#i get the least sold collection that- the last time it was up for sale- it was SO cheap and also its like lowkey highkey ugly.

[differentclasss]

Hardcore - Neil Lewis x Reader (smut)

summary: You and Neil watch an old porno together and you give him a blow job.

a/n: i'm not going to go into the ethics of pornography. do what you gotta do. thanks!

warnings: smut, porn, female reader, and not too much else.

Gumshoe Video had its fair share of slow days, some days you and your boyfriend Neil would just sit on the couch watching whatever movie he picked out. Other days were spent going through whatever videos you hadn’t had the time to catalog yet. Today was one of the latter. You had gotten lucky at a garage sale and found a massive milk crate of old video tapes. The whole thing was only ten bucks and was filled with tapes. You bought it from a guy who sheepishly explained his wife had sold the VHS player at their last garage sale and didn’t have any use for them anymore. Whatever his reason was, you were just happy to arrive at Gumshoe the next day with a bunch of new tapes.

Neil was already there when you arrived with the crate in tote. You greeted him with a kiss on the cheek after you put the milk crate on the front desk. 

“Only ten bucks!” You explained while gesturing to the crate. 

“Anything good?” He asked with an amused smile as he picked up a tape and quickly looked at it.

“Haven’t had the chance to go through it yet.” You told him. “I think I saw a copy of Titanic.”

“Just what we need,” Neil teased. “Another copy of Titanic.”

You two go through the tapes on the couch, it’s all pretty normal stuff. A few good ones here and there but mostly the typical VHSs you would find in any family collection. You check each tape for any visible damage and have to chuck a few out. After an hour or so, you start to see the bottom of the crate through a few old tapes. You spot a collection of pornographic tapes at the bottom, purposefully hidden from anyone who would’ve seen it. You giggle a little when you pick up a copy of some raunchy erotica called Passion Toys. Neil looks over at you as you hold it up to him. The cover was of a girl standing in front of the movie's title holding her hands over her breasts. It’s probably from the 1980s, based on the girl's hair and dated look to it. Neil laughs a little too. 

“I think we’ve reached the old guy's old porno stash.” You joke as you place the tape on the table in front of you. “I’m nervous about touching these.” You add with a little laugh.

Gumshoe had a very small selection of pornographic films, most of the ones the store did have were the garden variety art house ones. You know, ones that wouldn’t be considered that pornographic in current times. Think Andy Warhol’s Blue Movie. Most of the time, when someone did rent these movies, you assumed they had to be pretentious even when getting their rocks off. These tapes on the other hand were full-blown pornos. Raunchy ones by the look of it. 

“Jesus,” Neil laughed and picked up one. “At least they seem pretty normal. Typical pornos from the 80's.”

“Yeah, still pretty funny though.” You tell him and look at the back of one and read through its vague plot, only promising the best and totally real orgasms on screen.

“You ever watch one of these?” He asks and looks at you curiously.

 

“Have I watched porn?” You ask and look up at him with a small grin.

“No, like have you watched, I don't know what you would call these, classic porn.” He asks. “Like on a VHS.”

“No, why?” You look at him with an eyebrow raised and a small grin still on your lips. “Have you?”

You wondered what he was getting at. It was true though, you never watched porn on a VHS tape. It seemed rather impractical considering the current modes of watching it. You felt a little embarrassed even talking about it with him, even if he was your boyfriend. Porn wasn’t what you wanted to talk about with him, it was a pathetic private thing. Not something you felt like you could freely talk about it. 

“No.” He shook his head. “Do you want to?”

“Neil!” You gasp, a little shocked at the proposition. “You can’t be serious…”

“Oh c’mon!” He tells you with a laugh. “It’ll be funny. We can’t put this out for rent, so we might as well just see what it’s about before we put it away in storage.” He offers. 

“You’re gross.” You tease and then pick up the copy of Passion Toys. “But since you’re twisting my arm, then fine. Put this in and we’ll watch it.”

Neil smiles and takes the tape from your hands. He goes to the VHS player and inserts it in. You feel a little weird watching it out in the open of the store but remind yourself that the door is still locked. The film starts with a woman at a party who is talking to a few men. She pulls one of the men aside to a small room. They kiss and have some very moving dialogue. You can’t help but giggle at the cheapness of it all. She gives him an overly enthusiastic blow job.

“God!” You exclaim and look over at Neil. “This is terrible, they’re not even fucking and she’s acting like she’s coming.”

“I don’t think people watch these for the plot…” Neil responds.

“Obviously!” You laugh.

The film continues and she moved on to another guy in the film, fucking him in a different room. You and Neil continue to laugh and make a few jokes about it. It’s a little weird to watch together but you try to move past it. During a drawn-out scene where the woman and a man are fucking each other in doggy, you laugh a little awkwardly. The scene seems to go on way too long like it’s the finale or something. From the corner of your eye, you see Neil shift in his seat, crossing his legs ever so slightly. 

“You good?” You ask, looking over at him, he nods quickly. “Why are you sitting like that?”

“Just more comfortable.” He responds with a red face. 

“More comfortable?” You ask and turn yourself to him. 

“Yeah…” He says and looks forward. 

You have a sneaking suspicion he’s hiding an erection. You stifle a laugh and look at him with a teasing smile. You get closer to him and he blushes when you move to have your thigh against him. 

“Is this great piece of film giving you a hard-on?” You ask teasingly. 

“Shut up.” He says with an embarrassed look. "It’s a normal bodily reaction. I’m watching something that’s made to turn people people on.”

“And this is so very erotic.” You reply sarcastically while putting your head on his shoulder and lightly tracing his arm with your fingertips. You do it mostly because you know that any sort of touch is torture for him right now. 

The film continues but now it feels like it’s painfully long. Neil feels like he’s going to explode right then and there with you giving him the lightest of touches. The movie starts to wrap up, the woman is lying in bed now and the man pulls off of her. You look over at Neil again lifting your head and giving him a little kiss on the neck. 

“I take it that you liked it?” You ask with a giggle.

“You’re killing me here,” He says and looks over at you. His hands drift over to you and he brings you on top of him. “That was torture.”

“Oh yeah,” You giggle and can’t help but tease him more. “It’s so very hot hearing a woman go, ‘Oh, yeah, just like that! Just like that!’ Over and over again…”

“It’s pretty hot hearing you say that.” Neil chuckles and moves his hands under your shirt. 

“You’re disgusting.” You laugh and then kiss him. 

You hardly think you were that turned on by the cheap porno that was playing, you were under the impression that you were turned on by Neil’s neediness. You kissed his lips and then moved to his neck, rutting yourself against his clothed crotch as he whined. His hands moved to the tape of your neck and lightly held you there. 

 His moans and whimpers turned you on more than you wanted to let on. You ground yourself against him again, causing another whine to come from his lips. He muttered how bad he wanted you and you obliged. Your hands moved to his belt and you unbuckled it. Shimming off his pants, you lowered yourself down to face his crotch. You pulled down his boxers and could see how hard he was over this whole thing. He cursed when you gave his dick a slow stroke before putting it in your mouth. 

You took him fully in your mouth as he looked down at you. His hands moved to your hair and he gently pulled on it, causing you to slightly choke. A bit of drool escaped the corner of your mouth. You bobbed up and down, your jaw aching ever so slightly when you increased the speed of your bobbing.  You didn't think he was going to last long, given the circumstances.

“Fuck,” Neil whimpered overhead. “Gonna come…”

You continued to suck him off, your speed increasing as he got closer to his climax. Without another warning, he bucked his hips into the back of your throat as he kept a strong grip on your hair and came. You choked ever so slightly on his come but swallowed anyway. As he came off his high, he kept you there for a moment before letting go of your hair and watched as you straightened yourself out. He tucked himself away and zipped up the zipper of his jeans.

“Sorry,” He responded with a soft blush to his cheeks. “I uh… I guess I just have a strong appreciation for all types of film...”

“Or you’re just a pervert.” You giggle and sit back down with him and lean against him.  

“You were into it!” He teases.

“Maybe…” You say and then sit up. “We gotta open the store sometime today, come on.”

Neil shakes his head and sits up with you before looking at you with a small mischievous grin.

“Just one more movie?” He asks. “I swear this time only for educational purposes.”

You laugh and stand up, ruffling his hair as you start to walk to the front door.

“You’re something else.” You call out to him. “Maybe later though…”

#neil lewis x reader #neil lewis smut #neil lewis x y/n #neil lewis x you #watching the detectives #cillian murphy smut

[jarchaeology]

i really appreciate your work archiving jensen’s run on days of our lives, i am having a blast watching sammi’s wedding lol

is days of our lives considered lost media in any capacity? it seems crazy that there is really no way to watch previous seasons on DVDs or streaming. you have preserved literal YEARS of television, are other eras of the show that are just gone?

yay i’m glad you’re watching it!! sorry this took so long for me to answer. it was a super interesting question, which means it sat in my drafts forever.

old episodes of days are really fucking hard to get a hold of, but they do exist. they aren't sold in dvd boxsets or on any streaming service, but generations of soap fans have managed to capture a huge chunk of them on vhs. they just aren't accessible to everyone.

when i started this blog, i couldn't find more than a handful of jensen's episodes. the playlists people used in the past were all nuked for copyright reasons, and most private sales were just straight up scams. i finally found a site that i trusted, but it wasn't cheap. once i was able to raise enough to buy the episodes, i was determined to make them STAY available. that's why the youtube playlist is private. and even if that gets taken down, i have everything on the drive and have encouraged people to download and make their own copies. nothing lasts forever, but my collection has lasted longer than most.

all that being said, there are chunks of days of our lives that might truly be lost media. take a look at the "complete" days collection from the site i used. 1984-2024 is all accounted for, but 1965-1983 is pretty sparse. fans might have copies of those "missing" episodes in their private collections, but that's a whole new research question when you consider the fact that most homes didn't have the ability to record tv until VHS came around in the late 70s.

also, i do think that the network has some, if not all, of this footage. that's kinda the case with most "lost media." we presume it's lost, while also acknowledging that these giant companies probably have scrooge mcduck levels of storage somewhere. there is a time limit on how long material can last in the format it's recorded on, so i hope those archives are at least being well-taken care of.

