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saturnicos · 1 year ago

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can i have a headcanon for lucifer morningstar with elder sister! reader? I am just in desperate need for family stuff. Like elder sister! reader is nto weak and as powerful as lucifer (maybe a tiny bit stronger since th eboth of them are archangel).

Like elder sister!reader decided to follow her younger brother lucifer to hell by becoming a fallen angel too because she is very worried for him. (even knowing the punishment are brutal and harsh but she does not care) I would love if you make the dynamic between the two where reader is the more sterner, fiercer and scary one (like maybe she used to be a commander of an angel army before) and then lucifer is just a little guy who loves ducks (he can beat ass too lol) thanks for reading and i will appreciate a lot if you start writing my ideas! take care!

Of course!! I like sm that type of dynamic despite not have worked a lot with it

I'm not very used to writing family headcanons, so I'm sorry if this does not correspond to what you would like (I'm also finishing this sick, so maybe I messed some things up), feel free to order again if you wish! <3

—

Lucifer with an elder sister !reader before the fall

Ps:: female pronouns used and platonic reading

You both are created almost the same time, only a few years of difference, since they wanted to keep a visual representation of a man and a woman in the heaven, like an example of family and brotherhood.

Despite the same creation, you both are extremely different. Lucifer was a lively dreamer, wanting to expand his ideas and dreams in the creation. You, by other side, have seen yourself in other dynamic of power, joining in the heaven's army, being the leader of army in no much time.

As being the commander, you've to base your personality in a more cold and recluse on, thinking about the success and progress of the angelic army corporation, taking the stance of a leader.

However, this doesn't make Lucifer have bad impressions about you. On the contrary, he actually were so happy for you and was ever talking of how much well you was going with your job. He had ever supported your dreams and desires, since was something that he ever appreciated. And, of course, from time to time he came to you with some ideas to you implement in the army, since were about the training or the cloths.

One day, Lucifer looked more happy than usual, what was particularly strange due to frequent oppression by elders.

He told you that he had meet the first human woman, Lilith, in the Garden of Eden after that she leaves Adam.

You saw he was talking about she in a lovely way every day, praising she every time; he was clearly and totally in love with she and, by what he said, looks like that's mutual.

You were so much happy for him, of course. See your younger brother happy after all the oppression and limitations that the heaven imposed on him was a good feeling; see his happiness was something that filled your heart with hope and compassion.

Even in a place so unfair with him dreams, he was so happy with someone who seems to like him so much mutually. Deep down, your greatest joy was seeing your brother happy.

This, however, was until a certain point. A few weeks after, Lucifer started to talk a lot about free will and how the humanity could use it. He, actually, ever liked the concept of free will, but in the lasts times that was a subject much more frequently between your conversations.

When you asked him why that suddenly become a current subject, he just said that it was pure curiosity since it was something debated in the angelic council last week. Mostly you felt it wasn't a pure truth, just nodded in acceptance.

A few days later, you saw a commotion in the angels' cabinet. As leader of army of angels, Sera quickly contacted you, asking for your presence at the next meeting.

On the appointed day, you attended the assembly, which was particularly fuller than you had imagined. You, indeed, were not often called to the council of angels, so there wasn't much certainty as to how many members usually showed up, but it definitely felt busier and more commotion than meetings in general.

Passing through the council entrance, you were assigned to one of the high benches, close to the high heavenly echelon, which consisted more of Sera, although the presence of God was also there.

Confused, you asked Sera the reason for being summoned to the council since everything was going well with the army and freedom in heaven in recent times.

It was then that you saw Lucifer enter the council, sitting in the stands of indicted. Before you could question him, a golden document was conjured in front of you, which you quickly picked it up and read it.

Incredulous would be the best word to describe his emotions. The document named Lucifer as a criminal who had induced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and spread free will on Earth, opening evils.

You looked dumbfounded at Sera, who was looking at you with regret and pity. The document proposed the expulsion of both Lilith and Lucifer to a new concept of place - the hell. A place for those who committed sins were doomed to horror, both of them being its first residents.

From above your bleachers, you looked at Lucifer who was showing an expression of indifference towards the advice, despite that you could very well see a spark of concern emerging on his face.

Sera was ready to hit the hammer and announce their definitive expulsion from paradise, collecting the document that floated in front of him and soon dissolved into light.

Light. You thought. Light, that's what Lucifer was. Even though he was prevented from implementing his ideas and dreams, even the most innovative and incredible in all creation, he was still light in your life. Even though he was tried as a criminal before the court, he was still light for you, after all, he was your brother forever, the most important person in your life, the source of light that held you together.

You jumped out of your stand, flying in front of Sera, shouting insults and questioning why Lucifer always had his ideas oppressed, arguing that he would never have encouraged Eve if heaven had given his ideas a chance.

You looked at Lucifer. He looked back at you, dumbfounded and with slightly widened eyes. From lip-reading, you could tell he was trying to whisper a few things like "no" and "why..?", but the growing anger in your head made it a complicated activity.

Sera watched as you slowly descended to your brother, standing still and firm next to him. She conjured the document again, using a feather pen to add some extra paragraph; the advice was taken in quick murmurs, those who angels feared you and your authority, now they had an expression of growing disgust and hatred as they looked at you.

When Sera finished, she made the document disappear into light again, standing up from the grandstand and flying in the center of the assembly. The murmurs quickly stopped, the angels now paying attention to what she had to say.

She began to talk about the accusations of crimes that Lucifer committed in the Garden of Eden and the consequences of his actions that generated evils and triggered diseases on Earth. She ended up with the penalty he and Lilith would receive - expulsion from heaven. However, there was an addendum: you were also sentenced to expulsion, accused of being an accomplice and justifying an unforgivable criminal act.

Lucifer looked at you with a bitter taste for being the reason for your expulsion from paradise to a completely unknown location. You, however, just held his hand and squeezed it lightly, saying you didn't care about any consequences as long as you managed to defend his ideals and be close to him. After all, he was your brother, and you would do anything for him.

You could see his eyes slightly teary when he let go of your hand and pulled you into a hug to which you reciprocated, closing your eyes heavily as you felt the feeling of falling into the void, without knowing what the place you would go would be like, but the feeling of having the person who cares most around you, as safe as possible, it already made the fall more acceptable and tolerable.

You didn't regret defending your brother at all, and would never think of going back on your decision. Things may not be better than before being in hell, but you will adapt like a family, happy to be able to see your brother and Lilith well.

