#something something might put these in a shop if people are interested in me selling charms n stickers

[daily-haunted-tv]

Little Rotom charms came in and I love em!

[sunlight-s0ngbird]

Don't fall away from me

Yandere Cowboy/bounty hunter x Female! Reader first time meeting headcanons This was requested by @lavandulawrites Summary: Elio had gone around the entire west for his job, meeting new people and knowing hundreds. It's odd that he's now meeting poor, sweet you. Warnings: Toxic relationship, yandere content, mention of violence but not descriptive, not specifically feminine and can be seen as gender neutral but has female reader in mind. Word count: 1.1k ⭒✮��

Elio knew the west like the back of his palm, it was almost instinct. He knows the faces of hundreds and knows how they celebrate him and his captures. Sadly, that day wasn’t today. He found himself in a saloon in Nevada, having yet again let an outlaw named Daya Gallager slip between his fingers.

It was almost immediately that he noticed you. You swooped into the room, selling objects you got from a pawn shop, which he didn’t fully believe was legal but that didn’t matter. Elio had never seen you before, he knew nearly everyone that was anyone and he didn’t know you.

You had made your way to the barstool next to him, setting your bag of trinkets in front of you and getting a drink for yourself with the money you were given. Elio couldn’t help staring.

“You from around here?” Elio asked you suddenly, his accent thick with each word. He knew it went against code to randomly ask someone about themselves, but he just needed to know! Turning his attention from you to the bottle in his hands, his lips drew back to a smile to make you feel a little bit more willing to answer.

“Yeah,” you nod and take the glass the bartender gave you. Elio slowly nodded and drank again. He should have known you; he knew everyone… maybe he missed you when he would have traditionally met someone. Oh well.

Elio spent the rest of the time getting to know you, learning you were a traveling pawn shop, getting things from buyers and going around the west with beautiful golds, silvers, and pearls. You were fascinating, truly. He couldn’t pinpoint what felt off about you. Maybe it was because you were nomadic or that you dressed so differently than he was traditionally used to. He couldn’t register why but didn’t want to let that feeling go.

He is beyond obsessive and knows about it. Hell, his father told him “If you want things done, you can’t take a simple no”, so why is it bad that he wants you on his arm? It’s not harming anyone, especially not him. He’d enjoy it beyond words.

When the night ends and you go off to leave the town, something just makes him want to follow suit. It’s your softness. Yeah, that’s the reason! You’re so kind and Elio has met so many cruel people, you need to be kept safe or else you’ll die like so many innocent people already have.

You had left for northern California since you heard some towns were getting larger populations and you felt they would be interested in your finds. It was only half the trip there when you found Elio following you through the woods.

“Elio?” You call over the sloshing of the river water. You move to sit on your knees, moving your legs from the water. He froze behind the trees before moving out from behind the greenery.

“Isn’t it odd seeing you. You’re moving northwest too?” He remarked and smiled, putting his hands in his pockets to stop them from getting so sweaty. He could only hope you didn’t ask questions about Daya’s whereabouts or if he was really following a bounty.

Once he gets the courage to confess his love for you, it could go one of two ways. You accept and he’s a lot kinder to you or you decline, and he starts following you around the west.

Elio is far kinder when it comes to you accepting, placing a kiss on your knuckle before stating (not asking) where you’ll go to have your first date. He’ll be extra sweet to you. He wouldn’t allow your hands to his face for a while, if you dared touch his face, you might have asked if he was sick. It wasn’t his fault, of course, it was yours for being so pretty.

Though, he doesn’t have a good history with relationships at all. Elio doesn’t believe you truly love him. He knows he’s nice and good at many things, he’s had women ask him out before, even some men too. But there’s only so much he can think is your own doing, especially when it comes to loving him.

Elio would hear you say, “I love you” and wonder if you truly meant it, and it would lead to so much distrust with constantly needing to prove that you should be satisfied with being with him and not needing to be with him just because he said so. That isn’t to say Elio doesn’t get jealous easily. He’s obsessed with you, why wouldn’t he get jealous when you talk to another man, whether he’s a buyer or not.

Declining wouldn’t have the same reaction though. He’s already shown so many signs he’s in love with you, so it just doesn’t make sense in his head. Elio would freeze and start asking why you did not love him. Was it because you realized he had been following you? Or was it his clothes or his history?! He wanted every single reason and detail as to why you wouldn’t want him. He won’t accept it, obviously. There must be something wrong with your mind if you can’t see that he’s a good person. Elio’s a good man and a good fit for a husband. He’s a good fit to be your husband.

He will treat you like cattle on several occasions. Elio was raised by a politician and knows how to be a good leader, but he also learned how to be a good herder. You’ll go down to the river, trying to leave his home, and you’ll find yourself right back in his bed. You plan on going to the saloon for a drink, wouldn’t you want to stay with him instead? It’s not safe anyway!

There are positives to living with him, he’s never yelled at you. Elio grew up learning kindness and patience and knows that someone isn’t as willing to listen if he gets so caught in his own feelings. His voice is naturally soft and tender to you, he needs to make you swoon before he really needs to take you.

Elio is naturally a soft and tender person. Even with the violent nature of his job, he’ll be able to lay in bed with you and talk so naturally, as if he didn’t feel like his heart needed to consume you.

“I love you,” you state with a smile, your eyes looking up at the stars hanging above the both of you. The heat in Elio’s cheeks flared at the suddenness of your statement. His deep brown eyes were only seen so wide by the silver stars above. They seemed to match the silver of your items.

“Prove it to me.”

⭒✮⭒

Yandere cowboy/bounty hunter masterlist Welcome board Thank you so much for reading, make sure to request if you feel you have an idea or any questions!

[slavicafire]

where do i get weird and off-putting fragrances in poland as a broke ass goth dyke? i got like a laughably small amount of olympic orchids' night flyer for like 50 PLN from resale, but a lot of it evaporated. i want to smell like blood, rot, or a moldy cellar on a budget without actually rolling around my block's basement. i'm currently running on the fumes of artiscent amber envie i got at rossmann for 35PLN on sale. send help

getting nice fragrances on a budget is not that difficult - when you're aiming for florals or gourmand scents, or something else rather basic. strange fragrances are still pretty niche and therefore a pain in the ass to get and to pay for, unfortunately.

one tip I'd definitely give is simply buying samples - places like house of merlo or mood scent bar have the option of purchasing a sample of most of the fragrances they sell, including all the great weird ones. lulua and tiger and bear also sell samples of plenty of fragrances but certainly seem to be a bit more limited in which fragrances they'll let you sample. sure, the sample isn't cheap if you consider how small it is - but it is definitely more accessible and can actually last a really long time, especially if you aim for an extrait rather than EDP.

while you can, of course, purchase samples online, it's good to remember that visiting one of these shops also lets you try the fragrances - so you can really tell how they develop on your skin before you decide to purchase... and also spray yourself with fun scents for free.

I'd also recommend to check olx and vinted for people selling the perfumes they no longer want - if you don't mind having a bottle that's partially used and you're not afraid of getting a dupe instead of an original. my logic is: if I pay a low price and the smell is still nice/interesting, I don't care if something is a dupe.

which also brings me to the final part: dupes, especially in combo with layering. most dupes in those little dupe stores will be of nice and pretty fragrances, yes, but you can still find scents there that will smell strange on you specifically, or find a way to layer them with a different scent to make them more complex and enticing. it's more work to find something nice there but it's definitely worth trying, as you can end up with some truly original combinations that no one else could get.

and on the subject of layering - I recommend trying out and purchasing some wax perfumes and seeing how they work on your skin, and finding a fun combo to layer them with. I have perfumes from bydgoska wytwórnia mydła and miodowa mydlarnia - while some of their scents are too basic on their own, they blend very nicely with other wax perfumes and can be really interesting + cost-effective.

all in all, best of luck on your search - might you always find what you desire currently on sale.

[lucozaynkisses]

A guide to being the local fashion icon 🐆

1. THRIFT THRIFT THRIFT!

I am someone who lives for unique clothing. My biggest tip ever for anyone who wants to stand out and be more fashionable is to start thrifting. Not only is it beyond fun this is a place where you can get pieces no one else has for CHEAP. nothing feels better than finding ur dream clothing piece at a thrift store. And you can get high quality clothing for way cheaper than a new poor quality item you get online. I’ve thrifted since forever so I might post thrifting tips soon.

2. Do a closet cleanout

It is so important to get rid of clothes you won’t wear anymore. I struggle with this and found myself keeping clothes as “backup” so much that I ended up with filled to the brim drawers full of clothes I find extremely ugly or that I just didn’t ever wear anymore. And this caused me to forget the nice clothes I have and only wear the same outfits all the time because I couldn’t find my other clothes. So GET RID OF CLOTHES!

3. Find your staples

My staples include black boots, leather jackets, denim jackets, and a few good pairs of jeans. Now this can be completely different for you. You need to figure out what the items are most needed for the outfits that go with your style.

4. Avoid shopping on SHEIN

Hear me out. I used to be a shein addict and I know how addictive it can be to buy cute clothes for cheap. But I just don’t find it worth it at all anymore. And I don’t even own any of the hundreds of clothes I bought on Shein anymore because the ones I wore often got ugly crazy fast. I hate to be the one to say it but you can almost always tell when a clothing piece is from shein. Now you do you, but if we’re talking about being that it girl, the one who always looks so cool and stylish and somehow nobody does it like her, buying quality clothing is key. Trust me you can find a better option at the thrift for almost anything you’re buying from shein. Shein also mostly sells clothes that will go out style in a few months.

5. don’t put yourself in a box

Create your style without trapping yourself in an aesthetic. The beauty of fashion is you can always try new things and be creative and express yourself through it. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Wear something a little different every now and then if you feel like it. You don’t need to dress a specific way all the time.

6. Find inspiration

One thing I like to do is to write down the people whose style I like so that I can get inspiration from them and see what I can take away from their fashion choices. Another thing I do is making a Pinterest board for every season every year that way I can look at it when I want ideas.

7. Shop with a goal in mind

A lot of the times we end up buying things we barely wear because we bought it just for the sake of buying something. I like to keep a list of things I really want t and look for those specific things when I’m shopping to avoid buying things I don’t actually want.

8. Add a bit of color to your outfits

Look, I am someone who literally only ever wears neutral colors. But the times I choose to add a bit of color to my outfits it upgrades them so much. I mostly do this with red because it’s pretty much the only bold color I don’t despise. But a bolder color can really make ur outfits stand out so much more. This works best if it’s only 1 specific part of ur look.

