#I also hope that your burn out goes away and you find a 20 dollar bill in your pocket | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bloodfcst-a · 4 years

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GET TO KNOW THE BLOGGER.

✧ can be used for RP and non-RP blogs to get to know a bit about the person behind the screen!

1. FIRST NAME: i used to go by my middle name, nina, but now i go by pacifica or paci.

2. STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: i have a bunch of weird ailments that honestly are just wild. like sometimes my nerves make me spasm or collapse or i’ll become hyperflexible. my kidneys decided they were lonely so they are... snuggled together... and i’ve had cancer a few times. it’s exhausting.

3. TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON: - smile / facial features. outside of aesthetics, you can tell if someone is superficial or genuine through the intensity of their smile, or if they’re fabricating their appearance or background. i wouldn’t want someone to pretend for me. i want them to be how they are. - personal care. i don’t have preferences on hair / grooming outside of being well-kempt. file your nails & clean them ( like if ur a mechanic or factory worker or other types of physical labor, i get it-- but like an office worker with black nails? ick ), brush/comb/finger detangle/style your hair, make sure your clothes are reasonably presentable... clean, like you actively tried to come up with an ensemble. - physique. not saying people need to be like 8 pack or straight out the gym. nor am i saying i need someone to be like mega massive or mega thin. but preferably someone who like... is comfortable in the skin they’re in, and cares about their body. at the least, cares about what goes in their body and how much their body does for them.

4. A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF: haribo snacks.

5. A FOOD YOU HATE: i cannot handle the smell of mustard or mayonnaise. i will literally walk out of a room.

6. GUILTY PLEASURE: i try to cut out needless carbs and snack foods, but y’all........ throw some good naan or pita at me and i’m a sucker. i love my hot cheetos and takis, pls don’t take them from me.

7. WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN: a sweater and panties tbh. i’ve turned into that basic single person in their 20s. if i’m cold i’ll throw on sweatpants too.

8. SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS: i vastly prefer serious relationships, but there’s got to be a lot of build up to it for me to pursue someone in that manner. that being said, idk why, apparently i seem unapproachable or intimidating, but i’ve always had to ask out the person i liked.... ask me out first, u fools. i’ve tried to do flings but like i always feel guilty afterward bc i’m not invested, i just pretend hoping maybe i’ll fool myself in the process and i don’t lmao. that being said, it’s been like over a year since i’ve last dated, and two years had passed between that partner and the previous one.

9. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE: nothing. maybe switch my triple minor to an interdisciplinary double major because that sounds cooler in this point in my life. but other than that? i feel like i did well with the cards that were handed to me. they shaped me into who i am now. and now i’m trying to continue to be a person past me would be proud of. i want to live a life with little to no regrets. to pursue everything i can while i have the opportunity to.

10. ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON: physically, yes. emotionally, it depends. my coworkers are always either thrilled to see me or are like “ it’s paci being over the top cute. ” i love coming into the room to give hugs or do random acts of service or to shower someone with surprise gifts just to say i appreciate them. however, i can be emotionally distant at times and i don’t like to involve people into things. i still feel guilty on most occasions when i vent, even though i know it’s healthy to do. i feel like it’s not other people’s responsibility to deal with my problems or have to endure them, even if it’s as little involvement as listening. such an attitude isn’t great, but... at least i can recognize that now? lmao. u know. baby steps. i’m still learning to trust and let people in. when my former best friend broke my heart it really messed me up in a lot of ways.

11. A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN: i love pocahontas, mulan, princess and the frog, and peter pan starring mary martin. i’ve been watching that specific peter pan since like..... birth......... and it’s still one of my favorite films.

12. FAVORITE BOOK: dante’s divine comedy.

13. YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE: a long-haired cat, preferably a tortoise color. i’ve always thought munchkin cats were the cutest. i’d want something that is as independent and self-sufficient as i am.

14. TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL]: yufi & age-appropriate love and joy. tseng also deserves love. & literally everyone in ace attorney could get it..... except dahlia hawthorne, forget her. also... all the important people in devil may cry deserve someone. so.... that’s what i have for you.

15. PIE OR CAKE: pie. i don’t eat nearly enough of it. kinda underrated in the pnw, i feel like? but in the midwest we loved pies... kinda miss that.

16. FAVORITE SCENT: sandalwood, vanilla, lavender, and gentle scents like ‘ ocean ’ or ‘ linens ’.

17. CELEBRITY CRUSH: shrugs? no one atm. i do not keep up with pop culture these days. can i count kyo from dir en grey? i’ve thought he was hot for the last 15 years and counting........ 14 y/o me was really like “ he’s the one ” too!!

18. IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO: i love visiting friends. and like... idk? japan is still interesting, as is italy and greece and jerusalem. but i don’t have like... a burning urge to go anywhere. i’d like to return to vietnam & cambodia at some point as well. people tell me melbourne is my kind of vibe, but... i’ll get there when i get there.

19. INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT: ambivert. though for all that i project in personality, i do take a lot of time to myself to kind of recharge, as you will.

20. DO YOU SCARE EASILY: i do. but i still like scary games bc i enjoy the thrill and chase. suspense is really cool-- gore is not, imo.

21. IPHONE OR ANDROID: android. i’ve been using samsung galaxy phones since like 2013 and i’m not going back now. i had an ipad once and........ i’m over that. but i’m not like gonna participate in the dumb android vs apple debate........ we’re adults and it’s 2020, c’mon now. put ur energy into something else.

22. DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES: y’all......... i wish i could be like ‘ i’m a gamer grl ’ but the truth is that i mainly collect games and say i’ll play them but it takes me a trillion years sfdgiohfgiohdf. my backlog is shameful. we don’t talk about that. that being said, i just took up ace attorney: spirit of justice this evening & i’ve been playing through kingdom hearts iii and yakuza 0 as of late.

23. DREAM JOB: to write poetry & creative nonfiction at my leisure dfogihdohg. travelling writer, sharing about cultures all over the world & the beauty of interaction. very whimsical, i know! i also love studying languages and culture...... so it’s no question writing, sociology, cultural anthropology and linguistics were/are my fields of study.

24. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS: pay off my loans, throw like half of it in savings for it to grow, give some to my mum bc she deserves to live comfortably, and..... take some time off work to just relax and rediscover myself. while work does give me purpose, it also takes away from my creative pursuits so like... that blows.

25. FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE: it took me like 10 years for sorceress adel to stop giving me nightmares, so like. probably her. the pennywise energy was too strong. and on that note...... all clowns and clownlike energy should just burn. pennywise, saw. y’all got to go.

26. FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER: final fantasy, ahaha. also metal gear. xeno like doesn’t have a place for it to gather and it’s ridonk small..... but i love xeno games. and i used to love watching sbfp but since they disbanded... it’s a sad world out there.

✧ tagged by: @burmecias-protector + @enshijou i got this from both of y’all xoxo

✧ tagging: @shimmerseas @extremepath @east--moon @evercharmed @verumking @dawnled @90smagicalboy @meyvn @breselin @petallines @redsown @starszakrew @onlyliberty @angereve + if this suits your fancy!

#♝ mun.

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creedtheconquer · 5 years

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A Christmas Miracle (Pt.1) AU

Request-"Hey hoe I got a request for you do a Micheal Mafia boss au with a female reader and he helps her out like she drops her wallet and he finds it and sees she’s not doing so well so he feels like helping her only to over time fall for her and then so on."

Summary-"(Y/N) is a struggling college student who loses her wallet, only for Michael to find it and he takes a liking to her and starts to shower her with gifts but the catch is, she has no idea who he is."

Pairing- Michael Langdon x Reader

Warnings- slight angst, slow burn, slight fluff

*This story kicks off day 4 and I really hope you enjoy this. This will be a series that I'm already starting to fall in love with! Remember my ask box is open and I'm always taking requests! I write for Cody and any other character he has played minus David for obvious real life reasons and I wish to respect him as a person as. I also write for other AHS characters.*

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Day 1

It was just like any other dull morning, minus the fact it was December first. Michael didn't hate Christmas per se, he just never had a good memory of any past Christmases. His childhood was all sorts of fucked up, a family that never really gave a shit about him and who quiet literally threw him out onto the streets. He bounced around from place to place not really staying for long, never fitting in, never belonging anywhere. As he got older, now in his early 20's he's made a name for himself. Sure it wasn't of the best circumstances but how he saw it the world chewed him up and spit him out like he was poison, so he figured why the hell not and became the poison the world thought he was. He wasn't a fast acting "poison", no he was one of those classy poisons. He never bothered to get his hands dirty, he had people to do that for him. He also wasn't a bad person but if someone pressed his buttons the wrong way they had hell to pay. After his rise to power everyone stop looking at him like the freak no one cared about and started trying to be the biggest kiss ass, trying to get on his good side but he saw through their facade.

(Y/N) was a 22 year old sophomore at college who was just barely scrapping by. Her home life growing up wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst either, her dad left when she was in middle school leaving her mom to raise her alone. Her mom had a steady job so money was never really a problem. Once (Y/N) graduated high school her mom gave her two options, either go to school or be kicked out. So weighing her options she opted for school but her mom was no help really, yeah sure she would send a carepackeage every 3 months or so but that was it. Thankfully she got a full ride thanks to her high test results but that only pays for school. She was stuck with paying for her own place and food, which she was barely managing to afford with her 2 jobs.

Her day was going just as shitty as it could be, she was late to class, got chewed out by her professor and on top of everything her mom called and threatened to disown her because she got a B- in one of her classes. She had just made it home from job number one only to realize she didn't have her wallet on her, "Fucking good one (Y/N) that had all your money in it." She said to herself bitterly.

Michael had just walked out of the small coffee shop when his foot kicked something, "What the hell?" He questions looking down to see a wallet. He bent down picking it up and he opens it, inside he finds an ID that told him the owner of said wallet, one (Y/N) (Y/L/N). Also inside the wallet he found only about $100 max along with credit cards and a few business cards. Turning on his heels he heads back inside to ask, "Um excuse me does anyone know (Y/N) (Y/L/N)?" He asks as he leans against the small little counter, it coming to just above the middle of his thighs due to his towering form.

"She works here, how can I help you?" A guy Michael assumes is the manager comes forward wiping his hands on his apron.

"I'm an old friend, and I just got into town I was just wondering if you had her address wanted to drop by and surprise her." Michael say flashing that charming smile he knows works on everyone. Sure enough the manager nods grabbing a napkin and he writes down the girls address.

"Here you go, she's lucky to have a friend like you." He says shaking softly and Michael smirks enjoying how much power he has over anyone he comes into contact with.

"Thank you." Is all he says before dropping his smile and he turns and walks out of the shop.

"You lost your wallet?" Rachael asks (Y/N) as the dinner rush calms down.

"Yeah it fucking sucks it had all the money I had left for the rest of the week." (Y/N) groans cleaning off the plates she had just picked up.

"Do you know where it is?" She asks and (Y/N) shrugs leaning against the counter looking at the clock.

"My other job, or any where between there and home who knows." (Y/N) says taking off her apron getting ready to leave.

"Well I hope you find it." Rachael says and (Y/N) nods collecting her stuff.

"Thanks Rachael." (Y/N) says giving her a hug before heading home.

Michael knew he shouldn't have entered her house, magic or other wise it wasn't right. When he got to her little apartment he was just going to leave her wallet on her door step with a little note but when he got there he just felt the urge to go in. He chocked it up to not wanting to just leave her wallet out for anyone to take, so he took it upon himself to enter and leave it on her coffee table. He was going to leave right after, he really was but once he got a look around her apartment he noticed she was worse off than he first thought. Not really much food in her pantrie or fridge, a small couch and a small tv on the opposite wall. Not really any decor, it was all just so plain. He cursed himself for entering because now he felt the urge, no the need to help this complete stranger. So he did the best he could do for the time being, he found an envelop and put $500 inside with a little note. Then like that he left not leaving a trace anyone was there and on his way out of the building he told the person at the front desk to put the envelop in her mail box.

