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candycandy00 · 5 months

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Choose Your Own Price Fanfic Commissions

I’m now open for commissions!!!!!

If you’d like to request a fanfic from me, here’s how to do it!

What You’ll Get:

A one-shot fic. I never even look at word counts and the idea of being restricted by such a thing scares me so I can only say that it will be a one-part story around the same length as my other one-shots. Look over my master list for plenty of examples (in particular, look over the requests I’ve filled).

I can’t give a specific time frame but, depending on whether or not I’m currently working on something, it will probably take me around 5-10 days to complete it. When we discuss your commission, I’ll be able to give you a clearer time frame.

What You Can Request:

All of the rules on my Welcome Post still apply. No minors, no animals, no scat/pee/vomit. I can do SFW or NSFW. Any genre (though I warn you that I suck at comedy). I’m fine with doing dark content like horror, gore, rape, etc. I’m fine with doing AU’s, sequels to my previous fics, anything like that. If something is a little too far out of my wheelhouse, I might have to say no, or perhaps “dumb it down” a bit. I’m not going to do a ton of research. Like if you want an AU set in a very specific historical setting, please don’t expect total historical accuracy. I’ll do my best to capture the feel of what you want but that’s all I can promise.

I can do Character x Reader or Character x Character. I’m also willing to do “threesome” situations, like Gojo x Reader x Geto for example. But no more than two canon characters per commission.

I’m fine with doing fem, masc, or gender neutral characters. I’m fine with any/all sexualities. I won’t write Reader as a specific race. I can do some specifications such as a chubby Reader, short Reader, etc. as well as some personality traits (example: shy Reader). But please don’t get super specific on the Reader if you can help it.

I will write for the following characters: Shigaraki, Dabi, Mr. Compress, Twice, Spinner, and Hawks (My Hero Academia) - Sukuna, Gojo, Geto, Toji, Nanami, and Choso (Jujutsu Kaisen). If you want something from a different series, feel free to ask. I might not feel comfortable doing it if I’m not real into the character, or not familiar enough with them, but there’s no harm in asking!

I’m also willing to write for general concepts like “Vampire x Reader” or “Serial Killer x Reader”. You must be able to describe the concept character (the vampire or the serial killer in the examples I gave) and possibly send image references.

Price:

I’m very uncomfortable with the idea of pricing my work, so for now at least, I’m going to go with a sort of “choose your own price” system. Once you read your commission, you can look over my Amazon wishlist and choose an item to buy for me. In case anyone doesn’t know how Amazon wishlists work, when you buy an item directly from my wishlist, Amazon sends it to my address. You don’t have to mail it to me or know my address.

I have a very wide range of items on there, in terms of prices. There are lots of things on there under $10. You can choose what to buy based on how much you enjoyed your commission. And no, I won’t be upset or offended if you pick the cheapest item on the list. 😄 There are some more pricey items on there because this is my general wishlist that I show to family and friends around Christmas/birthdays. Feel free to ignore them.

How To Commission Me:

Here’s how the process will work.

Step 1: Directly message me telling me about your commission. Describe what you want, what characters you want to be featured, any plot/concept details you feel are important, a basic idea of what kinks you would want included, etc.

Step 2: I’ll reply letting you know if I can do your commission. From there we will discuss it further and iron out all the details. You can be more specific about the kind of smut you want (if you want smut), things you want me to avoid, things you want me to include no matter what, all the nitty gritty details. I’ll also give you an idea of how long it will take me to do your commission.

Step 3: I write your commission and post it on my tumblr (and maybe ao3). I can tag you if you like, or you can remain anonymous and I’ll send you a message when it’s posted.

Step 4: After reading your commission (and only after), you look over my Amazon wishlist and buy whichever item you choose for me. Send me a message letting me know you bought something and I’ll confirm that it was purchased (Amazon will display it on the list as a purchased item). I’ll expect you to purchase something within one week of me posting the commission. Unless you have a great explanation, I will be unhappy if you take longer than that.

Why do I want you to wait until you’ve read your commission to buy an item? Because my life tends to get hectic at the strangest times, and anything could go wrong and keep me from writing it. I don’t want to feel stressed and pressured because you already paid me. Also, I want you to be satisfied and to pick an item based on how well I did. Knowing that you can pick the price will motivate me to do my best!

Even if you don’t want to commission me, I would greatly appreciate any reblogs/signal boosts! Thanks!

#Gojo x reader #shigaraki x reader #dabi x reader #geto x reader #jjk x reader #league of villains x reader #x reader #Jjk smut #league of villains smut #fanfiction commissions

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tailorvizsla · 2 years

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I know I'm late and this is random and disjointed, but

don't buy anything pertaining to your period or pregnancy online (tampons, pads, menstrual cups, plan b, etc). amazon absolutely tracks that, and we all know j*ff b*zos will absolutely sell your data for a few bucks.

i know i literally just said to avoid amazon, but i bought a huge pack of pregnancy tests on amazon after i swapped over to the iud and i test every month. they're the cheap strips you dip into your pee, but the strips are just as accurate as the fancy ones. test yourself every single month even if you have a period. you may be able to catch it early enough to take care of it with the pill. i don't know where else you can buy pregnancy tests in bulk except maybe the dollar store.

use cash to buy your supplies if you can. if you can't, get a gift card. i'm fairly certain that the rules haven't changed since i left the banking industry, but due to anti-money laundering laws, you may not be able to buy gift cards with cash. someone please correct me if i'm wrong, though!

do not ever use preferred shopper cards/discount cards/anything linked to your purchase history and your name. there was a story a few years ago about a young woman was getting ads for maternity clothes and diapers before she even knew she was pregnant. you don't even necessarily have to be buying diapers or baby clothes - sometimes, the combinations of things you buy can predict if you are pregnant.

put in a request to have your data erased from all fitness/period tracking apps. then delete those apps from your phone. you might get by with the calendar on your phone. in the old days, we used paper calendars, but...like everything else, including digital data, it can be seized and used against you. if you use lastpass, you can set up a secure note where you can hide your period data. (this might be me being paranoid, but i'd also be wary of anything you use to log your food and exercise - if that target story is anything to go by, days where you log certain types of food/little exercise may create a trend that could be used against you.)

if you do go to an abortion clinic, turn off your data, turn on airplane mode, and turn off your phone. i'm not a tech expert, so i don't know anything about how tracking works. if anyone knows how apple is able to locate your phone even when it's off, please let me know.

stock up on plan b and your form of contraception if you can. be sure to hide your supply somewhere dark and cool.

given the state of things right now, one form of birth control is no birth control at all. double or triple up if you can.

the pill and the ring can both be rendered inactive with a few seconds in the microwave. it's hard to see pinpricks to condoms in the dark. sometimes, you may not be able to feel if your partner takes the condom off. if you are having sex, make sure you bring your own. you will not be able to tell visually that your birth control has been tampered with. i know a lot of people who think 'oh my partner would never do that' but...sadly, you cannot trust anyone right now. stay vigilant, let them call you paranoid if they want. it's better to be thought a weirdo than end up pregnant.

antibiotics make your birth control ineffective.

if you don't want children at all, see if your doctor will sterilize you. r/childfree on reddit has a sidebar where you can see if there are childfree doctors in your area. make an appointment ASAP before states criminalize pregnancy prevention in general.

there's a post floating around where the fda has made it so that usps can ship abortion pills via mail, which is great! but states are already looking at ways to crack down on this. it's a federal crime to tamper with someone's mail, but these are red states we are talking about. if you have horses...misoprostol is used to treat stomach ulcers.

if all else fails and you find yourself pregnant in the early stages, you can look at herbal/natural methods. this is a pdf to the sage femme collective.

things to consider - maybe make your own reusable pads so you don't have to put your business out there? i don't know how to sew so that's out of my realm. someone on reddit said they were having their daughter hide their period products at school. they can't track your period if they don't know you're on it?

be cautious if you have an IUD - i think Oklahoma is the one going to 'moment of fertilization' instead of implantation, so anything that prevents a fertilized egg from implanting may be outlawed pretty soon.

if you're part of the auntie network, be very careful about who you get into a car with. a religious zealot has already burned one satanic temple to the ground, there's no telling what they'll do to someone trying to end their pregnancy.

when midterms come, please. for the love of god, make sure you're registered to vote. vote blue even if you don't like the candidates. no vote is a vote for republicans because they vote religiously.

above all else, please stay safe

#roe v wade #supreme court #the supreme court sucks #fuck republicans

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 2 years

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if u dont mind asking, how do you identify streaming websites to use? there's this one show where a few episodes r practically unfindable to me. how do u find what you once thought was nearly unfindable? (like the josh series haha)

Funny you should ask that right now, as I have just tried stepping away from that and fucking hell I hate it. Listening to Mark Watson on a podcast recently made me decide I want to hear his radio stuff, and I downloaded his Address to the Nation and Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life shows easily, but while looking for the first of those, Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better, I saw it was available as an audiobook on Audible. And figured I do try to pay for things when paying for them directly is an option, so I should do that here. So I bought it on Audible on my laptop, download it there, but I want to hear it from my phone. Sign in on my phone, find that my account on my phone doesn't have it. Sign out and sign back in using the same email address and password that I used when I bought the thing on my computer, it still gives me different library that doesn't have it. Try to manually take the file on my computer, transfer it to my phone with a cable, and open it with the Audible app. Doesn't work. Look up options for turning the aax file into an mp3 so I could play it with my normal music player, and they're all either more expensive than just buying the book again from my phone, or they're incredibly complicated. Everything I try just leads to something telling me to sign up for an Audible membership for a bunch of money per week or linking me back to Amazon. Every moment of it is not just frustrating but also depressing, looking at how Amazon is connected to everything and our world is nothing but pushing people into signing up for regularly payments to big corporations to get media curated by those corporations, making me have trouble remembering why I thought paying money to Amazon was the more ethical option and this is dealing me more psychic damage the more I try to figure it out. Jesus Christ I hate it.