9. Accessorize

I know we hear this all the time but accessories really brings an outfit together. You can have the most basic outfit, but if you add some jewelry, a bag, and a pair of sunglasses it suddenly looks not basic at all. Or maybe you add a cute belt. Accessorizing is key to spicing up your outfits.

10. Find a makeup that fits you

Recently I’ve been loving a 90’s makeup look. I think finding a makeup style that suits you changes everything. I don’t feel complete if I’m not wearing some lip combo. So try out different makeup styles and see what you like best.

11. Have one interesting factor in ur outfit

Having one thing that stands out from the rest of ur outfit makes it so much more unique. This can be anything from a pattern, to a texture, to a color etc. having only ONE is important because it makes your outfit interesting but keeps it from looking messy.

Hope this helps u become a fashion diva 🫶🏼🙂‍↔️

Xo, Ary 💋

[thekansta]

Would you sell your art as prints? I want some of them on my wall 😅

thank you for your interest! here's the thing about selling prints and other merch. hope you don't mind a rambley explanation since this is something that has been on my mind for a while

jjwxc (the cn site that most danmei series are published on) does not allow fanmerch of IP licensed under them to be sold for profit. this is why you might see a lot of pay-for-production merch (P4P) being made. this is something that older fans are all aware of and usually abide by, but due to the dramas and donghuas, the fandom grew exponentially and a lot of newer fans either don't know or don't care about these rules. tbh i also see some big artists now selling prints and merch of mxtx characters.

personally, my conscience prevents me from selling merch of my danmei works. P4P is a lot of work too and i can't justify the time i will have to put in.

the only works i can potentially sell are my OCs, maybe the Akatsuki no Yona dragons, and i mightttttt be able to get away with the humanized weapons from tgcf since that's also my own design and don't have much to do with canon. however i'm fairly certain that most people would only be interested in buying danmei prints.

that being said, maybe one day i'll make an inprnt shop and put some of the above mentioned works if that interests people.

another way of getting prints of my art is to join my patreon to get the HD files and print them yourself (but keep in mind that you are only allowed to print for personal use, not commercial use, of course)

despite all this, i just want to thank you again for voicing that you like my work enough to want it on your wall! it is so incredibly flattering to hear and genuinely makes my day. i'm sorry that the options are kind of limited (tbh i would LOVE to be able to sell prints of my fan art) but i just can't bring myself to.

thank you again for your ask!

[kings-highway]

i saw u were giving ur thoughts abt rare pairs and i wanted to know what you think about kurokita if ur down!!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 🤔

I haven't really thought that much about these two in particular. Even if I love all the captains in every rotation. But.... welll.............

I think the funniest immediate dynamic that comes to head is that we've got Mr. Down Home "It Ain't Much but It's Honest" versus "Captialist Rex" which honestly I am not an enemies to lovers kinda person but if you wanted to make a hallmark movie-

Dear Kita has to come into the city and he's only there to help a family member sell at a local artisan market, and they've got a little shop set up, and Kuroo is basically classic entrepenurial spirit like "wow you could really make a business out of this little set up" and Kita says "get my name out of your mouth right now" and-

Actually hang on I'm kinda into this conceptually. Because Kita's, like, mean. Canonically. He's not like most of the other captains that like, mince words or try and keep people's morals up, up he straight up tells people to stop making mistakes and to be better, like... I don't know if Kuroo has a lot of people like that in his life that would hold a knife to his throat and tell him to be a better human being or the Gods will send him to hell.

I do think Kuroo could easily absolutely fall in love with this downhome kind of simple logic Kita has, very yes sir, thank you ma'am, let's get our work done, but in the way that what Kuroo might be missing in his very corporate life is a little bit of home comfort, somewhere to come back and rest his head and feel fulfilled. And I can imagine the first few nights he stays over on the farm rest him like nothing has ever rested him, and once Kita actually lets him talk about *why* he's climbing to the top of the volleyball managerial ladder (to lower the net for everybody!) Kita almost instantly falls in love. To put that much work into an ideal, to commit to something he cares about that hard and put that many hours a day in, that's something Kita can support, whatever it is.

Anyway Kita would absolutely make him little homemade bento boxes with cute little notes to take to work and then sometimes when Kuroo's messed up he'll leave very aggressive little notes.

Kita tries to pretend he doesn't think Kuroo is attractive at all, but (before they're together) he catches him sleeping on the bed with his shirt off and almost has an aneurism

Kuroo is pretty sure every time Kita smiles a year gets added to his life.

Atsumu finds out Kuroo (yes, that Kuroo!) is dating his former captain and Osamu has to stop him from sending a strongly worded letter to the editor regarding why Kita should absolutely break up with him right now do not trust the black cat do NOT

Anyway also I forgot to include somewhere in the original hallmark enemies-to-lovers triad that they have to hardcore hate fuck atleast once. I think they could do it. Better than other rarepairs i've thought about I think they could.

Overall Rating:

For Me, Personal Interest: 2/10

Personal Interest for Enemies to Lovers Country Boy v Coporate Man: 10/10 send me this fic right now. (and I don't even like enemies to lovers-)

Concept/Potential: 3.5/10?

Concept/Potential as Aforementioned Hallmark Movie: 10/10 oh my god I want it now??? I talked myself into this.

[random-writer-23]

Icy Encounter (Kristoff x reader)

Summary: reader owns a flower shop in the middle of Arendelles town square, one day she meets Kristoff and Sven who are in town with an ice delivery, resulting in an icy encounter.

Word count: 7,049

Warnings: Sleigh crash, other than that pure fluff.

A/n: I may have not written Kristoff's characters completely accurately, but I wanted to lean more into Frozen 2 Kristoff's personality where he's just a Lil guy whos all nervous and blushy and stuff, and not his frozen 1 personality where he's really off-putting to the people he meets for the first time. I'll def write that Kristoff personality in the future tho cause much love for my boy. This also didn't turn out exactly the way that I'd planned it, but I like how it turned out for the most part. I might go back and edit it in the future but it's alright for now. Anyway as usual all likes follows, reblogs, and comments are appreciated.

Also I am looking for beta readers to read my writing before I publish them, so if that's something you'd be interested in please checkout the pinned post on my profile.

I huffed pulling the rope that opens the window to my small flower stand in the middle of Arendelles plaza. Clipping the rope to the window frame when I got the window open I propped the door open and started unpacking the flowers I was going to sell that day. Arranging them in gorgeous bouquets and placing them in the buckets of water out front. Putting the leftover flowers in buckets so people could make their own bouquets, more personalized for their loved ones. I hummed a little tune as I set everything up. Giving a glance up to the sky, it was a clear day, perfect for selling. The warm air and sunny skies would drive people to the plaza stalls for merchants to sell their wares. I liked to get to my stall earlier than most of the other merchants just so I can get set up well before the market time rush. I tied bows onto a couple more bouquets before putting them on the shelves. I took a step back from my stand and smiled, perfect, as usual. I looked around the market square to see other merchants setting up their stands. I walked past their stalls looking at what was for sale, to see what I could get my hands on before the afternoon rush, making small talk with the merchants I knew. 

"good morning holly" I waved passing by her bakery stand, as she placed a fresh pie next to her money box. 

"good morning (y/n)!" She smiled waving me over. I backtracked my steps and walked up to her stall window. She wiped her hands on her apron quickly and disappeared to her cart before reappearing with a couple of blueberry muffins, which she placed in a bag for me. 

"Oh thank you holly" my face lit up as she gave me the bag, "I did forget to eat breakfast this morning, so I really appreciate these" I pulled one out of the bag and took a bite.

"I figured you forgot to eat this morning" She laughed, "always up so early but you never take care of yourself" 

"I know! I'm terribleee" I chittered spinning around, "these are delicious Holly thank you!!! Come by my flower stand and I'll give you a nice bouquet on the house!" I said over my shoulder as I walked away from her stall. 

"Sounds good!" she yells back. I kept walking past the other stalls until I got to the docks at the end of the market square. Looking down I saw Harold one of the best fishermen in Arendelle, pulling his catch out of his boat and onto the dock. 

"good morning Harold" I skipped over to his boat happily, and he looked up at me, his frown turning into a wide smile. 

"Oh hello (y/n)!" His toothy grin spread across his face. 

"need some help?" I asked and he nodded. At his nod, I walked down to his level and helped him carry his bag of fish up to his stall. 

"wheres your usual help?" I asked him watching him cut the net and pull a fish out. 

"oh, Stephan? his whole family's sick." He replied examining the fish he had in his hand before putting it in a bucket of water. He was dividing the fish up by type. 

"Oh, that's horrible." I placed my hand over my chest and decided right then that I would make a big batch of soup to take to his family. I watched Harold debone some of the fish, and prepare them all in different ways. Before throwing them into the right bucket. Once one of his buckets was full I picked it up and walked to the front of his stall to place them on display. I noticed he hadn't received his Ice delivery yet, which was crucial to keep his fish cold enough to sell to people. I continued putting his fish out on display at the front of his stall. 

"hey, Harold when does your ice delivery get here?" I asked, but never heard his response as my attention turned toward the screams and shouts coming from the other end of the market, where an out-of-control sleigh was hurtling towards the market. 

"Watch out! move! go move! get out of the way!" The man in the driver's seat yelled waving his hands wildly as people scattered out of the way. I finally turned my attention from the sleigh to the direction he was going and to my horror he was spinning out of control right towards my flower shop. As if in slow motion, he got closer to my stall and I dropped the fish from my hands and ran toward my stall. The sleigh was pulled by a very frightened reindeer whose legs were scrambling in a futile effort to try and stop the sleigh before it crashed. I wouldn't make it in time, I closed my eyes as the sleigh made contact with my poor stall. And the crack of wood and breaking ice from the collision echoed around the market square. When I opened my eyes, I teared up a little at the sight of my poor stall. Broken flower stems lay scattered about the area, stray petals still falling through the air. I heard the groan of a man and the whine of a reindeer as broken piles of wood shifted with movement. A hand came out of the pile followed by a mop of sandy blond hair. Another groan of pain from the man as he pushed the wood off him and his companion. They emerged from the rubble and looked at my broken stall. Seemingly not having noticed me yet.

"My stall" I whimpered, not angry, just sad, my eyes filling with tears, as I sniffled. My sniffle got the attention of the man and his companion and they turned around slowly, the guilt on their face plenty evident. 

"I'm so sorry miss..." the man trailed off not knowing my name. I sniffled again before introducing myself. 

"(y/n)" I mumbled walking past the stranger and his animal to my stall. I picked up stray flowers off the floor. 

"(y/n) right, well I am so so so sorry," the man said mindlessly moving his arms around and walking around to pick up scattered pieces of wood. His footsteps crunching on the ice on the floor. "Sven and I are so sorry, we'll we'll fix this" He rambled on, I didn't pay much attention to his words as I wiped tears from my eyes, and turned to face the man with a small smile on my face. I hated crying in public places, so I quickly changed the topic off my broken stall.  

