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alex51324 · 13 days ago

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Beach Report! Part 1

OK, so this was a trip to Wildwood & Cape May, New Jersey, in late October of 2024.

We drove down on Friday, arriving at the shore about two-ish. We stopped at a place called Hereford Inlet for our first look at the ocean!

Here it is!

We walked over to the Hereford Lighthouse where they have these old lifeboats for kids to climb on:

And confirmed that, as I suspected, Sophie would not be participating in any boat-based excursions:

This was as far as she would come into the boat that was sitting on completely dry land and had the side cut down to be easy to get into.

The little lighthouse/museum was closed, but we walked around a bit:

The we walked on the beach! I found this mysterious object:

Which it turns out is a whelk egg casing.

It was low tide so the beach was very broad and had huge tidepools; here we are standing with our back to the ocean looking at a big tidepool:

This is where Sophie made the discovery that sometimes water here is salty.

Onward!

Here's where I walked out onto a jetty and got splashed with water:

Then the motel! It's a very old-school boardwalk-adjacent motel, which the proprietors were trying to make look fancier than it is.

The ramp there leads up to the boardwalk, and you can walk under it to get to the beach.

We were in the cheapest rooms they have, which are in a little building in the back:

They originally gave us one on the top floor, but Sophie thought the stairs were scary, so I asked to switch to a ground-floor one.

The room was pretty nice--very clean, some nice details--but tiny. We're standing in the doorway here; that's what the blue vertical lines on either side are.

You get a microwave and minifridge there in the unit under the TV, though.

But the bathroom...

I guess they picked that sink thinking it would be an updated, modern look, but it does not fit in this space--I am not a large person, and I had to turn sideways to fit through this gap. A normal pedestal sink would work a lot better.

Anyway, I see why people who are paying high-season prices for this place are a little less-than-completely satisfied. But for an off-season bargain at one of the few boardwalk hotels that takes dogs, I thought it was pretty good.

Anyway, let's go under the boardwalk and to the beach!

The ocean is very big:

Other boardwalk hotels, most of them shut for the season:

To one side of the hotel there is a roller coaster and go-kart track--also shut:

To the other side is a place called Seaport Pier, which is a restaurant and nightclub with live music, and under the motel is a video arcade--fortunately, all shut. I don't think I'd have much fancied this location in the season, but it was peaceful in October--not to mention unseasonably warm--and I kind of liked getting the retro-kitsch vibe without the noise. (I took a bunch of vaguely arty shots of the roller coaster; you'll be seeing it again.)

We left the beach through a different boardwalk underpass and went back to the motel on the surface streets; here we saw some giraffes at a (shut) mini-golf place:

Most of the neighborhood around the motel was these townhouse/duplex things, that were all almost identical, and weirdly massive. I guess they probably had four units in each, I don't know. That's one of them behind the little yellow hut there. For several blocks, everything that wasn't a tourist-oriented business was one of those.

We left the motel to go to a place called Sunset Beach, where you can watch the sunset over the Delaware Bay. It's not everywhere that you can see the sunset over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the US side, so that's neat!

The object out there is the concrete ship Atlantus, which has been gradually falling apart out there for almost a hundred years.

This was one of my favorite activities of the weekend; the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and there were just enough people--a few dozen, spread out over the whole beach--to make it feel like a communal experience.

Sophie liked the beach and meeting people, but she was a little wary of the ocean itself. Here is photo evidence of her being very brave:

The sun continues to set:

There it goes!

The colors were even better than this in person; my phone camera is not great for this sort of thing.

After the sunset I poked around a couple of little gift shops near there, and then took advantage of certain ways in which the laws of New Jersey differ from those of my home state:

Luckily, I had the motel's rooftop deck to myself:

Coming back down from the deck, I spent a while trying to decide if this splotch of paint is intentionally supposed to look like a jellyfish-or-something:

Never quite came to a conclusion. There was another splotch that looked like it was maybe supposed to be a seashell but had mostly worn away, and then two others that were clearly just splotches. It's a mystery!

So that wrapped up the first night of Beach Vacation 2024.

#travel report #wildwood NJ #beach

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thislovintime · 2 years ago

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Performing in Houston on October 27, 1979; photo via RockinHouston dot com.

“The Great American Food and Beverage Company is an institution in [Santa Monica, Calif.]. […] A waiter in his ‘30s, older than the others, made his way to the podium, banjo in hand. He seemed strangely familiar in an unusual outfit whose suspenders gave him a whimsical air. He was very thin, with an angular, almost bony face and straight, mid-ear length dirty blond hair that was parted in the middle. That was all fine. But he also had a mustache and bags under his eyes that somehow didn’t seem quite right. […] Then came the memory of who he was. His name was Peter Tork, and more than a decade ago he was one of the four Monkees […]. And now Tork was a singing waiter. I assumed that few would recognize him — and that he’d probably rather not be recognized. So I decided to respect his privacy. But then, on the way out, he overheard me mention to someone that I was a writer visiting California to do some celebrity interviews, and he said to me, just a trace of bitterness in his voice, ‘Hey, how’d you like to do a story on a former great?’ Peter Tork now lives with his wife and two small children in Venice, Calif., […]. His home is a ramshackle duplex with badly chipped white paint on the outside and a gate that’s locked by a clothes hanger. Inside, the apartment has second-hand furniture with wobbly legs and sports bare wood floors of the kind it’s not fashionable to leave uncovered. An old sheepdog with a very doggy smell lies under an even older piano. In 1965, Peter Tork was washing dishes in Huntingon Beach, Calif., for $50 a week when he was recommend for the Monkees by a musician friend named Stephen Stills […|. ‘In those days we were both folksingers, and we were known as the two cats who looked alike,’ Tork said. ‘He turned me on to the situation.’ […] Today Peter Tork is 36. In his three years as a Monkee, he guesses he made a million dollars. Except for a trust he can’t touch until 1985, it’s all gone. ‘It just poured through,’ he recalled, without being at all maudlin. ‘It was like a tidal wave after a drought. The amount was so grotesque that I didn’t know what to do with it. I spent hundred-dollar bills like quarters.’ He calls himself a socialist now and says he’d be ‘philosophically and religiously prone to give that kind of money away anyway. But I dribbled it away.’ And that bothers him. ‘ I lived in Studio City in a big house that cost too much. I didn’t know how good I had it. I had no basis of comparison. I never got competent professional advice (from his producers, on how to invest his money). I’m bitter about that. They didn’t know how to handle a flash rather than someone who’d clawed his way to the top. Now I’ve been on the fringes. Now I know what it’s like to claw.’ Among other things, the fringes found him busted for alleged dope dealing. ‘It was ‘72. I was caught coming across the border from Mexico with some hash in my pocket,’ he said. ‘For a while, they thought they’d get me for a big smuggling rap. I ended up spending just three-and-a-half months in custody. I recommend it to all my good friends.’ After that experience, he worked for three years as a teacher. Then the school closed in the midst of a strange embezzlement scandal. So Tork decided to take another stab at show business. He has reactivated some old contacts and recently tried out at Paramount for comedy spots on ‘Happy Days,’ ‘Laverne and Shirley’ and ‘Mork and Mindy.’ ‘ I’m trying comedy because I know I’m glib, and I know I’m good at it,’ he said. ‘And I’m taking acting lessons. I’ll be glib one day in drama too. ‘Maybe first I can get a walk-on, then some solid comedic roles, then maybe in time a feature role in another series, then films, then maybe I can make enough to finance my music, which is really what I want to do,’ he said, the bounds of his quite sincere fantasy mushrooming in a minute. […] In the meantime, while he waits for a casting call, his show-business career still consists of The Great American Food and Beverage Company, where he has worked since last summer. ‘It’s something to do with my hands while I’m waiting,’ he said. ‘It’s a place where you’re allowed to sing, and everybody uses it to keep their chin up while waiting for their big break — like “The Gong Show” or something.’ A touch of bitterness there, again. ‘It’s just that the people don’t shut up (at the restaurant). I wish they would. You basically have to drown them out. But… it is a chance.’ With that, Peter Tork picked himself up to go to work. It was his turn to wash dishes.” - article by Steve Sonsky, The Miami Herald, February 18, 1979

“Well, what I thought was great was that [Peter] always seemed to be humble and very, very gracious in his actions and his attitude. He always treated everybody with respect. He stayed low-key until we would kick up with a group number and then he would join in. […] Everybody else has been joking about how he wasn’t Pete, he was Peter. You can tell a lot about a person when they do whatever they need to do for their family. And the only thing else that I would add is that the fact that he stayed so humble and so gracious after a lot of us had grown up with him as an icon means a lot.” - D J Barker, Tales of the Road Warriors, 2019 (x)

“I worked with Peter in the mid seventies. A kinder, gentler, gracious and giving human being you could never find. His sense of humor and positivity was a gift to all of those lucky enough to be around him. He loved his life, (in spite of it sometimes!)[.]” - D J Barker, Facebook, February 13, 2023 (x)

“There was a period where I was broke. And I called home, I said, ‘Send money.’ ‘No, sorry, kiddo, you’re on your own.’ So there was a restaurant, a two-restaurant chain, there were two restaurants — a short chain, a very small chain, two links — in L.A. called The Great American Food and Beverage Company. And the trick to this establishment was that you had to be a musician, you had to audition to work at this restaurant. And I really, really, really, really, really didn’t want to work there, but I really, really, really needed the money. Anyway, so I’m standing in the kitchen, it’s my first day, and I’m dressed in this ridiculous outfit, and a bunch of us are lined up. And the coked up manager was marching up and down in front of us like a drill sergeant. And as we’re standing there listening to this madman, the kitchen door swings open, and who should walk in but none other than Peter Tork from The Monkees. And I watch Peter Tork walk by me, take a time card and punch in the time clock and get in line right next to me. And my mouth dropped open. And it became evident at that point that he was working as a waiter at the restaurant. And this is Peter Tork from the fucking Monkees. This man was, you know, as big, if not bigger, than The Beatles in the U.S. at one point in his career. And I watched my whole life pass before my eyes.” - Matthew Wilder, Speaking of Music with Jason Faber

More about Peter's time at the Great American Food and Beverage Company in a second post.

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otter1962crystalball · 5 months ago

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Love, Depression & Letting Go.

June 14th, 2024

Happy 14th Day of Pride! Today I am writing about falling in love along with letting go when the love flies away and how depression and anxiety can almost destroy a person.

As I look back on my life since seroconverting, depression was often waiting in the wings for me. Yesterday I wrote of the deep depression I felt over losing Eddy the first time. When I decided to leave, I had concerns about living alone in a small city such as Jonquière, Québec. Very few people spoke English, with the exception of the teachers at the CEGEP de Jonquière. This was college level teaching in ESL (English as a Second Language). I felt very isolated and didn’t really make any friends while teaching there. I was also teaching step and aerobics at a local gym. I didn’t really befriend anyone. In fact, I had to insist a woman leave me alone as she stalked me. I guess that she hadn’t figured out that I was not going to hook up with her. Who knows, maybe she thought she could change me…

Anyway, during that year of teaching ESL, the only person I really talked to was a former professor from my degree. We had hit it off because he and his wife were living there at the time. Most of my time was taken up with walking Bailey and playing on the internet. I had to do so at the CEGEP in the teacher’s lounge because back in those days most houses didn’t have Internet yet. I’d sign in and go to the lounge and hook up to IRC (Inter Relay Chat). I just looked it up on the Internet and it still exists!

Once on, I would link into gay chatrooms. You could only type text and send pictures to someone. It was there that I met a guy that I will call “Jeff.” We chatted on a regular basis and I found out he lived in Vancouver. I told him that I was going to move there to go to the University of British Columbia to upgrade my teaching degree. Jeff and I really started sharing a lot and we started talking about what might happen when we met. We had exchanged pictures and there was a connection, so we both started looking forward to meeting each other. This took place in the dead of winter and it was so bloody cold there. All I could think of was escaping and going to Vancouver.

So, when school was done, I resigned and packed about 15 boxes and sent them to my sister’s place by UPS. Bailey, TC, Bob and Marnie came with me. To be honest, I can’t even remember how I got to the Montreal airport. I do remember getting the dog and cats ready to fly.

When I arrived in Vancouver, my sister took Bailey to a vet where they boarded dogs. The cats came with me to her apartment. Not long after, I found an apartment in the West End. It was a filthy apartment, but relatively cheap back in those days. I spent a long time cleaning it and painting the walls and the kitchen cabinets. Jeff and I hung out and began a relationship.

The next year, we moved in together, first in his current apartment and then the top floor of a duplex. Later, we bought a townhouse together. We were a couple for almost five years.

One day, Jeff decided that he didn’t like our sexual lives together, of which I won’t go into detail. That night he decided, we were lying in bed and he told me he wanted out. I got upset and moved to the second bedroom. I was in such shock that I couldn’t sleep. I even ended up in the hospital, where the doctor gave me some Ativan to take and told me to go home. This was the start of one of the most deep depressions that I have ever lived.

