#maybe i should do a 'best 3As' post one day instead of 'first 3As'

[izabellq]

Costumes -> Tamaki Amajiki

summary: you accidentally match costumes with tamaki. prepare yourself for a whole day of endless shenanigans.

contains: MAJOR FLUFF, language if you squint (ik canonically, mirio is in 3-B, but for the sake of this plot, the big three are all in 3-A) also, i tried to make this gender-neutral, so if there’s any specified pronouns, let me know and i’ll fix it ASAP!

THIS IS MY HALLOWEEN SPECIAL! (im very much aware i posted this a day late oop)

UA had decided to hold a special event where students could wear their Halloween costume to school. You weren’t planning anything special or unique, just something to get the job done. So, you decided to dress like a cute puppy. It was only a simple onesie: topped with cute floppy dog ears on your hood, and a tail that attached from the bottom. You weren’t expecting to get a lot of attention, which was perfectly fine with you because you were never the type to seek the stage. You topped off the simple look with a black spot on your nose and one around your eye. And just like, you were good to go.

When you walked into school, you couldn’t help but feel a tad bit insecure. It seemed like everyone had decked out for this special occasion. You passed by some anime cosplay, food costumes, group oriented costumes — everything you could possibly think of. And as you made your way to your class, you wondered what Tamaki would be wearing.

You couldn’t help yourself. It was undeniably true that you had a rather large crush on him. Everything about him was enticing. He was so shy that it was usually you who initiated conversation, but that wasn’t enough to make you falter. You understood he wasn’t the most socially active person around. To be frank, it was rather comforting to know that not everyone at UA was a egotistical narcissist.

Finding your assigned seat, you scanned the class. Some of your peers also took the simple route which put some of your thoughts at ease. Others, the more competitive students, were quite impressive themselves.

You turn towards the doorway when Mirio’s booming voice gathers the room’s attention. He was wearing a... whoopie cushion? Oh dear lord. Mirio was a stickler for humor, so of course, he’d wear practically anything that could rise a laugh out of someone. Only, his jokes kind of sucked and no doubt would the class of 3-A be subject to awful fart jokes for the rest of the day. You weren’t so worried about that as you were worried about the two other students usually attached to his hip. One of them being Tamaki Amajiki.

The next one to stop into class was Nejire Hado who was absolutely breathtaking. Her costume, which was nothing more than a fairy, seemed to capture her true personality perfectly. Although, an angel would also be very accurate in her case. She turned towards the entrance way and stuck her head out into the hallway, “Tamaki! Don’t be shy! You look so cute!”

Your heart began to beat just a little bit faster.

“Mirio! Come help me out with him,” Nejire stomped into the hallway, the fluttering of her makeshift wings dissappeared, only to be followed by a laughing Mirio.

When they returned, their hands were clasped over Tamaki’s wrists, forbidding him from turning around and sulking out in the hallway. When you saw him, you’re taken aback. The smallest of gasps erupt from your lips when you notice his costume choice. A onesie, similar to yours, but instead of the dog ears; replaced with cat ones, and a longer tail attached to the back. He had the same minimal face paint (lined whiskers and a nose) as you did, curtesy of Nejire.

When he looked up, his cheeks were flamed with embarrassment. He found your gaze, and if it were possible, he became even more sheepish. You weren’t any different. The thought of having a matching costume with Tamaki, despite not having any prior arrangements, made you equally embarrassed. Now, all you wondered was, did he notice?

Well, if he didn’t before, he sure did now when Nejire spoke up, “Hey Y/N! Oh my– are you a puppy? How cute! Wait! You’re matching with Tamaki! Now you two look like an adorable couple!”

Her excitement, plus her lack of censorship, made the class laugh— everyone’s attention on you and Tamaki. “Nejire...” Tamaki muttered. He stared at the floor, wishing it’d just swallow him whole.

“You guys should take a picture together,” Mirio suggested, walking over to where you sat and giving you a hand. You hesitantly took it, positive that you looked about ready to vomit or pass out. Maybe both. In that order.

Dragged to stand next to Tamaki, you spare him a single glance. He has his left hand up to his face, doing a shoty job at covering his red cheeks. To you, he seemed... more embarrassed than usual? Perhaps he just didn’t wanted to match costumes with you. It saddened you, but it wasn’t like you could do anything about it now.

Nejire laughed, “Say cheese!”

Tamaki mumbled something that you could only assume was in response to Nejire. In a small pickle of confidence, you grabbed his hand and entangled your fingers with his just before the camera went off.

“Cheese!”

That was first period.

When lunch rolled around, Tamaki had face planted himself on the table.

Nejire and Mirio sent each other a knowing look before moving to console him.

“I don’t understand why you’re not happy, Tamaki! You’re matching costumes with them, you got a picture with them, and they also held your hand!” Nejire listed off the things that happened before the bell rang, signaling the start of first period.

“I am happy...” Tamaki muttered, lifting himself up from the table, “But they probably hate me now.”

“I wouldn’t say that!” Mirio added, “Haven’t I told you that they most definitely have a crush on you?”

“No offense Mirio... but I’m not too keen on taking advice from a literal walking whoopie cushion.” Tamaki propped his arm on the table, before leaning his head into the palm of his hand. The same one you had so eagerly held. He wished to repeat the notion a million more times. Only now, he was afraid he had messed up his one and only opportunity.

Mirio gasped, “I’ll have you know that I got many compliments today!”

Nejire giggled before turning back to Tamaki. “Why don’t we just call them over here?”

“I- um, no... I’d rather not do that,” Tamaki rushed out. He wasn’t sure if he could handle another awkward occurrence with you. You’d surely find him weird.

“Where are they anyways?” Mirio asked, not before sinking his teeth on the apple provided on his lunch tray.

“Oh I see them!” Nejire not-so-subtly pointed at you. Tamaki couldn’t help himself as he turned to look in your direction.

You were laughing at something someone had said before adding your own little quip. You were so cute, he thought. Nejire was the one who suggested he wear a cat-themed costume due to the running joke that he was a ‘cute little kitten’. He was prepared to arrive in his normal uniform but Nejire’s persistence was unwavering. And if he knew what you’d be wearing— would he have accepted the costume more easily? You deserved better than him, he knew, but a small part of him fantasized about the ways you’d love him in a way no one else had before.

“Earth to Tamaki,” Nejire sang, snapping him out of his thoughts. “They’re coming over here, straighten up!”

“Hey Y/N, care to sit?” Mirio asked.

Tamaki’s looking down by the time you got there, so he barely registers it when you sit beside him. Your shoulder rubs against his in brief contact and it makes him shudder. He hopes you didn’t notice.

“What’s up guys?” You brought over a juice box from your other table, sipping on the straw of your drink rather intently.

“Tell Tamaki that my costume is funny!” Mirio piped up, distracted from the match-making he was SUPPOSED to be doing.

You nervously giggled, “Well... your costume is certainly an attention-grabber!”

Mirio seemed pleased with that answer, not having considered the fact that you dodged the question the best way you knew how. Tamaki stared at you, adoration etched into his irises. He didn’t realize he had left out a soft laugh until you were staring at him.

He choked up, “Uh- sorry... I didn’t mean to laugh.”

You smiled, a picture definition of the word perfect. Everything about you, he loved. He just loved you in general. “You don’t need to apologize Tamaki! Your laugh is very cute!”

You pinched his cheek before continuing your previous conversation with Mirio and Nejire. Did you even realize what you were doing to him? He hid his face in his arms and rested on the lunch table. Tamaki knew his face was probably several shades of red and pink. He was only wondering how long it would take before you’d actually kill him with your presence.

And that concluded lunch.

The last period of the day came and went uneventfully. And soon enough, class 3A had returned to the dorms, agreeing to remain in their respective costumes until the clock striked midnight. Some students had decided to spend the night on a scary movie binge, while others payed no mind to the event by studying and finishing thier cumulated late assignments.

You on the other hand we’re stuck in the kitchen, preparing some coffee to get you through the night. Mirio and Nejire had wanted to pull an all-nighter as well, which meant you had to figure out a way to not fall alseep before midnight hit. You already had a messed up sleep schedule as it was, so one more added incentive should make the whole evening smooth sailing.

“Y-Y/N?”

You turn towards the kitchen doorway where Tamaki stood, a bit shellshocked from your presence. Still in that cat onesie, you could see his whiskers had become a bit smudged.

You smiled at him, an ache wrapped around your chest became noticeably present to you. “Amajiki! Shouldn’t you be up in Mirio’s room with Nejire? I’ll be up there in a second, I just gotta finish this.”

“Ah, well,” Tamaki moved into the kitchen, fidgeting with his fingers as he talked. “You were taking a while, so they sent me to check up on you. I’m glad you’re o-okay though.”

You hummed in acknowledgment, turning back to the light stirring of the coffee machine. Your fingers uncoordinatedly tapped the kitchen’s counter, a melodic beat strung to match your voice. Tamaki watched with amusement— nothing like the sight of you in your element could make him any happier.

Actually, there was one thing that would be slightly better.

Slowly, he approached you until he had occupied the space beside you. You noticed him almost immediately, but had pretended to take more interest in your coffee than him. Your heart rate picked up, leaving you to mentally curse your inability to remain calm.

“I have a question,” His voice was hushed, a bit unsure of itself. You turned to look at him but his vision remained on the counter.

“What’s up?” When the coffee machine stilled, you pulled your mug out and carefully placed it in front of you. The smell of the roasted beans infiltrated your nostrils and you couldn’t get enough of it.

“Do you- I mean... I think I’m... no that’s not right. I think it’d better if I just show you...” He bit the inside of his lip, whilst finally mustering the courage to look at you. You’re eyes were widened with curiosity, the reflection of the night settling in your skin.

He moves slightly closer, and when you don’t move away, he softly places his hand on your cheek, angling your face so your centimeters away from each other. Tamaki tries to speak, but he honestly didn’t even think he’d get this far. He’s left utterly speechless. Perhaps if Fatgum were here, he’d supply him with the confidence he needed to pull this off. His anxiety-prone thoughts began to take initiative and he starts to pull away, believing to have bit off more than he could chew. He really did believe you deserved better than him.

But your still there. You’ve always been there. In more ways than one. You grip the front of his onesie and pull him back to his previous spot. His hand recupped your face, and you take this opportunity of surprise to place your lips on his. Nothing more than a second long, only the brush of your lips before the tingling sensation had dissappeared all together.

It wasn’t enough. For either of you. You can’t remember who surged forward first, but it couldn’t have mattered less. The only thing that was being even remotely processed was the heat of your frenzied kisses. Tamaki poured all of his emotions into that moment; from the way he felt when seeing you in your puppy onesie to the butterflies that clouded his mind whenever he thought of you.

You were the first to pull back out of breath. You don’t care that your makeup is beyond repair, or that his is either. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you muttered six words into the smooth crevice of his skin, completely forgetting about the coffee you were prepping for yourself. “I love you, I always have.”

Tamaki smiled, though the nervousness hadn’t completely disappeared. “I love you too.” He admitted, feeling his heart flutter at the mutual affection. It wasn’t one-sided after all, not one bit.

Maybe he ought to take more advice from his friend the whoopie cushion.

Then again, maybe not.

“There waiting for us you know,” Your voice was a bit muffled, having been the after-effect of hiding your face in his neck. He understood you perfectly nonetheless.

“They can wait a little longer,” His arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you impossibly closer.

“Kiss me again,” You pleaded.

And so, he did just that.

CHECK OUT MASTERLIST HERE!

[sunbellylou]

ask for writers !!

thank you @tomlinvelvetfics​ for tagging me! and thank you @soldouthaz for making this tag!

1. describe how you first started writing and when you first posted: i’ve been writing for years now, i started with het (ew!) 1d fics in portuguese back in 2011, it was actually those little imagines we used to write, don’t know if anyone remembers hehe. i posted them on a facebook page i was part of and i remember the first thingy i wrote was something with niall, but i really don’t remember any details (but was probably bad as heck since i was 11).

my first larry fic i probably wrote around 2012 when i found out the gay fanfics world haha, i don’t remember what it was or anything tbh, in my head i always wrote and posted gay fanfic.

my first fanfic in english was a little one shot (like 400 words honestly), it was a translation of a previous work i wrote portuguese. i posted it a year and a half ago and it’s called playground love (please don’t look).

2. which of your characters do you typically resonate most closely with? do you base any characters off of yourself?:  i usually write from harry’s pov because i love love l o v e describing louis and how angelic he is, so usually i tend to see louis as this ethereal ish character, cause it’s usually about harry falling in love with him. so whether i like it or no, i tend to be closer to harry’s characters in my fics, i always like to put a bit of myself on him and make the character real, you know?

3. where do you often find inspiration?: honestly? anything! i’ve written fics inspired by tumblr posts, tweets, pictures, songs, movies, things that happened in my real life, books. i literally wrote a pwp because i couldn’t stop thinking about leather pants (go read my robin hood au).

4. has quarantine helped or hindered your writing process?: in the beginning it was really helping me, i’d stay up till 4am everyday just writing like crazy, but then i got into the worst writer’s block and didn’t write shit for months. (and of course right when i started getting new ideas, i started working so i have no free time).

5. do you listen to music/noise while you write or do you prefer silence? always listen to music, all the time. i can’t do anything without music. mostly because my brain is a mess and music helps me concentrate. i usually go for some chill songs, some indie pop and stuff.

6. what is your biggest writing pet peeve in your writing or in general?: oh my god, when i’m writing and two or more paragraphs start with the same word, one after the other. it drives me crazy!!!! and sometimes i spend hours looking for ways to word differently the sentences, just so i don’t have two paragraphs starting with “the”.

also when my paragraphs are two (or one) lines long, i can’t! it has to have three or more lines.

7. describe your ideal writing setup: at the dining table, in the middle of the night, with some soft music playing in the background and some popcorn with me!

8. favorite time of day to write?: well, just said it hehe i like writing at night.

9. favorite genre to write + one you’d like to try writing in the future?: woah, that’s tough because i literally write any genres! i really love writing fantasy and horror stuff, but i feel like it’s not really well accepted in the fandom? (spec horror). and when people like it, they only read from bigger authors so i usually keep myself from writing those. aaand tbh i probably already wrote most of fic genres out there, so there isn’t much left to try.

10. do you struggle with writer’s block? how do you typically overcome it?  i’m writer’s block bitch and i do not know how to overcome her

11. what is the easiest part of your writing process and the most difficult? outlining tbh, i usually don’t (and it comes back to kick me in the ass). i always have too many ideas at the same time and can’t stick to one, so outlining and finding the right plot is really hard.

12. how do you come up with original characters? (if applicable): lately i haven’t really had the chance to come up with ocs, but when i wrote original books (not fanfics and stuff), i usually started with the gender and one outstanding personality trait and went from there.

13. what is your favorite and least favorite word?  i love the words ethereal and breeze, omg you’ll find them A LOT on my fics. and my least favorite word is growl.

14. what is one thing about your writing that you’re really proud of and one thing you hope to continue working at?: i think i describe the vibez in the scene really well, it’s my favorite thing to do. and i need to work more on building my sentences, because theyre always supermessy.

15. what work of yours has your favorite ‘verse/world building? how did you come up with it?:  definitely the fic i’m working on right now! i’m putting so much work on the world building since it’s a fantasy fic, so i’m planning every little detail about it. i hope other people like it too when they read it !!

16. what font and size do you write in? single spaced or double?: comic sans, 12pt, single spaced. don’t come at me.

17. what is a typo(s) you find yourself making consistently?: because english isn’t my first language, i always change like ‘th’ for ‘d’ (because it has a similar sound in portuguese), so catch me typing ‘de’ instead of ‘the’ or ‘dey’ instead of ‘they’.

18. (if applicable) do you separate fic writing from fandom?: i didn’t understand the question so i’m pretending i never read it hehe

19. what emotion is your favorite to write? which is the most difficult?: my favorite to write is probably,,, love/adoration, like harry looking at louis like he’s the whole world and thinking about how amazing he is? i love it.

and the most difficult is probably anger, i find it really hard to write like fights and stuff like that because usually i make the characters sound more sad than angry.

20. what is one thing you hope readers always take away from your works?: i never thought about that but,,, i hope they start finding joy in small things that happen in their day. that’s something i use a lot in my fics and i think it’s very important to bring it to real life. like enjoy that late night tea, showering in the morning, spending a summer day in the house, cleaning, etc.

21. what is the best and worst writing advice you’ve ever received?: i think the best advice is one i got from someone i no longer talk to, they told me this when i first started writing in english and it is to stop trying to write fancy or like native english speakers, because it’s much better to write simple sentences that i’m confident about than write sentences with words i barely know how to use.

and the worst advice is TO OUTLINE! i know i should maybe i dont know but leave me alone, i hate outlining bye

22. which one of your works would you most want to see turned into a film/television show?:  ok so,,, it’s a book i wrote like three years ago with original characters. it’s called great evil and i wrote it in portuguese. it’s full of violence and acid humor, about a very evil and sarcastic demon and an angry hunter. (one day i’ll translate that book and turn it into a larry fic)

23. do you write scenes chronologically or out of order?: chronologically. always

24. how do you handle criticism?: really bad. please be careful with what words you use. i’m already really hard on myself when it comes to my writing, so sometimes someone says something and (it might be dramatic but) i feel my world crumbling and i want to stop writing right away.

25. what is the advice you would give to someone who is looking to start writing?:  just,,, do it. there’s no right or wrong way to do it. there’s no such thing as too much or too little, bad or good plots. every idea is a good idea. write it for yourself, write something you like. go ahead and just do it. there’s always someone out there who will enjoy your work, no matter what.

26. what kind of feedback on your work always makes your day?: any comments make my day tbh, if you comment on my fic i’ll be forever grateful and will be smiling like a fool the whole day. honestly, even a “omg i loved it” comment can make my day.

27. which fic ‘verse of your own would you most like to exist in? which fic’s characters would you most like to befriend?: the one i’m writing 100%, please i want to live in a fantasy world. i wanna live in the water kingdom and have faerie louis as my king please.

and i’d like to befriend louis from my fic kiss me in your chevrolet, he’s a sweetheart and i must protecc.

28. what do you always enjoy getting asks about/wish people would ask about more?: anything! i rarely get asks so anything is good hehe

29. what has writing added to your life? how has it changed you?: it’s such a big part of my life, i spent all my teenage years writing and it really is what built my personality. it helped me being more creative with all aspects of my life and take life lightly, enjoy little things and moments. 

30. why do you write?: i just love having ideas and putting out there, playing with words and finding new ways to describe daily things.

boost yourself + tags!

1a. share the last sentence you wrote:

The path through the dense forest, covered in slippery rocks and burning trees is already difficult enough, but it becomes ten times worse when you’re being pestered by small, demonic creatures. 

2a. describe the wip you’re most excited about:

i’m honestly only working on one fic right now and i’m super duper excited about it

3a. share the piece of dialogue from one of your works you’re most proud of:

"I mean, I still don't plan on watching Star Wars, so…" 

The boy groans playfully, throwing his head back and Louis' eyes are suddenly really interested in the column of the guy's throat. 

