#signups close in five (5!!!) days!!!!!

[seasons-beatings]

Sorry for the delay, whumpers! My body chose the exact wrong time to hit me with a terrible sinus infection- I’ve finally managed to convince it that I am not what should be getting whumped!

But, at long last- HERE IT IS!

The signup form for Season’s Beatings 2024!!

I’m doing this a bit differently this year…

The form will stay open until November 28. I’m going to take November 29 and 30 to get everyone paired up, and you’ll get your gift information on December 1. Gift submission closes December 25 at midnight Mountain Time! There’ll be a five day cushion for my standby people to make extra gifts if needed, and once again everyone will receive their gifts on December 31 at midnight to ring in the New Year!

So what’s changed? This year, I’m putting in a caveat for latecomers who may not see the event signup until too late and be disappointed that they can’t participate. If you happen to come across this post after November 28, until December 5 you can still join! You’ll have to sign up with a friend, however, and you and your friend will exchange gifts. So you won’t get the mystery element of wondering who your gifter is, but you will still get to participate in the event! After December 5, the event will be fully closed and I won’t be able to take any more participants. But hopefully by then, everyone’s aboard!

I also have someone working on making us a Discord server, so if that’s done in time, we should have a Season’s Beatings Discord this year!

All right, that’s it from me! Signups are officially OPEN!

[spectre-week]

One Week Until Spectre Week!

We are just one week away from the start of Spectre Week ( May 25th-31st).

Info on the event can be found here

Day 1 (May 25) Spectre One: Caleb Dume/ Kanan Jarrus - intro post

Day 2 (May 26) Spectre Two: Hera Syndulla- intro post

Day 3 (May 27) Spectre Three: C1-10P/Chopper- intro post

Day 4 (May 28) Spectre Four: Garazeb Orrelios/Zeb- intro post

Day 5 (May 29) Spectre Five: Sabine Wren- intro post

Day 6 (May 30) Spectre Six: Ezra Bridger/Jabba the Hutt/the Emperor's nephew/Lando Calrissian/Commander Brom Titus/Dev Morgan- intro post

Day 7 (May 31) FREE DAY

We are very excited to see what everyone has come up with!

Also, don't forget the other Star Wars Events going on!

@swprequels-big-bang [Signups are closed] will pair authors and artists together to create awesome works based in high republic, the prequel trilogy, clone wars/bad batch, rebels, and or/rogue one, and jedi fallen order!

@jedijune has an event running through the month of June, with a couple different prompts every week to celebrate our force sensitive heroes!

@sabineweek (June 23-29) is all about honoring our girl spectre 5! With a different prompt each day, there's something for Sabine fans everywhere!

Please reblog to spread the news!

@swfandomevents

[hatboyexchange]

Sign Up Walkthrough (Hatboy Exchange)

Signups are open! Here is a guide on how to sign up for the exchange.

To start your Signup, go to the Collection Page during the signup period (June 2nd-16th 2024) and click on "Signup Form".

Requests

We start the signups with what you'd like to get as a gift. After a general blurb about how the signups work, you will get to the form itself. You must choose two separate requests (up to five relationships are allowed per request). So if you'd like only two different relationships, put one on each request form. Otherwise, list up to five per request. You can add up to 10 separate requests which means you can request up to 50 pairings.

The form above is what it looks like when you scroll to the first request. You MUST choose fandom (there is only one to choose) and then go down to relationships. You choose between 1-5 requests on each form. If you aren't particular about what you receive as a gift, you can click on "Any Relationship". Be aware that if you do click on that, you are giving your gift giver the freedom to write or draw whatever they want as long as they adhere to your DNWs. Please be absolutely sure that is what you want before you click it.

Please be as descriptive as possible about your DNWs and triggers. They cannot be enforced if they are not explicitly stated.

Links: Links are for letters, prompt ideas, more detailed DNWs, information or tags for your custom characters (you can offer your character for the exchange, but no one has to write for your custom character).

Example of how to fill out the form for requests. You can choose to receive fanart, fanfiction, or both. But you must click at least one.

Offers

For your offers, this is where you will choose what YOU will be GIVING. This helps the mods and AO3 match you to someone that you will be happy creating for. You must list two different pairings to be matched well. Again, if you click "Any Relationship" in your offers, you are saying that you will make something for ANYTHING. Platonic, romantic or anything in between. Please be careful with using that option.

You have to make two offers but can list up to 5 pairings per offer, a max total of 50 pairing offers. You don't have to do this many, but the minimum is 2. Please be descriptive with your DNWs again, this is where I will determine if you are matched with someone that won't upset your triggers. The additional tags are the most important part of your offers because it will determine what YOU ARE MAKING. Please, if you are writer, only choose fanfic. If you are an artist, only click fanart. If you do both, you can choose to do one or both.

After you submit your signup, you can edit it up to closing day, June 16th. After the 16th, you will be unable to edit it as matching will begin.

Any questions regarding signups, please message a mod or the main exchange blog. Someone will get back as quickly as possible.

If you don’t want a pairing but instead, something about only Joker (handling the Collector attack, post-Alchera, portrait of him alone, etc), you don't have to put a pairing in the relationship section. But please note your preferences in your description box.

[fandomtrumpshate]

Unlisted Fandom Challenge

Two days ago, at our last Unlisted Fandom Challenge update, we had a 3-way tie for first. Today? One of those fandoms has taken the lead AND a new fandom that hadn't had even a single signup before has jumped all the way into a 4-way tie for second. Your fandom could do the same, in the hours still left before signups close!

At present, our leaderboard looks like this:

7 Danny Phantom

5 Carmen Sandiego (2019) 5 For All Mankind 5 Tortall 5 Yu Yu Hakusho

4 Ace Attorney 4 Alan Wake/Remedyverse 4 Formula 1 RPF 4 Ted Lasso 4 The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison 4 The Stanley Parable

3 Greek Mythology/Religion 3 Buffyverse 3 Bungo Stray Dogs 3 Call of Duty 3 Detective Conan 3 Dragon Ball 3 HBO War 3 Kingdom Hearts 3 Persona Series: 3-5 3 Professional Wrestling 3 Realm of the Elderlings - Robin Hobb 3 Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab 3 The Mummy films 1999-2008 3 Undertale

Given the way Carmen Sandiego came from *nowhere* to tie for 2nd place, a single signup really can shake things up! And for the next few hours, signups are STILL OPEN! Do the thing!

The rest of our unlisted write-in fandoms under the cut for length -

2 Ghosts (TV) 2 Black Sails 2 Cosmere 2 CSI 2 Cyberpunk 2077 2 Dead Friend Forever 2 Death Stranding 2 Dice Punks (podcast) 2 Dimension 20 2 Donten ni Warau / Laughing Under the Clouds 2 Dracula 2 Dune 2 Firefly 2 Glee 2 Guardian/Zhen Hun 2 Hermitcraft/The Life Series SMP 2 Imperial Radch Series 2 Inception 2 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2 Mob Psycho 100 2 Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury 2 Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint 2 Ordem Paranormal Quarentena 2 QSMP / Quackity SMP 2 Riverdale 2 Saw 2 Slow Horses (TV Show) 2 South Park 2 Stormlight Archive 2 The Bear (TV) 2 The Empyrean - Rebecca Yarros 2 The Folk of the Air (Holly Black) 2 The Radiant Emperor Series 2 Venture Bros 2 Voltron 2 Wolf Pack 1 1670 1 A Court of Fey & Flowers 1 a league of their own (TV series) 1 A Plague Tale (Videogame Series) 1 American Gods 1 Among Us 1 Bandom RPF (Bad Omens) 1 Bandom RPF (Lorna Shore) 1 Bandom RPF (Motionless In White) 1 Beastars 1 Bendy (and The Ink Machine/Dark Revival) 1 Horror 1 Bioshock 1&2 1 Blue Beetle 1 Blue Eye Samurai 1 Books of the Raksura 1 Boondock Saints 1 Breakfast With Scot 1 Bunny - Mona Awad 1 Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher Entertainment RPF 1 Cabin Pressure 1 Cats the musical 1 Charlie's Angels (2019) 1 Cherry Magic 1 Chronicles of Narnia 1 Cobra Kai 1 Coffee Talk (Video Game) 1 Criminal Minds 1 Death Note 1 Devil May Cry 1 Dexter 1 Digimon 1 Discworld - Terry Pratchett 1 Disney Theatrical Animated Universe 1 Divergent 1 DMBJ (Grave Robber's Chronicles) - Xu Lei 1 Dream SMP 1 Dungeons and Daddies (podcast) 1 Endeavour/Morseverse/Inspector Morse (ITV/Dexter) 1 Ensemble Stars!! 1 Fallout Video Game (Bethesda) 1 Falsettos 1 Fargo FX 1 Farscape 1 Fire Emblem (4-10, 13, 14, 16) 1 Five Nights at Freddy's 1 Friends at the Table 1 Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid 1 Grantchester 1 Green Creek 1 Grey's Anatomy 1 Grimm 1 Gundam (see below for details) 1 Hatchetfield 1 Hawaii 5.0 1 Hello From The Hallowoods 1 High School Musical 1 Higurashi no Naku Koro ni 1 Hollow Knight 1 Honkai Star Rail 1 Horizon Zero Dawn 1 Infinity Train 1 IT (Movies - Muschietti) 1 Jeff Satur - music videos 1 Julie and the Phantoms 1 Kushiel's Legacy 1 Law and Order 1 Legend of the Galactic Heroes 1 Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4) 1 London Spy 1 Lovecraft Mythos 1 Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic 1 Magnificent Seven 1 Mary Grant Bruce's Billabong series 1 Mrs. Davis 1 My Little Pony 1 Nancy Drew (CW Series) 1 Narcos (TV) 1 Nine Worlds Series - Victoria Goddard 1 NU: Carnival 1 Omori 1 One Direction 1 Orphan Black 1 Outlast 1 Paranatural 1 Phantomarine 1 Re-Animator 1 Resident Evil/Biohazard 1 Sex Education (TV) 1 She-Ra and the Princesses of Power 1 Simon Snow Series 1 Skins (UK) 1 Slam Dunk 1 Starry Musical 1 Succession 1 Sunless Sea 1 Super Sentai 1 Sweeney Todd 1 Team Starkid 1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 The Adventure Zone: Balance 1 The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension 1 The Adventures of Tintin 1 The Artful Dodger 1 The Good Place 1 The Greenhollow Series - Emily Tesh 1 The Hollows - Kim Harrison 1 The Last Kingdom 1 The Left-Handed Booksellers of London - Garth Nix 1 The Lunar Chronicles 1 The Mechanisms 1 The Pairing (Casey McQuiston) 1 The Saint of Steel 1 The Shadow Campaigns - Django Wexler 1 The Terror (TV 2018) 1 Three of Hearts 1 Tin Can Bros 1 Tower of God 1 True Detective 1 Twilight 1 Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold 1 Wayfarers (Becky Chambers) 1 Weak Hero Class 1 1 Westworld (TV) 1 Yellowjackets 1 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

[vellaphoria]

hello! 2, 5, or 6 for the ask meme? : D

Thanks for the ask, anon! (questions are from this ask meme) 2. Will you participate in any fandom exchanges or fic challenges, etc?  I really really really want to, but I always seem to either miss the signups for them or forget that they're happening... 6. Which yet-to-be-started fic is first on your list?

It's 100% a DickTim witcher au >:3c further details in another answer (here)

5. Which WIP is first on your list to complete this year? Will you post a snippet?

Definitely the Tim comes back wrong fic, now with vampirism XD

The fic is currently 21k long, so this counts as an excerpt, right? right

Forty-two minutes after Tim’s alarm went off, Dick watches him shuffle past the kitchen’s bar counter. It’s five minutes longer than it took him yesterday morning and nine minutes longer than the one before that.

There’s a dull, flat-sounding whump that is almost certainly Tim collapsing onto nearby couch.

Dick gives himself the space of two inhales before he puts aside the peppers he’d been chopping, wiping his hands on a nearby towel.

The area just outside of the kitchen is a moderately large, well-appointed living room. Couches form three sides of a square, with the fourth side being closed off by an unnecessarily large flatscreen.

As he approaches the nearest couch, he sees several of the throw pillows scattered across the floor. Peering over the back of it, he sees Tim lying prone with his face buried in a pillow. There’s a faint groaning sound coming from him.

“How did you sleep?” Dick asks, trying not to sound as hesitant as he feels.

Another groan.

“That well, huh?”

Tim shifts, flopping over onto his back with all the grace of a fish left on the shore. His eyes are still closed, and that makes it harder to ignore how the skin beneath them seems almost translucent, highlighting the veins in his lower eyelids.

“I’m not sure I did,” Tim mutters. “Not for lack of trying…”

His eyes blink open. Today they’re a deep, nearly-luminescent green. The color’s full in a way that the rest of Tim isn’t. Each day, his skin seems a little more pale and his cheeks seem a little more gaunt.

The urge to reach down and stroke the too-defined line of his cheekbone makes itself known in the back of Dick’s mind. But he quashes the thought before it can gain any traction.

“Do you want tea?” he asks. “Coffee? Something else?”

“Breakfast?” Tim asks, sounding hopeful.

“Sure. It’ll be a few minutes though.”

Right on cue, Tim’s stomach rumbles. He rests his hand on it delicately, his expression screwing up a bit.

“Did I hear a delivery person come by earlier?” he asks before Dick can voice the concern that he’s certain is bleeding through his expression.

“Uh, yeah. I sweet-talked Tam into having some more groceries put on the company’s discretionary spending budget.”

How, exactly, Tim heard that from upstairs is anyone’s guess. When Dick had checked in on him before coming down to the kitchen, he’d been sleeping so deeply that he seemed dead to the world.

“Anything good?” Tim asks him, looking hopeful.

“Depends on what you think is good. My current plan is making a mountain of bacon and maybe some toast.”

Tim’s hand finds the back of the couch, curling around it as his fingers dig in hard enough to look nearly bloodless. He uses that grip, plus a hand on the cushions beneath him, to push himself up until he’s sitting.

When he wobbles a little at the top of his arc, Dick puts a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

Tim narrows his eyes a bit, shaking off the assistance. Stubbornly, he starts to stand. A tremor runs through the muscles of his legs and back. He circles around the couch, walking to the kitchen. He even manages to make it most of the way there before his legs start to give out on him.

Dick rushes to catch him, getting an arm around his back and looping one of Tim’s over his shoulder. The maneuver thankfully keeps Tim from crumpling onto the floor. Its also ends with Tim pressed up against him, his hands flat on Dick’s chest.

His body trembles where it’s pressed against Dick. When he shifts, his breath is warm against Dick’s neck.

Dick’s skin tingles with the feeling of it. Even more so when he feels what might be Tim’s lips brush against him - before Tim is pulling back out of his arms, doing his best to stand on his own.

