#i don't have that many it was the only little package at the store

[moonyistired]

attempting to make some tassels

first one (right on first image) i ended up tying the knot too far from the pearls and it was to tight to untie, so i had to cut it to keep the pearls (i have like 500 meters of thread and only a few dozen pearls so i know what i'm more willing to sacrifice)

second one i fucked up a bit cause i think i cut the first knot a bit too close and it untied, so i had to force it back in after already tying around the head. it ended up a bit messy and off-center, but it's alright as a practice since i'm not selling it anyway.

big fan of the colors though! i'm planning on making some bookmarks that'll match these colors and then i'll make more tassels when i have the bookmarks on hand.

[tightwadspoonies]

How to Shop at an Asian (or other ethnic) Grocery Store

Do you live in or near a city in the US?

Need to save some money on groceries?

Might I introduce you to... shopping at the local Asian grocery?

Asian grocery stores aimed at an Asian-American customer base almost always beat the prices of their western (or for-western) counterparts. Often by a significant amount, especially in categories like produce, meat, rice, and spices. Plus in addition to lower prices, you get the satisfaction of supporting a small, local business instead of a larger chain store.

(Note that a lot of this information applies to other ethnic grocery stores as well, but we're using Asian because they're common in many cities, and have particularly good prices on produce.)

But it can be a little bit of a learning curve when you first start to shop at them. This post will give you the information you need to navigate them.

So how do you find a good Asian grocery store?

First, go on google maps and search "grocery".

Note that you are NOT googling "Asian Grocery" or "Cheap Grocery". If you search "Asian Grocery" you will get results for Asian stores marketing toward a western audience, and because of this, will be neat, shiny, and very pricey. If you search "Cheap Grocery" you will get stores marketing themselves as cheap, which generally are only slightly less expensive than their "expensive" counterparts (think Aldi). Okay in a pinch, but you can do better.

Second, look at the pictures of all the stores you can easily get to.

Here's what you want: not a lot of printed ads, pictures of hand-written signs (especially in languages other than English), food in cardboard bins, and you want it to look kind of "junky". Bonus points if you can see prices listed in the pictures or the people shopping there are mostly older, ethnic women.

Third, If you couldn't find anything like this, go on your city's subreddit.

Search "cheap", "cheap grocery" and "expensive grocery". Why "expensive grocery"? Because you want to find people complaining about grocery prices, and you want to see the advice they get. Many times, that advice is Asian or ethnic grocery stores.

If you're still not getting anything, google "[city name] cheap grocery" and "[city name] expensive grocery" (see above). Scroll until you get to FORUMS discussing groceries in your city. You DO NOT want blogs or articles. Again, you're looking at the advice people are given when they complain about grocery prices.

One of the first questions people ask upon walking into an Asian grocery store of the type discussed in this post is:

"Is the food I'm getting here safe to eat?"

The answer is just as safe as anywhere else you might shop.

You're probably used to very clean, pretty, well-lit, well-organized stores. This will probably not be that, but it will be regulated by the same health department that regulates those stores. They are held to the same standards.

It's a lot of work to keep a store looking like a western consumer expects. It's a lot less work (and thus less money) to keep a store looking like an ethnic career housewife or grandmother expects. That is largely where the savings comes from.

What's a good deal at an Asian grocery?

Produce. You're probably used to things like onions and carrots being the cheapest per pound. Here it's going to be greens, apples, pears, radish, cabbage and maybe squash and sweet potatoes. Check unit prices and prepare to try some new things. Also a pound of greens is a LOT of greens. Keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that you might see a few pieces of produce that are bruised or have mold on them. That's okay. Just don't buy those pieces. The rest of the batch is probably fine. Wash produce when you get home if you're concerned, though you should be doing that anyway.

Rice and dry beans. If you like to buy in bulk, you're in luck. Don't expect to walk away with a pound or two of these. They come in 40lb packages. But if you tailor most of your meals around them, those meals will be cheap af. There are also lots of different types of specialty rice if you want to make your own sushi or mochi. Learn how to soak and sprout beans.

Tofu. Tofu is expensive when you buy it at a health food store. It is not when you buy it at an Asian grocery. It probably won't be in pretty packages, but again, cheap is not going to be super pretty.

Meat and fish. Meat is generally going to be cheaper here, though maybe not by as much as the produce is. Pork will probably be your cheapest option. You may also see cuts you don't normally see, like tongue, intestine, liver, kidneys, blood, etc... "Weird," however, does not automatically mean cheap in this context. Check unit prices and prepare to be adventurous. If you don't know what else to do with them, dried fish and animal organs make fantastic stock when boiled.

Spices. Again with the extremely large quantities here. But very inexpensive compared with their western counterparts.

Candy. This makes a great inexpensive gift if you need one, since the candy sold at these stores is fairly exotic for a western audience.

What isn't a good deal at an Asian grocery?

Dairy. This includes fresh milk, butter, cheese, etc... If they have it, it will be very expensive. Consider buying elsewhere.

Eggs. Again, this will probably be as expensive or more than the eggs you could get at a western supermarket.

Snacks. Pre-made items will be expensive in general, even though they may be tempting because they are different from what you are used to and you don't need to learn to cook a new thing. Do your best to avoid these and make your own if you can. If you can't, frozen pork or vegetable dumplings are probably your best bet for a quick meal.

Bread. It's pricey. A lot of Asian cuisines use rice, noodles, or buns for their starch instead of western-style bread. So if you can find it it will often be a novelty item.

What else do I need to know?

It's okay to be overwhelmed by new ingredients. Look up some YouTube videos on how to cook certain ingredients if you're not familiar with them.

These are not supermarkets. They sell food and sometimes the kitchenware (steamers, woks, chopsticks, etc...) needed to cook it. You will probably need to get your soap and household items somewhere else.

Pay in cash if you can. Most of these are very small businesses and paying them cash makes it so they don't need to pay credit card fees. At the very least, make the minimum purchase before paying with a card.

[teaboot]

I feel like if you're using a lot of disposable plastic bags in your day to day life, you've gotta do something sustainable to make up for it. Like using bamboo toilet paper or eco friendly cat litter or something, yknow

Honestly I exaggerate for comedic effect, while I DO routinely use ziplock bags to hold spaghetti I cook maybe once a month and the bag itself is usually for freezer storage. I actually throw out maybe one bag a week? I DO hate washing plates and tupperware and junk but that usually just means I eat sandwiches without a plate.

I agree though that needless waste should be avoided, and I do avoid it- biodegradable bags and recyclables, empty butter tubs used to store leftovers, etc.

This said, though, not applicable necessarily for myself but for a lot of others- I feel that it's importat to remember that there are many people who legitimately NEED things like plastic straws, or catheters, or pre-packaged foods

And the idea that that's a moral failing that individuals need to personally make up for when a single billionaire blows out more CO2 in a long weekend than I will in my whole life on a superjet meet-cute in the Bolivian rainforest between humvee drag races funded by the river-polluting textiles plants they planted in a third world country to avoid EPA laws and give an entire village stillbirths and stomach cancer is an idea that those very same bigwigs have spent a LOT of time and money investing in planting in the public psyche.

Like- Glass bottles are infinitely recyclable, so why are so many drinks in plastic now? Loads of drinks manufacturers used to buy them back and clean them for re-use, so why did they stop? If they chose to make something out of a limited and environmentally irresponsible material, why is it my failing to track down a correct process of disposal for them? What if there are none in my area? Do I lobby for more recycling plants in my area? Do I set aside some of my limited time outside the pain factory of my job- which I have more than one of, thanks to rising costs of things just like that drink I just emptied- to properly dispose of this company's waste FOR them?

Say coca-cola just rolled up to your town and started dumping millions of empty plastic bottles in the street, going, "wow, you should really think about building and staffing a recycling depot, it would be really shameful of you to just put these in the trash." When companies purposefully use materials with limited lifespans- because yes, even plastic can only be reused so many times- and tell you it's your own fault if it harms the environment- that's essentially what they're doing, just with more steps.

Yes, its important to be as environmentally concious as we can in our day to day life, but responsible sustainability is not catholicism. We don't get good boy points from our lord and savior Captain Planet every time the average low-income household gathers together to hold hands and repent for a single-use plastic that allows them to access something they need.

Entire families could eat trees and shit dead lithium batteries for years and still not do as much damage to the planet as an average dye plant or braindead celebrity does in a week just for fun, and I'm mad about it

...this went on longer than intended.

TL/DR: DO recycle and minimize waste, but don't beat yourself up over the little waste you can't avoid, and follow the money.

EDIT: Part 2

[sirfrogsworth]

Early voting to beat the lines... the best-laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.

So... yesterday was quite the day.

After being stuck in bed for the past 6 weeks with some mystery slump, I was finally feeling better. So I decided I would try to cram as many errands into my day as possible. That works better for me when I drive out into the world because I end up only having to do one big recovery instead of a bunch of little recoveries.

My to-do list...

Go to the doctor

Vote early

Return oxygen machine to FedEx store for scammy eBay guy

Return Amazon package to the UPS store

Get gasoline for my whip

Go to Discount Tire to get my tires filled for free

Drop a check off for my lawn guy

Mail a secret package to Katrina at the US Post Office

It would have been nice if I could have gone to just one shipping place instead of all three, but the universe has a sense of humor and likes to do shit like that to me on a regular basis.

So, I get my checkup, it goes quick, no long wait, I'm feeling good.

As I get in my car, it starts to rain. It was an ugly day and it actually has not stopped raining to this very moment a day later. Just gray, windy, chilly, and wet. I look up the voting place and start the GPS.

Wipers and music on full blast, it's time to get my vote on.

When I reach my destination, I realize early voting is at some kind of private golf club. And at the center is a recreation center—which is a public building.

So it's like this private/public turducken situation.

I was expecting this errand to take 20 minutes. Because early voting always seemed like a way to get in before the crowds of election day for a more convenient voting experience.

But the parking lot was packed and I feared my expectations were about to be subverted.

As I walk through the parking lot I see a bunch of signs in the ground.

And a particular one caught my eye.

This is bullshit.

Like, just a straight up lie. No truth to it whatsoever.

Amendment 3 in Missouri basically restores abortion rights in the state. And Republicans have taken issue with the following language...

"The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person's fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions."

They claim the phrasing "but not limited to" means you can give an 8-year-old kid "sex change surgery."

This is how their online flyer puts it...

It could also include a free puppy.

Or a zillion bucks.

Or a clown will come to your house after the abortion and honk your nose.

It's ridiculous and desperate. I honestly don't know how it is legal for them to put a lie like that outside of a polling location, but here we are.

The organization "Missouri Stands with Women" is run by... a man.

It was set up by a lawyer named "Edward Greim" on behalf of the Federalist Society.

His law firm has a lovely biography about him. And a bunch of publicly available contact information. I say that for no reason whatsoever.

The Federalist Society funds all kinds of shit like this. Their main thing is installing conservative judges all over the country who will reinterpret or negate legislation. And they do it all to "stand with women" by taking away their reproductive rights.

Here is the board of directors of the Federalist Society.

Ya know, before I looked this up, I said to myself, "I bet it's going to be a sausage fest." I am psychic.

I think it would be more accurate to say they stand with A woman.

Just one.

And she sucks.

Nicole is a law professor at Notre Dame. She chose her Catholicism over her right to choose. The Catholic Church will fuck your rights and your children and Nicole will help them do it.

Anyway... back to my quick and easy voting experience...

So as I'm walking in to vote I keep passing a ton of these awful signs. I notice an older woman standing next to the aforementioned "child sex change" sign and she says, "Can I talk to you about Amendment 3?"

At this point, I'm pretty angry. I look her dead in the eyes and say with my most assholish tone, "NO." as I walk past her.

And then she finishes her sentence...

"...to protect the reproductive rights of women."

Ah, dammit.

