#promising myself i will find and buy frames within a reasonable amount of time | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kirishoshego · 3 years

Text

Moneypulated PT.2//Aizawa

!!!MINORS DNI!!! 18+ONLY!!!

Special thanks to Emmie for creating this awesome S&M event and letting me participate and those who requested a part two of my first Aizawa piece x

If you like Sadism and Masochism, BNHA; AOT and Haikyuu the event is definitely for you :)

Pairing: Sadist!Mob-Boss!Dom!Aizawa x Masochist!Sub!femreader Words:3.2+

Summary: When your life is threatened Aizawa realized just how important you are to him. A small fight leaves you bend over the couch, cross eyes and leads to him admitting his feelings for you.

TW: slight mention of torture (a bit more at the end), s&m, controlling Aizawa, calling him sir, knife play (no blood), slight ass and nipple play, orgasm denial, slight oral, biting, spanking, hair pulling, dirty talk, slight bit of degration and teasing

Three month, three weeks and three days. That’s how long it took you to develop positive feelings for him. He gave you everything, but privacy, something you had to learn rather quick because that man was strong and even though he doesn’t look like it, heavy. You told him no twice. The first time left you bruised for at least three days, fucked into oblivion. The second time left you sobbing from his impact play. You hated how little you could control your body, dripping wet before he slipped into you. Something he would love to taunt you with. „Always so quiet and modest. Yet here you are begging to be fucked by a criminal after he spanked you blue and green. Don’t tell me you like that. Tsk, dirty girl,“ he told you with a slight smirk on his face, one hand having a strong hold in your hair to hold you up so he could look at you. The other one pinched and played with clit, milking orgasm after orgasm.

He knew how to work his charm, knew how to impress you. Listened, remembered basically every detail about you. Aizawa wanted to know everything about you, from childhood memories to teenage drama to your goals and dreams. Of course he was genially interested in you, after all he wanted you at his side, but it was also helpful to know one or too secrets. Just in case. It was understandable that he was a bit shocked and also even more alarmed when Shota noticed how fast you adapted to the captive state of yours. There was no attempt of you running away, either because you knew it wouldn’t work with guards everywhere around you, or because you were afraid. So he tested it out. Gave you a car, told you to go enjoy yourself, get pampered for a surprise he had prepared.

First thing you did was getting new underwear because as much as you… appreciated him buying it for you you would like to have a few comfortable pieces that cover more than 3 inches of your skin. You stopped to get a nice drink at a small restaurant, got a small snack before you ended up buying four new plants. A smile creeped up on his face when his phone signaled him he got a new message from Shinso. Attached to it was a picture of you smiling while picking up the most sad looking flower he had ever seen.

It happened while driving back. You realized happiness started to form in your stomach at the thought of seeing him again. Excitement about showing him what you had bought. How could you be happy? After how he treated you in front of so many men, so many strangers. But then again he took care of a man who had sold you for his addiction. You knew he was in the hospital right now, after trying to enter the casino again. At first you thought he was there to get you, to show at least some sort of remorse. Even though their boss told them not to tell you those details Denki let it slip that Kirishima caught him gambling. With that your last string of attachment ripped apart. It wasn’t hard to choose between being left alone with nothing or a slightly questionable man who (as much as you would like to deny it) made you feel good, save and wanted.

That day was the first time he took you to the casino with him, introduced you to a part of his world. The one that was less brutal. He wouldn’t not let you see someone getting tortured. But he knew how gruesome it can get and even though he wouldn’t tell anyone, he threw up after his first time, felt sick the first five. It just made it so much easier to get people to talk. Or make them stop. Sometimes they need to be taught a lesson or too to not put their noses in his businesses.

Rumors started to spread around fast after your first appearance. Shota Aizawa has a trophy wife. Something that made him weak. A pretty one on top of that and she was supposed to be his little lucky charm. Every table you appeared at, the house would win. You didn’t play yourself, you only sat besides your... Well, besides the mob boss himself.

There was no explanation for it really, it wasn’t luck per se. It was math. Some liked math in school, some didn’t. What you liked more though was winning. And games like these were hard to predict, but not impossible. Another aspect were their faces. Everyone focused on their face and those of others, tried to keep cool while detecting a mistake of others that they forgot about other limbs. Some tapped their fingers against the table or cards, others would play with their drink, swirling the ice cubes around without touching it. Some bounced their legs, crossed them, scratched them. Once you caught their mistake it was over for them.

While some got scared because of it, others seemed to find a challenge in it. They wanted to beat you. How could you know that one night you will have the son of another mob boss on the table? He was supposed to be a spy, simply collect information about you and leave. But the opportunity to beat you and therefor Aizawa was too alluring. How could he know that he will lose almost 33 Million yen in one night? And with those 33 Million yen came a big target right on your back.

In less than 24 hours a collection of pictures and informations about you was delivered to Peony. In less than 24 hours your world was turned upside down yet again. The freedom you were given was taken away in order to protect you. His worry for you was understandable but when he decided to have Bakugo and Kirishima on your heels 24/7 you had enough.

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

„I’m inside the house! The house has walls almost thrice as high as Kirishima’s 7 foot frame, a massive garden with six well trained guard dogs running around. You have the best alarm system there is on the market and still I’m not even allowed to use the bathroom in private. It’s humiliating,“ you explained to him angrily. „I would rather humiliate you than pick up your dead body limp by limp,“ he tried reasoning. „Do you even hear yourself? How can you say something like that? Do you not trust your men? I can defend myself! Eijiro has-„ suddenly you went quiet, realizing too late what gravitating mistake you just that you had just exposed yourself.

„Eijiro has what? Continue doll. I‘m all ears,“ he leaned back against his desk, crossing his arms over his in a black shirt clad chest. „We shouldn‘t be changing the subject now. I need-," „What you need is to tell me what Kirishima did,“ you wouldn‘t be so on edge if he yelled at you, screaming at the top of his lungs, slam his hand on the desk, anything. Instead he was dangerously calm, collected, ready for you to make the next step. Knowing you were trapped like a small mouse between a wall and an awaiting cat, only playing with its fear.

„I will tell you if you promise me he isn‘t going to suffer any consequences. He had no ill intentions,“ you started explaining, making a step forward and trying to look as timid as possible so he will show mercy. „You actually think you‘re in a position to negotiate? Oh darling, it is breaking my heart a tiny bit to see you’re underestimating me,“ he faked a pained expression before closing the gab between the two of you.

You knew better than to relax yourself into his touch as he caressed your cheek, planting a small kiss on your forehead.

„Now,“ Aizawa stood behind you within a second, your wrists in his hand behind your back, something cold against your neck. „Please continue before I lose the small amount of patience that is left inside of me,” he sounded threatening, his voice deep and raspy, mouth dangerously close to your ear lobe. The knife near your aorta send adrenaline through your whole body, your pussy pulsing as you caught sight of your current position in his window.

You noticed his eyes wandering over the curves of your body, as the sound heavy breathing hit your ear. It seems like he was holding back, but be the looks of it all he wanted to do was drag the knife along your clothes and watch it drop to the floor. It wasn’t on purpose, more or less, but your hand brushed against his crotch, hearing him hiss as you touched his hard length for a mere second. The grip on the red handle tightened, pulling your body into his and leading your hand back to his crotch.

Eyes met in the window as he licked his lips. He tilted your head back slightly with the tip of the sharp blade, kissing the spot behind your ear.

„Sorry kitten, but this isn’t the time to play,“ he whispered into your ear while you started massaging him through his suit pants. A smirk appeared on your face as you agreed with him ‚oh I know, sir‘ you basically purred. Within seconds you pulled yourself away from him with your whole strength, bowing as he went to grab your hair and kicking back into his stomach as you turned which send him to the floor as he stumbled. Grabbing the knife from his hand and dropping onto his hips as you held the knife to his throat.

„Eijiro taught me how to defend myself, so I don’t have creepy old men all over me,“ you told him, a sudden wisp of a moan leaving your throat as he grabbed your hips and ground his pelvis against yours. „I didn’t know I’m a creepy old man. Wasn’t it just yesterday that you begged me to stuff you? And wasn’t it you that screamed my name so the whole house could hear who fucks you ‚like a god‘? Hm… I must confuse you with someone else that came cross eyed all over me considering I don’t play with brats,“ as the last word left his mouth he flipped you around, turning you so your stomach was flat against the freshly cleaned floor, hand in between your shoulder blades to hold you down.

He thanked the sun for shining so brightly and the clouds for not appearing, considering it lead to you dressed in the shortest little sundress you could find in your closet. The color suited you so damn well and the dress made it so easy for him to uncover your ass. His hungry eyes starred at it in its full glory, feeling his rock hard cock to twitch in his pants.

The blade was dragged across your skin and he could have fucked you right then and there as he noticed how you tried to clench your legs, goose bumps appearing on your skin. „Don’t tell me you enjoy this, such a dirty girl,“ he stopped right at the hem of your underwear, dragging the flat side across your clit and earning another moan of yours. He chuckled, „I see.“

Suddenly the blade was back at your throat, his other hand massaging your ass. „If you try to move or forget to thank me I might have to use the sharp side next time and we don’t want that do we doll?“ Shota asked you, the tip slightly pressed onto your sweet spot as you took to long to reply for his liking. „No sir,“ your voice was slightly shaky as the anticipation inside of you grew. „Not so tough anymore, thought so,“ he loved your submissive state, every time he thought he went too far you were there dripping wet for him.

Without a warning his hand came down hard on your ass, massaging your cheek before disappearing again. „Thank you sir,“ you moaned, the next slap delivered right after. „Thank you sir,“ you said again, feeling our wetness slowly seeping through the thin fabric covering your cunt. Every once in a while he would dip his fingers between your folds, playing with your clit until you’re about to cum, only to stop and spank you again.

Once your ass was a bright red and noticeable handprints adorned your flesh he decided he had enough. The last few thank you’s gave away that you started crying softly, maybe slightly caused by the pain, but more at fault definitely were the denied orgasms.

„Had time to overthink your statement from earlier?“ Aizawa went down to your ass, pushing your panties to the side and dragging his tongue across your slit, dipping inside for a second to collect some of your juice. Kisses were plastered across your abused skin, bitting down onto it to hear you moan again.

„I give you ten seconds to go over to my couch, get undressed and bend over it,“ if you weren’t so incredibly needy right now you might even had begged for some more spanks.

You could hear him get undressed as you did the same, back turned to him to allow him a nice view on your behind.

You could feel his presence even before he touched you, the smell of his cologne mixed with his sweat hitting your nose. Rough hands collided with your ass once more, before wandering up your back, one finding its way into your hair, the other one holding his thick girth in his hand and dragging it from your clit to your hole. You whined as you noticed him going back down again with his tip, which lead to him plunging into your throbbing pussy all at once. Curses tumbled from the both of you, finally getting what you wanted.

Shota pulled you up by your hair, allowing his hand to play with chest. Cold metal came in contact with your nipples and only now did you realize that he had brought the knife with him. It took maybe a minute for your first orgasm to hit, considering the ones you were denied earlier had you on edge already. „Done already kitten? Does that mean you want me to stop?“ He knew it meant everything but. It’s just, having you beg for more gets him every time and he can’t deny how powerful it made him feel, which he needed now more than ever. „No, fuck. Please sir, need mo-oh, more,“ a moan cut through you as a single thrust hit your g-spot directly.

„Take it then,“ he pulled you down with him on the couch, his back against the backrest as you straddled his legs. Do to the new position his cock was even deeper than before and you were shaking with almost every bounce as you went up and down on him. Black eyes wandered from your face to your tits to your cunt, watching him disappear inside of you over and over again. Aizawa’s arms wandered from its resting place back to your body, one going to your back, the other one staying in the front.

