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#also to be frank i need money... aint that just the way
trensu · 1 year
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a phantom of the opera AU (except not really)
so awhile back i was listening to my musicals playlist and All I Ask of You popped up. obviously, OBVIOUSLY, this is a jonmartin song to the core and I immediately messaged one of my irl friends about it and even tho i did this, the AU WOULDN'T LEAVE MY HEAD SO NOW YOU ALL HAVE TO SUFFER IT WITH ME.
Here goes!
firstly, there's no opera ghost bc this aint about him (and I have a soft spot in my heart for eric since i read the book back when i was a baby teen in high school). what we have instead is Elias as the owner of a prestigious opera house that also provides the most acclaimed music instruction. Grandmother Sims has no idea what to do with her newly orphaned grandson who is in constant need of stimulus and gets waspish and restless so easily. So she enrolls him in vocal lessons here, using Jon's inheritance. Her son and daughter in law had loved the opera. This was a way to keep her grandson occupied and honor her son's memory. Jon is six years old and the opera house is big with creepy dark corners full of spiders. He cries, quietly and hidden, every time his grandmother drops him off.
His vocal instructor Gertrude Robinson is as no-nonsense as his grandmother but she knows her stuff and Jon appreciates learning from her as he gets older. There are other students there, and Jon's self-aware enough to know he's not as good as some but still better than others. When he's eight, a new student joins them. His name is Martin Blackwood and he stutters and flusters and struggles to project his voice. Jon thinks he's kind of annoying up until a couple years later when shy, meek Martin stands up for him against Michael Crew who had taken to bullying him sometimes.
After watching Michael Crew run off, he turns to Martin who is standing firm and scowling, and tells him, "That's how you should be when you're singing."
"w-what?" martin stammers. Jon scowls and looks away.
"you have to sing like that. strong and no shaking."
"er, i-i think i'm just not...very good at singing." martin's face goes pink and he nervously tugs at his copper hair. jon shrugs stiffly.
"maybe, but i can help you get at least little better"
"oh! th-thank you."
They're fast friends after that.
As they enter their teen years, martin develops a crush and jon realizes he really wants to do a duet with him but the thought of it makes his heart pound and his hands tremble and he doesn't know why. he's done duets with others before.
The thought doesn't lead to anything, though, bc when jon is fifteen, his grandmother dies leaving him an orphan once again. They weren't wealthy and Jon's inheritance had quickly dwindled as it was invested in his music lessons. But isn't he lucky that Elias is so kind and generous as to take him in. He lets Jon stay in the opera house's dormitories; it's fine, he assures Jon, he can go once he's of age. And he can earn his keep by continuing his lessons and performing on stage.
Yes, Jon is so very lucky. And if the way Elias looks at him puts him on edge, it's probably all in his head. This is all fine.
Gertrude starts checking in on him more frequently. She is frank in her assessment. Jon has a good voice but he is not made for leading roles. Jon is quietly relieved. He's happy in chorus; there's less pressure and scrutiny. A small part of him is relieved, too, that Gertrude somehow always manages to make herself present when Elias visits him, though even he notices the malignant tension between the vocal instructor and the opera house owner.
Jon's seventeenth year is a bad one. Martin suddenly stops attending lessons. Gertrude won't tell him anything, saying that if Martin wanted him to know, he'd talk to him about it. Jon has no way of contacting him and he lacks the money needed to go looking for him. When he asks Elias for help (heart pounding, scared of him even though he has never done anything to him bc something about the way he watches Jon sets off his instinct to flee), the man scoffs and tells him not to waste his energy on a talentless hack like that Blackwood boy who was going nowhere in life anyway. Jon's fury overcomes his fear and he snaps at Elias, saying that Martin was still more skilled than he was and that he had to settle for owning an opera house since he couldn't be on stage.
This is the first time Elias locks him in his quarters as punishment. The punishment lasts nearly two weeks and ends only after Gertrude and Elias have a row that sets the opera house's gossip mill turning. It's too late by then, though, Jon had no hope of tracking down his friend now.
A few months later, Gertrude Robinson disappears mysteriously and Elias takes over Jon's lessons. He tells Jon not to worry; he's a better instructor than Gertrude and will help him reach is full potential. Jon will land leading roles in no time. Jon smiles shakily and thanks him as a cold, anxious dread settles in his stomach.
--
Martin is nearly thirty when his luck finally turns. He dropped his music lessons at 17 when his mother fell ill and his father abandoned them. Martin took on any work he could find because of course his father hadn't left them a penny. Martin grew from his awkward teenage body into a large man with hands roughened by hard labor. He ended up working at the docks, where big strong men were always needed to haul cargo. It's there that he meets Peter Lukas who ends up taking a shine to him and hires him to be his personal attendant. The Lukas family was very wealthy and Peter made sure Martin learned what he needed to in order to not embarrass himself or Peter in those social circles.
Peter was also a recluse and eccentric to boot. When he passed away, he left most of his wealth with Martin. He had no direct heirs and apparently did not care much for any of his nephews. The family kicked up a fuss but the late Peter's lawyers did their job well and Martin suddenly was independently wealthy.
With all this new money, Martin decides to become a patron of the arts. He carried fond memories of the opera house and the childhood crush he had in those years. His generosity ends up funding the majority of the opera house's renovations. As thanks, he gets invited to attend the performance celebrating the grand re-opening. Everyone assured him that it would be a night to remember because the jewel of the opera house himself would be performing the leading role.
The air leaves his lungs when he sees Jon step onto the stage. It's the first time he's seen him in well over a decade; he'd half thought that he'd imagined how gorgeous he was but no, it was not an overactive imagination. And then Jon starts to sing and Martin is afraid he'll never be able to breathe again. The sheer passion in Jon's voice; the way he becomes the role he plays; it's astounding. And Martin's not the only one who thinks so, if the way the audience erupts in tearful applause after the solo ends is anything to go by.
--
After the show, when Jon is told that the opera house's newest wealthy patron wanted to see him, he did not expect to see his childhood crush.
"Martin?" Jon says nearly breathless in surprise. He stares unabashedly, taking in all the changes in the boy he once held dear.
"Jon! Hello," Martin says nervously. "Er, you sounded lovely. On stage. Even better than I remembered."
"Oh," Jon flusters at the thought of Martin remembering him, thinking of him at all in the intervening years. "Th-thank you."
So the two catch up. They get to know each other all over again, and Jon laughs more in that time than he has since he was a teenager. Martin takes pleasure in Jon's company, heart full and warm at his friend's joys and successes. But he can't help notice how he dims whenever Elias is mentioned. He sees how skittish and quiet Jon gets whenever Elias is in the same room as them. Something in his stomach twists whenever Jon shies away from Elias' touch. He can't help but notice how Elias is constantly invading Jon's space, and taking every opportunity to lay hands on him. Martin hates how Jon is made small whenever Elias is near.
At some point, Jon confesses that he never wanted to be a star performer, but he didn't have a choice since he owed Elias and the opera house so much. He was, essentially, an indentured servant. All Jon really wanted was a place to call home and warm companionship (at this Jon had flushed prettily, gaze darting to Martin and away).
"And perhaps," Jon says with a self-deprecating smile, "become a bookshop owner. At first I thought I'd make a library since I've always had a fondness for books. However, once I've read them they are no longer able keep my attention. So a bookshop would be better, I think."
Martin takes his hand tells him fervently, "Jon, you deserve all the good the world has to offer and more." He drops a gentle kiss to Jon's knuckles. "Would you allow me the privilege of joining you in your bookshop? To...to be your companion?"
Jon, of course, says yes. It's a nice dream. He lets Martin promise him a lovely future, even if he can't bring himself to believe it would ever happen. He forgets that Martin is a stubborn man with a delightfully petty streak when he believes someone has been wronged.
Martin investigates and discovers that Elias has been cheating Jon out of his earnings. He knows that Elias would not let go of Jon willingly, but he also knows that Elias is deeply invested in maintaining appearances. He arranges a very public and overly fancy affair: a dinner and a masquerade, to be held at the opera house.
It's here, in front of half of Paris, that Martin plays role of entitled wealthy man and offers twice the amount requested for Jon's contracted services. Elias, with everyone's eyes on him, is forced to graciously agree. Jon can hardly believe it. It's not until a month after Martin whisks him away, while they look at an empty shop in the Scottish Highlands, that it hits Jon that he's finally free.
He does get to finally have a duet with Martin. They sing together as they clean and prepare the bookshop for its grand opening. There's no audience. No stage lights. It's just him and Martin, pouring out their love for one another.
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undinoble · 3 years
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Crazy long text ahead i warn you, just explaining some process I went through while drawing this Frank and Julie low light dying thingie, probably gonna drop some wips along the way, you may want to see… idk, dealer’s choice
!TRIGGER WARNING! Violence, death, suicide. Proceed with caution.
Well where do we begin? The inspiration maybe?
Exploring the magical world of Spotify when a band came in, one of the first songs (if not the first one) of theirs I heard was Partners in Crime by Set It Off, you know, love at first sight, love for their voices, their music style, aaand the lyrics, OH BOI the lyrics, check it out:
“You’ll never takes us alive We swore that death will do us part They’ll call our crimes a work of art You’ll never takes us alive We’ll live like spoiled royalty, lovers and partners”
Dunno, for two passionate juvenil delinquents that just wants trouble this line really fits to me, the dreamy couple feels invencible.
“Everybody freeze Nobody move Put the money in the bag Or we will shoot Empty out the vault And me and my doll will be on our way”
It’s actually interesting to think of the Legion robbing a bank, it’s not like troublesome teens didn’t do that in movies c’mon, it’s a small city, they wear masks, ez!
“Our paper faces flood the streets And if the heat comes close enough to burn Then we’ll play with fire ‘cause
You’ll never takes us alive”
THIS. This is so a Legion thing to say. Can you imagine their masks all around the streets as a warning like “HEY, WE ARE HERE, FEAR US” I love this
“Here we find our omnipotent outlaws Fall behind the grind tonight Left unaware that the lone store owner Won’t go down without a fight Where we gonna go He’s got us pinned Baby I’m a little scared Now, don’t you quit He’s sounded the alarm I hear the sirens closing in”
The second big moment, the adrenaline along with the instrumental is crazy for real
“The skies are black with lead-filled rain A morbid painting on display This is the night the young love died Buried at each others side”
THIS. (again) is the main theme of the drawing, it’s where the inspiration flood over me, the scene was clear in my mind, c’mon if you read till here there’s absolutely no reason not to listen to the song you won’t regret im not even getting payed to show it off
ACTUALLY FORGET IT- i just won a sub on Cody Carson’s stream WHAT IS LIFE??????? Thanks Max!!!
