#because the only reason i'm making these purchases is because i don't have to pay for groceries right now

[20dollarlolita]

My friend is getting some crap on instagram about perceived classism in the lolita community, and as someone who runs a budget-focused lolita fashion blog, I'm going to rehash some of the old "but I can't afford burando!" conversation.

For some background reading, here's where I bought three "lolita" "dresses" off ebay, and what I actually received for my money. And here's a breakdown of one of those specifically. I'm linking to these because I want everyone to remember that the pictures on ebay, amazon, wish, etc do not represent what the actual piece you receive will look like.

Lolita fashion can be expensive, but the less expensive end of legitimate lolita fashion is not actually as expensive as many people think it is. It's not all $300 for a dress and $60 for a pair of socks. There are options that bring the price down to other fashions. It cannot compete with the hyper-fast fashion of Shein and H&M and other places where the clothing is designed to be disposable. This is because lolita clothing is not disposable. Even modified or damaged, lolita fashion pieces have resell value. It's very common for people to be wearing garments that are over ten years old. There's also a lot of documentation about how hyper-fast fashion is damaging to the environments where it's made and the people who made it.

Okay, so that's all very fine and well, but it's true that recognizing that something is worth the money doesn't actually get you the money to buy it. There's a lot of things that I recognize are worth the money it costs to buy them, but that I don't have the money for. I don't drive a high-end electric car, even though I think it would be a better choice for me, because I don't have the money for a high-end electric car. So I do, very distinctly, understand that. I'm not about to tell someone "just save up for it!"

But, when someone tells you that you cannot buy lolita fashion on wish dot com, they're not actually saying "you won't be accepted in a wish dot com dress." They're saying, "any money you spend on a wish dot com dress will be wasted, because you will not receive a usable garment." Let's play pretend for a second. You come up to me with $20 and say, "I'd like to buy clothes." I say, "Good. I'll sell you some clothes." I then take your $20 bill, rip it into small pieces, eat all of the pieces, and say, "that's your clothes." Now, you didn't actually get any clothes from that, and there's no way you're getting your $20 back because I have consumed it. Your friend comes up to me and says, "Hi, I'd like to buy clothes." You say, "Don't give her that $20! It will be a waste of money!" Your friend says, "That's classism, because I only have $20." That's the conversation that's happening right now on my friend's instagram.

Classism does exist in the lolita fashion community. It can even come from people with good intentions. But, when it comes to buying on Ebay and Amazon and Walmart.com, people who are saying, "you can't buy lolita fashion on walmart dot com," aren't saying, "we won't accept your walmart dot com dress, because it was cheap." What they're saying is, "the thing that the site is telling you that you're buying and the thing that you will receive are going to be two different things. The thing you will receive will barely be a garment." There's a reason why, when I say "lolita dress from ebay," I have to typeset it as "'lolita' 'dress' from ebay," because it will probably be neither lolita nor a dress.

If you're new to the fashion and want a good shopping resource, 42lolita is a reseller/shopping service that will tell you what the shipping will be up front. Many other resellers will send you the shipping costs after you make the purchase, which makes it harder to predict what you'll be paying. You won't be getting a dress for $20 on 42lolita or anywhere else, but the prices they charge are more in line with shopping at a department store, rather than shopping at a big name designer store. There's a lot of other ways to purchase lolita fashion, and I just used 42lolita as one example.

The number of people who genuinely want the fashion to be as expensive as possible is not all that big. Even people who occasionally buy a $300 dress enjoy finding inexpensive accessories and support pieces. Finding lolita-usable jewelry on the Walmart clearance rack is a thing that's exciting to most people in the fashion. If there was a secret to buying $20 dresses on ebay and getting something that could be used in the fashion, people in the fashion would absolutely already be doing that.

So anyway, yeah, there's classism in the lolita community, but telling someone that they should not give me $20 for clothes when experience shows that I'm just going to rip it up and eat is not classism. Friends don't let friends spend money on badly made replicas on aliexpress.

#lolita fashion #20dollarlolita

[gatitties]

Caring you

─ Yandere!bonten x motherly!reader (Platonic)

─ Summary: these men are just trying to take care of you so you're just theirs

─ Warnings: stalking, toxic behaviors, obsession, yandere stuff

Part one / Part three / Part four / Part five

@simpingfor-wakasa, @luno-614 did you want the second part? here it is!! 🫂

You sighed leaving the shopping bags at the entrance of your house, turning on the lights in the living room while you carried the bags back to the kitchen, only before you could even take a step you screamed when you saw Mikey sitting on your sofa eating a cookie quietly.

"Holy fu-, do you want me to have a heart attack one of these days?"

You had not seen his figure before so it was normal for you to be scared, although in recent weeks you had had these intruders breaking into your house, you did not recriminate them for breaking into your home because they practically "spared" your life that day in which they kidnapped you, yet the Bonten leader kept insisting that you should stay with them in their headquarters because the city was full of predators who could take advantage of the likes of you.

"You know that you still have time to come with us."

You had denied his offer by active and passive but nothing seemed to make Mikey reason, he didn't want to resort to kidnapping because he had already experienced that look from you once when you found him binging on the cookies you had made for everyone, of course he didn't want to share them, he snuck into your house at night so that they would only be his. Receiving that look of disapproval and disappointment made his heart sink, as if he were a kicked and scolded cat.

They had discovered that threats ─even if they were empty─ were useless against you, you had lived long enough for that kind of thing to affect you and you already had some loved ones waiting in the other world, besides, no matter how sadistic Sanzu was, he flatly refused that none of the other executives could even think of raising their hand to you or thinking of torture to make you bow down to them.

So Kakucho was the one who discovered that the best thing they could do to 'protect' you was blackmail, well, he thought it would work out considering that you didn't deny helping them whenever they came to your house looking for comfort or help, but you weren't an idiot. They were men old enough to take care of themselves, besides being criminals.

“Mikey, really, I don't know why I'm not six meters underground yet, I appreciate that, but I like my ordinary life."

Of course, Kokonoi offered you countless kinds of luxuries to try to take you into a comfortable life with them, which you refused just the same. Mikey got up walking towards the kitchen where you were placing the purchase, an action that was completely interrupted when the man hugged you, letting his face rest against your back.

"It's not fair… why can't you accept it? we just want you to be safe, I- I need you by my side, I want you to pay attention to me!"

And there he is… you didn't know Mikey's personality when he acted like a leader everyone feared, but next to you he was like a spoiled attention-seeking kid who throws a tantrum if he doesn't get what he wants. You turned so that his head rested on your chest, tightening your embrace a little and rubbing his back in circles, you had to push the atrocities these men engaged in very deep, but there was not much you could do about it either, it's not like if you could change their lives of crime, so as in all your life, swallow and follow the course of things, if these guys wanted your attention you were not going to deny it as long as they cut you out of their business and behave moderately around you.

"You don't need me seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day by your side, plus you always invade my apartment when you want."

He didn't respond to your words, he only clung to you more, almost squeezing you to get every last drop of your affection, Mikey knew he couldn't with your will to continue with your daily routine, but if that was going to continue like this the least he could do was spend as much time as possible with you.

Although as much as it bothers him, he is the leader and he has things to attend to, so he lets you have time with the others, much to his displeasure of course, he doesn't like to share very much, but he knows that you will scold him if he doesn't let the others have their time with you. Takeomi was in charge of making a schedule, taking into account your work hours and even leaving you one day off so that you had privacy and peace, although on those days off Rindou or Sanzu would surely escape to see you even though they weren't allowed to.

Kakucho would always accompany you when you had to cook, before you only had to make food for yourself, and now you find eight grown men clamoring for your homemade food, you appreciated the boy's help and he was more than happy to hear your praise about how well he cook, oh boy, Kaku's chest swells with joy every time you taste his food and you smile at him like a proud mother who has taught her son a new recipe that he has mastered perfectly. Although he doesn't show it as openly as the others, he yearns for your hugs in silence.

Kokonoi always accompanied you when shopping, this man will not let you spend a penny of your money while he is there, he makes sure that you don't lack for anything, although he is a bit annoyed that you refuse to buy stupidly expensive clothes, they just want to spoil you for everything you do for them, even if you don't even realize that your simple actions drive them crazy.

Mochi is undoubtedly the one that stalks you the most, he has to make sure that no creep gets too close, if this happens he will be calling Ran to find out information about that person and they will immediately contact Sanzu to eliminate them. After all you only need them and other people are harmful to you, of course they will still let you keep your close friends and family because they make you happy, and they wouldn't do anything wrong with you, unless they do, when someone close to you does something to you that they don't like, they will comfort you after that person died mysteriously or in an 'accident'.

