to move on.)

2017 was lots like 2016, but on steroids. That meant a 40% improve in the enterprise, which sadly came with much more stress and angst. I did figure some things out and managed to make some selections that I plan to place into apply in 2018.

Nothing Succeeds Like Success

Last yr I was lastly snug calling Blind 5 Yr Previous a hit. I’d made it. But that got here with a number of unusual baggage that I wasn’t totally positive the right way to deal with.

It was uncomfortable to put in writing about how success may be troublesome when you realize that others are struggling. But I can solely write about my own experience and acknowledge that some would take my words the flawed method.

Trust me, I perceive that these are good problems. But they’re issues nonetheless. In 2017 those problems grew. The very healthy revenue I had maintained for the past 4 years rose by 40%.

I stared at the run price all year long type of dumbfounded. For actual? That a lot! It’s not that I lacked confidence and didn’t assume I’d make it. The number was just past what I anticipated.

Cash and Happiness

Cash is a wierd beast. One among my favourite items final yr was When life changing cash, isn’t by Wil Reynolds. He captured a substantial amount of what I’ve struggled with over the past few years.

I’m at a spot the place bills aren’t an issue and I can primarily do what I need to do. My daughter needs a brand new tennis racquet, I buy one. Ought to we exit for dinner tonight? Why not. Need to vacation on the seashore in Maui? E-book it!

The power to do this stuff makes me very totally different from a majority of individuals and that scares me.

The factor is, I don’t want an entire lot extra. I’m not trying to get a better house or a greater automotive. I don’t have a need to purchase crazy costly clothes. Hell, I spend most of my days in sweats behind this pc.

Extra money isn’t inherently dangerous. I imply, I do stay in some of the costly areas in the country and I am all about putting more in the direction of retirement and school. However both of those at the moment are on monitor so the additional cash doesn’t truly do that rather more.

Extra money hasn’t made me happier.

Time and Stress

The additional work created a lot more strain. There’s less time and extra expectations. That mixture doesn’t translate into more happiness. Under no circumstances.

It’d if I simply needed to coast on fame and churn out regardless of the minimal quantity that was required to maintain the cash rolling in. However I’m not wired like that.

I’m not trying to mollify and appease, I’m trying to rework and build. Each shopper is totally different and requires research and due diligence to find out the best way to greatest deal with their search and enterprise points.

I really feel the obligation of being a great associate and in delivering outcomes. I don’t like cashing checks when a shopper’s business isn’t shifting in the appropriate course.

Communication

I find it onerous to respond shortly to something I consider requires larger thought. Meaning I’m sluggish and often don’t communicate nicely. I’ve come to the conclusion that this can be a function and not a bug.

Can I get higher at telling individuals when I’m taking more time than they need? Yes. But I comprehend it gained’t go away utterly. I’ll typically slip right into a cycle of not responding and then pushing aside responding till I have one thing more materials and when I don’t the guilt increases and the response then have to be that a lot better so I delay … once more.

I do this much less now than I used to. But I comprehend it’ll still happen occasionally and I’m uninterested in feeling dangerous about that. Some shoppers simply aren’t a match for my work type. And that’s okay.

Referrals and Aid

Much of what I describe above is why I continue to obtain referrals. Good work gets observed and in an business rife with pretenders individuals happily promote those who really get the work finished.

I love referrals. However additionally they come loaded with further stress. Because you don’t need to let the individual referring you down. It’s not misplaced on me that they have sufficient confidence in me to belief them with one among their very own connections.

What I’ve discovered in the last yr is that more of these individuals perceive the bind I’m in. I have solely a lot time and I’m not all the time the suitable individual for a business. I specialize in giant scale B2C sites like Pinterest and Genius. It’s not that I can’t do B2B. I simply don’t take pleasure in it as much.

In order that they inform me up entrance that it won’t be a match or they could even ask if further referrals are serving to me or not. I inform you, it’s an unimaginable aid when referrals are put in this context.

I often still take these calls although. I discovered that just having a conversation with a referred lead is effective. I don’t need to be the solution. I might help decide what they actually need and may typically join them with colleagues who I trust will do a very good job on their behalf.

I grow to be a link on a sequence of expertise and belief. This can be a highly beneficial and scarce commodity.

