#please follow my twitter for more and faster updates on my shop

[cindylouwho-2]

Recent Ecommerce News (Including Etsy), October 2023

Hello and welcome to my new format for ecommerce business news updates! Instead of jamming everything in one long report, I am now going to divide them up into 1) ecommerce site news, including:

Etsy news

all other marketplaces and website builders

payment processing

shipping

and 2) a SEO & online business news update, including:

social media

general SEO

content marketing

ads & stats

consumer trends & psychology,

graphic design tools (images, video etc.)

The new plan is to release the ecommerce one more frequently, and to do less frequent updates on SEO etc.

Remember, if you want to get more regular updates on these topics - especially Etsy - please follow me on Twitter, on LinkedIn, or on Bluesky. I also post major updates on Reddit.

Please let me know what you think of these changes!

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Etsy has removed “Other” as a shipping carrier option for US and UK shops. I covered the basics in a short post, but the bottom line is, if you use a service Etsy doesn’t offer in the shipping option menu, you need to choose the one closest to it in delivery times. Buyers do not see the service used; you can still name it whatever you want for selections in the cart if it is an upgrade. The workaround is useless, of course, in the many cases where Etsy doesn’t offer any options that are close to true shipping times. 

This change, coupled with Etsy’s recent policy clarification that items that arrive after the latest estimated delivery date are eligible for purchase protection refunds, means that anyone shipping without tracking/Etsy Labels, or orders over $250 (or $500 USD from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31) is at risk of having to issue a full refund because Etsy does not provide realistic shipping times when listings are set up. Etsy is even promising buyers this upfront now; see my forum thread for more details. Etsy always claims they will update carriers for major delays, as they are doing again this year, but sellers rarely see evidence of that. On that note, per that last link, Etsy is also promising to “...amplify items with faster delivery options and items expected to arrive by the holidays to shoppers in December more than we usually do.” Note that does not necessarily mean they will add more localization to searches, as they stress shorter processing times, ready-to-ship items, and shipping upgrades as ways to be ready for those Etsy changes. 

The UK is the latest jurisdiction cracking down on online tax cheats, by asking various online platforms to report seller income to the government. “If you make more than £1,000 alongside your regular job in the tax year then you need to register yourself as self-employed and report your income to HMRC. You then have to pay tax on this income.” This may also catch people who didn’t declare money earned before 2022. 

Numerous shipping companies are not providing service to Israel and the Gaza Strip currently, and eBay is not allowing sales from the US to Israel. That link is being updated as new announcements are made.

ETSY NEWS 

As mentioned above, Etsy’s Seller protection threshold will be raised to $500 from $250, from November 1 to December 31 only. 

Support told a UK seller they will be able to opt out of Etsy’s Offsite Ads as of February 2024, due to the Digital Services Act. Don’t forget that shops in the EU as well as Switzerland can opt out now, but you do have to contact Etsy to do that. Note that some EU sellers are struggling to get Etsy to acknowledge the right to opt out now, with some Support staff stating it does not kick in until February 2024. Is Etsy’s legal department really that disorganized? Maybe I should come out of retirement…

Etsy says it has changed how it deals with automated flags of possible violations of its handmade policy. Listings will be deindexed instead of deactivated, and Etsy claims that anything that doesn’t get reviewed by human staff on Etsy by the 48 hour mark will be reindexed. I wrote a bit more about this on LinkedIn. Sadly, we aren’t seeing evidence of this new system yet, with plenty of lengthy handmade takedowns continuing. 

Any changes to handmade flagging aren’t stopping the usual “bought drop-shipped garbage on Etsy by accident” news articles, though. Also, USB sticks of pirated movies are also a big “handmade” item now. 

I covered Etsy’s new Share & Save program on my blog; it’s not horrible, but is also not worth changing your business plan for. Modern Retail referred to it as “...ask[ing] Etsy sellers to be their own affiliates." [soft paywall]

Etsy Payments - the marketplace's internal payment processor - is now available in Thailand & Ukraine; it will be coming soon to Japan, Chile, Argentina, Peru, and India. This means new shops can open in those countries, since Etsy currently does restrict new shops to countries with Etsy Payments (except for India). This is also a new source of income for the corporation, since Etsy Payments will be mandatory in these countries in 2024. Note that some of the new countries will require a Payoneer account, which has an annual fee in some countries if the business does not meet a minimum threshold. 

If you are in Canada and have been asked to provide Etsy with your Social Insurance Number, this is due to the INFORM Act, and affects sellers grossing at least $5000 in US sales a year who do not already have a GST/HST ID number submitted to Etsy. I covered this topic with citations on LinkedIn. 

There is a new Etsy gift receipt that includes a QR code for the shop, but unfortunately it doesn’t include the names of the recipient or buyer. I’m not joking. They say they are working on it, though! Because no one could have predicted that gift notes should have the name of the giver and receiver on them, am I right?

As promised in previous quarterly reports, Etsy has released a beta version of a price optimization tool. Here's what it looks like:

Thanks to Emily of EveryDayDabble for this screenshot.

For most shops, they will see very few listings analyzed at the moment, and sadly, it’s just as bad as the last time they did this many years ago. (Mine compares sterling silver to silver plate, for example, and also compares two very different types of clip-on earring attachments.) Currently not ready for prime time. Etsy forum discussion for your entertainment.

The third quarter results get released on November 1. I will post my coverage on Tumblr a few days afterwards.

Etsy has finally done something useful to stem the spate of scammers and hackers using Etsy Messages: a note explaining some scam elements, linking to a new Help file on the topic.

There is also a forum discussion thread with confirmation from Etsy staff. Even better, they now have a special section in Etsy Messages for contact from Etsy staff, and a “From Etsy” badge on those messages.

Sellers outside of the US report that the domestic pricing tool is broken, ever since Etsy introduced the “new” (and incomplete) listing experience earlier this year. Some report that switching back to the old listing page does not solve the problem. This means that anyone trying to add domestic tax to their domestic prices may be forced to pay that tax out of their pockets instead of having it covered by the tool. Etsy is so unconcerned about this issue that is stealing money from shop owners that forum mods are just closing threads without even commenting.

The Etsy Holiday Trend report says baking is still in, as is having a dinner party. “...[T]here has been a staggering 28,277% increase in searches for zodiac tea towels, a 5,980% increase in searches for natural linen placemats, and a 4,109% increase in searches for handmade barware or glassware.” Travel items are also up. 

Etsy’s holiday cyber sale runs for 5 weeks this year, and they are asking for discounts of at least 25% off. Since regular sales can only run for 30 days on Etsy, they provide a link to set up this special event for the correct number of days. If you use Share and Save (see blog post link above) and run a Cyber Sale using the sale link above, and use the seller app and approved image to post your sale on social media, Etsy is entering you into a draw for $40 worth of listing credits. [That’s a lot of hoops to jump through for $40, all to make less money per sale, promote Etsy, and let them track you through the seller app.] 

Use the hashtag #FestiveEtsyFinds on Instagram if you want a chance to be featured on Etsy’s feed. 

If you had recent issues with listing edits not saving while using the seller app, you may need to update to a newer version to fix the issue. 

I’ve seen some folks insisting that Etsy doesn’t use images for search ranking. If that were true, Etsy Ads certainly would not be showing irrelevant tags that are based solely on the photo, right? 

Etsy Labels for (domestic) Royal Mail now come with a QR code, so you can print at the post office instead of at home. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS (minus social media)

General

Shein has partnered with Forever 21, likely as a way for the ecommerce site to grow in the United States. Forever 21 clothing will be available on Shein, and the opposite - Shein products in brick and mortar stores - is also possible. Shein opened a third-party marketplace catering to the US last month. 

Goodwill is still struggling to compete in the ecommerce sector of used and vintage goods. [NYTimes gift link; no paywall]  

It is interesting to look at the top ecommerce sites by traffic worldwide, but remember that data like this comes from estimates based on tracking some people’s browsing habits. Only the sites themselves know what their real traffic is. 

Amazon

The big US lawsuit against Amazon was finally filed in late September. [Washington Post gift link; no paywall] “Fees, requirements and incentives let Amazon collect one out of every two dollars a seller makes on the platform, effectively resulting in a “50 percent Amazon tax,” Khan said. The FTC argues those costs are then passed onto shoppers.”

If you sell on Amazon Handmade, check your handling times, as Amazon is switching them to shorter times in some cases. 

Amazon Warehousing Distribution is now available to businesses for shipping beyond individual customers. The new offering is called Multi-Channel Distribution.

The holiday return deadline for Amazon purchases made between November 1 and December 31 is January 31, 2024. 

India Post and Indian Railways both have new agreements with Amazon intended to improve shipping options in the country. 

South Africa is the latest country with its own Amazon site. 

Look out for a big change in US search in January, as Amazon adds a generative AI tool. “Amazon’s new generative AI tool will be developed using human AI trainers, who will continuously review the quality of answers the bot provides. Additionally, the tool will have access to proprietary shopping data sourced from Amazon’s extensive product catalog, complemented by user behavior data, and purchase and review information.” [Some of what staff said at a company-wide meeting echoed Etsy CEO Josh Silverman comparing keyword search with a more immersive experience that compares to shopping through an experienced sales clerk.]

eBay

eBay sellers who ship to the EU will have to display their addresses and other contact information to EU buyers starting in early 2024, to comply with the Digital Services Act. We should expect a lot more announcements in this area over the next few months, as platforms scramble to comply. 

eBay is testing a new tool that supposedly creates entire listings from just one photo, through AI. It’s only on the iOS app so far, but Android is in the works. The author tried out the earlier, simpler version, and didn’t think it offered much. 

Very affordable Canada Post tracked packages within Canada are now available to eBay sellers in all categories, for parcels up to 200g. 

Scammers are inserting fake listings on eBay that tell customers to click links to purchase. Even if the links do not lead to malware or phishing schemes, directing sales offsite is not allowed. Worse, the scammers are buying top-placed ads to get seen. 

eBay has now extended their presale ship-by date to 40 days from 30. “Even with the extended time period, presales will likely continue to be a point of contention between buyers and sellers as many listings fail to meet all three requirements of the policy and eBay is still lax in enforcing the policy or removing listings that are not in compliance.”

Here are the highlights of the Fall 2023 Seller Update. 

Poshmark

Poshmark is closing in India, Australia & the UK, to focus on the site in the US and Canada. The last day is October 25th. 

Poshmark is following eBay in the “AI creates a listing for you” category. 

Shopify

All Shopify websites in the US can now offer Amazon’s “Buy with Prime”, which “...enables merchants who use Amazon’s payment and fulfillment services to include Amazon’s checkout service and speedy shipping guarantees on items sold from their own sites.” The rollout should have been completed by the end of September. 

Like most website builders, Shopify is sometimes criticized for poor SEO, but there are ways to improve your site if you really want to. 

Walmart

Walmart held a “summit” for third-party marketplace sellers in Las Vegas, and wants more businesses to join. 

The Walmart extended holiday return period began October 1; anything purchased from now until the end of December can be returned until January 31, 2024. 

All Other Marketplaces

The Artisans Cooperative marketplace is in its final beta stage, with products from coop members now available for sale. The platform, which came together out of a sub-group involved in the “Etsy Strike” last year, will fully open with shops from non-members added very soon; there is a waitlist if you are interested. 

Faire has entered a deal with Shopify that makes Faire the recommended wholesale company for the website builder, and Shopify’s payment option will now be the recommended option on Faire. Shopify also gets some Faire shares in the deal. 

Mercari is also testing out a quick listing tool. All sellers need is a photo, title, and price, unless you want to add more. [Given how poorly machine learning and image recognition sometimes work, you will probably want to add more or correct some things, at least for the time being.] 

Etsy-owned Depop says free shipping isn’t as big of a plus as it used to be, and offering it isn’t an option with Depop’s shipping labels, which are compulsory for Depop seller protection. 

All Other Website Builders

GoDaddy has integrated Paze with both its Stores and Payments, but only to a few businesses at the moment as they test it out. Paze is a digital wallet. 

Payment Processing

Buy now pay later company Klarna is moving into more shopping options, with an image recognition tool to be used in its shopping app. 

Shipping 

Royal Mail hiked prices as of October 2. 

Many parcel companies have already released their holiday shipping deadlines:

USPS

Canada Post

Royal Mail

FedEx US (but includes international destinations)

If you ship into Germany and need a packaging permit for 2024, this Etsy thread explains how to get a discount. 

[gameguides]

Sonic Speed Simulator Codes (2022 October)

Sonic Speed Simulator Codes offers the most up-to-date collection of OP codes that can be redeemed for free cosmetics and other in-game items. These codes can help you get a substantial advantage whether you're just getting started or have been playing Sonic Speed Simulator for a long time. #SonicSpeedSimulatorRoblox Updated on 10.09.2022

Sonic Speed Simulator Codes

If you want to show the world how fast you can go, you'll want to get some Sonic Speed Simulator codes before hitting the tracks. Featuring cool items, including super cool Sonic-themed skins, any Sonic fan will be thrilled!

Sonic Speed Simulator Codes We'll keep you informed about new codes as they become available. You should use them as quickly as possible because you never know when they'll run out! On the day that this post was published, these codes were put to the test. Sonic Speed Simulator Active Codes These are all the valid codes: - Hooray50k : 30 minute speed boost - thankyouchao : free Chao - 40kThankYou : free rewards - soniccentral : Amy Chao - thumbsup : Bloxian Chao - Amazing35: Redeem Code > super Boost (New) - 25k: Redeem Code > super Boost (New) - RIDERS: Redeem Code > reward Riders Sonic Skin (New) Sonic Speed Simulator ROBLOX Social Media Channels: - Discord: Sonic Top Fan Club - Twitter: @gamefamstudios - Youtube: ?? - Roblox Group: https://www.roblox.com/groups/13632331/A-TEAM#!/about Expired Codes These codes are no longer work: How to Redeem Roblox Code? These are the steps to redeem codes: - Open up Roblox Sonic Speed Simulator on your PC or Mobile device - Click on the Shop button at the bottom of the screen - Click on the Redeem Codes option in the Shop menu - Copy a code from our list - Paste it into the “Enter Code” text box - Hit the Redeem button to get your reward! About Sonic Speed Simulator This game was made by a super team of Sonic Roblox devs, some of us who have been making Sonic fan games on Roblox for years! We put SSS together in a furiously short amount of time but there will be so much more content being added over the coming weeks, months, and years! Thanks for playing and we can’t wait to hear what you think! The fastest game in Roblox history. - Get Fast by running to level up - Race against other players to earn rewards - Unlock New Worlds and go on an incredible adventure - Collect Chao to increase your stats and collection - Earn Sonic Character Skins to show off to your friends Why is my Sonic Speed Simulator code not working Developer Controls Code for Sonic Speed Simulator Roblox and determine how long they are active. Some codes may expire faster than others and some may not work with others. If a code isn't working for you, check if there's a typo, if the code isn't active yet, or if it's already expired. To resolve this issue, please bookmark this page and check back often to see if Sonic Speed Simulator have added new code or have expired. When will the Sonic Speed Simulator code come? New codes are usually shared when a new update comes to the game. New codes can also come on religious holidays and special days. You can reach the latest promo codes by following our site regularly. You can also follow the twitter profiles of the developers of the game. If you want to see constantly updated roblox codes, check here: - Roblox Gift Codes Full Actual List Read the full article

[fayeimara]

Meant To Be Series || One For Every Billion

Episode 2. Next Time, Make it Up Twice

*Both Written and SMAU parts this episode*

"I'm in love with soba, oh my god!" You're still relishing the meal you just finished as you walk with Toshi and his friends to grab some boba.

Tendou chuckles, "I think you only like it because of that character in your favourite manga."

"ONE of my favourite mangas, thank you. But yes, he's so cute just quietly eating his soba for lunch. Like, I'd definitely love it just for him, but I did actually enjoy it."

Semi smiles at your excitement, "You should try it hot too, it's different."

"Yes, yes. Of course, I will at some point but I'm soo full right now I can't think of more food."

"Do you not want the boba, then?" Toshi looks over at you seriously but you're already smiling and shaking your head.

"Of course I do, that's not food, Toshi!"

"Oh okay. I'll help you pick something light if you want."

"Thank you!"

The door chimes as you walk into the shop but you pause just inside to check your phone when you feel its persistent buzzing. You had updated your twitter and your friends are giving you grief over the picture of your lunch. Yeah, yeah, you wanted to try it because you simp for icy hot boys, so what? It's good to try new things.

You're firing off a reply to their sarcastic (read: jealous) comments when the door chimes again and then you're stumbling because something just knocked into you.

"Ow- shit!" That's not your voice. You don't think you've made a sound but you don't recognize that yet.

What you do register first as you're falling forward is how you're grateful because it's definitely not the hard door that hit your back and head, and you're lucky because you really shouldn't have been standing right there. Then you realize you're about to fall on your face because your hands are frozen clutching your phone. Just as that thought flits through your head faster than your lack of a quick reaction, you strangely find yourself floating before you can face plant on the floor and thank god because, ew, germs. Also, potentially ouch.

You're a little thrown off so it takes you a moment to realize you didn't make like another one of the characters in that particular manga and develop a float quirk. No, there's a toned arm that's caught you around your waist and now you're more than just a little thrown off.

You're sure you're blushing in embarrassment as you're carefully set right side up and turn to apologize to the owner of the savior arm.

"I'm so sorry!" You hear an apology at the exact same time it flies from your own mouth and you pause because you're melting into chocolate eyes that are probably as wide as your own.

Wha- You're looking up into the face of an angel! But no, really, omg it's a seriously cute boy. And why do you want to touch his hair??

He does look like he's genuinely sorry but his face relaxes as both your eyes hold and he smiles (quite charmingly), before calmly responding first "It's my fault, so I really am sorry for knocking you over, pretty girl. I was walking backwards and didn't see you there."

You raise your eyebrows, stuck on that for a second and accidentally blurting, "Who walks through a door backwards??" in genuine curiosity before your eyes widen, "I mean, no, but it's not your fault either! I'm the one that stopped right in front of said door, I really should have just moved up before checking my phone."

His hand reaches up to rub the back of his head in that way that really makes guys look cute when they're a little at a loss for words. At least that's what you think until he says, "Maybe we can make it up to each other, if you haven't ordered yet?"

"Oi!" An irritated voice calls out from behind him, "Can you let the rest of us in before you start flirting?!"

He lets out a light laugh before moving aside and two others cute guys enter. Like, what's with the air in Miyagi?!?

"Sorry Iwa-Chan, but I needed to make sure this angel didn't get hurt falling (for) because of me." He winks at you but you're a little lost in thought because you're thinking about how you like the way he talks. It's a little like he's singing at times and maybe it's because of his melodic voice but either way, it's pretty cute. You're going into overload and you have to consciously stop yourself from holding your hands to your cheeks. You really hope you're not still blushing, ugh.

You meet eyes with the intense one and like, hello, hi, I'm here for this vibe. The guy meets your eyes before quickly flicking his away. But then you swear he makes a conscious effort to bring them back to rest on yours and politely asks, "I hope you're okay?" You're smiling in reassurance when he adds, "This idiot is trouble on legs, so I'm sorry for him."

You burst out laughing and they're looking at you in surprise so you just shake your head and explain, "I think my friends have said the exact same words about me. No, we're all good, I really appreciate it."

And thank you, mother, for your own charming smile because all three boys blush but don't look away.

Point to pretty boy #1 though because he regains his composure the fastest and pouts, "Iwa-chan is so mean to me, angel, please don't listen to him. If I do accidentally cause trouble, I swear I'm good at making it up."

"I don't know if I can say the same?" You smirk but he grins.

"So let me make it up then, and buy you some boba?"

"Oikawa." Ah, there's Toshi, a little late for backup but you guess you did fine without a wingman.

Wait, wait. The pretty boy's smile dims and he's looking over your shoulder at where your cousin's voice came from. He's straightened up and his posture kind of yells belligerent attitude.

"Ushiwaka-chan. Tell me Miyagi isn't really this small." Wow, there's a bite in his words but like, you're liking it. What can you say? You're a fan of hidden depths.

"I am surprised to see you as well. Not as surprised as when I heard you truly chose another school over Shiratorizawa."

Okay, hmm, you're looking over at the friend he called Iwa and he's rolling his eyes, so clearly there's tension.

The pretty guy, who you're guessing is Oikawa, drops his smile completely. "Well, that was fast. Nice chat, but if you'll excuse me, I was in the middle of a conversation with a new friend."

"You know Y/n?" Toshi's at your side now and sounds pretty surprised but it's not as amusing as your new friend's reaction when he looks back and forth between the two of you in a sort of disbelieving realization. What dots is he connecting, exactly? Because, you'd like to know.

"Y/n, huh? I- didn't realize you had a girlfriend..?" He's questioning hesitantly, good boy, no jumping to conclusions. Just get your feet wet, I guess.

"We're cousins." You and Toshi end up talking at the same time like twins or something and it's a little comical.

