#but i have more to me than just customer service for the next 50 years or so?

[elibeeline]

Its uni season and im once again debating online courses i cannot afford

[cipheress-to-k-pop]

barista (t.d.)

Pairing: Tim Drake x Reader

Word Count: 6.2k

Summary: You have a big, fat crush on your regular��Gotham’s very own friendly neighborhood coffee addict, Tim Drake.

A/N: Please compliment me about the banner I worked very hard on it <3 Also Happy New Year!!!

Getting a job in food service was honestly the last thing you wanted to do. You had heard enough horror stories from your friends who had taken many summer jobs unlike you. They often complained of insufferable superiors, bad working hours, and even worse pay and even though their stories of annoying Karens were extremely entertaining, you didn't think you'd be any good at handling them yourself. Unless your boss was okay with you cussing them out.

So, when your parents brought up you getting a job, you had vehemently refused. It's not like you particularly needed the money, however, they made a good point about needing to gain experience and how you were practically a rotting pile of flesh since you had begun summer break.

You couldn't argue with their points, even you knew that you needed to get back into a routine and get some fresh air. However, a job as a barista was the last thing you wanted to do.

But when your parents mentioned that you'd be working at your aunt's cafe, you were quick to change your tune. You always had a blast with her, and she'd definitely pay you well, lest she face the rath of her older sister, your mother. Plus, she often claimed that you were her favourite niece, despite not having any other but you supposed it was the thought that counted. Plus, you'd make extra money that you could use for pretty much anything.

So, now adorned in an apron, you stood behind the counter and took orders. Your aunt oversaw the pastry making and baking while you were in charge of the register and making drinks.

The thing you liked the most about your aunt's cafe was that it was a rare find for many customers. The cafe was the perfect space for people to sit in the quiet and get some work done. There was rarely ever any rush unless a big party came, however even then you were never really spread thin. You suppose you should feel bad that your aunt wasn't getting much business but she more than made up for the lack of customers with her overpriced coffee and cakes. But you would never tell her that. Besides, she made most of her profits from custom cake orders.

That's not to say that you didn't get any customers, you had very many loyal regulars that were always polite and would always strike up a conversation with you. Most of them were residents from the high-rise building above the shop so they were usually pretty wealthy and thus knew how to tip well.

And of course, the most loyal customer of them all, Gotham’s very own coffee addict; Tim Drake.

You take back your previous statement; he was definitely the thing you liked the most about the cafe.

You would have been down bad if he had just been just good looking; with blue eyes that were unusually bright and clear, like as though God cut the fabric of the afternoon sky and the clear blue ocean and made his irises with them. His pale skin and dark hair definitely made them seem even brighter.

He was so good looking that your customer-service-smile had frozen onto your face when he first entered the cafe, barely hearing his order over the thumping of your heartbeat and your brains incessant chatter trying to tell you to pay attention to what he was saying. Eventually, you had to apologize and ask him to repeat his order in your stupor, giving the excuse that you were new even though you had been there for more than 2 weeks.

He just smiled politely and told you not to worry before fishing his wallet and paying for his drink, tipping 50%. He wasn't just gorgeous but also well-mannered and sweet. You were down so catastrophically, cataclysmically bad.

The next time he came in, you learnt his name by pretending you needed to write it down on the cup and he casually commented how you didn't really do that last time. You said it was because he had been the only one in the store last time even though there was only one additional customer there. And you all were aware that you didn't bother to ask for the other customer’s name.

Tim continued to come almost every morning for the next couple of weeks and once you learnt how to actually comprehend the words coming out of his mouth instead of just listening to angelic singing every time he looked at you, you realized he was actually very interesting.

He'd always strike up a conversation with you and sometimes you'd take your lunch break and sit with him at the table while you talked. He was hilarious and intelligent and creative and the more you talked with him the more your plain attraction turned into affection before you knew it.

"I see you like Red Robin." Tim commented casually, noticing the insignia pin that you had on your apron. You glanced at the enamel pin that you had bought from a bodega on an impulse out of instinct before nodding, "Yeah, he's my favourite amongst the bats."

"Oh really? How come? Most people really prefer Nightwing, like me."

You shrugged, "I dunno, I just feel like he doesn't get enough appreciation as compared to the others. Plus, he makes the papers the least often."

"So, what? You felt bad that no one pays attention to him?"

You shook your head, clutching the screen as you typed in his order that you had already memorized. A brown sugar shaken espresso that you had convinced him to try just once, and he had immediately been hooked onto. You obviously added a couple extra shots of espresso for his caffeine addicted self.

"On the contrary, the fact that he's not seen in the paper probably means that he's getting the job done quietly and efficiently. Or maybe not. But that's just my guess. He's not bad looking either."

Tim chuckled, passing you his card, "Don't let him hear you say that; he might just swoon at the compliment."

"Well, I haven't actually seen his face, so I can't say with full certainty."

Tim lingered by the counter while you made his coffee, speaking loudly due to the absence of customers at this time. You had once mentioned that this was your least busy time; you wondered if he visited during that time, so he'd get to talk to you for longer.

You shook your head, reminding yourself not to get a big head as you pulled a double shot of espresso, quickly adding it to the shaking glass with brown sugar.

"I bet I’m better looking."

You really hadn't meant to laugh as hard as you had; you just pictured Tim Drake, with his posh posture and Gotham elite personality, sniffing at Red Robin as he tried to critique and compare looks. You were fairly sure that Red Robin was a head taller than him as well. The more you thought about it, the harder you laughed.

When you finally managed to wipe the tears from your eyes, Tim was still standing at the counter with a star-struck expression, pink beginning to paint his porcelain skin in beautiful blooms. You bit your lip, smiling in apology. He must have been quite embarrassed at your boisterous laughter.

"S-Sorry, you caught me off-guard." You explained, still giving him a sheepish smile as you grabbed a napkin and straw for him. The red had made its way up to his ears and down his neck before disappearing underneath the hoodie he was wearing.

Great, you had a crush on the guy and just laughed at the thought of him being better looking compared to a guy you had never even seen before.

"It's fine, it was meant to be a joke, so I suppose I’m flattered."

"No, I was being mean, you're definitely better looking." You teased, "If I ever meet Red Robin, I’ll definitely let him know that."

"I’ll hold it to you." He joked, grabbing his drink.

Having a crush was way more physically taxing than you had remembered it being. Every time Tim was around you, your heart slammed so sharply against your ribcage you would get breathless, and your stomach would twist into so many knots you'd find your abdomen getting sore.

You'd grow visibly excited when it was around the time for him to enter the store, making sure everyone else's orders were fulfilled so that you could give him as much of your undivided attention.

After being hopelessly infatuated and pining for him for a while, you had thought that you had gotten used to the incessant butterflies flapping their fingers against the walls of your stomach. However, Tim continued to prove you wrong.

You had just finished wiping down the steam wand of the espresso machine, when the bell above the store door had jingled, telling you that you had a customer.

When your eyes landed on the man standing behind the register, you couldn't help but freeze, stomach squeezing so tightly you could feel your heart crawl up to your throat, stopping you from welcoming him inside.

Tim Drake was wearing a suit.

His hair was styled for the first time you had ever seen him; dark tresses neatly gelled away from his face aside for a couple strands that tickled his nose.

You clenched the cloth in your hands so tightly you could feel the rough fabric beginning to slightly burn your skin. A part of you wanted to collapse into a puddle on the floor, already knowing how weak your knees had gotten at the site of him adjusting his watch. Oh, you wanted to dissolve into a pile of warm syrup, and you bit your lips to hide a dopey, lovesick grin.

Another, more repressed part, wanted to grab his tie in a single fist and yank the handsome man toward you, climbing over the counter and kissing him all over until his white shirt was stained with your lip gloss, his immaculate hair was messed up by your fingers and his cologne had rubbed off on your skin instead. You forced that part of yourself into the corner because she seriously needed a time-out.

"Um, hey?"

This was the first time he had spoken, clearly noticing how you just stood awkward frozen in time. Oh god, his voice was so much more attractive than you remembered. This wasn't fair.

"H-Hi, where are you going off to so prim and proper?" You asked, pulling yourself together by pinching your thigh so painfully that you could feel a bruise beginning to form.

"Oh, I just have a meeting at work. I do most of the work from home, but I’m needed in the office today." He explained, handing you his card like clockwork and you nodded, stepping away so you could start making his drink.

"Wow, how adult." You mused, shaking the tumbler quickly before pouring it into his cup and handing it to him.

"You look good, by the way," His warm fingertips grazed against your own when you handed him the tissue and straw. You watched as a bashful smile grew on his face at your compliment, making your heart flutter like a feather floating through the wind, "Much better than Red Robin."

He rolled his eyes, small smile turning into a full-blown grin.

***

This was the first time since you had met Tim that he hadn't come to the bakery alone and thus it would be the first time in a very long time that you actually had to take the order instead of automatically input his drink order.

Unfortunately, it would also be the last time you would be taking his order. You were supposed to work at the coffee shop for the rest of the month, however you had gotten an opportunity from your professor to be a part of his research team for the next semester and he required you to begin early. Which meant that you would no longer have the time to work for your aunt.

You had yet to tell Tim, upset at the thought of not being able to see him every morning from now onwards.

You had thought long and hard about it last night after you had confirmed your participation on the research team; you didn't want it to be the last time that you spoke to Tim tomorrow, you wanted him in your life.