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I totally didn’t draw this while listening to the music when i should be working what are you talking about??
Hold the sketch, focus on the gun. It’s dope aint it?
Anyways, here goes the lore, along with the music lyrics I filled up the gaps, well, Suz and Joey are not around, maybe doing school stuff Julie didn’t feel like doing so she decides to hang out with Frank in the meanwhile, they’re on the lodge, bored, upset about the world cause it’s what teens do in their free time, listening to one of their mixtapes, probably Frank’s, the more hardcore one when the idea hit: what if they try some good mischief? “There’s a small banks a mile from here, want some adrenaline babe?” And oh of course she does, grab your mask, here we go
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Sorry, not a big legs-drawing fan…
They grab their knives, put on the masks, get ready, drive to the bank. I didnt really think this part through, the song says it all. Long story short - they rob the bank, the police arrives, the action begins.
They brought their knives, didn’t expect the cops to show up with guns, damn they didnt even know little Ormond cops had actual guns. After long minutes of hiding on the bank safe the couple decides to fight their way out, they would be more useful alive than dead so laws could apply, but that went out of question once Frank stabbed the first bank employee on his triumphal way out, the police don’t think twice before shooting to protect the citizens inside.
Frank and Julie have too little time to react, the stress and anxiety kicks in, they go feral, crazy cinematic bullet avoids, for a moment it’s possible to get away. It all happened too quick, but in Julie’s vision it went slow motion. She just saw a cop leaning behind a car, aiming directly at Frank, even her fastest reaction wasn’t fast enough to stop the trigger from popping. With tears in her eyes she watches as the bullet hits her boyfriend right in the chest. 
She snaps. One target in mind, she sprints to the cop and stabs him over and over until she’s sure he won’t see the sun set ever again. She takes his gun and rushes towards Frank who is kneeling against a taxi holding his torax, she screams that they must go to the hospital immediately but he refuses, hospital would be just a quick stop on his way to jail. No fucking way. 
He demands to go back to the lodge, the cops are too busy helping their wounded partner to look for them, they think Frank may be dropped dead somewhere on the street after multiple shots, the two of them must flee before the cops realize the mistake and go hunting for them. NOW.
Julie side-carries Frank back to their car, the lack of a license of her own won’t stop her from driving as fast as the car can. Breathing heavily while constantly telling Frank to hold on, they will find a way out, they must do. Oh what a fucking stupid idea holy SHIT. 
The travel takes half the time it usually does and still feels like hours. The car gets all red with Frank’s blood that keeps leaking. Once they arrive, Frank wants to go upstair, Julie shouts at him to keep next the central campfire once he should grab some heat (and for god’s sake why is he still carrying the money bag they stole????), anyway he gets the last word and they climb the stairs up and lay on the bed, Frank hisses from the pain but also sighs in relief for the soft spot under him, ignoring Julie cursing besides him, saying she can still call an ambulance, she doesnt want to lose him, Suz and Joey will be devastated, although he just replies with the phrase they were saying sooner that day “They’ll never take us alive”.
After 20 minutes of agony, low whispers of memories of how they met, what they had been through together and a huge amount of blood moisturing the covers, Frank says he’s feeling light-headed, Julie looks at him and he’s paper white, the blood loss is finally getting to him, she wants to cry, scream, curse and stab that damn cop a hundred times again, but all she does is cuddle her head harder against his shoulder and tell him she loves him, that she will keep his legacy alive, with Joey and Susie, she will revenge him. He chuckles and slowly feels the life being drained from his weaked body until everything goes black.
Julie need a few seconds to process. Frank died. For real. He was good a few hours ago, he was right. They would never take them alive. Death could do them apart, but, he never said for how long they would be apart.
She reaches for the gun on the hand under Frank’s body. THAT DAMN GUN. She aims it to the side of her head, never leaving Frank’s side on the bed. Triggers it.
“Partners in crime”
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Damn did I just write a fucking fanfiction? This shit is way longer than I expected, did anybody even get down here?
Well, this is the part of the drawing where i left cause I just couldn’t afford to work on it, have in mind everytime the file were opened the whole lore came in my head, and fuck did i feel dizzy writing it all down. Hell the bloody details get me, seeing Frank so white with a blue undertone simulating the lifeless body gave me headaches fr. My escape was drawing other things until the courage to finish it came back. It was easier because the story kinda faded away from my mind, the drawing became “lighter” to deal with.
Well, guess that’s it. I hardly have this big insight while drawing, to visualize the finished piece on my brain and it’s just so fucking cool, making art with so many mixed feelings along, and overall pride, cause i feel so proud with the result you have no idea. It isn’t perfect tho, but i like it anyway. So, thank you so much if you made it all the way here. gonna sleep now for fucks sake im gonna pass out bye
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gone-daddy-gone · 4 years
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part one 🍒
Todomomo
I think they would be that TikTok couple where the girl is dancing and then the boy slowly comes up and wraps his arms around her and kisses her with the music still playing.
They were voted hottest TikTok couple.
Momo tried the “play this with your boyfriend around audio” and long story short Todoroki burnt her phone. 
Todoroki has his profile picture as him and Momo in some glasses flashing a stack of money. 
It was a joke at first but he ended up never changing it. 
Todoroki would make a post about zooning out and day dreaming about Momo being a “good girl” and asking for more
Momo dueted it and said “zooning out  and day dreaming about when he tells you that its not ever yet.”
Todoroki was the first to do the “You look so sexy, you really turn me on videos with your S/O.
He would take the video of Momo as shes getting ready looking all sexy like she is
And she starts talking about their cats bowel movements and he starts laughing cause the audio hits “you look so sexy.” And her eyes widen and shes giggling.
He then spins her close to him and whsipers “You really turn me on, blow my mind everytime.” And she just giggles louder and blushes.
That got like 3 million views.
“I have a boyfriend.” “No my boyfriend crazy, he kill people.”
Izuocha
Uraraka would do silly cute videos
Deku would NOT thirst trap
....on purpose
THEY ARE THE COUPLE TO DO THE “this my baby, and aint NO BODY FINNA touch him.
Uraraka would do lots of cosplay videos.
Her and Deku would do couple cosplay all day long.
They may or may not beg Kiribaku and Seromina to joing them.
Uraraka does that audio where it’s “AND WHY AREN’T YOU IN UNIFORM” in her school clothes, she exits the screen and comes back in with a maid outfit with her fingers doing this. 👉🏽👈🏽
Deku would spend at least two hours replying to the “Damn she bad” “She know what she doin” comments with “Yeah she is :)” “You should see her without the outfit.”
He would do a video with negative and jealous comments about his relationship/ Uraraka with “Bitch I know you sad I know you mad I know you pissed off.” Only he would censor the bad words.
They are that couple that do the whole stand on their back thing and they have to keep getting up till the other person is standing on their shoulders.
Uraraka would dress up in some dark cosplay and lip sync��“Do you know who the fuck you’re talkin to?’ audio. 
That’s it. Just imagine how hot that’d be.
Her favorite audio is “make his pockets hurt”
Kirbaku
They would do the “I am not gay” audio and flash up pis of Uraraka Momo and Mina. Then they would stare at each other as the blank part of the audio plays out and then go. “You know what i am GAY.”
Kirishima would make his caption. “Girls are beautiful tho “
Bakugou would then caption his with “Not as beautiful as my boyfriend tho.”
They delete fetishizing comments so fast!
Love the Fuck Ice song!
I DO NOT CARE HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT BAKUGOU HE THIRST TRAPS!!
They wouldn’t be the BEST dancers....
But their little dance to “Get the Gat” hit different.
Kirishima does that audio that’s like “No need to shout, no need to yell, no need to have a riot. Shut your eyes, take a deep breath.” To him, and he picked him up and threw him across the room.
Kirishima then later dueted Todoroki’s “Thinking about when she..” video with “When he threw you out of anger and you were kinda into it.”
Kaminari did a video of “Tell your beef, if he says he’s got boyfriend. Then tell him I’m scared of him and I aint fuckin vegetarian.” So he dueted it with him holding up beef and bringing Bakugou in the shot, before pushing out of the way and eating the meat. 
Then he fort night danced.
Kirishima thinks that jake2r is literally the funniest thing on TikTok
“I can fuck your bitch and fuck your mom and auntie.” Is an audio Bakugou OWNS
Kamijirou
Jirou would post so many videos of her singing
There would be some with Kaminari in the background just walking by with a dumb smile on his face.
He would then duet it and dance to her singing and do stupid TikTok dances to her voice with a caption. “That’s my baby! Yessir!”
Adding onto the “Fuck Ice” song, Jirou made her own punk version.
With proper credit of course.
On god Denki would try so hard to get her to do the couple audios with him.
CEO of the “Heart been broke so many times” Audio.
Kaminari would do a “Day one of trying to get my girlfriend to dance with me.” To literally any popular dance.
He got her drunk one time and she did it.
DENKI SINGS “Come on fuck me emo boy.” TO HER ALL THE TIME AND SHE HAS TO TRY HER HARDEST NOT TO LAUGH
Like literally most of the videos in that audio is them two ranging from her being mad, her laughing, her not showing any care, and one of her vibing.
One time he left town and couldn’t do it in person so he did so with a bunch of pictures of her.
Jirou posts video’s of her getting ready to the “I’m your DAD!” audio and she actually screams and Denki runs in scared.
Asaf and Frank are his favorite TikTokers
Seromina
Sero is a dumb stoner gamer TikToker.
Mina is THE TikTok dancer.
She INVENTED throwing it back!
She can also rap every single Nikki Minaji song perfectly.
She would shake her ass to “Don’t drop that dun dun dun” 
Like she would go ham.
And Sero would be on a trip out of town watching it and all he could duet it with was his jaw hanging open and water coming out of his mouth like drool. 
He would nearly be crying at the beauty he snagged.
Caption would be “Ya’ll wanna know how fast I can run?”
Sero invented the “I’m already tracer” meme.
Mina did a collab with the “Hit or miss girl” and they’re best friends.
“I’m a savage, classy bouige, ratchet.” She owns that audio.
Sero makes fun of all the E boys who say the N word.