Oikawa's mouth drops for a split second before pursing his lips and addressing you, "Well, I guess I can't hold family against you. It's not like you chose him as your cousin."

You let out a wry chuckle with an equally dry grin on your face, "But I did."

"What?" He's blinking down at you in confusion so you elaborate just a little.

"Toshi. I did choose him, actually." You're highly amused at this point and you like having the advantage, so you're going to leave it at that.

He does try to push, though, you think it's curiosity since that is a pretty odd statement. "Like, to spend time with him, or acknowledge him or something? I won't hold that against you either, angel. Family first, that's sweet."

"Uh.. no." You just smirk and his eyes narrow as his head tilts. Yeah, he knows you're definitely messing with him now, he's just not sure how.

It's all good though, because Toshi's timing is on point now, "Y/n, I hope you don't mind but I picked you a drink I thought you might like."

You look over to him happily, "Really?"

"Yes.. you said that would be okay previously?"

"Of course, Toshi, I really appreciate it!" You look over at Oikawa with a sweet smile, "It was nice .. having you run into me, I suppose. I didn't get to thank you for - or maybe even take you up on - your offer, but I do appreciate it as well. So.. thank you, pretty boy, but I can't be rude and ignore my friends that I'm here with today."

He follows your gaze over to the table your new Shiratorizawa friends have grabbed for all of you. They're chatting casually but clearly looking over though you don't quite know why.

Oikawa looks a little conflicted and disappointed when you turn back to each other, so you add, "Feel free to run into me again and maybe then we can make it up to each other twice."

You can literally feel your trademark playful smile on your face so you know that's what pulls his own begrudging smile in response. Works like a charm, but it's genuine.

He studies you for a moment, "Then I hope Miyagi really is small, so I can hold you to that."

Then he looks back at Toshi with full force attitude so it's time to step away. As you walk away you hear his friend Iwa say something about telling his mom he swore. And when you hear that musical cadence of his reply but not his specific words, you can't help but look back.

They're up at the counter and his friends are ordering but, oh wow, he's just leaning back against it... looking right at you. Ahh, caught. He smirks at you, but clearly he was looking too, so you just return his smirk with a raise of your eyebrow and make sure you're the first to look away.

Leave 'em wanting more, it's a good motto to live by.

The rest of the afternoon is chill, you rejoin the Shiratorizawa boys and they explain the dynamic between Toshi and Oikawa in the most hilarious way so you're all just teasing him and laughing. You realized at some point during their explanation that you'd heard of this guy from Toshi a couple times and never thought much of it. But now.. he's a real person to you so you're definitely a little more interested beyond your cousin's innate desire to pull together an overpowered team.

Tendou also makes you recount the entire encounter from near face plant to Toshi's interruption before Semi and Soekawa have enough and decide to move on. It's even better, they have you laughing so hard and your sides in stiches from retaliating with funny stories about Tendou and Toshi or Coach Washijo impressions.

If you said you didn't end up glancing over at another group seated several booths down during the time you were there, you'd be lying. If you said you didn't connect with warm brown eyes every time, that would also be a lie. What you really couldn't say is if you enjoyed your boba or not because the butterflies that took residence in your stomach were the only other thing you noticed until you left the shop.

Prev | Next

Masterlist

Behind The Scenes!

-Y/n really gets along with Semi but he reminds her of a certain someone

-She and her friends are night owls which is how they're able to respond to her so fast at even 2am or 3am their time (EST)

-We all know the show referenced right? (If not, I would highly recommend watching Boku No Hero Academia/My Hero Academia)

-The angel/devil theme might be played on a lot, her school is literally Ashwood Devils and her national league is Aurora Angels

-I like to think the characters who make those comments or use those terms in application to Y/n all realize the irony at some point, even if it's not explicitly written out in the story

A/N: I realized I forgot to add the first pic (the twt about all the Shiratorizawa reactions) to the end of the last chapter, which is where it was supposed to go. So, even though, I'll go back and fix that, I'll also add it here for anyone who's already read that chapter. Sorry guys! Once again, thanks for bearing with me while I figure out the social media stuff. Feel free to point out any mistakes to me too! Sometimes I'm creating this stuff when I haven't slept 30+ hours so... there's bound to be things I miss or get wrong :)

I also changed 'Extras' to 'Behind The Scenes'! Same concept for small thoughts that might supplement the story where you're currently at and provide background or additional commentary but renamed to fit the theme a little better, I guess. What do you guys think - does it even matter? Do you guys read any of this or just here for the fic and skip by? Genuinely curious to know (:

Aaand, didn't think I'd need this but you made my day:

Taglist: @delusivist

[huearmy]

The Smell of Truth - III

Summary: After years being forced to fight in clandestine hybrid ring, Jungkook is now living in shelter, but life remains bad, the place is abusive, and nobody seems to want adopt him. Until one night a pro-hybrid activist group invades the shelter, and a woman in black smelling like truth promises that things will get better, and he decides to follow her wherever she goes.

Pairing: pitbull!Jungkook x human!Reader

Genre: fluff, angst, future smut maybe.

Words: 5303

Rating: NC-17

Sorry that it took forever, my head is messed up.

Chapter I  Chapter II  -  Chapter IV Chapter V  Chapter VI Chapter VII

For the first time in years Jungkook woke up on his own, when his body asked for it, without anyone waking him up with a bucket of cold water, or to meet some schedule. He felt numb and heavy, relaxed, rested. He stretched, sitting against the headboard in the dark room. He couldn't tell the time, since there was no clock, making him feel a little disoriented in space time. After so many years without freedom to come and go the boy was not sure what to do now. About ten minutes went by without anyone showing up to tell him to get up - and he didn't want at all, the bed hugging him - hunger settled in his stomach, as well as the urge to go to the bathroom. But could he really leave? He got up and tested the door. It wasn't locked. So he could leave the room, in theory. Without making a sound he closed the door again and went back to bed, thinking about what to do to make the best impression on the first day in his new home. He decided to make the bed and tidy up the room. When he opened the curtains, bringing light to the room, a pile of clothes on the armchair caught his attention - a pair of sweatpants shorts and a oversized t-shirt, a new toothbrush, a pink post it on top. These clothes are mine, but it’s for you to wear while we don’t buy some for you. I think it'll fit. By the smell it was obvious the clothes were yours, he didn't even need to read the note to know. It fit, but not the way Jungkook likes to dress up - he likes big clothes on him, to feel comfy, and your big clothes, wich are big for you, who are smaller than him, are just right to him.  Right now he was in clean clothes, smelling of fabric softener and you.  He put on his shoes and his cap too. Outside the window the now busy street was full of cars and people, making him excited to go out. But yet again, can he? Determined to be a good boy and not disobey, for you to love him, Jungkook sat on the edge of the bed and waited. More minutes passed before he heard light knocks on the bedroom door. He crossed the room in one step and opened the door as fast as he could, his tail wagging from side to side, but it wasn't you in the hall, his smile fell. It was the cat. "What are you doing?" Yeri asked, taking him by surprise. "I... I'm..." He stammered. She crossed her arms "You've been up for almost half an hour, why haven't you left the room yet? Are you alright?" "Yeah" He spoke so low that if Yeri didn't have feline hearing she wouldn't have understood a word. "I was waiting for Y/n." "Oh" Her confused expression softened. "She went to work." "She is not home?" Yeri couldn't understand the slight panic in Jungkook's voice at asking it, or why he didn't left the room by his own choice. She don't know the feeling of rejection like he does, or the pain of being treated like a animal. She knows she is privileged though, she don't need to understand to be empathic... And you asked her to be nice to Jungkook so... "No, and she asked me to keep an eye on you until she back." She smiled softly "Go wash yourself, Y/n let breakfast done for you." Jungkook loved the restroom, for no especial reason, he just he just never saw a bathroom so ... happy - all colorful and with little plants in cute pots, and smelling and clean like he never imagined a bathroom could be. Out of curiosity he decided to try the shower, turned the register slowly, and when the water started to fall he put his hand under it and ... oh, it was so warm. "Yeri!" Jungkook ran into kicthen , where the cat was waiting by the table, scearing her off. The white hairs on her tail were all standing on end when she answered in a hiss. "What?!" "Where do I find towels and shampoo?" He excitedly asked. Not quite understanding Yeri pointed to the hall. "In the closet under the stairs in the hall... But..." Before she could end the sentence he was gone, and the sound of the door of the bathroon closing againg. Jungkook love to shower, stay clean, water. This was often the only medicine he received after being beaten until he was unable to get up. After a while, the cold, limited water shower became the safe spot for him, where the world couldn't hurt him anymore, and he could just breathe. In the shelter the water was not so cold anymore, but there was still a time limit for each shower, it was still Jungkook's favorite time of the day, because he didn't need to think about anything other than himself. Now the water was hot and pressurized, massaging his sore muscles, more than the room you give to him, this felt like home. Of course Jungkook felt a litlle bit upset that you weren't home when he woke up, after all he wanted to see you, he never liked an owner so much that he missed them from one day to the next. But he wasn't going to complain, it's not like he's used to getting attention, in fact being alone was more common than anything. He understands that you can have more important things to do than show him the apartment or prepare and have breakfast with him... You are already too good to be real. He was rinsing his hair and ears, massaging his own scalp, when voices came from outside, caughting his attention. It was two voices, female. You were home. _________________________________________________________________________________________ You entered the apartment with arms full of shopping bags and document folders. You quickly dropped everything on the table or on the floor near the door, took off your coat to hang on the rack and kicked off your shoes. Your eyes searched the living room and kitchen, looking for Jungkook, without a sign of him. You tried to complete all your tasks at the office as quickly as possible and rescheduled some visits for other days of the week to be able to get home early to see him, you were anxious to know if he slept well, or if your male clothes fit him . The breakfast you prepared for him before leaving still wrapped on the counter. You frowned. "Where is Jungkook?" You asked to Yeri, who was lying on the couch by teh window, jumping through the channels. "Taking a shower. He just woke up." She said without looking away from the tv. You hummed. "Ok. Can you put on the news for me please. I didn't have time to check it today." Yeri complained despite obeying anyway, but you paid no attention to it, busy putting the mess you brought with you in its proper place. The TV journalist was talking about the economy updates, which was not the topic you wanted to see. The explosion of the shelter last night ended up on twitter trending topics, but you wanted to know what the official media outlets have to say about. On the internet your organization is seen as justice, everything you do is seen as a heroic act by many, and that brings strength to the movement. Those in favor of the slavery of the hybrids also speak out against you, but their ignorance only strengthens the abulutionist discourse too - in a slow process of difficulty, but there are so many people working for equality that you refuse to be shaken by these rotten people full of hate. This polarization of ideas, of course, also divides politics, and it is this part that interests you the most, because it is from the government that the rights of the hybrids will be guaranteed. Mess with the economy and popular opinion that it is possible to change the government, which is why you and your camarades love that much to explode some state buildings. "Why are you home? I was expecting you only in an hour." Yeri looked at you from the other side of the room with lazy eyes. "Ah, I have to go out to do some more sttuf, but I needed to come pick something... And maybe eat. I skipped lunch."   You decided to warm up the pancakes you made for Jungkook in the morning, and add toast and eggs to your meal. You heard the bathroom door and fast steps and was about to ask Jungkook if likes coffee, the moment you turned around he was already behind you, with a big smile and open arms to hug you. "Y/N!" You were enveloped by jungkook's long arms and squeezed against your chest, losing your balance the way he hit you with his whole body. By instinct and with no regrets, you hugged him back. His tail, which was already swinging from side to side, started to swing even faster. His dump hair was wetting you, and his litlle happy sounds were malink you soft. "Hi, Jungkook...." You give light taps on his back and opened up space between you two. " Let me see you... I knew the clothes would fit quite well. But if you don't like them, fine, they are only temporary, so you don't have to walk around in that shelter's hideous pajama." "I like the smell of it." He said smelling the shirt collar fabric. "Good. Because I'm a little paranoid about laundry." You really are. Actually you are kind of crazy tidy. "Are you hungry?" You softly said, still looking to how the clothes were wrapping his body. You didn't notices but you were making him blush with your stare. "Yes." He said in tiny. "Me too, lets eat breakfest together.". You reaffirmed your theory that Jungkook wouldn't be too picky about food, and that basically anything you put in front of him he eats happily. He just doesn't like coffee. And sweets are really his favorite. He ate the pancakes and egg with toast, plus a very large bowl of cereal, some fruit and a glass of juice. It wasn't just because everything was good, but he was happy you were eating with him, and that made him even more hungry. "Lucky me I have money." You still have a lot of questions in your head to do to Jungkook. You were curious about him in so many levels. Since from his habits and tastes to his past ... One doubt you have is: How is he so docile? His file said that he spent almost a decade in illegal dogfights. Most hybrids take less than five years to lost their and go feral, and then when they can no longer be controlled the owners put them down. But Jungkook doesn't. Furthermore, despite being a pitbull, he does not have his canine ears clipped, which is not common in the middle of where he came from. You wanted so much to ask... but you decided oposite it, thinking that it wasn't the moment. "Want more juice?" Jungkook offered, he was pouring himself more and saw your empty glass. "Of couse, thankyou, sweetie." You didn't notice the blush on his cheeks again, intending to pay more attention to the TV in the living room. Jungkook was not used to hearing praise like that, the most he heard from his former owner was 'champion' or 'good boy' when he won a fight and there was nothing satisfying about it. Your 'sweetie', on the other hand, accompanied by a smile from you, just because of a glass of juice seemed like the world to him. "Updates on the terrorist attack on a shelter in downtown Seoul last night: It was confirmed that despite the magnitude of the explosion and the damage to the building's structure, there were no victims, either by the hybrids or by the local staff. According to the authorities, the 100 hybrids that lived in the shelter were kidnapped by an anti-government organization as a form of protest, on social media entities defend that they were released by the Set Us Free movement." You got up and crossed your arms to watch the jornalist talking as aerial recordings of the burning building and post prints talking about took over the screen. "Early in the morning, a series of complaints linked to the shelter came to the knowledge of the police, involving corruption and money laundering, as well as mistreatment of resident hybrids. Among the evidence presented a list with names involved in the scheme ..." As the jornlist listed names of businessman and politicians. Many of these names you already knew, once your group that investigated and made the report, others were a surprise to you. In that moment you were so interested in the news that you sat on the end of the chouch supporting your elbows on your knees,  watching the TV without blinking. Jungkook recognized the images from the shelter last night, but he didn't find it so interesting, because seeing the explosion live was much nicer, and none of the information said anything to him. But seeing you so serious was interesting, he took the bowl of cereal and sat at your feet, looking more at you and your reactions than at the TV itself. "Senator Y/L/N spoke earlier in a news conference.." The image of the journalist was replaced by one of a man in a suit speaking in front of several different microphones. "Violent acts can't and won't be encouraged, but we need to pay attention to where it comes from. The social injustice and slavery of hybrids needs to be tackled in some way, and since the government is slow to guarantee the rights they deserve as similar to humans, manifestations of marginalized groups are to be expected. It is not giving them what they want, as the conservators say, it is guaranteeing them what should already be theirs by right. Situations like last night are nothing more than a symptom of the disease that we think we are entitled to own a hybrid." Jungkook thought it was cute the way you were biting the inside of your cheek or how it looked like you were narrowing your eyes with each word said. "Ya... Dad is so different when speeching..." Yeri mumbled.  It took Jungkook's attention away from you. "Dad?" He asked with his mouth full of cereal, looking from Yeri to you and to the man in the TV. "Yes." You awnsered, lying in the couch. "This is my uncle... He is cool isn't he?" Jungkook frowned, not thinking the guy is so cool... but since you say so... "Does he protect hybrids like you do?" You smiled to him, slightly petting his head. "On his way." At the same time that the news changed to weather forecast, your phone started to beep with messages. You praticaly jumped from the couch to your feet. "I need to go." You said. From the floor, Jungkook looked at you with doe eyes and a pout. "You are leaving again?" "I have something to do... But you can come with me. If you want." "I do." Jungkook jumped on his spot, finishing his cereal as fast as he could. "Then go put on that hoodie I gave you. Is kind of cold out side." You didn't need to say twice. Jungkook ran to his room to obligue, he came back finishing putting on his sweatshirt and putting on his shoes midair. He was so excited, and the look on your face when he took your hand was so affectionate towards him, just like the good dreams sometimes he have. He was intending on livig his best life with you while it lasted, as long as you wanted him, after so many bad, terrible things that he was forced to go through during his short life, Jungkook got used to not waiting for things to really improve, but he also learned to enjoy each of the good moments, whether they were truth or just dreams. Maybe he will wake up at some point and realize that he is still in the shelter ... or in the cold room, using a muzzle ... Until then he will not stop receiving all the affection that you are willing to give. Among the good things he was not expecting to happen, going out for a walk is one of Jungkook's favorite. "I'm ready." He told you with a cheekie smile, even if you could clearly see it for yourself. You just smiled back containing the urge to grab him by the cheeks. So cute. "Do you want a ride home,Yeri?" You picked the keys. "No thanks. Irene will pick me up in half of an hour." She didn't even looked at you to awnser, to busy scrowling throgh her phone. "Ok. Don't forget to lock the door when you leave," Said that you two left the apartment, and Jungkook got your attention all for himself again. ________________________________________________________________________________ It wasn't your plan to spoil Jungkook so much. Of course, you already intended to go shopping with him, and maybe, who knows, give the world to him if he wanted to, but the idea was that things would happen more slowly.  Instead, early in the morning on your way to work, you saw a beautiful jacket in a shop window and thought it would look beautiful on him, without hesitation you went into the store and bought it, and as a bonus some other pieces of clothing for essential use. Now you were supposed to go to the grocerie store, get an order of yours, and that's it. Kess than one hour and you both would be back home. Now its been almost two hours and your SUV is stuffed with shopping bags of clothes and other random things that made Jungkook's eyes sparkles as you strolled in front of shop windows - you let him buy a skate and an air freshener, for exemple. The tour was a big new world for him, clearly he was having fun just running around the store shelves and you had to pull him back into focus more than once. Like when he decided to try on all the hats in a store, first one hat at a time then all at the same time, it was cute, and you took the ones he seemed to like the most and added to his shopping pile without him paying attention. "Jungkook, do you want to choose some underwear? I have no idea what you like or what size you wear..." He was no where to be seen but you knew he was listening to you, especially after a few seconds, when the sound of the new boots you bought him two stores earlier approached fast, and then the hybrid's happy face appeared among the jeans racks beside you. "Oh, this is important, the only underwear I have is drying on my bedroom window." He said starting to look through the pile of new underwear, ignoring all the colored ones, and separating only the black and white ones. "Wait, what?" You blinked at him. "I washed in the shower and didn't know where to leave it, so I hung it in the window." He simply said. You were kind of shocked. "Jungkook... Aren't you wearing underwear? Like right now...?" He just made no with his head, too entertained in choosing several identical boxer briefs.. You looked around to see if anyone around heard it, taken with modesty but finding the situation a little funny. "Did you have more at the shelter? Why didn't you bring it when I said to get your things?" "I had it, but I didn't think about it at the time." You just laughed at him and hurried him so you would soon pay for everything and move on, with the promise of returning to buy more things later. You still needed to go to the grocerie store... Where together you filled a shopping cart with your list - last night he said he wanted to have a barbecue, so you were going to prepare one for him, lots of meat, charcoal and side dishes - and things that Jungkook thought might taste good by the look of it. "Jungkook, you will find some hygiene products for hybrid in this corridor. Take a look and choose, I'll be right back ... ". "Wait." He looked arond. The grocerie store was way bigger than the clothes shops you went before, with a lot more people, he was not comfortable being alone here. How would he know where to find you if you go too far? You read that in his expression and give his hand a squeeze. "I'll just pick a package. Three corridors from here to the right." You poited. "But don't worry I'll be right back. Can you look the cart for me?" "Of couse I can." He said, more confident now. "Thankyou, sugar." You gave him another of those smiles and then left him alone to choose deodorants and soaps for hybrids. But you didn't lie, as fast as you're gone you're back, now with a wrapped paper package in your hands. Out of curiosity Jungkook sniffed the package over your shoulder while you put it in the cart, but for some reason he was unable to identify what could be inside. "Please don't put anything on top of that, it's fragile." You said. "Ready to go?" "Yeah." Jungkook droped one of one soap bar into the cart, not seeing which of the two fragrances he had been choosing before. "What is it?" You gave him a mischievous smile, hooking an arm around his and then guiding him through the corridors to the cashiers. You knew he would be curious, and you specifically asked them to wrap the package in a special paper that will outwit his dog nose. "Its a surprise." Jungkook was convinced. He never had good experiences with the idea of 'surprise', but coming from you he did not imagine anything bad. If you were saying that he was supposed to wait to find out what was in the package, then he was just going to wait. ____________________________________________________________________ When you got home, you parked once again at the back of the building, the light from the florist indicating that although it was time to close, the employees still haven't left. The same thing in the office on the second floor. You thought it would take a lot of coming and going to take all the bags up to the apartment, but while you picked up some and thought it was too much for you, Jungkook picked up almost all the others, hanging them in his arms, and when he left the first batch on living room ran to get the rest alone. It had been a while since he had space to run a litlle, without even being able to remember the last time. He only slowed down when he heard voices on the second floor, adjusted the bags in his hands and tried to go unnoticed. "I want to finish this before call it a day." A soft voice spoke. "But I want to go home. I'm hungry..." Another male voice answered. "More fifteen minutes, Tae." The office door opened just when Jungkook was passing, and he felt like he was caught doing something he shouldn't have, even if he wasn't, two guys looking right at him. The one at the table in front of a computer and stacks of paper smiled and waved at him. The other, holding the door handle, didn't even blink at him, looking serious. Jungkook just bowed his head and continued on his way, stopping only after reaching you in the kitchen. You felt his arms embracing you from behind and his forehead on you sholder. The guy at the table was a hybrid, he couldn't tell what kind, but the smell was like a cat, and probably, since as far as he knows they both work for you, the two shouldn't be bad. Still, Jungkook couldn't make his heart slow down. Men scare him. You turned to look at him. He didn't let you go tho. "What's up?" You asked noticing his distress. Jungkook bited down his bottom lip. "Got tired." You smiled and pet his head for the second time today making him sigh and close his eyes. Without knowing it you made him calm down. "Go put your things on your room, the new clothes in the closet... When you're done, go up to the terrace." "And then we will eat a lot of meat?" "Yep" _______________________________________________ You were just finishing making the vegetable skewers, and putting the meat on the grill when Jungkook went up the stairs to the floor where his room is and the terrace, where he hadn't gone yet. Like the bathroom, the terrace were filled with plants, but here the vases and plants are much bigger. The starry sky was beautiful, and the movement of cars and people on the street is comforting and full of possibilities. Jungkook stopped by the glass door and just looked at you, who didn't noticed him yet. You were now in comfortable clothes and messy hair, drumming his fingers on the table to the beat of a song that was playing only in his head. Once again the thought that you seem inoffensive crossed Jungkook's mind. But that's a lie. You are powerfull in a way he isn't. During the tour of the city he saw your surname in names of shops and street signs more than once, your uncle is an important guy who appears on TV, and your friends do illegal things using guns and bombs... And you are human - and that's enough for you to be scary for any hybrid. You are not harmless, and one thing that would certainly hurt Jungkook hard would be if after today, when he felt at home after years of not knowing what that feeling is like, you decide that you don't want him anymore. That would be worse than every time he thought he was going to die in a fight. Rejection. Like in the shelter, Jungkook was trying to figure it out a way to be loved. To be so loved that someone would want to live with him forever and never leave him. But he doesn't know how to do it. "Do you want some help?" He approached you. "No. Now just don't let the meat burn." You proudly put your hands on your hips. "But I wantou to sit here... and close your eyes." You made him sit by the wooden picnic table and ran inside. He closed his eyes as you said so. You came back with calmer steps and put something in front of him, an instant after the smell of phosphor and sugar entered Jungkook's nose and you said... "You can open it now." In front of Jungkook was a cake with the words "Welcome home JK" written on it and some candles on top. His eyes got wet instantly. "This is an welcome party." You said softly, holding his hand. "And every party need a cake. Surprise, Jungkook." Jungkook wiped away the tears that began to flow with the sleeve of the hoodie - the hoodie that was yours and still smells like you. Seeing that he was crying, you tentatively rubbed a hand on his back and waited for the sobs to pass before you spoke. "Jungkook, we need to have this conversation sooner or later... But I don't want to be your owner." You said and he got freeze. He looked in shock to you and more tears ran down his face. He was so confused. The cake made him so happy and then you said exactly what he was afraid of hearing. A knowing look reached your eyes and you wiped the boy's face yourself. "Don't cry. Let me explain, ok?" He nodded, without realizing that he was holding your hand with all his strength. You couldn't care less. "I never intended on adopting or buying a hybrid. You are the only exception." You smiled sweetly. "When you said you wanted to come with me I couldn't say no. You were so sweet, trusting on me... You are very special to me, even if we've only known each other since yesterday." You took his face in your free hand. "But I'm unable to own a person. It may be strange for you to understand what I am saying now, but my intention in having you with me is for you to be free. If you want to live with me forever, in the simplest way in the world, I will take care of you. If you want to live your life in any other way, even if it is somewhere else, I will also take care of you, and support you. Because the choice is yours. Of course, you don't have to choose anything now. Today or years from now ... It will remain your choice." Jungkook relaxed but remained confused, not knowing how to respond. "What do you want?" He finally said. Your eyes saddened, the thought that your wanting to be more important to him than his own bothering you. "I want to be your friend." His answer seemed to be what Jungkook wanted to hear, because he opened a huge and beautiful smile. "That's enough for me. Can I eat the cake?" "Of couse!" You served him a piece and one for you, chattering like you never cared much for dessert after a meal, and that if he wanted to eat the meat and the cake together you wouldn't judge. His daydreams are cute, he concluded, determined to love you so that you love him. "Y/N... There are a lot of things about me that I don't like, and I know you won't like it either... And I don't like to talk about it, or to think about it at all... But since we are friends I feel like I should... " "That you should tell me?" He nodded. "You dont need to. Jungkook, I already know a lot of bad things about you." You made him freeze again. "Nothing personal, but enough that if it bothered me or changed the way I see you, I wouldn't even have brought you home. But I don't care, and if you don’t feel like sharing it with me now, or ever, okay, you don’t owe it to me just because we’re friends." He smiled to his cake. "Seriously, I have a lot of secrets my friends don't know. You can have yours too." "Thankyou, Y/N. I like you a lot, and I think I want to be with you forever." That was your time to smile to your cake. "So you are stuck with me forever then." Having a friend has always been more important to Jungkook than having a good owner. But for him the only friend he had stayed in the past, he was already sure that it would never happen again and that he was alone for the rest of his life. But now he had you, and that is enough. Regardless of the situation, friends are forever. If you are friends, he doesn't have to be afraid of you kicking him out, even with all the bad things he has done or all the fears he has.

