#the specific colors are in the photo captions if there's any confusion for anyone :)

[grovervunderwoodposts]

julie & luke + matching colors in their wardrobe choices

#jatpedit #jatpdaily #jatp #julie molina #luke patterson #julie x luke #luke x julie #juke #madison reyes #charlie gillespie #julie and the phantoms #jatp netflix #userkitkaat #userharley #** #this concept has been in my head for weeks #we see you costuming department!!!! #the specific colors are in the photo captions if there's any confusion for anyone :)

[wannabemobwife]

Guns, Glamour, Goodfellas - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Make You Feel My Love

Dad!Mob!Tom x Mom!Mob!Reader

-Pairings: Tom Holland x Reader, Rosie Holland x Henry Osterfield

-Warnings: Amnesia, Sadness, Language, Fluff, Dialogue, Typos

-Words: 6.6K

A/n: Sorry this chapter is long. Heads up, always a lot of dialogue. I get tired of only writing imagery lol. Thanks for reading, I love all your comments so dearly.

Chapter 12: Make You Feel My Love

Words: 6.6K

Everyone’s faces stood emotionless. More than a deer caught in headlights, there was no expression. Tom’s jaw slacked open, standing heartbroken in front of you. How could you not remember him?

After everything he couldn’t even hold you in his arms. No words could describe the room. You had just woken up and said 3 measly words that rewrote history.

“Who are you?” You questioned.

“What?” Tom gasped, his eyes starting to water.

“I don’t know who you are. Where am I?… Who are you people?” You fretted, confused to why you were lying into a hospital bed surrounded by strangers.

“Mom? It’s me. Roo,” Rosie stammered, moving to grab your hand but you just flinched away.

“Harry go get the doctor,” Nikki called out.

“No, I don’t know who you people are. Please get out.”

“Y/N it’s me?” Tom pleaded.

“Who’s Y/N?”

“You, darling,” Tom whispered. Was this all real? It had to be some sick joke.

“No, no! I suggest you all leave. Please, just leave me alone,” you asserted, pressing the nurse call button.

“Mrs. Holland what seems to be the problem?” asked the nurse.

“Who’s Mrs. Holland? I don’t know where I am or why I’m here or who these people are,” you fretted, heart rate starting to spike.

“You don’t recognize anyone here?” Pestered on the nurse.

“No, maybe the young boy and girl, but no,” Tears flooded Rosie and Parker’s eyes.

“Mrs. Holland you’re awake,” called the doctor, Harry brought in.

“Why do people keep calling me that?” You questioned angrily.

“She can’t remember anyone, doctor,” explained the nurse.

“Why don’t we clear out the room and I’ll speak to you all privately outside,” the doctor announced.

“It seems she is suffering retrograde amnesia. It is possibly temporary. You need to talk to her but be careful not overwhelm her. She will feel like her entire life passed her by because she can’t remember it. For now, only a few people in the room. May I suggest her husband and her kids,” explained the doctor.

“What do you mean it might be temporary? She might not ever remember her entire life?” Tom inquired.

“It is uncertain, but yes. Mr. Holland, we are very hopeful that her memory will come back. For now take it slow, showing her photos of you together can help greatly,” concluded the doctor.

“Dad, will mom ever remember me?” Rosie asked teary-eyed.

“I don’t know, baby.”

“Now, come on. We just have to be patient with her.”

“Ok, dad. I’m ready,” said Rosie, trying to hide her tears.

“Parker? Are you with us?” Tom inquired.

“I know she doesn’t remember me but, I don’t want her to see me and not know who I am. If she doesn’t remember me then who am I? I owe my entire life to mom. I don’t understand how she just forgot 16 years of my life,” Parker lamented.

“Hey, we just need to patient. One thing you need to have is faith. That’s all we had waiting to be rescued. Hope, hope that we would see you and your sister again.”

“I’m scared, dad.”

“I know me too. But we have to do this for mom. Ok?” Tom admitted. Parker just nodded in response. They made their way into your room, standing by the foot of your bed.

“Hi, let’s start over. I am Tom. You are Y/N. I am your husband. Your name is Y/N Holland,” Tom began. “This is our son, Parker. He is 16 years old, along with his twin sister. This is our daughter, Rosie….We just want to let you know we will be here for you. Through everything, we want to help you remember if you will let us.”

“Okay,” you whispered. That was the first step, having people to support you.

You were soon discharged a few days later. All set to travel back to London, the home you once knew. Back to the life you shared little to no importance for. All the things you once loved, lost in translation.

The plan ride was painfully long. Tom had yet to hold you in his arms. After watching the life drain out of you, waiting for someone to come, he just wanted to hold you and love you. Let you know you are safe.

He watched as you sat there a few seats away from him. The spark in your eyes non-existent. He didn’t know how to call you over there his when you couldn’t remember him. Almost 20 years of being together, down the drain. He just wanted you back.

Not being able to hug you or hold you or whisper sweet nothings in your ear was killing him. He felt like a recovering drug addict experiencing the process of withdrawal. Everything hurt inside, knowing you forgot him. It was so unfair. How could you survive the helicopter crash but not recognize your own family? You were a shell, a husk of the person you used to be.

Jared, was the one to pick you all up from the airport. The plane ride was nothing compared to the awkwardness of the car ride. You had always been very close with Tom’s staff. William and Jared specifically because you’d see them the most. Jared used to be more your driver but, Tom snatched him up after he saw how close you two were getting. He couldn’t help but be jealous.

You sat next to Tom, almost like a statue. You didn’t know how you were supposed to act. Pulling up to the manor, you were a combination of terrified and astounded. Terrified and astounded at the sheer size and security measures taken.

“Tom, did you pay for the cab?” You asked, hopping out of the car.

“Darling, this is our car. This is our driver, Jared. You two are close,” Tom explained.

“Oh, sorry. Jared it’s nice to meet you,” you waved to him.

“We’ve met before, but it’s nice to see you Y/N,” Jared said, trying to address the elephant in the room.

“Right, sorry.”

“No need to apologize, ma’am.”

“Love, why don’t I make you a cup of tea and you can relax in the living room? The plane ride probably wore you out. However, I know Parker and Rosie have something planned,” Tom interjected.

“Ok, tea would be good,” you responded, walking to the mansion.

“Where’s the living room?” You questioned, afraid you will get lost.

“Oh, it’s ok darling. I’ll take you there,” Tom said, leading the way.

Being here, seemed like an out of body experience. The only thing you knew about yourself was what people told you.

“Here mom. I-I mean Y/N. Please come sit. These are a bunch of photo albums and scrapbooks about our lives. Maybe showing you them will bring something back.”

“Ok… You could call me mom. I don’t mind,” Rosie just nodded in response.

“Look this picture is of your wedding day. It was at this really pretty garden. I wish I could’ve been there,” Rosie reminisced.

“You weren’t?” You asked, confused at her remark.

“No, Parker and I weren’t born yet.”

“Oh, is that you?” You asked, gently raising a finger to a picture captured a perfect moment in time. Parker had just gotten out of a bath and was running naked through the house, he had to be about three or four years old.

“No, that’s Parker,” Rosie remarked.

“Here’s a photo of me. It’s the first day of kindergarten.” Rosie pulled out a photo of her dressed in a blue dress with pink bows in her hair, one on each side hugging her pigtails.

She stood in front of a large gate along with Parker, holding their tin lunch boxes high. Rosie’s lunchbox was a homage to My Little Pony and Parker’s was Transformers. They were all grown up, no longer spending the days with you while Tom worked.

“I’m crying, why?” You questioned, seeing yourself adorned with red puffy eyes in the photo.

“I don’t know, maybe you didn’t want to leave me or Parker,” Rosie explained but was soon cut off by a large clash coming from the kitchen. CRASH, CLANG, THWAP.

“What was that?” You asked, a little startled by the noise.

“I don’t know, I’m going to go check on something. Feel free to keep looking at them.”

You flipped through the countless pages adorned with family photos that documented the milestones. It killed you that you couldn’t remember. You were said to be their mother and if you were anything like your mother, you loved them till it was too much and kissed them and held them. You loved them more than life itself but couldn’t remember why.

About 12 pages in, there was a photo of you in the hospital holding a baby. The caption read “my little Roo.” It was of you and Rosie shortly after she was born. She looked so small, so delicate. Her skin was pale with a hint of rose colored cheeks. The little baby girl in your arms was wrapped in a pink cloth with a pink colored beanie on her head.

She was sleeping so peacefully and you just had the biggest smile imagined on your face. You brought this little girl into the world and couldn’t remember that moment. What own mother can’t remember her baby? Tears pricked at your eyes as you gazed into the picture.

“Dinner is almost ready—Love, what’s wrong why are you crying?” Tom said, coming out of the kitchen.

“I’m sorry. This isn’t fair to any of you,” you cried, letting the tears fall.

“Hey, it’s ok. We are here for you,” Tom whispered, grabbing a hold of your hands.

“I’m still sorry, I don’t remember anything.”

“It’s not your fault. It will come with time,” Tom said, only holding your hands. His main goal was to not overwhelm you and pulling you into a warm embrace may be too much too soon.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. What’s for dinner, smells great?” You said, quickly changing the subject.

“Your favorite and specialty so we can’t guarantee it will be as good as you make it but, spaghetti and meatballs,” Tom joked.

“Ok, I’m sure it will be lovely.”

Everyone was dealing with your amnesia differently. Parker would take you on special outings to places you loved and Rosie could barely stand to be in the same room with you. Your sweet and affectionate girl couldn’t as much give a real smile. The only time you spent with her was when she showed you the photo albums. Something clicked in her when you didn’t recognize her in the photo of you holding her a for the first time. Rosie proceeded to cry herself to sleep that night, she couldn’t handle you not recognizing her.

As time progressed it had gotten too hard for Rosie to be around you. Looking at you just reminded her of all the things she had lost. She would stay in her room from dawn till dusk, refusing to see or talk to anyone. Rosie shut everyone out, including Henry. He’d come by quite a lot, begging to see Rosie.

“Hi, can I help you?” You said, answering the door.

“I’m Henry, Harrison’s son and Rosie’s boyfriend,” Henry explained.

“Oh. Sorry I can’t remember anything. Were we close?” You inquired, yet another person you have disappointed by not knowing your own life.

“Yeah, you and Tom were a big part in raising me, aside from my dad. I love you like a son would loved his mother.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll work on it. But I believe Rosie is upstairs, come in,” you responded, inviting the boy in.

“Thanks,” Henry said, quickly making his way upstairs. “Roo, it’s me. I’m coming in,” He said whilst knocking on her door.

“Henry what are you doing here?” Rosie asked, trying to hide her tears.

“You weren’t returning any of my phone calls.”

“There is a reason for that,” Rosie snapped, building a wall that Henry was bound to knock down.

“Hey, I’m here. Talk to me. Talk to me about your mom,” Henry whispered, coming to Rosie’s side.

“What’s there to talk about? She doesn’t remember me. She was my best friend and she doesn’t even know who I am!” Rosie yelled. Needing to let out all her emotions in one single blow.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m here,” Henry assured.

“Henry, I just want to be alone right now. Could you please leave?” Rosie begged.

“No, I won’t let you push me away. I’m here to help.”

“I want you to go,” Rosie demanded.

“No.” Henry said, holding his ground.

“I’m serious Henry, leave.”

“No, Rosie you need someone to talk to.”

“Can you get out and leave me the fuck alone?” She screamed, this time being pushed over the edge. Flailing her arms back and forth in anger.

“No. I’m not leaving,” Henry knew she needed him, he couldn’t leave anytime soon.

“Really? I’m here screaming at you and you are still here. Why?” All her anger drifted only leaving her sadness. She fell into his arms, breaking from the weight of pain, sobbing.

“Yes, because I love you and I’m staying for you,” Henry reassured. He knew Rosie would need this. Someone who promised to never leave.

“Henry, what do we do if she never remembers? I’m not ready for that. It’s like losing my mom even though she is still alive. All those fun memories of shopping or baking or just talking, gone. I don’t know who I am without her.”

“Rosie, you have to look on the bright side.”

“What’s the fucking bright side? There is none. We took her to all her favorite places today and she still doesn’t remember. There is no fucking bright side!”

“Roo.”

“I lost her. I lost her but she is still here. I’m lucky right? She’s still here living and breathing, but she doesn’t know who I am,” Rosie lamented. “Henry, I love you to pieces but I just need to be alone right now.” Pleading for him to leave, she wished he could stay and comfort her but nothing could do that right now.

“Baby, I don’t want to leave you so upset,” Henry whispered.

“Please. I’m begging you, just go.”

Rosie, didn’t mean to push Henry away. But she couldn’t help it. She needed to release her frustrations out on someone, but there was no one. There was no one to blame for the crash or the loss of your memory. It was all an accident. Henry knew her well enough, where he knew what she needed before she did herself. He already lost Rosie once and promised himself he wouldn’t again.

Parker was the opposite of Rosie, not consumed by his sadness, he was looking for a solution. Anything that could help bring back your memory. He had been taking you to your favorite places around the city. The beach, the library, a coffee shop, and a park you always you took Parker and Rosie to as kids.

To no end, he couldn’t and wouldn’t give up. He couldn’t leave you stuck in that misery. He approached Tom with something that might work.

“Dad, I have an idea. I thought we should create a memory for her.”

“Ok, that might work. Any memory in mind?”

“I was thinking your wedding day,” Parker explained. Tom just nodded in response with a smirk strewn across his face.

Tom was willing to try anything to get you back. It a been a few weeks from the crash and he’s so scared of terrifying you or being too forward. He won’t even lay a hand on your shoulder to comfort you, in case you get scared.

Even though he had yet to hold you once again, Tom refused to leave your side, in case having him around so much would bring your memories back. Have them all come flooding back.

Tom just wanted you by his side. You were sleeping in your bedroom and Tom was in the guest room. Feeling like nothing had changed. It was the same before the accident, you barely acknowledging Tom and Tom sleeping elsewhere. Granted it wasn’t because you were mad at him, it was worse, you couldn’t remember him.

The nights were different, half way through the night you would wake up. Scared wide awake from nightmares that plagued your mind. One night you found Tom taking down a big bottle of scotch by the fireplace.

“What are you doing up?” You asked,

“Drinking,” he said rather harshly, you just brushed it off though.

“Oh, the fireplace is really lovely. I could just read a book out here for hours.”

“You used to. I’d find you asleep in front of the fireplace all the time.” Tom chuckled, reliving those memories.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Y/N! It’s not your god damm fault. STOP FUCKING APOLOGIZING!!!” Tom screamed, chucking his glass at the wall. It shattered into a thousand tiny pieces much how his heart was now.

“Ok, I’m sor—, I just came down for some water. Good night,” you said, trying to mask the tears about to fall. Reverting back to the catatonic emotionless person you’ve been lately.

“Y/N wait!” Tom called after you but you were already gone. This was a side of Tom you’d never met. The old you had and learned to deal with it but it was completely different now.

It was scary, Tom reacting like that. You quickly got your water and made your way back upstairs. If he had that much pent up anger, you were worried he would take it out on you. You didn’t know what to think, everyone were stranger to you and you were a stranger to this life and family.

Coming back to bed, you locked your door and tried to fall back into blissful sleep but it was hard. You stared at the ceiling for quite a while. Begging to go to sleep and wash away this entire night. Tom came to knock on your door about an hour later.

“Y/N. I’m sorry, let me explain myself,” he said, through the thick wooden door.

“I guess you’re asleep by now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, sweet dreams sweetheart,” Tom whispered, going back to his bed in the guest room. You couldn’t find the will to get up and talk to him.

You came down for some morning coffee, hoping you wouldn’t see Tom. You were scared of the man presumed to be your husband. In truth, you didn’t know anything about him. Only what people had told you. It took you hours to fall asleep after his outburst.

“Oh, you’re up. Y/N could I talk to you?” He asked, coming into view.

“Sure,” you responded. Who are you to say no?

“I’m sorry for my outburst last night. Everything is just so frustrating, nothing you did, ok?” Tom apologized.

“Ok.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m really sorry. I know you don’t know it but I love you so much and at a time, you loved me just the same. I need you to know that I have never physically hurt you or will in the future.”

“Ok. Thank you. I know you don’t like me saying it but I really am sorry. This shouldn’t be happening, you should be able to love your wife.”

“I do love you,” Tom assured.

“Tom, I’m not the same person and you know it. There’s nothing I can do, it’s just the way it is and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m not the person you fell in love with,” you exclaimed.

“You don’t have to be sorry. You are here, trying to remember for all of us. That’s all that matters,” Tom said, made at himself that you even thought those things.

“Thank you….Could you tell me more about me, I mean the person I was before?” You asked.

“Yeah, darling. I’d love that,” Tom agreed.

“Ok, start with how we met.”

“Well..” Tom started and went on to tell the story of how you met.

Tom was set to meet someone new, a future contact possibly. He was supposed to meet with their assistant to take him to them. He was given strict instructions on what to look for, she would be dressed in a gold mini dress, hair down. Unbeknownst to him, you were the person he was meeting. The most feared mob boss, next to who you had a meeting with, the one and only Tom Holland.

“Hey doll face, I’m here to meet with your boss. Someone they call the Ace of Spades,” Tom said, cornering you at the bar. “Oh, really. Do they know what this is concerning?” you said, smirking. “I should hope so. Can you just take me to him?” Tom demanded. “Certainly, right this way.” You were so ready to eat this guy alive. You lead him to a back room with a bar and large round table. “Wait, there’s no one in here. We’ve been set up,” Tom yelled, alerting Harrison behind him. “What do you mean? There’s you and me, also your consigliere I presume. Why don’t you tell him to back off?” “Alright enough with your games. Where is he?” Tom barked, growing more frustrated by the second “I’m right here, doll face,” you said, in a mocking manner. “Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, I’m Y/N Y/L/N or do you know me as the Ace of Spades,” you sneered, holding out your hand for him to shake.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was misinformed, well they’re dead. Why don’t I buy you a drink after to make it up to you?” Tom said, he has never been caught off guard before. Barely keeping his cool.

“How about we finish our business here and then you and I go get something to eat, just you and me without your puppy dog, then we call it even,” you smirked, referring to Harrison who always stood so close to Tom.

“How could I say no to having dinner with the most gorgeous woman in the room,” Tom grinned.

“Smooth talker I see, but I’m the only woman the room,” you pointed out

“Doesn’t matter, doesn’t change what I said,” Tom chuckled.

He was starstruck just being in your presence. You were a force to be reckoned with. For him and you it was love at first acquaintance. Couldn’t of been sight because he thought you were a completely different person.

But once he formally met you, he was whipped. The rest is history.

You and Tom talked the day away. Living through your life like you were reading a book or watching a play. The night soon fell and you bid good night.

It was a regular night, but ever since Tom exploded you started to have nightmares. Being jolted out of sleep, trying to catch your breath. One night Tom heard you screaming, he rushed in to check on you.

“Y/N? Darling, are you okay?” Tom asked, concerned after being woken up by your screams.

“I keep having these horrible nightmares,” you choked out, shaking with fear.

“What are they about? You can talk to me.”

“One where I was trapped inside a huge room, tied to a chair. There were scary looking men saying they were gonna kill me, however I couldn’t speak. Like it hurt to speak,” you explained. Tom knew about your common theme with nightmares, unable to make any sound.

He just believed it was because you tried to repress thoughts like that. However, this wasn’t a nightmare, it was a memory. He was trying so hard to suppress his smile. Knowing you were starting to remember things even if it was trauma. It made him hopeful.

“Shhh, it’s was just a dream. It’s ok. I’m here now… can hug you?”

“Mmhm,” you nodded having him pull you into his warm embrace. “It felt so real though. Didn’t you say we were in a helicopter crash?”

“Yes, we were. Do you remember that?”

“I don’t know. My nightmares feel more like memories. I remember the feelings I had, like I felt pain and weak.”

“Well, try and go back to sleep. Just remember they are only figments of your imagination,” Tom said, he was torn between wanting you to remember everything and not scarring you.

“Tom, could you sleep with me tonight?” you asked, not wanting to be alone.

“Yes of course, darling.”

Tom climbed into bed and you moved closer to him. Snuggling right into his side and nuzzling your head by his neck. He rubbed soft circles into your arm as you dozed off. Feeling your soft breaths on his neck as he fell into deep sleep. He finally got to hold you.

Just for a moment, everything was right again. You were his and he had no intentions of letting you go. You felt safe with him, like you were home.

You woke up to a blinding light from the crack in the curtains.

“Tommy, the blinds it so bright…. Screw it. I’m up, can I bring you some breakfast?… What?” You asked, confused as to why Tom was gazing at you with a puzzled expression.

“You called me Tommy,” Tom croaked out.

“I did,” you said, confidently.

“Y/N, do you remember me?”

“Is this a weird game? Of course I remember you, you’re my husband,” you chuckled, playing off his antics.

“Quick, what happened last week?”

“Our helicopter crashed, but we were rescued. I don’t really remember how we got home but, here we are. You were right, we made it. I remember the moments leading up to being rescued, you holding me.”

“Kids come quick!” Tom shouted, loud enough to wake up the entire house.

“What’s going on?” Rosie came in, scared something happened.

“Tom, what are you doing?” You queried.

“Ask her,” Tom said.

“Who am I?” Parker asked, hoping you were his mom again.

“You guys are so weird. You’re Parker, my son. And you are Rosie, my daughter.”

“Mom, I’ve missed you so much,” Rosie shouted, throwing herself into your arms and sobbing.

“Oh, honey. I never left,” you signed, caressing the back of her head.

