#the reply and copy link buttons looks so thin

[abugidaithink]

they made discord look worse

[shlutnutt]

From The Other Side

sum; after being kept away in a jail facility for your job as a cop, you're only allowed visitors a couple of minutes later in the day to avoid any distractions. So of course you made sure your husband was well aware of the circumstances it took to even get to touch you through the gate that seperated the two of you

w; dom reader x sub colin, public sex, public fingering, public handjob,

im back to writing! just been losing motivation a bit, but i'll work on that. enjoy!

Time ticked slower than what you'd expected it to in the huge building that held you captive for nearly the twelve hours a day, the inability of spending your days alongside Colin making your heart sink to the deepest bottom of your chest. Just the thought of him going to work and returning to an empty house made you feel ways you wouldn't be able to explain to absolutely anyone. So with that you made your way to make a quick call to your beloved, asking for meet up just right by the main fence, of course adding in the fact that he'd have to be extra secretive and cautious with the other guards, knowing that visitors weren't allowed so early in the morning.

"psst! here!" you whisper-yelled at Colin who was visibly standing in the middle of the parking lot, looking more lost than an abandoned puppy. Looking cold with the company of wide happy eyes, from being able to see you just right before work, you couldn't help but to fall in love with him all over again, the way his soft skin glistened with the sunrise of that five in the morning 'wake up call' rays, the huge black coat that comfortablely sat on the upper half of his form, and of course his beautiful dark eyes, all combined up to making more than a pleasant view.

"Well, hello beautiful." greeted you Zable, his soft vanilla coffee breath reminding you how much you desired to be with him the twenty-four hours a day.

"hey precious, how ya feeling?" you replied, kindly looping your cold pointer finger around the chain link of the black fence, adoring the familiar presence you stood infront of.

Although the fence prevented you two from even giving eachother the minimum hug, you maintained to fit a few more fingers into the fence, pulling Colin in closer from his coat, him gasping slightly to the unpredicted movement.

"well, fuck!" you felt him hum under his breath from the feeling of your fingers still attached to his coat and his face practically being up pressed against the fence. Though Ignoring his reaction you soon began to fill him up with nothing but sweet wet kisses all over his face, earning adorable little giggles from the man. Appreciating this, you soon continued by pullling him in by his detective badge, which accomodated nicely in one of his front belt loops, his eyes widening even more to the place of touch.

"what's wrong gorgeous?" you teased a bit, needing him more than you'd ever imagined.

"i-in public? it's kinda cold.." hesitated Zable in return, using the weather as an excuse from his fear of putting his job at risk if caught doing something unacceptable for the 'community'.

"you're afraid, isn't that right?" you replied to his mental worry, allowing your bottom lip to slip in between your teeth in ease.

"mhmm.." he was quick to response, returning the same evil look you gave him, only that his was filled with a mixture of need in them.

"i'll make the fear go away, puppy." you pronounced just right before attaching your lips onto his through one of the wider fence holes that distanced just right across your nose.

Zable was more than quick to kiss back, his cold lips following the trail of your warm ones in sync, your fingers still looped in between the thickness of his coat. With him balancing the coldness of the weather and the sexual frustration he's been dealing with, he suddenly popped your pants' button and unzipped the thin zipper. You only groaned to his sudden hyperactivity and reached down to massage his bulge through his suited pants.

"think you can be quiet for me?" you questioned, sloppily licking from his neck up to his ear.

"mmhm.. yes." he returned.

"alright precious." you finalized before widening one of the chain holes just a bit, sneaking your other hand in and unzipping his pants in return.

"ahh.." you felt Zable moan under his breath from the cold touch of your fingertips onto the inside of his briefs. Although nothing couldn't possibly explain how much you adored when Colin fully submitted to you, you couldn't help but to feel the satisfaction of him making an attempt to dominate you. Of course just so you can have an excuse to punish him. So with that thought you grabbed his right hand and placed it on your wetness, him allowing you to take control as he's always been used to. And since he wasn't too used to fingering since he'd go straight into fucking you or eating you out, you knew exactly what to task him.

"Go on pup, finger me."

"fi-.. w-what?"

"you heard me."

"but im not good at that.."

"you'll be fine, now just put your fingers in me."

Colin, although extremely nervous to near even hurt you, followed your every order.

"Very good, a little deeper now, okay?

"mhmm. okay~"

He only managing to enter his middle finger passed your folds, delicately pushing deeper and deeper into your core, you couldn't help but to struggle to keep in the heavy grunts that begged for its release. Him whimpering to himself to the few heavy breaths you let out to his touch.

"You're doing jus- just fine.. go on pup.. continue.."

"Like this, momma?"

"Just like that.." you returned. Falling into the angelic feeling Colin had gifted you with. He worked his magic like a full on professional, entering in and out of your wetness gracefully and delicately. Your climax not being too far away, you only kept struggling to keep your balance as you held onto the fence for support.

"a-am I making you feel good?"

"shh, baby.. you're doing so good for me, don't.. stop."

Colin only listened to you carefully and acknowledged every single word that fell out of your lips, his eyes not detaching themselves from your own which faught back to remain opened and his other hand harshly massaging onto himself.

"..y-you can slip.. in.. another finger, angel." you moaned out, feeling the tremble of your legs intensity to another finger making its way inside your core, repeating the same movements as the other finger that was previously placed inside you.

"..fuckkk~.. im close Colin.. don't stop please." you begged, quickly letting your shaky hand make its way to the thick boner he massaged continuously.

"..im c-close too..momma.." whined out Colin now, allowing for your hand to please him as his pleased you, both speeding up the pace to eachother's climax in that cold wednesday morning.

Reconnecting your mouth to his now, both of your tongues sloppily exploring eachother's mouth, you found it inevitable to contain in your release any longer.

"come for me." you were quick to intruct, Colin being even quicker to follow your requests by permitting himself to cum all over your hand, the warm sticky liquid dampening his suited pants in no time.

"..can you c-come for.. me too?.." requested back Zable, in nothing but heavy needy breaths, in which you accept to since he's been nothing but too good to you. Now authorizing your shaken self to squirt all over his fingers, you found yourself grow weaker to your legs, your beloved rapidly dragging his fingers up to his mouth to suckle them hungrily, to repeating this over and over again till you were fully cleaned up.

"..i want more, y/n. i promise I'll be good."

"fuck me then."

Just right before you positioned yourself for what you both hoped came next, you heard a loud chattering from where it seemed to be from the 4th to 6th floors. You rapidly looked up and it turned out that the inmates been witnessing the live porno you and Colin have been giving them for free, some smacking their dicks onto the secured windows, others jacking themselves off and others simply yelling out shenanigans. 

"go on babe, show them how good you make me feel." you insisted, observing the wide smirk which formed on Colin's lips, him widening yet another chain link hole and positioning himself for yet another round of messiness, whilst he fucked you animalistically flipping the crowd off.

tags; @divineruler @copy-of-a-cheeto @evanmybeloved @billyhxrgrove @sinnersblood @crssjjh @mossybank @the-hotel-cortez @undeadcortez

{ dm to be added or removed from taglist <3 }

[givemequeen]

Help! ; john x reader

request: Hello there! May I request one John L. super fluff? (You know, he's sad, no one got the meaning of "Help" - song, exept you *wink wink*) Thanks a lot! // AHHHH ANYTHING SMUTTY WITH HELP!JOHN AHHHH a/n: eek ive been looking forward to this one ALSO I JUST GOT THE NEVERMIND ALBUM ON VINYL YAYAYAYAYY and lowkey proud of this??? pairing: john x Help!reader summary: comforting John about Help! warnings: sex but soft sex :) year: ‘65 word count: 1472

“Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody.” John’s voice made you look up from your notes in your corner. It was the last song they were filming before wrapping up for the day and heading back home. He was singing into the microphone, his guitar around his neck and an odd expression on his face. You frowned, he looked somewhat upset and the lyrics he was singing weren’t too bright either. Was that his song?

You knew he had been writing a new song, he had been hunched over the guitar for a couple nights now, quietly scribbling notes before going back to the instrument and muttering things to himself. Oddly, he wouldn’t show the paper in which he wrote the song to you. He always did, always asked for your opinion and proudly showed you the final version before taking it to the studio. But this time he did not and it confused you. Still, you did not pressure him into telling you and respected his privacy.

Once they were done singing the first version the band stepped out from behind the microphones and listened to the take and started making changes to the song. You watched John from your place. Before they could do much, George Martin announced it was time to go and the three boys were off after a quick goodbye to you. John stayed behind to look at the piece of paper with the scribbled lyrics.

“You okay?” you asked kissing John’s cheek and going behind to hug him.

“Yeah...” he lied, his voice quiet. He was wearing his glasses in the comfort and privacy of the studio.

“You sure?” you asked as your hands began massaging his stiff shoulders.

“Yeah, yn, drop it please.” there, he wasn’t okay.

“Johnny, you do know you can tell me anything, right?” you whispered kissing the space in between his shoulder blades.

“I do know- it’s just...” he sniffed, his voice breaking and that’s when you knew it was worse than you had first imagined. You spun him around softly, his hands were covering his face. Gently, you pulled his hands away from his face so you could see him. John was staring at the floor, his eyes red and tear-stained. It broke your heart to see him this way and you knew how much he hated to cry in front of you and how he thought it was ‘weak’ and ‘unmanly’ to do so.

Without saying anything, you wrapped your arms around him. His head fell to your shoulder as he cried into it. Your hand went to the back of his head, you drew shapes on his head and with the other hand you did the same on his back trying to calm and comfort him. He was crying gently, a whimper and sniff coming from him every now and again but not much else.

He shook slightly and stopped crying after a couple of minutes. Throughout his cries, you kissed his cheek and whispered sweet, comforting words into his ears, words for him and only him. You reminded him how he could trust you and tell you anything whenever he needed but John remained silent. He didn’t pull away once he finished crying, it took him longer to do so but once he was ready he looked down at you, his hands still holding you close.

“Oh Johnny, what is it?” you asked worriedly.

“Can we go home?” he replied without answering your question, his voice thin and weak. You nodded and helped him put his coat on. The car ride home was silent, John was curled up in the passenger seat looking out the window. You reached over to rub his arm, he smiled at the warmth, humming happily.

Once you reached your shared flat you helped him out the car into the warmth of the home. You sat him on the cosy couch after taking his coat off and made warm tea for him. He happily sipped on it before you started talking to him about what had happened with him at the studio. 

“John, what is it?” you asked your hands reaching to rub his face affectionately. 

“I dunno...” he set down his nearly empty cup and looked down. “Do you love me?” he whispered, his voice barely hearable but you heard him well enough for your heart to drop.

“Of course I do, I love you so much.” 

“I just don’t think I’m good enough,” he admitted. “And crying... I don’t want ye seeing me like this. I need to be a man for you... not this. I’m weak.”

“John, you are good enough, you’re not weak. You are more than good enough. And I know you don’t like crying in front of me but I want you to be comfortable with me. I don’t think any less of you just because you show your feelings. It makes you human and I love you regardless of how ‘manly’ you are.” you told him. “And, for the record, this does not make you less of a man.” 

You reached up to kiss him. The kiss was soft but he yearned for more, he whimpered into the kiss, his hands reaching for your body. You moved so you were straddling him, your hands roaming each other’s body pulling each other’s clothes off. Your fingers fiddled with his t-shirt’s buttons and, with his help, it came off. 

“Come ‘ere,” you said pulling him up and guiding him into the bedroom, your hands linked together. He laid on the bed, his trousers off and watched you undress. You crawled onto the bed and put each leg on either side of him. You rolled your hips onto his hardening bulge earning whimpers and moans from John. He buried his face in your breasts as his hands fell to your sides gripping your waist slightly. “‘M gonna make you feel so good Johnny,” you promised, your lips pressing soft kisses down his jawline.

You pulled away making him whine. “Just taking these off.” you chuckled pointing at your underwear and his. John helped you to speed up the process and get your lips back on his body. You hovered above him, your hand went in between the two of you stroking him gently to make the act of him entering you easier. John’s hands were on your waist once more as you sank down on him. You moaned his name and kissed his shoulders before looking up to him. 

He bit his lip and he looked at you, properly looked at you. You could see the love in his eyes as he studied your face. You copied his moves and memorized his face, the bump of his nose, the shape of his lips and the colour of his eyes. “I’m going to kiss all of you,” you promised in a low whisper as you began gently rocking your hips. You began by pressing a kiss at the top of his forehead, another one to the left and then to right. You moved down to the space between his eyebrows and placed two gentle kisses on his eyelids. 

You kissed all the way down his nose, pressing a slightly harder kiss on the top of his nose and moving to his cheeks. Then came his lips, you spent longer there giving them more attention than the rest of his face. You kissed the corner of his lips and kissed them once more when you felt him smile under your lips.

After that was his chin and sharp jawline, you went from one side of his jawline to the other and then down to his neck. You sucked soft marks onto the clear skin making him moan and jerk upwards into you. “God, you’re perfect.” you groaned feeling yourself getting closer and closer to the edge.

“You, yn, you are perfect,” he whispered as his head once more fell to your breasts. You continued rotating your hips and gently bouncing on his cock chasing both your orgasms. “‘M close,” John muttered.

