#and the stickers are from a store I always buy from when I have money left

[sincerity--extreme]

I really really wanted to get some money for Christmas so I could buy myself some stuff I don't actually need but really want to both look gay and also distract myself from this never ending dark pit that depression has thrown me in once again

[tofuhoon]

enhypen’s dating habits

genre: fluff warnings: none (i think)

masterlist

heeseung can’t help but keep his hands off of you. it’s not to say he’s always wanting something from you, but he just loves having that assurance that you’re by his side. he realizes this fact again every single morning when you wake up with your body pressed against his. whether it’s having you sat on his lap or fiddling with your hair, he enjoys having your presence in his.

jay’s love language is gift giving. he can’t help that whenever he sees anything beautiful in the slightest, it reminds him of you. he never gets tired of the glowing beam on your face when you receive your gifts. though you tell him to “stop buying me stuff, save your money,” the blush on your cheeks is enough to encourage his spending.

jake loves spending time with you. of course, all the boys do. but the way jake schedules out all his dates on his personalized calendar with pictures of you, decorating those days with hearts and stickers makes you truly know he cares. whether he’s walking layla or finishing up his work, there’s nothing that he wouldn’t rather do with you right next to him.

if there’s one thing about sunghoon, it’s that he’s always looking for you. whether it’s in a sea of people or a small gathering of friends, you are the only one in his viewpoint at all times. he doesn’t mean it to necessarily keep an eye on you, but his body just naturally gravitates to your direction. whenever he cracks a joke or does something cute, his eyes are laser-focused on your reaction only. 

sunoo doesn’t think he can go a day without resting his head on your shoulder. “it’s the perfect pillow!” he says, even when you try to convince him that a neck pillow might be a good investment. he will do this when he’s tired, when he’s having some chill time with you, or when he laughs and allows his body to ragdoll onto yours.

jungwon’s friends are tired of hearing of you. you’re great and all, but is there really nothing else going on in his life? that’s not true of course, but the way your name is stuck to his tongue, his friends are sure they know every detail about you. but jungwon can’t help that the dress in the store looks just like the one you wore on your last date, or that cat over there looks just like you. you’re constantly on his mind, and he doesn’t mind a bit.

niki’s playful side is one you’re very familiar with. still, he tends to shrink it down whenever you come near. it’s not that he thinks you’ll get annoyed (will you? he hopes not.), but that he wants to become someone you can rely on. his gentlemanly nature can be surprising for the others to see after he just threatened to dropkick jake, but your rosy cheeks make it all worth it.

[sorensolsikke]

here's some punk diy tips and ideas

[other than crusty pants and battle jacket, although we still love those greatly.]

why should you diy, when you can just find decorated items everywhere, you can ask. what if you are clumsy at painting or anything?

firstly, good questions. we diy so we don't give credit to the big companies who rule the world. we diy to get more independent from the system we dislike. we diy so to save money. to express uniqueness, recognize eachother and be recognized. and especially to have fun and feel cool. diy is not only about clothing, but anything you can set your mind on. of course, one cannot make EVERYTHING for themselves, there isn't enough time and energy. but making at least small steps are already a statement and more than nothing. also, helping small artists by buying their products is also pretty punk.

that being said, i provide you with some tips of mine, all gained from experience:

anything you drew/painted on, you will WANT TO protect. acrylic paint/markers + acrylic paint varnish/transparent nail polish/textile medium are your best friends. read after anything that's new to you.

i highly recommend working with old clothing or thrift shop finds when it comes to textiles, as it is environmentally friendly and you will stay in budget. Anyways, always make sure that the material you use isn't gonna be problematic. for example, if you want to do some patchwork, the material shouldn't decay easily (if it does, it will come off so quickly.). if you want to paint on it, it shouldn't be rugged.

you can not only draw/paint on your canvas shoes, but can also sew, embroidery (just make sure to use a thimble, plus floss instead of thread could make your work more durable), and add beads and trinkets to your shoelaces. in the case of shoes, never use glue (neither hot nor instant glue) – it will come off quickly. for some inspiration, i'll show you my shoes!

(the fake moss is literally unstoppable from falling off or getting dirty. risky idea.)

it's good to carry around water and food!! you don't even have to pay for decorative water bottles and food boxes, as you can draw on glass and plastic just fine with acrylic markers. just don't forget to paint transparent nail polish all over your drawing. in at least two layers. don't be lazy or laid-back. even posca comes off while washing the dishes. and you WANT TO save your reference pictures/final designs, as the case of emergency is likely. but after all, my water bottle is exactly fine after six months, with no accuring problem.

if your current best option to get stickers from is aliexpress or overpriced decor stores, search for local artists and shops on instagram and tiktok, as it may be their most efficent way of getting you to know them. if it seems like you have no chance, you may can still find a print shop with the option of printing on self-adhesive sheets (at least in hungary, those are pretty cheap). and if you want drawings to print out as stickers, you may use your own or –ONLY IF YOU GET PERMISSION– other artist's work. not only good for decorations for like, headphones, but for vandalism too. WAIT WAIT who said that. who said it. not me. no never

(in case that's also impossible, you can create stickers by printing out/drawing a picture, cover it up in transparent adhesive tape, and then put some two-sided adhesive tape on the white side of the pic. it won't be that durable, but it functions.)

if you want to bleach-paint clothing, get some plastic brushes!! any other brush dissolves. draw your design first with chalk!! never forget to put cardboard inside the clothing, and to wash the finished work in a washing machine before you'd put it on. prepare to be patient with the process. and it's not dangerous to touch 5%-9% household bleach, just wash your hands soon after.

if you want your crusty pants to last veryyy long, wax them. look up on youtube jeans waxing.

some more things i made for myself so to give you some inspiration: totebag with pockets, a small crystal holder cabinet, badges, and i decorated some t-shirts, button-ups, an id card case, phonecase, laptop.

theoretically speaking, there is nothing that an individual would be unable to learn how to make, when it comes to diy. you can't imagine how easy it is to bake bread at home. consuming-focused media makes people believe that it's hard to make anything. of course, everyone has to decide about their own priorities, i don't want to convince or change anyone in here. and if you have any questions, send an ask!! i hope i had been helpful.

[spxdxrpxnk]

( note: this was written by a minor about underage characters, so nsfw/18+/'minors dni' blogs please do not interact with this post! thank you! )

y'all i went shopping for my bday today and im gonna indulge myself rn

earth-42 miles would buy absolutely anything you want- no questions asked fr. no matter how much it is, he somehow always got the money to pay for it. y'all are at the counter and the stuff you got is way more than you expected, you're like "nah that's mad expensive, lemme put some stuff back-" and you fight him on it when he's offering to pay for it, bc you don't want him to waste his money or smth- whatever you be saying, he don't listen to you at all tbh. he just nods his head and follows you out. he'll wait till your back is turned, hop skip back into that store, get the stuff you put back and slip it in your bag since he's holding them for you anyway. and you know he'll have a smug ass face when you pull it out like- how tf did that get in there?? and you know he put it in there, bc he's smilin and when you go "miles." he'll put on his resting bitch face and be like "i dunno." like he's slick

but earth-1610 miles?? bro would be just as baffled at the prices as you are!! you show him the price tag on this little plushie you wanted, absolutely a spiderman plushie btw which makes him start blushin and shit, and he's like "wh-?! why is it so much??? es so small???" and you're like "ikr!!!" he won't let you buy anything he thinks is the slightest bit overpriced- gets it from his dad. he leads you out with a hand on your lower back like "c'mon babe, let's spend your birthday money elsewhere." like a total damn doofball. rinse and repeat with almost every store y'all walk into, until you gotta make him stay outside the stores while you get at least a few of the things you want. and bc he's nosy, miles would go through your bags and gawk at the price tags and stickers. like you got a keychain and a bottle of perfume or smth- "not even bigger than his hand!!"- and it came out to like $30 and he's!!! flabbergasted!!! you tell him he just got big hands, and then he starts pouting

[strawbbzombwie]

A day worth celebrating.

