#╰ *:･ﾟ❤ ──❝ e-mails ❞ ❪ asks. ❫

[linos-luna]

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨!

𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑠𝑘, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑓 𝑺𝒐𝒐𝒃𝒊𝒏 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆𝒔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑜𝑛. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒? 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒.

𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡.

𝐾𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑃𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑔𝑎𝑙. 💚💛❤

(I can't believe that I'm writing this like an e-mail Haha)

Lol. It’s cute actually ☺️

————————————————————————

Your Bunny 🔪

Yandere!Soobin x Fem!Reader

Warnings: obsession, Yandere. Stalking

————————————————————————

You kept the window open at night. A small breeze would come in, a great feeling for summer nights. You lay peacefully on your back, the covers not even over you as you slept. Actually, there was still some eyeliner and mascara on you as well. You unexpectedly fell asleep while reading.

As you slept, you dreamed of meeting up with your boyfriend tomorrow. You loved him, really, but he could be a bit much at times. You’ve been debating whether or not to break up with him for a while now and that conflict made it to your dreams.

What you didn’t know was that he was here. Soobin took advantage of the open window and climbed in with ease. He sat next to you and stroked your hair. Soobin loved watching you sleep.

“We’re done……. No soobin…” you muttered in your sleep while shaking your head.

Your boyfriend raised a brow as he heard you.

“Stop… it’s… over…”

Soobin couldn’t help himself. Were you planning to break up with him?! Is that what the meeting was about for tomorrow??

“You’re breaking up with me?!!” He yelled suddenly, shaking you awake. You shrieked when seeing him. You quickly sat up while in a panic. Soobin was holding onto you by your shoulders.

“Soobin, what are you doing here?!” You yelled.

“You wanna break up with me?!” He completely ignored your question and kept shaking you. “How could you?! You can’t break up with me!! You can’t!”

“Baby—”

“I can’t live without you, noona!” He interrupted.

“Soobin… how long have you been watching me sleep?” You were asking about this night specifically but his answer scared you even more.

“Every night, noona.” He responded, “you’re just so pretty when you sleep.”

“Soobin!”

“I can’t help it!” He pouted. “I need to see you!”

“You see me almost every day!” You sighed while getting up. “Please leave… we’ll talk tomorrow…”

“No!” He got up and ran to you. “You’re gonna break up with me!”

“Baby—”

“You can’t do that!” He interrupted while grabbing your arm.

“Soobin… you—”

“Please noona! Don’t leave me!” He said with some tears rolling down his cheeks. “I’m your bunny! I can’t live without you!”

You couldn’t help feeling bad for him. Yeah he was obsessive but he was also very loving. He treated you like a queen. You love him. But how much more could you handle?

“Ok… I’m not leaving you…” you sighed. “But can you please not watch me at night? It’s creepy.”

“Yeah ok! Anything you want!” He replied quickly while grabbing your hand.

“Alright. Go home baby… I’ll see you tomorrow okay?”

“Can I sleep here?” He asks with a pout.

“No, baby… I need some space to think right now.”

“What kind of space?!” He blurted out. “Why would you need space from me??”

You didn’t know what to say at this point and you laid down, patting the spot next to you on the bed.

Soobin gleefully laid next to you and kissed your cheek. He put his arms around you and held you tight.

“Soobin… it’s hot…”

“I thought I was your bunny!” He yelled.

“Yes… bunny! But it’s hot!”

“Nice try, noona. You’re not getting away that fast.” He giggled while hugging you tighter.

He must’ve been really tired because he fell asleep fairly quick. Although he still held on tight. It was hot but he was too strong for you to struggle. There was nothing you could really do…

[joanquill]

Hello! Is your ask box open? If not, please disregard this and sorry in advance 🥺🙏 I wanted to make a request of Albert James Moriarty on how he would react to his s/o receiving love letters (these days it would be a text or dm but alas the Victorian Era lmao) from an ex. And vice versa. If he received love letters or Fan mail. Thank you so much! ❤

S/O Receiving Love Letters Reaction and Vice Versa

Albert James Moriarty

A/N: I wasn't quite sure if this was a headcanon only, so I added a short scenario just to be sure ^^"

Guide: (E/N): Your Ex's Name

Warning/s: Profanity

S/O Receiving Love Letters

Despite knowing Albert wasn't your first lover, he was determined to be your last.

You didn't hide things about your love life, but he would notice some exes had a more negative reaction from you than others.

He wouldn't push you if you didn't want to talk about a particular ex.

When you would tell stories, you kept them short and straight to the point.

If you were friends with your ex, he didn't mind, and he would try to be on good terms with them.

If he does feel uncomfortable with something, he would always talk to you about it, so you two can work it out together.

Whenever you would receive letters from your ex, you would either give them a curt response saying you were taken or throw them in the trash.

He didn't really care for your past or the letters. He loves you for you and trusts you.

So when he was sorting out letters and saw a love letter from your ex-fiance, he was intrigued.

When he finished sorting them out, he immediately walked up to you with the letter in hand, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Dearest?" Albert called out as he walked into the living room, seeing you reading a book on the couch.

"Yes?" you replied, lifting your head from the book as Albert showed you the letter.

"(E/N) wrote to you," he grinned, making you squint your eyes and put down your book.

"(E/N)? As in my ex-fiance (E/N)?" you questioned as you got up from the couch, walking up to him.

"It would seem so," Albert confirmed, giving you the letter.

"What does he want?" you sighed, roughly opening the letter.

As you read the letter, you let out a scoff and wore a strained smile.

"He forgives me for ruining our wedding day? Are you serious?" you read out loud in disbelief, rereading the letter from the top while Albert grabbed some wine from the kitchen.

"Is he serious? He was the one who slept with a random girl he met at a bar the night before!" you shouted as Albert poured you a glass.

"Oh, my God..." you grumbled, throwing the letter on the table as you rubbed the temples.

"He thinks our relationship is a way for me to make him jealous..." you told Albert, making him raise a brow.

"Really?"

"Really," you confirmed, "And he said he's willing to "forgive" me and take me back? Can you believe this-! This! Narcissistic, entitled-!" you groaned as you leaned back on the couch, feeling your head heat up in anger.

"How the hell did he even know where I live!?" you questioned, grabbing the letter.

You let out another deep sigh as you grabbed the glass Albert prepared for you, downing it in one go.

"May I?" Albert asked as he pointed at the letter.

You nodded in response, letting Albert take the letter and read it himself.

"Wow... Three pages and not one apology,"

"Right!?" you defended, making Albert chuckle as he put down the letter.

"Ugh... Years later, and he's still giving me a headache..." you muttered, walking up to Albert and climbing onto his lap, hugging his torso as you rested your head on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he hugged you, rubbing your back as you relaxed against his touch.

"Yeah..." you replied, snuggling into him, "I can't believe that idiot would think I would leave you for him..."

Albert lightly chuckled as he kissed the side of your head.

"Would you?"

"HELL NO!"

Albert Receiving Love Letters

Seeing love letters in the mail is pretty much the norm in the Moriarty estate.

Especially after the tea party, the love letters just skyrocketed.

Whether it's for Albert, William, Louis- even Fred received some letters of adoration.

Let alone invitations from single noble women.

If there were NO love letters or invitations, it feels off.

Seeing love letters addressed to your lover is nothing new, even before Albert started courting you.

At the start, it felt a little uncomfortable seeing the number of letters he would receive, let alone how some women would give you theirs so they know Albert would see them.

However, Albert would always reassure you that they mean nothing to him.

And he'd make sure everyone knows he belongs to you.

If it was simple fanmail or words of gratitude from the people he helped, you adored those letters and even agreed on how great your lover was.

"Do you really need to go?" Hannah asked, holding onto your clothes as she looked up to you with sad puppy eyes.

"Yeah! You haven't visited us in ages!"

"We missed you!" the kids whined as they started grabbing onto you, making it harder to end your visit to the orphanage.

"Now, now, children... We can't keep Mx. (Y/N) away from their home," Lillian, the caretaker, warned, making the children whine as they let you go.

"Besides, didn't we prepare a gift?" Lillian reminded, making the children's heads perk up as they rushed back to the building.

"A gift?" you questioned as Lillian smiled at you.

"Yes. The children have been working on it all morning," she explained as they started running out and lining up to you with a piece of paper in their hands.

"For you!" Edmund smiled as he held up the paper to you, showing a letter of gratitude to you and Albert.

"It is a shame Lord Albert couldn't come... The children wanted to surprise both of you," Lillian added as the children started to crowd around you, excitedly showing their letters and drawings.

"I see..." you breathed out, feeling your heart swell in emotion as you took a deep breath, composing yourself.

