Tumgik
#also their house is so much nicer than ours on the inside wtf
ivy-saurs · 4 years
Text
nearly just woke my mum up at midnight to tell her my neighbours have put their house up for sale
2 notes · View notes
ztu2455 · 3 years
Text
so, er, last night i had this stupid ass dream based in our world, but with owl house help and influences. AND APPARENTLY TOMMY JARVIS WAS THERE TOO WTF?
basically, i was myself n all that, and it was set in one giant town area, where things like my beach mission was there, but in an inside way, where it was just one giant building, there were sections and beach mission was one of them. there was also a doctor's area in that very building, and same with a giant store. yeah, my brain is messy. also, there was a concert hall and a dining area there too.
anyway, me being, well, me, kinda outbursty at times, was sent to a more... special building of the town. some of my friends were there too. but one thing was for certain, they took a normal school shirt and added i think it was an i or a t on it, to show we don't belong here.
one day, i was sent to the giant building with tommy motherfuckin jarvis in tow. me being me, i enjoyed that cause, i mean, who else could say they hung out with tommy? anyway, on the way back, i managed to escape or something like that, and, well, i ended up being knocked out by one of the guards from the owl house, not that i knew of course.
after that, i woke up in some sort of a dungeon area for 'disturbing the rules' or something like that, and managed to work my way through, making some allies along the way. of course, they nominated me to sneak into the throne room and cause i think it was a distraction.
when i got in, belos of all people was there. but, he wasn't belos in the way we knew. he had the mask and everything, and yet, he looked far more greyer and sharper(like, rougher in design) than the golden-coloured one we know. it was essentially, his curse manifesting and forcing him to do all this evil stuff by posing as him. the real him was far kinder.
eventually, i managed to escape with the rest of them, and managed to reach the aforementioned concert area. after some struggling, i managed to reach the friends i had made in that special building place, and just ran for it.
i ended up in hiding with the owl lady, eda clawthorne herself, and hid behind what looked to be a giant pumpkin stall as the curse belos approached. don't know what happened to that battle, but the next time i ran into belos, he was his far nicer counterpart, and ended up apologising to me for all the troubles curse belos caused, which was nice. he also had a wife (completely contrasting the fact that curse belos is the one in the show saying that he and hunter were the only members of their family), and the two were doing gift things with each other which was sweet.
the dream ended on a positive note, though. and there were a lot more things but they involved far more... personal stuff so yeah, plus i don't remember all too much.
6 notes · View notes
drawlfoy · 5 years
Text
Soft Spot
masterlist request guidelines requests are open!
Tumblr media
pairing: draco x hufflepuff!reader
request: yes! there are two of you who requested something very similar, so i’m knocking this one out first to take care of both of you!
summary: you’ve had a crush on draco malfoy for as long as you can remember,...but the funny thing is, you’ve never even spoken to him. he’s mean, he’s spoiled rotten, he’s everything that a hufflepuff could ever want...but you will keep it a secret, right? won’t you? because it’s not like he even knows you exist...
warnings: language and cringiness
a/n: this is gonna kinda be my farewell fic for the summer, something that breaks my heart. i’ll be slowly drafting other requests and i WILL start posting that dramione one once it gets to late fall for the ~aesthetic~. thank you to everyone reading this! you’ve inspired me to keep writing and growing my skills. i love each and every one of you, and i hope you enjoy this last little tidbit of my writing for the summer! but also... i might have a little cringe surprise of a fic i already wrote like 6 years ago saved for later on. this isn’t goodbye, it’s just a see you later!
also... i don’t really know if seekers shake hands at the beginning of the match. i think it’s just the captains but like....let me live and let the plot thrive in a slight harry potter AU where seekers shake hands before games okay
music recs: 1980s horror film II - the wallows
word count: 3,383
tags tags tags! @accio-rogers @geeksareunique
also i literally cannot believe myself i was supposed to write this over a period of a week not 3 hours wtf
“The more concise the flick, the more concentrated your magic will be. No, no, Longbottom, I said concise, not unhinged...try again.”
Y/N watched sympathetically as the Gryffindor struggled to turn the vinegar into wine, Professor Flitwick peering over his shoulder and cringing as the boy flailed about. 
“Poor Neville,” Hannah murmured to her right, her vinegar already having been turned into a deep crimson. “You’d think they’d let up on him by now and just let him do his thing with Herbology.”
“Yeah, but then again, he is abnormally talented at that,” Y/N said, watching the boy carefully. “He probably has the skills. He just needs to tap into them.”
Hannah smiled at her, leaning back into her chair. “Oh, Y/N, always seeing the best in everyone.”
“Oh, stop it. I’m just optimistic.”
“Are you, now?” Hannah leaned forward, wiggling her eyebrows. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it takes more than just simple optimism to have a crush on--”
“Hannah! Quiet!” Y/N’s cheeks flamed at the suggestion. “You’re talking too loud.”
“Sorry, sorry.” She rolled her eyes, still wearing a mischievous grin. “It’s just so funny to me. Have you ever even talked to Mal--”
“Do not say his name!” Y/N hissed. “And...yes, for your information, I have. Last year he bumped into me. I said ‘sorry’.”
“And?”
Y/N looked puzzled. “What?”
“And what did he say back?”
She blushed even harder, slinking down in her seat. “Okay, okay, he didn’t say anything. He just nodded and kept walking.”
Hannah grunted, looking entirely unimpressed. 
“At least he didn’t say anything mean! That’s an improvement!”
“Y/N, I love you,” Hannah began, “And I think you need to have slightly higher standards.”
“You antagonize me,” Y/N moaned, dramatically throwing herself over her chair. “Let me have a little fun. I know nothing’s going to come out of it. So do you.”
Hannah giggled. “I know. I’m just giving you a hard time. And if something did come out of it....” --Y/N laughed at that-- “...I would still love and support you no matter what. Besides, I think Nott is kind of a catch. Think you could set us up once you have your own Slytherin?”
Y/N smacked her arm good-naturedly. “Anything for my Han--”
“Ladies,” Professor Flitwich greeted. “I’m not seeing much magic occurring over here.”
“We’re done, Professor,” Hannah responded, motioning to the two charmed goblets of wine. Y/N simply nodded along, feeling slightly uncomfortable under the eyes of all of the students in the room. It had grown silent, and it seemed as though the Slytherins over in the corner were smugly awaiting a deduction of points from the Hufflepuffs. Draco Malfoy looked entirely uninterested, choosing to absentmindedly levitate a quill instead.
“Very well.” Flitwick nodded briskly. “But I would prefer if you two took your conversation out of my classroom. It seems as though you both have a grasp on this lesson and no longer need to be here...if you so wish.” There was a twinkle in his eye that reminded Y/N why Flitwick was one of her favorite professors.
“Thank you, Professor,” the two said in unison as they began to pack up their things. Flitwick waved his wand, effortlessly changing the wine back into its original form. 
The Slytherins began chattering again, filling the room with its usual ambiance. 
“Malfoy was looking at you,” Hannah hummed into Y/N’s ear.
“No, he wasn’t,” she responded. “I saw him. He was levitating a quill or whatever.”
“Not the whole time. And, oh, the way he was looking at you...total fuck-me eyes.”
“You’re gross, Hannah,” Y/N managed in between laughs. “Was that before or after he stood up on the desk and confessed his unconditional love for Hagrid?”
“During. He always did strike me as a polyamorous guy.”
“Stop!” Y/N burst into a laughing fit, drawing some attention to them as they walked out the door. “You’re bad!”
Hannah chuckled a bit herself, skipping down the corridor. The fall afternoon sun shone through the windows, casting a warm glow on everything inside. Y/N jogged up to meet her, struggling to shove the last of her supplies into the right pockets of her satchel. 
“Slow down, will you?” Y/N called, stopping to catch her breath.
“Damn, Y/L/N, you really expect to be able to seek this weekend? With that lung capacity?” Hannah joked, skipping back to her.
“Says the person who has never played a single match of Quidditch in her life,” Y/N countered, raising an eyebrow. 
“Okay, you got me there.” Hannah raised her arm in a surrender. “I watch you enough, though.Speaking of watching you...”
She sidled up close to Y/N, shoving her playfully. “How does it feel playing your very first game against...Slytherin? With Malfoy as the opposing seeker?”
“Oh, stop it,” Y/N groaned. “It’s nervewracking enough. I saw how he treated Harry in the last game. He plays rough.”
Hannah’s eyes widened. 
Uh, oh. She only ever did that when she was plotting.
“That’s it,” she sang, skipping circles around a confused Y/N. “That’s how you’re gonna find out if he has a soft spot for you!”
“Huh?”
“You just said he plays dirty with Harry,” she explained. “And I’ve seen him mess with Cho too. If he’s nicer to you and doesn’t shove you off your broom...then you know that he likes you!”
“Hannah, I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” Y/N admitted, beginning to walk forward again. “First of all, even if he did like me, why would he be willing to be nice to me in front of the entire school? To a half-blood Hufflepuff? He couldn’t, it would ruin his reputation. And second of all, there’s no way he does like me. You said it yourself...he’s never said a word to me.”
Hannah sighed, cracking her knuckles as she looked at the stained glass on the ceiling. “That’s true. But you liked him even before you talked to him. Why do you assume he couldn’t feel the same way?”
“Because he’s a Malfoy, and I’m not his caliber,” Y/N said, her voice flat. 
“And how come you get to decide what his caliber is?”
<>
Hannah’s suggestion rattled around in Y/N’s head. It frustrated her--it really did. She was supposed to be training for her very first match, not daydreaming about how Draco’s hair would look under the setting sun of the pitch. But she couldn’t stop. 
She started paying even more attention to him, if that was possible. She stole looks at him from across the dining hall, watching as he rolled his eyes and laughed at something Pansy Parkinson said. Now that she thought of it, she rarely saw Draco without Pansy...but she couldn’t decipher if that was a mutual decision or if Pansy clung to Draco like Hannah told her she did. 
On Friday night, instead of discussing strategy with the captain, Zacharias Smith, she was watching a particularly interesting scene at the Slytherin table. Pansy was pushed up next to Draco, whispering whatever she was whispering into his ear. He didn’t look thrilled, but he certainly wasn’t pushing her away. Anger boiled in her chest, so much so that she almost didn’t notice the tap on her shoulder. 
“Y/L/N.” 
The firm male voice finally caught her attention as she spun around to see Blaise Zabini looking down at her.
“What?” Her tone was sharp, clipped from what she had just seen over at his table.
“Malfoy wants to talk to you,” he said blankly. “You are the seeker, right?”
“Er...yeah.”
“Come with me then, we don’t have all day.” Blaise grabbed her arm, hauling her up rougher than she would’ve liked. Hannah shot her a shit eating grin which Y/N did not return. 
She was too nervous. Why would Draco want to talk to her? 
Blaise dragged her across the Great Hall as the rest of her house curiously watched. The Slytherin table, hostile as ever, quieted down to a hushed murmur as she neared the group that always surrounded Draco. 
“Here,” Blaise spat, pushing Y/N forward to him. She stared daggers at him in response. No, she was most certainly not in a cheery mood today. 
“I said bring her over, not drag her by her hair,” Draco said, slowly dragging his eyes over her. She flinched in response, not quite knowing what to say. 
“What for?” Her voice was strong, something that surprised her greatly. 
He raised an eyebrow as Pansy scowled in the background. “It’s concerning our match tomorrow. I want to propose a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yes.” Draco sighed, looking rather irritated that she hadn’t caught on yet. “You agree to not catch the snitch, and I’ll give you something that you want. Galleons, perhaps?” He smirked. 
“No, that’s quite alright,” Y/N responded breezily, instead focusing on quelling the raging blush on her cheeks. The way that Draco looked at her made her feel like he could see into her soul, and she couldn’t tell if she liked it yet. “I’m perfectly content with just playing a fair game.”
“A fair game?” Draco snorted, and the rest of his friends followed suit with canned laughter. “I think you’ve forgotten exactly who you’re playing against, love.”
“If you’re so good, then you shouldn’t have to bribe me,” Y/N shot back before she could hold her tongue.
Wait...what did he just call me?
Draco shrugged, seemingly unbothered, but Pansy sprung to his defense. “Draco, I think you ought to teach this little Hufflepuff to mind her manners around you.”
Y/N, stunned by her realization, simply stared at him, waiting for a response.
“No need, Pansy,” he said, holding eye contact with Y/N. “There’s plenty of time for that tomorrow. You can...er...go now.”
Blaise seized her arm again, but before she could move to yank her arm out of his grip, Draco’s voice broke the silence again. “Zabini, I hardly think that she needs an escort.”
Dazed, she pulled her arm away from him and dashed off. Hannah was waiting back at the Hufflepuff table, her plate long forgotten.
“What was that??” she squealed, nearly bouncing in her seat. Y/N just stared at her.
“He called me love.”
<>
Thankfully, she had long cast aside her thoughts of a particular white-blonde by the next morning. Y/N was so nervous that Hannah nearly had to force down her toast.
“C’mon, you need the energy!” Hannah pleaded. “At least drink some water. I can’t have you passing out on the pitch! Hufflepuff needs you!”
Zacharias, or Arias, as he asked her to call him, was sitting next to her, calmly going over the strategies for the game. 
“You really do need to eat,” he informed her. “I know you feel like you’re gonna vomit, but you’ve just gotta force it down. You’ll thank me later.”
Under his watchful gaze, Y/N began nibbling on her toast, forcing it down.
“Atta girl,” he praised. “Anyways, your biggest worry right now isn’t the Beaters...it’s the other seeker. Normally it wouldn’t be like that against, say, Gryffindor, but you’ve seen how Malfoy plays. He isn’t afraid of a few fouls.”
Y/N nodded, the nausea returning.
“But you’re smart, and I chose you for a reason,” Arias said, patting her shoulder. “You’re going to do great. I know it. And our Chasers are great, so even if you can’t catch the Snitch, we’ll be okay.”
She nodded again, leaning into him and blinking hard. 
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a pair of ice grey eyes trained on her.
<>
“...and I want a clean, fair game today,” Madame Hooch finished. Y/N was ashamed, but she’d spaced out on the entire speech, instead focusing on how nervous she was. 
She was obviously shaking, and she felt even more pathetic standing across from the Slytherin team. They were all buff and tall and scary looking, and she was short and shaking. 
Arias placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. “Don’t worry, Y/N/N. It’ll all be over before you know it.”
She nodded, swallowing to try and combat her dry mouth. It didn’t work, especially when she saw that Draco was watching her with an amused look on his face. When she caught his eye, he raised an eyebrow quizzically at her and smirked. 
Arse. 
“Seekers, shake hands.” Hooch’s voice cut into her thoughts. Arias prodded her forward, and Y/N complied, stepping closer to Draco. 
He clasped her hand firmly, leaning forward just a fraction. 
“Don’t be so scared,” he stage-whispered. “We’re playing a fair game, remember?” 
At this, his Slytherin teammates chortled in the background as Arias frowned.
“Leave her be, Malfoy,” he hissed, pulling Y/N back to the Hufflepuffs. “I swear, if you lay a hand on her, I’ll...”