And that good feeling tastes like cake. _____________________________________________________________

Tag list: @stayunderthelights  @deolly  @panconte @serendipityoreuphoria @madygswich

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If you want me to tag you, pls tell me.

AND PLEASE GIVE LOVE TO THIS WORK OF MINE: Clumsy

[ka-za-ri]

Obey Me wants to do Too Much and in an attempt to please the fans, it’s failing them instead.

Based on the post @1abbie7​ made regarding the common complaints players seem to have with OM and its choices as a game. I just wanted to put my two (very long) cents in while looking at OM as if it is the gacha game it truly wishes it was.

MAJOR DISCLAIMER: this post is based on my experiences and is not a reflection of the community as a whole. These are observations and personal thoughts and should be taken with a grain of salt. Also, please feel free to discuss or correct me if I have any of the information wrong. For reference, I’ve reached 5-3 in OM!, 9-2 in AL, and 6-17 in AK.

Now that we have that out of the way… ON TO WHAT I WANT TO SAY. Buckle in folks, I’m rambly and I have a lot to say. Obey Me! Has a lot of potential, and it’s a shame that a lot of things Solmare does are not helping it grow in a way that it could.

So this post is MOSTLY going to be comparing Obey Me!’s (OM) gacha and gaming experience with Azur Lane (AL)  and Arknights (AK) since I feel like both those games have a very good f2p model and don’t really have any PvP/Ranking system that affects the main gameplay. I will have other examples from other games that I’ve played before as well.

Ignoring any issues with storytelling and plot holes, since I feel like there are people who are much more qualified to speak upon that than I am, I’m just going to look at the more game and gacha experience.

EVENT SPACING, GAMEPLAY, STAMINA REFRESHES:

OM! As far as I know, is marketed as an Otome game with gacha and … Rhythm??? Game??? Elements? (I’m not quite sure how to even describe the ‘battle’ stages tbh) to break up the story stages. With the battle stages being the main way you can farm for materials to power up your cards, the bottlenecks that are built into the game are surprisingly super frustrating.

OM! Does not have an auto battle option, but it does make up for it by allowing you to sweep the stage once you’ve received 3 stars. This does make resource farming much quicker, but this also means that your stamina will disappear faster than ice in a desert. Coupled with the fact that the battle stages don’t really have much interaction or strategy for a good portion of the beginning of the game, there’s no real replay value in trying for older stages unless they have the resource you want to farm.

I guess I can let this pass since interaction isn’t what’s really marketed, but it IS important to keep your audience logging in and eager to play. At Level 40-ish, my current stamina cap is around 70. WIth the average stamina cost of a regular stage being 5 AP, and the hard stages being 8. This means you’ve got 14 normal stages and less than 10 hard stages in a full bar of stamina. Assuming I log in twice a day to get the bonus AP, that’s really not a lot of stamina to work with and just enough to maybe get through my dailies. 

Having that little stamina makes farming resources exceptionally difficult especially for the high requirements needed once you get about half-way through a devil tree. Add that to dealing with farming event points almost constantly, with your limited stamina pool, you’re pretty much forced to purchase extra stamina to meet the requirements to finish said events to get the rewards. Assuming you spend all of your daily Devil Point reward on Stamina, that’s only 180 stamina a day which makes for a really tight run IF you’re aiming to get everything in an event. 

ADDITIONALLY, this is also the fact that events and new lessons don’t seem to be announced prior to them dropping. Almost every gacha  game I’ve played before will give you a few days notice before an event drops whether it be via Social media or through in-game mail. This is to mainly generate excitement and allows players some time to prepare, whether it be hoarding what stamina refreshes they have or saving premium currency for gachas to hopefully get the chase card/unit that they’re looking for. Not being able to prepare makes it difficult to stay engaged considering you CONSTANTLY have to have resources/stamina to partake in all the events and you can’t plan accordingly.

AK announcing the current event two days prior to it starting in game and on twitter:

AL’s announcement on the 12th, almost a week prior to it starting. Maintenance was on the 17th when the game reset.. (In game notices update regularly and I don’t have a screenshot of what it would look like since maintenance has already passed.)

OM! basically giving people on twitter about 24 hours notice of a new event dropping followed by announcing that the new lessons are available on the day it drops:

I understand that OM! Devs may want to keep the new cards a surprise to players. If stats and skills played a more prominent role in the game, maybe there would be a better way to tease these events to build up hype. As of right now though, it feels like a surprise slap in the face to force players to purchase currency in order to maintain that stamina requirement. IF Solmare is adamant about having back-to-back events, at least provide players with a roadmap or a calendar so they can pick and choose what’s important to them.

Just… Don’t let it become like the FEH calendar…

Please, do not let it become like this.

In my opinion, it feels like OM! Has a bit of an identity crisis. It sorely wants to bank on the money making powers of a gacha game while also clinging to the claim that they’re an otome game revolving around the plot. It’s hard to really promote the plot when it’s locked behind a power requirement that a majority of players will not be able to reach.

With how difficult it is at the end game, players are most likely going to look for transcripts or screenshots of new lessons instead of playing the main storyline in order to save what little they have for the constant limited events. Either give the players time to recoup resources to prepare for your events so they can pull for all your new cards or lower the difficulty cap to give players the story you’re emphasizing so much. 

Tl;dr: back-to-back events will burn out players and not announcing them prior does not allow players to prepare resources, forcing them to drop money on the game. The amount of stamina it takes to complete an event AND level your cards does not make it f2p friendly.

GACHA RATES AND PITY SYSTEM:

Call me spoiled, but I feel like OM! ‘S banner rates are too low. Consider the following image for the current banner pool:

That’s a combined 1% to get your UR and that’s still not going to be guaranteed to get what you want. Consider the following rates from other games:

Azur Lane:

(Ultra Rare was a new rarity that was added with this new banner. Before that the highest rarity you could pull is a Super Rare)

Arknights: 

Fire Emblem Heroes: 

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius: War of the Visions

For a game that’s always introducing new cards, you’d think that OM! Would maybe consider raising those rates so people won’t be so heartbroken when they don’t have enough currency for a 10 pull. (Especially if they have been spending what Devil Points they have on stamina to complete event stages) Yes, a majority of banners have bigger pools and  the chance for a specific 6*/UR/SSR is ultimately lower; but considering in OM!, you have stories and characterization locked behind devilgrams connected to these cards, the rates are pitifully low. At least in the other games listed, the units/cards/operators/ships aren’t tied to stories. 

I will say, the pity system isn’t absolutely abysmal. Keep in mind though, this is based on the assumption that you’ve saved up for 100 pulls. Considering how difficult it is to save that much currency while being f2p 100 pulls per banner is a tall order and impossible without the help of goldie or somethin. The frequency of new cards along with the difficulty obtaining gacha currency creates an extremely predatory model of currency purchase. With no guarantee of when event banners will be rerun, you’re pretty SOL if you make it half way through this pity system and you’re sitting on shards you can’t use. 

Players will get tired of this model mega fast. Especially with these kinds of rates. Assuming that your luck is the worst on earth, you need 2,700 Devil Points to reach the pity breaker. That’s more than two packs worth of Devil Points. So we’re looking at over $160.00 USD to get a guaranteed UR. Seeing as new banners come what feels like every two weeks or so, you’re looking at over $300.00 USD a month JUST for the gacha. If OM! Was purely a gacha game without such a heavy emphasis on the characters and the stories/scenarios they unlock, I might be able to overlook it. However, since the cards themselves unlock cheats for events and outfits and devilgram scenarios, that’s a steep price to pay, so I kinda just have to say… Yikes.

Tl;Dr: For a game that has so much content tied to limited cards and events, gacha rates for OM! Feel too low. Pity system is average as long as you have the currency to complete all 100 pulls. The reason to purchase premium currency is predatory and likely will not be sustainable in the long run. 

MONTHLY PACKS AND PREMIUM CURRENCY

So, we can agree that if you don’t have some cash on hand, it’s not going to be a real fun time to play OM! So, where do you spend your money? Let’s take a look at what they offer in terms of premium currency and how far that will get you. It’s also almost 3AM here and I’m losing my patience and filter, so excuse me if I sound more angry here than in the rest of the post.

So, here’s the basic Devil Point Shop for reference: 

If we equate Devil Points to stamina, you’re looking at about 100 stamina per dollar you spend. But let’s be real, Solmare makes their money off of gacha and them pretty pngs ‘cause y’all want those spicy devilgrams and sweet outfits for your secretary.

To even get a 10 pull, you’re looking at $22.00 USD worth of premium currency. (Why they didn’t make the $19.99 pack a full 10 pull is BEYOND me tbh.) Now most gacha players that I know who are willing to go all in on a specific banner will want to spend a pack, which means they’ll go for the most expensive option as it is the most bang for your buck. That’s an $80.00 pack for approximately 4 10 pulls and some change. Let’s compare that to the price of some Originite Prime from AK: 

It takes approximately 33 OP for one 10 pull in AK. 1 OP = 180 Orundum (currency used for gacha) Keeping this in mind,  if you don’t count the first time purchase bonus, at first glance, it’s overall more expensive to purchase this currency SOLELY for gacha purposes.

Here are the packs offered for AL: 

If you’re using gems to purchase the cubes needed for the gacha, it takes about 600 gems for 1 10 pull. One pack will net you about 8 10 pulls. Out of all the models we’ve looked at, this is honestly the most value for your dollar specifically for gacha purposes.

Take into consideration what the premium currency is used for. As stated above, 1 DP = 10 stamina. 1 OP = 1 Full stamina refresh in AK, so that’s a pretty equivalent exchange rate. (I won’t go into the AL stamina and gacha system since it differs too much from OM! To really make a good comparison.)

But, what else can DP do? A quick glance under the “Items” tab in the shop, you’ll see that it can also purchase Keys to read your devilgram stories (integral to your gaming experience), Demon Vouchers for summoning, Glow Sticks to help you in battle (Integral to gameplay), and consumables for your Surprise Guests to raise intimacy (arguably connected to gameplay). Compare this to what you can purchase with your OP outside of summoning currency in AK: Furniture (cosmetic) and Skins (Cosmetic). That’s it. 

What I’m trying to say here is that Solmare has made DP the currency for so many things that affect the game itself. This subtly pressures the players to purchase DP in order to maintain the same quality of life that they might have experienced at the beginning of their gaming experience when the level ups came fast and when the rewards were plentiful for completing all the beginners quests.

“But wait!” you say. There’s ways to earn DP passively through dailies! You’re right! You’re given 18 DP per day for completing your dailies. That equates to 1 10 pull per 2 weeks if you’re diligent in keeping up with all your quests and log in daily. Comparatively, AK will give you 2,800 orundum per week for completing all your quests and the weekly annihilation runs, so just short of 1 full 10 pull in the game. However, AK gives you the specific currency used exclusively for gacha. This leaves your OP relatively free to be used for stamina refreshes, or you can hoard them for when new skins come out, or you can use a few to supplement your missing orundum for a banner pull.

Without knowing what could be coming up next in terms of events and banners, OM! Makes it very difficult for you to hold onto your DP due to the sheer stamina sink that events can be. Unless you’re really good at optimizing your resources, you’re likely going to be spending DP on things outside of gacha, making it difficult to save those 20 pulls in a month.

Tl:dr: DP is used for too many things that aid in gameplay which leaves less for gacha, forcing players to make a choice between moving forward in harder story stages or unlocking card specific stories.

Alright, but let’s say you don’t have enough for packs, but you still want to support a game. You don’t wanna whale ‘cause you got bills to pay, but maybe you’ve got enough to be a minnow or a very sad and small dolphin. For this, most people turn to those delicious monthly packs. Usually, the monthly packs or subscriptions are really a good bang for your buck. Usually, the bonuses that these packs provide will add up to a value that is much more than your initial investment in them. So, let’s look at what OM!, AK and AL offer, shall we? 

Let’s break down what the VIP gives you since there’s quite a bit and it’s presented in a less condensed format. So, at first glance, I have to ask… “VIP login bonus?” What does that even mean? When you look at the details the description is as follows:

I’m sorry, what? This vagueness will not help sell this pack to me. Most monthly packs will give you premium currency right away that is equivalent to the amount that you paid. You can see that both AK and AL list this and also let you know exactly what else you get for the next 30 days. There’s no vagueness in what these packs provide. 

Next thing to look at:

I’m sorry. What? I don’t understand why a max AP increase is the choice for a VIP perk here. This is banking on the fact that you’re going to be playing at max efficiency and will be under max stamina in order to take advantage of the refill timer giving you the extra AP. Why OM! Doesn’t just give you the stamina in your mail is beyond my comprehension. This is just saying “yeah, you could have more stamina if you’re playing this game and making sure you’re below your cap. I … no. Just why.

NEXT PERK: 

No. This is useless for higher level players. Perks should benefit all players, not just your new players that you’ve tricked into spending money ‘cause this pack is only $9.99 a month. I’m so angry at this I don’t want to look at this anymore. NEXT.

This is a fine perk. Paying for easier passive resources is fine. I don’t have anything to say.. Next.

Oh thank fuck. An actual good perk. Passively getting the harder to get resources which cuts down on your already limited farming? Hell yeah.  Also fine in my book. NEXT. 

“Spend money to spend more money! Because we know this monthly deal ain’t shit!” is all I’m getting out of this.

Finally, I need to talk about this: 

So… you’re telling me that for $10.00, I’m going to get $6.00 worth of DP and I won’t get the full value unless I STAY subscribed? If I cancel and then resubscribe, will that go back to 60 DP when I subscribe later? Why would you do this other than to give your players less than what they deserve? These packs are supposed to be designed to give you the value of your purchase and some extras as incentive to keep playing and coming back to pay. This just… as a first impression leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Also, let’s talk about the fact that you’re BILLED MONTHLY? Listen, I get that they’re trying to be ‘convenient’ so you can set this up and forget about it and reap the benefits, right? It’s about the same cost as a Netflix subscription, no big deal. But listen, that means they’re also banking on you to forget you even have this subscription if you’re a casual player and you’re going to continue to give them money Stop that Solmare. Bad.

I’m too tired to look at sales. Just as a quick glance. the discounts and deal are meh at best.

Tl:dr: Monthly pack is underwhelming and likely not worth it. Automatically being billed monthly is the worst thing I’ve seen all week and this was written in 2020. 

SOME SUGGESTIONS? IT’S NOT ALL BAD, I PROMISE.

So, how can Solmare improve? OM! Is honestly one of the most stylish otome games I’ve seen and has a lot of potential to continue growing its player base if the devs directed their energies in the right direction. Right now, OM! Suffers due to the fact that it’s trying to do too much in too little time. For a game that’s less than a year old, it’s pushed out enough content in the last three months to last six. Dialing back the gacha and collecting elements to focus on the story and a slower pace would really help, if you ask me. 

