#perhaps its because “fun fact” is a pretty good conversation starter
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finnishwhiteboy · 2 years ago
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I am like this. I don't like being like this but I haven't found any alternatives lf it yet.
autistic who goes “fun fact” and then proceeds to tell you the most gruesome unfunny thing you’ve heard all day
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Moonrock dildo prompt: Geralt works in a geological museum and Jaskier is a visitor and is fascinated by the phallic moonrock on display and asks Geralt everything about it, but he is so bad at flirting (sorry, 💖💖💖💖)
Ellie, you darling soul, this fic really got out of hand. I hope you like it cuz honestly... I wanna write more. 
Please forgive my rock knowledge, it’s spotty at best. I did a ton of research though so be gentle.
Shout out to Ellie for the line “Jaskier was quite gay”
Warnings: phallic moon rocks, discussion of dildos, flirting
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The museum was quiet as Jaskier wandered through the large rooms, the only sound his footsteps echoing around him. No matter how many times he had suffered through donor tours because of his parent’s generosity, he didn’t think he would ever feel comfortable in an almost empty museum. The quiet was almost eerie and, although he knew there were security and other employees about, it always left him feeling incredibly lonely.
He was a social person, he liked company and talking and these museum walk throughs were never like that. He wouldn’t even get a docent who could tell him about the exhibits, he was just expected to wander aimlessly until he had to meet with whatever person was in charge of whatever thing his parents donated to this time.
Normally he could at least enjoy the paintings and sculptures as his parent’s favored art museums but this time, they had decided to put their money towards a small mineralogical and geological museum for… whatever reason, and he was bored. Sure, the rocks and minerals and stones and whatever else he was looking at, for he knew nothing of rocks and the like, were pretty but… they were rocks. And he was bored.
Thankfully though, it was a truly small museum and he was almost down to the last room, which was where he was to meet with the curator of the final collection, something to do with space rocks. Or maybe it was moon rocks. Truly, Jaskier didn’t know the difference and he wasn’t sure he really cared.
Humming absentmindedly to himself, Jaskier approached the archway leading into the last room of the museum. The first thing he noticed was how much larger the room was than all the other ones, even the ceiling was higher, and bearing a beautiful painting of the night sky. The second was how many more display cases there were here than in the other rooms.
Jaskier walked inside slowly, looking into the closest display cases eagerly, already more interested in this room than all those previous. He gazed into the first case, reading the card identifying the rock as a “Lunar Meteorite”. The rock was dark in color and filled with holes, rather plain really. Jaskier stood quietly, studying the rock. There was honestly nothing special about it, to him, other than the fact that it was from the moon, but if he hadn’t known that fact it certainly wasn’t something that would have drawn his eye.
Moving on, Jaskier directed his attention to a display case located in the center of the room. Walking up to it curiously, his brows drew together in confusion as he stared at the rock in front of him.
Jaskier tried to think of how to describe it other than phallic, but nothing came to mind. It looked like a dick. Looking at the description, he was surprised to see that it was recovered during a space mission. And there was also no mention of it’s rather surprising shape.
“Mr. Pankratz?” A deep voice inquired from behind him, shocking Jaskier. The voice echoed in the room, though not as loud as the squeak Jaskier let out as he spun around.
Standing in front of Jaskier was possibly the most beautiful man in existence. He was of a height with Jaskier, perhaps and inch or two taller. His brilliant white hair was pulled back into a low bun, showing off the undercut he was sporting. His jawline could cut marble, which looked to be what the rest of him was made of. The neat suit he was wearing accented the broad line of his shoulders and narrow taper of his waist.
Jaskier was quite gay, thank you very much, and being confronted with this absolute Adonis of a man was rather overwhelming.
“Uh… yes. Well, no. I mean, I am who you are looking for but please don’t call me Mr. Pankratz. Jaskier, if you don’t mind.”
The man grunted.
“Right… and should I assume you’re Dr. Rivia?” Jaskier asked as it became apparent.
“Yes.”
For as much as the man was most certainly handsome, he seemed equally unwilling to talk. Jaskier held out a hand, “Nice to meet you.” As the large, warm hand clasped him, Jaskier shivered involuntarily, thinking about better places that hand could be grabbing.
“Okay so you’re the curator, right? This is your exhibit?” Jaskier gestured vaguely at the impressive collection around him.
“I am. Have you gotten to look around, much?”  Dr. Rivia’s reply was short and brusque.
Jaskier hummed thoughtfully, glancing back at the case behind him, “Not in here, no. I was just looking at this one actually.”
Dr. Rivia hummed thoughtfully, looking at the case, “And do you like it?”
Did he… like it? Well, he was rather fond of dick. “I… don’t know. I actually have a lot of questions about it.”
“I’d be happy to answer any questions you have.”
Any questions he had… should he go for it? Eh, might as well, Jaskier decided, hoping the conversation wouldn’t get back to his parents. “Well… for starters, is there a reason it’s shaped like a dick?”
“According to the team that returned from the moon with it, that’s the shape it was found in.”
“So it naturally formed in the shape of a dick?” Jaskier couldn’t help but feel skeptical.
“That is what we are led to believe, yes.”
That wasn’t a particularly confident response, “And you believe it?”
The man hesitated before answering, “There is some documentation missing that would normally be filled out upon finding a specimen but we have no reason to believe it is anything other than organically formed.” Jaskier didn’t know Dr. Rivia but he would argue the look on his face screamed doubt.
“So you don’t believe it.”
Dr. Rivia did not respond.
Jaskier turned back to the case, looking at the rock again. His curiosity was peaked. Why would someone make it look like a dick? For the fun of it? As a joke? A dare? To be used?
“So… hypothetically speaking, would a rock like this be safe if used as a dildo?”
Dr. Rivia seemed startled by the question, “I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“But is it safe?”
Dr. Rivia’s brows furrowed, “In it’s current state? No.”
Well that probably ruled out it being used, “But it could be safe?”
“If someone wanted to turn a piece of anorthosite into a dildo then there would be ways to do so, yes.”
“That’s what kind of rock this is?”
“Yes. And it’s very rough, I wouldn’t recommend putting it anywhere in your body.”
“So… if there are moon dildos, is there moon lube to?”
“There aren’t moon dildos.” Jaskier laughed at the obvious exasperation present in the man’s voice.
“Well, maybe you can show me around the rest of the exhibit? To be honest, I know nothing about rocks and the rest of the museum has been rather boring. Maybe you could liven things up.” Jaskier stepped forward, giving the attractive man his best bedroom eyes.
Something flashed in the man’s eyes as the roamed over Jaskier’s body, settling on his lips. Jaskier bit his bottom lip, batting his eye lashes.
“Follow me. And call me Geralt.”
The man, Geralt, spun around, striding to a door labeled “Employees Only” and Jaskier hurried to follow, hoping there was a bathroom or a closet somewhere back there they could put to good use.
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Check out my masterlist!
 Tag list: @stinastar​​​ @feraljaskier​​​ @bastardofmothman​​​ @hailhailsatan​​​ @moonysourenza​​​ @its-onions​​​ @elliestormfound​​​ @dapandapod​​​ @geraskier-trashh​​​ @jaskierswolf​​​ @fontegagrilledcheese​​​ @negativenuggetz​​ @veritasrose​​ @feral-jaskier​​ @kozkaboi​​ @kueble​​ @llamasdumpsterfire​​ @selectivegeekwithstandards​​
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mostlycompetentwriter · 4 years ago
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Start Line (Part One of Two)
M/F Pairing: Fem!Reader x Bang Chan (SKZ)
Warnings: Language
Word Count: 7.2K
Genre: Boys over Flowers AU! Strangers to enemies to potential lovers!
Summary: Starting a new school is never easy, but the four rich and popular boys who pretend like they’re above the rest of the student population? Well, that makes everything even worse.
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A/N: You don’t need to watch the show to understand, but it might be fun! AKA this is a Kdrama recommendation. 
Also, I’m super sorry to the anonymous user who asked for this and probably impatiently waited for me to get a grip!!! 
Tagging @skzwriternet​
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For my entire life, I’ve had to work harder than everyone else to secure the things that I wanted the most. 
Which is why nothing could enrage me more than the sight of the four boys sitting on the bleachers together in my new school’s gymnasium.
I had just recently transferred into the school on a swimming scholarship, and a young student assistant offered to give me a tour of the facilities before my first day of scheduled classes. Her name was Suzy, and she had enough intel on the school’s population that even the CIA would be jealous. 
I wasn’t normally one for drama, but Suzy’s warning about the school’s infamously named “F4″ was enough to leave me feeling cautious: “You see those guys over there?” she had asked when we sat down together on the bleachers. “It’s fair to say that they run the school, so most people try to avoid pissing them off.”
The boys in question were all starters for the school’s accolade-heavy basketball team. Apparently, that meant a lot in this affluent and well-endowed community, and I could tell that they considered themselves with the highest regard. Especially the oldest, a handsome blonde whose killer accent was surely the ruin of any one of those poor girls who flocked around them like they were desperate for attention.
“Bang Chan,” Suzy informed me. “He’s the leader, and his family owns an entire line of luxury hotel chains.”
“I guess that means something special?” I remarked, and Suzy gave me a curious look. 
“His family owns the school, but if we’re talking worth, then his parents pretty much own this whole town.”
“So, he takes advantage of that,” I noted, and Suzy nodded her head before indicating to the other three boys.
“They’ve all been friends since they were kids, but everyone knows that Chan and Changbin are super close.”
“Changbin?” I questioned, and Suzy pointed to the introspective and sullen-looking student who was ignoring all of the other girls with narrowed dark eyes. 
“His parents died when he was young,” she explained. “He lives with his grandfather.”
“Oh?” I wondered, and I looked at Changbin again with a fresh perspective - as someone who had experienced trauma that would follow him for the rest of his life.
“Felix and Minho are the real fuckboys,” Suzy continued. “They’re notorious for the weekend rule.”
“The weekend rule?”
“Find a college party, hook-up with a nameless girl, and then leave her before she’s too attached.”
“Fuck boys,” I grumbled in agreement, and Suzy sighed as if she had personal experience...but I seriously doubted that someone of her caliber would stoop so low knowing full well what kind of reputation she was dealing with.
“The entire school is at their beck and call,” she said. “They do whatever they want, and nobody ever questions them.”
“Well, I’m here to graduate and find a good college for swimming,” I said, meeting Chan’s gaze from a distance. “I don’t have time for games.”
The ominous faction leader smirked as he held my stare, eyeing me up and down with a flicker of interest that I chose to ignore when Suzy asked if I wanted to finish the rest of our tour.
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Day One
On my first day of classes, Suzy was kind enough to stick close to my side, although I was beginning to see that she wasn’t very popular, and we were mostly ignored by the rest of the populace. Which was just fine with me.
“Check it out!” she exclaimed. “Our schedules are almost identical.”
“I’m glad,” I said, ducking my head to avoid a couple of rough-housing football players who were “playfully” knocking each other into the lockers. “I’m pretty sure you could get lost in here.”
“Well, ideally, most students start here in Elementary school, and they stay all the way through High School,” Suzy said. 
“A pretentious education at its finest,” I remarked, wondering how much money was literally walking by me with every Luis Vuitton bag and Gucci-made uniform that passed in opposing directions. 
“Do you start swimming after school?” Suzy asked, making easy conversation as we entered our first classroom - advanced biology.
“Yeah,” I said, following Suzy to the back of the room. “There’s a tournament this weekend.”
“Already?” Suzy gasped, and she plopped down into one of the desks next to me. “Will you have enough time to practice?”
“I’ll be fine,” I reassured her, reaching for a spare notebook as the teacher walked in to begin one of the most intense lectures that I had ever attended.
But the school’s Academic reputation was no joke, and I imagined that they hired the finest teachers that the school’s infinite endowment could afford - a budget that would eclipse the remainder of the public schools in the district. Yet, no one seemed to blink an eye at how obviously unfair that was, as if these well-off students deserved a high-class education simply because their parents made more money than they could spend.
My new socio-economic environment was becoming more and more apparent, and I was suddenly feeling every part of the outcast who wandered into the wrong part of town with good intentions. But a moralistic attitude would get you nowhere in life if everyone else refused to acknowledge the fact. 
I learned quickly that the students at this school were only looking after themselves, but the lesson was hard to accept. Which might explain my uncharacteristic heroism when it came to defending Suzy later on that afternoon when she agreed to give me a ride home after swim practice.
I was outside, sending a message to my mom, when I noticed a black SUV careening backwards at a speed that was far too fast. Meanwhile, Suzy had settled down inside the car to start the ignition, messing with the dials on the radio, when a powerful jolt sent her jerking forward. “What the hell?” Suzy shrieked, turning around in her seat only to startle with that “deer in the headlights” look of absolute horror.
“Shit!!” she cursed, and I watched her get out of the car before taking a deep breath and joining her on the opposite side of her smashed trunk where a huge crowd of students had started to gather around us.
They were talking rapidly amongst themselves, and I figured out why they were so interested the minute Bang Chan and one of his friend - Felix, perhaps? - walked up to Suzy with a bored expression. “You do this often?” were the first words I ever heard from Chan. “I can’t believe you got in my way.”
Suzy immediately bowed her head - submitting to the older Senior. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, but I couldn’t stand to watch her expose her most vulnerable position. 
“Hey!” I shouted, walking around Suzy’s crumbled form to stand toe-to-toe with the infamous Bang Chan.
“You must be the new girl,” Chan remarked, eyeing me up and down with vague interest. “I kinda expected something more when I saw you the other day...”
I seethed when his gaze fell lower, as if pointing out something that only hormonal teenage boys would care about. “I’m not here to impress you,” I replied, and he arched one brow.
“I don’t need to be impressed,” Chan said. “But your little friend disrespected me, and I think she should apologize.”
“You’re the one who wasn’t looking!” I snapped. “Anyone with eyes could see that you were too busy on your phone to pay attention!”
There was a collective conversation from the crowd, and Chan studied the growing conglomeration of students surrounding our confrontation. “Do you have proof of that? Or, is it your word against mine?”
“Someone with any sense of dignity wouldn’t act this way,” I countered, and Chan immediately started laughing.
“Oh? Isn’t that cute,” he said, eyes crinkling at the corners. “You have a lot to learn around here.”
“The only thing I’ve learned is to stay away from you,” I said, and Chan rolled his eyes like it was the dumbest thing he had ever heard.
And the torment only continued.
“Hey!” I snapped when he knocked his shoulder against mine, coming to stand in front of Suzy again with disdain.
“Pay for the damages,” he ordered. “And then apologize to me.”
“Chan-” Suzy started, but I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around. 
“I wasn’t finished,” I said, and our noses almost brushed from the minimal distance I allowed between us. 
“I don’t want to hear anything else about your idea of honor or whatever,” Chan sneered, but he paused when I held up my phone, pressing the play button on the video which provided convincing evidence of the incident.
“What about this?” I asked him, and I could practically see him come undone.
“Give that to me!” he demanded, but I took several steps away from him, returning my cellphone to my pocket. 
“But I’m sure the police would be interested in seeing it.”
Chan’s eyes perceptibly widened, and I felt a surge of triumph in knowing that I had the upper hand. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me,” I taunted him, briefly glancing over my shoulder at his friend who had started snickering - like he was enjoying our fight. 
“Fine,” Chan huffed. “What do you want?”
“You’ll pay for the damages to my friend’s car,” I said. “And...”
“And?” Chan snapped, clearly impatient.
“You can apologize to her instead,” I finished, and there were several consecutive gasps from the student population.
“Is he gonna do it?”
“There’s no way Chan will give in!!”
“Someone film this!”
My smile continued to widen at the jeers of my classmates, and Chan was finally at his wits end, spinning around on his heels to growl an imperceptible attempt at an apology to Suzy who could only look at him in awe. “We’re done here,” Chan said, and I shrugged nonchalantly, watching him storm away with his friend in tow behind him.
I sighed once they were both gone, feeling a sense of profound justice after proving that even the great Bang Chan could be defeated, but then Suzy appeared in front of me with a grave look in her eyes that told me this whole ordeal was far from over. “Y/N,” she whispered. “What have you done?”
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Day Three
The next morning, I walked to my locker feeling every gaze turned in my direction. I frowned at each of them, wondering if this was the aftermath from the incident with Chan and his stupid friends. Yet, when I finally paused in front of my locker, an uncomfortable sensation of dread sent me into a cold sweat when I saw what was taped to the front of the door. 
It was a red card with a black skull at the top and the infamous “F4″ written across the bottom.
“She got the card!” someone announced from off to the side, and it didn’t take long for other students to rush in my direction.
“The card?” I whispered to myself, remembering Suzy’s previous warnings concerning the exploits of the F4 boys. It wasn’t an accident that I had received this ominous warning, and I knew that I was in trouble.
Quickly, I darted through one of the exits leading outside, placing me somewhere on a small veranda where I leaned against the bannister overlooking the school’s athletic fields. “What the hell is wrong with this place!” I screeched, projecting my voice across the fields, and I didn’t expect anyone to hear me...
“Why the hell are you screaming?” 
I paused at the sudden question, widening my eyes when I realized it was closer than I expected. “You come up here often?”
I staggered backward at the interjection, spinning around to locate the voice that had uttered the simple question. “Hello?”
There was a sigh, and then a familiar sweep of brown hair appeared from around the corner. “This is my spot, you know?”
“No,” I said, cringing at my tone. “I’m sorry, I had no idea.”
The recipient in question was none other than Changbin, one of the four members of the school’s notorious F4. His dark black hair was wind-swept across his forehead, falling in thin strands over attentive brown eyes while he leaned against the wall of the small patio sectioned off from the rest of the veranda. “Lesson learned,” Changbin continued, swaggering up the stairs to stand next to me, looking out over the playing fields. “I guess I can’t come here anymore.”
“What do you mean?” I found myself asking without really thinking about what it might look like to show that I was concerned. After all, he was a member of the same F4 that had just terrorized me with their stupid calling card.
“You’re here,” Changbin replied as if the answer might suffice. “I have a feeling this place will be too loud.”
He sighed then before starting for the exit. “W-wait!” I stuttered, unable to put together a logical sentence before Changbin was already walking back inside.
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But Changbin’s unexpected appearance proved to be the least of my problems.
For the remainder of the afternoon, I faced an onslaught of humiliation courtesy of my classmates. Everything from jeers between classes, to more insulting pranks like decorating the desk on my homeroom classroom with vulgar language and pictures.
Yet, worst of all was coming face to face with Bang Chan himself who smiled some kind of sickening smirk at me before quietly asking if I had had enough of the torment. “This is nothing,” I growled at him.
“Oh? Well, it’s only gonna get worse,” Chan promised, and he left without another word, leaving me to stew over a powerful combination of anxiety and frustration.
However, Chan’s idea of worse was, indeed, inexcusable. And I nearly screamed when I went to swim that afternoon, only to discover the pool littered with trash. But there was nobody around to help, and I spent the entirety of my scheduled practice time cleaning up with water, wrinkling my nose at a few questionable banana peels.
“I guess he went through with it,” a familiar voice interrupted my trash session, beaming through the haze of disgust lingering with every brush of my fingers across sodden newspaper or moldy plates.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded of Felix and Minho - the infamous duo who were practically glued to Chan’s side.
“We just wanted to meet you,” Felix said, and I watched through narrowed eyes as they brought over chairs from the side to sit down at the poolside.
I frowned. Couldn’t they help? “Why are you interested?” I asked instead, bringing another load of trash to the edge.
“Well, it’s been awhile since anyone stood up to Chan,” Minho explained, and there was a playfulness in his gaze that left me feeling uneasy in concern to their real intentions.
“Doing what’s right shouldn’t make me a martyr,” I said.
“But it does,” Felix replied with a cheeky smile. “He’s gonna keep up the torture, you know,” he continued, waving his hand around to indicate the trash still floating on top of the chlorine-caked water. 
“Forever?” I grimaced, hating that the word had slipped free without really thinking about what it would mean to admit such things to Chan’s friends.
Minho smiled, looking up at something over my shoulder. “I’m surprised to see you here, Changbin?”
I turned around as if it was instinctual, watching the same person from earlier on the veranda walk inside from the locker room. He seemed even more out of place than Minho and Felix, studying the pollution of trash swimming with me. “She’s interesting,” Changbin said, and I was surprised when my stomach did a few somersaults at his confession.
“I agree,” Felix inserted, leaning back against his elbows with his shirt sleeves rucked up high on his forearms. “It’s been a while since Chan has been this invested in something.”
“It would be nice if he could stop,” I grumbled, and I met Changbin’s sincere gaze as he knelt down next to the poolside.
“He’ll give up when he thinks you won’t back down,” Changbin finally decided, and I watched as he started gathering the trash floating in his direction.
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Day Seven
In hindsight, my imagination ran wild with scenarios that were more insane with each progressive image that crossed through my head. 
But what could you expect from someone who had just figured out that she was being followed by three burly men wearing suits like they were the Men in Black. 
Each time I started to walk faster, they would also do the same. Until it got to the point where I was zigzagging around corners, doing my best to dodge out of their sight, only to find myself once again confronted with the strange men who had no intentions of leaving me alone.
Eventually, I paused on the sidewalk outside of the school’s entrance. I was running late that morning, which meant nobody else was around to witness this madness. But I was a strong, independent woman with a a no-nonsense attitude that compelled me to project my voice across the well-polished front lawn. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” I began, holding up my hands when they grew closer. “What seems to be the problem?”
“We have orders to bring you to our boss,” they said, which only confused me even more.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know who you’re talking about?”
“Our apologies, miss,” the first man continued. “We were informed that you might try to resist.”
“Like I’m just gonna skip school and leave with a couple of strangers who have no conception of personal space,’ I glowered, but when I tried to spin around on my heel, I found myself colliding with an enormous chest, and I sighed, realizing that they had clearly been distracting me long enough for the third guard to sneak up behind me. “Fine,” I muttered, rolling my eyes when he grabbed my arm, leading me to the sleek black car running at the front of the school.
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From there, my day only continued to grow even weirder, especially when I found myself walking up the steps of a gigantic mansion that looked like it could grace the cover of Vanity Fair magazine.
“Where am I?” I tried to ask, but the guards ignored my question, bringing me inside the house where I felt a twinge of misplaced guilt for treading my dirty sneakers across the pristine marble floors that practically shined with my reflection looking back at me.
“Greetings, miss,” a friendly tone greeted me, and I studied the older gentleman who dismissed the guards with a wave of his wrinkled hand. He was dressed impeccably in a suit with a long coat-tail, balding gray hair styled atop his head in a delicate swoop.
“What’s going on?” I demanded, but the butler was silent as he indicated for me to follow him. Down the crowded corridors, decorated with large, extravagant paintings, and down the granite staircase descending to the floor in a circular pattern.
Down a stretch of never-ending hallway that led to a bedroom at the end where two younger women - identically matched in uniform - greeted me by name before ushering me inside.
“Can you at least tell me where I am?” I asked the butler who followed us inside, giving out instructions as I was forced onto a stool in front of a vanity mirror, wincing when the woman immediately started to yank a brush through my long hair.
“This might take a while,” she said, and I frowned at her tone, coughing when a fresh puff of powder was streaked across my face - compliments of another girl who had a palate of make-up balanced on her hand like it was a paint tray and my skin was her canvas.
“I’d like to know something,” I insisted, but I was met with silence, crossing my arms across my chest as I resigned myself to the unexpected makeover since it was a thousand times better than my earlier scenarios where I envisioned myself dying from a James Bond-esque death.
It was only a half-hour later when the women declared themselves finished, standing back to admire their work while I had a staring contest with the girl looking back at me in the mirror. Because it was hard to believe that it was me with neat ringlets decorating my scalp, and sticky globs of mascara and foundation hiding the blemishes on my face.
I looked amazing, but it wasn’t really me. Still, I wasn’t given much time to study my new appearance, and I hesitated when the butler extended a black dress in my direction. “Our boss wants you to wear this,” he informed me, and I hesitantly accepted the expensive fabric.
“Who’s your boss?” I tried once more, but the butler simply smiled at me before waiting outside for me to get dressed, and I squeezed myself into the exquisite gown that swept the floor at my feet, hugging my curves and accentuating my figure in ways that my sweatpants and t-shirts couldn't.
When I finally walked back out, the butler smiled at me in approval before waving his hand in a grand fashion. “He’s waiting in the living room.”
I swallowed hard, following him once again through the maze of the house while wondering who I might be meeting. A rich donor? A potential Sugar Daddy?
They were all grand ideas that proved to be far better than the truth, and I could only gape in surprise when I was led into the living room, only to meet Chan’s eager gaze from across the expanse of white, designer-brand carpet.
“You!” I hissed in an accusing tone, watching the butler leave from the corner of my eye.
“Were you expecting someone else?” Chan asked, eliminating the distance between us with a few calculating steps. “They were right about the dress. You actually clean-up nice, Y/N.”