So, you came to the conclusion that you would finally confess to him. You didn't want to continue the pining and end up in the purgatory that is the friendzone so you figured it would be the least risky to admit your feelings to him on your last day there. If he said no, you'd no longer have to run into him again every morning. If anything, he might be relieved that his regular coffee runs wouldn't be awkward from now on.

However, there was one new detail that was going to make your plan more embarrassing—

"This is my older brother, Dick." Tim introduced and you nodded, recalling when he talked about his extremely big family. Also, there was no one in city who wasn't aware of the Gotham prince, Dick Grayson, the oldest son of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Your eyes flittered between the both of them; despite being adopted, they shared a striking resemblance to each other.

You gave him a kind smile, "It's nice to finally meet you, Tim talks about you a lot."

"Good things, I hope." He responded, ever the ray of sunshine and you found yourself turning toward him like a lone sunflower. You realized he had that effect on people, the other customers also were privy to his presence. It was almost like he had a halo shining on the top of his head. The term 'Prince of Gotham' was certainly well-earned.

"Those are state secrets." You joked, playfully winking at him and he gave you a good-natured grin.

"So, what will you be having today?"

Tim ordered his regular and Dick got a matcha along with a vegan cheese tart for 'Dami' who you assumed was Tim's youngest brother Damian.

Tim held his card out for you to pay for their drinks and you inhaled sharply, digging your heel into your other foot to strengthen your resolve.

It was now or never, (Y/N).

You shook your head, trying your best to remain nonchalant even though your stomach was taking a rollercoaster ride, and you pins began to prick at your toes from how hard you were stepping on it with your other foot.

"it's on the house."

Tim tried to protest but you shut him down, not even making any moves to try and take his card from him, only handing him his receipt with the order number on it.

"Don't let your boss find out you're handing out freebies to everyone." He teased, sliding his card back into his wallet and you dug your nails into your palm, trying not to chicken out in the last second.

"Actually, the freebies are only for the cute customers that the barista has a crush on." You replied smoothly, grabbing the filter for the espresso machine and not looking back at Tim, afraid of his reaction.

Oh god, was your voice shaking? You tried your best to remain collected on the outside even though on the inside your heart was erupting like a volcano, magma flowing through your veins and setting your entire body ablaze.

You spared a small glance at his older brother, embarrassed that he was here to witness this. A sizzling heat began to run up your neck and to your cheeks, fingers stiff as you tamped the coffee.

A chuckle brought you out of your stupor and your stomach sank. It wasn't the usual laugh that Tim had, instead a mirthless sound that made you look back up at him, only to find him staring at the receipt you had given him, now crumpled him in a tight fist.

"Glad I’m the exception then," He said through gritted teeth, "I’m gonna go."

He left without making so much as another glance at you and your cheeks coloured in humiliation when you had realized his brother had seen that whole interaction with an equal expression of shock and pity that made you quickly bite down on an ice cube to prevent any tears from lining your lashes.

You quickly made the drinks, reminding yourself that it was okay since you were never gonna see him again, keeping your customer service smile on until his brother had left the store and then some before you finally let it fall.

***

"Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?" Dick asked, placing Tim's coffee order on the console of the bat computer, already finished his matcha. The coffee had long been watered down; the ice had melted in the Gotham heat on his walk back home since Tim had just left him there at the coffee shop.

The younger brother ignored him, staring at the screen with a glare that began to get increasingly annoyed. When it became clear to him that Dick wasn't going to move from his side until he got an answer, Tim finally sighed "I’m sorry for ditching you at the coffee shop."

"Apology accepted but that's not what I meant. Why were you so mean to that poor girl? I mean if you didn't like her, you could've at least turned her down gently."

Tim scoffed, incredibly peeved, "Are you stupid? She was clearly asking you out! I've been going there for like 2 months now and she's never been so blushy and nervous before you walked in there with your stupid tall height and stupid big grin and stupid good looks!"

Dick's jaw dropped open; blue eyes wide with shock. Wasn't Timothy meant to be like the smartest and most logical one amongst them? As far as he knew he was also acknowledged by R’as Al Ghul himself as a remarkable detective. Hell, he had discovered the dark knight's secret identity when he was nine.

And yet—

"Are you fucking stupid? She wasn't asking me out! That cute little flirty compliment was clearly directed at you!"

Tim still looked upset, though Dick could clearly see that he was beginning to doubt his conclusions. Thank goodness, he didn't inherit Bruce’s or his brother's stubbornness.

"So, you like her but thought she was hitting on me, so you got all emo?" Dick deftly deduced, watching as an embarrassed rash spread across his pale skin, "Dude, you really hurt her feelings. I think she was about to cry when you walked out like that."

You had really tried to look like Tim's exit hadn't affected you and to an untrained eye it probably would've looked like that, but Dick noticed how you were chewing down on your bottom lip til it bled just to prevent from crying.

Tim's eyes now raised to him, now completely uncertain with a touch of guilt and Dick sighed.

He wasn't the son of the greatest detective for nothing, but it wouldn't take years of training to know what a lovesick boy looked like. He had found out that Tim had been visiting this particular coffee shop every day at the same time when he flat out refused to have Alfred’s French press in favour of driving across town to the penthouse, he'd sometimes sleep in just to get coffee.

Tim would never refuse Alfred’s French press unless he was unconscious. Or dead.

Which lead Dick to do some sleuthing.

Didn't take any effort to check his credit card statement and find out that he had been visiting this particular store every single day. Which is really the reason that Dick tagged along that day, to meet the girl who had so clearly captured his little brother's attention.

He was honestly giddy when he realized that you were shooting your shot right in front of him. Oh, he could see the wedding happening before his eyes already, where he would very obviously make his groomsman speech, telling the crowd how he had been there the day you finally became a couple.

But Tim merely crushed up the paper receipt in his hand before storming out and he was left alone in the coffee shop, having to watch as Tim's future wife kept her gaze anchored to the floor while she tried to make the coffee that she had just given them for free. He left a fifty in the tip jar right then.

This would not be the last time that his brother would do something stupid throughout the duration of your relationship. He supposed you might have dodged a bullet due to the misunderstanding but Dick was biased toward his brother and so he felt obligated to try and get you both together.

"Are you sure?"

Dick pinched the bridge of his nose, "Tim, she didn't even speak to me after you left because she was so upset that the guy she had a crush on brutally turned her down."

His eyes narrowed still, "Are you sure?"

This time Dick had had it. He grabbed Tim's ear, unaffected by his shouts of pain and curses at him as he dragged him toward the elevator, "Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, you go back to that coffee shop, apologize for being a jackass and ask her out. And you better take her to a fancy ass restaurant on your first date to make up for this mess."

"Okay! Okay!" Tim conceded, finally ripping his brother's hand from his ear and he crossed his arms, "You know, this wouldn't have even happened if you hadn't been a nosy ass and followed me to the coffee shop."

"This wouldn't have happened if you weren't an idiot either."

***

Tim had been silent during the patrol and while he wasn't the most talkative, it was unlike him to be this quiet. They were already an hour into the patrol and batman had yet to hear this voice of his son over the comms, but he didn't ask about it. He'd inquire about his son's personal life after patrol when he was back to being his parent and not his partner.

Something was definitely off however, since even Nightwing was more on the quiet side of the spectrum that night, which was extremely out of the ordinary.

It all had to do with what happened right before patrol--

Tim really hoped that Jason wouldn't kill him for stealing one of his motorcycles that he left at the manor but honestly it was the fastest way for him to get to the coffee shop without getting stuck in Gotham traffic. And really if Jason didn't want anyone to be using his motorcycle, he really shouldn't have left it in the garage with the keys there for anybody to take. Hadn't he learnt his lesson after Damian had tried to take one of Bruce’s cars?

Even though there were still a couple of hours for closing time, when Tim entered the store, you were nowhere to be found. Hearing the bell, your aunt had answered from the kitchen instead, telling him that she'd be right there in a moment.

When she finally emerged, wiping her hands on her apron, she stopped, recognizing Tim as a regular but he could tell that she didn't really know anything about him or even his name, "What can I get you?"

He angled his neck, trying to see if someone was in the kitchen but when he couldn't spot anything he turned back to your aunt who waited patiently, "Um, is (Y/N) not here?"

"Ah," She shook her head, "Since it was her last day working here, I let her go early."

Oh, Tim really should've had his coffee today because the caffeine withdrawal was starting to make him hear things. He could've sworn he just heard your aunt say that it was your last day working at the coffee shop.

"Last day? What do you mean?"

Tim returned to the Batcave just in time for patrol, shoulders hunched over and a pitiful frown on his face that had answered Nightwing’s question before he could even ask how it went. He didn't say anything else, just walking over to the change rooms without so much as a glance to his father or younger brother.

Understandably, your aunt refused to give your phone number to Tim considering she had no idea of your relationship with him. If there was any relationship anymore. You clearly had every intention to not be in his life anymore if he had turned you down, explaining why you decided to confess on your last day.

He had asked your aunt to pass his number to you but there was no telling whether she actually would or if you would call him even if she did.

And in retrospect it would be fairly easy for him to find your number or address or which university you went to, but how was he meant to explain how he coincidentally managed to run into you before explaining the misunderstanding and confessing his feelings?

His mind was wracked with questions, and he continued to beat himself up for thinking that you had been flirting with Dick in the first place. If he hadn't been such an idiot, he could've avoided this whole mess and could've avoided upsetting you.

Now even if he managed to find you, there was always a possibility that his reaction managed to turn you off and change your mind.

"Woah Timmy isn't that the girl you like?"

Dick's voice cut across the unusual silence for that night, ringing in his ears so suddenly that for a second, he didn't even register what he had said.