"Sven?" I questioned, wiping my nose with a handkerchief I found in my apron pocket, I finally looked the stranger in the eye he was kind of handsome I noticed, with sandy blond hair, accompanied by broad shoulders and huge arms.  

"Yeah... uh Sven" He gestured to the reindeer cowering behind him, and I forgot my worries about my broken stall, and my thoughts about how handsome the stranger is my attention focused solely on the poor animal. 

"Well aren't you the cutest thing" I cooed waving at him as he looked at the man for reassurance and then looked back at me and hopped over to me happily after realizing I wasn't upset with him. I reached my hand out to let him smell it, and he licked my hand, wagging his tail. 

"Yeah, he was going too fast, and couldn't stop in time" The man rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, watching me pet Sven. 

"oh well I couldn't stay mad at you" I laughed petting Sven's head and scratching him behind his ears. "you were probably so scared weren't you buddy?" I asked lifting his head with both hands and kissing him right on the nose. He stomped his foot and wiggled his tail, nodding. "you poor thing" I kept petting Sven, and I was in a much better mood after petting Sven, despite my shop stall being in shambles. "I never got your name" I turned to the stranger, briefly stopping my scratches on Svens ears, which was met with a hoof scratching my leg and a small whine of protest. I smiled at Kristoff and his face reddened. 

"oh yeah I-I'm Kri-Kristoff" He stuttered a look of surprise crossing his face for a second before he composed himself. 

"I'd say it's nice to meet you but y'know" I laugh gesturing to my broken stall. 

"yeah. don't worry, uh Sven and I will fix it. promise" He crossed his fingers over his heart, "and we guarantee it'll be better than before, right Sven?" He looked at his reindeer pal and bent down holding Svens head in his hand. "right Kristoff" he said making his voice sound funny. 

"Thank you, Sven" I gave him a quick curtsy and laughed alongside Kristoff. 

"Well, Sven let's get to work" Kristoff winked at me, rolling up his sleeves as Sven pushed me away from my broken stall with his antlers. 

--Time skip to the next morning-- 

"Alright keep your eyes closed!" Kristoff announced from ahead of me, as I was pushed forward by Sven's antlers. 

"They're closed, they're closed!" I laughed walking forward at Sven's nudges, keeping my hands over my eyes, feeling excitement bubbling up in my stomach. 

"Alright Sven stop pushing her," Kristoff said standing right next to me and I felt Sven's antlers leave my back. I heard Kristoff step behind me and felt him grab my wrists with his hands, heat radiating off them. "You ready?" He asked and I could hear the smile in his voice, I nodded finding my words to fail me in my excitement. "alright then, open them" He pulled my hands away from my face and I opened my eyes. I immediately teared up at the sight of my new market stall. 

"Oh, it's wonderful" I whispered breathlessly, blinking back the tears. The stall looked similar to my old one except this one was much bigger, and had a backroom area. They had even built a sign on top of the stall to draw people's attention. 

"Do you like it?" Kristoff asked hesitantly coming to stand next to me, judging my reaction carefully. 

"I love it, thank you!" I squealed throwing my arms around him and hugging him tightly. He let out a huge breath he'd been holding and hugged me back, I let him go pretty quickly realizing I had just thrown myself into the arms of someone I'd known for only a day. Even if he was handsome. Sven let out a loud bellow, and I turned to face him. "and thank you too Sven" I smiled and his tail wagged. He walked over to Kristoff and Kristoff pet him. 

"well that's a relief, I'm sorry for crashing into it in the first place though" he mumbled sheepishly, avoiding my eyes after my surprise hug. "but uh hey you got a new stall out of it so!" He fell silent as we stared at each other for a little while before he caught himself staring and cleared his throat. "well Sven and I will be off now... we'll uh.. see you around?" he asked. 

"yeah, you'll see me" I smiled. 

"cool, cool, cool, alright well. let's go then Sven we'll leave her with her new stall." He started backing up still facing me and backed into a trashcan with a loud thunk. I giggled hiding it behind my hand. "who put that there" He murmured face going red, he looked back up at me waved quickly, and then spun around retreating into the distance with Sven. I giggled to myself turning back around to look at my new stall. My heart fluttering slightly at the thought of him building this just for me. 

-Time skip a couple days later-

Kristoff and Sven definitely made good on their promise they rebuilt my stall even better than before and expanded it so I had more display shelves and even more room in the back for storage. Made it big enough for me to fit a table and chair in, and a stool behind the register counter. It was perfect, so good that it made me sort of glad they broke it in the first place. I would miss my old stall though, but my new stall stands out in the market. I hung some streamers from the stall overhang decorating my stall to attract more customers. After setting up the decorations I unloaded my cart of flowers and started to make the bouquets I'd sell to customers. I finished one of my rainbow tulip arrangements and walked to my table picking up the other bouquets I just made. Taking one last glance at them to make sure they were perfect I took them out to the front of my stall to put them in the buckets of water I have outside. I put them in the water and took a step back from my stall to admire it. All I had to do was put a few more flowers out on display and then it'd be perfect. I ran back to the backroom and arranged a couple more bouquets before deciding to just put the rest of the flowers out for people to make their own arrangements. After a few more minutes of putting single-type flowers in different containers, my display was finally all set up. I put all my leftover flowers in a bucket in the back and then got behind the counter to count the money in my register before my shop opened for the afternoon rush. I was in the middle of counting the coins in my register when I heard the scraping of a sleigh against cobblestone and turned my head to face the sound. Breaking out into a smile when I saw who it was. 

"Kristoff! Sven!" I shouted waving the two of them over, I watched Kristoff smile and direct Sven over to where I am. "I saved you guys a spot next to me!" I beamed walking out from behind the counter to give Sven a couple of scratches behind his ears.

"Oh, thanks!" Kristoff smiled looking over the empty area between my stall and the next. I followed behind Kristoff's sleigh as he moved it in between the stalls. I helped Kristoff unhook Sven from his harness and Sven followed me over to my stand I scratched behind his ears a bit more before picking a singular flower from my buckets and tucking it behind my ear, then I picked another flower of the same type and split the stem wrapping it around one of Sven's antlers. 

"Now we're matching" I laughed as even spun around in a couple of circles, "I'm guessing you like it" Sven nuzzled his nose into my hand his tail wagging, and I looked back at Kristoff to see what he was doing, only to find him already staring at me with a goofy grin on his face. Scrambling to look away once I noticed him staring. "Don't you have some ice to deliver?" 

"yeah, I do, I better uh get going to uh deliver that uh um..." he trailed off. 

"...ice" I finished for him 

"yeah yeah, C'mon Sven" Sven shook his head in protest and sat down next to me stubbornly, I laughed and pet his head. "traitor" Kristoff mumbled furrowing his eyebrows.

"haha, it's alright he can stay with me" I pet Sven between the antlers and his tail started wagging. "If you don't mind of course" I quickly added. 

"yeah yeah no I don't mind" he replied "I can just deliver the ice myself," he said trying to be nonchalant but failing. "don't you worry about it" He grunted slinging a large block of ice over his shoulder to carry to his first customer of the day. Sven and I watched him leave before looking at each other. 

"Now just because I let you stay with me doesn't mean you get out of doing work" I smiled walking back to my store and he bleated mournfully following behind me. 

--Time skip a couple hours-- 

By the time Kristoff finished delivering his whole sleigh of ice the afternoon rush was just beginning, and I put Sven to good use, when the children came up to my stall to pet him (free of charge of course) I allowed them to pick a flower for just a couple cents, and Sven allowed them to decorate his Antlers. By the afternoon so many of the children came up to buy flowers from us, that I had to weave them into his fur. By the time Kristoff came back, Sven was completely covered, and he seemed happy about it with the way he pranced up to Kristoff when he saw him and gave him a pretty little spin to show off his new look. 

"wow look at you Sven" Kristoff laughed and Sven spun again. 

"The kids helped me decorate him" I smiled, "oh that reminds me, here is half of the money he made," I said to Kristoff handing him a pouch halfway filled with coins. 

"oh no I couldn't take this" he refused politely.

"it's not for you... it's for Sven" I laughed, "you can use it to buy him some carrots or something, but hurry up and take it I've got customers" I tossed the bag to Kristoff, and turned to address my customers, it was an old couple who always stopped buy at the end of their day at the market. 

"Hello, Dorris, Hey Martin" I greeted them leaning on my counter, talking with them as I put together a bouquet made of the flowers they pointed out and picked. I made small talk with them waving briefly at Kristoff and Sven before they left. 

--A couple days later-- 

It had to be the worst day of my life, it was valentines day one of the BIGGEST days of the year for a flower seller like myself, So naturally, I ordered at least two cases extra of every type of flower I usually sell just for today but it was just my luck that my shipment never got delivered. I couldn't open my stall with no flowers. I mean sure I have some leftovers from yesterday that I didn't sell but like, those are not nearly enough for a valentines day sale. I stood in front of my stall fanning my eyes so I didn't cry in public which would have been so utterly embarrassing. 

"Hey (y/n)! How's it going!" The familiar voice of my now close friend Kristoff broke through my panicking, and I turned to face him obviously on the brink of tears. 

"oh, Kristoff everything is awful!" I whined bringing my hands up to hide my tears, he quickly parked his sleigh next to my stall which had become his usual place and jumped off hurrying to my side. 

"Why what's wrong? are you hurt? what happened?" He asked hurriedly giving me a small once-over to see if I was hurt. 

"no no I'm fine" I sniffled "it's just that it's valentines day and-and it's my biggest day of the year for flower selling and m-my" my voice became wobbly as I tried to hold in my tears. He rubbed my back gently. 

"It's okay, let it out" He comforted me, and I finally let my tears fall. 

"My flower delivery was never delivered and I ordered tons extra today because it's the biggest selling day of the year!" I cried turning to him to cry into his chest. I heard Sven pawing angrily at the ground and whining mournfully. 

"jeez, it's uh. It's gonna be okay. um, Sven shut up" He grumbled, obviously not knowing what to do. 

"he probably wants to be let out of his harness" I sniffled backing out of Kristoff's warm embrace and moving over to Sven. I unclipped his harness and he walked towards Kristoff headbutting him playfully before walking back to me and nuzzling against me. "Oh, Sven what do I do! The boating docks are completely on the other side of the kingdom, and It'll take me multiple trips to transport all those flowers from the docks to here. By the time I'm done peak selling time will be over and I'll lose so much profit" I started spiraling, my brain jumping to all the worst-case scenarios it could. 

