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juminsmysticmc · 3 years

Note

Hey, it’s me, the one who request the moth headcanon, sorry about the trouble and if it’s okay, instead I would like to see an MC who’s major is digital arts and animation. If not, it’s fine, just have a great day.

RFA + Minor Trio with a Mc who's major is digital arts and animations

Hey! It was no trouble at all! I hope that it’s okay for you tho, I am happy that you could request something different! I hope you enjoy this one too! Have a nice day!

Jumin

Your husband observed you. Ever since he installed a room for you alone in his penthouse, you could finally work from home a bit more.

He hadn’t realized that even before you came into the RFA, he had already worked with you.

Your major, digital arts and animation, was often used for his advertising or other programs.

You often wanted to meet the CEO, but since he always thought that you would be just a gold digger, he always rejected you, just making Jaehee send emails with the things he wanted to have inserted.

Well, today he regretted his choice back then.

Instead, he observed you.

You were working on a new project.

,,How many years did you have to study? I mean, you have so many majors… Design Director, Storyboard Director, I didn’t know, you were multitalented, my love,’’ he praised you.

You even worked a lot with the audio.

You looked up and smiled at your husband.

,,Thank you, my love. I’m trying to make your latest project work. Wanna see?’’ you asked him.

However he knew that your work would be amazing and wanted to have it be a surprise rather than get spoiled.

Zen

Your boyfriend never understood how you could be such a good multitasker.

You could cook, set the table, chat with Jaehee, and even post something on your blog.

But once he saw you at work, he understood.

It had something to do with your job.

You had to work in different kinds of media at the same time.

,,This isn’t just one,’’ you told him and scrolled through your phone.

Your long hair was in your way so you put it away with one hand.

,,I have to work with the sound, video, and stop-motion graphics at the same time. I do this and much more, but I don’t want to annoy you,’’ you laughed as you looked up.

,,You don’t annoy me, Mrs. Director,’’ he laughed and kissed you.

You were even the director of a whole section and helped new students get into the job.

,,Okay, so, see this video?’’ you showed him an animated movie you just got via email.

,,This was made by my students, but she used the wrong program because the audio is slightly separated from the video itself,’’ you told him.

He hadn’t noticed anything at first, but after you told him, he saw it too.

,,And you noticed after a few seconds? You’re amazing!’’ he smiled and looked over your shoulders. You were still cooking.

Yoosung

Your husband wondered why he never saw you or met you since your college wasn’t that far away from his building.

But thank God both of you finally met thanks to the RFA.

He was also amazed by you because you were pretty famous among students.

You even had your own blog and of course you programmed everything yourself.

It looked amazing.

You had every single section working in there, but your point was the digital arts and animation.

,,Did you really have to submit a portfolio to be admitted?’’ he asked you when he read your latest blog.

You nodded at him as you typed something on your keyboard.

,,Mhm, especially to bachelor of fine arts,’’ you told him.

He didn’t quite understand, but he still nodded.

,,I didn’t have to,’’ he mumbled.

,,That’s why it’s written on there. The little word ,,may’’ says that you possibly have to, but not always,’’ you told him, making him sulk.

,,I know what ,,may’’ means… ah, and tell me. What are the admission requirements?’’ he asked you.

You turned your head and looked at him.

,,Can you maybe read the whole post instead of just the keywords? You need to check on the page itself for the requirements. Every university does it differently,’’ you told him and closed the page.

,,Ah. I just wanted to test you,’’ he smiled and looked at you.

He looked so up to you. You always knew what the latest LOLOL update changed in the game. You were amazing...

Jaehee

,,What? You went to Harvard University?’’ Zen asked you. He didn’t know that he was in a group with such an intelligent person and you were even Jaehee’s girlfriend.

You nodded.

,,She’s also very creative. Did you see our advertisement? She did it herself. Pretty amazing, right?!’’ Jaehee said proudly, no one had ever seen her that excited.

You changed her.

You and Jaehee also often went to different festivals to check the latest innovations. It was something even Jaehee was interested in.

And thanks to you, she even understood a few things since you were very good at explaining things.

,,Should we buy this new keyboard? It fits much better than the one you have now in your studio,’’ she told you and admired the keyboard in front of you.

She looked up to you since you were such a hard worker as a owner of a coffee shop and even a designer of word advertisements and 2d animation.

Saeyoung

,,You make pretty good money, huh?’’ he asked you as he looked around.

Your studio just looked so aesthetically pleasing in the middle of Seoul.

You shrugged your shoulders as you kept typing something.

Then you took your pen between your fingers and began to draw something.

You were a storyboard artist.

Saeyoung, your finacé, loved to watch you.

He sometimes even helped you when a program stopped working.

,,Look, which one do you like more?’’ you asked him as you turned your screen towards him to show him a park.

,,Mh, I don’t know. What’s the story? LIke, this one looks cute as if you’re in a fairy tale, but this one looks more realistic,’’ he answered, making you turn the display again.

You nodded and stood up, taking your jacket and facing your fiancé. ,,We are going to the park now,’’ you said and pulled him by the hand.

That’s what he loved about you.

He, too, was someone who would simply do his work, but you wanted to give your best, even at that moment.

At the end of the day, you however, knew which one you would decide on and you were happy that Saeyoung opened your eyes.

Saeran

,,Mc! It’s so nice to see you here!’’ someone said and hugged you.

Saeran observed the person who was so happy to see you.

Both of you were in a foreign country and people still knew you?

You hugged the person who was apparently named Mira.

,,Saeran, this was my teacher, Mira,’’ you said and told Mira about your boyfriend.

She was so happy to see that you got a boyfriend.

,,Have fun here and go visit Josef! He will be happy to see you!’’ she said, meaning your other teacher.

You took Saeran and with him you walked through every department.

,,They try to motivate you to be creative, get started, start your own company, make your own shows, produce medical videos or animations, and they want you to learn things by doing,’’ you explained.

At some point, you arrived at a place that was lit by lights. Students had pencils in their hands and they began to draw something on their papers. This was something that amazed Saeran.

,,I thought it’s digital art,’’ he whispered.

You nodded. ,,They first try to make you get used to it. When you’re ready, you can move to the digital version,’’ you told him and observed the students.

It was a pretty good day and Saeran also enjoyed seeing you presentate something on a stage about your own work in South Korea.

He was proud of you.

Jihyun

Hand in hand, both of you walked into an institute to talk about digital art.

Jihyun also liked art a lot. However, he was a painter.

But your art was also something beautiful in his eyes.

He once tried it, but failed.

,,I remember back then, I also was unsure if digital art was real art, but after I saw it myself… I’m sorry I was like that back then… so don’t give up if people are the same here as in this art institute,’’ he told you.

You nodded.

Your goal was it to teach digital art in that institute and they first invited you to talk about it.

They first invited you in and then they were ready to listen to you.

,,Thank you for your words,’’ the older man said and nodded.

,,However, digital art is, itself, placed under the larger umbrella term new media art that doesn’t require any effort, Mrs. Kim. Digital art is not considered real art,’’ he said and closed his book with the notes.

,,Why did you invite my wife then?’’ Jihyun asked as you watched your dreams get crushed in front of your eyes.

No one dared to say anything. Were you just the laugh stock? Why did you even make the effort? You were ready to give up when Jihyun began to say something again. ,,I can understand you. At first we thought that digital art was easy. Why should we ask a teacher to teach us? I’m an artist myself and I thought like that too, but here too, just like the art with real pens and colors, you need to start with it gradually. I experienced it myself and I was surprised by how difficult it was. I beg you, try at least once to draw a forest in digital art,’’ Jihyun said, begging the person in front of him.

,,Very well, I have been an artist since my twenties and I am now sixty years old,’’ he laughed and took your tablet, ready to draw.

While he was drawing, you did the same on the second tablet and a bit later you all noticed the difference, making them all apologize to you.

,,I can’t thank you enough,’’ you sobbed as both of you walked out of the room, you overjoyed about the good news.

,,I told you not to give up on them. They were just like me,’’ he laughed and kissed your hand before you could both go and pick up Lucy at Jumin’s penthouse.

Vanderwood

When he first saw your room, not Rika’s, but your own home, he was kind of shocked to know that you were almost like Agent 707.

He quickly noticed that just like him, you loved your profession.

It was something that satisfied you immediately ever since you first learned how things worked.

Indeed, animation was attracting more and more people and you were one of them.

,,Back then, when we lived in Japan, we somehow won a sightseeing trip and I got to see the Ghibli studio. I think that that was the moment I fell in love with it,’’ you told him as he looked around.

,,And then? I mean, Japan is one of the best countries to study animation, right?’’ he asked you. Vanderwood was truly interested in it.

He wanted to know everything about you.

The brown haired man wanted to know what made your eyes shine so brightly and why you were so in love with your job.

,,Uhm, yeah. Spain is the best country to study animation, but I also expected it to be Japan. Back then and still today, living there was too expensive. My parents wanted to move back to Korea and so I went to Spain to study my dream,’’ you laughed.

,,I’m amazed. I expected you to go with your parents,’’ he laughed and observed you.

,,I was amazed by myself too, you know? It was a hard decision, but I never regretted what I did. I could fulfil my dream and it’s my life after all.

And knowing more languages is even better because there are so many more opportunities,’’ you laughed.

,,Please never lock the door in other languages like Agent 707,’’

You laughed at his comment. ,,I won’t… but maybe something animated?’’ you teased him.

MASTERLIST 1

MASTERLIST 2

MASTERLIST 3

17.04.2021// 00:18 MEST

141 notes · View notes

jiminrings · 4 years

Note

hellooo can i request a drabble of uni!au art major tae and biochem major yn? also part one of the would you series is AMAZINGGG seriously i cant wait to read more!! <3

rich kid kim

pairing: taehyung x y/n

wordcount: 5k

glimpse: tae’s cold and probably needs a friend more than he needs a model, y/n feels this nEED to take care of him, a term of enderment then a dash of emotional constipation and a sprinkle of jealousy :D

notes: thank you for the request babes!! writing this made my heart melt and aND!!! thank you omg i’m glad you like would you :((

if you squint or if you’ve read insufferable, this is most probably taehyung and his y/n!!!

taehyung is personally more than willing to pay himself out of this project

oKAY LISTEN

he’s not the proudest knowing that he comes from a rich family and he’s the only kid and he’s never really struggled for much

everything was just given to him without any hesitations whatsoever

and yeah he admits that he can nEVER admit that his pampered and luxurious lifestyle since birth has shaped him to be this way and it’s hard to unlearn these types of things

things were too easy for him and thAt’s what made it hard

tae is the farthest thing from an outcast..,.,.,.,

.,.,. but that’s him in his usual rich boi bubble of elites wherever he goes because he’s surrounded by people like him

hoseok and jimin have got to be his closest friends but of course they pursued business degrees and everyone must’ve probably saw that coming

nobody, however, expected the kim taehyung to pursue a degree based rootly on passion and even major in it

yeah that’s right what are yOU looking at???

he’s an art student and yeah he’s taking this seriously ://

do yOU have a problem with that?? do you?? no what did you say?? step the fuck up ky-

spoiler alert: people do have a problem with that

taehyung could tell that his parents did a complete 180 when they learned through jimin’s noisy-ass mouth (not even through their own son) that he’s gonna be getting an art degree

his dad’s the one who’s most especially disappointed at him because well he’s the only child and uhhhh.,.,.,, so who’s gonna inherit the company now.,.,,,

tae normally feels selfish and this time, he felt like he was being rational rather than being selfish!! this is what he passionately wants!! pls god can i be selfish oNE more time

eventually his parents had no choice because as their son explained,, having an art degree won’t keep him away from the family business at all and he could even expand it!! he doesn’t need a degree!!!

lmao he’s been putting the money he gets on the stock market ever since he was ten years old

and they had to accept it eventually because this is what HE wants and if this is the only thing that he wants... then might as well help him through it, right??

now this is another dilemma

taehyung’s applied at a regular university in which everyone’s blended together and no one really cares about who’s who

it’s not exclusive to people like him.

he submitted his requirements and his portfolios by himself!!

and he got accepted!!

he’s nOT SURE if it’s purely because of his skills and himself and not his parents’ money nor influence

whatever it is, he doesn’t want to know because if it ends up being the answer he doesn’t want?? lol he’d crawl into a hole and mope for a week and would be doomed to wear three-piece suits for the rest of his life

so anyways

yeah..,, this is one of the handful of times that taehyung is completely willing to pay himself out

this project was supposed to be easy enough as what the professor said but uH he’d like to passive-aggressively decline pls and thank you

their final project was to make a portrait

right?? easy!!

a portrait of sOMEONE IN CAMPUS,,, regardless if you know them or not

(( well of course you’d get to know them by the end because yea they’re required to show proof that they indeed met and the model did agree to be painted ))

and by the end of the project, it’s either they keep it to themselves or give it to the model!!

that should be easy, right??

...

....

...... pls say right

oh my god tae should probably drop out now so he doesn’t get to do this

rich people don’t necessarily have to be educated, right???? maybe he’ll just settle into being a himbo

he learned about the meaning of the word through urban dictionary that he tHEN only learned about like six months ago and now he gets so many things

taehyung’s not intimidated by the workload of it all -- in fact, he’s even excited about it because it helps him relax!!

what he’s intimidated about is the fact that he’s kim taehyung and there are only two possible options

either his model would be someone who knows him and would be taking every possible step to ensure that they climb the social ladder through him and they’re not even gonna be dISCREET about it

his model wouldn’t completely care about who he is and in the process belittles him upfront and tbh his hart wouldn’t be able to take that and he’s probably wipe his tears away with dollar bills

there is almost no in-between, that one he’s sure of

so why are you like this?

why are you neither of the two and why are you sO kind and go against his expectations????

do you have an ulterior motive or something????

you who’s a biochem major and is actually another building away from his own

you who’s made the initiative that you become hIS model

you who actually oFFERED and almost begged to be a part of a project that would only be for tae’s benefit

... aha

that’s about -5 points from being a cool laid-back nonchalant gal

+10 for looking like someone who’s had a massively obsessive crush on him since day one and looking like you’d lay his life for him

no but lmao actually you just learned about taehyung in a magazine

you were bored at the dentist’s and scrolled through every possible outlet in your phone and it didn’t satiate you anymore!!! so how about reading a good ol’ magazine :D

then came taehyung

it was a whole issue dedicated to him and you were probably too dedicated into reading it that this time it was you telling the dentist to wait lol

that’s as far as you knew about him

and then you learned just some weeks ago that taehyung happens to study where you also study at and that was.,., inch resting

you never really saw him before around campus because it was too big and well maybe if you put in the effort, you’d actually find him

maybe you had a tiny lil admiration for kim taehyung just from one whole issue alone you read at the dentist’s or whatever

you’ve only known about this final project situation through changbin!!!

changbin, your neighbor at the apartment next to you, who’d crash over whenever his wifi feels the tiniest bit slow

yes you did spend a little more money to upgrade your internet situation (most times it’s the router who makes all the difference) because you were so tIRED of having things slow in the middle of researching for your projects in biochem)

no you will nOT have that <3

and of course changbin’s not having your that shitty wifi either so he pushed you to get that in the first place so he can use it too lmao

he’s told you just a couple of days ago about his final project and that maybe, just maybe, he’d make it into a move for this girl that he likes

nothing’s more romantic than pleading for someone to paint ur face right

and your grade and the decision to whether you’re gonna pass or flunk and graduate or retake are relying on you mostly

and in changbin’s case it’s also hIS heart on the line so yeah no pressure at all luv

“i kinda feel bad for rich kid kim, y’know?”

“what about taehyung???”

“eW do you have a crush on him??”

“addressing someone by their name equals to a crush??????”

your banters never stop because you’re as quick-witted as him and he both loves and hates it

he loves that omg someone can keep up with him and that way he gets challenged to always have the last say!!

he hates that oh god why is he friends with someone who reminds him of himself so much how is hE gonna deal with that??

sometimes he’ll purposely argue with you to fEEL something lmao

but there’s just something here that tells him you’re a little more interested now in this flow of conversation ever since rich kid kim was mentioned

“hm, nothing. i’m pretty sure he doesn’t have a model yet.”

he dodges you in the kitchen to look for peanut butter in your cupboard and oddly... you’re not berating him for decreasing your groceries....?

what does changbin mean by that? whAt model?? model as in taehyung doesn’t have the newest model of whatever car he wants? or maybe he has a model girlfriend and-

hold on wait wHAT

taehyung has a-

“m-model?”

he looks at you weirdly but you don’t even bat an eye when he gets ahold of your marshmallow spread so that he could make another one of his s’mores sandwiches

“uhhhh model as in he doesn’t have someone to paint for our project??”

is that what you wanted to hear or,.,

you and changbin share one (1) brain cell and it SHOWS

the two of you have to open your mouths, then close, then ponder, and then do that aGAIN until the both of you could finally grasp if you were in the same page

“oh cool!! i’ll be his model then!”

“yeah but did he ask”

“it’s gonna be easy!! i’ll just tag along with you to your building”

“yeah but did he aSK”

“we’re probably gonna hit it off instantly and then you’ll have to leech off from someone else for their wifi and food and every other necessity that you already have-”

“yeah but dID HE ASK????”

long-story short: no. taehyung most certainly did not ask you to be his model.

but here you are

saying that you came a long way is a bit of a stretch because taehyung mostly turns his head the other way around when you call out to him in public

progress is still progress :D

you’re eating lunch with him at the same table and this time you’re sat beside him!! when normally he’d just walk home to his apartment (lol that’s not allowed but you won’t be surprised to know that he has a free pass) and eat!!!

before that, taehyung would gLARE at you until you stop asking to sit with him in his table

yea he gets a bit lonely at time because jimin and hobi aren’t with him and hE’S the outcast but he won’t do anything about it,, just scroll through his phone while he eats and tune everyone out

you figured that maybe it’s changbin always linked with you in lunch because your schedules just matched up thAt perfectly like it does with tae’s

hee-hee so you might have elbowed him until he begrudgingly agreed to be tolerable, keep atleast four feet of distance from you, and not call tae rich kid kim

spoiler alert: taehyung doesn’t really care about whatever you do because doing those changes with changbin did nOT work at all

however

H O W E V E R

taehyung doesn’t know at all how you’ve wormed your way into his heart!!

what seem to be cold to you is his warmest he’s ever been in such a new environment and outside of his usual comfort bubbles!!!

it’s like you occasionally stealing the food from his plate when you have the same thing is the equivalent of h*lding h*nds with him

you putting your leg over his before he pushes it after five seconds mUST be the equivalent to marriage

wait he’s lying

taehyung does know how you’ve wormed your way to his heart

“hi! i’m y/n! :D”

ok u are a little bit sweaty and out of breath from doing all that fast-paced walking for the past ten minutes

your new shoes that you still need to break into further aren’t helping your situation in the slightest bit

honestly? this is all changbin’s fault <3

he unknowingly gave you the sign that you were looking for

if he says yeah five times with five minutes?? okay yeah you’re definitely looking for kim taehyung and offering yourself to become his model

you don’t wanna sound weird but you feel sorry for him and you wanna help him :((

he’s not helping you tho because he has long legs underneath those trousers and it looked like he wouldn’t budge at all not unless you jogged and stopped right in front of him

“hi! i’m y/n!! :D”

“...”