OM! Really needs to slow its roll. Events are losing their impact from being rolled out at such a quick pace on top of current pop quizzes, new lessons and banners. Every week I feel like I’m watching the more hardcore players yell at having too much to do when everything is layered on top of one another. This is not inherently a bad thing. Having a lot to do keeps the player base engaged and excited for your game.

The problem arises when you’re not giving your players any time to recover from events and just throw things at them all the time. Finding a good balance between events and downtime is difficult and it likely won’t happen overnight, but it would be nice to see them maybe give a week or two to really let the impact of events sink in and let players really find time to nurture or use the new cards/rewards they just got.

First step in the right direction would be giving more notice prior to events and lessons. Just something more than 24 hours before, or the day of. Not providing a notice makes it feel like these things are being rushed. 

If Solmare is adamant about keeping the pace it’s set up, then give us a roadmap or event calendar of when new lessons or pop quizzes are coming. They can keep the details of the lessons and quizzes limited until closer to the actual dates, but at least this will let players prioritize where they want to put their resources.

Gacha rates for URs being raised to 2% would likely make a reasonable difference. When so much story and cosmetic content is tied to a UR or SSR cards along with their frequency, it serves to likely benefit them to make it more accessible to players. Locking so much behind luck and a paywall makes it more obvious that they only care about the money that they can get from the diehard collectors in the game.

Make skins obtainable by DP. Stop locking them behind event cards. Allow players to have easier access to cosmetic features. It’s a less predatory model than what they’ve got right now. Granted, Lonely Devil has sort of helped this issue considering they’ve grouped event reruns all in one place to play at your leisure, and if I remember some of the event cards have skins tied to them. Still, just… idk sell the skin on its own. It makes more sense than to pray that you roll that UR with the one 10 pull you have. 

Make resources easier to obtain passively. I’m sure I sound like a broken record, but limited resources make this game difficult to enjoy. You’re barely through doing one thing to level up a card and you’re met with a giant wall of requirements for the next step. AL has commissions and the dorm, AK has the base. OM! Has Jobs, which gets you grimm and some items if you’re lucky, but it definitely needs expansion considering the power checkpoints late game.

Hell, just making some of those DP purchasable items actually farmable might help.

Get a publisher to work with you. I know Solmare has been around the block and this isn’t the first otome game they’ve made, but I definitely think working with a publisher who’s familiar with the ins and outs of a proper gacha helping them will benefit them. Having a publisher will help ensure that there’s adequate funding for the game to be as good as it can be. Not only that, you’re looking at a better social media presence which the player base can interact with and get more attached to.

 Literally, having a publisher could solve so many pacing and announcement issues since they would be in charge of when events come out and likely has a better eye on how players react. This way, Solmare can concentrate on making the content as quality as they can and not inundate people with a new lesson or event as soon as it’s done.

Tl:dr: Solmare, please get a proper publisher so they can help with quality control and balancing your game. Please. I’m begging you. You have so much going for you please don’t let this game die before it turns a year old.

Ok. it’s 4 AM and I spent most of the day writing this post. If you’ve made it this far, congrats and I’m sorry for being so rambly. I’m so sorry if none of this made any sense in the end.  I’m sure there are points that I’ve missed out on like stage replayability and a more engaging battle mode, and the lack of any sort of meta which makes the lower rarity cards you pull feel completely useless…  but uh… I can’t think anymore and I haven’t had time to farm in my horny ship girl game. Feel free to let me know your thoughts or discuss! 

Thanks for your time and I hope y’all have a good day. Happy romancing some demon boys!

[neowinestainedress]

↬  title: where all the poets went to die  ↬  pairing: lee taeyong / kim doyoung ↬  summary: Taeyong learns that sometimes, no matter how many things you try, escaping is the only way to keep on surviving. ↬  genre: idol!taeyong (not nct!taeyong, soloist!taeyong), song inspired - the lakes by taylor swift, domestic fluff, romantic, happy ending ↬  warnings: none, mentioned johnten, mentioned kun, (this is the sequel of this, not exactly what I was hoping for but I couldn’t keep on working on it, so here it is) ↬  words count: 9.9k  ↬  ao3 link

Taeyong really wished people would’ve deleted him, pushed him and Doyoung out of their minds as soon as possible. He wished that destroying his career was enough for them. But apparently, things never work as you want them to go. Months went by, and somehow they still seemed to be the most exciting rumour on everybody’s tongue. The hurtful comments never stopped flooding Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. He shouldn’t have done that, maniacally looking up for his name, or Doyoung’s, but he did. He just wanted to be in contact with his fans, he knew that some of them were still there. He wanted to be present for them, let them know he was grateful for their support, and for still believing in him and accepting who he really was. The problem was that the hate they were giving him was bigger than anything else, and one nice comment wasn’t enough to delete all the malice. 

But Taeyong was headstrong, or as Doyoung would say, a dickhead, and just kept checking his phone every second. The younger knew that his obsession was the result of his idol life, he was raised with the idea that he had to perfect and to obsess about what people thought of him. Because his reputation had to be perfect, no mistakes, no foul, no trait of being human. But Taeyong wasn’t an idol anymore; some company reached for him but he rejected, not mentally ready to face that all over again. And Doyoung was tired of seen him self-sabotaging himself. So it wasn’t unexpected when one day they had a big fight over it. Doyoung had just got home from work to see Taeyong basically in the middle of a panic attack, trembling on the floor, as he was sobbing uncontrollably. Doyoung didn’t even want to know what he had seen or read, he couldn’t care about it, but he was furious that once again his boyfriend was in that conditions because of people that had nothing to do with their lives. He didn’t say a thing, though, he simply let Taeyong crawl in his arms and cry on his shoulder, the older mumbling incomprehensible words against his shirt. And it took him the whole night to calm him down, and put him to bed, finally falling asleep when it was almost four in the morning. Doyoung was done, filled to the brim, his patience gone completely. He couldn’t stop people from writing terrible things on him, or hate him, or think that he was a tremendous person, but he could stop Taeyong from hurting himself. And Taeyong didn’t like it. 

“Why did you do that?” The brown-haired screamed as he threw his phone on the couch. 

“Because I was tired of seeing you harming yourself, Yong,” Doyoung answered trying to keep his tone calm, shouting at the other would’ve just made things worst. 

“You could’ve asked me? Since it’s my phone, and my socials and my life!” He had had a terrible night, so he was already nervous because of that, and when he turned on his phone just to see that all of his socials were deleted his irritation skyrocketed. Taeyong knew that he wasn't mad because Doyoung did it on his back, he just wanted to find an excuse. He was obsessed with all of that, and he simply hated that now he had to drop his toxic routine. 

“And you would’ve said yes?” Doyoung asked provocatively “You can’t get your mind away from them. Socials were consuming you and I’m not letting you do that. Because it may be your life but we are in this together, and it also concerns me since I love you.” 

Taeyong didn’t answer, his gaze met the floor, as silent tears started to roll down his face. Doyoung was right, he was aware of that. But somehow not knowing what people thought of him was agonizing. He had to know if things changed, if maybe they opened their eyes and realized the truth of his old rumours that resurfaced and accepted that he was gay. 

“Please,” Doyoung whispered moving closer, standing now face to face with him, his hands softly cupping his cheeks, “I’m doing this for you.” 

And Taeyong was glad he did that. The first few days had been hard, the urge to download them again was always there in the back of his mind. But after a while, Taeyong started to feel better. 

Still, somehow, his mental state wasn’t getting any better. He felt like he was in jail in his own town. He simply didn’t feel safe to go out with the risk of being recognized and followed or assaulted. It had been four months since he didn’t leave the house. Also, it became strange and dangerous for Doyoung too. People had found some of their friend’s Instagram and discovered other photos of him, his face was now pretty known and he didn’t feel safe going to work and coming home late as he did before. Somebody once had followed him home, and he had to threaten of calling the police. 

So Taeyong came to the solution that he had to disappear. But not without his muse. 

And they did. Doyoung didn’t hesitate a second to say yes when Taeyong had proposed him to run away. It had happened one night, and quietly unexpectedly for both of them. 

They were laying on their bed, Doyoung busy reading a novel and Taeyong reading an article Johnny had sent him about the Lake District where he lived with Ten. Without realizing Taeyong grew fascinated and started to look up for more videos of The Lakes. Everything about it seemed beautiful and he also remembered all the good things Johnny used to tell him every time they talked. They were supposed to visit them in February, for the occasion of celebrating Doyoung and Johnny’s birthday differently (and also Ten’s, even if they would’ve already been back in Korea by the 27th), but then the agency filled Taeyong with schedules and everything dropped. Taeyong remembered the stories Ten told him about English literature, how the district was famous for its poets, like Wordsworth and Coleridge. And soon enough he found himself lost in their words, blown away for the little English he could understand and the little justice Korean translation could do to those words. And before he could think, words slipped out of his rosy lips. “Take me to The Lakes, where all the poets went to die.” 

Seconds of silence passed by before the older spoke again, “I don’t belong here, and my beloved, neither do you.” 

If it had been just six months before Doyoung would’ve laughed at him, told him he was crazy and was being irresponsible, but now, things were totally different. What did they have to lose when they had already lost everything?

✯✯✯

The spring breeze was softly blowing on Taeyong’s face, as he looked outside of the window of their bedroom. It had been one year since he had disappeared, literally faded from the real world. His mom told him that his fans were concerned about him, not hearing from him for months made them think of the worst-case scenarios. Yet, he was doing better than he ever was. After twelve months he still felt like a baby every time he woke up and breathed in the air England offered him. Probably it was the fact that he could actually open a window to let new fresh air in, and don’t stick to AC like he was used to in Korea because the air was polluted, and it would’ve done more harm than good. Or the fact that around him was nature and pretty houses, with brown bricks, and wooden windows, and balconies filled with flowers and plants. The lake didn’t even touch the city, but somehow the air there smelled different. And he couldn’t even care much about the rain filling up most of the days. Or how hard it had been to learn English and understand their accent. He was just glad he was there. Far away from the negativity. Finally, feeling like a human being again. 

Taeyong turned around, eyeing his boyfriend who was still sleeping peacefully in their bed. A smile crept on his face as he studied his relaxed features, he felt so lucky to have somebody so beautiful, inside and out, in his life. Taeyong knew that he had been particularly hard for him to move all the way to England. The younger didn’t show it much, but he knew. He had to drop his work in Korea and rebuild his business in a foreign country, learn a foreign language, just when things had started to be good for him. At the end it worked, his business became successful faster than it did in Seoul, to the point that he also had the chance to open an online shop and started to sell around the world. However, it was tiring for him since he was the only one who was actively working. It wasn’t about the money, Doyoung wanted to do something and don’t lean on Taeyong’s career money, and also he had worked too hard to built his business to drop his dream just because he went to live somewhere else. So after many sleepless nights, and hard work, he could finally relax a little bit. Just three months before he could afford to employ somebody else to help him, and now there were three of them working at the shop. 

And finally seeing him sleeping peacefully, just like a baby, made Taeyong feel warm. 

Running a hand through his now black hair, he sighed and started to make his way down to the kitchen. That was another thing that he had missed. Tranquil mornings together, with none rushing them, no training schedule for him in the evening, or the urge to update people about his life –or better, his made-up life. A bittersweet smile broke on his face as he stopped for a second, thinking how people preferred a fake fabricated version of him to a real sincere one. Let’s make it clear, he loved his fans, and he really liked to share things with them, but the fact that he always had to cut out something, or somebody, to fit the narrative of the perfect boy he had to be, made it feel like an obligation. 

The cold air caused a shiver to run down his spine. It was late March, and even if the hard cold dropped, the weather loved to remind him that they were still in England. Luckily it didn’t seem to be cloudy, a quiet sunny day seemed to be headed for them, and Taeyong wanted to take the energy of the shy sun shining in the sky to make the best of his day. 

“Wow,” Doyoung whispered as soon as he entered the kitchen, a tired smile was plastered on his face as he tried to shrug the sleep from his eyes, “why so happy?” He asked as he kept glancing Taeyong’s body energetically dancing around the kitchen to the tunes coming from the radio. 

His boyfriend turned around, the brightest smile ever on his face, placed two plates down the kitchen isle and then leaned on it. 

“Nothing specific, today looks like a perfect day to breathe in all the good vibes the universe offers,” he tilted his head to the side just to swiftly blow him a kiss and then turn back around. 

Doyoung giggled and then rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure that this was all Ten’s fault, him and his astrology readings, and all of those things he simply felt too stupid to understand. He was fascinated but not even half of what Taeyong was. So their couples dates consisted on Taeyong and Ten talking about art, tarot readings, zodiac charts, while he and Johnny listened, not getting a word of what they said, or talking about something else. At the start, Doyoung wasn’t that close with them, but soon enough he found out that they were really great. He discovered an amazing friend in Johnny, especially after he helped him a lot with his business and English. And as much as sometimes Ten was a pain in the ass, and they spent half of their time together bickering, he knew they had a great relationship. Pretty unusual but great. 

That morning he definitely didn’t feel as energetic as his boyfriend was, but Taeyong’s aura was enough to pull him through the day (plus, he just needed to – actually – wake up). So he dragged his feet to his partner, and once he was behind his back he wrapped his arms around his tiny waist. His head falling in the crook of his neck, inhaling deeply his scent, and nuzzling against his hair. 

“Uh, somebody wants cuddles,” Taeyong teased in a sing-song tone. 

“Yeah, I’m not good at freeing my soul like you. I take my energy from you, not the universe,” Doyoung mumbled, still against his warm skin. 

“Legit. I am your universe,” Taeyong joked, turning red soon after as he realized what he had said. 

Doyoung huffed, “If I wasn’t this sleepy I would’ve slapped you,” he said seriously. “But I need my kisses and hugs to warm up for the day, so I’m going to deal with your super sugary self.” 

✯✯✯

The low chatting around the four men filled the room, alongside with the music playing from the speakers of the pub. 

“The Crafty Baa” was by now a ritual for them. It was the first place their friends took them when they first arrived (okay, in reality not the first, since they had other priority, much to Johnny disposal, but whatever). It was definitely a quirky and strange place, something Taeyong absolutely loved. And Ten knew it damn well that was what the boy needed after all the things he had been trough. Johnny wanted to take them somewhere else but his boyfriend insisted, and at the end, it worked.

Now, a year later, Taeyong seemed to be fascinated by the place just like he was the first time. 

“I really hope you’re not ordering garlic bread once again, or else forget my kisses,” Ten glanced at Johnny as soon as he saw his boyfriend focusing on that page of the menu. A mix of disgust and judgment all over his face. 

“I can live without your kiss but not without garlic bread, sorry ‘bout it,” he answered shrugging with a grin on his face. 

“John Youngho Seo, I’m getting a divorce,” Ten exclaimed slamming his hands on the table, not so strong but loud enough to make Doyoung roll his eyes to the sky and shrink on his place already regretting to have agreed of going out. 

“We’re not even married,” Johnny noted with his eyebrow furrowed.

“About that,” Taeyong interrupted their playful bickering, “you should think about it. You’ve been together for almost ten years now.” 

Maybe Taeyong wasn’t in the place to pressure them about it, but damn if he got excited over weddings, and damn, if he hadn’t been their number one supporter since they got together. Johnny gulped, as he shyly looked at Ten to see his reaction. The boy was pretty much unaffected by it. It wasn’t an uncomfortable topic, they simply never got there. Taeyong was right, they had been together for ten years now. Knowing each other at Uni in London, both of them studying Graphic Design and Visual Communications. It didn’t take long to become friends, eventually become roommates the second year and then start dating in the middle of it all. It was just so normal for them to be together, and to be so domestic since the start, that marriage just wasn’t something that popped in their minds frequently. They were pretty fine with what they had. But they would be lying if they said they never dreamed about that day. 

“You should’ve minded your business,” Doyoung said to Taeyong when nobody said a word for a while. 

Ten laughed at Taeyong’s sad expression and then spoke up, “Nah, it’s fine. We don’t think about it much, but I wouldn’t mind becoming his husband.” He said with a genuine smile on his face, as he glanced up to Johnny who was looking down at him. The words coming out of the Thai's lips causing Johnny to finally relax. For an instant, he had feared Ten didn't like the idea of marrying him. 

“I’m planning it!” Taeyong jumped on the spot, breaking the two lovers’ magic moment. 

“Since when you’re a wedding planner, now?” Doyoung asked as he threw his hands in the air, making everybody laugh. 

“Oh shut up, I’ve got style.” 

“I wouldn’t trust him,” he mouthed to Johnny, knowing damn well that Ten was on his side. 

“We see you.” And as a matter of fact, both Ten and Taeyong spoke at the same time. A pout on both of their faces. 

Johnny tried to hold his grin but Doyoung straight up rolled his eyes at the sky once again. “Like I care,” he shrugged sipping from his red beer. 

“You don’t support me, I’m dropping your ass,” Taeyong started to whine tugging at his shoulder. And as much as Doyoung wanted to keep the teasing going it was harder than expected when he turned around to see Taeyong with puppy eyes and lips pouting at him. 

“I’m just saying,” Doyoung started to mumble, “you need to be focused to prepare our wedding, not theirs.” 

Time froze for a second, their friends wanted to scream but nobody at the table was quite sure how literally Doyoung meant that. Was it just a playful remark? Or did he propose to him right there? 

“You,” Taeyong started to mumble, looking in his eyes completely lost, “you would marry me?” 

Doyoung gulped, just now realizing what he had actually said. Maybe he had been random, but, did he lie? 

“Yes, I mean, why I wouldn’t want to?” He asked, sincerely confused about how the news seemed to be so unexpected for Taeyong. 

The older bit his lips and then turned around. He knew that, and he lowkey – high key – wanted it, too. But somehow talking about it made him feel strange. Not even in a bad way. It was just the realization that what they had was real, and long-lasting. The idea made his heart jump in his chest, the teenage stupid butterflies were once again flying in his stomach. Yet, something about commitment scared him. All of his usual haunting “What ifs” were lingering in his brain, he couldn’t seem to be able to let them go. His train of thoughts was soon interrupted by the same waitress of always approaching their table asking them if they were ready to order. The tension dropped as soon as both couples decided to drop that talk and focus on what to eat. 

By the end of the night, all of the boys were pretty much drunk, the only one sober was Johnny. Ten was laying against Johnny's shoulder as he giggled over nothing every time he made eye contact with Taeyong and Doyoung was trying so hard to make a conversation, he wasn't -that- drunk, but somehow speaking English while his blood turned into beer seemed harder than the usual. 

"Remember when we got drunk that one time that Taeyong came to London?" Ten asked, suddenly gaining back a little bit of sanity. Johnny sighed as the memory came back to his mind. 

"It was so funny," Taeyong said as he remembered that night too. 

"Funny my ass," Johnny said through his teeth, "I had to drag your drunk, chaotic asses back to the campus trying not to get caught and to be extremely careful that your pretty face wouldn't get a single scratch." 

Ten next to him rolled his eyes, "How dramatic. You had fun too," 

"Yeah, up until I had to become your babysitter," Johnny exclaimed. "Drunk teenage Taeyong was something else. Remember that you tried to hook up with that man that was at least twice your age?" 

"Oh shut up!" Taeyong exclaimed as his hands went up to cover his face that somehow was become even redder now. 

Doyoung snickered, "Oh, so you were into dilfs," 

"Listen," Taeyong exhaled, "I was horny and desperate. I used to spend my days going to school and then training, I basically had no free time." 

"So the only holiday you got you decided to fuck around," Johnny continued but got shut down as soon as Taeyong threw something at him. Not really harmful.  What a shame you can't kill a man with a napkin.  Taeyong thought as he realized his failed mission. 

"You never told me you were this wild," Doyoung said playfully, as he pinched his boyfriend's cheek. 

"I wasn't that wild, let me live." He pouted making everybody laugh. 

"We had fun, tho," Ten said smiling as he started thinking about the time that passed. He was happy that now Taeyong was so close to them. He knew how close he was with Johnny, and how hard it had been for them when Taeyong started to be less present due to the training and Johnny had to leave to attend the University in London. And even if he came in his life later, he still felt the struggle when they used to spent months without talking because Taeyong's phone was taken away from him, or the times he couldn't text much because he was exhausted. Ten always wondered how Taeyong survived that hell, it felt straining from the outside he couldn't really imagine what the older man felt. And because of that he really admired him, he knew that he deeply loved his job, or else he wouldn't have carried through all that. So he was glad that they had decided to get away from that toxic environment, he had been so happy when Taeyong called to them to deliver the news. A little bit egoistically he really wanted to have him close to him. Even though he was Johnny's best friend, the two of them built an amazing friendship through the years, they connected in so many ways, and Ten loved to have somebody he could talk to about the strangest and most random things he was into. He would've preferred if something like this happened differently, if they didn't have to go through all the hate and cancel culture, but they couldn't change the past or destiny, so he tried to see the best of every situation. And now, he was pretty sure that both, Taeyong and Doyoung were happy where they were. 