"Okay okay calm down" Kristoff made his way over and started rubbing my back again. okay, what if Sven and I took you and your cart down to the Docks to pick up your shipment?" Kristoff suggested. 

"Oh I couldn't ask you do to that for me you have to deliver your ice" I rejected his offer softly. 

"no no I'm offering, we'll help you get your flowers and get back with enough time to spare for your rush hour." He insisted, and I smiled.

"I'd really appreciate that" I sniffled again tearing up more, my hands flying to cover my puffy eyes. 

"alright perfect plan, Let's get Sven hooked up to your cart and we'll go get your flowers. How does that sound?" Kristoff asked softly, and I nodded silently. He gave Sven a look and cocked his head in the direction of my cart and Sven nuzzled my arm on his way past. "Now is there anything you need before we go?" he asked and I shook my head no. "alright let's get you up on the cart then" He backed away slightly grabbing my hand and helping me climb up onto the cart. I sat down and Dried my eyes feeling a little better now that Kristoff is helping me. I watched him hook Sven up to my cart and found myself smiling. He looked back at me after he hooked Sven up and I averted my gaze acting like I hadn't been staring. He climbed into my cart next to me. "ready to go" He asked nudging me with his shoulder. 

"um, what?" I asked shaking my head to clear it. 

"I asked if you were ready to go?" He repeated, giving me a crooked smile and a small chuckle. 

"oh yeah yeah I am" I shifted away from him, being close to him made my heart race, and my stomach drop. 

"Alright, Sven let's go, to the docks!" He said to Sven and Sven grunted his response and started walking quickly pulling my cart behind him. "We'll get to the docks and get your flowers in no time" He reassured me, I smiled at him. 

"Thanks for doing this for me Kristoff" I smiled tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. 

"of course, it's no problem (y/n)" he answered giving a small snap of the reins to spur Sven on. He started to ramble about something else, but I wasn't listening. I know it's rude but I got distracted, he was just so pretty, and he was so sweet, making sure I was okay all the time, and taking me to pick up my delivery. Just being here next to him got my stomach all fluttery. I snuck a glance at his face, he was staring ahead steering the cart through the streets carefully. He turned towards me with a crooked smile on his face. After a moment he furrowed his eyebrows and I watched his mouth move. He frowned, and he snapped his fingers in front of my face. 

"sorry, what were you saying?" I shook my head, feeling my face burn embarrassed at getting caught staring. 

"I asked how long you'd owned your flower stall?" He lifted an eyebrow. 

"oh sorry um, well I've owned it, for a while, it used to be my parent's stall, they gave it to me when they retired, so now I run it," I explained and he watched my face carefully while I did. 

"That's nice, I've been in the ice business since I was a kid, with Sven."  I started getting distracted again, he was so attentive, and my stomach was getting all filled with butterflies again. What was wrong with me, why was getting all giggly over this man? I'd barely known him for like a week. I can't fall in love with someone I just met, it's absurd. But Kristoff's just so sweet, not to mention how nice he looks, I mean not just his face although that's not bad looking. I shook my head clearing my thoughts and forcefully   squishing the butterflies in my stomach. "we're almost there (y/n)" Kristoff announced regaining my attention, even though my attention had been on him the whole time. 

"Oh, that's wonderful!" I exclaimed clapping my hands giddily. "we'll be back to my stall in no time" I squealed, momentarily forgetting all about my thoughts about Kristoff. 

"and you'll be able to sell all the flowers you ordered!" Kristoff added giving me a side glance, I laughed. Kristoff turned the cart around a corner, and we watched the boats at the dock come into view. Kristoff spurred Sven on and we pulled up to the docks, where men were unloading crates off all the different boats. Kristoff gave a tug on Sven's reins and we came to a stop. Kristoff hopped off my cart and held out his hand to help me down. I smiled, scooted along the seat of my cart to the side he was on, and took his hand climbing down. 

"Thank you," I. said, stepping onto the ground. 

"Now where's your delivery guy?" Kristoff asked looking around the port. I took a glance around the port as well, trying to find out where the girl who usually delivers my flowers is. I spotted her unloading some crates and tugged on Kristoff's arm to get his attention. He turned his attention back to me and I pointed her out. 

"that's her over there" I started walking towards her, and Kristoff followed closely behind me as I approached my very frazzled-looking deliverer. "Lilly, what happened? It's valentines day and I never got my delivery this morning?" I asked the slight upset that I felt this morning slipping into my voice. She turned to face us and a look of relief washed over her face. 

"Oh (y/n) thank goodness your here! My morning has been horrible! My usual help called out sick so I've had to unpack all these boxes by myself, and my cart broke this morning so I couldn't even deliver my deliveries either, I've been trying to find a new cart to use all day!" She panicked, placing her hand over her heart and breathing heavily. All the upset I had felt a few seconds ago drained from my body. 

"Oh Lilly, you poor thing!" I comforted her giving her a hug, and I felt her shoulders shake in my hold. I backed up after a moment, and looked at her. "well my uh... friend Kristoff and I have a cart here, we can help you with the deliveries if you need us to." I took a quick glance at Kristoff who nodded his head in agreement. 

"Oh I couldn't ask you to do that, you have to sell these flowers to your customers," She said refusing our offer. "although if you're so insistent on helping, on your way back to the market can you deliver this letter from me to my customers who didn't get their deliveries explaining what happened," She asked me and I gave a quick glance at Kristoff who nodded his head. 

"I've got time" He smiled, and I laughed. 

"Oh thank you thank you!" Lilly squealed clapping her hands. "Oh yeah and here are your crates" She gestured to a group of crates and walked over to them, lifting the lid off one of them. I took a glance inside and saw buckets full of flowers and water inside. 

"Perfect! Just what I ordered" I smiled and she closed the crate again. 

"I'll just load them onto your cart then," Kristoff said grabbing the first crate, whistling for Sven to bring the cart closer. Once he was out of earshot Lilly whispered to me. 

"he's cute, are you two together?" She said nudging me with her elbow, and I smacked her arm lightly. 

"Oh stop it! No, we're not together" I mumbled feeling my face heat up, and she gave me a disbelieving glance. 

"so you guys are just friends?" She asked, her tone accusing me of lying. 

"Yes! we're just friends now hush he's coming back!" I mumbled as Kristoff walked back into earshot, picking up another crate and walking away to put it on my cart. 

"Okay well, do you like him at least?" She asked and we both looked at him while his back was turned. 

"I don't, like him we're friends!" I insisted and she nodded holding her hands in the air in surrender. 

"fine, fine I believe. you" She said, turning away to write the letters Kristoff and I were to deliver to her other customers. Kristoff came back over to get the last two crates and gave me a look. 

"What was that about?" he asked and my face flamed red. 

"Oh nothing, nothing at all" I mumbled my voice getting all squeaky, Kristoff glanced at me really quick, gave a shrug of his shoulders, and lifted the last two crates carrying them over to the cart. He put them on the cart and turned back to me giving me a large thumbs up, walking back to me, he stood next to me while we waited for Lilly to finish writing the letters. 

"Alright so the addresses are written on each envelope, you just have to deliver them, and tell them they're from Lilly." Kristoff and I nodded and I took the letters from her.  "thank you guys so much for doing this for me, I really appreciate it. I owe you big time" I gave her a big hug, squeezing her tight 

"no worries Lilly, anytime" I let her go and she gave Kristoff an awkward handshake, and we walked to my cart. Kristoff held his hand out to help me up and my face flushed as I took it, he helped me climb up on the cart. I took my seat and glanced back at Lilly who gave me a knowing look, as Kristoff took his seat beside me. I groaned waving her off and dropped my head into my hands. 

"hey, everything alright?" Kristoff asked, looking at me with a concerned look on his face. 

"yeah everything's fine" I mumbled, putting a smile on my face. 

"Alright let's just go deliver these, and then get back to your stall so we can set up in time for the rush." Kristoff gave a flick of Sven's reins which signaled Sven to start walking. 

--Time skip-- 

We finally finished delivering the notes Lilly gave us and Sven pulled up next to my market stall. Sven stopped the cart, and Kristoff got out, once again holding his hand out to help me down. I smiled and took it, hopping down off my cart  I walked over to open up my stand window. Kristoff started unloading the crates and as he did I put the buckets out on display to show off the flowers. Once I put all the flowers out on display I took the extra to the backroom and started working on my valentines day bouquets. Kristoff unhooked Sven from his harness and then came to the backroom with me. 

"Anything I can help you with (y/n)?" He asked scratching the back of his neck, nervously. 

"well all I have to do now is make my custom bouquets," I told him arranging some flowers in the bouquets and wrapping them with plastic and a pretty bow. 

"Alright, how do I arrange them?" He asked rolling up his sleeves. I turned to him with wide eyes, and my stare drifted to his forearms, I averted my gaze quickly back to his face. 

"You want to help?" I looked at him confused, and Sven poked his head through the door and moaned as if agreeing with me. 

"Yeah, why not" He shrugged picking up a rose by its stem. I smiled and started explaining the flower code to him and how to arrange an appealing bouquet. Soon we had arranged a bunch of bouquets and Kristoff helped me set them out on my display shelves. And the second we put the last bouquet in a bucket the market flooded with shoppers, many of them making their way to my stall to buy their lovers flowers. 

--Time skip to end of the day--

"Thanks for all your help today Kristoff" I mumbled handing change to my customer, sighing as I sold my last bouquet. I gave a long sigh, and Kristoff echoed my relief at the end of the day. 

"It was my pleasure trust me, I'm always happy to help" He assured me and we walked out of my stall to stand next to Sven who was laying down next to my stall. He stood up at our approach and licked Kristoff's face before nudging me with his antlers gently, I pet between his ears and he wagged his tail. I turned to Kristoff. 

"I really do appreciate all your help" I smiled leaning in to give him a hug. He smiled and wrapped his arms around me enveloping me in a tight hug. Boy was he strong, I mean I knew he had to be in shape cause of how big his arms were, and the fact he delivered ice for a living, but this hug was bone-crushing. I found myself leaning in to lay my head on his shoulder. He smelled nice, like leather and the forest, very earthy scents. I finally came to my senses, and lifted my head off his shoulder quickly, backing up out of the hug quickly, and looking at my feet. I looked at Kristoff for a split second before looking back down at my feet. 

"Well I should start closing up shop" I mumbled wringing my hands. 

"oh yeah yeah, you gotta get home haha" he replied and we drifted into a tense silence. Sven huffed after a minute and spurred Kristoff into action. "alright well I have to feed this guy" he patted Sven's side with a loud thunk, and I smiled. 

"see you tomorrow?" I asked taking a couple of steps back from him and Sven.