However, when he did, it was almost comical the way his head lurched up like a meercat, spotting Nightwing’s figure a couple of buildings away and immediately grappling toward him, nearly throwing himself off the side of the terrace trying to spot you.

You stepped out of Gotham university, hands clutching a binder to your chest. Tim wasn't sure what had his heart beating faster—the sight of your frost-bitten nose, tinged red from the cold—or that you weren't alone.

You were laughing with a man who, much to Tim’s dismay, was undeniably good-looking and wearing a lab coat, which meant he was clearly smart and shared your interests and oh you both were going to get married, and he was going to be alone and coffeeless for the rest of his life.

"What are they saying?!" Tim leant over the edge of the roof like a right fool.

"This is beginning to get creepy, baby bird." Dick commented from behind him, but all Tim could tell him was to shut up because he couldn't hear just what had you giggling so animatedly.

"it's great that undergrads get a chance to be on a research team; I know it might not seem like much but it's gonna look great on your resume, (Y/N)."

You narrowed your eyes teasingly, "You're just saying that because you're relieved someone is gonna be doing the literature review and wash your empty beakers."

The junior assistant, a postgrad student was in charge of showing you around the lab and giving you a list of your responsibilities. Since it was short notice, you were going to have to learn the ropes quite quickly so as to look competent to the other professors.

He laughed, patting your shoulder and you could've sworn you heard a sound similar to a bird shrieking from above you, "You caught me there. But you'll get your name on your first research paper so that's there."

"I am but a modern-day Cinderella." You grinned, walking with him til he reached his car. He sat in the driver's seat, not yet closing the door when he called out for you just as you were beginning to walk away, "Are you sure you don't want a ride home?"

You smiled but shook your head, "No, thank you, maybe next time."

You watched him pull out of the parking space before driving away, wondering whether you should wait for the bus or just take a cab back home. The next bus wasn't for another 25 minutes, and you didn't want to wait around in the dark, however, a cab would be four times the amount you'd spend using the bus.

You suppose you could've called your father and asked him to pick you up from the university, but he had just gotten home from work, and you would hate to ask him to have to come and get you.

You sighed and muttered underneath your breath, "I should've just asked him to take me home." before beginning your trudge home. A part of you was scolding yourself for taking possibly the most dangerous route home but the other part reminded yourself that it was unlikely for anything to happen.

Besides, you had seen Nightwing patrol the area earlier that night and it was way too early for the bats to turn in for the night. With any luck, he was still roaming around here.

***

Looking back, taking a shortcut through an alleyway wasn't the smartest plan you had ever made. However, you were lucky enough because it seemed like the bats had been watching over you for the night; you didn't even have the chance to get mugged before Red Robin has scared off your potential attackers. You hadn't even noticed them creeping up behind you.

You simply stared at him, starstruck. It was the first time you had ever come into contact with the Gotham cryptids and you had least expected an encounter with the most elusive of them, Red Robin.

You had known he had black hair but through a screen it had really looked more like oily snakes that had further cemented your belief that they were demons.

But up close, his hair was soft and silky, he smelt of sweat and grime but with a slight tinge of cologne hidden underneath. You continued to stare at him, feeling like you could tattoo the sight of him onto your retinas.

"Um," You began, not sure how to even begin the conversation. Should you thank him for saving your life? Or apologize for being an inconvenience. Instead, you found yourself following his gaze to the lapel of your lab coat, only to find him staring at the Red Robin insignia pinned there. It was then you had been reminded of the same interaction with Tim Drake.

"Just so you know, you're way better looking than Tim Drake."

You were in slight awe of Red Robin and also still heartbroken over Tim Drake's scorn earlier that day, so you felt the need to settle the score with him even though it would clearly never make its way back to him.

Afterall what were the chances that the vigilante Red Robin knew the trust fund baby Tim Drake? They didn't exactly run in the same circles.

The masked man just stared at you in surprise, quite frozen after your declaration and honestly you couldn't blame him. He had just saved your life and instead of thanking him you began complimenting his good looks while at the same time insulting a completely random man, when really you had no business doing because you didn't really know what he looked like.

Though the more you stared at his face, finding your eyes drawing lines down the same jawline, cupid's bow, and nose bridge, you couldn't help but find similarities between the man you had just compared him to—

You physically shook the thought out of your head.

"Okay, then," You finished, finally turning around to walk away from him, having had enough of standing awkwardly in the middle of the alley, "Thank you agai—!"

"(Y/N), wait!" His gloved fingers clasped around your wrist, and you cut yourself off abruptly, staring up at him in surprise. It seemed his response had surprised him as well, considering the way he continued to stare at you. You couldn't really see his wide-eyed gaze due to the domino, but you could tell from the slight gap of his mouth and the raised brow.

Your lashes fluttered as you lowered your eyes to the hand still around your own, his voice echoing through your head. He had a modulator but this close to him it felt like you could hear the voice underneath it. His voice was crisper, cleaner and lighter underneath the automated depth, you could hear it just slightly through the syllables of your name.

You looked back at the whites of his mask, "How did you know my name?"

You weren't accusing him of anything, at least he didn't think so, not from your voice. You sounded genuinely curious and your eyes ping-ponged over his features, trying to find something. Then he noticed the ways they slightly narrowed before you whispered, "Tim?"

His jaw went slack, eyes going so comically wide now that you had just known you knocked the hammer right on the head. He took a step back, finally releasing your hand and you cupped your gaping mouth, in shock yourself.

"Wait seriously?! I was just guessing! Why on earth would you make it so obvious!" You chastised.

"I’m sorry, ok?! I didn't have any coffee today and so my brain isn't braining today!"

You crossed your arms over your chest, "And who's fault is that? You're the one who stormed out of the cafe after rejecting me—after I literally gave your drinks for free!"

Red Robin—Tim winced, rubbing the back of his neck as his gaze fluttered guiltily away from yours, "That was...not my best moment."

"Not your best moment? You acted like I spat on your whole family and condemned you to death!" Okay perhaps you were being a tad bit dramatic, but it had been an extremely long day, and you kept being presented with new information which was a lot to take.

You were just a girl, for god's sake!

"Ok, in my defense, I thought you were confessing to my brother—not me! So, if anything, I was upset that you might like my family a little too much!" He retaliated and you gaped at him, incredulous.

"You are just—wow, unbelievable." You finally breathed. Truthfully, you didn't know what to even do now, something told you that you weren't going to be able to walk home completely unharmed. Since you knew his identity, the worst that could happen was that one of his bat friends was hanging over you to put you out of your misery. Best case scenario, you'd sign an NDA and be on your merry way home.

"I’m sorry, (Y/N). This is all my fault, I was being an idiot earlier and I got insecure cuz I thought you were asking out my brother which stung cuz I’ve been crushing on you for like months now." He finally admitted, holding his gaze low.

If you hadn’t been deafened by the sound of your heart pounding wildly in your chest at his confession, you would’ve given him a hard time about how nervous he seemed—just as you had been before he so brutally turned you down.

"You like me?" Your question, simple as it was, still managed to make Tim's heartrate escalate.

"Yes—I mean, of course—How could I not?"

You blushed, a gleeful response already on the tip of your tongue. Well, you would have, if you hadn’t suddenly been shrouded in a bat-shaped shadow that had you instinctively pressing yourself closer to Tim.

"Oh, I’m so dead." Tim muttered under his breath the second he had caught the figure of his father standing atop a building, having heard everything over the comms.

Your eyes widened and you stepped closer to him, a hand tightening around the utility belt strapped to his chest. You had remembered the rumours of what had happened to the second robin.

Tim's attention was snapped back to you the second he heard your sharp intake of breath, "N-Not literally, really (Y/N). I’m probably just gonna get grounded."

That got you to loosen your grip with a relieved sigh, relaxing and letting go.

"Grounded? As in Red Robin is grounded. Or Tim Drake?"

"Probably Tim Drake, Red Robin is still needed in the field. Maybe both." He admitted with a wince, and you have him a gentle pat on the chest that was meant to be a kind of 'there, there'. He gave you a small smile, gloved fingers holding the hand to his chest.

"I suppose our first date will have to wait, huh?"

Tim would be lying if a part of him hadn't kind of expected you to rethink everything. I mean, he had been so mean to you when turning you down after jumping to wild conclusions at no fault of your own. Then there was also his secret that he had been stupid enough to reveal to you.

You didn't deserve this; you deserved much better.

Still these thoughts were extremely fleeting, easily overthrown by his feeling of giddiness and outright joy, a blinding grin taking over his face.

"I guess so. I'll make it up to you, though—Dinner's on me."

You scoffed, "It better be, I’m standing in an alley 15 minutes past curfew with the identity of one of the illusive bats all because you thought I had a thing for your brother."

If his cheeks weren't already bitten from the cold, you would have watched as they went aflame, "I was young and stupid."

"It was this morning!"

"I was eight hours younger."

***

Forever Taglist:

@simonsbluee

@notslaybabes

@superheroesaremyjam113263

@writers-whirlwind

DC Taglist:

@tchatso

@p--e--a--c--h--e--s

@sometimeseverythingsucks

@sokkas-honour

@unstable1902

@lostgirlheart

@missdisapear

@tadpole-san

@isawachickeninatree

@uxavity

@battlenix

@capricorn-stark

@evermoore580

@dumbbitchgalore

@fuckingjinkies

@some-lovely-day

@that-one-fangirl69

@eloriis

[doughyk]

ᡣ𐭩 RUN YOUR MOUTH ᡣ𐭩

012. Happy New Years

10:50 PM

"Iced Matcha with strawberry top" Matthew calls out an order. It's not long before the clock hits 12 and the year goes from 2024 to 2025.