“I know, but the helicopter crash, I was so scared,” Rosie sniffled.

“Tom, why are you looking at me like that?” You questioned, catching a glimpse of pure adoration streaked across his face.

“Oh, nothing. I just love you, more anything.”

“I love you too…. Parker you’ve been awfully quiet.”

“I missed you mom,” Parker chimed in.

“I missed you too. Ok, I’m really confused, did I go somewhere? Someone fill me in,” you proclaimed.

“Well darling, our helicopter crashed on our way back from Barcelona—” Tom began.

“Yeah, and we’re ok,” you nodded.

“You are now. We were both badly injured and didn’t know if we would make it. You lost your memory. You didn’t know who any of us were,” Tom finished, his tone growing softer.

“What? I-I forgot all of you?” You gasped, your voice breathy.

“It’s ok, love. You’re back now, that’s all that matters,” Tom encouraged.

“Parker? Rosie?” You exclaimed.

“You looked at us and didn’t know who we were,” Parker mumbled.

“Oh babies, I’m sorry,” you whispered on the verge of tears.

“Y/N listen to me, it’s not your fault. Love, it’s ok. You are here now,” Tom reassured. “Kids why don’t you go make mom some tea,” Tom said, needing to talk with you alone.

“Alright dad,” Parker agreed, taking Rosie along with him.

“Y/N? Darling, talk to me,” he said, watching you beat yourself up inside. You head hanging lowly in your hands.

“How could I not remember them?” You cried.

“It was just your mind playing tricks on you. It’s ok.”

“It’s not okay. I put you through all of that.”

“Not on purpose darling.”

“Tom, I have something to get off my chest.”

“Yes, love.”

“I really thought I was going to die. But you were there and you saved me. You brought me back to them, thank you,” you recounted.

“Oh, baby. I was never going to just let you die. There was a moment where I looked over a battered body leaning against me after the crash. Your eyes were closed and I had accepted that you were gone. At that moment, I vowed I’d go too,” Tom concluded.

“Tom, they couldn’t lose both of us.”

“I know, I’m just glad they didn’t lose either of us.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what, darling?”

“For everything. Our fight. Giving in you a hard time in Barcelona. I love you so much, Tom. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” you cried, letting yourself be completely vulnerable with him once again.

“Hey, you're not going to lose me. I believe it’s the other way around. I can’t live without you and I don’t want to, ever,” Tom said, smashing his lips on yours. God, how he missed you.

And with that, Tom had got his girl back, you. Your lips entangled with his was exactly what he needed. You were back. The love of his life and mother of his children. You were you again with the same spark in your eyes.

Something flipped in your head like a switch during the night. After falling asleep in his arms you dreamt of your life. Almost like a movie played in your head showcasing all the greatest memories.

Parker and Rosie’s first steps, the kids’ 5th birthday, the day you told Tom you were pregnant with twins, Tom’s proposal and so much more. Your memories are what made you who you were, even the bad ones.

All the fights and near death experiences came flooding back. But it wasn’t a feeling of drowning or being held down by the weight, begging for air. It was a feeling of renewal like the water had washed away all the pain and sins. Leaving faint stains of bad memories to be remembered for another day but never forgotten.

Tom brought you back. He was your anchor to the life you once knew. Resting in Tom’s arms felt like home. You knew you were safe.

“It’s so good to have you back in my arms,” he said, savoring every moment.

“I never want to leave,” you said, coming in for another kiss. Shorter this time but still full of longing and unconditional love. Tom broke away as he remembered something.

“Wait,” remembered Tom.

“What?”

“Come on, let’s go downstairs.”

“Why the kids are bringing us tea in bed?” You questioned.

“Just trust me,” Tom concluded.

“Okay,” you said, letting your husband lead the way. Descending the stairs and once reaching the bottom he asked for you close your eyes. You hesitant at first but agreed. He pulled you to the backyard for a much needed surprise.

“Ready. Open your eyes.” You just stood there in complete awe, speechless.

“We had a plan to bring back your memory. We set up the backyard to look just like our wedding,” Tom explained.

The backyard was full of the wedding essentials, an archway at the end of the aisle, chairs for the guests, and so many flowers. Flowers that decorated every pillar and fence, blooming with beautiful shades of lavender.

“Oh my god, it’s as beautiful as I remember it…. Tom I have an idea,” you smirked.

“Yes, darling,” Tom acknowledged.

“What would you say to us renewing our vows?” You asked, hoping he’d say yes.

“I love that idea, sweetheart. When would you want to do it?”

“Today.”

“Today?” Tom asked, stunned by your response.

“Yeah, it’s already all set up like our wedding. Why not?”

“Ok, yeah. Yes. I’m going to re-marry you today. I love you so much,” Tom exclaimed.

“And I’m going to re-marry you today. I love you too,” You grinned.

“Alright we need guests, just family,” Tom beamed.

“And I need a bridesmaid. Rosie?” You cheered, excited to share this day with you daughter.

“You serious?” Rosie asked

“Of course, honey. Now come on, I need a dress,” you said, pulling Rosie upstairs. Even though you were already married you wanted it to be as much as a real wedding as possible. So for the next few hours, you couldn’t see Tom.

Tom was tasked with inviting everyone. Sure it was last minute, but all the family would be there. He found it pretty awkward because he had to tell everyone that you got your memories back and getting married again in one phone call. He called Nikki, Dom, Harry, Sam, Paddy, your parents and Harrison and Henry.

“Haz, come quick. I need you at the house.” Tom left a message on Haz’s voicemail.

“Tom? What happened? I came as soon as I got your call,” Haz screamed, running through the mansion.

“Y/N got her memories back,” Tom cheered.

“That’s amazing. You called me all the way down here for that?” Haz asked, slightly annoyed.

“No, you div. I have a favor to ask….Will you be my best man?” Tom asked.

“Ok, I was already you best man at your wedding years ago,” Haz sneered.

“We are going to renew our vows. I wanted to know if would be my best man?”

“Are you serious?”

“No, you’re only my best friend aside from her. Yes, I’m serious,” Tom remarked sarcastically.

“I honored mate, of course. When is it?”

“In 3 hours,” Tom said stone faced.

“In 3 hours?” Haz screeched. It was so soon.

“Yeah, we set up the backyard to look like her and I’s wedding to bring back her memory.”

“Wait.. who’s officiating?” Haz wondered.

“Harry,” Tom said, trying not to burst into laughter.

“Oh, I’m so ready to watch him fuck that up.”

“Me too, mate. Now come we have a wedding to put on.”

The house erupted in wedding central. Tom had tasked his cook with cooking for 15 people for the reception, he had ordered a cake and called his personal tailor for two matching suits preferably black, just like at your first wedding.

Tom made his way upstairs to tell you about Harry officiating but was stopped by the maid of honor, Rosie.

“Why is this door locked?” Tom asked, angrily shaking the door knob.

“Dad what do you think you are doing?” Rosie asked sternly.

“Wow honey, you look beautiful,” Tom admired his daughter dressed in a light blue dress that dragged on the floor.

“Thanks, dad, it’s mom’s dress.”

“I remember, you look just like your mom.”

“Thanks, but I ask again what are you doing here?” Rosie interjected, not letting his endearing comments distract her from the more important matter. Tom wasn’t allowed to see you before the ceremony.

“I need to talk to your mother.”

“You can’t see the bride before her wedding it’s bad luck,” Rosie exclaimed.

“Please, I don’t believe in stuff like that. Plus we’re already married and happily might I add,” Tom interjected.

“Oh really, no bad luck? How do you explain all the bad things that have happened,” Rosie reminded.

“Umm, that’s not important right now. I need to talk to your mother.”

“Too bad, now shoo,” Rosie said, shooing him away with her hands.

“Fine, I guess she’ll never know THAT HARRY IS OFFICIATING,” Tom shouted as he left.

“Rosie, what did dad want?” You asked.

“Umm, nothing. Just to tell you that he found the most amazing officiant on short notice,” Rosie sneered, trying to keep it secret from you.

“Oh, good. Now, come here and let me do you hair,” you said, motioning her to the restroom.

It was now time, to remind everyone of a vow you once made.

You were dressed in a white floor length gown, not as near glamorous as you actual wedding dress but it was still beautiful. Your wedding song played again, Make You Feel My Love by Adele, as you came out from behind the corner.

All eyes turned to bask in your beauty. You could see Tom stop breathing, made you laugh a little. You noticed Harry up at the altar and wondered what had Tom done.

Rosie went up first, slowly gliding through the aisle. You followed behind her. Everything was once right with the world. You were about to re-declare your love for your best friend.

“Friends, family and Sam,” Harry said, taking a jab at his brother only to be returned with Sam sticking his tongue out. “We are gathered here today, to celebrate and re-marry Tom and Y/N Holland. If anyone has any objections please speak now or forever hold your peace,” Harry announced.

“I have problem. They’re already married,” Sam yelled from the audience.

“Sam, sit down you div. It’s a vow renewal,” Tom called out from the altar.

“Harry, they don’t ask that at actual weddings,” you whispered to him.

“Well, fuck,” Harry whispered.

“I’ve just been informed that I’m not supposed to say that, my apologies, I’m basing my entire speech on TV. Now I will continue with the proceedings. Can you believe this div, needing two weddings. Two fucking weddings when I haven’t even had one. Can we skip the vows? You’re probably going to say the exact same like thing you said 17 years ago,” Harry announced.

“Absolutely not, that’s the whole purpose. I’ll go first.” You started, taking a minute to breathe and share your heart with everyone there.

“Tom, these past 17 years being your wife have been a dream come true. You are my best friend and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know it is fucking cheesy but, I can honestly say I found my soulmate, my better half. You make me be a better person and mother. I owe you everything and promise to give you all my love. What do you say, still want me as your wife? Please say yes, because I’m choosing you for then rest of my life. Couldn’t dream of anyone else. I love you, a thousand times over.”

“Y/N, just thinking about everything our love has survived and I’m amazed you have stuck with me through thick and thin. I want to thank you for the beautiful life you have given me and my two beautiful kids. This a declaration of my love for you but also a promise. I promise you will always be appreciated, that I will make you laugh and cry sometimes, appropriately. Falling in love with my best friend and marrying her has been the best decision of my life, I love you and I promise to always keep you safe and always stand by your side.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. But that one I know you’ll keep,” you cheered.

“By the power vested in me by a shitty website online, I now pronounce you still husband and wife. You may kiss your wife. Children avert your eyes,” Harry concluded as Tom pulled you into a deep, passionate kiss. Nothing will ever be more perfect in that moment.

“Who else needs a cootie shot? Or some booze?” Harry called out, while you and Tom pulled apart.

“Fuck off, Harry,” Tom said, pulling you back in for another kiss.

“Where are we going on our honeymoon?” Tom whispered to you.

“I vote somewhere, we don’t have to fly,” you remarked.

“I second that. God, I love you.”

“You’re just lucky I said yes, Holland.”

“God damm right, I am.” Tom said, his lips getting caught in his smile.

There are moments where words have lost all their meaning and this was one It wasn’t full of sadness, quite the opposite. Nothing could ruin this perfect day. You were his once again.

Guns, Glamour and Goodfellas Masterlist

Taglist: @dummiesshort @thenoddingbunny-blog @adriannauni @bi-lmg @allthisfortommy

#tom holland #tom holland imagines #tom holland series #tom holland fanfic #tom holland mob au #tom holland au #tom holland x reader #tom #mob tom #mob!tom #dad!mob!tom holland #mob!tom x reader #mob!tom holland #mob!tom holland x reader #mob!tom x mob!reader

[bubblyani]

Back for Good

(Jim Davis x Reader)

A Jim Davis One Shot

Movie: Harsh Times (2005) by David Ayer

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Alcohol use, Swearing,  Violence and Sexual Content

Word Count: 9k+

Summary: Your spirits are lifted when your older boyfriend Jim Davis returns from the Army for good. As the lovers passionately reunite, you begin to reminisce the first encounter, and the unforgettable event that sealed your fate with Jim, possibly forever.

Author’s Note: One of the fantastic Balehead Accounts on Instagram once posted a photo of Jim Davis with a caption more so along the lines of “…Older boyfriend Jim visiting you at College…”. It was too irresistible to ignore. So this story was born. @tammykelly You are an angel to even show some enthusiasm towards this, even before I started, Thank you for the encouragement ! Hope y’all enjoy!

P.S: If anyone want to be tagged in specific Bale! Character fics please do let me know. And if you wanna be removed from anything NOT BATMAN, please feel free to let me know. I understand completely. 

Three.

It costed three people. Merely three for this nightmare scenario to enter reality.

A tall young man panted fast, his right hand assuming full responsibility for the broken bottle, not to mention the intense bleeding that resulted from it. All the while he stared down at his finished product: a much younger man. He watched the figure groan for his dear life, laying defeated and thoroughly bruised; as a weak stream of blood appeared prominent from his head as well, adding a splash of bright color to the dark and dusty pavement. Only in that moment, realization and bitter reality coupled up to surprise the standing man, with a sucker punch.

Which was transparent enough for the young woman beside them, the witness. Violence, Danger, her trembling heart sensed it all. For that was what his strong aura emitted. However, never did she flinch. Never did her heart consider retracting from him. On the contrary, she was compelled to trust him even further.

Especially when she sensed complete safety in him, above all others.

“Let’s go”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 (Present)      

The dusky skies appeared just as serene over South Central Los Angeles as anywhere else in the country, filtering over the streets and the neighborhoods. Cruising through in favorable speed, Mike Alonzo finally took his eyes off the road, permitting them to land on the tall, young man sitting beside him on the passenger seat: his best friend, Jim Davis.

His downcast expression was evident, with his tall frame sunken into the seat. He stared right ahead, while he sipped his bottle of beer in his suit. This posture was nothing short of a surprise for Mike to glance upon. If he had squinted his eyes, he swore he could imagine Jim as the rebellious teenager he once was. Only with a new buzz cut. Otherwise, it seemed that nothing had really changed.

Except it had. Older and forced to be responsible, they were facing times considered very harsh. And Jim just had a taste of it.

“Sorry, dude”

Mike began, looking back at the road. Shaking his head with disbelief, Jim sat up in slow motion as his teeth began to grind.

“Man! Fuck…this...shit!!”

Jim drawled with disappointment, enunciating every word whilst holding up a piece of paper, “I’m so done with this cop hate bullshit!” He added, taking another sip of alcohol. Mike nodded:

“Yeah, dawg. Forget about that! ” He smiled, smacking his friend on his shoulder in a playful demeanor, “Hey, Syl is cooking tonight…You wanna join us, bro?”

The possibility of his girlfriend Sylvia agreeing to this, was at an all time low. Mike was well aware. Yet, he was certain it was a question worth posing to his friend in need.

“Nah, man! I got plans”

Hitting the brakes in front of the stop lights, Mike looked at his friend again with surprise, “Yeah?” He inquired, looking quite pleased. Finally flashing a proud smile, Jim nodded:

“Yep! Gonna go see my woman soon…” he answered. Eyes widening seemed appropriate for Mike at that very moment.

“Yo, No shit!” Mike cried out with excitement, finally stepping on the gas, “The chick from UCLA*? You…you still with her?” He inquired.

“Yeah, Homie! ”

“Dawg!…” laughing with sheer amazement, Mike looked at Jim, “I’m impressed…really” he added, proceeding to chuckle, “Look ‘atchu…my boi Jim....going steady with the fine ass college chick…”

“Whoo!” With his soul finally returning to his body,  Jim howled, “Finer than fine, dawg!”

“Hell yeah!”

Given the state of hyped energy that erupted in the car between the two young men, it would be nearly impossible to guess how sombre it was just before. “So…so…” Mike continued, holding on to the wheel as they kept driving, “… where you gon’meet?”

“Well…actually…” Jim looked at him, licking his lips, “….it’s a surprise” he added with a playful smirk. To which Mike could not help but laugh, “What?” Mike paused, “You didn’t tell her you’re back for good?”

Seeing his friend shake his head like a naughty schoolboy forced him to laugh harder, “Ohohoho!! this is gon be one hell of a reunion, dawg” He added with sheer enthusiasm, “But seriously though, she’s a real good one too, bro…” Mike opinionated, as soon as his laughter died down, “ I mean, even Syl liked her”

“Shit! For real?”

“Yeah yeah yeah…” Mike answered immediately,  “And you know Syl, she ain’t easy to please”

Gulping down the remnants of the bottle, Jim exhaled and stared out through the window, “Shit man!” He exclaimed, “I’m really gonna see her again, huh?”

With his tone growing deeper, his eyes began to burn with a flame that could only be categorized as lustful. Sensing the vibe that did not seem so new, Mike chuckled:

“Oh yeah! My homie’s gonna get it tonight! Salud*”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The buzz, the chatter of young adults was consistent in the hallway outside. It served as background noise when the door of the toilet cubicle burst wide open, spitting a rather young woman out of it with haste. Only then did the mirror managed to identify her: You.

With your hand clutching on to a bra, you let out a relieved sigh. For within a few seconds, your body experienced a new form of liberation. And you managed to savor it on your own in a public ladies washroom. Wearing a soft smile that was easily reflected in the mirror, you stuffed the piece of lingerie into your shoulder handbag.

“Seriously?”

You jumped with a yelp. Being so wrapped around in your own thoughts, you did not even notice Yara, your friend standing there. With her arms folded and eyebrows raised, it was clear that her face was rife with judgement.

“What?” You inquired breathlessly, “Auntie Flo* is about to visit…and the twins were just swelling to …get some parole time” you added with a playful smirk, pointing at your chest with no shame. The curves of your now-freed bosom seemed more visible through your cardigan top, “And fuck! it feels so good” you exclaimed, as you washed your hands. Yara however, scoffed with amusement:

“So you’re saying you were squirming in your seat the whole time to let the puppies out?”

“What? I had to pee too!”

“Well, You could have just left right then!” She insisted with a seeming annoyance, as you grabbed a tissue.

“…and miss Mr. Linney’s Final Notes? Uh uh! No way, bitch!” You waved your index finger with disapproval as you both exited. Students had flooded the hallway by then. Evening lectures at UCLA finally had drawn to a close, and Friday night was about to make its entrance. Youth in all shapes and colors, gathered in bunches all over the campus area, even beside the beautifully lit Royce Hall. Suffice to say, all were relieved to have some time off in the weekend.

“So…you coming, right?”

You looked at Yara upon her casual inquiry with confusion, “For what?”. Scoffing again, this time in disbelief, Yara's eyes widened looking at you: “Dinner?…tonight?”

She stressed, taking a step out of the campus building, “Last week you promised you’ll join me and Chase” with her arms folded and foot tapping on the ground in pure restlessness, she was a clear visual of a loanshark. However, that impatience left her system the moment her eyes fell behind you,“…and speaking of Chase…Baby!”

With her face lit up, her tone grew affectionate as Chase, her boyfriend rushed over to her.

“ ‘sup babe!” The tall, young blonde greeted, pulling his ebony goddess of a girlfriend for a passionate kiss.

Folding your arms, you could not help but avert your eyes. All the while you drew circles with your foot on the ground. Chase and Yara’s relationship certainly was a refreshing one to glimpse upon in the campus premises. You approved of it with sincerity, even when you looked away in awkwardness. It was not on spite. Truthfully, PDA was nothing you disapproved of. You were certainly not envious of the joy they possessed as their lips played with one another, quite similarly to a steamy MTV music video. You merely looked away, for any display of affection was a sheer reminder of him.

It had been months since you last saw him, possibly 6. And constant communication was not exactly convenient for him. Not in his situation. Was he alive and happy? The sheer reminder of gunshots and helicopter whirring forced your heart to race, which was nothing short of new. Granted, you had learnt to ‘compartmentalize’, a term you recently came to knowledge in your psych minor class. Yet, you were young and only human to have those concerns return to haunt you even for a few seconds. The sound of Yara and Chase’s lips smacking urged you to look up. Finally, you thought.

“So?” Yara inquired, casually wiping the smudged lipstick off her face, “You coming?”

Carefree, yet extremely inconsiderate, that was what she exuded. A knot of anxiety formed in your stomach. For oddly enough, the sight of the happy couple managed to drain your energy out tonight. You longed to run away.

“Honestly…” you began with a sigh, “I don’t really feel so good tonigh-”

“¿Qué pasa, guapa?”

   What’s up, gorgeous?  

That voice. That deep, spine tingling tone was a reminder of your mere existence. The tone that tempted every hair in your body to stand at attention. Turning around in a flash, you covered your mouth, shocked to find the person you prayed to see all this time.

“JIM??” You cried out in a muffled tone, “Oh my GOD!!-”

Squealing in pure joy, you sprinted towards Jim Davis before jumping into his arms. Seemingly extremely pleased, Jim let out a hearty laughter. Suddenly the energy you were drained had returned in the form of a shot of adrenaline when he picked you up and spun you around, kissing you without hesitation. And you swore the feel of his lips on yours added a couple of years into your life.

“Wait, you didn’t tell me you were coming back so soon” Breathless, you pointed out when he finally put you down.

“Well, I’m back for good, baby” Jim replied, extending his arms outward with pride. Your eyes widened: “What? You serious?”

“Yep…” he grinned nodding, “Honorably discharged…and all yours”

You sensed his tone morph into a low purr the moment he pulled you close to him. And you would be lying if that did not fill your stomach with butterflies. After ages.

“Umm….”

Yara’s voice emerged. You and Jim turned back, to find her and Chase appearing the most confused, “…you mind telling us who this is…?” She inquired with raised eyebrows.

