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keelywolfe · 3 years

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FIC: Tarnished Knights (one-shot)

Summary: Edge isn't really interested in reading whatever books Stretch seemed to think he needs. He has enough problems trying to read their relationship.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Complicated Relationships, Flirtation, Budding Love, Idiots in Love

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~~*~~

“hey, edgelord, i found some books for you.”

Edge did not look up from the papers he had spread across the table. He was designing a new puzzle trap and hardly needed any distractions. Not that he shouldn’t have been expecting one. These days Stretch came over often when he knew Edge would be home from patrol, despite Edge’s discomfort at having him in Underfell. So long as he stayed inside the house, there should be no issues, but there was always a prickle of unease when he appeared, a brief moment where Edge resisted the urge to send him home to the safety of Underswap. Then he would remember why Stretch was visiting and that urge would vanish, tucked beneath a more visceral, and pleasurable, one.

Red tended to make himself scarce when Stretch was on a solo visit and while Edge didn’t care for him spending extra time at Grillby’s, he also didn’t blame him for his desertion. Stretch’s normal lazy behavior tended to vanish when it came to bedroom activities and instead were best described as both enthusiastic and loud.

Better that Red left, otherwise Edge might well be treated to another of his brother’s morning score reviews and the less he heard Red say things like ‘wails like a cat stuck in a beat-up aluminum trashcan at the end of an alley in downtown san francisco. gotta give ‘im 6 out of 10’, the better.

Stretch hadn’t asked before coming over, sending a text only moments before popping in as he often did. Ignoring him was always an exercise in futility, for a variety of reasons, but Edge tried. There was something to be said for anticipation, something delightful, and he intended to keep Stretch waiting as long as he could manage.

Despite his efforts, distraction still came in the form of a rumpled paper sack dropped down on table, right on top of his plans. Edge growled impatiently and shoved the bag out of his way, glaring up at his…well, that was a discussion for another day. His semi-clone from another universe would do for now, and said clone was smirking down at him with the stick of a lollipop poking out from between his teeth. Smoking in the house was verboten for both Edge and Blue, and so Stretch often found alternate means of keeping his mouth busy.

Both the innuendo in that and the sight of his tongue curling around the candy behind his teeth threatened another mental derailment and Edge hastily turned his attention to the bag at hand.

“I don’t need any books.”

Stretch made a scoffing sound and plopped down on the sofa with his legs sprawling apart, since sitting properly would have been reasonable and efficient, and Stretch was neither. “everybody needs books. books are the keys to the imagination and, buddy, you need to unlock a door.”

“There is nothing wrong with my imagination and I don’t need any more books,” Edge said. “I have my puzzle books.” And a tattered copy of ‘Peekaboo With Fluffy Bunny’ hidden away where prying eyes would not easily find it.

“oh, yeah, riveting,” Stretch snorted. He unwrapped another sucker and popped it into his mouth, the candy clacking against his teeth as he rolled it to one side. “that’ll get the ol’ imagination roaring like lions on your mind savannah.”

“I beg your pardon, are you suggesting your copy of the ‘Principles of Quantum Mechanics’ stimulates your imagination?”

“yeah, actually, but i also have a copy of this just in case that doesn’t do the trick.” He sat up and rummaged through the bag, yanked out a book to shove directly into Edge’s face. “it works some pretty good magic once you get into it.”

He leaned back enough to focus on the cover, “The Once and Future King,” Edge read aloud without enthusiasm. His experiences with kings were not something he wanted to repeat in his leisure time.

“yeah, yeah, i can feel your doubt. c’mon, you’ll like it, just give it a try. for me?” Stretch wheedled. He batted his sockets and despite the lack of eyelashes, it was not entirely ineffective.

If Edge’s interest in the book was middling, his interest in Stretch was not, lacking definition but not depth. Still, it didn’t pay to give in too easily, especially when it was someone else acquiring the debt.

“What do I get if I do?” Edge countered. From the way Stretch’s smirk widened, his sockets sinking down to hood his eye lights, he’d chosen well.

“well, all that book-learnin’ gave me a hell of an imagination.” Stretch pulled the half-eaten sucker out of his mouth and tossed it carelessly into the nearby trash bin without so much as looking at it. With the sly grace he so rarely showed, he pushed Edge back against the sofa and straddled his lap, tongue gliding over his teeth as he murmured, “bet i can think of something.”

The taste of his magic was sweeter than the candy, and coupled with that kiss, it was headily addictive. Edge forgot entirely about puzzles and kings and books, lying back and letting Stretch’s imagination sweep them away.

~~*~~

Much later that night, Stretch was curled up sleeping next to him and it was a good thing that once he was asleep, he tended to stay that way no matter what. Normally the tendency was (terrifying) annoying. He’d never have survived his childhood in Underfell.

Tonight, Edge found he was grateful for it because despite the unforeseen exercise of the past few hours, he found himself restless and unable to sleep. Normally he might get up and clean, a deep scrub of the bathroom tiles made for an excellent mindless chore, but Stretch staying over was a rare occurrence and he wanted to stay close by. If he woke and found himself alone, he might think himself unwelcome and that would go against Edge’s very much unspoken wish that he stay over more often rather than shambling off after sex with a faint limp and a laconic smile.

Asking for such a thing was more likely to get Stretch sprinting back to Underswap than wish fulfillment, so Edge said nothing and quietly hoped actions spoke louder than words, at least enough to either get through Stretch’s thick, brilliant skull or beneath his prickly, non-existent skin.

But none of that helped tonight. Sleep lingered out of reach and Edge rolled over again, sighing to himself as he stared out into his bedroom.

Artificial light streamed in through his barred window and landed on his desk, illuminating the contents. He’d tidied up the living room before they’d gone upstairs to finish what was started on the sofa —leaving any mess only gave Red leverage for maddening sock placement— and the bag of books was sitting on his desk, set there by Stretch as evidenced by its haphazard placement. It had fallen over and books were spilling out from the top.

Since getting up was out of the question, Edge reached out with his magic, clumsily using two bones like an oversized pair of chopsticks to grasp the book like a grain of rice. He made a mental note to work on that particular exercise again, who knew when it might come in handy, as he flicked on the small lamp on the bedside table. He’d try a page or two, if only to make Stretch happy, and then claim his reward for the attempt.

He opened the first page, already unimpressed with the first nonsensical sentence, and wondering why Stretch thought he would find this interesting. He hoped whatever reward he received for the attempt would be worth it.

Some hours later, his spine ached from hunching over the book that was gripped so tightly in his hands the pages occasionally threatened to tear. His eye sockets felt dry and gritty as he greedily scoured the last page and at the end, he stared at the final words, hardly able to believe there was no more. His mind was still awhirl with thoughts of knights and wizards, a fallible king who was worthy of following and yet still betrayed, honor earned and lost by those who were rich in virtue and brought down by their foibles.

“you liked it, huh.”

Edge startled, the book falling from his hands, and jerked around to see Stretch was watching him. He was still curled around the pillow, sunk into its soft depths with only one eye light visible from within a barely opened socket. Normally, that drowsy, inviting warmth was a temptation in itself, but this morning Edge’s thoughts were in turmoil.

Underfell was home, whether or not the people here wanted him, they certainly needed him, a tarnished knight to fight their battles, and here he would stay, stubbornly some (everyone) said, but weren’t there times he wished to escape it, if only briefly? Traveling to the other universes for a meal or for company, a chance to go somewhere else, be someone else, not the Great and Terrible Papyrus, but Edge, who was neither great nor terrible, and somehow still appreciated for it.

It never occurred to him he could leave without even stepping through his front door and bring his adventure back with him when he returned.

“Yes,” Edge admitted. “I did."

“yeah, i liked that one, too,” Stretch rolled onto his back, stretching out his long limbs beneath the blankets and letting out a satisfied groan as joints popped, “figured you might dig in.”

“Is that why you brought it?” Edge asked, curiously, “did you wonder if I would like it because you did?” When they’d first met the others, there had been some experimenting to determine the differences not only in their worlds, but in each other, down to their taste in condiments. That had dwindled off as they’d gotten to know each other, but he wouldn’t be surprised to learn Stretch still want to test a few theories.

Instead of agreeing, Stretch pushed up on an elbow in automatic protest, “no! i just—” That burst trailed off and he sank back down to the mattress, his face twisting in complex emotions.

Edge said nothing, only waited without demanding an answer. He wasn’t particularly skilled at reading others and worse when it came to Stretch, but he was slowly learning. If he didn’t press, there was a chance Stretch would give him an honest answer rather than a pun or some other deflection. It said less about himself and more Stretch’s issues when it came to any kind of emotional intimacy, but he still found himself holding his breath, almost superstitiously afraid of frightening him off.

Finally, Stretch shrugged, a certain forced carelessness in the roll of his shoulders. “i just wanted to give you something you’d like.” Then, a little softer, like a confession, “you deserve nice things.”

Edge glanced at the paper bag still sitting on his desk. He wouldn’t be able to stay up reading every night, only ones where the restlessness refused to abate, but that happened often enough and there were plenty of books still inside, more worlds to explore and adventures to be had.

Meanwhile, Stretch had been busily shoring up his defenses while Edge was distracted. His expression was closed off, set in the lines of his normal carefree easiness as he sat up, yawning deliberately. “seriously, edgelord, it’s only a damn book, don’t read too much into it. heh. anyway, i should head home so you can go on patrol.”

He should, time was creeping into late morning. Red was probably already napping at his sentry station. There was no reason for him to lean in and press his mouth to the tempting curve at the back of Stretch’s skull where it met his spine, except for the fact that he knew Stretch was sensitive there and always shivered at the lightest touch. He did now, a quiver rattling through his bones as he ducked his head to allow better access, a little groan catching in his throat.

“or not,” Stretch sighed out. He sank willingly back to the mattress with Edge following him down. His hands settled lightly on Edge’s back, fingertips drifting delicately against the scar-hewn bones with renewed promise.

At the cusp of giving in to temptation, Edge thought briefly of Arthur and Lancelot and Guinevere, their successes and mistakes, endings and the hope of new beginnings. Then he set those thoughts aside. As rich as that fantasy was, there was something to be said for reality and as he drew Stretch into his arms, Edge was content with his own.

For now.

-finis-

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus

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gweniala · 4 years

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Random fact: Hoodian favour system

The Neverhood has no money to speak of, but they use a very similar system: favours.

(Don’t mind me, just expanding some headcannons.)

Say, Nehmen wants to look great for the next carnival, so he asks Kalikat to sew him a gorgeous cape. Kalikat, however, has dozens of better things to do than to sew Nehmen a cape which will only be used once and then thrown away. So Nehmen ups the stakes: he offers Kalikat a favour.

In this example, Kalikat is called the contractor and Nehmen is called the obliger. The contractor is the one who owns the contract and who eventually calls in the favour. When that happens, the obliger must oblige to the contractor’s wishes. Fun fact: An obliger who doesn’t oblige loses all of their previously promised favours. Nobody will do a favour for someone who shows that kind of unfairness. There are two distinct kinds of favours: named favours and blind favours. Named favours are specified before the contractor does something for the obliger, so both sides know what they’re trading.

Nehmen: I could pose as your dress form for the next month. Kalikat: No thanks, you can’t stay still for the love of Quater.

Blind favours are more insidious, as the contractor can ask for almost anything. These are usually chosen when the contractor wants more time to decide what the favour will be. The magnitude of the resulting favour is given by the following five-point scale: 1. small favour – shouldn’t take up more than a few minutes and very little effort. Exchanged for tasks you were too lazy to do. 2. middling favour – takes up from half an hour to two hours and requires some effort. Usually exchanged for things that matter in everyday life. The most common type of favours, as most people don’t bother keeping tabs on small favours. 3. big favour – takes up about half a day but no more than a day. Requires significant effort, as it’s usually awarded for things that made the contractor quite uncomfortable. 4. jumbo favour – the smaller of long-term favours. Exchanged for things the contractor really didn’t want to do, it requires days to weeks of dedicated time. Quite rare; every jumbo favour kicks up an uproar. 5. outrageous favour – the larger of long-term favours, and the only favour which potentially lasts forever. (In that case, however, it only pertains to small tasks, like brewing the contractor coffee every morning.) Outrageous favours typically require several years of concentrated effort. Only a few outrageous favours have been called in so far.

Kalikat: I’ll sew you that cape in return for a jumbo favour. Nehmen: Are you kidding me? I’m not doing you a jumbo favour. Ugh. Fine, how about a big favour? Kalikat: That won’t do. I’ll be spending a lot more than a day on your cape. It wouldn’t be fair. Nehmen: It doesn’t have to have sequins all over it! I just need something to wrap myself in so that I can pretend I’m a bat.

Each favour magnitude comes with a rhyme: 1. Ten minutes for this or that / I won’t even break a sweat 2. Two hours tops / and no big probs 3. No more than a day / no tears to be paid 4. I’ll give you a month of my life / I’ll pay you with tears and with strife 5. I have an eternity / go on, ask me anything These rhymes are often recited when the contenders try to convince each other of the appropriate favour level.

Kalikat: So, a plain cape… Nehmen: Yeah, just something dark and cool! Come on, don’t say it will take so long. No more than a day, no tears to be paid. Kalikat: Hmm… Oh, alright. A big favour it is. Nehmen: Yay! (hugs Kalikat) Kalikat: (hugs back) Fine, now stand up straight. I have to take your measurements.

Fun fact: Big favours and larger are usually sealed with a hug. This goes to show that the two Hoodians are on good terms. It also reminds people that they shouldn’t promise favours which feel unfair. Fun fact: It’s very unusual to promise more than one blind favour at a time. Named favours, physical possessions and other things might be promised to leverage the fairness, but blind favours are only made one at a time. After the favour has been promised, the contractor can call it in any time they want.

Kalikat: Nehmen, hey! I want to call in a big favour from you. Nehmen: Oh… (checks his favour records) Oh yeah, it’s here... Well, what do you want? Kalikat: I need to sew a dress full of sequins. There’s a lot of them. Nehmen: Aw man, that’s going to be so boring. Kalikat: Hey, no more than a day, no tears to be paid. I’ll let you off the hook in the evening, alright? Does tomorrow work for you? Nehmen: (whines) Fine…

If the contractor calls in a favour that doesn’t correspond to the selected blind favour level, the obliger can request second judgement from other Hoodians. The number of Hoodians that have to vote is 1 for a small favour (meaning any passer-by can decide), 3 for a middling favour, 7 for a big favour, 15 for a jumbo favour and 31 for an outrageous favour (meaning the entire Hood has to vote). Fun fact: It’s basic manners to remember how many favours you owe to someone and how many you are owed yourself. As a result it rarely happens that two people fight over owing or not owing a favour. It’s so bad for their image that they’ll usually agree on a compromise. As to the importance of favours: No one really cares about small or middling favours. Some may kick up a fuss about big favours. Jumbo favours are usually common knowledge. Outrageous favours are always common knowledge. To prevent favours from stacking up unreasonably, a Hoodian may only have three favours of each level from another given Hoodians (at maximum three small favours, three middling favours, etc.). If his friend wants to promise a fourth favour, the usual solution is to call in one or two favours right away. Favours can also be released, which means that they will never be called in. The Hoodians can also agree on transforming the “four favours” into one favour of the higher level. For instance, if Nehmen already owed Kalikat three big favours, Kalikat could formally release them and Nehmen would promise him a jumbo favour in return for sewing the cape. Finally, sometimes favours are not promised formally but rather between the lines. The ethics of such informal favours is referred to as “basic human decency”. A majority of small favours are handled within “basic human decency” because no one can be bothered to give them a proper form. As a matter of fact, most jumbo and outrageous favours are informal as well and they are fulfilled out of duty and/or gratitude. For instance, if Kalikat offered to make the cape for Nehmen out of the goodness of his heart, Nehmen might later offer to help with sewing the sequins. (Nehmen isn’t a great example for this, as he would probably conveniently forget. People like him are one of the reasons why an explicit favour system exists in the first place.)