"Americans really have no culture." He shoulders Louis slightly, warmth spreading through Louis' dainty shoulder and making him trip to the side lightly. With a faux outraged scoff, Louis waves a dismissing hand. 

“What do British people know about culture? All you do is drink tea and talk about the weather all day,” Louis teases with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “Also, Star Wars is American, just so you know.” He rolled his eyes playfully, feeling surprisingly comfortable in his presence.

Skater Boy sighs comically, shaking his head, his wavy locks falling gracefully on the sides of his face and Louis can’t stop thinking about how soft his hair must be. 

“You got me there.”

not posted but i kinda like it (i’m not really good with dialogues, so it was really hard to find one lmao)

4a. share the best first and last lines from your work(s): I will do only those that are already published:

best first lines are from a halloween fic i never finished: 

Louis’ blue eyes snap open. His heart pounds fast inside his rib cage, making something as easy as breathing almost impossible. Sweat drenches his body and he feels like drowning. He feels too awake and wary as his breathing calms down, as well as his grips on the sheets under him loosen.

best last lines are from my 2019 BLFF there’s more than one place to call home: 

Their life was utter chaos, and they were definitely complete opposites, and sometimes Harry wished Louis would just shut the hell up, but at the same time, Harry wouldn’t change a single thing about his life, because he had Louis, and that was all that mattered to him. 

5a. link the last fic you read: it was the devil's in the details by @raspberryoatss​

6a. link the last work you published: you could take a lick (but it’s too cold to bite me)

7a. link to your ao3 (if applicable): cinnamons

8a. someone that inspires you: louis hehe 

9a. a comfort fic/work that you’ve been grateful for this year: tbh i don’t read a lot of fics, but there’s this work a friend of mine wrote. it was in portuguese and she ended up deleting it but it’s amazing.

10a. other writers that you’d like to tag! @bottomlwt @raspberryoatss 

[twiddlebirdlet]

Inbox Collective Part II

hagarsays said: I don’t believe that cause if Chris liked something we would have gotten a notification saying Chris Evans likes....... also people and photoshop shit

Anonymous said: well one thing's for sure this pr seems to be hitting, it has been posted everywhere and all comments are positive from what I reading , people like him obv and they love lily and no one is suspicious , the only criticism I'm finding is with fans because of the Corona thing (rightfully so), the general public doesn't seem to notice it, i think it's because the picture seem cozy and don't not flashy unlike sebastian

Anonymous said: I also don’t understand how ppl can’t hold their fave accountable like that doesn’t make you or your fav a bad person. Everyone makes mistakes, calling them out helps them realize they were in the wrong and hopefully allows them to grow to be a better person

Anonymous said: The like and unlike of the tweet coupled with these new pics of him looking at the camera is just so shady to me. Its not as if he’s had any bad press at the minute or really has anything to sell, so what does he actually have to gain from pulling a stunt like this at almost 40 years old? Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.

Anonymous said: Is he still in London to be practicing lines with her

Anonymous said: I find it hard to believe he liked that tweet cause people can fake something like that all the time and you would have gotten a notification saying Chris Evans like something I didn’t get anything I just got a RT notification

Anonymous said: Don't know if I'm reaching here but Jenn Streicher sometimes used to do lily's make up but the last time I can find is 2016 so I don't know if she could of introduced them

Anonymous said: Chris’s Great Maskless Papwalk Stunt Adventure! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Oh, Twid, you kill me!

Anonymous said: Seb took the pressure off of Chris cause he been seen with his GF without a mask and they are out in the open😂

Anonymous said: I’ve been seeing some people say he did this for a personal trip and they are dating. The paps were there coming out. What do you think about this?

Anonymous said: I know you won't agree with me but I think they are serious and talked before. I am not saying she's is soulmate but it's gonna last.

Anonymous said: So pretty much every article is running with the hot new couple?? take. And no denial from either side. I guess they're playing this game through? Just curious what you think, if the goal was to get buzz around their names, but they're not actually doing the dating thing, when would you think a denial would come?

Anonymous said: So idk who situation is way worse Seb or Chris cause Seb is out and about with his GF and they aren’t wearing a mask while Chris was with lily and no mask but it was at night so what you think

Anonymous said: Okay out there theory. Maybe CDAN was right it could of just been dinner and explains the very little romantic information we're receiving. I know in previous interviews the avengers cast has gone to dinner together out and about with little pictures. I think he's even just gone with Scarlett we just never got any photos. Thank God. And as sketchy as it seems I've been at friends house way later than 1 am and literally played games/talked. This could possibly be a set up or exactly what it looks

hagarsays submitted: I’m other news SEBASTIAN WHERE IS YOUR MASK 😷 https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fthesebnews%2Fstatus%2F1280541447570194432%3Fs%3D21&t=OWNjN2E2OTY3ZWNmODBhNDI3ZGJmODQ3MDRmY2YwYzM2Y2QxMWY1NSxjMmVmNzY5YmZjNWMzODIyNDY1ZDVmNDYyY2M2ZjcwMmE3YTNhYTAw Twitter

Anonymous said: Hello. I'm new to Chris Evan's blogs or fansite so this question might sound ridiculous. But why am I seeing so many people suggesting he or his team have staged things, especially with women, for the paps? I guess he never seemed like the type to me so it's all surprising. Also, in the photos with Lily he didn't seem aware of the cameras. However, she seemed very aware as she was looking dead at the photographer. She didn't seem to be trying to avoid it Thanks in advance for any answers

hagarsays said: Some people who where fans are leaving the fandom over what happen like that a really stupid reason they are acting like he did some bad that he can get arrested😂😂 like clam down people it’s not that crazy

Anonymous said: I personally think this was a hookup or a PR stunt. Even if they did get together in the hotel, I don’t think Chris would intentionally be this careless to let the paps see. Either way, good for them. If it’s an actual relationship, I’m happy for him. I just don’t see how it would work rn under these circumstances and them living in two different countries. Also, people are still going on about the condom. Like, who cares. At least he’s being safe if it was 🙄

Anonymous said: lily is so smart, first she calls the paparazzi to photograph her going to a hotel where she is staying and then the paparazzi catches her with chris, she is very committed to disconnecting from her ex

Anonymous said: Do you think he’s still in London or back in MA?

Anonymous said: Just Jared posted another article mentioning an old interview where Chris talks about dating actresses because of life shared experience. Considering that JJ is really celeb friendly, I wonder if this has to do with his team or if it's just a slow news day.

Anonymous said: Just Jared posted another article mentioning an old interview where Chris talks about dating actresses because of life shared experience. Considering that JJ is really celeb friendly, I wonder if this has to do with his team or if it's just a slow news day.

Anonymous said: ASP launch reschedules in 3..2..1

Anonymous said: It's funny how many people now are desperately trying to prove that Lily and Chris didn't sleep together because they believe he's with a certain engaged actress instead. Like Chris voluntarily left the event with Lily, got into a cab with her, and they went to the same hotel, but gosh, he had no idea this was going to happen and he is just shocked! They're trying to make it seem like Chris was utterly clueless and Lily was the bad guy in all this so they can still believe he's true to the tree.

Anonymous said: Chris just tweeted and deleted again. That is twice in 24 hours. I really need that gif where he says I am not angry just disappointed to be inserted here.

Anonymous said: Hopefully these "mask manips" will make their way back to "The Maskless Boy Blunder" like Scott & Yvette Nicole Brown was so eager to bring those acylics & bonnets manips to his attn…😒

Anonymous said: You are killing it, Mod. Case in point: “The Great Maskless Papwalk Stunt Adventure” moniker and the reminder of Chris’ penchant for overly melodramatic 90’s films. You are the best. Please insert appropriate self-congratulatory gif here.

Anonymous said: Someone left a comment under asp instagram post that Chris didn’t wear a mask and now that post gone.

Anonymous said: Did you read Lainey Gossip's article? She actually thinks Chris self quarantined for 2 weeks after arriving in the UK. Oh lord 🤦🏽‍♀️. He literally got there last week, and is probably out of there by now.

Anonymous said: What he tweeted and deleted?

Anonymous said: Ya what’s a little weird. I went on US weekly to look at that article and it was not on a top headline where news from yesterday was still on there. And it’s hard to find. Even US Weekly was like ya we aren’t getting paid for this nonsense. Haha.

Anonymous said: A starting point just deleted tweet and ig post. Yesterday Chris deleted his retweet. Very interesting 🤔

Anonymous said: ASP instagram just deleted post. WTF happening. Too much bad comments?

Anonymous said: Bets on Chris retweet new ASP tweet or not?

hagarsays submitted: ASP was 3 years in the making didn’t he just started interviewing politicians in 2019? https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fasp%2Fstatus%2F1280502252319449089%3Fs%3D21&t=YmEyZmYxMzMzYTkxMDNkMzdlNTdkMjFlZWQwZWNkOWFlM2Q3NDZjYixmM2VmZGE1NzhhNGYzZThmNjI1ZWNhYmYzOWEzODRlMWU0ZGRkZTI2 Twitter

Anonymous said: Her hotel is closer to the club they were in and nicer too. Why did she go to his and walk through the back while he took the closer door like i love lily she can do better. I read he did the same thing to Jenny even after they went public like i wonder how he even brings it up

Anonymous said: Do you really think he was there for work? Idk why I find that so hard to believe. Apart of me thinks he literally flew to meet her and had it papped. What are your thoughts? The flight isn’t that long from Boston.

Anonymous said: Is this definitely a pr stunt? Could it not be the start of a new relationship between him and Lilly whilst acknowledging it’s crap timing without a mask etc

Anonymous said: people know say that him was holding a condom he must be embarrassed now

Anonymous said: Flying across the sea during a pandemic, not wearing a mask, was wrong. But Chris is in love, again. He's been following her IG for quite a while now and their mutual friends (Powley and Cooper) probably introduced them via Skype, Zoom, whatever. It's been 2 years now, so he's more than ready for another affair. This will get really interesting once they start flying back and forth to be together. Should be fun watching this one - Chris finally has himself a Disney princess!

hagarsays said: Also I just realize this if they wanted to milk this PR stunt even more they would have made another plan where they meet up somewhere and look like they are having fun. I honestly think and I could be wrong this was a one time PR stunt cause as of now I haven’t see any fan pictures of Chris and fans from London know where he staying so that’s why I think he back home or maybe yet hiding 😂

Anonymous said: I'm the anon who mentioned that some relatives got sick during a barbecue. I wanted to thank you for your answer and say that today, my cousin told us that my aunt will be released from the hospital. The staff was sweet and sent pics and a video for my cousin.She stayed there almost 2 months.I couldn't recognize her. She is really weak and could barely speak at the video. She has a long road to fully recovery.Take this virus seriously guys.My aunt is young and had no health problems before this.

Anonymous said: Lmao if the anon is talking about those actors not doing pap walks, a lot of them have, esp when there was some controversy. And Tom Hanks had a whole affair with Rita Wilson. Like, some of ya'll are projecting.

Anonymous said: Literally in a crowded park? The group looks like they socially distanced and kept to themselves so let's not overstate things. People have been spending time at parks and not wearing masks since it's outside. Making assumptions on any "candids" doesn't work since you just see a fraction of what happened. Especially if we're assuming PR.

Anonymous said: I wonder if we will get a Dodger pic or a pap walk wearing a mask. Does anyone know how twitter reacted? I don't have an acct there, so I don't know.

Anonymous said: Do you think that Chris and Lily’s PR stunt really increases his chances of getting the Emmy nod? Cause although it might get his name in the media, idk if it’s a good look for his image or ASP. Plus, if he wants to be taken seriously as an actor and not be seen as just Captain America, idk if engaging in a fake relationship and traveling abroad to club without a mask will get the Emmy voters on his side.

Anonymous said: Not going to lie this whole situation has made me lose a little bit of respect for Chris. Also just seen pictures Johnny Depp in London and he is wearing a mask and think he came from US.

Anonymous said: I am Dumbfounded! Why is everyone still Surprised at Chris Evans Behavior? It is expected that he will do more stupid things than good. One step forward, two steps back. Oh! Make it three!! LoL and what is the basis of Emmy's for a nomination? By Being more popular and who have more exposure in press and media? Isn't supposed to be who have a better acting and who is a more talended actor? Which Chris Evans is Lacking? Sorry not sorry but he is mediocre at best. He needs Acting Workshops badly.

Anonymous said: I’m assuming Chris is back in MA about his deleted retweet. But that would mean he was in the UK for 3-4 days. He was also styled for an event (he never dresses that nice). I don’t buy into lily breaking up with her BF and then quarantining with him for 3 months. I think they are still together but it’s a bad look for her to just get back with him if he cheated. So her team makes her look desirable and having fun and then her and Matt will “rekindle” their romance (1/2) With her not even being papped in the hotel that makes me think nothing happened and it was a setup. Usually Chris’ team puts out an article for relationships. Which didn’t happen with (this) lily. I bet their will be announcement about her being in a project with him soon (maybe LSOH). And she will be papped with Matt. Chris is so private that i doubt that he would start doing this now. There’s too many places he could have been papped in the UK but wasn’t. Just my take🤷‍♀️. (2/2)

Anonymous said: “Sometimes what Chris says doesn’t always line up with what he does. Today is another example.” What do you mean?

Anonymous said: The club checks your temperatures at the door and it was reopening night. They have rules for people who can come there because of this pandemic. Why and who he was with? I don’t care but I hate that people are making it seem like he was in some nasty club with glow-sticks dancing to old rap music & ringing in the New Years then took a girl back just to fuck her. How ridiculous and presumptuous of people. Chris has his faults but he’s not a complete idiot.

Anonymous said: Did you see the IG post from justheretoruinlives literally it zooms in on what they portray as a condom. Lololol

Anonymous said: girl i think like you !! I see many say they already had sex just for being at the hotel at 1am? but we only know that she supposedly entered the hotel through another door? but in the photos she is not inside !! Also, don't we really know if it was that hour or not? DM is never as reliable as the medium! I also think PR but I want to think that this was more of her! We can only hope what Chris's team says about this!!!

Anonymous said: Chris is just blegh the past couple of months. ASP for starters. He’s going to get torn to shreds for it and rightfully so. No doubt he’ll slowly stop acknowledging its existence and cut the partnership in a few months. His quarantine interviews.. dude get some new one liners. Saying the same thing always. Trying to use big words so he sounds smart. He sounds pretentious and annoying. Then ignoring Rudd to scroll on his phone and constantly cutting him off.. BOO!!! I’m over his hypocritical bs!

Anonymous said: I’m trying to figure out why Chris would partake in this kind of PR stunt right now, though. It’s SUCH a bad time for that... what would be the purpose for it?? Not trying to be combative, I’m just truly baffled by it. Like, why??

Anonymous said: I didn't even watch his last interview I'm disgusted he's acting even younger than me and I'm mid twenties. This took attention away from all the semi-good things he's doing. I don't think most people are paying attention anymore. Megan is going to have to sadly clean this up if she didn't have a hand in this.

Anonymous said: Nobody has memory of anything serious he's doing anymore lol. Defending Ryan right? Sorry never heard of her. He reduced himself to tabloid fodder and it's disgusting.

Anonymous said: He’s been working PR for the past 8 months. He mad his insta in December, made it public in April (around the time of DJ a similar strategy they did for Jen A.), had a single but dating article in Jan. Has been doing nonstop press since April/May. Mentions LSOH in the last couple interviews. Follows Lily (June) and is now papped with her. Well played Chris, well played

Anonymous said: So does the timing of his tweet indicate he is back stateside? I noticed he followed someone last night (DJ costume designer) when it would have been the middle of the night or very early in the UK. He's probably back home.

Anonymous said: Sounds like she playing cat and mouse with her ex. Buying decorations one month then getting papped the next with someone new. Not saying it isn't possible to move that fast. But....if ex came a knocking she would probably ditch this pr blunder.

Anonymous said: As much as we tried to deny it, we knew Chris could be messy. I’m REALLY disappointed that Gemma Chan was with Lily on her maskless park romp the other day. I’m a big fan of hers and thought she was smarter than that, especially since she’s said a lot supporting frontline healthcare workers through this whole time. Really over this selfish behavior from everyone, both celebs and normal people. It’s just making this longer and harder for all of us.

Anonymous said: The thing is: Chris says he wants sth, but I doubt that even Chris knows what he truly wants. That's okay! A lot of people don't know what they want. What really bothers me is that he keeps selling the same narrative over and over again (cuz he knows we will buy them) and then do sth that suggest the opposite of what he states. C'mon man, be yourself and don't give a damn to people's opinions. It's better than contradicting yourself. Sorry if that doesn't make sense

Anonymous said: Mark Ruffalo is a national treasure. Take notes, Chris. You could learn a thing or two.

Anonymous said: Must be nice for him that he’s in a position where he COULD get a Covid test on demand if he wanted one (and I’m SURE he could). Even in my state, which is doing worlds better than other states, we have a testing bottleneck and also concern about supplies. People who are sick are having to wait. Healthcare pros and teachers and essential workers are having trouble me getting tested. I know I shouldn’t get so upset about him but it’s just really disappointing.

Anonymous said: Also if he knew he was gonna be papped why didn't he wear a mask. I think a case might be made for that as well. When he moved Scott no mask. Assuming most people wouldn't even notice probably and only one did. LA protest his most likely chance of being photographed, he had a mask. Even posted on his story. I'm just grasping at straws🤔

Anonymous said: She have an article on DailyMail every single week. So angry about this dumb decision to play a pr couple. I had a better opinion about Chris.

Anonymous said: Well if the artwork thing is true I can definitely see this being pr and her having no actual interest in him. But no pr can explain away why he endangered himself and others. I hope scott tore into him.

Anonymous said: I thought it was PR 101 to like not be in a PR relationship with a girl who calls the paps, and was rumored to be doing drugs in a park a few days ago. I feel like he has a better pool to choose from to be taken seriously

Anonymous said: Change of subject/pace: I wonder why Halle Berry thought she was going to do what they VERY PUBLICLY shut down Johansson from attempting not to long ago: play a transgender in a movie. If Berry wasn't paying attn then, surely her team was?? And now with JKRowling v Everybody... Maybe Berry thought her "historic" Oscar-win would protect/excuse her…???

Anonymous said: cya Chris! > I’ve watched all his interviews and imo he doesn’t come off as cocky but that’s just how I see him. I still think he’s a good person that needs to get his shit together. I hope everyone is staying safe

Anonymous said: I don’t watch his interviews. Can the other anon elaborate on how he came across as self-absorbed, cocky, hypocritical and dumb? I believe you, I just don’t want to do the work myself

Anonymous said: I had a weird feeling when him and Scott starting following her as well. Maybe it was because she was weirdly being papped a lot at the time where I would be like why is this girl getting papped

Anonymous said: The girl that was with Sebastian posted a pic of then two togheter on jet sky one day before the pap pics

Anonymous said: The thing that those pictures from Saturday but posted on Monday morning US time speaking it self. But I think this was planned from both sides. Lily could approved way earlier. I can’t wait for their next walk of shame pictures.

hagarsays said: Also his fans even said they have no problem with lily James and him being seen together it that he didn’t wear a mask is the problem but also they all moved on cause it’s so unnecessary to go back and for with pictures that’s where taken on Saturday

Anonymous said: Not to be that person...but lily was seen in a park with Gemma Chan, Billie piper, Dominic cooper - All not wearing masks. Her and Chris were at mark club which is a private members only place with a dress code and social distancing rules - no mask reg (check the site). The doorman wasn’t wearing a mask either. The UK seems weird with rules and while I don’t like it - I am not surprised. They DRESSED up but didn’t need masks. What’s wrong with this picture?

hagarsays said: I agree can we all move on cause we are all going on circles at this point and it’s making us all go crazy for no reason. So if there another major information between them you would know also if there a statement we would know too but as of now there isn’t

Anonymous said: Entertainment tonight, people and us weekly have reached out to there team for a comment do you think they will get an answer

hagarsays said: If I’m right he started following once he got his insta cause I had to look at something and her name was part of the 70 total following but now he follow 3 more people

Anonymous said: Chris does not even follow the director or any producers of LSOH on Instagram so I would not assume his following Lily is automatically related to the movie.