I scoffed at the backwards compliment. “Are you serious?” I nearly growled. “You kidnapped me for this?!”
Chan looked at me in disbelief, and I wondered if it was the first time that he had ever been rendered silent. “Do I not get a thank you?”
“A thank you?” I repeated. Incredulous.
“I brought you here,” Chan said, but he was clearly hesitating. “I thought you might like the attention? The clothes aren’t to your taste?”
“Shit, you’re dense,” I muttered. “Why the hell would you think that?”
“It’s obvious,” Chan said. “Talking down to me the other day, pretending like you aren’t affected by the F4 card...you just wanted my attention. And guess what, Y/N? I’m willing to give it to you.”
I blinked once, trying to understand his ridiculous train of bullshit. “What?!”
“You can be my girlfriend,” Chan said, shrugging one shoulder. “It’s a pretty big deal, but I’m sure you know that. I’ll even let you hold my hand between classes, and maybe come to your swim meets or whatever.”
“Chan...” I started, but then I broke off with a sigh because nothing I could think of seemed like an appropriate response. “I don’t think there’s even a remote chance that I would want to be your girlfriend.” I shivered, releasing a groan just saying the title. “Whatever you think is happening…it’s totally warped inside that screwed up head of yours.”
“Y/N-”
“Please,” I interrupted him, holding up one hand. “I’ve had enough, okay? I just want to go home.”
“But...” Chan tried to protested, stuttering around his words when I yanked off the expensive heels, chucking them off to the side. “How could you not want this?” he asked. “The outfit itself cost over $1,000 dollars.”
“$1,000 dollars?” I repeated, widening my eyes when I thought about how many hours my parents would need to put in at our local laundromat business to even make close to the amount he just threw away like it was nothing. “Chan, I might not live in the same world as you, but where I come from? You don’t make friends with money...you make them from the heart.”
“Impossible!” Chan protested, even as I turned my back to him. “Money can buy anything!”
“Is that why I’m leaving?” I returned, reaching down to hold my dress in place while feeling a small sense of satisfaction at having left Chan completely speechless.
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Of course, in hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have tossed the shoes because the cement was hot against the soles of my feet, and I had attracted more than one curious look as I stormed down the street in search of the main road to take me back home.
“Stupid moron,” I huffed, practically jogging down the road with bare feet and my dress hiked up my legs to prevent me from tripping over the train. It was probably a sight for sore eyes when it came to the rich socialites who populated the neighborhood.
But like the sun’s rays penetrating the clouds on a rainy afternoon, I heard the sound of a motorcycle growing closer from behind me. Until the bike was right next to me, and the driver removed his helmet to expose a familiar bush of brown locks.
“Do you need a ride home?” Changbin asked, and I swallowed hard as I met his steady gaze. It was a simple question, but the fact that he didn’t even question me about why I was here? Nor could I detect any judgement in those impenetrable brown eyes that held all the allure, sending my heart knocking against my breastbone once again.
“Yeah,” I agreed, taking the extra helmet from him. “It’s been a shitty day.”
“I know how that feels,” Changbin said, and I was surprised by his easy conversation, planting myself on the seat behind him.
“Thank you for this,” I said, wrapping my arms around his waist and shivering at the thick smell of his cologne.
“It seems like you might be worth the effort,” Changbin remarked before kicking his bike into gear, and my heart did something strange that might be considered very dangerous when it involved the F4.
But I couldn’t help it, and I had never been more at ease this close to someone else.
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Day Ten
Despite my adamant protests, the school insisted that I needed to take a physical education course, which meant that I was forced to pretend to enjoy dodgeball with the rest of my classmates. Hiding out at the back while most of the other girls did all the hard work. But I was only meant for one sport, and dodgeball was as far from swimming as one could get.
It helped that Suzy had gym at the same time, and we talked between games, with Suzy leading most of the conversation.as she offered introductions for most of our other classmates. “Mandy,” Suzy grumbled at one point, indicating to a tall blonde with long legs and a permanent sneer. “She thinks that she somehow has a chance to be with Chan, even though he’s kinda made it obvious that he doesn’t think anyone here is good enough.”
“Really?” I snorted, seeking Chan out from the corner of my eye, playing basketball on the courts with the rest of the F4. 
“It’s a running thing here,” Suzy continued. “But most people don’t even try since they don’t want to get on Mandy’s bad side.”
“Whatever,” I replied, averting my gaze when Chan’s eyes met mine. “He’s not even worth it.”
“Most of our classmates would disagree,” Suzy said with a shrug, nudging her shoulder against mine when one of the instructors ordered us to begin the second round.
As usual, I lingered at the the sidelines away from my team, making a half-hearted attempt to play along, especially since I seemed to be a recurring target, using other bodies to protect myself from stray plastic dodgeballs. “What the hell,” I grumbled, wondering if that stupid F4 card was to blame for my classmate’s sudden desire to single me out from everyone else.
I crossed my arms at the thought, finding myself once again looking back over at Chan...Did he think it was funny to make me a target of ridicule? Well, at least Changbin was being surprisingly nice, and just the mere mention of the older boy was enough to do crazy things to my poor heart.
But lost in my daydreams, I failed to notice that Mandy and one of her friends had stalked to the edge of the court, rearing back to throw their dodgeballs at me while I was distracted. “Y/N!” I heard Suzy’s voice scream from across the field, and I looked away from Chan only to find myself frozen in place while a dodgeball flew in my direction.
The sickening CRACK! of the stupid thing hitting my nose was audible, and I immediately tasted blood on my upper lip. “Go clean yourself up, Miss Y/L/N,” one of the instructors said, but I was furious that she was treating the situation so nonchalantly.
It was all Chan’s fault. Even if he hadn't thrown the ball, he empowered his classmates to belittle me at every opportunity, and I was tired of being the school’s metaphorical punching bag. And I hated the tears threatening to fall, refusing to show any signs of weakness as I stormed past Suzy for the girl’s bathroom.
“Fuck,” I cursed as I leaned over the sink, splashing some cold water on my face as I looked at my bloody and mangled reflection in the mirror. 
This was the worst incident so far, and I hated that the situation had escalated to something physical, gripping the edge of the sink tightly as I closed my eyes to regain control over my breathing.
“Here,” a voice whispered from behind me, and I turned around with a glare already contorting my expression when I was forced to face Bang Chan once again.
“It’s your fault,” I replied, snatching the paper towel from him as I dabbed at my nose. “What the hell are you doing in the girl’s bathroom?”
“I’m sorry,” Chan said, but I refused to believe it was sincere, turning back around to check the damage of my nose in the mirror. “You didn’t deserve that.”
“You can’t be sorry after the fact,” I snapped. “You had every chance to make things right and leave me the hell alone.”
“Well, I can’t do that now...” Chan trailed off, and it was surprising to see him suddenly look so unsure of himself. “I'm just trying to help...”
“And who asked you to do that?” I returned, looking at him from the corner of my eye. “Even if you were the last person on Earth, I would never ask for your help!”
My exclamation was punctuated by a rather harsh sound after I shoved the paper towels into the trashcan, preparing to leave the bathroom before Chan grabbed my arm to turn me back around. “What do you dislike so much?” Chan whined. “I don’t understand...I’m rich, handsome, smart...”
“All of it!” I interrupted with a harsh tone, and Chan immediately stumbled back against the sink. “You must not realize, but do you think those things matter to me? Because I can’t even consider them when your entire personality is unattractive! Your arrogant attitude, your stupid face, and that ridiculous curly hair!!”
“Are you insane?” Chan asked, and his bewildered expression would be funny under any other circumstances.
“I’m not done yet,” I sharply interjected. “It annoys me that you guys are allowed to do whatever you want at this school, and the whole red card deal? Where you give everyone a free pass to bully other students? Like it’s nothing? That’s the absolute worst thing about you!!”
“Y/N...”
“Do I need to repeat it?” I interrupted once more. “I hate everything about you!”
The harsh exclamation was met by silence as Chan continued to stare at me, and I decided to leave him alone in silence to think about everything I had said, rejoining my classmates with a sense of relief at having stood up to someone who considered himself as better than everyone else.
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Day Fourteen
“You should come with me,” Suzy remarked one afternoon, sitting next to the poolside with me as I swam my regular laps. 
“I’d rather not,” I said, pausing at the edge of the pool to consider her request - a night under the stars, as the school’s dance team had proclaimed it, and it was one of the biggest school events of the year.
“Why?” Suzy whined. “The F4 revoked your red card, and you can meet some more people...maybe even score some connections.”
“Right,” I scoffed, thinking the idea absurd, but I guess it wouldn’t seem so outrageous to the ones who had been dealing with these politics for their entire lives. “I’m not really that outgoing.”
“It’s okay,” Suzy reassured me, and I could tell that she really wanted me to come with her, which is probably why I felt compelled to agree. But her smile and cheering was worth it, especially considering just how good of a friend Suzy had proven to be during the past two weeks.
And that’s how I found myself walking up to the school’s gymnasium that weekend, wearing an uncomfortable black dress that Suzy had agreed to lend me for the occasion. “You look hot, Y/N,” Suzy said, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that my reflection reminded me too much of the time when Chan had brought me to his house to play dress-up.
“I can hear the music all the way out here,” I said, following Suzy up the gym steps.
“Yeah, this event isn’t regulated by the teachers, so it’s basically a free-for-all,” Suzy explained, and I desperately wished that I could find the appeal in that statement, especially once we entered the building, washing us in neon colors of purple and pink. “Let’s dance!” Suzy immediately cried, pulling me to the dance floor despite my protests.
Thankfully, I only had to awkwardly navigate the party scene for one song before Suzy became preoccupied with a very cute Senior boy from our homeroom. I was able to sneak away to the punch bowl, ladling some of the red liquid into my cup before bringing it to my lips. “Hmm,” I wondered, eyeing the drink because it tasted so familiar...”Oh well,” I said, shrugging as I proceeded to drain several more cups before sinking down against the wall, never noticing that a pair of eyes had been watching my every movement until a pair of Versace-toed boots stopped in front of me. 
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Chan remarked, and I was shocked that he had the guts to talk to me after honoring my request to be ignored for the past several days.
“What do you want?” I grumbled, reluctantly taking his outstretched hand to help me stand again because my vision was unusually blurry and my stomach was churning.
“The punch was spiked,” Chan said, chucking at my disheveled state.
“Spiked?” I repeated, finding myself totally incoherent as I leaned most of my weight against him. “When did that happen?”
“The Seniors do it as a prank,” Chan said, and his gaze seemed to soften as he held me close. “Do you want to sit down?”
“That would be nice,” I slurred, allowing him to guide me over to the bleachers where I dropped down with a thud!
“Damn, you’re pretty wasted,” Chan said, looking me over with an uncharacteristic amount of concern.
“I didn’t know...” I trailed off, pointing back at the punch bowl. “It tasted so good.”
“I bet it did,” Chan said, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he cleared his throat. “I saw that you came with your friend, but maybe you might want some company?”
“Sure!” I said, patting the space next to me. “You’ve caught me in a good mood.”
Chan grinned - a genuine smile that I could hardly recognize - as he sat down with a sigh. “This doesn’t really seem like your type of scene.”
“Not really,” I agreed, narrowing my eyes when the room started swaying. “But you’re not my usual type of person.”
“Right,” Chan agreed, chuckling awkwardly as he messed up his hair - straightened instead of curly. “Maybe we could go somewhere else?”
I frowned because, even though I might’ve been a little more than tipsy, I still remembered that I didn’t like Chan, and there was no reason for me to go anywhere with him. “Are you intentionally ignoring everything I said from the other day?”
“No,” Chan murmured. “But I was hoping that I could give you space...and maybe a chance to prove myself?”
“Really?” I snorted. “How much have you changed since the last time we talked?”
“Probably not much,” Chan acknowledged, much to my surprise. “But after everything you said, maybe I’d like to? And I feel like you’re the only person who can be honest enough to help me.”
“Oh,” I replied, slightly disconcerted by Chan’s abrupt change in attitude. “Still, after everything you did...”
“I know I don’t deserve it,” Chan quickly agreed. “But I think you’re one of the rare kinds of people who believes in second chances.”
I exhaled loudly at his words, and in part to keep myself from throwing up after all the alcohol I ingested. “Where would we go?”
“What about a date at the diner downtown?” Chan asked, swallowing hard. “With me?”
“Let’s not call it a date,” I grimaced, and Chan agreed, even though it seemed to be a reluctant remission on his part. “But, yeah, that actually might be nice.”
“Perfect!” Chan said, and he was already on his feet with an energy that was impossible to ignore. “I’ll have Changbin tell your friend. Wait right here, and I’ll come back.”
“Okay,” I muttered, clutching my stomach as I watched Chan run off into the crowd. “Jeez, Y/N,” I groaned. “What are you doing with this guy?”
It might be one of the worst decisions of my life, but something he said struck a nerve deep inside of me. He might be unbearable, but he was right about one thing: people could always change, and I was the type of person who allowed second chances...just as long as someone was willing to earn it and prove themselves.
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“Are we taking your car?” I asked, staggering against Chan’s hold as he brought us outside the gym.
“Yeah,” he said. “We can take my car, and you can sober up on the way.”
“Good idea,” I agreed, regretting the decision to drink so much of that stupid punch with every swaying step towards Chan’s expensive sports car.
He had the decency to open the door for me, and I fell inside with a grunt, waiting for him to turn over the ignition before he started fussing over me. “Do you need anything? Something to drink? Are you hot or cold? Should I turn on the music?”
“Don’t ask questions,” I gritted out - a response to everything while I leaned my head against the window.
“Got it,” Chan said, and he dutifully followed through on his promise, never speaking again until we pulled into the parking lot of the diner he had advertised earlier. “Do you feel any better?”
I nodded, an honest response. Because the drive had taken close to twenty minutes, and I had found a water bottle in the floor, downing the contents to settle my stomach and the wave of nausea that only alcohol could bring. “We can go inside,” I said, rolling my eyes when he made a show of coming around to help me out of the car, grabbing my arm despite my protests. “What is this place?” I asked when we walked inside, choosing an empty table near the back.
“My friends come here a lot,” Chan replied. “It’s quiet.”
“Quiet?” I laughed. “There’s no way it’s quiet if the whole school comes here.”
“They don’t,” Chan said, surprising me yet again. “Nobody knows we come here.”
He gave me a meaningful look, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was risking a lot by entrusting me with their secret. “Got it,” I said, miming myself closing a zipper across my lips (perhaps that was the drunkenness affecting my judgement).
But Chan still laughed, and then he went to the counter to order, leaving me to contemplate what the actual hell I was doing with the school’s literal celebrity who treated most people like shit, including me for a short while at the very beginning.
At this point, I really couldn’t blame the alcohol. So, what was wrong with me? Why was I doing this?
“Here,” Chan said, dropping a mug of something sweet down in front of me, effectively interrupting my internal conflict.
“Hot chocolate?” I asked, and I was definitely caught off-guard as Chan shrugged and sat down in front of me.
“I thought you might prefer this,” he admitted.
“Oh...” I started, searching for a good response. “Thanks?”
“You’re welcome,” Chan said, and he smiled as he watched me taste the foam resting on top. “Is it good?”
“It’s nice,” I admitted, and Chan had the appearance of someone who had just landed an acceptance to their dream college.
“You’re different from the others,” Chan said, switching the topic. “I like that about you, and it makes me regret everything I’ve done even more.”
“Yeah,” I huffed. “That red card shit needs to stop.”
“I agree,” Chan said, bringing his mug even closer. “My friends have wanted to stop for a while...”
“They’re way smarter than you,” I said, tilting my head to the side as if it might give me a different vantage point of the confusing boy sitting in front of me. “Did you really want to come here with me?”
Chan nodded, eyes gleaming. “You’re interesting,” he decided, mirroring the exact same thing that Changbin had said to me a while back. “I think I like you a lot, which is why what you said to me at my house and in the bathroom really made me reconsider a lot of things.”
“Oh?” I questioned him, amused by his reasoning, and possibly even endeared by his regretful expression. “I might learn to like you...” I trailed off, laughing at his puppy-dog eyes as he looked at me with obvious desperation. “If you learn to behave.”
“Is that so?” Chan remarked, and his smile was perfectly sincere. “Well, I think you’re the best person to teach me.”
And despite our complicated history together - unwinding after such a brief amount of time in one another’s company - I was more than willing to try for the very strange boy who was starting to show me the intricate layers underneath all the wealth and arrogance - a mere façade for something better, the potential for good if a brave enough person was careful enough to find it.
End of Part One
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bangteamhyuk · 4 years ago
Text
Got It
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Synopsis: (Secret Agent! AU) You sat on barstool inside a strip club. You have your eyes on Kim Taehyung, another mercenary agent like you. You planned it for months. You were hired to intercept Kim Taehyung before he can transport an information that could ruin  several market industry. Your goal is to steal his watch. However, you were faced with slight difficulty. You were enjoying his company way too much. Can you resist his charms? You have to try harder.
Warning: Mature Content, mentions of weapon, sexually suggestive conversation, lap dancing, dry humping.
Word count: 3,395
Mood song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wjbY0Tyfr4
“One Bourbon, please” you ordered as you raised your hand to signal the bartender and slowly sat on the barstool. You swiveled from your seat and leaned with your arm on the high table while you wait for your drink.  
From your seat you could see men riveted to the girls on the stage, dancing, flying and grinding down to a pole. But your eyes were fixated on somewhere else. You’ve been waiting for this for so long, meticulously planned and watch it fall in to proper places before you could make this move.
You were wearing a tight-fitting midnight violet dress, chest slightly exposed, and the hem ending right above your thigh. When your drink arrived, you shifted from your seat, legs crossed, and your elbow resting from the table as you took a sip from the rock glass. You tucked your hair from your ear when it fell, and you could swear someone was gazing at your direction.  It was hard for men not to look at you, they’d be damned if they didn’t.
Well, naturally you’d be attracting a lot of men from your seat, since you are one of the few women inside in a male-catered strip club. You weren’t there for a show, or some woman engulfed with jealousy to see your cheating husband having fun.  No, tonight you are an exception. You are there for a purpose and right now he is finally staring at you. Just one seat apart.
“Your first time?” He asked, taking a shot from his glass. He raised his empty glass to indicate the bar tender to refill his drink with a 21-year-old Royal Salute. You raised one eye brow and looked at his direction. “No” you smiled.
“What brings you here then?” he pursed his lips and folded his arms. His eyes now surveying you. “Observing…” your body leaning a bit forward to his direction, not showing one bit of intimidation. “Observing?” he continued, in return he also leaned towards you, not backing out as if taking up to your challenge. “Hmm..” you chuckled, sitting back from your position and being the first one to concede to whatever it is you two have stirred. You sipped from your glass, eyes now looking at the women dancing.
“You like women?” he tilts his head
“I like men more” you replied, as your finger traced the outlines from your glass and you stared back. You faintly saw his spine shake, as if you have roused something from him, piqued his interest.
“What brings you here?” You asked coyly. He just bats his eyes and smiled. Damn, he looked cute.
“Just like any other men, up to no good.” He confessed and grinned. “So, you are here to observe and learn from those women up on the stage? For what? For your boyfriend?” he looked back to the stage and sip from his glass.
“You could say that… but no, I am doing it for someone else, someone I want to attract for the night…” you spoke bluntly, while looking at him even if he was looking at somewhere else.
He turned around and smirked “Must be one lucky guy”.
“Who knows, it might just be you.” you shrugged as you looked away, smirking. You finished whatever that is left from your glass.  
“Kim Taehyung” he extended his hand to yours. You looked back and smiled.
“Y/N” you replied.
“Nice to meet you Kim Taehyung” you shook his hand.
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You already knew who he was. Kim Taehyung.
Your current client, a man named Mr. Ong who holds a seat on an international trade bureau, introduced Taehyung’s file to your office one night. During your study, you found out several similarities you shared him. Both of you are mercenaries, independent agents to whoever have any interest to shell out millions of dollars for a single task.
Both of you had a promising future, but dropped out from school just because. Both of you started early on this underground business knowing that the pay is more than good, in fact it blasphemously outrivaled any other job. Fuck. You roll your eyes. You are pretty sure he gets the same elation after every successful mission. You two must be insane, and that further ignited your pursuit. Nothing is more attractive to you than a man who shares the same ambition, no matter how morally wrong it appears to achieve.
You were tasked to steal an information from him, encrypted to a memory card hidden somewhere beneath his watch, as you were told. Your client insist that it is of great importance, that the market industry of several countries will be in jeopardy if that information is not intercepted immediately. Honestly, you could not care less.
Now that the secret transporter is right in front you, his boxy smile is definitely testing your confounded endeavor and your damn loyalty to the money.  You furtively shake your head hoping to keep your mind refocused on the present task.  You can’t let your months of probing, studying profiles and building a fake character around the people involved just to get this close to him go to waste tonight.
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“Oh so you knew my friend Jimin huh?” he chuckles. Finishing his 5th shot of whiskey. He raised his again to gesture the bartender for a 6th refill. “I’m appalled you haven’t gotten under his influence. Typically, women just…” he laughed midway. You didn’t know why, but you did the same. You weren’t drunk just yet, but you somehow already feel intoxicated around him.
“…just are drawn to him. Even when he just breathe, they are instantly swept off their feet by Park freaking Jimin. It’s not just women, even men!” He raised both his brows, clearly surprised.
“Maybe, but I’m drawn more to men who is crazy as me.” You flipped your hair, exposing your neck. “…and he doesn’t quite make the cut” you continued.
You smirked as the sight of him gulped. He took a quick glance from your bare display of your decolletage. Did that surprise him? But you were just getting started.
“What do you mean by that?” he slowly returns his gaze from your skin towards your eyes.
“Well…” you tilt your head bashfully as you stood up and move to a sit right next to him, finally closing the gap.
“I like to make. Bold. Moves. That’s for starters” you bit on your lips trying not flash another smile, as you took his glass from him and downed all its contents empty. He froze. You left him dumbfounded.
You looked at the sight quite proudly, taking control of the mis en scene, leaving him bewildered and vulnerable. It is only a matter of time and patience to have him finally wrapped around your fingers, and you are willing take it slow. Shit. Are you enjoying this way too much?
“Bold moves? I hope you are not revealing yourself way too much. It’s pretty dangerous” he looks away as he asked for another refill you stole from him.
You chuckled as you were holding on to your empty glass, staring blankly at it “Aren’t I? I kind of like that sound” Suddenly you felt his warm palms against yours. You stopped smiling as you turn your gaze towards him, clearly off-guard. “Your glass please?” he demanded as he smirked.
Did he just took over and shift the control of the present situation to him? You jolted at the thought.
“Sure…” you handed your empty glass over to him. He held it for the bartender to have it filled with the same drink he had earlier. “I hope you don’t steal anything from me for now on. I don’t like it.” He said sternly.
“Sorry” you apologized, looking down.  You suddenly stiffened from your seat. Wait, did you just apologized to the person who you are supposed to deceive and exploit by the end of the night?
“It’s fine” he snickered. “Women showing regret when they’re wrong, that’s genuinely attractive” he gleamed at his own glass as he took a swig.
You were lost in thought. Confused. What just happened? You never liked the idea nor the feeling of being subordinate. You love being in authority. Men, influential men, you always find them on their knees begging before you and asking for your help. It is the view you glorified, perpetually.
Just how many women can make men desperate without taking off their clothes or pointing out a gun? What you two have is far greater than a human figure or artillery, it was knowledge. Vast one that can possibly create a war if one of you ever fancy. It is the reason why you kept this job.
However, you are confronted by a man who might just be far superior than you are. Have you misjudged him?
“Do you… perhaps find me attractive?” you tried revert the situation with your question.
“I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be.” he replied. He raised his eyebrow
“Sorry for earlier. Maybe I can make it up to you if I show you how remorseful I can be?” you instigated.
“Oh, was it not enough?” he licked his lips.
You shook your head. “I can do better.”
You pursed your lips pointing out to the dancer. “Want me to show you? All free. Well, that is, if you agree..”
“Right now?” he enquired as you nodded.
Quickly, he downed the last of his whiskey. You waited for his reply. “Where can I see this show you were saying?”
“Follow me” you held his hand and left the strip club.
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As you opened your hotel room, you directed Taehyung to enter first. He was hesitant at first, but your smile softened any trace of doubt from him and finally entered the room.
“Nice room. Quite cozy…” he looked around the ceiling even if there wasn’t anything to see. You closed the door behind you.
“Sit” you pointed at the wooden chair to Taehyung. He obliged, yet his feet were shaking.
“Relax, I’m not going to do an interrogation” You stood behind him, reaching out an arm as you gently pressed your hand on to his lap, assuring his safety. He suddenly quivered from his sit. “We haven’t even started yet.” You chuckled.
He moved his head, as if tickled at the dry sensation of your voice which sits right next to his ears. You pulled out your phone from your purse and filtered through the contents of your playlist.  Finally you found it and played the song you’d love Taehyung to hear.
