#how to check if your idea is already patented

[suzukiblu]

"Lex Luthor's latest character flaw" poll winner, "deciding he wants grandbabies and giving Robin a cloning lab about it". Behold, a new WIP strikes!!

“What,” Tim says, staring blankly at the brightly-lit and airy sunroom full of very obvious cloning technology in the very expensive penthouse that Lex Luthor’s bodyguards just dragged a handcuffed Red Robin and Spoiler into after kidnapping them straight off patrol in the Diamond District in the middle of an active crisis situation with the League of Assassins and disabling all their tech and every single one of their trackers six and a half hours ago, down to the bastardized Kryptonian-tech ones in their back molars and two more in both of their suits that Tim didn’t even know existed, plus the one he put in Steph’s collar that she didn’t know existed. Babs is probably just about feral by now. Bruce is definitely feral by now. 

And Lex Luthor is drinking what appears to be a neon purple protein shake out of a rocks glass while sitting at a neatly-arranged desk in the center of the sunroom lab, looking idly bored and scrolling through whatever’s on his phone with his free hand. 

Alright then, Tim thinks carefully. 

“There you are, I was starting to wonder if I’d gotten al Ghul riled up for nothing,” Luthor says, barely glancing up from his tablet. 

“. . . which al Ghul,” Tim asks with wary dread. 

“All of them,” Luthor says, setting down his tablet to give him a pleasant smile. 

Well, now Tim knows why nobody’s dropped in a skylight to rescue them yet. And also why half of Gotham is currently on fire. 

“Uh,” Steph says, glancing around the sunroom lab. “So like, lead-lined glass in here, then, or . . . ?” 

“We’re in Connecticut, so no,” Luthor replies dismissively. “Anyway, the Boy Scout always gets suspicious of too much lead in one place. Which I personally find darling, since anyone in Metropolis without at least a lead-lined and soundproofed bedroom is essentially asking for Kryptonian voyeurs, whether intentionally or not on said Kryptonians’ parts. Also, privacy laws exist for a reason. As do patents, copyrights, attorney-client privilege, HIPAA . . .” 

“Connecticut?” Steph repeats incredulously. “What the frick is in Connecticut?” 

“Currently, us,” Luthor replies matter-of-factly. “Hope, Mercy, do me a favor and go check the security systems manually, just in case any invasive species of vermin have gotten into them. Also, yes, there is kryptonite, and no, there is actually much more than you’re theorizing.” 

“You have literally no idea how much kryptonite we’re theorizing,” Steph says as the bodyguards both leave with an affirming nod. Luthor gives her a pitying look, then turns his chair a few degrees towards Tim. Tim immediately expects the inevitable threat or ultimatum, and braces himself for–

“I’d apologize for all the fuss, but I don’t actually care about inconveniencing you and don’t see the point in pretending I ever would,” Luthor informs him. Tim stares blankly at him again. What is even happening right now? “Now then, what are your intentions in regards to ‘Supernova’, as I hear someone’s started calling himself now. ‘Themself’? I’m not sure if ‘Supernova’ is meant to be gender-affirming or more a ‘too old to stick with ‘Superboy’ but there are already three ‘Supermen’ active and the whole, you know, general stubborn individualism they’re so fond of. Or ‘he’s’ so fond of. Whichever."

Tim stares at him. 

“Is this supposed to be a trap for Supernova or a shovel talk for me?” he asks, because a) he’s not telling Lex Luthor anything about Kon’s gender or personal choices that Kon hasn’t publicly stated, and b) only Lex Luthor would actually kidnap two active vigilantes in the middle of a crisis he’d apparently pre-arranged to give a–well, no, Bruce would also do that, definitely. But this is not a Batman talk, either way. 

Batman’s “talks” all involve tests, for one thing, so actually so far this is an improvement. 

“It’s an engagement present,” Luthor says pleasantly. 

Tim’s brain crashes, then does the slowest reboot of his life. He’s recovered from concussions faster, he’s pretty sure. 

“They’re . . . not engaged, though?” Steph says skeptically. “Or, like, even dating?” 

“Red Robin’s commitment issues are his own problem, not mine. I’ve got a schedule to keep,” Luthor replies dismissively.

[eisforeidolon]

https://www.tumblr.com/eisforeidolon/717151384192090112/the-latest-jensen-is-evil-conspiracy-is-that-he

So, I actually do think Jensen posting during Walker (well, just before and then during) was intentional. But I don’t think it was some super secret way to sabotage Jared or anything like that, or distract from the show because, you know, people can watch a show and check Twitter at the same time. But, whether we like it or not, Jared and Jensen are celebrities as well as friends, and the moves they make on social media are about their brand/image, not just about supporting friends.

I think Jensen did post when there was likely to be a good amount of fans online since many Walker fans are SPN fans. Also, despite how it might seem at times, there are plenty of people who watch Walker and still like Jensen, and who even watch both shows.

So, do I think Jensen chose his posting times to capitalize on potential SPN audience because during Walker is a likely time to catch them online? Yes. Do I think Jensen premeditated this move for weeks/days or longer than maybe that afternoon? No. Do I think he was trying to sabotage or show-up Jared? No.

To me, saying Jensen posted to undermine Jared in some way is needless shit-stirring. But saying he doesn’t even know when Walker airs (like I’ve seen some claim) and the timing was all a coincidence is potentially a bit naive.

Yeah, my very first thought was along the lines of, "Just how distracting do you think a couple tweets could realistically be, ffs?" If it was some kind of deep sabotage on the viewing audience to tweet during a show, no cast would ever live tweet their own show!

It's a valid point that Jensen especially uses social media for promotion and branding moreso than in any kind of personal way. So, no, it wouldn't be at all surprising if he specifically was timing his posts for when more SPN fans were likely to be active on social media - because yeah, as you say, the GA especially isn't nearly as polarized as the stan corners try to paint things. In the original post, I was sarcastically pointing out the new conspiracy contradicts one of the common stan assertions that nobody but Jensen stans/hellers care about TW - if there are no mutual fans, Jensen posting during Walker shouldn't be able to sabotage anything, even if it wasn't patently absurd to suggest tweeting was some massive distraction from the show that could hurt it (uh ... somehow) even though it had already been officially renewed. Like, at least pick a consistent lane.

It's not the idea Jensen might purposely tweet during Walker hoping more SPN-related eyeballs are active that's absurd. It's the conspiracy-think that doing so is some Wile E. Coyote level scheme to sabotage Walker and Jared (uh ... somehow) because he's pathetic and ~*dEsPeRaTE*~ and is trying to trick Jared's audience (uh ... somehow). It doesn't makes sense as something Jensen would do, but even more than that? It doesn't make sense as something anyone would do - it's so obviously pathetically inept as a scheme only a braindead stan desperate for something to get pissed about would read a conspiracy of malice into it. And yeah, it's also silly to claim Jensen is just totally clueless as to when Walker airs. It may or may not have been the primary concern in when he tweeted (I have no idea what twitter tells you in terms of engagement metrics on your posts and therefore what other factors might be involved in the timing of posts), but saying he wouldn't even know? C'mon.

Seriously, some stans get so caught up in trying to [prove the other guy is bad/defend their guy] they sometimes seem to completely lose all track of anything even resembling common sense.

[chromatic-lamina]

i’ve got a few picks for the fanfic writer asks if you’re up for it! totally up to you if you want to answer a few or all of them.

11, 58, 65, 71, 76, 91

thank you!! <3

Bepo's Fanfic Answers 3!

Thank you for dropping into Bepo's ask box! and your interest in my much acclaimed Bepo's Beptober!

It's so wonderful to get the recognition. No matter how many times I say NO GARCHU UNTIL YOU COMMENT the comments are few and far between (although, not as low as on Clione's fic, but he stole the idea from me, so that's fair, isn't it?!?). <-- That's called an Interrobang, or maybe the other way around, and No, Captain had to tell me, it doesn't mean sex between species...or in Wano prisons (*not a spoiler cos it's fiction!). Learn something new in Bepo fanfic world everyday! Now, onto your asks.

58. what is the last thing that a fic made you google when you were writing it?

How deep penguins can dive and for how long, say, if they were an Emperor Penguin (not that there are any Emperors on our crew—and maybe only two leaders, if we're being honest) and, some can dive to about 565m which is deeper than the Tang usually goes!

Some hold their breath for just shy of thirty minutes too! So, if you needed to catch a bird, say, for sustenance purposes, considering that some Minks that might resemble polar bears can only dive to about 13 metres at a stretch and only hold their breath for a minute or two, it's best to nab those kinds of meaty birds on the surface. Purely for research purposes.

XrTEPppp <-- Sorry! I drooled on the keyboard and was just wiping it away. (I'm thinking of venturing into the gore genre, but I don' t know, I think that BBC documentaries might've already covered it).

65. what is your favourite title for a fic you’ve written? 

I don't really have a favourite but: Beptober Day 8: Mutual Mastication seemed to get a lot of attention! (Like cows do it, seems pretty common, and better than that regurgitation thing penguins have going on. But, y'know, different courses for different horses, I guess).

71. how do you balance writing and life? do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of writing you have to do? I find that if I get overwhelmed, I get the crew to drop me on some ice and I wait by a seal's breath hole, and I wait for them to poke their head through the ice, cute whiskers quivering, and, then, if I'm fast enough, I catch them and enjoy them à la sashimi style, but without the filleting and with all the fur. Crew tends to leave me alone for a while after that. My head's also wonderfully clear, and sometimes I can clack out 10,000 words without knocking over an ink pot once, or accidentally unplugging the word processor.

76. what is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain? 

That they wear pink feathered coats.

OR, y'know, have bright red hair.

91. how has your writing style changed over the years?

I think I might be one of a kind and I'm thinking of patenting the Bepo Brand™

If you want to check out my previous answer, it's here! and here! and here!

6, 11 & 17 ; 58, 65, 71, 76, 91 answered.

Original post here.

[electrasev5nwrites]

Ninja Daily: Vapors 82

“Not now.” Aiko pushed her nose further into her pillow and tightened her grip around Mitsuo with her right arm. Funny. He was shaped differently than she remembered—less round. And significantly less furry than usual.

Blearily, she raised her head just enough to see dark hair and remind herself that she hadn’t fallen asleep snuggling her dog.

“Oh. Good morning, Sai.”

Her fingers had been outside the blanket and were cold, so she wiggled them under the covers to flatten against his abs. Sai was too disciplined to jolt or complain about being used for his hot body, so she didn’t feel guilty at all.

“May I be released?” Sai sounded surprisingly detached and polite for someone being treated like the world’s tallest teddy bear. “I am under orders to report to the Hokage’s office for an assignment.”

Aiko frowned at that, trying to remember if she was meant to report. She couldn’t think of any call… so that meant he was going on a mission without her. Unusual. “What time?”

He seemed to be attempting to check the time through the mostly covered window. “In twenty minutes, I believe.”

She paused. “Are you already packed for your mission?”

“Yes, but the equipment is at my residence.”

Ten more ninja points to Sai. God, he was good at this game, wasn’t he? He should have been a boy scout. He and Yamato could flit about and be impossibly anal and good-natured, saving puppies from trees and carrying old ladies’ groceries.

‘Maybe I’m a little tireder than I thought. Something was definitely wrong with that phrase.’

“Aiko?”

“If you think you’re escaping without a good morning kiss, you are severely mistaken.” Jokingly, she pressed a kiss against the back of his neck and nuzzled him.

Sai gave a good natured sigh and twisted around to give her a flat look.

She giggled and released him. “Alright, alright. You know you’re going to be late anyways. Just tell the Hokage you’re sorry.”