I'm not very used to writing family headcanons, but I hope it was an enjoyable read! Anyway, thank you very much for reading.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel x reader #lucifer x reader

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kiawren · 3 months ago

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Heeyy.... Back again for tonight before I leave again. They leaked a bunch of SM stuff 😃I did not expect it, I thought all the leaks had been covered. I was really bummed cuz I KNEW there were things, but the main leakers perhaps just didn't go through the and upload them. But there have been some now!... But overall my mood is poop cuz I've been feeling really dreadful about exams. Discipline is something I really struggle with.

ANYWAY! Some of the leaked stuff includes concept description of the main alolan cast. I've yet to read through them all so I'll just say stuff about the Kiawe one.

Btw these character concepts are early and change over time. Also this is Google translated so the translation is not excellent.

Honestly the thing I found most funny and baffling is "African-American descent" and they put a pic of a Japanese dude. Not even mixed I think. I googled him and it looks like this particular pic he's just tan 💀 if you see the stuff they have for other poc it's also something along these ignorant lines LMAO. Anyway.

I'll go generally chronologically

- "master of flying", I just assume to do with charizard cuz he gives the player the pager for it after his trial. Although the games didn't show him with a charizard AT ALL, the anime did show this and other stuff mentioned in the character description.

Which is cool becuz although I ship with his game version I did merge some familial exposition from the anime. Anyway

- "his grandfather dancing acrobatically with Charizard" no idea how that's supposed to look like. But it's cool there's a bit of flying elements. Also in the anime Kiawe is the one who performs the flying-type Z move in the show. Not Kahili or any other character. (If I'm not wrong lol). If charizard is on his team along with talonflame, he'd have two flying types as the only other type outside of fire that he'd need to be more skilled in. I'm pretty sure it's obvious Wren would specialise in Flying types. So it could mean something kiawren but also nothing at all don't worry about it

-interesting that instead of dancing with charizard as the concept idea, they went with alolan marowak as his dance partner in the end, which I think is perfect and very fitting. It would be nice to imagine him navigating his image of dancing with charizard as his grandfather does, but then obtaining a marowak and adapting to it and finding his own style with that. In the anime his grandfather passed before the canon story takes place, not specified at what age kiawe was then,...

-but reading on about his conflict with his ambition and obligation... He'd probably feel quite lost for a while on his own without his grandfather.

I actually never thought about any expectations that may have been placed on him. But that MAKES ME EVEN SADDER hhggfghhhhh

I had the headcanon that his parents support him but he felt bad about them covering too much of his study and travel expenses so he wants to work and cover it himself. BUT.... BUT WITH THE IDEA THAT. IN THE GAME HIS PARENTS WANT HIM TO TAKE OVER THE FARM. WHAT IF HE'S WORKING TO PROVE HIS DETERMINATION THAT HE CAN BE SELF SUFFICIENT AND WORK FOR IT BECUZ HE REALLY WANTS IT. AND THEN THIS SHIT HAPPENED BRRUUGh well i just think of his parents as the versions in the anime cuz in the games it's just reused NPC models that don't look related to him especially his dad is a white guy. So I always envisioned his parents to be the supportive caring ones in the anime. Though the game has more maturity to it. In the anime he's not even a dancer btw LMAO. So. So. In my Kiawren vacuum universe. His parents look the same in the show. But they're slightly sterner (though still caring) and want him to look after the farm. ALTHOUGH LIKE. THEY'RE NOT EVEN THAT OLD. AND KIAWE IS STILL 18 LIKE HE STILL HAS HIS LIVE AHEAD OF HIM WHAT TAKING OVER THE FARM BRO YOU GUYS ARE STILL PERFECTLY YOUNG AND WORKING AGE

But yeah yay more kiawren lore to think about. Actively working through his dilemmas together. I guess in the end his parents would support him. OH YEAH HE HAS A SISTER. Yeah incorporating her into the game universe although the character concept didn't note him having a sister. She wants to help out on the farm all the time in the anime and he gets protective over her carrying heavy stuff so. I guess she can be take more responsibility for the family farm when she's older. Things will #work out

-Do you know how comforting this (below) is to me lol. That he's a silent romanticist. In this way he's a lot like me you know. I know I say this a lot but I'm not reaching with this, it's out there, not blatantly obvious in his character but theres traces of it.

That he is practical and realistic, but also has passions and dreams. I also can't decide if I'm more of a realist or idealist. I feel like I'm realistic about the world but idealistic when it comes to myself. I have self-actualising ambitions, but I know about the real life obstacles and work needed to get there. Which even right now, in my real life, is really bothering me. Academic exams are such a burden to me when I just want to get out to the field and the world and engage with the nature and people around me. There's always room for more conservation and I wish I could start NOW. And skip the school and textbook stuff. I want to help now!

Sorry for derailing to me but I feel like for Kiawe and I, we've found our passions. We know it's our calling. We want to extend it to other people and community, and deepen our knowledge and love for the world and nature, art, culture. It's just the getting there. The personal obstacles and constraints we have to overcome. The how to make it in a world that doesn't care about art and conservation as much. Do you understand meeeee???

When I first selfshipped with him I only did it for comfort and enjoyment. How in the world was I supposed to know he'd have me reflect on my own ambitions. And think about us talking about them and achieving them together. It just makes me yearn even more and feel even sadder that we can't experience it together. FUCK MY STUPID BAKA LIFE

Fck it's so late I need to sleep. Anyway. Less serious stuff ahead.

-"casual jeans and high-top sneakers" LMAOOO LMAO

-"Distinctive features include a beard. Very long black hair tied up" that's interesting to imagine..

Actually my previous ideas of a future version of him, and the au with my spidersona, has him tied up long hair (below) Haha haha.. Though it's a bit hard to imagine him with long hair being let down but he'd look nice. I guess as he becomes an older adult he'd want to keep facial hair. Taking notes

Alright about his ethnicity now. I reached 10 pic limit so scroll up to the pic of his parents if you'd like.

I always established him to be native Hawaiian at least from his mom's side. His grandfather is maternal btw, and since he was so dedicated to a native tradition I just established that that side of the family is native lol. That will still remain.

As for his dad he could be black but they don't put in enough effort to hint at any heritage of that which is expected but it would have helped. Since my mind was wandering to our fursonas (sorry the jump in topic is abrupt) and how it bugged me that I want to assign him the red ruffed lemur but it's not a native hawaiian animal. I was thinking his dad could be Malagasy. Though I haven't read up much about it and it's just a rough thought. But honestly a lot of this would already be headcanon. So I might as well.