I felt totally lost. I managed to continue to work at my school where I now had a permanent position. I literally tried to escape living in the townhouse with Jeff, so I moved into a friend’s place. That didn’t work out too well as the friend made passes at me and I was too weak to say no and let him. This was winter of 2001, when I went home to my parents’ for Christmas, so depressed that I couldn’t function. It was also the time when my father had his first stroke. The whole family got together to decide what to do.

I could barely function. My older brother told me to stop being so glum - it was a part of life for a parent to have a stroke. Little did my brother know what I was going through. We all decided our parents live in a condo that was easy to navigate for my Dad.

After that, I went to my sister’s for a while, but her male partner didn’t like me. I think that he was rather homophobic. So part way into my stay, my sister came and told me that she was putting me on a plane because the two of them needed to set their New Year’s goals. I knew the real reason and didn’t speak to my sister for almost ten years.

When I got home, I immediately went to another friend’s place because I didn’t want to be sexually harassed by the other guy. Looking back at the time, I was depressed over losing Jeff, not being able to function well at work or do much of anything.

The townhouse that Jeff I owned was sold and I got a nice sum of money. I ended buying a condo in the West End. I hit a snag because the bank where I was requesting the mortgage made unreasonable demands. The representative made me get a second line of credit with another bank in order to allow me to get a mortgage. It turned out that he was being very unreasonable and I got another representative who really took me under his wing. This snag made my depression even worse.

I settled into my condo and I tried to move on. I spent many nights walking around the West end, the seawall or going to the bathhouse. Tuesdays were cheap locker night. A friend convinced me to go so that I wouldn’t stay at home and be depressed. The anonymous sex did help, I guess.

And then, one night it all changed. I’ll tell you about that tomorrow. I began this blog about how depression could destroy someone. It almost destroyed me…

I want to finish off by saying that I’ve skipped many, many details in all of my blog entries. Maybe, I should write a book… For Pride, I am celebrating support for those who are depressed. I needed an ear to share all of my pain and I’ve always been open to returning the favour to anyone who needed the same. If you know someone who is depressed, reach out to them. It could change things for that person to know there is someone who will listen.

Carpe diem, everyone. Happy Pride!

#depression #gay #pride #support #Help others #carpe diem #surviving depression #getting support

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purplesurveys · 1 year ago

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1676

Do you own a pocketknife, or any other kind of multi-tool? No I don’t.

What did your mother study at university? I won’t give it away but it’s 100% the first university that’ll come to Filipinos’ mind if I say it’s in Manila haha.

When was the last time your living situation changed in any way? 2008 when we moved into this current house. We used to live in a duplex with extended family on my mom’s side.

What was the last thing you took a video of? It’s a video of Tajiri from the wrestling program I went to two weeks ago. I don’t always keep videos from the shows, but Tajiri used to be in WWE and is very near and dear to the Filipino wrestling scene so I had to capture the moment.

Has anyone ever tried to convert you to their religion? Considering I live in a country where nearly everyone is Roman Catholic, no.

Are there any ways in which your childhood was highly atypical? Well yeah I guess the alcoholism and occasional violence and shouting matches can speak for themselves.

What’s something that used to really stress you out, but doesn’t anymore? Leading work calls. Used to scare the shit out of me, especially as an associate who merely followed my manager; but after more than a year of actually being the manager and holding the responsibility for being the main point person for every campaign, it’s nearly nothing to me now. I still kinda get stressed every now and then especially when the people in the call are unfamiliar, but I mean I haven’t ever panicked yet LOL so that’s a win.

Do you prefer to be around introverted or extroverted people? Extroverts.

Have you ever stayed in a hostel? Yeah but it depends on their facilities and location – I wouldn’t stay anywhere sketchy. I stayed at a hostel the last couple of times I went to Zambales and that place wasn’t bad at all.

Have you ever been somewhere where you didn’t fluently speak the local language? Yes – China, Japan, Korea. The last two were manageable as people we encountered understood basic English; but I’m pretty sure I only ever spoke with my parents the whole time I was in China.

What’s an interesting fact about the last person you hugged? She’s a cheerleader.

Have you ever dated someone from a very different socioeconomic background? No.

Do you own a disco ball? Nope, never had a need for one.

Were you born before or after the collapse of the Soviet Union? After.

What is your least favorite kind of weather? Pits of hell levels of hot. Which is what the Philippines is currently experiencing – welcome to the land where the heat index reaches 48º–50ºC everyday lol.

What was the last housework you did? Mopped the floor.

What was the amount of the last check you wrote? I’ve never written a check.

Do you have any home exercise equipment? My mom has a rowing thingy and a couple of dumbbells.

What mountain range is closest to your house? Sierra Madre.

Have you ever had famous neighbors? Yes, two houses away from ours is a well-known local film director. A number of celebrities also live in the village but I wouldn’t say they’re neighbors.

Describe the ‘look’ you did the last time you wore makeup? Barely there. It was just foundation, concealer, and very subtle lipstick.

If you got pregnant the 1st time you had sex, how old would the kid be now? 7.

Have you ever polished and waxed your car? Nope.

As a kid, did you have any friends with parents who yelled a lot? I’m sure I did.

If so, did you avoid going to their house because of it? I wasn’t allowed to visit friends’ houses for the most part.

Are you competitive? To a fault.

What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken? Give life a chance.

What was your last received text message about? It was just a notification confirming that I paid for a data promo. Extremely interesting stuff in my inbox hahahaha

Have you ever lived in a small community where everyone knew each other? Yes, my childhood street was pretty close-knit and my grandma knew nearly every household.

What are some of your least favorite foods? Fruits, raisins, pickles.

Do you give your pets gifts and treats for their birthday/adoption day? Not always, but yes some years we’d splurge on a cake or something.

Has anyone ever set you up on a blind date? If so, how did it go? No, I’m not the type to go on one. Are you a procrastinator? I can be.

What was the last thing you said out loud? “Sleep now, night!” after playing with the dogs as soon as I got home.

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fecundaratis · 1 month ago

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i just need to type out everything i remember about being 4 right now. sorry.

tw for csa, csem, sex trafficking? (unsure if i could call it this, but it seems pretty clear i guess), gross things about human waste

i was around 4 years old when the abuse began.

im not entirely sure how it started. i suppose it just started with the baby sitter my parents found.

it was an at-home day care, lots of children in someones home, with a space specifically for the kids to be, a woman watched us.

i dont recall if the man lived there, or if he just came by every day. i remember we would get excited when he came. he could push us all on the swing set.

at some point, the adults started blaming me for every misbehavior of the other children. i think they encouraged the other children to do so as well.

its not like they would beat me. but at a certain point, i started being in time out more often than i was playing with the other kids.

the first instance of abuse i remember, i had some kind of rash. i couldnt be around the other children. chickenpox or a reaction to penicillin. so i was in some tiny bedroom. i think it was meant to be a small office or something, but theyd put a twin sized bed in there. and thats where i was, all day. alone in the dark. the man came in and put itch cream on me. thats the first instance of molestation i can recall.

from there things escalated. a lot of it is a blur, as should be expected maybe, since it was so long ago.

i dont know how frequently i was abused. my parents would ask me about what had happened at daycare, but i would start hysterically crying, or completely shut down. either way, i told them nothing. they assumed it was just because i was in trouble all the time. i was ashamed of being so bad for the baby sitter.

i remember at some point, i started being taken to the main bedroom in the back of the house. there was a camera set up in there. i know they took pictures of me. maybe videos. i dont really know. i almost recall seeing some of the pictures.

he didnt just take photos of me being abused. he also regularly took pictures around the day care, of us kids playing, for the parents. my expressions range from dead-eyed to exuberant.

at some point, i was taken somewhere. a duplex in what i believe was the city. for a long time, all i remembered was walking up to the door, and being let inside. then, i remembered coming out, seeing myself in a 3rd person perspective as i watched my body being walked to the car id been brought in. recently, i remembered the inside of the house. the living room, and the short hallway i entered. a few days ago, i remembered the rest.

i was brought into a sickly green room. i cant tell if the walls are painted that shade of pastel green, or if theres a mercury light bulb in the overhead light. it lends the whole room a sort of eerie, uncanny effect. its obvious no children lived in this room. there was a twin sized bed in the far left corner, no side table, no lamp, some scant wall decorations to make it appear as if it were a genuine bedroom. there was a mirror in the other far corner. some toys placed on the floor in a small radius, what seems to be an attempt to appear messy in a childish way, without actually being in the way.

i was told to lay down on the bed, and not move until someone came in. i did as i was told, laying down on the thin mattress without even taking my shoes off. at this age, i wore "pretty dresses" exclusively, if i had a say in it. i always wanted to wear a pretty dress. that day, i was wearing one of my favorites. it was red and had lace on it. i was wearing socks with lace trim, and i think some mary jane-like play shoes.

when the first man came in, he knelt down next to me. he told me that my baby sitters had told him i was a very good girl. he asked me if i was going to be a good girl for him. i dont know if i responded.

when he took off my clothes, starting with my shoes, i started thinking about my favorite fairy tales. this was something i had gotten really good at, going away in my brain and thinking about other things. imagining other things. i was so good at it, it was like my eyes turned off, and i could only see what i imagined, could only feel what i imagined.

i was replaying the story of the little match girl, a very sad fairy tale where a little girl selling matches lights each and every one of her last 3 before she freezes to death. she imagines a beautiful christmas tree, a delicious meal, and, most enticingly, her kindly grandma that beckons her toward the afterlife. the little girl dies, and her body is discovered the next day, frozen solid, but with a peaceful smile.

this fairy tale was a fixation of mine at this age. i was always asking my mom to read me the little match girl. we had a compendium of fairy tales by hans christian andersen, but i always wanted to hear the little match girl.

i remember several other men coming in, but i remember less about what happened with them. i remember my baby sitters re-entering the room, dressing me, and taking me to the car, where the memory continues in 3rd person.

i was really shocked when i remembered this the other day. i was trying desperately to go to sleep, when the memory started playing again, as it had been for several weeks at that point. but it continued. my mind started screaming "stop! dont touch that!" like i was a child about to put my hand on a hot stove. but i couldnt stop the memory. i woke my partner up in a panic, and recounted the memory as it played out before my eyes.

i have no idea how frequently this happened. if it ever happened again. i dont know how my parents didnt realize something awful had happened to me. i dont understand how they could justify the reaction i was having as only being because i had gotten in trouble.

all of the children at this daycare had some level of incontinence. i think thats easy enough to write off if the children are young enough. one girl there was impossible to potty train. she only ever wanted to use diapers. after going there, i started regressing as well. i started hiding wads of toilet paper in my dresser so i could stuff it in my underwear, so i could still pee in them. hard to remember if this was happening during potty training, or if i got worse at it.

there was another little girl there that had nervous accidents all the time. there was another little boy who would take poop out of his pull ups, and smear it on the walls, or hide it in the mega bloks. somehow i got in trouble for both of those things, it was supposed that i goaded both into doing such repugnant behaviors.

the nervous little girl had a twin brother. one day he tripped her, and she fell on a carpet stable, cutting her nose and making her face bleed. all the children blamed me for it, of course.

some of these things i had forgotten. some of them i didnt forget, but i made such a habit of not thinking about them that thinking about them was shocking. some of these things i had remembered, and assimilated perfectly into my life, to explain why i am the way i am. upon examining a more complete picture, i feel... i dont know. sometimes i want to scream. sometimes, i feel completely numb. sometimes, i dont even believe it. like i said, i had an extremely vivid imagination as a child. it could be that i imagined it then, or now, and i have completely blown this out of proportion.

i dont know what to do with myself now. i find myself asking my partner several times a day if it makes sense to them, or if they really think it could have happened, and they say yes, every time. they believe me unquestioningly, tell me that based on our lives together and knowing me for as long as they have, it all makes perfect sense. its a relief, but part of me cant help thinking theyre just trying to humor me, because telling me the truth--that i imagined it all, theres no way such a thing could have happened to me, theres too many inconsistencies, and also if such a terrible thing had happened it would have been noticed, and the perpetrators would have been caught, and i would have physical evidence--would destroy my ego beyond repair. i guess i dont really know what they would get out of dating someone whos ego depends entirely on having been abused as a child.

anyway. i want to tell everyone. i want to keep it a secret forever. i want to burn that house to the ground and everyone inside. i want to take this secret to the grave. i dont know what to do

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cryptidsurveys · 4 months ago

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Friday, July 12th, 2024.

Do you ever have days where you just don’t do anything? Saturdays are pretty lowkey. All I do is clean my bedroom and make art.

Have you ever been extremely tired but refused to go to sleep? Yeah. Like, sometimes I'll resist taking a nap because they tend to make me feel worse. I'd rather just stick it out for a regular night of sleep. Past reasons may have included waiting for a phone call or reply from someone.

What is your favorite episode of True Life, if you have one at all? I think I've only seen a few episodes, a long time ago. I don't have a favorite.

Have you ever experienced something paranormal? Possibly. The experiences were so subtle that it's hard to determine if they were "real" or just my mind playing tricks on me.

What’s the longest amount of time you’ve been stuck in traffic? Not that long. I used to have appointments in Denver for my eating disorder, and depending on what time we headed home, traffic could get a bit backed up there + in Springs; but I don't recall experiencing anything too terrible.

