#for $1000?? by the end of it i was willing to pay $1000 to make the situation disappear

[confinesofmy]

oh my god. 🫨 just got vivid flashbacks to when i was like 17 and one of my mom's friends pressured me into accepting a job opportunity to transcribe one of her friend's 500 page sprawling autobiographical manuscript from handwriting to typeset for $1,000. and my mom encouraged it. meanwhile i was a severely mentally ill dropout who literally could not read cursive handwriting. no history of transcription. what in god's name were they thinking.

[pshcomforts]

➳ afterglow | psh. — requested

non!idolsunghoon x olderfem!reader (feat. mark from nct)

“tell me this love is worth the fight”

synopsis: you forgot a special celebration with sunghoon, leading you guys to argue.

warnings/content: written in third pov. angst to fluff! slightly suggestive at the end (but nothing happens). age gap! (sunghoon’s 21, and reader’s 23). cursing! not proofread. sunghoon doubts himself :(

comments, likes, and reposts are appreciated :)

word count: 3.5k

a/n: message request.

༘˚⋆𐙚｡masterlist⋆.✧˚

current song playing: afterglow by taylor swift

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

1:28 ───────|──────────── -2:14

tick. tick. tick.

the clock ran faster within each minute y/n glanced back at it.

a sigh left her throat as she focused back onto her computer — typing in data to keep the files updated.

the girl worked an office job in her early twenties. it wasn’t as ideal, but for a paid internship, she had to take it.

months had passed since she started the job, and whispers of a promising position had been hinted each day she walked in.

and since then, y/n’s attempted to keep her score of being a trusting employee on a streak by staying past office hours.

she was a workaholic, if you will.

but who could blame her? the pay was good, and the work was her field of interest.

however, today was not one of those days she was willing to stay late for.

it couldn’t.

today marked her 1000 day anniversary with her boyfriend, park sunghoon.

her lovely, patient boyfriend who was younger than her by two years. the boy was in his early twenties, barely getting the hang of life with college.

a few significant dates had already been missed with the internship in the way, so she couldn’t possibly miss this one.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

a quick buzz formed in y/n’s pockets, allowing her to take a swift glance at her phone.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ 1000 day celebration with hoonie ੈ♡˳ ࿐ྂ

she groaned out a sigh as she felt a sudden pressure weigh in at her heart.

“just a little longer,” her voice mumbled before staring down at the time.

[ 4:37pm ] — it beamed.

just a few hours left and she’d soon be in sunghoon’s forgiving arms.

“hey y/n,” a deep voice called out to her, snapping the girl out of her guilt-eating thoughts.

she turned to her superior, mark, who was wearing a friendly smile.

“yeah?” she tried to sound cheerful.

“i know you get off soon, but with your hard work noticed, i was wondering if you could help out with a little more paper work?” he uttered with puppy eyes. “it’s just.. the way you file and organize suits how i usually go in on it. would it be okay?”

y/n froze in her tracks, conflicted with her options — leave work as planned for the important date with sunghoon, or further impress the manager for a permanent job.

“it wouldn’t take long, would it?” she chewed her cheek, lips almost bleeding with how much she awaited for an answer.

mark gave a light chuckle. “no, i wouldn’t make you stay too late, y/n. you always do that to yourself.”

the girl awkwardly laughed in return, murmuring empty words of how much effort she was willing to put in for the company before he left her with the paperwork.

her original plan of leaving early from such an exhausting shift had taken a pause as she huffed at the amount of files in front of her.

“shouldn’t take too long..,” she tried to reassure under her breath.

in seconds, y/n dove into the piles of paperwork — attempting to finish on time.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

[ 6:48pm ]

time was slipping through her fingers and the girl wasn’t even noticing it.

minutes passed within each time she glanced back at the clock, irking her to go quicker.

she had to finish on time, she just had to, at least before 9:30pm.

[ 8:21pm ]

coworkers around were now finishing their shift, leaving their cubicles to clock out for the night — leaving y/n with a few others.

“come on, i’m almost there.” she whispered to herself, sweat nearly dripping down her face with how much work she was powering through.

“good night, y/n!” — a few workers would beam to her, causing her to give a quick wave before going back to her job.

[ 9:18pm ]

the whole building was nearly abandoned now. the only remaining employees were mark, y/n, and about two more workaholics.

she was almost done. almost.

with such little time left, panic began to exude in the girl’s body.

“12 more minutes.. please,” she sighed.

a quick glance to the time was made before she decided to shut down every time displayed in front of her.

it was risky, but looking at the clock would only emit more anxiety to finish.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

soon enough, the filing job had run its course, and y/n was done.

“finally!” she beamed, stretching out every bone in her body.

her tired eyes glanced everywhere for the time before she realized her method of avoidance from earlier.

“did i make it..?” she questioned, but with every nervous breath she took, it was obvious she had no hope she did.

slowly, the girl lifted her phone to check the time.

[ 10:03pm ]

her fatigued body froze at the bright screen before feeling it defrost with a shiver to the spine.

she felt her breath get heavy as she searched for a message from sunghoon — just anything that may ease the guilty pressure on her heart.

but nothing.

no messages, no calls — nothing.

y/n bit her teeth together, clenching her jaw in regret.

sunghoon had been looking forward to their 1000 day celebration, and she failed him.

a shaky sigh left her throat as her hands fisted in shame.

“hey y/n,” a voice spoke from behind, causing her body to tense.

“oh, hey mark.” she murmured back, mind still flooded with sunghoon.

“you’re still here? i got your files, you’re good to go,” he responded. “by the way, i really appreciate your work here. i hope the ceo considers you here long term.”

y/n sighed in relief as a reply, body taking its final hit of exhaustion from sitting all day.

“you’re a great worker,” mark continued with a polite smile.

a few rewarding compliments remained to run through his mouth, allowing her to get a slight ego boost.

she beamed a smile towards him, truthfully forgetting about how much she had failed sunghoon.

“i hope to see more of this from you soon, y/n. we’re the last here so i gotta lock up.” her superior uttered to her.

the girl nodded her head before gathering her things and leaving for the boy to do as he said.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

the drive home from work was quiet.

y/n was worn out from the constant piles of paper work and to be quite frank, all she wanted was some peace and quiet.

the only thing that ran through her mind was how much mark had sweet talked to her about her work skills.

it was promising to hear all of that, and she couldn’t wait to tell it to her boyfriend — her boyfriend who waited hours for her.

but her energy was still wearing thin. every muscle movement she made in the car caused an aching bruise to form.

so when she arrived home, her hands slowly creaked the door open.

a sigh left her throat as she entered in.

everything was quiet and sunghoon couldn’t be found until she glanced to her left. the boy was sitting on the couch in silence, eyes lost in a daze and face blank with no expression presented.

then it hit her.

her blameworthy actions came back to guilt her once she found her person stiffly sitting down.

y/n took a gulp. she was the older one, but she knew how he was during arguments like these. she knew he was one to stay silent just to keep his emotions together.

“hoonie..?” the girl nervously mumbled, almost a whisper to his ears.

sunghoon only stood with a click to the tongue, jaw firmly clenching as he walked to the kitchen.

the atmosphere was quickly filled with tension in how much he ignored her.

“hoon?” she called out once more, only to get a slight glance back as a response.

the boy continued to gulp down some type of beverage, actively letting her presence go unnoticed.

y/n groaned in return, watching his petty efforts become the consequences of her own actions.

but truth be told, she was tired.

she was working all day, back to back with no break whatsoever and all she wanted was to get some sleep.

“sunghoon,” she sighed. “please, i’m sorry. i’m exhausted and work just kept pulling me back. my superior wanted me to file more before my shift ended and i-“

“work this and work that, that’s all we’re gonna talk about isn’t it?” hoon angrily spat, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. the boy ignored the mention of mark with how pissed he was.

✩ ‘fighting with a true love’ ✩

all y/n could do was pause at his outburst.

“i’m sorry, sunghoon, i’m tired and-“

“and i was waiting for you all day to come home for our celebration.” he cut off once more, teeth biting down to mush away the heart aches.

✩ ‘is boxing with no gloves’ ✩

sunghoon finally turned after softly slamming the drink down onto the counter. his darkened eyes met hers, burning holes before quickly tearing up.

“i know..,” she bit her lips, shutting her eyes to avoid her heart breaking at his gaze. “i’m so sorry, sunghoon, i am. i just couldn’t leave, staying after hours just promised me a permanent position. please understand, this is what i’ve been working for.”

hoon scoffed. “are you in a relationship with me or your work?”

she exasperated a sigh before walking to the living room and slumping down on the couch. almost instantly, her body felt the soft, cushioned seats that welcomed her — allowing her to feel drained again.

“please, hoon, i’m tired-“

“that’s how our arguments always end, doesn’t it? you forget a date of ours, then you come home and you say you’re tired, then we’re fine the next day.” the male ridiculed, walking to the living room as well. “when is this gonna stop, y/n?”

“sunghoon..,”

“no, you’re saying you’re tired but i’m the tired one.”

y/n sighed as she sat up, body becoming depleted of energy. “i’m sorry but this internship is worth everything right now, and i’m doing so well with making an impression.”

“worth everything?” sunghoon reiterated with a shaky tone. “even our relationship?”

✩ ‘chemistry till it blows up, till there’s no us’ ✩

“what? no, hoon, that’s not what i meant.”

“is that what our relationship means to you?”

she looked up to his eyes that were inflamed with betrayal. “this job defines my future, sunghoon. this job is what i’ve always wanted, can’t you see that?” a hint of irritation was made present in her voice, showing that her sleep deprivation was irking her to be annoyed.

sunghoon sniffled, quickly wiping away a few tears so his girl wouldn’t feel troublesome. “i see that, y/n, i see it very clearly. i feel like i never see you anymore, in fact. you’re barely here.” his tone was firm, hinting that he was reflecting the energy back.

“this job is for our future too, sunghoon. i’m working to get a good position for financial stability.” y/n uttered, feeling her droopy eyes threaten to close. her mind quickly recalled back to their slight age gap as she felt the weigh of carrying it all on her shoulders.

“our future? you really think there’s gonna be a future with us when i never see you anymore?” the boy murmured, fists clenching with every word that left his mouth.

he hated what he was saying, but it was the truth.

however, her heart still dropped when she processed what he had uttered.

“you don’t think there’s a future with us..?” she took a particularly harsh gulp as tears finally streamed down her cheeks.

“you’re never here, y/n. how can there be a relationship if it’s only one person putting effort?” sunghoon responded, tears taking its fall for him as well.

the two stayed quiet.

no more raised voices and no more hushed words.

they both had reasons to be mad at each other, but they couldn’t see the others point.

y/n didn’t know what to say. her reasonings were being constantly repeated, but it seemed like it wasn’t going through his head — same with him.

“hoonie.., i’m sorry that i’m not there a lot but, i.. i’m just trying really hard to impress my superior and it’s-“

“your superior?” his soft voice squeaked. “mark..?”

the girl raised her head to peer up at him, only to find his thick brows slightly scrunched while his lips were molded into a frown.

“yes,” she sighed. “mark.”

“you stayed late on our 1000 day celebration with mark?” he uttered, voice weakening at the thought.

“yes, but mark’s just my superior. he has to be there when i work late.”

sunghoon scoffed, shaking his head with a low chuckle. no words could be formed with how much jealousy was seeping through him.

“sunghoon.”

he turned his body away from hers as a response, jaw tensing with every envy thought that she unintentionally spent their 1000 day celebration with mark.

“park sunghoon,” y/n firmly called, causing him to look at her. “you can not seriously be jealous right now.”

“jealous that he got to have time with you, and i didn’t? ridiculous.” he let a small puff of air slip by his lips before gazing back at her.

at this point, the girl was completely worn out. she wanted silence, and this argument was bringing her to her limit.

“you really can’t be jealous of mark. i’m your girlfriend, he’s a coworker; and i’m only there late because of how hard i’m working to secure this job, to ensure our financial stability.” she repeated, voice slightly raised as her patience wore thin. her body was begging to rest, and she didn’t know how much longer she could take this quarrel.

sunghoon stayed quiet, considering his choice of words before mumbling, “how much does he make?”

they locked eye contact and y/n instantly saw his teary, red eyes that begged for reassurance.

“what?” she softly asked, word almost incoherent with how much her heart shattered at his gaze.

the tall male shamed his head away, tears painting his cheeks more as he reluctantly croaked — “nothing, never mind.”

“hoon-“

she stood, body barely standing on its own,

but her boyfriend walked away with a murmur — “good night.., gorgeous.”

he still said her favorite nickname even through all of this.

before y/n could say more, sunghoon had already disappeared from her sight — walking into their bedroom without another word.

she sighed whilst sitting back down onto the couch. her boyfriend had just built a barricade around his feelings, shutting himself out to push her away and she wasn’t sure on what to do.

