#book shop!au

[neonponders]

For @billyhargrovebingo​​ 📚

~ read on ao3 ~

C2 - Bookstore AU

• • •

Billy had meant to buy a new car. His old blue beauty was still going strong, even if she creaked through left turns and the air conditioning went out every summer.

The price was right, and Billy might not know a lot about real estate, but he knew books. And the whole location, location, location thing.

There just wasn’t a bookstore where both kids and adults could be taken seriously, ie. comic books as well as the New York Times’ hoity toity favorites list. Billy had distinct, annoyed memories of having to travel across his California home town just to get the stack of Spider-Man and novels that he wanted. Not to mention the amount of times he’d had to listen to his stepsister complain about walking into a comic book store like the grown ass men had never seen a woman before...

So he bought it.

It was a real fixer-upper, but he bought it, and that felt great. The ground floor was the store, and he could renovated the second floor too, but he didn’t have the money to rent an apartment and get a business off the ground.

So he lived on the second floor’s barebones floors while the electrical and plumbing got sorted out. The summer heat had certainly sweetened the price on this place - air conditioning units were a small fortune - but as they say, some like it hot, and Billy never shied away from heat.

That gave him an idea. Aside from his pillow and mattress right on the floor, the first thing to go into his new shop was the movie poster for Some Like it Hot. It went right onto the one finished wall of the place: a typical brick wall. Terrible for insulation, and Billy didn’t give one rat’s ass about it.

Slowly but surely, his money dripped into the repairs on the place. He collected more and more pictures for the walls, a whole stack of frames upstairs just waiting to be mounted. The place was going to be a real queer dump when he was through with it:

Plants everywhere. Pictures of men in drag for movies and stage. If things finally settled, he’d get a shop cat. Or a dog. The laziest geriatric the shelter had. A record player was a must. Between the books, ambiance, furry shopkeeper, and plants, if some stiff even noticed all the queer on the walls, then Billy could keep a sheet of gold star stickers for his ass to get kissed on their way out.

That was the dream. Dreaming is easier than building.

Maybe the heat did get to his head, because somewhere in July, Billy officially lost it. The floor of the upstairs wasn’t finished, meaning that he had to be very careful with his showers, or else create water damage in both his home and business. He was officially in debt, because goddamn books were expensive the longer her held onto them because the shop wasn’t ready yet. He was walking on unstable floorboards in his own home, so how the hell was he supposed to bring a hookup over to blow off some steam?

Welcome to my place. If you fall through my bookshop’s ceiling, you’re paying for it.

The final straw was a bug. Admittedly, Billy didn’t know what termites looked like, but a small bug crawling out of one of those goddamn boards just did him in. He ripped the floor up, throwing down shards and heavy boards of wood. Soon, he didn’t have a second floor at all. Just a staircase that didn’t even connect to a loft holding up a poor excuse for a kitchenette -

“Uh, hello?”

The short curl right at the top of Billy’s forehead stuck to his sweaty skin as he stood up straight, and looked into the fresh face of a tall guy with huge brown eyes and a crown of soft, glossy hair on his head. “What d’you need?” Billy said gruffly.

That cupid’s mouth gaped like a fish until he scrounged together, “I work next door at the ice cream shop. I heard the noise, I thought you were being robbed.”

That explained why the guy somehow didn’t sweat in July. Billy shamelessly opened his arms at his travesty of an investment. “Steal what?”

Those big doe eyes wandered, clearly looking for an answer. He pointed at the Marilyn Monroe poster. “Anything with Marilyn on it sells.”

“It’s a poster,” Billy clipped.

“A big one,” the guy corrected, stepping onto the staircase to touch the corner of the frame. “The kind that might’ve been in the theaters when the movie released. You’d be surprised how much movie nerds would pay for this.”

“Well that’s great. Really great. Will it pay for a new floor and ceiling? Otherwise Marilyn isn’t buying me shit.”

That closed the guy’s mouth and he preoccupied himself with reading over the names on the poster. Then from memory, he recited, “And why would a guy wanna marry another guy?”

“For security,” Billy huffed.

All at once, the ice cream man smiled at him. And...Billy should’ve invested in ice cream.

“The movie hasn’t aged well, but I always liked that joke. Sometimes Hollywood accidentally gets things right. So,” his shoes clapped the floor as he stepped off the stairs, “you need some fresh lumber. It’s good that you rage-ripped these up. If they were from old trees, they’d be sturdy, but these were cheap when they were put in.”

Billy cocked a brow at him. “You know construction?”

“My dad’s a contractor. Well, that’s the easy way of putting it. He’s a real snob about architecture and real estate.”

“Then why aren’t you working for him? Sounds like there’s real money there.”

“Because in my dad’s effort to make me a respectable man like him, he made me too much like him. We can’t exist in the same room together for more than fifteen minutes.”

Billy huffed a laugh and kicked a plank of wood out of his way. “Yeah. I get that.”