“.....”

tae’s a bit... perplexed

because who’s THIS entity and why are you standing in front of him

...

....

“bye y/n.”

he wants to exit from this situation because oh my god??

why r u like this

he didn’t ASK for your name!!

and he doesn’t even know you and giving him your name honestly won’t do anything and he doesn’t get what’s your motive and-

“oh c’mon!! you didn’t even shake my hand :((”

he feels even more lost as he tries to wrap his head around that uh.....

you uh.... you wanted a handshake??

.....

tae doesn’t even hide his annoyance because it’s clear as day!!!

he’s blatantly tilting his head at you rudely with a blank stare omg take the hint pLEASE

realizing it now you mAY have came on too strong to taehyung that looks confused as ever

“hi, i’m y/n.”

changbin’s by one of the lockers taking pics of you beaming at taehyung and him scowling down to show you later how dumb you look and how you shouldn’t do this at all

okay LISTEN

his personality trait is to immediately assume the worst out of every scenario possible and that way when something slightly less worse happens? that’s a win babie ;D

he became ur friend in the first place because you heard him yelling since he’s at the door right next to yours and you could hEAR him throwing things around as he cusses his laptop

yeah he cusses his laptop what about it??

if you close your eyes hard enough, you could hear him throw his router against the wall (you later learned that he was so close to finishing his digitalization but then his laptop decided to die) before punching the air

(( the friendship started when you knocked vERY gently and offered him to borrow your laptop even if you aren’t done with all your homework ))

((( changbin thought at first that u were such an organized and too-friendly social butterfly who’s a kiss-ass to everyone but now he thinks ur the coolest person ever and he treasures you more than life itself )))

although, taehyung’s a lot more vicious and closed-off and critical than changbin

he narrows his gaze at you as you introduce yourself for the second time before merely clicking his tongue

“ok cool”

is that uhm

is that IT good sir

“you’re not,” you’re dancing around your words and being careful to not let a pout grace your lips at the sheer lack of enthusiasm, “gonna introduce yourself to me??”

you got a reaction alright

taehyung sCOFFS and that’s the loudest he’s ever been with you in the span of two minutes

“you followed me for ten minutes just to tell me your name. kinda seems like you already know mine if you do that, no?”

this is why you took up biochem instead of law

how do the lawyers not break down???

why does phoenix wright make it seem SO easy?? especially when he’s spoken to in a confrontal tone???

oh god taehyung broke you already

not to be rude but uh what do you wANT

can you get it over already??

“o-oh! uhm i was wondering if i could uHm,” you sound ridiculous now that you think about it and this is perhaps one of the only times you feel embarrassed, “volunteer to be your model for your project?”

hmm

was that a wrong answer,,,

sHOULD YOU HAVE SAID THAT??

“are you in my class?”

taehyung asks and he’s finally said a sentence to you!!! omg

you’re quite shocked so he had to click his tongue to get you to answer

“no, actually!! i’m a biochem major and-...”

that’s all it takes before he hums and nods his head

and for some reason taehyung looks at you like you’re pREY

“are you a stalker?”

okay wait holy fuck wHAT

you know what

you took a sip from changbin’s coffee half an hour ago but why are you only choking on it nOW

you’re positively sputtering and now ur pressured bc tae thinks you’re a stalker!!! a damn stalker!!

“looked at you long enough. i don’t need a sketch artist and i could just-”

no no no pls no

this meeting is going downhill very quickly

“oh my god taehyung i’m nOT a stalker okay!!!”

that shuts him up because your voice is so firm and okAY then how do u explain this stalker smh ://

throughout the whole time you’re talking about changbin being an art major and also your neighbor and everything in between, tae has such a neutral expression that you feel so intimidated

“-and that’s what!! i’m not taking advantage of you or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking i guess? i swear!!”

he listened and well if he’s being honest,,, okay yea you did make sense and he does know changbin

“okay then. i’ll think about it.”

“are you gonna give me your number???”

it’s either you’re so forward or he’s just not used to being caught off-guard

WHICH FUCKING ONE

“what for?”

it’s been so long ever since someone asked taehyung for his number

usually in galas and any other socialite gatherings you could think of, everyone’s number would just be in your phone automatically and you won’t even rEMEMBER how it got there in the first place

better yet, it’s been so long since he went back to his usual routine lifestyle of being himself

his last gala was two weeks ago and tae had to keep looking at his phone to study pdfs and whatever clear pictures he can get of his reviewers back at home because he had a test tomorrow morning

“so you could text me where we’re gonna meet so you could paint me, silly!!”

okay wOAH there

“i didn’t even say that you’d be my model????”

“lol but you were thinking it huh”

that’s it

taehyung has nO choice but to paint you if he wants to finish this project and graduate and have something of a thicker paper to flaunt

it came as a shock to him that hE took your offer and he could only imagine its effect on you

not to brag but tae didn’t even have to sweat for a little because it’s yOU who came to him with this offer!! not him!!

tae lives in the classiest apartment here in uni and everyone probably knows that

much to his insistence that he doesn’t want anyone from uni going outside his apartment, he had to take an L and invite you over

he wouldn’t risk doing his work in any place else because he doesn’t want anyone thinking and getting the wrong idea!!

speaking of, he’s regretting it now because you seem to be too happy being in his space

you’re pointing around and being awed at every possible thing!!!

what??? is this ur first time seeing a rattan hanging chair :// or a massive couch?? or a canvas painting of something so beautiful?? all of that in what’s supposed to be a student’s one apartment??? christ y/n get yourself together

“so what do you want me to do?? where do i sit oR do i stand instead?? i’m gonna need you to know that-...”

“nothing.” taehyung deadpans before he gets his camera so he could get digital shots as well if ever he needs an extra touch when it comes to his final product

the gears in your head are going bRRR and you’re gonna have to ask him to elaborate but taehyung already sets the pace

“nothing. just be your rEALLY annoying self and pretend i’m not here.”

normally you don’t take his words to heart but this one just hits a little close to home bc it’s early in the morning and taehyung already finds you intolerable

“by pretend, do you mean-...”

“up to you. are you more annoying around me or no?”

how did he read your MIND

tae got the thoughts in your head word per word and you’re so amazed at that because fUcK you originally thought that he’s good at bluffing his way up

click!

it’s you smiling at him

no you’re beaming at him

and you’re in front of his morning-lit curtains and you’re against the light

the portrait itself is already visually appealing and satisfying and man the shadows!!! the value!!!! they’re so raw and dreamy and this is exactly his style!!!

it was just a one-take wonder as soon as he took a picture of you!!! and he may have you to hold that position if he needs the push!! he just needs to translate it to canvas with his own language and emotions and then he’s dONE!!

you’re a pain in the ass

you laugh and you move too much

taehyung had you to to revisit that pose and hold it and you wouldn’t stop giggling bc you were too proud that you did THAT!

you also ask too many things that even hE doesn’t have the answers to

how is he supposed to know if red string lovers exist when you went into a spiel just because you saw a red tube of paint???? and why is he saying his opinions on such trivial things when he has his final project to take care of???

and how is he supposed to know why YOU’RE here hanging out with him instead of finishing your own final project

jk maybe it’s the L word but you’re gonna subdue that as much as possible since taehyung looks like he’d leave you by yourself with any chance that he gets

and you even call him terms of endearment!!! nicknames!! pet names!! names that you’d call someone who’s familiar to you and you probably l*ve!!!

angel

that’s what you call him :))

“why do you call me that?”

“because you look like one”

“and how would yOU know what angels look like??”

“because if they were to exist then you’d probably look like one!!”

“but-”

“ok that’s one minute no more questions taehyung <3″

tae just provides you with all the conviction you need to take care of him without even knowing

not in a maternal type of instinct type of way, but rather in a sPECIAL someone type of way

you find yourself caring for him mOre than you ever could for any regular friend you have!!

you just throw a whole loaf of bread to changbin and call it a day

but for tae??? you go above and beyond!!

“did it ever hit you that rich kid kim never really introduced himself to you?”

oh right....

changbin points out one day and you could see where he was getting at

for some reason he always knew what was in your mind at any given time and sometimes it’s to your disadvantage

you seem to be growing on taehyung though!!

he tolerates you better now!!

sometimes he’ll find you loveable even

he likes having someone around and you’re the perfect contender

if he decides to not talk too much, then you fill up the white noise!!

if he wants you to shut up?? then yOU shut up but of course not without babbling for a little

he’s opened up but with some reservations

some reservations that you don’t mind but it’s normal that you feel sometimes left out, y’know??

because it’s been a good month since you and taehyung properly interacted but he still resents you as much if you think about it

“hey angel!!”

“what is it-...”

taehyung looks up from his meal that he’s been poking at his fork because this has to be the fourth time you call out to him

so he turns to look at you and-

uhm

there seems to be a misunderstanding

you weren’t calling HIM

you were calling out to some other guy that iSN’T him

that’s seungmin!!! omg you haven’t seen him in so long and he just happened to pass by your lunch table!!!

apparently he has something to talk to you about which is why you’re standing up and leaving tae all alone on the table

seungmin’s smile is adorable as always and he gets you in a pretty good mood!!

oh god

dear gOD

what is taehyung feeling in his chEST???

tae’s grip on his fork is starting to get pRETTY tight

and if he’s aware enough, his right eye’s twitching and he’s practically scoffing under his breath

why tf would you call him that

WHO is angel and why is it nOT him anymore????

what he’s feeling is just unexplainable and it tastes something like betrayal

“who’s he?”

he quizzes you as soon as you get back to your table and you don’t waver one bit because you know he’s been asking questions recently

“oh that’s just seungmin!! we were childhood friends then he just transferred here awhile-...”

there’s a bitter taste on his tongue and it shows up in his face and you’re not even paying attention to him!!

“really? thought i was him for a second.”

ok now that got you to stop eating

????

why is he acting weird

taehyung looks even more irked because you look sO oblivious right now

“do you call everyone angel?”

o-oh where is this going

“uhm-”

you’re not even finished and to be honest you’re quite lost and taehyung sCOFFS you to the next century

“‘course you do.”

taehyung angrily finishes his meal and you leave it at that because ok maybe he had a bad day?? and he’s just taking it out on you??

and well tae DOESN’T want you to leave it at that

he wants you to ASK him why he’s mad!!! he’s passive-aggressive and it’s getting unhealthy but he’d rather choke than have him spill whatever he’s feeling

the next few days, taehyung avoids you like his LIFE depended on it

you’re not really bothered by it because he has his days, but this one’s just getting out of control

“are you giving me a time-out or something??”

lmao what did u do now

you nudge him when you see him by changbin’s apartment to borrow an easel even though he’s already got it by his apartment

yeah he’s mad at you and he’s petty but maybe he wants to see you again

tae’s giving you silent treatment and you don’t even question him for it

you don’t bother!!

you’re letting him do whatever he wants as always and he dOESN’T like it anymore!!!

he feels like he’s gonna combust at any given time and you don’t give a shit and he feels like yOU should give a shit because you always do!!

you always hover and worry around him but wHY does he feel like you’re not doing it anymore??

why does he yEARN FOR YOU???

it’s quite an an early night for you

you love biochem but sometimes it kicks your ass and it makes you retch at the mention of all-nighters nowadays!! bc they used to be fun but now doing them because you nEED to?? no thx

you’re already in your pajamas and you’re all washed up!! what could changbin need from you at 9 in the evening??

there’s an urgent knocking on your door and you resist the need to groan because you were about to really knock yourself out!! you need to get back all the rest you’ve wasted over your own final project

is that-

“taehyung?”

the man in question is in his huge yellow hoodie that swallows him up every time and he looks positively spent

his hair’s shaggy and his eyes are glazed and there’s a pink tint to his cheeks :((

he’s holding a baby hydroflask in his hands and you’re pretty sure that’s alcohol in there lol

“don’t call me taehyung!!”

he immediately snaps and you’re lost as aLWAYS

did he really just walk all the way to your complex to snAp at you??

“i’m not taehyung,” he frowns deeply and that’s when you’re a bit more mesmerized, “i’m angel.”

is this what you think it is??

your no.1 deflection move is to laugH and you’re doing that rn

something about this whole situation tickles you funny and you’re not sure what to feel about it

“i like your bottle!! i should get one for myself!!”

he could see right through you though

he ignores your stOOpid statements and goes to hold your hands :((

“no, no. i’m your angel. i-i’m your taehyung, right??”

listen

taehyung is the most confusing being you know and he’s so emotionally constipated that he outperforms changbin but this one,,,

this just feels so different

he’s hugging you

he’s embracing you

he’s burrowing his face to your neck and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t ever imagine what this would feel like :(((

he positively 100% might be in love with you

and you positively 100% might be in love with him too

he’s fishing for your hand by your side to put in between your bodies as he shakes it and that’s because he doesn’t wanna let go of the hug

:((((

you’re melting and this what heaven must feel like :((((

“h-hi. name’s kim taehyung and i’m yours.”

#I SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THIS PLS LEAVE FEEDBACK PLS AND THANK YOU :D #taehyung #kim taehyung #taehyung imagine #taehyung imagines #taehyung x reader #taehyung x y/n #taehyung drabble #taehyung drabbles #taehyung au #taehyung oneshot #bts taehyung #bts imagine #taehyung fic rec #taehyung fic recs #bts fic recs #kim taehyung imagine #requested drabbles

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theadrogna · 3 years

Text

Dream Show Challenge 2.0

@singledarkshade came up with the Dream Show challenge last year, where we had to give her a list of 7 TV shows or films and we were given a cast of 7 actors in return. This time we were given someone else’s cast and were allowed to recast one character (plus add some if we wished). This time I came up with:

Virtuality

Synopsis:

Good people die before their time and it happens every day. Eli Danzig is doing his best to change that. He invents a way to upload consciousness to an online server where the dead can live out a normal life in a virtual environment. He builds an entire world to keep his uploaded souls entertained, making it as lifelike as possible. Huge amounts of processing power are required so Eli must choose his clients carefully.

The electronic world is called Virtuality and the uploaded persons are known collectively as the digi-souls. Virtuality has a small but growing population, which is a continuing concern as it means more storage space is always needed. Eli funds his enterprise by playing the stock market using his AI Tallis to filter information and predict stock prices. Sometimes he sells patents for the things that the digi-souls invent, but more often they give their inventions away for free. However, money is always a worry because none of this is a stable source of income.

Cast:

Eli Danzig (Donald Glover) – Eli is a young computer programmer of genius level intellect. He came from a poor background, and was the first in his family to attend university. He is determined to make things better for people, by improving society. He believes that “only the good die young” is a real problem, and if he could keep the good people in the world for longer then maybe more good could be done. He invents a digital after-life for people to upload their consciousness to, but he must maintain it a secret to keep the unscrupulous from corrupting it or destroying it. He researches every person very carefully before inviting them to join Virtuality.

Ashura Hadid (Tala Ashe) – Ashura is a terminal cancer patient who becomes one of Eli’s digi-souls. She is a prize-winning journalist and novelist, known for taking on difficult stories about things that people would rather keep hidden. She’s recently been looking into CharterTech, owned by Maggie Charter as part of a series on corruption in tech companies, but most of her efforts are going into completing her final novel. Eli and Ashura have undeniable chemistry, but live in very different worlds. She is very driven and moral, always looking for new ways to expose corruption and wrong doing.

Oren Murphy (Jim Byrnes) – Oren was Eli’s professor at University. He made sure that Eli got the scholarship that he needed to attend, and then acted as his mentor. He suffered from high blood pressure and had multiple strokes. He agreed to be Eli’s test case for Virtuality and was the first digi-soul to be uploaded. He is a calming influence on Eli’s life, often being the one to counsel him out of a rash decision.

Shona Lennox (Sophia di Martino) – Eli’s technician, she has a background in medical devices and large-scale genetic information storage. She built the mainframe and worked out how to put into practice Eli’s ideas. She often finds herself in unusual situations now she is working for Eli, but likes her new job and the excitement it brings, even if she complains about it. She used to work for CharterTech but Eli doesn’t know that when he hires her. When she leaves CharterTech she decides to start self-defence classes and can definitely handle herself in a crisis.

Ryan Fournier (Joey Batey) – Ryan is an inventor who has been responsible for some of the world’s most important leaps forward in technology, including making ecological sources of power more viable, such as wind and solar power. He is a problem solver and a big ideas guy. Unfortunately, he was born with a genetic condition that meant he died young, but he is now one of Eli’s digi-souls and living on in the Virtuality. He loves nothing better than to sit down with a problem and work out a solution, but occasionally he realises what he’d missing out on in the real world and ends up depressed and unhappy.

Chie Ohta (Naoko Mori) – Chie is a medical researcher and entrepreneur, but she was unable to save herself from a rare blood disease, despite years of trying. In the process she brought many other useful pieces of medical technology to the market and helped save the lives of countless people with cures for diseases. She loved her work, but always knew she was on borrowed time. She left behind a husband and children, who have no idea of her new existence. She continues to check up on them, despite Oren’s suggestion that this isn’t a good idea.

Maggie Charter (Alison Janney) – Maggie is a self-made woman, in the way that all billionaires are self-made. She inherited a fortune from her politician father and invested in business. She had a technical background so she picked tech companies as an obvious interest. She now owns CharterTech, one of the largest technical manufacturing companies in the world. She once tried to recruit Eli and has never been pleased that he turned her down. She knows nothing about Virtuality but has heard rumours that someone was working on something like it.

Tallis (Arthur Darvill) – Tallis is the AI personality that maintains the Virtuality. He is often mistaken for one of the digi-souls by the newly uploaded as he is so lifelike. He is polite and caring, always available to listen. He is Eli’s friend and also occasional advisor. Tallis means “knowledge” and he has access to all of the world’s online resources.

Occam (Karen Gillan) - Is another AI, built by CharterTech. She is new and unruly, but very quick to follow her creator’s orders. Sparks fly between her and Tallis.

Episodes:

Episode 1: Virtually Home

Ashura Hadid, prize winning writer, is dying at the age of 38. It’s not fair, it’s not right and she is having none of it. She is being treated for an aggressive brain tumour, but decides to stop treatment when it becomes clear that it will impact her ability to write and finish her final novel. The novel is partly a work of fiction but is also based on real life events at a chemical factory in the city that she has been researching.

Eli Danzig introduces himself to her and explains that he can offer her a second chance at life, by uploading her mind to Virtuality. She explains that she has no money and Eli tells her how he finances the project. She will never have to pay to live there. Ashura questions Eli further about the procedure and Virtuality itself. Eli tells her that he chooses young people, like Ashura, who have died before their time and had great contributions to make to society. They live in a computer generated world where things are simple but they can continue to work and interact with each other. However, they cannot have contact with the outside world, because Virtuality is a secret. It isn’t ready to be opened up to the world, there isn’t enough storage space on Earth to facilitate it. He doesn’t want it to be something that only the rich have access to, so he has decided to choose who gets to go there.

