#sell my apple 6 plus

[nomsfaultau]

I was passing by a linden tree on my way to school and I immediately thought "Ooh, I had one of those in my backyard! Bees loved them! I wonder if Fault!Tubbo would like them.". And then I went on a googling spree because apparently some people think that linden nectar kills bees because it has things toxic to bees in it but ppl have disproved that. So. Linden trees. Tubbo's opinion on then? And your opinion on them

My opinion is that I’ve never seen or heard of them but they’re incredibly beautiful. So first I went on a googling spree to see if Tubbo has ever encountered one via geographic range, and while maps and sites differ, I believe generic rural area in West Sussex falls into that area.

Now I’ve found other maps that place it outside that area, but it is also a tree people plant themselves. Rhodes (guy who adopts Tubbo) is mentioned mostly as an apple farmer but I imagine he has a variety of crops that don’t strictly have to be fruit based, since people use it mostly for tea or home remedies. Plus he likes gardening so might just have it for beauty. So I think we can assume Tubbo has at least encountered linden trees.

And Tubbo LOVES them. They were a feral changeling in the woods for like the first 5-6 years of their existence and so deffo wouldn’t have encountered the rumor that they’re toxic to bees. Apparently that stems from linden trees flowering late in the season when bees are already starving, plus including caffeine that bees find irresistible buuut is probably not the most filling flowers they could find. But as a hivemind Tubbo has more communication and intelligence than individual bees, so could probably figure out that while delicious they needed to focus on other foods as well. Probably didn’t stop baby Tubbo from going nuts for the first one they found, getting suped up on caffeine and being over come with bee zoomies. Wouldn’t take very much since the hivemind shares experiences, which Tubbo found out in their experimentation with mead. Rhodes might’ve put a limit on that, but then Tubbo would snap back on him about how much tea he makes, etc.

Plus, linden trees make for absolutely DELICIOUS honey! So I can just picture Tubbo purposefully making some so that Rhodes and Martha can bake it into something amazing. Canonically their honey already tastes like divine ambrosia, but this would really up it a notch. Plus, medicinal benefits like helping with colds and other stuff that I think is more alleged but it’s possible? Potentially they could even be selling excess linden honey since it’s so hard to get but they also don’t want to draw much attention to Tubbos’ existence so that’s a toss up.

In short they’re like caffeinated candy that Tubbo adores and is fine to have as long as they balance the rest of their diet.

[gerbiloftriumph]

Floating Castle Liveblog (first read)

The King's Quest series has been graced with a very silly and very wonderful trilogy of adapted novels, and of them all, the first is my favorite. I have read it more times than I should, and liveblogged my musings on Goodreads in real time, er, multiple times.

Below is my first readthrough. Follow along with my initial, baffled, but ultimately delighted, self. Obviously, spoilers for an objectively terrible but subjectively amazing video game novelization from the 90s.

(and if you want to read the Floating Castle yourself, well, [I'm sure there are avenues online] but you didn't hear that from me)

May 7, 2018 –

page 0

Let it be officially known: I am terrifically excited to read this, and a little nervous, too. Please be good. Please be good. But please don't be SO good that I want to break my wallet trying to get a copy of See No Weevil. [side gerbil note: at the time, one of the only copies of See No Weevil, the third book in the series, available for purchase online was selling for $8k. No, that's not a joke.]

page 6

I miiiight be wrong, but wasn't Merlin's Mirror blank for all the years Alexander was missing, too? I have a feeling I read that somewhere...eh. I should read the actual game manuals sometime.

page 9

It's a touch on the fluffy side. A whole paragraph is dedicated to Alexander getting out of bed. But, let's be clear, that fluff worked really well a few pages ago with the storm, so. Plus, it's from the 90s, so. For some reason fantasy from then seems to be fluffy

page 10

You out of shape magician boy, you. Then again, 4 deep flights of castle steps (probs rough flagstone, rather uneven) is probably hard to climb, so. Fair.

page 14

Graham is such a good king. Like. Really really good.

page 26

Come on, magician prince. You can think of somethiiiing.

page 18

Sir Brian of House Blessed, I presume.

page 40

A: Oh, you stuck Graham's soul in a crystal? Very Ocarina of Time of you. What year did this come out? B: ...why is this actually kind of a good book? Like, from an honest fantasy novel perspective, not just a King's Quest adaptation perspective, it's actually not that bad. Slightly dated with its fluffy descriptions, but I've read plenty of worse fantasy before.

page 47

I didn't expect to enjoy a magician turning into a tree as much as I am, and I love Alexander being all good and diplomatic and not swearing anyone out for Cyril's complete uselessness.

page 49

I wonder how old Alexander is. I don't think it's said. How far past Manannan are we? Has KQ5 happened yet? These are not crucial questions, and yet. I'm curious. Do we know about Crispin? He's probably fractionally more useful than Morowyn. But only fractionally, cos he's still mostly useless.

page 54

Alex (paraphrased): So. All I have to do is sneak into Telgrin's evil doom castle, figure out where he hid a crystal of undetermined size with King Graham's soul in it, steal it (it had better not be car sized), sneak out without getting caught, and get home before his empty body dies, and you can put the soul back in? Cyril (quote): Oh, yes. Almost certainly. Probably. I think. Sounds like a PLAN, guys. Let's go!

page 54

Addendum to the above REALLY AWESOME PLAN. Do it before Telgrin tortures Graham's soul into hideous unrecognizability. Y'know. No pressure or anything.

page 58

I like Cyril. Road trip with the boys!

page 65

What sort of spooky ringwraith nonsense....

page 74

That’s....that’s just lembas bread. Literally just lembas.

page 81

Okay, there’s a thing I don’t like. Little episodic things periodically happen but so clumsily. I think it’s to give Alexander “items” to solve later puzzles, like the games. Direct quotes here: “Good apple,” Cyril said. “Very good.” “Sweet.” “Mmm.” And that’s the end of the exchange. Like. I get it, apples will probably be important later but. That dialogue is less than riveting

May 8, 2018:

page 87

"He’s going to try to ride a kelpie. I’ve never been so excited about a plot development in all my life!

page 108

I very much enjoyed that bit with the ogre, and now we’re hiding in barrels to sneak in. This book is like, nothing but all the best possible Fantasy Highlights.

page 123

Also, I’m fond of this exchange: “You are an evil man.” “So it has been said.” Telgrin shrugged. “Personally I’ve always found that such abstractions do not apply well to the real world. They make matters that are by their very nature complex seem rather too simple, don’t you think?” “Evil,” Alexander repeated."

page 133

Ewwww what is that thing. That’s a horrible beastie.

page 139

Where was he? Yes. Who was this beside him? Yes. Alexander those are not answers to your questions.

page 146

“All I’d have to do is wait until Telgrin is out of the room, step through the mirror, reclaim my father’s soul, and return through the mirror.” Alexander *liked* this plan."

page 162

It's absolutely just The Best Parts of Any Fantasy shoved together in one frantic ball of fury, with maybe three pages at most devoted to each new Fantasy Segment. I'm so into it. It's not a challenge to read by any stretch--I'd say it's middle grade fiction level--but, like, yo. It's crazy fun so who cares. (darn it, book, you broke my theory about where Telgrin had stuffed Graham. Boo. I was enjoying my guess.)

page 163

If my baby boy has broken his arm punching this ringwraith there will be hell to pay from me. I will protect this scarf-wearing lad at all costs. I say, when he's probably my age and knows at least a little magic and how to use a sword and has no problem crawling around dungeons and enemy castles.

page 165

Alexander is SUCH a pile of snark. Yeah, this is going well, he thinks. Now we have *four* knights chasing us.

page 168

“Cyril, I really don’t think—“ “*Enough.* there’s no time for discussion. Prepare yourself.” “No, Cyril, I— Aieeeeeeee!” Boys please

page 170

Are you KIDDING. It took us ages to get INTO the castle. And now we’re stuck outside again. P sure Telgrin is going to raise security after that debacle and kerfuffle you just caused.

page 175

Cuss the ever loving frick out of that tree root. You’ve earned a little less-than-princely reaction after this hell day.

page 181

Graham’s been soul-less for about a week at this point if I’ve added up right. He can wait a bit more, probably.

page 183

THIS IS NOT A HELPFUL SOLUTION TO THE MANY PROBLEMS AT HAND.

page 185

“Did you speak, Sir Frog?” “That’s Prince Frog to you.” Alex, please reign back the sass a little bit. You’re not helping matters.

page 194

We’ve found a princess, convinced her to smooch, he turns human again, and the first thing she says is “but....you’re *beautiful.*” Agreed, yo.

page 204

He’s been walking around with a hat this whole time? I hope it has a feather in it.

page 219

My baby Grahaaaaaam. Sorry about the week of agonizing torture. We came quick as we could. That whole scene with you and Telgrin was so cool and you’re so brilliant and I love your stupid regal face. Also. This exchange; “What happened?” “I’m not exactly sure. All I know is that Telgrin came uncomfortably close to killing me.” Y’know, no big deal.

page 223

"It opened its eyes, blinked, and said, “Hmph. What’s happening? Where am I?” “It’s all right, dear,” the first head said. “Go back to sleep. I am just going to kill this man here.” “Oh, that’s all right, then.”

page 228

I’m amazed Telgrin hasn’t raised hell and panic after losing Graham and his staff. Like. This isn’t a good event for our villain but we everyone seems remarkably calm.