Anonymous said: Have you seen the knives out page? They blocked the ana de armas update page. Hilarious break if you need one.

Anonymous said: I think like you. I think mainly chris is there for work !! Maybe it's already gone or is it still there? in my opinion I think it was more PR of her than chris !! when chris has done a type of PR that involves that he spent the night with a girl? why many think that already !! maybe the hotel part was part of it? why is chris seen entering the hotel quickly?

Anonymous said: Asian Tree gal pal is Scarlett. She didn't have on her unique engagement ring in one of the grocery store pap sets (she's had it on in subsequent sightings) that might've given her away, and when dressed down with her hair pulled back she's no "Black Widow," and still managed to get ID'ed, so NOPE, no excuse for Evans to not have on a mask or one in view.

Anonymous said: And if he "forgot" his mask, I'm prettttty sure the luxury hotel or exclusive restaurant would've arranged to get/lend him one. Buuuuuut then we wouldn't have 50+ "candids" at different locales, angles, and postions, now would we...? 📷📷📷

Anonymous said: Asian Tree gal pal is Scarlett. She didn't have on her unique engagement ring in one of the grocery store pap sets (she's had it on in subsequent sightings) that might've given her away, and when dressed down with her hair pulled back she's no "Black Widow," and still managed to get ID'ed, so now excuse for Evans to not have on a mask or one in view.

Anonymous said: My opinion is she called the Pap but the plan went to the left with the back door. This is not coming from Chris he wouldn’t leave anyone sees him with out a mask in this pandemic. Even if it was just for the Pap walk

Anonymous said: I live in the UK, we don't have to wear mask, we do have to social distance though, u are allowed to be in a bubble, i wouldn't say a 4th of July fuck is social distancing or being in a bubble. I work with some very sick people who have had life saving treatment cancelled. Then u get people like Chris who do as they please for a weekend fuck😡

Anonymous said: Getting back to the Michael and Alicia thing, did they start as PR and end in marriage? Or is the marriage also PR? I know that sounds ridiculous, but I’ve heard it happens

Anonymous said: I wonder if Megan is like “sooo that backfired” LMAO I haven’t really seen a lot of positives hahah

Anonymous said:

I would like to know what's on Cris's mind now what is he feeling, if him regrets this “drama”

Anonymous said: I hope he does get dragged for not wearing a mask and I don’t feel sorry for him that he can’t retweet something without crazy comments. For someone who pretends to be smart using big words he sure is stupid sometimes. Also-did you see the Tom Hanks PSA...lol “I have no respect for people who don’t wear masks) I could care less about A Starting Point. Covid has hit so close to home with friends and family I’m just floored about this.

Anonymous said: If they use the “having fun” “seeing where things are going” language in the next article about them it’s a publicity stunt. Because those phrases are not only what Chris’ team has used in the past but it’s also what many other celeb PR stunts use.

Anonymous said: Maybe Chris deleted the retweet because he knows most of his fans aren’t happy with him right now so he’s rather lay low

Anonymous said: Sorry but does that anon have more information on Minka and Trevor? How do they know they’re dating????

Anonymous said: Surley if they were dating they would be staying in the hotel together the past week or so or however long he's been there, it's clear from the pics she hadn't been there with him before and had to wait to be let in, they would know who she was surley……

Anonymous said: Some of his fans moved on cause they know this whole situation is BULLSHIT and it’s all PR shit for the movie while other are demanding Chris to say something

Anonymous said: I just want to comment and laugh at you explaining to the other Anon what the ‘Dark Ages’ where. That’s the most appropriate and best description I’ve ever heard over that wretched and gross time lol

Anonymous said: The ASP launch is literally one week away. He should be promoting that instead of doing this. He's sabotaging himself. I don't really think it will affect the success or failure of the website itself, but it's taking away from what should be his promotional narrative. That's why I have a hard time accepting he'd play this game this way right now.

hagarsays said: Also if Chris is back home we would never know not if he was seen somewhere in Boston

hagarsays said: I really just want to know why do this like what’s was the reason was it because lily might be taking Scarlett role so they want to make a name for her so they picked Chris cause they know how his fans will react like I need to know😂

Anonymous said: Meanwhile Scott is on IG advocating for trans safety and rights. I think he’s a great advocate and ally and I appreciate the awareness he brings way more than something like ASP.

Anonymous said: lmao people are making assumptions though. Did you physically see him walk through the front without a mask? Did you also see the doorman without a mask? All of these assumptions are ridiculous at this point. People say it's pr so they get the pics then what? You literally don't see it.

Anonymous said: Those screenshot are from a gossip site. Also in the UK we call it snogging🤷‍♀️

Anonymous said: Do you believe the DM that said they where making out in that person post you posted

Anonymous said: Just wanted to say thank you for being logical and realistic about all of this. I see a lot of people trying to make excuses for Chris and say this isn’t PR

Anonymous said: I'm pretty sure lilly still lives with her ex. And was probably partying so hard to get over said ex. Then gets papped again with a new guy. It feels like maybe revenge more than her actually being interested in casanova over here.

Anonymous said: I think like you. I think mainly chris is there for work!! Maybe it's already gone or is it still there? in my opinion I think it was more PR of her than chris !! when chris has done a type of PR that involves that he spent the night with a girl? why many think that already !! maybe the hotel part was part of it? why is chris seen entering the hotel quickly?

Anonymous said: Considering how vastly worse Black people have been impacted by covid, anyone who tweeted about BLM but isn’t taking the pandemic seriously is a fucking hypocrite in my opinion

Anonymous said: Why would this trip's purpose be LSOH? It's not like Chris is involved in the making of it, i.e., producer, etc. Why would he be going to London to meet with Lily? I believe they've been in touch in the past month or so (email, DM, text, etc.) and he wanted to personally meet with her. Wait and see what happens after the launch of ASP to see if he goes back there or if she comes over here.

Anonymous said: God I hope Megan wasn’t... he would need a new PR team immediately.

Anonymous said: I don't see him settle down. I never felt this vibe coming from him even with all what he says in interview. I think I like the idea to be a husband and a dad but if he did it he couldn't hook up with women he meets in nightclub, ask their number to girls, go to strip club with all the freedom he has right now. I read often it's because he doesn't meet again the one but he doesn't invests energy, make compromises for a serious relationship for me.

Anonymous said: If I were the PR person arranging this, I would have booked Chris at the same hotel lily was papped at a few days and sold it as “they hit it off at the party and were staying at the same place, what they did when they got inside is anyone’s guess” leaves fans speculating enough without the embarrassment or messiness of her going waiting around a back door for no real reason

Anonymous said: Also wasn’t it teased that lily and producers wanted to do mamma Mia 3🤔

Anonymous said: I think settling down with a wife and kids sounds nice to Chris in a “maybe one day...” kind of way but it’s not something he’s eagerly looking for or trying to make happen.

Anonymous said: Being papped during a hookup seems way off from settling down to me….

Anonymous said: I’ve always said his settle down wife and kids thing was PR😂😂 either way this is messy and I don’t think they knew it would backfire. Also the US weekly and People article mentioned it could be for work after hours of the dailymail article and fans roasting him for not wearing a mask and traveling

Anonymous said: maybe him is having a midlife crisis

Anonymous said: I think that’s the big takeaway here. If it’s real it will never work. Mr. Boston ain’t leavin Massachusetts for anyone anytime soon and she is firmly rooted in the UK. I don’t dislike her at all, the opposite, I actually like her better than most of his exes, but as a fan of both, this just isn’t rooted in reality long term. I’d be all for the man having some fun if the rest of the world wasn’t on fire right now.

Anonymous said: Umm shouldn’t we not idk jump to conclusions until we officially know what happen between them

Anonymous said: Thanks you guys for making this MORE about these dated, sloppy (PR?) moves and his reckless UNMASKED/NON-QUARENTINED behavior. I'm glad this didn't turn into outright bashing her or needlessly excusing him as *certain* parts of his fandom does with EVERY tenuously linked female in his orbit. Business or pleasure, HE has more to lose in just goodwill. Our climate is MUCH diff than in '15-'17. He & this better be "handled" in keeping with our changing world/times, cuz it's short-sighted and tacky.

Anonymous said: HAHAH! He is not settling down. He is literally hooking up or creating a narrative he is hooking up at 1am in a pandemic. Clearly Dad Chris Evans I want to get married and carve pumpkins reputation and brand has flown out the window.

Anonymous said: She was with a man for 5+ years and might have been cheated on. In the last 7 months she’s been papped a lot and with different guys and looking like she’s having fun. Now with an A list actor. This is her team making her look desirable and her making her ex jealous. For Chris it’s getting his name out there more and pushing the bachelor image. He followed her months ago and I would be surprised if this was planned but I think it backfired and makes them both look tacky😬

Anonymous said: Get a grip! Nobody here knows Chris at all, none of us do. You can't say things like 'I don't think Chris would like this' or 'Chris wouldn't do that' because we don't know. All we know is the very carefully cultivated image presented to us by him and his team. We have no idea who the real Chris Evans is.

Anonymous said: This is all so messy and quite frankly embarrassing because it’s so transparently PR. I think they both made bad choices here - Chris especially since his penchant for privacy made me expect more from him. How long do you thing this circus will last? I was around for the last PR stunt so I’m not sure how these things go.

Anonymous said: I don’t think she’s any messier than he has been in the past. I’d like to think he’s changed but the reality is we have no idea. His last major relationship had its own set of bright red flags. There’s plenty of judgement to be had about the pandemic situation but directing anything else towards just her isn’t really fair. I know a certain faction likes to always blame the woman but they’re in this together, whatever this is. I see people already turning on her and it’s kind of obnoxious.

Anonymous said: more to that anon's point about her being super messy. WHY would he want to be associated with that messiness when he has seemingly worked hard to get rid of or at least hide his partying image? I'm not sure I'm phrasing that right. But my point stands. He wants to be taken super seriously for the whole ASP thing and I don't think this helps him. The only real 'winner' here is her.

Anonymous said: I really and I mean REALLY hope this was just a work event and they went for one night stand. But if he will do pr dating with her or he’s really into this young drug addict with messy relationship history Im out of this fandom. He says how he wants a family and trying to look smart using all those fancy words but in reality he’s a huge disappointment.

Anonymous said: To everybody who is disappointed at Chris cuz he seems to be acting different from the image he's been projecting over the last years: Mr. Mercurial has always stated his appetite changes a lot. Maybe this is just an example of it (yes, I'm being sarcastic) 🤷‍♀️😂

Anonymous said: Why are people making a big deal about separate entrances to the hotel? Most hotels right now will only let you in the main lobby if you're currently staying with them. I think you even have to make a reservation before you get there. Lily isn't a guest at the hotel so they aren't going to let randos walk through the main lobby.

Anonymous said: None of this makes sense. I can only see 3 possible explanations: 1. They met for work, but where so smitten, they hooked up (but how would the paps have had advance notice?) 2. They met on SM and planned a date (but he’s never invited paps to his first dates before. 3. They really are hooking up and he’s so insecure about everyone knowing he was single in lockdown that he wanted to broadcast getting laid to the world (maybe he’s more of a bro than we thought?). But why so cheap and tacky?

Anonymous said: “Do you think he may have taken her back to the US given that she has been living in a hotel?”>>>>>I think some of you might be getting a little bit ahead yourselves over this one set of photos.

Anonymous said: “after one date/hookup” No one knows the real reason they were there or together. It’s just speculation at this point.

Anonymous said: I think it’s his old suit.

Anonymous said: I don't blame you for not noticing, Chris follows a few random women. People were just focused on the wrong one. Nothing even indicated they had contact until the pics. Even though I wouldn't be suprised if most of the contact was through their pr agencies. Once again who is buying this random relationship/hookup.

Anonymous said: I don’t know anything about lily. What’s her reputation?

Anonymous said: You think him & Lily are a thing now bc he followed her months ago on ig? He’s not dating every female he follows tho. Maybe it’s bc of LSOH.

Anonymous said: Yeah those were the words I was looking for to describe this whole thing. Cheap and tacky. The right way to reveal something to the public is them going out and getting papped at dinner, something more romantic that can at least give the illusion of a potential serious relationship, not a party and back entrance of a hotel. It just looks so messy and dare I say gross. Don’t reveal a potential hookup even if it’s just for the sake of publicity.

Anonymous said: Cheap, tacky and irresponsible considering the current situation at the world. He doesn't have Marvel anymore. I was curious if he would take the path of the actors and actresses in HW. IMO, this answer it all. I know he used PR before but it used to be subtle. This is ridiculous and entitled, principally, because of the current situation, as I said before.

hagarsays said: The only people who follow Lily is a scott and Chris but Chris been following her since he got insta. But idk about Lisa and his sisters cause there page is private

Anonymous said: The funny thing is this pr date is getting alot of positive feedback. So I could see then dragging this out for a couple of months. The only people that see through this are fans🤦🏾‍♀️. I bet that if they reported this on the gossip news tonight while dragging them for not wearing masks, he would stay his butt inside until filming and stop the shenanigans. Which I doubt they will, but it seems tone deaf to report on Nick Codero. Then report on two idiots w/o masks on gallivanting around London

Anonymous said: I'm staying away from Chris's tag on Twitter because it a mess. Some are excited about the prospect of Chris and Lily, some are pissed about the international travel and being maskless, some are confused by the randomness of the whole thing. I'm just not sure this is the kind of press he needs before the launch of his political website and the Emmy noms. I hope his team puts a pin in it soon. Also, it's difficult to take ASP seriously after seeing his irresponsible behaviour.

Anonymous said: Something I find interesting is that in the people article they mentioned Chris and her both quarantining separately. I have no idea why they would believe anybody would buy this relationship. Even as a hookup it's sketchy. Honestly they should let it die. They couldn't even get the dates right on some of the articles.

Anonymous said: No one knew Chris was even in London so that sounds like PR to me. Makes no sense for it to be unknown he’s there & then pap pics get posted from this site who is known to stage pap pics. What else would it be?

Anonymous said: I don't think they were at a party though. The article says they were at the private club, and that's it. No mention of a party anywhere.

Anonymous said: Wasn't she at the front door of the hotel at first then went round to the back/side, how would she know all the doors to the hotel, I doubt this was their first encounter at this hotel

Anonymous said: Lily and her group of friends are known to partake in shall I say powdered sugar. That’s nothing new that’s been the talk of the town for years here in London. That group of friends are known on the party scene which is their right but I don’t find druggies to be cool.

Anonymous said: I’ll never understand how these things translate into award nominations….

Anonymous said: A bunch of outlets said they were making out but like I don’t buy it. This might come back to bite me in the ass but like idk

Anonymous said: Trying to think logical and the timing of pandemic and them both being in different continents, information and pictures in May that she’s back with her ex, before Covid Chris traveling between DC and Canada... How these two could be dating?... even starting as online would be a nightmare because of time in both countries. This ether a PR stunt or she called paps when he asked her to his room.

Anonymous said: I've had a real fun day today thanks to Chris. Like many of you, I've been at home now for over 3 months. I'm really enjoying this. I'm hopeful this will continue to give me some laughs over the next few months. I'm looking forward to her arriving in Boston, that will really kill the fandom :):)

Anonymous said: Am I the only one who thinks they banged? I’m not denying they were there for work but how realistic is she left after the phots

Anonymous said: maybe we'll see the “new couple” at the Emmys

Anonymous said: What’s happening in the Seb fandom? Do people think that’s a PR stunt, as well? And, you’re awesome, Mod. You keep things in perspective.

Anonymous said: I feel like all this nonstop discussion about are they, aren't they plays right into their hands and gives them the attention they wanted. Granted it's a small section of his fandom here, but I hate playing these games. In an effort to change the subject, I for one would love to hear your thoughts about ASP (whenever you're up for it of course). As a fellow Texan, I almost canceled Chris on the spot after he met with ted cruz. Gross.

Anonymous said: If you go on her twitter (Minka) she didn’t take her geo tag off she has been back and forth in nyc since Jan. Also spotted in NYC in March. And follows Trevors Manager’s wife on IG. I know that is a random follow but she wouldn’t just randomly follow his managers wife if she didn’t know her. Either way she has been in NYC back and forth with the geo tag and obvi not working and you wouldn’t stay with a girlfriend back and forth.

Anonymous said: Do you think it’s a hookup gone wrong or PR?

Anonymous said: Speaking of LILY 1.0: Biel pulled the same stunt yrs ago w the then "King of F-Boys," I MEAN Sparta! Broken up w Timberlake (over Olivia Munn?), well after filmimg wraps, managed to get pap'd cozy on a motorcycle w recent costar Gerard Butler, despite both wearing shades & helmets, being in traffic on PCH. Everybody denied everything, but Biel was reunited & ENGAGED soon after. IF thats what this is, Evans should be weary of possible "rebound n release" relationships by now, but we're here!🍿

Anonymous said: I hope he doesn't post about masks and protecting yourself and others because that will be even more hipocritical.

Anonymous said: Ok, I have to voice my opinion since it seems everyone else has -- he has been following her on IG for quite a while now, perhaps they have been dm'ing and decided to give it a try. We'll have to see if she shows up in Concord MA. It's just really bad timing though - a pandemic and ASP starting up. Is he really this stupid?????

Anonymous said: I can’t take ASP seriously from a guy who went to London to hook up and not even wear a mask, or a guy who did all of that for PR. He is a joke.

Anonymous said: If it’s PR I give to 3 - 6 months

Anonymous said: If he's back in the USA then that's even crazier to me. Why would he go to the UK for just a few days, whether for work or not? That would be a bit weird even if there wasn't a pandemic going on.

Anonymous said: This is almost as entertaining as Ben and Ana.

Anonymous said: With JS and MK it was organic and there were things leading out to them being together. This is out of the blue and with no previous indication of it happening. Also London is a long way for causal sex or even a first date. The fact that Chris is most used news sources say he’s there for work. It just seems like a very sloppy and thrown together PR stunt.

Anonymous said: Looking at lily's Instagram following list Chris is second on the recent list, do you think its possible they were both at the bar separately and met then they hooked up then she followed him?