Wikipedia: "The Malagasy (French: Malgache or Malagasy: Gasy) are a group of Austronesian-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the island country of Madagascar, formed through generations of interaction between Austronesians originally from southern Borneo and Bantus from Southeast Africa."

Honestly I think it's interesting they're Austronesian, Google the map and see how far Austronesian people span! If I go with this headcanon, it'll enrich his cultural background so much and it'll be a lot of cool stuff for me to learn about! His dad and mom would both be Austronesian but native to completely different parts of the world. Borneo is also a region I'm very interested in. Although I'm Chinese diaspora, my home is in Southeast Asia (if you zoom in slightly more, Malesia, which is the part of SEA that overlaps with the Austronesian range more.) I want to learn all I can about SEA. I love this region so much. I don't even love Singapore that much. Our government doesn't like to acknowledge our Nusantaran roots. Btw, I have very little knowledge of history and what I know comes from recent interests (that I'm excited to develop with time) But yes I'm glad to be part of Southeast Asia. The lamest country in it fucking Yes but I'm glad I have time to learn about this region and Austronesia in general. It really fascinates me so much, the geography, history, languages, culture of Austronesia and how much it spans. How many people it includes, how so rich and diverse it is. To go back to kiawren... That only means there's so much to learn about together and discover about this together!!! WHERE ARE YOU BRUHHH MY CRINGE STUPID LIFE

The takeaway out of all this is that Kiawe and selfshipping with him makes me think about ambitions and culture and. It surpasses just a Selfship lmao. Changed my brain chemistry so much. It covers all my bases for greater fulfilment of my life. Does that make sense. But at the end of the day it's also a fun thing I do for little comforts. Thinking about us just hanging out and stuff. Just.. Why is he not real. WOW I FORGOR ABOUT MY EXAMS WHILE WRITING ALL THAT. NOW IT HIT ME AGAIN AND IM FEELING THE Dread™

Okay, that's it. If you read this Wow thank you 1 billion. Its very late as I write this and I should really be heading to sleep.

#Kiawren #About Kiawren

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bluexiao · 3 years ago

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Hi!

Goodluck with your class! (≧▽≦)

This is a speech, but I think you might find this one intresring! :D

(Two yeara ago I was stadying how ri writte speach, and our professor told us analyze this one! I hope yoh find this usefull!:3 I added some video with it and source)

Video: https://youtu.be/101sKhH-lMQ

(watch it! It might boring at first sight, but actually good for studying speeches and acting!)

Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56968/speech-friends-romans-countrymen-lend-me-your-ears

(If you never seen this websitr,,, It is actually really good one! You might find smt intresring here)

Speech

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears”

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

(from Julius Caesar, spoken by Marc Antony)

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with their bones;

So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:

If it were so, it was a grievous fault,

And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest–

For Brutus is an honourable man;

So are they all, all honourable men–

Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.

He was my friend, faithful and just to me:

But Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honourable man.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome

Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honourable man.

You all did see that on the Lupercal

I thrice presented him a kingly crown,

Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

And, sure, he is an honourable man.

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,

But here I am to speak what I do know.

You all did love him once, not without cause:

What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?

O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,

And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,

And I must pause till it come back to me.

.....

Goodluck with everything !! We belive in you!:3

Love your works!:3

Thank you for your hardworking!:3

Best wishes,

AppleLoverT

oh my wow! is it from a play of w.s? or a separate one he wrote? either way i would def consider this for my next acting course !!! what were your thoughts with this??? feel free to share them~ i love hearing other people’s perception on poems and monologues~ thank you sm for sharing this !! i deeply appreciate it and will check it out more !

#applelovert.anon #📨

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ms-oswald · 5 years ago

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who’s the boss? | chapter seven

author’s note: this chapter is particularly long, but i promise you it is worth it! We are almost there! Stay safe, xoxo

It was a Saturday evening, the night after the charity event, when her world had turned upside down yet again.

Her body fell into complete shock at her sight, her heart stopping its regular breath while she choked under hers.

She tried to yell but not even her voice could reach her tongue.

Her anxiety shook her brain, slowly processing the unraveled scene in front of her.

She was reaching her breaking point, her eyes never leaving both naked bodies lying in bed.

Not able to come up with anything to say, she ran away and slammed the door behind her.

Everything became hazy after that; she fell right through a thick fog and couldn’t see the end of it.

Only when she felt a warm embrace, did she finally break down and let her tears out.

It was that same Saturday evening when his world took a turn as well.

Spending that day at the office was not part of his plan, but he couldn’t complain when he had been entertaining another one of his conquest, a model this time around.

They were fooling around until they ended up in his office with the stranger sitting on his desk while she had her legs wrapped around him, eager to take his clothes off him.

Physically attached to each other, Ben was growing fervent as well, looking forward to his night after yesterday’s debacle. She was already half away undressed when a sudden thud brought them out of there reverie. He pulled himself away from her lips, catching his breath, and turned his head towards his door. “Did you hear something?”

The model only shrugged. “Who cares, just come back and kiss me.” She pulled him back by the collar of his dress shirt, desperate to get on with their night, but he stopped her when another noise reached their ears. “Just hang on.” He let go and moved away where she groaned, displeased.

Walking out, he followed the noise until his feet reached Olivia’s office; he stood by the entrance only to find her in tears.

He couldn’t bring himself to speak up, to ask her what had happened or why was she here, in fear of frightening her again like he had done the previous night. It wasn’t until she finally turned around and saw him standing there that his fear went away.

Instead, his heart broke.

He hesitated for a second, not knowing what to do - but the longer she stared at him, sniffling and rubbing her nose, he finally took his courage and stepped forward.

She didn’t move, nor did she look away.

He saw the frame, the picture she had on her desk, on the ground followed by a crack on her wall; it all made sense to him now. Turning his head back at her, he leaped. He wrapped her in his arms in the hopes to bring her calm.

The second she felt a warmth against her shaking body, she broke down.

Their small moment of intimacy was broken with Ben’s stranger coming through the door, her dress still hanging around her hips. “Ben? What is going on-”

Without letting Olivia go, he turned his head enough to see the other woman from the corner of his eyes. “You should leave.” His words were soft, not wanting to startle the one he was holding onto.

The model scoffed, shocked by the quick dismissal. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Leave. Please.” Ben’s had spoken his words this time with a sterner tone in the hopes the woman would simply do as he asks without a fuss. “Ugh. Fine, whatever.” She walked out, displeased and without another word out of her mouth.