page 231

“Is *everyone* in Daventry this obstinate?” Yes. You messed with the wrong royal family, tbh.

page 234

I love this. I love this book. In ways I cannot express because truly it is not a good book and yet. And YET. The setting is phenomenal, the cast both old and new entertaining, the language occasionally dips beyond melodramatic into actually decently lyrical, the action is relentless, and EVERYONE IS SASSY. Be it Alexander, Graham, this new princess, Telgrin. Everyone.

page 243

“I don’t suppose that you’ll tell me what you were up to.” “I don’t suppose.“ The sass is too strong. It’s blinding. I don’t want this book to end.

page 248

“You know, Alexander, I am not normally given to strong emotions. I do not often make declaration of animosity, for these do not agree with my usually thoughtful and scholarly nature. I must, however, tell you that I hate you.” The sass.

page 249

“The wonderful thing is, I have the power to make it all come true. All of it – the pain, the disfigurement, the death. I tell you, sometimes it’s a truly marvelous thing to be me.” Stars above I’m dying this is so good

page 250

This book is amazing. I am dying.

page 252

No, seriously. I am actually laughing out loud at this point. I love this. “She shall marry me unwillingly, or not at all!“

page 255

“Oh, I see the way of it. It’s blame-everything-on-Telgrin time, is it?” It hurts. My joy hurts too much. I’m crying with joy.

page 260

Cool guys don’t look at explosions.

page 269

This castle even has murder holes. Like. This is actually a good solid piece of fantasy, with accurate castles.

page 273

“I could attempt to fly you down.” All in all, Alexander thought he would rather just jump."

page 293

Graham is such a flirt.

page 297

No there’s no more page to turn!!!!!! Nooooooo I want moreeeee. .....aahHahdhsbdjdhdbuebfjxi.

May 8, 2018 – Finished Reading

five stars out of five stars

[rainbowchaox]

Monster of the week rancher au part 4: small things that make me happy.

1. The first time Tango makes Jimmy a bouquet was made of Poison Ivy. He is trying his best. Yes Jimmy grabbed it and now has to deal with his hands being itchy for the day or so

2. Impulses shitty van is the Nokia of cars. It can handle being throw like every weekend by the monster of the week but has the worst engine. Type of car that is on its last legs engine wise.

3. Jimmy and Grian Great Grandma used to be a moonshiner back in the day. And whenever they visit her she always said back in my day but like wack stuff. Ex: “Back in my day we would sunk you in the lake”

4. Jimmy is a western/cowboy nerd. So much that his dnd character he plays in his friend’s campaign is a cowboy. Has a whole ass collection of Clint Eastwood Movies.

5. Tango loves those wack conspiracy and alien/monster documentary. Solely to laugh at it because it’s always so off. Yes he watches documentaries about himself as well.

6. Tango has actual beef with the Mothman. Yes mothman exists in this au and tango is no brain just punch whenever he sees the mothman.

7. Jimmy has to keep a ladder in Impulses van because Tango gets stuck on the roofs of buildings so often.

8. Jimmy is a Eagle Scout and is lowkey bullied by the younger Boy Scouts. But at the same time the small kids will beat up others for their weird teen.

9. Jimmy is definitely a flannel bisexual. He always is wearing some sort of flannel overtop.

10. Jimmy mom always wins the community baking competition with her special Apple pies. No one knows her secret why they taste so good.

11. Tango has gotten his hand stuck in a Pringle can. Jimmy had to olive oil it out for him.

12. Scar has wore a overcoat and was like “Whata ya buyin” but instead it’s like potions and crystals. The teachers thinks he is selling drugs tho.

13. When Tango is really happy his purrs are so loud it shakes the room he is in like a earthquake.

14. Tango loves to be fully human but when only Grian is looking at him (especially when he’s over at their place for dinner) loves to show off slight monstrous traits. Like blinking with a second eye lid or smiling with way too much teeth.

15. Jimmy does know how to hunt but boy it took him forever for him to get a squirrel to present to Tango as a token of his affection. He is trying his best to monster flirt.

16. Tango because he doesn’t know how to human flirt does present dead animals usually deer to Jimmy as a way to flirt.

17. Tango is surprisingly rich af. It’s just he had no concept of money before meeting Jimmy and his human friends. He stole so much from campers and hikers.

18. Tango got manipulated into joining journalism once he went to the school as a student. And everyone in said journalism class is wanting to do a piece on him as the red stalker. But no one believes he is the red stalker even when he plainly admits that fact.

19. The fact is the one high vampire that can infect others in town is literally decades worth in debt and lives in the attic of his shitty tourist plus secret pawn shop trap. (Vampire Scott my beloved)

20. Tango doesn’t pass the mirror test. He sees his reflection he thinks it’s someone else. On his bad days he may try attacking the stranger. Tango is a feral good boy. But I never said he was smart.

[chibi-sunrise]

One fan’s observations on Luminaria’s Merch Sales

Because it’s difficult not to feel a little anxious when the future of your favorite game heavily depends on sales of limited merchandise.

That being said, based on what I can observe and no matter how anxious I get, I think Luminaria’s done objectively well for itself when it comes to merch sales.

First, when Luminaria’s OST was released it became the number 1 quickest trending MP3 album on Amazon JP within 12 hours of its release. Here’s a tweet that recorded this statistic.

It was also number 5 in the Top 5 quickest trending MP3 album on Apple Music JP and number 6 in the Top 10 quickest trending MP3 album on Rekochoku. I thought I had the tweets/screenshots that recorded those two, but it turns out I only got the one for Amazon JP this whole time... Well, you can decide for yourself if this sounds right!

Second, around March 2022 there were multiple stores that opened pre-orders for Luminaria’s chibi acrylic stands among other Luminaria-related types of merch. Animate also had them in physical stores because there was an event (AGF 2022) going on in Japan.

Oddly, or perhaps not so oddly, those stores had it in writing that they’d sell the pre-ordered Luminaria merch regularly in June 2022...only to pull their merch from the store listing some time after Luminaria announced EoS. Animate, the Chara, and Animo didn’t offer any explanation for this, but it’s not hard to guess that they were probably just cutting their losses.

[To be honest, I don’t blame them either since the official Tales Channel Plus twitter never once retweeted these stores when they opened pre-orders. Tales Channel Plus also never made any news posts about these stores opening pre-orders either. Any business would be insulted by that.]

At the time, Colleize was still a new store that sold official anime and game-related goods. Because Colleize was new, no one in the Tales of fandom knew enough about them to be confident in buying from them. Tales Channel Plus also didn’t retweet them or make a post about them either.

But the first and only official Tales of merch that Colleize sold was Luminaria merch that the other stores were no longer selling, so Luminaria fans gave them a shot. Colleize was also proxy-friendly and partnered up with Buyee to deliver their products to overseas fans.

And Colleize actually sold out ALL of their Luminaria merch in July 2022! I’m a short-sighted fool, so I didn’t nab any screenshots of their inventory at the time (Past me was probably, “well, the JP fans already took pics and I RT’ed them, so I don’t HAVE to take my own screenshots”) but I do have this tweet I made when I saw it.

Then Colleize restocked their Luminaria merch in September 2022. I actually made sure to record that one, at least. At the time of this post, 3/1/2023, all Luminaria’s badges sold out, all Luminaria’s masking tape sold out, the Federation motif keychain sold out, Falk’s chibi stand sold out, Hugo’s chibi stand sold out, Leo’s chibi stand sold out, Hugo’s acrylic stand sold out, Leo’s acrylic stand sold out, Hugo’s keychain sold out, and Leo’s keychain sold out.

A few other Luminaria items have also sold out around the fourth of April, 2023. August and Alexandra’s chibi acrylic stands are both gone, just to name a couple.

[Wait, all of Hugo and Leo’s stuff sold out with the exception of the blind bromides, which are on back-order, where they could still appear?! Damn, okay...]

And Colleize has a lot more Tales of Series merch available on back-order now too! They’ve got some Destiny stuff, some Arise stuff, some Zestiria stuff... I couldn’t be happier for them that they seem to be doing well! And I hope that more Luminaria fans who haven’t bought Lumi merch, but want to buy them can find their way to Colleize soon!

Because if you’re a Hugo or Leo fan, then you’re already out of luck. People don’t play around... I hope people at least get to buy merch of their faves before it gets sold out like that...sheesh. But when it comes to Luminaria merch, I guess you need to approach it with the mindset that they won’t always be selling Luminaria merch and if they do, your fave isn’t always going to be in stock either. It’s a rough world out there in Luminaria merch availability...

Third, I found some merch photos of people who received their acrylic stands from Asobi store some time after I was sad that Bastien and Raoul’s stands were sold out. I think it just took some time for the stock to be accurately reflected, so all of the physically in stock Luminaria-related merch is sold out on Asobi store too...but until 3/5/2023 JST, you check out this post on how to roll some random Luminaria badges while they’re still available!

And finally, this might be the crowning achievement for Luminaria fans in merch sales so far: the Luminaria hanko stamps! The company had actually been planning to open orders for Luminaria hanko stamps for over a year. When they were accepting orders, Tales Channel Plus actually wrote a news post about it! And the official twitter RT’ed them too! Three times!

The person in charge of the project tweeted that they were excited to see all the different custom engravings the fans had requested early into the ordering period.

The planning and PR manager for the hanko stamps thanked all the Luminaria fans who ordered stamps, tweeting that they think they could probably convey the fans’ love for Luminaria to the publishers too at the end of the ordering period.