[pickceldigital]

Best information-sharing & collaboration tools for your workplace

Information and data form the backbone of innovation.

And this applies to all that we do daily - meeting up with clients, going to school, or making a pancake for breakfast! Information, perhaps, is the most important “I” in our lives.

In workplaces, too, info-tech has eased our lives to the point where everything is a click away! Reaching out is no longer an issue. Each day, more powerful information-sharing tools are launched in the market to make workplace communication and collaboration as simple as possible.

1. Pickcel’s digital signage solution

Versatile. Scalable. Secure.

Pickcel’s digital signage software is a screen management platform that allows publishing any content to digital screens. You can use this tool to display welcome messages, put up notices instantaneously, show internal dashboards, broadcast live events & webinars.

Top features:

Cloud-based software with the ability to monitor screens at different locations from anywhere around the world

Workflow management via tailored integrations with external data sources.

Integrate the software with internal servers to show dashboards and KPI metrics on a digital screen.

Wide coverage across diverse hardware OS versions

Interactive touchscreens & touchless solutions for maximum customer engagement

Schedule HR correspondences, notices, welcome messages, building directories, employee achievements, client testimonials, and more

Pricing: Enterprise and Professional plans with a 14-day free trial for the latter. Pricing for the professional ranges from $15/device/month when billed monthly. Enterprise plan range depends on customizations, integration, and implementation effort.

2. ClickUp

Graphics: ClickUp

Say yes to the all-in-one collaborative and task management software - ClickUp! It has more than what you see on the landing page (and trust me, you’d rather be glad you hit that signup option).

Top features:

Handle your projects per priority using the board view that helps you track deadlines easier

Build the perfect Customer Relationship Management (CRM) portfolio with data visualizations that allow you to see the closed, negotiating, and on-hold projects

Get your team on quick action or ask for help by tagging one or the group.

Track employees’ progress by assessing tasks with the list view and updating workflow on the board, with deadlines highlighted on the calendar!

Pricing: ClickUp has five pricing plans, one of which is entirely free and has several customizations that are parallelly available on the paid ones! Signups start from $5 per month for small teams, $12 for mid-sized businesses, $19 for larger and diversely spread teams, and a separate enterprise package that includes live onboarding training.

3. Microsoft Sharepoint

Graphics: Microsoft Sharepoint

Essentially a document-management tool, Microsoft Sharepoint is ideal for remote workers to collaborate on content, design, presentations, etc. It also allows creation of company intranet forums.

Top features:

Integrated with Office 365 that stores, retrieves, tracks, and manages all documents and project updates

The real time collaborative feature allows the entire team to handle a project together while working remotely.

Schedule projects via Outlook and find them right on your SharePoint dashboard

Edit both content and webpage structure, modify navigation, edit or delete apps and customize integrations with integrated Office products.

Pricing: SharePoint offers only annual-billing subscriptions with three plans, one of which is included in the Office 365 plan of $23 per month. The other two individual SharePoint plans (without 365 access), the first one of which, priced at $5 per month, are for compact teams and organizations. The $10 per month program comes with customizable content and unlimited cloud storage.

4. Slack

Graphics: Slack

If your company’s internal communications strategy emphasizes faster and streamlined messaging, replace emails with this Salesforce-owned information-sharing tool. Even though Slack is essentially a corporate internal messaging tool that lets you chat or talk with your colleagues, it also allows sharing information between two or more individuals.

Top features:

Slack allows sharing of all types of files: images, videos, GIFs, PDFs, PPTs, as well as zip files.

This tool allows you to connect directly to Google Drive, Dropbox, One Drive, etc., and share files & data.

Integrate up to 2400 apps with Slack (Woah!) and even get notified about regular calls and meetings with your team

Pin messages in your chat with a teammate so that instead of scrolling back and forth, you can access important conversations & files instantly.

Pricing: Slack offers Free, Pro, Business+, and Enterprise Grid plan, of which the Pro+ plan prices are set to rise from $8 per month when billed monthly to $8.75 per month starting September 1, 2022. The annual plan would increase from $6.67 per month to $7.25! Business+ is priced at $12.50 per month, while signups for the enterprise grid plan vary according to customizations.

5. Everhour

Graphics: Everhour

Well, if you thought Everhour is just a time-tracking tool, let’s rethink that a little! This is also a great data-sharing and project management tool.

Top features:

Inbuilt visual planners that show what your team is up to

Managing bills and budgets via integrated tools that provide real-time analysis of the amount spent

Task-dashboard management by keeping track of who is working on what

It seamlessly integrates with an auto-stop timer at the end of the workday alongside manual and timer-recorded activities.

EverHour uses Zapier to automate time-data transfer between over 1000 apps with zero technical knowledge.

Pricing: Annual plans billed at $8.5 per user/month and a year-long commitment without scope for refund. The monthly plan is for $10/month per user and offers flexibility to discontinue at anytime and determine what suits the organization the best.

6. Microsoft Power BI

Graphics: Microsoft Power BI

Power BI is the most incredible tool if you wish to see your personal KPI and brand metrics from the data you input in Excel and get insights on what some of the data indicates and what it means for you as a business. This data-sharing tool helps to keep information at the fingertip.

Top features:

Integrations to Microsoft Teams and Excel that allow transferring data from them

Personalized dashboard with a board or list view per choice to communicate with and track your teammate’s progress.

Synced with over 500 data-driven connections for effective sales analysis

Pricing: Three signup options starting at $9.99 per user/month for individuals, $20 per month/user with advanced AI integrations, and from $4995 per enterprise/month with self-service data prep and more!

7. Notion

Graphics: Notion

One thing I like about Notion is its ability to create unlimited pages and blocks, and project ideas whenever required. And it’s super simple to understand! This is one of the most customizable and flexible information-sharing tools.

Top features:

Uses boards, lists, and sprint organizers for managing, tracking, and completing tasks.

Create a personal space or form a team and get all your ideas in one place - design, engineering, product, or managers!

Includes an asset upload area meant for images, PDFs, spreadsheets, etc., with the option to upload any of these files while commenting on your teammate’s work (yep, just drop a comment!)

Pricing: The platform offers four pricing options, of which the first one is free and accommodates up to 5 users. The rest come as personal pro billed annually at $4 per month ($5 for monthly payment), an annual team plan at $8 per month ($10/monthly). The enterprise plans come as a custom contract, and the price varies per specifications.

Why are content-sharing tools important for the workplace?

There is no hiding the fact that information-sharing forms the basis of corporate communications, and strategies can be implemented more effectively and efficiently with the proper knowledge. Here are some reasons why content-sharing tools assume greater importance in today’s work culture and are likely to stay!

Compact information is available and accessible to everyone - real-time and at a go.

Eases corporate communication by bringing together all departments and teams in one common platform

Ensures end-to-end communication with automatic updates and optimizations as and when needed

Increases productivity via a record of how much work is being done in a day and ways in which it can be improved

It brings about more employee engagement in day-to-day tasks and idea implementation since everyone knows what’s happening within the organization.

You become what you see.

Information-sharing software has an immense psychological impact on us. Be it real time progress tracking, getting insights on results or forecasts for a project, with insights on whether our ideas might turn into some real good food, is something most of these technologically upgraded tools are here to answer.

And let’s not set aside the fact that these tools have also influenced us to operate in ways we didn’t imagine before implementing them. Technology indeed is ubiquitous, and this data-empowered software is its fait accompli.

For more click on the link information sharing platforms

[indycar-offseason-exchange]

Welcome to the 2023 Indycar Offseason Exchange

It’s that time of year again! The Indycar season is over, and there’s five long months left until the 2023 season begins. So how better to spend that time than with a fic exchange?

The Indycar Offseason Exchange is an RPF fanfiction exchange focusing on the NTT IndyCar Series, open to all writers and aiming to fill the gap between this season and next with any number of wonderful fics.

How it works:

During the signup process, you will supply a list of things (ships, drivers, tropes, types of content, ratings, etc) that you are willing to write and a list that you would like to receive. Based on those answers, you will then be assigned a recipient. You will then have three months to write a fic for your recipient. The fics will be revealed in mid-February.

Timeline:

Signups open: Saturday, October 15, 2022

Signups close: Saturday, October 29, 2022

Assignments out: Saturday, November 5, 2022

First check-in: Saturday, December 3, 2022

Second check-in/drop-out deadline: Saturday, December 31, 2022

Last call for pinch-hitters: Saturday, January 7, 2023

Fics due: Saturday, February 4, 2023

Fics revealed: Saturday, February 11, 2023

FAQ

What are the requirements for fics?

Fics must be finished, centered around people in IndyCar (past or present), and able to stand on their own. There is a minimum word count of 1000 words.

Do I have to use all of my recipient’s suggestions?

No. As long as the fic fulfills some of their suggestions, it counts. For example, if they suggest multiple ships, you are free to choose which you will use—whether that be one, some, or all of them. If they suggest tropes and/or settings, you can choose any combination, or none. Try to write something you think your recipient would enjoy receiving, but don’t feel pressured to include any particular thing; the suggestions are, after all, only suggestions.

The do-not-write list, however, does need to be fully followed.

Does the fic need to be in an IndyCar setting?

Nope! Alternate Universes and other settings are permitted. As long as the central characters in the fic are people in IndyCar, you can put them in any setting or scenario you want (provided that setting/scenario isn’t on your recipient’s do-not-want list).

Is nsfw/explicit content permitted?

As long as your recipient’s indicated that they’re open to receiving explicit content, you can include all the nsfw/explicit content that your heart desires.

What if I need to drop out?

Life happens, we get it. It’s fine if you need to drop out for any reason; we simply ask that you let us know as soon as possible so that we can arrange a pinch-hitter to cover your recipient. There is no penalty for dropping out; however, there is a drop-out deadline of Sunday, December 26, 2021. We want to leave our pinch-hitters enough time to write a complete fic, and if a writer dropped out the day before fics were due, the pinch-hitter filling in for them would be placed under an immense amount of pressure—a situation we would like to avoid. If something comes up after the dropout deadline, the mods will work with you on an individual basis to find a solution.

What are pinch-hitters and how will they be determined?

A pinch-hitter is someone who volunteers to fill in for a writer who has dropped out of the exchange. One of the intended goals for this exchange is that everyone who completes a fic will also receive a fic. In order to meet that goal while also keeping the option for people to drop out if necessary, the position of pinch-hitter becomes essential.

When you sign up for the exchange, you will be asked if you’d be willing to potentially pinch-hit. If you say yes, you will be put on a list of potential pinch-hitters. If someone drops out, people on the pinch-hit list will be asked if they are still open to pinch-hitting, and then one will be matched with the person whose gifter dropped out. Fics for pinch-hitter assignments are subject to the same rules as the standard assignments.

Am I allowed to write multiple fics for my recipient?

Sure, go nuts! As long as you complete at least one fic and pay attention to your recipient’s suggestions and do-not-writes, you can do pretty much whatever you want.

Anything else?

If you’d like to check out last year’s fics, they can be found here.

Happy writing! With the IndyCar Offseason Exchange to tide us over, the 2023 season will be here before we know it!

[star-spangled-bingo]

Star Spangled Bingo 2021

Purpose of the bingo

The focal characters of this bingo are the three Caps (Steve, Bucky, and Sam). 

- You don’t have to choose one for the entire bingo. You can do one for Steve and the ten for Sam and the rest for Bucky or any combo thereof. You can also only write for two of them or one of them for the entire card. 

- You can pair them however you want - with each other, a reader, an OC or a different character from the MCU or entirely other fandom. You can also write a general fic

- No matter how you chose to pair them the focus must stay on one of the three Caps. So if you write fx. Winterwidow focus still has to be on Bucky over Nat - or you can write a general fic as long as the focal character is fx Sam. 

- The pairing involving one of the three has to be the main pairing. You can’t write Tony x Reader and have Stucky as a side pairing.

- Even if we describe them as the three Caps it’s up to you if Steve, Sam or Bucky hold the mantle in the fic/artwork. Fx. you can have Steve be Cap but still write a Bucky x Reader fic. Or you can write a Sam x OC and have no cap present at all. The focus is on the characters above the mantle.

- You’re fic also doesn’t have to be canon-compliant. You can write an AU if you want or you can make it as close to the MCU or comics as you choose.

OBS: 2021 dates are used in the following - search #round 3 or #rules to find 2021 important dates! 

What you have to do

- Sign up - sign-ups for 2021 are open December 21st, 2020 to January 3rd, 2021 - We will open too late sign-ups late spring/early summer if you missed the window.

- Your submissions must be open to pictures on your chosen Tumblr otherwise we won’t be able to send you your card, and we will for normal signups send out cards between Dec 21st 2020 - Jan 13th, 2021 - if you haven’t received your card by then let us know.

- If you haven’t written any squares for your first, second or third card you got from them 2020 bingo, you can ask to transfer it to 2021. You can only do it with an entire free card and not just selected squares. 

- You can get up to five squares changed (this does not apply to transfers) or a new card. You can only do this for your first card and only once. 

- You can ask for a second card once you have filled the first and a third when you filled the second.  

- You can write as many or as few squares as you would like. There are no scorecards but the one you may or may not choose to keep yourself. If you do choose to keep a score card you will get a badge per card to fill if you submit it to us. More on that later. 

- You can start posting for the bingo Jan 1st and final day to post for this round and have it count towards a badge is December 31st, 2021.

- Last day to submit your masterlist for reblog/badge January 15th, 2022.

FIND MORE IMPORTANT DATES HERE 

What do you get

- A card is 5x5 with one free space. You can ask to get up to 5 squares changed. More than that and you’ll have to ask for a new card. You can get changes once or a new card once. Not both or multiple times. You ask for changes via submit by submitting your card via photos to our blog and telling us which squares you want changed - same goes if you want an entirely new card. You still have to submit the old back to us (that way any of the admins can work on your remake, not just the one that created it for you). 

- If you fill out a card we will create a badge for you. You can fill up to 3 cards per round and get up to three badges. Read more on submission of masterlists for badge here. 

- A lot of prompts to play and have fun with under very few restrictions. 

Restrictions

- No abusive ships are allowed. Some ships like Winteriron can be abusive if you focus on the negative but can also be based on healing, therefore they are a grey zone and fall under think about what you write, if you chose a pairing such as that one. Shipping Bucky with Rumlow will always be abusive and as a rule no villains shipped with heroes allowed. (Loki might be an exception cause he is a grey character, just think before you write with him too).

-No pairing an adult with an underage character. No aging up or down. This goes for side pairings as well so no Starker!

- No incest - that goes for Thorki as a sidepairing as well. Adopted or not they grew up as brothers.

- No non/dub con are allowed either. 

- You can’t write smut if you are under the age of 18. If we catch you doing so you will be blocked from the bingo page and banned for participating.