"Really good job (Y/N) You can't find your wallet anywhere." She says to herself as she enters her building. She pulls out her keys and goes to her mailbox pulling out the stack of envelops and magazines. She sighs turning and making her way up to her apartment. She opens her door and turns on the light and enters before closing the door behind her. She throws the mail on the coffee table and turns to go walk into the kitchen when she stops and turns back towards the table. There she saw it, her wallet sitting perfectly in the center of the table, right where she had thrown the mail. She walks around her couch and she takes a seat picking up the wallet and she opens it, sure enough it was hers. She laughs shaking her head, had it been here all along? She questions in her head as her eyes shift to the mail and she sees an envelop that simple reads "From A Friend." She sets her wallet down and picks up the envelop and she examines it. She notices it's kinda think and heavy but she shrugs as she opens it. She nearly throws it when she sees the money inside, tears form in her eyes as she takes out the little note.

"I know you don't know me yet, but I've noticed you struggling and I felt the need to help. So I've left you $500 dollars hopefully that is enough for now. I have a feeling this won't be the last time you hear from me or the last times our paths cross." It reads and she sees it's signed with two simple letters, M.L and a tear falls from her eyes.

Day 5

"Ms. Mead I have a job for you." Michael says sitting back in his office chair as his adoptive mother stands on the other side of his desk.

"Yes, what is it?" She asks placing her hands behind her back and he smiles up at her.

"I want you to keep a tab on (Y/N) (Y/L/N) and report to me anything you find out about her." Michael says folding his hands into his lap and his pale icy blue eyes shine with wonder.

"Right away." She says but she gives him a questioning look to which he waves her off.

"Thank you Ms. Mead." He calls after her as she closes the door.

"Do you know who this person is?" (Y/B/F) asks as her and (Y/N) relax at her place.

"No idea but he has left small little gifts after that $500." (Y/N) shrugs placing her drink on the coffee table.

"It sounds like you have a rich, powerful secret admirer." (Y/B/F) teases causing (Y/N) to blush.

"Oh as if." (Y/N) fires back slapping (Y/B/N)'s shoulder.

"So any news?" Michael asks later that night as he gets ready to leave.

"Her favorite color is (Y/F/C) and her favorite flower is a (Y/F/F)." Ms. Mead says and a smiles finds its way on to Michael's lips.

"Perfect." He whispers to himself, grabbing his jacket and he leaves making a beeline for the nearest flower stand.

"How can I help you tonight sir?" The lady at the stand says and he can see her check him out. He scoffs giving her a once over before waving her off.

"I would like a bouquet of 12 (Y/F/C) (Y/F/F) for my girlfriend." Michael says stressing the word girlfriend. It seems to do the trick considering she looked down disgusted.

"That will be $10." She says handing him the flowers and he smiles handing her the money.

"Thank you." He says very curtly before he walks away.

Michael makes it to (Y/N)'s apartment and a small smile pulls at the corners of his lips as he sets the flowers on the door step and knocks on the door before turning and walking away. He sees her open the door and then he sees the biggest smile appear on her face as she picks up the flowers. "There's my beautiful girl." He whispers to himself softly before turning and walking back to his car.

"Was it him?" (Y/B/F) asks from the couch and (Y/N) nods closing the door.

"Yeah it was." She says a smile plastered to her face.

"You're so hopelessly in love with him and you don't even know what he looks like." (Y/B/F) says and (Y/N) rolls her eyes.

"No I'm not." Is all she says setting the flowers on the table as she gets a vase and puts water in it before placing the flowers in it. Little did she know was she was destined to meet her secret admirer and little did she know she will fall so helplessly in love with him and he her.

@madamfae

#cody fern #ahs #ahs apocalypse #michael langdon #ahs coven #ahs murder house #ahs8 #michael langdon x reader #michael langdon imagine

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jacktherph · 5 years

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jack, my friend!! i hope all is okay. i'm wondering about your experience as a barista?? are there things about its portrayal in the rpc that are inaccurate or annoying to you?? being a barista is probably the most popular job characters have on here!! what impact does being trans, ace, queer have on your workplace environment if you don't mind talking about it?

oh man olivia, oh man. you’re gonna have me GO aren’t you?? i’m doing better ilusm bb

okay so disclaimer that i’ve only been a barista at sun-dollars (think of synonyms) for a year now. i’ve never done it at some fancy, privately owned shop, and my experience isn’t that of everyone else!! i’m also pretty damn low on my totem poll, too, so keep that in mind

so when i was hired, i worked at a small cafe store for a few months; small outside patio, small parking spaces, located in a tiny strip mall off a main road, maybe a max crew of 20 or less?? but now we all relocated to one of the busiest drive thru stores in our district; large outside patio, giant inside seating, one of the only stores with a conference room in the CITY, a drive thru that pretty much… never stops, and a stand-alone building on the same main road. and wow what a difference there is

this thing ended up being super long so it’s under a cut

note:: this is really for people looking to portray accurate, non-dramatized versions of barista life, and the whole thing is largely fueled by personal experience. hope it helps??

on THE JOB ITSELF :

if you think its an easy job, please get out of my face. if you think it’s super complicated and hard, there’s a bit for you to learn here. and most importantly–if you think fucking with a barista is fun, go to hell

firstly–there is a lot to remember. there’s the drink standard; how the drink is supposed to be made without any customization. then there’s whatever people add and change about it. then there’s “i asked for five mocha pumps but this tastes like you didn’t put five in, remake it.” and then there’s “i think i know how a drink is made, but i don’t, but i’ll still tell you how to do your job.”

there is a specific routine for making drinks called SEQUENCING that we’re supposed to learn as soon as possible. it ensures that, if you’re on bar, you are always making part of a drink and finishing another. steam milk, queue shots, turn and start blending a frappuccino, while that’s in the blender turn back and finish the hot drink, hand it out, steam another milk, queue more shots, turn and pour frappuccino, hand it out, etc etc etc

personally, i’m not the best on bar. i know people who are stunningly gorgeous at it – who can sequence without fail. but it requires a LOT of mental work. not a lot of room for talking unless there’s only one drink or two to make. any character who is “skilled” at being a barista probably doesn’t spend their shift talking, but working in hasty silence when it is busy

being on register is my personal skill. i always work drive thru orders. yes, we have specific buttons for everything, but with as many combinations as sun-dollars has, there’s still an infinite number of ways to mess it up if you don’t know what you’re doing. and if the order comes out wrong, it gets made wrong, and then the barista on bar gets the brunt of the abuse from the customer and has to mess up their sequence by remaking it

on TIPPING YOUR BARISTA :

at sun-dollars, we’re paid just slightly above minimum wage and a huge chunk of our money is tips, which at a store of our size are still under a dollar earned an hour, then divided by how many hours you worked, and how many people worked that week and their hours too. tips don’t always add up to much, because people never think about tipping us

but here’s the thing. we make everything by hand just like someone would at a restaurant. sometimes more than once if one little thing is wrong. we burn our hands on hot coffee and water, we slip and fall, we haul heavy things around. even if you don’t see it, we do it. so please… tip your barista because we make everything and serve it to you just like at any other food business

on MONEY EARNED :

a part-time barista position, maybe working 25-30 hours a week with included tips, is NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE AN APARTMENT ON. not anywhere outside of fantasy land anyway

take that example. if i get 10.55/hour, and work 25 hours one week and 16 the next (which is a GOOD week for me, holy shit), and my tips are… $15 for both weeks, then I’ve made around… $475~ after taxes are taken out. no. so many of my fellow partners have second, third jobs. or their spouse earns the majority of the money. or they still live at home–like myself. it simply isn’t a job you can live on independently

i.e. this is a callout to the “barista who somehow lives without a roommate and doesn’t constantly complain about how hungry they are” trope

on WRITING ON CUPS :

yes, sun-dollars used to write on cups. but now we have a sticker system that is ten times more efficient. yes, we still write on the cups if our machine goes down, or if we have a messed up drink, any number of things. but it isn’t common for a busy store to write on cups daily anymore

that being said, let’s talk about our big fave trope: muse a writes their number on the cup for muse b because they flirted at the handoff plane. YOU CAN GET FIRED FOR THIS. it is immediately a fireable offense, no questions asked. i know it ruins the CUTESY moment but it’s a thing. best to keep your ship intact and employed by having them ask when the barista is on a break.

yes, we misspell names. it happens. whether your fingers slip up on the touch screen or you just didn’t hear it right. but no barista i know would risk their job and security by purposefully writing a malicious name on a cup. end of

on CUSTOMER CONNECTION :

the cafe store had been around for years in a community where snowbirds (old people who come to the warmth of arizona for the winter) are the largest customer base. that, plus the small crew, meant that the partners (baristas) had a long-established rapport with many of the customers. i remember on my first official day working, so many people kept telling me “my usual” and my partners had to keep reminding the customers to order properly, since i was new and didn’t know them yet

but once i got to know the regulars–and it definitely took a lot of time–it showed me the incredible connection people have with their baristas. we joke that as baristas, we’re unpaid therapists with a coffee in hand. people tell their barista SO MUCH. but it’s fascinating, really; sometimes it’s just plain oversharing, but sometimes you just get to be connected to a person you see every day, even if it’s only for a minute or two

now, at my drive thru store, i have my personally labelled “night regs” who i see pretty much every time i work. i know their names, their orders by heart, and sometimes stuff about their family or lives. and for those who are grateful, you’d be surprised the brightening affect on someone’s day it can be when you remember their order and ask them about something they mentioned last week

recently, a family who comes through my drive almost every day suffered a loss in their family. i could tell something was different because they weren’t joking around with me. they ended up sharing and it brought us really close. they even came to visit me when i worked on christmas day. recently, they had a family bbq and actually drove all the way to the store to bring me a plate of leftovers because of an inside joke we all have. i don’t give them discounts–big no no–or free drinks. they pay like everyone else. but we’ve grown really close and they make my work day nicer because i know i’m making people happy

so often when i see people writing baristas, the character is a certain archetype: the aloof one, the bubbly one, the romantic one, for examples. but i think the connection between a barista (even an introverted one like myself) and a regular is really undervalued!! the fact that we have worked so hard to maintain that customer personal connection with our regulars even though we have thousands more people a week has really shown me a lot about how people interact with one another

on RUDE CUSTOMERS :

it takes a LOT to kick someone out of a store. like a LOT. we’ve only ended up kicking out one person because they were repeatedly stealing from our food display, and then we could only do it once we got proof. so no, being rude to the barista once isn’t an offense that can get them removed. somehow

people are rude. collectively. some are nice, but people are rude. whether it’s the cranky person who insists they ordered their drink iced but the sticker says hot, the person who repeatedly asks “is my drink ready?” even though the sticker line is as long as i am tall, the person who demands their drink be remade for any reason valid or otherwise with a big attitude, or the drive thru car who has an attitude because they expected to be in and out but their wait time is 15 minutes because the car ahead of them ordered for their entire church. people will find a way to be rude, even if they don’t know it

what do we do? we smile, apologize and take blame, and do it over. especially at sun-dollars; the customer IS ALWAYS RIGHT. welcome to the service industry

on ACCEPTANCE :

i’m very lucky when i can say sun-dollars is a very accepting environment. being a trans and queer partner, i had my identity accepted right away by my coworkers. i also make it a point to let them know that if they have any questions about my identity, they can ask it to my face within reason. this has led to some really heartfelt interactions with my fellow partners, because it was how they learned some things about identities other than theirs

customers… well it’s touch-and-go. i live in a primarily… single-minded area. but i know i’m not the only one who knows this – being trans in a workplace is a touch-and-go thing. i’ve had people who only hear my voice call me “miss” at the speaker and correct themselves to “sir” at the window when they see my beard. i’ve had stubborn old people refuse to say my name. you still have to serve them, and personally, i avoid correcting people to avoid any sort of confrontation

my specific workplace is very personal; we know a lot about one another’s personal lives. what else is there to talk about when cleaning? some partners have been insensitive, but we talk it out and it’s done and fixed. sometimes we snark at one another using personal jabs, but that’s something we all participate in. and we know where the line is and not to cross it. but i’m sure many workplaces are like that

on ETC :

you will get messy. i end a time on bar with my fingers sticking together, my arms covered in fake-tan from chai or frappuccino roast pumps, and one partner told me once she went home to find mocha in her belly button of all places

you clean the bathrooms too. in all their shitty mess. and people treat public bathrooms terribly. but doing bathrooms is also a good release from the business of the bar

that drive thru headset? paid-for walkie talkies. yes, we gossip, we laugh, we trade jokes. we rag on customers out of earshot. let us have fun