“I apologize for my tardiness, Hokage-sama.” The little twerp gave her one of those patently false grins. The knuckles in Sasuke’s hand creaked ominously when he unconsciously formed a fist. “I was detained by a fair maiden.”

“My god, it’s catching,” Shizune breathed lowly, eyes wide with horrified fascination.

Naruto was practically vibrating with rage. “Not you too,” he growled, grabbing Sai’s collar and yanking on it. Sai merely blinked at him.

“My apologies. I-”

‘This has gone on long enough.’

“I don’t want any of your excuses,” Tsunade interrupted. For the first time, she genuinely rued handing the boy over to Hatake’s team. What the hell was it about that man that inspired devotion and imitation?

She tabled the thought for later.

“And Mr. Ukki needs to be watered every other day, but the begonias can go a week without. They like to be rotated every other day, though, so that they get sunshine everywhere.”

Aiko nodded along and tried to look attentive, even as Naruto detailed how often his mail needed to be picked up to prevent the post office from sending him nasty missives about his full box. Every other day, apparently. He wrote a lot of letters.

“Look, how long are you guys really expecting to be gone?��� She raised an eyebrow inquisitively, but Naruto didn’t get the hint.

“I have no idea!” He chirped cheerfully, flashing a toothy grin. “But I bet it’s going to be awesome! I told you we were working with Asuma’s team, right? He’s a wind type too and he agreed to give me some pointers.” He gave a fist-pump. “I’m going to get that wind-natured Rasengan.”

‘Well, whatever works.’

She wasn’t particularly broken up about not being brought along on this mission in specific, though the timing stank. Yamato and Sai could take care of the boys, even if team Ten wasn’t there to pick up the slack. How much trouble could they really get into in a temple, for kami’s sake?

“You do that.” Absentmindedly, she tousled his hair (and was a bit miffed that she had to reach so far up to do it. If he didn’t stop growing she was going to put bricks on his head to stop that shit herself) and grinned at the indignant yowl the action drew out.

“Cut that out, Nee-chan,” Naruto whined, ruffling his hair back up into the ragtag arrangement of spikes that he seemed to favor. Personally, it looked utterly without law or order to her, but it wasn’t her hair. He gave her a surprisingly stern look. “If you ever want to be awesome like me, you’ll have to at least get the original Rasengan down, or you’ll never catch up before I make it even better. Even the pervy sage has the first level.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aiko muttered resentfully, pursing her lips and looking away.

‘Even the pervy sage? He has a twisted way of gauging competency. Proficiency with the Rasengan is hardly the only measure of strength.’

“I mean it.” He slung an arm over her shoulders and steered her out of the post office, his free hand gesturing animatedly even though it was full of envelopes. “You can’t give up just because the second part is harder! Even though that’s so weird, because once I had the first part down, the second really wasn’t that big of a deal and I don’t understand why you’re having so much trouble-”

“Okay, okay,” she interrupted. “Feel free to stop insulting me at any time.”

She probably did know why she had gotten stuck on that stupid purple rubber ball she was beginning to hate. This was hardly her first rodeo in regards to free-form movement of water: so as soon as she’d gotten past the barriers of problems created by maintaining multiple currents without letting them bleed into one another, the water balloon had been easy enough to burst. Cockily, she had thought that the second practice aid would be similarly easy, assuming that she was just that good.

Apparently, air currents were very different to manipulate. Moving air in general was hard. Grasping the damn particles was a massive pain, and forcing them to move according to her will sucked. She could make one current, but as soon as she tried to maintain more than that everything fell apart. Using air as a medium wasn’t as intuitive as using water as a medium.

Hopefully she wouldn’t have such a hard time when it came to using raw chakra and no medium, even if it apparently handled more like air than like water.

As soon as Naruto had gone, she flitted off to run through her self-assigned route. She’d had it on her mind throughout their conversation: apparently, she had been sleeping too deeply to wake up at her alarm, and her brother had come to find her immediately after his briefing to ask her to take care of the house while he was gone. So she had been almost two hours late to run her circuit.

‘It was dumb to stress. Nothing happened, of course.’

Konoha’s northern forests were just as peaceful and free of enemy nin as they could generally be expected to be.

Of course, that left her not knowing what to do with herself. It was bizarre to be stuck in Konoha when almost everyone she spent time with was out on a mission or working. Karin was in the hospital, Ino and Hinata were probably training, and Anko was nowhere to be found. ‘I suppose I could hunt down Kakashi and see if he wants to eat ice cream and talk about boys.’

Involuntarily, she snorted. Probably not, though it was incredibly poor timing for every girl she was remotely close to to be out of town. She’d have to wait for Karin to get back in from wherever she was. Well. She supposed she could talk to Anko, but that was bound to end in tears and humiliation. The older girl was hilarious, but maybe not the person she wanted to gossip about her first sexual experience with. Ino or Karin would find it much easier to relate to her current experiences on the same level, and Anko wasn’t maternal enough to be able to empathize with her throughout the barrier of their lack of shared experiences.

‘So instead of anything remotely enjoyable and useful, I will instead go to that awful meeting.’

She slumped, not caring that she was walking down one of the main streets and she probably looked like a lunatic about to break out into tears. It had been outright cruel of Tsunade to keep from assigning her to a mission just so that she was in town for one of those council meetings, even if it had been couched as a favor. She’d never thought she’d end up with the inverse of a sinecure. It was thankless and idiotic and took up far too much time.

Aiko probably spent far too much time moping over the fact that she had to go to that stupid meeting. That meant she had to rush through preparations to be fit for public. She had replaced the first mesh bodysuit with one that followed more closely to the design of a swimsuit than the weird things with half-legs and half-sleeves, and preferred it immensely. It didn’t weigh down her limbs but still provided protection to the majority of her vital points. The only weapon weighing her down was the single Hiraishin kunai she carried strapped to the underside of her right arm. It did mean that she had to be careful with how she held her arm to keep it from showing, but it was better than going totally without conventional weapons. She was never unarmed by any means, but sometimes steel could do what fists, seals, or ninjutsu just couldn’t. As had become tradition, she slipped on a kimono (orange this time) and the blue butterfly pin before she hurried out the door at the most dignified trot she could manage.

She spoke her piece early: advocating for a re-design of the genin corps, and then sat while the other suggestions were volleyed. Some of them seemed to completely miss the point to her. What good would encouraging more shinobi to settle down to reproduce early do? Trying to persuade more civilians to send their children to the Academy was a little closer, but still wouldn’t get at the real problems.

On the bright side, there did seem to be a chance that she could make a positive change in Konoha through her assignment. By whose standards that chance might be positive varied, however. Probably not by those of the grumpy old men and women who were her peers in the Council.

At this point she wouldn’t deny that the large council had been right to notice that the current graduation rates weren’t putting the village on track to regain full military strength. They had been experiencing a time of comparative peace for long enough that they really should have been in the full bloom of power for the last couple of years. But they weren’t. Konoha was hardly about to lose their position as one of the five strongest villages, but their large numbers and economic prosperity hadn’t lead to a proportional increase in sheer power.

Sarutobi hadn’t been an incompetent peacetime leader, though he had been better in a time of war. (As far as she could tell, he had been better at warfare but preferred a soft touch). He had altered the graduation and academy requirements after political affairs had settled down between the time of Uchiha Itachi’s enrollment and her own. In wartime, the philosophy had been to churn out as many moderately competent soldiers as possible as quickly as possible, which made it easier for children who had already been trained by family members to meet minimum requirements and test out of the system.

That system had many drawbacks, but the one that mattered to the Council was that it was a short-term stopgap measure. Those unprepared soldiers (who had less mental conditioning, less maturity, less everything that mattered) burnt out faster than their counterparts, cracked under stress and were unable to acclimate to other conditions, or got killed and were totally lost as resources.

Those truths were the ones Sarutobi had used to alter the Academy curriculum and requirements. It became much more difficult to graduate after that, and she didn’t see a single example of a student who spent less than four years in the Academy in the last ten years. It was a stark change from the prior situation, and one that she could appreciate.

But it wasn’t perfect either. Though even the dead-last by the new graduation standards was ahead of the curve for the old requirements, the few elites that the system hoped to nurture had a lot riding on their frail shoulders. The third Hokage must have been a big believer in the master-apprentice relationship at that point in his life, because it was clearly where he had drawn inspiration. Much in the manner that he had been taught by the second Hokage and he had hoped to teach the fourth, the aim was to give Konoha a backbone of A and S-class warriors that would outnumber the high-ranked analogues in other countries through close personal attention to their most promising canditates.

Of course, in pursuit of that aim, they had sacrificed the large proportion of respectably B-classed shinobi that formed the meat of the forces in places like Cloud and Stone and had to make do with masses of largely self-taught C classed shinobi who struggled up to Chuunin from the genin corps instead.

The genin corps as a concept wasn’t unique to Konoha, and nor was the fact that those within it were encouraged to become relatively low level jacks of all trades as opposed to specializing. A genin corps member with the talent to succeed in that type of competency could pick a specialty after becoming a Chuunin and make special Jounin, but that was about the pinnacle of what someone who wasn’t picked to apprentice could expect to achieve.

To her eye, the obvious solution to their low numbers of high level fighters lay in the way that they thought about the genin corps. She did understand that not every child had the raw natural ability of a future elite, and that it wasn’t necessary to push them that way – or even intelligent to think that it would be advisable to try to make everyone perform to such high standards. Someone had to perform the bulk of the low-risk and glory-less missions that paid the bills, of course. For most Konoha shinobi, D and C class drudgery was the characteristic common denominator of their lifetime of servitude to the village and not an episode that was short and quickly forgotten when they moved up in the ranks.

But the reliable drones who kept the village buzzing with prosperity in times of lazy peace became a liability in more dangerous times. They were vulnerable to strike teams from the enemies’ higher-ranked and more specialized shinobi. Having higher quality shinobi in fewer numbers was a great strategy for assaults but a shitty one for defense. So Tsunade would have to compensate by increasing the numbers of lower ranked shinobi on any specific mission. Once their numbers started to thin from casualties… they would be on the defensive.

‘Actually, she’s probably reinforcing all the border outpost guards now.’

It would have taken a few days to rearrange all active assignments, and Cloud’s jinchuuriki had only been killed less than a week ago. It would take a full day at the very least for genin and Chuunin teams to make their way to the border outposts. More than that, if they were doing sweeps on their way out, which they just about had to be.

Any half-decent strategist would know that. If she were in charge of Cloud’s forces, she would have gone with a strike force deployed as soon as they’d decided to blame Konoha to hopefully get in before fortifications could be flawlessly tightened—she would aim take out a few high value targets to put Konoha on the defensive, sow panic and confusion. That type of strike could make it possible to wring concessions and force Konoha to back down.

But that was a personal preference. Others might not see the value in anything less than peace or total annihilation. It was admittedly risky to allow your enemies to hold some of their own strength. Not that there weren’t dangers in going for ‘mercy’ and being internationally perceived as weak. Lightning might actually have to challenge Konoha to keep their status. If that was their motivation, then a war in name would suffice. If this really was a vendetta fueled by the Raikage’s sense of loss, however… He would only be satisfied with blood and ash.

Time would tell. But probably not much time.

She must have spoken relatively well, because her suggestion wasn’t tossed out. It wasn’t adopted either, but that didn’t seem to be the way things were done in bureaucracy. Yet another session and smaller committee would be dedicated to investigating the support and logistics available for three of the possibilities mentioned in today’s meeting, hers among them.

Konoha was struggling under the weight of its own bloated government, in some ways. But at least those structures could be manipulated into the occasional bout of usefulness.