- You can’t write smut if you are under 18. Everyone can write fluff, angst, crack, etc.

Formats and requirements

- Fics must state what square you fill, warnings, word count and pairing - if no pairing just write general (check the format page for ideas on how to format your post)

- Social Media AUs, Aesthetics, Edits, Fanart, Fanvids, podfics must have square filled, pairing and if needed warnings. 

- Everything you post as a fill must be original and new content - or if you read someone’s fic as a podfic explicit consent from the author must have been given and they have to be credited on your post. 

- Fics must have a minimum of 250 words - fics over 500 must have a keep reading to be reblogged. 

- Use common sense for when posting artworks into long posts. They might need a cut too.

- Aesthetics have a 4 picture minimum and preferably accompanied by a 100-word description or drabble - words are not a must

- Gifsets has a 6 picture minimum.

- One piece of fanart in form of a drawing by hand or a computer program is considered a fill. 

- Social media Aus must be a min of 6 pictures. 

- Podfics must be a min of 3 min.

- Fanvids must be a min of 30 sec. 

- All content can be added via link not to an original Tumblr post if you so choose as long as there is a Tumblr post with the format requirements we can reblog and the Tumblr post must be linked too on the masterlist you create when your card is filled. 

- IF WE FORGOT YOUR TYPE OF ARTWORK SEND US AN ASK AND WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO WORK SOMETHING OUT - we are pretty open to all types of creative outlets but it’s hard to put restrictions of stuff we don’t know or know very little about.

- One square per fic/artwork. If you write a series each chapter can be considered a fill or the entire series can be a fill if you so choose. No combining squares within the bingo.

- You are free to combine our bingo with another bingo with no additional requirements added from our end. Just make sure you follow the other bingos rules too. 

- Warn accordingly. If warnings are spoilers put them in the tags and tell people to check your tags for additional warnings on the post.

- You don’t have to use the same media for the entire card. You can have 3 fics and 1 vid and the rest fics fx.

- Tag us @star-spangled-bingo and make clear the fic is for SSB 2021 and use the #SSB2021 (in one word) on each square you fill.

Sanctions for breaking the rules

- If your post lacks a keep reading we won’t reblog it but it will still count as a fill.

- If you don’t tag us we can’t reblog you and if you don’t say it’s for SSB2020 in your header we won’t count it as a fill until you edited it into the post. This seems strict but we got 2019 floating and it is impossible to know which card what is for if you don’t mark it down for us. 

- If your fill fail to meet the minimum requirements your fill will be reblogged but won’t count as a fill unless you add to it to meet the minimum. 

- If your post doesn’t clearly show square filled, we won’t reblog it and it won’t count as a fill until you edited it in. 

- If we discover you write smut and are under 18 - you will be blocked from the bingo blog and banned from participating in the bingo in the future even when you reach the age of 18. 

- If you break this rule: No abusive ships are allowed. No pairing an adult with an underage character. No aging up or down. No incest and no glorification of non/dub con are allowed either. All of these go for side pairing also so no Thorki and Starker. Your post won’t count as a fill, nor will it be reblogged. You’ll get a reminder of our rules the first time you break it and the second you will be banned from the bingo.

HAVE FUN 

is the most important rule and if you got any questions please direct them at the bingo blog not our personal blogs. We are happy to answer all your questions and we will get to all the asks as soon as we can!

SIGN UP HERE

[whentherewerebicycles]

happy first day of school! (well for me anyway - the kids have been back since wednesday.) tonight will be my first time teaching in person since march 12, 2020. I can’t believe summer is over 😩 but I think I’m probably ready to leave the unstructured days behind me and be back on campus.

I don’t teach till 5 which is kind of late but also kind of nice... whole day to get shit done! I think/hope it will mean that all seminar-related work can be neatly confined to one day. hmm okay what does the day look like.

up at 7:30

7:30-8 wrote in bed

short walk with dogs

8:30-9:15 coffee/lounge and plan the day

9:15-10:30 shower, get ready, breakfast, add parking passes to account

leave by/before 11? depending on how much planning I want to do in bed now

PRINT CONTRACT SIGNATURE PAGE

create intro meeting signups

create icebreaker bingo sheet

finalize list of questions for activity

reread model project site and take notes for discussion. also decide which pieces I want to direct them to.

reread my old lesson plans to make sure I’m not missing anything. suddenly I’m worried there won’t be enough substance?? but I think it’ll be fine?? I always overplan and it’s better to leave some breathing room so they have time to talk to each other. make sure I leave them enough time to

make notes for my closing spiel

maybe loosely decide which five projects I want them to look at for the next seminar and then decide how I want to give them instructions. I want to emphasize that we don’t have to be like “these are the best ever” or “these are the worst ever”—we’re trying to figure out how diff projects get made, what we like/want to emulate, what we’d change, etc etc.

ugh I also gotta figure out printer access on campus and make sure I have the workroom key. it has been a million years

[samgiddings]

5 Years Later...

It’s weird how five years can feel like no time at all while also feeling like a lifetime. When I see the words five years, it’s like “yeah, that’s not that long”, but then I think of where I was in life five years ago, and I realize how much time has actually passed. When the game came out, I was younger than all of the kids, flash forward to now, and I’m older than all of them.

August 25th, 2015, the day that Until Dawn was released. I got into it probably a week or so later. Wasn’t active in the tumblr fandom at the time, but I became an Ashley RPer for a few months on Instagram which was a really fun experience! 

October 31st, 2015, literally just adding this one because this is the day that MICHAEL.....MOOOOOOD LIGHTING was recorded.......iconic.

October 13th, 2016, the day Rush of Blood came out. The kids finally got last names, and I created a new tumblr (RIP my abandoned one) to nab this URL. Sam wasn’t my favourite at the time, but I was just stoked to have a canon URL LOL. Initially I wasn’t planning on using this to talk to people, but then people began reaching out to me and I started making friends here, something I’ll always be so grateful for. 

February 4th, 2017. UMMMMM this is the day Galadriel Stineman followed my art instagram and honestly I can’t believe she still follows it with all the Total Drama I posted BUT this is something that genuinely keeps me going on bad days sometimes so I’m putting it here.

November 19th, 2017. The day signups for the 2017 Until Dawn Secret Santa went up. This was SO MUCH FUN to run, and I met multiple people while running this that became some of my closest friends here. It was so cool to see so much new art in the fandom, and while the exchanges lost their magic after the first few, they were definitely fun while they lasted! I hope people are able to still look back on them fondly.

February 7th, 2018, I joined Until Dawn Hell. This literally changed my life, I don’t know how else to put it. I’ve grown so close to so many people from the fandom because of this server. It’s so fun to have this little community, and like, with the way everyone hypes each other up, I genuinely feel like I’m more confident now. 

These are just some small things that have happened along the way, but I really didn’t know how else to capture everything I was thinking about. There are so many more memories that came from this game that are more personal and that I’ll always hold dear to my heart. I guess I want to say “thank you” to everyone who has supported this blog, and for those of you that have stuck around for so long.

I still remember getting a text nearly 5 years ago that said “Hey! have you heard of Until Dawn?” Never thought I’d be here after all this time, but here I am. 

[hatboyexchange]

Sign Up Walkthrough (Hatboy Exchange)

Signups are coming up soon so here is a guide on how to sign up for the exchange. When it's time, a post will go out with the link to the signup form and from there (as long as you have an AO3 account), it's pretty simple to sign up!

To start your Signup, go to the Collection Page during the signup period and click on "Signup Form".

Requests

We start the signups with what you'd like to get as a gift. After a general blurb about how the signups work, you will get to the form itself. You must choose two separate requests (up to five relationships are allowed per request). So if you'd like only two different relationships, put one on each request form. Otherwise, list up to five per request. You can add up to 10 separate requests which means you can request up to 50 pairings.

The form above is what it looks like when you scroll to the first request. You MUST choose fandom (there is only one to choose) and then go down to relationships. You choose between 1-5 requests on each form. If you aren't particular about what you receive as a gift, you can click on "Any Relationship". Be aware that if you do click on that, you are giving your gift giver the freedom to write or draw whatever they want as long as they adhere to your DNWs. Please be absolutely sure that is what you want before you click it.

Please be as descriptive as possible about your DNWs and triggers. They cannot be enforced if they are not explicitly stated.

Links: Links are for letters, prompt ideas, more detailed DNWs, information or tags for your custom characters (you can offer your character for the exchange, but no one has to write for your custom character).

Example of how to fill out the form for requests. You can choose to receive fanart, fanfiction, or both. But you must click at least one.

Offers

For your offers, this is where you will choose what YOU will be GIVING. This helps the mods and AO3 match you to someone that you will be happy creating for. You must list two different pairings to be matched well. Again, if you click "Any Relationship" in your offers, you are saying that you will make something for ANYTHING. Platonic, romantic or anything in between. Please be careful with using that option.

You have to make two offers but can list up to 5 pairings per offer, a max total of 50 pairing offers. You don't have to do this many, but the minimum is 2. Please be descriptive with your DNWs again, this is where I will determine if you are matched with someone that won't upset your triggers. The additional tags are the most important part of your offers because it will determine what YOU ARE MAKING. Please, if you are writer, only choose fanfic. If you are an artist, only click fanart. If you do both, you can choose to do one or both.

After you submit your signup, you can edit it up to closing day, June 18th. After the 18th, you will be unable to edit it as matching will begin.

Any questions regarding signups, please message a mod or the main exchange blog. Someone will get back as quickly as possible.

EDIT: if you don’t want a pairing but instead, something about only Joker (handling the Collector attack, post-Alchera, portrait of him alone, etc), you don't have to put a pairing in the relationship section. But please note your preferences in your description box.

[takemehomefromnarnia]

5 days to go...

before we kick off the non stop rainbow tour of (until now) 3 of our men spread over close to 180 dates (until now)...

If you have not done so, you can find our signup sheet  on rainbowdirection.com (or if that link doesn’t work there’s another one here )

NOW INCLUDES LOUIS’ NEW MADRID DATE & NIALL’s FALL DATES!

If you would like to join the five (one old, four new (thank you for signing up!)) of us to help out finding projects, pictures, making things look nice and generally commiserating because 180 tour dates in one year is just a bit much to handle (no we are not complaining, we are looking forward to triple the rainbows, really we are :-D)  - the VOLUNTEER SIGNUP SHEET IS HERE 

All signups  & projects will be made visible on this map, and - before tour starts - on this website (page not yet there but watch this space) 

SEE YOU ON TOUR IN PRIDE COLOURS!!! 

[rohad93]

Holly Jolly Secret

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21920110

Downtown empire city was covered in a soft sheet of snow, from the street to the rooftops of the skyscrapers, everything had a sheen of white to it.

In one such building, the light from an office glared out on the darkening city, the surrounding windows going dark one at a time. 

The constant clicking and clacking of the computer keyboard was the only sound in the office as Yennefer Diamond sat hunched over the desk, typing away at the end of the year reports her mother wanted before next week's end.  

The large 29th floor office, with an entire wall of floor to ceiling windows, overlooked the entirety of Empire City and the setting sun had very nearly disappeared behind the many skyscrapers, the last tendrils of orange, pink and yellows fading into the navy blues and inky blacks of a winter night. The beautiful sky however was duly ignored by the office’s sole occupant in favor of the work in front of her, a rather common occurrence.  

It was ten till five on a Friday evening and even with her office door closed, she could still hear the racket of her employees doing anything but working, and it grated on her nerves as she went through their fiscal earnings for the last year line by agonizing line, getting more annoyed by the second as she did with the ongoing noise in the background a constant annoyance.                                                                                   

Diamond industries had suffered some… losses over the course of the past year and it showed in every line of numbers she punched in, glancing occasionally at the stack of papers at her side, checking every statement and receipt. They had hardly done poorly, but not as well as last year and it irritated the thirty-two year old executive to no end as she hit the keys a little harder than necessary. 

She stopped and leaned back in her chair, heaving a sigh and pinching the bridge of her nose  as she looked at the columns and lines of numbers blurring together tiredly as she thought about the next few hours she would be sitting here trying to finish these so she could move on to anything else.

A knock on her office door made her sigh heavily through her nose, just before the door opened and her personal assistant, Daisy, popped her head in, along with the now unfiltered noise of an entire office floor on a Friday evening, two weeks before Christmas and 5 minutes before punch out time. 

The dull throbbing that had begun it’s slow build over the last hour behind her eyes gave a sharp jab, making her close her eyes for a long second before opening them again, exhaustion dulled amber eyes focused on Daisy, silently prompting her to speak. 

“I have the rest of the reports you asked for, Miss Diamond.” She held up the armful of folders and Yennefer nodded, prompting the other woman to enter, closing the door behind her and shutting out the majority of the noise as she entered, but the sharpness of her headache remained, making her frown deepen.  

“Just lay them there.” She nodded to the corner of her desk, turning her tired eyes back to her computer monitor and the endless lines of numbers still waiting for her to review. The glare of the screen made another sharp stab of pain shoot through her head just behind her eyes. 

Daisy sat the folders in the empty space before holding up her tablet and reading through the itinerary for the upcoming week as was the norm on Friday, just before her PA left for the weekend. 

“You have a meeting with Ms. Diamond first thing Monday morning…” She started and Yennefer rolled her eyes. What could her mother possibly want now? They had had lunch together just this afternoon and she had made no mention of any meeting. Not that her mother neglecting to tell her things was new by any stretch of the imagination.

“What else?” She grunted, laying her chin in one hand and tapping her mouse on her screen with the other.  

“You have three phone conferences Tuesday and…” She continued while Yennefer only half listened, most of her attention still focused on the black and white spreadsheet sitting in front of her and trying to estimate how much longer this would take, while the clock on the eastern wall above her leather guest couch ticked away. 

“...provided everything stays on schedule Friday.” Daisy finished scrolling through the listed items on her tablet. 

“Good, thank you.” Yennefer nodded, not looking away from the screen and having missed most of what her assistant had been saying, as if they wouldn’t run through the itinerary again Monday morning. 

“Oh, here’s your drawing for the Christmas party secret Santa.” She dug a slip of paper out of her pocket and held it out to Yennefer. 

This did cause Yennefer to turn and look at her assistant before her gaze fell on the folded slip of paper in her outstretched hand.

“The secret Santa?” Yennefer repeated, like the words were foreign to her.  

“You signed up for it, Miss Diamond, last week?” she reminded. “After the investor meeting, they passed around the signup sheet and you told me to put it in your calendar; today was the drawing, so I brought you yours.” She still stood there holding out the little slip of festive red paper.

Yennefer clenched her jaw as she looked at the paper, vaguely recalling the signup sheet that had been passed around after the end of last week’s investor meeting, but she had been in a hurry, trying to get out as the head of imports had been heading her way when she had told Daisy to simply sign whatever it was in her stead. 