"Thank you. I'll make sure Albert will receive them as well,"

You kept smiling even when you arrived back home, rereading the letters the children made.

When you heard the front door click, you quickly got on your feet and ran to the entrance.

"I'm ho-" you greeted Albert with a hug, almost pushing him back out.

"Welcome back!" you happily greeted, making him smile.

"What got you in such a good mood?" he questioned as he kissed your forehead, making you giggle.

"You'll see,"

[my-castles-crumbling]

Hey cas ,

How are u?

anyway so I signed up to do the Conan gray fest but I think I might have signed up wrong because in the space for your name I put a name I go by (not my real name) not my discord username and I wanted to know if there is a way that would be preferred for me to fix this because if I'm thinking right you are one of the people who are like running the conan gray fest.

Thanks in advance.❤

Hi love!

I think you did it right! We asked for your preferred name and e-mail. So just check your email for an invite to the discord! If you're still unsure though, you can send me a DM! <3

[romance-club-daily]

A little bit late, but I'm gonna jump in on the recent "RC uses AI art" bandwagon. I understand where you're coming from — I'm an aspiring translator and even before the whole AI craze I had no idea how tf I'm gonna look for a job once I'd graduate, but now the situation's even more dire. That being said, I think we really really REALLY shouldn't jump to conclusions about in this case because

do we actually have any proof that it's AI generated art besides "it looks like that"? Because AI... doesn't really have a "style", it's literally gonna look like the art you feed to it/what it finds on the web. I've already seen at least one instance of artists being told that their art is actually AI generated just because it looks similiar. CGs in all stories are usually more realistic-looking, imo, and showcase the biggest differences between different artists' styles. All of this is speculation is conjecture, but like, so is the whole thing about RC using AI art in the first place. So I'll just move on to more solid argument

just last month, on August 4th, RC announced an open call for hiring artists. I guess this vacancy was targeted at CIS countries since as far as I'm aware they didn't crosspost it to Facebook or Twitter or anywhere besides VK and Telegram channel. On 28th they stopped accepting applications from artists and are, most likely, currently continuing the tryouts. My point is: what kind of company would resort to using free AI and then go and hire real humans you actually have to pay? It just doesn't make sense

Here is my translation of these posts about the whole hiring business and screenshots. I'll send you links via another submission or ask because I'm afraid tumblr might nuke this one

translation, if anyone knows russian and thinks I made a mistake of some sort feel free to correct me, after all there's a lot of artist argot I'm not too sure about:

august 4th:

2D artist vacancy

Friends, we announce that we started hiring artists to Romance Club team. ❤

We're YSI, an independent game development sudio from Moldova, that creates interactive visual novels. We're looking for people who may become a part of our big family.

If you're a talented character and/or game locations 2D artist (or you're just great at drawing), then you're exactly who we're looking for!

✅ What do we want from the applicants?

- creativity and rich imagination;

- to be professionaly versed in 2D graphics softwares (experience with Adobe Photoshop is necessary);

- to be able to draw by hand using a graphic tablet;

- your portfolio is necessary.

❗All of the applicants will be given a test assignment❗

✅ Why you should choose Romance Club:

- friendly young team as well as modern office in the capital of Moldova;

- to work with experienced professionals in informal and inspiring environment;

- opportunity to realize your own creative ideas;

- exciting long-term projects;

- fair wage + bonuses;

- possible career development;

- game dev is cool!

If you're interested, send us your portfolio at jobs @ yourstoryinteractive. com and briefly tell us about your skills

August 28th:

2D artist vacancy, applications closed

Friends, we finished the hiring process for artists❗

Huge thanks to those who sent us their resume. Everyone turned out to be incredibly talented and interesting.

✅ Candidates that received an e-mail from us move on to the next stage of tryouts

Our apologies for not being able to reply to everyone personally. We received a great deal of applications and, unfortunately, couldn't possibly contact everybody.

Thank you for showing interest in Romance Club and working for our company!

With all due respect,

Your Story Interactive

As a side note, it is possible that some of the artists may use AI without their hire-ups and writers and so on even knowing that — unlikely, I don't have any proof of that, but it's a possibility. But I feel that the only thing we're doing here is treading muddy waters of conspiracy theories. I'm repeating myself, but it just seems unlikely that there's actually any AI involved when the company in question just started hiring new artists. You may argue that they had to use AI for the most recent update because of the staff shortage but once again: let's not dive into conspiracy theories. Okay, I took longer than I needed to, but I rest my case

_____________________________________________________________

I agree with you on some points, it could be the artist using it without the company knowing and it is a possibility (although I think would be naive of them). But I believe that hiring artists and using AI is something that can happen simultaneously, in the beginning. One thing may not have to do with the other either. That said, it has caught our attention because the style has changed drastically from one update to the next and is very similar to how AI-generated images look. The public used to complain that the characters didn't have realistic poses and out of nowhere they change some to something ultra-realistic (without being able to see a real evolution until reaching this point), almost like a painting which happens to be very similar to how the AI works with images. It's something to be suspicious of, we shouldn't straight accuse them, but being suspicious and sharing our distrust is valid, given that many companies have recently been doing this. And if an employee is using AI and they know about it, It has to be approved by someone at the company, and it carries the company name. I don't think they're that naive (an artist's style changes suddenly and no one wonders why).

Since when they see that using AI is cheaper (or costs almost nothing) and it's fast, they have to make a decision, ethical or not.

Let's see what will happen, but I hope for a good outcome! I love RC stories and would be shame if they go for this path.

And of course, this is absolutely my opinion on this, you can agree or not and that's ok for me.

[pedrostories]

PedroStories Secret Santa event 2022

Dear Fanfic writers and readers,

PedroStories would like to invite you to our very first Secret Santa event! ✨

If you write fanfictions for any Pedro Pascal characters and/or you're a visual art creator (graphics, gifsets, fanart) with a love for our fandom's fanfic writers, this event is for you! You can register here until November 26 (you can expect our message about your giftee a few days later), and the gifters will post their arts on December 23.

We have tagged all the incoming questions and answers about the event with “secret santa questions”, you can search for it on the blog, but if something still isn’t clear, feel free to send us an ask!

For a visual arts specific Secret Santa event (for Mandoverse) you can join @themandaloriandaily‘s Secret Santa event as well.

Please read the rules carefully before submitting your application!

Please make sure that it’s specified in your bio if you’re a minor/adult (at least temporarily)

Please respect the deadlines: application ends on November 26 and you will need to post your gift on December 23

Please consider the following rules about the format of the gifts: gifsets should contain at least 3 gifs and fanfictions should be at least 750 words

We encourage you to anonymously contact your giftee if you feel like your prompt isn't clear enough, or if you have any questions about their preferences

If you're a tumblr user please make sure your anon ask is enabled, and if you're not a tumblr user please provide a contact where your gifter can approach you anonymously (obviously a media account or e-mail address you check regularly)

Please tag your gift as #pedrostoriesgift22 and #pedrostories so we can track and reblog all your arts on the day of the gifting, and don't forget to tag you giftee as well!

If for any reason you need to drop out, please do let us know so we can find a pinch hitter for your giftee

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to send us an ask!

Join us and spread the word! 🖤

 - PedroStories Staff

PS.: Under “Keep reading” You can find an extensive list of writers for the fandom worth following! 😉 If you’re a writer for Pedro characters (or you know about a writer) not on this list, let us know and we’ll update it as soon as possible! ❤

✨ A - C ✨

@221bshrlocked @absurdthirst @aerynwrites @agentwhiskeysdarlin @aliwritesfic @alwaysbethewest @artemiseamoon @asta-lily @astoryisaloveaffair @astroboots @autumnleaves1991-blog @auty-ren @babydarkstar @beskarberry @beskar-cowboy @beskarhearts @bestintheparsec @blueeyesatnight @bluestripedspeedo @boliv-jenta  @bonktime @brandyllyn @brewsterispunkk @browneyes-issac @buckyodinson @buttercup--bee @castleamc @chaoticgeminate@charnelhouse @cinewhore @clydesducktape @concussed-to-pieces @corvueros @cptnbvcks @crimsonheart01 @criticallyacclaimedstranger

✨ D - I ✨

@danidrabbles @danniburgh @di-kut @din-jarhead @dirty-holy-things @disgruntledspacedad @djarinsbeskar @djjarins @dornish-queen @eatommo @emmikmil @ezrasbirdie @f0rever15elf @fleetwoodmactshirt @flightlessangelwings @floralpascal @foli-vora @forever-rogue @frankiesbadlanding-citations @frannyzooey  @fuckyeahdindjarin @gaiuswrites @grogusmum @guess-my-next-obsession​ @haylzcyon @heatherbelart​ @heythere-mel @holographic-carmen @honestly-shite @honeydjarin @iamskyereads @idungoofed @intheorangebedroom @ithinkhesgaybutwesavedmufasa