Anonymous said: Valerie is crying in LA right now hahahahah

Anonymous said: There was rumors about Lily and her sniffing habits. People can google them self. Chris could find someone with a better image if he really serious about asp website and his own image. Remember back in the days there was rumors about him and drugs too. People who hates him and his politics views will use this info.

Anonymous said: Do you think with this Deadline interview is his team trying to change the focus

Anonymous said: Even looking at JS and Minka there was some level of affection and SOME discretion. This was lily Collins, Lucy Pinder-esque. I think if he would have been papped at the airport and then later at a grocery store with him it would have been different. Ben and Ana are believable because it was months in the making this is out of nowhere

Anonymous said: The only other movie besides LSOH that Chris is rumored to be involved with is Bermuda, and that seems to have gotten a lot less traction than LSOH. Would it be likely that he's already starting work on a movie that no one's even heard of yet?

Anonymous said: Someone on LSA pointed out that he follows Bel Powley this weekend and she was in the park with that group. She was in lobby hero and in the party with Pete Davidson last year with Chris. So he is friends with her and is maybe the link.

Anonymous said: Feels like bad timing with ASP launching next week

Anonymous said: This screams PR but for what I’m not sure but I’ll bet money that she’ll be announced as Audrey in LSOH.

Anonymous said: Honestly I hope this is real because why have you risking your life and being photographed doing it. I'm sick of celebs and pr. Even though Ben and Ana are hilarious and entertaining. I thought he would be past this at this point. It's disappointing and he knows it's nothing but drama. Are more people really gonna see the movie/visit his website/hype him for Emmy's cause he's dating/boinking lilly? I'm truly done with him

Anonymous said: It's sad with the number of years Chris is in this industry, with his pass with Minka and Jenny he didn't learn his lessons or is doing it for have his name in the media for a nom. I didn't see Ruffalo do it. He lives his life with his wife and kids and shared pictures from the set. If it's a pr romance or just for speculation Chris uses the bad way if he wants to be take as a serious actor. Very disappointing if it's that bc I don't see a rs between us when he was in Usa and her UK.

Anonymous said: Do you remember that girl that was papped holding hands with Chris and we never seen then togheter again maybe this will happen again

Anonymous said: I would like to point out that the taxi could have stopped closer to the hotel. Not only Lily did her "walk" in front of the hotel but Chris did his too. And if he went there for work, he could and should have restricted his stay only for work, which obvioulsy wasn't what happened.

hagarsays said: Wait I though lily is still rumored to be In LSOH it’s been confirmed now?

Anonymous said: if they be together and both on LSZH is just gonna add more rumors about Chris and his co stars and I don’t think is good to his career to be rumored with costar in all his jobs

Anonymous said: This trip might be work related (with a hook up on the side), but this very well could be the start of a relationship between them. The long distance works for John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. Maybe Lily will like living in Concord MA. They could have been having a long distance get to know you via email or DM and now are ready to go public with it.

Anonymous said: Wasn't Matt seen out with Claire during the time he was supposedly back together with Lily? I don't think their "on again" was ever confirmed.

Anonymous said: Tbh she doesn’t seem like the type to be going to Boston to hang out with him and dodger she just doesn’t fit that vibe imo. And he doesn’t seem the type to be going to London every few weeks to see her?

hagarsays said: Just putting out there regardless relationship or not it won’t changed how I feel about him I will always be his fan😂 BUT Chris your on time out for leaving dodger

Anonymous said: I’m glad he’s getting called out about the mask thing. That and the travel are really the only things here that bother me. I’m in a hotspot. I know people who have gotten sick. A friend of mine was forced back to work with the public and now she and her family are awaiting their results. I was heartbroken to hear about Nick Cordero yesterday. This pandemic isn’t over. I’m disappointed to see him blatantly flout the rules. I feel for the driver and hotel staff.

Anonymous said: I wonder if the hotel Chris is staying at only lets guests staying at the hotel entry through the lobby. I had to stay at a hotel for work and received a pdf that only guests can go through the lobby. If I was meeting up with someone they would have to wait for me outside. I also had to get my temperature taken each time. They wouldn't be able to keep track of all non-guests not staying at the hotel.

Anonymous said: Also these pics were on Friday and bars/pubs and restaurants were closed in the UK until 4th July they were allowed to open from 6am on the 4th. But hey one rule for the rich and famous and one for everyone else

Anonymous said: If they were together, and he flew down to London just to be with her (like some people are saying), wouldn't he at least have checked into the same hotel as her? This smells like a PR game or one night stand or something.

Anonymous said: Actually Tom cruise is the only person who doesn’t have to do the 14 days quarantine idk why but there an article about it

Anonymous said: She was pictured in different hotel couple days ago not the same they pictured Chris with her. So no they did not live in same hotel and was pictured together by accident. Also if she was staying there she wouldn’t go from the back doors.

Anonymous said: I think Chris has been in London at least since late June. I follow his twitter and he’s randomly for weeks posted at oddly early (EST time) - 6-7 am. Too early for PST, kinda early for EST quarantine. I wondered if he was overseas and saw on IG last week he started following Gemma Chan and other brit actors. I think he’s been in London (lowkey) until those pics since late June. I think he flew private and he’s been incognito until those photos. Basically - I don’t think he JUST flew in

hagarsays said: I feel like the more his team stays quiet the more it get worse cause so mine think Chris is the reason Matt and lily broke up so if I was megan I would put out a statement so everyone can move on already cause drying quite make shit way worse

Anonymous said: The funny thing is I actually like Lily James. I’d actually like them together. I just don’t like these circumstances or this timing. The quarantine rules are rules for a reason, I don’t care who you are. This is some BS I’d expect from a Kardashian or Trump kid. It’s selfish.

Anonymous said: My guess is that it’s PR with a lie pleasure mixed in….

Anonymous said: as much as people or US did not confirm that they are dating? and they are the font that chris uses !! I think Chris is in London for work and people say something with that !! I think it was an exit maybe as friends or just for PR for both of them !! dailyM is so exaggerated already by little it says that chris had sex with her in its headlines !! In addition, if CN is correct, maybe it was she who originated all this to generate people to talk about dating with Chris?

Anonymous said: To be fair on the coke thing it’s no secret Chris has imbibed in partying in the past. I don’t care what he or she do to party. I care that whatever they’re doing now is during the Covid crisis. I’m sure the masked attendant in the background would love to not have unmasked people gallivanting around.

Anonymous said: Agree that this has all the hallmarks of PR. Even if it’s real, she’s not as objectionable as some of his exes and she is age appropriate. It’s just the timing of things. For someone who tried to appear “woke” and has spoken of the seriousness of the pandemic, this isn’t a good look. I’d love to be able to go on my now cancelled London trip this summer with my friends. But I’m not a celebrity so the rules actually apply to me. That’s really the only problem I have with this.

Anonymous said: Considering the article were put online with such a small difference, maybe his team sent the same e-mail to everyone? Lol

Anonymous said: confirmation about their relationship > Media articles don’t know shit tbh half the time they’re labeling a relationship even when there’s nothing to be labeled

hagarsays said: His team need to say something cause right now people are going crazy also one fan was being rude and making fun of lily tweet is not there but this whole thing is just a hot mess

Anonymous said: If this all just PR it was a dumb move on his part. I see most of his fans calling him out or their at least not happy with him. And this could get him some bad press right before ASP goes up (which might also get a lot of backlash)

Anonymous said: Shit... it’s really happening... It’s gonna be a long summer guys.

Anonymous said: The US weekly article seems to suggest he is just dating around still. Do you think? The People article says it can’t contact his agent

Anonymous said: If they are dating they look like a cute couple I have to say

Anonymous said: Relationship? I don't think any article confirmed it. This sounds more like pr for Lily in regards to Matt. They even bring up their "tense" lunch/dinner or whatever it is.

Anonymous said: There are rumors SJ could be pregnant (though that rumor seems to be around a lot since she's not super-skinny), maybe that's why she's been replaced if in fact Lily will be Audrey? I remember Billy Porter basically confirmed SJ and Chris would be in LSOH, maybe back in April or May?

Anonymous said: From what I’ve seen Chris makes an extra effort to get to know his cast and crew so I wouldn’t put it past him if he went to London to meet up with the cast or just see things that are happening for LSOH. He just doesn’t seem like the guy to fly out to a different country for a girl he’s a real homebody imo

Anonymous said: It's still so strange that mere days ago Chris was all "Yeah, LSOH is on the backburner right now" and then like practically the next day he's in London, seemingly for work. And if this turns out to have nothing to do with LSOH then it's doubly strange. And what's going to happen with ASP? He's either going to have to do it from the UK or he'll have taken these big risks just to be in London for like a week. If he wanted to do PR for an Emmy, I'm sure he could have found an actress in LA or NYC.

Anonymous said: What pisses me off the most about this Chris nonsense it that I’m a nurse and we have so many patients new coming in and we unfortunately see them die. I really wished he wore a mask even if the UK said it was fine to be without a mask. Chris miss rona ain’t a joke she don’t care if you’re hot rich and young. I love him but my god it breaks my heart seeing people die from this.

Anonymous said: There was another daily mail exclusive about Matt and her quarantining together and back together. Close Friends was the source talking about their connection. Than they were papped biking together

Anonymous said: I agree with the anon that said the narrative from us weekly or people will depend on the reaction to this. Time will tell I guess.

Anonymous said: This has nothing to do with Scarjo, she is clearly out of the games. Lily James will be in LSOH, that' s why he started following her weeks ago. But I agree this is all a big staged mess. Who knows if it will turn into a real fling though. Drugs and alcohol, she is definitely his type.

Anonymous said: I agree with everything you said this screams pr also i did a quick search of Lily and she has been in the press so much the last couple of weeks with so many exclusives by the daily mail! She also checked into a central london hotel on the 2nd july and guess what its only 7 minutes away from Chris's, so perfect for paps to get there shot of her outside his hotel and her to go in and hide in the lobby for 10 mins then get a cab back to her hotel 👀

Anonymous said: “Chris never travels outside of the US unless it’s work related. In all my years of following him, I’ve never once seen him travel abroad for recreational reasons. It’s always for work.” THIS THIS X1000! Chris never leaves the US (or Boston really) unless it’s for work. I really don’t think this was a coincidence, there’s so many think that various anons have pointed out but this is probably the most important one.

Anonymous said: When did he done his live interview? He’s definitely less than 14 days in London so he really didn’t followed the rules.

Anonymous said: I feel like this is PR only time will tell tho. They may end up being thing but rn I’m leaning towards PR

Anonymous said: Hi! Sorry if this is a stupid question, but how does a PR "relationship" would help with the Emmy noms? Is it the fact that he is out there more, so there are better chances of voters checking out his work? That's the only way I can make sense of this. Thank you!

Anonymous said: If it’s just PR that’s worse than if they were dating/hooking up. He thinks an Emmy is worth risking his health and the health of others?

Anonymous said: "And Chris wants that Emmy nod to finally feel like he’s taken seriously as an actor. They both would greatly benefit from this being a thing. " Sorry but how you find an actor serious after he flew in a middle of global pandemic to go to a private party with an actress who have not the best image lately. It's definitely good for her but for Chris it's a different picture.

Anonymous said: It may be less irresponsible than it appears. Rich people have access to tests, fast-acting (hours) & reasonably accurate. Films are a business. Insurance is a huge factor. An actor’s carelessness during pre-pro would alarm the $$$ guys, I would think. Haven’t read much on how insurance is now structured during CV19 but if LSOH is going forward, then someone weighed the PR opportunity against possible severe illness that would cost $$$. And decided they were safe enuff to pap stroll.

Anonymous said: I’m the anon who asked about PR romance. So basically his PR people have him seem shady to get attention since bad publicity is still publicity? I mean to say, is this his PR persons ideas for him to do these things or his and they cover for him?

Anonymous said: about emmys Mark is amazing in his role he deserve win the show is amazing

hagarsays said: Honestly at this point his team needs to put on some type of statement cause it’s not going away anytime soon until they set the record straight on why he there and was seen with lily

Anonymous said: It’s just disturbing to me since Amanda Kloots husband died of Covid 19 last night and then this morning Chris is maskless traveling, staging pap pics. Like we are in a pandemic. If this was from his team, they need to be morally better.

Anonymous said: But now it's a bad image for Chris... Going to UK, partying, hook up with his costar... oh boy it's feels like early 2000.

Anonymous said: I was hoping he learnt from his past relationships with MK and JS but no. I am disapointed but more by the fact he didn't wear a mask. We've got lots of people who are sick in Europe

Anonymous said: Not saying it’s not possible but I don’t think Chris into online dating, so this looks like pr for me. They didn’t see each other for months before last night. I hope Megan will think something smart and we didn’t see new couple alert.

Anonymous said: I feel like we only get paparazzi photos of Chris when it PR and have been called. You have never of known that he was in London other wise.

Anonymous said: This club (Marks) is not a nightclub. It’s basically like any media members club. People have meetings, sociales, eat and drink. It quite formal. You can hire it, or part of it out for meetings and events. So this is definitely work based. The hotel? I don’t know. Would CE hook up with an actress he may be working with straight away maybe? But it think not.

Anonymous said: i feel like this isn't the right time for them to do promo, it makes them both look like assholes

Anonymous said: The place they went to isn't a night club. It's a private club with very strict covid-19 rules. It's members and invite only. They have private rooms and limited staff during the pandemic. They have a thermal imaging thingy to check temperatures as well. So he wasn't around the general public or strangers. Read up on Mark's Club.

Anonymous said: It’s funny how some fans give him and Lily a pass because she’s pretty. Just wait while they found pictures of her wasted from last week. This is not a good look for a “politician” Chris.

Anonymous said: I hope he stays at quarentene when he comes back. The right thing to do was to not travel at all but since he was irresponsible enough for that, I can only hope he be responsible when he comes back, for his family.

Anonymous said: Take a step back and look how Chris is dress. He is usually casual for parties and hookups (Jenny, Minka) this instance he has been styled. He’s is currently on a Emmy campaign and has been in the us since forever. He followed lily months ago. Then these pics were specifically released to the dailymail (a UK based gossip site). And the paps just so happen to there at the right place and right time. Yeah they could be doing it but Chris is WAY more sneaky that this.

Anonymous said: LMAO. His staged pap walk got foiled by getting locked out of the hotel. How embarrassing. 😂😂 Chris Chris Chris don’t you know these stunts backfire?

Anonymous said: Seeing the pic of Stan at the yatch with the staff wearing masks and then seeing the pics of Chris with the employee of the hotel wearing a mask is practically a deja vú. I don't think this is good PR but of course people will run to defend him and ship them.

Anonymous said: Lily still share the house with her ex

Anonymous said: If this is PR it’s stupid and lazy. Another (British) Lily in an on again/off again relationship who will probably rekindle her romance with her ex in a few weeks. And, who runs his PR? Partying and implied hotel sex during a pandemic is not a good look. At least in Seb’s case, it looked like he was dating his girl. This looks like a hookup with a potential co-star. What, did they get tested just so they could sleep together (if that’s the narrative)?

Anonymous said: The photos where taken on Saturday night but are only been posted Monday afternoon.

Anonymous said: So can we wait for a pic of Dogder? If people calls out him on twitter, chances are there will be a new pic.

Anonymous said: I don't care if it's real or it's PR. It's stupid and reckless. He is travelling and walking maskless in the country in Europe with more deaths by covid and during a pandemic that killed more than 100.000 americans and thousands of people around the world. And yes, I am calling out Chris, as I am calling out people around me. Just because governments are putting less restrictions because of money and economy, doesn't mean we all should act as if nothig is happening.

Anonymous said: now I think that chris definelly follow women that he is interested and maybe slide in her dms

Anonymous said: Some people think they called the paps to put out an an official announcement about their relationship soon. Also, did Scott go with Chris to London? Or did he start following her after he saw the pap pics?

Anonymous said: **THANOS SNAP!** and the fandom's in a tailspin cuz he's done everything all at once! Travelled into a RECENTLY former pandemic "hotspot," "caught" with a "usual suspect (wht female, 30s, brunette, relationship status: complicated 😏)," pics framed like a pre-walk-of-shame (also that shitty site's M.O. - which had pics Fri but waited til Mon to release 😉), DAMN plebeian rules! = no mask or courtesy 2wk self-quarantine. So sensational...& stupid. Now: ASP who? But let's sit n sip together. 🕵🍿☕

Anonymous said: Guess ASP and serious smart guy image not his priority anymore. Rumors about dating his costars like in his twenties more interesting to his team. Sorry Megan but it’s not the right time for this bullshit.

Anonymous said: Also with it being a PR thing, surely this is not the Image he wants out there. Travelling to the UK, going to a party and hooking up all during a pandemic. I live in the UK and things are a mess here at the moment. I would not be heading out like that

Anonymous said: No masks, she was in DA with Michelle. He’s not normally one to get caught with a woman when he’s out with one (cause we know he’s no monk). Time will tell

Anonymous said: Gemma who?

Anonymous said: I mean considering in May she got back together with Matt Smith idk what to think. Also hook up fine but I don’t think this girl is moving to Boston having 4 kids and being his wife at home...I’m not taking this seriously.

Anonymous said: I just need to vent. So I apologize in advance but Chris is an idiot. I just saw the photos of him & Lily James that were allegedly taken friday on the Daily Mail site. And I am angry. Not because he is doing whatever with whoever but because he decides to go London & walk around without a mask, the day that all the pubs and clubs reopened. Like I said. He is an idiot. I truly thought he had more brains due to the fact that he was wearing one while he was in LA. Again, I'm sorry for the vent.

[destinyislandwanderer]

What’s a Kiss? (Fluffy/Angsty Axel/Roxas OneShot)

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Rating: T

[This is legit my first Tumblr post - am I doing this right?]

Roxas had been acting weird today. Even though he wasn’t an expert at emotions, Axel could sense it.

Unlike the other members of the Organization who tended to bully Roxas for his small stature and young age (with a few exceptions), Axel adored him and had become his closest confidante. Roxas had been born without any of Sora’s memories, so he’d had to rely on Axel to learn everything from basic vocabulary to the social skills it took to succeed in the Organization.

But what did he care about all of them? Protecting Roxas was his first priority now. He arrived at the clock tower with two sea salt ice creams, a daily tradition, and handed one to Roxas. He blushed when Axel made eye contact with him, and he knew his best friend must be hiding something.

“What’s up, Roxas?”

Roxas glanced at him before staring at his lap.

“C’mon, you know you can tell me anything,” Axel assured him.

"Yes, well, I… Can I ask you something?" Roxas said, studiously avoiding eye contact.

"Of course. What can I explain for you today? I don’t know what else to say about that huge whale we saw in the sky the other day. It didn’t make sense to me either, but apparently Demyx has been inside it, and it sounds bonkers. He said there’s an old man and an actual living puppet stuck inside, but we all know Demyx tends to exaggerate so who can say for sure? Maybe I can figure out a way to take you there if you really want to go.”

“No, it’s not about that… It’s something Xigbar and Larxene said.”

“I swear, they are going to burn next time I see them. I hate the way they gang up on you!” Axel had too much angry energy to contain. He started pacing, debating how much trouble he could get in for starting a fight. He’d warned them both to lay off Roxas before. Maybe it would take a more poignant physical reminder to make them get the point.