“Me too,” you replied. “Look at me,” you said, your tone still soft and soothing. John looked up and you pressed your lips against his. You tugged on his lower lip with your teeth and you got slightly faster and faster until you felt him fill you up with his warm seed. You came at the same time as John without stopping your hip’s movements or the kiss. Even though the sex wasn’t rough you were still out of breath once you were done. You fell to his side without him slipping out of you, you enjoyed the warmth and feeling of him filling you up.

“I love you so much Johnny,” you whispered hugging him tightly, your two naked bodies together as one.

“I love you too, yn.”

tag list;

@thebeatleswritings​  @beatlevmania​  @i-love-queen-3000​  @brians-metaphor26​ @honimello​  @julessworldd​  @storiesfrommirkwood​  @beatles-babee​ @geostarr​ @thiccjelly17​  @crab-king-69​  @in-the-frap-of-the-gods​  @psychosupernatural​ @fiesta-freddie​  

[snxxiao]

Hi! i was wondering, how you do your masterlist & other links? i recently started using my Tumblr way more again and i want to use it to make my own fics again and to post my own works. Sorry if this question is dumb, hope im not bothering you ! ;u;

Hello nonnie!! Dw your questions aren't dumb at all :) you're also not bothering me! i love to help out :3 sorry it took me so long to get to this!! I’d love to read your stuff if/ when you post more :3

(Stuff is below the cut :) )

—So as for general layout, I use ibis paint to get those thin little strips I use everywhere :) choose a colour that matches your blog (or whatever you wanna use) and go to ibisPaint! Go to canvas (or the little plus button) and you want your width to be 2400 and height like 20 (or however thick you want it to be). Then after the canvas is created, go to the layers and press the little camera :3 then allow access to photos and select the image you like! Then make it bigger so it fits and click the check Mark! If it asks for exact line drawing press cancel and you’re all set! Save the image and use it wherever you like!

—for links I mostly use my laptop as it’s easier to navigate! As far as I know, the post has to already be published for you to link it. So, post what you want to and then have two tabs open (it makes it easier). On the first tab have the place you wanna link your work on (ie. a Masterlist. I’m using my navi as an example) and on the second have the work you wanna link. Highlight the url of the post you wanna link and copy it. Then go to the place you wanna link it on and click edit. After being in edit, highlight the words of where you want to place the link and click the little infinity button :) paste your url and click done. Then click open to make sure it’s linked properly! Finally press save and now your content should be linked properly! When you open it on mobile or on the computer it should work properly! (But I always check on both to make sure :3 )

—everything else is really just choice of font and aesthetics. My blog is laid out for my brain to best understand cause it annoys me when I’m trying to go through someone’s Masterlist and it confuses me. I hope this clears up your confusion and that I’m not too late to help! Send me an ask if I didn’t cover everything you were looking for! Best of luck in posting !! :3

—also sorry if I answered you ask completely wrong and how long it took to reply to this :/

[hedwigstalons]

High Expectations - Ch20

I’ve been a little quiet for a bit because illness hit me hard (although thankfully not for too long).  I’m back though and I bring another chapter of the beast that keeps on growing.

Extra thanks to @willow-salix who had to deal with my post-fog writing going back a few stages and who helped beat this into some sort of coherency.

Earlier parts: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen

AO3 chapter link

Chapter Twenty

The mood in the plane was buoyant and the air was charged with testosterone and bravado.  The transport flight was filled with Air Force personnel and their destination was Fort Hood, Texas.  Scott hummed absently, his fingers drumming out a little beat on his knee, feeling relaxed for the first time in weeks, normally being a passenger on a flight made him agitated as he itched to be in the pilot’s seat but today was different.  

The Army was the designated host of this year’s United States inter-service sports tournament and Fort Hood was the location where, for the next few days those selected to represent their respective services would compete in their chosen sports.  

The tournament was supposed to be a friendly coming together of the various United States forces plus the various World Security Patrol branches, and for the most part it was friendly although it would be a lie to suggest there wasn’t a certain amount of posturing and goading underneath the surface.  For those taking part it was a chance to uphold the honour of their chosen service and score some one-upmanship,  for those like Scott who had been selected before it was also a chance to settle old scores.  

For Scott it would be a blessed interlude between missions; after his last assignment he was in desperate need of some R&R but with taking leave off the cards this came a close second for allowing him to decompress and see the good side of military life. It would be a chance to indulge in some physical activity that he didn't have to think too hard about, recently his life had been nothing but one exhaustive mission after another. For once he was happy to be free from the burden of command for a while, his primary mission now was to run fast, fight hard and add as many points as possible to the Air Force tally. 

His thoughts turned to last year’s competition; he’d done well and never placed lower than fifth in any of his events despite one Seaman Jeffries of the World Navy tripping him in 1500m, an action that by rights should have seen the man disqualified.  Unfortunately the rankings were upheld with Jeffries placing second while he had struggled to regain ground and claim fifth.  The injustice still rankled and he wondered if he would have to face the nefarious Jeffries again this year.

“Sir,” Scott called across to the Major who had been designated at team captain and was in charge of the Air Force contingent, “do you have a copy of the events list I can take a look at?” 

“Sure Tracy, I brought some spares just in case” Major Ellis replied, passing a sheaf of papers across the aisle.  “You’re up on the Wednesday afternoon for your track events and then Thursday afternoon for the martial arts.  See any familiar names?”

“One or two” Scott replied as he checked out the list of competitors.  “The US Army have put Moran in the hurdles again.  I’d love to beat him this time and wipe that smug smile off his face.  I’ve never met anyone so gloating.”

Having scrutinized the running order and competitors for his own events, no Jeffries, thank God, Scott began idly flicking through the rest of the programme.  As he scanned the lists he spotted a familiar name, wanting confirmation of his suspicions he pulled out his phone and sent a message. 

How far out of Fort Hood are you?

About 40 minutes came the response.  This was quickly followed by How did you find out? Everyone at home promised not to tell you.  I wanted it to be a surprise.  If it was Alan I’ll kill him.

Competitor list.  See you soon.

Scott let out an involuntary chuckle knowing Gordon would be mad at giving himself away and thus depriving himself of the element of surprise in any pranks he had planned. 

“What’s tickled your funny bone?” asked Ellis.

“It looks like you’re going to get to meet my kid brother.”

“Really?” Ellis asked curiously, opening up his own copy of the events list.  “Is he on the other flight?”

“No, Gordon isn’t Air Force, he joined WASP.”

“You’ve got a brother in WASP?  That’s a bit of a polar opposite to the Air Force.  I bet that didn’t go down too well at home.”  Scott had worked hard to build his own reputation but it was still well known who his father was and the Air Force pedigree he was following.  “Is he another sprinter like you?”

“Dad took a little persuading” a frown furrowed his brow at the memory of Gordon’s journey into WASP; ‘a little persuading’ really didn’t do it justice but he wasn’t going to have the family’s dirty laundry aired in public, “but WASP was the natural choice really, Gordon’s a swimmer.”

Major Ellis found the relevant page and looked over the listings.  The name Ensign G. Tracy leapt off the page again and again within the WASP entries.

“He’s all over the pool like a rash!  Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket.  Is he really that good?”

“You evidently don’t follow swimming that much.  I should’ve realised WASP would jump at the chance to put him on the squad.  It’s not often anyone gets to field an Olympic medallist.”  He couldn’t help the smile that split his face at the thought of seeing his brother swim again for the first time since the Games.  Gordon had dedicated so many years to his sport and had achieved glittering success that gave Scott a rush of pride at the memories.   

In the confined space of the plane their conversation was beginning to attract attention.

“What’s that about an Olympic medallist?”

“Dunno, ask Tracy.”

“Hey, Tracy, who’s got a medal?”

“My brother, Gordon.”

“You’re kidding!”

While Scott’s own unit might have been well versed in his sibling’s success story the competitors were pulled from across the Air Force, most of them complete strangers before boarding the flight.  There was a flurry of movement as a couple of people pulled out their phones and plugged the name into a search engine.  By now most of the plane was taking an interest.  It didn’t take long for someone to dig out one of the news reports; Gordon’s Olympic win had taken place less than two years previously and coverage was easy to find.

“Here, listen to this.”

Team USA continue their race to the top of the medals table with a successful day in the pool.  The crowning glory came from Gordon Tracy, a rising star in the swimming world, who not only achieved gold in the 200m butterfly but set a new world record in the process.  This achievement is made more remarkable in that Tracy is just 17 years old.

“That’s your brother!  And now he is on the WASP team?  Heck Tracy, can’t you do something like hide his trunks so the rest of us stand a chance?” one of the Air Force’s own swimmers exclaimed.

“No can do.  There is no way I’m sabotaging my own brother and don’t any of you think of trying anything either.  If you had ever met Gordon you would know that wouldn’t work anyway, he would probably just do the race butt naked.” 

xoxoxox

Gordon gazed listlessly out of the window of his own transport flight, the clouds forming an unbroken blanket below them, the vista bland and uninspiring.  After 4 fours in the air he was feeling bored, cramped and fed up.  He’d started the flight all keyed up at the thought of competing again but the long hours in the company of strangers was starting to wear thin.  For one thing there was too much trash talking for his liking, he’d never gone in for the verbal sparring side of sport but it seemed his companions very much viewed the other services as the enemy at this event.  It wasn’t an attitude he had encountered elsewhere in WASP and he hoped the bad mouthing would be constrained to these few days, it also wasn’t behaviour he could join in with in good conscious and so he had stayed quiet and kept himself to himself, trying to get back into competition mode after so long off the elite circuit.  A vibration in his pocket startled him and he pulled out his phone.

How far out of Fort Hood are you?

Without thinking he typed About 40 minutes and hit the send button.  Only when it was too late did it register who had sent the original message and he realised his mistake.  He had wanted to surprise his oldest brother, the one who was hardest to meet up with due to their differing military commitments.  He’d been able to tell the wider family about his selection during his period of leave over Alan’s birthday but with Scott away on his mission he’d been able to keep the news secret from his eldest sibling.  

How did you find out? Everyone at home promised not to tell you.  I wanted it to be a surprise.  If it was Alan I’ll kill him.

Competitor list.  See you soon.

Well, he supposed Scott would have found out in a few hours anyway and at least this way they would both be looking out for each other.  He wasn’t quite sure of the format of the event or how easy it would be to break away and hunt down a member of one of the other services.

xoxoxox

Gordon wasn’t sure what he had been expecting from competition or from Fort Hood but it looked like finding Scott wasn’t going to be easy.  Outside of their own events the personnel were able to watch the competition but there was very little free time beyond that.  Even if he could get away, finding his brother was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack; the different services were billeted all over the base and by the end of the first day all he knew was that WASP was sharing a dorm block with the Coastguard Service and a mess hall with the US Navy.  

Not that he had much time to brood, the swimming was taking place on the first day of the competition proper and after a hurried breakfast Gordon found himself hustled towards the pool.

He was looking forward to the chance of some competitive swimming again.  The specialist training on the Merlin had been intensive and the extended time beneath the waves had ignited a passion for marine biology but the cramped space of a submarine had hardly been conducive to physical exercise.  This competition would give him the opportunity to indulge in his first passion, he just hoped he was up to the task having been entered into far more events and across a wider range of disciplines that he was used to.

Aside from his trunks lacking the Team USA branding the competition was much like any other Gordon had attended.  A fair crowd had filled the viewing gallery but Gordon couldn’t tell if Scott was amongst those in dark blue.  Events were called, heats were swum (and usually won) and Tracy was once again a name to be reckoned with in the pool.  It felt good to be cleaving through the water again.  Despite not being in peak condition for swimming he was still in fine physical form over all and the muscle memory from all those races past carried him along to victory time and again.  The main difference to his usual style of competition was the lack of medal ceremony at the end and at the conclusion of his last race Gordon was able to wend his weary way back to the changing rooms where he flopped down on a bench. 

Pressing his shoulders against the cold tiles, eyes closed and head tipped back, the last of his energy was spent.  It had been a long time since he’d pushed himself to those lengths in the water and normally his race card was rather more sparse, one elite athlete among many, each responsible for their own specialisms.  The problem was, despite the high physical standards demanded by the military, elite athletes were in short supply and his pool times had placed him as primary candidate across more events than he was really comfortable taking on but he hadn’t felt able to say no to his superiors this early in his WASP career.

He concentrated on his breathing, listening to the hum and chatter of the other competitors around him, a cluster of WASPs gloating about their healthy position in the league table were his nearest companions.  He knew he ought to be getting dry, knew he ought to be digging out the tracksuit he’d been issued for the event, but his limbs felt leaden.  He wanted to be collapsed on his bunk but that involved moving and right now moving felt an impossible task.

“Gordon, eat something.”

He sensed a dimming of the light levels through his eyelids as a figure stepped between him and the harsh lights of the changing room.  The voice was commanding but his eyes stayed firmly shut and his body refused to obey. 

The figure in front of him was causing quite a stir but then that was typical of Scott.  He tended to exude an attitude as though he owned a place and this evidently wasn’t going down well with the WASPs around him who bristled with resentment at the young figure in Air Force blue invading their section of the changing rooms.  There were muttered jibes, reminiscent of those from the flight over, but the intruder wasn’t giving the WASP delegation the rise they so clearly desired.  Having failed in their goading one of his team mates decided to square up to the man they evidently viewed as the opposition.