“Relax, Smith, I’m not gonna touch your girlfriend,” he drawled. 
“She’s not my girlfriend!” 
“Mhm.”
At Hooch’s command, the two captains stepped forward and shook hands, Arias glowering at Malfoy and Malfoy smirked down at him.
The game started before Y/N knew it, and suddenly, her worry slipped away. She was no longer a lowly Hufflepuff--she was a seeker, and a damned good one at that. 
She had watched enough Slytherin matches to know Malfoy’s dirty strategies. He generally relied on faking out the other seeker, which she found a rather cheap tactic. 
Y/N decided to just take a few wide sweeps around the arena, dipping up and down through the air. Draco clearly hadn’t seen anything--he was flying in lazy circles much higher than her, clearly trying to get a higher vantage point of the arena to search for the gold glint in the air. 
Speaking of which...when she flew past the Ravenclaw section, she caught a glimpse of a slight shimmer in the air.
No way. This early in the game?
Y/N squinted, pausing in the air for a second. The gold shimmer moved again, just a few hundred feet away from her. 
She’d spotted it!
Glancing up, she saw that Draco was watching her intently. As casually as she could, she began making her way towards the Snitch, still flickering around a little next to one of the columns of the pitch. 
When he turned away for a second, Y/N gunned it, speeding towards it. It began to move away from her rapidly, but at the same, time, she was gaining momentum. 
“And it appears that Y/N Y/L/N has spotted the snitch!”
The Hufflepuff section roared as she closed in on the distance. She began stretching her hand out and was just inches away from it when something lightly bumped her shoulder.
Draco.
He moved so his shoulder was pressed to hers, keeping up with her exactly and leaning forward, mimicking her movements.
“You’re not half bad, you know,” he mused as nonchalantly as the whistling air would allow. 
“I do. Same with you.”
Y/N’s broom was going as fast as it could without being uncontrollable, and it seemed that that was the case for Draco as well. His arms were longer than hers, though, and he was just inches from grabbing the snitch. 
She could’ve just shoulder checked him to throw him off balance like she had seen him do so many times, but at the same time, he could’ve as well--but he wasn’t. 
In a sudden stroke of creativity, Y/N dived down , throwing Draco’s attention off just enough to lag behind for the briefest of seconds. Darting forward, her fingers managed to close around something cold and vibrating with energy.
“HUFFLEPUFF HAS CAUGHT THE--”
<>
Her head was heavy in the middle and light at the sides. Had it always been like that, or was she just hyperaware of the fact?
Her surroundings were dimly lit with a single candle, but even that hurt her eyes as they fluttered open. She vaguely recognized that it had to be nightime--wherever she was. Y/N tried to sit up, whimpering as the small of her back ached. 
“Whoa, slow down,” a familiar voice cautioned. It was posh and male, but she couldn’t quite place it. 
“Mmmhmm.” Her acknowledgement of the person speaking to her was unrefined and embarrassing, but she didn’t care. Whoever it was clearly cared enough to watch over her.
The memories came flooding back...the sensation of the snitch humming in her hands, Draco flying next to her, awe written all over his pretty face..but then the white hot sensation in her back, the sudden halt of her broomstick, the rushing motion as she plummeted to the ground...the boneshattering impact, the sounds of Draco wailing for help...
But then it cut off there. 
With newfound energy, Y/N hoisted herself up, taking in more of her surroundings. It was most certainly at some hour in the night in the Hospital Wing. A figure sat at the chair next to her bed, and a candle illuminated the currtain surrounding her. 
She squinted at the figure. “Who are you? I can’t see.”
“Oh.”
Dark arms rustled about, pulling out a wand and whispering Lumos. A ball of light revealed a very disheveled looking Draco Malfoy. Y/N gasped.
“Sh, you’ll wake Pomfrey up,” he whispered. “It wasn’t me who hexed you. It was Harper.”
Y/N blinked up at him. “I know.”
“You do?” 
He stared at her for a few seconds, his mouth agape.
“Of course I do, I heard you yelling for help. I wouldn’t do that to someone who just hexed me.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. Bet you wish you took that bribe now, huh?”
Y/N snorted. “No. I won.”
Draco just shrugged again. “How are you feeling?”
“Not great.”
“I figured.” He shifted in his seat a bit. “Listen, I...er...”
“What?”
He scooted forward just a few feet. “I’m sorry for trying to bribe you. I’ll be honest, I was just kind of looking for a reason to talk to you. Winning this match would’ve just been the cherry on top.”
“You...what?” Y/N’s heart skipped a beat. “Stop it right now. What did Pomfrey give me? She must have me on some hard stuff...wow...”
He laughed, leaning forward even more. Y/N could smell a clean whiff of pine and black tea. “No, no, you’re not on pain potions. That I know of, at least.”
“So you’re telling me the truth?”
“Why would I wait her for...I don’t even know how many hours for you to wake up only to lie to you?”
“You were here for the entire time?”
“I mean, I had to shower and eat, but yeah, basically.” He cleared his throat, carding his hand through his hair. “I find you kind of interesting. Always have. Is it a crime to want to get to know you more?”
“I must be dreaming,” Y/N muttered, turning her eyes up to the ceiling. “Have you forgotten who I am?”
“My parents aren’t as strict on half-bloods,” he hastily said. “And your academic and athletic record kind of...outshine the fact that you’re a Hufflepuff.”
“Charming,” Y/N responded dryly. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that...” He wrung his hands together, gazing down at them instead of meeting her eyes. “I’m saying that I have...I don’t know, a soft spot for you? And if you feel the same way, I think it’d be, er, interesting to maybe see where this goes.”
“You’re saying that you have a crush on me?” 
The abruptness of her comment caused her to shyly look away at the ground. 
“No, look at me,” he murmured. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Y/N let out a lengthy exhale.
“What is it?”
“Could you tell? That I’ve had a massive crush on you since, well, forever?”
He shakily laughed. “Oh, thank god.”
“Well, could you?”
“Hm.” Draco thought for a few moments, placing an elbow on her bed so he could rest his chin in his hand. “Yeah, kind of. I couldn’t tell if I was overanalyzing everything, though.”
“You weren’t,” she assured him, turning to face him again.
He stared at her for a few seconds, his soft grey eyes wide with wonder. Inching his free hand closer to her, he paused. “May I?”
She smiled then, ignoring how her face hurt. “I mean, you waited hours for it.”
“No,” he corrected. “Years.”
With that, he gently slipped her hand into his, rubbing slow circles onto it as she drifted off to sleep. 
final a/n: me: so i’m not posting any more imagines until i’m literally into college and an adult! also me: here’s a fic i wrote in two hours because i couldn’t focus on my sat prep! also so so so sorry for any spelling mistakes/plot holes/grammatical errors in here. i just slammed this one out
2K notes · View notes
freebooter4ever · 4 years
Text
Tumblr media
old photos from my last yr in the burgh cause im feeling nostalgic
Tumblr media
jon on the back porch of our friends lawrenceville split rowhouse, you can see how much nicer our neighbors half of the house lawn was lol, ours was so overgrown we couldnt use it, the parties and banana grilling happened on the basement door steps and the alley, the alley was this tiny space between rowhouses that was probably only a little wider than jons shoulders
Tumblr media
my dance buddy crawling out of my third story window to the roof, you can see the christmas lights i covered my entire ceiling with inside, theres another photo of her glaring at me bc im taking an ungraceful photo of her but its not as funny as this one
Tumblr media
Rooftops and my dance buddy who came to watch the sunset with me one last time and who i think really misses having me in the same city bc i think her hatred of the whole human race is adorable rather than offputting (shes very literary, but shes also small and cute and she can dance). ALSO the only girl (different girl) who i ever almost went on a date with held my hand and helped me onto this roof when i was trying to decide if i should move in or not, and then at the party which was kinda my trial run to see if i was a good fit for the house she and i were inseperable, and i never told my friend the landlord but that influenced wayyyyy too much of my decision to move in, like yes dude i will live in your house also how often does that friend come over bc i might marry her. of course two days later that same girl moved out of the country. 
Tumblr media
jon being adorable and napping with his kitten blanket, like he puts on this cool hipster artist act but this is him 90% of the time, the other 10% of the time is alien noises. i promise he would agree with this.
Tumblr media
i honestly have no idea what this building is but i walked past it so many times in the southside that before i left it was high on my take a photo of priority list, i could get SO MUCH texture reference from this, like fuck thats a lot of rust and different types of wood damage and concrete crumbling, the burgh was definitely a 3D texture environment artists dream, ethan and i used to go around with his fancy camera and use it to recreate pieces in 3D with photos.
Tumblr media
in this old 30's era gym i beat a bunch of hipsters in a mario kart tournament (easy as pie) and also won a costume contest while playing dodgeball, and got a free voucher to the fanciest hipster dining venue around, and anyway before i left the city i took jon and my bff to eat way expensive food for free and the three of us hung out in the empty gym after bc Aesthetic. there is also a photobooth roll that goes with this but we look terribly drunk in that
Tumblr media
at the bottom of our hill in lawrenceville was two of the most important necessities: belvederes ultra dive (roller disco nights) and this theater that would pick a theme and only play those type of movies for a month so naturally, my favorite was Singing in the Rain. (at the top of our hill was my personal necessity brillobox and alex's favorite cheap vietnamese restaurant). 
Tumblr media
the main branch of the burgh library was within walking distance of the university i worked at so spent a lot of time there, but anyway wtf was up with these floors? it was like walking on glass planks of a space ship but like...steampunk spaceship bc this shit is from the early 1900's and made out of STEEL. old asshole carnegie built hundreds of libraries, do all of them have creepy steep and glass floors between bookshelves??? (ps dont do what jon is doing you can get your foot stuck ask me how i know) i had three book sections memorized: the art animation books, the oversized art animation books, and the retro mod architecture books
Tumblr media
jon actually asked me to take a close up photo of his new belt buckle this is 100% his fault, i introduced him to all my favorite vintage stores in the burgh and his ridiculous belt buckle collection increased tenfold. this feels mccree worthy, honestly.
Tumblr media
the number of various guys i brought to the waterfalls over the years is...higher than one would expect given my face... and each time theyd be like wow this is so romantic and its our spot now and im like YUP DEFINITELY our spot just us no one else. truth is i just loved the three hour scenic drive and the Gene And Boots candy shop on the way that carried my favorite melty mints with NO corn syrup (impossible to find outside of mom and pop type candy factories). the REAL truth is that i came here most often on my own to write than i ever took anyone romantic or friends or otherwise.
Tumblr media
when i say ae pi always had the coolest booths during spring carnival this is what i mean (he's got wings and a construction hat and a halo bc CREATION get it??)
Tumblr media
when our research group got moved down to the river and i spent a lot of quiet nights in the snow walking across the bridge to the southside at like three am, also that big ass thing is something to do with the steel industry but i lived here ten yrs and fuck if i know what it is
6 notes · View notes
pandemicthestory · 4 years
Text
10: confused
Fake it til you make it.
In the middle of the City, fairly close to the Academy, there is a chrome-colored building that is taller than almost all of the rest. Night and Sugar stand in front of its doors, wondering how they’re going to get in.
The building is called “Mecca.” It’s filled with headquarters for top companies--mostly builders, but also fashion and interior designers, medical technicians, and game developers. Thousands of civilians report here for work 5 days a week. But since it’s Friday, as soon as it’s 5 o’clock, these workers will leave their desks and head to the top floor. 
At the top floor of Mecca is LOUNGE, an exclusive night and day club where windows are always blacked out and the passing of time can’t be measured. A night club meets speakeasy meets casino, this is where the elites go to unwind. After a long week’s work of building, the business men and women of Mecca can swipe their membership card at the top floor and indulge themselves in the darker parts of life. 
And this is exactly where Sugar intends on taking them.
“There’s no way we’re getting in.” Night mutters, hitting his forehead with his palm. This situation feels seriously illegal and seriously stupid. As he and Night stood at the front of this massive building, Night begins to wonder if he’s made a big mistake. 
“Hold on now, don’t give up just yet, man. Listen, the separation medical facility is in this building.” Sugar explains. 
“So..?”
“People think we’re Vacaters. So, we’ll tell security that we have appointments today, they’ll let us in, we’ll head to the facility and…” 
“And what?”
“And figure it out from there? Let’s go dude!”
*buzz*
*buzz buzz buzz* 
Suddenly, Night’s phone starts blowing up in his pocket. He can’t ignore it, because it just keeps going. 
“Hold on a second, Sugar…”
Night reaches into his pocket and sees that he has several missed texts and calls. From Julian. 
Oh god, what does he want from her so desperately? What could be so important that it can’t wait? 
This is why he’d tapped Emma’s phone. It wasn’t because he’s creepy or trying to infringe on her privacy, though, he’ll admit, that’s exactly what it looks like. No, it’s because she’s unpredictable, and surrounded by people who don’t know what’s best for her. And because he really needs her to make it here. 
JULIAN: where are u 
JULIAN: stopped by your house and u weren’t there 
JULIAN: ur mom said u were out for a walk, but i don’t think that’s true. Tell me what’s happening
(3 MISSED CALLS)
JULIAN: your friend zoe says that you’re out somewhere with her boyfriend. Care to explain? Wtf is going on...we’re leaving in a few days Emma
(2 MISSED CALLS)
JULIAN: we’re leaving tomorrow
Leaving?
Leaving where?
Night had known that Emma was planning something, just not what. Apparently Julian does. 
Sugar taps his foot impatiently while Night composes a response to Julian. With the software he installed on his phone, it will be rerouted through Emma’s number. He’ll have no idea.
“EMMA”: Going where?
A pause, and then Julian is typing. 
JULIAN: there you are. Fuck. don’t do that to me 
“EMMA”: where are we going, julian? 
JULIAN: what are you talking about? Are you trying to distract me from the fact that ur out chilling w Gabriel? The fuck?
Now Night is actually confused. Is this why she didn’t answer him? Because she was busy with Gabriel? And for that matter, who the hell is Gabriel?
What’s going on Emma? Everything you need was sent straight to your doorstep. Couldn’t have been easier. All you had to do was get the mail. So what went wrong?
Sugar yells to him, “DUDE, NOW.” 
“Ok ok, I’m ready!” Night says, while composing and sending one last text.  
“EMMA”: i’m not going anywhere with you julian. I’ve changed my mind. Don’t contact me again
Night runs after Sugar. He wonders to himself...what does such a smart girl see in such a profoundly stupid guy? Is she that starved of attention that she’ll settle for anyone who gives it to her? Note to self: that question will probably be offensive to her if he were to ask it. So he will not.
But hopefully he’ll at least have the chance. Soon. 
Sugar storms ahead, and Night basically has no choice but to follow. 
Sure enough, they head through metal detectors on their way in, and are then greeted by a squad of security guards. A guard steps in front of them. How many times is this going to happen today?
“Please swipe ID cards on the way in.” 
This guard is nicer than the last one, he said please. He’s still in the way though. Sugar steps up. 
“Hello sir, we don’t have ID cards because we don’t actually work here. We’re merely here for our appointments at the separation facility. We’re wearing our uniforms to indicate our status.” Sugar says, oozing with professionalism and aggressively overdoing it. Night fights a laugh under his breath (“merely..?”) and Sugar elbows him discreetly. The guard frowns.