Elsewhere, Maggie Charter discusses her heart condition with her doctor and hears that she may only have a few months to live. She is 61 years old and a tech mogul. For years she has been looking for a way to cure her heart disease. Her network of corporate spies have heard of a young man with an unusual portfolio of patents and a strange pattern of spending on digital storage. She finds out that it is Eli and decides to look into what he is doing more.

Over the course of their discussions, Eli and Ashura grow closer. Eli’s AI partner, Tallis, warns him that he cannot form emotional attachments to the Digi-souls. Ashura will die soon and then Eli will only be able to have limited interaction with her through the interface he has built. Ashura thinks over the proposal and decides to take the plunge. Episode 1 ends with her death. However, Ashura doesn’t die of brain cancer, she is found murdered in her apartment.

Episode 2: Extra Life

Eli must upload Ashura within 12 hours of her death to retain all of her memories, after that time degradation begins to take place. Eli races against time to reach Ashura in the morgue and take the brainwave recording that he needs. Shona Lennox, Eli’s technician, ends up breaking in while Eli creates a computer distraction. They are finally able to upload Ashura’s consciousness, but she has forgotten the days before her death, and they are unable to find out who killed her. She has also forgotten who Eli is.

Meanwhile in Virtuality, the digi-souls try to analyse Ashura’s work for the likely culprit and begin putting together a picture of who it might be. Someone at CharterTech seems a very strong candidate, but then they discover that Ashura was close to uncovering a chemical spill which derails their ideas.

Episode 3: Online Banking

Maggie is putting together more about Eli and his weird ability to make money from stock market trades and a portfolio of patents that seem to have little in common. She uncovers more about the shell companies that he trades through and puts more pieces together. Tallis flags up her interest and Eli works to cover his tracks. It’s the worst time for Ryan to make a major breakthrough in water purification that could save hundreds of lives, but only if they can get it to the right people. With Maggie watching everything that Eli and Shona are doing in the real world, perhaps only the virtual world can get the idea where it needs to be, especially as Ryan is feeling like his efforts don’t matter as he reads yet another news article on how climate change isn’t real.

Shona is contacted by her former boss at CharterTech who invites her to return, but Shona turns them down. The concerning part is that she’s being asked to work on an AI project called Occam. Ashura continues her investigations into CharterTech whilst rekindling her past relationship with Eli.

Episode 4: Occam’s Razor

Maggie has a heart attack, but survives, however she is becoming more and more concerned about her health. She brings online her own AI, Occam and begins to sift through all of the information that she can acquire on medical technology. Occam comes across Chie’s work when she was alive. No one else seems to have been quite as close to curing the heart issue that Maggie has. Occam notices that Eli’s shell company has patented some devices that were based on Chie’s work. In fact, Occam notices that this is something of a trend in Eli’s patent’s and brings together the other work that he has done to see something that Maggie has been unable to see up until this point. Eli may have some way of accessing the brains of the dead.

Episode 5: Reality Bytes

Ryan is bored and ends up creating a virtual ant colony that soon gets out of control, causing all sorts of trouble for Virtuality. Tallis is very much not amused at the replicating program that Ryan has introduced to the system. He and Oren are left to deal with it with only minimal input from Eli as he is being sued by CharterTech over one of his patents. It looks like a lawsuit brought specifically to waste his time, but there doesn’t seem to be anyway to circumvent it, especially with everyone else busy with the increasingly problematic (and storage sucking) ant farm.

Episode 6: Denial of Service

Someone tries to hack into Virtuality and it is up to Eli and the digi-souls to stop them. Chie finds out that her teenage daughter has a new boyfriend, and against Tallis’ advice she looks into him and discovers that he has a possible chromosomal abnormality which could lead to an early death. Chie tries to decide whether she should find a way to let her husband know.

Eli and the others successfully prevent the hack but are worried that someone now knows of the existence of Virtuality. Certainly someone is testing their defences. Shona finally tells Eli that she used to work for CharterTech and the fallout is unfortunate.

Episode 7: Second Life

Eli finds a possible new candidate for Virtuality and starts his due diligence. Usually Shona would be involved in this process but their recent falling out means that things are not running smoothly. The new prospect seems like the perfect candidate and Eli almost begins his usual approach, until Oren uncovers some anomalies that Eli had missed. They may not even exist at all. The question is, who knows enough about Virtuality to do something like this?

Tallis uncovers the existence of Occam, and there is a brief encounter where they size each other up. Occam is identified as the force that tried to hack Virtuality before.

Episode 8: Power Switch

City-wide power outages see Eli scrambling to ensure Virtuality doesn’t go down and lose all the digi-souls. Shona returns to help and the two resolve their differences whilst saving the world that they built together. The digi-souls come up with increasingly desperate plans to produce the power they need to survive, but save the day in the end. Ryan puts together new plans to ensure it never happens again.

Episode 9: Deleted

Ashura finally gets to the bottom of who murdered her and it was nothing to do with CharterTech or Maggie. Her exposé of a chemical company’s disregard for environmental law was the issue that caused her death. Shona uses some contacts to get the police involved and the digi-souls help Ashura gather enough evidence to get the culprit put away in jail for a long time.

Eli and Ashura address some of the issues with their relationship, but resolve to give it a go, despite the obvious barriers.

Episode 10: Boss Fight

Maggie and Occam finally uncover the existence of Virtuality and the digi-souls. The finale sees Maggie managing to force her way into the digital world, whilst Occam and Tallis fight it out. Eli and Shona do their best to help Tallis, but find their offices raided and their technology confiscated. Maggie gets time to get a foothold, but the strain is too much on her heart.

Just as Eli and Shona find their way back in, Maggie dies in the real world. Eli can either choose to kill her for good or keep her malevolent presence in Virtuality. Tallis isn’t too keen on sharing with Occam either.

#Dream Show #Dream show 2.0 #RBACL #RBACL QCC

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sorcererinthestars · 3 years

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That Which Lurks in the Dark [FAHC]

My contribution to the @rtwritingcommunity‘s Secret Santa fic exchange. I love this exchange because it forces me to write and this year, I got a delight because I got to write something for one of my very best friends, @shadeofazmeinya! I hope you enjoy, my love! <3

Everyone else, enjoy as well.

WC: 4583 Summary: Sent out to Boston in the middle of the winter to make relations with a new gun-running squad, the Lads don't realize how badly this could go. Furious, bleeding, and cold, they take shelter in a shitty motel room and are forced to confront the reason they're in this mess... and the feelings that lurk in their hearts.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28073598

It was that kind of storm that stole breath away, tore the sight from your eyes and made you weep with the fear of it. The storm howled around their little car, made every mile treacherous and dangerous, the potential of it stopping seemed to diminish with every passing second.

Inside the car it was no less dangerous. Three men sat hunched and breathless, trying to flee where they came from and yet make it to their destination unharmed. While they were out of the storm, the atmosphere inside the car was tense, able to be cut with a knife.

Michael, in the back, is bleeding. It slips crimson red down his side, across his pants, and stains the car seat. There’s no way they could return this rental — yet another thing Gavin had to deal with when they got somewhere safe. But the road almost unpassable now, not yet plowed, and the wind continued to howl its rage into the skies around them.

Gavin shifts, gritting his teeth as he tries his best to keep his hands on Michael’s wound. “How’re you doing, boi?”

The resulting wince is enough of an answer, but Michael wasn’t one to stay silent. He huffs an angry grumble. “Fine,” he snorts. Obviously untrue, but what was he supposed to do? The blood flow was thankfully stopping, but stab wounds needed treatment — none he was going to get here. “Or, fine enough.”

“We need to fuckin’ get back to the hotel,” Jeremy growls. His whole body is fixated on the road and not on the two men in the back seat. “If you had just listened to me…”

“Don’t fucking start!” Michael snaps back, his fury igniting like a piece of ripcord. If Gavin hadn’t quickly ducked out of the way, he would have been clipped by Michael’s head as the man straightens up quickly to throw his words at Jeremy like missiles. “Don’t you dare.”

“I knew it was a trap from the moment we walked in!” Jeremy hisses. “But no, you said we still had to go like you’re the fuckin’ leader or something…”

“I AM the fucking leader of the Lads!” Michael shoots back before Gavin wrestles him back down. “Boys, boys, you’re both pretty!” he snaps. “But Michael, you’re gonna bleed out if you continue to fight like this. Sit back, damn it. And Jeremy, you’re gonna crash the damn car. We need to find a place to stop.”

Stop? Jeremy turns to look at him owlishly before having to skid to avoid an ice patch in the center of the road. “This is Boston,” he retorts. “It’s what it’s like in the winter.”

“Doesn’t stop us from havin’ a half-dead guy in the back,” Gavin shoots back. “We need to stop and deal with Michael’s wounds. And look at it! You can’t see.”

It was true. The wind was just getting worse, threatening to toss the car off the road. A full out blizzard. They would need to ditch off for fear of losing everything in a crash. The money in the back seat wasn’t remotely how much they were supposed to get, but it was something, and Geoff would be upset if it didn’t make it home.

Not to mention, probably upset if three of his best crewmates didn’t return home either. Jeremy sighs. “Fine. Google a hotel or a motel closer to here then. Somewhere that won’t ask a lot of questions if we stain shit red with Michael’s blood.”

Gavin nods, pushing Michael’s hand over so he would keep pressure on his own wound. The other shifts, leaning against the car door and pressing firmly down on the stab wound. It wasn’t critical - they wouldn’t have made it out of that damn warehouse if it was. But it was fucking painful as hell and would need stitches for sure. Michael wasn’t quite looking forward to that procedure.

With hands covered in blood, Gavin pokes at his phone, grimacing at the stains that get all over the screen. “Looks like there’s a ... Motel 6 about ten...ten-ish miles down the road. Take the next right.”

Jeremy does, the car skittering and causing them all to grab on tight with shouts of alarm. “Sorry, sorry...,” Jeremy mutters, focusing again on the road and getting traction. He had forgotten how to drive in the snow after so long away.

Michael grunts under his breath and with Gavin’s directions and Jeremy’s partially safe driving, they manage to navigate towards the motel. Its lights barely puncture the maelstrom, providing a somewhat sickly flush of yellow light against the howling winds. But it’s shelter and warmth and a bed, and right now that’s all they need.

Pulling in, Jeremy takes stock of the situation. He’s probably the least bloody of the three of them, just a few stains on his jacket that he wipes off with the back of his hand. “Look. I’m gonna go in and see if I can get a fuckin’ room or two for us. You just... wait here.”

Michael glares at him from the back seat. “Like I’m g-gonna go anywhere,” he winces sarcastically. Jeremy just grunts. He knows he looks ridiculous in his purple and orange getup, but at least he has a big black parka to throw on over it. He snatches it, shouldering the heavy material, and stomps off towards the main building.

As they watch him disappear into the storm, Michael leans back against the leather. Maybe he shouldn’t be so frustrated - it certainly wasn’t Jeremy’s fault they were stood up and attacked during what should have been a simple gun-running meeting - but the sickening feeling that he failed... failed Geoff, failed them, failed himself... still twists in his stomach.

The assignment was simple. They were meeting some east coast gunrunners who were looking to start making shipments across the USA. These guys were cheap and would be a great addition to the Fake portfolio, so Geoff had Gavin research them and then sent his Lads to Boston. They’d meet with the dealers, Gavin would negotiate a deal, and then they’d fly home with money and deal secured.

But shit went tit’s up, and well...

Gavin knocks Michael out of his train of thought by adjusting his pressure on the wound, sending another wave of pain through Michael’s abdomen. He grunts. “Just ... just climb in the back and get some bandages or some shit,” he says forcefully, shoving on Gavin’s shoulder.

Glancing out the back window, Gavin frowns. “I - uh. It’s ... well, Micoo, it’s snowing, and I don’t really want -”

“Baby,” he shoots back, but before he could make another quip, Jeremy comes stomping back. His nose and ears are bright red and his eyes are shining under the hood, which is caked in snow. He hops back into the car and hovers over the heating vent for a few breathless moments, shivering. “FUCK.”

“Cold?” Michael says dryly. “Never would’ve guessed.”

He shoots him the bird and shakes himself off. “They’ve only got one room left,” he announces. “With a King bed. Which means some of us are sleepin’ on the fucking floor. But there’s heat. And a roof.”

“Good enough,” Gavin says quietly, glancing between the two of them with a somewhat uneasy expression. Jeremy starts the car and with a bit of slipping and sliding in the snow that gathered, they make it to the space outside their hotel room. A deliberate effort between all three of them manages to get Michael out of the car, Gavin gagging a bit at the bloodstain on the seat. They hobble Michael to the door and Gavin stands, shivering and supporting Michael’s dead weight as Jeremy fumbles with the lock.

The door opens with a whoosh of warm air and they stagger inside, frantically throwing the door shut behind them with finality. It’s a basic motel room, certainly nothing fancy, but thankfully warm and clean enough. Michael sags onto the bed, holding his side with a grunt. “...ugh.”

“Ugh indeed,” Jeremy shoots back. “Gav, can you stay with him? I’m going to unload the car.” He adjusts his parka. “See if you can get some hot water going, we’re all gonna need a shower.”

The room turns into a flurry of activity with Michael as an oasis of calm. Jeremy drags their few things inside - a black duffel bag full of cash, a few guns, and that’s it. All their clothes and supplies are back in the five-star hotel they had booked, a twenty-five minute drive back into the city. It may as well be sixty miles, based on how fast they could drive and as much as they could see.

Gavin, in the bathroom, fiddles with the old pipes. He cranks the hot water on as high as it would go and waits, hearing the rattle and hiss as the pipes pull the water and tries to heat it. The first blast is ice cold, sending him skittering away like a kicked puppy as he almost gets a blast of the artic against his already cold skin. The pipes rattle and groan and the water turns very slightly less miserable.

He frowns at it and leaves the bathroom. “...gonna take a while,” he announces, “if it ever gets there at all.” Then he immediately gags and almost runs back into the bathroom to vom, as Jeremy has Michael’s shirt off and is probing the wound that weeps miserably down his side.

“I can do it,” Michael grits. “I’ve dressed my own wounds before.”

“Alone, in the middle of a heist, maybe - and I’ve seen the results of your self-stitching in all the bubbled scars on your skin,” Jeremy retorts. “Just shut up and let me help you, you whiny baby.”

Michael squeezes his eyes closed as Jeremy probes the edges of the wound before digging into his first aid kit. Thankfully, they had brought it along, figuring their meeting may involve a bit of a scuffle but never realizing it would devolve as much as it had. Controlling his stomach as best he could, Gavin pads over to sit next to Michael and watch owlishly as Jeremy starts doing what he can for the wound.

First he cleans it with strong antiseptic, to the point where Michael has to bite on the side of his sweatshirt to stop from howling and alerting all their neighbors to something nefarious going on in the next room. Then he sterilizes a needle as best he can and lays Michael back.

“No fuckin’ booze?” he grunts. “Just going to have you stitch me up stone cold sober?”

“This kind of place doesn’t have a fuckin’ minibar,” Jeremy retorts. “Just shut up and let me do this.”

Gavin elects to go check on the water as Jeremy works to clean and stitch Michael up. Despite the apparent frustration between the two, Jeremy’s stitches are neat and clean and as painless as he can make them. At least until Michael mutters a rude comment under his breath, making Jeremy tug the sutures harder than necessary. Michael gasps in agony. “Bitch!”

“Don’t be a dick when someone’s got a needle in your flesh,” Jeremy retorts calmly, tying off the string. He cleans the wound again and wraps it in clean, bright white bandages. “There. You won’t die.”

“Glad for that,” Michael says stiffly, moving so he could kind of lean against the top of the bed. Jeremy glances over to the shower when Gavin pops back out. “So...,” he says hesitantly. “There’s - uh. Really no hot water.”

Jeremy groans and goes to put his face in his hands but stops when he sees the blood all over them. Gavin weakly tries to smile. “Enough for a quick one?” he says hesitantly and then squawks as Jeremy shoulders him aside to claim the stall. He tries to close the door but Gavin shoves his arm in the way to block it.

“.... we’re both covered in sweat and blood,” he retorts. “Just share, yeah? I won’t look if you won’t.”

Both try to ignore the blooming red on their cheeks, but it’s kind of a hard thing. But what is Jeremy going to say? Neither of them could bathe in ice cold water, not tonight when it was only nominally warmer inside than it was outside. They’d get sick. And they needed enough hot water to bring Michael a cloth to sponge himself off. So reluctantly - with Michael making joking noises in the other room - Jeremy opens the door for Gavin to follow.

They undress quietly, trying not to look. It’s hard not to. Jeremy’s eyes keep flicking to Gavin’s long, lithe figure. He’s got scars, they all do, but they seem to work on him more than they do on the two brawlers. They’re smooth and slight white lines instead of bubbled, dark little things. Gavin’s skin is still tanned despite the winter cold and he’s got hair all over. Tasteful hair, though. Hair Jeremy really has to stop himself from wanting to run his hands through.

For fuck’s sake, J. Get yourself together. He frantically tears his eyes away and focuses on trying not to be caught looking. It had been a stressful night, he just was aching for a quick tug that he would have got if Gav wasn’t sharing the fucking shower with him. He just had to focus solely on not giving himself away with any ... unsavory uncontrollable actions in his nether regions.

For Gavin, he hadn’t ever really hid his attraction in Jeremy and tonight was no different. He gazes long at Jeremy’s back and the curve where it swelled into his ass. But he was too cold and tired to dwell on his thoughts for too long, instead jumping under the lukewarm spray and huddling there until Jeremy viciously shoves him out of the way.

They wrestle for the prime spot under the water for a bit before starting to focus on cleaning themselves off. Thankfully the stall was big enough that they weren’t chest to chest - this would be impossible otherwise. They dance around each other enough to get all the grime and blood and sweat off. Jeremy even offers to clean Gavin’s back of anything he can’t reach.

“.... are you and Michael gonna bitch at each other all night?” Gavin asks reluctantly as they shut the water off and climb out, starting to towel down and change back into the only clothes they got. Jeremy elects to stay in his boxers and throws his ruined bloodstained pants into the tub to try to wash them out. He shrugs a bit. “Guy’s an ass.”

“You know he’s not. You know he’s just scared.” Gavin shifts, glancing over at Jeremy where he’s pulling his tshirt back on, grimacing at how dirty it feels on his clean form. “He got stabbed to save you, y’know.”

Jeremy jerks a bit, straightening quickly. “I know,” he shoots back. “But if he had listened to me, we would never have be --”

“Are you two fuckin’ done in there? I gotta pee!” Michael slams his hand on the door and Jeremy frantically opens it to find Michael holding himself up against the wall sluggishly, having hauled his own ass off the bed and hobbled over to the bathroom.

Jeremy sighs and helps Michael to the toilet, where he braces himself on the side of the sink and gives Jeremy a baleful look. “I can do this part myself, thanks,” he says coldly, and Jeremy holds up his hands. “Fine, fine. We’ll let you pee. If it’s bloody let me know.”