“And who the hell are you to order us around, flyboy?”  

Scott’s eyes glittered at the challenge, a warning look that Gordon would have recognised from his own childhood had he been fully cognizant of the situation, Scott was not in any mood to be pushed. 

“That’s Captain to you” there was a pause as he took in the insignia worn by the other man, neither were in traditional uniform but the competition sports kit still had a place for rank slides; after all, the military thrived on hierarchy “Chief Petty Officer, although I accept you may not be familiar with the rank structures of the other services”  

Scott turned his attention back to his brother, ignoring the WASP who was now brisling after being firmly put in his place.  He was well aware of the animosity being directed towards him but his focus was his sibling, not some jumped up sardine with a chip on his shoulder.  He’d been concerned at the amount of events Gordon had pulled, and now, seeing his brother in the aftermath, he knew that concern had been justified.  The figure in front of him was breathing a little too shallowly for comfort and hadn’t moved from the moment Scott had spied him from across the changing room.  It had been a long time since he’d seen his brother swim himself to this level of stupor, years of competing had made Gordon pretty well attuned to his bodily needs, but evidently today he had neglected his post-race routine. 

Gordon had gotten as far as taking off his swim cap but no further, water dripped down his torso from the flattened hair that was still slick from the showers.  Even accounting for his time under the waves his skin was far paler than Scott was used to seeing.  He’d come down with the intention of congratulating his brother on his success in the water but now his primary concern had turned to Gordon’s basic wellbeing.  

Scott knew he had to get his blood sugars back up again.  He grabbed his brother’s kit bag and rooted around in the end pocket.  He allowed himself a small smile of triumph as his fingers closed around the packet of glucose tablets it appeared his brother still had the sense to carry.  He extracted two tablets from the tube and, crouching down in front of his brother, placed them in Gordon’s palm before closing the lax fingers over them.

“Gords, you still with me?  You need to get these into you.”

He paused while Gordon’s body processed the order, then let out a little breath of relief as the arm jerked up and Gordon began to suck on the tablets.  

He hadn’t seen his brother crash this bad since he was about twelve.  An early promotion to senior squad had seen the pre-teen eager to please his new coach while trying not to show anything that could be construed as weakness by his new and much older team mates and so the kid had forgone his post-race refuel.  The result then had been Gordon turning a grim shade of grey and falling off the medal podium in a dead faint.  

With the glucose tablets administered Scott turned his attention back to Gordon’s kit bag and pulled out a celery crunch bar, a firm favourite for the swimmer.  He opened it and placed it in Gordon’s now empty hand.  This was evidently an imposition too far for the WASP already disgruntled at being put in his place by the young captain.

“With all due respect Sir” there was a distinct sneer behind the formality “there’s no eating allowed in the changing rooms.”

If Scott’s eyes had glittered before, now they blazed with anger and contempt.  Rising from his crouch in front of Gordon, he drew himself up to his full height and positively loomed over the belligerent WASP.

“With all due respect I would have thought you would rather your team mate got his blood sugars up, or does your first aid training not cover hypoglycaemia?” He took a step towards the WASP, encroaching into the man’s personal space in a clear display of dominance.  “Not that you seem to be acting as a team right now.  Would half of you even be here if it wasn’t for the relay events, or maybe you tried to enter him for all four legs of that at well?”

With the glucose hitting his blood stream Gordon became more aware of the increasing commotion around him.  Voices that had once been jubilant now had a dangerous and angry edge and…yes...most of the anger seemed to be coming from Scott. 

Something tripped blearily in his brain; what on Earth was Scott doing here and why did he suddenly feel so cold?  Amber eyes cracked open and he forced his head open off the wall.  The movement was clocked by Scott who was back in front of him in an instant. 

“Hey Fish, you back with me?”  All traces of anger had gone as he turned his attention back to his Gordon, the Air Force Captain replaced by the brother of old; the caregiver with the ready supply of band aids, ice packs and gentle admonishment as he presented yet another injury for inspection.  

“Yeah, I’m...I’m good.”  He looked down in confusion at the crunch bar in his hand, not entirely sure how it had got there, but took a bite anyway.  “Guess I should have known better than to skip refuel.”

“Yeah, you should” 

Yup, that was the Scott he knew from Kansas.  Gordon felt like he was 9 years old again, being told off for being an idiot in the same ‘I told you so’ tone that had made it quite clear that of course jumping off the shed roof or using the frayed rope swing had been a bad idea. 

“Yeah, thanks for that” A snort, an eye roll, and a re-emergence of the same attitude common to his past nine year old self. 

“You’re okay now though, right?  You’ll finish your bar and get dressed?  Glucose tabs are back in the end pocket if you need more.”

“I’m fine, honest.”  Okay, the slight whine was a little too much like a kid but he was tired and there was something about Scott’s familiar care that had him regressing 10 years.  He forced protesting muscles to obey and hauled his back off the wall, rolling his shoulders to try and loosen the muscles that were rapidly seizing up.  He tried to suppress a groan at the exertion, he wasn’t quite ready to try standing until after the crunch bar was finished but he also knew Scott would not be pacified until he saw some sort of response.  The skeptical look he was given showed that Scott still wasn’t entirely convinced.  Mustering up his remaining energy he returned the look with a grin which seemed to appease the elder Tracy.

“Hmm”, Scott didn't sound like he believed him but couldn't argue it, “well, get dry and get your kit on.  You did good out there.  I’ll be on the track tomorrow afternoon; I’ll see you there.”  Without waiting for an answer Scott turned and exited the changing rooms.

The departure of the Air Force officer was followed with an outburst of grumbling from the WASP delegation.  

“Asshole.  Who the hell does he think he is, ordering us around?”

Gordon still hadn’t found his footing among the other swimmers, or the wider WASP delegation.  He might be the highest ranking of those at the pool but he was also by far the youngest and with the shortest amount of service under his belt by a country mile.  Rank structures overall seemed to be treated differently during the competition and these particular team mates seemed to have little regard for authority.  He was conscious that a wrong move now could make life distinctly unpleasant for him, he might never see these men again after the competition was over but he still had to get through several more days in their company.  He decided to play it for what it was; Scott being an irritating older brother.

“That was Scott.  I think he got the whole older brother thing hard wired in at birth.”

“You’re related to that?” There was a contemptuous sneer aimed at Scott’s retreating form that set Gordon’s hackles raising but he knew sniping back would be an error.

“Yup.  Of course, I got blessed with the good looks while he got the height.”  He flashed a grin, trying to diffuse the tensions.

“Is he always such a jerk?” a Seaman sat to his right piped up, finding his voice now the imposing Captain was no longer practically standing on his toes. 

Gordon shrugged; evidently the tensions were still there.  “Only when he needs to be.  I should’a thought to  grab the glucose tabs myself after that many races.  It’s been a while since I hit the pool competitively.”

There was a slight shuffling from the other swimmers, signs of guilt at not looking out for the young Ensign that had carried the team.  Scott’s words about the rest of them only being there to make up the numbers for the relay, while not wholly accurate, weren’t far off the truth.  They were all back in their dry kit while Gordon was still in his trunks, his skin still pale from the exertion even if his eyes had regained some brightness.

“Anyway,” he scruffed at his hair before drying off the rest of his body ready for dressing, “I need some real food after that and then I need to find out where the track events are being held.”

A snort.  “Well we’ll be watching the shooting tomorrow.  You can join us, or are you really going to do what big brother tells you?”  

There was a challenge in the tone but Gordon was feeling more alive again and less tolerant of their needling.  “I’m not going because he told me to, I’m going because he’s my brother and I want to.  In my family we support each other and Scott, well, he’s done a lot for me.”

Decision made and allegiances stated he swung his kit bag over his shoulder and headed out to find some food.  

[emotionalcello-makefanfics]

Ferris Wheel (Jaydick Fanfic for Fictober... Part 1/3)

Prompt number: 12.  “What if I don’t see it?”

Fandom : DCU

Rating: General Audience

Warnings/Tags: No Warnings/ No Powers AU

Summary : 

Dick spotted bloodstains by the Ferris wheel that trails from the bottom cabin to the very top one. What he found inside is a boy can't be older than 15, bleeding down from the stomach, and even so, he refuses to come down from the Cabin.

“I want to see the stars, one last time, just... one last time.” The boy still muses upon the sky, mesmerized. Dick looks up, and the starless sky that’s tinted red from light pollution. Then, with great sorrow and resignation, the boy whimpers, “You ruin that from me.”

Word count : 2k

Part 2

Click link to read on AO3

Click keep reading to read on tumblr~

Dick hears metal clashing and creaking from the pathway towards the entrance area. It could be something, or it could be nothing. In this city of Bludhaven, anything can happen. Maybe it’s just a bird, or trespassing kids – that one is often –, and the worst ones will be if someone plants a bomb, that won’t be the first too.

Just to be safe, Dick turns on his radio and held it a finger away from his lips, “Come in, Wally.”

“This is Wally.”

“I hear a voice near the Ferris wheel, can you cover my grounds for me? I’m going to check it out.”

“Okay, be careful blue wing.”

“You too, speedy.”

The Ferris wheel is not the highest one in town, but it’s always busy during the weekends and holiday season. As he walks down the path, one of the trash bin tips over and spilled across the granite bricks.

Dick leaves that worry later when he sees some sort of stain on the metal structures. The contraption is painted all over, from the carriages to the metal structures in blues and yellows. Going in closer with the help of his flashlight, he sees an odd stain starting from the entrance platform that trails to the support tower and ends at the cabin on top. Red stains.

Dick’s first guess is that someone climbed it to the top. It’s possible, he has seen the maintenance guy climbs it over. Looking closer to the stain on the carriage right on in front of the platform, it seems like blood. He leans closer and sniffs the stain, it smells like iron, but it could’ve been the metal. Still, with the bizarre stain, there’s someone up there. With the probability that it’s blood, that person could be injured. Despite being a disappointingly small Ferris wheel, it’s still a high climb.

Whoever it is at the top cabin is either hiding from something or already dead. Either way, it’s his job to check it out.

“Come in Wally, I think see blood on the Ferris wheel.”

The radio buzzes and clears, “Do you need me for back up?”

Dick thinks it over and follows his gut.

“No, but can you look around the borders? He’s pouring down heavy, maybe he came from the haunted house.”

“Copy that Blue Jay.” Wally signed off.

Dick put his radio back on the holster hanging by the belt. He tips the end of the flashlight up to where the carriage where the bloodstain ends.

“Someone there?” Dick shouts out.

No reply.

“Hello? I can see your blood all over this thing, are you injured?”

Still nothing.

“Want me to call 911?”

Not even a creak on the carriage.

Dick grips the sets of keys hanging on the other side of his hip, grabbing the one for Ferris wheel’s control board and enter the room on the side of the platform.

“I’m going to turn the Ferris wheel on!” Dick warned to probably nothing.

Lights glare from the ride. Pink, yellow and green shine from the rows of lightbulbs on the metal crossmember, three lightbulbs on the hub of the wheel, fairy lights on the side of the cabins,  and more lightbulbs on the legs of the support tower. The song came up next, your basic ‘carnival music’ that they got on youtube.

The wheel starts turning, the brightly colored carriages turn until the cabin where the blood trail ends are in the bottom.

The cabin is a small windowless four-seater, sets of two facing each other, with a metal railing that reaches your chest as the only safety precaution.

Dick flash his lights inside the bloody cabin, expecting the worst, and what’s inside exceed his worst.

There’s a pool of blood at the bottom of the cabin, pouring from the seat, where a boy lays limp across the two-seaters. Damp dark hair sticks on half his face, barely showing it. Dick’s attention goes right towards the damp part of the hoodie where the boy’s bloody hands are clutching, the source of all the red.

“Oh my god, how did you even get there.”

His hands reach out to the boy, and not even halfway towards him, the boy grunts and shows his eyes.

“Don’t touch me,” the boy hisses, glints of wary in his eyes like a feral kitten.

“You’re injured an-”

His mouth freeze open when he –a boy that couldn’t be older than 15– hold a gun to his face.

“Put... put me... back up.” The boy says between panting breath. His eyes a pale blue, even though his blood pools at the bottom of the bright orange carriage, he still has the energy to glare at Dick.

“Kid, if you look down, you can see how much blood you’re losing. You need medical help,” he presses firmly, but he’s scared out of his life for the boy in front of him. He doesn’t know how much this boy bleed before he steps into the carriage, but he might not make it just judging by the pool of blood Dick sees.

“I fucking know that, why do you think I’m pressing on my wounds?” The boy shouts, flailing the gun. “Just... Just let me... Put me back up now!” he growls, taking off the safety of his gun. “Please,” he continues after seeing that Dick is unfazed.

The boy doesn’t hold out the gun too long. His arm gave up and the gun falls to the pool of his blood.

Dick takes the gun in a heartbeat, throwing it away to the bushes then scoops the boy in his arms. In a few wide strides, he carries the boy down the platform’s stairs and lays him down on the brick pathway. The kid is wearing a red hoodie, and a darker red is coming from the side of his stomach, right where the boy’s hand resides.

“Put me... put me back,” he croaks, “Put me back and get me up there.”

“Nope, it’s not your time yet kid.” Dick scrunch up the kid’s hoodie and press on the wound along with the boy’s hand. Dick’s other hand reaches out to his radio, smearing the matte black surface with a thin red hue.

