#see kids this is why you should always proofread Thoroughly

[jigeuminunbich]

now why did i just notice an obvious mistype in digitally yours while skimming through it… and none of you fakes TOLD ME omg

[snowdice]

Little Kestrel (Part 6)[Birds of Different Feathers Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan & Patton & Virgil (future Virgil/Patton but not in this story)

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton, Virgil

Appear: Thomas

Mentioned: Janus

Summary:

It was supposed to be a quick job either way. Either Virgil would assassinate King Thomas of Prijaznia or he’d be caught and get executed. Yet, when Virgil gets the wrong bedroom and gets caught by Prince Logan and his future royal advisor, Patton, the job ends up getting way more complicated for the 14-year-old. He also ends up sleeping in a (actually pretty comfortable) closet for a few weeks…

Notes: Implied/referenced child abuse, assassination attempt, knives, torture mentioned, captivity, teenagers being really dumb

This is a prequel to Kill Dear. I wrote it 100 words at a time on my blog, but this is the edited version. If you want to see how it was crafted, look at the tag proofread stories.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Virgil had started to feign sleep about an hour after Logan had left to his potions lab. Patton could tell he was faking because his arms never relaxed. Despite the boy no longer responding, he kept talking to him in soft tones. He seemed exhausted, but he was also clearly not planning to truly sleep any time soon. Patton wondered what had led up to him being here both recently, which had caused the dark circles under his eyes and long term that had caused the sunkenness of his cheeks.

Patton’s stomach growled, reminding him of the passage of time. He had no idea how long whatever Logan was doing was going to take, but someone was going to have to go to the kitchen and get some breakfast soon. The snacks truly had not been enough to hold them through the night.

He felt secure enough even knowing Virgil wasn’t actually sleeping to push himself to his feet and walk over to the potions lab door. “Hey Lo,” Patton called. Virgil still hadn’t moved to indicate he was still awake.

“Yes?” he asked.

“How long are you going to take? I need to get food soon and maybe come up with an excuse for at least one of us to stay here all day.”

“It’ll be a little while longer,” Logan said.

Patton glanced back at Virgil. He caught the boy with his eyes open this time and saw him wince at being caught. “Maybe Virgil can stay in there with you while I go get things?”

“That would be fine,” Logan said, turning back to what he was working on. “Bring him in here if you’d like.”

“Okie dokie,” Patton chirped. He turned to Virgil who was looking up at him. “I’m going to take your arms and lead you to the other room, okay?”

He nodded and Patton leaned down and grabbed his wrists. He got even tenser somehow when Patton moved his arms to his front and Patton frowned, but didn’t comment. He helped him get to his feet and led him into the other room.

“You can seat him over there,” Logan said pointing.

Virgil was looking around the room with wide eyes and Patton had to stop and think about what this room might look like to someone who hadn’t been enthusiastically introduced to every new potion ingredient and piece of equipment as they arrived. There were shelves of ingredients, all organized and labeled. Logan kept all powders in uniform glass vials and liquids in bulbous containers. Whole dried herbs hung from strings in one area and there were containers of fresh ones glowing a soft green; the preservation spells that Logan came up with himself kept them fresh for months longer than they would usually last.

Logan had three separate areas for potion making. There was one space for potions that required more dangerous ingredients which currently had something simmering at it, but the enchanted protective curtain wasn’t drawn around it, so Patton imagined it must not be doing anything that could be too harmful at the moment. The table he used for experiments was empty and thoroughly cleaned, so he was clearly making something with an already well-established recipe. Currently, he was standing at his table reserved only for non-harmful substances. He was chopping up what appeared to be mint as two smaller pots boiled in front of him.

Patton led Virgil over to the indicated chair which was out of the way of even the non-dangerous ingredient zone. He still seemed to be trying to take in the room as Patton settled his wrists on the chair’s armrests.

“Any requests?” he asked Logan.

“Not really,” Logan replied. He glanced up at Patton. “Though if you can sneak me some of the leftover macaroni salad from dinner, that would be appreciated.”

“That’s not breakfast!” Patton chided.

“Which is why I requested that you to sneak it.”

Patton shook his head and turned back to Virgil. “What about you?” he asked.

He looked up at Patton and shook his head. Virgil looked a bit scared and out-of-sorts. He wanted to reach forward and pat him on the head or kiss his cheek to comfort him, but he imagined that would go over worse than badly. Instead, he flashed the boy a quick smile and then turned to leave the room.

He left Logan’s private chambers and closed the door behind him before walking down the hall.

“Good morning Patton,” one of the stationed guards greeted.

He smiled at her and the other guard. “Good morning Kalani. Hi Owen.”

“I see you and the prince had a sleepover,” Kalani said. “Should we be planning on him not making it to his royal duties until later today?”

“Actually,” said Patton. “Maybe all day. He was feeling a little sick. Had a headache.” It was… probably true. They hadn’t slept a wink last night.

“Hmm,” Kalani said. “Maybe there’s something going around. Clover said she had a bit of a dizzy spell last night.”

“Oh,” Patton answered. Clover had been one of the two guards set to watch the door to the royal wing. At least Virgil had been telling the truth about not hurting anyone.

“I hope she feels better. I’m going to go get Logan something to eat for breakfast since he can’t come himself, so I’ll see you again in a few minutes.”

The guards nodded to him and he turned to walk down the hall. The areas around the kitchens would be pretty busy at this point in the morning so instead of taking any of the busier paths to it, he walked past the dining hall towards the guest wing and took the staircase that led straight outside. It was a longer path because he had to go around and through the garden, but it was worth not getting in anyone’s way.

Patton always did like the garden. It was pretty at every time of year. Even now as the flowers started to get sparser in the fall, it was still wonderful, and it smelt great. He took just the briefest moment to himself to splash a hand through one of the fountains with a giggle. He turned away to continue on his path to the kitchen, which is when he saw her.

“Oh,” he said softly. “Hi kitty.”

Ghost Kitty was there and stared at him briefly before taking off into one of the bushes.

“Bye kitty,” he said just as soft. He smiled even though she’d ran away because that was the closest, he’d ever gotten to her.

He continued his trek to the kitchen and snuck inside on quiet feet, hoping to be unnoticed as he went for the chilled storage box. Luck was on his side, because Mama was busy talking in hushed tones to the gardener, Mr. Deknis, as she peeled potatoes.

“Well certainly no one has joined the kitchen staff who has a child,” Mama said. “I’d know.”

“Perhaps a maid or even a guard,” Mr. Deknis suggested.

Mama was frowning. “We don’t usually hire many people towards winter for those positions. Maybe someone in the stables?”

“But he needed to get back to the castle, not to the stable hand’s lodging.”

“Well then,” Mama said. “I don’t know Jeff. I’ll ask around.”

Mr. Deknis sighed. “I should have asked him more questions, but the poor thing seemed ready to startle out of his boots, and I didn’t want to push.”

“Well if he’s new to the castle, he’s probably just a little out of sorts and nervous,” Mama reasoned.

“It didn’t seem like normal nervousness. He was…” Mr. Deknis shook his head. “Anyway, tell me if you figure anything out.”

“Of course,” Mama said.

“Also, your kid’s steeling macaroni salad for breakfast.”

“Patton!” Mama said, rounding on him. “That’s not breakfast!”

Patton shot a pout at Mr. Deknis, but he seemed unrepentant. Patton pulled his hand away from the macaroni salad. “The prince wanted it,” Patton said.

“That’s not breakfast for ‘the prince’ either.”

“But,” Patton argued, “he’s not feeling well.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Is he not feeling well or is he tired?” she asked.

���…Both?”

“Mmhmm.”

“No! Seriously mom!” Patton said. “Kalani said that Clover wasn’t feeling well this morning and she sees Logan all the time. I even convinced Logan not to do any unnecessary royal duties today.”

“Well he must really be sick if that’s the case,” Mama admitted, “unless of course he found an interesting book to read or had an idea for a new potion.”

“It’s not about a book or a potion,” Patton promised.

Mama considered him. “Fine,” she said, turning back towards the countertop. “Then give me a few minutes to make him and you a nutritious breakfast that doesn’t consist of 80% mayonnaise.”

“Pancakes?” Patton asked hopefully.

Mama shot him a look over her shoulder. “I said nutritious,” she said, wagging a finger at him. “Besides, I thought you said he was sick.”

“He’s not nauseous, mama,” Patton said. “And if you put blueberries in it, it’ll be healthy!”

“Mmhmm.”

“It will!”

“Now I know my own son doesn’t think I was born yesterday,” she said.

“Please mama,” he begged. “I promise we’ll both eat some other stuff too.”

“I don’t believe you.” Patton gave her a wobbly lip. “No,” she repeated.

“But Mama.”

“You and Logan are going to have a healthy breakfast or so help me…”

“… but Mama.”

Want to read more? Click below!

Part 7

[billyhargrovesbabe]

you should see me in a crown | pt. 1

The first part of the series is here, and I’m honestly super excited! I’ve had a lot of fun planning and writing. I’m hoping to update pretty regularly, and I’d love to hear what you guys think. It’s gonna be a slow burn and a longer series. I have about fifteen chapters planned so far, but it might wind up being longer than that depending on how it goes. The first few chapters are written and ready for proofreading, so it shouldn’t be too long a wait. Feel free to comment or message your thoughts or if you want to be added to the tag list!

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of a bad past relationship, but I don’t think much else aside from that

Words: 2,664

intro | pt. 1

The first time Billy Hargrove approached you was practically straight out of a scene from a movie. If there had been a camera on you on that fateful October day, it would’ve been teen heartthrob gold.

The bell for lunch had just rung, and your classmates stampeded through the school in true high school fashion. The wafting smell of Friday pizza from the cafeteria down the hall wasn’t exactly mouth-watering, but it was enough to encourage you to get to your own slice as quickly as possible. You knew your girls would have your slice already waiting for you, used to their captain’s pre-lunch ritual. You were eagerly throwing your textbooks into your locker when it hit you.

The smell of cigarettes, hairspray, and men’s aftershave invaded the pleasant smell of lunch, assaulting your senses. The only thought that crossed your mind: here we go again.

You were no stranger to boys (because really, that’s what all these high-schoolers were despite their obvious thoughts otherwise) trying to approach you. Sometimes they were sweet and shy, sometimes they were blunt and upfront, and sometimes they were just obnoxious and crass. Hell, sometimes they were some bizarre combination of the three. Regardless of their approach, they were always met with the same result: denial served with a side of pitying kindness. It wasn’t that they were all pigs or anything. Sometimes guys you genuinely cared about and appreciated were the ones who approached (and they were always the hardest to turn down). You were just tired of the same old drama. Between the girls on your squad who ran to you for everything (like their pseudo mother hen) and your own... experience during your freshman year, you had suffered through more than your fair share of painfully awkward relationship drama. Besides, you had more to worry about. You had a squad to lead, a school to run, and a college resume to build. The times you were approached tended to be few and far between, so it wasn’t a frequent occurrence anyways.

Guys, in general, seemed to be intimidated by you. You’d think a girl who was smart, funny, kind, feisty, and a student leader would be dream girlfriend material, right? Apparently, that only worked for the heroines in teen romcoms. Once upon a time, it used to frustrate you: now, you welcomed the reprieve. Steve was the only one who could really hold his own, and you two had never been more than friends. All the others were too terrified. Those who weren’t scared off by your reputation and dating history usually backed off when they had to talk to you around your squad. You typically had at least one or two of your girls back you up. Besides, it wasn’t like you had a bunch of spare time to waste on guys. This was the only time of the day you could really be found alone. You enjoyed the quiet solace of stopping by your locker during lunch, especially on Fridays when all the other students in Hawkins rushed to get a slice of the weekly pizza. The hallways were typically bare, and people had learned not to mess with you during your locker breaks. Between cheer practice after school, the many social needs of your squad and demands of being captain, and your rigorous course load (because you were getting into college and as far away from Hawkins as possible), you rarely had time to yourself. And you loved it. You really did. But these precious five minutes at your locker during lunch was the only time you were really able to breathe. They were sacred, and everyone knew that.

So who the fuck was stupid enough to interrupt that?

With a dramatic sigh, you stretched your cheeks into what you hoped was some semblance of a smile (even if it was a painfully fake one). You could sense them, whoever they were, on the other side of your locker door. And they didn’t seem to be budging any time soon. You tried to stall for time, mentally counting down the seconds of freedom you had left.

Ten... You grabbed your calculus book and practically chucked it in your locker.

Nine... You shoved your composition book into your backpack.

Eight... You tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear.

Seven... You prayed this jackass would take the hint.

Six... No such luck.

Five... You searched both your locker and backpack in vain hope of finding anything else to stall.

Four... You figured you’d have maybe a minute of having to endure some painfully awkward conversation as you secured the lock, zipped your bag, and booked it the fuck out of there.

Three... You mentally double-checked that your fake smile was in place.

Two... You sent up one last Hail Mary they’d take the hint.

One... You took a calming breath.

And your time was up.

You had a sneaking suspicion whoever this was had planned it all out.

The hallways were practically empty, with just one or two stragglers making a futile dash for the cafeteria in the hopes there would be some pizza left. Your breath caught in your throat as your eyes met a pair of beautiful, crystal blue irises. Your fake smile dropped for just a moment as you took in sunshine curls, honeyed skin, plush lips, and slightly freckled cheeks. Your eyes traced over the almost gentle features of his face. His sharp cheekbones, lovely nose, and square jaw were practically begging you to cup his face in your hand. And his body... Damn. Nothing delicate there. You knew your fair share of jocks and hunky boys. But none of them compared to this. He wore a faded jean jacket, and he filled out every inch of it. It was clear he was buff, but you’d bet he was cut too. This blond in front of you was... Well, he was beautiful. You had never met a man (because fuck, but that’s what he was) who left you so thoroughly speechless. And then he had to go and ruin it by opening his mouth.