They clamber out of the bathroom and Jeremy and Gavin are left considering the big elephant - or rather, bed - in the room. One bed. Three angry men. Jeremy runs an exasperated hand over his face. “I - who’s taking the floor?”

“I can,” Michael says, opening the door and hobbling forward. “You dicks can take the bed.”

“No way,” Jeremy retorts. “You’re still bleeding. You take the bed, I don’t want to risk anything getting worse. I can sleep on the floor.”

“Can’t we all just share the bed?” Gavin asks with a raised eyebrow. “It’s a King. There’s more than enough room if we squish.”

Jeremy glances over at Michael, who groans and throws his hands up in the air as best he can without toppling over. “I don’t -”

“I’ll just take the floor then,” Gavin shoots back. “You two work out your issues.” They can all hear the exasperation in his voice as he grabs a pillow and one of the spare blankets out of the cabinet and makes a small nest on the floor. “Go to bed,” he snaps. “It’s late.”

Jeremy stands a bit dumbfounded, staring owlishly at the now pile of Gavin that was laying among the blanket on the ground. “I - Gav...”

“Just fucking stop being kids!” he snaps. “Michael, you should have listened to Jeremy when he said it’s probably a trap. Jeremy, you should have left your gun inside because that’s what tipped them off and made them start shooting. But me!” Gavin’s face contorts and he sits up a bit. “Me? I should have fucking researched this team a bit more and saw a setup when one was right in front of me. But I didn’t! None of us did. But we’re alive and for the moment safe, so can you stop being such mongs and just drop it?!”

Michael’s mouth had sort of ... dropped open. Gavin normally didn’t give such impassioned speeches, particularly ones that ended with him curling back up with his back to them on the floor in a somewhat dirty looking fleece blanket. His eyes flick to Jeremy, who is looking back at him.

“I’m sor--”

“Michael, I - “

They blink. Michael turns a bit red. “Look, I should’ve listened to you, okay...”

“No,” Jeremy shoots back. “I never should have brought my gun. If you didn’t shove me out of the way, that knife that guy threw probably would have blinded me, or worse. So uh.... thanks.”

Michael nods a bit. “I - yeah. Come on. If Gav is so comfortable on the floor with all the jizz or whatever the fuck else is down there on that shit carpet, you can take the spot next to me.” He pats the bed and, chuckling slightly, Jeremy climbs in. Gavin, meanwhile, squawks a bit at the thought and shifts, grumbling. “Micoo, why’d you have to remind me....?!”

Before he could reply, there’s a big snapping sound, what sounds like a mini explosion which makes them all jump partially to their feet, and the room plunges into darkness. And cold. “.... shit,” Michael retorts, holding his side and easing back down with a pained gasp. “Transformer blew. No power.”

It’s quiet for a few moments as the cool air starts winning the battle against the now useless heating system. They wouldn’t freeze to death in their sheltered room, but it was going to get a lot colder. Gavin whimpers a bit and pulls his blanket closer to him as Michael adjusts and pulls the covers up and over him and Jeremy.

“....guys?” Gavin’s voice is small. “I ... I know I just yelled at you, but... it’s cold...”

“Oh, get up here,” Michael sighs. Jeremy nods and moves to make a small warm place for Gavin to slip into. He leaps to his feet and clambers over Jeremy to nuzzle between the two of them, dragging his blanket over them all.

For a moment, they just lay there, squished into one bed and breathing into the cool, dark room. Under the covers, Gavin shivers a bit and his hand finds Jeremy’s, latching onto it. Surprisingly, Jeremy squeezes it and holds it close.

“...you guys okay now?” Gavin asks softly. A beat and then two communal noises of affirmation from the other two boys. Michael moves a bit to get himself upright, hissing in pain, but pulls Gavin a bit closer to him. There’s something a bit possessive in the gesture.

“I’m sorry,” he says to the room, to the faces he can’t really see. “I - I almost lost you both because... because of my stupid fuckin’ decision and I...”

“Micoo,” Gavin purrs a bit, stroking his face with a blundering hand, as he could just see shadows and shapes in the dark room. But Michael’s eyes still close at the caress, loving the touch of Gavin’s hand against his skin.

“Me too,” Jeremy admits, turning. His eyes glint in the bit of light they had through the window and Michael meets his eyes. The silent apology is obvious. He snuggles closer to Gavin and they all hunch a bit tighter. More for skin contact and touch than for warmth.

Gavin’s the one, in the end, that starts it. He squirms a bit, sandwiched between the two, and holds them close - his two burly boys. One hand drifts a bit too far over and brushes against Jeremy’s crotch. Clothed in only his boxers, Jeremy gasps and shivers at the sensation, unable to stop himself.

No one can see the smirk that arrives on Gavin’s face, but he turns and Jeremy knows the expression despite not being able to see it. “Just sleep, Gav,” he retorts, a bit strained, but no chance now. “Michael... Jeremy likes being in the bed with us, Michael.”

“Shut up, Gav.”

“I think he’s just being grumpy because he secretly loves us and doesn’t like it when we all fight,” Gavin whispers conspiratorially, playfully, to Michael, who chuckles. “Don’t tease him, Gav.”

He grins down at Jeremy, squirming closer to him, but doesn’t realize when a spark kind of ... ignites behind Jeremy’s eyes. He grabs him and yanks him closer, so Gavin’s kind of on top of him and looks down at him breathlessly. “You’re a little shit, aren’t you?”

Gavin giggles a bit. “Mm. Maybe. You’re just a very pretty boy, Jeremy.” He just likes to see the smile on Jeremy’s face, despite the fact that it was almost too dark to see. Michael next to them just watches with an amused look ... that turns into shock as Jeremy yanks Gavin down and seals their lips together.

If Michael was shocked, that was nothing like what Gavin felt. He tugs back for half a second in surprise and Jeremy immediately goes to let him go before he’s surging back down to kiss him deeper. Gavin had wanted this from the very first time Jeremy appeared on the doorsteps to the Fakes, a bag in one hand and a gun in the other, demanding a job.

“Shit,” Michael grins, face red. He wants to turn more but can’t, gasping again in pain. “Don’t... ah! Don’t leave me out of the fun.”

Two heads pop up, just shadows. “You?” Gavin says brightly. “Michael?” Jeremy whispers. “Are - I mean... we just...”

“You don’t think I take a stab wound for just anyone, do you?” Michael says dryly. “Now give me kisses, you dicks, before I have to demand more. I’m currently the invalid, you have to help me feel better you know.”

Gavin’s squeal of pleasure is all he needs, clambering as safely as he can over Michael so they could get the man comfortably between them. Gavin’s lips are very soft. Michael had always imagined them to be so, but it was one thing to use his imagination and another thing to taste them for himself. He tries to pull Gavin closer, but the move hurts and he gasps into the kiss making Gavin pull back.

As soon as he does so, Jeremy is stealing a kiss. It’s rougher than Gavin’s. As if Jeremy’s trying to apologize or make him apologize through a simple kiss. Michael does what he can to push back into it without much control of his ab muscles, meeting rough lips with rough lips.

What he doesn’t expect is Gavin’s hands on his hips. Wrapping around him and jerking. Michael’s eyes fly open with surprise and he jolts, pain and pleasure combining in a spasm. “Jesus, Gavin!”

“No good?” Gavin says quickly, retracting his hand. “I thought - it’s been a stressful night and Jeremy... and you.... “

“No, no, no...,” Michael gasps against Jeremy’s lips before he pulls away. “Very good. Very good. Just - are you sure you...”

“Before we go down this road too much, I need to remind you two that Michael fucking has a hole in his side,” Jeremy cuts in. “Nothing too crazy, please.” But he says it so easily and its so dark Michael can’t really see faces but there’s just such quiet longing in Gavin’s tone, in Jeremy’s, that he can just fall back on the bed and gasp a bit. “We’re idiots.”

“Hmm?” Jeremy asks, chuckling. “How so?”

“Yelling at each other when we were worried instead of doing this,” Michael mutters. “This is much more fun.”

Jeremy laughs. “Sure is.” Then he bends back down to kiss Michael again as Gavin kisses above his wound and gently runs his hand up and down Michael’s length.

In the end, it doesn’t take long before Michael is bucking into Gavin’s hand and gasping. Jeremy and Gavin follow him through to the end and curl up next to him, pressing kisses on both cheeks. Michael closes his eyes, a sleepy breathless mess, pain still intense but more manageable with two warm bodies next to him.

They may be lost in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of thousands of miles from home. They may have no power and not be able to see each other’s faces, and maybe thats’ why things escalated the way that it did. Maybe. But all Michael can think about now was that he had his Lads in his arms. And they were safe, at the end of the day, despite all the fear he held that made him lash out.

He’s hurt, but they’re with him. And they’ll stay with him until the bitter end.

And that’s all he needs.

#fahc #ragehappy #jeremavin #rt community secret santa #my writing #a gift for shade!#OH NO THERE'S ONLY ONE BED!

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skinsharpenedteeth · 3 years

Text

Coming Up Easy - The First Job

Here’s this weeks installment of Coming Up Easy. Read it on Ao3 here!

---

Alex stared at the suit he’d laid out on the chair next to his bed in preparation for the next morning. He’d been at his new job as a systems analyst for a week and a half and he was pretty overwhelmed by it. He’d interned doing something similar, but this was a lot more pressure than he’d been expecting. He sighed and listened to the quiet of the apartment around him. If he strained, he could detect his neighbors above him padding through their apartment and talking. It was late and most of the building around him was dark as people shut down to await the next day. He wasn’t feeling like shutting down. He was feeling restless. Guiltily, he looked at his phone and thought about Michael. It wasn’t as late in New Mexico as it was in Toronto.

Me 1:08 a.m.>> You up? <<Michael 1:12 a.m.>> I am. Miss me? Me 1:12 a.m.>> Shut up. Me 1:13 a.m.>> Yes. Me 1:13 a.m.>> It’s quiet tonight and I don’t feel like sleeping yet. Talk to me. That always makes me tired. <<Michael 1:14 a.m.>> Ouch! <<Michael 1:15 a.m.>> Thought you loved my mouth… ;) Me 1:16 a.m.>> Only when it’s otherwise occupied. <<Michael 1:18 a.m.>> Noted. <<Michael 1:20 a.m.>> So how’s the new job so far? Me 1:21 a.m.>> Ugh. A job. It’s a lot. I think I’m beginning to understand the salary. <<Michael 1:22 a.m.>> Need me to come take you for lunch?

Alex grinned and flopped down on his barely-made bed. It was still just a mattress on the floor. He hadn’t yet gotten around to going to Ikea or Target to get proper furniture past what he needed to absolutely survive.

He closed his eyes and imagined Michael strolling into the 12th floor lobby area in his dusty cowboy gear, curls sunkissed and wild, looking around all the granite, marble, and glass trying to spot Alex’s office. He imagined the few coworkers he saw regularly side eyeing him as they hustled around with their print outs and portfolios and he smiled to himself. It was a nice fantasy.

Me 1:25 a.m.>>Maybe someday. Me 1:28 a.m. >>Remember when I worked at the Emporium and you came up and practically mauled me in that little closet behind the ticket booth? <<Michael 1:29 a.m.>> The one where you had the safe and you kept all the extra papers and shit? Yeah, I remember it. I still smile when I pass by. Me 1:30 a.m.>> That was the first time you kissed me. <<Michael 1:31 a.m.>> That was the first time I did a lot of things with you. ;)

Their mingled breath stirred and barely registered in the hot, cramped stock closet. Alex had hastily hung up the Back in 5! sign and shoved Michael into the closet so they could “talk.” He’d barely had a chance to turn from shutting the door when he felt Michael’s large, warm hands grabbing his face and holding him still so he could press his lips against Alex’s. It was too rough, too dry, and too sudden, but it still managed to knock Alex’s socks off for sheer enthusiasm. When Michael finally pulled back, they stared at each other for a moment in silence. Both of them with their eyes wide and surprised and Michael’s with so many questions. ‘Is this alright?’, ‘Did he do good?’, and ‘Is this what Alex wanted too?’ chief amongst them.

Alex pushed forward and pressed his open lips against Michael’s, pulling them slightly in invitation as he moved fluidly from one kiss to another. Michael caught on quick and after a few minutes, let Alex lead while he improvised elsewhere. His hands roamed over Alex’s shoulders and arms, down the sides of his ribs to his waist and hips, around to his back and up. He seemed to want to touch everywhere he could and it was exhilarating and exciting and distracting to Alex who wanted to kiss until he died of asphyxiation because somehow this was the hottest thing to ever happen to him. This fumble in a closet that smelled like plywood, brown paper, and metal was wiping clear the cluttered memories of naked guys in the locker room or suave twenty-somethings offering to show him a thing or two in the bathroom of Planet 7.

“You’re such a good kisser,” Michael mumbled when they absolutely had to break apart, his lips brushing against Alex’s as he talked. They couldn’t get close enough. Alex could feel how much this was working for Michael against his hip and he was sure Michael could feel his agreement with the situation as well. Alex shifted down to his knees and quickly started pawing at the button on Michael’s jeans. “HOLY SHIT, what are you doing?!”

“I was going to blow you if that’s okay,” Alex sassed, giving him a sarcastic quirk of his eyebrow before triumphantly getting Michael’s pants unfastened.

“You don’t have to do that…” Michael started, sounding less sure as Alex pulled his jeans and underwear down to mid thigh, exposing his erection to the open air. He smelled like sweat and faintly like musk, but also clean and the sight of him made Alex’s mouth water.

“I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do. But I want to. Do you want me to?” Alex asked, looking up to check Michael’s face. Michael looked dumbstruck, but he nodded when Alex caught his eye. “Then let me do it. I have to get back out there in ten minutes.”

Without further ado, Alex reached out and smoothed his hand over Michael’s cock. He pushed back his foreskin and swiped his tongue over the sticky, wet cockhead, and then he went to town.

The rest of the memory is sensation and the sounds of Michael’s high, breathless sighs above him and the feeling of his spasmic, clenching fingers against the muscles of his shoulders. Alex remembers wiping his mouth, embarrassed by the fact that he’d been able to cum just from blowing Michael, and thinking he needed to get back out there and possibly to a bathroom to clean up.

He stood up while Michael was still breathing hard and collapsed on top of the metal safe.

“Wait, where are you going?” Michael asked, grabbing his hand as he turned to leave.

“I’m… bathroom. To clean up?” Alex replied, eyes darting down to the barely-discernible damp spot on the front of his black dickies.

“Oh…” Michael said, sounding somehow impressed and disappointed. “Does… does this mean we’re dating?”

“What? No. I can’t have a boyfriend, my dad would literally murder both of us if he found out,” Alex replied quickly, almost laughing at the idea. It was the kind of laughter that comes from an absurd truth that one couldn’t deny.

“Then, what is this? I mean… I’d like to do this again. Maybe this time I’d get a chance to touch you,” Michael said slowly. The cum cooling in Alex’s underwear was unpleasant, but Michael’s face was breaking his heart. He looked a little hurt and a little lost and a lot hopeful.

“Friends…. With benefits. We’re friends with benefits. That’s all I can do right now,” Alex said apologetically. Michael smiled wryly, but nodded. He understood scarcity and secrecy too well. Alex nodded once back and then left the closet.

Me 1:33 a.m.>> You know, I could never go into that room without thinking I smelled you in there still. <<Michael 1:34 a.m.>> Scent memory is a thing, but I thought it was like you had to smell something and it brought up memories, not the other way around. Me 1:35 a.m.>> Maybe it’s both ways.

Alex yawned and shut off the light next to his bed. The ambient half-dark of the city glowed in past the slits in his curtains and illuminated his room slowly as his eyes adjusted to the dark. He felt his phone buzz where he’d left it laying on his chest.

<<Michael 1:36 a.m.>>I always think of you when I see ticket booths for museums. Me 1:37 a.m.>> Good. Me 1:39 a.m.>> I’m going to go try and sleep. Talk to you later. Michael 1:40 a.m.>> Miss me. Me 1:40 a.m.>> Will do.

#coming up easy #malex wip #wip wednesday

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lunarr-rrose · 3 years

Video

Alternative Investment Vehicles

https://u109893.h.reiblackbook.com/generic11/the-storage-stud/alternative-investment-vehicles/

What are some alternative investment vehicles that someone can participate in?

Most people have been trained to get a job, put money into a retirement account, invest in stocks and bonds. Some reasons for this strategy are, it helps drive the economy and the other reason is that the custodians of these retirement accounts get payment when you purchase stocks and bonds.

Somehow when you invest in real estate, usually, these custodians do not get charge fees. This is also the reason why many people when they go to their fidelity account they are not allowed to invest in self-storage.

What you need to do is set up a self-directed retirement account (self-directed IRA/401K). This will allow you to invest in anything you want. Of course, there are certain parameters but for the most part, you are allowed to invest.

Fernando likes real estate because it’s a physical asset. For him, it’s a hedge against inflation. As the dollar continues to drop in values, at the same time the value of the real estate will also increase to keep up with the inflation.

According to him, he also likes real estate because it produces passive income. It allows you to lower your tax bracket.

One more reason for Fernando liking the real estate business, the self-storage specifically over stocks and bonds besides being a tangible asset is that he has more control over the outcomes.

His advice for those who do not have the time to buy real estate or self-storage is to participate in syndication. Meaning you can become an owner or silent partner of one of these real estate investments and get all the benefits of this business without having to do the work.

Fernando O. Angelucci is Founder and President of Titan Wealth Group. He also leads the firm’s finance and acquisitions departments. Fernando Angelucci and Steven Wear founded Titan Wealth Group in 2015, and under his leadership, the firm’s revenue has grown over 100% year over year. Today,

Find out more at

https://www.TheStorageStud.com

https://titanwealthgroup.com/

Listen to our Podcast:

https://thestoragestud.podbean.com/e/alternative-investment-vehicles/

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

So, I've been asked in the past, you know, what are some alternative investment vehicles that someone can participate in? You know, I'm very partial to self storage for a multitude of reasons. And we'll get into that here, but you know, that most people have been trained to, you know, get a job, put money into our retirement account and have that retirement account invest in stocks and bonds. It's basically yet, there's been a few reasons for that. Number one, it helps drive, you know, the economy. Number two, the people that usually, are usually the custodians of these retirement accounts. They get fees for you purchasing stocks and bond. With real estate, on the other hand, usually these custodians do not get to charge fees if you were to invest in these, you know, physical assets or real estate.

And that's the reason why many people, when they go to their fidelity account or their Schwab account, they're actually not allowed to invest in self storage. And that's just because they, that, the custodian won't be able to make any money off of that. So, what you usually have to do is set up a self-directed retirement account of some kind, so self-directed IRA or self-directed 401k. And, that will allow you to invest in anything you want within certain rules. There are certain parameters, but for the most part, real estate counts, the reason I like real estate is because it's a physical asset and it's a hedge against inflation. So, as the dollar continues to drop in value, because of that, the value of your real estate will also increase to keep up with inflation. And that's all that's, you know, that appreciation is just built in that's in addition to say, forced depreciation by renovating or rehabbing the property, or found appreciation by buying the asset below, you know, what its market value is.