You hissed, eyes growing wide as you felt rough fingers circling your puckering hole, while the other ones drew lazy patterns on your clit. Every now and then he would meet your movements, burying himself even deeper inside of you. By now you were a moaning mess, clenching around him as you could feel another knot building up in the pit of your stomach. „It’s alright, I got you. You can cum, I know you want to,“ Shota groaned, picking up the speed of his fingers and watching in pure bliss as you came undone once again, slowing down and pulling you into a deep kiss.

As you went to get up from him, your body now sensitive he grabbed your hips, pushing you down again. „Just because you’re on top doesn’t mean you get to control when we’re done,“ he said, delivering a harsh slip to the left side of your tits, before grabbing your throat and pushing you down into the mating press. „You have to remember your place doll. I get decide when we’re finished and I’m not done yet,“ he grunted, snapping his hips as the hand around you held you in place firmly. A warning slap heated up your tears stained cheek when you tried to wiggle away from him and he felt you clenching around his dick.

You looked so good with mascara running down your face, he thought, feeling himself getting closer and closer as you moaned his name like some sort of prayer. „Again, please,“ you said, feeling the third high coming. It took him a second to understand what you asked for, but when it finally clicked he cursed under his breath, telling you how perfect you are. As he slapped you again, holding your face in his hand and kissing your lips hotly you were holding onto his arm for dear life. Stars appeared in front your eyes as you came once again. You barely noticed anything but his thrusts turning sloppy before he released himself inside of you, buried deep and painting your insides white.

„I didn’t know pain turned you on so much,“ he said with a lazy smile on his face, looking down on your face, your embarrassed expression hardly hidden. „Me neither to be honest… You know how it went in the past,“ you hinted at your unsatisfied sex life with your ex husband, who thought doggy style was already pretty kinky. No shame to vanilla people, but now you knew it wasn’t what you wanted. „It’s good to know, we will test out more things in the future,“ the thought of it turned you on again already and you kissed his chest, letting him know you like the sound of that idea.

„I love you, you know?“ He mumbled as the two of you laid on the couch while drawing patterns on your back lazily. Your heart skipped a bit, this was the first time Aizawa mentioned his feelings for you. „You don’t gotta say it back, I know it’s all a bit messy,“ he said, kissing your forehead. „No, it’s just… After sex the mind is always bit-,“ „Yours might be after that but mine is as clear as ever,“ he cut you off, making you roll your eyes and laugh gently. „I love you too,“ it was mumbled, almost unnoticeable, but he heard you just fine which was all he needed.

————————————- Extra—————————————-

„I run this town. Piss me off again and your wife will find out about your little affair with your little lover boy. She’s pregnant, right? And you would like to be able to care for her don’t you? If so, I suggest you to never threaten my wife or my men ever again. It won’t just be your finger that I cut off, understood?“ He knew killing him off immediately will only cause war. He would win, of course, but it would be unnecessary and taking too much of his energy. „Yes Mister Aizawa,“ the hatred and fear in his eyes pleased him enough for the day, so he walked out of the room, ordering Bakugo to drop him off a few miles away from everyone. A nice nightly walk might clear his head he explained so the man bound to the chair could hear him just fine. „Don’t worry, I will let you keep your finger, but you should hurry, they turn bad fast,“ with that he went into the dark, ready to get home to you.

©kirishoshego//do not repost on any plattforms

239 notes · View notes

arshinquarantine · 3 years

Text

online shopping

To be honest, I don't really care for online shopping. A million little neurons fire off in my brain when I give someone money and they give me an object instantly. Who I was with, how I looked when I first tried it on, what I felt when I first tasted it, how much of a bargain it was, the feel of seams on my fingers or the weight of deckled pages in my hands, the caution I threw to the winds or the impulse that I permitted to seize me all combine in a few seconds to inject one simple emotion into my simple brain: buying shit feels good. Until recently, online shopping was utterly devoid of any positive emotion for me. I don't like computers, and they particularly irk me when they ask me to punch my credit card number or (worse) save it. I don't like waiting for boxes to arrive or dealing with going to the post office to pick them up or the endless amounts of recycling I'm going to have to do. I also absolutely do not have the time or the will or the discipline to return roughly half of what I buy because I'm picky and women's sizing for anything is a hot mess, so piles of unwanted shit pile up in my tiny apartment taking up valuable real estate. So I generally go out of my way to avoid the whole business of it all.

For the first few months of the quarantine, I lived like a purist, buying only what I absolutely needed to online. Unfortunately for me, I was living in an unfurnished apartment (the sum total of the furniture I owned was a mattress, a shitty dollar walmart desk, and a shittier dollar walmart chair) so I actually needed to buy a lot of stuff and I dragged my feet miserably through it all. It took me weeks to pick out basic white Crate & Barrel plates for my kitchen, another few months before I committed to a bookshelf that held only about a third of the books I own, and far too long to buy a bed frame. The worst crime of all was my sofa; when I think about how many months I lived with only my mattress or my floor to sit on, I genuinely wonder how far my propensity for masochism can truly go. Ordering my groceries online was simply out of the question, I remained staunchly devoted to buying them in store even when I had to wait 40 minutes in line for my turn.

Soon, the early alarming but novel weeks of covid gave way to the later mundane, claustrophobic ones. After a few weeks of regularly working out, I realized that there was no world for me to emerge into with my newer, hotter body. The comfort I got from my group chats and zoom hangouts soon petered out, and I returned to cooking my usual 20 minute weeknight meals. Stuck in a new apartment, in a new city, without a car (I can't even drive so this is actually moot tbh) my world quietly shrunk to the 600 odd square feet of hastily, partially furnished space I could call my own (now shared with a sibling) and a few blocks in either direction. I wore the same clothes, called the same people, walked the same walk, shopped at the same Shoppers, made the same complaints and wallowed in the same worries, and then I woke up and I did it all over again.

And then I decided that it was time for something new, and I've been searching for newness ever since. A "resurfacing" night cream that promised to make my skin brighter. A houndstooth blazer from an online vintage store that fit like it was tailored for me. A monstera plant that unfurled leaf after leaf under my distracted care before I finally succeeded in killing it. A bluetooth speaker to fill my home with the sound of qawwalis my dad taught me to love. The boxes would arrive days, sometimes weeks after I make the actual purchase, feeling more like a gift from an unknown benefactor than something I furtively paid for. I used to dislike online shopping for its delayed gratification, but soon began to covet it for exactly that reason, like the steady cadence of a few minutes of excitement made me feel like I was accomplishing the impossible task of feeling an emotion. A cheap rug. An expensive sofa. Baking equipment. Painting equipment. Exercise equipment. Books about best friendship, books about love, about a dying earth and dying mothers, set in Syria and Detroit, Naples and Busan, some devoured, some discarded, all read in hot pursuit of staving off how utterly dead I felt on the inside. Each box that landed on my doorstep neatly filled a hole in my life, a void that never seemed to shrink.

It felt reckless and frivolous—childish even—to allow myself to keep getting things that would make me happy. It contradicted everything I wanted to believe about myself: that I was unaffected by anything money could buy, able to achieve complete inner peace by simply "thinking good thoughts", and minimalist to my core. How positively pathetic of me, I'd think, to need a "thing" or an "item" to be able to feel happiness. Even as I searched within myself for gratitude at my good fortune, my good health, I often came up empty, and the answers to all my questions seemed for lie, for however brief a moment, in whatever Instagram thought I should buy that week, silently delivered in recyclable packaging, with a return label and a promise of brief delight.

Most people my age, my peers haven't lived through an event as seismic as this. The idea that life being irreversibly changed even after this, that it already has changed feels alien to me, a square peg trying to jam itself into the round hold where my brain used to be. Life as it used to be feels right around the corner, just a week away, just a month away, just a season away, and soon, I tell myself, I will get back the normalcy of buying four americanos in three hours to keep my internet access at the cafe I've been working at, the fun in an afternoon spent mindlessly window shopping, the stupid joy in dancing the night away in a sweet and sticky club, the relief in resting my head against the shoulder of a friend, the discomfort of getting on the subway at rush hour, the ordeal of a 15 hour flight home to see my little sister.

I lost family members this year, and I spend my weekends flitting between my numb grief and a website that sells silk pyjama sets. Sometimes, I don't speak to my father for days, afraid that he might see right through my false cheer. Sending him pictures of the first snow, my meals and paintings seems enough to me. Lately I've been waking up from dreams that range from bad to fully qualified nightmares about my mom's health. I haven't seen her in nineteen months. I ruminate over where I want to live, if I want children, who I want them with, new questions that have cropped up and firmly planted themselves on my brain. I find myself rejecting the companionship of the friends on my phone. I want them here in Toronto, so we can laugh at the past, and marvel at the present, our warm bodies pressed against one another. And I crave the thrill of deep conversation with new people who remain interesting to me for only as long as I know nothing about them. Loneliness seems to run like a thread throughout everyone's twenties, I suppose, and I'm unable to tease out where the disorientation of being 24 ends and the isolation of living in a pandemic begins. But tangled up, they are stronger together and frighten me everyday, and I surround myself with boxes and yet more boxes to ward them off.

1 note · View note

sjjms · 4 years

Text

trust me | 02

pairing: yugyeomxreader length: 2.3k words genre: fluff summary: reluctant avoidance

01 02 03

A chill wrestled with your body as you headed to the front of the company building. The wind was at a constant battle with your face, whiplash injuries could be completely unavoidable today.

“Do you really need to be here this early?” You decide to pick up the pace avoiding the question just asked by Daeho.

“Good morning,” A member of staff greets both of you briefly. Was it really morning? These dark cloudy skies, dull and dreary as anything, never made it feel like it was. For five in the morning, it was almost as if the clock was lying through its handles.

“...You haven’t slept.”

“Minjoon said he would be able to take a look at some of the songs I have been working on.” An opportunity to work with Minjoon was difficult to miss out on. He was often busier than you were. Despite being friends with him since middle school you didn’t like to take advantage of friendships for your own gain.

“Today is the only day I’m free.” Soon enough, Daeho would be putting up a protest and preventing you from entering the company after filming ends for the day. There had been a constant repetition of coming to your music studio whenever you could for the past couple of weeks.

“I know but I would feel better, as your manager if you would go back to your apartment and sleep before coming here.” He grumbles whilst trailing along behind you. By the time the elevator doors were opening, sunrise was breaking the spell of gloomy weather. You shroud your eyes while entering from the sunlight’s reflection and the elevator’s apparently bright lights. Since when had these little tea lights become so intense on the eyesight?

“I left my glasses in the car.” With a disappointing mutter, you let out a deep breath. Your actions and mind both led independent lives, never did they want to coordinate with one another to make life a little easier.

“I’ll go get them for you.”

“Is Aera coming to the wedding on Saturday?” An actress you were friends with was getting married, you were glad your friends were finding their happy endings. They all considered you to be the youngest of the group, each time you met with them they made sure to remind you not to rush into things. They kept saying ‘in its own time love would make its way to you.’ you could only wish these words were true.

“I believe so, it is her brother’s wedding.” Were you really that tired? Of course, she was going to be there! Aera had been saying for weeks she was going to be singing for the couple.

“Is this my descent into madness? I hope Aera will forgive me for thinking she wasn’t going to be there on Saturday,” You slightly pout. The elevator stops preventing you from crouching down and crying. It was alright, you were almost at your studio. Being exhausted never did show you in the greatest of light. Your emotions were in the constant in between, would you overreact or show no reaction at all?

“I won’t mention it, I’ll be right back.”

The hallway’s motion sensor light flickers on as you walk on a slow approach to the door. Your security lock lit up welcoming you to attempt to put in the correct code within three tries. It unlocked on the second try. The pads of your fingertips threaded against the rough soundproof panelling, somewhere along here there was a light switch. A post-it note caught your attention now the room was illuminated.

Peeling the note off you realised it was the reminder to go visit Minjoon, “Ah… I almost scared myself there,” You mutter. You gently pat your chest trying to calm the rising heartbeat. No one was able to get into this room apart from the building manager and what would they want with a desktop and empty notepad. It was becoming difficult to use this room to produce though, you had no access to a piano keyboard which did allow you to experiment with other sounds. If you moved apartments you would move your studio into there but since you were a solo artist, it was a lot easier to occupy one of the studios at the company. You were on the doorstep to many other producing artists.