Sero is somewhere between an E boy and an anti E boy.
Co CEO of “Heart been broke so many times” Audio.
“What you doin out here with all that ass?” Is another favorite of Sero’s
Sero would get ripped before “I don’t get it, it’s says it’s four for four dollars. No one said anything about tax.” While Mina tries to make breakfast in the background and he fortnight dances.
Sero WORSHIPS the ground Cody Ko and Noel Miller walk on
GROUP HEADCANNONS
Mina and Momo collab the most out of the four girls
Bakugou post a video of that audio thats like “Jack i want you to paint me like this” And he’s jack all smooth and sexy
Kaminari then duets it in full sloth costume.
Kirishima duets it laughing his ass off.
Bakugou and Momo do the song together that’s like “I think y’all could use some tips. I’m skinny, I’m winning, and all you bitches are ugly. All the guys in my phone are ugly and fat so don’t call me.” With the camera shaking over to Todoroki eating soba minding his own damn business and the back to Bakugou with “All these bitches on my dick, they giving me head in the lobby” And at that exact moment Kirishima walks by and he grabs the back of his head and bobs it. 
He is very confused and can only laugh and mutter an “OW!”
That video got 5 million likes.
They all do their own version of “Tell me about your schools biggest controversy with this audio.
Jirou’s is just “Mineta”
Kaminari and Kirishima would re create the audio in person.
Mina would get Todoroki, Deku and Kaminari together and lip sync “I am not gay, but lets be precise.” You could see Sero in the background mouthing “Liar.” Mina would push him out of the shot trying to finish the line “cause if she’s pretty than watch her cause ima be fuckin ya wife.” 
They girls would do a really fast paced TikTok to “Ms. Hilton you must be worth a trillion bucks “ With Mina lip syncing that while pulling her sunglasses down to look at Momo walk by. 
Then it would turn to Urarka who goes “Get the feelin that you don’t really give a” And then Jirou would come in clutch with the censoring and play her guitar on the “fuck” so Uraraka doesn’t cuss because she is baby. 
Deku and Todoroki do the “Who are you?” “Maaaaan I be that pretty mother fucker man.”
Todoroki is the pretty mother fucker.
I’m gonna say that Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari do the “Well, can you tell which one of us is Hikaru?” audio, with the caption when we ask who’s the biggest dumbass, and when it turns to he Haruhi part its literally everyone saying the “thats the dumbest game I’ve ever heard”
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lucidpantone · 3 years
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Hey, lucid! Regarding your commentary on the kynicole’s YouTube video comments.
I have to say that after the massive car crush season 4 was (I am literally getting angry at Wtfock as I am typing this) there is at least one thing that i am glad for and it is the conversations that have happened and still happening regarding representation in the media, accountability of creators to the audience and also accountability of the audience to the pieces of media they choose to consume.
There was a lot of animosity in the way the fandom treated each other during that time and that was painful to see but saying that I am glad that finally voices that were shut down before, were heard. People came forward and spoke about the pain that comes with creation of such insulting content. And those voices reached the ears of white male board members who are used to make decisions behind closed doors with money as their only motivator. And they didn’t achieve their goal. And I glad for that. Because they didn’t get the level of financial gain they were expecting and they were forced to listen.
I only wish that the fandom didn’t start expressing that aggression towards each other but rather gather that energy and target the advertisers which are the soft spot of Wtfock. I wondered why no one ever reached out to them. Why no one just said hey what you are endorsing is creating a massive uproar and it hurts people. If there is a lesson for us as a fandom to learn is next time just reach the sponsors. I have been in a fandom before where that really worked. If you wanna make a production company pay for their insulting content hit them where it hurts and stop making the fandom a lions’ den where people are afraid to express opinions.
The fandom has to be a safe space where even wrong opinions are met with educational response and not a stone attack. Because no nothing changes with shooting. It is not about people who already know the truth to just discuss between each other, it is about those people educating, opening the eyes to the ones that choose or are too previleged to see.
Take the movie Fight Club for example. The solution to fighting an oppressive situations is not coming by becoming a rebellious aggressor who fights just for the sake of fighting.
Thoughts after the cut
Thanks for this anon it really hit home because it took me back to the beginning of s4. I think its been a long enough time where I feel I can talk about this and be frank. I think s4 really exposed some of the ugly truths that were happening in the wtFOCK fandom. I think before s4 they were definitely cliques. I remember a period of time where those quizzes would go around and it was the same top group of blogs that were in on the joke. That never really happens now and a lot of those people left the fandom. Those cliques felt very evident going into filming s4 and I blame wtfock for this.  Because most people that extra-d weren't going into filming thinking they would have to harbor this secret for wtfock that Moyo had been passed up for Kato. It also created this extremely weird vibe where all these extras that were mostly young white women stepped in to defend wtfock and their decision to cast Romi without actually knowing what the season would be about.I kinda of get it to ya know? Imagine you have a good friend and they make a questionable decision you tell your friend what you think but you also wish them well and hope for the best. So I get why so many mostly young white women felt the need to defend wtFOCK but there is defending a casting decision and asking your mutuals to give it a shot and then there is silencing the effected class of people that were offended. I also saw a lot of condescending attitudes concerning people that brought up why utilizing Kato as a vehicle to tell a story about racism was deeply tone deaf and in the current climate and that it felt like a slap in the face. Instead of listening people fought back saying “you can be white and still experience aspects of racism”. Yea we get that but that's not what people were saying. Perfect example Ava/Mailin storyline happening in Druck now.People were saying using whiteness as a vehicle to explore a topic that is deeply penetrating society and a campaign for change did not need “whiteness” to validate it. It was a story that should have been told via the eyes of a party member of the effected class. PERIOD. I just think people, particularly those who extra-d and hard core stans couldn't imagine that their fav remake would create something like this..... I really do believe they believe they thought that wtfock had a better moral compass then they actually did and so they followed them blindly down the path of self destruction and in turn paid a price. It was sad to see how prominent the divide between the defenders and the critics became and it got really ugly but I think it got really ugly because the defenders wouldn't listen they kept hope going for too long they got sucked into this vicious cycle. In the end a lot of people left the fandom, a lot of people took a hiatus off tumblr and honestly I dont blame them. I am not here to defend people that literally belittled the voices of poc who had valid critiques of the season but I saw some stuff that made me really sad. Like I was on twitter and one of the big players on there shamed someone via their government name and I was like really? and it got so bad I just felt like people wanted blood at no cost and I just thought like guys stop already. Stop kicking this person while they are down. Like their fucking name was everywhere on twitter, insta and here and its like I think they got the point. You wanted to bury them and you did. So just stop now. Like you said anon I dont want to be part of a space (virtual or not) that makes others feel unsafe and s4 made the fandom very unstable because of the divide it caused. I like you am also happy that wtFOCK paid the price mainly because if this season would have even been slightly good those white dudes would have never got the wake up call they deserved but it makes me sad for the cast (which were obviously upset) and certain crew members (that I heard spoke up and were ignored). I hate that those people had to be collateral damage so a bunch of white dudes could realized that maybe they do indeed still harbor racist tendencies and suffer from inflated egos and am sad that s4 basically tore the fandom apart but I will say this. I really like the vibe of the tag now. I think its funny other skam remake stans come into the tag talking trash about wtFOCK s4 and am like people we talk more shit about s4 then other remakes do like aint no one defending s4 in the tag. Most people get triggered even seeing Kato’s face in the tag and I also think everyone took their rose colored glasses off and sees wtfock for who they are versus who they hoped they would be. 
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sirjustice345-blog · 4 years
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rude headed people of no acceptance
Grinned/pealed cabbage solution makes the green kenyan cash, while the purple made by bringanya and brown 1 made brown like in colour round onion mixed with much water mixed with grinned pumpkin in the boom process. They were buying Kenyan tea off their lands as their neighbours got the same as they had indifference which they can solve right like now to start concidering buy from such countries as pakistan with India or china, cutting Kenyan export share to Pakistan reducing sales as described below or wanted to learn ya ways with like the make u insane water used in many jails around that China densly populated nations that houses like 60% of the world population. After learning how much can be made in boom process by inserting sweet potatoe and adding pumpkin grinned water then spat saliva they run away in pretense above as they have known kenyan tribe deceit like jeopardizing the efforts of 1 openly and refuting to solve the impase like pay/compensate him or with covid Kemri confirmation that grown Ginger is the medication so we see the next step not those big man syndrome people now takes refuge in to be seen or hard as be 1st dude. The above water can as well be used to make cosmetics in the boom process, shampoo and even soaps as disinfectants and made much again in the boom process to still have the make u insane feeling when used as synonymous with many jails of the world where such are sold and used bro. Coleman stop shit, once registered u can stop ya job but can come back as u wish provided u have ya job ID and not overstay much like 6 months need to prescribe such in their new contracts, no treating people like rats if they miss jobs as must be recruited again dude. Lets us obey the above dude. Make life easy, as the monthly insurance can be broken into daily, weekly insurance just deducted straight from ya phone like with borrowed phone airtime systemof many a nation as when money placed online so no hardship in repaying as many default as saying it robs them their self hood somust pay and with anything bought on credit. Cant run, hide or escape it dude as the song link below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mQJaXwGPlg De la rue British firm should well accept that money is made as above to correct the current impasse intertwined with the covid1 or any person knowing the same, so the public collect much which are original and give them to ya 4 saving the world big time as can harbor u from hell fire 4 those exhausted with life bro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKbhg2lLVJA
Out of the explained above Kenya poor dude, what do u want from 1 u big bodied people as SA also and Tunisia have heaped security measures, what left 4 u is shoot out as u terrorize mini-sized bodied people with ya women u want. Cant u see,u cant hustle locating things which aint yours and u wannatalk a head as with NYS tuk tuk and alternator generator asthat finished oil with artificial oil finishing OPEC nations and all laid down in sirjustice50 tumblr a/c. I wanna get out to a well planned nation where people understands production not like with Kenyans who are turf headed still their nation is rich dude yet poor people wanting each others food and even now many eating in garbage dude Angel Gabriel in the link below that appeared to Mary was the 1 who caned kebi at Bar Kalare, the, kinda, judge like. Thought kebi will take his Job as well as Mlk so signal people to silence ya https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=judgement+of+jesus+in+heaven China welded door and window images to replace the local ones in the link below https://www.google.com/search?q=images+of+china+alibaba+steel+welded+doors&client=firefox-b-d&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:CYcS0ETIoLTqImCjzr1zpgiHsh9oyN2WtsviJTFSYdvgac_15cND_1iONekzxr3AiOnYZ3A_1LrrtFML7V9EGbJDGy95FvM6zDIIT_1x12k97X_17NDpfR_14tiMGn65nJJLj7DimapoCMU09B4aMqEgmjzr1zpgiHshEimXud-W0opCoSCR9oyN2WtsviEaN2BhXsByKnKhIJJTFSYdvgac8RZRoESb9qnnEqEgn5cND_1iONekxEqb8BGa7CcWSoSCTxr3AiOnYZ3EW8kLBRRy4I_1KhIJA_1LrrtFML7URFhOsJ59hd8EqEgl9EGbJDGy95BHLUehjWORLOSoSCVvM6zDIIT_1xEV3PqFyQVPeQKhIJ12k97X_17NDoRAWggbWqVGqIqEglfR_14tiMGn6xHMtsrby_1NuhSoSCZnJJLj7DimaEclkTtgPelxUKhIJpoCMU09B4aMRFIGSklMT7J1hdz25dWwfzeA&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjE-NzlutvqAhUSmxQKHfAtBM8QrnZ6BAgBEBI&biw=1280&bih=910&dpr=1 https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/American-House-Design-Welded-Cast-Designs_60437645240.html https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=welded+steel+windows Buy cars that don’t draw ya attention even if posh not as with pineapple as described below but made of bubble gum, let 1 who know such escort ya to the store to select dude. The road to emus with Christ another version. Pineapple lovers love France, to be frank in their dealings while mango lovers have a
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breanime · 5 years
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Heartworm (Part One)
Guess who got her internet baaccccck! This gal! So @songtoyou sent me this request and I IMMEDIATELY started getting ideas. This could be up to or past 5 parts, I don’t even know! It all depends if you guys like it and want more! This is kind of a soft re-imagining of season 2.