Finally in realization, you chuckled. For introductions were in order.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The aromatic scent crept into your nostrils, only to soon disappear out of the lack of attention provided. All the while an uptempo Latin Pop track playing in the background mingled with Yara and Chase’ voices, but unfortunately faded away into mere mumbles. For none of that seemed to be the key focus for you tonight. Not when Jim Davis was around.

Even seated at a crowded Mexican Restaurant, he mattered the most to you. Even when platefuls of delectable Taquitos* were served to the table, your eyes did not leave his irresistible side profile. And when his sense of expertise noticed and his eyes caught your gaze, you were breathless. You wondered if it was the romantic in you surfacing, for all seemed to appear in slow motion. His eyes remained seductive, washing all over you that it was certain your panties might melt and diminish into thin air. Those eyes were truly sorcerous, that your eyes suddenly had lives of their own to the point you could sense their figurative cheeks heat up with heavy blushes. For his eyes, they were proficient in the dirty talk as much as his mouth was. Breathing in his cheap cologne with depth, you suddenly grew aware of his touch, and the fact he had his arm wrapped around your shoulder all this time. Being lost in his eyes was definitely an out-of-body experience.

“Hey!”

Your soul reunited with your frame upon Yara’s call.

“Mmm?” Looking over at the couple sitting across the table, you and Jim were unfazed.

“Aren’t you two gonna eat?” Yara inquired with raised eyebrows while Chase had began to gobble. Her gaze questioned both your sanity. To which you and Jim could not help but chuckle in response. Shaking her head, Yara scoffed:

“It’s so weird…” she began, “…seeing you like this”. Wiping the crumbs off his mouth, Chase joined in with confidence, “Yeah! How did you guys even meet anyways? I mean, no offense but…we never thought she’d be the one…” he stressed, pointing at you, “… to have an older boyfriend who’s a Marine-”

“-Army Ranger” Jim corrected. His gaze and tone was dominant, enough for Chase to wither with intimidation.

“Yeah…” Chase nodded with a gulp, “…what you said…”. You would be lying if you admit you did not enjoy that sight.

“Actually…” you finally began, “We met a year ago” turning to face your boyfriend, “ He was back in LA during his break. We met at a bar”

“Hold up! ” Raising her hand, Yara was wide eyed, “How come I didn’t know about this?”

“Cause this happened a year ago, hun. Calm down” you chuckled, “Actually, this was even before Cin transferred. Hah! you didn’t miss much…Don’t worry” you assured upon seeing Yara’s pout, “It was a small bar, but I loved the Pistos*-I mean…” you paused with a smile, “….the beer there…” Your pause caused Jim to chuckle alongside once again. Safe to say it was a chuckle that encompassed a shared memory. A sweet reminder of your first ever meeting.

“And?…that’s it?” Chase inquired with amusement, with both hands resting on the wooden table, “You both meet at a bar one night and…” he whistled, “…then sparks flew?”

Looking at them both, you could sense the suspicion in their eyes. You longed to answer, however it was not so easy to do so. Pausing, you struggled with a response.

“Absolutely!”

Jim answered for you with nonchalance, while his grip on you tightened. For a split second you both exchanged a gaze of reassurance. And you had never been more relieved. The secret was safe.

“So…”, Turning towards the couple, Jim began, “How did you lovebirds meet then?”

Hesitation was certainly not in Yara’s vocabulary when she offered to speak. Leaving her sight, your eyes darted towards the the chilled beer that Jim placed on the table. You smiled to yourself. They were certainly filled with memories.

Reminiscing your first meeting with Jim Davis, never failed to be exciting every single time. Before Yara ended up in your life, there was Cindy. Noticing your evident sadness due to her surprise transfer to USC*, Cindy was hell bent in comforting you, thus suggesting you join her and her boyfriend Ray for a night out in South Central. You agreed, being desperate enough to spend the final few days with your roommate. Situated at the suburbs, this bar was small, intimate and seemingly inhabited by those who knew Ray, which resulted in a welcoming atmosphere upon arrival. Though the place was mostly filled with gangsters, you did not care for the slightest, when especially you found yourself falling for the unexpected; The beer.

Chilled to perfection, the beer there was unlike any that you had tasted before. And it was certainly a surprise, given they were the usual brands. You could not fathom the refreshing sensation that trickled down your throat with the first sip. That sensation tempted your hips to sway, urged your feet to move in rhythm. All in syncopation with the music that played in the jukebox under the dim lights. Until finally bumping into a man woke you from your intoxication. A man you were fascinated with in an instant:

Jim Luther Davis.

Such a pity that Yara’s gusto-filled story barely reached your ears. For reliving a memory simply seemed sweeter for you. Thus, you continued to do so.

Fortunately, Jim Davis did not end up being a handsome stranger that you simply bumped into, for coincidence had other plans. Especially, when he and Mike Alonzo turned out to be Ray’s mutual older drinking buddies. You were ecstatic. Internally, of course.

With the entire group packed together in the booth table, it was one loud but engaging hangout. Except for you. Somehow you preferred to sit right next to Cindy in silence, being distracted by two things: Beer, and Jim.

Blame the chemicals embedded in your system, for you simply found yourself drawn to him. Truthfully, it did not seem so difficult to begin with. Not when he turned out to be your type in appearance. You found yourself watching him. The manner in which he listened to others with swagger and confidence, the manner in which he held himself ; They all brought a certain air to him. Your attention had pierced through all manner of secrecy that he would occasionally end up catching your gaze. And then you would look away, quick and embarrassed. Though you must admit, it was a game you thoroughly enjoyed playing. But at the same time, you felt idiotic and childish.

“Cat got yo tongue, baby?”

You blinked, looking up. Fabio, one of Ray’s friends threw the query over to your direction, all of the sudden. And with that, the table grew quiet. All the eyes landed on you, except for Jim’s. A surge of embarrassment rushed towards you when awkward silence filled the booth. For you were definitely distracted to the point you did not follow the conversation. With you struggling to form an answer, Fabio snickered:

“Yo Cindy, What’s up with yo friend? She deaf or somethin’?”

“Easy, homie”

Before Cindy could respond, Jim’s quick reply arose. And you swore your eyes caught the sight of his hand ball into a fist as his eyes had grown dark. Oddly enough, that was the comfort you needed right then.

“Don’t mind me, Fabio…” you shrugged with confidence, “I’m just a girl hooked on her Pistos” you said, enunciating the Spanish word before taking another sip. You may have smiled at him, but you knew how much you feigned it. Awkward silence remained intact. But Ray managed to save the night, by changing the topic of conversation. Slightly embarrassed, Fabio shot you a look. All before he leaned towards his friends, muttering some words in Spanish.

“You speak Spanish?”

Jim’s low query made you turn to him.

“N-No…” you answered with nervousness.

“Well…” he began, “…you should” Though his tone was of seriousness, he did not fail to flash you a soft smile that comforted you even further.

Thus, the evening progressed. And you began to notice Jim in much detail. The more you did, you discovered a warmth that seemed to trickle down your heart. For you realized, you would not be able to stop yourself from falling for him. Hard.

You smiled to yourself, relieved Yara still did not know you were drifting away in your head, stuck in a memory.

Unable to stop obsessing over him since that first night, you remembered how you found yourself returning to the same bar the following night, alone.

Stepping into the venue, you suddenly were aware how unprepared you were. Even while placing an order at the bar counter, you remembered covering your mouth with embarrassment. Was this a mistake?

“Hey Baby! ”

Jumping in your barstool, you sighed with annoyance when you realized it was Fabio sneaking up on you.

“Just…” you feigned a chuckle, “Don’t call me baby, okay?”. Evidently ignorant, Fabio seemed to have chosen to stay. To your dismay. Sporting gold chains on his neck and wrists, Fabio was on a dire attempt to emulate a thriving gangster, when he actually was just another college kid like Ray.

“So, whatcha doing all by yourself, baby? Don’t tell me…you’re here to see yo boi Fabio?”

Keep telling yourself that, you thought. Exhaling in frustration, you maintained a tight smile, “I uh…just waiting for someone” you struggled. Flashing a mischievous smile, Fabio leaned in closer. You prayed he would not notice how your nose scrunched up by his heavy cologne with disgust. And how your body tightened when his eyes scanned you from top to bottom, licking his lips by the sight of your choker and your red, floral short dress.

“Who are we kidding?” He sniggered, “You wanna piece of this, huh? Come o-” “No!” You cut him off, “I’m really…” feigning a chuckle once again, “…waiting for someone…Thanks” you said, extending your hands in defense. Given the reaction of those around you, it may have been a louder response than expected. For Fabio turned red, making it his queue to slither away. You sighed deep. Luck did not seem to get on with you from the moment you stepped in here. Was this a mistake? When you felt a finger tap you on your shoulder, you rolled your eyes and turned around. For you were ready to give Fabio a piece of your mind.

Except, it was not Fabio.

“Hey…”

Jim greeted you, his deep tone announcing his arrival. Standing at an appropriate distance, he stood tall with a hint of swagger. Your body began to finally relax by the sight, especially when your eyes were refreshed by the open plaid shirt worn along with his white vest and baggy pants.

“Hey…” breathless, you began, “Hey!” Confidence finally became you as you repeated with a smile. The bartender caught your attention the moment he placed a chilled bottle of beer on the counter before you.

“Make it two, Hermano* ” Jim said, handing the man some cash. All the sudden, guilt washed over you as you gasped: “Oh I-”

“I got this…” Jim assured, seeing you reach into your bag. Grateful, you nodded, “So…” he began, “Can seem to get enough of them Pistos, hmm?” An inquiry left his lips the moment he received his own bottle. Smiling shyly, you bit the side of your lower lip. The manner in which that word rolled out his tongue caused excitement. Besides, his mouth suddenly seemed more delectable. Oh, his mouth.

“Yeah…” you admitted, “Can’t get enough…and I hope I never will”

You added, gazing directly into his hazel orbs. It simply was a mistake to do so, given how those eyes burnt with curiousity, urging you to blush in return, “And er…” pausing, you looked down, “ I was kinda hoping I’d catch you around” you said, looking up again.

“Yeah?” Jim inquired, genuinely surprised, “Why?”

That was when you froze. He was right, what exactly was your intention of seeing him tonight? Unfathomable on how you gathered courage to blurt that silly line in the first place. What if you dragged yourself all the way here to be rejected? What if there never was a form of enthusiasm from his corner as you hoped? What if this ends up being the story of a silly sophomore college girl, having delusions over an older man?

You chuckled with a nervous tone, “Well I-…” you paused, as your pulse began to grow loud within you, “Sorry…” you muttered, sliding off the stool, “This was just a stupid idea. I should go-”

“Wait!”

You turned upon Jim’s call. Showing his bottle, he shrugged:

“These Pistos aren’t gonna get finished themselves, hmm?” He dared to pose that inquiry with a playful grin. Smiling back involuntarily, you knew you had no comeback for that.

You remembered the chill outside the bar that night. The breeze that caressed your exposed skin of your legs were still fresh in your memory. Gazing at whatever stars your eyes could make out amidst the city lights, you and Jim sipped on the chilled alcohol from the porch. Given the fact there were little to none outside, the evening was unexpectedly intimate.

“Your uh…” clearing your throat, you finally broke the surprisingly comfortable silence, “Your friend not with you tonight?”

“Mike?” Jim inquired, to which you nodded, “Nah! he’s got his hands full” he answered with a smile.

“You guys close?”

“Hell yeah…He’s my homeboy, ya know? Since we were kids”

“Sweet. Must be nice.” You smiled in return, looking back at the sky, “I uh…remember that you serve. Iraq, huh?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Fallujah* ” Jim answered with a nod, looking at you.

“Whoa…” you breathed in wonder. Silence took over once again while your tongue  savored the beverage.

“And you?…UCLA?” Jim spoke before wiping his mouth, “Man! That’s some fancy ass shit right there”

“Yeah well… it ain’t a walk in the park…” you contradicted in a shy tone, forcing him to shoot you a look of concern. To which you chuckled, “I’m on scholarship, I mean…” you added, helping him come to realization, “Hehe yeah…I had to nerd my way into that gig” moving side to side, you could not help but take another sip,“But, I know…what a good thing I got going on. And I know… if I screw it up, then I’m FUCKED” you enunciated the end, which drove him to laughter. You adored how it soothed you somehow.

“Well…” he began, “…whatever fucking takes, right?”

You nodded, “Hell yeah…Here’s to…uh…positive shit! Hah!” You laughed as you both clinked the bottles together. The more alcohol that chose to settle in your system, the bolder you became:

“What’s it like?”

“What?”

You fully turned to him, “Being out there…in Iraq…” you continued, “I mean…I’m guessing you’ve seen some shit…” you inhaled, “you know…shit you can’t forget, right? I mean, shit like that…” you scoffed, “….that shit can fuck…you…up…” at that moment you could not help but find yourself lost in thought.

But Jim’s surprised expression made you pause. You chuckled in embarrassment.

“I’m just…guessing…” you muttered, sipping once again. Perhaps you went a tad bit too far with the blabbering. For your cheeks began to heat up with worry. Until Jim spoke:

“Well…Shit or no shit…Follow orders, that’s what we do” Instead of a frown, Jim replied, taking a huge gulp from his bottle.

“Yeah…I get it” you nodded in a fast pace. Robust, and straightforward, his attitude was to be admired. Funny you found yourself staring at his side profile long enough, his face could easily be compared to that of a statue. Perfect in proportion, your mouth began to dry out. You were attracted to him, shamelessly so.

“I-”, You paused, suppressing a grin, “…never mind”

“What? What is it?” He asked, looking at you. To which you shook your head frantically.

“Nah, it’s really silly…”

“Come on!…tell me” Fully turning, Jim insisted with a smile. His voice had its way of being persuasive. And his voice had its way of tearing your defenses down, or so it seemed. Taking a deep breath, you began:

“I kept thinking about this but…” you paused, “Last night, you said I should learn some Spanish… Why?”

Desperate for more interaction, that was your excuse. Jim responded with a shy chuckle. Certainly was worth it.

“I mean, we just met and you barely knew me…” you continued with a smile, “So…why?” As your question grew more confident, your inner desperation grew strong. Taking his last sip from the bottle, Jim surprised you by taking a step towards you:

“You really wanna know the truth?”

“Try me” , You replied, quickly finishing your own bottle, all without breaking away from his gaze.

And thank goodness you finished it. For you would have surely dropped it. Especially when Jim stood dangerously close to you, causing you to be immediately aware of the muscles between your thighs contracting. Even more so, when his irresistible eyes traveled from your very own all the way to your alcohol stained lips.

“Cause…” he purred, “…you have no fucking clue how sexy you sound”

You both may have chuckled to his line, but that did not mean your pulse did not quicken. Which increased in speed the moment his eyes took hold on yours once again. Seduction, he certainly was proficient in it. And you, were a witness. A witness who suffered from internal combustion of frustration.

You inhaled deep, “Really?” “Yeah…” he breathed in a sultry manner.

Just when you thought no force on earth could break this eye contact, the door burst open. Some men exited. Breaking away, you looked at your watch watch in an instant. You sighed. Real Life was calling you.

“I…I gotta go…” downcast, you muttered with guilt, “Class tomorrow…” adding extra guilt, you knew that excuse certainly did not put you in a good light.

“Lemme drop you then…”

Jim’s nonchalant and nonjudgmental reply urged you to look up with relief. Smiling in agreement, you watched him enter the bar with the empty bottles. And in that very moment, a tingling sensation filled with thrill washed over you, leaving no inch unattended. Butterflies returned to your stomach, fluttering harder than ever before in your life. Were you being hopeful? Could Jim Davis be desiring the same? Goosebumps traveled through you when that tingling sensation returned with much detail. Too much detail to be specific.

Until you realized it was real. And Jim’s hand was directly at fault here.

Blinking back to the present reality, your eyes caught the sight of Jim’s chilled fingers on your leg. They ran over over your inner exposed thigh in circular motion, thus, inciting the tingling sensation. Of course, no wonder the detail was accurate.

Yara and Chase were oblivious to all this, for they were caught up in their own love story as she kept yapping. But that was only the fact Jim kept on such a convincing focused face. He may be ‘listening’ to your friend, but his hand was evidently not. The longer his fingers lingered on your skin, the more you were reminded of him. And the more you began to tingle and sweat in the most unexpected places.

You were young, and unapologetically shameless. 6 months. It was exactly 6 whole months since you were last physically intimate with your boyfriend. And with studies piling up along with the expectation of a scholarship holding sophomore, ‘getting yourself off’ was never an option. Not with a roommate around.

The tingling sensation grew even stronger. And you began to hear your own quickening breath. Jim Davis’ elongated fingers, they spoke of pride. You longed for them to travel to locations far more adventurous and private than your thighs. Especially when they were rife with experience. Truthfully, it was a fact that his hands and his delicious lips and tongue were fluent in your body than your own self. Being pleasure deprived for too long, the mere thought of him ravishing you, aroused you even more. Aroused, and certainly very starved. The kind that food simply could not satisfy.

“...and under the stars…” Yara continued, holding on to Chase with lovestruck eyes, “…he told me he loved m-”

“Excuse me!”

Cutting her off, you cried out as you stood up in an instant.

“What’s up with you?” Chase inquired, whilst Yara looked offended.

“Just I gotta…pee…” you lied, eyes landing on Jim, “…now”

“Okay…” you heard Chase mutter in kind as you left the table, “…TMI, but whatever”

In all fairness, being judged was the least of your concerns. With every speedy step you took, the faster your heart began to beat. Storming into the empty ladies room, you found yourself staring at a mirror once again, with a heaving chest and noticeably flushed cheeks. It was plain to see, you were engulfed in the flames of pure arousal, and the fire needed to be put out.

And when the bathroom door opened up once again, you turned to find the fireman enter. Wearing a serious expression, it was slightly difficult to decipher his thoughts.

“I…” you struggled as Jim strode towards you, “I didn’t know what else to do-” Except he knew. When he attacked you with a passionate kiss.

Jumping into him was reflexive. Wrapping your legs around his waist seemed almost choreographed. Finally resting on the washroom sink, it was quite safe to admit how both of you were very much relieved to be the only occupants in the room. For there was no intention of holding back. Your denim skirt hiked high up, revealing your thighs in completion under the white fluorescent lights as Jim stood between your legs. And they were much cared for, as his hands gingerly rubbed them back and forth while his lips indulged yours with hunger.

“You think they know I lied?”

Breathless, you inquired with innocence. Except you did not receive an instant reply. Not when you found yourself gasping when he pulled your head back by your hair with a growl. With liberated access to your bare neck, Jim celebrated by placing equally starving kisses all over, resulting in your surprising moans.

“You think I fuckin’ care?” He chuckled into your skin, to which you could not help but chuckle back:

“Oh no, you bad boy” you purred in tease.

“Oh yeah, baby girl …” purring back, his reply incited a giggle out of you before he kissed you once again.

“Ay Papi*!” You breathed into his lips before he snatched up yours for good. Surroundings were simply irrelevant the moment the kiss turned intense, as his tongue crashed in like the rude boy he was, and grabbed onto your own tongue in a passionate embrace. They clashed against one another in frenzy, him claiming you as his. As the kiss grew deeper, your moans grew louder. When he pulled away all the sudden, whimpers left your lips with desperation. Teasing you so, Jim took a good look at you:

“¿Como esta tu Español?” He breathed low. And you were pleased that you actually understood.

   How’s your Spanish?  

Pressing himself against you, he began to slowly grind. You grew excited. Listening to Jim Davis speak Spanish was simply erotic in the first place. And since you have been studying it on your own for past few months, you were certainly impatient to show him.

“Yo…” you began, finding the words “…estudio pala-sorry…” with a nervous chuckle, you looked down, “..I know I suck-”

“No no…keep going” Jim insisted with a smile, bringing your chin up for a reassuring kiss, “Now say it again…” he added, maintaining eye contact with ferocity. Taking a deep breath, all the words clearly appeared in your head. Thus, you flashed a mischievous grin:

“…estudiando palabras…muy importantes”

   I am studying…very important words.  

Gasping was all you could do when Jim picked you up, carrying you into the nearest toilet booth. Thankfully with this restaurant being surprisingly hygienic, you did not mind. Life barely was embedded in your legs the moment he put you down, locking the door behind you to push you against it.

“Oh yeah?” He inquired, panting, “¿Cómo cuál?”

   Like what?  

Panting alongside him, you stood up straight, “Por ejemplo…”

   For example…  

Amidst his pants and his impressed expression, you grabbed his hands, placing them over your buttocks. All the while you looked at him with eyes, heavy with lust:

“¡Haz lo que quieras!”

You could not believe how confident you sounded. Smiling with equal lust in his eyes, Jim kissed you in approval, definitely pleased with what he just heard:

   (Do) whatever you want!  

Growling with effect, his animalistic nature was exuded as his hands gripped onto your buttocks with passion. His big, generous hands felt through every cheek with familiarity, as if they just reunited with a long lost friend. But that did not mean he forgot about all the other friends, the rest of your frame that had missed him as well. Moaning with pleasure, you began to unbutton his white shirt during in haste.

You simply adored his hands, for they were as passionate as his Spanish was. As he proceeded to hold on to your hips, your own hands roamed over his torso over his white vest. Except you froze the second his hands landed on your chest. Shaky breaths exited your lips as you shivered by his touch, for your breasts were at its most sensitivity even through your thin cardigan top. Palming them generously, Jim groaned into your lips:

“Fuck! I missed you, Guapa”

“I missed you more, Papi”

Confessing in return, you kissed him once more. Moans of desperation mixed into your kisses the moment his hands dipped inside your cardigan crop top, only to make direct contact with your untethered bosom. You winced involuntarily, even from his touch so gentle. Jim chuckled with seeming victory. And you were not afraid to admit, how you were simply in the palm of his hand.