“Here are your glasses.” Daeho appears and hands them over to you. You place them on your nose and push the bridge up higher.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” You say. It was technically now your only free day of the week which also meant Daeho didn’t need to be watching over you.

“Mhm. At 4 AM.” You were waiting for him to say more, don’t stay here for too long or make sure you sleep today. Daeho, over the years, was becoming more like a nagging mother than your manager but you appreciated it. He was right, you weren’t always taking proper care of yourself.

“Minjoon?” You knock on the door before entering, a figure, not Minjoon was resting in a chair in front of the computer. He was playing around with the track currently on screen, you weren’t exactly sure what he was trying to do with it, you would need a closer look to figure that out.

With caution, you open your mouth again, “Who… are you?”

The chair swung around to face you, “It’s only me.” There it was, his friendly smile. You return the courtesy before taking a glance around the room, Minjoon wasn’t here.

“Minjoon will be back in a minute,” Yugyeom said.

It was a coincidence Yugyeom was currently sitting in front of you, right? He’d been one of the few people you were wanting to avoid, Daeho was the other. Detaching yourself from the situation was better than falling in love with someone you couldn’t have. But here he was. It was as if your heart had finally received a reply to the long-awaited question. Would your crush develop further from here? You were hoping for the sake of everybody, including yourself, it wouldn’t.

“You can sit down, I’m sure Minjoon won’t care… No, I promise you he won’t.” Yugyeom chuckles as he corrects himself, you couldn’t stop the smile from increasing.

Shit.

“What are you doing?” Changing the subject as fast as Aera could when she was drunk, you sit down beside him to stare at the soundwaves of the track. He continued to fiddle around with one part of the track for a few moments before answering your question.

“I’m producing.” You laugh and say nothing more. Producers more than anyone liked to keep the tracks they were working on private until they were perfect. Only a select few would help out, if they were needed, of course.

“A new GOT7 song?” You press lightly hoping to extract more information out of him.

“You know us?”

“Of course! We’re in the same company. Why wouldn’t I know you?” You protest. Okay… you had heard a couple of songs from them, before entering the company, however at that point you didn’t know who the members were. The most important thing was that you did enjoy listening to them. “Do you know me?” You retort jokingly. You didn’t expect much from him.

Yugyeom glimpses briefly to you with a wide smile on his lips before chuckling, “I do! I’ve been listening to your song, long nights a lot recently.” Ah... That song. For some reason, it had caught the attention of many, giving you the spotlight for the first time in your music career.

A sudden noise prompts you to turn around, Minjoon was here. His tall frame blocked the light from flowing in, he was almost as tall as Yugyeom now that you thought about it. You weren’t entirely sure how Yugyeom and Minjoon knew each other either, it could have been from anywhere.

“It looks like I’m interrupting something.” Minjoon clears his throat to regain control back over his studio.

“I just need to finish looping and then you can have your studio back,” Yugyeom mutters. He calmly returns to fiddling around with the track, it was as if the last few minutes hadn’t just occurred. Your heart was excited just for this? A small conversation. Disregarding Yugyeom, you use this chance to talk to Minjoon.

“Did you get the tracks I sent you?”

“Yes but I haven’t had the chance to take a look at them just yet. I was approached to make a demo for a drama OST… actually.” Minjoon pauses. Before continuing a few seconds later, “Would you be able to sing for the demo?” Sing for an OST? It would be your first time… well, it would only be for a demo though.

“Uh… When do you need me?” You ask still trying to scramble around your schedule in an exhausted brain, nothing was coming to you, but your thoughts seemed to be ringing alarms for the next two days. Best to avoid those two days.

“Right now…?” You feel your eyes stretch as Minjoon reverts to placing his to hands together, almost begging for you to participate. “I need to set up a microphone to record so about 5 to 10 minutes.”

There was reluctance with the following thoughts, dragging you down one by one, whispering to you, you needed to sleep. “Sure, I’ll just go buy some coffee and be right back.” A walk would refresh your mind and hopefully, the coffee would be enough to give you a buzz.

After a short walk, you are greeted by a worker standing behind the green counter, by the looks of it, they were as tired as you were with a college textbook hidden away in the corner. You give them a smile of encouragement before heading to the back of the store. You stare at each brand of coffee for a while, picking out which you had tried before and how useful it was going to be.

“You’re dozing off there.” A familiar voice appears beside you, it wasn’t surprising to hear it anymore.

“No…” You pout slightly and decide to reach in for the largest can of coffee.

“Staring into space for a good three minutes wasn’t you dozing off?” Yugyeom questions with some bafflement, he couldn’t convince himself that you were debating over which brand of coffee to buy for that amount of time.

“Do you always try to discover the secrets of your fellow labelmates?” You glance up to meet his gaze. No matter how many times you had done this, he was still looking with awe, as if the stars occupied his eyes and you were drifting to the centre of his universe.

“I’ll keep it quiet. Minjoon said to take your time, he’s wrestling with the equipment at the moment.” Yugyeom proudly smiles, you wonder if he was involved in some way, nether the less you chuckle.

“Alright, I guess I will pay for this and sit down somewhere.” Most convenience stores always had a place to sit, usually, the ones you went to had them placed by the window. You say a brief goodbye to Yugyeom before leaving him alone.

You watch the quiet road through the window, most people were still enjoying their last hour of sleep while they could and in some places, market stalls were being set up for the day. With a small yawn, you rest your head against your arm, it never beats the softness of a pillow or even a person’s chest.

“You can fall asleep, I’ll wake you up in ten minutes.” He was still here? Yugyeom occupies the seat beside you, bringing with him a cup of noodles, luckily you weren’t hungry otherwise the smell would have caused a loud stomach rumble. You didn’t want to embarrass yourself further in front of him. He hadn’t said anything since that day. In some ways you were thankful he had decided not to question you on it, but then it hit you, he saw you in one of the worst states you could have been found in.

Now he had brought up the idea of sleeping in front of him, had you not inconvenienced him enough already? No matter how hard you were trying to keep your eyes open they became heavier as time went by, Yugyeom silently scrolled through his phone. This only became encouragement for you to fall asleep and before you could open the coffee can, you were gone.

Yugyeom faintly chuckles watching your arm fall to the table along with your head. He points his phone in your direction taking a couple of photos to show you later. He couldn’t help but sigh with a smile creeping onto his face.

Would it be so bad if he started liking you? There was an ongoing debate running through his head: liking you without dating vs liking you with dating. He understood the reasons for the dating ban but wasn’t five years too much? Two more years to go and he was already questioning whether to rebel against everything he was warned not to do.

“Y/N.” You open your eyes slowly coming to the realisation you had actually fallen asleep, just your luck and another thing you can tick off your list of embarrassing things to do. You straighten up and swiftly run your hand through your hair wishing you had a mask on you. Your fingers search through the pockets hoping for the soft allergy mask you carried for emergencies. Yes, you were considering hiding your face as an emergency.

Your luck was somehow working today, you pull the mask over your face before finally turning to Yugyeom. He was amused by the small flustered show you had put yourself through. You apologise for falling asleep and get up from the seat ready to walk away.

“Wait! You forgot your drink.” Yugyeom hands the coffee can over to you. Luck was being fickle today. You profusely apologise and thank him once again before you were able to leave.

Was it selfish to ask him to stop appearing in front of you? It would prevent your own metaphorical heart from heartbreak. Shaking your head hoping that the thoughts were clearing themselves from your consciousness. You make a promise to yourself, avoid Yugyeom and keep working hard.

#happy leap day #kim yugyeom #yugyeom #got7 #got7 au #got7 scenarios #got7 fanfic #got7 imagines #got7 fluff #au #scenarios #fanfic #imagines #fluff #trust me

27 notes · View notes

chocolatemillkk · 6 years

Text

Friends with Tools (JS)

Request: Can you do one where you and Zoe are friends but you live in london and you were complaining to her that you need to go to ikea and get furniture but all your friends in london’s busy so she suggests Joe? And they catch feelings or something? Love your imagines xx

I stop scrolling on my laptop when my phone begins to ring. “Zoe” the screen has a picture from high school that always put a smile on my face when I saw it. And without fail, I smile now despite how tired I was. I’d gotten the keys to my new flat yesterday and so far all I had was a dining table without chairs and a mattress-it’d been a long day of looking for furniture.

“Hey,” I answer the call.

“Y/N! How’s the flat?” Zoe jumps right in, I’d been texting her complaining that I had no friends in London to go shopping with.

“It’s everything I ever wanted minus any furniture,” I moan. “What you up to?”

“Just came back from taking Nala on a walk,” Zoe says.

“Give the pooch a kiss,” I lay flat on the bed. “I miss you guys already.”

“Y/N you’ve been wanting to make the move to London for ages!”

“I know!” I say. “I just feel really alone. The few friends I have here are out of town.”

“Oh yeah,” Zoe laughs. “That’s why I was calling. I talked to my brother and he’s free all weekend. He’ll give you a hand?”

“Joe?” I ask, picturing the Joe from high school even though I knew he didn’t look like that.

“Do I have another brother I don’t know about?” Zoe teases.

I laugh. “I don’t want to bother Joe, he’s got a life I’m sure.”

“He’s just going to spend the weekend like he always does,” Zoe’s older sister tone comes out. “It’ll be good if he goes with you. He can drive you and help you carry it in.” I’m about to refuse but Zoe beats me to the punch. “I’ll text him your address. Be ready!”

I shake my head but head to my closet to get ready, sometimes a bossy Zoe was exactly what I needed. And when a strange number texts me saying it was Joe and that he was downstairs, I rush down the two flights of stairs and spot his car idling out front.

“Hi,” I say as I get in. “Joe-it’s been a while.”

“Y/N,” Joe smiles. “The last time I saw you you had braces.”

“And I couldn’t see your forehead with all that fringe.”

Joe laughs and it reminds me of Zoe, “You win. That fringe was awful and we’re not supposed to talk about it.”

I laugh and Joe and I catch up as we drive to Ikea. Even though his eyes remain in front of him, he’s surprisingly attentive and there’s no awkward silence in the time getting there. He’d aged well-he was attractive if I thought about it-but I try not to. He was Zoe’s brother after all, and he was just doing me this one favour. I probably won't see him again.

As we enter the massive store, I begin rushing through the isles to get what I need until Joe tells me that he had nowhere to be. So we end up taking our time, laughing at Joe’s awful jokes and my stress of not finding everything I needed.

“Zoe said you don’t know many people in London? You could come out for drinks tonight with my friends if you want?” Joe says as we near the end of the trip. Leave it to Zo to tell her brother that particuar part of my life.

“I might be too busy having a breakdown putting all this furniture together though.” I try to come up with an excuse. “I do need furniture in my flat plus I don't want to intrude on your weekend any more than I am."

“Listen, I'm great with tools,” Joe says simply. “I’ll help you with everything-“ Joe turns to me quickly, “Don’t say no.”

I sigh, he’d already figured me out so I just raise my hands. “Fine! But let me buy you dinner or something?”

“Buy me a drink instead,” Joe reasons.

“Deal.” I couldn’t beat the Suggs so I may as well join them.

•••••> When Joe walks in with the first armload of everything we bought, he sets it down on the single dining table before saying: “You really weren’t kidding about the furniture situation.”

“I really wasn’t!” I laugh. “It makes the flat feel lonely.”

We go down and Joe grabs one of the heavier pieces. I can’t help admire the muscles in his back as they adjust to the load and he catches me staring. I try to cover up by asking if he needed any help with the box but the smile he hides makes me blush. This was embarassing.

I busy myself with getting other boxes and the two of us get sweaty transporting everything up. By the time we get to the last load, we collapse onto the hardwood floor.

“We haven’t even started putting anything together.” I remind him. “You can still back out if you want.”