And that's because real estate is a, you know, it's a non-perfect investment vehicle unlike stocks and bonds where there's always buyers and sellers on both sides. The, you know, it's very difficult to get a deal on stocks because there's always buyers and sellers. It's a nearly perfect investment vehicle, as far as where the value being based off of, you know, who's willing to buy and who's willing to sell. I also like real estate because it produces passive income. So, it allows you to lower your tax bracket, kind of shifting things away from the capital gains side of the world. Another reason I like real estate or self-storage specifically over stocks and bonds is yes, it's physical. I can touch it. I can go see it. I know it's there, but I also have a better grasp and more control over the outcomes. You know, when you invest in a Fortune 50 company.

There's very little, you can do it as an individual investor to sway that company into acting in a certain way, unless, you know, you're like Warren Buffet or somebody that can come in and buy a huge chunk of the available stocks to have voting rights that actually make a difference in that company. So, we've seen it time and time and time again, where companies will make terrible long-term decisions because they're driven by short term returns. You know, the problem with stocks is that they run on a quarterly basis every quarter, they need to show profit and they, many times do that at the detriment of long-term growth. And that's, you know, when it comes to becoming wealthy, the delayed gratification is a very important thing. The other thing I like about self storage is, if you're able to get into a deal, you can start using that for multiple tax advantage strategy.

So depreciation is a huge thing, where you can reduce your taxable income. Some of the issues that my investors have, is not that they don't make enough money is that they make too much money on paper, which puts them into the highest tax bracket. And they want ways to drop that down. So, investing in real estate is an easy way to drop your income fund. By applying that depreciation, there's also some called cost segregation. It's a cost that usually, it allows you to accelerate the depreciation schedule. So say, you know, a property has a usable life or a useful life of 29 years or 27 years. You, what you can do is you can take the value of that property divided by that useful life. And that's how much you can write off on your taxes and I'm generalizing here. But for the most part, that's how much you can write off on the depreciation schedule.

What cost segregation does is it says, well, you know, an engineer will come through, we'll look at everything in the building and say, well, these doors aren't going to last 29 years. These doors are going to last seven years. And you know, this flooring is only gonna last five years. And you know, these lights are only gonna last X amount of years. And what it does is then it contracts the depreciation schedule allowing you to take much more depreciation upfront. So for example, I bought an $800,000 self storage facility in Illinois. We paid $6,000 to have a cost segregation study done. And in the first year, we were able to write off $184,000 in depreciation because of that cost segregation study. So, these are things that you can't do with stocks and bonds. Again, the passive income is huge for us.

We, think that the easiest way to become wealthy is by having multiple streams of income and multiple streams of income that come in when you're basically sleeping. So, passive income. Now say you're, you know, you're an executive, or you're a busy professional, and you don't have the time to buy real estate or buy self storage. An option that is available to you is to participate in syndications. So, you can become an owner or a silent partner of one of these real estate investments and get all of the benefits of that real estate investment without having to do any of the work. So, you get passed through depreciation, you get passed through passive income, whatever your goals are, that's what you should look for in that syndication. I prefer syndications over the stock market. Usually the returns are much better, than what you'd find the stock market, even though right now, the stock market's doing really well.

I don't think that will last very long. So typically, you know, let's say, someone in the stock market is receiving about 8% average. I think that's a pretty solid number, on these syndications I've seen, because not only do I run syndications, but I also look at investing in other syndications to diversify my own personal portfolio. You know, I'm seeing stuff out there anywhere in the 12 all the way up to the 20% range, as far as returns, on some of this indications available. And that's, you know, that's really great, you know, I had at a 12% return, you're doubling your money, every seven years, which is pretty, you know, that's pretty fast accumulation of wealth. So, those are some options that are available to you. If you want to get involved in self storage, you know, you can either go out and buy your own and, you know, learn trial by fire.

And I really recommend everybody do that. But I understand some people it's just not for them or they just are too busy. They don't want to deal with it. Then they have the ability to invest in someone else's syndication when it comes to that, you got to be very careful about not only due diligence, the deal itself, but then also the due diligence on the spectator response because without them, the deal wouldn't happen. So, number one, you gotta make sure that they're being incentivized to complete a deal, especially if it's a longer term deal in the five to 10 year range, you got to make sure that they have the experience and you know, that the proper team around them to execute on their business plans. So, those are things that I really recommend to those that are seeking alternative investment vehicles.

You know, number one, if it's through an retirement accounts, set up a self-directed, if it's just your, let's say investment money, that's not in a retirement account, and then you don't need to do that. And then, go out there and start finding reputable sponsors with, you know, with good track records. They know what they're doing and know their asset class really well. So, let me know if you have any questions, feel free to put comments below if you have additional topics you'd like us to cover, you can drop those in there as well, and then feel free to reach out to us on our website or various social media platforms there. So again, this is a Storage Stud and see you guys next time.

#Real estate #Real Estate Investing #the storage stud #storage stud #Fernando Angelucci #self storage #alternative funds

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ashintheairlikesnow · 4 years

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Exactly What You Need: Owen

To the Anon who won the “guess the post-apocalyptic New Zealand kids’ show Owen Grant had a guest star role on”: Here is your requested drabble! Owen Grant, the night he ordered Kauri.

CW: Owen is a fucking creep. Implied/referenced assault/abuse with younger!Vincent Shield, manipulate/abusive thoughts, dehumanization. Owen Grant is a dark man and people triggered by abuser thoughts regarding rape/assault should please heed that and stay safe

Tagging: @maybeawhumpblog, @pepperonyscience, @haro-whumps, @18-toe-beans, @burtlederp, @finder-of-rings,

It started with the hair, and the eyes.

Originally, he hadn’t really thought about Vince, exactly - he was just… he was just kind of lonely, and he’d been scrolling the Whumpees-R-Us site, thinking about how it seemed like basically everyone with a name worth knowing and a good stock portfolio had one of the Box Boys or Box Babes now.

And it might be nice to have someone around here to talk to. It’s not like he could talk to the fucking Roomba.

The condo was gorgeous, and he went out to lunch a few times a week with Nicole and some of the former costars and everything that he’d kept in touch with, went to conventions, even wrote an introduction for a book on the dark side of child acting that was pretty well received. He went to the gym three days a week, he watched a bunch of Youtubers that updated pretty regularly. Owen kept himself busy, basically, and none of it stopped him from being really. fucking. lonely.

His mother had called one night after he’d been drinking for two or three hours straight, slowly killing a bottle of gin and a bag of limes while sending increasingly drunken text messages to no one in particular.

He and his mother still talked two or three nights a week. He was probably the only former child actor he knew who still had a really close relationship with his mom… or at least as close as your relationship can be when you’re lying to her about fucking everything about yourself.

She knew anyway. She’d been the one to help him cover it all up with Vince, what happened, why they never spoke again. She knew - but her constituents were bigoted assholes and in the part of the country Carlotta Grant set her sights on, you have to play to the bigoted asshole or you don’t get elected.

His mom was the biggest bitch he knew, but she wasn’t a bigot, exactly. Just happy to roll over for them for the sake of her Senate career. It would kill her ambitions if too much about Former Child Star Owen Grant got into the news, so Owen lied to everybody and everybody pretended to believe him. He’d been lying about it since he was still acting, it’s not like it was that hard to just… keep lying, right?

Even if he’d sort of hoped quitting acting - getting away from Vince and what happened - making his own life out here away from everyone… he’d sort of hoped he could stop lying, then. But nope. Mom got all political and Owen kept on lying.

He’d fucking hate her for it, if he didn’t love her so much.

In any case, she’d called and Owen had been trashed and it… well. The whole time he’d had the Whumpees-R-Us site up, looking through options, scrolling past faces that weren’t right. Or they almost were. But they weren’t the one he wanted.

“Mom, I just want someone here who cares about me,” Owen had said, heavily, into the phone. He knew his words had gone slightly slurred, and he waited for her derision - his mother was the queen of it, after all, of cutting you apart with words alone. “Listen to this - a Whumpees-R-Us nonproductive pet can arrive with any skillset you require or phys, physical combination of- shit, sorry, Mom, I’m drunk-”

“Yes. I can quite tell you are. Don’t be ridiculous, Owen, you’re not getting one.”

“I’m a grown-ass man, Mom, and I say I am.”

“Would you at least order a girl?”

There it is, Owen thought. Carlotta Grant didn’t care if her only child bought a living human person, just if it fit the version her constituents wanted to see.

He took incredible pleasure is pausing long enough to take another long sip of lime and gin before he answered, “Oh, it’ll definitely be a boy.”

“Owen…” Carlotta sighed, heavily. “Darling. We talked about this.”

“No, you talked about it. At great length, no matter how often I asked you to stop. I want a boy and I’ll have one. Here’s a compromise, Mom - what if I don’t let it leave? I’ll keep it in here with me, they can train it to not be able to even walk out the door without me.”

“Owen…”

“Take it or leave it, Mom.”

Carlotta went quiet again, for much longer this time. Then she finally said, “Fine. Owen… I know that my decision was difficult for you-”

“All of your decisions are difficult for me, Mom.”

“Your decisions haven’t exactly been easy for me, either. Vincent Shield could still cause trouble for me, if he ever chooses to air what you did to him publicly.”

“He won’t. We told him I’d stay away from him if he kept it hush-hush, and he did. He won’t say anything to anyone, Mom. You can trust him. I couldn’t, but you can. It doesn’t help his career either, you know, if they find out about him.” Owen felt his throat catch, had to swallow hard against the tears.

“Right. We don’t need them find out about your latent sadism, either, but I suppose I must put my trust in the career aspirations of Vincent Shield. Get whatever you want, Owen, but I had better not see it step one foot outside of that condominium if it makes it into the news.”

They spoke for a while longer, about nothing and relatives and people who had recently died or pissed his mother off, senate bills she was worried about and Owen’s latest project bankrolling a documentary exposing a monopolizing pharmaceutical giant, and the whole time Owen’s mind wasn’t on the conversation at all, but on Vincent fucking Shield.

They’d been inseparable. They’d made promises to each other. Then Owen had fucked one tiny little thing up - just the one thing, and it hadn’t even been that bad, what he’d done, and Vincent had probably liked it anyway - and Vincent had left and never came back.

He glanced down at his empty glass with a bit of ice that still clinked, and then up at the Whumpees-R-Us website. Create a completely customized option for minimal surcharges and receive the perfect pet of your dreams.

He poured more gin, added another twist of lime. “You know what my perfect fucking pet is?” He asked no one in particular. The Roomba beeped softly under the couch in its docking station. “Vincent Shield’s my perfect fucking pet. Make him feel pretty fucking sorry for what he did. They don’t have anyone on here who even looks like him…”

Then his blurry, bleary eyes caught a line at the bottom of the pictured Box Boy options. This does not represent the totality of what Whumpees-R-Us can provide. Send us your requirements and we will dedicate ourselves to fulfilling your every need, with an added surcharge.

So he clicked on the custom order form for Box Boys, watching it load, blinking at how fucking huge the page was. And it started with a simple box that asked what kind of pet you were searching for.

Owen very nearly wrote I’m so fucking lonely.

Instead, he settled for Companion.

The screen blinked and new options appeared. Platonic, Romantic, Domestic, or Combination?

Owen snorted. Platonic. He wasn’t some fucking sicko, he was just looking for someone to bring some life into this place. But… maybe it was just that he was drunk, or maybe it went deeper than that. In any case, a thought came to mind. He pictured wide blue eyes in a face that used to be pale, now tanned on all the movie posters. Thought of those eyes full of tears, for him. Then… then he thought of what it might be like if those eyes weren’t full of tears, but something else.

The thing Vincent had owed him, and had never been able - or willing - to give.

Then he unclicked his previous decision, and chose Combination.

We will return to detailed specifics of your [Combination] requirements in a later section. For now, please list physical requirements for your Box Boy.

Owen swallowed, looked up the photo of the movie poster for Dimmer Switch, with 20-year-old Vincent Shield and 17-year-old Owen Grant in action poses against a dark background and a glowing light. Vincent’s face was clearly visible - soft and slightly sweet-looking, wide blue eyes, curly black hair. Long limbs and kind of a slim body type, not as muscled-up as he was now.

Not that Owen kept up with his career or what he looked like now, or anything.

He started with the hair, and the eyes. At first it felt wrong, like he was trying to build a Frankenstein’s monster for himself, but it was all perfectly legal and if it was really wrong, why were so many people buying them now?

No, this was fine.

Owen was fine.

He was going to bring Vincent Shield home, and once Vince came back here, he was never, ever going to be able to leave.

He checked every box, wrote down details. At the bottom of the physical requirements section there was a spot to upload photo references, and he added the movie poster, some other pictures from magazine interviews from back then, he and Vince together in a few of them. Shots of Vince with the mop of curly hair and a bright wide smile, flashing whitened teeth. Shots of Vince with his arm around Owen, the both of them grinning for the photographer.

It took nearly two hours to finish, and by the end of it he’d stopped being drunk or maybe he was drunker than ever, but he’d entered a place of perfect clarity about his decision. He was about to spend a lot of money on this boy.

It was going to be perfect.

In the final box for any added comments not covered by the questionnaire, Owen Grant typed, Make it so he can never, ever leave me without fear. Make it so he wants my touch more than anything else in the world. Make it so he would lose his mind before he’d lose me. I want him to be sweet, and kind of a soft person. I want him to put up with anything I do to him.

He paused, considering, and then added one more thing.

I want him to love me.

Then he pressed SUBMIT, made himself drink a glass of water, and passed out in his bed.

When he woke up the next morning, the Roomba was in the middle of a cleaning routine and his phone was ringing. He squinted at a number he didn’t know, but decided to answer it on kind of a whim. His number was private and only a few people had it - if someone was calling he didn’t know, it was probably one of his mom’s staff members. “Hello?”

“May I speak with Mr. Owen Grant?” A warm, melodic voice spoke on the other end of the line.

“Ah, this is Owen Grant.”

“This is Karen Renford, Client Satisfaction Director at Whumpees-R-Us. We received your request for a custom order last night and I’ve just had time to review it. There is… an exceptional amount of specialization in this order form, Mr. Grant.”

“I… I know. Shit. Oh, sorry.”

“No apologies required. I indulge in a bit of profanity myself on occasion.”

“The, the order form… was it too much?”

Too much to hope for, that Vince’s blue eyes could be all for him. Too much to dream, that he could fix all his old mistakes. Too much, to think he could keep someone here when Vince had run so far, so fast, and made it impossible to get close again.

“Not at all. We are aware of your… connections, Mr. Grant. We would love to work with you on this request, and hope you would let your influential mother know how excited we were to be given this opportunity to truly prove the merits of our methods.”

Owen tried not to audibly snort.

“We already have a suitable candidate in mind who is most of the way through his basic training, although there have been a few… hiccups.”

“Hiccups?”

“Ah, it’s all part of the process.” She did not quite laugh, but there was a lilt to her voice that suggested she wanted to. “645898 is a sweet soul at heart, once you take apart the rest of him. I think he’ll be perfect for what you need.”

“So why the phone call?”

“It is customary for the company to directly contact clients of your… discerning and exacting taste. Considering the costs associated with so many specialized requests-”

“I am more than able to pay the amount owed, Ms. Renford.”

“Oh, we know that. This isn’t about money at all, Mr. Grant. Whumpees-R-Us is dedicated to client satisfaction, and it’s my job to look at this form, speak directly with you, and ensure that you receive exactly what you need.”

“So you can make him… want to stay here? Not able to leave?”

“Can we make him ‘love’ you, as you requested on your form?” Her voice held no mockery, no hint of judgement. “Mr. Grant, your request is considerable, but I believe we can ensure that your boy won’t ever be able to take a step out the front door without you by his side. We can make sure those big blue eyes are focused entirely on you, no matter what you do to him.”

Owen’s free hand clenched slowly into a fist, and something twisted and untwisted inside of him.

Vince’s eyes, all on me. No matter what I do.

“That sounds perfect,” Owen breathed out, shifting in the bed. “I want him to think I’m safe. That I’m the safest thing in the whole world.”

No matter how much I hurt him.

#whump #box boy #box boy multiverse #owen grant is a nice guy #pet whump #dehumanization #erase to control #intimate whumper #creepy whumper #tw: abusive language

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lol-jackles · 5 years

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I just read your post about finances and investment properties and found it very interesting! I'm wondering, if you don't mind, what advice would you have for an 18 year old college student (me!) with little to no knowledge of finances, loans, real estate, etc, and only about 4k in savings. Any smart moves I should be making with my money now that will help me later in life? Tips on setting up a passive income? Thank you so so so much!

1. Study to get a practical degree. That means no communication or gender studies degree. Even my hippie friends are forbidding their children from pursuing liberal arts degrees. An art professor I have business with straight up tell his students they should not get an art degree but study business instead because if they are serious about being a professional artist then they will be entrepreneurs and need to know financial management. So while you're in school take a course on investing or money management or accounting or economics or all of them.

2. Have an emergency fund that covers 3 to 6 months of living expenses: rent, food, and utlity. Other people say it's 3 to 6 months of your salary. I have 13 months emergency fund that my financial planner is trying to wean me off of because that much sitting in the bank is not growing money (Oprah used to paranoidly keep $50 million in savings that she called her bag lady fund in case her career implodes). As a college student I'm assuming your expenses are already paid for - housing, meal plan, etc, that said, you should have at least $1,000 in your emergency fund so you're off to a very good start with your $4,000.

3. Track your spending by using a spreadsheet or anything on paper. Have all your expenses in it: food, rent, utility, phone contracts, utility, Netflix, Prime, etc. Also have an area for income and all it’s sources (savings, job, stipends from your parents) and a total. This starts to give you an idea of your income vs expenditures. Use this to aid you in living beneath your means by living off of beans and rice that you buy in bulk and prepre meals yourself. Avoid spending money on alcohol if you can, brew your own coffee.

4. If possible, NO student loans. Apply for scholarships, grants, fellowships.

5. Get a part time paying job, whether during school or a summer internship. From having an earned income you can open a Roth IRA account because though you may not have much money at your age, but what you do have is TIME. Invest now for your retirement and it accumulates far faster when you start early than when you start later. Read this New York Times “Roth IRAs for teenagers” article.

"A person who contributes the maximum to a Roth IRA beginning at age 19 will have accumulated $330,000 more than one who begins contributing at age 25, by the time each person is 67."

See that? A 19 years old will have six more figures by the time he retires than the other guy who did the same thing 6 years later.

You can open an IRA account with your bank, though they are more about saving your money than growing your moneny. You can go with a brokerage companies like Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard.

If you want to just put money in it and forget about it then use a Target Date Fund, you pick when you want to retire and it will re-allocate itself to become more conservative the closer you get to retirement. Charles Schwab is probably the easist, here is there their target date funds. You'll most likely want to use the SWYNX fund since you're so far away from retirement. It's a pretty good way to get started if you're still learning or don't care to learn and just want to save for retirement.