Which happened… it had to happen, it was a friend you made relatively recently, just a few months before Sanzu collapsed at the door of your house that dawning. You felt comfortable with him and you got closer quite quickly, although you usually used to communicate more by messages than face to face, you always made time to go out one day, the Bonten men controlled all the people you interacted with, even if they were a simple supermarket clerk, if their tone were apathetic with you, they wouldn't last much longer in this world.

Just as they knew everyone you talked to, they knew about this man and they didn't like him one bit, they looked up information about him and Rindou found out that he was a filthy gambler who spent a few nights in brothels, had some history of violence and minimal arrests, it was enough. But the worst thing was the way he looked at you, Takeomi described it when he was following you secretly, his eyes looked at you with disgusting love when you only saw him as a good friend, that thing shouldn't even deserve a second of your time. Mikey asked you about him one day ─because he's a 'curious' boy and wanted to know things directly from you─ and they found out that this disgusting guy simply lied to you about his job and hobbies, although you already found out on your own and complained to him, he promised that he was trying to fix and run his life again, you accepted it by deciding to keep the friendship.

And the guy really started to straighten his life out a bit, but still… that look he gave you kept bugging your boys, plus if you got a partner your attention would get harder and harder to get and they weren't passing by. Even though you weren't interested in having a partner, it didn't convince them, that guy was going to make you feel uncomfortable because he planned to declare himself and you didn't feel the same, it was the breaking point and the end for him.

Today was your friend's funeral, not much in the mood to stay there any longer, you gave your condolences to the family and went home with tears running from your eyes, maybe he wasn't the best person but you still considered him a friend. When you got home, what you least expected was to see those eight men waiting impatiently for you, they knew it, they knew that you were a little more vulnerable now and they wanted to take advantage of that.

"Why is everyone here? Something has happened? I'm not going to launder money or hide weapons here if you want any of those favors."

You wiped your tears leaving your jacket on the coat rack, the first to approach you was Mikey, murmuring your name as he dragged you to the sofa.

"We just had a bad feeling, are you okay?"

"Oh…"

They acted worried even though it hurt to see your tears, a little upset because they were tears for that scum, but now they wanted to focus on making you feel better in their arms. Mikey self-proclaimed your lap as his seat, passing his arms around your shoulders, resting his head on your chest to listen to the sound of your heart, the rhythm of your pulsations was too relaxing and addictive for him. Ran and Rin were on either side of you, clinging to your arms, Sanzu and Kokonoi sat on the ground, leaning their foreheads against your knees, hugging your legs while Kakucho stood up comfortingly stroking your head. Mochi and Takeomi looked askance as they all clung to you without giving them space to do so as well.

Takeomi was not one to go against his leader's orders, however, he would take it upon himself to limit Mikey's time with you just by taking up so much of your time.

"Okay guys, I don't feel half of my body."

You asked to be released because you began to stop feeling your arms, which had fallen asleep due to the iron grip of the Haitani, reluctantly everyone released you or gave you your necessary space.

"Are you feeling better?"

Kakucho asked without stopping massaging your scalp, you let out a shaky breath, you had already had your fill of crying all morning and you had barely eaten anything, you nodded closing your eyes, feeling tired from all the emotions released today.

"Yes, thank you very much guys, I love you."

You muttered without taking into account the weight of those words on the criminals, they all froze, planning to crush you in a desperate embrace right then and there if the rumbling of your stomach didn't stop them. Your cheeks began to take on a slight pinkish tint, cause of embarrassment, they were usually the ones who came to you to be fed, their guts rumbling, but not you.

"So I guess we're ordering food?"

Koko already had his phone ready to call the most expensive restaurant in the city, you knew what he was planning to do so you got up and gently took the phone from him, denying it.

"No, I can do something quick."

"Okay, we can do something quick."

You smiled sweetly at Kakucho for offering to help, receiving death glares at his cunning, Mikey immediately jumped up grabbing onto your leg, pouting like a complete child.

"I can help too."

"Mikey… I would like you to help too, but last time you burned my pan."

#tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers #x reader #platonic reader #yandere #platonic yandere #bonten #yandere bonten #yandere platonic bonten x reader #fem reader #old reader #bonten x reader #motherly reader #reader insert #kokonoi #sanzu #takeomi #mikey #mochizuki #haitani #rindou #ran #kakucho

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for damaging product I intend on buying?

For context, I (25m) collect trading cards, most notably Pokemon. Most stores I purchase from have some kind of anti-theft mechanism on the racks where the cards hang, where the intended purpose is to make customers find an employee to unlock the device and slide the card packs off.

I, however, also really dislike talking to people (a combination of autism and just a general lack of interest) and would prefer to avoid it whenever possible. To do this, I've taken to gently ripping the card packaging ONLY where it hangs from the rack so that I can slip it off the hanger without the need to fetch the employee.

(To add to this, I don't do it for any kind of "damaged product" discount, nor do I attempt to be secretive about it. In my mind, I have nothing to hide, I'm simply making the process faster by cutting out the middleman. Some card packs are also kept behind the counter, and a proxy piece of cardboard hangs on the racks instead (not locked), when I want one of those I bring the undamaged proxy to the register while checking out as intended.)

I do this with my friends (24-28) with no issue, as they all agree with the viewpoint of "it's being paid for anyways so it shouldn't matter", but recently did it while out shopping with my mother (55f) and she looked at me like I'd grown a second head. In the car, she questioned why I'd do such a thing because "those [anti theft devices] are there for a reason" (fair, but irrelevant as I'm paying for the cards) and "if everyone pulls that bs you're just part of the problem" (which I disagree with, in my eyes the problem is actual shoplifters and not what I'm doing).

Again, I want to remind everyone that I DO pay for the cards, I'm not stealing, I'm just usually not in the mood to talk to a person more than I absolutely HAVE to.

So tumblr, AITA for a tiny rip not even half an inch long?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[bogunicorn]

Inquisition companion coffee orders and how they'd be at a coffee shop, based on the less than a year I spent working at fake starbucks many years ago. In a different order than my last post, just for the hell of it. Some of these are based on real customers that I still remember. I wrote this at 5am when I was high and unable to sleep so keep that in mind if you think I'm wrong. I'm not wrong but you should keep it in mind. H'kay let's go

Josephine: large americano, extra shots, cream and sugar and sometimes a shot of a seasonal flavor if it's a special day. She comes in twice a day, she tips, and the baristas are all trying to figure out how she hasn't had a heart attack yet from having that much caffeine every day. Staff knows her name and likes her.

Dorian: Iced white chocolate mocha. It's the only thing he gets. He will not drink it hot. He will not try a different flavor. He shows up in the morning and orders two, one with ice and one without, and be puts the one without ice in the fridge to drink later. Staff knows him on sight, but they make him state his order every day as if they don't because he doesn't tip.

Varric: regular brewed coffee, but he likes to hang out at the cafe, work on his books, meet with people, etc. He's really nice, he over tips, and sometimes the staff "forgets" to charge him for a refill. He also orders whatever food they're running out of because he figures that means it's popular and therefore good.

Solas: Decaf brewed coffee, and then he puts a disgusting amount of sugar and cream into it. He actually hates coffee and refuses to drink caffeine, but he doesn't come for the drinks, he comes to people watch and do life drawings. He needs the coffee so he has a purchase that can reasonably last him hours before he's expected to spend more money, and hot coffee won't leave condensation on the table and get his paper wet. Staff knows him and their advice to each other is not to ask him questions because he will answer you, at length, in great detail, if it's something he knows about. But he occasionally just puts a couple 20s in the tip jar, so they've decided he's cool but kind of a weird nerd.

Blackwall: Seems like he'd be a "just a NORMAL COFFEE" kind of guy, but he's actually one of the staff's favorite customers. He's some kind of blue collar worker who comes in on the way to work and on the way home, and he gets the same thing every day: regular hot latte in the morning, decaf hot latte at night. He's always there at rush times, but he's polite and he tips even when service is crowded and messy. The baristas start making his coffee when we walks in the door if they notice him, so he rarely has to wait, but he seems flattered and grateful every time.

Sera: Her order is different every time she comes in and it's always something all fucked up and weird. Half the time she just shows them a screenshot on her phone of some complicated meme recipe from TikTok, or she wants whatever technicolor monstrosity frappuccino that's on special. The staff dreads her order, but she also has a habit of getting belligerent with customers who give the staff a hard time, so they're pretty sure Sera is like a part time security guard who demands meme drinks in payment. They're allowed to complain about her if they want, but they'll malicious compliance the fuck out or anyone else who does.

Iron Bull: He doesn't have a single go-to order, but he's nice and likes to ask the staff for recommendations if it's not too busy and lets them test new recipes on him. He always tries the seasonal flavors at least once. Sometimes he comes in with a group of friends who look like trouble on first glance, but Bull pays for them all at once, doesn't let them order blended drinks, and always makes sure they clean up after themselves, so it's okay.