When hearing the other woman’s voice, Olivia had gently pulled herself away from Ben’s embrace; she hasn’t spoken, she only watched as the stranger walked out, clearly not appreciating being stood up. Once she was out of sight, Olivia wiped her tears away with the back of her hands, softly apologizing to Ben for her outburst. His hands ended up pushing her hair behind her ears, which left goosebumps to travel down her skin. She didn’t mind it, not right now. He tried to sport a small smile, just something he could wear on the corner of his lips. “How about I take you out for drinks? On me.”

She nodded her head as she spoke up. “S-sure.” Her voice was only a mere whisper.

They haven’t spoken another word from the 30th floor until they were sitting down at a bar, far away from the fancy Manhattan life.

The place was crowded, normal for a Saturday night, but it wasn’t anything that bothered Ben and Olivia. Taking their seats, Ben took the liberty of ordering their first round of drinks. “And whatever is the strongest for the lady, please.”

With the bartender walking away, she still hasn’t spoken. Worried about what could be running around in her thoughts, he took the first step. Sitting side-by-side, he leaned in closer wanting to assure her they would be holding a conversation by themselves. “Why did you come to the office?”

“I-I don’t know. I guess it was the first place I could think of. I didn’t really have anywhere else to go.” She had covered her face, her hands on both sides of her head where her fingers stuck to her hair.

His next inquiry brought him uneasiness - he tried to be careful with his words. “Has he hurt you?” She turned her head at him, confused. Staring right back at her, he swallowed whatever nerves he had left and gathered his thoughts. “Did he lay a hand on you?”

Her eyes widened at his question, partly surprised his thoughts brought him that far. She shook her head softly, her heart subtly swollen at the softness in his voice. “He did hurt me, but not like that.” She looked down at her hands, resting on her lap, when she told him what she had seen. “I walked in on him with K-Kelly.”

“Your assistant?”

“Mhmm.” Her throat dried up and her eyes stung from early tears when her thoughts led her back to earlier today.

His words were solemn. “I’m sorry.” He was compassionate, understanding her situation. Looking at him, she tried to force a smile on her face, thankful for him. “Thank you.”

The bartender came with their drinks; Olivia picked up her glass and guzzled it down in one shot. She then placed it back on the counter and eyed the employee with a breath of out of mouth. “Please, keep them coming.”

“Can we also get a menu?” From behind the counter, the bartender gave Ben what he had requested. Once he was out of the way, the young blond turned back to Olivia who was staring at her empty glass, pensive. He sighed, mostly for feeling defeat sneak up on him; he couldn’t let her be with her thoughts alone. “Talk to me… How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve lost complete control of my life.” She turned to stare at his green eyes, slight anger running down her tongue at the thought of her husband. “I don’t know how else to feel, I don’t know what else I’m feeling.” He sensed she was forcing herself to speak and was willing to give up. “You don’t have to say anything else if you don’t want too. I know how hard it is.” He hesitated to go on, partially scared of what she could think of him. “I’ve been in your shoes.

There wasn’t much of a reaction, which came to a relief for him. Only curiosity came out from her side. “How did you handle it?”

He held onto his glass and drank his scotch all in one sip. “Not well… I’ve worn myself out traveling and going to every party, and trying to forget the hurt I felt by sleeping with every women I met.” Memories from his past were conjured in his mind as there description rolled down his tongue. “It was fun while it lasted.” He then sighed, paused for a second to look at Olivia. “And apparently I’ve caused enough embarrassment to my father, so he ordered me back to New York, or I would’ve been cut off.” He chuckled at the end of his words, bringing a subtle smile on her face.

Her eyes were still on him, intrigued by his own life and by the woman who had broken his heart. “Tell me about her…”

He shrugged at first, not really knowing what to say. “There is nothing much to say about her… She’s married now, to the man she cheated on me with.” He took a moment to let those words settle; an aftertaste appeared in the back of his throat, making him reach out for his drink. “She was, at the time anyway, the most beautiful woman - she could do no wrong… But then, she cheated and that changed.” Olivia still hasn’t said anything, waiting for him to finish. “We were engaged, and it was going to be a big affair considering who she was.” The gaze she gave him asked the question; he smiled. “She’s an heiress. High society and whatnot.”

“Ah, so a snob? Why am I not surprised?” They both smiled at her remark, fluttering Ben’s heart. He then sipped once again on his drink and took another breath, bringing into the conversation a more serious note. “Look, all I’m saying is this - I’ve had my life turned upside down that day. I thought it was the end of it-” She didn’t let him finish his sentence, quickly putting her walls up as she rolled her eyes. “Don’t lecture me, please.” In return, he defended himself, placing his hands up in surrender. “I’m not, I just want to help you.”

Seeing her still hesitant, he took his chance and softly spoke up. “Losing control is not that bad. It’s good to have a little chaos from time to time, you know, to shake things up a bit. It keeps you on your toes.”

They were on their fourth round of drinks when she was processing his words; she was staring at her glass while holding it, the scotch swivelling inside its barrier. She sighed and took a swing at it, letting the liquid burn down her throat to her broken heart. “Even if it’s painful?”

He recognized that look in her eyes, the same he had sported all those years ago. He reached out for her hand, holding it tight. “Especially when it is painful.”

They stayed quiet for a while, the time for the bartender to bring them another round of drinks and with a plate of appetizers to digest. Olivia looked at her food, lost in her thoughts with Ben watching her, lost in his own mind as well.

“I should’ve figured it out though…” Her voice was low, a mere murmur, but still caught his attention. “Why do you say that?” With a frown on his face, he tried to understand her logic behind that thought.

She looked up from her plate back to Ben. “I got too caught up with my career, so of course he would’ve gone somewhere else - and now, it cost me my marriage.”

Ben bit down on his tongue, angry that she was feeling unnecessary guilt. Her words stung him out of sympathy; he had blamed himself as well for his predicament - they were the only two people at the moment who understood each other. “You shouldn’t be blaming yourself. It’s not your fault - he is the asshole in all of this. I mean, to treat you the way he did - I-I should go at it and hit him for hurting you!” For the first time tonight, she laughed. And for that one second, joy overpowered her feeling of culpability. “You’re sweet but if there is any punching, I’ll be the one wearing the gloves.” They fell into a fit of laughter, mostly due to the alcohol running through their blood streams, but seeing her like this - his heart was about to explode.

Once he had calmed down, another thought pondered inside him. “I do feel partly guilty though.” She stopped as well, catching her breath as she looked at him, curious. “I thought I saw them give lovey-dovey eyes at each other, that’s why I butted in-” She stopped him before he could even finish; she wasn’t angry at him at all for holding onto what he had seen last night. “Have you told me that yesterday… We wouldn’t be here now.” She placed her hand in his and looked down at her thumb running over his skin. She didn’t know what she was doing but she was enjoying the feeling that was slowly overcoming her. From their hands, she then looked up to meet his green eyes, her breath suddenly stuck in her throat. It was definitely her state of inebriation and she couldn’t care less - she felt more warmth than hurt. “I’m kind of glad you didn’t tell me. I probably would’ve slapped that smug look off your face or something, and tell you off.”