Roxas stood up and took his arm. “Axel, wait - it’s nothing bad. It’s just… they asked if I’d kissed anyone, and I don’t know what that means. They were teasing me about it.”

“Oh,” Axel said, immediately calming down. Roxas leaned against the clock tower facing Axel, who did the same. “Well, it’s not important. Just ignore them. I bet they were just trying to get a rise out of you.”

“You’re not going to tell me what a kiss is?”

“Uhh…”

“Ugh. I honestly didn’t even know if I should ask you. It’s embarrassing that I haven’t done it, right?”

His genuine distress was so endearing, and Axel couldn’t make him think he was some kind of freak for not having kissed anyone.

“A lot of people haven’t kissed anyone before. You’re young. You’ll kiss someone. I’m sure of it.”

“Have you… kissed someone?”

“Er, yeah…”

Roxas looked disappointed, and Axel took a step closer.

“It’s seriously no big deal.”

“But what is a kiss?”

Axel wasn’t sure how far to entertain this train of thought. Roxas was young and completely innocent, and Axel didn’t want to do anything to ruin that. Not that he hadn’t thought about it. There was no denying that Roxas was attractive, and Axel had a particularly soft spot for blondes.

The problem was that he was supposed to protect Roxas, and he was already doing a bad job of it. Between the missions at Castle Oblivion and the things Saix was forcing him to do in secret, he wasn’t always making Roxas’s life easier. He kept promising himself he wouldn’t let Saix and Xemnas do anything to harm his best friend, but he had to keep up a facade to please them, and sometimes it required sacrifices. He still felt guilty about it no matter how hard he tried to justify his actions.

“Nevermind. I shouldn’t have asked,” Roxas mumbled.

Axel couldn’t stand how upset he looked. “It’s when two people touch lips,” he revealed.

“What?” Roxas exclaimed, as though this were the most surprising and silly thing he’d ever heard. “That’s all? Seems kind of… I don’t know. They made it sound more important.”

Axel was afraid Roxas was going to be bullied further if he continued without the particulars, so he clarified, “Well, it’s… I guess it’s more than that. You kiss someone when you like them.”

“Hmmm… Well, I like you. Why haven’t we kissed?”

His expression was so innocent. He had no idea what he was really asking and no concept of the fire it was lighting in Axel’s imagination. He decided to evade the question. “When you kiss someone, it changes your relationship with that person forever.” Perhaps Roxas would just accept this explanation and move on, and Axel could keep being his best friend and his hero and nothing more. Or maybe…

“What does it feel like ? I mean what makes it so special?” Roxas’s eyes were looking at him with an imploring intensity. Could he possibly know more than he was letting on? Axel wasn’t sure, but he felt Roxas’s eyes daring him down a dangerous path.

“It’s not something that can really be explained.”

“Can’t you try?” Their faces were moving closer together, and he couldn’t fight temptation much longer.

“I think I’d have to show you for you to really understand.”

“Show me,” Roxas whispered, and the invitation was all he needed.

He closed the distance between them and planted a chaste but lingering kiss on Roxas’s lips. He moved away to gauge Roxas’s reaction, and the awe and raw emotion in his eyes was so tender and sweet, he couldn’t stop himself. He placed one hand gently on the side of his neck, softly braiding his fingers through Roxas’s hair as he placed a series of deep kisses on his throat. The small gasps he let out each time Axel’s lips touched his skin were so satisfying, he was overcome by desire as he pressed his lips to Roxas’s again, fully parting them with enough force to will Roxas’s mouth to mimic the movements of his own. As with everything else Axel taught him, Roxas didn’t need much training. Axel felt as though all his past lovers had been mere practice for this moment, so he could give Roxas the perfect first kiss. Never had he been so in sync with a lover, never had someone reciprocated his effort with so much of their own. It felt like Axel’s first kiss too.

“That’s not what I expected,” Roxas whispered.

“Yeah, me either,” Axel smiled. “You’re good at that, you know.”

Roxas smiled back, and Axel felt dizzied by the beautiful sight.

“Can I ask you something else without you getting mad?”

“Sure.”

“Do you really not know what happened to Zexion?”

Axel panicked because he did know. Axel had murdered him. He’d only done it because Saix had forced his hand and insisted that Roxas would be next if he hesitated. The problem was, Zexion had been one of the only Organization members who was nice to Roxas. Roxas had liked him and gone out of his way to say so. Axel hadn’t wanted to do it. How much of the truth did Roxas suspect, and what could Axel possibly say in his own defense?

“Nevermind, Axel,” Roxas sighed. “You told me you don’t know. I should’ve believed you. It’s just, I have dreams about him. I just wonder if he’s okay. Sometimes I worry…”

Axel had never felt this level of gut-wrenching regret. It was visceral and painful, and he couldn’t stand looking into Roxas’s sweet eyes, knowing what he’d done. He felt horrible for kissing him. He’d known it was a bad idea. He’d told himself to resist, and he’d been so good about it until today. Roxas deserved someone better than him.

“Roxas, I should go.”

“No, please don’t! I promise, I believe you. I don’t even know why I thought of it,” he pleaded.

“It’s not that, Roxas. I just think maybe we shouldn’t meet up here anymore.” Seeing Roxas’s defeated expression, he added, “It’s nothing you did wrong. Trust me. I just…”

He bounded down the clock tower steps and opened a portal back to Organization headquarters, rushing to his room where he fell down on his knees and felt a familiar sensation that he recognized from Lea’s memories. It was the desire to cry, but he couldn’t do it. There was no release from the torture he felt. He kicked his nightstand instead and the metal lamp clattered to the floor. He found the destruction so satisfying, he threw it against the wall before slumping into his chair.

He should definitely avoid Roxas in the future, but after a kiss like that, how could he?

(Spoiler Alert: He can’t. Axel has zero self-control when it comes to innocent little Roxas <3 If you liked this little niblet, it’s an accompaniment to my novel-length Axel/Roxas love story that I’m updating regularly)

[dracimexidae]

@lives-ruined-and-bloodshed replied to your post “@lives-ruined-and-bloodshed mentioned you on a post “You wanna try and...”

Yeah, I think May would definitely win in a real fight but I think they have so much fun just sparring, they know each other so well and probably sparred plenty of times so they know most of each other's moves and well, it's just really hot to imagine them going at it lol of course AoS couldn't give us that. We even saw Coulson fighting but ofc not with May, that would be giving too much to the shippers.

OF COURSE RIGHT, GOD FORBID THEY GIVE US EVEN JUST A FLICKER OF CONTENTMENT LMAO, WHO CARES ABOUT THE FANS ANYWAY... Sorry for the capslock, but I couldn’t express this any other way than shouting it because I’ll always be annoyed by this! Yeah, they don’t owe us anything, they should be able to tell the story they want without feeling obliged to indulge in the fan-service, bla bla bla, don’t care, I’ll stay pissed off, I’m sure the writers won’t mind, and at this point it’s the level of resigned annoyance that doesn’t ruin my day, so I can stay “fueled” without feeling miserable about it like I was some time ago, when I was more invested (not that I’m not invested in the ship now, but I made peace with the fact that I won’t get the satisfaction - and there is no “compliance” involved here :p - I need from the show so I’m looking for it elsewhere)!

I am convinced it would have been so amazing seeing Phil and Melinda spar because I found adorable (ok, maybe it’s not the best term to describe sparring sessions, but I have big family feels about it because Philindaisy obviously so for me that adjective stands) the sparring scenes Daisy had with both Phil and Melinda so yeah, it was a huge waste of potential, but what’s new when we talk about Philinda’s treatment in the show...

I do see their relationship as a bit unbalanced. There are so many times we saw May showing in words and actions what Coulson means to her, even her freaking robot was out there declaring her love and willing to die for him and the team. I think you're right that Coulson being the director is one of teh reasons for that difference but I think who they are is another.

For Coulson there is Humanity, SHIELD, Daisy and ofc May cares about that too but I mostly see her putting him ahead of pretty much everything, she's so ridiculously loyal to him, even Garret knew that about her, it wasn't follow SHIELD to the grave but Coulson. Watching gifsets of S1B was actually making me ship them less lol, he believed she was Hydra up until she was about to be killed too and then he was a raging dick, to hurt her, and not even an apology after.

Nothing much to add here, I agree with you, let me just underline the awful treatment Phil reserved to Melinda when he thought she was Hydra... All right, I get it, he must have felt overwhelmed discovering such huge betrayal from people in his organization to the point he felt he couldn’t be able to trust anyone, when he was raised in SHIELD with the “trust the system” drill in his head, valid for him until he died and was brought back, at least, not to mention the fact that he was kept in the shadows about this goddamn GH-325 secret by his closest (at least that’s what he thought she was) friend and ally, but just because he seemed to rely on Melinda so much that he decided to choose her as his “right-hand” for the task he accepted, I was flabbergasted that, after the first (comprehensible) moment of shock, he didn’t give her just a glimmer of benefit of the doubt, straight up assumed that she betrayed him and all... So was there nothing at all to be saved from their relationship until that moment that he could just pause just a second and consider that that was Melinda May he was crucifying, and I’m aware that it all happened so fast that there wasn’t a moment to breathe, let alone the chance of having a proper, lenghty conversation with her, but it took him too long, in my humble opinion, to realize that he couldn’t just throw whatever they had out of the window so rashly... Anyway, after the “epiphanic” Audrey episode the writers OBVIOUSLY never addressed the situation again, making us believe that between them it was all good again just by magic... mumble mumble... Thankfully there is fanfiction to fill in the gaps, because there is not a chance in the world I’ll be convinced that that evening, after Melinda brought Phil the infamous pendrive with the video about the TAHITI project, didn’t end up with them spending the night discussing everything and both apologizing AT LENGTH (in my universe there would have been also moments gradually and steadily reaching the R rating, but I would have been perfectly fine watching a scene with just them talking and making a real effort to clear things up and it would have actually made more sense considering canon, but they gave us nothing so whatever, I consider myself free to imagine whatever it pleases me :p )

I remember watching all of that some months ago and thinking he's going to to redeem himself by showing she the same kind of loyalty but then S2 and May was again with that massive devotion of hers, with the alien illness and the "real" SHIELD but what I got was Coulson lying to her repeatedly for no good reason. 3A was weird, I don't mind they had LIs, I actually really liked Andrew but they barely felt like friends imo. When Andrew/Lash was happening *Mack* was the only one who thought that maybe she could use a friend, that was bizarre. 

WHEN HE ASKED HER TO KILL HIM IF THINGS GOT OUT OF CONTROL (and just that, my god, I understand that he trusts only her with everything at this point, not only SHIELD but even his life, but it’s rather a terrible thing to ask anyway), AND SHE INSTEAD HAD ALREADY PLANNED TO SPEND THE REST OF THEIR LIFE IN A GODDAMN CABIN IN A PLACE SHE KNEW HE WANTED TO VISIT, DECIDING TO STAND BY HIS SIDE AND SUPPORT AND HELP HIM UNTIL THE VERY END... AND BY S5 SHE HELD UP TO HER WORD AND DID IT, EVEN IF IN A DIFFERENT PLACE... 

“NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, I’LL TAKE CARE OF YOU, THAT’S MY PLAN”  

EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO DIG MYSELF A HOLE IN THE GARDEN AND CURL UP IN THERE FOR THE NEXT DECADE IF THAT ISN’T LOVE I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS??!?!!!!! That sentence and her actions show her love for him more powerfully than any “I love you” voiced out, but ok, let’s carry on...

I could even let the fact that he didn’t tell her about Theta Protocol slide because of all that classified crap and such, even if she called him out brilliantly about him not having the right to know that as well him not being Director anymore (HA, sorry Coulson but take that!) - I’m not really sure it was that a valid reason the fact that he should have told her because Andrew was involved, I mean, idk, they were not even married anymore, I don’t think that officially it should have been her business to know, but surely, as his best friend, Phil maybe should have felt more of a moral obligation to inform her, also because I can’t really recall if Phil started seeing Andrew before he confessed Melinda about his writing impulses, but at some point she knew, so what was the harm on letting her know? Where was the logic in keeping at least that hidden from her? I’ll be damned if I know! 

Anyway, what I seriously would have kicked Phil’s ass for is the fact that he, TWICE (as far as I remember at least) affirmed that he didn’t want to go to Melinda after the whole Andrew/Lash debacle because “she wouldn’t want me to go after her right now” “she’ll talk when she’s ready”... Phil... pal.... buddy... what the fuck???!!! I mean, ok, Melinda would have assured you that she was fine, especially if you approached her in public, but... you know... we know... THE WHOLE WORLD knows she wasn’t, how could she???!!! One fucking sentence, one “you know I’m here if you want to talk or anything” like she said to him, more than once, would have killed the writers to insert it?????!?!?!?! But no, not only he doesn’t reach to her (at least, we don’t see it and it isn’t even implied in the show)but in the meantime he proceedes to go out and have drinks and slEEP WITH ROSALIND AND START A RELATIONSHIP WITH HER WHAT THE HELL KINDA BEHAVIOUR IS THAT?????! His best friend is anguished, tormented and in pain, he should have at least stood by her bunk’s door all night just to reassure her he was there for whatever she needed, or at least stay at base, work, go to sleep, idk, with what spirit you go out and go on a date and everything???!! Why is that, to distract yourself?? Oh yeah, but he’s also working an angle here, yeah all work and duty and no play, eh, Coulson?! MELINDA NEEDED YOUR SUPPORT AND FRIENDSHIP FFS!!!!!!! Damn it, at least find time to show a scene in which he makes an effort to reach for her, then she is free to do anything she wants with his support and if she asks he’ll be considerate enough to leave her alone, but show us he tries, because that’s something I think Coulson would do!!!! Instead he apparently just straight up assumes that she doesn’t want anyone close in that moment so he doesn’t even bother to assure her that if she needs it, he’s there for her... I get it, we all know she closed off after Bahrain and all and she’s the kind of person who tends to keep things for herself, but it doesn’t hurt to at least let her know he’s available if she needs help, especially because she’d hate to bother him knowing well that he has a lot more to think about than just her? Listen, Coulson in certain instances could be a little dense, but I think he’d make such a reasoning, idk? Or am I assuming too much about him? But, as you said, even Mack voices his concerns about leaving her alone, someone who is not particularly close to her, but not Phil 

3B was better but still too little. It's funny but two of my favorites scenes of the show were the one about the boundaries, SO much to unpack there and when called him on it when he said she was too quick to the trigger and Daisy wasn't Andrew, the murder vest was bad enough but damn he still went the extra mile, but if he's going to be a bastard, at least have May fight back because I don't think I could take more of him being a dick and May just taking and getting no apologies like in 2B. 

Oh my god, OH MY GOD yes, that was the peak of the idiocy!! “You’re always so quick to the trigger” JESUS CHRIST PHIL HOW COULD YOU EVEN CONCEIVE TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO HER, TO MELINDA, HOW THE FUCK DOES YOUR BRAIN WORK????!!?!?!!? I seriously tend to erase all this stupidity in s3, I know it’s not fair to the show but I’m sorry, I really can’t stand that Phil could say shit like that to Melinda, I can barely recognize it as canon... Maybe it’s me who has created this version of Phil in my head that actually got things wrong about his character, maybe I’m misreading him and don’t really understand him fully (not that I have ever claimed that I do, anyway), because no matter how stressful this moment is for him and no matter how much pressure he is under, I can’t for the life of me accept that he would say those things and behave like that... S1 behaviour I understand even if it still pisses me off a bit but it’s definitely more comprehensible, but these aspects no, just no, no way... The writers kinda saved it with May taking no shit from him (thank god for that, at least) and him apologizing, even if that was still pretty mild according to me, but oh well, better than nothing at all I guess? Let’s try to convince ourselves of that...

S4 was kinda funny to me because they just turned it up to eleven but I appreciate we actually saw him showing love/devotion/loyalty, without S4 I don't think I could ship them as much and since S5 was also disappointing in my I need to believe Coulson loves her as much as she loves him thing there was little Philinda, but still we had May showing in actions and words her love for him and Coulson, well, I believe he loves her and I guess he kissed her, said he didn't want to leave her and invited her to spend a few days together before he died in front of her. Her SL in S6 was about how much she loved him but I knew that already lol and then emotional torture and death. 

Definitely, I seriously don’t know what happened during s4 writing that convinced the writers to suddenly push on the accelerator with their relationship, but I’m actually grateful (see? I can also say good things about them lol ), even if in terms of continuity for their dynamic I’m not sure how much sense it makes unless you take for granted that interactions must have happened in between the seasons, things we obviously weren’t witnesses of... As you pointed out, otherwise it would have been pretty hard to root for them to get closer, because May deserves the world!

It’s kind of ironic in a way to see, despite her being not openly vocal and expressive in her affections, how much more Melinda has said and done to and for Phil compared to him for her - again, as it has been said, he had far more things to worry about than her, whose mission was mainly Phil from the very beginning, so he obviously was more preoccupied to allow himself the luxury of devoting himself to just one person, but still...

S6? What is that? I really have no idea what you’re talking about here... :p

And that's why I appreciate so much how the fics do the work on Couson's part because I don't think I would love the ship as much without it either. And I just find confusing why AoS decided to go for the ship if they didn't care much about committing to their relationship on screen.

Yes! And ah, at this point, especially after S6, I’m so deflated about some choices that were made that I hardly care about trying to understand what goes through the writers’ heads, so again, I’ll just take what I want and run away quickly before they catch me and throw me in the pit of misery again (lol, look how confident I seem, as if I firmly believe that I won’t be affected at all by S7... Mh mh, yeah, sure, stay tuned to find out how much I’ll fail despite me training myself not to get involved with the show like I used to be...)

[hetbigbang]

D-DAY IS HERE

IT'S DEADLINE DAY!!

Art and Fics Due - September 26th, 11:59 PM (Midnight) PST (here is a timezone converter.) ~ We can't wait to see what you all have created and can't wait to share it with everyone! IMPORTANT NOTE: I will be sending out emails to our artists who were willing to pinch hit art, as we have one outstanding art claim, and we may delay Debut Day if it is not picked up. (There may also be a slight delay because the mods are sick and in school, but we are doing our best not to let that happen!) POSTING: In case you need a hand with posting or last minute questions, check under the cut for a rundown on how to post your final works to the 2018 Collection.

POSTING REQUIREMENTS Where do we post our completed fics? We are using AO3 collections, with the deadline for submission as September 26th, and the reveal date of October 1st. You can post them up early!! Post them up now, if you want! You can also post your fics anywhere else you like, just don't post them anywhere before the Debut Date. Everyone who has signed up for this challenge should have an AO3 account, but if you don't, you can still sign up. You can ask a friend for an invite code, or you can request from A03 here or at

ao3_invitecodes. If you are unfamiliar with it, here is the FAQ of AO3. Do not publish your fic for everyone to see at AO3. Instead, submit it for our 2018 collection. Only the author of a work can add it to a collection, and then the mods approve it and we'll reveal it on the Debut Date. Once you've done that, we are also asking you to drop an email to thehetbigbang [at] gmail dot com when you submit your work to A03, with the following information: Email Subject Line: (Fic or Art Submission. YOUR NAME.)