"Jun, why in God's name do we close at 11? Who the hell wants butterfly pea lemonade at this time?" Hanni says while rolling her eyes.

"Well that person wanted something, and we close this late because we don't open until twelve. Don't you guys need hours?" renjun hummed.

Looking at the interaction made you giggle as Hanni always asks the question. Sion who is sitting next to you, takes your hand in his. "Looking around, Chenle seems to be the only one missing. You think he's gonna make it before twelve?"

your lips curl up due to the silly question. "No, he's never on time for work meetings or even his shifts" you lightly laugh.

Resting your head on his shoulder;sion looks down at you still holding your hand, he brings it up to his lips and lays a light kiss on it.

You quickly snap your head up and snatch your hand away due to the sudden contact. Though you knew you liked the boy, chenle still lingered in the back of your head. Your friend's words kept replaying in the back of your head. You shouldn't lead sion on, but you aren't. Are you? No of course not, you liked him. Just not as much as he liked you. What if he wants something more-

"I'm sorry if I scared you, but can we talk outside for a short moment?" Sion interrupts your thoughts. You nod your head at the brown-headed boy. Following the boy, you hear the front door open. Looking back, you see another boy. Chenle.

11:39 PM

Walking to the back of the cafe, where flowers are still bloomed. The moon shone down perfectly on sion as he looked up at the hole of light. Taking in the scene upon you, you felt at ease. The air, the moon, the temperature, and Sion were perfect. Your energy matched well with each other.

"I'm sorry if I scared you back there. I should've asked before I grabbed and kissed your hand. It just felt right in the moment. I won't do it again." Sion is now rambling due to his nerves

You take his hand in yours this time, smiling at him. Nonverbally communicating with him to reassure him. Turning his body back to you, forcing you to face his body; looking down at where your hands connect with each other. You felt warmth throughout your body.

11:41 PM

" You know when I first started to work here, I used to beg Renjun to schedule me with you. He told me that you enjoyed working with Chenle. It did bum me out if I'm being honest. I always admired how hard you worked even when it was a bad shift." he stops mid-sentence to take a breath. You couldn't help but smile as he complimented your customer service.

" When Renjun finally switched you to the morning shift, I was shocked because of what he told me before. But working with you every morning made me realize my feelings. I know we haven't hanged out much but Y/n I like you. More than a coworker and more than a friend. You don't have to give me a response right away" You watched as Sion walked back into the cafe like nothing happened.

You somehow felt winded from the sudden confession, taking a deep breath as you sat down on a bench that was covered with vines. You didn't know what to make of it, you knew he liked you so why are you shocked by it. Looking up at the moon for some answer but it never came. You sat alone with your thoughts.

7 minutes until New Year

Getting up to walk back into the "party", you turn around but instead are face to face with Chenle. Stunned to see the boy since the last time you talked was quite awkward. You both just stood there looking at each other not wanting to say a word. He looks down at his shoes as he walks by you to the bench that you were just sitting at. Following his footsteps, you sat by him but left a generous space between the two of you.

You fidget with your hands."I assume you want to tell me something"

Chenle clears his throat. "Look Y/n, I'm sorry that I rejected the cake you got for my birthday. I'm sorry I've been an asshole to you since you started to work here. I was never fond of you because you like to run your mouth-"

"Are you fucking serious? this is what you call an apology? I thought you were being sincere until that last part." you snap at the boy's rude remark

5 minutes until New Year

" No, listen I didn't mean it like that. It's just that you sometimes talk a lot and it annoys me that I don't speak to you because I figured if I don't talk to you, you would leave me alone." chenle rambles trying to fix his mistake but he makes it worse.

" Have you ever once thought how I felt being scheduled with you? Every day I tried to get you to like me, but it never work because your head is up your own ass constantly" Tears threatened to spill out of your eyes

2 minutes until New Year

"You need to hear me out, please. Im sorry for everything. I'm sorry for this right here but please just listen to me. Once I'm done talking you can say whatever you need to" chenle begs

you just looked at him but you already made your mind up.

"No" This caught chenle by surprise as he had never seen you stoned face before.

1 minute until New Year

Looking him dead in the eye, with no expression on your face besides anger "I'm tired of hearing your shitty apology. I'm sure you have a certain image of me in your head. But I am far from that. I tried and tried to be your friend but you always shut me down. Why? That's all I wanted. Just tell me why" Feeling hot on your face you take a deep breath

30 seconds until New Year

Chenle now looking at you, a small tear fell down his cheek. He takes in your beauty under the moon light. His thoughts are clashing in his head, he doesn't know what to say without saying how he truly feels. He wants to hold your hands like how Sion does, but he will never be Sion. His breath is picking up as he tries to hold everything.

10 seconds until New Year

You look at him with disgust visibly shown on your face. Scoffing at the boy, you start to walk away not wanting to continue the conversation. You heard his voice.

3 seconds until New Year

"I like you that's why" Chenle grabs your hand, forcing you to look back. Pleading in his eyes that you respond back and you do.

12:00 AM, Januray 1st 2025

You smile up at the boy.

"I'm dating Sion, cope with it"

Walking back into the cafe looking for Sion, leaving Chenle by himself. He huffs out and leaves through the back door.

Happy New Years to Zhong Chenle.

𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩

𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 (𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗): @spacejip @iamsimplyasimp @nanahachi3 @dinonuguaegi @xxxnrigi @chenlesfavorite @peterm4rker @joyzluvr @winwintea @haefelt @mouldyeggsblog @yeosangiiess @ypoom151999 @luluvhs @livingdoll-hara @flaminghotyourmom @222low @slayhaechan @jeonghansshitester @josuk3lvr @meemememeem @kookssecret @beomgyusonlywife @gela0205 @usahanami

Authors note: HAPPY NEW YEARS WOOOOOP. I hope 2025 brings you nothing by joy and happiness!!! I was gonna post this later tonight but ik I won’t be in the right condition to do so!!

[wauzmons]

We have been Betrayed, Backstabbed, Bamboozled: The Future of Elysian Eclipse

So, if you are active on our Discord, you know that EE is made in the Unity Engine and the CEO just decided to massively fuck over all the devs who are using it...

Callum Upton made a great video explaining the situation:

But it gets even worse!

Unity since defended themselves, saying that these fees are only affecting 10% of their customers, because of the $200k and $1m thresholds, so Indie devs don't have to worry about that.

…which isn't true:

Unity Plus

They aren't only introducing these fees but also changed the regular pricing plans! They just removed "Unity Plus" which is the lowest tier and costs about $50/month per dev with taxes. This is what most indies use. The next higher tier costs QUADROUPLE that amount and is also required to remove the universally loathed "made with Unity" splash screen. Oh! And if you have the personal tier, you won't be able to use Unity offline anymore! It now needs to do a license check every 3 days to function!

Unity's Ad Service

The fees will hit devs that do free-to-play mobile stuff especially hard, since they still have to pay the fees even when the players don't buy anything, meaning they could end up owing Unity more than they make in income. But what's this? If you use Unity's advertising service for your game, you will get a discount on the fees! The majority of mobile games run on Unity, meaning they are trying to monopolize the mobile ad market with this!

Publishers

Elysian Eclipse has caught the interest of a really big studio and publisher, who is considering to handle the marketing and publishing for the game. They are obviously planning to make the game come out big with sales, going beyond Unity's thresholds. But since the game is made in Unity, they probably now have to reconsider that carefully, since that would cause a massive amount of fees with Unity's new pricing model. So any game using Unity is now an instant turn-off for publishers, also massively hurting indie devs who don't reach that income threshold yet.

What will happen now?

So, Unity can't be trusted anymore and should be seen as a major threat to us and the gaming industry. Even if they walk back on some of these decisions, what has been said, has been said. They showed that they don't care about destroying thousands of games, as long as it nets them profit, so who knows what they are going to do next?

I will pause the development of Elysian Eclipse and release the Patreon demo, including all the prototypes like Aquatic Stage for free today. I canceled my subscription and it will run out next year, so Unity isn't getting a single cent from my games anymore.

Unreal Eclipse?

In the meantime I'll focus on improving my C++ skills, so I can work more effectively in Unreal Engine 5. Unreal is the current industry leader, offering much better solutions for graphics and performance for 3D games. It is also partially open source and completely free until you reach $1 million in revenue.

It is unlikely that I will be able to just translate the game from C# to C++ and port it over, since it is using a lot of engine-specific features. This basically means, we will start from scratch... I can't tell yet how much work this will be or in what ways the game will change.

But one thing, you can always be certain of: I will NEVER BETRAY MY DREAM. I will finish this project, no matter who or what stands in my way. I hope you will continue to support me on this journey.

That being said,

FUCK JOHN RICCITIELLO!!

Fucking cunt.

[belles-non-wallpapering-content]

Until Midnight- Nick Andopolis x FEM! reader

Overture- Nick Andopolis (Freaks and Geeks) x waitress reader, during a long shift

CWs- Cutting school to work, reader wears a dress as part of her work uniform, smoking mention, mentions of fake IDs and sneaking into bars (No alcohol mention)

A/N- Halfway through the October writing challenge, and this is my first time writing for this character! I'm a little excited, please go easy on me

It was hour 2 of the dreaded 12 hour shift you had to do at least once a month. It was hell, but by the end of it you had enough to pay for your car insurance, so you had to. This month it couldn’t even fall on a weekend because you put it off so long, so you had to ditch school at lunch to put on the cheesy 50s style uniform and wait tables, practically begging for money along the way. 