Eric x Bonnie

Summary: Bonnie wants her big brother to have an amazing birthday so with her stuffed rabbit and pocket full of coins, she sets out on an adventure!

Word count: 2.2k

Warnings:Pure fluff with a teensy bit of angst sprinkled in at points, reference to Bonnie’s leg pains, Eric being a worried father and also miserable😔

Notes: @ceriseheaven giving him the birthday he deserves thanks to Bonnie🥹

~

Eric doesn’t particularly like celebrating his birthday. He never got a proper birthday as a child and now with Bonnie, he celebrates his birthday when it’s her birthday.

They normally split a small cake between them, watch Bonnies favourite cartoons and play games. By the end of the day, Bonnie’s wrapped up in Eric’s bed fast asleep and he may go out for a little while to see his friends from law school.

This birthday was different.

Eric was born on March 19th while Bonnie was born on August 13th and she wanted Eric to have a birthday of his own for a change so he would finally be happy.

March 19th 2020.

Bonnie woke up, rubbing her eyes as she yawned. Eric still asleep beside her. He didn’t have the money to buy Bonnie her own bed so he had to share his bed with a wriggling 5 year old. Most nights he didn’t sleep, too worried about Bonnie getting hurt in her sleep but this was a time he was finally able to fall asleep, probably due to exhaustion.

She slowly crawled out of the warm bed, grabbing her stuffed rabbit and putting on her bunny slippers. The sound of rain pattering against the windows made Bonnie giggle. She always loved rain but hated thunder as the loud bangs overwhelmed her.

“Oki wabbit. We’re going to go on an adventure today to get dada a cake!” Bonnie whispered, waddling into the small kitchen and grabbing a small bowl to fill with her choice of sugary cereal.

After her breakfast, she grabbed her pink raincoat and boots and also put wabbit in a matching raincoat and boots. She grabbed all her coins and dollar bills and placed them in her pocket and quietly waddled to the door.

“Wabbit am I forgetting something??” She asked to her stuffed friend, looking at her outfit. She stayed in her fluffy pink pyjamas with her glittery leg braces on underneath. She had a struggle buckling them up herself as Eric normally does them for her. But she decided to be a big girl and do them herself!

Recently, Bonnie’s legs had been hurting more and more. No matter how many doctor appointments Eric took her too, they all said that her condition was the same and not declining but Eric knew to trust his instinct more. The doctors gave Bonnie a wheelchair and leg braces for when she was in pain and Eric did his best to decorate them and make them all sparkly for her. He took all of her stickers and added them to her wheelchair and when he showed her, she squealed and ran to hug Eric. It warmed his heart knowing that she loved him so much. Eric thought that he wasn’t capable of being loved but Bonnie proved him otherwise.

Bonnie decided that she was ready to go to the store to buy Eric a cake, ready to give him the best birthday she possibly could.

After taking the lift to the bottom floor, she stepped outside into the rain and the cold March air. It was still dark outside and quiet, people not waking up to go to work yet.

“Oki wabbit keep your raincoat on otherwise you’ll be soggy!!” Bonnie giggled, beginning to walk down the street. This was the first time Bonnie was ever out on her own. She was 5 after all. Eric taught her about stranger danger and the only time she needed to speak to someone was when she buys the cake so she knew not to talk to anyone else.

~

The rain was pouring by the time Bonnie made it to the small store. She waddled into the building, making her way to where all the cakes and treats were. The cashier glanced over and was visibly confused.

“Are you okay hun? Where’s your mommy?” They said, walking over to Bonnie. She looked up at the worker, smiling.

“I’m getting a cake for my dada! It’s his birthday today!!” Bonnie giggled. The worker smiled back.

“Ohh okay! Do you want any help??” They asked. Bonnie shook her head and went back to looking at the cakes. The worker smiled, beginning to walk back to the cash register.

Bonnie grabbed wabbit out of her pocket, who was a little soggy due to the rain. She hugged him tight and pointed to a cake.

“What about this one wabbit? It’s chocolate so it will be yummy!” She asked, making wabbit nod in return. She smiled, picking up the cake and waddling to the register and going on her tippy toes to place the cake on the counter.

“I want this please!!” Bonnie says, looking up at the worker, a smile spread across her face. The worker smiles back and scans the small cake.

“Okie dokie thats $10!” They say. Bonnie reaches into her pocket and pulls out a few dollar bills and a variety of different coins and drops them onto the counter. She steps back as the worker counts all the coins. They dont have the heart to tell Bonnie that she’s a little short on the money. She is a child after all and like she said, it’s for her dad’s birthday, why would they ruin that day.

“Here’s your cake!! I hope your dad has a great birthday!” They smile at her and hand her the small box. Bonnie squeals, grabbing the box and running out of the shop.

“Thank you!!” She yells as she runs out the door, placing wabbit back on her raincoat as she makes her way back home.

~

Bonnie quietly opens the door, looking around the apartment to find Eric nowhere to be seen. She smiles, placing the cake on their small coffee table as she throws her raincoat on the floor, grabbing wabbit and placing him on the small sofa.

She runs to Eric’s bedroom, grabbing all her toys and places them on the sofa and floor, leaving a space for Eric in the middle. She giggles, happy with her layout and hoping that Eric would like her effort.

~

Eric rushes through the apartment door, panicking. When he woke up to find Bonnie’s side of the bed empty, he thought bonnie went to the toilet but after a couple of minutes, the bathroom was still silent. This puzzled Eric as he would normally hear Bonnie humming as she washes her hands. But all he heard was silence. So when he opened the bathroom door to find no Bonnie, he started to panic and ran out of the apartment, frantically calling his friends asking them to keep a lookout for Bonnie if they see her. When his friend text him saying they saw her waddling home in the rain, he immediately ran back to the apartment.

“Bonnie!! Where have you been?! I’ve been worried sick!!” he yelled. He didn’t want to yell at her, but he’s trying so hard to raise her and give her the childhood she deserves. The childhood he never got. His heart dropped when he saw Bonnie’s smile fade and her chocolate button eyes fill up with tears.

“I’m sorry..wanted to get a cake for your birthday..” she sniffled, pointing to the coffee table. He glanced over and teared up at the sight. On the table was a chocolate cake. Eric’s favourite. All of Bonnie’s toys and teddys were sat on the couch and floor, wearing makeshift party hats Bonnie made. Next to the cake, was a card Bonnie made herself, a picture of Eric in a party hat drawn in crayons, which were still scattered on the floor. He bent down and picked up the card, opening it to read the message she wrote.

“To Dada,

Happy birthday to the best dada in the whole wide world!!

Love from your bestest friends Bonnie + Wabbit”

Eric didnt realise he was crying until he felt the tears roll down his cheeks and his vision begin to blur. He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve a cake, a card, a party and he certainly didn’t deserve Bonnie. Not in his opinion anyway. He looked after bonnie when no one else would, even though he was technically her brother, he’s been her dad for as long as Bonnie could talk. He’s seen her first steps, her first words, her first everything. He’s been there when their parents weren’t bothered to be.

“Bee..hey sh sh..I’m sorry..I didn’t mean to yell..I was just worried because you were out all on your own..anything could’ve happened to you..” he said, kneeling down to face a sniffling Bonnie, wiping the tears away from her chubby cheeks. Bonnie looked at Eric, sniffling and trying her best to smile.

“I’m sorry..I just wanted you to have a birthday..” she sniffled. She didn’t understand why what she did was wrong and dangerous. Eric sighed, picking Bonnie up and embracing her in a hug.

“I can never stay mad at you bee. You mean too much to me. You know that right?” He says, ticking her side, causing her to squeal and giggle. He was happy that he finally got her to smile. He sat down on the couch, being surrounded by toys while Bonnie is sat on his lap.

“Should we have some cake??” Eric asked, Bonnie immediately nodding in response, also making wabbit nod.