#neverhood #random fact

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everlarkficexchange · 5 years

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A Bite of Inconvenience

Written by: @katnissdoesnotfollowback

Prompt 131: Submitted by @amazinglovers747. Visual Prompt. Text: 4 ½ stars out of 5. Delivery time stated between 45 to 60 minutes but it was delivered within 25 minutes. This was a bit of an inconvenience as I was balls deep in the wife at the time.

A/N: This is an outtake of sorts from my story Case of the Honeymoons. I’d been contemplating writing it anyways after the original post this prompt is based on wandered across my dashboard. When I saw this pop up as an @everlarkficexchange prompt…well I had to snatch it up and fulfill it. The muse ordered it, hot and piping fresh. You can find the rest of the story HERE if you’ve not read it. Except for the 7th and final chapter which still isn’t written. Working on it tho. I tried to write this outtake in a way that you can still enjoy if you’ve not read the other chapters, although some of the inside jokes and running gags may not register.

Thank you to @javistg and @xerxia31 for all their hard work in organizing this event and taking care of all our whiny writerly questions. You ladies are rockstars. Also to @savvylark for pre-reading this one for me and making sure it wasn’t just a jumble of smut. ;)

RATED E for PWP… as in Plot? What Plot? There’s no plot here. Or maybe it stands for Pizza with Porn? Whatever, pick your poison on the acronym and enjoy!

WARNINGS: Contains explicit sexual content, explicit language.

Length: Around 7000 words

************************

For a second or two, I’m convinced that I’m dreaming. Caught between the worlds of sleeping and reality. I can feel the warmth of Katniss’ body curled around my side. Her breaths on my neck. The scent of her filling my nostrils, anchoring me to her in both my subconscious and consciousness. Waking with her beside me is still one of the best feelings in the world. Someone once told me that after a year or two, the Honeymoon Phase would wear off, and then I’d start to feel the “old ball and chain.” I’ve always hated that expression. Why marry someone if it feels like a prison? And while the Honeymoon Phase has worn off for us, in a way, after almost four years of marriage, I’m still as much in love with her, if not more so, than I was the day we were married.

Our alarm hasn’t gone off just yet so we still have time to relax in bed. My brain registers all of this, but my body lingers in dreams. Dirty dreams of her mouth sliding over my dick in unrushed strokes. Lips squeezing and her tongue flicking under the crown. I can feel each slow pass and even hear the sounds of sloppy, wet suction. Can’t stop the groan from rumbling in my throat or my hips lifting up into her. I’m rock hard and wish I could tangle my fingers in her hair to urge her to go faster, but she’s pressing soft kisses just below my jaw and whispering my name, calling me out of sleep and away from dreams.

“Peeta, wake up.”

I don’t want to. I want to come down her throat, even if it is only in my dreams. She shifts beside me and her mouth tugs on my cock. Her lips press to mine, her tongue slipping past my lips when I whimper, fighting to stay in this dream but also wanting to wake for her. It’s too much, the dual sensations of dreaming and reality. Her tongue rubs against mine and her mouth on my cock picks up speed.

“Wake up, Peeta. I’m so fucking horny right now.”

My eyes fly open then and stare into hers next to me, so close to my face, her pupils wide and dark, eyelids drooping. I can still hear the sounds of her sucking me off and feel the pressure of it. My mind sluggishly catches up to the realization that it’s her hand on me, not her mouth, as I feel her grinding gently against my hip, one leg slung over mine. My cock throbs in her grip and I hiss at the pleasure, real and inescapable.

I take two seconds to absorb our surroundings. Our bedroom. I think. It’s our furniture but the light is weird and the door is in the wrong spot.

Because it’s our house, not our apartment. We just moved in yesterday, the towers of boxes providing further evidence. I spot a bottle of KY sitting on the nightstand and then Katniss bites my earlobe.

“Wake up and fuck me,” she whispers. “Before we have to be up for the fridge.”

Best of both worlds, I realize and rise up enough to pin her beneath me, use my legs to spread hers and slide my hand up her leg slowly as she stops stroking me to push my underwear down to my thighs, just enough, wiping the lube off her hand onto my shorts. She’s already naked, and that alone would show me just how turned on she is since she rarely sleeps in the buff, if there wasn’t further proof between her thighs as well. When my fingers reach her center, I groan again.

“You woke up like this?” I whisper and lift my fingers, rubbing her arousal between them for a second.

“Yes. I’ve waited as long as I can. Enough chit chat, Peeta.” She’s right. I glance at the clock and see we’ve got about an hour before our brand new refrigerator is supposed to be delivered. I push inside her, eyes rolling back in my head as I’m engulfed in her warmth. She’s already insanely wet plus the KY she was using on me, and I can hear it as soon as I pull back just a little and she digs her nails into my ass to bring me deeper.

“God yes,” she whimpers as our hips meet. “I need this.”

I briefly wonder if she’s ovulating today. There’s something deeper in her scent and the way she’s being so aggressive, but I don’t have time to do the math before her pussy walls clench on me and she grins up at the choked noise I make. She’s just recently discovered that this drives me wild. Trying to get pregnant has only teased out and enhanced her adventurous in bed side. Like the fact that kegels actually feel really fucking good.

“Be careful with those.”

“Why?” she asks with fake innocence and bites her lip before doing it again. I grind my hips down into her and she gasps. She does it again anyways and I grab her hands, pinning them over her head, both her wrists contained in one of my hands as I start thrusting. Slow and sure, but she wriggles beneath me and whispers dirty words about wanting me to pound into her and fill her up. How glad she is that we no longer have to worry about thin walls and neighbors hearing me make her scream with pleasure.

And despite the fact that I have her arms pinned, she’s not immobilized. She uses her legs to leverage her body against me and her eyes drift shut, mouth hanging open as she moans.

“Louder, Katniss. I can’t hear you,” I tease and slide my hand up her wrist to lace her fingers with mine.

“Peeta,” she whines and her now free hand claws down the back of my shoulder, tipping me off the edge of control. I listen to her quiet gasps, the sharp slapping as our bodies collide. Fuck, I should make her come first, but reason and thoughtfulness dance away on the waves of ecstasy coursing through me.

“Gonna come,” I manage to warn her and that only makes her more insistent. She opens her eyes and orders me to fill her up, to give her my cum. Her thrusts turn more forceful and combined with her dirty words and the intense look in her eyes, I don’t stand a chance of holding out. My body seizes and all I can manage is to grind my hips against hers and hope she can find some pleasure in that as I empty myself into her. Because I’m lost.

When I finish and collapse on top of her, her fingers trail up and down my spine. She squeezes our still twined hands as I pant into her ear and whisper an apology before shifting so I can get my free hand between us.

“Your turn,” I promise and nibble on her ear.

“Stay inside me, Peeta. It’s always better with your cock inside me,” she murmurs. Her legs slide off me, giving me more room to work her clit and she falls apart in a surprisingly short amount of time, her walls clamping down on my still hard cock and making me groan at the overwhelming sensations. But I force myself to stay put where she wants me. When she’s done, we lay there in one another’s arms.

“Good morning,” I say and she laughs a little before turning her head to face me.

“Good morning. Ready to set up our house?” I can’t help the smile spreading across my face as I nod eagerly. We’ve got the whole day to unpack. Yesterday, after the movers left, all we had the energy for was getting the bed set up so we’d have a place to sleep. Sometime today we’ll need to do another round of grocery shopping for cold items. Tomorrow we both have to return to our jobs, so we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us today.

“Where do we start?” I ask after we’ve showered and dressed and eaten several muffins from yesterday’s batches at the bakery. She wrinkles her nose at her glass of water, mumbling that she can’t wait for us to have milk so she can drink her tea again.

We wind up dividing to conquer. I meet the delivery guy and Katniss hits up the grocery store. I fill a cooler with the bag of ice she brought home to keep what she bought cold until the fridge has reached the right storage temperature. “Now what?”

Now Katniss scrunches her nose at the boxes scattered around the kitchen as she folds up the last of our grocery bags she used, setting it on the stack to return to her car later.

“I’m thinking we start in here.”

“At least then we’ll be able to fix meals soon,” I agree and start up some music to listen to. We work mostly in silence, and I think we’re moving at a good pace except for one problem.

Katniss keeps distracting me. She’s pinched my ass at least three times, ran her hand over my crotch while I was stretching to get a few things on the top cabinet shelf, planted kisses on the back of my neck, flirtatiously evaded me every time I’ve tried to pull her into a more involved embrace, and whispered several dirty things in my ear.

“We’re not done yet, by the way. I’m still horny.”

“Can’t wait to break in every room of our house.”

“The sooner you get that counter cleared off, the sooner you can fuck me on it.”

I spend the day half aroused and jumpy. Almost like it’s our wedding day all over again. Each caress or teasing phrase she gives me leaves me half cocked and half out of my mind with desire. I’d really like to leave the packing for another day and just get right down to breaking in each room.

But then Primrose shows up, wielding lunch and a wreath she made for our front door, offering to help us for an hour or so. Normally I’d enjoy her company and be perfectly capable of behaving myself in front of Katniss’ sister, but Katniss keeps resting her hand on my thigh under the table while we eat. Her fingers massaging and clenching and drawing blood down my body until I’m almost fully erect, my mind inevitably wandering back to this morning and all her teasing throughout the day. I shift uncomfortably in my chair, earning a questioning gaze from her.

I scowl and glance down at my lap, but Katniss just smiles innocently at me. And then grazes her hand over me when she stands to clear her plate.

“First dirty dishes in the new dishwasher!” she declares.

“How can I help?” Prim asks when they’re done loading. I haven’t moved yet, still hiding beneath the table.

“How about you help me with the living room? And Peeta can finish in here,” Katniss says and gives me a pointed look.

“Sure,” I agree, and as soon as they’re gone, I hide in the bathroom long enough to get things under control. When I’m good to resume unpacking the kitchen, they’re clearly occupied filling bookshelves and considering which pictures should go where. With the open floor plan, I can hear every word of their conversation and smile to myself, happily staying out of the way so Katniss can have this time with her sister.

“Oh! I have a housewarming gift from Effie, too! I helped her with it.” Prim says at one point and rushes out to her car. Katniss looks wary as her sister returns with a framed picture and shows it to Katniss with a bright smile on her face. “Ta-Da!”

I cough and Katniss’ cheeks heat up at the sight of the wedding picture we just can’t seem to escape.

“She said your new home needed a gorgeously framed portrait of the two of you.”

“We have a wedding portrait already,” Katniss says, referring to the one in the living room right now. I can see it leaning against the couch, waiting for us to decide where to hang it. Your standard portrait of bride and groom right after the ceremony.

“Sure. But this one is so gorgeous, and much more personal. I helped her coordinate the matting around it to your new bedroom linens.”

“So it’s for the bedroom,” I say and slide it from her hands, smirking at Katniss a little, enjoying her discomfort after what she’s put me through all day. “I think that’s perfect.”

After all, Effie snapped this candid shot of Katniss and I in the gardens, not knowing that we’d had sex literally a minute beforehand. In fact, as Katniss once so eloquently pointed out, my dick is still inside her in this picture. You just can’t tell with the voluptuous skirt of her wedding dress covering us.

“You don’t like it?” Prim asks, and Katniss rushes to reassure her.

“Oh no. I do!”

“I’ll go put it in the bedroom and we’ll hang it up later,” I tell Prim and she smiles at me. After that, the girls finish up the living room while I get the kitchen squared away and then hook up the washer and dryer. It’s close to dinner time when Prim finally leaves, assuring Katniss that she’s got a dinner date with a friend, otherwise she’d stay to eat with us. Katniss walks Prim out to her car and when she returns, flops on the couch with a groan.

“I am not up to cooking tonight.”

“And after all my hard work setting up the kitchen despite numerous distractions,” I tease.

Katniss opens one eye to scowl at me. “We could just order a pizza.”

“Pizza sounds good,” I agree and she heaves herself off the couch to join me in the kitchen. Opening the Domino’s app on my phone, I start building our order.

“Mushrooms. I want something with mushrooms,” Katniss says as she stands in front of me, pulling my phone down so she can read the order upside down.

“Bossy.”

“I just know what I want,” she murmurs and slides her hands up my sides then back down again, making me pause to glance at her before submitting the order. I hope they’re fast tonight so we can eat and then I can make love to her on the counter I cleared off today. Then maybe on the couch if she’s feeling up to it. I can feel the resurgence of arousal.

“There. I got you your mushrooms and black olives,” I tell her. Then the estimated wait time pops up on screen. “Forty-five to sixty minutes?”

“Seriously?” she says, sounding as peeved as I feel. I try to shake it off, though.

“Guess we’re not the only ones who don’t feel like cooking in this neighborhood tonight.”

“I can’t stand the thought of opening one more box. What are we gonna do for that long?” She huffs and then grins at me.

“A whole hour,” I agree with a smile matching hers and she pulls my phone from my hands, tossing it aside before winding her hands around my neck and playing with my hair. I shiver in delight as I rest my hands on her hips.

“Wanna see how many times you can make me come in an hour, Peeta?”

“Fuck,” I mutter.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she whispers right before she brings our lips together.

We’ve been trying to get pregnant for awhile now, and sometimes I feel like we’re having sex as part of a routine, but other days, the spontaneity still strikes hot. Today is clearly one of those days.

We move together and Katniss shoves at my shirt until it’s off and on the floor. Our mouths join together again in desperate moans and sliding tongues. I tear at her belt then push her shorts down. As she steps out of them, I whisper to her that I can’t wait to fuck her in every room of our house.

“We’ll start in here,” I murmur as I kiss her neck and she tips her head back to give me complete access. I scrape my nails up her thighs, enjoying the way that makes her shiver. Then I slip my hands inside her panties to grab her ass and pull her close, so she can feel how hard I am already. “You’ve been teasing me all day.”