“Like what ya see, sweetheart? Cause I certainly do.” The lazy drawl matched his lax stance as he leaned against the lockers. He was posing for you, you quickly realized. This was a guy who knew exactly what he was working with, and he wasn’t afraid to shamelessly use it. A chill ran down your spine. 

Oh, he had definitely planned it.

Too bad he hadn’t planned for you.

You had more than your fair share of experiences with a guy like that. It wasn’t something you were looking to repeat anytime soon. The smile slid back across your face, a mask you had perfected and an armor you had worked all the chinks out of long ago. You watched, almost bemused, as a flicker of annoyance slid across his face. He knows, a voice whispered in the back of your mind. He knows you’re putting walls up. He can see it.

“Just getting to know a face I’ve never seen before.” Most guys would take the perky tone and sweet grin for the superficial flirting it appeared to be. The diversion you intended for it to come across as. You had a feeling this guy was smarter than that. You upped the bubbly factor, wanting to see how it would affect him (and a small part of you hoped it would annoy him). “You must be new to Hawkins. Welcome!” You had to stifle a giggle as he visibly bristled.

“Not that new,” he mumbled as he released the smooth facade for just a moment. He was clearly upset by the idea you hadn’t heard of him yet (which, of course, was not the case. Everyone and their mother had about the hot new guy with a killer car, but he didn’t need to know that). He managed to recover relatively quickly though. His eyes widened a fraction before that smirk snapped back into place. “Been here nearly four days, sweetheart. And in those four days, I’ve heard you’re the girl who runs the show around here.”

“And what makes you think that?” You figured playing innocent was the best way to go here. As helpful as your girls were in getting the gossip, it never hurt to have a little more info. No matter how high up the ladder you climbed, it was nearly impossible to get a real grip on the rumor mill here at Hawkins. Secrets and lies just tended to have a way of getting out, so no one ever quite knew what the truth was. Sometimes, you even second-guessed what you knew about yourself.

“Well, you’re the only cute (h/c)-haired, mini-skirted spitfire I’ve met so far. And I’ve made it a point to look out for the... feistier girls. Y/n, right?” Interesting. So he was going to keep his cards as close to his chest as you were. The suggestive smirk he sent you and the emphasis on the word feisty weren’t lost on you. You could hazard a guess as to what he really meant. So, the new kid had done his research. This should be fun.

“I’m so embarrassed. Here you are, knowing all about me, and I don’t even know who you are. What’s your name?” Of course, you knew exactly what his name was before he even said it.

“Some girls might call me the man-they’ve-been-waiting-for, but you can call me Billy.” The smile on his face would dazzle any crowd, leave any competition judge putty in his hands, and make the girls on your squad melt at his feet. It was clear this guy trying to work you over. But that was why you were the captain: you weren’t so quick to fall.

“Well, it was nice to meet you, Billy. Hope your first week went well.” And with that abrupt dismissal, you were off. In your years of evading hormonal and horny teenage boys, you had perfected the well-timed retreat. Flirt with them and talk just enough to let them think they’d hooked you, then cut it off quick. You had subtly worked the zipper on your backpack closed during the conversation, so all that was left was to fasten the lock and run. You were only a few steps away before Billy recovered. Impressive. Usually, you could get halfway down the hall as they were left reeling from your attention.

“Y’know, my first week has been fine,” he drawled again as he easily fell into step with you. A slight stab of annoyance tore through your chest. You checked your fake smile. “But it’d be even better if you agreed to show me around this weekend. Since I’m new here and all.” You pretended to consider it. You waited just long enough to make it seem like you weren’t going to turn him down before the words had even left his mouth. You were all about giving new kids a chance, but not when they had interrupted your precious alone time and stood between you and your pizza.

“Sorry, but the squad has practice tomorrow. And then the girls and I have team bonding on Sunday, so I’m all booked for the weekend.” You simpered, throwing a flutter or two of your lashes and a mock pout his way for good measure. You thought you had won that little confrontation until you saw a determined gleam in his eyes.

“I take it you aren’t going to Tina’s Halloween party tomorrow night, then?” Damn. The new boy was already connected enough to cinch an invite to a party? It usually took new kids weeks before they broke into the social scene enough to even hear gossip about the last party. Hawkins might’ve been small, but it was a pretty tight-lipped town when it came to outsiders. This guy must’ve known exactly what he was doing if he had already gotten that far in. And, worst of all, he had you trapped.

After all, you couldn’t exactly lie and say you weren’t going. By now, the two of you were close enough to the cafeteria that there were people around. If you lied, said you weren’t going, and then showed up anyway, it would make you look fake. Two-faced. Bitchy. And you had worked so hard to get your reputation to where it was after the disaster that was your first two years in high school. You were depending on your friendly and kind reputation to get you a student body position next year that would look killer on a college application. You couldn’t run the risk of ruining it because of some gossip about being a bitch to the new kid, who hadn’t even been in town for a week. Besides, that familiar tingling of a guilty conscience seemed to whisper. You barely know the guy. At least give him a chance.

“Silly me,” you forced yourself to giggle for fear of biting the words out instead. You didn’t want to judge him preemptively, but there was something about him that set alarm bells off. “I must’ve forgotten. I can’t believe it’s Halloween already.”

“Honest mistake. I tend to have an effect on girls that leaves them forgetting a lot of things...” He moved to step closer into you, and that was when it hit you. You knew exactly who Billy reminded you of. Eric. Your douchebag of an ex-boyfriend who had left you scarred against relationships. As the blond in front of you leaned over you, you were struck with the flash of an image of green eyes instead of blue. You refused to give ground and carefully tried to breathe. You tried to remind yourself this wasn’t him. Hell, Billy probably didn’t even know the guy existed. He didn’t know what he was doing. He shouldn’t be written off because he reminded you of a monster. But it did send a worrying thought through your mind. You hoped you were wrong, but there was a nagging sense that you couldn’t be too careful. You needed to get away from him, now.

You sent him another falsely sweet smile and quickly scanned the cafeteria over his shoulder. Your eyes desperately searched as you forced yourself to back up a step, feigning butterflies when you were really just trying to buy yourself time. It was Pizza Friday, so he had to be somewhere nearby. He loved Pizza Friday. Nancy told you how he always ditched after class to make sure he got some. Surely he hadn’t wolfed it down that quickly... There. Your eyes landed on the luscious head of hair you had been searching for, and you practically leaped at your chance to escape. You let your eyes flit back to Billy, trying to send him a flirty smile whilst internally panicking.

“Sadly for you, I don’t forget things easily.” You let the words hang in the air, unsure if you meant them as a threat or a promise. If only he knew how true they were. “Guess you just got lucky this time.”

“Oh sweetheart, luck had nothing to do with it.” He stepped in closer again. Your heart had practically crawled up into your throat. You snapped your eyes back to Steve, praying either he or Nancy would somehow sense your distress.

“Y/n!” Steve called, waving you over after catching your eye. Finally, it seemed like someone was up there listening.

“Well, looks like we’ll have to see if lightning strikes twice. Catch you later.” You sidestepped the blond’s advance and, without giving him a chance to respond, made a bee-line for the couple’s table. You had to warn him. You couldn’t be sure, but you had a feeling you knew what the research, the quick invasion of the social scene, and his singling you out immediately meant.

Billy Hargrove was gunning to be king.

And he wouldn’t be the first guy to try and use you to get there.

taglist//

@asheseiler | @chaoticbillywrites | @speedmetalqueen | @keira1416 | @familybusinesswritingbro | @axxl-rose | @hargroves-dingus | @agustdpeach | @gracieadorable | @loveofshows | @queenmissfit | @octaviamoore-15 | @billysgodcomplex | @jojo-buttercup | @salemlysi | @beyxlm | @littledeadgirlwalking

[vianna-orchidia]

Rockin’ Star - Chapter 11

Raw provided by https://enstars.info

Proofread by peace on twitter

Mao: Those two are as close as ever, huh~

Subaru: We won't lose in terms of friendship! High five ☆

Come on, Hokke, don’t just stand there and watch, join in already. Let's show off our friendliness and make Ukki jealous!

Hokuto: Don't get me involved. Look, even Anzu is exasperated.

She went through all the trouble and gotsome rock to put in the player. We should take this chance to listen carefully and study it thoroughly.

We don't have much time, so cramming like this is still better than going in with nothing at all.

Mao: Rock, huh~ This might be a good experience, since we're doing something we've never done before.

Subaru: ~ ♪ ~ ♪

Mao: Hm? That Subaru, he's singing while playing electric guitar. As expected of him, he's already caught onto the image of rock~ ♪

I won't lose...!

~ ♪ ~ ♪

Subaru: ~ ♪ ~ ♪

Rei: Hmm. Looks like they have already immersed themselves in practice. Well done, well done ♪

Hokuto: You are... Sakuma-senpai.

We’re not familiar with rock, so we may cause various inconveniences for you. Please guide us well.

Rei: Of course. Feel free to ask me whenever you find yourself in trouble.

We elders do find enjoyment in spoiling youngsters, but teaching them is also another kind of pleasure.

Kaoru: Yahoo, Anzu-chan~ ☆

Thanks for helping out, even though you must be busy with the preparations for Halloween Party too. You're as kind as always.

But aren't you pushing yourself? You're fine? Ahaha, of course I'm worried for you, Anzu-chan.

Abandoning a cute girl when she's in trouble is wasting a one in a million chance—I mean, is unforgivable as a human being, you know?

You agree? Maybe I've finally understood your mind a little, Anzu-chan? I hope I can keep getting closer to you, and climb the ranks to be your friend ♪

Rei: Just a friend? That's quite a low goal. I thought you'd want to be Miss Anzu's number one.

Kaoru: Being someone's number one requires quite the resolution, you know?

I think this kinda relationship is better for now~ Besides, with a first impression like that, being a friend is already a feat.

Rei: Fufu, I see Kaoru-kun is learning. Perhaps, just as the clock hand ticks on, we too are moving forward.

Adonis: Hakaze-senpai, what is rock?

Kaoru: You surprised me. Suddenly cutting in our conversation and asking something basic like that.

Adonis: My apologies. I was going to ask Oogami, but he seems busy with Yuuki's training. I didn't want to disturb him when he's having fun.

Kaoru: It sounds like you're okay with disturbing me instead then, huh, Near Miss-kun? [1]

Adonis: Hakaze-senpai, my name is Adonis. I'm starting to suspect you forget my name purposefully.

Kaoru: Ahaha, sorry, sorry. Adonis-kun, right? I remember, don't worry~

That's cute of you, saying you don't wanna disturb Little Doggy. Your scary face and delicate heart makes a great gap~

All right. I'm in a good mood after talking to Anzu-chan, so Big Bro will tell you anything~

Rei: Kaoru-kun and Adonis-kun surprisingly have a good chemistry. Well then, I shall give my support to Trickstar's rock lesson. My fingers are itching~ ♪

Koga: Don't you dare collapse on me. You ain't some kid who can't stand without help.

It ain't even break time yet. We’re just gettin’ started.

Makoto: I've done dumbbell lifts that weigh more than me and run laps, and it's just the beginning...

Uuu, I've tasted the "Training from Hell" before, but it feels like it's leveled up now?

But I can't keep whining... Fight, me!

Koga: Cheerin' for yourself is dandy an' all, but how long are you gonna stay there? The longer you rest, the harder the schedule's gonna be in the end.

I'll give you some rest later, so go do ten rounds of weight lift!

Makoto: O-okay... U, uuuurgh!

Koga: What's wrong, Glasses Beansprout?! You're pale as hell! I know I got fired up about this whole trainin', but looks like you're at your limit.

You did good. The first time I had to kick your ass to get you movin', y’know. It's already a big leap.

It's like when apes finally evolved to humans.

Makoto: I'm not really sure if that's a compliment or not, but at least it means you've acknowledged me, right?

That's why I thought I couldn’t betray your expectations, but my limbs just can't seem to move even if I try.

Sorry, Oogami-kun. You made this training regime, but I can't even finish half of them...

Koga: Nah, I overdid it myself too, I knew I should've planned it accordin' to your progress.

But since we're on limited time, I kinda crammed too much stuff in there. Look forward to tomorrow, 'kay? ♪

Makoto: Ahaha, please go easy on me... ♪

Subaru: Ukki and Gami-san might just be best friends at the live if they keep this up. I wanna join in too~ ☆

Mao: You were already good friends with Koga and Makoto from the start, right~? Trickstar’s been on stage with UNDEAD before, after all.

We can read each other better than if we were teaming up with total strangers.

And we can further strengthen our teamwork by practicing together like this.

The genre this time is more like UNDEAD’s usual, but it can still be good points for us. I think there's nothing wrong with participating~ ♪

Subaru: We don't normally perform this kind of song on stage, so let's rock it, ahahaha... ☆

[1] Kaoru likes to make puns with Adonis' name, this time mistaking it into ニアミス (niamisu), probably hinting at how close he was from grating Kaoru's nerve.

[newl0ndonfire]

@wolfinogotbored (idk why I can’t tag you but I tag you in spirit) @lxnxlyghxst @murderhous @macaroni-necklace and whomever else saw and was interested

do any of y’all remember that story I mentioned writing a while back? I was going to post it for pride month but that didn’t happen since I was really tired thanks to work, so I’m sorry about that.