Still dressed up like a porcelain doll and not particularly unhappy about it now that it wasn’t a novelty, Aiko wandered out from the council hall en route for dinner. There wasn’t enough time for her to bother getting groceries for dinner before she went out to check the forest in her self-imposed patrol that even she was beginning to feel serious about.

“Uzumaki-chan?”

The unusual address and a voice she hardly ever heard caught her attention. Kurenai was giving her a polite wave from inside the restaurant Aiko had just wandered into, sitting with a blue-haired woman she didn’t recognize.

“Kurenai-senpai,” she greeted politely, gracing the older girl with an incline of her neck. The hastily-chosen title was a formality to be polite and not because she had actually worked with Kurenai enough to see her as a mentor figure.

Kurenai seemed to note the same truth with a bit of amusement. “I don’t think there’s any call for that. We hold the same rank, after all.”

There was something dry but not exactly displeased about the way she said that. Bitterness wouldn’t have been entirely unjustified, considering she was probably hyper aware that Aiko’s promotion had come almost shockingly early in her career. Sure, she was older than Kakashi or Itachi had been when they hit Jounin, but the ‘average’ Jounin could hardly be compared to people like that. And there was probably more than a fair share of bitterness aimed at those extraordinary types, if one was to be honest.

So she didn’t protest, and gave Kurenai a self-effacing smile that was intended to communicate that she wasn’t the egotist that many would expect from someone who had shot up in the ranks. “Kurenai-san, then?” At the amused look on the brunette’s face, she blinked innocently and modified the question to a saccharine, “Kurenai-neechan?”

“That’ll do. Would you sit with us? This is a friend of mine, Otohime. Otohime, this is Uzumaki Aiko.”

“Otohime-san,” Aiko nodded politely, and took a free chair without letting onto her confusion at the invitation. Was Kurenai just curious and friendly, or was there a specific reason?

Looking at her dinner companions didn’t seem to answer that question. Otohime was pretty as a picture, and almost impossibly delicate for a shinobi. The conversation that followed indicated that delicacy was because she was in fact a civilian who Kurenai had been friends with since childhood.

The other two had already ordered, but the waitress that came around didn’t mind having their meals delayed until Aiko’s was ready as well.

“So.” Otohime blinked golden eyes at Aiko, seeming to see right through to her soul. “You’re really a kunoichi, then? Aiko-chan, you’re so little!” She reached across the table and grabbed her hand. Aiko was momentarily stunned by the other woman’s forwardness and didn’t respond before Kurenai chuckled.

“Don’t be alarmed, but if you’re not careful, she’ll talk you into resigning and sign you up to work for her.”

Otohime’s grip tightened around Aiko’s hand, and she gave a faux-stern pout at her taller friend. “What she means is that I recruit dancers, but she makes me sound like a yakuza. Kurenai-chan, why are you so unkind to me?”

Uncertainly, she pulled her hand out of Otohime’s soft, perfumed grip and tucked it onto her lap. “Ah, flattering, Otohime-san, but I’m afraid I have no natural ability.”

The look she received was absolutely scathing. “If you can learn taijutsu, you can learn traditional dance.”

“No, I keep telling you that you’ll be surprised,” Kurenai interrupted fondly, leaning on a hand. “There’s a big difference between learning to perform the dance of death and the less…” she cleared her throat and shrugged. “Well, you know what I mean. Besides, I think Aiko-chan’s current career is going relatively well. I feel like I know you much better than I do because I hear about you every so often. Hatake is insufferably proud of you, I hope you know.”

Embarrassment warmed her cheeks, but she couldn’t imagine him ever saying anything like that. Maybe he would say something to her if she needed encouragement, but he wasn’t the type to brag.

Kurenai must have read the question in her expression, because she easily answered it. “Of course he’s proud, everyone wants to see their students end up doing well. He’s not a man who shares those feelings openly, of course, but whenever Asuma has to whine about Shikamaru-kun being uncooperative he’s always just a little too hasty to muse that he never had those sorts of problems.”

“He is kind of a jackass,” Aiko admitted frankly, forcing the smile off her face. An attractive, intelligent, and ultimately well-meaning jackass, but a jackass nonetheless. She actually liked that about him. Difficult, cantankerous people were fabulous, and his bitch-fu was among the best when he cared to drag his nose out a book to deliver scathing commentary.

Apparently the other two women hadn’t been expecting that bit of bluntness. Kurenai twitched, but Otohime tossed her head back and laughed. “I’ve not met the man, but that’s an amusing character description when juxtaposed with how fond you seem. Perhaps you should introduce me?”

“I like you far too much for that,” Kurenai deflected dryly, before seeming to remember that Aiko was there. “No offence meant, of course!” She waved cutely to deflect a sense of hostility.

Aiko shrugged, forgetting how ungainly the motion would be in formal dress. “None taken. He can be difficult to deal with outside of professional settings.” She stopped and added, “And in them, I suppose.”

Conversation changed after their food arrived, leaving talk of shinobi that Otohime was unfamiliar with behind in favor of the food, weather, and the most recent princess Fuin movie. The focus on anything but the depressing political climate was almost too pointed.

“It was very nice to meet you, Otohime-san.” She genuinely smiled at her two dinner companions when they parted at the door. “And talking with you was fun as well, Kurenai-neechan. Thank you for the dinner invitation, this was much better than eating alone.”

“It was no trouble on my part,” Kurenai assured her, buttoning the jacket she had brought to contend with the night air. “I miss a large dinner party when Asuma’s team is out of town.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Aiko put a finger to her lips in mock thought, itching to confirm a theory. “You two are a couple, yes?”

Kurenai looked like she’d been slapped with a fish. “O-of cour- Where did you hear that?” she rapidly changed tracks, fighting off a blush and giving an ineffectual glare to Otohime, who was engaging in the least graceful hyena cackles Aiko had ever heard.

“From you,” she confirmed blandly. “Before now, it was just a pet theory. I hope to see you again!” Aiko whipped around and set off for home without letting Kurenai recover from her embarrassment, in large part because she liked having the last word. Of course, the setting sun was a reminder…

‘It’s time that I go check on those seals again.’

Really, she was starting to feel spectacularly silly about it. It was possible that her fear of Danzo was outweighing her good sense and that she was engaging in a futile exercise.

At war with herself, she wandered to the outskirts of town and took a deep breath of the heady air. Eventually, she decided, ‘It can’t be embarrassing if no one else knows about how silly I’m being. If I don’t do it, it’ll bother me all night and I won’t be able to sleep. For my own peace of mind, if nothing else, I can go check one more time tonight.’

She seriously considered going home first and changing. But it would be a waste of time. She would just have to change into bedclothes as soon as she came back again, and changing twice would be stupid. Of course, she could just change directly into bedclothes, but getting seen wandering the woods in a kimono would still be less embarrassing than the same in her pajamas. It would just be a quick trip.

Flicker. Flicker. Flicker. Seal after seal, working from the village to the borders, showed nothing out of the ordinary. Until they did, and she was blinking at a rush of color to her left. Reflexively, she leapt and turned—which saved her life.

She didn’t take much time to gape at the three blades quivering in a tree-trunk several inches from her torso.

‘Well, shit. I think I can’t count on the element of surprise.’

“Where the hell did she come from?” a practically dressed blonde woman seemed to ask her group at large. And it was a rather large group, considering that she was one girl. Two full squads… eight enemy shinobi. Well within the limits of Konoha’s territory… Had they really all managed to creep past a patrolled border, or did this mean that a larger force had actually taken an outpost?

Unsettling thoughts to be investigated later, she supposed.

“Ah, hello adorable Cloud shinobi!” Aiko greeted cheerily with a very Kakashi-esque wave. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” Aiko tilted her head and blinked cutely, letting the loose bits of her hair move over her shoulders.

A dark-haired man twitched.

Confusing the hell out of them might work just as well as surprise. She probably looked quite the picture—unarmed as far as the eye could see, suddenly appearing in their midst in a full kimono with her headband tucked around her blue and red obi. Thankfully, her kimono was only secured tightly at the waist and allowed her a lot more range of movement than it appeared to. If she had to do anything especially acrobatic like high-kicks she might be indecent, but that was a lesser evil compared to dead.

‘Strangely, I really like the theatricality of this. There are shinobi who wear kimono in the field. I do like pretty things, and these sleeves are great for hiding things… Maybe I should give the wardrobe change a try.’

Unfortunately, no matter how weird she chose to act, they weren’t all off balance enough to fail to recognize that she was a possible threat. “Sorry little girl.” She didn’t recognize the pale man who moved into a defensive posture, but he was a total fox, with incongruously dark eyes and slightly mussed sandy hair. “We can’t allow Konoha dogs to live.”

Suddenly, she hated him. He needed to be taken down a peg or two. Sure, Konoha sort of sucked, but Naruto wasn’t going to settle for being Kage of just any shithole. And besides…

“What’s so wrong with dogs?” Aiko grasped three Hiraishin seals and blurred into motion, dropping directly behind him and yanking his headband off with brutal force that snapped his head backwards and took to the trees in the next motion. Even as she did it, she darkened her chakra signature and went absolutely silent, crouched in the treetop above-head to give herself a moment to think as she slipped the stolen headband under her sleeve.

‘What do I do? If I kill them all, there would be no chance of reconciliation with Cloud, and that’s if I could even manage that. I don’t actually want to be the impetus for a full-fledged war. The Raikage is attacking us because he’s convinced we’re responsible for B’s death. We’ll need every ally we can get to destroy Akatsuki, or at least to not be fighting on two fronts. I could get reinforcements, but anyone else would probably just want to kill them all.’

But she couldn’t let them think Konoha was weak either. The only thing that would stall further escalation would be to scare the absolute fucking crap out of them. She did have one tool in her arsenal that was unmistakably Konoha’s and undeniably terrifying.

Grimly, she swallowed. ‘Let’s hope that the thunder god is still causing nightmares in Lightning, because most of them look way too young to remember Minato.’

“Up there!”

‘He’s a sensor,’ she noted dimly, switching position rapidly even as the practically-dressed blonde woman she’d noted earlier charged up the tree she’d been hiding in. That one must be one of their big guns, then. Odd that she was the only woman in their party.

Stealing the cutie’s headband had been an impulse, but it really wasn’t a terrible idea. Humiliating them could backfire if they were the types to get stronger and perform better when pissed off, but it would also be a good demonstration of strength on her part.

As would separating them. That would be good psychological warfare: if they didn’t know what she was doing, seeing her pick off party members without a trace of a body would be seriously unnerving.

She stopped moving just long enough to hone in on one of the more intimidating-looking fighters (not so coincidentally, one who was on the outskirts of the group) and darted in with the aid of a seal to use inhuman speed to snatch him up by the back of his weird asymmetrical flak jacket and ricocheted the both of them outside of Konoha’s borders. Her left hand shot up to tug off his headband and her right rabbit punched him twice between the shoulder blades and sent him stumbling forward in the same instant that they hit the ground in a new location.

He spun around just in time to see her cheekily hold up his cloud insignia with one hand before tilting her arm to let it slip down her wrist with the other one. “This is nice, I think I’ll keep it, Shinobi-kun.”

‘That oughta leave him steaming.’

The curve to her lips belied her thoughts—it was hard to lie to yourself. She’d done that because it was funny just as much as any tactical reason. Killing these people could backfire, but leaving them stranded and confused in some rice field would be an utterly humiliating way of asserting her superiority over them. (Even if, you know, they would probably wipe the floor with her in a fair match. What the hell did actual physical superiority have to do with dominance?)

One of the first things she needed to do was thin their numbers and leave anyone who wasn’t going to end up in Konoha’s custody thoroughly fucking disoriented. With the flying thunder god on her side, she was almost certainly faster than any of them could hope to be. That didn’t mean that they couldn’t get her when she inevitably stopped to get her bearings, especially if she was so outnumbered.