#long answer for those willing to read a lot of words lol

[epiclamer]

Continue The Auction.

(this is a threat btw)

I got like thirty million asks to continue this one so…

@psychiclibrariesquotestoad @whumpsday @foxinlongsocks @chvrmor @snowshower @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump @hollowgast1 @bitchy-leftist-bisaster @fleur-alise @cupcakes-and-pain

Part 1

The Auction Pt. 2

“One hundred. Thousand. Dollars.” Villain spat and the whole room went silent. A few stray gasps and giggled whispers, but nobody dared to utter a word.

Supervillain smiled, their gleaming show host smirk was unnaturally perfect and it made Villains blood boil. They were going to pull every single one of their ghostly white teeth from their mouth.

“Going once, going twice, going three times…” Supervillains gaze fell back on their former friend. “Sold. To Villain up here in the front!”

An outrage of applause burst from the crowd, many villains going as far as to stand from their seats. After all, it was probably the most anyone had ever paid for a hero before in the auction.

Yet, Villain didn’t waste another second, pushing past the sea of criminals that were now flooding them for handshakes and signatures. So much for staying under the radar.

Villain raced up the steps and onto the stage, followed by the dizzying flash of cameras as they searched for their nemesis. One small trip over their own feet and they landed neatly in the supervillain’s arms. Their charmingly menacing gaze pierced through Villains skull as they helped them up and off behind the curtain. Leading them with small steps as if they were a child who needed guidance.

The villain shook themselves free from their superior’s strong hold as they headed for the velvety sheet. Behind which held many secrets and many scars.

They looked behind as they disappeared backstage, Supervillains grin had fallen and their appearance was anything but cheery. It was unsettling to say the least and when the supervillain’s smile returned it was colder than ice.

“Enjoy.”

The villain picked up their pace. Practically running to the “pickup” station as they fumbled through crowds of owners and buyers. When the villain had finally made it to the counter the last criminal had just finished their paperwork, saluting the desk worker as they headed for the exit.

Just because the auction put heroes on display didn’t mean you couldn’t buy any in advance. If someone was particularly keen on selling earlier than the planned date they could list them and people could get a sooner shot with a good sum of money. It made sense, but Villain wondered if they would’ve ever even realized Hero was for sale since they never checked the listings.

Thank the Gods, Supervillain was too proud to simply get rid of them and waited for the final show.

“Ooh, well if it isn’t the highest bidder. Quite the show you put on out there, hm? You must really want this hero…” The worker remarked, barely lifting their gaze from their computer as they slipped some papers in front of the villain.

“Sign here, here and here. Then head to room four o’ two. They’ll be waiting.”

Villain was done in a matter of seconds, racing off down the hall where they stumbled across their room quickly. They would’ve ripped the door open and rushed to Hero’s side, but something along the lines of guilt coiled in their chest and suddenly the realization that maybe Hero didn’t want to see them or to be with them struck.

This was the villain’s fault after all. If they had kept better tabs on their friends and enemies, maybe Hero would’ve never been put through all of this.

They opened the door, trying their best to stay calm and collected when their eyes landed on Hero’s form shaking and huddle in the corner. Hero was whimpering and crying softly as they hugged themselves into a ball. It reminded Villain of their former self, the one Hero helped encourage out of their shell, now Villain would have to do the same.

“Hero?”

Their whining stifled and they stilled from their shakes, but they didn’t turn or acknowledge the villain in any other way.

“Hero, hey, I’m here to help. I’m going to get you out of here.”

Villain took the risk and stepped into the room, taking soft and slow paces towards their former nemesis until they were only a foot away.

They kneeled down, “Hero, you’re okay now. I’m here. Remember me? It’s Villain.”

The villain reached a gentle hand out, ready to sensitize Hero to their touch in the kindest way possible. “Hero—”

However, the hero had other plans. The second Villains hand made contact with their shoulder, they pounced. Jumping up and turning to face the villain, bowling them over so their hips were pinned and kept low to the floor, while one of their hands held Villains head to the floor and the other kept a makeshift knife to their throat.

The other gave up the fight pretty quickly once they became aware of the weapon just inches away from bringing them a painful death. Villain relaxed and let Hero take control, their weak and malnourished body could’ve been easily overpowered, but if this is what they were most comfortable with then it was the first steps to gaining their trust.

That’s what mattered.

“Congrats, Villain. You won. You bought your life long enemy. Now, you’re going to listen very carefully or I’m going to kill you. Simple enough?”

Villain nodded, feeling the tip of the shiv dig into their skin like a pinprick. Drawing a droplet of blood as it slid down the side of their throat and onto the cement cell floor.

“You’re going to take me out of here, without any suspicion, and get in the passenger seat of your car. I’ll deal with the rest.”

#oooooh #so crazy #absolutely wild #also I just got over the flu #so like #sorry for the wait #hero x villain #villain #villain x hero #hero #drabbles #fantasy #imagines #oneshots #scenarios #heroes #villains #heroes and villains #villains and heroes #heroes x villains #villains x heroes #hero whump #hero whumpee #villain caretaker #supervillain whumper #whump #whumpee #caretaker #auction trope #auction

[ambrossart]

DANCING WITH MYSELF

— PART THREE

summary: eddie crashes senior prom hoping to steal a dance with his dream girl, chrissy cunningham. instead, he spends the night stuck in the women’s restroom with you—her snarky, insecure best friend. ❖ pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader ❖ word count: 2,950 ❖ genre: fluff with some angst ❖ series status: complete ❖ warnings: no season 4 spoilers, some coarse language, body image issues, allusions to eating disorders, typical teenage insecurities, angst, jealousy, anxiety, secret crushes, childhood memories, happy ending, lots of 80s music one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | nine | ten

A large, silver ring-clad hand slammed onto the prom admission table, making Edith Layne jolt upright in her chair. Her hand flew to the sweetheart neckline of her dress, clutching it in shock and disgust, as her green eyes fluttered up to meet the intense brown-eyed stare of Eddie Munson. 

Oh dear, she thought, and forced herself to smile. "Can I help you?" 

The corner of Eddie's mouth twitched upwards, forming a benign smirk. "Hi," he said. "I need to buy a prom ticket." 

A prom ticket? Edith thought, tilting her head in bewilderment. Is this some kind of joke?

It was impossible to picture Eddie "The Freak" Munson at prom... impossible and, frankly, a little frightening. Prom was a very elegant affair and Eddie, with his wild hair and unkempt appearance, simply didn't belong at such a sophisticated event. Edith was flattered by his attempt to dress himself up (the suit jacket was a size too small, but at least it was clean), but the jacket alone did little to soften Eddie's image. The ripped jeans, the dirty sneakers, not to mention all the satanic imagery on his shirt—Edith felt the urge to perform the sign of the cross over herself and clap her hands together in prayer—it just wasn't proper prom attire. 

But that was beside the problem.

"Um... well, actually..." Edith's fingertips crawled to the thick black frames of her glasses, pushing them a little higher up her button nose. "I'm sorry, but there seems to be a small misunderstanding. You see, we're not selling tickets here tonight. We're just collecting them for admission. See?" 

Edith gestured toward her co-worker, Brittany Wirth, who was accepting tickets (HAWKINS HIGH: AN ENCHANTED EVENING, 1986 SENIOR PROM) from a junior-and-senior couple. The senior boy stood awkwardly in his light blue tux, while his date waited impatiently, crossing her arms and tapping her foot, in a rose-pink ruffled nightmare. She caught Eddie staring at her (well, she assumed he was staring; in truth, he was simply glancing in her general direction) and immediately squirmed away and huddled closer to her date. 

Eddie, unaffected, turned back to Edith. "Okay... so how am I supposed to get a ticket, then?"

"I'm not quite sure," said Edith, "but—"

"There's really no other way for me to get inside?"

"No, I'm very sorry. Now if you'll—" 

"I can't just pop in there for like ten minutes?" 

"I'm sorry, no." 

And that's when Brittany Wirth butted in. She leaned onto her elbows and said in a cloyingly sweet voice, "Listen, freak, we're not letting you in without a ticket, okay? Prom tickets were sold well in advance so that we could get a proper headcount for dining and seating arrangements." 

"Well, I don't need to eat," Eddie said, "and I'll just stand the whole time. How 'bout that?" 

Brittany raised her hand, demanding his silence. "Look, if you wanted a ticket, you should've bought one while they were on sale. You had plenty of time to do so. We were selling them at lunch for like a month. What the hell were you doing that whole time?"

"Well, I wasn't planning on coming to prom," Eddie admitted, now feeling a little embarrassed. "This was kind of a last-minute thing." 

"Well, there you go." Brittany Wirth smiled a hard, tight-lipped smile. "Now, please step aside. You're holding up the line." She made a dismissive motion with her hand, then leaned over to smile at the couple behind him. "Hi there! I can help you over here." 

The couple tried to approach, but Eddie stepped in front of them. 

"Look, I don't think you understand," he said to Brittany. "I really need to get in there." 

"And I don't think you understand," Brittany said, with no sweetness at all. "I'm not letting you in without a ticket. Now, kindly move. If you don't, I'll have no choice but to get security involved, and you don't want me to do that, do you? With your sketchy background?" 

Eddie's lip curled. "The hell's that supposed to mean?" 

"I think you know what it means," Brittany said, a wicked glimmer in her eyes. 

She reached for the walkie-talkie on her left. 

"Don't—" Eddie threw his hand on top of hers and withdrew it as soon as she glared at him. "Come on, don't do that. You don't have to do that. Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm—Hey, what's your name again?"

She sighed. "Brittany." 

"Okay, Brittany... Look, I'm sorry, okay? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Brittany said, her temper now sitting at a low simmer. 

"Good, good... Hey, I'm sorry for causing a scene, okay, but I just really need to get into that dance, y'know? It's very important, like all the way up here." He raised his hand high above his head and held it there. "We're talkin' life or death, man. It's that important. Now come on, Brittany, can you help me out here or what?"

Brittany Wirth wanted to scream. "Dude, are you deaf or something? Or just high off your ass? I'm not letting you in without a prom ticket, okay? It's not happening, dude, so just forget it. And you know what? Even if I could sell you a ticket, I wouldn't because you'd be nothing but a huge stain on my prom night. Now get lost, freak, before I call the cops and report you for trespassing."