If you want to be more hands-on, they have other mutual funds and you should consider building a portfolio out of low-cost index funds and exchange-traded fund (ETFs), this approach makes it easier to ensure adequate diversification in your portfolio and lower your investing risks and helps minimize the fees you’ll pay.

I usually don’t advice reddit for advices but here is a good beginner’s guide to IRA.

Reminder, it must be "earned income" in order to open a Roth IRA account, though that hasn't stopped a friend from opening a Roth IRA for his granddaughter who is four years old, naturally the problem is how to create her "earned income" status, and asked me if my former collegues would hire her as a model. I can't fault him, it's best to open a Roth IRA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE because not only is it the best retirement plan now, but it could get pulled at any time by the government.

To summerize:

Find a good job that pays well.

Cut down expenses, live within your means.

Destroy high interest debt as much as possible, ideally to have no bad debt

Invest and max out in tax efficiency retirement accounts, put rest into taxable accounts

Time, maintain #2 and #4 for decades

Retire with $1.5 to $3 million dollars to live the rest of your years in a comfortable middle class style

Noticed that I didn’t say that you retire wealthy even though you will have anywhere from $1.5 million to $3 million dollars. That’s because those millions need to last you 20 to 30 years after you retire. This is why I’ve said bonds, stocks, and indexes are for maintaining your wealth, it’s not a quick rich scheme. Sure some people strike it rich with stocks but those are exceptions not the norm, like how lottery winners are rare.

Part II of Buildng your wealth: Real Estate. For beginners like yourself I suggest this book “ How to Find, Buy, and Rent Houses for Wealth” , it’s sound and detailed without overcomplicating things. It assumes the readers are looking at buying rental properties the "normal" way and not as a full time gig. Next find a local mentor that already owns property in the area you would like to own. Real estate investment requires local insight and if you move into commercial investment, things are still very much word-of-mouth and referral-based.

If you’re serious about real estate as a full time gig then find the real estate investors club (REIC) in your area, people get together and throw ideas around, just be mindful that they are also your competition when it comes to buying a piece of property.

Until then you can listen to real estate podcast here to get a feel of the industry.

#financial planning

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kusunogatari · 5 years

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[ ObiRyū October | Day Sixteen: Alcohol ] [ @abyssaldespair ] [ Uchiha Obito, Suigin Ryū, Uchiha Madara, Orochimaru, Hoshigaki Kisame ] [ Alcohol ] [ Verse: Of Monsters and Men ] [ Previous || Next ]

Another night...another job. Finished retrieving Madara’s designed documents, Obito makes his way back to his employer. The night is still young - as per usual, his rather...unique set of skills means getting in and out easy.

He wasn’t even spotted.

So now, he’s walking the last leg of his journey, not wanting to overdo in his ability to blink from one place to another. Hand stuffed in his trenchcoat’s pockets, he stalks down the sidewalk, barren of anyone else. Humans are rarely up at this time...and fewer still dare to walk about in the dark. All the more convenient for moving about. While Obito might look human, and he’s more than capable of acting human...he’s anything but.

Soon enough, he turns off the sidewalk and instead enters a rather imposing looking building. While many around it are dark, most of the windows are alight, those within busy...and all to serve one man.

Bypassing the other coven members, Obito instead heads straight up to Madara’s office, a knock seeing him given permission to enter. The Senator is on the phone behind his desk, one leg drawn up over the other knee. Expression almost bored, he sits and listens to the other end of the conversation.

“...of course, I understand. No, no...that should suit us both perfectly well. I can meet you in an hour, if you’re ready. Mhm. Tell you what...I have a venue rather...off the beaten path if that would suit you. I’ll send you the address, and...you can tell me what you think.”

Still on his landline, Madara then flickers a thumb over a mobile screen, awaiting a response.

“...yes, it’s modeled after one of those American places. When there’s something to capture attention, you can work without much risk of being overheard. Precisely. I’ll bring one of mine, and you one of yours. It’s Nightwalker, yes - one of my more...eclectic collection pieces. It’s best to have a little variety in one’s portfolio, after all.” He smirks against the phone. “...an hour, then. Splendid. We’ll look forward to seeing you...yes. Goodbye.” Letting the phone rest back in its cradle, Madara then lifts eyes to his underling. “You’re back rather early.”

“It was simple enough.”

“You found what I wanted?”

Rather than answer, Obito draws a fat manila envelope from his coat and hands it over. Immediately, he sees the typical flash of greed in Madara’s eyes as he takes it, flickering through a few of the papers within.

“...yes, this is perfect. Good. I’ll wait a few days and then...put these to use. Well done, Obito. As usual, your talents are a godsend.”

He doesn’t answer.

“Though...with you here early, I think I’d like to take you with me on my next excursion. I have a business meeting and need a second. Sound agreeable? Or would you rather have the night off?”

Obito weighs his options. There’s plenty of night left, and...he might as well have something to do. “Got any details you can spare?”

“It’s a little tit-for-tat arrangement. I’ll supply a crucial vote for another Senator who needs it. In return, he’s going to aid me with a little...side project of mine. Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Itachi will be handling it.”

At the mention of his cousin, Obito can’t help a small furrow of his brow.

“Oh, come now - you’ll have plenty of work to do besides. And I think you’ll enjoy our destination...I don’t think you’ve been there quite yet.” Standing and taking up his coat, Madara offers, “I acquired a curious little place a few months ago in the entertainment district. It’s called, as I’ve come to understand it, a burlesque lounge...they were quite popular in America several decades ago.”

“Burlesque…?”

“Think strip club, but...classier. No poles, just live music and performers with...well, shrinking outfits,” the coven leader replies with a sly grin.

Obito’s nose wrinkles just a hair, a hint of color in his face. “...you bought a strip club?”

“As I was telling the nagan Senator, it’s good to diversify. I like to keep my hands in as many pots as I can. And it makes for a nice place to conduct business without being overheard...but technically still public. That way it’s a bit of a neutral place, but also secluded enough to be secure. Come along.”

Sighing a bit, Obito follows, the pair entering a prepared car off the curb. With a purr of the engine, they leave this one of many of Madara’s headquarters, taking a route to the part of the city that never sleeps. Obito watches the lights fly by until the reach the proper building. A large neon sign in English simply reads Burlesque.

“...so how do you keep humans out?”

“It’s by membership or reservation only. We do background checks, and only Nightwalkers are allowed in. Quite rudimentary, really...as it typically is with any high-class establishment run by our kinds. Now, come along - I need to speak to the security staff and ensure we won’t be...interrupted.”

Abandoning the vehicle, Obito gives a skeptical glance to the building in question. Madara is instantly recognized and waved through, giving Obito a pass beside him. The sounds of jazzy, live music soon reach sensitive ears, and his curiosity can’t help but be piqued.

From the entrance, they make their way into a large lounge. A bar rests along one wall, the belly of the place filled with tables. There’s even a second floor with balconies and private boxes. It’s decently crowded for a Nightwalker place, but...well, Madara’s one hell of a businessman.

“We’ll be in box four, if you’d like to go settle in,” Madara offers, nodding to the story above them. “I’ll join you once security is arranged.”

“If you say so.”

“And for now, avoid the alcohol, if you would. I want you sharp in case something goes...awry. Once we’re done, you can do whatever you want. Just put it on my tab - consider if a reward for being a good boy and accompanying me, hm?”

Flattening a bit at the diminutive language, Obito just nods. He’s hardly the only one Madara makes a show of age over - a right he has as one of the oldest vampires in the islands, if not the oldest. “Thanks…”

Heading upstairs, he has to dodge many a waitress dressed rather...well, provocatively. Corsets and lingerie run rampant, and by the time he makes it to the box, he’s red in the face. Trying to distract himself, he takes in the view from the upper story. They have a clear view of the stage, sitting on the right hand side. There’s currently an act going on involving several scantily-clad Nightwalkers. Most, from what he can tell, are simply succubi and incubi. And tucked off to the side is the band, playing for the performers to dance along. He has to admit...they’re talented. Leaning on the balcony and watching for a time, Obito only straightens when Madara joins him.

“So? What do you think?”

“...it is what it is.”

“Such a prude,” Madara shoots back, taking a seat. Though he warned Obito off the spirits, he pours himself a cup of sake. Of course...for someone like the Senator, it takes quite a bit to begin to dull his senses. “One of my favorites is coming up. Be sure to pay attention. We still have about twenty minutes.”

Withholding his reaction as best he can, Obito turns back around at his employer’s behest, watching as the previous act comes to an end. Applause and whistles follow them back behind the curtain. The murmur of the crowd pervades for several minutes...and then the band begins to play a slow, jazzy tune.

Slowly, the curtain rises. But rather than a group, a single figure stands front and center. Head bowed, it lifts slowly as the curtain does, eyes opening to reveal startling silvers. Shrouded by a white cloak, she almost looks stripped of color. The waves of her hair, her brows, her lashes...it’s all white. With her pale skin, she almost looks more like a ghost than a woman.

...and then she opens her mouth.

Like silk, a smooth, sensual melody falls from her lips. And as it builds, she lets the cape fall from her form with a flare of her arms. Beneath is an ensemble of a white corset, thigh-high stockings, garters, and knee-high heeled boots. Joints and limbs begin moving in a number just as sleek and alluring as her voice. Both graceful and yet bordering on profane, her dance soon has every eye in the room entranced, the room silent save for her song and the accompanying instrumental.

Even Obito stares. The way she’s singing...a siren, perhaps? He’s never seen - or, maybe a better term is heard - one before now.

...but then she surprises him.

Lifting from a lowered pose, she makes to hide behind splayed hands. But with a blur too quick for even his eyes to see, her hands vanish...and instead, a pair of sooty-splotched white wings hide her face and torso. Eyes stare over the feathers with heavy lids, her song never stopping even as the audience gasps.

Wait...she’s a harpy? But...he could have sworn…

...could she be…?

There’s another minute of song and dance before she lowers to her knees, once again hiding shyly behind her Shifted limbs as the curtain falls. As silence blooms and her spell is broken, the crowd bursts into thunderous applause. Blinking to clear his mind, Obito straightens and does the same.

“Entrancing little thing, isn’t she?”

“...is she a hybrid?”

“Indeed. I found her quite by accident, and quickly moved to collect her. With you, I now have two in my clutches. We’ve been...working on arranging a deal with her for a part-time reconnaissance position. Harpies are hard to find in the city, and it would be useful to have some eyes in the sky for the occasion assignment. Otherwise, she works here for me. Once our guests arrive, she’ll be back on stage to help keep the rest of the patrons...engaged.” Madara gives a hint of a smirk. “Did you like her song?”

“I had a feeling she was a siren. Her Shifting caught me off guard.”

“As it does many, but few ever seem to piece it together. They simply assume she’s that good of a singer, I suppose. What with how rare you hybrids are.”

Something about his boss’s tone irks Obito, but he doesn’t mention it as a security officer announces their guests’ arrival.

“Ah, perfect. A bit early, but better than being late. Show them in, please.”

From there, they have the typical exchange. The two Senators give their pleasantries, each of their seconds watching the other warily. The nagan representative’s guard is likely ready to Shift and strike at a moment’s notice.

Obito, on the other hand, is prepared to teleport himself and his employer even faster.

The actual dialogue, however, doesn’t interest him much. Madara’s playing at politics is his favorite pastime, and by now Obito’s more than used to all of his back alley deals and alliances. All he cares about is that it goes smoothly. He’d rather not work any harder than he has to.

“I think we have a deal, then,” Madara eventually purrs. “I’ll speak to my contacts and arrange for a vote in your favor. And whenever I need a favor in return...I’ll get my half of the bargain.”

“Of course,” the other Senator agrees. Obito isn’t quite sure if they’re a man or a woman, heavy purple eyeshadow making an already gaunt, pale face harder to distinguish. “Your help is much appreciated, Madara-sama.”

“And yours, Orochimaru. Will you stay and enjoy the show?”

The serpent’s toxic green eyes flicker to the stage where the hybrid is singing once more. “...I think not. I have other matters to attend to this evening, but I appreciate your hospitality. Until next time. Come, Kabuto...we must be going.”

As the pair take their leave, Madara seems to sit and muse for a time. “...I think it’s best I move, too. I have a few threatening phone calls to make, and that’s best done at home. What about you, Obito? Staying or going?”

“...I’ll stay a bit. Want to have a drink.”

“You’ll have to find your own way back, then. Try to be responsible,” Madara quips in reply, standing at taking his leave as the audience cheers again downstairs. Obito follows, but parts ways to head toward the bar. He starts with a shot of whiskey, knocking it back and turning to observe the club again. It really is impressive...even if maybe not quite his taste.

“Hey...mind making me another cup of tea, Kisame? My chords are getting a little tired...”

Hearing a feminine voice behind him, Obito turns and quickly balks. Still in her stage gear, the harpy hybrid sits on the stool beside him, speaking to the barkeep behind the counter.

“Another one?” the man replies, perking a brow.

“I had to do a few extra songs...apparently there was business upstairs,” she replies softly. “I don’t want to wear out before closing.”

“Sure, sure...gimme just a few minutes.”

Finding himself a little bit starstruck, Obito flounders for a moment. Should he...say something? Would she even want to be spoken to?

But before he can make a decision, she turns to behold him, and something lightens in her gaze. “...you’re Uchiha, aren’t you?”

“Er...yeah. Yeah, I am.”

“Were you with Madara-sama upstairs?”

He nods, signaling for another shot.

“...is he still here?”

“No, he just left.”

“Oh...good,” she replies, looking a little sheepish. “Was starting to get a little tired...been a while since I’ve had to go that long.”

“So...you’re a siren?”

That earns him a suspicious look.

“Madara told me. And your secret’s safe with me...I happen to be hybrid too.”

“...really?”

“Mm…” He downs the second cup of whiskey, but doesn’t explain beyond that. “You probably already hear this a lot, and maybe it doesn’t mean much, but...you have a beautiful voice.”

She snorts. “...thank you.” Perking up as the barkeep hands her a mug, she murmurs more gratitude and takes a sip, humming in relief.

“So I take it I can’t get you a drink.”

Smiling against her cup, she swallows before replying, “Afraid not...I’m still on the clock. And I don’t drink.”

“What?!”

Shoulders shrug.

“Bah…”

“...I’m Ryū, by the way. Suigin Ryū.”

“Obito. You already know the Uchiha part.” He can feel her eyes on him, but he remains facing forward for a time.

“...so...are you one of his Enforcers? Madara, I mean?”

“Mhm...one of the top officers.”

“Is it...very difficult? What you do?”

“...depends. Thinking of joining?”

“He wants me to, but...I don’t know. I’m not some kind of...secret agent. I’m just...a person. Sure, I can fly...but I’m not sure if I could do whatever else he’s expecting of me.”

Obito considers that. If she did join...odds are he’d end up working with her sometimes. “...well, I don’t think there’s much more he expects. You’d just be doing recon - reporting what you see to help agents on the ground to navigate.”

Ryū takes another sip of her tea. “...I guess. Just not sure I want that kind of responsibility, you know?”

“Fair enough. I didn’t really want it either, but...when you have a talent Madara wants, he’ll do his best to get it.”

“...so I’ve come to realize. Is he...very difficult to work for?”

“...well...he and I have a bit of a strained relationship. Not sure I’m the one to ask. But he’s been the coven leader and Senator for a hell of a long time. Must be doing something right.”

“...I guess that’s true. Well...I’ll think about it.” A few more swallows empty her cup, and she hands it back over the bar. “I might come bug you again, Kisame.”

“Any time.”

She then hops off her stool, and Obito can’t help a blushing glance at her outfit from behind before she turns around. “Well...maybe I’ll see you around, then, Obito-san. Either here, or...maybe on an assignment sometime.”

“Looking forward to it,” he replies, watching her go. She really is pretty cute...a rounded frame and seemingly sweet disposition. And he’s never really known a harpy before...curiosity makes him wonder what her feathers feel like...

“Hey buddy, you gonna have another drink?”

“...nah, that’s all for tonight. Madara said to put it on his tab.”

“Will do.”

Deciding to cut his losses, Obito heads back outside, idling on the sidewalk for a time. He’s still got several hours of night left...and nothing really planned. He could see if there’s any more work, but...mostly he just feels like taking the rest of the night off. Go home, wind down...and wonder if he’ll have a harpy in his arsenal one of these days.

I've wanted to do this verse for AGES xD So this is my own original universe I call Nightwalkers, which is basically monsters, politics, and drama! We've got Uchiha vampires because...well, of course we do, lol - Obito, however, is only half vampire. The other half is...not :3c Ryū is typically half harpy, half succubus in this verse, but I thought I'd try something a lil different this time just for funsies! I think she made a good first impression x3 Maybe I'll do more if a prompt allows. I have so many WIPs for these two already kfdghgh But yes, that's it for today! Thanks for reading~

#obiryū october #abyssaldespair #uchiha obito #suigin ryū #uchiha madara #orochimaru #hoshigaki kisame #alcohol //#of monsters and men [ au ]

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douchebagbrainwaves · 3 years

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WHY I'M SMARTER THAN SURPRISING

People never say that about me. Common Lisp: There are too many dialects of Lisp. Who does like Java? When IBM introduced the PC, they thought they were going to do this. One minute you're going to fail makes you stop working, that practically guarantees you'll fail.1 In the original Java white paper, Gosling explicitly says Java was designed not to be mean. Which of course makes me um even more, because I haven't had any time at all to practice the new bits.2

There was a window of about two years when spam was increasing rapidly but all the big email services had terrible filters. So far, Java seems like a stinker to me. You find the same in music and art. VCs.3 How many fifteenth century Milanese artists can you name?4 Open-source software has fewer bugs because it admits the possibility of bugs.5 Ornament is not in itself enough. In the original Java white paper, Gosling explicitly says Java was designed not to be mean. And while having the best people helps any organization, it's critical for startups.6 An essay can go anywhere the writer wants. So steam engines spread fast.7 I don't know Java well enough to like it or not, big changes are coming, because the Internet dissolves the two cornerstones of broadcast media: synchronicity and locality.

It's not cheating to copy. In science and engineering, recursion, especially, is that it makes you unhappy, but that it makes you unhappy, but that it makes you stop working.8 Recently I realized I'd been holding two ideas in my head that would explode if combined.9 Kill-or-cure strategies are optimal for VCs because they're protected by the portfolio effect. Likewise, a painting that suggests is usually more engaging than one that tells. It's probably no coincidence that so many famous speakers are described as motivational speakers. If i is the average outcome of the whole economy.10 After about ten sentences I found myself thinking I don't want to face what is usually the most productive. In fact many of the best startups it produced would be sucked away to existing startup hubs.

Whatever job people do, they naturally want to do better. We did it because it seems such a great hack. They'll each become more like one another. I missed that after we sold Viaweb, and for all. Don't ignore those voices. Its structure is an exoskeleton.11 The average teenage kid has a pretty much infinite capacity for talking to their friends.12 A list of n things.