I thought she was an old Karen but she was cool as heck. Standing out in the rain telling people the sign is bullshit. I wanted to turn around and apologize but I was stuck in full social anxiety mode so I just kept walking.

If that old lady happens to have a Tumblr and follows me and is willing to read this giant story... I just want to say I am sorry. I thought you were awful and I should have let you finish your sentence. You're super cool and I'm happy there are folks like you fighting for what is right.

I get inside and a young woman greets me. She tells me the line is in the next room and points. I still wasn't quite sure what the situation was. The parking lot being full gave me pause, but I was still hopeful I could have a swift early voting experience.

But I walk through the doors and into a huge gymnasium and my heart sinks.

It's hard to represent in pictures how long this line is.

It goes all the way to the end of the gym, loops around, and comes back. At first I was not too discouraged, because there was a nice gentle ramp at the start of the line.

But then I notice several sets of stairs at different stages of the line. And I'm just thinking how hard it would be to stand in this line and then also having to go up and down several sets of stairs.

So I go back to the young woman working there and ask what their accessible voting options are. And she told me I could do curbside voting and points outside. I then notice a line of cars wrapped around the parking lot. I don't know how I didn't see them walking in, but I guess I was too busy being a jerk to elderly progressive women.

My biggest concern was time.

The longer this takes, the more energy I use up, the longer my eventual recovery will be.

They tell me the car option is the slowest. And I could be in line for 2 to 3 hours. And then an old man who seemed to be in charge walks over and tells me the fastest option is to stand in line.

So I walk back out to my car and grab my cane and decide to try the long serpentine gynasium line.

I start walking up the ramp and some of the other folks see how slow and labored I'm walking and they start encouraging me. "You can do it! You got this!" Which I suppose was meant to be a positive helpful thing. But I found it to be embarrassing.

I get to the end of the line and notice most of the line has bleachers directly next to it. So I decide to sit down and rest and figure out how I am going to survive this experience.

It took me a while to recover from the long walk to this spot. I watched a bunch of people pass me by and the line was actually getting much longer as I rested. I was not really sure what to do. I was trying to problem-solve this situation but the answer that kept popping up in my mind was just... "go home."

But I felt this was too important and that wasn't really an option.

My best idea was to ask someone if they would hold my spot in line. Perhaps I could just sit in the bleachers and follow them around in the line, staying as close to them as I could. But my social anxiety was set to maximum and I was not finding the courage to ask someone.

After about 10 minutes of sitting, resting, and thinking, I basically say, "Fuck it, I'll try to stand in line."

I get up and start walking to the end of the line.

Then I hear a voice yell out to me.

"Hey, man! Come over here! This is your spot!"

A young man was waving at me. He was accompanied by his wife. Both of them were dressed in black and they had a sort of goth skater aesthetic going on. He had a competitively bushy beard, but with less gray. And she had very vivid purple hair.

I was a little confused and still processing what was happening. Then they both started waving at me to join them in line. They remembered I got there just before and told me I should be in front of them. I walk over and thank them. Then he suggests...

"Hey, why don't you just sit in the bleachers and follow us around the line."

He suggested my idea!

Without me asking!

I felt like he read my mind or something.

Can bearded people read each others' minds? Was this some beard skill I was unaware of?

"I got you, man. You just sit and we'll keep your place."

And his violet hair'd significant other agreed. "Yeah, we got you."

The kindness of strangers was more accessible than my polling place and I was just so thankful in that moment.

So I sat in the bleachers and watched them traverse the line. In the middle of the gym there were some teenagers playing basketball. And so I just rested and watched them play.

That young man in the red pants was like a goddamn Harlem Globetrotter. He was just embarrassing the others. He was bouncing the ball behind his back and through his legs and then he just danced around his opponents like a figure skater. It was such an unbalanced matchup. He might as well have been playing 4th graders. Not only was he significantly faster and more maneuverable, but he was consistently hitting 3-pointers.

And then during a break, he ran towards the hoop, jumped from the free throw line, flew all the way to the net, grabbed onto the rim, and proceeded to do several pull ups as if they were the easiest thing in the world. I don't think I've seen anyone jump that far and that high in real life and it was just a bonkers display of athleticism.

I spent the entire wait watching him humiliate the others—hoping he would get a full ride scholarship to some prestigious university.

And I hoped the other boys paid attention in school and got straight As, because basketball was not going to work out for them.

As my new goth skater friends progressed through the line, I would make sure to keep sight of them. Every once in a while I'd give them a head nod to acknowledge we were in this together. After an hour and a half they were at the final segment of the line, so I sat next to the wheelchair folks.

I probably could have argued to sit with them in the first place. But I really did not feel like making the case that I was just as disabled as them and needed that level of consideration. The old man running things seemed quite stressed and was putting out 8 fires at once. And my anxiety wasn't really cooperating enough to be assertive in my needs.

But it worked out in the end, so I'm not going to dwell on the lack of accommodation for people who weren't *visually* disabled.

My new bearded friend neared the end and waved me over. I thanked him and his wife profusely.

I joked, "Thank you for adopting a voter."

They seemed confused by my joke.

"No problem, man. Happy to help."

I told him and his wife they truly saved me. "I honestly don't think I would have made it through the line." And then I looked back...

I said, "As crazy as this is, I do find this kind of turnout encouraging." His wife agreed and said, "We were saying the same thing!" And then I thought, "Can the wives of bearded people absorb the mind reading ability? I hope she can't read my mind right now. Although, I'm mostly thinking that her hair is a really cool shade of purple, so she'd probably find that complimentary."

As I waited to get my ballot I could hear the happy couple behind me. They were very cute. They were making fun of each other in a very lovey-dovey fashion. I had high hopes they were going to grow old and gray and purple together based on their chemistry. And I was just so thankful they were able to recognize that I needed help without me asking. Because I probably would have just caved to my anxiety and not asked for help otherwise.

I got my ballot and sat down to fill in all of the appropriate squares. Thankfully I had prepared a cheat sheet on my phone.

It was an exact replica so I was able to copy it and finish quite rapidly.

Then I fed my votes into the vote-eating monster and they gave me a sticker.

My quick 20 minute adventure to vote early only took 2.5 hours!

And because I didn't want to buck tradition, I stood outside in the wind and the rain and took a voting selfie.

Yep, that seems about right.

Ah, crap... that was only the second thing on my to-do list.

Let's speedrun the rest of this story, shall we?

I drove to FedEx. I hauled a 40 pound box inside. I plopped it on the counter and said, "Man, this thing is heavy!" as I tried to catch my breath. The 20 year old working there then lifted it like it was a feather and I felt great about that.

I drove to the gas station because I was nearly on empty—that is both a metaphor and not a metaphor. I filled my ride with go juice.

I noticed I was a mile from the tire store and they fill up tires for free. So I did that and the guy was super nice and complimented my tires. I felt both weird and proud about having my tires complimented. Like, I had nothing to do with my tires being nice. But I accepted the praise on their behalf.

I drove to the UPS store. The last time I was there I made a scene. They refused to box up a return and I got upset and wasn't feeling well and they had to find a chair for me to sit in because I was going to faint. So I was hoping the same woman wasn't there, but she was. She didn't recognize me, so it was fine.

I drove to my lawn guy's house. He wasn't home. I dropped a check in his mailbox. My checks have corgis on them. My checks are cute.

I drove to the post office. I sent a secret package to my bestie, Katrina. I'd tell you what is in it, but it is an inside joke and you wouldn't get it. The woman noticed my voting sticker and I couldn't help thinking about what I just accomplished to get that sticker.

On my way out I noticed a miracle.

2 of the 4 doors were fixed!

I mean, I don't know why they couldn't fix all 4, but now the employees won't freeze in the winter. So I take that as a win. It only took a year and a half to accomplish and I'm sure all of my phone calls and emails did not help at all. But I'm going to pretend I saved the day regardless.

And then... I drove home.

5 hours of errands.

I was so fucking tired. My back was on fire with pain. I immediately collapsed into my bed. I passed out. And I slept for 14 hours.

The End

[xiaominghao]

11:19 pm.

Genre: fluff, fluff, fluff.

Pairing: Joshua x fem!reader.

Warnings: none (unless you're weak for Josh being a cutie).

Yuin's Note: I should have had this ready for my birthday, but as they say, things happen. Anyway, happy (super late) birthday to me.

You were sitting at the desk doing some things on the computer when a familiar presence approached from behind the chair, a hand gently rested on one of your shoulders.

"Hey darling, do you have any plans for tomorrow?" Joshua asked, his voice sounding a bit suspicious.

"I don’t know, you tell me," you replied, a smile forming at the corners of your lips.

"It’s your birthday, not mine," Joshua chuckled softly, resting his chin on top of your head.

"Yes, but you don't let me make any plan for the last three years."

He let out a dramatic gasp as if you were blaming him for something, letting out a soft laugh that was like music to your ears. He was very predictable when it came to these things. Joshua kissed the top of your head, his hand gently caressing your shoulder.

"Well, maybe, just maybe," his voice sounded innocent and suspicious at the same time, "I planned something weeks in advance, and maybe I made a reservation at that nice restaurant you love so much, and..."

In front of you, a package appeared deliberately blocking the screen of your laptop. It was a gift bag in your favorite color, and there was a note attached to it with your name written on it.

"I might have bought you that beautiful dress you saw in that store the other day."

You lifted your face to meet Joshua's smiling gaze; you were still stunned by what was happening. He gave you a small kiss on the forehead and squeezed your cheeks with his hands, as if it helps you to react.

"Happy birthday, darling. Enjoy your gift."

You quickly opened the gift bag and excitement overflowed when you indeed held in your hands the dress you had wanted so much. You stood up from your seat and wrapped your arms around Joshua in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Josh!" you repeated over and over, rubbing your cheek against his chest.

"Only the best for my angel," Joshua pecked your cheek, then stepped back a little to give you a more serious look. "I hope you wear it tomorrow."

You nodded several times, but that serious yet playful look on his face didn’t disappear.

"And I will be very upset if you don't enjoy your day".

You rolled your eyes, which made him break character and chuckled sheepishly.

"I love you, Josh," you kissed his cheek, holding his face between your hands. His fond gaze made your face warm up a little. "And I hope to spend many more birthdays by your side."

[razmazaniya]

how to shoplift (and see free movies)

If you like this, I'll make a super simple piracy tutorial.

Movies are simple. Purchase one ticket, and when your movie ends, just walk into another theater room.

Gas stations and dollar stores are weird because you're very visible. It really depends how much of a fuck the staff gives.

Bring company or a phone. You look like more of a normal shopper when your mom, partner, or friend is talking to you about salami. You can either wander and circle back or stay near them and "body conceal" — use their body to block your concealment of your item.

Know your store and the staff. Know camera placements. Know blind spots. My method? Pretend to browse, pick an item, hide it behind my phone or clothes I'm holding, and/or circle a shelf or aisle and slip it into my sleeve. If it's too big for my sleeve, hide it behind my phone and put my phone in my purse.

Let them see you with the targeted item as little as possible. Don't look worthy of attention. Don't seem super interested in the item you intend to take. Act fascinated by something else and then act dismissive and put it back. Misdirection.

DO NOT look like yourself (depends a bit on the store and it's target consumers, really). Generally, no subculture. Act like you can afford what you're looking at. Dress like a prep. Don't look like an anarchist or goth or grunge fan. Undercover loss prevention, sales associates, and cameras will target you if you look needy or alternative.

RFIDS EXIST. These are radio signal stickers that make the towers at the doors beep! You can buy deactivators online. You can also conceal on person or in bags and "casually" head to the bathroom or dressing room (hiding items in clothes you're going to try on is a good move) and remove packages. THIS WILL ALERT THE STORE THAT THEFT IS OCCURRING: DO IT CAREFULLY AND SPARINGLY, AND TRY TO HIDE THE PACKAGES YOU HAVE DISCARDED. DON'T LET THEM CONNECT THEM TO YOU. LET THEM SEE YOU WITH THE ITEM AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. YOU MUST BE DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY AS A SUSPECT.