But she had been gone almost two full seconds, and she could hardly leave the others alone within her country’s borders. So she blurred back into motion, Hiraishin war-song drowning out all other sounds in her ears.

“t fuck just-”

“She’s here again!” The only unmarked shinobi in that clearing was frowning in her direction. Damn,    he was a hell of a sensor.

“You’re annoying!” Aiko barked out, grimacing at the hottie who had besmirched her hometown and summon animal in one fell swoop. He had to go. But he was too annoying to be released into the wild to awkwardly stumble until he found someplace to give him directions (as hilarious and embarrassing as that would be).

She crouched and sprang to dodge the blonde woman—and hell, she was fast—and darted to the man who had been a thorn in her side. Unfortunately, he was quick on the uptake and had already moved the first time that she flickered to snatch him in a flanking maneuver.

He didn’t dodge her the second time. He probably didn’t even know what had happened until her hand fisted in the black zip-up sleeveless top above his asymmetrical flak jacket.

“What the hell!” Tsunade stood up with such force that her chest bounced up nearly to hit her in the chin.

“I brought you a present!” Aiko chirped, shoving her blonde captive into the beautiful mahogany desk with an unpleasant thunk as his forehead collided with the dark wood. Belatedly, an ANBU leapt out of hiding and reached for her prisoner.

Tsunade looked pained. “Is that a lightning shinobi?” Her tone was merely incredulous, but that didn’t stop her from reaching out and punching the poor blond chump in the head with enough force to send him flying to the back wall before the ANBU could secure him. Something in their prisoner’s back crunched when he collided next to the doorframe. After a moment, he peeled off and limply fell forward.

She almost felt bad for him. Getting caught up in someone else’s transportation technique was sucky enough when you weren’t immediately pummeled in the head by a Kage afterwards. He probably wouldn’t be walking in a straight line for a few days.

Well. As long as there wasn’t any more head trauma, he would probably be fine.

“Yes, I think there’s six more in the northwest, about twenty-five kilometers south of the yellow outpost. Do you want the rest?”

“In my office?” Tsunade asked a bit weakly. The ANBU securing the chump with wire didn’t seem more impressed. The door flung open and Shizune burst in, wielding steel.

“If you don’t want them, I could just ditch them outside the border like wayward puppies,” Aiko generously offered, brushing her hair back and dropping the two collected headbands on Tsunade’s desk with an absentminded clatter of metal plates. “I should hurry though, I don’t want to leave the rest alone.”

“Those poor bastards,” Tsunade muttered. Shizune just looked confused. The Hokage stiffened seriously and pinned her with an intense stare. “I don’t want any more in my office. Their aim was probably something in the village and we don’t know that bringing them in wouldn’t help them. This one will do as a political prisoner—he’s one of the Raikage’s bodyguards.”

“Grass and Wave Country it is,” Aiko muttered with a distracted nod.

“Wait don’t go back out-” Tsunade slumped slightly, having leaned over her desk in an attempt to reach the teen before she left. “without reinforcements,” she finished wryly, dropping back into her seat. “It would also have been nice to know where exactly she found them. Shizune, get me the best sensor we have in-village, and a strike team.” She held up a hand at a sudden thought. “Two teams! We need to check on that outpost.”

“Hai, Hokage-sama!” Shizune nodded and darted out of the office.

“You, get that man to Ibiki,” she brusquely commanded the ANBU. He hightailed it out of there, the man  called ‘C’ slung ungracefully over his massive shoulder (a tousled blonde head hit the doorframe with a rather sickening crack as Boar made a run for Torture and Interrogations).

Alone in her office, Tsunade swallowed down nervousness and resisted the urge to tug on her ponytails. Sitting her office when she knew one of her shinobi was fighting within her borders was against everything in her heart.

After having two of their comrades spirited away (and plenty of time to ruminate on the odd disappearances) the remaining Cloud shinobi had apparently figured out the working strategy of ‘not staying still’.

It was frustratingly effective when she was fluttering about a group as large as this one. Her perception and predictive ability was good, but not flawless by any means. Being outnumbered and trying to pick out targets put her at a vexing disadvantage.

‘Why couldn’t they be stupid enough to stand their ground?’

Time to be a bit more blatant.

Aiko shoved her hands into the opposite sleeves (obscuring the movement so that it would be difficult to tell where the weapon would be coming from) to unhook the kunai on her right arm and drew it out in a snapping motion, directly at the blonde woman.

“Hiraishin!” Someone called out with a strange clipped tone that blurred as she slipped time and space like a fucking champion. She didn’t see who had yelled, but was thankful that using the conventional method had finally clued them in. Now if they would just please be obliging enough to be irrationally frightened of Konoha’s bogeyman technique and scarper off, that’d be great.

She was too close to her target to see if any eyes widened in comprehension or fear. In the same millisecond that she emerged in front of her target with her hand already wrapped around her weapon, she ducked down under the arm that was moving to deflect her kunai with a Cloud arm guard (snatching her kunai down with her) to hit the other girl with as much force as she could muster with her free hand, along with an explosive-primed seal.

Unfortunately, she was no Tsunade. It would hardly be a finishing blow, but she would have hoped to at least stun her opponent. It was not to be.

Even as the force of her blow brought the other girl curling over, a vicious and flexible double-kick snapped Aiko’s knees in a direction that they definitely did not want to bend. Horrifyingly, her opponent seemed to have suddenly grown several inches of razor-sharp toenails that cut into the flesh above Aiko’s knees, puncturing her pretty kimono and sticking it to her flesh with dots of hot blood.

‘Her taijutsu is probably better than mine. She’s faster than I am sans Hiraishin, and she’s definitely physically stronger. It’s like taking a punch from Naruto, sturdy little bastard that he is.’

If she didn’t have Hiraishin, she might in serious shit. But short of something like a disorienting poison or a state of unconsciousness, that massive cheat card could hardly be taken away from her. So Aiko avoided the next blow by means of orienting between three seals to settle behind the group (most of whom had spun to look at the two girls).

The gaping dolts weren’t here to look pretty, apparently, as demonstrated by the unpleasant speed with which two men spun to leap in her direction. She darted backwards and ran a few feet up a tree before jumping to another one, raising her voice in a taunting shout. “You know, you chumps have already failed!” She gave an involuntary ‘huff’ when a flying- was that an axe of all the things- forced her to dodge and flip upwards, grimacing and crouching to get the momentum to bound across the clearing over the blonde lady’s head, at least one man in hot pursuit.

At least she was faster than they were, but even if she was faster, dodging so many put her at a disadvantage. “The grumpy one is in the Hokage’s custody, and at least one team is on the way out here. How does it feel to completely suck at your job?”

An incoherent growl rose up from behind her and the unbearable heat of a near miss from a lightning strike seared across her back, probably singing her clothes from proximity.

‘Ah. Right. Shinobi from the land of Lightning and all that jazz. Can’t stay still if I don’t want to get fried.’

“I guess that means that it sucks to suck.” Aiko swallowed hard, feeling mildly ill from bouncing around like a ping-pong ball. She flung the kunai in her hand straight up into the air so that she could flicker to it and get an aerial view of the clearing. Three of the freakishly persistent lightning shinobi were already in the motion of looking up when she blinked down. She hung suspended in the air in a crouched position for a bare instant to survey the area.

‘One, two, three, four… where are the other two?’

Ah. There they were. One was blending into the tree she had just been on under a genjutsu (that was lucky, he could have killed her if she hadn’t just switched trajectories) and the other one was hiding under ground. Shit shit shit. Neither of those would be easy to grab.

One of the men was slightly further away from the others. That had to be her next target. She drew the kunai close to her chest and snapped it back out in a path that should end a few feet above his head and caught it again a heartbeat later, kicking her feet onto his shoulders and letting her momentum help her ride him to the ground. He hit the dirt face-first in what had to be a painful forwards fall, but the maneuver (and the slight unresponsiveness in her knees that she hadn’t accounted for after the clawed kick they’d  taken earlier) left her on a downward path that was going to end with her knees buckling under and her ass hitting her heels. Her torso wanted to bend forward, but the woman in purple and black was coming in hot.

Fuck, didn’t she ever give up or take a second to react? She was relentless and demonically fast.

Aiko could see how the current tableau was going to play out as if it had already happened. If she didn’t move, that scarily strong woman was going to knock her head straight off her shoulders. (Or cut it off with the freaky claws she’d gained in the last minute-and-a-half. Where did those come from?) There was no chance that she would be able to unfold her legs and jump out of the way in time. Perhaps she could roll to one side or another, but that would leave her vulnerable on the ground in the next second as well.

So Aiko snapped her torso backwards with painful force, flinging her hands over her head up to blindly grab at whatever she could reach of the shinobi behind her, came up with a handful of his hair (and barely missed grasping a shoulder) and pulled on the first tag she felt. That one wasn’t nearly far enough away, so she took the millisecond necessary to seek out the tag in Mist and pull on it and two others.

If she’d done that right, they were probably in Wave. She probably hadn’t, however, since the next thing she knew was that she was soaking wet, having apparently landed on a body of water. Her head collided with the surface with a cold shock and she would have sputtered if she wasn’t breathing in salt water. Her body was still curled up backwards, but at least landing in water gave her the mobility to straighten simply by kicking her legs straight (even though that left her floating face-up instead of in any tactical position).

A blow to the back of her head made her see white and lose her grip on a fistful of short-ish hair.

‘Right. That guy. He’s still here and conscious.’

The force of the punch had actually sent her further underwater and would have been considerably worse if it hadn’t been slowed by their surroundings. Her opponent was on top of her in the water, the preferable position. He could very easily kill her.

If she’d stayed, that was. Aiko frantically pulled on the first three tags she could register (by coincidence, the one in Mist, one on the northern border, and one in Grass) and landed somewhere between the three, violently spitting out foul water even as she awkwardly touched down on solid ground with her hastily bent legs. She was probably in Rice country, though she wasn’t about to consult her map. Especially since there was still a fist curled in her hair.

She yanked her head forward and ignored the pain, because the angle dragged his arm up and allowed her to twist just enough to elbow the man behind her with adrenaline-fueled force that audibly snapped a rib. He howled in her ear and let his grip loosen out of shock. It was all the opportunity she needed to turn the rest of the way to push one palm on his chest (planting a seal reflexively) and wrap her fingers of the other hand around the warm metal of his forehead protector. She removed it with the simple expedient of leaping straight upwards and pulling it with her (though there was more than a bit of hair caught in the knot at the back, ew).

‘What happened to my kunai?’

Fuck. It had probably been dropped in the water, and she wasn’t in the mood to go back for it.

“Bye bye, asshole!” Aiko bit out with considerably more venom than was strictly necessary. He’d been a bigger pain in the ass than anticipated.

The five Cloud shinobi still in the clearing were inured enough to her coming and going that they didn’t jump to see her reappear. Though there was at least one confused double-take at her dripping hair and clothes. She took a moment to tug the hairpin hanging limply from her skull free and tuck it under her obi for safe-keeping. Damn, that was a good accessory. A lesser bit of jewelry would have been knocked free in a scuffle like that.

“Almost halfway done!” Aiko taunted as she crouched in a ready position, concealing her breathless and mildly lightheaded state from gulping in water instead of air a few moments ago.

“Don’t be so arrogant!” The blonde woman called out in a bizarrely low growl. Hadn’t her voice been much higher a few minutes ago? Odd.

“We should retreat!” The look that accompanied that call was wide-eyed and frankly a bit crazy, but at that moment Aiko loved the older man who’d given it. “If there are more coming, our mission is lost.”