~

The day went by quickly, being packed full of fun activities. Eric and Bonnie shared the small cake, Eric feeding Bonnie small pieces so she didn’t make a huge mess while eating it. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a birthday cake on his actual birthday. He usually shared his birthday with Bonnie in August seen as he couldn’t afford to celebrate his own but he wanted her to have the best birthdays. He didn’t care about treating himself but it warmed his heart knowing that Bonnie wanted Eric to have a day all about him.

After cake, they both sat watching cartoons, Eric having Bonnie sat on his lap, holding her close as she sang along to the songs on their small tv. Bonnie was making wabbit dance, making Eric laugh.

“You’re so silly!” He said, squeezing her as he kissed her cheek, making Bonnie laugh in response.

When it came to having dinner, Eric’s friends came around and brought takeout for the two of them. They also said at some point when Eric’s free, they would take him out for drinks to celebrate. When Eric moved to New York, he didn’t expect to make many friends as he never had any growing up, mainly being used to keeping things to himself and doing activities alone. But when he started classes at law school, he met a group of people he shared similar interests with. And when Eric introduced them to Bonnie, they immediately fell in love with her, offering to babysit her whenever Eric’s busy. That made Eric happy, finally finding people that cared about him and Bonnie.

By 7pm, Bonnie was fast asleep in Eric’s arms, holding wabbit within her own. After dinner, they had spent the evening drawing and playing games with the rest of her toys. Eric was always surprised by Bonnie and her big imagination. She was able to create games with what little toys she had. It made Eric upset that he wasn’t able to give her everything she wanted but she didn’t mind. She wasn’t ungrateful and she loved and cherished everything he gave her.

Eric got up from his seat, cradling Bonnie in his arms as he made his way to his bed, placing Bonnie down and tucking her in the covers. She mumbled slightly, stretching her arms out to try and grab Eric again.

“I’ll be back soon bee..sleep well okay?” He whispered, getting a soft murmur in response as Bonnie continued to sleep. He walked back into the living room and started to clear up the plates, quietly placing them in the sink. He went back to the couch, picking up all of Bonnie’s toys and putting them back in her toy box. He liked the apartment to be as clean as possible but with a 5 year old, that was tricky. He didn’t mind though, just as long as she has fun.

After cleaning up the apartment, he went into the bathroom to change into some pyjamas and brush his teeth. He already got Bonnie changed into her pyjamas after dinner so he was glad he didn’t have to worry about waking her up.

He quietly climbed into bed, making sure not to disturb Bonnie. He didn’t have the money to buy Bonnie her own bed but she didn’t mind as she got to give Eric cuddles all the time. Every morning he always woke up to Bonnie asleep on his chest, hugging him as she continued to sleep, snoring lightly.

As he began to fall asleep, he looked at Bonnie, who was asleep and snuggling into wabbit. He felt guilty that Bonnie did the best she could to try and make a great birthday for him, but he knows she’d do it a thousand times if it showed how much he meant to her. He didn’t know a child to love a person so much as Bonnie loved Eric.

“Thank you bee..you gave me a day to remember..I love you..” he mumbled, stroking her hair as he began to fall asleep, the light sound of rain still tapping against the glass.

~

I hope you enjoyed more Eric and Bonnie content!! Thank you for reading!!💖💖

[vaspider]

First off: I just wanted to let you know that we found my daughter's Bisexual Galaxy shorts in some stuff I brought over from storage and she immediately changed into them. Now she wants a whole glaaxy outfit of different galaxies. I know where I'm headed when I have more money. But I may stop buy and buy the Goblin Queen sticker again because I seem to have misplaced the one I bought for my laptop.

Secondly, I'd love it if you could boost two posts for friends of mine. @freakincagedotcom2 has a post where he's trying to raise money for food to eat. He got a lot of what he needed this month but is still short and I'm hoping he can get a jump on next month. His post is up at https://www.tumblr.com/freakincagedotcom2/760591485295067136/help-black-african-autistic-trans-man-stay-fed

@chingaderita is dealing with a multitude of issues, including a mold infestation, an injured partner, medical issues and a lack of clean water and edible food. Anyone who can help with that would give a queer family a fighting chance at staying fed and beating the mold. Their post is up at https://www.tumblr.com/chingaderita/761631852028182528/161-925

Seriously, thank you so much for the help you give. When I get some money freed up after I pay my rent, I'll go buy Lena something galaxy related in the trans flag colors from your store. Take care!

Glad to help, and as always, there's no obligation. I'm glad you found her shorts. :]

[polaroid240]

Use that vhs filter app to record moments in your daily life and put them in a real vhs.

Download some recent songs you like and burn them onto a CD. Put said CD in a portable cd player and listen to your fave beats anywhere you want.

Modify that old mp3 player so it can store more gigabytes.

Torrent a streaming-service-only movie or series and burn them onto a blank bluray/dvd. Go crazy with it and make a fake cover for the bluray case, you don't even need a printer to do so. Just draw something on paper, or glue together some random stickers/photos you feel like are appropriate to describe its content.

If your old clothes don't fit anymore, modify them, cut them, take the sleeves off with a pair of scissors, put a different type of sleeves on, sew a patch on them, make a patch out of them. Do whatever you want, it's free material and you might have paid for it. But even if you didn't, it's yours now and you should do whatever you want with it. Fashion trends come and go, so why should you care?

You'd be surprised how much stuff you can do with a 1€ set of hot glue sticks and a 3€ hot glue gun.

Make a zine out of a random piece of paper just for the sake of it. Show it to your friends or keep it for yourself, it doesn't matter. Just be wild and express yourself whenever you want.

Plastic bottles are great diy material. There's thousands of tutorials out there and you'll surely find something useful or fun to do with it.

Don't waste your money while going to the beach (except for sunscreen cream, that's the only thing you REALLY need to buy). All you need is a bunch of strong wood sticks, beach towels and strong hair ties. There's plenty of methods on how to do it on the net, but these are the bare essentials.

Fix a stuck suitcase zipper by applying candle wax on it. Keep moving the zipper towards the right direction and keep using said candle wax until it's good as new. I did this one and it worked, so I'm speaking from personal experience.

Cut your own hair. It might look messy at first and you should always be careful while doing it, but it's a great skill to have when you can't afford an hairstylist. YouTube is your best friend here.

Be a fucking menace to society.

It's fun.

[footballffbarbiex]

Blank Space. Chapter One

player: antoine griezmann words: 1214 summary: being a single mom isn’t easy, more so when it’s plus one season and invites are through your door on a monthly basis but with no-one to take. Tired of the pitying glances and coming up with excuses, you decide that a plus one is just for the night, and that can be bought. But what if that hourly booking isn’t enough, but the boyfriend experience comes at too much of a cost? series warnings: sex work (male escort), single mom client, swearing bc it's me, unrequited love (OR IS IT?), angst (bc apparently i like to put Anto through the fucking wringer.) probably more but i can't think straight rn.

I can’t remember if I shared this here, but I’m really excited for this series. Lemme know what you think. 

-

The door has barely had time to close when you’re already dropping your bag to the floor and shrugging out of your coat. You toe your shoes off, knowing that you’ll hate yourself a little tomorrow when you see the creases in the back of them but you’re too tired from work to care right now. You scoop your bag back up and drape it over a coat hook before scooping up today’s post from the doormat and heading down the hallway and flicking on the heating without missing a step.

James won’t be home for a while, the childminder isn’t due for another two hours, giving you the chance to finish off dinner and get a bath ready for him. Stepping into the kitchen, you breathe in the scent of the contents of the slow cooker and the rumbling in your stomach reminds you of the lunch that you skipped earlier. Skipped or forgot because you were so rushed off your feet? No matter the reason, the result is still the same and this has you reaching for a snack while you check over the envelopes and leaflets that have come.

Trash. Trash. Trash. Trash.

They fall to the counter top one by one as you look over them. Some are promising guaranteed credit card acceptance with an extortionately high APR, some are designed to look like letters but are concealing house buying promises from estate agents. A few are small booklets with the latest deals from stores begging for you to spend money. And one, in a carefully tied envelope that can only mean one thing.