AO3 Name/LJ Name: (both) Fandom: Pairing: Artwork or Fic: (artwork for "Title of Fic, by Author") or (Fic: "Title, rating, and word count. Big Bang or Little Bang.") Summary: (if applicable.)

Further Posting guidelines below. (The pics used are for the old 2012 submissions, but just mentally adjust for 2018.) 1. Sign up for A03. You can ask a friend for an invite code, or you can request from A03 here or at

ao3_invitecodes. 2. DO NOT POST YOUR FICS/ARTS SO THAT THE GENERAL PUBLIC CAN SEE THEM. Double check after posting to make sure it doesn't get posted to the general audience. If it does, delete the work and start over. Instead, you need to allow the mods to collect your fic/arts so that we can reveal everything together on October 1st. Go here, to the 2018 Het Big Bang Collection, and go the "Post to Collection" button in the top right corner. The collection is currently open, moderated and unrevealed.

This will bring you to the normal template where you submit your fic/artwork. In the first block, you fill out all the tags: fandom, warnings, ratings, characters, pairings, additional tags, etc. In the second block, you fill out the preface information, including title, summary, and author's notes. 2a. For Artist: your summary line should include your author's name and the title of their story (if you know it). 3. In the third block, for "Associations" make sure the line for "Post to Collections/Challenges" lists "Het_Big_Little_Bang_Challenge_2018."

3a. For Artists: the next line, "Gift this work to:" should be filled out as well. Artist, you know your Author's A03 name, which should have been provided to you through your emails. If for some reason it was not, please contact your authors and get this name from them. Fill in the "Gift this work to:" line with your author's name. That will link your artwork to them. After the submissions have gone live on the Debut Date, we would like you to go back and edit your submission to add in a link to the specific story you created your artwork for. But until the entire big bang goes public, the main way you'll attach your artwork to the piece will be by identifying the author through gifting. When you finally get the chance to link to the story, edit your submission and use the HTLM coding: <*a href="INSERT THE URL HERE">Title, by Author. (Remove the *) You can put this in your author's note or summary. 3b. For Authors: After the submissions have gone live on the Debut Date, we would need you to go back and edit your submission to add in a link to the specific artwork that was created for your story. You don't have to "Gift this work to:" to the artist, but it'd be neat if you wanted to do so. When you finally get the chance to link to the artwork, edit your submission and use the HTLM coding: <*a href="INSERT THE URL HERE">Title, by Artist. (Remove the *) You can put this in your author's note or summary. 4. Formatting and coding guidelines are important. 4a. For Artists: AO3 video embeds are working from Youtube, Vimeo, blip.tv, Dailymotion, Viddler, Metacafe, and 4shared. So if you have a video, you upload it to Youtube for example, and then embed into an AO3 post. For images like artwork and icons and banners and cover art, use the <*img src="INSERT YOUR URL HERE"> HTML coding (remove the *). You can first upload your images at Tinypic or imgbox or a similar image hosting website, and then make an A03 post with the HTML coding. (*NOTE: As of 2017, photobucket no longers allows you to post and link without paying big bucks, so avoid photobucket.) 5. Submit your fic/artwork. You need to make sure when you hit "Post" that you see this text at the top of the resulting page:

"This work is part of an ongoing challenge and will be revealed soon! You can find details here: Het Big/Little Bang Challenge 2018"

6. Now, your fic should NOT be displayed to the general audience. It might not even show up on your dash, but fear not. You can still edit, add new chapters, mess around with it to your heart's content. We, the mods, unfortunately do not have access to your story. We cannot tell if it is properly formatted or not. THIS IS FRUSTRATING, but there's nothing we can do about it. We can only see your name. All works are titled "Mystery Works" until we reveal the entire big bang. So, please make sure your own fic is properly formatted. If you need to edit your fic, login and go to your dashboard. Go to the "Edit Works" button in the top right corner. From there, you can edit your works.

A03 will require you to format a header with all regular information on it. Remember to properly tag your works, including appropriate warnings. Both HTML and Rich Text are supported, and you can edit/delete, have multiple chapters, etc... 1. The Rich Text Editor lets you add formatting, links and pictures to text without using HTML tags. It also has an option for pasting from Word which will preserve some of your Word formatting, although please note that this is buggy. The Rich Text Editor is only available for your work text. 2. The HTML editor allows you to change the look of your text with HTML tags. It can be used in any place you can submit text, although some fields permit only a small subsection of allowed tags. You can see a full list of the allowed HTML on the Archive FAQ, but the standard HTML tags is as follows: b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, datetime, div, dl, dt, em, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, height, hr, href, i, img, ins, small, span, src, strike, strong, sub, sup, table, u, and more. Also, a few years ago,

anr was a saint and provided you with a post that explained "how to format a fic for posting in less than 30 seconds no matter the story length or amount of formatting" trick. The mods won't be overly picky about formatting. I'd prefer for all dividers and scene breaks to use <*hr> (remove the *) which creates a horizontal line that serves perfectly as a scene break. However, that's optional. You choose your own way to format. Other optional suggestions, just for uniformity sake's: How do I do Chapter Titles: Bold 'em. How do I timestamp and do locations: Italicize the dates and locations. How do I do subtitle stuff: Italicize it. There is only one major fail regarding format, and that has to do with paragraphs breaks. There must be a full line break between paragraphs. Example of doing it wrong:

Chapter One: The Invasion March 6, 2005 - The City of Atlantis Elizabeth ducked quickly behind a console and attempted to catch her breath. A flush of pink colored her cheeks and a thin sheen of sweat had appeared on her brow. If the situation weren't so dire, John would have been turned on. As it was, however, he couldn't give it much thought as he had to focus on the batch of Ancient zombies that were slowly staggering in through the Stargate. "At least they can't run," he offered lamely. Elizabeth spared him a glare. "Why can't they run?" "I don't know." John shrugged. "But they never seem to run. They always lurch. Maybe when they're brought back to life they don't get knees?"

Example of doing it right:

Chapter Two: Ancient Ex-Girlfriends Yes, They're Zombies Too Elizabeth peeked around the consol. "Oh, my god," she breathed. "Is that--" "Chaya?!" John squeaked. "Talk about creepy ex-girlfriends." Rodney scrunched his nose. "She doesn't look good in green." John cringed and crouched down lower. "Do you think she's their leader?" Elizabeth looked thoughtful. "Well, this may be better for us." She narrowed her eyes at John. "We can give them you in trade for a cease fire--" Something caught her attention behind John and she broke off. "No, wait. Look to the left! That's... oh, god, John. That's Teer!" John and Rodney stared in disbelief. "Damn you, Kirk!" Rodney groused, and hit John upside the head. "We're going to be killed by a legion of your dead ex-girlfriends!" "Okay, everybody calm down," John soothed. "Let's not overreact and go blaming--" "Hey, look, your ex-wife!" "What?!!"

Grammar and Spelling fail: If your fic doesn't look beta'ed, we will call you on it, which will create an AWKWARD situation for both of us. Having a beta is a REQUIREMENT. Grammar, spelling, proper paragraph structure, etc... these are all REQUIREMENTS. You need to give your beta ample opportunity to go over your fic for mistakes and edits, so remember to factor that into your deadline. Don't have a beta? Check out this post!

Can I post it to my journal a few days early to show my friends? No. The first time you show your fic for this big bang must be on Debut Day, on this comm. Mods will handle the revealing details. There will be more posts on that to come. Once the Big Bang collection goes live on Oct 1, feel free to post your stuff wherever. Also, please remember that extensions for final fic and art submissions will not be granted. Please make sure your stories and art are submitted no later than September 26th. If you absolutely cannot make it, contact a mod immediately - either via email at thehetbigbang [at] gmail.com, or on the Page-A-Mod post, or PM

red_b_rackham or

traycer_. Lastly, remember if you need some to cry, scream, flail, yell triumphantly, encourage, cheerlead, etc, don't hesitate to check out the support comm and throw up some posts for each other!

YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!!

from Het Big Bang https://ift.tt/2zwUXAi via IFTTT

[inonesingleline]

some unsolicited advice for any curly girls following me, or: believe it or not I do devote my obsessive energies to other things, too

I don’t know if anyone out there needs or wants this, god knows there’s no shortage of advice on the internet, but after battling with my hair for 20+ years I feel like I’ve finally found the perfect routine so sharing for what it’s worth!

First thing to say is I’m a type 3A, so if your hair has different texture and shape this may not be very helpful. If you don’t know about curly hair types, this is a good place to start. 

First some rules and best practices I have discovered over the years! Some obvious, some I’ve honestly just learned very recently.

Air drying is always best. I’ve never really found my way around a diffuser, but that’s obviously your second choice. I actually bought a hard hat dryer for use at home and while it looks hilarious sitting in the corner it is a nice way to multitask and relax while drying! I usually air dry these days, though, even though I have an ingrained belief that going about with wet hair for 3+ hours looks unprofessional and, depending, serves as an unnecessary signal to the world how late I may have showered.

Don’t touch it till it’s dry! It’s almost impossible, I know, but the less you touch the better it looks. Then scrunch it up, and don’t touch it again for the rest of the day. Until it starts to drive you crazy mid-afternoon and you need to pull it all back into a ponytail. That’s just my experience.

Moisturizing products are more important than styling products. Honestly one of the biggest recent breakthroughs for me was realizing the reason your hair gets all frizzy and fluffy is when it’s dry and seeking moisture from the environment! Keep it moisturized and you will need fewer styling products and can worry less about humid days.

But too much moisture is a bad thing. You definitely need to experiment here, because too much and your hair is going to be flat, potentially look greasy, and generally suffer from product build-up. I can only tell you what I’ve found works for me (below) but trial and error is necessary.

Don’t over- or under- shampoo! If you read up on how to handle curly hair at all you probably know you’re not supposed to shampoo every day; you might even have tried doing it once a week or giving it up altogether. Then there was a backlash against that practice and I honestly find that, unless it just works for you, you’re going to run into problems with bacteria/smell (especially if you work out!) at the very least, and you may not get the texture benefits you dream of. For me, twice a week is usually just right. Again, experiment. And “low poo” and “no poo” options are great unless you need the lather to feel clean; I’m actually using a product that lathers up right now and I like it.

OK, now onto my routine! I have tried every product line known to woman, I swear. Every time I think I’ve found the holy grail, only to find weeks or months later it’s just not doing it for me anymore. But I have been using a combo of Curl Junkie and Briogeo for a while now and I think this is it for me! I suspect I MIGHT have had the same experience with any other nicer brand I’ve tried before, however, if only I had learned the moisturizing > styling rule sooner. 

So here are the products I use and the steps I follow:

2x week shampoo with Briogeo Blossom & Bloom shampoo. I’ll probably cycle through all their shampoos in time, though. 

daily conditioner wash with Briogeo Be Gentle, Be Kind co-wash. I also feel like variety is nice, get some different ingredients into your hair, and swap out with Curl Junkie Daily Fix (I feel like this is a LITTLE more cleansing than most co-washes, so I’ll choose this on a workout day) and Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Smoothing conditioner. (Honestly, I’ve loved all of their conditioners and I’m NOT very particular with my shampoos/conditioners among these two lines.) Your curls will “clump” and form nice ringlets better if you run your fingers through it as little as possible from this stage forward. I try to distribute the conditioner by running my hands over the whole length of hair, twisting, scrunching, etc. Some combing is fine, or if “clumping” is not your priority, don’t worry about it.

Once a week I use a deep conditioner instead, alternating between Curl Junkie Deep Fix and Curl Junkie Curl Rehab. These are decadent and wonderful and I will use them forever. 

Post-shower I use Curl Junkie Smoothing Lotion, which helps seal in a little more moisture and keep curls in shape while initially drying. I use the same methods to avoid combing, and then wrap my hair in an old long-sleeved tee for about 15-20 minutes while I go around the rest of my morning business. (You know terry cloth towels are bad for curly hair and cotton tees or microfiber are great, too, right?)

Then most days lately the only styling product I use is Curl Junkie Curls in a Bottle Solution. I honestly never thought I could get by with a light-hold product alone ever but my hair looks great with JUST this. The moisturizing > styling rule, y’all. This product is truly magic even if you choose to layer it under something with more hold, and if you try out one new thing from this list make it THIS. It will keep your curls defined and in place and let them still look bouncy and light. Again I work it through my hair trying to avoid combing.

If you want more hold, and I suspect I will too when it’s humid again here, my favorite gel is Briogeo Curl Charisma Gel. I’ve always been a gel girl but this is the first one that has the hold I want without leaving you looking wet and sticky the rest of the day.

I sometimes also use the Briogeo Curl Charisma Creme in addition to or instead of the CJ Smoothing Lotion. Again I have the idea variety is nice and sometimes my hair needs the extra moisture, but for a while I was using both consistently and that’s when I understood that there can be too much of a good thing with the moisturizing products. The CC Creme is a bit heavier and maybe has a bit more “hold” than the smoothing lotion. 

Sometimes, maybe once a week but often less, I’ll also mix some oil into the smoothing lotion. I have some jojoba oil on hand so that’s what I’m using now, but I suspect there are better oils for hair. I only do this on lazy days when I’m definitely not leaving the house because you WILL look oily until you wash your hair again, but it really helps give a little more moisture and shine that will last for a few days. 

OK, that’s “it,” but that’s what works for me! Hope this may be helpful to someone out there because god knows I’ve fought with my hair for years. Now just to figure out the ideal skincare routine for my dry, red skin. Another post on that subject, perhaps, should I ever manage it. :)

[elizabethrobertajones]

Hey I'm new to tumblr but I've seen screenshots of it. How do you find the things that you want to look at?

Oh I’m either a great person to ask or the worst because I have absolutely no extensions and will give you advice tailored around using this hell site exactly as I found it, which I suppose is useful when you’re new and before someone shows you some extensions that I hear make things easier :P

When I first joined tumblr I just searched “supernatural” and skimmed that search for posts I wanted to see. (Actually about 6 months previously I was doing this exact thing for The Hobbit movies but I didn’t see the appeal of joining a fandom so I never got involved past laughing at memes on tumblr and not even reblogging anything) 

With SPN fandom, I realised the posts I liked were tagged certain ways that got results of more posts I wanted to see and filtered out all the general tag shitposting, and I started searching those things instead, after a while of which I had a list of tags I visited all the time. 

Of course the entire time I was hitting the follow button on every blog that seemed to post a lot of what I was interested in seeing, so that’s an assumed piece of advice for you :P 

For example I went in the SPN meta tag and hit follow on every blog posting in it when I first joined tumblr. After a while you start to see social patterns and find blogs you agree with more or violently disagree with, so you start to be more selective or have to use the right to unfollow someone you agree with who seems like an asshole and hope their posts reach you via reblogs, etc. And you can’t follow everyone. I follow too many blogs and despite being a housebound headache lump under a blanket who’s on my laptop on and off all day and I don’t stay caught up. Find like… 100 people you like and try and keep it around there while constantly exercising the right to unfollow and follow different blogs. 

These days you can get posts from the tags you like onto your dash as well as having them stored to visit whenever. 

Type into tumblr’s search bar and find things you want to follow, so this is what mine looks like:

having a glance there I just noticed I don’t actually follow ANY Destiel edit tags because I guess I’m extremely well-served by what I see on my dash with my followers, but for the sake of showing you -

wait a minute this “destiel edit” tag looks too general - full of shitposts and chat posts and really quickly made meme-y edits! Maybe you want to follow that while you’re new, maybe you know you’ll see as much of that as you need on your dash because silly people will always reblog silly things so it’s not urgent to follow it (I’m not saying don’t, I’m just making snobby judgements about what I want on my dash and also I know this is the kind of quality shitposting I already followed a bunch of people for and the meta writers and fancy edit makers and artists are all going to be silly people who will ALSO make trashy chat posts, quickly cobbled together edits, and memes without me seeking that out :P)

So I looked at the one fancy destiel gifset in the first bunch of results and looked at the tags and - 

https://www.tumblr.com/search/destieledit

There we go, that’s what all the gifmakers are using and I see BNF (big name fan) giffers in the suggested blogs at the top, many of whom I already recognise and will always reblog their gifs (because I follow too many blogs so stuff like this is how i see what they’re up to). So now I’m viewing that page instead of “destiel edit” having made the point about the importance of difference in spacing to fandom - 

Click the blue follow button in the top bar because this is what I want on my dash :D

this will now be in the dropdown under the search bar I showed at the start and you can visit it whenever by clicking on that. It will ALSO now put random posts on your dash like this:

the blue “Follow” suggests I don’t follow this blog, unlike the other posts on my dash around it which are just a chronological list of things people I follow have posted. There’s also an X button that will give you a snarky comment as you get rid of the post. Generally this removes it never to be seen again, so if you wanted to reblog it and pressed X good luck hunting it down with what your remember or your best guess what tag it was in :P

This is how it shows you what tag it is in, with the little green text and magnifying glass:

As you can see a lot of creators put a whole bunch of tags on a post to cover a lot of bases. Since I follow SPN edit and spnedit I’m gonna have to take this post off my dash twice at some point, though it’s not exactly hard seeing it over and over because I like Abaddon’s face :P I’ll probably stick this post in my queue before I press the X button. Once I’ve pressed that, it will disappear and the next page of my dash will have a new suggested post.

Oh thinking of pages you’ll want to turn off endless scrolling so you get 10 posts per page on your dash if you’re on a computer:

https://www.tumblr.com/settings/dashboard

Since I’m 100 miles behind on my dash looking at stuff from a week ago, I generally get all the new edits after an episode from this method, combined with selective blog stalking of my favourite people. :P

Anyway once you’re following a bunch of blogs for content, you’ll start to see a more nuanced version of tumblr on your dash - lots of discussion and posts in types you never thought you were looking for. I found MOST people I wanted to follow by seeing discussions or reblogs on my dash of things I was also interested in, using the original people I followed as like a style guide for what I wanted to see. 

People fairly regularly get asked or post lists of people THEY follow, or “follow forever” posts with up to like 100 people they follow on it; if you’re feeling lazy about populating your dash and stumble on one of those, you can indiscriminately follow all those lot and see what happens borrowing someone else’s dash (while knowing you can unfollow at any time). I’ve seen people in a ton of different fandoms doing it so if you go on a fandom blog you like and search “follow forever” on their page, you’ll either find them reblogging one they’re in with thanks, or making their own. It’s always the phrase “follow forever” which is handy for searching.

Aside from that, explore blogs! Follow posts to their sources if you like what someone said. I don’t follow any tags for fic and art because I see that most on my dash and can rely on everyone I follow to find and reblog it in the first place - I follow relatively few people JUST for fic or art, as they’re the things I rely on getting second hand a lot of the time and come with a sort of implicit recommendation that someone else already reblogged them onto my dash. (TBH you might have noticed I also said I don’t follow a lot of the BNF gif and edit people - meta blogs are the only things I follow MOSTLY to get their content direct from the source and this is advice I read when I was new to tumblr. Stuff like edits, art and fic from well-established fandom people will reach you whether you follow them or not, so concentrate on making friends and enjoying their content when you might be the first or only person to do so initially if they’re not very well known either) 

When you see a post you like on your dash, you follow the source, at the bottom of a reblogged post - just hover over their name:

That blue “follow” next to it, btw, it suggesting I follow the blog the person below this post reblogged something from. The pink “Unfollow” button on euclase’s pop-up bio would be a follow button if you weren’t following her (which you should probably go do right now, I’ll wait :P) Basically Tumblr is always giving you a ton of ways to follow more people while you’re on your dash.