“Coward!” The rasp was all but inhuman. And it frightened the Cloud shinobi as much or more than Aiko did, because all but one of the men in that clearing turned tail to run. “We can’t get our primary target, but there’s a shinobi right there!” The odds looked significantly better for a bare instant, even if she was now mulling over the unpleasant possibility that there was something going on other than murder that she hadn’t figured out.

Then her heart thudded to her gut. ‘I’m in over my head.’

It wasn’t just that she was outnumbered by high level shinobi. Or that she knew she couldn’t possibly have reinforcements in time to help if this went badly. Those things weren’t bad enough on their own merits, so it was just the cherry on top that she’d never fought a jinchuuriki before.

Well. There was that time with Gaara, but that had been short and she’d had back up. And he had been overwhelmed by his demon into a state of stupid brutality. The blonde woman who had just sprouted the beginnings of a virtual cloak of chakra was definitely in control of her facilities, judging by the obvious intelligence glittering in her eyes and mona lisa smile.

‘Fuck, fuck, fuckity-fuck.’

[angelselene]

BNHA Comfort-Tober 4

Prompts: Playlist | airport | “You’re all the coffee that I need in the morning.”

The airport playlist is patently awful. Shouto’s been stuck there since his flight got in at three in the morning, and none of the terminal’s cafes are open to serve coffee. His flight, that was supposed to leave at 5 a.m., has been canceled, and the new one won’t leave till 9. He’s not quite desperate enough to chance a soda--he’s really not fond of the sugary sweetness and never has been--but he’s so tired, he aches with it.

He glances down at his phone, checking the battery, only to see a message from Midoriya.

[Heard your flight was canceled. Need a lift?]

Ordinarily, he would never abuse Midoriya’s power to simply get him home, but he’s exhausted, and all he wants is Toshinori. Sleeping when he travels without Toshinori is always the worst, and he misses his husband like a limb.

[If it’s not an imposition?]

[It might have been Oboro-san’s idea] is the reply.

Shouto doesn’t try to fathom how Oboro heard about his flight getting canceled, or why he’d offer, but nothing will get him home more quickly than the Kurogiri Express--as his friends sometimes call it.

He starts to reply to ask if he should meet Oboro outside, when someone calls his name.

Shirakumo Oboro still doesn’t look entirely human. His hair is a smokey white haze, but his smile reminds Shouto of Toshinori a little bit, so he has a soft spot for the man.

“How did you find me?” Shouto asks, curious but not overly alarmed. “And so late?”

“It’s Yagi-san’s birthday. You can’t miss that,” he says. “I would have been here sooner, but Hizashi said it was a little presumptuous to come and get you without asking.”

Of all the people who had helped Oboro recover from being a nomu and allied with the League of Villains, Toshinori has been a surprise ace. While he’d have been content to let Shouto get home in time to surprise Toshinori, he’ also have wanted to make sure, should something go wrong, that Shouto’s surprise went off without a hitch.

Fortunately, Shouto travels light and only had his carry-on. “Okay,” he says. “Let’s go.” He can cancel the flight by phone when he’s at home.

Oboro opens a tear, and pulls them through, from Beijing back to Musutafu, landing them in the hall outside Toshinori and Shouto’s shared apartment.

“Go give him a happy birthday,” Oboro says with a leer.

Rolling his eyes, Shouto says, “Thank you,” even as he fishes out his keys.

“Keep making him happy, and there’s nothing to thank me for,” Oboro says, and between Shouto unlocking the door and looking back, he’s gone.

Shaking his head, he drops his bag and shoes off in the genkan and makes a line straight for the bedroom. It’s just before six still, and Toshinori is already stirring--because it’s just Shouto’s luck to fall in love with a damned morning person. Shouto climbs into bed, which wakes Toshinori more, and before he can say anything, kisses him.

For a moment, Toshinori doesn’t kiss him back. Then his long, strong fingers are moving over Shouto, pulling him him, his tongue teasing across Shouto’s lips. They break just long enough for Toshinori to ask, “You’re home early! Don’t you need some rest?”

“You’re all the coffee that I need in the morning,” Shouto says, kissing him again.

They’re the last words either of them says for quite some time.

Complete Prompt List [x]

[litem-legalis]

How and where can someone get a Patent Registered?

Getting a patent registered means protecting your invention legally so others can't copy it without your permission. Here's a simple guide:

Understand What You Want to Patent: First, make sure your invention is something new and useful. It could be a product, a process, or even a design.

Research: Look into existing patents to make sure your idea hasn't been patented already. You can do this through online databases or by hiring a patent attorney.

Prepare Your Application: You'll need to describe your invention in detail, including how it works and why it's unique. This can be a bit complex, so some people hire a patent attorney to help.

File Your Application: You'll submit your application to the appropriate patent office. This could be a national office, like the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), or an international one, like the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Wait for Examination: Once you've filed your application, it will be reviewed by a patent examiner. They'll check if your invention meets all the requirements for a patent.

Respond to Office Actions (if needed): Sometimes, the examiner might have questions or ask for more information. You'll need to respond to these requests within a specific time frame.

Grant or Denial: If everything goes well, your patent will be granted! If not, you might have to make some changes or your application could be rejected.

Maintain Your Patent: After your patent is granted, you'll need to pay fees to keep it in force. You'll also need to defend it if someone tries to challenge it.

Remember, getting a patent can take time and money, but it's a crucial step in protecting your invention and potentially profiting from it.

[myresellerhome]

How to Start an eCommerce Business in 5 Steps (A Business Planning Guide)

Are you ready to start your eCommerce business and turn your hobby into money? In this digital age, people who want to start their own business and make it big in the online market have many options. Starting an online store can be a fun and profitable business, whether you want to sell handmade goods, niche items, or cool new gadgets. But how do you start? 

This complete guide will show you the most important things you need to do to start your eCommerce journey and help you figure out how to be an online business owner. Get a coffee, put on your work clothes, and let's start an eCommerce business in five easy steps!

1. Define eCommerce Business

Perfecting your idea is the first stage in launching any business. Selling professional services and tangible or digital goods are examples of online business concepts. 

Whichever option you decide on, you must specify your e-commerce business strategy and create a business plan that details your target market. 

You'll have many questions during this process, such as: How will you provide your goods or services to your clients? Which licenses and permits are required? How much will it cost to launch your eCommerce, and how will you pay for it? Your business plan should address these questions and offer a roadmap for the upcoming months.

2. Importance of Planning

After defining your eCommerce business, it is critical to plan it. It comprises many aspects, including the business structure, name, payment method, and shipment. 

Here's an explanation of these aspects:

Picking a way to run your business. 

While each of these company types has advantages and disadvantages, consulting with a lawyer may assist you in determining which is best for your purposes. Also, plan how your business will operate. Plan your shipping and delivery routes. Also, how are you going to track these services?

Giving your business a name. 

Choose your business name carefully because it will become your brand's name. Check the websites of your local secretary of state and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to make sure the name you want doesn't already belong to a business. Make sure that the domain name you want for your business is also available.

Applying for an employer identification number (EIN). 

An EIN is free to get from the IRS. You can do it online, by mail, fax, or phone. A business does not have to have an EIN, but having one can help you keep your personal and work finances separate.

Opening a bank account for your business. 

We suggest all business owners open a separate bank account for their company. Clients these days like to use UPI and cards to pay. You should check how people can pay if you start an online store and offer them to your customers. Also, think about how safe the payment methods are.

Getting the licenses and permits that your state or city needs. 

Where the business is located is an integral part of it. Most likely, this includes a business license. If you offer services, you may also need a professional license. Find out what the rules are in your area by visiting the website of your state or city government.

3. Market Research and Analysis

A target audience is a specific set of people to whom you want to direct your products, services, and marketing. It is typically defined by characteristics such as gender, age, hobbies, difficulties, and ambitions. 

Researching your target audience will help you understand their difficulties, pain spots, and purchasing patterns. You can then build messages, offers, and marketing and advertising campaigns that appeal to your target audience.

Draw inspiration from your competitors' efforts and build on what they're doing well. Identify their best-selling items, social media outlets, and the type of content their audience enjoys.

4. Setting Up Your Online Store

If you want to open an online business, you can hire a website developer or do it yourself. 

How to Choose the Right Domain Name

It tells people what kind of business you are and is part of your site's URL. Using your business name as your domain name is a good idea, but it's not required. 

Pick a web host and a site builder.

An e-commerce website maker is a website that lets you make and run your online store without having to know a lot about computers. 

Many website builders let you drag and drop items and have many themes you can change. Making it very simple for people who don't know how to code to set up an online store. 

Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress are all well-known website builders. Each one has its own set of features and functions.

Compare them based on how easy they are to use, how customizable they are, how many design choices they have, how good their customer service is, and so on.

Also, it would help if you chose a web host. This service lets you put your website online after you've set it up. There are a lot of website makers that also host websites. 

Choose the layout of your website.

Now is the time to create your online store, which is the heart of your business. With just a few clicks, website builders let you add a lot of free and paid styles that you can change to fit your needs.

Try out several styles to find the one that works best for you. Select the one that lets you make a lot of changes. 

This is an example: 

If you sell customized T-shirts, choose a theme that lets you code a feature that lets customers add text or pictures to make the shirt their own. You can also code a function that lets them see what their changes will look like before they buy.

Once you've chosen a theme, you can begin making the pages you need, such as

Homepage

Page for products

The "About Us" page

FAQs page 

Policy pages

Page for contact

5. Marketing and Promotion Strategies

So, you've made a product listing full of helpful information, keywords, compelling writing, and beautiful images. It's time to tell everyone about it! 

Getting as many people as possible to your listing will give you a better chance of converting them. This means you want as many people as possible to click on, view, and buy your goods. 

Online shoppers are more likely to come to you if you have a more significant online footprint. There should be at least three places where you can be found online: your e-commerce shop or landing page, social media, and online ad space. Keep your review count and scores high once you start making sales. This will make your brand seem more trustworthy. 

Make advertising plans 

When people click on ads, they buy things. And in today's e-commerce world, where competition is high, you need a strong advertising plan to stand out. 

There are many ways for online sellers to promote their goods, which is great. Amazon gives its buyers a lot of pay-per-click (PPC) ad choices and other marketing programs to help their items get more attention. You can even keep track of people who come to your post from ads you run outside of Amazon. 

Use social media 

54% of people have bought things they first learned about on social media. This means entrepreneurs who want to build brand recognition should have a social presence. 

Getting more people to follow your business on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok lets millions of people who might buy your products know about them. 

You can make it easy for customers to find your items by linking your storefront or individual product pages to your social media pages. On Facebook and Instagram, you can even sell things right away. 

You can also connect with people on social apps in more natural ways than traditional ads. You can, for instance, use Instagram or Twitter polls to find out what people think about your goods, tell people about sales and discount codes, or post "engagement prompts" to get people to comment. 

Tips for Success in E-commerce

Once you've set up your business, here are some important tips for making it successful in e-commerce:

Make your e-commerce site more likely to convert.

You can get more people to buy from your online store by making it more user-friendly. Resulting in more sales and money. 

If not, it won't matter how many people visit your website—it will be hard to turn them into buyers. 

Set up a program to reward loyal customers. 

With a customer loyalty program, you can give customers rewards to keep them coming back, build long-lasting relationships, and get more people to love and support your brand. 

The goal is to give buyers reasons and advantages that make their contacts with your brand more valuable. As a result, you'll probably be able to keep more of your customers, which means you'll make more money from return purchases. 

Run a campaign for influencer marketing.

Working with influencers is a great way to boost sales and raise awareness of your business online. You can reach their fans and use the trust they've built with their public. 