As the first verse fiddled, you surprised Taehyung by dropping down your heel in between his legs from behind while he remained seated. The sight left him paralyzed. Finally, you were back in control.
You brushed your hand on your bare legs from your thigh down to your heel, entrapping him further to you, with your delusive enticement. You needed to put his attention on you, and kept it as long as you could.
You shift your position, and danced in front of him now. Swaying your hips, spreading your legs and dropping down on your heels, shamelessly. You let him watch and do nothing from his sit.
When the song was almost over, you artfully sat on his lap, moving your hips against him as if simulating the act of copulating. It was dastardly obscene, but you are not one bit regretful. In fact, if this isn’t a part of your job you would gladly taken your clothes off for him by now.
Suddenly you felt his growing bulge. You were startled and left flustered, but you got to keep on going. You looked away from him, unsure what to do next, yet he swiftly took your chin to face him.
Earlier, you found this man adorable and full of charm, but now you found yourself intimidated at his gazed and the abrupt change from his face. His expression unyielding. His posture dignified.
His free hand secured your back, while you move not letting you leave a single gap away from him. He bit his tongue and watch you danced. Everything about him suddenly felt fatal and intense.
You didn’t want that. His hands are not supposed to be there. It will ruin your plan. So you pulled out both of his hand placed it above his head. You held on to his wrists. You secured it with your left hand as you unbuttoned his shirt slowly, using your right.
You weren’t choking him, yet you found his eyes shut and his mouth gasping for air. Then it hit you. It’s the perfect chance for you to end this whole ordeal. You brushed your nose on his shoulder slowly moving up to his ears. Lips almost touching his ear lobe.
He let a soft moan.
You whispered sweet nothings against his ears, telling him how good he is just by merely sitting down. You made sure he was so distorted from reality, unaware of the fact that you are beginning to take his watch from his wrist.
“Aren’t good boys the best?” you whispered as you pressed down the pressure point that sends him unconscious. You sighed.
“That was easy huh?” You stood up and fixed yourself from the table mirror. You looked at the watch and smiled. Delighted to find yourself victorious.
You took your purse and tucked his watch inside. “Oh, I almost forgot!” you picked up your phone which you tossed on the floor earlier. Before you left the room, you took one last look at the man.
Has it not been for work, you would’ve asked him out for coffee instead of a private show and a lap dance. It could have led something and somewhere better for the both of you. “Maybe in another dimension, we could have been drinking hot coffee right now, talking how shitty our jobs are…” you shrugged. What were you expecting? You just knocked him unconscious and you were waiting for a reply?
You turn off the lights of the room and left.
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Upon arriving at your apartment, you began to inspect his watch, looking for the memory card your client desperately covets. You carefully unscrew his watch, removing its contents gently. You finally found the memory card hidden at the back of the plate.
You took your memory card reader device and connected it to your laptop. You opened the folder and found that there was only a single file in it. You checked. It’s a recorded video.
“Hi Y/N. Surprised?” he chuckled. Damn it. You knew you are screwed.
“Well to be honest, I wouldn’t expect you to get this far, but hey, congratulations! Well done! But don’t you think I’m a far better player?” He scrunched his nose while staring at the camera. You snickered. You nodded, showing you’ve conceded. You were well played.
“You see, I always knew one day I might be able to face a tough contender. But…” he looks at his watch on his wrist and then throws an identical one above his face and catch it with the same hand. Dangled it on the front of the camera as if to annoy you further at your defeat. “You always can’t be too sure, can you? Wait…” he fixed his camera and placed it on the floor.
He rolled his pants, and wrapped the original watch around his thin ankle and hid it with his socks and pants. “It’s going to be uncomfortable from now on, but at least I’d be able to sleep soundly tonight” you were baffled at the scene. You were right. You have definitely underestimated him.
“Oh, you were wondering how I knew you before getting this? Well, let me enlighten you. The moment I received this specific job to transport this information from my client to another. I made a point of doing some research, finding who my client might be having bad terms with. Unfortunately, I trickled it down to your client, Mr. Ong. I have him followed by the people I trust. Later on, I found out that he had hired you, so I asked someone to follow you too. Actually, you may have heard of him.” You gasped. No, you shook your head, hoping you were wrong.
He nodded, as if he saw right through you from the screen. “Jimin. Yes, Park Jimin. You see, never underestimate a seemingly naïve man. You never know what’s underneath them.” He looked down to where his original watch was hidden, as if adding more fuel to your growing frustration.  It’s funny how you couldn’t bring yourself to hate him. You actually admired him. His dedication to his job and the extent he is willing to do to get it done, that’s definitely appealing.
“We made it a point that he acts friendly towards you, make it conspicuous that he knows me. I needed you to look for me, follow me, and then trapped you down to where I want you to be.”
Your mouth was left agape. You remembered everything completely. From the moment Jimin introduced himself to you in a coffee shop, and down to taking you out for the evening. One night he insists on taking you home, when you two are walking the streets he suddenly pointed out the strip club, and then shared stories of him and his friend Taehyung who loves to spending time inside it.
How have you been so stupid and gullible, not having any slight idea that getting that information from Jimin was too fast and easy. Things are starting to make sense now.
“I made sure we meet at the strip club. Something tells me you have a knack for dancing…” he winked at the screen. “I always knew you have thing for good men. Good but naughty ones, right?” He nods to himself “Yeah, I also did my research well.” He folds his arms and sat comfortably from his chair. “I hope I convinced you enough to make you interested and keep you from being attracted to me.” He showed his boxy grin. “Aren’t I irresistible? Anyway, I’d also like to thank you. If you haven’t realized yet. I took something quite important from you too.” You froze. What was it that he took away from you?
“Your anonymity, that you hold so dearly.” He was right. Like any other mercenary agents, you desired working in the shadows. Having your true identity known will hold you back, that why you never kept a single person close to you. It’s going to disturb you from work. “Don’t you agree knowledge is very powerful and beguiling?” He looks at the watch from his wrist and pointed something on the side. “If you have been keener, you will absolutely realize that in between the strap of the watch you stole from me have a little device called locator.” Shit! You quickly packed your essential things in your knapsack. You knew what’s coming next.
“I told you, I like women who show remorse if they misbehave. Girls like you should be punished don’t you think so? But, thankfully, I’m quite a forgiving man. I am giving another minute after this video ends, so you can escape. Sorry Y/N, I am also doing my job. I needed more time before you can intercept me again. Maybe, if the time is right. We can have coffee?” you chuckled at the absurdity of the situation. The video ended with that. Asking you out for coffee when the time is right.
“Yeah, I’d love that” you chuckled. You can hear the police from downstairs looking for you. If only you have been more careful and overvalued him you wouldn’t be caught in this situation. You scoffed at screen. Looking at it one last second before you closed your laptop.
The smile of the person who just outsmarted you.
You quickly left from your window to run on the roof above your apartment. Suddenly your phone buzzed. A message from an unregistered number. While running you opened it and saw his message. “I had fun. Thanks for the private show ;) Don’t forget to throw your phone. I’d love to see you next time.” You chuckled as you threw your phone aimlessly away. Damn. He was good.
“Kim Taehyung, you got it” you smirked.
Author’s note: Thank you for giving time. I really appreciate it! 
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mst3kproject · 4 years ago
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The Ape
In the vein of movies that should not be confused with eerily similar previous entries, The Ape is distinct from The Ape Man... but not by much.  Both feature a slumming horror superstar, glandular secretions, and a stupid gorilla suit.  All these things also showed up in early seasons of MST3K, of course, and The Ape Man also has a surprise bonus.  Apparently, the guy in the gorilla costume is none other than Crash Corrigan, of Undersea Kingdom!
Long ago, Dr. Adrien lost his daughter to polio, and ever since he's been obsessed with finding a cure.  That sounds pretty noble, but unfortunately, Adrien is a mad doctor, so the cure he comes up with requires killing healthy people to drain them of their cerebralspinal fluid!  In order not to arouse suspicion, he kills and skins a gorilla that escaped from a circus, and wears its hide when he murders people... you know, as one does. To nobody's surprise but his, he ends up getting shot, but hey, at least he cured beautiful young Frances' paralysis!
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This is a weird, dumb movie but one thing I can say in its favour is that everybody seems to have given it a good try.  This material was far beneath Boris Karloff but he takes it seriously and actually gets a couple of decent moments, as does Maris Wrixton (who was also in The Face of Marble) as Frances.  Nobody else is even close to Karloff's level, being just bland 40's actors who talk too fast, but none of the main cast are phoning it in, either.
Conversely, the worst thing in the movie is its truly horrendous gorilla suit.  The puppet face shows the actor's eyes and can curl its lip, which is cool, though the features don't look very gorilla-ish.  The rest of the suit, however, is terrible. It's way too shaggy and in order to give it a gorilla-like silhouette, they stuck a big hunchback on it.  This might have worked if Corrigan had tried to walk on all fours like gorillas actually do, but instead he waddles along upright like a toddler with a full diaper, which ruins it.  The people who made the movie also appear to think gorillas are nocturnal which, for the record, they are not.
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Gorillas were kind of a big thing in movies of the 40's and 50's.  The species had been scientifically described a century earlier, but hadn't really been studied until the 1920s and most people had never seen one outside of King Kong. Films of the period were not kind to the gorilla.  One of the first gorilla movies was 1930's Ingagi, which purported to be a documentary about gorillas kidnapping women as sex slaves.  That kind of set the tone, and subsequent movies depicted gorillas as creatures prone to violence and rape.  Examples from this blog alone are numerous: The Ape Man (1940), Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955), and Bride of the Gorilla (1951) for starters... Robot Monster (1953) might also count.
The Ape has a slightly more nuanced approach to gorilla behaviour.  Yes, its gorilla does maul people to death... but the first victim is its trainer, who has been shown mistreating it.  Another circus employee even tries to tell him that he'll catch more flies with honey.  When the ape batters its way into Dr. Adrien's house, it does so in order to get at the trainer's coat, which Adrien left draped over a chair when the dying man was brought to him for treatment.  We see far more fear of the escaped ape than we do of the animal itself, and it does not commit near as many murders as Adrien does while dressed in its skin!
So that's halfway progressive for the 1940s.  We can also look at the treatment of Frances, the wheelchair-user partially paralyzed by polio.  She is clearly meant to be an object of the audience's pity, and Adrien is obsessed with making her able to walk again – as he could not do for his own daughter.  To some extent the movie infantilizes her, as she is clearly dependent on her mother, unable to have much of a social life, and her boyfriend Danny professes his willingness to 'take care of her'.  When she regains movement in her legs at the end of the movie, she and her mother immediately burn her wheelchair.  Apparently she's not allowed to build up her stamina slowly... if she walks ten minutes from home and then can't continue, she's just gotta sit there until she recovers or somebody finds her.
On the other hand, Frances' family aren't trying to force Adrien's possible cure on her, but let her choose it for herself. Her mother doesn't mind looking after her, and Danny is happy to accommodate her by, for example, hiring a cart so she can accompany him to the circus.  Danny in particular is very suspicious of the fact that the injections Adrien gives to Frances are causing her pain, and takes the doctor to task for it, telling him he would rather have her disabled and happy than walking but in pain.  “I'd rather carry her around all my life!” he says.  Her loved ones are willing to try for the cure, but it doesn't seem like anyone will be miserable if it fails.  Frances herself wistfully admires the acrobats at the circus, but shows no anger or bitterness that she cannot be like them.
Frances is even allowed some initiative, as she hurries down the road in her wheelchair calling to Dr. Adrien and trying to warn him that the gorilla is in the area.  This, ironically, is what leads to Adrien getting shot, as it attracts the attention of the posse hunting the animal.  But as Adrien lies dying, he gets to see Frances standing for the first time in ten years, so I guess we're meant to think this was all worth it.
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But was it?  Several people died in order to provide the spinal fluid that helped Frances heal.  The movie shows them as terrified of Dr. Adrien and/or the gorilla, but other than that it is oddly uninterested in their fates.  None of the deaths are presented as tragedies, with families left in mourning... the only family we hear about for the gorilla trainer is a father who is already dead, and another one of the victims was an asshole who told his wife if she didn't like him cheating on her she could always drown herself(!??).  So... are we supposed to think they don't matter?  That their deaths are acceptable because they helped Frances – who was not dying or even deteriorating, and was satisfied with her life as it was – to a cure?
It is notable that we do not see what happens when Frances finds out that people had to die for her to be able to walk.  She would have to reassess her opinion of Dr. Adrien, whom until now she has thought of as a loving father figure.  She would have to figure out what this means for her future and perhaps need reassurance that she is not culpable.  Her unconcerned happiness at the end suggests that nobody bothered to tell her, and that she has not yet made the connection herself.  This is really quite unfortunate, because it deprives Frances of her only real chance to be a character rather than a plot point – which is ultimately all she is here.
Nobody else is shown dealing with the aftermath, either.  The town has long mistrusted Dr. Adrien because of rumours that he was experimenting on his patients, and a recent spate of missing dogs is shown to be his fault.  An early scene shows a group of boys bothering the doctor by throwing rocks at his house (which made me wonder if toilet paper hadn't been invented yet. According to Wikipedia, it dates to 1857, so there's your Fun Fact for the day). Seeing their worst fears realized really ought to have some effect on the people.  Even if nobody bothers to tell Frances how her miraculous cure was effected, others will surely figure it out and have to weigh up what he achieved versus the crimes he committed to get there.
Yeah, I know: this is a movie about a guy killing people while wearing a dead gorilla.  I'm thinking too hard.
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Finally, I want to note some interesting possible connections between The Ape and a number of other movies I've seen.  Both The Ape and The Ape Man appear to have been inspired by the 1932 movie Murders in the Rue Morgue, which also features a gorilla and injections of bodily fluids in the name of mad science, and did not feature very much resemblance to Edgar Allen Poe's story of the same name.  I don't know if these films directly inspired each other, and it's been ages since I saw Rue Morgue... but the combination of plot elements here seems weirdly specific to be something different people came up with independently.  I should watch all three again and see if I notice any more similarities between them.
There are also interesting likenesses between The Ape and another Boris Karloff movie, 1945's The Grave Robber.  The latter is the story of a doctor who needs fresh corpses as part of his research, which culminates in surgery to allow a paralyzed girl to walk again.  The doctor in this film is more a victim than a villain, himself, as he finds that the man he's been paying to rob graves for him is actually murdering the homeless, and he can't expose this criminal without jeopardizing his work and incriminating himself.  It's been a long time since I saw this movie, either (as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've had some shit going on and I haven't had a lot of time for movies, bad or otherwise), so I can't actually say if it's better than The Ape, but it's definitely less silly.
Anyway, the moral of this story is vaccinate your fucking kids or a gorilla will kill you.
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thefanficmonster · 4 years ago
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Things Left Unsaid
Daniel x Taylor (The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope)
Warnings: Swearing (of course, because Taylor)
Genre: FLUFF
Summary: When Daniel wakes up to find one of his closes girl friends in his bed, snuggled up to him on top of all, in his shirt, on top of that too, he can’t help but admit a thing or two to himself. Too bad he can’t admit it all out loud when the girl’s eyes flutter open.
Requested by my platonic spouse, amazing friend and chaotic fellow cult leader @hopeveon You already know how grateful I am for the request and how sorry I am for not completing it sooner. And you already know how much I love you so ON WITH THE DAYLOR CONTENT! Love, Vy ❤
How did this happen? - Is the first though that passes through a still half-asleep Daniel when he wakes up and finds he’s not tangled in his blankets like he usually is. In fact, the blankets are barely touching him. What little warmth he feels has nothing to do with them, but instead with the other body he appears to be sharing the bed with. The body that just so happens to be snuggled up into his side, head resting on his chest.
The body that has hogged all the blankets.
The second thought, a little less foggy than the previous, comes when said body shifts, causing the blanket to slip and reveal the material of the sleeping attire it’s clad in. That sleeping attire just so happens to be a particularly familiar shirt - his shirt:
Ok, now I gotta now how this happened.
It doesn’t take him a lot of thinking or analyzing to put two and two together and find the identity of the person cuddled up next to him. For starters, he’d never allow anyone else in this position and for seconds - that hair is hard to misidentify.
Taylor
The girl he developed a crush on at the very first glance. The girl he soon sparked a close friendship with - a friendship that he saw as a reason to try an terminate the crush he had on her because he felt it would ruin the amazing connection they had. He was prepared to sacrifice his feelings to keep things between them platonic in fear of losing her completely if he tried to move their relationship up the scale. Problem is, as much as Daniel would like to believe that feelings can so easily be erased, the truth is that the more hits they take the stronger they became. And Taylor hadn’t been helping him much either. Her caring glances, bright smiles, the subtle, probably subconscious touches on his arm. None of that seemed to be as meaningful to her as it was to him, or so he thought.  Daniel would have laughed at himself if he didn’t feel so pathetic - he was the one encouraging his friend Chris to ‘shoot his shot’ and mocked him the countless times he refused and then Taylor entered his life, causing the tables to flip on him.
As time went on though, the tables flipped again and it just so happened to be at a college frat party at the beginning of the year. After two years of friendship, suppressing feelings and desperately trying to beat them out of himself, he was still not the first one to confess anything. A good blow to his ego was that too.
Sitting on the edge of the fountain that was a safe distance away from the fraternity and its chaos, Daniel and Taylor ended up sharing a moment under the starry sky, both way too sober in terms of alcohol, but too drunk on the uncontrollable emotions that were flaring up and spreading throughout them like a wildfire. 
“I feel so childish sometimes.“ She admitted, looking down at her sneakers as she dug the heels of them in the dirt by the fountain, “Always thought I’d grow out of crushes eventually.“
Daniel wasn’t caught off-guard by this, after all, they had been discussing some class gossip to fill in the silence or perhaps to avoid saying something they shouldn’t. The gossip was generally surrounding their classmate Angela and their creative writing professor John, but in all honesty neither of them were interested in it nor did they know a lot about it which is why their conversation ended up straying into personal territory.
“Crushes are not something you grow out of.“ Daniel said in response to that, “They just get easier to deal with. Maybe even easier to confess.“
Taylor shook her head at that, her eyes wide almost as if the statement triggered something in her, “No, no way. They are in no way easier for confessing.”
Despite fully agreeing with this statement, Daniel chooses to play dumb an press the subject further in a teasing manner to cover up just how risky of a topic this is for him, especially when she’s around. “Sounds like you’ve had a personal experience with this struggle. Not one of the brave and the bold, huh?”
“Definitely not! If I were, I would’ve already admitted to you how much I like you.“ She didn’t bother to look at him when she said that, her eyes remained focused on the starry sky above, a small lazy smile playing at her lips.
While she was staring at the stars, the boy sitting next to her was star-struck, head spinning from the sudden confession on her part. He wanted to say something, anything for goodness’ sake! But, alas, he couldn’t. He couldn’t find words in general, let alone the right words to express how he was feeling. Thankfully, humans are more than capable of displaying their emotions through body language as well. 
It’s safe to say Daniel expressed all he felt and more when his lips landed on hers, leading them to share their first kiss in under the moonlight and the shimmering stars while havoc was wreaking less than a block away from them.
After that turning point in their relationship, they have been left in a sort of grey area. You know, the one that’s between platonic and officially romantic. This period that is still the present for the two of them is giving Daniel massive anxieties, doubts, speculations and fears that have kept him sleepless for more nights than he cares to count. He’s never brought it up to Taylor though. Speaking of her, she’s seems rather content, maybe even pleased with their current status of undecided, unlabeled fun. It’s reasonable enough, she was the one to initiate it after all. She said she didn’t like relationships or the label of being someone’s girlfriend, at least not this early on and definitely not in the near future and Daniel respected her view, allowing for their relationship to remain marked with question marks. However, the longer this lasted, the more his intrusive thoughts started to get to him. He’s become apprehensive, overly mindful, doubtful, suspicious and skeptical of every exchange they have. Hell, he hates himself for it but he can’t deny that he’s questioned Taylor’s intentions on more than a few occasions. He knew it was his own fears getting in the way of his rational thinking but he’s only human, he couldn’t help himself.
Taylor didn’t exactly specify why she didn’t want this relationship to be official. She didn’t want to be asked about it either. The two times he had asked she had dodged giving a concrete answer and instead changed the topic, using a vague response as a front to what was going on in her head. Daniel didn’t try and pursue the truth, he knew it had the potential of escalating into an argument, considering Taylor knew how to be rather short-fused.
Little did he know how good of a reason she had.
Every previous relationship she had entered was a train-wreck after a train-wreck. A disaster wrapped in another disaster, often times ending with her and her partner on horrible terms and talking smack behind each other’s backs following the break-up. Since junior year in high school, she hadn’t been in a relationship with a single person she liked liked. It was always a settlement for a person who’d show interest in her first, hoping her feelings would develop as the relationship progressed. Unfortunately, they never did and neither did the relationship - leading to the aforementioned disaster. The few times her and her partner remained friends were considered the successful relationships in her book.
All that taken into account, one would find her reluctance on labeling her relationship with Daniel as official pretty reasonable. She didn’t want to admit her reasoning out loud, thinking it was childish and downright nonsensical, keeping Daniel in the dark about what was going on in her head. This was the first time for her to initiate the start of something of this sort - that in and of itself made this connection between them special. Besides that, this was the first time there was a connection. The first time she liked someone. Liked liked someone. She wasn’t looking forward to starting it just for it to fall apart which is why it took her so long to set it all in motion to begin with. And that’s why now she’s taking things slow. Agonizingly slow. But from her standpoint - perfectly reasonable.
In the middle of his reminiscing, about halfway through his trip down memory lane, he shifts to provide himself a more comfortable position. He was quick to regret that decision though, very very quick, especially when he saw the arm that was previously draped over his chest reach up and run a hand through the short red hair that’s glimmering with the morning rays coming in through the window.
“Shit, sorry for waking you up, T.“ Daniel whispers, his eyes squeezing shut as he cringes at the stutter to his words and the fact he even woke her up, “Go back to sleep, it’s barely 6 AM.“
Taylor shakes his head, surprising him when she ends up snuggling closer to him as though this is a perfectly normal occurrence. “Nah, it’s ok...“ she twists her neck to look up at him, rolling over to have a better view of his face, “You seem like you haven’t been asleep for a while.“
He indeed hasn’t been. He has instead been looking back on all the times they’ve spent together, reading into them and trying to dig out every detail, but he’s of course not gonna say that. She’d probably poke fun at him for being so sentimental and sappy, “No, um, I was just thinking, that’s all.” 
All that thinking did bring something useful to him - the events of last night. How she dropped by to study together and maybe watch a movie on the small crappy TV in his dorm while Andrew is gone for the weekend. How they had started a friendly bicker session regarding their cinematic taste. How they had gotten so close to kissing....when the power went out. Daniel still regrets how much he silently cursed that power shortage - that very shortage happened to be what has led them to this: cuddling together in his bed. Taylor didn’t want to go back to her dorm in the pitch black, not that Daniel was gonna let her do so anyway, so she agreed to stay the night, scolding him for being ridiculous when he offered to sleep on the floor. Oh yeah, she also needed something to sleep in, that’s how she ended up in his shirt. With all the pieces put together, this position of theirs is even more precious in his eyes.
“Thinking bout what? If you keep talking I might end up falling asleep again...“ Taylor presses onward, prying words out of his mouth despite his obvious reluctance.
He can never say no to her, to the point where it’s an actual inconvenience at times, which is why he lets out a long sigh before speaking up again, “Have I ever told you about the first time I caught feelings for you?”
“Nope.“ She mutters, “I’m all ears.“
Daniel inhales deeply, filling his lungs to their upmost capacity as he teleports his mind to that moment two years ago. The moment he first saw her. “It was my third day of classes and I was still in no way an expert at navigating this massive campus so I got lost on my way to the bathrooms in the second building. In my defense, it was my first time there so I couldn’t have found the way even if I was a navigation prodigy.“ He attempts to lighten up the tone with which he’s speaking but to no avail, there’s too much emotion in his voice. The moment he’s describing is too meaningful. “As I was aimlessly roaming the halls in search for any bathroom signs, I heard laughter around the corner. This was a big deal, mind you, cause I hadn’t seen a single soul for a good fifteen minutes. Following the sound, it led me to a group of three people standing by a classroom. You happened to be the only person facing away from me, how ironic.“ He lets out a breathy, humorless chuckle, “Even more ironically, just as I was about to approach your friend group to ask for directions, my roommate popped up out of thin air, calling out my name like the loud doofus he is.“
“Oh yeah I remember. Conrad is a handful. I remember my friends commented on how sorry they felt for you for having to share a dorm with him. You’re lucky he graduated. And by the way, fun fact, since we didn’t know your name we just took to calling you ‘guy in red shirt’. Makes me laugh every time I think back to it“ Taylor snickers, interrupting his story-telling.
“’Guy in red shirt’, huh? I like it. It’s better than Dan, anyway.“ This gets a laugh from her as well, “And that’s when you turned around and that’s when...“
“Wait, that’s it? I turned around and you caught feelings?“ She raises an eyebrow at him, unamused as ever.