Eddie put up his hands and backed off, feeling smaller than he had in a long time. Suddenly, he was back in middle school and everyone in the lunchroom was laughing at him, calling him "Eddie Munster." Brittany Wirth, yeah, she was probably one of them. Eddie thought she looked familiar... 

He turned to leave—

"Hey, wait!" Edith Layne called, and she shrank back a little when Eddie looked her way. "Umm, maybe check to see if someone has an extra ticket? I mean, it's a long shot, but you never know, right?" She shrugged her shoulders apologetically and smiled a shy, crooked smile. 

Eddie returned the smile and for a moment looked strikingly handsome. "All right, cool. Thanks for the tip." 

And that was how Eddie Munson wound up standing on the street corner like some wide-eyed, strung-out drug addict, seeing if anybody had an extra prom ticket to sell. 

Most of the students flinched and ran away. Others thought Eddie was selling drugs and tried to hit him up for some product. 

I shoulda worn a suit, he kept thinking. I shoulda worn a suit. 

One guy almost took him up on his offer (Eddie was offering him sixty bucks for his forty-five-dollar ticket), but then his prom date interfered and said, "Oh, you're absolutely not selling your ticket! Are you kidding me, Bryan?" Then she glared at Eddie and hissed, "Get lost, freakazoid!" and yanked her date away. 

Eddie watched them go with a defeated sigh. That was probably the closest he would ever get to a prom ticket. 

He hung around the entrance for a few minutes more, feeling helpless and frustrated, ready to give up and call it a day... 

And then he saw you. 

Well, actually he saw Chrissy, but you were standing right next to her.

Chrissy gasped as soon as she entered the banquet hall. 

It was like stepping into an enchanted garden. All of a sudden, you were transported to some whimsical, faraway place, where everything was lush and green and so breathtakingly beautiful. Strings of light twinkled from the ceiling, enveloping the entire room in a soft, golden light. Vines of ivy, wisteria, and climbing hydrangea crawled up the walls, up the railings, and twined themselves around strong pillars of stone. 

Chrissy stepped forward immediately, drawn by its ethereal charm. When she placed herself in the middle of it all, she transformed into some otherworldly creature, like a pixie or a fairy. Meanwhile, you stood behind her, feeling like an ugly, evil troll. 

"Oh my god," said Chrissy in a whispery voice, "it's perfect! Y/N, don't you think it's just perfect?" 

"I think it's plastic," you said. You couldn't help it. 

Chrissy hadn't heard you—or she had and simply chose to ignore it. She did a little twirl on her heels, her teal skirt billowing around her, then came running back to where you were standing. 

You saw tears in her eyes. "Are you crying already?" 

Chrissy smiled, completely unabashed. "Yeah, a little. I can't help it." She threw your arms around you and pulled you in for a quick hug. Cheek to cheek, she said, "I know you don't wanna be here, but I just wanna say it means the world to me that you are. I'm really glad I get to share this moment with you, so... thank you." 

You felt your heart clench at those words. "Hey, you don't have to thank me," you said, a little embarrassed by her candor. "Besides, I made you go through that haunted house last Halloween, remember? Way I see it, we're even now." 

Chrissy pulled away, her delicate features now consumed by horror. "Oh my god, I hated that place! I had nightmares for like a week... Oh, Jason!" She spotted her date watching her from the foot of the staircase and raced over to him. "Jason, do you see this? Isn't it just amazing?" 

"I do," he said, but his eyes never left her. "And yes, it is." 

He bent down and placed a kiss on Chrissy's forehead, causing you to turn away and face one of the stone pillars. While Chrissy continued to gush about the decor, saying this night was like something out of a fairytale, you reached out and traced your hand along the vines. They were plastic, artificial—a sticky-sweet illusion just like the witch's gingerbread cottage in "Hansel and Gretel." 

You flicked the vine away. Yeah, tonight's a fairytale, all right. A Grimm fairytale.

And here come the witches now. 

Apart from you, Chrissy had several close friends, the closest of which were three of her fellow cheerleaders: Sarah, Sally, and Stacy, AKA Satan's Unholy Trinity. They were vapid bottled blondes that followed Chrissy around school like a bunch of squawking hens. They agreed with every word she said, laughed at every joke (and Chrissy Cunningham told some really, really awful jokes), and they absolutely hated your guts because they knew Chrissy preferred you over them, and no amount of ass-kissing was ever going to change that. They were super nice to you when Chrissy was around, but as soon as she stepped away, they transformed into vicious serpents. 

And to your misfortune, tonight they noticed you first. 

"What happened to your date?" Stacy said with contemptuous pity. Sarah and Sally snickered behind her in matching dresses of pink and blue. 

You looked to your left and feigned surprise. "Oh my god, you can't see him? Oh, no... I knew we shouldn't have stopped at that witch's hut on the way here. See, he drank a vial of what he thought was absinthe. And you know what absinthe is, right? The green fairy? Yeah, that shit will get you really messed up... Anyway, I told him it was bad news, but clearly he didn't listen to me, so... now I guess he's invisible." You patted the empty air beside you, as if it was someone's shoulder. "Don't worry, buddy, I'm sure it'll wear off on its own in a day or two." 

Sally and Sarah scrunched up their faces. "Wait... what?" 

Stacy just scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, you're so weird." 

"Yeah..." you said, tipping your head and smiling at her, "and you have lipstick on your teeth." 

Stacy simpered at you for a second (while secretly running her tongue over her front teeth, just in case), then turned around and walked over to Chrissy with her two friends in tow.

Sarah said, "She is so awful." 

"Yeah, no wonder Chance ditched her." 

And after that, your little joke no longer seemed funny. Now it just seemed sad and pathetic... and a little too true. Tonight, you really felt like you had an invisible date. From the moment you left Chrissy's house, there was this huge Chance Gallagher-sized space next to you. It was right there; everyone saw it. It was there while you were taking pictures in the park (and the photographer thought it'd be so hilarious to point it out to you: "Awww, where's your date, sweetheart?" And you laughed and played along because you didn't want to cause a scene). It was there while you were eating dinner at the steakhouse. While you were riding in the limo with all of Jason and Chrissy's friends. It was like you were being haunted by Chance Gallagher's ghost. He died and now his spirit was following you everywhere, even into this tacky wonderland of plastic plants and cheap dollar-store lighting. 

You watched Chrissy laugh and smile and squeal with her friends, and you said to your invisible date, "This is a special kind of torture." 

And he said, "Tell me about it." 

For a minute, you laughed. Then: Wait, what? 

You turned your head and—"Oh my god!"—Eddie Munson was standing right beside you.

A gasp escaped your mouth, threatening to become a scream. You reeled sideways, stumbling over your much-too-high heels, and slammed hard against the stone pillar.

"Jesus, Munson," you said, clutching your heart and struggling to catch your breath. "Could you not sneak up on me like a damn serial killer? You just about gave me a heart attack!" 

"Sorry," he said, flashing an innocuous smile. "I thought you heard me coming." 

"Yeah, because I have supersonic hearing..." You took a few more seconds to calm yourself down. "Anyway, what do you want, Munson? And just for the record, I'm not interested in whatever you're selling, okay? I don't like to mess around with that stuff." 

He squinted at you. "Why does everyone assume I'm here to sell drugs?"

"Umm, maybe because you're a known drug dealer?" You gave him a look that said, Duh. 

Eddie's head rocked back a little, as if he had just taken a slap. "Fair enough," he said. "Hey, you're… uhh..." He snapped his fingers a few times, like he was trying to trigger a memory. "You're Chrissy's friend, right?" 

"Yes, that's the name my parents gave me." 

"Right, right," he said, and chuckled a little. "Yeah, you're the one who's always rolling your eyes at me."

"Well, you're the one always making me roll my eyes. Hey, what are you doing here, anyway? I thought prom was so far beneath you. Wasn't that what your latest rant was about? You jumped on the lunch table and called us all a bunch of brainwashed, superficial assholes, and said prom was nothing but an excuse for people to drink and get laid. I'm just paraphrasing here, obviously, but I feel like that was the gist of it." You smirked, remembering it all. "It was quite the display, actually. Highly entertaining. I'd say it was one of your better rants, even. I mean, by now the whole school just kinda tunes you out, but I always look forward to them, you know? I dunno what it is, but for some reason, watching you make an ass of yourself makes my lunch taste better." 

Eddie scowled at you. "All right, I can see you're in a bad mood, so I'm gonna leave you alone..."

You stifled a giggle with your hand. "No, wait!" you said, and dragged him back. "I'm sorry, really. I got a little carried away there... What do you need from me, Munson?"

He started scratching the top of his head, seeming oddly nervous all of a sudden. "I was wondering if you had an extra prom ticket."

"Prom ticket?" Your nose wrinkled. "Wait, you're really serious? You actually wanna go to prom? Oh my god, that's why you're all dressed up tonight! Well, you know, dressed up by your standards... Wow, that's wild! I did not have that on my senior year bingo card, I'll tell you that. Why do you wanna go to prom?"

"I have unfinished business," he said, looking at you with a somber expression. It made you shiver a little. 

"Are you here to stab somebody or something? Sacrifice them to your dark lord? Wait, do you actually worship the devil? Because I always assumed those rumors were bullshit, but I guess nowadays you never really know..." 

Eddie cut you off. "I'd rather keep that to myself, if that's okay." He sighed restlessly and shifted his stance. "Look, do you have an extra ticket or not?"

"Yeah, I have an extra ticket..." You crossed your arms over your chest. "I was gonna see if they'd give me a refund, but I doubt they will. I swear, this whole prom thing's nothing but a big scam... Anyway, what'll you give me for it?"

He shrugged. "Sixty bucks. Best I can do." 

"Yeah, that's not bad," you said... but something was nagging at you, like an itch you couldn't quite reach. "Tell you what, Munson, I'll sell you my prom ticket if you can answer this one simple question." 

He nodded. "All right, shoot." 

"What's my name?" you asked. 

And then there was silence,

nothing, 

but pure 

silence. 

You smiled—not a happy smile, just one of resigned amusement. "Yeah, I thought so..." Then you reached into the bodice of your dress, and instead of whipping out a ticket, you whipped out your middle finger and shoved it right in Eddie’s face. "Here's your prom ticket. Go to hell, asshole."