Look at Converse. Along with four top TikTok creators with 12 million fans, the shoe brand worked with them to promote the launch of its "Creative All-Star Series" in London. 

One of the influencers, Jake Sweet, made a movie with over 37,000 likes and more than 120 shares.

Create an E-commerce Market Presence

If you have an online store on an e-commerce marketplace, you can use its huge reach and good image to your advantage, which could lead to more sales and money. 

Every month, billions of people visit the websites of online stores like Walmart and Amazon. People like shopping here because the marketplaces have built trust over the years, they put the customer first, and they have a huge collection of products. 

Conclusion

Starting an online store can be a fun and profitable business if you carefully plan and carry out your steps. Aspiring business owners can succeed in the tough world of online shopping if they follow the five important steps in this guide. These steps include researching the market, making a marketing plan, opening an online store, and performing market research.

Janet Watson MyResellerHome MyResellerhome.com We offer experienced web hosting services that are customized to your specific requirements.

Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram

[havnblog]

Pedal tuners and product design

Firstly, sorry about caring a bit too much about guitar tuners. You see, as a side gig, I help people with their pedalboards (especially people using multiple guitars on stage), and I often recommend that they get a new tuner. But no tuners are exactly like I want!

While this post is mostly hard core nerd out on pedal tuners, there are also some comments on product design in general. Let’s go!

A new product series gives (false) hope

I prefer always-on tuners that you mute elsewhere (volume pedal or otherwise), and this makes foot-switches redundant. That’s why I like the idea behind Boss TU3-S.

The only pedaltuner that can't be muted or turned off?

Shiny!

So, when I saw the new(ish) Korg X tuners, I was stoked – especially for the XS. The pedal to display size ratio is great, the switch design is cool, and I like that it’s more squared off than your typical mini pedal. This allows it to fit into odd slots on pedalboards.

However, contrary to what the product page on Sweetwater says (as of november 2022), there is no way to tune with this brand-new pedal without muting your signal! I got this confirmed by Korg USA, and they said they would inform Sweetwater and make them change their product description.

Sweetwater's product page, desgribing the product I want (but that doesn't exist).

«But why tune without muting? Do you want everyone to hear your off-pitch notes?» I hear you ask. But it’s not that I want to tune with sound. I just don’t want the tuner to be the only way to mute while tuning!

Space is a premium on pedalboards – but so is reachability! If you already have a volume pedal or an AB switch with a mute, these have to be reachable no matter what. Then it’s nice to be able to stick the tuner somewhere that might be hard to reach, but that’s still visible. (Also, if you’re a bassist like me, you could sneak in a little tuning during some long root notes while playing!)

Look how hard it is to step on between all the other pedals. Why wouldn't this have always-on?

I know that the majority of rigs don’t need this function, but I just find it absolutely baffling that they didn’t include this as an option in at least one of the three new pedal tuners they released.

Korg X Mini vs. Polytune Noir 3

(Gallery)

To illustrate that I don’t understand what the Korg product team was thinking with this series, let me compare the brand new X Mini to an established competitor: the Polytune Noir 3.

Buffer: Both have good buffers, but the Noir 3’s can be changed to true bypass (dip-switch on the outside). The X Mini doesn’t have this option at all. A guitar signal that goes through normal instrument jacks over a long distance (like from your guitar, through all your pedals and to an amplifier) will lose tone, if it doesn’t get a push. This is what the buffers do, and you should at least have one close to the beginning of your pedal chain and preferably one at the end. Since some pedals need to be before any buffers, being able to turn it off is a good thing.

Accuracy: X Mini: ± 0,1 cents – Noir 3: ± 0,02 cents

Always-on: The Noir 3 has this on an external dip-switch as well. The X Mini doesn’t have this option.

Special sauce: The Noir 3 has the Polytune Mode, allowing you to check the tuning on all six strings at once.

Other specs: Pedal size, display size and price are about the same (the price is literally the same here in Norway).

Pride and product design

I’m trying to imagine being on the Korg product team…

These tuners are what I would classify as «compact mid-range tuners», and I think the Noir 3 is the most well-rounded option in the market. However, it is more than 3,5 years old. Korg was behind, with their oldPitchblack mini, but now they could get an advantage: They would soon have the newest tuners on the marked, and they knew beforehand exactly what they had to beat.

And then they don’t even try..?

The Polytune Mode is probably mega-patented, so Korg couldn’t do that. But shouldn’t that make them at least match the competition on basic functions? Or maybe try to undercut them on price? Did someone try to tell their manager «Our brand-new tuner is not only missing their signature feature, but it also has fewer functions and less accuracy. And we’re neither cheaper nor more compact!»?

I don’t think I would be as annoyed if the products were plain rubbish. It’s extra infuriating since they’re so close to being great! Korg makes the best-looking tuners, in my opinion, and their build quality is good for the price. And the XS in genuinely pretty innovative. The team behind the foot-switch did an impressive job, but then they got let down by this one omission.

Long-lasting thoughts

I ♥️ details. And sometimes details are expensive. Maybe the good materials cost more, or perhaps a different process makes every unit more costly. This adds up, over the years of a product’s life. If this were a different post, this would be where I’d make a remark about capitalism and the focus on profit over creativity and pride. But while unhinged capitalism usually is the root issue, I don’t think cost-cutting is Korg’s main problem here. Making the buffer switchable and always-on, isn’t expensive to design or produce. They just had to bother. To me, this whole series of tuners reeks of a corporation not making their products as good as they can, but only as good as they have to.

A thing that fascinates me about product design, is that one good thought last for years. It lasts through all the years a product is produced and all the years it’s used. I think this is one of the reasons I love things that are thoroughly considered. Now, I know that real artists ship, and you can’t spend too long designing, revisioning and perfecting.

The famous toaster button

Take a look at the button layout on this Breville toaster:

Cancel, Frozen, and Bagel is all right – but it’s the last one it’s all about. I can’t imagine that specific function increases the production cost that much – it’s just a really good idea. It’s one good thought, that then affects millions of slices of bread.

Korg should’ve thought about their new pedal series a bit more.

Addendum

This post started as a Reddit-comment. In that, I asked (and then answered) two additional tuner questions:

Which tuners would I recommend?

The Peterson Strobostomp HD has everything (almost too much), and is great. If it had an all-screen version without the foot-switch, this would be my go-to.

The Turbo Tuners are nice – especially if you want great accuracy and don’t need a buffer.

The aforementioned Polytune Noir 3 is a great option for the price, especially if you like the Polytune thing.

I just love the way the Boss TU3-W looks! With always-on and a good buffer, the only drawbacks are accuracy and size. I’m not confident that I can rationally recommend this for the price, though – but who chooses gear just based on rationality!?

I know it’s silly, but I would’ve liked the Boss TU3-S a lot more if it had the black TU3-W look. This is still worth checking out, as long as you know about the average buffer and accuracy.

And lastly, a twist recommendation: The Korg XS! I mean, most people probably aren’t concerned with the lacking always-on anyway. So, then this is just a compact, cool looking tuner with a switchable buffer and “good-enough” accuracy. And you could make it “always on” by putting it in a tuner out or a loop of sorts – even though you then waste the buffer, and it’s not always practical.

What would my perfect tuner look like?

“All” display design. Mutability is a «nice to have».

Always-on option (obviously 😛)

A good, but switchable, buffer.

Good enough accuracy, and some calibration options.

Top-mounted jacks.

Power out is nice.

A cool, dark look. 😎

In other words, the Korg XS is really, really close. Always-on, top-mounted jacks (the other two can keep the side-mounted) and maybe a tad more accuracy (I don’t care, but I know some do) and we’re there. In five years, Korg?

[selfhelp4all]

3 Texts To Send Your Ex Boyfriend To Make Him Come Running Back

So... you want to get your ex boyfriend back?

One of the easiest ways you can win your ex boyfriend back is by simply using your cell phone and tapping a bunch of buttons.

Sound absurd? Well, it isn't... I've coached thousands of women around the world to effectively "Text Their Exes Back"... even if they initially thought that it was impossible to ever rekindle any sort of romance with their ex boyfriend.

And today, I'm about to give you some tips on how you can force your boyfriend to come running back to you (and no, he'll definitely have absolutely no choice in the matter).

Ready?

This is the first text you can send to get started (but don't send these text messages yet. At the end of the article, I'll tell you exactly when to send these texts, because when you send these messages is just as important as what you send).

Text #1 - The "I'm Ok" Text Message: -- "Hey _____, I just want to let you know that I'm 100% cool with the breakup and I thought that it was a good idea. Hope we can still be friends. Talk soon." --

This text message is great because it conveys all the right messages. For one, you're letting him know that you were 100% okay with the breakup (you need to make him think this right now). By saying this, you're pretty much saying to him that you don't really need him... and this will subconsciously drive him insane. By posing as "just a friend" right now, you start planting my patented 'Seduction Seeds' that will eventually cause him to start thinking about you in a sexual way again... and win him back for good. More on this in a bit.

Text #2 - The "No Communication" Text. -- "You're right. It's best that we don't talk right now, but I would like to be friends eventually." --

This one is a little advanced and you need to know exactly when to send this text... but again, you're communicating to him that you don't really need to talk to him. In essence, you're saying that you don't really need him to play any role in your life anymore. By doing this, you'll send the messsage that you do want to "move on"... and you'll begin tricking him into thinking that he actually lost you!

Text #3 - The "Jealousy" Text. -- "I think it was a great idea that we decided to start dating other people. I do just want to be friends right now!" --

By saying this, you're telling him that you're actually dating other people right now... which will in turn make him jealous. This is a good thing. By saying this, you're sub-communicating to him that you're actually wanted by other guys. Remember, men are attracted to women that are wanted by other guys, so by saying that you're dating around already, you're pretty much saying that "it's your loss, mister!"

Remember, you can't just simply send these texts to him and expect good results... you need to have a plan of attack, and send these messages right when he's most likely to take them seriously... only then will he begin to feel attraction for you and induce a "fear of loss" within him.

In the free presentation below, I'll show you exactly what you can do to make your ex boyfriend want you again. No matter what your situation is -- or how badly you've messed up since the two of you broke up -- I'll be able to give you a number of useful tips that you can apply immediately.

But you better hurry up because this video won't be online forever... demand has been overwhelming and there's no way I'll be able to afford hosting it online for much longer.

So hurry up and check out the video below.

Click here to check out this video presentation. 

[csown]

Juan Felipe Campos

Founder/CEO @ NomadApp, Plug & Play Silicon Valley5y When I first moved to Silicon Valley, I started taking notes of the lessons learned from every encounter and mentor. I’ve come some way since moving; I graduated from 2 Silicon Valley accelerators, hit over $1MM in sales with one of my startups, became a mentor at the Google Launchpad Manos Accelerator and learned how to surround myself with great people.

I kept all these lessons on a notepad and will share them here for the first time.

These are the 23 lessons I learned from living in Silicon Valley for one year:

1. On becoming successful:

We are totally a result of our behaviors. Fall in love with behaviors that turn into positive results. Don’t just fall in love with the results. That goes for finances, fitness, health, and much more.

There is admiration, inspiration, and envy. Take your passive admiration and turn it into inspiration. Take your negative envy and turn it into inspiration. You’re so close to feeling a positive force, just anchor it to inspiration if you want to go anywhere.

Just become buddies with people that ALREADY go to the gym/wake up early/make good money. Don't try to convince your fat buddy to start going to the gym with you. It’s much harder to pull that off.

If you think people at the gym are vain and shallow... How can you ever hope to become like them? If you think millionaires are greedy and heartless, how can you ever hope to learn from and replicate their behaviors? You can't become what you resent.

“Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you are withholding from the world.” - @EckhartTolle

What would the smarter, healthier version of yourself be doing right now? Why aren't you doing it?