✨ J - M ✨

@jangofctts  @javier-pena @jazzelsaur @jbbuckybarnes  @jedifarmerr @jollyrancher87 @juletheghoul @jura-moon @justanotherblonde23  @just-here-for-the-moment @keeper0fthestars @kilojulietsierra @knivesareout  @krissology @lannister-slings-and-arrows @laureliciousdefinition @leslie-lyman @letterfromvienna @littleferal @littlemisspascal @loversandantiheroes @lowlights @lunasblipsandblurbs  @joel-millerr @mandoalorian @mandoblowmybackout @mandorush @mandosmistress @massivecolorspygiant @mcfreakin-bxtch @miceenscene @misspearly1 @moonlight-prose @moralesispunk @mostly-megan @mothandpidgeon @mourningbirds1 @multifandomfanfiction @musings-of-a-rose

✨ N - S ✨

@no-droids @noisynaia @omgreally @oogaboogasphincter @oonajaeadira @pascalisthepunkest @pedrito-friskito @pedro-pascal-love @pedropascalsx @pedros-mustache @perropascal @pettyprocrastination @princessxkenobi @prolix-yuy @psychedelic-ink  @pumpkin-stars @queenofthefaceless @queridopascal @radiowallet @redcrvette @rina-cyarika-writing @rise-my-angel @saradika @scribbledghost @scorpio-marionette  @silksaddle @sirowsky @sirtadcooper @sith-maul @slater-baby @softpedropascal @something-tofightfor @songsformonkeys @spookydin @starlightmornings @storiesofthefandomlovers @supernaturalgirl20 @syndxlla

✨ T - Z ✨

@the-blind-assassin-12 @the-ginger-hedge-witch @the-scandalorian  @theewokingdead @themand0lorian @themangolorian @the-scandalorian @thewayofthemandalorian @thirstworldproblemss  @thosewickedlovelies @thot-of-khonshu @tiffdawg  @toomanystoriessolittletime @tropes-and-tales @valkblue @wardenparker @whataperfectwasteoftime @wheresarizona @whiskeynwriting @whistlingbirdie @wordsnwhiskey @write-and-buried @writefightandflightclub  @writeforfandoms @wyn-n-tonic @yespolkadotkitty @youvebeenlivingfictional @zeldasayer  

[sovonight]

hi sovo ;u; I hope it's okay if I ask you a shop question! So um, I'm lower on money than I've ever been and I'm too burnt out to do commissions for ppl due to personal stuff, but I feel like... if I made one charm or one sticker for a particularly huge fandom/movie that's out right now, and if I put it up as preorder and sold at least 20 keychains then I'd be able to pay my bills this month. but I've never sold physical merch before and I'm a little nervous to try it haha :'D

Would you recommend I try making an Etsy since it seems to have a large enough audience, or do you think I should try making my own website/shop? I'm definitely not ready to consistently sell things as a steady job yet, I thought I'd try literally just one single keychain or one sticker sheet (I already learned how to make those, thankfully) in order to pay my rent this month bc I've only got about a hundred dollars to my name sdflkfssdf;; and if it goes well then maybe I can try it again.

I'm also not quite sure how to price things? if I made a 3.5 inch acrylic charm with the little star shaped keychains like from Vograce, do people normally price those at $15 when they sell them? should I also account for shipping? I've also umm never shipped merch before and I'm so worried about somehow messing it up sldfjsf like I don't know what kind of envelopes I have to get or if I should even use my own address bc I'm so nervous about my personal info being out there, but I don't know if it's worth paying for a PO box if I'm so low on money already. if you have any tips on anything whatsoever, I would appreciate any feedback if you're not busy. But if you don't want to answer please don't worry about it ;u; anyway thank you so much for reading this I really appreciate you! ❤

no prob! here are my thoughts:

pros/cons of etsy:

apparently if you're new to selling on etsy, there's a probationary period where etsy withholds your profits for 3 months. i don't know anything about it personally since it started in 2020, but it seems that funds are only released when your shipped orders are scanned at the post office. i think i also remember hearing about other cases where payments aren't released at all for 3 months--and etsy customer service has a reputation of being difficult to get a hold of if you have a problem as a seller, so if etsy made a mistake with your shop, it may take even more months to resolve. since you have preorders in mind, i would hold off on etsy unless you can pay out of pocket.

etsy can drive traffic towards your listing for you (if you choose the right keywords--it's more difficult to be discovered just randomly if you don't).

they have high fees (for a $15 charm they'd take $1.88 in fees, which is 12.5%).

people may be cautious to buy from a shop that has no reviews yet, but many customers are protected by etsy's purchase protection and can be refunded at no cost to you if their order gets lost in the mail (provided that you ship with a tracking number and meet other criteria).

etsy will strongly recommend that you offer free shipping; ignore them. i don't think i've ever bought fanmerch with free shipping in my life, and their advice isn't geared towards sellers like us.

preorders don't work very well with etsy's system--iirc you're not supposed to do them (even though people still do, of course) but the main reason i remember is that the max processing time etsy lets you set per product (as in, the time between the customer purchasing the listing and you shipping it out) is 6 weeks. that means that the time you allow for customers to place their preorders, the time it takes for you to order and receive the merch, and the time it takes for you to ship out orders, all need to add up a max of 6 weeks, which was personally a difficult timeline for me to meet when making keychains. ofc, it's possible to extend the processing time, but going over the processing time may make it possible for customers to leave reviews/open cases early before you're even ready to ship out their orders, which could affect the reputation of your shop.

pros/cons of not etsy:

if you're not going with etsy, i've heard people recommend bigcartel, since it doesn't require a subscription like shopify or other places do. bigcartel's free plan is limited, but it should work for what you're looking for. another alternative might be ko-fi--i've heard that ko-fi shops aren't ideal for shipping out a large amount of orders, but since you're targeting just 20 i think it should be manageable.

ofc, you'll have to drive all your traffic yourself, so consider if you have enough of a following in your target fandom, or how you should go about getting your post noticed by your target fandom.

unlike etsy, shipping isn't auto-calculated, so i'd probably set a flat rate (in the US i'd expect $5). flat rates might make calculating your taxes just a little bit more complicated; in california at least, you have to pay taxes on the difference between the shipping you charge your customers and the shipping you actually pay to the post office, so iirc you either refund the extra shipping to the customer or hand it all over in taxes.

pricing:

yes, the standard price for ~3" acrylic keychains is $15, though i've also seen people go up to $16 or $17, especially on etsy where the fees are high.

shipping should be a separate cost, either auto-calculated for you (if you're on etsy/shopify) or a flat rate that you set based on shipping rates for your country, so in the end a customer might pay $15 + $5 = $20 in total.

unless most of your prospective customers are international, i'd recommend against shipping internationally to avoid dealing with customs forms, especially since you already have a lot of info to take in.

you can ship everything in a regular bubble mailer, though if you're just shipping stickers not keychains, a flat envelope should work fine. when shipping packages, you'll need to know the weight of each package, but you can just go by an estimate. a 3" acrylic keychain weighs about 1 oz (it weighs less than that, but they don't accept decimals) so i just multiply based on how many keychains are in an order. for usps at least, shipping is the same rate up until 10 oz iirc, so you don't need to weigh it super accurately. you could also always just go into the post office and have them weigh and label everything for you.

po box:

if regular PO box rates in your area are too high, you can also consider using a virtual po box; they go for about $10 per month at their most basic plans. if you're not expecting to get any mail redirected back to you, you should be able to just buy a month's subscription when you're ready to ship things out.

words of caution:

you probably already know this, but large fandoms can often be oversaturated by merch, so just choosing a large fandom might not be enough to guarantee a sale--you might have to stand out by, say, choosing a character who's in demand but doesn't have much fanmerch, having a funny meme concept, or having such a unique/attractive style that people can't help but want your fanmerch in particular. if you haven't already, i'd recommend looking around the market and seeing what's out there and decide why a buyer should choose your merch over anyone else's. though honestly, depending on your fandom, it could also not be this serious and not warrant much research--it all depends!

even if the preorder process works out and you get the funds to place the order, the manufacturer could always mess up on your order, which could lead to delays in your fulfillment and at worst, more expenses if you need to pay to get them remade. if it's easier to get sticker sheets made (like if you make them yourself/locally instead of ordering from overseas) they might be a safer choice of merch to make. ofc, i don't generally see sticker sheets up for preorder so you'd probably have to order them out of pocket and hope they sell, and you'll probably have to sell more of them than you would of keychains to get the same amount of profit. i don't know the whole situation, so i can't say anything definite about the risks/rewards between choosing to sell keychains and choosing to sell stickers.