“I told you I was horny,” she complains. I push her back, one step at a time as I kiss her mouth and drink her sighs. She squeals a little when her back hits the counter.

“And yet you still blush over that picture,” I say before pushing her panties down, following them down her legs with my mouth. When I stand back up, she’s arched towards me, palms flat on the granite surface. I lift her up and her eyes fly open as I plant her ass on the counter and kiss her again, step between her legs and caress her thighs, her hips, her back. My hand brushes my phone and I smile as I break the kiss, hand it to her. “Set a timer for me. Forty minutes gives us time to make sure one of us is presentable enough to greet the pizza guy.”

I suck on her pulse point, she shudders but taps on my screen as I run my hands over her, massaging her breasts over her shirt and kissing all over her neck and ears. She’s almost rocking back and forth and cursing at herself as I slide the straps of her tank top off her shoulders. She moves her arms enough to pull them free of the straps, glaring in annoyance at my disruption of her task. Her bra goes next, tossed aside on the kitchen floor next to her panties.

“Stop distracting me,” she growls, setting my phone aside.

“Turnabout’s fair play,” I murmur and shake my head and bend her back enough so I can massage and suck on her breasts, sucking moans out of her chest. Moans that make me throb and close to just plunging in and selfishly taking.

“Oh god,” she moans and runs one hand through my hair, lifting her knees to embrace me. When I have her squirming and pleading, I move on, letting my hand wander down to her labia as I kiss her mouth, stealing both of our breaths.

“I’m gonna start right here,” I murmur. She whimpers at my touch, her legs spreading and pushing her hips forward on the counter. Almost falling off the edge. “Careful. Maybe it’s better if you just hold still for this.” Grasping her hands, I plant them on the edge of the counter and then return my fingers to trace her lips. Set one hand behind her ass to hold her in place. “So fucking wet.”

“Oh fuck, yes,” she moans, hips moving a minuscule amount as I trace over her folds, dip inside just enough to trace the inner folds. “Peeta.”

I turn my head and nibble on her ear as my fingers part her, then slide inside to the sound of her soft gasps. “Wet as rain for me. Katniss, I wanna lick this up next.”

“Yes,” she pleads and arches her body, pressing her breasts into my chest. I tickle and stroke, savoring the hot feel of her on my skin as she lifts higher, her mouth widening and her breaths shortening.

“But your first orgasm tonight belongs to my fingers,” I whisper and slip a second finger inside her. She grinds her clit into my palm. I can see her thighs clenching with the effort to hold still as I slowly fuck her with my fingers. Pull out and trace her juices over her lips, up to her clit where I brush the pads of my fingers over her again and again.

“More. I need more, Peeta,” she pleads. This time I start with two fingers in her and pick up the pace. I can feel her tensing and hear the lifting pitch of her moans. My fingers scrape soft, spongy flesh and she cries out.

“You’re ready now, aren’t you?” I whisper. “Ready to fall apart at the slightest touch.”

A third finger and I curl them up, touching deeper and faster. It’s almost harsh as her spine bows and I breathe deeply in the crook of her neck. Kiss along her shoulder then back up. I can smell her arousal too and whisper that my tongue gets her next orgasm.

She yells an indistinguishable sound and her body jerks. Just once before she holds still as her pussy releases more of her wetness into my palm then clenches my fingers in a steady pulse. I keep thrusting them, sucking on her neck and then holding her tight, feeling her pulse thundering under my lips and against my chest. My fingers get to feel the pulse of this release but my body already knows the feel of her on my cock and fuck do I want it. I’m breathing harsh as she grabs hold of my neck to steady herself.

“That’s one,” Katniss gasps when her breathing evens out a little and she lifts my phone off the counter. “And we still have thirty-five minutes.”

“That’s a good pace. Think you can handle seven more?” I ask and slide my fingers from her, smile at her juices coating them.

“That one was easy. I told you I’ve been low-key turned on all day. You’re gonna have to work for the next one,” she teases as she tugs playfully on my belt loops. But her bravado fades as I trace her lips with my fingers, painting her mouth with her own release. She’s still staring up at me, a little stunned as I suck the rest off my fingers before cradling her head in my palms and kissing her to get the rest off her mouth. When I lift my head, she looks dazed and not nearly as sassy as she did just a minute ago.

“Second one’s always the easiest to get from you. And it’s gonna be in my mouth,” I say and then drop to bury my face between her thighs supporting them with my palms so she doesn’t fall off the counter. She curses and her palms smack onto the solid surface behind her as I tongue her clit then swirl my way inside her pussy, groaning and heady with delight. My ears ring with the sounds she makes, ecstatic and frantic. Her entire body shudders as she wraps herself around me, my name a warble on her lips as her release courses over my tongue. I kiss her clit as she mumbles and then stand up, cupping her ass in my hands and pulling her back to the edge of the counter. “Two. If you want my cock next–”

I don’t get to finish. She has my clothes down my hips and on the floor in seconds, hopping down to help me step out of them and then hopping right back up, splaying her legs, her pussy parting for me. I tease her folds with my tip, determined to make this good for her, but then her soft keening as I slide home drives me to the brink.

“Fuck, such a warm welcome,” I whisper as she clings to my neck and squirms against me. “Gonna be fast if you don’t stop that,” I warn, but her eyes, a gray fog of need, challenge me.

Pulling back, I ram into her and she groans, her nails digging painfully into my neck and scalp. I have to hold still for a moment to regain control, my hand clenching on her hips as she wriggles to get me seated better and lights dance behind my eyelids.

“Again, Peeta. Please.”

Her desperate tone is the end of me. I only get a few sharp thrusts in before I know for sure that I’m gonna lose it too soon like this. Her walls grip me with each thrust, like her skin can’t stand to lose the contact with mine. Her soft pleas for me to fuck her harder make my head spin. The sounds of slapping skin and sucking wet flesh are nearly my undoing and she complains when I pull out. Clings to me when I lift her off the counter and carry her back towards our bedroom.

She kisses and nips at me as I go, demanding that I move faster and finish what I started, so many dirty phrases about needing me inside her that weaken my knees and my resolve. By the time we reach the bedroom, her lips are on mine again, her tongue demanding satisfaction. I’m forced to move based on touch to lay her out on the bed, following her as we kiss and she writhes on the cool cotton sheets. I fondle one breast, swallowing her moans as I pluck the nipple into a hard peak until she’s arched beneath me.

I could take her like this, facing each other, but that usually takes longer to get her there. I have no idea how much time we have left and my phone is back in the kitchen.

Rising up, I tug her to the end of the bed and flip her over, urge her to get up on her knees. I massage and spread her cheeks as she moves, tilting my head to watch her pussy take my cock as I slide in, smooth and easy.

She sings out a string of filthy words and grips tight to the sheets as my hips meet her ass. Her moans only get louder and filthier as I move, grabbing ahold of her hips and driving myself into her. Watching us fuck is such a high, a deeper layer heaped on top of the sensations.

But she begs and I can’t deny, bending forward so my chest is pressed to her back and I can get my fingers on her clit. My lips on her neck. I keep this up for a bit, but I’m still in trouble.

I’m getting close again, too fast as I feel my balls tighten and I curse, shoving her forward with too much force and not the results I planned. She face plants in the mattress, her ass in the air and my cock still inside her. With another curse, I pull back. She shouts in protest as I bend over and spread her enough to get my mouth on her.

I’m drowning in her pussy, my mouth and nose filled with her desire. Her sounds filling my ears and taunting my body. The air cools her juices on my cock and I shiver but keep licking and sucking, thrusting my tongue in her then laving her clit before sucking on that too while she grinds herself on my face and her hands claw at the bed.

She starts mewling then chanting the word “yes!” And then her entire frame shakes with impending release.

“No! Fuck! Peeta, I want you to come with me,” she demands as she moves to separate us. I wipe her off my face and lay on top of her. My cock brushes through curls and finding her soaked lips once more, I slide right back in. When I kiss her shoulder, she turns her head. Thinking she wants a kiss as I start pounding down into her, I join our lips. But she pushes me back and shakes her head.

“Up,” is all she says, but I think I get the idea, going back to standing at the edge of the bed with her in front of me. “Yes.”

I don’t let up then, gathering some of her hair in my hand for leverage as I feel sweat trickling down my temples. Down my spine and tickling between my cheeks. The sounds reverberate a little off the still bare walls. I feel release building at the base of my skull, driven higher and hotter with each sharp thrust I give her and each plaintive cry she gives me.

The doorbell rings and Katniss wails.

Wait.

I stop and she groans in frustration. “I was so fucking close! Why’d you stop?”

“I thought I heard the doorbell.”

She shifts to look at the bedside clock and shakes her head. “It hasn’t even been thirty minutes yet.”

“Are you sure?” I ask and she pushes back into me. “Yes. Now make us come, Peeta.”

I start moving again, slow this time. Uncertain. But her insistent movements beneath me make it impossible to stay that way and within seconds, my thrusts are hard enough to make her ass shudder with each one, and the sounds of our bodies colliding, of my balls smacking into her, ring through the room again.

“Yes! Close! Almost–” Ding dong! “Fuck!”

I slow down this time. “You heard it too, right?”

“I don’t fucking care. Don’t stop,” she groans and pushes herself back on me. I try to pick my pace up and Katniss arches her body. I can feel her tensing in anticipation.

That’s when the knocking starts and Katniss groans. I pull out of her completely this time, my cock leaping in denial, my balls screaming at me to get back in there, because I was damn near close, too.

“Okay someone is definitely at the door and isn’t going away.”

“It better be the pizza. If it’s a neighbor, we’re moving,” she practically snarls. “After we egg their porch.”

Her cheeks are flushed and her hair’s a mess. There are bite marks and suction marks all over her neck and shoulders. She looks sexy as fuck. A living wet dream. There’s no way I’m letting some random stranger see my wife like this.

“Be right back,” I tell her as I stumble back into the kitchen. Whoever it is is still pounding on the door. “Coming!” I shout as I pause long enough to get my jeans and shirt back on, laughing humorlessly at the irony that actually no, I am not coming the way I’d like to be. I grab my phone off the counter as I head to the front door and stop the timer.

25:59.

“Fucking hell,” I mutter and pocket the thing as I open the door. “Sorry. Unpacking, moving furniture,” I excuse to the guy who nods and extends the boxes with the receipt on top and a pen. The delicious smells waft up to my nose and my mouth starts to water, but my brain’s caught in a schism between this food and Katniss back on our bed.

“Just sign here, my dude.” I sign and try to give the guy a pleasant farewell as I take the boxes from him. But I’m still rock fucking hard and my jeans are chafing things that are used to a layer of cotton underwear protecting them. Not to mention I’m still covered in Katniss and both of us had a perfectly spectacular orgasm ruined by this guy’s delivery speed.

I shut the door and carry the food to the kitchen, startling when I see Katniss in the hallway that leads to our bedroom. She’s put on clothes and is scowling.

“We’re definitely cursed,” she says.

“What?” I say with a half laugh as I set the pizza boxes on the counter.

“I was in the bedroom, staring at that damned picture from our wedding day and thinking about all the times we’ve been caught, interrupted, photographed, or had something disastrous happen, et cetera, since we got married.” She lifts her hand and starts ticking them off. “Our wedding day when Effie photographed us immediately after. Our wedding night with the neighbor and the candles and the fire alarm.” I can’t help laughing a little.

“Pizza?” I say as I flip open the lid, because food is the best way to help Katniss get thoughts straight in her mind and I have got to hear the end of this. It’s not the first time she’s suggested we’re cursed but if it’s going to be a recurring comment of hers, I’d like to know what she means. She doesn’t answer, but lifts a slice of mushroom and black olive straight from the box, taking a huge bite and cupping her hand under her chin to catch the strings of cheese.

“Then our honeymoon,” she continues before even swallowing.

“Ah yes,” I say and nod my head.

“With my twisted ankle and your burned butt. The fiasco with the picture reveal when we got back from our honeymoon. That time in the bakery–”

“That was your idea,” I remind her and she shakes her head.

“When ‘just a quickie’ turned into half a day’s worth of destroyed work for you. Last Christmas,” she doesn’t finish but I remember. It’d be hard to forget my oldest brother walking in on us trying something new… That was also the first time she mentioned this idea about us being cursed. “Rye’s engagement party last month? When everyone just knew what we’d been doing upstairs–”

“The hickey on your neck sort of gave us away.”

“The point is, before we got married, we got away with this shit all the time.” She takes another bite and gestures wildly. “In college…how many times did we make out with Johanna asleep across the room?”

“She would have high fived you for that if she knew. Actually, she probably did know.” Katniss ignores this, the volume of her speech rising to cover my commentary.

“Or fucked in my car parked in places maybe we shouldn’t have? We tried some crazy things with the bedsheets and that one time when you did that thing with my vibrator, and we never got injured or anything! Or what about that time in the movie theater?”

“Well this conversation is not helping me get rid of my erection,” I say and start working on my own slice. We manage to eat one slice each, and are starting on slice two when she picks the topic back up again.

“I’m serious, Peeta. We’re cursed and I think–” she stops talking and her eyes go wide. “Haymitch! When he stepped on my train!”

“That’s ridiculous,” I tease and she shakes her head.

“It makes perfect sense! He somehow cursed us when he stepped on my wedding dress! That bastard. I’m going to–” I fling my crust into the open box and grab her, tossing her over my shoulder. “Peeta!”

“What makes sense is finishing what we started now that we have some food in us,” I tell her. “Clearly you need another orgasm or five to clear your head of this curse nonsense.”

“I still have pizza in my hand!”

“Finish it before we reach the bedroom because your mouth will be too busy for eating in about thirty seconds.” Her answer is muffled and I laugh as I imagine her stuffing the rest of her slice in her mouth. “We’ll heat the rest up to eat it later. Then I’m giving that driver a terrible review.”

She laughs as I toss her on the bed. “That sounds like something I would do, not you.”

“He tested my limits, ringing the doorbell when I’m balls deep in my gorgeous wife,” I say as we start flinging clothes until we’re naked again. This time, I take off my prosthetic too. Within what feels like mere seconds, we’re laid out on the bed, her mouth busy just like I promised, her hands roaming over my back and shoulders as we kiss, her foot sliding up the side of my leg then back down. We’re in no rush this time. No timers to beat. So when I lift my head, she sighs instead of protesting. I trace her bottom lip with my thumb, wondering how I got so lucky. I don’t feel cursed at all. Quite the opposite, as I nuzzle her nose with mine.

“I wanna see your eyes when I come inside you,” I whisper, prompting her to open her eyes and the look in them floors me. So much love that I’m not sure I deserve it. And I wonder if she’ll look at our children with just as much love. I hope she does. “Maybe it’ll stick this time.”

I can’t help the hopeful note in my voice as she places her hands on my cheeks. I move to kiss her again and it registers too late that she was about to say something. I’m already deep into the kiss before I think to be polite and ask her what she was going to say.

“It can wait. Now deliver on your promises, Peeta.”