Usually, during the peak pre-menstruation, you dared not let anyone come close to you, let alone touch you. But when it was Jim Davis, those rules halt by the door. He was a man who could maneuver his touch. However, he certainly was no good boy. Proceeding with his sweet torture during kisses, you were relieved to have a door to keep you balanced. For his long fingers, they flicked, encircled and pulled your now-sensitive nipples, keeping them fully erect and thoroughly visible even through the clothes.

Gripping his vest even tighter, you pressed your thighs together, for intense levels of pleasure and sensitivity crashed within you, akin to an avalanche. In truth, it simply was an overdose, and you could not handle. You were a mere animal trapped in this cage of frustration. But like an animal, you managed to set yourself free. You pushed Jim back with such force, that he ended up sitting on the closed toilet seat behind him. A surprised expression adorned his face when you straddled him in the process. Peeling your cardigan off your torso, you hinted your need for him. Which immediately was motivation for him to unbuckle his pants. However, his eyes did not fail to leave your sight while he did. For his eyes revealed nothing but pure amazement and hunger. He inhaled deep:

“Fuck!” He uttered, while his hand dipped into his hardened manhood.

“Yeah, that’s right Papi…” you breathed, maintaining the ironclad gaze. All the while you permitted his hand to feel the intense dampness of your opening, “Fuck me!”

And thus, public decency went flying out the window the moment the lovers fully united. The manner in which his hands rested on your bare back; whilst you moved upwards and downwards in syncopation to his thrusts, it drove you wild. The manner in which his generous and erect shaft felt so familiar inside of your tight walls, was too intoxicating as always. His mutual desperation and hunger translated well, as his lips savored on your swollen and sensitive bosom as if they were treasured food rations. Tingles were divided into million branches, impacting every form of stimuli in your system. But even in the midst of these endless waves of pleasure, that certain question from Chase yet lingered in your mind:

  “And?…that’s it? You both meet at a bar one night and…then sparks flew?” “Absolutely!”  

For in truth, it was not just a night of drinking and playful flirting that caused this relationship to blossom. And just like that, You could not help but recall further.

And peek into the moment that remained stored in the deepest corner of your mind. In the form of a secret.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

With arms folded, you kept on waiting. Long enough for the chill outside to grow stronger. Long enough for you to begin pacing nervously. Even long enough for several men to exit the bar during. Given its cabin exterior, it became more and more evident that this was more of an old fashioned bar. You sighed. Jim was certainly taking a little bit too long inside.

Paranoia knocked on your heart’s door, forcing you to welcome it inside with reluctance. Thus, several questions began to occupy your thinking space. Was there trouble inside? A possible Bar Fight? You shook your head, for you were surely being delusional. Or worse, was this a part of his plan all along? The player type to ditch you for someone else? Perhaps with someone better looking that he just met. Envy formed in your heart towards a woman that possibly may not even exist. Your stomach turned in a merciless fashion. When the door opened again, a surge of hope grew in you. Could it finally be Jim?

Except it was not.

“Baby! You still around huh?”

Fabio said, in a pleased tone, exiting the bar. Clicking your tongue in an involuntary fashion, you turned away with frustration. For he was the last person you hoped to lay eyes upon.

“Hey-Wha-What’s the matter?” Fabio cried, “Can’t look at a friend?” Whilst he tapped you on the shoulder repeatedly. Alcohol was strong in his presence. And the fact he stood uncomfortably close certainly turned your stomach even more.

“Well, technically you’re not my friend” With a forced smile, you turned to him, “You’re Ray’s friend, OKAY? ” a snappy tone exited your lips. And for a split second, there was genuine offense painted in Fabio’s face.

“Just tryna be nice, jeez!” He muttered low, with arms lifted. Coming one’s senses, you finally drew in deep breath while letting your arms loose.

“I…I’m sorry, dude”  you said, in a soft tone, staring the droopy eyed young man. Being Cindy’s friend, your last intention was to cause friction Ray and his friends. Your tone seemed to have been convincing enough, for Fabio flashed a soft smile in return:

“It’s okay…” he replied, to which you were relieved.

But that relief was short lived. Especially when Fabio leaned forward with puckered up lips in an instant, forcing you to gasp.

“What the hell, man?” You inquired, pushing him back with aggression.

“Ah come on, baby…” he drawled, chuckling in a playful manner, “Just one kiss…I mean, look at you! You still waiting out here. For who? I know… you really came here for me” with open arms, he went in for an embrace. Scoffing, you pushed him back again. That was when your pulse quickened again. To the point you hoped to flee.

“That’s it! I’m leaving! ”

You snapped, darting away from the entrance. The concern of leaving Jim behind or finding a cab did not seem problematic anymore, for all you needed was to get away. However, a painful cry left your lips when you felt your hair being pulled back. Your eyes widened. It was an angry Fabio.

“Ugh! Why you being such a Puta* right now, huh?” He said through gritted teeth, pulling you closer “Oh wait I forgot…” he snickered, “….you don’t understand Spanish, right bitch?” turning you to him. The alcohol had certainly rendered him more maniacal than ever.

“Don’t’ be a jerk, Fabio…” You cried, as you began to swing desperate punches towards his direction. But your defenses were lowered and moot, the moment he grabbed you tight by the wrists. You gasped, “..let… me… go! HELP! ”.

However, despite your cries, no one came to your aid.

This feeling, certainly was the ‘stuff of nightmares’. This feeling, had haunted you every now and again in imagination. To have it form into reality, was worse. No matter the force you exerted to free yourself, it seemed moot. For Fabio had the upper hand with his strength. And you were overpowered with intimidation. With the heartbeat increased in record speed, your heart was on the verge of exploding with fear. For the first time, you feared for your life. You despised the fact there was no one around, the fact this bar was on the outskirts. Almost close to tears, You heavily despised the fact you may be getting hurt in more ways than one tonight.

Until you heard a bottle shatter. Loud.

Glass fragments dripped from Fabio’s head as he cried out with immense pain. His grip on you loosened before he dropped down to the ground. Only for you to find Jim Davis standing behind him, with with a bottle broken in hand, and sheer rage in his eyes.

Rolling over, Fabio caught the sight of the man, “Jim??” He groaned, “What the hell, man? Why you helping this bitch-ARGH!”

A kick in the stomach was Jim’s choice in response, which incited more cries from the fool.

“THE FUCK YOU TOUCH HER FOR, HUH?” Jim yelled, his loud voice piercing through the tension like high pressured flames. However, the question seemed rhetoric, when he continued to kick Fabio, aggression growing more and more evident, “FUCKING…ASS…HOLE!” With tightened fists, he enunciated with each kick, “MOTHERFUCKE-”

“JIM!!!!”

You cried in an instant. And that very moment was when he finally froze. That fateful moment, you watched his face change, for his expression was clear as day. As if a wave of realization washed over him. As if bitter reality surprised him with a sucker punch.

All the while he stared down at his finished product: Fabio. He watched the the young man groan for his dear life, laying defeated and thoroughly bruised; all the while a weak stream of blood appeared prominent from his head and his mouth, adding a splash of bright color to the dark and dusty pavement.

Which was transparent enough for you, the witness.

You regretted being frozen with shock. If it only was for you to control. Thankfully a shred of it reached when you finally mustered the strength to call for him out from a potential murder. Violence, Danger, your trembling heart sensed it all. All from Jim. For that was what his strong aura emitted. However, despite your shock, never did you flinch. Never did your heart consider retracting from him or running away.

On the contrary, you were compelled to trust him even further. Especially when you sensed complete safety in him, above all others.

“Let’s go…”

You found yourself uttering those words, as you took his hand in urgency. Pulling him with haste, you both fled from the scene. Adrenaline coursing through the veins whilst running away, leaving a wounded man laying in his own mess before anyone could find out.

You remembered how Jim drove. Quiet, but focused. He drove and drove, until the bar disappeared from your sight. He drove to the point you both found yourselves ending up at a remote beach. And finally, time had returned to its normal pace once again.

Calming sounds of the ocean waves filled your ears, while the sight of the foamy waters barely were visible in the darkness. You watched Jim slowly take his hands from the wheel, rubbing his face. Your eyes widened, when you noticed his hand bleeding slightly. Perhaps from the broken bottle. You longed to speak, however no voice was present. Pushing the seat back, Jim slowly crawled over to the back of the car. Silence overpowered for too long, which urged you to clear your throat and speak:

“A…Are you ok-”

“You’re right, you know…”

You paused, upon hearing Jim’s interruption. Looking back from the front passenger seat, you found light finally shining on his face. Much to your sadness, cracks formed in your heart by the sight of his expression. Especially when silent tears streamed down his chiseled face. As if his mask of bravery was stripped away. Or even melted.

“You’re right…shit’s been crazy over there…” he chuckled with sadness, “…worse, shit’s crazy over here too…” he said, pointing at his own head.

Joining him in the backseat, you took the bandana off your head without hesitation.

“The thing’s I’ve seen…” he continued in mid-whisper, “The shit I had to do. The shit I wanted to do. It’s fucked up…so fucked up”.

It was unfathomable. Witnessing emotions of Jim Davis on variant scale in one single night, including him unveiling his vulnerability, you did not know where to begin processing. Simultaneously, those cracks in your heart, they could not help but form deeper to the point you ached inside. For a second, you were filled with an overwhelming desire for this misery in his heart to disappear. You longed for him to smile again. You froze. Were you tasting a slice of pure affection? Perhaps even, love? For him?

“It’s too fucked up…I’M fucked up-”

“Hey…hey…”

Your voice cracked when you finally began, leaning towards him, “Shhhh…It’s okay…” you said in comfort, while rubbing his forearm, “…its okay…I’m here” you said, as you occupied yourself with tending to his bleeding hand as a coping mechanism. The bleeding that he did not even notice.

With his hand on yours, the heart did feel heavier in comparison. As if his hand was magnetically powerful enough to keep you nearby. Thus, forming an attraction. Not the type that stirred the loins, but merely the kind that longed for you to wail on behalf of him. The kind to carry the pain for him. As if you did not wish to carry on another minute of your life, without knowing he would be well. And you would be lying if you did not want to show him that.

Your trembling hand reached out for his surprised face, turning it towards you with patience. The deep breath you took, it occupied your lungs in completion. Butterflies exploded in your stomach , causing a riot before you moved close. Close enough to feel his breath on your face. And close enough to press your lips on both his cheeks.

You tasted his salty tears, that stained his face. Pressing your own lips together, you hoped you could share his pain this way. Your eyes were smart, urging your voice to take a breather, whilst they gazed at his lips. Those lips that turned you greedy the moment you saw first laid eyes on them. And his trembling breaths of despair were enough for you to finally dispose of any form of hesitation.

For you finally moved to kiss him ever so gently on the lips.

With your kiss, you were there for him, in spite of it all. In spite of the violence and the tears. And the moment you instantly felt Jim kiss you back, you knew you were hopelessly his.

All the sudden, a dose of sweetness was infused with the salty kisses, weakening the flavor of the beer that lingered in his mouth. Selfishly, the need for comfort vanished. For all you needed was him. In every possible manner. Safe to say, Jim wholeheartedly agreed.

A sudden injection of passion entered your systems, setting your bodies in its entirety, in flames. Which also included the loins. Powerful enough for you to straddle him, powerful enough for Jim to flip you down to hover over you. And certainly powerful enough for the both of you to make love.

You treasured it all. The manner in which his fingers were precise, hooking on to your panties to gingerly peel them out of your frame. The manner in which his eyes gazed upon your own, then traveling all the way south to take in the sight of your now exposed opening, that dripped with wetness, blushing in its own means and begging him to explore it. Thus, it was to be expected, when you welcomed him inside you effortlessly. As if it had waited for him all your life.

Even for the first time, Jim was fast, and was rough. Yet surprisingly, you did not care. You knew where it originated. And it seemed most apt.

While he moved in body, he fled in heart. Away from the horrors, away from the pain. This resulted from his need for a distraction. Amidst the syncopated moans that filled the car, you cupped his face. Looking right into his hazel orbs, you witnessed his need. His need for a distraction. And at the peak of climax, you witnessed his desperation. His desperation, that urged you to never him go.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

         (Present)      

“I failed the test…”

Jim uttered low, capturing your attention. With your face buried in his neck, you heard it louder than ever. Tilting your head, you sat up straight to face him, confusion taking over. After reaching climax following a session of passionate and exciting love-making in a restaurant toilet booth, there you both were in recovery. Never did you expect him to break the silence with a statement such as this.

“What do you mean?” You inquired in a half whisper.

“The Psych test…” Jim elaborated, while you proceeded to put your cardigan top back on,  “…for the LAPD gig” sighing, he was downcast “I failed that shit…”

“No….” You breathed. The disappoint that was rife in his tone, somehow pierced through your heart. Thus, ushering in a wave of sadness that came crashing in, “Baby, I’m so sorry…” you said as you embraced him tight. To your surprise, Jim held you tightly in his arms in return. For when he buried his face on the crook of your neck and remained in silence for a mere few seconds, it was evident that was what he was required of. A rush of butteries attacked as you gently cupped his face.  You loved this man, and your heart was the witness.

“Fuck the cops if the they can’t relate” you said through gritted teeth, before kissing both his cheeks, “Fuck ‘em! Cause something better is comin’ ” you added with a soft smile, while your thumb ran over his upper lip, “We just gotta ...keep our heads straight”

To your relief, Jim seemed amused, “Speaking from experience?”

You smiled with pride, “You could say that…”

Both of you chuckled. “The point is…” you continued with a deep sigh, and huge smile, “I’m glad you’re back for good, baby”

Except for his own smile, it vanished right then. And in turn, his eyes watered and they shone, reflecting nothing but desperation and vulnerability. You took pride in being the one to witness it, just as you did that fateful night a few months back. Stroking your head with both hands, his forehead gently touched yours:

“¡Eres mia!” He breathed deep.

   You’re mine!  

How dare he? Expanding with immense warmth and impatience, it did not take long for your heart to gain rapid pace, as it was your very first time.

“¡Si, para siempre!”  You answered with confidence. For it was simply the truth.

   Yes, Forever! 

——————————————————

Index

UCLA : The University of California, Los Angeles Salud: Spanish term for “Cheers!” Guapa: Spanish term for Beautiful, Gorgeous Taquitos: A Mexican Food Dish Pisto: Mexican slang. A general term for an alcoholic beverage (usually beer) USC: University of Southern California Fallujah: A city in Iraq Papi: Spanish Term for Daddy Puta: Derogatory Spanish term for bitch, whore

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[thecookiegawd]

first thought: i think i hate men.

amongst all of the serious movements that erupted in early 2018 there was one that always bothered me whenever it showed up on my timeline: the hashtag “men are trash”. i was always taken aback by it, even if i knew that it was either a troll or not directed at me (which, already is toxic, because who am i to think that i’m the only person in this world who isn’t “trash” in some way?). up until recently i always thought this was a new way for the feminists to bash men instead of dealing w/ more urgent issues. one time on twitter i saw a homosexual gentleman standing in front of a huge pile of garbage w/ the caption, “a photo of me and a bunch of men.” again, obviously a silly troll, but i took the bait & the shit continued to fuck w/ me. why do i give a fuck so much? even if i am trash...so? you are too, in a way. we’ve all done things that are trash in our lifetime, otherwise there would be nothing to grow or mature from. i look back at old photos of me from high school & it instantly brings back memories of me desperately trying to sag my pants in a way that the administrators or my grandmother wouldn’t notice, spraying a mountain of axe on in the morning even if i didn’t shower because i wanted to smell more “manly”, wearing my hat to the back no matter what because that was how all the rappers did it, wearing two watches for literally no reason at all...i vomit just thinking about how hard i was trying to be something i wasn’t. that’s trash, isn’t it? 

remember the day you woke up & decided to be yourself? you probably don’t, because if the decision was conscious then you’re probably an entirely different kind of trash than the type i’m addressing here- seek therapy. for the entirety of my twenties i’ve always tried to go against the normalcy of things; my taste in music, my fashion sense (or lack thereof), my speech, etc. i don’t want to be like you. i’m sure that people are going to always compare me to others because that’s the only way humans interact w/ new humans. if someone says, “yo, have you met my friend? he reminds me of so-and-so”, depending on how you view so-and-so, you might be inclined to meet them & strike up a conversation. i’ve always given way too much of a fuck about how i’m looked at in the public eye, which is why, till this day, i don’t do anything drastic to my body like getting a face tattoo or wearing knock-off sneaker brands (yes, to me that’s drastic), or getting a fucking android. for Christ’s sake, if the shit can call, text & work instagram i shouldn’t really care, right? i don’t even like taking pictures of myself on my phone.

let me get to my point. i was in a group chat w/ some gentlemen, most of which i had went to high school w/ & had shared at least 7 words or more w/ in my lifetime. the situation that happened is petty so i won’t speak on it, mostly because nobody but the people in that group chat are gonna care anyway. whatever happened happened, & i immediately got the fuck out of there. it was the first time i had ever seriously referred to anything as “toxic”. now of course, if the gentlemen were to ever read this, they would automatically assume it was because i was mad or my feelings were hurt, which is not only untrue but ironically toxic. i thought not about the situation itself, but why i felt the way i felt about the situation clear into 9am the following morning during my morning routine, which nowadays is sitting on the toilet and playing tetris. the thought zoomed into my head & i looked up and stared at the wall in silence as my blocks stacked on top of each other messily: “yo...i think i hate men.” the shit sounded wild nuts in my head so i immediately texted a close (male) friend of mine to make sure i just wasn’t overthinking things. after a long talk w/ him & some other people who are near & dear to me, i was given some clarity & i DEFINITELY had overthought it.

i was introduced to the idea that i might actually just hate non-creative people, but non-creative MEN specifically. it makes more sense in the grand scheme of things, considering how close-knit my friend group is, & how i’m always hesitant to even SPEAK to new people. honestly, if i could only ever converse w/ people who are in the business of creating, my life would be a lot more enjoyable. i HATE going to my 9-5 & staring these uncultured ass white people in the face whom i know have never worked hard for a thing in their lives, but are dropping more money on the services i provide them in two weeks than i make in an entire month. i never wanna know how your day is going, go the fuck away. i then think about how even the WOMEN i associate w/ are creative. a lot of you lame ass niggas (you know who you are) will kick it w/ any girl as long as she fucking. i’m 25 years old, my nigga. sex is a thing that’s happened to me time & time again- i require more now. if she ain’t talkin about shit i’m not even entertaining it. the craziest thing is that i’m called weird for thinking like that, as if wanting to actually enjoy the people i hang around is a crime. shit has me confused.

as corny as the shit sounds, my life requires color. the world is much more than black and white & that nondescript grey area in the middle. i’ve walked away from the idea of me hating men, but i do genuinely hate ANYONE regardless of gender who doesn’t add value. i was also told that i have an elitist attitude, which further pushes my distaste for non-creatives, seeing as it takes a lot to impress me. can’t just throw paint at a wall & call it art, my nigga. you gotta show me something else. idk if any of this shit made sense, it was just a thought.

#men are trash

[atakportal]

Polytechnic | Powerful Education, Courses & Events

New Post has been published on https://click.atak.co/polytechnic-powerful-education-courses-events/

Polytechnic | Powerful Education, Courses & Events

Polytechnic is an responsive, education and student focused WordPress Theme. It’s beautiful, clean, and professional. We built this theme specifically for educational institutions and include easy to use live customizes and drag & drop builders. It’s capable of handling a ton – including a new faculty member role, extended user profiles and pages, customizable “white label” login, courses, catalogs, faculty grid, store, blogs, filterable post grid, and almost anything that you can think up! We pride ourselves on how well this theme works out of the box, so if you run into any issues, please don’t hesitate to let us know at our dedicated support forum. Check out our feature list below!

Latest Update: March, 2018 Version 1.3.7 Now Available With new updates and feature requests!

See update log below for full details

The Idea Behind This Theme

We believe that school is hard enough as it is, and wanted to build something awesome that helps schools, faculty members, and students. Something that would enhance the school experience for students, increase engagement and retention, decrease confusion, and that focused on the details of how this could work for that majority of educational institutions out there.

With all of that in mind, we built Polytechnic

Teachers can add/update their own courses and provide students with up to date information regarding homework, study guides, notes, and a tentative schedule based on a specific course section. Students can get course specific information if they missed class, check to see what time the pre-game rally is on Friday, get course catalog information online, and purchase required reading materials with a click of a button. And admins can oversee it all, monitor the flow of information, and have the ability to add, edit, assign, and delete course information and users.

The Best of the Features

Polytechnic comes with tons of features and the ability to support loads of different plugins that’ll make it just right for your project… here’s an overview of what’s included:

The New Faculty Role & Extended User Profiles

Polytechnic comes fully integrated with a new user role specifically built for educational institutions. We’re calling this new WordPress user/role “Faculty”. This Faculty role provides faculty members with the ability to add, edit, and update their own courses and course information. This role is similar to the “Author” role native to WordPress, with a few added tools and abilities to provide your faculty members with the right amount of rights. This role also allows users assigned to this role to edit their own personal information (ie. bio, photo, contact info, etc.).

Custom User Login

Because your faculty should feel proud to login to your schools site! Customize the login for your users to match your school with easy to use options. Go ahead, check it out. Choose or upload your login logo, position the login form location, add a background image, set a color fallback, and add custom html!