You can search for RFIDS by examining items as if checking the product details. Don't get greedy. If it's too hard to conceal or remove the RFID or packaging, DON'T TAKE IT. Some other store will have something easier and similar.

On-body concealment is best. In your underwear, down your pants, in your pockets. If you ever get stopped, they usually search your bag. This is also why it is important to, if you place items in your bag, to remove the packaging – there's no proof you stole it unless you're on camera.

Be calm. Act normal. Smile at associates. Pretend you're shopping normally.

BE IN AND OUT AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. BE FORGETTABLE. Busy seasons are great for this. Staff that don't care are great for this.

Hold your purse open by leaving one strap further up your arm and the other near your wrist. This avoids having to fight with it to insert items when concealing with your phone.

Many people "fake" by concealing items behind another, crouching to inspect items on low shelves, and dropping their real target into their boots, up their sleeves, or into their purses (which you can sit on the ground.) Just be aware of cameras.

It is suspicious to carry 8 items and suddenly not have them. It is less suspicious to put many of them back and swiftly conceal the real one you wanted.

Do not repeatedly go to stores. Give it time. Get new haircuts. If with company, let them pay. Being a "tag-along" makes you more invisible.

MAKE-UP AND ELECTRONICS HAVE HIGH SURVEILLANCE. I lift cosmetics either when I'm off the radar or have been carrying something small up my sleeve or in my hand around the store for a long time while shopping normally. Then I make it disappear.

Do not get greedy and overfill your bag. Do not shove things down your pants in the open store area (dressing rooms and bathrooms only) unless you KNOW YOU ARE IN A BLINDSPOT AND NOT BEING STALKED BY LOSS PREVENTION.

Don't stare at cameras or have shifty eyes. Don't seem nervous. You're just a normal shopper. Or that's your persona, anyway. To observe cameras, look out of your peripheral, or SCOPE THE STORE.

WHEN YOU LEAVE: Walk out with a crowd so they don't know who beeped. Talk to your friend. Be on a phone call. KEEP. WALKING.

Generally, this is all "magic trick" misdirection and using normal actions and behavior to not look like a shoplifter.

STORES WILL CASE BUILD. Most theft is a misdemeanor. They CAN log your crimes until you have reached a felony level.

Feel free to do new makeup, new outfits, new wigs, take new friends.

NOT ALL STORES ARE THE SAME. Sephora or Ulta puts RFIDS INSIDE PALETTES. BE CAREFUL.

Start super small. Take things that won't get you in trouble if you get caught. Practice staying calm. Don't linger in stores.

If at a mall, drop lifted items into bags from another stores. It's not weird to have bags from other stores in malls. Throw your reciepts away or do not accept them from cashiers.

KNOW YOUR AREA. Impoverished areas have higher security. Rich ones, not so much. Walmart? Tons of cameras. Hobby Lobby? .....weirdly easy.

Check state laws and store policies.

I do not care about the "moral code of lifting". Thrift stores, flea markets, and small business are incredibly easy to steal from. Sue me. I'm fucking broke and disabled. Don't feel comfortable doing that? Then don't.

To steal clothes: Wear baggy ones, sneak extras into dressing rooms (if they counted correctly, don't do this), de-tag in the dressing room, and wear the lifted garment underneath your normal clothes.

This is all about looking like an upstanding citizen, misdrection, never being a suspect, and bewaring RFIDs.

And remember: if you get caught, deny, deny, deny! Crocodile tears if you must! This works best when you're a kid, it's a first offense, you mention how difficult things are at home or with parents, and if the police are more merciful. This also helps if you're white. Especially a white girl. Unfair and fucked up, but it is what it is. POC, be careful.

IF YOU ARE A MINOR IN THE UNITED STATES: YOUR RECORD WILL BE WIPED WHEN YOU ARE THE AGE OF MAJORITY. AFTER YOU ARE AN ADULT, IT REMAINS. Be extra careful. It costs money to expunge these things.

And most of all...

Getting greedy is how you get caught.

[shaded-night]

The Price of Gift Giving

There are many things Aventurine can pride himself in. He has no shortage of talents that have gotten him as far as he has. However there are still a few things that he cannot wrap his head around. When it comes to love and showing his affection, Aventurine fumbles more often than not, even with his heightened emotional intelligence.

Now, he isn't sure what exactly he had done this time around, but his beloved Doctor seems to be frustrated with him. So here he is standing in one of the most luxury malls in all of Pier Point trying to pick out the best gift as an apology. He knows Ratio isn't big on material luxuries but as Aventurine eye's a beautiful fountain pen, he can't help but throw his card down. He pays extra to have it engraved with an owl face -the same one that adorns Ratio's shoulder- and a quaint but sweet quote, "For my Beloved Veritas". Aventurine feels confidence flow through his veins as he becomes a couple hundred thousand credits lighter. The pen is packaged nicely, the engraving hidden from view so he can surprise his boyfriend even more.

When he returns home, Aventurine can here Ratio in their shared study grumbling to himself as he no doubt marks another students paper as inadequate. Aventurine braves a smile as he tucks the small gift into his coat pocket and quietly enters the study.

"I'm home~. I see you're still working hard. Do you have time for a short break?"

Ratio sighs, sparing Aventurine a quick glance before his eyes setting back on the stack of papers .

"Unfortunately I'm on a tight deadline. I did mention to you earlier that I'd most likely will be busy all day." Ratio's voice held clear annoyance, but that's fine. Aventurine's smile faulters for only a second.

"Yes I remember you saying that. Sorry, I just don't like seeing you over work yourself."

Ratio only hums in acknowledgement as red ink fills another paper.

If Aventurine just stands here any longer he's sure to be kicked out, so to not waste anymore time he fumbles to get his gift out of his pocket.

"I have something for you." He places the box neatly on the desk, and Ratio pauses to look at it. It's not hard to guess its price, the name of the store was printed clearly on the lid. Aventurine can feel the annoyance radiating off of Ratio as he narrows his eyes at the package.

"Aventurine," said mans smile drops; Ratio never calls him that at home. "While the thought is appreciated, we've talked about your frivolous amount of gifts before. No matter how deep your pockets are, always spending isn't a good lifestyle. Honestly, is drowning me in expensive products the only thing you can do?"

It shouldn't hurt because Ratio is right; they have talked about Aventurine's unhealthy spending habits. Still, he had no issue buying anything that he thought Ratio may like. And that's what made his confidence crumble. His eyes stung and his voice was stuck in his throat. Ratio was looking at him, almost expectantly, but Aventurine couldn't form any words.

Instead he turned around, silently leaving the room. It felt humiliating standing there under his boyfriend's scrutinizing gaze. Maybe he deserved it for being inconsiderate of Ratio's thoughts on luxury goods. That was the only rational conclusion he could come up with.

~*~ When Ratio had finally emerged from the study, it was well into the evening. Aventurine could hear him in the kitchen getting himself his share of dinner Aventurine somehow managed to put together just a hour prior. He had the catcakes to thank for pushing him to get food in him. The last few hours he had just been curled up under a blanket on the couch while the snacks meowed at him sympathetically.

Eventually the noise in the kitchen died down, and was replaced with the couch dipping under Ratio's weight. Aventurine didn't move from his place under the blanket.

"Vasha," a hand fell onto Aventurine's shoulder; and maybe he's just a little too weak because a second later he wrapped himself tightly around his boyfriend. "I would like to apologize, my love. I shouldn't have been so insensitive to your gift."

Aventurine closed his eyes, letting his head fall against Ratio's chest.

"I just wanted to make you happy. I know you've been overworked lately...and I know I can't help with that kind of work. I know I said I'd work on my spending. So I guess I'm sorry too."

Fingers thread through his hair and a kiss is placed on his head.

"Change doesn't happen overnight, and I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you. You are far more valuable than any gift, Kakavasha."

Ratio shifts and pulls the giftbox from his pocket. It was still unopened, but Ratio swiftly untied the bow around it and removed the lid. He picked up the pen, admiring the pretty swirl of blue and white along its body and it's gold accents. His thumb ran over the engraving and Aventurine feels a smile against his temple.

"It is quite a lovely pen. Thank you, Vasha. I will treasure it always."

~*~ inspired by this twt post~

rtrn is so stupid i love them

[hoesoflamentation]

𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊 𝖔𝖓 // 𝖍𝖆𝖎𝖐𝖞𝖚𝖚 𝖝 𝖈𝖍𝖚𝖇𝖇𝖞!𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗 // 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI //

feat !! tsukishima kei, hinata shoyo, kuroo tetsuro, iwaizumi hajime

warnings !! reader is afab & written as gn as possible but please proceed with caution. individual warnings are listed for each blorbo. leave a shitty, fatphobic comment only if you want to be publicly shamed to all 1600 of my followers <3

a/n: hello fellow sluts, your overlord has returned. as a fellow chubby!reader, i am so happy & heartened that this won the poll. and don't think that my choice of boys was pointed at all; it was literally just self-indulgence... every hq boy would love the hell out of a chubby!reader >:(

// 𝖓𝖔 𝖙𝖔𝖚𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 //

FEAT. TSUKISHIMA

warnings !! cam!reader/sex work, toys (on reader), just a lot of jacking off tbh

…is bored, so bored, of all the models who look the same, that the weekend he finds your Onlyfans page, he locks himself in his room and dedicates his weekend to watching you pound your plump pussy with every toy in your arsenal. For nearly 48 hours, he milks himself to your videos, until the craving becomes too intense to resist: You’re advertising a special livestream for your highest-paying fans, and Tsukishima knows he has to be one of them. His hand is still wrapped around his veiny shaft as he hastily types in his credit card information to send you an exorbitant tip. The day of the livestream, Tsukishima promises himself he will only look, not touch… but the sound of your fucked-out face whining “Thank you for the tip, Kei!” leaves him pumping his throbbing cock until it’s spurting hot, creamy white all over his stomach. Soon, Tsukishima is typing into the chat with his one free hand: "I'll give you $200 to say that again."

// 𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝖆𝖎𝖗 //

FEAT. HINATA

warnings !! chubbychaser!hinata, face riding, alcohol use

…isn’t one for locker room talk, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice the particularities of his taste. Shoyo Hinata can’t help it if he fantasizes about spending hours sandwiched between a pair of thick thighs, too pussy drunk to even consider coming up for air. So, when he meets you out at the bar where MSBY is having their post-game celebration, his rowdy teammates notice that you’re Hinata’s type even before he does. “That one’s yours, Shoyo!” one player calls out. “Yeah, they got Shoyo's name written all over them!” Hinata, of course, blushes and apologizes for their behavior, offering to buy you a drink. Little did he realize that those very same drinks would lead to him slipping a hotel key into your back pocket and stuffing his face in your needy cunt. You’re nervous to ride his tongue at first, worried he’ll suffocate beneath you… but Hinata laps up your juices so eagerly that soon, you’re the one who’s forgotten how to breathe.

// 𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 //

FEAT. KUROO

warnings !! possessive!kuroo, established relationship, lingerie, accidental exhibitionism (if that's what you call it lol)

…will listen to you talk for hours about anything on your mind, so you wouldn’t blame him for zoning out every once in awhile. Hence why you didn’t expect him to remember the time you complained about the difficulty of finding lingerie in your size at the store. The next thing you know, so many packages are arriving outside your apartment that the doorman calls upstairs and asks you to stop ordering things. Little does he know that it’s your boyfriend Tetsuro showering you in pretty little matching sets from expensive specialty stores you would normally never be able to afford. To thank him, you put on the number you know he’ll love most — a lacy thonged bodysuit in lipstick red — and video call him at the office. “So, Tetsu, what do you think?” you ask, striking a flirty pose that shows off all your best assets. Kuroo blushes… and you quickly realize why, as his coworkers cat call and wolf whistle at your display from off screen. “Baby, you know I love it... but next time, make sure I’m the only one who gets to see you!”