"yeah see you tomorrow!" he replied his face brightened, and he and Sven walked away, I waved them off, with a sigh. I turned back to my stall, thinking about what Lilly said earlier. Then I thought about Kristoff, how he gave me butterflies and made me nervous, and was so kind,  and funny too, and he smelled so good. A giggle slipped from me at the thought of him, and my eyes widened at the realization that Lilly was right. I groaned and let my head hit the wall of my stall. 

I was in love with Kristoff.

--Time skip a couple days--

After the revelation that I liked Kristoff, I didn't know how to act around him. Every time he'd come around with Sven to visit me at my stall, I'd give Sven a carrot from under the counter, and then avoid Kristoff's gaze as I tried to busy myself with unimportant tasks, so I didn't have to think about him. 

"knock, knock" I heard the familiar voice of Kristoff, and I tensed up. Taking a deep breath I turned around to face him, with an easygoing smile on my face. 

"Well hello there boys" I smiled leaning on my counter 'act casual act casual'  I thought. My heart started beating faster when Kristoff gave me his goofy crooked grin.  I smiled reaching under my counter and pulling out one of the carrots I've started keeping down there for Sven. He stood up on his hind legs putting his front hooves on my counter and took the Carrot from my hand. Climbing back down he looked at Kristoff smugly and sat down to eat his carrot. I finally looked back at Kristoff.

"what can I do for you?" I asked smiling giving Kristoff my full attention and trying not to get distracted.

"Well, so, okay well, so here's the thing" he started stumbling over his words and Sven rolled his eyes next to him. 

"go on" I pushed gently, and Kristoff nodded clearing his throat. 

"So you see, there's this girl I like, and uh I wanted to ask her to dinner with some uh flowers, an I uh thought well who better to get flowers from, than from the best flower shop in Arendelle" He laughed rubbing the back of his neck nervously. I felt my heart drop down to my stomach, he liked another girl, and my smile dropped into a frown. But I took a deep breath and plastered the biggest smile I could on my face. 

"alright well, I'll see if she's available" I paused for a moment "she's available" I laughed, "now what kind of flowers were you thinking?" I asked 

"I have no clue, that's why I came to you" He chuckled. 

"alright let's see, well I have some default romantic bouquets with roses and the like, or you can create your own bouquet with flowers you pick yourself," I explained. 

"yeah let's do that," He said. 

"Okay sounds good, so what flowers do you want to put in the bouquet?"

"I uh- have no clue"  He murmured sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. 

"that's okay, let's see I personally like these red tulips which symbolize a declaration of love, and maybe a white calla lily symbolizing magnificent beauty, Some Boston fern leaves for sincerity..." I start mumbling more to myself going into my bouquet-making mindset, adding flowers and taking some away, thinking about the meaning behind each flower, even though the receiver most likely does not know the flower code. But it's my attention to detail that makes my bouquets the best in the kingdom. Once I finally feel that the bouquet is perfect I tie it up with a bow and present it to Kristoff. 

"oh man (y/n), it looks great, how much do I owe you?" Kristoff grinned taking it from me and digging in his pocket for some money to pay me with, I waved him off. 

"oh nonsense, what's one bouquet of flowers between friends" I mumble desperately trying to keep the smile on my face until he's gone, "now go get her Kristoff!" I exclaimed and he blushed nodding. 

"alright I'm going, See you later (y/n)! C'mon Sven" He patted his leg with his free hand and Sven got up following behind him. I waved until they rounded the corner and were out of sight, and it was then I broke down and dropped my head into my hands and cried. He was in love with someone else and I was stupid for letting myself fall for someone I just met. I wiped my teary eyes on my apron, taking a deep breath. I still had customers to attend to so there was no use crying over a boy not yet. I took time to fix my appearance, drying my eyes and making. sure I looked alright, before going back to the front of my stall to attend to customers. 

--Time skip 3 hours-- 

I started packing up earlier than everyone else in the market square, at 4 bell chimes instead of the usual 5 or 6 if it was a busy day. Packing up the rest of the flowers I put them in buckets full of water to put them back out for sale the next day. I started pulling on the ropes that would pull the stall overhang down to block my counter window locking it into place. I had just locked my stall door, taking one last look to make sure everything was cleaned up when I heard someone clearing their throat behind me. I turned around and to my surprise saw Kristoff and Sven. I took a closer look at them and noticed Kristoff's sandy hair was combed back and he was wearing a nice outfit I'd never even seen him wear before. My gaze drifted from Kristoff to Sven and I saw even he had a little bowtie on. Kristoff cleared his throat again.

"um good afternoon er evening Miss (y/n)" he said stiffly giving me a small bow and I giggled. 

"good evening" I replied curtsying, trying to act like I hadn't cried over him a couple hours ago. 

"I was wondering if, you would do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner tonight?" He asked pulling the flower bouquet I made earlier out from behind his back, and offering it to me. I gasped softly and a wide grin spread across my face. I was the girl he was in love with! 

"oh, of course, Kristoff!" I answered happily taking the flowers, I watched all the tension in his body wash away at my response, and a huge smile stretched across his face. He picked me up in a hug and spun me around making me let out a surprised squeal. He put me down soon after, enveloping my hand in his. "so where are we going?" I asked and his eyes widened. 

"well you see I never really got that far... I was so focused on trying to get you to say yes that I never really planned for what do to if you said yes..." He murmured sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand. I laughed loudly at his statement and he soon followed letting out a couple of chuckles as well. 

"It'll have to be somewhere that allows reindeer of course" I smiled and Sven snorted his agreement happily. 

"oh yes, of course, may we go?" he asked taking his hand from mine to offer me his arm. I took his arm and started walking. 

"we may" 

--Fin--

QOTD: What's your favourite TV show? 

Edit: Y’ALL 214 NOTES!!?!? That’s awesome and you guys are the best 🥰🥰

[wistfulnightingale]

The Metatron's Second Coming ("I will not Hesitate to Mock you!")

Part 2 of 8 in the Chess Moves Theory Set by @wistfulnightingale

As I've been pondering the Final Fifteen (and connected scenes, not like I'm obsessed or anything. Really, I'm fine...!), the scene with the Metatron in the coffee shop that day kept making my brain twitch. Everything about the Metatron appears normal, but is it too normal? Meanwhile, Nina initially acts out of character. Even for a woman who spent the night battling demons from Hell.

The Metatron is from Heaven.  Yet he knew what to order, fairly quickly, and under pressure from a rudely impatient person. How? The archangels don't understand books or sushi or matchboxes or human love or needs or relationships or wanting to keep one's original children... When the Metatron pretends to take an interest in Muriel's book (Yep. Pretends. I'll die on that hill), the Metatron doesn't ask them, "What's that you're reading?" -- he asks, "What's that you're holding?" Heavenly beings are unfamiliar with earthly objects or customs, unless they purposefully learn about it.

"Order accurately and fast... I will not hesitate to mock you if I don't like your order."

It's a comic moment, but it's out of character for Nina, IF it's unprovoked. Yes, she hasn’t slept in 30 hours and was fighting demons most of that surreal night, so it seems reasonable that she might explode.  But this is Nina.  Nina remembers people by their coffee order.  Nina is a practical business woman. 

Why would Nina, who had tidily set her emotions aside and started her workday, now suddenly be inexplicably rude to a new customer, a well-dressed man who appears to have significant funds and could possibly become a regular? Threatening to mock customers is not a sound business model, even on an Extremely Bad Day.

Bear with me, I'm about to propose something radical. But it certainly gives us something to talk about as we wait for the final story!

I think that the Metatron was in the coffee shop the previous day. Learning about the complicated human ritual of buying a coffee. And ingesting his first sample of human consumables.

Here's why...

As we get to know Nina, we learn that she is private, rather guarded, and blunt. She is also incredibly practical and dedicated to running her business smoothly and efficiently. Even when briefly socializing, she is wiping tables, or signaling a "six shots expresso, big cup" order with gestures. Her coffee business is about earning a living. Nina didn’t understand Maggie’s sentimental attachment to a store that can’t sell anything. When dramatic issues with Lindsay happen during work hours, Nina sets boundaries but keeps herself from snapping at customers, even when Mrs. Sandwich criticizes her.

The morning after the demon attack, Nina had already shifted into business mode -- she was late, people need their coffee. She shuts off consideration of the bizarre night, and is prepping and planning. She calmly started putting down chairs, and knew exactly what milks she needed Maggie to pick up. Maggie returns promptly, and everything is well under control before the Metatron's turn in line.

The Metatron is a very intelligent Heavenly being, but we've seen that he has no concern for, nor interest in, humanity. He doesn't know human ways, and when he speaks, he fills his sentences with British posh slang as if he just took a crash course from a travel brochure! And he was just in a bookstore, but doesn't know what a book is. (Probably because he doesn't see it as important.)

How does he know how to put together a coffee order, from the multitudes of choices, for the very first time? He understands the difference between an expresso, a frappuccino, a cappuccino and a latte? Caffeinated or Decaf? To select whole milk, nonfat milk, almond milk, oat milk...? Cold, or steamed? Nondairy sweet cream? Heavy cream? Half and Half? Would you like whipped cream on that? And, by the way, how many syrups are on the "Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death" selection list?

(****Also, have you ever been with an older person the first time they visit a coffee shop? It takes time to figure it all out...!)

"Order accurately and fast... I will not hesitate to mock you if I don't like your order."

The VOICE OF GOD puts his hands up in surrender and says, "Yes, I quite understand." He's okay with this? Why? I suspect that when he came in yesterday (in Episode 5) he had NO IDEA how to order, and would have held up the line looking at the many, many choices.

I can imagine it! The first time the Metatron showed up, Nina walks back in the shop after her conversation with Crowley. She doesn't like thinking so much about Lindsay during work hours, and she's trying to refocus. It's important to her to keep the line moving. Meanwhile, this posh fellow comes in with no clue what he wants, asking ridiculous questions and ordering things that don’t make sense together and that means he’s taking Forever and Holding Up The Line.  

The next day (Episode 6), she’s again trying to just FOCUS and run her shop, and NOT think anymore about battling demons all night, but here he is again, this upper class elderly sophisticate-wanna-be, about to mess up her morning and put her even FURTHER behind and if he asks for something STUPID AGAIN,  SHE. WILL. MOCK. HIM…!!!

This time, however, he places a reasonable order, quickly and sensibly.  So Nina quickly calms down, and can even tolerate it when he asks such an odd question.  “They don’t ever ask for death, no.”   Nina can bear with a customer who is strange, and can be polite (even if blunt) to someone who says odd things.  

But DON’T. HOLD. UP. HER. LINE. 

I think this idea, on it's own, is worth considering. I hope you might think so, too. It's at least a question worth asking.