He chuckled at her words, his eyes never leaving their held hands. Then, the mention of last night brought in another wave of guilt right in the pit of his stomach. “About yesterday…”

She shook her head, not wanting him to talk about it any further. “Let’s just not bring it up. Alright?” Her voice was soft as she pulled her hand away from his, making his heart drop a little. Even though she wanted to drop the subject, he was eager to understand something. “I-I just want to ask you one thing.” She caved in and nodded, telling him to go on. “Why didn’t you fight back? I know I scared you, but you could’ve - you know - slap me and tell me off.” Taking her words from earlier, he tried finishing his sentence with a light smile.

She hesitated for a second, but eventually let go of the breath she had been holding. “I don’t like confrontation… Yesterday freaked me out.”

He didn’t understand where that came from. Since the moment he had stepped in his new job, there was no hint whatsoever of her revelation. “You’re in a business of confrontation, how does that work?”

“To tell yo the truth, I don’t know. I just know it got worse when you showed you. You rile me up.” She drank a sip from their new round, letting her answer drive down Ben. Regret flashed across his eyes, something she caught on when staring at him. He dropped his head and closed his eyes, hating himself for treating her the way he had done. “I-I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He raised his head, the softness of her voice sending shivers down his spine.

Once again, they stayed silent where only the background noise had finally reached them. They kept to their food and their drinks, stealing glances to each other from time to time. It wasn’t awkward at all; she felt comfortable with his presence and he was simply content with being so close to her.

His eyes eventually noticed the wedding ban she still had on her finger. He frowned, mindlessly letting his question roll down his tongue. “Why did you marry him?” It wasn’t harsh, he was genuinely intrigued. From her half-empty plate of fries, she turned her head to face him, not understanding the sudden inquiry. “Because I loved him? I don’t get the point of your question…”

“Never mind then…” He sighed and shook his head. He was going to change the subject but couldn’t help himself but to continue on; it was working him up. “I-I just can’t wrap my head around it. He definitely wasn’t the guy for you. Even before this cheating business.”

She took charge of where that conversation was heading and changed the subject instead of answering him. “It’s ironic though how everyone thought I was the one cheating and having an affair with Jeff when Matt was the one to be doing that… or doing her in that case.”

“Wait, you knew?” He understood what she had done and helped her steer away from another possible confrontation.

“Of course I knew! Kelly kept me well informed of any gossip and rumours that were going on in the office.”

He chuckled. “I didn’t hear much compliments about him.”

She was in agreement as she nodded. “He was something else…”

He picked a fries out of her plate, wanting to confirm at least one rumour he had been told. “Then tell me this at least - is it true you got him fired for his job?”

“Not really - I mean, I didn’t but him getting fired was a big bonus for me… As you would’ve imagined.”

He did, knowing what she meant. He took a sip from his drink, waiting before asking his next question. “What about me then?"

She had nothing to say at the moment. She couldn’t risk an argument when she was finally enjoying his company. “I don’t want to talk about that either… If its alright with you.” She ran her fingers through her hair, pushing them out of the way as she tied them up in a ponytail. “I don’t want to think about work right now in general, I can’t think about anything right now.” He bobbed his head once again. “I understand… You will get through this. I’ll be here, if you’ll have me of course.”

She smiled, touched by his words. Every negative feelings she had towards him vanished; she was witnessing a softer side of him and she liked it better than his work persona. Her heart had swollen to a larger size now knowing that she could rely on him, that tonight had let her see she had a new friend. They fell into their own little world, a softer bubble that cut every rough edges out of their way.

The night went on where they got to know about each other; they’ve touched every subject known to man, diving into childhood memories and landed into the secret ingredient of Olivia’s late grandmother’s apple pie. They talked about their exes, what was romantic or simply corny, their taste in food, to music and art. They talked about what England was like when they were growing up, to their general likes and dislikes, their passions and what their pet peeves.

This brought on more food and, most importantly, more alcohol in front of them.

As a result, Olivia slowly got herself into a drunken state while Ben was barely able to hold it together as well.

And it wasn’t until she could barely speak up properly that he decided it was time to leave.

His driver picked them up and brought the couple back to Ben’s apartment.

Once they reached the door of the building, Ben placed her arm gently around his shoulder, holding her tightly while they walked in. Her head was resting on his right shoulder, her breath tickling him, and her lips stood too close to his neck, sending a wave of shivers all over of his body. He took a deep breath to calm down his nerves and thanked the heavens once they reached his floor. He then brought her straight to his room, placing her carefully on his bed. Feeling something soft under her slightly woke her up; they were both now sitting at the edge of his bed, side-by-side, both quiet.

She felt her cheeks wet again, her brain not registering why. One look at her, in the dim lights, he saw her tears. “You alright?”

The gentleness of his voice caught her attention.

She turned her head to look at him, nodding subtly, and then her eyes stayed on him, taking in whatever features she could see in the dark.

Without any of her thoughts processing her movements, she leaned in and placed a soft, almost timid, kiss on his lips.

The taste of alcohol on her breath did not bother him, he was still taken aback by feeling her lips glued to his.

It was gentle and so small, it was as if it never happened - but it did, and he did not know what to make of it.

Barely conscious, she reached out for his hand, their fingers interlacing on his lap; they both looked down at the gesture.

It did not feel odd to be touched like this, it was the opposite. It fit.

Maybe it was the circumstances they were in for this night, but right now it didn’t matter.

Their foreheads touched, close to reach each other’s lips once more.

He was tempted to kiss her again, to cherish her and take her pain away.

He hasn’t felt like this in so long, it almost became unfamiliar.

But it wasn’t right and he knew it.

Instead, he tighten the hold he had of her hand and kissed her forehead ever so gently, all the while ignoring the blush that crept up his cheeks.

He then cleared his throat as he got up. “Let’s get you to bed.”

He helped Olivia lay down, her head resting on his pillow, and covered her body with his comforter. He was then about to leave when she suddenly grabbed his hand, making him turn around. It wasn’t a strong hold, but just enough to make him stop. “Don’t leave me alone, please.” His heart broke at her words. “I’ll be back, I promise.” She nodded and let him go, grabbing tightly onto the blanket and closed her eyes, slowly drifting into slumber.