WE DID NOT INVENT OR TAKE PART IN THE SECRET MENU. we cannot make your drink unless you tell us how it’s made. we’re not gonna google your weird invention when we have other things to do. you either come prepared, or you get something else

if you’re going to pay separately for a large order, TELL US FIRST

there will always be that one partner you hate working with. it happens in every job. there will always be that crew you love working with. you don’t always get to choose when that happens. c’est la vie

if it’s closing time, customers need to LEAVE. this is an issue of safety for when we work with money. even your best friend, your spouse, or your elderly mother cannot be inside the store during closing

at sun-dollars we have a weekly thing called the “clean play,” where people come in after the closers and do a deep-clean of the store. we rock out to music, enjoy there being no customers, and have fun. good setting for fellow workers!!

don’t give us pity on holidays. you’re the reason we’re there

i once had a woman come in half an hour before closing, and she was so mad we didn’t have the food box she wanted that she called corporate to complain. we now have more waste at the end of the night because we have to order so many boxes so we never run out

sometimes you’ll have to run out before or during a shift to pick up product from other stores

people take it personally when you finish a seasonal beverage. really personally when you’re out of anything, really

seeing regulars outside of the workplace will always be awkward. some even ask if you remember their drink. you might

people will complain about things out of your control. smile and nod and say you’ll let your manager know

when in doubt, give it to your shift supervisor

ADDITION :: my wonderful friend @morbidrpa wrote about her experience as a barista/manager in a smaller, single-location coffee shop. go check it out for varied experiences!!

#rph #rpt #character development #jack does rph things #re: occupation #;; barista life yo #activisthelps

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joking-mr-feynman · 6 years

Text

A Fiction Writer’s Guide to English

Tips, tricks, and complaints on how to make your story sound a lot better

By a five-year-old someone not qualified to talk about writing

Disclaimer: By no means am I a writer, a linguist, or an expert on any of the subjects discussed below. However, I do read a lot (a lot), published and unpublished works alike, and this post is made to address certain syntactical, structural, grammatical, aesthetic, and linguistic issues that irk me whenever I come across them. The following is my personal opinion (albeit a well-researched one), and if I've said something horribly wrong, by all means tell me and I shall fix it post-haste. Probably.

Again, this is by no means fully comprehensive, and I doubt it is fully accurate, but from what I've read, this list could do a lot, with a few simple tips, to ameliorate fiction and fanfiction stories a thousand-fold; because, to be honest, a spelling mistake or a grammatical error is one thing that will infallibly take me out of a story and will get me to look at it with a much more critical eye.

Note: the grammar and punctuation rules below (mostly) follow the American set of rules as standard, since I am American, and most fanfiction stories use this standard as well.

I will probably, once the initial post is out there, come and update it when I come across something that would be a helpful addition; feel free also to shoot me a message or an ask if you have a question or need clarification on anything.

These tips are ordered in no specific way whatsoever, and credit goes to all the original creators of the images and posts I reference herein.

Use the passive voice wisely. You'll hear a lot of English Teachers tell you that the passive voice is bad bad bad, and should never ever ever be used. This is not the case. While one should shy away from using it too frequently, there are some cases where the passive voice is acceptable, and even preferable. As a reminder, the passive voice is when the subject of the clause receives the action: "The ball was kicked." Use the passive voice sparingly; it is best used when "the thing receiving an action is the important part of the the sentence—especially in scientific and legal contexts, times when the performer of an action is unknown, or cases where the subject is distracting or irrelevant". (For more info, go here.

Pay attention to the setting and the time period of your story. While this may seem self-explanatory, I have seen far too many stories where everything is going perfectly until the student who is supposed to be in a London primary school asks his "Mom" to help him with his "math" homework. (The correct words are, of course, "Mum" and "maths”.) Similarly, a gentleman living in 1880's New York will not greet his friends with "Yo, what's up, man? You good? Cool." (Yes, that is an actual line I have actually read.) I know that this can be hard, especially for authors who don't live in the country their story is set in, but a little bit of research goes a long way in making your story sound better. (This doesn't apply to writers who use anachronisms and the wrong words purposefully, for humor or otherwise).

Accents and dialects. When you want a person to speak in a certain accent or dialect, research that accent or dialect a bit to understand the most prevalent words and grammatical form, and use them in your dialogue, and, if in first person, your narration as well. You can also think about adding certain regionally-specific words, spellings and grammatical structures. If imitating a work written in that region, definitely watch the spellings and alternative words, and incorporate them in both your dialogue and your narration. ( “mom” vs. “mum”, “math” vs. “maths”, “color” vs. “colour”, etc.). e.g., in England: I was sitting there, laughing --> I was sat there laughing. curb (street), jail, tires, tv --> kerb, gaol (sometimes), tyres, telly, etc.

Beware punctuation with dialogue. Use commas. (NEVER EVER EVER CLOSE A DIALOGUE QUOTATION WITHOUT SOME FORM OF PUNCTUATION! There must ALWAYS be either a period, a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point, or an em-dash before the quotation marks close.) The following image perfectly illustrates the proper ways of punctuating dialogue: WARNING: Use em-dashes instead of en-dashes for interruptions. See below.

Dashes vs. hyphens "-": hyphen, used to separate parts of compound words and last names. (e.g. five-year-old; pick-me-up; short- and long-term; Lily Evans-Potter) "–": en-dash (because it has the width of an "N"), used in number and date ranges, scores, directions, and complex compound adjectives. (e.g., he works 20–30 hours per week; the years 1861–1865 were eventful; FC Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3–2; Ming Dynasty–style furniture is expensive) (Note: when you use "from" before a range of numbers, separate the numbers with "to" instead of an en-dash.) "—": em-dash ("M"), can be used instead of parentheses, commas, colons, or for interruptions in dialogue, thought, or narration. (e.g., I know I'm right, and you're — stop throwing things at me!) (For more info, go here.)

Vary sentence lengths. When your sentences are all the same length and all the same complexity, your story starts to sound monotonous. Experiment with length, clauses, commas and semicolons, etc.: “This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important.” — Gary Provost For more on sentence and paragraph structure, see thewritersguardianangel’s post.

Don't be afraid of contractions. Contractions are common in everyday speech and in everyday writing. Use these, especially in dialogue, since contractions will be used almost all the time, unless the character is older, teaching, or speaking intentionally formally. (A college student is not going to tell his friend "You have got to do this homework assignment, or you will fail the class, and the teacher has caught on to you. He will not be lenient." It'll look more like "You've got to do this homework assignment, or you'll fail the class, and the teacher's caught on to you. He won’t be lenient.")

Avoid overly verbose and complex wording, especially in dialogue. Don't use words that are very grandiose and complicated, especially in dialogue with younger people. A teen might use "merely" once or twice, especially in more formal speech, but will very probably use "just" instead. It makes dialogue more realistic too; real conversations don't often have very hypotaxical, full-of-dependent-and-subordinate-clauses language.

Use italics. Italics are, fortunately, available in all softwares and formatting when writing a story, so one mustn't shy away from using them. They provide a very good way to indicate emphasis, as well as to show anger or frustration without the use of capitals, which just make sentences sound like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. Compare "'I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!' I yelled." and "'I can't believe you,' I hissed." Much more effective, no? (A good rule of thumb is: italics for everything except someone blowing their top. Think the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.)

Narrative Perspective. Unless using third person omniscient, stick to one narrative point of view for one section of text, and don't change the perspective style in the story. Don't start in third person close (like Harry Potter) and end in first person (like Percy Jackson). A note about third person close: you can change whose perspective the story is told in throughout the story, but separate those perspective changes, either via a new chapter or a scene break ("******"). Perspectives: First Person: usually singular, occurs when the narrator is telling the story. (Moby Dick, Percy Jackson). Can sometimes be plural (A Rose for Emily). Third Person Close/Limited: the narrator is separate from the main character but sticks close to that character’s experience and actions. The reader doesn’t know anything that the character could not know, nor does the reader get to witness any plot events when the main character isn’t there (Harry Potter). Third Person Omniscient: features a god-like narrator who is able to enter into the minds and action of all the characters (Little Women, The Scarlet Letter).

Use the subjunctive for conditionals and hypotheticals. This might be a bit of a controversial topic, so i'll make this optional, but strongly recommended. The subjunctive mood is what characterizes verbs in conditional and hypothetical situations, so wishes, dreams, hopes, predictions, etc. One should be wary of it in dialogue, though, because it isn't widely used. Use it freely in narration. Usually comes after if or that (e.g., I insist that he leaves leave now; If I was were there, I would be happy.)

Write out numbers. Don't use digits, use words. The man doesn't have 200 dollars, he has two hundred.

The verb "said". Unlike many who tell you never again to use the word "said" when constructing dialogue, I won't. "Said" is a good word, and should be used, but not over-used; find synonyms when it starts to get repetitive, and you can also use it with different adjectives to spice it up. Sometimes you don't need a dialogue tag at all. However, don't try to come up with a different synonym for "said" for every dialogue tag, since it just sounds excessively wordy and extremely trite. A mistake a lot of writers make is the above, which is to replace every single instance of the word "said" with some outlandish synonym. Also, be wary not to replace a dialogue tag with an action verb (which can also lead to a comma splice) (e.g., "I can't believe you," Mike raged, "you're such an idiot!" vs. "I can't believe you!" Mike growled. "You're such an idiot!")

Connect independent clauses correctly. Independent clauses are sentence fragments which have a subject and a verb, and can stand alone as sentences. If one wants to join them into one sentence, however, there are three ways of doing so: One can use a semicolon (as discussed in the punctuation section below), or one can use a comma + coordinating conjunction. A coordinating conjunction is a word that can, after a comma, join two independent clauses, and they are FANBOYS (For, And, Nor, But, Yet, So). (e.g., Alex went to swim in the pool, but Max couldn’t come.) The last way one can connect two independent clauses is with a conjunctive adverb. Conjunctive adverbs look like coordinating conjunctions; however, they are not as strong and they are punctuated differently. Some examples of conjunctive adverbs are: accordingly, also, besides, consequently, finally, however, indeed, instead, likewise, meanwhile, moreover, nevertheless, next, otherwise, still, therefore, then, etc. When you use a conjunctive adverb, put a semicolon (;) before it and a comma (,) after it. They can also be used in a single main clause, and a comma (,) is used to separate the conjunctive adverb from the sentence. (e.g., There are many history books; however, none of them may be accurate.; I woke up very late this morning. Nevertheless, I wasn’t late to school.) These words can be placed pretty much anywhere in the second clause after the semicolon as long as they’re separated by commas on either side (e.g., Mark was happy to have finished his essay; his dog ate it, however, before he could hand it in.)

Punctuation, Punctuation, Punctuation. Watch your punctuation closely, because it can make or break your story. Dialogue punctuation has already been discussed above, but that is for formatting quotations, not for narration and the content of the quotations themselves.

Every sentence or sentence fragment, even it it’s a single word, MUST end with either a period ("."), a question mark ("?"), or an exclamation point ("!"). It can also end with an em-dash ("—") if and only if the thought or sentence is interrupted.

Commas are for separating sentences into more manageable chunks, to separate dependent clauses, and independent clauses with coordinating conjunctions (see below), and to mark off lists. (e.g., I wanted to talk to her, but she had to go shopping for milk, eggs, bread, and cheese.)