You’d just finished with one of your tables when someone walked in and sat at the bar, right next to the cash register. 

“I’ll be with you in just one second!” You did your best to keep up the overly smiley customer service voice while you went to grab the coffee pot. You got through filling the mug at his seat and half of your little welcome speech before you actually looked at him. But you knew him. Sort of, anyway. He didn’t know you, but you’d had a major league crush on him for the better part of the school year. 

He went to your school too, and even though school was still going on, you weren’t all that surprised to see he wasn’t there. But finally realizing he was here threw off your whole little monologue. 

“Oh—um, sorry, what can I get for you today?” 

“I’m actually ok with coffee for now. Thank you.” You were just getting ready to walk off when he gestured to the small candy bowl at the register.

“Can I?” He continued pointing to it, until you laughed and told him ‘sure’. When you went to print out someone’s check about 15 minutes later, he was still sitting, but when he caught your eye he immediately perked up. He pointed back to the candy bowl, and quietly muttered another “can I?” You just moved the bowl closer to him. 

“Have as many as you want.” 

“So you go to McKinley right?” It hurt just a little bit that he didn’t even know your name, and it honestly killed your mood a little bit. 

“Yeah.” 

“You cut just to come to work?” He laughed, and even though it didn’t feel totally directed at you it still stung just a little. 

“You cut just to come to a terrible diner?” He was just about to say something back but the check you'd been waiting on finally printed and so with a smile, you had to get back to your other tables, you needed the money more than you needed to flirt on the job. Even though flirting would be way more fun. 

Another few hours passed and other than refilling his coffee, you didn’t really talk to Nick all that much, there were hardly any other tables, so you could hang out in the back, even though you wouldn’t make any money. 

 On the bright side, it was finally time for your 30 minute break, and you could get out of the ridiculous outfit long enough to do a little bit of homework in one of the booths before you had to finish your shift. You just had to let Nick, your only remaining customer, know that someone else would be his waitress for the next half hour in case he needed anything or wanted to go. You knew him just enough that you let yourself change first though, he was right at the counter anyway. 

“Hey, I’m heading out for my break. Is there anything I can get you before I go?”

“Oh, no” You couldn’t tell if he was just surprised about the change in outfit, or if he was checking you out just a little bit. You definitely had your hopes. 

“Ok, well the other servers are around if you need anything for the next half hour.”

“Ok” 

You sat in a booth to the far side of the restaurant, doing homework as best as you could, but every once in a while you’d catch Nick staring at you. It wasn’t hard, he’d fully turn around in his seat so he could see you. 

Once your break was over, you grabbed your uniform and changed back before heading back behind the counter. Grabbing the coffee pot to refill Nick's coffee for the 10th time since he got here.

“Everything still ok? Anything I can get for you right now?”

“No I’m good, how was—“ he cleared his throat and readjusted. He really was way too tall for that stool. “How was your break?” 

“Boring. But at least I could get out of this ridiculous outfit for a second.” And he laughed at you again. But this time it didn’t sting, it was nice. Like you guys were actually friends. And as soon as you looked towards the register, you saw he’d managed to completely empty the bowl of free candy since you’d been gone. So you made yourself useful as you refilled it from the giant box before pushing it back towards him. 

“What? I mean this is—this is great.” His over the top gesturing to your outfit made it clear he was kidding, and it actually got a solid laugh out of you. Then he turned the gesture to him actually just reaching for more candy from the bowl and you laughed even harder. 

“Thanks, yeah this whole situation is not ideal.” You gestured again to your own dress, trying to smooth out the wrinkled fabric. 

“So-um, so I was wondering— if you would want to do something when you get out of here?” 

“I’d like that.” 

“Cool.” His laughter became noticeably more relieved when you said yes. 

“I’m stuck here until midnight though.” As soon as you said it, he looked downcast, so you thought of something you could do together that late as quickly as possible. 

“But there’s this band playing at the rusty nail tonight, we could go if you want.” 

“I heard about that, but I don’t have a fake ID, aren’t they carding tonight?” 

“Oh me neither, they’re so expensive and they look terrible. But they leave the back door unlocked so the employees can go on their smoke breaks and stuff. We can just walk in that way.” 

“That’s so cool, I’ll come pick you up then?” 

“Yeah I’ll um. I’ll see you then.” He put a 10 on the table and you awkwardly waved goodbye, before he grabbed another handful of candy on his way out. 

[sweaterkittensahoy]

I've been in awe at the crochet thread patterns you're looking at making! such tiny stitches.... and since fiber arts are a visually transmitted disease, I'm pretty sure thread-weight crochet is the next area I want to get into! do you have any recs for hooks for thread crochet sizes (especially if they have ergonomic handles?) Thanks, and you are always a delight on my dash!

This is the set I got a few years ago. They're holding up great!

I also have several that did not come in the set because steel hook sizes go wild. Shit gets REAL small.

Also, US sizes themselves are not always trustworthy, but here's a pretty good list that shows you where sizes sometimes duplicate. That list is in US sizes.

Some notes on thread:

Size 10 and Size 3 are going to be the easiest to find in a lot of colors. Knitpicks/We Crochet has a big range.

Other thread sizes can be harder to find in more than white and off-white, but it's possible. For size 30, I use a lot of Golo. They also do size 20, but I haven't tried it. I've seen notes saying their size 20 doesn't size out right, but I have no personal experience, and I do wonder how many of those complaints may be a hook/gauge issue.

There's also DMC and Omega thread, which are good places to get Size 5 and Size 8. Omega has an Amazon Storefront, but Creative Yarn Source has more of the thread options and for better prices. I can also vouch for the customer service.

If you get into vintage patterns, J&P Coats Knit Cro-Sheen is size 10. Speed Cro-Sheen is size 3. If it just says "Mercerized cotton thread," it's probably a size 30. If you need the tiny threads like size 50 or 60 or 70, Laci's can likely help you out.

If you've worked with fingering weight yarn, you'll likely find size 3 very easy to work with. They're sometimes interchangeable depending on the thickness of fingering yarn.

Lizbeth thread is very nice, but their sizing is fucking complicated for some damn reason. For that alone, I do not recommend them. Also, when I worked with their size 40, I had to size down my hook to get gauge both times, which makes me wonder about its actual size.

Hope this helps!

[littleststarfighter]

You don't have to answer this at all, just wanted to give some perspective/info from someone who's been doing illustration commissions for about 15 years: in my opinion, it's always better to work backwards from an hourly rate rather than doing value-based pricing.

When working with private individuals as clients, US$30-50/hr is pretty standard for custom freelance stuff depending on experience, but since you're new to commissions I'd recommend offering a discount for the first few slots (both to get things moving, and also to give yourself lower-stakes "training" until you get used to the process—sometimes your workflow will change in ways you didn't expect under the conditions).

Personally, I prefer to offer a fixed quote based on my hourly rate, because that gets any kind of sticker shock out of the way. I estimate the amount of time it'll take me, add ~10% as a buffer, and apply my hourly rate. The fixed quote also gives me a little freedom not to stress out if it's taking more or less time than anticipated; I just make a note for my next quote and adjust accordingly.

The hourly rate might seem high to you, as it often does to people who are used to more traditional salary structures. But keep in mind that as a freelancer, you're also your own admin support: you don't bill for time spent emailing, researching, invoicing, etc. Tax can also get a bit complicated if you start doing a lot of freelance work.

My own base (non-commercial) rate is US$60/hr, because I've been doing this for a very long time. Frankly, the reason I have a lot of long-term repeat clients who pay my rate is because I communicate well and deliver on time. I set out a timeline up front with scheduled check-ins at various stages, and then I stick to that timeline no matter what. As someone who's also hired many freelance artists in the past, I know that reliability will win over genius every single time.

Speaking of timelines, ALWAYS be specific about the number and scope of revisions you offer. Depending on the project, I might phrase it as "2 rounds of revisions, with up to 1 hour of work per round" or similar. I bill anything beyond that scope at a higher hourly rate, usually about US$90/hr, billed by the half-hour. This also gives you leverage to say "Sure, I can add a whole new character and completely change the background; that will take about X hours which will put us into hourly billing territory at X rate." Either they'll back down or you'll be well compensated for the trouble, and most importantly (from a client services perspective) you've not told them no, you've given them options and reminded them what they've already agreed to.

In terms of payment plans, I normally require 50% up front (non-refundable) and 50% on final delivery. Since you haven't yet built up a rep as a commission artist, I recommend a lower up-front rate (maybe 20-30%). I do strongly advise getting SOMETHING up front to lock clients in and make sure they can't completely ditch if something happens. Plus, refusing to pay a small deposit is a major red flag.

I offer a 5% discount for complete payment up front, because it's honestly worth that 5% just to not have to deal with chasing people down and sending invoice reminders and whatnot.

I'm sorry to hear you've been going through such a tough time, and I hope this was helpful and not too overwhelming; it's just stuff I wish someone had told me when I was first starting out, and I think it's important for working artists to share info about business practices. I wasn't strict about a lot of things back then (like number of revisions), and it always ended up coming back to bite me. It might seem counter-intuitive, but I promise that thinking through and setting a lot of rules/boundaries up front will save you a lot of stress and trouble in the end.

I seriously want to thank you for this. It's incredibly informative not just for me but I'm sure other start out artists too. You've gone over things that I'd have no idea to do, thank you.