✩ ‘i blew things out of proportion now you’re blue’ ✩

but if he needed space, then she was gonna give it.

✩ ‘why’d i have to break what i love so much?’ ✩

so she settled down onto the couch, situating between the extra pillows and blankets kept in the closet to not disturb him any further.

it wasn’t as snug as her bed with her favorite boy, but it’d do for now.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

[ 12:52am ]

y/n was half asleep on the couch now after having dreaded doubts about their argument.

her body faced away from the opening side, giving her no possible way of catching sunghoon if he were to get up for a bathroom run.

she felt cold and stiff without him. nothing would be able to comfort her as much as his embracing warmth could.

the girl softly sniffled, feeling tears well up in her tired eyes while attempting to go to sleep.

as her heart laid heavy with her, sudden feet movements were heard from her opposing side — hinting that her boyfriend had gotten up.

she figured that it was most likely for a quick bathroom break but when she felt his arms suddenly engulf her into his chest, the weighed feeling was relieved of her.

his soft breaths against her neck only acquired the way he couldn’t sleep without her.

“sunghoon?” y/n faintly whispered against him.

“we’re still mad at each other but i just can’t sleep alone tonight,” he hoarsely said back.

a smile curled onto her lips as she turned her body to face him. the boy’s eyes were closed but she could still find traces of tinted red all around.

✩ ‘it’s on your face, and i’m to blame’ ✩

“hoonie.”

✩ ‘i need to say’ ✩

slowly, he fluttered his eyes awake with a quiet sniffle in his nose. he raised his brows ever so slightly as a response, shattering her heart in the process.

she leaned in before placing a soothing kiss on the tip of his nose.

“let’s talk,” y/n uttered, lifting her drowsy body up to sit.

sunghoon softly groaned. “it’s late, baby.” he said in a low, attractive voice.

“i know, but i want us to talk this out so we can go to sleep without any worry.”

she pulled her boyfriend up so he could sit up as well.

he exhaled a heavy sigh of his before letting the quiet atmosphere take over for a second.

“you deserve someone who can provide more,” he broke out, causing her gaze on him to immediately soften. “someone who isn’t just a lost twenty-one year old figuring out life, someone like mark.”

sunghoon felt tears spark at the rim of his eyes once his confession was let out. “you shouldn’t be..,” he paused, throat closing at his reality check. “you shouldn’t be with someone like me. i’m still a college student and.., you just deserve better.”

y/n instantly felt her heart drop with his worried doubt. she let the boy stream down tears so he could cry it out and once he did so, she muttered — “hoon, please look at me..,”

but he avoided her stare, just for a second so he wouldn’t break down again. and when he finally looked at her, she embraced him into her arms.

she wrapped herself tightly around him, hinting that she wouldn’t ever leave like he said.

the male hugged back, arms clinging around her waist as he quietly sobbed a little more.

when y/n pulled away, her hands quickly cupped his cheeks — making him look at her with his eyes that were sparkled from the tears.

“you’re doing enough, sunghoon.” she confirmed with a sniffle. “everything you’re doing is enough. i don’t need or will ever want mark, i like working like this because it gives me motivation, and i love you.”

✩ ‘i’m the one who burned us down’ ✩

her last three words were emphasized before she contently sighed and continued — “i’m sorry that i stayed late on our anniversary. i shouldn’t have because i know this day was important to you too. i’m really sorry.”

✩ ‘but it’s not what i meant, i’m sorry that i hurt you’ ✩

the boy pressed his lips together to form a bread smile. “i’m sorry too, you’re a hard worker and that’s what i love about you. i shouldn’t have said those things earlier.”

y/n wore a half smile, shaking her head afterwards to say, “i know my work schedule is difficult with yours but we’ll make it through this okay? we always do because nonetheless, this is my life and i love that you’re in it.”

the girl placed a sweet and reassuring kiss on his cheek as she said, “you’re my boyfriend and i intend to keep it that way until we hit another chapter.”

✩ ‘i don’t wanna lose, i don’t wanna lose this with you’ ✩

sunghoon’s last tears dropped for the night as he pulled her into a crying kiss.

his lips touched hers and he immediately felt relieved. a quiet groan slipped by his lips in the process, allowing y/n to smile into their kiss.

his hands firmly cupped her cheeks while hers were entangled into his messy hair.

his thick brows were deliciously scrunched together in satisfaction before they both pulled away.

“another chapter, hm? want to start that right now?” the boy teased with a grin.

“sunghoon!” she shouted back, allowing her boyfriend to chortle out laughter.

“i’m kidding!” he flashed a wide smile at her before murmuring, “i’m tired anyway.”

y/n playfully rolled her eyes before smacking his arm. “sure.., let’s just go to sleep.”

she dragged sunghoon to their bedroom, slumping her body down immediately after.

the male giggled and laid down on his side, pulling her into his chest like he always did. her hands gently rested on him as he placed chaste kisses on her forehead.

“good night, pretty girl.”

“good night, baby.”

✩ ‘meet me in the afterglow’ ✩

★・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・★

[lieutenantfloyd]

Hi! I'm fairly sure you're taking asks at the moment but feel free to ignore this if you aren't. But would you consider doing a "How they'd react to you on your period" but for the top gun: maverick characters?

How they react when you’re on your period (Headcanons)

Includes: Rooster, Bob, Hangman, Cyclone, Maverick, and Phoenix

Warnings: fluff, domestic bliss, mentions of pain, blood, marriage, and general domesticity— Reader is gender neutral but has a uterus

Authors Note: Life decided to get wild for a minute so this accidentally sat half finished in my drafts for a month and a half along with a Cyclone request I'm now working on again. Also, I included a headcanon each for Coyote and Fanboy at the end as a bonus :)

Rooster:

Bradley, as much as he tries, is still very much "A Guy™"

He's not malicious and he's far from incompetent, he just genuinely doesn't understand what you're going through

He's hesitant to ask questions, so instead he just pays extra close attention to you

If you like to cuddle, he's all over it

And if you don't, he's always lurking nearby, waiting for you to need him

Either way, he's noticing everything, and he's kinda horrified

Once your relationship is fairly progressed, he'll pull you aside and ask all the questions he was too scared to ask before

He wants to know all about your symptoms, emotions, and any way he can make the time a little less miserable

Rooster is such a family fan, and once he has a grasp on what you need, he's jumping head first into action

He shows his affection by being strong for you but also accidentally super clingy

Like he’s genuinely not letting you leave his sight

He's still a little hesitant at first about upsetting you or getting things wrong, but he's the type of man willing to do whatever he can to keep you happy

He isn't the best cook, but he tries

Do you both end up eating cereal for multiple meals? Yes

Does your teasing being met with his apology kisses make them the best bowls of cereal you’ll ever have? Absolutely

Will 1000% get you your favorite snacks though, even if that means making an emergency trip to the store at midnight because you offhandedly mentioned something

Bob:

Your sweet darling angel Bob has zero clue what's happening or how to help, but he's determined to try his absolute BEST

If your relationship is still new and you're staying together when you get your period, this man straight up thinks you're dying

Like obviously he knows how this works—far more than other guys you’ve been around, because that's just how Bob is

But he lives his life always a bit on edge and has a massive tendency to panic

So his mind instantly goes to worst case scenario aka there’s been an accident and you're now bleeding out

He just loves you SO MUCH and he is SO SCARED

It takes a bit of effort to calm him down, mostly in the form of kisses and reassurance, but once you explain everything he's good as new

…minus his still racing heart

Bob is the type to bombard you with questions when he's concerned

"Are you comfortable?" "Are you hungry?" "Do you need anything?"

May or may not accidentally propose when he's initially worried (even if you're already married)

Now you’re both slightly panicking, cuddled up in bed together looking at rings or your wedding album

Bob takes his role as your partner so seriously, and just wants to feel useful in any way he can

You might spend an almost equal amount of time comforting Bob as he spends comforting you, but it nonetheless gets your mind of things

Relationships are about give and take, and a life with Bob is sweet as pie

Hangman:

Hangman, despite his flirtatious personality, is the type of guy parents want their kids to end up with

He’s a total l lover boy at heart, priding himself in keeping you happy at all times

That means he's shockingly well prepared for this, and is genuinely confused if you didn’t think he wouldn’t be

To him it’s basic stuff, simply just “what a good boyfriend does”

And if you try to explain how men typically are about periods, he’s looking you dead in the eyes and saying, “We both know I’m one of a kind.”

The argument pretty much ends there, and he’s right back to being boyfriend of the year—this time without your questioning protests

Shortly into your relationship he’ll ask you out of the blue about your needs and preferences, and ever since then has kept them STOCKED

To him you're the #1 priority, and making sure you have everything you need to be comfortable is just as intuitive for him as knowing what size clothes you wear or adjusting the air conditioner on your side of his truck as soon as he gets in

He'll take it upon himself to make everything he can control as calm and stress free as possible, with laundry is done, dishes washed, and dinner on the table before you can even think about it

If you're feeling up to it, he'll take you on cute little dates to get your mind off things

He stays hyper aware of you the whole time, ready to whisk you away if you start to feel bad or you’re social battery is suddenly empty

He’s physically clingy by nature, and that only triples when he thinks you need some extra love

He's 120% committed to being a gentleman to you always, so he won’t ambush you with cuddles

but he will open his arms any time you look even vaguely in his direction :)

Cyclone:

Whether you're dating, married, or even just friends with benefits, this man is nothing if not a provider

If you are in any way connected to him, he has made it abundantly clear that you are to call him whenever you need anything—no matter how insignificant

He's admittedly out of his element when it comes to periods, but he’s a grown man, competent enough to admit what he doesn’t know and not let that phase him one bit

On days when time got away from you and you’re now out of pads/tampons and the store is closing in thirty minutes, he's in his car the second your text comes through

He’ll show up at your door in under an hour, carrying multiple packs of exactly what you need, along with groceries for the week and frozen yogurt from your favorite shop across town

When you question him about it, he simply says he does it “because he can”

Choosing to conveniently leave out the fact that he knows you have a busy week ahead, and not having to worry about getting to the grocery store is an easy way for him to take a little bit of stress off of your plate

He’s the type to have meticulously organized notes in his phone that list all your favorite things, what's on your wishlist, your go to restaurant orders, etc

This comes in handy not only when he wants to spoil you (which is always), but also when you’re not feeling well and are in need of some extra love and care

Like Phoenix, you’re his number one priority, and knowing something is off triggers both his protective and caregiver tendencies.

He will do anything he can to make your life easier, and gets genuinely angry at the thought of you having to expend any more energy than absolutely necessary

He's shockingly big into quality time, and loves to spend nights with you on the couch or in bed

He runs insanely warm, and while you often joke about him being the human equivalent of a space heater, your complaints become nothing but praise when you have cramps or just want a comforting hug

In the same vein, he gives the best massages ever

His hands are big and just as warm as the rest of him, plus he's strong with fingertips just rough enough to feel great against your skin

He’s not the type to ever bombard you with his presence, but if he’s not working, he’s more than happy to spend all the time he can with you

Phoenix:

this lovely lady would be the absolute sweetest

She's all too familiar with what you’re going through, and is committed to making this week of your life unnotable in the best possible way

Seeing you at all uncomfortable or feeling down sends her protective tendencies into overdrive

Every minute she's not in the air, she's waiting on you hand and foot

Phoenix is such a caretaker, and it comes second nature to her

You’ll have to promise that you really are fine, and while she isn’t 100% convinced, she will at least let you walk your dogs or help with dinner

She absolutely loves taking baths with you, so much that it’s practically one of her love languages

Physical touch and quality time are both such big things for her, and there are few things more intimate than talking about your day while you share a glass of wine and wash each other's hair

At the end of the day she just wants her partner to feel comfortable and loved at all times, and she'll do anything she can to make that happen

Maverick:

When your period comes, this man is certifiably lost It’s not because he doesn't care, he's just a little (endearingly) oblivious

A facet of your relationship centers around how, between his free-spirited personality and after so many years spent dedicated only to his career, Maverick just isn't used to having to think about anyone else

but if theres one thing Mav has proven time and time again, it’s that he isn't one to back down from a challenge

Once he's caught on to your "situation" (as he calls it), he's going to ask questions that total in the hundreds

Asks about your cravings, type and descriptions of your pain, preferences over products and medications, etc

He genuinely wants to know everything, because then he’ll know how to help

He's a bit of a walking disaster, and he'd far too restless to cuddle

but if it’s your thing he’ll try for you, so long as you’re ready to listen to his endless wild stories :)