“Is that so? We weren’t told of any separation appointments scheduled today...in fact, it’s rare that they’re ever scheduled on Fridays. What’s the reason you’re here for the service today instead of Monday?” 
At this moment, both Sugar and Night are hoping that the other one has more knowledge of who the hell Vacaters actually are and what the hell the separation facility actually does. Unfortunately, neither of them do. Night realizes that he’ll have to throw another hail mary pass and hope for the best.
“Well it’s because, the...service...is going to be followed by a session with some other associates at LOUNGE.” 
Now it was Sugar’s turn to try not to laugh. That was officially the dumbest ass response ever, which is why he is the resident debauchery mastermind and Night spends every night in front of a computer and a dead plant. 
Night tries to remain confident. He couldn’t bank on these guys not understanding Vacaters, like the last pair of idiots, but he gambled that he could bank on them not knowing much about LOUNGE. From the look of it, these guys don’t seem like the type to be invited to an exclusive, glamorous party. They’re wearing jumpsuits. 
“What? Really? That’s so...unusual.” One guard says. The other nods in agreement. They actually seem a bit...jealous? As in, why have these two bratty teenagers been invited to the top floor when we who have worked here for five years never will?
“Well yes, my father is a builder and it’s, uh, a sort of rite of passage for me to be vacated, er, separated, alongside him. In a celebratory way. After work.” 
If Night got away with this, he’d owe the forces of the universe one. 
The guards just nod in admiration while Sugar looks incredulous. 
“Well then, good luck young man. We hope your last night will be a special one.” 
The guards exchange nods with Night and Sugar, who head forward to the glass elevator. 
“Separation facility is on 43!” Calls one of the security guards from behind, almost wistfully. Maybe one day he’ll get the chance to see what’s up there. But not likely. 
Once inside the glass elevator, Sugar hugs Night around the shoulder. 
“Ok honestly, I’m a bit shook that you’re a bad ass. Was pretty sure that you were just a virgin computer nerd.”
Night laughs to himself. That’s all that anyone has ever expected of him. But right now, seeing himself through Sugar’s eyes as a genius lawbreaker feels good. Intoxicating, even. 
“What floor’d he say? 45, was it? Sugar asks. 
“Why not go straight to the top?” Night asks, with a mischievous grin.
He hits the number “100” without waiting for an answer. 
* * * 
Emma crashes through the front door of her house, ready to have to explain herself to her parents and hoping to get through it painlessly.
But they don’t seem to be home. “Mom? Dad?” 
They must be out looking for her. Now it all makes sense...her neurotic mother was blowing up her phone because she couldn’t even trust her daughter to take a walk around the damn block. Then her phone got destroyed in the parking lot. And now, since she hasn’t answered, they’re out looking for her. And when they eventually get back, she’ll probably be sent to prison. Cool.
Emma decides to take this time as a gift. Tune everything else out. This is her shot to save Isabel. 
Emma runs upstairs to her room and tears the cardboard off the headset. She tosses the instructions aside because she has enough knowledge to put one of these together without them. 
Does it need to be charged? It does not. It’s ready to go. 
Now, to check on the download…
7 HOURS REMAINING
She groans. It’s speeding up, but not enough. She needs to plug in now, not in 7 god damn hours. She sees on her computer that there are a shit ton of unread G-chat messages from Zoe. Ugh, she’s probably dealing with some sort of jealousy moment right now and Emma just doesn’t have time to deal with it. So she doesn’t open them. Sorry Zo. You’ll forgive me.
Emma wracks her frazzled brain--there’s gotta be a way for her to get online and contact Emma.
Wait. 
Emma runs across the hallway to Isabel’s room, carrying the headset and headphones. Isabel is still slumped over in her chair, alive, looking the same as before. Well at least she’s alive, which is cool. Emma examines the game on the computer--scanning the twisted map view of a city for any sign of her sister. None. Hm, guess it doesn’t work like that. 
Emma looks at the game settings. 
Ah, input/output. Yes. This is it. 
If she can’t join from her own game, maybe she can join Isabel’s.
Emma sits down on a pile of clothes in the back of Isabel’s closet. She might as well get comfy, she could be here for a while. She puts on thick noise-canceling headphones and the headset, and everything goes dark and quiet. 
Power on. 
Emma wirelessly connects to Isabel’s computer, then sees the icon for the Universe game pop up in front of her eyes. With a nod, she selects it.
Black becomes blue. 
Silence becomes ambient drone music. 
Isabel’s done VR before, so she expects this. She still feels excitement. This technology never ceases to amaze her. 
It’s when the feeling of the laundry beneath her fades away into a rush of cold air... 
This, she does not expect. 
2 notes · View notes
lcving-ateez · 5 years
Text
You’d never know ♡
Tumblr media
Plot: Your best friend had always cared about you but after an especially hard day, while he wants to show that even more, an upset you wants nothing more than to be alone. A heated argument brings the two closer than you'd ever imagined.
Word count: 1,979
Extras!: The first half is a bit of a Snapchat AU and the second half is in normal paragraphs.
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞 sent a snap!
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: so you are ignoring me
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: it shows that you're opening my messages
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: seriously?
Me: Mingi leave me alone please
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: can I have an explanation as to why my best friend cried in the library
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: didn't come to two of her lectures
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: totally ignored me on our lunch break
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞 is typing...
Me: yeah I get it
Me: I'm sorry okay?
Me: I'm a horrible person, happy now?
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: oh shut up you know I didn't mean it like that
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: what's up with you?
Me: nothing
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: that works on school counselors and parents
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: not the boy you've known since the second grade
Me: well maybe it's no-ones business genius. Can you not just accept that???
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: right then, I'm sorry for caring?
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: But go ahead and tell Yoosung since apparently your boyfriend of like three months is more important
Me: he is the problem
Me: Gi he broke up with me
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: no
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: this had better be a joke
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: he did what????
Me: he broke up with me Mingi
Me: he said I wasn't good enough
Me: that he dated me because he wanted to make his ex jealous
Me: it worked and now...
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: Y/N
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: he is in no way allowed to talk to you like that wtf
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: he's nothing compared to you, do you even know how perfect you are
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞 is typing...
Me: you don't have to say anything to make me feel better
Me: Idk who I was, thinking someone so far out of my league would ever want me in the first place
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: dont you dare beat yourself up because that asshole doesn't know how to act
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: how did it happen?
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: I'm so so sorry
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: I should've asked you nicer, I should've known you were hurting and I shouldn't have spoke to you the way I did earlier
Me: well I asked why he didn't come outside when we went to pick him up this morning
Me: he told me he 'wouldn't be caught dead in that piece of shit car your dumb-ass Mingi ever so proudly drags around'
Me: and then I told him not to talk about you like that
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: what kind of guy has that little self respect?
Me: then he told me about the whole ex thing and said what losers we both are and
Me: I just feel so stupid
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: Don't?? You're the smartest funniest prettiest girl I know
Me: you're just saying that because you feel like you need to right now
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: why on earth would I 'need' to say anything?
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: Y/N I don't bullshit when it's serious like this
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: I knew he was no good
Me: are you really playing the I knew it card right now????
Me: also why wouldn't you tell me then?
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: uh because you were happy??
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: I didn't want to ruin that for you
Me: I'm so done with guys
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: bit dramatic don't you think?
Me: let's just not talk about him
Me: I just stopped crying
Me: one more tear and I'll die of dehydration
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: you deserve better you know?
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: your first boyfriend was meant to be special and perfect for you
Me: well jokes on you minki
Me: he wasn't 🥵
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: I'm serioussss :(  you deserve someone who suits you and makes you happy
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: cute height difference
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: knows your favorite foods
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: knows your favorite memes
Me: if only such a guy existed
Me: and no one like that would be interested in me lol
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: YOURE SO SLOW
Me: awe aren't you lovely? 😘
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: Y/N L/N I COULDN'T BE ANY BLUNTER
Me: I told you I'm stupid 🤷🏻‍♀️
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: eye-
Me: 🥰🥰🥰
Me: Mingiiiiiiiii did I offend youuuu?
Me: open my messages rat
Me: don't be sad 😔🤠
Me: Minmin I love youuuUU
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: Look outside dipshit
Me: am I gonna see a spooky clown 😱😱🤪
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: IM FREEZING THIS ISNT THE TIME TO BE MESSING AROUND
Me: WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STANDING ON MY LAWN SONG?!?!?!?!
Princess minki 🧚🏻‍♀️💞: L/N LET ME IN THESE TROUSERS ARE PAPER THIN
      
     You turned off your phone and rushed down the stairs, quickly unlocking the door. Mingi's soft brown hair covered his eyes in a messy mop; evidence of him jumping out of bed to come see you. He rubbed his hands feverishly up and down his biceps in an attempt to generate warmth.
"Extra ass" you sighed, yanking him by the shoulder into your house. Once he was inside and you'd locked the door again, you turned to him angrily.
"Why are you here? Mingi I told you I’m over him. I’m fine”
"Bold of you to assume I'm here to talk about that jackass" He huffed walking right past you and into the kitchen, fully knowing you'd follow him. You stomped behind him waiting to see what he'd do next.
Mingi ran his hands through his fringe while he opened the fridge, scanning its shelves for something to drink. Although you were a lot less emotional than you were this morning; today had been a lot and you weren't in the mood to speak to anyone, not even your best friend.
"Can you leave? I'll see you at uni tomorrow" you whined as he picked out an apple juice box and pulled the straw from it, totally ignoring you in the process.
"I'm serious, I don't want to see anyone. My parents are out for a while and this is the only time I get alone" The boy shut the fridge door and turned to you, leaning on his forearms against the granite countertop. It was awkward when he looked at you, holding eye contact as he slipped the straw between his lips, staring down at you condescendingly.
His expression was an uncanny blend of amused and standoffish. His brows were perked up and his eyes were blank in a way that seemed to challenge you without saying a word.
Go ahead, get mad. I dare you
And oh boy, did that piss you off.
   "I'm sorry did I say you could come in and open my fridge?" you asked leaving a pause for him to answer while you organized your angry thoughts; you weren't actually that mad about him taking a single juice box, it was more like the straw that broke the camel's back. Mingi simply shook his head, just waiting for you to go off.
"Then can you maybe have a single ounce of respect and ask before you come over for once?! God, guys are all the same you're so- so selfish and rude! I said I wanted to be alone today and you couldn't respect that, you didn't even try to comfort me or talk like a normal person!" Your rant was cut short as loud slurps irritated your thought process. He was stood there crushing the small carton, squeezing every last drop into his mouth before tossing it into the bin to his left.
Your head felt like it would explode into a million little pieces right then and there. His cold nature had you right on the verge of breaking out into tears of fury.
"Are you really that childish? Knock it off right now, Mingi. I've had one of the worst days of my life and I just- I just need to let it pass right now. You're not helping by being such a fu-" your voice was breaking and tears were unknowingly streaming down your cheek, but a sudden action surprised you enough to bring them to a sudden halt.
Mingi hated seeing you so mad but he knew you needed to let it out somewhere, and if he had to be your vessel then so be it; When he saw you start crying though, everything single brain cell in his head thought of how he could fix this. And being the quick - totally irrational - thinker he is, all Mingi could think of was to kissing you.
And kiss you he did.
As soon as he pushed off the counter his hand found the back of your neck like a magnet to metal. His grip was strong enough to show you how desperate he was but gentle enough to show you he meant no harm. His lips connected to yours in the blink of an eye while his other arm found its way around your waist, holding your much smaller frame tightly against his.
His lips moved slowly against your own, the feeling of electricity rushed through your veins as you melted wholly into the kiss, feeling loved and warm for the first time today. His plump lips were colder than yours from being outside and tasted faintly of the drink he'd had moments earlier, as you moved your head to the side the fruity smell engulfed you.
You could definitely get used to this.
With his fingers running a final stroke through your hair, Mingi pulled away gently as if asking for permission to do so. You complied and took a step back breaking away from his warmth as you ached for more. A satisfied smile graced his face, you'd never know how long he'd been waiting to do that.
Your mind was blank and the room was dead silent for far too long as you stood there, trying to process what had happened and trying to calm the furious red shade consuming your cheeks. Mingi broke this silence by laughing after he licked his lips. It started as a light giggle but quickly turned into a painful wheeze.
"W-what?" You asked, quite frankly seeing that smile on his face brought one to your own, his laugh was contagious.
"For a sad girl, you’re still so extra. Are you really wearing cherry flavored lip balm?" He continued to laugh, licking the glossy remnants off of his lips; you could've sworn your heart had stopped.
"’Min, that's gross! You can't do that!"
"But it tastes good" he frowened like a lost puppy, suddenly all was forgiven
"What are you doing to me?" Your head was clouded with far too many emotions to work normally so you thought out loud, hoping he'd have an answer.
"Hopefully cheering you up a little?"
"Song Mingi stop it right now! Can you just not mess with me like this? If you like me you can say so just don't if you...don't" your words wouldn't have made sense to anyone sane, but Mingi wasn't anyone; and he sure as hell wasn't sane. Your mum had always told you that guys only want one thing and it stuck with you, but He wasn't like that; your whole being wanted to believe Mingi wasn't like that.
"I would never hurt you Y/N. I wouldn't kiss you like that if I didn't mean it" He didn't need you to ask what he meant, years of friendship meant he could read your expression like an open book.
"I really really like you Y/N. God it feels good to say that. So I've like, liked you this way since freshman year but you've always treated me like a little brother - even though I'm a billion times taller than you - and I didn't think you'd want to date me anyways" Mingi kept that childish glint in his eyes as his hand rubbed the nape of his neck, waiting with baited breath for you to say anything, anything at all.
"Well you know, you could've said something because I thought you had a thing for Yunho" You snickered walking over to trap him against the countertop, your arms either side of him.
"You- That's kinda fair though. Yunho is a fine piece of ass. But what do you say?"
And just like that the words you never thought you'd hear from your previous best-friend left his lips
"You gonna be my girlfriend, L/N?"
"I might just, Song”
Happy Mingi Day xx
30 notes · View notes
shirtlesssammy · 5 years
Text
9x02: Devil May Care
Then:
Tumblr media
Ezekiel is totes on the up and up helping out the Brothers Winchester.
Now:
Dean fills Sam in on where Cas is (far away and human and without wings or money or ANYTHING and they’re not going to pick him up. GOD, do I love Supernatural post-season 11 SO MUCH.)
Tumblr media
I mean, I guess the brothers have to worry about all the fallen angels out there (heaven forbid you include a FORMER ANGEL in on the mix!) They also have Crowley captured and as Dean so eloquently puts it, “He’s the junk in my truck.” (Lol, not until season 10, buddy!)
In an old, abandoned house, a demon performs a spell over a bathtub and out pops Abaddon!
Tumblr media
Dean comes back to the bunker to a seriously freaked out Kevin. He’s been alone for too long. The bunker was acting weird when the brothers were gone. Dean fills him in on what’s happening. Dean is just a jerk here, wtf? I know he’s under some stress but let’s be nicer to the poor kid prophet, at least.