“And leave you to do it alone?” Joe asks, propping himself up to look at me. “We’ve come this far, may as well finish it all together.”

I ignore the tingling in my stomach and focus on the clock on the opposite wall instead. It was getting into evening already. “It’s going to take forever even just the two of us.”

Joe seems to think for a moment, “Let’s do the bed frame first-and then we’ll go for that drink. I have a plan.”

I turn to him and it’s a total mistake. He somehow looks more attractive after all the heavy work while I probably looked like a bruised tomato. I mimic the way he’s positioned, propping myself on my elbow to ask, “You’re willing to come back tomorrow?”

“I’ve got nothing else planned,” he says but the way he says it has my stomach doing flip flops. He appears casual but the words sound anything but. The few feet between us suddenly feel like they’re shrinking.

Zoe’s brother, I remind myself. “Well then. Let’s do the bed.”

“I brought some tools from home, let me just grab them from the car.”

“Aren’t we Mr. Handyman?” I tease.

Joe blushes, “I didn’t think you’d have any!”

“I do have a few screwdrivers but bring yours up-we can be friends with tools,” I laugh. “And if I don't have everything, we may need your manly tools.” But when Joe bites his lip to keep his laugh from escaping I realise the double meaning to my words. “Nevermind! Just go! Get your tools! And get your head out of the gutter while you're at it!"

By the time Joe gets back up again, I’d dragged the boxes to my room and began figuring out the manual. Joe still teases me and asks which manly tool I needed and I push him onto the mattress as I pick them out myself. And surprisingly, within an hour it’s finished and my matress fits perfectly on top. I leap into bed and immediately want to fall asleep with all the physicial workout I’d done today.

“Oi, you promised me a drink!” Joe yanks my arm out of bed and I’m forced to stumble away and take a shower and get ready. I give my bed up to Joe since there was no other furniture for him to sit on and by the time I come back he looks half asleep.

“Hey!” I toss the towel I held in my hand and he jumps up, blinking. I push him out and throw on a comfortable outfit before we head to the club. His friends are too many at first but I get to know each of their names and they match the energy I needed. They’re friendly and make an extra effort to include me-I wonder if Joe had told them I was friendless in London too.

“I think you live quite close to our flat,” Josh tells me. “We’ll try to be there by noon.”

“Oh?” I say, unsure how they knew where I lived.

“To help?” Josh seems to clue in on my confusion. “Joe said we all had to help you with your furniture?”

“Joe said what?” I turn to look for him but don’t see him. “When did he say that?”

Josh shrugs, “He said so earlier.”

I excuse myself and try to find Joe but freeze when I see him with a girl, the knotted feeling in my stomach was foreign. Of course I had no right over his time but I had assumed we’d spend the evening together. I felt jealous and then petty-Joe could talk to whoever he wanted!

So I turn and find his friends again, confirming that they already knew not only where I lived but all the furniture we had to put together. I somehow end up talking one-on-one with Caspar and as he inches closer, I have a suspicion that he was flirting with the amount of times he found a way to touch me and the jokes he uses but in my tipsy, lonely state, I stay. Until Joe comes by and warms me with his arm around my shoulders.

“What’s going on?” Joe asks, still holding the drink I’d bought him earlier.

“Are you really only on your first drink?” I ask, keeping my third close to me.

“Yeah,” Joe laughs. “I got distracted by someone who recognized me. And we just got to talking about youtube-but I’m drinking it now! No drink goes wasted.”

To show how serious he was, Joe guzzles it and then presents the empty glass.

“You didn’t have to drink it like that!” I laugh, suddenly not as lonely with Joe here and knowing the girl he was talking to was just a fan. But it still felt wrong that I was jealous in any way in the first place. It’s not like Joe and I had a thing.

“Joe’s just a show off,” Caspar jokes but Joe’s eyes cut towards him and I laugh but feel uncomfortable as they convey words through their staring match. “Anyway Y/N-I’m gonna go bother Josh or something.”

“Aw there you guys are,” Joe’s friend Jack joins us to make a small circle as Mikey and Josh follow suite which leaves Caspar hanging on the edge of our circle. They suddenly start talking about something at once and it’s already loud in the club so I tune them out and just glance around before settling on Joe. He’s talking animatedly with Josh and the tall ginger is shaking his head in disagreement. I smile, watching how Joe’s face lights up when he laughs and turns away from Josh. But he looks back at me and his laugh becomes serious before stretching back into a secret smile.

“Hey,” Jack says close to me and I tear my gaze away to see him wedging himself between me and Caspar.

“Hey!” I inch back to give him room.

“So. Can I get you another drink?”

“I drank way more than I wanted to tonight,” I laugh. “So a regrettable no but thank-“

“Y/N,” Joe’s hand finds a place on my back as he inserts himself into the conversation. “Do you want to head back? My car’s still at your place.”

“Oh sure, I was just talking to Jack he-“

“I’ll get an uber?” Joe interrupts again.

“If you want...” I didn’t understand why Joe was cutting me off each time I was talking to his friends. He brought me out here to make friends right? It was an odd overprotective...oh. I look at Jack who’s watching us and glancing at Joe’s hand on my back. “We’ll see you around then, Jack?”

Jack looks back at me with a charming smile, “Yeah. It was nice meeting you-I’ll swing by tomorrow?”

“Right-thanks.” I smile before turning on Joe. “Did you invite all your friends to my flat!”

“It’ll be quicker putting together your flat!” Joe defends himself when he picks up on my annoyance.

“Without asking me?”

“You would’ve said no!”

I roll my eyes and begin saying bye to the rest of Joe’s friends as we leave. His hand remains on my back and it makes me slightly upset. First cutting his friends off from talking to me after wanting me to be friends with his friends, yet inviting them to my flat without asking.

“So does Caspar have a girlfriend?” I ask Joe in the uber. His head snaps up hearing Caspar and girlfriend in the same sentence as it was supposed to.

“No. Why?”

“Mm,” I shrug. “He seemed really flirty. Do you think he likes me?”

I feel the satisfaction when I see the annoyance on Joe’s face, the way he crosses his arms and stares at me. “He probably just wants some Youtube content.”

“Hey! He’s your friend!”

“Which means I know him well!” Joe tries to back track. “Trust me, it wouldn’t work out with him.”

It’s my turn to cross my arms and look at Joe. “And how would you know that? I don’t even know that-he seems genuine. You can’t say that as absolute.”

Joe’s face is stony as he shrugs and doesn’t answer, opting to look out the window instead. I feel smug but after a while, a little worried I’d pissed him off. So I nudge his leg with my heel and he looks at me with no expression. I raise an eyebrow and he looks back out the window.

“Hey,” I unbuckle my seatbelt and slide in beside him. “Why do you look so angry?”

“I’m not," Joe says in a low, angry voice.

"Yet we sit in the car while you stare out the window like we're in a gloomy music video!"

"Well what do you want me to do?" Joe asks and I'm sitting so close that when he turns I'm inches away from his face. Maybe this wasn't my best idea.

"Talk?" I try not to fidget.

Joe shifts his body so it's facing me and our knees touch one another's. His hand comes down to rest on my thigh and he watches my face as I try to appear casual. "You want to talk?"

"Yup!"

Joe waits a moment before moving my hair behind my shoulder and leaning in closer. My heart races and my palms feel clammy-what was he doing? I look down at his lips which are less than an inch from my face and I realise I'd lost-he was waiting for me to crack.

"I don't think my friends would be good for you," Joe says against my skin and I try not to shiver.

"Really," I murmur.

"They don't know you," Joe takes both my hands which had been clenched between us this whole time and rests them on his shoulders. So I guess this was happening. "But I know you. I’ve known you...probably as long as Zoe actually.”

"Jeez, now's not the time to bring up your sist-" Joe cuts me off by kissing me. He expertly moves over my lips and presses me close, his hand moving up my thigh to where my shorts end. I finally get to run my hands over every muscle I'd drooled over earlier before tangling my fingers in his hair.

“A right here?” The driver asks and we part. Feeling embarassed, I face forward again and let my hair curtain my face so he couldn't see it. Was I really doing this, I ask myself. But when Joe stretches his arm out behind me and nudges me towards him, I rest my head on his shoulder. He kisses the top of my head so gently that I feel my heart melting in my chest; I really was doing this.

•••

"Is that a knock on the door?" I groan. Joe lays shirtless beside me the next morning and he shrugs, reaching out to pull me back to him again. We'd gotten up only a few minutes prior and had spent the time with our fingers tangled between us. But the loud knock beats at the door so I throw on a t-shirt and shorts to answer it.

"Hey! We didn't have your number so we just showed up hope that's...alright..." Josh and Caspar trail off as Joe walks down to greet them too. They look between the two of us, somehow shocked.

"Have you two really never seen a boy-girl sleepover?" I ask dryly. It cracks the ice and they laugh, Joe taking the opportunity to pull me close and give me a kiss on the cheek. I notice his friends still glancing at each other but the fact that Joe was willing to show pda in front of his friends was different. Maybe this did mean more to him than I guessed. At any rate, today was definitely going to be interesting.

#youtube imagines #joe sugg #joe sugg imagine #joe sugg imagines #thatcherjoe imagines #fic #thatcherjoe #thatcherjoe imagine #jack maynard #caspar lee #josh pieters #mikey pearce #buttercream imagines #buttercreams

136 notes · View notes

rarhuk · 6 years

Text

Damsel in distress?

A dead man has no hostage to give to fortune...

In my life, there were unspoken traditions, a set of standards that were gender based. The males were set on a path from birth of protecting and providing, the females were set in nurturing and maintaining stability for the next generations to come. Males held power, held wealth, held title and position in which would set a standard for a mated couple, within a mated couple’s union in which these balances of duty were achieved. The females provided a family the path in which oral, and unspoken traditions would be passed down, and therefore gave her mate and herself a taste of immortality,ensuring their continuation onward, in ill, or that of good. It was not questioned, it was the way of life, the typical life style commonality found throughout the nation. A mate and family, was the greatest blessing from the spirits that one of any rank could hope to achieve in their life time. There were of course exceptions to the general rule, great healers and menders, water binders, fire weavers, warriors, priests, prophets, head hunters, those of both genders that either lacked in, or exceeded all expectations of those unspoken rules to become beyond that of a commoner in goals. Those that became the old tales of legend, those that offered hope, and wisdom, defining who we were as an individual, and as a whole. Stories by fire light that spoke of salvation and redemption, those unattainable reaches to be captured within triumphant crescendo, that all could value regardless of status or worth, when times were tough.

I met a Sin’dorei man, marred by runes of demonic design. He had approached while I traversed the elven city during my off duty allotted time frame. He asked many questions of myself, the typical cordial inquiries. He was not as interested in what words I had to exchange than that of speaking of himself, the cordial seeming etiquette had been only a ruse as it is said to get a foot in the door. I have difficulties with emotions, the expressions, the motivations that go unspoken behind a mask, yet I can taste a lie. I can hear it within the coursing blood through living veins, smell it upon the quickened breath, see it in the adverting of gaze, see the sweat glistening upon the surface of the skin. I can taste a lie. On a verbal level, his words sounded as anyone that living being that is.... lonely, or bored. His expressions seemed earnest, he did not sweat, nor advert gaze, yet caution I used directing the conversation in his mannerism to speak only of himself as that seemed the interest. The lie was there but my mind questioned as to what it was that continued not to part his lips into words. I could feel it there as I watched his tongue worm about his mouth, as if it was serpent waiting patiently to ambush. For some time it did not occur to me that lie that remained hidden under a pulsing beat was not a lie but something else entirely that I had not considered. Here I was awaiting for some offer to buy cheap land, or slew of raptors at a too reasonable price.

I need help... please. Please, would you help me? Was all the man by this time I knew under a nickname of Kel, had asked of me.