Request:  How about instead of Billy going to his stupid psychiatrists place to seek refuge, he goes to the home of a girl who he was in a serious relationship with. Like, this girl is the only person Billy could ever see himself settling down with. However, once he got money, status, and power from Rawlins he pushed her to the side and eventually dropped her from his life. But once she sees the state Billy is in and how sad, scared and alone he is she wants to help him.
Part One is based on Halsey’s Without Me, particularly these lyrics:  
Found you when your heart was broke I filled your cup until it overflowed Took it so far to keep you close (Keep you close) I was afraid to leave you on your own
I said I'd catch you if you fall And if they laugh, then fuck 'em all (All) And then I got you off your knees Put you right back on your feet Just so you can take advantage of me
*gif not mine* (I gotta stop using this gif lol)
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You stood frozen in your living room, eyes glued on the TV. The news was saying that Billy, your Billy, was a murderous traitor and a danger to society. You watched as they showed footage of Billy’s apartment up in flames. They said he bombed it himself after killing a handful of Homeland Security agents, they also said that he hired mercenaries for his Anvil staff. The government seized his assets. He shot Curtis in the shoulder. He knew about Frank’s family. He set them up to be killed. Billy. Your Billy.
Except he wasn’t your Billy anymore; he hadn’t been your Billy for three years. You sat down on the couch, legs numb with shock, as you took in what the newscaster was saying about your ex-boyfriend, the only man you’ve ever loved. They flashed a picture of him on the screen. The caption read: “Armed and Dangerous, Do Not Approach”. The newscaster was saying something about Homeland and Frank going after Billy, but it was all starting to sound like white noise to you. Your mind said to get out of town and run until it was all over, but your heart wanted to reminisce, wanted to remind you why you even cared in the first place.
“…and I’m gonna have a Rolls Royce,” Billy said, one arm behind his head and the other wrapped around your waist, “I’m gonna drive it to meetings, rich assholes love a power play.”
You smiled up at Billy, you loved listening to his grand plans for the future. “Are you gonna be a pocket square kind of rich asshole or a ‘Maureen, hold my calls’ kind of rich asshole?”
“Mm,” Billy pulled you closer to his naked chest, “I’m gonna be a pocket square kind of asshole,” he answered, “that’s the best way to run a business.”
“Of course,” you agreed, snuggling up against him, “you’re gonna be a big shot. And I’m gonna have to make an appointment with Maureen just to see you.”
Billy tsked and put a finger on your chin, lifting your face so you were eye-to-eye. “That ain’t never gonna happen,” his dark eyes bore into yours, “I’ll always have time for you.”
You smiled and pressed your lips against his. You felt Billy’s arms tighten around you, lifting you up until you were laying on top of him. You kissed him again, slowly parting your lips, inviting his tongue into your waiting mouth. His eyes were heavy-lidded with lust when you pulled back. You rubbed your nose against his. “I love you.”
His smile made your chest heave with adoration. “I love you too, Y/N.” He kissed you again. “I promise I’m gonna make you proud one day, baby. I’m gonna get us outta this shit hole and out you somewhere nice, where you belong.”
You shrugged. Money and status meant a lot to Billy, meant success, but you were happy enough where you were. Yeah, your apartment was kind of small, and yeah, the heat stopped working every few months, but you’d lived in worst places. Besides, you had Billy. He made you so unbelievably happy; you could have lived in a cave—as long as Billy was with you, you’d be fine. “You know I’m already proud of you,” you told him, “You’ve accomplished so much already.”
“Mm,” Billy kissed the top of your head, “I can do more.” He kissed your nose. “I’m gonna get this security shit together.” He kissed your right eyelid. “I’m gonna get us a place uptown.” He kissed your left eyelid. “And I’m gonna make it so you don’t ever have to work again.” You sighed as he kissed your cheek next. “I ain’t gonna let anyone look down on us anymore.” He kissed your other cheek. “I’m gonna make you so happy, baby.” You felt yourself melt when he finally kissed you on the lips. “I’m gonna take care of us…
…I’m gonna take care of you.”
You turned the TV off, cradling the remote to your chest. You felt your breath getting shallower and casually recognized your erratic heartbeat. You didn’t know what to do. You believed the news—you weren’t sure about the details, but you knew Billy well enough to know that he would do anything for power. You had seen the change that money bought him firsthand, and you didn’t like it at all. You thought about calling Curtis, but you didn’t want to bother him. He was probably up to his neck in cops and paperwork and…Homeland Security, apparently. You wondered how it came to this. Frank was alive. Billy was a wanted man. Curtis was wounded. And you…were alone.
You spent the night on the couch, too numb and confused to get up. You dreamt of Billy and woke up shivering. You got up and made yourself a cup of coffee. Your phone was on the counter, and you frowned as you picked it up. You had missed calls from your mom, your best friend, your boss, and your sister. You had no desire to speak to any of them. You also had a call and voicemail message from an unknown number. Hitting the speaker button, you played the message.
“You’re gonna hear some things on the news.” Billy. “They’re true. I…I did all those things they say I have. By the time you get this message, I’m either gonna be on the run or dead.” It sounded like he took a breath before continuing. “I wanted to see you before I go, but…that’s not gonna happen. So just… Just know that I…” A sigh. “…I think about you all the time. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, a lot of bad choices, done a lot of shitty things, but… I only regret one thing: letting you go. I wish… I should have fought for you more. I should have…” There was some shuffling, and you thought Billy might have put the phone down for a moment. “Listen, they’re gonna say a lot of things about me, and people are gonna try to tell you that I’m heartless and evil, but I want you to remember…You loved me once. You’re the only one I could ever be honest with, the only person in this world who knows who I am. Just… Remember that. And… I’m sorry, Y/N. Goodbye.”
You stood in your kitchen and listened to Billy’s message for at least another 30 minutes. By the time you went back to the couch and turned the TV on, Billy was pronounced near-death and was being kept under constant surveillance at the hospital. Frank Castle was said to be ‘in the wind’ and Anvil was being torn down and all the profits split up. The news interviewed a medical professional about the chances of Billy making any kind of recovery. They predicted he would be dead in six months.
You turned the TV off and wept.
It had been nearly a year since everything went down with Billy. The coverage for Billy’s case had pretty much stopped after a month, and people were onto the next scandal now. Curtis had stopped by your place and told you that Frank left town. The visit had been brief, but he told you what Billy had done—confirming what you’d heard on the news—and said that his orders had come from someone named Rawlins. Rawlins, you understood, was dead. Curtis had word from Frank to tell you that he had been given a new identity by the government and was going to hit the road for a while. When you asked why he’d want you to know that, Curtis had just said: “you needed to know it was over”. You should have felt anger, or pity or sadness but… you felt nothing. You had been operating on auto-pilot, swimming in a thick fog of numbness, since Billy had been arrested. The last thing you could remember feeling, really feeling, was a deep and intense sorrow when you listened to Billy’s message. He had broken your heart, left you, and then revealed himself to be a monster and you…You were just tired.
“I don’t know what you want me to say Y/N,” Billy’s back was to you. You had barged into his office at Anvil, demanding to see him, but now that you were there… The way he was talking to you was cold and detached. His stance was rigid, his focus was on the recruits below him, not on you. This Billy—CEO Billy—was not what you had signed up for.
“I want you to say you’re sorry,” you said, “I want you to say you care.” Billy didn’t say anything. You clenched your fists. “Look at me, Billy.”
He turned. He was wearing an expensive three-piece suit and his hair was impeccably cut. His eyes, the eyes you loved, the eyes that looked at you with such care and affection, were hollow.
“What happened to you?” You asked, looking him up and down with disgust. “You never come home, you barely spend any time with me—”
“What do you want, Y/N?” He said, irritation clear in his voice. “I’m busy. I’m working. I’m trying to afford the penthouse we live in and the car you drive.”
“I bought my own car,” you reminded him, eyes narrowed as you glared at him, “And I work, too, but I make time for the people I love.”
Billy sighed, rolling his shoulders. “I told you, you don’t have to work.”
You sighed then. He was missing the point. “Billy,” you tried again, “I’m tired of this. I can’t keep being an afterthought for you. I need you.” You tried to look in his eyes, but he avoided your gaze. “I miss you.”
Billy walked over to you and put a hand on your waist. He pulled you towards him and kissed you. “I miss you, too,” his voice was husky as he moved his lips to your neck, “I know I’ve been working a lot lately, but we’re so close…”
You closed your eyes. You wanted to have a conversation, but it was hard to think of words—let alone form any—with his mouth on your skin. “Will you come home tonight?” You asked, breath short and voice heavy with lust.
