#putting a whole bunch of tags in your posts will increase my chance of following you by 70%

[the-ghost-in-your-walls]

People making tumblr posts and it being like

[lastbluetardis]

And Baby Makes Seven (10/?)

Things don’t always go as planned. Faced with an unexpected pregnancy, James and Rose have to work quickly to get everything prepared for their fifth child, and to prepare their eldest children for a new addition to the family. Ten x Rose AU, Soulmates AU. Tagging @doctorroseprompts

This chapter: teen, 5200 words

Ages of the Tyler-McCrimmons at the start of the chapter: James: 39, Rose: 34, Ainsley: 9, Sianin: 6, Twins: 7.5 months

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AO3 | Perfectly Matched Series

Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7 | Ch8 | Ch9 |

Now that Ainsley had been let in on the secret of the new baby, Rose and James didn’t need to work as hard to uphold the facade. Sianin, bless her little heart, had no idea what was going on, but was glad that her mum wanted to laze around the house, which translated into Sianin getting plenty of snuggles on the sofa as they watched cartoons.

James seemed to be taking “over-protective” to a whole new level. He jumped at the chance to care for their children, either taking over or joining Rose in all bedtime routines. If a twin awoke in the middle of the night, he sprang out of bed before her groggy brain could even realize Hannah or Maddie had made a sound.

But when she brought it up to him, he flashed her a charming grin that never failed to melt her, and simply asked, “You’re upset that I want to care for my children?”

And really, when he put it like that, her irritation with him evaporated. She had to keep reminding him to let her help, though, lest the twins forget they had a mother.

James and Rose also used the opportunity to place more responsibilities on Sianin’s shoulders, to the girl’s displeasure. Since Rose wasn’t supposed to do most of the normal household chores, James taught Sianin how to vacuum, wash the floors, and a host of other minor but daily tasks.

Rose, though guilty that she was lounging around the house all day when she ought to be cleaning, was glad that Sianin was at least performing the tasks James assigned to her with minimal complaining. 

Ainsley, meanwhile, took it upon herself to help her dad with anything he was doing and to check in with her mum to see if Rose needed anything.

“How long d’you have to rest for?” Ainsley asked as she settled in with Rose and Maddie on the couch for her nightly reading. Hannah was already in her crib for the night, but Maddie was stubbornly refusing to fall asleep in favor of getting snuggles and kisses from her mother.

“A few weeks,” Rose replied, blotting at the drool dripping down her baby’s chin with her jumper sleeve. Maddie scrunched her nose and turned her face away. “We’ve got a follow-up appointment next week to check the status of the bleed.”

Ainsley tilted her head to the side. “Why do you always do that? Make it plural? You said we’ve got an appointment, not I’ve got an appointment.”

Rose snorted. “You’re right. But your dad is joining me at the appointment. Plus, it’s an appointment to check on the baby, who is both his and mine. It feels wrong to claim sole ownership.”

“That’s actually really cute,” Ainsley admitted. She sighed dreamily. “Dad takes such good care of you when you’re unwell.”

A flood of adoration overtook Rose, squeezing her chest until inexplicable tears burned her eyes. She listened to her husband, who was in the kitchen assembling the girls’ lunches for tomorrow. He was humming to himself as he worked, the notes slightly flat and offkey.

“Yeah, he does,” Rose croaked.

“I hope I find someone just like him one day,” Ainsley said with a wistful sigh.

“I hope that for you, too.” Rose kissed Ainsley’s temple. “I hope that for all of my children.”

“How do you think it’ll work with Sianin and her soulmates?”

“What do you mean?”

Ainsley shrugged. “It’s hard to imagine having two soulmates. How can she love two people as equally and intensely as you love Dad?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, eh? Who knows whether Sianin’s relationship with Elena and Juliette will evolve into a romantic one.”

“I suppose,” Ainsley allowed. “But for argument’s sake, how would it work if they decided to let it be romantic? It seems so strange to be involved in a relationship with two people.”

“Strange as it might be to you, it’s normal for others. Love in all its forms is a beautiful thing, remember that.”

“It feels like it would be hard to make sure you aren’t showing favoritism to one versus another,” Ainsley said.

“Well, your dad and I have four children—we love you all with equal intensity and try not to show favoritism. I imagine it’s something similar.”

“Hmm. I don’t think I would want to be in a relationship with more than one person,” Ainsley admitted. “I want one person who is mine, and mine alone.”

“That’s perfectly reasonable,” Rose said. “You need to decide what works for you, just as Sianin will decide what works for her.”

Ainsley was quiet for several long seconds, but Rose could practically hear her daughter’s mind churning. While she let Ainsley think, she used the time to give kisses to the baby in her arms. The baby was finally getting drowsy; she had her cheek planted above Rose’s left breast, and her head rose and fell with her mother’s breaths. Any time Maddie’s eyes began to droop shut, she wrenched them open and gazed up at her mother.

Being the singular focus of her baby’s attention always made her heart squeeze with love and gratitude. She was the whole world to this tiny, perfect little human, and for a moment, as Rose got lost in her baby’s blue eyes, Maddie was her whole world, too.

“Do you think her eyes will stay blue?” Ainsley asked.

“I think so,” Rose said. “Usually if they change, they would’ve changed by now. All of my babies’ eyes started out blue. In Sianin’s case, they turned brown after a couple months. Yours stayed more or less the same color. And the twins’ appear to be brightening… they kind of look like Gran’s, don’t they?”

Ainsley peered down at Maddie. The baby shifted her sleepy eyes to her big sister, and offered a smile that widened into a yawn. Ainsley snorted and rubbed Maddie’s back. The baby grunted and wiggled around before face-planting into the crevice between Rose’s breasts.

“Silly girl,” Ainsley murmured. “Yeah, they do look like Gran’s. How does that work? I mean, I sort of know how it works. But her DNA is half you, half Dad, and yet she has Gran’s eyes. And apparently I look like Dad’s mum.”

“My DNA is half my mum and dad, and your dad’s DNA is half his mum and dad,” Rose said. “There are bits of all of our past family swirling inside of us, and it’s a lottery draw as to which traits get passed on to a baby.”

“That’s kind of neat,” Ainsley said. “It’s so fascinating that so many things have to happen perfectly to create a baby.” She paused, then continued in a rush, “We had the talk at school today. Y’know, how the girls and boys should be starting puberty soon, if they haven’t started already. One girl in my class had her first period months ago, which is mad. She’s nine! They also explained how in a couple years we’ll all be sexually mature and be able to make babies and so we all have to be very, very careful to prevent unwanted pregnancies as we’re exploring our bodies.

“They went over how a baby is made. Just the basics. Y’know, penis in vagina, sperm meets egg equals baby. I didn’t know that men released millions and millions of sperm when they had sex. That seems like overkill, doesn’t it?”

“What seems like overkill?”

Rose jumped at the sound of James’s voice right behind her. Her mind whirred, trying to wrap itself around the sudden turn their conversation had taken, as well as the fact that her baby was old enough to be learning the basics of human reproduction in school already.

“Did you know you made and released millions of sperm at a time when you have sex?” Ainsley asked, her eyes bright.

James was silent for a beat, cheeks pinkening and mouth going slack. He cleared his throat. “Er… yeah. Yeah, I did know that. But where did you learn that?”

“They gave us the talk in school.”

“Ah,” he said, wincing.

“Why do you make millions of sperm when only one will actually fertilize the egg?” Ainsley asked, cocking her head to the side. She then glanced down at Maddie, who was drooling into Rose’s shirt. “Er, or I guess two?”

“Actually, it was just one sperm,” Rose corrected.

Ainsley frowned. “But… there are two babies.”

“But they’re identical,” James said. “Genetically, they’re the same. Basically, one of my sperm met your mum’s egg, then that egg divided somewhat incorrectly to begin producing two separate babies with the same exact genetic code.”

“Oh. So your egg accidentally made a clone of itself?”

Rose snorted. “Something like that.”

Ainsley looked impressed. Then she said, “But still. Why make millions of sperm? That’s a bit wasteful, isn’t it?”

“It’s all about statistics,” James answered, scrubbing at the back of his neck. “Would you rather try to hit a target with one arrow or many? What if that one arrow is defective somehow? Or your aim is slightly off? By releasing tens of millions of sperm in one go, you increase the odds of fertilization; and the egg can be a bit choosier by only allowing the strongest of the bunch to fertilize it and begin making a baby.”

“Oh. That makes a lot of sense, actually,” Ainsley said. “What stops all of the sperm from penetrating the egg and creating a million babies?”

“Once a sperm meets the egg, it basically walls itself off from getting fertilized again,” James explained. “When sperm meets egg, a biological cascade effect begins. The woman’s egg recognizes it’s been fertilized, so it begins producing chemicals and hormones that tell the rest of the body to prepare for the oncoming baby. And it shuts down egg production so there’s no chance of multiple fertilized eggs trying to grow a baby after one is already growing. Imagine how cramped it would get in there. And imagine how hard it would be on the woman to have multiple babies all at different stages of development in her uterus. Evolution has figured out how to control everything so that doesn’t happen.”

“That’s so cool,” Ainsley said.

“It is a bit cool,” James said, smiling.

“It’s weird that women are born with all the eggs they’ll ever have, but men keep making more and more sperm ‘til they die. That’s way more efficient. What if something happens to the woman and her egg supply is damaged? At least with men, they can regenerate their sperm.” Ainsley cocked her head at her father. “In theory, you could help make a baby when you’re a hundred, right?”

James choked. “I… well… yes, technically. But my baby-making partner would also be a hundred—well, ninety-five—and since she would no longer be fertile, I wouldn’t be helping to make any more babies. Besides, the… ehm… the quality of sperm deteriorates over time. It’s not usually a good idea to procreate after a certain age. And, ehm… the act of making a baby gets… ehm… more difficult in old age. So… ehm… I’m not sure we’d… that we’d… Although I would truly love to be with your mother in that way in our old age, statistically it’s not all that probable so I’m not really expecting to… not that I wouldn’t want to… but…”

Rose kneaded the heel of her hand into her eyes as James’s gob ran without stop and without filter. She eventually reached over and pinched him. He squeaked, but snapped his mouth shut. Ainsley, meanwhile, was in stitches on the sofa, cackling madly as both her parents’ cheeks blazed.

oOoOo

Two weeks and two days after learning she had subchorionic hemorrhage, Rose walked into her OB-GYN, this time with her husband at her side. Despite the fact that her bleeding and cramping had stopped nearly a week ago, she was a little nervous to see what Elizabeth would have to say.

James must have sensed her anxiety, because he threaded their fingers together and rubbed at the back of her thumb while they waited for Rose’s name to be called. He talked to her about nothing in particular, filling the silence between them. Rose let the soothing rhythm of his voice calm her until Elizabeth appeared in the waiting room and called name, gesturing for her to follow.

“How are you feeling?” the midwife asked as she took Rose’s height and weight. “You’ve lost some weight since I saw you two weeks ago. Nothing worrying, but something to keep an eye on. Especially since you ought to be putting on weight as your pregnancy progresses.”

“My appetite is still finicky,” Rose admitted. “Nausea is mostly gone though. I’m hoping that will help. But otherwise, I feel fine.”

“Any bleeding? Cramping? Dizziness?”

Rose shook her head and stepped off the scale, following Elizabeth down the corridor to an exam room. James followed silently and settled into the chair beside the exam table. An ultrasound machine already sat in the corner of the room, and, familiar with the routine, Rose reclined on the table and exposed her belly.

Déjà vu settled over her as she remembered the utter terror of two weeks ago, certain her midwife was about to confirm her worst fear. Her pulse thundered in her ears and she began to tremble as her mind warred with itself, half of it trying to calm her, and the other half spinning out of control. James scooted his chair closer to her and leaned his elbow onto the table above her head. His warmth and scent surrounded her.

“You’re okay, love,” he whispered, kissing her forehead softly. “You’re okay. I’m here.”

“What a cute little bump,” Elizabeth cooed, squirting cool gel onto said bump between Rose’s hips. “Let’s see the cute little baby inside it, eh?”

Rose reached over and grabbed James’s free hand, linking their fingers together and squeezing tightly. He bent down to kiss her forehead again, then he brought their joined hands to his mouth to kiss her knuckles one at a time.

“Here we are,” Elizabeth said, tapping a few buttons into her keyboard.

Rose looked at the monitor and her heart clenched at the sight of her baby. They seemed to be about the same size as before, but Elizabeth was pleased with the baby’s appearance.

“They’re rather active,” the midwife noted, readjusting the probe when the shifting baby went out of focus. “Are you able to feel them, Rose?”

“Not yet,” she croaked. She desperately wanted to, though. She wanted that little flutter of life between her hips. She wanted the undeniable proof that her baby was alive and healthy and growing, because what if the scan was somehow wrong? Rose squeezed her eyes shut and focused deep within herself, trying to sense any ripple of movement in her uterus.

Her eyes shot open when the midwife tapped a few buttons and the heartbeat echoed around the room. 

James let out a soft, “Oh,” his grip on her hand turning vice-like.

Rose glanced up at her husband, but his gaze was locked on the monitor, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. The sight of them made her own eyes prickle. She would never tire of seeing the awe on his face as he beheld their children. He treated each day with their kids as though it was the most precious gift he’d been given; this baby was no exception, and Rose could already see how in love her husband was with the tiny fetus inside her. She could plainly see him, seven months from now, weeping as he held their newborn for the first time, curling his body around theirs as though he could physically shield their baby from any harm the world might bring to them. She could see him sitting with the baby in the dead of night, half asleep himself, yet holding their small child to his chest as he rocked them.

God, she wanted that, was impatient for these visions to come true. Even though she regularly saw him holding and snuggling the children they already had, Rose was desperate to give him his fifth child and bring completion to their not-so-little-anymore family.

“Our baby looks healthy,” James said, his voice hoarse. Rose blinked away the visions in her mind’s eye and was brought back to the present, where her husband was no longer looking at the baby on the screen, but rather down at Rose. She flashed him a small smile that he returned before he focused on the midwife, his gaze intense. “But how is Rose? How is the hemorrhage? Is she healthy and safe?”

“Let’s take a look at that next.” Elizabeth zoomed out away from the baby, and instead shifted the focus of the ultrasound probe to the gray masses surrounding the baby. “Here we go.”

After taking a few seconds to orient James and Rose to what she was talking about, Elizabeth pointed to a black blob along the edge of the placenta. “Here’s the clot. And yes, it is just a clot now. It appears to no longer be actively bleeding, which is excellent news. The placenta is intact, which is also great news. Sometimes a concern is that the bleeding will cause the placenta to pull away from the uterine wall, but that is not the case here. I am very, very happy with what I’m seeing.”

Rose let out a deep breath. James, too, relaxed a fraction.

“Can I go back to business as usual?” Rose asked.

“Let’s not be hasty,” James answered instead.

“I wasn’t asking you,” Rose drawled, reaching up to pat his cheek.

Elizabeth pursed her lips around a grin. She wiped the expression off her face and said, “I see no reason why not. Obviously you are limited as any other pregnant woman is, and I would try to take it easy for the next couple weeks as the clot dissolves, but yes, you should be able to resume all activities as normal.”

Rose was fairly certain she’d read between the lines correctly, yet she asked, “Sex too?”

James let out a little squeak that had Rose rolling her eyes. Elizabeth’s entire profession revolved around people having had biologically-successful sex. They themselves were here because they’d had successful sex. Nutter.

“Yes, you may resume your sexual activities,” the midwife answered.