And you walked away. 

Eddie glared at your back. "You know, you coulda just said no!" 

No offense, Chrissy, but you've got some real bitches for friends.

_____________________

PREV // CURRENT // NEXT

#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #fanfic #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x fem!reader #chrissy cunningham #jason carver #chrissy x jason #eddie x chrissy #stranger things 4 #st4 #ambrossart #dancing with myself #dwm #fanfiction

[pub-lius]

Hey there, it's the anon who asked about Maria Reynolds! I realized in hindsight (read: two seconds after I sent the ask lmao) that I got her mixed up with Maria Cosway, and then I realized that I don't know crap about her either. Reading past posts you seem to mostly cover stuff about Hamilton and the people surrounding him, and also Maria Cosway isn't American lol, but I hope you don't mind me at least asking anyway? Sorry for rambling it's cool if you don't answer

hey welcome back! don't worry, you're not the first nor the last person to do that lol. and don't worry! europeans are welcome here, so maria cosway is fair game for asking about. however, apologies for asking questions aren't so i hate you (jk ily <3) now i won't be able to go into as much detail because im not drawing from much of my own personal knowledge, but my internet sources will be linked!

Source: The Judgment of Korah, Dathan and Abriam by Maria Louisa Catherine Cecilia Hadfield Cosway

Maria Louisa Catherine Cecilia Hadfield Cosway was the first child of two hotel owners in Florence, Italy. As a young girl in a convent, she showed proficient artistic talent in both drawing and music. She was educated by Johann Zoffany and introduced her to other European artists.

She began painting by copying other works when she began to get recognition, allowing her to travel Italy. After her father's passing, she moved to London in 1779 and became well connected. One such connection was with Angelica Kauffman Church (not the same as Angelica Schuyler Church, though she was friends with her two) who was also a female painter.

Maria was introduced to Richard Cosway in London, and they were married in January 1781 for primarily financial reasons. The couple were within the most fashionable circles of the time. In 1786, the Cosways went to Paris where they met Thomas Jefferson. Maria and Jefferson became friends who flirted an excessive amount, and I found a really interesting article on that here.

Unfortunately, her husband was a grade-A asshole who wouldn't sell her works and stunted her artistic growth. I'm an artist, and I can tell you, a few months off can really do a lot of damage to your muscle memory and suddenly everything you put on paper looks like absolute shit, so I feel for her.

Maria had her only daughter, Louisa Paolina Angelica, in May 1790 but her health suffered afterwards. She went to Italy to recoup and returned to London in 1794. In 1796, her daughter tragically died.

Maria coped by turning to religion, Catholicism to be specifically (been there too, she just like me fr). However, on the plus side, she got her prints published by Rudolph Ackermann and made etchings of paintings at the Louvre which had been stolen during the Napoleonic Wars. She actually knew the Bonapartes personally and their patronage allowed her to open a girls' school at Lyons in 1803, which is so badass. She would later open another school for girls in Lodi in 1812.

Her husband died in 1821, and she sold his work at auction. She used some of the profit from these sales to fund her school in Lodi which is so fucking metal. She was actually made a baroness by the Austrian Emperor and Empress after they visited her school. That's also fucking metal.

She lived the rest of her life in Lodi where she died in 1838 near her school. In conclusion, Maria Cosway was more badass than I realized, and I think she's absolutely lovely. RAHHH WOMEN!!!

I hope this has helped. Again, sorry I haven't been able to go as in-depth, but I don't know Maria like that. I'm gonna give you extra sources just because I love you so much. I hope you can find a jumping off point!! European painters are always interesting, especially if they're badass, metal women who kick names and take ass, so I encourage you to do more research!!!

Sources: Maria Cosway- Royal Academy of Arts

Royal Collection Trust- Maria Cosway Collection (this has her art!!)

American Heritage- Thomas Jefferson and Maria Cosway (this was quoted in the post!)

Yale Center for British Art- Maria Cosway Was a Part of England's First Celebrity Art Couple

#history #maria cosway #maria hadfield cosway #european history #italian history #art history #women's history #18th century #1700s #1800s #19th century #thomas jefferson #angelica schuyler #angelica schuyler church #asks

[raccoonfallsharder]

You haven't watched/played the Eidos Guardians game yet?! Please please do, it is genuinely amazing and is not talked about enough. I'd say it even outdid the movies (..before vol 3 came out, at least). One bad thing about it, though, is that a lot of the dialogue is very easily skipped if you move too fast. This is a problem you'll notice in basically every single play-through of this game, since even at a normal pace you're gonna skip, like, half the dialogue. If you take the time to talk to everyone, stand still and listen to them banter (thousands of lines of dialogue btw), collect items to get them to talk about their past, even constantly backtrack, the game will probably take over 20 hours to beat (meanwhile most play-throughs online struggle to reach even 16). I suppose one play-through that I enjoyed was Maximilian Dood's, but he was kinda mean to Rocket at... certain parts. I honestly just recommend buying the game, as it's on sale right now on steam. The difficulty can be changed, so you can focus on the story and characters. Subtitles are kind of a must since some dialogue can sound a bit unclear. New personalities, voices and appearances might take some getting used to, but eventually it'll feel as natural as the MCU ones. OK I'm very sorry for bombarding you like this, I just reeaally like this game and its character/world building. It's just.. the fanfiction world for this game is tragic. A wasteland. So much potential, so many discussions to be had... argh Alright just one last thing, why do people say game!Rocket when they're referring to Eidos Rocket? There are TWO games y'know! There's also the telltale one! The one with easily the NICEST Rocket out of them all (if you're nice to him)! i'm done with the essay bye!! - eidos 2021 gotg game stan

please come back and rave more. i am not being sarcastic. i live for the asks where people just talk about what they're passionate about (bonus points if the things they are passionate about overlap with my fave raccoon but not required). besides i apparently need more inspiration for more fanfics...?

you've sold me though! i need to find a good youtube streamer to watch a play-through. university's wrapping up at the end of next month and most of my students will be heading home, so i'll be in for some really slow workdays. i'm happy to hear streamer recommendations for either game (or both)!

seriously, thank you for sharing this with me ♡♡♡

#rfh asks #eidos 2021 gotg game stan nonnie #that's a long nonnie-name

[bekkathyst]

Sometimes it really hits me how much has happened since I’ve been on this website and have had my little shop. Idk if it’s nostalgia or just procrastination of my current to-do list but I feel like writing out a little synopsis of what’s happened over the years lol. Also for any new followers, you can catch up haha

Also there will be some vague mentions of rough/traumatic circumstances, so just a warning!

I opened my first tumblr account when I was still in high school in like 2009 because all my friends were on here. I had like a fashion blog at one point, a recipe blog at another, but eventually I settled into my little witchy nature crystal niche where I felt the most at home.

In 2013 I was living in a horrible studio apartment in central Los Angeles with my now husband Antonio and we were living in poverty. He was being paid under the table below minimum wage and I was an unemployed high school dropout. I was struggling to find any kind of job and I also knew that it would be impossible for me to keep one because of how I am. (Which at the time I didn’t realize was the result of neurodivergence and a lot of trauma). I was just happy to be away from the abusive home I grew up in and I was really determined to make things work somehow, as impossible as it seemed. Eventually I decided I needed to just work for myself. A job wasn’t going to fix anything for me, and where I was wasn’t safe for me to be walking to and from a job anyway. I dealt with a lot of harassment every time I left my apartment so I pretty much became a hermit for the years I lived there.

One weekend with $10 from our grocery budget I went to a little shop that sold tumbled stones on the Redondo Beach pier and decided to buy a couple and some wire and make some pendants. I also had quite a few stones from my collection from childhood and I used those, too. And I opened my first Etsy shop! I honestly cringe when I look back at pictures of my work from this time, I’d really like to think I’ve come a long way lol.

It took several months to get a single sale and at least a year before I had any kind of consistency. For the next couple of years I worked on my little shop while Antonio went to work. In 2015 we decided that my shop was making just enough for us to work on it together and move somewhere else. So we ended up finding a mobile home for rent on some lady’s horse ranch in the mountains of unincorporated riverside county and we moved there.

We planned to stay for quite a while, but before even a year had passed, life drastically changed again. In early 2016 my little sisters came forward about the abuse they were facing and our father was arrested and a years long criminal court case began. Because my mother was undocumented and had spent the last 20 years pretty much just hiding at home, all their care fell on me. We took in my mom and my 3 sisters and had to move. We found another manufactured home in the same area and we all moved in together. I was truly not financially or emotionally prepared for this and it was extremely difficult. On top of that we were all very traumatized. I had not yet been open about the abuse I had faced because I wasn’t ready.

Amid that struggle is when my mom decided to start working with us as well! And she helped us grow our shop some more until we were a little more stable. Eventually we realized we had to find a bigger home and in 2017 I finally got to realize my goal of living in the big mountains and we found a lovely big house in Big Bear.

Actually during this time I have gaps in my memory so there are some things I start to mix up, but shortly after we moved I also decided to come forward about the abuse I faced which unfortunately further complicated the court case. We were looking at a trial date in 2018 which would eventually get pushed to 2019. But during 2018 my niece was born and I also ended up taking in one of my half brothers as well. So our household was now 9 people that were all surviving off of my shop’s income. Also during this time (I think it was actually 2017) we had been talking to one of our suppliers about taking over their wholesale warehouse near Los Angeles. It was presented as a huge business opportunity and I saw it as a chance to better things for us and hopefully ease the struggle. Taking this opportunity actually did the exact opposite. We were quite honestly deceived and ended up being straddled with a failing business. I lived 2017, 2018 and most of 2019 in a haze. Like I mentioned, I really don’t remember much and sometimes I see posts I made during that time and I’m really surprised by them. I think it was just the combination of extreme stress, burn out, sleep deprivation from trying to run 2 businesses and taking care of a massive household, and the trauma of having to recall all these repressed memories from my childhood.

But, somehow I survived. The plus side of coming forward about my abuse is that it gave me access to free therapy and I ended up finding the most incredible therapist that helped me start my healing and recovery from burnout.