“Mm hmm,” his hand slid to your ass as he kissed you again, “I’m gonna be all yours tonight.” He licked into your mouth and smiled when you moaned.
You felt his hardness pressing against your front and you deepened the kiss. “I don’t know if I can wait that long,” you whispered.
Billy chuckled and released you from his grip. You glared as you watched him walk over to his desk. He pressed a button on his phone and leaned over to speak. “Hold all my calls,” he ordered, smirking over at you, “I don’t want any calls or interruptions for the next hour.” He walked past you and you heard him lock the door behind you. His eyes were gleaming when he turned back to you and he looked like himself, like your Billy, again. His smile made your heart skip a beat. “Take your clothes off, baby. I want to spend some time with you.”
You sat up with a start. It had been months since you’d last dreamt of Billy. You looked around you and cursed under your breath. You had fallen asleep on the couch. No wonder you were off. You hadn’t been able to have a full night’s rest without sleep aids since…since Billy had left that message on your phone. If you didn’t take a pill before you went to bed, you would dream about Billy. You didn’t want to dream about him, you wanted to ignore the ache in your chest and the emptiness in your life and just… Get over it. Get over him. You felt a headache coming on, so you shuffled to the bathroom for a quick shower before bed.
Your mind kept going back to Billy as you got ready for bed; you remembered the strain in his voice in the message he left you, how he used to laugh when you stuck your cold feet on his back, the way he stared down at you as he shifted inside you, driving you wild. You could see his eyes, dark and expressive and so full of love when he looked at you, every time you closed your eyes. You gave up on sleep and went back to the couch, deciding to just spend the night watching horrible night time TV until you could get Billy out of your head.
You were finally getting into the Real Housewives marathon you had been watching when you heard a knock on your door. You glanced at your phone: it was 11 pm. Who the hell would be at your door at this time? You grabbed your phone in case you needed to call the police and stood on your tip-toes to look into the peephole. Your mouth fell open at the same time your phone hit the floor with a dull thump.
Billy Russo was standing in the hallway of your apartment. And he was covered in blood.
*************************************************************************************
I have the next two parts locked and loaded! Pleaaase comment and let me know if you want the rest. The more feedback I get, the more I update! Thanks for reading, and may Billian be with you.
BTW, I got the title from this “emotion that’s hard to describe word”:  Heartworm: a relationship or friendship that you can’t get out of your head, which you thought had faded long ago but is still somehow alive and unfinished, like an abandoned campsite whose smoldering embers still have the power to start a forest fire.
TAGLIST: @delicatelilyflower @doneobrien @ladyblablabla @banditthewriter @something-tofightfor  @starsfragments @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme @hisgirlwednesdayaddams@fictionwillneverdie @maria-beretta @sadnessxvodka @ymariejp @sunnycolors @moonlightsay @its-all-o-kay @damagelove @keyeluh @itsmylife98 @funerals-with-cake @littlemermaidprobz @teacuplotus @king4thesirens @mrsjaxtellerfan @thebabblingbook @tartelette-aux-fraises @madamrogers  @charlylama @iaintnofurry​ @k-buggz2001​ @whitewolfslittlesilverfox @drinix @elanor-of-imladris @floralpeaceofmind
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itsthisgirlfanfic · 4 years
Text
Chapter 3
Stephanie
Later that night
I was on my bed, crossed legged and scrolling on my laptop. I can’t believe today was my 1st day in Cali. So much happend . Finding a job, that odd dude Tyler from across the street and his crazy ass friends. I needed someone to talk to. My best friend. Weirdly, I saw a bing on the side of the laptop. Yay my bitch is on.
“Stephanie where the fuck you been!”, Yara yelled as soon as her face popped up.
“In this wack ass state, I miss you so much!”, I said pouting.
“Me too, Aaron trippin, he’s trying to be a rapper.”, she said rolling her eyes, then we both started laughing. We all went to school together, all 3 best friends, me, Yara, and Aaron. Yara was always the crazy one. She was the first one to get tatted. First everything. She’s Aaron cousin. Aaron was always just there. Until junior year we started feeling each other, and the same year Yara came out that she no longer liked dick.
“So did you meet anybody cute?”, she asked me, I saw she kept putting her finger in her nose.
“Bitch why you keep digging your nose!?,” I said laughing.
“Oh! I forgot to tell you”, she paused then pushed the metal circle down. Revealing a septum piercing.
“Yoo! That’s so hot! Yaya you have to take me to get a tattoo!”, I said.
“Oh I also pierced my nips”, she said.
“What!?,”
“My nipples!”, she screamed.
“Bitch you are crazy! I love you so much, but I met a guy. He’s so wierd…in a good way. I mean he lives across the street. He almost ran me over with his skateboard.”
“Oh yeah, niggas over there skateboard,” she said laughing to herself. Then she added:
“By the way, you know I’m all for living for today. So if this guy is like hot, you better fuck him.”, she said seriously. Yara.Is.Crazy.
“Umm I’ll let you know about that, Aaron too,” I said laughing.
“No, on the real Stephie, Aaron is not the sweetheart he used to be. That nigga been fucking mad bitches since you left.”, she said seriously. I looked down shaking my head. I knew it…That murmuring in the background. Rushing off the phone and shit. But I’m not gonna stress it, I’m gonna play dumb, until I see it for myself.
“I know Yaya..”, I sighed.
“I figured, but you know what li-
(sound of glass shattering)
-What the hell is your problem Joe! We just got here and-
-No! I’m tired of people walking around here, not following rules!
-Put the goddamn bottle down, we just got here(crying)
What the fuck is going on?
"Yara I’ll call you later.”, I said then closed my laptop. I walked out the room. Walked down the hallway went to my left, and saw Joe yelling at my mom with a bottle of something in his hand.
“Bitch I bought us this house, I work 2 jobs, I pay the bills, and you can’t simply wash some dishes!?”
“Don’t curse at my mom like that you bastard!”, I screamed then went to my mom’s side. I knew we were still gonna have problems,it’s only the first day.
“I’m tired of both of you!”, he said screaming then walked out the kitchen. My mom ran after him. I don’t fucking understand. He treats us like shit, but everytime he’s about to leave my mom goes running. A lump forms in my throat as I try to hold my tears, but angry ones stream down my face. I look over at the stove and realized mom made a whole dinner. I put my hand on my forehead, pissed. I walk out and hear them talking again.
-Baby I’m sorry just don’t leave, baby please
-Don’t leave…
I was disgusted. I went in my room and fell on top of my bed. I’m freaking 18, still with this people. This women I call my mother. And asshole of a husband. I want my dad back. I ended up crying, in my sorrow, as my eyes quickly got heavy. When I get my money I’m out of here.
__________
Tyler
One, two, you’re the girl that I want
Three, four, five, six, seven, shit
Eight is the bullets if you say no after all this
And I just couldn’t take it, you’re so motherfuckin’ gorgeous
Gorgeous, baby you’re gorgeous
I rapped in the mic, as I sat in front of my keyboard. I was working on this song for my album Goblin. Can’t even lie, this song is all about Stephanie. And I just fucking met her. As I continued producing the song, my nigga Frank came in. He was sipping some type of smoothie shit. That nigga is awesome.
“Sup, bitch.”, he said.
“I need you to sing some chords and rap in the beginning of this song.”, I said. I played the beat for him.
“This is sick,” he said boppin his head smoothly with the beat.
“There’s this girl that just moved here, and she’s so fucking beautiful. In the song I’m gonna be like some stalker ass boy who’s obsessed with her and shit.”
Frank continued bobbin his head.
“Iight let’s do it.”
2 hours later
Frank raps:
Golden rubbers in these denim pockets (denim pockets) On my waist, there’s a black Glock (black Glock) New girl moved on the block (on the block) She been plottin’ on my brown cock (brown cock) Last night I slept over hers (over hers) During sex, I overheard (I overheard) A sword sliced the air, I pulled out the na-na Rolled off the bed then shot back, pa-pa Blood on the sheets probably spillin’ from my gash Looked out the glass, seen you sprintin’ on the grass A real ninja with the blade and the mask Got them gold ninja stars and red Supreme nunchuks Now she tryna patch me up, but Girl, I was just tryna get a nutbust If that’s your ex, you should probably own a pistol But I’m guessin’ it’s wiser to exit with dude.
Singing:The Blinds wide open so he can see you in the dark while your sleeping, naked body fresh out the shower. You touch yourself after hours. Aint no man allowed in your bedroom your sleepin alone in your bed…check your window…
He’s at your window.
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stress-bob · 4 years
Text
HERE WE GO
Ok. Worked out, cleaned my room, paid credit card payment, paid rent, posted my probably-wont-make-progress-but-maybe progress picture, and smoked a bowl. My body is ready.
So I was talking about what happened around the time Dea and I broke up recently with a friend, and made me think that it’s been awhile since i’ve sorted through it. Figured why not put as much as I can remember down ~a year and a half later.
Buckle up buttercup,This gonna be looooooooong.
My order of things might be a little muddled, there was a lot going on at the same time.
So let’s back up to before we actually broke up!
For about a year prior I was getting real stressed out about my job. I was in a customer service position working for her Dad actually. He owned a Diesel shop, and had a Company owner in Italy who he was buddies with. Marco (italy guy), asked him to set up a place in the US to service his customer base.
I was going to college at the time, and decided I didn’t want to pass up a really interesting opportunity. I’m mostly glad I did. Anyway, I dropped out to work full time here and ended up making some good money. Most of what I did was answer phone calls and help people solve issues (99.9% of the time they caused) . At some point we started going to trade shows, and that was super super fun. I would fly out, set up a pop up tent and the whole shebang.
I was also sent to Mexico two different times for something similar. Except this one, it was with our distributor who was huge. They took their top 100 dealers on a “land cruise” (used to be an actual one, but they do resorts now), and about 25 manufacturers would pay ~20k to fund and attend this. During 3 of the 6 days, the 100 dealers would be set up at tables or 5. Basically think of speed dating. We’d each go around and give a 30 minute pitch about our product to these guys, answer questions, etc. I believe it was 4-5 hours each of the 3 days. You’d think an introvert like me would have a hard time with that, but it was actually a BLAST.
So what was the issue with the job?