Courses & Catalogs

Adding a new course is easy, and can be assigned to any user. If that user has been assigned the role of Faculty, they will have their own login and dedicated WordPress dashboard. This dashboard will only include the necessary information for this user role (ie. courses). Next, this user can navigate to Courses to see all of the courses currently assigned to them. They can open any one of these to begin updating/editing the course information and course content (ie. homework, study guides, etc.)

Mega Menu

We’ve included a drag and drop mega menu to provide a compelling way of displaying menu items and additional content on your site. Now you can choose to use a flyout menu or mega menu for each parent item.

Sticky Header

We’ve built a sticky header right into the theme and gave it it’s own options panel. Setup is easy and will extend the usability of your site for your users. Add your own custom logo, menu, and customize away with our theme options.

Tophat Dropdown

This section is triggered with the (top left) tophat tagline trigger and reveals a new section of widgets. These widgets are easliy managed in Appearance > Widgets and we’ve even included a custom options panel to customize this section further.

Page Templates

We’ve built some powerful templates for you to use. These templates are customizable and can be used as many times as you like and include: Post Grid, Blog, Course Catalog, and Faculty Grid (yes, it actually filters users). Each of these templates offer custom options to help building with these templates a breeze. Oh, and did we mention that you can also use Visual Composer on any of these pages to add even more content. The combinations are endless.

Sensei Learning Management Support

Sensei is a Learning Management System that makes teaching coursework easier than it’s ever been, all within WordPress. With the Sensei plugin you can create courses, write lessons, and add quizzes. Set lesson and course pre-requisites, allow user registration and even charge for your course content if you want. Simply put, we’ve included “out of the box” support for the “Sensei” plugin by Woo Themes for extended features and functionality for schools that want to take their courses and lessons to the next level. This plugin is not included with the theme, and users who want to utilize these extended features will need to purchase a license through Woo Themes. This plugin is not associated with the Polytechnic Courses provided with the theme.

WooCommerce Ready

Yep. WooCommerce is enabled on this theme, which means you can use it to sell stuff like shirts, gift cards, or anything else you can dream up. This theme isn’t focused on custom shop design, but WooCommerce does a TON of amazing stuff out of the box and this theme will work seamlessly with it.

Built on the Mythology Engine

Mythology Engine has been developed with the sole purpose of creating an efficient method of publishing themes with a streamlined development process… Key features include white-label options panels, “in-dashboard” documentation, and a no-nonsense approach to content management & theme options.

Visual Composer 4

Create your own custom layouts using over 30 different content modules ranging from image-sliders to text blocks to videos and maps. Visual Composer is the most popular visual editor available to WordPress and it’s bundled in the theme. Updates are be included for free with each theme-version update.

Visual Composer Extension (Polytechnic Exclusive): Custom Hover Images

User interaction has many benefits. One is that it can create focus and increase audience retention. Use Visual Composer to add these exclusive custom hover modules to your content. Don’t forget to add links and calls to action with these Custom Hover Modules to increase internal traffic and interactions. Choose a custom image, background color, add custom content, and select a start height and end height for the modules on that page.

Visual Composer Parallax Rows

We’ve extended this plugin to handle parallax backgrounds for full-width rows. This makes it even easier to add in your content and break it up visually with this custom feature.

Live Front-End Customizer: Unlimited Colors and 1,000’s of Fonts

Customize your theme’s typography easily with instant Live-Previews as you select your options and see how your site looks with any font, color, or size before you hit “Publish”. Integrated with color pickers and the Google Fonts library, so you’ll have 1,000s of fonts to choose from. If Google Fonts aren’t enough, we integrate seamlessly with Typekit, Fonts.com, and other popular services.

Revolution Slider 4

The most popular & easy to use “mega slider” plugin to ever exist!!! OK, that’s hyperbole, but it’s honestly pretty great and we’re thrilled to announce that we are now including Revolution Slider 4. This latest version includes: brand new admin interface, more options, more conveniences, custom caption animation builder, full slider import/export, and much more! You can also include Revolution Slider as your ad space slider, pre-content slider, sidebar slider and within individual posts/pages. Sweet!

Contact Forms

We are fully including Contact Form 7 to provide users with a quick and easy way to build and manage contact forms. It can manage multiple contact forms, plus you can customize the form and the mail contents flexibly with simple markup. The form supports Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.

Ajax Live Search

Try typing in the search-bar (in the sidebar or on the “tophat”). The Live Search feature allows users to instantly skim your site for relevant material without every loading another page.

HTML5 Fueled SEO

We re-wrote our entire theme-base from scratch to include the latest, most relevant HTML elements and tags to allow for the best possible search engine results.

Multi-Language Support

The entire theme has been fully internationalized and prepped for your language translation. Just follow the usual translation process and the theme will do the rest.

Custom CSS & Script Injection

Got something custom that you want to drop in? Simple. Just drop them into our theme control panel and the theme will do the rest of the work for you.

Built with Ordinary People in Mind

Our goal is to deliver a theme that anyone can use & customize, without any need for 24/7 customer support or long-winded documentation manuals. We recommend uploading the theme demo if you want a head start, but the theme has truly been designed to be answer any of your questions as you use it, so don’t fret if you don’t know how to code.

Helpful Support

If you need some more information on something included with the theme, we’ve put together a dedicated information site for this theme. If you still need some help or have a question, feel free to ask us at our dedicated support forum. Just make sure to include your endgoal to help us understand how we can help.

Built with Developers in Mind, too!

Our code is clean, organized, and well commented. Everything has it’s rightful place in this theme, and making advanced customizations to templates, stylesheets, and functions has never been easier.

Beyond Responsive

We were one of the first theme crews to dabble in ‘responsive design’ way back in the day, so we know a thing or two about how to do this properly. Fluid grids are used at larger breakpoints, and fixed widths are used on smaller devices to ensure ideal spacing. The type size shifts on smaller devices to be larger and easier to read, and images and other media are sandboxed to prevent anything from breaking the layout.

REM Typography & Layouts

The problem with Pixels are, they absolutely do-not-scale in Internet Explorer. Furthermore, with the onset of Responsive Web Design, having fonts that scale (in relation to the screen width) has become paramount. Percentages (%) and EM’s are better, but they’re tricky and compound. Still not an answer. A real solution? Use the REM. (Source – Greg Rickaby)

JetPack Share, Comments, Carousel, and Extra Widgets

Nearly all of JetPack should work well with this theme (the Tiled Galleries are the only exception since those aren’t responsive); if you want to start using the next level of WordPress functionality, you’ll get it here.

The Theme Control Panels

This theme has been built on the Mythology Engine, a foundation theme from MDNW that has the primary goal of creating the fastest site launch process possible. It does this in a few ways:

Back-End Theme Options, Re-envisioned

Functionality meets organization. We’ve re-done all skinning options from our primary theme control panel in order to create a swift, responsive, uncluttered way to manage the key aspects of the theme. This is what the admin panel looks like:

In addition to the Theme Options panel (which manages the global theme options), this theme also integrates Page & Post options that allow you to override any global rules for that one page or post. These panels will show up on any Page or Post editor, underneath the basic content editor. In the event that they do not appear, make sure that you have enabled them from the top-right “Screen Options” panel. These panels will allow you to override theme-level options on individual pages and posts. To take this even further, we added custom options that show up depending on the page template used. This includes page template specific options for theBlog Page & Post Grid (Portfolio) page templates. These panels will show up on any page with the Blog Page template or Post Grid template selected. Front End Theme Skinning with Live-Preview Eliminate the guesswork from customizing the theme. Built on the WP Theme Customizer API with some special tricks blended in, you can change just about every typographic or color across the entire theme; there’s no need to reload the page on the front-end though; the Theme Customizer will show you an instant preview of what your changes look like right there on the same screen. Here’s what the panel looks like:

The full library of Google Fonts is included in the Theme Customizer (and yes, live-preview works on the font-faces too). Just open up the customize panel and start playing!

Quick Links

Standard Troubleshooting Steps

Support Policy | Articles | File a Support Request

How to UPDATE The Theme | How to UPDATE Premium Plugins

Change Log

/* ========== - UPDATE LOG : Polytechnic - ==========*/ Version 1.3.6 08/12/17 - UPDATED: Plugin - WPBakery Visual Composer 5.2 - UPDATED: Plugin - Revolution Slider 5.4.5.1 - UPDATED: element-sticky-header.php, element-secondary-navigation.php, and theme-register-menus.php - REMOVED: Mythology_Walker class - ADDED: Author sidebar styles updated. - UPDATED: theme-4-plugins.css styles for The Events Calendar update. Version 1.3.5 03/12/17 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 5.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.4.1 - Fixed: SSL for GoogleFonts Version 1.3.4 01/14/17 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 5.0.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.3.1.5 - UPDATED: Polytechnic Courses 2.0 - REMOVED: Mythology_Walker for QTranslateX Support - UPDATED: Author.php for translation of <p></p> string - UPDATED: .pot file - UPDATED: Style for sticky header menu items (with children) Version 1.3.3 09/08/2016 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.12.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.6 - UPDATED: Ajaxy Search Form registered via included zip - UPDATED: Translation - Tophat Account/WooCommerce Links - Post in loop (the_content(Read More...)) - Template-Course-Catalog.php - _x to __ - Author Sidebar now includes 's - UPDATED: WooCommerce Support - FIXED: Page Layout options - UPDATED: Course Catalog template - ADDED: Sensei support - UPDATED: Polytechnic Courses 1.9 - ADDED: Sensei support - UPDATED: ot-meta-boxes - ADDED: Sensei support - UPDATED: Documentation 0.7 Version 1.3.2 07/12/2016 - UPDATED: Template Blog - UPDATED: Now uses WP_Query - ADDED: Conditional for pagination when is_front_page() - FIXED: Pagination when assigned to Static Front Page (Settings > Reading) - ADDED: RTL Support - ADDED: RTL Stylesheet - ADDED: Option to turn on RTL Stylesheet - UPDATED: hAtom microformats - NOTES: - CHECK/TEST: https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool - CHECK/TEST HELP: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/prototype - RESEARCH: Aggregate from articles and user feedback (Thanks @Tim) - UPDATED: hAtom microformat for author across the theme - UPDATED: vcard & fn - UPDATED: hAtom microformat for date across the theme - ADDED: Additional recommended markup to meet standards for microformats - ADDED: To post, post loop, default page, faculty page, post grid page, blog page, etc.) - UPDATED: Now supports new Responsive Menu plugin (v.3.0) - ADDED: Base styles to support the new markup/styles added by the plugin - ADDED: Starter skin for the menu (included in WP Polytechnic/Resources/Demo-Data/Demo-Menu-Skin.json). This allows users to use their panel to customize this further. - NOTE: This has become a "Freemium" plugin, which allows you to extend it by purchasing a "Pro" license. This is not necessary unless you want access to some of their more advanced functions. Again, this is not necessary. - Further, with so many pre-existing users, I felt it appropriate to support this update v. moving away from it. I am still considering other options, but this is a necessary step to maintain existing sites that using this functionality. - UPDATED: Modified styles for notifications on the backend, red to gray (red is a bit misleading). - UPDATED: Hover Image Module, module-content font-weight for @media-queries fallback updated - UPDATED: Child Theme - v.2.0 - ADDED: Support for Main/Large hover-image replacement with video (4:3) in hover-grid - UPDATED: Support for Dynamic To Top - ADDED: Option/Toggle to manage theme styles (Appearance > Theme Options > Sticky Header Options > Use Theme Styles for Dynamic To Top) - NOTES: Toggling the option off will remove theme styles for this element, and the Appearance > To Top panel will take precedent. Default is on, and will pull styles from the theme.Reason - This is for users who want to modify this element further using the native/included options. These option are limited, though, which is why the theme has custom styles for this. - UPDATED: Documentation to v.0.6 - UPDATED: Responsive Menu steps for importing the Responsive-Menu-Skin - UPDATED: Responsive Menu notes for setting up and customizing - UPDATED: Dynamic To Top section with notes on new option - UPDATED: Faculty Grid Template & Options - ADDED: All users of all roles selection option (Manual User Selection v. Manual Faculty User Selection) - ADDED: Query and output for new option key/value set - ADDED: Toogle ON/Off to turn user email into a mailto link - UPDATED: Theme Options > Faculty Options - UPDATED: Sectioned into tabs - ADDED: Toogle ON/Off to turn user email into a mailto link for Author page - ADDED: Toogle ON/Off to turn user email into a mailto link for Sidebar instances - UPDATED: the_time() has been updated to the_modified_date() - UPDATED: Styles for WooCommerce page title Version 1.3.1 06/08/2016 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.12 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.5.3 - ADDED: Image Hover - Tablet(Portrait) options for start & end height - FIXED: Image Hover - Tablet(Portrait) display Version 1.3.0 05/24/2016 - UPDATED: Responsive Menu icon - UPDATED: Conditional that checks if title is set to off - now includes search results in conditional to maintain consistency - FIXED: Responsive Menu "Open State" for browsers not opening on first/second click (ie. Chrome, Edge, etc.) - UPDATED: Packaged version of VC in Resources folder Version 1.2.9 04/28/2016 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.11.2.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.5 Version 1.2.8 04/14/2016 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.11.2 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.4.1 Version 1.2.7 04/05/2016 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.4 - FIXED: Grayscale header image - FIXED: Hover Image module custom start/stop hover height options (Thanks @tcward) - FIXED: Footer 1 column senario (removed added padding) Version 1.2.6 03/21/2016 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.11.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.3.5 - FIXED: Faculty Grid page template manual user selection (user link/image) (Thanks @NirmalRaman) - FIXED: Theme Options - Skin Builder: - FIXED: Primary & Secondary Color Z-Index (Thanks @Boukjee) - FIXED: Sub Menu Highlight Border (Thanks @benjaminbis) FEATURE REQUEST(S) - ADDED: Title attribute for Social Links. Gives tooltip on hover (Thanks @chaddng) - ADDED: Theme Options > Post Options > Show the Featured Image (Thanks @advanceitmn) - ADDED: Hover Image > Alt Tag (Thanks #netterm) Version 1.2.5 03/1/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.10 - UPDATED: Pageable Content module styles - UPDATED: Styles - UPDATED: Tophat Elements for Safari (Thanks @Naomi) - UPDATED: List styles for Essential Grid Plugin - UPDATED: List styles for Shortcodes Ultimate Plugin - ADDED: ADMIN STYLES FOR OPTIONTREE TABS - FEATURE REQUEST(S): - ADDED: Faculty Grid page template now includes an option to build manually (with user selection) - ADDED: Faculty Grid page template still supports filter by course category - ADDED: Image Link option for Hover Image module - ADDED: Course Featured Image Options On/Off - ADDED: Course Featured Image Custom Width - ADDED: Course Featured Image Custom Height - ADDED: Course Description On/Off - ADDED: Course Listing - Link Number On/Off - ADDED: Course Listing - Link Name On/Off - ADDED: Course Listing - Link User On/Off - ADDED: Visual Composer Quick Styles Controls (Theme Options > Skin Builder) - ADDED: VC Tab BG Color - ADDED: VC Tab:Hover BG Color - ADDED: VC Tab:Active BG Color - ADDED: VC Tab Panel BG Color - ADDED: VC Tab Panel Border Color - ADDED: Course Output Panel - ADDED: Change Course "Course Name"? - ADDED: Change Course "Course Number"? - ADDED: Change Course "Course ID"? - ADDED: Change Course "Course Time"? - ADDED: Change Course "Instructor"? - ADDED: Change Course "Room Number"? - ADDED: Change Course "Course Days"? - ADDED: Change Course "Prerequisite(s)"? - ADDED: Change Course "Component(s)"? - ADDED: Change Course "Credit(s)"? - ADDED: Change Course "Location"? - ADDED: Change Course "Notes"? - UPDATED: Author Course listings - UPDATED: Course Catalog page template - UPDATED: Single Course instance - UPDATED: Polytechnic Courses plugin v.1.7 Version 1.2.4 01/11/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.9.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.1.6 - UPDATED: VC 4.9.1 Support - Course styles - UPDATED: Removed vc_set_as_theme - UPDATED: Theme Documentation v.0.5 - UPDATED: Easy Theme & Plugin Upgrades plugin removed from Recommended Plugin list - ADDED: Credits and Prerequisites to Course-Catalog & List & Search Version 1.2.3 12/18/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.9 - ADDED: VC 4.9 support - wpb_map() to vc_map() - Hover Image module and hover-grid styles - Custom parallax bg + content - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.1.5 - ADDED: Rev_Slider 5.1.5 support - first-child + cover-header styles updated - FIXED: Ken Burns Affect for Revolution Slider - UPDATED: Theme Styles for new version(s) of The Events Calendar plugin - Tophat Dropdown area widget usage - Content widget usage - Two column list template - UPDATED: Primary & Sticky Menu Z-Index - UPDATED: Demo-Content.xml for users with media issues - reflects new vc builds/modules - ADDED: New "Revolution Slider Home Page" demo_slider.zip - UPDATED: Marketing - 80x80.png - Theme Preview Version 1.2.2 12/01/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.8.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.1.4 - UDPATED: Buy VC nag removed (not needed) - FIXED: Faculty Contact Form option - UPDATED: Styles-Polytechnic plugin to version 1.4 Version 1.2.1 11/02/2015 - FIXED: Undefined function cascade for menu doc.helper plugin check Version 1.2.0 11/01/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.8.0.1 - UPDATED: Separator styles for consistency - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.1 - UPDATED: Width for single events in month view updated - FIXED: Sticky Header menu option - FIXED: Revolution Slider v. Mega Menu dropdown z-index - FIXED: "Search Courses" for translation(s) - UPDATED: Descriptions for option sets - UPDATED: languages pot file - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.8 - UPDATED: Load Text Domain function updated to check both original and standard locations - UPDATED: Doc Helper for setting menus updated Version 1.1.9 10/18/2015 - UPDATED: Demo-Content.xml - Uses latest VC module versions - UPDATED: Styles for new VC markup - FIXED: Menu dropdown v. hover-image z-index - UPDATED: Styles-Polytechnic plugin to version 1.3 - UPDATED: Polytechnic-Courses plugin to version 1.6 Version 1.1.8 10/08/2015 - FIXED - XSS Vulnerabilities: - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.7.4 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.0.9 Version 1.1.7 09/22/15 - UPDATED: Tophat Dropdown Trigger and Pre Footer Blurb options now allow for HTML content. Note, these are now using htmlspecialchars() and htmlspecialchars_decode() to neutralize HTML. - UPDATED: Sub Footer Left and Sub Footer Right text areas updated with the htmlspecialchars() and htmlspecialchars_decode() to neutralize HTML. - UPDATED: Rev_Slider header overlap z-index support (structure 181, plugins 42 & 944) - UPDATED: New VC Tab styles for courses - UPDATED: The Events Calendar Pro widget(s) styles Version 1.1.6 09/20/15 - FIXED: Conditional using is_plugin_active fixed Version 1.1.5 09/18/2015 - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.7 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.7.1.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.0.8.5 - UPDATED: All included plugins are now "Recommended" and not "Required". This opens the theme up to users who want additional control. - Note: you can still access all included plugins via Appearance > Install Plugins panel and the standard Plugins panel. - UPDATED: Documenation file to v.0.4 - ADDED: New Doc.Helper files (These will serve to assist in the admin area) - ADDED: Responsive menu doc helpers for updated/new assignment - UPDATED: Responsive menu styles - FIXED: Custom social icon options, fixes the loop so you can generate as many custom icons as you like (element-getsocial.php) - FIXED: Archive.php pagination and query - FIXED: Capitalization for localization - UPDATED: Mobile table(s) bottom margin and native scroll - ADDED: Mobile div "Touch to Scroll Content Below" added for is_handheld for table description (author.php and template-course-catalog.php) - UPDATED: Support for Visual Composer FrontEnd Editor - module controls (new and old tab controls) - UPDATED: Styles for The Events Calendar & The Events Calendar Pro - UPDATED: Styles for Section-Super-Header - UPDATED: Tab styles for new VC markup - UPDATED: Tour styles for new VC markup - UPDATED: Accordion styles for new VC markup Version 1.1.4 08/01/2015 - UPDATED: Theme helperclass jquery 'parallax-vertical' updated - UPDATED: Better support for VC parallax - UPDATED: Visual Composer Admin Helper Functions for Backend Editor - Adjusts linkage and styles Version 1.1.3 07/23/2015 - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.6 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.6.2 - UPDATED: Support for Visual Composer FrontEnd Editor - module controls - ADDED: Visual Composer Admin Helper Functions - Backend Editor - NOTES: These functions are focused on helping users get a better visual of their row background image/color(s) in the page editor. This was added to help/fix when the text within a row is the same color as default bg (ie. white on white). We found this to be super helpful, so we wanted to roll it out to you guys. - ADDED: GET BG-COLOR FROM ROW CONTROLS - ADD BG-COLOR TO THE ROW - ADDED: GET BG-IMAGE FROM ROW CONTROLS - ADD BG-IMAGE TO THE ROW - ADDED: Custom Hover Image module icon - backend recognition, and VC map - ADDED: Ordering options added to Course Catalog template - ADDED: Order_By - Can now order by Course ID, Course Number, Course Name, Author, Course Room Number, Course Days, and Course Time - ADDED: Order - Can now order by ASC and DESC for all included order_by parameter values - FIXED: Social > Skype option updated from esc_url to esc_attr to fix the href strip - UPDATED: Demo-Content.XML reflects the text color updates (span) used in latest VC version. Only Courses affected Version 1.1.2 06/30/2015 - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.5 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.5.3 - UPDATED: Mega menu sub-menu children styles for parent hover state (ot-user-styles.php) - UPDATED: Author.php course list post_per_page to "-1" (aka all) - ADDED: Now Supporting Custom Layouts for Courses - ADDED: Course > Course Layout Options - image radio buttons (this will override the fallback set in Theme Options > Layout Options for each page, if set) - ADDED: This added feature also adds support for the Custom Sidebars plugin for Courses - FIXED: Appearance > Theme Options > "Show the Post Meta?"" option fixed (content-single.php 149) - ADDED: Fallback for VC Separators on Mobile (media-queries.css 269) Version 1.1.1 06/15/2015 - UPDATED: PrettyPhoto js script to 3.1.6 - prettyPhoto XSS fix - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.4 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.5.2 - UPDATED: Faculty-Grid template name v. email columns - UPDATED: Custom user profile photo enqueue (functions folder 51-52) - UPDATED: new conditionals set in mythology-key.jS and register-scripts.php for isotope - UPDATED: Layout variables text-domain updated to mythology (theme-layout-variables.php) - UPDATED: Plugin support - get_custom_field conditioned (mythology-core-functions.php) - ADDED: Feature Request - Contact Form option for Author pages (Beta) - ADDED: Feature Request - Translation Support (Beta) - ADDED: Feature Request - WPML Translation Support! (Beta) We are working closely with WPML to officially support their plugin - wpml-config.xml (Beta) - ADDED: Translation support for Theme Options panel (ot-theme-options.php) - ADDED: Translation support for Page, Page Template, and Post options (ot-meta-boxes.php) - ADDED: Translation support for theme-files (directory > languages, polytechnic.pot, and (Beta) es_ES.po and es_ES.mo translation files) - UPDATED: Polytechnic Courses plugin to v.1.5 - ADDED: Feature Request - Translation Support! (Beta) - ADDED: Translation support for plugin files (directory > languages, polytechnic-courses.pot, and (Beta) polytechnic-courses-es_ES.po and polytechnic-courses-es_ES.mo translation files) - ADDED: Feature Request - WPML Translation Support! (Beta) We are working closely with WPML to officially support their plugin - wpml-config.xml (Beta) - ADDED: Comments support - NOTES: Beta additions are supported, but we want to be clear that these might include some additional steps or limitations at this time. If you have any questions or issues, please provide any feedback at our dedicated support forum: https://themeisland.ticksy.com/ Version 1.1.0 05/15/2015 - FIXED: Markup and fallback styles for Tophat Search option Version 1.0.9 05/12/2015 - FIXED - Theme Options > Skin Builder - Tophat BG option - FIXED: polytechnic-styles plugin - Tophat Section expanded and patched - ADDED: polytechnic-styles plugin - Tophat Dropdown Section now included - UPDAETD: Demo-Content.xml - UPDATED: Optiontree-loader.php updated - UPDATED: OptionTree import panel(s) - candy-admin-simple.css - UPDATED: Event widget .duration adjustment - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.3 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.5.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 4.6.93 - UPDATED: OptionTree 2.5.5 Version 1.0.8 04/28/2015 - ADDED: Pagination for Course Catalog page template (template-course-catalog.php and mythology-functions.php) - ADDED: Fallback menu list item styles for sticky menu - ADDED: Feature Request - Tophat Login Links option (On/Off) - even when WooCommerce is active - ADDED: Feature Request - Tophat Search option (On/Off) - uses ajaxy if active - ADDED: Feature Request - Tophat Custom Text/HTML option - UPDATED: Resouces > Widgets.wie - UPDATED: Resouces > Demo-Content.xml - UPDATED: Hover-grid cross browser support - vc_extend css lines 16-32 added - UPDATED: Styles for rpwe menu widgets updated to use widget image sizes - UPDATED: Recommended plugin source(s) updated to use "latest-stable" - UPDATED: Small style tweeks to maintain consistency - FIXED - XSS Vulnerability: - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.2: - WPBakery Visual Composer 4.5 - Revolution Slider 4.6.9 - OptionTree 2.5.4 - TGM-Plugin-Activation 2.4.1 - Plugin-loader.php sources updated from http to https - Plugin-loader.php sources updated to use "latest-stable" Version 1.0.7 03/11/2015 - UPDATED: Polytechnic-courses plugin updated to 1.1 - ADDED: Polytechnic-courses plugin text domain declaration - FIXED: Padding for featured image when Meta section is off - FIXED: Content-fullwidth template (used in Blog template and Single) - FIXED: Post Options > Show Post Footer, when off now turn all sub-options off - ADDED: Post Options > Post Comments On/Off - ADDED: New scrolling table function for overflow content on mobile devices for course catalog page template (http://polytechnic.themeisland.net/colleges-schools/course-catalog/) - FIXED: Remove hardcoded link in plugins.css - FIXED: Sub-footer on/off toggle - UPDATED: Conditionals added/updated for Footer Options (show_footer) Version 1.0.6 02/26/2015 - UPDATED: OptionTree Loader - this fixes the ot-meta-boxes.php error WPML users were seeing - UPDATED: OptionTree 2.5.0 - UPDATED: NiceScroll 3.6.0 - UPDATED: Polytechnic-courses plugin updated to 1.1 - UPDATED: Table data titles internationalized in polytechnic-courses plugin - UPDATED: Styles-polytechnic plugin updated - UPDATED: Events Calendar styles for mobile devices - FIXED: Appearance > Customize > Header Menu Options - FIXED: Scrolling on touch devices - FIXED: Breadcrumbs for custom page tempaltes - FIXED: List styles for Sensei Quizes - ADDED: Base list styles for bbPress - FIXED: Dropdown menu v. Tribe events z-index issue - FIXED: Sticky header menu list spacing for non-mega-menu Version 1.0.5 02/05/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer - Version 4.3.5 - 4.4.2 - UPDATED: OptionTree - Version 2.4.3 - 2.4.6 - FIXED: Display of menu list item hover and sub-mega-menu. - ADDED: Default Styles for WooCommerce & The Events Calendar Tickets - ADDED: Menu Hover Color option in Skin Builder - ADDED: Sub Menu Highlight Color option in Skin Builder - ADDED: Sub Menu BG Color option in Skin Builder - ADDED: Sub Menu BG Image option in Skin Builder - ADDED: Header BG Grayscale On/Off toggle in Skin Builder - ADDED: Header BG Color Opacity numeric slider in Skin Builder Version 1.0.4 01/15/2015 - FIXED: Display of Faculty Directory for Safari and mobile users - FIXED: Author page course query now supports usernames with underscores - FIXED: Now supporting The Events Calendar 3.9 - this fixes the new events saving issue - UPDATED: Mythology-core/optiontree files updated to 2.4.6 - UPDATED: Documentation now covers hover grid, helper class, and demo-homepage.xml file (12.2.1) - UPDATED: Small tweaks to styles for author sidebar Version 1.0.3 01/05/2015 - FIXED: Custom faculty profile image uploader - FIXED: Blog template v. sidbar when posts have meta turned off - FIXED: Revolution Slider added back into plugin installation prompt - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer - Version 4.3.4 - 4.3.5 - UPDATED: Theme-plugin.css stylesheet update for Sensei login - UPDATED: Mythology-key updated for Sensei sidebar - UPDATED: Styles for Visual Composer Teaser Grid/Post Grid module Version 1.0.2 12/22/2014 - FIXED: Android device scrolling - FIXED: Sticky header on desktop viewport sizes - FIXED: Course & faculty meta widths/spacing/borders - FIXED: Widgets.WIE footer widgets updated for new Custom Menu Wizard version - FIXED: Responsive Menu plugin now included in prompt - ADDED: Option toggles (On/Off) for Faculty Meta - ADDED: Option toggles (On/Off) for Faculty Sidebar - ADDED: Faculty meta alignment/adjustment for overflow & removal - ADDED: Responsive Mode Toggle (On/Off) - ADDED: Check function for handheld devices. - FIXED: Dropdown Header on handheld devices. VERSION 1.0.1 12.15.2014 General Changes/Fixes Done: - Mythology Core Updated - VERSION 1.1.1 (By ThemeIsland) - Plugin Update: WPBakery Visual Composer - Version 4.3.3 - 4.3.4 - Plugin Update: WP Revolution Slider - Version 4.6.0 - 4.6.5 - Documentation Updated - Removed blank author description fallback - FIXED: Generation of vc_custom_ now isolated to rows. - FIXED: Jquery no conflict for skeleton-key.js - FIXED: Custom CSS and Custom Script panels in Theme Options - FIXED: Remove Required/Forced Activation of Non-Essential Plugins - ADDED: Option toggle (On/Off) for NiceScroll custom scrolling. - ADDED: Option toggles (On/Off) for Course Meta - ADDED: Option toggles (On/Off) for Course Listings - ADDED: Course meta alignment/adjustment for overflow & removal VERSION 1.0 -- - First Release /* ========== - Feature Requests & Roadmap - ==========*/ ** Have a feature request? Let us know! - Revolution Slider included with demo example