“Wally, I need you to call the ambulance.”

“Are you hurt?” Wally sounds worried.

“No, there’s a kid on the Ferris wheel, he’s bleeding a lot.”

“Okay, right, okay I-I’ll bring first aid kit.”

“Call the ambulance first, he’s rapidly losing blood.”

The other side sounds clamorous and clatter, Wally’s breathing hard like he’s running, “Aah shit, okay, I’ll call ‘em. I’ll be there after bringing some kit, put pressure on it!” and he abruptly hangs up.

A hand grabbed his collar, the same hand that couldn’t even hold the gun straight.

“No, no hospital,” The boy hisses.

“Yes hospital, you’re dying!” his heart starts racing, trying to focus on pressing the wound to calm himself. His hands began to feel cold, trembling when he realized the weight of the situation.

“I just want to be up there,” the boy looks at the top of the Ferris wheel. Colorful lights shine on his adolescent face.

Only then Dick could see his face in detail. Through the colorful lights, his eyes stay blue. There are tear stains down his pale face. Blue-ish bruise peeks on the neckline. Eyes empty as he stares through matter. The boy’s hand no longer presses on the wound, both lay limp between his body. Slowly, he breathes. Breathing out one long sigh, a tear escaped from his left eye.

Upon seeing the barely teen boy, the feeling that resides is fear.

“What’s your name?” Dick asked, leaning close, hoping to get the boy’s attention. Hoping to ignite some kind of light behind his eyes.

It’s futile. “I want to see the stars, one last time, just... one last time.” The boy still muses upon the sky, mesmerized.

Dick looks up, and the starless sky that’s tinted red from light pollution.

Then, with great sorrow and resignation, the boy whimpers, “You ruin that from me.”

Dick’s body stiffens and rigid when electricity strikes his nerves. Pain concentrated from the exposed part of his neck. His body twitched into a spastic mess on the ground. His vision caught the kid standing above him, throwing a taser he recognizes his before he finally passed out.

+++++++

“I told you before, there’s nothing there.”

“How could it not be there!” Dick exclaimed frustratingly, as he keeps clicking the rewind button, replaying the same footage over and over again.

It’s been 30 minutes since Dick came into the surveillance room, which is a small room with three split screens. The only one in charge of the screens is Barbara and some other guy Dick doesn’t know covers dayshift.

There are only a few minutes till the opening time, and Dick is still in his blood-stained uniform. A few dots on his chest, and the ones on his hands he had washed out. Dick has been in this room for 30 minutes and their shift had finished 30 minutes ago.

“I hate to ask, but...” Barbara doesn’t bother to finish, Dick knows what she meant.

“This isn’t the doppelganger incident, I’m not making this up!” Dick Rebukes.

“Okay, okay,” Barbara resigned, not without skepticism.

“I swear, he was running towards behind the Ferris wheel, but!” Dick rewinds the footage shooting towards the Ferris wheel entrance when he replayed it. The footage displays the bottom half of the ride, the platform to step in and the first half of the waiting line. Nothing changes in the footage, not even the grass by the corner.

“Where are the footage where I came in and turn the Ferris wheel on?” Dick points aggressively towards the screen. It buzzes and glitz in every loud tap. “And when I take the boy from the carriage? The Ferris wheel isn’t even on the entire time in this footage!”

“Maybe it’s a glitch, you knew boss’ too cheap to buy better stuff. I’ll write a note to the day-shifters to take a look at it.”

Huffing defeatedly, Dick finally sits back, making the chair creaks, “What am I going to do now? The boy was badly hurt, look at my shirt! There’s blood everywhere!”

“The paramedics say they’ll get back to us for the DNA result. I gave them my number, all we can do is wait.”

“Fine,” Dick exhaled his frustration and stands up abruptly. When looks at Barbara, his annoyance goes down the drain, “Thank you for waiting on me.”

Barbara quirks up her pale pink lips, “That’s why I’m here Dickie. C’mon, we had a long day, let’s get back home.”

++++

The DNA test result came. Barbara told Dick as soon as graveyard shift starts.

“Unregistered?” Dick almost shouts, his voice echo’s through the empty park.

“Uh-huh, the kid is not in the system,” Barbara adds.

“Is it about yesterday’s Ferris wheel ghost boy?” Wally chirps in.

“He’s not a ghost! He’s real, I carried his bloody body in my arms!” Dick tensed on the neck, veins showing under the skin.

“Okay! I’m just jokin’. It’s what the day shifters called it.”

Rubbing his face, Dick breathed out the rest of his frustration, “I just want to know if that kid is alright. That’s all.”

Wally and Barbara share a knowing look to each other, then back to their best friend with a pitying smile.

“Let’s hope he is,” Barbara comforted.

“I bet he is if he got the strength to stand up and tase you, he’ll be fine. Heck, maybe he’ll be back for revenge when you stop him from getting a free ride,” Wally joked.

That one makes Dick smile. He rubs the tenseness on the back of his neck off and looks up from staring at his shoes.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

After their night shift is done and Dick was waiting for Wally by the entrance gate. After taking two steps outside of the locker room, Barbara pulled Wally to the side, whispering.

“Yesterday, did you see the Ferris wheel turned on?”

Wally smiled nervously, “I dunno babs, I was around the walls when Dick called in.”

“This is serious Wally,” Barbara warned. “The Ferris wheel can be seen from your location, and I don’t think the surveillance system is glitchy. I can see your footage just alright when the Ferris wheel allegedly turned on because I didn’t see it. So, did you see it turned on or not.”

Sighing, Wally looks down at his tennis shoes, “No. Not once in the entire night.”

[rogerinas-bra]

Master Stroke

Rating: M

Paring: Reader x Young Brian May

Summary: You get an instagram DM you never would have expected. Slightly implied Maylor.

Notes: My friend plastic.eating.people/ Junogetswild on instagram had a dream and I asked if I could write a fic about it :)'Reader' can be any gender you like! Brian is his young self in this fan fiction but it is set in modern day.

AO3 Link: here

It was mid-afternoon and you had just woken up. The night before you had been up most of the night watching Youtube videos about Queen again, a habit you developed ever since you saw Bohemian Rhapsody for the first time a few months prior.

You held the back of your hand to your mouth as you yawned, still in your PJs. With a sigh you sat down in your computer chair, considered turning on your laptop, but decided against it.

Your phone sat on the desk and you reached for it in a lazy gesture, not really intending to give it much attention.

Your finger pressed on Instagram mostly out of habit. You started a Queen Fan Instagram a few months ago and had amassed a modest following, and you spent a lot of time on there now. You smiled when you saw that a few of your favorite artists had posted overnight.

Then, your inbox icon caught your eye. You had one new message waiting for you. You clicked on it, and found that it had come from one of your newer friends from the Queen Fandom. You opened the message and it was filled to the brim of barely coherent capital letters strung together.

Puzzled, you scrolled through the jumble of screaming and in a message towards the end of the DM there was a Youtube link surrounded by several thousand exclamation points.

Curiosity flooded you. Your mind mulled over what it could have possibly been. You tapped the link and were greeted with a message saying ‘Youtube has flagged this video as containing 18+ content, do you wish to continue?’

Your eyebrow rose. The thought to get your headphones briefly entered your mind, so you opened the drawer near you, and pulled them out. Your finger briefly hovered over the yes button, wondering if the video was a Rick Roll or something.

The next page to load was the Youtube video page. The video was titled ‘Master Stroke’ and your eyes widened when you saw it had 3 million views and a mess of likes. It was uploaded to Brian May’s official account and the description of the video simply said, ‘-Bri’. You considered scrolling down to the comments but decided against it.

Whatever this amazing thing was, you wanted to experience it properly.

You pressed play and the video began.

At first the camera lens zoomed in and out of focus and you could hear uncontrollable giggling that was unmistakably coming from Roger Taylor. You could see Brian’s form zooming in and out of focus as Roger tried to adjust the camera, his hand going over the camera lens every so often and causing the screen to black out for a moment.

“You’re going to have to leave,” Brian said, his voice stern. “It’s bad enough you roped me into this.”

“You did lose the bet fair and square Brian,” Came John Deacon’s voice from somewhere behind the camera.

Finally, Brian was in frame, and he was sat on his bed. Roger sounded as though he was beside himself with laughter.

“Deaky, just… please,” Brian blushed and looked over the camera to where the boys were most likely standing. “And shut the door on your way.”

John snorted at the request but you could hear him coaxing a hysterical Roger back out into the hallway and their voices became more distant. The sound of the door shutting caused Brian to put his attention on the camera instead.

His hazel eyes peered right into your own through the phone screen and you felt your excitement and curiosity rise. Was Brian going to play some song he hated on the Red Special perhaps? That did not explain the age gate but Youtube had been known to flag stranger things as 18+ before.

Brian cleared his throat and brushed his brown locks from the front of his face as if he was trying to stall time. He sniffed and then said, “Hello, folks. As you heard I had a wager going with Roger over one of our latest scrabble matches and I lost.”

Brian paused, pressed his lips together and stared up at the ceiling as though it was very interesting all of a sudden.

“Well, here goes nothing.”

You watched in awe and stunned silence as Brian laid himself down on his bed on his back, his face close to the camera. One of his legs dangled off the bed’s edge due to the strange angle not giving him enough room to stretch out, the other leg bent and he propped his foot up on the bed.

He glanced upwards over to the camera, his hair cradling his head. He took a deep breath and you watched as he slowly brought those thin fingers of his to the top of his button down shirt.

Slow and careful, one by one, Brian unbuttoned his shirt. You had not meant for it to happen but your phone was much closer to your face than it normally would have been.

Once all the buttons were undone, He slid his fingers down the patch of skin that was revealed all the way down to his navel and his breath caught in his throat. He whimpered and his eyes closed as he slid his hand down into his pants.

A groan escaped Brian’s lips and he bit down on his bottom one, his tongue slightly jutting out and his eyebrows knitted together. He began to moan and gasp as he moved his hand up and down his cock. You could not see it however, as the pants and boxers he wore were in the way.

It didn’t matter though. The shocking display continued. Brian’s eyelids fluttered and a raspy moan rumbled out of his chest and he began to tremble.

After another minute of this, he turned onto his side, his hand working furiously as he pumped back and forth. He began to curl around himself, swears coming out of him along with more gasps. He was straining against his pants but the constriction seemed to turn him on even more. His head tossed back again as a loud drawn out moan of “Ruh-Rog-ee-rrrr” escaped him, but it became obvious very quickly he had not meant to do that.

A deep blush covered Brian’s face and he curled up again, looking somewhere between embarrassed and on another plane of existence. He thrust along with his erratic hand movements, his hips snapping back and fourth without much rhythm. The rustling of his sheets and his deep moans filled your ears and you seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

With one last shout, Brian came undone. He whimpered and babbled as he rode his orgasm, curling up even more so as his hand slowed. Frantic hitched breaths continued for a moment while his hand slid out of his pants covered in cum. He looked down at his hand and lifted up his pants and underwear to see his load spreading up the lower part of his abdomen.

Brian  laid back down on his back, panting. He closed his eyes and stayed like that until someone began to knock on the door.

“Darling,” You heard the voice from behind the camera say. “Are you done your video? Roger’s lit the toaster on fire again and I need help.”

Brian let out a deep long sigh and replied, “Yeah, I’ll be right there Fred, give me a second.”

He sat up and glanced at the camera, his lips pressed together and his hand rubbed against his pants, mostly in vain. He got up, the video went black, and ended.

You sat in silence for quite some time, numb with shock and incredibly turned on. After a few moments of consideration, you copied the link, opened Instagram and messaged your friend who had an obsession with Brian, simply commenting, ‘You have to see this!’

[swisssadge]

Accidental kiss

JupiterGoddess here. This (longer than intended) fanfic is my entry for Yanan-e-Gemma’s fanfiction contest. Here’s the link: https://yananegemmalovefighters.tumblr.com/post/176438972325/contest And yup, I chose the picture with Seiya and Shaina. Enoy! n.n

It is amazing how easily things can turn out differently than originally intended.

Seiya and Shaina were strolling through Tokyo, having just finished their day at the Minerva College. A prestigious school owned by the influental and wealthy Kido family. Or to be more precisely, by the only heiress, Saori Kido, successor of her late grandfather Mitsumasa.

Dressed in their school’s uniform, consisting of a white shirts, blue skirts for the girls and black trousers for the boys, they chatted amiably as they walked through the bustling streets to the next train station. Being classmates and close acquaintances, they had more than enough topics to talk about; from their fellow classmates’ antiques, to the last exam they had written.

Shaina joked and laughed, giving herself relaxed and upbeat. Inside, however, a giddiness gnawed at her that she felt when being with Seiya. They had known each other for several years, but only recently had Shaina started to feel this… odd around him.

A few weeks ago, she had noticed that she had started to see Seiya differently. That she paid attention to little things, details, about him which she never had really heeded before. And whenever she was with him, butterflies started to swarm in her belly. A new and strange sensation, but none she disliked. And she had quickly realised what it was.

Shaina had fallen in love with him.

However, she had not yet told anybody about her feelings. Not even her best friend, Shaina. On one hand, Shaina was still trying to come to terms with her feelings. On the other, she had simply no idea how to approach him about them. Seiya was not unpopular with the girls. He was especially close to Miho, another classmate. They were not officially a couple, but everyone seemed to deem them a safe bet.