Deceit can come in many forms that I am aware. However, this was unusual for me to try to decipher. I have had many, become, as this state, if there is an attraction towards myself, as it is not a social normality. Heart racing, breath quicken, attempts to hide the flush, and adverting gaze, sometimes they stare. Yet, I did not believe this was the lie of our interaction, I believed the individual was afraid to show any need that would bring attention to them. Although the words had become a tangled web, that I could not find the actual cause to single me out to approach me in such a manner. I found it entertaining as this may be a prospect to do a hit job, I am not a personal assassin. The longer my reflecting and introspecting thoughts wandered did the silence draw out between us, until it was broken by Kel.

Will you do it?

Of course I inquired about what I was expected to do. I did not expect to be asked to remove demonic runes from his person. However, the only solution I could think of at the time was to end his life, if that was what he was asking of me I had no qualms to do so. I am not a healer, or nurturer not in life, not now. I had always and will always be conformed into what was typical of my warrior rank. I clarified as much, and told him that I knew of another that may be able to purge the undesired corruption from his form. To hold patience, as it may take some days before I was contacted again. I had sent a letter to the priestess, informing her of what I was made aware of with this Sin’dorei’s affliction. Once contact was made, I explained further of what I knew.

I did this, of course not because of my own desire to help this man that reached out for one such as I to aid him. It was, because as I contemplated all that he had spoken, I believed she would want me to do so. I would rather draw out his suffering, I would rather he hide behind the cordial attitude than expose his hidden shame. The priestess would not approve of that, to keep company with those in discomfort. I have kept many things from her and others as to a part of the reason I keep company amongst the living as often in manner where there are many moving within the populace.

This individual held only my mild curiosity, as to why of all individuals in the city, he would come to me with this request. This curiosity was soon sated, and the conversation became... prattling. It solved nothing, nor did I care. He, himself elected to be bound to another individual a supposed master of the craft to become a tool. Kel speaking with spins on how I should be able to relate to my once tie to my own dark liege. The difference being, I did not have a choice in the matter. I held no desire to be ripped from my death to become a tool, whereas Kel’s greed for power caused him to seek out a taste beyond what is natural immortality. I do believe Kel, was attempting to find a sympathetic ear when he approached me in his desperation. He to his disappointment found none. His detailing of his acts under his owner did have my interest as they were most intriguing, yet with the same amount of mortal lust of power and self ambitious interest. He found me no matter what city I went to while I was awaiting the priestess’s response. He continued to speak in hushed tones, as if telling me a grave secret as if I have never encountered evil deeds, before as if in attempts to keep my intrigue on his condition. I finally broke down, just to have peace of silence on the topic to see a portion of these runes. Of course it was not of the kind I am accustom to seeing, yet I could recognize from that small exposed portion demonic influence. The surrounding tissue smelled of gangrene rot, festering fel boiling, I did not take a further breath around this Kel, as I did not trust my own urges not to be manipulated further.

Once the priestess Shayna had responded, she had done so in person. I had clarified about the condition, and that I would be present at all times if she was to be around this Kel, as I did not trust him. Introductions were made and so forth, she examined his condition and offered some treatment options. I was not concerned either way, both seemed pleased. I escorted Shayna some where that Kel would not be present. I spoke of my reservations, that this individual was altered not only in body, but in mind, that he did indeed wanted to be cured at this current time, but may in fact change his mind at a later date. She spoke at length to this individual when we did encounter him, he wished to speak outside the city limits as it was private matter. I held no outward objections as my presence was required to be there. I am aware of the dangers that would present a living individual, to take another outside viewing eyes can present many opportunity for an unsavory engagement, such as an ambush, or tactical advantage.

It was not to be so, he only wished to show his marked and sealed frame beyond what had been exposed to my view before. Again I held no objections, yet, Kel had asked repeatedly if I cared. She is a medical provider, I hold no care if she examined a patient. She examined him and spoke of not seeing a condition such as this before, but she may do some consultation with other healers for insight into the matter as to best treat this affliction. There were no wards, or charms of protection she could grant him at the time.

It was some time later that I received word from Kel, he was in Uldum having believed he had a cure. He requested my presence and the priestess’s presence to aid him. I have been to Uldum, it was some time ago, if I recall correctly. Perhaps years, yet it seems but a moments breath away. I was uncomfortable in the position to guard the discovered artifacts and those on the team. While I was working for a expedition team whose focus was on archeology artifacts, through observation of the teams discoveries I learned much about the Tol’vir the slave race I formerly called Obsidian Destroyers, and the Aqir. I called the Aqir in my life time Qiraji, although, in my time amongst the Scourge, they were commonly referred to as Nerubian, a habit I hold to this day. I was not aware these stone sentinels of the north had a connection to those in the desert wastes until that point in time, they were simply an enslaved race to be used as fodder on the front lines. The artifacts I found fascinating, the history intriguing, yet, I did not care for the sun and sand, and the constant bickering of my charges. They were searching for something specific, with sour emotional moods that were unproductive. I worked with the company until their funding ceased. I was not given coin as I had been promised, the leader begged for my forgiveness in an emotional hysteria due to self inflicted fears of how I would respond. The individual offered me a token of gratitude instead, proclaiming that it’s worth was more than that of coin. Of course there was nothing to forgive I was not offended, nor did I hold a desire to remain in their company. I merely departed as my services were no longer required, nor funded. It appeared to be nothing more than the paw of a small primate. A closer inspection showed that the hand has been dried by centuries of exposure to the sands. It was only when I departed the team, did the gifted item begin to curiously move and make sounds. I left it in the sands, uncertain if I had raised the appendage by proximity, or if some other sorcery was a foot. The disembodied hand followed me, therefore, I gave it a name as it seemed to hold an uncanny intelligence, That. Yet, my past time in that place caused me to wonder currently, what did Titan technology, or assumed Aqir technology have to do with demonic runes. I was curious...

I arranged that Shayna would meet me in the location disclosed in the letter, to investigate it further on Kel’s request. She arrived a few moments after the appointed time, while I was speaking to Kel. He seemed interested on the hieroglyphs on a wall, they seemed to be speaking of a staff, and yet Kel was not relaying what I knew to be written correctly. I thought perhaps his interpretation was different than those of the company from long ago, and perhaps that was why they left empty handed. I also noticed he had robotic constructs patrolling the area while we spoke, I believe it was to ensure his safety as he had spoke often about what an important person he was that I had asked before as to why he had no physical guard to watch over him. He had merely explained he had other means of protection. I assumed this was it.

He and Shayna spoke at length, I merely observed. That had decided to make an appearance, in which Shayna voiced her delight towards seeing the being. I do believe she has a fondness for That, for every time she sees the disembodied hand her voice rises in pitch, and the hand responds with chitters and motions that indicate excitement. I hold no rule over this strangely enchanted thing. I have attempted to sell it. I have attempted to give it away, yet the hand always returns when it wills. I have merely accepted it’s on going presence and absence. Shayna began to speak of the techniques she had learned that may aid Kel relieve his affliction, that may sever the link from him and his master that it would take time. Kel believed light had an influence to null the corruption that here in the chamber of the stars there may be a way to undo what had been done to him. They began discussing it at length, I cared not for the conversation only that it seemed to have no correlation to what ailed Kel. He spoke of being in constant pain and discomfort, that the tools here may amplify what Shayna skills attended him with ten fold.

It grew dull, as if awaiting for anything beyond just idle words to occur. When Kel spoke of one of his robotic sentinels having not returned, and his request for me to see to it, I at first spoke of having no knowledge of these devices that perhaps That could see to it. The hand of course responded with a rude gesture before scurrying off, it was left to me to retrieve the device. I believed patrolling the area was beneath me, as it was my duty to protect the priestess. Yet, Shayna and Kel spoke of needing my absence when dealing with the light that this would be a good opportunity for me to depart, I was handed a communication device to keep in contact. I did not trust the individual to be alone with Shayna for even the shortest expanse of time. He had done nothing to cause an indication that he was a threat, he was weakened by his condition, yet the corruption on his form indicated there were more powers at work. I am not one to underestimate any being from becoming a potential foe. Yet, I abided to the request taking my leave to patrol the area.

I kept frequent contact, although having to pause to dispatch the reason his robotic device was not responding. The equipment had disturbed a skeleton guardian amongst rubble of boulders, the animated corpse was dismantling the wires that made the thing function. I did not disturb it from doing so at first because I found it entertaining. It reminded me much of a ghoul beset upon prey. Yet each time the bone structured hand had hit upon the metallic flesh of the robot arching sparks ensued much to the skeleton’s increasing rage. I merely watched for a time, before I decided to end the cursed beings existence and return the ruined construct back to it’s rightful owner. As soon as it had been destroyed as where there was no sparking or indication that it would malfunction while I held it, in other words I allowed the skeleton to kill the construct dead, before I returned the favor to the animated bones. I find it peculiar, these beings that are much like myself are risen by other means. They seem to hold emotion easily, even ghouls have more... of what I lack. Is it because they remain dormant? How can mere bones, or a disembodied without a heart, without a soul, hold emotion, such as great rage, or delight? How do portions, pieces, reanimated objects retain such things? Is there a possibility if I discover the source of this I could breech those boundaries for myself? I had little time to investigate it further. As I had ended the skeleton, I called once more on the communication device to find no response. I inspected it, to ensure there was no malfunction, as perhaps my proximity to the malfunctioning construct had damaged it. I pressed the button again only to hear Shayna scream my name not through the device but through the echoing of the chamber.

I left the construct, making haste toward the two of them last known location. Perhaps, more of these cursed beings had risen, and my assistance was needed. Yet, as my approach around the square corner revealed there was but a portal, and Kel, Shayna was missing from my visual. Kel’s features were distorted, and before I made it fully to the area he had slipped into the portal with a laugh as it faded from view. I was left with my own devices, yet none could I use at the time or location to follow. I had been betrayed under false pretenses of requiring aid, that realization that I had brought the priestess to become kidnapped infuriated me. Kel would not have to concern himself over demonic runes when I was done with him.

Once I found them....

I had hoped That had followed Shayna, but that was not to be so. I instead contacted my uncle, the jin of the tribe I work for. He has many tribe members that could aid me, I needed a mage. One that could touch upon the source of the arcane, to follow where this particular portal had gone. Yet, to get to this skilled mage, I had to go through another to access to gain this skill set I now required. Ren’nari, my blood cousin....

The history there is thick... In my life I did not know Ren’nari had been my uncle’s son. A silver tongue lie presented by my father’s second mate, Mara’fi. As far as I had been aware, the child my father had used for his sport of pit fighting the amphitheater to gamble with. Ren’nari was merely an unwanted that Mara’fi had taken in, that my father had found a use for. That was all I had been aware of, I did not know the connection to my deceased uncle the child had, I did not recognize the youth as one my benefactors children as that had been hidden from me. I, personally in life had been disgusted by this use of slaves for gladiators in practice, as I believed it was beneath our ranks to do so, yet, I had my own life. I had my own duties, and ambitions. I could not allow that portion of my family’s lifestyle dominate my focus, I chose in majority to ignore it, yet, there had been moments I had spoke out about my disdain for such practices. Of course my father would not hear of such things from his sons, we were to continue to contribute to his misuse of our earnings as long as we held title amongst our regiments, or our mothers would suffer for it. There were many times I thought of killing my father, yet, that too I had been denied, as another had stuck him down.

Since my uncle brought me into the fold of his tribe, I have done tasks and duties for those within his ranks. I have had many charges, including that of Ren’nari’s mates. Regardless of the task, or my performance of duties, Ren’nari holds animosity in my direction as if I was the direct cause of any disruption of prosperity regardless of the circumstance. I allow it, as perhaps this anger in my direction is not the result of performance but that of past pains reflected upon my appearance, as I am my father’s son. The living tend to project that negativity upon those that they feel... safe to do so with. It irritates me, yet I will only tolerate the expressed behavior to a point. There will come a time, where my cousin will not feel, safe, around my presence to behave in such a manner. Convincing Ren’nari to use his female to locate Shayna caused a large disruption with the male, yet, he conceded her abilities under one condition that he too would allowed to be apart of seeking justice to this offense against the priestess, and the tribe. Many things are to be said about my cousin, yet, his mannerism of taking everything as personal insult, is baffling, entertaining, as well as to be used as a tool of manipulation to gain what one requires from him.