The person in charge of the stamp company’s twitter also tweeted that they received many, many, A LOT of orders and thanked the Luminaria fans at the end of the ordering period. They’ve also tweeted that Lycoris Recoil and Luminaria’s requested engravings are some of the most unique ones they’ve seen in the last few years.

So, tl;dr, because Luminaria’s in a delicate position where its future heavily depends on good merch sales, it can be easy for fans, especially EN fans, to get pessimistic about whether or not we can have a meaningful effect.

But when I look at the little victories that Luminaria fans have been able to accomplish despite the rocky challenges, and when I see that the Luminaria fans have made such a stellar impression on a company that their planning and PR manager even commented that they could probably convey the fans’ love to the publishers...

I think it’s okay for Luminaria fans to be a little more hopeful. I think it’s okay for Luminaria fans to look at this and realize that every small victory will add up.

Slowly, but surely, I think Luminaria fans are making a tangible impact.

[robinsnest2111]

4, 6, 13, 40, 55, 93 <3

4. do you like your name? why?

Well I picked it myself so I sure do like it lol

It's also kinda an act of reclamation? Had befriended a boy with that name in a pottery class as a kid over summer vacation between primary and secondary school. Then he joined my bullies once we got to secondary school and was complicit in a lot of fucked up stuff done to me. I can understand it now but back then I felt kinda betrayed. Anyway, trying to channel the nice and sweet Robin I enjoyed being around in pottery class all those years ago.

as for my birth name? don't like it for me for various reasons ✨

6. describe your personality in 3 words or less

introvert nerd weirdo

13. any siblings?

nope, only child here

40. how many times have you been to the hospital?

lost count/can't remember every instance, maybe 10 times so far? went a lot for different tests and such as a teen

55. what is your dream job?

tbh as long as the work is the ideal balance between being on my feet/sitting and doesn't involve too little tasks to bore me to death or too many different tasks to handle (no cash registers or my anxiety will literally kill me!) and I get along with my coworkers I don't care what kinda work I do 🤔

If there were no realistic limitations I'd say: enigmatic 19th century artist who can easily support a leisurely lifestyle (plus generous donations to friends/family/good causes) by only selling a few artworks a year lol

93. last thing you ate? 

porridge with an apple, 2 small carrots, cucumber slices and a big mug of tea!

[whiskeyandwoof]

Happy Halloween

This week has been a really busy, multiple hat wearing week. Small business as a solo entrepreneur is a lot of time prioritizing and role prioritizing.

What made it different was two factors: 1. I had a TikTok that has over 85K views, which lead to a number of new sales from new clients.

2. #TheKaraGoldinShow episode I'm on went live on various platforms. You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts here: https://bit.ly/4hp77hy This was another touchpoint that feed the wheel that makes any brand continue to grow.

When you have a video that reaches an audience outside of your normal scope, "the general public" there will be always be negative comments. In the Tiktok video my point was that consumers hold a higher ethical standard for small businesses and are consistently critical without caring what the cost is or remembering that if it's not for you "don't yuck my yum." For instance, consumers will cancel their Prime subscriptions because Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon, and has since retired so now he only profits from shareholding, also owns the Washington Post. This week he blocked WaPo from endorsing Kamala Harris because he has another company, Blue Origins he seeks favors for from the opposition should they win the election.

There are a lot of billionaires out there flexing this election season more overtly than ever. Comparatively, The Olsen Twins own a fashion brand named The Row since 2006. They are now leading quite private lives as opposed to when they were acting. That set of billionaires are not held accountable for their ethics. They have not endorsed either candidate, yet their sample sale had people lining up from 3 am for doors at 9 AM. People hired line sitters as well in order to drop amounts in the thousands : https://www.thecut.com/article/how-much-do-the-goods-at-the-rows-sample-sale-cost.html

I have clients who wear The Row, will spend thousands there and turn around and ask me for the same kind of 75% off discount. Comparatively Diptyque candles cost $75 for 6 oz, Loewe (which a client texted me my candles blow out of the water) cost $120 for 5.9 oz, while my 8 oz candles cost $65. In Australia a 2 oz Byredo candle costs $63 at Mecca (The clean beauty Sephora of Australia. Sephora there is terrible.) The Row can afford to cut 75% of their prices once or twice a year and still make a profit. If I did that I would be paying the clients to take my products and shipping them for free.

Big businesses get bulk discounts, have entire teams to secure coveted retails shelf space and might even own their own transportation systems (trucks & planes.) Their client service though, isn't the same that you will get with a smaller luxury brand.

Whiskey & Woof is intentionally niche. We’ve got $15 room sprays for a little taste of luxury and $65 candles for those who know that lighting a candle is about creating a vibe, a sanctuary. And sure, my products aren’t for everyone. I get that not everyone spends $65 on a candle, but people regularly spend thousands on things they value—whether it’s $1,600 on World Series tickets, $5,000 for clothes from The Row , or flying out to see Taylor Swift for a three-hour concert. Meanwhile, my candles, when burned as recommended, will last you 50 to 60 hours. And if you think those comparisons are a stretch, that’s exactly my point! It’s all about what each person values, and for some, investing in quality candles is right up there. Plus, for those just exploring, we have those $15 room sprays made with organic witch hazel that doubles as body spray!

Big brands can spend millions on ads to be everywhere you look. But for small businesses, it’s a one-person show. I’m not just the candle maker—I’m also running PR, fixing the website, handling customer service, packing orders, managing social media, and juggling tech updates. And with a name like Whiskey & Woof, my active ads get flagged, thinking I’m trying to sell alcohol. So while people think a social following equals sales, it’s actually a supportive community that matters.

We live in a busy world and there are some products that it's easier to order in bulk like diapers. That is fair. That extra energy to shop small might not be your lifestyle. My youngest client buying a $65 candle was sixteen a few months ago. He didn't hesitate.

I'm here to connect with people who do value layered scent stories on the same level as other, more well known luxury candles. I'm here to tell the stories and create, who love dogs and consider them family members, who celebrate life's moments with friends and want to relive them through scent.

Wishing you good smells,

Coco

#smallbusiness #entrepreneurlife #candlemaker #craft

[downtoearthmarkets]

Located on 200 bucolic acres in Marlboro, NY, Caradonna Farms is a fourth-generation family grower of fruits and vegetables, producing a diversity of stone fruit, apples and berries. Owner and farmer Skye Caradonna loves to experiment and follows agricultural developments around the world to learn about new varietals and better ways of growing fruit. We recently chatted with Skye to hear more about his unique farming techniques, what crops he’s currently focusing on and how the farm is handling the unpredictable, and often extreme, weather patterns of late.

How did Caradonna Farms get started? There's a farming background on both sides of my family. My maternal grandfather was an Italian immigrant who saved up enough money to buy 23-acres of land in Milton, NY on which he operated a diversified fruit and vegetable farm. My paternal grandfather and great-grandfather went into farming after World War II when they bought land in Marlboro and started a chicken farm on the property. Once my grandfather retired, he transitioned the farm to a fruit and vegetable farm because chickens were not as profitable.

Given your family history, were you predestined to become a farmer or was it not always in the cards? I went into the Navy for four years during which time I was stationed in Seattle, which is where I did college too. After graduating, I went into banking and worked on Wall Street. When the 2008 financial crisis hit, my dad talked to me about farming and said, “you’d better get your finger in it.” By 2011 or so, I had returned to the farm.

My dad was a true farmer’s farmer who didn’t focus too much on the marketing or financial side of things. However, he started listening to me and I helped grow the farm and its revenue. We currently attend thirteen farmers markets, including Down to Earth Markets’ Ossining and Scarsdale locations. We have forty Michelin Star restaurants in New York City buying from us regularly, including Blue Hills which purchases whatever fruit is in season 2-3 times a week.

How have you seen growing conditions on the farm change in recent years? We are experiencing milder winters, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the positive side, the milder weather gives us a longer growing season that starts earlier and lasts till much later. Sometimes, we’re getting two crops out of our vegetables. Around thirty years ago, we used to see our first frost by late September. Now we’re still producing tomatoes in October and November that I can store to sell fresh for Thanksgiving!

Here in Marlboro, our conditions today are like those of mid to southern New Jersey around 100 years ago. I can now plant varieties of fruit like peaches, apricots and plums that I couldn’t have planted on the farm before. Plus, when temps don’t fall below zero, I can plant more apricots and peaches. In the last 5-6 years, I’ve put in more Californian fruit tree varieties and less cold weather varieties. These new varieties produce a better yield and higher quality fruit. However, if we have an extreme cold snap, these trees will die.

On the flip side, cold hardy fruit trees like pears that need the cold winter are doing more poorly. All fruit trees need a certain amount of cold to harden off. They need a fair number of days below 32 degrees to produce fruit in the spring.

How have growing conditions been this summer so far? Everything is two weeks early this year thanks to the warm, mild May. I use succession planting to have a longer strawberry season. I plant early season strawberries and only seed 4-5 rows, then later I plant the next variety and so on. This year it’s been so hot that all the different strawberry plants produced at the same time with flowers and berries coming in all at once. However, it’s been a great cherry season for all cherry types – white, yellow, Rainier and sour. They've been deliciously firm and crunchy.