The only thing that helped Shaina keep her newly discovered jealousy in check was the fact that she got along very well with Miho, and that the blue-haired girl was as sweet and gentle as she was. Someone who cared about others, no matter who they were.

Shaina sighed inwardly. If this kept up, she would need to go to Marin for advice after all. Usually, the green-haired girl could be tough as nails, but in this matter, she seemed to be unexpectedly shy.

After a pause she said: „Thank you for lending me that DVD, Seiya. I can't believe it sold out so quickly.“

„Well, the movie is great“, the brown-haired boy replied with a light laugh. „And very, very popular.“

„Yeah, I heard that. It's a shame Marin and I missed it in theatres.“

This DVD was the reason why Shaina accompanied him, taking a detour to his place. It was Friday, and she and Marin had planned a movie evening tomorrow. They had chosen this particular movie because everyone told them how great it was. Luckily, Seiya had procured himself a copy of it. Apparently, it had been sold out days after it hit the shelves.

At the station, they boarded the train they needed. The usual commuter crowd surrounded them. After about ten minutes, they already reached their destination. Now it was only a handful more minutes walk to Seiya's place.

„So is it as good as everyone keeps saying?“, Shaina asked jokingly as they strolled through the quieter suburban streets.

„Well…“ Seiya grinned. „Considering I‘ve already watched it five times… I'd say yes.“

Shaina laughed shortly. „Five times? Wow. Then it must be even better than the rumours.“

„I leave that judgement to you.“

Suddenly, something hit the green-haired girl square on the forehead, making her flinch.

„What is it?“

Without her noticing, the clouds that had adorned the sky had closed to a grey expanse above.

„Oh no… please not now. I haven’t got my umbrella with me.“

Seiya followed her gaze.

„Uh oh… we better hurry.“

It was too late. Another rain drop hit Shaina. A third. A fourth. And before they knew it, the single drops had turned into rain.

„Come on, let’s go!“, Seiya beckoned the green-haired girl.

She needed no second invitation. As fast as they could, they ran towards the safety of Seiya’s flat. However, they couldn’t prevent getting soaked within moments. It was as if the sky had opened some kind of flood-gates.

When they reached the building in which Seiya’s flat was located, Shaina almost sighed with relief. However, she was still dripping wet from head to toes. Luckily, the blouse was made of cotton and not of silk or any other thin material. Otherwise, the situation would have turned out downright embarassing by now.

„Just great“, the green-haired girl grumbled and looked down at herself. „Now what do I do?“

„Well, I can at least get you a towel so you can dry yourself at least partially“, Seiya offered as he pushed the elevator button. „And an umbrella for your way home. But aside from that…“

„Well, that would already be helpful“, Shaina mumbled in a frustrated tone.

Seiya laughed lightly, a sound that sent the butterflies inside Shaina’s belly buzzing wildly. She dared not meet his gaze as they exited the elevator, walked along the corridor and Seiya opened the door to his flat with his keys.

„Come on in. Let’s get dry first.“

„Thanks.“

They walked inside, and Seiya closed the door behind them.

It wasn’t the first time Shaina had visited Seiya. Yet now, being here alone with him sent the butterflies in her belly into a frenzy all over again. The familiarity of the place helped only little.

It happened when Shaina took off her shoes.

She lifted her leg to take off the second one, balancing on one leg so she needn’t bend down. That was when Seiya made a step sideways to put his keys onto the small table next to the door – and accidentally bumped into her. Shaina lost her balance, fell against Seiya and together, they tumbled to the ground.

It didn’t hurt. Instead, she found her face only inches from his.

Shaina’s heart seemed to stop beating. The entire world actually seemed to stop. There were only those warm eyes of his, in their unique reddish-brown color.

Her lips seemed to move on their own. Or rather, hers and his seemed to get pulled towards each other like magnets. Before she knew what happened, their lips locked in an almost… hungry kiss.

A jolt of electricity coursed through her body. For a few seconds, her brain seemed incapable of comprehending what was happening. But it was all real. Here Shaina was, on the floor of Seiya’s flat, kissing him. His scent was manly, without being overly so, and had a touch of rain to it. A nice scent. A scent which had always been there, but which like so many things about Seiya, Shaina had only noticed at the edge of her consciousness. And his lips were good lips, firm yet with a touch of softness which made her want to nibble at them.

,I wish this could last forever.‘

Alas, it didn’t. Eventually, they had to break appart to gasp for air.

Sudden heat flared on Shaina’s cheeks, and she averted her eyes. Now that the magic moment had passed, she felt ashamed of herself.

„I-I’m sorry“, she managed to get out. „I shouldn’t have presumed…“

„Hey, don’t worry about it.“

His tone was so gentle, that Shaina looked at him in surprise.

„What? B-but…“

„It’s fine“, Seiya repeated with one of his intoxicating smiles. „I’m still single, if that’s what got you worried. And while I like Miho a lot, depsite what people say we’re no couple.“

„Oh…“

Shaina felt her cheeks grow warm again. And she felt ashamed to have jumped to conclusions so quickly.

„I should’ve been more aware of your feelings“, the brown-haired young man continued. „I am so sorry for my blindness. But, Shaina…“ His eyes gained an intensity that kept her eyes captive. „I am happy this happened. Because… I love you. I am in love with you for a while now, but I never knew how to approach you about it. If I had realised what you felt earlier…“

Shaina broke into a laugh. She hadn’t realised that she had been this tense, but that tension broke its way out of her. Relief made her head spin. Who would have guessed that Seiya had struggled with the same problems as her! Or that he carried the same feelings as her in the first place.

„There’s nothing to forgive, Seiya.“ She gave a quick kiss on his cheek. „I guess we have both been blind. And yes… I love you too. A lot.“

„Shaina…“

Their eyes bore into each other. And once again, their bodies moved as if on a silent agreement. All thought was abandoned. Instead, they kissed each other hungrily, on the lips, on the cheeks, on the necks. Shaina opened the top-most buttons of Seiya’s shirt and laid a hand on his warm chest. He, in turn, slid his hand beneath her blouse and stroked the bottom of her back. The touch sent chills down her spine.

„Do you really want it?“, Seiya asked in a husky voice.

„Yes. Yes. Yes.“ In her opinion, nothing more needed be said.

And what had begun as a simple lendig of a DVD turned into something much more than they both had bargained for.

[littlebonnieparker]

I love you @fayevalentin

this is shit but i just wanted to write you something cute and fluffy and with no strings attached for your bday. ilu hope you like this crack of poo haha

She’s bored and irritated and slightly angry, though not angry enough to punch the asshole talking her ear off. It’s the third party in one weekend Cosette has dragged her to, something about being adults and independent and ‘Isn’t college about parties!’. Personally, Eponine thought college was about busting her ass to keep her grades up and keep her scholarships, but Cosette was her best friend and roommate - there was no way to say no to the big doe eyes and pouting lips.

How had Mr. Valjean dealt with that all these years?

Because of her inability to resist Cosette (and Cosette’s crush on a cute little pledge for the fraternity they were currently partying at), she was now cornered by some senior biology major who couldn’t stop telling her how he was a biology major. His breath smelled of booze, the strong liquor she remembered from her father’s breath growing up and he was moving closer and closer to her as he talked her ear off. Eponine knew what he wanted - could see it in his eyes. She was fresh meat and this guy wanted to take advantage of her. But given that she only had soda in her cup, Eponine was sober enough to keep taking steps back. He asked her major and Eponine muttered something about being undecided, which prompted him to go on a tangent about how picking a major early was the only way to go. She could only roll her eyes and take another step back.

Straight into the slim back of another human being. 

The man turned around, a calm look in his icy eyes and Eponine took her chance.

“Hey you!” she said loudly, her voice echoing over the loud music. “Did you get lost going to get me a drink?”

The stranger stared at her, his eyebrow raised curiously as she continued on, going so far as to even wrap her arm around his and pull him close. 

“David, this is my boyfriend…”

Eponine’s voice fell as she glanced up at the stranger expectantly. He didn’t look stupid - in fact he had the whole fifth year senior hipster look down. His sweater was tight over a button up and the loose hair that would usually fall over his undercut was pulled back into a bun. Mixed with the horn rimmed glasses he looked like 78% of the rest of the student body. But his eyes were kind and one corner of his mouth ticked up into a smile that made Eponine copy the movement.

“It’s Enjolras,” he said smoothly, reaching out to shake the drunk boy’s hand. The action is sloppy, but the stranger, Enjolras she has learned, stays cool in the situation.

“Aren’t you the president of this frat?” 

Enjolras nodded and Eponine could only smile. Wow. She had good taste in fake boyfriends.

“I’m proud of him, you know,” she began, flirtily moving closer to Enjolras. There’s a cheer from somewhere else in the house and David can only mumble something about being bored. With his absence, Eponine sighed a deep breath of relief.

“So… are you going to tell me my girlfriend’s name?”

His voice surprised her, and she was even more shocked to realize that her arm was still linked with him. With a nervous laugh, Eponine pulled away, her hands staying busy pulling tread from the lining of her thin tee shirt.

“Sorry… He just wouldn’t let me breathe. I saw my chance and I took it. I’m Eponine.” 

—

She isn’t sure how many hours have passed, but she doesn’t want to leave when Cosette comes out of the house to find her. Enjolras had led her out to the garden to sit in the cool fall air and the sober conversation is better than anything else she could have experienced at the party. 

“I’ll be in the car, Eponine,” Cosette informed her, smirk on her lips as she left the two on the garden swing, hands near close to being held.

“You saved my life tonight,” Eponine exclaimed, genuine smile showing through the red lipstick on her lips. 

“I think that’s giving me too much credit. You could’ve handled that asshole on your own, I’m sure.”

Eponine can only laugh, and before she can stop herself she leaned closer and pressed her lips against Enjolras’s. Their kiss is quick and sweet and as much as Eponine wanted to deepen it, Enjolras pulled away first.

“I uh.. I don’t usually kiss girls on the first date,” he said, an awkward smile taking place of the confident smirk she had gotten used to.

“Didn’t you hear?” Eponine replied, standing up from the bench. “We’re already dating.” She winked at him - seemingly stealing the confidence he’d showed so readily earlier. Eponine strolled away after a beat, leaving a confused and enthralled Enjolras in her wake. 

(( it's not letting me tag uuuuuu @fayevalentin ))

[simplemlmsponsoring]

New Post has been published on http://simplemlmsponsoring.com/attraction-marketing-formula/blogging/how-to-promote-your-blog-to-grow-traffic-links-and-shares/

How to Promote Your Blog To Grow Traffic, Links, and Shares

Okay.

Don’t expect fluffy things that everyone knows.

Do a little survey.

I mean, a 13-year old blogger knows the importance of sharing a blog post on Facebook.

He does that all the time.

So, clear, I’m not telling you to:

Share on Facebook Tweet it Share on LinkedIn

You should do all that but here we’re talking about promoting your blog.

Now you have the liberty to expect some psychologically interesting ways to promote your blog.

Before I share those methods, I want to quickly reveal three basic things that will guarantee the success of following methods. Here are they:

Don’t be Salesy: That’s a big NO. You don’t have to do that. Salesy refers to the approach that is circling around getting sales. When it comes to blog promotion, you rather try to be beneficial for others than trying to impose your material. Jon Morrow talked about his strategy of no advertising in a recent article because he also believes that being salesy annoys readership.

Don’t push too much: There is a thin divider in between promotion and pushing too hard. And that divider is just an understanding. You must take care of whatever method of promotion you’re choosing to promote your blog that you’re not imposing content on the audience. Andre told in a video of YouTube Creator Academy that too much annotations on this video caused low CTR and when he removed the annotations, the conversion got better. It’s a fact people come to consume your content not ads. Make your delivery of value a priority.

Solve Problems: Before sharing your blog post on social media or sending the link in an email, ask yourself once, whether it’s going to help them or not. Once you’re pretty sure that it’s a problem solving material for the certain user, then go on with it.

Learning how to efficiently promote your content through your blog is the only way you can build a profitable online business. Without marketing yourself and your company, you can’t really establish yourself as an authority.

On top of that, if you can’t bring targeted traffic to your website, you are basically stuck. No readers, no subscribers, no sales. That is why it’s truly important to learn how to promote your content and reach out to a lot of audiences.

In today’s article we’ll take a look at 17 blog promotion techniques for promoting your content efficiently:

1. Write Awesome Content

No matter what promotion technique you use, trust me; you won’t succeed unless your content is high quality and provides enough value to the reader.

That’s the first rule of content marketing, and it should never be neglected. Good content means attention, attention means subscribers, and subscribers eventually mean sales.

Do complete research before writing your content.

Read different blogs, check question answer websites, related forums and watch videos to get in-depth knowledge about your topic.

Being a blogger, our main duty is to deliver the valuable content. So don’t deliver half-cooked content.

2. Reach Out to Similar Niche Blogs

A good way to promote your content is to get in touch with blogs within your niche. They shouldn’t be your direct competition, but more like “close neighbors” that can help each other.

Well, you can copy paste the article link and end the Google search query with site:twitter.com/facebook.com, or just put the link in quotes.

Ask them to share your content and promise to share back.