Cullen: Just a NORMAL COFFEE. He's totally overwhelmed by the amount of choices, but this is the closest place to his office and getting out to buy coffee is his excuse to take a break and stretch his legs. The staff knows him and actually responds to "just a normal coffew" because it's too much trouble to interrogate him about which roast or what size cup, because last time he said, "I don't know, something dark? Whatever has the most caffeine in just a regular size to go cup." He's been drinking a medium blonde roast for years and still doesn't know what blonde roast is, save that he thinks he doesn't like it.

Leliana: Two shots of espresso over ice. Leliana had shit to do and she needs that caffeine in her body as fast as possible. The ice is there to keep her from burning her mouth off. She drinks it like it's whiskey and throws out her cup without even breaking stride.

Cole: Year round pumpkin spiced latte. If they're out of the syrup, he gets the cheapest thing on the menu, no add ins, and then doesn't drink it. He rarely comes in on his own; Cole is usually there with a friend and is aware that it's rude to be there without buying, but the pumpkin spice is the only thing he actually likes. He's polite but he creeps out the other customers with his thousand yard stare.

Cassandra: London Fog, but she never remembers what it's called. She drinks it because she wasn't sure and someone recommended it, but the name just will not stick in her head. She orders it as "hot Earl Grey tea with milk", she listens every time they say "okay, so a London Fog", but by the next time she's in she's forgotten. It's not really a big deal, though, she seems pretty overworked. At this point the staff would be sad if she did remember, honestly.

Vivienne: "The Usual". Literally only one barista knows her order, because it's some customized thing that that specific barista made for her once ages ago. Viv knows what's it in but she will not tell you because she doesn't trust anyone but that one barista to make it. If her regular person isn't around, she just gets a hot latte with sugar free vanilla. That one barista also won't tell you what's in it, but that's because Vivienne tips them directly instead of in the jar and they don't want to ruin a good thing.

**also if you like this and think "i'm gonna give this fine person a follow because they're so funny about dragon age", i made a new DA sideblog at @skyholdstarbucks where i'd post anything similar to this in the future

#bog post #i need a dedicated tag for these if I'm gonna keep doing them #dragon age #dai #cullen rutherford #leliana #josephine montilyet #cassandra pentaghast #blackwall #the iron bull #varric tethras #sera #cole #solas #vivienne de fer #dorian pavus #da headcanons

[sakivonobsidian]

Gilbert von Obsidian If you served your master ～Beast and Maid～ voiced story

☆ I don't usually translate so there will be probably lots of mistakes, sorry in advance ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

☆ There might be some spoilers...not of his route per se, but more about how Gilbert acts so if you're waiting for his route release maybe it's better to avoid reading for now.

☆ + 18 story

☆ Characters, story and everything belongs to Cybird. If you play in JP server I encourage you to purchase the story, it's really worth it!!!! ૮꒰ ྀི >⸝⸝⸝< ྀི꒱ა

Enjoy!

There is one person who mustn't be defied in the country of Obsidian, where military and ore reign.

The calamity of the world, the trampling beast—only he possesses those evil titles, without exception.

Gilbert: A maid having such courage to defy her master, huh? What did you just say? Say it again.

The atmosphere in the room was so oppressive that breathing was difficult.

My master was smiling pleasantly but his blood-coloured eye showed no hint of amusement.

(My body is trembling even when we're supposedly lovers.)

Gilbert doesn't mind the difference in our status as maid and master and pays no attention to our forbidden love

That’s because he is the absolute ruler of this land.

He openly loves me without minding other's opinions but still he sometimes directs his killing intent towards me mercilessly.

Gilbert: Just this time I'll forgive this.

(...Don't run, Emma. Even against Gilbert, there are things I cannot yield.)

Clutching my so tight it hurts, I face Gilbert.

Emma: I won't return to my room.

Gilbert: Oh...you want to be punished that badly, huh? You're doing something right now that could get you killed, you know?

Gilbert presses the cane he was holding against my throat.

Gilbert: There's no mercy for a maid who doesn't obey her master's orders.

Emma: ...

“I might be killed for real”

With his hand pressing firmly against my throat, my heart screams of danger.

Yet, I refuse to retreat, and instead, I grasp Gilbert's cane.

Emma: I won't change my mind, even if I'm killed.

Gilbert: Why?

Emma: Because I truly love you.

Gilbert: Hmm... you're quite brave, aren't you? Isn't being a maid about obediently serving one's master?

Emma: No. It's about considering and acting in the master's best interest. If a maid simply obediently follows orders, then she's no different from a slave.

Gilbert: I see... maybe I've been too permissive.

Gilbert drops the cane and then grabs my neck with his cold hands. I never avert my gaze even when my throat is lightly pressed.

(Ah... it smells like blood.)

When I had that thought my face was blocked by a beautiful face who pressed his lips against mine.

Emma: ...

Gilbert: Just kidding.

The oppressive mood that filled the room vanished as if was an illusion and it became easier to breath.

Gilbert: Looks like I've been exposed. If you're that worried, shouldn't you hurry and bring the medicine box? And while yo do so, you could maybe tend me too.

Emma: Y-Yes!

(Finally, he acknowledged it.)

I hurriedly move away from Gilbert and pick up the medicine box that is always kept in the room.

The box is supervised by Gilbert's own physician and contains first aid supplies and treatment tools to treat both external and internal wounds.

(Gilbert usually hides illnesses and injuries skilfully.)

(But lately, I've become better at seeing through it.)

I don't know if it's whether Gilbert is unconsciously letting his guard down or if I've developed a deeper understanding towards my master.

However, since Gilbert doesn't take care of his own body, whether as a maid or a lover and even if it means risking my life, I couldn't turn a blind eye to it.

Gilbert: You seem pleased.

Gilbert chuckles in disbelief and sits on the bed.

Emma: There's no reason not to be happy. Since Gilbert, who always refuses to show weakness, has finally relented.

Gilbert: It's not like I mind being seen. However, if you see a wound you'll make a face like you want to cry, right? I like to see you cry, but it annoys me when the reason are the wounds inflicted by someone else.

Emma: ...Your range of jealousy is too wide.

Gilbert: That's just how much I love you.

Gilbert seemed to be in a good mood as he casually returns my previous words.

(...Maybe, despite everything, he didn't dislike it.)

I approach the bed and sit beside Gilbert who takes off his clothes so he can be treated more easily.

On his exposed left arm, there were painful traces of previous bleeding.

Emma: ...Did you get Walter-san to look at it?

Gilbert: Haha, no way.

Emma: Gilbert-sama...

Gilbert: The wound it's not that deep. It'll be fine if you just put some medicine on it.

Emma: If that's what you say...

(My master is always in a position where his life is targeted.)

(Injuries that would never thought of are probably common for Gilbert.)

I wipe away the blood, apply the medicine, and bandage it.

I can't avoid feeling the pain, even though it's Gilbert who's injured.

(...This is bad.)

Though I'm determined not to make a face like I'm about to cry, I involuntarily frown.

I lower my gaze as I can't hide or disguise it under a smile and Gilbert, who wears a shirt now, lifts my chin with his finger.

Gilbert: You'd be punished if you were just a maid, but you're also my lover. I'll make an exception for you... but in return, should I have you serve me?

A brief kiss changes Gilbert's behaviour completely.

He transforms into a seductive figure and pins me down onto the bed.

Gilbert: Come on, open your mouth. Or are you going to defy me again?

Emma: …No.

(If I have to cry, I'd rather drown in Gilbert's embrace.)

Emma: But I don't like this position.

Gilbert: Oh, defying me after all?

Emma: It's not that…! It's just that... it strains your arm, Gilbert-sama.

I manage to free myself and sit up. Gilbert, in turn, ends up rolling onto the sheets.

Gilbert: Alright then, let's do it like this.

Emma: ... ...

Gilbert: Maid, you know what you should do, right...?

(Truly, this man...)

Breathing deeply, I straddle Gilbert's body while trying to calm my racing heart that is now agitated by a different reason than before.

As I kiss his cold lips, his hand wraps around the back of my head.

Our tongues intertwine, and his cold lips, occasionally nibbling at me, grow warmer.

When I retaliate with a bite, Gilbert raises his knee and mercilessly rocks between my legs.

Emma: Ahn...!

Gilbert: ...Your know that for every bit of defiance you'll have to work harder to please me, right?

The pleasure forcibly dragged out overwhelms my body.

I can still say that I love this evil prince even when being faced with intimidation, threats and the attempt to drown me in pleasure.

Because the love that overflows from his red eye reflects his true feelings and they can't be hidden.

#ikemen prince #ikepri #ikepri gilbert #gilbert von obsidian #gilbert von obsidian spoilers #イケメン王子 #イケプリ #ギルベルトフォンオブシディアン

[friend-of-furbies]

Examples, Pricing, Furbies I currently have, and More Info below the cut!!