Leaders don't have followers. Leaders create other leaders.

2. On advisors:

Most give opinions, not personal experience; and that’s ok, just be conscious of this. They haven’t necessarily done before what they’re telling you to do.

Be picky with your advisors, they are your coaches. You are the quarterback.

Most mentors will teach you how to be like them, the best ones will teach you how to be the best version of yourself.

Advisors should help you focus and take stuff out from your todo list, not just find more things to add on. Whenever they say “update your pitch deck”, ask “Okay, should I do that instead of developing my app?” Tasks need to be taken out in order for new ones to be brought in.

Be careful, most advisors advice the startup and not the entrepreneur. They will give you the right advice for your startup at the wrong time for your life. Work with people that will help you navigate your whole package (children, spouse, debt, etc.)

3. On fund raising:

Get to a point in your career where you can just call up your friends to fund your new idea.

You can’t build a bonfire with nothing but a match. You need lots of sticks and gasoline. Your teams represents the sticks. VC money should be the gasoline on your already working fire; make sure you don’t see VC money as the match or the sticks. It’s meant to amplify what already works.

Make sure you have real product-market fit, not product-VC fit. Nobody wants to be in a failed startup even if it raised funds. Make sure yours fits the market instead of just getting the quick VC check.

4. On the current VC landscape:

VC's don't play into the big bubble. They play into small bubbles like AI, ML, AR, VR, etc.

They invest in Twitter only because it looks good on their portfolio for the long term.

They make most of their money when the next VC invests, not when the company goes IPO or gets acquired. Those trophies are for the late stage VC investors, not the early stage guys.

Some investors literally invest in Patent portfolios just because it means that they can sue somebody if they want to. Everybody is suable by somebody else by the current rules.

5. On Silicon Valley:

There is no success border patrol in Silicon Valley. Show up! It’s yours too. These opportunities are not reserved for people better than you. They are reserved for those brave enough to demand their attention.

6. On product-market fit:

You almost can't be too niche. You can DEFINITELY be too broad. Most startups are too broad.

7. On humility:

The advantage you had yesterday, will be replaced by the trends of tomorrow. You don’t have to do anything wrong, but as long as your competitors catch the wave and do it RIGHT, you can lose out and fail.

You should get excited about the accomplishments of others, not intimidated. It means you can do it too.

8. On viral campaigns:

People only share things that make THEM look good; not things that make YOU look good.

One great piece of content can change your career! You control how often you go at bat with great content. If you're GOOD enough, put out content every single day. You will inevitably rise to the top. Think what would happen if a 14 year old girl with Beyonce's voice put out a Facebook Live video every day. Within a year she would be signed. You control how often people are exposed to you content. If you think you've got what it takes, PLAY THE DISTRIBUTION GAME. Have consistency on your side.

9. On social media engagement:

It's easy to treat people as a collective instead of as individuals when you are presented with opportunities at scale. Make the effort to thank every compliment, answer every tweet. People see it. It matters.

10. On self awareness:

Don't think other entrepreneurs don’t have bad times. You’re only seeing their highlight reel.

11. On time management:

Time is the only finite source. You can always get more of everything else, but not time. Your time is running out.

Entrepreneurs get help for resources that we can recover like money and human resources. Why don’t we get “accountants” or “coaches” for our only limited source in life? Figure this out. Get into an accelerator, get mentors, onboard advisors, etc. Whatever it is; fix it. This matters.

Compound interest also applies to work-life balance. If you work really hard at the beginning of your career and you just get more done and work harder, then there is a compound effect. The earlier you start, the more you get to enjoy the benefits of it.

12. On making perfect deals:

What you want should be the same thing that everyone else in that deal wants. Example: Don't enter your customers into a raffle to win an iPad as a reward to download your app. You want app downloads, your users want an iPad. This is not a good deal.

Make deals where you win no matter what happens. Even if you don’t win, fix your attitude so you still win. You always have to win. Everything is a dot in your story to success. You’re perfect in this moment; you’re just not finished yet.

13. On benefits to users:

Figure out how to have such good product/market fit that your clients are rewarded by getting MORE of your product and they LOVE it. You shouldn’t have to rely on external incentives.

Find out what your users want. Some can be incentivized with a verified badge or a free download. Understand your audience intimately; this will help you make better decisions.

14. On having too many features:

Most entrepreneurs want it ALL from day one. Platforms are crowded with buggy features. It’s hard to market an app that makes no money and has 0 fanatics on day one.

Key to success is focus: have the 1 or 2 things that your app does and your customers want; make them great and grow with your audience as you launch more features.

15. On perfection paralysis:

Perfection is overrated. Learn from Facebook and, “Move fast and break things.”

16. On being “right” about a trend:

You can't break out unless the platform itself is breaking out. Bet on the platform that's growing. When the tide rises, all boats rise with it.

17. On getting funded:

We always hear, "It's all about the team", and we think that it means the team has to be down to earth and likeable. It does not. It means the team has to show a proven record of success and commitment to the relentless pursuit of excellence. Nobody gets this badge overnight, it’s like being an athlete or a professional musician. People won’t see you have “it” unless you’ve been pruning yourself through years and years of discipline.

18. On networking:

We always hear: "It's not what you know, it's who you know." If you come from a humble background, you’ll take offence to this and think that you can’t know big people since you don’t have that built-in network. Get that chip off your shoulder. Build a network of people that you love being around and bring tons of value into your life.

19. On hiring:

Entrepreneurs hear, “The team is everything” and they think they have to go out and be really picky about who they hire. Instead, they should be worried about becoming the right people to work for. You can only attract all time greats if you're an all time great. It's not just about being picky. It's about being someone worth working for.

Don't hire your friends. Go waaaaay out of your way to hire the best in the world. You won't be able to recruit them until you're the best yourself.

When recruiting, you should pitch the talent, not them pitch you. If they are pitching you, then you're hiring the low hanging fruit. Work hard for your talent. Find yourself in a position where you are pitching every person you hire because you recognize that they could work anywhere else.

Hire quickly, fire quickly. The #1 greatest mistake any great founder makes is waiting too long to fire bad people.

Don't just hire people who are passionate about your goal; hire people who are actually good at what they do, too. You can't build a school by hiring only teachers. You need architects and engineers too. Your employees don't have to be passionate about your company for the same reasons you are as long as you both want the same result.

20. On building a personal brand:

Struggling to build a personal brand? Your problem is that you're too complex. Are you the witty brand, the strong motivational brand, the intellectual brand? You can't grow quickly when you're trying to be too many things. Just pick something and stick to it long enough for people to recognize you. If you have too many passions, STILL just pick one thing and then change to the next thing once you have an audience.

21. On learning from previous generations:

Your grandparents are theoretically better at social media than you are. They are the ones that invented the handshake, the ones that invented baking you a cake when your grandmother died, the ones that invented the baker's dozen, and asking you questions when you walked into the store. The internet and social media have made it easier and given you an excuse to be less human instead of amplifying and scaling your humanity. The more "Jetsons" that we become, the more the “Flinstones” will win.

Facebook audience research is something old people would have done. Testing the market. Oldest trick in the book. Don’t ignore it, ask people if they like your stuff.

Great founders are like great farmers, they look for 10% growth every week. They look for the boring things and not the things that get televised. For you, this means hard work, getting clients, billing, delivering a great product. Do this instead of focusing all your time on fund raising, getting rockstar advisors, growing your social media followers, etc.

22. On burning out:

I was told that you get burnt out from working too hard and what I found in my own experience is that burnout actually comes from failing and things not working. Momentum is really energizing; the lack of momentum is super draining. I find that I have infinite energy to work on things that are working, and almost none to work on things that I either find uninteresting or that are not working. So when you look at successful people and you wonder how they get so much done; it's really all about momentum. Momentum is really energizing, and lack of momentum is really not energizing.

23. On building a support system:

Be careful, you may think that you have a support system when in reality what you really have is people that hold you down. Those people don't want you to be better than them. It can even be your spouse. They are scared of losing you and losing who you are.

There are dozens of individuals who I wish I could thank for loving me into who I am today. This is my own lesson over the last year:

It’s easy to overlook the sacrifices and effort needed to bring you to where you are in life.

It’s a gift.

Show us all what you do with it.

[allaboutatrademark]

The Basics of Trademark Registering

Trademark registering is the process of filing an application to register a mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In most cases, you must start this process as soon as possible. It can take up to a year before your trademark is registered, so starting the process early is essential.

A trademark is a unique name, logo or slogan that connects products and services to one business. It is important to check the federal database to ensure that your name isn't already protected as a trademark, and you should search not just for the name you want, but also for similar names. Here's a good read about check trademarks, check it out!

When a trademark has been registered, it becomes a legal shield against competitors using the same or confusingly similar names. This helps keep your brand from becoming diluted and is a key factor in protecting your brand against trademark infringement, which can include copyright infringement, domain name infringement and counterfeiting. To gather more awesome ideas on trademark check, click here to get started.

It also gives you the ability to monitor who is using your trademark and if they are violating your rights, you can sue them for triple (3x) damages plus attorney fees. This is an important step to preserving your brand and your profits.

The USPTO also offers a Global Brand Database, which includes information on nearly 28 million marks. This database provides a quick and easy way to find out whether your mark is available for registration in other countries.

If your mark is eligible for registration, you can begin registering it by filing an application with the USPTO and paying the applicable fee. The filing fee for a trademark application is $250-$750 per class of goods or services. It is not refundable if the USPTO rejects the application.

Your application must include a detailed description of the goods or services for which you want to register the mark. If you are applying to register a design or nontraditional mark, you must submit a drawing of the mark. You must also file a specimen of the mark that shows your use of it in commerce.

You must also describe the goods or services that will be offered in connection with your mark, including a list of the specific brands or manufacturers for which you intend to market. The description must be accurate and not misleading, so you should consult the USPTO's manual of rules for determining the correct classification.

After the examining attorney approves your application, it will be published in the "Official Gazette" of the USPTO. If you have any objections to the registration, you may file an opposition within 30 days of the publication date. Oppositions are heard by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), an administrative tribunal within the USPTO.

Once the opposition has been resolved, your mark will be formally registered. After that, you can begin using the federal registration symbol (r) next to your mark to signal to the public that your mark is a legally registered mark. Kindly visit this website https://www.britannica.com/topic/trademark for more useful reference.

How to Register a Trademark Once your mark has been formally registered, you can use it on a variety of goods and services, as long as you comply with the laws of the jurisdiction in which you are based. It is important to register your mark as early as possible in order to protect your brand and avoid dilution of its value.

[relationshipease]

Top 3 Sneaky Strategy to win back your ex..

So… you want to get your ex boyfriend back?

One of the easiest ways you can win your ex boyfriend back is by simply using your cell phone and tapping a bunch of buttons.Sound absurd? Well, it isn’t… I’ve coached thousands of women around the world to effectively “Text Their Exes Back”… even if they initially thought that it was impossible to ever rekindle any sort of romance with their ex boyfriend.And today, I’m about to give you some tips on how you can force your boyfriend to come running back to you (and no, he’ll definitely have absolutely no choice in the matter).Ready?This is the first text you can send to get started (but don’t send these text messages yet. At the end of the article, I’ll tell you exactly when to send these texts, because when you send these messages is just as important as what you send).

Strategy #1 — The “I’m Ok” Text Message:“Hey _____, I just want to let you know that I’m 100% cool with the breakup and I thought that it was a good idea. Hope we can still be friends. Talk soon.”This text message is great because it conveys all the right messages. For one, you’re letting him know that you were 100% okay with the breakup (you need to make him think this right now). By saying this, you’re pretty much saying to him that you don’t really need him… and this will subconsciously drive him insane. By posing as “just a friend” right now, you start planting my patented ‘Seduction Seeds’ that will eventually cause him to start thinking about you in a sexual way again… and win him back for good. More on this in a bit.