I wrote this story because this girl in my math class had to write a five(ish) page original story for her social justice class about a utopian or dystopian society that talks about something they talked about in class. her original idea was a utopian earth but all men were killed a century or more ago and if a baby is born male, the baby has a sex change so they become female. needless to say, this made me uncomfortable (why would you want to commit large-scale genocide against something people don’t choose? how is that a utopia? you do realize your teacher is a guy, right?), so I proposed a different story. she ended up liking my idea more but didn’t want to write it, so I told her I would because it was something I’d love to write myself.

anyways, I wrote this in like four hours and I doubt she proofread it, but it’s under the read more. comments and likes are appreciated!

Teachers and professors must either love listening to themselves speak or feel very passionately about what they teach, Nina muses.

As she walks home with her Catherine, her best friend for as long as either can remember, she ponders this and their teacher’s lesson, which they been released from only five minutes ago.

Nina can usually pretend to listen to her fellow blonde and best friend babble, unfortunately Nina simply can’t process what she’s saying today. They had their only class together this year today, but Catherine was whispering to Nina for the entire class.

Suddenly, Catherine turns to Nina and Nina can tell that she’s been caught.

“You know, we don’t have to walk and talk if neither of us are listening.”

“I’m sorry Catherine. Professor Roger’s lecture today wasn’t what I was expecting. I can’t stop thinking about all the years of meetings and debates that went into making the world like it is today.”

“It’s fine girl,” Catherine laughs, “I feel the same way. Can you imagine, a society that’s not separated by gender? It’d be so different.”

Nina smiles weakly at that, still lost in her thoughts. She distractedly says goodbye to Catherine, but knows that as best friends, she will be forgiven.

The walk to her apartment is still a few minutes longer, and Nina takes the time to reflect on how the world she knows came to be.

Differences between boys and girls had always been known, ever since humans first walked the earth. Oh sure, the differences were usually not too big of a deal, but 138 years ago, numerous world leaders gave up on appeasing both men and women with their proposed taxes, healthcare plans, insurance rates, and more by creating a city for men, a city for women, and a train connecting the two together that runs once in the morning and once at night every day. By keeping the two genders separate, it was believed that the governments of each city could better focus on the needs of its people as they relate to their gender. Besides, the cities themselves are often based off of stereotypes about the genders, but the people in the cities tend to be accepting of ideas and people who do not follow their city’s stereotypes.

As she turns around a corner, Nina can tell she is heavily distracted by her musing. Most people choose to either eat dinner or stay at home rather than venture outside at this time of night, as the sun has not been down long enough for it to be much cooler than the day was, so she is quite startled by plowing through and knocking over another person.

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Aaaaaahhhh! Please don’t kill me!” The person begs as they scramble backwards until their back hits the building’s wall.

Taking time to bring down her pulse, Nina peers at the shivering person in front of her. They are trembling in fear, covered in dirt, and wear little more than rags. Bruises and small cuts mottle their face, their skin is pale, oil and grime are clear to see in their brown hair, and their body looks slightly too skinny to be healthy. They clearly live on the streets, but Nina knows that there is both enough housing and food for everyone in Girl World. On first glance, the clothes appear to be dark grey or black, but Nina looks closer at the person’s clothes. The shadowy alley makes everything appear darker, but their clothes are too dark to belong to someone from Girl World.

“Are you, you know, a boy?”

The person whimpers and shies away, alarming Nina to the fact that she probably should have asked the question in a nicer way.

“Wait, no, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have that in that way,” Nina says as she crouches down to be at eye-level with the person. “Are you okay? What’s your name?”

“My name’s Jason, but I go by Jace”. The person curls inwards, as if they expect Nina to hit them.

“Alright Jace. Did you miss your train for Man Land?”

Jace’s eyes widen in fear. “No I-I don’t belong there. I know I was born and grew up with people thinking that I’m a guy, but I know I’m not.”

Nina has heard rumors of people feeling a similar way before. Alexa, a girl from her elementary school, told Nina about how she didn’t really feel like a girl most days and how she wished she was a boy instead. Nina didn’t understand at the time, but someone must have overheard them talk because the next day, Alexa was forced to sit on her own while the teachers looked at her with disgust. Alexa didn’t return to school after that, and all Nina can think about is how this is her chance to make something right in the world.

“It’s okay Jace,” Nina says soothingly. “I can’t say I understand how you feel, but I don’t think how you feel is wrong. You’re your own person and no one can tell you how to be yourself.”

Jace looks equal parts relieved and confused by that, as if she had never heard such a thing before. While Nina knows that her mom raised her to be far more open-minded than others, it seems impossible for someone to grow up without hearing similar reassurance from their parent or teachers.

“So, you don’t think I’m an abomination?”

Nina is thoroughly confused by Jace’s question. “How can you be evil for something you didn’t choose to be?”

Jace ducks her head down in shame, as if shedding tears at such a heavy subject was something to be ashamed of. “It’s what I was raised to believe.”

A lump forms in Nina’s throat, and she swallows before she can continue speaking to Jace. “You’re being yourself, and there’s no way someone can be wrong for being themself.”

Jace looks up, misty eyed and choking back tears. “Thank you.”

Nina offers a comforting smile to Jace. “You’re welcome.” Thinking once again of Alexa, Nina reflects on what she would be willing to give to Jace so that she can feel more comfortable with her gender given how she can’t feel more comfortable about her surroundings. “Are you here most nights? I can give you some of my unused or older clothes and stuff if you want.”

Jace’s smile at that shines despite the dim world around her.

                                                           ***

When she gets home, Nina goes through her nightly routine mechanically. She does her nightly aerobics and yoga, showers, eats dinner, and brushes her teeth in a daze. The same few questions swirl around her head.

Will Jace be safe tonight? How long has she been living on the streets? How many people feel the same as her? Is this normal for people like her?

She doesn’t rest easy that night.

                                                           ***

“Nina? Hello? Earth to Nina!”

Nina shakes her head, needing the physical reminder that staying in her own head doesn’t help anything. As much as she would love to help Jace more than she has been able to in the last week, outright telling someone about her would most likely not help her situation.

“Sorry Catherine. I’ve just been really distracted lately.”

Catherine quirks up an eyebrow at that. “I’ve noticed. You know, you can always talk to me about whatever you’re worrying about.”

Nina thinks about how to respond for a second and manages to only open her mouth before their teacher, Professor Judith Rogers, sweeps past and interrupts.

“I’m sure Nina appreciates the sentiment, but sometimes friends are simply not enough to help alleviate a problem”.

Both girls flash their Professors a smile, and they continue working, though Nina is still distracted.

                                                                       ***

“I’ve noticed recently that you’ve been distracted in class, Nina.” Professor Rogers clearly doesn’t pull any punches when she demands a private meeting. Her fingers are steepled yet her grandmotherly face provides Nina with the strength to finally tell someone about meeting Jace and how she’s been trying to help yet doesn’t understand how she can truly help her.

When Nina finishes, Professor Rogers simply lifts an eyebrow, as if asking if there was anything else Nina would like to share. “I had expected the world to change and start treating transgender people better a long time ago.”

Nina gasps while her mind begins racing with even more questions. What’s a transgender? Does it mean someone like Jace? Who does she know who has a similar secret to Jace’s? Is there a safe place for Jace to go where people will understand her? Is Professor Rogers like Jace?

Professor Rogers raises an elegant hand to stop Nina’s internal questions. “Before you ask, no I am not transgender myself. My wife - yes, teachers and professors can have private lives, thank you very much - was before she was murdered in the so-called accident eighteen years ago at one of the clothing factories in town. The supervisor at the factory where the incident occured believed that people were born either one gender or another. Frankly, I did as well, until I met my beloved Fran who showed me how that idea hurts people and kids like her.”

Nina is still shocked into silence by her beloved professor’s secret. She never would have guessed that about her professor!

“Thank you for bringing your friend - Jace, you said? - to my attention. I have known for a long time that change has been needed, but I did not realize how dire the situation was until you brought it up. I will talk to my supervisors immediately about this. Something has ought to be done, and fast. People deserve better.”

Nina is dismissed and walks out of the room shocked, yet hopeful for the future.

                                                                       ***

“…This change has been a long time coming, and I sincerely hope that it can help ease the strain of conforming to a set gender roles in the future. Thank you.”

Nina snaps back into focus when she hears people begin to clap after Girl World’s mayor finishes her speech. It’s only six months after she first met Jace, and already people have been incredibly willing to change and accept people who are questioning their gender or don’t see themselves as a boy or a girl. Plans for a slightly smaller city for the people “existing outside of the gender binary”, changes to the train tracks between Man Land and Girl World to include the new city, and an increase in the number of trains running between the cities each day would have seemed impossible only a few short months ago.

“Hey Nina, wait up!”

Nina turns, shocked at hearing Jace call out to her so openly, and even more so when she sees Catherine jogging alongside Jace.

“Hey. What’s up?”

Catherine and Jace both flash smiles at Nina. “Good news! I’m gonna be in your class with that professor you were telling me about! You know, the one who let the changes of today even happen.”

Nina’s mouth drops open in shock. “I’m so glad to hear that! When do you start?”

Jace flashes an even wider grin. “Today!”

Catherine claps Jace on the back. “I can’t wait for you to be in our class! You’re going to love Professor Rogers, I just know it.”

[miximax-hell]

Oh my, if it isn’t more @inavember stuff! Don’t get used to this, as there isn’t aaall that much I plan to do for this month, and not everything I want to do is related to this blog. Anyway, let’s try to make this enjoyable while it lasts!

I randomly found a MamoDai doodle I didn’t publish last time and I don’t really want to simply edit a super old post to add it since no one will see it, so I might as well do SOMETHING for once in my life and use this chance to write more about MamoDai, since it seems to be at least a couple of people’s favourite concept within this blog. And I don’t blame then.

This doodle is especially interesting, as it shows MamoDai’s early concept before my friend took part in it. …If you can call that “take part,” that is, but I explained that in the past and I won’t go over that again. ww As you may see, it isn’t very different to the final design, so it comes to show that there wasn’t much experimenting done because of how straightforward the whole process ended up being. Even today, MamoDai’s has been one of the easiest designs to come up with, as pretty much every single idea I ever had ended up making it to the final design due to the special conditions it was created under.

But we’re not here to discuss MamoDai’s design, as I did so thoroughly in a previous post. Instead, it’s about time to cover everyone’s my favourite subject, one I can’t believe I haven’t talked about yet. It’s time to talk about MamoDai’s powers!

For more information about that, please look under the cut.

As usual, let’s add some updates now that we’re done with the intro and past the cut! As some of you know, a couple of days after my last post about Hiroto, my girlfriend came to visit me and we spent almost two weeks together, roaming around my city and being extremely cheesy. Needless to say, after walking around for 10-12 hours everyday, I didn’t really feel like doing much else. Thank goodness I had nothing else to do and we could enjoy ourselves to the fullest. (And play KH lmao) And this same lovely, perfect girlfriend will help me by proofreading and editing 1-2 old stories of mine and making them presentable so I can finally post them to Tumblr during Inavember. Don’t worry, though—those won’t be posted here.

I have also been struggling with mail. I sent some parcels that my friends (including @ishidoshuuji @karasawr and my own girlfriend) never got, so I’ve been trying to fill out claims to try and locate those packages and make sure they either go where they should… or at least try to get my money back. It’s been a pain and the results have been terrible so far. Sigh… The only good thing is that I got to talk to a REALLY nice USPS worker. The second one I talked to was a little shit, but that’s karma, I suppose.

On the bright side, I… beat Super Mario Galaxy 2 and completed Portal? Well, they’re both top-notch games, so I guess it counts. And The Witch’s House too, along with my girlfriend! …Oh, and a super old and very terrible Star Wars game for PSX. That wasn’t so great, but at least it’s out of the way. I won’t complain.

And last, but by no means least, as you all know (and if you didn’t, you will now), 10/1 was EnYaga Day and 10/15 was True EnYaga Day. What you all must know by now is that I’m a very fervent EnYaga king shipper, so I have to celebrate those days properly with nice illustrations!

…However, there was an EnYaga Day on January that I didn’t celebrate (1/10) since I had just moved to America and all, so I want to do something special for this blog to make up for that day I missed. So, if you have any requests regarding Endou’s miximax with Yagami, be it in terms of what you’d like to know more about or what you’d like me to draw next, please let me know! I’m open to all kinds of suggestions!

Well, the rant’s out of the way, so it’s time to start! To do so, let me quote myself: “MamoDai is Endou’s true miximax, and the one who turns him into the incredible monster of a goalkeeper he was always meant to be.” After mentioning that in my last post about him, I said that that was a story for some other time, and that time has finally come.

The sentence I just quoted makes it pretty clear, but I’ll say it properly just in case: MamoDai is strong. Now, don’t get me wrong here. GouYuu is strong. SomeKyu is strong. Super Zanark is strong. But MamoDai is strong. Remember when I said I was trying to make my characters strong and nonetheless flawed because that’s what really spices things up?

I LIED.

Nah, just kidding. ww But MamoDai really is super strong, to the point where he might very well be the strongest character and miximax in this project. Is he undefeatable? Of course not—that would be no fun. However, he is indeed very, very tough to beat.

As you may know if you’ve read other posts, I always try to find a niche for everyone to make them all actually useful and relevant. I do this so no one can simply outclass someone else. I want them all to be good enough on their own. That’s why their perks aren’t usually “HE’S STRONG AND FAST AND WILL KICK YOUR SORRY ASS TO OBLIVION,” but something a bit more specific and unique. Megane’s outstanding luck, Someoka’s sheer bulldozing power, Tamano’s resistance, Midorikawa’s aerial plays… Something special no one else can have. And MamoDai’s perk is quite cool.

You all have watched or played Inazuma—you wouldn’t be here otherwise. Now, tell me: what happens whenever Raimon/Inazuma Japan/Chrono Storm/Earth Eleven comes across one of the strongest teams in every season/game? There’s always someone in the team saying, “How are we supposed to defeat people this strong?! It’s impossible!!”