// 𝖌𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖒 //

FEAT. IWAIZUMI

warnings !! iwa-chan the ass man, rimming (mention), spanking (mention)

…has worked out with some of Japan’s most talented athletes, but none of them ever made him as nervous as his personal training sessions with you. Because how is he supposed to tell you, his childhood best friend, that ever since he saw the way you stretched out those leggings while you were doing deadlifts, he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you? To stop imagining your bare ass cheeks jiggling in his face as he eagerly traces circles around your rim with his tongue? “One… two… three…” Your voice strains as you count reps. Meanwhile, Iwaizumi feels beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and not from the workout. With every squat, your perfect ass comes so close he can almost touch it. It’s all he can do not to let spotting you turn into spanking you. By the end of your reps, he’s gotten so desperate that his cock twitches just from you smiling at him. “Like what you see, Haji?” you tease. Iwaizumi clears his throat, turning to hide his hard-on against the climbing wall. “Y-yeah. Great form, Y/n.”

[quintessenceofdust88]

Bucktommy FluffFebruary - day 5

DON'T COME FOR ME IT'S STILL FEB 5TH IN MY TIMEZONE FOR ANOTHER HOUR OK

Prompt for @bucktommyfluffebruary Day 5: mundane chores G | bucktommy | 628 words

Grocery shopping used to be a lot faster, Buck thinks, as their small family unit of four approaches the check-out counter. Stella and Leo are proudly pushing their own mini-carts, which hold exactly three snacks that they were allowed to choose (they must have spent at least a whole hour sorting through their options). Tommy is helping them add it to the counter while Buck unloads the actual groceries they came to buy. 

“Papa, can we have gummy worms? Please?” Stella asks, her blue eyes turning pleadingly at Tommy.

Buck raises an eyebrow at his husband, because he knows Tommy can’t say no to the kids, and so does Stella. Tommy looks at Buck, then back at Stella, and sighs. 

“Stellina, how many snacks are there in your cart?” He asks, and she gives him a toothy smile.

“Two, Papa! Cause one is already on the counter!” She answers cheekily, and Buck bites his cheek to stop himself from laughing. Stella is ridiculously smart. 

“Nice try, sunshine, but if you want gummy worms, you’ll have to leave one of the other snacks” Tommy says, and Buck’s actually proud of him. Stella pouts, looking eerily similar to Buck, but doesn’t insist. 

Meanwhile, as Buck gets busy unloading the last groceries, he takes a look at Leo’s cart. His son has been suspiciously quiet, and now he sees why; there is a gummy worm package on his cart that definitely wasn’t there before. 

“Leo, why are there gummy worms on your cart? Didn’t Papa help you unload all your snacks already?” Buck asks, and Leo shrugs at him. 

“For Stella, Daddy?” He says sweetly, and Buck is halfway to giving in. Tommy is more than halfway, and he turns his pleading eyes to Buck, who tries his best to ignore him. 

“Aren’t you the sweetest wanting to sneak in an extra treat for your sister?” Buck tells him, giving Leo a small hug, and his son smiles proudly at him. “But we have a deal, and it’s three snacks. Besides, we’re going to grandpa Bobby’s for dinner, and he has a whole stack of candy for you two. You can have a thousand gummy worms there.”

“A thousand?!” Stella asks, and Leo gasps. The two of them look at each other, identical gleeful smiles on their little faces, and Buck chuckles. 

“That’s right, a thousand. Normal rules don’t apply at Grandpa’s house” He confirms, and they hold hands and jump in joy.

Tommy and Buck look at them in adoration, and Buck almost misses it when the cashier says their total (and that’s when he thinks that grocery shopping before the kids also used to be a lot cheaper). As he passes his credit card and starts loading the bagged groceries back into the cart, with the enthusiastic help of the kids, he loses sight of Tommy for a while. 

When the three of them are almost done, Stella gasps in delight, her eyes looking to something behind Buck. He turns around to find Tommy standing in front of him, a single red rose on his hand, and he offers it to Buck with a scrunchy smile. 

“Here’s to many more years of grocery shopping with you” He says, and presses a kiss to Buck’s lips. “Your snack negotiating skills are unmatched, my love.”

“Awwww, Papa loves Daddy!” Leo exclaims, loud enough for the whole  grocery store to hear, and Buck blushes fiercely, accepting the rose and smiling at Tommy, completely taken aback by the random romantic gesture. 

“Only you can turn a mundane chore like grocery shopping into an opportunity for romance, Tommy”, he marvels, and gives Tommy a small peck. “Never change.”

“I don’t intend to”, Tommy answers cheekily, and Buck hopes to God that it is so.

[angelpuns]

50au Part 27

Mikey didn't know how much longer they could keep this up. 

Leo definitely didn't trust them, even after his totally amazing video intro. 

He guessed he didn't do it as good as Donnie had, but they didn't want Donnie's face to be the first one he saw. Even if Donnie had managed to cover up all evidence of their fight, he was sure seeing him first would send Leo panicking again. 

Not that Leo was faring much better sitting next to Donnie now. He kept watching him, staring at his beak as if he didn't believe Donnie wasn't injured. They all had ton pretend they didn't know about it, too, practically tricking Leo into thinking it had been a nightmare. 

Mikey didn't want to, but it was what had to be done. They could not tell this Leo about what had happened. Not because he would be upset at what he'd done, but because he had reacted so poorly to the camera. They needed him to trust them. 

Even if they were lying about that one thing. 

“ So..what exactly is the plan again?” Leo murmured, pushing his food around on his plate. He hadn't eaten a bite. Mikey had been watching, and every ‘bite’ had been faked. 

He tried not to feel too hurt by it. He wouldn't trust food made by people he didn't know either. 

“ Well, Draxum is going to bring the cleansing potion or salve or whatever here, and then he's going to draw the runes for the memory spell,” Donnie sighed. He hadn't eaten much either, but just because he didn't look injured doesn't mean he wasn't. Not to mention he looked as exhausted as they all felt. 

Mikey hadn't been sleeping much lately either. He Just…he kept having nightmares. He knew Raph was the same. 

Something like this had happened after the invasion, too. None of then could sleep, especially when Leo was barely stable in the medbay. After too many sleepless nights, Splinter had gathered all the blankets and pillows he could find and helped them build a makeshift fort in the med bay floor. 

They couldn't do that right now, not with Leo as confused as he was. But they were going to fix everything! And Leo would be back to normal and things wouldn't be as weird anymore and Mikey could hug His brother whenever he wanted! 

“ Once we're in your memories, we’ll apparently be ‘ washing away the curse’, which is…absolutely ridiculous, but apparently the only way to break it…” Donnie finished, poking at his food a little, “ and then hopefully it will be fixed and everything can go back to normal”

Leo scoffed, “ back to normal for you, maybe-”

“Ah, there you boys are! I wanted to check on how Leonardo was doing,” Splinter stepped into the kitchen, holding up a gift bag, “ I spent all night looking for this, I thought it might help with your curse!”

He handed the gift bag to Leo, who was staring, mouth agape. 

“ Go ahead and open it, blue, I think you'll really like it,” Their dad urged, grinning, “You used to love those, I think it might help bring some memories back!” 

Leo pointed silently at Splinter and glanced at Mikey. 

Right. They forgot to put him in the montage, again, but to be fair- there weren't many pictures of Dad around the lair and they were kinda in a rush. 

“ Oh, right. That's our dad- and also your Dad. and he's also Lou-” 

Raph slapped a hand over his mouth and shook his head, “ he’s also loving! Yeah, our very loving and caring Pops!”

He gave Splinter a frown, “ who definitely didn't spend the whole day napping instead of helpin' us” 

Their Dad at least had the sense to look guilty. Mikey wouldn't lie, he was frustrated about Dad not helping, too, but they had it handled! For the most part. 

“ I…” Leo shut his mouth and shook his head, “ I actually don't want to know any more than that, thanks.” 

He opened the gift bag and pulled out a package of blue raspberry hubba bubba. Which- Yeah, Leo did used to like that gum. Like- would ask for it for every birthday and holiday and any chance he saw it at the store. 

But Mikey didn't think it would help retrieve any memories. Especially because of the curse, and even more because Leo didn't really like that flavour anymore. He'd grown out of the ‘ eat everything blue’ phase when he was 14. 

( not that that had ever stopped Splinter from getting him that gum, but Leo never really told him otherwise. He usually just said thanks and then would pawn the gum off on someone else. When Mikey had asked why he still took the gum as a gift, he said it made Dad happy. So he kept pretending he liked it. )

“ oh…thanks…?” Leo frowned, “ um. I don't really like blue raspberry gum anymore, though…so…” 

Splinter frowned. He didn't say anything for a moment, then chuckled and shrugged, “ well, I guess your..your tastes are a little different when you can't remember some things, huh?” 

Yikes. That was another thing they were going to have to keep from Leo when he got his memories back, if he didn't remember on his own. Mikey just added it to the list of things he was going to have to keep a secret, which he hated to do. He hated lying and he hated keeping things from his family, but he’d learned after the invasion that it was..a necessary evil. Sometimes a lie could keep things from falling apart. 

Like when he lied about where he snuck off to and he lied about what Leo had said when he was too sick to know any better band when he lied to Dad about how bad his hands hurt and- 

Calm down, Mikey. No need to dredge up old hurts during an actual crisis. 

“ I think I will go and watch my show for a little bit. Let me know when we are ready to start the ritual,” Splinter murmured, still smiling that big fake smile. Leo must have learned it from him, because Mikey had seen that smile from his brother too many times to count. 

At least one good thing had come of this curse. The first day, when Leo wasn't angry or hurt or scared. When he trusted them and everything felt like it might be okay, Mikey had seen his real smile for the first time in a while. It was sweet and soft and he probably hadn't even realized he was doing it. 

“ Okay, Pops, we will,” Raph assured, sighing and stabbing his fork into his food, “we better finish up, Barry said he'd be here ‘round now and we gotta make a space for the ritual.”

“ Me and Leo can clean up here if you and Don wanna start on the garage,” Mikey offered with a grin. He tossed the last of his bacon into his mouth and stood, “ sound good to you, Lee?” 

Leo set the gift from Splinter aside and nodded a little, giving Donnie a wary look. 

This would be good for building trust! Leo wouldn't have to wonder if him and Donnie had actually fought, Raph would have to worry about somehow hurting Leo ( Mikey knew he was worrying about that, he could tell )  and Mikey would be able to reassure Leo that they were to be trusted! It would be perfect! 

So they split up. He and Leo did the dishes, while Raph and Donnie prepared the garage for the ritual. 

It was quiet for a while, Leo leaning on the counter as he scrubbed at dishes while Mikey dried them and put them away. 

He didn't want to force anything, and he'd always had more luck getting Leo to talk by letting him stew in silence first. 

“ So…Mikey, right?” Leo murmured, scrubbing at a plate with a faint frown, “ do you all really trust Draxum? I-I mean- I would rather not have any of you in my head, but Draxum is- well-” 

He silenced himself after that, face contorting into a deeper frown. 

“ He's the only person I actually remember and it's not for good reasons….” 

Mikey put the plate he was drying away and took the next one. He needed to go about this carefully. 

“ Well, he won't be going into your memories with us. We knew you wouldn't want that, and we really need someone outside to control the spell and move us from memory to memory,” He explained, drying the plate in his hands with some difficulty.

 His hands were aching from cooking, and doing something like drying dishes wasn't really helping. He definitely needed to do some stretches after this, the lack of sleep and stress was probably making him have a bit of a flare up of sorts. He shook the feeling out and finished what he was doing. 

“ Dad will be watching, too, and he’ll make sure Barry doesn't do anything to us,” He assured, giving Leo a faint smile, “ Dad doesn't trust him much either, since he,like, kidnapped him and turned him into a rat and stuff,” 

“ oh..” Leo made a face at that. And he just kept washing dishes. Silence fell again for a bit. 