He quietly walked out of the room and made it straight into the kitchen, going for a glass of water to cool himself down.

He gathered his thoughts, taking in the last few minutes and replaying them over and over again. He was close to holding her, to kiss her again with passion this time, but tonight wasn’t the time for it.

He was willing to stay patient, to be there as her friend if this is what she wanted, what she needed.

And as of tonight, he definitely wasn’t going to let her go, not anymore.

He placed his glass in the sink and made his way to the bathroom, changing into a pair of sweats and a white t-shirt which were hanging on the back door.

He had planned on taking the couch in the living room but realized he couldn’t stay away from her, not after promising he would be back; in his bedroom, he took a seat on the armchair that stood in the corner, facing her. He used the spare throw cover that laid there and made himself comfortable while watching Olivia sleep, her light snores barely reaching his ears.

He sighed, a deep and long breath leaving his lungs, begging for his heart stop beating so heavily against his chest.

He closed his eyes, leaned his head back and eventually drifted off himself with his mind never letting her go.

The strong smell of coffee slowly woke her up from her deep sleep.

She felt a constant banging in her head, leaving a groan to softly slip out of her dry lips.

She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes while taking in her surrounding. She barely remembered anything from yesterday but only her assistant on top of her husband followed by the endless clinks of glasses and cheers.

Once she felt strong enough to move, she carefully got out of bed with her eyes still looking around.

She was definitely not home.

Holding onto her head, she walked towards the only noise she could hear only to find Ben by the coffee machine.

“Good morning sleepy head.” Even if his voice was soft, it resonated right inside her brain; she could barely keep her eyes open as the heaviness she felt made it impossible to be in a decent state. “Why do I feel like I got hit by a truck?”

He smiled as he fetched two mugs from his cupboards. “We went a little overboard with the drinks.”

Her brows creased, frowning at his remark. “Then why aren’t you feeling as shitty as I do right now?”

His words came out a little too smug with the smirk that was plastered across his face. “It takes a lot more to make me feel the way you look now.”

She shook her head with a breath out. “Of course it does.” For the next few seconds, they were both silent; the way her eyes looked at him, she was suddenly timid bringing up yesterday. “About last night-”

“Nothing happened, I promise.” He filled the two cups and placed them on the counter, facing Olivia. “I thought it would be more sensible to bring you back here.” The care in his words, the softness of his voice, dissipated the uneasiness she had woken up with. He bit down on his lip, regretful if he had made the wrong move. “I apologize if I was wrong.” She reached the counter, her hands on the surface, assuring Ben’s concern. “You weren’t… Thank you.”

He sighed in relief before offering her the beverage. “Coffee?”

Hesitant, she subtly stepped backwards. She took a quick glance to the living room, her eyes landing on the front door before turning to him. “N-no. I think it’s better if I leave. I don’t want to be pushing in.”

“You’re not.” He was desperate for her not to go; her heart tore at his words. She walked to the couch where she saw her purse and her jacket, acting quickly before faltering. The breath she was letting out was shaky when speaking up. She had barely had any strength or courage left in her. “Ben… It’s better for the both of us if I just stay out of your way for a while.” She headed for the door, her hand on the knob. Before opening it, she gave him one last look, a longing one. “And I mean it, thank you.”

“Where will you go?” His heart squeezed when meeting her gaze. He moved away from the kitchen to stand a couple of feet away from her, still hoping she would change her mind. She shrugged at his question, not really knowing the answer herself. “I’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”

She then stepped out and gently closed the door behind her.

She made her way to the elevator and pushed the button to the lobby.

For the one second it took for her to stand where she was now, she became hesitant because deep down, she knew he was right. Where could she go? She wasn’t ready to face her husband, afraid to find him still attached to the other woman.

Adding to her existing headache, she felt a heavy weight on her chest - the mere thought of walking back to her place, she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle it. It became to much to even think about. That heaviness made her turn around, her steps leading her back to Ben’s front door. A soft knock caught his attention - he hadn’t moved from his spot.

He hurried to the door, opening it and met Olivia standing on the other side, quiet. Only seeing the look in her eyes and he understood she had changed her mind.

He pushed himself aside, letting her though, and locked the door behind her. They stood still before he carefully reached out, placing his hand on her shoulder. She didn’t shudder at the touch, she felt the opposite. “The bathroom is down the hall if you want to shower. I’ll lay some clothes of mine for you to wear if that’s alright.”

Flushed, she only nodded her head. She then took his direction, going for the shower she desperately needed.

Once she was out of sight, a breath of relief escaped his lips; he wasn’t going to lie to himself - he was glad she had changed her mind and come back to stay, come back to him, even though he knew she would have to face reality at one time of another. But to him, it didn’t have to be today.

He laid out a few choices of clothing on his bed and walked back to the kitchen where he picked up his phone and ordered breakfast.

The second she felt the hot water touch her skin, it brought her solace; all her worries were following its course and slipping down the drain. But if only it stayed there.

Some clarity from yesterday were slowly coming back to her, from finding another woman on top of her husband to the night she spent with Ben.

Ben…

Her mind stuck to him for the minutes she was alone, and for that time - for the life of her - she was grateful for his presence, his existence in all her mess.

And then came the memory of their kiss.

It was faint in her head but she still felt a tingle present on her lips. She tried shaking it out of her head but it only came back. She was conflicted, blaming her state of inebriation on her actions all the while hoping he wouldn’t be holding it against her. He wouldn’t do that… not after last night. Right? She held a conversation in her mind, battling the thoughts of her brain and the emotions in her heart. What was he expecting now after yesterday’s mishap? She was admitting to herself of not hating that sweet caress, even thought the timing was incorrect, and of not hating the way he cared for her; the heat of her shower had loosen her up and made her smile. It washed away the worries she had about Ben. If he was willing to stick around for her, she would let him. She would give him the chance.

The food had arrived by the time she was done and dressed, she walked in to the kitchen to see the table set for a party of five.

His heart leaped at his sight; her hair was still wet, his clothes was hanging on her body where the materials were softly caressing her skin. But once he gazed at her, meeting her eyes, her face had another story. She looked sad and defeated, more than anything else, and he had the sudden urge to run to her, hold her and protect her. He tightened his grip on the chair, his knuckles almost turning white.