Use the Oxford comma. For those who don't know, the Oxford comma is the last comma in a list of things, just before the last item, usually before an "and" (e.g., milk, eggs, and cheese). It helps reduce a lot of confusion, and, while this is a topic that can be controversial, use it to be safe, and to avoid sentences like this: I dedicate this to my parents, my editor and Random House Publishing.

Beware the comma splice. Never ever ever separate two independent clauses (i.e., full sentences with subject, verb, and object) with just a comma. Use a period, a semicolon, or a coordinating conjunction instead. (e.g., A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink and then leaves. (for this example, make the comma a period or a semicolon, or eliminate "it" from the sentence.))

Colons (":") are for denoting lists and setting up quoted text (not dialogue. Use commas for that.) (e.g., What I need is this: eggs, flour, and milk.; In Moby Dick, the main character, in the beginning of the book, says: "Call me Ishmael.")

Semicolons (";") are for separating two independent but related clauses, as discussed in the comma splice section above.

Tenses and tense agreements. This is a big one. When writing a story, choose a tense for your narration and stick with it throughout. If you start in the past, as a lot of fiction does, stay in the past until the end. Also, make sure all the tenses in your narration agree with the main tense of your story. (For flashbacks, one of two ways are possible: a blocked off section in italics, with the same tense as the main story, or within the narration, in the tense past the tense of the story (i.e. has -> had; had -> had had)) If events A, B, C happen in order, and we take B to be the "present" in the story (i.e. when the events are unfolding):

Present: B is happening. C will happen. A happened. (I walk down the aisle, happy. Hopefully nothing bad will happen. I wasn't able to cope when the incident last year happened.)

Past: B happened. C would happen. A had happened. (I walked down the aisle, happy. Hopefully nothing bad would happen. I hadn't been able to cope when the incident last year had happened.)

Give your story to someone who hasn’t read it yet. Writing and editing a story is a very comprehensive process, and both you and your beta reader will probably have read it so much that your and their eyes will be jaded and will slide over mistakes. A fresh pair of eves will always be beneficial in sussing out mistakes, typos, plot holes, and the like.

Watch for homophones, misspellings and incorrect word usage. This is the one that is most obvious, and the one that the most people catch and the most people hate. For this reason I will list the most common errors I have seen in hopes of helping those lost souls find they’re way. (See what I did their?) I’ll put in a break to not make this post any longer than it already is:

Index: v. = verb; n. = noun; adj. = adjective; prep. = preposition; adv. adverb; conj. = conjunction.

There vs. their vs. they’re There = In, at, or to that place or position (Look over there! Who’s in there?) Their = third person plural possessive pronoun (my, your, his, our, their) (This is their car, that one is mine.) They’re = contraction for they are (They’re window shopping.) ex: If you look over there, you can see the Simpsons. They’re looking for their car.

Your vs. you’re Your = second person possessive pronoun (This is your card, that one’s mine.) You’re = contraction of you are (Stop shouting! You’re so loud!) You’re insufferable when you get your report card back.

Too vs. to Too = adverb: to a higher degree than is desirable, permissible, or possible; in addition, also (It's too hot in here; You love the Beatles? I love them too!) To = (prep): expressing motion in the direction of; identifying the person or thing affected; concerning or likely to concern something; identifying a particular relationship between one person and another (walking down to the mall; he was very nice to me; a threat to world peace; he's married to that woman over there) (infinitive marker): used with the base form of a verb to indicate that the verb is in the infinitive, in particular. (He was left to die.)

-'s vs. -s vs. -s' (and similar apostrophic conundrums) -'s = a contraction for is, has, or us; possessive indicator for nouns. (it's = it is; let's = let us; he's = he is; a car's = of a car; she’s done it = she has done it); NEVER A PLURAL -s = indicator for plural nouns; with it, a possessive indicator. (phones = more than one phone; cars = more than one car; its = of it, owned by it) -s' = indicator of possessive plural nouns, and possessive for words ending in -s. (cars' = of multiple cars; Iris' = of Iris) Come on, let's go, he's not gonna come anytime soon. Iris' car's broken down, and the car's tires' air pressure is almost zero, and its exhaust pipe is clogged. The towing company workers are going to come soon.

Were vs. we're Were = plural past tense of "to be"; subjunctive of "to be" (We were really happy; If I were rich, I would do this.) We're = Contraction of "we are" (We're going out tonight!) If I were you, I would have made your announcement when we were all together. Now we're all doing our own thing.

Who’s vs. whose Who's = contraction of who is (Who's doing this?) Whose = belonging to or associated with which person (Whose pen is this?) Who's drawing on the board? Can you tell whose handwriting that is?

Who vs. whom Who = what or which person or people, the subject of a verb; used to introduce a clause giving further information (Who ate my apple?; Jack, who was my best friend) Whom = what or which person or people, the object of a verb (By whom was my apple eaten?) Who left this jacket here? To whom does it belong?

X and I vs. X and me X and I = (= we) used when both subjects are the subject of the verb. (Mike and I went to the mall.) X and me = (= us) used when both subjects are the objects of the verb. (My father took Mike and me to the shop.) A good way of figuring out which one to use is to get rid of the second person altogether, and see which pronoun you would use in that case: Mike and I went to the shop –> I went to the shop; He took Mike and me to the shop –> He took me to the shop.

Wary vs. weary Wary = (adj.) feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems. (Be wary of strangers.) Weary = (adj.) feeling or showing tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion or lack of sleep; reluctant to see any more of; (v.): to cause to become tired (He looked at me with weary, sleepless eyes.) His long day’s march had made him weary, but, wary of possible dangers, he made himself stay awake and keep watch.

Affect vs. effect (for our purposes, excluding obscure definitions) Affect = (v.) to have an effect on; to bring a difference to (The US foreign policy greatly affected European trade.) Effect = (n.) a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause (The US policy's effect on European trade was largely detrimental.) Judaism's effect on Christianity largely affected the New Testament.

Could of, would of, should of THESE ARE NOT WORDS. They sound like real ones, but they're not. The correct forms are: could have, would have, should have. (You can also contract them to could've, would've, should've.)

Lose vs. loose Lose = verb; to be deprived of or cease to have; to become unable to find something; to lose a game (I always lose my keys; If we don’t score soon, we’ll lose; I can’t keep losing people) Loose = adjective; not firmly or tightly fixed in place; detached or able to be detached (These pants are too loose; Let loose! You're too strung-up!) Loose shirts and pants are comfortable, but don't wear them to interviews or you'll lose your reputation and respectability.

Except vs. accept Except = (prep.): not including; other than (everything except for my socks) (conj.): used before a statement that forms an exception to one just made (I didn't tell him anything, except that I needed the money). Accept = (v.) consent to receive; give an affirmative answer to; believe or come to recognize (an opinion) as correct (he accepted a pen as a present; he accepted their offer; her explanation was accepted by her friends.) He accepted every one of her excuses, except for her claim that her dog had eaten her homework.

Peak vs. peek (vs. peaked/peaky) Peak = (n.): point or top of a mountain; point of highest activity; (v.): reach a highest point (He climbed to the peak of Mt. Everest; I peaked in sixth grade) peaked (US), peaky (UK)= (of a person) gaunt and pale from illness or fatigue. (You look a bit peaked/peaky. Are you ill?) Peek = look quickly, typically in a furtive manner; protrude slightly so as to be just visible (Faces peeked from behind the curtains; his socks were so full of holes his toes peeked through) Don't peek through the curtains!, he said, then climbed to the peak of a nearby hill.

Advice vs. advise Advice = noun: guidance or recommendations (e.g., He's in dire need of some relationship advice.) Advise = verb: offer suggestions about the best course of action to someone; to recommend; to inform. (I often advise my friends regarding their scholastic endeavors; I advise you to take this class; you will be advised of the requirements) Go, advise him about what to do for his relationship; he'll heed your advice.

Suit vs. suite Suit = (n.): outfit, set of clothes, men's outfit with jacket and pants (He's wearing a very nice suit.) (v.): be convenient for or acceptable to; act to one's own wishes; to go well with. (He lies when it suits him; suit yourself; that hat suits you.) to follow suit = conform to another's actions. (James started eating and Lily followed suit.) Suite = a set of rooms designated for one person's or family's use or for a particular purpose; a set of instrumental compositions (I rented out the honeymoon suite; I love Gustav Holst's The Planets' Suite) The man, dressed in a sharp suit, stepped out of the honeymoon suite, and his newlywed wife followed suit.

Curb vs. curve Curb = (n.): a stone or concrete edging to a street or path (He parked his car on the curb) (v.): to restrain or keep in check (Curb your enthusiasm) Curve = noun: a line or outline that gradually deviates from being straight for some or all of its length; verb: to form or cause to form a curve (The parapet wall sweeps down in a bold curve; her mouth curved down) He parked his car on the curb, just where the road started to curve into the suburbs.

Ladder vs. latter vs. later Ladder = a structure consisting of a series of bars or steps between two upright lengths of wood, metal, or rope, used for climbing up or down something (He climbed the ladder.) Latter = situated or occurring nearer to the end of something than to the beginning; denoting the second or second mentioned of two people or things (The latter half of 1946; Arthur and Richard were friends, and the former died while the latter lived.) Later = comparative of late. (I was late, he was later.) Frank and Emma, while friends, had a falling-out; the former went into the ladder-making business, and, two years later, the latter moved to France.

Lay vs. lie (re: the reclining or putting down definitions)

Break vs. brake Break = (v.): separate or cause to separate into pieces as a result of a blow; to interrupt (If you pull on the rope too much, it'll break.) (n.): an interruption; a pause from work (You're way too tired! Take a break!) Brake = (n., with equivalent verb) a device for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle. (If you want to stop your car, you have to press on the brakes.) Don't step on the brake so hard! You'll break both our necks!

Taught vs. taut Taught = past tense of "to teach" (I taught middle schoolers in Boston for three years.) Taut = (adj.) stretched or pulled tight, not slack; (of muscles) tense and not relaxed (The rope was pulled taut; all his muscles were taut and straining) In the fitness class my friend taught, he said that you shouldn't keep your muscles taut all the time.

Through vs. threw Through = (prep.): moving in one side and out of the other side; continuing in time toward completion of; so as to inspect all or part of; by means of (a process or intermediate stage) Threw = (v.) past tense of "to throw" I threw the ball straight through the doorway.

Retch vs. wretch Retch = (n., v.) make the sound and movement of vomiting (When I saw the blood, I retched.) Wretch = (n.) an unfortunate or unhappy person; a despicable or contemptible person. (the wretches were imprisoned; ungrateful wretches) I almost retched at the thought of being nice to that ungrateful wretch.

Ring vs. wring Ring = 1. (n.) a circular band; a group of people or things arranged in a circle. (Her engagement ring was beautiful; the men stood in a ring.) 2. (v., associated n.) make a clear resonant or vibrating sound; (of a place) resound or reverberate with (a sound or sounds) (Church bells are ringing; the room rang with laughter) Wring = (v.) squeeze and twist (something); break by twisting it forcibly (I wring the cloth out into the sink; I wrung the animal's neck) If you don't stop that alarm from ringing, I'm gonna wring your neck!

Bear vs. bare Bear = 1. (v.) To carry; to support; to endure. (He was bearing a tray with a tea service on it; weight-bearing pillars; I can't bear it!) 2. (n.) a large, heavy, mammal that walks on the soles of its feet, with thick fur (Polar bear) Bare = (adj.) not clothed or covered; basic and simple (He was bare from the waist up; the bare essentials of a plan) Apparently, men can't bear to see women's bare shoulders.

Pose vs. poise Pose = 1. (v., w/ associated n.) assume a particular attitude or position in order to be photographed, painted, or drawn (She posed for the camera). 2. (v.) to present or constitute (a problem, danger, or difficulty); to raise (a question) (This storm is posing a threat to our summer plans; a statement that posed more questions than it answered) Poise = (n.) graceful and elegant bearing in a person. (Poise and good manners can be cultivated.) Poise is not just striking a haughty pose; it's about how you hold yourself.