The brothers haul Crowley to the dungeon. They want demon names. He’s not going to cooperate. Torture isn’t going to work.
Tumblr media
Kevin demands to know why Crowley is there. He killed his mom. Dean promises that if Crowley gives them what they want, they’ll let Kevin knife him in the end.
Abaddon starts to build her faction of demons. She finds Crowley’s level of leadership to be lacking. “The king is dead. Long live the queen.” And with that Abaddon is going to lead Hell.
Tumblr media
Dean tells another hunter about the fallen angels and tells him to pass it on.
Meanwhile, Abaddon is fulfilling one of her first goals, getting better vessels for demons. Her first recruits possess some army dudes on a bus.
On the side of the road, a woman looks over the engine of her broken car. A man in a van pulls up and offers her a ride into town. She gladly accepts (BECAUSE THAT’S A SMART MOVE). Bonus on the gross predator man? He’s also a vampire. But the young woman is a hunter and dispatches him with ease. 
Tumblr media
She’s captured by the army demons though. Wherps.
Dean and Sam arrive at the bus. They get a little pushback about investigating —it’s a military case, not a federal one. They have their supervisor, Kevin Solo, give the go ahead. Kevin does his own little investigation and the boys get their clearance.
Once inside the bus, they find the wounds on the dead bodies to be old. Demons. They also find surveillance video of Abaddon.
Abaddon has the other hunter in custody, and she wants answers about Sam and Dean. She gets Dean’s number and Kevin answers. She tells him that she has hunters in her clutches. She’s going to kill them if they don’t come for them.
Tumblr media
Sam and Dean task Kevin on learning everything about Knights of Hell and they head to rescue the other hunters.
Crowley continues to sit in the dungeon, reflecting on his brush with being cured and human again. Kevin walks into the storage room by the dungeon. Crowley starts taunting him and Kevin opens the doors.
Sam and Dean find a ghost town. Quick! Somebody find Dean a long coat and a cowboy hat! 
Tumblr media
They find the hunters trussed up in one of the abandoned shops. Tracy seems nice and would make a great Wayward Sister JUST SAYIN’. 
Crowley does what he does best and starts to twist Kevin around his finger. He implies heavily that Kevin’s mother isn’t actually dead. 
The Winchesters and their hunter buddies set up for Abaddon’s assault as the army-demons approach. The demons get tricked by the old phone-playing-a-recording trick, buying the hunters a little time to sneak out the back. We learn that Tracy is NOT looking to be BFFs with the Winchesters. Her parents were killed by demons throwing a party commemorating Sam’s release of Lucifer. Uh. Whoops? 
Tumblr media
Crowley lays out his bargain: if Kevin frees him, he gets his mother back (she’s imprisoned, not dead). Kevin can’t help but listen to it all, including Crowley’s assertion that the Winchesters don’t care about Kevin beyond his usefulness. And honestly at this part of season 9 I gotta say that Crowley has a point.
The hunting parties split up. Dean defends his brother to Tracy. “You gotta know who the real monsters are in this world, kid.” Sam and Irv approach the demons. Irv confesses that he revealed the identities of a bunch of hunters to Abaddon one sad, drunk night. He’s looking to go out in a blaze of glory. His confession earns a shot through the heart from a demon sniper. 
Sam gets knocked down by demons and on the other side of the stakeout, Dean gets chucked to the ground by Abaddon. 
Tumblr media
Tracy fires at the knight of Hell but Abaddon’s suited up with a bullet-proof vest to defend against devil’s trap bullets. Dean sends Tracy to his car for a resupply, then gets ready for a heart to heart with Abaddon, angel blade in hand. 
Sam continues to have a no good very bad day, up against the rest of the demons. (Don’t worry, he’s Sam Fucking Winchester, so we’re good.) Abaddon gets a good hold on Dean by the hair (BRB off to write some Abaddon/Dean fanfic!) and compliments him on being obedient AND “suicidally stupid.”
“Are we gonna fight or make out?” Dean asks, “‘Cause I'm getting some real mixed signals here.”
Tumblr media
Abaddon wants Crowley on a plate and she’ll kill Dean quick. OR she’ll peel off Dean’s tattoo and possess his ass. She taunts him with all the horrors she’ll inflict on others while possessing him - and making sure he’s aware of every last bit. 
Sam’s doing poorly. Apparently he forgot his middle name at home that morning (the trials are still affecting him, poor lamb). But not to fear! Ezekiel pushes his way forward and Sam’s eyes flash blue. It’s time to smite some demons. (LOL remember when angels were super powerful creatures that everyone feared and nobody could kill? Those were good times.)
Tumblr media
Abaddon witnesses the angelic explosion, chucks Dean through a shop window, and disappears. 
Back at the diner, Ezekiel surveys his demon-killing work and defends his smiting to Dean. He was only protecting Sam. Dean looks like a spooked cat talking to him. 
Tumblr media
Ezekiel insists that Sam is fine and won’t remember anything. Dean feels regrets about...everything. (It is his number one personality trait.) Maybe they should have closed Hell - all the demons running around the world are his fault because he wanted to save his brother instead. Ezekiel (Dean: “I’m gonna call you Zeke.”) insists that Dean did it out of love. Dean stops looking like a scared cat and starts blustering instead. “I'm not really with the whole, uh, love, and... love.” DEAN BEAN. (Praise to season 14!)
A little bit later, Dean packs up weapons in the diner while Sam wakes up. He tells Sam that he killed all the demons and Sam’s shocked. “You killed three demons? Alone?” LOL season nine! Tracy pulls up with Baby and DAMN GIRL you got to drive her. She checks on Sam’s welfare in a reasonably friendly manner. Dean, you won her over with the power of FRIENDSHIP! (Shut up, I have not seen too much My Little Pony.) 
Tumblr media
The Winchesters arrive at the bunker with some booze and a bucket of chicken. They call for Kevin immediately and when he doesn’t answer they race down to the dungeon. They find a very pissed off and somewhat bloody Crowley. Crowley immediately offers up names of demons and gives them a deal - they scratch his back, he scratches theirs. But the first demon names are because playing with Kevin was so much fun for him. “Wind him up, watch him go.” Dean races upstairs to find Kevin walking out of the bunker. To convince Kevin to stay, Dean delivers such compelling arguments as:
Crowley lies
If Kevin’s mom is alive, then she might as well be dead
It’s dangerous outside the bunker
They need him
Oooof Dean. Not a winning argument, there. Kevin jumps on the last point. 
Tumblr media
Dean insists that they need Kevin because he’s family and they’d die for him. He successfully talks Kevin into staying and meets up with Sam. Sam’s reflecting on Tracy’s dislike of him. Dean tells Sam that he’s done more good than bad. “Here’s to now,” Dean says. The bold future! 
“The fallen angels?” Sam asks. “Abaddon? Cas losing his halo, Crowley in our basement?”
“Crap. We're living in a freaking sitcom,” Dean says. UH I would watch the HELL out of that show. 
Sam decides that he’s feeling good and life is good. I’m so glad to see Sam in such a healthy place! Thank goodness both Winchesters are in a good mental state. LOL, kidding, Dean drinks his feelings as the episode fades to black. 
Tumblr media
______________________________
Everything’s Fine and Nothing Quotes:
Can't wait to see Sam in stilettos and a leather bustier, really putting the S A M into S & M
Then we all go out for ice cream and strippers
What's the matter, hellhound got your tongue?
I'm Kevin freaking Solo
I torture all my friends. It’s how I show love
______________________________
Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 
19 notes · View notes
cleohn · 5 years
Text
Tumblr media
﹤𝚂𝙾𝙽 𝙽𝙰𝙴𝚄𝙽, 𝚂𝙷𝙴 / 𝙷𝙴𝚁, 𝙲𝙸𝚂 𝙵𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙻𝙴﹥; * - hello CLEO AHN. long time no see. i know a lot about you. like how you're TWENTY THREE, how you're a DANCE major,  and in fact.. how you BURNED DOWN YOUR FAMILY ESTATE FOR THE INSURANCE MONEY, ACCIDENTALLY KILLING A TV REPAIR MAN THAT WAS INSIDE. would be a shame if it got out, wouldn't it ? so let's play a game. 𝚃𝚁𝚄𝚃𝙷 𝙾𝚁 𝙳𝙰𝚁𝙴 ?
ahhh shit here we go again ... clown town ...... 
BACKSTORY
old money baby !! for those of u who have seen gossip girl …. u know nates grandpa …. the vanderbuilts…. thats her mom’s side of the family JSBDJWBJWD those of u who havent all u gotta know is that her grandpa (mom’s dad) is this super rich very old fashioned family oriented man -__-  he had 4 sons and 1 daughter (cleo’s mom) and very obviously favored his sons 
anyway he was always super hard on cleo’s mom !! very controlling of her life, very judgmental abt her choices, even though cleo’s mom was super desperate for his approval so she …. kinda revolved her life around what he wanted for her but it was never good enough </3 her mom literally married a doctor just to make this dumb old man happy and he was like ok hes not a surgeon though so … 
anyway cleo watched all this as she grew up and she was .. come se dice NOT happy abt it !! she was always super close and protective of her mom (not really close to her dad that much considering her mom really only married him for approval and safety) and she was always trying to get her mom to be like fuck the family !!! but her mom never did
and cleo’s grandpa never lightened up even as he got older … which was starting to give cleo some anxiety bc he was bound to die sooner or later and she was super nervous he was gonna be stingy abt his money and divide it unfairly giving more to his sons and very little to his daughter even though his daughter did everything this man wanted !!
so cleo started scheming….bc shes always been the type to be self sufficient like when she wants things to get done ? shes gonna do it herself ! she doesnt wait around for stuff to just fall into place also shes kinda impatient aha so she wasnt abt to just WAIT for her grandpa to die and see what his will said….
her first plan was just to steal the will. but then she was like ok not thinking big enough…..how can i make sure we get our money……then it all clicked. their family estate ….this old ass mansion…..where the whole family gathers for thanksgiving and christmas and her grandpa’s bday….she was gonna stage a little accident x
she was eighteen when she burned that baby to the ground ! she was methodical abt it like she did her research on their insurance plan, on how that money would be divided equally among the family automatically bc they were all listed as owners, she even looked up how to set the fire and where so it would look like an accident and not like an intentional burning….
cleo did all that and yet she failed to realize that their was a tv repair guy coming over to fix a problem with the wifi that day /: the worst part is she didnt even find out she accidentally killed someone bc there were no reports abt it like all the headlines mentioned was how this family estate that had stood for generations had tragically burned down </3
so cleo went off to college, majored in dance despite her grandpa pushing for all his grandchildren to have practical majors bc she refuses to bend to his will the way her mom did, and all was well…..for the first two years.
then comes christmas of her junior year of college where her grandpa gets too drunk and lets it slip he’d covered up a DEATH the day of the fire. cleo was like im sorry can u repeat that…and he lets the family know that there was a repair guy inside the house when it went up in flames and that he paid off the police in order to avoid being sued by the dead man’s family since all the reports were saying the estate had outdated electrical and thats why it caught fire
thats when cleo realized she fucked up <3 not only did she burn down their estate she also KILLED A MAN and it’s her fault it got covered up and that his family will never get closure bc she made it look like the estate had fucked up electrical when she set the fire in order to be able to get the insurance money 
so that was really fun for her junior and senior year have been so great for her <3 shes great <3 JSDBWBDJWBDJW
ok now moving to personality..
PERSONALITY AND TIDBITS 
cleo’s super protective over the ppl she loves (like her mom) and can be loyal to a fault !! will go to extremes to protect those she really cares about (like burning the estate down aha) but the second u cross her shes not quick to forgive and she will hold a grudge til the day she dies /: 
shes stubborn like super stubborn….the type of person that u cant force to do anything or change their opinion abt anything like if its not her choice ? shes not gonna do it JSBDWBDWBDJ has a tendency to not want to admit when she fucks up bc she’s a high key perfectionist so when she does fuck up shes like ok cool i’ll just die do not even look at me dont even talk about it
kinda over caring about what kind of an impression she gives off. like there are probably lots of people who when they first met her thought she was a bitch bc she likes to mind her business and can act kinda dry when she doesnt know you but cleo would just let them keep thinking that forever shes not here to change ppls minds 
if u do take the time to get to know her though ur gonna realize shes a lot nicer than she looks JSDBWBDBWJ and a lot less stuck up than u would think someone who comes from so much money would be. she never got the chance to develop into a spoiled brat since she was the black sheep of all her cousins <3 thank u grandpa 
speaking of being the black sheep. JDBWJBDJWBD she will take….any opportunity these days to piss her grandfather off. has a tendency to pull of crazy stunts like get herself arrested on a public nudity charge or order cases of dom perignon and have them delivered to the dining hall just bc she can. most of the time when ppl hear abt the things she does they dont believe cleo would have actually done something like that bc she really does not have a wild child vibe about her …. at all 
and shes not one JSBDWBDWJ like she parties a normal amount. if u ever see her doing something crazy 99% of the time she’s doing it to make someone mad or doing it because someone told her not to, and then the other 1% of the time shes doing it to cope with the fact that shes a murderer JSBDJWBJDWD
pretty liberal when it comes to sex but shes also not the type to always put her business out there. if u ask she’ll let u know but thats that ! also not a fan of drama of any sort if she has a problem she’ll let u know & expects others to do the same 
she loves to dance hehe she’s been a ballerina since she was 4 (it was the one hobby her mom made her do that actually stuck) and thats really like…..her true source of joy shes never happier than she is when shes dancing <3 literally does not care when ppl ask her wtf shes gonna do with that bc shes having fun babey and shes got money she doesnt need a real degree….. JSBDWBDWJDWJ
she looooves to dress nice. if ur chara dresses sloppy or ugly shes gonna buy them a designer fit and ask that they wear it just so things can look aesthetically pleasing JSBDJWBDBWJDBJWBDJWBJ she loves her aesthetics….probably a bitch that has a bullet journal and actually keeps up with it 
loves to karaoke but she only ever sings 80′s songs and shes gotta be wasted first … a cat person !! but tries to make exceptions for the sake of everyone else… allergic to peanuts like deadly allergic she will die…coffee addict but she pretends to be a tea person just so she can post those cute pics on insta but then every time she makes tea shes like this shits nasty…loves rom coms she will defend rom coms and claim they are the superior movie genre til the day she dies if u even mention tarantino she will kill u on sight…..idk what else to say im running out of juice this is the end x pls plot x
0 notes
himluv · 5 years
Text
I mentioned in my weekly update that the trip to Cincinnati was… interesting to say the least. Now, I want to be honest. The Husbando and I had scoped out Cincinnati as a potential contender for relocation. We looked into best places to live for the cost and looked at the housing market and were pretty impressed. The next step was to visit and see how the city felt. Because on paper, things looked promising.
Well, I can tell you, after four days spent in the city, promising is not the word for it. Now, before anyone gets their knickers in a bunch, let me caveat this with the following: These are my feelings about Cincinnati. Mine. And mine alone. I know that I visited in early March, when winter still has much of the country in its frigid, deathly grip. This was intentional; I wanted to see the city at its worst, because if I still liked it, then I knew it would only get better with nicer weather. I stacked the odds against Cincinnati on purpose and kept that decision in my mind as we explored the city.