You pause chewing as you turn it over, the edges perfectly sealed but the bottom of the envelope flap has been secured anyway with a small return address sticker. You knew because of the handwriting on the front and your stomach drops at the thought of attending another event alone. It’s opened within seconds, a careful slice to the top with a knife, even though you have a letter opener somewhere that your neighbour gave you after she saw you do exactly this.

You scan the information, take in the intricate details and know that these were professionally made. Not that you expected anything different, the bride-to-be had always been anal about details and making sure everything was just so, the wedding would be no different. The wedding invite falls on top of the pile and you push away from the counter as you debate what to do.

Of course stepping through the doors is easy. Mixing with others, especially those that you know, is simple. But summoning the energy, putting on a fake smile when people ask “so, bring a plus one?” and you can see the hope in their eyes that you’re bringing someone who isn’t a friend? That takes some doing. Having to explain why you haven’t yet found that “special someone” is draining. It’s not that you’re not happy for those whose weddings or baby showers you’re invited to, it’s the constant justification of why you’re surviving without a man.

You’re too hungry to think about this on an empty stomach and the need to get out today’s clothes is strong.

-

With dinner consumed and your favourite glass of wine in hand, you’re browsing every streaming site you subscribe to. James is sleeping soundly upstairs, his heavy breathing borderlining a gentle snore. He’d come home, boisterous, loud and chaotic in all the ways a little boy can be. He’d returned home with tales from nursery, little things that had made him laugh and stories he’d wanted to remember tell you. He’d gobbled up his food, his feet swinging in the gap between the seat and the floor. He’d barely left anything on his plate, slurped up his juice before playing a little before it was time for bed.

After kisses, cuddles and with a nighttime story read, James had fallen asleep before you’d reached the last page. You’d brushed his hair aside and given him a kiss on his forehead before ensuring he was fully tucked up and asleep before making your way back downstairs and getting comfortable on the sofa.

Selecting something as more background noise than anything, your mind drifts back to the invite. You weigh up the pros and cons of both attending and refusing to go. Both have their own perks, but very different outcomes. One would leave you feeling almost less than a person, again, and the other would leave you happy to be at home but judged and most likely shunned from any events in the future - even if you had someone to accompany you.

Humour, almost sarcastically really, has you reaching for your phone and loading up the web browser and typing “where to loan a plus one”.

You didn’t believe for a second that you’d get an actual hit. Of course, almost everything has a result, but more often than not it’s not what you want. But instead, you find yourself with several pages of results and all of a similar nature. You weren’t a prude or at the thought of being behind by several decades, but you hadn’t expected to see the options for this kind of question being from escort agencies.

Intrigue had you clicking and reading over the information there. Some of it was new. You’d genuinely believed that booking an escort was mostly for one thing. Here it details many different options and prices, ranging from hourly rates, 6 hour blocks, overnight stays which can include “the relationship package”, or dates.

You found yourself clicking on what counted as a date and found that many bookings, for all their escorts, were for work events, weddings and anything else that required a plus one. You’d never considered this as a possibility. Didn’t know if you were considering this as an option now. Wouldn’t it be easier to just not go than pay for someone to pretend they’re interested in you?

You’re already here so there’s no harm in clicking on a few profiles as you hypothetically pick out a date. You can see why people would pay for these men, they were beautiful. On their profiles, they have sections which state their expertise. Some are given glowing reviews for their boyfriend experiences, for their ability to put their clients at ease. Some are incredible with their hands or mouth, some exceed in oral. Some are listed as “above average” and some have preference for plus size. There was truly something for everyone. In a way, there was too much choice.

You’re about to click off when a picture gets your attention. Blue eyes under beautiful lashes. Soft dark blonde hair that begs to be touched. A kind and handsome face which, as you flick through the available pictures for him, turns into far more gorgeous when he smiles. His reviews were good. Better than good. He was the perfect choice for a boyfriend experience, would always be on time for event plus ones and took the time to do his research for them - not wanting to leave anything to chance and reveal that this was a very different situation to what you’d claimed you would imagine.

You weren’t considering it before, but this man, this profile, it made you question everything.

[redfoxwritesstuff]

Sunflower: Book 1, Chapter 4

Tom Hiddleston x OFC Series rated: M Chapter warnings: drinking AN: Bonus chapter- It's cold AF in most of the USA right now. We deserve a bonus posting this week. I know I do, my toes are still cold from changing the Bunny's water for the 3rd time today. Chapter 3, Masterlist, Chapter 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 4

They walked as the city woke up slowly around them. Most of the buzz was from new arrivals, not yet having had the chance to drink too much or stay out too late. 

“There’s a shoe store,” Tom pointed to the shop up ahead. “Do you want to get some better shoes? I can’t imagine your feet are comfortable in those heels.”

He was right, the heels were far from comfortable. She had been trying not to show the discomfort though it seemed that she hadn’t been successful. “Oh no, it’s fine. The Tram isn’t far ahead and then it’ll be a little bit of a walk.” 

“Why are you lying to me?” The cheer that seemed to be near always present in his voice was gone. It seemed to disappear whenever the topics turned more serious. 

“I’m not?” It was useless to lie but she tried anyway. 

He grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the side of the walkway. His grip was strong but not so much so as to hurt her. Facing him, she felt ashamed for the lie.

His blue eyes were earnest and caring. Again and again he insisted he wanted nothing but to help her, to be there for her, to know her and yet she lied about her sore feet. 

“You’re limping.” 

“It’s fine-”

“Why do you not want to get some more comfortable shoes?” Why did he have to care so much about her? “If we’re going to do this we have to talk to each other. We have to be honest with each other.”

“I don’t need new shoes. I have shoes-”

“Talk to me.” He was pleading with her as his grip on her arm turned slack.

“Look, I just- It’s not in the budget.”

“I’ll get it.” Tom offered as if it was nothing. Hell, to him it probably was nothing. 

“I don’t want to take from you. I- everyone is going to think I married you for money or to use you or something. Fuck, for all I know I did but…” 

“But what? I’m offering. Your feet hurt. I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks. You need shoes. I can afford shoes. Simple mathematics.

She felt terrible for allowing him to buy her new shoes on top of the clothes and breakfast. Whenever she had mentioned it, he would just remind her that he was her husband for now. He would say that it didn’t matter because of that but she wasn’t so sure about it.

“So, where do you live?” She knew he was British but there wasn’t a lot she knew otherwise about him. It seemed to her that British People tended to spread out and settle all over the world, making their accent and nationality little use in telling where someone actually lived. “You know I’m a local so I guess I should know that about you too.”

“London, England. I travel a lot for work though. I’ve spent most of the year in America for filming, going here and there as needed.” 

“When do you go back?” They walked by women wearing nothing but a thong and stickers on their nipples. The city was warming up and coming to life but the man walking beside her didn’t offer them so much as a glance. 

“I’ve got a ticket a week out to go back home.”

“What happens then?” She couldn’t make sense of how they were going to give this marriage a chance. Was there any point when they were strangers and he lived halfway around the world.

“We’ll figure that out when it comes. I can move the ticket or maybe you can come with me.”

“Maybe we’ll need a break from each other too.” Mia wasn’t sure if she was joking or not.

“Do you need to head home?” Tom asked, glancing at his watch. 

Mia sighed. Going home was something she did need to do but it wasn’t something she wanted to do. “Probably, yeah.” 

“Do you have a car?” He was well aware that it was the norm in America to have cars but with her hesitation to spend the money on shoes, he wasn’t sure if it was something he should assume.

“Yeah, the employee parking is just around here.” She gestured toward a large building tucked away behind the resort they had met in. “What will you do?”

“Would I be too forward if I asked to go with you?” 

“Oh,”

“I- we have so much to work out still but if we stay separate, especially this soon, I don’t it’ll help us get to know each other.”

“You want to stay with me?” Questions raced through her mind. Risks were calculated and weighed and she didn’t have enough time. 

“I’ll sleep on the couch if you’d rather and I can be out when you’ve got engagements to attend to.”