We currently grow 38 varieties of apples. Because of the hot sun, we’ve been spraying the fruit coming in with calcium chloride which acts like a mineral sunscreen. It protects the apples from getting white sunburn spots on their skin. The sunburn won’t affect the quality, but shoppers don’t like to see it. Calcium is good for all apples as there’s always a deficiency in the ground. It gets absorbed by the fruit and it’s good for us too as we intake it when we eat the apples.

What other technologies have you been using to optimize sustainability and yield?

We installed frost protection windmills in our orchards to help protect against frost damage. The windmills are diesel powered and stand 33 feet tall with two long propellers. They are commonly used in New Zealand and British Columbia and are more sustainable than other frost protection measures, such as sprinkling freshwater. During cold, windless nights after a sunny day, warm air rises and cold air settles near the ground and on crops. These technologically advanced wind machines pull down warm air from the upper inversion layer and blow it across the lower layers, mixing it with the cold air.

We are experimenting with new high density tree architectures. These UFO (Upright Fruiting Offshoot) training systems were developed in Washington State and entail growing nectarines, peaches and cherries in narrow rows along wire, just like grapes.

We purchased a new electrostatic crop protectant sprayer that employs variable rate control. This advanced sprayer uses lidar sensors to measure the density of the tree canopy and then processes that information to adjust individual sprayer nozzles. It results in a 50% reduction in inputs.

What Caradonna Farms fruit can shoppers look forward to in the coming weeks? This year we’re producing big crops with tons of fruit. It’s a banner year for strawberries, cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots. We have four acres of melons including musk, honeydew, cantaloupe, and red and yellow watermelon. Melons can grow over a foot a day! They love the heat so they have flowered early and will most likely be ripe one to two weeks ahead of schedule. We’re growing eighteen varieties of grapes with the first ones slated to be ready by late August and harvests lasting through October.

Thank you, Skye, for taking the time to share these fascinating insights into the many exciting things happening on Caradonna Farms. We can’t wait to taste all the delicious, locally and sustainably grown fruit that is coming our way this season thanks to your hard work, vision and technological savvy.

[notebooknebula]

How Brett Raised $1.95 Million in the Last 27 Days

Private Money Academy Conference:

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Join the Private Money Academy: 

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If you are a real estate investor wondering how to raise and leverage Private Money to make more profit on every deal then you’re in the right place.

On Raising Private Money we’ll speak with new and seasoned investors to dissect their deals and extract the best tips and strategies to help you get the money!

Today, Jay’s guest, Brett Johnson shares his story on how he was able to raise $1.95 Million of Private Money in just 4 weeks!

Institutional money takes too long to process making it the reason you miss out on real estate deals. Private Money can help you be in control of your real estate investing business and never have to worry about where to get the funding for your deals.

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Timestamps:

0:01 - Raising Private Money with Jay Conner

1:00 - Today’s guest: Brett Johnson

2:04 - Private Money is What’s Been Missing In Your RE Business

3:15 - How To Raise $1.95 Million Of Private Money In 4 weeks

4:50 - The True Meaning Of “The Money Comes First” IN RE

6:48 - Our Number 1 Goal Is To Help People

7:44 - Security For Private Lenders

10:00 - I Have Never Been Ashamed To Talk About My Faith

13:11 - In The World Of Private Money You Make The Rules

15:41 - Jay’s Free Money Guide: https://www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide

16:40 - Money Needs To Be Happy On Both Sides

20:36 - Jay’s Biggest Mistake

22:22 - Private Money Can Be Use In Any Kind Of Real Estate Deal

24:02 - We Are Brought Into This World To Become Creators

25:22 - Brett Johnson’s One Piece Of Advice: “Talk To People, Share Your Story”

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[alexisnoir]

So I made an update today. This is my "new" iPhone 14 Plus 128GB. It's from a consumer return, it has full warranty, 100% battery life, it is in perfect condition, never been configured either (don't mind the smudges. It's not yet in its matte case)

Also it was cheaper than a regular iPhone 14 128GB.

The pictures I took with my old iPhone XR 64GB also bought from a consumer return few years back.

I'm so happy! This phone will work perfectly for me for the next 5-6 years or more depending on how long Apple will update its iOS on this phone. iPhone XR will get iOS 17 but there are just some features the old phone doesn't have the new one has, like collision detection to name one.

I also have Apple Watch 7 41mm and I noticed the old iPhone has become a bit laggy when connecting with the watch. I have no lags with the new phone.

This new phone is originally from Ireland but works without a problem in Poland.

I will most likely sell my old iPhone in a few days.

[looye29]

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[sol1056]

Assuming by “characters” you mean “is at least secondary, if not primary” (versus “random guy in background selling apples”) -- It’s more than just “what the plot requires”. It’s also the limitations of your genre, because there’s a rough guideline for the number of words added for introducing, describing, and involving each additional not-just-background character.

I believe it’s Mary Robinette Kowal who came up with a short story equation that considers # of characters, # of settings, and # of plots (well, sort of, but close enough for this quick summary). It looks like this:

Ls = (((C + L) * 750) * Mq)/1.5 where C is the number of characters, L is the number of locations, and Mq is the number of MICE (plot/storyline) elements.

So for a short story, generally speaking, add another 500 words to your expected word count for each character added/introduced. You can find a pretty good summary of the MICE elements and MRK’s equation at this post from Black Wolf Editorial.

For a novel, however, you have a bit more room to breathe, so this is the variation I use when estimating. First, Mq is never less than 4, because you do want more than just a single story element, and preferably you’d have all four -- and that’s not counting an arc per primary character. (After all, a primary character will have a complete arc, ergo, they have the equivalent of a one story-element driving their share of the story.)

This is the version I use for estimating:

Ls = ( (C1 * 2000) + ( (C2 + L) * 1500) ) * (4 + C1 ) ) / 1.5 where C1 is the number of primary characters, L is the number of locations, C2 is the number of secondary characters, and Mq is the number of minimum storyline elements (4) plus the number of primary characters (C1).

Note: I often give POV to secondary characters (and even tertiary characters, if I need to), but the bulk of the agency and/or arc movement is really on primary characters. However you split up your characters, I suggest treating “primary” as “a character with full arc, agency, and plot-driving development from start to finish” and “secondary” as “has a smaller or simpler arc that acts as echo or support for a primary arc.” 

So, that said, with 4 primary characters, 6 secondary characters, and 12 locations, I can expect the story to end up in the neighborhood of 186K. Unless I’m writing majorly epic fantasy, this is probably too much.

But if I cut back to just 6 locations, my estimate comes in at 138K, which is still a little high if you’re a first-time novelist but depending on genre could be doable.

And if I’m writing category romance (which iirc tends to run shorter), then with 2 primary characters and 4 locations, I could flesh out the world with 8 secondary characters and still come in at a genre-pleasing 88K.

Or I could just say that yes, the number of characters (and their roles in the story) do play a role in how big/small a story may be (or even needs to be!). Honestly, if you try the equation and the total is 350K, you might want to scale back somewhere. Obviously this (or any) equation is hardly an exact science, but at the very least it can be a good reality-check to see the impact character, location, and story-element choices will have on your story’s scope.

Ive decided to start writing a coming of age type story centred around a girl directing a film with her friends, but i want to know how many characters is too many? I want to keep her friend group diverse and interesting, but I also don’t want her overcrowd the story with too many side characters. Any advice?

How Many Characters is Too Many?

Unfortunately, there's not a "one size fits all" number for how many characters you should have in a story. The number of characters needed is dictated by the plot. How many characters are needed for the story to work? What roles need to be filled in this character's life? Who will be important to her character development and who will be important to moving the plot forward?

It can help to do a loose summary of the plot as you see it playing out. Then, you can start to get an idea of what types of roles need to be filled. Start there, and add characters as you write if necessary. ♥

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[chongoblog]

whats going on with the gamestop stocks? is reddit destroying capitalism or something?

Okay, so I’ll try to give a response in a way that makes sense because I’ve been posting about it a LOT and I’m sure it’s confusing. I’ll do my best to explain it here (and even then it’ll probably be REALLY simplified, so finance nerds don’t attack me)

First thing, if you don’t know how stocks work (because knowing that is VERY important), basically a stock is a VERY small part of a company. The better a company does, the more valuable its stock is. If you buy a stock for a Company like Netflix in 2005 let’s say you bought it for $5. Today, since Netflix is HUGE, the stock is probably now worth $200. You can sell it today and boom. $195 profit! However there’s another thing that effects the price of a stock, and that’s how many people are buying it. If more people are buying it, it becomes more valuable. So basically, someone buying stocks causes its price to go UP. Selling causes its price to go down. The goal is to buy stocks at a low price and then sell them at a high price.

Now I have to explain “shorts”. Let’s say an apple costs $5. What you can do is you can say “Hey, tell you what. Mind if I have that apple for free, and I can pay you back for it on Friday, plus a little bit of interest?” So you take the frankly overpriced apple and sell it IMMEDIATELY, netting you $5! Then Friday rolls around and you see that the price of apples have dropped a lot! Down to $2! So on Friday, you pay the apple salesman $2 because that’s the price of an apple now and boom! You’ve made a profit of $3! Basically, it’s a sneaky way of betting AGAINST a company’s growth. If you think a stock is going down, you can find a way to make profit this way. However it’s also pretty shitty and predatory, since it’s kind of like taking out a loan, and taking stocks from that company.