Best field trip experience? The overnight trip to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in 5th grade.

Have you ever been to New York City? No.

If so, is it all it’s cracked up to be? Even if it was exactly what it was cracked up to be, it's just not a destination that interests me. I'm just not a big city person. However, oddly enough, I do feel like I would enjoy a trip to Tokyo.

What is the most amount of money you’ve spent on a meal before? I'm not sure.

What museums have you visited, if any? The natural history museum in Denver, plus one other…although I forget the name of it. It was for an eating disorder inpatient group field trip. I don't remember much about it, but the first floor was mainly Native American art/artifacts, the top floor was dedicated to Chinese art/artifacts, and there was one room somewhere along the way that was filled with various styles of chairs. It was actually kind of trippy. Oh, and I've been to the Sangre de Cristo art center here in town, but I guess that's more of a gallery than a museum…? Come to think of it, I've never really considered the difference before this moment…

Have you ever had a group project and one of your partners bailed on you? I'm not sure.

What’s your worst traveling experience? The trip out to Georgia to see Nick wasn't all that fun. Like, seeing Nick was alright, but I just haaate road trips.

Have you ever dealt with noisy neighbors or roommates? How did that go? Yeah, while living in a duplex with my mom as a teen. The people next to us were college kids and one of them would stay up really late and play the same few chords on his guitar, over and over and over again.

Who was (or is) the teacher that gave you the hardest time in school? Mrs. Garcia.

Best muffin you’ve ever had? Idk about the absolute best, but I do enjoy blueberry, cranberry/orange, banana nut, and double chocolate chip.

Have you ever taken a woodshop class? Yeah.

If so, was it required? I don't recall whether it was required or not.

How much time do you spend on Facebook, if you have one? I haven't used Facebook for about a decade now.

What area of math are you best at? Worst? I was okay at geometry and algebra I, but rather confounded by algebra II/trig/calc.

How do you feel when you meet someone with the same music taste as you? I've never met such a person.

What is the strangest thing you’ve ever seen outside of your house? A group of teens/young adults from a party down the street, standing on the corner outside our house, about to get into what seemed to be a pretty nasty fight. Also, on a different night - a vehicle drove by and fired a gun (at someone…? possibly not intending to hit them, but to scare them…?); I didn't see that, but I heard a brief exchange, the gunshot, etc.

Do you believe in luck? Why or why not? In a sense. Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time, or "the stars align." But as a force, not really.

How often do you “half-ass” things (put little effort in)? Eh. Here and there. It just depends.

Do you ever feel self-conscious when you eat around other people? Occasionally/slightly.

Has a teacher ever made you hate yourself/your work? No.

How reliable is your internet connection? It's pretty reliable.

Have you ever missed a meeting/event that was required/necessary? Yeah.

What’s something that makes you incredibly nervous? It's not nearly as bad as it was in the beginning, but driving can still make me a little nervous.

What’s the latest you’ve ever stayed up to finish homework/a project? I'm not sure.

If you don’t have glasses, how would you feel if you had to get them? I do have glasses, but I only wear them when I'm driving.

If you do have glasses, how would you feel if you didn’t need them anymore? That would be nice.

How many vegetarians do you know? One of the people I work with at the animal shelter is a vegetarian. Idk about anyone else I know.

Have you ever considered going to art school? No.

Is there anyone in your life who consistently angers you? Not really. Sometimes I'll feel annoyed, disappointed, sad, or whatever, but I try not to blame other people for my emotional response. Instead, I'll look inward and wonder what's going on with me that's making me react in such a way. (Ofc, it depends on the situation; like, if someone was being truly terrible, I probably wouldn't try to make it a "me thing," but you know!)

What is the worst thunderstorm you’ve experienced? We had some pretty bad storms last summer.

How quickly can you write an essay? That depends.

Have you ever had problems falling asleep in class? No.

Have you ever been on the barrier or front row at a concert? I don't even think there was a barrier. It was a relatively small concert for a 4th of July celebration up at the university.

If you have a job, who is your least favorite coworker/manager? I don't think I have a least favorite…or a favorite, for that matter. I tend to get along with pretty much everyone.

Favorite episode of Spongebob? Idk.

Do you have any silly/odd emotional connections to anything/anyone? Oh, sure.

What bug frightens you most? I'm not really all that frightened by bugs.

Are your parents supportive of you? Yeah. My dad is extremely supportive. i just got back in touch with my mom last summer after years of estrangement, but she's fairly supportive as well. I don't tend to share too much with her, though.

How often do you take the train to go places? I've never taken a train before.

Do you play with your phone in awkward situations? Not really.

Have you ever participated in a mock trial, or a real trial? No.

#survey #surveys #personal survey #survey blog

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shithowdy · 1 year ago

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#but also they are proftting off you#ensuring you will never have a home#always their whim away from homelessness#any landlord is wrong and shouldn’t exist

this is kind of what i mean when i say that the two have become so conflated that the entire notion of property/building ownership has been reduced down to this cartoonish example of power imbalances of evil landlords vs. starving masses. unless you personally plan to lead the charge on the glorious revolution that restructures the government into being a fair land and property steward that ensures all people within its borders are securely housed, people are going to continue to need to rent because systems don't dismantle overnight. So,

1- not all renters have housing insecurity. impermanence is a thing. students like to rent apartments/rooms for school, people have to relocate for jobs for a few months/years, the list of reasons could go on. a wealthy college student on their family's dime and a single mother working two jobs could rent from the same duplex and have the same rights as tenants. but they would absolutely not have the same power balance with the owner when it came to exercising those rights or bending the rules.

2- back to my original point, eliminating property investment companies and implementing tighter rent control would open up more affordable housing opportunities in communities overall (and keep the money within the community), making ownership a more attainable goal. renting SHOULD be mostly reserved for people who don't intend to live somewhere for very long, not something in which they are stuck endlessly. being a whim away from homelessness is the fault of a greater systemic failure than someone leasing out their third bedroom.

3- the political ads i mentioned love to use these private owners as shields against rent control specifically; i remember the litany of prop 10/21 ads showing Distressed Homeowners crying over paperwork to dramatic music as their kids looked on in worry and a disembodied voice explained that property values would drop 20% and this would hurt families and my god people ate that shit up thanks to this very thing. renters, too, get used as shields in this way-- the honest to god argument against rent control was "it won't allow investment companies to make as much profit and use it to build more homes, do you want the homeless problem to be worse? :("

sorry if i forget to shed a tear.

should the concept of a "landlord" not exist? sure, i guess. the concept of "money" and "ownership" is ultimately a fake little monkey game we play to grasp at fulfillment until we die and it stops mattering, but that's why it's called a mortgage.

lying in bed thinking about the insane propaganda and lexicon manipulation that has made "landlord" into a generic term for anyone renting out any property, leaving no distinction on a public policy discussion level between "guy renting out his inherited family house" and "real estate investment firms that own 2500 units in the bay area". everything from online discussion to political ads immediately pivots to evoking sympathy for the former when discussing issues like evictions/squatting, effectively turning these small-fry local property owners into (often willful) political shields as they feel compelled to defend their assets against intentionally shittily-worded policy that doesn't make distinctions between Some Guy with 2 houses and a megafirm. i know the "middle class" is disappearing but the class line doesn't just happen solidly somewhere between "renter" and "rentee" and i genuinely hate seeing discussion constantly pivot away from the actual cause of the housing crisis to either sneer "eat the rich" at someone with 500k net worth or console their crying about said sneering.

idk where i was going with this. end property investment companies.

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teenageread · 1 year ago

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Review: The Good Son

Synopsis:

Who can you trust if you can't trust yourself?

Early one morning, twenty-six-year-old Yu-jin wakes up to a strange metallic smell, and a phone call from his brother asking if everything's all right at home - he missed a call from their mother in the middle of the night. Yu-jin soon discovers her murdered body, lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs of their stylish Seoul duplex. He can't remember much about the night before; having suffered from seizures for most of his life, Yu-jin often has trouble with his memory. All he has is a faint impression of his mother calling his name. But was she calling for help? Or begging for her life?

Thus begins Yu-jin's frantic three-day search to uncover what happened that night, and to finally learn the truth about himself and his family. A shocking and addictive psychological thriller, The Good Son explores the mysteries of mind and memory, and the twisted relationship between a mother and son, with incredible urgency.

Plot:

Yu-jin woke up after a late night to wake up covered in blood. He was out drinking with some friends the night before and missed his mother’s harsh 9pm curfew. Why at age twenty-six did Yu-jin still live with his mother to which having a 9pm curfew led him to have no social life. Yu-jin has epilepsy, and his mother worries about him having a seizure in the middle of the street with no one there to help him. Thus, since his diagnosed him, Yu-jin's mother has kept a tight leash on her son, no matter his age. Going downstairs, the blood, muddy running shoes, his mother's shoes wet, lead YU-jin to discover her body, which was placed carefully on the floor. How did she die? Who killed her? Was it him? These are the questions Yu-jin thought as he held his mother’s body close to him. Having her scream echoing in his ear, Yu-jin’s mind was left blank of last night's events. Digging back into his mind, Yu-jin has to find out what happened to his mother, while keeping his brother and aunt from finding her body. A physiological thriller like no other, You-Jeong Jeong takes readers into family secrets between a mother and her beloved son, whom she swore to protect, no matter what he is.

Thoughts:

This book was not what you would expect. The Good Son was the number one bestseller in Korea, and was You-Jeong Jeong first book translated into English, and you’ll be glad it was. First the setting was in Seoul, South Korea, in which Jeong described it as an American author would describe a location in America: giving you the location as bare as it can be. When North American authors write about locations that are not in North America, they always try to play it up, viva the beauty, the culture, or the things to do. Jeong wrote about Seoul casually, really making it just the setting to the story and not the culture of the book. This book was written as a physiological thriller with a bit (well more like a lot) of crime in it. As my first physiological thriller, I can not say too much about how this was written, only that for me, it was a good starting point in getting into the genre. From the point of view of Yu-jin, together you’ll be with him as he remembers the contents of the night his mother was killed, discovering who killed her and the reason why. With Yu-jin's past also coming into play, like how his father and older brother died, there is also current drama with his aunt and brother who keep questioning where mother is. The writing, even translated, was easy to follow and compelling to read more to see where the plot was going. Where current day events and memories were not as clearly distinguished as in other books, Jeong put a lot of effort into how the flashbacks are laid out, so you can guess ahead and still be surprised. Read this because you like psychological thrillers, read this if you want to get into them, read it if you want a book that was not originally written in English, no matter what the reason is, this book is worth taking a lot at.

Read more reviews: Goodreads

Buy the book: Amazon

#The Good Son #You-Jeong Jeong #book review

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fanboo · 2 years ago

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Ranboo X Reader : Neighbors

Your next door neighbor was a streamer. It was surprisingly easy to deal with. The two of you lived in a duplex, and he told you when he moved in. He wanted you to be okay with his possibility of yelling and generally being loud. You didn’t mind. You grew up with quite a few siblings, and they were loud.

For the past four months he’d been gone, so you had silence. It was actually quite unnerving. You were used to noise. So when he texted you that he’d be back, you couldn’t help but smile. He also asked for a ride home from the airport, which you gladly supplied.

As soon as you saw your neighbor and his four bags waiting for you, you laughed. “Hello neighbor,” you said, getting out to help him put his bags in your car. “How was the UK?” He smiled. “It was nice. I hung out with friends and had a lot of fun. How was having peace and quiet for once?”

“Terrible. Never go away again.” Ranboo laughed, and you smacked his arm playfully. “I’m serious! It was so bad! I could hear way too much! I’m too used to having you make noise,” you told him. “Well, I guess silence begone, because I’m streaming later.”

“You can’t be serious. Are you not jet lagged?” He shook his head. “I slept on the plane. How have you been?”

The two of you talked the whole way home, and you hung out with him while he set up his computer to stream. It was nice hearing constant noise again. “I’m glad you’re back. I missed you,” you said. “I missed you too. You can join my stream if you like. I’m just gonna unpack and chat,” he offered. “No thanks. I’m tired. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He hugged you, and you let yourself lean into him for a few seconds. You could feel him do the same. For a moment, it was just the two of you there, and it felt like nothing else existed. Just two friends who missed each other finally getting to enjoy the other’s presence. Then you pulled away to leave.

“Night, Y/N. It’s nice to see you again. I should have called more.” You nodded and hugged him again, faster this time. “Goodnight, Ran,” you said, and smiled when he placed a friendly kiss on the top of your head. “I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

When you left, and we’re comfortable in bed, you listened to your neighbor through the wall. He was telling chat all of what he told you. It was relaxing to finally hear him as background noise while you slept again. You felt yourself drifting off, so you placed your forehead on the wall and let his voice lull you to sleep.