“Yes.” No. “That’s when I caught feelings for you.” That’s when I fell in love with you.
Taylor rolls her eyes, resting her head back down on his chest, “Boring! I’m going back to sleep.”
If he could smack himself across the face without looking like an absolute weirdo he would do exactly that. “Sure, probably for the better...” I don’t wanna appear an even bigger idiot than I already have.
And so so many things remain unsaid yet again. But perhaps there will come a day when he’ll admit them to her and not only to himself.
One can only hope.
@artlovingbre  @megandaisy9  @sparrow-gg
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thornewoodhospitalblog · 5 years ago
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It can be absolutely daunting to log on and just stare blankly at an empty post. It’s quite a struggle, but have no fear! The Bee Sisters are here! There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and you will come out the other side. Okay, I’ll stop with the cheesy metaphors now. Read on for common causes relating to the loss of muse and how to revive inspiration by falling in love with your character again.
Problem 1: Stressful Personal Life One of the most common factors of lost muse is a stressful personal life. If work or home life has suddenly become unmanageable, it can cause writing to feel like a chore. 
Solution: We’ve all been through it and a brief hiatus in this circumstance can actually be pretty useful as they often give you time to take a step back and think about how you want your character to return to the RP. You know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder! Take the time to relax, write a list about what you want to bring to the overall plot of the RP and how your character can facilitate that goal and get hyped up about returning.
Problem 2: Loss of Direction Similarly, it can become very easy to lose all sense of direction with your character and get wrapped up in going with the flow with no big development occurring. 
Solution: This is a good time to take a step back, reread your character’s bio and reevaluate your character and their existing connections. Tap back into your initial inspiration for where your character came from and think about what may have gotten lost or has been on hold for too long. What were your original aspirations for your character? How does your character specifically fit into the overarching plot of Thornewood? What does this character bring that advances Thornewood’s story?
For instance, if your character’s bio states they’re a go-getter and strive for achievement but haven’t quite achieved anything since arriving at Thornewood, perhaps it’s time for your character to earn a promotion or be downgraded from the red/yellow floor to the yellow/green floor. We know going backwards isn’t intuitive, but sometimes it’s important to look back in order to go forward. Looking back can provide inspiration for a plot revolving around a new characteristic or a developing skill could result in further character development for a more exciting and adventurous route.
Problem 3: Lack of Connections  A big issue with writing in a growing group is that as new writers and characters come in, it can feel as though your character is getting lost in the crowd. It’s absolutely essential you continue to put your character out there to be heard! Solution:  Open starters (we have a post all about intriguing open starters, posted here) are the best way to do this! Read the other characters bios and if you see one that your character may gel well with (or, it might even be more exciting if they don’t get along) and you have an idea for a plot (this part is really important!! Come to the table with at least some idea!), message them privately and pitch your ideas! We are extremely lucky to have a wonderful and friendly group of writers here so please don’t be worried or afraid to build those connections!
Problem 4: Undeveloped Character Development Bear with me on this one. You applied with a bio that, at the time, felt strong and you had a lot of muse for but as you got to threading and creating connections and plots, your character still feels…the same. Unmoved. Unchanged by their environment. Don’t stress! It happens, I’ve done it! 
Solution: Now its pivotal for you to go back to your character bio and pick out one part that you know you’ve lost or would like to improve upon. Now, journal, self-para, create mood boards, take mun/muse quizzes or personality tests for your character, fill in an IC all about me, create a playlist of songs that relate to your character. Work on them from the ground up. Strip them back and find the parts that make them unique. (I will be adding some character development quizzes to the main if you find these helpful.) But, the aim here is for you to basically rebuild your muse from where it first began but with a refreshed perspective.
Problem 5: It’s Been Awhile There are many reasons why you may have taken a hiatus, and rightfully so, but now you’ve been away for so long that jumping back in sort of feels like a huge leap. The dash has moved, events have unfolded and everyone seems to be in the midst of a big plot. 
Solution: Before returning, set up a group chat with the mods and we will fill you in on everything that may have occurred in your absence. In the midst of this conversation, you can absolutely plot with us about how your character should return! We enjoy helping when we can and ensure a smooth transition back into Thornewood. Don’t let yourself suffer in silence! Communication is key!
Problem 6: Striving for Perfection  I know first hand how it feels to be in the middle of writing an important plot that you are incredibly proud of and want to be good and entertaining enough that the other writers in the group are interested in reading it, buuuuut there’s a fine line between writing well and wanting to write well that your ambition ends up scaring off your muse. Now, to be clear, we’re not saying don’t try to write the absolute best can! Please, do! Push yourself! However, we’d like to caution you that an unhealthy amount of pressure on yourself will kill muse.
Solution: If you’re staring at your reply and pulling your hair out, hit that little “save draft” button and walk away. I’m serious. Close your laptop, make yourself a drink and take a deep breath, or even move onto another thread you have. I’ll often give myself 45 minutes to an hour and then come back to the original thread. At that point, it’s like a fresh pair of eyes going over what you had before and you’ll suddenly see the mistakes and your second draft will be 100% better.
Problem 7: Insufficient Communication Okay, this one here is a biggie and I need you to know one thing before I start, when we say communication is key, we mean it. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have watched people lose all their muse because they are not communicating honestly and effectively with their RP partners. 
Solution: If the plot you created isn’t working anymore, tell them. If they’re all over the place and rarely on, meaning you can’t write with them, discuss it with them. If you feel you’re being disrespected or not listened to, talk to them openly and honestly. (If you’ve done this and are still having issues, please report such a thing to the mods as this is something we can deal with). If god-modding (you didn’t previously approve), meta-knowledge or meta-disrespect has taken place, report it to the mods immediately. This destroys all love for writing and your plots and can make for a tense and hostile environment which is not something tolerated here at Thornewood. Communication with your partners and mods is incredibly important.
Conclusion: If you got this far, wow! Thank you! Gold star for you, if there’s one thing this bee does well, it’s ramble. This guide has come from a very honest place because recently I have been struggling with a loss of muse and through writing this, I’ve used my own tips to bring it back. If you take anything away from this, let it be this:
Hiatuses are a-okay and a lot of the time, necessary. Please don’t lose sight of the fact that this is supposed to be a fun and enjoyable space and lastly, the mods are here to help, guide and support you in anyway we can. We are only a message away.
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rwbyremnants · 5 years ago
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WARNING: Kink discussion, domination, bondage, writing on bodies, anal play, anal penetration.
NOTES: Hey I'm glad you guys are liking this! Sorry to those of you who are really into the White Noise-verse and only here for the gay haha. I promise there's more of that to come after this fic!
=Chapter 3
“Girls will always win over boys.” When the blonde at the bar delivered this line, pushing her glasses further up her nose, it was in a business-like tone without any hint of mirth or debate. “We’re just naturally superior. That is why, week after week, when you two men play against us, you lose.”
"Well it's only typical girls know how to handle balls better." Once again for their bi-weekly bowling sessions, Qrow was in attendance. And yet again, he was taking any chance he could to make snide comments about his opponents. This time, it was aimed at the two of them rather than Winter in their meeting before. If anything, it was on purpose. He hoped to fill the silver haired temptress with jealousy.
However, Winter was simply watching in bemusement. Perhaps it was because she and Qrow were occasional "playmates", or because they had only had the one session thus far. Perhaps she was over him already, and had moved on to greener pastures. Either way, she was smiling rather than vibrating with envy, as he had hoped.
But Glynda's reaction was a bit more pronounced. Scowling at him, she snapped, "That's a bit presumptuous, don't you think?"
"Mmmaybe." Leaning against the bar, and slowly leaning in toward Glynda, he found his eyes half closing. His cocky attitude would be enough to grind even the steadiest of nerves. "Or we could find out?"
"Who's thirsty?!" Finally returning from a long queue at the other side the bar, Qrow's blond-haired teammate, Taiyang, had managed to carry four glasses in his hands. Only just. Resting them on the bar between Glynda and Qrow, he pushed the two red cocktails toward the women, and the beers in their direction. "Strawberry Sunrises, as requested, and beer for me and the loser here."
"I do like something sweet," Winter said with a slight smile. But it looked like Glynda was not to be so easily mollified, not after Qrow's lewd comment.
"Listen, you… you coarse blowhard," Glynda blustered. "I came here to bowl, not to be a target of your half-assed attempts to demean me. I am a person behind these boobs, you know!"
"Ooohh, feisty…" His taunts continued as he smirked down at her. But once again, Tai stepped between them to end any possible fighting. Deliberately shuffling himself and Qrow backward, he laughed nervously toward the two. And opted for a subject change.
"Sooo… the game? That was a good game! Haven’t seen a turkey like that for a while!"
"Agreed," Winter put in, glancing between them all. She was all about diffusing the situation, now that it had run its natural course. "That was really fantastic, Glynda."
The woman's green eyes swung around to glare at Winter briefly, as if blaming her for intervening the way Taiyang did. But all she said was, "Thank you. I'm… happy that my game is finally coming along. We may really be able to enter a tournament after all, now that you have joined us."
"Oh, it isn't because of me," Winter snorted, taking a sip of her drink. "I got three gutterballs."
"Which you made up for, though! I saw that spare and strike at the end, you were holding out on us!" Handling his beer, their cheery blonde teammate took a large gulp full once he was sure the team was relatively calm again. At least, he assumed it would have been.
If not for Qrow's comment, which was aimed directly at Winter this time. "Oh, she more than made up for them, and I'm sure she can do it again."
"Hnghk!" Winter blurted into her drink, which set her to coughing. Quickly, she snatched at the tiny cocktail napkin that had been under her glass and dabbed at her face to wipe the semi-frozen concoction clear.
"What?" Glynda asked, eyebrows coming together. "What's wrong with you?"
"Are you okay?" Taiyang asked, raising one of his hands up as if to reach out to her, drawing it back as she seemed to slow down. But all the while, Qrow was laughing and chuckling to himself as he delicately sipped away at his beer. It was all just a game to him, one that Winter was losing.
"Fine, just… went down the wrong way," she finally managed, taking another drink to soothe her throat. It worked, and she sighed. "Sorry to have worried you all. Especially you, Qrow," she added pointedly.
"Oh you know me, I worry about the gals. Whether they can handle their balls or not."
That comment earned him a quick nudge from Tai when he shot him a glare. But not a moment after he looked back to both the teammates, smiling nervously once more. "So… team names! What do we think?"
"How about 'Blondes Have More Fun'?" Glynda suggested. When Winter laughed, she raised an eyebrow. "And what's wrong with that?"
"One of us isn't blonde."
"Yes, and he's not even the tiniest bit fun. I think it's appropriate."
"…You aren't gonna respond to that?" Tai asked, looking around to his friend as he was continuing to down the beer he had. After a gulp, he'd already finished the first pint, placing the glass on the bar to be collected.
"Oh there is a lot I can say. I just think I'll get kicked in the family jewels if I do."
"Good instincts," Winter told him evenly. Then she arched an eyebrow at Taiyang. "Any better ideas than 'Blondes'?"
"Hmm… aww man, Summer used to be great at these. What word can we make outta W, G, Q and T?" He had turned to ask his friend, only to find he had already ordered another pint and was beginning to drink. "Qrow!"
"Oh lighten up." He then took another large gulp, holding the drink level once he was finished with that one. "Alcohol helps me get the ol’ brain workin', I'll come up with a better name this way."
"I think it does the opposite…" He sighed in annoyance, raising a hand to his head. "At this rate all your brain will do is dissolve into mush, and your liver."
"We could always just call ourselves 'The Thunderclouds'," Winter mused slowly, as if she were only speaking as the thoughts came into her head and not seriously expecting anyone to approve. "You know, like Qrow is the black cloud, and we're the yellow lightning bolts. Something like that."
"Hey yeah, I like that!" Speaking of lightning, Tai himself seemed to light up with the suggestion, grinning widely at the two ladies. And then back to Qrow, nudging him as he as he was about to drink more. "How about it, buddy? Thunderclouds?"
Grunting, thanks to the drink he had spilt on the ground, he looked back toward Winter and Glynda again. Seemed Glynda was still glaring, but at least Winter was alright with him. "Sure, Thunderclouds is great." But then he smirked. "Y'know, I totally bring the thunder. Especially in the bedroom."
While Glynda was rolling her eyes and making a very loud noise of disgust, Winter laughed and added, "So you say. I was more thinking about the sound of thunder when the ball rolls down the lane. And don't they say a thunderstorm means God is bowling in Heaven?"
That brought about a laugh from Qrow, especially when he remembered specifically the Schnee lifestyle, how they were raised on a Christian upbringing. Many times he laughed with Weiss about it on their meeting, now he could with the older sister as well. "Typical you'd get told something like that. So is rain him crying over a gutter ball or something?"
"Probably," she said - with a small chuckle, in fact. Maybe they could get along in areas besides the bedroom. "Must have been a pretty awful run last month; rained every other day."
"Well, I think it works as well as anything," Glynda put in, trying to bring them back around to business. As usual. "However, we have to get good enough to play in the tournament first, don't we?"
With a shrug, Tai put in, "I'd say we can be, if we put more practice in around the edges some time. What say we actually exchange numbers so we can meet up and work on our game if we're free?"
Tai's offer was genuine, but it was just what Qrow needed without him even mentioning it. A way to contact Winter without straight up asking. Putting his drink back for a moment, he already fetched his phone out, eager to begin. "Sure, why not?"
"Yes, makes perfect sense." Taking his phone, Winter passed her own over and began to type in her number. Then she saw the "name" field waiting for her to input something… and couldn't resist.
When she passed it back to Qrow, the screen showed her contact information as "Princess." Raising an eyebrows back in her direction, he couldn't help but chuckle at the presence of that word once again. A subtle way to make sure he didn't forget. He could get used to this.
And as the night went on, and a few more drinks were had together, things gradually began to settle down. Qrow was done flirting for now, focusing on bowling and boozing. He was already on his fourth while everyone else had begun their second. Not that he was counting. If anything, he was counting on a lift home from Winter if they ended up agreeing to do things again.
"So…" He began another conversation starter, gesturing both Tai and Winter. "How's the crazy kids doing on tour?"
But Winter had been thinking about something all night. Debating it back and forth in her head. Certain things could wait; for now, she had a question for someone else and wanted to leave the two men to chat about family business.
"My father would know better than I these days," she said with a polite smile. "But so far, so good; Freezerburn is playing nearly sold-out shows in every city." Then she turned and said, "Glynda, do you mind if I have a word?"
The bespectacled woman blinked in mild surprise, but managed to stammer, "Oh, s-sure. Excuse us."
Then the two ladies scooted down a few barstools with their drinks, bending their heads closer to each other. Although curious, Qrow never tried to butt in. Doing so would only raise suspicion between them, people would ask why he was so defensive. Including Tai, and then down the line, possibly everyone else. Simply watching as they headed off, he pondered to himself while that question hung around Taiyang longer.
"Anyway," Tai half-laughed, following their sudden departure. "They are doing pretty good, but Yang told me she's kind of worried about the wife; I mean, came down with a stomach bug. So far she's been able to keep all their tour dates, but there were a couple close calls where she woke up and ran to the toilet, didn't know if she'd feel like going through with the show."
Leaning back toward the bar again as he listened to his friend, Qrow took yet another sip of his drink. This last one he had slowed down considerably, with the knowledge that he didn't want to be too drunk for the activities after. Still, hearing about his niece and her girlfriend's trouble, he shrugged his shoulders. "Lil pipsqueak has more in her than I thought if she's still singing after throwing up all morning. Let's just hope Yang don't catch it, huh?"
"Yeah, that's what's strange. They're all over each other usually; more than I'd care to watch," he added with half-weary little smile. "But nope, Yang's still in perfect health. So your guess is as good as mine."
Letting that linger a moment, Qrow gazed outwardly in thought. That was until he found a small smile creeping to his lips. "Maybe it's because they're all over one another… remember how Summer was with Ruby?"
"Don't even start down that road," Tai grumbled as he leaned backward against the bar, tipping the bottle up.
"Tai, come on. They've been together three years. There's usually either a marriage announcement or a kid on the way in that time." Though the amused smile turned to a laugh of his own. "Either way, your wallet's gonna be fucked."
He was still letting out a long, wailing groan in the general direction of the ceiling when the women returned, Winter laughing at his outburst. "Oh, and what's all this? You auditioning for a yodeling contest?"
"I'm too young to be a grandpa!" he groaned, turning on his stool to slump against the bar, hand clutching at the bottle as if it were a life raft.
Laughing as he raised his own glass, Qrow patted Taiyang on the back with his free hand. "Welcome to the world of drinking your sorrows away, pal." And then back toward Winter again. "Was just talking about how your sister is throwing up everywhere, yet Yang miraculously ain't. Nauseating couple like that, you'd expect 'em both to give each other the germs, right?"
"Ahhhh," Winter breathed slowly. Then she waved her hand from side to side. "Don't be silly, it won't be that. Weiss doesn't want children for a few more years, if Yang can even impregnate her."
“Don’t say ‘impregnate’,” Tai moaned.
"Sometimes the body doesn't listen to the mind," Glynda put in mildly, gazing down at her own drink and swirling the contents.
"Exactly,” Qrow said. “Like I was saying to Tai, after three years of being together, you’re gonna get more trusting and risky, might forget a condom or two."
Which only made Tai groan once more, giving another sip of his bottle. "I tried to be a good dad and teach her pulling out doesn't work, I really, really did…"
"Weiss is on the pill, I'm fairly certain," Winter assured him as she finished off her drink. "The chances of this being pregnancy are remarkably small. Don't worry too much."
"Still though, whhhhyyyy…" Pressing his head flat against the bar instead, Tai continued to groan in the newfound agony; even if it wasn't confirmed, that wasn't going to stop him.
Which only made Qrow look back around the other two, and shrug his shoulders. "Wish I never brought it up now. Sorry about him, ladies."
"Don't worry about me," Glynda said easily with a shrug. "I'm just glad it's not me who's possibly pregnant." When the others all glared at her, she slowly lowered the drink she had been raising to her lips. "What? What did I say? We were all talking around it already, I just used the actual term."
Laughing, Winter touched her briefly on the forearm. "You know what they say; men are always the queasiest about this kind of thing, even though they don't actually have to go through it themselves."
"I thought I'd be done with kids till they were like, thirty…"
By now Taiyang's groans were continuing to himself, and the other three were simply laughing about his dilemma. It wasn't as though he himself waited until thirty when Yang and Ruby came to be, after all!
------------------------------------------
The night continued to be pleasant from then on. There were more drinks - strangely not for Qrow, who had insisted he had enough for the evening. After a few more laughs, and continuing to wind up Taiyang on the possibility of grandkids, they headed home relatively early. Tai was dropped off first, stumbling back to his doorstep on the rare occasion he had “drank the sorrows away”, then was Glynda, who Winter prompted about their conversation in the bar, insisting they would discuss it further.
Then it was just Qrow and Winter in the car again. His apartment would have been their destination, however Qrow was largely insistent on going elsewhere. Even to the point of getting a hotel room if they planned on spending the evening together. Thankfully, it was unnecessary, as Winter drove them home to the Schnee building.
"Sorry about the mess," she said as she flipped the light on. "It's been some time; I don't invite anyone I don't trust to my rooms."
Her comment was completely unnecessary. The "mess" consisted of a plate and a coffee mug sitting on the glass coffee table, a single suit jacket draped over the arm of the beige armchair. Otherwise, the light grey carpeting, cream coloured wallpaper and several pieces of modern art presented a welcoming yet pristine living room. A water feature - yes, an actual, pretentious, ornamental water feature - burbled quietly in the corner, running down the dark stone surface only to be pumped back up to the top again.
"Mess," Qrow repeated, heading into the apartment so she could shut the door behind him. Right away, he removed his shoes, a small gesture that he didn't even do in his own place. Everything was so clean, and he didn't want to be the one to mess it all up.
"Real nice place you got, though. Not that I expected any less."
"I do try." Following his lead, she stepped out of the usual flats. As she discussed with them during their drinking fest, she was considering a purchase of her own bowling shoes and ball, now that they were going to be playing on a regular basis. For now, she still used rentals. Then she sighed and pulled the pin out of her hair. "Care for a nightcap? Or perhaps coffee for the opposite effect?"
Already taking a seat in the sofa, he ran a hand through his hair again, brushing the few stray strands out of his face. Nonetheless, he replied confidently, "Depends what you got planned for the evening. Sleeping together, or sleeping together."
Picking up the plate and mug, as if she couldn't stand to leave it, she smiled at him briefly before turning toward the kitchen. "I had thought that would be obvious. But then again, you can be somewhat… slow on the uptake."
"Least I ain't slow on the delivery; you were screaming loud enough." As she took the things to be washed away, Qrow stared toward the water feature a moment to distract himself. It was pretentious, maybe. But she had her own reasons for having it, no doubt. But the subject of screaming lead him on to something else. "Did I tell you I got a noise complaint? Not that I'm complaining about it. Just thought that was funny."
Laughter came from the kitchen, and she returned with two small glasses of greenish juice, ice tinkling inside them. "Hardly a surprise. But you needn't worry about that here; I had all of my rooms soundproofed a few years ago. It… became prudent."
Taking his from her once she was close enough, he smiled gratefully. Although the green was rather confusing, he pushed that to the back of his mind for a moment longer. The more he could learn about Winter Schnee, the better their play would be. At least he assumed so.
"So you've been doing this a few years, huh? What got you into it?"
Sighing, she contemplated her glass for a long moment. Then, almost as if just thinking to say it, she glanced over and asked, "You're not allergic to any fruits or vegetables, are you?"
"Huh?" Then he quickly looked back to the green liquid. "Oh! No no, I'm good. I'm… Yeah."
Rather than pester further, he took the glass to his lips instead, taking a small sip. Just as suspected, it was a unique blend of all kinds of healthy foods. One designed to bring back someone's vitality after a long workout session, or in his case, after a night of drinking and bowling. As good as the taste was, however, it didn't distract him from the fact Winter was dodging the question.
And, of course, she noticed he was still waiting. With a sigh, she lowered her own glass and sighed. "You… seem like a decent man, Qrow. I mean that, despite our rocky start. But this is not something I tell just anyone. Suffice it to say, I had certain desires that aren't… society doesn't look upon them kindly. Even I do not. So instead of letting them put me in dangerous situations, I found a way to explore them in a controlled environment, and began to do so."
"…Uh huh…" That raised far more questions than it answered. Alarming questions, even. Some of which, although he wanted to ask, he refrained; assuming he wasn't yet allowed to know that information. Instead, he went for a more obvious question. "This why you had to implement the 'no guns, no knives' rule?"
"That came afterward," she grumbled with a loud gust. "Separate occasions, as well; the one… let's say 'appointment', had a gun fetish, and liked to threaten women with them, put the barrels in their mouths. He always showed me the empty chamber before we began play, but it was still very… unsettling." With a shiver, she continued, "As for the knives, I just don't like visible scars. Even ones that can be covered by clothing aren't welcome. I'd rather my body be exactly what it was before play, with the exception of a few welts or bruises that will heal quickly enough."
Blinking as he took in all the information, Qrow began to slowly nod. Not for reasons that she may expect, however. Taking another sip, he placed the cup down on the coffee table for a moment. "What annoys me is, I bet it's some jerk with an inflated ego who's never had to use one in his life for its intended purpose. You don't fuck with guns, period."
Now it was Winter's turn to learn a little something about her companion. Turning very slightly in his direction, she crossed her legs as she asked, "Any reason your convictions on that matter are so strong? You don't have to tell me if it's a sore subject, but… I'm guessing you had a bad experience."
Having stared outward blankly, he slowly nodded his head, seeming to weigh up the options. Until finally taking a breath in. Maybe if he shared first, Winter would be braver. "Maybe you already knew from Tai or from Yang or something, but I'm a former soldier. It's actually how I met Taiyang; we were in the same unit."
"Really? Hmm… I could see that, yes." But she didn't interrupt further.
"Was four of us that were close. Me, my sister, Raven, Taiyang, and Summer, Ruby's mom." Unable to help himself, he smiled, folding his arms at the fond memory. "We were a great team, us four. Used to get up to all kinda trouble when we had too much free time, but in the field, we looked out for each other. It was like we were all an extension of ourselves; if one went left, we all went left. We had a strong connection."
"That sounds wonderful." She took another drink, listening politely. But not merely that. She was taking all of it in, slotting the pieces of what made Qrow who he was into place within her mind. She just didn't want to interrupt such a healthy moment of confession.
"When we were liberating villages and hanging out with the people we rescued, it was. Some of the happiest memories I have are the four of us out there. But at the same time, fucked us all up in different ways." Shuffling in his seat again, he rested his hands by his side, sighing. "We never really settled down. Even after Yang and Ruby were born, we felt it was our duty to go back. But we were older. Tai agreed to stay behind and look after the kids, I failed the fitness exam, but Summer and Raven went back. Judging by the fact they ain't here now… You can guess how that went."