Eventually in early 2019 our court case happened and we all testified in front of a jury, and our father was found guilty and is now serving a 300 year plus sentence. It took me the rest of that year to come out of the haze I’d been living in. After the court case, I decided to take the leap and open our brick and mortar shop in Big Bear. It was the thing I actually wanted to do with all my heart.

Then… 2020 came around. Covid hit and it was the final nail in the coffin for our warehouse business. We closed it and gave up. My other half sibling that was working at the warehouse ended up moving in with us as well and so did a friend of mine, so at this point our household was at 11 or so people and we were beginning a pandemic. I had also found out that I was pregnant.

Finding out I was pregnant caused the biggest flip of a switch in my brain. I knew I couldn’t keep living the way I was living anymore. I couldn’t keep burning myself out and over extending myself to people. I had to put up some kind of boundaries and create a healthier environment. With the help of my amazing therapist supporting me, I made this a reality. It’s also when I finally decided that as soon as we could, we’d be moving to Austria, the country my mother was from, where I had also lived as a young child. I knew I had to make life better, I knew I had to release all of this chaos.

In early 2021, still of course in the middle of a pandemic, our landlord said he wanted to sell our house so we needed to move out and he would not be renewing our lease. This was right when the housing shortage really started to hit our area. I had an infant daughter and all these people in my care and I was very scared. By some miracle we found a listing for a house in the high desert, about a half hour away from our brick and mortar shop and we went for it. We knew we had no other options. At this point most of my household went their own ways and found their footing. So me, Antonio, our infant daughter, my mom, my youngest sister, and my toddler niece all moved to this house in the desert. I knew that this was temporary and I told myself I would not be here for longer than a year. Once our year lease was up, we’d make it to Austria.

It was a lot of work and honestly I probably could have made some smarter choices now that I look back, but early 2022 we sold all our inventory from our brick and mortar shop to a wholesaler and closed it up. And then we moved!

And now here we are, a continent away from where we started. Much happier, much healthier. Now we’re not selling nearly on the scale as we were before, but I know that with time we’ll be back to the level we were at. And I really hope to open a brick and mortar store somewhere in Austria sometime soon.

It really amazes me that some of you have been here from the beginning. It feels like several lifetimes have passed, but it also feels like it all happened in the blink of an eye.

I’m really so thankful for the opportunity I had to grow and learn so much and heal. I feel like I’m a completely different person than the desperate girl who started an Etsy shop in 2013.

And… this is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s still so much more that happened. When I first started seeing my therapist she encouraged me to write my story in a book, and it’s definitely something that I plan to do one day. I don’t think a younger version of myself would believe everything we survived. 🙏💜

[kosomolski-dolls]

So...

This is a big troublesome problem for me 🥲

If you have followed me on instagram for a while (or maybe even here), you know I'm a big advocat for Youpladolls. I love her dolls, love her sculpts, love the resin colours, love the resin itself. I love their posing and stability and quite frankly, I consider myself her number 1 fan 😅

I own all her MSD and smaller sculpts (except for Vlad, though he is the same sculpt as Vaéron, just with human ears, so... that still counts), and I have a strict "One Doll Per Sculpt" rule, that I usually manage to hold myself up to, to at least SOMEWHAT keep my collection at bay.

Only exception so far are 2 Unoa sculpts that I actually have a double, but these are related, so. Different.

Now. Youpla is the one that always makes me want to break this rule. Starting with Ziya, I've wanted a tan Ziya to begin with. Got a petal one because I missed the last preorder and the instock tan one sold within minutes. Got tempted immediately half a year later when she brought dark tan Ziya to LDoll... (I wouldn't have gotten the petal one had I known she was making this beauty for LDoll...). And ever since then I've been tempted to buy a tan one whenever I saw one for sale.

So now I COULD order one. I COULD order a tan one, or I COULD go for the chocolate colour (which is a new skin tone different to the old chocolate from Lupita's preorder, and close to the Dark Tan...).

I'm KINDA glad the chocolate is not like the old skin colour, because then I'd ALSO be tempted to get a Lupita in chocolate... When she was released I knew I wanted the dark tan, as I had seen it on LDoll in person and knew it was gorgeous. But the lighter chocolate looked so pretty as well, so I almost bought both back then.

But now I'm tempted to get a petal Lupita as well, because... imagine how cute an albino look would be on her?

But in the end, my "One Doll Per Sculpt" rule is still keeping me at bay.

The only thing that is ACTUALLY tempting me (and I mean, really, whispering in my ear to go for it), is getting a chocolate Vàna... I'm pretty sure the sculpt will be discontinued after this preorder, together with Olive and Ophélie (and possibly Ziya as well due to age of the mold?), so this would be the last chance... and why would I get her?? I HAVE a Vàna. In fact, Vàna was my 3rd BJD (after 2 Minifees I bought together) and the first one I actually fell in love at first sight. I love her dearly, but the thing is, she's in mint and therefore not "compatible" with the rest of my crew. She has her own people (Celeste in purple and Vaéron in turquoise) and her own universe. So if I got her in chocolate, she could hang out with the rest of the crew...

And to be completely honest, this thought is seriously haunting me (in the most positive way possible)...

I still have time until beginning of April to think about it...

#youpladolls #tempting me again #I wanted to downsize #why Marie why #long post

[lightleckrereins]

what happens to six costumes when the queen wearing it leaves/gets a new one? Does it just collect dust in a closet somewhere? Does it get broken down so the materials can be reused for other things? Do they just throw it in the trash/recycle and count it gone? Sell it on eBay? (please that last one)

As much as a lot of people in the fandom would like to buy a retired costume thats very unlikely to happen.

First of all. If a six costume ever goes up for sale for a charity auction or something the starting cost would be very high. I'm talking multiple thousands of dollars/pounds so not something most people can afford. I think its more likely we will eventually see smaller pieces like boots or crowns in theater related charity auctions, but still those will be expensive. Boots will be at least in the high hundreds of dollars/pounds range.

The thing with theater costumes is that they are very complicated and very expensive to make so in general those are worn, altered and reworn until they are too damaged to repair. In long running shows it is not uncommon to see costumes come back after a decade in storage because they happened to fit a new performer. With six alterations are not necessarily easy or possible with the materials and the way they fit but that doesnt mean things will just be thrown away or sold. Also the materials start breaking down after relatively short period so the life of a costume is shorter than for other shows. Which doesnt mean they will be thrown away. Its more likely thy will be kept in storage as backup or to be reused in pieces.

So far six has made new costumes for pretty much everyone, but I don't think that will be the case for much longer. Cruises reuse boots, crowns and earrings all the time and I think some skirts have been reused for the cruise casts already. Also some hairpieces in the UK have been repurposed for a new queen. Aside from that; there are a few cases of costumes being refitted, the US casts have had multiple queens debut with someone else's costume before theirs is ready, AUS had three full old costumes in use by new people.

Not counting queens returning and emergecy covers/debuts. If and when international replica productions happen I expect we will see costumes coming back, while some countries (like SK) have full new costume sets made thats not the norm by a very long shot. Most countries in mainland Europe, Latin America and Asia rely on existing costume stock to fit their casts, with the range of costume sizes that exists at the moment there are good chances they can fit new casts from them.

#ask #six the musical #six costumes

[vermutandherring]

Screenshot taken from the Announcement Trailer

When I said "We need to protect this part of our heritage at all cost", - remake is the last thing I thought about.

I considered it as unsubstantiated gossip or fan dreams. But by no means an official trailer and a bunch of news.

I do not rule out that this is also a good way to attract the attention of not only fans of the series, but also fresh blood. But I was happy to think that Metal Gear is a classic classic. It is a solid line that stretches from the last century to the present, stringing modern experience and context onto a once-created formula. Going through the games of the series one by one, you can feel how the era is changing not only in the development of games, but also around us: events, cultural contexts, historical upheavals and how they are presented in video games. The inheritance of traditions, the development of history, content, mechanics and the smallest details with deep meanings…

This is, of course, good. But let's not forget who really made the franchise memorable. What really bothers me is the game's design decisions and story updates.

Now Metal Gear, like other franchises, grows a tail and curls up into a ring, as if that Ouroboros were to devour itself. I can't say exactly why the issue of remakes triggers me so much. But it seems that lately the game industry is only doing things that are parasites on works that appeared at least 20 years ago (in the case of Metal Gear, almost 40). And this problem applies not only to games, but also especially to movies.

I don't want to hear about "video games are being updated for next generation consoles so new players can play". It annoys me that games are perceived, first of all, as a product that must be sold in millions of copies. After all, a large number of sold copies does not always indicate the success of the project. How many copies of Hogwarts Legacy were sold? And how many of them did the players make it to the end? It seems that video games are closer than ever to art. To modern art, to be more precise. Because both industries are huge soap bubbles inflated by prices, investments and sales expectations.

Source: GAMERANT

But there is also good news. What can truly be called heritage preservation. If this applies not only to consoles but also to PCs, maybe I won't have to suffer with an emulator.

In order to preserve a historical building, it is necessary to make it suitable for use. To save a game, you need to make it playable. And no one can do it better than the developers themselves. After all, what is the point of preserving something if it does not fulfill its intended purpose?

Source: GAMERANT

What an interesting time we live in - Renaissance on the background of decline. What a thrill...

#metal gear #metal gear solid #metal gear series #mgs #metal gear solid snake eater #metal gear solid delta #video games #gaming #my articles

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

Here’s the text part of BOF article (it loses a bit without the pics - especially the ceramic duck!):

Why Harry Styles Fans Can’t Get Enough of Pleasing

The singer’s nail polish brand isn’t following the usual celebrity beauty brand playbook, where “authenticity” and newness are key. When your fans are this rabid, it turns out none of the usual rules apply.

NEW YORK – Grace Daniels, 19, owns 17 bottles of nail polish from Pleasing, Harry Styles’ beauty and lifestyle brand that launched one year ago, as well as at least one crewneck sweatshirt or hoodie from each of the line’s five drops. They were back for more at the Pleasing pop-up shop that opened in SoHo last weekend.

It’s the first of several planned visits to the flora-and-fauna themed space, where purple fawns and pastel pink birds line the walls and are printed on fabric lamp shades. There is greenery, colourful checkered carpets and whimsical ceramic animals. The nail polish is displayed on dressers, shelves and counters – both as single bottles and boxed sets with cute names like “Shroom Boom” and “Super Magic Family Time” – alongside makeup, apparel, socks, journals, blankets and Christmas ornaments.