Two big things. Dea’s dad (Rip), and a co worker of mine. I worked with a buddy of mine Adam, and he was fantastic. But we had this other co worker who was an old hick from Idaho (buddy of Rip’s) who was to handle our forum and some online stuff. For most of the time I worked with him it was fine. At some point he got really nasty. We had our own forum going on, and a buddy of his helped set it up for us. There were a lot of stupid things that happened surrounding that.
So eventually he’s outright hurling insults at me basically daily on the private side of this form (for a WHILE), and Rip wouldn’t do shit about it. On top of that, Rip had his own shitshow of a shop to run on top of it, and he’s old and tired. But he wouldn’t really give us the autonomy we needed so we could prioritize and get things done with what we had. We can’t be expected to try to learn fucking SEO while answering calls, updating the website, doing sales etc etc infinity fucking etc. Too much do be done with two people, and it was all expected to be done.
Eventually I was donezos, sent him a longwinded 2000 word email about exactly what I had problems with and why i was leaving (prob still have it).
So during the culmination of my work bullshit, that’s when Dea and I’s problems are starting to come to a crossroad. To be completely fair with myself, this was a long time coming. Tbh not sure exactly how long, but it probably should have been over before this went down.
We’ve always had communication problems. I think fundamentally we just don’t understand each-other well. Sure we both could have pointed out a lot of habits and what each would have done in certain situations, things we liked. But that’s not really the type of understanding i’m talking about.
The first time I realized something might happen is when she asked me about how I felt about polyamory. It’s something I had thought about before, because other women are definitely attractive. But with how long we’d been together, I knew it would bring up a lot of really jealous feelings that wouldn’t be pretty. So when she asked, I answered pretty matter-of-factly that it wasn’t going to work for me.
Looking back she was watching a lot of shows about poly life around this time, fun tidbit.
I wouldn’t say this answer upset her necessarily....but she was clearly idk, put off? Maybe disappointed.
IIRC she eventually asked again, and my answer remained the same. I think this was what spurred the discussion of “I don’t know if this what I want”. I did know what I wanted. She didn’t. What else can I do but wait until she does figure it out? I’m not that type of person that’s going to try and influence her. I could have tried to convince her she would be happy if she stayed or some bullshit. I loved her, and if not being with me is the way it needs to be? Them’s the breaks. I was also so SO tired emotionally. I had nothing left to give at that point.
So she breaks up with me. I think I left to walk to 7-11 at this point, because I needed a break. I don’t actually remember that well. I wasn’t around her right then, regardless. Maybe we were in our room when we broke up. Anyway Not that long after she breaks up with me(5 mins, half hour?), she’s crying and didn’t want to break up.
And of course I didn’t either. That lasted about a month, and she does it for real. Now here’s where the fun stuff started!
Sometime before or shortly after this I found out my Mom has an autoimmune disease that will kill her sooner or later. It’s very possible this is what her contributed to her mom dying when I was 8. So scary stuff yeah?
I quit my job, because FUCK that noise. It was too much.
I stayed living in the same house, but different room. Big mistake. I trusted her ability to communicate too much. Not that mine was stellar (we’ll get into this).
My parents divorce. Which hey, go be happy Mom! Again, sorry Dad, them’s the breaks. Happened to me to not even a month prior. But no, they both decided to be giant shitters. I think my Mom definitely did worse things to him, and to the family. He definitely said some nasty shit too though.
My mom decides to encourage my dad to go visit some family in Ohio (maybe he was thinking about it already? he reconnected with them recently at this point). By the time he comes back, she has a “friend” staying in the house. I feel like she said he was just staying for a while. Well my dad aint dumb, and this is the guy that has been in love with my mom forever, apparently.
She lied to the family a bunch, introduced my sisters kid to Frank even though she SPECIFICALLY told her not to. Her fucking kid’s grandparents split up. Shes like 7 for fucks sake. My sister was LIVID. Like didn’t let my mom see her granddaughter for many months livid. It’s hard to get that trust back. On top of lying to my sister plenty etc etc.  I don’t even want to get into frank right now.
I also had about 9 grand saved up at this point, and decided to not work for awhile and take care of my mental state. I literally could not work anymore after the breakup, and my parents bullshit. Another side note, but a root canal decided to cost me $1500 out of pocket a few months in. Probably like $2k total with the other stuff. Great timing, life. I think I was doing a “staycation” for like, 8 months? ish?
So here I was, jobless (had $$ tho tbf), freshly broken up with, super fucking depressed, stuck in the middle of my parents bullshit when i don’t even have enough for myself (and i’m a grown ass fucking adult too)[[, and just generally lost. Really really lost.
I just remembered. Something that made me pretty angry at the time (guess what leads to resentment?). Very shortly after we broke up, Jordan (the good friend he is), decides to try and set up a guys night for me at john’s house (jordan lived with karis at this point). Of course the bros say “hell yeah!” as they are wonderful. We invite Dex too, because why not?
The time rolls around, Jordan can’t go. Dex does show up at some point. Here’s what happened: Dea was really hurt because people were all getting together to make me feel better, i guess? I don’t remember the wording but....i think she felt like nobody was being her friend in that moment I guess? It was her home alone. And for context we got together every saturday for years pretty much, so I do kinda get it. She was also actually pretty mad at Dex because he showed up. She didn’t invite ANYBODY to do anything. So Jordan had to stay with Karis to comfort her, basically.
Like dude. YOU broke up with me. I get it was also really hard for you too, but put the shoe on the other foot for a goddamned second and consider how I felt in all this. Also consider I didn’t set any of this up. Also consider that you didn’t tell anybody that you needed a friend. I did. Don’t get mad at us for this, fuck.
Here’s where the “this-is-why-i-shoulda-moved-out” happens.
Let me say this up front. I expected Dea to bring back dates. This was definitely part of the deal of still living there. I get it. And I did figure she will be comfortable finding someone sooner, given the poly thing.
She brought someone over about 2 months after we broke up, and had mentioned nothing about this.
Now how this played out, was the night before she says “Hey i’m gonna have a friend over tomorrow”. I just say ok. Didn’t really matter because I didn’t have anywhere I could just go on moments notice like that. Coupla days to figure it out woulda been nice, thanks.
Turns out, it’s a dude that been over before. He was Taylors husband (they were poly before they split) who was at our holloween party like half a year before. To top it off, I got to hear the wonderful sounds of them having sex down the hall. Fucking thanks for that. Happened twice too.
You just shut down yeah? Or maybe that’s just me. How am I supposed to feel 2 months after breaking up a 9 year, third of my fucking life relationship, and within 2 months you’re banging a dude while i’m like 2 rooms over AND CAN HEAR YOU. And a dude that’s been over before for the cherry. FUCK man. I still get a little animated about that one.
Those were the big things. A great way to wrap up the whole burrito though? Dex and I were both given 1 months notice to leave from Rip. MY understanding of the local law was that 2 months is required if you’ve been month to month for more than 1 year (6 years...). He didn’t care, or knew I wouldn’t lawyer up. Whatever. The last and final fuck you was the day I went to get the rest of my shit. BEFORE the time on the notice, the locks were changed. Here I am, at 8 in the morning with a U haul we rented, and we can’t get in the house to get my stuff. What. The. Flying. Fuck.
I sure as shit wasn’t going to talk to Dea at ALL at this point, so I called him and he came down. And he sat there the entire time waiting for us and doing bills. Jesus fuck dude. Like, you think i’m gonna murder your daughter or something ffs?
I think I got most of it. I’ve got some stuff with my current living situation, but it’s really peanuts compared to everything else. I‘m also like, idk fairly happy right now too in general so. I’ve grown a lot, and that gives me some comfort.
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notesfromthepen · 5 years
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The Chronicles of the king of Richmond
I came across some shit today that I had to share. Something too funny, dark, and ridiculous to keep to myself. But I had to figure out a way to first, get my hands on the material, and then how to give the context needed for it to be fully appreciated.
First I should start with the characters involved. We are a trio. Me, Joe, and the 'king'. I'll refer to him as the 'king' (with a lowercase 'k') because he wanted to remain anonymous, for several reasons, that should become clear later. 
Joe is, by far, my best friend in here and we've been pretty much inseparable for years now, (we were bunkies twice at another facility). Some of you may have read previous posts about him. We are very different people, which is often the case with really good friends. But there is no doubt that our bond is, almost entirely, built on our shared sense of humor. A sarcastic, brutally honest, self deprecating, anything for a laugh, sense of humor. 
A sense of humor developed since childhood surrounded by witty, smart-assed, assholish mentors and peers. It can be a harsh environment to grow up in, but there is a purity to be found there. An accountability and brutal honesty that is humbling and real. There are no aires allowed to survive amongst friends with no fear of giving offense. No bullshit is left uncalled, no lies left un-confronted, and no opinions restrained. Nothing is sacred and everything is mined for a laugh. 
Basically we talk a lot of shit.
Nothing bonds me to another person more instantly than a similar sense of humor. Since coming to this new prison Joe and I have found a fellow, flawed, degenerate asshole, willing to laugh at himself and judge others for the sake humor. 
This, is the so called 'king of Richmond.' His majesty is a large guy, about 6'1 and 240 lbs. of slightly chubby, bearded, man beef. He's well kept and neat in appearance (aside from his portly build). He's got some charisma and charm at his disposal and makes decent use of it when needed.
The king, however, has a glaring flaw, as do most of us. He's a raging addict, whose life is lived for, and run by, an incessant need for opiates. This adds an interesting but constantly problematic dimension to his life behind bars. The perpetual need to produce the money for his lifestyle is a constant story line. Most of his fundraising is done over the phone. Preferably through manipulation, but he's not above blatant begging from people in the free-world. Family members, friends, exes, and a sugar momma round out his fundraising Rolodex. 
A few days ago, Joe borrowed his Majesty's tablet to listen to his music, and being the stand up friends we are, we wasted no time before invading his privacy. We opened his 'sent email' files and struck gold. Dark, hilarious, sad, revealing gold. What we found was email after email of mental and emotional manipulation in a quest to fund his lifestyle. That's the sad part. The hilarious part is witnessing the level of shameless groveling, damage control, and clumsy begging, our friend is willing to stoop to. 
After an intervention filled with embarrassment, ridicule, and some tear inducing laughs from all parties, I gained the 'kings' permission to post some of the gems. 
But first a disclaimer: If any form of self-respect or sense of shame is something you're expecting, then prepare yourself, because you will find neither in these emails. Also, I wanted to maintain the "purity" of the emails as they were originally written, so I left the misspellings and incorrect grammar. However, for the sake of read-ability, I added some commas and periods here and there. Other than that they are all original text, with the exception of my commentary, which will be in [brackets].