Professional or Prima Donna

The crux for me was in understanding my value. Not solely understanding it however believing in it. Do I deserve that lawyer-like hourly price? I don’t do lots of hourly work now but I find it a great way to help extra people without the overhead of stress.

Legal professionals have an outlined set of experience that many others don’t. Hopefully additionally they have a monitor document of success. So how does that examine to my enterprise? The regulation is relatively secure and transparent. However search is the other. It modifications and it isn’t clear in the slightest.

In fact two legal professionals can interpret the regulation in a different way, simply as two SEOs can interpret search in another way. But extra so at this time than ever, the ignorance in our business – or pure disinformation – places a premium on connecting with true specialists.

It’s not just discovering somebody who will help you figure out your search points. It’s stopping them from following dangerous advice and throwing good money after dangerous.

My default is to say that I’m fortunate to be in a position the place I have extra business than I can deal with. However it’s not likely luck. I put in the time and I get the outcomes. I work arduous and am always trying to hold my edge. What is it that I’m not seeing?

I use this as context to elucidate why I’m not prepared to relinquish my work type. And I’m making an attempt to acknowledge that it doesn’t make me a prima donna. It simply acknowledges that I’m an skilled in my area and that I need to be glad.

It’s uncomfortable to cost a high price and dictate particular terms of engagement. It’s like the Van Halen rider the place they demanded M&Ms however no brown ones. I guess you are able to do worse than being the search equal of David Lee Roth. Notably if you understand the historical past around that famous rider.

Letting Angst Go

2017 was about embracing my worth and believing in my experience. It was about letting my own misgivings and angst go so that I can do the work I take pleasure in and be completely satisfied doing it.

Perhaps this sounds straightforward to some. Nevertheless it hasn’t come easily for me. Whereas I don’t achieve validation from others, I don’t need to be a type of people who are out of contact and troublesome to work with.

I absolutely dropped the ball on some leads and a few shoppers in 2017. Never to the point the place it harm their business. But individuals have been irritated. I am really sorry for that however … I not feel (overly) responsible about it.

I needed to do the most effective work. I took on an excessive amount of. I tried my greatest. I’ll get up and check out my greatest tomorrow.

I’ve discovered to say no more typically and not really feel responsible about it or feel prefer it’s a missed opportunity. I’m not trying to build an company and scale up. I’m a high-touch marketing consultant with restricted time constraints.

Raising Charges and Changing Retainers

Based mostly on this I raised my charges. It’s the second time I’ve completed that in the last three years. And I did it as a result of one in every of my shoppers informed me I ought to. It’s good when shoppers are searching for you as much as you’re for them.

I additionally determined to take away the hourly most in my retainer agreements. Up to now, I had a clause that primarily ensured that a shopper wouldn’t monopolize my time beneath a retainer settlement. I built in a hourly most simply in case.

The problem was that by having that hourly maximum they have been all the time considering of the retainer in phrases of the variety of hours worked. That wasn’t what I was about. It isn’t about time. It’s about experience and outcomes.

This video on How To Worth Design Providers spoke to me so clearly.

I didn’t watch your complete video. I imply, who has 36 minutes! However that one phase was sufficient for me to know that it wasn’t the hours individuals must be paying for however the expertise.

This made an enormous difference because I not have dreary conversations about whether I devoted enough hours to help the retainer. I hate those conversations. They make me indignant. So now I don’t have them.

Advisor Gigs

I also sought out extra advisor positions in 2017. I didn’t quite nail down easy methods to greatest structure these engagements. And I did a awful job of juggling those relationships versus my conventional relationships.

But that’s how you work these things out. You stub your toe and transfer on making an attempt to not make those same errors again. 2018 already appears good on this entrance with quite a lot of fascinating relationships where I can leverage my experience in search and advertising.

I constructed most of my long term shopper relationships on trust and including business value beyond conventional search. And while I might take advising positions based mostly on my main experience I’m in search of people who value my bigger information set and insight from scores of shoppers over the previous ten years.

I’ve discovered quite a bit about what makes one start-up succeed the place others fail.

Continuous Schooling

Change is all the time a continuing in search. And I’d say that the speed of change is growing. I’m lucky to work with some unimaginable technical groups. So once they say something I don’t fairly understand I don’t just nod alongside.