I grin down at her and watch her eyes as I let one hand caress over her body, take a meandering path over dips and rises, soft curves and puckered nipples. Down around her navel and finally between her legs. She swallows as I touch her, closes her eyes for a second as her hips undulate softly into my hand, once more coating my fingers in her need, drawing them deeper inside her. I watch her eyes darken and fog over with desire, sharpen when I find a spot or rhythm or pressure that she favors.

Eventually she whispers to me. “I need you inside me.”

Her body bows and flexes beneath me once were joined, presenting her breasts to me and I can’t ignore them, massaging and caressing all over her torso as I move inside her. Unhurried, leisurely touches that linger and heat. I feel torn in two in a way. Part of me wanting the fast and frantic with quick gratification. The other part wins out as she grasps at my arms and begs me down to kiss her. That’s the part that never wants this to end. The part that’s content to feel her surrounding me, welcoming me and loving me as much as I love her.

“Peeta,” she says softly when our lips part and I rest my forehead on hers, hips still rocking between her legs as she licks her lips and seems to come to a decision. She takes a deep breath and pulls me down to whisper in my ear. “I love you. And I want to spend every possible moment of the rest of our lives together. Now, like this. With our children, and after.”

I feel like I should stop, but she looks so earnest and the shuddering breath she takes when I start moving again seems to break the damn as she spills forth fears and hopes and happiness. Usually her words during sex don’t wander into such emotional territory. I’m reeling from it all and am barely able to focus on my pleasure, so much that I’m actually stunned when she scrapes her nails down my arms and arches beneath me.

“Oh god I’m gonna come. Peeta.”

I whisper her name and return my own hopes and fears to her ear, unsure if she even hears them over her own moans. And when she crests, she’s the most beautiful thing in the world, gray eyes locked on mine with stunned pleasure and love swirling together and singing off her lips. It only takes another two thrusts with her walls clenching me and then she claims my release right along with my hopes and my love.

We lay there, still joined at the hips and caressing over skin shimmering with sweat. Katniss kisses along my jaw and then plays with my hair while I keep my face hidden in the crook of her neck, lips just barely touching her skin as a content warmth washes over me.

In the morning, it’s actually surprising how easily our routine from the apartment adapts to the house. I’m up, showered and dressed before Katniss wakes and I get breakfast started. While I’m cooking, my phone reminds me that I can review the driver from last night. I open the app and fill out the form. I start with four and a half stars and glance up at the hallway as I hear water running. Katniss must be awake so I get her tea started. Then I contemplate my review. The pizza was delicious, even warmed up later on, and normally I’d be thrilled with the early arrival. Even though we eventually were able to finish, it’s still annoying me for some reason. Katniss’ words about how it’s something she would do, not me, still tickle at me, almost goading me into doing it, and for once, I decide to just go for it. Besides, the high star rating will show that I’m not really complaining.

Delivery time stated between 45 to 60 minutes but it was delivered within 25 minutes. This was a bit of an inconvenience as I was balls deep in the wife at the time.

I’ve just got her tea ready and my review posted when Katniss walks into the kitchen, still in my t-shirt, a pregnancy test in her hands and a wide smile on her face. She just stands there, silently radiating joy as my brain leaps straight into the sky.

“Is that…? Are we…?”

She nods and tears well up in her eyes. She flings herself into my embrace as I make a choking noise of joy and hold her tight. We stay like that for a long time. I’m probably going to be late for work, but I don’t even care. I just want to live in this moment for as long as I possibly can. We’re having a baby. That alone should suffice as an excuse for being late to work.

And I may need to revise that review…

#Springtime Edition 2019 #submission #katnissdoesnotfollowback #amazinglovers747 #prompt 131

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greasergirls · 6 years

Text

Football Quarterback | Darrel Curtis

A/N: Collab with @littlewolfdiaries! Happy to put this long gem out there.

Pairing: Highschool Darry x Reader

Warning(s): SMUT, so much sin

Summary: Reader and Darry have an arrangement, one that’s very fulfilling, but it comes to a startling end when his parents unexpectedly die.

Part 2 Preview: Reader reconnects with Darry years later, and they realize just how they’ve changed and miss each other.

_______________________

Part 1

October 12, 1962.

He approaches your desk as you fidget with the plastic spiral of your notebook, pencil resting against your bottom lip. Football jerseys have a way about making their possessors look godly, or so you’ve noticed.

As if by magic, your attention is averted from the dusty chalkboard and its written page number. You have no idea, and you won’t have any idea, what the significance of the War of Camden is. A true, blatant tragedy.

Only, now he’s not walking towards you. He’s walking past you to get to his friend three seats behind you.

Desperation: an eleven-letter long word you completely and entirely embody as you take out a loose leaf sheet of paper.

He’s discussing his strategy for that big game tonight with his thick voice. Your pencil flies across the paper in haste.

No, it’s not a love letter. If it was it would have a quirkier title like, ‘Dear Darrel Curtis, Fire of My Loins’ instead of a pathetic call for help to your best friend. You think she’s your best friend, anyway.

He’s talking to you when he asks if you’re going to the game tonight. You are, you reply, cautiously flipping over the thousand word grand manifesto of your teenage hormones.

“You know, I always thought you were a—”

“— Junior, I know.”

“Huh,” he remarks, contemplative as usual. Darry’s undoubtedly Paul Newman, but you can’t deny the way he pulls off Brando. “You’re only a baby, aren’t you?”

October 21, 1962.

His hair doesn’t ruffle like yours does as he slides off your top. You run your hands down him. The muscles aren’t taut, but they’re defined and hard.

Darry’s kissing you hard as you undo his pants. His tongue kneads yours, searching and exploring your mouth. For whatever reason, you don’t think he’d ever remove his jeans himself.

Must be a pride thing, you decide. He’s a good guy underneath the limelight layers.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He questions as your warm panties slip past your ankles.

You’re trying to convince yourself that there is a micro-shred of modesty left within you so you leave your soft pink skirt on.

It pools around you as you climb onto the boy’s lap. He leaves your thin shirt on, groping underneath for the clasp to your bra. He finds it.

His jaw is clean-shaven. You’ve never really seen him without it all like that. Blue-eyed puppy.

A big good puppy, though, you note as a hand grabs hard at your breast. Involuntarily, you moan and turn the dark hue of a ripe strawberry. It’s okay, he assures you, I wanna hear you.

Darry rubs the fabric of your plain blouse against your nipple using only his large thumb. You flinch, unused to the sensation. It’s better with the top on.

When his thumb skims over the peak of both, you can’t control yourself any longer. You’d much rather just get things going.

“Are you hard?” You ask. The question itself is not vulgar, but you experience an inexplicable rush of a welcomed wave of confidence.

“Almost,” he answers before running both hands through his hair. He’s lying.

You take advantage of the opportunity presented and scoot into his chest. Your lips find his neck as you press yourself into him, grinding and rolling your hips.

Darry groans deep within his throat. It’s so odd; you can feel his large member against you through his underwear, erect and throbbing. It’s hot and just barely dips past your wet lips as you hungrily hump his hips.

His jaw is clenched tight. He demands that you grab him, temporarily losing himself in his saturated sensations.

Your hands pulls back the waistband of the white undergarment, reaching for his thick cock. Rolling a light finger over his head you spread his pre-cum and find the lubrication perfect for petting his bulging veins.

Your fingers slowly glide over them. They look angry, his dick so big and eager. Imagining the tip of your tongue tracing his veins makes you throb.

“Fuck,” Darry lets out as you tighten your grip on him, finally guiding his length to your wet pussy.

The tip slips in and you both loudly moan in surprise. However, you have trouble getting more of him in.

“You’re so tight,” he says. His eyes screw shut for a few seconds and his hands find your hipbones.

Darry pulls you down onto him without warning. Bruises begin to form as you cry out. He fills you up with a sickly sweet combination of pain and pleasure.

You pull yourself up in anticipation of slamming back down on his hips. His length appears from inside you, slick. Everything feels raw. Girth and length morph together to create his veiny member, the definition of perfection.

He lets you take one more ride before pulling out and pushing you flat onto your back. Darry spreads open your legs, still in your pretty skirt, and snickers at the excitement that overtakes your features when he haphazardly slaps his cock against your clit, accidentally sliding into your folds every-so-often.

His first thrust isn’t bad. He manipulates your leg to a strange degree with the promise it’ll feel better. It does, you can feel his cock hitting against your wall and it sends you into a song of cries and whimpers.

His blue eyes slam shut as he lets out a string of moans and groans, twitching as he pulls his length out of your tight little pussy.

Darry halts his rhythm with a growled warning, “I think I’m gonna cum.”

“Where?” He didn’t wear anything.

He reaches for a small towel before you stop him. “Cum on me,” you order.

You don’t have ask more than once. Darry lifts your shirt up to your collarbones with speed, cumming all over your stomach and boobs.

Your own high follows suit, as does your inquiry of the taste of Darry’s cum. His finger collects the warm liquid off the swell of your tits, popping it into your mouth.

His eyes flutter closed as your tongue circles his wide digit in a variety of techniques, grabbing his hand to add more. You suck his fingers like you wish you could his dick, hard and unrelenting.

Darry hums and asks when you want to meet next.

———————

His parents aren’t home Saturday night. They took his siblings. Darry’s home alone and he calls you, knowing you’ll come.

You sit down on his couch. You’re stiff and uncomfortable, legs crossed too tight with a straight spine.

He holds out a hand, helping you stand. “You like things rough, don’t you?”

Without responding, you simply blush.

“Suck my dick.”

He pushes you at your shoulders back onto the couch where you topple down, his hips eye-level.

Darry feels so out of character, but satisfied with his effects on you. He can’t wait to tell his friends about this.

You palm at his jeans, feeling for an erection. “I’m not starting you off,” you say, hoping for leverage.

“Come on,” he begs.

You manage to push him onto the couch next to you and get up. He smirks, assuming you’ll drop to your knees in front of him.

Instead you drop yourself onto one of his thighs. The friction against your pussy is a welcome feeling. He groans, but you can see the tent forming in his pants so you keep going.

“Alright,” he says thickly. “You promised.”

Smiling, you make yourself comfortable kneeling on the floor and force his jeans down.

“You better do it good.” Darry says, suddenly playful. “If you want to get fucked, anyways.”

“You’ll see,” you lick your lips. You’re committed to this and he can see it. You figure Darry’s dick is good to practice on— big enough and thick. You want the reassurance and security of knowing you give good head.

You lick his tip multiple times like a lollipop, running your tongue flat and hard against his sensitive slit. Next, you make a show of licking the length of his cock.

A hand shoots out to cup his balls which you rub gently as you fit as much of Darry’s length into your mouth as you can. You suck at it, cheeks hollowing.

You take him out and spread the wetness with your hand, pumping him and running your thumb along his head a few times. His hips buck towards you.

You put his dick back in your mouth again, bobbing up and down. Your hand manages the rest. Teasingly, your fingers hardly meet as you stroke him.

He cums so quickly after you leave open-mouthed kisses on his balls, you’re disappointed.

You hold him as he twitches, cumming all over the bottom of his shirt.

“That was so good,” he breathes after a string of curses. He removes his stained shirt. “Holy fuck.”

You smirk, he’s such a teenage boy. Always acting experienced, dominant. The popular football captain; millions of girls crushing over him, but he’s a good boy (yet supposedly lost his virginity at 15 and has been at it ever since).

“We should do this forever,” Darry says, dreamily, recovering from his high.

You never expect his parents to die so suddenly. You never expect his boyish innocence, his naivety to completely fade away.

#the outsiders #darrel curtis #darry curtis #the outsiders imagines #the outsiders smut #the ohtsiders darry #darry curtis imagine #darrel curtis imagine

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compareandcontrast378 · 4 years

Video

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travq12 · 5 years

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Ultimate Travel SEO Tips to Excel Your Google Rankings

As we all are aware that technology is growing at a rapid pace by the time. Smartphones and internet savvy gadgets are dominating the market, as a result, more and more customers are getting online to fulfil their different demands. Everyone has access to everything which others have. Therefore, you must be using unique techniques to surpass your competitors. Travel agencies/agents these days work harder than before to attract business over the internet and compete in the market. It is always good to have a travel SEO strategy for your online travel business. It enables you to appear at the top of the search engine results.

TravQ is a travel SEO company that provides travel SEO services to the travel agency that allows excelling your online travel business. Most of SEO is typically implemented in the same way but for the travel industry it differs slightly or we can say we need to strategize it quite unique than any other SEO implementation.

In this blog, you will get to know some travel SEO tips which should be implemented by you to boost your online travel business.

Placement of Keyword and Optimization

If we are planning to visit somewhere we do Google for most of the things including research for preferred places. The most important thing that a travel business should know is - what keywords are used by travellers to find their destinations? If you know you're on the right track.

It is important to research keywords on a regular basis and use the most popular ones in your contents. This helps in attaining a good ranking on Google. Remember this, never use too much unnecessary information and keywords otherwise your website may get penalized by Google.

Some keyword research tips to follow:

Target 2-3 keyword per page

Try to put the keyword at the headline of your page

Use the Google Planner tool if you’re looking for perfect keywords

Optimized content should be written that revolves around your keywords

Include the keyword in your URL

Destination and Homepage should be optimized with keywords

Blog title should consist of your most important keywords

Link Building

This method is one of the effective means of carrying out off-page SEO and necessarily the most important one to gain a higher ranking on SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).

Still, there are some questions on how to get links that deliver for your travel portal?

Mentioned are some ways to get the links

Start connecting with other business and send exclusive offers to their readers.

In the travel industry, Press releases are considered as the weapon for link building. If you offer good travel deals then influencers, as well as travel bloggers are likely to recommend their readers or viewers to visit your sites.

You can mention links from travel review websites and portals and make connections on Twitter or Facebook with travel bloggers or journalists and give them incentives to visit your website.

Quick Responsive Website That is Mobile-Friendly

In this world of competition, you need to be one inch ahead of another if you want to taste success in your travel business. It is a fact, that website that has poor loading speed sees more bounce rate. So, it is mandatory to optimize your website speed and its loading time as well. Having a quick responsive and mobile-friendly site is vital for a travel portal because most of the visitors use mobile and initiate booking from these gadgets after browsing.

Both business and leisure travellers are looking to get hands-on mobile-friendly sites as it makes their browsing experience better and booking convenient. Hence optimize for mobile users as it will allow them to reach out to your business through mobile devices. Also, design your website in a manner that they perfectly fit mobile screens.

Local SEO

Local SEO is the most used way by search engines to show us relevant results based on the data of location. If you’re searching for a travel agency then you’re likely to prefer those which reside in your locality, isn’t it?

If you wish to see your travel businesses succeed online, you need to do these things for sure:

Complete your Google My Business profile.

For your travel agency, first and foremost create a Google My Business account and provide your business address.

Enlist your travel agency in the local business directory.

Include city/ state in the title tag of your page.

Add schema markup to your local business address and include it on the homepage.