Guys. It didn’t do well.
There’s a lot to like in Cincinnati, don’t mistake me. The Newport Aquarium was a ton of fun and really well maintained. The Zoo was amazeballs (and yes, we got to see Fiona!), and the Cincinnati Museum Center is absolutely gorgeous. At all three locations there were field trips out for a day of learning and exploration and that was really cool to see.
Cincinnati also has a thriving craft beer scene. We had low expectations for this, since Oregon is sort of the Mecca for the US Craft Beer movement (seriously, throw a rock in Salem and you’ll hit a brewery or taphouse). The beers didn’t need to be better than home, just on par, which they definitely were. Also, oddly enough, sour beers seem to be very popular in Cincinnati, of which I had zero complaints. I love a good Berliner Weisse, and Nine Giants’ Save Ferris was probably the best I’ve ever had.
We also went to a crazy store called Jungle Jim’s, which my husband described as, “an international themed fever dream where you can buy some fresh fish, giant paella pan, scotch, and durian fruit in the same store while passing by a talking Campbell’s soup can that haunts you until you die.” We followed that up with a visit to the biggest fucking antique mall I have ever been blessed to visit. I bought an unconventional souvenir for my office and have zero regrets.
Talk about nightmare fuel…
The Findlay Market was cool, though with it being the off season it was just a fraction of how awesome it undoubtedly is in the spring and summer. That being said, we have farmer’s markets here in Salem, and Portland has a huge one. And Pike’s is only four hours away in Seattle.
And ultimately, that’s what it kept coming down to. Yeah, Cincinnati has cool stuff, but not anything that can’t be equalled by the Pacific Northwest.  So, when the cities are neck and neck, what breaks the tie?
People.
Now, PNW folks are notorious for being ridiculously, obnoxiously, frustratingly nice. They will stop six lanes of traffic to let you jaywalk. They will stop an entire interstate to save a lost dog. “Please” and “Thank You” have nearly lost all meaning because we all say them so automatically that half the time I can’t remember if I even said it. Sort of like flushing the toilet or locking the door, but for politeness.
I thought I was sick of it. I thought I was fed up with false kindness and the West Coast notion that customer service must infiltrate every aspect of your life. I thought I was done with it. And then I went to a bar in Cincinnati.
WTF is Burgoo and why was it so good?
Across the city, from restaurants to breweries to fast food chains to grocery stores, gruff and efficient is the rule. They don’t want to chit-chat, which I am fine with, but they also don’t want to smile or tell you to have a nice day or thank you for coming in. They do not want to acknowledge you beyond, “What do you want?” and “Do you want to start a tab?” or “Receipt?”
It shocked me. It disgruntled me. I felt immediately defensive and closed off. For the first time, I wasn’t so sure we’d be able to make friends in Cincinnati and I wasn’t sure that I would even want to. I already have great friends, and almost all of them live in Salem (Bolt, I’m looking at you, so hurry it up already and move back!).
Ultimately, nothing about Cincinnati made me want to dig up the roots we’ve grown here in Oregon and start all over again. Which we agreed on after only two days, which left us with another two days to explore and just enjoy the vacation!
Now, of course, not every person we interacted with was so closed off and unfriendly. There was a fabulous server at the Moerlein Lager House named Mikey, and another great server at 50 West Brewing (I can’t remember her name, sorry!). And the sweet guy at the counter of the Taste of Belgium stand at Findlay Market that forgot to give Trev his coffee and was amazed at how unworried we were about it. But the majority was… brusque to say the least.
We spent a day in Kentucky, meeting up with my husband’s aunt, which was a blast, and then we went to the Kentucky Derby Museum for a walk down memory lane for me, and a first time visit for Trevor. I was pretty emotional the whole time. The last time I was there was in 1995 when I went on a cross country road trip with my grandparents. My papa has since passed away, and though I don’t have many distinct memories from our visit to Churchill Downs there were just enough to keep my eyes moist at sharing this visit with my husband, whom my papa never got the chance to meet.
And while the people in Kentucky are beyond nice, come Wednesday, Trev and I were so so so ready to be home. So of course, that’s the day the Boeing 737 Max’s were grounded. And of course, that was the plane we were supposed to be on. What was supposed to be an arrival time of 10pm in Portland turned into 11am, with us spending 22 hours either in an airport or on a plane. My advice? Skip Chicago Midway if you can, and DEFINITELY don’t spend the night there. The only silver-lining on that was the hilarious native Chicagoan that sat at the bar drinking a Budweiser while we ate breakfast and shot the shit with us. He was hilarious and a delight. There will be inside jokes involving that guy for the rest of our lives, I’m sure.
And then we were home and I snuggled my dog and vowed not to leave the PNW for as long as I possibly could. Which is roughly a year since Southwest gave us two $100 vouchers for the whole 737 snafu.
So, the trip served its purpose. We went to Cincinnati to see if we’d want to live there. We very quickly decided no, and got a chance to relax and just enjoy ourselves for a few days. Other than the awful travel on the way home, I’d say that was worth it. Plus, I wouldn’t have found Melvin if we hadn’t gone!
There is no Tavern, and Moby Dick was published in 1851, but the inaccuracies only make me love it more. Hence the name, Melvin. 
Knowing that a cross-country move isn’t in our future has reinvigorated our enthusiasm for the house we do have. Old projects are resurfacing, especially as the weather improves, and I hope we’ll actually have our entertainment center built up by the summer and my built-in desk finished by fall.
Home is where you make it, after all. So maybe it’s high time we showed this house some love and focused on turning it into our home. This trip really helped me appreciate where I am and what I have, and the city I share with so many people I care about. It led to a reaffirmation for both of us, and I couldn’t be happier with that.
Because, let’s face it. I’m a West Coast kid, through and through. And that’s how it’s going to stay. At least for the foreseeable future.
  BZ
For a Midwest Minute I mentioned in my weekly update that the trip to Cincinnati was... interesting to say the least.
0 notes
alexdgreen86 · 6 years
Text
House Flipping Nightmare: The Nemesis House Before and After
Hey everyone, Melissa here! I’m here to talk about the before and after process with that dang Nemesis House. If you haven’t checked out our video on it, take a look! We also talked about it on the podcast. You can listen to the episode here. This thing was a house flipping nightmare.
House Flipping Nightmare: The Nemesis House
I’m so excited to be done with this house. I’ve had it for WAY longer than I should have. This house was bought for $86,000 and needed quite a bit of work. It’s much more of a rehab than I would normally take on (the reason why this was such a house flipping nightmare). Let’s see, this place needed…
New Roof
New Foundation
New Landscaping (there was a filled in, in-ground pool. Wtf??)
Although this house needed LOTS of work, we managed to come in under budget. The repair costs only came out to around $36,500 (less than we were anticipating). That included everything we had to fix: the foundation, roof, etc. The total cost of the property ended up at $122,500. When we got it listed and under contract, it ended up selling for $199,900. At least we turned a profit with this stupid house!
This is such a great example of rerunning your comps before listing the property. Because we had this house for so long, our original ARV wasn’t up to date by the time we went to sell it. Originally, our ARV was $180,000, but ended up being over our original by about $20,000 because the values change so much in the area we were selling in. The lesson here is: always, always, ALWAYS reevaluate your comps before listing (especially if you’ve had the property for a while like we did with this one).
Ok, so, the landscaping was rough. The lawns hasn’t been mowed in who knows how long, the plants were all either overgrown or dying, and everything was crusty and yellow. To be honest, when I first saw this property, I kind of freaked out. There was so much to do to it – definitely way more than we normally do to a rehab. Talk about a real house flipping nightmare.
The Garage Turned Mother-In-Law-Suite
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/garage-before.mp4
The first thing I noticed was that there was this weird garage conversion happening. Apparently, the previous owners had turned it into a mother-in-law suite. That had to go. It’s impossible to try and sell a house in Texas without a garage. The weirdest thing about it was that the wall they built didn’t meet up with the wall where the garage door had been. There was this weird indent. The concrete didn’t even meet the driveway! Why??? Who knows…
Already with the exterior alone, there was lots of planning that had to be done. The reason I kind of freaked was because I’m not really comfortable with planning for the outside. I can do the inside just fine, no problems there, but when it comes to completely changing the outside I get a little nervous. Needless to say, this house flipping nightmare needed a lot of exterior TLC.
Other than that wall, there was also an entire subfloor on top of the garage floor so they could put in carpeting. There was a built in closet, and a full bathroom in there too, as well as 2 windows.
The Garage is a Garage Again
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/garage-after.mp4
With that garage conversion, we ended up building out a wall and putting in a garage door, and finally got rid of that huge fake wall (that never should have been there in the first place, but whatever). We ripped all of the flooring out, closed in the windows, and got rid of the closet. On top of all that, there were like 50 billion outlets in this poor garage for some reason.
It took a lot to turn this property from a house flipping nightmare into a home. We got rid of the bathroom and turned it into a storage closet, tapped off all the lines, cut the electricity to the outlets, and finally turned this garage back into a dang garage.
The Floors (Bum Bum Bum)
Immediately when you walk into this house flipping nightmare you notice two things:
That ugly wood panelling
So many different floors!
The floors were kind of insane. There was carpet, linoleum, vinyl sticky tile, wood…it was a mess. Normally, I like to go with a nice vinyl tile that stays consistent through out the house. So, of course, that’s what we did.
One Cohesive Look for the Floors
We removed all of the weird floor textures and made it one solid look. We also took off all of the wood panelling on the walls and gave it a nice coat of paint. The ceilings were good, minus the popcorn. Once that was removed, the entrance of the house was looking a lot better.
The Dining Room: Before
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/dining-room-before.mp4
The problems in this room came from the entrance hall. The molding on the top and bottom of the walls didn’t line up right, there were huge gaps in places. The wall color was that beige yellow that was really popular in the early 2000’s. Just like the bedrooms (you’ll see later), this room wasn’t a house flipping nightmare. It was just a room that needed renovation.
The Dining Room: After
We took out the wood panelling and repainted the walls with a pretty grey color. I’ve been using this in a lot of my houses because it’s neutral for the buyers, but also makes the whole room just look modern and clean.
After removing the weird floor, we put in the vinyl wood tile that I’ve also been using in a lot of my properties. We took out the old molding and replaced it so that it actually lines up with the walls and ceiling – imagine that! I added a new light fixture for the dining room table, and that was that.
Deep Dark Living Room
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/living-room-after.mp4
I had hopes for the living room because it had a lot of room, and a really pretty rock fireplace. The biggest thing was the lack of light coming into this room – which didn’t make any sense to me at first. The living room had huge windows and faced the backyard, but where was the light?
Turns out – and we’ll talk about this more when we get to the backyard – there was this huge covered thing that was blocking out all of the natural light from the living room. I’ve never seen anything like it before, but it doesn’t surprise me looking back at this house flipping nightmare.
First thing is first, though. We need to make this living room pop.
Making the Living Room a Wow Factor
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/living-room-after-1.mp4
Turning the fireplace into my WOW factor wasn’t hard. I had my contractor clean it up and build out a new mantel to tie it all together. We left the stone how it was because it was so pretty.
Tangent time: having a wow factor in your homes is what will set you apart from the other houses for sale in your areas. Adding a nice wow factor is a great way to take a house flipping nightmare from bad to amazing. I try to make my fireplaces a wow factor for a couple of reasons.
It’s pretty easy and inexpensive to do.
A good fireplace can tie an entire house together.
So after the fireplace got cleaned up and mounted with a new mantel, we put in a light pointing at it to show it off and called it a day.
For the rest of the living room, we repainted the walls, added some new ceiling fans, and replaced the carpet.
Tiny Dark Kitchen: Before
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/living-room-after-2.mp4
The kitchen itself was pretty small with limited counter space. The cabinets and countertops were all really dark, but other than that in pretty good shape. Like I had said in a thread in our Flip Pilot group on FaceBook, if the cabinets are in good shape there’s no need to replace them. Just sand them down and give them a new coat of paint and they’re good to go!
Here was the real problem with the kitchen. I’m not a very tall person, and I could reach up and touch the ceiling. If I can do that, you know it’s too low! And to make the ceiling feel even lower, there was a florescent light right in the middle. Gross. The light itself doesn’t make this a house flipping nightmare kitchen, but the small space felt much, much smaller with all of the dark colors and lack of light.
More Open Kitchen: After
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/kitchen-after.mp4
The first thing we did was take out that light, bump up the ceiling, and add a few can lights. We couldn’t do much about the actual size of the kitchen without going over budget, but we could make it seem like it was bigger. Bumping up the ceiling really helps to make that space feel open, even if it is small. We replaced the appliances to newer ones that actually matched, too. After that, my contractor repainted the cabinets and cleaned up the countertops.
Speaking of countertops, these were actually in pretty good shape. All we did was clean them up and have them epoxied. It looks much nicer, it was super cheap, and made the kitchen look clean without going over our budget. The epoxy, all said and done, only cost us about $250. Really not bad at all, and the results are great.
The Master Bedroom: Before
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/master-before.mp4
The master bedroom was actually pretty nice. It had a nice size, the natural light was good (after we took out that covered thing we’ll talk about next).
Ok, it was nice except for the master bathroom vanity being open to the bedroom. I don’t know why I hate that so much, but I do. It just looks like a hotel room or something. That, and, the entrance to the closet was inside the bathroom with the doors just to the right of the vanity. I didn’t like that. It really made the room look like a house flipping nightmare. The open arch to the bathroom doesn’t leave much privacy for the people using the restroom, so we definitely had to add doors to get rid of the hotel feel.
The Master Bedroom: After
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/master-after.mp4
The room itself just needed new carpet and some paint on the walls. The real rehab came with the master bathroom.
I had my contractor build a wall and frame it so we can have the bathroom closed off from the bedroom. Adding the double doors there made it feel less like a hotel and more like someone’s home!
We also closed off the entrance to the closet that was coming out of the bathroom and added some double doors that lead from the bedroom. That way you can walk into the closet from the room and not the bathroom. No more worrying about that door blocking off the bathroom counter.
There was more of that dang wood panelling that we got rid of around the vanity and replaced with just a nice painted look. Seriously, what was it with the wood panelling in this house flipping nightmare?
We took out that long vanity with one sink and added the two standing sinks. Now, normally, I would put a tub in a master bathroom, but there just wasn’t enough room in this one. Personally, I’m not huge on the layout with the toilet being so close to the shower, but there wasn’t much we could do about that.
So, instead of a tub, we rebuilt it into a nice walk-in shower. We put in the marble tile I’ve been using in all of my properties. I also found some nice floor tile to use in the shower. My contractor even built in a shelf and used the floor tile as a backsplash.
The Ceiling is Falling! Bedroom Before
For the most part, the bedrooms were all standard fixes. There was weird carpet, and for some reason the molding was all different sizes and didn’t line up right. Except this one bedroom.