EDIT!! Availability has been updated!! Please check to see which Furbies are now left! (also all edited text is in italics) Thank you!

EDIT: I am no longer accepting commissions at the moment! I don't know when or if I will reopen them, sorry for any inconvenience!

Note: If you have a design already in mind but I don't have a furby that fits, You can provide your own! Either you can ship me one you currently have (shipping the furb to me will be included in the final price,) or I can scour various websites and local shops for a fitting Furb and purchase one for you (I will pay for the Furby myself but cost will be added to the final price.)

!PRICES! (Added some things)

Base price of Furby: $25 (unless it's a Furby not pictured)

Carved beak: $7

Carved eyelids: $14

Solid painted beak, eyelids, and tongue: $10

Complex painted eyelids: $7

Complex painted beak: $5

Partial painted faceplate: $5

Fully painted faceplate: $7

Slightly dyed fur: $5

Beaded name necklace: $3

Additional accessories: Vary based on availability and complexity (availability meaning if I have the materials to make it or if I have to go to the store)

Anything Not listed may be requested but may impact price depending on complexity (I may not be able or want to do certain things, so they may be denied)

Solid painted beak/simple paint job: $3

Baby Eyechips: $4

Adult Eyechips: No cost

Eyelashes: No cost (unless I have to buy new ones)

(The reason why baby eyechips cost something as opposed to Adult eyechips is because I do not have many spare 12mm/baby eyechips, and the ones I do have are a process to get them ready for customizing. I have a lot of spare Adult eyechips that are already to be customized)

These are the Furbies I currently have that can be customized!

Not sure why I wrote "TAKEN" it sounds scary tbh... they should say "claimed"

If you have any questions or are interested please do not hesitate to reach out to me either on here or Instagram!

If you are interested but need to wait to get some money together please message me as soon as possible, as I'm more than happy to hold on to a Furby for you for about a month!

Payments must be utilizing Cashapp, Mercari, or Ebay only.

#furby #safe furby #all furby #furbies #furby blog #furby community #furby fandom #furby love #furby 1998 #furby custom #my furby #furby commission #furby sale #art commisions #art commissions open #art comms open #art commission info #art commission

[cosmicstarlatte]

Customer Service (Obey Me!)

━━━━━━━━━━ ✦ ━━━━━━━━━━

They try contacting customer service. 🤷‍♂️

»Characters: Demon Bros

»Tags: Certified Shitpost™️, Pathetic Lucifer is my favorite Lucifer

»Notes: It's been a while since I've done a shitpost bulleted fic so ♡reblogs♡ are appreciated. I've had this wip since March apparently? 💀

Lucifer:

A hand on his hip and the phone in the other

This man means business

"Don't talk to me, I'm trying to keep my level of anger"

Held onto his anger for two hours waiting for the next agent

The annoying hold music only fueled him

Tried to be reasonable with the agent when he got patched through

But they were new

"Look, just get me your manager."

Waited another half hour for them

The problem got fixed rather quickly actually

smirked in satisfaction...Lucifer always wins.

If only he noticed the two stuck pages in the manual, he would've not wasted his morning

Mammon:

If he wasn't broke he would've paid someone else to make the call

Waited for an hour but it felt like eternity

"Yeah ain't there a satisfaction guarantee on this anyway!? The customers always right!"

Tried to get a replacement for his earbuds

And a refund while he was at it

Scammy? What?? Nooo....

"They fell in the wash! It's not my fault! Did I get insurance? Who has the money for that?"

Him and the agent went back and forth for a while

The agent finally caved and promised to replace the earbuds

"Finally! Ya better send 'em quick! -click-"

...

He realized he never gave the agent his address & had to start the process all over again

Levi:

Lol

Tried online chat but his specific issue needed a real agent because...of course it would

Tried to pay one of his brothers to make the call for him

They rather stab themselves or wage war against Diavolo than call customer service

Took anxiety medication before trying to call

Waited three hours on hold but played something soothing in the meantime

helloooo ruri and friends crossing

He stopped when he heard the hold music stop

"Hello thank you for calling Akuz-"

click

"It's not that important."

Satan:

This is how a pro does it.jpg

Drank his little coffee and ate his fresh little pastry

See, he set an alarm to call customer service right when they open their lines

Had the number typed and ready to go with a press

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

Finally!

-dialing tone-

"Hello. Your wait time is 2 hours and-"

...

...

...

Slammed his phone on the floor and it broke

Went to go fight the company in person

His issue got fixed

The company had to tighten their security after this incident

Asmo:

Is that one lucky demon that happens to get patched through quickly

He was having problems with his devilgram account verification

Just as he started speaking about his issue the agent freaked out

Turns out they were a huge fan and could automatically tell it was the REAL™️ Asmo speaking

The issue got fixed and Asmo stayed talking with the agent because they sounded really cute

One thing led to another and...it went from a customer service hotline to a phone sex one real quick

This always happens when he calls customer service akskjfksls

Beel:

Collected all the snacks he had

Even cooked an entire feast

He needed everything he could get before making the dreaded call

After an hour of waiting (and barely any snacks left) he finally got to an agent!

It was a pleasant experience for both sides

Beel is getting sent replacements for his shoes plus a discount voucher for his next purchase

güd boi™️ as usual

Belphie:

Almost fell asleep while waiting

The music soothed him, they had classical music playing

He's not really sure how long he waited if he's being honest

When he finally got to the agent he sounded so weak the agent was concerned

"Mm? No I'm always like ...losing... consciousness ...it's normal...zzz..."

The agent was still so concerned they sent someone to the HOL to check on him

Beel ended up making the call for him

⬦You might also like: Coconut︱Devil-Mart⭐︱Waffle House

#HIS OWN DADDY put me on this earth to bless everyone with pathetic lucifer AMEN #shitpostcifer #obey me #obey me headcanons #obey me shitpost #obey me crack #obey me humor #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me imagines #obey me scenarios #◇˖・ﾟ— › cosmic obey me . ⊹

[genericpuff]

Can’t wait for someone to make a copy of RS’s coveted “signature” stamp and just buy a few dozen books, stamp them, and sell them as “autographed” at a huge markup, and goofballs will buy them all.

I mean seriously, that stamp will be incredibly easy to copy if it’s not already been copied, it’s the polar opposite of exclusive or personal. Why anyone would pay $20 for that is beyond me but it proves that RS is a shrewd business person by any means necessary and will be richer than I ever will be. No wonder Hades is her idol.

No joke, there are pictures of Rachel using the stamp at SDCC and-

That stamp is literally just a standard one that you could order through any custom manufacturer. It's not a roller in any way, there's no unique cut they're working off of, it's just a round press stamp.

And it shows because this is the quality of the actual ink when it's on the paper-

Basically low grade printer ink on glossy paper. It's not gonna last at all, and it turned out exactly how I was expecting - there's too much solid color with too thin empty areas so the ink is bleeding into what's supposed to be 'white' (we deal with the same concepts in tattooing so I knew this was gonna happen as soon as I saw the stamp design).

Anyways so that's my long-winded way of saying that I took the stamp that was on Rachel's IG from her promotional posts, desaturated it, added a tone curve layer to adjust the sharpness/clarity, and threw it into VistaPrint. Just for science, and because I'm an asshole trying to prove a point.

Would literally only cost me $20-$30 for the stamp after shipping.

Now for obvious reasons I'm not saying anyone SHOULD do this, like... I'm showing you this for science but really, don't go making counterfeits because of this LOL This is really just to demonstrate how easy it would be for anyone to make a convincing replica, which is the unfortunate drawback to using stamps as your "signature" - and with a very low quality printer shop stamp to boot - because it makes it pretty easy to copy. Not to mention showing off the stamp design beforehand through social media means that people (like me, oop-) can rip it out of your image posts and reverse engineer it into something that can be uploaded and purchased. I get she wanted to make sure that people knew what they were getting, it would have been a HUGE piss off to go see her for a signature just to find out she was doing a stamp, but like... these are the risks that come with stamps.

Don't get me wrong, you can just as easily forge a signature, but it's a little harder to nail someone's personal signature vs. a stamp and you can usually find ways to make it more unique (like what Junji Ito did by giving out little doodles on each signature). It also doesn't help that that stamp is made so cheaply that a poorly done replica would probably be on the same level of quality as the authentic one. And of course she added insult to injury by deciding to sell ACTUAL HAND-SIGNED BOOKS WITH ONLY ONE BOOK THAT HAS ONE CRAPPY DOODLE INSIDE AT ONLY ONE SPECIFIC BOOKSTORE A WEEK AFTER SDCC WAS OVER THAT YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR EVEN IF IT MEANS YOU'RE GONNA HAVE AN EXTRA COPY OF A BOOK YOU ALREADY OWN-

sigh This isn't an uncommon thing to do, it's not unique to Rachel, but it gives me grifting gacha vibes and it feels like such a fuck you to the people who travelled all the way out to SDCC and paid for the ticket prices just to get a shitty printer ink stamp and then find out a week later after they've undoubtedly gone home that one bookstore in San Diego actually has hand-signed copies. I've seen Youtubers pull this kind of shit with vinyl printings and Youtooz figures and it's equally tacky.