Instead of simply assuming you're down for his spur-of-the-moment adventures (or just disappearing for days like he used to before you got together), he'll actually come out and invite you along

He also makes a conscious effort to check in with you throughout the day, sending you quick texts to let you know he’s safe and thinking about you

This eventually gets fully implemented into your relationship when Maverick realizes he's very invested in what you do all day—no matter how mundane it seems to you

If you spent all day in bed scrolling your phone, he wants to know all the details about everything you looked at

If you went grocery shopping that afternoon, he wants to know all about what you’re cooking and what new products and snacks you saw while you were there

To him everything has the potential to be an adventure, you just how to have the right outlook

Slowly, you'll start noticing more and more of your favorite things popping up around the hangar

Your favorite snacks and a bottle of your preferred painkillers in the cabinet, extra pillows and fluffy blankets left lying around, a heating pad or two…

You don't say anything and he’ll never address it, but you can't help but notice the soft look in his eyes when he sees you using something he bought just for you

Cyclone:

Whether you're dating, married, or even just friends with benefits, this man is nothing if not a provider

If you are in any way connected to him, he has made it abundantly clear that you are to call him whenever you need anything—no matter how insignificant

He's admittedly out of his element when it comes to periods, but he’s a grown man, competent enough to admit what he doesn’t know and not let that phase him one bit

On days when time got away from you and you’re now out of pads/tampons and the store is closing in thirty minutes, he's in his car the second your text comes through

He’ll show up at your door in under an hour, carrying multiple packs of exactly what you need, along with groceries for the week and frozen yogurt from your favorite shop across town

When you question him about it, he simply says he does it “because he can”

Choosing to conveniently leave out the fact that he knows you have a busy week ahead, and not having to worry about getting to the grocery store is an easy way for him to take a little bit of stress off of your plate

He’s the type to have meticulously organized notes in his phone that list all your favorite things, what's on your wishlist, your go to restaurant orders, etc

This comes in handy not only when he wants to spoil you (which is always), but also when you’re not feeling well and are in need of some extra love and care

Like Phoenix, you’re his number one priority, and knowing something is off triggers both his protective and caregiver tendencies.

He will do anything he can to make your life easier, and gets genuinely angry at the thought of you having to expend any more energy than absolutely necessary

He's shockingly big into quality time, and loves to spend nights with you on the couch or in bed

He runs insanely warm, and while you often joke about him being the human equivalent of a space heater, your complaints become nothing but praise when you have cramps or just want a comforting hug

In the same vein, he gives the best massages ever

His hands are big and just as warm as the rest of him, plus he's strong with fingertips just rough enough to feel great against your skin

He’s not the type to ever bombard you with his presence, but if he’s not working, he’s more than happy to spend all the time he can with you

Bonus:

Coyote is the type of guy to ask you to go hiking with him on the worst day of your period. He doesn't see anything wrong with this because "being active will make you feel better".

Fanboy uses your self care time to cuddle up with you, with the ulterior motive of making you rewatch the Star Wars franchise for the millionth time, with fun facts and his original commentary included.

[hey-august]

Waking up Buggy with morning head. It’s something you all agreed towards beforehand and he was especially exited at the prospect, so imagine his delight when he one day wakes up to gentle kisses that start at his balls and end at the head of his cock. Amazing.

He spreads his legs a little to accommodate his cocksucking alarm clock a little bit more, feeling a hand reach up to gently cradle his sack a little before taking him in deeper. His hand fists into the dishelved, slightly greasy bedhead under the cover.

He feels like an emperor. No! Like the King of the pirates himself, as he slowly starts bucking up into that warm, hot mouth. You casually light a blunt for him and hand it over. Could this morning get any-

- Wait.

Your eyes meet and you smile at him. You, sitting next to him in bed and handing him a joint, you, currently NOT blowing cock right now.

He throws away the covers to see who’s currently sucking at his foreskin oh so sweetly, only to be met by the teasing gaze of a redhead. The bane of his existence ever since they were kids, the dumbest guy he ever met, the annoyingly optimistic, affectionate red haired tomcat that somehow managed to weasel himself into his and your shared bed for a little ménage à trois ever so often.

„Shanks arrived at shore just yesterday.“ You say casually, lazily tracing circles on your clowns chest. „He said that he’d bet 1000 berries that he could make you cum before you woke up.“ the man between Buggys legs makes an exaggerated popping noise as his lips leave Buggys dick. „Yepp. Seems like I lost.“

You lean over conspicuously „I bet 2000 berries that you could make him come without even touching his dick. Think you can help me win?“

Both you and Buggy leave the bedroom 3000 berries richer that morning, along with a very satisfied captain of the red force, who somehow regained most of his stamina in about ten minutes and is now already getting on Buggys nerves. „Come on it’s not that far away!“ „Some of us have THINGS to do you burnout.“ „Come ooon, it’ll be just like old times!“ „Oh? With you not paying YOUR TAB?“ and so on and so forth.

You snort and roll your eyes as head below deck to set up a kettle for coffee. Seems like today would be fun.

WOAH. ANON.

An agreement like that really is win-win-win. And this was a possibility when everyone agreed...

WC: ~250 Warnings: nsfw, buggy x shanks x gn!reader, oral - m receiving, implied sex

Would Buggy ever voluntarily ask for a threesome with that red-headed annoyance? No, but he would be more than willing to reap the benefits. Shanks is always disgustingly eager to show how to pleasure the clown captain.

Sometimes just the memory of Shanks' hand on the back of your head, and your mouth full of dick was enough for Buggy to get off on his own.

Shanks could have definitely gotten Buggy to cum before waking up. Unfortunately, the bet did not have a clause preventing you from milking the pirate clown's balls dry the night before.

As for the second bet, Shanks was more than okay forking over 2000 berries for all the sweet and salty attention he could squeeze from you and Buggy. He'd gladly listen to you goad both captains, walking the line between teasing and innocent comments. He'd take all of the delicious praise Buggy wrapped in snark.

"Ooh, listen to his voice get higher when you touch him like that."

"That's such a slutty noise. You really want me to know how good you feel, huh?"

"Mmh, you're gripping too hard, Shanks, it's coming off as desperate."

"He is desperate- Look, his mouth is busy and he's still whining."

Yup. What a good way to start the day.

Follow it with a heavy breakfast (brunch by this time) and spiked drinks, and the next few days were going to be just as messy and fun.

[yaymiyas]

Yandere!Jock Introduction

warning: yandere content, manipulation, foul language, boys being…boys!, gn reader

YANDERE!JOCK, whose very name gives you the ick. noah. ew. to his medium length golden hair that frames his face ever so tightly, to his tall frame that makes it almost impossible to miss him, and to especially his a million dollar smile that he wears like the latest fashion trend…why do you hate him again?

why do you avoid him like the spanish flu? not even you knew fully. you contemplate about this very topic for weeks, never really getting a straight answer from yourself. from every instants that you two have crossed paths, he has been nothing but forthcoming with you. nothing but sunshines and rainbows. nothing but absolutely perfect.

Yuck.

you never even wanted to actually know who he was. you and your friends may have joked about him and his friend group a few times, but having noah around you 24/7 was never really on your bucket list. he kind of made it his own mission to make his existence your business.

it all started last semester, when you were walking down the hall. chem and statistic books in one arm, and the other quietly struggling to keep your book bag up. with the current cards not being 1000% in your favor, you didn’t really have time to look up at where exactly you were going. but noah did. trying to maneuver through the busy halls isn’t the easiest task with two shoulders filled and a 6’2, linebacker breaking down your neck. you didnt even see him walking beside you for the last two door frames you seemingly passed. all that was on your mind was to successfully get to the exit quick enough so you can get to your car, but satan had other plans.

“i can help you if you dont mind”

not paying the voice any real attention, you flash a struggling smile trying to use that as a quiet sign to leave you alone. one thing you didn’t bank on, was for noah to not really take no as a real answer. or in this case, an annoyed smile. testing his luck, the taller male fixed your book bag strap releasing a whole 2 pounds of weight off of your shoulder. with this new found feeling, you hesitantly stopped in your tracks and paid the stranger a small glance. looking back was noah, smiling widely like he just won the latto.

YANDERE!JOCK who finds a way to comfort you at all the right times. a random rumor about you started to spread at the speed of light. nobody would tell you where it started, or why they believe it but all you know is that it is messing up your senior year. you wanted to end your high school career better than when you came in, because lets face it, your freshman and sophomore years were ass. not being of bullying or teasing, you just weren’t ready or willing to see that you were in a different environment. things are different from two years ago, well they were supposed to be.

you don’t know how you started crying or when, but you were outside of your ecom class tears soaking your binders. you never allowed the words of others to get to you, always brushed them off. this time around it was different. you were more affected than you thought you would be at things like this. sleeping with a teacher? the same ecom teacher who you deducted points for not citing correctly? the same one who didn’t learn your name until two weeks ago? such a baseless and so easy to be unproven, so why do so many people believe it?

the only reason you were crying outside of your class is because two girls called you a slut to your face. out loud. with grins on their face, like your misery was something that warmed their skin. it was all so disgusting but you couldn’t do anything was cry. why now? why you? why the very last semester of high school? why?

“i heard about what’s going on,”

noah slightly nudges your leg with his foot, forcing your attention solely on him. you didn’t want to look up.

no, you actually wanted to tell him to go away. why was the most annoying, condescending, passive aggressive person in front of you for. the universe and gods must hate you.

“you know,”

he started with a hint of glee in his voice. was this all a joke to him? was he enjoying your tears? was your agony entertainment for him? this sick bastard. if you could, you would pull him by his hair and yank him to the floor. a knee to the stomach wouldn’t do anything to a linebacker right?

“its okay if you slept with him…we all have our low points.”

wow.

oh.

you are a joke to him. his smile never wavered, no it actually got bigger. you turned your head a bit so both of you were staring into the others. his ocean blue eyes seemed to turn into a black hole, sucking you into it with no avail. this is sick. he is sick. was he the one to fucking tell everybody that? how did he even know about the rumor? why was he here? what does he want from you, and how far will he go to get it.

[starryriize]

eunseok delulu thoughts?? ☺️

delulu thoughts | eunseok

a/n: i love him so much😭 he’s so cute and *sighs* very perfect bf !! <3 i hope you love this anon!

❀ bf!eunseok who lets you do anything and simply watches you with a loving gaze! he’s so sweet with you :(

❀ bf!eunseok who has already told his friends and family that he’s going to marry you🫶🏼

 ❀ he strikes me as the type to ask if you want to adopt dogs with him! ends up naming it Tornado or something incredibly unrelated to the dog 😭 (it’s so cute tho)

❀ movie!! nights!! it’s so fun with him too because he makes the popcorn and you choose the movie! ends up with you both cuddled together and asleep 🥹

❀ bf!eunseok who has thought about starting a family with you!! the idea of being a father makes him melt inside 🫠 (idk why but i could see him as a girl dad)

❀ he plans the dates!! holds your hand as you walk through downtown or the zoo! gives you his card to pay for souvenirs! strikes me as the type to want to travel with you

❀ he’s the type to probably tease you when you trip over yourself but the minute you get sad or upset that he’s teasing you, he’s kissing you and saying a million apologies

❀ makes dinner for you before you come home!! wakes you up with coffee and a full breakfast regardless of his schedule🫶🏼

❀ brags to his friends about you!! smirks as he explains how his partner is so smart and talented <3

❀ sings you to sleep! when you can’t sleep, he has a glass of warm milk for you and his honey vocals🥹

❀ he’s a calm bf!!! he has such a gentle aura and never yells at you when he’s upset :( he wants you to feel safe and at ease with him! <3

❀ often says things like “id rather be at home with the love of my life” to his friends 🫶🏼

❀ gets you flowers just because!! he thinks they’re as pretty as you :( could see him putting them into a cute vase in your shared house too

❀ favorite activity with you is going shopping!! it can be groceries or anything that you like! 🥹

❀ 1000% willing to do spa days with you!! he relaxes with you after a long day at the studio <3 probably gives you a little massage too (he enjoys receiving them too)

❀ 10/10 bf!! green flag who raises your standards every day :) he just loves you so much 🫶🏼 you thought kdramas raised your standards? nope! your bf does 😌

[mistchievous]

I have been trying so hard to avoid this, but I don't know what to do anymore. I have ten days to raise or earn almost $1000 to pay my HOA to avoid legal action. I wasn't able to pay them in September, and they want both September and October plus fees before I even get paid again, or there will be legal action. I'm behind because of home repair costs that have reached about $1500 since the end of August. I also have a $500 deductible coming up with my property insurance for the contractor replace my flooded floors. Half my house is just concrete at the moment.