I ask them to elucidate it. I tell individuals when I don’t know one thing. I’ll tell individuals I know sufficient to know something is off however not sufficient to inform them precisely what’s mistaken. This is the way you build experience and achieve belief.

And in 2018 I’ve requested a number of builders I belief to take an afternoon to speak to me like a five yr previous about JavaScript frameworks and how they deliver content to the page. Now, I understand the subject. However I need to study more.

One among my belongings has been to have sufficient technical information to know when someone is blowing smoke up my nether regions. A variety of what I ask individuals to do (instrumentation) is boring. As such, many builders inflate the complexity of these tasks. Asking a number of pointed questions shortly reduces that inflation and will get the work achieved.

I don’t feel like I have that degree of confidence on JavaScript frameworks. I can inform half of the builders I work with have an analogous degree of data to my very own. And when a developer admits as a lot we will simply collaborate, debate troublesome questions and figure issues out. However many developers aren’t going to confess to ‘good enough’ information.

Studying more is all the time a priority.

Outsourcing

Then again, I can’t do every part. I typically need to but there’s simply not enough time in the day. This weblog wants a makeover and I’ll should get another person to do it. I need to let my tinkering ways go so I can develop and give attention to different tasks.

And there are different tasks in the works. Prior to now I’ve had concepts, purchased domains and considered constructing one factor or one other. Nice ideas! However they never went anyplace. A continuing movement of renewing domain e-mail notices remind me of the missed alternatives.

The most important obstacle in these tasks was … me. I needed to do all of it. I needed to build the precise website, which could require studying a brand new programming and database language. After which I’d want to truly write all the content material after which do all the advertising and promotion.

Ain’t no one acquired time for that.

Properly, perhaps some individuals do however I’m not one among them. Regardless that I might, and part of me thinks it might be fun if I did, I shouldn’t spend my time that approach. So I’m working with people to spin up two sites and one potential device.

Danger and Danger

I anticipate that it is going to be troublesome for me to let go of some particulars. I’m guessing the tasks can be messy, complicated, aggravating and hopefully rewarding in by some means. But truthfully, there are specific lyrics from Contrails by Astronautalis that remain my guiding star.

The actual danger isn’t a slipped grip at the fringe of the height The actual danger is simply to linger at the base of the factor

Every time I take a danger I am comfortable I did so. I can’t inform you that it all the time labored out. However in some methods … it did, with enough time and perspective.

In each failure, I can select how that helped get me to the place I am in the present day. I’m not saying things couldn’t have been simpler. They might have. I simply determine to seek out the constructive out of those conditions.

That’s not some saccharine ‘everything happens for a reason’ tripe. Screw that. I can just tell a story the place the ending is … pleased. I have most cancers however it’s one which’s simply treatable. That’s a win in my guide.

Telling myself these stories and deciding that I’d quite dwell on what turned out proper as an alternative of flawed helps me take the subsequent danger. It’s my job to take heed to that stressed itch and move my story ahead figuring out I might have to do some modifying in submit production.

Observations

There have been loads of business modifications final yr that had a meaningful influence on my business. I made a decision to criticize less so I wavered in adding these observations because they’re not notably rosy.

However the following issues formed my yr from how I strategy search evaluation, to how I achieve further information to how I educate shoppers.

The Google we knew is just not the Google we’re coping with in the present day

I’ve been lucky to satisfy and speak with various Googlers all through the years. They’re overwhelmingly good individuals making an attempt to do the best factor by customers. The power and keenness they’ve around search is … inspiring.

But Matt Cutts left and Amit Singhal was replaced by John Giannandrea as the top of search. That doesn’t appear to be quite a bit. But for those who put your ear to the tracks and skim the tea leaves you acknowledge that this was an enormous change in path for Google.

Machine studying is front and middle and it’s a vital a part of Google’s algorithm.

It’s not that good, passionate individuals aren’t nonetheless at Google. They are. However the setting is definitely totally different. We’re talking about individuals, specialists in their subject, given new course from a brand new boss. How do you assume you’d feel?

I consider understanding the people who work on search is an asset to understanding search. That’s extra true immediately than ever.

Business Content Is Lacking

I wrestle to seek out good content to learn nowadays. We lost our greatest investigative journalist last yr along with one other passionate and sensible editor. Danny Sullivan and Matt McGee are sorely missed.