It was so weird hanging out with Leo and it being so quiet. It wasn't supposed to be quiet. 

Leo was supposed to be cracking jokes and splashing him with dish water and complaining endlessly about chores. 

But this Leo was so, so quiet. It wasn't like he was a different Leo, this was just…a side he didn't show to them often. 

Leo was so different after the invasion. His smiles were always tense and aching and Mikey wanted to rub them away and replace them with his cocky smirk, or better yet, with that gentle smile he hardly got to see. As he got better, as everyone got better, Leo started to get more normal. 

It was never the same Leo as before the invasion, though. In fact, maybe even the Leo before that was different. Leo before the Shredder was so different, too. 

It made Mikey wonder how many different Leos his brother was keeping inside him and when they might get to see the more…genuine one. 

“ What happened to your hands?”

Mikey blinked, turning to look at Leo, “ what?”

“ your hands,” Leo pointed, “ they seem like they hurt,” 

Mikey realized belatedly he was rubbing his hands together. It did hurt. He wasn't supposed to be doing that.

“ Oh, I opened an inter dimensional portal into the-” he cut himself off, realizing it probably wasn't a good time to mention the prison dimension. Not to this somber, serious Leo who was one misspoken word away from deciding he couldn't let them in his head. “ into another dimension. They don't hurt that bad, Donnie made me compression gloves and Barry's been helping with the mystic-level stuff,” 

Leo stared at them for a moment before nodding, “ good. I'm glad they don't…hurt.” 

Mikey smiled and continued to dry dishes next to his brother. And even if it was quiet, it almost felt normal. 

~

Draxum showed up in the garage via portal, effectively scaring the shit out if Donnie. And Raph, if his yelp was anything to go by. 

“ Couldn't you have just come through the front door like a normal person?” Donnie groaned, setting down the toolbox he'd been moving, “ I even added you to the facial recognition system so you didn't get shot with lasers - which, you're welcome, by the way” 

“ This was faster, and I figured because you all had me pulling an ‘all-nighter’ that this constituted me arriving as soon as I was finished,” Draxum huffed, holding up a vial of a strange, pink liquid, “Here is the cleansing solution. It should be enough, though do be careful not to waste any. I didn't have enough ingredients to make a back-up,” 

He produced a book from seemingly nowhere, “ I have also prepared the memory spell once again, but I have modified it so that we will have a bit more time so that you all can be extra thorough.”

“ good. I don't want to have to try this a second time,” Raph sighed, “Raph is ready for all this to be over so he can hug Leo as hard as possible” 

“ I agree with most of that sentiment,” Donnie added, gesturing to the now clean space in the garage, “ the floor's all yours. I'm going to get Mikey and Leo. Raph, you want to grab Papa?” 

Raph nodded and they set off, Donnie hurrying for the kitchen. Finally, finally they were ready. 

Leo was going to be curse free by tonight, so he wouldn't reset, and everything was going to go back to normal. 

He didn't think about his still tender beak or the bruise on Leo's neck. And he certainly didn't think about how Leo might just remember it after the curse. 

He would cross that bridge when they came to it, even if he did have to go across kicking and screaming. 

Donnie poked his head into the kitchen doorway, “ Draxum is here. He's drawing out the spell-circle-rune-thing right now,” 

He looked at Leo, even if the expression Leo had when he turned made Donnie want to curl away from him like a sun-crisped leaf. 

“ Are you ready to do this?” He asked, making direct eye contact with his twin. It made his skin crawl, but he needed Leo to trust them more than anything right now. 

Leo sighed, grimacing faintly, “ I don't really have  much of a choice, do I?” 

Mikey and Donnie exchanged a glance. So quick that hopefully Leo didn't see. 

Donnie Wasn't stupid. He knew Leo had seen it. 

And as much as he wanted to say ‘ yes, of course you have a choice’, he just wanted his twin back and for everything to be mostly normal again. He'd been so on-edge after Leo got loose the first time, he wasn't sure he could take much more of the stress. 

He knew Leo wasn't much better, tension like a tight coil just waiting to be sprung in every muscle. His hands were fists, ready to swing on any of them if he needed to. 

Donnie wasn’t scared of Leo fighting them again. It had hurt, but it wasn’t that Donnie was afraid of Leo. He just… He didn't want any more physical evidence of Leo doing that to any of them. because he knee Leo would feel even more guilty than he already did. 

“ Let's…lets get this over with,” Donnie murmured, turning and heading for the garage. 

~

Leo followed the purple one to the garage, Mikey right on his heels. He wouldn't say he trusted Mikey much more now, but being alone with him had at least proved they weren’t going to try and take him down individually. Which wouldn't have even a good plan anyway, why wait to single him out when they could easily do 3v1? 

Mikey was also easy to read. He practically exploded with this warm energy, Leo almost thinking it was tangible with how vibrant it was. He was just so positive. And he talked to Leo like nothing was wrong. 

He almost wondered of it was some kind of ploy he couldn't figure out, but Leo was really, really good at reading people. And Mikey seemed…100% genuine. 

So he didn't trust Mikey all of a sudden, but…maybe they were all telling the truth. 

Maybe. 

A sinking feeling grew in his gut like mold as they headed for the garage. He knee Draxum was in there. And Draxum, though he would never admit it, fucking scared him. 

It wasn't as if Leo didn't believe in redemption. He just…Draxum had been evil. Too Evil. And he had never given Leo a reason to trust him, even after Leo defeated him and he began his ‘path to goodness’ for seemingly no reason. 

When they entered the garage, there was a huge circle drawn on the ground, with strange symbols Leo remembered seeing once in the Hidden City. Draxum was sitting just outside the circle, with a book, an hour glass and a vial of some sort of pink liquid. 

The ‘mystic dish soap’, as Mikey had dubbed it before. 

The rat was there, too, kneeling next to Draxum and scowling faintly up at him. Okay. Mikey said that he didn't trust Draxum, but having actual evidence of it was good. Unless it was a trick, but Leo had no choice but to believe what they told him. 

He had no way out of this, no plan, no ideas to escape. He had to just…let them into his head. 

It was fucking scary. 

The big red one - Raph, he thinks - had already taken up a spot in the circle, and Donnie was just starting to sit in his own spot. That left one spot for Mikey and one for Leo - right in the middle. 

He took a deep breath and let it out slow. 

Hopefully, hopefully this was all some sort of fucked up fever dream and he'd wake up before they got into his memories. Hopefully. 

Mikey took his seat and gave him a gentle half smile. Leo nodded at him faintly and stepped into the circle, sitting cross-legged in the middle. 

“okay,” he murmured, staring at the ground just ahead of him, “ let's do this.”

------

Tired so author note be short. Lots of words. Yayyy Mikey POV. Lil man going through it but staying positive.

Part 1 | Part 26 | Part 28

[star-dust-stuf]

Fred & George Weasley x period!reader ★

title: sweetheart, little gumdrop

warnings: descriptions and expressions of pain

a/n: I love them so much, I want to do a period comfort because I already know I'm getting mine soon, I'm ready to dieee. sorry for typos, enjoy babes.

-

It was snowing when every student went down to Diagon Alley, and apparently Fred and George had their own store. A lot of students went there and it was such a chaotic shop but looked like so much fun. 

There were so many glowing colors and bright greens and reds, different smells. I walked past the love positions, and towards the candy. The normal kind... 

I look around to see if there was anything I like, a lot of people laughing... And then two familiar voices behind me, looking at me from the steps. 

"Looking for anything particular?" Fred asked.

George spoke, "or something out of the ordinary?" 

I look at them, and smile slightly. I wasn't feeling well and I hope it wasn't obvious, then they'd want to know. "Just chocolate." 

They glanced at each other, Fred smiled and stepped towards me, George behind him. "And why that specifically?" 

"Why do you need to know?" I say, it wasn't really a question, more one of attitude. 

George smirked, "well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, didn't she." 

Fred smiled, "come on. Were only messing with you. You can get anything you like." 

I look to my shoes, there was a look on my face I couldn't hide. One of discomfort, a wrack of pain washed over me and it couldn't be helped. Fred and George glanced at each other and back to me.

"You're alright, love?" George spoke, he got a little closer.

"I'm just..." I couldn't finish, the pain was so much my eyes were watering and I just wanted to fall on the floor right there.

Both Fred and George got to my side and led me up the steps and past the other people, even some of them stared but it wasn't a big deal to them. They got me in a broom cupboard and closed the door, leaving it a jar.

Fred whispered to George, and then Fred left. George kept his hand on my arm gently. "It's-."

George cut me off gently, "we know." 

I just looked at my shoes, embarrassed by the situation. I was cramping up so bad I couldn't stop crying. George gently rubbed my back and waited for Fred to come back, and when he did he had a package.

"Don't worry, It's just chocolate. And I suppose you don't want to walk all the way back to Hogwarts?" Fred spoke softly.

"I can manage." I say, holding the bag of chocolates close. Almost scared they'd melt.

Fred scoffed and George smirked, "come on, sweetheart. You're not walking in your condition, you're already crying." George said, as he poked my cheek softly.

I looked to my shoes, Fred put his hand on my lower back, right where the pain was. "You'll have to go sooner or later." 

"Let one of us walk you. Okay? Then tonight we'll meet you in the common room." George says.

I just agreed, my mind wasn't up for decisions now. Fred walked me back to Hogwarts, it was cold but it felt good on my skin, on top of that, I was tired, not in the mood for much, so when I was in the common room I sat by the fire. Calming myself. 

And finally when it got late enough, the common room was empty as all the students went up to sleep. Fred and George snuck into the common room, not expecting me.

"How do you two even do that, get away with this all the time." I smile a little.

They smiled, "well, not including that map, you're not telling a soul so we can keep doing it." George said with a smirk. 

They both sat beside me on the red couch near the fire. "You haven't touched the chocolate...?" Fred asks. 

"No, sorry." I say, looking into the fire.

Fred and George exchanged glances before scooting closer. "Look, you don't need to be embarrassed about anything." Fred says softly.

"We have a sister, we know how this works. Getting cranky, crampy, and snappy." George smiles. 

Out of the blue, I started to cry from the exact same pain I felt not too long ago, Fred and George looked concerned but calm. Fred stood up, "I can get something from the medical wing."

"You'll get caught, you aren't supposed to be out of the common room so late." I say, tears running down my pink cheeks. 

Fred smiled proudly, "sweetheart, I can do a lot of things you don't know." 

As Fred left, George got me to lie down on the couch, getting me a blanket. He knew the pain was bad, I was crying and that already broke his heart. "Just take a deep breath, it might not help the pain but it'll keep you at ease."

I couldn't help it, I brought my knees up and cried out in pain. He got closer and took a hold of my hand and stroked it gently with his thumb. "Hey.. hey, You're doing beautifully. It might not feel like it, but bloody hell, you are." 

I smile a little as he says that, even if I was in pain. The common room portrait opened, and Fred came back with a hot water bottle. "Took you long enough." George says.

Fred rolled his eyes slightly, "you try getting past Snape. Can you imagine if he found out..." 

Fred smiled a little as he thought, "how embarrassing." He placed the hot water bottle on my stomach, making sure it wasn't too hot.

George stood back up and looked down at me, my eyes closed as I tried to relax. "It's a bad period..." 

Fred nods a little, "we can only wait it out, I guess." 

I look up at them, "don't you two have something useful in that shop of yours?" 

George looked to Fred and back to me. "Nothing for pain, you know- any pain caused by your period." George sighs.

I winced and put my hand on my rib, Fred watched for a second. "Is your chest hurting?"

George elbowed his side. "I'm sure shes- yes I'm sure it hurts." 

"We'll stay with you. You don't have to be alone." George spoke gently. 

"You're not going to spend all night awake." I look up at them. 

"Of course not. You'll fall asleep and so will we." Fred said, crossing his arms. 

"Where will you sleep if you won't go to your dormitory?" 