[scarabedoxchg]

Some Questions that have been Asked & Answered on our carrd:

🤔 How long will written pieces be?

~ 1k words is minimum in written fics. If you go over word count, awesome but make sure it's a complete work with an ending. Art needs to be a complete piece.

Common Questions:

😠 Why would you want e-mails for the registration?

~Since social media is flakey and we are posting on different platforms we will be sending check-in forms through e-mails. This will be a brief e-mail with a form link to ask how far along you are in your work and if you're dropping out.

Common Questions:

🎨 How many pieces do I need to write or draw?

~ One unless you ask to be a pitch hitter. (Being a pitch hitter is optional) Then you may be contacted to write two in total.

😁 If you have any other questions please ask! ❤

[vegfam]

hey! sorry to ask but im new to radblr and it seems like doxxing is something that happens a lot here so can you maybe give a few tips on how to avoid being doxxed?

i personally have all cookies disabled, frequently clear caches, use private browsing windows (i've heard this does practically nothing but idk i do it) and i use a VPN which i regularly change the location of.

do not use the same username on different websites if you're going to post any identifying information there, even if it's on obscure websites, there are tools to find the same username across the web entirely.

do not use the username of any of your socials as your email (for example if i used vegfam@(whatever).com as my email). create an anonymous e-mail and do not use your real name when creating your anonymous e-mail.

do not use your real name at all actually, do not use the same personal fake name on different accounts (grace is not my real name and i don't use it anywhere else).

do not post any photos AT ALL that you have taken on accounts where you're trying to stay anonymous, even if they show no identifying footage, they still have data attached.

do not have your following or followers visible if you are mutuals with anyone you interact with on other socials or know irl. better yet don't have them on your anonymous account at all.

sorry it's long but that's all my tips ❤ stay safe

[eskiix]

Love playing by your rules! Been reading it last couple of days! Wanted to ask you if you knew when you will be posted new chapter? Wouldnt want to miss it 😄

Thank you Anon! 🥰 So glad you're loving PBYR ❤

I'm going in a different direction than originally planned with the next chapter so am in the process of rewriting. Hopefully it won't be too long a wait and I think it'll be a far more exciting chapter because of it.

If you have an ao3 account, you can subscribe to receive e-mail notifications when I update. Or, if you let me know your tumblr username I can tag you when I post future updates here 🥰

[a-miraculous-confession]

I'm always thinking and asking myself,

"Are you gonna watch S5?"🤔🤔

After a much of thoughts on this,I would say:Ehhhhh......kinda.

I mean I will watch the episodes that make me interested.(So far,it's Determination.)

But I will say that this season,it's gonna be emotional because y'know,things starts to get unfolded. So buckle up and get ready for a emotional roller coaster.

And speaking about unfolded things,THE LEAKS.

HOW....MANY....LEAKS....THAT.....I.....HAVE.....TO......GO.....THROUGH....(like,seriously,get a job instead of making fans upset and ruining their excitement by posting leaks...!)

Do you remember that tweet from Thomas that he says about 'S5 is the important season' and then continues with 'posting leaks will ruining their excitment/experience and unmotivated them to watch when the episodes was released' sorta like that?

Y'know what....HE'S RIGHT!.....I'm totally agree with him. I'm afraid that someone works under Zag is a mole and posting the leaks just for attentions. This is totally unacceptable and we,as the fans,should do our part rn! There is a link where you can e-mail Zag staff about this leaks that I'm forgot where is it but I can promise you that it's 100% legit. But if you don't have the e-mail(just like me),then do this. Whatever you do,

DO.NOT.SHARE. THE.LEAKS!

It just simple as that.(I'm so sorry if I'm late for this.)

Ok,anyways,I hope you like the essay about....this. I'm sorry if I'm taking too long to come back but here I am,I'm back and I might gonna be more active this time also there's gonna be more posts,so,stay tuned! So,that's it for today,I have no words to say other than share the posts🔄,comment down below💬👇,ask any question if you want to👨‍💻 and follow my account👨‍💻.

Stay safe.😷

Stay miraculous✌ and

Bug out🐞❤.

[heamatic-aaa]

*rocks back and forth on heels nervously* Fujin~

[heamatic-archive]

26. How do you feel about vague posting?

Not a lot bothers me in the rpc. Vague posting tho? Ooooh boy, do I have an intense aversion to it. Not only is it insanely petty, but you have a bunch of people reading it and either take the bait and ask you what happened to so you can spread the bullshit, but you also send another bunch of peeps into an anxiety spiral because they’ll think it’s about them.

This is why I made it into a rule. I’ve seen people obsessively vague about anything and everything, and it made me so anxious because I took it all into myself thinking I had done something wrong. So if I catch you vaguing? Unfollow/soft block. Depending on the severity, it could even be a hard block. Moral of the story? Don’t vague. It makes you look like an angry chihuahua foaming at the mouth trying to bite its own shadow. x)

[cindersalad]

CINDERSALAD’S COMMISSIONS SHEET!

Last update: May 15th, 2023 Any of my commissions sheet prior this date isn’t to be considered!

Back to the original format I used once, and much more clear now. For once I’m actually satisfied with how my commissions sheet looks! ♪(´▽｀)

Full commissions information on cindersalad.carrd.co/#commish, or simply ask! You can contact me via inbox or IMs here, but beware, Tumblr tends to eat messages. You can be more sure I receive the message if you send me an e-mail!

Even only spreading the word is a huge help! Thank you in advance for all your support! ❤

[ackerfics]

I saw that you wanted to write some eren fluff, so maybe you could do eren x listener who kisses him in his sleep? And before you ask, yes this is the same anon, yes I am still reading the small fic over and over, do not judge me- I just love your writing very much❤❤❤😊

press flowers on my skin, love — eren jaeger

— eren jaeger x female reader (modern au)

— warnings: none, just fluff <3 (also i tread into something i vowed to never write but this man can sometimes do wonders to me so pls forgive me for this sloppy make-out scene skwbdj)

— summary: waking up next to you is one of the things eren will never get tired of.

— word count: 1.5k

— notes: aaaaa sleepy kisses anon !!! :<< i hope you had a great day and i'm sorry if i didn't answer your other ask yet. but don't worry, the little fic is in my drafts now, waiting to be polished and finished. thank you for this request !! eren fluff is absolutely a dream to write. have a great time reading, ily! <33

reblogs are greatly appreciated!!

Dating Eren Jaeger will always be considered the most beautiful moment of your life.

Every breakthrough you made is witnessed by those iridescent jade irises way before you two established your relationship. When you were picked as a participant in an art exhibit, he watched you from across the huge venue while Mikasa and Armin walked to where your painting is, envious of them as they exchanged pleasantries with you as if it wasn't nerve-wracking to do. He remembered you beckoning him to join the little huddle. When you received an e-mail from your dream university during your study session with him in the library, he was ecstatic to let you know he got accepted into the same college as well. When you got great marks in your subjects during uni, he was the first to know about it, which led to your first physical contact with him --- hugging him out of the blue. When your friend group graduated with large smiles and hearty laughs, Eren pulled you away from the others to ask you to move in with him a year in your relationship.

It's a dream come true for both of you, especially for Eren.

Eren feels so lucky that he's the one you picked among the many people who expressed their feelings for you.

All his years of watching from afar, pining with hearts shooting from his eyes, you saw him in a different light during sophomore year. You were just rejected by your first crush in college, with your confession coming out in a rush to save yourself from deep infatuation. Eren was waiting for you outside of your department building to eat dinner together and it alarmed him when you came out of the building with a dejected look on your face. He always knew where your affections lie but he took the role of the one comforting you whenever you feel like shit just thinking about your crush if Mikasa didn't already take that position when you started rooming with her. It wasn't a surprise for you to find him walking towards you with a troubled yet worried face but your breath was taken away when he told you in a determined tone,

"Fall in love with me instead."

The rest is history --- Eren taking up every space in your huge heart, claiming the chambers as his own, and infesting the walls with deep-rooted flowers.

Waking up to your kisses has always been Eren's favorite alarm clock.

Yesterday proved to be one of the most hectic days working under Levi in Ackerman Corporation. There was an impromptu meeting with Erwin Smith's company, Levi's best friend and business partner, that made Eren want to pull his hair out. Being Levi's assistant, his desk and company computer were always filled with paperwork that needed meticulous wording and editing because Levi wanted everything to be perfect (fucking midget). But that surprise meeting doubled his load by a ton until he started doing overtime for the first time in his life. Even driving towards his home, Eren could feel his eyes burning with exhaustion. His fatigue dissipated the moment his car entered his garage, the two-story house like a beacon in his tiring day. As he was opening the attached door to the house, Eren was sluggishly loosening his tie when he saw you sitting comfortably on the couch. Warmth overflowed his chest at the sight of something beautiful welcoming him home.