I didn't know they would jump to this. I've been juggling bills and trying to determine what could be paid late or with payment arrangements or whatever while I try to make extra money on the side. I didn't expect this threat. I can try to earn as much as I can driving Uber around my regular work hours (which is what I've been doing for over a month now), but I don't think I'll be able to earn enough to pay this in time.

If any of you are able and willing to help, I would appreciate it more than you could ever know. I have a Ko-fi here. I'm still going to work and earn as much as I can, but it all seems beyond me at this point.

Thank you for taking the time to even read this. All my love for all of you.

Jess

[ms-demeanor]

Since some people might want a Mac, I'll offer a Mac equivalent of your laptop guide from the perspective of a Mac/Linux person.

Even the cheapest Macs cost more than Windows laptops, but part of that is Apple not making anything for the low end of the tech spectrum. There is no equivalent Mac to an Intel i3 with 4 gigabytes of RAM. This makes it a lot easier to find the laptop you need.

That said, it is possible to buy the wrong Mac for you, and the wrong Mac for you is the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar. Get literally anything else. If it has an M2 chip in it, it's the most recent model and will serve you well for several years. Any new MacBook Air is a good pick.

(You could wait for new Macs with M3, but I wouldn't bother. If you are reading these guides the M3 isn't going to do anything you need done that a M2 couldn't.)

Macs now have integrated storage and memory, so you should be aware that whatever internal storage and RAM you get, you'll be stuck with. But if you would be willing to get a 256 gig SSD in a Windows laptop, the Mac laptop with 256 gigs of storage will be just as good, and if you'd be willing to get 8 gigs of RAM in a Windows laptop the Mac will perform slightly better with the same amount of memory.

Buy a small external hard drive and hook it up so Time Machine can make daily backups of your laptop. Turn on iCloud Drive so your documents are available anywhere you can use a web browser. And get AppleCare because it will almost certainly be a waste of money but wooooooow will you be glad it's there if you need it.

I get that you are trying to help and I am not trying to be mean to you specifically, but people shouldn't buy apple computers. That's why I didn't provide specs for them. Apple is a company that is absolutely terrible to its customers and its customers deserve better than what apple is willing to offer.

Apple charges $800 to upgrade the onboard storage from a 256GB SSD to a 2TB SSD.

A 2TB SSD costs between $75-100.

I maintain that any company that would charge you more than half the cost of a new device to install a $100 part on day one is a company making the wrong computer for you.

The point of being willing to tolerate a 256GB SSD or 8GB RAM in a Windows laptop is that you're deferring some of the cost to save money at the time of purchase so that you can spend a little bit in three years instead of having to replace the entire computer. Because, you see, many people cannot afford to pay $1000 for a computer and need to buy a computer that costs $650 and will add $200 worth of hardware at a later date.

My minimum specs recommendations for a mac would be to configure one with the max possible RAM and SSD, look at the cost, and choose to go buy three i7 windows laptops with the same storage and RAM for less than the sticker price of the macs.

So let's say you want to get a 14" Macbook pro with the lowest-level processor. That's $2000. Now let's bump that from 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD to 32GB and 2TB. That gets you to $3000. (The SSD is $200 less than on the lower model, and they'll let you put in an 8TB SSD for $1800 on this model; that's not available on the 13" because apple's product development team is entirely staffed by assholes who think you deserve a shitty computer if you can't afford to pay the cost of two 1991 Jeep Cherokee Laredos for a single laptop).

For $3000 you can get 3 Lenovo Workstation laptops with i7 processors, 32GB RAM, and a 2TB SSD.

And look, for just $200 more I could go up to 48GB RAM and get a 4TB SSD - it costs $600 to upgrade the 14" mac from a 2TB SSD to a 4TB SSD so you could still get three laptops with more ram and the same amount of storage for the cost of one macbook.

I get that some people need to use Final Cut and Logic Pro, but hoo boy they sure are charging you through the nose to use products that have become industry standard. The words "capture" and "monopoly" come to mind even though they don't quite apply here.

"Hostile" does, though, especially since Mac users end up locked into the ecosystem through software and cloud services and become uncertain how to leave it behind if they ever decide that a computer should cost less than a month's rent on a shitty studio apartment in LA.

There's a very good reason I didn't give mac advice and that's because my mac advice is "DON'T."

[simplysparrow14]

I’m going to say more later but dragging out Percy’s resurrection and having placed right beside Scanlan’s Bards Lament for the final 3 episodes is both a clever choise and a sad Adaptation sacrifice.

First off, I can see *what* they’re trying to do — it was always going to be hard to tackle TWO big resurrection rituals in the show, especially back-to-back, especially since resurrection rituals are so similar in nature (you die, everyone says their praises, you come back to life) So the natural thing to do is to highlight one while overshadowing the other — literally what they’re setting up: Percy’s resurrection is going to be this big, emotional, group event. Vex is going to say that she loves him, it’s going to be sad and angsty and all that jazz.

Meanwhile Scanlan only gets to be in a coma for a second time (or he might actually be dead— the episode wasn’t very clear as to what it was)

And it’s like, that’s so Bards Lament!!! It’s literally all of the build up for Bards Lament packaged into one event — Percy gets the emotional confessions and praise and the big group resurrection while Scanlan only gets his rinky-dink little ritual with Kaylie, and maybe Pike where she tells him to come back from his coma.

And no one else in the group is going to give a shit because PERCY’S BACK!!!

Scanlan was in a coma and they didn’t even give two shits if he’s truly rotting on a death bed or simply asleep in a coma, because everyone else is more concerned about Percy.

and I’m like, that’s so clever and smart!!! Good writing!!!

But also I can’t help but feel that it undercuts Bards Lament — C1 Bards Lament was a sock to the face to the cast/characters who did not understand Scanlan’s emotional; it’s supposed to be this sudden, unexplained, telegraphed beyond the stars but still hits you like a fist to the eye moment, one where it leaves you reeling from its intensity.

TLOVM Bards Lament is feeling more like a kick to the groin — still hurts, mind you, but it’s not going to leave me cowering in a corner.

I can understand that in a show where you have to tie up loose ends, you can’t really leave out in such an emotionally charged moment —Seasons have to have a beginning, middle and end, after all. And for what TLOVM is worth, it has been paying those Bards Lament moments forward.

And like I get it, I GET IT — trying to condense 1000 hours of live-play into twelve 20-30 min episodes was always the biggest obstacle the show was ever going to try to handle. It’s not an easy task and I certainly don’t blame the writers/story supervisors or WHOEVER is in charge of making sure that the storybeats get hit in service to the show. Some things are almost always going to be either cut, rebound, repackage etc.

But it feels somewhat lackluster. I’m willing to see how these last few episodes stick the landing.

[switch--blades]

Hi all, as I've stated in a previous post June and I have found ourselves in a situation where we unfortunately have less funds than we need.

At very least we need $500 USD by the end of April to pay May rent, however June also has some dental work that needs to be addressed as soon as possible which is an additional $1000 USD needed minimum to get that started.

I can do tarot readings in exchange for any help, and we are both willing to sell content to help us make it through this rough patch, you can DM me here or June @ur-pet-vampcat with any inquiries.

ca

pp

We thank you all for your support during this time, if you're not able to donate please reblog in hopes that more people see this post and have the ability to help.

0/500 USD

do not tag this post, please only reblog to share

[spectrechosts]

Date Night

This is one of my longer series, and is mostly porn without plot about a human girl being a subby blood donor to a vampire lesbian couple. It's not like, *devoid* of story, but a decent chunk of chapters are just fucking.

Full Series

Willow giggled as her two dates fawned over her.

She had been the center of attention all night, even though they were an actual couple and she was just some dork who replied to a personal ad she saw on the local occult forum.

FF4F - Vampires Seeking Human for Netflix and Chills

Vampire couple want to take you on a romantic night out before heading back to our place for… drinks ;)

$1000 + Any medical costs incurred, and we'll pay for your dinner as well!

The money was definitely nice, she couldn't deny it. $1000 was more than she would make in a week working, and it was certainly more than the going rate for selling blood. And this restaurant was fancy, she would never go someplace like this. She didn't even have clothes nice enough for a place like this, and she had told the vampires that, and they told her that they had already picked something for her to wear.

Which really tied in nicely to the actual reason she had answered the ad: She really fucking wanted to get dominated by a vampire. Two vampires was an insane act of decadence. And they were paying her to do it. It was a dream come true.

It felt a little embarrassing how much she wanted it, honestly. She barely knew these girls and she was more than ready to do anything they asked, they could drain her dry in the middle of the restaurant and she would thank them to her last breath.

She was feeling incredibly gay, to put it mildly.

For their part, Alice and Senna seemed extremely into her as well. If they were only playing along for her sake, she couldn't tell. And whether they were into her romantically or into her the way that a pair of wolves is into a deer they had cornered, that was…

Well, it didn't matter. She was having a nice night regardless.

A very nice night, if Alice's hand on her thigh was any indication.

"I think," Alice husked in her ear, fingers drifting teasingly close to the hem of her dress, "That we should take this back to our place. Don't you?"

"Don't be pushy. We promised her a romantic night out, and that's what she'll get." Said Senna, coolly.

"I can't help myself! She looks so cute in that dress, I just want to eat her up." Alice said, flashing a fanged smile as if the double meaning wasn't obvious.

"Alice. You're acting like a horny teenager, let the girl finish her meal."

"Fiiine. Sorry, Willow."

"It's cool." Squeaked Willow, who was getting wet just from knowing they wanted to bite her. "C-Can I ask though, what's so exciting about this for you two? I mean, I'm nothing special, and you can just buy blood-"

"Ugh." Alice said, rolling her eyes.

"You are special, first of all." Senna said, placing a finger to Willow's lips to silence her protestations. "Second, drinking blood out of a bag just isn't the same."

"Mhm. It's like eating gruel. Back when we started living openly among your kind, they even had us drinking pig's blood. Disgusting."

"So we want to feed properly, but it's hard to find people that suit our tastes. Right blood type, in good health, local, willing, cute, shares our interests…"

"I haven't gotten to really sink my teeth into anybody since the nineties." Alice whined. "It's awful."

"I-It sounds like you're looking for more than just a meal?" Said Willow, hopefully.

Senna smiled coyly. "Maybe. No reason to go through all this searching every time if we can find someone interested in a more… long-term engagement. But let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"I could do this again!" Willow offered. "A-Anytime you want!"

Alice and Senna shared a look.

"We haven't even gotten to your end of the bargain, sweetheart." Alice chided.

"We could, uh-" Willow swallowed hard. "Get to it now. I-If you want."

"Only if it's what you want, cutie. This is your night." Senna said.

Alice grumbled, pulling Willow closer to her.

"Stop trying to talk her out of it, Sen. I'm hungry."

Willow felt very much like a prey animal in that moment, in the clutches of a beast that wanted nothing more than to tear open her throat and devour her.

"I-It's fine, really, it's why I'm here. The date is just a bonus." Willow said, and Alice relaxed a tiny bit, still holding her firmly but no longer digging her nails in like she was afraid someone might steal her away.

"See? She's some kinda blood pervert, it's cool." She said, and Willow groaned because she wasn't not some kind of blood pervert, but who just says that in public?

"Okay, but if you change your mind tell us. We won't get mad." Senna insisted.

"Really, I'm not going to."

"That's what the last girl said. Just keep it in mind."

"Oh man, that was funny." Alice said, as they paid and exited the restaurant. "She was like you, total vamp fetishist (I-I'm not-), and then she sees her own blood and freaks the fuck out, thinks she's gonna die. She threw a lamp at me and fainted in the hallway. Super apologetic the next day, but did not get a second date."

~

Alice had barely shepherded her into their apartment before she was nipping at her neck eagerly, not hard enough to draw blood yet, but enough to show her intent.

"You know," Senna said, "while 'netflix and chill' is a euphemism for fucking you're still supposed to at least pretend the pretense for taking them home was real."

"Don't wanna. Hungry."

"Ugh. Centuries to learn manners and you're still such a boor."

"I'm taking care of our guest." She said, and trailed kisses up to Willow's ear. "Tell us Willow," She purred, eyes locked on Senna still. "Do you want to watch a movie? Or do you want Senna to come help me make you feel good?"

Alice's hands were really wandering now, and making her stop was the furthest thing from Willow's mind. "P-Please, Senna…" She said, her face flushed and hot under her gaze.

"Oh, poor thing, we'll take care of you." Senna cooed, running her thumb over her cheek. "Alice you know I can't resist when you make them beg."

"I know, so just cut loose and enjoy her already. You deserve it."

Was it weird that Willow was getting turned on by them talking past her like this?