She finally took the slip of paper, not caring one bit that her assistant saw her scowling as she did. 

“That will be all, Miss Almar.” Yennefer dismissed her assistant with a huff, trying and failing at not letting her annoyance shine through. Daisy was used to it though and nodded.

“Have a good weekend, Miss Diamond.” She smiled, nasally voice exceptionally grating on Yennefer’s nerves and headache tonight as she left the office. 

Once she’d gone Yennefer looked down at the little slip of paper like it had personally wronged her. She had had no intention of participating in the gift exchange, just as she hadn’t the past five years she had worked in her mother’s company.  

She cursed herself for the momentary lapse in judgement last week for not simply doing it herself and saving herself the trouble of having to get some sort of meaningless gift for one of the many nameless workers that worked for her mother. 

She glared down at the paper as she opened it, fully expecting the name to not even ring the faintest of bells in her head. 

‘Belle Ryan.’

Yennefer sat bolt upright, staring down at the name written in elegant swooping script on the tiny slip of crimson paper held tightly between her fingers. 

Immediately the image of a tall, fair skinned woman with piercing blue eyes, platinum hair and a lilting Irish accent filled her mind’s eye. 

Of the two-hundred something people in the office, Yennefer had to get her, of course. She pursed her lips tightly together, staring down at the name and willing it to change into any other, but it remained the same much to her chagrin.  

She sighed heavily to herself, leaning back in her chair, the slip of paper still held loosely between her fingers. 

Now, she had to get a gift for the one woman in the office she had an untameable attraction to, ever since she’d started nine months ago. 

She groaned as she dragged a hand down her face. 

They had met at a company function nearly two years ago. Her father was a large investor in the company and she was attending the party with him. When he passed away nearly a year ago and she had inherited his stock and investments in the company, her mother had been quick to take her on board as an executive in the production sector as head of imports. 

She was quite skilled at finding product from sources willing to sell or trade. 

They had a handful of talks here and there whenever they passed each other in the halls or in meetings but Yennefer was always quick to make an excuse and get away.

With good reason.

Belle Ryan was well off, highly educated, and maybe the most beautiful woman Yennefer had ever seen, and everything about her seemed to make Yennefer’s better senses stop functioning. 

Yennefer liked to consider herself to be quite well spoken when she needed to be, but she came up blank more often than not in the Irish woman’s presence. 

Now she needed to come up with a gift for her by Thursday the twenty-third, the night of the party and their last day of work before the holiday. She looked at the desktop calendar sitting next to the monitor. It was Friday the tenth. 

In theory that was plenty of time. In reality, she had no idea what she could possibly give the other woman. She knew very little of her personally, though she might know more if she wasn’t so afraid of making a fool of herself in front of her. 

She drummed her fingers on the large oak desk, staring off into space, deep in thought, the year end reports sitting completely forgotten as she mulled over her predicament before shaking herself out of it. 

This was exactly what thinking about that woman did to her. She shook her head and sat up, concentrating on the reports in front of her once more, this was far more pressing then secret Santa presents, though, far more mind numbing. 

She didn’t allow herself to think about her coworker again until she was shutting down her computer and pulling on her coat to leave her office two hours later, long after the regular staff had gone. She carefully put the last files she needed to look at into her briefcase before leaving her office. The rest of the lights were all out in the cubicles as she walked across the room to the elevator. Everyone else had gone home hours ago.

She got on the elevator and punched the button for the ground floor. 

Not for a second noticing the other lit up floor on the panel.  

Maybe she had simply thought her name too many times or maybe the universe was playing a game with her, but sure enough the elevator stopped on the 26th floor and when the doors slid open, they revealed the very woman she had been doing her very best not to think about.

Belle Ryan was standing there in a sapphire blue pencil skirt and white button up blouse. A small blue, diamond shaped pendant on a silver chain peeked out from the neck line. Her long platinum locks were pulled up onto her head in a perfectly neat bun off her long slender neck and a laptop case was slung over her shoulder.

When those blue eyes fell on her, they lit up, mouth turning up into a soft smile and Yennefer felt herself go ridgid under that cornflower gaze.

“Good evening, Yennefer,” she said as she stepped into the elevator, the doors closing behind her. “Do you always stay this late?” she asked, clasping her hands together in front of her as the doors slid closed behind her, closing them in together for at least the next twenty-six floors. 

“I stay late more often than not, but tonight I was finishing the year end reports.” She said stiffly, looking from Belle to the much to slowly moving number on the elevator control panel. “Usually I’m the last to leave. Though apparently, not tonight.” she said, trying to ignore the nerves humming just beneath her skin.

“Ah, yes, I try to leave at five myself but as you said, there are a lot of year end things to be done.” She once again aimed that beautiful smile at her and Yennefer tried not to fidget under her attention as they moved ever closer to the ground floor. Yennefer just hummed an agreement. 

“I didn’t see you at the thanksgiving dinner the company threw. Will you be attending the christmas party? I’ve been told Whitney spares no expense,” she said.

“If my mother enjoys anything, it's an elaborate party, and yes, I’ll be there,” she nodded.

They traveled a few more floors in silence and Yennefer could feel herself getting antsy in the small quiet space, shifting her weight back and forth on the balls of her feet.  

“Have you eaten yet?” Belle suddenly asked. “I was going to grab something from the Thai place across the street if you’d like to join me?” 

She asked just as they hit the ground floor and the doors slid open to the lobby.

“Thank you, but I really need to hurry home.” Her mouth was moving before she even had time to think about what she was sas saying. Belle looked disappointed and it was like a sucker punch to the gut that a face like hers should ever be anything but happy.  

“Oh, of course, have a good weekend, Yennefer.” Belle nodded, her smile not as bright as before as she walked out of the elevator and through the pristine lobby toward the front doors, her black heels clicking across the polished white marble floor.  

Yennefer stood there watching her go long enough for the doors to slide shut again, her reflection stared back at her in the highly polished metal and she cursed herself. 

“Why did you say no?” She couldn’t help but ask her reflection with a scowl;predictably, there was no answer. She ran her free hand through her short blonde hair tiredly and sighed before hitting the button again, a little harder than necessary, and the doors once again opened up to the lobby. It was empty, save for the couches and chairs. Even the receptionist desk stood empty. 

She grumbled to herself as she headed for the exit, the only sound being the clicking of her own heels on the marble as she left the building.

The cold hit her in the face the moment she stepped out the front doors. The sting of winter winds biting at her nose and ears as she walked towards the parking garage at the side of the building. Luckily, her reserved spot was close to the entrance. She pulled the coat tighter around her, regardless.   

She let herself glance across the street to the Thai restaurant, it’s red neon open sign blinking a greeting. She hesitated a second before she scoffed at herself again as she turned away toward the parking garage. How foolish would she look to go over there now after saying she needed to get home? She had shot herself in the foot on this one. 

She quickly left the office and restaurant behind as she climbed into her car. 

She had a lot to do before her meeting with her mother on Monday morning and she wanted to spend as little time thinking about it as possible. 

~ ~ ~ ~

Monday morning Yennefer sat in her office, clicking through her emails and sipping on her coffee. 

It was only seven thirty, the majority of the office, including her assistant, wouldn't be in for another half hour. This was her quiet time of the day. The still mornings before everyone came in, when she could work in peace and solitude, even if only for a little while. 

Her phone buzzed, rattling across the polished wood surface of her desk. She glanced at the notification over the top of her coffee mug. 

‘Rosie’      

She sat the cup down and picked up the phone. What could her sister possibly want at this hour of the morning?

She pressed a finger to the sensor on the back, opening the message. A picture of a toddler with curly black hair in a high chair and his nose turned up at a tiny, red plastic bowl of oatmeal greeted her. She couldn’t stop her lips from curling up even if she wanted to at the sight of the boy. 

Three bubbles popped up and she waited only a second before the message came up.

“This is your fault!”  

Yennefer snorted at the message, looking back at the picture of her three year old nephew before typing out a quick reply. 

“I can hardly be blamed for your poor cooking skills.” She typed back.

The bubbles popped up before she could even take her finger off the keyboard. 

She set the phone down, ignoring the buzzing that immediately followed her text with a grin, she took another long sip of her coffee as her phone buzzed several times. Only when it finally went silent for more than a full minute did she pick it up.

“There is nothing wrong with my cooking, you jerk!” Yennefer snorted at that.  

“Ever since you made him your oatmeal, he won’t eat mine! What are you putting in it?

“Can Steven and I stay at your place next week for Christmas?” That did give Yennefer pause.

“Where’s your husband?” She questioned.

“Greg has to work so it’s just going to be me and your favorite nephew! Please?���

Yennefer pursed her lips. Her penthouse was hardly child proof, though more so than their mother’s luxury house, not that Rosie would stay there if she could help it. Things were still tense between Whitney and her youngest child, understandably. 

When your mother is overbearing and controlling and your sister runs off and elopes, getting pregnant; family functions and holidays are a little tense. 

Yennefer sighed and took another slug of her coffee as she typed a response.

“If you must.” 

Instantly the bubbles indicating her sister’s incoming message popped up.

“Thank you! See you next Tuesday!” 

Yennefer rolled her eyes as she sat the phone back on the wireless charger sitting next  to her keyboard. 

Suddenly there was a knock on her door and she glanced at the clock- ten till eight. Her assistant was early, even for her. 

“Come in,” she said, turning back to her screen and lifting her mug to her lips. 

“Good morning, Yennefer.” Belle was standing in her doorway and Yennefer sucked in a breath, inhaling a mouth full of coffee in the process. 

She choked, coughing and sputtering on the warm liquid in her lungs, tears in her eyes as she tried to breath.

A hand was patting her back, helping expel the coffee from her airways.

A full minute of hacking later she was finally breathing again, Belle at her side, hand still resting on her back as she composed herself. 

“Are you alright?” She looked incredibly concerned as she peered down at the blonde. 

“Fine. I’m fine.” Yennefer rushed to assure her, voice still raspy as she tried to regain control of her breathing. 

“I’m sorry, did I startle you?” she asked, stepping back as Yennefer stood, trying valiantly to compose herself in front of the executive importer. 

“No, no...I swallowed wrong is all.”  She pulled the handkerchief from the pocket of her ochre colored blazer and wiped the water from her eyes with as much dignity as she could muster; which didn’t feel like much at this moment. “I’m just surprised to see you, or anyone here this early…” she managed. 

“You’re here, and, from the looks of it, have been for some time,” Belle observed, glancing at the desk, coffee mostly gone and several folders already sitting open on its surface. 

“Yes, well. I usually come in early to get a head start on my work. There’s always something more to do…” she trailed off, brushing imaginary dust from the front of her blazer if only for something to do with her hands. 

“You are the VP of finance,” Belle agreed with a smile that made the back of Yennefer's neck grow hot.

“Did you need something from me?” she asked, settling on folding her hands behind her back to keep them still.  

“Oh! Yes, I nearly forgot.” She held a hand to her mouth and chuckled to herself. “I was wondering if you knew what the meeting this morning was about?” she asked.

“The meeting?” Yennefer repeated, blinking. 

“Yes, with Whitney? The email I received Friday evening didn’t say, just that I was supposed to meet with you and Whitney ” Belle looked at her curiously. 

Oh, right. Her meeting with her mother that Daisy had told her about Friday before she’d left. 

A meeting she had not been informed of by the CEO; nor that it would include the head of imports. She felt herself grow prickly by the perceived slight from her mother all over again. 

“I haven’t the slightest idea myself,” she admitted, glancing at the clock; five till. “The meeting starts in a few minutes so we may as well go and find out.” She nodded toward the clock on the wall.

“Oh, yes, I guess we should,” she nodded as they walked out of the office. Yennefer surreptitiously checking her reflection in the mirror to the left of the door as she followed Belle out of her office, shutting the door behind her. 

A few people were starting to trickle into the office from the elevator and they were quick to move out their bosses way as she got on the lift with Belle and hit the button for the top floor. 

The quiet of the elevator was oppressive to Yennefer, though she wasn’t sure she was grateful or not that it wasn’t to last. 

“How was your weekend?” Belle looked at her as the elevator began to move upwards. Even with both of them in heels, the blonde was still a couple inches taller. 

“It was fine, yours?” she asked back conversationally. 

“Quiet, but nice, I spent most of it practicing.” 

“Practicing?” Yennefer couldn’t help but ask curiously.

“Yes, on my piano. I don’t get to it as much as I would like these days. It’s nice to sit and play to relax.” She folded her hands in front of her, against the green and blue plaid skirt she was wearing today. 

“I didn’t know you played…” 

“Since I was a little girl.” She smiled, seeming to light up under the line of questions, to which Yennefer was quick to take note. 

“What kind of music do you play?” 

Before she could answer the elevator dinged and the doors slid open to the thirtieth floor.

The room just outside the elevators opened up to a large pristine white carpeted waiting room.

The eggshell colored walls in combination with the carpet always made Yennefer uncomfortable with it’s sterile atmosphere. Belle seemed equally uncomfortable in the room.

Her own floor of the building was decorated in soft blues, grays and whites that Yennefer always thought had a nice calming effect whenever she had to go down to the twenty-sixth floor, though she preferred her own floor with it’s rich brown wooden flooring and light yellow painted walls. 

They crossed the waiting area with it’s stainless steel table and the black leather upholstered chairs situated around it, moving toward the desk sitting just outside the doors to her mother’s office. 

The woman behind the desk, even with the black eyepatch that covered her left eye, in her pink floral patterned skirt and white blouse was perhaps the most colorful thing in the entire room.  

Poppy Spears, her mother’s PA, smiled at them as they approached.

“Ms. Diamond is waiting for you; go ahead.” She gestured to the door and Yennefer just grunted in affirmation, Belle following behind her. 

The office was decorated in a similar fashion to the waiting room. Tones of black and white, though with a few more personal touches. Some expensive paintings in abstract hung from the walls, the harsh pops of reds in them the only hints of color to be found. 

She was not surprised to find her mother sitting behind her large desk, already looking at something on her computer screen. Coal black eyes looked up when the door opened and she smiled, accentuating the lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth, despite the heavily applied makeup, revealing two rows of ivory white teeth.

“Ah, Yennefer, Miss Ryan, do come in; have a seat.” She gestured to the plush black leather chairs sitting in front of her desk. 

Yennefer sat in one of the chairs, arms immediately folding across her chest; still less than pleased about this surprise meeting that she hadn’t the faintest idea of the point of.

“I’m sure you’re both wondering why I’ve called you in so let’s get straight to the point,” her mother began without preamble. “Very recently I was brought to the attention of some assets up for sale in Delmarva. However, before we acquire them for the company, I need them to be assessed by the both of you.”  

“Why us?” Belle asked before Yennefer could, though the one hiked blonde eyebrow spoke loudly enough of her question to the ageing CEO. 