So billionaires over on Wall Street basically set aside a good portion of their money just to short companies like this, increasing their wealth (these are called “hedge funds”, which is another term you’ve probably seen flying around). And one particular group of billionaires took a look at Gamestop and thought “Wow! That business is going down the drain! I’m going to short them SO GOD DAMN MUCH” shorting out billions upon billions of dollars in Gamestop shares. It’s SUPER pricey, but they were almost certain Gamestop’s stock would keep decreasing, gaining them some good profit.

A group of redditors known as “r/wallstreetbets” (which is basically if 4chan was only SLIGHTLY less edgy, did all of the cocaine, and then started stock trading) saw that these rich asshats were basically doubling down absolutely CERTAIN that Gamestop was doomed. And they did something incredible. They bought SO MUCH GAMESTOP STOCK. So much that the stock EXPLODED in value.

How much did it blow up? Let’s say you hypothetically bought stock in Gamestop about 6 months ago. You bought about......$100 worth in stock. If you were to sell that right this second, it would be worth roughly $6000 (or if you sold at the peak it would be worth a whopping $11,750)

So now if you recall, the rich people have to pay the stocks back. They sunk BILLIONS into this short, and now they’re legally obligated to pay for them at today’s price. They’re going bankrupt. But when they DO pay BILLIONS back to Gamestop, the price of the stock will only go higher.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re actively destroying capitalism, but a movement on this level against the wealthy elites is actually somewhat historic. And the elite are fighting back by preventing people from buying Gamestop trade on apps owned by their sister companies, plus you have the elites crying about “they’re....they’re manipulating the market :’(” despite the fact that this is exactly what hedge funds do all the time. And it isn’t just Gamestop anymore. AMC, Build-A-Bear, Nokia, all of these companies had HUGE shorts placed on them by hedge funds and in response people are using their stimulus checks to purchase stock in these companies, driving up the price to fuck over the billionaires who placed the shorts.

Hopefully this explanation made sense! It’s got a lot of finance jargon, and tbh money isn’t real.

[scarlettriot]

Along for the Ride PT 6

Pairing: KirishimaxF!Reader

Summary: A fun day on the town ends with a stressful visit from a member of your family.

Contains: Kirishima and Reader both come from very well-off families. Plus-Sized Reader with dyed hair. NB OC. Fluff. Hurt/Comfort. Angst. Anxiety Break. Both Kiri and Reader get a little defensive over each other in their own ways.

Warnings: TW: Manipulative Family Relationships. TW: Body Image Issues. TW: Anxiety Problems & Self-Doubt. 18+ ONLY, minors, leave.

A/N: Finally getting back in the swing of things! Thanks for being here for part six! I don't know why but I feel like making it to six is a big milestone for some reason! NOT ME ALSO REALIZING THIS IS MY LAST FIC OF 2021 AND NOW I'M EMOTIONAL TOO! WTF!

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Tags: @lastroseofspring @black-bhabie-2000 @meadow-arts @sarahschance @otomesunshine @mistyfoxsong @lil-pine-mha-drabbles @georgettesand @sleepynaya @requi-escence@silverhairsimp @swirrley - Thank you so very much for sticking with me through this!

W/C: 4,450

“What next?” Eijiro asked. He had two brown paper bags held in his right hand, filled to the brim with gifts for your friends. He always loved bringing back little surprises whenever he had to go away for missions and apparently, this mission was no different.

In his left hand though, he held a steaming mug of apple cider that the two of you had been sharing. Burning your tongues for the last ten minutes wondering what magic had been cast on it to still make it scalding hot.

After a filling breakfast, you decided to come to the picturesque town looking for a way to pass the day away. You had many a childhood memory from the place but enjoying it with Eijiro, showing him the shops and little historic town facts, that made for a whole new experience. You were on your third lap around now, each time finding a shop you’d missed, or a new activity to try.

“I wanted to stop in the sweets shop before heading back, that okay?”

“Do you really think I’m going to say no to a place that sells chocolate by the pound?” He looked down at the cup in his hand, “You go ahead of me though, I’m gonna see if I can get some ice to cool this off faster.”

He walked back off in the direction of the cart while you ducked into the shop. A middle-aged woman greeted you with a grin on her face that was as inviting as everyone else in the town had been.

There were plenty of treats you could have bought but the confections weren’t the reason you wanted to go in.

The truth was, the sweets shop had been here for as long as you could remember. Even the woman who greeted you, she might not have recognized you but you remembered her when she was twenty years younger, grey had yet to touch her copper hair. She was the owner's daughter, you couldn’t exactly recall her name but you knew who she was.

And just as she was a staple of this place, so was the huge board along the back wall. Full of smiling faces in different decades of dress. People of all ages were scattered about perfectly preserved within the polaroids.

You scanned over each of them until you found the one you’d come in for. The photograph was held in place by a golden pushpin. Easy enough for you to remove. You looked down at your younger self with a bag filled with goodies clutched tightly in your hands and on either side of you stood your grandparents. Their faces squished close to yours.

“Excuse me,” The woman was hurrying towards you, “Please don’t touch those. Some of them are very old!”

“I know,” You told her, “This one’s mine.” You pulled out your ID and showed her it matched the name scrawled on the back.

She offered up quick apologies, “It’s not often we get people taking the photos down...”

“I don’t have many family photos. And my grandmother is no longer with us. Would you mind if I took this one?”

“I’m sorry for your loss, darling. Of course, you may take it! And, I’ll tell you what, a pound of whatever strikes your fancy, on the house.”

You told her that was unnecessary but she insisted.

By the time Eijiro got back you had already picked out the treats you planned on taking back with you. Some for you, a couple for Eijiro, and a whole lot more for Avery.

“Did you get lost?” You chuckled when he offered you the now consumable beverage.

“Not exactly. Avery isn’t the only one to notice me here.” His cheeks were still rosy with blush, “A group of girls asked me for autographs and,”

“And you hate turning away fans. I know, Ei, I know.”

He leaned against the counter with you, and you just knew he’d be shelling out a decent amount of cash. By the time you two were ready to leave, Eijiro had bought nearly ten pounds of goodies. Now, most of those were for Taishiro. But, he planned to horde a few for himself at least.

“You know,” The woman mused as she slid the bag over to Eijiro while her eyes looked towards you, “Since you took that photo from the wall there’s this empty space now,” She reached below the counter and pulled out the old camera. “Would you and your boyfriend mind if I took one of you two to fill it?”

Neither you nor Eijiro corrected her but picked out a confection each and posed. Eijiro picked a cupcake out of the box with buttercream frosting and pulled you to his side as she counted down to one and when it arrived, you shrieked when the flash went off.

Eijiro cackled a laugh while you touched the trail of icing now down the side of your face, “I’m, I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist!”

Despite you threatening his very existence, Eijiro took hold of your chin and kissed your icing coated cheek, his tongue even darted out to get a taste when another flash happened.

“Now that is some good icing!”

“Just wait. Payback’s a bitch, Eiji.” You hissed.

“Is that a threat?”

“You bet your fine ass it is.”

The sun was already kissing the horizon when you walked back to the jeep, casting long shadows of the trees that started glowing from the white stringed lights coiled around them. Eijiro made some comment about how you guys could stay longer, see the place all lit up at night. He wasn’t even looking at you when he spoke, too busy taking everything in as if you hadn’t spent nearly four hours here already!

With both arms free, souvenirs tucked away in the car, you set off for one more lap around the town. It was nearing six in the evening and with any luck, you could show Eijiro the main event of the night, what made this place really come to life.

“So, what’s it look like here the rest of the year? Is it Christmas town all the time?”

“No, not all the time. In the spring they have a flower festival that goes on for like the entire month of April and do a hot air balloon race the final weekend, the summer is for Independence Day, firework shows, and all that stuff. Fall though, that's really a sight to see, they put up this huge pumpkin at the center of town and kids can climb inside.” You nudged him down a sidewalk that would lead to the giant tree, “The rest of the time though, it’s just a quiet little town.”

“Sounds peaceful.”

“It is. Definitely different from our day-to-day. I don’t even think they’d have a need for heroes here.”

Lower and lower the sun dipped until it had vanished leaving only its glow behind and took the warmth of the day with it. Kids in hats and mittens clutching candy canes went running by and you knew they were eager to get to the tree.

“What’s everyone gathered for?”

Snow crunched underfoot and you tugged him along through the grass just barely poking through to get a good view of the tree. Not that anywhere was a particularly bad view when you were staring at something 80ft tall.

You linked your arm to him and when the bell above the town hall rang out to cry the hour, you pointed to the tree, “Ready?”

Starting from the bottom, thousands upon thousands of lights twinkled to life. They illuminated not only the vast assortment of ornaments but also each and every face in the crowd. Eijiro’s eyes shown brighter than you’ve ever seen them, shimmering with awe and wonder.

They had festivals in Japan, beautiful ones with bright lights that could ignite an evening sky and yet Eijiro still murmured about how beautiful this all was, how he’d never seen anything quite like it.

You stayed for a long while looking at the marvel. After families had gone, you and Eijiro walked closer allowing him a better look at all the decorations and you stood back while he seemed to admire every one of them individually. Elderly couples left their benches, shops closed their doors for the evening until finally, you were some of the only people still around.

“We have the festivals, the little shopping towns, we even have Christmas back home but this,” It was like he couldn’t find the word, “It feels different.”

“There’s nothing quite like Christmas in a small town.”

“Would you come back here with me? Like, we still have a few more weeks until actual Christmas, right? If this is how people act weeks before, I can only imagine how it’ll be on the day.”

“Sure, Eijiro. I’d like that.”