"I… never knew the details," she confessed carefully. "Only that Ruby and Yang said their mothers weren't in their lives anymore. I got the feeling that with Yang's mother, it was by choice…?"
"Partially." Now he was staring out blankly. The subject wasn't really talked about. Not by him, by Taiyang, or Yang herself. It was a sensitive topic. But one that he finally felt he could share.
"We heard Summer was killed out there, but Raven? She went AWOL somewhere down the line. We've never heard from her again. Choice or not, nobody knows what happened." Taking the drink back from the table, he said before taking a sip, "Least if she was dead we could have a little closure."
Shivering at the coldness of his tone, she looked down. "I… lost my own mother about a decade ago. Not that it's the same, but I know this kind of thing stays with you. And for it to be your sister…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry for asking so many questions. This must have been the last thing you came over here to do, and here we are, commiserating."
Having finished a little more of the drink, he placed the remains back on the table. The subject was so much darker than what was expected for the evening, yet it came with an understanding smile. Vocal venting was as good as sexual venting.
"It's good to get it out sometimes. I don't talk about my sister often or to many people, but sometimes I just… gotta scream about it." Keeping eye contact with her, he shrugged his shoulder. "I suspect it's the same with your mom."
"Well… perhaps, yes. I just don't usually bother talking about her to anyone besides Weiss or Father. What's there to say? She was a warm, sweet woman, and taken from us too soon by circumstances beyond our control. It's… unfortunate, but the past is past."
Qrow only nodded, allowing the occasional silence to clear the air between them. "Even if it's beyond your control, sometimes, you can't help and look back. Me, I sometimes wonder if I quit the booze and passed the test, I coulda gone out there and stopped what happened." However, he shrugged his shoulders again. "Or maybe the three of us woulda been killed rather than one, fuck knows. Either way, sometimes I blame myself, sometimes I blame them, then feel awful a few seconds later. Dunno if it's the same with your mom, but…"
"Not… for me," she said carefully. "But for my father, I believe so. He was always blaming himself. I was too young to have made any difference."
Then she took a large swallow of her juice and set the glass down, scooting closer to him. Her hand drifted up to graze the back of his neck gently, tenderly. "Perhaps I could interest you in a neck massage? Relax some of that tension away. I'm no Neon Katt, by all accounts, but I do alright in a pinch."
Finally, he looked back toward her again, and found himself chuckling under his breath when his eyes met hers once more. "Y'know, you confuse the hell out of me."
That caused her to blink in mild confusion herself. "How so?"
One of his hands drifted to her thigh, gently brushing up and down for a moment. "Because you're a perfect ten who's giving a two-point-five, at best, a hell of a good time."
"Shush," she chuckled, swatting across his shoulder lightly. "I'm not a ten. Perhaps in looks, I'm up to… nine, being entirely objective. Though I rarely feel like it. But…"
Her eyes dropped to the coffee table for a long moment. There were things she felt tempted to say. Wanted to say. But she didn't want to drag down their entire evening with a load of self-centered grousing.
Sensing that, he shrugged again, finally shuffling himself closer to her direction, facing away from her. In a short space he had learnt a few more important factors about Winter, which was the main thing to him; the rest could come later. Offering up a free distraction, he rolled his shoulders. "Go on, work away."
"Right, then," she sighed, shaking loose her inner demons. "Right." Reaching up, she slid her fingers in and around his collar and began to knead at the tight muscles there. "Ah… not too bad, but you could definitely use my touch. Though you probably already knew that," she added in a suggestive murmur.
"Wonder what you can do with your hands… your mouth does more than a good ‘job.’" As soon as he felt the fingers starting to knead into the tight muscles, his eyes began to instinctively close. Her rugged man relaxed right into her touch, tilting his head left and right to assist her further. "Ooohhh yeeeaaaahhh…"
Chuckling lightly, she kneaded harder, really getting into the work. "About your comment… me being 'too good' for you. This isn't really something I'd consider anything more than a favour for a friend, so you don't need to think of it as a big deal, or as my changing our relationship. If that helps take the pressure off. Sometimes a massage is just a massage."
She had him wrapped around her little finger. Unable to help the small growl that left his lips as he tilted his head this way and that, he only just managed to ease an eye open, trying to keep himself focused. "Does, actually. And the whole ‘master-princess’ thing is a little bit more than a favour, right?"
"That's… separate." Then she smiled wryly. "Sorry if I threw you with the phone. But, other than that small detail… you do understand that even if we decide to tell anyone we've slept together, that we do not discuss that aspect of our arrangement, right? Not without both of us agreeing to tell whoever it is."
Still seemingly in a trance while she kneaded into the aching muscles, he slowly nodded, leaning to the other side once she was done with one. "Hey, I'm not about to admit I get a thrill out of bossing a woman around, forcing her to do stuff. Your secret's safe with me."
He definitely had a point there. A wicked grin graced her lips as she leaned closer to his ear. "Hmm… you know, we could always turn the tables…" Then her fingers flexed inward, and she gouged her fingernails into his flesh momentarily.
Wincing from the brief amount of pain that followed, he gritted his teeth together. And yet, the thought that came to mind was still rather a good one. There was a mental image of Winter Schnee wearing a leather corset and heels. Only corset and heels. Images of her above him, demanding things of him. But as that thought got further down the line, he remembered what some femdoms specifically got up to. Whips were one thing, but then there were certain other objects. And certain other attires…
"Nnnope," he said quite clearly, unable to help but flinch forward, instinctively holding his arms behind him. "My ass is a one-way street, thank you."
"Oh!" There was a surprised giggle from Winter, but she continued her massage nonetheless. "That makes one of us. But I do find it interesting that pegging is where your mind went first… if I were a Freudian, I'd read something into that you might not like."
"I have no idea what that word means…" he admitted. Rolling one of his shoulders to assist more, one particular sentence caught his attention. Which he turned around to smirk at her for.
"Only one of us, huh?"
Despite the subject matter, and how most women would have reacted, she simply smiled coyly. "Treat me well enough, and you might get to explore back there. Unless you're not into that; most guys are, but I wouldn't blame you if you weren't."
"There's more to you than meets the eye, Winter Schnee." Finally satisfied with what she'd done for him, he leant forward again, rolling his shoulders a few more times just to ease them back again. Be it sex or massages, seemed Winter was very skilled in both.
Talking of which… "By the way, can I ask you something? Since you didn't answer last time."
"By all means. Just… I hope you won't be too upset if I don't answer again, depending."
"Alright. While we played last time, I asked about your favourite position. And you said you didn't have the right ‘equipment’. What did you mean by that?"
At that query, Winter's semi-guarded look transformed into what could only be described as a predatory leer. Picking up her juice glass, she held it just in front of her lips as her eyes flicked up and down him.
"Do you think you're ready to find out?"
Leaning right back further against the seat, he smirked widely as he threw his hands behind his head. "Y'know, I think I just might be."
She giggled. When he only watched, amused but not following why she was amused, she shrugged and said, "I think you're under the impression you're going to get more comfortable." Then she swallowed down the rest of her juice, set the glass back down and stood. "Follow me," she bade him before walking toward the hallway.
Nodding, he quickly jumped back to his feet instead, leaving his own juice half finished at the table to join her as she ventured through the house. God only knew what he was in for, but either way, he was excited to find out.
As it turned out, Winter led him into her bedroom. From the outset, it seemed to be like any normal bedroom, with a canopy bed - which did seem a bit strange for a grown woman who lived alone - and a dresser, some end tables, a closet, an antique wardrobe. There was also a Japanese folding screen for changing behind; another pretentious decorative piece that wasn't strictly necessary. Gazing around the room in all it's estranged beauty, a slow smile was coming across Qrow's features. There were one or two things that Qrow suspected could have more purpose than just being a part of the room, such as the folding screen and the closet. Still, he folded his arms, slowly nodding his head when he entered.
"A lil girly for me, but I dig it."
"A girl lives here, you Neanderthal," she told him with a casual sigh, nipping the curtain over her canopy aside slightly to reveal…
A thick, sturdy metal beam. One which connected at the corners, where there were loops that ran between the end and the sides. Already, with that one movement, Qrow's suspicions of her room were proven correct. He was intrigued. Though he had suspected the canopy was for the purpose of suspension, he was curious as to what exactly Winter had in mind for them to do. And in turn, curious of how he would be expected to provide that service.
Then he turned his attentions to one of the fancier wardrobes. "And I'm guessing they ain't full of clothes, either."
"Hmm. You think?" Taking off her cardigan as she walked and flinging it carelessly into the corner, she said, "Let's see what's behind door number… one."
Her fingers nipped the wardrobe open, and all that was revealed was a series of dresses and nice blouses. The bottom played host to a dozen pairs of shoes, all arranged neatly. Some of them did have very sharp looking stiletto heels, but still didn't scream "dominatrix" in a particularly pronounced tone.
At first Qrow's face was a picture of wonder, like a child about to be taken into a toy store and being told he could have anything he wanted… until it was open. Then it returned to its usual slightly grumpier self.
"Huh. Let down."
"And door number two…" Winter tried the closet door, then gasped when the knob only rattled, raising her hand to her mouth theatrically. "Oops! Golly, Mister Qrow… why do you think this closet is locked?"
It was then that he started to remember; Winter didn't live in this building alone. In fact, her father must pay good money to arrange for maids and cleaners to come and change the sheets while cleaning. Oh, what an idiot he felt in that moment…
And Winter knew it. Glaring toward her, he folded his arms. "Ha, ha. Well you did say I was slow on the uptake."
Grinning in amusement, she turned back to the wardrobe, straining on tiptoes to reach on top of it. There was an empty box of some sort up there, but that wasn't what she was going for. Coming back down, she displayed the key she had retrieved to him for a brief second before fitting it into the lock, turning it with a click, and swinging the door wide.
Inside was a shelving unit that had been designed to have drawers; they were made of black metal mesh and slid easily on casters. Hanging to one side of that on a garment pole was a distinctly different variety of outfits from the other. Perhaps they weren't all like that… but the French maid outfit in the front seemed to indicate that at least a few were not what one would wear to an office brunch.
"Now we're talkin’." It was only then that the rugged cockerel clapped his hands together, rubbing them with childish glee. Unsurprisingly, the main outfit was the first thing his eyes glanced at. With a skirt length as tiny as that, it came to no one's surprise. And then there was the other few outfits. One corset made of leather, a policewoman, then…
"Is this what I think it is?" He walked in front of her on purpose, unhooking the small skirt and shirt combo, both in matching but dull colours. Anyone would be a fool to miss the fact it was… "A school uniform? Really?"
"One of my previous acquaintances bought that for me," she told him with a sly smile. "Letting you know that, just in case you were wondering if it actually belonged to me from my own school days." Then she leaned over and whispered, "My own school uniform is tucked away very safely. Elsewhere, away from lecherous eyes."
Rolling said lecherous eyes sarcastically, he placed the uniform back on the bar as she expected. And instead went to search some of the other drawers. It was both curiosity, and a need to meet hers as much as he could. But the first draw opened up something which made him laugh.
"We could have used this at my place." He gestured to a red ball, attached to some more strips of leather. A ballgag.
"Very true," she chuckled, her hand touching it briefly. Perhaps remembering a specific instance in which it was used. Then she leaned against the wall. "But… you wanted to know my favourite position. We could either keep playing around in my toychest, or…"
Her eyes flicked out the door toward the bed. Meanwhile, her hand moved to touch yet another drawer thoughtfully. Anticipating his answer, should he choose to continue things before her closet was fully explored.
Remembering again, he looked back to the bed with an eager smile. That particularly sturdy beam could make for some interesting play, different positions which he could only dream of. Knowing a lady such as Winter needed it in order to find her favourite position was quite the turn on, and already he could feel himself getting warmer below in anticipation.
Sliding open the drawer her hand was perched on, she revealed what could only be described as a leather fingerless gloves. Several toughened black straps with studs and buckles wrapped around them, and there was a thick metal ring dangling off the sides. Drawing those out, she also reached underneath their usual resting place and plucked two sturdy-looking black carabiners.
"Now," she began as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "You can put these on me, or instruct me to do it myself. And we can do that either before or after we've begun play. I don't want you to think I'm just setting all this up without you being involved."
Now the method was clear, Qrow was feeling his cheeks light up at last. Only the second time they would sleep together and it would be a far more extreme method than last… However, that raised another question.
"Ain't you a little overdressed for us to start though?"
Noticing his blush, she turned to face him more properly and grinned. "I am. But I do want to ask: are you sure you want to try this? I do tend to get a little… excitable when it comes to these kinds of things." Then she licked her lips, debated, and decided to plough ahead with her thought. It was too important to quash. "Do not let your machismo get in the way of letting me know if you're not into something. Or if you are. I like my masters to be confident and masculine, but not to lie to me, or themselves."
And yet it did nothing to put Qrow off. Only made his blush very slightly increase when there was mention of her severely enjoying this. Excitable, that could mean a variety of things. It could mean more pleasure, or she was more eager in general. Or both. One thing he was sure of, he wanted to find out. And eager to do that, he reached to begin unbuttoning his shirt.
"Your turn to choose a safety phrase, Snowbird."
"Well, that depends." Her index finger tapped the drawer he had investigated. "Did you want to gag me? I mean, the walls are soundproofed, so if you'd rather hear my screams…"
Pulling his shirt apart once the buttons were finished with, Winter could once again get a glimpse of the well toned body she was able to appreciate in their last venture. And no doubt she'd get to see more in a short amount of time. Looking again down at the gag, he tilted his head. It seemed a good idea; even if the room was soundproofed, one wouldn't want to risk the wrath of Mr Schnee. Furthermore, the idea of a partner being unable to call out at all… that was equally inviting. And worth a try.
With a smirk, he nodded, approaching the drawer again to take it. "Safety gesture, then."
Shivering in ill-suppressed pleasure, she whispered, "Alright." Then she reached to the side from where the gag had been to snatch up a couple of leather cuffs. "Again… do you want to hold these until we start play, or do you care about that?"
Looking at both the gloves and the cuffs now in her hand, he chuckled to himself. The least he could do was humor her more. "I get you like this stuff, but ain't that excessive?"
Smirking very slightly, she replied to his question with another. "Is it?" Then she handed him everything. "Did you want to blindfold me, have me wear an outfit? Just throwing out all our options."
Taking a moment to ponder the options, and stare at the items in his hands, he began to think of the possibilities. There were so many to chose from, especially with the “toy box” Winter had at her disposal. He was well and truly being thrown in the deep end by a sub who had a wealth of experience.
"Blindfold could be fun… However, I like the idea of me showing you the things I'll do… And there wouldn't be a single thing you could do about it but wait."
"So do I," she confessed, reaching out to run one of the gloves down his chest and abdomen with the metal ring up against his skin. The colder sensation sent a tingle down his spine, and he let loose a soft sigh. But it was enough to remind him of the task at hand, as he handed the other glove to her.
"Alright, how does this sound; naked, wearing only the gloves and ballgag, while I look through your box of goodies to see what we can play with while you're helpless…"
"Not a problem," she chuckled, taking back all the leather and carabiners, grabbing two more from where the simple belted cuffs had lain. Hands getting somewhat full, she said, "Put the gag on top and I'll carry all this in there."
Looking again to all that Winter was holding, he gazed again at the pair of cuffs. And then to the second set of carabiners. It made him raise an eyebrow as he pointed them. "Any point to these? You're already gonna be in the gloves, wouldn't they be overkill?"
"Oh… those restraints aren't for my wrists; the gloves are." Then she took the lot into the bedroom, leaving him to explore.
Appearing deeply confused, he stared outward blankly, eyebrows lowering as his eyes darted back and forth in thought. That was until the penny dropped. They weren't to restrain her arms, which left only one option to what their real intent was: her legs. To keep her completely spread and waiting. Like a sex slave. The thought was depraved, and yet it was one that he found himself delighting in, growling lowly when he followed her at long last.
By the time he rejoined Winter, she had already laid everything out on the foot of the bed and had whipped her chemise off over her head. Her hands fell to the waist of her slacks as she spied him. "Oh, weren't you going to pick out some toys?"
"Not just yet." He placed the ballgag alongside the rest of the items, picking up one of the leather gloves and a carabiner, hooking it to the ring on one side so it was ready. He set up the other glove in the same manner whilst his partner stripped down, eyes focused on the task at hand. "I figured you could watch me do that, anticipate the wait."
A soft smile flashed over at him as her thumbs shucked them downward, along with her underwear and socks as she went. Suddenly, save for her lacy black bra, she was laid bare to him. "You're… going to be a very hands-on master, aren't you?"
"I've always been a good with my hands; ask anybody."
Any further comments were cut off when he looked back around to her, and saw her body for the first time. Most of it, at least. The bra added a small layer of mystery; but that would be handled quickly and easily enough. Perhaps even during their play.
Placing the cuff he'd just finished with back down on the bed, he smirked. "Hah, I still stand by that perfect ten comment."
Something about the comment caught her off guard. They hadn't initiated their scene, and he wasn't obligated to keep calling her that. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked down at her feet past the bra. Of course, she hadn't been surprised when he flattered her once or twice - but he had already sealed the deal. They were seconds away from her being tied up and completely submitting to his every whim. Why did he still persist with the flattery?
"Th-thank you for saying as much."
"Not a problem. Mama always said honesty’s the best policy." But their moment of kindness toward one another didn't last too long. Not when Qrow instead collected one of the gloves that was already prepared. Holding it open with two hands out toward her, the kind smile turned into a wicked smirk. "Shall we, Princess?"
Returning the smirk with equal wickedness, she slid her slender hand into the glove, fingers poking nakedly out the other end and wiggling to help her get comfortable. She reached up with the other to buckle them, then stopped. "Did you want to do this part? And, um… do you want to start the scene now, or wait until I'm chained up?"
Letting her hand go now that she had slid that glove into place, he went to grab the other one instead, and held that one out ready for her as well. Both possibilities were interesting enough, but there was one that particularly won over the other. Simply because he wanted to spend some time with the out of character Winter. As much as he wanted to know the game, he wanted to know her, as well.
"Call me a sap, but I kinda wanna help you set up first, so we can get it how you like it."
"Hmm… I guess you did want to know my favourite position." Now that both gloves were on, she flexed all of her fingers as she said, "You have to tighten the buckles, then latch the carabiners to the loops up there. If the buckles are too tight, they'll cut off my circulation; too loose, I might slip through. Then… those other things go on my ankles."
"There's a lot more to being a Dom than I thought…" But eagerly accepting the challenge, he nodded, holding the buckle for the left glove. Thankfully the “good with my hands” part was true, and he was able to pull the buckle together with ease, stopping at just the right amount as insisted. Not too tight, not too loose. To test this before she'd be clipped, he then gave a firm tug on the ring, and sure enough the glove didn't come off. "That gonna work?"
"Beautiful," she purred, holding out her other hand. "And, if you please…?"
"You're slipping into the slightly Dommier role there." Giving another wink, he got back to work on the right, tightening it and buckling it to just the same amount as her left. Yet again, giving a firm pull to be sure it was the right amount. And to his joy, it seemed to be.
Next came the ankle cuffs. It was a little more difficult to be sure on the amount, but after perseverance, he seemed to get the idea on the correct amount, and buckled both in with ease, giving each a small tug. Perfect. Now no matter what, the anklets or the gloves weren't about to budge any time soon. Just how she wanted it.
And the effect on Winter was already visible. She was squirming back and forth slightly at the sensation of having her "gear" on, anticipating all that would be to come once they began. Standing up from the edge of the bed she had perched upon for him to work on her legs, she traced her fingernail along one pectoral.
"Now for my favourite position, if you're ready," she breathed shakily, pausing to swallow. "So… I could assume it, or you can pose me… I apologise if I'm asking too many questions or giving you too many options, but I've never worked with a new Dom who was so, um, open to suggestions before. Either they're an old pro, or they think they already have it all figured out."
"Hey, way I see it, I've gotta learn. And it's supposed to be fun for us both, right?"
He meant every word. Curiosity was the main motive toward his actions, toward finding out this position, and of her as a person, past experiences, what 'got her going' as such. But another was to learn for himself. He was still new to the role, and there were some things he accepted he wouldn't get right without her help. When he was so set on letting them both have fun, he thought it best to ask these things rather than look like a fool. With that in mind…
"Go ahead, Princess, show me. Then I'll put that gag in and we can start playing."
"Very well." Turning, she presented her back to him, and thereby the clasps holding her bra in place. "This… will be harder to get off after I'm anchored to that bar. With the straps and everything. But if you want me to keep it on, that's fine."
Qrow only laughed to himself again. She didn't even have to ask; he was already there, reaching to the straps and pulling them inward as much as he could to be rid of them. It was more of a challenge for him, since he wasn't at all used to them, but eventually, he had it popping open.
"You're seriously asking a guy if he does or doesn't wanna see boobs? That's like asking 'does a bear shit in the woods?'" But as she turned back around again to allow him to slide the bra all the way off, he was left stunned once more. Her breasts were not as modest as her sister's; enough to easily be held or fussed over. It was a sight that certainly got things below going even more, as he could feel himself beginning to push against his pants.
Again, she seemed to take a turn slightly toward the shy while his eyes lingered upon her form, biting her bottom lip. She waited to respond for a few more seconds, wanting to give him plenty of time to observe. When she did respond, it was in a whisper that barely carried through the room to his ears.
"Do you… stand by your previous rating?"
He shook his head. "Nope." But that action was followed when he grabbed one of her wrists, bringing it upward toward the ring in order to get them started. There would be plenty more time to observe when they were in the midst of play. When she appeared confused, he only smirked. "Make it eleven, now."
Winter blushed a bit deeper as she dipped her head low, though her hands did maintain their positions near enough the loops so Qrow could fasten her to the loops. What else could she say? That even while he was filling her bizarre need to be dominated, treated like an object, he was also somehow showing her so much more kindness than anyone ever had? It was such a strange paradox that she couldn't make sense of it at all.
This seemed to come as second nature to him. Even as he strapped her into position, he did so with care, making sure things were both secure and comfortable. Or as comfortable as she could be, at least. It seemed strange for a man to treat her with such care one minute, then know he would be calling her horrendous things the next. Still, that was their play, it was what they needed.
And with that thought in mind when she was finally finished, he went to fetch the last item. The ballgag. This was where things were about to get very interesting. "We never did decide on a safety signal… whatcha got in mind?"
"Well…" After adjusting her footing, clenching her spread cheeks, she took in a shaky breath. "How about…" Then she snapped her fingers twice. "Is that acceptable? Or more than twice, if you don't hear me the first time."
"Hmm… It ain't too loud," he noted, unable to help but take the moment to lay a hand on her thigh just below the clenching cheeks, rubbing slowly up and down. Remembering their first safe word, he spoke up. "What about the chicken noise again as well? Probably the only noise that'll get through the gag."
Against her will, a bemused snort came from her, even as her entire body was shivering from his touch. "You… are really into making me cluck like a chicken, aren't you?" Then she swallowed. "Fine. But you'd better respond to the snapping equally, just in case I actually can't make the chicken noise through the gag. We should at least test it once it's in place, though."
"Speaking of which…" Leaning back around to face her, he lifted the ball part close toward her mouth again. The agreed on signal was the final step that was stopping them from beginning. Now that was out of the way. "Ready?"
"Yes. And… it's going to be up to you this time to initiate play. You're the Master; use whatever language you want to start and end the scene. But today, I certainly won't be able to." Then, she debated briefly and added, "I trust you," before turning to face forward and opening her mouth.
With no further words, he gently slid the ball into her mouth. Once that was firmly in, he strapped the buckles on the back, keeping it firmly secure and in place in her mouth. All that was left to do was test if she could perform the safety signal after all.
Although there was one thing he couldn't help himself for before she tried, and that was to give her a light pat on the backside, softly stroking that skin. And so it was that instead of crowing aloud, she let out a low, guttural groan. One that was muffled and strangled from the gag. The cheek also flexed under his touch, eager for more.
Even just a groan was loud enough for him to hear. That meant the safety signal would certainly be acceptable, and in her capable hands. Groping her backside even harder this time, he leant inward closely to her ear, gruffly speaking the words she'd been waiting to hear since they set this up:
"Begin Play."
Of course, all that Winter could do was nod her understanding. Bound and gagged. Qrow had certainly wasted no time getting used to their situation, which was good; she liked a man who could adapt.
As he said before, he was going to tease her. Tease and tease with various objects rather than go for the goal straight away. With that thought in mind, the hand left her cheek. Instead, he walked away from her, and back to their new favourite toy box to select their items for the evening.
"Eenie, meenie, miney… mo." Opening another of the drawers, there were a variety of different things that could be used in different ways. A set of furry cuffs, which they no longer had use for. A strange X-shaped strap of leather with four rings attached to each of the ends, which he had no idea where that would attach in her current setup. But then more interestingly, there was a tube of lubricant. She really wasn't lying about liking her back end being explored.