“The acquisition in question is a business that imports precious minerals and jewels called Mica Incorporated,” she explained, folding her hands atop her desk. “You are the head of imports and acquisitions, Miss Ryan; you know best what’s worth keeping or not. I need you to go over what they’re taking in and what we want to keep when we buy them,” she explained. 

“Of course,” Belle nodded. 

“You want me to go over their books…” Yennefer said. It wasn’t a question. Whitney smiled at her eldest.

“Of course. Your flight leaves at five am tomorrow.” she informed.

“Tomorrow?” Yennefer shot upright in her seat.

“That is rather short notice,” Belle intoned. Whitney just nodded to both of them.

“Yes, I know, but it has to be all closed out before the holidays, so it is a rush job, I’m afraid,” she admitted. “The flight and hotel have already been booked; you’ll come back Wednesday afternoon. Your assistants have all the information you need.” 

With a glance at each other, they both stood from their seats at the obvious dismissal and made their way out of the office. 

Inside, Yennefer was fuming. It was one thing to have to do this, she had done similar jobs before, but the lack or warning was what really grated on her nerves. Her mother had obviously known about this since at least Friday afternoon, since her assistant had been told, yet hadn’t made any mention of it all weekend. Not that they had talked at all over the weekend. 

The fact that she had not deigned to inform her earlier, as opposed to springing it on her the morning before, was maddening.

She did not stomp, but her footfalls were considerably heavier than they had been on the way in as they made their way past Poppy to the elevator. The PA only smiled at their retreating figures, more than used to people leaving the office in a sour disposition, Yennefer especially. 

She smashed the button to her floor as she got on, crossing her arms over her chest. She very nearly forgot about Belle standing next to her till she reached out to press the button for her own floor; she turned to her once the doors had slid closed.

“I live on the other side of town, by the river. You probably live closer to the airport, don't you?” she asked. Yennefer nodded, glancing over to see the other woman playing with the blue pendant hanging from her neck. 

“Yes, near the park,” she confirmed, trying not to growl, her fingers tapping agitatedly against her arm.

“Since it’s on the way would you like me to pick you up in the morning?” She looked up at the blonde and all the boiling anger that had been simmering in Yennefer’s gut seemed to vanish, watered down by the baby blues looking up at her. 

“That’s… very kind of you, yes,” she finally managed to spit out. 

“I’ll be there at three?” she asked and Yennefer only managed to nod, just as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open on her floor and she stepped out. 

“Great, just send the address to my assistant, I’ll see you in the morning.” She smiled and Yennefer only managed to nod before the doors slid shut, moving down toward the twenty-sixth floor, leaving her to stare at her distorted reflection in the metal doors.

“Miss Diamond?” 

Yennefer jumped, whirling around to find Daisy standing there, her tablet held in front of her.

“I have your flight and hotel information, shall I email it to you?” she asked, looking down at the tablet screen before looking back up at her.

And just like that, the cooling embers of her anger burst back into flames. 

“Yes,” she ground out, stomping across the floor to her office, Daisy on her heels, tapping at her tablet screen. 

Yennefer felt her phone buzz in her pocket, signaling the arrival of the email, followed by another. 

Entering her office she made a beeline for her computer and opened up the two emails; one a confirmation of her flight and hotel accommodations that she only briefly glanced over before opening the other, detailed information about the business and the location of its head office. 

She saved the address into her phone and looked up at the clock. Eight-thirty. She looked over the last few things she needed to do and decided. 

“Daisy…” Her PA was quick to jump to attention at the call of her name. “I’m leaving at noon so I can get things together before tomorrow morning. Move anything pertinent I need to do today too before then or reschedule it,” she commanded, eyes already trained on something on her screen.

“Of course.” She nodded, already swiping away at the tablet screen. 

Yennefer went to close the email but caught sight of the ‘To:’ box where she and Belle had both been tagged in the email and paused, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

“Daisy, please send my home address to Miss Ryan’s assistant.” she said after a moment before resuming her work. 

She could see her assistant out of the corner of her eye, looking at her curiously before nodding to herself and turning back to her tablet, fingers flying across the screen as she worked to complete her tasks. 

With that out of the way, she was able to turn fully back to her work without distraction. One phone conference, several very long individual calls, and thirty emails later, and she was shutting down her computer and heading out with Daisy at her heels, taking quick notes as they walked.

“If anything urgent comes up, call me and I’ll take care of it,” she instructed, snapping her briefcase closed as she waited for the elevator.

“Of course.” Daisy nodded, still tapping away at the screen.

 The elevator doors opened with a ding and she stepped inside, turning to face her assistant. 

“Take the rest of the day off,” she said, pressing the button for the ground floor.

“Thank You, Miss Diamond. Have a nice trip,” she trilled as the doors slid shut, leaving the VP alone in the quiet elevator.  

“I doubt it,” she grumbled to herself as the elevator moved downward. 

~ ~ ~ ~

Yennefer yawned as she sat at her kitchen table, taking long sips of the black coffee in her cup. Her bag was packed and sitting next to the front door, along with her laptop case. 

Her phone sat silent and dark on the table as it usually did at three fifteen in the morning.

She ran her hand through her slightly damp hair, still coming around, even after the near boiling shower. 

If nothing else, she was glad she didn’t have to get herself to the airport. She would need to think of some way to show Belle her thanks.

Which reminded her. 

She still had to get her a gift for the secret Santa; she cursed to herself. 

She still had lots of time and perhaps she would learn something useful that would give her even the faintest idea of what she could give her. 

True, if it had been anyone else, she would have just picked up a gift card of some kind and called it a day, but that wasn't going to earn her any points with the executive importer she was sure.

She sat contemplating it and sipping her coffee when her phone lit up, the vibration making it rattle across the table.

She picked it up, squinting at the bright screen. 

Instead of a name there was an unknown number and a single line of text. 

"I'm parked out front."

It took her a second before she realized with a jolt who it had to be and jumped up, setting the empty coffee cup in the sink before pulling on her leather long coat and picking up her bags, leaving her apartment and locking the door behind her.

Outside, her apartment building was cold and dark, save for the christmas lights that decorated some of the buildings and trees, and the headlights of a single silver car parked at the curb idle-ing.

 When she stepped out onto the street from the lobby, the driver side door opened and Belle climbed out. Her hair was down, laying in silky curtain of white against the back of her deep blue peacoat and it gave Yennefer pause before the biting cold forced her to keep moving toward the car.  

“Good morning.” Belle greeted her with a smile warm, enough to chase away some of winter’s bite as she popped the trunk. 

“G’morning…” she mumbled, as she stuck her bag in the trunk, her hot breath coming out in wispy clouds around her head. She walked quickly to the passenger side and climbed inside. Her ears and hands burned as the hot air coming out of the heater hit her cold skin.

The very next thing that hit her was the subtle scent of lavender and something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on.  

Belle climbed into the driver's seat and once the door had shut, Yennefer realized the pleasing and delicate floral scent was coming from her.

 A chill ran up her spine but not from the lingering cold. Clearing her throat she looked at Belle as they pulled away from the curb and toward the airport.

“Thank you; for picking me up.” she clarified. 

Belle glanced at her, smiling before turning her eyes back to the road.

“Of course. I was happy too,” she said before turning her full attention back on the road. 

Yennefer wanted to say something, anything really, but she came up blank and rather then make a fool of herself, she stayed quiet for the rest of the ride, looking out the passenger window.

Arriving at the airport was a hustle of checking in and waiting in lines that stretched on forever, thanks to the jolly time of year. 

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, they were seated comfortably next to each other in first class. 

She pulled off her coat and glanced to her side where Belle had pulled out a book. She wanted to say something but she seemed rather concentrated on the literature, so, with a silent sigh, she leant back and closed her eyes, determined to sleep through the flight. 

Which she did.

She didn’t open her eyes again until they had landed and Belle was gently nudging her awake.

They were able to get their bags quickly and get out to the rental car waiting for them.

“Do you mind if I drive?” Yennefer asked distractedly as she looked at the address for their hotel on her phone.  

“Not at all,” Belle answered as she set her bags in the trunk. Yennefer nodded as she set her own things next to hers before climbing into the driver’s seat.  

“It should be close by…” she mumbled more to herself than anything.

‘We aren’t expected at Mica till eleven,” Belle said. 

Yennefer looked at the clock on the dash blinking nine-fifteen at her. They did have time. She hummed in agreement, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel and glancing at the GPS on the phone as she followed the road to the hotel.

She wasn’t at all surprised by the scale of the building when she pulled into the parking lot. Her mother never settled, even if only for one night. The parking lot had been shoveled but everything around was covered in several inches of snow. Lights of red and green, as well as  wreaths decorated the front of the building. 

They gathered up their bags and headed inside, which was just as lavish as Yennefer had predicted. The lobby was pristine, and reminded her too much of her mother’s office.   

“Good morning Ma’am. Name?” the man behind the counter greeted.

“Diamond.” she told him simply as he turned to his computer typing something before nodding.

“Here it is,” he said, typing a few more things and handing over two key cards.

“I’ll only need one.” She tried to hand back the second but he held up a hand.

“No Ma’am, the other is for your companion. Miss ...” He glanced at the screen before turning back to her. “...Ryan.”

“We only have one room?” Belle asked, stepping forward as Yennefer went silent. 

“Yes, I’m sorry Ma’am, but when the reservation was made it was the only room available for the night, everything else in the city has been booked due to the time of year,” he informed them, looking apologetic.” 

Yennefer’s jaw clenched and she could feel the words about to erupt from her mouth when they were silenced before they could even start.

“That’s alright, we’ll make do for one night, right?” Belle smiled at the relieved looking desk clerk before looking over at her, and all the vitriol gathering on the end of her tongue vanished in a puff of smoke. Left with no other options she just nodded and held out the second key card to Belle, trying not to look as disgruntled as she felt.

“Breakfast is still being served in the dining room. Enjoy your stay, ladies,” The clerk smiled as they walked toward the elevator. 

Yennefer huffed inside as they got on and hit the button for the third floor.

“I hadn’t even thought about how booked up all the hotels would be,” Belle hummed.

“Tch, all they could have had left is a cot in a closet and my mother still would have insisted we come,” she grouched, unprepared for when her companion giggled. 

“We’re lucky they at least had one room then,” she grinned and it took all Yennefer had to look away. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her leather coat and nodded, unable to stop the twitch of her lips which Belle seemed to notice, if the widening of her grin was anything to go by. 

The doors opened on the third floor and they quickly found the room in question. Belle opened the door and walked in, flicking on the light but she stopped suddenly, Yennefer nearly running into her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Oh, no, nothing.” she assured quickly, moving into the room properly and allowing Yennefer in; she stopped herself.

Situated in the center of the room was one queen sized bed. Not the two fulls she had expected.

‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,’ she thought to herself.

She glanced at Belle, who was unpacking her one bag and putting her clothes in the second drawer, but was glancing at Yennefer in the reflection of the vanity situated atop the dresser, waiting for her reaction.

Yennefer’s hands clenched. There were no other rooms to be had and she didn’t want to make this any more awkward than it already was by having a fit about it when it certainly wouldn’t help the situation or put either one of them anymore at ease. 

She exhaled heavily through her nose and moved to set her bag on the bed before taking a deep breath. 

“Do… you have a preference for side?” She couldn’t believe she was asking. 

“Oh…” Belle looked at her in the mirror’s reflection and Yennefer thought just maybe her cheeks were a little pink but they had just come in from outside. “Closest to the wall?” she said, uncertainly and Yennefer nodded, setting her laptop case on the bedside table. She preferred to sleep on the outside edge anyway.  

Belle disappeared into the bathroom and she took the opportunity to put her clothes in the top drawer she had left empty for her. 

She grumbled to herself while she did. 

Of all the people she had to go on this trip with and then end up sharing not only a room but a bed! It, of course, had to be the most attractive woman in the office. 

She snorted to herself; it could have been worse, she supposed- it could have been a man or her mother. She grimaced at the thought, just as Belle reappeared.

“Would you like to go down and have breakfast?” she asked.

Yennefer glanced at her watch. It was only ten.

“Sure,” she nodded. Anything so that she didn't have to stand here, awkwardly pretending she was fine with sharing a bed with a woman she could hardly talk to most days.

The food set out downstairs was the usual continental breakfast and there was no telling how long it had been sitting there, so Yennefer grabbed a bagel and an orange from the fruit stand before finding an empty table in the back corner.

Belle sat down across from her with a bowl of the hotel’s oatmeal and Yennefer couldn't help but make a face that was immediately noticed.

"What?" Belle questioned, head tilted at the look being leveled on her breakfast.

"Hmm?" Yennefer looked up, amber meeting blue and flushed, realizing Belle had noticed her looking at the bowl of vile, mushy oats. "Oh, no nothing." She took a bite of her bagel to avoid saying anything else.

"You're just glaring at my breakfast for no reason?" The tone was more than a little amused and Yennefer's neck burned as she chewed on the bagel.

"I didn't… mean anything, I just have an aversion to most oatmeal. I got food poisoning from it once as a child," she informed.

"Oh, I see," Belle said.

"Mhmm," Yennefer nodded. "I have my own recipe which is the only kind I or my nephew will eat." She couldn't help the twitch of her mouth, thinking of the other morning when Rosie had sent her that photo of Steven refusing her oatmeal as she picked up her coffee cup.

"Your nephew?" Belle questioned wide eyes. "I didn't know you had any siblings. Do they work at Diamond industry?"

Yennefer snorted into her coffee cup.

"No." she stated flatly. "My sister and mother have a… let's say, tenuous relationship," she mumbled the last part.

"What about your nephew?” she asked before spooning some of the oatmeal into her mouth, but all her attention was on Yennefer. 

“Steven? He’s very musical and intelligent for his age, he’s going to do great things.” She nodded to herself; she was certain of it.

“I think that’s the nicest thing I’ve ever heard you say about anyone; you seem very fond of him.” Belle smiled teasingly and the heat that had receded from Yennefer’s neck was back full force. “Do you have a picture?” She leaned forward eagerly.

She pulled her phone from her pocket, and flicked through it a few times before coming to a picture of Rosie holding Steven on the beach last summer when she had taken a rare week off to go with them, coincidentally that had been the week she’d fed Steven her oatmeal one morning and he wouldn’t touch any other since. 

She handed the device to Belle who cooed at the little curly haired boy and Yennefer couldn’t help but grin.

“He’s adorable,” she murmured. “Is that your sister?” she asked looking at the younger woman with bright pink dyed hair, though it was curly, just like the little boy’s. Yennefer nodded, peeling her orange. “I would have never guessed,” she said, handing the phone back.

“We have different fathers,” she shrugged. ��Rosie is eight years my junior,” she said. popping a peeled slice into her mouth.