Okay. Anyway. Sorry about that, I realize you were not looking for that rant with your question; your message just happened to come in after I'd spent 90 minutes losing my mind over this to no avail and remembering why I just download things directly. Finding things that are hard to find is often just a matter of persistence, having a list of streaming sites and going through them. You can find a lot of others by just searching the first name. Like if one version of [streaming site] doesn't have it, search the name of the site and you'll get a page full of results with slightly different versions of it, that all have slightly different collections. Options tend to get sketchier as you go down the page. That's mainly the strategy I use - I start from a few main sites, and if it's not there I start looking for their other versions.

I'll avoid mentioning the sites by name, but this is a really good place to start if anyone doesn't know how to find them. There's lots of useful stuff in that link, and from all of those options you can find similar ones. You can also Google "alternatives to [site]" and you'll get long lists and can try all the options on those lists. That's how I finally found the show Josh - it was about the 15th version of one site that had it.

As a general rule, adblockers are pretty much mandatory for this sort of thing, and a VPN is a generally good idea for added security. Some of the sites can be sketchy, but none are as soul-destroying as trying to navigate a system in which Amazon will not let you have access to a file you've paid for, and even if I do figure it out I'll only have the file in a special format that can only be played in their special app that's full of ads pushing a monthly membership on me, and I hate the state of the world. I just want to listen to Mark Watson and his friends say nice things in 2008.

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anthonybialy · 4 months

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Oh, That’s Rich

Contrary to popular belief, there are a few forbidden crimes left in America. Lying about losing an election is the most prominent one even if there’s no law against it. Don’t you dare try using a gas stove, felon. And the most fiendish villains get rich. Nobody is creating much of anything, and the best hope in this worst scenario is that idleness is by design. Interdictors of commercial activity didn’t do this by accident, right?

The only present offense is earning. Commit justice by taking lucre from targeted villains who commit the unforgivable sin of making what people desire. Fair profiteers copy the government and take.

The presumption that the best thieves become CEOs is an excuse for not working hard. Avoid a life of criminality by half-assing an entry-level job. This useless planet contains a finite amount of jewels, so don’t even bother competing to pocket them. The race to solve the treasure map where those who filled their pockets shoved aside the underprivileged makes us all losers, I say to applause. Items and services that can be created seem like un unfair advantage for those who are good at things.

Contempt for diabolical humans who offer products others buy voluntarily is how Democrats express their ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Endless jobs created as a byproduct just mean having to go to work instead of waiting for the glorious dole. Employment is not the goal in itself, which is evil to liberals. You’re supposed to provide work as a company’s purpose, not pursue icky profits. Truly benevolent CEOs would pay poets to write sonnets about butterflies instead of completing some mundanely profitable tasks.

You can shop elsewhere. Democrats seem confused about their options to the point where they confiscate them from everyone else. The lack of respect for others who are capable of making decisions must be spread by coercion in that archetypical liberal style.

Conglomerate barons possess the audacity to address needs. Reality is a cruel capitalist that makes us hand over something for stuff, services, or work. Choose among many for the ultimate in misery, according to enlightened progressive who want to kindly eliminate all choices but the lousiest.

It’s one thing to have nothing to sell and another to presume nobody else does, either. A lack of empathy comes naturally to those who feel help must be mandated. Contempt for anyone paid is a natural side effect. One can only become that wealthy by thievery, we’re assured regarding stores that seem to attract customers without force.

Scowling at a billionaire while presuming there’s a string of unsolved felonies covered up by paying a small percentage in bribes requires presently unfound evidence. Deciding based on information runs counter to trusting authorities to offer relief. This is no time to stop genuflecting to Anthony Fauci.

You can get any product you want on your doorstep within a few hours if traffic’s not bad. Hoping it’s an Amazon truck and not a post office vehicle provides the only apprehension. Trying to think of any instance when government has provided something of higher quality quicker than a private entity is unfair, as they still must compete until that icky reality is declared illegal.

The actual villains are rich politicians. There’s no way to get wealthy honestly as a public servant. It’s no wonder crime has been decriminalized in an era of being ruled by thieves who use the sheen of legality to grift for our benefit. Making everyone affluent by communalizing wealth surely requires a finder’s fee.

Demonizers of successful enterprise overseers can’t explain why, say, Nancy Pelosi possesses a fortune that seems beyond what she could have saved on a humble representative’s salary. I’m just jealous. She’s really amazing at picking stocks that she just happens to oversee. Her career’s just getting started. Now’s the time to really let her have power for your protection, if your means their and protection means profit.

As for the CEO of this thriving outfit, Joe Biden is the prototypical grifter if you don’t believe he’s capable of serving as an example. Overreaching to use ensuing power for personal enrichment is the hobby of public warriors who keep you safe from life’s vagaries. The embodiment of selfless responsibility just happens to include domain over you and everything you might want to decide.

Politicians should be sharing efficiency apartments. Arguing about when the Murphy bed should be deployed would be a fitting use of debate skills. Guilting you for not surrendering more treasure to be frittered buying votes would be dropped to the bottom of their priority list as a bonus.

Accusing others of what they do isn’t merely the lamest distraction ever: the simpleton’s technique also informs all of Democratic policy. Everyone else is as fecklessly reckless, right? Legal distrust of entrepreneurs who meet the needs of others is the same reason they don’t trust others with guns, presume donating freely to charity is a foreign notion, and can only pile up cash upon maneuvering oneself into a position of public trust.

The baked-in notion that wealth is created by government and greedily hoarded by ruthless industrialists is compensation for uselessness. Conducting struggle sessions for those who profit through mutual free will has created as much productivity as anticipated. Very consistent thinkers who think of employment and purchasing as exploitation are busy mercifully redistributing what they deem parceled incorrectly. Statist henchmen figure you can’t perform any complicated task like choosing or spending.

You can’t dissent, of course, as our very survival depends upon cooperation. Autonomy would mean using money willingly, which would drive our poor government out of business. A process that demotivates everyone involved will finally allow us to prosper without working. Pesky independent humans are fools to decide otherwise.

#wealth #free market #earning #capitalism #business #economy #class warfare

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genkiro · 1 year

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Warren Buffett's Annual Letters points

The wisdom of many things only reveals after you actually have skin in the game.

Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.

History has been repeating, and the buy and hold, a.k.a., diamond hands, always win in the end.

Their focus should remain fixed on attaining significant gains in purchasing power over their investing lifetime.

Active trading, attempts to “time” market movements, inadequate diversification, the payment of high and unnecessary fees to managers and advisors, and the use of borrowed money can destroy the decent returns that a life-long owner of equities would otherwise enjoy. Indeed, borrowed money has no place in the investor’s tool kit: Anything can happen anytime in markets.

At Berkshire, we, too, crave efficiency and detest bureaucracy.

A well-known Mungerism: “If you want to guarantee yourself a lifetime of misery, be sure to marry someone with the intent of changing their behavior.”

Warren Buffett admitted the mistake of purchasing a business with shares by diluting shareholders, instead of using cash.

When one startup that I (Grace Huang the writer) knew was facing acquisition opportunities, both cash offers and equity offers were presented. The companies with cash offers happened to be the ones who were opportunistic about the company’s futures, and the ones with equity offers or even option offers were the ones with unfathomable risks.

During such scary periods, you should never forget two things: First, widespread fear is your friend as an investor, because it serves up bargain purchases. Second, personal fear is your enemy.

Key qualities for acquisition:

1. Able and high-grade management

2. Good returns on the net tangible assets required to operate the business

3. Opportunities for internal growth at attractive returns

4. A sensible purchase price

They were required to use a new accounting rule — a generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP), where the net change in unrealized investment gains and losses in stocks would be included in all net income figures. They warned that this requirement would produce some wild swings in their GAAP bottom-line because they had a huge holding of stocks.

We consider a portion of that stash (US Treasury bills & other fixed-income instruments) to be untouchable, having pledged to always hold at least $20 billion in cash equivalents to guard against external calamities. We have also promised to avoid any activities that could threaten our maintaining that buffer.

Many successful businesses, especially Amazon, retained and used the profit to fund exponential growth.

I believe I was right in concluding that PCC would, over time, earn good returns on the net tangible assets deployed in its operations. I was wrong, however, in judging the average amount of future earnings and, consequently, wrong in my calculation of the proper price to pay for the business

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annarellix · 1 year

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The Sister Effect : A Novel by Susan Mallery

Susan Mallery’s newest hardcover is an emotional, witty, and heartfelt story of Finley who is raising her niece because her long-addicted sister, Sloane, abandoned her. When Sloane reappears, eager to build a relationship with her daughter, Finley will struggle with forgiveness, the ties that bind a family together, and the fragility of trust.

Finley McGowan is determined that the niece she’s raising will always feel loved and wanted. Unlike she felt after her mom left to pursue a dream of stardom and her grandfather abandoned her and her sister Sloane when they needed him most. Finley reacted to her chaotic childhood by walking the straight and narrow—nose down, work hard, follow the rules. Sloane went the other way. Now Sloane is back, as beautiful and damaged as ever, and wants a relationship with her daughter. She says she’s changed, but Finley’s heart has been bruised once too often for her to trust easily. With the help of a man who knows all too well how messy families can be, Finley will learn there’s joy in surrendering and peace in letting go.