“Work- normal people call it work.” He chuckled and she hated how she liked the sound. 

“I can busy myself outside of your home while you’re working if you’d rather.”

There was no way he would want to stay in her apartment. It was small and cramped and he was a goddamn actor of enough note to have Ashley swearing. “We’ll see.” 

“I’ll take it.” Reaching out, he grabbed her hand in his and squeezed it softly. Her face grew warm at the small affection. Until now, they hadn’t touched each other since they woke up. “I’ll go get checked out and grab my bag. We’ll meet out front?”

“Okay.”

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

“Mia Maria!” Michelle called for her as soon as she stepped into the employee locker room. “You’re not supposed to be in today?”

“Thanks, I didn’t want to see you today either.” Mia teased. Michelle had long been a good friend and trusted coworker. “Stayed on the strip last night.” 

“AC not fixed still?”

“They said it’ll be fixed by noon.” Mia unlocked her small locker and grabbed her keys and purse. Tom had found her Driver’s License and debit card in his wallet but everything else she left safe in her locker. Of the things she wanted to experience in life, losing her purse on the Strip was not high on the list. It was better to have a few cards in her pocket and leave everything else locked up safe and sound. If only she knew where her clothes had ended up.

“Sal stay with Ashley last night?” 

“Yeah. They’re having a day together while I get my shit figured out.”

“Must be some shit- You look stressed.”

“You wouldn’t believe it.” Mia said as she closed her locker. “We’ll take later.”

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

Was it silly to feel insecure about her car? It was nice enough for normal people but for him? Who knows. He didn’t appear to be stuck up or worried about appearances. On the other hand, he had designer suits in his closet for a casual trip to Las Vegas.

The ringing of the phone on the speakers cut off her thoughts as she answered. “I’m just walking out the doors.”

“I see you.” For better or worse. “I’m two cars back. Red SUV.”

Long legs made quick work of the distance. As soon as the door unlocked, he pulled open the hatchback. The suitcases were large but he didn’t have many. He was a light traveler which was good- there wasn’t a lot of space in her apartment. 

“Are you sure about this?” Mia asked as he slipped into the passenger seat.

“Sure, what better way to get to know you than to get to know your life?” He adjusted the seat back, making room for his legs. “How far is it?”

“About thirty minutes.” Mia sighed. “It’ll go fast, we just have to get off the strip first.” 

“You drive half an hour into work and back?” 

“Every day. Well, five days a week at least. I avoid the strip like the plague most of the time otherwise.” 

“Have you always lived here?” He was looking out the window, watching the heart of Las Vegas quickly give way to what could be mistaken as any other city. So many people never saw Las Vegas as anything more than the glittering lights and cacophony of noise in a handful of miles. 

“Yep, born and breed here. What about you?” She needed to get to know him. He seemed safe enough, kind but there was so much unknown about the man she was bringing into her home. Their home. 

“Spent most of my life around London when I’m not traveling.”

“You travel a lot?” The city gave way to highway traffic and wide open spaces. Neighborhoods and small town centers spread out around them, crashing into each other as she technically left Las Vegas without ever leaving a city.

“More than I’d like sometimes.” 

“I thought all actors thrived on travel.” A horn blared behind her as she changed lanes. They wouldn’t have gotten cut off if they were going the speed limit but who was she to tell someone how to drive.

“At times,” He admitted. “But I’ve always been a bit of a homebody. The stage is my passion though I enjoy film well enough. It’s nothing compared to a live show. Are you close to your family?” 

Silence ticked on for a few moments before she answered, “I don’t have much family. It’s just Ashley for the most part.” She needed to tell him. “You?”

“Fairly. I’ve got two sisters, nieces and nephews. I’m close with my parents, though they’ve divorced. They did their best to give us the best they could.”

“Must be nice.” She mumbled under her breath.

“I didn’t catch that, I’m sorry?” 

The exit was coming up quickly and she was running out of time. “Why are you single?” 

It was a dumb question. He wouldn’t just come out and say ‘well you see, I’m a terrible man’ or ‘I tend to be quick to anger’ or ‘I’m not safe’ or ‘I hate kids and pets’.

“I’m not anymore, technically.” he chuckled as she shot a annoyed glance his way. “I know, not what you mean. I’d been with a woman for a while but when my career shot forward; There was a lot of eyes on me, a lot of interest in me from fans. Many of them woman and she wasn’t comfortable with that. We’d gone our own ways a bit ago, some months now. She found someone else, they got married. Turns out I wasn’t so hard to move on from.”

“That sucks.” She wasn’t sure what to say. The idea of being the target of media or fans in a negative way hadn’t occurred to her but she was well versed in the sting that was somehow being easy to leave behind.

He cleared his throat, “What about you?” 

“I was with a guy for a while right out of school. Then he decided he liked a stripper better. Can’t blame him too much, she was pretty. But he left our whole life behind. I thought we were going to get married and be a family but, oh well.”

“It doesn't matter how pretty she was, he shouldn’t have gone around on you with another woman.” 

“If you say so.” She laughed, taking her hand from the wheel and pulling strands of hair behind her ear and out of her face. Before she had a chance to replace it, he enveloped it in his. 

“I swear to you, for so long as we are doing this together, I will be loyal to you. It doesn’t matter how pretty anyone else is, I will only have eyes for you.”

“You can’t promise that.” Do not get you hopes up, she told herself. He held her hand in his. His hand was large, much larger than hers, soft, warm and begging her to believe him.

It felt weird to be touched by him. It felt even weirder as he placed a soft chase kiss to the back of her hand. 

“I am.” 

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

They laughed as they exited the bar. It was a small but fancier than she had ever thought she would drink at. It hadn’t mattered, though; he had been buying her drinks.

“Oh, look!” She gushed as a mass of white caught her eyes. 

“What’s that?” He draped his arm around her shoulders and it felt warm. It felt comfortable.

“A wedding party.” The bride and groom were perfectly styled. The white dress was fairytale poofy and flowed as she moved down the steps. “I always love stumbling on a random wedding here.” 

“People really do just get married here?” Tom mused, his words slurring some.

“Yeah. The clerks office is open late and the paperwork is quick. You can rent dresses and shit.”