3. Purchase Influencer’s Voice

An influencer is usually a popular person, a public person, a company maybe, or someone who’s an expert in a specific field. These influences have the power to promote things to their big amounts of followers.

A big majority of influencers have social media accounts and can be approached. Depending on their “fame” or number of followers, negotiate a price and ask them to promote your links.

4. Study Influencers & Create Personalized Content

Let’s say that you have a marijuana blog.

Cannabis fans are all over the place, so it could be profitable to sell a book, t-shirts, tools, all cannabis related.

The most influential influencer for this niche would be Snoop Dogg. If you can create an amazing piece of content directed towards him, you have a chance.

He may notice your content and choose to share it to his big audience.

5. Submit your Blog Posts to Content Communities

There are many online content communities that you can take advantage of.

First of all, you have to create good content. Then, you got to register and list your content on the portal. Other interested blogs will take your content and share it with their audience.

You can also find individuals who are particularly interested in your content and they can become your loyal readers and customers.

6. Just Ask for Shares

Good bloggers understand the value of their audience. Whenever they want to make a blog post viral, they simply ask the audience for social shares.

If the content is good enough, there’s no problem with sharing it.

Being a human being, we do things when we are asked to do.

So at the end of the post ask your readers to share the content with their friends.

7. Use StumbleUpon Paid Tool

StumbleUpon paid discovery tool is a great tool to promote your content. Basically, you are pushing your blog posts towards a pretty huge network of readers.

These people are waiting to stumble upon interesting content. Using the paid advertising feature, you can target the audience you wish and get targeted traffic.

8. Social Sharing Buttons

At the end of your articles, images, videos, make sure that you make it easy for the viewer to share what he has just seen.

It’s all about making it very accessible for him. People don’t like wasting time on searching for options or copy pasting on their social profiles.

Blogging Cage is using Ultimate Social Deux plugin to have those awesome looking share buttons.

9. Infographics

Infographics are a great form of content that can bring thousands of potential customers towards your business. It is what the name says: graphics with information.

The good thing about Infographics is that they’re efficient and extremely shared within social media channels. Most of the professional Infographics become viral.

10. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engines can bring consistent targeted traffic if leveraged well. Good content is a big factor in the SEO practices.

It’s the same with social media shares, backlinks, and more other factors. If you’re first hearing about SEO, then you really need to do your homework before even attempting to create SEO strategies for your business.

Here is a small guide to learn SEO.

11. Forum Posting

Forum posting, or better called forum marketing, is often used by webmasters and marketers in order to leverage their promotion.

Forum posting consists of creating an authority profile within a niche forum and bring value through your replies.

The moment you gather enough authority and reputation, you can begin to promote your business through your forum signature or through links.

12. E-mail Marketing

Every successful online business has an e-mail list filled with subscribers. Those subscribers consume exclusive content every week and purchase products and services at the recommendation of webmasters (affiliate marketing).

You can do the same; start creating a list of e-mail subscribers and create an e-mail sequence that automatically sends content throughout the month or year.

Read: How to Get Your First 500 Subscribers in 48 Hours

13. Solo Ads

Solo ads are also a widely used technique of promoting content. You must approach certain individuals: blog owners, solo ads companies, and/or influencers and ask them to feature you into their e-mail sequence.

Alternatively, you can sometimes even get the information of the people (e-mails, details, etc.) and you’ll be able to promote yourself through your own e-mail.

14. Video Marketing

Videos are awesome traffic machines. First, you have to create them, then post them, and then rank them.

The moment you finish these three steps, you are guaranteed to get passive traffic for a long time. By the way, videos can have a great impact on your blog traffic and sales.

Just link your website details on the description side of the video and wait for the traffic to roll in.

15. Pay Per Click (or PPC)

Google Adwords, Bing Ads, even Facebook Ads are pay per click platforms that help marketers reach extremely targeted audiences.

It usually works like this: you will choose a specific keyword phrase like “red dresses New York” and choose the target audience. In this case, you’ll look for people around New York that interested in red dresses.

With Facebook ads for example, instead of focusing on click behavior, you are selecting your audience based on interests. It’s the same with Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

16. Quora & Yahoo Answers

Question and answers portals like Quora and Yahoo Answers are another good source of traffic. People all over the world try to fix their problems by asking questions online.

You can be the one who answers and leads them to a high quality article of yours that will let them solve their issues.

Be careful not to look like a marketer or spammer. Provide as much value as you can and think about your reputation

Let’s dig in.

17. Use the Power of Social Media Profiles

Did someone ever tell you this?

I don’t think so.

What you might have seen is people come to Facebook and Twitter to share their articles and walk away.

Is that you think called social media sharing?

I doubt that.

Forget about sharing for a sec.

You might come to know about RELATION BUILDING and HELPING OTHERS on social media. It’s all true. You should do that. But before even getting started, you need to do one thing…

And that is IMPROVING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES.

What does it mean? (You’re thinking now…)

It means following things must be showing off your blog’s URL nice and clean.

Cover Image: Have you ever heard about people who don’t even bother to look at the link mentioned somewhere in your profile? All they look at are two things. 1) Display Picture, 2) Cover Image. You better make a clean and superb cover image with your site’s URL on. Check out mine if you don’t believe me.

Website Link: You got to be kidding if you say that you haven’t added it yet. It’s the most appropriate and suitable chance to put your blog’s link out there on social media. Utilize it when Facebook is giving you a chance to do that.

Your Bio: This comes handy too. You have to write your small bio data in this section but you can sneakily end your bio with a certain call-to-action statement with a URL of your about page at the end.

18. Participate in Discussions

This is no technical thing.

You need to be a human, though.

Luckily, we all are.

The blog promotion doesn’t always mean that you’re shamelessly putting your links everywhere and spamming around the social media. Be advised, you’re there to build connections and develop long-term relationships with the audience. So, help people out with your suitable answers or valuable comments. Share what you’ve seen or learned.

Always tell them the truth. Make sure you’re jumping over to everyone’s Facebook wall to comment. You must know when someone writes on Facebook as a status or share (an article) with a note at the top, most of the times, he/she expects friends to check it out and give feedback. The idea of sharing is definitely based on being social with connected people and friends.

So, participate and tell them what you know or think. When you share some stunning that helps others, it always attracts people to talk to you or get connected with you.

This is something you should be pursuing. I use BrainyQuote website to get quotations and make quotation graphics on Canva.com to share on social media. My friends love it.

19. Share Others’ Content

Now, most of the bloggers think that why they need to share others’ content when they have their own to share.

What they don’t see is that what lies in it.

Don’t be an introvert who doesn’t think outside the box.

In today’s social media world, the only legit way to earn respect and love is by giving respect and love. It’s my first-hand experience, though. When I was stuck around 700 Twitter followers and they were not increasing, the only thing I did was started giving value. I started sharing others’ content.

Did you know what happened afterward?

I crossed 900 followers mark now. And it’s growing.

This lesson of GIVING I learned from one of my favorite books ‘GIVE AND TAKE‘ written by Adam Grant.

Although, it was the only book that I bought so far (I want to be honest with you)…

But I started making a list of books to read after this one.

When I applied that lesson of GIVING into my twitter campaign, it really worked.

You know, a good way of getting connected with like-minded bloggers and to share their content is Triberr. You will find a number of bloggers and their articles to share. Always share to help, not to just share. You might not want to upset your Facebook friends and Twitter followers with bombarding their walls with your sharing.

20. Link to Relevant Content

You won’t believe this.

Linking to relevant content seems to be a promotional activity to promote others.

It is, actually.

But linking to the relevant and the most helpful content out there that could help your audience.

How?

Two reasons for that:

When the author (you’ve linked to) will find out about that, that person is likely to check out what did you write and how you have linked out. So, that earns you a visitor, plus, a chance to increase your one subscriber. Maybe, you make a connection there or reach out to a prospective customer. When readers find out that you have linked to a reference that talks like or authenticates your point, it makes you an authority in their eyes. In fact, if all that content does help the audience, you earn a lot of credit for that. Trust me, you do.

21. Repurpose Your Articles

One of the ways of promoting your blog is by repurposing your content.

Don’t be sad, please.

I’m here to explain.

The concept of content repurpose is that using the same great content you have worked on and turning into another form. It doesn’t have to be a cheeky or complex process.

Take  what you need and leave the rest.

The content marketers and brands are doing this.

You can convert a long article into an infographic, or maybe a YouTube video, or maybe a Slideshare deck.

The options are just incredible.

Imagine, your next article goes to YouTube, Pinterest, and Slideshare at the same time.

Would that effect the main article ranking?

Hell yeah.

What if your article doesn’t do well and the same infographic goes viral, then would you do the process again?

I’m sure you will think about repurposing the content.

Megan Marrs is certainly smarter than me. She wrote a whole article on content repurposing last year.

You can republish your articles on Linked Pulse and Medium as well.

22. Mention in YouTube Videos Description

If you’re a YouTube video maker (which you should), then you can add up your related articles links and even blog URL in the description. You must check default uploads settings on your YouTube channel.

The idea is, YouTube takes you in front of a newer audience. The chances are, most of your YouTube subscribers or first-time viewers are not your blog subscribers. So, they might come over to read your blog.

The mission is to promote your blog.

YouTube does the job.

In fact, YouTube recommended default uploads to the regular uploaders. If you’re not comfortable with those long and filthy links, then use the URL shortener like Bitly to do the job.

23. Leave Valuable Comments on Others’ blogs

This might interest many of you.

Be advised. Don’t be considered a spammer by leaving a comment like “Nice Article”…

Everybody knows what that means.

So, please don’t leave that type of short comments with your blog link.

Do you know what a comment can do for you?

It could earn you so much respect.

The comment is your chance to put your best views out there in front of many other people.

You don’t know who is going to read that!

A long time ago, when I first pitched a guest post to GrowMap blog, Gail Gardner accepted it saying that one of your guest posts has the comment from authority bloggers that she knows personally. At that point, I realized the importance of comments.

So, guys, always take care when you comment.

This happens when you put so much energy into it.

Energy means value here.

24. Describe Content While Sharing

If  you think sharing your article’s link on social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ would do the job then you’re mistaken. It won’t.

Whether you have the rich snippet feature on your blog or not, something else needs to be done. People think adding a plugin that creates a rich snippet while sharing the content does the job. Well, a rich snippet might display an image with the article title but it doesn’t explain to your followers that what this article is all about.

This is the job that you have to do.

Similarly, Twitter has developed the Twitter Cards feature to deal with it. Schema is used for search results display improvement for your WordPress site. All these options help improve the user-experience through an explanation.

This tells us how important describing your content is.

So write a two or more lines along with your sharing on social media, so that people get an idea of what this content is all about. They don’t want to risk their next 15 minutes on your sharing. There is something else, it actually shows that you have read it and that’s why you know what inside it.

25. Utilize Live Streaming

One of hottest things on the internet in 2016 is live streaming. I have seen Darren Rowse utilizing the power of live streaming. In fact, many other experts do the same but as far as blog promotion is concerned he does it very well.

The best thing that Darren does, is a sort of on-demand blog promotion. People asks him the question and he answers them, whereas sometimes he answers and refers to check the previously posted content on his blogs.

You can use Facebook Live, Periscope, or YouNow for social live streaming.

I found live streaming as one of the best engagement and promotional ways on the internet.

There might be many other options to utilize such as YouTube live streaming or Snapchat these days but if you don’t understand the essence of sharing value, and rather target your blog post sharing then it’s not going to work.

Consider promotion a byproduct of the value you deliver.

26. Build a Community of Like-minded People

There is no better way of promoting your blog than building a community of people. The idea behind should be forming a community that contributes to each other rather than promoting our content. When we do that, we ultimately build connections that pay attention on whatever community members publish.

Aha-Now is a good example of forming a community of like-minded people.

A variety of bloggers have joined this community site and they share their content. Not only do they share but also try to read and comment on others’ blogs.

It could be a closed facebook group as well where like-minded people come together to discuss blog related things.

Once I pitched that idea to a couple of Facebook friends and they liked it but we couldn’t start it.

If you want to build a long-term relation with your blog audience, or, in fact, want to bring a new audience in, I would recommend establishing the community of that sort.

Have you seen BloggingCage Facebook group?

I’m actually a big fan of ‘The Freedom to Freelance Project‘ by Leah Kalamakis.

Do something like that.

Your Part

I have tried to share some of the best blog promotion ways that I could possibly share.

I have learned this in my 6 years of blogging that whenever you share something, bring the best out of you.

When it does change someone’s life, they will always come back to give you credit, somehow.

And the last but not least, promote not to just promote, do it whatever helps others.

Just be there for others. If you’re writing, write to benefit others, if sharing, share to help others, once you start doing that, your online brand’s growth will start increasing perpetually.

If you have some cool ways to promoting a blog, I’d love to read in the comments below.

Share it with us.

The post How to Promote Your Blog To Grow Traffic, Links, and Shares appeared first on Blogging Cage.

Read more: bloggingcage.com

[devilsmagic]

more than just a game for two   

Identical twins Amy and Iris were separated at birth and adopted into different families. When the girls are sent to the same summer camp, they discover the truth and hatch a plan to bring Amy’s single mother and Iris’ widowed father together. The girls switch places but their plan quickly goes awry when someone new enters Amy’s mother’s life.