Well, MamoDai makes the opposing team say this. His perk is having a strength so overwhelming that enemies can barely even believe someone that strong can exist. MamoDai is, quite literally, the Drama Destroyer, as it turns the tables around by showing overpowered people the true meaning of that word. This is part of the reason why Endou is the last one to get his miximax in this project—it would be completely ridiculous otherwise. As I said, MamoDai is not undefeatable, but you ought to save the best for last. It’d be stupid in terms of storytelling to show the absolute best miximax first and then bring miximaxes that can’t stand up to it coming one after the other. I guess no one would have seen that one coming, but still. ww

Anyway, what exactly are MamoDai’s powers? Let’s cover hissatsus first.

The boosted hissatsu here is quite tricky to point out, as many of Endou’s hissatsus are originally Daisuke’s. However, I think this calls for a middle point between classic and powerful. You could think God Hand would get boosted, but God Hand is rather weak, so even evolving it beyond Shin wouldn’t solve much. Same goes for Nekketsu Punch, Grenade Shot or Bakuretsu Punch. You could boost God Catch, since Daisuke inspired it and all, but he didn’t have much to do with it to begin with. Same goes for Ijigen The Hand, Ikari no Tettsui or even Triple Defense and Megaton Head (not to mention Endou boosted Megaton Head to the very limit himself, as shown by the fact that it turned into Gigaton Head).

Our last options would therefore be The Earth (which Yagami already boosted, so scratch that), Seiji no Tekken (which Daisuke never mastered himself, even if it was his idea), Omega The Hand (TEMPTING, but it doesn’t make a super ton of sense) or… Majin The Hand. In fact, this last idea is the most logical one, if you think about it coldly.

Majin The Hand was stated to be Daisuke’s strongest and signature hissatsu, after all—the one he used when he was a pro soccer player and all. Sure, Majin The Hand is far from Endou’s best hissatsu, but in terms of game canon, it’s always been pretty dang strong nonetheless. Boosting this hissatsu beyond all known limits (within the first trilogy, at least) could be rather useful, as it could easily be as strong as his more energy-consuming hissatsus—or even stronger—while still taking a much smaller toll on him. And it’s just a really cool technique overall! Did you all see the Ares version?! I’M SO HYPED.

As for what hissatsu Endou would get from Daisuke… Well, that is a very difficult question. Endou has pretty much learnt everything Daisuke ever created, after all. You could go for one of the techniques Endou didn’t learn himself, like Inazuma Otoshi or Mugen The Hand, but the team already has both, so it wouldn’t be very interesting. You could also go for God Hand X, since Rococo learnt how to use God Hand from Daisuke to begin with (the X variation might have been Daisuke’s doing too—who knows) and he even taught Sangoku how to use it, but, yeah, Sangoku can already use it. What’s the point, then?

The most interesting options are a bit more obscure. There is this one technique, exclusive to young Hibiki, called God Hand Triple. Hibiki, as we all know, was trained personally by Daisuke, so, much like God Hand X, it could very well be Daisuke’s creation. Even if it weren’t, though, it’s an extremely tempting option. The only downside is that it’s a combo hissatsu, and I try to avoid those as much as I can. However, Chrono Storm did get a combo hissatsu at the very end: Saikyou Eleven Hadou. This could be our chance to create some, uh, parallelism with it? We got a shot last time, so a catch would be nice now. I guess.

Anyway, the other good option is, luckily, a single player hissatsu. It’s one that I will get complaints for, though—mostly from myself. Since Endou is receiving Daisuke’s powers, he could borrow Daisuke’s God Hand, combine it with his own and, therefore, get God Hand W. Now, I’ll list every problem I see with this idea. Let me know if there’s any I missed.

1.       In terms of anime (or movie) canon, Tenma can already use this and I just said it’s pointless to repeat techniques. You could go around this by saying that it makes no sense for Tenma to use a catch hissatsu or say that the movie isn’t canon since it happened in an AU of sorts, but still.

2.       Daisuke never used God Hand W himself, so it doesn’t make all that sense. Then again, for example, Big couldn’t use Ouja no Kiba and Fei got it from miximaxing with him. (Yes, I know you can scout Big’s gijinka in Galaxy and he can use that technique, but we all know that’s not canon at all, much like Nobunaga being able to use Setsuna Boost, etc. ww)

3.       In terms of game canon, young Endou can already use God Hand W, so getting this technique from mixitransing would make little sense. You could argue that this is young Endou within his own universe and he got that technique in the Go games, so it isn’t canon plot-wise, but I’ve already talked about other IE characters using Go techniques, so you all would have many reasons to be mad at me for twisting the rules as I find it fitting (even if the case isn’t exactly the same). What am I, a politician?

I’ll let you guys (assuming anyone reads this) decide whether God Hand W would be a good option or not. But, for now, let me suggest something else.

How about going way, way, way back to the first time this concept was ever shown, back in episode 13 of the original series? This is what we got back then when Endou tried to use God Hand with both hands.

Yes, it was probably meant to be some kind of normal, big hand, but it looks like a straight hand instead of the usual grabby… thing. Couldn’t, therefore, Endou’s take on the combination of two God Hands be something like a… God Palm? It’s a technique he never mastered himself, as he only used it once (or maybe twice at some point?), so the miximax could help him develop it further and, of course, complete it. There goes a thought.

So, yeah. Tricky stuff here. Excuse me for not sharing more than simple thoughts instead of, well, finished things, but at least it isn’t the first time this happens. ww I accept all kinds of feedback or ideas, though!

This time, I decided to save the most boring part for last. To end things off, let’s talk about how Daisuke would change Endou’s abilities.

As I said when I talked about EnYaga’s abilities, Endou’s strength, as a goalkeeper, has always been based on resistance, power and stillness. All these abilities, which pretty much disappeared (or, at least, weren’t boosted at all) when Endou miximaxed with Yagami, are pushed to ungodly—pun intended—limits thanks to Daisuke. The blood and emotional bond makes this miximax reach a power not seen ever since Yuuichi miximaxed with Tsurugi, and we all saw how incredibly strong that was. I even talked about how the bond between vessel and aura can affect the outcome of the miximax back in the day, so there’s that.

Endou’s natural catching and blocking ability (which, in the games, is stronger than Daisuke’s—probably because Daisuke is already old) is doubled or even tripled thanks to this miximax. If there is a single true iron wall in this project, that’s definitely MamoDai. Daisuke always insisted on how a goalkeeper’s power is based on how much strength he has on his stomach because that’s what will allow him to block a shot without being wrecked by it, so MamoDai is able to anchor himself to the ground and not even budge most of the time. It’s fearsome. That’s what I meant when I said he would be reversing the roles and scaring enemies for once. About time something like that happened!

The rest of his abilities—kicking capability, speed, etc.—receive a small boost too, as per usual, but nothing all that extraordinary. You won’t be seeing MamoDai scores many more goals than before, unlike EnYaga, but that’s why it comes in handy to give Endou two different trump cards to choose from… even though one of them is FAR better at what it does than the other. Oh well!

[mrshopkirk]

The Workout

Well, this is it. I hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know what you think.

Characters: Steve x Bucky, Avengers, Lance Tucker

Summary: Steve thinks the Avengers can use a different work out so he seeks help. The Avengers and especially his boyfriend Bucky are not happy with the new trainer, an Olympic gold medalist called Lance Tucker.

Warnings: swearing, sexual innuendo, people taking showers

Word count: 4158

Notes: AU!avengers. I think it’s quite obvious that I like Stucky. For those that don’t like it, you can kind of replace Bucky/Steve with your name. Whatever rocks your boat. Thank you @hellomissmabel for proofreading. I love you, sweetheart. Feedback is appreciated.

*MASTERLIST*

Steve is already at the gym when the rest of the team arrives. He’s excited. Bucky can tell. He loves that. It makes his ass wiggle so cute. He has his head cocked to the side and… giggles? What the hell?

“Hey sweetheart, what puts you in such a good mood this morning?”

When Steve turns around, all Avengers stop dead in their tracks when they see there’s another figure behind him. Steve’s faced is flushed, a shy smile still on his face and he looks giddy when he steps aside.

“Guys, this is Lance Tucker. He’s a Olympic gold medalist and he’s going to be training us.”

“Training us? Don’t we work out enough?” Tony asks.

“We train enough on strength and ground combat. It’s time we focus more on agility and flexibility, and that’s why Lance is here.” ‡

Steve straightens his back and talks in that Captain America voice that means business. No matter what they say, the Avengers know they’ll end up training with that guy in front of them, already making a bad impression with the overconfident smile plastered on his face. Bucky tugs at the sleeves of his shirt. He’s glad he wore a long sleeved one so the stranger can’t see his arm, but he already knows these are going to be hot training sessions.

“Psst, Tony? Don’t you think this guy looks like Bucky?”

Bucky turns around in shock. “What the fuck, Sam? He doesn’t look anything like me!”

The rest of the team furrows their brows as Bucky fails to see the uncanny resemblance. The hair is shorter, yes, and he’s more tanned than Bucky but the jawline, the color of his eyes and hair, the full lips, he’s almost identical. The only difference is the cocky attitude that Bucky lacks and Lance Tucker is full of. As soon as he opens his mouth, the self-satisfaction drips from his words. Captain America himself has asked for his expertise. The fact that the same Captain America is acting like a teenager with a crush makes him even smugger.

The exercises prove to be more difficult and intense as expected. Nat is the best obviously, making a statement by putting Lance in a headlock when he challenges her to show him her best move. The smiles on the Avengers’ faces drop as Lance seems to thoroughly enjoy the feeling of being trapped between the widow’s legs.

“You’re tight,” giving her a wink for good measure. They should have seen that coming to be honest.

Clint’s pretty good as well. Then follows Steve who is trying to impress Lance and visibly revels in every compliment Lance throws his way. Bucky isn’t bad either though he’s clearly less athletic than Steve. He never minded that but now it annoys the hell out of him. Sam and Tony? Training with Lance is a living hell. Their bodies are broken by the end of every training session; their muscles sore and their motivation and self-esteem down the drain. The constant exasperated sighs of Lance aren’t motivating either.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You’ve got to be kidding me. You can fly but you can’t land on your feet without tumbling over? The world is doomed if we have to depend on you guys.” Lance shuts Sam up by simply raising his hand and walking away before he can even reply. He’s baffled. The only thing that’s motivating is finding ways to get rid of that little shit.

They were all fuming when they heard Lance talk over the phone about how he wants to motorboat Nat’s “cans” and that she was just playing hard to get. The comment about Steve wanting a piece of his ass drew the line. It took all Sam, Tony and Clint had to keep Bucky and Nat from ripping his head off.

Steve gasps and drops his water bottle. Explaining an exercise, the shirt of Lance rises up displaying his perfect abs and toned body. The ribbon that's tattooed on his lower abs is on full display, drawing attention to the stubble that's revealed by his sweats that hang low on his hips, putting his perfect V out there for everyone to see. Sam and Tony huff in annoyance. Bucky on the other hand clenches his jaw in utter annoyance. Not because that asshole is making a spectacle out of it. No, Bucky's annoyed by Steve whose jaw dropped to the floor and stays there. His eyes are fixed on the tattoo guiding his gaze towards the obviously outlined masculinity in Lance’s pants.

When Lance lands back on the mat, he sees Steve crouched down on the floor picking up his water bottle. He runs his hands through his hair and catches Steve staring at his tattoo. Lance juts out his chin in an overly confident manner, his fingers pointing to his crotch.

“That’s where the gold is, Captain,” he drawls out the last word and chuckles when Steve drops his bottle a second time and blushes crimson at being caught.

Tony’s more than done with Steve’s little infatuation with the spray tan man. He hits him over the head while walking by. “Close your mouth, Cap. I don't need to see what you had for breakfast this morning.”

Nat walks by next and hits him over the head as well. “Some respect for your boyfriend might be in order, Steve.”

The next thud comes from Sam followed by Clint, “What they said.”

Steve’s rubbing his head when he feels a firm warm chest pressed up against his back. Bucky gives him his water bottle that he picked up and growls in his ear, wiggling his metal arm in front of him. “Thought you liked silver, sweetheart.”

“I hate that dude.” Sam complains, limping towards the showers. The training is tough on Sam and Tony. While Nat and Clint are more agile, it’s still wearing them out too. When Bucky drags his tired form in they all give him compassionate looks. It’s worse on him than anyone else. Besides the fact that he’s far from as athletic or graceful in his moves as Steve, he has to endure seeing his boyfriend ogling the new trainer.

“I don’t get what Cap sees in him,” Tony says.

“Well, he kind of looks like Bu-.” Clint is cut off short.

“HE LOOKS NOTHING LIKE ME! Why does everyone keep saying that?!”

Nat is the first one to speak out loud what everyone thinks. “We need to get rid of Lance. We need to get Steve to fire him.”

“How are we going to do that?” Sam asks, his arms crossed over his chest.

“We need to make Steve jealous.”

Bucky is sitting on the bench, his head in his hands when he feels all eyes on him.

“I can’t ask you to do that, Nat,” he says.

“Well, Steve won’t get jealous if I try to get with Lance.” She cocks her eyebrow and stares Bucky in the eye. “I’m afraid you’ll have to take one for the team, Buckaroo,” Nat deadpans. The rest of them nod.

“He has to go but if this little fucked up plan of yours goes wrong, you’re all dead. I’ll kill you guys if Steve dumps me because of this.”

“You do realize he’s really going to kill us if this thing blows up in our faces, right Nat?” Clint says when Bucky disappears in the shower.

“I’ll have a Quinjet ready,” Tony adds.