Mallery, with wisdom, compassion and her trademark humor, explores the nuances of a broken family’s complex emotions as they strive to become whole, in this uplifting story of human frailty and resilience.

The Author: SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women's lives—family, friendship and romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations," and readers seem to agree—forty million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.

Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She's passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the Ragdoll cat and adorable poodle who think of her as Mom.

SOCIAL LINKS: Twitter: @susanmallery Facebook: @susanmallery Instagram: @susanmallery Author website: https://www.susanmallery.com/

BUY LINKS: Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-sister-effect-susan-mallery/18611717?ean=9781335448644 B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sister-effect-susan-mallery/1141741087?ean=9781335448644 Books a Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Sister-Effect/Susan-Mallery/9781335448644?id=8318065423495 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1335448640?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwsusanmalle-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1335448640

EXCERPT:

Chapter One

Finley McGowan loved her niece Aubrey with all her heart, but there was no avoiding the truth—Aubrey had not been born with tap dance talent. While the other eight-year-olds moved in perfect rhythm, Aubrey was just a half beat behind. Every time. Like a sharp, staccato echo as the song “Counting Stars” by OneRepublic played over the dance studio’s sound system.

Finley felt a few of the moms glance at her, as if gauging her reaction to Aubrey’s performance, but Finley only smiled and nodded along, filled with a fierce pride that Aubrey danced with enthusiasm and joy. If tap was going to be her life, then the rhythm thing would matter more, but Aubrey was still a kid and trying new things. So she wasn’t great at dance, or archery, or swimming—she was a sweet girl who had a big heart and a positive outlook on life. That was enough of a win for Finley. She could survive the jarring half-beat echo until her niece moved on to another activity.

The song ended and the adults gathered for the monthly update performance clapped. Aubrey rushed toward her aunt, arms outstretched for a big hug. Finley caught her and pulled her close.

“Excellent performance,” she said, smoothing the top of her head. “You weren’t nervous.”

“I know. I don’t get scared anymore. I really liked the song and the routine was fun to learn. Thank you for helping me practice.”

“Anytime.”

When Aubrey had first wanted to study tap, Finley had gone online to find instructions to build a small, homemade tap floor. They’d put it out in the garage, and hooked up a Bluetooth speaker. Every afternoon, before dinner, Finley had played “Counting Stars” and called out the steps so Aubrey could memorize her routine. Next week the dance students would get a new routine and new song, and the process would start all over again. Finley really hoped the new music wouldn’t be annoying—given that she was going to have to listen to it three or four hundred times over the next few weeks.

They walked to the cubbies, where Aubrey pulled a sweatshirt over her leotard, then traded tap shoes for rain boots. April in the Pacific Northwest meant gray, wet skies and cool temperatures. Finley made sure her niece had her backpack from school, then waved goodbye to the instructor before ushering Aubrey to her Subaru.

While her niece settled in the passenger side back seat, Finley put the backpack within arm’s reach. Inevitably, despite the short drive home, Aubrey would remember something she had to share and would go scrambling for it. Finley didn’t want a repeat of the time her niece had unfastened her seat belt and gone shimmying into the cargo area to dig out her perfect spelling test. Going sixty miles an hour down the freeway with an eight-year-old as a potential projectile had aged Finley twenty years.

“We got our history project,” Aubrey announced as Finley started the car. “We’re going to be working in teams to make a diorama of a local Native American tribe. There’s four of us in our group.” She paused dramatically. “Including Zoe!”

“Zoe red hair or Zoe black hair?”

Aubrey laughed. “Zoe black hair. If it had been Zoe red hair, my life would have been ruined forever.”

“Over a diorama? Shouldn’t your life be ruined over running out of ice cream or a rip in your favorite jacket?”

“Dioramas are important.” She paused. “And hard to spell. We’re going to pick our tribe tomorrow, then research them and decide on the diorama. I want to do totem poles. The different animals tell a story and I think that would be nice. Oliver wants a bear attacking a village, but Zoe is vegetarian and doesn’t want to see any blood.” Aubrey wrinkled her nose. “I eat meat and I wouldn’t want to see blood either. Harry agrees with me on the totems, but Zoe isn’t sure.”

“So much going on,” Finley said, not sure she could keep up with the third-grade diorama drama.

“I know. Could we stop at the cake store on the way home? For Grandma? She’s been sad.” Aubrey leaned forward as far as her seat belt would let her. “I don’t understand, though. I thought being on Broadway was a good thing.”

“It is.”

“So Grandma was a good teacher for her student. Why isn’t she happy?”

Finley wondered how to distill the emotional complexity that was her mother in a few easy-to-understand concepts. No way she was getting into the fact that her mother had once wanted to be on Broadway herself, only to end up broke and the mother of two little girls. The best Molly had managed for her theater career was a few minor roles in traveling companies. Eventually motherhood and the need to be practical had whittled away her dream until it was only a distant memory. These days she taught theater at the local community college and gave intensive acting classes in her basement. It was the latter that had been the cause of her current depression.

“Her student wasn’t grateful for all Grandma did for her. When she got the big role, she didn’t call or text and she didn’t say thank you for all of Grandma’s hard work.”

Molly had not only found her student a place to stay, she’d worked her contacts to get the audition in the first place. Finley might not understand the drive to stand in front of an audience, pretending to be someone else, but if it was your thing, then at least act human when someone gave you a break.

Finley glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Aubrey’s eyes widen.

“You’re always supposed to say thank you.”

“I know.”

“Poor Grandma. We have to buy her cake. The little one with the sprinkles she likes.”

Finley held in a grin. “And maybe a chocolate one for you and me to share?”

“Oh, that would be very nice, but we could just get one for Grandma if you think that’s better.”

Finley was sure that Aubrey almost meant those last words. At least in the moment. Should she follow through and not buy a second small cake, her niece would be crushed. Brave, but crushed.

Nothing Bundt Cakes wasn’t on the way home, but it wasn’t that far out of the way. Finley headed along Bothell-Everett Highway until she reached Central Market, across from the library. She turned left and parked in front of the bakery. She and Aubrey walked inside.

Her niece rushed to the display. “Look, they have the confetti ones Grandma likes. They’re so pretty.”

The clerk smiled. “Can I help you?”

“A couple of the little cakes,” Finley told her. “A confetti and a chocolate, please.”

Aubrey shot her a grateful look, then tapped on the case. “Could we get a vanilla one? I see Mom on Saturday afternoon. I could take her a cake.”

The unpleasant reminder of Aubrey’s upcoming visitation had Finley clenching her jaw. She consciously relaxed as she said, “It’s only Wednesday. I don’t know if the cake will still be fresh.”

“Just keep it in the refrigerator,” the clerk told her. “They’re good for five days after purchase.”

Aubrey jumped in place, her enthusiasm making her clap loudly. “That’s enough time.” She counted off the days. “Thursday, Friday, Saturday. That’s only three days. Mom will love her little cake so much.” She pressed her hands together. “Vanilla is her favorite.”

Finley told herself that of course Aubrey cared about her mother. Most kids loved their parents, regardless of how irresponsible those parents might be. It was a biological thing. Sloane was doing better these days. Maybe this time she would stay sober and out of prison. Something Finley could wish for, but didn’t actual believe.

Finley nodded at the clerk. “We’ll take all three, please.”

Aubrey rushed toward her and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Thank you, Finley. For the cake and coming to my performance and helping me practice.”

“I seem to be stuck loving you, kid. I try not to, but you’re just so adorable. I can’t help myself.”

Aubrey laughed, looking up at her. Finley ignored how much her niece looked like Sloane—they had the same big blue eyes and full mouth, the same long curly hair. Aubrey was a pretty girl but like her mother, she would mature into a stunning woman one day, as had her grandmother Molly before her. Only Finley was ordinary—a simple seagull in a flock of exotic parrots.

Probably for the best, she told herself as she paid for the cakes. In her experience beautiful women were easily distracted by the attention they received. Little mattered more than adulation. Relationships were ignored or lost or damaged, a casualty of the greatness that was the beautiful woman. Finley, on the other hand, could totally focus on what was important—like raising her niece and making sure no one threatened her safety. Not even her own mother.

“What is it?” Jericho Ford stared at the picture on the tablet screen. The swirling tubes of metal twisted together in some kind of shape, but he had no idea what it was.

“The artist describes this creation as the manifestation of his idea of happiness,” Antonio offered helpfully.

“It looks like a warthog.”

“It’s art.”

“So a fancy warthog.”

“It’s on sale.”

“I don’t care if it’s left on the side of the road with a sign reading ‘free.’ It’s ugly and no.” Jericho looked at his friend. “Why would you show that to me?”

“You said you needed some pieces for your family room.”

“I meant a sofa and maybe a bigger television.”

“You could put this on the coffee table.”

“That’s where I put my beer and popcorn.” Jericho pointed to the tablet. “If you like it so much, you get it.”

Antonio’s brows rose. “Absolutely not. My house is all about midcentury modern these days.”

“The warthog isn’t midcentury enough?”

“No.” Antonio slapped the tablet closed and put it in his backpack before removing two gray subway tiles and setting them on Jericho’s desk. “I want to make a change in the kitchen backsplash for number eleven.”

Antonio pointed to the tile on the right. “This was the original choice. I like the shine and the texture, but I’ve been thinking it’s too blue.” He tapped the tile on the right. “This has more green and goes better with the darker cabinets in the island.”