Strategy #2 — The “No Communication” Text.“You’re right. It’s best that we don’t talk right now, but I would like to be friends eventually.”This one is a little advanced and you need to know exactly when to send this text… but again, you’re communicating to him that you don’t really need to talk to him. In essence, you’re saying that you don’t really need him to play any role in your life anymore. By doing this, you’ll send the messsage that you do want to “move on”… and you’ll begin tricking him into thinking that he actually lost you!

Strategy #3 — The “Jealousy” Text.“I think it was a great idea that we decided to start dating other people. I do just want to be friends right now!”By saying this, you’re telling him that you’re actually dating other people right now… which will in turn make him jealous. This is a good thing. By saying this, you’re sub-communicating to him that you’re actually wanted by other guys. Remember, men are attracted to women that are wanted by other guys, so by saying that you’re dating around already, you’re pretty much saying that “it’s your loss, mister!”Remember, you can’t just simply send these texts to him and expect good results… you need to have a plan of attack, and send these messages right when he’s most likely to take them seriously… only then will he begin to feel attraction for you and induce a “fear of loss” within him.In the free presentation below, I’ll show you exactly what you can do to make your ex boyfriend want you again. No matter what your situation is — or how badly you’ve messed up since the two of you broke up — I’ll be able to give you a number of useful tips that you can apply immediately.But you better hurry up because this video won’t be online forever… demand has been overwhelming and there’s no way I’ll be able to afford hosting it online for much longer.So hurry up and check out the video below.

[relationshipgoals7advice]

3 Texts To Send Your Ex-Boyfriend To Make Him Come Running Back

So... you want to get your ex boyfriend back?

One of the easiest ways you can win your ex boyfriend back is by simply using your cell phone and tapping a bunch of buttons.

Sound absurd? Well, it isn't... I've coached thousands of women around the world to effectively "Text Their Exes Back"... even if they initially thought that it was impossible to ever rekindle any sort of romance with their ex boyfriend.

And today, I'm about to give you some tips on how you can force your boyfriend to come running back to you (and no, he'll definitely have absolutely no choice in the matter).

Ready?

This is the first text you can send to get started (but don't send these text messages yet. At the end of the article, I'll tell you exactly when to send these texts, because when you send these messages is just as important as what you send).

Text #1 - The "I'm Ok" Text Message: -- "Hey _____, I just want to let you know that I'm 100% cool with the breakup and I thought that it was a good idea. Hope we can still be friends. Talk soon." --

This text message is great because it conveys all the right messages. For one, you're letting him know that you were 100% okay with the breakup (you need to make him think this right now). By saying this, you're pretty much saying to him that you don't really need him... and this will subconsciously drive him insane. By posing as "just a friend" right now, you start planting my patented 'Seduction Seeds' that will eventually cause him to start thinking about you in a sexual way again... and win him back for good. More on this in a bit.

Text #2 - The "No Communication" Text. -- "You're right. It's best that we don't talk right now, but I would like to be friends eventually." --

This one is a little advanced and you need to know exactly when to send this text... but again, you're communicating to him that you don't really need to talk to him. In essence, you're saying that you don't really need him to play any role in your life anymore. By doing this, you'll send the messsage that you do want to "move on"... and you'll begin tricking him into thinking that he actually lost you!

Text #3 - The "Jealousy" Text. -- "I think it was a great idea that we decided to start dating other people. I do just want to be friends right now!" --

By saying this, you're telling him that you're actually dating other people right now... which will in turn make him jealous. This is a good thing. By saying this, you're sub-communicating to him that you're actually wanted by other guys. Remember, men are attracted to women that are wanted by other guys, so by saying that you're dating around already, you're pretty much saying that "it's your loss, mister!"

Remember, you can't just simply send these texts to him and expect good results... you need to have a plan of attack, and send these messages right when he's most likely to take them seriously... only then will he begin to feel attraction for you and induce a "fear of loss" within him.

In the free presentation below, I'll show you exactly what you can do to make your ex boyfriend want you again. No matter what your situation is -- or how badly you've messed up since the two of you broke up -- I'll be able to give you a number of useful tips that you can apply immediately.

But you better hurry up because this video won't be online forever... demand has been overwhelming and there's no way I'll be able to afford hosting it online for much longer.

So hurry up and check out the video below.

Click here to check out this video presentation. 

[litem-legalis]

What is patent registration?

Patent registration is like claiming ownership of an invention. When you invent something new, like a new gadget or a special process, you can get a patent for it. This means that you have the exclusive right to make, use, or sell that invention for a certain period, usually around 20 years.

To get a patent, you need to file an application with the government's patent office. In the application, you describe your invention in detail and explain how it's different from anything that already exists. The patent office will then review your application to make sure your invention is truly new and meets all the requirements.

If everything checks out, and your invention is unique and useful, the patent office will grant you a patent. This means you officially own the rights to your invention, and nobody else can make, use, or sell it without your permission.

Patent registration helps inventors protect their ideas and inventions, which encourages innovation and creativity. It also allows inventors to profit from their inventions by selling or licensing their patents to others.

[daycarelogo]

All About How to Start a Home Daycare

If you love children and want to spend your days doing something that makes a difference, opening a home daycare may be the perfect business for you. However, before you get started, it’s important to know the ins and outs of the business so you can make sure that you start on the right foot.

Start a Plan: The first step in starting any business is to create a plan. It will help you determine whether or not the business is a good idea for you and your family, as well as give you a framework to work with as you develop the business.

Creating a plan is also an excellent way to track your progress and ensure that you are on track to achieve your goals as a home daycare owner. You can also use this process to identify any weaknesses in your business and adjust your plans accordingly.

Set up a business bank account and business credit card: It is always best to separate your personal and business expenses, so a business bank account will be an essential part of your business setup. This will make it easier to keep track of your finances and manage your business expenses more efficiently. Be sure to read more here!

Apply for a business license: This can take a few weeks to complete, but it’s worth the wait to avoid any potential legal issues in the future. Once you’ve completed the process, you’ll be able to open your home daycare with ease.

Choose a Name and Design a Logo: The name and logo you choose will represent your home daycare, so it’s essential that they are unique. It’s a good idea to do a search in your area for any names that have already been taken to see if they’re available and to check the United States Patent and Trademark Office website to ensure you aren’t infringing on someone else’s rights.

Obtain a CPR certification: Every state requires that child care providers have CPR certificates, so make sure you get one. It’s also a good idea to get them renewed regularly to ensure you are up-to-date with the latest CPR guidelines.

Insurance: Having a proper insurance policy can be expensive, but it is critical to the safety of your clients’ kids. If you’re not insured, you could be liable for any injuries that occur at your home daycare.

Market Your Business: To start a successful home daycare, you need to be able to effectively market your services to local families with young children. You can do this by registering your home daycare on directories like Google My Business and Paper Pinecone, as well as using social media to reach out to parents.

Do a Cost-Efficient Business: Running a home daycare is not an inexpensive venture, so it’s a good idea to look into financial options that will allow you to operate your business on a tight budget. These include SBA loans, government grants and private funding. Read this article for more details!

Determine the Need: Before you start a home daycare, you need to do a thorough research to find out what the childcare needs are in your community. This will help you decide how much to charge per child and whether or not the business is worth it in the long run. Make sure to check out this website at https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democratic-child-care-plan-churches-synagogues_n_618ad731e4b06de3eb7bbec6 for more details about daycare.

[cerrein-sharma]

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is not a man or woman who wants to make lots of money but is about creating value and creating new ideas that can solve fundamental problems for human beings.

The fundamental problem can be in any category from electricity to solving the diabetes problem of the human being. To solve a problem it needs lots of patience and an educated mind who is willing to spend 10 years to his whole life just on the problem.

Sometimes it is not compulsory to spend your whole life for solving the problems you can choose the person who was working on that and collab to become the important partner for your startup then solve the problem.

People are actually not aware of the new obstacle but you know it can make human life more effective just do it and spend your time solving it. let me explain it,

If you choose one problem that is diabetes as the evil for society and an opportunity to develop the business around it.

You have only two ways to solve the problem and build the empire, 

First

you can collaborate with the researcher to produce a medicine that can replace insulin and has the power to cure the pancreas on that medicine. But to globalize the business, you need lots of money to set up the whole infra but this opportunity was seized by a big pharma company. You left only the second option.

Second

You will become a research fellow and feel the pain of how difficult it could be to get an injection of insulin per day and commit yourself to solve the problem. You work very hard from 3:00 am to 11:00 pm just to solve and eradicate diabetes from humanity. After continuous research, you come to a point when you develop a medicine that can replace injection.

From that point, you can patent your research or make patent free for humanity points your entrepreneurship reward is not a lot of money but as a real Iron Men of this world huge respect from people around the world, and 99% percent chance that you will win the Nobel prize in medicine which is much more than to become the richest men or women of this planet. If you patented the research you sell the secret to big pharma companies and get a royalty.

This type of entrepreneurship is not about copying other businesses and replicating for us e.g. selling dog food or coffee, in your own e-commerce is not solving the fundamental problem but copying the big e-commerce idea at a small scale.

Just pick up any sector you want and research it or find the right partner who is already working in this field. 

Google the most powerful search engine is not made by dropout students but made by a computer scientist who was pursuing a Ph.D. at Stanford University devoting lots of time to one thing.

If you do this there will be no competitor for 30-40 years.

Before working on your idea check 4 steps 

[1] Innovative ideas

Yes, it is the most important part to success or not get success

let me explain if develop a sodium-ion battery and sell to electric car manufacturer or to government, there is 100% chance to get success and become the richest man as well as more popular than Elon Musk. 

[2] Affordability

Xiaomi is a Chinese brand that produces low-budget smartphones with high quality. You can compare it with the iPhone for quality and processing sometimes. Their business model is simple “to sell the mobile in bulk quantity at the entry-level segment in china and the Indian subcontinent, in a low-income country, capturing the Russian market”.

Not a single European or American company comes to dominate at cheap smartphone phone manufacturing, even indigenous smartphone manufacturers get out of the market because they don’t invest to develop their own technology, their maximum part is imported from china, and 0℅ investment in R&D. they only want to earn money and fool the customer. So strong and deserving competitors came and capture the whole market.

[3] Fabricating a new business model

Just think when you start your e-commerce business, you have to compete in the Red Ocean with big Giants such as Amazon, eBay, etc. You have to develop a business model that differentiates you from the competition. if you copy your competitor you will restrict yourself. I will give you one idea of how to move ahead with the competition.

If you start the hosting providing service to the US market your first step is to build trust you can do this easily but it takes time 

Firstly, your hosting service should be better than other providers.

Secondly, start your youtube to educate people about hosting, websites, DNS, and how to secure the website or anything related to your sector

Thirdly, sponsor the youtube channel video to propagate the message about your hosting service.

Fourthly, always eager to solve customer problems

Fifth, you can provide a free plugin or theme for WordPress websites it may premium GeneratePress theme for the first 500 subscribers, etc. 

It just doubled your business significantly.  

[4] Creation of a new market for an existing product

To do this, you need lots of money or out of box idea. Try to develop yourself not copy others. Just like Tik Tok did they came up with shorts video and disrupt the whole ecosystem every social media platform is replicating the Tik Tok strategy.

When Steve Jobs launched the tablet ( it is a new segment in the market ) in 2010. Steve Jobs or Apple already built trust among the customer even if they sell “apple bricks” it become a sensation around the world even leading publishing houses considered them an innovation