You didn’t clarify if he meant in a few weeks or years down the road because that didn’t even occur to you. He reached out his hand, finally ready to head back to the car, and it didn’t really matter when he meant. You’d go. You’d go anywhere with him whenever he wanted.

The sound of Eijiro’s stomach complaining filled the jeep after just a few minutes of driving.

“What are you feeling like? Someplace we can sit down? Grab something and take it back to the resort. Or, room service is also always an option.”

“I’m not really hungry.”

He shot you a quick look of annoyance from the driver's side. “That’s bullshit. You’ve barely eaten anything all day. C’mon. You’re favorite place! Name it and we’ll go.”

But, just the thought of eating had your stomach doing backflips, you hadn't even had any of the treats you bought.

Your mother had already sent you a plethora of texts throughout the day. Wondering where you were, what time your flight was getting in, why you hadn’t checked in at the resort yet, and a few particularly pointed ones about how you better not make her look bad. It was only a matter of time before she called you.

You were staring at the messages again, thinking you should have just told her you were already here, it was stupid of you to want a little personal time. You should just answer them to get her to quit but Eijiro had made a good point after her first cross message; you were an adult. Capable of making your own choices.

Doesn’t matter when you respond. You’re already here, you have your dress and everything else. She doesn’t need to know every second of your day.

Just as you were about to pick up the phone and type your response to her, Eijiro’s hand swiped it and put it into his pocket. “What the hell!”

“Dinner. Then you can have your phone back.”

“I’m not a child.”

“Oh, believe me, I know that. But, you're having trouble focusing on what’s important. You need to eat, and none of this, I’m not hungry, crap because I know that’s not true. So, please, tell me what you’d like for dinner.”

“Make a left at the next intersection.” You gave him directions without further argument to a restaurant you knew by heart. “If you give me my phone, I can pull up the menu and we can order it so it’s ready when we get there.”

Eijiro happily handed you a phone but it wasn’t yours. “Don’t give me that look.” He told you, “If you just wanna order food then you can do that from my phone.”

You punched in his passcode and pulled up the online menu while telling him the dishes the restaurant was known for, the ones that you preferred, but you’d already added the ribeye with mashed potatoes and asparagus to the check out before he’d told you.

Before you could dig out your credit card, Eijiro was already handing you his and you didn’t feel like arguing with him about who was going to pay. You’d simply get the next meal.

There was a short wait once you’d arrived before the to-go boxes were all packed up. And you heard it while you were waiting, your ringtone. Eijiro pulled your phone from his pocket and answered it with a smile. “Hey Mina- No, no, everything’s fine. Oh, I know that! It’s 1047- Sure thing. Call if you need anything else.”

“My computer pin?”

“She needed to resubmit your report from when you were injured last week.” And with that, the phone vanished into his pocket again.

It was work talk for the rest of the wait time and for a majority of the drive back. Silly things Denki and Mina had done or how Eijiro had to physically cover Katuski’s mouth during an interview recently. Before you knew it, your phone and the text messages on it were far from your mind.

To the point that you were almost confused when Eijiro handed it back to you the very moment you finished your last bite of dinner, you’d forgotten he even had it. You'd gotten back, changed clothes, set up dinner, and made it through the whole meal without worry.

He left the room with nothing more than a lopsided smile, going up the stairs in search of sweatpants, you’d assumed.

You blinked down at your lock screen. The photo of you and all your friends surrounding a large campfire over the summer was obscured by five text message notifications, three missed calls, and two voicemails. Luckily, two of the texts were from Mina. One to confirm that the report was accepted, the other to remind you that tomorrow would be fine, and to call if you needed emotional support.

The rest, however, were all from your mother. She’d call again soon enough, you were sure of it, and this time you’d answer.

“Hey,” Eijiro was leaning over the banister above you, “Movie or hot tub?”

“Movie first, then hot tub?”

“I like the way you think.”

“I’ll get drinks, you pick the movie this time.”

You’d settled into the sofa, a blanket covering both your laps as John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd took to the screen. With the way Eijiro’s fingers were lightly rubbing at your scalp though, you were starting to think you’d been a little too ambitious. There was a good chance you weren’t you’d even make it to the end of the movie let alone the hot tub afterward!

“Ei, ya gotta stop that.” Even though you were snuggling into his chest. “‘M gonna fall asleep.”

“That’s not a bad thing. If you fall asleep I’ll just take you to bed,” He kissed your temple, shifting and laying down, “‘S no big deal.”

He pulled you down on top of him, lulling you further and further into relaxation, soothed by his hands and the rhythmic rise and fall of your head on his chest until you couldn’t even be bothered to keep your eyes open. It was astounding how one person could make a task such as sleeping so much easier to do. Their warm presence offering the peace of mind you didn’t know you needed.

And that was why when your ringtone shattered that peace you considered crushing it into a million pieces. You sucked in a deep breath, Eijiro kissing your forehead while he reached to hand it to you, “I’m right here.”

“Well, it’s about time you answered. You don’t call your mother back now? You’re not even at the resort! I told you how important it was that you be here, I cannot believe you’re so selfish to not even-”

Eijiro could hear the entire thing, you saw it with how his eyes widened and nostrils flared.

“Hey, mom. Sorry about not getting back to you but I am here.”

“Do you think I’m some kind of imbecile? Your reservation is still unclaimed, I’ve been checking with the front desk every hour since this afternoon and they’ve assured me that you have not checked in yet.”

“That’s because I got in last night or very early this morning, technically.” You explained how they had nothing else available besides the penthouse.

There was a pause and then a laugh bubbled over. “If you're going to lie to me at least make it believable! You’re barely in the top 50 over there and you expect me to believe they pay you well enough that you could afford the penthouse here?”

She hadn’t checked the rankings in almost a year? That really wasn’t a surprise but it still stung. “I’m in the top 25 now. I’m ranked 21 at the moment.”

“Oh! Well, that makes SUCH a difference!”

“Right, it really doesn’t, I know. But, anyway, I am here and I will be there for the wedding tomorrow. Is there anything else?”

“Of course there is!” You rested your head against Eijiro’s knee while she went on, “I need you to let me up to your room so I can bring you your dress for tomorrow and make sure this date of yours has something acceptable as well.”

“Kirishima’s suit is fine, mother. It’s designer, for crying out loud! And, and, I have a dress!”

“Designer? Right, dear, like you’d know designer. I’m sure you have a dress but your cousin has a very specific vision in mind for her very special day and your style isn’t it.”

You were up now, pacing around the coffee table, “You haven’t even seen my dress to know! It’s not black, like you asked!”

“Fine. Come let me up and I will see if it’s suitable. If it isn’t, I expect you to wear what I’ve brought.”

Eijiro tried to grab your hand but you were already storming towards the elevator. Snapping that you were on your way and ending the call. Angry tears were brimming in your eyes but you held them back, there was no way in hell you were giving her the satisfaction of letting her know just how far under your skin she was.

She was waiting in the lobby. The black garment bag that held some unknown atrocity was draped delicately over an arm while a tan-toed foot tapped with impatience.

Your mother walked over to the elevator door the moment she saw you. “You were supposed to be back to your natural color. Damn it. I don’t have any dye to fix this now and all the salons are closed now.”

“It’s good to see you too, mother.”

"I'm serious, Y/N. You're going to have to get up early and go to the resort salon. It's probably going to take hours to strip this..."

"I am not stripping my color for one day."

"But this is her wedding!"

You swallowed and remembered what Eijiro had said on the plane. "It's her wedding, not mine. I like my hair and I'm keeping it. And I'm not fighting with you about it. Would you prefer me not go at all, because I'd be happy-"

"Just stop talking. Keep your hair then."

By the tenth floor, everyone else had exited leaving the two of you alone for the remaining floors. “How did you afford the penthouse? I get notifications when you access your account and I wasn’t alerted. Do I need to call my advisor?”

“How I afford it is my business. I did not use my trust.”

“Is it this date you brought? God, child, are you in some kind of arrangement with this man? Are you doing that poorly in the hero field?”

There were only two floors left until you arrived but it was enough for your words to get out.

“Say what you will about me, I don’t give a damn, but you will not say a fucking word about Kirishima, am I clear, mother?” Your voice was ice cold, kept so low even if there was no one else around to hear you. “He’s my best friend and a wonderful man, and I will not have you running your mouth about him.”

If it wasn’t for the slight flick of her brows, you would have assumed she was completely unphased by your words because she certainly didn’t give you any verbal indication she’d heard you. Shit would be said behind both your backs, there was nothing you could do to prevent that but, you’d be damned if you let her disrespect Eijiro in front of either of you after all he’d done for you throughout the years. Everything you two had been through together.

The elevator chimed and the doors swished open revealing the man himself.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, ma’am.” He helped her off the elevator, “My name is Eijiro Kirishima.” You had to hide a chuckle at the ‘finally’ he added.

Your mother never came to the hospital when you were injured in high school, not to your graduation either, she wasn’t there to see you accept any of the awards or other accolades you’d received over the course of your hero career. The two never had a chance to meet. Unlike you and Eijiro’s parents. Those two women were both so damn busy and yet always made the time for their son. Made time for you even once Eijiro let it slip how absent your mother had been.

She seemed to heed your warning though, you saw her judgemental eyes glance over his clearly dyed locks but she merely introduced herself when her mouth opened.

“Well, it’s clear you two were getting cozy so, show me this dress and I’ll be on my way.”