#ranboo x y/n #ranboo #ranboo fanfic #mcyt fanfiction #mcyt #mcytumblr #ranboo mcyt #reader insert

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donnerpartyofone · 2 years ago

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When I was a kid, I desperately craved contact with the other world. I was naturally interested in all things spooky and mysterious, but more importantly, I found the world I lived in drab, suffocating, painful, and embarrassing. I certainly had serious problems with depression from a very early age, but it's fair to suggest that maybe my childhood obsession with suicide was partially inspired by the idea that if I died, I would go somewhere better, somewhere more beautiful and interesting. Because I was so disposed, I collected an unfortunate roster of destructive friends who were happy to exploit my eagerness to believe in such things. From grade school all the way through high school (by which time I really should have been savvier but OH WELL), I always seemed to know someone who dominated my life by claiming that they had some kind of connection to the other world--typically in the form of channeling paranormal entities who, oftener than not, got me to do all sorts of things I didn't want to do, that were really bad for me, just because my happiness seemed so dependent on my faith that these things could be real.

I don't like to talk about that stuff in detail (so don't ask), but it did something to my worldview beyond just making me distrust other people. I guess I'd call myself a skeptic now, but not in the sense of being atheistic; it's more that I feel a need to separate the chaff from the wheat, to conscientiously reject everything that justifies suspicion, so that only true mysteries remain, untainted by bad company. Now that I'm more or less writing full time, I find that all of my projects have to do with the madness of faith, the ineffable quality of subjective reality, and predators who exploit the virtue of open-mindedness.

I do believe that a lot of what we call "hauntings" come from people. I find it relatively easy to swallow the proposal that poltergeitic activity and psychokinesis are one and the same symptom of, say, a troubled child full of energy with nowhere to put it; in fact, I saw evidence of this once, around an especially disturbed "friend". But speaking less literally, I also think that a haunted atmosphere grows up around convergences of troubled people. Even if a team of professionals from the Rhine Research Center wouldn't be able to detect anything untoward, the sense of being haunted would be no less real for the people involved.

For several years between college and my marriage, I lived in a little new fab Brooklyn duplex with two old classmates. Yet somehow, it was only several years later, after I moved out, that I started to hear that our apartment was haunted. I don't know how I could have missed this, and I strongly suspected that some new, shared perception of theirs had been retrofitted onto our past. I couldn't imagine how anyone could perceive any form of subtle energy in that place, with our landlords downstairs having raging parties three days a week, their roosters crowing four or five hours a day, and the mice noisily chewing up the insides of the building every night. I basically rolled my eyes at the idea, especially because of the person who first told me.

One of my ex-roommates, T, who still lived in the place, met my fiance and I out one night to introduce his new boyfriend. The boyfriend was too young, acted even younger, and when he wasn't telling exaggerated-sounding stories about himself, he cued T to tell stories about him instead. He particularly insisted that T explain that the apartment was haunted. What followed were elaborate stories of appliances turning on and off on their own, objects flying across rooms, locked doors swinging open, and footprints appearing in the protective salt circle around their bed. The boyfriend insisted that T show a photo of the salt, in which strange sigils supposedly manifested overnight. The photo displayed what looked like the word "FAG" rising to the top of a bowl of alphabet soup. My fiance and I were utterly mortified.

At least two other people who lived in that place substantiated the claim that it was wildly, spectacularly haunted, although it bothered me that this had never come up during any of the years we all cohabitated. However, that's not to say that it wasn't an exceedingly dark environment. During that time, T had two long term boyfriends who were delusional, controlling and violent; I brought in my own psychotic abuser, who made all of our lives hell; another roommate brought a woman with whom he would share a doomed marriage, who loudly criticized him in front of us for embarrassing symptoms of severe depression; we briefly housed a couple we almost never saw, but who we could hear shouting and throwing things; and, in truth, we were all functioning alcoholics at that time. Those were not good days, and whatever you think "energy" is, together we created and bathed in quite a lot of bad energy. I barely got out with my sanity intact, after which T picked an incredibly nasty and protracted fight with me over a litany of things I had supposedly done and said throughout the last 15 years. To me, it was meaningful that this only happened after I escaped, even though I had tried repeatedly to have a constructive conversation with him while I was still there; it was like being in the grip of the Amityville house or the Overlook, a possessing entity that doesn't want to let you leave.

There's only one incident that sticks in my mind as evidence of something more than psychological disturbance. One night I brought home a copy of the great french exploitation movie DON'T DELIVER US FROM EVIL, about a pair of sociopathic teens who go on a satanic, ultimately suicidal rampage. As I gazed on the final image of the two girls burning, I said, my god, B really needs to see this, and made a note of it. B was a friend of a friend with whom I had grown enormously close, a dark, turbulent person, highly cultured, and a certified genius. A few hours after T and I went to sleep, we were awoken by a frantic pounding on the front door; B's best friend was there to report that she had committed suicide. We stayed up all night talking. In the morning, I perversely chose to go all the way to work in order to tell my boss that I couldn't come in that day; I just didn't think I could do it over the phone. But, as T and I stepped outside, we were shocked by the sight of a huge, rusted black hearse parked in front of our house. It seemed to belong to the derelict car lot across the street, but for us, it may as well have fallen out of the sky. Later that day, B's friends gathered at our apartment to talk and plan. And, as we were sitting there, the building behind ours suddenly exploded into a raging inferno.

None of those things have to be more than coincidences, but together, they hold such meaning for me that I don't think it's worth arguing about their true identity. Above all else, they are defined by what I feel I experienced: something from the other world. I don't need to worry about the collective madness of my friends, or my own vulnerability to certain unfalsifiable notions. I know where I was, at least in those 24 hours. I was in a haunted house.

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spnae · 2 years ago

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Chapter 15 Love a Handyman

The next day they decided to repeat the training/cleaning activities for the girls since it went so well the first time. It also made sense to keep the girls out of the castle as much as possible since Callum and Angus would be there to fix the elevator. Faith was nervously pacing around the entryway waiting for them to show up when Giles rang his bell from the living room.

She sighed as she walked towards the living room. “What’s up?”

“Could I trouble you for another glass of water? Perhaps you should just bring a pitcher.”

“A pitcher of water, yeah alright.”

While Faith was searching for a water pitcher to use, the front doorbell rang. Faith banged her head on the underside of the cabinet as she pulled out the pitcher and set it down before running to get the door. It was Angus heavily laden with work equipment.

“Oh, hey Angus.”

“Hey yourself.”

“Where’s Callum?”

“Driving separately, said something about having a hot date tonight,” Angus winked, “If you haven’t been drummin’ up so much business for us lately I might have something to say about you keepin’ him up too late.”

“Why’s that, I thought he didn’t have to work until later tomorrow.”

“Oh aye, at the hardware store. He was supposed to help me with a little job in the morning, canceled on me, he did.”

Oh geez, look man, he didn’t say anything about it—“

“No worries it’s just that bloody door at the pub, I’m just giving you a hard time. I can do it myself and it’s for Family anyway so it’s not like it’s a big gig, don’t worry about it. I’m just happy to see him getting back into it. Been a while since he’s had a woman in his life.”

“Really?”

“Oh aye.”

“So yeah the elevator is right over here. Also my cousin wanted you to look at another bigger project she’s itching to start.”

“Bigger than that bathroom we did for you a while back?”

“Oh yeah, much bigger. Her and her boyfriend are planning on moving here permanently and their new digs are in need a serious overhaul.”

“Where is this place?”

“About a hundred yards from here.”

“Heavens, you don’t mean that building across the garden, do you?” he asked sceptically.

“That would be the one. It’s actually a duplex.”

“Blimey sounds like a tall order. I don’t know if Callum and I can handle all that on our own.”

“We have a guy that’s good with construction. He can lend a hand and we know you guys probably won’t be able to do all of the work but we want to give you the first crack at it. The girls and I can help out too.”

“Now I know Callum thinks highly of you and I hear you can handle your own. I don’t doubt you. But you mind me asking, what exactly do you know about renovation and construction?”

“I know we’re damn good at demolition.”

Angus chuckled “Yeah alright, I’ll let you know if I can use you.”

Faith shrugged, the truth was, she really didn’t know much about home renovation and she wasn’t sure if Buffy did either. Otherwise she might have been offended. “We can take orders as well as we give them, we’d get the job done.”

“I got a wife like that, Lass can do anything she puts her mind to,” he smiled, “We’ll take a look later. What can you tell me about this lift?”

“Not much, just that it’s busted. Who knows when that thing was added.”

“Speak for yourself!” Giles called from the living room.

“Oh shit, I forgot his water,” she held up a finger and dashed back into the kitchen to fill the water pitcher while Angus went into the living room. The large ground floor room had been converted into a very large living room. Whatever it had been before, it was unrecognizable now with a TV, cozy furniture, a foosball table, and lots of throw pillows.

“Good heavens, Mr. Giles, what happened to you?”

“Slipped.”

“Guess I needn’t ask what the rush is on this.”

“Sorry, eh Uncle Rupe ,” Faith stressed the honeriffic as she walked into the living room, “Funny thing is he did this after we already had Callum take a look.”

“Mysterious ways, all I got to say on that.”

The doorbell rang again, this time it was Callum. Faith smiled as she opened the door for him.

“Hey, Beautiful,” he smiled.

“Keep your ‘hey’, get in here. You got work to do.”

“Sounds like you want this done in a hurry.”

“You bet I do,” she said with a grin, “I’ll go get Spike, and then I have to check on the girls. You get to work,” she winked.

“Yes ma’am,” he grinned as he eyed her hungrily, watching her go.

“Alright Boy’o, help me get the rest of the stuff out of the van.”

Minutes later they got to work on the elevator. “Does the Lass know what she’s getting into?” Angus asked a moment after they’d started working.

“Oh shut your gob Angus, I should’ve never told you about that,” he grunted as he loosened a rusty bolt, he paused a second, “I get the feeling Faith can give as good as she gets.”

“She’s such a tiny thing, hate for you to break her.”

“Oh hey now that’s enough out of you boy’o. That was one time and it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.”

“Still scared the girl off, didn't it?”

“Did at that,” Callum grunted.

“I’m just saying, you should be upfront with the girl before it gets too far and ya scare her off.”

“Don’t think it’ll come to that.”

Just then Spike cleared his throat, “If there’s something Faith should know… I think you better spill,” he menaced.

“Bloody hell. You know Angus, I’m starting to think the reason I can’t get a good woman to stick around just might be the family!” He grumbled. Callum strained his neck to look at Spike from the awkward position he was in, “Morning Spike, don’t mind us. Angus, Spike, he works here with Faith and her cousin. Spike, my pain in the ass older cousin Angus.”

Spike crossed his arms over his chest, “I dunno, Cal, seeing as Faith is as good as family perhaps I should mind.”

Callum groaned and set his wrench down with a huff. He picked up another tool and kept working, “Go on Angus, since you’re so intent on talking about stuff ya got no right goin on about. You know, I’ll remember this with your wife’s cousins at Christmas and have a chat about your sex life.”

“Shut it Callum, my wife’s had three kids already and we got a fourth on the way. Fairly certain her family knows what we get up to.”

“What’s this got to do with Faith?”

Angus turned to Spike, “Our unassuming handyman here likes a bit of rough with his tumble. Broke the bed once and nearly scared the girl half to death.”

Spike laughed, “Bloody hell, is that all? A broken bed?” Spike continued laughing, “Call me when you have to replace the rest of the furniture after one go. Now that’s a night to remember,” he grinned, “I think Faith will be more than up for that challenge. Girl certainly won't scare that easy.”

“You been there then?” Angus asked in surprise.

Spike noticed as Callum tensed up and stopped what he was doing but didn’t respond or even look up. “What, me and Faith? Bloody hell. Sure there’s chemistry, but no, we never took that trip. The girl's just not shy is all, likes to talk. Buffy is it for me,” Spike clapped his hands loudly, “Anyway, this is me being all helpful like. Where ya need me?”

“I’m done with this bit. Angus, you get the other side. I’ll show Spike what we need to do up top.”

“Make sure he’s got his climbing gear” he said as he went into the elevator and got to work.

“Taken care of,” Spike said.

Spike and Callum gathered up the parts and tools they would need. Callum looked at Spike questionably when he picked up the box with the new pulley and cable system parts. It had taken both he and Angus to get it out of the van. And here was Spike picking it up like a basket of laundry. Callum caught up to him as Spike started up to the top floor where the elevator stopped.

Spike spoke, “That was the truth back there, you know. Faith and I… we never…”

Callum shook his head, “Even if you did, I see the way you look at Buffy. I doubt you’d want to bungle that up.”

“Got that right. Not after everything we’ve been through.”

“A lot, I take it.”

“And then some. End of the world and back.”

Callum nodded then stopped as he realized he might mean that literally. He cleared his throat, “So what’s it like being in a relationship with a Slayer?”

Spike nodded once and took a deep breath for show, “Buffy said Faith clued you in, that’s why you wanted me on my own,” he nodded again, “I get it. Look, I can only tell you what I know about Slayers in general. Buffy is one thing, and most of what I know there is strictly private. Faith is a different story altogether. Girl’s had a seriously rough go, she’s just trying to do what’s right now,” he adjusted his grip as he made a turn on the stairs, “The first thing you gotta understand is this: Slayers exist to fight evil in the world. Their lives are filled with death and the mission will always come first. Before you, before family, before anything. The second thing is, they are still human. They have human problems and they have to deal with those on top of the mission. It’s not the other way round. You get what I’m saying?”