If she had done it either with handwritten signatures or at the VERY least a better quality stamp design and higher quality ink, then yeah, it would be harder to make it seem legit for anyone who's not privy to creating things like lino cuts or using roller ink and thus make it a much more valuable collector's item. But the books at SDCC were literally made with a stamp that anyone can replicate for $20 and then the hand-signed ones were offered at only one bookstore after Rachel had already flown home. It feels so impersonal and cold to the audience that has supported her through all the bullshit she's pulled in the last year.

#anyways does anyone want my totally real signed copy of volume 1 #$100 or best offer #for legal reasons this is a joke #insert sarcasm here #lore olympus critical #lo critical #antiloreolympus #anti lore olympus #ama #ask me anything #anon ask me anything #anon ama

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for cooking meth with my former chemistry student, killing two people, and lying to my family about it?

I (50M) was recently diagnosed with inoperable, likely fatal lung cancer. I work at a highschool as a chemistry teacher, but both the pay and the students are terrible. Case in point, my "lab partner" (24M) - who we'll call "Cap'n" because of course he'd insist on a stupid nickname like that - not only completely flunked my class, but then went on to skip college entirely and become a meth-addicted drug dealer instead.

Understandably, I was a little shaken after receiving my diagnosis. It came as a surprise since I've never smoked, I keep myself in relatively fair health, etc. (Recently my wife has taken to vegan bacon- apparently it helps lower cholesterol, but I digress.) I haven't told my family about the situation yet; I'm still trying to figure out how to "let the cat out of the bag", not to mention I doubt my wife will take it very well.

As for deciding to try cooking methamphetamine, well. I'm not really sure how to explain it, exactly, but there's a lot of money in it, money that would benefit my family, and I don't have much to lose anymore. This may sound cliche, but it's as though I'm really awake for the first time in my life.

Cap'n and I formed a partnership by circumstance only; I found out he was in "the business" and offered to either turn him into the DEA or work with me, and he naturally took the second option. He had no idea what he was doing on the chemistry side of things - chili powder in the meth! applying heat to an Erlenmeyer flask! no wonder I flunked him, he clearly learned nothing in my class - but does know the trade.

(Note: Don't buy all of your supplies from the same store.)

Sorry, I'm getting too far into the weeds here, let me skip ahead. We purchased a trailer and drove out to somewhere in the middle of the desert to cook without added attention or need for dramatic cleanup if we had to leave the area in a hurry. Our first batch was, according to Cap'n, "pure glass." After all of that complaining, I had cooked the finest product he'd ever seen on the first try! Goes to show paying attention in school does pay off, ahem. In case any of you were reading this and thinking of skipping off to go and make highly illegal substances and risk years in prison instead of doing your homework. You all still have your entire lives ahead of you. I don't.

After making it, the next logical course of action was to sell. Cap'n said he had some connections - I mean, he is a drug dealer, I saw no reason not to trust him (I now see how little sense that makes.) - and came back with two men with guns pointed at both of us. You must understand, it was a kill or be killed situation. These are the kind of people who don't care about morals, or what's right or ethical or kind. If they'd lived... not just me, but my wife, my son, and my entire family would all be in serious, mortal danger. I had no choice.

Cap'n by this point had been knocked out cold- still alive, but entirely unhelpful with the situation at hand. I was on my own. So I offered to show the goons how I made the "glass", surely they wanted to see how it was done? And they did- I still can't believe that actually worked. But, ah, instead of actually cooking anything, I gave them... let's call it a chemistry lesson. When significant heat is applied to red phosphorus - a key ingredient in Cap'n and I's "extracurricular science project" - it oxidizes. Your result is phosgene gas, highly deadly, hence the "killing two people." One... technically isn't dead yet- somehow he managed to survive, I still don't fully understand how, but I'm... I'm working on it. Cap'n still has yet to get rid of the first body, so... technically I'm not failing to withhold my share of the cleanup, since he hasn't done so with his.

I realize now this is very long, but I wanted to explain the context for my actions. However, a tl;dr for those who might be in a hurry: I was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, so with nothing else to lose decided to try to make some money for my family by cooking and selling methamphetamine. Coincidentally, a former student of mine was also in the business, and I convinced him to work with me. When we tried to put our product on the market, two people tried to kill us, so I acted in self-defense.

But I really, really must know... is what I did wrong? Should I have been content to live the rest of however-long-I-have-left working a miserable job as a public high school chemistry teacher instead? Should I have found a less fatal way of dealing with the two men who tried to kill me and my partner? AITA?

P.S. It's pretty late as I'm typing this so I might've made some errors in coherency or grammar, for which I apologize.

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

[borderlinehot]

skincare cheat sheet

✨acne prone skin✨

look for ingredients such as benzoyl peroxide, sulfur, retinoids. benzoyl peroxide & sulfur both have anti-bacterial properties that can help kill the bacteria as well as being anti-microbial which can help reduce the growth of bacteria and soothe the skin. my skin personally likes sulfur whenever i have a breakout.

*minimize your skin routine* this is super important because if you are prone to acne you may or may not know what is causing your breakouts!! it could be a product in your routine that is clogging your pores, it could be hormonal, it could even be that your skin barrier is so dry and it's prompting your body to over create more oil which is causing you to breakout more often. i recommend plugging in all of your current products into the skin safe website and checking out if any are comedogenic. try resetting your routine and start out with a non-comedogenic face wash, moisturizer & spf. stick with that for atleast 2-4 weeks and then start slowly introducing other things that will contribute to reaching your skin goals.

pimple patches <3 (not the star face ones) i'm a huge lover of pimple patches, i love using them because not only do they distract me from picking my blemishes but they also help in aiding my blemishes as well. i recommend panoxyl patches because they actually work. they don't slide off, they stay on even after i've applied my products and they are more affordable than others. i've tried the starface ones and while they are cute.. they're ineffective. they do not suck up anything and half the time they will fall off your face even without product. and they're expensive. if you do enjoy the star shaped patches but want some that are actually effective i recommend amazon! i purchases pink stars that work just as well as my panoxyl ones and are just as affordable!

hydrate & moisturize!!! drink your water and moisturize your face, this is said all the time but it truly does make a difference.

pay attention to your diet. what you may be putting into your body may be a sign of what it showing on the outside. fried foods, dairy, carbs, and sugar can all contribute to acne. i'm not saying you can't have these ever again but they should be enjoyed within in reason. it's all about *balance*

visit a derm. if you have the luxury of visiting a derm, please do so. a derm can help you figure out the root cause of what's causing your acne along with guiding you on what to do next.

source: a girl who has been boderline hot her whole life that suffered from acne growing up

#borderlinehot #looksmaxxing #self care #self improvement #trophywife #skincare #girlblog ♡ #girl blogger #this is a girlblog #dream girl #it girl #becoming that girl #pink pilates princess #affirmations #aesthetic #dreamgirl #self healing #hyper feminine #clean girl #glow up journey

[miasiegert]

HUGE Request for CATS cosplayers

Hey folks,

A lot of fans make their own wigs for CATS so I'm hoping you can help out. I'm still in shock. I wanted to signal boost our incredible distributor, although unfortunately it's for for a very sad reason. We've used I Kick Shins since we started in 2010. In our opinion, they have the best kanekalon and braiding/wig supplies for CATS, period. Yesterday I noticed "closeout sale" on instagram. I thought they meant for a few specific colors, discontinued, because I didn't want to believe that the store would be closing. The owner shared they have cancer and will close up by the end of 2024, when they're too sick to continue, or run out of stock, whichever comes first.

I'm requesting that cats costumers check them out and consider purchasing from them. I know not everyone has the budget but there are a lot of sales right now and the money is funding treatment. They only ship to the US (possibly Canada--if you're Int'l, maybe consider having a trusted friend place an order for you). There are some really incredible deals. These include glow in the dark, solar, temperature, and all sorts of other hair. We don't use the silky for CATS wigs but we use that in other wigs. Their supplies for wig making are excellent too.

We made the largest purchase of our life, a huge portion of our pay for the most recent production of CATS going there to get kanekalon so we could stock up because no one will ever be able to compare to this caliber.

I know not everyone can do this but they even have these bargain boxes with different colors for $100 instead of $240.

www.ikickshins.net (remember .net not com)

And, obviously, if anyone's a braider and needs hair for feed ins, they're great.