"’For the ultimate pleasure sensation’…" He read the label aloud to her, hoping it would wind her up worse and worse while she couldn't do anything. "’Apply to both the applicable area, and any toy for an unforgettable experience’." Smirking to himself, he continued to rummage through the drawer. "But why is this li’l one in here on his own? What you do you have to go with… oh. Gotcha."
He pulled out what had rolled to the back of the drawer and out of reach. A set of five beads, slowly increasing in size, attached to a string with a ring of it's own on the end. Even a moron would know what that was.
Meanwhile, the object of this session of play was twisting back and forth in her restraints, trying to get a glimpse into the closet. She could see him, of course, but not what he was doing. Of course, she had a mental inventory of everything she'd tucked into her toy box. She was just merely curious and anxious about what he might pull out for them to play with.
"Yeah, I think you can be something we'll play with." He knew full well she wouldn't be able to see, so continued to pull out another set of drawers, looking at the other paraphernalia. It was a large variety, but the real guessing game was wondering what they would both enjoy, and what was just in here because other doms requested it.
In the next drawer there was a mix of all sorts. There was the blindfold she had hinted at owning, some sort of handle attached to lots of feathers, a couple of plugs, then a rather small vibrator. That he also picked up, holding it in his “play with” pile. So as to not leave her completely in the dark, he looked back, smirking. "I'll bet one of these things I picked up was called a 'personal massager' when you bought it, right?"
That brought about another groan of frustration. Of course, Winter was partly playing up her sounds for his benefit, but it was awfully hard to resist making noise when your speech was effectively silenced.
"I take that as 'I know what that is' groan." He laughed to himself, pulling out the next drawer. These items seemed to all bear the same purpose: inflicting pain. There were a couple of small whips, a riding crop, and a paddle. Although the idea was something he himself had thought about and considered before, he couldn't yet bring himself to take anything out. Anything he could do in that area would be perfectly acceptable with his own hand. A spank wouldn't leave too much of a visible mark, after all.
Then the final drawer, which carried another large variety of things for all different purposes. A candle in a holster for letting out the wax specifically, some non-chafing rope, a small vibrating bullet, and then, oddly enough, a Sharpie. The latter had taken his curiosity most. Oh, the things he would write…
Satisfied with his choices, he closed the drawers and the door to her toybox, approaching the bed to his victim and laying them across the bed for her to see at last. There was the lube which he had read the label for, and beside it, the set of anal beads; the 'personal massager', and the marker. Perhaps it wasn't much, but that all depended on what he was going to do with them.
But he'd selected his first weapon, picking up the Sharpie. "Where to write first?"
Both of the woman's eyebrows lifted as she spied that. Out of all the things he could have picked, there was that seemingly-mundane item. Little did he know that there was more than one purpose for its presence… but then again, perhaps he would figure that out for himself. Squirming her hips from side to side, she waited for what he might inflict upon her with the pen.
It did no good, of course. Just as he intended. She was merely prolonging what was to come as he held one hip with one hand, and used the other to press the tip to the skin of her inner thigh. Maybe it would seem ridiculous and pointless, but he could write whatever he wanted, to empower her, to humiliate her. Anything at all…
But he settled with an arrow pointing inward to her most private areas. Above that, he wrote something a little more degrading: "Qrow's toy".
Of course, it was impossible from that angle for her to read what he'd written, but just the cold, teasing sensation of the felt tip was enough to make her shiver and groan. After his first grasping of her hip, she did her best not to move any more than was strictly necessary; she might hate what she read later, or she might love it, but she knew she did not want to mess up her master's penmanship.
Then on the other thigh, he made an effort to write something a little extra, just for her later. Ever so close to her privates, he wrote the words "little cumslut princess". Maybe it would make her stomach churn, but the knowledge it wouldn't rub off easily brought him a sick glee.
"There." He grinned at his work, looking her up and down for a moment. "God… You're like something out of my dreams, I gotta say…"
Winter's lips worked at the ball between them as she writhed slightly, only able to angle her head down just enough to see the very tops of the letters. And from what she could tell, he wasn't about to read it aloud. A little "mmphh" floated out as she tried to reach up for the bar and clutch it tightly, shifting her hips from side to side again. Hoping to draw him in, to influence him to do more. To really begin torturing her body.
"Oh… so you want more?" he asked. The sly smirk hadn't vanished, and for good reason. The things he was going to do up until before he finished her were going to be a treat. There were one of two options, which he hovered his hands over to get her to chose. First, the anal bead set, then the vibrator. He went back and forth between them and looked at her reaction. "Tell me when to stop, Princess."
For a long few seconds, she simply watched… until she realised he actually was asking for her opinion. This was a twist; she was used to weathering whatever treatment came her way. Though she hummed when he was over both of them, knowing the sensations would be pleasurable regardless, she nodded slightly over the vibrator. That was a need she sorely wanted him to sate.
"Vibe, huh?" He edged his hand toward it for a moment, ever so closely… but as it seemed he was about to grab it, he moved to grab the set of beads instead. He knew his game, to play with her, toy with her until she could take no more. And doing the opposite of what she wanted was the perfect way of doing that.
"We'll save that for later, then."
"Hnnghh!" she snapped at him in irritation, but she secretly loved that he was taunting her this way, of course. That was the order of the day, after all.
And then she was thinking about what was about to happen to her. Cheeks tensed together and she could already feel the ring of muscle tingling in anticipation of the coming invasion. Qrow meant for her to take them all before he started in with her sex, did he? Well… she would definitely be able to manage that. She had before, and she could again.
Already he was at work, preparing the first bead with a small amount of lubrication, then the second. The others he could work on later, while they were playing. But as stated in the instructions, that wasn't all he'd need to use it on. “Apply to the applicable area,” he remembered. And that knowledge only made him smirk even more when he looked over to her, both the beads and the lube in hand.
"Now to get my princess ready…" It was so matter-of-fact the way he said it, as if she truly was his to freely manipulate and torture with whatever he pleased for his amusement. And these methods weren't even for his pleasure yet. They were purely to mess with her. Chances were, this evening would be exhausting for Winter. That was made rather clear when he placed the prepared beads down on the bed, taunting, teasing, while he moved behind her. And tried to pull one of her cheeks out to expose the tighter entrance.
Shuddering at the feeling of air caressing her, Winter could do little more than that when the tight pink flesh was revealed. True to how fair her skin pigment was all over, the flesh of her more intimate areas was also light and youthful, and meticulously groomed. There had been next to no hair above her sex when Qrow glimpsed it before, and not so much as an errant one back there, either. Furthermore, even after hours spent at the bowling alley, she still looked as if she had just returned home from a day at the beauty spa.
"Very nice, very nice…" He repeated himself, keeping a hold even now as he held the tube closely to her rear. Pressing the tip against the top of her tight skin, he squeezed a small amount against it. More than enough for her to begin to feel it even before a finger worked to rub it against her, pressing inward on occasion to help open her up. This would be a gentle procedure.
The pronounced shiver and long sigh through Winter's nostrils told him something he probably could have guessed; she appreciated his methods. This was most assuredly not the first time she'd been "prepared" for what was about to happen to her, and probably not even among the first ten times. She enjoyed it, even if it made her slightly more nervous than the usual stimulation.
Able to feel the muscle beginning to give way, he smiled down at it once more. She was ready. The smaller bead seemed to be the right size compared to his finger, enough to make him confident enough to grab the set back again, holding that first lubricated bead and pressing it up against her tight skin as if it was his finger. Except he never stopped, never relented as he felt her body resisting slightly to take it in…
Now the pleasant sigh was turning into a groan as her thighs and cheeks quivered. He'd spent so little time getting her ready; he could tell she was, even if this was her first time allowing him in there. Maybe he'd been born to do this! Her back began to arch very slightly as she felt the bead working its way past her defenses…
Until it slipped through. This time, there was a more pronounced grunt when it disappeared inside of her, drawn in by the muscles that instinctively closed off the opening whenever possible.
One out of five. Not good enough for the new Dom in her life, however. Even when he could see Winter's muscles pulsing against the thin string that was still visible, he knew she needed more. Licking his lips, he moved back to the next bead that was ready, pushing that inward against the muscle as well. This time it was far easier, and slipped inside with very little resistance.
Then he had to prepare the others, three more that were progressively larger than the first. Before he went to collect the lube again for them, he couldn't resist giving a very slight pull on them. Just enough to tease the muscle.
"Hnhhh!" Winter burst out, hips twitching as if they yearned to thrust forward and away from the sensation - but stopping herself. That would only make it stronger. Instead, she merely tensed all over for a moment until her mild worry passed, panting through her nostrils.
"Oh yeah, they ain't goin anywhere…" He was rather sure of that, letting them sink back inside again when he released the end once more. As he laced the other three beads with the same fluid, his smug and teasing attitude was only continuing more and more with his words. "Y'know what'd be funny? If I stuck these in, then went home, left you for someone to find… God that'd be kinda embarrassing, huh?"
Finally, for the first time since they initiated play, Winter reacted in a way that was less than favourable. Her arms thrashed slightly against the restraints, her grunts and growls were louder; she even attempted to pick up one of her legs to do something. Of course, that got her nowhere, because it was just as restrained as her arms.
That only made Qrow's job of lubing the final bead ready even harder, as with each of her movements it swung back and forth out of his hand. No doubt that would be an odd sensation for her to feel as well. Yet, when she stopped, Qrow was only continuing to laugh to himself, finding a sickening pleasure in putting these awful ideas in her head. Even if he wasn't going to go through with them, the reaction was astounding.
"Oh man," he continued, simply toying with the last bead once it was lubed up. "What if it was your sister?"
A rush of hot shame crept up into her cheeks and neck. No. Anyone but Weiss, or her father. Those were literally the only two people on Earth she would not be able to handle finding her like that. Anyone else would be a disaster, to be sure, but she could get past the initial shame with relative ease. Process it as an unfortunate happenstance and move on. Perhaps even her father, though she would spend a lifetime regretting it. But Weiss…
That could never happen. Ever.
Finally returning to the third bead to get back to work again, he pushed it against the flesh, occasionally twisting and turning to try and keep the coating of lube even on both her and the toy itself. This time, it took a bit more effort to push it in. From what he assumed was the distraction of the evil idea in her head. This really was the torture that she wanted, right?
"I could give her a call…" He taunted, moving on to the fourth bead. She was just over halfway there. "Or I could send her a picture. Hell of a conversation starter."
The next moan was long and full of agony, from both the torture without and within. He wouldn't dare. He had to know that, no matter what their games were, their play, taking it outside the two of them without discussion was one of the hard rules she had set in place. He had to remember that! Especially when it came to her pure, sweet sister… corrupting her would be as low as he could get.
'But that isn't true,’ a dark voice in the back of her mind whispered. 'Weiss has Yang, and Yang has likely done all kinds of dirty things to her by now. Even if you don't dislike the blonde anymore, it's naïve and stupid to believe she's still pure and innocent.
And there slid in the fourth one, being taken into her body along with the rest. Now on to the final bead. But as he held it against the skin, he noticed she was clenching rather harshly, and not even letting up at all. Had he pushed her too far? Just the idea of Weiss finding out was too much for her to handle? What could possibly cause such a major reaction like that? Maybe that was his own failing – considering he had a fractured relationship with his own sister. Seeing her like this would have made him curl his lip briefly in revulsion, sure, but that would be it; done and done. Maybe he would ask her about that later.
"…But I'm not gonna do that." He kept it there for a moment longer, hesitating before the final bead to look up toward her. Perhaps for their second time, that idea was too harsh. "My little cumslut's been too good. Ain’t gonna punish her."
With that little encouragement, her entire body relaxed. That had been all she needed. The teasing had been interesting, and if she were honest with herself, she wouldn't have been truly angry unless she saw he was about to make good on those idle threats.
But that burning shame at the notion of angelic little Weiss walking in on her, strapped to her bedframe, spread-eagle and with five beads stuck inside of her most taboo opening… it shouldn't have been a turn-on. It wasn't, not really. But she did feel stimulated from it, felt her heart rate climbing, every sensitive area of her body tingling. If it happened, she'd be completely inconsolable, but the mere threat of it happening…
Moisture was beginning to run down the inside of Winter's thigh, and her heart leapt into her throat. Shit! That would not look good; it could give Qrow the wrong idea about why she was so wet if he noticed. She could only hope he was too focused on pushing that last bead inside of her.
For a while he was. The final bead was being pressed up against the skin, being twisted and turned to encourage her to open up and accept it. He was concentrating fully on the skin that was widening around it, gripping it like it was the only thing that could keep her sane. And when it got above halfway…
Witnessing the rest of it simply sink inside was the oddest, yet one of the most arousing things he had ever seen. Especially when the only evidence they were there was the small string and handle still poking out, swaying idly back and forth. Five beads, all in her tight opening. What did that feel like?
He couldn't exactly ask. However, when he looked and saw the moisture not only on her sex itself, but down her leg, it was a huge hint he was going in the right direction. Giving one more little tug on the handle, he commanded, "Squeeze. I want you to really feel 'em in there."
Winter did as she was bade; her cheeks clenched, and her voice was louder and freer, announcing her pleasure and discomfort that were mingling together into a single intolerable feeling. She just wanted more.
So much more that she was salivating now. That was her least favourite part about being gagged this way; eventually, she couldn't help but drool on herself. Some of her past Doms had chastised her for that, some had been turned on by the sight. Most didn't care one way or the other, and a few had stopped to wipe her clear. But Qrow couldn't even see it from his vantage point.
"Good girl…" As one final taunt before he moved forward, he reared his hand back, forcing it forward against one of her cheeks with a SLAP!
"NHhhHH!!" she yelped around the sphere between her lips. God, that felt incredible! She wasn't sure if it was incredible in a "good" way, exactly, but she was definitely more ready than ever for him to take her. In whichever way he would end up doing so.
By the time he was back to her front again, he was in for quite a sight. Winter was wet, both ends of her were. She was drooling for more against that gag of hers, and practically dripping down below as well. The humiliation, the beads, all of it was making her more than ready to be taken. How he wanted to be the one to do it.
But they had other ideas, other requests. Winter had already seen the vibrator, she knew that was coming. He couldn't disappoint her now. And so he went to grab it…
Which was when the phone rang out. It was a jaunty, familiar tune… and after a moment, they both recognized it as one of Weiss's very early hits, from when she was just starting out. Nobody needed to call her sister, because her sister had called her.
And Qrow was the one in control.
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thesportssoundoff · 6 years ago
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The AAF And Why We Should Care About These Teams
Joey
Feb 5th, 2019
Still bummed about the Super Bowl? Well let's get over it real quick! On Saturday, the Alliance of American Football will be the first of THREE (God help us) spring football leagues to take off. THREE. We really needed that many, huh? Doesn't being announced after the XFL, the AAF will launch this spring under the watchful eyes of Dick Ebersol and NFL executive legend Bill Polian and will air across a variety of platforms such as Bleacher Report's online app, the NFL Network, the CBS Sports online app, TNT and CBS itself. Let that be a lesson to those of you who think that sports can't milk every single penny out of today's weird digital/broadcast era. The majority of the pitches for this game feature stuff football fans do seem to want in some capacity although disagreements about HOW to implement them remain. For instance, the AAF is attempting to shave 30 minutes off of the viewing experience by limiting commercials. They're also scrapping pretty much all elements of kicking from the game (two point conversions only, onsides kick have been replaced by a wacky 4th and 10 scenario and there's no kickoffs either) so fans who are obsessive compulsive about kicking get a bit of a break. We've got a college football style "one foot = catch" rule and a reduction of the play clock from the NFL's 40 seconds to a cool 30 seconds. It's an attempt to do somethings differently and I'm at least willing to give it a try.
With just eight teams to choose from for the AAF,  I'll just go team by team and list ONE reason why you should care. As much as you wanna just consider it a bunch of has beens and never was' playing out here, there's some intriguing storylines for the AAF. So much so in fact that perhaps you'll find a team so intriguing that you'll follow along this year!
Atlanta Legends
Why: Michael Vick Offensive Coordinator
I wanted to do a larger piece on how the NFL's lack of black head coaches boils down to the NFL's lack of black offensive coordinators (the IN demand spot these days). Instead of writing eight paragraphs about something that could be done in one, let's just look at Michael Vick and his new role as Atlanta Legends offensive coordinator.  For starters, the Alliance of American Football being a potential breeding ground for former players to better grasp the coaching game is an A+ decision. We've already seen the offensive coordinator for another team in the Alliance of American Football get the bump up to NFL QB Coach (Jon Kitna went from San Diego Fleet Offensive Coordinator to Dallas Cowboys QB coach) and any opportunity for former players to stay involved in the game is a good one. Michael Vick's name comes with a lot of clout (and plenty of controversy) so right off the jump he's an important get for the AAF. How good he is as an offensive coordinator (be it gameplanning, calling plays or making adjustments on the fly) could determine how quickly he ascends at the position. Vick is a really unique character and a polarizing figure but seeing him in the role of offensive coordinator is going to be a worthwhile experiment. If Vick opens the door for other young out of work players to jump into the coaching game then I for one am all for it. As for the roster, the Atlanta Legends actually have plenty of name value from former Georgia QB Aaron Murray to NC wide receiver Bug Howard to Iowa RB Akrum Wadley to a host of Georgia Bulldogs on defense.
Memphis Express
Why: The "name" QB battle
Let's always be honest about this stuff; your fan interest will only go as far as the QB you have. The Memphis Express may not have GOOD QBs but they have NAME QBs and that's truly what counts. The Memphis Express have Christian Hackenberg and Zach Mettenberger, two "name" QBs who figure to draw in eyeballs if only due to the fact that there's Penn State and LSU involved. Hackenberg was a disaster for two years at Penn State and people excused him for that because the team was bad or the line was bad or the coaching was bad. Turns out Hackenberg was just bad and continued to be bad at the NFL level before getting bounced around by 4-5 different teams. Hackenberg will attempt to resurrect his stock in the AAF, a team that literally named its offensive coordinator in like early January after their original OC bounced. Hackenberg won the job but the back up spot belongs to Zach Mettenberger. I refuse to believe that Hackenberg is a better player than Mettenberger but ALAS! Mettenberger has NFL experience and has thrown actual touchdowns in real football games even if he played like a 6th round pick who was holding onto a roster spot for dear life. He just wasn't that good. Mettenberger and Hackenberg are two guys who share similar traits (big, they throw the ball far) with different reasons (Mettenberger was a problem in college, Hackenberg couldn't really play) that leads to the same development (playing in the AAF to continue their pro football careers). Still a QB BATTEL with name value is STILL a QB BATTEL and here we are. The Memphis Express also have a ton of LSU guys and LSU players don't half ass it so expect a ton of big hits from their defensive which legitimately has an all LSU DL. Also of note, the head coach is Mike Singletary and we can expect plenty of intense coaching gifs and press conference call outs of his own players. That's the finest reality we deserve.
Orlando Apollos
Why: Steve Spurrier is BACK!
Remember the days of Steve Spurrier? Run and Gun? Mr. Click Clack?  There ya go. The Ol Ball Coach is back and Spurrier in Florida just feels right. Steve Spurrier's offenses in the mid to late 2000s were some of the funnest things imaginable and I'm curious to see if a few years off to refuel the jets don't bring out the fun in the Run 'N Gun offense. Spurrier's offense is helmed by either Austin Appleby or Garrett Gilbert since apparently nobody knows who the starter is as of this moment. Beyond that, he's also got a trio of name running backs (D'Earnest Johnson from USF was a popular name around draft time plus Akeem Hunt from Purdue and De'Veon Smith from Michigan were interesting dudes) and like twelve WRs who all run really fast. Realistically though I feel like this team is about watching to see if Steve Spurrier turns this gig into another college coaching opportunity soon enough.
Birmingham Iron
Why: TRENT RICHARDSON (and friends)
Unsurprisingly given the whole locales theme, the Birmingham Iron roster is LOADED with dudes from Alabama. The one name who immediately jumps out is Trent Richardson and I'm surprisingly intrigued to see how he looks. It's worth remembering that Trent Richardson had a tremendous rookie season and looked to be on the way to being something before he got big/hurt. Perhaps Richardson will be rejuvenated playing at home in front of what figures to be a primarily loaded Alabama crowd. Also keep an eye on Blake Sims who I figure will win the QB job eventually. In fact keep an eye on every player from Alabama (Auburn, Bama, Troy) because chances are they'll be given ample opportunities to show out at home. They also have the coolest uniforms. Lastly Tim Lewis is a long time defensive coordinator/DB coach getting his first crack at a head coaching gig so I'm curious to see if he can parlay that into another big opportunity down the line.
San Diego Fleet
Why: Mike Martz
Mike Martz is arguably one of the more unfairly judged head coaches in NFL history. He was the coordinator for the Greatest Show On Turf and as head coach of the Rams, Martz had five full seasons---he made the playoffs in 4 of those. Martz' ouster in St. Louis was controversial for a variety of reasons but he WAS successful and deserves to be remembered as such. From that point on Martz never got another head coaching opportunity, bouncing around as a coordinator in Detroit (back to back 4,000 yard seasons for Jon Friggin' Kitna of all things), San Francisco and a disastrous run in Chicago with Jay Cutler. Martz was pretty much cast aside by the NFL at that point and his reputation as a pass happy difficult personality pretty much ensured he would stay out the game.  With passing being en vogue (and every QB guru alive being courted for 1,000,000 roles), this might be Mike Martz's last chance to maybe find a place in big time football. The San Diego Fleet roster is relatively bare compared to its contemporaries but Mike Martz almost guarantees to make it as fun as possible given the usual performances of his wacky passing game. Mike Martz making Mike Bercovici look like an NFL level quarterback would probably be his greatest accomplishment ever. Also keep an eye on Nelson Spruce slot WR-ing his way back to the NFL if it's any thing like he was at Colorado.
Arizona Hotshots
Why: Phil Savage and Rick Neuheisel
Phil Savage is in a very weird spot here. Savage had a brief runs as Browns GM and it went about as well as you'd expect it to. He was in, out and done before anybody even knew he was there. Savage re-emerged as a key part of the Senior Bowl process and for the most part, I don't think I ever saw many complaints about Savage's job as the figurehead for the event. Surprisingly at the end of 2018, the Senior Bowl replaced Phil Savage with former scout Jim Nagy. The decision to move on from Savage was not exactly well received at first and it seems like Savage has bounced back well enough with the AAF. Savage should be able to form a damn good roster given that he's probably interacted with and been around most of these players relatively recently as the Senior Bowl's ace executive. Somehow someway Rick Neuheisel has weaseled himself into the picture and into another head coaching job, he of a sparkling 87-59 record in college but a less than sparkling 47-40 from 2000 onward. Plus he's also been pretty much run out of every stop he's had under inauspicious circumstances. Phil Savage should in theory be able to find a competent squad of players (and they have a pretty well known defense with Sterling Moore, Rahim Moore, Will Sutton, Carl Bradford, Scooby Wright and Chunky Clements) and perhaps the time away has rejuvenated Neuheisel. At the very least Trevor Knight will be fun to watch am I right?
Salt Lake Stallions
Why: A Testing Pattern Perhaps?
Utah has one pro sports franchise, the Utah Jazz, which is  intreresting when you consider how beloved the Jazz are. It seems like there's a very big supportive fanbase for sports out there in the Pacific Northwest and yet Utah has no football team, no baseball team and no hockey team. PERHAPS this can be a test. The Salt Lake Stallions overall do not have the most appealing roster in this entire deal but they may be the one best situated to draw the biggest audience. Utah is not blessed with a lot of pro sports options and if the Stallions are good then perhaps they can get people into the stadium. They have a weird eclectic mix of former Utes and three former QBs who if memory serves were all in the draft last year.  Former Vikings RB and Utah legend Matt Asiata is 31 year and probably cooked BUT he figures to be a popular face for fans.
San Antonio Commanders
Why: An Actually Kinda Decent Deep-ish Team
Really. If you were putting together an all star game in 2017/2018 of pretty decent-ish draft prospects, a lot of these dudes would be here. QB Logan Woodside? Pretty good player! Had some issues but was a super productive small MAC QB type dude. RBs David Cobb and Aaron Green? Kinda intriguing RBs! Tray Williams has been on like 12 NFL teams as a third down back over the past two years even if he never stuck. WRs like Greg Ward, DeMarcus Ayers and Mekale McKay? Some draft buzz there! Some of their OL were late round types who wouldn't have been out of place at an NFL camp this season. The defense has draftnik "names" like Joel Lanning, Keenan Gilchrist, Tyrone Holmes, Austin Larkin, Winston Craig and a secondary featuring Jordan Thomas and Duke Thomas on the back end. It's actually not an awful team assuming you can put the parts together.
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fatgirlsguidetodating · 7 years ago
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Blog: The first message.