"The floor." They say in sync. 

I had to sigh, "you cant be serious." 

They both smiled to each other. "Never." They say again in sync. 

They both got comfortable on the floor, pulling a blanket or two off the couch and the chair near the portrait, I was in disbelief... But it was them, so what more do I expect. They weren't light sleepers at all. If is stir or make any hints I was in pain theyd be up.

They didn't want me to be alone at all, they'd just talk and tell jokes to help me. And it did, I loved their empathy, it made me feel safe and that I was okay. 

When the pain got too bad George started rubbing my stomach to see if it would cause relief. And when it did he didn't stop doing it, taking turns with his brother before I fell asleep... And them after me. Fred's hand rested in mine as he drifted to sleep, as George's hand rests on my leg. 

[rekino2114]

Request: Lacey move in with her S/O's house

The girl derserve happiness and comfort

Lacey moving in with you

Pairing:lacey x gn reader

TW:abuse, description of really bad houses and living conditions, the whole lacey package

A/n:she really.....really does and I'm here to give her that

Moving in with you was always what Lacey looked forward to. Ever since she met you, she dreamed of a future where she could be whisked away from the hell that she had learned to call home and go live wherever you were, she would follow you anywhere because unlike anyone else in her life, you loved her.

And now that dream was a reality.

The process of moving in wasn't as hard as lacey thought, especially because she had you and her friends to help her.

She loved your house, mostly because of 2 reasons, the first one being: it was yours (she loved everything you had) and now it was hers too, she never thought she would own something so meaningful, your house, where she would spend the best years of her life with you

The second reason was simply because of how much better it was compared to her old one. In a way, the houses she lived in reflected her own soul, the first one could only be considered a house because it had a roof, if anyone even tried to step one foot inside she was sure they would puke at least once, maybe from the cockroaches crawling everywhere, maybe because of all the broken glass around but most probably from all the liquids spilled in basically every room, blood,piss and things lacey doesn't even want to remember. This was how she lived and what she was used to, it was a house comparable to the most vile things a person could imagine, it was broken, dark, and absolutely mangled in every way, it's frankly astounding how one man can ruin such a big place.......just like her soul was, broken, dark and mangled all because of one man.

But the difference was that someone came to fix her soul, someone cared enough to stay with her, that's how lacey learned that it's also astounding how much good a person can do to a soul just by their sheer presence. Now her soul was like your new house, clean, sure still with some cracks but she was sure you would fix them in the years you would have spent living together

She didn't have that many boxes. After all, she had very few things she considered hers in that house and even less things that she would have liked to bring into her new life with you.

Because that's what she thought going to live with you was, starting a new life, she was throwing away everything that she had experience before and starting all over from scratch with someone who loved her

She was no longer the scared little girl who couldn't do anything about her uncle. She was free from him. She was free from everyone and everything that plagued her before meeting you. You changed her life, and she could never thank you enough for that

"Hey lacey, have you finished with your stuff?"

Your voice snapped her out from her thoughts and she turned to look at you with a smile

"Yeah, it wasn't that much stuff anyway"

"What was inside if you don't mind me asking?"

"Nothing major, just some stuff for makeup and some dresses I didn't wanna leave behind"

"That's fine, oh by the way, tomorrow we can go shopping if you want"

"R-really?"

"Yeah, we have to buy furniture anyway, so we can go to the clothing store in the meantime"

"I-i'd love that"

"I'm glad, the only thing I want is for you to be happy"

You turned away and started walking towards the other room but seeing you like that.....something clicked in lacey and she went to hug you

"L-lacey are you-"

"Thank you, thank you so much"

Her voice was barely above a whisper pressed against your back, but you knew exactly the words she was saying simply because she had said them so many times

"It's really nothing, it's the least I could do for the girl I love"

"I......I love you too"

You two stayed in a comfortable silence, she continued hugging you and smelling your scent, you didn't smell of alcohol, dead rats or whatever else her nose was used to, you smelled nice like the most beautifully flower ever to her, just as you were as beautiful as it

"Oh by the way, since you're here, do you have more pillows you could borrow me?"

"Oh no sorry, why?"

"Well, there aren't enough for the two of us and I wanted to sleep with some on the couch"

"W-why on the couch?"

"Well I didn't wanna overwhelm you on your first day here, there's only one bed so I thought....."

"W-we can sleep together"

".....a-are you sure? I really don't want to make you uncomfortable, especially since it's your first time living with me"

"Yeah I'm sure.......I love you and trust you, I really don't want to see you sleeping on the couch....it's fine"

".......alright, but if you ever feel even slightly uncomfortable, please tell me, I'll move immediately. The only thing I want is for you to feel safe with me always"

"Thank you but.....there's no need for that"

She finally broke the hug and looked at you a beautiful smile on her lips

"I already always feel safe with you"

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

It was only supposed to be a one-night stand (Part 1)

TW: suicide attempt, mentions of self harm, smut (kinda), yandere shenanigans

okay i mayyy have made this after like seeing a bunch of hot construction workers around my campus doing tinkering and shit and my saviour complex is also kinda flaring up too

and also this is my first ever cringefail yandere, he's not rich and he barely has connections and mans was suicidal

enjouy

Part 2

Everyone doesn't know why you didn't just block him, call the cops on him, or just... anything! You don't either.

This man has been following you around for months now. Leaving you flowers on your office desk, dropping parcels of gifts in front of your door, and visiting your workplace to give you boxes of freshly made takeout.

He's not much of a talker. Maybe it's because he can't exactly speak English well. But that was the only language he had ever spoken or written in before, as far as you know.

He's definitely intimidating everyone around you. Standing at an imposing height of what you think is 6'5, his back alone is usually enough to block the sun from your eyes. With his shaggy, brown hair covering his eyes, unkempt stubble covering his face and scruffy clothes; he usually wears an olive green shirt under his very worn chore jacket and a pair of shabby khaki pants. The man wears a pair of mildly tattered combat boots. He isn't ugly, perse, but he definitely isn't the standard of beauty in society. Your stalker has this rugged and disheveled vibe to him that some may like and most look down upon.

You think he's homeless, living in his beaten car and going to public gyms to shower. You've never seen him eating something he cooked himself, it's either he's eating something out of a styrofoam box, or a package good from convenience stores.

But he isn't unemployed. You know he is a construction worker, you caught him many times staring at you longingly as you hasten your pace, fleeing the soon-to-be shopping complex near your office. He was carrying a heavy set of wooden planks on his shoulder effortlessly, the stranger wiped his sweat using the back of his hand before adjusting his hard hat.

You didn't know that he worked in this field when you first met him. You always had a good heart... or at least a heart that simply cannot handle bystander guilt.

You were walking towards the subway one day, and it was late because you agreed to work overtime. The sky was pitch black, and the only thing that illuminated the path ahead was the lamps swarmed by millions of moths.

Entering the tunnel, there were only a few people around; either waiting for the train, for someone, or for a miracle. Regardless of what they're there for, they're all occupied in their own little world.

You were about to be immersed in the world of social media too, but your blasted phone died. So you're forced to stand in silence and become aware of your surroundings, nothing to numb yourself from the daily mundaneness.

And it was this awareness that led you to notice the man in the first place. You were guarded, taking a few steps away from him as he seemed extremely intoxicated. He was swaying and stumbling, in his calloused hand, held a brown glass bottle with liquid sloshing in it. The man was mumbling something, but it was too soft and incoherent for you to hear. He kept wiping his face using the back of his knuckles.

He, just like everyone else except you, is in his own personal hell too. He spared no attention for you or anything else except his own drunken stupor, so you deem it relatively safe to watch him from where you're standing. The stranger is your only source of entertainment at the moment anyway, the train is coming soon, so why not watch him for a bit more and laugh at him internally for being at his lowest? Certainly, it would never happen to you.

You were snapped out of your own thoughts when you saw him going dangerously close to the ledge, crossing over the yellow line. At the same time, the sounds of wind rushing and rumbling reached your ears, if he falls onto the rails, he will definitely be done for. You looked behind your shoulder and saw bright lights coming from one end of the tunnel, calculating that you only have a couple seconds to make your decision.

You shouted for his attention, catching it and a few others around you. He stared at you with bloodshot, glassy eyes. However, he lost his footing and was about to fall to his ultimate demise.

The adrenaline rush amplified by the roar of the train wheels made you propel your feet toward him. You stretched your arm, grabbed him by the back of his jacket, and yanked him out of the danger zone with all your might. It definitely wasn't easy to move this hunky mass at all, but you did. And you saved him just at the nick of time, as the train rushed by, blasting a gust of wind against the two of you.

You must have underestimated your strength because he was flung back at high speeds. He grabbed your arm by instinct, trying to re-balance himself, and brought you down to the grimy subway floor with him.

You groan as you rush to sit up, cradling the arm that made contact with the ground. Scowling at the stranger for pulling such a stupid stunt in his inebriated state, upset that now you had a few pairs of judging eyes on you. You froze when you saw his eyes though, a unique glimmer made its way to his dark irises. His mouth is slightly ajar, he is staring at you with such intense reverence and adoration which you mistake as a mere alcoholic's intoxicated stare.

You screeched when he suddenly emptied the contents of his stomach on your work blouse. Shouting angry curses at him as his head was slumped to the ground and his eyelids shut.

You got up and tried to swipe as much puke away from you as you ran to the train. The last you saw him that night was in an extremely pathetic state, unconscious in his own puddle of vomit, a bottle of booze rolling away from him. People either crossed over him or walked over his body, sparing a few glances of pity or contempt before boarding the train themselves.

You thought that you were never going to see him again, with that much alcohol in his system, you would be surprised that he could even remember his own name. And you couldn't be more wrong.

A few days after that, you were in the same station, taking the same train because your boss needed you to finish the report by that day. This time, you're exhausted. Not sleeping, eating or enjoying your hobbies puts a toll on your energy levels, what a surprise.

You were nodding off in the train, struggling to keep yourself awake.

Maybe if you let yourself doze off, you'll wake up just in time for your stop. And so, you did, you let yourself drift into slumberland.

It was a mistake.

You were harshly woken up with a torch shining in your eyes and a booming voice telling you that the both of you have to leave, as this is the last stop. Lifting your head from a headrest, which actually was someone's broad shoulder. But you didn't realize that.

You were still half asleep, groggily and hastily gathering your things, not registering that the employee was also referring to another person in your proximity.

You muttered a small good night to the staff before exiting the train, yawning and stretching. Smacking your lips as you realized that your briefcase wasn't with you, must've left it back on your seat. So you turned around and walked forwards, only to ram yourself onto what you thought was an oddly shaped pillar. Cussing under your breath as you stumbled backwards, rubbing your head.

You let out a shocked yelp when you realized that it's the man instead. You were about to say something to him but your eyes landed on his side; he was holding the suitcase for you.

You stammered a quick thank you as you snatched it away from him, picking up the pace as you walked away. Howeever, you heard footfalls behind you.

Looking over your shoulder, you saw him following closely behind.

Perhaps he is also looking for an exit, so you silently lead the way to the nearest opening. But as you walk, you start to wonder; did he purposely stayed on the train with you? If he had to go somewhere he would have gotten off by then, if this was his stop, he would have left before the lights went out.

Finally, having to breath in fresh air once you exit the dusty station, you turned to look at him. Trying to discern which way is he heading.

He isn't moving. The man stood next to your side, staring straight ahead. As if he's waiting for you to take another step. After a few more seconds of idling, he turned his gaze to you.

Understandably being creeped out by this, you told him not to follow you. He blinked a couple times before continuing to stare.

Sighing, you asked him if he is lost. And you got no response.

You asked him if he is stupid. And you got no response.

Not giving a shit anymore, you picked a direction and walked. It's a long walk home and there will not be any trains left until the sun rises. As expected, he followed you all the way.