You walked her through to the bedroom off the living room, ignoring her small chirp of surprise at the look of the place. Unzipping the bag but merely showing her the dress was not enough though, in fact, she wouldn’t even look at it on the hanger, she insisted she had to see you in it.

Eijiro excused himself and let the door softly shut behind him leaving you to shimmy out of your clothes and into the velvet gown with only your mother left in the room.

You caught only a glimpse of yourself in the floor-length mirror but you were still in awe of it. Smoothing down the fabric, how soft it was to the touch. “See?” You spun to show the full thing to her, “I have heels so the hem doesn’t drag-”

“Absolutely not.”

Well, that wasn’t shocking but it still stung. “That neckline with your chest? You can’t be serious! And your arms, this is so tight on them! No, no, no, what would you do without me…”

Wear what I’m comfortable wearing.

Just like that, the confidence you had in the gown mere seconds ago slipped away.

She opened the bag she bought and you nearly broke out laughing. Now she was the one who had to be insane.

“This? This is what you want me to wear?”

“Yes! The high neck will make you look more modest and the puffy sleeves will obscure your arms. This belt, look how shiny it is, it’ll help distract from your stomach. This dress is going to look so much more flattering on you. And your cousin is hoping everyone will be in natural tones anyways.”

More flattering. That always been her way of saying you needed to cover up, you needed to stay hidden.

“Mother, I just think-”

“It’s clear that you weren’t thinking at all if that’s what you were going to wear.” She dismissed you with a wave of her hand. “Now then, in the bag is also a tie for your date-”

“His name is Kirishima.”

“Yes, whatever, it’s in the bag, as I said. The ceremony begins at eleven sharp so arrive by 10:30 at least. I assume you’ll be doing your own hair and makeup?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. You will be expected to be in family photos so don’t do anything too embarrassing.” Her hand was on the door handle and she shook her head at you with another cruel chuckle before turning it to leave. “I cannot believe you, ha, you in that dress. Ridiculous.”

You stood still in the room, not moving a muscle when she said good evening to Eijiro and not when the elevator doors closed. You stood alone in the room for ten minutes and only lifted your head when you heard Eijiro from the doorway. “Holy shit…”

“Yeah. Yeah, I get it. It’s bad. I dunno what I was thinking. I even brought the one from Tetsu-”

“Fuck no! That’s not what I meant! Are you kidding me, Y/N? You actually believe what she said?”

It was easy to believe her, you heard similar words all through your youth. Eijiro lifted your head in his hands so you had to look at him. “It took you years to feel comfortable in your own skin, to be proud of who you are, and now you have people who look up to you! You have fans, sweetie! You have Avery! You’ve got me! Do not let her destroy what you’ve built.”

You smiled through the tears he brushed away, kissing his palm and thanking him for the reminder.

“I still can’t wear it though. It’ll be a huge scene and she’ll probably yell at me to go change like a toddler.”

“Well, you’re wearing it now.” A hand slid around your waist and the other held your hand as Eijiro began to dance. “If you’re gonna insist on wearing the other one, then I think you should at least get some use outta this one!”

He spun you around in grand gestures, making up moves as he went and hollering for his phone to play something to dance to. He took you around the bed, out into the living room, and pulled you up onto the coffee table where you both kicked your feet out laughing along to the song.

Your dress flowed like a red wave around the kitchen and blew in the breeze when Eijiro pulled you through the patio door, out onto the balcony.

With you balanced atop his slipper clad feet, Eijiro swayed back and forth holding you close, your head against his chest.

“I think you should wear this tomorrow.” He mumbled to the top of your head.

“Unless my mother’s dress has a tragic accident, that’s not gonna happen. But, I’m glad you like this one.”

He snickered, “I’m pretty sure you could wear a potato sack and as long as it’s on you I’d love it.” But really, Eijiro took your words to heart… a tragic accident for the dress… yeah, yeah he might be able to manage that.

[rivalsforlife]

ok! lotrop 6 opinion postings. if you’re not tired of me yet. I don’t have a lot to say about this one since it was lots of action :/ BUT THERE WAS ORC THEOLOGY. AND EXPLORING THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF TOLKIEN’S WORK AND THE UNFINISHED PARTS OF IT IN INTERESTING WAYS. and then something that might ruin the whole thing for me.

book discussion and stuff and rambling things and it’s under a cut. you know the drill.

OKAY. it has been a few days since I watched this because I’m really dragging my feet on typing up opinions so undoubtedly I’m going to forget something important again.

Starting off: the little tradition about the alfirin seeds is a cool addition. I like the idea of that being there. And I like the ties that Adar still has with elvish traditions. I’m guessing this is more of a moriquendi thing since we don’t see Galadriel or the other Noldor elves doing anything like this? I definitely think it’s cool for the different elves to have different battle traditions especially since I don’t associate Noldor with nature quite as much as some of the others. And we’ll talk more about Adar later.

also yavanna mention :D I always love it when they bring those guys up. 

Anyways I really really liked the Isildur and Galadriel conversation. It was good to see a little look into more of her third age personality and who she’s going to become. She sounded very wise and caring there, which was really nice to see.

also damn isildur if only you could throw that ring like you threw that half-eaten apple into the ocean.

Like I said I don’t have much to say about action because that’s not usually stuff I care a lot about. I will say it ended up being quite a bit more gory than I expected from LOTR? Like quite a bit of eye horror in there with that fight with Arondir and the big orc guy. Wasn’t really expecting that and it was a bit unnerving.

When they revealed that the initial wave of “orcs” were actually the humans who went to go side with the orcs and that one dying orc said something like “they had to pay the toll... and now... you all will.....” my instant reaction was OHHHH KINSLAYING-BASED DIVINE WRATH but it was just usual orc wrath. When you don’t have rights to the kinslaying so you have to make a different kinslaying instead. but that was a good kind of “ohhh no” moment.

Bronwyn gets shot and I was pretty much convinced she was going to die. She’s both a girlfriend AND a mother so she’s at the top of the fridging list. But she lives! I like the little thing about her and Arondir promising to plant the rest of the alfirin seeds after the battle is over but instead he has to use them to save her life. plus sort of a tie back to the first episode when they’re talking about crushing them to make like some sort of fire powder thing? anyways I’m not like Devoted to these guys, they’re not nearly messy enough, but I like the little family thing going on. Interested to see where it’s going to go. Especially if this carries through to the last alliance and it’s enough time between that like... Bronwyn is going to get old. It’d be neat to see if they’re going to go an Aegnor/Andreth route with them? if they evoke the “do candles pity moths” conversation I will lose my mind.

Another little thing I liked is that Arondir seemed like he wasn’t going to sell out everything to save Bronwyn and she had that kind of defiant look on her face even though she was close to bleeding out. I like it when characters do the “don’t sacrifice the world to save my life” thing. But I also do like it when kids try to protect their parents so Theo being the one to speak out and save her life was good, I think. 

anyways galadriel comes in to save the day! and some other guys I guess. theo being amazed by her was cute. everybody should be amazed by galadriel.

One tiny little thing is that I’d like Galadriel to wear her hair up in a crown like how she got her name. I’m a little disappointed they didn’t do that yet. With the training battle in ep 5 where she had her hair loose while sparring I was internally like girl... tie up your hair... MAIDEN CROWNED WITH A GARLAND OF RADIANCE but the most we get is a single braid. I think it would be super cool to see her pin it up like that for an Action Moment. 

Now for the fun stuff in this episode which is the galadriel + adar conversation. I guess we’ll take it one at a time.

Adar: IS the father of the orcs and not a lost noldo like I thought he might be, which is perfectly fine though I do wonder some stuff about him like the mention of him being in beleriand and the similar design with the noldor armor. Maybe it’s something he stole I guess? It would be cool for him to be an ex-noldo. But I do like what we got and at least I like the idea that he hates Sauron. We all know he didn’t really kill Sauron but damn Adar that was nice. Those old leaks that he was somehow galadriel’s brother don’t seem to be true, thank iluvatar.

Galadriel: I’m so glad we’re seeing Messy Noldor Moments even if it’s only Galadriel that’s expressing them. I do want some more Messy Noldor Moments in Eregion/Lindon. still holding out for the celebrimbor and gil-galad beef. anyways I got some real “all shall love me and despair” vibes from her threats here. 

The Actual Conversation: WE ARE CREATIONS OF THE ONE, MASTER OF THE SECRET FIRE, THE SAME AS YOU! I’M SO GLAD THEY GOT INTO ORC THEOLOGY!!! especially since it’s a thing tolkien never reconciled. where DO the orcs go when they die. morgoth can’t create sentient life therefore the orcs must be corrupted life but then they can’t be inherently evil because that goes against the idea that all things are inherently evil and unable to be redeemed but if that’s the case than the heroes mowing down orcs without a care in the world and refusing to show them mercy like they’d show to men who side with morgoth is a problem and then tolkien never figured it out. it’s super cool to see an adaptation digging into it this much!!!

like I think that’s one of the strengths is that they can explore the world in that sort of a way. digging into the things left unanswered. this and one of the interviews with the actor for gil-galad where he said that since there’s no definitive thing on his parentage he’s playing a bit into not only all the possibilities but also what in-universe that ambiguity could mean and maaaaan I want to see that. I want to see more of this stuff dealing with the different and contradictory versions of tolkien’s text.