The first time I walked through this house and got to the other bedrooms I saw that the ceiling had just completely fallen out and to the ground. Talk about a house flipping nightmare. You couldn’t even walk in the room! It was a total mess. Not “a little bit of the ceiling chipped off”. I mean this place was full of insulation, and wood, and sheetrock, and duct work, and I almost freaked out all over again.
Fixing the Ceiling: Bedroom After
Clearly this was a problem that needed fixing. I had my contractor rebuild the ceiling. We needed to give it all new duct work, vents, lighting, texture…the works. It was kind of a house flipping nightmare.
The Backyard of Doom
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/backyard-1-before.mp4
Where I had the real heart attack was with the back yard. If this wasn’t a house flipping nightmare before, it definitely was once I saw the yard. Oh man, where to start?
Ok, first of all, the whole place was so overgrown that I couldn’t even see what needed to be fixed. I’m not talking about one or two out of control weeds. Nooooo. This backyard had full plants just sprouting up wherever, completely taking over everything.
There was what used to be a fence that lead to a walkway that was so buried by plants that you couldn’t even see it. The fence was half taken out and half still there, so these weird metal posts were just sticking out of the ground.
Now let’s talk about the covered thing. This back yard had a covered patio and a raised deck. The covered patio was completely closed off, though. Like, it looked like they had wanted to make it either another room or an outdoor entertainment area or something, but it never got completely finished. The floor was all uneven and had shifted too, so this whole thing was just another hot mess.
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/patio-before.mp4
What I was left with was this weird metal shed-like extension that completely blocked out any natural light from getting into the living room and master bedroom. This was what made the living room such a house flipping nightmare. It made everything so dark inside! This “patio cover” was just sheet metal slapped together, completely blocking out the sun. It had to go.
Then, on the other side of the covered thing, leading to the garage from the back of the house, was a lifted deck with no railing. It was just some wooden platform that was built maybe 6 inches off the ground. Nothing in this backyard was ever finished! Just half started and then abandoned.
But wait, there’s more! Once we cleared out all of the plants and weeds from the yard we found a huge, filled in, in-ground pool. WTF? The walkway that went around it was all weird shaped, too. It wasn’t rounded or nice looking or anything. So, ok, now I’m stuck with this awful backyard on top of this terrible terrible house.
I’m not even kidding, I called my acquisitions manager and asked why the heck we bought this property. I had reached my limit and gone way past it at this point.
Turning a Negative into a Positive
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/patio-after.mp4
Alright, so the backyard had a lot of work to do. The first thing we had to do before I could even start thinking about how to make this negative into a positive was to remove all of the weeds and plants. That’s when I saw the pool. Once all of the junk was gone, it was time to get to work.
I had my contractor take out all of that sheet metal that made the weird enclosed space. We were already coming a little too close to our budget, so the uneven floor was just going to be there. We repainted it, but that was about it (I was getting so done with this place). All of the metal fencing and left over fence posts were taken out to keep the backyard open and accessible. We repainted that weird deck, too, because I just didn’t have the brain power to remove it and think of something new to put there.
The in-ground pool was the real struggle. I had posted all over the Flip Pilot group, and my own personal FaceBook, trying to get ideas about what the heck to do with that. Some people suggested making it a garden, filling it in with gravel to make a playground area, and even to just get rid of the walkway and re-sod the whole backyard. I though about all of those options, but wasn’t really convinced by any of them.
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/yard-after.mp4
What we ended up doing was keeping the walkway – mostly because removing it and re-sodding everything would take up more time and money that we just weren’t in the mood to invest in this property anymore. Inside of the filled-in pool, we landscaped a bit by adding a couple flower patches. The real transformation was in the center, though.
I took the gravel idea and decided, screw it, let’s make a fire pit area. This backyard is a nice size, and with the right layout would be great for outdoor entertainment. So we made a little patch with gravel, lead a path to it, and turned that hideous in-ground pool spot into a fire pit entertainment area.
Wrap Up
That’s about it with this house flipping nightmare known as “The Nemesis House”. I can’t tell you how happy I was to close on that stupid thing. The transformation was incredible. It went from this cracked, pieced together, literally falling apart house into a really nice home. The place finally functions again! No more mother-in-law suite, no more weird sheet metal cave, no more mis-matched flooring. This place finally looks like a real home.
The biggest thing to take away from this property is to always, always, ALWAYS rerun your comps before listing. Since we had this house for so long while we were working on the rehab, the value of the neighborhood had changed. If we hadn’t rerun our comps, we would have mis-valued the house by nearly $20,000.
We know the Flipping Junkie blog has been kind of dead recently – we’ve been focusing on making more videos and podcast episodes for you guys. But we’re going to keep making these property blog posts so that you can get an inside look at our properties and learn from what we’re doing!
If you want to keep up with us on a day-to-day basis, join the Flip Pilot group on FaceBook! We’re always active there, and would love to hear about your house flipping nightmares! Don’t know what a Flip Pilot is? It’s you! And me. And every active, serious, real estate investor. Come network with us so you can take your real estate investing business to new heights. Talk to you in the group!
-Melissa Johnson
 Click here to jointhe Flip Pilot Group!
 The post House Flipping Nightmare: The Nemesis House Before and After appeared first on Flipping Junkie.
from http://flippingjunkie.com/house-flipping-nightmare-nemesis-house/
from Flipping Junkie - Blog http://reiflippingjunkie.weebly.com/blog/house-flipping-nightmare-the-nemesis-house-before-and-after
0 notes
juliasmathewus · 6 years
Text
House Flipping Nightmare: The Nemesis House Before and After
Hey everyone, Melissa here! I’m here to talk about the before and after process with that dang Nemesis House. If you haven’t checked out our video on it, take a look! We also talked about it on the podcast. You can listen to the episode here. This thing was a house flipping nightmare.
youtube
House Flipping Nightmare: The Nemesis House
I’m so excited to be done with this house. I’ve had it for WAY longer than I should have. This house was bought for $86,000 and needed quite a bit of work. It’s much more of a rehab than I would normally take on (the reason why this was such a house flipping nightmare). Let’s see, this place needed…
New Roof
New Foundation
New Landscaping (there was a filled in, in-ground pool. Wtf??)
Although this house needed LOTS of work, we managed to come in under budget. The repair costs only came out to around $36,500 (less than we were anticipating). That included everything we had to fix: the foundation, roof, etc. The total cost of the property ended up at $122,500. When we got it listed and under contract, it ended up selling for $199,900. At least we turned a profit with this stupid house!
This is such a great example of rerunning your comps before listing the property. Because we had this house for so long, our original ARV wasn’t up to date by the time we went to sell it. Originally, our ARV was $180,000, but ended up being over our original by about $20,000 because the values change so much in the area we were selling in. The lesson here is: always, always, ALWAYS reevaluate your comps before listing (especially if you’ve had the property for a while like we did with this one).
Ok, so, the landscaping was rough. The lawns hasn’t been mowed in who knows how long, the plants were all either overgrown or dying, and everything was crusty and yellow. To be honest, when I first saw this property, I kind of freaked out. There was so much to do to it – definitely way more than we normally do to a rehab. Talk about a real house flipping nightmare.
The Garage Turned Mother-In-Law-Suite
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/garage-before.mp4
The first thing I noticed was that there was this weird garage conversion happening. Apparently, the previous owners had turned it into a mother-in-law suite. That had to go. It’s impossible to try and sell a house in Texas without a garage. The weirdest thing about it was that the wall they built didn’t meet up with the wall where the garage door had been. There was this weird indent. The concrete didn’t even meet the driveway! Why??? Who knows…
Already with the exterior alone, there was lots of planning that had to be done. The reason I kind of freaked was because I’m not really comfortable with planning for the outside. I can do the inside just fine, no problems there, but when it comes to completely changing the outside I get a little nervous. Needless to say, this house flipping nightmare needed a lot of exterior TLC.
Other than that wall, there was also an entire subfloor on top of the garage floor so they could put in carpeting. There was a built in closet, and a full bathroom in there too, as well as 2 windows.
The Garage is a Garage Again
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/garage-after.mp4
With that garage conversion, we ended up building out a wall and putting in a garage door, and finally got rid of that huge fake wall (that never should have been there in the first place, but whatever). We ripped all of the flooring out, closed in the windows, and got rid of the closet. On top of all that, there were like 50 billion outlets in this poor garage for some reason.
It took a lot to turn this property from a house flipping nightmare into a home. We got rid of the bathroom and turned it into a storage closet, tapped off all the lines, cut the electricity to the outlets, and finally turned this garage back into a dang garage.
The Floors (Bum Bum Bum)
Immediately when you walk into this house flipping nightmare you notice two things:
That ugly wood panelling
So many different floors!
The floors were kind of insane. There was carpet, linoleum, vinyl sticky tile, wood…it was a mess. Normally, I like to go with a nice vinyl tile that stays consistent through out the house. So, of course, that’s what we did.
One Cohesive Look for the Floors
We removed all of the weird floor textures and made it one solid look. We also took off all of the wood panelling on the walls and gave it a nice coat of paint. The ceilings were good, minus the popcorn. Once that was removed, the entrance of the house was looking a lot better.
The Dining Room: Before
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/dining-room-before.mp4
The problems in this room came from the entrance hall. The molding on the top and bottom of the walls didn’t line up right, there were huge gaps in places. The wall color was that beige yellow that was really popular in the early 2000’s. Just like the bedrooms (you’ll see later), this room wasn’t a house flipping nightmare. It was just a room that needed renovation.
The Dining Room: After
We took out the wood panelling and repainted the walls with a pretty grey color. I’ve been using this in a lot of my houses because it’s neutral for the buyers, but also makes the whole room just look modern and clean.
After removing the weird floor, we put in the vinyl wood tile that I’ve also been using in a lot of my properties. We took out the old molding and replaced it so that it actually lines up with the walls and ceiling – imagine that! I added a new light fixture for the dining room table, and that was that.
Deep Dark Living Room
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/living-room-after.mp4
I had hopes for the living room because it had a lot of room, and a really pretty rock fireplace. The biggest thing was the lack of light coming into this room – which didn’t make any sense to me at first. The living room had huge windows and faced the backyard, but where was the light?
Turns out – and we’ll talk about this more when we get to the backyard – there was this huge covered thing that was blocking out all of the natural light from the living room. I’ve never seen anything like it before, but it doesn’t surprise me looking back at this house flipping nightmare.
First thing is first, though. We need to make this living room pop.
Making the Living Room a Wow Factor
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/living-room-after-1.mp4
Turning the fireplace into my WOW factor wasn’t hard. I had my contractor clean it up and build out a new mantel to tie it all together. We left the stone how it was because it was so pretty.
Tangent time: having a wow factor in your homes is what will set you apart from the other houses for sale in your areas. Adding a nice wow factor is a great way to take a house flipping nightmare from bad to amazing. I try to make my fireplaces a wow factor for a couple of reasons.
It’s pretty easy and inexpensive to do.
A good fireplace can tie an entire house together.
So after the fireplace got cleaned up and mounted with a new mantel, we put in a light pointing at it to show it off and called it a day.
For the rest of the living room, we repainted the walls, added some new ceiling fans, and replaced the carpet.
Tiny Dark Kitchen: Before
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/living-room-after-2.mp4
The kitchen itself was pretty small with limited counter space. The cabinets and countertops were all really dark, but other than that in pretty good shape. Like I had said in a thread in our Flip Pilot group on FaceBook, if the cabinets are in good shape there’s no need to replace them. Just sand them down and give them a new coat of paint and they’re good to go!
Here was the real problem with the kitchen. I’m not a very tall person, and I could reach up and touch the ceiling. If I can do that, you know it’s too low! And to make the ceiling feel even lower, there was a florescent light right in the middle. Gross. The light itself doesn’t make this a house flipping nightmare kitchen, but the small space felt much, much smaller with all of the dark colors and lack of light.
More Open Kitchen: After
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/kitchen-after.mp4
The first thing we did was take out that light, bump up the ceiling, and add a few can lights. We couldn’t do much about the actual size of the kitchen without going over budget, but we could make it seem like it was bigger. Bumping up the ceiling really helps to make that space feel open, even if it is small. We replaced the appliances to newer ones that actually matched, too. After that, my contractor repainted the cabinets and cleaned up the countertops.
Speaking of countertops, these were actually in pretty good shape. All we did was clean them up and have them epoxied. It looks much nicer, it was super cheap, and made the kitchen look clean without going over our budget. The epoxy, all said and done, only cost us about $250. Really not bad at all, and the results are great.
The Master Bedroom: Before
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/master-before.mp4
The master bedroom was actually pretty nice. It had a nice size, the natural light was good (after we took out that covered thing we’ll talk about next).
Ok, it was nice except for the master bathroom vanity being open to the bedroom. I don’t know why I hate that so much, but I do. It just looks like a hotel room or something. That, and, the entrance to the closet was inside the bathroom with the doors just to the right of the vanity. I didn’t like that. It really made the room look like a house flipping nightmare. The open arch to the bathroom doesn’t leave much privacy for the people using the restroom, so we definitely had to add doors to get rid of the hotel feel.
The Master Bedroom: After
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/master-after.mp4
The room itself just needed new carpet and some paint on the walls. The real rehab came with the master bathroom.
I had my contractor build a wall and frame it so we can have the bathroom closed off from the bedroom. Adding the double doors there made it feel less like a hotel and more like someone’s home!
We also closed off the entrance to the closet that was coming out of the bathroom and added some double doors that lead from the bedroom. That way you can walk into the closet from the room and not the bathroom. No more worrying about that door blocking off the bathroom counter.
There was more of that dang wood panelling that we got rid of around the vanity and replaced with just a nice painted look. Seriously, what was it with the wood panelling in this house flipping nightmare?
We took out that long vanity with one sink and added the two standing sinks. Now, normally, I would put a tub in a master bathroom, but there just wasn’t enough room in this one. Personally, I’m not huge on the layout with the toilet being so close to the shower, but there wasn’t much we could do about that.
So, instead of a tub, we rebuilt it into a nice walk-in shower. We put in the marble tile I’ve been using in all of my properties. I also found some nice floor tile to use in the shower. My contractor even built in a shelf and used the floor tile as a backsplash.
The Ceiling is Falling! Bedroom Before
For the most part, the bedrooms were all standard fixes. There was weird carpet, and for some reason the molding was all different sizes and didn’t line up right. Except this one bedroom.
The first time I walked through this house and got to the other bedrooms I saw that the ceiling had just completely fallen out and to the ground. Talk about a house flipping nightmare. You couldn’t even walk in the room! It was a total mess. Not “a little bit of the ceiling chipped off”. I mean this place was full of insulation, and wood, and sheetrock, and duct work, and I almost freaked out all over again.
Fixing the Ceiling: Bedroom After
Clearly this was a problem that needed fixing. I had my contractor rebuild the ceiling. We needed to give it all new duct work, vents, lighting, texture…the works. It was kind of a house flipping nightmare.
The Backyard of Doom
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/backyard-1-before.mp4
Where I had the real heart attack was with the back yard. If this wasn’t a house flipping nightmare before, it definitely was once I saw the yard. Oh man, where to start?
Ok, first of all, the whole place was so overgrown that I couldn’t even see what needed to be fixed. I’m not talking about one or two out of control weeds. Nooooo. This backyard had full plants just sprouting up wherever, completely taking over everything.