“I think I’m starting to. How’s that working for you?”

“Yeah well, that’s a little different. I got my own redemption arc going on; so I work alongside her, fighting the good fight. It’s harder for mortals,” he gestured towards the heavy box he held and raised an eyebrow. “That’s why you’ve got to be there for her, whatever she needs. She needs a sword, you toss her a sword. She needs a quiet space and a hand to hold, you give it to her. She needs some complex text translated in a dead language or spell work done, you stand back and let the geeks handle it.”

Callum chuckled, “I’ll keep that in mind. So what are you anyway? You look human enough.”

“Didn’t tell you that bit huh?”

“Said it wasn’t her story to tell.”

“Give the girl a prize,” he adjusted the box in his hands again as they continued up the stairs, “Demon. Vampire actually. I look human because I used to be one, look real good for my age.”

Callum stared at him, “Well now the ‘Slayer’ kink thing makes sense.”

“What?”

“Nothing… How’s that work, living with a bunch of Slayers? I thought you were all evil and what all.”

“You mean how does Buffy stand me and why don’t they all stake me in my sleep?” he laughed.

“Is that what Faith meant when she said you were one of a matching set like her and Buffy before… all this. Something special about you?”

“Bloody hell, makes me and soddingAngel sound like a set of bloody collectible salt and pepper shakers. You know, I’m one of only two ensouled-vampires in all the world and she boils it down to that?”

“Don’t know anything about any angel.”

“That’s the bloody git’s name; Angel. That PI you were asking about the other night.”

“Bloody hell.”

“Yup. Faith’s life coach and BFF, Buffy’s soddingex, my grand-sire and a general goodie-goodie pain in the ass.”

“Tight group.”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“You don’t seem to like him much.”

“Pftt- Angel is… We go way back. Some people have daddy issues— not important. Did I mention grand-sire? He’s soddingfamily. Only part of the problem is that he still thinks Buffy should be his. Lucky for me she’s moved on. Even still, bloody git thinks everything should be his. Like he’s so damn special…”

Callum raised an eyebrow, “Ahhh… Anything else I should know?”

“‘Bout Angel?”

“I ment Faith so no, not unless he’s got a claim on her too.”

“Bugger if I know… doubt it. Known Angel for over a hundred and thirty years and he’s always had a preference for blonds. Last I knew he was shagging some werewolf chick, blonde of course.”

“Anything else about being involved with a Slayer or, your little group?”

“The Scoobies. Look man, if you’re going to stick around you’re just going to have to roll with it, weird shit happens weekly, sometimes daily.”

“How do you do it?”

“Simple, I’m with her.”

“I should know better than to ask a poet for love advice.”

“You asked, Superman. Lois Lane, Faith ain’t.”

Callum glared at the use of ‘Superman’, but let it go. Listening intently.

Spike continued, “But seriously, I’ve got an unlife of my own to live. I do things, I come back. Didn’t really get the whole ‘Soulmate’ thing until after I got mine back. Now we got this… well won’t go into that now.”

“Sounds like you got a good thing going.”

“We do.”

“So ahh, where is your climbing gear or don’t you need it?”

“I have some up there. I can climb with the best of ‘em but I’m still going to have to use my hands, you git.”

“Smart ass ain’t you?”

“What ever gave you that idea?”

Later, after they had finished fixing the elevator, Buffy pulled Callum and Angus aside. She was getting ready to take them to look at the duplex while the girls got ready for dinner. They were just heading out when Spike made his way into the kitchen. He made a B-line for the refrigerator and some blood. Instead of putting some in a cup like he normally did, he just grabbed the whole container and popped it in the microwave.

Buffy noticed him and held her index finger up, “I’ll be with you guys in a minute. I just need to talk to Spike and then I’ll show you around in there.”

Angus looked at his watch, “That’s alright, it’s thanks to Spike we got done early. I did tell the wife I’d stop at the market on the way home though so I don’t have long.”

“I’ll be quick!” Buffy shot over her shoulder as she followed Spike out while he tried his best to sneak out of the kitchen.

She caught up to him in the entryway, “Hey, you. How’d it go with the elevator?”

“Ehh it’s alright. Think I might have a lie down.”

Buffy nodded, “What’s with the mini feast?”

“This?” He held up the container of blood and took a drink, “Got a little banged up on that damn maintenance ladder,” he lifted up his forearm to show her several very nasty, very deep cuts. If he wasn’t a vampire she would have been worried about nerve and tendon damage.

“Ouch! Did you get shafted?”

“That was weak, Slayer.”

“I thought it was funny,” she shrugged, “Are we still on for the morning?”

“Field trip? Course we are. I’ll be alright. Little blood, little rest, maybe a little nursing?” He grinned.

“Maybe later. Try that stuff Willow made for me. No idea if it works on vampires but it’s worth a shot. Do you need help wrapping it?”

He shrugged, “I can manage. I’ll give that stuff a try. Speaking of little Red, you got whatever you need for tomorrow?”

“Willow was able to dig up some maps of the area. She emailed them to me last night. They aren’t complete but that’s kind of the point. The important part is that now thanks to some fancy computer tinkering Wil was able to do on the girls' phones now she can track them underground as well as on the surface. At least in theory she should be able to. They are also magically enhanced so that gives them a boost. That’s part of what we will be testing out. Oh by the way, even if the tunnels do go clear into Edinburgh, I’m not counting this as our trip. Got it?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Pet. You know, it seems to me like Red is really taking on this techno-witch stuff a lot more.”

“What do you mean, she’s always been great at this stuff, she's just combining it more now.”

“Still seems complicated, even for her.”

Buffy shrugged, “At least she’s not getting into trouble with it.”

“For now. Alright, Pet, I’m going to disappear for a bit. I'll see you later,” He gave her a quick kiss.

“Probably sooner than you think. I’m taking the guys to look at our place now and then I think I’m having the girls rip out the old nasty carpeting. After that I’m calling it. They got way more done today than I thought they would. They’ll need some sleep if we’re taking them out before the crack of dawn.”

It was about an hour later when Angus pulled away from the castle in the work van. The elevator was in full working order now. Buffy was still discussing her plans for the duplex with Callum when Faith came in from outside. “Hey you two, I’m about to call it a day,” she said almost triumphantly, “My girls are finishing up and then hitting the showers. I’m heading there myself.”

Callum flashed her a wicked grin, “I’ll just gather up the rest of my things then shall I?”

Faith walked up to him “I won’t be long,” she went up onto her toes to kiss him, “A lot more where that came from.”

“Promise?”

Without answering Faith turned and headed for the stairs. Buffy shook her head “And the weird just keeps getting weirder.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He chuckled as he took some things out to his car. Buffy followed him.

“Just that I never thought I’d see Faith like… well that. She really only ever had the one real ‘boyfriend’ that I know of and I don’t remember her ever getting the cartoon heart eyes over him,” Buffy watched him as his eyes lit up. “Yup, looks like the mutual crazies in full bloom to me.”

He closed the back door to the car, “The what now?”

“Mutual crazies, I think Faith might have coined the term… or maybe not, I don’t remember. It’s what we call the head-over-heels kind of love.”

“Like you and Spike?”

“Definitely.”

They went back inside while Callum gathered up the last few tools and tucked them away in his toolbox, “I wouldn't mind being crazy for a girl like that.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Buffy said, “Do you need help with anything?”

“I only have my things here. You can take that out if you like,” he indicated towards a set of heavy bolt cutters that didn’t fit into the toolbox, “Angus took the rest and Spike was a big help. Except for taking stuff outside, I guess the sun thing is true.”

Buffy looked at him curiously, “You talked to Spike?” she asked as she followed him back outside with the bolt cutters.

“Ahh yeah… gave me a bit to think about. Made it clear that getting in it with a slayer isn’t something to take lightly.”

“He knows better than anyone. He was around enough to see all my other relationships do a Hindenburg and stood there commenting on what they were doing wrong. Even when we hated each other, he knew me better than anyone. He knows Slayers, especially me.”

“Yeah he kinda mentioned that. So what, he like studded Slayers or was a Watcher before he was turned or something?”

Buffy actually laughed at that idea, “Oh he studied alright! Spike is the only vampire in history to kill more than one of us. He hunted Slayers, that’s how we met actually. He came to town to kill me.”

Callum raised an eyebrow as they went back into the castle, “How exactly—“

“Super long story. It was a seriously freaky mess for way too long.”

“And somehow you ended up together?”

“Seriously long story…” she paused a moment, hesitating, “Callum?”

“Yeah?”

“Did Spike mention the nightmares?”

“What nightmares?”

“I’ll take that as a big N-O,” Buffy nodded, “All Slayers get prophetic dreams, sometimes they can be pretty freaky. Then there’s me and Faith; we’ve been around longer, seen a lot more crazy. So some serious nightmares are part of the perky-package. Some can be pretty brutal. Mix that with super strength… not always the friendliest cuddle buddy. I don’t know how she deals with hers but I know she gets them too. I’m better when Spike is there but then again he can handle it without getting beat to a pulp.”

“Do you mean like PTSD or something like that?”

“Humm sort of, yeah, I guess so.”

“Nope, he didn’t mention that bit. Thanks for the heads-up.”

“Yeah well I’m not surprised he didn’t bring it up, he gets them more than I do, so consider the source. When you hold the record for the most brutal vampire in history second only to the one who taught you and then suddenly decide to go get a soul and go all good guy… it tends to leave a mark,” she laughed darkly.

“He was… that’s…”

“That’s the glamorous life we lead.”

“But he has a soul. I mean he seems like a pretty good guy.”

“Sounds like you two got chummy.”

“We had a pretty good chat.”

“Huhh… he must like you. He doesn’t usually play well with others.”

“Sounds like a dog I had once, he was fine with the family; didn’t do well with strangers.”

Buffy laughed, “Was your dog named Spike too?”

“Nah, it was Merlin, actually,” he laughed.

“Good name.”

“Yeah well I had a bit of an obsession as a kid. Probably how I ended up getting into fighting to begin with.”

“You fight?”

“I used to fight. Used to compete.”

“Seriously? Sort of explains you and Faith.”

“Don’t think it’s actually come up to be honest. Most of our conversations have consisted of home improvement and Slaying.”

“Lots of territory to cover then.”

“Little afraid she’s going to want to spar, could be interest—“ Callum cut off as Faith came down the stairs.

For the second time she had foregone her usual jeans in favor of something more feminine. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a simple knit dress in a muted red. It was one of three dresses that she had let Buffy talk her into on their shopping trip. She had paired it with a pair of low slip-on shoes Buffy recognized as her own. She also carried a small book-bag style purse Buffy was sure she must have borrowed from one of the girls. It was such a comfy casual outfit she barely looked like she was going on a date at all, in fact she looked like she could be taking a walk in the park rather than planning her first overnight with her new guy. And yet Callum looked at her like she was Cinderella at the ball.

“Wow, you look beautiful.”

“Thanks, I don’t really do dresses much but this one is super comfortable.”

“Are you ready to go? I’m going to have to hit the shower myself when we get to my place, hadn't thought that one through.”

“That’s ok, it’ll give me a chance to get nosie,” she winked.

#fanfic #buffy the vampire slayer #bound #buffy fanfic #buffy x spike #spuffy #spike x buffy

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imagine-a-life-like-this · 3 years ago

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Roommates (K.NJ)

Warnings : mentions of drinking, partying, swearing, mentions of sex

Synopsis : unable to afford rent alone, she looks for a roommate. he’s perfect on paper, but seems to avoid her in person. after their friend groups mix for a night out, she finds out he finds her beautiful. she never expected to befriend him, nor did she expect to fall for her handsome roommate.

Word Count : 3281

After graduating university, I moved into a 3-bedroom duplex, sure with my new job I could afford it by myself. But after a few months, I found myself struggling to keep up with bills and rent and soon put out an ad for a roommate. I’d prefer to live with another girl, but after meeting all the girls that applied, I decided to expand my search to include guys as well.

Kim Namjoon seemed like the perfect applicant on paper and seemed fairly decent when he came to check out the place. He didn’t ask any questions, calmed all the concerns I had about living with a stranger, and met all my expectations for a roommate. He seemed to be the obvious choice, so he moved in a couple days later.

I didn’t expect to become friends with the guy as the two of us were quite different, but I didn’t expect him to completely avoid me either. He kept to himself, either leaving the place for days at a time, or staying in his room, only leaving to get food and use the washroom. At first it was nice; I was worried about him making any unwanted advances and it really calmed all my anxieties. But after a while, it seemed like he was avoiding me like the plague. I tried to talk to him a few times, but he would shrug it off and ignore my existence.

“How’s living with a stranger?” My best friend, Jimin, asked when he came for a visit a couple months after Namjoon moved in. “Have you guys hooked up yet?” I choked on my drink, completely taken back by his question.

“God no! I’ve tried being friendly, but the man avoids me like I don’t even exist!” I said after I caught my breath from my coughing fit. “I guess I don’t mind it though. It’s almost like I still live alone, just with extra money.” The front door slammed open soon after I said that and Namjoon came stomping in with the angriest look on his face. He paused when he entered the living room and saw Jimin sitting beside me on the couch.