Her eyes were wide open when staring at the spread. “That’s a lot of food.” He chuckled at her remark, inviting her to take a seat. “I thought it would help you with your hangover. I know I feel better after eating.” Once they settled and started eating, Ben had to prepare her for her next step, knowing already it will be hard. He placed his fork back on its plate, took a sip out of his second cup of coffee and turned to look at Olivia. “How about when you are ready, and only when you’re ready, I can drive you back to your place so yo can pick up your stuff.” Her heart stopped; she became terrified and he could see it as clear as the light of day. He quickly reached out for her hand, holding it tightly from the corner of the table. A heat traveled straight to her heart as it jumped with a loud thud against her chest. “I will be with you the whole time, I won’t leave your side. Not until you say so.”

“Thank you.” She squeezed his hand, remembering the feeling it brought to her last night, and looked down trying to at least understand one thing in all of this. “But after everything I’ve done to you, why are you being so nice?”

The smile he wore, small and gentle, made her blush. “Because I care about you.” Hearing him say these words, her heart started palpitating. “And I couldn’t let you fend for yourself like that - I couldn’t let you face him alone if it had to come to that.” She could tell he was genuine and, once again, relief washed over her.

They spent the rest of the day together, away from the real world that kept turning outside these walls.

She felt at ease and safe with Ben by her side; she finally gave it a try and had slowly been letting go of the control and letting somebody else take the reign.

It didn’t stress her at all - it was the opposite. She felt she could lift her shoulders without feeling like she had the weight of the world against them.

She couldn’t remember feeling that way with her husband.

And maybe, just maybe, Ben wasn’t so bad after all.

-------------------

xoxo taglist - @captvinswaan @acdeaky

#ben hardy #olivia cooke #ben hardy fanfic #ben hardy fanfiction #ben hardy fic #my writing: wtb?#template:viciousedits

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cathrynstreich · 5 years ago

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A Look Forward to 2020: Bundling Shows Life

[Note from the editor: We publish a Weekly Transmission for Geek Estate Mastermind members that consists of long-form articles covering the spectrum from shipping container co-living spaces to the battle for listing acquisition in the first iBuyer world war.

Below is a sample Transmission, a collection of 2020 predictions and trends sourced from members. —Drew Meyers]

A Look Forward to 2020: Bundling Shows Life

BY DREW MEYERS Originally Published: January 14th, 2020

We’ve spent the last decade unbundling. I see kernels in the reverse unfolding this year, leading to a massive re-bundling decade ahead.

Brokerages should continue iterating on delivering bite-sized segments of certainty wherever possible, but buyers and sellers ditching their existing relationships is a giant mountain to climb. It’s inevitable that iBuyers will begin to offer trade-up/in services and that brokerages will have to continually increase the breadth of services to win home buyer/seller favor. Nowhere will this bundling play out more than in the property management sector, as distribution reigns king for a wide range of home maintenance and personal finance offerings.

While certainty as a service will continue running rampant across both residential and commercial, those providing services–or at least curating/aggregating them–across the entire spectrum will win the day. And the decade.

Below is a range of trends of interest and predictions for 2020, sourced from the Geek Estate community…

TRENDS

CONTINUED CONVERGENCE OF REAL ESTATE AND PERSONAL FINANCE Ryan Coon // Co-founder & CEO, Avail

Real estate has always been intertwined with personal finance, but we’ll see the linkage between the two become even stronger in 2020.

Although most rent payments are still made offline, renters will increasingly expect faster and cheaper rent payments–and credit-boosting rent payments will become the norm. We’ll also see more adoption of innovative solutions that help renters along the path to homeownership, such as Rhove and Digs. As renters pay on-time, their credit scores will improve and they’ll also be rewarded with savings toward an eventual down payment. Innovative rent-to-own models such as Divvy Homes and Arrived will pick up steam, helping make homeownership a real possibility for those who don’t yet have their personal finances in a place to buy a home.

In the past, real estate was an investment available only for the wealthy. New models are changing this–and will lead to the adoption of real estate as a personal finance asset class for Main Street. While crowdfunding platforms, like Fundrise and Small Change, haven’t gotten as much attention as when they first launched, they continue to allow people to diversify their personal investments into real estate. Innovative real estate investment platforms like Roofstock/Roofstock One, DiversyFund, Compound, Landa, and Concreit are also making real estate wealth building more accessible.

BROKERAGE TIMES ARE A CHANGIN’ Pierre Calzadilla // VP Growth, Local Logic

Compass: A major chink in Compass’ “armor” will be exposed: Agents don’t stay. Expect exodus from top performers as all the acquisitions hit their one-year mark and people take their money and run. Compass will buy at least three more independent firms.

Side: With fresh cash, a hungry team, a strong value prop, and on track for $8 billion in annual sales in 2020, Side will go big in 2020 and make a name in the business as consumers aren’t even aware–because they don’t care. They just love that it all works and the agents are great. Industry will finally take notice and we’ll see Side everywhere by the end of 2020.

eXp/KW: Alongside another lawsuit and more vitriol, eXp will do something to breakout this year. Keller won’t expect it and Gary’s gonna be pissed he missed it.

Realogy: Realogy will spin off brands, like Corcoran and maybe even all of NRT, for a huge windfall. Imagine if the Louis Vuitton group bought Corcoran? Then Realogy will take its tech stack and spin that off as a new company, making its tech available to the entire industry. Realogy will hold on to the franchise business, simplify its revenue model, and assign losses to the right balance sheets.

THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO CRACK UP Stephen Del Percio // VP & Assistant General Counsel, AECOM

In the aftermath of the 2016 election, construction industry firms were anxious to consolidate. The federal government was on the verge of passing generational infrastructure investment legislation, and firms perceived an opportunity to capture increased market share by collapsing design, construction, and operations and maintenance expertise under one roof.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the drafting room. An infrastructure bill never passed Go. Firms continued to bid large fixed-price contracts and risky public-private partnerships. In 2019, public companies like Fluor, Granite, and Tutor-Perini saw billions in market capitalization wiped away thanks to problem projects and larger quarterly losses. And investors pushed back on visions for fully integrated infrastructure firms that could design, build, finance, and operate major projects on their own.

In 2020, the construction industry will continue to segment, which I think will reverberate across the construction tech scene. Firms will get back to basics, whether it’s performing only professional design services, construction management, or whatever their core competency might be. This focus will, in turn, lead to increased scrutiny of overhead costs and process and workflow management–both critical areas where tech solutions can play pivotal roles for firms’ bottom lines.

Already, industry observers are suggesting that contech can be part of a solution for rising construction costs, labor shortages, and other inefficiencies that have always plagued the industry–2020 could be the year that it takes a permanent seat at the table.