Belle sat there eating her oatmeal and trying to wrap her head around two different men being interested in the curt and exacting Whitney Diamond, and had a hard time wrapping her mind around it as they finished their breakfast and headed for the office.

~ ~ ~

Belle did not see Yennefer again until almost five o’clock that afternoon. She didn’t have too much trouble sorting through the company's inventory and current trade contracts but one look at Yennefer when she got off the elevator to the lobby said that her counterpart had not had as easy a time.

“Are you alright?” Belle asked as they walked out of the building toward their rental. The VP was hunched over, face set in a deep scowl.

“A monkey could keep better books!” She dropped her laptop case into the back seat, trying not to slam the door and not really succeeding. Belle winced at the bang.

“I spent the entire day just sorting out the mess,” she growled, plopping down into the driver’s seat. 

“Is there no way to turn it around and make it profitable? The state of their inventory and their contracts are good.” 

“Oh, it will be profitable. I have everything sorted out now and I've put together an offer my mother has approved, I just needed to know what your assessment was before putting it to the owner tomorrow. Everything is set, whether or not he accepts the offer before he goes broke will be up to him.” she grumbled, starting the car.

They drove in silence for several minutes, Yennefer still too annoyed with her day to have time to feel awkward. All that time spent trying to make sense of their accounting had left her with a dull throbbing headache. 

“Do you want to get dinner before we head back to the hotel?” Belle suddenly piped up as they drove past a row of restaurants. 

“Sure,” she grunted. 

They ended up in a booth in the back of an Italian place near their hotel. 

“Outside of time spent in meetings, I think this is the most we’ve ever interacted before,” Belle suddenly said once the waiter had walked away and Yennefer looked up at her, garlic bread in her mouth. She finished biting it and and chewed, trying to figure out what she was supposed to say in response to that.

You make me nervous, so I try to avoid you most days? 

That would go over about as well as it sounded. 

She was saved from having to come up with an answer when she went on.

“What do you do for fun, Yennefer?” she asked and she fidgeted a little under the intense blue eyes looking at her.

“I don’t usually have much free time with all my work… but when time allows, I enjoy theater,” she finally said after a moment of thinking. 

“What kind of theater?” Belle looked genuinely interested and it made Yennefer’s nerves settle a little.

“Musicals, mostly. I used to do do some performing in college,” she admitted. 

“You sing?” Her eyes shot open at that and Yennefer could feel her face warming.

“Not anymore.” She concentrated on the bread in front of her.

“Whyever did you stop?” she couldn’t help but ask, though it didn’t occur to her until after the words had left her mouth that that might have been prying, “Oh, maybe that’s too personal?”

Yennefer just shrugged.

“Between my major in business and minor in finance there wasn’t any time for long rehearsals and show nights.” Yennefer pursed her lips, remembering exactly when her grades had took a slight dip during the production of ‘War paint’ with it’s long hours that had taken time from her studying, and her mother had been beside herself that her ‘little hobby’ was affecting her school work.

It was easier to quit then deal with all of that. As much as she’d hated to.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Belle frowned, having watched the dark mood that had settled over her companion for a brief moment but decided against asking about it. “I’m rather fond of musicals myself. I double majored in music and business actually, though the second only at my father’s insistence. He had many ventures and since I was an only child someone had to manage them.” She gave a little shrug. 

“That’s very impressive,” Yennefer commented and was fascinated by the slightest of pink hues that dusted across her companion’s fair complexion.

“Thank you,” she said it almost bashfully, looking at Yennefer from beneath her lashes and immediately Yennefer only wanted to set her at ease, despite the rigidness of her own spine.

“Have you seen any shows lately?” she asked. It was the only thing that came to mind. 

“I haven’t, I wanted to see the production ‘Rent’ downtown next month but they’ve already sold out every showing.” She pouted and against her better judgment Yennefer couldn’t stop herself from thinking how cute it was. 

“It’s always popular,” she agreed, just as the waiter was setting their food down in front of them, though that didn’t stop Belle from talking about the shows she’d seen in the past and the more she talked, the more at ease Yennefer felt herself becoming. 

They talked the entire meal about theater and music. 

She had even managed to forget all about their sleeping arrangements till they got back to the hotel and she was faced with the impending reality that for the first time in longer than she cared to admit, she would be sharing a bed with someone. 

By half past nine it seemed there would be no more stalling and she picked up her night clothes and went into the bathroom to change. 

Once she was dressed in the yellow cotton shorts and tank top that served as her sleeping clothes, she looked hard at herself in the mirror.

“This is fine. It’s not weird; this is a business trip. Just go to sleep,” she mumbled to herself before leaving the bathroom. 

Belle looked up at her when she came out, and she was working so hard not to make eye contact that she didn’t notice the much longer than necessary look over the Irish woman was giving her before picking something up off the bed and heading into the bathroom. 

With a sigh of relief, Yennefer climbed under the blankets and scrolled through her phone messages to find she had an unread text from her sister.

“I talked to mom… she wants Steven and I to come to the company party Thursday, I’m only coming early if I can still stay with you. I didn’t tell her that though, I know she’d put the squeeze on you.” 

Yennefer snorted- that was an understatement. On the one hand that was five more days with her sister, and while they got along much better than Rosie and their mother, they still didn’t see eye to eye that often.

On the other hand, that was five more days with Steven, which was ultimately the clencher. 

“Fine,” was her to the point reply. 

It was just as she hit send that the bathroom door open and she looked up on instinct, and immediately wished she hadn’t.

While she would be hard pressed to call that off the shoulder, baby blue nightgown that stopped  more than halfway up Belle’s thighs transparent, it’s paper thin looking fabric certainly wasn’t as opaque or long, as she wished it was. 

Her face burned scarlet and she could feel it. Amber eyes locked with blue for a moment that felt much too long just as her phone buzzed and she jerked to look at the screen, to look at anything but the barely clothed woman in front of her.

“You’re the best, Yen!”

She pursed her lips and set the device on the nightstand. She wasn’t sure she was the best at anything right now, while she carefully avoided looking in Belle’s direction as she felt the bed shift while she climbed under the sheets.

She took a deep breath and glanced at Belle who’s eyes seemed to dart away when she looked her way, making her tense up even more. 

Her skin felt itchy and hot, tingling in an unpleasant way. She cleared her throat, still not looking at her companion though she swore she could feel those powder blue eyes burning a hole in her.

“Goodnight,” she said simply, as she reached over and flicked off the bedside table lamp and laid down, facing away from Belle.

“Goodnight” was echoed back to her before the other light went out, casting the room in darkness and quiet.

Her face was still burning, the image of that nightgown was seared into her memory as though with a hot iron. 

She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to look Belle in the eye at a meeting ever again. 

She felt the brush of skin against one of her legs and electricity jolted through her from the point of contact all the way to her fingertips.

“Sorry” came the quiet apology from in the darkness.

“It’s fine,” she lied. She was anything but fine at the moment as she carefully scooted closer to the edge.

She tried to stay as still as possible even as she felt Belle move around, neither of them touching again. She was practically hanging off the edge of the mattress, least she brush up against her and cause another flash of intense heat to shoot through her nerves. 

Maybe her therapist was right, she thought idley. Maybe she was touch starved.  

She tried to relax, but doing her best to be as still as stone ran counter productive to that goal.

It was tense for a while as they both settled, eventually all movement on the other side of the bed ceased.

She laid there for a long while, eyes clenched shut and trying to fall asleep while being perfectly still, when a sudden sound made her eyes pop open, looking out into the darkness, her ears strained for whatever it was she’d heard.

It was a low rumbling noise, coming from just over her shoulder.

With an amused snort she realised what she was hearing was Belle.

Snoring.

She listened to the sound, without realizing that she was slowly relaxing to the rhythmic sound of Belle’s breathing, and was drifting off.

The next thing she knew she was waking up, the grogginess of sleep slowly ebbing away as she peeled open her eyes. 

The room was still dark and quiet, only the sound of the heater running broke the otherwise quiet stillness in the room.

She looked at the clock sitting on the table, squinting at the numbers.

Five forty-five glared back at her in neon red. Here alarm wasn’t even due to go off for another fifteen minutes. Not that she would be able to go back to sleep now. 

That extra time would give her time  for an extra long shower and get woken up before breakfast. 

She started to sit up when something pressing tightly against her back gave her pause.

A quiet mumble against her shoulder made her seize up as she realized that Belle had shifted in her sleep and was now pressed firmly against her back. 

‘Of course’. 

She could feel every bit of the other woman’s body heat radiating through the gossamer thin nightgown right into her back, not to mention every dip and curve of her body; and every breath she took, still snoring quietly. 

Yennefer began to sweat, nerves on fire; she needed out. 

Moving as slowly and carefully as she ever had, Yennefer slid out of the bed without disturbing Belle, who curled up into the warm empty space she left. She breathed a sigh of relief.

 She needed a shower.

Moving carefully through the dark room she entered the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind her before flicking on the blinding light.

She quickly grew accustomed to it as she turned on the shower as hot as it would go. 

To her disappointment it wasn’t near as hot as her shower at home, but it would make do.

Once her muscles started to unclench, she found herself humming a Christmas song that had been playing on the radio on the drive back to the hotel from dinner. The humming turned to singing. 

The words began quiet, mumbles under her breath as she washed her hair, but grew into a loud sound reverberated off the smooth tile walls until she shut off the water and climbed out. 

She’d never admit that singing in the shower was a daily occurrence. She dried off quickly and dressed before opening the bathroom door. 

She was surprised to find the room lights on and Belle, still in her nightgown, and putting some things in her bag. It was only now Yennefer noticed that she was still wearing the small diamond shaped necklace; she must have slept in it. She looked like she had been up a while and she wondered if she had woken her up after getting out of bed… and if she had heard her singing. 

She looked up when Yennefer came out of the bathroom and smiled.

“Morning.” She smiled and Yennefer returned the greeting. “Are you done in there?” She gestured to the bathroom and Yennefer nodded, still rubbing the towl through her damp hair. 

She supposed Belle hadn’t been able to hear her.

She gathered up her clothes and a towel before walking toward the bathroom. She glanced at Yennefer just as she passed by on her way into the bathroom.

“You sing beautifully.” Belle grinned just as she closed the bathroom door, leaving Yennefer standing alone and red faced in the middle of the room.

~ ~ ~

Despite the rough start to her morning, the rest of the day went much smoother than the day before. She presented the buy-out to the short, bald CEO who hemmed and hawed a while at the number before Yennefer threatened to withdraw the offer altogether.

He signed the papers soon after, which she quickly faxed to her mother to sign, placing the originals carefully in her briefcase. 

With business done, they were both eager to return home. 

The flight back was spent sleeping. She was going to need all her energy for her sister and nephew in the coming days. 

She and Belle spoke little untill she was dropping the blonde off in front of her apartment building. It seemed it had snowed again while she was gone, as piles of fluffy white stuff covered every surface save for the freshly shoveled walk. It certainly made it feel more like christmas. Steven would be beside himself with the snow at the park.

She walked around the car, bag in hand as the driver side window rolled down.

“Have a good evening, Belle.”

“I'll see you tomorrow,” she smiled before the window rolled up and she was pulling away.

Yennefer quickly made her way up to her floor; she had child proofing to do and a phone call to make to a friend that owed her a favor.

~ ~ ~  

She in fact didn’t see Belle on Thursday nor Friday, she actually didn’t see her again until the next Thursday, at the company’s Christmas party. 

The room was loud and full of people, all dressed in the loudest and ugliest christmas themed apparel Yennefer could imagine. 

Herself included; unfortunately. 

She glared at anyone who stared too long at the ugly green sweater with bright yellow garland sewn all the way around it, with it’s shiny red balls that hung from the material, jingling with every step she took.

She'd outright refused the monstrosity when Rosie had held it out to her; till her nephew had gotten teary eyed at the refusal of what was apparently his hand picked gift. 

So, now she was wearing it. 

She drew the line at the Santa hat, instead pushing it down over the toddlers curly locks, making him giggle.

She held Steven in her arm, tucked against her shoulder as her sister and assistant chatted, scanning the room for Belle. A red envelope held in her left hand. A sudden part in the crowd and those platinum locks came into view.

“Here. I’ll be back in a minute.” She handed Steven over to his mother before walking off through the crowd, jingling all the way, much to her annoyance.

She was halfway there, envelope in hand, only to be intercepted by her mother.

“Yennefer, this is for you, my dear.” She handed over a thin rectangle wrapped in blinding silver paper. “I had the good luck to draw you as my secret Santa.” The older woman smiled and Yennefer cocked a brow in silent question as to what about that was lucky, but it also made her wonder what poor bastard had gotten her mother if she was participating.

She pulled the wrapping off to find a gilded silver frame with a photo of no one else but her mother, dressed in the gaudiest grande dame outfit she could have ever imagined, complete with the boa, and all she could do was squint at it while Whitney beamed.

“What do you think, my dear? Lovely, isn’t it? I thought you might put it in your office at home.” She tapped the frame with a long, manicured nail.

“Thank you, mother,” was the best Yennefer could muster in response to the gift, not that it was completely without question, given the older woman’s history in the gift department. All things considered, she had gotten off easy. 

“Oh. My. God.” 

Suddenly her sister’s bright pink head was looking over her shoulder at the photo, Steven held in her arms. “What is that?” she asked, completely gobsmacked.

“Your sister’s Christmas present,” Whitney huffed, glaring at her youngest.

There was a tense moment before Rosie turned to her and with the most serious face she could muster said- “I’m sorry.” 

She couldn’t stop the grin that followed that statement, especially when Whitney turned on the youngest.

“What exactly do you mean by that?!” she huffed.

Yennefer quickly walked away as the two began to bicker, there would be plenty of that till New Year’s. She scanned the crowd for a shock of platinum white hair. Finding it, she squared her shoulders and walked purposefully across the room. 

She stopped just behind her as Belle turned, jumping at the blondes sudden presence, smiled nonetheless. 

“Yennefer! Merry Christmas, I didn’t see you much last week. I went to your office last Friday and your assistant said you were out.” 

“I did most of my work at home since my sister is staying with me till after Christmas,” she explained her absence. 

“Oh, here I thought you were avoiding me…” 

“Of course not!” Yennefer quickly said, making Belle’s eyes widen before she laughed happily.

“I was only teasing you,” she assured, laying a hand on the blonde’s forearm. Yennefer could feel her neck burning. A reoccuring theme whenever she was in the executive’s presence. “What do you have there?” She tilted her head, noticing her mother’s gift.

 Now her whole face was red.

“My mother was my secret Santa..,” she grumbled, presenting the photo to the now wide-eyed woman. 

“Oh my..,” she started. “That’s… lovely?” She didn’t seem too sure. Yennefer sighed heavily.

“No, it isn't, but this is on par for her,” she mumbled quietly so only the two of them could hear. 