“If you two are going to fuck later, keep it down. I’m going to bed.” Before either of us could say anything, Namjoon stormed up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door.

“Who pissed in his cornflakes?” Jimin asked, his eyes wide as he looked in the direction of the stairs Namjoon just stormed up.

“Who goes to bed at 3 in the afternoon?” I stared at the time on my phone with my brows furrowed together, wondering if something happened while he was gone.

“You’re sure he isn’t some criminal?” Jimin jokingly asked and I playfully slapped his arm and giggled. But I really didn’t know what he did for a living. He pays rent on time and helps with the bills, so I never really questioned anything. “Jin is wondering if you’re coming out with us tonight.” Jimin was typing away at his phone, most likely texting Jin, asking what the plan was.

“Yeah, I have tomorrow off so why not.” Jimin nodded and continued to text Jin. “Who’s all going?”

“All I know for sure is me, you, Jin and Taehyung. Jin said he invited someone from his work who might come and bring his friends too, so I’m not too sure.” I nodded.

“I hope the guy he invited from work is Hoseok. I met him a couple times and he’s super fun! And really hot.” Jimin laughed and shook his head at me. “What? I can appreciate his beauty!”

“I never said you couldn’t. You just haven’t shown interest in anyone since Jackson.” I rolled my eyes.

“First, we promised never to bring him up. Second, I’m not interested in Hoseok, I just think he’s attractive.” Jimin held his hands up in surrender before getting up to leave.

“I’m going to go meet up with Jin for a while. I’ll see you tonight.”

After Jimin left, I decided to get ready so whenever they decided to show up, I wouldn’t be holding us back from our night out. Jin always complained about how long it took me to get ready, as if he didn’t also take forever.

After showering and doing my hair and makeup, I was left with deciding what to wear. I had a couple outfit choices laid out on my bed. I kept picking them up and holding them up to myself while looking in the mirror, but I just couldn’t decide. I was just about to call Jimin when I heard a knock at my bedroom door. I threw the two dresses I had in my hands onto my bed and went to open my door, expecting either Jimin or Taehyung to be on the other side, but was surprised to see Namjoon standing there, holding two coffees.

“I wanted to apologize for earlier. I had a bad day and took it out on you and your boyfriend.” He handed one of the coffees to me. I looked down at the drink and then up at him. “Oh uh, they messed up my drink and gave me one for free. Figured you’d like it.” He quickly said, and I didn’t let it slip that the two coffees were obviously very different. The one in his hand was hot, whereas the one he handed me was iced. I just smiled and thanked him. “The long-sleeved black dress would look good on you. Go with that one.” He said before I could shut my door and then quickly walked away before I could ask what he meant. I looked at the different dresses on my bed and smiled to myself when it put it together. And he wasn’t wrong.

“Hey, you sexy motherfucker, worldwide handsome has arrived!” I heard from downstairs as I was putting the final touches on my outfit. I rolled my eyes at the dumb nickname Jin gave himself and quickly opened my bedroom door to head out. Namjoon was heading back to his room from the bathroom, and I asked if he wanted to come with.

“My friends and I already have plans.” I nodded and told him to have a good night and rushed down the stairs.

“Damn girl, where have you been hiding this!” Jin gushed when he saw me. I playfully slapped him as I slid on a pair of strappy black heels to go with my dress. It was really a thin strapped crop top and a skirt, with a long-sleeved sparkly mesh dress on top that really showed off all my curves, and my legs. Just as we were about to leave and get in the car, Hoseok came barging in.

“I thought we were meeting you there?” Jin asked. Hoseok looked between the two of us, confusion written on his face.

“Does Namjoon live here?” He asked after a minute of silence. I smiled to myself at how small a world we live in and nodded. “Namjoon, let’s go!” Hoseok yelled, and I took that moment to check him out without him noticing. Jin elbowed me in the side and told me we should get going before Taehyung thinks we’re hooking up.

“He really won’t ever let us live that down, hey.” Jin and I shared a laugh as we told Hoseok we’d meet them at the club. “Hey thots, we ready to get lit?!” I exclaimed as I got into the car. Taehyung rolled his eyes at me, but I could see the smile he was trying to hide.

“That was fast for the two of you. Just a quicky this time?” I rolled my eyes and leaned forward to playfully slap him as he was driving.

“It was one time! And it was years ago.”

“Still weird.” I shook my head and leaned back in my seat.

We got a booth before Hoseok and his friends arrived and joined us. Namjoon’s eyes widened when he saw me, and Jimin glared at him, obviously still upset about what happened earlier. “Hey, I uh, already apologized to Y/N, but I guess I should apologize to you too. I shouldn’t have snapped like that.” Hoseok’s two other friends looked between Jimin and Namjoon, wondering what happened. “It was Y/N’s place first, and you two are dating so I should be nicer.” I was so caught up in him giving me a coffee that I completely forgot to correct him on that fact, but it still made me laugh. Jin and Taehyung burst out laughing while Jimin just sat there with a dumbfounded look on his face.

“Oh my god, Y/N and Jimin dating.” Jin laughed.

“That’s the best joke I’ve ever heard!” Taehyung added, bent at the waist as tears streamed down his face from how hard he was laughing. I felt bad for Namjoon as he stood there, confused as to what was so funny. His friends eventually put two and two together and shook their heads.

“Y/N and I aren’t dating.” Jimin finally said. Namjoon went completely red in the face and I found myself smiling at how cute it was. For the first time since he moved in, I actually got a good look at him and honestly I couldn’t stop myself from staring. I’m not sure if it was the dim lighting, or the way he was dressed, but he was really handsome.

“Oh, sorry.” He quickly said. “I’m going to go get a drink.” I quickly stood from the booth and followed him as Hoseok introduced his two friends to the rest of the group.

“Hey!” I said when I caught up to him. “Sorry about my friends. Also sorry I didn’t correct you earlier, it slipped my mind.” He shrugged his shoulders, saying it wasn’t a big deal. “Jimin has been my best friend since diapers, basically my brother. That’s why Jin and Taehyung found it so funny.” Namjoon nodded.

“I don’t need your life story.” My heart sank when he said that. I thought we were finally getting somewhere with our relationship, but I guess he was just the kind of guy who couldn’t not right a wrong.

“Noted.” I ordered mine and my friend’s drinks, as well as shots for the table, told the bartender which table, and turned to walk away before Namjoon made his order. I plopped down beside Jin who immediately wrapped his arm around me. “Sorry, I ran off before I could get your names.” I smiled at the two strangers sitting across from me.

“I’m Jungkook, and mister grumpy pants there is Yoongi.”

“Well I hope no one minds, but I ordered shots for the table.” Just as I said that Namjoon came back with the bartender and the two handed out the drinks and shots that had been ordered. I held up my shot glass and everyone else followed suit. “Let’s get litty titty!”

“You’re not allowed to make the toast ever again.” Jin said as we all downed our first round of shots. Namjoon was sat directly across from me, staring at me as if I kicked his dog. Conversations started around the table, but Namjoon just sat there, staring at me. I downed my drink in record time while making eye contact with him. I leaned across the table and motioned for Namjoon to do the same.

“You keep staring at me like that, I’ll think you’re secretly in love with me.” I said just loud enough for him to hear and sat back. “Jin, come get another drink with me!” I slid my hand into his and he happily obliged, asking around the table if anyone else wanted something.

At some point during the night, I convinced some of the guys to hit the dance floor with me. Namjoon obviously stayed behind, rolling his eyes at my invitation. “Don’t take it to heart.” Hoseok told me as a group of us made our way to the dance floor. “He doesn’t know how to act around girls he thinks are pretty.” I smiled at the insinuation that Namjoon thought I was pretty.

Jin took my hand as soon as we hit the dance floor and the two of us began dancing together. I could feel the alcohol starting to hit me and began to let loose. “Your friends are betting on whether or not you and Jin are going to hookup tonight.” Hoseok told me as we made our way to the bar to get more drinks before heading back to the table for a rest.

“They do that every time.” His eyes widened. “Jin and I hooked up once a couple years ago and now the two of them, Taehyung especially, won’t let us live it down.” He nodded in understanding.

I sat beside Namjoon, considerably more drunk than when I left the table. He looked at me with the same annoyed look he’s been giving me all night, but I didn’t let it bother me this time. “A little birdy told me you think I’m pretty.” I slurred out and laughed as his eyes widened and he suddenly got nervous.

“I don’t know who told you that, but they’re lying.” His words hurt more than I’d like to admit. I don’t know why I want him to think I’m pretty, but I do. I stood up to move to the other side of the booth and sit beside Taehyung, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down beside him. “I-I think you’re beautiful.” He stuttered out, obviously not nearly as drunk as me. With my elbows on the table, I put my head in my hands and turned my body to look up at him.

“You look really handsome tonight, Namjoon.” I could see a bit of pink dust his cheeks as he smiled. “Oh! You have a dimple.” I said as I poked it and brought my face closer to his to get a better look. He swatted my hand away and looked away from me. “You’re so mean to me.” I pouted. I reached out and placed my hands on his cheeks and made him look at me. His eyes were wide as I studied his face with a pout on my face.

“What are you doing?” He asked, reaching up and taking my hands in his, removing them from his face.

“Memorizing your handsome face, since you always hide from me.”

“Sorry.” I smiled at him.

“Come dance with me!” I stood up again and held my hand out to him, catching the attention of the other two sitting at the table, specifically Yoongi. Namjoon lowered my arm, denying my request. “Please! Just one song.” Yoongi smirked at Namjoon who seemed embarrassed.

“I’m not much of a dancer.”

“I’m not either!” I exclaimed and grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the booth. He didn’t resist much as I pulled him to the dance floor, earning a surprised look from Hoseok who was having a mini dance battle with Jimin. “Don’t be weird about it.” I laughed as I started dancing. Namjoon was very stiff and awkwardly smiled at me. “Let loose.” I grabbed his hands and started dancing with him, trying to get him to enjoy himself. I got lost in the song and Namjoon eventually let go of my hands and just watched me.

“I’m going to get a drink; do you want anything.” Namjoon whispered in my ear after a couple songs passed.

“Surprise me.” I continued to dance while I watched him walk away. I didn’t expect him to actually get me a drink, but he returned a few minutes later and handed me the same drink I’d been drinking all night.

After a few more songs and a couple more drinks, I had definitely surpassed my limit, and Namjoon could tell. I was slumped over on the table, barely able to keep my head up. “Let’s head home.” He said softly, bending down in front of me, telling me to hop on his back. I loosely wrapped my arms around his neck, and he stood, reaching back to support my legs. Jin, Jimin, Jungkook and Hoseok were heading back to the table as we were leaving. “I’m going to take her home. The uber is outside.” He explained to the group before leaving for the door.

“Please don’t hate me.” I whispered as he walked outside and towards the waiting car.

“I couldn’t ever.” He replied, setting me in the backseat, and ran to the other side. For some reason, his words caused my heart to flutter. I didn’t expect to start crushing on my quiet roommate, but somehow it happened.

The next morning I woke up with one of the worst headaches I’ve ever experienced. As I sat up in my bed, I saw some Advil and a glass of water on my side table and smiled. What happened last night wasn’t a dream.

“I’m making breakfast, if you want.” Namjoon said as I descended down the stairs. I smiled to myself as I looked at him standing in the kitchen with an apron on. I made my way over to the barstools that sat beside the island and took a seat, just watching him. “Uh, what are you doing?” He asked, a blush rising to his cheeks like many times last night.

“I don’t know how long you’re going to be nice to me like this, so I’m going to bask in it.” I giggled and he just rolled his eyes at me, feigning annoyance.

“You’re annoying.” He scoffed, turning back to whatever he was cooking.

“Yeah, but you still think I’m pretty.” I teased. He didn’t even bother turning around when he said his next words.

“I already told you that was a lie.” I stood up from the barstool and walked behind him and wrapped my arms around his torso, taking in his scent and feeling the butterflies in my stomach take flight yet again. I could feel him tense under my touch, but as quickly as he tensed, he relaxed into my embrace. “I think you’re beautiful.” He repeated his statement from last night, and I wouldn’t believe him if he said he couldn’t hear how hard my heart was pounding.

“Go on a date with me today.” I said as I let go of him, looking up to see his reaction. He was pretending it didn’t affect him as he continued cooking, but I could see the blush on his cheeks and I smiled, knowing I made him just as nervous as he made me.

“A date?” He questioned, not even bothering to look at me.

“Yes. A date. With me. Like bowling or something. Something fun though!” He took the pan off the stove and started plating the food, still not giving me an answer, which caused my nerves to start to get the best of me. Still, I refused to take it back. I wanted to go on a date with him and I wasn’t one to sit around and wait. Still silent, he walked to the dining table, placing both plates on it and finally taking time to look at me.

“You couldn’t have waited for me to ask you?” He chuckled, causing all my worries to subside as I walked to the dining table and taking a seat.

“I go after what I want.” I shrugged. “And I want you.”