..........

Now, please, breathe deeply, and please don't hate me.

I broke down the Episode 5 scene outside the coffee shop with dozens of screenshots, lightening, brightening, and posting only the best in another post, The Metatron Misdirection. There's a guy wearing an orange shirt moving around inside the shop, behind Nina. There's also a guy with white hair and a dark overcoat. In the scene photos, he seems to be talking to the orange-shirt man before taking his place in line. I think it's the Metatron. Perhaps he's asking the orange-shirt guy for advice about how coffee orders work. (See my Part 1, The Metatron Misdirection, for lots and lots of detail to back up my absolutely bonkers idea!)

I think it was a Time Misdirection, across 2 episodes. (See Misdirection in Magic, a Masterclass article.) The most significant part of the magic trick happens before we start looking for the trick. If we wondered at all about Nina's outburst, it wouldn't occur to us to look for the answer in the previous episode. We didn't think the Metatron was there yet! (inside, on the right, in line behind the orange-shirt guy!)

I reeeeeeeally wouldn't expect you to believe this, just from one photo. I'd be grateful if you'd check out my other post with all the details before you come at me, please please please (she implores🥺). (And you might especially like #8, Aziraphale's Jubilant Smile!)

😊

If you'd like to see more of my ideas/meta-theories about the stuff I think is radically interconnected to the Final Fifteen, please check out the other parts of my Chess Moves Theory Set at @wistfulnightingale for the full picture of what I think might be happening for our Ineffables.

Thanks for coming with me on this crazy ride!

The 8 Chess Moves MetaTheory Set:

1 - The Metatron Misdirection

2 - The Metatron's Second Coming

3 - Ineffables in Check

4 - A Hefty Jigger of Death

5 - Nothing Lasts Forever

6 - The Circle Kiss Theory

7 - The Nightingale DID Sing

8 - Aziraphale's Jubilant Smile (Not the crazy elevator grin)

Also: The Chess Moves Theory Set, Why Chess & Magic?

[casualheizouenjoyers]

☆.｡.:* 18. say that we'll just screw it up ✍︎

previous | masterlist | next

☆.｡.:*   cruel summer

☆.｡.:*  synopsis: you are a small streamer centered on cozy gaming and your ongoing series of ranking every taylor swift song in a tier list. scaramouche is a competitive speed runner in a streamer group called “the harbingers” that has an insanely large fan base. your paths only cross once he subtweets about your content and your favorite artist, causing a petty online argument that might lead to something else.

ㅤ ╰ཱི ࣭ ࣪ ❁𝆬  ࣭  ྏ ࣭  ͘ ｡ ࣪ ✐ yntaylorsversion is interning!  ̣ ࣪ ྌ  

the next time you saw Scaramouche at your internship, you’re balancing books on your desk to create a makeshift tripod.

“What are you doing?” Scaramouche said as he slammed something down on your desk, causing your phone and books to go tumbling down.

It had turned out that Yae’s publishing house didn’t have a TikTok page. No matter your feelings on the app, you were a streamer first before a social media intern. Not having one was like turning away free advertisement.

After a good thirty minutes explaining to your boss why it would be beneficial, you were given the green light to make an account and start making videos on it. You then had to go through the kind of boring process of setting up the account and getting it verified, but once that was done, you were set.

“Hey my sh— Is that the tour shirt from the Taylor swift concert??!” You gasp, picking up the shirt from where Scaramouche had placed it.

“Obviously?” Scaramouche rolls his eyes. “What else would it be?”

“I don’t know,” You said with a goofy smile. You honestly didn’t think you were going to get a shirt from the concert at all. “Aww, I didn’t know you would do something so nice for me,”

“The fuck makes you think I got it for you? Childe made me get it for myself, but obviously I don’t want it,” Scaramouche crosses his arms.

“Right, but you still gave it to me so…”

“Do you want the shirt or not?”

“Fineee,” You grin. “Thank you, though, really!”

“Whatever,” He said, walking away.

You see Scaramouche again that day. he’s following around Yae Miko… the ceo of the company. You decided it was your job as an intern to stay out of the way.

“Kuni, would you be a dear and reschedule the meeting I have at six to be at seven? And add a spa and nail appointment at five. My nails are getting a bit too long,” Mrs. Miko said as she walks past the various unpaid interns working in the office, who all followed the same rule as many would at a school. Don’t make eye contact and you won’t be called on.

“And then send a message to your mother asking what date she would like to host our next charity event,” Scaramouche passes by your desk with a deadpanned and tired stare, and you figured you were lucky you didn’t have whatever his job was.

“Oh, and once you’re done with that, go ahead and fetch me my order from the coffee shop across the street,” She adds, turning to look at him. “Got it?”

Scaramouche replies with gritted teeth. “Got it,”

It turns out people on the internet tend to eat up whatever content you give them if you put trending audios on the videos you post, however eventually people get a little tired of the sixth books as Taylor swift songs tiktoks you post. It’s not to say that doesn’t work, no, you managed to get quite a following on the brand account.

It isn’t until you came up with a better idea of interviewing authors that the following grew to be something similar to other brands on the app.

Starting off with Kokomi Sangonomiya, author of a ongoing fantasy novel series, many people found interest in the idea of asking questions to their favorite authors and their books. With the success comes a budget and an actual job offering.

It isn’t until you’re sitting with Xingqiu, a young and best selling author, that you realize your relationship with Scaramouche has certainly changed a bit from what it originally was.

You’re given a small space to record, decorated nicely for the author to sit and discuss. You fidget around with the camera settings as it was different from the one you used at home.

A small knock comes and you turn to see Scaramouche standing in the door way with a take out bag.

“Figured you didn’t eat lunch,” He said, placing the bag on an empty table. It was about a month into your internship turned job and you had made a small habit of eating lunch with Scaramouche. It was honestly nice to get to know him outside of streaming.

“Oh! Hi, Scara,” You perk up, pulling away from the camera you were adjusting. "Hiding from your step mom?” You jokingly ask, ignoring that he was right and you actually hadn’t eaten lunch yet.

“Only a little,” He replies. “I got something from the Sumeruan place you like,”

Your face lights up. You forgot you had even mentioned that restaurant to him beforehand.

Xingqiu clears his throat a bit awkwardly.

Right, back to filming….

authors note: being real w u guys im not interested in writing this story anymore so im kinda rushing the plot a lil so i can finish this story so its not left unfinished. also dream mentioned in the first image is a ref to aris's new smau on this blog <3 also this is the 100th post on this blog teehee

☆.｡.:*  taglist: @raideneiari @starryeyedkoko @lightlyfeatheredquailqin @thenightsflower @isa-solasun @lilactaro @imdeadlyboredhelp @arizzu @turningfrogsgay @icedmocha1 @feverish-dove @xiaosonlybeloved @sukunasrealgf @eutopiastar @shinunoga-iie-wa @pheonix-eclipse @crueldinasty @sashiette @hotgirlshit5 @certaindreampost @atlaincorrect@aludicpoet@justawalkingdisaster @m3gitsune @mechanicalbeat1 @distinguished-simp @mayacheiko @r4yyyyy @kkazuyass @angelunatic @kunikuzushisbeloved @bubblegum-angelquartz @fangygf @yuyudoesdrugs @kitsuvil @xiaossocksniffer @scarletttcroww @fanficaddictedmushroom @crucnhice @exhaustedcommunist @sleepysoda21 @bubbabobabubbles @kaoyamamegami

[cottoncandy-cult]

Trafalgar Law x Reader

(Y/n) sat on a beach at the edge of the water, the heart pirates had stopped at a tropical island to restock and take a break at the little beach side town. The people were friendly and the weather calm, the water was the perfect temperature to relax in. The captain was still aboard the polar tang as the others had gone out to restock and buy their personal stuff. They had stopped here before on a few occasions, (Y/n) preferred the after dark side to the village. It was still the same peaceful and welcoming place, it was just that shops, restaurants and other businesses changed. Shops would break out merchandise they only sell after the sun goes down, restaurants change their menus and there are even little public parties for people to hang out and have fun.

Of course, everyone usually partook, well except for the captain. He never really went into the towns, not unless they were staying for a while, or they found something they think he would be interested in, so they tell him. The crew was his eyes and ears on the inland, and for some reason this bothered (Y/n). She liked her captain, but he didn't really do much, she actually has only a few memories of seeing him off the sub. She quickly stood from her spot, setting out on a mission to pry Law's shell open even if it was just a little. Once inside she made a B-line towards his lab, a skip in her step at the thought of getting to hang out with the captain. She wanted to know more about him, she felt like she knew everyone else on the sub but him.

When she reached the heavy door she knocked, knowing he could easily hear her without having to bang on the door. It was only a few seconds before the door opened, revealing the dark circled captain. He always looked so tired it made her want to take a nap, especially when she sees him busy with something. "Is there something you need (Y/n)-ya?" His deep voice reflecting curiosity, after all she wasn't just a pretty face as her enemies would tell. So, she didn't usually seek him out unless she was in need, be it to tend to injuries or answer questions. She gave him a bright and sweet smile, crossing her arms behind her back. "I wanted to see if you wanted to come with me into town tonight, I don't really wanna go alone since the others are waiting for tomorrow." This was in fact the truth, the others wanted to spend the day relaxing tomorrow before going out that night since today they had things they needed to do. "After all, you always tell us not to go alone." This was a rule of his, everyone went in pairs or more. It was how they stayed safe when going about their day, you never know when trouble might find you.

"I may as well, I'll meet you on the beach at sunset." He crossed his arms, nodding his head slightly with his eyes shut. "I need some stuff anyways and no one is going to want to go out once they get back." This made (Y/n) excited, she had convinced her captain to come to town with her. "Thank you, I'll meet you on the beach Captain!" She giggled and rushed off to her room as the captain closed the door, she decided to take a short nap so that tonight she could show the captain the glory of the night life on this beautiful island.

When (Y/n) woke up it was about an hour before sunset, giving her plenty of time to get ready. She quickly got up and put on a pair of jean shorts and a tank top, brushing her hair out before rushing to her safe. Law had given everyone their own little safe to keep their berri in, each got a specific amount each time the crew completed a job or adventure. But each member also has the chance to get a bonus based on their contribution, (Y/n) was one of the ones who would do little jobs on the islands they stopped at, so she had plenty of berri for tonight. She grabbed one of the black silk bags, it was full, and she knew would be more than enough to show her captain how to have fun tonight.

[wickedsnack-art]

Can I ask about your online selling experience? I know you're moving away from Etsy (and I don't blame you!) but just curious about what's worked/what hasn't. Trying to help my mom sell her art but like. She's older and I have never sold art online and can't give her any advice.