Thank you so much for any sort of help/signal boosting. This sucks so much. Sending healing energy to the owner. If you do purchase, I'd love to see the wigs/creations you make with your purchase. *Note: I do not know the owner personally. I have left a couple instagram comments here and there. This is not sponsored in any way, shape, or form. Signal boosting them to help them pay for cancer treatment is the right thing to do, full stop. It's very personal to us, especially as David lost his mum to cancer, but even if he didn't, we'd still do the same. Fuck cancer.

#cats musical #cats the musical #cats musical cosplay #cats musical costume #cats cosplay

[itisbop]

And now... the moment you've all been waiting for (or not, which is fine)! Let's talk Brawl Talk because OH BOY am I excited.

This is gonna be a pretty long post, so bear with me! I'll go over one section at a time and go over what I liked and disliked. Spoilers ahead! If you haven't watched the latest Brawl Talk, go do so! One more reminder, these are just my thoughts! You don't have to agree with me!

Without further to do... let's talk!

New Brawlers (Angelo and Melodie)

Now, when I first saw Angelo, I immediately went, "HE'S UGLY LMAO." After getting used to him, though, he's actually not that bad. His design is really good and is somewhat of an anti-cupid (perfect for a gal like Willow). Also, his voice actor did such a good job so much energy was put into him.

He doesn't seem like he's gonna be incredibly busted, but he is gonna be good in the right hands (while I'm at it pay your respects to Mortis Mains ya'll, they just took a major l with this guy). Sorry Larry and Lawrie, but you two are gonna have to step aside, I NEED this man as much as I need the next brawler.

I. LOVE. MELODIE!!! I did think she was a League of Legends character at first, lol.

Apparently, I've heard people say she is the first female assassin, which is very interesting! Out of the two, I feel she poses more of a threat. She might be broken, though her main attack is WEAK.

I've been through the Reddit and have seen so many people talk about how she looks like Janet, and I'd like to take the time to bring up a little theory... what if she was Janet and Bonnie's mom? I would go into this further, but we have to keep going!

Overall, I really like these two! Their designs are really good, and the character designers did a great job! Their pins and profile pictures show SO much personality! Expect some art of these two soon! However, if I may say something, I wish their skins were cooler. Why couldn't Angelo have a Sands of Time skin too? 😭

Speaking of Sands of Time...

Sands of Time and Ragnorok + Skins

Out of both seasons, I'm very hyped for Sands of Time. The "Sands of Time" is a very interesting concept that can be used very creatively. Can't wait to see what the animation brings! Though I think we all know why I'm hyped...

My best guest was that this skin was gonna be a Epic/Mythic skin, but a LEGENDARY?????? WHAT?????? Chuck fans we just fucking WON. I've seen the sneak peaks and heard his voice lines, Nicolai did an INCREDIBLE job as always. I'm am SO READY to go broke for this skin, but first, I must purchase some seasonal skins since they've been on my agenda for a while.

Loki Chester has to be the one I'm looking forward to getting the most for the Ragnorok seasons/skins. Plus, it's free! (If you have good luck).

Side note and honorable mention, Thor Bibi was just the icing on the cake for Bibi Mains this update. While I feel like a few more details could be added for this skin to make in truly "legendary," everything else about it great, including the voice acting! Poor Bull, he's the only one in his yet to get a Legendary Skin.

Ranked and The Report System

Okay, not related, but I love how they disses on the community a bit in this section, LOL. They know what, at least Reddit and Twitter are doing (and let's keep it that way, they don't need to know what's going on over here lol).

Anyways, while I'm excited (and scared) for Ranked with modifiers I wanna take this time to talk about a concern... the report system...

Now, I know there's a reason why we have 10 reports; but what's gonna stop so angry guy from reporting me if I didn't do anything? I feel like there's a chance this could backfire, that's all.

Hypercharges and Balance Changes

No Mortis or Poco hypercharge :(

Cordelius was definitely unexpected and very scary. Getting slowed in the shadow realm is a death sentence.

I wish Belle got a little more this update, but I'll take the hypercharge.

Move over Charlie, there's a new spider person in town, and he's a DINOSAUR.

Onto to balance changes. 84???? GOD DAMN. Adrien wasn't fucking around this update. Edgar is dead (and rightfully so FUCK HIM) and Doug might actually stand a chance in this Meta. I'll miss the days when Hypercharges were game breaking just for the community's rage, but it's probably for the greater good.

Whatever the Fuck the Random Skins Were

Now Primo Shark, I can take (though I'm definitely not gonna be able to take Baby Shark as a in game theme, I'm muting music for that entire time period). Pitcher Fang is a good skin too. Squeaky note is very... meh, but it's a rare skin so you can't expect much.

BUT POOP SPIKE.

POOP SPIKE.

What

the

FUCK?

It was tolerable until I saw the losing animation, and to that, I say EWWWWWWWWWW 🤮🤮🤮. WHYYYYY!?!?!? THAT'S SO NASTY!!!

I get that this is an April Fool's skin, but WHYYY THAT??? Thank GOD this skin is expensive. If I catch any of you with this skin, I'm gonna need to ask if you're okay. I don't wanna show a picture of this skin to you all, or else I'm pretty sure Tumblr would kick me to the curve. This is easily what I was least excited for for this update.

Overall Rating and Final Thoughts

Now, it's time to throw the final ratings on screen and say anything else that's on my mind.

New Brawlers - 9.5/10, definitely getting both! Let's hope they get some cool skins soon!

Sands of Time - 7/10, the concept and Chuck carry this season don't fight me on this. /j

Ragnorok - 6.5/10, I'm not as hyped, but I will grind for that Chester skin!

Ranked - 8/10, now I have a reason to actually play this mode. Hopefully, the report system is fair enough...

Hypercharges - 6.5/10, again not as hype, but I will be snatching that Belle Hypercharge since she's the only one out of the 6 I maxed out. She deserved more, though. :(

Balance Changes - 10/10, bye Edgar begone. F for the twins, however; I liked them.

Random Stuff - 3/10, not even Pitched Fang can save us from whatever the devs were on.

Overall Season 24/25 is...

8/10! (Poop Spike ruined it >:( )

And that's it. For those who have read to the end, thank you so much for heating me ramble it means so much. Expect some headcanons and more little theories soon (as in some time this week). Until then, ciao!

#brawl stars #speak no eve vil #see no eve vil #doodle #all brawlers

[timetodissociate]

Next Contestant

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Note: No Upside Down AU. Eddie is at least 21 here, and reader over 18. Mentions of drinking, harassment, and curse words used. Steve and Eddie are also friends in this fic just because.

Summary: You work at a local bar, and Eddie hates it since the drunks like to get handsy. Inspired by the song Next Contestant by Nickelback.

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

I judge by what she's wearing / Just how many heads I'm tearing / Off of assholes coming on to her

"Babe, where are you going?" Eddie asks, leaning against the bathroom doorway as I finish my eyeliner. I feel him studying me, taking in the black tee shirt, shorts, fishnets, and combat boots I'm dressed in.

"I picked up a shift at the bar tonight. Figured since you have D&D tonight it wouldn't be a big deal." I answer with a shrug.

"I thought we agreed you weren't working at the bar anymore?" he asks defensively, crossing his arms.

I take in a deep breath as I put my eyeliner back in my makeup bag before facing him, "No, we didn't. I know you don't like it, but it's only one night; Stacy went into labor yesterday and they needed someone who knows what they're doing to work tonight."

Eddie's eyes narrowed at me, looking thoroughly annoyed now. "And you decided that their staffing issue was your problem?"

I run a hand through my hair, eyes narrowing at him slightly, "I am not having this argument with you right now. I need the money, and it's only one night."

Eddie laughs incredulously, "Right. One night that will inevitably lead to two, then three, and so on. Before I know it, you'll be back to working there all the time."

"I need to leave" I state, pushing past him and moving to the front of the trailer to grab my bag and keys. I hear Eddie's heavy footsteps behind me, his once excited demeanor turning sour. I reach the front door, hoping to make a quick escape when Eddie's hand shoots out, pushing it closed as I try to open it.

"Eddie," I spin around to glare at him, "get your hand off the door. You're going to make me late."

He matches my glare with one of his own as he lets out an unamused chuckle, shaking his head. "No. If you needed extra money, why didn't you say anything? I could pick up an extra shift at the garage, or an extra gig."

I cross my arms, taking a deep breath, "Eddie, I am not taking money from you. Especially since the whole reason I'm trying to earn extra money is for your birthday gift."

"So?"

"You are not going to pay for your own birthday gift, Munson." I say, exasperated. "What is your issue with me working at the bar anyway? I thought you trusted me?"