Pore vs. pour Pore = 1. (n.) a minute opening in a surface (this opens up the pores in your skin) 2. (v.) be absorbed in the reading or study of (I spent hours poring over my physics textbook). Pour = (v.) (especially of a liquid) flow rapidly in a steady stream; to cause a liquid to do so (The water poured off the roof; I poured myself a glass of milk). As I was cleansing my pores with a face mask and poring over my favorite book, I accidentally spilled the water I had poured myself all over my pants.

Breech vs. breeches vs. breach Breech = the part of a cannon behind the bore. Breeches = short trousers fastened just below the knee Breach = an act of breaking; failing to observe a law, agreement, or code of conduct, or the action of doing so (A breach of contract; the river breached its banks) (Come on, guys, no one wants to hear about an army trouser-ing the perimeter.)

Rend vs. render Rend = (v.) tear (something) into two or more pieces (teeth that would rend human flesh to shreds) — Note: the correct term is heartrending, since whatever does that rips the heart in two. Render = (v.) provide or give (a service, help, etc.); cause to be or become; represent or depict artistically (A reward for services rendered; the rain rendered my escape impossible; the eyes are exceptionally well rendered) The artist's rendering of the wolf's fangs, which would easily rend human flesh to shreds, was amazingly realistic.

Damnit It's either dammit or damn it. The "n" disappears if it merges into one word, but stays if it's two.

Conclusion: Look. Writing is hard. I know. Some of the above tips seem fairly obvious, and I know that mistakes, errors, and typos happen and go unnoticed. That being said, if you apply these tips regularly, and devote a bit more time to proofreading and editing, the quality of your story and the satisfaction of a lot of your readers will increase tremendously. Authors, I know writing is a thankless job, and many of you are sacrificing your own time to satisfy your followers and your readers; and for that, on behalf of your readers, and even on behalf of those that read and don’t leave reviews, thank you. Do not ever think that this post is meant to belittle you or your devotion to your craft; it is just a list of hopefully helpful suggestions that can help you and, with it, please those readers — like me — who are unfortunately too picky for their own good. And again, use these tips freely (I take credit only for putting them together), good luck, and know that you are universally loved for your efforts, past, continuing, stopped, or postponed. Thank you.

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usashirtstoday · 3 years

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I Told Myself That I Should Stop Drinking But I'm Not About To Listen Skeleton T Shirt

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Why did you expect him to take a break job so the elite eight minutes in the war I think the time is right now that the start raping girls blind you want to know the ring the bells but am in general warned about the current tracking to the North menand that’s important because they were driving home the point that war is ugly bad things happenand throughout the whole series they been driving home the point of it is badand that is good it is that these things are grayer than you thinkand all these great characters as opposed to blackand white were was one of the beautiful parts about game of thrones but then just got done really clumsily in a clumsy way got arrested in China fitted into six episodes in a thoroughly happyand pleased with still low because I couldn’t make a better showedand that was with a bit is beautiful so I however they do not stand I don’t want I don’t want to goand said no Erin Foster mean it’s better than what you think you could ask his heart gauge art in general is like could I have or even could I like the present with they gave to still enjoy area will on to in lifeand I will if I could’ve done better for the parallel I will say this very you mean a game of thrones that Israel is on a better job with the force awakens the you could’ve done better was when I was that moment Kyle Star Wars is best all I have is installed on your eye is devoid that should start start trigger me yes as my shit out you always get my busiest to Cripsand bloods the girl I like the idea this was a people love to heat things I love things that I’m not quick to throw stuff at game of thrones all the time but after watching unlike man that was an hourand 20 minutes maybeand it was like 50 minutes of just dragons flying around doing special effects as it allowed the college or at least the novel the episode before the war that we I why I didn’t like the Masters is way better than that was a great episode to one loved loved it right there were all they’ll knew they were going to die either singing around pottery sangand he can singand keep in that bullet in the chamber for eight years nowand I’m amazed use caulk considering knows how to cook who got you think killing machine so acerbic episode two was amazing within episode three happenedand it made to worse because all of them sort of dealing with how they face their death didn’t die you got it I like that outside this ideological game ball either all I didn’t like itand let me to we went on for so long for to seeing anything I’m sure what happened in the moment we’re all like it’s happening finally good anything all they put on the screen I’m enjoying that’s I was but then I thought back on what a minute the best fight in this show but there’s ever been I think was when Oberand Martz out the red viper door thought the mount no question you are out in the open fight choreography like professional like best bet is good as any movie he killed that he is a bright daylight we can see everything there actually fighting you got two very different desperate fighting style completely different note that the quick agile guy with the spearand the gigantic powerful one regard with this longsword as big as a man it was great to watchand the ending of course was just heart to heart out of your chestand also the whole trip liquidated all was what was in that stairwell all darkand dustyand they kept cutting away from it so we could see are you getting tossed about by rubble find out when the web story okay different lookand see show me them fighting some of them fighting on the staircaseand show we started credible yes I was I was in my area are our house as well as a zygote it was like eight season buildable the mountainand the hound about to go at itand it was a little at the chromatic outline enjoy the way took him out the height of the fire is my personal could the bowl I knew what was happening I saw them head into the it like they headed up the stairs as the rubble he tells aria to turn back IQ of the video because I know it’s going downand I play this I played itand I love the end was everything I hoped it would be now this video plays for like four or secondsand then there’s silence I forgot about itand I hear through the visitors I heard another airhorn I might only put it in there all okay little fan service whateverand then againand again you thought likely airhorn in the gameand I don’t understand why still playing will visit autoplay of another air you before it was at the data to do their just a little airhornand Sony are autoplay until like 10 hours of airhorn’s waiting warned like blast was a parent or horn blast on what what why they are blessed you something else up so that I can get over little bit if I tryand rationalize myself have been reading explanations of help little bit but it’s like the nurses just suddenly deciding to burn the city doesn’t make senseand I know people will be like she’s going to mention in your take people along I’m just going mad thoughand it’s like will no figured like people are confusing like madness going crazy matter blood Metro fire with the rationality she’s been irrational the entire series but every time she’s gone bloodand gore she spared innocence it’s been old is the greater good to to get people out of trouble on crucifying these people because their slaveowners in theand are eviland whatnotand so for her to have already won the battle for it to be over she could fly straight to the red keepand burn Circeand all them she wantsand she decides to lay waste to everyone it just like maybe in the rationality hurt is like all she was so afraid of John stealing her receipts that she decided I have to establish fear among everyone so they don’t betray meand I was just like just doesn’t feel like Danny she stressed so many times I cannot my father’s daughter in that way on that you know I’m not like that I’m not out to just burnand kill everything so you just it didn’t make that much sense to me I thought that twoand then I read this twitter thread right is my guyand he sees the particular thread will kind of a seat my thoughts on the very start targetingand she’s always been one of the most loved characters this season is right are to flesh out these character are with that being said Danny has shown multiple occasions the capacityand willingness to burn down cities of threadand he just went downand he named Freddie do I do have them in front of me after open thread at the glad as I was there I was going to get on the same road as him but I don’t have your eyes oh okay Danny had into the micro told you he has clips from actual show is is or can we have the audio on your was pretty good might mimic allowable you to get us not to be placed on the counter living like this or any of this was the seven very early on hard to the burning down whateverand whoever to take dire no exit by the super knocking Glenn is having succeed to you coming in is is as well when the 13th of course of course turn Danny away she told them when I drag on the Woodburn city to the ground turn this way will burn you for’s told me me will delay the time of the time goes crazy would you put them when you say all of our cities to the ground will mean you going to vacate the innocent people you burnishand also Lacie has shown that throughout the entire overburden are not taught back by Thierryand or Sarah’sand sell me your way to Georgia. 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riverdaleroundup · 6 years

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Riverdale Roundup: 2x9 “ Silent Night, Deadly Night”

Okay we open up the scene and apparently it’s Christmas time. This timeline literally makes no sense. So this has all happened in three months? So Archie and Fred now sell Christmas trees in addition to their construction business that i totally forgot about. Archie is like “we’re selling Christmas trees to make extra money” and i’m like “ oh right because you’re Taylor swift before she got famous and became the literal worst. You’ve got Christmas tree farm? Wake up America. This all sounds so fake.” Mary Andrews isn’t going to be back for Christmas because she’s going on a singles cruise, she’ll be getting lit daily on the lido deck with a bunch of other sad forty somethings.

Archie and Jughead commiserate over their failed relationships and honestly probably order another 4 rounds of milkshakes to drink away their feelings.

So Polly sneaks into Betty's room to wake her up like “ he’s here!” and I should have known right then that it it was a dream because why would Polly who is literally a sin oven roll back up to town right when the Black Hood is ready to take names.

So now we know that Nana Rose didn’t die in the throne hill fire because I guess she was like at the country club or something. So the Blossoms are broke and christmas is going to be sad. Honestly they should have cashed that hush money from the St.Clairs but whatever, it was the principle of the thing. So like they have this other massive house to replace the one that burned down but they don’t have 45 dollars go get a ham and some mash potatoes?

Well shit the Andrews are also going broke. Archie is like confused about why the hospital bill costs so much and i’m like honey you live in America, getting shot isn’t free. Obama care like isn’t a thing anymore.

Next we see the Lodges, who I thought were broke but Veronica is making designer purchases like her american excess card has no limit. So like what it the truth?

FP and Jughead have a little spat and Jughead is super pissy. He’s not about this drug life but I mean the Serpents have always dealt pot and you know they say that that’s a gateway drug.

Veronica gets a voucher for a couples massage and it’s honestly pretty awks because she is now sans Justin Gingerlake as her arm candy. She can go with Betty, or her mom, and honestly that’s so my life.

Archie is making eyes at Betty when he gives her her secret santa gift and Jughead takes notice of this. Sidenote: They’re at Riverdale High so like why is Jughead there? Should he not be at his sad rundown underprivileged school? Oh he just doesn’t go to school anymore? Same. Fuck school if you know what i mean.

By a true Christmas Miracle Moose makes a rare appearance. He has a limp but is still hot.

Okay so Mr. Spooky Janitor is gone. I can’t remember his name. They say his name like 40 thousand times in this episode but i’m still like who is that? Archie is thinking that he got the janitor killed so they roll up to the receptionists desk and it’s pretty clear to me that this women would be down to bone Mr. Janitor and was hoping that that chicken soup was going to lead somewhere.

Jughead and Betty are in the Blue and Gold office and they exchange gifts. The box Betty gives Jughead is way bigger than the one he gives her and I can tell that she clearly likes to win at gift giving.

Veronica gives Archie this fancy watch she bought him pre breakup that she had engraved. It’s a little awks and Archie is probably going to pawn that watch to pay for his father's medical bills. Honestly Archie doesn’t seem like the nice watch type. He’s liable to misplace that at any second or just forget that he ever owned it. He probably lost his guitar and forgot he ever wanted to be a singer and that’s why we don’t hear about it anymore.

So the serpents do a lot of charity over the holidays and that seems to be a running theme through bikers gangs. Jughead is pissed because Daddy chose Sweet Pea to be the teenage ambassador to the drug trade. No nepotism here.

Archie and Betty show up to the Janitors house and I know that I could just google what this guys name is or pay a little more attention but like i’m good how I am thank you. So the soup is still on the front porch and the Janitor doesn’t come running when they pound on the door. Is he dead? Honestly doubtful.

The Lodges are having a nice family dinner and Hermione starts talking about Spiffanys and I honestly want to slit my wrists. Like are they kidding me with these fake names? Veronica is like “Daddy pay my ex boyfriends Daddys medical bills” and Daddy is like “no”. and Veronica gets pissed and then daddy gets pissed. Daddy told Veronica not to go snooping for santa's gifts and that’s so relatable.

Cheryl puts up a Christmas tree and then she and Penelope throw down. Nana rose thinks they should have honor killed Cheryl awhile ago and at this point I think that Penelope agrees.