AND HOPEFULLY NOTHING WILL RUIN THAT. HALBRAND.

ugh. hope this guy gets swallowed up by the volcano. If they do a romance between him and Galadriel it’s gonna suck. If he turns out to be secretly Sauron it’s gonna suck. If they do a romance between him and Galadriel AND he turns out to be secretly Sauron I’m going to go into an uncontrollable rage that will make mount doom look like a science fair project.

Like I’m bracing myself for it to happen at this point. And I really hope they don’t. Because like I said there’s some interesting potential with this show covering in detail some of the messier bits of the legendarium! I want to see the forging of the rings! I want to see Celebrimbor working with Sauron and then being betrayed! I want to see the fall of Numenor! AND I WANT ANNATAR DAMN IT. NOT HALBRAND.

still holding out for him being a future nazgul. but bracing myself for the worst. feel a little bit like galadriel staring down that gigantic cloud of ash but instead of a cloud of ash which would just kill me normally it’s the concept of galariel/sauron which would kill my soul.

I’m trying not to get mad at it before it happens because it might not happen. Moving on.

MOUNT DOOM SPLOSION TIME. That was very cool. I love the music that was playing during this. I am interested to see if anyone’s going to die because of it? Obviously we know a decent amount of the cast is going to survive because enough of them need to be there later.

I’m thinking if anyone’s going to die it’s probably going to be one or both of Isildur’s buds. We know he’s going to name his son Valandil so the current Valandil kinda has to go at some point before then I’m thinking. If any main characters are going to die it’d probably be someone from the Arondir-Bronwyn-Theo family... since everyone else either has something unresolved/is a canon character... but I think they definitely have more to do with Theo, Bronwyn just escaped her fridging death so I don’t think they’d give her a boiling death, and Arondir is too cool to die. at least not yet. if they go the aegnor/andreth route they’re going to have to do that later I think.

I mean I can still hope for dead halbrand. celeborn where are you I need you to rescue your wife from the possibility of this awful . I said I wouldn’t get mad about it anymore. I’m going to move on.

I’m really hoping Berek The Horse doesn’t die I think that would be so sad. isildur calling out for him as the explosions were happening :(. where do horses go when they die, tolkien? do they share the fate of men? is there a hall of mandos for horses?

with that pressing question. I await episode 7. and hope it doesn’t ruin things for me. I think we get more of the silmamithril plotline so I hope they fix that. there’s just a lot that could be happening. and it could go a really good direction or a really bad one and I have no idea. every week I wait in fear. don’t take the possibility of an interesting second age show away from me.

[miekasa]

okay mie, it's fall and I need to know... who would entertain my fall antics??

like who would get a cup of cider and go to a little pumpkin patch with me:(

I'd say definitely Mikasa, oh how I yearn to hold her hand and walk around on chilly days and see her nose get all red and blushy. She would 1000% buy us hot drinks from a little stand or take you out to dinner after.

Sasha/Connie would come with me to graveyards and haunted houses and it would be a blast, with Jean chaperoning ofc🙄 he'd look very sexy driving us around all night tho!

Eren and Halloween stores?? are you kidding me?? I hc he loves Halloween, and I think he would have a blast trying on cute matching costumes and scaring the sh*t out of you inside the store. I wonder if Carla handmade Mikasa and Eren costumes every year?

As for my beloved, Levi, I can see him more being into the season than any of the spooky stuff.

Agree with all of these!

Mikasa loves dates and cheesy things, she’s a sap at heart; she’d wanna go apple picking, and eat apple cider donuts, and go on hay rides. Any sort of classic, picturesque date idea is something she’s down for 100%. One of her favorite things to do is just jump in a pile of leaves, and she looks so happy and child-like and sweet doing it. Pretty good with scary things too, not much phases her, so feel free to use the “Oh, Mikasa, I’m so scared!” card to cuddle up to her because it will work. 

Sasha loves spooky things, even tho she does kind of scare easily (but is also the first to say something like, “Come on lets go/see this! I bet it’s not scary at all!” then yells throughout the whole thing). She’s afraid, but she’s still fearless; she’ll do it all in a heartbeat lmao. For this reason, she will drag you and her friends to every haunted house/Halloween-themed fair in town. Plus, there’s bound to be a vendor selling apple cider donuts somewhere.

Connie’s the same way, though he denies being scared by anything. Definitely flexes his arms, talking up about how he’ll protect you in the haunted house, and next thing you know you’ve got your 6 foot tall boyfriend in your arms bridal style. He loves the Halloweentown movies, and marathons them, and all the other Halloween themed Disney movies every year without fail. That includes the Nightmare Before Christmas because, “Who cares if it’s a ‘Christmas movie,’ the main character is a skeleton.”

Jean would look sexy chaperoning everyone, and you KNOW he’s got the classic dark red fall flannel or cream colored knitted cable turtleneck situation going on. Dressed like a lumberjack meets an off-duty lawyer or something. Woof. Pays for the hot drinks, and makes sure you finish yours even if you claim that you’re “not that cold anymore.” Reaches the best apples when you go apple picking because he’s tall as hell, but also has got a good grip on/technique for using the apple puller, something about how he used to do it a lot for his mom as a kid. 

Eren fucking loves Halloween, he gobbles up everything about it. From September 1st that man is ready to go, he loves everything about the season, from the food to the decorations to the costumes. He’s a pumpkin spice guy, and what about it. When he was younger he was putting 200% into his costumes, and was planning with Carla from the end of August to make sure they’d have everything in time. He still doesn’t think he’ll ever pull off anything better than when he, Mikasa, and Armin had custom Power Ranger suits (that lit up! thanks of Carla, of course).

Levi is more into the food than anything, but why can I see him reusing the same, flimsy, not at all scary ghost decor that hangs on his office/apartment door promptly from October 1-October 31 every single year. It’s his only “decoration,” and while it’s wack according you, Hange jokes, “It’s fitting! He’s got so much black and white in his closet and apartment anyway--it’s always Halloween with him!” Doesn’t mind pumpkin spice, but it can go a little overboard for him. He’s more into apple and cinnamon flavored things, and he loves warm, spiced apple cider. He actually quite likes apple picking, so long as you guys find a smaller farm; he’s always down to get fresh ingredients. 

[notebooknebula]

Exploring Alternatives to Traditional Banking: Infinite Banking Insights with Jim Oliver and Jay Conner

https://www.jayconner.com/podcast/episode-116-exploring-alternatives-to-traditional-banking-infinite-banking-insights-with-jim-oliver-and-jay-conner/

Have you heard that there are alternative ways to traditional banking?

Welcome to the latest edition of our Raising Private Money Podcast, today Jay Conner is joined by the brilliant Jim Oliver!

Get ready to dive into the fascinating world of infinite banking and learn how you can create wealth without relying on Wall Street brokers or financial planners!

Jim Oliver is the founder of Create Tailwind, a nationally recognized firm that empowers individuals and businesses to achieve financial independence.

Together, Jay and Jim explore the concept of Raising Private Money and how education plays a pivotal role in inspiring potential investors to get involved.

Discover how specially designed insurance contracts can enable tax-free growth of your money. With control over your funds, you can borrow at low interest rates to invest in opportunities that generate high returns. Imagine becoming your own banker, taking control of your financial future, and flowing money into your own pool.

Join Jay Conner and Jim Oliver as they share their personal experiences and insights on Raising Private Money through education. Discover the power of aligning with individuals who share your passion for financial freedom, independence, and abundance.

Jim also reveals his strategies for building eternal cash flow, fighting inflation through real estate investments, and challenging the traditional notion of retirement. Plus, listen in as Jay and Jim discuss their admiration for the author of “The Go-Giver” and the importance of positive thinking and persistence in achieving success.

To dive deeper into the infinite banking concept, visit  https://community.createtailwind.com/

where you can join a community of individuals who are committed to their financial journey. And don’t forget to download Jim Oliver’s book “Make Bank Without the Bank” for free on Kindle.

Remember, with infinite banking, you can become your own banker and unlock the true potential of your money.

Wishing you abundance and financial freedom!

Timestamps:

0:01 – Raising Private Money Without Asking For It

2:38 – Jim Oliver, the Anti-Wall Street Financial Planner

6:33 – Private Money: It’s All About Wearing Your Teacher’s Hat

8:52 – When You Educate Somebody You Create Opportunity

10:35 – Always Be The Buyer, Don’t Be The Seller

12:37 – Educate, Serve, Help – That’s All You Need

15:24 – How To Become Your Own Bank

18:33 – Whoever Controls The Money Makes The Money

23:40 – Connect With Jim Oliver: https://community.createtailwind.com/

25:30 – Wealthy People’s Money Flows To Them, Poor People’s Money Flows Away From Them

26:21 – The Eternal Cash Flow

29:35 – Service: The Only Thing I Want To Be

30:02 – Persistence: Secret To My Success

31:26 – Your Scars Are Your Superpower

32:23 – Whatever You Think You Will Become

Private Money Academy Conference:

https://www.JaysLiveEvent.com

Free Report:

https://www.jayconner.com/MoneyReport

Join the Private Money Academy:

https://www.JayConner.com/trial/

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

What is Private Money? Real Estate Investing with Jay Conner

https://www.JayConner.com/MoneyPodcast

Jay Conner is a proven real estate investment leader. He maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties with profits averaging $67,000 per deal without using his own money or credit.

What is Real Estate Investing? Live Private Money Academy Conference

https://youtu.be/QyeBbDOF4wo

YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RealEstateInvestingWithJayConner

Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-money-academy-real-estate-investing-with-jay/id1377723034

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