Everything becomes a blur at that point. All he remembers are your hands gently massaging his shoulders, trailing your figures over his skin, and slowly pulling him towards your bedroom upstairs. He remembers snuggling into your scent, arms hugging you tightly close to him as your heartbeat mingled with his in a synchronous song. It's a dreamless sleep until he feels the very same lips he loves tasting over every inch of his skin.

The small trail started on his forehead, fingertips ever so softly running over his baby hairs and through his unbound sepia locks. Daisies are bursting through the seams of his skin where your lips are pressing on. Eren feels so at ease yet with an accelerating heartbeat, he anticipates the most affectionate of kisses pressing stars and petals on his collarbone. His eyes are still closed, letting you be Antheia as you travel your soft slips on his neck. It took his whole restraint to not hum in satisfaction when you make the most beautiful scarlet blossoms appear on his skin, with the exception of his arm pulling you over his chest, his fingers drifting to the exposed skin of your waist. Eren unconsciously nuzzles his face on your hair, inhaling that saccharine scent of apples coming from your shampoo. Your chuckles are like a song for him, accompanying your kisses that reach his jaw, his defined cheeks, the corners of his lips, his eyelids.

Every part of his skin that your lips claim, sends Eren to utmost euphoria.

Then, your lips descend on his in the most innocent kiss he ever received.

Like grazing his lips against a red rose, Eren smiles a little at the sensation, not caring if he surprises you by kissing you back. He slants his lips, capturing you in a breathtaking dance. The kiss feels so right and like a god aching for his bride, Eren starts pouring everything into the kiss --- the gentleness he has for you and the adoration that acts like second nature with everything you do. The promise of having his mornings like these makes him hungrier for you, the kiss becomes bolder with occasional contented hums coloring the room with all the colors in the spectrum. Eren slips his fingers under the large shirt (probably his, his brain and heart swoon for a moment) you wear, caressing his thumb over your skin akin to the way you nibbled on his earlier.

You fit so well, he marvels and makes him smile through the kiss. Your honeyed sighs reach his ears while his hand trails a path towards your chest. When his hand makes contact with your breast, you pull away for a moment to let out a blissful sigh as fingers circle one of your sensitive spots that send a wave of warmth throughout your body. Like someone seeing a mirage, Eren follows your lips and creates an oasis that is another kiss. He tastes you on his tongue, the deeper contact making your hips brush against the growing effect you have on him, Eren's groan eliciting a pretty shade of heat on your cheeks. Breaking from the kiss that lasted for an eternity, Eren's pants intermingled with yours, with your forehead placed on his to catch your breath. He never opens his eyes as if he's still reliving the recent moments in his mind but once he does, his breath hitches at the sight of you smiling above him.

"Hi," you greet him with a beautiful smile that illuminates the room, the sunrise's golden rays in your hair making you shine more in his eyes.

God, you are so fucking gorgeous. His heart is stuttering because of the thought, with you looking down at him with a heart-stopping smile that he doesn't deserve. Great, now he's getting emotional.

Eren flashes a lovesick grin. "Hey, angel."

"I was supposed to wake you up but you have different things in mind, huh?" you grin. "I'm not complaining, though." You shrug, your laughs mixing with his. "But if you don't want a cold breakfast, you better get up, Jaeger. I mean it."

"I couldn't resist." Eren's hands rub on your waists, a half-smile pulling on his lips. He pouts underneath you, eyes making themselves bigger in an attempt to flash the puppy eyes you adore on animals. "Just one more kiss? For your amazing, handsome boyfriend who loves you so much that he's willing to be down bad all his life for you? Please, baby?"

"You're acting like a baby right now."

"I'm your baby, [Name], so come give these lips another kiss."

You roll your eyes playfully. "Oh, alright." You quickly peck his lips but before you can sit up, his large palm captures the back of your neck to gently push your face towards his. You let yourself melt in the kiss, shuddering slightly when he threads his fingers on your scalp. With a shiny string connecting you two for a second, you stare at each other when you part. You kiss him one last time on the tip of his nose, giggling when he scrambles to catch you as you stand up from the bed, footsteps light as you exit the bedroom. "Hurry up, Jaeger! Your breakfast is waiting!"

Eren laughs to himself in a daze, the taste of your chapstick lingering on his lips. His heart is singing because you're painting constellations on him, new ones that he never knew, all because of your love for him. And as he sits on your shared bed, his emerald irises flickers on the nightstand's first drawer, wherein a star-like gem is waiting to be inserted on your ring finger in a planned dinner (courtesy of Armin, Mikasa, and Sasha) --- to finally answer Eren's wishes of you walking towards him with a white train under a canopy of wisteria trees that encapsulates his affections for you.

Infinite as the stars and luminaries of the cosmos.

general taglist:

@angelofthorr

[leafs-lover]

Too Far Gone - Part Ten

Series Masterlist

A/N: Italics represents flashbacks. Thanks to @bunch-of-jedi-canes for reviewing this and your input!!! ❤❤❤

Warnings: swearing, fluff and cuteness, mentions of cocaine use, mentions of child abductions (kind of?), a little NSFW but no smut

Word Count: 6100

Reaching around her back Auston pops open her bra, her breasts bouncing once released from their confines.

“Mmm baby," he licks his lips slightly, taking in her perky breasts. “Can’t believe these are mine,” he groans bringing his hands to fully engulf them.

“They’re only yours," Tia rasps, throwing her head back slightly when he rolls one of her nipples through his index finger and thumb.

“Yeah, you promise?” he muses, a large grin spreading across his face. “These will be only mine?’

Auston’s head pops up to stare into her eyes. She has a wide grin on her face, and his eyes are soft and adorning.

“Mhm," her lips gently brush against his. “Until we have kids,” she giggles, “then they will need them for a little bit.”

“I can loan them out for a bit," he smirks, leaning down to suck on one gently. “As long as I get them back after.”

Giggling her hands find his hair and he leans her backwards onto the mattress keeping his mouth wrapped around one of her breasts. “How many kids you want baby?” he asks, pulling away to get a better look at her face.

“You want to talk about that now?” she laughs, gently rolling her hips against his growing bulge.

“Guess we can talk about it after,” he grins.

**

Tia didn’t respond to his text.

She needed time, not to think through her decision. She knew she was going to let him in to Taylour’s life, give him a chance to be a dad. But that also meant he would be in her life in some capacity and she just needed a few days to grasp that. A week tops.

But that all unravelled three days later when Mrs. Devarro told her that her child was really sick. The last thing Tia needed was a sick toddler, so she couldn’t send Taylour to daycare. Only problem? Sarah was out of town visiting her parents, and Becks and Max have class.

Normally Tia would send an e-mail to her professors and explain, but today she not only has a test but also an essay due. And Mr. Kurzalo is old school, only accepting paper copies of essays, it makes sense given he is older than computers himself. But he also hands out a 10% deduction if it isn’t submitted by break, and another 10% for each day it was late after that. She can’t ask for an extension 3 hours before it’s due, he wouldn’t believe her.

At the end of the line for sitters. She is stuck. She has two options, ask Auston or miss class. Taking a 0 on a test she knows she is prepared for, and hand in an essay knowing the highest she can get is a 90%. So she pulls up his name.

T: Hey something came up can you watch Taylour for me while I’m at class? I’ll be back at 5:30.

The second the message pops up on his screen, he almost jumps up from his couch. Instantly replying yes, he pulls his shoes and coat on, “hey Alex I gotta head out, be back in a few hours.” Not waiting for her reply he closes the door and is quickly on his way to Tia’s.

5:30? That means over seven hours with Taylour. He never had that much time with him, and has never been alone with him. Tia left them alone for a half hour or so, but she was just in her room getting ready for class. She will actually be gone, just him and his son for the entire day.

“Thanks for coming, and getting here so fast,” Tia flings the door open rushing around to gather her belongings. “It all kind of happened so fast and I had nobody else –“

“Tia its fine,” he grunts. Kicking his shoes against the wall, they land harshly on the floor, making his displeasure in her behaviour apparent. “I don’t need an explanation or a reason to spend time with my kid,” he adds hanging his coat.

”Dadda,” Taylour coo’s from his toys. Auston walks away, placing a kiss on Taylour’s head and sitting on the floor beside him.

“I should be home around 5:30 so I can make him dinner. He normally has lunch around 11:30 and naps -”

“At 1:30,” Auston dismisses. “I do know some things,” his words are pointed, stopping Tia in her tracks. She deserves the bitter tone he is sending her way, she doesn’t like it, but she knows she deserves it.