I used to take great satisfaction in curating the business and Tweeting out the most effective I might find every day. It was a gentle stream of 2 or three Tweets a day. Now … it’s perhaps twice every week. Perhaps I’m just over-the-hill and not finding the brand new voices? Perhaps I’m not dedicating sufficient time to combing Feedly?

But I’m discouraged when I open up a prime tendencies of 2018 publish (which I know is a mistake) and see ‘water is wet’ statements like ‘featured snippets will be important’ and ‘voice search is on the rise’.

As an alternative of bemoaning the dangerous, I want to point out people like Paul Shapiro for nice technical content and Cyrus Shepard who appears to have taken up the mantle of curating our business. There are other nice specialists like Bill Slawski and Bartosz Goralweicz on the market contributing however … there are too few of them for my taste.

And there are others who clearly have information but aren’t sharing proper now. I’m not going to name them out. Hell, I’d be calling myself out too. I assume they’re all busy with work and life. Being business well-known doesn’t make their lives better. The truth is, it causes extra problems. I get it, however I wish we all had extra time to move the conversation forward.

Extra knowledge isn’t the problem, it’s the shortage of interpretation and evaluation.

The conversations I see occurring in the business are often masturbatory and ego driven. Somebody needs to be right and someone needs to be incorrect. Actual debate and true exploration look like an endangered species.

As an example, figuring out that Google is relying closely on machine studying, shouldn’t the business be taking a look at analyzing algorithmic modifications in a unique approach.

Right now, modifications in rank are typically tied to an update in the mapping of vectors to intent that renders a special mix of content on outcomes. One can watch over many months as they check, study and adapt on query courses in pursuit of optimal time to lengthy click metrics.

I find the calcification of search fact to be harmful given the speed of modifications inherent in our vertical. On the similar time, the most recent things don’t substitute the tried and true. It’s these contradictions that make our business fascinating!

Past that, many are working off of a very restricted knowledge set. The truth that one thing labored for you on the one website that you simply tried it on won’t mean much. In fact, we’ve also seen individuals with a lot bigger knowledge units make errors in interpretation.

And that’s where things seem to have gone off the tracks. I don’t mind correlation studies. They provide another level of knowledge for me to think about amongst numerous other knowledge factors. I assign the findings from each correlation research a weight based mostly on all of my other information.

That signifies that some will receive little or no weight and others extra based mostly on my understanding of how they have been carried out and what I see in apply across my shopper base. We don’t need much less knowledge, much less content or fewer techniques. We have to higher perceive the worth of every and the way they mix to assist achieve search success.

In consequence I see much more appetite for hiring progress engineers over SEOs largely as a result of they’re prepared to check and adapt as an alternative of proselytize.

The Issues That Matter

I’m most cancers free! It’s been almost three years now. And in 2017 I couldn’t use recovery as an excuse for my eating habits. So I misplaced 25 kilos.

For those , there’s no actual magic to dropping pounds. Journal your food and take in fewer calories than you burn. It’s not all the time enjoyable or straightforward however it works.

I gained 10 of that back in the previous few months of the yr. This was partly because I lost my tennis partners, which meant no calorie burning exercise cushion that allowed me a number of days of indulgence each week.

Fortunately, my daughter is now lastly getting back to tennis after bodily remedy for a patellar subluxation, which is a dislocation of the kneecap. Her second in two years.

It turns out her thigh bone doesn’t have as deep a divot for her kneecap. It’s almost flat, which suggests she’s vulnerable to dislocations. The orthopedist talked about that this additionally meant that when it did slip out it wouldn’t harm almost as much. Seems I’m not the one one who can inform a narrative that depends on the constructive versus the destructive. #callback

My wife, then again, has tennis elbow, which is way extra painful than she or I realized. She’ll be present process a process soon in hopes that it helps her tendon to bounce again and heal absolutely.

Things are literally fairly good regardless of all this and the fact that my daughter is a youngster (yikes) and my wife just had sinus surgical procedure. I’m around and I’m happier, which I hope is as infectious as this yr’s flu.

Postscript: Depart A Remark // Subscribe (RSS Feed)

The Next Publish: Monitoring Hidden Long-Tail Search Visitors The Earlier Submit: Google Index Protection Report

The post What I Learned in 2017 appeared first on Tactics Socks.