My uncle instructed me to go to his temple in the north to await orders from there. Later it would be granted as to how I would contribute in the search once they were established at the originating location as many of the members were investigating my folly. As Shayna may return to the temple, if she escaped.

It was then in the temple of my kin, I came to the realization that they perhaps kept me there in a means to pacify an emotional discord due to the event of the betrayal. Yet, I felt only one thing, rage. I had underestimated a potential foe, and had my generosity of service to those of horde taken advantage of. The offense I felt was not of my own. I cared not that another would use me, I cared not that I, myself was misled, it was the living’s well being at threat that angered me as this. I knew not what she would face at this individuals malice, I knew not what was wanted from her. I could not see past the pretense of desire to be healed. Shayna is not a weak, or delicate female, nor is she of a warrior’s mentality, she is a healer. It disturbs her to watch me feed, it bothers her to see others wounded as it is her nature to wish to heal those that are injured, to give solace and compassion. I admire those attributes greatly, as it makes the life of the living more productive in the time they have to live. Those I would turn from, she provides for, at times I have felt this as a needless act that can inflict as much needless emotional injury upon her person. Yet, I have found while in her company it is a needed pursuit for her to try to mend the wrongs and injustice the world has inflicted, in small and large ways. She contributes by the means in which she was blessed regardless of the outcome, because she does not have a choice. In a way she is just a slave to her design and purpose as I am to my own. Neither of us can stray too far from our confines, without returning to what we are.

I listened to the voices coming from the bijou communication devices, familiar voices, of those that are kin, and those were close enough to be considered brethren to the Jin. It could have been hours, or even a full day worth of speaking, yet no word as to where she could be found. My oversights had caused this, my attempts to justify it as something done because it was her influence did not excuse my faults in the matter. I would not have continued to speak to this Kel, yet I believed it would be something of interest for Shayna, to heal and mend someone that was requesting it. Did not excuse me from leaving her side, I had failed in my duty to protect her. The fact she was still missing proved as much.

A sound from the steps at the temple’s entrance had my attention drawn from the device I held. I was surprised I had not heard it sooner, and yet there she stood, a physical dishevelment, carrying Kel in her arms before she dropped him at the base. She was bleeding from cuts, bruised, her hair no longer a large crest, her outfit in tatters, no escort, or sign of arriving escort behind, it was if she was making an offering of that prone body on the ground. There was silence between us, before I merely said she was, late. It was too late in the day by the lighting outside to make an offering, and perhaps the jest was done in ill taste. I believe she was in distress, however, I am not a good judge of things. She began to explain she was not done with him, that she wanted one more attempt to correct this, to save Kel’s life. My only thought was to end him, as he was not only a threat to her, or myself but those citizens of the horde.

Shayna spoke of him pushing her through the portal but she would not be a willing victim, she fought at great length for what seemed like hours. That he suddenly had impossible strength for his appearance and she believed the magic that he was under the sway of contributed to this strength. Yet, light seemed to be his weakness, and that was the tool she had used to combat him. She also stated he had minions in this undisclosed location, and that she had traveled for again what seemed hours until she began to recognize the landscape. I believe I may be incorrect in some regard in my previous statement she may not have a warriors mentality, but she has a heart and spirit of one. She had made it home, without a valiant rescue, she had not been a damsel in distress, but a heroine. She could have been tortured, she could have been killed, but fought against odds that were against not only succeeding in rendering her foe unconscious but returning with him still intent to cure what remnants of his soul that remained in the shell of the body. Who was I to deny her continuing efforts? I believed she earned it.

I made a suggestion, to possible save Kel. If the ward was only corrupting the body and mind due to the fact he was alive, perhaps we should make an attempt to null the effects by killing him, temporary of course. If I killed him, she could remove the ward, then raise him from that small death to be completely healed. She wished to try once more without going to that extreme, that again I allowed it. Turning my back as she attempted to erase the ward while he was in that state unconsciousness. Apparently it did not succeed, for one moment Kel was unmoving and then the next he was launching himself at my person. I removed my weapon swiftly from it’s sheath as Shayna called out my name. In my swift turn I had impaled him under the chest, in which he sunk upon as if he was made of shadow. These sudden motions of action and violence had disturbed the priestess further, which irritated me immensely, as I desired to draw out his death slowly. I pulled my blade instead from his body quickly. She asked me not to let it end this way, just to allow her to heal him enough that he could be returned to the healing facilities in Dalaran. I am permissive to the priestess’s whims. If I was in her position from a tactical, and common sense stand point I would not allow him to live. Even as I was dispatching the barely living body to the medical providers in Dalaran I wanted him dead, yet I cannot refuse Shayna anything she wishes. It may not be out of pure passion or love, it may only be out of a sense of fealty to her. I cannot deny her wishes regardless if they make sense to me or not, I follow her demands unquestionably. Perhaps, my desire to fulfill her every wish to the precise nuance, is as powerful to her as a male that could give her true love, for she has yet to deny me my proposal.

I had returned to the temple to find her cleaned, drained of energy. She wished to speak on things, to spend time in my company as felt she could not sleep alone. She retold what had happened after I assured her I taken care of the matter, she should not concern herself over Kel. I apologized for my oversight of his deceitful behavior as well, and lack of service when it came to protecting her when it was needed. She spoke of needing closeness, and therefor I joined her in the furs to ease her mind of these thoughts that plagued her. I had fed on my return to the temple, to sate that urge to kill Kel, instead of doing it. I was aware she would not want me to kill him, and even though there had been an opportunity for me to do so on the flight I had not. I did not wish to displease her, even if she would not be aware if I lied. I had believed at the time there had been too much deceit to betray her in any degree this day, I had obeyed her regardless on my own desires. I wished to ease her mind of what caused this distress in her, and spent my focus on her what would please and ease her well being.

My focus had been so intent on erasing my failure to her, it did not resonate until later that evening that I had forgotten to speak of having Shayna at the temple. All I can assume was that she had spoke with the Jin and others for as I laid with her in the darkness lit only by pyre light within the temple did someone approach. My irrational, enraged cousin.... He held means to speak with me. I recall this clearly, his expressions, his vulgarity in words, his poise to do battle with me. To be frank, I was not going to tolerate the behavior any longer. Shayna had just found some peace, his arrival and presence was disturbing it. She was not content, therefore neither was I, if this altercation came to exchanging blows on her behalf so be it. He should not dishonor the priestess with such ill begotten terms. I prepared myself to take the oncoming impact to retaliate...

That was all... blackness, nothingness... The next moment I found myself in Shayna’s home, on her plush comforts of pillows and furs, confused and disorientated. Her face close to mine her tone but a question of my name “ Ra’rhuk? “

#Ra'rhuk's journal

15 notes · View notes

elementsofan346 · 4 years

Video

youtube

write my essay for me

About me

Fast Essay Writing Service That Helps You Save Time

Fast Essay Writing Service That Helps You Save Time Even within the quick amount of time we have with you, you'll have full control over your order. Every essay or research paper we write is totally distinctive. We don’t have any databases of papers we’ve previously written for our clients. That’s why we will write a paper in accordance with your directions in an hour, in a couple of days, or in a week if needed, and you get a paper that’s considered one of a form. Students use EssayShark after they want to obtain a high quality paper, without paying much for it. The price that you should pay will rely upon the kind of paper, number of pages, and the deadline. The better part about writing a paper is finding surprising connections, in any case. Next Thursday, I actually have a paper due for my philosophy class on Nietzsche. Weekdays are busy with problem sets and assignments. I do not anticipate myself to start out consolidating material for the paper till this weekend, which leaves me loads of time to plan an effective essay. We understand that students could also be afraid of ordering online assignments due to the dangers of being revealed. Neither third-parties nor your professor will know that we wrote your essay. Beyond that, we guarantee non-disclosure of all your private data when you contact us or register with us. Before submitting all the essays to our purchasers, we examine them on plagiarism, Grammarly, and manually evaluate the logic of the work carried out. It doesn’t matter what sort of problems you could face, since the money back assure will protect your interests. Moreover, we can say that you choose the value yourself if you choose the writer’s bid. In this way, you will notice the final worth and no further charges will be added. Secondly, with quick writing, you may order certain kinds of work that may be rapidly accomplished, corresponding to an essay, review, CV, and so forth. We can write your essay in six hours if the deadline is that shut. We all the time endeavour to meet deadlines, and we delight ourselves on delivery prime quality work on time. We work hard to offer services of nice high quality and therefore anticipate you're attaining the most effective with our professional assist. However, when you're blessed with the ability to put in writing immaculately and at speed, you may not need this lengthy to edit your essay. If so, permit yourself a little more time after dinner to finish writing your essay. We all know that dissertations, research papers, and time period papers cannot be completed in several hours. Firstly, writing quickly assumes a small variety of pages – a high quality paper written in a brief period of time, after all, can’t be lengthy. On EssayShark, you should buy essay quick and low-cost. Given the amount of research paper requests we get, we now have amped up our team with research paper writing consultants who write customized, well-written research papers. Many college students hesitate to achieve out to essay writing websites because of some negative experiences they’ve had prior to now. You’re not alone -- that’s the lifetime of a quintessential school scholar. With looming deadlines and complex essays, students are underneath immense pressure and left feeling stressed. Everybody needs to pay attention to the price of companies. Our prices begin at the 10$ per page, which is reasonable enough. Also, we permit you to speak with your writer instantly. We promise to complete the order from scratch and deliver that before the deadline. Our dedicated writing experts will do their best to have a satisfaction fee. For that cause, the refund requests have a tendency to appear quite hardly ever, which is partly due to our strong refund guarantee. Every refund request that we receive from our customers is reviewed by our online specialists, as well as considered within the shortest potential time frame. Communication is important for a successful service rendering. Afraid that our quick service might result in low-quality papers? If you want to ask concerning the status of your faculty essays, contact our assist service. Everything you have to know for writing wonderful scholarship essays and school essays. We deliver quality tutorial papers precisely when you need them and earlier than the expected deadline.

0 notes

gb11lhn · 4 years

Text

Private Real Estate Syndicated Funds - A Passive Way to Invest in Real Estate

In the current market, one thing is guaranteed. For decades savers and investors found it safe to keep their money parked with their banks however the current near zero interest rates of volatility and interest of the U.S. dollar are justified reasons that induce more people to find better investment plans for their money. That is why many investors start searching for investments that keep up with inflation (real estate, gold/silver, commodities, and certain foreign currencies and stocks.)

If Real Estate investing has been in mind but are not sure where to invest, the way to get the best prices or how to correctly evaluate one, you might want to explore the chance of a passive approach to invest in a Syndicated Real Estate Fund. A property syndicate is merely a group of investors who pool their money to buy real estate. By pooling their money together these investors have the ability to purchase larger property properties with or without bank financing. This technique of real estate investing has been a popular way of funding the purchase and sale of commercial properties like shopping centers, office buildings and warehouses.

Personal Real Estate syndicates raise funds through a private placement that's a security - an ownership interest in a business which owns and operates investment property. Contrary to the REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), these investment vehicles aren't publicly traded and aren't priced to market on a daily basis. While REITs might have high volatility returns their publicly traded shares are subject to a substantial amount of price volatility, an event less likely to occur with personal syndicated funds.

Many property syndicates are offered as private pensions, therefore it's important that you understand the procedure and risk factors associated with private placements. Among the most common threat is that the underlying investment is property, because these investments may be less liquid than stocks in a REIT; when time comes the fund might be not able to sell the real property in a high enough price to create the expected profits; or external elements such as a further deterioration of the market might negate the value added through rehab work. Then, there's that uncertainty of unforeseen future expenditures, taxes, and accountability, all which being typical property issues that experienced investors are knowledgeable about.