Jericho loved his job. He built houses in the Seattle area, good-quality houses with high-end finishes and smart designs. They sourced local when possible, had a great reputation and frequently a waiting list for their new-construction builds. Castwell Park—the five-plus acres he’d bought in Kirkland, Washington—had been subdivided into twenty oversized lots where Ford Construction was in the process of building luxury houses.

Jericho enjoyed the entire building process—from clearing the land to handing over the keys to the new owners. While he’d rather be doing something physical with his days, he was the site manager and owner, and all decisions flowed through him. Including tile changes suggested by his best friend and the project’s interior designer.

“Those tiles are the same color,” Jericho said flatly.

Antonio grimaced. “They’re not. This one—”

“Has more blue. Yes, you said.”

He grabbed the tiles and walked out of the large construction trailer set up across the street from the entrance to Castwell Park. He’d made a deal with the owners of the empty lot to rent the space while construction was underway. When his crew finished the twentieth home, he was going to build one for the lot’s owner. Jericho didn’t, as a rule, build one-offs, but it had been the price of getting a perfect location for the construction trailer, so he’d made an exception.

Once out in the natural light, he rocked the two tiles back and forth, looking for a color difference. Okay, sure, one was a little bluer, but he doubted five people in a hundred would notice. Still, Antonio’s design ideas were a big reason for the company’s success. He had a way of taking a hot trend and making it timeless.

“Email me the change authorization and I’ll okay it,” Jericho said, handing back the tiles.

“I knew you’d agree. These will make all the difference.”

“No more changes on house eleven or twelve,” he said, leading the way back inside the trailer. “The designs are locked in and we’ve placed all our orders.”

“I know. This is the last one.” Antonio smiled. “Besides, I’ve already checked with the distributor and she said it was no problem to substitute one for the other.” He settled in the chair by Jericho’s desk. “Dennis and I were talking about you last night.”

“That never means good things for me.”

Antonio dismissed the comment with a wave. “We’re inviting a woman to our next party.”

Jericho knew exactly what his friend meant but decided to pretend he didn’t. “You usually have women at your parties.”

“A woman for you.”

“No.”

Antonio leaned toward him. “It’s time. You and Lauren split up nearly seven months ago. I know you’re still pissed at your brother, but that’s separate from getting over your ex-wife. They cheated, they’re hideous people and we hate them, but it’s time for you to move on.”

Antonio had always had a gift for the quick recap, Jericho thought, appreciating his ability to distill the shock of finding out his wife and his younger brother were having an affair and the subsequent divorce into a single sentence.

“I’ve moved on,” Jericho told him.

“You’re not dating. Worse, you’re not picking up women in bars and sleeping with them.”

Jericho grinned. “When have I ever done that?”

“You’re a straight guy. Isn’t it a thing?”

“I hate it when you generalize about me because I’m straight.”

Antonio grinned. “Poor you.” His humor faded. “It’s time to stop pouting and move on with your life.”

“Hey, I don’t pout.”

“Fine, call it whatever you want. Lauren was a total bitch and I honestly don’t have words to describe what a shit Gil is for doing what he did. But you’re divorced, you claim to have moved on, so let’s see a little proof.” His mouth turned down. “I worry about you.”

“Thanks. I’m okay.”

Mostly. He hadn’t seen his brother in six months, which had made the holidays awkward. His family was small—just his mom, him and his brother, with Antonio as an adopted member. Gil’s affair with Lauren had rocked their family dynamics nearly as much as his father’s death eight years ago, shattering their small world. Their mother had taken Jericho’s side—at least at first. Lately she’d been making noises about a reconciliation. As Gil and Lauren were still a thing, he wasn’t ready to pull that particular trigger just yet.

“Dennis is a really good matchmaker,” Antonio murmured.

“Did I say no? I’m kind of sure I said no. I can get my own women.”

“Yes, but you won’t.”

“Now who’s pouting?”

The first five notes of “La Cucaracha” played outside, announcing the arrival of the food truck. Antonio’s face brightened.

“Lunchtime. You’re buying.”

“Somehow I’m always buying.”

“You’re the rich developer. I’m a struggling artist. It’s only fair.”

“You have a successful design business. And if that wasn’t enough, your husband is a partner at a fancy, high-priced law firm. You married money.”

Antonio laughed. “Wasn’t that smart of me?”

Jericho followed him out of the trailer. “You would have married him if he was broke and homeless. You love him.”

“I do and now we need to find someone for you to love. Not another redhead. That last one was a total disaster.”

“I’m not sure the failure of our marriage had anything to do with the color of her hair.”

“Maybe not, but why take the chance?”

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ifeellonelyatnight · 1 year

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Lately I start to develop an huge interest on lookbooks out of my videogames, well I had always enjoy it, but when I was younger I didn't have a credit card, so mostly I buyed in local shops wich cosist on C&A, H&M or for a bit sofistication Zara. But of course with a whole new world of possibilities that the internet brings, there a whole new world of controversy. And there I am at 2AM wondering if it's fine for me to buy that thing for ethical or healthy reasons, or even if it's a scam.

To keep that introduction complete, I want to add my opinion on this, or mostly on fast fashion. There is a whole economy on those products that is obviously advantaging, and it's even more for younger people who built there image as a form of art expression or income. As far as I can tell, it's something consider bad because of ecological, healthy and ethical mathers, but honestly I have a rude time knowing which store is okay and wich one is not. Morever I think that customers have some part of responsability on this, but it's the smallest one, we in fact are accused of hypocrisie but there is a larger panel of global responsability that isn't built to avoid those problems at some political level. In fact, I write those articles myself to know at least what I buy, and those are shared with you for the same reason.

The dress that makes me wonder about that “what if...”, it is actually avalaible on amazon but honestly I don’t to buy it in that website neither.

YES STYLE

So today I was wondering what if I buy in Yes Style.

WEBSITE

First of all, let's talk about the general look of this website and why I specifically want to buy things from it. A babydoll dress brings my interest to that shop and of course it is no longer avalaible, keeping that in mind I was looking for some other sleepwear or lingerie of the same kind. But there's the thing, the lingerie part is really showing too much, by that I mean there is minimal censorship on nipples and restricted vagina and that's barely all. It's not exactly what I expect from a website whose actual customers are women, and obviously very young ones. I am not a psychologist but porn content may be restrict to the areas wich are supposed to be done for, at a younger age, people is not only influençable but also not supposed to be exposed to mature content without their consent. It's clearly questionable.

The editing gives me an Aliexpress vibe too. Wich I think is kind of cool. Let me clarify myself. It is actually a dropship of Aliexpress and at least Yes Style don't try to hide that fact. As I tell, I like to know what I buy and people mostly know about what is the whole packaging being those huge chinese fast fashion, bad quality, bad human conditions, ect, but there is a lot of shops who has the same ethical disregards and we barely know about it.

Otherwise the outfit looks really fine but of course it is difficult to be sure of the final quality of the product, Aliexpress alike are very trickery and don't mind to make a totally different dress for the shooting session. So if i have to give a note for their website, maybe a 2.5/5 , I still need to buy some clothes on to tell you if the pictures are contractual.

PRICETAGS

Are the prices the regular ones for those kind of products made in china -they pretend to extend to global asia but due to their opacity I rule my eyes on it-? Talking about price/quality ratio compare to other similar brands you can find bether, it is even pricey.

It is difficult to go further on that annalyse, because when I say "we know what we buy" on chinese fast fashion industry it means "we know that we know nothing". There is massive opacity about how products are made, we can't estimate how much they really worth and how much money they made of them. They seem cheap, but to make them cheaper they avoid all the rules of outfit industry, so we can expect there is still a huge gap between production cost and customer pricetag. 2/5

IN CONCLUSION

Will I buy products for them? Maybe some day if I find a dress that is catching my eyes. But honestly, the more I write about this article, the more I convince myself to avoid even trying. I try eventually look on you tube about what people think of the brand, and mostly find two category of crash test, "beauty products" and "spicy clothes." There is not a chance in the world I wear chinese beauty products on my face. Remember the thing about there is a total opacity about how products are made? Well we don't know about make up contents neither, somehow I read that they have some korean beauty products too, so maybe it is not as awfull as it seems, but for me, avoid is the key. For the Spicy clothes I honestly invistigate to get an idea, it is based on other you tuber try haul. So are I am, after a few minutes. And it screams all the bad of fast fashion. You can buy some of those things, but there a huge potential you'll throw it to the dustbin directly or after a shooting session. Mostly outfits don't have all bad, but have one thing bad that make them unwearable. Seems like if you increase in price range then you have average quality outfits but, it is not attractive anymore, those are basic outfits but with very high prices. So in the end, my exploration of YES STYLE can resume in one word, "questionable". 2/5

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mcnewj82ep8 · 2 years

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ms-demeanor · 5 years

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The Very Basics of Not Killing Your Computer

AVOID HEAT STRESS

If you have a laptop DO NOT use it on a soft surface like a pillow or on a blanket, it’ll block the vents on your computer and make it get really fucking hot inside.

If you have a desktop you gotta open it up and blow out the dust sometimes.

If you are moving your laptop in a bag turn the laptop off. Don’t put it to sleep, don’t just shut the screen, turn it off, because otherwise it’s in the bag generating heat and there’s nowhere for the heat to go in the bag. OFF. Not sleep. OFF.