Rose nodded. She hadn’t been in the mood for sex lately, too concerned was she with the baby and will following the instructions to rest. She knew that James’s sex drive had mirrored her own in his double concern for her and the baby. While she still didn’t have the desire to drag James straight into bed when they got home, Rose was glad it was at least an option, if the mood struck. She’d find other ways to satisfy James if or when his sex drive returned while hers remained elusive.

“Is Rose okay to travel?” James asked. “We were planning to take the kids up to Scotland for half-term break next week. Probably travelling by train.”

“I’ve been cleared to shag your brains out, but no, the movement of a train will be far too vigorous for my delicate condition,” Rose muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

James flicked her nose but didn’t reply.

“Yes, she should be fine,” Elizabeth said, pretending not to have heard their exchange. “Just listen to your body, Rose. It will do a good job of telling you what it needs. Try not to overexert. Rest when you’re tired. Make sure you’re getting enough vitamins and nutrients. Things like that.”

“Thanks,” Rose said. “And while we’re talking about it, do you happen to have any connections with midwives in Scotland? Near Glasgow? James and I are going to be relocating our family. The move isn’t happening next week or anything; we’re getting the kids used to the area and the house we’ll be moving into.”

“And you say I’m chatty,” James teased.

Rose rolled her eyes.

“Funnily enough, I do,” Elizabeth said. “One of my very close friends. We went to school together. I can send you her contact information, as I don’t have it on hand right now. I can also reach out to her to see if she can see you next week, if you’d like? A consultation visit, mostly, assuming she is taking new patients and is near enough to where you’ll be living.”

“That’d be brilliant,” Rose said, accepting the moist towels the midwife handed to her and cleaning off her belly.

Elizabeth made a few notes on her computer, then printed out another scan of the baby for them, despite them having one from two weeks ago. She also scheduled Rose’s twenty-week appointment, which would be shortly after the holidays. Rose was already impatient for January sixth to be here; it would be the appointment when she and James would learn the sex of their baby, something Rose always loved learning. But this time was the added game of being able to tease James for his apparent inability to produce a Y-chromosomed sperm. As though that was something he could control. (A fact he liked to remind her of often.)

“As always, you can call us if there are any questions or concerns,” Elizabeth said as she walked them to the front lobby. “But I’m very pleased with everything I’ve seen today.”

After thanking her, James slipped his fingers between Rose’s and guided her out to their car.

oOoOo

The following week, James and Rose willed themselves to have endless reserves of patience as they readied their children for the trip to Scotland. It felt like they had to pack up their entire house to ensure they had enough supplies for all the kids, including toys and games in addition to the endless articles of clothing.

Robert, bless him, was accompanying them, to help with child care and to give his opinion on the work they might want done to the manor house. James had reached out to half a dozen different remodeling companies to have them come out and take a look at the work he and Rose wanted done; they were due to arrive at the end of the week, since James and Rose wanted the first few days to walk around the house and make lists of repairs and upgrades that could be done, both internally and externally to the grounds.

The train ride went as well as could be expected when travelling with four children. Ainsley was content to read for the entire journey, but Sianin loudly proclaimed she was bored barely an hour into the trip. The twins were awake and wanting to crawl around, but there was only so much space in the compartment car. James, Rose, and Robert took turns walking a fussing baby up and down the length of the train, introducing the infant to cooing passengers who fawned over how beautiful she was. The passengers were extra delighted to realize they were identical twins.

Finally, the train docked in Glasgow, where the Tyler-McCrimmons picked up a rental vehicle and made the half-hour drive out of the city proper to the manor house.

The excitement at the prospect of permanently living in the “castle” evaporated Ainsley and Sianin’s travel exhaustion. As soon as James unlocked the front door, they bolted inside and began chattering to each other about where their playroom should be and calling dibs on the bedrooms.

“I want this one,” Sianin announced, gesturing to the master suite.

“That one is off-limits,” James said lightly, tweaking the end of her braid. “Available to mummies and daddies only. Same with the guest suite on the other side. That’s for when Gran or Grandad stay to visit.”

Sianin deflated a bit, but perked back up when James reminded her that there were plenty of other bedrooms to choose from.

Rose, meanwhile, immediately began to visualize how she would decorate. The current color scheme of the manor was dark, but not gloomily so. Even still, Rose thought that brightening the wall colors from burgundy to a rich cream or ivory would help open up the space and blend the rooms together. It would also make the house feel cleaner, and with five children tearing it apart, Rose knew she and James could use all the help they could get in that department.

The floors were in excellent shape, having been replaced shortly after Ainsley was born. Robert had come to her and James when he was having the work performed so they could help pick out the color and style of the various hardwood, tile, and carpeted floors in all of the rooms. Belatedly, Rose realized that Robert had done so because he knew this home would belong to them in the near future.

From the foyer, which was lit from the warm glow of the chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, Rose stared straight ahead into the formal dining room that used to be a ballroom; the kitchen extended beyond that through a set of wide oak doors that were currently closed. She already knew that the kitchen was huge and open, thanks to James’s grandmother having remodeled it to use up more of the defunct ballroom space. The kitchen housed a long table that would easily fit their large family; therefore, the formal dining room wouldn’t be necessary until they hosted holidays or had friends over. Otherwise, that could easily be a place for the children to do their homework.

To her right was what used to be a receiving room, but had evolved over the last century to be the living room. It was already furnished with a couch, a love seat, and a few reclining chairs placed strategically around a television. A fireplace sat along the far wall, and Rose could already see herself sitting in the rocking reclining chair and nursing her new baby, or snuggling with one of her other four children or husband as the fire crackled merrily beside them. Goosebumps prickled along Rose’s skin at the thought of her and James making love by the fireplace, a vision straight out of a Victorian romance novel.

Blinking away that fantasy for the time being, Rose continued her mental mapping of the manor. Behind the living room was another room that had been a different receiving room—most likely, she presumed, a space for the gentlemen when the ladies had overtaken the first receiving room. Because God forbid men enjoy their wives’ presence.

James’s parents had converted that into a study area for James; Rose thought it would make a nice playroom for their family. It had plenty of room to store the kids’ endless number of toys, and it had a closet where they could keep their games. The flooring in there was currently hardwood; Rose made a mental note to chat with James about replacing it with something softer.

Extending beyond the living room was a narrow hallway that opened up to what had once been servants’ quarters. Rose knew that James’s grandmother had remodeled it and created a larger footprint, converting the area into a spacious a guest suite; it was where Robert always slept when he visited, unable to stomach being in the master bedroom ever since he’d lost his wife.

To the left of the foyer was a long, wide corridor with several rooms branching off of it. One of those rooms was a library that Rose already knew Ainsley would practically make her second bedroom. Rose planned to outfit the room with a variety of comfortable furniture and a desk. Directly beside the library and connected with a door was a formal study; she figured James would like to make that his space, filling it with textbooks and knickknacks and turning it into a place he could mark papers and exams on the weekends or weeknights.

Directly beside the study and again connected through a set of doors was a secondary study. This one was at the end of the manor, and therefore had windows on the two external walls. It was filled with plenty of natural lighting and Rose thought it would make a perfect place for her to set up her art studio.

On the opposite side of the corridor from the library and studies were a series of small rooms. There was a half bath that was mostly just a closet with a toilet and a sink, and two small rooms that Rose genuinely didn’t know the purpose of. They were far too big to be closets, but a tad too small to be bedrooms. Rose didn’t care what they used to be; instead, she planned to make the rooms a nursery: one for the twins, until they were big enough for proper beds, and the other for the new baby. It would be perfect, since the last room at the end of the corridor was the master suite. 

Rose already knew the suite was enormous, yet it took her breath away to behold it. The room would easily fit their king-sized bed and all of their bedroom furniture, and still have room for more. Perhaps they could put a cushy rocking chair in this room as well as the nurseries; there could never be enough cozy furniture to cuddle her children, Rose thought.

There was a giant walk-in closet connected to the bedroom, as well as a double-vanity ensuite. The bathroom, too, was huge, outfitted with a tub and a walk-in shower stall; both the tub and shower had plenty of room for her and James to share, which would be perfect for intimate date nights.

Moving from room to room, Rose catalogued how she would arrange furniture and paint colors that would look good in each room and blend the entire ground floor of the house together. She took note of the flooring, and which rooms should be outfitted with carpets rather than hardwood floors or tile, or vice versa. When she and James helped Robert pick out the floors, they’d only had Ainsley; at the time, she hadn’t been able to imagine having five children. Now, she couldn’t imagine anything differently.

“I can see that beautiful mind of yours at work already.” James came up behind her as she weighed whether the library ought to be carpeted or left as it was with hardwood floor. He wrapped his arms around her waist and casually splayed a palm on her lower belly, kissing the side of her neck and sending pleasant tingles across her skin. “What are you thinking?”

Rose leaned into him, tilting her head back to catch his gaze. His eyes were bright with joy and soft with love; she found herself falling in love with him all over again. She turned in his arms, draping her forearms over his shoulders.

“I’m thinking,” she murmured, pushing up onto her toes so that her mouth hovered mere inches from his, “that this already feels like home.”

And though she planted a kiss to his lips as she finished speaking, his answering smile was dazzling.

[latetaektalk]

hi there ^^' i'm... kinda new to this whole tumblr thing and have been wanting to write on here for a while but this huge place is kinda scary sometimes haha ;; do you have any writing tips or tricks that would be good to know for newcomers? (also your music taste is immaculate, i love it)

hey love 💕 first of all, welcome to tumblr!! its a fun place,, youre gonna love it, and learn to hate it lol second of all, thank you for complimenting my music taste 😳

now im not quite sure if you want only writing tips or writing blog tips, so ive included tips and tricks for both!

WRITING BLOG TIPS :

have a masterlist. this might seem stupid and obvious, but ive seen people with no masterlist. people are lazy, so if they cant access your writing easily, they will just click away.

have a clean theme. aesthetics are important. they are. people love clean and easy to navigate themes. again, people are lazy, so if you make it easy to click through your blog and get to your writing, youll increase the chance of people reading your stuff!

how to get your work show up in general. putting links in your fanfic might lead to your story not showing up in the search. ive also heard that a banner thats too big can cause that. even using too many tags can lead to your work not showing up. its complicated.

the first five tags. im sure youve heard abt this already but the first five tags are the tags that will actually show up! so if someone follows #bts fluff and you tag your fic with that, your fic can show up on people's dashes as a recommended post!

tag accordingly. speaking of tags, please tag accordingly! theres nothing more annoying than finding a jimin fanfic in the taehyung fanfic tag. i really discourage you from mistagging your stories. if im scrolling through the taehyung fanfic tag and find a jimin fanfic, it makes me want to not read it. just tag your fics accordingly.

reblog your fics. i mean it. seriously, reblog them as much as you want! people live in different time zones or sometimes forget abt wanting to read your stuff, so reblogging it consistently for a week or so to get it on people's dashes helps!

teasers and taglists. i recommend doing both! teasers help to get people excited for your story and taglists ensure that people will read it, or at least remember to!

dont stress abt notes. now, this is less of a tip but rather something i just really really really want to tell you! i know youve heard this before, but please do not stress about notes. tumblr fame does not exists! it doesnt matter if your writing gets 2 notes or 300 or 5k notes! i do understand how getting a lot of notes can be motivating (every fics deserve all the love in the world by the way!!) but in the end, it should not be your motiviation to write. focusing on notes will ruin writing for you. it will. the amount of notes your fic will reach has nothing to do with how good your writing is. dont let something as superficial as notes ruin the fun of writing for you. its seriously not worth it! write for you and no one else!

WRITING TIPS :

write self indulgent fics. i seriously think all fics should be self indulgent. writing fics should be fun, so please write whatever you want! also, theres no such thing as an overdone trope. if you want to write a fake dating enemies to lovers fic, please write it! you might think there are already a bunch out there and its not worth writing another one, but youre wrong! there isnt one out there thats been written by you yet. go write it!

make playlists. now this is a bit specific to me because im absolutely obsessed with music, but making playlists that fit the mood of the fic has always helped me while writing and gotten me out of writers block before!

take your time. writing is freaking hard and when writers block hits, theres rarely ever something that you can do. try not to stress too much abt it! it happens to the best of us!

balance dialogue and detail. its important to find a middle. if im reading a fic and theres paragraph after paragraph after paragraph of detail, the chance of me just skipping that part is really high. because even though i love detail, it does get boring. so use dialogue to spice it up!

reading. okay, this sounds weird because youre asking for writing tips, but reading seriously help your writing so much! if you wanna improve your writing skills, reading a lot is going to be key. now, im not saying reading is necessary, but i do think that it can help you to better! whats even more important though is that you try to analyse people’s writing while reading. when i say you should analyse people’s writing, i do not mean you should write an entire analysis of a book, but to take a second and think to yourself how the authors just did that. how did they convey oc’s sadness? why did they just describe the weather? whats the purpose of this scene?

switch up sentence/paragraph length. shorter sentences/paragraphs = emphasise something and pick up the pace. longer sentences/paragraphs = slow down the story and allow for more detail. its important that you do a mix of both. utilise the length to your advantage. a well placed short sentence/paragraph can pack a lot of punch and turn your sad story in a heartbreaking one.

outline your fics. look this is very personal again because some people dont like to outline their fics, but i recommend outlining your fics. and when i say outline your fics, you can do it as little or as much as you want! it can be a few notes, or a long list of every detail you want to include. i just want you to know where this story is headed. its so easy to write yourself in a corner and trust me, you dont wanna end up there.

allow yourself to be free. this connects to the previous point i just made. even though i do recommend outlining your fics, i am also a firm believer of taking the story somewhere else if you feel like it. ive scrapped complete outlines before. half of the scenes i write also arent in my outline at all. you dont have to stick to the outline. if you think that a specific scene would add something to your story, then please go ahead and write that scene. just always remember where youre headed and dont loose focus.

have fun. i just really wanna reiterate this point again. its just so important to me that you have fun while writing! seriously. its just fanfiction. it should be fun. go crazy. i support you!

okay bub i hope this was helpful 💕 if you have any other questions/want more tips/want me to elaborate on something, please just hit me up! my ask box is always open!

[my-arlington-academia]

Cliffany part 2

O-kay, and that’s it! I don’t know if I’ll write a continuation tbh since it was just a silly little idea that came out of nowhere. (Although I did have some ideas for more!) I haven’t really been active on my fanblog lately so it’s not like it’ll make much of a difference though haha. By the way, I’m thinking about making my blog more "Dulcet-oriented" rather than just SE. I hope you guys don’t mind? Recently, I’ve been getting more and more into Black Tarot! So expect my blog to change a lil 🔮🕯🌌

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It had been a couple of days now since Tiffany’s last interaction with Claire, and while she was still ignoring her like before, Tiffany’s efforts in doing so had increased. The moment she spotted her in the corner of her eye, she would move at a faster pace, as if running away. Was it guilt after all? No, she just didn’t have the energy to deal with Claire’s annoying and unnecessary empathy. The empathy that she knew she didn’t deserve which made her feel even more frustrated towards Claire.

All she should be worried about right now is getting more followers on Instaglam, not avoiding a nobody like the plague. On that note, spring was coming soon, the flowers started to blossom and the days were getting longer which meant... that the "cottagecore" tag on insta would go trending soon, no doubt! And of course, living on the Arlington campus as one of its students, this gave Tiffany the access to its beautiful garden. Although honestly, she only ever went there to take pictures and this time wasn’t any different. She had prepared some tea sets and dresses for the occasion, all of which she would throw away once spring went away along with its "trends."