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Chapter Six: The Beginning is in the End

The first time Draco sat at the Gryffindor table he and Harry had been arguing so heatedly on the subject of broom handle regulation for international games, that neither noticed when they had come to stand next to the table. Hermione had caught hold of them by the sleeves and guided them to chairs. The boys didn’t seem to fully take in their surroundings, even when dinner appeared, making them drop their argument.

“And that’s another thing!” Draco announced, reaching for some biscuits, “Hermione, you got ten points in class for saying that there is no defensive magic designed specifically to fight nymphs.”

“Yes, because there isn’t. Nymphs are protective sprites, they don’t generally pose a threat--” “Yeah, but you’re wrong. I read about a confusion spell created to fool nymphs,” “But that’s used to steal! Historically it’s been cast on guardians of trees whose wood or fruit was particularly precious. The caster would then--” “Regardless of past use, you can’t deny the spell’s potential as defensive,” Draco said. “I don’t think you can ignore the spell’s intended purpose.” Hermione said.

Draco opened his mouth to reply when he pulled a strange face and look up and down the table, “This is the Gryffindor table.” he said.

“Well spotted,” Hermione joked, “You’re starting to sound like Harry.”

“Hey!” Harry exclaimed reproachfully.

“No, I’m not.” Draco was still looking around, eyes flitting from person to person down the length of the table, “Why did you let me sit here?”

Ron snorted at him, annoyed, “Yes, you are. And, if you hadn’t noticed, no one cared. They’re so used to you practically living in their common room, at this point they don’t care where you eat.”

“But I do.” Draco muttered, but stayed where he was.

After that he ate with the group fairly regularly. Whenever Hermione wanted to discuss politics or Harry and Ron needed potions help, he ate with them. One day Draco and Neville even ate at the Ravenclaw table with Thanatos and (to Harry’s dismay) a very handsome sixth year that Harry recognized from an embarrassing encounter in a third floor corridor. This, then, was their Advanced Herbology work group.

Harry had been extremely surly, something Hermione mistakenly attributed to Thanatos’ hand resting on Draco’s arm for unnecessarily long periods of time. Harry made sure that it was not a particularly enjoyable meal for anyone at the Gryffindor table that evening.

Exam week came sooner than made any logical sense. The last days leading up to the first exam were already a strange, half-remembered blur by the time Harry sat for his last NEWT. By the next Monday he could recall nothing from the past two weeks but fatigue and a dull kind of panic.

It took hours after the last test papers were collected for Harry to calm down enough to contemplate that the remaining three weeks were not only class and homework free, but were to be his last in Hogwarts.

That night Harry dreamed the sun was rising over Hogwarts. The red dawn light turned everything a lovely rosey color. The light spread across the quidditch pitch, swept across the castle’s stony side, and turned the lake into a shining red jewel.

It was stunning. Harry stood transfixed. When he looked up at the sky directly overhead he saw that the glow of the growing sunrise was choking out the stars. He watched, helpless, as he lost sight of them one by one. He tried uselessly to stop them from being snuffed out, but he couldn’t reach them. The long tendrils of sunlight stretched towards the last remaining star.

“No! Please!” Harry jerked awake. His hand was outstretched, reaching into the darkness above him. His throat felt raw, and he was sure he had shouted.

From somewhere to his left, a muttered, “You alright Harry?” told him he’d woken Ron.

“Yep. Sorry. Go back to bed.” A second later the sound of a familiar snore informed Harry that Ron had taken his advice.

###

A week of sunny days by the lake and cool pumpkin juice at Hagrid’s cottage passed. One night they had a party with all of the DA members, plus Draco and minus Marietta. A few morning were spent in friendly inter-house quidditch games. An afternoon was spent in the Forest with Hagrid, gathering ingredients for Slughorn.

Then, on the last morning of their lives as students, an owl came with Hermione’s Daily Prophet. The arrival of mail had caused a larger stir than usual, and Harry noticed that the Great Hall seemed to be filled with louder, more excited chatter than was normal.

Hermione paid the owl, took her paper, and scanned the front page. She gasped and bumped Ron’s arm, spilling his coffee and drawing his attention to the paper.

“What?!” Harry demanded, “What’s happened?”

“Nothing’s happened, per se,” Hermione said, “You’re on the front page again.”

“What for?” Harry asked suspiciously.

“Just rumour and gossip, as usual.”

“I’m on the front page over rumours?”

Hermione nodded.

“Oh, come off it, Hermione, he’s going to see it eventually--” Ron was cut off by a loud thud! as a copy of the Prophet was dropped in front of Harry, who gasped.

On the front page was a black and white photo of Harry and Draco. They were sitting on the earth beneath Harry’s favorite tree. Light streamed down through the leaves and a soft breeze was dancing in the grass and stirring Harry’s hair. Harry and Draco were seated closer together than Harry remembered them being. They were looking at one another, the shadow of laughter still in their faces and something far softer in their eyes. There was something private in the openness of their expressions, something intimate.

It was a breathtaking photo, artistically speaking, and certainly more flattering than any picture of him the paper had ever run before. Still, Harry fervently hoped that he never had to see such a sappy look on his own face ever again.

It dawned on Harry that for the Prophet to have landed on the table in front of him, someone must have dropped it. Slowly Harry looked up. The eyes that glinted at him from above were the same shade of silver as the eyes in the beautiful photo on the table. They were the same size and shape, framed in the same white lashes, and yet… they looked different. Maybe it’s the way this pair screams “murder.” Harry thought.

“Granger,” Draco said stiffly, turning towards Hermione, “A word.” He stalked out of the Great Hall, leaving Hermione to scramble after him.

“Way to make a scene,” Ron muttered.

Harry returned to the paper, avoiding looking at the picture and focusing on the text surrounding it. His own name assaulted him from the headline “HARRY POTTER, UNEXPECTED ROMANCE” and then, in smaller print, “THE NEXT CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF THE CHOSEN ONE?” Harry looked up at Ron as if hoping for answers.

“You’re doing that thing, the one that makes you look like an angry fish?” Ron said.

Harry closed his mouth and resumed reading:

“Harry Potter has once again confounded all who thought they understood the MO of The Boy Who Lived.

‘One might expect the Savior of the Wizarding World, the Downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, to be the enemy of ex-Death Eaters,’ says one Gary Bracekin, of the Auror Department.

‘I think that no one expected him to go around picking fights with everyone that was ever persuaded to take up with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but we definitely didn’t expect him to openly court the son of Lucius Malfoy. I’ve even heard that the Malfoy boy himself took the Dark Mark,’ said one anonymous source in the Ministry. Indeed, it seems safe to say that no one anticipated an alliance of any sort to develop between Harry, the Wizarding world’s favorite heroic heartthrob, and Draco Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy, Draco’s father--”

The article went on to detail Lucius’ history with Voldemort, included in stint in Azkaban. Harry took a moment to cringe again at the words “heroic heartthrob” and then flipped to page seven to scan through the rest of the article.

His eyes lighted on a passage near the end.

“... the unlikeliness of the match almost leads one to wonder if the young Malfoy has ulterior motives for this close association with our Chosen One. We can only hope that he is being honest about his intentions and that he will do right by Harry.”

Harry closed the Prophet irritably. He looked back at the photo on the front page. It was captioned, “Harry Potter and ex-Death Eater Draco Malfoy share a private moment in the sun.”

That’s right. Harry thought, It was private. Where did they get this picture? Did a student take it? That seemed doubtful. The picture was stunning, it was hard to imagine anyone but a professional taking a shot like that.

Harry glanced at the image. His photographic self just crinkled up his eyes and showed photographic Draco more of his teeth. They blinked at each other stupidly. What a sap. Harry found the byline. Of course.

“Ron, guess who wrote this article.”

“I dunno… wait. No way. She can’t have.” Harry flipped the paper around and pointed. Rita Skeeter. “Well,” Ron said, “she always get at the truth somehow, eh Harry?” Harry was spared responding by Hermione and Draco’s return. Draco plucked the Prophet from Harry’s fingers and swept over to his own house table without a word.

“He’s moody today,” Ron said. Harry raised his eyebrows, “Well,” Ron said defensively, “He’d going to have to get used to this kind of stuff. He’d better get comfortable before the article about him viciously breaking your heart and stealing your last cauldron cake comes out.”

“What did Draco want?” Harry asked Hermione and trying not to think about how embarrassing it was going to be if the Prophet continued to publish articles on the subject.

“Tell you later,” She said.

That evening the three of them were tucked away in a quiet corner of the common room. Draco was with his Advanced Herbology group, the whole class was having a party to celebrate surviving test day. It did not bother Harry in the least that Thanatos and the hot Ravenclaw would be there.

“Hermione,” Harry said, suddenly very quiet, “about that photo in the Prophet…”

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Do you think it might have been tampered with?”

Hermione cocked her head to the side, “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t… I mean that isn’t…Well, do you think it has been?'

“No, I don’t. I’ve looked into it but I don’t think it’s been altered or enhanced in any way. Why though? What made you think that it might have been?” She pressed, fixing him with a piercing look.

“It’s just… I don’t actually look like that, right?”

“It’s a very nice photo, Harry.” Hermione said.

“Yeah, mate. You look great.”

Harry struggled for a minute, then let out a deep sigh. “I don’t actually look at him like that, do I?”

Hermione stared for a moment and burst out laughing.

“It’s not funny Hermione!” Harry hissed, reddening.

“It kind of is, mate,” Ron said, grinning.

“You don’t understand, Harry. That’s what Draco wanted to talk to me about, he thought the photo had been meddled with somehow, but he didn’t say why or what kind of tampering he suspected.”

“Oooh, I hope he suspects the same kind Harry does!” Ron said, clapping Harry on the back and laughing. Harry looked away irritably. Hermione pulled the paper from her bag, smoothing it out and setting it on her lap. Harry looked over at it.

Seeing the looks between the two of them, Harry half expected his black-and-white self to try to hold Draco’s hand or kiss him. In fact, when he had first seen the image on the front of the Prophet, he had been terrified that the picture people would do exactly that. But now, just as before, they two stared into one another’s eyes, unmoving except for their matched breathing and erratic blinking.

“Harry, if you ever do it for that long in front of me,” Ron said, “I will hex the both of you. That’s just indecent.”

“But why aren’t we moving?” Harry asked, choosing to ignore Ron, “it’s definitely enchanted, look at the wind. But we aren’t trying to push each other out of shot or anything. If it hasn’t been messed with then why aren’t we acting like normal a normal photograph?”

“Harry, photos aren’t like paintings, they don’t have quite as much… life.”

“I know,” Harry said, thinking of a little book Hagrid had given once given him, “but they can move more than to just blink and smirk.”

“They’re snapshots, they capture the emotion of the moment.” Hermione said.

“You remember when you had that picture take of you and Lockhart?” Ron interjected.

“Yeah,”

“And little photo-you kept trying to get out of frame?” Ron continued. Harry nodded. “Well, that’s because when the photo was taken you desperately wanted to be out of shot, so that’s what got left behind on the picture.”

“I imagine you and Draco both felt like you’d have been perfectly content to remain in that moment forever when the picture was taken, and so you have.”

Harry was starting to get angry. He hadn’t signed up for this. Help Neville out? Yes, good. Stop people beating up Malfoy in between classes and over the holidays? Alright. Become accidental friends? Ok. Take Draco to the Burrow and integrate him completely into Harry’s friend group? FINE. But this? This was too much.

Harry stood up and walked out of the porthole, letting the painting of the Fat Lady swing shut behind him. Shaking his head and walking fast, he made his way onto the grounds. Harry had almost reached the whomping willow when he noticed he was being followed and turned to see Ron hurrying after him.

Harry sat down out of reach of the willow’s longest branches and let out a heartfelt sigh. As he did so he felt all his angry energy leave him. He had no one to be angry with.

When he turned to greet Ron he decided that he may have come to that conclusion too soon, as Ron was carrying the newspaper with him. Ron took a seat next to Harry silently. They sat there for a long time without saying anything. Finally Harry spoke.

“I like girls.”

“Yeah, I know. I noticed. I’m observant like that.” Ron joked.

“A lot.” Said Harry.

“Sure you do, mate.” Said Ron cheerfully. There was another long pause.

“I like guys, too.”

Ron snickered, “Yeah, I know. I’d noticed.”

Harry threw a twig at him.

“It’s not weird?”

“What are you on about? ‘Course it’s not weird. Blimey, Harry, haven’t we been through this already? Ages ago?”

“No, I mean… It’s not just guys. It’s that… I’m a bit attracted to... Malfoy. That’s weird, right?”

Ron gave Harry a look that was equal parts amusement and frustration. He held up the picture from the Prophet.