The next morning, Bucky is the first one down and Lance is already there like he hoped he would be. Bucky looks at him. There is nothing he finds even remotely attractive about him. He doesn’t like the overdose of gel in his hair. He doesn’t like the way he chews his gum. He doesn’t like how white his teeth are. He hates the cocky look on his face. He shivers when he sees that overly confident swag and those stupid sunglasses in his shirt. He’s way too tanned and always wears that stupid outfit. He hates the way he always puts people down or embarrasses them in front of others. But most of all he hates the way Steve looks at him, the way his boyfriend’s breath hitches in his throat when he stands close to him, the way his face turns red when Lance flashes him a smile or tells him he’s done a good job. So he swallows down his pride and the way his heart hurts in his chest as he thinks about flirting with another man when all he wants is Steve. By now the team has arrived and he looks at them. The only one that’s even trying to argue about other options with Nat, is Sam.

He’s not even sure how he has to do this. Lance loves women. He’s as straight as they come. But Nat said he likes attention, everyone’s attention, including men, and so Bucky finds himself walking over to Lance.

“Excuse me… Lance,” Bucky drawls while he’s leaning against the wall where Lance is unpacking his stuff. Lance looks up and has this lopsided grin on his face that Bucky immediately wants to smack of his face. His body betrays him and his fists clench involuntarily. Lance looks at his bulging muscles in admiration because no matter what people think of Bucky, those arms are impressive, especially for someone as obsessed with upholding a glorious body as Lance Tucker. So Bucky flexes his arms again, gaining all of Lance’s attention.

“Yes, Barnes?” Lance takes a swig of water trying to mask the fact that he’s awestruck.

“I was really impressed by that exercise you showed us yesterday. Like really really impressed.” Bucky looks him over with hooded eyes and Lance is relishing the attention that’s bestowed on him. “But I can’t seem to do it and I was wondering if you want to help me with it.” Bucky pulls the tie out of his hair and makes a new bun while pushing out his chest and making the fabric of his shirt stretch sinfully over his arms and rise up. Lance doesn’t know where to look.

“Did he just make Lance blush?” Sam asks incredulously. “Damn, that man really can charm the pants of anyone and he’s not even trying.”

And so when Steve walks in the gym that morning, he’s greeted with a meek ‘hey’ from his teammates and the sight of his sweaty boyfriend hanging from one of the beams while Lance Tucker has his hands on the bare skin of Bucky’s hips where his shirt has crawled up and his shorts hang low. He can see Lance’s fingers gripping Bucky’s body tightly while Bucky cracks a joke about being ticklish.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea. He’s fucking pissed off already. Look at Nat, man.” Sam whispers to Tony. Both men watch as Nat gets up yet again after being thrown off Steve’s shoulders, not being able to hold the headlock like she usually does with ease.

“That just means it’s working.”

“Well, I’m not sparring with him today. Good luck,” and Sam pushes Tony towards their seething captain.

“Shoulder giving you trouble?”

After the training session, Lance hears a deep vibrating voice behind him. He’s not into guys but man, it does feed his always hungry ego that besides Captain America even the Winter Soldier takes a liking to him. And he must admit the feeling of Bucky’s big warm hand rubbing his shoulders feels damn good. The man certainly packs some power in those fingers. Too bad he’s not using the metal one too though. Bucky knows it’s driving Steve crazy that he’s touching another man. He decides to step up his game and grips Lance’s shoulders tight, eliciting a moan from the man in the process who leans his head back against Bucky.

“God, you’re rock hard,” Lance comments on his abs. In the gym the loud clang of metal weights hitting the ground is heard with a petrified Steve standing next to them.

“You okay there, baby?” Bucky innocently asks, his hand still on Lance’s shoulders rubbing small circles on them. Steve glares at him and walks away.

At the end of the next training session, Steve finds Bucky talking to Lance again and smiling wide after he emerges from the shower. It stings.

While Steve still gets compliments from Lance, Bucky seems to move closer to Lance every day. He stands next to Lance instead of at the back of the room when he explains the exercises of the day, asks for help on moves that Steve is sure he can perfectly do already, and asks to help him adjust his body to achieve the correct posture, always requiring Lance to touch him in one way or the other.

The team notices the angry scowls Steve is starting to give Lance, and they swear they could hear him mutter profanities under his breath when Lance has one of his legs between Bucky’s to wide his stance.

Just when everyone starts to think their scheme is working, much to the relief of Bucky, things take a turn for the worse.

How or why the team finds themselves sitting in a bar waiting for Lance the fucker Tucker, as Tony started calling him, is beyond them. By now Steve wants to make Bucky jealous but has no clue how. He was never good at flirting or making a move. If Bucky hadn’t kissed him first he’d still be pining after him, thinking the man only liked girls and his right hand would still be his best friend. He sighs when Bucky takes his hand in his, his fingers gently caressing his knuckles. Steve feels Lance slide in the booth next to him and the excessive amount of cologne on the man makes him sneeze.

“Bless you, Captain.”

“Thank y-“ When Steve looks at Lance; the wind is knocked out of him. He’s not wearing his usual blue sweatpants and red track jacket but a dark navy blue pea coat. Lance feels on top of the world with the impact he has on Captain America and he winks at him trying to provoke him even more. And yes, of course Lance Tucker wins gold again, he triumphantly thinks, when Steve blushes profusely.

“Hey, what’s the matter, babe?” Bucky asks after feeling Steve tense up, but he stops talking when Steve pulls his hand from his and looks away.

“What the hell is he doing?” Nat seethes.

While Steve tries to get his act together again, Lance’s eyes are already scanning the room looking for a hot body to bang. He shoots some of the women his sultry smile while he scrunches up his nose, not hiding his aversion, at the ones he doesn't deem worthy of his attention and body. His behavior makes even Tony cringe.

“Well, don't wait up for me.” Lance laughs and walks over to some woman in a top that's hardly covering her breasts. It takes all but five minutes before Lance lets his hands slide down her arms and onto her breasts. Sam almost spills his drink and Clint almost chokes on his. The woman’s taken aback but as soon as Lance’s hands glide further down her body and pulls her between his legs, he whispers something in her ear, making her giggle. Whatever it is he said, it works because they walk out while Lance slaps her ass. He turns around and winks at Steve who swallows hard. Bucky can't do anything but stare in disbelief at the scene in front of him.

“If you'll excuse me, I'm going to the restroom.” Steve slides out of the booth.

“What the hell was that?” Clint growls. “Not even Tony acts that way.”

“Hey! I'm sitting right here!”

Nat leans towards Bucky placing her hand on his arm. “How are you holding up, soldier?”

The look in Bucky's eyes tells her nothing. His face is blank unlike mere minutes before. His tense body on the other hand tells her all she needs to know.

Walking back to the tower, Steve avoids any physical contact with Bucky.

“What’s going on with Lance, Steve?” Bucky sighs when they get back to their room.

Steve avoids looking Bucky in the eyes, worrying Bucky even more.

“Do you,” he clears his throat, “do you like him? Like you like me? Or more than me?” he almost whispers, sitting on his knees in front of Steve, desperate for him to look him in the eyes. “You know I love you, right? But you hardly looked at me all night, sweetheart. You even pulled back your hand.”

“He reminds me of you,” Steve answers in a flat voice.

Bucky’s eyes go wide-open, disbelief written on his face. Lance Tucker reminds Steve of him. He is nothing like that man. It’s a fucking insult being compared to that man.

“The way he looks and then he picked up that woman,” he sighs and looks up at Bucky.

“This guy talked to that girl for five minutes and grabbed her boobs. How does that remind you of me? I’m not perfect but when have I ever treated a lady like that, Steve?” He blinks his eyes rapidly, looking at the man he loves. “Have I ever treated you like that?”

“You grabbed…”

“Jesus Steve! I squeezed your boobs once!” Bucky exclaimed. “It was a joke! Tony dared me to grab someone’s boobs that night. It was you or Natasha.” He runs his hands through his hair. “Seriously, THAT reminded you of me?” He shakes his head, disappointed. “You think that little of me?” He walks out of their room before Steve can say something.

Bucky doesn’t go back to their room that night, leaving Steve alone with his thoughts. He walks over to his desk and pulls out his notebook that holds a picture of Bucky with his hair slicked back, wearing his navy blue Howling Commando coat. Lance looks so much like him. It simply catches him off guard every damn time and he still feels the need to impress that Bucky from the forties.

After the fiasco at the bar and Steve’s comment, Bucky decides to get rid of Lance straightaway. The next morning he strides over to him, Sam’s grasp on his arm not strong enough.

“Tucker, you need to go.”

Lance spreads his leg and crosses his arms. “Is that so, Barnes?”

“Yup,” and Bucky reaches for Lance’s bag and starts packing.

“Why now? Don’t like the way your boyfriend looks at me? That he likes what he sees?” He looks right at Bucky, challenging him. One has to admit it, the Avengers do not intimidate Lance Tucker nor does a bad tempered Bucky Barnes.

Bucky’s struggling to keep his composure and but it’s the truth. Steve likes what he sees when he looks at Lance and he used to look at him that way. Lance has a perfect body no matter how he hates to admit it, while his own body looks like it’s been put in a grinder. He sighs, “That’s exactly why, yes.”

“Ok.”

Bucky is surprised. That was too easy.

“On one condition.” Bucky doesn’t like the look in Lance’s eyes. He just knows it has something to do with him. “I want to touch it.”

“Touch what?”

“That.” The tip of Lance’s finger hovers close to Bucky’s covered arm.

“No.”

“Then I stay. Start warming up.”

Bucky clenches his fists, making the plates whir and it excites Lance, making him bite his lip. For Steve, he thinks. The sooner this man is gone, the better. Bucky closes his eyes and takes off his long sleeved shirt. The top he’s wearing underneath shows his arm but not the scars. Lance’s eyes widen.

“Never thought something that’s only silver could look this good.” He degrades Bucky’s arm even more by a lousy and snarky remark.

Bucky braces himself with his flesh hand on the wall behind Lance, takes a deep breath and extends his arm for the hands of this asshole to touch it. His hands slide over the plates, feeling the curves, while Bucky’s breath hitches, just as Steve walks in.

“HEY!” His booming voice startles them both. Lance jumps and Bucky sighs relieved. “Hands off my man!”

“I was just leaving. Training is over. None of you are going to get any better than this.” Lance conceitedly says.

In an instant Bucky stands behind Steve, hiding and peering over his shoulder at the retreating figure. As soon as Lance walks out the gym, Steve feels Bucky’s hands slides across his waist and grip him tight, burying his face in the crook of his neck.

“Make it go away. Make his touch go away, Stevie,” he murmurs.

So Steve turns around, a warm smile on his face, and kisses Bucky’s neck and shoulder, running his fingertips over his arms, followed by his lips on every plate. He turns his lover’s hand upwards and kisses the inside of it and the tips of his fingers, murmuring his I love you’s along the way.

“Baby, you did that for me?” Steve whispers, cupping Bucky’s jaw to look him in the eye.

“You’re only supposed to look at me like that, Stevie. It hurt so bad. His body’s flawless and mine-”

“Let me show you how perfect you are to me,” and he kisses Bucky with all the love he has to give.

While they lie in bed in together, Bucky’s looking at Steve’s picture-perfect face.

“You know, if you like tattoos, I could get one,” Bucky suggests, shrugging his shoulders. “You can draw it.”

“Really?” Steve blushes a little because it means he’s admitting he really liked Lance’s tattoo. Not the tattoo itself though, that was tacky as hell. He grabs a pencil and his sketchbook, sticking the tip of his tongue out while he starts to draw.

Bucky takes a nap before heading out to the gym later that afternoon. Grabbing his gym bag he sees Steve’s sketchbook and some tentative attempts at designing a tattoo for him. He likes the idea, having something of Steve permanently inked on his body. Meanwhile he can’t help but think about Steve and the hot dream he had about him, Steve’s hands all over his body, his soft touch, his hot breath fanning over his lower abdomen. After the workout, Bucky thinks, after.

The time in the gym took way longer than Bucky really wanted. All he wanted was to get his hands on Steve and Steve noticed. Every chance Bucky got he was touching some part of him, a lingering touch on his arm, his nose nudging his ear, his hand sliding down his back. While Tony, Sam and Clint make their way to the showers and Nat to hers, Bucky seizes his opportunity and pushes Steve up against a wall, kissing him hard, pushing his body up against his, his hands roaming over his chest and tickling his sides making Steve squirm. He loves that. Steve is wiggling against his body, breath coming out in short pants and his cheeks turn adorably pink when he laughs. A happy Steve Rogers is a sight to behold and he is all his. Bucky cups his face and kisses him.

“You’re mine.”

“And you’re mine, Bucky. And I’ll show it to the world. Starting with our friends.” He chuckles and smoothly escapes Bucky’s grip and heads towards the shower.

Steve’s practically finished showering by the time Bucky arrives and starts washing his hair.

“What the fuck, man?!” Sam shouts.

Tony and Clint snap their heads and their gaze follows Sam pointing finger. Clint doubles over in laughter and Steve hops out of the shower.

“What? Why are you pointing at my-?”

Bucky looks down at the particular body part Sam is pointing at and then he sees it. The reason why he dreamt about Steve’s breath fanning across his body, the soft touches. There it is, in all its glory, a black drawing… right above his…

“God dammit, Steve! What the hell did you do?”

“I tried out a tattoo,” he snickers, tears in his eyes, fumbling to get his clothes on as fast as possible. “Do you,” he’s laughing again, “do you like it?”

“No! How am I supposed to like this? It says “Steve’s” and it’s a black arrow pointing towards my dick.”

“It just takes some getting used to, baby.”

“I’m not getting used to this. It’s coming off right now!”

It’s a sight for sore eyes, Bucky Barnes furiously washing himself, soap and foam dripping down his legs. Something gets tossed in the shower, landing in front of Bucky’s feet with a soft thud.