Ensure that your business name, address and phone number is the same everywhere for Google maps, your website, local directories, social media pages etc.

Tag images with geo-locations.

Concluding we can say SEO acts as an important tool that will leverage your travel business. TravQ has been providing its clients with travel SEO services to travel agencies for years and has tremendous success in this field.

With a large number of travellers relying upon the internet to avail different services, it is a golden opportunity for any business in the travel industry to make the most out of it through proper implementation of on-page and off-page SEO.

#Travel SEO #travel seo company #travel seo services #seo

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element-effect-blog · 5 years

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2 Ways to Get Your Sales & Customer Success Team Working Together

Organizations all over are challenged with the growing concern of alignment across departments.They know their techniques

, organizational capabilities, resources, and management systems ought to all be arranged to support a shared company objective and function, however the difficulty is when leaders pay excessive attention to one area of business and insufficient to others.This is unavoidable. Marketing is going to care about marketing

, sales about sales, and so on.The secret to success, however, is getting these diverse departments to interact and develop a seamless experience for both the internal organization in addition to the customers.Sales Vs. Consumer Success Let's look at a couple of statistics to put this in perspective: As

you can see, the idea of alignment and

partnership is a growing strategic objective for many companies,

but as we take a look at the total difficulties, there's one essential conflict we want to sharpen in on: sales and client success.We all understand what sales is, however for those not acquainted with the term, consumer success (CS )bridges the gap between sales, marketing, and support.A strong relationship

between sales and consumer success is the structure for a successful client experience.When these two teams are aligned, it accomplishes the often-burdensome

job of enhancing knowledge transfer and success story sharing. The much better the relationship in between these two teams, the greater your opportunities of retention, growth, and commitment will be.That being stated, let's look at 2 things the CS and sales team can do to participate in more efficient interaction, partnership, and coordination. 1. Produce a Shared Process Ultimately, both sales and client success are working towards a typical

mission but might have various methods of getting there.Sales wants support for deals and details about what expectations they should be setting and the CS group wants

an arranged handoff and the opportunity to

make the customer successful.With a streamlined procedure and shift from sales to customer success, you produce a favorable experience for the customer and are

well on your way to developing a long lasting relationship with them.Are the consumer service supervisors(CSMs )and sales reps on the exact same page about onboarding? Are they following the exact same procedure? Or are they implicating each other? Developing a shared process provides a clear framework for what each team ought to be

doing or sharing before, during, and after a renewal is made.Before: You need to understand your customers. While sales is likely doing the heavy lifting prior to the sale, the CS team can

the process, then you're currently a step ahead.This shared procedure will help make the handoff more smooth and guarantee this information is passed

along from sales to CS: What was the customer's inspiration for buying our product

? Willour item be replacing an existing solution?How will they be examining the success of our product?Have any usage objectives or expectations been shared?Has the client revealed expectations around a formal review schedule (quarterly, annual )? Who is the decision

maker? Did you deal with anyone else to get this deal signed?Do you know who my point of contact will be and what their role is?Were there tense or unfavorable minutes

during the buying procedure? If so, who was involved and what were

the situations? 2. Establish a Shared Meaning of Client Health/Success Evaluating a consumer's health(or the success of their service in)

can be challenging due to the fact that of the volume of data that needs to be collected,aggregated, and after that analyzed.Both sales and customer success need to know what information is essential and how it straight relates to consumer health and the possibility for churn or development. While a good health rating may be a signof customer satisfaction; a bad health rating might be an early caution signal for churn.However, this correlation doesn't always accumulate. Even if your product or service is being well used and it's one of your top clients

, there's still a chance it might churn.This might be for a number of reasons, but possiblyyour primary contact left the company or a brand-new direction is being implemented.This is important information for sales and CSMs to share. Not understanding about a key contact leaving the business could imply the

distinction between broadening or losing your greatest account.Working together through this shared language will assist you keep your eyes open for changes and chances to show one another. The real procedure of client health and success is having a detailed understanding of how your service or product is being utilized, who are the biggest users, and why they find it valuable. Consumer Success lays out a six-point fulfillment scale

(shown below )ranging from"Very Satisfied "to"Severe Danger."Utilize this as a beginning point to customize your own customer health scale.With this shared meaningin hand, you'll then wish to work together to analyze and repair your execution of deals. Analyzing Deals Together A common point of contention between sales and consumer success is unqualified

customers.The CS group typically thinks that sales is getting"incorrect fit" consumers who add to churn and create issues for the CS Team, simply to meet their

sales quotas.On the other side of your house, sales typically thinks that CS is decreasing the sales process and delaying offers by demanding consumer preparedness, or in some cases, even that they're not providing on what was promised.Clearly this iswork.There are numerous sides to every story,

this step gives everybody the opportunity to say what they wish to stateabout the account. Put all of it on the table in an open environment where the purpose of the meeting is to encourage open discussion and partnership in order to improve.A couple of talking points you could focus on are: Attributes of excellent fit vs. bad fit clients What's the increased likelihood of churn based on particular patterns, habits, or situations?Were the CSM and marketing groups leveraged to the maximum? Should they have been brought in previously or later at the same time? Resolve for what didn't work and develop

upon what worked.Once you have actually identified the concern or reason for the win/loss,it's time to put your heads together to

find a solution.If the discussion centered around a bad fit

client, then identify how to avoid this in the future by reviewing your ideal purchaser persona(s). Adjust appropriately to avoid consisting of any attributes or habits associated with this type of client profile.On the flip side, let's state you

've recognized a consumer who continues to be an ideal example of your"sweet area "then you'll want

to outline why and how this consumer is

so successful.Close the Loop The basis for an excellent working relationship is mutual respect, understanding, and compromise.When it concerns your sales and customer success teams, concentrate on finding commonalities through a shared procedure and shared meaning of customer success/health. Positioning across departments is difficult to accomplish but it is among the most efficient methods to enhance service outcomes

Source

https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/get-your-sales-customer-success-team-working-together

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csrgood · 4 years

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NRG Women Making History

As we embark on a new decade, we would like to take this opportunity to recognize women whose efforts have led our company to its current success. We wish to recognize five powerful women essential to breaking new ground and making history both at NRG and in our sector. Continuously improving our business, these women solidify the importance of placing inclusion and diversity at the center of who we are and what we do. Please join us in recognizing the amazing strides they have made and the path they are laying towards a more inclusive industry.

Andrea T., Director of Product Innovation, Green Mountain Energy

Our industry is very complex, and impacted by many variables, some predictable and others, like weather, unpredictable. This also means the opportunities are endless. NRG, fortunately, has built a strong foundation that fosters a diverse, strong and creative workforce. Over the nine years I have been at NRG, I’ve experienced that no matter how big or small an idea is, it is always heard. Also, I have seen the company encouraging women like me to leverage our strengths in order to be a strong player in this dynamic market. We are natural multitaskers, strong communicators, nurturing, empathetic, motivated by big challenges, we dream big and focus on teamwork and collaboration. All of these are greats skills to get things done effectively, but are also needed to develop and offer amazing products, best-in-class customer experience, and a sustainable future.

At NRG, I have found my passion for addressing some of the environmental issues we face as a society. The company has given me the opportunity not only to develop initiatives with strong quantifiable results, but sustainable programs and products that fulfill me as a customer, employee and mother. My position as Director of Product Innovation for Green Mountain Energy has allowed me to be creative, help customers meet their sustainability goals and to impact our communities in a positive way. I have learned that no matter where our customers are in their sustainable journey, they always want to do more to reduce their carbon footprint. This inspires me to continue to figure out more ways to make our planet a better place to live. With the support of an amazing and creative Product Team, I have developed solar programs and products that address different customer needs – from virtual solar products such as Go Local Solar to rooftop solar offerings. Today, Green Mountain Energy is considered a leader in sustainability and I am proud to be part of this journey. We are in the middle of an exciting and challenging time, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for NRG.

Donna B., SVP, Chief Program Officer

Women at NRG shape the future of the corporate world by bringing diverse viewpoints and creating a tone of teamwork. This helps teams work together through change and complex work efforts in our industry and within NRG. Since women represent nearly half the U.S. workforce, but significantly less than that in the energy industry, women have an opportunity to expand in the energy workforce, offering their valuable skills and viewpoints. At NRG, women bring in extensive experience from internal and external energy careers, consulting experience and a wealth of coordination and communication skills to move the company forward. We see women in all departments who are actively committed to achieve our goals and values. They are often key facilitators, communicators and planners for the teams that they are a part of.

The contribution that I bring to NRG, and to other women at NRG, is to foster opportunities to grow, learn and apply skills. Some of the strongest project and program managers are women with strong leadership, management and organization skills. I work with, mentor, and support many of them in their careers. I also value the attributes of all team members working together toward common goals with a meaningful purpose. I strongly believe each team member brings unique skills and talents, and our job as leaders is to make sure we provide clear goals, then coach and support our teams to be successful. This ‘servant leadership’ has been proven to be especially successful for women leaders, now we just need to get more women into those energy leadership roles.

Outside of work, I am an active Girl Scout leader, encouraging girls across our region to get involved and develop leadership, science and communication skills. This is part of preparing our next generation’s workforce and encouraging the women of our future by both example and involvement.

Kimberly C., Director, Customer Experience

Traditionally, energy has been a male-dominated industry, but forward-thinking companies like NRG realizes it’s not only the right thing to do, but essential for its success to include top female talent. Integrating women is vital to having a broad perspective at the decision table.

When women are exposed to powerful female role models and mentors, they are more likely to see themselves in leadership roles or see a path for advancement. As I continue to grow with the organization, my goal is to serve my internal and external customers. As a brand, I want every single customer interaction with NRG to be the best experience they’ve had with any company. And internally, I want to continue to align with my colleagues across the company and serve as the voice of the customer, as we push ourselves to continue to deliver a best-in-class experience.

Judith L., Senior Vice President, Asset Management

As the SVP of Asset Management, I’d like to acknowledge the women I work closely with at NRG; four others in my immediate group, and several others throughout the organization. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that I’m in the company of great women who have impressive accomplishments in their own right. If I think about what these women have in common, it is their complete commitment to their families and their professionalism. Perhaps never has this been more apparent than it is right now as we try to maintain some trace of normalcy in our lives in the midst of a global pandemic.

Over 20 years ago, I made a career change, from consulting engineering to business management. With my engineering and new business degree, I applied for a job with a small independent power producer called United American Energy (UAE) to be the general manager of their hydroelectric power plants and later, of their cogeneration projects. While I had experience designing power plants and other large civil works, I didn’t have business management experience, or plant operations experience, or direct knowledge of hydroelectric power plants for that matter.

But the owner and founder of UAE was David Goodman. The Goodman family dedicated their lives to removing barriers and promoting social justice in honor of their son and brother, Andrew Goodman—one of the three civil rights workers that were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan during Freedom Summer in 1964. While there were several men at UAE in identical roles for which I was applying, there were no women. Having grown up in a home with no bias, David took a chance on me and I became UAE’s first female General Manager of Hydroelectric Projects. I had to earn respect being a woman in a position that until me was always held by men. I had everything to learn but there was absolutely no way I was going to let David and his brilliant Executive Management team down.

Going on my 19th year at NRG this June, I have a unique perspective having witnessed the company mature from the early days of competitive markets and evolve along with the industry, adapt to an unforeseen shale gas revolution, and deliver more savings to customers through innovative products and services than perhaps anyone could have imagined.

As the head of Asset Management for one of the largest competitive power companies in the US, our Asset Managers have tackled just about every aspect of managing the life cycle of a power plant: commissioning new units integrating portfolios, repowering, converting to cleaner fuels, installing emission controls, capturing carbon and enhancing oil recovery, contracting plants needed for reliability, and transitioning plants that have reached end of their economic lives. It is rare to experience such diverse accomplishments over one’s career, it is even rarer to have done that as a woman.

What’s left to do? Plenty. On top of mind is to ensure that we can achieve clean energy goals, including NRG’s to be net zero by 2050, and preserve reliability through a competitive market process at a price our customers can afford. It’s likely I won’t be the one to deliver these results 30 years from now but will gladly pass the torch to the next generation pioneers.

Elizabeth E., Mergers and Acquisitions Director

NRG is incredibly fortunate to have so many intelligent and inspiring women contributing to the advancement of our company and the energy industry as a whole. Women at NRG have led the company’s most important business initiatives, solved our most complicated challenges, and fostered a collaborative environment where inclusion and representation are our norms. As NRG continues to evolve and sharpen its focus as a customer-focused energy company, our full diversity of perspectives and experiences will be an especially valuable asset. I’m particularly grateful for all the opportunities I have had at NRG to work alongside impressive and accomplished women, and as a woman in the energy industry, I’ll always be on the lookout for ways to pay it forward throughout my career.

We recognize the importance of showing appreciation for those pushing us toward a brighter future. Do you have women in the energy industry—or any industry—that you look up to? Join us in recognizing the contributions of powerful women by sharing stories about those who inspire you on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook and by using the hashtag #WomenEmpowerment.

source: https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/45666-NRG-Women-Making-History?tracking_source=rss

#CSR #corporate social responsibility #social good #philanthropy #employee engagement #workplace givi

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beyondthetemples · 4 years

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{{ Mun: Portrayal Meme

1. Do you like how you portray your muse? I mean, it’s all subjective, but from my perspective, I do like how I portray her, yes. c: Gentle but fierce in the right moment (which hasn’t been explored much on this blog, but is absolutely a part of who she is). I manage to condense her worlds of thought into words, and I portray a wide variety of reactions and situations and emotions, and even now and then, the RP goes on long enough to even EXPLORE it more!

That’s the only downfall of my portrayal though. It’s hard for me to move a scene past the introductory stages, just because it’s hard for me to write sometimes, so a lot of threads only get into Phase 1 and 2 of story, and never gets to the climax much, let alone a resolution. :P And because it’s hard for me to move a scene there, it’s hard to get Dove to a climactic and resolving place as well.

2. Do you think you do your muse justice? For the most part, yeah. I feel like, due to the halting stop-and-go nature of Tumblr rps, it's really hard to move her past the point she's at. (That's why I ultimately decided to stop using a default timeline where Dove had just found the Titans, and decided to bump her up to the point after DDD and The Final Journey where she'd had her first unofficial "mission" and had already joined the team in their heroics. Plus, there's a lot more potential for Action Plots now that Dove (I don't think I'm leveraging that potential for her growth very much, though... hmmm.)

3. Do you portray your muse differently to the general fandom? Obviously, Dove is my baby, so nobody else portrays her, exactly. There are a lot of fan characters with the barest concept being similar to Dove, though. Of course, I found out after I created a character to be Raven's sister, that was actually a very common trope in TT fanfiction circa 2006. Even the name "Dove" for fancharacters wasn't totally unique, I'd learn later. But my Dove is the only one I've found that's anything like her.