I'm certainly looking into how to pay tax as being in the UK I've never had to work that out before as we have it done for us in most jobs. So that would have been something I'd have forgotten about and it's not something you want to miss. I definitely have to time myself working as I don't know how long I take as I've never thought about that either. I just know I'm slow. It's interesting to see what you'd charge hourly as I see a lot of fan commissions having a low fixed rate depending on what you offer.  So definitely have to look whether to offer that or like you suggest a more freelance rate of pay. I'll admit US$30-50/hr made me gasp but that's because I'm used to working for UK minimum wage (roughly $13 a hr) so that seems a lot to me. Gives me something to think about. Though I worry about pricing people out to begin with what with being quite slow and a nobody. And yes! Never forget about getting a deposit. I learnt that the bad way decades ago when I did try to do a commission and was never paid. That's what made me nervous to even begin as I can be a pushover. So need to be more strict in what I can offer and of course revise too.

Seriously thank you this is so helpful. Like you say there's so much people don't share about getting into freelance and commission work. Getting that step up, even if it's me doing it, is something I've no idea how to even start on. I get people saying why aren't you working in art? But my answer is always 'how?' It's something no one's told me about. How to sell yourself and your work. Even commission work confused me. So please don't worry this is beyond helpful and I'm very grateful for you taking your time to help me. It's been a very rough few months but I'm trying to stay positive. This may help me while I find work. Much love, Lucy 💖

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

y'know im about to go feral on how EVERYTHING is under subscriptions. want this viddy game to run better??? get *insert viddy company name here or or viddy game title here* plus or extra or up your plan to get access to EXTRAS!!

bc the other day, i was making a list of all the different games i might download on my xbox in the future. fallout 76, which has fallout 1st.... which is a $22.99 per a month or $179 a year subscription, just to get better skins etc in the game. i want to download trivial pursuit for me and my dad. but xbox and ubisoft keep recommending "get ubisoft+" which is ANOTHER subscription service through ubisoft. another like $25 a month. like given it could be worth it for me if i got into assassins creed on a bigger level than casual. get EA play to get exclusive sims content!! for ANOTHER $6.99 a month. get xbox games pass (which i have) for $18.95 a month!!! and to be fair, i get EA play for free through xbox game pass. but still.

for example, the other day i updated my nintendo online sub account to the extras pack or whatever.... all bc i wanted to look at the gameboy advance online thing...... but instead of letting me look at it and play super mario world 2 on it on my NORMAL SUBSCRIPTION (which i already had access to on nintendo online snes/game cube or whatever.... and plus i though the GBA platform would have more games than it did (like 10 games but i thought it'd have like 50 or something) i had to change my subscription to the nintendo online plus extras pack for GBA online. but that subscription, was $41.95 this year bc i bought it on sale,... however, next year it'll be $60. like at least its $60 a year and not a month. but i'm still pissed off. i should've been able to get access to this for the $30 a year i was already paying!!! and for a measly 10 games not the like 50 games on the game cube/snes online game offerings.

just. im so sick and tired of EVERY company demanding customers to pay a monthly or yearly subscription for access or extras or for something to run better. who the fuck is made of enough money to afford fallout 1st??? ubisoft+??? like dgmw, i get it if you're SUPER into any of these games. like it's worth $22.99 a month to access extras across the library of ubisoft+ if you're a hella fan of assassin's creed or their other games (ie trivial pursuit). or $6.99 for EA play for the love of sims or every single sports game ever.

just i guess it's burn out maybe that EVERYONE wants your money. a section of your wallet continuously until you cancel. i have to subscribe to my area's local newspaper for $179 a year. i subscribed to an app by the adf (australian defence force) to do job aptitude tests (im ignoring it tbh lol). i subscribe to the NYTs games app for $2.99 a month. i WAS paying $15 a month (but now it's closer to $20) for scribd, which is now everand, for audiobooks. for better use of my xbox, i subscribe to xbox games pass, as i said earlier, for $18.95 a month. and from next year, i'll pay $60 a year for nintendo online (unless i drop down back to the cheaper option to get rid of GBA online). i subscribe for $100 a year to microsoft for the essential apps of microsoft word/powerpoint etc. i pay $100 a year for norton antivirus on my windows laptop that i barely use now.

there's adhd apps that I keep getting recommended on fb that are like $150 a year or something. astrology app subscriptions (that i'll NEVER buy) that are like $15 a month.... as examples of apps that i won't use, but I get suggested all the time on social media. once i get a job, i'll be constantly asked about what tv streaming apps im subbed to as well (none). WHY does EVERYONE want my fucking money???? i am so sick to death of subscriptions.

[cazort]

Ugh. Awful day. Six months ago my wife and I bought a washing machine and chose to buy a Speed Queen, which was much more expensive than most other brands, because it had a top-notch reputation and long warranty and we just didn't want to have to deal with breakdowns. This was a tough choice that we did not make lightly. Buying a house was a huge financial burden and my finances are now tighter than they've been in years, and the amount of money at stake matters. We were hoping to buy stability and leave us with one fewer thing to worry about during a stressful life transition.

Well a few days ago, it broke after 6 months, which is irritating enough, but the company has been hellish to deal with. They keep over-promising and under-delivering. Tuesday they said a local service company would reach out to schedule an appointment within 48 hours. Over 72 hours went by with no call. I called again today and the system said the wait time was 1 hour 6 minutes. This is literally the longest wait time I have ever had from any company. I put my number in the queue and they called me back...1 hour 50 minutes later.

The rep was barely helpful. She did not seem to understand the gravity or magnitude of the situation and spoke as if what happened to me was business-as-usual, rather than a rare, once-in-a-blue moon occurence that the company wanted to bend over backwards to fix. She tried calling the contractor and couldn't reach them. She did switch the ticket to a different contractor, who called me back later that afternoon, so now I have an appointment set up for next Thursday.

But I'm upset. I'm upset that I paid over twice the price for what I thought would be a premium product unlikely to break, and with a commitment to outstanding service, and instead I got a company that provides the longest hold times I have ever seen in my life, repeatedly makes promises it fails to deliver on, and reps that have no authority to escalate the issue or do anything to right the situation.

And I still don't know what is going to happen on Thursday. Will the contractor show up? Will they be able to fix it then and there, or will I have to wait days or weeks for a replacement part? Am I going to need to drag our laundry to the laundromat and incur additional costs doing so?

I have already filed a BBB complaint. I would like a partial rebate of the price I paid, because the value I have received is not worth what I paid for. I also am talking about my experience online.

Speed Queen has a top-tier reputation. They are a brand mainly used by laundromats, supposedly made to handle a heavy volume of use and last for many years. But the way they have treated me as a customer makes me feel like I've been cheated and would have done better buying a cheaper brand available at any box store.

I'm a reasonable person. I don't expect top-tier service if I buy a cheap, low-end product. I can even forgive mediocre service. But paying premium prices and then getting unspeakably bad service is just unconscionable to me.

If they had told me it might take a week to get contacted, I would be annoyed but it wouldn't be as bad as saying I would expect a call in a certain time frame and then have that call not come. And I might feel better if they did what most companies do, which is to at least apologize profusely and tell me they are really concerned with what is going on and escalate the situation. Like earlier this week I called my bank about something they messed up and the woman was like "Yeah you are right, the interface is actually really bad. I get why you are upset. We really need to improve that."

Like sometimes that's literally all it takes. Someone saying "Wow, we really messed up. I'm really sorry that sucks so much."

But no I didn't even get that.

And of course if this happens to me I'm gonna talk about it everywhere. So right now I am warning people about Speed Queen. They may have an amazing reputation but my experience with them so far has been awful.

[crmsnmth-journal]

5/7/2024 8:50 PM

Another day, another never ending battle of stomach cramps. I thought we got this cleared up but it seems I get to deal with it again. At least this time, I think I can stop from going into the doctor's office to be told to go home and do what I'm doing anyway. Of course, it has to really act up the night I really need to get to bed earlier then normal. I've got probation at 8:30 in the morning and then I'll just end up hanging out at work until service. I'm leaving early tomorrow night at around eight. I just don't want to be there. And if I'm going to be there all goddamn day tomorrow, I might as well punch in and take care of all the extra maintence stuff. Maybe go over my inventory lists and check in on some product switching. It's that time of year where our distrubitor usually throws new products on and it's a good idea to try out new apps. Gives an incentive for new customers. That is, if my boss actually let's me do my job and bring people in. It's his pride that gets him. He needs to think he's better than everyone and I think it pisses him off that I've done a hell of a lot more in my life then he is. I got the fuck out of this town. Sure, my experiences were mostly horrible and depressing, but I didn't sit in this crappy little town and waste my time, running my father's business. And now, his dad is liquidating the business, and he isn't going to be able to say he owns it amymore. Not like he ever did. It makes me wonder how legal his ownership in the alley is. Anything I've ever seen doesn't list him as a co-owner, or his wife. The only person on those is the guy who actually owns the business. I'm sure he owns it fully.

I'm sure my mother is about to kick my brother and his partner out. Almost 100% positive. It's kind of weird, looking at from an observation stand point. He's turned into what I was. And somehow, out of the three of my brothers, I've become the most responsible. I guarantee there is not a single person who knew our family that would have guessed that. I've always been the starving artist, hedonist anarchist punk kid with a penchant for hard drugs and booze. And he was always the do good in school, make money, work a job and be responsible. And in the past two years he's lost his house, he has no job that I'm aware of, other than side jobs that never pay what you actually deserve. I rarely see him leave the house. It's really sad.