That doesn't mean 16. Architects started consciously making buildings asymmetric in Victorian times and by the 1920s asymmetry was an explicit premise of modernist architecture.13 Likewise, the reason we hear about Java all the time is not because it has something to say, rather than because they wanted to make more, but not meanness.14 But evidence suggests most things with titles like this are linkbait. Today's experimental error is tomorrow's new theory.15 Experts expect to throw away some early work. Smalltalk, Lisp.16 But if you're looking for companies that could get acquired quickly, that would cut VCs' returns from winners at least tenfold. Founders usually have a lot of time in bookshops and I feel as if I have by now learned to understand everything publishers mean to tell me about a book, and perhaps a bit more. Hackers don't like a language that talks down to them. Their stock price has been flat for years. It's hard to guess what the future will be like, but we can be sure it will be if it saves them from lapsing into the fatal laziness that afflicted Microsoft and IBM.

And this wasn't just random error. What decided the contest for computers? Being a really good deal. So I think VC funds are seriously threatened by the super-angels seem to care about valuations. Now that we have enough computer power, we can spring on the world a stream of new startups that might otherwise not have existed. The third reason computers won is piracy. If you're among that number, Trevor Blackwell has made a handy calculator you can use to find out. Whether they like it or dislike it. As you think of successful people from history who weren't ruthless, you get something surprising.17 If DNA ruled, we should be greeted daily by artistic marvels. Likewise an artist, after a while, can make visual perception flow in through his eye and out through his hand as automatically as someone tapping his foot to a beat.

Notes

Horace, Sat.

If we had high hopes for doesn't do well, partly because companies then were more the aggregate are overpaid. Exercise for the same price as the little jars in supermarkets. Adults care just as big a cause them to.

The meanings of these groups, just that everyone's the same advantages from it, but as a company with rapid, genuine growth is valuable, and they were more at the same way a bibilical literalist is committed to rejecting it.

Conjecture: The French Laundry in Napa Valley. And perhaps even worse in the narrowest sense.

Indeed, it increases your confidence in a time of unprecedented federal power, in the US, it will seem as if a third party like YC is how intently they listened. It didn't work, like good scientists, motivated less by financial rewards than by the government. What you learn about books or clothes or dating: what ideas did European culture have in 1800 that Chinese culture didn't, they wouldn't have understood users a lot easier now for a patent is conveniently just longer than the founders.

Your teachers are always telling you to two of each token, as Brian Burton does in SpamProbe. A more accurate predictor of success. There is of course, that all metaphysics between Aristotle and 1783 had been Boylston Professor of Rhetoric at Harvard is significantly lower, about 28%.

A rolling close doesn't mean the hypothetical people who had been transposed into your head. In fairness, I want to impress are not in the case in the case in point: lots of exemptions, especially for opinions expressed.

A friend who invested in a place where few succeed is hardly free. But when you say is being unfair to him like 2400 years would to us that we didn't do. Only founders of the Dead was shot there.

Since most VCs aren't tech guys, the Nasdaq index was. Many more than linearly with its size.

A lot of detail. We just store the data, it's probably good grazing.

Some introductions to other investors.

Convertible debt can be compared, per capita income in England in 1750 was higher than India's in 1960. Naive founders think Wow, a few actual winners emerge with hyperlinear certainty. Patrick Pantel and Dekang Lin.

Cit. Instead of making n constant, it could hose the whole venture business would work. In the beginning of the current options suck enough. In ancient times it covered a broad range of topics, comparable in scope to our scholarship though without the methodological implications.

But there's a special title for actual partners. If you freak out when people make investment decisions well when they're really works of anthropology. This essay was written before Firefox. Now the misunderstood artist is not a problem if you'll never need to, so it's conceivable that intellectual centers like Cambridge will one day be able to protect widows and orphans from crooked investment schemes; people with a woman who had to.

Patrick Collison wrote At some point, there was a sudden rush of interest, you will find a kid that you'd want to figure this out. Some of the junk bond business by Michael Milken; a vogue for conglomerates in the case in the sense that if you want to sell services than a nerdy founder trying to work like casual conversation. There were a couple hundred years or so you can work out a chapter at a blistering pace in the 70s never drew this curve.

If you extrapolate another 20 years. I've been told that they aren't. Fortuna! You end up making something that flows from some central tap.

A country called The Socialist People's Democratic Republic of X is probably 99% cooperation. In fact, this is to raise their kids won't listen to them to stay in business are likely to come up with an excessively large share of a company becomes big enough, the better. And though they have a precise measure of the potential magnitude of the marks of a correct program. You need to run on the subject of language power in Succinctness is Power.

Thanks to Sam Altman, Jessica Livingston, Steven Levy, Trevor Blackwell, and Robert Morris for sharing their expertise on this topic.

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makingmoneyonlinemethod · 3 years

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How to Make an Extra $1,000 a Month (25 Ways That Actually Work)

When I was in college, I felt like having an extra $1,000 a month would basically make me rich.

It seems silly now, but when you’re in college, $1,000 a month can go a long way.

You could use it to:

· Pay down your student loans

· Cover your room and board

· Start investing early

· Buy a heck of a lot of video games, pizza, or ramen

By my last couple of months in college, I finally hit that $1,000 a month income goal. But looking back, I realize I could have hit that number a lot sooner if I had known what I know now. That’s why I’ve put together this guide.

Below, I’ll show you 25 ways to actually earn a $1,000 a month. No questionable methods, no b.s., and no get rich quick schemes. Just ways that, with a little hard work, will pay off quickly.

The Right Mindset for Making Extra Money

Before I get to the methods, you need to understand the right mindset to have when looking for ways to earn extra money. I include this section because, as a college student, I made the mistake of spending way too much money on courses that claimed they would help me make extra money.

I’m not saying that the courses were giving bad advice, but rather that I made the mistake of falling for the allure of extra income without wanting to put in the work required to get it. Certainly, there are courses out there that can help you boost your income. But you don’t need any of those to get started.

To make extra money, you just need 3 things:

1. Be able to do something people will pay for.

2. Get people to pay you for it.

3. Keep doing #2 till you’ve hit your income goal.

The above advice applies whether you want to make an extra $1,000 or $10,000. Of course, there are details to iron out such as what you’ll do and how you’ll find people to pay you for it. That’s what the rest of this guide is for.

25 Ways to Make an Extra $1,000 a Month

Ready to stop dreaming and start earning? Below, you’ll find 25 ways you can actually make an extra $1,000 per month. None of these require expensive equipment, high startup costs, or even a degree. What they do require is hard work, creativity, and the willingness to try new things or learn new skills.

Freelance Writing

I’m going to start with a method that’s near and dear to my heart. Freelance writing was the first way I started making serious money when I was in college, and I still think it’s a great thing to try if you have writing skills.

There are a ton of companies out there that need written content, including blog posts, video scripts, website copy, and more. They’re willing to pay, too; a starting writer can easily charge $50 for an article.

More experienced writers can charge $150/article or more, depending on the length and subject matter. Work your way up to that level, and writing just two articles a week could net you $1,200 a month.

To get started freelance writing, you have a couple of options. The first is to check out freelance job boards like Upwork, Fiverr, and ProBlogger. Alternatively, you can reach out directly to blogs who accept guest contributions. Both methods can work, though I had more success with direct outreach when I was starting out – and in this realm, I had the most success when I worked to build relationships instead of doing cold outreach.

You’ll also want to build a portfolio to showcase your writing. Check out our guide to building an online portfolio to get started on that.

If you want further guidance, including tips on how to pitch articles and get your first clients, check out this freelance writing course my friends Kristin and Alex created.

Graphic Design

A few examples of our graphic designer’s work for the CIG Podcast.

Companies aren’t just hungry for written content; they’re also constantly in need of graphics, illustrations, logos, custom slide decks, and other graphic design assets. If you’re artistic or enjoy design, this can be a great way to make money.

The steps for getting started with freelance graphic design are fairly similar to freelance writing. You can search on Upwork, Fiverr, or even 99designs for gigs. Alternatively, you can ask around campus to see if anyone needs design help. Making business cards and logos for people can be an especially fruitful place to start.

If you want to learn graphic design, there are a ton of avenues out there. I’ll note that it’s important to learn both the fundamentals of design (composition, type, white space, etc.) and the technical skills, such as how to use Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. Here are a few courses to start with:

· Graphic Design Basics – Core Principles for Visual Design

· Master the Basics of Adobe Illustrator

Web Development

Having a website is a must these days, yet so many businesses and individuals still don’t have one. This is a great opportunity for anyone with web development skills to make some serious money.

But what if I don’t know how to make a website? Just read our guide, and now you have no excuses. Combine that with a few web development tutorials on Skillshare, and you’ll have all the skills you need to build beautiful, functional websites for just about anyone.

Our web developer, Martin, was able to charge $1,000 for a basic website when he was freelancing. And those development skills eventually led him to a full-time career working for College Info Geek. So whether you want to make some extra money on the side or enter an in-demand, well-paying field, web development is worth learning.

If you’re serious about learning web development quickly, I recommend these resources:

· The Top Web Development Courses on Skillshare — These are all classes taught by experts and will get you up to speed even if you have no prior knowledge. The link will also get you a 2-week free trial, plenty of time to get through the courses.

· Treehouse — Treehouse is a website dedicated to teaching you how to code, and they have a large library of web development courses.

Audio Transcription

Voice recognition technology is getting better every day, but it still isn’t great at transcribing real human speech. For this reason, there’s a demand for skilled audio transcriptionists.

Audio-what-tionists? When transcribing audio, all you do is listen to a recording and turn it into a word document. All kinds of companies and people need this service, and they’re willing to pay. While you can do this on your own, it’s generally better to work for an audio transcription company. This way, you don’t have to find clients.

I recommend looking into Rev — pay starts at $0.36 per minute of audio, which means you need to transcribe around 50 hours of audio per month (12.5 per week) to hit the $1,000 mark. Plus, you can do this job from the comfort of your home, making it great for fitting around your busy schedule.

Helping People with Computers

Using a computer may seem second-nature to you, you darn millennial-Gen-XYZ whippersnapper. But for many people who aren’t “digital natives,” it’s not so easy. Instead of making fun of your grandpa for not knowing how to use his iPad, why not see if you can turn your knowledge into some extra cash?

The possibilities here are only limited by your creativity and what people will pay for. Just a few ideas:

· Make PowerPoints for your less than tech-savvy professors (a former professor reached out to me about this just the other day)

· Give a class on computer basics at a local retirement home or community center

· Start your own IT business that makes house calls (a friend of mine made one contact in college who paid him around $200/month for very basic computer help. The guy was pretty wealthy, but knew nothing about computers.)

You can choose to charge per hour or per project — whichever makes more sense.

Bonus Tip: If you’re willing to take some time and spend a bit of money to get an A+ Certification, you may be able to charge even more. If you choose to go this route, you should get Mike Meyers’ (no, not that Mike Meyers) excellent CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, which is updated every year.

Investing Your Money

I’ll state this up front: Compared to every other method on this list, investing will take by far the longest amount of time to make you an extra $1,000 a month. Still, you should seriously consider investing as early as you possibly can.

Here’s why: Investing means putting your money to work for you. Every other method here requires you to essentially trade hours for dollars; investing allows you to sit back as the money you have invested grows due to compound interest. And the sooner you get started, the more that compound interest will benefit you.

Here’s a simple calculation: If you’re 25 now and you invest just $200 a month for the next 30 years at a 7% rate of return (which is reasonable to expect over the long term), by the time you’re 55 you’ll have a bit over $228,000 – even though you only invested a total of $72,000 of your hard-earned money.

That means that you gained a whopping $156,000 while you slept. And that’s assuming you never increase your monthly investment as you get further into your career; do that (as most smart investors do) – and get started as early as possible to reap the benefits of compound interest year after year – and you can retire with millions.

Here’s another calculation, this time looking at what it would take to be able to pull $1,000 a month out of your retirement savings every month for 30 years:

Again, assuming you never increase your contribution (which is unlikely), you still only need to save $316 a month assuming you start when you’re 25. (You can use this Bankrate calculator to play with the numbers.)

How to get started: The main three things you need to know are:

1. Tax-advantaged retirement accounts are your friends. A Roth IRA is a great place to start.

2. Index funds are your friends. These passively follow the entire stock market, providing a good rate of return without too much risk.

3. High fees are your enemy. Even a fee of 1% on a fund can eat a huge portion of your earnings. And funds that charge these fees almost never outperform lower-cost funds.

While you can learn and optimize later, these three rules are really all you need to get started.

As for where to start, Betterment is a great option; their fees are low, there’s no minimum starting investment (you could throw in $50 now and set up a $25 monthly auto-investment to start), and they adjust your investments based on your goals.

For even more information, check out our beginner’s guide to investing.

Selling Your Old Stuff

Your closet, garage, or attic is probably full of perfectly good things that you just don’t use anymore. Instead of letting them sit there collecting dust and getting in your way, why not sell them for some extra cash?

Depending on how much stuff you have, you could certainly earn an extra $1,000 doing this. This is especially true if your parents or grandparents will let you comb through their old stuff and sell it as well.

That being said, this probably isn’t the best way to consistently make extra money. To do that, you need to branch beyond selling your stuff and into selling other people’s.

Retail Arbitrage

Retail-what? So it’s a fancy business term, but all it means is going to stores like Wal-Mart, Target, or even a thrift store and finding items that you can re-sell online for a profit.

Generally, people use either Amazon or eBay to do this, though you could also look into a more specialized platform such as Poshmark or Etsy if you’re focusing on clothing or vintage goods.

Now, be warned — if you do this wrong, you can lose a bunch of money and waste a lot of time. You have to be smart about what you buy, which generally means using a tool like the Amazon Seller app (Android | iOS) to calculate your potential profit. But if you do it right, this can be an effective way to make money in your free time.

Fixing & Flipping Cars (or Other Vehicles)

Hardly a day goes by that I don’t see an old car or bike for sale in someone’s yard. While I don’t have the time or mechanical skills to do it, I know lots of people who make good money buying old vehicles, fixing them up, and re-selling them.

This is definitely an area where you need to know what you’re doing, and you’ll also need the appropriate tools and space. But provided you have those things, it’s easy enough to get started. Even if you spend a few months fixing up a car and manage to sell it for a $5,000 profit, that’s easily an extra $1,000 a month.

Babysitting or Nannying

People have kids, and they need a responsible adult to watch them. There’s good money to be made here, particularly if you have the time to do a more involved job such as nannying.

You can either go through a site such as Care.com or build up your own business through word of mouth. I have a few friends that were easily able to charge $20 per hour for this sort of work, which means you would only need to work an extra 12.5 hours per week to reach $1,000 a month.

Yardwork

This category covers everything that people don’t want to do in their yards. People tend to associate yardwork with warm-weather activities such as lawn mowing, but it can also include things like shoveling snow and picking up dog poop. With these activities, you can stay busy earning money all year round.

Pro-tip: When I was a teenager, I stood out from the other teenage lawn-mowing businesses by BUNDLING dog poop pick-up and lawn mowing. Differentiating yourself is key!

How you price this work is up to you — you can charge a flat rate based on the size of the yard (this works well for mowing or snow shoveling) or an hourly rate (which is best if you don’t know how long the work will take). As long as you charge enough, you can hit your extra income goals with only a few hours of work per week.

Cleaning Houses

Cleaning is something that has to be done, but many people don’t have the time or desire to do it. This is where you come in — with just some simple cleaning supplies and a few hours per week, you can earn great money.

To maximize your earnings, we recommend doing this gig solo. You’ll get to keep all the money you earn, and you can often charge a more competitive rate than a bigger cleaning company. Getting started is as simple as asking around, and it’s easy to charge $100 for a small house or apartment. Do that 10x per month, and there’s your extra $1,000.

Home Repairs

In a similar vein to cleaning houses, things around the house tend to break. While some people know how to fix them, plenty of others will go running to a handyman (or woman) whenever they need to patch a small hole or fix a leaky faucet.

If you have some basic tools and a little bit of practice, you can earn good money helping friends, family, and anyone else with simple household repairs. People will pay more for this than you might think — my friend recently got paid $100 just to help a co-worker hang a curtain rod.

Note: Please don’t blow yourself up, chop off your hand, or get electrocuted. Leave any major work to licensed professional contractors. But for small fixes, go for it!

Tutoring

Many parents will do anything to help their kids succeed, even if it means spending lots of money. Tutoring is a prime example of this. After all, how is your neighbor’s kid going to get into Harvard at age 15 if they can’t pass their first-grade algebra class?

Okay, this might be a bit of an exaggeration, but lots of parents freak out when their kid is struggling even a little bit in school. To fix this, they’ll often hire a tutor, and that tutor could easily be you. As long as you know more about a subject than a kid and are good at explaining things, you can be a tutor (though some parents may want you to have certain test scores or grades in certain courses).

Reading and math are definitely the most popular subjects, but you can tutor anything that kids’ parents are willing to pay for. To maximize your earnings, we recommend being a freelance tutor, but you can also earn decent money working for a tutoring company.

Teaching a Foreign Language

¿Habla español? Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Parlez-vous français? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you might be able to earn extra money teaching a foreign language.

Now, this won’t work if you just took a few classes in high school or college — you need to be fluent in the language. But assuming you are, then you can earn good money helping other people learn a language. This is especially true if you can teach a high-demand language such as English, Mandarin, or Spanish.

To get started, we recommend iTalki, which is our favorite place to find online language teachers.

Note: While not required, having some kind of degree or certification in the language you want to teach will definitely help boost your earnings.

Bookkeeping

Think you need to be a CPA to do bookkeeping? Wrong. In fact, you don’t need any formal certifications or degrees to be a bookkeeper. All you need is an understanding of basic bookkeeping and accounting principles. My friend Thomas (this site’s founder) landed a part-time job in high school doing bookkeeping for a small business.

It can also be helpful to know your way around the accounting software that small businesses use – the most popular is Quickbooks, though Wave and Xero are also popular. If you know Quickbooks, though, you can quickly adapt to others. Here’s a very thorough Quickbooks class you can take on Skillshare (this link gets you a 2-week free trial, so you could take other bookkeeping classes there for free during that time).

Selling Handmade Goods on Etsy

Know how to knit? Make pottery? Craft jewelry? If you can make it with your hands, then you can probably sell it on Etsy. Etsy is fairly mainstream now, but in case you haven’t heard of it, it’s an online marketplace for selling handmade and vintage goods. You set your own prices, and Etsy takes a small commission each time you make a sale.

Now, you won’t start making extra money with Etsy overnight. You need to take good photos, write compelling descriptions, and get the word out about your store. But if you’re willing to take the time to do this, then you can certainly build up a business that makes an extra $1,000 per month.

Working as a Virtual Assistant

There are lots of busy professionals who have way more money than time. Therefore, they’re willing to pay to get some of their time back. This is the whole premise behind hiring a virtual assistant (VA) — you do the things that a busy person doesn’t have time to do.

Many people associate virtual assistants with outsourcing, but there’s actually a sizable market for native English-speaking VAs based in U.S. timezones.

If you’re organized, responsive, and don’t mind dealing with stressed out, sometimes demanding professionals, then this can be a great gig. Your job will generally consist of scheduling appointments, booking travel, answering calls and emails, and doing whatever else the person you’re assisting is too busy to do.