“Right…spare key in on the table in case you need it,” she breathes, walking over she places a kiss on Taylour’s forehead, “Love you Tay….If you need anything just text.”

“Bye mommy,” Taylour wraps his arms around her neck for a hug. Walking over to the door and sliding on her shoes Auston doesn’t look at Tia once, instead focusing solely on Taylour.

“Auston,” Tia calls out, pulling her hat on and he begrudgingly turns to look at her, “thank you.” Smiling, she opens the door and heads to class. He doesn’t respond, but he catches her smile and his eyes drop, gently gazing over her outfit. White cashmere sweater tucked into her beige pants. A light wool coat pulled over her shoulders. It’s simple, it’s easy, but it’s how she always was. She always looked so effortless.

“Hey Tay,” he turns to his son as he hears the lock catch. “What do you want to do? We have all day together," he tickles his side eliciting a shriek from the toddler.

“I know I’m excited too!” He chuckles, continuing to tickle the boy he leans down and blows a raspberry on his stomach.

“We can go to the aquarium,” he pops his head up and Taylour squirms on the floor through his laughter.

“No, you’re right too many people," he leans back down, blowing another on his stomach as Taylour giggles.

“We could go skating, but coach might find out. We’re not ready for that conversation yet," he pins Taylour’s hands above his head and tickles his side, eliciting a chorus of giggles from Taylour.

“We could stay here, but that sounds boring. Same toys, same books, same stuff different day.”

Taylour begins to fuss and Auston releases him, “oh that is a good idea," he smiles at his son who rolls over and pushes off the floor. Heading to Taylour’s room he looks for a bag, something to put some supplies in and finds the plain grey diaper bag. It’s mostly pre-packed, but Auston grabs a couple more things before heading to the living room.

“Hey Tay come get your coat on,” he holds it in his hand. Auston helps him get his arms in and zips him up. Once he gets his boots on he puts on his gear and picks him up heading to the elevator.

**

“Hey,” Christina smiles wrapping her arms around his neck. “Come in.”

Once inside she brushes some curls from his forehead, “oh you are so much like your daddy huh. Yeah look at those eyes and dimples,” she coos, admiring their resemblance.

“Hopefully he didn’t take too much from him,” Patty jokes, as Taylour smiles, resting against Auston’s shoulder.

“Thanks for letting us come over, I know its quiet, 3 of 4 boys in school right now,” Auston says, ignoring Patty’s teasing.

“Oh please you’re always welcome,” she hums, “especially if you bring this cutie with you.” The four of then make their way into the house, Taylour clinging to Auston’s neck the entire time.

This is new to him. He normally clings to Tia, but in this case Auston is his sense of security, Auston is only the person he knows. It’s not until after a few minutes Caleb shows Taylour some of his toys, that he gets comfortable, and releases his neck to play with him.

It was brief. Only a couple minutes that Taylour had a tight grip on him, but it felt nice to be needed by him. To be the person Taylour relied on.

After lunch Patty hands Auston an old pair of Caleb’s skates and everyone heads out to the rink he has in the backyard. The temperature is relatively mild for Toronto, about -4°C, but the bitter lake wind has it feeling closer to -10°C. They two young children likely will only have a brief skate, before heading inside to warm up and nap.

Stepping onto the ice, Auston does a couple laps with Taylour in his arms, allowing him a chance to get acquainted with being on the ice. Auston watches as his expressionless face slowly curls upwards, him clinging to his grasp.

“Oh is this fun," he skates faster spinning him around, “what do you say, you ready to skate?”

Coming to a stop in the centre of the ice, he slowly bends down setting Taylour on the ice. Attempting to walk, Taylour is unsure of what to do Auston grips his arms holding him upright. He watches as his feet begin to kick out, almost running in spot, not moving anywhere.

“Every kid tries to run on the ice for a little bit," Patty laughs, a few steps behind Caleb who is pushing a skating aide, slowly moving around the ice. “He’ll figure it out after a few times out.”

Turning back to Taylour, he gently pushes forward, pulling him on the ice with him. Caleb is smiling and laughing, having a great time and worry sinks in. Apart from the small half smile, Taylour hasn’t shown any interest. Auston begins to think he is enjoying himself.

He isn’t upset that he dislikes skating or hockey, he is allowed to pick his own hobbies and interests. He’s upset because he finally gets time with him, and picks an activity he hates. Who knows when he will get to see him again, he just wants it to be the best day. And Taylour is hating it.

Thinking of pulling him from the ice, he finally hears Taylour giggle and he instantly smiles, being flooded with relief. Auston continues holding his arms, helping him glide around the ice slowly, he spends the better part of a half hour bent over and his back is killing him. Taylour’s wide grin little laughs make it worth it though.

“We should get them in, before they get cold,” Christina calls out from beside the rink, having spent the time taking pictures and videos for Auston. Changing Taylour into some pajamas, Auston drapes a fleece blanket over him, holding him in his arms. He chats with Patrick and Christina about everything.

About the season, about his family, about Taylour and Tia. He tells them his frustrations with her keeping him away, how he wants to believe it will get better so he won’t need a lawyer to solve it. But he just doesn’t know, because it’s been 5 weeks and this is the 3rdtime he has seen his son. And today is only out of necessity; if Tia’s sitter was available he wouldn’t be with him.

He wouldn’t be gently rocking his body back and forth, lulling him to sleep. He wouldn’t be brushing the curls from Taylour’s forehead as he welcomes his embrace. He once again would be home while somebody else watched his kid.

“It’s not easy for her either," Christina says. “She had a routine, a plan set up for the two of them. You come in unexpectedly and uproot everything she had been building.”

“Yeah, but I’m not trying to uproot her life,” he sighs. “I just want to know him, be a part of his life. I’m only asking to spend some time with him when I’m home, be with him when she is working or at school. Help her, but she won’t let me. I tried to offer her money and she threw it back at me, kicked me out.”

“How did you offer her money?” she asks, quirking an eyebrow.

“I pulled some money out of my wallet.”

“Jesus Auston,” Christina groans.

“What was I supposed to do?” he questioned, willing to admit that he needs help, that he has no clue how be in Taylour’s without having a door slammed in his face.

“Literally anything else than hand her some 20’s from your wallet.”

“It was more than a few twenties,” he grumbles under his breath, frustration becoming evident even if it is mostly directed at himself.

“Flip the script. How would you feel? Small? Maybe like you’ve been doing a shit job?” Christina says.

“You could have asked how much her daycare is and offered to split that with her. Sat down and actually asked her how you can help. Maybe offer to buy him some diapers, maybe he could have used a new coat or something like that. You do it without throwing money at her,” Patty adds. “At least for now until you have an actual agreement, but you have to do it without stepping all over her.”

“Alright I get it, I fucked up," he groans, turning his attention to Taylour while he gently snores in his arms. Christina offered him as playpen to nap in, but given how few and fair between his interactions are he doesn’t want to miss any moments. “I don’t really know what to do here,” he says quietly, helplessness building up in him.

He gets what they are saying. He has replayed that day over and over in his head, and he realizes that while his intentions were good his execution was not. He wants to help, he just doesn’t know how.

“You’ll figure it out, trial and error,” Patrick shifts on the couch across from him. “Now that you’ve decided to be in his life, have you told the team?”

“Apart from those at the table last week I haven’t told anyone.”

“You should before word gets out, especially given what she does for work.”

“You know she’s not an escort right?” he stares across at him. They know, but they also know rumours like that can quickly spiral into something much larger.

“Yeah I do, but you need to tell management everything. That she is a stripper but there might be some rumours of her being an escort. They need to know so they won’t be blindsided if it gets out in the media.”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “We should get going,” he says rising to his feet, knowing he isn’t ready to tell, not yet.

**

“Hey,” Tia calls out walking through the door, she drops her bags at the door and begins to peel off her layers.

Taylour is shrieking with no shirt on, toys and book litter the living room. As soon as he hears the door open his ministick clatters against the floor and he instantly runs over to her, “hey buddy,” she kisses his temple pulling him into her embrace. Glancing to Auston he looks drained, physically and mentally drained.

“Looks like you had fun,” Tia laughs, scanning around the room. Stepping around the landmine of toys and books, she makes her way to the couch, Auston pushing off the floor to sit on the other end.

“Mhm,” Taylour nods in her embrace.

“Sorry,” Auston says, setting his ministick down. “I’m sorry,” he rubs his hat over his hair awkwardly. “He just wanted a new toy every five seconds, I don’t even know what happened to his shirt and,” he begins to explain.