Carried by her confident footsteps, she walked to the garden. That confidence was only a facade though. She knew exactly what kind of people and who in particular went to take strolls quite often in this goddamn garden. But hey, it was 7pm and the sun would soon start to set. Knowing that Claire always arrives 15 minutes in advance to any meeting and most likely always wakes up at 6am, there was nothing to be worried about. Chances are, she was either doing her homework before going to bed like a goody-two-shoes or watering her weird-ass plants. Tiffany always had the horror of seeing these at Raquel’s parties. It just didn’t fit at all with the rest of what was going on in the room and ruined the whole "party" vibe.

In any case, there she was, searching for a good spot to take pictures and set up a fake picnic. That basket filled with different colored blankets, tea sets, biscuits, tea and a pie was way heavier than Tiffany had initially thought. Maybe she really should’ve asked for collab pictures with Trisha from the fine arts department. She didn’t really like her but when it came to follower count they were surprisingly close, although Tiffany was still number one of course. Still, if she had asked for a collab they could’ve carried those heavy props together.

After finding a good spot next to the pond, Tiffany set everything up in an aesthetically pleasing manner and got down to taking the pictures. She was taking different shots to post them one by one throughout the week and give out the illusion that she was taking those the same day she posted them. She was ready to upload the first one, call it a day and go back to the dorms without touching any of the tea or cakes. It’s all just useless calories anyways. As she was putting the tags on the picture, she started wondering what were the names of those flowers in the background.

"Ugh, fuck. What are those orange shits called again?"

"Marigolds."

"Ah right, thank y-"

Tiffany immediately snapped her head back. This annoyingly gentle voice could only belong to one person.

"...What the fuck, Claire. Where did you pop out from?!"

There’s no was she was there the whole time, right? It’s true that Tiffany could get lost in what she was doing once she was focused but it wasn’t to the point where she became completely unaware of her surroundings.

"I came by a few minutes ago... Y-you looked so invested in what you were doing that I didn’t want to bother you! I didn’t mean to pry."

Well, Tiffany could always upload those damn pictures from her room. Claire’s arrival just meant that it was time for her to leave. However, seeing that Tiffany started packing up her things, Claire panicked thinking that it’s her fault. Which was in fact, her fault... in a way.

"O-oh! You’re not going to finish your picnic? I’m so sorry, I’ll just leave! Throwing all of this good food away would be such a waste-"

"Are you fucking dumb?"

Did she not get that this was all only a set-up for taking pictures? It was obvious that Tiffany didn’t have any intention of eating or drinking any of that. Not to mention that after everything that happened the other day, she was still not scared of approaching her?

"I don’t give a damn about the food, it was just for my social media accounts you dumb bit- ... dimwit. I was already done anyway so you don’t have anything to do with the fact that I’m leaving."

"I see! T-then maybe I can help?!"

Help? What did Claire even know about- Actually, on second thought. This whole "cottagecore" shtick was a great fit for Claire. She probably already had all of the things Tiffany bought last week for those pictures, even better and more authentic-looking ones probably. This was maybe the one and only time Tiffany would let Claire "help" her. But from her point of view, she was mostly just using her.

"Hm. Is that so? How can you help me then... Claire."

"Wait just a second! I’ll be back right away!!!"

She ran immediately towards the dorms. Well, she'll probably bring a bunch of random stuff. In the end, Tiffany was really torn between the idea of staying and waiting for who knows how long and the idea of leaving right now. Surely, Claire would make a hilarious expression when she’d realize that she was played with and abandoned. While trying to laugh it off, Tiffany accidentally remembered what happened a few days ago, along with Claire’s crying face. Damn... Okay, fine. She’ll wait for her but only because it would be annoying if she bawled again like a damn toddler.

And so she waited until, from the corner of her eyes, she saw a girl with a pink dress running towards her. That girl, of course, being Claire. She carried a picnic basket with her too, but much bigger and more practical. For half a second, Tiffany thought that Claire actually looked maybe, just maybe, a little bit pretty. She erased the thought in a hurry, covering it with harsh words as usual.

"Wh-why did you change your clothes? You think I’m gonna take pictures of you?"

"Ah, no, well..."

Claire looked at the beautiful picnic set-up and the cyan dress Tiffany was wearing.

"I just wanted to fit in with the rest of what you put up, I guess. Also, don’t you think that we kinda match? I brought some of the cookies I baked and my favorite teas and tea set. I think mine will look better with your picnic blanket! Uh- N-not to say that yours looks bad!!!"

She was trying so hard to make herself likable that it was painful to see... and kinda cute. God, Tiffany was really hating her thoughts today. She was just going soft because of Claire’s aura or something. Again, this was definitely the first and last time she was letting Claire help her with anything. I’d be bad if she turns completely brain-dead and clueless like her.

"...Whatever. Show me what you got. I’ll decide if it’s good enough."

Claire was pulling everything out of the basket one by one. Everytime, better and better items were pulled out after the other. Her cakes and cookies gave off a "homey" feeling which was more fitting with the aesthetic rather than Tiffany’s store bought patisseries. Claire was staring at her, wide-eyed and excited.

"W-what do you think, Tiffany? It looks good, doesn’t it?!"

"Uh. Yeah, it’s fine, I guess. I’ll take a few pics."

That was a lie. This looked so much better than the try-hard bullshit Tiffany had done. She was good at riding on the "trend wave" but Claire was a natural when it came to this one specific thing. Tiffany was trying to look as poker-faced as she could so as to not show her satisfaction, but clearly, her apparent enthusiasm for each shot was  betraying her. Sometimes, she would accidentally take one with Claire in the shot and ask her to move.

"Hey. You’re ruining the picture with your ugly fac- dress. Move to the right."

Before Tiffany could even do anything about it, Claire was already pouring some tea into 2 cups.

"Woah woah woah, put the teapot down. I didn’t agree to this."

"But...This is a kettle, Tiffany. Not a teapot."

"Oh, shut it!"

Claire gave off such a dejected face that Tiffany, once again, felt like she was kicking a poor puppy to the ground. She held back on going off on a rant.

"But we’re already here and the weather is so nice! It would be such a shame not to use any of this at all..."

Claire looked around, observing this beautiful setting, not to mention, the sun was finally starting to set. Going home right now would be like an insult to the utter beauty of this scene, it almost looked like it came right out of a fairy tale picture book. Without mulling it over any further, Tiffany took a sip out of her cup.

"I’m only doing this because I feel compelled to, got it?"

Claire’s eyes lit up nonetheless.

"Alright! Please try out my cookies too!"

Tiffany contemplated them for a second... is it true that home-made stuff is more healthy? Surely, that’s just a myth, right? A cake from the store and a home-made cake will have about the same amount of sugar in them regardless of who made them and how. Well, she did see Claire share her food from time to time with her friends and while she would never admit it, it is true that she was a bit curious about trying them herself. What was the last time she had eaten anything "home-made"? Or did it ever even happen?

"...Okay, whatever. I bet they taste shitty."

Tiffany reluctantly took a bite... It was surprisingly really delicious!

"It’s bad."

"R-really?"

As much as she wanted to lie about it, she couldn’t after seeing Claire make that dejected face again.

"Uhhh. No, um. Hmm... On second thought, it’s pretty average. It’s okay-ish."

Tiffany really hated herself right now. Being mean has never been this hard before. She couldn’t wait for the moment where they would be done with this ridiculous play-pretend and go back to her room. She tried drinking and eating as fast as she could without making it look like she was in a hurry to run away from this awkward situation. And God, it was so fucking hard...

Unsurprisingly, they were both pretty silent the whole time. Well, it wasn’t like they had anything to converse about or things in common. Right as Tiffany was about to get up and pack up her belongings, for real this time, Claire spoke up. Nervously fiddling with the hem of her dress.

"Um. So you know, I have something to confess to you, Tiffany."

Oh God, not now. As much as Tiffany found this timing annoying, she couldn’t help but poke fun at that poor choice of words.

"Confess? Oh my, so you like me in that way, huh? That explains everything."

"Wha- N-no! That’s not it! I mean, realistically speaking, t-that would never even happen!"

Was she implying that she could never like someone like Tiffany? Well, Tiffany herself was the one who brought this up but she was a bit offended at that statement. Regardless though, the way she was trying to deny it so hard was kinda cute. No. Not cute at all! If this went on, Tiffany would really become crazy before the end of this day.

"Last time, you said that I was only being kind towards others to profit off of them and I didn’t say anything but... that wasn’t true at all! I always wanted to help you because I thought that you needed it, I swear. Not to satisfy myself! ... Well. Except maybe..."

"Except...?"

"T-today. I admit that I kind of had ulterior motives."

Now that piqued Tiffany’s curiousness right away. Suddenly, she didn’t want to leave as much anymore if it meant that Claire would finally admit that she did some things for her own benefit. Why was it? Did she want to post a picture of herself on Tiffany’s Instaglam to fish for compliments, knowing that she had a lot of followers? Claire hid her face behind her hands and muttered a few words.

"I... wanted you to warm up to me."

"...Huh?"

That’s it? That was it? Claire’s ulterior motive was for Tiffany to "warm up to her."?

"So like, you want us to be friends or some shit?"

"Oh no! Not necessarily that far, just... good acquaintances!"

Is she stupid? There’s no way that she genuinely thinks those "motives" are bad. Tiffany sighed in exasperation.

"Listen. I’m just really tired right now, I don’t have the energy to assimilate all the shit you’re saying. I’m packing all of this up and going back to the dorms."

In complete silence, they gathered all of their belongings and walked to the dorms while keeping a fair distance between the 2 of them. As if to say, "we’ve got nothing to do with each other." Surprisingly, Claire didn’t try anything anymore. Didn’t even wish for a "good night" or a "good evening" which was weird to say the least. Tiffany tried to ignore it and when she got back and unpacked all of the props, she noticed something that didn’t belong to her. One of Claire’s lunch boxes with cookies in them and... a note?

Here’s my number just in case ;3 Please give me my lunchbox back once you’re done eating the cookies!♡

"...Your note makes me wanna barf."

So that’s why she didn’t try anything. That sneaky little... she must've slid that into the basket when they were packing. She already knew that Tiffany would eventually be forced to talk to her again... as if! Who says she’ll return it? She can just throw all the cookies away along with the box... Or so she thought. Tempted, she took a bite, then another one. And another one. Her diet was ruined for sure now. Damn you Claire and your stupidly great cooking skills, as if you needed another skill to be better and more perfect than you already are. Tiffany put the box away, trying to forget the delicious taste and smell. Back to Instaglam she goes. Uploading the picture while adding the "marigold" tag on it. Going through the pictures again, she noticed that some of them had Claire in the corner. She was thinking of deleting them but... well whatever. She can just crop her out later if needed. Her dress looks pretty so it’s fine even if she does appear in the pictures. All we see is a bit of her hair, as long as her face isn’t visible, it’s okay. Yup. It was totally not because Tiffany was slowly starting to feel something towards the girl she was trying so hard not to get involved with.

[argylemnwrites]

Fight or Flight - Chapter 12: Forward

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Heir (canon divergent from the end of book 2)

Word Count: ~4800

Rating: PG (language only)

Summary: Two weeks since The Walker Absconding

Author’s Note: I’m back! And I hope to stay back and posting! It’s been a while since the last chapter, so as a quick refresher - Hana has been named Duchess of Valtoria by King-Regent Rashad, Amalas was somehow able to track down the Walkers in Xanthi, Greece (and wants to turn that knowledge into an alliance), and the Walkers are heading onto Athens as their options for survival as fugitives are not looking great.

This series follows the Walkers, their friends, and Cordonia as a whole after they flee the country with their daughter during Barthelemy Beaumont’s attempted coup. To catch up on this series, check out it’s masterlist. (link can be found via my bio - sorry, Tumblr is once again not putting my posts with links in tag searches)

Hana glanced around the palace ballroom, taking in the groups of people milling about the room. In so many ways, tonight was just like any other ball or gala. How many events had she been to in this room over the past three years, with mostly the same guests, the same food, and the same music? But tonight was different. Not only was this ball being thrown in her honor, welcoming her as Cordonia’s newest duchess, but it was the first event she’d attended without Riley by her side. Since that opening masquerade ball of Liam’s social season, they’d always been together for every formal event. But not tonight. Tonight, she was back to doing things on her own.

She stood over towards the front of the room, greeting the last of the nobility and well wishers. Soon, the dancing would start. It was strange how everything felt routine and totally different at the same time. She supposed that when Rashad gave a speech acknowledging her new title, things would really seem different. But for now, it was just a weird mix of emotions she was trying so hard to keep at bay as she shook hand after hand, nodded politely over and over again, and kept a gentle smile locked in place.

“Congratulations!” Penelope squealed, scurrying across the ballroom and throwing her arms around Hana, “This is so exciting! Isn’t it exciting, Zeke?”

Ezekiel nodded briskly and gave Hana a small little smile as he held out his right hand for her to shake, “Yes. Congratulations, Your Grace.”

“Thank you, both of you,” Hana replied, giving a nod that she hoped conveyed the right blend of gratitude and authority. She needed her first appearance as a duchess to go well for many reasons.

She knew intellectually that her appointment as the Duchess of Valtoria was a desperation move from Rashad. His first week and a half as king-regent had been far from smooth and calm. The groups of protesters in front of the palace had grown in number every day, the citizens of Lythikos were organizing, and the unrest in Valtoria was spilling into neighboring lands. Rashad had needed to do something, but as a temporary leader, making changes that were too aggressive would be poorly received and could possibly worsen the protesting. He had to walk a very fine line, and presenting Hana as a new regional leader looked like he was taking action without actually requiring him to stick his neck out and take a stand. For someone who hated courtly politics, his maneuver was pretty brilliant.

But because of the fact that her appointment to duchess was done by an interim leader, Hana knew she would be subjected to increased scrutiny. Not just from Barthelemy’s allies, who would likely object to the title going to someone with known close ties to the Walkers and to Liam, but also from Liam’s supporters, who were likely to object to any use of the powers of the monarch by Rashad, someone they considered an illegitimate king-regent. Part of her worried that she was being set up to fail, albeit unintentionally.

Still, she knew she was ready for this. She had prepared her whole life to hold a title at this level. She had trained and studied and practiced for years. This was the job she had been preparing for since she was a child. Granted, she had been taught that she would rise to this title through marriage, was told that her job would be to be a diplomat behind the scenes, supporting a husband in his role. But the concept was the same, even though this title was hers and hers alone. And maybe it was crazy and naive, but there was a part of Hana that felt proud. Someone had seen her talents and skills and contributions to Valtoria and decided to recognize them. No, to recognize her.

Of course, it wasn’t that simple. Given the method of her appointment, she was likely going to need to prove herself over and over again. Her mother had seen fit to remind her of that twice already this evening, as if that wasn’t already running through her brain constantly. If she was even a mediocre duchess, so many would get hurt. Rashad would find it difficult to gain any support to make any decisions if his first major one proved to be a poor choice. Liam’s bid to reclaim the throne would be damaged if one of his known close associates was an unpopular and ineffective duchess. And probably most importantly, the people of Valtoria deserved some stability and support in a time of national upheaval.

As much as Hana felt for Riley and Drake and understood why they made the choices they did for their family, she also felt for the citizens of Valtoria acutely. They didn’t ask to have their duchess and duke abandon them, did nothing to deserve this degree of political instability. Of course, that could probably be said for all the citizens of Cordonia. A power struggle amongst the nobility had triggered the loss of the country’s heir to the throne and a power vacuum that was going to leave them without stable national leadership for months. The whole thing made her feel almost ill to think about, but all she could do at this point was do her best to serve Valtoria and it’s citizens with her whole heart and mind.

“How are you doing, Hana Banana?” Maxwell’s hand on her shoulder jolted her out of her moment of introspection. She gave him a smile, accepting the glass of champagne he offered her and tapping it lightly against his.

“Tonight has been… a lot,” she said after taking a sip of her drink.