Syndicated property funds are carefully crafted using the experience of lawyers, accountants, contractors, investment bankers, mortgage bankers, and real estate brokers. They're structured in form of a partnership agreement or limited liability company (LLC), whose code of ethics requires full disclosure of all material facts. To further ascertain whether this sort of investment is for you, you will want to figure out the expertise and accomplishments of directors and supervisors, the minimum required investment, the time-frame of your investment, and the potential yearly yield and capital gains on your cash.

What I discovered enticing is the fact that you can invest in a personal property syndicate with his retirement accounts (IRA). A self-directed IRA is a special hybrid tool that employs a self-directed IRA custodian and a technical legal arrangement. Investments made with a self-directed IRA may grow untaxed provided the income generated is passive income.

Some other possible benefits associated with investments in these funds are:

* Gaining net cash flow via a passive investment. Owning property separately requires skills in assessing property values, negotiating purchase agreements, financing, negotiating leases and handling the property. An investor in such a fund has access to a team which has proven expertise and knowledge to take care of all facets of real estate.

* Reaching a higher return by investing in bigger and more rewarding properties. By pooling the funds of several investors, property syndicates can achieve overall greater returns when compared to a lot of individual investors.

* Taking advantage of this distressed commercial real estate market by using the experience of vulture investors.

* Hedging against Inflation. Since inflation erodes the value of hard-earned money and reduces the individual buying power, investment diversification from real estate assets may potentially represent a more desirable way to keep your current living standard.

* Possible gain from property appreciation. High occupancy rates, steady earnings, carefully evaluated expenses, and expert property managers overall mostly contribute to the growth in value.

* Favorable tax treatment. Check with your tax advisor regarding tax savings on personal property syndicates which might not be available when investing in a public company.

* Different Investment Positions. As an investor, you can choose from various positions which best fits your investment requirements.

Overall I think it's a wise move to diversify your investment portfolio with a difficult asset such as property. But no matter what you invest in bear in mind that a"healthy investment" is the sort that...

* generates substantial revenues for you during good times and bad times; * is made from real assets which don't evaporate; * doesn't lose its earnings potential with time; * asserts its capital value; * keeps up with inflation; * is created from resources which satisfy one or more human needs (housing, food, energy); * may be passed to your heirs and create passive income for them.

Ultimately, if you are seriously considering putting a chunk of your cash into such a fund do not forget to ask the difficult questions like if the supervisors and supervisors are investing their own money in the fund; how do you verify that the provider is real and not a hoax; what could go wrong and if it does exactly what happens to your investment. Use common sense and your own instinct, learn as much as possible, make decisions, and act on them quickly so that if the financial dust finally settles, your egg nest will still be there, intact and unharmed.

During today's financial climate one thing is guaranteed. Inflation is inevitable. How this event will affect your life -- and your family's -- in this decade is dependent primarily on what actions you take now. Determined by the counsel of a financial planner which informs you stocks or mutual funds are the way to go should be the last thing on your list. Read, learn, and use common sense when you float. The one which will have your best interest in mind is that you, trust me! Be proactive instead of reactive. During high inflationary times just a few people are left unharmed. In order for one to be among them you will need to learn how. Your physical/mental health and strength preservation ought to be top priority.

Real Estate Brokerage Is Changing to a Virtual Brokerage Model

The conventional bricks-and-mortar real estate broker is hemorrhaging, and all that keeps this archaic business model alive is consolidations. As offices near, some brokers quit, but the natives move their permits to another sinking ship, a ship that appears the same as the previous one and often with exactly the same title on the bow.

A huge franchise office closes it's doors, no more able to keep the lights on after over a year of working in the red. The agents are worried sick, not knowing exactly what they will do, until their savior walks in the door.

A broker from a massive bricks-and-mortar across town with the identical franchise offers to take each of the brokers in with exactly the same contract terms: each agent pays $600 per month and retains 100% of the commissions. The brokers sigh in relief and immediately sign the new contracts such as sheep to the slaughter.

Since the agent can not generate enough leads for the brokers, and because the agents are not selling enough to make the agent enough cash on commission splits, any type of split would not make sense for the agent today. A sharp agent will charge each broker a monthly fee. He laughs all the way to the bank, as with 60 representatives paying $600 a month, he is making $36,000 per month just for living.

Three years ago I sat across the desk from a franchise agent who looked at me and said,"Well, we are feeding the business each month. You must do this when times are tough. But we have been through tough times before, and we always come out fine." I recall thinking to myself that was a ridiculous thing to say coming from a guy who told me he had no business plan, no funding for marketing, and no written vision for the future of his business. Unfortunately, that same broker just issued a press release he is permanently closing the doors of his bricks-and-mortar and will be hanging his permit with a different bricks-and-mortar. Another consolidation.

This agent is only jumping from one sinking ship to one which has not sunk yet. The new ship has lots of leaks, and it might take some time for people on the Titanic to awaken. It is one thing for agents to ride their own boat down, but it's quite another thing entirely for those agents to sell tickets to property agents with promises they can not keep.

The most unfortunate thing about all this is that the brokers who believe they're doing what is necessary to endure are just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Many truly don't understand or understand how shaky their fate is. Many do have an uncomfortable feeling, and they know something is wrong with their business model. Much like so many of the passengers on the Titanic near the end who smiled and kept saying,"Do not worry, everything always works out alright," traditional brokers continue to However, the boat is leaning, and they're at risk. They simply don't know what to do.

This is the great issue of being stuck. It's the traditional inability to think outside of oneself. Traditional agents and brokers who have functioned within a traditional brokerage model for several years struggle to believe in entirely new ways. What makes this especially tough for so many is their discomfort with technology and the Internet. Some simply refuse to learn the technology. I am aware of a leading producer who won't accommodate, and he sincerely believes he can delegate a number of the responsibilities to his helper. Few assistants will spend night and day adapting and learning to a boss, and if they do and leave , where does this leave the broker? Even successfully assigning leaves severe challenges in bridging the gap, which I'll share later.

There's been a massive change, but not all brokers and agents recognize what's happening. Most don't comprehend that they're in the center of a significant earthquake. Thus, they continue to do what they always have done. Underlying these modifications is something very large that traditional agents are missing. Just because it is powerful forces which move tectonic plates deep beneath the earth's surface, we're experiencing powerful forces resulting in an earthquake in the real estate world. Like so much in existence, what we see on the surface is only a symptom of a deeper and considerably more significant movement that's in fact the driving force. It's this driving force that lots of agents and brokers have not recognized.

Here's the first tectonic force that's at the origin of all these changes effecting the real estate sector: a change in customer behaviour. Granted, it is a massive shift in consumer behavior. It is so large with so many implications, most individuals do not comprehend it.

The entire description of these changes in customer behaviour would be rather long, but here's a short overview from the context of the real estate business. Consumers are no longer willing to be marketed with obnoxious advertisements and advised what to buy and when to get it. They are fed up with just getting partial information upon which to base their most important decisions. Consumers want and need freedom to control their own fate. They do not like being controlled. They do not like being manipulated.

The next largest force effecting such remarkable changes in the real estate sector is powerful in its own right, but also functions as a catalyst for the changes in customer behaviour.

The catalyst which has empowered customers and is forcing these modifications which are the death knell of traditional real estate broker is... improvements in technology.

The effect of the real estate downturn has accelerated this process to be sure, but just in time. Had it not been for this downturn, the effect of the changes in consumer behaviour would have taken more, but the effect would finally be the same. The downturn has acted like a diversion, however, distracting real estate representatives in the actual reason behind their doom.

I am reminded of the paper salesman who tried to sell me expensive print advertising lately. I ask him,"Why would I advertise in the paper when it has not sold any of my property listings in the last year? Help me out. Why should I advertise in your newspaper?" His reply while soft-spoken and considerate, was of the exact same mindset as many real estate agents now,"Well, you do not need to get left out if your competition is advertising, do you?" In response to my blank stare, he cautioned,"When business is slow, it isn't the time to stop advertisements. It's the opportunity to market more than ever. We used that line in earnings 30 years back. Are they still using online? Yes they are.

Apparently, that kind of sales pitch still works with many real estate brokers and agents, because like flies bouncing off the plate glass windows in a futile attempt to escape from bondage, many brokers continue to do what they admit does not work very well anymore. Whatever we were doing this wasn't functioning before must be performed twice as fast today. If the ship you're on is sinking, be quick about your business and jump on another boat exactly like the previous one. Such behavior is insanity and a ticket to failure.

More real estate agents have filed for bankruptcy protection in the last two years than anytime in U.S. History. And the earthquake hasn't ended as many bricks-and-mortar agents are on the verge of shutting their doors shortly.

It's the early adopters of new business models and new technology who are the millionaire realtors in the years to come. Since time is truncated with the accelerating pace of this rise of technology and using the Internet, those who pause too long to consider doing something will be left so far behind, they may never catch up. Consider a space ship going into warp speed. People who missed the flight will find themselves light years behind their coworkers. This is how it'll be for traditional realtors who insist on staying behind.

There's an answer, and it means embracing technology, new marketing techniques, new tools to achieve customers, and mastering the Internet as a powerful medium.

#Real Estate #real estate brokerage #real estate investing #invest

0 notes

gaetannelavoie-blog · 6 years

Text

Local Competition

I’ve decided to create quality prints and signed limited edition prints of my original works of art to sell at significantly lower rates than the original pieces.

I have found several direct competitors, other artists who also sell giclee and/or quality and limited edition prints of their artwork, as well as, several indirect competitors, such as print shop companies that cater to artists who want to sell prints without the hassle of printing and shipping the images themselves.

In either direct or indirect competition, the prints are primarily ordered and sold online.

Direct Competition:

Alexandra Gallagher is a British artist. She creates collages and has exhibited her original work in group and solo shows, murals and collaborations with other artists. She is my direct competitor not only because she is making high quality prints of her works of art, but also because she creates surreal, figurative compositions dealing with the human condition. She differs to me in that she creates collages with mixed media, where I create everything through paint and drawing. This could be an incentive for art collectors not only to invest in my original works of art, but also in prints.

instagram: alexgallagher80

Facebook: Artist Alexandra Gallagher

Website: alexandragallagherart.com

Ms. Gallagher has several social media sites, from instagram, Facebook, as well as her own personal website. All of which have a direct link to her online “shop” where she sells mostly prints with the occasional original work of art. She advertises regularly via these websites. She has a strong online presence, posts regularly and interacts with her followers. I myself sent her a question about her prints and she got back to me within two weeks.

She sells limited edition giclee prints (a very high quality print specifically designed for artists), high quality prints on quality paper and the option for signed prints. Her prices range from 90 Pounds up to 250 Pounds, before shipping and up to 1000 Pounds for originals. From my understanding she works with her local print company and handles all packaging and shipping.

One of her strengths, other than her work itself (it’s really beautiful), is that because she creates mixed media collages, she is able to make the originals quickly, which means she always has a steady stream of new work to print from and her original piece prices are reasonably priced.

Ironically, this is also her weakness. In a market where the new generation of consumers are looking for handmade, handcrafted works of art, buying a print of a collage might not be what an art consumer desires to collect. They would potentially prefer a print of a skilled craftsman/woman.

Jeremy Geddes is another direct competitor, he creates small scale original, hand painted, surreal, figurative oil paintings that sell in major world renound galleries in New York city, Australia and Europe, most starting at USD15,000 up to USD40,000, ranging from 8″ x 10″ up to 28″ squared. His work is more similar to mine than Alexandra in that he paints everything by hand, it differs from mine in size, I create significantly larger pieces.

instagram: jeremyispainting

Facebook: Jeremy Geddes

Website: jeremygeddesart.com

Mr Geddes also has several social media sites and has links to his website where he has a “store” link for his prints. He only sells his originals with his gallery affiliates. He explains Terms & Conditions in great detail, describing the quality of the archival ink, paper, how it’s packaged (postage and packaging is included in price) and differentiates btw his portfolio sets (sold in a small book form), his time released prints (sold during a 24 hour window) and his limited edition prints. He describes his printer affiliates as “image Scientists” giving them a prestigious feel that enhances the idea of quality in the prints. His prices range from USD29 for the portfolios and up to USD400 for the limited edition.