Alice is busy being a domestic goddess, whipping up cookies in case her runaway daughter, who at this point is 14 months pregnant, ever decides to return from the farm.

Betty gets a severed finger so i guess that means she’s on the naughty list.

Betty calls Archie to come look at the finger and i’m like bitch why haven’t you called the police you stupid bitch. Oh now black hood is calling again but how is a girl to know because the chorus of lollipop wasn’t playing. Oh how freaking convient that Joseph what's his nuts was at the sisters of quiet mercy. So you don’t have to be a pregnant teen cooper girl to go there?

Veronica goes snooping in Daddy's desk for gifts even though she was specifically told not too and finds out the her parents bought pops. I’ve just gotta say that that portrait of her is still so creepy.

Jughead thinks that FP is moving drugs but really it's just gifts. Ever riverdale kid wants to spoil christmas apparently. Jughead is being a stupid bitch like I really don’t think he gets how blackmail works. Like he just wants his dad to stop dealing drugs. Like he would if he could you little asshole.

Veronica wants to pay off Freds medical bills and i’m like okay your parents might not mind if you spend money here and there on “glamazon.com” but I think they are going to notice a charge for almost 90 thousand dollars you fool.

Jughead wants to “take out” Penny and it’s kind of yikes. So the teenage branch of the serpents are once again going to act like they are in charge when literally the actual members of the gang let them sit in the bar because their nice not because they actually think that they’re useful.

Okay so the janitor told them to kill the wrong person. That’s awkward. Like oops my bad. OMG NANA ROSE WAS PART OF THE HIT. I LOVE IT. YOU GO NANA ROSE.

I don’t get how Jughead is so nonchalant about Murder? Like he just rolls up crowbar in hand.Oh my god they are wearing those weird masks that just makes them seem more like children pretending to be hardcore.

Veronica gets busted and decides to try blackmail her parents and they are having none of it.

Why is she surprised that they can afford a dinner if she’s been spending up a storm in honour of the holiday season. Are we finally going to find out what the deal with the lodges is? I’m honestly sick of their secrets. Like don’t tell me who the black hood is just tell me what the fuck Mark is up to and is Kelly in on it?

Oh okay the Serpents aren’t going to kill Penny, they’re just going to drive her across the river and hope that she stays away? She’s not a stray cat. Oh my god is Jughead going to knife her? No he’s just going to crave her tattoo off her skin. How casual. I got up to the same kind of hijinks when I was fifteen.

So we roll up to the new Thorn Hill which has a name that I don’t remember. I love Cheryls holiday outfit. Nana Rose wasn’t present at the murder of the man because fuck women am I right? Oh my god they buried this guy alive???Okay so Polly's grandfather was one of the people who murdered this guy and Betty once again kind of makes it all about herself. Like “omg the black hood picked me because of my grandpa” get over yourself Betty. Freak then her and Archie share a brief kiss while Cheryl watches from the window, where she will store this information until she can use it to ruin their lives at a later date.

Okay so we don’t get to know what's up with the Lodges and i’m honestly so pissed. They need Fred for what comes next: Is he still 20% owner of SoDale or whatever that deal was? Daddykins? Really? Shoot me now.

Jughead tells FP that he and Serpent B team dealt with Penny and then gives a speech about how proud he is about being a serpent. FP is having some serious doubts about this shit. Like how scary can a group of 15 year olds really be? I still think that Penny is Alice’s sister or cousin or something ( honestly in riverdale if you have the same hair colour you are probably related.) and will be back real soon. So like we shall see .

Okay so they have a nice photo of the vigilante group burying this guy alive because obviously right after they committed murder they had to take a nice photo for instagram. It’s honestly a very aesthetically cute photo and I would give it a reblog.

They dig up the box and it’s empty and then boom the black hood is there. SHIT.

Okay so he still has his creepy masked voice. Like what’s the deal? I thought he was using an app to disguise his voice so Betty wouldn’t recognize it but it’s not like he’s speaking into an iphone right now.

BH makes Archie get in the coffin or he’s going to shoot Betty in the head. They called Sheriff Keller on the way so let’s hope that he isn't too busy sinning with the mayor to roll up in a timely manner.

Okay so the black hood is making Betty bury Archie alive and i’m cringing. I don’t fuck around with this type of shit. It is not what I’m about. I’m not going to sleep properly for several nights now because i’m going to be thinking about being buried alive. Thanks Riverdale.

The Sirens blare and Betty hits the black hood with a shovel. Archie climbs out of the grave, picks up the gun that the black hood conveniently dropped and sets out after him.

They catch him on the bridge and Sheriff Keller shoots the guy dead.

Oh shit it’s the janitor.

Okay but if the black hood did actually kidnap the janitor the real black hood could have forced him to go out and meet Archie and Betty. I don’t know.

Penelope is getting it on with some dude. Am I supposed to know who that is?

Betty got Jughead this bitching typewriter and he got her a nice book. So yeah she won the gift giving.Archie got Veronica a cheezy locket but that gets her crawling back to him saying that she loves him and shit. So Drama alert is he going to tell her about kissing Betty?

Someone takes creepy photos of them kissing .

Betty burns the contents of her mystery box but like what’s this? She takes out the black mask? Is dark Betty really coming out to play now? Like does she know it isn’t over because she thinks that the black hood is still out there or does she think that they still have sinners to deal with. I don’t fucking know. Okay now we have to wait forever for more episodes. Shitty

#riverdale #the cw riverdale #riverdale roundup #betty cooper #jughead jones #betty x jughead #veronica lodge #archie andrews #varchie #veronica x archie #Bughead #barchie

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hollygopossumlovesj2 · 7 years

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Come Back Down, Part 16

(Gif found on Google. Credit goes to maker. Not mine.)

Characters: Jensen Ackles x Reader

Rating/Warnings: NC-17; Smut and schmoop. Literally this entire chapter is sex with lots of feelings. If you don’t like that, feel free to skip. If you do, grab a glass of wine, relax and let it happen.

Summary: Jensen shows you how much he loves you and tells you why. In graphic detail.

A/N: I was gonna post this later this week, but I was too excited to wait. I hope you guys like it. Feedback is like finding a $20 dollar bill in the couch you didn’t expect to be there. I love it! Also, please don’t send me Danneel hate. I needed a villain.

Come Back Down Master List

Hollygopossum’s Master List

Our eyes locked as I crawled backwards down the bed. A sharp stab of lust shooting through me at the sight of her plump bottom lip trapped between her teeth.

I slid my hands slowly up her shins, over the soft skin behind her knees to finally grip the back of her thighs and spread them as far as they would comfortably go. I telegraphed every intent as I laid down and began pressing chaste kisses to the inside of her thighs. They soon progressed to open mouthed, dirty ones as I tried to memorize the taste of her soft skin under my tongue.

Her hips bucked, a thin whine slipping through her clenched teeth as my breath ghosted over her center. She was soaking wet and I could smell her, a salty sweet scent that made my mouth water.

I nosed along the ticklish crease between her thigh and groin, inhaling deeply just to tease us both. Her musky scent mixed with her wisteria scented body wash and I groaned at how much I wanted to taste it.

She sighed my name as her fingers threading through the longer hair on the top of my head. She was just resting there for now, but I looked forward to the sting of it when she was out of her mind with pleasure. My scalp was a little known hot button, one that Danneel had never even tried to discover. It was at that thought I realized why sex with Y/N was so revolutionary. There was real emotion here, a feeling that I was connected to her in more ways than one. I shook my head to rid myself of the comparison. Danneel had no place here on this bed.

I enthusiastically parted her lips with my thumbs, enjoying the shiver of want I saw course through her body as I took in the view before me. She was shiny with slick and swollen already and the sight slammed me with want, causing me groan deep in my chest.

Just before I lowered my lips to take a taste, our eyes connected again. “You’re beautiful, sweetheart.” I whispered and didn’t pause for a reaction, the need to taste and give her pleasure was too overwhelming to put off sinking my tongue into her folds.

Her gasp of surprise turned into a throaty moan as her taste exploded across my tongue. I couldn’t help the groan that accompanied the dirty, wet sounds of my mouth as I licked and savored her, getting lost in her taste and the feel of her heat against my mouth.

I teased for a moment, dragging my tongue through her hot core and touching everywhere but her clit. Her hips bucked so hard as she looked for friction that I had to hold her down with my forearm. My words were muffled as I sucked on her lips, but I spoke loud enough for her to hear. “I love the way you feel when I’m so deep inside you that your ass presses into my thighs and your walls pulse along with your heart beat. How you fit so snug around me, like you don’t want to let me go.” Her fingers clenched and unclenched in my hair as she moaned. The way her breath was riddled with gasps and whines is intoxicating. She was making my pulse race, but I was only getting started.

The second my mouth left her she whined, her hands dropping to the side to fist her sheets. Although, this time, she was more overcome than frustrated. I soothed my hands over the tops of her thighs in a placating motion before I set the rest of my idea into motion. “You’re perfect.” My lips felt bruised and swollen as I mumbled into the skin covering her hip bone, nibbling and sucking a mark there.

Her scoff got stuck in her throat as I nosed across her mound until I reached the opposite hip bone to make a matching red mark there. I couldn’t touch her enough, so I smoothed my hands up and down her sides and belly, mapping the way before I placed kisses there. She flinched a couple of times, a playful smile quirking her lips, as the contact tickled.

“I love your belly.” She twitched, her hips bucking occasionally as I spoke directly into her skin. “I love that you have an iron stomach. You don’t get squeamish at illness or blood. You don’t make me feel like a bio hazard when I’m sick. I love how you take care of me.” I nuzzled and kissed her warm body, never staying in one spot, filled with the need to press the love I felt for her into her skin. “I love that you go with your gut feeling and intuition.”

She smoothed her hands lovingly over my shoulders and neck pushed into her hands like a cat, and if I were capable of purring I would, She was calming down a little as she ran her fingers through my hair, but soon I’d be riling us both back up. Moving on to her ribs, I traced the line of her ‘love her but leave her wild’ tattoo. She hummed in approval, her finger tips moving to the short hair on my neck.

I placed a few kisses there when I was done, “I love how independent you are and how you’ve made this amazing life for yourself all on your own. I love how you followed your dreams and chose your own path no matter what happened in your life.”

I felt a rush of affection when she blushed, realizing that what made this meaningful was that I didn’t have to embellish or think too hard about what to say. The thoughts came easy and I hoped that she understood that.

I spared a little attention to her breasts. “You know I love these. They’re the perfect handful.” I nuzzled the underside of each one, making her giggle and twitch before I began pressing wet, open mouthed kisses all over them. Her hips twitched up and her giggle slipped into a needy moan when I finally took one of her nipples into my mouth.

Her legs moved restlessly, her thigh accidentally rubbing against my dick in the most delicious way. I ground down, searching for a little relief, groaning loudly into her wet skin when I found it.

Reluctantly, I moved on, pressing kisses along the way until I settled to suck a mark into the center of her chest. I’d intended to drive her crazy with teasing while I hopefully got through that thick skull of hers how wonderful I thought she was, but I was torturing myself, too. Fine tremors moved through me as I fought the urge to drop the whole thing and ravage her.

When I finally gained enough control to speak, it came out breathy and rough. “And your heart. I love your heart because it’s so big. You’ve been through so much, been hurt so many times but you’ve never given up on me. Even when I’ve given up on myself.”

Her hand sifting through my hair and her soft expression was too much. If I stared too long, I would turn this into something else entirely. However, I had a point to make, so I continued on by kissing and nibbling across her collar bone and neck on the path to her ear.

I breathed through the waves of pleasure hitting me as my dick smeared a wet strip of precome across her hip with each movement. She bucked up to meet me, her arms encircling my back and pulling me even closer as she whispered my name into my neck.

Goose bumps erupted all over my body as her breath ghosted against my sweat damp skin, lighting my nerves on fire. “You have no… no idea what you do to me.” I nosed around the sensitive skin around her ear, trying to collect myself. “You have no idea how hard it is to resist you.”

“Then don’t.”