“Tell me about it. It feels like it was just yesterday that we were here for Riley’s ball, naming her the Duchess of Valtoria.”

Hana hummed lightly at that, and suddenly, Maxwell was rambling.

“Not that you took it from her or don’t deserve the title or anything! Because you absolutely do! Like, you are so wise and smart and crazy talented and -”

“-Maxwell, I know what you meant. I was just thinking about how I could do without a recreation of the end of that night.”

“Oh. Yeah. Me too. To be fair, I don’t think my dad’s hired a bunch of assassins. Of course, I didn’t think he was plotting a coup underneath my nose either, soooo…” Maxwell trailed off with a little shrug.

Hana glanced over, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a little squeeze. “I feel like we haven’t had much of a chance to talk. How are you doing with everything?”

He shrugged again and took a sip of his champagne. “Yeah, I haven’t been able to get away from Ramsford really at all this week. Bertrand is losing his mind prepping for Dad’s inevitable attempt to forcibly retake his title. He’s hunkered down in the west wing, while Dad’s taken the east. Bertrand’s already fired about one third of the staff because he’s caught them over on Dad’s side for no good reason, so Dad’s taken to firing staff he’s sure are loyal to Bertrand in retaliation. Soon, it’ll just be the three of us. Actually, the five of us. Savannah and Bartie get back tomorrow.”

“Have you decided whether to give her Drake’s number yet?” Hana asked, making sure she kept her voice low. Ever since Savannah had booked the tickets back for her and Bartie, there had been a bit of a debate over whether or not she should receive a burner phone and be told how to get in touch with her brother. Olivia firmly believed there were already too many people who knew, whereas Maxwell brought up that it was wrong to prevent her from talking to her brother when she was only coming back to Cordonia earlier than planned to help Bertrand fight his father’s bid to reclaim the title of Duke of Ramsford. He insisted that meant she had already proven herself a trusted ally, while Olivia remained unconvinced. Both Hana and Liam had taken a more neutral stance on the matter, but he had expressed to her that he didn’t think it boded well for them that their group was already facing such strong differences of opinion. Quite frankly, it was a significant sticking point that felt like it could implode at any moment.

Maxwell shook his head. “Not right away at least. Bertrand honestly is so engrossed with trying to align support for his claim to our head of house title that I don’t think he’s even realized we’re in contact with Drake and Riley at this point. When I talked to Savannah, she was pretty worried about him, so I don’t think she’d want to risk hurting his chances by talking to known ‘traitors and fugitives’ at this point.”

All of it just made Hana sad. More families torn apart by this scheme, more pain and paranoia in all of their lives. “Well, that will make Olivia happy at least.”

“One can only hope. She’s been in fine form lately.”

He wasn’t wrong. It seemed like Olivia’s small reserve of patience was used up on dealing with Liam and Leo. She hadn’t lashed out at Hana yet, but the only thing Hana had done to annoy her was arrange that meeting with Kiara, and all was quickly forgiven when Hana told her she had fostered a line of communication on that front. Maxwell, on the other hand, seemed to annoy her regularly even at baseline.

“She just has a lot on her plate, Maxwell.”

“I know, I know. But that shouldn’t give her the right to take it out on us.”

“It doesn’t, but right now I think we are all just trying to hang on and hope for the best we can.”

“Yeah, well here’s hoping for better soon.” And with that he clinked his glass against hers yet again. “Speaking of better, do you need me to cause a distraction so you can sneak out and chat with Kiara?”

She shook her head. “No, Hakim is officially representing their family tonight. She texted me that he is on high alert and that it would be too risky for us to meet tonight. She’s coming alone next week.”

“Ahh, for social season kickoff, take two?”

“Yes, so I should be able to speak to her then.”

“What do you think her endgame is? Or Hakim’s?”

Hana tilted her head to the side and let out a small sigh. She’d speculated endlessly for the past week, ever since her meeting with Kiara, but every idea felt just as improbable as the one before it. “I honestly don’t have a clue, Maxwell.”

“That’s alright, even you are allowed to not know the answers every once in a while,” he said, winking at her. “Now, come on. We’ve been moping here for too long. Tonight is your night, Hana! So what do you say? Dancing? More drinks? Grab some food? Or did I hear someone suggest dancing?”

She smiled, grateful that Maxwell understood the power of a morale boost and proud that he was still able to cheer up those around him, even as his family was falling apart before his eyes. “Maxwell, would you do me the honor of the next dance?”

“Why, Your Grace, it would be my honor,” he replied with a flourish, grabbing her champagne flute and placing both their glasses on an empty tray before accompanying her onto the dance floor.

As they settled into the rhythm of the song, Hana gave Maxwell’s hand a friendly squeeze. “Thank you, Maxwell.”

“For what?”

“For still being you.”

He beamed brightly at that. “Same to you, Hana. Definitely same to you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Liam stood off to the side of the ballroom, nursing a glass of water. It was his first public appearance in about a week and a half, and even though he had never had a problem handling his liquor, the last thing he needed tonight was to have his judgement at all altered or impaired. This whole evening was going to be stressful enough without having to worry about imbibing just a little too heavily.

He knew it was important for him to be here. He needed to be seen again, to show strength and resilience and fortitude to any who might doubt him. Additionally, Hana was one of his dearest friends, and he wanted to be present to support and celebrate her. This night was key for a variety of reasons. 

However, that didn't change the fact that tonight was just plain hard. He was surrounded by people he knew he could no longer trust. How many of them were plotting against him at this very moment? Were whispering how pleased they were about recent events over their drinks? Were watching him closely, latching onto any change of his expression as a sign of his suffering?

Other than Olivia, Leo, Hana, Maxwell, and Bertrand, people seemed to be steering clear of Liam tonight. It was clear they had no concept of how to handle interacting with him at this point. His circumstances were fairly unprecedented. Sure Leo had abdicated, but that had been his choice and he hadn't been the reigning monarch when he made that decision. Additionally, he had left the country for months after his abdication. But Liam was still here, in the heart of it all, after being stripped of the crown.

He wasn't used to having so much time to himself, both at formal events such as tonight's ball, and just in general. In the simplest sense of the word, he was unemployed. And while some, such as Leo, seemed to thrive without the pressure and responsibility that came from having professional duties, Liam was finding he didn't much like having… well, nothing. He had no career, no obligations, no partner, no children. He just… was. He existed.

He knew he needed to shake off this attitude. The social season would be officially, finally, starting in one week, and he needed to hit the ground running. He was essentially going to be campaigning for many months. The issue was that he had no desire to campaign. He had been born into his role and raised to serve Cordonia's people since he was a child. He wasn't supposed to have to fight to even have a chance to put that training to use.

Taking another sip of his water, he leaned against the bar, just watching as the rest of the nobility talked and laughed and enjoyed themselves. If he had opted for whiskey instead of water, he would have been doing a good Drake impression. Well, a Drake-of-several-years-ago impression. Ever since Bridget's birth, or maybe even Riley's pregnancy, Drake had been much more engaged at events like this one. Now that he had more time to contemplate that fact, he wondered how much of that came from Drake's own personal growth and opening up and how much of it was forced on him by the nature of Bridget being named heir to the throne. 

He scanned the room slowly,  his eyes eventually settling on Olivia dancing with his brother. She was wearing a grey dress, not a red one for once. He supposed that was a testament to how much she had come to respect Hana over the years - she had decided to forego her signature color and instead wore a less eye-catching one so that Hana could own the spotlight on her night. Eventually, the song came to an end. Liam watched as she laughed and rolled her eyes at something Leo said before stepping off to the side and making her way over to the bar. She slid up next to him, requesting a glass of Bordeaux before she turned to talk to him.

“So, how are you… uh, doing?”

He couldn’t help but smile at her awkward attempt at emotional comfort. She was trying, had been trying for days, in fact. But Olivia was just not well suited for gentle emotional soothing. Tough love was much more in her wheelhouse. It was nearly disconcerting that she wasn’t using tough love, he realized. He must not be coping as well as he wanted to be if this was the approach she was taking.

“I will admit that it is strange to be back here without my title. Coming to an event here, not hosting an event here is even more unsettling than I thought it would be. Of course that could be in part due to the fact that the exact same menu, music, and decor that was used for Riley’s ball welcoming her to the nobility is on display.”

“Did your assistant not think it might be wise to change it up at all?” she asked as she accepted her glass of wine from the bartender with a nod. 

“I’m guessing Rashad didn’t care to make any changes, and Stefan isn’t exactly motivated to enhance the perception of Rashad as a leader. After all, he stayed on to help him at my request.”

“Touché.” she said, taking a sip of her drink.

“Of course, this Duchess of Valtoria seems far less likely to leave her citizens and her country in a lunch by fleeing and abandoning her post.” Liam regretted the words as soon as he said them. The look Olivia was giving him was an unbearable mixture of pity and frustration. “Sorry, you know I didn’t mean that.”

“Liam…”

“Okay, I might have kind of meant it, but I don’t want to mean it. I am trying not to mean it. At the very least, it wasn’t something I should have said aloud.”

She paused for just a moment, running her bright red nails along the side of her wine glass before responding, “Maybe it would be helpful to frame your frustrations with those two differently.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, instead of being mad as hell that Riley didn’t take her responsibilities to Cordonia seriously, maybe be more frustrated that someone as impulsive as her took on all those responsibilities knowing she would never be able to stay true to them. It makes the whole thing seem a little more abstract and annoying, less personal and infuriating. At least, it does for me.”

He frowned at that. Her strategy was an interesting one, but he wasn’t sure it was going to help with the storm of emotions he was trying to keep locked away tonight. “I’m not saying you are wrong, but Olivia, the only reason she carried that title was because I offered it to her.”

“She could have turned it down. Don’t put this on yourself.”

Liam didn’t know if that was exactly a fair assessment. Of course Riley could have rejected his offer of the duchy, just like Drake and her could have turned down his request to name their child heir to the throne. But he had been the one who decided that she was a good fit to be Duchess of Valtoria, that they were good options to raise the next King or Queen of Cordonia. With the benefit of hindsight, those decisions looked terrible, so wildly ill-conceived and poorly executed. How had he convinced himself that both those choices had been for the best?

He’d been so focused on being a compassionate, trusting king. He hadn’t wanted to turn into his father, cold and calculating, seeing enemies around every corner. But maybe he had swung the pendulum too far in the opposite direction and become overly trusting and complacent. Would anyone else in his position have made the choices he made? More often than not these, he doubted that many of his decisions as king were sound.

His silence must have made Olivia uncomfortable, because she wrapped a hand around his wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Liam, come on. Forget I said anything. You know I’m not great at the whole pep talk, emotional support thing. It was probably bad advice.”

Liam shook his head, feeling a sad sort of smile tug across his face, almost against his will. “No, I think it was good advice, Liv. It just has given me a lot to think about.”

“Liam…”

“I’m fine. I just am going to take a walk and clear my head.” With that, Liam set down his empty glass of water and turned around, walking out towards the doors and into his mother’s gardens. He knew he needed to be moving forward, not dwelling on the past like he was at the moment. The social season was only a week away, and with it came his bid to reclaim his title. Still, it was hard to be energized and optimistic about that prospect when all his failures and shortcomings seemed more numerous and prominent than they had ever been in the past. Or maybe he was simply more aware of them at this point. Either way, he couldn’t help but question how he was going to convince other nobles that he deserved the crown when he barely felt like he could convince himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Riley tensed as she heard the door creak open. Even though she was expecting Drake back around this time, she still half expected it to be Greek authorities, Montoressan spies, or Cordonian agents bursting through the door of their hotel room, ready to arrest her and take her baby away.

But it was Drake on the other side of the door. She let out a little sigh of relief when she saw his face. He, on the other hand, frowned. “What are you still doing up?” he asked as he closed and locked the door behind him. He kept his voice quiet, clearly not wanting to wake up Bridget.

Riley just shrugged. The truth was that whenever Drake went out, she was scared. Scared that he would be found and picked up and extradited back to Cordonia. Scared that she would be left alone in a country where she didn’t speak the language with a 10 month old baby. Scared that her family was going to be torn apart. But she couldn’t tell that to Drake, not when he was the only thing keeping them afloat. She knew him. He was already carrying enough stress without having to soothe her panicked and frazzled nerves every time he left to go earn them a little cash.

They had been in Athens about a week now, but Riley and Bridget had not left the hotel since they checked in. Bridget seemed to have resigned herself to the fact that her life now did not extend beyond these four walls and was usually content to play with her blocks or to listen to Riley read her the same three picture books over and over, which was both a blessing and mad depressing. Drake, however, had been venturing out daily, looking for places that would hire him under the table, without checking his ID or anything that might get them caught. She’d had to coach him on how to find these jobs, having looked for cash paying jobs many times when she needed to make rent back in New York. In some respects, it might have been better for her to be the one to go out job hunting since she had more experience, but they’d decided she was way more recognizable than Drake, particularly now that he had grown a beard to make facial recognition harder. Her inability to speak more than eight Greek phrases also clearly made Drake the better option.

He hadn’t had any luck the first four days, but then he found a restaurant owner who was willing to pay him straight cash every night to work as a dishwasher. Sure, the hourly pay was garbage and he didn’t get home until very late, but he also got to bring home leftovers every night, which meant that they had to spend less money on food. At this point, even slowing their bleeding of their minimal money supply was essential, particularly since the social season hadn’t even started yet, which meant that the earliest the Conclave could happen would be almost six months from now. Riley honestly didn’t know how they were going to feed themselves for that long, much less find shelter in the winter.

It’s not like Riley had never known poverty or living paycheck to paycheck before. But doing it now, with her baby girl, just felt so much more draining and awful. Bridget was just a kid, she didn’t ask for any of this, and she definitely didn’t deserve to suffer. But there was little Riley could do to make things better other than try and keep things happy and joyful when they were playing. Drake was doing everything else.

He handed her a bag of food before stripping out of his shirt and going to wash it in the bathroom. She peeked inside, seeing some dolmadakia, some bread, and some sort of chicken. A decent variety tonight. Trying not to rustle the bag too loudly, she pulled out some of the food and started eating, making sure to take less than half. She was sure Drake was lying when he told her he didn’t need much because he ate at the restaurant. She’d worked enough shitty, under the table jobs in her time to know that eating while on the clock was the quickest way to get yourself fired.

“So,” Drake said as he came out of the bathroom, taking off his pants and folding them neatly before climbing into the other side of the bed. “Olivia texted me while I was at work. She has a possible plan to get us our passports and some money, but she wanted to run it by us first.”

Riley knew her eyebrows had practically shot up to her forehead as she took in his statement. She handed him the bag with the rest of the food, turning onto her side to face him fully. “What’s the plan?”

“Well, Leo’s been back in Cordonia since we… uh… left. But he’s planning to take off before the social season kicks off.”

“Okay?”

“Well, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him to spend a few days in Athens, taking in nightlife and clubs, that sort of thing.”

“Oh.” Riley wasn’t sure what to make of that. She always found Leo friendly and easy to talk to, but she’d heard enough stories to know that he was exactly the most responsible man on the planet. “You know Leo better than me, Drake. Is this a good idea?”

Drake let out a long breath, his eyes closing for a brief moment before he answered, “I don’t know, Walker. Him being here would not raise too many alarm bells, but he sometimes can draw the attention of the paparazzi - the “Party Prince” is usually good for a scandal or two, that sort of shit. And uhh, well… let’s just say I would count on him being an hour late if we went to meet him somewhere.”

“So not exactly your first choice to hold on to our passports then?”

“Not so much, no.”

