#then i spent $90 on books :')

[egophiliac]

queen of diamonds, upright + reversed 💎

I've redone this like eighty times, I have to just be done with it now and stop staring at all my mistakes oh no 🫠

[laundrybiscuits]

“Eddie,” Robin says, eyes wide in a way that means trouble. “Edward Munson, I sincerely hope your last will and testament is in order, because you are going to completely and totally die when I tell you who just got hired at Scoops Ahoy.”

Eddie groans. “Don’t tell me Tammy Thompson is giving up on her Nashville dreams.”

“No, I hate you, shut up forever, you’ll never guess.” Robin pauses, then in a dramatic whisper she’s definitely picked up from Eddie himself, says: “Steve Harrington.”

“Jesus. No shit?”

“Yeah, I have to train him. Oh my god it’s the worst. He’s so bad at, like, everything.”

She shoves at his shoulder until he moves out of the doorway of the trailer, and flings herself backwards onto his couch. “Like! Okay! I showed up to my shift thinking it would be a completely normal day in which I would be bored out of my skull distributing frozen dairy products to the flotsam and jetsam of Hawkins, and Ned’s like, hey Robin, you’re showing the new guy the ropes today. And then that freaking jackass has the freaking nerve to say—” Her voice drops a full register. “Uhh, nice to meet you, I’m Steve. Nice to meet you! God!”

Eddie cringes sympathetically, sucking air between his teeth. There’s a special kind of indignity to being so completely and utterly below the radar of Hawkins High royalty, even former bearers of the crown. It’s not as if Hawkins is a big town; Eddie’s pretty sure he could pick every single person in the graduating classes of ‘84 and ‘85 out of a crowd. He’ll probably be able to do it for ‘86 too, though he’s trying not to think about it too hard. So he’ll be a senior again (again) this fall, whatever. It’s fine. It’s whatever.

Once in a while, he wastes some time really, really wishing he’d gotten to know Robin earlier in the year. Maybe even last year. For undying friendship reasons, yeah, but also because with her in his corner, he might’ve actually passed enough of his classes to fucking graduate on his second fucking try.

But he’d only actually met her, like actually met her for real instead of passing her in the hall sometimes, when he’d let himself get suckered into rejoining band. It wasn’t like he could’ve brought his guitar in, but he let it slip to Miss Genovese that he could read music and keep time, and they needed someone to wallop the bass drum, and he figured a little experience fucking around with percussion might be the one thing he could salvage from the year. He’d just…been so goddamn tired of feeling stuck, spinning his wheels. Music was something he could actually handle; something he could actually get better at. Something he could master. He's man enough to admit he needed a win.

The actual songs were all stuffy Holst and Sousa numbers, but they’d had some fun technical bits he spent his evenings hammering out for a couple weeks. And then right around the point when he’d gotten good enough to get bored and think about quitting like last time, it had somehow wound up that shooting the shit with the gangly weirdo in the trumpet section was one of the best parts of his day. Unfortunately, by the time they’d gotten close enough for her to start bullying him about homework and shit, it had been way too late to save his chance at walking that ‘85 stage with assholes like Steve fucking Harrington.

Not that Harrington would’ve even noticed, apparently.

“Anyway, the one singular saving grace about the entire situation is that he looks even dumber in the sailor costume than I do, so at least that will make me feel better about my life until he gets fired for burning down the ice cream freezer or something like that. Eddie, I cannot stress this enough: he is so bad at this job.”

Eddie very tactfully does not bring up the litany of screw-ups that Robin’s admitted to over the last couple weeks since she started at Scoops; he just says, “Buckley, it sounds to me like you might be in need of some quality relaxation time this fine evening. I can offer you a nice cold beer, some herbal refreshment…or a fiendishly weird new song to learn with an intro riff that'll make you cry.”

Robin, inveterate nerd of his heart, sits up immediately and chirps, “New song, please!” just like he knew she would. She’s going to run off and elope with his acoustic one of these days, and he’s not even mad about it.

“Coming right up, m’lady,” says Eddie. “I promise this entire Harrington situation will be over before you know it, and neither of us will ever have to think about him again.”

(ETA: First chapter of this fic has been edited/expanded and posted on AO3)

[marzipanandminutiae]

I’m nervous to respond on the actual AG post for personal reasons, but I actually saw a very similar outfit was featured in the jan/feb 1999 edition of the american girl magazine; even if not featured in their doll clothing at the time

Sorry if I made you feel nervous by anything I did! I know it's not that deep; the discussion is just interesting to me.

I should clarify: it's not that those outfits don't look believably 1999. Nothing about them isn't something I'd believe in a fashion spread from that year. It's just that they're...I don't know. Weirdly polished?

Like I said, the hair and makeup look way too mature for a 10-year-old back then, based on my memories of what The Big Kids at my school did. I recall Lip Smackers tinted balm or maybe lip gloss for really fancy occasions. Can't say I saw a ton of girls that age with the two-front-highlights look, even though it was popular with teens. But the clothes aren't wrong, per se.

They're just very. Surface-level, I guess? Again, I'm having trouble articulating my actual objections to the visuals of these dolls. But to me, they look like modern teens mimicking what they think "Y2K Style" looked like. (Again, teens, not 10-year-olds.)

I just. Okay. Here is the Nicki Hoffman doll:

and here is an actual American Girl of Today doll from 1999, wearing the New Year's '99-2000 outfit (a very fashionable look, one assumes, albeit a party dress rather than casual attire):

It just. The newer doll looks fake by comparison. It looks like a parody, even though "stretch knit dress with spaghetti straps and a t-shirt underneath, converse, backwards baseball cap" is an entirely plausible outfit for 1999. And I cannot for the life of me pinpoint why.