“Nope.” I kind of grumbled and groaned out in a very nonsexy way as I pulled my knees beneath me so I wouldn’t be tempted every time she moved. “I’m sure you wanna hear why I love your ears, right?” She nibbled a teasing bite to my shoulder but said nothing. “I love your ears because they’ve listened to 16 years of my good times and bad times without ever telling me I was stupid for feeling a certain way.”

“I may have told you that you were being stupid a couple of times…” She mumbled against my shoulder, a bit of humor in her tone.

“Only when I needed you to.” I sat up, crouching over her hips, and she took the opportunity to tease her fingers lightly over my throbbing, red cock. “You don’t play fair.” I gasped out and smiled wickedly as I took in her flushed cheeks. I smoothed my thumbs gently over her cheeks and then her eyelids, encouraging them to close. “I love your eyes.” I whispered, lightly kissing each one while I cradled her face in both hands. “Because of the different way you see the world. The way that you see me like no one else ever has.”

“You’re saying I’m an oddball, just in a nice way…”

One eye brow was arched and I paused to kiss it before I kissed her forehead, temples and even the top of her head. It caused her to laugh a little at how cheesy and ridiculous I was being.

I wasn’t really bothered by my current mushy status. It was Y/N that inspired me to act like a lovesick fool, so it only made me smile harder with fondness burning in my chest.

“You are odd, sweetheart… But you’re also unique and individual. You stand out in the best of ways.” The words muffled as I nuzzled into her sweet smelling hair, “I love your brain and your thoughts and ideas. You come up with so many things that I would never think of. The shots you take with your camera are genius.” I nibbled her nose and she flinched away with a slightly perturbed expression on her face. “You’re so damn smart.”

She was incredibly uncomfortable with the praise by now, her body shifting restlessly. “Please Jay, no more teasing?” She was on the verge of tears again and I couldn’t tell now if they were because she was happy or more upset.

I locked eyes with her as my fingers traced over the features on her beautiful face, “I love every bit of you, do you understand? And even the idea of you not understanding how perfect you are…” I finally gave in, laying my completely turned on body against hers so that our lips were only inches apart. “It hurts.”

Her lips were immediately desperate against mine, either overcome with emotion or desperate for me to stop talking. It could’ve been either one as I opened my mouth to her questing tongue with a moan. I was torn between letting her take control and continuing with my plan. Her body was insistent against mine, her hands mapping new paths across my skin.

But once again, somehow a brain cell was allowed to function as I remembered my initial plan. “Y/N wait.” I mumbled, pushing up to hover over her. She was now flush all the way down her neck into her chest, her lips kiss swollen and wet. Her bottom lip trapped between her teeth. Her y/c/e eyes were pleading with me not to tease anymore. “No more teasing,” I kissed the tip of her nose, “I promise.”

I wasted no time before I settled myself back between her thighs and dove in with enthusiasm. I immediately latched onto her clit, lightly sucking and groaning as I savored her flavor and the way she pushed back into my face. “Fuck, Jay! Fuck!” Her hands were buried in my hair and twisting before I knew it, sending bright flashes of want straight to my cock.

“Fuck you taste so good, sweetheart.” I lapped at her lips, creating a completely absurd wet sound with my tongue. She practically screamed my name when my tongue was buried as deep as it could go, massaging her walls with wide strokes.

Between her steel grip in my hair and her hips pushing into my face, she was riding me, and I was enjoying this more than I ever had before. She was out of control from being teased for so long, her body intent on getting pleasure as her actions pressed my nose into her clit. Her movements soon became shaky, her hips rolling in an erratic rhythm as her moans became a higher pitch.

She was repeating my name over and over, sending sparks of pleasure that were incinerating my nerves and self control. Her grip wasn’t so tight that I couldn’t pull back for a breath before diving back in, and I growled words that I knew vibrated all the way up her spine as I gripped her ass to encourage her. “That’s it sweetheart, ride my face. So fucking hot, baby.”

And that’s all it took before her body tensed all over and my mouth was met with a gush of slick as she screamed my name. I worked her through her orgasm, savoring her taste, but never slowing my ministrations. Instead, I added a finger alongside my tongue to her hot center, thrusting in and stretching until she could take a second one.

She was sobbing words that I couldn’t make out. Her thighs shaking and pressing around my ears as I latched onto her clit and sucked as I crooked my fingers just right. It only took a few more strokes of my fingers inside her before she came again, causing a throaty, fucked out moan from her throat and causing me to thrust harshly against the bed a few times to take the edge off. She was so fucking hot.

She was shaking all over and out of breath when I paused a moment to nuzzle her breasts, causing her to gasp before I continued on my way. I settled my weight between her legs and took her lips in a dirty kiss, groaning at the feeling of satisfaction of having her skin flush against mine. At this point, I was afraid that one more twitch from her body and it would all be over before I got to finish this properly.

Her moan was muffled as she pushed hard into my mouth and her hands slid over my back and ass, fingers pressing into skin with too much fervor to be soothing. “Need you, Jay. Please?” Her eyes were glassy and blown wide, her face and neck flush and sweaty from her two very recent orgasms and I felt a deep sense of pride alongside my desperate need.

I smoothed her wild hair out of her face, hands stopping to cup her neck and cheek in my hands. “What do you want, love? Do you want my mouth? My fingers?” It was a genuine question, the desire to take her apart with pleasure my only goal.

Her fingers dug into the skin of my shoulders as her legs wrapped around my waist. Her grip wasn’t enough to draw blood, but enough to get across her frustration and want. “Need your cock, Jensen. Please fuck me?”

Pure lust and possessiveness slammed into me, forcing a surprised huff of breath to gasp from deep in my chest and stealing the rest of my oxygen as if I’d been kicked in the abdomen. My cock twitched against her stomach, blurting precome and adding to the rather impressive amount of fluid that I’d already leaked onto her skin. “Oh fuck, Y/N.” It made it even sexier to know that this wasn’t an attempt at dirty talk, it was a bare honest plea.

I didn’t waste any more time before I was slowly sinking into her, surrounding myself in her wet, tight heat. I let my face fall to her shoulder, my entire body shaking as I willed myself to go slow, holding myself back from just slamming into her and taking. I was barely hanging on, my breath panting out like I’d just ran a marathon instead of pleasure my girlfriend.

Her hands turned gentle again, moving easily over me due to the sweat forming over my skin. She started pressing open mouthed kisses over my neck and shoulder, occasionally sucking bruises there that tested my control. But then, she started to talk, her breath a little choppy and warm in my ear and causing goosebumps to raise everywhere.

“I love you, Jay. I love the teenager you were but I fucking love the man you’ve become.” Her breath was hitching in her chest, her body shuddering with pleasure with every inch I slid into her. “You’re so brave and strong and loving. You’re everything I didn’t think I needed until you kissed me, Jay. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

We both moaned as I bottomed out, my balls resting comfortably nestled against the soft skin of her ass, our panting breath’s nearly synchronized. My heart thumping double time, a heavy feeling of love that was almost too painful in response to her words spreading in my chest. She was holding me tight, even though I was pressing my entire weight against her. It was just like her to feel like she needed to pull her weight in everything, even sex.

“Please.” She was moving her hips, her head rolling back and forth, caught up in the pleasure.

“Please, what?” I teased, receiving a halfhearted glare for my trouble. Her arms clamped down as well as her core, causing my hips to roll and a growl to rumble in my chest. “Fuck, sweetheart.”

I knew once I started to move it would be over, but I couldn’t resist anymore. Especially when she pressed her heels into my ass. I worked my way up into a steady pace before I tucked my face into her neck, sucking the skin there to muffle the out of control moans rising up in my throat. My moans were muffled, but I could hear hers loud and clear.

I dragged in a ragged breath when breathing through my nose didn’t suffice. I felt my orgasm building, and knew at any moment I was going to lose it. I didn’t want to come without her. I wrapped my arms around her, one hand cradling beneath her head and holding her to my shoulder. I tucked my thighs beneath her ass so that I sank deeper and she rolled her hips, pushing down to draw me in.

I wasn’t able to pull out very far, but the feeling of being entirely surrounded by her like this, as I slammed back in, was incredible. “Jay I-!” She pulled away from me so that she could see my face, her expression rosy and pained. “Oh, fuck, Jensen. I’m-.” Her words were cut off by my lips because I couldn’t stand another moment to go by without kissing her. That’s when I felt her tense, her center gripping me even tighter as she gave into her orgasm.

She moaned helplessly through her release as I fucked her through it, trying like hell to hold on as I watched her fall apart. The feelings that were coursing through me made it hard to breathe while my heart hammered away inside my chest like it wanted to break free. The minute her y/c/e eyes slid open, pleasure glazed and so full of love, my control snapped. I whined, the feelings ratcheting up and becoming almost unbearable as I felt it begin to crash into me. “Baby.” I managed through a strangled moan and my eyes slammed closed. A moan was ripped out of me when my entire body locked up as I released inside her.

“Oh, Jay.” I heard her sigh when the fog started to clear, the contractions still wrecking my body and making me tremble becoming nearly painful. I felt her hands soothing up and down my back, through the hair on the back of my head, her body rocking me through my release and prolonging it. Her lips whispered against my temple as I realized that I’d buried my face into her shoulder. “Love you, Jay. Love you so fucking much.”

It was when I’d finally calmed down, still enjoying the feeling of being inside her as I became soft, that I realized that I’d never loved someone as much as I loved Y/N. I’d never felt this warmth and fullness that felt so good that it hurt and I might die from it. I realized then that I was done taking the passive route, and that whoever was responsible for even thinking about hurting her, was going to fucking pay.

Tagging: Forevers: @perpetualabsurdity @maileann @daydreamingintheimpala @gecko9596 @gemini75eeyore, @jotink78, @dancingalone21 @winchesterprincessbride, @sandlee44, @exploratiionist, @arryn-nyx @littledarlinhavefaithinme, @boredoutofmymindstuff, @feelmyroarrrr, @raeganr99 @ruprecht0420, @anokhi07, @letsgetyourdeanon, @sis-tafics, @jensen-gal @theoneandonlysaucymo, @27bmm, @callmesatansprincess, @hbenth, @keepcalmandcarryondean, @sea040561, @just-another-busy-fangirl, @spn67-sister, @uniquewerewolfsuit @ria132love, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @tas898, @atc74, @ryansgirl5509, @mysteriouslyme82, @notnaturalanahi, @tiffanycaruso

CBD: @melissaj616, @katrena7, @butiaintgonnaloveem @wheresthekillswitch, @anticipate1003

If your name is crossed through, tumblr won’t let me tag you. Also, for some reason, on my previous chapter I missed tagging some people. I’m so sorry.

#Jensen Ackles x Reader #Jensen Ackles smut #Jensen Ackles angst #Jensen Ackles pwp #Jensen Ackles fan fic #hollygopossum writes #Come Back Down #Jensen Ackles series #Jensen Ackles one shot #Jensen Ackles drabble #Jensen Ackles Imagine #spnfanficpond #guppy #guppy fic

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onlinemarketinghelp · 5 years

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This is Not An Overnight Success Story: How Harry Grew His Million Dollar Businesses http://bit.ly/2KK1L3v

Some people are born with a love for the #hustle.

Harry Coleman has always had a knack for coming up with clever ways to make money.

As a kid, he channeled his love of bikes into a mini business. Together with his friends he would find old bikes and swap out their parts before fixing them up, giving them a new coat of paint and selling them on.

Then in university, he started selling online. He spotted an opportunity to start importing snapback hats from the US to resell on eBay to people in the UK. It was a small-time gig, but it was enough for him to catch the online business bug.

“I’ve tried everything from Forex to affiliate marketing. Doing weird and wonderful, stupid things.”

But it wasn’t until he began dropshipping that the dream of turning a side hustle into a full-time venture began to materialize.

Since then he’s started, grown, and shut down multiple stores. What began as casual dabbling quickly turned into a full-blown obsession. For months he was surviving on a few hours of sleep as he spent his nights growing his business.