"Yes, we did," Taeyong smiled as he stared at his two best friends and his boyfriend. He tried not to think much about his past, too many things he had to give up, and people he lost for a dream that crumbled apart in his hands. He didn't want to think about that. He was happy now, surrounded by the people he loved the most, and for now, that was worth everything. 

✯✯✯

Taeyong’s long fingers were moving on the piano keys, the notes filled the room with a repetitive rhythm. It had been quite some time since he got close to anything that was related to music. He won’t lie, he felt broken because that magic spell he had with music seemed to be broken. Shuttered into million pieces. 

Taeyong felt empty. 

Music came to him when he had nothing. All of his friends had dreams and goals to reach, all of them were super ambitious. And then there was him, with nothing to look forward to. But just when he felt hopeless, music came to him and saved him. It showed him the light in his life he couldn’t seem to be able to discover/find. 

And he had to work so hard to get where he was. When he first joined the agency he basically had no artistic background. He had to start from zero. And he was never going to forget the screams of his teachers, telling him he was hopeless, and talentless, that he wasn’t going to go anywhere in his life. A waste of time. Just a pretty face. 

He was losing contact with the only thing that made him feel alive. And for something he never wanted in the first place. 

Being an idol was the price to pay if he wanted to pursue his dream. And he paid the highest price. 

He wanted to create music, art. He wanted to connect people through his words and stories, not be a plastic doll that had to sit there and be manipulated by others. 

Yet, somehow, he just couldn’t bring himself to do that. 

Rage flashed over him as the same old note came out from the piano and he hit it with a punch. A distorted sound filling the room. 

Hot tears started to fill his eyes, as he started to feel that maybe they were right, he was just a pretty face, and all his hard work was the fruit of somebody else. Maybe people liked him just for his visuals and he had nothing else to bring to the table, he had been lucky because they were blinded by love and desperate devotion. 

A sigh left his mouth when he glanced the clock on the wall, it was almost 5 p.m, Doyoung would’ve been home by minutes and he didn’t want to be found like that. 

He tried to play it cool the whole evening, trying to keep their conversations on Doyoung or anything but him. Still, the suffocating feeling didn’t let him sleep all night. 

And as he turned around in the bed, eyes focused on Doyoung’s breathtaking features, he wondered where all of his inspiration went. 

He had his muse right there in front of him, and now was free to write whatever he wanted, and yet, he was stuck. 

He wanted to scream, but it would’ve been useless, so he decided that crawling up against Doyoung’s body was the best he could do. Maybe his familiar scent would’ve been strong enough to lull him to sleep and drown his demons. 

✯✯✯

“Sing a song with me,” Taeyong said leaning against the doorframe of their bedroom. Doyoung frowned, turning around swinging on his turning chair. 

“What?” He asked, genuinely confused, as he looked around the room to make sure nobody else was there and he wasn’t on the phone. 

“I want you to sing a song with me,” he said moving to sit on his lap, suddenly becoming smaller than what he already was. Doyoung held him in his hold. 

“Because you’re the only one I can trust with these words,” he mumbled, suddenly feeling too much vulnerable and exposed, even in front of him, his soulmate. 

Doyoung pressed his lips in a thin line, thinking about it for a moment. It wasn’t the problem of singing, he used to do it and he loved to do it. Probably he also had all the cards to be able to become an idol, but that life just wasn’t for him. It was Taeyong’s words that scared him. Was he okay? Or something had happened again? Doyoung knew that the status of his mental health was on the line, he had to spent months on therapy to see the first results, and he was still seeing his therapist now. 

“You have been writing again?” Doyoung asked, tiptoeing around the topic, waiting for Taeyong to open up completely and tell him what he had been writing about. 

Taeyong bit his lips and nodded, looking at his intertwined hands on his lap. It was a flow of thoughts that came to his mind one night when he couldn’t sleep. He sneaked out of their bedroom and there in their living room three songs came to life. Not his happiest ones, but the most sincere he ever came up with. 

“That’s great,” he exclaimed, looking at him proudly, “and they have singing parts?” 

Taeyong nodded again, without knowing why the ability of talking seemed to have left him. Doyoung squeezed his side, his thumb painting soothing circles on it, to tell him that everything was fine. 

Gathering some courage, the brown-haired spoke. “You don’t have to, but it would mean the world to me,” he looked at his boyfriend’s eyes for the first time. 

Doyoung wanted to ask him why him out of everybody he could reach out to collab with. Yes, he kind of told him why, but how vulnerable they were? Why he needed it to be him? 

“Can I read them?” He asked the older, his hands still moving on his hip to keep him grounded. 

“Yes, of course,” Taeyong said as he got up and then went out of the room, just to come back soon after holding three papers in his hands. 

Piece of mind. Switch Off. Yestoday. 

It took Doyoung just the first song to understand why Taeyong seemed so vulnerable while talking about them. And why he needed him to be by his side during this. In those three songs, there was Taeyong in the most open and naked way he ever showed himself to the public. It was him, with his wounded skin and his somehow still open heart, just asking to be able to be human again.

And as much as Doyoung had been by his side for years now, and he had seen him fighting in the front line, a lump formed in his throat with a heavy pain on his chest as he read that words. 

Taeyong started to fidget on the spot when nothing came from Doyoung’ side. Were they not good enough? Were they too dramatic? Should’ve he just let what he had been feeling in the past instead of writing it down? He always felt insecure about his songwriting. He had been judged way too many times for it, that he convinced himself that no matter what, it was simply never going to be enough. Or that it wasn’t sincere. And maybe it wasn’t totally, he worked in an industry that tried to sugarcoat everything, so how could he, a homosexual idol dating another man, be totally sincere if he had to hide himself? Maybe there had to be some female pronouns right there and then but he knew that his feelings put into words were real, and were just about him, Doyoung. 

“They’re beautiful,” he smiled, trying to focus on his wording and not the pain that the ink on that pages brought with them. “I’m glad to have the songwriter of this generation back,” he said as he playfully pinched him on the cheek, just to pull by his arm back on his lap. Taeyong hid his red face on the crook of his neck, a sigh of relief leaving his mouth. 

“I will,” Doyoung whispered against his ear. 

“What?” Taeyong asked, forgetting for a moment what was the main topic of their conversation. 

“I’ll sing this with you.” 

The biggest smile crept on Taeyong’s face before he launched himself on Doyoung’s lips, to catch them in a kiss. 

“Wait, are you making an album?” The younger asked, realizing that maybe that meant Taeyong was going back on his tracks, finally reconnecting with music once again. He knew how important it was for him, and seeing him trying to delete it from his life the last past year tore Doyoung apart. 

Taeyong shrugged. He honestly had no idea. He just wanted to create. Let his mind take him places and then see the outcomes. He couldn’t care much about anything else. The charts. The records. The genre. 

It was just music and him. 

Yet, unexpectedly, one year later his album was ready. 

Nobody was expecting it. Everybody thought he disappeared forever, taking his money and reputation and throw the hell out. Nobody seemed to know where he was, or what he was doing. So it took just one Instagram post with the cover of his album shot by Johnny and designed by Ten (just like the rest of the album) to shake the internet and make his name end up on every first page. 

"YesTODAY, the album and the single, out at midnight.  “SORRY THAT I WALKED AWAY” but sometimes silence, time and meditation can say much more than a thousand words said in the heat of a moment. So now I’m here, pouring my true self out to all of you through my art, hoping that you can take my dreams, my hopes and my fears and make it yours, too. In these 18 songs, there’s a part of me I was never able to properly and sincerely show you, but now that it’s here I hope you can cherish it and hold it close to your heart. “I HOPE YOU LIKE IT WHERE I AM NOW” 

It wasn’t hard to keep the project a secret. First of all, because it wasn’t supposed to be a project at the start. Not until lyrics started to pile up, begging to be shaped into complete songs. Ten talking 24/7 about his friend Kun being an incredible producer didn’t help him either. The curiosity of hearing some of his tunes turned into them clicking immediately and not being able to stop producing together. Their art so in synch that Doyoung had to come and stop them at 2 a.m of the night almost every day because they had so much fun that they lost track of time. 

It wasn’t difficult finding an artistic team either when he had his best friends super happy and hyped, just wanting to be part of his creative team. The lands The Lakes offered were perfect for his album and for Johnny’s mind to picture already every single photo of the shooting. And Ten definitely had too much fun building his new site up, even if that meant flip out over programs he used just once in university, and create a new font just for him. 

And it hadn’t been stressful for him. For once he could create without the press of his agency wanting money to not bankrupt. He had no limits of tracks. Or just one genre to follow. 

For once he truly had fun. Working hard with people that stimulated and supported him. Kun inspiring him to experiment more with his voice and sounds. Ten telling him to go beyond with his style and be his true self. And Doyoung supporting him, in those moments when he felt that he couldn’t make it without a company on his back. 

“You don’t need them, Yong,” Doyoung used to whisper to him as his hands caressed his hair. And the old Taeyong couldn’t believe him. Terrified of flopping, not much because he cared for the charts, he had obsessed for them for too long for his liking. But for the public opinion. He wasn't sure his brain would've been able to take another wave of hate similar to the one he received in the past. 

But now, that the album was out, he could proudly say that Doyoung was right. 

That morning Taeyong didn’t go to see where his album charted, or what people thought of that. He wanted to savour the joy of his first self owned album having been released without having to ruin his mood because of what people had to say. But Ten’s calls didn’t seem to stop so he had to pick up, sleep still in his eyes and an even more sleepy Doyoung in front of him. 

“Fucking finally, Yong!” Ten exclaimed on the other side of the phone. 

“Well, good morning to you too,” Taeyong laughed rolling his eyes to the sky. 

“Did you see that?” Ten said without paying much attention to what the other said. 

“What?” The brown-haired man asked, mindlessly turning the spoon in the jam can. 

“You’re first on fucking billboard hot 100! First!” 

Taeyong was trying to process what Ten said when he could hear Johnny scream “Language” and he would’ve laughed at that if only Ten hadn’t just said that he was first on billboard 100. 

“Me? Wait, is this a joke?” He exclaimed, spoon dropping from his hands and meeting the floor, catching Doyoung’s attention who was looking at the scene without understanding anything. 

“Why would I joke about that? God, you need to find a publicist, a manager, you can’t be that careless about this stuff.” Ten huffed. 

“I’m not careless, I just wanted not to ruin this day, Ten.”

“Well, you’re topping charts even in Korea, you’re trending everywhere, and Doyoung’s name is everywhere too. People say there’s no wonder you fell for him,” 

Taeyong snorted, as if they weren’t the same throwing shit at him just some months before because he wasn’t “pretty enough” or some shits they used to say. “Let me check that, okay?” He said, changing the topic, not wanting to get mad at people hypocrisies. 

“I want the live reaction, wait let’s video call.” Ten said in hurry, he really wanted to see his best friend face, no way he would've lost a moment like this.  

“Ten, we’re half-naked in bed, for fuck sake,” Johnny said so loud that Taeyong could hear him, he grinned, they were something else. But Johnny’s words were useless because before they could waste any more time, Ten was already face calling them. 

“May I know what’s going on?” Doyoung asked with his sleep-filled voice, just now starting to understand where he was. Why everyone there seemed to be a morning person except for him? 

“Your boyfriend is number one almost everywhere and has no clue,” Ten answered before Taeyong, who was too busy checking the charts on his boyfriend’s phone, could. 

“You're first?” Doyoung asked, snapping completely from his sleeping state. 

“I am first,” Taeyong whispered, eyes fixated on the screen as he kept checking the position of his album on several charts. His eyes couldn’t believe it. But the numbers weren’t the things that shocked him the most, it was the comments. The praise. The likes. All the people listening to it and writing how much they missed his music, his voice and his words. 

“I am, o my God, is actually going well?” He said in an incredulous tone. His hands still covering his mouth that kept opening in shock. 

“Yes, you are bitch! You are!” Ten screamed in support, causing Johnny to roll his eyes at his side. 

Doyoung’s big bubble smile was plastered on his face. He knew how important the positive response was for Taeyong. He needed that. Not the numbers, or the first places in the charts, but that was the proof that people still liked him, or at least his music. 

Tears started to roll down Taeyong’s face as he threw himself in Doyoung’s open arms. The sleepless nights, the breakdowns, the starved days were all worth it. 

“We need to throw a party,” Ten said, interrupting their sweet moment. Both him and Johnny had a big smile on their faces, Taeyong could feel from the screen how proud of him they were. 

“Yes, we all deserve this. Gosh, you’re also number one, you all helped me with this, fuck!” Taeyong mumbled, realizing that this album being appreciated was such a big prize for all of them. He and the people he loved the most did all of that, and he couldn’t be prouder. He only had to thank himself and his closet friends for all of these, not leeches hungry for money, or harsh team workers that tried to hold his true potential down. 

✯✯✯

1 year later. 

The summer breeze was blowing, running wild between the town’s houses, cars and people. It was 7 in the afternoon, yet, the sun was still bright in the sky. 

Taeyong was resting his elbows on the balcony rail, looking out at city under him, when the chatting coming from the kitchen came to a stop. Doyoung was talking with his mother, but Taeyong couldn’t get what they were talking about. For some reason, Doyoung was using a dialectic and was also talking really low. He didn’t think much about it and just waited for him to come back where he was before. 

When he sensed Doyoung back at his side he handed him his glass, filled with white wine, and kept staring at the view in front of him. 

“What are you thinking about?” After some moments of silence, Doyoung asked. His hair was now a dark blue, something he wanted to try for ages but never dared to do. Just one month before, Taeyong reassured him that he had done it millions of times and would’ve helped him with that. So after an afternoon of them bickering because the youngest couldn’t trust him fully with his precious untouched hair, that was the result, a shiny dark blue replacing his natural brown locks. 

Taeyong shrugged, took a sip from the glass and then talked. “Just that, I’m happy,” he turned around, finally looking at his boyfriend who was already staring at him, “I’m finally happy.” 

A shy smile crept on Doyoung’s face, the last two years had been a hell of a ride, and no matter how things were definitely better now, their peace was always going to be fragile. He knew that, he always knew that sticking up to Taeyong’ side meant that. And no, he never regretted choosing the life he chose, but hearing his boyfriend say those things tranquillized the silent fears that lingered in his mind, always. 

“You know, three years ago my world has fallen apart and I dragged you down with me,” Taeyong sighed, his eyes looking down at his fingers that were playing with the end of the glass in his hands. 

“And now, I got back making music, my second album just came out, I got the change to perform again, people don’t hate us anymore, and even if they do we don’t care.” The smile that was forming on his face was getting bigger, making it hard for him to talk properly, but he couldn’t suppress the bubbling sensation he was feeling right now. 

“Your business is doing better and better, we live together in an amazing town, far away from the stress of the city.” He turned around, placing the glass on the small table at their side. 

“We do what we feel to do, and I never felt like this before. And it’s so nice to not have the pressure of what people think of you or want from you. And doing all of this with you by my side, with the boys by my side, it just feels so good.” Taeyong’s eyes were shining and his happiness made Doyoung’s heart melt. No, he probably was never going to get used to happy Taeyong. His clumsy way. His curious eyes. His loud and exaggerated laugh. His random thousands of changes of hair colour every week (he had no clue how he was not bald yet). His deep talks late at night. Or his cooking late at night, waking him at midnight asking if he wanted to share some ramen he had just cooked, and if he was anybody else he would’ve sent them straight to hell without thinking twice, but to Taeyong, he could only say yes. 

Yes, living with Taeyong meant living with an incumbent storm on their head, but he wanted all the mess and the struggles that it brought along with it, if it meant sharing his existence with him, and he wanted it forever. 

“I’ve been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night, and now I can only see daylight,” Taeyong smiled as his hand came in contact with Doyung’s cheek, the caress as soft as the august wind blowing on their skin. Then he leaned in, closer and closer, just to touch his lips and capture them in a slow kiss. Taeyong’s hands were fast at crawling in Doyoung’s hair, tugging lightly to bring him even closer to him, desperately telling him things he didn’t have the courage to say out loud. And when they pulled away, their lungs burning for air, and their eyes locked into each other, Taeyong just knew that he didn’t want to look at anyone else now that he had seen him. 

Whispers of ‘I love you’ got lost in the evening, as the sun was slowly sinking at the horizon, leaving behind just traces of orange, purple and blue. 

Doyoung started to take deep breaths, desperately trying to build the courage to ask Taeyong what he had been planning to ask for ages. And no, probably this wasn’t the most romantic moment he could choose, they definitely had more conventional occasion, but now was the present, and he knew that it was a now or never occasion. He had to do that. 

So the blue-haired man took a deep breath, and cleared his throat, making Taeyong turn his attention on him once again. 

“Remember what you told me that night,” he whispered, biting his lips nervously. Taeyong eyes drift up to his, he didn’t specify what night, but he knew what he was talking about, the night they decided to go through all of the mess their life brought along with them. 

“Yes, I remember, why?” 

“How I told you that what you give me is enough?” Taeyong started to panic, Doyoung didn’t seem strange just five minutes ago, and neither in the last weeks, yet, his mind started to think of one thing, the worst that could happen. Was Doyoung breaking up with him? Was he getting tired of him? Of the life they were building together?   

He couldn’t let out a word, knowing for sure that his voice would’ve come out like a broken cry, so he simply nodded. 

“Remember that you asked me if I regretted the time we spent together and I said no.” That’s it, Doyoung was breaking up with him. He just had confessed to him how happy he finally was and Doyoung had to go and break everything apart. 

“Well, we came so far from where we started, and sometimes it still feels surreal. Not that I didn’t believe in us, but you know our flames flickered weakly more than once and I could only think of the worst,” Doyoung smiled looking at the ground. “Three more years have passed and I’m so proud of how far and how strong we arrived here. I’m not going to lie, these last years have been hard. I thought that happiness was just something fate didn’t want to gift us. I feared that, no matter how much I wanted, I just couldn’t physically and mentally keep it up with you. We lived in the dark, surrounded by smoke and at some point I was just waiting for it to suffocate me.” Taeyong was staring right at him, now more lost than before. 

“And when that happened,” Doyoung paused for a second, “I thought that was going to be the end for us. I felt so close to dropping everything, but I just couldn’t let you go. It wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t mine. We didn’t do anything wrong, and I couldn’t let them take away my happiness,” Taeyong bit his nail, why was Doyoung bringing this story back after three years? 

“And you know, it did kill us, but a part of me is happy that that happened. Because only after our death we could truly feel alive. And after many years I understood that they never killed us, but some mannequins, they killed something that wasn’t us. And still, it helped us, we stopped wounding the good and trusting the wicked. You wouldn’t enjoy daylight so much if you never knew what the dark feels like, right?” Taeyong nodded, now biting his lower lip nervously. 

“Well, it’s brighter now. Brighter than ever. Our love is shining, golden like starlight, and after everything we’ve been through I know for sure that nothing and nobody can shut it down. No matter how heavy the storm is going to be, or how hard the wind will blow. We will still stand tall and proud.” 

Taeyong had now a big smile on his face. This conversation still made no sense, but he liked what Doyoung was saying. And also it seemed that he didn’t change his mind like he first feared. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t still extremely insecure about himself, living with a ghost in his mind saying that Doyoung could easily find someone better than him and leave him and everything they had behind. 

“So now, I need to tell you something,” Doyoung’s gaze snapped up to meet Taeyong’s, who was already staring at him. 

“More than what you already said?” The older joked as a small chuckle left his pink lips. 

Doyoung laughed too and then spoke. “Yes, the talk was about the others I don’t really care much about. This one is about you.” 

Doyoung took another deep breath and then grabbed Taeyong’s hands in his. 

“Okay, I’m not good with words, but I have to do this,” he said never diverting his attention from Taeyong, who simply smiled at him to reassure him. “You know, yesterday I was thinking about our first meeting,” a giggle left Doyoung’s mouth, “I couldn’t stand you. God, I thought that by the end of the night I would’ve thrown a punch at you. You seemed so far up your ass but it turned out that you were just shy and awkward with everyone you didn’t know. Took me quite some time to get to know you, but damn, after I did, it felt like I’ve known you since forever.” Taeyong laughed too, their relationship started in a non so common and normal way. That was also one of the reasons why none of their close friends could believe that not only they got together but were still there. 

“If I told the Doyoung of six years ago that I would’ve followed you to the other side of the world he would’ve laughed at my face. And not only that, but that I also had to learn a new language and restart my business...for you? Probably my past self couldn’t even listen because he was too busy fighting with you,” Taeyong rolled his eyes remembering their stupid fights, they acted like teenage boys, it felt absurd that they grew up so much. “But the past is in the past, and now there’s a mature Doyoung madly in love with a mature Taeyong laughing at the stupid kids we were.” Doyoung smiled, his fingers moving a strand of Taeyong’s blonde hair behind his ears. 