“I’m trying to space out what I buy,” Daniels said. On Sunday, they added a red hoodie, a journal and a pair of socks to their collection of polishes. They plan to return to the popup several times before it closes to buy more.

Alyssa Coy, 20, who attends New York University’s The Gallatin School of Individualized Study with Daniels, is pacing herself, too.

“I will be back here and in LA multiple times and purchasing multiple different things,” said Coy, clutching multiple Pleasing sweatshirts (a popup is open there through Dec. 23, along with a third location in London). In New York, she bought apparel, journals, socks and ornaments and is thinking of getting the blanket and towels in the future.

Pleasing debuted last year with four nail polishes and a few skin care items, one among dozens of celebrity-fronted beauty brands that hit the market around the same time. As a category, nail polish isn’t particularly innovative, but the packaging – bottles have globe-shaped tops in metallic or marbled pastels – is made for display. Still, there have been only a handful of product launches since that initial release (though there has been plenty of tie-in merch, including the much in-demand “Pleasing” sweatshirts). As launching beauty brands became the de facto side hustle for actors, musicians and influencers, Styles himself only intermittently promoted Pleasing. He doesn’t claim to be overseeing every step of his brand’s development, as other celebrities do

But Styles’ fans don’t seem to care.

A sales associate at the New York popup said customers started to line up at 6 am on Saturday, five hours before the store was scheduled to open. About 100 people entered the store per hour until it closed at 7 pm.

Even on a rainy Sunday afternoon there were 15 people waiting to get in, including Jeneva Silverman, 36, who is nine months pregnant.

“They were sold out of a lot of apparel by the time we got in,” Silverman said via email Monday. She wound up ordering a sweatshirt for her husband online.

“I like the minimalist branding and the colours are really good for the nail polish,” said New York City-based Hilary Scherer, 32, who also braved the rain to get a Pleasing sweatshirt and potentially, nail colour.

Pleasing’s hero beauty product is nail polish, a category that’s seen action from male celebrity founders and “genderless” lines over the past year, including one from Colson Baker, better known as Machine Gun Kelly. Last December, a month after Styles launched Pleasing, Baker introduced UN/DN LAQR.

Where celebrities typically make the case that they’ve been intimately involved in the creation and branding of their beauty products – think Lady Gaga or Kim Kardashian talking about the years of development that went into their lines – Styles hasn’t been making the rounds. Ahead of the popups, Pleasing’s biggest offline venture to date, his team declined to make him available for interviews.

Other stars have been punished for failing to adequately champion their lines, which can lead to accusations, true or not, that they’re slapping their name on a product as a cash grab.

In a sense then, Styles’ approach to Pleasing is a test of his fan base’s devotion.

Coy and Daniels, the NYU students, said they find Pleasing more authentic than most celebrity brands.

“Harry’s been trying to separate himself from Pleasing,” Daniels pointed out, noting that the company is a collaborative effort with Styles’ stylist, Harry Lambert (Lambert and Molly Hawkins are co-creative directors of Pleasing). “He [Styles] wants this to be his own separate entity rather than something that’s solely related to him. At the same time, it is very Harry – it’s very eccentric.”

Pleasing works because it’s an embodiment of Styles; beauty, and especially nail polish, is ingrained in his personal brand, something he’s been known for almost as long as he’s been famous. It’s a safe bet that few of the customers lining up in the rain in Soho think he’s poring over financial models or logging time in the lab. It simply doesn’t matter.

“He’s so embedded in everything that Pleasing is and you can feel connected to him in that way, but it’s also still an expression of self as well,” Coy said. “You like him for a reason … and that’s really valuable to me so I’m able to represent that and author that and almost co-author it with him.”

The same goes for the rest of Pleasing’s merchandise – and the pop-ups themselves. The brand’s spaces are busy and immersive, the opposite of many digital-first brands’ attempts at going offline, which often involve neatly arranged products thrown into a minimalist white space.

“If you look around here, everything is very reminiscent of him,” Coy said. “We were walking around pointing at things saying, ‘That’s Harry’ or ‘That’s literally Harry.”

Coy and Daniels are referring to a life size teal poodle, wearing a metallic magenta string of pearls with a crystal and pearl brooch affixed to its right ear.

“How is that Harry?” I press them.

“Just because it is. That looks like him,” Coy replied. “It’s a feeling. He’s also this little duck over there, he’s extremely that duck – that’s so him. He’s so precious. He’s like a little duck on the counter.”

Daniels pulls up a photo on their iPhone of the pastel yellow ceramic duck displayed near the front of the store and then scrolls to a photo of Styles in a yellow stripe with a string of pearls.

When you look at them side by side, it’s hard not to see the resemblance.

Thanks so much anon - I really appreciate it. It's really interesting to see how Pleasing is discussed in the press.

I think the fans thinking that the duck and the poodle are Harry are excellent examples of the idea that Harry speaks in image rather than narrative and the blank space that leaves.

#Oh Harry #oh capitalism #if you're wondering #I'm against it

[unbound-shade]

Coming out of that post-quitting coma and getting around to some of the real work ahead of me for my home business. I've been tracking new incoming inventory really diligently since I started stocking toys year before last, but haven't started inventorying and pricing the items I already had. I have scads of Marvel Legends, Gundam action figures, Star Wars, X-Men, GI Joe, and other lines to sort through that are all from my childhood and personal collection. I started that process last week and got through all of the Marvel Legends in only two sittings. The next most well-sorted are my Gundam figures, so I'll be working to conglomerate all of them and their accessories next. I'm starting that with a trip to my storage unit tomorrow. I might not be making any money right now, but I've got enough to remain on staycation long enough to actually start operations before I have to pick up anything else part-time. I've got two kinds of stock, essentially. Items that already have good resale value and are ready to go, and current market items to be sold in the future after they are out of production and increase in value. I'm going to need at least enough cash by spring to pick up undervalued items for immediate resale from garage sales to keep things rolling after I sell off the excess from my personal collection. I'm so excited, especially since my brain has been letting me do all of the necessary work to actually do it, even if I've been delayed longer than I'd like in getting underway.

#personal

[pbandjesse]

Today was the last farmers market of the season! I still have at least two more winter/holiday markets but it was the last one at the museum. And I had such a good time. It was good day.

I slept alright last night. My voice is still strained but a lot more normal. I can actually talk so that's nice. Though my throat does hurt a little bit. But I was able to sleep until 730 and things were good.

Everything kind of fell apart when we left though. James drove us the normal way and then our exit was closed?? And we were forced to go through the tunnel. But the exit going the other direction was also closed! So a less then 15 minute drive took more then a half hour and was terrible. I was not having fun and was trying not to fall apart but I was very close.

We got to the museum right before 830.

James helped me get everything over. And I would calm down. They went to get me breakfast because they are the best husband. And I got my table set up. I struggled only because it was really windy!

I always find the windy days exhausting. Just fighting to keep all my stuff from blowing away. I still was having fun but it was tough.

After I ate something I felt a little better.

And I had fun! I made a lot of sales and felt good. I also finished sewing a few frogs. I sold one of the new horses to an adorable little girl. One of the kids from my class yesterday came through and his mom and me had a nice conversation and she got a few stickers and two frogs! Amazing. I was having a great time.

Ginny gave me a ton of extra treats since she didn't want to bring anything home. And I enjoyed my brownie I had bought.

It was a good last day. I enjoyed texting with my dad. And with James. And Jess. Celia sent me a picture of a shark tooth she found at Calvert cliff snd I was very jealous!

I was very cold but I was just having a good time. My hands would start to hurt while I was knitting and went inside to warm up and say hi to James. And would just enjoy my morning.

Steve, the man who asked me to fix his bear, came to collect. And he was so excited. It was so sweet! He paid me more then I asked him and he told me he's had this bear for 20 years!! I thought he just found this bear recently but he's been holding onto it for so long! I'm really glad he was happy.

The end of the market came really fast. The distillery gave everyone drinks (which I said thank you but no) and everyone was being silly and it was very fun just getting hugs and saying goodbye. Auni came through to give thank you cards and she wrote the nicest note and made me feel very appreciated. I was feeling very happy.

I had a nice conversation at the end with the security guard. Apparently none of the market vendors knew that we had security on the weekends. And that was always have. This one was just wearing a vest with security on it so he was more visible. But I went to chat with him and he started saying how great James was and I was like. That's my husband!! And he freaked and was like that's my guy!!!! Just praising James for being so smart and kind and fun and welcoming and I'm like. This is all true!! I'm so glad you see that!!

I went to say goodbye to James. I would watch the desk for a few minutes and even checked someone into the musuem. Befoee I said goodbye to them and headed home.

When I got back here I brought all the baked goods in. And got changed. And almost immediately got in bed. I was still really cold so I put my heating bad on my middle and went to sleep.

I would lay there and watch videos for a while but eventually I did fall asleep. And woke up at 430 pretty tired still. But I wanted to accomplish some stuff tonight. We rescheduled seeing houses to Monday. And that was for the best.

When James got home they were exhausted. They wanted to do laundry and run the dishwasher but they were just really tired.

I was too. And cold. They warned me up some soup for dinner and it helped. And at 6 I got up to work in the studio.

James helped out my fabric and materials from yesterday tomorrow. They also brought my market stuff up so I could put everything away. I set up the picnic table in here to use for cutting fabric. And then did some work making a Tshirt pattern for my private lesson tomorrow. This was tough but I figured it out eventually!

I would do a lot of fabric cutting next. I want to have more horses for the winter markets. I got 12 cut out and 3 sewn. Need all their hair and eyes but still got a lot done. I also got 4 bears all sewn up.

I was actually super productive tonight. I did some snail catching in the tanks. We put all the Christmas stuff in the bedroom so it'll be ready to hang after Thanksgiving. And I felt really good. Having a 4 hour video just going helped me stay focused. I never had to stop to pick something new. It was excellent.

It was a really nice evening and a good day. Tomorrow I have my private lesson with Naomi and I'm looking forward to it. I will probably clean in the morning and just get ready for the week. I hope you all have a great day and sleep well tonight!! Until next time!