“Do you have power tools?”

“I have one drill and a spare battery.”

“I know a guy who can loan you saw horse and an electric saw. Hell, show him your lack of a ceiling, and he might just build it for you. He’s a retired guy who needs the chores. Just pay for the supplies and lunch, and he’s in.”

“I’m not interested in an old man breaking his leg for my pursuits. That’ll only make the property value go down further when I try and get rid of this place.

The guy put his hands on his hips and looked around, visibly thinking hard on something. “What about two losers who don’t have anything better to do?”

Billy smiled. “Who’d you have in mind?”

That’s how Billy met Robin Buckley. And Steve. His name was Steve.

Billy couldn’t be sure which was more frightening: a retired carpenter with rickety bones, or a lesbian with a power drill walking over the beams overhead. But the three of them got the floor reinstated that afternoon, and the following morning, Robin and Steve arrived with linoleum and caulk to finish and waterproof his floor.

Even more, Steve got the fire department and city to repair the fire escape in the alley between the bookshop and the ice cream parlor. He shrugged when Billy asked him about it. “Some things have to be built to code. Code name: Harrington. Are those fries?”

Billy smiled and slapped the fast food bag against his abdomen. Steve took it eagerly and stuffed four fries into his gullet. Billy couldn’t believe his luck at having one of the city’s precious heirs getting humbled in the ice cream shop next door.

Steve’s opening day gift to him was a movie projector. After hanging up a white sheet in the back of the shop, they played Some Like it Hot while Billy rang up the first purchases from his shelves.

And yet...even with money finally dripping back into his pockets, Billy looked forward to 4pm, when the ice cream shop closed and Steve and Robin strolled into his place with a carton of chocolate-chocolate chunk, and a gift collar and leash for the old German shepherd mutt waiting to be picked up that Friday.

As the movie said, “It’s not how long you wait, it’s who you’re waiting for.”

[parkiebearr]

Zutara Month 2024: Day 1- Reluctant Allies

What if Katara when into the tea shop instead of running?

[ryleighbearx]

Thank u so much for all the love I got for my bill design :))) have some whiteboard doodles.

[canisalbus]

Holy shit. I get it now <- wrote a tragedy and got obsessed with my own ocs and now I can’t stand their story ending the way it did

I have decided to follow in your footsteps and make a modern au where things turn out (marginally) better for them

.

[emptygoldstudio]

Its finally here! RepairShopBillAU!

1 | 2 | 3

So you had a maniac friend that got locked in prison, and one day a social worker knocks on your door and says that this friend is gonna live with you now, since his behavior and mental state worsened, but you're also on parole and any fuck up will mean a life sentence for you? Tough luck, buddy :T

First post (some facts arent accurate anymore)

[beluosus]

alright, let’s do this shit

[lazycranberrydoodles]

woe mundane monopoly headcanons be upon ye

follow for more of modern au hua cheng’s outfits

[wikiangela]

tease tidbit tuesday

tagged by @daffi-990 @dangerpronebuddie @sunshinediaz @honestlydarkprincess @underwater-ninja-13 @exhuastedpigeon💖

don't have a lot of new stuff for the fics i've been sharing lately, so today smth different - coffee shop au is back! progress is constantly being made (slowly, but still lol) - so here's a lil buckley siblings moment (I haven't shared a buck and eddie moment in a minute lmao need to fix that soon haha)

prev snippet

___

“What?” he rolls his eyes.

“You’re crushing so hard.” she teases, and he feels his cheeks heat up.

“Shut up.” Buck grumbles, as he grabs a cloth to wipe down the counter just to have something to do. “Not like it matters anyway, he has someone.”

“Really?” Maddie frowns, tilts her head. “Did he tell you that?”

“Not in so many words.” 

“So how do you know?” she prods.

“He ordered for two people.” he says, and only when Maddie laughs, he realizes how stupid and presumptive that is. It could be for anyone, even for himself. Hell, Buck would often order something for himself and for Maddie. Didn’t Eddie say he had an abuela and a tia here? “Shut up, I know.” he groans and covers his face with his hands – and the dirty cloth that’s still in his hand.

“Ew, gross.” Maddie chuckles and pries the cloth out of his hand, dumping it on the counter. “You can be so dense sometimes.” she shakes her head. “When Eddie saw you today, his face literally lit up. He’s been waiting for you to get him his coffee, even though I could’ve done it. If you ask me, he’s crushing, too.”

“Good thing no one asked you.” Buck mutters, and Maddie playfully swats at his arm. “Ow!”

“Just ask him out, Buck, what’s the worst that could happen?” Maddie asks, before turning away just as the door opens and a customer walks in.