Please feel free to tag other artists selling their work as well! Thank you 🙏

Oh I have to be honest I am probably not the best person to ask about this as it's something I've definitely struggled with myself! I will say for what it's worth that I've been seeing a lot of artists struggling lately; no matter how "popular" an artist is, many seem to be reporting sales that are lower than expected even if market research/interest checks/preorders were done.

Everyone is struggling financially right now---it's been this way for YEARS---and art is one of the first luxuries to go.

That said, Etsy worked well for me for a long time. If your mom isn't doing fanart, she should be fine, because my biggest issue with them arose about the fact that I was selling fanart. Some tips I have;

USE EVERY TAG. Etsy has, if I recall correctly, 13 tags you can put on an individual item. Use all 13. Use them for alternative words for what you're selling (if it's a sticker, tag it as a decal, if it's a print, tag it as a poster). Think about who you think would buy this and what weird search terms they may use to try to find it, and think about alternative uses for the item (a trinket dish might also be an ashtray).

HAVE DESCRIPTIVE TITLES. Put the most important words first so people can see what they're getting right away, but don't be afraid of slightly longer titles. Honestly my titles could've and should've been longer, like Sailor Moon Art Nouveau Digital Art Poster Print Multiple Sizes or something.

RUN SALES OFTEN. Even if it's just 10-15% off people will buy something they've been eying for a while when there's a sale, or they'll feel more eager to buy something they've just found if it's on sale.

USE ETSY'S AUTOMATED DISCOUNT OFFERS. Etsy can automatically send a discount code to people who have interacted with your shop, use it. I made more sales from the automated 10% off code sent to people who favorited items than my monthly Patreon discount.

USE ETSY FREE SHIPPING. Shipping via Etsy is pretty cheap, and activating the "free shipping on orders over $35" will boost your spot in the algorithm, will boost the likelihood that people will order from you, and will boost the average cart size of people that order from you.

I RECOMMEND PRINTFUL. I used Printful for selling my larger prints, but they also offer other items if you want to branch out. If you don't want to get in trouble with Etsy, make sure you register it as a manufacturing partner and assign every item that Printful makes for you. Dropshipping on Etsy is a problem, but the problem is people who steal art or use AI to generate images to sell. I don't personally see a problem with someone who makes their art themselves going through a print shop to sell products they don't have the means to create at home. If you don't want to do that, you can check out inprnt. I haven't used them, but many other people have and seem to like it well enough.

SHIP THROUGH ETSY. It doesn't take very long to set up a shipping profile for your items, and it makes shipping easier and cheaper. As long as you get your items out on time, you'll get their shipping star or whatever very quickly and easily and maintain it without problem. It also has the benefit that if a buyer ever has an issue with the shipping, Etsy is more likely to have your back. If for any reason you can't ship through Etsy, I recommend pirateship. Also!! Be more careful about international shipping than you think you should be. There are a lot of confusing international laws regarding sending items as a corporation to those countries that you may not expect, so before you agree to selling something to a foreign country, make sure you check their laws.

I have also tried having an Instagram shop and I'll be fully honest I don't do what I should do with my Instagram. Maybe other people have more successful Instagram shops, but the process it took for me to get it started compared to how many sales I've made as a result of it (literally ZERO), I would not recommend it.

Shopify is good if you have a following somewhere, because you have to bring all the traffic there yourself. That's the benefit of Etsy and Instagram; they are able to make traffic for you. I've never had a following large enough anywhere to feel like I could run a Shopify of my art. Maybe one day.

I don't personally know a lot of artists who sell online successfully, so if you see this and you fall under that category PLEASE SHARE TIPS!!

[getsikndie]

Where I get my clothes, and where to buy clowncore fashion

Alright so, ever since I’ve started posting my outfits on here and instagram I’ve been frequently asked where I get my clothes so I decided to just make this post I can direst people to when they ask. What I’m going to be covering in this post is:

☆ Where I buy my clothes

☆ Where I got the specific pieces that are most frequently asked about

☆ Brands/shops that sell clowncore and kidcore fashion

☆ About where the pieces used in my urstyle sets come from

Let me know if you want me to make a clowncore style guide/ post with basics and recommendations for starting to wear the fashion.

WHERE I BUY MY CLOTHES

The answer to that is that majority of my clothes, and especially the more interesting pieces are bought second-hand, either from thrift stores or depop. If you’re looking for weird or colorful clothes, thrift stores and antique stores are the first place you should check because a lot of common things in clowncore fashion such as weird/ugly sweaters or colorful frilly blouses are vintage.

When buying stuff online, yes you can search for terms like “clowncore” or “kidcore” and get results from people who know those aesthetics, but I usually have better luck finding stuff I like by making a pinterest board of clothes I want, and then searching for specific items on depop and ebay. 

For example some of the things I search for are “colorful vintage sweater” “clown sweater” “colorful 80s blouse” “vintage rainbow sweater” “vintage bed jacket” “square dance dress”. I also search for old Lazy Oaf stuff, because I feel like 2010s Lazy Oaf goes well with clowncore. The only other brand I specifically search for is Eagles Eye, who made some of the weird sweaters I own.

Accessorizing is also important for this style, and you can find stuff like patterned socks/tights, novelty purses, and quirky earrings pretty easily on Amazon and Ebay. But I’d also recommend looking on Etsy to find more unique and better quality accessories.

WHERE I GOT SPECIFIC PIECES:

These are just the ones most frequently asked about so I thought I’d put them in here, if there’s something else not included here feel free to ask.

Blue clown face sweater: This was bought in 2016 from beautifulhalo.com and sold out soon after I got it. It’s actually a dupe of a very similar Lazy Oaf sweater that was sold out before that.

Red letter skirt: I actually made this myself out of a plain red circle skirt I thrifted, and some foam letters that you can buy in the kids arts and crafts section of walmart or similar stores.

Fuzzy red cartoon eye dress: This is from Lazy Oaf, I got it second hand on ebay.

Crayola crayons sweater: I bought this on ebay, the brand is the Eagle’s Eye.

Blue burger top: This is another Lazy Oaf piece I got on ebay.

M&M button up shirt: I got this in NYC from the M&M store there in 2019, I’m not sure if they still sell them or if they’re available online.

Red clown sweater: I bought this on Etsy in 2017 and I’m under the impression it was one of a kind, but I’m not 100% sure. 

Rainbow striped top: My mom got me this for Christmas in 2019 I think, and I’m pretty sure she got it from Amazon. It’s a dupe of a top made by Minga London, although the original uses a darker shade of blue. You can probably still find it if you search “rainbow stripe turtleneck” or something.

Rockafire Explosion Rolfe and Earle tee: Got this from https://www.cafepress.com/rockafireworld, they have merch of the other characters as well.

BRANDS/SHOPS THAT SELL CLOWNCORE AND KIDCORE FASHION:

Here are some links to brands, stores, and depop accounts that sell clowncore and kidcore type clothes. Note that some of them sell other clothes besides that so you might have to look through their stuff.

https://www.kinaandtam.com/ (Can be a bit pricey, but I’ve bought a sweater from them and it’s great quality, def recommend) 

https://www.lazyoaf.com/collections/lazy-oaf-x-nhozagri (while i feel like the lazy oaf aesthetic has shifted and become less kidcore over the years, they still do make colorful weird stuff sometimes)

https://theraggedpriest.com/  (have some cool colorful stuff if you look for it)

https://www.depop.com/kitschcore/ (vintage clothes)

https://www.depop.com/sweetcarolinesvintage/ (vintage clothes)

https://www.depop.com/sweaterweatherco/ (colorful sweaters)

https://www.depop.com/maekshift/ (clown costumes)

https://www.depop.com/bluebearboutique/ (colorful collars)

https://www.depop.com/mysticalbaby/ (jewelry)

https://katabasisagora.com/ (upcycled/altered pieces, featured in my urstyle sets multiple times)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MaliciousDesignsLA (dresses and sets, very melanie martinez-esque but some also give me clown vibes)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ichigoblack (bloomers, dresses and skirts)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/KawaiiKave (accessories)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/YellowThreadd (accessories)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SistersEnchanted (clown collars)

https://rommydebommy.com/ (realistic food purses - super expensive but very cool i dream of owning one T_T)

https://www.fashionbrandcompany.com/ (duh)

That’s all I can think of atm, hopefully I’m not forgetting anything I know of

ABOUT MY URSTYLE SETS

If you follow me it might be because of my urstyle sets, aka outfit collages I’ve made on the website urstyle (it’s just like polyvore). I make these as moodboard basically, putting together outfits for whatever style I’m into at the current moment, but none of the pngs I use are my photos and only a couple of my sets include clothes that I own, since they’re more like pictures of outfits I wish I own. If I want to make outfits with my clothes I can just wear them lol

Some of the pictures I use I uploaded myself from pinterest or other websites, but I also use a lot of pictures that weren’t uploaded by me. For the majority of the clothes, I don’t know where they’re from or where to get them, although there are a few that I do know. If you want to know whether I know where a specific piece is from, just ask me, but please don’t ask the general question of “where are these clothes from” or “where do you buy these�� under my urstyle posts since that broad of a question is hard to answer.

Hope this answered some questions people might have!

[officialleehadan]

Three Brains

Hello darlings! Today's story was brought to you by Kat! Darling, thank you so much for all your support!

Prompt: Between Love and Duty

+++

Nick loved his job.

He worked in bioengineering, which was always a business fraught with supervillains. Mostly, the ones with an intelligence factor who were making weapons to sell to other villains. There were two in Nick’s lab, as it happened, which was probably why the villain with the Cube attacked in he first place. Rayan kept his identity well-hidden, so Nick was pretty sure they weren’t after him.

All the same, it made for an interesting situation for Nick. His coworkers were too smart to not realize he knew about them, and he wasn’t going to insult them by pretending otherwise. As a result, they had a very comfortable working dynamic in which the villains, Stevens, who also went by Doctor Unholy and Tariq, who also went by Gravity Crash, respected his space and didn’t try to recruit him.

It was for the best. Nick didn’t want to get into villainy. He was a talented scientist, and probably could do fine in the work if he wanted to, but he simply didn’t need the drama.

Of course, his fiancé was a Power himself, and his best friend was on the Hero path. His life already had plenty of drama going on.

Still, it did occasionally make for interesting afternoons when they were cleaning up for the day and the shop talk turned to shop talk.

“Word is that there’s a new development in play,” Stevens said as he loaded up the autoclave. Nick himself was wiping down all their counters and Tariq was sweeping, and would mop when they were done. “I heard from the north river lab that the attack here involved a device to remove people’s Powers.”