Weird or not, she was going to add more fuel to the fire.

"Please bite me, Senna, I need it." She begged, and Alice rewarded her by slipping her fingers past the band of her panties to idly stroke her clit. She whimpered and exposed her neck to the other girl.

Senna looked like she was in a trance, her pupils dilated and her fangs exposed. She leaned in and-

Blinked, shook her head.

"Wait- I know how I want her. Give me a second to get ready." She stammered, and disappeared down a hall. Willow whined, so close to what she wanted only to have it torn away at the last second.

"Relax, pet. She'll make it worth your while." Alice said, still lazily circling her clit.

"W-Will you bite me? Please?" Willow said, desperate.

"Hmmm. I want to. You know there's really nothing else like it- The warmth, the taste of fresh blood, rhythmically spurting into your mouth with your prey's heartbeat, feeling them squirm in your grasp, their life in your hands. It's intoxicating."

Willow shuddered and squeezed her thighs together.

"Buuuut, it'd be impolite for me to steal the first taste. Wouldn't it pet? Let's go see what she has planned for you."

Alice withdrew her hands and guided Willow into the room Senna had retreated into. Senna sat, naked, on the edge of their bed, applying lube to a strapon.

"Oh good, I was just about to call for you. Strip." Senna ordered.

Willow fumbled with the zipper on her back before Alice got it, yanking her dress down and opening the clasp of her bra for her. "T-Thanks" She stuttered, clumsily removing her underwear.

"My pleasure." Alice hummed, unabashedly eyefucking her.

"Come here. Now." Senna continued, her eyes a black void that Willow sank into, her legs carrying her with no input from her mind. Her head emptied, thoughts replaced with a fuzzy haze and-

"Hey! You said no hypnotizing people." Alice complained.

"Got carried away. You forgive me, don't you Willow?"

Willow snapped out of it in Senna's lap, the cool silicone of the strapon brushing against her lips.

"You don't have to hypnotize me, I'll do anything you ask." She said, grinding against its shaft.

"Well fuck, isn't she just perfect?" Alice said, embracing her from behind. "Our debauched little vampire thrall."

"Please, I-I need-"

"I know pet. Raise those hips up for me."

Willow raised up on her knees, and Senna aligned the tip of the strapon with her entrance. She made her wait for it, and Alice got to work kissing her neck and playing with her clit in the meantime. Willow whimpered, needy and sensitive.

"Good girl. Now down. Nice and slow, I want to savor every expression on your pretty face as I fill you up."

Willow sank onto the toy, her movements jerky and unsteady. She ached for more stimulation, but disobeying was unthinkable. It took all her willpower to keep a slow pace, feeling every inch of the strapon slip inside her.

"So pretty…" Senna murmured.

"Doing so well for us…" Added Alice.

A moan escaped Willow's lips as she finally reached the base of the toy and Senna rolled her hips to push the last little bit inside.

"Gooood girl." She cooed. "Do you want more?"

"Yeesssss"

"And what are you going to do to make us give it to you?"

"Please bite me, pleasepleaseplease-" Willow babbled.

Alice's fangs were already grazing her neck, and Senna took one of her hands and put her teeth to her wrist. She bit down first, and Willow inhaled sharply at the sting of her fangs. She withdrew them and placed her lips on the wound, suckling on it as blood pumped into her mouth.

Senna started thrusting in and out of Willow while she drank, and the conflicting sensations overwhelmed her. Pain throbbed in her wrist with every gulp that Senna took, and quiet moans escaped her lips every time she snapped her hips upwards. Senna kept her eyes locked on her through it all, and Willow watched them change as the bloodlust took over; looking at her hungrily, possessively. The polite vampire from earlier was gone, she was at the mercy of a monster now. Her fingers dug into her hip as she fucked her harder, faster-

And then Alice bit her.

If Senna's bite was painful, Alice's was agonizing. She bit down hard and didn't let go, leaving her fangs embedded in her neck and letting blood spurt out around them. Willow squealed, tormented by every miniscule movement that Alice made sending another jolt of pain shooting through her. She drank messily, blood overflowing past her lips as Willow's pounding heartbeat forced more and more out of her.

"-fucking wasting it when she tastes so good-" Senna growled, detaching from her wrist and applying pressure to the wound as she sat up to lick at the blood trailing down Willow's chest.

"-can't help it, you know jugular is messy-" Alice said, briefly unlatching before biting her again at the nape of her neck, and then again on her shoulder. She wasn't even aiming for a vein, she was just biting for the sake of sinking her teeth into warm meat while she could.

Willow couldn't focus on their bickering, she felt lightheaded, all the intense feelings bubbling to a hot point inside her. Alice wrapped an arm around her throat to cover her gushing wound, warm blood oozing between her fingers. She nibbled at her ear, whispering to her.

"Look at how nice Senna is treating you, drinking up all that blood you spilled."

Alice's voice sent shivers down her spine, and she looked down and watched Senna lick a rivulet of blood off of her nipple, swirling her tongue around the stiff peak before biting her gently, making her whimper.

"I think you should do something nice for her, don't you?"

Willow nodded, unable to speak. Her heart was racing, her breath came in shallow gasps, she could barely think.

"I think," Alice purred, "That she wants you to cum around her cock. Can you do that for her pet?"

That drew a shaky moan from Willow, and she wrapped her arms around Senna's head, grasping for something to keep her steady as she went weak in the knees.

"Be a good girl now. Cum for her, cum for us."

Willow squeaked as she went rigid, the pressure inside her releasing as she shuddered and came all over Senna's strap. Both of the vampires cooed praise as she rode out the intense orgasm, shaking and gasping as they held her.

Her head was fuzzy as she came down, her heart was still racing, her breathing even shallower, she felt-

"Dizzy, f-feel weird, I-I…"

Senna's eyes cleared in an instant and filled with concern.

"Oh shit, hold onto her she's gonna-"

~

Willow awoke tucked into the bed, her bites neatly dressed with gauze. She sat up, confused-

"Hey. Don't get up too fast. How do you feel?" Senna said, gently pushing her back down. She blinked the sleep from her eyes, and saw Alice sleeping beside her, blindly grasping for her after being disturbed by her sudden movement.

"Um. Kinda woozy? I don't- I don't remember what-"

"You passed out, cutie. Our fault, we got carried away and drank too much."

"Oh." Willow said, embarrassed. "S-Sorry."

"Don't be, pet. You were amazing."

"O-Oh. Thanks." She felt… weirdly proud of being a good meal. "What, um, what time is it?"

"Ten-ish."

"Fuck, I have work-" She said, and started to get up again.

"Nuh-uh. Call in sick, you need to rest."

"I-I can't-"

"I wasn't asking." Senna said, fishing around in her purse for a wad of bills that she counted out and handed to Willow. "Here. What we agreed, plus extra to make up for you missing work."

Willow's eyes went wide, this was 2,500 fucking dollars.

"I-I can't take this-"

"You can and you will, pretty thing. Now call in sick so we can all go to bed, okay?" Senna said, cupping her cheek tenderly.

God, she really didn't need to hypnotize her to make her do anything she asked.

"U-Um, yeah, okay."

"Good girl." Senna said, and gave her a kiss.

[honeybeeofficial]

okay I know your post was about how annoying it is when people make comments about selling your craft and while I certainly can’t speak for other people I would spend mmmmh I’d say $450 on horseshoe crab bag. I have $450 in my bank account right now and would use it to buy a horseshoe crab shaped bag.

This illustrates another piece of the issue that maybe I didn't fully spell out in my post about how badly people underestimate the cost of handmade goods– which is that even when a non-crafter hears "handmade crafts are expensive," they still often don't really grasp the scale we're talking about.

When the same friend I mentioned in the original post found out that I handmade the journal I carry around, he asked if he could pay me to make him one. He said he would happily pay $15–20 for a good journal. I laughed and told him that the labor involved would make it a lot more expensive than that, and he went "oh, like… 30–40? Yeah, that might be more than I'd want to spend." …The actual cost for that journal would likely be around $80–100.

What makes me think you didn't fully comprehend my original post is that in that post, I gave a rough estimated overview of what the cost would be. I said that if I'm charging what my labor is actually worth, $615 is the bare minimum for that item, and that it would likely be more.

After updating my math and factoring in things like packaging + shipping, the "fair price" for a horseshoe crab bag comes out to $780 USD. That's with me charging $25/hr, which is less than I make at my actual job even though leatherworking is more physically taxing. I made a post about how commissions would work if anyone actually wanted to spend that much.

I'm not mad at you, anon (nor am I mad at the friend I've mentioned), but it's clear to me that the original point about how expensive handmade goods are didn't really click for you. Fast fashion and mass industrial production have really degraded our sense of how much things are actually worth, because you can get just about anything almost instantly for a tiny fraction of what it would take an individual to produce.

For the same reason, I've ruled out ever taking my graphic design career in a freelance direction– anytime I've taken a freelance project, or considered it, I get to the point where I calculate what to charge and I just wince and shy away from the project entirely… because I have a gut feeling that something like a logo "should" cost around $100–200… but when I do the math for my time, I would actually have to charge $600–1000 (for a logo! Just a logo!), and I'm just mentally incapable of enforcing that for myself day in and day out to make a living wage.

If you have 5–10 minutes, I'd recommend this exercise to anyone:

Think of a project or task you've done lately. Pick something with measurable start and end points, such as an art project, folding laundry, washing the dishes, writing an essay, etc.

How much do you think you would pay someone else to do that task for you? Write that down. This is "A."

How long did that task take you to do? Write that down (in # of hours). This is "B." Approximate number is fine.

Did that task require any special tools? What about materials? Even basic things like sponges, paint, etc. Roughly estimate the cost of all the tools and materials you used. Because you'd likely get multiple uses out of most tools/materials, divide that number by 5. Write down the new number; this is "C."

What do you think is a fair minimum wage for your area? Many people have been fighting for $15/hr for a long time, but arguably this is still too low. If you're not sure, use $15/hr as a baseline. Write that down. This is "D."

Multiply B by D. Add C. This new number is "E."

How close is E to A? I'd be willing to bet that E is quite a bit higher than A. Remember, the hourly wage you used to calculate this might not even reflect what this work is actually worth. Does this give you a better idea of what you would actually need to pay someone to do that task for you?

Not all work is quantifiable in this way, and modern technology does allow for processes to be combined and optimized in ways that won't be reflected in your process. For example, buying a single bagel would not cost $60, because a bagel shop can make lots of bagels at the same time, using the same materials and equipment. But this absolutely does apply to things like hiring someone to clean your house, do your homework, or– of course– create handmade crafts.

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep4 Musings - Loumand

Assad was NOT. PLAYING.

Put those village feeders AWAY, sir~! 😍 You look ready to start lactating, omg! Assad NEVER misses a day at the gym!

What happened to y'all being so in sync, fellas?

Armand seems WAY more delusional here than Louis, for once. Which is telling--Armand had long been "failing" to hold onto his coven, and his authority.

Louis reading about Death while his daughter's arguing for her life, I can't.

And this little shrug when Armand punished Claudia, omfg, he is giving weak-willed-mother-who-lets-the-mean-stepfather-run-roughshod-over-her-kids-cuz-the-peen-is-too-good-and-he-pays-all-the-bills.

So we go from Lestat's "the Meat" and Claudia's "Kill Juice" to Armand's "Cattle."

NGL, I'd be pissed if I was the coven, too. How you gon' have this dude sit there not needing to follow the rules, while all of us are stuck wearing clown makeup and having our makers killed cuz of your dumb rules?!

I REALLY like this mutinous angle AMC's using, fleshing out the tension in the coven more, cuz it really makes sense.

I get that Louis would want to be around, but omfg cut the umbilcal already! I agree with the coven: like, WHY are you there exactly? Not even the worst helicopter moms are allowed to sit in class with their kids all day, so wtf? And I agree that Armand needs to draw MUCH thicker lines in the sand. Coven business is coven business--if Louis' not gonna even be allowed to speak up in Claudia's defense, then he shouldn't be there at all. ESPECIALLY if he's gonna flaunt how much he doesn't GAF about their rules--their CULTURE.

Aw crap, you got the homie Estelle mad, too?!

You done effed up, Louis--that's the smile of a psychopath. XD

Oh, he's keeping SOMETHING tight, he ain't lyin! 😜

👀

LOUIS! The ONE time you should've lied, omfg! 🤦 It's called making a UNITED FRONT, ffs!

Louis said Hot Girl Summer--literally.

🔥🕯️ FIRE GIFT LOUIS THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ️‍🕯️🔥

Louis said it only works when he's PISSED OFF, OH LAAAWWWWD!