___

no pressure tags: @elvensorceress @gaydiaz @thebravebitch @silentxxsoul @shortsighted-owl @eddiebabygirldiaz @transbuck @911onabc @housewifebuck @watchyourbuck @eowon @loserdiaz @evanbegins @ladydorian05 @wildlife4life @diazpatcher @lover-of-mine @monsterrae1 @thewolvesof1998 @puppyboybuckley @weewootruck @loveyouanyway @spagheddiediaz @rainbow-nerdss @epicbuddieficrecs @pirrusstuff @spotsandsocks @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @hoodie-buck @nmcggg @jesuisici33 @rogerzsteven @hippolotamus @fortheloveofbuddie @steadfastsaturnsrings @disasterbuckdiaz @tizniz @theotherbuckley @diazsdimples @giddyupbuck

[drangues]

gay tumblr users said they wanted more cleradin i said oh im sure

[lurafita]

Mundane au where they all work in like a big shopping Mall.

Hilarious rivalry between Jace's coffee shop (that also sells pastries) and Raphael's pastry business (that also sells coffee).

Daily flirtations between Magnus (who works in Ragnor's book shop) and Alec (who works in an outdoor/camping/survival kinda shop).

Not sure where to stuff the others, but there is much possibility for hilarity.

Ragnor: "Magnus! Why the hell did you rearrange the historical section this way?" Magnus: "Because there is a book I want to recommend to Alexander, and I need it to be on the bottom shelf." Ragnor: "Why would- .. No, wait. Let me guess. This way either he needs to bend down to reach it, so you can oogle his posterior, or you need to bend over, so that you can present him with yours. Right?" Magnus: "It's a win-win strategy."

Meanwhile with Alec: Jace: "Dude, since when do you like iced coffee?" Alec: "Since it's the only cold drink you have today and I don't fancy burning my chest later." Jace: "Why would-… Are you planning on spilling your drink over your shirt when Magnus comes over during his break, so that you can strip your shirt off and have him oogle your naked chest?" Alec: "It's a sound strategy."

[lila-oh]

"- Good job 'Fei, 'Ro's in another space. I totally lost my boyfriend. - What about you? Not reading the book I gave you? - Me? Naaah, I'm a streetrat remember? Gotta maintain the reputation."

I made this for the @gundamzine. I just want them to be fine now.

[thessiastars]

Some locked tomb doo duls while i finish harrow the ninth and cry abt it

[baylardian-1]

in Pathways, kathryn's in disguise trying to break her crew out of an alien prison all by her lonesome and she got some rings on her fingers and she slaps chakotay for show and it makes him bleed where she hit him 😍

to say nothing about the fact that the book says that in this disguise to chakotay, kathryn looked like a goddess and ummmmmm harry after kathryn slaps chakotay comes up to chakotay and is like "r u ok" and chakotays like "hahahah shes doing a bit and im not into it AT ALL!!!!!!! (paraphrasing)"

TO SAY NOTHING ABOUT HOW AT THE END OF THE BOOK HE'S LIKE "ID PAY A HANDSOME AMOUNT OF REPLICATOR RATIONS TO SEE YOU IN THAT OUTFIT AGAIN" IN THE PRIVACY OF HER QUARTERS LMAOOOOOOOOOO 🤪 HECKING JERI TAYLOR I SWEAR HAHAHA

[sommarborne]

Hey ya'll! My name is Kennedy and I started my small business Bunny Slander back in October. I primarily make candles, room mists, body scrubs, and handmade bar soap. Everything I do is basically inspired by horror, folklore, books, writing, media, and general fandom culture.

I kind of became obsessed with making soap and candles over the past year and have so many ideas I want to put into my products. One day, I would like to add my own original self-published work to Bunny Slander along with writing guides, planners, and other similar goodies.

This business is honestly everything to me. As someone who lives with chronic pain and illness, working for myself has pretty much been the ideal option for my future. Also, if I'm being for real, capitalism is the goddamn worst, and working for other people is a hellscape I have always wanted out of.

My business is queer-owned and embraces ethical practices. All of my products are completely cruelty-free, both in how I personally make them, but also in the ingredients I source to make everything. I shop for sustainable ingredients such as sustainably sourced palm oil. For me, cruelty-free is about ensuring animals and people are being treated with respect and fairness every step along the way.

I'm really proud of this company, and maybe more importantly, I'm really psyched about it. If you wanna support me today, please consider following me here and checking out my website at BunnySlander.Com

We are currently running a sitewide 25% off sale until 12/13/23. So check us out! And thanks ahead of time for your support. I want to use this space to show off my products and also connect with other small business owners and creators so feel free to shoot me a message or talk to me any time. So, hope to chat with you soon.

In the meantime, thanks for reading and check out these neat candles I have created that are based on some of the best tropes in books and fanfiction!

[undead-moth]

The Bear is honestly proof that watching tv shows with the automatic and maybe sole intention to ship characters is destroying people’s capacity to engage meaningfully with stories.

SydCarmy is a realistic and well-paced romance taking two characters in a shared workplace from complete strangers to lovers, and before the characters have even figured out they have feelings for one another, people are like “Why are the writers playing in our faces like this?”

[beluosus]

Mane in thermopolio