“It happens,” Tia laughs, shooting him a soft smile. “I’m not just saying this to make you feel better, he has days. Sometimes after dinner I can get him to clean up his toys, sometimes I end up doing it after he’s asleep, depends on his mood.”

“Mommy,” Taylour calls out before Auston can respond. But he is put at ease knowing he didn’t do a terrible job with him the first time he watched him.

“Yeah,” Tia turns her attention to her son, “how was your day baby, you have fun?” She bounces Taylour slightly and he eagerly nods in her embrace. “Yeah, what did you do?”

“I skate,” he announces proudly, with a wide smile.

“You went skating?” she asks, grinning at Auston.

“That alright?” he asks.

“Yeah of course,” she smiles slightly.

“One of the guys has a son about a year older, and a rink in his yard,” he explains, pulling his phone from his pocket and hands it to her. He shows her some pictures Christina took followed by a video of him “running” in place on the ice.

“Wow, looks like fun,” she bounces Taylour on her thigh, kissing his temple.

“Mhm” he nods proudly, pointing at himself on the screen.

“Did you cook?” she asks, smelling the garlic and tomato sauce wafting from her kitchen.

“No, you wouldn’t want to eat that,” Auston says, causing her to laugh. “But I did order dinner for you. Figured you wouldn’t want to cook after a long day,” he explains taking the Marleau’s advice; helping without making her feel inadequate.

“Oh thanks,” she rises to her feet and sets Taylour in his highchair. “You want to stay, there’s more than enough.”

Shock washes over his face, genuinely not expecting her to offer. He didn’t think it was too much, two entrees, a salad and garlic bread, seemed like a reasonable amount for them. “Taylour couldn’t eat an entire entre in a week if he tried,” she explains seeing his face.

“Oh right,” he laughs, “sure.”

Pulling his phone from his pocket he clicks on Alex’s name

Auston: Hey something came up I won’t be home for dinner

Alex: You’re the worst 😫

Auston: Feel free to order something, use my card

Alex: Fine, but I’m also ordering 2 bottles of wine and desert

Auston: I doubt you need 2 bottles

Alex: Who’s gonna stop me?

Idle chit chat. That’s all they can manage. He tells her more about their day together, and she tells him a little about her school.

But that’s it.

It’s like they used all their topics and have nothing left to say after ten minutes. Silence falls on them often, not the comfortable silence where you are happy to be in their presence. It’s the kind of silence where you have something to say but don’t know how.

Her phone lights up, and she has never been so happy for someone to interrupt her dinner, hoping that maybe Auston will almost be done when she is back, closer to leaving.

“Hey Abby,” she answers, standing up walking a few feet, leaning against the counter.

“Hey, I have a private event booked for two, but Rach cancelled. You in?”

“No I can’t, I don’t work Thursday’s” she eyes to Taylour. Thursdays is her long day in class, so she doesn’t work, allowing herself a few hours with her son because otherwise she wouldn’t see him outside of breakfast.

“I know but I’ve called around, you’re literally it Tia” she whines. “Its $400 each, not even 3 hours.”

She groans slightly, knowing she can use the money. The 7 patrons at the club the other night didn’t provide much financial relief after she had to tip the DJ, bouncers and pay her licensing fee to the club. Doing private events provides much more income, no tipping out to anyone. Tia and the other girl split the money 50/50, but it also means there is no bouncer to keep a watchful eye.

“I have Taylour,” she says softly.

Auston doesn’t hear all of her conversation, but he hears enough. Trying to get Taylour to eat, he watches as he smears spaghetti sauce all over his face. Sensing the internal struggle he turns to Tia and nods slightly.

“One sec,” she holds her hand over the mouthpiece.

“I can stay with him,” he volunteers, eager for more time with him.

“I can’t get you to, you’ve had him all day,” she shrugs.

“He’s my kid too. Go to work, I got him.”

Turning her attention to Taylour she contemplates the offer. On one hand its $400, that’s a fair bit of money.

She recently had to buy her books for the semester, and that $400 can really help pay for them. But on the other hand, it’s Taylour. She hasn’t seen him all day and she misses him. And that would involve leaving Auston with him for even longer. He has barely had time with him, and if she leaves it will be almost 15 hours straight with him.

Mulling over the options. Thinking of not just leaving Taylour, but is she okay with leaving Taylour with Auston for that long. The last time Auston was there, Taylour didn’t seem very at ease, during his fussiness he kept wanting Tia to comfort him. Obviously with more time he will become more familiar and comfortable with him, but does she want to force Taylour into that or slowly build their relationship.

Auston tries to not look too eager, but he wants her to say yes. He would love nothing more than to read him a bedtime story and tuck him in. He doesn’t know the next time he’ll see Taylour so he doesn’t want his night with him to end.

“Ok,” she huffs into the phone, catching the small smile that pulls on Auston’s lips. “K I’ll text you the deets,” Abby hangs up. Returning to her dinner she shoots Auston a soft smile, “thanks.”

After dinner Auston clears the dishes and puts away the leftovers, Tia heading to her room. Turning his attention to Taylour, he has spaghetti sauce in his hair, on his neck and cheek, his fingers stained red. Auston didn’t realize babies were this messy, that they can go from clean to filthy in a matter of seconds, but he decides to give him a bath.

Seems simple enough, water, shampoo and rinse. What could go wrong?

Everything.

At first he made the water too cold and Taylour screamed, then he didn’t tilt his head back far enough and shampoo went in his eyes and he screamed again. After cleaning him Taylour said, “bubbles,” pointing to the bottle on the side of the tub. Relaxing thinking the worst is behind him because what could go wrong with a bubble bath, Taylour lets out a blood curdling scream.

“What Tay, is it too hot, too cold?” Placing his hand in the water he knows that’s not it.

“Buu…Bu…Bat,” he screams.

“Yeah you’re in the bath bud,” he says, having no idea what is wrong, trying to make sense of his incoherent babbling.

“Buuut…Buuhut” he cries, smacking his hands, water and bubbles splashing out. His bottom lip is quivering, his cries getting louder and Auston has no idea what he wants, thinking he changed his mind he reaches in to grab him and dry him off. “Nooooo!” Taylour screams, kicking his legs out so Auston sets him back in the tub, his shirt now soaked.

“He wants his boat,” Tia pokes her head in the door eyeing to the vanity. Her hair half up in clips, half curled. She heard the entire bath from her room. She contemplated coming in and helping him earlier, but she thought he could figure it out.

“Oh,” quickly he turns around and finds the basket of bath toys, rubber duck, frogs, rubber fish and 3 boats. “What one?” he asks, rummaging through the basket. Turning to the door Tia is gone but he hears her call out, “all of them,” and he just dumps the entire basket in the water. Instantly Taylour laughs grabbing his toys playing with them.

Finally Auston has a few minutes of quiet. Leaning against the vanity counter, he removes his hat and runs his hand through his hair with a large exasperated sigh. He didn’t realize babies can switch from happy and laughing, to the world is ending around them in a matter of seconds. He has no idea how Tia manages to do this every day. How she goes to school, and work, while also watching Taylour. How she managed to do it for two years on her own, and he can barely manage a thirty minute bath without developing a splitting headache.

“He asleep?” Tia asks coming out around 9. She came out an hour ago and gave Taylour a kiss goodnight before he picked out the bedtime story. He wanted Tia to read to him, and put up a fight, crying when Tia explained Auston would read to him. It took Auston ten minutes to calm him down but finally he stopped crying and Auston was able to read to him.

“Yeah, about a half hour ago,” he replies muting the TV. Turning to see her, she has on an excessive amount of makeup, eyes dark, lips bright red. Her hair is a few inches longer from the extensions with large curls and her cherry red dress leaves more skin exposed than covered.

He hates the way she looks. She never needed the large hair or heavy makeup in his opinion. He loved her with her hair unbrushed in a loose messy bun, not an ounce of makeup on her face. But that isn’t why he hates it. He hates it because his dick immediately hardens, tightening his jeans. Even though she never needed the hair or the makeup, he can’t deny she looks phenomenal, or how his stomach churns knowing someone else will be looking at her tonight. Looking at her the way he used to.

“Well I’ll be back around midnight, thanks again”

“Yeah,” he replies, hating himself for looking up, watching as she walks away.

**

“Auston” she pounds heavily on the door, “Auston let me in.”

Pausing the movie Alex ponders whether she should open the door, normally at this time of night she wouldn’t’. But they seem to know her brother and it appears to be urgent, so she rises to her feet. Making her way down the hall the pounding gets louder until Alex whips the door open, to be met with a blonde woman with bright green eyes.

“He-“

“Who are you?” Claire cuts her off.

“What?” Alex questions, not the greeting she expected when she opened the door. “I’m Alex, Auston’s sister. Who are you?”