He is useful in warding off midnight catcallers and other seedy individuals that hang around alleys and empty streets. Who wouldn't be wary of him? He looks like he could easily pick them up by the scruff and fling them to the rooftops. But that means he could do that to you too, and that isn't comforting to know at all.

You reached home after an hour and a half of walking. The man is still on your trail, crowding you around the door as you unlocked it. You opened the door and immediately slipped in, he tried entering as well but you slammed it against his face. He watches you lock and latch your door through the window, he placed his hand on the glass and clawed at it a bit. You simply drew the curtains shut, praying hard that he isn't going to be there by sunrise.

Your prayers wasn't answered because you decided to check up on him an hour later. You saw him laying on the porch with his eyes closed and that tugged at your heartstrings a bit.

Maybe it's the sleep deprivation that is lowering your inhibitions, or you're just lonely and he doesn't look half bad. It could also be the cold one you cracked open that's screwing up with your soberness. Either way, you would have given yourself shit for opening the door and letting him in your house while the world is still asleep. If you get murdered, at least you won't need to go to work next week.

It was a blur, you remembered bits and pieces of his hands roaming your bare back, his cock impaling into you as he sloppily kissed you from the jaw to your neck. How his rough fingers fondled your genitals and how you were gripping your bedsheets as if your life depended on it.

Bouncing on him while you shoved your tongue down his throat was fun, especially when he wrapped his hand around the back of your head, preventing you from escaping him. Feeling the pleasant pressure on you as he pinned you to the firm bed. It was kind of him to shield your head with his hand from hitting the bedframe while he plows you from behind, iron gripping your hips with the other.

You remember starting it, demanding that he gives you something in exchange for staying a night here, you remembered pulling him into a deep, passionate, drunken kiss before he has a foot into the living room. You didn't give a shit about knowing his name or if he had any STDs, you just need to release a lot of frustrations.

You woke up hungover, with you being the small spoon while he held you tightly in his strong arms. They were littered in old scars, some clearly self inflicted.

You turned your head to see that he's still asleep, soft snores escaping his lips. Annoying to some.

Squinting as you let the sharp rays of light stab your eyes, you saw that your clothes and his were strewn all over the bedroom, the door wide open with a stray shoe resting next to it's hinges.

You looked at the clock and realized that you're going to be late. Being the workaholic you are, you shook the stranger in your bed awake. He was groaning and quietly whining about not wanting to get up, but shuts up as soon as you hurled his clothes at his face.

He shot up and cowered behind his arms as you continued throwing his articles of clothing at him, telling him that he has to leave because you need to go to work.

While he's composing himself, you rush to the bathroom to take a quick shower, pretending the cold stream of water is washing away all your sins from the night before. You lather up some soap before scrubbing your skin, internally beating yourself up for your irresponsible choices.

A familiar pair of arms snaked around your torso as you're pulled back into a strong chest, a pair of lips decided to flutter smooches on your temple and ear. His hands explored your naked body, utilizing the suds and the water to give you that electrically tingling sensation.

Of course, this intrusion wasn't taken lightly. You screamed and kicked him out of the shower, telling him to leave your house. You caught a glimpse of his confused and crestfallen look in his eyes, paired with his dripping wet hair and sopping wet body.

You finished your business, threw on a set of fresh clothes and rushed out of the door. And definitely dragging him out of there with you too, not giving a crap that he was in the middle of wearing his shirt.

You ran as fast as you could, wanting to catch the next train. And so did he, he chased after you and squeezed himself into the carriage.

Everyone was also rushing to work, there were no seats left nor were there any standing spots. Shoulders were bumping shoulders and the shorter passengers were at an all time disadvantage. You couldn't reach the handles; but he could.

As the door closes, the man held you close to him and rested his free hand on the small of your back. To outsiders, you and him looked like a run of the mill couple having each other. They couldn't be more wrong, you don't even know a single thing about him.

You just endured it, having no choice but to stick next to him. He yawned and frowned, looking quite displeased that he was not in your bed. Well, that's his fault, no one forced him to follow you back home, and no one forced him to stick himself inside of you.

Among the busy chatter in the train, you and him stayed silent. Gradually feeling comfortable in each other's embrace.

You mumbled curses under your breath, he knows where you live and he is going to know where you work. Couldn't this year get any worse?

As soon as the doors open, you make a mad dash out of the station. Running as fast as you could, not caring who you had to shove to clear your way.

You never looked back, but you made sure to take as many detours as possible to mess with his direction if he somehow managed to catch up to you. But your lungs and your out-of-shape-office-worker legs can only take you so far, you reach a nearby tree in a park next to your building.

You panted as you scanned your surroundings, only seeing the elderly, children, athletic adults, and their pets. No sign of that man you slept with last night.

You took a couple more minutes to catch your breath, knowing fully that your boss would chew you up for being close to an hour late. Whatever, you're here now. Let's earn your salary.

So you walked, it's just a couple minutes away. Nothing else should go wrong today-

You had an incredulous look on your face when you saw him loitering at the entrance. Your colleagues glance him up and down, some admiring the way his muscles slightly stick out of his shirt, some wondering what an unkempt hunk like him is doing in front of such a corporate, sanitized venue.

There was no way to sneak past him, you just had to face him. It was... cute that his eyes lit up as soon as he saw you. So you sighed as you marched up to him, requesting him to leave you alone as politely as you could. There was an edge to your tone, he must either be oblivious to it or he's simply choosing to ignore the fact that you're unhappy with him here.

During mid-sentence, he presented you with a paper plate that had a hotdog on it. You were speechless, it had everything on it: ketchup, mustard, relish, pickles, mayonnaise, cheese, Jalapeño slices, onions, beef chili, and other heaps of things that you couldn't identify. With the number of toppings, you couldn't tell that it was a hotdog in the first place, it was just a mountain of random savory foodstuffs. Your eyes darted to his other hand, it also had a hotdog wrapped in a napkin, except his one only had relish.

"I didn't know what you liked..." He mumbled, voice so deep that you could feel the vibrations in your own chest. The man looked at you with hope, wanting you to accept the plate of everything as breakfast.

You shook your head and said you were late to work. Pushing him away from the door before entering the building, some of the topping amalgamations spilled onto his shirt. Probably staining it forever with its oil content.

He stood there with a frown, he craned his head downwards to stare at the spill.

Then, he looked back up to see that you were out of sight. His shoulders sagged as he placed his own hotdog on top of your plate of horrors.

The man walked away as he pulled out a plastic spoon that he tucked in his pocket, it was given to him by the vendor because it is impossible to eat your order with hands.

He began digging in, throwing one last glance at the main door behind him.

[sirfrogsworth]

Getting my photograpy studio going seems to keep hitting roadblocks.

I really don't have the energy to type this again for you all, so I'm going to copy and paste my email to Adorama customer service...

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

Hello. I ordered two large beauty dishes.

The white and silver 28" beauty dish from Glow.

This was one of the most poorly packaged items I have ever received. It had no packing materials. No bubble wrap. No peanuts. No styrofoam. They just put the dishes in a very poorly constructed box and shipped it to me.

During shipping, the box for the white beauty dish had one entire side of the box ripped off. It is a miracle the beauty dish did not fall out of the box.

Because of all of this, the beauty dish was warped, the paint was scuffed, and the diffusion sock must have fallen out at some point during shipping.

The silver beauty dish and that box faired a little better, only having one large puncture, but the reflector plate was still damaged.

Just the process of asking for a return was long and convoluted. I was on the phone for maybe an hour and the rep asked me for pictures of every bit of damage from every angle and pictures of the box. I don't understand why I couldn't just say, "This was damaged" and then get a return authorization. That photograph of the box should have been sufficient evidence.

After submitting way too many pictures and taking up a great deal of my time and energy, I was finally given labels and told to go to the UPS store to return the items.

I searched my house for a box big enough to replace the damaged box. But I had nothing that big. So I called back again. And after a very long wait on hold, I was told to take the beauty dish to the UPS store and they would box it up for me.

I am disabled. It is very difficult for me to drive places. And it takes a long time to find transportation. So after a week, I was finally able to take the items to the UPS store. I showed them the beauty dish and told them they were to box it up as per my instructions from Adorama customer service. The item was too large and they did not stock boxes that big, so they refused to take the item.

I went home and called Adorama customer service again. I explained the box was damaged and that UPS refused to take the item.

And I think due to a language barrier, the rep was not able to understand what I was trying to communicate. I tried to explain many times that the original box was damaged beyond repair.

She put me on hold for 5 minutes. Then she came back and asked if I could just "tape up the box."

Again, the box is not able to be repaired. An entire face is missing. I cannot manifest a new side of the box from nothing. The beauty dish would fall out during shipping. I doubt UPS would even accept a box with a gaping hole in it.

She put me on hold many more times and I spent over an hour on the phone explaining the same information in different ways hoping at some point she would understand. Over and over I explained the box was damaged, I had no other box, and UPS store had no box. I was probably on hold for longer than I actually spoke to anyone.

I finally asked for a supervisor, hoping they would be able to understand me better. She came back and had one more suggestion. She told me to buy a new box, keep the receipt, and then I would be reimbursed for the cost of the box.

This felt like a ridiculous suggestion to me.

I did not damage the box. I did not use poor shipping materials. I had already spent gas money and time going to the UPS store. Now I was being asked to do more labor and go to another store to buy a new box.

Again, I am disabled. The time and energy required to get a new box is not something I am willing or able to do.

Finally she told me it would be escalated to management and I might get a refund without having to return the item.

This is only an $80 product. I should not have to spend hours and hours trying to return this item and get a refund. A refund should have been the first suggestion once the box could not be replaced by the UPS store.

This is just a very inefficient process.

What I'd like to see is better packaging for these beauty dishes. How anyone gets these items without any damage is a miracle.

I think return and refund authorizations should be much quicker. One picture of the box damage should have been plenty of evidence.

And if there is a communication issue with the customer service rep, they should transfer the call to someone else instead of making the customer repeat the same information for over an hour. I do not wish for her to be punished or reprimanded. I just want these reps to be able to say, "This call is complicated, we are having trouble communicating, and I need someone with more experience speaking English to take over." But I'm guessing they all fear if they say that, they may lose their job. It should be made clear that for these rare, complicated issues, even very good speakers of English as a second language may find communication difficult. And that asking for help is encouraged in those situations.

I will say, I am not feeling well. I was having a very bad day. I nearly collapsed earlier at the UPS store after carrying 2 large items in from my car. I got frustrated on the call and raised my voice with my rep. And I feel bad about that. I wish I had a way to apologize. I know this issue was not her fault. But I was expecting to only be on the phone for a few minutes and after an hour of talking, I was very tired and frustrated. She was very polite and doing her best. This is just a weird situation.

So, that was my experience. I am hopeful my refund will be approved and that some of my suggestions will be passed along to the appropriate people.

Thanks, Benjamin Grelle

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

I always got upset at my dad when he yelled at people on the phone. And I didn't really yell. But I definitely raised my volume and had an angry tone. But when she told me to buy a whole new box, I just could not believe someone actually told her to suggest that. I was actually angry at whoever that was I guess, but she was the one on the phone.

I was worried that this is just another sign that I am struggling with anger and it is manifesting in other places. But I think I was just at my wit's end. I had a tough morning. I went to the doctor and had to park in the very back parking lot. And just that walk raised my heart rate to 120. And I'm worried my issue is not as fixed as I hoped. But then as I talked to the doctor, I realized I stopped taking my heart rate meds for the past few weeks. I was meant to stop my thyroid meds only. But after I got double vaccinated, I felt so bad that my brain just turned to mush. And I stopped taking both of them. I literally forgot the meds existed somehow.

And then he tells me he sent a script for a lower dose of my thyroid meds because now my TSH was way too high instead of way too low. I was taking too much, but I shouldn't have stopped completely. And I got those pills about 2 weeks ago. But no one ever told me they were a new dose and that I was supposed to start taking those instead.

So my body might be pretty confused right now.