The vast majority of Raven-sibling OCs tend to do dark magic, wear dark clothes, have a temper, and oftentimes have some kind of royalty or Chosen One thing going on. On the other hand, Dove's power is telepathy, she’s garbed in a white dress much more suited to her Azarathean heritage, and she’s so painfully shy, you wouldn’t know she’s a superhero until you see her in the moment of Actual Action. The canon of the comics re: Azarath also informed Dove’s character quite a bit, so there’s a lot of spirituality in her-- even if she completely sucks at magic and meditation (the former, basically forever, but at least she gets better at meditation...) And that’s another thing; Dove’s stories (and RPs?) start her off much earlier in the developement of her powers. She doesn’t know how to control them yet, because her mother never figured out how, and Dove’s place among the team is very much that of a student or little siblings tagging along for the ride, moreso than the “Chosen One” type of story.

4. What aspects of your muse do you most want to explore? Her growth through her relationships!

5. Are you looking to write any particular relationships with your muse? I mean, I'm willing to explore a romantic relationship with her and Caleb so obviously I'm excited for that! But also the platonic relationships, friends, acquaintances, maybe a few enemies. People she might be able to help, being a hero in more pacifistic ways.

6. Is your muse canon-divergent? How? Why? Dove was painstakingly developed specifically with canon in mind! (Mostly the comics, because it was adamantly stated that Trigon went after Raven so hard because she was THE ONLY child of his to survive! That's why Dove was kept a secret, kept hidden-- from the Watsonian perspective, it was because Dove's mother didn't want them to treat her child the way they treated Raven. But the Doylist explanation, the meta reason, boils down to the fact that Trigon, canonically, isn't supposed to have any other children, at all. and that canonical fact is why the "Sons of Trigon" storyline makes me SO ANGRY, but that's a rant for another time.

7. Is there a controversy or fandom disagreement revolving around your muse that has changed how you portray them? (I mean, she's an OC, kinda hard to have controversy when I only ever interact with like 5 people tops. 8F)

8. Do you use narrative text differently between muses, or does your writing stay the same style for everybody? Oh yes! My writing style changes dramatically based on mood and the character that's "narrating" the scene. ~ Dove's are usually very considerate, careful contemplation, so she tends to get a lot of words, and she's very quiet, so there's very little dialogue. ~ Kary's tends to be more "scoffy" and judgemental, physically and verbally expressive, and if she's contemplating, it's emotionally reactive. ~ Srentha is both bubbly and analytical, so his narrations tend to be eager and optimistic with a curious thought usually followed by a ton of questions or conclusions. ~ I haven't quite figured out what Leyla's style is yet, probably a mixed bag of contemplation and expression? ~ For grounded and perceptive Raven, I write brief and stark sentences, quick and to the point. (With the occasional thoughtful paragraph, because she's snarky, but she also has a lot going on internally.)

9. What thread types (e.g. angst, fluff) do you think portrays your character at their most genuine? Angst, horror, and hurt/comfort especially! For me, writing about Dove isn't about agonizing over her suffering, it's about how she heals from it and comes back stronger. It's about the people she's with who are willing to help her. It's about the COMFORT, not necessarily the hurt for me. (Though I'm always down for some delicious drama. As long as we can show them Being Better Afterwards, too.)

10. Are there any crossovers you’d be especially interested in writing? Dove on the Infinity Train? Whoooo boy, that could get interesting super fast! (So many opportunities for worldbuilding and character development!)

11. Do you write drabbles/headcanons for your character? Do you discuss them OOC, away from Tumblr? I talk about Dove all the time, okay. I don't think I have a single friend who doesn't know about Dove. Even my family knows about Dove.

12. Do you think your muse would act differently if they had interacted with different characters in the past? OH yeah. One of Dove's biggest struggles is social anxiety born from never interacting with anyone except her mother (and secretly Srentha every now and again). If Dove's situation was any different, she'd have much more confidence in social situations, and she'd be more at ease and more verbal. She'd show her calm, "zen" side to a lot more people.

13. Do you have any plans for the future of your muse? Would you like to see them grow a certain way? Shipping with Caleb will already fulfill one of my curiosities. But I'd really like to write about her Getting Over Her Fears in battle. She doubts herself and hesitates, which is a terrible thing to do in the heat of battle. She doubts her abilities and either tries way too hard and blows things up, or doubts her control and tries to do something way too lightly which becomes totally ineffective. I'd LOVE for her to interact with muses that have the kinds of minds that can become psychological horror with Dove, considering she's a telepath! I got a taste of that once with an old friend's OC, and it was so FASINATING! Intriguing! Dove didn't know what to do with herself! I think in general, just putting Dove in a New Situation and making her figure out how to cope (or: how to GET OUT ALIVE!) sounds PHENOMENAL.

14. Do you wish you had a better grasp on a certain aspect of your muse? I've been writing with Dove endlessly since 2005. And a few years before then, there are action-figure-based stories I was playing through with her. So what I'm saying is, there's not much I don't already know about her, and well enough to babble about for a collegiate-length essay if you let me! The only thing that's not explored Especially Much is Dove when she's in a romantic mindset. And that's largely because I'm aro, so I don't... really know how to write about that. Oops.

15. If you could start your blog again with a clean slate, what would you do differently with your muse? Would you change any of their base principles? Dove's base principles are firmly rooted in the character I wanted to explore, so everything about her core concept stays! The only thing I'd change is that maybe I'd write more further down in her timeline, instead of making every single rp a story about Dove struggling even to interact. Sometimes it worked to the story's advantage. But most of the time, it just made interactions feel like I was playing the same thing over and over. I wish I'd known about pre-established relationships being a thing earlier on, then I feel like some much more interesting stories could have been written! (And that, my friends, is why I write with her post-TFJ, as an active-duty Teen Titan, and not just a meek houseguest. With rare exceptions, but Hero Dove is the default!)

#{{ It's not Munday but I really wanted to do this one okay #questions list #meme

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ginnyzero · 5 years

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Searching for the Spirit of the Times

I like to consider myself a fan. I want to think of myself as an early adopter. I think the closest I can come to being ‘hipster’ was the fact I liked Norah Jones before she became popular. Then at some point, I stopped paying attention to the top 40 and listened to what I wanted to listen to whether or not anyone else liked it. This means I listen to a huge variety of different things depending on my mood and my nerves. It is the same for the television I watch. If I can’t get into the idea of the story, then I’m not going to watch it or read it. It is hugely important to remember that people in general only pick up a book when they are lonely or bored. (They’re more likely to turn to the television first now a days.)

But I still find it interesting the trends in what people are watching versus what they aren’t watching. What is big in the fan sphere?

Fans do crazy things, especially fans who create derivative works. They are willing to push the boundaries more than publishing houses and television shows because fan works are in a way the ultimate wish fulfillment. What does the fan want to see? Crossovers, Alternate Universes, pairings that no creator would put together. They take what is the comfort of the familiar, what they love, and push the boundaries of it until they find something they enjoy. (I’m talking in the most general of terms here because concrete examples could fill blog upon blog post. That’s not what this blog is about.) And the great thing about fans is they like to talk, in the safety of their computer screen. So while there will be fans who cannot understand the appeal of X, there will be another 100 fans who will try to explain it to them. (Even if it is impossible because no matter how much you explain, they just aren’t going to “get it.”)

These are things I have personally seen talked about openly in general fandom spaces.

People want happy stories. Gone are the days of the nitty gritty Christopher Nolan Batman film. The fan wants to be entertained. They want humor. They want a happy ending. They want to feel hope that there is good in the world. Brutal violence, especially against women, is not acceptable. Dark washed out color palettes are passé. People want Guardians of the Galaxy. Not Batman, but Starlord. Happy stories in fandom are called fluff or waff (warm and fuzzy feelings.) Fluff is a huge thing in fandom circles. This crosses through every age group. Teenagers want fluff because they want relief from the pressure of school and the idea that the hero gets their love interest. Adults want relief from the pressures of holding a job and paying builds and to feel safe and secure even if it is just a story. Happy stories help the reader feel like they aren’t alone. There are others out there that want the same things they do, desire the same type of companionship they want with the type of people they desire. (And there are fluffy stories out there for every taste imaginable.)

Fans love new mixes. They want to see the story pushed beyond what we are currently being given. Fans are the masters of the crossover. A huge fan phenomena within the last few years was called Superwholock, where they took the worlds of Supernatural, Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes and mashed them together. If I was to read this I would expect time travelling, demon fighting protagonists who solve mysteries with quirky companions. (Whether or not this was actually what it was, I don’t know.) Comic books have been doing this sort of thing for years, creating alternate universes where characters are vampires or zombies. In fact, one of the major Marvel characters is Cable, a time travelling mutant soldier. Fans are ready for something different than “he or she is a supernatural creature that solves crime in a universe filled with every other supernatural creature.”

I’m not saying that genres like “they solve crime” or urban fantasy as such are going to go away. I’m saying fans want something different to read that is beyond that. They want adventures. They want comedy. They want family style stories. They want to see genres mixing in new and exciting ways.

A trend that has been extremely interesting to me lately is that characters can’t be flat cardboard cut outs anymore. You can’t hang clothes on them and call it good. The shows that are extremely popular have rich and dynamic characters, Sons of Anarchy, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Mad Men. Shows like the early seasons of Leverage that focus so much on the plot versus developing the characters wouldn’t survive in today’s environment. The staying power of Supernatural can be both attributed to plot (guys fight monsters) and to the fascination fans have with the characters of Sam, Dean and Castiel. Characters need to be fleshed out, given weaknesses and flaws.

Another interesting trend is that fans want women in roles that were previously filled by men. Fans want female doctors, scientists, police officers, action heroes. Mad Max: Fury Road got a lot of chatter because there was a female character playing the action stoic. Jurassic World brings up that there is a desire for the female archaeologist adventure type beyond Lara Croft. Video game companies that do not include a female player option get roundly called out by fans. This is a reflection of the world around. Since, World War 2 females have gone into the work force. They are out there doing things that men do every day. There are female fighter pilots, female scientists, female construction workers, female welders. It is ridiculous to ignore half of a gender dynamic. Females want to be more than mothers, wives and girlfriends. They have more stories to tell. Stories that are currently being told with men as the protagonists.

There is also a cry for diversity. Fans want to see heroes and protagonists like them. Some mean the race of the characters, others mean the sexual orientation. The scales are tipping away from the majority of Caucasian and towards African, Hispanic and Asian. There are more and more people in America being born of two races. Fans want their media to reflect that. American Girl dolls got it. MMORPGs get it. Star Stable has twelve different faces and skin types for girls to choose from. Hollywood is starting to get it. But it is more than just casting an African American man to play the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four. You see, they want to see their stories on the screen. They don’t necessarily want Hollywood to take what is a white role in comic canon and change it so it is now the role for an African American. They want to see the canonical stories of black heroes make it to the big screen, characters like Storm, the Black Panther, Falcon, Cloak (of Cloak and Dagger duo.) They are disappointed that Marvel chose again to do the story of Peter Parker rather than the story of Miles Morales in yet another Spiderman reboot. The stories that involve sexual orientation need to step beyond the ‘homosexual tragedy’ to reflect the changing times.

Of course, by adding more diversity to a story, there is a huge risk because there will always be an accusation of ‘not doing it right.’ However, if we don’t take that step and learn from any sorts of mistakes that we make, there is no way to learn how to do it ‘correctly’ or whether or not we need to learn to ignore that criticism.

These are the trends I’ve noticed. These are the cries of dissatisfaction waiting to be filled. To me, these are the ‘spirit of the times.’

#the zeitgeist

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dorethamccoll-blog · 6 years

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Exactly how Prosperous Folks Bounce back After Slipping up.