“Well, at least let me plan it.” I agreed to his condition and the two of us ate in silence, glancing up at each other every once in a while with shy smiles.

#roommates #bts #bts imagine #kim namjoon #kim namjoon imagine #park jimin #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok

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headheartbellarke · 4 years ago

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LIGHT A FIRE IN MY EYES | Owen Patrick Joyner

PAIRING(S): Charlie Gillespie’s sister!Reader x Owen Patrick Joyner

WARNING(S): fluff, angst

WORDS: 3.4k

SUMMARY: where Y/N is charlie gillespie’s sister, and while living with him and owen, unexpected feelings rise up. (im so bad at these)

READER’S POV

A rhythmic knock on my bedroom door breaks me out of my trance. I push my glasses further up my nose and close my physics textbook, dropping my pencil between the pages to bookmark it. Pushing myself off the chair, I stretch my arms above my head – I’ve been sitting at my desk for about five hours now, trying to revise everything for my exam tomorrow. I walk over to my door, and unlock it, and I’m greeted by my brother, Charlie. He takes in my appearance and frowns.

“I thought you were still sleeping. When did you get up?”

“Uhh…” I trail off, looking behind me at the clock mounted on the wall opposite to me. 10:30 AM. “About 5, yeah.”

I turn back and notice my brother widening his eyes. “Are you okay, little one?”

I’m not a morning person, under no circumstances ever. Growing up, I’ve always been the last person to wake up – Charlie being the first. So, I guess it’s awfully unusual for him to hear this.

“This is college, honey. You wouldn’t know.” I shrug at him and he grins. I’ve always hated the fact that he got a free pass from college, since he’s an actor.

That is also the reason why he’s here. We grew up in Canada – Charlie, me, my two other older brothers and my twin sister Meghan. Growing up, Charlie, Meghan and I were inseparable – since we’re closer in age – Charlie’s only two years older than Meghan and me. But I had to leave home for college – I got into Caltech, and that was not an opportunity I was about to give up, even though Charlie protested so many times that I’m apparently the baby of the house and I shouldn’t go to another country alone.

Now, he’s living with me – he is shooting for his show, Julie and The Phantoms (proud sister, here), and they have a couple of scenes and some recording to do in LA, so he’s staying in my apartment for a week, along with his friend, co-star and roommate back in Vancouver, Owen. Previously, they lived with me for more than a month when they had to go through musical bootcamp or something for the sake of the show. (So proud.)

That was also when I’d developed a massive crush on Owen.

Charlie was living with me for a good two weeks when, one day, he took me out to meet the rest of the cast. (Who were all lovely, by the way.) On the drive there, he told me that Owen had been living in a hotel since he’s originally from Oklahoma, and that Charlie’s thinking of asking him to come live with us, if I was okay with that. Of course, I had said yes. I had ample space in my duplex apartment and living alone is boring. So, Charlie introduced me to Owen and we immediately hit it off. Of course, I thought that he was incredibly attractive when we met. But I meet a lot of attractive people at university.

Then, we started living together, and I realized how amazing Owen actually is. He’s an absolute dork – but he’s also funny, very kind, thoughtful, compassionate, altruistic and so, so nice. Both of us have a lot in common, and there’s always been this unsaid, unacknowledged chemistry between us that a lot of the other cast members had picked up on. (Not my brother, though. He would have killed Owen.) We had so much fun when we were together – he turned everything into an adventure. The best part was that I got to be myself, completely, whenever I was around him. I got to talk about whatever I wanted with him – he never, ever judged me.

Before they went to Vancouver when production for the show began, we had a last night out with the rest of the cast and a bunch of family members – except the kids. We went to this bar near my college. I was so, so drunk and then I suddenly started feeling queasy and Owen offered to take me home since Charlie was in the same position. There was so much traffic and Owen and I kept singing whatever song was on the radio to pass the time – LA traffic – when we were both leaning across our seats and we started kissing. I remember feeling like I would burst from the happiness and the softness, the affection, the admiration that he had in his eyes when he looked at me.

Of course, I fell asleep pretty soon after the traffic dissipated and woke up next morning to find him packing for his trip. That was when I’d realized that no matter how much I liked him, we could never be together. First of all, long distance relationships almost never work out, and secondly, he’s my brother’s best friend. That was why I chose to just give him a quick hug goodbye and head to college – without even bothering to drop them off at the airport, or even talking to him.

He texted and called a couple of times after that, too. But I never responded, never even opened any of his texts – because I knew that once I do that, I would definitely call him. That went on for a week, and the only time we spoke was when he’d texted me from Savannah’s phone: why are you ignoring me? I texted back all the reasons why we couldn’t ever be together, and I didn’t hear from him for another week, until Charlie called me the day before yesterday, telling me that they have a couple of scenes to do in LA, along with some recording stuff, and they’ll stay with me for a few days. I had to approve, or else Charlie might figure out everything.

They arrived yesterday, and I think that I’ve done a pretty good job of ignoring him so far.

Charlie’s voice breaks me out of my train of thoughts. “You have exams or what?”

I nod. “Applied physics, tomorrow. Are you going out?” I ask, pointing at his dark blue jeans.

“Madi and I are writing this song together. You’ll love it.”

I smile at him. “If I’m not the first one to hear it –”

He hums, a chuckle escaping him. I lean against the doorframe, as he continues, “Owen just woke up. He doesn’t start his scenes until tomorrow, so I told him to take care of you today, while I’m away.”

I ignore the way my heart skips a beat at the mere mention of his name and flatten my lips. “I’m 19, Charlie, I can –”

“Take care of yourself, blah blah blah. I don’t care.”

I roll my eyes, and playfully shove him forward. He stumbles a few steps backwards and furrows his brows at me. “Ouch!”

“Are you taking my car?”

He nods. “Where –”

“In the magnetic key holder on the fridge.”

“Okay, sis.” He smiles at me, leaning forward to ruffle my hair – which makes it even messier than it already was. “Go away!” I grumble, trying to pat his hand away. “Never!” He calls out, turning toward the kitchen to grab the keys.

I shake my head and laugh. “Love you!”

He shouts back, without looking behind at me. “Love you most!”

****

The delicious smell of pancakes reminds me of the fact that I haven’t eaten since last night. I drag my feet to the kitchen, mentally preparing myself for the person I’m about to encounter in there.

“Uh, hi…” I hesitantly call out, entering the kitchen – and notice a very shirtless Owen, with his very shirtless back turned towards me. He turns around at the sound of my voice, and a few strands of golden blonde hair fall across his eyes. I long to reach my hand across and push those away.

Instead, he himself does that as his eyes flit over me, and a look of pain flashes through his eyes. I hate that I’m the cause of that.

“I was wondering how you would ignore me when we’re living in the same apartment.”

“I deserve that.” I walk over to the stove to stand beside him.

He ignores me and goes back to flipping golden brown pancakes which smell amazing, but all I can focus on is the curve of his back, the hollow space between his collarbones, and the way his hands grip on the pan a little too hard. I feel a warmth course through my body and find myself missing the way he used to wrap his arms around me from behind in the mornings when Charlie was still asleep.

“Owen,” I whisper, and he inhales sharply at that. “Please. I don’t want things to be like this – I don’t want us to be like this.”

He uses his spatula to lift the pancake and puts it atop other pancakes on a plate beside the stove and turns it off. He turns around to face me, biting his lip and I think I just had an aneurysm because of the intensity of his gaze.

He sighs, leaning against the counter. “Y/N. You made it pretty clear that there would never be an ‘us.’”

“I know. But we can still be friends, right? Like we were before… everything.”

“See, that’s the thing. I can’t. Y/N, do you have any idea what you’ve put me through for the past two weeks?” He snaps.

“Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?” I reply, hotly. “Owen, it broke me inside to ask you to stay away. Do you have any idea how much I care about you?”

“No! I don’t, because you don’t talk to me, Y/N.”

“I told you, there is no point in doing long distance –”

“That’s bullshit, Y/N, and you know it, too. I think you’re just too scared to be with me because you think that I’d break your heart, leave you alone or hurt you. But that’s the thing, Y/N – I won’t do any of that to you, because that’s exactly what you’re doing to me.” He crosses his arms across his chest.

I breathe out shakily, running a hand through my curls. “That’s not true –”

Owen scoffs. “Please, Y/N. I know you.”

I lower my eyes from his because I can’t handle the way he’s looking at me.

“Y/N, do you know how fucking hard the past week’s been for me? I can’t even talk to anyone about it, because the only person I wanna talk to is your brother and we all know what will happen if I do that. He’s my best friend, and I’ve been lying to him for weeks, pretending that I like this hairdresser, when in reality, I’m head over heels for his sister. I can’t tell him that I can’t stop thinking about her, and that she’s the only person that can calm me down when I get anxious on set. I can’t tell him that she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and it’s killing me inside to not talk to her!”

He finishes, breathing out heavily. I look at his eyes and notice that they’re gleaming.

“Wait, what hairdresser?”

He scoffs, annoyed. “Seriously, Y/N?”

I shrug and breathe deeply, trying to stop myself from taking his hands in my own. “You know, there are so many guys at school that ask me out, but I can’t go out with any of them, because guess what, they’re not you. I like you so much, Owen, so, so much, but I can’t do anything about it – because you’re right. I’m scared. I’m terrified that you’ll leave me, because I haven’t felt this way about anyone in a really long time. I’m so scared that one day you’ll wake up and realize that I’m not who you want anymore. I’m scared that maybe you’ll hurt me or meet someone else in Vancouver. I’m scared about so many things because that’s exactly how much I care about you, Owen!”

I take a step further and we are standing mere inches apart. I can feel him breathe out raggedly and see the curve of his nose and his darkened eyes flickering to my lips.

“I would never, ever do that to you, Y/N. You mean a lot to me. Please, please believe me.” He whispers out, and I tell myself to stop, to turn back, to go into my room but instead I just stand there and watch him exhale out, and I know he’s feeling anxious. I lift a hand to his face and cup his cheek in the palm of my hand and he leans his face onto my hand, resting his right hand over mine. The gesture calms the both of us down, and I know, in that moment, that I believe him. That he, us – is a risk worth taking.

“Your hands are so cold.” He whispers. I nod. “Yours are warm.”

Both of us stand there, in the kitchen, trying to make sense of what just happened – trying to hold on to this moment. A silence engulfs the both of us, as I sort through my thoughts.

“Owen,” I whisper. He flicks his eyes to mine. “Promise me you won’t do any of that.”

He raises his left hand, jutting out his little finger. I raise my other hand too, and he wraps his little finger around mine and whispers back, “Pinkie promise.”

“Okay.” I whisper, neither of us daring to uncurl our fingers or look anywhere else.

“Promise me that you wouldn’t leave me for some future tech billionaire.”

I scrunch my face up at that. “What? No!”

“Promise me you’d call –”

“Every single day, Owen. You too.”

Both of us nod together, and he lifts his other hand to tuck a curl that had previously escaped from my actually-messy-and-not-cute bun. “You’re so beautiful.”

I smile, and a tear escapes my eyes – Owen rubbing it away with his thumb. I lean forward, standing on my tiptoes and rest my hands against his bare chest for support as I press my lips to his. He smiles against the kiss, and I feel as if a zoo has gone wild in my stomach. I feel warmth and happiness course through my veins as Owen deepens the kiss, the intense longing in the both of us for each other clawing its way out to the surface. It’s almost as if I’m drinking water for the first time in a week. He tastes like banana pancakes, chocolate syrup and everything good in the world. I press myself against him, wrapping my arms around neck while he does the same around my torso. It frightens me a little how well our bodies fit against each other – but it makes me feel strong knowing that I have an amazing person who genuinely cares about me.

****

CHARLIE’S POV

Charlie unlocked the door to his sister’s apartment, mentally noting to remind her of the fact that her car desperately needs a wash. He enters the foyer, and drops the keys in a bowl, kicking off his shoes.

Suddenly, he pauses, noticing how incredibly quiet the apartment is – which is unlike Y/N. She always has music blasting or the TV running – she hates the quiet. He quickly walks into the living room and almost screams in surprise.

His little sister and his best friend are curled up on the sofa, their backs towards him. Y/N is lying on Owen’s chest and she has an arm wrapped around his torso while Owen’s arms are interlocked at the front, holding her against his body. Their tangled legs peek from underneath the quilt that Charlie and Y/N’s mother knit for her youngest daughter last Christmas. She laughs at something that Owen whispers into her ear, and he presses a kiss to her forehead, and they look at each other with so much adoration that Charlie has to look away.

He sighs, mentally cursing himself for being so, so stupid. How could he have ignored the signs? Charlie remembers Y/N and Owen meeting, both in a daze, both smiling a little too much and Y/N walking with a skip in her steps. He remembers them talking for hours on end, binging Brooklyn 99 on weekends, and always hanging out with each other whenever they went to the same parties. He remembers that morning three weeks ago when he’d woken up late, and gone to the kitchen only to find the duo springing apart from each other, both erupting in a flurry of coughs and laughs, as if he’d just walked on them robbing a bank – Owen had explained that he had apparently broken a glass. He remembers the way Owen would look at her, as if she had just done something miraculous. He remembers the way Y/N would look at his best friend, as if he was made of everything good in the world.