You can also explore people’s blogs directly. For example, Shirley has a tag for all the fics she reblogs from other people:

http://destieldrabblesdaily.tumblr.com/tagged/drabbles%3A-others

If you browse tags like that on blogs that reblog a ton of content from others, you can follow people who make what you like best. So a blog that reblogs a ton of art will have way more choice about what artists to follow than seeking out individual artists one by one.

I think that’s all the advice I have to get you started >.> It’s way more nuanced with meta considering all the different interpretations going around and even the people I follow who I agree with enough to follow, definitely have massive schisms between how they all think as a whole of the meta bloggers I follow, so if you asked me this specifically because I’m a meta blog I’ll have to do a pt.2 on that when I’m a bit more awake. :P

[gabriellakirtonblog]

How to Motivate Clients for Home Workouts

In The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Getting Clients and Referrals, Jonathan Goodman writes this about motivation:

“A great trainer doesn’t have to design a great workout. She has to design a good enough workout, and get her clients to want to do the workout.”

But motivation isn’t easy, even with in-person clients. Getting online clients to follow their program is harder. But getting online clients to work out consistently at home is hardest of all.

That’s true even if they choose to exercise at home. When something like the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 forces them to turn their living room into a home gym, motivation can be a monumental challenge.

Fortunately, there’s a way to get them going on the days when they’re stuck.

Setting the stage for successful home workouts

Let’s begin with a few assumptions:

First, your online clients want to exercise, even if they don’t love doing it. Maybe they don’t want to exercise at home, but they genuinely, sincerely want to be active and healthy.

Second, you’ve given them a great workout program, one that’s tailored to their abilities, goals, preferences, space, and equipment (or lack thereof).

Third, you’ve given them the obvious advice:

Set up a dedicated space for their home workouts.

Schedule time in their calendar, as they would if they were training with you in person.

Take advantage of the benefits of home exercise, like blasting any music they want, or wearing clothes they’d never be caught dead in outside their house.

The problem is that, despite their best intentions and your best guidance, they struggle to follow through.

In my experience, the problem often comes down to an all-or-nothing mentality. They believe there’s no point even starting if they can’t do the entire workout. If they don’t think they have the energy or focus for 40 or 50 minutes of exercise, why bother?

That’s where this one simple prompt comes in handy.

READ ALSO: 10 Online Training Challenges No One Warns You About

The value of just getting started

When a client admits they’re struggling with motivation, make the following request:

“Can you give it five minutes?”

Or, alternatively:

“Can you do one exercise?”

Follow up with this:

“If you still aren’t feeling it after five minutes [or one exercise], that’s it. You’re done. You gave it a shot, and this just isn’t your day.”

Now comes the most important part:

“However, if you start to feel better after five minutes [or one exercise], try another five minutes [or one more exercise]. And if you feel even better after 10 minutes [or two exercises], keep going. Don’t think about anything but the next five or 10 minutes [or the next one or two exercises].

“If you finish the workout, that’s awesome. If you don’t, hey, at least you did something on a day you didn’t feel like doing anything. Either way, we’ll call it a win.”

It’s not exactly a new idea. We’ve been telling people for ages that showing up is the most important part of any program.

Which is true if we’re talking about showing up at the gym. Nobody walks into their health club, decides they aren’t feeling it, and turns around and goes home. If nothing else, there’s the sense they’ll be judged by others if they don’t at least go through the motions of working out.

But for home workouts, there’s no social pressure. Nobody can see if you’re working or shirking.

Another challenge of home exercise is replicating the surge of adrenaline many of us feel just by walking into the gym and being around people who’re getting their work in.

The “just do five minutes” or “just do one exercise” prompt addresses multiple challenges for clients who work out at home:

It’s easy to remember.

It shrinks the change, minimizing the barrier to taking action and moving forward.

It reframes “success.” Instead of making the client feel like a failure if they don’t complete the workout, it tells them something is better than nothing, and something more is better than something less. Paradoxically, they’re more likely to do the entire routine when they feel less pressure.

It gets the client moving and the juices flowing. This is especially important for the type of client who feeds off the energy of the gym, and misses being around people.

READ ALSO: How to Supercharge Your Client’s Motivation

How to get the client moving

Now we’ll look at how to use the prompt with two types of clients who struggle with home workouts:

Someone who doesn’t like working out

Someone who likes to be pushed in the gym

The client who likes to be pushed in the gym

Let’s say this is one of the home workouts you designed for your client:

1A One-leg squat to a chair

1B Push-up

2A Inverted row

2B One-leg hip thrust

3A Plank with arm march

3B Lateral raise

If you gave them the “just do five minutes” prompt, you can ask them to alternate 1A and 1B, perhaps one set of each per minute.

Same with the next five minutes, if they choose to continue: Alternate 2A and 2B, one set per minute.

If you said, “just do one exercise,” choose a compound movement. From this workout, the best choices would probably be the push-up or inverted row.

On the final set, tell the client to do as many reps as they can with good technique, no matter how many reps the workout specifies. If they can do more, do more. The idea is, “last set, best set.”

When they complete the last set, if they feel like doing one more exercise, choose another compound movement. Have them repeat the process, including the big finish.

Even if the client stops there, that’s still a pretty good 10-minute or two-exercise workout.

The client who doesn’t like working out

You’ll need a different strategy for a client who aspires to be active and healthy but doesn’t enjoy the process—especially when the process doesn’t even get them out of the house.

So instead of saying “just do one exercise,” you’ll specify that it should be the exercise they enjoy the most (or hate the least). If it’s lateral raises, that’s great. There are no good and bad options.

It doesn’t even have to be an exercise from your program. If they like doing curls or crunches or jumping jacks, give it your blessing.

You can also try this variation on the “just do five minutes” prompt:

“Pick two of your favorite songs. Press play and start exercising. When the songs end, your workout ends.”

If they want to continue, that’s two more songs. If they don’t, give the client a virtual high-five, and talk about what they’ll do the next time.

Using songs as a timer works best without traditional sets and reps—yoga or shadow boxing, for example. You can also just ask the client to dance to the two songs. “Dance like nobody’s watching” is an easy prompt when there’s literally nobody who could watch.

Music also functions as a motivator, which is both intuitive and backed by research. Working out with music increases mood and effort and reduces perceived exertion.

READ ALSO: Four Steps to Help Your Clients Find Their “Why”

Final thoughts about motivating clients for home workouts

I can sum it up in four words: Action first, motivation second.

As Newton said, a body in motion stays in motion. It’s easier to keep going than to get going. Thus, if you can get the client moving, even if it’s just for a few minutes, chances are they’ll feel better about the task, and their ability to do it.

But even if they decide to stop after one exercise or five minutes, at least they did something. And that still counts.

        Ready to Launch a Lucrative and Fulfilling Online Personal Training Career?

Have more freedom. Make more money. Help more people.

The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training is the gateway for trainers and gym owners looking to break out of the grind of long hours and unpredictable income. Let Jonathan Goodman show you …

The foundational skills successful online trainers develop (pg. 3)

How to price and package your services to get what you’re worth (pg. 67)

The tech you need to deliver world-class results — it’s simpler than you think (pg. 103)

Insider secrets for getting and keeping your ideal clients (pg. 109)

The truth about marketing your online business (pg. 125)

And much, much more!

If you’re ready to take the next step in your personal training career, or know someone who is, you won’t find a more authoritative or comprehensive resource.

Order the paperback today and get the audiobook and ebook versions FREE (a $40 value).

Ready to start? Just click here: The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training

The post How to Motivate Clients for Home Workouts appeared first on The PTDC.

How to Motivate Clients for Home Workouts published first on https://onezeroonesarms.tumblr.com/

[ubizheroes]

Writing Headlines that Serve SEO, Social Media, and Website Visitors All Together – Whiteboard Friday

Posted by randfish

Have your headlines been doing some heavy lifting? If you’ve been using one headline to serve multiple audiences, you’re missing out on some key optimization opportunities. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand gives you a process for writing headlines for SEO, for social media, and for your website visitors — each custom-tailored to its audience and optimized to meet different goals.

https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/tcbd2xegic?videoFoam=true

https://fast.wistia.net/assets/external/E-v1.js

Click on the whiteboard image above to open a high-resolution version in a new tab!

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/346681833&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true

Video Transcription

Howdy, Moz fans, and welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. This week we’re going to chat about writing headlines. One of the big problems that headlines have is that they need to serve multiple audiences. So it’s not just ranking and search engines. Even if it was, the issue is that we need to do well on social media. We need to serve our website visitors well in order to rank in the search engines. So this gets very challenging.

I’ve tried to illustrate this with a Venn diagram here. So you can see, basically…

SEO

In the SEO world of headline writing, what I’m trying to do is rank well, earn high click-through rate, because I want a lot of those visitors to the search results to choose my result, not somebody else’s. I want low pogo-sticking. I don’t want anyone clicking the back button and choosing someone else’s result because I didn’t fulfill their needs. I need to earn links, and I’ve got to have engagement.

Social media

On the social media side, it’s pretty different actually. I’m trying to earn amplification, which can often mean the headline tells as much of the story as possible. Even if you don’t read the piece, you amplify it, you retweet it, and you re-share it. I’m looking for clicks, and I’m looking for comments and engagement on the post. I’m not necessarily too worried about that back button and the selection of another item. In fact, time on site might not even be a concern at all.

Website visitors

For website visitors, both of these are channels that drive traffic. But for the site itself, I’m trying to drive right visitors, the ones who are going to be loyal, who are going to come back, hopefully who are going to convert. I want to not confuse anyone. I want to deliver on my promise so that I don’t create a bad brand reputation and detract from people wanting to click on me in the future. For those of you have visited a site like Forbes or maybe even a BuzzFeed and you have an association of, “Oh, man, this is going to be that clickbait stuff. I don’t want to click on their stuff. I’m going to choose somebody else in the results instead of this brand that I remember having a bad experience with.”

Notable conflicts

There are some notable direct conflicts in here.

Keywords for SEO can be really boring on social media sites. When you try and keyword stuff especially or be keyword-heavy, your social performance tends to go terribly.

Creating mystery on social, so essentially not saying what the piece is truly about, but just creating an inkling of what it might be about harms the clarity that you need for search in order to rank well and in order to drive those clicks from a search engine. It also hurts your ability generally to do keyword targeting.

The need for engagement and brand reputation that you’ve got for your website visitors is really going to hurt you if you’re trying to develop those clickbait-style pieces that do so well on social.

In search, ranking for low-relevance keywords is going to drive very unhappy visitors, people who don’t care that just because you happen to rank for this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should, because you didn’t serve the visitor intent with the actual content.

Getting to resolution

So how do we resolve this? Well, it’s not actually a terribly hard process. In 2017 and beyond, what’s nice is that search engines and social and visitors all have enough shared stuff that, most of the time, we can get to a good, happy resolution.

Step one: Determine who your primary audience is, your primary goals, and some prioritization of those channels.

You might say, “Hey, this piece is really targeted at search. If it does well on social, that’s fine, but this is going to be our primary traffic driver.” Or you might say, “This is really for internal website visitors who are browsing around our site. If it happens to drive some traffic from search or social, well that’s fine, but that’s not our intent.”

Step two: For non-conflict elements, optimize for the most demanding channel.

For those non-conflicting elements, so this could be the page title that you use for SEO, it doesn’t always have to perfectly match the headline. If it’s a not-even-close match, that’s a real problem, but an imperfect match can still be okay.

So what’s nice in social is you have things like Twitter cards and the Facebook markup, graph markup. That Open Graph markup means that you can have slightly different content there than what you might be using for your snippet, your meta description in search engines. So you can separate those out or choose to keep those distinct, and that can help you as well.

Step three: Author the straightforward headline first.

I’m going to ask you author the most straightforward version of the headline first.

Step four: Now write the social-friendly/click-likely version without other considerations.

Is to write the opposite of that, the most social-friendly or click-likely/click-worthy version. It doesn’t necessarily have to worry about keywords. It doesn’t have to worry about accuracy or telling the whole story without any of these other considerations.

Step five: Merge 3 & 4, and add in critical keywords.

We’re going to take three and four and just merge them into something that will work for both, that compromises in the right way, compromises based on your primary audience, your primary goals, and then add in the critical keywords that you’re going to need.

Examples:

I’ve tried to illustrate this a bit with an example. Nest, which Google bought them years ago and then they became part of the Alphabet Corporation that Google evolved into. So Nest is separately owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Nest came out with this new alarm system. In fact, the day we’re filming this Whiteboard Friday, they came out with a new alarm system. So they’re no longer just a provider of thermostats inside of houses. They now have something else.

Step one: So if I’m a tech news site and I’m writing about this, I know that I’m trying to target gadget and news readers. My primary channel is going to be social first, but secondarily search engines. The goal that I’m trying to reach, that’s engagement followed by visits and then hopefully some newsletter sign-ups to my tech site.

Step two: My title and headline in this case probably need to match very closely. So the social callouts, the social cards and the Open Graph, that can be unique from the meta description if need be or from the search snippet if need be.

Step three: I’m going to do step three, author the straightforward headline. That for me is going to be “Nest Has a New Alarm System, Video Doorbell, and Outdoor Camera.” A little boring, probably not going to tremendously well on social, but it probably would do decently well in search.

Step four: My social click-likely version is going to be something more like “Nest is No Longer Just a Thermostat. Their New Security System Will Blow You Away.” That’s not the best headline in the universe, but I’m not a great headline writer. However, you get the idea. This is the click-likely social version, the one that you see the headline and you go, “Ooh, they have a new security system. I wonder what’s involved in that.” You create some mystery. You don’t know that it includes a video doorbell, an outdoor camera, and an alarm. You just hear, “They’ve got a new security system. Well, I better look at it.”

Step five: Then I can try and compromise and say, “Hey, I know that I need to have video doorbell, camera, alarm, and Nest.” Those are my keywords. Those are the important ones. That’s what people are going to be searching for around this announcement, so I’ve got to have them in there. I want to have them close to the front. So “Nest’s New Alarm, Video Doorbell and Camera Are About to Be on Every Home’s Must-Have List.” All right, resolved in there.

So this process of writing headlines to serve these multiple different, sometimes competing priorities is totally possible with nearly everything you’re going to do in SEO and social and for your website visitors. This resolution process is something hopefully you can leverage to get better results.

All right, everyone, we’ll see you again next week for another edition of Whiteboard Friday. Take care.

Video transcription by Speechpad.com

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don’t have time to hunt down but want to read!

from Moz Blog https://moz.com/blog/writing-headlines-seo-social-media via IFTTT

from Blogger http://imlocalseo.blogspot.com/2017/10/writing-headlines-that-serve-seo-social.html via IFTTT

from IM Local SEO https://imlocalseo.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/writing-headlines-that-serve-seo-social-media-and-website-visitors-all-together-whiteboard-friday/ via IFTTT

from Gana Dinero Colaborando | Wecon Project https://weconprojectspain.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/writing-headlines-that-serve-seo-social-media-and-website-visitors-all-together-whiteboard-friday/ via IFTTT

from WordPress https://mrliberta.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/writing-headlines-that-serve-seo-social-media-and-website-visitors-all-together-whiteboard-friday/ via IFTTT

[toothextract]

Writing Headlines that Serve SEO, Social Media, and Website Visitors All Together – Whiteboard Friday

Posted by randfish

Have your headlines been doing some heavy lifting? If you’ve been using one headline to serve multiple audiences, you’re missing out on some key optimization opportunities. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand gives you a process for writing headlines for SEO, for social media, and for your website visitors — each custom-tailored to its audience and optimized to meet different goals.

https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/tcbd2xegic?videoFoam=true

https://fast.wistia.net/assets/external/E-v1.js

Click on the whiteboard image above to open a high-resolution version in a new tab!

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/346681833&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true

Video Transcription

Howdy, Moz fans, and welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. This week we’re going to chat about writing headlines. One of the big problems that headlines have is that they need to serve multiple audiences. So it’s not just ranking and search engines. Even if it was, the issue is that we need to do well on social media. We need to serve our website visitors well in order to rank in the search engines. So this gets very challenging.

I’ve tried to illustrate this with a Venn diagram here. So you can see, basically…

SEO

In the SEO world of headline writing, what I’m trying to do is rank well, earn high click-through rate, because I want a lot of those visitors to the search results to choose my result, not somebody else’s. I want low pogo-sticking. I don’t want anyone clicking the back button and choosing someone else’s result because I didn’t fulfill their needs. I need to earn links, and I’ve got to have engagement.

Social media

On the social media side, it’s pretty different actually. I’m trying to earn amplification, which can often mean the headline tells as much of the story as possible. Even if you don’t read the piece, you amplify it, you retweet it, and you re-share it. I’m looking for clicks, and I’m looking for comments and engagement on the post. I’m not necessarily too worried about that back button and the selection of another item. In fact, time on site might not even be a concern at all.

Website visitors

For website visitors, both of these are channels that drive traffic. But for the site itself, I’m trying to drive right visitors, the ones who are going to be loyal, who are going to come back, hopefully who are going to convert. I want to not confuse anyone. I want to deliver on my promise so that I don’t create a bad brand reputation and detract from people wanting to click on me in the future. For those of you have visited a site like Forbes or maybe even a BuzzFeed and you have an association of, “Oh, man, this is going to be that clickbait stuff. I don’t want to click on their stuff. I’m going to choose somebody else in the results instead of this brand that I remember having a bad experience with.”

Notable conflicts

There are some notable direct conflicts in here.

Keywords for SEO can be really boring on social media sites. When you try and keyword stuff especially or be keyword-heavy, your social performance tends to go terribly.

Creating mystery on social, so essentially not saying what the piece is truly about, but just creating an inkling of what it might be about harms the clarity that you need for search in order to rank well and in order to drive those clicks from a search engine. It also hurts your ability generally to do keyword targeting.

The need for engagement and brand reputation that you’ve got for your website visitors is really going to hurt you if you’re trying to develop those clickbait-style pieces that do so well on social.

In search, ranking for low-relevance keywords is going to drive very unhappy visitors, people who don’t care that just because you happen to rank for this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should, because you didn’t serve the visitor intent with the actual content.

Getting to resolution

So how do we resolve this? Well, it’s not actually a terribly hard process. In 2017 and beyond, what’s nice is that search engines and social and visitors all have enough shared stuff that, most of the time, we can get to a good, happy resolution.

Step one: Determine who your primary audience is, your primary goals, and some prioritization of those channels.

You might say, “Hey, this piece is really targeted at search. If it does well on social, that’s fine, but this is going to be our primary traffic driver.” Or you might say, “This is really for internal website visitors who are browsing around our site. If it happens to drive some traffic from search or social, well that’s fine, but that’s not our intent.”