So without further adieu, I now present to you: The Chronicles Of The king Of Richmond.
Sugar Momma
The following correspondence was sent to the kings sugar momma. As her title would imply she is his main source of income. His "Go-To". She works at McDonalds and has had the unfortunate luck to be in  "love" with the king for roughly a year now. This letter is the most recent and well into the travesty that is their "relationship". This email is more focused on making excuses for begging than actual begging, but stay tuned they get worse.
His words are in "quotes" and my commentary is in [brackets]. Some are comments and some are translations of his bullshit, what he really means.
KOR 11/24  “listen, I wasn't insinuating you were fat, and honestly I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings. [he definitely was] I was giving you an example of how you could save a few bucks, so maybe out of the kindness of your heart [or from my incessant guilt laden begging] you could send me a few. Belive it or not, its rough in here, and sometimes I need money to survive in here. [Let's make one thing clear: The constant stress of his habit and the debts he accrues makes his time infinitely more difficult than it needs to be. So more money isn't the solution. It’s the problem.] That's what I was saying. I've been down for 5yrs Jenn and pretty much aint had much help, except from a few. [Just a little context. I get 50$ a month. This jackass spends 300$ a week]. We were together a long time. we broke up when I was in here, so yeah its a little different than if you were just some ex. I shouldn't exspect [too bad they don't give out money for misspelled words] it, but I would hope”. 
“I guess I wasn't who I thought I was to you. [what a word-smith]. I might have put you through a lot of shit, but you sought me out. Remember that. You knew who I was. [Yeah, so you deserve everything I put you through.] Everyone did. I was the king of that town [AND THERE IT IS! The self proclaimed king of Richmond...Oh I can't tell you how embarrassed for him, angered at him, and ashamed to call him my friend I was when I read this!] not to try and sound conceited but I was, [OK. You can't say you’re not being  conceited and then double down on your brag. BTW Richmond has a population smaller than most elementary schools. So it was a small 'kingdom' to say the least] and now no one has my back. it sucks, out of everyone, I hoped that you would have, but no!! [I hope he had a neck brace on when he wrote this. This guy can go from bragging to groveling so fast that it causes whiplash]. When we broke up I wanted you to be happy and get married and do what ever. [He ran out of ideas! That's his limit of things he could conjure up that would make her happy: 2] I just wanted you to still be there for me [AKA: support my habit] and if roles were reversed Jenn, you would have 50 every month and my family would probaly even send you money and that's the proven truth. [From probably to proven truth in half a sentence?]  And you know it, so that shit hurts me, let's just remember who's the one locked up!! I'm the old me again [king?] and I'll remember all my real friends, that were there for me, when I get out in 3 in a half years.[Yeah but will they remember you?] Not long at all. And the thing with frank, [Oh yes! Thankgod he's back on the whole Frank thing! I wish I knew his address I'd send him a bottle of whisky!] belive me, I heard stories, a few. [Yeah and they haunt his dreams] but regardless, I love you, just wish you were kinder to me. ...The king”
[That's his cleanup? Someone get him a neck brace]
KOR 12/6 [Damage control] “baby, funny you say sober honestly, but no i totally understand. im sorry if it feels like sometimes I take you for granted.[by sometimes he means 'all the time'] let me try to explain [please do], in here if you don't get in a constant routine and try to make things repetitive, the time will do you, not you do the time. [A vague prison saying he heard someone say in here once and thought it sounded cool] if that makes sense [it doesn't.], its not my intentions to make it carry over into our relationship [but if it does I'm willing to live with it] I'm sorry [that I have to do this song and dance to get money]. and I fully intend to check myself and let you know how special you truly are to me [and by 'check myself' I mean I'll continue doing the exact same amount of drugs, if not more. and I'll show you how special you are by kindly taking your minimum wage paycheck]. The money you send me is for me to live comfortably in here [get high], that means getting things done that I need to get done while I'm here [I mean, these drugs aren't gonna do themselves.] and 90%, is the food and shit i need to survive [but mostly drugs]. We are already at a disadvantage because I only get 75% of what you send, which sucks [it would be much more efficient if I could put 100% of what you send me up my nose]. And they rip us off on prices on the food as it is. So I'm sorry, but i want you to fully understand you are my baby girl [creepy] and when i get out, roles will reverse and I'll be the provider and you'll live real comfortable [said with his fingers crossed], except when I come home every night and blow that back out bitch!!!! [and theres that winning charm I mentioned! what a smooth operator] I love you. [He doesn't] I got to go to the doctor at 9:30 [Ironically its 'his' back that's blown out] so I'll call you after count [to beg for more $]. I love you [again he doesn't]. if that eases your mind [It shouldn't] I love you!!! [and one final lie to cap off this masterpiece.]
Ex-Girlfriend
These next three are to his ex-girlfriend. She's somewhere down the list of reliable donors, but desperate times call for desperate measures and being a dope fiend in prison means, constant desperate times.
KOR 11/23 "So happy thanksgiving! [Now that the pleasantries are out of the way] So I havnt had any money lately, so no stamps but I just got some anyways [2nd sentence in and already caught in a lie. Clearly if he sent this, he has stamps]. Yeah I heard all about you and Carol's argument, and Dan and Josh messaging, and you jumping in on their message, and Dan cutting into you about being a shitty ex (/friend) [OK, I have to translate. First of all, this email seems to be sponsored by unnecessary commas. I guess some people were attacking her on Facebook for not sending the 'king' an adequate amount of money] Most I agree with. [Especially the money part] You havnt been there for me Jennifer [how dare you!]. I belive you have kinda done me wrong [how do you sleep at night?] and other people believe that too [so there!]. Im not saying your wrong for living your life [but you are] and going and being with someone new [because there's no way he's cooler than me]. but you can look out for the man [I use the term man loosely] that looked out for you since you were just a baby! [???? what???? creepy! actually I need to go ask him about this one.. OK he said he meant when she was 18] When I have asked for money in the past, you deny me [who the fuck do you think you are an ex?]. Hell, I'm broke right now [and that's your responsibility]. I can't get money. [But regardless I incessantly ask for it? Blatant lie no.2] uncle only sends me 50 a month and that ain't shit, that's hygiene a month. [Who calls their uncle uncle and not my uncle? What is he an orphan from the 1800's?] You don't keep money on the phone Jenn. I don't care who your new man is [again, not cooler than me], if you truly love me, you can talk to me. And 50 dollars, every couple of months ain't shit Jenn [trust me its nothing! I blow through it in no time]. So I and everyone else just think your wrong for that [OK, now he's literally speaking for everyone. Which is strange because I don't remember giving him my opinion on how much money his ex should be spending on his habit]. I will always have love for you. I just wish you would treat me with the respect I deserve [but have in no way earned]. I've been down 5 yrs and havnt got no more than 100 dollars from you. i basicaly took the rap and I get no respect. [Now he's doing his Rodney Dangerfield impression? what's next, Dr Vinnie Boombatz? (look it up)]  That's fucked up!!!!! well I thought, since I finally got some stamps I can finally reply. I wish you would start respecting me as someone you love!!! 
'The King of Richmond' (The realest you've ever known!)”  [That last part is 100% real. I almost died laughing when I read this! The realest? No comment I can muster will be adequate at dealing with the ridiculousness of this sign off. What a heavy handed attempt to sound like a cool guy. Remember, this is to an ex-girlfriend! No way does playing the cool guy ever work on an ex. She's been in the bathroom after you. She's smelled your shit. Also remember that the whole point of this email is to beg for money! Oh I'm so glad I'm friends with this silly degenerate!]
KOR 11/24 “what? really I thought we just made it through everything; [Im going to say we and then make you feel bad for a bunch of shit you needed] your rent to your sister, the presents for the babies, your phone you needed [you know, the trivial shit]. I thought we got through it baby? [You mean to tell me the babies got my drug money?] I owe a 100$ and I don't even got a noodle right now. Thank god for you, because my brother doesn't give a fuck if I rot in here [because be knows the real me] and everyone else apparently don't care. [Possibly the most poorly crafted sentence in the history of writing, and now down to business] We can do 100 and then 50. [Tell the babies and your sister to fuck off! I have needs.] So I can eat off the 35 from the 50 for the rest of this month [hope I confused her with all the numbers and poor grammar] cause the only thing I have is 2 soaps [just to be sure, one more number]. so work with me on this and I will make that last to the first OK! [In no world, was he able to make it last until the 1st] 
[And now back to the unwarranted guilt trip:] I thought you were done with all the present buying and rent.You even had a b-day!! [So there's really no excuse for not feeding my addiction. What are you selfish? Use your b-day money!] Which I think you needed to let loose a little anyways. [You really earned it, putting up with my begging and whatnot] I love you babe. I'll call you after count were supposed to have a blizzard today F U N!!!!!” [Bringing it all together with a little sarcastic humor? NICE!]
KOR 12/5 "Really Jenn? Don't think you can shame me for [well, anything but specifically] expecting a little money every once in a while” [you should know by now that shame is not a factor!] "Its not hard to skip going out to eat or buying that extra shirt, [extra shirt?Clearly he could only think of one good example to save money.] to throw me a little extra dough. [yeah, just go hungry and topless] I didn't bring Josh or Dan into this. [This whole exchange is about his friends and sugar mamma shaming Jenn for not sending home enough money] They did that on their own. They told me the conversation they had with you. I just agreed. I also didn't tell Carol to do that. She did that after her and Josh had a conversation about what had happened. Another thing is Jenn, don't kid yourself, I blew through a 35,000 dollar [insurance] check taking care of us, making sure we had a good time and 2 to 3 thousand every month up until i did that year in county (jail) [Yeah, I was a great provider until I got arrested! And by provider I mean cashing an insurance check]. So don't cry to me about a couple hundo [that's right, he's too cool to say hundred] and your fucking Ford Contour. I think your being rude, and you tried your damnest to fuck frank. [OK this is where it goes off the rails. He couldn't wait to mention the whole frank thing so he just shoehorned it in the conversation] I heard. [I'm confused, was she successful in her 'dam nest' attempt to fuck ole Frank?] That's funny [is it?], not that I care [well, I'm convinced. Nothing screams 'I care and it hurts so much' like saying I 'don't care'], cause I do have a good girl (a ride or die bitch I wish I always had) who does take care of me and keeps money on the phone and keeps me in touch with everyone [but only when I beg and grovel]. I'm in prison still pulling bitches [WOW!!! first of all he's definitely not and more importantly that's the most pathetic attempt at intended jealousy]. my point really isn't to brag, that's not what im trying to do. [It is] I'm just saying, its possible to still have a life and support someone in prison. even a little. you have just made NO effort at all and that piss people off and me. cause McDonald's checks weren't supporting our sort of lifestyle sweetie!!!!!! so I guess I wish you would change, but I doubt it. Anyways, happy to hear your grand ma is doing good. and next time you write, attach a stamp.” [OK, he's always good for a ridiculous ending but this one takes the cake. Let's examine: He spends 90% of this letter guilt tripping, berating, talking shit to, and begging for money. Then, literally in the 2nd to last sentence, he mentions her sick grandma's recovery? I have ask him how he carries around such big balls without a limp! And if you're still naive enough to think that he's done, you clearly don't know the ‘king’.]