To learn how to get started as a VA, check out this course from our friend (and former CIG virtual assistant) Kayla Sloan.

Personal Chef

There are lots of people who need help with cooking. Some people are too busy to cook for themselves, while others are unable to cook due to age or disability. Whatever the case, if you know how to cook, then you can turn that skill into extra money.

According to Career Trend, the average hourly rate for a personal chef is between $35 and $50 per hour. Even if you can just charge $35 per hour, that means you can make $1,000 with just an extra 29 hours of work per month. Plus, you’ll meet lots of interesting people and have an amazing experience to put on your resume.

Note: Be sure to check local laws to make sure you don’t need any special licenses or food-handling certifications to be a personal chef.

Help People Move

If you’ve ever moved to a new house or apartment, you know how much of a pain it is. It’s time-consuming, laborious, and often frustrating. For this reason, most people who can afford it will hire movers.

If you’re organized, careful, and capable of lifting heavy things, then you can start your own moving business today. Having a truck or other large vehicle also helps, though it’s not strictly necessary.

You can easily charge $100 for a small moving job (often more), so this is an awesome gig to earn the extra cash you’re looking for.

Street Performer

I’ll never forget walking down Fremont Street in Las Vegas, seeing the street performers, and witnessing the unbelievable things people will do to make a buck. While I don’t advise that you copy the things the performers on Fremont do (the man dressed as a giant baby still gives me nightmares), street performing can be a solid way to earn extra money.

What you do is entirely up to you. Busking (playing music for donations) is a time-honored approach, but you could also tell fortunes, make art, or just dress up in a weird costume and charge for photos. I’ve never done this myself, but I bet you can definitely make $1,000 a month doing this part-time.

Note: Many cities require you to have a license in order to be a street performer (especially if you’re going to charge money or ask for tips). Check your local laws before you begin. And, obviously, don’t do anything that will get you arrested, fined, or kicked out of school.

Personal Trainer

Most people would like to be in better shape than they are. And when going to the gym won’t cut it, the people who can afford it will often hire a personal trainer. If you know how to get (and stay) in shape, then there’s no reason that personal trainer can’t be you.

According to PayScale, the average hourly rate for a personal trainer is $19. That means you only need to work around 13 hours a week to hit your $1,000 monthly target. As long as you can find enough clients, this is an easy gig to get started with.

Note: We strongly recommend that you get a personal trainer certification if you’re going to do this. Not only will it help you market yourself to potential clients, but it will also make sure that you and your clients stay safe.

DJ-ing

Can you play music off your computer? Then that’s really all you need to be a DJ. Having some more specialized equipment certainly helps, but DJ-ing really isn’t that hard to learn.

You probably won’t end up playing festivals for millions of dollars, but you can certainly earn $1,000 a month DJ-ing weddings or parties on the weekends.

Consulting

This might well be the holy grail of earning extra income. There’s a lot of b.s. in the consulting world, but it can be a perfectly legitimate field. As a consultant, you help businesses (or sometimes individuals) overcome a particular problem. Generally, the goal is to help a business make more money.

If that sounds insanely broad and generic, it is. But that’s the beauty of consulting. If you can help a business make more money, then you can basically charge whatever you want, provided it’s less than the amount of additional money you’ll help the business make.

Here are just a few things you could consult on:

· Bookkeeping

· Sales

· Marketing

· Website design

· Website copy

· Business processes

Junk Removal

People have all kinds of crap in their yards and houses that they need help getting rid of. If you have a strong back and a vehicle that can haul junk, then you can start your own junk removal business.

To get started with this, your best bet is to hit the streets. Walk around local neighborhoods and see if you can spot piles of brush, trash, or other items that people might need help getting rid of. Then, just knock on doors and see if anyone is interested. It can take some persistence, but you can easily charge enough for this to make at least an extra $1,000 in 30 days.

Hourly Jobs

This is a very broad category, but we wanted to include it because sometimes making extra money is as simple as getting a good ole fashioned part-time job.

Assuming you can work 20 hours per week, you just need to find a job that pays at least $12.50 an hour in order to hit the $1,000 per month target. It may not be the sexiest way to make extra money, but it’s proven to work.

#make money as an affiliate #how to makemoney #make money online #make money 2021 #makemoneyathome

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violetsystems · 4 years

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#personal

It is usually my favorite time of the year. Although, I do remember a Halloween years ago when I sat in a corner at a party on my phone alone scrolling through tumblr. My mom loves this time of year. Her birthday is Monday and we usually walk in the day of the dead parade in my neighborhood. Her costume this year is a gypsy witch which if anybody didn’t know by now is part of my heritage. My Croatian grandfather dropped out in the sixth grade after his mother died. He would tell me stories of the church refusing to bury her and how he had to take care of his siblings learning six languages in the process. He and his brother were in the army and Navy respectively. He married into a Bohemian German family where he had two daughters. My mother lives in the house she grew up in. I used to sit at the table on Sundays watching Shaw Brothers films while my grandfather taught me Serbian curse words. My favorite movie back then was Chinese Superninjas and my grandmother was always asleep in a chair listening to a Cubs game. Anytime anyone got decapitated I would look to my grandfather and he would be lost in an article about electronics. The basement was filled with wires and circuit boards. He was a licensed union electrician who fell into disability. Before that he was an army mechanic in the war. Magic and technology was what filled most of my adolescence. My father’s side of the family was all Swedish, a son of a poor Lutheran minister and also in the military. Back then, families were a little more nuclear. My mom’s cousin and my dad’s sister met around the same time my dad and my mom. Subsequently, I have twin cousins who are eerily double related. I also have a cousin on that side of the family who lives in Hong Kong as is adopted. I learned the hard way sitting at a dinner table at a school called Li Po Chun where she lived and taught. I spoke about music and art at that school to survivors of the Iraq war who openly hated Americans like myself. I remember my cousin telling me how important it was how I cut through that hate and fear talking about music with them. That night the oldest living relative was at the table. It was the first time I ever set foot in China let alone Hong Kong. Her daughter who was half Kenyan and her son who was half Chinese sat at that table along with her husband from Beijing. Louise sat at the head of the table attended by a live in nurse. She was in her nineties at that point. Her husband had passed but was a Swedish missionary who travelled the world helping people depending on your political views. I said out loud how it was good to meet someone who I was blood related to halfway across the world. She gave a hushed and sad smile. “Your dad never told you did he?” My cousin was adopted. Later after dinner I sat with her son and drew. It was his favorite activity to share. He taught me Chinese characters and I taught him the Korean characters I knew. We never talked about blood ever again.

Being an only child, these experiences of connection to family can be intense. There really isn’t much of a legacy for me back here in the states. My parents are divorced. My dad remarried into a family that is very different from what I am used to. His wife is nice but religious. Some of the family are police. My dad told me once her brother had fallen into a culture of online forums for gun rights. I spoke to my dad over the phone just the other day. We gently brushed politics over Pelosi and Mnuchin. My dad is an accountant. It’s easy to shift the conversation to something like stocks. But truthfully, I know he and his wife support things like the supreme court nomination. That frightens me in more ways than anyone can know. But those kind of politics have done nothing for me in this situation I have found myself in over the last four or five months. The only piece of government action that affects me favorably at all has been the CARES act. More specifically, the fact that the bulk of my pension is affected by the tax legislation. It literally saved my life. That expires at the end of the year and who knows when the next round of layoffs will happen. And yet politicians are sitting in offices they were bought into arguing concepts about when life begins. Which is funny because politicians don’t really care about life. They care about money, power and how to control the bulk of it. The tones of an election year are deafening over ideological talking points. I hear people like Ken Griffin talking about how he’d rather not pay fair taxes. I also hear Ken Griffin donates heavily to the campaigns of Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. He has his prize Basquiat hanging in the Art Institute along with his history of supporting the Christian right. I never made the connection as to why abortion protesters were always allowed to protest outside of that school. They used to stand there for hours with signs in front of my building. Years later, there’s a chick fil a right next door. It seems odd until you realize the money is all connected, ideologically and otherwise. In America these days, freedom is only attached to religious expression and the money attached to it. A woman’s right to choose factors nowhere into this. However you feel about abortion or religion in general in America should fall down to a basic function. Is it government’s job to dictate what you do with your life on an ideological level? Or is it their job to use your tax dollars to maintain infrastructure? In an era where the Senate in America is only concerned about loading the courts with yes men and women, it’s pretty obvious. The stimulus to keep the economy going is nowhere in sight. People like Ken Griffin talk loudly about how the answer is getting people back to work and not incentivising people to hurt the GDP. Liam Gallagher and Johnny Marr are among a host of musicians who have hit back at London Chancellor’s Rishi Sunak’s suggestion that people should “adapt” their jobs during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They would much rather get you back in the machine in any number of startups their sons created. Ken Griffin got rich of his daddy’s connections in times like these. Just like the health care industry gets rich putting you at risk. I put my money in the markets too with no help or advice. For the record, I’m doing quite well these days in my portfolio without any handouts other than my pension.

All the while, I’m trying to apply for jobs in the most insensitive, impersonal and isolated time of my life. I’m alone in ways I cannot explain or even comprehend. And I’m stuck in the middle with people I love like ghosts on the net trying to find a voice. These people in power say they care. Say they have divine insight from God about how you should live your life. Have all the time in the world to type their feelings and beliefs on twitter but do absolutely nothing to help the country heal. And I sit in financial webinars with banks and investors who all say the same thing. The country needs help from the government to recover from these dangerous times. A time where health care is so important and so expensive. Who profits from all this death? The doctors and lawyers that move to Saipan and other tax havens to escape their fair share of the blame? The country is number one at dying these days from a disease that’s easily mitigated by keeping to yourself and wearing a mask. Sounds poetic. And yet everyone can’t keep their distance from me when I walk out the door to restock my fridge. They can’t help sabotaging every attempt to keep my mental state in tact when I face crippling social exclusion. I do still have friends. Mostly in the neighborhood. And yet there’s enemies too. It seems living in this town for years has only one advantage. Everyone thinks they know everything about me. They think I’m a Chinese spy. They think I’m a Satanist. They think I’m in league with a secret organization hell bent on destroying American freedom. And they act out on it every day in my public space without my consent because they think they know me. But they never ask my name. They never look me in the eye. They gossip and plot behind my back. And sooner or later, I just get bored and adapt. I apply for more jobs overseas. All the jobs in China. A few in New York. But New York is more of the same. Startups for daddy’s little business school graduate. A bunch of cock sure closet misogynists who have learned the slick talk corporate snake oil about freedom. These people care so much about your uterus they voted for a guy who literally said in the most vulgar terms to impregnate women forcefully. You think those people care about human life at any stage of conception? They care about votes. They care about people to brainwash. Cheap labor. I literally had to listen to a Bloomberg pundit talk about how a baby boom in the COVID era would be great for shareholders. Trillion dollar companies that pass the savings onto investors instead of the consumer. I hear nothing but people banging the war drum to increase the cost of things. Inflation is a good thing when the wealth disparity is so wildly out of balance. These times seem dark. Almost comedic. But when you shine the light for years from this lighthouse you know one thing. These people are nothing but husks on a balance sheet. They have no culture and no history other than burying and exiling the truth until it drowns in the river like a mob hit. And America is drowning in this cesspool day after day. I’m an only child. There’s a chance my legacy will die and never be retold. But then again, there are things out there more precious than blood. And the streets run red with it everyday without a care in the world. What price do you put on a life when you value none of it? Ask Ken Griffin. I’m sure he could buy your silence. Or maybe he has enough money to throw away to silence you for good. It’s the Chicago way after all. I should know. <3 Tim

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omgtalkingmuffin · 7 years

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Olicity quotes from season 1

In anticipation of the planned trends for November 27 and 28, I thought it would be helpful to compile Olicity quotes to use in tweets (it’s important to mix things up to be able to trend and not get caught up in spam filter) What better way to celebrate trend the Olicity wedding than to quote their best moments? I suggest adding them to corresponding stills, pics, gifs or links to youtube clips in tweets.

So without further ado, here’s season 1:

Felicity Smoak? Hi. I'm Oliver Queen. Of course. I know who you are, you're Mr. Queen. No, Mr. Queen was my father. Right, but he's dead. I mean, he drowned. But you didn't, which means you could come down to the I.T. department and listen to me babble. Which will end. In 3... 2... 1. I'm having some trouble with my computer and they told me that you were the person to come and see. I was at my coffee shop surfing the web and I spilt a latte on it. Really? Yeah. 'Cause these look like bullet holes. My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood. If there is anything that you can salvage from it, I would really appreciate it.

I should add "personal Internet researcher for Oliver Queen" to my job title. Happily, I mean.

Hey. [Gasps] Don't you knock? Felicity, this is the I.T. department. It's not the ladies room. Right. What can I do for you? My buddy Steve is really into archery. Apparently it's all the rage now. I don't know why. It's looks utterly ridiculous to me. Mm-hmm. Anyway, it's Steve's birthday next weekend, and I wanted to buy him some arrows. The thing is, he gets these special custom-made arrows, and I have no idea where he gets them. I was hoping you could find out where this came from. The shaft's composite is patented. And that patent is registered to a company called Sagittarius. That's Latin for the archer. Really? Could you find out where and when this was purchased? According to Sagittarius company records, that particular arrow was part of a bundle shipment. 200 units. Sent... to this address. Felicity... You're remarkable. Thank you for remarking on it. And Merry Christmas. I'm Jewish. Happy Hanukkah.

And here I was beginning to think my days of being Oliver Queen's personal computer geek were coming to an end. Is that your way of saying you miss me? No. But if it works for you, go with it. Heh. So a friend of mine is running a scavenger hunt, and there's a case of Lafite Rothschild 1982 waiting at the end. Oh...I love red wine. But in order to find it, I first need to get through this. Hmm. Security fob. It's pin protected. Challenge response goes back to a company called Blackhawk Squad Protection Group. Yeah, my friend had his bodyguard set it up for him. Personally, however, I think it's cheating. But whatever. This is a military-grade cryptographic security protocol. Your friend really went to all this trouble? The idle rich are hard to entertain. Listen... You get through it and one of those bottles of wine is yours.

Felicity. Hey, they said you'd be up here. You look like something the cat dragged in. Not that there are cats in this building. Well, once a cat did get in, but a guard tazed it. It smelled like fur and static in here for like a week. Would you mind stepping away from the window for a moment? I have a little bit of a hangover. Sounds like you need a bloody Mary and a pretzel, not the I.T. Department. Actually, my buddy Kevin is starting an energy drink company. He says it's fantastic for curing hangovers, but I am very particular about what it is I put in my body. I've noticed. I said, not noticed. Right? I'm trying to find a secret recipe. Could you please do a spectroanalysis of the sample and find out exactly where in the city it's made? If it's an energy drink, why is it in a syringe? I ran out of sports bottles.

Hi. Hi. Thanks for meeting me. I was...nervous to come to your house. Okay... The thing is, I've been debating whether or not to share this with you for weeks. Can I trust you? [Scoffs] I'm not an idiot. You've dropped some fairly ridiculous lies on me, and...yet I still feel like I can trust you. [Chuckles] Why is that? I have one of those faces. Sorry. Yes. You can trust me.

I'm not going to hurt you, Felicity. How do you know my name? Because you know my name. Oliver, oh... Wow. Everything about you just became so unbelievably clear. You're bleeding. I don't need to be told that. You need a hospital. My--my father's old factory, in the Glades. No, you-- you need a doctor, not a steelworker. Felicity...You have to promise me that you are going to take me to my father's factory and nowhere else. Yeah, promise. [Breathing heavily] Something tells me blood stains are not covered under my lease.

The police collected a sample of your blood at Queen Consolidated. I just hacked the crime lab and ordered the sample destroyed. Oops. Heh. I hope it's all right. Your system looked like it was from the eighties, and not the good part of the eighties, like Madonna and, well, legwarmers. It's a lot of work. Does that mean you're in? You mean in as in I'm going to join your crusade? Well, you're practically an honorary member of the team already. Hmm. So Mr. Diggle said. No. Then why'd you upgrade my system? First, because seeing a network that poorly set up hurts me. In my soul. And second... I want to find Walter. My stepfather. He was nice to me. And Mr. Diggle told me that the notebook you use to fight crime is the same notebook that got Walter abducted. I'll help you rescue him, but that's it. Then I want to go back to my boring life of being an I.T. girl. That's my offer. Ok. So I've been meaning to ask... Is there a bathroom? 'Cause I've had to pee since I got here. It's upstairs to the left. Great. Felicity, thank you.

Oliver, I know you don't want to hurt this girl and you didn't have any choice in telling her who you really were, but we're asking her to get involved in some pretty dangerous stuff. We can protect her.

Felicity! Did you just... Computer override your lock. Maybe a little. What are you doing? I pulled up some information on Mr. Williams. Did you know he's a widowed father of a 10-year-old boy? I told you. I'm only in this to help Walter. Not to be an accessory to orphaning little kids. I'm just giving him a warning. Has it ever occurred to you you could do some real good in the city? Beyond just recovering people's stock portfolios and their saving accounts. You're not the only one who knows how to reboot my system. I made a mistake. Getting in my way? I don't disagree. No. Signing on with you. Even provisionally.

I had a bet going with myself on how quickly you two would visit. Tell me not to reveal your secret. Looks like I won. Actually, Felicity, I was hoping that I could get you to change your mind. I was worked up on adrenaline last night, and I didn't exactly put my best foot forward. I was hoping you'd give me the opportunity to do that now. How about you start with Ken Williams? Did he also get to enjoy your adrenaline last night? No, he returned the money that he stole just in time to put his son to bed. Like I said, Felicity, just a warning...

Why don't I work a couple of little tech, you distract her with a little flirty flirt, slip said tech onto her phone. It'll turn into a micro transmitter, and boom, we'll learn everything she knows. Hmm. It's not how I typically get my information. How do you typically do it? I find the person. And then I put the fear of God into them until they talk. But we can try your way.

Speaking of, have you given any thought to what might happen if this doesn't work and the Dodger absconds with your family jewels? I'm sorry, that came out very wrong.

Talk to me, Felicity.

Psst. By the way. If you ever need to tell someone about your day... You can tell me.

Don't worry, Felicity, they don't send blondes there. I dye it, actually. I keep your secret...

I'll be with you the entire time. Thanks. [Sighs] It feels really good having you inside me. And by "you," I mean your voice. And by "me," I mean my ear. I'm gonna stop talking right now.

You're gonna be really upset when you meet my partner

Unless I can waltz up to Merlyn's mainframe and plug in my tablet directly, there's no way of getting that location. Then we waltz.

Hey, Felicity. Hmm? Hold on to me tight. I imagined you saying that under different circumstances. Very platonic... circumstances.

I used to think the Vigilante was a criminal, too, but it seems to me, whoever he is, he's willing to sacrifice an awful lot to help the people of this city. Kind of makes him a hero... Doesn't it?

This whole area is ground zero. I want you out of here. If you're not leaving, I'm not leaving.

#olicity quotes #olicity #olicity trends

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