[wordbreaker]

Strings ✷ Eddie Munson

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Words: 2k

Description: If there is one person that can piss Eddie Munson off, it’s the new neighbour… or the three times Eddie Munson ends up angry and how it stopped. 

( SILÉAS says ... ! ) I wrote this last year when season 4 came out. It's not a masterpiece⏤I don't even write for ST anymore⏤but it's fun and I wanted to share it with you.

THE FIRST TIME Eddie wants to kill his new neighbour, it’s a Wednesday night and it's long past midnight. He knows she's the one making all that noise because it's not like Max Mayfield to blast her music for the whole neighbourhood to hear. The little redhead is far too glued to her walkman for that.

So there's only one other option he can think of.

A new trailer had been sold a week before, the one right in front his. If Eddie hadn't seen anything interesting in this event, he had no idea that the removal of the "for sale" sign would be the beginning of Hell.

He doesn't know what she looks like, the new neighbour, he just knows that she has an annoying tendency to think she's alone. 

In itself, she's not doing anything wrong, and he should even be happy that she's blasting AC/DC and not some shitty music at this hour. However, he has a D&D campaign to prepare for the club’s meeting next week, so he has no time to waste. The shorties—by which he means Sinclair multiplied by two, Henderson and Wheeler—have been bugging him to create a new one since the memorable end of the previous one. 

D&D is serious (at least for him), and Eddie won't be able to concentrate if he has to listen to that damn guitar one more minute. 

The last straw is the Highway to Hell solo.

While another neighbour shouts a totally useless "stop this shit!", Eddie opens his door with a bang—surely waking up Uncle Wayne in the process, or not because he too has to put up with this nightly concert—which slams brutally against the wall of the grey trailer.

From his doorstep he cannot see any light filtering through the curtains of the one opposite, but he does not trust this image: the neighbour is there and more awake than ever as Back in Black begins along its famous chords.

Three big steps to the trailer, three big breaths to calm down and three big knocks to call the neighbour. 

Not even a second later, the door opens and gives way to her, the one he is meeting for the first time. 

"Yeah?" 

His words fade into his throat before he can utter them, the sight before him leaving him speechless. A cigarette in her mouth, barely hanging on, she looks at him with a blasé look, probably in a hurry to get back to her business.

Wisps of smoke form their hazy arabesques and intoxicate him, or perhaps it is the creature that has just appeared in front of him. To be honest, he doesn't know if he's dreaming or if it's reality, but the woman watching him seems to have come straight from his imagination. 

Tattoos blacken and decorate her skin in a constellation of ink that he wants to admire but can’t—maybe he does sneak a peek—because they're hidden by a big Iron Maiden shirt that falls over bare legs. He swallows. 

Why is he here again? 

That's exactly the question the neighbour asks him. Her voice is low and hoarse, damaged by tobacco and probably other substances. It seems to have collected dirt, sown by something called Life. In any case, the neighbour seems to have seen and done some shit. 

Eddie tries to answer. However, he can't take his eyes off the guitar hanging around her neck. It's simple, black but decorated with a few stickers that remind him of its owner's tattoos, and it's beautiful. Here's another point in common. Less so than his sweetheart, obviously, but it is metal, her guitar, almost as much as the one who holds it. 

So, she was the one playing. 

"Could you turn down your amp? I'm trying to get my campaign ready for my D&D club."

She scoffs, before muttering a "nerd" that he hears perfectly well despite the lowered tone. He thinks she did it on purpose. He doesn't really care. The word isn't said as aggressively as when Jason does it. It even sounds affectionate in her nicotined mouth (which he wants to taste but that's a detail for later, preferably tonight, late at night, and alone). 

"Don't worry, I'll turn it down." 

And without a goodbye, she slams the door, leaving him speechless from this encounter and perhaps, the mere sight of her. That night she keeps her word and Eddie can finish his campaign in silence. 

THE SECOND TIME Eddie wants to kill his neighbour is when he is himself strumming his guitar one night to try to master the recently released Master of Puppets. The chords frustrate him because he can't string them together smoothly.

If that's the beauty of the art —the failure, the determination, the practice and ultimately the success—it's fucking annoying as of right now. And on top of that, he has to deal with his neighbour's solos, which are much better than his own. It's humiliating, and it doesn't help him to concentrate.

He lets out yet another grunt, a clear sign of his irritation, when at the other end of the path he hears Master of Puppets performed to perfection. She got to be kidding him. She must’ve perfect pitch, he thinks. Nobody can learn a song that fast, especially one like that.

She's beautiful, she's charismatic and she's a better guitarist than he is. It's him, only better, and just thinking about this makes him start to hate her as a string threatens to break under the pressure of his bloody fingers.

Or maybe it's not annoyance but rather misplaced frustration at his ineptitude to dare to ask her out. 

"Nice solo!" he hears from his open window. 

He thinks he's dreaming, but no, when he looks up, there she is, on the other side of the road, her guitar in her hand.

Tonight, she smiles and even waves at him. It's a nice change from last time. Her face lights up and becomes more beautiful. No cigarette between her lips either, although there is smoke coming out of the window all the same. It is far too thick to be from any Marlboro. The smell reaches him—Hawkins has been trapped by the wind for several days—and gives him the answer to the question he dares not ask.

It's weed.

An unhealthy jealousy takes hold of his body. He wasn’t the one who sold it to her. 

His thoughts wander and he imagines himself smoking with her, both of them lying in her room, a metal vinyl ripping through the restful silence. His hand would caress her soft thighs, while she would play two or three chords and they would kiss two or three times. 

"You've got good taste, Munson!"

She knows his name. He doesn't. That's enough to snap him out of his stupor. 

"Thank you..!" he yells and waits. 

"Y/N!"

Strangely enough, he doesn't care that she makes noise if it means she answers him.

It's a nice name, almost too much so when it's said in such a broken voice. But at the same time, it makes the sound addictive.

Eddie wonders what his name would sound like in her mouth, when she's underneath him, and his mouth ventures down her throat, her stomach and even lower...

Stop. She may be beautiful and talented, but she's still fucking annoying. 

"I'm not bothering you, am I?"

He should say yes, because of course she's bothering him with her chords flowing perfectly while his are jerky, but with those big eyes looking at him, how could he say anything but no? 

"No, don't worry. I think you could teach me a few things, even.”

"I heard you, though, Munson. You’re good with your fingers." 

He nearly chokes as a sudden wave of heat travels down his spine and goes straight to his lower abdomen. It’s an innuendo; it has to be. And yet, the girl's expression remains innocent, almost too much so in his opinion, but he's not thinking straight. 

Fuck, he really needs to stop with the neighbour. Besides, it's a cliché, "the neighbour". It sounds like the pitch for some cheesy movie Harrington sells in his crappy shop, and Eddie's never been one for cheesy romances. 

THE THIRD TIME Eddie is frustrated with the new neighbour is when she turns her amp up to max and plays another Metallica solo.

Immediately, Eddie is on his way, as he was that first night, to knock on her door.

He's exhausted.

The teachers are giving him a hard time about a diploma he won't get, Jason's critics have multiplied in the cafeteria, and above all, Henderson won’t stop making fun of him and his embarrassment when he talks about the neighbour.

According to the boy, he has a crush on her. This is ridiculous, and it pisses him off. No matter where he goes, even to the high school where she doesn't go and therefore where no one is supposed to know her, he can't escape her.

Everything brings him back to her. 

So, this guitar solo is too much. He drums more than he knocks on the door, shaking the flimsy walls of the trailer. Immediately the music stops, and she appears in front of him. She has a joint in the corner of her mouth. The smell intoxicates him—or is it her fruity perfume?—but he maintains his stance. He won't let it happen this time. He's determined to tell her what he's thinking. 

“It took you long enough.”

She takes him by the hand and pulls him inside. The decoration is basic, it's the posters of different bands that make her personality shine. It's much neater than his house, though, he must admit. 

“You? Huh? What?” he stammers.

“I've been trying to get your attention for days, Munson. Days. My fingers are bleeding because you don't have the balls to come here. Seriously, you couldn't have put me out of my misery sooner? I mean... better late than never, but... Fuck.”

Eddie doesn't understand. It must show on his face. His eyebrows are furrowed, his eyes are wide, his mouth is half-open, and his arms are flailing. Everything about him is in disbelief. Y/N sees it perfectly and sighs, exhaling smoke with it. Tangible frustration. She massages the bridge of her nose, as if this gesture will give her the courage to put up with him and his inability to think. 

“I like you, Munson. I thought that was obvious.”

The neighbour, she pisses him off. She's beautiful, she's more metal than he is, she's a better guitar player than he could ever dream of being, and now she's even got more balls than him. That's the last straw.

“Oh no! No! No! No! I was supposed to say that! Fuck! It's bad enough that you've mastered Master of Puppets while I'm still struggling and now you're the one taking the reins and deciding that you have a crush on me. Hell no! I'm the one- humph!"

She seals their lips, kisses him, and that brief but obvious moment makes his heart beat a thousand miles an hour. Eddie thinks it's more to tell him to shut the fuck up than anything else but he indulges in the moment.

As she bites his bottom lip and leaves the taste of weed behind, he allows himself to tighten his embrace, his hands closing over her, touching the grain of her skin from the small of her back to her neck. Her lips are much sweeter than he thought they would be.

“Can you please shut up, Munson?” she finally says, exasperated. At least that's what she's trying to sound like, but she's far too cute as it is. Her hair is tousled, her lips swollen, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks warm to the touch. He can't help it: he steals another kiss from her, which she promptly returns. 

“Does this mean you're going to stop playing at three in the morning to piss me off?”

“We could play together? After you explain the rules of D&D to me,” she offers.

His heart misses a beat, and he smiles. 

That's the last time he's angry with the neighbour. 

#( siléas writes ! ) #eddie munson x reader #stranger things x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #stranger things imagine #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson fluff #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things #eddie munson

[willowwrestles]

The past twenty fours hours had been absolutely nerve wracking for Willow. It all started with a lonely scroll. Ever since her and Alec's... Break. Social media seemed to have become home to her.

It was the only place she had heard about him anymore. He had shows at the GCW collective weekend. From what she had heard, there was a knee injury. Immediately, she started calling and texting people who might've been there.