“Do you want to get married?” 

~~~~~<3

Tag List: @winterisakillerr, @alexakeyloveloki @jennyggggrrr, @dangertoozmanykids101, @tilltheendwilliwrite @tinchentitri @wizardcherryblossom @buttercupcookies-blog @violethaze @kats72

[shinesurge]

your custom cassettes are really really cool! ive been thinking about making custom cassettes for a bit, would you be willing to share what kind of paper you used for the label stickers and j-cards? also where do you get blank cassettes from? ive been looking at cassettecomeback but i was wondering if there was a better option.

Thanks a lot! They're really fun to make hehe

So full disclosure: I run a merch shop for my webcomic and I make most of my stuff myself in my studio. I've been doing this for the better part of ten years and over that time I've accumulated quite a bit of specialized, expensive equipment like the photo printer and cutting machine I use to make my cassette ephemera. THAT SAID mixtapes don't necessarily need all that!! Unless you're running a bootleg business on etsy or somethin I don't think you and your friends gotta run out and spend a ton of money to make these (beyond tracking down a deck and a player, obviously).

Unfortunately most of these items are found on Amazon because I'm a professional artist trying to Live, but if that's something you'd rather avoid buying through I'm listing the brick and mortar places I can find them when I need to for whatever reason!

My j-cards are just the 8x10 glossy photo paper from Pen & Gear, it's usually less than ten bucks a pack at walmart lmao. I use it with an inkjet photo printer! There are plenty of laser printer options out there though, which is probably the type non-artists have access to. Honestly I think the look of black ink on colored copy paper is super cool for handmade tapes, especially between friends.

My sticker paper was a bitch to find and I'm not sure if it would be useful without my specific equipment, but it's this glossy adhesive photo paper from some rando company called LDProducts. Literally just called "Sticker Photo Paper" pf. It's more expensive but I get it in stacks of a hundred because I print tons of stickers for my shop. Again, glossy adhesive paper might not be useful without a big boy printer but MATTE sticker paper is everywhere, that's also pretty common to find at walmart or at the very least at an office supply store; you can print on it or even get out some markers (not sure i'd suggest anything besides ink tho, I'd be worried it could come off and damage the player). I design the labels in clip studio and then load them into cricut so it's super easy to get the right shape every time, but if you're Determined you could get out a measuring tape and an xacto knife and get similar results.

I've only found my tapes on amazon unfortunately, and it's been a while since I bought any because I sort of inherited a bunch of sealed ones when my dad died and i'm still going through them lol. Almost all my custom ones are 90 minute Sony High Fidelity, last I checked you could order them in packs of five or ten but I'm not sure what the prices are like rn. If you REALLY want to get fancy with colored shells/custom lengths i did find this cool site you can order from, Duplication.ca, but the shipping is kinda rough. One of these days I wanna make some cassettes for my webcomic and I'll drop some money on some pretty ones then, but for now the Sonys are treating me fine so I haven't dug too deep.

I hope something in here is useful! I'm always happy to share what I know but again, I'm very fortunate to have access to quite a bit of stuff most people don't and I try to be up front about it alskdjf. Cassettes are best when they're sorta janky and handmade tho, it's kind of the whole point, and if they're just for you or someone you care about then marking them with a sharpie and masking tape is just as cool in my opinion. probably cooler. everybody should put music on physical media and trade it i think.

[rotationalsymmetry]

So, sometimes I hang around on r/simpleliving, and now and then someone asks about hobbies that are affordable, which confused me, but having spent more time fucking around you YouTube hobby videos I get it.

Like I love watching ASMR vintage aesthetic journaling. It's great to watch. But holy hell that is the most expensive conceivable way to do collages. The cheap way to do collages is to find yourself a pile of magazines someone else was going to throw out and use a gluestick, or these days if you happen to have a color printer maybe print out images you find online (or just keep it all digital and make mood boards.) Buying tons of stickers and washi tape and whatnot is fine but it's not going to be cheap.

And it's the same with pretty much any hobby video really -- even if the person making it isn't trying to get money off of affiliate links, which is by itself incentive to use the expensive stuff, or being gifted stuff by businesses, people generally make hobby videos when it's a hobby they're super into, not one they're just starting out at, where buying the nice extras is relatively likely to be worth it. But that doesn't mean you have to own a stand mixer to start baking, or a 36 color set of colored pencils to draw, or to own your own house on 20 acres in the middle of nowhere to garden. You don't even need a sewing machine to try out some sewing, you can get a kit with some thread and needles at a convenience store for a few bucks.

The stuff you see videos of is always going to be the expensive stuff; if you want cheap stuff, look for text-based how-to's. And in many cases the best option will be a book, which you might be able to find online if you don't want to buy it but even if you do buy, books are relatively cheap.

Entertainment videos, or lovely photos on Pinterest or what have you, are great for inspiration. They're not the best source of practical how-to advice. Never were, never will be. Keep separate mental buckets for idea-generation and practical how-to knowledge and get them from different sources.

[mayakern]

thank you for the advice on pins ! i am in the process of researching how to set up my shop and i have a couple more questions if you don't mind- at what stage did you feel it was time to open your shop, follower-wise? did it take a long time to become profitable ? i saw you go through a manufacturer for your prints, is it because making them is too expensive? i see you don't make stickers, is there a reason? is a laser cutting machine worth it when debuting ? or superfluous? what did you use to design your website (it's very pretty btw)? do you have advice on getting people interested in checking it out?

how does one deal with sales being down, mentally, and how to be patient in the beginning?

does managing orders require a lot of organization? is a label maker worth the time it saves? in general, do you recomment buying your own machines (printer, or button maker) or stick with manufacturers? also, do you have advice on reconcialiting it with anticapitalism because im feeling conflicted about outsourcing labor and adding products to this world... is setting up shopify very hard ? are taxes a hassle ? sorry if it's a lot, i have trouble wrapping my head around every step i'll have to do and want to avoid beginner mistakes if i can. if you have any other advice and traps to avoid i'd be very grateful

dude this is SO many questions.

the short answer is: everything is hard and takes work.

there is no “right” time to start a shop or start selling stuff. you just kind of do it and hope. i opened mine in college (around 2012 or 2013) because i had already made some merch for a local convention and i wanted to sell the leftovers. my store didn’t become viable as a full time job until around 2017—it was a means to subsidize the income i had from working as a freelance artist.

also i never went into debt for the store so there was never a moment when my store “became profitable.” unless you’re willing to go into debt for this (not something i’d recommend), it’s a slow slog to get to a point where you can afford to sell items with a higher price point at a high enough volume that it is viable as a full career. inventory costs money and the more profitable items cost more money. it takes a lot of time and work and momentum to make this your whole job.

buying your own equipment is only worth it if you plan to use that equipment for multiple years to get a good return on investment.

however a label printer is almost always worth it, but i wouldn’t buy one until you’re getting at least 20 orders a month.

low price point items like buttons and stickers can be good to start out (i used to sell both) but at a certain point, unless you’re selling a massive amount of them there is a limit to how profitable a $3 item can be.

managing a store takes an amount of work/organization that is proportional to the number of products you have/sell. i will say i was an absolute disaster at this when i handled everything myself, which is why the store only became viable as a full time job once devin joined me.

i use squarespace for my portfolio site and shopify for the store. they’re relatively hassle free.

if you’re making most of your income from store or freelance work, find a local CPA to help you do taxes. also keep a running spreadsheet for all your expenses and income. separate your expenses into groups based on the different types of deductions (i.e. office equipment, travel, etc.) and update that spreadsheet, at minimum, once a month. then taxes are easy.

as far as anticapitalist mindset goes… do your due diligence when it comes to sussing out the manufacturers/companies you work with and try to create thoughtfully.

anyway next time you ask for advice please just pick like 3 questions at a time. this was… a lot.

[loreweaver-universe]

And that’s the episode.

What an immediately intriguing show.  I’m always a sucker for a cool post-apocalyptic world, the animation is great, the monster design is neat, the characters are fun, it’s got evil frog people, the works.  I’m looking forward to more--and I’m REALLY looking forward to learning the details of the apocalypse.  How did we get from 2020 normalcy to 22XX monster world?  This is going to be very interesting.