[Our royal highness still has enough balls, and not enough shame, to ask this poor girl to attach a return stamp so she can continue this charming and fulfilling correspondence with her incarcerated ex-boyfriend. And now its clear how he became the king of Richmond: By sheer clumsy manipulation, a ruthless disregard for self respect, the freedom of movement that a spineless body provides and a fortitude willing to stoop to any low to accomplish his goal to get inebriated. The same way presidents get elected in this country. At any cost he would take the crown and he did. Without ever being to Richmond, I can say this with confidence: Anyone who would make him king and pay tribute to his court, truly deserves his rule. What a spectacular asshole the king is and I count him as a flawed degenerate of the worst degree. But I also count him as a friend…]
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tricityrevivals · 6 years
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Blog Chapter 2.2: So You Wanna be a Picker?
Nowadays, in the industry, everyone loves the self labeled title “picker”. Truth is that very few people do this full time. I’ve seen people with primary jobs anywhere from a doctor to a construction worker to a cop to a grocery store manager. Picking is more of a passion, hobby, or sidegig for the majority, but there are those out there who do it as a career and make a hell of a nice living for themselves. So how do you make that transition? Here’s our opinion based on some our real life experiences we’ve encountered so far.
I guess the question to ask is where do you draw the line? If you open up an antique store than you are pretty much a business owner. Self Employed, and you can call that your career. From that I would assume you can call yourself a picker, but the majority of antique shops I know usually get their inventory from antique dealers and aren’t out there actually picking. This isn’t the case for everyone, but I’ve seen it more often as of recently.
If you’re an antique dealer than you’re definitely out there in brunt of it picking every day, but I guess its picking in a different way. We’ve seen antique dealers at shows, sales, and auctions as well though. Also, at the same time, a dealer has his contacts who call him when they find stuff. The majority of dealers we’ve dealt with usually aren’t picking anymore but just getting calls from their contacts, buying their items for cheap, and than reselling it cheap to an antique shop so that particular store can also make money on the items. This doesn’t go for everyone in this career field but just the majority we’ve dealt with in the past. So what do you think? Picker or not?
So now for those others. The ones selling to the antique dealers. Based on our experience, we call those guys the weekend warriors. These are the hobbyist. Attending Flea Markets and Estate Sales every weekend. Most of them we’ve run into are either older and retired or it’s their side job/hobby on weekends. They’ll attend these sales and find cheaper (usually under $25 items) and sell them to the dealer to flip it and make some money. I will warn you about these guys. They all pretend to be friends, and in this small state everyone knows each other, but watch out when the doors open to an estate sale. We’ve seen people nearly come to blows over certain items. To compare, try and picture black friday when a store opens at midnight. Now picture everyone is 60+ years of age. It can get ugly. They call themselves pickers, but I wouldn’t give them that label personally.
Other sub categories I’d say associated with pickers are Auctioneers, Appraisers, and Restorations. All three definitely have the most knowledge out of the bunch, because these are all crafts that you can learn and be trained in. All worthy of mention, and definitely a job you can call a career, but I’d still refrain from labeling them a picker.
Before we go any further, lets break down what a pick is in my opinion. You need 3 things to actually go on a legit pick:
1. You need to find someone who has an extraordinary and overloaded collection of items. You need to find this person BEFORE anything they have is even for sale.
It’s a lot more difficult than it sounds. Where do you even start right? Plus, that’s hoping the person would even be open to selling some stuff. If you want to be a picker bad enough, you’ll find a way.
2. You need to be the so called “foot soldier” digging through that dwelling getting completely covered in dirt or dust to find those items.
Admittedly, we’ve been on both ends of it. We’ve shown up to a pick where someone has 10 items on a foldout table waiting for us, and we’ve been on picks where its a barn overflowing with stuff and the owner saying go ahead guys, go crazy. I know one of the top guys in this game said to us once “I dont go in barns anymore”. Well, picker status revoked my friend.
3. The items need to be in your wheelhouse.
We’ve been to houses where all the items were brand new. Unfortunately when people hear you pay cash for things they think all the stuff they have we’d want. A lot of sellers can make a good living selling stuff like this on ebay, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a pick. People in this field call it “garage sale crap”. There’s a difference between garbage you throw out and garbage you keep. Once you can figure out the difference, you’ve got yourself a pick.
Those 3 things-The people, the stuff, and the work put in, and you can say you went on a legit pick. It doesn’t always go as planned, and sometimes people do have quality stuff but they don’t have a barn full of items. In that case you bought something. You didn’t go on a pick to get one item, you knew what it was and probably had pictures of it before you drove there.
So now that you have our opinion of what a pick really is, than what is a picker?
I think if you asked 100 people you’d get 100 different answers. I know what everyone sees on TV. I know Mike and Frank have set the bar way high for anyone in this field to live up to. I also know as much as television shows may be scripted or faked, that Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz are legit without a doubt. They only have an hour of airtime to show you the coolest of the cool and the funniest parts, but they’ve done this way before cameras were on them. It’s definitely entertaining, and they’re definitely the reason we even started this whole thing as I’ve said in previous blogs, but trust me “Picking aint easy”.
The fun you see picking on TV? Absolutely. We’ve had so much fun doing this. We love it, wouldn’t want to do anything else. The stuff they don’t show is what knocks people out of this game. For every great transaction you deal with, there is 5 bad transactions. As much as we love our customers, you also deal with bad apples as well. Scammers, Spammers, and Frauds. You also have people who love to tell you their opinion on every item we have for sale. I’ve personally never understood this one. I was brought up that if you dont have anything nice to say, than dont say it at all-but people just love to shoot you down all the time. They feel the need to tell us our price/shipping is too high just to name one example. We pride ourselves at trying to be more than reasonable and usually list stuff lower than what it’s worth, but people just can’t help themselves I guess. They never intend on even buying it, they just want us to know there opinion. Get 5-6 emails a day about this and it gets frustrating. Frustration goes away a week later when someone buys it for asking price. 
We’ve been doing this on and off for a while, but it wasn’t until recently when we started going full throttle that we realized a bunch of people with the same story. I was talking with a guy I met through an online auction one day. We bought one of his items, and soon after became friendly when he would buy some of our stuff as well. Anyway, he basically told me what I hear all too often from the full time pickers. 
“I was working a job I didnt enjoy, one day decided I’m going to quit, and do this full time.”
This was 3 years ago, and he’s still here doing what he loves. Some may call him crazy. No guaranteed paycheck, no benefits, and no guaranteed longevity or retirement plan, but it was a risk he took and so far it has paid off. There’s always the unknown though I guess. Where will he be in ten years? At the same token, I’ve spoken to people that are 70 years old who have that same story and lived a good life picking for 50+ years. I guess it’s a crapshoot. On the other side of it I also know people doing this for a living who are self admittedly broke.
Being a picker is never about being a millionaire or owning a multi million dollar corporation. If you can make a good living, and this is truly what you enjoy, then what else can you ask for? Sure, there may be safer career choices, but would you really enjoy what you’re doing or will it be a prison sentence counting down the days until you retire? I think one thing we have going for us is that we’re friends. There’s plenty of guys out there in business together who are partners, but only partners because they’re in the same industry. We can go a week talking without talking business, and just bs-ing. We both know each other and what we have to do to make this thing keep rolling. Both of us bring more to the table than anyone else I know that’s doing this right now, and I know that for a fact.
After a year of success doing this I’ve had several newbies to the game reach out and ask “How?”. How’d you do this? How’d you do that? What did you do with this? A year of doing this full time and people want our input? Why not reach out to someone doing this 20 years? It’s because the game is changing and we’ve figured out what to do already. Not being cocky at all, but with social media, internet, and the various tools that are available now its leaving the older style of doing things in the dust. Things aren’t selling the same way they used to, and even the people doing this 20+ years are asking us for advice now. We brought a whole different angle than anyone else is used to and it shows.
So you wanna be a Picker? Here’s what to expect from the things you won’t see on TV. Long hours and no set schedule. If someone calls you better believe if you dont respond you’re going to miss out on a sale or a lead. Road trips. You can’t stay in one little bubble and expect everything to come to you. Tons of researching and listing. If you want things to sell you have to know every piece of information about it, and you have to list it on multiple sites which is very time consuming. Boxing and shipping. Break a few high dollar items in transit and you’ll learn how to package really well! We’re on a first name basis with Fedex, UPS, and USPS. Cleaning. Everything we buy is “barn fresh” thus it hasn’t been touched in decades. If you saw our cleaning concoctions you would think we owned a cleaning service business. Lastly, storage. Luckily Luke lets us use his basement as our main headquarters. Both that, along with his garage and mine, is 75% full of Tricity Items. 
Overall, there’s perks and downsides to everything in life. Do the perks outweigh the downsides to it all? With what we are doing, the answer is yes. It’s hard to put a label on a picker, and this whole blog is our opinion based on our real life experiences. We’re not here trying to be the “Picker Police” and tell anyone who they are, or who they aren’t. We’re just simply trying to bring notice to one of our most loved career choices. It’s a cool job, it’s fun, its interesting, and it’s something we love. People automatically think you’re Mike and Frank when you say you’re a picker, but it goes way deeper than what you have seen. Even with all the nonsense you have to deal with we wouldn’t trade it for anything. We encourage everyone whether it be picking or something else you’re passionate about to take that leap and go for it, because ultimately this is the direction we’re headed to, and it’s coming fast.
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