[monkee-mobile]

every weekday after work (except monday) I get to drive over to the thrift shop :)

[heartofstanding]

hate my brain is like "haha what if i buy this book of german essays so i can painstakingly photograph the article about Blanche of England and run it through google translate so i can cry over a shitty AI translation about bb Blanche in my spare time"?

[official-bunbun]

HEY BTW MINECRAFT REALM PPL if yall ever need any materials/tools/etc just lmk, the server is meant to be as chill and easy as yall want it to be so 100% no judgement if yall dont wanna gather your own stuff LOL

[diamondnokouzai]

the mroe i think about it the less i like seveneves...like besides the lack of internal character consistency, besides the constant stopping dead in its tracks to plagiarize some physics major’s test notes, besides the frankly annoying way stephenson writes (if he doesnt stop dead in his tracks to thoroughly explain a new plot element to you, its because he thinks hes oh so very clever and you will also think he is oh so very clever when he finally REVEALS it) the cincher is the fact that despite him saying outright that dinah wasnt a natural leader (and constantly showing that), by the time we get to her descendants, anyone with dinah’s dna IS a natural leader. and the main character in that part of the book who has her dna? is a man (of course). theres also the fact that the povs of the characters never felt distinguished from each other, and all the characters with personality traits never got their own pov chapters. worst of all i think is the racial baggage involved in the story: stephenson claims that the world of the spacers is devoid of racism, despite characters constantly pointing out how certain races are just Innately Like That (and these are “races” that are descended from actual women of distinct ethnicities, so you get the race descended from a chinese woman who are all just naturally smart, the race descended from a west asian woman who are all naturally subservient (and this race is also characteristically genderless! which does not stop characters from exclusively using he or she pronouns)) and any pov characters from this time frame of the book are constantly calling mixed-race people “hybrids”. he even did the Exotic Alien Babe trope. none of the interesting questions are answered, but every other question is. oh, and he added another ethnostate descended from people who were left on the apocalyptic earth. because why not.

[yourbestgal]

i bought the last piece of my halloween getup at claire’s on my break today (a teddy bear bucket hat that cost me 25 fucking dollars my god miss claire you’ve got some nerve) everyone says my costume is gonna be soooo cute and they’re all correct but you know something? i’m going to feel SO fucking silly wearing a costume out in public i know that sounds dumb but bro it really is so embarrassing to me, as a concept. maybe i’ll just shoot mysel

[caffeinated-bibliophile]

🙃

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[hanaasbananas]

it's past midnight and all i can think about is this one kids copy of Hansel and Gretel that i had when i was a kid. it had a red cover and was one of those board books but i remember the story inside being really detailed with GORGEOUS illustrations i had it for so long at one point i even took it with me to the doctors when i was getting a vax and showing the nurse my favourite page 😭😭😭 the fact that i don't have it anymore still hurts sometimes and MAN dyk how many hansel and gretel books are out there with red covers?? I fear this book is lost to my memories

[crabs-but-better]

also my cd player broke so i am very distraught. i have to sit in the car to listen to music.

[softgrungeprophet]

man i really need to get on the current F4 run, it seems like a lot of fun, ryan north is very funny, and the alex ross covers are, as they say, banger

[prisonhannibal]

Do you remember what you were doing when you were fifteen? I remember. When I was fifteen I used to love comic books and drawing and spent a lot of time wondering about what I wanted to be when I grew up and what school to go to. I loved spending time with my friends and going to the library. The genocide has taken all of that from the children of gaza. One day you’re hanging out with friends and doing homework and studying for your future, and the next day all of your books are buried under the remains of your house, your school, your home.

Ibrahim (@ibrahim-family) is only fifteen years old. He has lost access to education, his home, and his safety, and now he has to spend his time trying to fundraise for his family’s safety.

€4,840 out of €10,000 goal

He lives in Gaza with his family, and only a few days ago a bomb near him injured one of his relatives and martyred two others. Every day in Gaza is dangerous, every hour could be the last. No child should have to go through this. Children should be safe enough to worry about exams, not whether or not they’ll wake up to news of more loss. Think of yourself at fifteen, now think of everything you’ve experienced and done since then. Every achievement, every class, the birth of younger cousins, birthdays, weddings. even the small things, like a good meal you’ve had or a movie you watched. that’s what’s being taken from every child martyred in gaza. their whole future, everything they should get the chance to experience and do.

When I asked Ibrahim if there’s anything he wants me to tell everyone in this post, he said that he is very very sad and scared and that he has just lost relatives. Ibrahim has expressed to me more than once that when he goes to bed he’s afraid he won’t wake up in the morning. Even after losing his relatives, he doesn’t have time to grieve in peace, because he’s always in danger himself. It’s not safe for him or his family in Gaza.

Please help Ibrahim and his family be safe. I’m very worried about Ibrahim, because donations have been slow. My heart breaks for him every time he tells me he’s scared. He is so young and has so much life in front of him, he deserves safety. I ask you if you have anything to give, please help bring Ibrahim and his family to safety so that he can rest and recover and go back to school to follow his dreams.

thank you for reading, if you can’t donate please share this post so it may reach people who can ❤️

this fundraiser is vetted by @gazavetters, number 25 on the spreadsheet

@90-ghost @tamamita @dirhwangdaseul @butchniqabi @vampiricvenus @heritageposts @neechees @furiousfinnstan @khanger @autisticmudkip @appsa @strangeauthor @akajustmerry @spaceboytoi @dlxxv-vetted-donations @ibtisams @feluka @toesuckingoctober @sawasawako @fluoresensitive @anneemay

[mouthfulloftoothpasterry]

Curology better work bc why it is so expensive

[bluedestinybluebird]