“I’ve heard the same,” Tariq said conversationally, but without any hint that he actually knew anything. Certainly he didn’t know where the Cube was, considering it was currently taped under Nick’s bed. Even the supervillain who actually slept in the bed didn’t know it was there. “The Heroes are very excited about it, for obvious reasons.”

“I’ve heard Mephit and Libra are working together on it,” Nick added. As he knew they were villains themselves, and enhanced mental abilities to boot, he knew, and they knew, that Rayan was Mephit. They didn’t know about Carolina being Libra, however, and he meant to keep it that way. Rayan knew about the two villains as well, and was alright with Nick talking with them about his work, as long as it didn’t put Nick in danger. “But no one knows where the thing is and it has both sides anxious.”

“it has me anxious too,” Tariq admitted. “Avia as well.”

Avia was his wife and was a Power on the villain side. She specialized in hydrokenisis and tended to target big resorts on the coast, and cruise ships. Lately she had formed an alliance with three other Elemental powers, all women, and they were making the news as environmental terrorists. Nick approved of their work all things considered. Cruise ships were sailing biohazards.

“I think all of us who have someone in the game are worried,” Nick said, since it was true, and also because he was considering bringing his fellow scientists in on his secret. “Does anyone know where the thing came from? That fellow who attacked our lab had it, last anyone knew, but where did he get it?”

“That’s a good question,” Stevens said, and turned on the autoclave before he moved to pipettes next. He eyed Nick, and caught Tariq’s eye. Nick looked them both over and sighed. He had been too obvious. “So, where is it?”

“I couldn’t possibly be able to say,” Nick said, since there was no point insulting them by pretending he didn’t know what Stevens was asking. They figured out that he had the Cube. Now it was up to them, and him, to decide what to do with that information. “But I might be able to mention something about how a scientist I know examined it, and couldn’t figure out how it works.”

“Did this scientist leave you lab notes to share?” Tariq asked carefully. They all understood they were on very dangerous ground. Everyone on both sides of the Powered community would kill to get the Cube, and only the three of them knew who had it. Only Nick alone knew where it was. “Or any other information that you might be able to give, safely, to a colleague?”

“Maybe,” Nick hedged. He wasn’t sure he wanted them to see his research not he Cube, but he needed help. So far, it had defied all his efforts to figure out how it worked, but it had to affect the body somehow. Powers were a genetic mutation. Whatever else it did, the Cube must hit those genes too. That put it firmly in their realm of expertise. “It has my friend very concerned, given the implications on his loved ones.”

Stevens shared a long look with Tariq, and then, very deliberately, reached behind the autoclave for a control panel Nick pretended he didn’t know about.

All at once, the noise from outside the lab cut off, and there was a slight shimmer over the windows as forcefields powered on. The lab security of a pair of villains who didn’t want their personal lives in danger if there was another attack. A reaction, Nick knew, to the attack that brought the Cube to his door.

“Right,” Stevens said when the lab was locked down. He set the pipettes aside and washed his hands as Tariq set aside the broom. Nick joined them at the nearest table and took a seat. “We have a lot of genius in this room. Tell us what you know, and we’ll see if three brains are better than one.”

+++

Between Love and Duty

Two-sided love (Subscriber Only!)

Close to Home (Subscriber Only!) (New!)

Three Brains (New!)

+++

MASTERLIST

[linskywords]

I saw your reblog about fucked up things and being the first to post on AO3 about them and laughed out loud! But I was wondering, do you have any fanfiction hard limits? Like pairings you would never write/tropes you will not read or write?? Love your works sooo much thank you for feeding all of us constantly!!! 🥰

Haha what a fun question! Hard limits...not a ton of them, honestly. There are kinks I feel like aren't for me, but I tend to be into characters being into things, so the right fic can really easily change my mind on them. Heck, I used to think mpreg was a bridge too far for me. That clearly didn't last long. 🤣

HOWEVER I really don't like unrequited love. Requited love is basically what I read and write for, and unrequited love just makes me sad. Even unrequited background relationships are tough for me, especially if they're a pairing I've read elsewhere (I remember one fic -- I think McStrome? -- had Taylor Hall being sad about not being soulmates with Jordan Eberle in the background and I was Not Okay). Absolutely loved dilangley's recent mattdrai fic barons except Trevor had a point of view and he was single and not with Jamie and I might still not be okay about it.

I also don't love huge power differentials. Like, I'll write a moderate age difference, that's not a hard limit for me, but I'll see it as something to compensate for rather than a selling point. How to make this couple feel balanced even though one is way older/more powerful/in a different life stage than the other? And if that can't be done convincingly, I'm probably going to be less interested in writing them. To take this to an extreme: parent-child incest is probably a hard limit for me. Maybe there are exceptions, but I can't imagine them.

There's also a group of tropes that just aren't quite as much for me. I don't love gangbangs; I tend to want my sex to come with emotional attachment or at least really compelling attraction. I don't hate enemies to lovers, but friends to lovers is more my jam (see also: why I still haven't written mattdrai without Connor being involved). I love romantic tension, so I'm less into pure fluff and established relationships. And I don't like coffee shop AUs. They're just boring. 😅 (No, I mean, they're not all boring. But I far prefer the tension of "we already mean a lot to each other, oh no now I have feelings.")

I don't know that there are any pairings that are hard limits for me! Some are less appealing than others, but the only thing that would be really challenging for me is breaking up a pairing I love and putting them with other people -- and even then I've done it sometimes. I tend to put most pairings I haven't written into a "waiting to be sold on it" bucket. Much like kinks. What a fun bucket. 😘

[punderfullll]

Where would you recommend looking to purchase Touhou cosplay outfits? I've been looking through EZcosplay, But I'm really skeptical of the how the quality may be. Are there other sites that you think would be better? I know you make a lot of your outfits by hand, but I really just don't have the skills to do anything wonderful like that. Thanks! Love your work!!!

Hello! First off thank you so much! I do make some of my stuff but typically if I am buying cosplays I do so secondhand. Mostly because it saves me a bit of money! So sadly I do not have a lot of experiences purchasing new! However I'll try to help the best I can with what I know :D! If you are interested in buying secondhand please send me a message and I'll send you my big info pile on it. I have a lot more experience with it in comparison so I have a ton of links and information on it! Ok so for new! I think the best place currently in terms of price and quality is typically Taobao. A lot of stores like aliexpress and other online shops that sell touhou cosplays are often just reselling from Taobao. Buying off Taobao can be a little tricky but you will need a proxy. I know a few touhou cosplayer mutuals of mine have had a lot of success with bhiner cosplay It is basically a taobao proxy with a focus on cosplay and there is a whole touhou section here <--- I have only ordered here once and it was for a Yukari Parasol prop. It was a pretty good experience overall and the quality was nice. The only major issue recently is I've hear Bhiner has stopped accepting paypal for payment. I'd have to try to put an order in to confirm that but it might be something worth looking into another proxy for! At the very least its a great way to browse what is currently being sold and bhiner always links the actual taobao stores themselves, so you could easily go through another proxy! Another touhou cosplayer also made a handy guide on buying some of the more fancy premades as well I'll also link that here <------ A very helpful guide!! I bought a costume off a cosplayer that bought it from a shop called fm-anime . Can't speak for the ordering process but the quality pretty good! It was a Touhouvania Alice cosplay. It looks like they have limited stock these days with touhou but it might be worth a look! RoleCosplay seems to have a decent selection and even some less popular touhou characters. I've never ordered off here myself though so I'd maybe look into reviews a bit more! Maybe I should put in a test order and do a review one day LOL EzCosplay (as you stated) I have heard mixed things about! It used to be regarded as a pretty okay place to get Touhou cosplays from but more recently I've seen some people complain about sizing issues and quality in regards to their photos vs product etc! So I'd maybe avoid that one! Lastly there was this google doc made a little while ago with some shops listed. I do not know if this is up to date but I thought I'd share https://docs.google.com/document/d/12w82AVDHKmJ1dKRRZ3CAYiy1S5TbqOR_o91NCJVqgUQ/edit Also there is a touhou cosplay discord I could get you the invite to (just send me a message first) Its full of really nice and supportive people and theres a cosplay shopping talk channel and lots of people with experience there that can help out! There's also a secondhand cosplay sale channel as well if you wanted to buy directly off another cosplayer! Anyways I hope that helped. Again please feel free to message me anytime if you need specific help. I'm always happy to help people cosplay touhou in any way possible :D If you have a specific character you want to do I can try and get as many links for you put together that I can as well!!

[lemondaydream]

I wanted to ask how you got started in learning to make your own templates like this! They're very intricately gorgeous but there's little to no tutorials coming up every time I try to search? Is there also some form of coding involved? Thank you in advance!

Thank you so much! No coding involved. Google Docs is basically like Microsoft word but less rigid, it allows you to do almost anything you like as long as you know how to manipulate its tools. I have a bit of a background in coding so, though it doesn't involve code, thinking about the layout of a doc like the page of a website is helpful. I only started making docs for character sheets three years ago when I started rping on Discord. Doc templates or doc character sheets are essential on Discord for literate rp and from the jump I saw the potential in the program. I made my own from the start and the first one I ever made was better than any I had ever seen (at the time) even though I had never done it before. (This is my first ever doc if you're curious) - this is my personal information and design, do not copy, do not steal. Definitely not my best anymore but still proud. Never even touched another template before then. I had no teacher, no tutorial. I just went in, played around, made my own rules. In fact, a lot of the things you see people do on doc templates these days, I was the first to do them. I've happily taught fellow creators how to make navigation bars using headers as a way to link to certain spots on a page, great ways on how to implement Drawings (not too much though, text on Drawings is inaccessible to many), even putting likes and dislikes in a list was uncommon before I did it. Like web design, there are trends in the doc world. Knowing the basics of how to make tables do what you want opens doors to everything but really, if you want to create something uniquely you, the best way to do it is just to play around, explore, and invent your own new uses. There no one answer to how to do it, more than one way to skin a cat. (Terrible phrase) I've created some "tutorial-ish" advice answered asks posts that you can read if you'd like more advice on how to up your doc game and if you or anyone ever has a question on "how did you do this on this doc?" or "I want to do this specific thing, how would you do that?", my dms are always open and if you want to talk on Discord, we can do that too. - How to get started/Breaking to learn - How to see in tables - Resources I use There might be other good advice in my other answered asks too. But yeah! Message me privately any questions you have. I try not to post too much other than important helpful information and my doc templates because I have a lot of followers I try to be respectful of. I'm always happy to speak to those that are interested in docs. Hope this was helpful and I can't wait to see what you create. I'm also willing to give advice on how to open your own shop selling docs and building a brand and followers.

Thank you to everyone who supports me and reading this much if you did. Love you all.