“I see.” She giggled and Yennefer smirked before remembering the reason for coming over.

“This is for you.” She held out a red envelope.

“For me?” Belle repeated, taking the envelope with her name written on it in smooth, blocky script. 

“I was your secret Santa,” she explained, trying not to fidget under the seemingly intense cornflower stare.

“Oh!” She looked back down at the envelope, testing it in her hands. “Thank you, Yennefer,” she said as she pulled open the flap and reached inside, her fingers wrapping around two slips of paper.

She pulled them out and looked curiously at whatever it was and after a moment her eyes went wide, head whipping up to look at Yennefer.

“Rent tickets, how did you…?” she didn’t know what else to say.

“I know someone…” She shrugged. “Merry Christmas, Belle.” 

“I… thank you, Yennefer.” She smiled so prettily up at her, Yennefer had to give herself a mental shake, thus cueing her to go.

"You're welcome, have a good time."

“Wait, Yennefer…” Belle started just as she turned to go but whatever she was going to say was cut off by a small but high pitched voice.

“Yen!” 

They both turned to look, just in time to see a little boy with curly black hair in a Santa hat come running across the room straight into Yennefer's knees.

"Pick me up?" He looked up at her with wide eyes and held up his arms.

Not one to disappoint him, she reached down and pulled him up, saddling him against her hip. 

"Ohh..."

They both looked up at the coo. Belle was staring at the little boy with wide eyes, even more so when he saw her and tucked his face into his aunt's shoulder.

“Hello,” Belle smiled.

"Don't be rude." Yennefer gave him a nudge. He peeked up at her before looking at Belle.

"Hi.." he said shyly.

"You must be Steven." Belle leaned down, smiling at the boy. He turned to face her better.

"Yeah!" He grinned and Belle couldn't help but return it.

"Your aunt told me a bit about you, you know. She thinks you're very impressive," she said and he looked awed by that before looking up at the obviously embarrassed VP with starry eyes and smiling brightly. 

"Yes, well… We need to get you back to your mother." Yennefer cleared her throat, turning away.

"Wait just one second, Yennefer." She reached out, laying a hand on the blonde’s shoulder before she could walk away.

She turned, half way around, waiting as Belle seemed to think about what she was going to say, biting her lip.

“Considering that we’re both theatre fans, perhaps you’d like to go with me. To see the show?” she asked, pushing a few strands of white hair behind her ear. 

Yennefer knew her face was red if the heat coming off it was anything to go by.

“Like..” she floundered for words, only for Belle to beat her to it. 

“Like a date,” she finished, looking more amused than anyone had any right to be, despite the color spreading across her own face.. 

“Yes,” she managed to spit out even though her mouth felt like it was full of sand.

“Great! Well, I have an early flight to Ireland in the morning; I need to be going, but I’ll see you when I get back?” she asked.

Yennefer nodded and Belle only smiled in reply before she turned to go. She watched her move through the sea of their coworkers before she was out of sight.

“Oooh, who was that?” 

She jumped, turning to find her sister giving her a shit-eating grin, and her face burned even hotter. 

“None of your concern,” she scowled, handing Steven over as he held his arms out for his mother.

“She was pretty…” Rosie teased, looking where Belle had vanished before turning back to her.  

“Unless you want to stay with mother, I suggest you drop it..,” she warned with a glare.

“Touchy… fine, have it your way.” She waved, walking back toward the refreshment table with Steven in tow. 

Once she was gone did Yennefer allow herself to glance back into the crowd, but a small flash of light caught her eye.

Laying on the floor, just peeking out from beneath the dessert table was a small silver pendant with a blue, diamond shaped charm that she immediately recognized. She scooped it up, the fine silver chain still warm against her skin as she walked quickly toward the elevator. 

The tiny bells of her sweater monstrosity jingling rapidly as she maneuvered through the throng of people; who unlike any other day were not so quick to get the hell out of her way. 

“Belle!” she called, just as the elevator doors were about to slide shut. Her hand slipping into the crack just in time to make them slide back open, to the executive’s surprise. 

“What, what’s wrong?” She blinked up at the blonde.  

Instead of saying anything she simply held out her hand, revealing the necklace laying in her palm. Belle gasped, grabbing the delicate jewelry.

“My necklace!” She held it in her closed fist, pressed to her chest and looked up at Yennefer.

“It was on the floor,” she explained simply. 

“My father gave me this,” she said quietly. “Thank you.” 

She said it so sincerely that all Yennefer could manage was a nod.

“You’re welcome,” she mumbled. 

Belle was looking up at her but her eyes seemed to be drawn to something just above Yennefer’s head; she chewed her bottom lip. 

Before Yennefer could ask her what she was looking at the other woman practically lunged forward, pressing her lips to the stunned VP’s cheek.

Yennefer could only stand there, slack jawed, staring at the the red-faced but smiling Belle as she stepped back, allowing the doors to slide closed this time, leaving her staring at her beet- red, faced reflection. 

A whistle made her whip around to find her sister, Steven still in her arms, grinning at her. She only flushed harder as Rosie pointed upward and she glanced up to find that someone had hung a sprig of mistletoe in the frame of the elevator.

“Maybe you’ll have a second aunt before you know it, honey,” Roise said to her son with a smug grin as he looked at her, wide eyed.

“Rosie!” 

[mukeshsharmaofficial]

12 Minute Affiliate System Review: This Is What I Got!

by shivansh bhanwariya

You just heard about the ‘12 Minute Affiliate System‘ through a YouTube video, blog, or a social media advertisement or post.

Looks both interesting but a bit risky. I know that feeling. I had the same feeling when I got the chance to look at it back in the day.

But, then I also realized that it is run by Devon Brown. If you’re a ClickFunnels user, you might know that this guy has showed up at FHL (Funnel Hacking Live) a couple times.

Still not sure, this is that guy…

When I got to know that he runs the 12 Minute Affiliate System, I finally decided to try this out. I’ll be sharing everything I liked and didn’t like about the program/system after spending some time figuring stuff out.

I’ll share what it looks like inside to be a member, what is this all about, how user friendly is the training, the set-up, and who is this program for.

Let’s kick things right away and start this ONLY in-depth 12 Minute Affiliate System review without wasting any time.

What is 12 Minute Affiliate System?

So what this actually is?

Is it a training program?

Or a kind of machine that’ll generate you thousands of dollars in minutes?

The truth is, it’s an affiliate marketing training program with actionable and easy steps that beginners can leverage to make money online without having to start a website, YouTube channel or something else.

They provide you everything you need. From training to funnels, from products (that you choose) to traffic, and nifty support.

Since you just have to copy and paste the steps provided (I’ll talk about them in a while), you can probably call it a system.

I’m a member of the program and this is an inside view of the program.

You get a whole bunch of stuff when you enter this program. But before we talk about that, let me answer some of the big questions.

Does it Really take 12 Minutes to Get Started?

The answer is yes and no. Sure, you can have the funnels, autoresponder, and tracking set up, but that doesn’t mean you’ll starting making money within 12 minutes. It’s going to take a while before you start earning commissions because all you’ll do is affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing takes a bit of time, a little work, and some investment to get going in the right direction.

It’s not a ‘get rich quick scheme’ for sure. Also, if you’re looking for something like that, no training or even system will work for you because it simply doesn’t exist.

There’s no shortcuts to success. I would not even recommend you reading this review if you want to make $100,000 within this week.

That’s not how it works.

Can you Earn Four to Five Figures each Month?

Hell yeah! But……

Okay, so what’s the catch?

Well, it’s investment and work. You’ll want to invest a bit into your skills and advertisements to get some quality traffic and coming in and once you have that up and running, you can get a chance to lay in the bed and generate passive cash flow.

Is 12 Minute Affiliate Legit?

I have a simple answer for this question: Yes, It’s Legit for sure!

How Does the System Work?

So, when you’re in the system, there are total 6 steps you need to take to start making the profit or in other words, start your online business model. Let’s go over them one after the other.

Step #1: Create your Affiliate Account in 2 Minutes

This is the first step that you get to meet when you initially login to the system. You want to create/setup an affiliate account first.

It’s a very easy step to be taken. You create a ClickBank affiliate account so that you can be an affiliate of a product to be able to promote it, make sales, and earn commission off of that.

It’s nothing complicated. You might already have a ClickBank account if you’ve tried selling somebody else’s products as an affiliate.

There are plenty of resources taking you from baby steps to be able to create an affiliate account.

It’s pretty easy and basic.

Step #2: Get an Autoresponder

If you don’t know what an autoresponder is, it’s a tool that allows you to send automated emails to your subscribers without you having to worrying about sitting like a crazy person and sending tons of emails to tons of people.

The software recommended by the 12 Minute Affiliate System is AWeber. Just be aware that you’ll need to buy the tool yourself. For the first 30 days, it’s going to be free and then it’ll cost $19 per month (for 500 subscribers).

But it will outsource a whole lot of your work. It’s worth paying. Also, according to industry average, you’ll be earning close to $500 per month when you reach that 500 subscriber mark.

Majority of the people earn $1 for an email subscriber per month. You could be earning more as well – depending on the quality of the list and the strategies you use.

We’ve been using AWeber lately and really love the way it works. Nice deliverability, user experience, and overall tracking. It’s not the only best tool but we just live the company so much.

If you don’t want to use AWeber, you’ll be free to integrate an autoresponder of your own. No worries with that.

Step #3: Setup your Autoresponder

In this step, you’ll be loading email swipes to your AWeber or any other email marketing platform. In 12 Minute Affiliate, you’ll be getting 80 email swipes that you can simply upload to your account easily and then you’re up and running.

That’s why they recommend AWeber because it’s going to be easy for you to get this task done in minutes. It’ll be convenient to send emails series.

You will be able to auto generate emails with your own affiliate links and then have them sent to the subscribers on a daily basis.

Just like – Email #1 – On day 1, Email #2 – On day 2, Email #3 – ON day 3, and so on.

I personally think that sending 80 emails is a bit aggressive.

Step #4: Active your 12 Minute Affiliate Funnels

As shown below, in this step, you’ll be placing your affiliate ID (depending on the niches you choose). These funnels are included within your account and you won’t need a website or a sales funnel software like ClickFunnels.

You can pick up any (done for you) template shown in the library to promote various products in different niches you chose.

It’s just a matter of clicks, and I mean it.

If you don’t want to do it by yourself, you can pay to play. They have a Done For You setup that can be helpful if you don’t have much time.

Step #5: Get Traffic

Here, you have two ways to go. One, get traffic by the traditional ways like web forums, SEO, YouTube, and other stuff which takes some time. You’ll get this e-book + training for the traffic.

Or in the second option, there Done For You Traffic.

Really?

Well, here, you’ll be buying clicks and they’ll setup everything for you. Depending on your industry, it can cost anywhere from $1 per click to $3 per click or more.

Hence, if you pay $100, there’ll be about 100 people coming to your landing page. It’s just an example.

But let me be clear, if 100 people hop on to your page, you won’t be seeing 100 signups to your mailing list.

The average conversion rate will about 25 to 30% (sometimes more or less). That said, if you get 100 people coming in, and you get 30 signups, you can expect one or two sales of the product.

So, if it’s a high ticket product, you can spend $100 and make $500, $600, or even $1,000 back. But if it’s a low ticket product, you’ll barely breaking even.

Affiliate marketing is not magic. It requires work, patience, and investment – just like other business models out there.

So, there are the simple steps the 12 Minute Affiliate System offers. It really doesn’t take much of your time to get started if you’re willing to.

Is there Anything else you Get?

Yes, they also have a section for personal development, which I think is really important for a person to stay positive unless he starts getting/seeing some good results. Business is all about patience regardless it’s an online or an offline business.

The way you think about your life is super important. Mindset is everything.

If you change the way you look at things, the things around you will change.

Cool, are there Any Upsells?

Yes, there are upsells. But those upsells don’t have to do anything to you when you’re just beginning the journey. You can upgrade your account and get high level coaching once you start generating some decent revene.

That’s why, I don’t talk about upsells in this review.

What About the Money Back Guarantee?

The 12 Minute Affiliate System offers a 60-day money back guarantee so you won’t need to worry about that as well. It’s risk free to join.

My Final Verdict on 12 Minute Affiliate

Overall, the product is super amazing and provides a whole lot of value that it promises. However, I’m not a big fan of a product that does everything for you. Like you don’t earn any skills when you buy these kind of systems.

Sure, it can generate you money. And that’s cool. But I personally think that high income is not that important to lead…rather, a high income skill is something that you should choose.

But hey, everybody’s got different perspective about life. Some want more time. Some want freedom. Some want houses. Some need fame. And the list goes on and on and on.

Finally, I can say that this system is not a cringe or a scam. It’s legit and fits best for beginners trying to make money online.

This was my personal experience after purchasing the system myself to help you out with a better context.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Click Here To Join The 12 Minute Affiliate System Now!

So, this was my honest 12 Minute Affiliate Review that I wanted to share with you all. If have any questions, let me know in the comments section right below and I’ll make sure to clear your doubts.

[star-spangled-bingo]

Rules for Star Spangled Bingo 2020

Purpose of the bingo

The focal characters of this bingo are the three Caps (Steve, Bucky, and Sam). 

- You don’t have to choose one for the entire bingo. You can do one for Steve and the ten for Sam and the rest for Bucky or any combo thereof. You can also only write for two of them or one of them for the entire card. 

- You can pair them however you want - with each other, a reader, an OC or a different character from the MCU or entirely other fandom. You can also write a general fic

- No matter how you chose to pair them the focus must stay on one of the three Caps. So if you write fx. Winterwidow focus still has to be on Bucky over Nat - or you can write a general fic as long as the focal character is fx Sam. 

- The pairing involving one of the three has to be the main pairing. You can’t write Tony x Reader and have Stucky as a side pairing.

- Even if we describe them as the three Caps it’s up to you if Steve, Sam or Bucky hold the mantle in the fic/artwork. Fx. you can have Steve be Cap but still write a Bucky x Reader fic. Or you can write a Sam x OC and have no cap present at all. The focus is on the characters above the mantle.

- You’re fic also doesn't have to be canon-compliant. You can write an AU if you want or you can make it as close to the MCU or comics as you choose.

Interested? Keep reading!

What you have to do

- Sign up - sign-ups for 2020 are open November 8th, 2019 to December 11th,  December 20th, 2019 - We will open too late sign-ups over the summer if you missed the window - See important dates.

- Your submissions must be open to pictures on your chosen Tumblr otherwise we won’t be able to send you your card and we will for normal signups send out cards between Dec 12th - Dec 22nd, 2019 Dec 20th - Dec 28th, 2019 - if you haven’t received your card let us know.

- You can get up to five squares changed or a new card - you can only do this for your first card and only once. 