“So today, I want to talk to the present you and the future you,” Doyoung took another deep breath and then wetted his lips that felt now drier than ever, “I want to go everywhere you go. Is it going to be here? In Korea? Somewhere in a small town in Italy? Or in a crowded American city? I don’t care. As long as I have you, I’ll be at home.” His voice was shaking, full of emotion, a mix of love and anxiety, the realness and sincerity behind his words made Taeyong’s heart skip a beat. 

“And I want to always be this close, forever. I want to come home to you. Hold your hand in the park, turn around pretending I don’t know you when you launch yourself on the swing like a child,” Doyoung laughed thinking of him doing it every time he had the change, and Taeyong’s cheeks flushed a bright pink, “I want to see you struggle with the hair dye first thing on a Sunday morning. I want to turn around on the sofa just to see that you fell asleep halfway through the movie we decided to watch. I want to hear your inappropriate jokes when we’re with somebody else at dinner, and I have to hit your arm to shut you up, pretending I don’t absolutely love that side of you. I want to stare at you in the corner of the room while you wear your tuxedo ready for a red carpet and then kiss you slowly to remind myself how lucky I am to have you. And I also want to be the only one that takes that outfit off of your body once you get home.” He smirked, making Taeyong hit him on his shoulder as he suppressed the sly smile that was forming on his face. 

“I want to spend Chuseok with you. And put on one of your embarrassing couple outfits for Halloween. I want to put up the lights at Christmas with you by my side. And look for the eggs in the garden at Easter, with you.” Doyoung let go of his hands and took a step backwards. He took something from his back pocket but Taeyong couldn’t see what it was, since he never put his hands before him again. 

 “I’ve loved you six summers now but I want them all,” And with that, he kneeled to the ground and put out a ring. Taeyong’s eyes widened. Was it seriously happening? 

“Will you marry me, Lee Taeyong? Will you make me the happiest man on the heart and become my lover forever?” 

Tears started to roll down Taeyong’s face. His breath inched as he threw himself in Doyoung’s arms. 

“Yes, yes, yes...” Taeyong mumbled in the crook of Doyoung’s neck as he socked his shirt with happy tears. Doyoung hugged him tightly as the pain in his chest lifted completely, he was somehow scared that he would’ve said no, maybe not ready yet for a step this big. 

“Hey,” Doyoung whispered as one of his hands made its way to his fiancé’s face, “kiss me,” And Taeyong wasted no time to accomplish. 

“The ring,” Taeyong giggled as he pulled away from the kiss, they had fallen to the ground somewhere between the proposal and their messy kisses. 

“It’s a couple one, I wanted both of us to have it, I know that usua –“ 

“Shh,” Taeyong shut him up, “there’s no need to justify yourself, that’s just more romantic. I love it.” He said as he looked at the rings sitting in the velvety box in Doyoung’s hands. And as soon as they both were on their fingers Taeyong felt something he had never felt before. It was happening, they were going to be married. He was going to be his husband. Their love promise was going to be sealed forever. It was the big step he was thinking about for years. That conversation that was brought up sometimes just to be dropped with the same “We’re fine like this.” Doyoung popped the question he wanted to ask for ages, and never had the courage to; too afraid of asking him something that was, once again, a lot, and too much to handle. And it kind of made him laugh that for once it hadn't been him to put so much weight on the other' shoulder. 

As the night fell in the England sky the two stayed tangled together, outside of their balcony on their small couch. Laughing as they reminisced of their past together, and giggling happily thinking about all of the adventures that were about to come. 

And there was something so romantic about the calm that surrounded them, and the way the city seemed too distracted to think about them. Their love felt like a rose rising up from the frozen ground with none around to talk about it, or compulsively tweet it. Maybe tomorrow the neighbours would’ve heard Ten’s screams about it, and Johnny would’ve quietly congratulated them. Maybe their mothers would’ve cried on the phone tomorrow, mumbling how happy they were and would've already thought about how to set up the place, and the menu to choose. Maybe the internet would've found out when that day will happen with some photos on Instagram. But now, just for that slip second, it was their little secret. Their rare gem that they were protecting with their whole selves. 

Taeyong was smiling dumbly as he kept playing with the ring on his hand. 

“If I think that just three years ago we were laying on our bed, on the other side of the world, and I asked you to drop everything as I dreamt of this place,” 

“There was something so magical and romantic about The Lakes, maybe it was the words the poets wrote about this place that made me daydream so much about our future,” 

“Maybe they cast a spell for us before dying,” Doyoung joked as he caressed Taeyong’s long locks, the older was resting his head on his chest, looking up at him. 

Taeyong hummed, “I like to think that. Who knows, maybe fate pulled us here for a reason,”

“You’re kind of a poet too, right?” Doyoung raised an eyebrow looking down at him. 

Taeyong let out a choked laugh, and hide his face in Doyoung’s chest. 

“Hey, I was being serious!” Doyoung screamed. He really thought that Taeyong was a poet, he had a way with words and in the last two years he showed it more than ever before. And as much Taeyong hated to admit, Doyoung was right. Something about their whole story and the struggles they had to go through made him think that it was written somewhere in the stars. Maybe in the words that inked the white papers of these old men, there was a story like theirs, two lovers with a troubled track in front of them. 

“I think we found our place in the world,” Taeyong whispered soon after. His gaze was fixed on the landscape in front of him, his hands still tangled in Doyoung’s. 

“You know, as long as I have you, everywhere is nice but,” he stopped for a second, his brain trying to organize the right words to say. “Right here, it feels so right. It’s like, no matter how hard the day can get, there’s something so soothing about knowing that I can come back home and just lay on the hammock, waiting for you to come home too. Or that if I wake up earlier I get to see auroras with mountains at the horizon instead of skyscrapers. Or that I can watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet and let the sun kiss my skin.”

Doyoung smiled, as he let his face sink in Taeyong’s hair, and then opened his mouth. “We definitely found our place.” He whispered as he inhaled his husband to be's scent, with a sense of peace that settled in his chest. It had been tough, but they made it. Finally, after ages, they felt right where they were. 

Because even if one day they would've got away from there, those Windermere peaks would've still talked about their love. The wind would've spread their story as he whistled unspoken words through the fallen autumn leaves, passing the baton to the lake's water as soon as they landed on the cold surface. 

Right there, where all the poets went to die, their love will live on.  

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor Chapter 27

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor Chapter 27 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 27/? SUMMARY:  The Doctor’s death is looming on the horizon and Elise is growing every  day. What the Doctor doesn’t know is that he has 200 years to teach  Elise all he knows. Amy, Rory, and River let Elise in on their secret,  because River knows she will keep it. What will Elise do when he’s gone?

“Apalapucia,” the Doctor said, dancing around the console. He was still wearing that long green coat that Elise didn’t care for.

“Say it again?” Amy asked.

“Apalapucia.”

“Apalapu…”

“Chia.”

“Apalapucia,” Rory said, giving it go. He got it right on the first try.

“Apalapucia,” the Doctor said.

“Apalapucia,” Amy said, finally getting it, “What a beautiful word.”

“Beautiful word, beautiful world. Apalapucia! Voted number two planet in the Top Ten Greatest Destinations for the Discerning Intergalactic Traveler.”

“Why couldn't we go to number one?” Rory asked.

“It's hideous. Everyone goes to number one. Planet of the coffee shops. Apalapucia. I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades.”

They all ran for the TARDIS doors.

“I give you…” The Doctor threw open the doors and there was nothing except a set of doors across from them.

“Doors,” Rory said.

“Doors. Yes. I give you doors. But on the other side of those doors, I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades.”

“Have you seen my phone?” Amy asked.

“Your phone?”

“Yeah.”

“Your mobile telephone? I bring you to a paradise planet, two billion light years from Earth, and you want to update Twitter.”

“Sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades. It's a camera phone.”

“On the counter, by the DVDs.”

“Thank you.” Amy disappeared back into the TARDIS to get her phone. “

How do we get in?” Rory asked.

“I don't know. Push a button,” the Doctor told him.

Rory pressed the Green Anchor and they went inside the room. The door closed behind them.

“Okay, so rain check on the soaring silver colonnades,” the Doctor said.

Elise patted him on the back.

“Yeah,” Rory said.

There was a magnifying glass in the middle of a table.

“Hey? Hey, it's locked,” Amy told them from outside the room.

“Yeah, push the button,” Rory said.

They assumed that the doors would just open and Amy would be standing there, but nothing happened.

“Come on, Amy,” Rory muttered. He walked over to the door and pressed the button.

The doors opened, but no one was standing there.

“Where is she? Where on wherever we are is my wife?” Rory asked.

The Doctor sat down in one of the chairs and pressed the green button on the magnifying glass stand.

Amy appeared.

“Rory, I think I've found her,” the Doctor said.

“What do you mean you've found her?” Rory walked over to them and jumped when he saw Amy. “Whoa.” He ran around to the other side of the magnifying glass. “No, but, she's not, she's not here. I can see her, but she’s not here.”

“It’s like a mirror,” Elise said.

“Where am I? In fact, where are you?” Amy asked.

A white robot entered the room with them. It didn’t have a face and was holding up a hand.

“Hands. Hello, hands. Robot with hands, Rory,” the Doctor said.

“Welcome to the Twostreams facility. Will you be visiting long?” the robot asked.

“Er, Doctor, something's happening,” Amy said.

The image in the glass started to waver.

“Er, Amy? Stay calm. Stay still,” the Doctor told her. He took out his sonic screwdriver and soniced the glass. “Ah, time's gone wobbly. I hate it when it does that.”

“Will you be visiting long?” the robot asked.

Rory backed away from the robot. “Good question. Bit sinister. What's the answer to not get us killed?”

Elise stood in front of Rory, between him and the robot. At least if something happened to her, she could regenerate.

“It's okay, I've got you, you're fine,” the Doctor told her.

“Will you be visiting long?” the robot asked again.

“A little help, Doctor,” Rory said.

“And where have you been?” Amy asked.

“Dad! What do tell it? There’s got to be a way to turn it off!” Elise snapped.

“I've been here a week.”

“A week?” the Doctor asked Amy, “A week? I'm so sorry. Ah-ha. Same room, different times. Two different time streams running parallel but at different speeds. Amy, you're in a faster time stream.”

“Doctor, it's going again!”

“Doctor!” Rory yelled.

Elise had her screwdriver out and pointed at the robot, but it wasn’t doing anything. The robot was almost touching them. Elise knew something would happen, but she wasn’t interested in finding out what.

“Amy!” the Doctor yelled.

“Doctor!”

The Doctor soniced the glass again. “Come on. Gotcha. There. Stabilized, settled, shush.”

“Why has this got hands?” Rory asked.

“Organic skin. Ultimate universal interface, grown and grafted, not born. I mean, it's actually seeing with its fingers, scanning the room,” the Doctor explained, “But why not just give it eyes?”

“Will you be visiting long?” the robot asked.

“As long as it takes.” The Doctor walked back over to the glass. “Amy, what exactly did you do?”

“I just, I came in and I pressed the door button.”

“Oh! Amy, there are two buttons. The green anchor and the red waterfall,” Rory told her, “Which one did you push?”

“I pushed the red waterfall.”

“Great.” Rory left the room and came back a minute later. “I pressed Red Waterfall, and she wasn't there!”

“Okay, so you can't follow her directly. No, it's never simple. Did you hear that, Handbot? She pressed the wrong button, that's all. We're aliens, we didn't know.”

“Statement rejected,” the Handbot said, “Apalapucia is under planet-wide quarantine. This is a kindness facility for those infected with Gen-7.”

The Doctor covered his mouth and nose with his coat. “What?”

Rory did the same and walked over to him. “Gen-7?”

“The one day plague.”

“What, you get it for a day?”

“No, you get it, and you die in a day.”

“There are 40,000 residents in the Twostreams Facility. Please remain in the sterile areas. Visiting hours are now,” the Handbot said before it beamed out of the room.

“Sterile area. I'm safe,” the Doctor said. He walked over to Elise and kissed her forehead, smoothing a hand over her hair. “We’re safe.”

“What about me?” Amy asked.

“Gen-7 only affects two-hearted races like Apalapucians.”

“And Time Lords,” Elise said, realizing why the Doctor had been reassuring her.

“Yeah, like us. Walk into that facility, we’re dead in a day. Time moves faster on Amy's side of the glass. Amy, you said you'd been here a week. What did you eat?”

“Nothing. I wasn't hungry.”

“No, because that Red Waterfall time is compressed. That's the point. The Time Glass syncs up the two time streams for visits. You could be in here for a day, and watch them live out their entire lives.”

“And watch them grow old in front of your eyes?” Rory asked.

“That’s awful,” Elise said, her blue eyes filling with tears. Were they going to have to watch Amy age and die?

The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder. “No, it's kind. You've got a choice. Sit by their bedside for twenty four hours and watch them die, or sit in here for twenty four hours and watch them live. Which would you choose?” The Doctor pulled the Time Glass off the table.

“Doctor!” Amy cried out.

The Doctor moved and placed the glass where Amy would be sitting. “I'm here, Amy. I'm right here.”

“Where are you? Am I looking at you?”

“Turn left just a fraction.”

Amy did as he said.

“Bit more. Stop. That's it.”

“Eye to eye?” Amy asked him.

“Eye to eye.”

“Hello.” Rory told her.

“Amy, I'm taking the Time Glass back to the TARDIS,” the Doctor said, “Like satnav, I'll use it to get a lock, then smash through using the TARDIS to get you out. Until then, you're on your own.” The Doctor soniced the glass.

“Er, what are you doing?” Rory asked

“Locking it on to Amy. Small act of vandalism. No one'll mind.”

An alarm started going off.

“Ah, that'll be the small act of vandalism alarm. Amy, I need you to go into the facility just for a bit. Find somewhere safe and leave me a sign. Remember, you're immune to Gen-7, but don't let them give you anything. They don't know you're alien. Their kindness will kill you. Now go.”

Amy walked over to the other set of doors and pressed the button. She turned back to them before she entered the facility. “Rory, I love you. Now save me. Go on.”

The now trio headed back to the TARDIS.

“Are you sure this going to work?” Elise asked her father.

“This is locked onto Amy permanently.” He placed the Time Glass onto the console. “Play the signal into the console, the TARDIS'll follow it.”

The Doctor pulled out a tool box and started rummaging through it. “Now then, I know you're in here. Er, er, ha ha!” He turned around with a pair of thick rimmed glasses on his face. “How do I look?”

“Ridiculous,” Rory told him.

Elise would have said cute if the Doctor wasn’t her adoptive father.

“Glasses are cool, see?” He put them on Rory. “Oh, yes. Hello, handsome man.”

“Oh, hello.”

Elise giggled.

“Hello, Rory-cam,” the Doctor said.

“Huh?” Rory turned around and saw the Doctor on the monitor. “Oh, you can see what I see.”

“You’re breaking into Twostreams. Now, I can't go in there. The Gen-7'll kill me and Elise, no regeneration. You will be our eyes and ears.”

“Rory-cam. Rescue Amy. Got it.”

“That's the spirit. Now, smashing through a timewall could get a bit hairy.”

“Is it safe?”

“Don't know. Never tried. Best hold onto something.”

Elise grabbed onto the railing as the TARDIS started wheezing.

[liz-crimson]

Life Finds a Way

A wonderful friend of mine was inspired by my Plague Couple art and the recent update to write a fic about Liz and Julian’s time working together on finding the cure for the plague, and their relationship that grew from that

Please give it a read and follow @ arcanafan on twitter! 

cw: Character Death

3700 words

Julian never thought he'd hire an apprentice, much less a magician, to help him with his work treating the Plague, but her skillful use of herbs for healing combined with her magical abilities was a force to be reckoned with. And Julian knew it. He also knew that if he wanted to cure the plague, he needed all the help he could get. So he offered to take her on as an apprentice at his clinic. Little did he know how much that choice would change his life... and hers.

    Weeks had gone by, and Julian was admittedly enjoying working with his new apprentice. Granted, it wasn't so much the having an apprentice in general that he was enjoying, but her company in particular; the way she always knew what do do when he didn't, and vice versa, how smoothly they worked together, how brightly she smiled any time they were successful in whatever they were trying to accomplish, the way her eyes lit up- he shook his head as those same thoughts returned to him, thoughts of her that had nothing to do with the Plague or the work they were doing, and busied himself with the work at his desk.

    "Still working, huh?"

    Julian recognized her voice instantly, but waited to turn around until he was certain the blush had left his cheeks. "Ah, Liz, there you are. I was just trying to make sense of these last three cases... I'm wondering if they were connected? At first glance it appears that it spread between them, starting with the youngest of the three, but what if it was simply the same source? Perhaps if I go back and check the bodies one last time to be certain, before they get sent to the Lazaret-"

    "Doctor... it's after midnight. When's the last time you slept?"

    Julian's cheeks flushed once more at her concerned gaze. "I, er- that's... I'm not certain, honestly, but-"

    Liz smiled softly, then took his hands in hers. "Look, I know you hired me to help you take care of the Plague patients, but that can't really happen if you don't let me take care of you first, okay?"

    Cheeks still pink, Julian averted his eyes slightly. "I... you..." He shook his head. "Believe me, Liz, there are far more important things to worry about right now than my sleep habits. I'll be fine, trust me. Well, fine enough to do what needs to be done, anyway."

    Liz gripped his hands tighter, causing him to glance back up at her. "Doctor, believe it or not, I do care about you. And I don't want you to just be... fine enough, I want..." Liz paused, searching for the right words, her own cheeks turning pink. "I want you to let me take care of you. If you're not going to take care of yourself, someone has to. Now, let's get you to that bed so you can get some actual rest."

    Julian watched her as she helped him to his feet, his eyes wide in surprise and wonder. "You... you aren't going to let this go, are you? I don't... I, ah... I mean, people don't usually-"

    Liz smiled warmly, eyes filled with resolve. "No, I'm not letting it go. Not until I know you're okay, and well rested. Please, I'd really prefer not having to push you down onto the bed myself or anything."

    Julian's face suddenly flushed even redder than before, and he turned his gaze to the floor. "I... that- y-you, uhh... ahem. Yes, wouldn't want that, now would we?" Face still bright red, he climbed into the bed, not laying down just yet. Liz smiled softly, then sat down next to him.

    "See, was that so hard?"

    His eyes met hers, transfixed on her gaze, then slowly traveled down to her lips. As much as he tried to stop himself, he couldn't. Couldn't keep himself from wondering what it would be like to-

   "Doctor? Are you... alright?" Her words broke him out of his thoughts, and he cleared his throat, then nodded, unable to meet her curious gaze. "Yes, perfectly fine. No, better than fine, I feel fantastic."

    The look in her eyes told Julian she wasn't convinced. He found his gaze falling to her lips once more, and before he could turn his eyes away, she tilted her head forward slightly, experimentally, causing Julian's eyes to widen in surprise and his cheeks to flush. He noticed her own cheeks flushing slightly as she leaned forward a bit more, just enough to press her lips to his lightly for a brief moment. Julian's heart started racing, almost unsure of what had just happened. For all the times he'd imagined it, reality was indescribably different. Indescribably better, more vivid, real. Yet somehow, much harder to believe. As he struggled to get over the initial shock, he noticed a horrified expression on Liz's face, as if she was on the verge of apologizing. As if pulled forward by an unknown force, Julian wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss passionately, feverently. The more he felt her lips move against his own, the faster his heart began drumming in his chest. He let one of his hands curl against the nape of her neck while the other rested on the small of her back. A soft sound of both satisfaction and longing escaped his lips as Liz laced her fingers through his hair, slowly gripping tighter and tighter. After several long moments they broke apart for air, faces bright red, gazing into eachother's eyes wordlessly. Eventually, Liz spoke, a soft, playful grin on her face, eyes alight with joy.

    "So... I'm guessing I'm not in trouble for that kiss?"

    Julian chuckled lightly, grinning mischeviously. "Not in the slightest, Liz. Although... I certainly wouldn't mind if I was." He winked slyly, and Liz couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, and there's something I've been meaning to tell you, Liz, and this seems like the perfect time to do it."

    "Yeah? And what might that be?"

    He smiled, taking her hands in his. "Call me Julian."

    Liz nodded, and as Julian finally laid down in the bed, she was about to get up when she realized that Julian was still holding onto her hands. She smiled softly, then laid down next to him until they both fell asleep.

    "Alright, I think we can get him feeling comfortable again, at the very least." Another day had come, bringing with it another group of patients, one in particular who had fallen from a dizzy spell and was badly wounded. Julian continued, speaking softly to Liz just far enough from the patient so he couldn't overhear. "We just need-"

    "A few jiaogulan leaves. Don't worry, I'm on it."

    "I, ah. I was actually going to say leeches, but-"

    "But, in this case, he's lost far too much blood already. Taking more will do more harm than good, don't you think? Don't worry, those leeches will have their work cut out for them soon enough. But for now... can you get me a pot with some hot water? I'll get the leaves."

    "I... yes, yes I can. You're right as usual, Liz. I'll be right back with the water."