AKA the Garcy Parent Trap AU nobody asked for.

AO3 link

The sun was merciless as it beat down on the young girl and her mother. It was a sticky heat, coating their skin with a thin layer of sweat. But the woman didn’t care as she pulled the girl closer, arms wrapped tight around her daugher’s body.

“Oh my god, Mum,” Amy groaned as she let her arms go limp. “Too. Hot. Can’t. Breathe.”

Lucy reluctantly let go. “You’d think I’d get used to this after so many years. But I’m not. I’m going to miss you.”

“l’ll miss you, too,” the girl smiled, her green eyes shiny with the tears she was trying to swallow down. “But I’ll be home soon.”

Amy gave her mother another quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before rushing away, large duffel bag in tow. Lucy watched as her daughter walked right up to a large girl in a tie-dye shirt and introduced herself. Lucy heard her ask her new friend about their poker skills and laughed, knowing she would likely be getting a call from the camp director in no time.

After Amy had disappeared from view, Lucy got back into her car and took a few deep calming breaths. It would only be seven weeks before she saw her daughter again, and in the meantime she knew her little girl was going to be learning the necessary skills to be a strong, independent woman. But the pang in her heart didn’t let up.

Her phone rang, “Jiya” flashing bright on the screen. Lucy smiled, knowing that they would have their traditional “when the kid’s away, Lucy can play!” night out tonight. There was no amount of begging that would convince Jiya to let her stay in for the night.

Hitting the little green icon, Jiya’s voice filled the car as Lucy pulled away from her spot, a rental car taking her place.

The little girl that got out of the car was a carbon copy of the child that had stood in that exact spot mere minutes earlier. The same shining green eyes and dirty blonde hair, button nose wrinkling at the dank smell of earth and unwashed animals.

“This is where Mum spent her summers?” the girl asked as she scanned the area. The brown wooden structures with fading green roofs, young girls of all ages running around in matching white tee-shirts, the camp logo sewn on their breasts, and matching green shorts.

“Yes, it is. She used to tell me stories about her time here. I think it’ll be good for you,” a tall man replied. His shadow was long and Iris moved to stand beneath it, using it as a shield against the unforgiving sun.

“You mean Uncle Gabe thinks it’ll be good for me?” A sly grin spread across her face.

“Don’t get smart with me, young lady.”

The grin grew and Garcia felt his lips smile in return.

“Okay, let’s check the list. Sunblock?”

“Check!”

“Insect repellent?”

“Check!”

“Stationery?”

“Check!”

“Family photos?”

“Check, check and check!”

He paused and raised an eyebrow. “Three checks?”

Iris laughed. “I have three photos!”

Garcia leaned down and pulled her into a long, hard hug. The girl returned the embrace, stuffing her face into the space between her father’s neck and shoulder, small hands gripping his shirt tight. Although Garcia often travelled for work, this was the first time they would be separated for longer than a few days.

Giving his daughter a kiss on the top of her head, he let her go. Iris looked down at the floor, right foot digging into the dirt. Garcia curled a finger underneath her chin and lifted it until they were face to face.

“Volim te, moja najdraža.”

“I ja volim tebe isto, Tata.”

“Have fun, okay? If you need anything, call me.”

He pulled her into another hug before stepping away. Giving her a reassuring smile, he got into the rental and watched in the rear view mirror as Iris hesitated before grabbing her bag and walking away.

The first few days were full of near misses. The girls would go into the showers seconds after the other; one would leave the cafeteria just before the other entered. It wasn't until halfway through the first week that both of their cabins were scheduled for fencing together.

The girls were outfitted in nylon jackets and wire-mesh masks as they all stood together in a muddled bunch.

Amy swung her foil as if it were an extension of her body. She’d never fenced before but she’d dragged her mother to enough self-defence classes that she was confident with the sword. She was on a winning streak, having beaten her previous two bouts when Iris volunteered to be her next opponent.

The two girls met in the middle of the mat and bowed to each other. Amy immediately went on the offensive, thrusting her sword towards Iris who faltered and parried in the nick of time. The attack was frenzied and Amy grinned behind her mask, thinking that she had the upper hand. She feinted left before going right, but Iris seemed to know what she was doing. Their swords met as Iris deflected the hit. Amy tried to knock the foil from Iris’ hand but Iris spun and evaded Amy’s blade.

The other girls clapped and cheered, delighted at the display, while Iris thrust towards Amy who parried, sweeping both their swords in a circle and bringing the two girls chest to chest. They separated and paused for a moment, catching their breaths, before Amy ran at the other girl who knowingly waited for the right moment to take a lithe step to her right.

Amy couldn’t stop her momentum and found herself running right past Iris. She turned quickly, just in time to see Iris lunge. Taking a step back, Amy fell right into a perfectly placed water trough. The water immediately soaked her clothes and Amy could feel it seeping right into her underwear.

The cheering turned to laughter and Amy could feel blood rushing to her cheeks, darkening them to an embarrassed shade of red.

“Oh god, I am so sorry,” Iris walked over, holding out a hand to help pull Amy from the trough.

Smirking beneath her mask, Amy grabbed Iris’ hand and pulled with all her might. The other girl landed beside her and Amy felt a slick sense of satisfaction as she watched Iris’ white uniform dampen.

They scrambled to get out of the deep trough, facing away from each other as they pulled off their masks. Iris tried to wring the dirty water out from her long hair as Amy smirked, cheeks still red. The camp counsellor in charge tried to calm the situation, declaring Iris the winner and urging the girls to amicably shake hands. They turned to each other, angry and embarrassed, only to catch sight of their mirror image.

They froze, hands outstretched but not touching.

Amy took a step forward, slipped her hand into Iris’ and shook it once. The other girls crowded around as a tense silence permeated the air.

In that moment, Amy and Iris took an instant dislike to each other. They spent the next few days trying to one up each other; prove that they were the alpha lookalike. Insults were thrown and a prank war ignited.

Iris lost a bet and was made to jump into the lake in the middle of the night, while Amy ran off with her clothes. All the bunks in Amy’s cabin suddenly disappeared from the cabin only to find new homes on the roof.

Shoes were filled with honey, shaving cream sprayed onto pillowcases, the floor oiled, and twine was tied around a bedpost before being wound around Iris’ room in the middle of the night.

A prank goes wrong and a bucket of Hershey’s syrup is dumped on the camp director’s head.

In an effort to bring peace, the two girls were thrown together in an isolation bunk.

“We’ve got six weeks left at camp and you two are going to spend every glorious one of them together,” the director growled. “You’ll eat together, bunk together and do all of your activities together. Either you’ll find a way to get along or you’ll punish yourself better than I ever could.”

But still, their hatred for each other did not waver. The two girls spent their time together in silence, only looking at each other when the situation was dire. They ate their meals, participated in their activities, prepared for bed without a single word being passed between them.

It took a few days and a storm before their icy relationship began to thaw.

A raucous wind was playing a rock concert outside their cabin as Amy and Iris prepared for bed, when a sudden gust blew their door wide open. Amy had been decorating her bunk with photos from home when the images flew into the air. She screamed, rushing to pick them back up before they could be ruined, and Iris ran to slam the door, latching it shut.

Iris sat cross legged on her bed, warily eyeing Amy as she tried to salvage her photos.

“Are any of your pictures ruined?” Iris asked.

Amy looked up and showed her a torn magazine cropping. “Only the beautiful Amandla Stenberg.”

“Oh, your friend from home?”

“Yeah, right. I wish,” Amy gave Iris a look. “You’ve never heard of her?”

“No, never.”

Amy cocked her head to the side. “Where are you even from?”

“Croatia, which is 6,815 kilometers away. That's about 4,235 miles. But sometimes it feels so much further. How far away is your home?”

“California is on the other end of the country,” she handed Iris one of her photos. “This is my house. It’s a little small but it has this this incredible porch with rocking chairs.”

“It’s pretty,” Iris ran her finger down the side of the image. “Who’s that?”

“Oh, that’s my Mum. She didn’t know I was taking the picture otherwise she would have turned around. She’s kinda like my best friend. We do everything together.”

Goosebumps rose along Iris’ arms and she tried to rub them away.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she replied through gritted teeth. “It’s a little chilly in here, that’s all.”

Amy took a long look at Iris before reaching into her duffel bag and pulling out a packet of Oreos.

“Do you want one?” she asked.

“Sure, thank you. I love Oreos. Back home, I eat them with peanut butter.”

Amy gasped. “So do I!”

“You’re kidding? Most people think it’s disgusting!”

“I know, I don’t get it.”

“Me either.”

The girls laughed together. Amy reached back into her duffel and pulled out a small jar of peanut butter, causing the girls to fall deeper into hysterics. When they calmed down, Amy opened the jar and they took turns dipping an Oreo into the peanut butter.

“What’s your Mum like?”

Iris stuffed a peanut butter coated cookie into her mouth to buy herself some time.

“I don’t have a mother. I mean, I had one, once. But she died when I was 5. Dad talks to me about her all the time, but it’s not the same.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Amy uttered, offering the other girl a small smile.

“It’s okay.”

“I don’t really have a dad. My parents split up when I was a baby. He calls me every now and then, but he’s one of those types that say ‘I’ll talk to you later, honey’ but then never does.” Amy shrugged.

They continue eating in silence for a few more minutes before Iris couldn’t stand the quiet.

“How old are you?”

Amy didn’t bother to swallow before replying that she’d be twelve on October 11th.

Iris choked on her own mouthful. “So will I.”

“Your birthday is October 11th, 2009? How weird is that?”

“Very,” Iris studied Amy as the girl stuffed another peanut butter Oreo in her mouth.

“I’m really thirsty; do you feel like walking with me to the canteen to get a drink?”

“Will you stop thinking about your stomach at a time like this?”

“At a time like what?” Amy furrowed her eyebrows.

Iris sighed, loudly. “Don’t you realise what’s happening? Don’t you find it a little strange that we both look so much alike and have the same birthday? Amy, are you adopted?”

Amy dropped the last Oreo on the floor. “What?”

“Are you adopted?”

“You can’t just ask a girl if they’re adopted, Iris!”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Amy looked into green eyes the exact same shade as her own. “Yes.”

“So am I.”

The girls stared at each other. They were the same height, had the same tone of voice, the same competitive spirit, same hair and eyes…

“Oh. Hold on, so if we’re both born on October 11th and we’re both adopted, do you think we’re like, sisters?”

“Sisters? Amy, I think we’re twins!”

Amy laughed hard, but before long tears came to her eyes. Iris’ own filled in response and soon enough the two girls were embracing, fitting perfectly into each other’s arms. Two halves of a whole.

“I’m a twin? There’s two of me! I mean, two of us? Wow. I think I need to sit down,” Amy plopped onto the end of Iris’ bed and Iris followed suit. “Can I see your toes?”

“Eww,” Iris laughed before slipping her sneakers off.

Kicking her own shoes off, they compared their feet.

“Identical! Hands?”

They hold out their hands which are identical right to the beauty mark on their right thumbs.

“What’s your favourite colour?”

“Mint green.”

“Well there had to be some difference,” Amy laughed. “Mine is blue. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

“Pizza, 100%.”

“Topped with?”

“Olives, green peppers and anchovies,” they said at the same time.

“Oh my god, we really are twins.”

The rain stopped and the bell rang for lunch, but the girls didn’t move. All throughout lunch and their day’s activities, they shared everything about their lives.

“Tell me about your mum,” Iris asked as Amy shovelled dinner into her mouth. “What’s she like?”

“She’s amazing. She’s a history professor at Stanford University.”

“That’s so cool, I love history.”

“Really? I don’t,” Amy laughed. “She’s up for tenure soon. I don’t know what that means but she’s really stressed about it.”

“She sounds awesome.”

“She is.”

It was in the middle of the night when Iris had her eureka moment. Amy had been  in the middle of a very pleasant dream when Iris turned on the light and woke her up.

“Amy, did your mum ever remarry? After what happened with your dad?”

“No, she hasn’t even really dated. She says that one heartbreak was enough and that I give her the only love she needs.”

“Dad hasn’t dated either. Do you know what this means?”

“Not really? You’re obviously the older one, you get everything before me. What does it mean?”

“It means that if we play our cards right, we could be real sisters!”

“Aren’t we already real sisters?”

“Well yes, but no. I am such a genius,” Iris exclaimed as she paced the tiny cabin.

“What are you raving about?”

“You’ve never had a real dad right?”

Amy bit her lip, “no.”

“And I’ve never really had a mother. So what I’m thinking is…Oh man, this is so brilliant, it’s scary.”

“Out with it already.”

“I think we should switch places. When camp’s over, I leave as you and go back to California and you go to Dubrovnik!”

“That is definitely not going to work.”

“What do you mean? Of course it’ll work! We’re twins, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, twins from different countries, with different accents, different hair-styles, different vocabularies... different everything. Iris, we're totally and completely, one hundred percent different.”

“I fail to see the problem. I’ll teach you to be me and you teach me to be you!”

“You’re going to teach me to speak Croatian in four weeks?”

“Yes! Or at least as much as you’ll need to know to get by. I speak English with my dad and you can get to most places in Dubrovnik speaking English. The thing is, if we switch then sooner or later they’ll have to un-switch us.”

Amy began to catch on to what Iris was saying. “And when they do, they’ll have to meet.”