If you intend to fulfill an Excellent Guy as well as acquire wed, there is actually zero much better location to begin compared to at the wedding ceremony, specifically at the wedding reception. The complication along with pointing the finger at people for our blunder is that our team will certainly endure the ache as well as effects of our blunder, but will not gain from it, and so bingo! Revealing in a non-defensive means what led to the error can assist people much better know why that occurred and ways to avoid this later on. Error # 4)) No Dating Funnel: A guy approaches a woman, users a smart opener, acquire's her phone number, phones her a couple days eventually, he establishes an initial time and then they go out. Enjoy that you perform not deliver a harsh consequence for a mistake that was actually provided beneficial initiative. If you haven't made any sort of mistakes for some time, you could certainly not be actually offering on your own opportunities to risk, to find out, or even to grow. Writers, Bloggers, Podcasters & Artists: Helping you certainly not only develop & support a committed audience, yet the best ways to leverage your errors so you turn all of them into your most significant endorsers however. Self-Care: Popular massage oversights specialists make are that they perform certainly not care for on their own as much as they should. Mistake # 7 - Resolving your case ahead of time, or looking also willing to settle your claim soon. . V. USA, 66 C.C.P.A. 113, 118, C.A.D. 1231, 603 F. 2d 850, 853 (1979) (An error of reality is actually any type of mistake other than a blunder of rule." Id. at 855) Hynix, 414 F. Supp. Any sort of military leader which is honest along with themselves, or even along with those he is actually speaking to, will accept that he has actually created mistakes in the application of army power. You as a human being actually can not avoid bring in blunders just as long as you work and also work along with people. Mistakes are there to inspire us and also urge our team to maintain moving and also keep nourishing our Heart as well as our mind-- to maintain living! Little ones must end up being comfortable in having as well as creating mistakes accountability in help to deal with whatever happened. You need to steer clear of these typically dedicated blunders in if you desire your internet site to show up among the best 10 sites in SERPs online search engine optimization. Again, there is actually no reason for this blunder - and this is one that will establish you in addition to the others in your industry. Oversight from regulation is a protection that the criminal accused misinterpreted or even was actually oblivious of the regulation as that existed at the moment. Oversights are true present from God that he has actually given our company because he wants our company to learn as well as acquire numerous encounters in life. Going out with blunders of the nature usually lead to uncertainty and courting could even finish listed below. To learn from a blunder, our experts first must 'own this, as well as this is actually where many people could happen reversed, due to the fact that they frequently blame someone else for their oversight. Constant nagging is certainly not going to get this done any type of sooner if you have actually made that crystal clear exactly what you prefer as well as just what needs to have to be actually carried out. That is actually essential to assume regarding why that oversight happened and know exactly how to stay away from making that once again when blunders perform happen. While that may be appealing to simply make an effort and also mimic a successful competition, doing this is a substantial mistake. Slip pertains to a tiny error in pep talk or writing, or to a small indiscretion: I misspelled his title by a lapse of the pen. Over the years I helped make some expertises along with different gauges and also other sorts of strands that I desire to provide you. There is actually a ton of I am actually FINE, you are actually ALRIGHT, mistakes are ALRIGHT" speak on the market in both business and also self-help planet. Parents that rear their youngsters to become fearful from slipping up may commonly finding condemning as a response to the oversight. You can easily re-send the campaign to these recipients making use of MessageFocus's filter tool, with the correct hyperlink apologising for any sort of aggravation as well as the blunder resulted in. That was actually a 2003 Ford that had actually precisely gathered a reasonable few miles (possibly certainly not the best selection I had created) but I had my cars and truck! Some instructors make the blunder of observing exactly what they assume will definitely work most ideal, without comprehending the workout actions, techniques and also devices they might be using. Value your mistakes wherefore they are: precious lifestyle courses that may merely be actually found out the hard way. Always keep providing your little ones with finding out experiences, yet concurrently structure their atmosphere so they cannot help make way too many mistakes (possessing costly glass wares around your house where little ones may crack it is actually certainly not their error). For more wisdom, ensure to visit Funny Quotes Concerning Lifestyle There we share several of the funnier points people have actually mentioned regarding relationship, household, and lifestyle. Visual performers profiles is actually really a popular theme within the movie world. Some of the most significant errors generated by those desiring to enhance for excellence is actually presuming that the trendiest things within the manner globe may create all of them effective. Sadly several seem to create mistakes when using body language and non-verbal signals to the magnitude that their try in reading really reduces the top quality of the communication. Your supervisor as well as your colleagues are particular to become checked off if you seem to be to certainly not care that you miscalculated. But I've discovered how to find change as an option, and discovered how to like my mistakes as a result of the surprisingly wealthy trainings I learned from them. When choosing if they can easily, a large oversight very first time shoppers make is actually concentrating on the month-to-month residence repayment amount afford a certain residential property. Seek the weak locations in your life such as limiting views that cause you to create errors and afterwards aim to modify these restricting routines, actions, and views. Keep in mind that oversights are actually not signs of weakness or ineptitude; recovering coming from all of them demonstrates strength as well as willpower. That is actually interesting that any type of propensity to judge or condemn other people stems from our own wish to be mistake-free, our personal worry from errors. That is actually why very most participants (and dieters) wind up acquiring back their authentic body weight As we've stated just before: exercise is a capability To truly evolve, you'll should fall the word error coming from your lexicon so that you can easily completely transform inside. The very first popular error individuals create when it takes on effective communication is actually that they are actually not knowledgeable about their physical body foreign language, voice or accent variation. Listed here are actually seven common oversights that graduates make in their return to as well as need to avoid that. All that has is for one oversight to happen and every little thing you have actually functioned so hard to achieve may be taken away in the blink from an eye. If they may create mistakes along the technique, the one thing they all possess in common is the readiness to have a threat also. From record hiding, making use of redaction device courses as well as redaction program and also lawful redaction, below are a number of the standard oversights people make. As well as most of us do. Maybe we create the same oversight 3 times, however perhaps not four or even 5. Mistake pertains to an inappropriate action, belief, or opinion; that might additionally propose an improper understanding, perception, or analysis: an error in arithmetic; That was a blunder to trust them. Error 1: Certainly not including toughness instruction in your exercise - All frequently, individuals gravitate toward cardio type physical exercise like walking, running, bicycling etc and avoid durability training. When the groups to a deal are both wrong concerning the same information truth within their arrangement, a shared error happens. When you liked this post along with you wish to obtain more details concerning yellow pages phone numbers (Recommended Online site) generously stop by the webpage. Then other errors comply with considering that this really isn't the best scenario for us. Therefore have a look at the condition and also establish whether or not the scenario was actually one that should have been actually avoided. One of the most common membership website oversights that most individuals usually create is to certainly not describe their target market adequately. Inquire present or past associates or folks outside the company for their perspective on the oversight and also exactly what they believe you can do to recover. Call around to a few insurance companies for quotes before you select an insurance carrier.

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lifecoachlondonuk · 6 years

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11 powerful ways to make 2018 successful & fulfilling!

Dear Reader,

As the New year is fast approaching, I am sure like me you are eagerly anticipating the extraordinary things that lie ahead & the change that a new year brings.

But sometimes, the hardest challenge can be starting the New Year with gusto, grace, elegance and ultimately having ‘the best start’ we possibly can.

The trap many fall in to is waiting for the new year to come before deciding how we truly want life & business to be. It’s not the worst strategy but can often leave us reeling out of control & very ungrounded as the busy-ness of change kicks in.

Lets Dive in to Deep and Know : How to Make 2018 Successful

In todays read, I want to share with you 11 very easy to implement steps and strategies that you can begin doing now to ensure you have a more successful & fulfilling year ahead of you.

If you are reading this article during any other phase of the year, you will find these practices are very applicable for you too.

1. Spend time on Self Awareness & Reflection

Self Awareness truly is the first step to a breakthrough and if you want to harness the power of the new year that is coming, one of the best practices you can do is to reflect and create awareness on how you feel the year has been, what has worked & what the key areas of improvement are.

Whether you want to take your business to the next level, create more free time for yourself or do better in your career, reflection & awareness which ultimately means identifying your blindspots is absolutely the one of the first critical steps forward for transformation.

I often ask myself

What am I proud of from the year that has just been?

What would I do differently if I were to start the year again?

What could I do differently to be my best for the coming year?

Hindsight is truly a powerful thing and as they say, ‘good judgement comes from experience & experience comes from bad judgement’.

Leverage the learnings from 2017 and may they add to the foundations of a new extraordinary year!

2. Plan & Envision

A new year is here, so what do you want?

It’s a powerful question but what is the vision for the new year? What do you want to create, achieve and accomplish that would make 2018 extraordinary and truly fulfilling for you?

Be the visionary of your own world and define, dictate and commit to the results you want.

So what will your vision be? What does 2018 hold in store for you?

3. Develop Your Growth Plan

Growth is the life force that feeds who we are. Our being, our character & and the impact we have in the world both personally & professionally.

Once you have identified your blind spots and potential obstacles from the reflection exercise (point 1), design a growth plan for the year tailor made for you.

What books will you read?

What courses will you take?

What are the knowledge gaps you want to fill?

How many skillsets will you be enhancing?

In the Japanese culture, they have a concept called Kaizen which means constant and never ending improvement. CANI isn’t just a mindset but a powerful way of life that fosters creativity, innovation & high performance.

Design your growth plan according to the opportunities you wish to seize this coming year & your future self will thank you for it.

4. Get clear & make extraordinary decisions

Is there anything right now in your world that you are doing with a 50/50 effort mentality, a 5/10 consistency or a serious lack of conviction?

If so, why are those activities or tasks on your list. One of my coaches often said that if there was anything in my world I was doing that wasn’t a clear HELL YES from me… it should be a HELL NO.

At times we have to do what we find challenging or difficult, but if there are any activities or situations you find yourself in that doesn’t call out the best version of you or your passion & creativity, is it time to let go?

Less is more & freeing up the time to give your best to what is most important to you can be the most needed new years gift in disguise.

5. Prioritise your values

I was truly inspired when I heard about a practice Anthony Robbins implements in his company Robbins Research International.

At the beginning of each year, he asks all the workforce to plan their holidays and recreation time in the annual calendar first well in advance before work duties officially kick in.

The challenge many high performers face is with so much to do personally & professionally, everything tends to come first and they themselves then naturally come last.

It’s very easy to become a slave to time but to avoid this trap, create the space, time & the environment to honour everything that is important to you.

Along with your career/business whether what you value is family, connection or travel, honour your needs as much as possible and this is excitingly a huge secret to avoiding stress and burnout too.

To give your best to the people around you, you must first…. be your very best.

6. Qualify your environment

Who you spend time with is who you become.

Is your peer group and the people you spend the most time with serving you, or holding you back?

We often forget how powerful our environment can be on our thinking, focus & decision making capability. High performance engines are created in the highest quality settings.

If you want to soar, perform at your best & have the impact you desire in the New Year, qualify your peer group and ensure they are adding immense value to your character and your vision & you doing the same for them.

Keep building relationships with people that inspire you too & inspiration will never leave you.

7. Contribute

As Tony Robbins says ‘The Secret to Living is Giving’ and when we can find a means and way to help those in need, we are rewarded in truly fulfilling ways.

If you want to find a way to reach real fulfilment for you now and in the future, spend time serving people and communities in need and being part of a mission much greater than any one person.

Give your time, energy & support to people in underprivileged situations that may not be able to do anything for you in return and watch the magic unfold.

The impact of doing so never goes unseen, unheard or unfelt by the people you gift your time to.

8. Develop your own Morning Ritual

If you look at the top performers in any field, you will find that the level of success they have is no fluke or accident.

The reason they are the top performers is because they have certain habits, routines and rituals that allow them to unleash their potential.

Similarly, one of the best practices high achievers adopt to ‘own their day’ and get the best from the time they have is to create a morning ritual that serves them powerfully throughout each day till the next.

If you want to find out more about morning rituals and how to create your own, I recently wrote an article I am sure you will enjoy here http://bit.ly/2E2MQeO

I challenge you to create a morning ritual that works for you and you’ll be amazed by how much impact this will have for you on your performance and effectiveness.

People often forget that we create our future from what we do each day. If we aren’t winning or consistently loosing each day, what future are you creating?

9. Health First

Another challenge I see with high achievers, leaders & Entrepreneurs is that is can become very easy to neglect your health in pursuit of success and professional excellence.

As I said very easy to do and I have personally been down that road myself years ago, but health is truly wealth.

If you want to have a better work life balance, perform better in your business/career & have the energy to do the things outside of your professional life that inspire you, energy, vitality & health are the key.

Is your health currently at the level you are satisfied with and serves you well?

If not, NOW is the best time to make it happen because if you can’t implement the strategies today, it is very unlikely to happen tomorrow.

Only 8% of people make it past the 1st month who set New Years Resolutions.

Shocking I know…

but if you want to be a member of this 8% club, don’t put off to tomorrow what you can do today with regard to your health.

By setting your health system/routines in place now and before the new year begins, you will be approaching your goals from a place of commitment versus setting resolutions because of what the masses do which is why they are setting themselves up to fail from the very beginning.

Health is wealth!

Give yourself the energy & vitality you deserve to lead an extraordinary and fulfilling life.

10. Be you, be fearless & speak your truth

I grew up being a people pleaser and wrongly had held a belief that the more I can please others, the more successful I would become. This way anything but the truth as you can probably guess.

It’s scary how many of us at times live our life, run our business & act in a way to please or not hurt the people around us. Showing up to situations looking for approval, validation or recognition without taking in to account what is true to us in the moment.

The most interesting thing about putting others before our own needs, is that this does anything but win trust, build powerful connections & create magnificent relationships with the people around us.

I challenge you to be bold this coming year & speak your truth (gracefully of course without ego), to own what you feel, think and know from one moment to the other.

This may change or alter the number and quality of relationships you have, but this is always for the better.

Whether you are in the board room or at home, BE the extraordinary you!

11. Hire a Coach to unleash your potential

As a coach, it is very easy for me to say hire a life coach…..and over the last year I have personally invested in some of the best coaching talent to ensure I can be my very best and deliver extraordinary coaching and results for my clients.

The reasons I hire my own coach & pride myself in doing so is because a coach will push your comfort zone, help you see where you are holding yourself back in your life/business, identify what your blind spots are, call you out when you are making excuses or not achieving what you have set out to do, hold you accountable & provide you with a third person perspective that very few people are willing to share with you out of fear.

A coaching conversation is high flame, intense, powerful, life changing and not for everyone.

Having a coaching conversation is by far one of the most powerful conversations you will have where everything you envision personally & professionally starts becoming an inevitable reality.

If you want to truly unleash your potential in 2018, find a coach you resonate with & get ready for a phenomenal year.

So there you have it…. 11 steps and strategies you can start implementing immediately today that will ignite your potential for the very events and experiences that lie ahead of you.

Enjoy and I hope this article has served you powerfully. Comment below and i’d love to hear from you with what you will personally implement now and in to the new year to make 2018…..your best year yet!

Here’s to your continued success & if there is anything I can do to serve or support yourself and/or your business or if you have any questions about my latest article then please feel free to reach out to me here or at [email protected].

Live Empowered,

Your friend and Life coach London,

Raghav Parkash

#lifecoach #life quotes #lifechanger #motivating quotes #motivation #motivational #motivator #london

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odettepeek2-blog · 6 years

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The 10 Lessons I Learned from the TEDx Stage

I had prepared for hundreds of hours. I was about to realize a dream. Yet, all I could say was “I can’t.”

The hard part of dreaming big is not the dreaming part. It is the reality part. That is what I discovered when I finally got the chance to go on the TEDx stage. As I stood on the side, looking out at the audience, I thought I was going to throw up. I told the assistant holding the curtain the dreaded words, “I can’t.” Here I was, a seasoned speaker who had graced some pretty incredible stages with some huge names, and I was scared shitless.

What was different?

This was my big, BIG dream and I didn’t want to blow it. Not doing it seemed to be the best choice in that nanosecond. But, I did, with a little push from that persistent assistant, go out on that stage and deliver the TEDx talk and make my dream come true.

It wasn’t easy, so I thought I would share a few lessons I learned along the way that may help you realize your big, BIG dream.

1. We need to embrace the value we bring to the table. I had dreamed of doing a TEDx talk for years, but I never quite believed I was good enough. Do you know who has graced TEDx stages??? Why would they want me? I had been asked to speak alongside some giants and yet I worried about applying to TEDx. I had a total disconnect from how the world viewed me. So, I had to do the inner work to embrace and believe that I had something to bring to the table before I could even apply. It is my personal stories, that I shared right from the very beginning of my talk, which bring value to this topic. Embracing our own worth is the first step of any journey…don’t you think?

2. Preparation is the key to success. I know, you have heard this a thousand times before but it bears repeating. There were 600 applicants for this TEDx opportunity. 600!!!! I had to have a kick-ass application and I had to be ready to go if I was chosen. I cannot tell you how many hours of TEDx talks I watched. I did everything I could to improve my chances. Success doesn’t happen in the big moment. Success happens in the thousand little moments before.

3. Expect to battle fear. The moment you decide to do something big, fear will swoop down and try to steal your dream. It is evolution after all. Your mind wants to keep you alive and as soon as you give it a signal that you are uncomfortable it thinks you are in danger and tries to convince you to either curl up in a ball on the bathroom floor or run for the hills! I won the constant battle with fear I faced during this process by surrounding myself with supportive people, getting the rest I needed, eating well, exercising, and doing EFT (woowoo, maybe, but effective woowoo!). All of these things are great weapons against any fear!

4. Practice makes perfect. This is cliché but so very true! I had 42 days to prepare. Sounds like a lot, but time flies when you are having fun. I made this talk a priority and I spent hundreds of hours tweaking it, practicing it under different conditions, and in every conceivable environment I could think of until I felt this talk deep down in my bones. If you watch the first minute, you can see where I wobble from nerves and how the relentless practice saved me as it took over. Everyone, I mean from Tony Robbins to the funny and amazing drive-through attendant, has to practice every day, forever, to be and continue to be the best!