Step two: For non-conflict elements, optimize for the most demanding channel.

For those non-conflicting elements, so this could be the page title that you use for SEO, it doesn’t always have to perfectly match the headline. If it’s a not-even-close match, that’s a real problem, but an imperfect match can still be okay.

So what’s nice in social is you have things like Twitter cards and the Facebook markup, graph markup. That Open Graph markup means that you can have slightly different content there than what you might be using for your snippet, your meta description in search engines. So you can separate those out or choose to keep those distinct, and that can help you as well.

Step three: Author the straightforward headline first.

I’m going to ask you author the most straightforward version of the headline first.

Step four: Now write the social-friendly/click-likely version without other considerations.

Is to write the opposite of that, the most social-friendly or click-likely/click-worthy version. It doesn’t necessarily have to worry about keywords. It doesn’t have to worry about accuracy or telling the whole story without any of these other considerations.

Step five: Merge 3 & 4, and add in critical keywords.

We’re going to take three and four and just merge them into something that will work for both, that compromises in the right way, compromises based on your primary audience, your primary goals, and then add in the critical keywords that you’re going to need.

Examples:

I’ve tried to illustrate this a bit with an example. Nest, which Google bought them years ago and then they became part of the Alphabet Corporation that Google evolved into. So Nest is separately owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Nest came out with this new alarm system. In fact, the day we’re filming this Whiteboard Friday, they came out with a new alarm system. So they’re no longer just a provider of thermostats inside of houses. They now have something else.

Step one: So if I’m a tech news site and I’m writing about this, I know that I’m trying to target gadget and news readers. My primary channel is going to be social first, but secondarily search engines. The goal that I’m trying to reach, that’s engagement followed by visits and then hopefully some newsletter sign-ups to my tech site.

Step two: My title and headline in this case probably need to match very closely. So the social callouts, the social cards and the Open Graph, that can be unique from the meta description if need be or from the search snippet if need be.

Step three: I’m going to do step three, author the straightforward headline. That for me is going to be “Nest Has a New Alarm System, Video Doorbell, and Outdoor Camera.” A little boring, probably not going to tremendously well on social, but it probably would do decently well in search.

Step four: My social click-likely version is going to be something more like “Nest is No Longer Just a Thermostat. Their New Security System Will Blow You Away.” That’s not the best headline in the universe, but I’m not a great headline writer. However, you get the idea. This is the click-likely social version, the one that you see the headline and you go, “Ooh, they have a new security system. I wonder what’s involved in that.” You create some mystery. You don’t know that it includes a video doorbell, an outdoor camera, and an alarm. You just hear, “They’ve got a new security system. Well, I better look at it.”

Step five: Then I can try and compromise and say, “Hey, I know that I need to have video doorbell, camera, alarm, and Nest.” Those are my keywords. Those are the important ones. That’s what people are going to be searching for around this announcement, so I’ve got to have them in there. I want to have them close to the front. So “Nest’s New Alarm, Video Doorbell and Camera Are About to Be on Every Home’s Must-Have List.” All right, resolved in there.

So this process of writing headlines to serve these multiple different, sometimes competing priorities is totally possible with nearly everything you’re going to do in SEO and social and for your website visitors. This resolution process is something hopefully you can leverage to get better results.

All right, everyone, we’ll see you again next week for another edition of Whiteboard Friday. Take care.

Video transcription by Speechpad.com

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don’t have time to hunt down but want to read!

from https://dentistry01.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/writing-headlines-that-serve-seo-social-media-and-website-visitors-all-together-whiteboard-friday/

[crushingazon]

Don’t Spend $5000 on an Amazon Course…(Amazon FBA for Beginners)

Today, I’m going to save you $5000 (keep in mind there are many complexities to Amazon you will not run into 99.9% of them). If any of you have Facebook and have any entrepreneurial aspirations, you have seen it. Amazon courses and the prices are starting to become more and more ridiculous. So I’m a going to tell you to push the pause button on buying. These courses promise you the world. They offer “masterminds” cool software, and fancy getaways to Vegas, maybe even Miami. Well, I have made this post to steer you in the right direction and tell you everything you need to succeed in the physical products business.

Upfront Costs

Starting small with $1500 is ideal because you want to test your product before diving head first. Of course, shipping and other fees can put a hankering on this budget it may not be realistic at this point in the game. It is important you start with the least amount of money/inventory possible. Do not be a miser, but do not go overboard when it comes to how much inventory you purchase. Even if you think you have found a great product, anything could happen. Hollywood’s fascinating tales of entrepreneurship simply choose to skip over testing as a part of good business. If something goes wrong, you will need the resources to rebound. So be smart and have intentions of starting small.

Amazon

To profit massively and have free time on your hands, use FBA, Fulfillment by Amazon. Fulfillment by Amazon is a service by which Amazon houses your product and when an order is placed packs and ships it themselves. You will need a Professional Seller account. It is $40.00 bucks a month. Don’t cry; this cost is necessary as there are many benefits to this service.

1. No having to hold product in your house

2. Never having to buy your shipping supplies

3. No daily trips to the post office

4. No matter how many units you sell the cost is always $40 (plus fees from each sale)

5. If your product breaks in transit to the customer Amazon will pay for it

6. If you get a bad review because of poor shipping time or handling of the package Amazon will remove it from your listing.

7. If your product goes missing or breaks at the warehouse Amazon will reimburse

8. Every person that buys your product has the option for Prime shipping (free two-day shipping)

Create a Brand

Deciding on your niche is the first step of any Internet business. Pick a product category you are interested in, or one that you find makes enough money for you to sustain your lifestyle. The top categories on Amazon are Supplements, Health and Beauty, Kitchen and Dining, and Mobile Accessories. There are other categories, but these are the major players. Choose a category with low competition your rise to the top will be quick. Choose a high competition category, and moderate success can still be very profitable. It is best to aim for a mix of both, although it comes down to preference. A creation of multiple brands might become a must for the more lucrative entrepreneur. Two lower competition categories are “Sports and Outdoors” and “Travel”…you are very welcome.

The In-Demand Product

This is the hardest part of the journey. Luckily, Amazon has a ranking system. This is called the “best seller rank.” Additionally, you may want to make Google Trends your best friend. You can consider any product that is in the 1–2000 range as a good in demand.

To Find Products Past the 100 BSR Mark…

You are going to have put in a little extra work.  What you’ll want to do is pick a desired department, on Amazon’s search bar.  This department is usually one of those categories we discussed  we have discussed in the previous section (Home and Kitchen, Sports and Outdoors, Pet Supplies).  Once you have toggled in your desired department, you will input two brackets facing each other in the search bar like so, “[]”  This search will result in a list of items in the department, IN ORDER OF BSR.  So you can now see the “Home and Kitchen” any category in order from its top selling number one item onward.

You can also jump around this list.  First thing you will want to do is go to page 2 of the search results. The url of the page will look like this:

“https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_2?fst=p90x%3A1&rh=n%3A1055398%2Ck%3A[]&page=2&keywords”

The numbers in the middle of the url and after “keywords” do not really matter.  What I want you to pay attention to are the two references to page 2.  The first looks like this (near the beginning of the url) “pg_2” and second looks like this (near the end of the url) “page=2” all you have to do to go to any page in the sequence is change both these instances of two in your url to any page number you would like to see.  For example, if I wanted to go to page 50, the url would then look like this:

“https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_50?fst=p90x%3A1&rh=n%3A1055398%2Ck%3A[]&page=50&keywords=[]&ie=UTF8&qid=1500170457″

It’s really that simple.

Do not get hung up on trying to find the “perfect” product. You want to build a brand; you will be investing in many products. See your products as stocks or investments. Make sure your product is lightweight and small to help you when it comes to shipping cost. All your products do not have to be in the 1–2000 BSR range, in fact, up to 10,000 BSR is perfectly fine. Do your research on regulations and certifications for your product in your country (ex. Supplements and electronics, I do not suggest these on your first go around).

Note: This article was originally written before tools like Junglescout were created.  Now, it doesn’t really matter what BSR the product is, with an estimate on how much the product actually makes you can makes your sourcing decisions based on this revenue estimate.  This should lead you to a more educated decision to reach your desired financial goals.

Sourcing

Another level of difficulty, but you can make it easier if you know what you’re doing. Two ways to source: You can Google [private label/wholesale/OEM (insert product name here)] -– or — you go to these sites (a couple of tips next to each):

Alibaba.com: When looking at manufacturers use Gold Suppliers with one million in sales. A tip to avoid getting scammed is using Paypal instead of a bank transfer. An extra step toward protection on this site is the trade assurance program. Aliexpress.com: wholesale marketplace, smaller order quantities, not for long-term purchases. Dhgate.com: Wholesale marketplace, full OEM services sometimes, free shipping sometimes (free shipping is a huge plus)

WHEN SOURCING PRODUCT ALWAYS ASK FOR SAMPLE, NO EXCEPTIONS

Trust me, save yourself a headache.

Shipping

If you can get free shipping, go for it. Shipping is a lot to fit in here. But it is not complicated at all. Courses try to confuse you, to make you think it ‘s hard, but it is not. The manufacturers you contact will have a lot of experience and can guide you through the process you follow. Want more details you go to: http://www.chinaimportal.com/blog/sea-freight-shipping-from-china-guide/ Customs fees come when shipping products that have a combined value of $2500. If you are shipping by sea, you will need the help of freight forwarder. Google can assist you in finding a good freight forwarding company. Calculate custom charges and shipping cost before it arrives, you do not want any surprises. If you need assistance, talk to a freight forwarder.

FBA Requirements

Make sure you are not shipping more products than you are allowed to have. You will begin with 5000 unit limit unless your product is oversized like a yoga mat (then you are limited to 500). Have your supplier limit any additional instructions or papers on the outside of the boxes your product is shipped in. Amazon provides a shipping label; tell your supplier it should be the largest thing outside the box. Your product should have what is called a UPC; you buy one here: speedybarcodes.com

If this is not present in barcode form on your packaging, you will need stickers applied to the packaging of each item you ship. These are called FNSKU stickers. When creating your shipment within Amazon, they will provide these stickers for you. Sometimes your manufacturer will apply these stickers to each of your products for free, or Amazon can apply them for you for a fee. I usually have my first package from a new supplier shipped to my house first to see if they followed my instructions. After the initial shipment, which should be small, I then ship them off to the assigned FBA warehouse. After correcting the factory, you should be able to have them send your products directly into the FBA warehouses.

Now your Products on Amazon

Three things matter on Amazon, NOTHING ELSE.

PICTURES: Picture quality correlates with sales, this is not a theory this is a fact. Stock photos from your manufacturer are not going to cut it. You need pictures that feature your packaging and cast your product in a professional light. Follow Amazon’s rules regarding pictures like representing the actual quantity you are selling in your main photo. For example, if you are selling your product in packs of two your main photo should have two products.

REVIEWS (RATING): You will need them to get sales. Start with friends and family, if they are not supportive do a giveaway on niche forums and Reddit, get their email address, bug them respectfully until they leave a review.

SALES: You will need them to bump your BSR. This raises you for keywords your product should appear for in Amazon’s search result pages. After about 20 or so reviews from Redditors, friends, and family then go to a…

Launch Service

The “big” secret courses are pushing. You probably heard of Zonblast, great, but extremely overpriced. A cheaper service to get the same exact results: Viral-Launch.com. Follow up with customers who take part in your launch for reviews. You are “buying” reviews and a bump in keyword ranking.

Repeat/Diversify your Bonds

Oh, you’ve gotten some success…selling about 20–30 a day now with no ad dollars spent on your part. Good, pick another product and start again within your brand. Then create a new brand and begin again. Repeat, repeat…diversify your bonds (brands) Anyone can do this… it is easy. I even revealed the “secret”… the launch service.

———————— A note from Crushing Azon:  We believe no one should have to pay over $2000 for access to information that could change his or her life.

Everyone should have access to explore a business model that works.  For this reason, we put out entire flagship course on Skillshare where you can access it free for 30 Days: http://skl.sh/2nSevaF

Sign up and take a look and if you don’t like what you see, cancel it’s as simple as that (but we know you won’t). 

Or get our flagship guide free with Kindle Unlimited: How to Crush it on Amazon: Create a Brand and Build a Million Dollar Business in a Year

*To own the course and get lifetime updates see our “Courses/Trainings” Page.

from http://crushingazon.com/amazon-fba-for-beginners/

[gabriellakirtonblog]

How to Motivate Clients for Home Workouts

In The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Getting Clients and Referrals, Jonathan Goodman writes this about motivation:

“A great trainer doesn’t have to design a great workout. She has to design a good enough workout, and get her clients to want to do the workout.”

But motivation isn’t easy, even with in-person clients. Getting online clients to follow their program is harder. But getting online clients to work out consistently at home is hardest of all.

That’s true even if they choose to exercise at home. When something like the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 forces them to turn their living room into a home gym, motivation can be a monumental challenge.

Fortunately, there’s a way to get them going on the days when they’re stuck.

Setting the stage for successful home workouts

Let’s begin with a few assumptions:

First, your online clients want to exercise, even if they don’t love doing it. Maybe they don’t want to exercise at home, but they genuinely, sincerely want to be active and healthy.

Second, you’ve given them a great workout program, one that’s tailored to their abilities, goals, preferences, space, and equipment (or lack thereof).

Third, you’ve given them the obvious advice:

Set up a dedicated space for their home workouts.

Schedule time in their calendar, as they would if they were training with you in person.

Take advantage of the benefits of home exercise, like blasting any music they want, or wearing clothes they’d never be caught dead in outside their house.

The problem is that, despite their best intentions and your best guidance, they struggle to follow through.

In my experience, the problem often comes down to an all-or-nothing mentality. They believe there’s no point even starting if they can’t do the entire workout. If they don’t think they have the energy or focus for 40 or 50 minutes of exercise, why bother?

That’s where this one simple prompt comes in handy.

READ ALSO: 10 Online Training Challenges No One Warns You About

The value of just getting started

When a client admits they’re struggling with motivation, make the following request:

“Can you give it five minutes?”

Or, alternatively:

“Can you do one exercise?”

Follow up with this:

“If you still aren’t feeling it after five minutes [or one exercise], that’s it. You’re done. You gave it a shot, and this just isn’t your day.”

Now comes the most important part:

“However, if you start to feel better after five minutes [or one exercise], try another five minutes [or one more exercise]. And if you feel even better after 10 minutes [or two exercises], keep going. Don’t think about anything but the next five or 10 minutes [or the next one or two exercises].

“If you finish the workout, that’s awesome. If you don’t, hey, at least you did something on a day you didn’t feel like doing anything. Either way, we’ll call it a win.”

It’s not exactly a new idea. We’ve been telling people for ages that showing up is the most important part of any program.

Which is true if we’re talking about showing up at the gym. Nobody walks into their health club, decides they aren’t feeling it, and turns around and goes home. If nothing else, there’s the sense they’ll be judged by others if they don’t at least go through the motions of working out.

But for home workouts, there’s no social pressure. Nobody can see if you’re working or shirking.

Another challenge of home exercise is replicating the surge of adrenaline many of us feel just by walking into the gym and being around people who’re getting their work in.

The “just do five minutes” or “just do one exercise” prompt addresses multiple challenges for clients who work out at home:

It’s easy to remember.

It shrinks the change, minimizing the barrier to taking action and moving forward.

It reframes “success.” Instead of making the client feel like a failure if they don’t complete the workout, it tells them something is better than nothing, and something more is better than something less. Paradoxically, they’re more likely to do the entire routine when they feel less pressure.

It gets the client moving and the juices flowing. This is especially important for the type of client who feeds off the energy of the gym, and misses being around people.

READ ALSO: How to Supercharge Your Client’s Motivation

How to get the client moving

Now we’ll look at how to use the prompt with two types of clients who struggle with home workouts:

Someone who doesn’t like working out

Someone who likes to be pushed in the gym

The client who likes to be pushed in the gym

Let’s say this is one of the home workouts you designed for your client:

1A One-leg squat to a chair

1B Push-up

2A Inverted row

2B One-leg hip thrust

3A Plank with arm march

3B Lateral raise

If you gave them the “just do five minutes” prompt, you can ask them to alternate 1A and 1B, perhaps one set of each per minute.

Same with the next five minutes, if they choose to continue: Alternate 2A and 2B, one set per minute.

If you said, “just do one exercise,” choose a compound movement. From this workout, the best choices would probably be the push-up or inverted row.

On the final set, tell the client to do as many reps as they can with good technique, no matter how many reps the workout specifies. If they can do more, do more. The idea is, “last set, best set.”

When they complete the last set, if they feel like doing one more exercise, choose another compound movement. Have them repeat the process, including the big finish.

Even if the client stops there, that’s still a pretty good 10-minute or two-exercise workout.

The client who doesn’t like working out

You’ll need a different strategy for a client who aspires to be active and healthy but doesn’t enjoy the process—especially when the process doesn’t even get them out of the house.

So instead of saying “just do one exercise,” you’ll specify that it should be the exercise they enjoy the most (or hate the least). If it’s lateral raises, that’s great. There are no good and bad options.

It doesn’t even have to be an exercise from your program. If they like doing curls or crunches or jumping jacks, give it your blessing.

You can also try this variation on the “just do five minutes” prompt:

“Pick two of your favorite songs. Press play and start exercising. When the songs end, your workout ends.”

If they want to continue, that’s two more songs. If they don’t, give the client a virtual high-five, and talk about what they’ll do the next time.

Using songs as a timer works best without traditional sets and reps—yoga or shadow boxing, for example. You can also just ask the client to dance to the two songs. “Dance like nobody’s watching” is an easy prompt when there’s literally nobody who could watch.

Music also functions as a motivator, which is both intuitive and backed by research. Working out with music increases mood and effort and reduces perceived exertion.

READ ALSO: Four Steps to Help Your Clients Find Their “Why”

Final thoughts about motivating clients for home workouts

I can sum it up in four words: Action first, motivation second.

As Newton said, a body in motion stays in motion. It’s easier to keep going than to get going. Thus, if you can get the client moving, even if it’s just for a few minutes, chances are they’ll feel better about the task, and their ability to do it.

But even if they decide to stop after one exercise or five minutes, at least they did something. And that still counts.

        Ready to Launch a Lucrative and Fulfilling Online Personal Training Career?

Have more freedom. Make more money. Help more people.

The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training is the gateway for trainers and gym owners looking to break out of the grind of long hours and unpredictable income. Let Jonathan Goodman show you …

The foundational skills successful online trainers develop (pg. 3)

How to price and package your services to get what you’re worth (pg. 67)

The tech you need to deliver world-class results — it’s simpler than you think (pg. 103)

Insider secrets for getting and keeping your ideal clients (pg. 109)

The truth about marketing your online business (pg. 125)

And much, much more!

If you’re ready to take the next step in your personal training career, or know someone who is, you won’t find a more authoritative or comprehensive resource.

Order the paperback today and get the audiobook and ebook versions FREE (a $40 value).

Ready to start? Just click here: The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training

The post How to Motivate Clients for Home Workouts appeared first on The PTDC.

How to Motivate Clients for Home Workouts published first on https://onezeroonesarms.tumblr.com/