Eddie's face contorts to one of guilt before he steps forward to pull me into his chest, "I do trust you, sweetheart. I just don't trust those drunk bastards. They get..handsy, and I hate it. You shouldn't have to get groped to earn money."

I bite my lip, snaking my arms around his middle as he talks and feeling my heart squeeze in my chest at his confession. Damn bastard; if I wasn't dead set on getting him that new amp for his birthday next week I wouldn't go in tonight. But I'm in desperate need of another hundred dollars to purchase it, and I know I'll be able to make at least that since it's a Friday night. "I know baby, but I swear this is the last time. I already told Paul this is my last shift."

Eddie sighed, kissing the top of my head, "I swear you're going to be the death of me."

"So, I can leave now?" I ask, smiling up at him.

"Yeah, but I'm driving you. And I'll come by when the campaign is done; I don't trust those bastards to leave you alone when you leave."

Don't they know it's never going to work / They think they'll get inside her / With every drink they buy her

"Oh, come on doll, just one drink won't hurt." the sandy blond 24-year-old male - Todd, I think - insists as I shake my head no at him.

"Sorry, I don't drink." I answer, setting the bottle of beer he requested in front of him as the bar door opens. I glance over to see Eddie walking in with an animated Steve trailing behind him. "That's gonna be two dollars."

The man shakes his head and slides a five-dollar bill across the bar top, "Keep the change, doll. In case you change your mind."

I pick up the money, punching the transaction in and shoving the three dollars into the tip jar as Eddie and Steve seat themselves at the end of the bar closest to the door.

"- just don't get it, man. Like, who hates Fast Times at Ridgemont High?" Steve is asking as I set two beers in front of them, shooting Steve a questioning glance.

"Please tell me you didn't take your date to see Fast Times as a first date, Steve." I interject, making Eddie laugh.

"Oh, he definitely did."

"What's wrong with going to see that movie? It's a great movie!" Steve asks, bringing the beer bottle to his lips for a drink.

"Steve, that's a terrible first date movie. She probably thought you were hoping for a quick lay."

"What!?" Steve sputtered, "How would you get that impression from a movie?"

"Because, when I go see that movie, it usually ends with Eddie and I fucking in the back of the van." I answer, making Steve's face turn tomato red.

"I did not need to know that." Steve answered as Eddie grinned, winking at me.

"She isn't lying though. It's one of my go to movies for guaranteed sex."

"You two are weird." Steve retorts, shaking his head as I let out a laugh before stepping away to check on the patrons sitting in the booths.

Is that your hand on my girlfriend? / Is that your hand? / I wish you'd do it again / I'll watch you leave here limping

"Alright, did you need anything else?" I ask as I set the bottle down on the table, turning my attention towards the group of men playing pool.

"That depends," Todd answers as he moves to stand next to me, "Any chance I can get a side of you with nothing on it?"

I roll my eyes, "Definitely not." I answer, trying my best to sidestep him as I feel his hand graze my ass. I hope to God Eddie didn't catch that; the last thing I need to do is to break up a fight tonight because this guy can't seem to keep his hands to himself.

I make my way back towards the bar after doing another sweep of the tables, noticing Eddie's eyes trained on me as I step behind the bar again.

"You want another Steve?" I ask, picking up his empty bottle.

"No, but I'll take a water. Gotta sober up a little for the drive home."

"You want another, handsome?" I ask Eddie, to which he shakes his head no.

"Just a coke for me, sweetheart." he answers, glancing towards the pool table. I nod, turning to grab the drinks and hoping Eddie is still seated when I turn back around.

Another thirty minutes passed before I announce last call; almost everyone got another round, including the group by the pool table. I take their final drinks over, setting the four bottles down and accepting a twenty-dollar bill from one of the other group members. I'm pretty certain he said his name is Chuck.

"You can keep the change." he states, giving me a smile as he brushes his brown hair back from his face, "I'm sorry about the way Todd has been all night. He gets stupid when he's drunk and can't seem to realize that not everyone wants to sleep with him."

I shoot him a sympathetic smile, "Thanks. I don't have to worry about him driving, right?"

He lets out a small laugh, "Definitely not." he answers right before I feel a hand grab my ass.

"So doll, you wanna come home with me?" Todd asks, hand still on my ass.

Before I even have a chance to respond, he's yanked backwards to face a very pissed off Eddie. "Didn't anyone teach you to keep your hands to yourself?"

"Why should I? It's obvious she wants me; she's been flirting all night." Todd retorts, shoving Eddie's left shoulder, "Now fuck off."

Where the fuck did Steve go? Chuck steps forward as I scan the room for Steve, "Todd, man, come on. I think it's time we left anyway."

"You should listen to your friend before you get your ass beat for touching my girl." Eddie warns as Todd steps closer to him with a grin on his face.

"Oh please, like you could actually do anything." he taunts, "Besides, I doubt you actually can take care of her. If you did, she wouldn't be working here and flirting with me."

Before I can say anything to try and de-escalate the situation, Eddie punches Todd in the face making him sway slightly. Both men are now grappling each other, knocking into the pool table as they both swing at each other. Chuck is behind Todd, trying to pull him away, as Steve comes out of the bathroom. His eyes widen at the scene, making a beeline for Eddie and tries to help pull them apart.

"Jesus Christ, knock it the hell off!" I yell as they manage to pull Eddie and Todd away from each other. There's only a handful of people left now, and ten minutes until we officially close but I don't give a shit after that little testosterone show. "Everybody out, now! We're officially closed!"

A few people grumble, obviously not happy they have to desert their drinks due to the scuffle. Steve is trying his best to keep Eddie from going after Todd again as his friends are shoving him towards the door, their pool game quickly forgotten. Todd definitely looks like he may have his nose broken, and his left eye is starting to swell.

"Eddie, man, calm the fuck down. It's over." Steve says, moving in front of him and shoving him a step back as he tries to move towards Todd again. Todd is yelling something about meeting him outside, but I slam the door closed on him and lock it before whirling around to face Eddie.

"Really, Munson?" I ask, picking up beer bottles off tables and slamming them on the bar top. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

Eddie side steps Steve this time, shooting me an incredulous look and throwing his arms out. "Seriously? You expected me to just let that fucking slide?"

"Yes, Eddie!" I yell, throwing my hands up to rub my face. "I would have handled it if you didn't fucking overreact!"

Eddie lets out a harsh laugh, "Are you fucking kidding me right now, Y/N?"

"Um," Steve interjects as he inches towards the door, "I'm gonna head out and let you two work this out."

"I'll let you out Steve," I answer, moving to unlock the door for him.

He shoots me an apologetic smile as he leaves, "Sorry I wasn't quicker with the assist."

I sigh, running a hand through my hair, "Don't worry about it. It was nice seeing you at least." He nods, locking eyes with Eddie over my shoulder as he steps past me.

"Good luck!" he calls out as I shut the door, locking it again. I lower the blinds on the door and step behind the bar to shut off the outside lights, deciding to ignore Eddie as I clean up. He's still standing by the pool table, watching me with his arms crossed.

"So you're just going to ignore me now?"

"Yes," I answer, "Let me finish cleaning up and then I'll look at your hands and face." he doesn't respond, moving to sit on one of the stools at the bar as I finish wiping the tables and bar down, collecting the rest of the beer bottles as I go.

Once everything has been wiped down and thrown out, I turn my gaze on him, still slightly annoyed. I walk around the bar with the first aid kit in hand, watching him turn around on the stool so he can face me. I grab his right hand, biting my lower lip as I see that he busted two of his knuckles open during the scuffle. I can feel him studying my face as I grab an antibacterial wipe, opening it and pressing it to his open knuckles.

"Ow," he hisses as I work on cleaning his busted knuckles.

"Oh, shush." I retort, "You wouldn't even be hurt right now if you had let me handle it." I move my gaze to his face, making sure he doesn't have any other cuts. Other than a small gash on his lower lip, he seems fine.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." he responds, slipping his fingers into my belt loops to pull me in between his legs and leaning his forehead against mine as I meet his gaze. "I watched him trying to touch you all night, and knew you were uncomfortable. When he finally did touch you, I - I just fucking lost it."

I let out a small sigh, placing my hands on his chest, "I know, handsome. But you have to let me try to handle the situation first. If I can't, then you can step in."

He gives me a small smile, brushing his lips against mine. "Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

"Not quite, but I can think of a few ways you can make it up to me." I tease, earning a laugh from him.

"Mm, sounds good to me. Can't wait to get you home though; you've been driving me wild running around in this outfit all night."

"Oh, yeah?" I ask, smirking as I loop my hands around his neck, pressing against him.

"Mhmm," he responds, moving his hands to my lower back before pressing his lips to mine for a kiss. It' starts off slow and gentle, then turns needy as he slips his tongue into my mouth, moaning lowly as my left hand tugs his hair. Once we finally break apart, we're both trying hard to catch our breath.