I refunded my concert tickets. Amigo The Devil will be back, and I'm sure Frank Turner will too, I just won't be seeing them together. It didn't really bum me out until it was official. These two musicians literally saved my life and came to me at the two very lowest points of my life. Amigo's Stronger Than Dead is my next tattoo, although every song off Yours Until The War Is Over is tattoo worthy too. Maybe I'll just get a huge Amigo piece. And Frank Turner has been an absolute favorite since THE BIG EX, ex-girlfriend played The Ballad Of Me and My Friends in her truck. We were on our way to Target to find a better shirt for me to wear to meet her mother and step-dad. The song held me and ever since then Frank is in constant rotation. The album "Tape deck Heart" came out right after she broke up with me, and I'm not sure I've ever related more to an album then I did with that one at that time. It's my favorite album by him, but god, does Side A still cut pretty deep.

[smallbusinessesbiglegacies]

Skinner’s Sugar House’s Sweet Recipe for Success

East Bridgewater, Massachusetts is a relatively small town located about 45 minutes south of Boston. Most New England residents are likely unfamiliar with this area, and will never be aware of its existence. Though the town is rather petite, there are a few local landmarks that make EB extra special. One of these landmarks is located at 24 Union Street, known as Skinner’s Sugar House. Specializing in delicious ice cream, roasted nuts, fudge, penny candy, and more, Skinner’s is definitely the town’s hot spot for a sweet treat. Whether you’re visiting after winning the championship little league game or sharing a strawberry frappe on your first date, Skinner’s is the standard for nostalgic moments in the suburbs.

Skinner’s has been bringing smiles to children, teens, and adults in the Plymouth county region since 1916, but took a special turn in 2000 when husband and wife Paul and Joanne Daley took the reins. In this interview, Paul Daley talks about what it’s like co-owning one of the most popular ice cream parlors in the area. He shares stories of the original blueprints and recipes drafted by the first owner, Leslie Skinner, who passed the shop down to his son, Kenneth Skinner, who eventually sold it to the Daley’s at the beginning of the twenty first century. Daley describes some of the trials and tribulations he’s faced in his 24 years on the job, as well as how he and his wife knew next to nothing about the ice cream business when they embarked upon this new venture. Daley shared stories of his most beloved loyal customers, hectic Friday afternoons with the middle school kids, and of course, his favorite ice cream flavor. In this interview, Paul Daley discusses his secret recipe for success owning an ice cream shop in a small, suburban town.

Did something in your past influence you to own your own business?

Actually, most of the influence was my wife who wanted to own her own business. We were looking for some different businesses, something she could have for herself.

It might have even been a candy shop, a breakfast or lunch kind of business, or something like that. She’s always had a knack for food preparation, but we ended up seeing this. We actually had her brother point out that the business was for sale and that it would be a good business for us to get into, in his opinion. So, we ended up pursuing it, talked to the local bank about a mortgage and all that, and ended up just buying it.

Would you say you faced any hardships over the years owning this business? 

Oh sure, plenty of hardships. Of course, first of all, I didn't have a lot of experience in this particular retail arena. I was a service director for a large multi line dealership, so I was certainly used to a lot of management type skills that I had. And personnel, hiring, that type of thing, because the previous job I had would have me in charge of anywhere from 50 to 80 employees at a time. So I kind of knew a lot of what that would be like, other than the actual candy making that was going to be involved, the nuts that we prepare, we roast our own nuts here, just a lot of the details of the candy making.

How did you learn how to roast the nuts, make the candy, and prepare the ice cream?

I kept Mr. Skinner on as part of the agreement to purchase. We kept him on for what was going to be six months, which I ended in a little over two months, because he had shown me everything, and I have kind of a technical knack for picking up things, working with my hands. So, I told him we were all set once he showed me everything once or twice. And so then I just went at it on my own. You know, little failures here and there until I worked on it and we got it.

Do you think that selling penny candy, roasted nuts, and chocolates has added to your success more than just selling the ice cream?

Yeah, this store, the way it's structured, it works very well. With everything that it has to offer, from the chocolates, to the other types of candy, the fruit slices, the penny candy room, and the ice cream department, where we sell Richardson's ice cream. Which is really well made ice cream that a lot of customers really enjoy, we've done very well with the ice cream. The ice cream part of it has grown quite a bit since we bought it. Mr. Skinner hadn't done ice cream that long. So, that was one end of the business that we saw a lot of growth potential. And, we certainly have grown the ice cream business quite a bit.

Did you end up keeping Mr. Skinner's original recipes and plans?

Yeah, I still have them. We still use them. That was part of the agreement, that I got all the recipes and I actually came in a little metal box and most of them handwritten. So, I still have all of that. 

Have you faced any competition over the years with other local shops?

Oh sure, we faced competition. We had East Bridgewater kind of to ourselves, other than Peaceful Meadows, they’ve always had a very strong ice cream presence in the area. They're not too far up the road, they've been there probably longer than this place, and this place has been here a long time. We knew if we could get our share, we'd do things a little differently than Peaceful did. We'll try to offer maybe a little more and make our sundaes a little more grand to try to capture our share of the market, which I thought we did quite well at.

But all in all, I tell my people, don't worry about what everybody else is doing.  This is the way we want to do it. Treat the customers great, smile, greet them. Be happy that they're coming here. Don't quibble or argue about anything. If they aren't happy at all about one little aspect of their ice cream, it's a very simple fix. You take the ice cream back and just give them another one. If the child doesn't like the flavor or somehow we scooped the wrong flavor, it's not even up for debate. Just take care of them happily.  

Do you have any loyal customer stories? 

We have a ton of repeat customers. One in particular, I was talking about earlier is Bob Cavanaugh, a retired Bridgewater police officer, and he's become a friend. He comes in and orders boxes of chocolates. He's an ambassador for our company, actually, because he's handing out boxes that say Skinners on them to people everywhere he goes, to professional people, doctors, people that work at the bank, the nurse stations. Everywhere he goes, he's handing out our products. And of course, people love seeing him come, right? I'm sure he has no problem getting appointments wherever he goes.

How do you think that you've stayed successful over the past 24 years? 

Well, I think customer service, taking care of the customers, and being fair. We have a lot of great young people that work for us. We're picky about who we hire. We have to make sure that they're going to be loyal to the company and be friendly and kind and all of those things to the customers. I have a reputation, I believe, for taking care of the customers and making them feel good when they leave here. 

How do you connect to customers in East Bridgewater? 

To be honest with you, we don't do a lot of advertising, it’s mostly word of mouth. Skinners has, I think, kind of become a fixture in town. It's a small town. This type of business is actually kind of a rarity these days. So when you're in a small town and you have a candy store with ice cream and nuts and all of that, I think it doesn't take long that everybody kind of knows it's here.

Do the middle school kids still create hectic Friday afternoons?

Fridays after school are still crazy. Even in the winter, in the cold weather, you might get like 50 or 60 kids, but in the summer when it's warm, and everybody wants to come visit their friends, it's like a social event. They're getting their ice cream, their frappe, and they run around the parking lot, and they're hooting and hollering, having fun with their friends. It can be chaos, I call it organized chaos. You might have well over a hundred kids in and outside the building. And you need these eyes in the back of your head to just keep track of everything.

Can you describe owning Skinners in one word?

Rewarding. It's pretty much a happy business. People are coming in here to watch their kids have smiles on their faces, to get them a treat. And you're kind of part of that. You get to talk to a lot of kids during the day, young people, and you get to talk to a lot of nice adults during the day too. I can be a bit of a gabber, so we could be talking about all different topics. By the time they leave, I know them, they know me. I would say it's been a good people business.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor? 

Well, I still say my favorite is, you're gonna laugh, vanilla with hot fudge and whipped cream. Just a good old fashioned sundae. Even if I'm out to eat somewhere and they'll say, oh,  what would you like for dessert? I'll say, can you just scoop me a little vanilla with some hot fudge and whipped cream? The combination of those three just appeals to me. During the fall we do the hot apple pie sundaes. Where it's vanilla ice cream, chunks of hot apple, topping, and then the caramel. And the combination of those three flavors is really awesome too.  

What’s your favorite candy or chocolate that you sell?

Probably milk chocolate and caramel, it could be milk chocolate cashew turtles. It's funny, I'll always put a little box of them in my wife’s stocking at Christmas. I've had the place for 24 years, and she still enjoys getting them. And she'll have one or two at night while she's watching a little TV later at night.

Do you ever get sick of the treats you sell?

No, I keep it in moderation. I don't eat a lot while I'm here, and so it's kind of special when I do bring something home. I do love chocolate. I don't know if I'm a ‘chocolate aholic’ or not. But, after dinner, uh, I do like a little piece of chocolate. You know, not a lot, just a little, to change the palette.

What are you most proud of in your work?

I would just say the fact that it was a new venture for us, and it has been a success for us over the 24 years. Going into it, my wife and I never had experience in this particular type of business. She actually ran a doctor's office for 12 years before this. So this is like a totally different thing, and I was in the automobile management business before this. So, to jump into something totally different and have it be successful, you know, it's something to be proud of.

What advice would you give to others who are looking to own their own business? 

Just do the right thing, take care of the customers, and the bottom line will come, and the repeat business will come, you just have to take care of the customers. Profits will come, but it's a people business, you've got to take care of the people.

[leadgen-lu]

The Power of Leadfeeder for B2B Lead Generation in Luxembourg

For those of us in the B2B space, lead generation is the lifeblood of our business success. But generating high-quality leads doesn't have to feel like pulling teeth. With the right tools, lead gen can actually be an energizing, enlightening process that takes your business relationships to the next level.