DO NOT DROP

Okay I know that should be obvious but drop damage to your hard drive is bad bad news. Be as careful as you can to set your computer gently on flat surfaces; don’t leave it hanging out on a bed where it can get knocked off, don’t set it on the roof of your car. And yes, just dropping it a couple inches can kill your hard drive or totally shatter your screen.

DON’T PUT SHIT ON YOUR KEYBOARD

Look I’ve seen four people ruin their laptops because they had a pen on the keyboard and closed the laptop and it fucked up the screen and the keyboard and it sucks so much and you feel awful after it happens because it’s so avoidable just don’t put things on your keyboard and always check that your laptop is clear before you close it.

PROTECT YOUR PORTS ON YOUR LAPTOP

You’ve only got one power jack and a limited number of other inputs on your computer and if they detach from the motherboard you’re fucked. USB ports get damaged because people use them a lot and eventually it weakens the connection and then they just stop working and it sucks. You can get around this with USB ports by using a USB hub to connect things like your keyboard and mouse.

For your power plug you just gotta be careful. Avoid tripping over the cord at all costs, don’t yank the plug out of the computer. It will SUCK VERY MUCH A LOT if you have to buy a new computer because the power port lost contact with the motherboard.

Don’t move your computer with things plugged into it. Take the power cord off before you put your laptop in the bag, take out the USB mouse dongle, do not travel with little nubby bits sticking out of your computer that can easily get caught or get tweaked or snap off inside of the thing.

(I really can’t emphasize enough that most of the “it will cost more than it’s worth to fix this” laptops I see are because of USB ports and power jacks. People don’t seem to know that this isn’t something that can be fixed easily; a broken power jack is a “remove the motherboard and resoldier components” job, not a “plug a new one in in fifteen minutes” job and most computer repair shops aren’t going to solder things for you and if they DO it’s going to be very expensive)

RESTART YOUR SHIT AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH AND JUST LET THE FUCKING UPDATES RUN

You should probably restart more than once a month but whatever. This is actually something that I consider part of reducing heat stress because when your processor is straining to keep up with all the background bullshit that’s running from a program you opened three weeks ago it’s going to use up resources and get hot and look just restart it once in a while.

Also the updates are almost always okay and safe and generally running updates is a good and secure thing to do (though maybe follow a blog dedicated to the OS you run because if there IS a problem with the updates that blog will probably talk about it before the update gets forced on your computer)

ANTIVIRUS BULLSHIT

Yes you should probably be running an antivirus.

Sophos is free and it’s fine. But don’t pay for it - if you’re using Sophos use the free version.

If you’re looking for something paid and a little more comprehensive I recommend ESET - get the cheap version, renewals cost less than the initial purchase, and feel free to get a multi-year version, the credentials follow your email not the computer so if your computer dies before your license expires you can install the license on a new computer.

DO NOT INSTALL NORTON OR MCAFEE THEY ARE EXPENSIVE BULLSHIT. Kaspersky is whatever. It’s less bullshit than Norton or McAfee but not as good as ESET for about the same cost.

If you think you’ve got a virus run the free version of Malwarebytes and get your shit cleaned.

KEEP LIQUIDS THE FUCK AWAY FROM YOUR COMPUTER

Again this should be obvious and yet. But seriously, just make a rule for yourself that drinks aren’t allowed on the same table as your computer and you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches.

PLUG YOUR COMPUTER INTO A UPS

Okay I fucking hate amazon but here’s a thing you should be using, just search the rest of the internet for “surge protector/UPS” and you’ll find something that isn’t from amazon - APC is a solid brand for this.

Basically you want a fat surge protector that has a little bit of a battery backup and you want to plug your computer (desktop OR laptop) into that instead of into the wall. The benefit of this is twofold:

1) if there’s a power surge the UPS will prevent your computer’s power supply from getting fried and possibly frying parts of your motherboard

2) if there’s a power outage and you’re *at* your computer you’ll have enough time to save what you’re working on before your computer loses power (like, you’ll maybe only have a minute or two on a small UPS but that’s still time to hit CTRL+S and keep from losing work)

At a bare, bare minimum your computer should be plugged into a surge protector but NOT directly into the wall.

BACK YOUR SHIT UP

[we interrupt this yelling for me to tell you that Western Digital has apparently released their new My Passport line and I’m obligated to inform you that you can get a 2.5″ USB 3.0 backup drive with FIVE FUCKING TERABYTES OF STORAGE for $130. Or you can get 4TB for $93. Or you can get 1TB for $53. basically what I’m saying is that it is not only cheap computer season it is also cheap hard drive season.]

[also if you’re getting a backup drive get western digital not seagate seagate fucking sucks and has a much higher failure rate]

Uh, okay, anyway - Do an image backup of your computer every once in a while so that if you get infected or your hard drive dies or whatever you can just restore from backup and move on like nothing happened.

HERE’S HOW TO DO AN IMAGE BACKUP.

SAVE YOURSELF THE WEAR AND TEAR

You know what is cheap? USB Keyboards and USB mice. You know what is not cheap? Fixing the touchpad on a laptop or replacing a laptop keyboard.

Get yourself a USB hub, a USB Keyboard and a USB Mouse (wired or wireless, doesn’t matter) and if you’re using your laptop at home plug *that* into your computer.

Also if your keyboard on your laptop breaks it’s fine just to use a USB keyboard instead I promise; if the screen breaks it’s also usually cheaper and easier to get a used or inexpensive monitor than it is to replace the screen. Your laptop is basically just a very small version of whatever bullshit is going on inside a desktop, if the peripherals break but the core components are fine you can just use it like a desktop.

Unless it’s a piece of shit that doesn’t have any USB ports or video out in which case you got ripped off, friend, demand functionality in your devices I’m sorry.

/rant

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samwisethewitch · 4 years

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Keeping Consumerism out of Your Craft

Consumerism is a set of socioeconomic conditions and attitudes that encourage the continual acquisitions of goods and services. There is no “enough” in a consumerist society — members of the society are constantly pushed to buy new things, pay for new services, and keep up with the latest trends.

There are a few reasons consumerism is bad news. For one thing, it’s terrible for the environment — consumerist cultures usually have linear economies, where resources are extracted, consumed, then discarded, with no effort to replenish them. This is highly unsustainable, because at some point those limited resources are going to run out. Consumerism also has a human cost, as it often leads to the use of sweatshops, which violate basic labor laws. In many sweatshops, workers are not paid a livable wage, children are employed as workers, and working conditions are unsafe. Companies in countries like the United States get around labor laws by outsourcing labor to other (poorer) places. Consumerism also contributes to classism, as the acquisition of expensive items is often treated as a status symbol.

Consumerism is present in nearly every aspect of Western culture, and this includes spirituality and witchcraft. There are multiple “Beginner Witch Kits” for sale from Amazon and other online retailers which include candles, crystals, and incense — which is great, as long as that’s all stuff you’ll actually use in your practice. (I mean, do you really need twelve different varieties of incense?) Witchy authors and bloggers often treat magic like a matching game, where every problem requires a very specific herb or crystal. YouTube is full of “witch hauls,” videos solely dedicated to showing off new purchases. All of this contributes to a commercialized witchy aesthetic, which can only be achieved by buying the tools of the trade.

I get it. Shopping is fun, especially when you’re still learning about magic and magical items. It’s exciting to search for the perfect crystal or incense blend, especially if you have a local metaphysical store where you can shop in person. But owning the right stuff doesn’t make you a witch. All you need to practice magic is your will — everything else is optional.

I’m not saying every witch should be a hardcore minimalist, or that you can never buy new things. What I am saying is that all of us, witches or not, need to be more mindful of how we spend our money and the impact of our purchases on the world around us.

How to Avoid Consumerism

If you’re considering buying something, ask yourself if you’ll really get use out of it. For example, I don’t use a lot of tools in my practice because I prefer to work with my hands, so it wouldn’t make sense for me to buy an expensive wand or ritual knife. Don’t feel like you have to buy something just because another witch uses it — if you don’t think you’ll use it, don’t buy it.

Don’t buy multiples of the same tool. Instead of buying multiple different colored altar cloths for different times of year, buy one white altar cloth you can use year-round. Instead of buying multiple tarot decks, find one or two you really enjoy working with. You get the idea. (Obviously, there will be some items you need more than one of, like spell candles. This rule applies more to tools that can be reused.)

Replace things as they run out instead of buying them before you need them. Buying things in bulk can lead to unnecessary waste and drawers full of unused magical supplies. Buy things you know you’ll really use, and only buy one or two at a time. Use up the items you have before you buy more.

Invest in items that have multiple uses. For example, most kitchen spices can also be used in spells — search your spice cabinet before ordering special ingredients online. There are some items that have multiple magical uses, like rosemary and salt. Buy a couple of these multitaskers instead of a large collection of herbs with very specific uses.

Use the “two week” rule. This is something I do to keep myself from making impulse purchases. If I think I want to buy something online, I wait two weeks before I order it. If I still want it after two weeks, I take that as a sign that I’ll actually get some use from it.

Go “shopping” in your backyard. Familiarize yourself with the plants, animals, and minerals that are native to your area and go foraging for spell supplies instead of buying them. Items you can probably find near your home that could be used in ritual include leaves and flowers, pine cones, seed pods, tree branches, rocks, and naturally shed feathers. Just make sure you never harvest enough of a plant to hurt it, and make sure you properly disinfect any animal products you pick up.

If you can, make it yourself. Not only does making your own magic items save money, it also creates a much stronger personal link between you and that item. You can grow your own magical herbs in a garden or in indoor pots. Many common magical tools, like brooms and wands, are easy to make at home with some basic craft skills. Making your own items also means you can customize them, tailoring them to your own craft.