5. There is no room here for control freaks. Oh, how I wish I could control the world…it would be so much better don’t you think? Truth is, when you are involved in something like TEDx and THEY are running the show not YOU, you have to follow their rules and pretend you like it. Would I have done things a bit differently? Probably. Would I pick a different title for my talk if I could? Absolutely. But, it is not my stage and it is not my gig. I was a guest and needed to act accordingly. That is pretty much the scenario for life. So, keep the control freak at home and learn to let go of what you cannot control out there in the world!

6. This is not a time for ventriloquism. TEDx talks are about individuals sharing ideas worth spreading and so you need to be…YOU! They have already seen Brené Brown and Simon Sinek. They don’t need to see a poor impression of them. I dressed like me, which is not the standard conservative dress code often seen on the TEDX stage, because I wanted to BE me. Deliver your talk in your language, your “isms,” and your personality. Do you think Brené or Simon was thinking about how they could be just like someone else? Of course not! Stop copying and start being you and watch the success pour in.

7. Start big and then narrow it down. The theme of this TEDx talk was “community”, which is a very wide topic. I had to find the lane that fit the experiences of my life and the message I wanted to share. That is how life works. You have a million opportunities and you need to find the lane that fits you, not fit into the first one that comes along or the one that others think is right. It is like wearing shoes that are too tight; it makes for a very painful journey when it isn’t the right fit!

8. This is THE moment…don’t blow it! So many of us believe Eminem when he says we have one shot. It feels like that before you get on the stage you have been dreaming of being on for so long and that has a long-standing tradition of superstars made in that moment. Just before I got on stage I freaked. I said to the organizer, I can’t do this! I believed this was my one shot and I didn’t want to blow it. But it wasn’t. There are no make or break moments. That is what second chances and comebacks are built on. You prepare and do your best knowing that ONE moment does not control your destiny.

9. What…you think just because the talk is done it is over? Preparing is step one. Doing the talk is step two. Leveraging and sharing your experience is step three. Endorsements for athletes come after their big win, not before. You need a strategy to market the talk because what is the point of a great idea if you don’t spread it? People are busy and you need to do a lot of work to be seen and be heard. Have a strategy to do that! I invite you to watch and share my TEDx because I believe it has an idea worth spreading!

10. Find another mountain. The fulfillment of a dream can be bittersweet. It is awesome that you achieved it. Then comes the…how do I top it? Very few mountaineers climb just one mountain. They get to the top and savour the moment. Then, they look for a bigger one. That is what makes life so amazing. There is always another dream to go after! My big dream is to build my own community of Global Impact Makers who are working hard to make the world a better place in their own, unique way. Together, we can conquer any mountain! If you want to be a part of this community, come on over and hang out with us! I believe the more the merrier!!!

TEDx was a dream come true and an experience that mimics life in a big way. I learned so much about myself and about achieving success in the process. If you want to learn the “hows” of getting on the TEDx stage yourself, or any stage for that matter, let’s make it happen! I get super jazzed when I see my students get up on stage and shine!

No matter how big your dream is, if you follow some or all of the tips above, you can make it a reality and skip the whole “I can’t” part and move right into the “wow, this is incredible” part!

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navigatingthecrucible · 7 years

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Monday Movie Wisdom #1

Phew...I almost ran out of Monday on this one! This first edition of Monday Movie Wisdom is brought to you by Spider-Man 2.

“…sometimes you have to be steady and give up the thing you want most, even your dreams.”

I absolutely adore Spider-Man. In fact he’s probably pretty close to being my favorite superhero. I hesitate to say favorite because there are some pretty magnificent ones and it’s really not my style to have an “all time favorite.” I prefer to have a group of favorites…but I digress.

I remember vehemently claiming that I would never, ever, in a million years watch The Amazing Spider-Man movie because HOW DARE THEY TRY TO REPLACE TOBEY MAGUIRE!

It had only been a few years! But…I watched it and I fell into the spiral that is Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone and they are so adorable and I loved them so much! Sigh.

But I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the “original movies.” Tobey was an excellent Peter. Andrew brought some sass to the character that will forever make me swoon but Tobey was the essence of Peter in my mind. Adorable. So adorable but super nerdy! And so in love with his Mary Jane. And so good. I love the good ones.

I know the slightly dark ones get the broody, sexy vibe with their capacity to be bad but they choose to be good. (Yeah, yeah…I willingly accept Oliver Queen but I draw the line after that.) I love the guys that choose to do the right thing and sacrifice over and over to save people.

Peter Parker’s story really spring board’s off the place of “personal vendetta” but it doesn’t take long for him to get caught up in the bigger picture—in saving people because it’s the right thing to do. In the first film, he learns that “with great power comes great responsibility.” And by the second film he is super responsible…as Spider-Man. Peter Parker however is a different story. He’s about to be Flunky McFlunkerson in school, he’s a bit of a shoddy friend, can’t hold down a pizza delivery job,

and doesn’t have a snow ball’s chance in hell at winning the girl he has loved FOREVER!

There’s a pesky group of people that depict Spider-Man as a bad guy (here’s looking at you Jonah) and Peter begins to wonder if being a hero is really worth it. It’s a pretty pitiful stretch of film. The guy gets kicked in the face multiple times while trying to put papers back in his backpack.

That’s how bad it is! On top of all this confusion, his Spidey powers start to malfunction (for lack of a better term). Peter has an eureka moment and decides that he is done being Spider-Man. Forget you webs!

Peter starts to get his act together. He shows up for class. He does good work. He ignores the sirens that used to constantly pull him away from anything and everyone and he shows up for that play!

He gives this beautiful speech to the girl he loves, that he can be there for her. He wants a chance MJ! Things are looking up!

But villains will be villains. Thanks Harry! Thanks a lot!

So used-to-be bestie, Harry Osborne spends the majority of the movie pumping Peter for information on “The Bug.” He thinks that Spider-Man obviously killed his farther (not obvious at all, he just put him down on the sofa). He wants revenge because he loved his father (actually he more despised his father but at the same time desperately wanted his approval). People and their personal vendettas in the Spider-Man movies! Harry decides to leverage Doc Ock in order to get access to Spider-Man. Meanwhile Peter has been having a chat with Aunt May because he is still not at peace. You can’t ignore a part of you simply because it’s convenient. Aunt May of course drops some serious sage wisdom on the topic of being a hero:

“Courageous, self-sacrificing people. Setting examples for all of us. Everybody loves a hero. People line up for them, cheer them, scream their names. And years later, they'll tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them how to hold on a second longer. I believe there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams.”

Peter comes to the conclusion that he can’t run from who he is supposed to be. He embraces the webs and resolves to “break up” with MJ for like the 4th time. The poor girl has been yo-yoed quite a bit in this movie. The meeting with Mary Jane goes very badly. And by badly, I mean that Doc Ock kidnaps MJ. Fast forwarding a bit…

There’s a knock down, drag out fight between Spider-Man and Doctor Octavius with Mary Jane chained to a metal beam. But the super “sun” energy source that Doc Ock spent his life trying to create starts to suck in New York City. Peter tries to appeal to Otto’s humanity to help him save the city…and he listens because Peter is amazing! But also because you can feel it in Peter’s pores that he knows this is a crucial opportunity for Otto to bring a little redemption to the mountain of collateral damage he accrued in the pursuit of his dream. Those good guys even want it to end well for the bad guys! In this case it doesn’t end all that well for Otto, but his dying act does save NYC so there’s that.

At this point the fighting and the blasts have pretty much blown the Spider-Man mask right off of Peter’s face. Peter’s adorable and nerdy person is clearly revealed and Mary Jane can finally see what he has been all along, a hero! This is great news for her because first she had a super crush on Spider-Man, and then she had a super crush on Peter and then TA-DA: same person!

But her hopes are soon dashed because the thing that Peter wants the most, the thing that he must give up, is a relationship with her. He chooses to be steady, to give her up because he wants her to be safe. They are both heartbroken and she leaves to marry the astronaut.

This is one of the side effects of being a superhero; they brazenly make decisions for other people if they think it is the right thing to do (regardless of what the other person feels). It has been used countless times and will be used countless more times and we will continue showing up for it because the superhero is just trying to do the right thing and protect the people they care about! But this is what I love about Spider-Man 2 and other stories that embrace a similar path: MJ decides that she will have none of it! She’s going to be with Peter because she loves him and it is her choice to put herself in the line of danger, not his. BAM! Peter gets the girl and the webs!

(Until the third movie, but it’s best to just sweep that piece of awkward under the rug and forget it happened.)

Let’s talk wisdom! Being steady is a good thing; if you’re trying to balance anything you want to be steady. But herein lies the rub, we humans tend to be impatient and flighty. We want to build a life and pursue our dreams, to make much of the time we have been given, but often the best course of action to achieve those things is to be steady. It’s true, sometimes we will have to give up our dreams because they become burdensome or unnecessarily straining on life (here’s looking at you Otto). But most of the time, (and this is where I think we should add a qualifier to Aunt May’s piece of wisdom) being steady means giving up the thing you want most, for right now. Have hope, be steady, and wait for your dream to be fulfilled at the proper time. I needed this wisdom today because I have dreams. I have good dreams that I wish I could make happen right now, but I have to be steady. I have to be what God has asked me to be in this moment and to wait on His timing for the rest.

P.S. I will NOT be watching this new version of “Spider-Man” they insist on making!

#MondayMovieWisdom SpiderMan2 Hello2017

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lifecoachlondonuk · 6 years

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11 powerful ways to make 2018 successful & fulfilling!

Dear Reader,

As the New year is fast approaching, I am sure like me you are eagerly anticipating the extraordinary things that lie ahead & the change that a new year brings.

But sometimes, the hardest challenge can be starting the New Year with gusto, grace, elegance and ultimately having ‘the best start’ we possibly can.

How to Make 2018 Successful

In todays read, I want to share with you 11 very easy to implement steps and strategies that you can begin doing now to ensure you have a more successful & fulfilling year ahead of you.

If you are reading this article during any other phase of the year, you will find these practices are very applicable for you too.

1. Spend time on Self Awareness & Reflection

I often ask myself

What am I proud of from the year that has just been?

What would I do differently if I were to start the year again?

What could I do differently to be my best for the coming year?

Hindsight is truly a powerful thing and as they say, ‘good judgement comes from experience & experience comes from bad judgement’.

Leverage the learnings from 2017 and may they add to the foundations of a new extraordinary year!

2. Plan & Envision

A new year is here, so what do you want?

It’s a powerful question but what is the vision for the new year? What do you want to create, achieve and accomplish that would make 2018 extraordinary and truly fulfilling for you?

Be the visionary of your own world and define, dictate and commit to the results you want.

So what will your vision be? What does 2018 hold in store for you?

3. Develop Your Growth Plan

Growth is the life force that feeds who we are. Our being, our character & and the impact we have in the world both personally & professionally.

Once you have identified your blind spots and potential obstacles from the reflection exercise (point 1), design a growth plan for the year tailor made for you.

What books will you read?

What courses will you take?

What are the knowledge gaps you want to fill?

How many skillsets will you be enhancing?

Design your growth plan according to the opportunities you wish to seize this coming year & your future self will thank you for it.

4. Get clear & make extraordinary decisions

Is there anything right now in your world that you are doing with a 50/50 effort mentality, a 5/10 consistency or a serious lack of conviction?

Less is more & freeing up the time to give your best to what is most important to you can be the most needed new years gift in disguise.

5. Prioritise your values

I was truly inspired when I heard about a practice Anthony Robbins implements in his company Robbins Research International.

At the beginning of each year, he asks all the workforce to plan their holidays and recreation time in the annual calendar first well in advance before work duties officially kick in.

The challenge many high performers face is with so much to do personally & professionally, everything tends to come first and they themselves then naturally come last.

It’s very easy to become a slave to time but to avoid this trap, create the space, time & the environment to honour everything that is important to you.

Along with your career/business whether what you value is family, connection or travel, honour your needs as much as possible and this is excitingly a huge secret to avoiding stress and burnout too.

To give your best to the people around you, you must first…. be your very best.

6. Qualify your environment

Who you spend time with is who you become.

Is your peer group and the people you spend the most time with serving you, or holding you back?

We often forget how powerful our environment can be on our thinking, focus & decision making capability. High performance engines are created in the highest quality settings.

Keep building relationships with people that inspire you too & inspiration will never leave you.

7. Contribute

As Tony Robbins says ‘The Secret to Living is Giving’ and when we can find a means and way to help those in need, we are rewarded in truly fulfilling ways.

If you want to find a way to reach real fulfilment for you now and in the future, spend time serving people and communities in need and being part of a mission much greater than any one person.

Give your time, energy & support to people in underprivileged situations that may not be able to do anything for you in return and watch the magic unfold.

The impact of doing so never goes unseen, unheard or unfelt by the people you gift your time to.

8. Develop your own Morning Ritual

If you look at the top performers in any field, you will find that the level of success they have is no fluke or accident.

The reason they are the top performers is because they have certain habits, routines and rituals that allow them to unleash their potential.

If you want to find out more about morning rituals and how to create your own, I recently wrote an article I am sure you will enjoy here http://bit.ly/2E2MQeO

I challenge you to create a morning ritual that works for you and you’ll be amazed by how much impact this will have for you on your performance and effectiveness.

People often forget that we create our future from what we do each day. If we aren’t winning or consistently loosing each day, what future are you creating?

9. Health First

Another challenge I see with high achievers, leaders & Entrepreneurs is that is can become very easy to neglect your health in pursuit of success and professional excellence.

As I said very easy to do and I have personally been down that road myself years ago, but health is truly wealth.

Is your health currently at the level you are satisfied with and serves you well?

If not, NOW is the best time to make it happen because if you can’t implement the strategies today, it is very unlikely to happen tomorrow.

Only 8% of people make it past the 1st month who set New Years Resolutions.

Shocking I know…

but if you want to be a member of this 8% club, don’t put off to tomorrow what you can do today with regard to your health.

Health is wealth!

Give yourself the energy & vitality you deserve to lead an extraordinary and fulfilling life.

10. Be you, be fearless & speak your truth

I grew up being a people pleaser and wrongly had held a belief that the more I can please others, the more successful I would become. This way anything but the truth as you can probably guess.

I challenge you to be bold this coming year & speak your truth (gracefully of course without ego), to own what you feel, think and know from one moment to the other.

This may change or alter the number and quality of relationships you have, but this is always for the better.

Whether you are in the board room or at home, BE the extraordinary you!

11. Hire a Coach to unleash your potential

A coaching conversation is high flame, intense, powerful, life changing and not for everyone.

Having a coaching conversation is by far one of the most powerful conversations you will have where everything you envision personally & professionally starts becoming an inevitable reality.

If you want to truly unleash your potential in 2018, find a coach you resonate with & get ready for a phenomenal year.

So there you have it…. 11 steps and strategies you can start implementing immediately today that will ignite your potential for the very events and experiences that lie ahead of you.

Live Empowered,

Your friend and Life coach London,

Raghav Parkash

#new year 2018 #motivating quotes #motivation #motivational #motivator

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