As a marketing expert here in Luxembourg, I've tested my fair share of lead generation tools and tactics over the years. While many promise the moon, only one has consistently delivered results that make my job easier and grow our contact lists: Leadfeeder.

My Journey From Lead Gen Skeptic to Believer

I'll admit, when I first heard fellow marketers raving about Leadfeeder a few years back, I was skeptical. As a self-proclaimed "old dog" in the digital marketing world, I've fallen for hype around new tools before only to end up frustrated and disappointed.

But after seeing some hard numbers from colleagues and competitors, I decided to give Leadfeeder a try. And let me tell you...this tool is the real deal.

Within just two weeks, Leadfeeder helped me identify over 50 new potential leads visiting our site. And the best part? Over 85% were from companies we had no existing relationship with already. Talk about unlocking hidden opportunities!

Here's How Leadfeeder Helped This Marketer Go From Drowning to Thriving

Pre-Leadfeeder, I felt like I was drowning in questions about our website traffic. Who were these people visiting our site? Were they even potential customers? And even if they were, how would I get their contact info to start a conversation?

As a busy marketing director, I didn't have time to endlessly dig through our analytics and make guesses. I needed real time insights and visibility into who was coming to our site so I could take targeted action.

That's exactly what Leadfeeder delivered. Their technology integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics to automatically turn anonymous website visitors into actionable business leads.

Now, anytime someone from a target company visits my site, I get an automatic alert with their name, contact details, and company info. Talk about a game changer!

No more flying blind and hoping website visitors somehow convert. With Leadfeeder, I have the intel I need to directly reach out to high-value contacts and strike while the iron is hot.

The Power of Proactive Leadgen: How to Build Real Relationships

Instead of waiting around for potential leads to come to me, Leadfeeder empowers me to take control of the leadgen process.

Thanks to real-time alerts and lead notifications, I can proactively reach out to new contacts and start nurturing relationships from the very first website visit.

Sometimes, it's as simple as sending a personalized email introduing myself and my company and asking how I can help address any needs or questions that brought them to my site.

Other times, if I notice multiple employees from the same company visiting my content, I'll pick up the phone to introduce myself and dive deeper into how we may be able to partner.

In every case, Leadfeeder gives me the critical context I need to turn strangers into qualified leads by starting respectful, value-driven conversations.

Why Leadfeeder is a Cut Above Other Visitor Identification Tools

In the world of B2B marketing, few things are more frustrating than realizing your site traffic and leads are coming from the wrong places. Unqualified visitors and contacts just waste your precious time and energy.

That's why I get so fired up about Leadfeeder. Unlike some other visitor identification services I've tested, Leadfeeder's technology and targeting is surgical when it comes to identifying contacts I actually want to connect with. No more pointless conversations that go nowhere.

Some key advantages that set Leadfeeder apart for me:

Laser focused on my target companies: I can specify the companies I want leads from, and won't get notified every time an irrelevant business visits my site.

Conversational data approach: Leadfeeder builds rich contact profiles based on full website activity, not just single landing pages. This allows highly targeted, contextual outreach.

Proactive notifications: I get alerts in real-time when priority contacts are on my site so I can take instant action. No more waiting for batched reports.

Seamless integration: LD works directly with my existing analytics platforms like Google Analytics with no extra work for me. Easy to set up, use, and monitor results.

Take Your B2B Lead Generation to the Next Level

As B2B marketers in this digital age, we already have so much on our plates. The last thing we need is another cumbersome tool that requires hours of extra work just to yield mediocre results.

That's why I'm so impressed with how Leadfeeder simplifies and supercharges lead generation. Thanks to actionable, real-time alerts and insights into our website visitors, we can skip the guesswork and focus our energy where it matters most.

If you're feeling frustrated or stuck in a B2B lead gen rut, I highly recommend giving Leadfeeder a try. It's easy to set up, integrates seamlessly, and will start delivering results almost immediately.

Within a month, you could uncover 3X more qualified leads without any extra work. And who couldn't use that right now?

No more wasting time on one-and-done website visitors or unresponsive contacts from irrelevant companies. Leadfeeder empowers you to build authentic, value-driven relationships with potential customers that drive real ROI.

What are you waiting for? Visit our website today to supercharge your B2B leadgen!

[asterlizard]

UK Trip October 2023 (Part 14)

This is the final post! We head home!

Saw a lot of these parakeets during this leg of the trip. These ones would keep squawking to each other

We then made our way back home, though not before we decided to get another suitcase for our new pile of things to bring home.

We ran into another problem with the Tube on the way (signal failure?) but we eventually reached a place that sells luggage bags (we found a British shop with an entire floor downstairs dedicated to luggage (the guy even said, 'Welcome to Luggage Paradise!') A bit of haggling went on before we decided on a 50+ ￡ bag, which I nicknamed Strawberry due to the colour (our other bag I retroactively nickname Custard). We then go to buy some sweets for me to bring home, and there was a pick-n-mix which I took advantage of!

So cute!

Woke up a bit earlier than usual the next day to get to the airport. Mum's friend's husband helped us out until the bus stop while mum's friend rode with us on the Tube to our destination. We were riding until we, yet again, ran into some rail issues! While waiting for another train, a few people asked us how to get to certain terminals (mum got chatting with an older couple from Calgary Canada where she used to live). Got on the Elizabeth Line to get to our destination Heathrow T2. A nice chap who works on the Tube escorted us to the lifts so we could get to the E Line, which was a relief for mum's friend who doesn't enjoy the long escalators (also we had huge luggage with us which would have required the lifts anyway). On the way down, he respectfully brought up how there are services for those who want to get over their phobias, and escalators are a common one they get.

Once we were at the airport, we checked in (I had to use my US passport, because it was too confusing to use with my UK pass) and they had a couple of coffees before we had a bittersweet farewell before going through the security check.

A reference to this Heinz luggage ad (brief pulsing light warning at the 39 second mark): [link]

Customs was a little different during this entire trip, both coming and going. I didn't need to take off my shoes, and didn't need to take my computer out of the carry-on bag. But I forgot to remove my belt before walking through the scanner. BUT I didn't get beeped (I was also wearing the trousers which didn't get me in trouble during my last visit) so ???????

Saw an automated floor cleaning robot doing its best!

It was about 2 hours before our flight left, so Mum and I wanted to get something to eat in the meantime. We had a look around at what restaurants and other food places were available. There were some interesting places, but in the end we got sandwiches at Pret a Manger (I got a falafel veggie wrap, yum!) Someone at the tech + headphone shop let a remote controlled toy car run loose (a few feet from the shop) before going to pick it up

It was time to head to our plane, so we walked over to board it 30 minutes before planned takeoff (the sign said 'Closed' around when we were boarding, just made it!) Initially we sat in the same aisle as another bloke (who had the window seat and closed the window! No!!!) But thankfully mum and I got our own aisle to ourselves again (though it was a 2-seater rather than a 3-seater, so no lying down allowed!) There were some more people compared to the previous flight, but it still wasn't too crowded. We were an aisle and segment away from a sick child though (hoping we didn't catch anything, but as of writing this, nothing happened!)

This weather reflected my feelings of having to leave...

I got to watch two films:

'Yuudo': a calm, charming story about a bath house that brings the locals together

'Corpse Bride': a film I wasn't interested in at first when it first released, but have gotten vaguely interested in in recent years but never had a chance to watch until now (Typically I would choose foreign films to watch on the plane because they had subtitles, but Corpse Bride didn't come with any captions, so I had a bit of trouble hearing it over the airplane noise, but I got the gist of it)

For once I got an airplane meal that actually tasted pretty good! (Raviolini with tomato sauce) Unfortunately I felt nauseous for no reason for the rest of the flight and didn't want to eat any other meals (apparently I missed out on eating a wrap that I might have enjoyed)

I saw these islands off the coast of California and wondered what they were. Apparently they're the Farallon islands, which has research bases on them. I had no idea there was more off the coast!

After landing, we made our way over to the bag carousel to collect Strawberry and Custard, and then went to catch another ride from the same ride-share service. This time someone else drove us home, though this time our journey was silent.

We got home in good time, and I had a quick small dessert before going to bed at 8:30 PM.

A great trip overall, there were some things I wanted to do that I didn't get a chance to do, so I'm hoping another trip will be on the horizon soon!

[sextoyshowforherandforhim]

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[valkerymillenia]

I'm hearing the dumbest takes at my job.

"Tattoos shouldn't be allowed at work, or they should be covered. That dude in the butcher service has tattooed arms and he's touching food, it's gross. This isn't discrimination, I just don't like it."

... What the fuck? What does one thing have to do with the other?

"When I first got hired we couldn't get hired with relatives or lovers or spouses in the store."

... the married couple next to me just looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"when I got hired we couldn't get hired if we were older than 35. We couldn't have phones on us, we couldn't have dyed hair, tattoos, piercings or even earrings, we could only have wedding bands."

... Ma'am, you work at a grocery store in the lowest positions. You make minimum wage. The pay you get is not enough to justify them policing your body like that, not in your position anyway (I get that piercings can be dangerous in some types of work, this is not the case).

Also, I'm right here! Me, with my purple hair, tattoos and piercings. And I do my job well, I even get compliments for my hair from the customers. What the fuck are you taking about?

Of course the people with these shitty takes are all ladies in their 50s that think they're right just because they've been here longer. Ok, boomer. Maybe when you a promotion where you get paid more than your 33 year old boss, then you can complain.