They didn't have many answers or even seemed to want to talk to her. Still, she kept hope. Maybe somebody would call and tell her he's okay. That's all she wanted for him. That's what he deserves.

That's why she tried to have a normal Sunday. She had somehow managed to go inside the house to grab a few more clothes without breaking down. Even snagging one of Alec's hockey jerseys in the process. If she couldn't have the real thing, at least she had a piece of him.

She had grabbed the rest of her things from Max and Kris's and put them in Skye's house. They had offered for her to stay but she couldn't do it. She couldn't be around a happy couple right now. It was too sad. Once she was all moved in at Skye's, Willow went to grab some lunch.

She chose a nearby cafe that luckily had an outdoor area. She needed the sunshine. Willow had been half through an oat milk matcha latte and a grilled veggie sandwich when she got a call. Hoping it'd be about Alec.  She's answered before the first ring had a chance to end.

"Hello?" Willow answered. "Miss. Paultre?" The voice on the other end called out. Willow tries to tamper down her disappointment. Nobody in wrestling causes her by her government name. "This is she." Willow replied. "Hi, this Darlene at Hearst Realty! How are you?" The chirpy voiced Darlene asked.

"Oh yes! Hi, Darlene. Im okay. Is everything alright" Willow asks. "Everything is just fine. Im just calling to let you know we received your paper work and there's now a for sale sign by your property!" Darlene exclaims.

A certain relief fills Willow's body upon hearing this. A relief that she hasn't had since last Saturday night. "Really? That's great!" Willow gasps. "Yes and with as good of shape as your property is in you'll have buyers in no time." Darlene assures.

"Oh thank you so much! Now what's next?" Willow asks. "Well when we get buyers in, you and your partner will have to be there when they come. Just so they know you're serious about the sale." Darlene explained, knocking Willow's optimism right out of her.

"Oh he's not my partner. He was my roommate. Also, does he really need to be there? See, the house was bought from my parents. I grew up there. So I would know a little bit more about it than he would." Willow asks. She didn't want Lawless in on this.

"Im sorry. He had marked his relationship with you as partner." Darlene clarifies. Willow rolls her eyes. Of course he did. Miserable bastard. "Anyway, it's just better if you two are there since you both own it." Darlene continues. Willow rubs her temples. She had no desire to deal with his bullshit but she had to do it.

"Okay! We will be there." Willow assures in a fake sunny tone. "Great! We'll keep you posted. Bye Danielle!" Darlene promised before ending the call. "Bye." Willow hangs up the phone. She was excited that her house was on the market. Hopefully buyers would come pouring in soon. Now if only she could convince Rex.

She didn't want to do this but she knew she had to. Maybe it would help the house get sold faster. Still, she wishes she didn't have to deal with him all together. She picks up her phone, remembers who she's doing this for, and dials Rex Lawless's number.

"Hello?" Lawless answers, his cocky tone seeping through the phone. "It's me." Willow replies. "Oh hi, "babe"." Lawless greets her. "I told you not to call me that." Willow snapped. "Why not? You are my girlfriend after all." Lawless taunted, his shit eating grin ever present through the phone.

"I'm Alec's girlfriend." Willow reminded. Rex laughs. "See you keep saying that yet he's not even talking to you right now." Rex shook her head. Willow was silent for a minute. It's true that they weren't talking. Alec was very upset with her still.

"Look, I didn't call you for all that." She sighed. "And why did you call me?" Lawless asked. "Because I got a call from the realtor. The house is on the market." She informs him. "Great. So, what now?" He asks. "She says we both have to be there when they show potential buyers. It shows that were serious about selling the property." Willow explained.

"Gee, Dani, I'd love to you help out but see im a busy guy." Rex sighs. "Busy with what?" She asks, annoyed.  "Wellll I do have a life." Rex reminded. "You can't spare an hour to just stand in a house and smile?" She asks. "Oh I absolutely could. It's just... I'm gonna need you to do this for me." Lawless started.

Willow felt her blood run cold. Of course he wanted something. How typical. "What do you need me for?" Willow asks worriedly. "I'll go with you. You just have to go somewhere with me." Lawless suggested. "Where? Your parents house? A dinner? High school reunion?" Willow asked.

"Don't flatter yourself. You have to come with me to Wrestling Open." Lawless finally says. Willow almost dropped her phone when she heard that. She couldn't show up to Wrestling Open. Especially if Alec was there. "No." Willow denies. "No. No way." She shook her head.

"Yes, you will or else." Lawless threatened. "Or else what?" Willow asks. "I'll tell the realtor your forged my signature and I didn't authorize the house being on the market. Then it gets taken off, you get no money, and your poor injured boyfriend thinks you cheated. Do you really want that?" He asks.

Willow felt every emotion in her rise. She couldn't do this. There's no way she could do this but she had to. She needed to sell the house. "Fine." She agreed softly. "That's more like it." Lawless replied. "Whatever." Willow sneers. "Oh and wear something presentable. You know I like you put together." He reminds.

"Good bye." Willow hangs up the phone before she hears him out any further. She sets her phone down and begins to cry. This had barely started and she was at the end of her rope.

#self para

[thoseweredaysofroses]

The Boat Chronicles Pt. 1

Somewhere in 2014

My sister is sitting on the front stoop, watching two year old Sofia play in the yard; she turns her head as I walk outside, and she knows. I don’t know what my face looks like, but she knows.

“You bought a boat, huh?”

“Yup.”

“The pirate ship?”

“Yeah.”

I’m still in shock, but my brain is already beginning to process what it all means. The musical equipment that’s been sitting in the hall closet for years, collecting dog fur, will be the first of many casualties, destined to be packed in the trunk of that old reliable Camry, trooped over the bridge to Guitar Center, and sold to finish paying for the boat. Then comes the garage sale, and the massive exodus of three years worth of accumulated stuff, that will leave a pile small enough to pack around the kid and the pets in the poor old Camry that would see us through so much. The last few bags of clothing fit nicely beneath the canoe we strap to the roof, and an entire life (seven lives, actually) crams itself into a four door sedan, yet again, and begins the overnight drive to Charleston, to a fresh start.

We would arrive around four in the morning, when the mist over the harbor lends everything it touches an air of magic, of promise. We have no idea what we are getting ourselves into.

I will never get over that mist, that city; or that boat. They will follow me wherever I go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don’t remember the first time it occurs to me that we’ve made a poor decision, but all of the times involve rain where it shouldn’t be.

Maybe it’s the first weekend, visiting with my sister, Sofias third birthday. It begins to rain, and we quickly realize how leaky wooden boats can be, as we scramble to find enough pots and pans to collect it all. Maybe it’s when the garbage bag I’ve taped up to keep the rain off my face while I sleep suddenly breaks in the middle of the night, pouring icy water directly into my ear. Or maybe it’s when the locker under the cockpit fills with water, unbeknownst to us, and finally gives up, pouring a literal waterfall into our living space. Who knows when the doubts begin to creep in, but no worries, nothing we can’t fix. I would sing it to myself near constantly during that time, and the ensuing eight years: “Don’t worry, about a thing, cos every little thing’s gonna be alright”. And it will be alright, but it will not be easy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you know that boats of a certain age just pump their toilets directly overboard? Me neither, at least not until I find myself the proud owner of a “boat of a certain age”. So our first boat project involves removing the old toilet (or in boat terms, the head), and replacing it with the cheapest temporary solution: a cassette toilet. This means emptying the thing every damn night, but at least I don’t have to walk the quarter mile to the bathrooms in the middle of the night, with a cranky toddler in tow, for more than a few days. It also means that when, after only a couple short weeks of living aboard full time, I find myself pregnant, I will experience the absolute worst morning sickness of my life. Between that abominable toilet and the rocking of the boat, at times gentle and at times so jarring I wonder that our poor sailboat doesn’t rattle herself apart, I would spend most of my mornings those first months so sick I could barely function, let alone keep down any food, while also solely responsible for the kid and the pets.

Kids still need to eat, even when their Mom feels like the very incarnation of death; dogs still need to be walked, fuel for heat still needs to be sourced, laundry still needs to be dragged down to the facilities. I do it all, and with the full understanding that this is the life I have chosen, I bear it with as much grace as any newly pregnant person can muster. That said, when our tax refund manages to pay for a composting head, I can honestly say I have never been happier about a toilet in my life. (Foreshadowing: I would be equally delirious with joy about toilets multiple times over the course of the years, a feeling generally followed rather quickly by despair, as any boater will tell you there is literally no perfect solution for shitting in such a confined space.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere in 2021

There’s a cold wind here tonight; it howls like an ornery ghost through the rigging, as it hurls paint dust into the air, and fails completely in making everything fresh and new. The boatyard is going to eat me alive. I can feel it gnawing away at my gristle and my sanity, bit by bit, even as the end inches closer. And the door slams, gently and more forcefully in turn. And the rustling leaves of the tomato plant dying in the cockpit, and the humming crickets, occasional bullfrogs, crunching gravel as a car drives by. These are the sounds of this place, where I have lived for nearly two years now. And all the while growing increasingly George Bailey about the whole ordeal. And god if it doesn’t sometimes feel like I’ll never shake the dust of this damn place off my feet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere in 2015

It takes me some time to grow brave enough to venture too far into Charleston, terrified of getting lost, and even more of driving over the Ravenel Bridge, but when I do finally attempt the thing, I find it to be well worth my time. After that, Sofia and I spend our days exploring the city, eating gelato in the park while we watch the boats go by, blasting The Pogues as we drive to Sullivans Island for yet another winter beach walk, throwing stranded starfish back into the water at Folly Beach, wandering along all those old cobbled streets downtown, and generally taking it all in. The hot tub at the marina provides a perfect activity right at home too, we are so happy during that honeymoon time, it’s still easy to ignore the hard parts. I often wonder if I will ever love another city the way I loved Charleston in the winter.

The cracks start to show as the boat work becomes more reality than dream, as my pregnancy necessitates a reassessment of our budget, as all the ways we don’t understand the norms and mores of marina life begin to add up. We are in over our heads, but too proud to admit it, and to some degree, it feels as though we no longer have a choice. The only way out is through.

To be continued…

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