If you can’t make it yourself, but it used. There are some items you can’t reasonably make yourself, like incense burners, cauldrons, and books on the craft. But you can find most of these items used, either in thrift stores or online on websites like Ebay and Depop. Buying used almost always ends up being cheaper than buying new, and because you’re buying items already in circulation you aren’t contributing to a linear economy. Thrifting is also a great way to find unique items that won’t be like what anyone else has on their altar.

If you can’t find it used, support a small business. Sometimes, you can’t make what you need or find it in a thrift store. In that case, buying from a small business is preferable to buying from a big retailer like Amazon. When you support a small business, you’re supporting an individual rather than contributing to some CEO’s massive yearly bonus. A lot of small business owners make their items themselves, which avoids sweatshop labor. Pretty much everything I buy new for my craft comes from Etsy sellers — there are a LOT of witches on Etsy, so with a little digging you can easily find exactly what you’re looking for!

Don’t buy crystals. I know, I know. Thanks to social media, large crystal collections have become synonymous with witchcraft. But the crystal trade is highly unethical, with unsustainable mining techniques, dangerous working conditions, and child labor. Because of a lack of regulations, it’s virtually impossible to find crystals that are truly ethically sourced. Most sellers don’t know where their crystals come from and can’t guarantee that no workers were harmed in their extraction. No stone is worth the health and safety of other human beings, no matter how pretty.

Avoiding consumerism in your witchcraft means being less reliant on tools and set dressing. This will allow you to rely on your own energy and will, which will lead to a deeper and more meaningful spiritual practice.

Resources:

Revolutionary Witchcraft by Sarah Lyons

Simply Living Well by Julia Watkins

“11 Facts About Sweatshops” on dosomething.org

“Child labour in the fashion supply chain” from The Guardian

“Bangladesh factory collapse toll passes 1,000” from BBC News

“Are crystals the new blood diamonds?” from The Guardian

“Dark crystals: the brutal reality behind a booming wellness craze” from The Guardian

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snvxiii · 2 years

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Snow-Centric Merch Haul Part 2: MyM Magazine Issue #21

03/18/22 | Bought on Mercari | 15.90 USD (free shipping)

Welcome to part 2 of my Snow-Centric Merch Haul!

*Despite my listing of dates, merch-find posts will be out-of-order.

TIL:

MyM Magazine is a UK-based magazine subscription.

Amazon does not offer free shipping on magazine subscriptions... yes, even old ones.

You can buy the issue New on Amazon for 7.95 + 5.85 shipping. Which is cheaper and, hopefully, better condition than what I paid for it!

My thoughts:

I impulse-bought this as soon as it popped up on my feed. I broke the cardinal rule of online shopping: always price-check before buying! Especially on Mercari, where the prices tend to run higher than either eBay or Amazon.

I was just incredibly excited to see an actual magazine use Snow's render on the cover instead of Lightning's–the game's named after her, after all!

In my biased opinion: good choice. Anyone who played FFXIII remembers Snow as the hero (for better or worse). The visual changes we see in Snow tell a much greater story than Lightning, who went from soldier > goddess > ... vigilante?

I think LR is her weakest design, followed by XIII-2. I don't feel either tell us much about Lightning or the growth she experienced herself–just the roles forced onto her.

Anyways...

I appreciate how clean the render sits on a white background, with the content framing Snow–all the tangents point right to him. He's the quiet spot, sitting in the middle of all the LOUD and BOLDED text.

The shadows and subtle blue lighting look right out of a photoshoot haha. Good on the designer.

I love how the handle of the axe occupies on the empty space on the bottom left. It's meaningful empty space–it guides the viewer's attention right back to Snow.

The item itself:

I sell too. I love good packaging, detailed item descriptions, etc.

The only flaw is a slight tear on the back cover. All pages are clean, no worn spine, no dog-ears or other folds from what I can see.

It was sent in a bubble mailer, inside a plastic wrap (this is the correct way to ship things to avoid weather damage) with cardboard inserted.

I did skim the pages inside. The LR pages gave a quick summary, showed Lumina, Lightning, etc. Nothing that piqued my interest.

Final thoughts:

I should make my own Snow-centric magazine. I have a degree. I have the illustration, design, and writing know-how. I can commission "guest" artists.

Hm. If I can produce, let's say, twenty illustrations... ahaha. Maybe a longer-term project that I can stack on top of my other many projects.

#snow villiers #final fantasy xiii #final fantasy 13 #ffxiii #ff13 #lightning returns #merch haul

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mostlysignssomeportents · 3 years

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Podcasting "Qualia"

This week on my podcast, I read “Qualia,” my May, 2021 Locus Magazine column about quantitative bias, epidemiology, antitrust and drug policy. It’s a timely piece, given the six historic antitrust laws that passed the House Judiciary Committee last week:

https://doctorow.medium.com/moral-hazard-and-monopoly-42e30eb159a8

The pandemic delivered some hard lessons about quantitative bias — that’s when you pay attention to the parts of a problem that you can do math on, not because they’re the most important, but because you know how to do math.

The most obvious lesson comes from the failure of exposure notification apps, which were supposed to take the place of “shoe-leather” contact tracing, wherein a public health workers establish personal rapport with infected people to help identify others who might be at risk.

Contact tracing is a human process, built on trust: trust enough to talk about the intimate details of your life, trust enough to take advice on how to get tested and whether you should self-isolate.

That’s not what apps do.

Exposure notification apps measure whether a Bluetooth device you registered was close to another Bluetooth device for a “clinically significant” period of time.

That’s it.

They don’t measure qualitative aspects, like whether you were close to an infected person because you were in the same traffic jam in adjacent, sealed automobiles — or whether you were both at the Ft Lauderdale eyeball-licking championship.

And they certainly don’t create the personal rapport that’s needed to understand each person’s idiosyncratic health circumstances and complications — whether they need child care, or are at risk of losing their under-the-table jobs if they self-isolate.

We didn’t want to commit the resources to do contact tracing at scale, we didn’t know how to automate it — but we did know how to automate exposure notification, so we incinerated the qualitative elements and declared the dubious quantitative residue to be sufficient.

It’s the quant’s version of searching for your car keys under the lamp-post because it’s too dark where you dropped them.

It’s not just foolish, it’s also deceptive — quantizing qualitative elements is a subjective exercise that produces numbers that seem objective.

This is where antitrust law comes in. Prior to the neoliberal revolution of the Reagan years, antitrust concerned itself with “harmful dominance,” with regulators asking whether mergers and commercial practices were bad for the world.

Obviously, “bad for the world” is hard to measure. Regulators evaluated claims from all corners: both political scientists worried about the outsized lobbying power of large companies and workers worried about monopolies’ outsized power over wages and conditions got a say.

So did environmentalists, urban planners, and yes, economists, too.

The Chicago School — hard-right conservative economists with cult-like status among Reagan and big business simps — insisted that all this qualitative stuff had to go.

They argued that consideration of qualitative elements left too much up to judges, so two similar companies engaged in similar conduct might get different verdicts out of the antitrust system. This, they said, make a mockery of the notion of “equal treatment before the law.”

Instead, the Chicago Boys — led by Robert Bork, a Nixonite criminal and a sort of court sorcerer to Reagan — demanded that qualitative measures be left behind in favor of a purely quantitative analysis of whether a monopoly hurt “consumer welfare.”

The way you’d measure “consumer welfare” was by checking to see whether a monopoly was making prices go up — if not, the monopoly was deemed “efficient” and thus socially beneficial. Prices are numbers, numbers can be measured.

But that’s not how it worked in practice. When two companies wanted to merge, they could hire a Chicago fixer to construct a mathematical model that “proved” that they resulting megafirm would not raise prices.

No one could argue with this, because Chicago School consultants had a monopoly over building and interpreting these models — the same way court magicians laid exclusive claim to the ability to slaughter an animal and read the future in its guts.

And if the prices did go up? Well, the same Chicago model-makers would be paid to produce a new model to prove that the price-rises were not the result of monopoly, but rather, rising energy costs or higher wages or the moon being in Venus.

Even by their own lights, “consumer welfare” was a failure. Monopolies drive prices up. Amazon Prime is a tool to drive up prices in every store, not just Amazon:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/01/you-are-here/#prime-facie

Apple’s App Store monopoly drives up app prices:

https://www.engadget.com/2019-05-13-supreme-court-apple-app-store-price-fixing-lawsuit.html

Luxxotica bought every eyewear brand and every eyewear retailer and the world’s largest optical lens manufacturer and drove prices up 1000%:

https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-glasses-lenscrafters-luxottica-monopoly-20190305-story.html

The highly concentrated pharma industry raises prices every single year:

https://patientsforaffordabledrugs.org/2021/01/14/2021-price-hikes-pr/

What’s more, there’s a straight line from “consumer welfare” to price-fixing.

Think about publishing. A decade ago, the Big Six publishers were embroiled in a bid to force Amazon to raise ebook prices, which led to fines and settlements for harming “consumer welfare.”

Today, the Big Six publishers are the Big Four, because Random House, the largest publisher in the world, gobbled up Penguin and Simon & Schuster. When RH, S&S and Penguin were three companies, it was illegal for them to collude on pricing.

But after their mergers, the three former CEOs — now presidents of divisions within an unimaginably giant company — can meet in a board room and plan exactly the same price-fixing strategy, and that isn’t illegal under “consumer welfare” antitrust — it’s “efficient.”