Riley chewed on her lip for just a moment, her hand gently running over the back of Bridget’s head. She was sound asleep, nestled on the bed between them. Even though this hotel had a crib for them to use, Riley just couldn’t bring herself to fall asleep without her daughter right next to her. “We don’t really have a choice, do we?”

Drake shook his head. “We need money, Riley. Badly. I don’t know if Olivia is financing this or what, but I don’t think it matters anymore. We aren’t going to make it until January at this rate. Hell, I don’t think we’ll make it to September.”

She reached over and gave his wrist a little squeeze. He was trying to do so much to keep them surviving on their own. She knew it was killing him that they were having to take this risk, to potentially get themselves caught in some weird clandestine meetup with a former prince in order to get some more cash and their passports so that they could try and get forgeries made. It really was their best chance at being able to hide out through the Conclave.

“Well, then let’s do it. Work out the details with Olivia and get what we need to try and keep going.

Drake stared at her for just a brief moment before giving her a little nod. There wasn’t really much to say. All they could do was keep moving forward, day by day. So, Riley slid down into her pillow, finally ready to get some sleep now that she knew Drake was back and safe. The last thing she saw before her eyes fluttered closed was Drake letting out a heavy sigh before reaching into the bag of food.

Permatag: @walkerswhiskeygirl @riley--walker @bebepac @oofchoices @octobereighth @drakewalker04 @kimmiedoo5 @mfackenthal @thequeenofcronuts

TRR/TRH: @iaminlovewithtrr @ao719 @mskaneko @katedrakeohd @axwalker @jovialyouthmusic @marshmallowsandfire @kingliam2019 @dcbbw @sirbeepsalot @texaskitten30 @princessleac1 @ladyangel70 @yaushie @debramcg1106 @masterofbluff

Drake/MC: @no-one-u-know @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria @iplaydrake @gibbles82 @drakewalkerisreal @notoriouscs @drakesensworld @drake-colt-lover-99 @twinkleallnight

FoF: @burnsoslow @bobasheebaby @shz256​

[disastrousjest]

Confessions of 2020..

(tw: covid mention, mental health mention)

I wanted to post a little something that might put out some insight for my followers, friends, mutuals alike. With the recent battle I had with some personal blogs attacking me over some posts I made because of the images, regardless of the purpose of the post. I just wanted to let everyone aware of why that sent me over the edge and why I handled it the way I did. Please note: I will not be apologizing for what I said, I do feel as though those that tried to reach out to me did not realize the purpose of the post. And while I understand now I should just tag things like that differently, I will not be apologizing for stating the fact that this is a rp  blog and I do not appreciate personal blogs attacking me over something like that. That being said, I will not be bullied off tumblr or this account. Because I love JJBA and Joseph Joestar. So for future reference, if you don’t like my content, unfollow it. Don’t bother sending me nasty remarks because I do not have the time for those types of things.  But I wanted to open the doorway to some insight for you all who have been paying attention or who just might care to know why I came off so incredibly outraged by that little bit. Because to me it was just the topping of a whole bunch of bullshit as is 2020.  This whole shithole of a year began in March. I got promoted at work to salary. That’s 35k a year my friends and that’s a hell of an upgrade for someone who barely makes a living wage right now and came from a working poor family. I really thought my life was gonna turn around. For once my fiance and I wouldn’t have to struggle so hard and we could afford to do everything we talked about doing. Well guess what--2 weeks after the announcement of my promotion my work place shut down because of Covid-19. Nothing new, lots of people and places were shut down. So fine, it pushed back my transfer and such. That wasn’t a big deal.  Enter June 2020. We re-open and my manager calls me into his office to talk to him about said mentioned promotion. They are suspending it, means it could be pushed back until we could lift the restrictions. Understandably so, I would just have to keep my old position, an hourly one, until they were called back. Now the months pass, June becomes July and enter August.  I find out about a week before the company announces it at the start of August, the position I was promoted to has been eliminated indefinitely. There is a chance they could come back, but right now they have no idea when or if that’ll happen. Which means that whole part of my department no longer exists at my place of work. I mean it’s a good thing I had my hourly position to fall back into or I’d lost my job. But that salary raise? Gone. 

Rewind back to July. I get very very VERY sick. And have to test for covid-19 the first time. Only because I am so sick and have a roommate with asthma I have to quarantine myself for 14 days. So 14 days I am locked in my bedroom alone, sleeping alone after 3 years of being with someone in bed. My meals are being left at the door for me and the only room I am allowed to enter is the bathroom, but only after it has been sanitized. Only for my results to come back negative. And now... we enter September 2020. Two major things started in September. The first, our old, senior dog became very ill. Started losing weight, wasn’t eating, losing hair, etc. So we knew his time was coming soon enough. Mid-September, I wake up one morning while our dog is dying mind you, and I cannot move my body from the waist down. Every time I tried, I’m greeted with a shot of pain straight up my spine that feels something like a hot poker being stabbed right through my spinal cord. Very very painful. I end up bed-ridden for a day or two because I cannot move. So once the pain subsides, I go see a chiropractor. Shocking (not really) announcement that my sway back--to which I was diagnosed with 10 years prior from a bad car accident--has gotten worse. What does  that mean exactly? Well--my spine bends in like a S for those who don’t know, which means my lower back dips inward deeper inside my body and my tail bone curves out. Now along that dip there are 3 or 4 vertebrae that are especially messed up. The bones have become staggered out of place on top of one another, just from the muscles pulling the bones out of shape since my spine doesn’t flex the way it’s supposed to anymore. (And it hasn’t for years). The pain before this was tolerable, it would ache from time to time but never like this. Now I am crippled more or less.  Here’s what that means: my mobility became extremely limited. At first in the am when I woke up I couldn’t move from the waist down for the first hour or two after I woke up. Then when I was finally able to move, I had to use my forearms to literally drag my lower body upright (still painful). Once I was able to manage that, I had to gage how strong my legs were to support my weight. And at first walking wasn’t terrible, but as the treatments began--doctor appointments, spinal adjustments, and physical therapy--to correct my spinal issue, nerve damage became clear. So now on top of this horrible pain, I had to deal with weak legs. Because of nerve damage, my right leg especially became weak. On days my back would hurt especially bad, my right knee would collapse out from under me. Which meant falling to the ground and not being able to stand up or walk for sometime there after.  Now imagine dealing with not being able to support your own body, not being able to hardly walk and your dog dying at the same time. So while I”m trying not to focus on the fact that my mobility is limiting me on what I can and can’t do, my fiance is upset about this. Our dog (then weighed about 100 or more pounds) could no longer walk either. His back legs and hips were giving out as his health declined. I did not have the strength in my own legs to help carry him because his weight hurt me too much and would cause me to collapse. I had to watch my fiance struggle with this practically all by herself while I sat on the floor, only able to use my arms to help with what I could because my legs and back were too weak to do the work.  This carried on into October. Our dog passes away and that alone is hard for me. I still kind of wonder if I wasn’t so weak when he got sick if I could have helped prolong his life just a little longer. I couldn’t hardly look at him when he passed and I couldn’t look at anyone else. I was very angry that my legs and back had failed me. They had failed everyone. So yes, that weight still lingers over me. It was so bad that when it came time to take turns digging his grave, I struggled with the shovel. Because I couldn’t stand up or be bent over to move the dirt, I got on my hands and knees and I took that shovel in my hands and used my arms and shoulders to dig. I wasn’t going to continue to be useless because of my limited mobility. I felt I already let him down and everyone else by not being able to help take care of him while he was still alive and sick. This was the least I could do.  November comes. Things are calm now, for a while. Not bad. I finally get some braces to help with my back issues (which still continue). I keep on with my physical therapy, trying to heal and help my fiance through her mourning over the dog. My mobility slowly begins to improve, though the doctor informs me it will be a very slow process. Small steps he says. But he is still confident he can fix my spine without back surgery so I can walk again, like a regular person. The limit I am able to stand and walk increases with the help of my braces and I begin taking herbal supplements and drinking herbal teas to increase the rate of my recovery. It seems to be working better than over the counter medication. The rest of 2020 seems promising.  Here comes December. On the night my fiance and I decide to go out on a date to celebrate our 5 years together. I get a phone call from work. One of my co-workers tested positive for Covid-19 and I was exposed. I am now suspended from work without pay until my test results come back negative. A real mood killer for the night. It gets better, we get home and despite the dinner being pretty somber the rest of the night seems fine. We watch movies and spend time together, finish wrapping gifts for Christmas. Then we realize the cat is missing. He’s been missing all day and all night. Nobody has seen him.  Two days prior, I had taken my cat to the vet because he was sick. Again, weight loss, losing hair, etc. I was worried he may be sick. Well it’s cold outside and here it’s been snowing so it’s very cold. I set something of mine outside and a literbox for smell. And then a plate of food. ....that was almost 4 days ago. There’s been not a sign of him. I called the county shelter and they didn’t have him. My fiance suggests he was sick so... maybe he got out of the house and went somewhere to die. My gut tells me he’s not coming back. And my heart is breaking, again. Again. I am wondering if I did something wrong. If I would have kept a better eye on him, I knew he wasn’t  feeling right. I somehow feel like I let him down.  And  then I logged into tumblr and saw those comments. Those asks people were sending about the damn images I posted for the 12 days to Christmas. And they just kept coming. I deleted the other ones, I stopped replying to them and finally just deleted the post. The Christmas spirit had been sucked out of me. I feel as though the world has began to mock me for believing the year could get better back in November. I know one thing, the holiday won’t be as bright this year. Not for me. I hope everyone stays safe and has a good holiday. Maybe 2021 will be more promising, but I”m not banking on it. Not anymore. Thanks for reading.  I hope you all understand now why I have been so slow with my replies lately. As my mood goes up and down because I have been struggling with the weight of all this and depression, just trying to hang on from losing hope that for one I will be able to walk again normally and then just the loss of my animals... everything. I can’t write and I refuse to send bad quality responses and starters for you all. I hope this puts some insight  on why I was so horribly upset the other day.   So thank you to all my friends and everyone who has been so patient with me on all my blogs. Jotaro (dmgdstar) and Johnny (rotatingstar) and this one of course. I will be catching up to everything very soon. I’ve already made a good dent in them.  Your patience is always appreciated. 

[kakooshi]

Glide

Summary:  Levi discovers Eren training with the maneuver gear and they take a romantic dash through the woods together. Canonverse.

Pairing: Eren x Levi

Word count: 2k

Rating: T

(Written for Ereri Fluff Weekend 2018 - Prompt: Playful)

First, I’d like to thank @erensjaegerbombs for being my beta! <3 (And my first one ahhhh) I had so much fun reading your suggestions and other sweet comments (and the fixes too XD). You’re amazing! ^_^

Read on ao3 or keep reading!

“They use these hook thingies and some kind of weird-looking pack on their backs to carry themselves through the air—oh, and sometimes they bring these super sick swords with them too!” Quips a snot-nosed delinquent waving his hand in slashing motions; the rowdy tag of children listening in on the story letting out either scoffs or gasps within Levi’s earshot.

It was then, hiding in the gutters with a torn chunk of bread in his teeth at ten, that Levi first learned of the maneuver gear. At first, the notion sounded ridiculous to him. How could humans fly? Even if they could, it was only a matter of time before they reached the enormous clump of rock trapping their polluted city inside, a barrier between them and the untouchable sky he’d dream about when settling onto his thin cot.

Naturally, he was amazed when he’d taken in the hypnotic sight himself. The grace and reckless precision of the flying bodies, the bodies that he so desperately wanted to throw his knife into for the fluctuating economy of their piss-poor excuse of a community.

In-between his solo heists, he would glance up out of habit, watching as those MP bastards shot up to the surface with bags of coins and other stuff they didn’t deserve jiggling at their sides. The envy, resentment, and a flicker of…awe swirling inside of him.

Perhaps…if he could have that apparatus for himself, he wouldn’t have to worry about hands and feet clutching and tripping him over as he sprinted for the nearest hole to crawl in after a one-on-one brawl. He’d heard of residents’ several attempts at trying to cinch in the gear for themselves, none of which have succeeded.

It was at a time like this that Levi prided himself on his speed.

And so, at the age of twelve, Levi took the liberty of stealing the gear for himself. It cost him a bloodied cut lip and scraped knees, but what mattered was that he’d chopped the fucker down hard enough to remove himself from his memory.

He’d treated his prize as a wonder and a curse. It took him a day bunched with grunted swears to figure out how to wear the thing, and two weeks to fully familiarize himself with the mechanics, earning him sprained joints, bruised muscles…even a vomiting episode from all the falling and backlash his body suffered.

Soon, he was a street rat who’d stolen wings that didn’t belong to him. His stock-ups were faster; his escapes less desperate; he had more control over the offensive lurkers down below, screaming at how unfair everything was.

For the first time, Levi felt like a true rebel. He’d ascended the deepest pits of hell; if he could, he would fly through the toxic air until he died of exhaustion and lack of oxygen, anything to keep him from landing again on this shitpile of an environment.

But that was all before he met Farlan and Isabel.

“It’s more of an excuse for a dare,” Farlan would drawl. With the gear, they accomplished things they never thought were possible, making names for themselves and living in whatever better conditions there were to have.

“We’re just like birds!” Isabel would exclaim. They flew past buildings without giving a care in the world, gravity doing it’s magic and drowning out the misery down below.

It was when Levi first sensed it. Freedom. It was small, but it simmered beneath him, akin to the slivers of light that would dance on his skin when he came to the spot on the high-rise where the sun could bathe him in warmth.

He wondered what it would be like in the outside world. Perhaps it would be heavenly.

How wrong he’d been.

Instead it was a different kind of hell. Instead of using his newfound wings to fly above the cruelty of the underground, he now had to take even sharper and faster twists and turns, all to keep himself from facing the maw of a Titan. Deep down, the panic was buried in his heart. He couldn’t fly much further. He was but a chained bird whose only goal was to survive and watch as the unlucky ones failed to do just that.

Maybe freedom was just a myth.

“I’m heading out,” Levi says post-meeting, twirling his cloak onto broad shoulders. He walks along headquarters with purpose but he doesn’t have a destination in mind. All he knows is that the comforting view of a forest will do. He chances upon castles of strong oak, their enormous trunks cast in the ethereal glow from the gentle sunset, more majestic than the citadels encrusted with fake junk in Wall Sina. Levi places a palm on the rough bark of the tree nearest him, finding ease in its stability. Clicking the handles into place, he prepares to propel himself forward—

Whoosh.

There’s a hiss of gas and the clink of a grappling hook digging into hard wood, and the unexpected sight that rushes past stops Levi in his ministrations.

Levi stares, still and entranced, as Eren Jaeger swoops down to circle swiftly around two to three trunks, his taut body wrought with tension but smoothed over with an elegance Levi had never seen him possess. The boy allows himself to hover precariously among the branches before dropping down at an alarming pace, saving himself from being splattered on the forest floor by using his hooks at the last minute to sharply send his body in another direction, only to change course and perform a triple flip while in mid-air, speedy and wild.

Whoosh.

There are no techniques applied; no choreographed sequences instilled in his movements; no rushed escape. There’s only pure instinct and the danger of flight. Eren’s relaxed but determined face as he twirls around amidst the blanket of leaves and branches like a mythical forest deity says it all.

Eren didn’t steal his own wings. He deserved them. They sprouted from his lean, strong shoulders, perfectly crafted on his body. His hair and eyes catch gold from the sunset, cloak flapping behind him. Levi would have mistaken him for an angel, one that fell and rose, forming an aimless and yet sacred dance of his own.

If the trunk hadn’t been by his side, Levi would have fallen to his knees. He leans against it, arms crossed; he’s the secret audience of a breath-taking display, one that will hopefully be only for him to enjoy.