    Soon, the herbal tea was complete, and it worked wonders, soothing the patient and allowing him to sit up and actually eat a full meal.

     As the patient rested, Julian pulled Liz off to the side, his voice filled with affection. "Well done, my dear. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."

    "Well, you did just fine without me for quite some time, didn't you? Still, I'm definitely glad you don't have to anymore. We make a great team, don't we?"

    "Oh, absolutely. Why, the plague doesn't stand a chance against us." Though not visible through his mask, he winked cheekily, then cleared his throat as realization struck. "I, er... that would've worked better if you could see my face..."

     "Wait... did you just try to wink at me through the mask?" Liz chuckled lightly. "Hmm, should we try to find you a new one with glass that's equally transparent on both sides? So I won't miss anything else?" She broke into laughter again, and Julian felt his cheeks grow hot.

    "No, th-that, ah, won't be necessary. Perhaps it's better you can't see my face right this second..."

        That evening, Julian finished up his work as quickly as possible, then headed down to Liz's magic shop in the hopes that she'd still be awake. True, he'd thought about visiting her plenty of other nights, and decided against it, but this... this time was different. Or... was it? Truthfully, they hadn't even discussed the kiss since last night, and Julian was beginning to wonder if anything had really changed at all. He shook his head at himself, knowing he was overthinking things again. As usual. Nonetheless, he left his clinic and headed toward the shop, thoughts still racing inside his head. Once he arrived, he knocked on the door, anxiety beginning to grip him. His heart began racing even faster as Liz opened the door.

    "...Julian?"

    His cheeks flushed slightly as she looked up at him curiously. "Ah, Liz, hello." He cleared his throat, then regained his composure, grinning playfully and leaning against the doorframe. "Strange hours for a shop to keep."

    Liz cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms, a hint of an amused smile playing across her lips. "Um... you do know I live here... right?"

   Julian's face flushed again, the smile quickly fading from his face as he stood up straight. "I, uh... of course I... ahem. Th-that is, I, ah, was just-"

    Liz laughed softly, smiling up at him. "It's alright, Julian. Really. So, is everything okay?"

    "Is everything- uhh, yes, of course. Why wouldn't it be? I just, you know, I wanted to see you. I-I mean, not... not if that isn't- that is, if you're not-"

     Liz smiled warmly, a hint of excitement and joy behind her eyes. "Julian... of course that's okay! You can come visit me any time you like, promise. And..." She grinned slyly. "Next time, you don't even have to rehearse a strange yet adorable line to justify it." She winked, and Julian couldn't help but laugh.

    "Yes, well... I, ah... may have been rehearsing that 'strange hours for a shop to keep' line just a bit more than necessary..."

    "Well, I liked it. It definitely wasn't necessary, but it was cute. So, would you like to come in?"

    "Yes, absolutely. Thank you, my dear." The two of them headed over to the couch, then sat down. After a few wordless moments, Julian spoke. "So, listen, uh... about last night... I was, er, wondering... what exactly- I mean, uh..."

    Liz's cheeks flushed bright pink as her eyes went wide. "Oh... that! I, um..." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, gaze falling to the floor. "Well... uh, what do you... want it to mean?"

    "W-wait, you're asking me??"

    "...Yes? Why, is there something wrong with- ugh, okay, everything is wrong with this." Liz took a deep breath, then smiled, a hint of apprehension behind her eyes. "Look, the truth is... I really like you, Julian. I have for a while now. And... if I'm not mistaken... I think you might... like me too? So... yeah, that kiss meant something, and I definitely hope it changes things between us. For the better, I mean. As in... we're... together? Or however this works? I... uhh... I think now comes the part where you say something..."

    Julian blinked owlishly down at her for a moment, then spoke, eyes flooded with surprise and wonder. "I... I would love nothing more, Liz. Truly. And yes, I did- er, do. Uh, like you, that is." He smiled, reaching forward to stroke her cheek gently, and she leaned forward, letting one hand rest on his knee as the other curled around the nape of his neck.

    "Good. So... that means I can do this again." She leaned in even closer, pressing her lips to his. His arms wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her in closer as he returned the kiss. When they pulled away, they were both smiling, joy written all over their faces. Julian spoke first, tucking a strand of Liz's hair behind her ear.

    "Yes, you most certainly can do that again. Matter of fact, you can do it as much as you like."

    Liz laughed softly as Julian wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close "Believe me, I plan to. Oh, speaking of plans, what should we do once we cure the plague?"

    Julian grinned. "Already certain of our success, hm? Well, let's see... I suppose I haven't thought much about that..."

   "Well... what kinds of things did you do before the plague hit?"

   "Oh, all sorts of things. Traveled the world, got into a lot of trouble... Ahh, the stories I could tell you..."

    "And I'd love to hear them all. So... traveling, huh? maybe that's what we could do. Travel the world, see the sights... and eventually come back here, of course. Just because there won't be a plague doesn't mean people won't need a doctor."

    "That sounds like a wonderful idea. There are more than a few places I'd love to show you, and it would be a refreshing change from all the death and suffering we've been surrounded by here. So... you really think we can do it, huh? Find a cure, save the city, and finally be rid of all this mess? Free to do our own thing?"

    Liz leaned in even closer, resting her head on Julian's shoulder. "Of course I do. You said it yourself, the plague doesn't stand a chance against us."

    "I certainly hope you're right, Liz. For the sake of Vesuvia, and for our own sakes as well. I'd absolutely love traveling the world with you, going on adventures, making our own stories. Speaking of which, how would you like to hear about my time on a pirate ship?"

    "A... pirate ship? That sounds amazing! I'd love to hear it!"

    "Well, it all began on a spice ship..." Julian began telling the story, along with a few others, and eventually the both of them went to sleep.

    After that night, everything changed. Sure, not much was different about the way they cared for the patients, or with the work they did in the clinic, but their breaks were much more enjoyable... and more frequent. Julian had also been sleeping better lately, thanks to Liz, which made it admittedly easier to focus throughout the day. Then... things changed again. The Count fell ill to the plague, and the Countess summoned many people to the palace to seek, and hopefully find, a cure. They were to be provided whatever resources they needed, and an incredibly substantial reward for whoever was sucessful in concocting the cure. And Julian was one of the people summoned to take part in just that.

    "I do wish you'd come with me, Liz." Julian had finally packed all of his things, though he left all his tools, medicines and leeches at the clinic for Liz, knowing he would be provided all that at the palace. Liz gave him a reassuring smile.

    "I'd love to come with you too, believe me. But someone has to look over the clinic, don't they? And stay and take care of the patients down here? And you can still visit me as much as you like, and I'll be sure to keep you posted on everything over here. Promise."

    "Yes, I suppose you're right. Still, it won't be the same. I'll miss working side by side with you, having you there with me every day, hearing your wonderful input and ideas..."

    "Well, don't worry, I'll be sure to send you all sorts of input and ideas. Plus, with all the resources at the palace, you'll have the plague cured in no time! And then you can come back, and we can go on all sorts of adventures together. Side by side."

    Julian smiled affectionately. "That's what I admire about you, Liz. You're always so hopeful, always moving forward. Well, if you believe it, if you believe we really can get past all this and have a future together... then so do I." He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "Goodbye, Liz. I'll see you soon, I promise."

    "Bye, Julian! Good luck!"

    Julian waved to her, then headed off to the palace. The first few days, he got report from Liz, and kept them safely tucked away in a hidden drawer. He looked at them several times a day, more to feel her presence than anything else. However, the more he worked, the more absorbed in finding a cure he became; the resources at the palace were far more advanced than his own, and he couldn't help but feel closer and closer to a cure with each passing day. And many days had passed. And... it had been four since he'd last gotten report from Liz. As that realization dawned on him, he immediately began to feel panic grip him. He left his office in a rush and headed back into town and toward the magic shop.

    He knocked on the door hurriedly, voice stinging with a panicked desperation as he called out through the door. "Liz, are you in there?? Oh, please be in there, please be alright!"

    Several long moments went by before he heard a noise coming from the inside, then soft footsteps headed for the door. He felt a tinge of relief for a split second, then it all faded to horror and agony once more as he heard her weak, pained voice coming from the other side.

    "Julian... I... I need you to put on your mask, okay? Before... before you open the door. Please."

    He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes now as pure anguish gripped him. "Liz... ohh, please don't tell me-"

    "Just... put it on. Put on the mask. I... I..."

    "A-alright, I..." He fastened the mask to his face, then heard the sound of locks turning, followed by the door swinging open. Even though he was already certain of what he'd see, his heart completely sunk as a piercing darkness gripped it when he saw Liz; the sclera of her eyes were a deep crimson, flooded with tears. "N-no... Liz... this can't... y-you can't be-"

    "I... I'm sorry, I..." She nearly collapsed from dizziness, then stumbled over to the couch and laid down, her mask laying on a little table next to her. "I wish... this didn't have to... to happen..."

    Julian fought with everything in him to get his words out through the tears that were now flowing freely from his eyes and pooling inside of the mask, making it more and more difficult to see. "How... how long have..."

    "...Four days. That's why... why I stopped... I couldn't write anymore... I'm sorry..."

    "Oh, Liz, I'm the one who's sorry! I-I... I abandoned you, right when you needed me most! I didn't even notice... I didn't realize... maybe... it's not to late! I-I won't let it be! Just let me go get my-"

    Liz gently grabbed his wrist, holding him in place. "No... no time... please, stay with me. Until... until I..."

    Julian shook his head, his voice flooded with desperation. "Oh, Liz, y-you... you can'tleave me! What happened to curing the plague? Going on adventures together? You... you said we... w-we would... oh, please, you can't leave me now, you-" without thinking, he began reaching to unfasten his mask, and Liz reached for her own in a panic, quickly fastening it to her face.

    "Julian, no! S-stop! Please! You'll die! This whole shop, it's... its..."

    He slowly removed his hands from the mask as her voice snapped him out of it. The desperation had left his voice now; only anguish remained. "I... I'm so sorry Liz. Th-this is all my fault... if I hadn't left you-"

   Liz gripped his hands, her own voice flooded with pain. "It... it's not your fault. You... you can't... can't save... everyone..."

   "You... I should've saved you though! Or at least been here for you! I... I wasn't even..."

   Liz's voice became even weaker, and Julian could feel her grip on his hands slowly becoming looser. "Here... here now... that's... what matters..."

   "No... No! Don't... don't leave me, Liz! Y-you can't... I can't..."

   "Julian... go b-back... find... a cure... save... the city... for... for me..."

   "Liz... please! D-don't..."

   "Julian..."

   Her grip loosened completely as her hands fell to her sides, completely lifeless. Julian didn't even speak, he couldn't. The only sounds that escaped him now were the sounds of crying, even as he gently lifted the mask from Liz's face and set it down on the desk beside her once again, gazing at her face as if to commit it to memory, stroking it gently with the tips of his fingers. He sat with her a while, though he had no idea how long, no feel of the time passing; all he could feel was the suffocating agony and emptiness that surrounded him as all hope faded away. Eventually he got up, leaving the shop and heading back to the palace, now more determined than ever to find a cure.

    Months went by, and eventually Julian fell ill to the Plague himself. That only made him struggle even harder to find a cure, desperation siezing him as his time drew nearer and nearer to a close. Eventually a cure was found, dark magic was unleashed, memories were lost, and accusations were thrown. The world was more chaotic than ever, and it appeared all that once was had been lost forever, even the memories of it.

    Three years later, Julian returned to Vesuvia, hoping to find answers, and expecting to hang for his crimes. The crimes he couldn't remember. And that wasn't all he'd forgotten. He came upon the door to the magic shop, using a key he'd been given once to unlock it. Though he felt a tinge of familiarity as he saw the figure at the counter, he couldn't quite grasp the reason why, much less why his words, as they left his lips, left him with that same sense of nostalgia, that same feeling of a mysterious hope.

    "Strange hours for a shop to keep."

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If you have a credit card with CVV or Credit Card Verification Code on it, then you can get a fake credit card that is almost impossible to be used by anybody, or used at all. Here is how you can get a fake credit card with CVV and not get caught.

Fake VISA card. This is probably one of the easiest ways to obtain a fake credit card. This is especially true if you use an ATM machine, or any other way that is easy to do.

You might think that this method for obtaining fake credit cards is hard to do because there are many companies out there that offer credit cards. That is not the case at all. There are actually many websites that can provide you with the credit card that you need, but when you apply, they will require a very large deposit to cover the fee for the processing.

The fee is usually $20, but it may be more or less. It is a safe idea to make sure that the company is trustworthy and not just another website.

So to apply for a credit card, you would have to deposit money into your account. After a certain amount of time has passed, the company will verify the information on your credit card, and the information will then be sent to you. When you get your credit card, you will have a fake credit card with no address and no phone number. You should call the company right away and tell them you are looking for your credit card and they will give you your card.

Fake credit cards are easy to find and they work perfectly well. It is important to be aware of the scams out there, and know how to avoid getting a fake credit card with CVV.

You should never give a personal information such as your social security number when you apply for a credit card. There are many different companies out there that will provide you with a card, but all you have to do is make sure that they are reputable companies before giving out your personal information.

It is also important that you look for cards that have a good customer service department that will help you get started. and can answer your questions.

The best option to use is to try to get a card that has no interest rate or limit on it, and then you can use it until you pay it off. This will allow you to pay it off faster and use the card a lot more, without any problems.

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How To Get People To Like Desktop Gadgets Revived | desktop gadgets revived

Desktop gadgets revived the interest in computers and the technology. It also brought about an evolution in the designs and the features.

Desktop gadgets were first used in the desktop computers of the late 1980s. At that time, these gadgets were used for creating new concepts in the computer technology. They were mostly used by professional and other business people who wanted to have something new in their computers. Their popularity started to grow after the introduction of the first laptop, the IBM PC.

Since the desktop gadgets were not as expensive as the laptop, many computer manufacturers were able to create a new line of desktop gadgets. They made their products more affordable, thus the demand for their products started to increase.

The desktop gadgets of today are more reliable, faster and lighter than their previous counterparts. They are available in all shapes and sizes. There are desktop gadgets that are used for playing games, for connecting to the internet, for playing music, for watching videos, and for other purposes. These products are available for people who are not interested in using their computer.

Today, computer gadgets are made available in various places. There are websites that offer free online downloads of desktop gadgets for people who want to have the latest version of their favorite computer gadget. They are also available at different stores and shops that offer computer accessories.

Computer gadgets revived the interest in computers and the technology. It also brought a change in the designs and the features.} The desktop gadgets of today are lighter and are durable than their previous counterparts. They also are more reliable than the earlier versions of the products that were used in computers. They have more features and better quality than the old versions that were used in computers.

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RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, May 2019

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across from May 3 to May 30, although some may be older than that. 

I am out of town June 10-16, so I cannot predict when the next edition will come out, but I will do my best to make it before the June trip. I’ve recently narrowed my reading list so that I can get through it more quickly and post these more often. If you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know! 

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

If you had your entire promoted listing budget eaten up by clicks on an item with “shoe” in the searchable keywords, contact Etsy to make sure you will be refunded. 

Etsy was accidentally suspending some shops for not using Etsy Payments, but they are in ineligible countries. Some but not all drop ship or use fulfillment in countries with Etsy Payments, but that doesn’t appear to explain all the errors. 

Mailchimp launches a new marketing platform that integrates multiple marketing needs, not just emails. Pricing will stay the same for existing customers for the time being. 

On the same topic, here is a study of various email services, and their different deliver-ability rates. 

Etsy is being sued after a child dies, strangled by an amber necklace bought on Etsy. [video & article] This is getting a fair amount of media attention. Not covered in many stories is the fact that the daycare employees didn’t call 911 at first, and the day home had more infants that day than they were licensed for.  

Better media attention: disappointed in the long delay for the introduction of the Harriet Tubman $20 bill in the US, an Etsy seller designed a stamp buyers can use to cover up Jackson’s face with Tubman’s. “Harriet Tubman” is a trending search on Etsy frequently since these articles, so this media coverage is really bringing traffic to the site.

Amazon is now using packing machines in a few of its warehouses that replace 12 workers each. They have other warehouse automation, too, & just started work on their hub at the Cincinnati airport. If you need any more evidence that diversification is the key to successful businesses, remember that they make the biggest chunk of their profit on their cloud services. 

ETSY NEWS 

This year, Etsy’s Maker Cities program (US only) has joined up with Mastercard for their grants. Applications are due July 3, and there is a webinar on June 3 with more info and instructions. [links in article]

They’s also extended their Design Awards submission deadline to June 4. Check out their FAQ if you have any questions.  

Etsy released a summer update to their spring/summer trends guide, with some useful search data. Clothing shoppers are interested in vintage styles, “with Etsy searches for “70s” and “90s” up 26% and 7% year over year.” I summarized the earlier report here.

In case you missed it, Etsy released their first quarter financial report for 2019, & I summarized it in the Etsy forum. 

In related news, Etsy ranks 3rd in USA Today's list of the top 20 fastest growing retailers in the world, even ahead of Amazon.

Some businesses are competing based on delivery speed, but Etsy is able to do well with much slower shipping. (That’s a nice feature in an article they didn’t write; not all good promotion is paid.)

I can’t remember if I posted this interview with Etsy chief financial officer Rachel Glaser before, so here it is again. [audio file/podcast and short text excerpt. Please note I have contacted Etsy about the photos & search comment, but they have not yet replied, other than with the usual links to Etsy’s search guide.] 

Short piece on Etsy’s approach to diversity. Spoiler alert - they like it, and the article links to other materials demonstrating why this is the best approach for businesses.  

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

If you want to get your website or blog material ranking faster, Moz has some tips for you. Note that the first part in particular contains advanced-level technical tips, but most of the rest is easier to grasp for non-techies. It’s worth a skim! 

But don’t break Wikipedia rules to get your images on top - North Face got caught doing that, & had to apologize. But “[f]rom Leo Burnett Tailor Made's original statement, it seems the agency was anticipating such a reaction to the North Face effort all along. In stunts like these, the ensuing controversy and attention around it can be part of the overall campaign goal and strategy.”

Once your website starts getting Google traffic, it is not unusual for growth to start to slow or even stop completely, but there are things you can do to avoid that.

Despite many people insisting that longer blog posts are necessary for good Google ranking, there is no ideal length for a blog post. 

Here’s a good list of free SEO tools; note that some are paid tools that have a limited free version. 

Links on other high-quality websites still matter to Google. (Most of us won’t be able to do the link-building that this test did, but the test demonstrates how much the links are worth. So if you aren’t ranking, realize that other people linking to your page is probably a big factor.) Some of your pages might fit perfectly on a resource page/site, if they answer a question or uniquely fill a need. You can find link opportunities on Twitter through following certain hashtags and engaging with the users. 

Google search results now include podcasts. “This feature doesn’t only search for the title or meta data of the podcasts but also can search for the audio – as Google transcribes them — directly within the podcast show itself.”

As of July 1, Google will use the mobile version of all new websites for their index, so make sure that you have a good mobile set up on any new websites (or old ones, for that matter, since most web traffic is mobile these days). 

There was a possible Google search update around May 9, then May 22, and now maybe May 29th. Google updates its algorithm a lot, if you hadn’t already noticed.  "To give you a sense of the scale of the changes that Google considers, in 2010 we conducted 13,311 precision evaluations to see whether proposed algorithm changes improved the quality of its search results, 8,157 side-by-side experiments where it presented two sets of search results to a panel of human testers and had the evaluators rank which set of results was better, and 2,800 click evaluations to see how a small sample of real-life Google users responded to the change.” (and some people think Etsy tests a lot LOL)

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

Have popular content on one platform/site? You can repurpose it to use elsewhere, for maximum reach. It’s less work than coming up with brand new ideas all of the time! 

Micro-influencers may work best for most businesses, because they can speak directly to your target market. 

There are proven ways to get more social media followers; it’s not just luck. 

Up-to-date infographic on the ideal sizes for social media images, by platform. 

Facebook announced several upcoming plans at their annual developer conference, including a desktop redesign. Facebook has also changed the video algorithm to favour posts that people watch for longer, and to disfavour posts that are just repurposing old video. 

Tweetdeck is rolling out more updates, including emojis and the ability to set up polls within the app. I use it, & I like it - I wish they had a phone app! 

If you are using LinkedIn, you may be missing some great tricks to get more attention. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

Here’s how you can get better results out of Microsoft ads (formerly Bing ads) 

There was a bug in Google ads stats for April 30 & May 1st; they are working on fixing it. 

Google advertising can be very confusing, so here as some tips on mistakes you should avoid. [video with transcript] They also recently announced some upcoming changes.

Etsy shops can only buy their own Google Shopping ads through Etsy’s program, or you can let Etsy buy them for your shop, but if you want to advertise your website, here is a great starter guide.

Chrome is giving you more control over cookies so that you can avoid more targeted ads. Some point out this is not necessarily as user-friendly as it sounds - it means Google can stop other companies from tracking their ad performance while Google has all those records through Chrome & other tools.  