The Chicago School’s “consumer welfare” was only ever a front for “shareholder welfare,” the ability of large firms to avoid “wasteful competition” and extract an ever-larger share of the take for shareholders at the expense of customers, workers and the public.

The entire business of “consumer welfare” is a fraud, starting with Robert Bork’s insistence that a close reading of the US’s four major antitrust laws will reveal that they were never intended to be used for any purpose *other* than consumer welfare protections.

This is manifestly untrue, a Qanon-grade conspiracy that is refuted by the plain language of the statutes, the statements of their sponsors, and the record of the Congressional debates leading to their passage.

Despite the wealth of evidence that US antitrust is not a “consumer welfare” project, neoliberals have insisted that their project was not “reforming” antitrust, but rather, “restoring” it to its original purpose.

It’s a Big Lie, and they know it. That’s why GOP Senators Mike Lee (UT) and Chuck Grassley (IA) introduced “The TEAM Act to Reform Antitrust Law” — a bill intended to neutralize the muscular new antitrust bills that just passed the House committee.

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2021/06/25/the-plan-to-water-down-antitrust-reform/

The bill does two things:

It takes antitrust authority away from the FTC, sidelining the incredible Lina Khan, a once-in-a-generation antitrust scholar who now runs the agency; and

It codifies “consumer welfare” as the basis for US antitrust law.

That second part is the tell: after 40 years of insisting that any rational reading of US antitrust proved that “consumer welfare” was obviously its sole purpose, they’re now introducing a law to *change* its purpose to “consumer welfare.”

Like the Stolen Election lie, they never truly believed this one. The pose of objectivity that quantizing antitrust allowed was never about creating a truly objective standard for competition policy — it was only ever about neutering competition policy.

The thing is, there is a way to integrate both the objective and subjective into policy-making — as was demonstrated by David Nutt’s 2008 leadership of the UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which established the policy framework for a wide range of drugs.

Nutt’s panel of experts rated drugs based on how harmful they were to their users, the users’ families, and wider society. This allowed him to sort drugs into three categories:

Drugs that were dangerous irrespective of your public health priorities;

Drugs that were safe irrespective of your public health priorities; and

Drugs whose safety changed based on whether you prioritized the safety of users, families or society.

Those priorities are a political choice, not an empirical finding. Nutt told Parliament that it was their job to establish those subjective priorities, and once they did, he could objectively tell them how to embody them in the rules for each drug.

This is a beautiful example of how the objective and subjective fit together in policy — and the tale of what happened next is a terrible example of how “consumer welfare” hurts us all.

You see, booze is one of the most concentrated industries in the world. The “consumer welfare” standard let booze companies buy one another until just a handful remain — globe-straddling collosii with ample resources to influence policy-makers.

Nutt, an empiricist, reported just as rigorously on the harms of booze — one of the most dangerous drugs in the world — as he did on other drugs. He was fired for refusing to retract his true statement that tobacco and alcohol were more dangerous than many banned drugs.

Thanks to “consumer welfare” antitrust, the alcohol industry is able to choose who its regulators are, and use their political influence — purchased with the excessive profits of a monopolist — to rid themselves of pesky officials who actually pursue objective policy.

You can read the column here:

https://locusmag.com/2021/05/cory-doctorow-qualia/

And here’s the podcast episode:

https://craphound.com/news/2021/06/28/qualia/

As well a direct link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the @InternetArchive; they’ll host your stuff for free, forever):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_395/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_395_-_Qualia.mp3

And here’s a link to my podcast feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

Image: OpenStax Chemistry: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Figure_24_01_03.jpg

CC BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

#pluralistic

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publiccollectors · 3 years

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From the discussion “Towards A Self Sustaining Publishing Model” hosted by Printed Matter.

Some things I have learned in over 30 years of publishing since my teenage days as a zine maker, administrating my project Public Collectors, and from working in the group Temporary Services and our publishing imprint Half Letter Press.

I have just ten minutes to speak. If only one or two things that I share are useful, that’s plenty! It took me decades to understand some of this stuff.

Use every exhibition invitation with a budget to print something. Use the whole budget to print something. Make something in a large enough print run so that you have something to give away and surplus that you can sell. Your publication can be a folded sheet of paper, a booklet, a newspaper, a poster, a book, or anything in between.

Be able to print at least something at home. Buy a cheap laser printer or inkjet printer, find a used copy machine, buy a RISO or some other duplicator, carve something into a potato or a piece of foam and print it. Being able to do at least some of the printing and production at home—even if it’s on a tiny scale—will compel you to print things that you might have convinced yourself not to send out or bring to a professional printer. Hopefully the ability to print impulsively and compulsively will result in good work. Figure out how to keep making things on every scale. Look for cheap used printing equipment on Craigslist. Team up with friends and buy equipment together that you can share. Start a printing collective in your basement.

Ideally your publication should cost 1/5th or 1/6th of the retail price to make. If you sell a $10.00 publication through a store, you are probably only going to make $6.00 or less after the store takes its cut. So ideally your $10.00 book costs $2.00 or less to make. Don’t aim to just break even. Aim to make a profit so you can keep making more publications and pay for your life. Publishing will probably never be your sole income but don’t lose money on purpose. Make things that are priced fairly and look like they justify what they cost to buy. The fact that you didn’t find a more affordable way to print something is not an excuse to sell something that feels cheap and shitty for a ridiculous sum of money. Good cheap printing is easier to find than ever before. Do your homework.

Figure out the cheapest and least wasteful ways to do everything. Ask other publishers where they get their work printed. Look for local printers so you can avoid shipping fees. Ask local printers if you can pay in cash for a discount. Ask printers if there is a cheaper way to do what you want to do by adjusting the size of your paper or the paper stock or some other small shift in form. If you print things yourself, buy the paper that is on sale. Design a publication around the paper that you found for cheap. Discount warehouses sometimes have good paper. Even dollar stores sometimes have good paper. I’ve even bought paper at flea markets. Costco sells an 800 sheet ream of 24 lb paper for $6.99. I use it all the time. It rules. I also recommend getting your jugs of organic olive oil there, but you can’t print with that.

Free printing is good printing. If you have access to free printing, use it. Free printing is like free food at art openings and conference receptions. It is one of those pleasures in life that never gets old. Come up with an idea that is based around the aesthetics of whatever free printing you have access to and make the publication that way. Eat the cheese and bread. Drink the wine. Make the copies at work.

Buy bulk shipping mailers on eBay. Find bubble wrap and other packing materials in the trash. Look out for neighbors who just bought new furniture—it’s usually wrapped in miles of packing material you can use for shipping books. Boycott terrible right wing fuckers like ULINE. Seriously, they give money to everyone horrible. Trump? Check. Ted Cruz? Check. Scott Walker? Check. ROY FUCKING MOORE? CHECK FUCKING CHECK! Tear up their catalogs and use them as packing material to protect your books. Make publications that have a consistent size so you can purchase cardboard mailers in bulk and get a discount on them. Buy packing tape in bulk. Buy everything in bulk. You can store your extra reams of paper under your bed or on top of your kitchen cabinets if necessary. Be like a wacko survivalist prepper, but for office supplies. Go to estate sales and look for the home office in the house. Buy the dead person’s extra tape and staples and rulers and scissors. I’ve been using some random dead person’s staples for years because I bought their staple hoard. Staples aren’t like meat and milk. They don’t expire.

I’m against competition. Try to avoid competing with other artists for resources. If you don’t truly need the money, don’t ask for it. Artists should have a section on their CV where they list grants they could have easily gotten but didn’t apply for because they are privileged enough that they don’t need the money as much as someone else. I almost never apply for anything but the one thing I do apply for and get every year is a part-time faculty development grant from Columbia College Chicago where I teach. It pays adjuncts up to $2,500 a year to fund their projects and seems to be completely non-competitive. My union negotiated to get us more money. I have used that grant to make over a dozen publications. The value of the publications I make and sell with each grant is about three or four times the value of the grant itself. Some years I make more from the grant than I do from the limited number of classes I teach. But I don’t depend on this grant to be a publisher and I’d still be able to make things without it.

Make things in different price ranges so everyone can afford your work, but also so that you can sustain your practice. Make a publication that costs $2.00, that costs $6.00, that costs $20.00, and make something special for the fancy ass institutional libraries that have a lot of money to spare and can buy something that costs $300.00. Likewise, make things in all different size print runs. Is there something you can print 1,000 of that you can keep selling and giving away for years, to enjoy that quantity discount that comes with offset printing a large number of publications?

Collaborate with people and pay them with publications (if they are cool with that) that they can sell on their own. Sometimes this ends up being better pay and more useful than an honorarium, and it helps justify a larger print run. But see what they need—don’t assume. Barter with other publishers and sell each other’s work and let each other keep the money. This helps with distribution. Sometimes it’s easier to sell their work than it is to sell your own. Help others expand the audience for their publications.

Fund your publishing practice by asking your friends who teach to invite you to talk to their college classes about your work. Use those guest speaker fees to print something. I sometimes tell people on social media: If three or four people will invite me to speak to their class, it could fund the entire next issue of X booklet series that you like so much. This has often worked. Also, sometimes their students end up ordering publications. Sometimes lectures about publications generate more income than the publications themselves.

Have an emailing list and write newsletters to announce new publications. Stay in touch with people who like what you do. Expect to spend a ton of time corresponding with people. Have some cheap things and cool ephemera on hand that you can send people for free when they mail order your publications. Reward people who support you directly with something nice that they didn’t expect. People like handwritten notes. It’s okay if they are very short but sign the packing slip and at least write “Thank you!”