It’s when Eren finally plops down onto the soft ground, hunching over and catching his breath, that Levi breaks himself from his trance and speaks aloud. “I hope to Maria you’ve registered permission for your increase in gas supply.”

Eren turns his neck so sharply that Levi is amazed he hasn’t heard a crack. “Captain Levi!” He salutes, losing the sluggish air about him and moves into the proper posture. “Have you been here this whole time?”

Levi pushes himself off the trunk, stepping into the shade. “Long enough to see you flailing around like a wild goose.”

Eren looks down. “Ah, it was supposed to be training but then…” He directs his gaze upward, smiling fondly at the intersecting canopy of dark green and brown. “I found that it’s good for relieving stress. Nothing routine.”

“I see,” Levi says, scrutinising Eren from head to toe. He hasn’t got a jacket on so Levi can clearly see the bunched muscle glistened by the sweat on his forearms. Normally he would've been grossed out by such a sight. But with Eren, some things—or all things—eemed to be an exception.

“Would you, um…” Eren says as he starts fidgeting. “…like to join me? Levi’s face remains blank. “I-I mean to fly and stuff...” Levi does a once-over on Eren’s condition. He’s still slightly out of breath.

“No, I obviously came all this way to take a piss.”

Eren clamps his mouth shut; he’s trying not to laugh.

Levi sighs.“Besides, it looks like you need a break.”

“It’s fine!” Eren breathes deeply and squares his shoulders, stretching each limb to enunciate his point. “After all, I—” he stops, and Levi tilts his head curiously at the tint of pink on the boy’s cheeks. He gulps and continues. “I’ve always wanted to see you fly up close. I can also learn more just from watching how you do it.” Eren is unconsciously gesturing with his hands as he says these things, “How you’re being carried by the wind itself.”

He always admired Eren’s diligence.

“Tch, you really are my biggest fan,” Levi rolls his eyes but walks closer, a hand on his hip. “Sure you can keep up, kid?” he says, pride surging up a little at seeing Eren’s awestruck expression. It’s weird how he doesn’t find as much annoyance in it as he does with his other, countless admirers.

“Is that a challenge, Captain?” The kid is trying to sound respectful but the slight competitive drawl gives it away.

“You’re the one who fucking invited me, didn’t you?” Levi surveys the forest, calculating the physics in his mind. “Unless this is some kind of date?”

“No, sir!” Eren replies too abruptly, shifting to nervous laughter within seconds. “Well, when you put it like that…” He finally registers that they’re the only two hanging out in the small clearing and any sapless, romantic passing by would infer as such.

Levi walks past Eren, but not before placing a few pats on his back. “Relax, I was joking. Toilet humor isn’t my only forte.”

Eren chuckles, turning and rubbing at his arm. “Then I’m up for it.”

Whether it’s the challenge or the date, Levi doesn’t know. Either way, he can’t help shuddering at Eren’s set jaw and his body refining itself into position with raw prowess. He will either impress him or fail at it, and Levi knows it will be the former.

Levi doesn’t give Eren further warning and shoots through the air, quick as a bullet. The wind howling in his ears doesn’t erase the resounding hiss that follows and Levi surmises that Eren is attempting to read his movements while trying to match his speed.

Whoosh.

He fucks with the brat’s focus a little, giving him false leads by curving unexpectedly around and in between narrower trees; dipping down suddenly when making it look like he’d try to swerve skyward; leaping over the branches with his two feet only to stop on one and fall backwards, catching Eren off guard and almost face-planting against a tree.

“Too slow!” Levi shouts.

“Watch me!” Eren shouts back, though his eyes have a happier glint to them now. Levi wishes he could see more of that.

Whoosh. 

No matter how difficult he’s being, Eren doesn’t give up trying to go neck-to-neck with him. At the same time, he’s losing himself to the sensations, spreading his arms and closing his eyes as he whirls and whirls and whirls, to the point where he’s soon spinning in circles around Levi by the time the sun is just barely peeking out on the mountaintop.

Levi doesn’t even realize he’s doing the same thing until he’s somewhat face to face with Eren; together, they glide in circular motions in an almost synchronized fashion, with only the trees and wind-whipped leaves temporarily blocking their view of the other. The orange light plays tricks on Levi’s eyes as it embraces Eren, and he’s witnessed something beautiful. It’s unlikely, but he wonders if he looks that way to Eren as well.

Whoosh.

They probably look ridiculous like this; wasting gas; circling and swirling around each other like they’re in some kind of weird, mating ritual. But it brings Levi excitement to know that he’s sharing the adrenaline rush of the gear with someone without having to be on the dirty streets or the suicidal battlefield beyond the walls, if only for a moment.

There’s no panicked urgency in their movements. There’s something else brought on by this weightlessness that accumulated in this spontaneous and strangely intimate dance of theirs. Exhilaration. Fun.

Freedom.

It gets dark. Levi signals for Eren’s attention and puts a stop to their impromptu training by swinging towards him, grabbing him and using the momentum to land them both on a big, sturdy branch. They’re close, sweating profusely, and their breaths are ragged. Levi supports Eren with one arm and the younger composes himself by placing a hand on his captain’s chest. Levi curses whatever gods are lurking up in the clouds that it’s where his rapidly beating heart is, even if Eren can correctly assume that it’s from their long, flying session.

“Satisfied?” Levi huffs out, still not letting go of Eren. He’s gonna need a lot of beauty rest after this.

“Better than I expected,” Eren whispers, looking up from his long lashes. He’s gorgeous even when his hair is all wet and fussed up. The heat from Levi’s body spikes up, internalising their physical contact. “You’re amazing, Captain.”

Their faces are inches apart; If he wanted, Levi can close the gap, claim those parted lips, and melt together with him right there, but he doesn’t want to risk them falling to their deaths from the exhausted state they’re in. Speaking of, Eren is in much need of rest. And he’s always been shit at receiving compliments anyway so he forces out a small ‘thank you,’ turning his head away lest Eren see the furious blush on his cheeks.

“Let’s go back.”

“Yeah,” They let go of each other, and with that Eren’s warmth is gone, but Levi is willing to give him space.

“Thank you. I had a lot of fun tonight, since I wasn’t alone.” Eren beams at him after they’ve drunk from their canteens, now walking the path leading to their current base. Levi simply nods, heart racing for a reason other than the aftermath of their flight.

Me too.

[lukesdadvader-blog]

prompt! Luke runs into Darth Dad while shopping for parts for his X-Wing and Dad has to end up buying them for him!

First of all, I would like to thank you for the prompt! :) I finally got to write a proper Vader/Luke fic, but as you´ll see, it is probably not a fic you expected. I just couldn´t think of a plot that would keep both characters in-character and still follow the prompt (I am truly sorry :(). I started with one fic, but then decided it was too sucky and deleted it. Same thing with another. This was my third try and I was so determined to finish it that I am posting at midnight (thus there might be some spelling mistakes) Also I would like to say that I am not a native speaker, so if you find any mistakes, hit me up! Now enough of the sithtalk and let´s get to the fic!

-x-

Afterspending almost the whole day at the shipyard, Luke finally found the goodshield generator he so desperately needed. After his last dogfight with theImperial Navy it needed to be replaced as soon as possible. It would bedangerous for him to fly around with almost no protection and even if he wantedto, Leia would not let him even look at the X-Wing. After crash landing onDagobah there were even more things on the starfighter that needed to be eitherreplaced or repaired, but Luke kept those a secret, not wanting the Princess toworry about him even more.

The youngJedi pulled out the shopping list where he wrote down everything that he had tobuy, his eyes quickly scanning the components. The last thing he was missingwas the update for his targeting system which had to be purchased at theowner´s cash desk. Wedge was the only one in the Rogue squadron who installedit before Luke and his friend would not stop bragging about how great it was. “Luke!I shot down 9 out of the 24 TIEs that were engaging us in the attack on theImperial blockade! This system is so precise, it aims with almost 94% accuracy!Now I will be finally catching up with you, buddy!” Luke smiled when heremembered Wedge always complaining about the Jedi´s use of the Force and howit wasn´t fair. Of course he did not mean it seriously – he was happy that hisfriend survived the battle, but it was natural for the pilots to count theshoot downs and compete between each other.

When Luke wasnearing  the owner´s cash desk, hisrepulsor-lifted shopping box hovering just a few inches ahead of him, he sawthat there was only one person standing in the queue and it seemed that he hadalready paid and was about to leave. The Trandoshan walked out of the shipyard,leaving the young Jedi alone with the owner – a Mon Calamari male who seemed tobe happy about the number of customers visiting today. This planet seemed to beone of those places where you were happy someone showed up once in threerotations. After a polite exchange of greetings Luke handed him the list of items heintended on purchasing. “Anything else, young man?” the Mon Calamari asked,studying Luke´s face. He was sure he has seen him before. Not in a person, butmaybe on a poster or a hologram. “I would like to buy the Targeting system 240848 by Corellian Enterprises,X-Wing class would be the best, but if it´s sold out the Y-Wing class will do.I can do the adjustments myself later,” Luke said, searching his pocket for thecredits. He hoped he had enough, because some price tags were barely readableand a zero could be easily mistaken for another digit. If that was the case, hewould have to give up on purchasing the targeting system. “We should have some stored in the back, let me check,” the elderly MonCalamari stated and exited the cash-desk. As he was passing by Luke, hestopped. “You seem familiar, but I am not sure where have I seen you before.”The young Jedi swallowed aloud. He had never met this man and if the MonCalamari knew his face it was possible that he has seen it on the Imperial Mostwanted holonet page. Luke was about to say something when he was interrupted bya sudden outburst of heavily accented basic.“Skywalker!” The shipyard owner shouted, obviously happy about the fact that hefinally connected Luke´s face to a name. Luke, on the other hand wasn´t happyat all. If this Mon Calamari reported him to the Imperial officers, he´d end up–“Anakin Skywalker! You look so much like him!” The young Jedi stood there,speechless. He expected to hear everything from –I am going to get the bountyfor your head- to –I admire the Rebellion-, but not that. Luke felt the emotions washing over him. If it was a yearearlier, he would start bragging about his father, proud to be his offspringand heir to his legacy, but now…“I don´t know him, sir,” Luke replied, looking down on his feet. It wasn´t likehe was lying – he was saying the truth. The young boy didn´t have the chance toget to know the Hero with no Fear. “He was a great warrior, always turning losing battles into great victories. Hewas always so kind and helped people in need. He fought for those who couldn´t.My father used to tell me stories about him, how the fearless Anakin saved mymother…” Luke stopped listening, because all he could think of was hisfather. How could a man, the definition of a legend turn into such a monster hewas now? What made him so dark and twisted? “I bet he would be the only Jedi to conquer Darth Vader in a lightsaber battle,”the Mon Calamari stated and the young boy, now back in the present time, didn´tknow how to feel. He could smile, he could be sad and it would all be adequateto the situation – it depended on the point of view.“I will stop talking now and go get you the targeting system, young man.” Mostlikely the Mon Calamari noticed that his customer wasn´t entirely payingattention to what he was saying. Luke watched as the owner disappeared in thepiles of ship components. When he was sure no one could hear him, he sighed. “Ben,why didn´t you tell me…”

The soundof the bell announcing a new customer interrupted Luke in his thoughts. When helooked up to see who it was, his face went pale.“Skywalker,” a baritone echoed through the area, accompanied by theunmistakable sound of the respirator. For a few moments which felt like aneternity – it was the only sound that could be heard.“Vader,” Luke finally replied. It was like a curse, as if his father knew he was thinking about him and thatexact thought brought him here. The young Jedi was trapped. After a certain accident on Bespin he wasweaponless. The blaster he carried was no match for the Sith´s lightsaber. Evenif he managed to shoot his way out, there would be a bunch of Stormtroopersstanding outside. He would not escape Vader´s grasp this time.“I am glad to see you´re well,” Darth Vader said, relieved that his son didn´tsuffer any serious injuries after his reckless decision to escape him in CloudCity. He noted to himself to tell off Luke for being so irresponsible later. “Are you?” Luke muffled and considered tossing his blaster, but then rejectedit as it was completely useless, he would only wear himself out. The energywould be much needed in the later escape. Once again, a silence settled betweenthe two of them.“What were you thinking back in Cloud City?” Vader could not hold himself back.He almost witnessed the death of his own child and it was something he wishedto never repeat again.“I wasn´t! I just knew I couldn´t accept your offer! Besides, you had just cut offmy hand!” His son´s words reminded him how everytime before entering ameditation trance he regretted the decision to unarm his child. A feeling ofsadness brushed the bond the Sith shared with his offspring. It escaped Luke´sshields and bursted into a wave of emotions. Darth Vader sighed, but thevocoder interpreted it as a gasp for air. He received a worried look from hisson.

“Are you alright?” Luke decided that he would use the mental communication. If he had to speak aloud, his voice would be trembling. As muchas he needed a response, he didn´t get any. After a few seconds, his fatherstepped closer, putting a hand on his shoulder. So it wasn´t a malfunction ofthe respirator. Luke tried to penetrate Vader´s shields, but they were, unlikehis, very resilient.

The youngJedi wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the approaching MonCalamari.“I got you your Targeting system, young man,” he stated, only after speakingaloud becoming aware of another person being present.“Lord Vader. Can I help you with anything? What are you looking for?” thenervousness in the owner´s voice could not be overheard.“I already have what I came here for,” the Sith stated and Luke could feel hisfather´s eyes on him.

A squad of Stormtroopersbarged in, stopping behind Darth Vader.“Get the box the Rebel wanted to purchase and prepare the shuttle for take-off,I will handle him myself,” the Dark lord ordered and increased the pressure onhis son´s shoulder. Luke was thinking rapidly. He had no weapon and nowhere tohide, so his best chance to escape was during the route between the shipyardand the shuttle. For now, he had to co-operate.“Hey! Who will pay for it!” the Mon Calamari angrily shouted at the Stormtrooperswho were taking away the repulsor lifted box full of valuable ship components. Itwas almost a half of his month wage! The owner´s gaze settled on Vader´shelmet. “How much is it?” the Sith asked, one hand handing the man a creditchip, his other hand gently, but firmly squeezing Luke´s shoulder. Luke feltbetrayed by his fate. What had he done to the universe for the day to go likethis? He just wanted to shop quickly and join Wedge and the rest of Roguesduring a mission, maybe ground his best friend´s ego by shooting down moreImperial fighters. As he felt Vader´s gloved hand on his shoulder, he sighed. Lukehad not expected such turn of events. “You overpaid, sir,” the Mon Calamari stated. Had it been any other customer hewould keep his mouth shut but this was no regular customer. This was theEmprie´s second in command. “That is for getting Skywalker,” Vader replied and turned to leave, stillgrasping Luke´s shoulder firmly. As the Mon Calamari watched the two walk away,he had only one name on his mind. “Skywalker.”

[srdtechnologiees]

Link Building Tips and Strategies

Starting at the present moment, back links are the most significant factor with regards to the web crawlers choosing where to rank your site. Later on that may change, however there is no uncertainty that back links will even now keep on being a significant factor in the positioning procedure. As a result of this reality, it is significant that you consistently construct links driving back to your site. Right now will discuss a couple of compelling approaches to achieve this including making Link Bait, Blogging, Press Releases and Article Marketing just to give some examples. Be that as it may, I won't simply advise you to utilize these procedures I will likewise reveal to you how to utilize them accurately and adequately.