That’s going to be today’s liveblog--short, I know, I’m sorry, but episode ends are the stopping point.  Tune in tomorrow at noon EST for the start of Amphibia episode 4, or you can tune in to my Twitch channel today at 1 PM EST for the continuation of Signalis!  (And, probably, at 5 PM EST for the continuation of Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster!)

Before I go, I’d like to plug both my blog’s Patreon and my Twitch/Youtube Patreon. I make my living off of Patreon, and while I make enough to cover rent and bills, I don’t make a ton of money from it and haven’t been able to save anything up in the last decade or so.  (I ended March with fifteen dollars in my bank account!).  Every dollar helps, so if you’re willing, please consider pledging a dollar or two.

Thank you all for tuning in, and thank you to my 46 blog patrons, who make it so I can do this for a living!  I’ll see you soon!

IN OTHER NEWS:

I recently completed my first playthrough of Undertale!  You can see the full playlist of those streams by clicking here!

I recently completed my first playthrough of Disco Elysium!  You can see the full playlist of those streams by clicking here!

I have an ongoing first playthrough of Final Fantasy XIV that I’ve been streaming on Twitch! If you’d like to tune in when I’m live, I stream it every Saturday at 1 PM EST, and I upload my stream VODs to my Youtube channel!  If you’d like to see that playlist, click here!

If you’d like to help me pay my rent, buy me some food, or help with my bills and medicine, please use my direct donation link!  If you’d like to support me per liveblog completed every month, please pledge to my Patreon!  If you’d like to support my streams or pick a game for me to stream, you can pledge to my stream Patreon too!

You should also go pledge to Gio’s Patreon, or his Sponsus–our Discord server maintenance tech and creator of Rubybot deserves far more than I can afford to pledge to him by myself.

If you’d like more of me and my content:

My Episode Lists master page, where you can find every show and liveblog I’ve done!

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It’s your kindness and support that lets me do this stuff, and I wouldn’t be where I am without all of you to do it for.  Thank you all so much for your support, and for tuning in every episode!

OTHER PEOPLE YOU MAY ENJOY:

I may have been one of the earlier Steven Universe liveblogs, but a whole community of livebloggers has sprung up over the last six years!   I linked to a bunch individually for a few wrap-ups, but honestly, this end-slate is already eight billion miles long, so I’m just gonna link to my links page.  Click here if you want recommendations of other livebloggers, or other neat people, or webcomics and podcasts that I recommend.

[slickfordain]

can i request tokyoRev (Mikey,emma, draken, shinichiro, smiley ) with a lazy Friend reader that is obsessed with hello kitty? (platonic) or wtv <333

[ From; Tokyo Revengers💬 ]: 😻

⚜️🎀𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝘂𝗺𝗯💗

For the person who requested fighter reader, I’m so sorry! I failed miserably and scratched the whole idea because I knew 0 shit about boxing 😭 as I say, I’m used to lazy reader / Y/N, have mercy on me;;

━━━━━━━ Manjiro Sano

▋Best to say, Mikey would absolutely adore you if you had obsession with Hello Kitty! Why? Because he would be obsessed with it, knowing you two have a child-like personality all together.

▋Draken would usually need to babysit you two, but that’s only when you two go broke after buying millions of Hello Kitty outfits and other things. He grows gray hair from you two, HAHAHAHAH—

▋If anyone made fun of you for liking Hello Kitty, bet that Mikey will obliterate them to the next planet. (He secretly hopes they land into the sun fufufufu) Because he likes Hello Kitty, so it’s an offense someone makes fun of his friend for liking Hello Kitty!

▋Snacks, blankets, fairy lights, you name it. Knowing Mikey being your friend, he obviously knows how lazy you are, and kind of gains that trait of yours on himself LMAO. But all means well, you two just have a nice Hello Kitty session on TV.

▋There are times you two fight each other over Hello Kitty merch and Hello Kitty lunchboxes that you’re too broke to pay for. You both steal each other’s money, without even realizing it. It’s so funny, and ironic.

▋If you were to have birthday party,,, Mikey would definitely send you a Hello Kitty song in a modern timeline where you will see him spamming you with Hello Kitty stickers, and music.

▋Speaking of stickers, since you’re so sleepy and lazy— Mikey puts stickers on you (Hello Kitty themed) whenever he gets the chance. You always say you look fabulous with it on, ehe~

━━━━━━━ Emma Sano

▋An unstoppable duo. You both are besties t’ill death, because you both share your love for Hello Kitty! Even though, Emma usually goes “mature” in public since she always wanted to act older. So, usually, she’s like a mother figure to you.

▋But lord, when it’s just the two of you, she will beg of you to Hello Kitty outfits with her! You’re red, and she’s pink! Or it could be vise verse too, where you’re pink and she’s red. Doesn’t matter. She just wants to match with you. (Sleepwear style obviously)

▋Ah, Hello Kitty themed cosplays. You two will buy white haired wigs, and then put on different outfits, using all of your energy to just make it look pretty. But sadly, always fails because stupid Draken / Ken-chin always ruins it by visiting you two.

▋Emma would tell others that Hello Kitty is just a child thing, but honestly she does that to stay in her character, knowing that she told especially Mikey she wanted to be more mature styled.

▋“Ne, ne! (Name)! There’s a Hello Kitty candy themed store!” You know damn well after Emma said that, that you both buy the entire store. I smell richness from you two, I really can. (Emma’s the sugar mommy /j)

▋Hello Kitty glasses in movie night !! Can get exhausting for Emma who feels dizzy from it, but how can she ever resist? As long as you wear it she will wear it too. Oh, and you two sneak in some snacks to feast inside the cinema.

▋You two kidnap Mikey and Izana, and do their hairstyles with Hello Kitty stickers stuck onto their faces. It’s hilarious, and you both run away when they escape from the tightened ropes that kept them still for a good while.

━━━━━━━ Draken (Ken Ryuguji)

▋Draken is personally not a fan of Hello Kitty, but he doesn’t mind your obsession towards about it— As long as he isn’t involved with the mess. Unfortunately, that backfired because you always want him to buy you Hello Kitty shit, making him go halfway broke. (Poor him lol)

▋Draken would spend any penny on your favorite Hello Kitty merch, only because he has a gun held behind his back by you. Aren’t you two such friendship goals? Gah I want this! (I’m joking, don’t force your friends into shit.)

▋Slowly by process though, your personality and love for Hello Kitty is slowly rubbing off on him honestly… Like, he’ll usually smile whenever you bring up the topic about Hello Kitty and her friends, even goes far with agreeing to buy things for you- without needing the gun behind him.

▋Draken would definitely have made fun of you for liking childish things, but now it’s his turn to get made fun off for liking it sooner enough. Ah, nothing could’ve made you happier for knowing by now Draken has become just like you, sort of.

▋Lollipop Hello Kitty themed !! You both pay for lollipops, and then go for a sleepover to play video games + cuddle each other so you can take a nap. You’re not a morning + afternoon person… You have stamina, you know.

▋“Kennnn… Pleaseeee???” You always beg. You’re too lazy to even walk or move, that you beg for Draken to give you your Hello Kitty themed cereal. Does he get annoyed by it? Yes, but does he adore your lazy shit? Yeah. He can’t deny it. But don’t think too far ahead, sometimes he’ll leave you to do it yourself lmao.

▋… You put makeup on him at 04:00 AM because you woke up and got bored. Let’s just say, there was a report for loud noises, from an angry feral tall man who got pissed off.

━━━━━━━ Shinichiro Sano

▋Honestly, stares at you weirdly at first for having an obsession with Hello Kitty. (Since you’re the same age) But soon, gave in to watch the shit show with you, because you bribed him with the; “Girls love it” sentence. Of course mf would agree on it with you, because he is a “ladies man”!

▋Lord pray for Shinichiro, because you were the biggest troll + liar. Mans tried giving girls Hello Kitty gifts, but they lash out they’re all childish and shit like that— And that made Shinichiro so madly embarrassed, to the point he almost killed you, HAHAHAH 🤡

▋You had to make it up for him, but as lazy as you are, you begged Mikey and Emma to make a cake for Shinichiro. Mikey was going to deny it, but Emma agreed because she loves Hello Kitty, as much as you did.

▋Did the attempt work? Yes. Shinichiro felt better, but he still didn’t feel like trusting you with love advices— Knowing how truly shitty you are with girls and boys… But hey, you invited him for a late night movie.

▋Both of you used up the Hello Kitty themed tissue box, crying over the most random shit that happened in the movie… For example, a girl dying and y’all crying because she was the most useful one in the movie.

▋Shinichiro would ruin you in modern AU. You cannot deny that he would send you creepy Hello Kitty pictures, just to make you feel despair and misery, making him laugh whenever he hears you cursing on the voicemails. (Usually comforts you at the end tho, he is your friend anyway <3)

▋Actually ends up telling the entire Black Dragons team about the Hello Kitty show. You did it. You influenced him to become you, which is… Oddly wholesome, since his gang seemed rather supportive about it… Huh. Guys being more supportive than the females… Weird opposite Day.

━━━━━━━ Smiley (Nahoya Kawata)

▋Many laughs and happiness with this guy. He super supports you !! Loves you to death for liking Hello Kitty, because his twin Souya / Angry also loves Hello Kitty. So, you’re in luck with this bitch this time. Prepare for a sugar daddy lol /hj.