This bit scared the crap out of me--at first I was like the coven's gonna jump y'all in your skivvies!? 😂 Then I was like wait--was that a crew member?! How did y'all not catch that in post!?

And then it all became clear.

*crosses self* HISSSSS.

CLEARLY it's not "great," when your man's man is throwing shade at your whole setup in Louis' head. 😬 Armand, you're barking up the wrong Rebound Tree, my guy.

The face that launched 1000 undead theatre kids into a blazing inferno. THE Louis of Troy, yaaaas~!

MESSY QUEEN.

🔥 FIRE GIFT LOUIS LFG. ️‍🔥

And this is likely why Louis believes what Armand said about him teaching Lestat the Mind Gift, cuz Armand taught Louis the Fire Gift.

Oh trust, we know you do, Armand. But how much does LOUIS know? 👀 ESPECIALLY when he doesn't go on hunts with y'all.

This can only end well.... 😬😈

AMC knows what they're doing--you knooooow that would've hurt Les to his core, if he knew Lou said ILY to Armand after only 1.5 years, when he (allegedly) never said it once to Lestat in 30. U_U Cuz you don't effing deserve it yet, Lestat! It's no skin off Lou's back to say that to Armand, cuz he's not REALLY giving up anything. He's not joining their stupid coven, and he's fine with them killing him. But Lou admitting that he loves Lestat means he'd have to take accountability for his COMPLICITY in everything that went wrong in his life, and that he chose Lestat over his entire family, his religion, his self respect, his sanity, ALL of it, for some heinous blonde Frenchman, lord have mercy. 😔 It's a hard pill to swallow.

And he's REALLY in the deep end now, if he expects his imaginary (boy)friend to start keeping promises. 🤦

[floweryvibes]

The Human Who Fooled All of Prythian

16. Open for Business

“Cosette! Are you even listening? Do you realize how irresponsible this decision was?”

Cosette stood patiently, waiting for Ophelia to finish the very much-deserved lecture. Theo and his father stood awkwardly behind Ophelia as she explained why Cosette shouldn’t have given away one thousand gold so easily. 

“Ophelia, I hear you.” Cosette spoke up, taking Ophelia’s short pause as an opportunity to resolve this conflict, “I agree with you, but we had been searching for a week with no luck. No place was willing to sell to us considering we want to open a perfumery.”

“Still…” Ophelia sighed, running a hand through her hair, “What if this business won’t take off? You spent a large sum of our money…”

“It will do well.” Cosette spoke confidently.

At the very least it had to be popular amongst the nobility and upper middle class.

“As for the money, if it had been any other building we would have had to pay twice as much, if not four times that amount; meaning, we would have had to take out a loan. All things considered we got really lucky with this find.”

I'll need to write up a detailed spending plan though. 1000 gold is a lot.

“Which is partially why I am concerned.” Ophelia calmed a bit, hearing Cosette’s reasoning, “Why would those people sell this building to you for so cheap?”

“Well, it’s not in the greatest condition.” The floorboards creaked as Cosette spoke, “And even though it’s near the center it’s not smack-dab in the middle of it.”

The two males tensed, sharing a look.

“Wait, you wish to open a perfumery?” Theo spoke up.

“Yep.” Cosette confirmed.

“See? I told you we should go.” the elder whispered to his son.

“Do you understand how challenging it is to sell perfume?” Theo asked, ignoring his father’s urgency.

“I recognize that, but there is a market for it. The available products aren’t good and I know I can deliver something of much higher quality.” Cosette spun around, taking in the building’s interior.

Despite its older and disheveled appearance, the building was quite nice inside, with various wooden trinkets lining the cabinets and shelves.

“What did you both primarily sell?” Cosette asked, gently examining a small dragon figurine.

“We are both trained craftsmen. We worked with wood to make various tools, furniture, and toys.” Theo explained, staring at the floor as Ophelia, who was still unhappy with the situation, glared at him. 

Located at the end of the room was a counter with two staircases on either side leading up to a mezzanine that wrapped around the second floor, full of disorganized tables.

Good news; no need to buy new furniture!

She was definitely trying to stay on the positive note of things considering the mezzanine looked really messy. Cosette walked deeper into the shop, taking mental note of what they would need to fix or reuse, Ophelia and the two men trailing after her. She carefully hopped behind the counter, entering the backroom area where there was a storage space and what looked like a room dedicated to construction work filled with pieces of wood, and carving materials. A sweet smell hung in the air.

“Do you guys cook here?” Cosette sniffed, trying to pinpoint the scent.

“Oh no, it’s just the soaps.” the elder answered quickly.

“Soaps?”

The older man showed her a cabinet under a small basin filled with various cleaning supplies, “We use these to clean whenever we finished work or polished our creations.”

Cosette nodded.

How did you even clean for it to still look this…unkempt? If I called this clean back in Autumn Court my head would have been put on a spike.

The group moved upstairs, stepping inside the main office.

Oh, it was pretty. Neglected, but pretty.

Large windows behind a desk illuminated the room and presented the view of the street below. Both sides of the office were lined by empty, dusty shelves.

“What was this room used for?”

“Oh, we just stored paperwork here.” Theo pipped in.

“Did you not use it as an office?”

“No, we didn’t need to.” the older man retorted.

‘Didn’t need to’? Ha.

Cosette didn’t push the subject, sensing the older man’s wounded pride.

If one doesn’t have a properly functioning center of management, nothing will get done. 

She eyed the scattered paperwork, running her finger along the oak desk, the three fae watching her quietly.

I wouldn’t be surprised if their lack of organization was part of the reason for their business’s downfall.

“Well then.” she smiled at the group, “We better get started.”

“Do we really have to clean the whole store?” Theo was borderline whining as he scrubbed the floor clean, dust and paint slowly coming away to reveal the beautiful cherry wood flooring beneath.

“Yes, we do.” Cosette wiped down the windows from the inside, while Ophelia cleaned them from the outside. The elder fae was tasked with unloading the paperwork from cabinets and drawers into boxes, since Theo insisted that he couldn’t do hard, physical labor, “Right now it looks like an abandoned haunted house. People don’t tend to want to shop in those.”

Theo sighed dramatically, scrubbing the floor harder. 

Cosette and Ophelia finished cleaning the windows, moving onto the shelves and cabinets.

“We’ll need to get a long stick to clean the top part of the porch.” Ophelia said, throwing away a dirty rag, disgusted by the collected grime.

“There is a broom in the back.” the elder said.

“That should work.” Ophelia disappeared into the back, returning with a broom, using it to clean the porch and ridges of the building.

“I am done.” the older fae put the last piece of paper into a box.

“Perfect, can you take them upstairs?” Cosette smiled.

“I’ve got it father.” Theo quickly grabbed the boxes instead, taking them upstairs.

The elder smiled fondly, watching his son go upstairs. Ophelia gave Cosette a small look, assigning the elder more paperwork to sort through and catalog away.

The man sighed, “Is this necessary? Can’t we just throw all this out?”

You want to throw away years worth of evidence of your hard work?

“Well, we can throw them out later. For now it’s best to gather them all into boxes for easy transport.” Cosette explained calmly.

Also, if I'm being completely honest, I want to see what went wrong with your business.

“Hmpf.” the elder nodded, reluctantly continuing his work.

“Alright, good work team.” Cosette smiled. The shop was no longer filled with dust, the tables and floors looking usable, “Tomorrow we’ll meet up here at 8 am to continue cleaning.”

“That early?!” Theo exclaimed.

Ophelia glared murder at the man.

Remind me to never whine in front of Ophelia.

“Yes, that early.”

Cosette was starting to see why these two were in so much debt.

“I want to be working on perfume production by the end of the week, so tomorrow we will clean out the back two rooms and continue to gather all your documents and supplies for record keeping.”

The two men nodded hesitantly, remaining at the shop, in the two rooms accessible through the mezzanine near the main office. Meanwhile, Cosette and Ophelia walked back to the inn in silence. Cosette hesitantly glanced at her friend.

“I am sorry.”

Ophelia looked at her.

“I should have asked you before buying the building. I just…” Cosette looked down at the ground, “We weren’t getting anywhere, and when the perfect opportunity presented itself I couldn’t let it go.”

Ophelia sighed, pulling Cosette into a side hug, “I get it. I am sorry for going off on you like that. It’s not even my money, you’re the one who…accumulated it”

Is that what we’re calling stealing now?

“That’s not fair.” Cosette shook her head. She wasn’t about to make Ophelia financially dependent on her in that way. It would be cruel.

“We survived this far together, I didn’t mean to undermine that.”

Ophelia laughed, “Oh…if more fae had your decency and kindness.” she looked down at her Cosette, “Are you going to try and help those two pay off their debt?”

“I am hoping that once we start selling perfumes I can pay them a salary which can cover that. You’re also going to get paid. Obviously.”

“Well gee I would hope so.” Ophelia laughed, bumping into Cosette playfully.

When they got back to the inn Blanche was serving the inn’s guests dinner. Ophelia dug into the food while Cosette slowly nibbled, staring at the parchment before her.

The main issue was money; they only had about four hundred and fifty silvers left.

I still needed to purchase the necessary equipment and glass vials for perfume production. We could save money on renovations by not using the building immediately and instead selling the perfumes outside in the fresh air. 

While they were exploring the city Cosette had recorded the most lucrative places to purchase glassware and materials for perfumes. A huge cost saving benefit came from the fact that perfumes in Winter Court traditionally were made to be so strong that all the materials sold for them were highly concentrated. Meaning, Cosette could save money by purchasing the necessary supplies and then diluting to achieve a more gentle version of the scent. 

I’ll begin with creating non-alcohol based perfumes as that permits me to reach a wider audience thus earning a larger profit.

Cosette frowned.

Despite all this, we’re barely fitting into the budget. Unless…I don’t eat breakfast and dinner. That way I could give the spending margin some wiggle room.

Cosette nodded approvingly, looking over her work.

“Don’t forget to eat.” Ophelia reminded her between mouthfuls of the soup.

“Right..”

Cosette savored the broth’s taste while she could.

Cosette had begun looking through the paperwork Theo and his father had filed while running their business, slowly discovering all the reasons why their business fell apart. First off, some of the first goods they had been trying to sell were considered luxury items that had high quality competition in the area with better marketing. Second, their turn out time for tools and toys was extremely low if she was to trust the listed dates on production records. Even if fae liked their products, there was too little being produced in too long a time frame.

A small knock pulled Cosette out of her thoughts.

“Yes?”

Theo opened the door to the office, giving her a small smile, “Ophelia brought lunch.” 

“Oh thank you.”

Theo walked over, putting a small sandwich down on the desk, turning to leave.

“Wait.”

He stopped, looking back at her, “Yes?” The man looked much better than his first day here. Not clean, but properly groomed hair and tucked-in clothes.

“I wanted to ask, how much debt do you still owe those men?” Cosette put her face into her hands, watching Theo closely.

“Ah…” Theo rubbed the back of his head nervously, “May I ask why you want to know?”

I need to know how high to price the perfumes and how much to pay you two so that you can pay off your debts at the end of this. That way I won’t feel as bad for stealing your home away…

“I want to help you. To do that I need to know how much money you owe.”

“Oh.” Theo stared at her with wide eyes, “It’s um…6000 gold.”

Okay damn.

“Do you have any money saved already?”

“Um…I haven’t told my father yet, because I wanted to surprise him, but I have saved up 2,500.”

Oh, not as bad.

“I can work with that.” Cosette jotted down the information.

“Aren’t you…going to ask why we owe so much?”

“Isn’t it because of your business?” Cosette looked at him.

“Yes…that’s what it started off with but it steadily got worse because of my father’s sickness.”

“He’s sick? What is he sick with?”

“The doctors haven’t been able to diagnose him, but the medicine the men provided him with helped.”

“Are they doctors?” Cosette raised her eyebrows.

They didn't look like they worked in the medical business.

“They’re not, but a healer who works for them said it was good for him.”

“I see. Is your father alright right now?”

Safe to assume he hasn't been getting his medication due to the situation.

“We have a small supply, so he will be alright for a while.”

Cosette nodded, “Oh by the way, what was the stuff the group took out of your building?”

“Uh…I am not sure actually. My father said that as part of the deal the men we borrowed money from would use a part of the backroom as storage space for their own business.”

“You don't know what you stored in your own home?” Cosette's voice was a bit harsher than she intended, but she was shocked by the lack of awareness this man was exhibiting, “Do you know what business they run?”

“From what I know, the central company they all work for does something related to shipping.” Theo paused, his voice turning insisting, “I trust my father. He can tell you the details.”

Something tells me your father won’t want to tell me those details.

Cosette smiled, “I'll ask him.”