Now he’s the owner of three stores, and the manager of up to 10 staff. His stores combined to generate over $5 million revenue in 2018. (Seriously – $5 million. I had to double check.)

But Harry’s the first to tell you that the journey was anything but an overnight success.

The reality involved pushing past failure upon failure, picking himself up when he was down, and years of sacrifices that he never expected to make.

This is his story.

Harry’s First Steps into Dropshipping

Harry’s dropshipping story starts in 2016. Back then, he was spending a lot of time on online forums, researching different ways to make money online. It was here that he first heard about dropshipping.

“There was a thread of some guy who was doing dropshipping, sourcing products from AliExpress using Shopify as a platform. He was using Facebook ads, and making something like $10,000 in a month,” he says.

Immediately Harry was curious. He read the thread from top to bottom, trying to soak up as much information as possible.

“I just thought it just sounded completely ideal,” he says. “He didn’t have to have any warehouses, and he could do it from his laptop.”

So Harry, always confident and optimistic, decided to give it a go for himself.

For his first store, Harry chose nail products. They were cheap to buy from suppliers, meaning he could add a healthy markup when he resold them. He used Oberlo to connect his Shopify store to a supplier, pulling in details like the product photographs and inventory levels.

Then he got to customizing his store. “I built a whole site, it was pink themed. I thought it looked great,” he says.

This was it, Harry thought. The store would be his ticket to overnight success.

“I was going to bed dreaming what color Lambo I’m gonna buy,” he says, laughing. “When you see some guys making money like that you think it’s gonna be easy. You just naturally think you’re gonna absolutely kill it.”

But when he launched the store, things worked out a little differently.

“Yeah, I got no sales whatsoever. None at all. And I pretty much burned through probably around $500 to $800 just to get my first sale.”

Harry was confused. His store looked great, right? And he’d set up the ads just like he’d seen in his Facebook groups.

“I was just burning through cash. I’d see my traffic going up and no sales coming in. So things are working, but I’m just scratching my head wondering, ‘Why are people are not buying?’”

After two months of trying and failing to get the nail store to work out, he decided to try a new strategy.

He’d seen in his Facebook groups that people were talking about running general stores. With this type of store, he wouldn’t be bound to only sell certain items within a niche. Instead he would be free to stock a variety of products and test them all until he found a winner.

Stop. Reset.

Time for a new store.

The Exhausting Reality of Growing a Business

Just as Harry prepared to launch his next store, life threw him a curveball.

“I lost my 9-to-5 job,” he says. “I got made redundant unfortunately.”

At the time, he had been working full-time in franchising sales and building his business at nights and on the weekends. It was a pay-the-rent kind of job, and Harry hated the drudgery of it all.

So when the redundancy came and he suddenly had more free time, Harry took the opportunity to double down on his new store. He was pouring all of his free time into growing the business.

This meant that by the time he found a new job, his general store was beginning to pick up steam.

“I started to find more products, and eventually got better at finding products. That’s when I had what I consider my first winner,” he says.

It was about two months into running the general store when a product finally began to pick up and generate a lot of sales. At the time he was selling a lot of animal and pet-related products, and a particular cat-themed ring began to sell really well.

Soon there were others too. Jewelery for horse lovers, cat-themed rings and necklaces, and LED dog collars all began to bring in sales, and soon he was making $100-$200 in revenue a day.

The business was beginning to take off, but Harry was still dividing his time between his new job and his dropshipping stores. And the workload was exhausting.

A standard day saw Harry waking up at 7:00 a.m., and then commuting to work to arrive before 8:30 a.m. After working until 5:00 p.m., he’d head home and collapse in exhaustion on the couch. After waking up, he’d find the time to eat something before starting work on his store. Most nights he’d be up until around 2:00 a.m., tweaking his ads and looking for new products to test.

Then, finally, he’d head to bed. The next morning – which was just a few hours away – the cycle would begin all over again.

“I was pretty much getting about four hours sleep for a whole year. There were times where I was sleeping in my car during my break time, because I was just so tired.”

But just as things were getting better with the business, he was getting more and more miserable about his job.

“There were times when I would commute to work, I’d sit in the car, and just not wanna get out,” he says. “It sounds really bad, but it was just where I was at.”

Over a Year Later, Things Look Very Different

For a year, Harry was grinding it out at his office job during the day and building his business at night.

He’d since started other general stores, and together they were flourishing. He watched as the sales climbed from $1,000 a day to $2,000 a day and more. It took a while, but eventually he cracked $10,000 a day too.

Then came the moment when he was ready to make the leap.

When he decided to quit his job, it was as much about the opportunity to be his own boss as anything to do with money. “I was happy if I could make my yearly salary and just be able to wake up when I want. To not have someone say I’d have to come in at a certain time or to have to ask, ‘Can I have 20 days off of work?’ That’s what I generally wanted to get out of it.”

As his own boss, days for Harry look very different now.

“Sometimes I literally don’t get out of bed and just work from my laptop,” he says, laughing.

With the freedom to set his own schedule, he’s also been able to make time to travel. In the first half of 2019, he spent time soaking up the sun in the Maldives, and exploring New York City and Dubai.

As his different businesses grew, so did the volume of work that’s involved to keep them running. So now he’s also responsible for a team of up to 10 virtual assistants. They help him manage daily tasks such as customer service, uploading new products, and writing product descriptions.

“I don’t do as much of the other stuff any more,” he says. “I just focus on launching, scaling, and choosing products to be uploaded. Basically the money-making jobs.”

The Future is Looking Bright Now

It’s taken Harry almost three years of sweat, exhaustion, and sacrifice to build up to his level of success. But he’s not ready to rest yet.

Along with his team, he is continuing to grow his three general stores (including the first one he started back in 2016) as well as preparing to launch several more niche stores. He’s eventually hoping to be the owner of a suite of multi-million dollar ecommerce businesses.

“Once you kinda have success with one store, and once you’ve got your customer service in place, once you’ve got your email systems in place, you know how to run your adverts, it’s easy enough to replicate success over different stores.”

Harry has also spent much of the last year growing his YouTube channel and personal brand Beast of Ecom, where he educates other entrepreneurs how to grow their ecommerce businesses.

Even though his businesses have given him the opportunity to live a lavish lifestyle of expensive cars and flashy clothes, he’s careful to not take his eyes off his long term goals.

“You’re not gonna get any more value in my videos from me wearing a Gucci t-shirt or driving a Lamborghini. So I just play long game and know where I want to be in 10 years time. And all the flashy stuff can come later, because they’re all just liabilities, they’re not generating any money,” he says.

“So the money that I make from ecommerce goes into property and making that money work for me in the long term.”

In the end, Harry’s got one thing firmly in mind. He wants to do whatever he can do set himself up for the future so he’ll never have to go back to the drudgery of corporate office life.

“Some people are scared of losing their job. I fear having to get one.”

As a result of his burgeoning Beast of Ecom YouTube channel, he was recently invited to New York to speak at an ecommerce event. This was a totally new experience for Harry, and it gave him an opportunity to meet some of his audience in real life.

“Sometimes I don’t realize the effect that I’m having on other people, especially when it is just me in front of a camera and putting stuff on YouTube. But then people were coming up to me and were like, ‘I’ve tried this and it’s working and it’s making sales.’ It’s just very humbling and I was very taken aback by that shift,” he says.

“So even now, my life is still constantly changing which is… it’s amazing.”

4 Keys to Harry’s Million Dollar Success

1. Start a Niche Store Within a General Store

When you’re just starting out with dropshipping, one of the biggest questions you’ll need to ask yourself is, “Should I start a general or niche store?”

Harry’s answer to this is… both.

“My general stores are only limited to four or five niches, that is it,” he says.

Harry suggests picking four different product niches, for example:

Pets

Cooking

Babies

Home improvement

The key is then to specialize within those niches. It gives you enough flexibility to test a wide variety of products, but you’re also able to easily find audiences to target, and have related products you can offer as upsells.

Harry refers to these type of stores as “branded general stores,” because they combine the best elements of niche and general stores.

He emphasizes that one part you’ll need to get right is the branding. Because your store at first glance might look like an odd collection of products, it’s important to convey a sense of trust with polished branding, and a simple site structure. You’ll want to pay extra attention to your product descriptions, making sure you use high-quality images to convey a sense of professionalism. There’s no cutting corners with a branded general store.

And for people who are concerned that their Facebook pixel might get confused from the wide variety of products you’re offering, Harry says it’s not worth worrying about.

“I’ve never had any problem with having just one pixel on a general store,” he says.

“In Shopify, you can tag your product with the niche. So you tag all the pet products you’re selling as ‘pets.’ You can then create a custom audience for everyone’s who’s viewed just the pet products, as well as for everyone who’s viewed just the baby products, or everyone who’s purchased just the baby products. You can then create lookalike audiences based off those too.”

Harry is confident that a branded general store is the right choice for beginners. It will help you understand what’s involved with dropshipping, and have more of a chance of discovering a winning product.

“If you’re just getting up and running with things, and if you wanna test quickly and not waste time, start a general branded store,” he says. “You can learn what’s working, then start a niche store or start a one-product store.”

2. Solve a Problem or Sell to a Passionate Audience

When it comes to finding potential winning products, Harry has had a whole lot of experience. He’s refined his product research strategy down to two main types of products:

It solves a problem, making the customer’s life easier

It has a wow factor AND it’s being sold to a passionate audience

“You may have a cool phone case, but if it’s just a phone case which protects your screen in some sort of way, that’s cool, but no one’s really passionate about phone cases,” he says.

“Now, if you’re selling a phone case and it’s a dog case, then it’s cool, it’s quirky, it’s unique, and it’s being sold to a passionate audience.“

Passionate Audiences to Target

Fishing Veganism Dogs Baking Makeup Cycling Painting Camping Sewing Travel Spicy Food Babies Hip Hop Surfing DIY Dating Photography Fitness Hiking Weddings Gardening

3. Great Ad Copy Focuses on the Benefits

When it comes to writing copy for your ads, it’s tempting to go for the hard sell, plastering “50% OFF” and “DON’T MISS OUT!” all over your ads to encourage sales.

Harry’s strategy instead keeps the customer firmly in mind. He focuses on explaining the benefits to the customer’s life, rather than just features of the product.

“I’ll say things like, ‘This will cut your cleaning time in half,’ or ‘Save time, effort and energy,’ those sorts of things. You have to have a strong call to action too. Generally, I’m talking about just connecting as best as possible with the audience.”

When you’re analyzing the results of your ad creative, Harry suggests you keep one main metric in mind – link click-through rate.

“Link click-through rate very much comes down to how well you are connecting with the person who is looking at the advert,” he says.

He suggests that a click through rate of above 2 percent is a good sign that your ad is gaining clicks and standing out. If you’re at this level, it’s a sign you may have a good advert to scale. If you’re far below, you might want to rethink your audience targeting or ad creative.

4. Don’t Get Distracted, Success is Ahead

When you’re just starting out, it’s easy to give up or get distracted. Setbacks, frustrations, and failures are going to pop up constantly. But Harry insists that perseverance really is what separates successful entrepreneurs from the rest.

“If I would have given up when my first store bombed, then I would not be sitting here, and we would not be having this conversation right now,” he says. “I wouldn’t have a YouTube channel, I wouldn’t have anything.”

And as you begin to make sales and build your business, Harry warns about getting distracted by comparing yourself to others.

“When people are posting screenshots of them making $10,000 a day when you’re only making $100 it’s very easy to beat yourself up and think, ‘Why they are having the success and I’m not?’” he says.

“But it will come. It’s not a race, it’s a marathon. You will get there, but it’s just a case of persevering through. Be inspired by those and not be taken aback from it, and it will come.”

Want to Learn More?

The Single Product Website: This Entrepreneur’s Simple Formula for Success

How They Turned $5,000 Into a Thriving Home Decor Business

Dropshipping 101: Ecommerce Without Inventory [Ebook]

How Much Does it Cost to Launch a Dropshipping Store?

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