The strength in this type of sale is the accessibility with the portfolio prints and the exclusivity from the “time released prints” and the uniqueness in the “limited edition”. He does mention the price does not cover customs or duties in other countries and that shipping time may vary depending on where it’s traveling to, but also gives a one month time frame for the print to arrive. If it does not arrive within one month he will send another one. He works with a print company in his region and takes care of shipping himself.

As far as direct competition goes, Mr. Geddes weakness is that he is based in Australia. Other than that, he is very strong competition overall. He does create laborious oil paintings which do take a long time to finish, and his prints sell out very quickly, so with the promise of exclusivity and slow productivity, he may not produce very many prints to sell at any given time.

Indirect Competition:

I was researching Ruben Ireland's work, a phenomenal artist who creates mixed media, dark fantasy illustrations.

Website: rubenireland.co.uk

And came to find that he outsources his images to several online print companies. He is affiliated with several throughout the UK and North America, which brings me to one of my many indirect competitors, Society6.com

Society6.com are a print company that take most of the guesswork out of the print business. They cater specifically to artists who desire to create prints of their work, as well as, collectors who’d like to purchase prints at a low rate. They represent several artists, while providing opportunity for new artists to join and sell quality prints of varying sizes and mounts (i.e.: on paper, on canvas, on board, framed, unframed) for varying prices.

I have ordered one of Ruben Ireland’s prints through them, the cost was extremely reasonable, much less expensive than Ms. Gallagher and Mr. Geddes, at CND39.95, unframed, 20″ x 28″ plus $10.00 shipping. I hope to own an original one day but according to his website he hasn’t exhibited any new work since 2014, which, if accurate, could be a major weakness. Collectors like to know that new work is at least in process, otherwise it’s not an investment. He also didn’t seem to have any limited edition prints, which is also a weakness. Even though the collector is buying a print of the original, there is still the desire for novelty, creating limited edition prints gives the collector the satisfaction of knowing that there is still only a small amount of copies that have ever been created.

Companies like Society6 seem like a good alternative for the artists who want to create prints without the hassle of figuring out all of the packing, printing, pricing and shipping details on their own. The downfall is that the one’s that I’ve researched seem to sell the prints at very low prices, which means that the quality of the print might not be all that great, and they don’t seem to have a cap on the number of prints sold, which takes away from the originality of the work of art. Originality is one of the main reasons a person would invest in a pieces of art in the first place.

My position:

I will be looking into outsourcing and measuring the pros and cons in regard to creating prints. As it stands, I am leaning toward finding a local print company and handling shipping and packing myself. I will also be offering limited edition prints and will look into giclee. Giclee might be out of my initial budget, in which case I’ll wait until I’ve made enough profit to support the extra cost, as well as gained enough customers to sustain the higher price tag.

My paintings are created from scratch and are hand drawn, which makes them especially skilled. It does take me a few weeks to several months to complete one painting or drawing, but because I have so many already created I have a strong collection to start with.

I will be making prints of my oil paintings, black and white acrylic and drawings and feel like I am covering a few different aesthetics with these three styles of work, expanding my customer base.

I’ll save the rest of my position for my pitch.

1 note · View note

mrsteveecook · 5 years

Text

our interns have to buy food for everyone, HR wants to us to give ourselves “the gift of health,” and more

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. My office makes interns buy food for everyone else

At my office, there is a longstanding tradition that the interns bring in donuts/tacos/etc. on Friday mornings. There is sometimes a money collection that goes around (I have my own feelings about soliciting people for money at the office) but more often than not the intern that gets that week has to foot the lion’s share of the bill. There is an expectation that breakfast gets brought in on Fridays, but I don’t think it’s fair that the people with the lowest pay end up buying food for partners, etc. It’s not like they are buying a ton of food, probably $30-$40 worth, I would think. The amount of money doesn’t matter to me since it’s more the idea itself, but my coworkers scoff at me saying this “immaterial” amount isn’t worth causing a stir about.

I am a supervisor/senior in the department. How do I eliminate this expectation without causing problems?

This is horrible! Your department makes interns buy everyone else food? $30-40 is a significant amount of money to most interns and your coworkers’ scoffing at that is extraordinarily out of touch, but even if it weren’t, this would be an awful practice. I can guarantee you that your interns hate it, and they should. And if your coworkers think the cost is so “immaterial,” suggest they start providing meals to the interns rather than the other way around.

You absolutely need to eliminate this practice. Say this: “Starting this week, interns will no longer be providing food on Fridays. If anyone else would like to volunteer to bring in food, you’re welcome to do that — but that’s 100% optional, and we’re going to keep the interns off the rotation.”

If you get pushback, you say, “We’re not going to ask people making significantly less than the rest of us to pay for our meals.”

People may be upset at the ending of the tradition, but if they stay upset once you point that out, they’re being wildly unreasonable and you don’t need to manage those feelings for them. But you may find it effective to respond, “If you’d like to keep the tradition going, do you want to sign up for this Friday?”

2. HR wants us to “give ourselves the gift of health”

I’m a young woman a few months in to my first office job. Around the holidays, our HR department sent out an email with the subject line “Give Yourself the Gift of Health.” The email advised us to “put your health at the top of your gift list” by “Avoid[ing] mindlessly consuming sweet snacks and party food as well as alcohol,” remembering to include “a core workout or brisk walk” in our routine, and telling us to “break with holiday habits that no longer inspire you or choose simpler ones that strengthen the meaning of this special time for you.”

This feels inappropriate to me. I don’t feel like it’s my company’s business what I’m doing on my holidays (within reason — I’d understand them reacting if I was arrested, for example). I felt a little judged on a personal level. If I want to drink too much or eat myself into a food coma, that has nothing to do with my job. And the part about breaking with traditions could potentially bring up painful memories.

Am I way off on my interpretation? I know this is pretty bland and common advice, the kind I could read or hear anywhere, but I took issue with it coming from an employer. Am I overreacting?

If you’re planning to storm into the HR office with a print-out of the email in hand and bellow about personal autonomy, then yes, you’re overreacting. But if you’re just annoyed and think this is paternalistic and patronizing, you are not overreacting. It’s paternalistic and patronizing. It’s also super common, as corporate HR communications go.

It’s true that it’s good for employers to have a healthy workforce (for productivity reasons and also for health insurance costs), but they should focus on the things they can do to contribute to that, like ensuring people get enough vacation and sick leave and providing excellent insurance. If they’re not doing those things, this type of email is even more irritating. If they are doing those things and want to do more, they can provide healthy snacks, subsidize gym memberships, make it easy for people to switch to standing desks if they want to, and so forth.

3. Interviewing intern candidates who were lottery picks

I’m interviewing applicants for my organization’s summer internship. Ordinarily I interview only students who have a chance at being hired. However, this year I am participating in a career fair that lets employers choose some of the applicants to interview, but also gives some interview spots to students who are chosen via lottery. As a result, I have interviews scheduled with students who I would never hire because of deal-breakers already evident in their application materials.

What is the best way to handle this? When I was in the students’ shoes, I hated feeling like my time was being wasted by interviewers who obviously already knew they weren’t going to hire me. But I also felt like I couldn’t just excuse myself, because I didn’t want to look unprofessional or burn bridges. Now that I’m on the other side of the table, I still don’t want to waste anyone’s time, but as a representative of my organization, I also don’t want to come across as unprofessional or cruel. Nor do I want to work around the system in a way that makes the fair organizers hesitant to invite me back next year.

How should I conduct these interviews? Should I pretend these applicants still have a shot? Should I be honest and ask if they’d like to know my reasoning, so they can have a better shot with other companies, or, alternatively, decide not to waste their time talking to me?

If the point of the lottery system is to be helpful to students, I’d think about the most helpful way to use that time with them. There’s certainly some value to them in getting interview practice, but there’s way more value in getting feedback on why they’re not a competitive candidate right now and what would make them more so. You could frame it kindly — like, “I want to be up-front with you that we’re looking for candidates with more X. I know you’re at the start of your career and I’d be happy to walk you through what we look for from candidates for this type of role and how you might be able to strengthen your approach with other employers.”

But also, do you have an opportunity to push back with the career fair organizers, point out that this isn’t a great use of anyone’s resources, and suggest they reconsider it for next year? (I could definitely see something like this if the goal of the lottery was to give a boost up to candidates who might be disadvantaged for some reason — like if in exchange for participating in the job fair they asked you to interview formerly incarcerated candidates, on the theory that they might shine if they could just get an interview. But if it’s a random lottery, not so much.)

4. Should I let a new employee work holidays in exchange for other time off?

I have a new employee, Jane, who started about a week and a half ago. She’s bright, new to the workforce, and a quick learner. For context, I am a manager of a team of seven at a marketing agency that just went through a ton of turnover in December (we lost 12 of 18 employees in one go) and while we have six dedicated team members left, there are four new people in the office this month. Everyone is watching me manage for the first time at this job, and I want to handle things in a way that sets a precedent.

Today, Jane asked me whether or not she can work on statutory holidays and get other time off in lieu. Now, my first instinct was annoyance because she has been with us for about two weeks, not even, and this was brought up over Slack. I also realize she’s likely never worked in a workplace like this, as she’s new to this career.

But my second instinct is to try to weigh the pros and cons of this and decide whether or not this is something to give her. And if so, when. I plan on bringing it up with her during her 1:1 next week (and my greatest challenge is being direct, which I know you are a huge advocate of and your columns have helped me immensely), and here are my thoughts: I want to ask why it’s important to her and find out the motivation behind it while explaining that as we are client facing, it can be a challenge to schedule all that extra vacation time. I promised to look into it when she brought it up today, and I do intend to do that. Internally, I’m weighing the issue of having other people ask the same question (and suddenly everyone has 10 extra vacation days I have to balance), the needs of clients, and the options I have. Do I give her some of the holidays as an option? Let her know that we will discuss it after her probation? Tell her no, although I can’t really see why no would be the right answer as long as she understands these days don’t roll over and are like other vacation days where I can say no to a request for time off?

The things I would take into account are: – Do you have any worries about her working alone with no one else there (either in terms of productivity or being able to get what she needs to move work along)? That answer might be different while she’s new vs. a year from now. – If a bunch of other people made the same request, would it cause problems? – Is it easier if you just let her do it once or twice rather than regularly (so you’re not tracking so much time off)?

But also, it’s okay to say no if you don’t feel yes would be in the best interests of the team!

5. Will this job be impossible to succeed at?

I just came back from my first interview as a college graduate (thanks to your helpful resume and cover letter advice!) and I wanted to know your thoughts on this interview. I am looking to work in nonprofits and interviewed for an 18-month contract with full benefits and a nice salary for my experience and the region I live in. The project would be to update their website and adapt it for accessibility. This is exactly what I’ve done in my internship, but when I asked if this project has been attempted before, the people interviewing me informed me that there had been the four people who have tried to do this project, including themselves, over the last 20 years.

While I’m up to most challenges, I can’t help but wonder if this project/their organization’s expectations may be too hairy to take on when my career has even begun. I’ve done this project before in a 6-month project on a smaller scale, but I don’t want to be the third failure in this position and end up with bad work experience so early in my career that I wouldn’t be able to list on my resume. I sent them a thank-you email and am waiting to hear back if I made it to the next step, but I want to know if this is more of a landmine than a calculated risk.

It’s hard to say without more information, but on the face of it, updating a website and make it more accessible shouldn’t be out-of-reach goals. The question, then, is what happened that caused the last four people not to succeed it it (over 20 years!). There are explanations that would be reassuring (like that they were all tackling on top of a full workload of other priorities, whereas you’ll be fully dedicated to it), and there are explanations that wouldn’t be (like that none of the stakeholders can agree on what they want). I wouldn’t take the job without learning more about what happened with the previous attempts, and it’s okay to ask.