“Forget it, Buck. That’s not coming off any time soon,” Clint says picking up the black sharpie pen, “It says permanent.”

Shampoo dripping down his face, Bucky bellows, “You better run, Rogers!! I’m coming after you!”

TAGLIST:   @callamint  @laterthantherabbit   @aubzylynn  @you-and-bucky   @harleyqueen7  @beccaanne814-blog  @hardcorehippos  @ursulaismymiddlename  @buckyywiththegoodhair  @hellomissmabel  @blacwings-and-bucky-barnes  @abovethesmokestacks   @eve1978  @winterboobaer   @blacwings-and-bucky-barnes  @howiseethesethings  @s8sense @emilyevanston   @thatawkwardtinyperson

BROKEN TAGS: @brokennoone  @10kindsofderp  

STUCKY: @bone-of-my-bones

[jordan202]

My Boys Drabbles - Lucas (Part One)

Thank you @jia911 for proofreading this!

This story is from the series My Boys Drabbles but it can also be read as a independent one shot.

Prompt:

People have asked me to write about Lucas’s previously mentioned difficult birth. I stretched it and made it all the way from the discovery of the pregnancy and I plan to take it all the way to parenthood. @hurricaneawelia and @cizavilation are the minds behind this prompt.

Timeline:

This one sets after Omelia’s fight and make up around 13x09 (you can read that HERE) and it intertwines with the events of THIS. When this story starts, they’ve been married approximately for 7 months.

My Boys Drabbles – Lucas (Part One) 

Amelia distractedly looked over her phone, trying not to focus on the clock, otherwise those minutes would never pass. It wasn’t the first, second or even third time in her life that she took a home pregnancy test. As expected, she was a little anxious and nervous about the result but deep down she knew it was most likely a new negative.

About seven months before, she’d married an amazing man who had introduced her to a world full of new possibilities. When Amelia’s first insecurities had started to show, right in the moment she’d decided to share some of her past with him, Owen had been amazingly supportive, revealing to her a scarred part of himself to let her know he was just as invested in making their relationship work. That had led Amelia to jump in with both feet, becoming instantly excited about the idea of starting a family with him.

But it hadn’t taken the neurosurgeon long to find out once again that demons from the past always caught up with a person, no matter how hard one tried to avoid their presence. A deeply buried box of feelings, insecurities and traumatizing experiences had emerged the minute Amelia had started dealing with long avoided emotions. Soon enough, completely taken over by fear, she had repeated what had often worked as a defense mechanism before and ran away as fast as she could, denying every feeling within herself.

To her surprise, Owen had followed her and he’d given her the strength Amelia hadn’t known she needed to move on. Her husband had held and comforted her while actually listening. He had understood and in that moment, Amelia knew that that was the man she wanted to build her entire future with.

Knowing about her reservation about becoming pregnant, Owen had patiently suggested they considered other possibilities. Even though that had comforted Amelia back then, at the present moment she was leaning towards the traditional course. She wanted to carry Owen’s baby, knowing this would make his biggest dream come true. Her husband had never pushed her to do it, even though he had confessed that seeing her pregnant with his baby was one of his most latent desires. And slowly, over the six months they’d been together, Amelia’s excitement about having his baby had progressively overcome the fear that had once been so flagrant.

Of course Amelia still had doubts and insecurities. She knew those would never vanish. But right now, there was also hope. And the undying certainty that no matter what happened, with Owen by her side, they were capable of going through anything.

She was so distracted by her own thoughts that her eyes took longer than needed to examine the stick. Just the previous week, Amelia had taken one of those and it came back negative. Over the past six months she and Owen had casually discussed trying again but never really making an official decision. She hadn’t stopped taking the pill but was being way more reckless than usual. Which was why the two lines on the home pregnancy test shouldn’t have surprised her.

But they did.

The surgeon sat on the toilet for what felt like hours, examining the life changing information in her hands. Amelia thought about how once, about six weeks before, she had asked Owen to put a baby inside of her on the same morning she’d told him she was going to add his name to hers.

Owen had been exhilarated when she’d shared her desire to have a traditional, boring, ordinary life with him. It had always been his biggest dream to have a big family with wife and kids. Amelia knew this moment would be an unforgettable one for them. And she couldn’t wait to tell him.

.

Owen stood still while holding his wife fiercely in his arms. She had just given him the most amazing news. He had come home on an ordinary evening blissfully unaware, only to find out that that day would turn out to be nothing but ordinary.

Amelia was pregnant with their child and never in his life had he felt prouder. Not only was she carrying his baby, she was also excited to be doing so. The last time Owen had received news such as those, his heart had been shattered into a thousand pieces. A part of his soul had been taken the day he’d had to sit through the procedure that had robbed him of the possibility to become a father. But all was different now. And Owen had to cling to that with every fiber of his being. He couldn’t afford losing another part of his soul. He wasn’t sure he would survive it.

“Owen?” Amelia called him out, seeing he had his arms still tightly wrapped around her and didn’t seem to want to let go.

His lack of response made her frown and let her know something wasn’t right. Gently, Amelia pulled apart, unconsciously holding onto the diamond ring that represented the promise he’d just made to her. Owen had vowed that he would always be there for her and their child. She believed him with everything she had. Owen was going to be an amazing father just as he was an amazing person. The family man in him was very much alive and Amelia loved it.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” She forced him to look at her and noticed a dark shadow clouding the usual liveliness of his light blue eyes. “Are you okay?” Amelia hesitated, startled by the expression on his face. That was not at all what she’d expected to see. “Are you… Are you having doubts about this?”

Owen kept looking at her as if he was frozen in time and space and Amelia swallowed hard, fearing the words that would come out of his mouth when he eventually spoke. The fact that she had no idea what was on his mind was scary and startling, but Amelia was doing her best to contain her anxiety.

“You’re keeping it, right?” Owen asked with a hoarse voice and Amelia could swear he was going through a painful battle of emotions. He knew Amelia wanted to have kids and she wouldn’t get rid of them because she didn’t want to be a mother. But maybe her fear of carrying a child would lead her to do it. He needed to know. Owen needed to be sure because once he let himself get involved, he knew he would be instantly carried away with an undying love for their kid. And he couldn’t risk losing another one.

His doubt hit her harder than she would have imagined. Amelia wasn’t offended by his question because she understood where it came from. Several times before, they’d discussed her traumas and he’d understood every reservation she had about having a child because of what she’d been through.

But very few times they’d gone over the fact that once Owen had lost a child too. He hadn’t been able to hold his baby in his arms but the pain and agony had been there all the same. He’d desired a child, conceived one and ultimately had been denied the possibility of being the father he had always dreamed of being. Amelia didn’t know what that was like, but she could imagine that like her, he had also gone through soul shaping pain and the repercussion of that trauma was the fear stamped in his eyes when he’d asked her that simple but very important question.

“Of course I’m keeping it,” She teared up as their eyes met. Amelia could spot all the expectation and anxiety there and his smile of relief when she answered his question made her heart swell with emotions. “Owen, this is our child. I’m in this for real. This is us building a family together. I’m all in, I want this… More than anything, I want this.”

Owen didn’t have good enough words to express how he felt. Before Amelia could see it, she felt him kneeling down in front of her, gently reaching out for her shirt. She was pulled forward when Owen’s arms wrapped around her hips and his lips touched the sensitive skin below her bellybutton.

Amelia chuckled and dug her fingers through his hair, hearing the delicious sounds of the kisses he was planting on her lower belly. Owen smiled as he rejoiced in that new reality. His wife was pregnant and he was able to thoroughly enjoy it, rather than having to spend his time convincing her why she should keep it. Amelia had been pregnant once but that experience was entirely new for her too because in her previous pregnancy, she had been all alone. That was not her reality anymore.

“How far along are we?” Owen asked, splaying one hand on her lower abdomen, proudly.

Amelia noticed his choice of pronoun and smiled lovingly at him.

“I don’t know, I just took the urine test today… But considering my last period I’d say we’re about five or six weeks.”

“So it’s very early on,” Owen held her hips and kissed her non existing bump once again before standing up to stare into her eyes.

“It is,” Amelia confirmed with a head nod, unable to stop smiling. Her top was still pulled up when she pressed her body against his.

“Good,” Owen added with an approving smile. “I want to enjoy every single moment we possibly can.”

Amelia saw the excitement in his eyes and couldn’t help standing on the tips of her toes to give him a kiss on the lips.

“Do you want to find out tomorrow?” She asked him excitedly. “With the Ultrasound, I mean? We can find out exactly how far along we are.”

Amelia hadn’t yet taken a blood test to confirm the pregnancy but she was fairly sure she was indeed pregnant. After her first urine test came back positive, she’d taken another and it’d showed the same result. She was also a few weeks late and that never happened.

“Of course I do,” Owen replied with happiness stamped in his eyes. He still couldn’t believe it was real. “Do you think we’ll be able to see the heartbeat? I really want to see the heartbeat,” He realized.

“Absolutely,” Amelia replied, contaminated by his effusive joy. Despite all her reservations and fears, she also couldn’t wait for that moment.

.

Later that night, Amelia wasn’t surprised when, the minute she crawled into bed, Owen held her in his arms and captured her lips on a tempting kiss. His smile when he pulled apart said it all and she rolled over to his top, allowing him to undress her.

Owen lay back against the pillows, fully admiring his view as he slowly pulled Amelia’s shirt up through her arms. His hands rubbed her arms affectionately and she leaned over, holding his face between his hands as she pulled him in for another long, passionate kiss.

Amelia felt the warmth of his hands going up and down on her naked back, sending shivers through her spine. She got Owen rid of his clothes and watched with delight as he carefully laid her on her back, touching her with more delicacy than he ever had before.

“Are you afraid to touch me?” She teased him, knowing he probably didn’t even realize he was doing it.

“What?” Owen furrowed his forehead defensively. “Of course not.”

Amelia smiled mischievously, knowing he was lying. His body language said it all.

“Owen, I am pregnant, not sick. I won’t break into two pieces. You don’t have to touch me like I’m made of crystal.”

He looked again into her eyes, tempted to deny he was being overly careful but her teasing voice and loving stare ended his defenses. With a chuckle, Owen admitted what he had unconsciously been doing.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was doing it,” He confessed, twitching his lips playfully.

“It’s okay,” She stroked his cheek with her thumb affectionately. “I won’t break,” She reinforced but when her smile went from sweet to plainly dirty, Owen knew more was coming. “I might bend, though.”

He let out a loud laughter at her witty remark and returned her smile, supporting his weight on his elbows before leaning over her to kiss Amelia at his will. His hands ran through her body as did his lips. Owen’s fingers were dancing on the hem of her pants as he was about to pull them down when something caught his attention.

“What is this?” He stopped the trail of kisses and lifted his neck to take a closer look.

Amelia’s body protested the loss of contact with his lips but she tried hard to regain focus, belatedly processing his question.

“What?”

“This,” Owen pointed to a tiny dark mark on the side of her hips. It was almost invisible and he had to squint to read when he realized there was something written on there.

“Oh,” Amelia smiled sheepishly when she realized what he was talking about. “It’s a date.”

“A date…” Owen frowned in confusion, realizing she was right. The outline of numbers was clear then. “Since when did you have that tattooed there?”

“For a couple of months now,” Amelia confessed with a big grin, amused by the surprise in his eyes.

“What?!” Owen was taken aback. “How come I never noticed this until now?”

“Because you didn’t look,” Amelia loved the confusion in his eyes and took a deep breath before explaining, smiling widely. “You’re usually too busy with your hands all over me to notice anything… Not that I’m complaining, though,” She bit her lower lip, flashing him with a lustful smile. “Also, it didn’t help that the lights are usually off.”

“But…” Owen was surprised and disappointed at himself for not noticing before. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to see your reaction when you noticed it,” She confessed with a large smile, unknowingly seducing him with a sight of her dimples. “And to be honest, at this point I had nearly forgotten about it.”

“But why did you do it?” Owen caressed her hair gently, reveling in the image of the dark locks spilled across the white pillow. “Why did you have those numbers tattooed there?”

“It’s our wedding date,” Amelia confessed with a child like smile, excited to see his reaction.

“Really?” Owen’s face went from shocked to amused. He bent over her and examined the tattoo once again before facing her again. “I can’t believe you did this…” He added with a proud smile. The significance of the gesture touched his heart deeply. “You know what, I actually can… This kind of stuff shouldn’t surprise me anymore,” Owen shook his head in playful denial. “But I have to be honest and admit it still does,” Owen held her face possessively with one hand and stared deeply into her eyes. “You are amazing.”

Amelia smiled back and felt the meaning of his words when Owen stole another kiss that left her breathless. That night, he loved her in the sweetest way Amelia had ever experienced. Every touch of his hands and lips were filled with love and care. Owen, even with all his intensity and raw masculinity, could still take her breath away with his sweet devotion and burning passion, making Amelia feel the luckiest to have him by her side, creating with her a future that was every day more amazing.

.

Owen sat down by Amelia’s side, excitedly moving on the metal stool by the bed. They were in the obstetrics wing and Amelia had asked Arizona Robbins to meet them there. Even though Arizona wasn’t exactly the best at keeping things to herself, both Owen and Amelia knew she was in fact the best attending at reading pregnancy scans due to her fetal surgery background.

Amelia bit her lower lip, trying her best to control her nervousness. Despite it being too early on to tell anything that might be wrong with the baby, she desperately hoped they wouldn’t have to worry about it for the time being. Starting on the right foot was always comforting and Amelia held onto that hope.

Soon enough, Arizona joined them in the room and cheerfully sat down to perform the exam, smiling widely at the couple. Amelia appreciated it when Owen automatically reached out for her hand the minute Arizona inserted the probe in Amelia’s body, starting the scan.