- You can ask for a second card once you have filled the first and a third when you filled the second - More information on that here.  

- You can write as many or as few squares as you would like. There are no scorecards but the one you may or may not choose to keep yourself. 

- You can start posting for the bingo Jan 1st and final day to post for this round and have it count towards a badge is December 31st, 2020.

- Last day to submit your masterlist for reblog/badge January 15th, 2021.

FIND MORE IMPORTANT DATES HERE 

What do you get

- A card is 5x5 with one free space. You can ask to get up to 5 squares changed. More than that and you’ll have to ask for a new card. You can get changes once or a new card once. Not both or multiple times. You ask for changes via submit by submitting your card via photos to our blog and telling us which squares you want changed - same goes if you want an entirely new card. You still have to submit the old back to us (that way any of the admins can work on your remake, not just the one that created it for you). 

- If you fill out a card we will create a badge for you. You can fill up to 3 cards per round and get up to three badges. Read more on submission of masterlists for badge here. 

- A lot of prompts to play and have fun with under very few restrictions. 

Restrictions

- No abusive ships are allowed. Some ships like Winteriron can be abusive if you focus on the negative but can also be based on healing, therefor they are a grey zone and fall under think about what you write, if you chose a pairing such as that one. Shipping Bucky with Rumlow will always be abusive and as a rule no villians shipped with heroes allowed. (Loki might be an exception cause he is a grey character, just think before you write with him too).

-No pairing an adult with an underage character. No aging up or down. This goes for side pairings as well so no Starker!

- No incest - that goes for Thorki as a sidepairing as well. Adopted or not they grew up as brothers.

- No non/dub con are allowed either.

- You can’t write smut if you are under the age of 18. If we catch you doing so you will be blocked from the bingo page and banned for participating.

- You can't write smut if you are under 18. Everyone can write fluff, angst, crack, etc.

Formats and requirements

- Fics must state what square you fill, warnings, word count and pairing - if no pairing just write general (check the format page for ideas on how to format your post)

- Social Media AUs, Aesthetics, Edits, Fanart, Fanvids, podfics must have square filled, pairing and if needed warnings. 

- Everything you post as a fill must be original and new content - or if you read someone's fic as a podfic explicit consent from the author must have been given and they have to be credited on your post. 

- Fics must have a minimum of 250 words - fics over 500 must have a keep reading to be reblogged. 

- Use common sense for when posting artworks into long posts. They might need a cut too.

- Aesthetics have a 4 picture minimum and preferably accompanied by a 100-word description or drabble - words are not a must

- Gifsets has a 6 picture minimum.

- One piece of fanart in form of a drawing by hand or a computer program is considered a fill. 

- Social media Aus must be a min of 6 pictures. 

- Podfics must be a min of 3 min.

- Fanvids must be a min of 30 sec. 

- All content can be added via link not to an original Tumblr post if you so choose as long as there is a Tumblr post with the format requirements we can reblog and the Tumblr post must be linked too on the masterlist you create when your card is filled. 

- IF WE FORGOT YOUR TYPE OF ARTWORK SEND US AN ASK AND WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO WORK SOMETHING OUT - we are pretty open to all types of creative outlets but it’s hard to put restrictions of stuff we don’t know or know very little about.

- One square per fic/artwork. If you write a series each chapter can be considered a fill or the entire series can be a fill if you so choose. No combining squares within the bingo.

- You are free to combine our bingo with another bingo with no additional requirements added from our end. Just make sure you follow the other bingos rules too. 

- Warn accordingly. If warnings are spoilers put them in the tags and tell people to check your tags for additional warnings on the post.

- You don’t have to use the same media for the entire card. You can have 3 fics and 1 vid and the rest fics fx.

- Tag us @star-spangled-bingo and make clear the fic is for SSB 2020 and use the #SSB2020 (in one word) on each square you fill.

Sanctions for breaking the rules

- If your post lacks a keep reading we won’t reblog it but it will still count as a fill.

- If you don’t tag us we can’t reblog you and if you don’t say it’s for SSB2020 in your header we won’t count it as a fill until you edited it into the post. This seems strict but we got 2019 floating and it is impossible to know which card what is for if you don’t mark it down for us. 

- If your fill fail to meet the minimum requirements your fill will be reblogged but won’t count as a fill unless you add to it to meet the minimum. 

- If your post doesn’t clearly show square filled, we won’t reblog it and it won’t count as a fill until you edited it in. 

- If we discover you write smut and are under 18 - you will be blocked from the bingo blog and banned from participating in the bingo in the future even when you reach the age of 18. 

- If you break this rule: No abusive ships are allowed. No pairing an adult with an underage character. No aging up or down. No incest and no glorification of non/dub con are allowed either. All of these go for side pairing also so no Thorki and Starker. Your post won’t count as a fill, nor will it be reblogged. You’ll get a reminder of our rules the first time you break it and the second you will be banned from the bingo.

HAVE FUN 

is the most important rule and if you got any questions please direct them at the bingo blog not our personal blogs. We are happy to answer all your questions and we will get to all the asks as soon as we can!

Happy writing and sign up here! 

and the link in case tumblr is an ass and you need to copy-paste for it to work: https://forms.gle/eKr5ikYkQbzagyKW9 

Jules, Becki, Erin, and Karina

[pernatius]

Lost in Space Part 3: Ch 3

Ch 2

Summary: Sending the Earth to its doom, an unnamed Space Explorer must now try to prevent the demise of millions of humans by risking her life.

Five chapters, 10k works, and in one week.

Part 1: ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5

Part 2: ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5

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Getting out of the ship, we stepped onto a floating island. Hundreds of intertwining branches stood in front of us. Below us, roots masked the dirt. Further down below, underneath the island, stood a deep, massive crater that must’ve stretched for miles. 

A shiver ran up his spine, causing him to rub either arm. “I don’t like the look of this place. Why are we even here anyway?”

“Whoever this client of hers is must know something, but if it’s not much at least it’ll be better than nothing.”

“Then, let’s find this guy before it gets dark. This place is giving me the creeps” So, we all headed inside without another word. Although, as soon as we enter the little forest, not only are we met with a dense fog but screams as well. “You two keep your guns at the ready.” 

Heading deeper, the fog became denser and the screams became louder. It had me clutch Saamuki’s gun tighter but caused my hand to shake as well. If something or someone were to attack I wouldn’t be ready to defend. I’d miss, giving our attacker the time to slaughter them before my eyes. 

I imagine a beast made out of shadow lunging towards us. It’s much smaller and slimmer than Mikrovos. However, it’s because of those features it’s so quick. It stabs him with his claws, cutting right through his ribs and ripping out his heart. It then squeezes it, forcing him to cry and gasp. Once it explodes he falls to the floor in his pool of blood. Next comes Ashley. While she doesn’t suffer the same treatment it’s painful nonetheless. It grabs and lifts her by her head. With her, I’m at least able to finally aim the gun, but it’s too late. All I can do is touch the trigger before it squeezes her head. It lets go of her. As I try to keep my cool, as I try to avenge their deaths, it slowly trudges towards me. I finally shoot, but the blast goes right through it. Stepping back as I cry, I trip. Before my head can hit the floor, it grabs me by my collar. My eyes then meet with its soulless expression. 

Ashley waves her hand in front of me. I blink. “Hey. I’ve been calling you for the last minute. I think we found their place,” she explained worriedly.

“Oh. Really?” Looking past her, I see a little hut with smoke coming out of its chimney. “Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s see what this person's about.”

I take the lead. I feel both their eyes looking at me, judging me. They quickly follow soon after. 

I don’t get to knock at their door because right when my fist is about to hit, it swings open. We’re greeted to an empty, but warm room as inside its fireplace flames cough out of it. Seeing this, that there’s seemingly no one in sight, we all looked at each other fully confused and especially creeped out, but we don’t plan to leave empty-handed. So, Mikrovos takes a step inside. He takes the lead, but he doesn’t get too far because both me and Ashley are pushed inside by the slamming of the door. 

Guns at the ready and Mikrovos readying himself as well, a gust of wind flies past us. It kills the fire. Pitch blackness fills the room, but with a snap of some disembodied fingers, the fire relighted. With it, a man stands before us. He looks human, but he looks more apelike. He’s mostly covered in fur. So, his skin is barely visible. Both of his arms have been replaced with robotic arms as well. 

“It appears things have changed.” His eyes focus on both me and Ashley.

We sat in a circle with cups of tea in front of us. The three of us hesitate to drink it. Ashley has it swirl inside her cup and Mikrovos sniffs it. I just hold it up as our mysterious companion takes a sip of his.

“What did you mean about how things have changed,” I asked. 

Setting his cup down and swallowing down the sip he just took, “While it is true me, you, and your friend over there may not be alike, and I wouldn’t blame you for thinking so, we are more alike than you think.”

“And what exactly do you mean by that?”

“During humanity’s cultural revival, it split into two different groups. Two different histories began that day. One side had a gift and wanted to share it with the stars and the other wanted to remain on Earth to continue their petty wars.”

“Then,” I set the cup down with such force that a droplet of the tea goes up then goes back down into the now rippling liquid, “you’re human too.”

After finally trying it, Mikrovos spits out the tea. He accidentally aims it at the man showing us hospitality, but it thankfully doesn’t come close to touching him. It’s blocked by a force field that was quickly manifested by his mechanical hand. It then falls to the floor. Steam rises from the now marked piece of floor. We look at him as he explains, “It was a little too hot.”

As Mikrovos fans his tongue, he continues, “Technically, yes. However, we’re more like cousins rather than siblings.”

Ashley pitches into the main conversation, “Let’s say we believe you. Where are the others like you?”

“I abandoned my people a long time ago to pursue something more. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to contact any of them ever since.”

Speaking with his burned tongue out, “As much as I’d like to hear the rest of this history lesson, this isn’t what we came here for.”

“You’re right. We came here to ask if you know anything that can help us with Saamuki.”

“Saamuki? I haven’t seen her in a while. Did something happen?”

“She’s fine, but we need to know if you have anything that can help us sneak her past her boss. Look, it’s a long story, but we don’t have time to explain,” I clarified. 

“Cabelo,” he strokes his chin, “I’ve always had a bad feeling about him. So, it doesn’t surprise me he did something or is planning to do something to her. Well, let’s see, Saamuki did tell me the fifth time I asked for her services that Cabelo goes underneath the hotel for an hour. He does it around midnight, but I’d be wary about sneaking around that late. That’s when the hotel is the most guarded.”

“Really? Then, it’ll be easy. We just get in and get out during that time.” While his words sounded like he was accepting this information his tone said otherwise. 

However, Ashley doesn’t catch it. “Easier said than done, Mikrovos. How are getting inside in the first place?”

“Well, if Cabelo can go underneath the hotel then there must be hidden passageways there.”

“So, we risk getting caught by Cabelo no less?”

While Ashley and Mikrovos argue I get a burning pain on the back of my neck that causes me to twitch. It’s much more painful than the many electric shocks it injected into me before. So, I grab the site and tear up. They notice, which gets them to move towards me, but I don’t get to see what they do next because my vision faded out from the hut and faded into the infamous spaceship. 

Syco stands before me. Darkness surrounded us as a single light shined above. “Hello again, human.”

“S-Syco? Where am I? How did I-”

“Now. Now. Your body is still where it was previously. All that I have moved is your mind.” I lift my hands to my face. I’m able to see through them. “I too was baffled about how advanced Earthling technology has become. However, it still is primitive.”

“Why am I here? Where is even here anyway?”

“Don’t tell me you have forgotten already. I’m here to tell you about the update upon your signup to the tournament.” My heart dropped. I had completely forgotten about it. “Ah, now you remember. Anyways, and unsurprisingly, my convincing was a success. It will take place within our spaceship, which will be above your homeworld. As based on your coordinates, it starts when that planet turns completely dark. So, I bid you a good rest of your day.” 

The last thing I see is him bowing, but the next thing I see is Ashley crying into my chest. I move her away from me and wipe away her tears. “Ashley?”

“You fell. We tried waking you up. You stopped breathing. I thought I lost you,” she whimpered. 

“What happened,” Mikrovos questioned. 

“It was Syco. He told me that it’s going to take place above Earth later tonight.”

“Syco? That sounds familiar, but I’m not so sure why,” our new ally said as he stroked his chin again. 

“But, Saamuki…”

“Sorry, but she’s going to have to wait a bit longer.” It hurt to say that. It might not have hurt as much as how he had to swallow that down, but my throat tightened after it came out of my mouth. Between the branches that made up the hut, I saw the light of the planet’s sun cut through them. Because of this, I saw their shadows creep closer and closer to us. “We need to leave. Now.”

Before I get up I help her up. Upon me standing up my friend does as well. I then thank our recently made ally for his information, but we don’t part from each other so soon. “Please, I would like to come with you. I would like to help with your plan with Saamuki, but I also need to know why that name you spoke of earlier sounds so familiar.” 

The three of us look at one another, but because of how limited our time is, “Fine. Okay. Just show us a faster way out of this forest.” 

He places his hand in front of me. I take it. “My name is Skeema and I’ll help you any way I can for the time being.”

We left the island much faster than when we entered. Once we get into the ship I order the AI to fly us to Earth. It does. As it flies us, I see Skeema’s hand brush against the walls of the ship. 

“I don’t like this,” my fur-covered friend whispered to me. 

“He just gave us the information we wanted. Besides, we don’t have time to drop him off.”

“I know, but you heard it. He knows Syco. What if he double-crosses us?”

“Skeema said he might know him, but you can just pierce your horns into him if he does.”

“I don’t think with those hi-tech arms I’ll be able to do anything to him anytime soon.”

“If you keep a close eye on him I’m sure he won’t try to do anything.”

“You don’t need to tell me.” He squints at Skeema and huffs. 

I head towards Ashley. She’s sitting, so I take a seat right next to her. “You okay?”

“Yeah. It’s just that I don’t want to lose you again. For weeks I wondered if I was ever going to see you again. For a while, I believed that kiss was our last.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“No, I’m sorry, Ashley. I’m so sorry I got us into this situation.”

“I know this is probably a terrible thing to ask, but,” she hugs herself, “How are you going to make it out? How are you going to fight against hundreds of Tauvoxes? You know how strong Mikrovos is. How are you going to fight his people?”

“I-I don’t know. I don’t need all my memories to know I’m not a fighter. I survived out in space because I’ve always had people to protect me.”

I look away from her, but this doesn’t stop her from placing her hand onto my cheek. Her thumb caresses it. I didn’t know it, but I was crying. “I’m sorry. We’ll find a way. We’ll find a way to save you and Earth.”

I stopped crying, but I didn’t stop thinking. No matter how much I would like to get out of this I know I have to do this. If I could push them away, so that they’re not able to see what’s to come I would. So, that it could just be me like it should’ve been right from the beginning.