Remember the old days when we women waited for the man to make the first move or send the first message? Or go back even further when women didn't even have a say in who they would be with? Well that rule- along with many of the rules of dating- have been turned on their head in the last generation or so. Now many men actually like it when a woman sends the first message. And the women like the power of doing so, of being the instigator. But I'm not one of those women. Not because I'm necessarily old fashioned (though a guy who opens doors for you, holds your chair out for you etc is quite nice) but more so because of the pressure that first message presents. As one article said "online dating is a little like gaming.  Writing a message and getting a girl to reply is the final battle with the boss.  In order to win, you’ll need all the knowledge, strength, and skill you’ve acquired so far." (1) I know this may sound petty but I loathe the boring "hey" or "hi" message because all too often they seem to result in stilted conversations like this with T on Oasis Active: T: Hey. Me: Hi, how are you? T: Good, you? Me: Yeah good too. Two days later: T: Hows things? Me: Pretty good, yourself? Glad its almost the weekend. T: Can't complain. Next day: T: Hi. Me: Hi. Three days later: T: hey. Me: Hi, how was your weekend? T: good, yours? Me: Yeah good, [i did X and y], what did you get up to? Two days later: T: Hi. Me: Hi back. Ugh. Whereas if T had opened with introducing himself or asking questions that showed he'd read my bio or wanted to know more about me or loved a bit of banter then I'm fairly certain the convo would have gone better. Like this one with J on Tinder: J: Hi there A, my name's J. I think the beers half full not half empty. And your eye reminds me of my favourite blow up sex doll, God rest her soul. Me: Hi J, nice to meet you. I couldn't agree more on the beer. I'm sorry to hear that something happened to your blow up doll. Don't tell anyone but my eyes were in fact copied for a line of sex dolls but they were unicorns so I'm not sure you had that one. Dare I ask what happened to your doll? J: It's still quite traumatising for me but it turns out sex blow up dolls do not double as pool toys. :( Yes it's a weird opening but that chat provided me with laughter and banter for ages. My problem is I'm great with joking/flirting/chatting when someone else starts it and/or I'm not super paranoid about meeting them but I'm not so great at starting it (unless it's one of the cases where I'm trying to get revenge on fuckboys by using shit pickup lines). I know that a witty starter, finding common ground, showing the kind of person you are, and selling yourself would be great but does it mean I can do it? (Spoiler alert: that's a big fat hells no.) So how *do* we write the perfect first message? I made a poll on Twitter and yahoo answers and asked a bunch of my single FB friends (male and female) where I asked two questions. 1) Would you prefer a a) funny, b) direct sex or c) serious first message? 77% said funny, followed by 16% the direct approach and 7% serious. And 2) In a first message is it more important to a) compliment their looks, b) connect to their personality or c) use common ground? For this one I'm going to tell you the male and female responses. Men said 58% compliment their looks, 35% compliment their personality and 7% common ground. Females were 64% personality, 21% common ground, and 15% looks. But as I've pretty much clearly stated I'm paranoid about the perfect first message and as it turns out so are many, many others. I mean there are even apps giving people first messages to send like "Tickups for Tinder: pickup lines for Tinder" (free but has those sneaky little moneymaking in-app purchases available), "Dating app cheat: Lines for Tinder, OkCupid" (free but has in-app purchases), "uFlirt Speed Dating & Chat Pickup Lines" (free but has in-app purchases), "Sexy Pickup Lines- Find Fun Single Date Up 4 Sex" (free but has in-app purchases), "Pickup lines button" (free), "Pickup lines for dating hot girls on chat" ($1.49), and "Super sexy pick up lines" (free) amongst many more. (2) This was just from searching pickup lines on the app store.) Personally I wouldn't be using an app for pickup lines but given the pressure of that impression the first message has to make I kind of get others using them. Experts have been posting advice on the perfect first message pretty much since the time online dating apps/sites reached their peak in approximately 2010/11. I've lost count of the number of pieces I've read about do's and dont's of messages plus mine and friends own opinions. So here is my list of things that can help you write a great first message guys (and gals): * Make it funny. A funny message gets a response from me, be it a silly intro, a silly joke, a silly pickup line or a silly gif. * Write a message about common ground. It could be you are both into camping, or barrack for the same football team, work in the same career, both list stamp collecting as a hobby etc. And if there isn't any obvious common ground from what you see? Well perhaps make a joke about the fun of swiping through endless profiles because chances are she or he has done the same thing. * Ask questions. As in actually *read* their bio and ask about things they list. Women love it when guys seem to care! * Care more about our personality than looks. In other words compliment us on who we are rather than how we look. * KISS. No don't wax lyrical about wanting to pash them into next week. Keep it simple (stupid). What I mean is don't send a "war and peace" size first message. Keep it short, sweet and to the point. * Speak English. I mean be literate. Please! * Show off your personality. In other words don't be boring. * Use a different greeting. Not just one word- "hi"- and expect many responses. * Go for quality over quantity. I know many guys just swipe right on everyone in the hope they'll reply. But don't. Only swipe/match/friend peeps you think you could have a good match with. Good luck. :) Fatgirl. Sources: 1. https://www.menaskem.com/how-to-write-a-great-first-message/ 2. App Store. Other sources you may want to look at: 3. https://www.zoosk.com/date-mix/online-dating-advice/online-dating-first-message/online-dating-first-message-tips-message-guide/ 4. https://www.virtualdatingassistants.com/online-dating-first-message 5. https://theblog.okcupid.com/exactly-what-to-say-in-a-first-message-2bf680806c72 6. https://www.google.com.au/amp/www.menshealth.com/sex-women/first-message-online-dating%3famp 7. http://hookupguide.ca/how-to-hookup/examples-dating-messages/
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canisfuria · 5 years ago
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> HEY, YOU GOING TO PROM?
“That is a little suspicious.”
Sheska’s not wrong about that, that’s for sure. As Kain’s brows furrow at his lockscreen, there’s little more to go off of than her chat-bubbled inquiry. More along the fringe of their group, he doesn’t know Rebecca nearly as well as the others do. They’ve hung out a few times, but in fact, Kain hadn’t even been sure she knew his name until recently.
“Yeah, Jean’s been ranting about the situation all morning,” Vato offers from his other side, “I wouldn’t put it past her to try and make him jealous.”
“Come on, guys, maybe she’s just… looking for another ride to prom.” 
At least, that’s what he wants to think. Kain can’t imagine another reason why Rebecca Catalina would be asking him about prom. Of the three hanging out at the library right now, none had managed to snag a date. Namely due to each of their first choices already having asked someone, or been asked themselves. Some brokenheartedness ensued here and there. Then there was the matter of mustering up the courage, themselves- something Sheska, as a junior, still had an extra year to practice towards. Having skipped a grade, though, it put Kain at a disadvantage as youngest among the senior dating pool. The struggle to feel acknowledged as a romantic partner wasn’t something he worried over- it really only nagged occasionally.
Like this past week.
Their loose plan to go as a trio had been discussed. And he’s sure that going stag would be a grand old time, if not only slightly disheartening. Kain’s already tapping back a reply as Sheska and Vato work out probable causes;
> PROBABLY? HAVEN’T DECIDED YET. ……WHY
… can’t hurt to ask.
Slouching back in his chair, he listens in on his friends’ discussion:
“Rebecca’s a nice person and all,” “Arguable.” “so I don’t think she’d use Kain like that. But then again, Maes has mentioned she can get a little… um, different, when she’s upset.”
Vato shakes his head slowly, arms folding in thought. “It was pretty lousy of Jean, what he did. He should’ve waited for an answer.”
With a wince, Kain rubs the back of his neck. “It was kinda scummy, huh? And he and Becky have been so close…”
“Jean’s been known to make some mistakes,” Sheska chimes in, quieter, “perhaps he’ll come to his senses soon. An apology might help, for starters.”
Vato nods again. “Roy’ll get him to.” “You think?” “Now that he and Riza are official, she can probably get him t–” “WAIT, since when are those two official?!” “Eh?!” “Oh, I guess it has been kept pretty low, it’s still new.” “Wow, that’s great for–” “–FINALLY.”
It’s then that Kain startles in his seat, phone buzzing in hand as its Tetris-themed ringtone disturbs the peace of the library. It’s… Rebecca?
He taps to answer; “Hi, Becky. Must be urgent if you rang?”
Immediately, conversation screeches to a grinding halt. Taller and shorter exchange a look as Kain sits up fast in his seat. “Wait- for real?” A pause, made ever more dramatic by how quickly his brows hike to his hairline. “Uh, I mean,” another pause, Kain’s voice lowering nervous and bemused, “this isn’t about Jean, is it? … Then, why–?”
”… Because, you’re sweet. And I think it’d be fun.”
Kain feels the wind rush out of his lungs. “Oh.” 
Staring dead ahead, he’s quiet for frantic, thoughtful moment. This is a bad idea. It’s exciting to be asked, thought of, but this is not such a hot plan. Jean had spent all morning, preening his bravado over “not worrying about Becca”, and being “over it”. Maybe there was some truth in his words. A bit of distance might be good for them, after all. And, perhaps, on Kain’s end… even the barest niggle of bitterness persists. All of these possibilities have equal chances at being true.
But more than anything, Rebecca is asking Kain to prom. Exciting, outgoing, gorgeous Rebecca Catalina. And she thinks he’s sweet.
“… Okay, yeah. It sounds like fun.”
Another few awkward niceties, and a goodbye. Kain hangs up, and exhales a shuddering breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
“That was Becca, huh?” Sheska chirps from behind. And with a nervous gulp, Kain nods. “Uh-huh.”
Another empty silence. Until Sheska chimes in one more time: “Hey Vato, I know I’m no Armstrong, but whaddaya say? Do you still want a date to prom?” “Oh, uh, I-i guess if–” “Because I’m not missing THIS for the world.”
IS THAT A BECCAIN PROM PIC?!?!?!
(( omg it wasn’t,, it was just based on an rp but now, ))
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i-globalone · 5 years ago
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Sharing is caring! One of the biggest misconceptions I have come across is that to make it big in blogging you have to start from scratch. And if you are not able to maintain your blog, it is just a matter of time before your website dies down and you lose your investment. Amazingly, both of these issues can be tackled with one simple thing: domain flipping. Domain flipping is not limited to domains; it is applied to websites as well as for applications and online businesses. With the internet, you can sell almost everything online. You need to find the right audience to pitch to. How does domain flipping tackle the above two issues?  If you don’t want to start from scratch, how about buying a working website which is generating either some traffic or revenue. It can be said as a micro-acquisition. Although for this you will require some money beforehand. If you are not able to maintain your website, how about selling it for a good amount? People love websites that can be scaled. To make websites from scratch is a drag and if you have a good traffic-generating website, you can earn a good amount. Why Sell and Buy Websites? As a buyer: If you are entering the blogosphere, you might want to start from scratch. But the problem from starting from scratch is that you will have to spend a lot of time thinking about the theme for your website, domain name, what the logo should be. There are a lot of necessities that need to strike off your checklist before you even get to produce actual content. Buying a website will cut this part out. You will have a registered website with themes, logos, and banners. They might also have other social media accounts to promote their website. You need to come with new strategies to increase the website’s exposure. You can also buy domain names, have it with you and sell later at higher prices. People have made a good amount of money off this. Some people create fully functional websites and then flip them over for a good sum of money. As a seller: This often happens when your interest vanishes from your website. Or, maybe it is because you have committed your time to other activities. The bottom line is: it’s getting tougher and tougher for you to maintain the website. Rather than waiting for the website to slowly die, with a minor investment, you can get a 4-5 figure price for your website (for starters; if you have sufficient stats to appeal). You are not limited to websites, though; you can also sell your applications, online businesses, and domain name to cash in for bucks. [embedded content] Here are some of the best places to sell online where. you can buy sell and trade websites #1. Flippa Flippa is undoubtedly the #1 website to buy and sell websites. You ask why? Because it was one of the first websites to pioneer this entire dealing of buying and selling websites. It pioneered the entire industry and has made a whopping 375 Million dollars to date. 30% of all their income came through flipping domains, and most of the remaining part came from flipping websites (working websites). Although they started with domains, they have increased their offerings to buy and sell. Now they also deal with apps, ads, SaaS, and eCommerce, all the while their major income coming from flipping websites and domains. Flippa has made the entire process quite easy. It works on an auction basis, kind of like how eBay works. You might wonder how the users set the price of their websites; Flippa has provided users with an evaluation tool. It takes in several factors: the major source of revenue, average views you are getting, how old the domain is, and so on to calculate the best value you can get by selling your website. After you have the value, you can do the posting on your own, which would cost you about $15. Flippa has made it so, to make the marketplace genuine. If you don’t want to get into the hassle of putting up an ad and everything you can also contact the company’s approved brokers who will sell it on your behalf. Perhaps one of the drawbacks is that you get charged a 10% fee if your website is sold, and it is sold between $1-$499K (which is usually what small to medium-sized domains get sold for). But to counter this, they have their price guarantee program according to which if any other website is asking for a lesser success fee, Flippa will beat their offer by 1%. Also, you have other features to boost your listings and increase the chances of it getting sold. Fun fact: Mark Zuckerberg’s infamous website Facemash got sold here. #2. Empire Flippers Empire Flippers comes second when it comes to the total worth of transactions done at $100 Million. It is a growing company and slowly catching up with Flippa. Like Flippa, they have forayed into all the areas:‌SaaS, online businesses, websites, domains, AdSense ads. They don’t deal with apps, as Flippa does. There have been cases of fraudulent transactions in Flippa, where the data that was provided in the listing didn’t correspond to the actual data after the final user purchased the goods. To tackle this, Empire Flippers have tried their best to make it complete fraud-proof. They charge you a 5% refundable deposit. With this deposit, you get 12 month’s data so that you can make a sound decision with all the right facts across the table. Plus, the team also vets each data record carefully and diligently gives you an expected profit margin. To make it more secure, they also set up call conversations between sellers and buyers. They have tried to differentiate themselves from Flippa in terms of security by taking the job of the broker in their own hands. As such, they don’t contact 3rd party brokers as Flippa does. Another unique offering is their regular podcast, which is a great show to tune into. The major drawback with this is that to maintain this level of vetting, they charge $297 for first-time listing, which is way too much. For a repeated listing, it drops to $97, which is still higher to Flippa’s paltry $15. But they try to counter this that this fee is refunded if they, for some reason, can’t list your business. #3. WebsiteBroker WebsiteBroker was founded in 1996. Predating almost all the websites present on this list by a decade or so. While you might expect it must be doing something right to sustain itself over the years, that’s the most mysterious part. They haven’t adapted their styling to a more user-friendly pattern, like how the earlier two did. They have provided you with an inbuilt valuation service so that you can get a rough estimate of how much you should be expecting. Pricing starts at $9.95 for standard listings and $29.95 for (premiere)domain and $14.95 for (premiere)domain name listing. Both of these will last for 90 days, with the premiere one supposedly gives you more exposure than the normal ones. One plus point with this is that it doesn’t charge a success fee. So your entire cost remains economically viable, and you don’t have to shell much compared to Empire Flippers and Flippa. Although on the flip side, people have complained a lot about its poor customer service. Where the earlier two provide some protection to buyers, here’s what WebsiteBroker’s official FAQ‌ says: We encourage all buyers to do their diligence when purchasing a website. WebsiteBroker is a marketplace, but we do not, and cannot, thoroughly investigate every website that is listed. As with any marketplace, it is your responsibility to protect yourself throughout your transaction. Surely not a good way to gain your user’s trust. Plus, people have complained about poor to no response from support staff. A good number of people have been scammed and there has been no protection against it. In fact, this one time, the same website’s listing was posted twice by the seller even after it was sold. #4. DigitalPoint Forum Unlike the other few websites mentioned here, how about doing the deal in one of the most popular forums on the Internet? In DigitalPoint Forum, you can find people selling websites, services, domains and lots more. It has a huge user base, and thanks to it, you can easily find customers at bay looking to buy websites. DigitalPoint caters to various sections with discussions ranging from Design, Development, Search Engines, and so on. Under the forum, there is a subsection of Domains and Websites in buy, sell and trade. Once you’re there, you can find various forum postings and look at each one individually. One of the added benefits of using a forum is that if you reply to any forum post, it will be made public. You can see if people have asked queries related to the websites which can help you make a decision. They have also diversified by making their marketplace website as a precursor to websites like Flippa. It may not be visually appealing, but they have tried to make the design pretty basic and simple. The marketplace ads are directly connected to the forum posts, and you can choose to reply to the forum post or text in private. This forum gives you various filters to help you get your preferred domain or website: from domain authority to page views to revenue; you can filter it out with multiple settings available for you. It doesn’t provide you with protection against scammers like Flippa and Empire‌Flippers do, you are at the mercy of luck and hope. But at the same time, it doesn’t charge you for any posting on the forum. Although a few restrictions have to be met, and you can’t create a new account and start posting for advertisement. This can be a thing to worry to a certain set of people as they would just want to sell their websites easily and don’t want to take the hassle to wait for some time and have a minimum number of posting(one of the conditions of forum) before allowed to do a listing on the website. #5. New Egg Marketplace One of the most popular marketplaces catering to selling and buying electronic goods online, they have now expanded their base to sell almost everything on the Internet. You have to get your business, i.e., your website verified by the New Egg team and apply to be a NewEgg seller. They have a strong marketplace with over ten and a half million products and presence in countries like the US and America. Once they approve your business, you can put a listing for your website/domain on a new egg. They take a commission between 13-15% for every website you sell, so that is one of the breakaway points. But it gives you a wider reach to both B2B and B2C customers. Also, since they don’t give you explicit support in helping you get the domains, it is like a regular marketplace, and you have to deal with the seller directly. Although the legitimacy of ads can’t be doubted as NewEggs look at the legitimacy of the business and its offering before allowing a posting on their service. #6. Sedo One of the oldest running websites in this business, Sedo, only deals with websites. You can deal with websites, domains and even parking of websites, which is something not offered by most of the other websites. Sedo was founded in 2000 and has had over 19 million listed domains. If you are on the buying end, you don’t have to give them any commission over it. There are multiple options of buying: some websites have the option of direct buy, some have the option to negotiate, and finally, some websites are up for grabs in the form of auction. You can also take the help of their expert domain brokers, although you have to pay a hefty one-time fee of $69 and a further 15% commission for successful sales. You can also get brokers for selling your domains and websites, in which case you only have to pay a 15% cut for every successful sale. To make the entire buying and selling experience a pleasant one, they offer users with domain transfer service, which helps you protect against any malpractice and scamming. You also get a valuation service from Sedo, and they give you a report on how much your domain/website worth is. Both of these services are free for Sedo users. Another amazing feature I liked was their parked domain. Usually, if you have a domain with yourself that is unused, you can effectively monetize it to generate extra money for yourself. Sedo does that free for you, i.e., looks for advertisers, posts advertisements relevant to the domain name, and even paying you. So if you have an unused domain, instead of showing a page under construction or empty page, how about making some money out of it. #7. BuySellEmpire If you surely want to sell your website, BuySellEmpire can give you a helping hand. With their onboard brokers, they have an amazing 95% success rate beating almost all the competition to one side. The brokers meticulously go through your website or domain and plan accordingly to get your website sold. Go to this website as they provide you with one of the best website broking services. Like all the other services, it provides you with basic tools like a free website evaluation tool so that you can get a fair idea about the money you can earn. The company’s main focus is to provide peace of mind to users: as such, they provide you with full assistance while dealing with buyers and in-migration of websites. They also focus emphatically on the protection against any fraud. For this, they sign a Letter of Intents from both parties to have official documentation, and all the payment goes through Escrow for easy transfer and better security against any malpractice. Although one of the nudging issues that they don’t mention their broker fees on their website. They have mentioned that they charge inexpensive brokerage rates compared to competitors; they haven’t mentioned the exact price or any range. #8. Freemarket Freemarket is a website coming from the popular job-outsourcing website Freelancer. They launched this website in direct competition to websites like Flippa aimed at entrepreneurs, SMEs, and website property owners. They follow the standard auction and buy-it-now buying options. To lure in the competition, they are targeting two things: offering the lowest commission rates at 5% and along with it, making it secure to transfer money. They keep the money to themselves until the total migration of ownership has taken place, after which they release the money. Their payment structure is powered by Freelancer.com to make it more reliable and secure. The website looks good and easy-to-use, and you don’t have to pay a single penny to get your posting on the website. The only time you will be ever charged is in the case of a successful sale. They also have a good customer service team, in case if you need any help. There’s a lack of brokerage service on the platform. But there are ways to promote your listing if you can shell out some extra bucks. Overall, this is one of the new services on the market and if you don’t want to spend much and worry about your sale money getting slashed and cuts you can go with this. #9. Side Projectors Side Projectors is quite unique in its approach. You don’t get to buy domains here; you get to buy-side projects usually in the form of websites. People who start with an idea but can’t dedicate their time anymore sell it on this website. Almost on the same lines of selling a website. They also sell mobile apps and desktop applications. The website is not just about selling; you can also look for a co-founder for your website. As well as showcasing your project online to viewers for quick feedback. It is a very straightforward service, with no flashy visuals as at all. The important part to note here is that Sideprojecters do not take any participation in taking care of protection against scammers or taking care of how the transfer of money is taking place between two parties. In fact, in the FAQs, they have said that it is the users themselves who should take the utmost care while dealing with sellers. They don’t charge you for listing. You can submit your project online. Plus, there is no option for getting you to the featured section. They take it on merit basis, which website is good enough to be promoted on their featured section. If you are looking for fully functional websites, side projects can be a great help to you. Although what restricts its appeal is its lack of offering of selling and buying of domains; and the lack of support over protection against any scamming. Conclusion People usually look for websites with scope for progress and development. If your website or blog under their criteria of selection, you can finesse some money out of your website. So here are the top 10 websites to sell and buy websites. There’s a lot of money to be made online just by selling and buying websites if you know some basic rules. Not only that, if you are not able to make time for your blog/website and you can sell it online for a good amount. Not only that, but you can also flip domains which can give you a good earning. You should take into consideration how much money you are going to invest in selling the website as most of the premium services charge you a fee for the listing and a fee for successful deals. Knowing how much you are going to spend can help you sort which service will be better for you, easily. /*Archive Template Only*/ #wp-coupons-outer-wrapper { padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; } #wp-coupons-wrapper { max-width: 1200px; } /*Navigation*/ body .wp-coupons-nav a, body .wp-coupons-nav a:visited { font-size: ; color: #0c0402; } body .wp-coupons-nav a:hover, body .wp-coupons-nav a.wp-coupons-nav-selected { color: #0872aa; } body .wp-coupons-subnav a, body .wp-coupons-subnav a:visited { font-size: ; color: #0c0402; border-color: #0c0402; } body .wp-coupons-subnav a.active, body .wp-coupons-subnav a:hover { color: #0872aa; border-color: #0872aa; } /*Coupon Panel*/ .wp-coupons-coupon-panel { background: #e5e5e5; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .wp-coupons-discount-percent { background: #1b3e5a; color: #ffffff; font-size: ; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .wp-coupons-expiration { color: ; font-size: ; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .wp-coupons-discount-code { background: #f9cc29; color: #0c0c0c; font-size: ; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .wp-coupons-discount-code span { color: #0c0c0c; border-color: #0c0c0c; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .wp-coupons-ctr:before { border-color: #f9cc29 transparent; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .wp-coupons-ctr:after { border-color: #f9cc29; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-separator { border-color: #d0d2d7; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-title { font-size: ; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-title, .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-title:visited, .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-link, .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-link:visited, .wp-coupons-banner .coupon-title { color: #0c0402; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-title:hover, .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-link:hover { color: #0872aa; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-description { font-size: 22px; line-height: ; min-height: ; max-height: ; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-type, .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-type:hover, .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-type:visited { color: #000000; font-size: ; } .wp-coupons-coupon-panel a.coupon-link { font-size: ; } /*Pagination*/ body .wp-coupons-navigation .page-numbers, body .wp-coupons-navigation .page-numbers:visited { background-color: #0c0402; } body .wp-coupons-navigation .page-numbers.current, body .wp-coupons-navigation .page-numbers:hover { background-color: #0872aa; } /*Click to Reveal Popup*/ #wp-coupons-ctr-popup #wp-coupons-ctr-discount-code span { background: #f9cc29; color: #0c0c0c; } #wp-coupons-ctr-popup #wp-coupons-ctr-discount-url a { color: #0c0402; } #wp-coupons-ctr-popup #wp-coupons-ctr-discount-url a:hover { color: #0872aa; } /*Buttons*/ body a.wp-coupons-button { background: #0c0402; border-color: #0c0402; font-size: ; } body a.wp-coupons-button:hover { color: #0872aa; border-color: #0872aa; } @media(min-width: 794px) { .wp-coupons-coupon.list.compact .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-link, .wp-coupons-coupon.list.minimal .wp-coupons-coupon-panel .coupon-link { font-size: 22px; line-height: ; } } source http://wtf.telenor.com.np/2020/01/08/9-awesome-platforms-to-buy-and-sell-websites-in-2020/
http://m.globalone.com.np/2020/01/9-awesome-platforms-to-buy-and-sell.html
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minnievirizarry · 7 years ago
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How to Use Facebook Carousel Ads to Dramatically Lower CPC
If you’re going to splash some cash on social ads, Facebook is the place to do it.