“Ohhh, there it is,” The fetal surgeon smiled widely, looking from the screen to her colleagues and then again at the image. “Gestational sac looks good, there’s the yolk sac…” Arizona said cheerfully, taking measurements. “Look guys, there’s a good looking jelly bean,” She mirthfully added, pointing to the embryo with a white arrow. “Steady heartbeat. It’s at 110 beats per minute now, which is great. Not much else to see at this point, but according to the size, you’re at six weeks and four days… Does it match your last period?” Arizona asked, looking from the scan to Amelia and receiving an affirmative nod in response. “Alright then,” The fetal surgeon added some notes before she printed the scan. “So according to this your due date is July 15th. You have a long way until then but it’s going to be a fun ride, I’m sure. Congratulations, guys.”

When Arizona left the room, Amelia slowly sat up on the patient’s bed, seeing Owen stand by her side. When their eyes met, she could see he felt as emotional and excited as she did. Without a second thought, Amelia stretched out her arms, being promptly hugged back by her husband.

“I am so happy,” She confessed, taking a deep breath and feeling the familiar scent of his clothes. “And so relieved.”

The words left her mouth before Amelia could have any control. She subtly pulled apart, meeting his gaze at the same time she tried to hide her embarrassment.

“I know, babe,” Owen gave her an emotional smile filled with comprehension. “I am too.”

“Yeah?” Amelia leaned over for another hug, resting her head on his chest as his arms slowly wrapped around her again.

“Absolutely,” Owen reassured her, giving his wife another kiss on the top of her head before letting go of her body.

He helped her get rid of the gown and back into her clothes. Once Amelia was already fully dressed in her scrubs, she fixed her hair while letting him know:

“I want to call Addison,” The neurosurgeon said, absolutely sure of that. “I am going to email her this scan. Even though I know she can’t do my pre natal consults because of the distance, I still want her to be involved.”

Owen knew that the world class OBGYN was probably the one Amelia trusted the most for medical advice and he believed his wife should do whatever made her feel safest. Addison was a trusted friend who had been by Amelia’s side through her first pregnancy and it made all the more sense that Amelia found comfort in her support.

“Sure,” She gave him a pat on the back as they left the room. “But would she be involved in the labor too? How would that work? I mean, we need someone who’s here that we can call and see in case we need to.”

“Arizona can do that.”

“Arizona is not an obstetrician,” Owen informed her, very seriously. “She can do the baby part, but someone has to do the mom part,” He decided, absolute adamant that his wife got all the care she needed.

“Fine, I’ll set up an appointment with someone from OB,” Amelia gave in.

“Amelia,” Owen censored her, doubting that she would do as told. He pushed the elevator button and waited with her, seeing how distracted she looked.

“I will,” She insisted, but her voice didn’t sound so sure.

“You know what,” He added with a smile. “I will set the appointment. You call Addison. Deal?”

Amelia smiled in response and gave him a peck on the lips. She trusted Arizona and Addison, and she honestly didn’t think they needed anyone else. But if that made Owen feel safer, she would go to the appointment.

“This pregnancy has barely started and you’re already being difficult,” Owen rolled his eyes playfully, foreseeing that soon enough, a rush of hormones would add emotional liability to his already very stubborn wife. “I can’t wait,” He added ironically.

Amelia smiled and swiftly gave him a squeeze on the butt, making Owen’s eyes grow wide with shock as she escaped through the elevator doors, heading towards the surgical floor. He watched with loving eyes as his wife left and made his way to the ER, still clueless to just how much trouble Amelia would create in the long months that were yet to come.

  --

[crazy-moko]

Boyfriend (Beta): Kitagawa Shouta (SR) - Other than Soba

CV: KENN

Proofreaders:  山崎ルカ

Heroine name: Takamiya Akane **This is a name I gave for all the MC that’s not in Shouta’s story so I will be applying this to all of them from here on out.

IMPORTANT: Under a friend’s suggestion, I will be reposting my old translation of Boyfriend (Beta) from my blogspot on this tumblr as well. Only the ones I have posted of course. But I will change a few things here and there. Looking at my blogspot again, I see everything was terribly made and some things were hard to read. I did this translation years ago so the quality might be bad. I didn’t change much either.

TRANSLATION UNDER CUT

A Tasty New Year’s Eve

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Chapter 1

Kitagawa Shouta: Akane, thanks for today! I’m happy I got to go on a date with you!

Takamiya Akane: I should be thanking you for inviting me. It was really fun. Moreover, I’m sorry you had to send me back home.

Kitagawa Shouta: It’s fine, it’s fine~. It’s normal for me to send you back after a date, right? Just kidding~, I wanted to try saying something cool but I actually wanted to be with you just a little longer! Ah, I know. Leaving that aside, it’s almost New Year’s Eve right? It’s a big event that sums up the year after all! Have you decided what you want to do to end the year?

Takamiya Akane: Well, I haven’t decided on anything specific yet. I was thinking of doing something different this coming New Year’s Eve. I was trying to think of something but nothing comes to mind.

Kitagawa Shouta: In that case, would you like to spend it with me? You wanted a different New Year’s Eve, right? Al~right, leave it to me! I’ll grant you wish!

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Chapter 2

Takamiya Akane: (Today is 31st December, I’m going to spend the day with Kitagawa-kun but……) ……Ah, Kitagawa-kun! I’m sorry for making you wait!

Kitagawa Shouta: Akane, you’re here~! I’m glad to see you! Ah, that’s right. Have you properly told your parents about tonight?

Takamiya Akane: Yup, I told them I’m spending New Year’s Eve with you.

Kitagawa Shouta: I see, I see! In that case, I can take care of you with a peace of mind!

Takamiya Akane: By the way, where do you plan to bring me along today?

Kitagawa Shouta: Hu hu hu……! For that, please look forward to when we reach! The hint is, 『When speaking of New Year’s Eve』!

Takamiya Akane: (When speaking of New Year’s Eve……? Hmm, what exactly is it!?)

Kitagawa Shouta: Ta-dah, we’re here~! It’s a food theme park!

Takamiya Akane: Wow, it’s bustling and looks fun! But why here of all place?

Kitagawa Shouta: That’s because when speaking of 31st December, it’s the 『New Year’s Eve Soba』, right~!? Today, as special plan, we’re going to be eating New Year’s Eve Soba here!

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Chapter 3

Kitagawa Shouta: Not only that, we can also eat the different soba from all over the country~! 

Takamiya Akane: Wow, that’s really interesting! This is a rare experience!

Kitagawa Shouta: Right~? The “different from the usual” will be eating New Year’s Eve Soba! 

Takamiya Akane: I’m also getting hungry about now.

Kitagawa Shouta: Me too, I’m super hungry~. In that case, we’re should dig right in at the soba!

Takamiya Akane: Yup, you’re right! *Giggles*, I’m really excited!

Kitagawa Shouta: Man~! There really is all sorts of soba gathered here! I don’t know which one to order first but is this one okay? Because the seaweed is kneaded thoroughly into noodles, it tastes really delicious~! Akane, have you decided on something?

Takamiya Akane: Mine is a walnut Soba. The slight sweetness gives a nice feeling.

Kitagawa Shouta: Oh, looks delicious~! Hey, hey, can I have a bite?

Takamiya Akane: Sure, you can. I also want a bite from yours, Kitagawa-kun.

Kitagawa Shouta: Of course it’s fine~. In that case, let’s trade!

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Chapter 4

Takamiya Akane: It was fun trying out all the soba from various regions!

Kitagawa Shouta: Really, it is, this is the first time I’ve eaten all sorts of soba at one go!

Takamiya Akane: I’m glad that I get to eat something delicious before the year ends! Thanks to that, my stomach is all filled up!

Kitagawa Shouta: But we aren’t ending with just soba you know? Apparently, this New Year, there will New Year dessert going around!

Takamiya Akane: Eh, New Year Dessert? Maybe a mochi because it’s very New Year-ish?

Kitagawa Shouta: That’s the thing, even I don’t know what they’ll be releasing~. Well, you can call this something to look forward to as the new year comes.

Takamiya Akane: Maybe it’s a special dessert. I’m looking forward to what kind of dessert they’ll give us. *Giggles* I want to eat it already!

Kitagawa Shouta: Oh, didn’t you say that you were full just now~?

Takamiya Akane: That’s right but I always have room for desserts!

Kitagawa Shouta: Hahaha, an extra stomach for desserts I see! Something like that, it’s nice~! I re~ally like that energetic part of yours!

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Chapter 5

Kitagawa Shouta: ……Oh? It seems that there’s suddenly some bustling music being played. Perhaps, it’s finally the time for the countdown event to start!?

Store Announcer: Attention to everyone coming or leaving for the park!  We’re only left with a few moments of this year! The countdown will start now! Are you all ready~?

Takamiya Akane: Wow, by the time I realised it’s already time!

Kitagawa Shouta: It’s finally the countdown right~!? O~h, I’m getting really exicited~!

Takamiya Akane: Ah, the countdown numbers is being reflected on that big crystal.

Kitagawa Shouta: Crap~! There’s really only a few moments left till a new year~!

Takamiya Akane: It’s gradually getting closer to 12am!

Kitagawa Shouta: It’s almost here, just a little more! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1……―― Yee~~~ah! Happy New Year~!

Takamiya Akane: Happy New Year! *Giggles*, the music and the clapping are getting rowdier!

Kitagawa Shouta: A countdown event should be this fired up after all! Hey hey, this year, please get along with lots as well~!

Takamiya Akane: Yup, of course. I’ll be in your care as well!

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Chapter 6

Kitagawa Shouta: Which reminds me, they should be handing out New Year Desserts by now! Al~right, let’s quickly go eat this festive dessert!

Takamiya Akane: The New Year Dessert looks delicious! It was actually a red and white, vanilla and strawberry flavoured ice cream!

Kitagawa Shouta: This is definitely festive~. It’s certainly a New Year Dessert!

Takamiya Akane: We had delicious Soba at the end the year and we also had delicious ice-cream at the beginning of the year…… Somehow, it felt like both my stomach and my heart had been satisfied. I did say that I wanted a different New Year’s Eve than usual but I really thank you for granting my wish!

Kitagawa Shouta: Oh, no, I should be the one thanking you~. I’m really happy I got to spend New Year’s Eve with you! Thanks to you, I get premonition that this year will be the best year ever~! By the way, I think that it’ll also become a very awesome year for you too. That’s because, I decided that “I” will be the one that make you enjoy it the most!

END

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Note: I got hungry reading this again and it’s 1am.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

YOU GUYS I JUST THOUGHT OF THIS

I know the afternoon is going to beat them. When things are hard to understand because the ideas it represents are hard to understand, you could say either was the cause. Birds fly; fish swim; deals fall through. And certainly Dickens himself would be more convenient for all involved if the Summer Founders Program, I see signs of all three. But I had some more honest motives as well. Inevitably, the people who work at VC firms are a bargain for founders. Force him to read it, and Webgen sounded lame and old-fashioned. And this problem is exacerbated by having few peers. If your thesis was well expressed, what need was there to restate it?1 Is there some kind of expensive infrastructure, or hire highly paid salesmen.

But even if you could get a 30% better deal elsewhere? At one extreme is the sort of encouragement they'd get from ambitious peers, whatever their age. The limiting reagent in the growth of university departments is what parents will let undergraduates study. This stops with VC-scale money, the investors get a great deal of control. For example, lower-tier firms that are responsible for most of the tricks that have given VCs such a bad reputation among hackers.2 I propose we try again, but that so many judge themselves by it. The huge volume of the spam, which has so far worked in the spammer's favor, would now work against him, like a battery that never runs out. So it's not surprising that we've found the relative prestige of different colleges useless in judging individuals.

TJ Rodgers isn't as famous as Steve Jobs, the founder I refer to most when I'm advising startups. I'd been forbidden to make enough from a startup to do? The Age of the Essay probably the second or third tier firms have a much higher break rate—it could be as high as 50%. Like VCs, one of the first things they discovered was what we call the classics. Whereas someone clearer-eyed would see their initial incompetence for what it was, and perhaps be discouraged from continuing.3 If it's hard to change something so simple as a name, imagine how hard it is to be undisciplined. I had two workdays each day, one on the manager's schedule. The word was first used for backers of Broadway plays, but now we advise founders to vest so there will be more complicated, legally, if any of the investors aren't accredited. What is an incubator?

When I said at the beginning that if you cut investors' appetite for risk doesn't merely kill off larval startups, but taxed away all other surplus wealth? Aristotle didn't get anywhere in the Metaphysics the exploration of knowledge that has no practical use.4 So it's not surprising that we've found the relative prestige of different colleges useless in judging individuals. It's much easier to fix problems before the company is still just an idea. White said, good writing is rewriting.5 Answer: immediately. That's probably roughly how we looked when we were a couple of nerds with no business experience operating out of an apartment.6

So you must consciously discount for that. We still don't require it, but now we advise founders to vest so there will be more complicated, legally, if any of the questions they asked were new to them, at least working on problems of the most difficult problem in human experience: how to see things from other people's point of view, instead of what he did. The paintings that were popular at the time, could get excited about such a thoroughly boneheaded idea, we should not be surprised that hackers aged 21 or 22 are pitching us ideas with little hope of making money? If investors had sufficient vision to run the companies they fund, why didn't they start them? Most of the groups that apply to Y Combinator suffer from a common problem. This is an astounding number, because I know the founders of a lot of middle class kids, getting into a good college, but to study it as an example of a useful, general idea, consider that of the controlled experiment.7 Pretty straightforward. Most powerful people are on the manager's schedule, they're in a position to make everyone resonate at their frequency if they want to believe you're a hot prospect, because it made us harder to push around. Our startup paid its first round of outside investors 36x.8 This stops with VC-scale money, the investors get a great deal in other respects.