THE ROLE OF THE AGENT WILL CHANGE DRASTICALLY Jon Boller // co-founder & CEO, BizFin

There’s a lot of talk from executives surrounding the antiquated nature of the real estate transaction and “how awful the experience of buying and selling homes is.” As a result, alternative, nontraditional real estate business models are emerging: iBuying, alternative financing companies, and discount brokerages are creating a unique marketplace where consumers are provided optionality. Gone are the days where consumers accept paying a set fee without exploring their options.

The modern day real estate agent will be an expert at walking consumers through the financial and long-term impact of going with an iBuyer and how to create wealth through homeownership. Consumers also may explore purchasing a home slightly outside of their budget via non-traditional financing options. The most consumer-centric agents are going to win and those willing to make data, analytics, and insights as the core of their businesses will increase their market share over the next 12-24 months. Agents will embrace technology to make their businesses more efficient and increase their revenues, leading to profit margin expansion.

FRAUD REARS ITS UGLY HEAD Nate Smoyer // Director of Marketing, Avail

The amount of money moving around and consumers’ unfamiliarity with real estate processes makes our industry a magnet for fraudsters.

This starts with the continued rise of wire fraud on purchase and sale transactions: One of the major challenges is that there are many gaps in the transaction that allow someone to influence or hack their way in to redirect down payments or entire purchase amounts to fraudsters’ accounts. This can be done with simple phishing emails or more sophisticated attacks leveraging malware. The President of Sun Title estimates, in total, that this is a $10 billion problem. Transactional management platforms, like Propy, stand a strong chance to shine by securing transactions using blockchain technology.

The second way consumers fall victim to wire fraud is through fake listings. Fraudsters convince prospective tenants to wire their rental deposit in order to get keys and then vanish. Methods deployed to combat fraudulent listings include advanced algorithms and SMS text confirmation. Unfortunately, fake listings still squeak through, victimizing tens of thousands annually. Companies like Zillow and Craigslist are taking the approach of charging for listings to thwart spam and fraud. I don’t think charging for listings is the best approach. There’s a lot to win here for whoever can best reduce listings fraud and establish trust with consumers.

PROPTECH VC GOES GLOBAL Ashkan Zandieh // Chief Intelligence Officer, CREtech

Mega rounds will be in vogue in 2020, as investors begin placing larger amounts of capital to work in established companies. In Latin America, Loft’s $175 M round to scale iBuying in Brazil was the first mega round of the year and also catapulted the young company to unicorn status.

In terms of geography, it’s no secret North America, especially the US, is the leader in proptech both in deal and investment volume. Overall, the industry closed out 2019 with eight consecutive billion-dollar funding months. However, the global landscape of proptech is changing, and the dominance the US once had will start to be challenged. Investment activity has begun to pick up in Asia over the past year. The positive venture capital market and appetite for mega rounds will begin to rival that of the US as China’s proptech ecosystem continues to grow. The European market has positioned itself to make up ground in 2020 in terms of deal volume. Markets like London, which has long been a fintech power, will look to back some of its homegrown companies in 2020.

FUNDAMENTALS PREVAIL & MARKETING TAKES CENTER STAGE Christian Sterner // Co-founder & CEO, WellcomeMat

Even with the global trend of historically low and negative interest rates, broken models and insolvent businesses (able to hide behind cheap capital for too long) will begin defaulting on debt and disappointing investors with increasing vigor. As such, we will see an increased focus on gross profit for technology companies and decreased investment, which will shine a light on and benefit companies and management teams running companies with a long-term outlook. We will watch fundamentals prevail again in 2020.

The hottest markets are turning sour in the US. As that happens, agents, teams, and brokerages will spend what it takes to stand out amongst growing inventory. Companies focused on providing superior marketing will see a very strong growth period going forward.

PREDICTIONS

ZILLOW GROUP STOCK UP AT LEAST 50% Terry Dwyer

Zillow’s Q1 and Q2 2020 financial numbers are going to surprise a lot of people. Based on its recent stock price recovery almost to its pre-iBuyer price, a lot of people have already determined that Zillow’s pivot to the iBuyer business was the right thing to do.

Two sets of numbers do not necessarily make a trend, but it’s hard to ignore Zillow’s Q2 and Q3 2019 numbers for both its overall business and its Homes (i.e., iBuyer) segment. Its iBuyer costs in those two quarters covering sales & marketing, technology & development, and G&A all indicate that they should continue to trend down on a percentage basis relative to the overall Homes revenue for the next two or three quarters.

The big number in question, of course, is the “cost of revenue” line item or the actual costs directly related to the acquisition, maintenance, and sale of homes for a given quarter. If past performance in other areas of its business is any indication, executives are quick studies and have no problem applying lessons learned from past mistakes. The iBuying business itself is not a high margin business, but then again, neither is the traditional real estate business regardless of how much technology one throws at it. It’s the cross-selling opportunities that will make bigger profits for this initiative down the road. Couple that with Zillow’s long-expected shift from upfront lead-gen fees to more profitable back-end referral fees and the future looks bright for the team in Seattle.

ZILLOW ACQUIRES OFFERPAD Drew Meyers // founder, Geek Estate

I predicted an Opendoor and Offerpad merger last year, but it wasn’t to be. With both a history of very large and bold acquisitions (ie. Trulia and Dotloop) and needing to fend off Opendoor from cementing itself as the category leader, Zillow Group will acquire the next best thing to sweeping Opendoor under its umbrella: Offerpad. Bringing the #3 player in-house would add obvious scale to its Homes business as well as a partnership with Keller Williams’ 100k+ agents.

IBUYER FAILURE Jon Boller // co-founder & CEO, BizFin

A handful of iBuyers will go out of business due to operational inefficiencies and challenges with margins and execution. People are willing to pay for convenience on tasks like cab rides, food delivery, etc. However, they are less likely to give up thousands of dollars in home equity as this often serves as their retirement savings accounts. iBuyers have slim margins to run on, have to be perfect at pricing homes, and then have to be able to turn around the selling of the homes quickly to avoid carrying costs at scale. The operational challenges of a high touchpoint, people-intensive, and low margin initiative will force investors to challenge and question investing in these companies by the end of the year.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE TESTS DIRECT SALES INTEGRATION Drew Meyers // founder, Geek Estate

Why can’t a tenant easily buy a property from their landlord, without an agent? 2020 will mark the year property management software pilots facilitating the paperwork and legal work for tenants to make the jump from renter to owner.

Closing

That’s a wrap! Agree or disagree? Are there trends missing that you’re bullish on? What do you see coming down the pipe in the next decade that will have its seeds planted this year?

[Graphic via a16z]

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clarencevancleave · 5 years ago