▋Smiley would definitely buy you Hello Kitty biscuits and then put them inside your Hello Kitty lunchbox. So whenever you’re hungry for lunch, you’ll just see an aesthetically pleasing Hello Kitty styled lunch. You love it.

▋Smiley becomes concerned for you though, there’s some point he wouldn’t do too much for you— As crazy as he is to make a friend like you happy. You do get upset by it yeah, but you ignore it and sleep the problems away… Yeah, that’s gonna make him more worried over you.

▋You don’t wanna walk, so he piggybacks you to a shop to pay some Hello Kitty ears you two can match with, and try recording each other for lol’s and funsies— You two just have fun with each other, there’s no point in separating you two.

▋In ramen shop, people / customers will see Smiley with a Hello Kitty tank top, and he will casually just smile because you bought that shit for him on his birthday. He couldn’t just throw it away, you gave it to him! And Angry got a similar pair, wearing it in the shop anyway.

▋Hello Kitty by Avril Lavigne —> Your song. Modern Smiley can edit you, and edits you with that song because he knows you all too well, that you get excited every edit he makes just for you.

▋People make fun of you for liking Hello Kitty? Yikes! Bye with them! Smiley will make sure you’re comfortable with yourself… Not only are you lazy, you struggle with social-phobia / anxiety. He will literally kick them across the room, with a drop-kick.

[smokeitm]

buying gear: new or used??

Some things I like to consider when buying instruments and accessories

Disclaimer; I deal mostly with guitars, basses, FX pedals, and amps. I've very little experience buying any other instruments.

used?

I'm heavily biased towards buying used gear for a number of reasons;

carbon footprint - I figure getting things second-hand means I'm not buying directly from the factory, but from someone who bought it from someone online who bought it directly from factory. I like to think that means I'm cutting fewer trees down.

informal (or less formal) economy - a lot of used gear can be found at local music shops or sites like craigslist. I generally try to avoid shopping online or buying from Guitar Center (though for some items, it's more difficult to find anywhere else) because it feels better to give money to my neighbor than to a corporation.

price point - used gear is often (though not always) cheaper than newer counterparts. the major exception that I can think of is vintage gear.

"character" - unless the piece was kept in a temperature controlled case for years on end and never used, it's likely to have collected a ding or sticker here and there. i don't go out of my way to scratch or sticker my gear (i don't like to sticker them at all, but that's personal preference), but a chip here or there is like a scar, and a reminder that objects age just as we do.

storied - used gear often has more of a story associated with them, even if that story only goes as far as "i met with some guy from craigslist in a sketchy parking lot at 9pm."

new?

All that said, though, there are some reasons one might prefer to buy a new piece of gear.

safety - you're much less likely to get mugged at Guitar Center than at sketchy parking lot at 9pm. that being said, i've never been mugged.

reliability - buying from craigslist keeps money local, but also relies on the good faith and honesty of people not bound by economic/corporate constraints. stores (including guitar center) generally have some form of quality control and regular maintenance.

wear & tear - simply put, new gear (unless it was blemished during manufacturing or transport, in which case it is usually discounted) usually lacks cosmetic wear; if you're looking for a shiny new piece, this is the way to go. moreover, certain gear components require specific skills and/or tools to repair or replace, something that is more commonly required for used gear.

parting remarks

as stated, i'm heavily biased towards buying used gear. nearly all of my gear (amps, FX pedals, and guitars) was purchased at a used music store or on craigslist. if you have any additional ideas or reasons for/against new or used, please feel free to comment and add to the discussion.

[issie-https]

𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐍 - 𝐒𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐓

𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏.

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: 𝑲𝒊𝒅𝒏𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏.

𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔: 1029

𝑨/𝒏: 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔! 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 2 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄 - 𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓

I could feel something or someone watching my every move. Every breath, every blink, every thought even — everything I did was being watched. Maybe I was going insane? Surely no one was watching me, its not a normal thing to do in todays society — stalking and staring was frowned upon. I told the voices in my head to shut up and continued stocking the shelves at the small store I worked at. I had death metal was playing in my headphones, quietly enough so I could hear if anyone was asking for help but loud enough so the low hum of the air-conditioning was drowned out.

I heard the quiet noise of the hinges on the door creak, signaling to me that someone had entered the shop. I assumed it was just another skateboarding, monster drinking teenager wanting to ogle at the newest hip hop album. Couldn't blame them though, I do like Eminem's music but if we're being honest, metal and rock music owns my heart. I was quickly pulled out of my head by someone saying, "Excuse me,".

"Hello, can I help?" I asked, pausing my music. "I was just wondering if you could help me find the metal records?" he asked. His eyes we're gorgeous, a captivating shade of blue. "Of course, any specific genre of metal?" I asked. "Heavy metal," he replied. "Good choice," I said, "it's all in this section here, as well as that shelf there". "Cool, thanks," he grinned.

I sat on the spinning chair behind the counter, changing the cd over to Nirvana's 'Nevermind' album and skipping to track 3. The sweet sounds of Kurt's voice filled the store as I hummed along to the lyrics and bounced my knee to Dave's drumming. The same guy came up to the sticker-covered counter and placed a Deftones vinyl on it, "Just this,". I picked up the record and scanned the label, "Sophisticated taste," I said. "Says you. Nirvana is a great choice," he replied. "Thank my dad for that part of my music taste," I said, "Your total is twelve bucks,". He handed me the money as I slid the vinyl over to him. "In that case, my compliments to your dad," he smiled before leaving the shop.

I sat there after, picking at some of the older stickers that needed replacing as the image was almost completely faded and the edges were sticky, dirty and coming up.

I went through the rest of my day, a handful more customers came and went, some buying Britney Spears, some buying HIM and others buying 50 Cent. I couldn't get that one guy off my mind. He was literally perfect, black hair with red streaks, blue eyes, an amazing smile and killer music taste. A guy like that is hard to find nowadays, most of them have short, slicked back hair and only listen to songs based around misogyny. I should've asked for his fucking number. Idiot.

Its rare we get someone that likes heavy metal come into the shop. So that one person that comes in and buys a metal album always makes me smile. I had been raised on metal and rock music, my mum being into Guns N Roses, AC/DC and KISS while my dad was into Nirvana, Green Day and Blink-182.

I had also always been fascinated by the rock/metal culture, the music being loud and deafening while also serenading my ears. Metalheads as a group also peaking my interest, other people thinking that we're freaks or Satan worshipers when in reality, we just need an escape from reality. Metal and Rock music is our home, comforting on a bad day and making us smile on a good day — bringing people of all kinds together.

༺✧༻

As the time reached 6:45pm, it was time to close the shop. However, five minuets before I left that same feeling that someone was watching me took over again — it sent chills down my spine, causing goosebumps to rise onto the surface of my skin. I, as usual, brushed it off and locked the store, closing the shutters and went straight to my car. A black van was parked two spaces away from mine, death metal blasting from the slightly parted windows.

I listened to KoRn the whole way home, my vocals sounding butchered as I did my best John Davis impression. I'm sure that if anyone was to hear me, they'd think I sound like a cat being strangled.

I got back to my small house and immediately kicked off my shoes, the blisters from the harsh leather already stinging on the surface of my skin. I noticed the light on my back porch was on, making me mumble to myself, 'fucking cats'. I don't hate cats but they annoy me when they shit and piss on my garden. I shoved my frozen pizza into the oven and grabbed a beer out the fridge. I clicked the television on and put on a random movie on MTV.

I did my regular night routine; get home, eat dinner, drink a beer or two, watch crap on tv, get into my pyjamas and fall asleep on my couch. I could feel myself get taken away by sleep, off to a different world — a better world, mentally satisfying my every need. That was until I heard the front door unlock. Someone was breaking in, just my fucking luck. I grabbed the nearest heavy object which just so happened to be a shoe from my pair of Doc Martins. "Who's there?!" I yelled. I tried to keep my voice strong but my nervous tone seemed to slip through. I could hear a series of hushed words, something like 'I told you she wasn't fully asleep'.

The last thing I could remember was some kind of smoke filling the air as my lungs felt like they were getting tight inside my ribcage, suffocating me as I struggled to keep consciousness. My eye lids felt heavy, straining as they fought against falling asleep. The last thing I saw was four men standing around me in funky looking masks. Great. This is how I die.