Theo shifted awkwardly, looking like he wanted to say something.

“Yes?” Cosette looked at him

“I…wanted to say thank you.”

“Pardon?‘

“Thank you for helping us.”

Cosette laughed softly, “Thank me once we both get out of this situation.”

“No. I mean it.” Theo’s face turned serious, “We were about to be left without a home yet you saved me and my father. Now you're offering us a way to pay off our debt. It truly means the world to me.”

Cosette was taken aback. Considering this man's complaining over the past couple days, she had prepared herself to only hope for an amicable parting once this ordeal ended.

“Yeah, don't mention it.”

Just don't do anything that would jeopardize mine or Ophelia's life and we're Gucci.

Theo smiled, “Oh also, I cleared out some more of the equipment in the back and I found some glassware and bottles you mighty find useful.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it.”

Yay! Saving money!

Cosette turned back to the paperwork before her, stacking a few of the ledgers she looked over and moving them to the side. She looked through some of the papers listing off all owned materials. Since she wanted to start off selling perfumes outside she would need to set up a stand of sorts. Lucky for her there were plenty of tables in the catalog she could use.

It wasn’t anything fancy but it would do. 

Cosette put away the catalog with her list of renovation plans for the store once they could afford it. The first thing she would change was the flooring of the mezzanine, and the shelves there. Downstairs she wanted to reuse some of the older cabinets in the back for storage and replace them with updated versions. She also wanted to repaint most of the walls, or get some proper wallpaper as she had found peeling paint. Cosette really didn’t want to work in the 2.0 version of Miss Havisham’s house.

She paused suddenly.

What was this?

The ledger she picked up looked completely different from the other ones. Cosette flipped back to the previous one. 

Yep, definitely different. From the paper type to the handwriting.

She compared the two closely. On the surface level it didn’t seem like there was much of a difference, but certain terms kept getting repeated in the new ledger that weren’t present in the other one.

Rosewood, lilac and soaps.

Attached to every other strange ledger was a small list describing the number of shipments to be received.

‘Make room for five boxes of soaps.’

‘Shipment of seven boxes coming this Tuesday.’

‘Store three containers on the left side of the room.’

Cosette had decided to keep the majority of the ledgers she looked through filed within the office and pocket the stack of papers that stuck out the most. 

Just in case they ever came in handy.

“What do you mean no dinner?” Ophelia put her arms on her hips, staring down Cosette.

“I want to make sure we have enough money to start producing perfumes. In order to do that I am skipping breakfast and dinner.”

“Cosette, if anyone should be skipping meals here it’s me. As a fae my body can heal and recover much faster than yours.”

“Ophelia I can’t ask that of you.”

Not after you were denied proper food for so long, or when I threw us head first into this situation.

Ophelia groaned from frustration, stomping downstairs. Cosette continued working on the documents before her, humming gently as she looked over their progress that week. Everything was set up to begin perfume produ-

“Cosette!” Blanche burst into the room.

Uh-oh.

“Yes miss Blanche?” Cosette looked at her bewildered.

“Why is Ophelia telling me that you’re not coming down for dinner?”

“Because we need to save money?”

Blanche huffed, storming away. Ophelia looked sheepish.

“Did you snitch on me?”

“No!” Ophelia waved her hands, a small smile on her lips, “I just told her the truth!”

Cosette sighed.

Blanche quickly returned with an overflowing plate, and an empty one.

“Miss Blanche, really this isn’t necessary.” Cosette protested.

I don’t want to owe you!

“Nonsense.” Blanche placed the plate before Cosette, motioning Ophelia over, “I am giving you one plate of food as requested.”

Cosette looked at the plate. It was obvious the serving size was for two people.

“Miss Bla-”

“And stop it with the ‘miss’ title, just call me Blanche.” The woman looked frustrated.

“Thank you Blanche.” Ophelia dug into the food.

Cosette looked at the food, her stomach growling.

“Eat dear.” Blanche gave Cosette a look similar to the one she gave Fermin when he refused to eat his breakfast.

“Okay.” Cosette reluctantly ate.

I don’t want to owe you…

Cosette glanced back as Blanche left the room, returning to her duties.

Why sacrifice food for us when prices were only rising?

Reading the question on Cosette’s expression Ophelia smiled, “Perhaps she’s just a good person, like someone else I know.” she winked.

“What is that?”

“Glassware for extraction.”

“What’s that?”

“A pot for combining oils and solutions.”

“What’s that?”

“Tubes for diluting substances.”

Cosette had finished cleaning out the back area of the store, turning it into a miniature chemistry lab. The small shelves lining the tables no longer contained tools for carving, but instead beakers and vials.

Theo stared over her shoulder in wonder as she adjusted and examined the simple glasses and tubes. Cosette carefully set up a miniature pot to begin boiling, testing if the equipment worked.

“Do you use any magic to make the perfume?” the elder leaned over as well.

“No.”

“No?”

“No, there is no need.” Cosette replied, smiling slightly at the elder’s shocked expression. The pot’s water began boiling.

Good, everything was working well.

“I rely on alternative methods to produce perfumes.”

“Huh.” the older fae examined the equipment, “I am unsure if that will work well, Winter fae like high quality products. This just seems like a fast way to ruin ingredients.”

“I am not ruining the ingredients, I am extracting the most out of them.” Cosette clarified, concentrating on organizing the glass vials. She would need to be careful with these as she couldn’t afford to replace them at the moment.

Meaning I have only so many chances to get the scents just right.

Theo stared at the set up in wonder, “How many bottles of perfume can you make with this?”

“I’ll need to test the exact amount but I estimate around 20 small bottles per run.” Cosette adjusted a funnel and the improvised filtration paper, pouring some dirty water through it to test its effectiveness.

“We don’t need too many though for the first test run.”

Theo perked up, “You mentioned wanting to sell the perfumes outside since the store isn’t in working condition; have you thought of how you want to set the whole thing up?”

“Hmm, well I was thinking of just setting out a table with some nice cloth on it. Maybe design some signs for it too.” Cosette answered.

“I can build a stand if you want.”

“Sorry?”

“A stand.” he repeated, “Somewhere to store your items and goods to show off to the people outside.”

“You can build that?”

“Of course.” Theo smiled cockily, “I am a woodworker, I can build anything you ask me to!”

“Ha!” the elder man laughed, “Don't even think about bothering with it son. A table is more than enough.”

I am willing to bet money you are responsible for the below product output of your previous business.

Theo deflated slightly, clearly having been excited about the project.

“But I want to. Cosette has been working hard to prepare, it would be good to do something besides cleaning the shop.”

“She hasn’t even begun making the perfumes! It’s all a waste until she has an actual finished product.” the elder stomped out of the back area, muttering under his breath, “Seriously, younglings, always ignoring their elders’ advice.”

Cosette watched the fae leave with narrowed eyes, turning back to Theo.

“If you’re willing to build a stand, I would greatly appreciate it.”

Theo dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand, “You heard what my father said, it won’t make much of a difference.”

“Presentation does matter.” Cosette corrected.

Sometimes it was a matter between life and death.

“The fact that you thought of it is a sign you understand good business practices.”

“Thanks, I am sorry about him. He’s always been a little bit skeptical of change. He really cares about the business we had before and it’s hard for him to let go.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Cosette smiled, “You haven’t done anything.”

Theo stared at her, blushing slightly, “I’ll um, get started on designing the stand.”

“I look forward to seeing what you create.”

“Cosette…get in bed.” Ophelia murmured sleepily, turning off the lights.

“I will in a bit.” Cosette poured over paperwork filled with chemical equations and formulas.

I haven’t done synthetic organic chemistry in a while.

Cosette scrunched her nose, drawing out the necessary chemical reactions she would need to recreate to produce the selected scents. She had settled on cinnamon and vanilla as her launching points. She was having to simplify certain parts, simply because she didn’t have access to technology of Earth, but it would still produce the required effect.

Her other concern was her own scent. 

How was I supposed to make a scent that acted as a void? One that could mask my humanity?

Cosette stared at the papers before her, words and letters beginning to warp together. She flinched, feeling two hands gently wrap around her in a hug. The arms stopped, pulling back.

“Sorry.” Ophelia said softly, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s alright, you didn’t do anything.”

You weren’t the one to hurt me.

Cosette let Ophelia lead her over to the bed, snuggling close as Ophelia blew out the last candle.

Cosette lay there, engulfed by the darkness. She didn’t feel happy, but she didn’t feel sad either.

Yeah…this is okay.

“This is boring.”

“It’s necessary.”

Oh my Lord, like father, like son.

Cosette took a deep breath to remain calm. She had tried to be understanding of Theo’s initial reactions to repetitive work, but the fact that a grown-ass man couldn’t put together that sometimes success requires doing something less ‘fun’ was crazy.

No wonder Theo was the way he was, his father is no better.

She glanced at Theo who was working on unpacking glassware with no complaints.

“What should I do once I get these put away?” 

He even looked different. Gone was the unhappy expression, replaced with a small burning passion. Theo had shown Cosette his designs for the stand he wanted to build which she quickly approved. The display looked inviting and well structured to contain many bottles of perfumes.

She had to insist Theo keep the designs as they were after his father tried to critique and correct them.

“Can you bring over the bottles on the right?” Cosette examined the boiling cinnamon sticks and powder, taking the pot off at the appropriate time.

The elder sighed heavily, continuing to write out labels. Theo quickly did what she asked, rushing over to the older man.

“Here father, I can take care of this. You go take a break.”

“Oh, thank you, boy.” the elder smiled, quickly leaving the room.

Cosette narrowed her eyes. She had always been taught to respect her elders. To treat those who are weaker with kindness and compassion. However, as far she could see…this man did not deserve the same treatment.

What kind of parent shoves work onto their child? What kind of man actively puts down their son’s good ideas?

Suddenly the elder coughed, stumbling slightly.

“Father?” Theo practically flew over to his parent’s side.

“I am alright boy.”

“You haven’t forgotten to take your medicine, right?”

“I’ll go do that now.”

Cosette shook her head. How could she think that way about a sick person?

He was trying his best.

Cosette forced her judgmental thoughts under.

It was wrong of me to think that.

Yes still, Cosette shivered. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was off.

“Cosette, are you ready to go?” Ophelia entered the back room, pulling on her cloak.

“Almost.”

Ophelia smiled fondly, joining Cosette on another stool, “What are you working on?”

“I am finishing up the first perfume samples.”

“Wait, seriously?”

Ophelia leaned in, watching curiously as Cosette mixed solutions together, pouring the two finalized liquids into two separate vials.

“They look gorgeous.”

“Thank you. Which one do you want to try first?”

Ophelia shyly pointed to the yellow toned perfume.

“Vanilla it is.” Cosette handed her the vial, letting Ophelia apply it to herself.

Ophelia carefully spritzed the air, taking a careful sniff.

“Oh wow!”

That was a good reaction.

“If I found this in the store I would totally buy it!” Ophelia fangirled.

“I do think I made it a bit too sweet, so I am going to try diluting or countering it by adding musk or citrus oils to it.”

Ophelia nodded in approval, “Can I try the newer versions once you make them?”

“Absolutely, who else would I trust to test the products?”

Cosette began cleaning up her equipment, washing the vials carefully. Ophelia assisted by drying them off, eager to get home.

“What do I smell like?”

“Eh?” Ophelia was taken aback by the question.

“What do I smell like?”

“Like that atrocious perfume you bought from that damned street.”

“No, I mean after I bathe in the evenings. What is my human scent like?”

“Oh, you smell like magnolias. It’s quite wonderful, perhaps even my favorite smell.” Ophelia winked, setting aside the cleaned vials and glasses into their appropriate shelves.

“I appreciate the compliment, but how do you know it’s human?”

“There’s this…subtle undertone of mortality to it?”

“Uh-huh, okay.”

Not the most helpful but it’s a start. What does mortality even smell like?

“Why do you ask?”

“I am making a perfume that can cover my human smell. I don’t want to keep smelling like spoiled fruits and rotting flowers.”

Granted, that was better than smelling like mud.

“You know Cosette, you never cease to amaze me.” Ophelia murmured softly.

“I haven’t even done anything impressive yet.”

Ophelia leaned against her, “‘Yet’? Now I am scared for the fate of Prythian.”

Cosette laughed, “No need to fear. I don’t plan on doing anything too bad.”

“Hm, yeah. You’re too good to do any real damage.”

“Oi!”

The two quickly left the shop, saying their goodbyes to Theo.

Outside darkness had already fallen yet the city was still brimming with life. Cosette took a deep breath, letting her senses overflow with the various smells of foods and spices.

Cosette paused.