Before I start, we need to clarify that I am not worried about whether a link has been labeled "nofollow" or not. Research by a couple of autonomous SEO firms has affirmed that while PageRank can't through "nofollow" links, by and large rankings are influenced by "nofollow" links in a positive way. I will address this issue and talk about the investigations indepth in a future blog, yet meanwhile I need to clarify that a portion of the link building tips I will examine incorporate building links from locales that "nofollow" their outbound links and that I accept this is a non-issue. I accept this since Google assembled their whole calculation on the way that back links were the most significant positioning component. I don't accept that Google expected the "nofollow" tag to be utilized as broadly as it is right now is and they could never permit a huge number of website admins to destroy all the work they put into their calculation by labeling each outbound link on their webpage as "nofollow." Google may state that "nofollow" links have no effect on rankings, yet I just don't trust them dependent on examines I have seen and straightforward good judgment. As we would like to think Google keeps on saying that "nofollow" links have no effect on rankings so as to keep their planned focuses of the "nofollow" tag, spammers, in line, yet as a general rule they permit "nofollow" links to have probably some constructive outcome on rankings.

Link Building Tip 1: Blogging

Blogging is the least demanding and best approach to recover links. Not exclusively can blogging lead to back links, however it additionally is an approach to reliably add substance to your site, and we as a whole realize that Google adores destinations that reliably include quality substance.

The way to restoring links through blogging is to ensure that you are blogging about themes that are either straightforwardly identified with your organizations or field of skill or that give helpful data to your perusers. When you have discovered your blogging specialty the following activity is make a RSS channel and submit both your blog URL and RSS channel to the same number of blog catalogs as you can discover. I have customers that increase several back links every single month essentially by blogging on a predictable premise. I suggest that you blog at any rate once per month, however once seven days is shockingly better.

Link Building Tip 2: Press Releases

Public statements are an incredible path for organizations to recover links to their destinations. There are many free public statement circulation locales out there to present your discharges to, however utilizing a paid assistance like PRWeb can bring about several back links from significant news associations with only one official statement. Making public statements an ordinary piece of your link building methodology can bring about a huge number of value back links through the span of year.

Your official statements can be tied in with anything that you need identified with your business. Regardless of whether it is about a development, the acquisition of new costly hardware, a pledge drive or supporting a neighborhood occasion, a public statement is an extraordinary method to get the word out about your business just as an approach to restore important links which will help your web crawler rankings.

Link Building Tip 3: Article Marketing

Article promoting has been proclaimed dead as a SEO and link building method many occasions over and it is as yet perfectly healthy. There are bits of gossip about its end by and by coasting around out in the internet as a result of Google's new calculation update that was discharged on April 25th. I most definitely will have a hard time believing article showcasing is dead until I see it with my own eyes. The facts demonstrate that many article destinations, for example, Ezine Articles, endured a shot in the rankings when Google's Panda was discharged, yet the impacts were not deadly and Ezine has since found a way to guarantee that the articles posted on their site are of better quality pushing ahead.

I ran my own SEO test throughout the most recent two months and found that article promoting is as yet fit as a fiddle. I took a spic and span site and composed article after article and posted them on Ezine, Articlebase, Articlecity and others. The articles were the main wellspring of back links I effectively scrutinized. The outcomes have been shocking up until this point. Five out of the six watchwords phrases I am as of now advancing for are presently on the primary page of Google, Bing and Yahoo!. I can't absolutely demonstrate that the sole explanation behind these rankings are the articles and the links contained in them, yet the narrative proof is very solid and the most significant thing is that my site has not been punished or fallen in the rankings in the course of the most recent two months. Things could change and I will watch out for it and report to every one of you on the off chance that they do, however starting at this moment, article promoting is fit as a fiddle and an incredible method to obtain back links to your site.

The way to great article advertising is making useful, unique and exceptional articles. Don't simply keep in touch with one article and post it on 10 diverse article locales. Rather, compose 10 unique articles and post them on 10 distinct locales. Ensure you go through blend the grapple content of your links also.

Whenever done right article advertising can bring about a huge amount of value back links and expanded rankings.

Link Building Tip 4: Directories and Review Sites

Utilizing professional resources and survey destinations isn't the most creative link building procedure, however it is a demonstrated method to recover links to your site. These back links aren't the most significant, yet in all honesty, a portion of these indexes really get a fair measure of traffic and being recorded in them can direct people to your site. The measure of individuals who visit your site is considered by Google when they choose where to rank you. Google figures that if many individuals are visiting your site and investing energy in it then your site must have significant or fascinating data on it and they will rank your site in like manner.

When posting your site in professional resources start with industry explicit indexes on the off chance that they exist for your industry. A couple of years back I may have proposed that you present your site with DMOZ, however now I wouldn't burn through your time. DMOZ doesn't convey the juice it once did and there are bits of gossip about defilement and "pay-to-list" plans going on inside the association. I have presented various locales throughout the years and just a bunch have ever been acknowledged despite the fact that I followed their rules precisely. In the wake of submitting to industry explicit postings, present your site to any nearby professional references in your general vicinity. After that pick a couple of professional listings a week and submit to your site. Through the span of time you will find that you have increased an enormous number of back links. Indeed, these aren't the best sort of back links, yet they are not useless either and they can direct people to your site.

There are a couple of audit locales that I prescribe making a posting for. Manta, Yelp and Angie's List are the ones I generally list my destinations and my customer's locales in. Try not to fear negative audits. In the event that you get a negative audit the best activity is see whether it is authentic. On the off chance that it is real, at that point your best game-plan is answer to the remark on the audit site and attempt to limit the harm. On the off chance that it can't you can contact the site head and request that they evacuate it. You should demonstrate it is an ill-conceived objection or they won't take it off their site. The links from these locales can likewise direct people to your site.

These are only five instances of link building systems. There are others, yet these five are the best. Later on I will expound on some other successful, however less utilized link building systems.

Remember that link building can be a long and tedious procedure. Tolerance is the key with regards to link building. Try not to take the path of least resistance and participate in some link building plan or pay for lin

[saibh29]

Survival 101: Tears (Part 7)

Pairing: Bellamy / Reader

Warnings: Death, Violence, Swearing, Angst.... 

AN: Hey my lovelies thanks so much for all the wonderful comments and messages on this series so far. This chapter was quite difficult to write, as it features some aspects of Season 1 that I wasn’t comfortable watching. I’ve had to split it into 2 because it was just to long to post in one go. One the plus side this means another post of Survival probably tomorrow.  You can find the other parts here.....Survival 101 Master List

And then because I get asked alot for this you can find my Masterlist for other stories and oneshots here.... Masterlist

@no-other-names-availible-blog @angelaiswriting @selldraug @angryares @thenovarose @georgiagrl1990 @punk-rock-5-sos @mindofthescattered @dontstopxx @iamabeautifulperson18 @coffeebooksandfandom @madelinecraig03 @ka-x-in @im-hurric4ne @mesmericbell  As always if you’d like to join or leave the tag list please let me know

You’d found the body just before dawn, drawn to the rapidly increasing in size graveyard to pay somewhat final respects to Atom.

At first you thought maybe Wells had just fallen asleep, then of course you’d gotten closer and your stomach had cramped in horror. There was a knife sticking from Wells carotid artery in much the way you’d stabbed Atom only hours before. Wells would have bled out in minutes, no way to stop a shot to the artery like that, once it was pierced death would be almost inevitable.

You leant over and gently closed his eyes. You had to tell the others, warn them that the grounders were becoming more aggressive and getting closer to the camp the group of 100 had constructed.

“Y/N? Y/N are you out here?”

“O! Stay up there” you shouted “go and fetch Bellamy and Clarke”

“What? Why”

You should have known her curiosity wouldn’t allow her to just do as you asked, instead her head popped over the rise, eyes widening.

“Oh my god. Y/N is he dead?”

“O go and get Bellamy” you repeated slowly. She was looking around nervously at the trees surrounding the grave yard. Almost as if she expected the grounders to jump from them screaming.

“What if they’re still here?” she asked “I can’t just leave you”

“Octavia” the use of her full name got her attention off of the trees and back onto you. “I need you to go and fetch Bellamy and Clarke. We have to sort this out. I’ll be fine”

She finally agreed scrambling back over the ledge and towards camp. You moved back towards Wells crouching down beside his body.

You couldn’t help but find your eyes moving to the knife in his neck. It took a minute of staring for you to realise what exactly it was that was bothering you about it. The handle of the knife had a yellow emergency symbol on it, similar to what was on the airlock doors of the dropship.

You leant forwards taking hold of the hilt pulling out the knife and spinning it around in your hands to stare at the symbol.

“Not possible” you whispered as you realised what exactly it was that you were seeing.

Footsteps and shouts were coming closer and getting up you pushed the knife into your pocket just in time for Bellamy to appear on the top of the ledge followed by Clarke and Finn.

Clarke was screaming falling beside Wells with Finn clasping a hand on her shoulder as you took a step back your body colliding with Bellamy behind you. He grabbed your upper arms to steady you, hands staying there as he too stared down at Wells body.

“You found him like this?”

You bobbed your head once “Someone stabbed him in the neck, he would have bled out in minutes”

“Grounders are coming closer to camp. We’ll have to increase the guard patrols”

This was your chance, tell him about the knife and the fact that somewhere in camp you had a murderer lurking. Clarke had gotten to her feet though and was coming towards you both, just like the moment was gone.

“We need to bury him” her voice cracked at the word bury, but she didn’t allow herself to cry or even to let sadness creep onto her face. “He deserves that”

“It’ll get done” Bellamy agreed still stood behind you.

Clarke’s eyes however were still on you. “He lied to me” she admitted “He let me believe that for all this time he had turned in my father”

“He didn’t?” Clarke shook her head and horror settled once more in your stomach. “Abby…she…Abby?”

Clarke nodded sharply once, plainly unwilling to talk about it. She allowed Finn to lead her away with an arm on her lower back.

“You can let go of me now Bellamy”

He did quickly almost jerking away as he realised he really had still been holding onto your arms. You turned to face him, the moment was back again and this time you used it, taking out the knife from your pocket.

“I don’t think a grounder killed Wells”

“What?”

“Look” you gave him the knife “see that yellow mark its part of an oxygen warning label stamped onto the dropship airlocks, and here” you pointed once more to the hilt of the knife.

“Fuck” Bellamy rubbed a hand over his face. “This killed him?”

“Well it was sticking out of his neck” you put the knife away again. “I didn’t think it was wide to advertise the fact that we had a murderer in camp”

“No… fuck, why does this keep getting so messed up?”

“Bellamy” you reached out and squeezed his forearm. “We need to do something about this, maybe not instantly but it will come out and we need to be ready”

“By doing what exactly?”

“I don’t know” sighing you mimicked his gesture of rubbing a hand over your face. “We need to tell Clarke”

“She’ll want to tell everyone” he warned.

You paused at that before finally just shrugging once more “Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing”

“No it would be fucking terrible” Bellamy sounded angry at even the suggestion of telling Clarke. “All that they’ve achieved so far, the wall, the patrols everything is done out of fear of the grounders. If we tell them that someone from camp murdered Wells we lose all of that. All that cohesion is replaced once more by suspicion.”

He was making sense you knew that. “Then what? We stay quiet?”

“For now, yeah” breaking eye contact he went back to looking at Wells. “Fetch me a shovel?”

“You’re going to bury him” he grunted “Yourself?”

“I’m going to bury him. Clarke was right about that at least, he deserves to not just be left here”

You couldn’t hide the shock that Bellamy was going to bury him on his own but went back to camp anyway grabbing shovels from the pile near the wall then heading back to the grave yard.

Bellamy stared at you in surprise this time when you kept a shovel to help him dig.

“What? You’re right ok. Both you and Clarke. He deserves a decent burial. He was my friend you know, for a long time on the Ark”

“I know. Everyone knew that you, Wells and Clarke were meant to be destined for great things”

“Meant to be” digging your shovel angrily into the ground you threw out great shovels of dirt. “I spent many nights at Wells apartment as a child. My father, he was always drunk. Not a nice man to be around. Wells, he used to let me camp out in his room. We thought we were being sneaky, trying to keep quiet all night but his father must have known and simply allowed it to keep happening”

“He sounds like a good friend”

“He was. Wells was loyal to a fault and always did the right thing”

“Yet he turned on you with a seeming second thought?”

You stopped digging, happy with the depth of the hole as Bellamy carefully put Wells body in the ground starting to cover him with the dugout soil once more.

“He was just doing what he thought was right. Protecting his family and Clarke from a so called murderer”

You both had finished the grave and discarding his shovel Bellamy walked over to you standing as close as it was possible to be without touching you.

“Then he was an idiot Y/N”

“What?”

“I’ve known you for only a few weeks and I could already swear before the gods that you didn’t murder anyone”

Fuck you’d had no idea how badly you had longed to hear someone say that to you. How much you had needed to know that someone at least believed you weren’t capable of the monstrous acts they’d accused you of. That coupled with the death of Atom and Wells along with everything else that had happened in the last few days pushed you over the edge.

You were crying real tears. Something you hadn’t done since the day you’d found your mothers lifeless body in your apartment.

Your whole body shuddered as you fell into Bellamy. His arms came around you holding you tightly as you clung desperately to the soft fabric of his shirt, bunching the material into your clenched fists.

“Shhhh, Y/N it’s alright. You’re alright”

You sobbed for a while longer barely registering the soft words he was whispering in your ear as he tried to soothe the tears away.

It took a few minutes but you finally got yourself back under control letting go of his shirt and raising your face out of his chest. He didn’t however unwrap his arms from around your waist.

“Thank you” your words were quiet “Plainly I needed that to come out”

“You don’t have to thank me Y/N”

Finally he let you go taking a step back as you wiped your eyes roughly with your sleeve, inwardly building your walls back up again. You deliberately focused entirely on the fresh mound of earth covering Wells body. Not looking at Bellamy and the danger in his eyes.

“You have until dusk Bellamy and then I’m showing this knife to Clarke. So whatever it is you’re planning on doing, do it fast”

You didn’t wait for an answer simply turned and walked away back towards camp, deliberately not looking back at him, scared almost of what you might see on his face.

 *****************

“Finn what is she doing?” your whispered questioned made Finn glance back over his shoulder at you. Leaning on the edge of the dropship door as Clarke allowed Monty to bend over her wristband with a tool that  made it look ominously like they were trying to remove it.

“Punishing her mother apparently”

“She wants Abby to think she’s dead?”

“Wells…”

Sighing your hand unconsciously went to your own wristband, the number of your still wearing them was rapidly fading away. In fact apart from you and Finn the remaining number probably didn’t exceed more than 30.

“She’s being childish”

Finn predictable as ever jumped instantly to Clarkes defence. “She just found out that her mother got her father killed Y/N. Give her a break”

“Now is that reasoning coming from your brain Finn” your eyes moved purposefully down his body “or further down?”

He didn’t get a chance to answer as Clarke gasped as Monty squawked in excitement.

“Yes! I did it, it’s still operational”

Clarke came over to where you and Finn were stood, shrugging at your accusing gaze. “What? Monty needed a working wristband”

“And you need to punish Abby”

Clarke flinched, apparently unhappy with being reminded of her actual reasons for taking off the wristband. Fair enough she was hurting, you could understand that. However, the reasons for keeping on the wristband hadn’t changed. You needed the Ark to come to the ground and Clarke had just given the council one more reason to not.

“Look they’re running out of air and we need their help I get that. My mother thinking I’m dead is only temporary”

“Temporary?” snorting you shook your head at Clarke. “How many people have you just killed Clarke through a petty need for revenge on your mother?”

“None if I can help it” Monty piped in, you hadn’t even realised he’d still been listening. “Not if I can patch this thing through the dropship mainframe. If I can… we’ll be talking to The Ark by nightfall”

“See nothing to worry about” Clarke smiled stalking out of the ship.