“Harry, that is not attraction, my friend.That’s not even remotely what attraction looks like.” He jabbed a finger at the image, “That isn’t even affection. That’s tenderness, that is. L-O-V-E. Love. Romance. You’re a complete goner for Malfoy.” Ron was choking on laughter before he’d reached the end of his speech. He wiped his watery eyes and continued, “And yeah, it’s a bit weird, and a lot funny, but it’s good for you, good for both of you.”

“Both of us? No. No. no.” Harry was shaking his vehemently.

“Harry, Malfoy’s right about one thing: you can be really dense.” Harry tried to look appropriately offended, but his heart wasn’t in it. Ron went on, “We’ve graduated, Harry. We’re not school kids anymore. We aren’t going to have classes and homework and vengeful groups of 3-7 Malfoy-hating fifth years to bring us together. What was it Dad said? At dinner?”

Harry tried to think, “Something about choosing who stays in our lives?” He said slowly.

“Right. He said everyone who’s in our lives from now on are going to be there because we decide we want them there. That definitely includes Malfoy, Harry.”

Ron and Harry sat by the Willow for a few minutes longer, and then they went inside and found Hermione, Draco, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Dean, and Seamus. They spent the rest of the night together and most of them only went to bed only a few hours before sunrise. Draco left to sneak back to his common room sometime after two. A few minutes later Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map.

He caught up to Draco easily. He snuck up quietly and tapped Draco hard on the shoulder. This was very nearly a fatal mistake. Draco spun around before Harry had time to blink, whipping out his wand and pointing that the place Harry’s hand was occupying in space.

“If that is you Peeves--”

Harry interrupted him by pulling off the cloak. Draco dropped his wand at the same time and speed that he rolled his eyes, making him look like some kind of ridiculous wind-up doll.

“Just like you to be sneaking about after hours,” He sneered.

“Look who’s talking,” Harry said. Draco raised his eyebrows but Harry ignored him, “anyway, I came to make sure you didn’t get caught on the way back. I know you’re a bit of an amatuer.”

“Bugger off.”

“Get under the cloak.”

As soon as they were both invisible and on their way it became clear that Harry had miscalculated. His clever plan to ensure that neither of them get caught had been that the two of them would go to the dungeons, wait until the map gave the all clear, have Draco leave the cloak and enter his common room, and then Harry would return to his dormitories. An excellent plan for sneaking around undetected, but a terrible plan as far as general comfort goes.

The cloak was never made to conceal two people. When they were young he, Ron, and Hermione could easily fit. Every year it grew harder, but they had not tried it in a long while. There was a reason.

In order for the two of them to move together, both hidden from view, Draco and Harry were so close to one another that Harry could smell Draco’s hair and feel his body heat. One of Draco’s hands was actually resting on Harry’s back for part of the trip, reminding Harry of when they had danced at Christmas. They had to pause a few times to let first Peeves, and then Mrs. Norris, pass them. The third time they stopped Harry leaned over to see the evil cat pass. His breath ghosted Draco’s neck, causing Draco to shiver and making Harry deeply thankful that it was far too dark for his blushing face to be visible when he straightened back up. In the end, it turned out to be one of the longest walks of Harry’s life.

When the reached the dungeon and it was time for Draco to leave, he pulled off the cloak, took a hasty pair of steps back, and immediately donned his old, mocking sneer. In a voice just slightly higher than his own he said, “Thanks for walking me back, Harry. I had such a great time.”

Harry rolled his eyes and flipped him off, but he was grinning as he set out on his way back to his own dorm for the last time.

###

The train ride was pleasurable. Hermione had done the work and snagged Draco before he could exile himself to an empty compartment somewhere, and the four of them took the journey together.

They talked and joked and ate sweets. Harry kindly pretended not to see when Hermione and Ron’s gazes lingered or they got a little too wrapped up in each other’s smiles. It was only fair, given that all three of his companions were dedicated in ignoring the way Harry would get lost for a while, staring out the window and looking at the floor. They were less dedicated to ignoring the occasional look he may have cast in Draco’s direction.

Before boarding the train that morning, Hermione and Ron had “suggested” that Harry “seriously consider” having an “open conversation” with Draco “just about how you feel.” Harry had every intention of ignoring that advice.

More uncomfortably still, Ron kept giving Harry meaningful looks and Hermione sent him repeated “thumbs up” which there was no possible way Draco could have avoided seeing if he’d been trying. Which he might have been. At one point, Hermione even engineered an almost-subtle excuse for Harry and Draco to be alone in the compartment.

When they got back and saw that Draco watching, fascinated as Harry and Manasa held what looked like a very deep conversation, Hermione gave Harry a deeply disappointed look. Ron covered for her by passing out little packages Luna had given them. The packages held a picture of a weird little imp with long, curling and eight toes, some handmade sweets, and an invitation to a party at her home in a few weeks.

Apart from the scheming, the ride was wonderful, and Harry found himself wishing that they could remain on the train for days; but they couldn’t. Eventually, the train pulled in to King’s Cross, and they all shuffled onto the platform.

“Where are you going to be staying?” Harry asked Draco as they waited together for the Weasleys to arrive.

“An apartment in London. It’s paid for by the program.” Draco’s tone was casual but he was not looking at Harry, “You?”

“Well, I’m going to the Burrow for a few days and then I’ll be heading to London myself. Sirius had a place, a lot smaller than his family home. Ron and I’ll be rooming together.”

Harry could see the Weasleys in the distance, and for once the sight of them hurrying towards him made him feel upset rather than safe. He was running out of time. Harry started panicking. Draco looked like he intended to flee before Mrs. Weasley had the chance to force him into eating an entire Thestral or something. His knuckles were growing white where they gripped his trunk.

Harry looked down and saw that his own knuckles were a similar shade. He took a few hasty, deep breaths. This was not the plan. This was not the plan at all. This was a very bad idea. But when did the combination of a lack of planning and a very bad idea ever stop Harry Potter?

Ginny had joined their group and the Weasleys were in clear view because Harry had waited to the last second. Too late now. This was happening. Harry let his trunk fall from his grasp with a thunk. His friends looked at him curiously.

Harry met Draco’s eyes. Draco’s expression went from casual interest, to mild concern when he saw the intensity of Harry’s gaze. A moment longer and look like fear crossed his eyes. But it was too late. Harry was already leaning in.

Harry gently held Draco’s face between his hands and, very softly, brushed his lips against Draco’s. He almost expected Draco to pull away or even disapparate on the spot.

What Harry had not expected was for Draco to make a little sound of alarm. Harry had not expected, after a very long millisecond, for Draco to lean into his touch. Harry certainly had not expected to feel Draco’s fingers card through his hair, tangle in his curls, and use it to draw them even closer together. Surprises, Harry thought, were good. Very good.

When Harry pulled back a little Draco was giving him a smug smile.

“What?” Harry said.

“Have fun dealing with hoard of Weasleys coming this way. I hope you know they saw that.”

“What do you mean, ‘have fun?’ You’re not going anywhere.”

“Oh yes, I am.”

“Oh no, you’re not.” Harry said.

Harry leaned in again and caught Draco’s smirking mouth in a another kiss, this one not so hesitant but still achingly gentle. Hands caressed faces, traced along throats, ran acrossed shoulders. Fingers tangled in hair, swept over backs, and wound into fabric. Every movement tugged the two of them closer and closer. Harry wasn’t sure if he was breathing. There was a feeling in his chest that he couldn’t name. It was flying, it was the smell of the Burrow and the sound of Hagrid’s kettle. It was Sirius’ laugh, it was fairy lights at Christmas and the Giant Squid eating toast. It was Hermione’s color-coded notes and Ron’s chess set. It was de-gnoming gardens, playing quidditch, and walking down Diagon Alley. It was home.

All day Harry had been thinking that the train was taking him away from the first home he could remember. He was right. Hogwarts lay behind him now. The first place he had been welcome, the place that had given him people who cared about him, people he had been willing to fight for, to die for. What Harry had not understood until now was that the train was also bringing him to another home, another place to belong, new things to fight for with life and limb, new lessons to learn.

Mr. Weasley had been right, if Harry wanted Draco to stay in his life, it wasn’t going to be easy. Harry had decided it was worth it, and he was going to do what was necessary, even if that meant abandoning all good sense and snogging Draco on platform nine and three-quarters in front of the entire Weasley clan.

Harry sighed against Draco’s mouth and felt him smile in response.

"Oi!” a voice that sounded like Fred’s called, “If you two are ready to kindly disentangle,”

“I think the rest of us would like to leave the platform at some point,” finished a loud voice that sounded like George.”

Harry lay his cheek lightly against Draco’s, arms still wrapped around the other’s waist. “Don’t even think about taking off. This is your fault too.” He whispered.

“I hardly see that. I’m not the one who decided to do this so publicly.” Draco said, equally softly.

“Yeah, well. We’d never have done it at all if it were left up to you. So. If you want to duck out you’ll have to splinch me.”

Draco’s right hand was playing with the hair on Harry’s neck, “Might be worth it. Value goes down with any permanent damage sustained, of course, but… The damage to might be comparable to how much I value the opportunity to avoid Mr. Weasley’s overwhelmingly positivity and Fleur’s awkward questions.”

Harry chuckled, “Why Fleur’s questions?”

“Because,” he whispered against Harry’s cheek, leaning in just far enough that his lips grazed Harry’s ear as he spoke, “tu es mon petit ami.”

Harry shoved him away, rubbing fiercely at his own ear and turning red. “Ew, don’t do that.”

Harry was then unfortunately reminded that they had an audience, because said audience erupted into laughter.

Eventually, they all headed to the Burrow. Harry kept hold of Draco’s hand, making good on his promise that any disappearing act would have to be executed over his splinched body. As he walked away from Kings Cross Station for the last time, Harry overheard Fleur say slyly, “Bon ami, Draco? Très très bon! N’est-ce pas?”

#drarry #harry/draco #harry x draco #harry potter #hp #Draco Malfoy #maykomakesstuff #protection detail #fanfiction #fanfic

[andreaeppolitoevents]

How to Tell If a Wedding Planner (or Pro) is Real

With so many instagram accounts and social media profiles “sharing” other people’s work, how can you tell if what you are looking at is truly the work of the wedding pro you are considering?

If you have read the book “Steal Like An Artist” by Austin Kleon, you know that there is very little in the world that is completely, wholly original. As artists and creatives, we are inspired by the world around us. To be inspired by the world is to take that which you see and make it better. I take colors, textures, and patterns and I mix them in a new way. I make note of the weddings, events, and interior designs that I love so that I can dissect and dismantle them. I break the world into tiny pieces, and then put it back together in a way that - hopefully - makes people feel things other than that which they felt before. This is not theft. It is inspiration and, in so many ways, art. I honor the work that has come before me by pushing it further.

Theft in the wedding and event space is about showing work that is not your own and failing to properly credit the appropriate individuals. It is taking an idea or an image and knocking it off in a way that degrades the value of the original work. When I talk to my clients about design, I find myself saying, “You wouldn’t carry a knock off Chanel or YSL bag. Why would you pay for a knock off wedding?” My advice for clients and creatives alike is always this: Be better. Be better than Pinterest. Be better than Instagram. You deserve more than a knock off; especially a bad one.

How do you as a couple know whether or not the work a wedding pro is showing is actually theirs?

Over the last month, many of us have been made aware of the fact that our work has been “stolen” and is being shared by other wedding pros as their own. As a professional and a business owner, it is incredibly frustrating to see work be abused in such a cavalier manner. Many of us have dedicated our lives to the pursuit of this work. We have spent decades honing our craft and invested thousands of dollars and countless hours in order to develop ourselves as creatives. Our ability to see the world in an utterly unique way, to imagine a world more beautiful than the one we live in, and to manifest that into reality is an artform. Having it pilfered and passed around as if it is nothing is not only wrong, but incredibly hurtful. It is hard to understand how one professional can do this to another.

As maddening as it is for us as creatives, the real damage to is to our clients. Newly engaged couples begin their search for inspiration online. Social media sites such as Instagram and search engines such as Pinterest are the go-to sources of inspiration for brides and grooms. Couples find an image they love, trace the clicks back to a website, and book a particular vendor based on what they have seen online. The relationship starts with a lie, and nothing good can come from that place. As the process moves forward, couples find themselves struggling with their vendor (be it a planner, designer, photographer, etc.) because the hired team cannot meet their expectations. There is a gap between the perceived talent of the vendor and their actual ability. The faulty pro has sold their clients a lie, and the unknowing couple is left confused about where they have gone wrong. This leads to heartbroken clients and a negative impression of our beloved wedding industry.

So how can you, as a couple and potential client, determine if the work you are seeing online is truly the work of the professional you are considering? Here are three ways that you can suss out the legitimacy of a wedding professionals’ presented work:

5 Tips for Validating a Wedding Pro’s Authenticity

COMPARE: Compare the image you love to the rest of the wedding pros portfolio. Does the image you love fit in with the rest of their presented work? Wedding planners will plan to the desires of their clients, but there should be a sense of style and a vibe that carries through their work. For example, I love production. My weddings will all feature a major design element and there will be a sense of transformation and storytelling. My images are captioned with ways that explain how and why I created a certain environment. Every element I add to a design is personally vetted, and there is a reason behind each decision I make. As , have a very specific style and vibe. Their composure, the lighting, and the way in which they frame their subjects will have a thread of consistency. If you look at a photographer’s site and there are inconsistencies in the filter and tone of the images, it is a good indicator that the work you are seeing may not be theirs.

FOLLOW THE FEED: Scroll through the feed of the company you are considering in search of other images from the same wedding or event. Legitimate pros will have multiple photos of the same wedding, and those photos will also appear on their website. Beware of new accounts that are featuring over the top work that appears to be their own. New businesses need time to develop their own original portfolios. If you see something that you adore but the pro seems too new to have perhaps produced it, reach out and ask about the origin. Some new businesses have approval to share work they contributed to while they were employed with another company. In that case, the pro will likely direct you to the original source and explain how they worked on the project. Always double check, and ask the actual wedding planner or photographer what they can tell you about the posting pro’s involvement.

IMAGE SEARCH: Did you know that you can search for an image via google? Simple drag the image you love into the search bar and do a little digging. You would be able to trace back the original origin of the photo, and also see where else the image has appeared. Pay particular attention to weddings that have been published by third party blogs and magazines, as the editors will list the legitimate vendors that were involved in the project.

TAGS AND COMMENTS: From time to time, vendors will share the work of other pros to showcase inspiration or to highlight a relationship. Legitimate vendors will note clearly that the work they are sharing is not their own. They will list detailed credits in the captain and note that the images and videos shared are not from events that they have produced. However, less scrupulous people will share work without specifically saying who it belongs to. They will craft comments and captions that make it seems as if they did the work, and they will “hide” the real vendors as tags in the image. This is tricky, as the poster will say things such as “I never claimed it was mine” or “well, I tagged you in the image” to deflect responsibility. I know that it sounds crazy, but you should always do your due diligence and ensure that there are no hidden tags or credits that you may be missing.

ASK FOR FULL SET OF IMAGES: It is very easy for someone to repost one piece of work and claim it as their own. It is much more difficult to hijack an entire gallery. While qualifying your vendors, ask to see the full set of images from the weddings you love. Not just the public gallery that they are showing; ask for the full set of images. Wedding pros who have actually worked an event will have their own behind the scenes photos they can share.

It may sound like a lot of work, but vetting your wedding professionals - especially your wedding planner - is one of the most important things you will do while building your team. Hire the right person with the right credentials - one that also sees the world as you wish it were - and you are all but guaranteed to love not just the final product, but the process. However, if you fall victim to someone who claims work that is not their own or that overly embellishes their experience, and you are likely doomed to find yourself steeped in regret. (For a real-couple’s account of their experience having hired the wrong wedding planner, watch my VIDEO or listen to my PODCAST.)

How can we as wedding professionals protect ourselves from unsavory “pros” who pass our work off as their own?

Perhaps you are wedding professional that has had your work “borrowed” by your competition; what then? Every established wedding professional that I know has experienced this. Some attempt to prevent theft and unauthorized usage by putting large logos and watermarks on their images. This is an awful look and prevents the real pros from properly showcasing their art. Additionally, anyone who wants to take any image can and will easily get around a logo. I do not believe in compromising the work to prevent the bad behavior of others. I do believe in addressing the behavior, however, and doing your best to stop others from being actively injurious.

I am not a lawyer, but I have taken the following steps with great success over the years:

If you find that your work is being used without your consent, the first thing to do is to send a message directly to the offending party. Let them know that you have become aware of their unauthorized use of your work. State clearly that you do not give this person permission to use your image/video/design/words and request that they take it down. Next, you should reach out to all of the pros that worked on the wedding or event in question and let them know that another business is sharing their work inappropriately and without credit. In my experience, other vendors will be just as disgruntled by this action as you are, and they will also reach out to the offending party. Peer pressure is a powerful influence, and often encourages the poster to remove the images they have posted. If, after all this, you still find that your work has not been removed, make your plea public. Post a comment on the image that clearly states that the work being is yours, and that it does not belong to the posting business. Request that they remove the image and make a note to follow up and ensure that they take it down. Screengrab the image, and keep a detailed record of your requests and the business’ response to them. If a week passes with no resolution, you can escalate your request by sending a cease and desist letter. In layman’s terms, “cease” means to stops doing something and “desist” advises them not to resume the behavior. This type of notification will typically be the last step you need to take in order to resolve the issue. After this, you need to either bring in an actual attorney or you need to let it go.

Personally, I struggle in letting things like this go. But I also believe that every moment I spent policing the behaviors of others takes away from the time and energy I can put into creating something new. That doesn’t mean that I stand by and allow others to wantonly steal my work. It just means that I won’t allow them to steal my time or my joy along with it.

Instead, we fight the good fight. We do the best we can. We share the work of others to celebrate them and to share inspiration, and we protect that which we created in honor of not only our work, but for the clients that we created it for. Anything else disrespects the process, the journey, and the story. If we fail to honor those things, then we have nothing. And pretty without purpose will always fall flat.

And so my engaged friends, continue to seek inspiration online. Pin the photos you love, save the Instagrams that inspire you, and use the many resources available online to educate yourself about who you are working with and what you are buying. Buy from and work with the best, and remember that integrity and art are a winning combination.

Always….

PS - My friends at Anee Atelier recently published their own account of having not only their work but their entire site plagiarized. (You can read their incredible article here).

[minnievirizarry]

The Ultimate Guide on How to Use Instagram Stories

It’s no secret that Stories are a big deal on Instagram.

But the fact that over 400 million people use Stories daily may come as a surprise to anyone who’s been sleeping on them.

The recent explosion of storytelling content is no accident, though.

In fact, Instagram has been pushing hard for brands and users alike to hop on the Stories bandwagon.

Engaging features such as the Questions Sticker and creative touches like Music make Stories truly one-of-a-kind in terms of content on Instagram. Meanwhile, the introduction of Stories ads for brands is also telling in terms of Stories’ selling power.

The takeaway here? Stories are no longer seen as a novelty. At this point, they’re a staple of Instagram itself.

But if you don’t quite “get” Stories or how they work, their popularity might leave you scratching your head a bit.

Don’t fret. In this guide, we’re going to break down how to use Instagram Stories for your business or brand. From what makes a proper post to best practices to ensure your Stories don’t go unnoticed, we’ve got you covered.

What’s So Special About Instagram Stories, Anyway?

First thing’s first: let’s break down how Stories work in plain English.

Introduced as a sort of successor to Snapchat’s “self-destruct” style of content, the concept of Stories is actually pretty simple.

In short, Stories allow users to create a feed of sequential content that disappears within 24 hours of being posted. Story content can either be static photos or video, including video created via Boomerang.

Think of Stories as a sort of secondary, exclusive feed of content for your most dedicated followers. Creative touches such as unique captions and overlays make Stories totally different from traditional posts.

Story content is also prioritized in the sense that Instagram highlights updated stories upfront in your feed. The purple circle around your profile photo lets followers know that you’ve recently added to your Story.

This creates a sense of urgency and scarcity around your Stories, making them a sort of must-see, for-your-eyes-only content that’s exclusive for followers in the know.

That said, you can save stories to your homepage to turn them into static content in the form of “Highlights.” Here’s an example from Funko’s page which promotes tons of highlighted past stories under their bio.

  Between their time-sensitive nature and creative freedom, there’s plenty that businesses can do to take advantage of this format.

That said, you might still have trouble wrapping your heads around how to use Instagram stories for business.

After all, creative freedom can be daunting. Also, with no tagging or captions available, where do you even start with Stories?

Fair question!

5 Types of Instagram Stories for Businesses to Try

Stories’ creative quirks and sequential style actually make it prime for a variety of campaigns for businesses. Below we’ve highlighted five different types of Stories which are popular with brands of all shapes and sizes.

How-To’s and Tutorials

Stories’ sequential format makes them perfect for step-by-step, how-to style content. From recipes to beauty tutorials and beyond, bite-sized educational content is an engaging alternative to traditional video or blog post.

Brands like Samsung understand how to use Instagram stories to engage and educate at the same time. This tutorial Story breaks down step-by-step how to take the perfect photo using a Galaxy device:

And as a sort of call-to-action, Samsung encourages followers to share their creations using the #withGalaxy hashtag for the opportunity to be featured in their feed:

And hey, that leads us directly to our next point!

Sharing User Generated Content (UGC)

Many brands share Stories dedicated to their followers’ user-generated content such as tagged customer photos. For example, Converse uses their #FOREVERCHUCK hashtag to show off follower photos in a massive Story slideshow.

Stories represent a fantastic place to publish UGC if you don’t want it to dominate your main feed. This is especially important as you don’t want your valuable shout-outs from followers to go to waste.