Above all, know that publishing is a life journey and not a get rich quick scheme, or even a make very much money scheme. Enjoy the experience of meeting and working with others, trade your publications with other publishers and build up an amazing library of small press, hard to find artist books. Get vaccinated and travel and sleep on each other’s couches. Be generous with your time, knowledge, resources, and work. Tell Jeff Bezos to fuck off by never selling anything you make through Amazon. Find the bookstores that you love and work with them forever. It’s nicer to have deeper relationships with fewer bookstores than surface level interactions with dozens of shops run by people you don’t know.

Think about your publishing family. Bookstore people are your family. People that organize book fairs and zine fests are your publishing family. Other publishers are your family. People who follow your work for years on end are your family. Printers and binderies are your family. The postal workers that know you by name and that you know by name are your family. The person who doesn’t care if you make the free copies at work is your family. Over thirty years later, I’m still in contact with people I exchanged zines with through the mail when I was a teenager. In some cases I still haven’t met them in person. It’s fine! They are my family. Your students are your family—particularly once they graduate or drop out, as long as they continue making books and zines. Your family is your family, particularly if they value and support your publishing practice. And for this reason, this talk is dedicated to my late father Bruce Fischer, who let me use the company copier and postage meter when I was in high school, and to my mom who sat on the floor with me and helped me hand collate and staple my zines.

That’s what I’ve got for now. Stay in touch and with luck, and enough vaccines and masks and hand sanitizer, maybe I’ll see you at a book fair. – Marc Fischer • Thank you to Be Oakley of GenderFail for the invitation to present, to the other presenters Vivian Sming, Yuri Ogita, and Devin Troy Strother, and to the wonderful people at Printed Matter for hosting this! You should be able to find the video archived on Printed Matter’s YouTube Channel. Presented on April 2, 2021

#Public Collectors #Publishing #Printed Matter #Be Oakley #Sming Sming #Coloured Publishing #GenderFail

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the-fiction-witch · 3 years

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Unicorn P1

REAL LIFE COUPLE: TBS X READER X GZI RATING: SEXY

I smirked as I laid back on the bed gasping for breath my hand in my head as I calmed down best I could staring up at the white ceiling trying to avoid gus sat in his little bed watching us as he usually did, and d Salvador on the windowsill, at least he wasn't watching he didn't give a shit what was going on. "Tommy?" She asks beside me as she too stared up at the ceiling fixing her red lace nightie "Yeah?" I asked her still a little tried out "Do you ever get bored?" ".... What do you mean bored?" "Like, of sex? Together?" "What- what are you getting at here honey?" "Do you ever get bored of us having sex?" "No. I'm thrilled. I'm quite content darling. Why do you ask?" "Just thinking" "I like sex with you, do you... Not like having sex with me?" "I like it" "So... Why are you asking if I'm bored of it?" "I don't know, maybe we could... Spice things up" she encouraged "As in... Handcuffs? Spanking? Sexy lingerie? What angle are we working at here?" "Eh, that's all kinda boring still," she says "Honey. Will you please just... Speak your mind, even if it bad I just wanna know what you're actually thinking about" "I think I want to go unicorn hunting," she says laying her head on my chest "Hu?" I asked a little confused but smiled playing with her curly hair anyways "you can buy it on Amazon?" "Not an actual unicorn Tommy, that's just what it's called" "What what's called?" "Tommy... You remember when we went on holiday in the snow" "I remember it well" "And there was that nice warm hot tub in the snow" she smirked pressing kisses up my chest "And you decided to go in the snow completely naked?" I remind her "Wasn't that fun? And exciting? and sexy?" "It was, I did like hot tub sex" "And do you remember when we were in La and I kept kinda flirting with Chris" "Ummm I remember" I sighed still a little jealous I have to admit. "And you remember when we were in Germany for your show and I kept saying how cute Anya was?" ".... How long have you been thinking about this without telling me?" I asked sitting up "A year or two?" "So... Pretty much as long as we've been dating?' "Kinda, yeah" "Why do you have a weird fascination with making me jealous?" "Your fun when you're jealous" "So potentially you wanna bring someone else into... The sexy time?" "Yeah" she nods "Okay, not Chris. Or your housemate" "Why?" She whines "Because Chris is in La so it wouldn't be fair... And he's more attractive than I am. And not your housemate, he's already seen my dick and it's weird enough" I sighed laying back down "That's fair, and if we rule out everyone more attractive than you Tommy were never gonna find anyone" she laughed laying her head on my stomach "Hey!" "Love ya" she giggled "Love you too" I smiled giving her a kiss.

"Sophie?' she suggested as we sat in my car "Ehh. Not that into Sophie" I shrug "We could call Dylan?" "No. I'm not adding fuel to that Goddam fire of someone finds out about it" I sighed "and... I'd rather it not be a guy, not the first time we do it because it's going to be complicated so maybe a girl first" "yeah, I see your point. What about Jessie?" ".... Okay that's the best suggestion I've heard all week" "I don't think she would think?" "No?" "She's not as crazy as I am" "You said it honey not me," "Love ya" "Love you too, you can't keep saying that to get out of things you know" "It works" she shrugs "I know" I sighed ".. ooh what about that uhhh ohh what's her name, blonde hair, massive sunglasses, really likes gus?' "Chloe?"

"yes that one, I like her"

"I like her, don't wanna have sex with her," she says as we parked up

"Fair enough hun. Right, you're going to get your tattoo touched up, I am going for groceries?"

"Yep, and have a wander in the sex shop see if you can find anything fun" she says sorting her handbag

"I'm not going in a sex shop on my own, someone spots me it'll be on Twitter, or Instagram. The update time is only fifteen minutes remember"

"Twelve they got faster"

"Damn it. they're getting quick, we wanna look at sexy stuff we will do it on the computer okay?"

"Fine, see you in a bit"

"see you in a bit" I smiled giving her a kiss before she climbed out the car and went off to get her tattoo touched up, I drove down the street a bit to the supermarket to do some shopping. I kept thinking about it, I didn't know how to feel in all honesty I mean I'm not gonna turn down a threesome I'm not an idiot. But I don't know, I feel like I'm opening a door that I might not be able to close, still it's only a bit of fun. I could always put my foot down about things it it got out of hand, whether or not she'd listen to me is a completely different matter. I wondered around a good long while making sure I got everything and as I headed out my phone rang

'Gzi <3'

so I answered, "Aww Hi honey you all done?" I asked her

"Yep, all done at the coffee shop around the corner I'll order for you"

"Aww Thanks You know what I like"

"I do" she smirked

"What? what's that... smarty little tone for?"

"I uhhhh May have found someone" she whispered

"Yeah? who?"

"You'll find out" she smirked before hanging up

I was nervous, but egar to find out so I loaded the car and walked around to the little coffee shop where I spotted her sat at a table with three cups of coffee, so I headed over "Hey honey" I smiled giving her head a kiss as I sat down

"Hey Tommy" she smiled

"So?"

"so?"

"who have you found?"

"Someone... I think you'll like. and I like."

"Okay," I said a little nervous sipping my coffee Ohh I needed that, I need more coffee.

"This Must be Thomas then" A voice asked I looked up and saw a girl, with a plait of Y/H/c in a little purple dress with black fishnets, and what looked honestly like motorbike boots

"Uhhh yeah, Hi" I said getting up offering my hand she smiled taking it and giving my cheek a kiss before she sat on the other chair

"This is y/n, we met in the tattoo shop she was getting work done too" she smiled holding my hand clearly very excited, I sat for a while sipping my coffee watching the girls talk, about clothes, about tattoo's, and all sorts of other things, I was listening mostly I could see why she got so excited about this girl, but someone she just let in a tattoo shop?

"So, what did you think? about what I was telling you?" she asked y/n

Y/n sipped her coffee, crossed her legs and turned to me looking me up and down a little "I'd be down if you are"

"Wait you... told her?"

"Yeah," "Honey, maybe it's not a good idea to go around telling people about this?"

"relax, your secret's safe with me. this wouldn't be my first unicorn hunt" y/n smiled "Look I gotta run but you guys can think it over, you have my number anyway darling" she smiled giving her a kiss and then my cheek a kiss before getting her backpack and heading off out the shop, we finished our coffee in silence and headed back to the car

"Are you mad at me?"

"I'm not... mad at you. How many people did you tell?"

"Just y/n, we were waiting in the shop and we got talking she's really nice I got her number because I wanted to chat with her honestly she seems really cool and fun, either way I made a new freind"

"Okay well I'm glad you like her, and honestly.... I like her too she seems cool definitely someone I wanna get a drink with maybe hang out in the garden and stuff but... I don't know if she's the one?"

"She's Bisexual"

"She is? Hu.

"And she's been a unicorn before so she knows how it works,"

"True"

"And she has great tits"

"she did look like she good tits" I said as I drove "... so how does it work then?"

"Like tinder, or like a friend with benefits does Tommy, we're horny so we call her up she comes over and we have sex?"

"wait, we have sex? as in me and y/n? You and y/n? me and you? or is this-"

"It's a freeforall"

"Okay, Can you have sex with her on your own when I'm... away for example?"

"Yes,"

"Can I have sex with her if your away?"

"Yes."

"do we have to tell the other we did?"

"If you want I don't care, if she becomes our proper unicorn she'll just be there like an open relationship but just between the three of us"

"I am.... Okay with this. But I wanna meet with her again have her over again before we"

"Before we all fuck each other?"

"yes."

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