There was what used to be a fence that lead to a walkway that was so buried by plants that you couldn’t even see it. The fence was half taken out and half still there, so these weird metal posts were just sticking out of the ground.
Now let’s talk about the covered thing. This back yard had a covered patio and a raised deck. The covered patio was completely closed off, though. Like, it looked like they had wanted to make it either another room or an outdoor entertainment area or something, but it never got completely finished. The floor was all uneven and had shifted too, so this whole thing was just another hot mess.
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/patio-before.mp4
What I was left with was this weird metal shed-like extension that completely blocked out any natural light from getting into the living room and master bedroom. This was what made the living room such a house flipping nightmare. It made everything so dark inside! This “patio cover” was just sheet metal slapped together, completely blocking out the sun. It had to go.
Then, on the other side of the covered thing, leading to the garage from the back of the house, was a lifted deck with no railing. It was just some wooden platform that was built maybe 6 inches off the ground. Nothing in this backyard was ever finished! Just half started and then abandoned.
But wait, there’s more! Once we cleared out all of the plants and weeds from the yard we found a huge, filled in, in-ground pool. WTF? The walkway that went around it was all weird shaped, too. It wasn’t rounded or nice looking or anything. So, ok, now I’m stuck with this awful backyard on top of this terrible terrible house.
I’m not even kidding, I called my acquisitions manager and asked why the heck we bought this property. I had reached my limit and gone way past it at this point.
Turning a Negative into a Positive
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/patio-after.mp4
Alright, so the backyard had a lot of work to do. The first thing we had to do before I could even start thinking about how to make this negative into a positive was to remove all of the weeds and plants. That’s when I saw the pool. Once all of the junk was gone, it was time to get to work.
I had my contractor take out all of that sheet metal that made the weird enclosed space. We were already coming a little too close to our budget, so the uneven floor was just going to be there. We repainted it, but that was about it (I was getting so done with this place). All of the metal fencing and left over fence posts were taken out to keep the backyard open and accessible. We repainted that weird deck, too, because I just didn’t have the brain power to remove it and think of something new to put there.
The in-ground pool was the real struggle. I had posted all over the Flip Pilot group, and my own personal FaceBook, trying to get ideas about what the heck to do with that. Some people suggested making it a garden, filling it in with gravel to make a playground area, and even to just get rid of the walkway and re-sod the whole backyard. I though about all of those options, but wasn’t really convinced by any of them.
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/yard-after.mp4
What we ended up doing was keeping the walkway – mostly because removing it and re-sodding everything would take up more time and money that we just weren’t in the mood to invest in this property anymore. Inside of the filled-in pool, we landscaped a bit by adding a couple flower patches. The real transformation was in the center, though.
I took the gravel idea and decided, screw it, let’s make a fire pit area. This backyard is a nice size, and with the right layout would be great for outdoor entertainment. So we made a little patch with gravel, lead a path to it, and turned that hideous in-ground pool spot into a fire pit entertainment area.
Wrap Up
That’s about it with this house flipping nightmare known as “The Nemesis House”. I can’t tell you how happy I was to close on that stupid thing. The transformation was incredible. It went from this cracked, pieced together, literally falling apart house into a really nice home. The place finally functions again! No more mother-in-law suite, no more weird sheet metal cave, no more mis-matched flooring. This place finally looks like a real home.
The biggest thing to take away from this property is to always, always, ALWAYS rerun your comps before listing. Since we had this house for so long while we were working on the rehab, the value of the neighborhood had changed. If we hadn’t rerun our comps, we would have mis-valued the house by nearly $20,000.
We know the Flipping Junkie blog has been kind of dead recently – we’ve been focusing on making more videos and podcast episodes for you guys. But we’re going to keep making these property blog posts so that you can get an inside look at our properties and learn from what we’re doing!
If you want to keep up with us on a day-to-day basis, join the Flip Pilot group on FaceBook! We’re always active there, and would love to hear about your house flipping nightmares! Don’t know what a Flip Pilot is? It’s you! And me. And every active, serious, real estate investor. Come network with us so you can take your real estate investing business to new heights. Talk to you in the group!
-Melissa Johnson
Click here to join the Flip Pilot Group!
 The post House Flipping Nightmare: The Nemesis House Before and After appeared first on Flipping Junkie.
from Flipping Junkie http://flippingjunkie.com/house-flipping-nightmare-nemesis-house/ from Flipping Junkie https://reiflippingjunkie.tumblr.com/post/166951660064
0 notes
reiflippingjunkie · 6 years
Text
House Flipping Nightmare: The Nemesis House Before and After
Hey everyone, Melissa here! I’m here to talk about the before and after process with that dang Nemesis House. If you haven’t checked out our video on it, take a look! We also talked about it on the podcast. You can listen to the episode here. This thing was a house flipping nightmare.
youtube
House Flipping Nightmare: The Nemesis House
I’m so excited to be done with this house. I’ve had it for WAY longer than I should have. This house was bought for $86,000 and needed quite a bit of work. It’s much more of a rehab than I would normally take on (the reason why this was such a house flipping nightmare). Let’s see, this place needed…
New Roof
New Foundation
New Landscaping (there was a filled in, in-ground pool. Wtf??)
Although this house needed LOTS of work, we managed to come in under budget. The repair costs only came out to around $36,500 (less than we were anticipating). That included everything we had to fix: the foundation, roof, etc. The total cost of the property ended up at $122,500. When we got it listed and under contract, it ended up selling for $199,900. At least we turned a profit with this stupid house!
This is such a great example of rerunning your comps before listing the property. Because we had this house for so long, our original ARV wasn’t up to date by the time we went to sell it. Originally, our ARV was $180,000, but ended up being over our original by about $20,000 because the values change so much in the area we were selling in. The lesson here is: always, always, ALWAYS reevaluate your comps before listing (especially if you’ve had the property for a while like we did with this one).
Ok, so, the landscaping was rough. The lawns hasn’t been mowed in who knows how long, the plants were all either overgrown or dying, and everything was crusty and yellow. To be honest, when I first saw this property, I kind of freaked out. There was so much to do to it – definitely way more than we normally do to a rehab. Talk about a real house flipping nightmare.
The Garage Turned Mother-In-Law-Suite
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/garage-before.mp4
The first thing I noticed was that there was this weird garage conversion happening. Apparently, the previous owners had turned it into a mother-in-law suite. That had to go. It’s impossible to try and sell a house in Texas without a garage. The weirdest thing about it was that the wall they built didn’t meet up with the wall where the garage door had been. There was this weird indent. The concrete didn’t even meet the driveway! Why??? Who knows…
Already with the exterior alone, there was lots of planning that had to be done. The reason I kind of freaked was because I’m not really comfortable with planning for the outside. I can do the inside just fine, no problems there, but when it comes to completely changing the outside I get a little nervous. Needless to say, this house flipping nightmare needed a lot of exterior TLC.
Other than that wall, there was also an entire subfloor on top of the garage floor so they could put in carpeting. There was a built in closet, and a full bathroom in there too, as well as 2 windows.
The Garage is a Garage Again
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/garage-after.mp4
With that garage conversion, we ended up building out a wall and putting in a garage door, and finally got rid of that huge fake wall (that never should have been there in the first place, but whatever). We ripped all of the flooring out, closed in the windows, and got rid of the closet. On top of all that, there were like 50 billion outlets in this poor garage for some reason.
It took a lot to turn this property from a house flipping nightmare into a home. We got rid of the bathroom and turned it into a storage closet, tapped off all the lines, cut the electricity to the outlets, and finally turned this garage back into a dang garage.
The Floors (Bum Bum Bum)
Immediately when you walk into this house flipping nightmare you notice two things:
That ugly wood panelling
So many different floors!
The floors were kind of insane. There was carpet, linoleum, vinyl sticky tile, wood…it was a mess. Normally, I like to go with a nice vinyl tile that stays consistent through out the house. So, of course, that’s what we did.
One Cohesive Look for the Floors
We removed all of the weird floor textures and made it one solid look. We also took off all of the wood panelling on the walls and gave it a nice coat of paint. The ceilings were good, minus the popcorn. Once that was removed, the entrance of the house was looking a lot better.
The Dining Room: Before
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/dining-room-before.mp4
The problems in this room came from the entrance hall. The molding on the top and bottom of the walls didn’t line up right, there were huge gaps in places. The wall color was that beige yellow that was really popular in the early 2000’s. Just like the bedrooms (you’ll see later), this room wasn’t a house flipping nightmare. It was just a room that needed renovation.
The Dining Room: After
We took out the wood panelling and repainted the walls with a pretty grey color. I’ve been using this in a lot of my houses because it’s neutral for the buyers, but also makes the whole room just look modern and clean.
After removing the weird floor, we put in the vinyl wood tile that I’ve also been using in a lot of my properties. We took out the old molding and replaced it so that it actually lines up with the walls and ceiling – imagine that! I added a new light fixture for the dining room table, and that was that.
Deep Dark Living Room
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/living-room-after.mp4
I had hopes for the living room because it had a lot of room, and a really pretty rock fireplace. The biggest thing was the lack of light coming into this room – which didn’t make any sense to me at first. The living room had huge windows and faced the backyard, but where was the light?
Turns out – and we’ll talk about this more when we get to the backyard – there was this huge covered thing that was blocking out all of the natural light from the living room. I’ve never seen anything like it before, but it doesn’t surprise me looking back at this house flipping nightmare.
First thing is first, though. We need to make this living room pop.
Making the Living Room a Wow Factor
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/living-room-after-1.mp4
Turning the fireplace into my WOW factor wasn’t hard. I had my contractor clean it up and build out a new mantel to tie it all together. We left the stone how it was because it was so pretty.
Tangent time: having a wow factor in your homes is what will set you apart from the other houses for sale in your areas. Adding a nice wow factor is a great way to take a house flipping nightmare from bad to amazing. I try to make my fireplaces a wow factor for a couple of reasons.
It’s pretty easy and inexpensive to do.
A good fireplace can tie an entire house together.
So after the fireplace got cleaned up and mounted with a new mantel, we put in a light pointing at it to show it off and called it a day.
For the rest of the living room, we repainted the walls, added some new ceiling fans, and replaced the carpet.
Tiny Dark Kitchen: Before
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/living-room-after-2.mp4
The kitchen itself was pretty small with limited counter space. The cabinets and countertops were all really dark, but other than that in pretty good shape. Like I had said in a thread in our Flip Pilot group on FaceBook, if the cabinets are in good shape there’s no need to replace them. Just sand them down and give them a new coat of paint and they’re good to go!
Here was the real problem with the kitchen. I’m not a very tall person, and I could reach up and touch the ceiling. If I can do that, you know it’s too low! And to make the ceiling feel even lower, there was a florescent light right in the middle. Gross. The light itself doesn’t make this a house flipping nightmare kitchen, but the small space felt much, much smaller with all of the dark colors and lack of light.
More Open Kitchen: After
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/kitchen-after.mp4
The first thing we did was take out that light, bump up the ceiling, and add a few can lights. We couldn’t do much about the actual size of the kitchen without going over budget, but we could make it seem like it was bigger. Bumping up the ceiling really helps to make that space feel open, even if it is small. We replaced the appliances to newer ones that actually matched, too. After that, my contractor repainted the cabinets and cleaned up the countertops.
Speaking of countertops, these were actually in pretty good shape. All we did was clean them up and have them epoxied. It looks much nicer, it was super cheap, and made the kitchen look clean without going over our budget. The epoxy, all said and done, only cost us about $250. Really not bad at all, and the results are great.
The Master Bedroom: Before
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/master-before.mp4
The master bedroom was actually pretty nice. It had a nice size, the natural light was good (after we took out that covered thing we’ll talk about next).
Ok, it was nice except for the master bathroom vanity being open to the bedroom. I don’t know why I hate that so much, but I do. It just looks like a hotel room or something. That, and, the entrance to the closet was inside the bathroom with the doors just to the right of the vanity. I didn’t like that. It really made the room look like a house flipping nightmare. The open arch to the bathroom doesn’t leave much privacy for the people using the restroom, so we definitely had to add doors to get rid of the hotel feel.
The Master Bedroom: After
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/master-after.mp4
The room itself just needed new carpet and some paint on the walls. The real rehab came with the master bathroom.
I had my contractor build a wall and frame it so we can have the bathroom closed off from the bedroom. Adding the double doors there made it feel less like a hotel and more like someone’s home!
We also closed off the entrance to the closet that was coming out of the bathroom and added some double doors that lead from the bedroom. That way you can walk into the closet from the room and not the bathroom. No more worrying about that door blocking off the bathroom counter.
There was more of that dang wood panelling that we got rid of around the vanity and replaced with just a nice painted look. Seriously, what was it with the wood panelling in this house flipping nightmare?
We took out that long vanity with one sink and added the two standing sinks. Now, normally, I would put a tub in a master bathroom, but there just wasn’t enough room in this one. Personally, I’m not huge on the layout with the toilet being so close to the shower, but there wasn’t much we could do about that.
So, instead of a tub, we rebuilt it into a nice walk-in shower. We put in the marble tile I’ve been using in all of my properties. I also found some nice floor tile to use in the shower. My contractor even built in a shelf and used the floor tile as a backsplash.
The Ceiling is Falling! Bedroom Before
For the most part, the bedrooms were all standard fixes. There was weird carpet, and for some reason the molding was all different sizes and didn’t line up right. Except this one bedroom.
The first time I walked through this house and got to the other bedrooms I saw that the ceiling had just completely fallen out and to the ground. Talk about a house flipping nightmare. You couldn’t even walk in the room! It was a total mess. Not “a little bit of the ceiling chipped off”. I mean this place was full of insulation, and wood, and sheetrock, and duct work, and I almost freaked out all over again.
Fixing the Ceiling: Bedroom After
Clearly this was a problem that needed fixing. I had my contractor rebuild the ceiling. We needed to give it all new duct work, vents, lighting, texture…the works. It was kind of a house flipping nightmare.
The Backyard of Doom
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/backyard-1-before.mp4
Where I had the real heart attack was with the back yard. If this wasn’t a house flipping nightmare before, it definitely was once I saw the yard. Oh man, where to start?
Ok, first of all, the whole place was so overgrown that I couldn’t even see what needed to be fixed. I’m not talking about one or two out of control weeds. Nooooo. This backyard had full plants just sprouting up wherever, completely taking over everything.
There was what used to be a fence that lead to a walkway that was so buried by plants that you couldn’t even see it. The fence was half taken out and half still there, so these weird metal posts were just sticking out of the ground.
Now let’s talk about the covered thing. This back yard had a covered patio and a raised deck. The covered patio was completely closed off, though. Like, it looked like they had wanted to make it either another room or an outdoor entertainment area or something, but it never got completely finished. The floor was all uneven and had shifted too, so this whole thing was just another hot mess.
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/patio-before.mp4
What I was left with was this weird metal shed-like extension that completely blocked out any natural light from getting into the living room and master bedroom. This was what made the living room such a house flipping nightmare. It made everything so dark inside! This “patio cover” was just sheet metal slapped together, completely blocking out the sun. It had to go.