What if…instead of masking or nullifying a scent, she could attempt to compliment it? Create a perfume that when added to her existing scent created something new - something that didn’t smell human?

“Ophelia, Blanche, I have a request.” Cosette smiled, holding two small bottles. After spending the whole week perfecting the scents, she was finally satisfied with the end result.

“What is it dear?” Blanche looked up from her food, Forrest trying to force broccoli down Fermin’s throat while Ophelia sipped her tea.

“I want you two to wear these perfumes for the next week.”

Blanche’s expression fell, turning hesitant, “Perfume dear?”

“Ooo, is this the final product?” Ophelia leaned over, looking at the two vials.

“Yeah. Take your pick Ophelia; cinnamon or vanilla?”

“I want the vanilla one! ” Ophelia took the vial, aiming it to spritz on her hand.

“Wait! Spray it outsi-” Blanche and Forrest both moved in a slight panic to stop Ophelia as a gentle scent of cinnamon and nature filled the air.

“Oh.” Blanche said simply.

“I adore this one.” Ophelia smiled.

“Blanche?” Cosette smiled at the woman shyly, “Would you be willing?”

Blanche tentatively took the small bottle, spritzing her wrist once, her eyes widening as a soft cinnamon smell filled the room.

“Oh.” she repeated.

“It’s good right?” Ophelia beamed, excited, returning to her food.

“I want you two to wear it over the course of this week, and if people ask where you got the scent from, tell them it’s from our store.”

“You got it girl!” Ophelia gave Cosette a thumbs up, “I’ll visit all the most popular places!”

“I’ll make sure to let them know.” Blanche agreed, moving closer to her husband to let him smell the perfume.

Forrest nodded in approval, “It’s a delicate smell.”

“Thank you.” Cosette blushed slightly.

The group quickly finished their dinner, dispersing to their rooms.

“Alright Ophelia.” Cosette took a deep breath, “Let me know if you can still smell the mortality on me.”

Cosette had gone out on a limb here - Ophelia said she smelled of magnolias with a hint of ‘mortality’, what if she created a perfume that smelled of eternity?

It was a lot of effort to find dahlias, but she managed to find a couple for a reasonable price. 

Reasonable as in I stole them.

A part of Cosette hated how easily she relied on such skills to survive. The other part of her understood that it was necessary.

It’s okay, I’ll return and pay the person back once I can.

Cosette sprayed some of the perfume on herself.

Ophelia shook her head, “No Cosette…I can still smell your humanity.”

“Hm.”

Should have guessed it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Perfumery street ‘perfumes’ it is for now then.”

“I truly feel terrible for Blanche.” Ophelia smiled.

“Me too. I haven’t scared off all the customers yet have I?”

“Miraculously no.”

“Cosette stop fussing, the stand looks perfect.” Ophelia chidded.

Cosette looked up at her friend, “I am just double checking everything is in order.”

“You already triple-checked everything. Just breathe for me, okay?”

The fateful opening day had arrived after four weeks of grueling, nonstop work. 

Cosette nodded, taking a deep breath of the crisp air. She had been standing outside for only a minute and already felt like she was about to freeze.

The stand Theo built was perfect, its structure reminiscent of a vanity. Its shelves and sides had vines and snowflakes carved into it, with the shelves and holders being modeled exactly for the perfume bottles they were using.

I’ll need to thank him again for his work later.

Faes had begun walking down the street in the early morning, most trying to get to work, others going to get breakfast. Quite a few faes crossed the street, avoiding their little stand.

Hmm, this wasn’t going well. These people were too scared to even try the perfumes in fear of being bombed by a stench.

Cosette picked up a sample bottle of the vanilla scent, spritzing the air a couple times.

Let’s try to convince them we weren’t biohazard waste disguised as a business. 

One fae female paused, turning back to look at their stand, tilting her head as she smelled the air.

Cosette maintained a calm aura as the woman approached, curiosity etched into her features.

“Excuse me, are these perfumes?”

“Yes miss.” Cosette smiled, her joy bubbling to the surface slightly, “We have two new scents, would you like to try them?”

“What’s the scent in the air?”

“Ah, that’s our cinnamon perfume.”

She nodded hesitantly, picking up the bottle, looking at it closely, “Did you make these?”

Cosette nodded, “I did miss.”

The fae looked impressed, examining the vanilla bottle too.

“This would make a good gift for the Winter Solstice.” The woman looked at the bottles thoughtfully, “How much is it?”

“5 gold pieces.”

“Hmm, affordable compared to the prices in those stores.” the fae nodded to herself, “I’ll take the cinnamon one.”

A couple other faes approached the stand, drawn in by the sweet gentle smell. Others arrived due to Ophelia’s and Blanche’s marketing efforts.

It was by midday that the stand became full of customers. Cosette was for once thankful for the Winter faes’ colder, calmer demeanors as they formed actual lines, rather than all crowding around her and Ophelia all at once.

“What is this?” a male shoved his way through the line.

“Hello sir, can we help you?” Ophelia quickly moved to put herself between the fae and Cosette.

“Like hell you can, what do you think you’re doing? Stealing business away from us good folk?”

“Stealing?” Ophelia laughed, “All we’re doing is selling perfume.”

“You have no right!” the man practically spat, an unpleasant odor, a clear marker of the perfumery street, made everyone around him pinch their noses in displeasure.

“All we did was set up a stand in front of a building we own, we very much have the right to do that.” Cosette spoke up, looking at the man.

The fae laughed, waving his arms as if that was going to strengthen his argument, “Oh so you think you’re all that huh? Coming in with this new perfume or whatever? Trying to steal business away from the professionals?”

The faes around them glanced at each other, their concern growing.

“If you truly were a professional these people wouldn’t be shopping here.” Cosette pointed out.

That was the man's breaking point as he charged at Ophelia, Cosette pulling her to the side as the man ran into the stand, knocking it over, and smashing the perfume bottles. The faes around them cried out, quickly rushing away from the violence, some running to call for the royal guard.

Cosette tried to take a step forward, rage filling her veins, but Ophelia pulled her back.

“Don’t stop him.” she whispered.

“What do you mean ‘don’t stop him’ he’s going to destroy all our hard work!”

“And destroy you in the process.” Ophelia looked at her with a serious expression, “You don’t stand a chance in a physical brawl against him.”

Cosette hated to admit it, but Ophelia was right. So, she swallowed her pride, watching her hard work get broken into smithereens.

The fae eventually stopped, looking at the two women gleefully, “Now what are you gonna do huh? Got no more perfumes left to sell, haha! ”

Good thing I didn’t bring out all the perfumes, though it was a shame to lose that many bottles.

“What got nothing to say?” the man taunted.

The two of them remained silent as he strutted away, making both women, and bystanders cringe.

Theo, having heard the commotion, rushed out of the store. 

“By the Cauldron, what happened?!”

Ophelia carefully approached the shards, picking them and placing them into a pile on the snowy pavement. 

“A perfumer from that stupid street showed up, angry that we were stealing his sales.”

“That bastard.” Theo muttered, pushing the stand into an upright position, assessing the damage.

Cosette kneeled down, helping Ophelia collect pieces of glass and broken off chunks of the stand.

A couple faes approached the group.

“Is anyone hurt?” the woman to make the first purchase asked, her tone worried.

“No, everyone is okay. Except for the stand.” Cosette joked lightly.

“That’s good to hear.” another fae spoke, “We notified the authorities what that man did. Absolutely unacceptable behavior.”

The winter faes around them nodded in agreement - violence of such sort was not to be tolerated.

“Thank you for your assistance.” Cosette smiled.

Really, I should be thanking him. This man has just given us free, good marketing, and the evidence I needed to confirm that we were a worthy competitor. 

Next: Chapter 17 - All Things Magic and Mystic

Back: Chapter 15 - A Sweet Stench

Masterlist

Tag list: @rcarbo1

[fwtcanimelover]

Dumb/random Star Wars au idea:

So there are twin Jedi siblings. After order 66, the edgy one becomes an inquisitor, while the other stays a jedi on the run/trying not to be discovered. (The edgy one gave themselves up willing). The edgy one keeps on trying to kill the other one, but because their sibling knows all of their fighting moves, the edgy one keeps on failing miserably. It gets to the point where every time the jedi sibling hear a lightsaber ignite, they know it's their edgy sibling. While there may have been sympathy for their edgy sibling. The sympathy quickly fizzled out after it was the 300th attack this week. The edgy one is obsessed with ending their Jedi sibling or at least capturing them. While their Jedi sibling is completely done with this, their edgy sibling isn't even a threat to them. They just find their edgy sibling annoying at this point. They just want to have a good night's sleep without their edgy sibling monologuing. It just ends up becoming petty sibling rivalry, with one sibling picking fights the entire time and the other one just wanting to be left alone. I guess the edgy sibling is like a cartoon villain and the other one is just done with their sibling's antics and stupidity.

Monologue ideas:

Idea 1

Inquisitor: "So we finally meet at last"

Jedi: "Are you kidding me? This is the 20th time this week! Get a life!"

Idea 2

Inquisitor: "You will pay for what you did to me"

Jedi: "It was a cookie when we were 5!"

Inquisitor: "You ate the last one"

Jedi: "I already said sorry 1000 times! And I got you a new one!"

Inquisitor: " It had raisins in it"

Idea 3

Inquisitor with an additional Inquisitor as back up: "You will not escape this time Jedi."

Jedi : " So you're capable of making friends. Congratulations."

Idea 4

Jedi opens up a door to find the Inquisitor inside the room waiting for them. The Jedi immediately shuts the door and walks away.

[compusever]

Hi there! Bit of a weird question, and I’m not sure if this is the right blog for this, but… best laptop for privacy? I’m going to go to uni in a year and my parents have said that they’re going to buy me a laptop, which is awesome, except— I don’t know which one to chose? I’ve never had a laptop before but I try to take being private online as seriously as I can, and so I don’t really care… well, like, I do care that the laptop has good storage and works and stuff, but I care mostly about how private it is. Which one supports adding privacy-related stuff the best? Which one steals your data the least? I… am actually not sure what kind of questions I should be asking, since… again, never had a laptop before, and I don’t know what about its make makes it private (other than like general online privacy practices across all devices), so I was just wondering if you had any recommendations for me? Tldr: don’t care about fancy features, just want a laptop that more or less works, but would love privacy to be the main focus. This can sort of come at the expense of convenience - I don’t care it if’s harder to set up, use, etc., so long as I can connect to the internet with it.

So the hardware is pretty agnostic on this, the place where privacy is going to become an issue is in the software.

Windows loves to track you and send your data back to homebase; Apple is a walled garden that doesn't let people get deep into configurations; linux is intimidating for a lot of people.

Your actual best bet on privacy would be to get a laptop with no OS and install a linux distro on it, but it sounds like that's probably not something that's terribly approachable for you. So in that case I'd recommend getting a Windows laptop (mac prices aren't worth it) and going through this list to change the settings to ensure better privacy.

HOWEVER please note that you should be getting a laptop with a full OS. Windows has an option for "windows 11s" or "windows 10s" and first off you should be going with 11 at this point but second that "s" means that there are pretty strict limitations on what you can do as a user in terms of configuration and installation.

If you are willing to pay a bit more for Windows 11 Pro instead of windows 11 Home, the pro license cuts off some of the more annoying tracking that Windows does automatically, but I'd say you're better off simply getting the home license and really digging into the settings and getting to know it and setting it up for yourself.

BUT if it's at all possible, honestly I'd say get a bare metal laptop (that means it's just the hardware, no software, you need to install an operating system before you do anything) and install linux. HOWEVER keep in mind that there are some significant downsides to using linux as a student, mostly that you'll likely run into software at some point that you won't be able to install. Also if you're not already pretty good with computers it can be difficult to keep a linux machine running (but very easy to make it private; that's the tradeoff - you can make it more secure more easily, but you really have to know how to fix your own computer if something goes wrong.)

For your situation, again, I think a Windows 11 Home laptop with the settings adjusted is your best bet.

Absolutely positively don't get a chromebook (you've got no control of the settings on a chromebook and the thing is made to feed information to google) and don't get a mac (you can get better specs on a PC at a lower cost).

For an idea of budget on this, I'd say you can probably get something from Dell, Lenovo, or HP for around $650-1000 dollars that's got decent specs (12th gen or newer i5 processor, 16gb RAM, 512GB SSD) and maybe something more like $500-800 from acer, asus, or samsung. Whatever computer you end up getting, you should get the added drop protection warranty because that means the manufacturer will fix your laptop if you drop it, something that is a bigger deal for college students than most people (because of your environment you're more likely to end up with drop damage than a lot of people AND because you're a college student you probably won't be able to afford to fix or replace the computer)

Good luck!