Facebook is also giving users more control over tracking for ads, & advertisers are not happy. 

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING 

You are going to be surprised that Russian search engine Yandex has a really good Webmaster tools package.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

Some people are comparing Walmart’s new online wedding shop to Etsy, "with tons of personalized wedding gifts to buy on a budget.”

The coverage of Amazon’s big announcement about one-day shipping with Prime (in the US) mostly missed the fact that Amazon can already deliver to 72% of the US population in one day. 

Amazon employees told some third-party sellers that religious items were banned from the site - but it wasn’t true. 

Big Commerce now has a plug-in for Wordpress blogs. 

As promised, Zibbet has added Etsy to its integrations, which allows you to list on Zibbet and it will automatically be added to Etsy as well. This is only going to be useful once they add other platforms (since Zibbet has no traffic), so shop around if you are interested in this sort of tool, as other companies are doing the same things. Indiemade websites completely integrate with Etsy, for example, and they have more website tools. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

With increased discussion of free shipping on Etsy recently, this is a good time to review some of the more recent studies & surveys on the topic.  One US report from January shows that buyer expectations in this area continue to increase. Shipping cost is a big factor in purchase decisions, & shipping costs are a common reason for cart abandonment. There are a variety of ways to calculate how to offer free shipping without losing money. (Thank you to Rebecca for the last link!)

If you want more shares on social media, this study on the top 5 reasons people share things online will be useful. But Americans are now more engaged by mobile games than social media, which has implications for app development and advertising. 

Googly eyes make people donate more.

Smaller online businesses tend to make very specific types of customer service mistakes that harm your ability to compete. Although there isn’t always much you can do about the fact that “37% of customers expect a response within an hour“.

Can everyone read and understand your web page? Easy-to-understand English is an important aspect of accessibility. 

Help Scout produces some fabulous material on customer service; here is a great article on value propositions, with examples, and another on how to collect customer feedback, including analyzing your stats package to see where customers are having trouble with your site. 

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)

Trend alert: more professional women switching purses for backpacks. 

You can now control how long Google retains data on you. 

You can also join the class action against major US telecom companies that sold your location data. 

Another example of a company getting people to post photos so it can develop facial recognition technology. 

Some businesses are offering products & services based on your DNA & other biological markers. 

Most people worldwide over the age of 15 have a cell phone, although not all are regular users. 

If you are concerned about internet privacy, & hate tracking, the browser Brave may be worth a look. (I haven’t tried it yet, but it comes well-recommended from various tech people I respect.)

Burger King has trolled McDonald's in ads & social media posts for years, & it can be pretty funny. “When McDonald’s abruptly and surprisingly lost its trademark on “Big Mac” in the EU earlier this year, Burger King couldn’t help but rub some salt in the wound. BK’s Swedish operations decided to celebrate for a day by offering a menu of “Not Big Macs” such as “The Like a Big Mac, But Actually Big” and “The Big Mac-ish But Flame-Grilled of Course.”

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MeepCity Codes (2022 October)

Welcome to our MeepCity Codes guide. Most of the codes are for rewards or items for your Meep. Sometimes, the developer drops a code for a rare item you normally have to shell out a fair bit for, though. We’ll keep this list updated with new codes as they become available, so make sure to check back regularly to see what's new. #MeepCityRoblox

MeepCity Codes

Meep City codes are the best way to get nifty gear in this MMO-lite Roblox game. You can wander around the town and enagage in games in the Playground with other players, all while you're accompanied by an adorable pet blob called a Meep.

MeepCity Codes MeepCity Active Codes The following list is all the codes in MeepCity that are available in 2020 and redeemable. - jetpack: With this code you can get a Jetpack Classic as reward - duck: With this code you can get a Duck Classic as reward - xxx: This Classic code requires a Meep to redeem, you can adopt your own Meep at the Pet Shop as reward - animals: With this code you can get an Animals Classic as reward - paperhat: With this code you can get a Paperhat Classic as reward - first: With this code you can get har accesories as reward - nurse: With this code you can get a Nurse hat Classic as reward Don’t miss any code, come back in the next days / weeks for more. Expired Codes Don’t you already know why you can’t redeem a code, perhaps has already expired: How to Reedem MeepCity Codes? The option to redeem codes has disappeared - we will update this page when/if it returns. Most codes require a Meep, since the accessories are for your Meeps and not always for you. If you don’t have one yet, go to the Pet Store and purchase a Meep for 100 coins. Otherwise, the game won’t let you redeem a code, assuming it’s for your Meep. Why is my MeepCity code not working Developer Controls Code for MeepCity Roblox and determine how long they are active. Some codes may expire faster than others and some may not work with others. If a code isn't working for you, check if there's a typo, if the code isn't active yet, or if it's already expired. To resolve this issue, please bookmark this page and check back often to see if MeepCity have added new code or have expired. When will the MeepCity code come? New codes are usually shared when a new update comes to the game. New codes can also come on religious holidays and special days. You can reach the latest promo codes by following our site regularly. You can also follow the twitter profiles of the developers of the game. If you want to see constantly updated roblox codes, check here: - Roblox Gift Codes Full Actual List Read the full article

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Social Media Management

Reach More Customers through Social Media

Reach your target audience, engage your customers, and expand brand awareness through effective Social Media Management

Targeted Social Media Campaigns We know your target audience and we make sure they get to know you too. We build your custom audience and engage them with effective high-quality graphics and content to boost top-of-mind awareness. Reach More People Faster Each Social Media campaign comes with built-in advertising that allows you to reach more people faster. Get seen by thousands of people and instantly drive more traffic for your business. Hands-Off Solution Our Advanced Social Media package provides you with an all-in-one solution for social media. We'll take care of everything related to Social Media including addressing your customers online, escalating reviews and messages to you, and creating all relevant content on a monthly basis. Get started with Social Media Marketing. Includes profile and tracking setup for Facebook, as well as content generation for Social Media channels including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

$599/MO

Recommended Campaign Length: 12 Months Profiles Setup: Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn Number Of Posts Per Month: 8 (published on Facebook, Cross-posted on Twitter and LinkedIn) Maximum Boosts Per Month: 8 (content will run as sponsored posts with placements on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook's Audience Network) Available Objectives: Page Promotion, Brand Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Lead Generation Number of Hyper-targeted Audiences: Up to 5 ***Please note, this Social Media Monthly Package does not include paid promotions budget for boosted posts. We recommend an additional minimum of $100.00USD for the purposes of boosting posts.

KEY SELLING POINTS

Facebook is the biggest social media network that sits at 2.2 billion monthly active users Over 50 million businesses are activated on the Social Network giant, with higher relevancy for professionals in LinkedIn More than 450 million people shop on Social Media networks every single day

THE PROCESS

SOCIAL MEDIA ASSESSMENT We audit your client's social media pages and give initial recommendations to improve their visibility. SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYBOOK CREATION The tone of voice to use, the products to talk about, and the brand persona will be established here. This will contain the audience profile and projected reach and results of the boosted posts based on the given budget. SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT PLAN AND CALENDAR CREATION The playbook will be updated every month to serve as a calibration tool and includes the content roadmap and calendar. PAGE AND BOOSTED POST MONITORING Your pages will be checked every day for comments and messages. Facebook ads will run throughout the campaign cycle. SOCIAL MEDIA INSIGHTS Monthly Reports include analysis of the cycle's results and recommendations for the next cycles.

REQUIREMENTS

Below are the key access requirements we need to effectively start the campaign. We strongly recommend at the end of the pitch to the client, to request for access while preparing the contract. Here are the access requirements: Employee access to Facebook Business Manager (if available) Admin Access to Facebook Page (if already existing) Advertiser Access to Facebook Ad Account LinkedIn Company Page Access Twitter Credentials Brand Guidelines (if any) Product or Service Photos (if any)

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Turnkey social media service that handles everything from ideation of your content calendar to optimizing your boosted post campaigns Hyper-targeted audiences on Facebook to reach users who are most susceptible to what you're advertising See your content and suggest revisions before they get published to your clients' profiles Fresh content calendar every month Monthly white-label reports with recommendations: Social Media Assessment, Social Media Content Plan, Social Media Insights

MONTH 1: CAMPAIGN SETUP AND OPTIMIZATION

SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYBOOK CREATION Competitor Research Response Track Audience Targeting Budget Recommendation Brand Persona Audience Persona Communication Guidelines Content Strategy FACEBOOK (CREATION AND/OR OPTIMIZATION) Custom URL Page Categories Professionally Designed Profile Picture Professionally Designed Cover Photo Contact Details Page Call-to-Action Button About Page & Professionally Designed Story Graphic Page Template Auto Responder Setup Default Facebook Pixel code setup (using client's ad account) Creation of 2 Unique Audiences TWITTER (CREATION AND/OR OPTIMIZATION) Professionally Designed Profile Picture Professionally Designed Header Image Twitter Bio and Contact Details Update Crossposting of Content with Optimized Captions Inclusion of Relevant Hashtags LINKEDIN (CREATION AND/OR OPTIMIZATION) Professionally Designed Profile Picture Professionally Designed Banner About Page Update Crossposting of Content CONTENT CREATION 2 Images to be published to your profiles and will also run as ads for Page Promotion and Brand Awareness Insights Creation

MONTH 2 AND ONWARDS: PUBLISHING CONTENT

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT PLAN Communication Guidelines Brand Persona Audience Targeting Content Strategy Response Track Audience Targeting Budget Recommendation Competitor Research PUBLISHING CALENDAR 8 Images to be published to your profiles and will also run as ads on Facebook                 1 ad will be for Page Promotion                 5 ads will be for Post Engagement                 2 ads will run for one of the following objectives: Brand Awareness, Traffic, or Lead Generation Crossposting to Twitter and LinkedIn Page and Ads Monitoring Insights Creation

GET STARTED WITH THE PROPOSAL BUILDER HERE

WHAT CAMPAIGNS ARE PROHIBITED FROM RUNNING ADS ON FACEBOOK? Facebook is very strict when it comes to their ad policies. Businesses that promote the following products and services are not allowed to run sponsored content: Tobacco products and related paraphernalia Illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs Unsafe supplements, as determined by Facebook in its sole discretion. Weapons, ammunition, or explosives Adult products or services, except for family planning and contraception Spy cams, mobile phone trackers or other hidden surveillance equipment Promotion of payday loans, paycheck advances or any other short-term loan intended to cover someone's expenses until their next payday Promotion of business models offering quick compensation for little investment, including multilevel marketing opportunities Financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings, or cryptocurrency CAN WE DO A CAMPAIGN WITHOUT DOING ADS ON FACEBOOK? With Facebook's algorithm update, content from pages will reach fewer people. You will most likely not get the business objectives you are looking for if you depend purely on organic results. A minimum budget of $100USD per month is Recommended for the campaign. I WANT TO CHECK ALL POSTS BEFORE THEY GET PUBLISHED. CAN I DO THAT? You will be able to see all the posts before publishing starts. You need to request for Revisions to the posts before the cycle starts, otherwise, revisions may not be entertained. Moreover, posts that are approved beyond their scheduled publishing date may not be published. I WANT TWO DIFFERENT FACEBOOK PAGES FOR MY WEBSITE. HOW MUCH WILL THAT BE? Only one Facebook page will be managed for each social media management package bought. If you would like to have us manage several Facebook pages, please purchase a package for each. I DON’T HAVE A FACEBOOK PIXEL. WHY SHOULD I HAVE IT INSTALLED IN MY WEBSITE? The Facebook Pixel collects data from your website. Data pulled from this tool can help identify the best audience for your campaign. You can even create custom audiences for retargeting. Your reports may also contain additional information, such as: Website referrals from Facebook, Top website URLs, and Top Social Media Sources. I WANT MY CAMPAIGN TO GO VIRAL. CAN YOU HELP ME? We believe social media marketing must drive business goals, not vanity metrics. Our methodology targets the right audience with the right creatives to ensure your business is always top-of-mind when consumers want to buy a service or product. DO YOU DO COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT? No, we do not. However, the product does contain auto-responders and we will monitor your messages to make sure that every user is given immediate attention. WE ARE HESITANT TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO OUR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT. WILL YOUR TEAM BE ABLE TO ACCESS SENSITIVE INFORMATION? We do not require the username and password of your personal profile. We will simply request for access to your Facebook page which doesn’t require us to get your credentials. In fact, logging into other users’ profiles is highly discouraged since this can cause the profile to be locked. WHAT IF I WANT TO CANCEL? For cancellations, let your project manager know and we will finish the cycle that you paid for. If you won’t be removing our access to your assets within 3 months of cancellation, we will manually disconnect our assets from your accounts on Facebook. I ONLY APPROVED 2 POSTS FOR THIS CYCLE. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MY PAID PROMOTIONS BUDGET? We will use up the monthly budget, regardless of how many posts were published. If the budget we spend is different from the declared allocated budget, we’ll include how much the ad used in the reports. WHERE ARE THE DEFAULT FACEBOOK TRACKING PIXELS SETUP? These are setup on the clients' ad account.

Social Media Monthly

$599 /mo

Get started with Social Media Marketing. Includes profile and tracking setup for Facebook, as well as content generation for Social Media channels including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Add Instagram to the Social Media channels for your clients' Social Media Monthly campaign.

$99/MO

Requirements: Active Social Media Monthly Campaign Add Instagram as a cross marketing social media channel every month for your clients' Social Media Monthly campaign. This is only available as an add-on for the Social Media Monthly Package. *Please contact your Project Manager if you'd like to setup your clients' Social Media Monthly package with Instagram enabled each month.

Social Media Instagram (Add-on)

$99/MO

Add Instagram to the Social Media channels for your clients' Social Media Monthly campaign. PLEASE CONTACT US. MAKE SURE YOU PUT IN THE SUBJECT LINE " SOCIAL MEDIA INSTAGRAM ( ADD-ON) WE WILL UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT TO REFLECT THE SOCIAL MEDIA MONTHLY TO THE FULL PACKAGE

CONTACT US

Add 5 Additional Posts to your  Social Media Monthly (Add On)

$99/MO

Requirements: Active Social Media Monthly Campaign Add an additional five (5) image posts every month to your clients' Social Media Monthly campaign with up to two (2) additional curated links per image post. This is only available as an add-on for the Social Media Monthly Package. *Please contact your Project Manager if you'd like to setup your clients' Social Media Monthly package with additional posts each month. 5 Additional Posts For Social Media Monthly (Add On)

$99/MO

Add 5 additional posts to  your  Social Media Monthly Campaign every month! PLEASE CONTACT US. MAKE SURE YOU PUT IN THE SUBJECT LINE " 5 Additional Posts For Social Media Monthly (Add On) WE WILL UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT TO REFLECT THE SOCIAL MEDIA MONTHLY TO THE FULL PACKAGE

CONTACT US

Frequently Asked Questions

Because people are on Facebook, we focus on that channel and then crosspost to Twitter and LinkedIn. We monitor all three social media platforms for any comments or mentions. We report primarily Facebook campaign performance and activity. Your customers are looking for you on Facebook and other social media channels. Businesses that are not found in these channels are trusted less. At the very least you need a social media presence in order to increase your authority within your location and be seen as an expert in your niche. You do either as part of the bill or by us creating you an ad account within Facebook that we can use. We normally recommend an additional $100 on top of the actual package fee as budget for the ad campaign. Yes, but how big its effect is depends on what type of business. Social Media works best with customer-facing businesses with a high base of customers such as professional services, restaurants, and other food-related businesses. It also works for B2B primarily as a way to legitimize the business and reach new customers. Our Social Media specialists are all certified by Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We also have years of expertise working with social media and delivering on business goals of our clients. We'll take care of your overall social media so you don't have to worry about it. Each post we create for your business consists of original images and copy created specifically based on your business' brand and personality. We do not recycle posts - we create original content for you every time. Read the full article

[hwinfotech-blog]

clone twitter script | HWINFOTECH

clone twitter script - Can you be a great Twitter marketer by creating your own Twitter clone script? This is not a question that can be answered definitively. The thing to understand is that, there are many different steps involved in running a Twitter marketing campaign.This has really taken the Internet by storm, and it seems to have come a long way from its humble beginnings as a Twittering phenomenon. But did you know that you could be able to start your own Twitter account? Or at least, a clone of one?One of the reasons for this is because of how clone scripts are created. A script is basically a mini-web page that makes use of the Twitter API. It has all the functionality of the actual Twitter service, without the need to handle the actual tweets or the outbound messages.The main benefit of using this is that you can get your page or script out there and put it to use for whatever you want to do with Twitter. In most cases, a clone script is pretty minimalistic when it comes to the functionality. All you really need to do is add the Twitter script to your site, and that's about it.Do you know how much money you could make by writing an autoresponder? You're probably thinking this sounds like a great idea, but why do I have to pay you for something I already have? This is one of the many reasons why a script will not get you paid, but they can still do you some good. Let's talk about how.While you may be able to use a script to make your life easier, a good script should help you get noticed on Twitter. If you're paying a script to create your clone Twitter script, they need to be making a profit off of it. With all the different scripts that are out there, you'll have to search for it to find out if someone is taking commissions off of it.Once you find one that you like, then you just download it and plug it into your script. There is no real code required. The people who are making the scripts understand how to build these so you can change them and make them work for you. They also take care of things like SSL certificates, which are important for your clone script to run.The last thing you'll want to do is make a page or profile to use for your script in a short time. This will allow you to make your page more interactive and therefore attract more people to your page. This is how a lot of marketers have a ton of followers that they don't even know about.Once you've built up a few followers on Twitter, then you can begin working on the outbound messages that you will send out. These will most likely be automated messages that will follow someone who they're following. This is when you need to get the extension to run your script.You can have bots running a script to post updates to your Twitter account. This is similar to what real life marketers do, except with the advantage of being able to get noticed faster because you're going to be tweeting out links and getting new followers every day.So how do you want to get noticed? One of the first things that will happen is that your script will tweet out a link to your Twitter page, your YouTube channel, your blog, or anything else that you want to post out to the Internet. These links are called outbound links, and they will get your message out there a lot faster than traditional methods.The success of your Twitter clone script lies in how quickly it can get you noticed. You'll want to figure out where to post your link so you can keep people visiting you. It's not hard to figure out because you just want to stick with one place that gets a lot of traffic and is well-known.

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Just because the holidays are over doesn’t beggarly Walmart has chock-full appearance bottomward aggregate from air fryers to baking essentials. You’ll be able to account above deals on hot-ticket kitchen items, including a sleek Nespresso Espresso Maker by KitchenAid ($230, was $590) and the top-rated Black & Decker Belgian cossack maker ($23, was $28).

Below, boutique our top admired on-sale kitchen buys from Walmart’s approval auction afore they advertise out.

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La Gourmet 6-Qt. Digital Air Fryer and Convection Oven

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This is a absolute game-changer for foodies in the kitchen. A 5-star analyst on Walmart writes, “It’s appealing awesome. My bedmate calls it a allowance from God. You can baker annihilation you would baker in the oven, but baker it faster (at a lower temp).” 

Shop it: $66 (was $89), walmart.com

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Black & Decker Belgian Flip Cossack Maker

Black & Decker Belgian Flip Cossack Maker (Photo: Walmart)

Breakfast on the weekends will always be afflicted with this Belgian cossack maker. Not alone is it accessible to use and apple-pie up, but the kids will adulation it too.

Shop it: $23 (was $28), walmart.com

KitchenAid Nespresso Espresso Maker by KitchenAid With Milk Frother

Nespresso Espresso Maker by KitchenAid With Milk Frother (Photo: Walmart)

Nespresso and KitchenAid partnered to accompany you KitchenAid’s superb mechanics and architecture with Nespresso’s ability in coffee-making. You’ll be able to beverage espresso drinks with affluence and barm milk for adorable calm lattes.

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Shop it: $230 (was $590), walmart.com

Stainless Animate Garlic Press and Peeler

Stainless Animate Garlic Press and Peeler (Photo: Walmart)

Shop it: $14 (was $26), walmart.com

If you adulation affable with garlic, but alarming case and preparing, this accessible account is the dream apparatus you didn’t apperceive you needed. Fabricated of athletic stainless steel, you’ll be able to bark and drove garlic in seconds.

KitchenAid Classic Nonstick 5-Piece Bakeware Set

KitchenAid Classic Nonstick 5-Piece Bakeware Set (Photo: Walmart)

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We’re all accusable of application our decayed bakeware sets continued accomplished their “expiration” date. Perhaps it’s time to assuredly amend yours? At $30, it’s an angry amount that comes out to $6 per pan.

Shop it: $30 (was $49), walmart.com

George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Electric Grill

George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Electric Barbecue (Photo: Walmart)

This George Foreman barbecue will acquiesce you to accomplish your assay desires all year long. Baker up burgers, hot dogs, vegetables and added — aloof in time for the Super Bowl.

Shop it: $70 (was $99), walmart.com

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