“Keep an eye on her?” you asked Finn “she’s not exactly thinking straight”

Agreeing Finn left keeping up with Clarke as you moved over to Monty.

“Really think you can get that thing to talk to the Ark”

“Sure…” he trailed off staring at the wristband but managed a large smile as he looked back up at you. “Tonight Y/N, we can all talk to our families again”

You didn’t share is enthusiasm but appreciated the effort he was making. Leaving him to his work you went back out of the dropship staring out over camp.

Bellamy was right you thought watching as the kids milled around camp, moving materials for the wall from one place to the other, standing guard at the various points that weren’t completed and in general working together that wouldn’t still happen if they found out about the knife in your pocket.

On the other hand though the truth had a nasty way of always coming out and if it did come out that the murderer was in camp. Was one of them. If that came out and it brought with it the fact that you and Bellamy had both known about it then that presented another whole lot of questions.

“Y/N” Octavia came up beside you wrapping an arm around your waist. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing”

She laughed softly “you can’t lie to me Y/N and after everything we’ve been through together it’s almost insulting that you’d try”

You half way to telling her that you weren’t lying when you recognised she was right. She did deserve more than you lying to her about what was going on around camp.

“Alright, but not here. Come with me” taking Octavia’s hand you led her around the back of the dropship and out into the part of camp that hadn’t yet been fully enclosed. No one was around here as the past night it had rained hard and made it impossible to build on the ground here yet.

“This is the knife that killed Wells”

Octavia studied the blade you handed over staring at the edges confusion on her face. Until of course she turned it over and she saw exactly what you’d shown to Bellamy only hours before, then her face paled as she looked back up at you not wanting to believe it but unable to deny it.

Not counting the yellow warning label on the hilt there was one other indisputable fact to why the murderer was somewhere in camp.

Written in scratched letters on the hilt of the knife was a name. ‘John Murphy’

[instamodels-org]

Modeling Tip: How to Get DISCOVERED on Instagram

hey what's up guys welcome back to my channel today I have something very special for you guys so stick with me to the end of this video I'm gonna give you guys access to my list which has a whole bunch of model Scout so you can tag in your Instagram photos and that way you can get discovered so without further ado I want to tell you guys five things you can do to get discovered on Instagram so let's get to it alright guys so before I get into the story I want to tell you guys how I came about this topic so I randomly came across this story about a model who posted a picture while she was at festival she posted his picture on Instagram and before you knew it that picture went viral and a lot of talent scouts were reaching out to her for representation and ultimately she signed with next models and she since then she's been doing a lot of major campaigns fashion shows and runways and whatnot so that's how I came about this topic I personally know other models other aspiring models who worked on their Instagram who use their Instagram as a model and portfolio book and because of that they were able to get into big agencies so I believe that if you follow these steps this is gonna work out for you if you're aspiring model looking for an agent so that's why I'm putting this video together so hope you enjoy it alright guys I don't want to make this video too long so let's get to it the first thing that you can do on Instagram to get discovered is to make your profile public I mean that's a no-brainer you're not gonna get discovered if your profile is private because no one can see your pictures so go ahead and you know turn that's all too long make your profile public so that way you're more discoverable next thing you can do is to grow your followers now believe it or not a lot of agencies are actually starting to Scout models based on how much followers they have on Instagram so you want to make sure that you're growing your Instagram accounts you want to make sure you're following people following back whatever you do whatever you need to do to grow your subscribers and your followers make sure you do that because influencer modeling and influence and marketing is something that's very big in the industry so brew your following and you're gonna have more leverage once you go in to meet with an agents another thing that you can do and it's very simple not a lot of aspiring models do it is you have to list your height in your bio description this is very important if a Scouts is looking through your pictures and they happen to see a picture that they like but you look a little bit shorter in that picture and they don't know exactly how tall you are they're not gonna play a guessing game with you so it's important to list your height so that way they know and it can easily reach out to you if you fit what they're looking for the next thing you can do is to have high quality photos now they don't have to be professionally taken if they are kudos to you but if not you can always take selfies that are well-knit take welded for pictures and your cell phone and just post those and try to be creative so your page looks visually and aesthetically pleasing alright guys so check this out I've posted a link in description box down below this link has tons of hashtags that you could use to get discovered it also has talent scouts accounts some HSCs accounts and some agents as well so it has their personal Instagram accounts so you tagged these accounts it can increase your chances of being discovered but you must be careful do not abuse these accounts do not abuse these hashtags because we only go to just ruin it for everyone else so make sure that your tagging them on your very best photos and if you don't have that picture on Instagram just yet I would hold off until you get that picture before you tag them don't send them DMS because you want to go to get blocked again tag them use the hashtags and just let it be so I wish you guys good luck I hope this works off with you check the link in my description box down below I'm sure you're gonna love this if you guys have hashtags or Instagram accounts that you've tagged before feel free to drop them in the comment box down below because there are a lot of aspiring models probably watching this video right now that would love to have that information alright guys I hope you guys enjoyed this video if you're new to my channel consider subscribing I make videos like this on a week basses if you like this video show me some love give me some thumbs up and I'll see you guys next week so

https://youtu.be/cOlgI52oLZM

[mathiasgilson-blog]

Social Media Marketing

Incidentally, Matthew (Brickapolis) would resolve to take part at the final minute, and Joe Meno contributed models and flyers (to promote his current projects on the time: BrickMagic, BrickFlix, and BrickJournal). So as to add depth to your web site, be certain that to include plenty of testimonials out of your present patients. Some of your posts could not get so many shares or likes, similar to charity posts, testimonials and press options. We specialize in providing discounted Instagram Likes, but we do supply totally FREE Instagram likes to users who help us out with a little bit of promotion. This may link workers from all through the world to one site and help construct a group of related employees while they might never meet in individual. Whereas he was attending school for mechanical engineering, Stone took on a 2 hour commute to get to and from his classes each day, while also starting his personal enterprise by promoting auto parts by way of eBay about 15 years ago. An increasing number of companies are beginning to turn their head towards clients, asking for their opinion, suggestions and finally, approval.

The prospects are limitless. When you find yourself asked to offer a speech, you will spend time enthusiastic about what you wish to say, you will go through multiple versions of creating your speech, after which you'll really find yourself delivering it. Social media will show to be a fantastic asset to your online business and it offers you the power to increase and reach out to new folks. Publisher: Peter George - Speaker, Writer, Coach Individuals will let you know that following up is key to efficient marketing and closing more gross sales. Folks go to your profile anticipating to view mainly exactly the same topic mentioned regularly. Taub says the Purple Cross, for instance, has used SocialRank to corral people via Twitter to nearby blood drives. Manually observe individuals. Once you observe somebody in most cases they will follow you back. If you're contemplating utilizing Google AdWords, you'll need to trace your spending and return on investment. This traffic can be tracked using the "came from" instruments on youtube. Out of 5 social networks included within the survey, YouTube obtained the very best marks for health and wellbeing and was the only site that acquired a internet optimistic rating by respondents.

Significant content material-You’ve heard that content is king, that’s nonetheless true in social media. Social media tools web-primarily based technologies to communicate within interactive dialogues with others. You might have seen web sites permitting you to log in utilizing your social media credentials. Regardless of how great your merchandise will be, you can't attract much attention to potential customers when you don’t have a significant following. In case you have written an article that day, but you might have one other nice thought, you may always write the article and put an automated self-publishing date. I had a fantastic day with my children at work and household! Shopping for the Instagram followers may definitely bring you some proceeds as they can promote the business account. Speaking actively by exchanging newest updates, footage and any kind of data are what all business owners need to deliver efficient advertising campaigns strategically. There are several strategies to safeguarded your providers concerning Seo firm organizations. The explanatory movies are impeccable for startups as they convey your new product or service in a quick and efficient way.

It additionally provides you a chance to portray a extra personal side of your firm's undertakings in a novel and refreshing approach. The popular photo sharing utility, Instagram offers you the opportunity to change into a well-liked photographer with its all image editing features, as a way to implement your creativity on it. Is a photo modifying app combined with a social network. Brushstroke affords an analogous premise to Waterlogue besides that it turns your photograph right into a painting utilizing acrylics and oils. Enhance your Fb marketing interface's efficiency by using custom-made tabs. Following the success of so many interactive Q&A and live chat classes on Fb and Instagram, one can simply conclude what the next step is for giant companies. You are able to do a one-time buy of can do a bulk purchase, although the month-to-month buy can be there. Moreover, there's one thing about seeing the buyer once they get it - that is priceless. By these blogs, your clients will get an inside look on the inside workings of brandbuilders.online your online business. How can I get free 10k real Instagram followers fast? In the event you inform them the winner will earn bragging rights and a free reward, you could presumably draw a whole bunch of new customers to your social media web page every month.

Users who really feel threatened by tags will doubtless unfollow or even block you. That day, I received 10,000 new people who adopted me as a result of Tony Hawk mentioned he appreciated me. Observe those people that you simply want to follow you again. Because of this, you might have already established a big quantity of followers in the said websites. We've got quite a few packages obtainable, so it is straightforward to pick a deal contemplating your requirements and the results you count on. Now we have all all the time been close and I can't ever remember us getting mad and never talking. In this sense, why not start with a significant network that is social as Instagram Followers? Second, you should discover the highest provider of Instagram followers within the internet. Look for patterns and matters that present users had consistent interest in one thing you can then repeat. Invest enough time in the groundwork so you possibly can select the right companions.

[purplebouquetthings-blog]

How To Build More Followers On Instagram

Instead of wasting your time trying out methods that don't work. I highly recommend to Buy Instagram Followers and Likes from cheap investment. Promote your dedicated hashtag on your other social profiles, on your website, and your email blast. If you’re using Instagram for your business, then you want to expand your reach and get in front of more customers and potential customers. Having more, targeted followers on Instagram will ensure more people see your message and increase your opportunities to drive traffic and sales.

Getting followers on Instagram isn’t hard, How to Get Real Instagram Followers in your niche that are likely to purchase your products is a slightly different story and challenge. You need to tell your followers and potential followers that you’re on Instagram. Chances are they aren’t going to find you on their own you need to tell them. This can be as simple as mentioning it in person or in conversation with others. I also recommend you include your Instagram handle or link on all of your media website, business cards, contact info, pamphlets, etc. Make it easy for people to find you and follow you. If you already have established presences on other social media sites, be sure to promote your Instagram account there too. You can link to your Instagram account, making it easy for your followers to find you on Instagram. I also recommend you share some photos from Instagram to other social media sites. Rather than sharing all of your Instagram images to Facebook and Twitter, share only ONE or two images to the other sites and invite your fans and followers on those sites to check you on Instagram for the rest of your images. If you want to consistently get more followers on Instagram, offer Instagram exclusive contests and/or discounts. Rewarding your Instagram followers with exclusive opportunities will encourage people to follow you and they’ll tell others to follow you there as well to take advantage of these promotions. Just make sure that your contests, promotions, and prizes are directly related to your business and customers. Giving away an iPad doesn’t get you targeted customers. Whatever your industry, there are events related to it. They could be conventions or conferences. They could be seminars or announcements. They could be shows or celebrations. Whatever your events are, find the event hashtag and follow them on Instagram. Then get active with the posts on that hashtag. It can be as simple as liking a bunch of photos tagged with the event hashtag. Or, take some time to read the captions of the posts and engage in response. Answer a question. Instagram has quickly become one of the best marketing channels for ecommerce merchants. The visual nature of the platform, combined with some of the highest engagement of any social platform means Instagram is the perfect channel to showcase your brand and products. In fact, in a recent study it was discovered that Instagram provides brands with 25% more engagement over other social platforms. I’d argue to say it’s even higher. Offer a helpful piece of advice. Compliment the user. Or ask them a question about the event. Taking the time to engage with these event attendees will usually result in a significant bump in those who follow you and best of all, they’re your target audience! Much like the method for event hashtags, follow hashtags related to hobbies or interests that are relevant to your business. If you provide health and nutrition coaching, follow tags related to health, like yoga, or pilates, or barre, or P90X, etc. If you sell pet specialty items, follow tags related to pets, pet fashion, grooming, etc. Knowing your target demographic, you should know what they are interested in. Use this information to find those people on Instagram. Then use the same methods I just described above to engage, like, and have conversations with them. If you’re looking for your target audience on Instagram, chances are they’re already engaging with and following your competitors. This makes it easy they’re in one place. Go to your competitors’ profiles, and click on their “Followers”. You can see the whole list of people who follow them. Depending on how many people follow them, this could be more time intensive than other accounts. Scroll through the list of followers and find people that are your ideal clients. Look for people that are active, engaging, and match your ideal customer profile. Then scroll through their posts, like some of their posts, and join in the conversation by responding to comments, complimenting them, or answering a question. This method is more time consuming than following hashtags but works just as well. It’s important that you have the right, engaged Followers on Instagram. Having 5000 followers who don’t care about your business or who never actually use Instagram are useless to you. Instead, focus on finding and building relationships with your ideal target customer to see real results on Instagram.

Advanced Instagram Marketing Tactics to Get a Ton of Followers

Instagram has worked well as a marketing channel for my brand, but at only 2,000+ followers, I wasn’t breaking any records. Luckily, I know some people that have Built Massive Followers on Instagram through both organic marketing tactics, as well as through the use of shady tools, apps and tricks that violate Instagram’s Terms and Conditions. I reached out to them and picked their brains about what works and what doesn’t along with the secret tools and strategies you need to know about to build a massive following on Instagram for your brand. Before you jump in head first, you’ll want to take some time to really understand your who your target market is. This includes who exactly your customers are, what they like, what they don’t like, the type of photos they post, the people they follow and the hash tags they use. There is no point in wasting time building an engaged following on Instagram with people that have absolutely no desire or ability to purchase your products. Before you jump in head first, you’ll want to take some time to really understand your who your target market is. This includes who exactly your customers are, what they like, what they don’t like, the type of photos they post, the people they follow and the hash tags they use. There is no point in wasting time building an engaged following on Instagram with people that have absolutely no desire or ability to purchase your products. I highly suggest you read the section called Thought Process on the following blog post. Austen who sold $4,000 in neckties on Instagram in two weeks really goes into great detail about his thought process to find his correct target market on Instagram. I can’t articulate it any better so please check it out. Your competitors have already done a lot of the hard work for you, use this to your advantage. One of the best ways to find, attract, and build a huge following is by targeting your closest competitors’ Instagram accounts and stealing their audience. These are mostly people that have already shown some level of interest in your product, simply by following your competitors. You likely already have a good idea of who many of your closest competitors are, however, you can also use one of many web apps like BuyFollowersInstantly.infoto find popular accounts by searching for relevant keywords and hashtags. Once you find large account and follow them, Instagram will show you three additional large accounts that are similar. Once you find relevant accounts with large followings, follow them. When you follow large accounts on Instagram, it will show you three additional large account that are similar. You can keep following the rabbit hole, adding a bunch of relevant accounts to get started. Stealing your competitors followers is as simple as flirting with them through engagement. Even though this was a relatively small test, it’s pretty clear and expected that the more work you put in, the more you’ll get out of it. Austen from the previously mentioned blog post helped a friend sell $4,000 in hipster neckties on Instagram in two weeks and used a similar method of liking and following to build a large audience. There are apps that can help you cheat at building a following on Instagram. They will automatically like, comment, follow and unfollow people in your niche based on hashtags or other parameters you set up. These automated methods can net you hundreds of new followers per day, again, automatically. I did several pretty informal tests and talked with a few people that are using these automation programs regularly to see how well they really worked. On average, all of the account gained anywhere from 75-250 new followers per day depending on how aggressive the settings were. If you're not actively working to get more Instagram followers, you're missing out on a passionate fanbase that wants to connect and Learn More.