Most of all, he remembers how Owen sulked whenever he was alone back in Vancouver. He remembers how Owen constantly declined to go out with that cute hairdresser. He remembers how Owen sometimes seemed out of it. He remembers how Owen would sprint whenever Charlie called his sister. He remembers how Owen would keep checking his phone every few minutes in between takes.

Charlie also remembers his sister asking about how Owen is when they talked on the phone, and how her voice seemed like she was asking something that was forbidden, something that was evil. He remembers how she would always hang up the phone whenever she heard Owen’s voice. He remembers her always declining his invites to go to Vancouver.

How could he have been so dumb? The signs were right there. He lived with Owen, for god’s sake! Charlie feels an array of emotions. He’s always hated Y/N’s choice in men, despised anyone putting their hands on his baby sister’s body.

But, to see them like this – to see Y/N look so safe, so comfortable in Owen’s arms, he can’t help but feel relief flood into his system. Because he knows his best friend, and he knows what kind of person he is. And now, he thinks just how much sense they make together. Sure, Owen is kind of stupid, reckless, impulsive, and clumsy – but so is Y/N – well, she’s not stupid, he thinks. She’s the smartest person in their family. But she has a fire within her – and his best friend matches that fire. Charlie thinks of the fact that they complement each other so nicely, both are caring, passionate, and kind-hearted. Of course, they would fall for each other. It just makes so much sense – they make so much sense.

Still, Charlie feels hurt that neither of them bothered to tell him about it. (even though he won’t admit it, it’s understandable, really – considering the way he’s bugged his sister about her previous relationships.)

He clears his throat and the duo on the couch jump apart, both flushed and with their eyes widened. Owen stands up, moving away from couch, while Y/N looks at her brother as if he’s a ghost.

A silence falls over the apartment. Y/N finally says, “How’d you – how’d you get in?”

He shrugs. “I had a spare key.”

Owen looks between his girlfriend and his best friend, with widened eyes. “Charlie, I’m so sorry –”

Suddenly, Charlie laughs, swatting at the air. “Pfft. You think I’m gonna be the weird brother who kills his best friend for dating his sister? Come on, this isn’t a TV show. I’m actually really happy for you guys – I ignored all the signs these past weeks, but I see them now. Of course, it’s really weird for me, but I love the both of you so much. Owen, relax, I’m not gonna kill you. Dude. Just don’t kiss or anything in front of me, cause that’s gross. Ew. You know what, don’t do that at all. And I’ll kill you, Owen, if you ever hurt her, I swear. I’ll put poison in your waffles. I just don’t understand why –”

Charlie is cut off by his sister tackling him in a hug. He wraps his arms around her body, as she whispers, “I love you, big brother.”

He murmurs, “Love you most, little one.” He catches Owen’s eye who looks at him with gratefulness and a little smile.

****

READ ON AO3 WITH OC!

drop an ask or a message to be in my jatp taglist!! requests also open <3

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notebooknebula · 3 years ago

Video

youtube

Finding Deals and BRRRR Strategy | Corey Reyment & Jay Conner, The Private Money Authority

https://www.jayconner.com/finding-deals-and-brrrr-strategy-corey-reyment-jay-conner-the-private-money-authority/

Corey Reyment guest of Jay Conner shares his strategies on finding real estate deals while using the BRRRR method.

Corey Reyment is a full-time real estate investor originally from Green Bay.

Corey and his wife Carrie bought their first duplex at the end of 2016 and parlayed that into 115 doors within three years of that first purchase using the BRRRR Strategy almost exclusively creating a portfolio now worth over $8 Million dollars.

They also run Fox Cities Home Buyers and Wisconsin Discount Properties, the largest real estate wholesaling company in Wisconsin, where they did about $2 million in revenue in 2020.

They teach students across the country who are looking to get their first BRRRR Deal and run a Mastermind Group called Launch, which helps businesses go from working in their real estate business to working on their business.

For more valuable information click on this link and watch the complete episode: https://youtu.be/ZSq-AX2-1PM – “Discover the BRRRR Method with Corey Reyment and Jay Conner, The Private Money Authority”

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Have you read Jay’s new book: Where to Get The Money Now? It is available FREE (all you pay is the shipping and handling) at https://www.JayConner.com/Book

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Jay Conner is a proven real estate investment leader. Without using his own money or credit, Jay maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties with profits averaging $64,000 per deal.

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Real Estate Investing With Jay Conner

Jay Conner:

Regardless of our exit strategy, this BRRRR strategy incorporates, it’s really not an exit strategy. It’s a hold strategy. Regardless of whether you’re flipping, holding, selling on rent-to-own, whatever, doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter if you’re a wholesaler. You got to find the deal. You got to find a discounted property. So I want to hang out on this a little bit, particularly in the market that we’re in now. So Carol Joy, my wife, and I, we’ve been at this game now full-time since 2003. And since 2003, you got to find the deals, right? So as you mentioned, when we started out what worked really well a couple of years ago, doesn’t work so well right today. I mean, in this market, I’ve never totally relied on the multiple listing service, but, we just wouldn’t be doing any deals at all.

If I was relying on the multiple listings, I don’t- To tell you the truth, Corey, I don’t know when I bought a house out of the multiple listing service, I just can’t remember when. And I did do two to three a month with average profits at $67,000, but they’re not coming out of the listing service. So I want to talk to you. You’re doing a lot of deals in this challenging market where, and when I say market, I don’t mean where I live. I mean the whole nation.

There’s no inventory in the multiple listing service. My guess is you are finding your deals off-market. In other words, they’re not listed in the multiple listing service. What are your favorite and best methods today that’s working right now? That’s giving you consistent lead flow, to find these deals?

Corey Reyment:

Well, I will say this, Jay, and this is probably, not going to be a cheat.I don’t want to give a tip that’s not achievable for the majority of the audience because they’re probably not at this point yet, but we actually just started TV a couple months ago, doing TV ads in our local market. And that is just dominating right now. I mean, there’s, it’s just crazy. It totally outweighs all of our lead sources right now, probably by three times the amount of leads that we were getting from other sources. The other source though that’s been like the old bread and butter and it’s boring, and it’s like some people dog it, and they call it “old school,” but it’s just direct mail and it’s consistent direct mail. And I see that happen a lot of times, people, dog direct mail, but it’s not consistent.

They’re not consistently sending out direct mail. They’re doing it and then they do it for a couple months. And if they don’t get some deals, they give up on it. And direct mail takes time for it to work is what we’ve seen over the years. And so those two sources have been really good. Texting is another really, really good source. However, by the time this podcast drops, who knows where the regulations are going to be on that, it’s getting really muddy waters, as far as what kind of language you have to put in your texts. And it’s getting a little more diluted, a lot more people doing it, but it’s going to become, I think, a legal issue on texting. So our timeframe to be able to hit these texts is probably very limited on when that window for marketing is going to be open. But I would say right now, our two best is the old-fashioned, not sexy bread and butter direct mail. And then TV is crushing.

Jay Conner:

Yeah. Well, and for your TV to work, my guess is you’re probably going to need to be in a decent size market versus my size market, which is only 40,000 people.

Corey Reyment:

Yeah, and surprisingly Green Bay is only a hundred thousand people. I mean, it’s not a lot of people, but we have a couple other tertiary markets around Green Bay as well, that are about a hundred thousand and stuff like that. So we hit all of those little smaller cities, I guess, along that same area. And so it’s been really good, really interesting. We’re getting some in like outlier kind of like, cities of like 3,000 people where I don’t dunno if we almost have to give us the house to make it a deal. But that’s where some of the best deals come from, right? When we don’t actually want them.

#Jay Conner #Private Money Lender #Real Estate Business #Real Estate #Real Estate Investing #Real Estate Investor #Real Estate Profit #The Private Money Authority #Flip Your House

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purplesurveys · 1 year ago

Text

1770

What’s something you used to believe in that you don’t anymore? Everything about religion.

What’s your favorite dinosaur? I don't have a favorite dinosaur.

Do you believe in reincarnation? If so, what would you like to be reincarnated as? I never did, but if it were real I'd like to be a dog...because they're my favorite animal and also so that I don't have to work a day in my life in my next life lol.

What are three scents that you like? Fresh seafood, curry, and coffee shops.

Do you ever use the grounding technique 54321? I've heard of it but don't think I've ever used it.

Where would you relocate if you were forced to leave your place of residence? I might move back at my childhood duplex where my extended family continues to live. It's very near where I live and would make the last-minute move convenient.

What smells better... fresh baked bread or fresh brewed coffee? Tight competition but I might actually go for the bread on this one.

Have you ever met a president? I haven't, but I've been at a friend's wake the same time as a president was. I'm pretty sure I've also been at an event which the current first lady attended too, but there were so many people that it was impossible to see her.

Has anyone ever given you a gag gift? As far as I can remember, no.

Do you find smoking unattractive? If it's done excessively and if it's starting to take effect on the appearance - like blackened gums - then yes I'm grossed out by it. I don't think I'd mind some social smoking here and there.

Do you think flirting is cheating? I personally wouldn't be a fan but I guess it also depends on the situation.

Have you ever liked someone who had a girl/boyfriend? Nope.

Would you ever take someone back if they cheated on you? I hope I wouldn't.

What's a word that starts with the third letter of your first name? Brain.

How many wives or husbands do you want? If I ever get married I hope it only happens once.

What's your favorite color gummy bear? Any's fine - I like gummy bears!

What's the last movie you saw in the theater? I saw the theatrical release of BTS' Busan concert twice; once with friends and the next time I went solo.

What color is your iPod? I haven't used an iPod since high school, but I owned a blue one.

What’s a quality that your sister has that you absolutely can’t stand? Her memory is terrible so when we get into conversations where we talk about stuff from the past she'd be so stubbornly wrong - "I never said that" "It was you who did this and that" and it always comes off as major gaslighting and is so annoying lol.

Have you ever dated a smoker? If not, would you? Not a habitual one. I still wouldn't.

Do you share a middle name with any of your siblings? We share the same legal middle/maiden name if that's what you mean. But our second names are all different.

Name one of your psycho exes? I wouldn't call them a psycho.

Have you ever been drunk at work? Nope.

Have you ever taken a pregnancy test? I have not.

How many bananas have you ever eaten in a row? I can only do one at a time and it's always a bad experience because I hate bananas and all fruits.

Do you have a protective father? He can be, but in the grand scheme of things it was always my mom who has been more protective. When I was starting to explore my independence and doing more grown-up things, my dad would talk my mom down and tell her I was no longer a kid and that she'd have to allow me to do more things at some point.

Have you ever had to choose between two people? Hasn't happened to me.

The last thing you remember dreaming about: I always fail to remember my dreams, lol.

The last place you went: I went to a nearby mall because I was meeting my sister there to drive her home from her date. I waited at a Starbucks and spent my time there doing some work and watching a few episodes of Friends.

The last time you held a baby: 16 years ago when my now 16-year-old cousin was still a newborn.

What’s the scariest video game you’ve ever played? I've never played a scary video game on my own. I used to enjoy watching YouTubers do walkthroughs there.

If you had the chance to slip through a portal, despite being unaware of any of the effects and/or consequences, would you do it? Probably not.

When someone copies you, are you more flattered or annoyed? Depends on what about me they're copying, I guess? Like it would be extremely grating if I have to deal with someone taking credit for stuff I do at work.

Which is worse: Stale chips or flat soda? Flat soda, because I already don't like soda.

What health problems do you have? Scoliosis.

Have you ever had an anaphylactic reaction to anything? No.

Do you have sensitive skin? Yes, VERY. I'm dealing with a rash under my left arm for a few days now; no idea where it came from. I also avoid walking through grass because that 100% gives me the rashes.

What would you name a baby boy? I can't ever seem to decide on a first name for a boy, but I've long eyed having Owen at least as a second name. I'd love to name my son after Owen Hart.

What would you name a baby girl? Mia's still my favorite.

Do people's rude comments bother you for a long time? Depends on who said the rude thing. I'd be more personally affected if I was hurt by someone in my personal circle, like family or close friends. Rude people at work absolutely don't affect me nearly as much as it used to.

Name three things you find boring. Anything about finance and the stock market; attending mass; and racing.

What excites you? Having days off work; concerts; and literally anything related to BTS.

Would you send your kids to Sunday school? That would be the worst decision I'd make as a parent ever. No.

What is the most interesting biography you have read? I really enjoyed Chris Jericho's first memoir.

Do you think your life story would make a good book someday? Nah.

Do you buy art for your walls? I don't but that's something I'd love to be able to do (and afford) someday.

Would you ever decorate a room with a travel theme? I'd rather my room not have a theme.

What insects do you think are pretty? None of them.

Do you love God? I don't believe in that.

Is there an ice cream flavor that you strongly dislike? Which one? Buko pandan and anything fruit.

Do you own any books with an image of a cat on the front cover? It's very likely, but I can't remember which one/s exactly.

Does anything you own have an image of a bird on it? ^ Same thing.

Does anyone you know own a spaniel? How about an Irish setter? Not that I know of.

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