“Exactly. They can get to know each other, fall madly in love and just like that we can be real sisters!”

“Wow.”

“I told you I’m brilliant.”

The plan began to form. The girls started by immediately switching roles at camp – they began to wear each other’s clothes, hand out with each other’s friends, etc. They gave each other crash courses on their families, their homes, their habits.

Iris had to learn to bite her nails while Amy had to learn Croatian. Iris’ hair got the snip and she had to suffer through Amy punching holes in her ears.

“This is so unfair,” she moaned as Amy approached with a sewing needle.

“This was your great idea,” Amy muttered, no hesitation as she stuck the needle through Iris’ ear.

Before they knew it, camp was over and all their hard work was about to be put to the test. They spent their last few minutes together testing each other, making sure they didn’t forget anything.

“Iris Flynn, your car is here! Iris Flynn!” a counsellor called.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” Amy said as she gave Iris a quick hug and stepped towards the waiting car.

[megsblackfirewrites]

The Thorns of My Rose Chapter 1: Proposal

AO3 link: The Thorns of My Rose - Chapter 1: Proposal

“Fanmail,” Sombra teased as she dropped the stack of envelopes onto Gabriel’s table. “Everyone just loves their bad boy, don’t they?”

Gabriel snorted at Sombra before he picked up the letters. The mail was always fun to read and he loved hearing from his fans. It was reassuring that they loved his work no matter what strange combination he tried out. Sure he was having fun, but it didn’t mean anything if the people he was trying to entertain didn’t like it.

One letter caught his eye and he picked the datapad up. It was a bulky piece of equipment, designed to be able to withstand the hardest drops, making it perfect for delivery by mail. Whoever wrote this had a pretty penny to spare as the damn things weren’t cheap. He turned the datapad on and started reading.

‘Dear Reaper,                                                                                                                            

My name is Hana Song and I absolutely love your music. It’s amazing to have playing in the background when I’m streaming and I know I’ve directed a lot of my viewers to your albums. You’re a huge inspiration to me and my friends and I have a small request to make.’

Below the first paragraph was a picture of a diverse group of kids all flashing peace-signs at the camera. There was a little arrow pointing to the East Asian girl in the center with pink marks on her cheeks and read “me” underneath. Gabriel smirked as he scrolled down a little further. He almost dropped the datapad in shock at the man lifting an eyebrow at the cameraman and, by extension, Gabriel.

Snow white hair covered the man’s head, but it was starting to recede around his crown. Brilliant blue eyes stared at him from behind wire-rim glasses and his dark eyebrows made them pop even more. His lips were thin, the top one cut into and pulled pack over his eye tooth by an old scar. A much larger and redder scar cut through most of his face, running from just above his left eyebrow and down across his nose.

The man was gorgeous and Gabriel was having a hard time looking away from the man. He generally tried to stay away from white boys after the heartbreak he’d experienced in his youth, but this one was captivating, more so than the dumb blonds that seemed to dominate the mainstream media. He wanted to know more about him and Hana Song was certainly about to deliver.

‘This is Jack Morrison, my music instructor. I know he looks like a fuddy-duddy, but he’s probably one of the sweetest men I know. He believes in us, even when the other teachers make us feel small and insignificant. He has an open-door policy and anyone that takes his classes know that he’d drop everything if they needed a shoulder to cry on.

He’s absolutely amazing and he loves you music too! He doesn’t like to go into details, but shortly after he got blown up while serving in the army, he was in a really dark place. Your music helped him to get his feet back on the ground and get his life in order again. Which finally brings me to my request; could I have a copy of the sheet music for ‘Thorns of My Rose’ tailored to the piano?

Jack promised us that if we could get him a copy of it, he’d play it at the next recital. It would blow everyone’s mind and we know he’d be amazing at it. So, if you could send a copy back to me that would be fantastic.

Thanks in advance regardless of what you choose.

Hana Song’

Jack Morrison; it couldn’t be, could it? It had been years since he’d seen him, but not long enough for Jack to be snow-haired. There were likely thousands of blue-eyed white boys with the name Jack Morrison in the country who had served their country and been blown up. Still, may as well exploit what delight he could from the whole ordeal.

Gabriel smiled and handed the datapad off to Sombra to read. She whistled and flipped the picture of Jack Morrison up off the datapad, grinning as she saved it. She waggled her eyebrows at Gabriel before scrolling down further.

“I can get her that music if you want,” Sombra said as she handed the datapad back. “Shouldn’t take too long.”

“Please do,” Gabriel smiled. “I am interested in this request.”

“Go figure,” Sombra smirked as she brought up the picture of Jack again. “Mmm, now that’s a good looking man.”

Gabriel waved her off and started writing out his reply to Hana.

‘Dear Hana Song,

Thank you for the letter. I greatly enjoy hearing from my fans and I’m happy to hear that you and your friends enjoy my music. I am more than willing to entertain your request. I just have two conditions…’

“Mr. Morrison has to sing the lyrics while he plays and I want a video sent to me,” Hana laughed as she read Reaper’s response to the class. “Best regards, Reaper.”

Hana shot Jack a huge grin and she watched him roll his eyes. He had been smiling since Hana started reading the short response. He was just as excited to play one of his favourite songs as everyone else was and to have the sheet music come from Reaper himself was amazing. Even the request to sing didn’t seem to faze him and Jack rarely sang to anyone but his class.

“Is there a threat to hunt you down if you don’t send the video?” Jack teased as he got to his feet.

“Nope,” Hana grinned before she downloaded the sheet music to her tablet and printed them off the printer in the corner of the room. “This is so cool! Reaper is the greatest man ever!”

Jack let out an odd noise of agreement as he picked the sheet music up. He tapped on his thigh as he headed for his precious piano, humming along to the music playing in his head. Hana and Jesse grinned at each other before they hurried to grab their guitars in case Jack needed to hear something other than his piano.

“And my blood was never as red as when I touched the thorns of my rose,” Jack sang as he sat down at the bench.

“You’re singing it like a love song,” Jamieson wrinkled his nose.

“I always thought it was one,” Jack smiled. “A very sad love song, one about the loss of something precious.”

“So some girl’s virginity,” Fareeha rolled her eyes and rested her saxophone against her thigh.

“Oh, nothing so mundane,” Jack teased. “No, I always saw it as a lament over the loss of someone’s love. Perhaps a harsh fight that happened because of his ‘rose’.”

Hana frowned and tilted her head as Jack scratched at his chin. She could have sworn she heard him say “but I did always prefer carnations”. That didn’t make any sense, but maybe it meant something to him?

“Alright, let’s see how this baby sounds on piano,” Jack chuckled.

Gabriel barely had time to properly wake up as his Twitter feed went crazy. He checked to see what the chaos was about and followed the link Hana Song had left for him. Apparently, she had decided to livestream the entirety of her school’s concert with the one hour mark carefully flagged for “Jack Morrison and ‘The Thorns of My Rose’”.

He had five minutes to set his television up to watch the performance and get himself something to drink. He sat down just as a blue-clad figure strode out onto the stage just behind a piano. Gabriel swallowed, staring at the snowy haired man. Fuck, he was a dead ringer for his golden boy, but he had to focus. No point in focusing on something that wasn’t going to happen.

Jack Morrison sat down on the bench and flicked the tail of his coat behind him. The man had gone full formal, looking like something off of a Broadway musical rather than a music teacher. Gabriel smiled as Jack Morrison started playing ‘Moonlight Sonata”, silencing the cheers and whistles instantly.

Jack Morrison had clearly played this piece a lot. There wasn’t a moment’s hesitation in his movements and the music never faltered. Gabriel tapped the chords on his knee, humming along to the beautiful music. The song came to an end and the audience cheered and clapped.

The screen went black for a moment before returning with a much closer image of Jack Morrison. A girl with spiky brown hair was grinning as she helped set up a microphone. Jack adjusted it a few times before thanking her and shooing her off the stage. The girl flashed thumbs up at the camera before hurrying off.

Jack Morrison set his shoulders back before he started playing ‘The Thorns of My Rose’. The first twenty seconds were just the deep notes of the piano before Jack Morrison lifted his mouth to the microphone.

Gabriel almost dropped his glass in shock as his golden boy’s deep voice echoed through his living room. He stared at the screen, his heart in his throat as Jack, his Jack, sang the heart-broken song almost like he had been in the studio when Gabriel originally recorded it. He let out a stuttered breath before he pushed his face into his hands.

He reminded himself to breathe, sucking air in through a very tight throat. Jack’s voice had never sounded more beautiful. He was hitting each note perfectly, his fingers playing the melody as if it had always been meant for the piano.

When he finished, Gabriel was in tears. He wiped angrily at his face, listening to the crowd go wild as Jack flexed his fingers. He heard Hana shouting for Jack to give his adoring fans a smile. Gabriel looked up as Jack turned to face the camera. His face had changed, but that beauty was still there.

Jack smiled, a mischievous little smirk that Gabriel knew all too well and stuck his tongue out. There, sitting in the middle of his tongue, was a steel barbell with a raven on top. Tears poured down Gabriel’s face as his gift to Jack before he left on his first deployment overseas vanished back between his pale lips.

It took him almost a half-hour to recover. He toyed with his phone as he turned off the television, staring at the number on the screen. He took a deep breath and hit the “dial” button, pressing the phone against his ear.

“Good evening, Bloomington’s Finest Flowers,” a man answered.

“I have a special deliver I’d like you to make tomorrow,” Gabriel said. “You do still do deliveries, right?”

“Of course,” the man laughed. “Wouldn’t still be in business if I didn’t. Now, what can I get for you?”

Gabriel smirked. “How’s your Spanish?”

Jack came to a dead stop as he stepped into his classroom. Sitting on his desk was a bouquet of brilliant red and blue carnations in a stunningly gorgeous vase. His students were looking at him expectantly, practically bursting with excitement. He chuckled and closed the door behind him.

“Okay, which one of you brats did this?” he teased as he set his books down on the desk.

“They were here when we arrived!” Hana shouted. “Honest!”

“I find that hard to believe,” Jack chuckled as he lifted the head of a blue carnation and took a deep breath. “Mmm, but I do love carnations.”

He spotted the tag and plucked it from the green stems, turning it over to read. His breath caught in his throat and he stared at the neat writing.

“To: Mi sol perdido

From: Tu luna perdida”

Jack felt tears burning his eyes and he smiled. He set the tag down on his desk and picked up one of the red carnations. He snipped back the stem with his scissors, ignoring the confused looks he was getting from his students, and slipped the flower behind his ear. He touched the petals fondly, pretending for a moment that he was far away from Indiana and in the arms of his lover. He took a deep breath and returned to the present, immediately starting his class as if nothing had happened.

There was a message waiting on his phone when he got home. The number was private and he was tempted to delete it, but curiosity won out. He was happy that he did decide to play it.

“Hey, Jack,” Gabriel’s voice filled his living room. “Um, I realize this might be strange to you. It has been, what, almost fifteen years? Anyways, I, um, I wanted to talk to you again. Could you give me a call back? If you want to. I mean, I get if you don’t; we didn’t exactly part on the best terms. Um, I hope you liked the flowers too. I thought you deserved them after that performance last night. I hope to talk to you soon.”

Gabriel read off his phone number before hanging up. Jack played the recording a few times to make sure he had the right number. He listened to Gabriel’s voice drift around his house before he dialed the number. It rang three times before Gabriel answered.

“Hello?” he asked, sounding groggy.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” Jack asked.

“Jack!” Gabriel gasped. “Well, I was asleep, but I don’t mind.”

They were silent for a long time before Jack sighed. “I owe you an apology, Gabriel,” Jack murmured. “You didn’t deserve what I did to you.”

“You were in pain, Jack,” Gabriel reassured him. “I got that. I never blamed you.”

“Gabriel, please, just let me explain,” Jack smiled.

“Go ahead.”

“I hated myself,” Jack murmured. “I got blown up and I was pieced back together and I felt…so ugly.”

“Jack,” Gabriel murmured.

“Let me finish,” Jack shook his head. “You were so loyal and I hated it. You were holding my hand the whole time, humming your songs as if nothing was wrong. I couldn’t stand to think that I was holding you back. You were starting to make a breakthrough with your music and I was holding you back. So I…I wanted you to live. I wanted you to have your life. I lashed out, I drove you away.”

“But my music helped you through the darkest part of your life, according to your student,” Gabriel murmured.

“It did,” Jack laughed sadly. “Hearing how well you were doing with your life and how much everyone loved your music made me feel better. I knew that my miserably existence hadn’t dragged you down.”

“I want you back, Jack,” Gabriel said.

“I want that too,” Jack admitted. “Wanted it for years. I thought that you might have hated me for what I did.”

“Never,” Gabriel reassured him. “Never, mi sol.”

“Less of a sun now,” Jack chuckled as he ran his hand through his hair. “Let’s take this slow, though. We’re different people.”

“I’m willing to go at whatever pace you want,” Gabriel reassured him. “I just want to hear your voice and your laugh again. Fuck, Jack, I missed you.”

“I missed you too, mi luna,” Jack murmured as he sat down on the couch. “So, what’s life like in the big city?”

Gabriel chuckled and Jack smiled. “Hectic, but worth it. I’ll show you sometime.”

“I’d like that,” Jack smiled.