The power of the platform is well-documented, especially given that 93% of marketers are already on board with Facebook ads. Meanwhile, the ability to drill down and target hyper-specific audiences through display ads and Facebook remarketing is second-to-none versus other social networks.
That said, there’s always the issue of the price tag when it comes to social advertising.
“But Facebook ads are expensive.”
And hey, you’re not necessarily wrong.
Pricing out your Facebook ads can quickly add up for those unfamiliar with the platform’s many features and functionalities. So if you’re interested in keeping your budget in check and your cost-per-click (CPC) down, are you stuck?
Not at all. In fact, we’ve broken down one of Facebook’s most effective forms of advertising to guarantee you get the most bang for your buck.
Enter the era of Facebook carousel ads.
What Are Facebook Carousel Ads?
Facebook carousel ads are an ad format that allows you to combine 3-5 ads into a single scrollable ad unit.
You’ve probably seen carousel ads pop up in your newsfeed but perhaps you didn’t know them by name. Spend about five seconds scrolling through your Facebook and chances are you’ll run into something like this from Warby Parker:
Ta-da. That’s a carousel ad.
Facebook rolled out carousel ads in 2015, so these types of campaigns are still relatively young. Even so, Facebook carousel ads boast some impressive stats in terms of clicks and conversions. In fact, Facebook themselves claim that these types of ads drive a 30% to 50% lower cost-per-conversion and a 20% to 30% cost-per-click versus single image ads.
Impressive, right?
On the surface, Facebook carousel ads seem pretty straightforward. So what’s all the hype about, then? What elements of these ads cause them to perform so well? For starters:
They’re visual: Carousel ads provide marketers with multiple opportunities to catch the eye of scrollers by showing off multiple products or images versus a single static photo.
They’re interactive: Even something as subtle as clicking an arrow means your prospects spend more time engaging with your brand and its imagery.
They’re fun: Okay, calling any type of ad “fun” might sound a bit corny, but many brands truly manage to get creative with their Facebook carousel ads. Here’s an awesome example from Mazda Canada:
Who Are Facebook Carousel Ads Meant For?
Carousel ads are fair game for just about any type of marketing campaign or industry, but bear in mind that not all industries are created equal in terms of Facebook ad performance.
According to a 2017 Wordstream study, the average CTR across all Facebook ads is 0.90% while the average CPC is $1.72. The top-performing industries such apparel, retail, fitness and beauty also represent industries that dominate carousel ads. That’s probably why brands such as H&M run so many carousels:
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t leverage Facebook carousel ads if you aren’t part of these particular industries. Remember: carousel ads are simply a piece of Facebook’s advertising platform at large. Any brand can run them as long as you’re familiar with the platform’s best practices.
Generally speaking, Facebook carousel ads are likely a good fit for marketers that meet any of the following criteria:
You have a visually striking product or brand identity (bold fashion pieces, sleek electronics, loud colors, etc.)
You sell a variety of different products that you want to show off versus honing in on a single promotion
You’ve never run ads on Facebook before and want to start with something simple
That last point is arguably the most important. Whereas there is a much higher time commitment and room for error when it comes to running, say, video ads on Facebook, carousel ads can be set up in a snap.
If you have photos, a few lines of copy and a product to sell, you’re good to go with Facebook carousel ads. The important piece of the puzzle is simply having something to promote that catches the eyes of prospects within their newsfeeds.
But before we can get to that, we need to delve into the setup process.
How to Setup a Facebook Carousel Ad
Alright, so let’s say you’re sold on Facebook carousel ads and you’re ready to set up your own. What does the process look like?
At first glance, Facebook’s ad creator can be daunting to say the least. Let’s break down the setup process step-by-step.
As the case with any ad, start at the Ads Manager. You’ll need to select the objective of your ad, whether it be traffic, lead generation or store visits:
Next, create the audience for your ad or choose from an existing one if you’ve run an ad before. For the purpose of this example, we’ll use a fictional audience (and budget) just to get things moving.
Now, here’s where you actually get to choose which type of ad you’re looking to run. Simply select “Carousel” as noted below:
Then, you’ll be introduced to a preview of your ad based on the type of carousel placement you’ve specified (in this case, Desktop News Feed). Here you can experiment with imagery, copy and any other aspects of your Facebook carousel ads:
Again, the setup process is fairly straightforward. There are also more advanced options such as Facebook pixel tracking for retargeted ads and lead opt-in forms. Facebook also has their own list of specifications for optimized carousel ads, noting that:
Images should be a square 600 by 600 pixels
You’re limited to 90 characters of text for your ad “post” (think: the “status” copy)
You’re also limited to 40 characters for headlines (bolded copy that appears under your images) and 20 characters for ad descriptions (optional copy beneath your headlines). See all the character counts for Facebook ads here.
While there are quite a few variables to any given carousel ad, they’re elementary as far as most paid ads go.
But how can you predict whether or not your Facebook carousel ad will actually perform? If you’re on the hunt to make every click count, it’s crucial to understand how to optimize your Facebook ads for clicks, conversions and engagement.
The 6 Do’s the Don’ts for Fine-Tuning Your Facebook Carousel Ads
Outlined below are six best practices and pitfalls to consider when crafting your ads.
1. Do: Pick Thematic Photos
Ideally, the photos for your carousel should be related in some way, shape or form. Perhaps they show off a similar series of products, tell a story or represent individual pieces of a larger photo. Here’s one of Facebook’s favorite examples of a multiple-image layout:
2. Don’t: Pick Photos at Random
Simply put, carousel ads aren’t an excuse to post random photos related to your business. A series of unrelated photos won’t do much but confuse viewers and result in money down the drain.
3. Do: Mind Your Color Scheme
Colors definitely count if you’re trying to catch the attention of someone randomly scrolling through their Facebook feed. Although you don’t necessarily have to gravitate towards loud or bright colors, doing so will certainly draw more eyeballs to your ads. Check out this colorful carousel from Harley Davidson for inspiration:
4. Don’t: Run an Ad Without a Goal in Mind
If you don’t have a distinct goal in mind prior to running your ad, you’re essentially flying blind. Not only do you run the risk of your ad not making sense, but you also defeat the whole purpose of running ads in the first place. For example, you might be looking to:
Build buzz and attention around a new product launch
Encourage more subscribers to your email list
Generate leads from a discount or promotion
Any of these options are prime for carousel ads, as long as you know what your goal is prior to getting started.
5. Do: Pay Attention to Your Copy
You certainly have to be economical with your copy given Facebook’s character limits, but look at these limitations as more incentive to make every word count. Try to avoid generic “Click here!” copy and opt for something more in line with your brand’s messaging.
Check out how Pura Vida Bracelets emphasizes a helping hand in their title copy while also promoting free shipping in their headlines:
6. Don’t: Present Yourself as a Salesperson
Don’t squander your ads by going way too heavy on the sales pitch. Just because you’re running a sales-based ad doesn’t give you license to be heavy-handed. Those who aren’t familiar with your brand may mistake you for a spammer if all they see is “BUY NOW!” or “EPIC SALE!”
So much of the beauty of Facebook carousel ads is that you have all the freedom in the world. As these types of campaigns are relatively young, marketers have plenty of freedom and room to experiment. As long as you stick to the best practices outlined above, you’re golden.
How Do You Feel About Facebook Carousel Ads?
Whether you’re looking to spend money on social ads for the first time or simply step up your paid ad game of Facebook, carousel ads are ideal for those looking to keep their CPC down. Cheap to run while remarkably effective in terms of engagement and ROI: what more could a marketer ask for?
Any Facebook carousel ads catch your eye lately? Do you prefer carousel ads to the other types of paid social marketing out there today? Let us know in the comments below!
This post How to Use Facebook Carousel Ads to Dramatically Lower CPC originally appeared on Sprout Social.
from SM Tips By Minnie https://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-carousel-ads/
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ouraidengray4 · 8 years ago
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The Challenges of Being an Interracial Couple in America's Whitest City
Our wedding day. Photo courtesy of Meredith Bacon
I love my husband unconditionally, and we have amazing chemistry, but we’re also definite proof that opposites attract. He loves dogs, and before I met him, I was an aspiring cat lady. He was raised Mormon; I was raised a Methodist. He is white, and I am black.
None of these differences were deal breakers as we fell deeper and deeper in love, but even before America appeared to be on the verge of collapse, being in an interracial relationship came with its fair share of challenges.
From the beginning, I knew Xavier wasn't like any other guy I’d been interested in. For starters, he seemed to express genuine interest in me as a person… unlike most of the other white guys I’d encountered over the years, who desperately wanted to add a black girl to their roster of hookups. I called interactions with these types of guys "science projects," because they approached me like I was some sort of foreign specimen in a lab they just couldn't wait to examine.
For a very long time, I allowed this. Growing up in the predominantly white suburbs of Fairfield County, Connecticut, the dating pool was pretty shallow for a black girl. In my hometown, the guys who were genuinely attracted to me (beyond mere lust) would never admit it to their peers—they’d have been ridiculed for actually liking a black girl. So in order to feel the touch of a man in my adolescence, I played the role of a "Jezebel."
I grew up black in a mostly white area, so I was accustomed to casual racism. As a survival tactic, I learned how to disassociate every time I heard someone at a party "accidentally" drop an N-bomb. I was also under the illusion that because people thought I "sounded white," it was possible for me to transcend racial stereotypes. I figured that as long as I was able to abide by respectability politics and not be lumped together with those "other lazy Negroes," I could just be the token black girl. So I hid my natural hair under Brazilian bundles—not as a way to protect the beautiful kink that grew beneath it, but to assimilate more closely to European beauty standards.
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But then Xavier came along, and things felt different. I’d always thought "the butterflies" were bullsh*t, but anytime I saw him, that’s the only way I can describe how he made me feel. He has these crystal blue eyes that had a way of unintentionally staring right through me, and best of all, he really made me laugh. I was sprung. So much of my seduction technique relied on being fetishized that when I finally met a man who had no interest in doing that, I became even more enamored.
When we met, he told me he was from Chicago, which I thought was sexy, because I imagined he had all kinds of wisdom from being raised in a city so full of culture. Of course, he failed to mention that the first years of his life had actually taken place in Salt Lake City, Utah, which isn't exactly a melting pot of diversity. Luckily, he’d been exposed to a mélange of different people during his time in Chi-Town, and had gotten the chance to develop a more worldly view.
Soon, Xavier and I were madly in love. But the second summer after we had moved in together, he went to visit a family member in Portland, Oregon. When he came back, he told tales of a magical land packed with breweries on every block and fine artisan cuisine spilling from food carts all over the city. Then he produced an engagement ring and persuaded me to move west with him. Once I’d officially been promoted to fiancée, we drove cross-country to our new home.
Of course, Portland was just as amazing as he’d described; this city is full of doughnuts shaped like voodoo dolls and an air of creative enthusiasm that encourages locals to "Keep Portland Weird."
There was only one detail my husband had left out. As the weeks passed, I slowly started to realize that I hadn’t seen any black people since we’d arrived. Because my husband is white, the lens through which he views the world had allowed him to visit Portland and never think twice about the fact that it was such an overwhelmingly white city.
But for me, this lack of diversity came as a complete culture shock. Connecticut is practically as white as Portland, so on its face, the transition should have been simple. But on the East Coast, there was so much more exposure to diversity, and I’d worked in New York for several years. Outside of working in metro areas, I had a support system of friends and family to seek refuge with when I felt like a black person engulfed by white space. Portland lacked these important elements.
Thanks to Google, I quickly discovered that we were now living in a place that is often referred to "Whitetopia." Not only is there a shortage of black people, but their lack of diversity was actually intentional, and the city has a long history of white supremacist activity.
Photo courtesy of Meredith Bacon
Prior to moving, I thought I had mastered the art of navigating white spaces—being surrounded by white people didn't strike me as something I’d need to prepare for. However, after I moved, I became more and more aware of strangers’ inherent biases against and irrational fear of black people. At first, I thought I was imagining it. Xavier thought perhaps I was being too sensitive... but soon, even he began to see it.
People we met were never overtly racist, but they seemed to tense up once they saw me approaching them, and they’d relax once they realized I was with Xavier. When he and I would go out, I noticed that people would often intensify their eye contact with my husband so they wouldn't have to acknowledge me. On one fun occasion, a white waitress flirted with my husband all night, then referred to me as "Sister Girl."
These unbalanced interactions became routine, and I started to develop severe social anxiety. As I grappled with the new experience of trying to converse with people who were too scared to engage in sincere and authentic conversations, I started to understand the different nuances of racism. I became very familiar with the word microaggression, and pretty soon, I realized that everything I was experiencing had been happening my entire life… I’d just never fully noticed it.
We mostly continue to face the same changes as every other couple. Even though race comes up, it’s not what defines how we feel about each other.
When my husband was around, these microaggressions—like people touching my hair—happened way less often, if at all. Pretty soon, I stopped leaving the house without him. I didn’t feel safe in the city.
For a little while, I became resentful of my husband; I’d never felt so completely out of place in my entire life. Xavier tried his hardest to sympathize, but how could he have predicted this transition would be so difficult for me, if I hadn’t either? To make matters worse, while I was struggling to find my place as a black woman in a pseudo-liberal city, Xavier was thriving in this "A White Man’s Paradise." My resentment manifested itself in various ways. It ebbed and flowed, changing between tears and anger, and became a very rude awakening for the both of us. I suddenly understood the term for socially conscious people being called "woke." All at once, I felt wide awake.
The tables seemed to have turned. My city-slicker husband had quickly grown accustomed to the homogeneity of his new surroundings, but suddenly, his formerly racially indifferent fiancée was completely hypervigilant about her race.
I started to become increasingly furious with institutionalized racism. While my husband was mostly willing to listen to me, the subject sometimes became a source of contention as injustice after injustice continued to roll in, and examples of race-based police brutality flooded our news services. There were days I felt so heavy from seeing the deaths of unarmed black men go unpunished. A special kind of rage began to fester in me; I was surrounded by white people, all of whom were able to go about their lives during a time of political unrest… and my husband was among them.
When I had lived in Connecticut, I knew I could go home to my family and feel the safety of being among my family members who looked like me and could immediately relate when I told them something was racist. In those conversations, no one ever cast a doubtful look my way or asked, "Are you sure they were being racist?"
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When you’re asked this kind of question at the end of the day, sometimes you’re just too tired to respond. Other times, you have no words to rationalize your humanity to your spouse. The rest of the world is so busy reminding you how very little your life matters, the last place you want to put in that work and explain yourself is in your own home.
As I tried not to slip into a deep depression, I focused on the biggest bright spot in our lives—planning our wedding. Planning a wedding was a way for me to appreciate the positive parts of our experience together. It wasn’t all bad; other than the racism, things were actually really good! We got a Boston Terrier puppy named Ralf Garfunkel. And creatively, I was producing the best work I had in years. Because Xavier was walking the puppy everywhere, he was getting increasingly healthier and svelte. And we were about to get married.
I was regretting the move to some extent, but there was and still is only one reason why I came here: I couldn't imagine a life without Xavier. By then, two years had passed, and regardless of feeling like an alien in my new city, I wanted to believe there was a light at the end of this tunnel, despite the darkness of feeling constantly ostracized by my race. Even though wedding planning had its challenges, the process helped me take my mind off a lot of the negative aspects of my life. It also gave me a chance to introduce the people I’d left behind to our new life together. We had an incredible wedding surrounded by the people we loved most, and it was after that day that I finally started to feel at home.
I tried not to blame my husband for being unable to understand my experience. Since becoming "woke," Xavier has learned a lot about his own privilege. He knows better than to get offended when I talk about dismantling white supremacy, and he doesn't need to chime in with #notallwhitepeople to relieve his guilt. It’s hard to ignore that the world feels like it’s on fire right now, with so much political change happening throughout the country. Still, we mostly continue to face the same changes as every other couple. Even though race comes up, it’s not what defines how we feel about each other. And as with any other marriage, we vowed to love each other forever and no matter what... or at least until the world ends.
Jagger Blaec is a freelance professional journalist located in Portland, Oregon. You can keep up with her on Twitter @basicblaecgirl.
from Greatist RSS http://ift.tt/2kWv0DI The Challenges of Being an Interracial Couple in America's Whitest City Greatist RSS from HEALTH BUZZ http://ift.tt/2kbd4FE
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minnievirizarry · 7 years ago
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How to Use Facebook Recruiting to Find Top Talent
For those on the hunt for new talent on social media, Facebook might not be your first choice in terms of where to look. This is especially true given LinkedIn’s status as the go-to “professional” social network, right?
However, Facebook has proven itself as a recent hub for hiring. Not only has the platform stepped up its game for recruiters, but consider this:
Facebook boasts a bigger talent pool than any other network. Compare Facebook’s 2 billion monthly users to LinkedIn, where only 25% of their 500 million users are active monthly.
Not every profile on LinkedIn represents someone actively looking for a gig. Recruiters may accidentally overlook the perfect fit because they don’t realize their ideal candidate is actually interested in new opportunities.
Traditional job boards are totally time-sensitive. Does it really make sense to recruit someone based on what time they were online to apply versus their work history and qualifications?
On the flip side, Facebook recruiting allows employers to encourage new talent to come to them. Meanwhile, those hiring via Facebook can drill down deep to find the perfect fit.
Sick of job boards flooded with unqualified applicants? Haven’t had much success with LinkedIn? Facebook recruiting could be the missing link in your hiring process.
We’ve outlined the wealth of options available to recruiters looking to find qualified talent that’ll stick around for the long-term thanks to Facebook.
Awesome Ads That Attract Talent
Perhaps the biggest recruiting pain point presented by job boards is that you cast too wide of a net.
Maybe you’re looking for someone with a highly specialized skill set. Perhaps you want to limit applicants to people in your own backyard. With job boards, you have little control over who applies (both good and bad).
That’s why searching for talent via Facebook Ads is a solid starting point for recruiters. In fact, Facebook themselves recommend that businesses begin with ads.
We already know that Facebook ads are the bread and butter of businesses looking to hone in on customers based on specific demographics.
Fortunately, recruiters can use that targeting to their advantage while pursuing talent. For example, here’s an example of a “We’re hiring!” post from Marriott:
Now, there’s nothing wrong with this post. However, it’s not a particularly compelling ad for potential hires because it’s too broad.
On the flip side, here’s another post from Marriott that’s more honed in:
Now this post has potential as an ad. Why? For starters, it’s directed toward a specific skill set (those with hotel and hospitality experience). The post also focuses on a singular location instead of presenting itself as a generic “Hey, work for us!” post.
Think about it: how relevant is an ad for hotel leaders in Cabo for someone in Middle-of-Nowhere, Michigan?
That’s the beauty of Facebook recruiting via ads versus hoping to catch someone’s eye with a one-size-fits-all job post.
How to Create a Facebook Recruiting Ad
Creating your own ad for new hires is pretty straightforward. You can get started via Facebook’ Business page:
Or under the “Create” tab in the bottom left corner of your “Home” page:
You’ll then be asked to choose your marketing objective. Click on the “Lead generation” tab at the bottom of the middle column:
Then name your hiring campaign. For this example, we’ll be working with a fictional Ecommerce marketing manager position:
Granted you already have a company Facebook profile, you’ll be directed to a page where you have the chance to set up your unique audience:
This is where the fun begins.
Let’s say we’re hiring for an in-person role in Chicago. We can narrow down our search by only targeting candidates who have “advertising” and “marketing” as listed interests who live in a 25-mile radius:
Nice.
So, what happens when we only include users with “Ecommerce” in their current job title?
OK, Facebook says that’s too specific so we’ll take a step back. Let’s say we want someone with Shopify experience. So, we’ll target users with “Shopify” as one of their listed interests:
Bingo.
The specificity of Facebook’s ad platform is a far cry from hoping that something sticks on a job board, right?
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If we wanted to take things a step further, we could also exclude candidates’ profiles for irrelevant locations or experience.
Facebook’s advanced targeting ensures that recruiters running ads are only matched with relevant results. Obviously you could spend ages fine-tuning your posts to find the perfect match. That said, the biggest benefit of Facebook ads is that you can streamline the hiring process versus drag it out forever.
The point is this: Facebook recruiting provides businesses the opportunity to find exactly who they’re looking for based on demographics versus taking a shot in the dark.
Making Your Job Posts Pop
Whether you’re running an ad or posting a new position to your company Facebook page or group, it pays for your posts to stand out.
After all, you’re competing against the latest memes, YouTube sensations and breaking news within your potential hire’s feed. Massive walls of text will only put your prospects to sleep.
Making your posts stand out doesn’t have to be rocket science. Well, unless you’re SpaceX:
This example ticks the boxes of what makes an effective Facebook recruiting post. How so?
The post includes an eye-popping image that’s atypical of a job listing.
The copy of the post is warm and inviting, yet specific.
The target link leads directly to a job listing, making the application process easier for interested talent.
The folks running the Disney Careers Facebook page likewise understand the importance of injecting some personality into their Facebook recruiting efforts:
Short, sweet and to the point. The copy of this particular post creates a playful sense of urgency and drives interested applicants to click.
Remember: not all recruiting requires a suit-and-tie vibe. Chipotle similarly uses humor to encourage new employees:
Using photos of current employees and team members can also give your posts a more personal touch. At the same time, such photos help potential hires visualize themselves as part of your company. Here’s a good example from Boeing:
The takeaway here? You can’t just slap a job posting on Facebook and walk away.
Just as you’d test marketing copy via email or social, do the same with your Facebook recruiting posts. From image types and sizes to snappy copy and long-winded descriptions, recruiters have plenty of opportunities to get creative.
If you want to attract legitimate talent through Facebook recruiting, your posts’ copy and imagery need to be designed to drive clicks.
Create a Career-Focused Facebook Page
If you run a company with a sizable following and don’t want to flood your news feed with job postings, you may want to consider creating a Facebook page exclusively for career-focused content.
Here’s a prime example from Walt Disney World, which is solely targeted at job-seekers in Florida. Through the page’s “Work for Us” tab powered by a third-party extension, users can access an up-to-date list of one-click job opportunities:
Such pages are relatively straightforward in terms of upkeep as they mostly serve as another place for talent to access your company’s openings.
As noted, the ability to hire directly from Facebook is key to keeping applicants from bouncing off-site to a long-winded sign-up page. Here’s an example from the Amazon Fulfillment Jobs page:
Although not an absolute must-have, career pages can be used as a sort of positioning tool, too. For example, NBCUniversal uses their careers to show off their employees and provide job-seekers with advice:
Strike Gold With Hiring Groups
Even though the majority of today’s recruiters are indeed using Facebook, there’s much more to the platform than hiring ads, posts and pages.
In fact, Facebook groups represent a potential goldmine of talent for recruiters willing to do some digging. There are Facebook recruiting opportunities within groups both big and small across all industries.
For example, a quick search for “marketing jobs” returns a laundry list of results:
Keywords such “(industry) + job board” could likewise be the prime place to find the perfect fit for a one-off gig. For the most part, Facebook job groups are popular with freelancers and remote workers.
The plus sides of these communities include fewer candidates to sift through and more transparency as applicants deal with recruiters one-on-one. As such, postings and responses are typically laid back as hiring is done back and forth via email or messaging. Finally, posting jobs to Facebook groups is totally free versus running ads.
Monitor Job Inquiries on Your Facebook Posts
Sometimes new prospects might leave a comment on your Facebook recruiting posts asking for more information. Make sure you stay on top of the conversations to avoid missing out on a qualified candidate. You can use Sprout’s Facebook management tools to monitor conversations going on about your job postings or career opportunities on your page.
Not only can you manage ad comments, through Sprout’s analytics tools, you’re able to see in-depth data into, which posts drive the most traffic and engagement. This makes A/B testing for your Facebook recruiting content all the more simple by analyzing what works and what needs help.
Want to see how Sprout Social can help your Facebook recruiting efforts? Try us for a free 30-day trial!
Are You Using Facebook Recruiting to Land New Talent?
From running highly targeted ads to finding hidden gems in industry-specific groups, Facebook recruiting can help trim down the time it takes to find fresh, qualified talent.
Facebook serves as a cost-effective alternative to old-school job boards and is a prime place to find professionals beyond the realm of LinkedIn. As more job-seekers take to social media in pursuit of their next gig, recruiters can stay ahead of the game by locking down their Facebook presence today.
Do you have a success story of tracking down talent from social media? Still struggling to find the right fit for your business through Facebook? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
This post How to Use Facebook Recruiting to Find Top Talent originally appeared on Sprout Social.
from SM Tips By Minnie https://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-recruiting/
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