"You about done here?" he asks, trailing kisses down the right side of my neck.

"Just have to count the drawer so give me like another twenty minutes, okay?" I answer, untangling my hand from his hair as he slips his hands up the back of my shirt, the coolness of his rings making me shiver slightly.

"Fine." Eddie sighs, dropping his hands from my body so I can step away from him. "Maybe we can put Fast TImes on when we get home?" he suggests, winking slyly as I let out a laugh.

"I'll think about it."

#eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson x plus size reader #i might write a part two with smut if anyone if wants it

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for insisting my roommate not get me a Christmas present/WIBT if I insist even more?

🎁 so I can find this later!

TLDR WIBTA if I insist harder than I already have that my (unaware of being transphobic) roommate not get me a gift for Christmas, since my being autistic and nonbinary may complicate things?

Sorry for the long one, there's a lot of context going into this.

I (18X) am a college freshman and am rooming with a person I didn't know beforehand. Our rooming situation is weird, so neither of us had talked to each other at all before moving in. I'll call her S (18F).

S is a very big gift-giver; it's her love language. She's gotten me a couple things in the past and has wanted me to try things so she can see if they'd make for good gifts. The problem is, I'm more on the masc side of being nonbinary, as well as the fact that I have low-intensity ASD, so usually the stuff she would want to get me (skin care, makeup, etc) is never exactly my style (most notably, she wanted me to see how a skin cream felt and I ended up complaining a bit too much, embarrassingly, before realizing that it was rude and assuring her that I appreciated the gesture, which I think helped her feel a little bit better) (another add-on, she knows I'm nonbinary, but still refers to me as a girl and uses she/her for me, which is why she keeps wanting me to try feminine products. I've played it off as not caring because I'm low key a little scared of her lol (in the way that anxious people are scared of confident people))

Because of said confidence, she tends to dominate conversations, and I'm always happy to listen, as someone who doesn't talk much myself. Because of this, I know she loves plushies and has a history with them, so for Christmas a couple weeks ago I ordered her a plushie online and snuck it into our dorm for her to find, and she ended up loving it.

Thing is, as she told me this, she said she was going to get something once she went home for the break. Apparently it's going to be expensive, too, since she joked that she told her mom to prepare for an expensive purchase beforehand.

I insisted that she not get me the gift, and that I didn't need one, but she is incredibly stubborn about it and was set in her ways of getting me one.

This is very nice of her obviously, and I appreciate the gesture, but.. I genuinely don't like being given gifts. If it's a mutually-discussed thing before-hand, sure, but most of the time gifts are a no-go. I don't exactly like giving gifts and I dislike being given gifts even more. There's way too much unpredictability, and because of my ASD, whenever I get a gift I don't like, I end up complaining about it without thinking, before realizing it's rude and assuring the person that I really do appreciate it. I've tried working on this before, but it's something I can't help— it literally happens without me thinking. As well as that, I only really knew what she'd liked because I actively listened to her a lot and spent over two months using the information I had gathered on her to get her the perfect gift. I am awful about this, since I'm very bad at coming up with gifts for people and this process— taking multiple months just to figure out what to get her— is the best I can do. I'd much rather hang out with people and buy stuff for them on the town, like paying for a dinner or sweets or whatever. The only reason I went through all of this for her is because 1 I appreciate her trying to be nice to me despite the fact that I am literally the type of person she'd bully in high school, 2 it's Christmas, and 3 it feels like I'm repaying her for trying to buy me all this stuff

So her getting me this gift just.. wouldn't sit right with me. I'm terrified of her getting me something I won't like and complaining about it before I can even think because of my ASD, and it'd feel like a massive debt to repay that'd eat at me forever. Plus, despite trying her best to respect my identity, she.. doesn't really know how transphobic she is, and I'm worried she might get me something very cutesy feminine that'd either make me 1 act uncomfortable or 2 lie to her and reaffirm her beliefs that I'm just female-lite. So, this is where my problem lies. WIBTA if I insist harder for her to not get me a present, despite it being her love language?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[not-poignant]

hiiii! have you considered releasing tradewinds as a single purchase through a site like gumroad?

Hi anon!

So the reason Tradewinds was shelved and not published like 8 years ago, is because I couldn't find an Aboriginal sensitivity reader willing to read m/m with disturbing themes. I had sensitivity readers for the other side of things (like Matan and his heritage), but I kept either not finding anyone, or the one person I found took my $200 USD deposit and vanished and never spoke to me / responded to any of my emails.

As a result, I was uncomfortable distributing it anywhere broadly, even though I was relatively confident the novel isn't offensive, because I just don't know 100%.

I am a lot more confident releasing it via subscription as an exclusive novel, because the people who pay for subscription are often folks who are a) already used to my style of writing and b) generally know what to expect from me, vs. cold audiences who don't. I'm kind of kicking myself that I didn't realise that Tradewinds would make a great exclusive/paywalled release for subscription, because it means it's only ever going to find a very narrow bandwidth of readers.

Basically if I could release it for single purchase - as basically an ebook - I would have released it like 8 years ago, anon. And the reason I have actually released it this specific way is down to the fact that I'm just not really confident offering it for broader distribution.

That might change one day, if I happen to stumble across a sensitivity reader who is okay with my style of writing, who is reputable + has references (i.e. so I know I won't lose a fair chunk of money in the process, because that burned me pretty badly, not gonna lie). But until then, having Tradewinds be limited is the only way I'm comfortable releasing it at all.

Folks are more than welcome to sign up for one month, download the book (and read any other early access they want) and then leave. They can even just put 'I only wanted one thing and now I have it' in the exit survey so I know what they were there for if they want. Then it's still a single purchase (with some early access extras), and they still access the downloadable file. :)

#asks and answers #tradewinds #merchantverse #tradewinds was shelved not because i think it's a bad book #but because i wasn't comfortable going to broad distribution without a very specific kind of sensitivity reader #it was actually meant to be the series i started publishing with #long before perth shifters existed #and then i realised that through writing a highly diverse cast #i might have actually really hurt the future of the series #and had to shelve the whole thing and all the worldbuilding #i really don't regret tradewinds at all #i like the book and i love the characters #but yeah it was complicated #what i thought would be an 'easy' problem to solve was really difficult in part because #'sensitivity readers' is a very USA concept and certainly was back then #and a lot of the folks i enquired with who did offer sensitivity reading on Aboriginal Australian matters #didn't read m/m or didn't want to read anything problematic / with any disturbing themes #which i can understand #but literally reduced my pool to '0 plus that one person who took $200 USD from me at a time when i had to skip medical appts because of it #i'm sure it would be better now #but i'm also happy to offer a novel to folks who sign up to the patreon / ream account #since that is my main and primary income

[handweavers]

if i ever sell my work again i've been trying to figure out which payment model makes the most sense for me without being too complicated. i like the idea of sliding scale pricing for several reasons but it doesn't address one of my main concerns which is purchasing power parity regarding currencies, which is an issue important to me esp if i plan to move back to malaysia where the ringgit is the lowest it has been in my memory compared to the USD (we are currently sitting at rm1 = 21 cents usd which is by no means the worst exchange rate out there but it is pretty bleak) because i don't feel right selling my work to westerners for RM prices and i don't feel right selling my work to malaysians (& others in the global south) for USD prices.

for instance, from my research an average selling price online for a beaded glass brooch with gold fill findings similar to what i've been making is about $90 CAD (or $68 USD) but that is equivalent to fucking 300 ringgit. in a country with a minimum hourly wage of rm7.21 ($1.54 USD) that is not a price i feel comfortable asking any malaysian to pay. but rm90 is less than $20 USD, and i know my labour is worth more than that and the thought of a westerner buying my work for $20 when i know it's worth $70 just because i'm malaysian makes my blood boil lol (and this goes for global south labour in general, not just when it's my labour, i am not special). so the only way i think i could feel comfortable selling anything would be to offer two tiers of prices, depending on what country they're from, but i have no idea if that's even enforceable or how that would work either unless it all goes thru me manually or it's an honour system thing. and it doesn't address the issue that is economic barriers among the population regardless of nationality, which is addressed by sliding scale (ie. even within canada $90 means vastly different things to different people, rm90 means different things, etc.) but i feel offering both would just make it all too complicated and confusing

maybe i'm just overthinking this entire thing and making it more complicated than it needs to be but like. it is important to me that my work is not made solely for the consumption of people from the global north lol especially if i am not even living there!!! i have no idea i hate money i hate having to attach a monetary value to my work and it sucks so bad but i have bills to pay

#and i have a rule with myself where i dont take commissions anymore because i am so bad at it #i do not have the ability to force myself to do things on a limited timeframe / external pressure doesnt work on me #i just end up feeling guilty and horrible about how slow i am with it and they deserve better etc etc etc