Then, on the other side of the covered thing, leading to the garage from the back of the house, was a lifted deck with no railing. It was just some wooden platform that was built maybe 6 inches off the ground. Nothing in this backyard was ever finished! Just half started and then abandoned.
But wait, there’s more! Once we cleared out all of the plants and weeds from the yard we found a huge, filled in, in-ground pool. WTF? The walkway that went around it was all weird shaped, too. It wasn’t rounded or nice looking or anything. So, ok, now I’m stuck with this awful backyard on top of this terrible terrible house.
I’m not even kidding, I called my acquisitions manager and asked why the heck we bought this property. I had reached my limit and gone way past it at this point.
Turning a Negative into a Positive
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/patio-after.mp4
Alright, so the backyard had a lot of work to do. The first thing we had to do before I could even start thinking about how to make this negative into a positive was to remove all of the weeds and plants. That’s when I saw the pool. Once all of the junk was gone, it was time to get to work.
I had my contractor take out all of that sheet metal that made the weird enclosed space. We were already coming a little too close to our budget, so the uneven floor was just going to be there. We repainted it, but that was about it (I was getting so done with this place). All of the metal fencing and left over fence posts were taken out to keep the backyard open and accessible. We repainted that weird deck, too, because I just didn’t have the brain power to remove it and think of something new to put there.
The in-ground pool was the real struggle. I had posted all over the Flip Pilot group, and my own personal FaceBook, trying to get ideas about what the heck to do with that. Some people suggested making it a garden, filling it in with gravel to make a playground area, and even to just get rid of the walkway and re-sod the whole backyard. I though about all of those options, but wasn’t really convinced by any of them.
http://flippingjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/yard-after.mp4
What we ended up doing was keeping the walkway – mostly because removing it and re-sodding everything would take up more time and money that we just weren’t in the mood to invest in this property anymore. Inside of the filled-in pool, we landscaped a bit by adding a couple flower patches. The real transformation was in the center, though.
I took the gravel idea and decided, screw it, let’s make a fire pit area. This backyard is a nice size, and with the right layout would be great for outdoor entertainment. So we made a little patch with gravel, lead a path to it, and turned that hideous in-ground pool spot into a fire pit entertainment area.
Wrap Up
That’s about it with this house flipping nightmare known as “The Nemesis House”. I can’t tell you how happy I was to close on that stupid thing. The transformation was incredible. It went from this cracked, pieced together, literally falling apart house into a really nice home. The place finally functions again! No more mother-in-law suite, no more weird sheet metal cave, no more mis-matched flooring. This place finally looks like a real home.
The biggest thing to take away from this property is to always, always, ALWAYS rerun your comps before listing. Since we had this house for so long while we were working on the rehab, the value of the neighborhood had changed. If we hadn’t rerun our comps, we would have mis-valued the house by nearly $20,000.
We know the Flipping Junkie blog has been kind of dead recently – we’ve been focusing on making more videos and podcast episodes for you guys. But we’re going to keep making these property blog posts so that you can get an inside look at our properties and learn from what we’re doing!
If you want to keep up with us on a day-to-day basis, join the Flip Pilot group on FaceBook! We’re always active there, and would love to hear about your house flipping nightmares! Don’t know what a Flip Pilot is? It’s you! And me. And every active, serious, real estate investor. Come network with us so you can take your real estate investing business to new heights. Talk to you in the group!
-Melissa Johnson
 Click here to join the Flip Pilot Group!
 The post House Flipping Nightmare: The Nemesis House Before and After appeared first on Flipping Junkie.
from Flipping Junkie http://flippingjunkie.com/house-flipping-nightmare-nemesis-house/
0 notes
francetaste · 7 years
Text
One of those serendipitous moments happened recently as I wiped down a new old sofa and otherwise puttered in the apartment that overlooks the courtyard.
In order to not lose my mind–actually to lose myself inside my mind–while doing uninteresting or unpleasant tasks, I listen to podcasts. No amount of mindfulness is going to make me all zen about mopping the floor or sorting laundry or running (or sewing!). I want to get the job done with minimal pain, and the best analgesic is one that makes me think about something else, the more esoteric, the better. Sometimes I do not want to focus on what I am doing. At all.
The first to entertain me was Lauren Bastide, with the most wonderful, we’re-there-in-the-room conversation with Amandine Gay (“La Poudre“).  I was riveted by pieces about the new movie “Tower” and the decline of Lancaster, Pennsylvania (both on “Fresh Air,” which has the greatest interviewer ever, Terry Gross). I discovered Lady Lamb (thanks to “On Point”). People talked about medical mysteries (TED Radio Hour). But then I had no more podcasts left in my feed.
So I switched to the NPR One app, which is like a slot machine for podcasts, except that you never lose. They themselves call it Pandora for public radio–more PG-rated than a slot machine. First I got the founders of Kate Spade talking about how they got started (on “How I Built This“)–a logical progression because both Ted Radio Hour and How I Built This are hosted by Guy Raz, who has the most unbelievable name ever. Then the app decided I needed to hear a show I was unfamiliar with, called “Stuff You Missed in History Class.” WTF? HOW DID THEY KNOW????
I was mostly an A+ student, but I have no idea how  I pulled it off in history (my only non-A’s were in gym class–C. “She never makes trouble” was the only nice thing the gym teacher found to say about me, year after year. Yes, I saw my old report cards not long ago). Those dates…they just wouldn’t adhere to my brain cells, even though I am a math lover and have no trouble memorizing zip codes and country dialing codes. However, it didn’t work with history. And it’s too bad, because I have come to love history, though I still don’t remember the dates. I treat dates in history the way I treat recipes–approximations are good enough. Freudian analysis would probably figure it out, but that would take too much time and effort. And anyway, all I really care about are the stories.
The history podcast was about another momentous women’s march–on Versailles! And there I was, on my knees, rubbing an ammonia solution into a Louis XVI sofa to strip it of all traces of its very charming former owner. Louis XVI! The one getting marched on in that very podcast!
An aside here to discuss the fine lady who was getting rid of her sofa. She was suffering from back pain and was going for an operation any day now, though that didn’t stop her from grabbing the coffee table and rolling up the carpet in front of the sofa–the Carnivore and I were going nuts trying to stop her but she was as quick as butter on a hot skillet. She stood about to my shoulder, which, considering I’m short, is nothing. I bet she didn’t weigh 40 kilos. A wisp of a woman.
As the Carnivore manipulated our neighbor’s camionette (a kind of enclosed pickup that’s very common in France) into her driveway, I chatted with Madame about life. The conversation quickly turned to death. She explained that she was keeping one of the armchairs that matched the sofa because it had been her mother’s, who had lived with her before dying. She then segued to her husband, who died suddenly, in his sleep, not long ago (which might have been a few years, I wasn’t sure). Trying to comfort her, I told her that my parents had died recently, relatively quickly, and in light of what I’d seen, I think the quicker the better. I am not alone in this. When I was leaving my post as a teacher in Africa, my students collected messages for me, and one sweet student wished me “a happy family, a happy life and a quick death!”
Madame grasped my arm and said, “Chut!” (Shush!) But then she went on anyway, and we talked about how a slow death does prepare the survivors for the idea that the loved one would be no longer, while a quick death is probably nicer for the person dying but a shock for the family.
This lady was selling some things in her finely furnished (“j’étais décoratrice!”) little house in order to move in with or near to her daughter, who had married an Italian and had followed him to Milan (she contorted her small, thin face at this, as if she had bitten into a spoiled fruit). First an operation on her back in France, then a new life in Italy. I felt sorry for her, abandoning all the stuff that reminded her of happier times–for some people, stuff is an end unto itself, a way to achieve some kind of status, but for others it is a totem of people or memories of happy times, and, though I knew her but for less than an hour, I think that, even if years ago she was in the former category, she now was in the latter). Plus, the weather in Milan is pretty crappy,  compared with Aude.
Back to the furniture. The sofa is, obviously, a reproduction of Louis XVI. He’s better known as the husband of Marie Antoinette. I say “obviously” because it’s a sofa-bed, a technology that came somewhat later than the late 1700s. Madame said she bought it in Revel, which is a hub for marquetry and fine furniture making. Considering how heavy it is, I believe her.
Louis XVI came after 15 other Louis (Louises?), the first of whom appeared in 814 A.D. The first Louis had a tough act to follow: Charlemagne. There were LOTS of other kings before the first Louis (who was known as both “the pious” AND “the debonaire”!!!!! How did he manage that?), but they had names like Chilperic and Childeric and Chlothar and Dagobert. (You should know that in some places–like Belgium–a dagobert is not unlike a Dagwood sandwich, giving the mitraillet a run for the money.)
The later Louis (Louises?) became known for their interior décors. We won’t spend time on the earliest ones. Louis II, aka “the stutterer”!! Too bad he didn’t see “The King’s Speech.” There also were Louis the Fat (they really weren’t politically correct in those times) and Louis the Young and Louis the Lion and St. Louis (the IX–9th–who built the “new” town of Carcassonne around 1260).  Then Louis X, aka the Quarreler; Louis XI, aka “the prudent, the cunning, the universal spider.” Sorry, but that one is The Best!!! Being Prudent, Cunning AND a Universal Spider? OMG. What a MAN! Or was he a superhero? But that was from 1461-1483. They don’t make them like they used to. Or maybe they do, except for the prudent part, and we are like flies stuck in a trap.
Louis XII was the “father of the people,” followed by a number of other-named monarchs, including Henri II, whose style was much-copied later.
Louis XIII (13th), aka “the Just,” was in the first half of the 1600s. We know that our apartments existed in 1624, though they might have been there earlier. (I will try to get to the bottom of this one day.) His style is known for lots of twists (torsades) and straight lines, which seems like a contradiction, eh?
Louis XIV was known as Louis the Great or the Sun King. Hard to beat that (though his great-grandson, Louis XV–“the Beloved”–seems to have). Fourteen ruled from 1643-1715 and built Versailles. Think glam.
And then we get to Louis XVI (we’re up to 16 here–seize in French, pronounced “says”), the “restorer of French liberty,” who ruled from 1774 to 1792. Note those dates! What happened just two years after 1774? Hmmm! An era of foment all over the place.
Marquetry
Having read “A Tale of Two Cities” (“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Sidney Carton: “It’s a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” Did you, too, have to memorize that in high school?) and Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables” (“It is nothing to die. It is frightful not to live.”), I had an impression of the French Revolution as having been a bloody affair directed by perhaps well-meaning but vicious people like Madame Lafarge, Javert, Rousseau and Robespierre and that the revolution was at full swing from the moment the people stormed the Bastille on July 14, 1789, until the day Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette lost their heads on the guillotine in 1792. But in fact, the revolution started earlier and the king hung on for several years. Talks happened, spiced up by marches, including by nasty women.
Among the problems at the time, as “What You Missed in History Class” explains for us, were bad harvests, government deficits, over-taxation and illiquidity. It boiled down to the masses starving.
You must listen to the podcast to get all the details, but basically, people were fed up with not being fed. Call it a minimum wage issue. The podcasters express doubts that Louis XVI was actually evil incarnate or even just callous but instead suspect that he was way over his head and incompetent. In any case, a revolution was born.
Despite all that bad blood, Louis XVI’s style remains much-coveted today. OK, coveted among people who think that IKEA is great if you are 20 years old and on a small budget but then you should buy furniture that will last more than three years, and that proves it by having lasted already more than 100. Coveted by people who do not want to sit on backless benches at dinner. Who do not think that plastic chairs, even Eames, are chic or comfortable.
But how to keep your Louis, Louis, Louis, Louis straight? (And Louis is pronounced like Louie, not Lewis.) First of all, FirstDibs has a great explainer of the different Louis (Louises?). If you are just starting out, start here. Another great resource is the Metropolitan Museum of Art with essays on French chairs and 18th century French furniture more generally.
As the Louvre explains (and they should know), you have Louis XIV and the Regency from 1660-1725, then Rococo from 1725-1755, then classicism and the reign of Louis XVI from 1755-1790.
When I lived in Brussels and Paris was much closer than from where I am now in the deepest corner of rural France (which actually used to be Spain), I always partook of Les Journées de Patrimoine, in which many buildings of historical significance are opened to the public. Sometimes they are museums that drop their usual ticket charges, but the best are government or private buildings that otherwise are strictly off-limits. Once, I toured the Banc de France–like the Federal Reserve, especially because I visited before the euro–and was in a group of very well-dressed, impeccably coiffed, middle-aged Parisians. The kind of people known as bourgeois, or if younger as BCBG—bon chic, bon genre. I saw a couple, in nearly matching tweed suits (her in a skirt, him in trousers whose crease up until that moment had been razor-sharp), on their hands and knees looking at the underbelly of an antique gilded demi-lune console. It’s true there were amazing antiques in every direction, with computers and papers plonked on top.
Fit for a throne
The Carnivore is very sensitive about Louis (Louises?), and is partial to No. 16. He searched high and low for a toilet-paper holder that was in the style of Louis XVI. Even though according to this, toilet paper didn’t get cheap enough for the masses until much later. Far more impressive is the history given by ToiletPaperWorld, which mingles Stephen Crane, money and defecation. “French royalty used lace.” No wonder there was a revolution! (The delicacy of the terms the sites uses is an impressive exercise in euphemisms.)
I have seen references around the Internet to “Louis chairs,” to which I think, WHICH Louis? This alone should qualify me for French citizenship. But which Louis matters only if you’re paying top euro for what’s supposed to be the real thing, in which case, you had better know better. For everything else, “Louis” means something sorta French-antique-looking, probably Louis XVI.
All the same, I have seen how the French teach their young to know their Louis (Louises?). From the time our kid was in the equivalent of second grade, the whole memorize-your-kings thing started. Which is probably why, on a different tour during les Journées de Patrimoine, the docent told us the story of a beautifully painted stucco ceiling in the Marais of Paris, and several of the tour-goers objected vociferously to the dates and kings cited. I was dumbstruck to be in the middle of a heated argument about something that had happened 400 years earlier. At the same time, I was full of admiration, because I absolutely cannot remember such dates.
As for serendipity, what is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language (in French, it’s “happy luck,” not nearly as fun a word as serendipity), algorithms and artificial intelligence are snatching it away from us. Serendipity is opening a newspaper and happening to spy something interesting and relevant. Serendipity is walking into a shop and finding just what you need on sale. Serendipity is running into a friend you haven’t seen in ages someplace unexpected (I once bumped into an old dance buddy from NY in the line for the opera in Rome). Now our news is filtered based on what we like, we shop online for things that are pushed to us, and we know where everybody we’ve ever met is at any moment.
Some of my greatest “aha” moments have been when I have read or listened to things that on the surface didn’t interest me in the least. But they were in publications or on programs that I knew did good work, so I gave them my time. And I was rarely disappointed. I never would have sought out “Stuff You Missed in History Class.” But it came to me, with a story that touched exactly on what I was doing.
Serendipity rules.
Louis, Louis, Louis, Louis One of those serendipitous moments happened recently as I wiped down a new old sofa and otherwise puttered in the apartment that overlooks the courtyard.
0 notes