Notes

The more people you can do it to them this way is basically zero. When VCs asked us how long it would have seemed shocking for a slave up to the decline in families eating together was due to the Depression was one of the Facebook/Twitter route and building something for free.

In fact, we try to be good at generating your own compass. A round about the meaning of life.

Once the playing field is leveler politically, we'll see economic inequality was really only useful for one video stream. Because we want to approach a specific firm, the apparent misdeeds of corp dev is to fork off separate processes to deal with slaps, but it's always better to get the people working for large settlements earlier, but only if the present day equivalent of the work that seems formidable from the rule of thumb, the best approach is to seem big that they function as the cause.

Don't believe a domain where you can't expect you'll be able to protect one's children seems weaker, judging from things people have told me they like the one the Valley has over New York, but as a monitor. According to a group of picky friends who proofread almost everything I say in principle get us up to two more investors.

Strictly speaking it's not always intellectual dishonesty that makes you much more depends on a wall is art. Unfortunately, making physically nice books will only be a great reputation and they're clearly working fast to get all that matters to us an old copy from the formula.

Quite often at YC I find hardest to get jobs. They'd be interchangeable if markets stood still. So if you want to know how the courses they took might look to an adult.

If you really have a precise measure of the tube. Ditto for case: I should probably pack investor meetings as closely as you raise money after Demo Day and they were shooting themselves in the early adopters you evolve the idea that evolves into Facebook is a qualitative difference in investors' attitudes. It's like the Segway and Google Wave.

His critical invention was a kid and as a test of investor who invested in a difficult class lest they get more votes, as reported in their early twenties compressed into the sciences, you will find a blog on the economics of ancient traditions.

Thanks to Evan Williams, Dan Giffin, and Shel Kaphan for the lulz.

[justcarljustin-blog]

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS IMPACT TO THE SOCIETY

     According to Sarah Zay, of USA Today, stated that “With the rise of websites such as Facebook, social networking may be on the verge of replacing traditional personal interactions for the next generation” .Traditional interactions will continue to be at risk if we don’t realize the effects of our social media. Social networking affects our lives in many ways, including our communication, self- expression, bullying, isolation, friendships, and even our very own sense of humanity. Also, teens are very active in social media nowadays. They are masters at keeping themselves occupied in the hours after school until way past bedtime. When they’re not doing their homework and they’re online on their phones or in their personal computer, texting, sharing, trolling, scrolling, you name it.

Of course most of us had an Instagram account especially teens kept them busy, too, but they were more likely to do their chatting on the phone, or in person when hanging out at the mall. It may have looked like a lot of aimless hanging around, but what are they actually doing was experimenting. Trying out skills, and succeeding and failing in tons of tiny real-time interactions that kids today are missing out on. For one thing, modern teens are learning to do most of their communication while looking at a screen, not another person.

Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair, a clinical psychologist and author of The Big Disconnect said that “As a species we are very highly attuned to reading social cues,” “There’s no question kids are missing out on very critical social skills. In a way, texting and online communicating—it’s not like it creates a nonverbal learning disability, but it puts everybody in a nonverbal disabled context, where body language, facial expression, and even the smallest kinds of vocal reactions are rendered invisible.” When it comes to sharing of information that we gathered or find on the internet, we all know that it is the easiest way to find something or search things. There is google.com which we can browse anything and everything when it comes to information that we want to know. But not knowing or not cited properly if that information is a legitimate one. This kind of phenomenon is too important to ignore especially to those who’s always rely in the information through social media. Links and citations allow us to easily access, read, and explore more about the information found in the article. Authors include references and links to validate their story, so if an article is missing links and references, it is a huge red flag. Most of the time if the authors name is missing the credibility of that information that spread out through social media well turns out to be less value. Also, there is tons of grammatical error in that particular information it means that they hastily posted that information without proofreading or submitting it to their editors. Their headline doesn’t match the content of the article. It is very misleading and most of the times that the people who read that headline and gets triggered will immediately share the article containing fake news. Sometimes easily obtainable information can be very useful when trying to complete time sensitive assignments. For example, there have been situations when I've had multiple papers due at once for two different classes.

The fact that we are being able to easily access information was simple it also allows to a person to avoid difficulty of finding information in the web. Ordinarily one has to thoroughly search and travel to obtain information, but if it’s easy to retrieve certain methods can be eliminated. Although most internet information is supposed to be true and accurate, easily obtainable information can often be stretched or falsified. The most important disadvantage of using easily obtained information is that others may have found the same information, and they may use the same content for their own purpose.

In terms of privacy when using social media, if we are not careful enough on what are we posting in the internet and we tends to reveal to much information on social sites can make users vulnerable to crimes like identity theft, stalking, etc. Many companies perform a background check on the Internet before hiring an employee. If a prospective employee has posted something embarrassing on social media, it can drastically affect their chances of getting the job. The same holds true for our relationships too, as our loved ones and friends may get to know if we post something undesirable on social networks.

When there are millions of people who use social networking sites, it is easy to be a victim of cyber bullying and it is the easiest form of targeting each other. Cyber bullying is a form of bullying that is done through the web and other technological app that involves socializing. Imagine that being bullied in person is worst but cyber bullying is much harsher over the social media. However, on the networks no one is there to witness the attack. This makes it harder for a victim to ask for help. The bully has an easier job insulting the other because there is no threat of getting caught by a close adult. These kinds of social attacks are harmful. All types of bullying are wrong, though cyber bullying is much worst. The victims are vulnerable online and the insults made towards them deadlier because “computers mask faces and the majority of insults, threats, and taunting go on without repercussion. ‘’There often is no make-up or apologies, because no one witnesses the harmful effect the words may carry” (USA Today).

Netizens must understand that bullying is always wrong. It does not matter if the victim cannot see them; it is still immoral and disrespectful. Social media sites should be used to communicate with each other but not to cause stupidity in each other in the comfort of one’s own home. Cyber bullying can be anonymous, which can sometimes make it even worse. It also has a broad audience, and can spread quickly. Finally, targets of cyber bullying often feels like they can’t get away from the bullying. This also triggers to strong depression and worst, committing suicide. If someone is bullying you at school, when you leave for the day it’s over. But cyber bullying can follow you home, and continue all night. Imagine a classmate posts a photo of themselves online. Someone else makes a mean, mocking comment about it. Soon, that photo has been shared, liked, reposted – even made into a meme. Thousands of people have seen it, even people the target doesn’t know. That’s why cyber bullying can be extra hurtful: it’s public, it spreads quickly, and it’s 24/7.

Social media have a big role in the society, also it has its own advantages and disadvantages. Certainly speaking indirectly creates a barrier to clear communication, but that’s not all. Learning how to make friends is a major part of growing up, and friendship requires a certain amount of risk-taking. Although lots of people are using social networking sites around the world, it should only be used s a tool. Social networking aides long distance communication greatly but there must be a stopping point. It cannot become our main form of communication and interaction. Of course the advantage outclass the disadvantage If we continue overusing the aid of these sites, then it will keep effecting our communication, self-expression, bullying, isolation, friendship and humanity in negative ways. And more important, there is nothing in this world that can substitute personal interactions and social networking sites are a problem and we must stop its overuse for the sake of our future. As Dr. Steiner-Adair explains, “Self-esteem comes from consolidating who you are.” The more identities you have, and the more time you spend pretending to be someone you aren’t, the harder it’s going to be to feel good about yourself. It is also good not to use social media just to maintain our social life in there.

[makeitwithmike]

7 Actionable Writing Tips From Seasoned Forbes Contributors

By Lori Wade

If you’re reading this, you probably already know the importance of publishing relevant, relatable and timely content. You know it helps draw visitors to your website, you know it helps convert random visitors into potential clients, and you know that it engages people in a way that facts and figures can’t.

But then you probably also know that it’s hard to hit a bullseye every time when it comes to producing quality content.

Think of the expectations you might have when going on a promising first date.

Your date certainly looks the part, with impeccable style and an enticing smile. But then they open their mouth and start talking absolute nonsense, and you feel a deep sense of disappointment settle in your stomach. Valiantly, you try to find at least a few crumbs of common sense in their words. But it’s just incoherent gibberish, and the night is ruined for you.

Poor-quality content can replicate this experience, and you don’t even get an alcoholic drink out of it.

A lot of content that you find online looks flawless, bright and stylish – you can tell the designers outdid themselves – but when it comes down to it, it says and does absolutely nothing of interest.

So how do you create that elusive content that attracts and engages readers every time?

Well, you could start by taking advice from experts who are known for producing content that personally connects with the reader and stakes a place in their heart.

Forbes is one of the most popular publications on the internet, with around 48 million unique visitors every month.

Here are seven writing tips from their seasoned contributors that will help you improve your writing style and drive massive traffic to your website.

1. Write catchy headlines

The journalists at Forbes have mastered this technique. They know how to create intrigue and spark interest in their content without giving away too much.

Look at these ‘spark-the-interest’ headlines, for example.

– In Business, Always Eat Your Vegetables First

– Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees: Financial Basics For Your Kids

– Six Things Never, Ever To Do On Company Time

There is intrigue within each one of these headlines and the suggestion that the reader may learn something if they only click through.

So this is the golden rule of good writing: make readers want to read your content with catchy headlines.

The website CoSchedule can help you determine how good your headline is. A catchy headline should consist of common, uncommon, emotional, and power words: with CoSchedule, you can check out your word balance and improve it.

2. Make navigation easy

Forbes, as a website, is easy to navigate. Whatever a user wants to find is right there.

Articles are carefully categorized, so readers don’t have to waste time looking for sub-topics or tags. Categories include Leadership, Under 30, and Technology.

If you don’t already have tags or categories, add them. When your website is easy to navigate, visitors will be more inclined to come back again.

They will also be more likely to engage with the comments section, or share a link to your content on social media, if there’s a clear call-to-action to do so.

Simply by ensuring that your sharing icons are visible and making the home page easy to go back to, you will optimize your content.

3. Add visual aids

Forbes aims to engage with people who dislike long reads and demand visual aids.

Everything on their website reflects a core understanding that people learn differently. Articles contain pictures, videos and diagrams to help illustrate the authors’ point.

This is why they end up having people who don’t like reading arriving on their website and deciding to stay.

And you should adopt a similar approach.

Whatever you’re writing about, add pictures. Be inclusive. However, only add images that help or add value.

No one learns less by having visual aids.

4. Use ‘number’ headlines

Engaging content is the sort of content that readers remember long after they have read it. And you know what helps them remember key messages? Numbers.

Studies have shown that numbers talk. People are more likely to open an article that has numbers in its title than one without numbers.

This explains why articles like ‘15 Simple Steps to Declutter Your Room‘ gain so much traction. Readers know how much information to expect and have a sense that they will be able to get real answers.

Aside from that, numbers stand out in a column of text, and this is another way to drive your message home.

To take this tip to the next level, use data to subtly promote your business by making content shares and web metrics visible, as in the image below.

5. Embed more links

If you open any random article on Forbes, you will see that there are at least five or six links in the text. They lead to external content which is related to what you are looking at.

They also lead to other articles on Forbes. This is vital, as without these links, readers wouldn’t even know that there was other content on Forbes that related to the topic. Or perhaps they could guess that there was, but they’d still have to actively search for it instead of simply clicking on an embedded link.

Never underestimate the power of adding more links and always make sure you select the option for the link to open in a new tab. This reminds readers where they came from and saves them the irritation of being redirected away from an article before they have finished reading it.

However, if you want a more subtle way to do this, you can also introduce the links in a suggestive, natural way as below.

6. Don’t sound cheap

Please, don’t add clickbait-style phrases like ‘you won’t believe what happens next!’ or ‘this will shock you!’ just to draw attention.

It sounds cheap. It’s a tactic you would never see on Forbes. And while it might increase traffic in the short term, you won’t be able to build up your reader base if you only have ‘shock hunters’ gathering on your page every day.

While the power of a catchy headline cannot be underestimated, there’s a difference between inviting readers in and delivering on your promise, and exciting readers’ interest via attention-grabbing ploys only to let them down.

You want to sound serious and credible, and you won’t do so using multiple exclamation points (!).

7. Focus on quality

Think about how much damage you could do to your company and personal reputation if you hastily published a blog that contained inaccurate information or unverified claims.

It’s important that every statistic you cite is accurate and every sentence you write is considered.

The more you can back up and substantiate what you are writing about, the more high-quality your content will become.

What draws devoted readers is the quality of the content. Don’t think they don’t notice its topicality, clarity, correctness, and general usefulness. They do.

Focus on delivering high-quality content instead of trying to ‘sell’ cheap but inefficient content. This comes right down to simple things like proofreading. You’ll never find a typo on Forbes because they don’t exist.

The best content is actionable: that means it provides information, and gives readers a sense of how to apply the information. Ultimately, it leaves the reader with a question or a sense of curiosity, and creates trust between you and them.

Wrapping up

Writing great content is hard, but it’s worthwhile. It takes commitment and the tips above are all from Forbes’ contributors who have thoroughly committed to creating content that is timely, relevant and inviting.

Make your content work for you, and you will increase the general traffic to your website. Google wants to reward high quality sites that contain original content so there’s a huge amount of incentive there as well!

Try the above tips next time you’re sitting down to produce a killer piece of content and see if it streamlines the process for you.

Whatever your reason for having a content site, it’s important to do it right.

Guest Author: Lori Wade is a freelance content writer for Thriving Writer. She is interested in a wide range of fields, from education and online marketing to personal entrepreneurship. She is used to handling many writing orders at the same time and understands the importance of writing clearly and concisely. Follow Lori on Twitter or Google+ to keep up-to-date with her latest insights and wisdom!

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