Behind-the-Scenes Stories

Part of the beauty of Instagram stories is that they don’t have to be big, polished productions.

In fact, many brands create stories that are sort of off-the-cuff while attending public events or industry conferences. In a sense, Stories allow brands to take their followers along for the ride.

Here’s a recent example from Salesforce’s recent Story from their TrailheaDX 2018 conference. Promoted with the #TDX18 hashtag, Salesforce showcased everything from real-time presentations to happenings at booths around the conference.

And for brands who want to go behind-the-scenes without taking up any valuable real estate on their feed, look no further than your latest Story.

Fashion giant Uniqlo‘s main feed is dedicated to showing off their latest styles and fits. To show their team some love, the brand has dedicated Highlights to celebrating their public service and community outreach.

If you’re struggling to figure out how to use Instagram Stories, consider putting the human side of your business on display.

Time-Sensitive Offers, Deals and Promos

Just as you’d promote an offer via Instagram, you can do the same via Stories. Perfect for ecommerce and brick-and-mortar stores alike, Stories can be used for limited-time deals or simply to highlight a current sale.

For example, Whole Foods‘ “Delish Deals” Story shows off items which are on sale at their stores and provides an end-date so there’s no confusion for followers.

Story-specific offers are a smart move to encourage people to stay glued to your Instagram for fresh deals and updates on a regular basis.

Special Announcements

Announcements that keep your followers guessing through every step of your Story represents one of the most creative ways to use the format.

For example, Southwest used a Story to tease their recent Shark Week promotion. Their initial post hyped that something special was going on with someone in a shark costume and little context. This playful sort of content is perfect for piquing people’s interest.

The Story went on to eventually reveal their hashtag promotion #SharksTakeFlight to spot their fleet of Shark Week planes in the air.

As you can see, there’s no “right” approach for those trying to figure out how to use Instagram Stories for business. In fact, any combination of these types of posts is totally fair game.

That said, just because you understand the types of Stories available doesn’t mean your content is must-see.

In order to get more eyeballs on your Stories, let’s quickly touch on the format’s best practices.

Best Practices of Instagram Stories for Business

So, what should businesses focus on if they want to squeeze the most out of their Stories?

Point Followers to Your Stories

Here’s some food for thought: the 400 million people using Stories daily represents about 40% of Instagram’s base of active users (1 billion). In other words, although Stories are wildly popular, not everyone is on board quite yet.

So if you’re posting fresh content to your Stories, don’t be afraid to let your followers know about it.

Occasionally asking your followers to check out your stories isn’t spammy at all, especially if you’re posting exclusive content there. From time to time, simply post a reminder like this one from Shake Shack:

The definition of puppy love. 👆 Check out our Story for more of our cutest four-legged Shack fans! 📷: @finley.scot

A post shared by SHAKE SHACK (@shakeshack) on Aug 7, 2018 at 6:52pm PDT

Make Your Visuals Count

Instagram is famous for striking visual content and your Stories should be treated no differently. Given that you only have a split second to grab your followers’ attention, make sure your Stories compel people to keep watching by:

Using bright, contrasting colors in your fonts or overlays

Including a person or someone’s face to make an instant emotional connection

Capturing interesting or unfamiliar settings (think: landscapes, nature, crowds, etc.)

Although your Stores don’t need to tick these boxes 100% of the time, consider them an added bonus for winning people’s attention.

Mind Your Text

Perhaps a no-brainer, make sure that any text you include on your photos is legible.

Instagram’s default sans-serif font is easy to read, but brands might understandably want to experiment with different font packs or colors.

That’s totally fine, granted you’re not using clashing colors or something that might be tough to read via mobile (think: red on orange). Likewise, don’t crowd your Stories with too much text and run the risk of overwhelming your followers.

Check out how Starbucks uses Instagram’s default text options in addition to their own chalkboard writing to make their message crystal clear with short phrases:

With more and more brands trying out Stories for size, going the extra mile in terms of creativity can help your Stories stand out from the crowd.

What sort of tactics are we talking about, though?

We’re glad you asked!

How to Make Your Instagram Stories Stand Out

Below are some key strategies and tools to help your Stories pack an extra punch in your followers’ feeds.

Incorporate Interactive Elements

Polls and Question Stickers instantly make your Stories more interactive, encouraging engagement from your followers from the word “go.” These features represent a playful way to pick your followers’ brains.

For example, this Story from Netflix helps followers find movie recommendations based on the emoji of their choice:

Brands like Hello Fresh regularly run quizzes to go back-and-forth with their followers. Later in their Stories, they post the results so those quizzed can see how they did.

Rather than let your Stories gather cobwebs, these elements represent a sort of call-to-action to engage your followers.

Use Apps to Make Your Photos Pop

In addition to Boomerang, there are a number of Instagram apps such as Hype Type, Over and Adobe Spark with features specifically tailored for Stories.

From font packs to creative overlays, a paid app may be just the resource you need to take your photos to another level creatively.

A masking masterclass by @j.larroc 👀🔥 Go check out his feed for more beautiful examples. We’re also fans of the shade of yellow in this one 😏 #MadeWithOver by @j.larroc

A post shared by Over (@over) on Jul 24, 2018 at 5:32am PDT

Run a Stories Ad

And of course, what better way to ensure that your Story stands out than by running an ad?

Many brands have seen success using Instagram’s hyper-targeted ad platform via Stories. Allowing brands to use 10 photos or videos, the full-screen format is truly unique in terms of formatting and keeping your targets’ attention. Here a recent example from Overstock:

If you’re thinking about running a Story-based ad, just keep in mind the specific Instagram ad specs and best practices for Stories such as:

High-res, full-screen sizing for your photos (recommended 1200 x 628 pixels)

Using little or no overlayed text on your images or videos (for the sake of maximum delivery)

Not reliant on autoplaying audio or video given that most Story ads are viewed without sound

In short, paid Stories are brilliant for brands with the budget to create their own bite-sized commercials. As long as you can work within Stories’ specific specs and know your target audience, you’re golden.

5 Examples of Awesome Instagram Stories (and Why They Work)

Still strapped for ideas on how to use Instagram Stories?

How about we look at some top-tier brands in action?

To drive home just how diverse Story-based campaigns can be, we’ve highlighted five recent Stories to serve as some much-needed inspiration.

Influencers Stories

Stories are the bread and butter of influencers and solo brands for a reason. Perfect for travel bloggers or anyone on-the-go, Stories allow you to take your followers on the proverbial journey with you.

Influencer Marc Ritz highlights his travels around the world, taking eye-popping photos to share with his followers along every stop.

  These sort of organic photos in-the-wild represent the sort of content that the Instagram community at large absolutely loves.

Motivational Stories

As it should come as no surprise, the ultimate intention of Stories is to, well, tell a story.

However, consider that sometimes the most compelling stories don’t come from you. Instead, they come from your fans and followers.

For example, check out Fitbit‘s motivational #MyReasonIs campaign. Using the brand’s hashtag, followers were encouraged to share their reasons for getting fit in 2018 for a chance to be featured in a Story.

From humorous to heartfelt, this user-generated content campaign is a shining example of the power of visual storytelling.

Tutorial Stories

As noted, Stories allow brands to go step-by-step and teach followers a thing or two without being totally formal about it.

Brands like Ipsy use stories to not only create beauty tutorials but also monthly “mood boards.” These collage-style posts are packed with tips and inspiration, all in a single photo.

These sorts of Stories also display the content marketing potential of Instagram when brands get creative.

On-the-Scene Stories

As we mentioned earlier, events, conventions and conferences are tailor-made for Stories. If you spot something of interest while you’re out and about, chances are your followers would be interested, too.

For example, Funko’s Instagram shows off cosplayers and other happenings at conventions that their followers can geek out about.

The best part about taking your followers along to events? There’s no expectation for your content to be polished or “perfect.”

Day-in-the-Life Stories

Consider that followers crave a sense of authenticity from the brands they support. What better way to “get real” with your fans than by taking them to your office or showing off your team?

For example, MailChimp’s recently ran a series of day-in-the-life Stories. Each Story highlighted individual members and their day-to-day roles at MailChimp, including bringing on new hires.

Remember: Stories don’t need to be a massive production. Armed with a smartphone and best practices in mind, you can start creating them today.

And with that, we wrap up our list!

Have You Figured Out How to Use Instagram Stories for Your Business?

Stories have become an integral piece of so many brands’ Instagram presence lately.

But are they part of yours?

Given that Instagram is focusing so heavily on Stories and the format only appears to be getting bigger, brands should get on board with them ASAP. By understanding the best practices above, you can stay ahead of the curve and keep your followers engaged via Stories without missing a beat.

We want to hear from you, though! How do you feel about the popularity of Instagram Stories? How are you using them yourself? Let us know in the comments below.

This post The Ultimate Guide on How to Use Instagram Stories originally appeared on Sprout Social.

from SM Tips By Minnie https://sproutsocial.com/insights/how-to-use-instagram-stories/

[jessette20]

Hello Fresh Quiz

It’s no secret that Stories are a big deal on Instagram.

But the fact that over 400 million people use Stories daily may come as a surprise to anyone who’s been sleeping on them.

The recent explosion of storytelling content is no accident, though.

In fact, Instagram has been pushing hard for brands and users alike to hop on the Stories bandwagon.

Engaging features such as the Questions Sticker and creative touches like Music make Stories truly one-of-a-kind in terms of content on Instagram. Meanwhile, the introduction of Stories ads for brands is also telling in terms of Stories’ selling power.

The takeaway here? Stories are no longer seen as a novelty. At this point, they’re a staple of Instagram itself.

But if you don’t quite “get” Stories or how they work, their popularity might leave you scratching your head a bit.

Don’t fret. In this guide, we’re going to break down how to use Instagram Stories for your business or brand. From what makes a proper post to best practices to ensure your Stories don’t go unnoticed, we’ve got you covered.

What’s So Special About Instagram Stories, Anyway?

First thing’s first: let’s break down how Stories work in plain English.

Introduced as a sort of successor to Snapchat’s “self-destruct” style of content, the concept of Stories is actually pretty simple.

In short, Stories allow users to create a feed of sequential content that disappears within 24 hours of being posted. Story content can either be static photos or video, including video created via Boomerang.

Think of Stories as a sort of secondary, exclusive feed of content for your most dedicated followers. Creative touches such as unique captions and overlays make Stories totally different from traditional posts.

Story content is also prioritized in the sense that Instagram highlights updated stories upfront in your feed. The purple circle around your profile photo lets followers know that you’ve recently added to your Story.

This creates a sense of urgency and scarcity around your Stories, making them a sort of must-see, for-your-eyes-only content that’s exclusive for followers in the know.

That said, you can save stories to your homepage to turn them into static content in the form of “Highlights.” Here’s an example from Funko’s page which promotes tons of highlighted past stories under their bio.

  Between their time-sensitive nature and creative freedom, there’s plenty that businesses can do to take advantage of this format.

That said, you might still have trouble wrapping your heads around how to use Instagram stories for business.

After all, creative freedom can be daunting. Also, with no tagging or captions available, where do you even start with Stories?

Fair question!

5 Types of Instagram Stories for Businesses to Try

Stories’ creative quirks and sequential style actually make it prime for a variety of campaigns for businesses. Below we’ve highlighted five different types of Stories which are popular with brands of all shapes and sizes.

How-To’s and Tutorials

Stories’ sequential format makes them perfect for step-by-step, how-to style content. From recipes to beauty tutorials and beyond, bite-sized educational content is an engaging alternative to traditional video or blog post.

Brands like Samsung understand how to use Instagram stories to engage and educate at the same time. This tutorial Story breaks down step-by-step how to take the perfect photo using a Galaxy device:

And as a sort of call-to-action, Samsung encourages followers to share their creations using the #withGalaxy hashtag for the opportunity to be featured in their feed:

And hey, that leads us directly to our next point!

Sharing User Generated Content (UGC)

Many brands share Stories dedicated to their followers’ user-generated content such as tagged customer photos. For example, Converse uses their #FOREVERCHUCK hashtag to show off follower photos in a massive Story slideshow.

Stories represent a fantastic place to publish UGC if you don’t want it to dominate your main feed. This is especially important as you don’t want your valuable shout-outs from followers to go to waste.

Behind-the-Scenes Stories

Part of the beauty of Instagram stories is that they don’t have to be big, polished productions.

In fact, many brands create stories that are sort of off-the-cuff while attending public events or industry conferences. In a sense, Stories allow brands to take their followers along for the ride.

Here’s a recent example from Salesforce’s recent Story from their TrailheaDX 2018 conference. Promoted with the #TDX18 hashtag, Salesforce showcased everything from real-time presentations to happenings at booths around the conference.

And for brands who want to go behind-the-scenes without taking up any valuable real estate on their feed, look no further than your latest Story.

Fashion giant Uniqlo‘s main feed is dedicated to showing off their latest styles and fits. To show their team some love, the brand has dedicated Highlights to celebrating their public service and community outreach.

If you’re struggling to figure out how to use Instagram Stories, consider putting the human side of your business on display.

Time-Sensitive Offers, Deals and Promos

Just as you’d promote an offer via Instagram, you can do the same via Stories. Perfect for ecommerce and brick-and-mortar stores alike, Stories can be used for limited-time deals or simply to highlight a current sale.

For example, Whole Foods‘ “Delish Deals” Story shows off items which are on sale at their stores and provides an end-date so there’s no confusion for followers.

Story-specific offers are a smart move to encourage people to stay glued to your Instagram for fresh deals and updates on a regular basis.

Special Announcements

Announcements that keep your followers guessing through every step of your Story represents one of the most creative ways to use the format.

For example, Southwest used a Story to tease their recent Shark Week promotion. Their initial post hyped that something special was going on with someone in a shark costume and little context. This playful sort of content is perfect for piquing people’s interest.

The Story went on to eventually reveal their hashtag promotion #SharksTakeFlight to spot their fleet of Shark Week planes in the air.

As you can see, there’s no “right” approach for those trying to figure out how to use Instagram Stories for business. In fact, any combination of these types of posts is totally fair game.

That said, just because you understand the types of Stories available doesn’t mean your content is must-see.

In order to get more eyeballs on your Stories, let’s quickly touch on the format’s best practices.

Best Practices of Instagram Stories for Business

So, what should businesses focus on if they want to squeeze the most out of their Stories?

Point Followers to Your Stories

Here’s some food for thought: the 400 million people using Stories daily represents about 40% of Instagram’s base of active users (1 billion). In other words, although Stories are wildly popular, not everyone is on board quite yet.

So if you’re posting fresh content to your Stories, don’t be afraid to let your followers know about it.

Occasionally asking your followers to check out your stories isn’t spammy at all, especially if you’re posting exclusive content there. From time to time, simply post a reminder like this one from Shake Shack:

The definition of puppy love. 👆 Check out our Story for more of our cutest four-legged Shack fans! 📷: @finley.scot

A post shared by SHAKE SHACK (@shakeshack) on Aug 7, 2018 at 6:52pm PDT

Make Your Visuals Count

Instagram is famous for striking visual content and your Stories should be treated no differently. Given that you only have a split second to grab your followers’ attention, make sure your Stories compel people to keep watching by:

Using bright, contrasting colors in your fonts or overlays

Including a person or someone’s face to make an instant emotional connection

Capturing interesting or unfamiliar settings (think: landscapes, nature, crowds, etc.)

Although your Stores don’t need to tick these boxes 100% of the time, consider them an added bonus for winning people’s attention.

Mind Your Text

Perhaps a no-brainer, make sure that any text you include on your photos is legible.

Instagram’s default sans-serif font is easy to read, but brands might understandably want to experiment with different font packs or colors.

That’s totally fine, granted you’re not using clashing colors or something that might be tough to read via mobile (think: red on orange). Likewise, don’t crowd your Stories with too much text and run the risk of overwhelming your followers.

Check out how Starbucks uses Instagram’s default text options in addition to their own chalkboard writing to make their message crystal clear with short phrases:

With more and more brands trying out Stories for size, going the extra mile in terms of creativity can help your Stories stand out from the crowd.

What sort of tactics are we talking about, though?

We’re glad you asked!

How to Make Your Instagram Stories Stand Out

Below are some key strategies and tools to help your Stories pack an extra punch in your followers’ feeds.

Incorporate Interactive Elements

Polls and Question Stickers instantly make your Stories more interactive, encouraging engagement from your followers from the word “go.” These features represent a playful way to pick your followers’ brains.

For example, this Story from Netflix helps followers find movie recommendations based on the emoji of their choice:

Brands like Hello Fresh regularly run quizzes to go back-and-forth with their followers. Later in their Stories, they post the results so those quizzed can see how they did.

Rather than let your Stories gather cobwebs, these elements represent a sort of call-to-action to engage your followers.

Use Apps to Make Your Photos Pop

In addition to Boomerang, there are a number of Instagram apps such as Hype Type, Over and Adobe Spark with features specifically tailored for Stories.

From font packs to creative overlays, a paid app may be just the resource you need to take your photos to another level creatively.

A masking masterclass by @j.larroc 👀🔥 Go check out his feed for more beautiful examples. We’re also fans of the shade of yellow in this one 😏 #MadeWithOver by @j.larroc

A post shared by Over (@over) on Jul 24, 2018 at 5:32am PDT

Run a Stories Ad

And of course, what better way to ensure that your Story stands out than by running an ad?

Many brands have seen success using Instagram’s hyper-targeted ad platform via Stories. Allowing brands to use 10 photos or videos, the full-screen format is truly unique in terms of formatting and keeping your targets’ attention. Here a recent example from Overstock:

If you’re thinking about running a Story-based ad, just keep in mind the specific Instagram ad specs and best practices for Stories such as:

High-res, full-screen sizing for your photos (recommended 1200 x 628 pixels)

Using little or no overlayed text on your images or videos (for the sake of maximum delivery)

Not reliant on autoplaying audio or video given that most Story ads are viewed without sound

In short, paid Stories are brilliant for brands with the budget to create their own bite-sized commercials. As long as you can work within Stories’ specific specs and know your target audience, you’re golden.

5 Examples of Awesome Instagram Stories (and Why They Work)

Still strapped for ideas on how to use Instagram Stories?

How about we look at some top-tier brands in action?

To drive home just how diverse Story-based campaigns can be, we’ve highlighted five recent Stories to serve as some much-needed inspiration.

Influencers Stories

Stories are the bread and butter of influencers and solo brands for a reason. Perfect for travel bloggers or anyone on-the-go, Stories allow you to take your followers on the proverbial journey with you.

Influencer Marc Ritz highlights his travels around the world, taking eye-popping photos to share with his followers along every stop.

  These sort of organic photos in-the-wild represent the sort of content that the Instagram community at large absolutely loves.

Motivational Stories

As it should come as no surprise, the ultimate intention of Stories is to, well, tell a story.

However, consider that sometimes the most compelling stories don’t come from you. Instead, they come from your fans and followers.

For example, check out Fitbit‘s motivational #MyReasonIs campaign. Using the brand’s hashtag, followers were encouraged to share their reasons for getting fit in 2018 for a chance to be featured in a Story.

From humorous to heartfelt, this user-generated content campaign is a shining example of the power of visual storytelling.

Tutorial Stories

As noted, Stories allow brands to go step-by-step and teach followers a thing or two without being totally formal about it.

Brands like Ipsy use stories to not only create beauty tutorials but also monthly “mood boards.” These collage-style posts are packed with tips and inspiration, all in a single photo.

These sorts of Stories also display the content marketing potential of Instagram when brands get creative.

On-the-Scene Stories

As we mentioned earlier, events, conventions and conferences are tailor-made for Stories. If you spot something of interest while you’re out and about, chances are your followers would be interested, too.

For example, Funko’s Instagram shows off cosplayers and other happenings at conventions that their followers can geek out about.

The best part about taking your followers along to events? There’s no expectation for your content to be polished or “perfect.”

Day-in-the-Life Stories

Consider that followers crave a sense of authenticity from the brands they support. What better way to “get real” with your fans than by taking them to your office or showing off your team?

For example, MailChimp’s recently ran a series of day-in-the-life Stories. Each Story highlighted individual members and their day-to-day roles at MailChimp, including bringing on new hires.

Remember: Stories don’t need to be a massive production. Armed with a smartphone and best practices in mind, you can start creating them today.

And with that, we wrap up our list!

Have You Figured Out How to Use Instagram Stories for Your Business?

Stories have become an integral piece of so many brands’ Instagram presence lately.

But are they part of yours?

Given that Instagram is focusing so heavily on Stories and the format only appears to be getting bigger, brands should get on board with them ASAP. By understanding the best practices above, you can stay ahead of the curve and keep your followers engaged via Stories without missing a beat.

We want to hear from you, though! How do you feel about the popularity of Instagram Stories? How are you using them yourself? Let us know in the comments below.

This post The Ultimate Guide on How to Use Instagram Stories originally appeared on Sprout Social.

from http://bit.ly/2PtP10M

#Social Media Marketing

[jansegers]

Simple English Word List

SIMPLE1540 : a simple English wikipedia word list based on the XML export of all articles related to the nine major groups: Everyday life, Geography, History, Knowledge, Language, Literature, People, Religion, and Science and retaining all word forms appearing 7 times or more in this corpus. 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China, March and May made this list because china, march and may are on it and I didn't want to decide in favor of the common noun or the proper noun; all other proper nouns have been omitted (even the ten other months that met the criterium of appearing more then 6 times). #SimpleWikipedia #SimpleEnglish #wordlist #English #words #level1540 #Inli #nimi #selo1540

#SimpleWikipedia SimpleEnglish wordlist English words level1540 Inli nimi selo1540