The doctor had a nurse practitioner student. And we were talking about my trouble with exercise. And I was explaining that if I do any exercise, I get sick for days. Not only that, it's the only activity I can do—no photography, no writing, no socializing. I'd just be exercising and then going to sleep and that would be my life. I can't do it. I have been trying to figure out the exercise puzzle with my condition for 20 years.

And then she was like, "Just start with cleaning your dishes after dinner."

And I started crying because I really didn't want to explain the entirety of my medical issues or how cleaning dishes was not going to offer any substantive change to my health. I was so tired and frustrated. The doctor stepped in and changed the subject. But I was pretty frazzled.

I really hope this is just me being dumb and forgetting to take my medication. I really thought this problem was solved and I don't want to go back to the drawing board. The heart doctor already said as far as he is concerned, my heart is fine and it isn't his problem.

[greythemed]

𓂃 ♥︎ⴰ bloodhounds . kim gun-woo

˚ TITLE 𓂃 ♥︎ⴰ how is like to date gun-woo part two ˚ WORD COUNT 𓂃 ♥︎ⴰ 1770

dating gun-woo consists of you being a lightweight while he has the best alcohol tolerance in the group, consequently making him your babysitter for the rest of the night no matter how much he drinks (this man's tolerance is no joke, we saw it on episode seven).

he IS the type of boyfriend who spoils you like there is no tomorrow. gun-woo is so detached when it comes to money that soon after winning a pay-per-view match (it was his first one after being officially sponsored by your father!) he was ready to deposit the whole freaking 3 billion wones on your account like that was NORMAL.

"but babe, you don't want it?🥺" he says once he is out of the ring, innocent eyes rising accordingly to your patience. "you can buy whatever makes you happy 'cause i want to see you happy". and you're like "NO GUN-WOO YOU CAN'T SPEND YOUR ENTIRE MONEY ON ME". and he be like. "yes i can????".

honestly we should navigate more of that. gun-woo knows the value of money in this world, he knows that it can change some people's lives. but he never once did something to get money for himself. he was always running and fighting for his mother, her café, her safety and her dreams. so when everything was over and he caught himself with a pile of gold in his hands (he helped his mom and there was still much money left!), he didn't know what to do and how to spend it.

that's when you came through and saved gun-woo's life. because again he has something to spend money with, and someone to spoil.

it doesn't matter if you're rich already (your dad is a ceo and you just became a doctor by yourself!), gun-woo's love language is buying you food whenever he goes out. it is your birthday? expect numerous gifts throughout the entirety of the day. he caught you eyeing something in a store for a little more than 4 seconds? boom! new package arriving at your door the following day.

and that goes even before he became a well-known pro-fighter in korea. when he still was only your cousin's friend that min-beom suspiciously kept by his side during difficult times. he wasn't that big on money, you could tell that, but he still was trying to get your attention by buying different snacks on his way to your home.

HE LOVES HIS PILLOW PRINCESS.

each type of gun-woo's hugs has a different meaning and he is so happy that you caught that in the early stages of your relationship. this six feet tall man is hugging you from behind while you're innocently staring at his penthouse's living room's view? that means he's feeling vulnerable and in need of some of your love.

when you feel his arms enveloping your waist and his lips leaving a kiss on your ear? you already know he is feeling excited enough to express his love for you in many different ways.

gun-woo is a loveable person at the end of the day. he needs some validation from time to time and will get clingy if you don't express your feelings for a while. that causes some agitation in your relationship, including arguments about the different love languages both of you have.

sometimes, you think gun-woo is too honest about certain things. the fact that he wears his heart on his sleeve while being a war trunk makes him incredibly dangerous. how do you expect to act around your gorgeous boyfriend while he is a softie on the inside and you know it? you have no option left but to act like a slut.

he points that out someday when you are both alone. "baby, are you okay? you are staring weirdly at me for the past 30 minutes and i'm getting worried".

and you cannot react, otherwise, you'd be ruining your family dinner and jumping that man's bones in the middle of the fancy restaurant while everyone's watching.

even when he is in desperate need of some affection, he doesn't want to disturb you. he doesn't know how this works in the long run, after all. he doesn't feel confident enough to say that out loud. that he needs you at that moment. so you'll have to get pretty good at reading his signs, especially his eyes.

woo-jin's knowledge comes in handy in times like these.

like the first time you met his mother (you were his first ever girlfriend, so he wanted her to like you too!) and he was staring at her the entire afternoon at the café with so much anxiety coming out of him that you had to drag him to the bathroom so he could calm down.

he had the habit of clenching his jaw when he was anxious. "it's okay, baby, i'm gonna be fine, i'm sure she is lovely". you tried to reason with the boxer, constantly having to cup his jaw so he could relax. "i'm sorry, i'm just apprehensive". he replied with those puppy eyes that you'd immediately pout for.

everything went smoothly with his mother and she even made a special dish for you that day! but the second you're alone in your room that night you call woo-jin and ask for some advice on how to deal with your boyfriend's anxieties because who else would know about that other than his marine best friend?!

i'm not done talking about this man's alcohol tolerance because is SO FUCKING SEXY AND FOR WHAT?! i swear on that scene in episode seven, my eyes were glued on the screen every time he took a sip like sir please be my boyfriend????

and even woo-jin was surprised it was so funny to me.

so expect your first club night outs (honestly, gun-woo just came because you asked him nicely) to be completely HORROR for the boxers. the second you started drinking, woo-jin and gun-woo didn't take their eyes off you because they KNOW how YOUR alcohol tolerance is almost non-existent but still you want to have a good time.

like "NO Y/N YOU SHOULDN'T PISS ON A BURNING TO TAKE THE FIRE DOWN BC ITS EASIER". and woo-jin would be SO done with you all the time, glaring at gun-woo every time you said something stupid. he'd be like "this is your phd doctor girlfriend???". and send a dirty look to his best friend.

and on the rare occasions where you don't feel like drinking you can't help but stare intensively at gun-woo's adam's apple bobbing every time he takes a sip from the soju bottle woo-jin challenged him to take (it was indeed a rare occasion) because WHY WAS HE SO HOT?!

and then finishing with the most polite smile and the glossiest eyes you've ever seen like IT WAS NOTHING?!?!?

he looked at you asking what was wrong and you would turn nonverbal for the next 30 seconds before kissing him in front of the bar AND WOO-JIN

nsfw under 😳😳😳

hear. me. out.

at first, gun-woo wasn't the most speaker in bed because - let's be honest - the boy is timid. but the second he sees your reaction when he accidentally lets a whimper slip from his mouth one day, a whole key is turned inside the boxer's brain.

when you're riding him, he entwines your fingers with his, placing kisses on your wrist, your palm or wherever possible and just breathing "you're going to make me lose my goddamn mind, fuck".

you get high from watching him orgasm and vice-versa.

when he comes back up from between your thighs for a breather, for example, his eyes notice your clutched hands at your sides, nails digging into your palm - because he pays attention to every little detail you let it slide, you already know that - and he wasn't having it. leaning down to continue from where he left off, he takes your hands in his and places them on his head, a gesture telling you to just pull his hair already.

this man is timid but he's also a romantic. when i tell you gun-woo needs confirmation from you whenever you are together, i mean at sexy times as well. the moment you start to feel too level-headed and too euphoric and close your eyes, he is fast to turn your attention to his voice so he could guide you.

"no, no look at me baby—keep 'em open. need you to see me, ye?". he grunts and your eyes flicker open once again, obediently following his rules, giving him the eye contact he so desperately craves.

there is a thing we need to talk about gun-woo sizing you up for the first time.

when the realization dawns on you, your eyes almost roll to the back of your head. gun-woo was sliding his length past your clit and up your stomach so far that his balls press against your core. he said it was for 'safety purposes' when you caught him doing it, embarrassment evident on his flaming cheeks and stuttering mouth.

but the second time he does it? you were feral, almost coming right then and there. essentially, he was trying to see just how far in he was going to be, just how deep he was going to fuck you and you clenched so hard around nothing that you had to slap him to stop.

"you can't just do this, gun-woo!". you wanted to curse. "s-sorry", he was caught again, but now not a single drop of shame adorning his features. by the looks of it, he was smirking.

cursing? let's talk about that.

you knew you dated an angel so to speak. but the whole angelic persona gun-woo carried on his daily basis was left at the door when he was alone with you. cursing? he did on rare occasions, maybe when woo-jin went too far with a joke about his mother or when he pressed his little finger on the car door while rushing to the gym.

but never with you.

so imagine your surprise when the first string of 'fucks' slipped past this man's lips when he entered you for the very first time. and then the constant self-control he needs to collect when you are too far in orgasmland and whisper dirty things in his ears.

"feel too full woo", you moan absentmindedly and gun-woo lets out a heavy breath, dropping his head down so your foreheads can touch.

"god—fuck—you can't say shit like that, princess". he warns.

i began to pass out and my head hit the wall boom!

i am not proud of this one (sorry for any misspellings, this is not proofread!) and i'm sorry for ending this here hahahahahah leaving y'all dry and wanting because that's what life is about!!! (suffering) THANK YOU ALL FOR THE KIND WORDS YOU GUYS ARE THE LOVELIEST <33

this blog is desactivated, if you want to reach me, follow me on my new account ( @zerocoded ) new kdrama content there soon, xx.

[laura1633]

laura, i just read that bit about how the silverstone crash affected max so much. i have so many feels rn. unfortunately, i was not a fan of f1 back in 2021. i just want to wrap maxie in the fluffiest blanket and hold him tight until he feels the love so many people have for him. want to feed him warm tomato soup just the way he likes it and tell him over and over again that he's good enough and deserves so much more than the world offers him. he deserves more love. he is enough. just want to tell him that it is fine, darling. we are all human. sorry for the long rant. as i said, lots of feels.

No need to apologise at all anon. I have very similar feelings which is why I end up writing so many fics where Max gets so much love and praise. It's why I also love writing him as an omega getting fussed over and looked after. He deserves to be wrapped up in the fluffiest blanket and fed the best tomato soup!!

I have gone on a very long rant below the cut 😂 -warning for talk about Silverstone and the 2021 season but ending on a positive note.

Silverstone was an awful accident, the way it was discussed afterwards honestly showed the worst side of F1 to me. I do genuinely think that the impact of it was downplayed a lot. People seemed to have the impression that as it was Max it was "deserved" or "bound to happen at some point". I won't even go into the worst comments but they were vile, including some comments from people within F1 teams.

I cried so, so much when Max won that championship. I don't think I have ever been that emotional about a sporting event in my whole life but he so deserved it. He drove amazingly all season long under immense pressure placed on him both on and off the track.

I think Max has been treated unfairly for most of his career. He jumped into an F1 car when he was 17 so he made mistakes and had to mature on track. Some people will not let him forget any of those mistakes whereas I think other drivers have been given much more forgiveness. The reception Max got from some drivers was not as welcoming at it should have been to a literal child!

Netflix drive to survive also did not help, they completely mischaracterised him in order to make an entertainment show packaged up as a documentary and so people believed what they were seeing as fact.

Then we have the fact that Max has been up against British racing drivers when the bulk of the reporting press is British. The reporting over Austria 2024 gives an insight into how it can be!

However, it's not all doom and gloom and I do believe Max knows how much support he has. There are large groups of people who travel all over the world to support him, he has grandstands in multiple races, he even has his own store(s?) in the Netherlands. He is truly loved by so many fans.

I have been lucky enough to go Spa and Zandvoort and seen the love people have for him. On the walk from the station to the track in Zandvoort I was actually a little emotional because there were decorations lining the way and Max flags and people blaring music. It was a celebration not just for F1 but for their driver. It was a wonderful experience. They even named the trains going to the race the 'Max Express'. I am only saying all this because I think that sometimes it can seem that he is not popular but he really is. He is loved and supported by huge groups of people.

Sorry, when someone mentions Max I can't stop talking!!! I have so much to say I could talk for hours 😂