“I’m Claire, Auston’s girlfriend,” she explains, trying to look around Alex into the apartment.

“Well Claire, Auston’s girlfriend, he isn’t here,” Alex explains.

“Where is he?”

“Out,” Alex crosses her arms around her chest, her patience wearing thin.

“When will he be home?”

“If you actually are his girlfriend why don’t you call him and ask for yourself,” she snaps letting the door close in Claire’s face. Normally she wouldn’t shut the door on someone’s face, she would at least say goodbye, but she can’t handle the rudeness that is emanating off her. She also doesn’t feel too convinced that Claire is his girlfriend, if she was she would likely know he was out, or have a way to get in contact with him instead of showing up unannounced in the middle of the night.

**

“Hey,” Tia calls out, returning home slightly after midnight. Shaking off her coat and heels she walks to the kitchen pouring a glass of water. Auston can’t help but notice how her hand trembles slightly as she pours from the pitcher into her glass. “How was your night?” she asks, moving to the couch sitting a few feet beside Auston.

“Fine,” he grunts, ankles crossed and resting on the coffee table, Tia can sense the anger rolling off him.

“Something happen?” she asks concerned that something happened, maybe Taylour woke up a few times, or got sick.

“What the fuck is this?” He asks throwing a small clear bag with white powder at her. Her hair is slightly tangled and her lipstick almost gone. But what he focuses on is her eyes, red and pupils blown.

“You know what it is Auston,” she scoffs, rolling her eyes.

“Why do you have cocaine Tia?”

“What were you going through my shit?”

“I had a headache and went looking for Tylenol. I didn’t see any in Taylour’s bathroom so I went to yours, it fell out of the cupboard,” he quickly explains. “You still didn’t answer my question. Why do you have cocaine? And in the house, with a two year old?”

“Relax, he’s about 2 feet too short to reach the medicine cabinet,” she grumbles, standing up and walking to the kitchen to create some space from him, leaning against the counter.

“Relax!” He booms. “You have cocaine in the house with my son!”

“He’s my son too,” she yells back. “And don’t tell me Auston Matthews, star player, face of the Leafs franchise hasn’t done coke.”

“Not with a fucking kid around. Its different doing it when I have a couple days off and I’m letting loose, or a party in the summer and I don’t have another human to take care of. Nobody relying on me, not endangering an innocent kid.”

“How dare you, I would never put him in danger!” she yells. Both of their tones are harsh, getting louder with each word. Their eyes are locked in a stale mate, both of their hearts beating faster and harder. Taylour must have heard the commotion because he begins to cry from his room, they both glare at the other before taking off to his room.

Grasping her arm he stops her dead in her tracks, nails digging into her skin, “you��re fucking high don’t even think about touching him,” he says through gritted teeth. Releasing her arm he blows past her and picks Taylour up. Bouncing him on his hip he paces around the room, trying to calm him down.

It does explain things, why she doesn’t want him around. Worried the more time he spends there, the more likely it is he will notice.

But how long has it been going on? At what point did she get hooked on coke? How bad is it? Taylour continues to cry on his hip, trying to shush him Auston gently brushes his lips to his forehead, his son sniffling against his chest.

“Fuck it,” he mumbles, unable to stop his mind from spiralling. He gently pulls Taylour’s sweater over his pyjamas, and begins throwing some items into the bag from earlier. Taylour’s tears have stopped falling, though his eyes are glossed over and he sniffles softly against Auston. Making his way to the door Tia sees him set a bag down and reach for his shoes.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” She whispers harshly not wanting to yell in front of Taylour.

“I’m not leaving my son with a coke addict,” he pulls his second shoe on.

“Oh for Christ’s sake,” she groans. “I’ve had that for two months. What coke addict can sit on it for 2 months?”

“Yeah, sure you’ve had that for 2 months,” he grumbles grabbing Taylour’s coat. Tia grabs the bag he packed and throws it over her shoulder, keeping it away from Auston.

“Tia come on don’t be like this. I’ll get you help whatever you need; rehab, counselling doesn’t matter. But he shouldn’t see this,” he reaches for the bag but she pulls back. “Tia just stop, you’re being ridiculous!”

“No what’s ridiculous is you threatening to kidnap my son,” she emphasizes. “Genetically he may be yours, but there is nothing, not a single piece of paper tying him to you. You’re not on the birth certificate, he has my last name. How do you think it would play out if theAuston Matthews is arrested for kidnapping? In the eyes of the law you are nothing to him.”

That hurts. It’s the truth but it stings. A knife straight through him. His heart feels like its pumping lead through his veins. He is frozen, unable to respond, and Tia is in shock, unable to believe she actually said that.

He has no legal right to be in his life, and the fact that he has been absent for the last 2 years only works against him, even if he didn’t know about him. A judge could rule against him, against a paternity test, against him getting his name on the certificate. Even though he didn’t know about Taylour a judge may not care. He has a massive battle ahead of him, up a hill the size of Everest. He knows it, but hearing her saying it makes it more real and it hurts.

Tears prick in his eyes digesting the gut punch she threw at him. The air between them is suffocating and awkward and it takes every ounce of willpower to keep their emotions in check. Taylour leans his head on his shoulder, and Auston brushes his lips against his forehead, a few small tears rolling down his cheek. Blinking through his tears he bounces Taylour on his hip, trying to calm his crying son, while trying to keep his composure.

His entire body deflates and he has no words, silently walking back to Taylour’s room and setting him on his bed. Gently rubbing his back he lets even more tears fall, waiting for him to fall asleep. He fights not to sink into his sadness, to not become overwhelmed by his emptiness until he leaves.

As soon as she said it she instantly regretted it. It was too far, and she hates herself. But seeing the tears in his eyes, the tears she caused, triggered something in her. Giving him some time she leans against the wall in the hall waiting for him, listening to him cry from Taylour’s room.

Waiting for what feels like hours she wanders to her room to change quickly. She knows she owes him an apology, but not a quick half-assed apology. She owes him a real genuine apology, not just for today, but for how she has treated him since Christmas. How she hasn’t given him an inch. How she has turned down every attempt he has made to be in Taylour’s life.

Auston hears her feet on the wood, poking his head out he sees her door partially closed and takes that as his opportunity. It’s his time to turn and walk away from her. Surging to the door he grabs his coat and reaches for the door handle, “Auston,” Tia cries out, pulling a sweater over her head but he doesn’t stop. Opening the heavy door and heading down the hall before she has a chance.

“Fuck,” she whips the door open looking down the hall but he is around the corner. Every fiber of her being wants to run after him. Grab his hands and issue the long overdue apology for everything she has done the past few weeks. But she can’t leave Taylour.

She doesn’t even know if he’s fallen back asleep, but if he were to wander out and find the apartment empty he would be horrified. Frustrated tears flow unapologetically down her cheeks as she softly closes the door. She feels pathetic, and can only assume she looks even worse.

Not wanting to give her a chance to follow Auston headed for the stairs, walking down a few flights he makes his way to the elevator and hits the button. Warm tears sit behind his eyes threatening to spill out. It’s not until he is in the safety of his car, when he has sunk into his leather seat that he lets them. Sobs get louder and he pounds his fist against the steering wheel. He doesn’t bother brushing them away, because he knows there will just be more to replace them. He has never felt so empty, so hopeless. As if no matter hard he tries it will be for nothing. He is sick to his stomach, staring out the window for a long time.

Shaky breaths slowly return to normal, and he turns his car on, making the drive back to his place. Opening his door Alex is on the couch some show playing on the TV that he has zero interest in. “Hey,” he says softly not looking at her as he grabs a water from the fridge, “I’m going to bed.”

“You okay?” Alex calls out but he doesn’t answer walking to his room. He unlocks his phone and opens his contacts, hitting the call button.

“Hello”

Opening his mouth a sob catches in his throat.

“Auston? You there?” they call out.

There is some shuffling on the other end, as Auston cries on his before finally whispering “dad.”

***

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@ashleymarine @albal321 @b34ut1fulb4st4rds @biznastysloneshift12 @burkylover @c-tangerine @canadian-girl87 @crazzyfann @dana-hqy @delighttfulll

@enchantingsuitcasevoidartisan @evawest5 @every-beautifulthing-thereis @greendragonzz @heatherawoowoo @hockeyinaussie @hockeyisit

@bunch-of-jedi-canes @hockeypuckedmeup

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[pkyupe]

Yupe-san, thank you for all of your hard works for this fandom, especially your translates for Sawa-san's doujins 🥺❤ you really are the savior.

I found many of yours and Sawa's doujins on VK (it's kinda Russian social media? I don't really understand). I wish you could post them again here but it seems like they were saved in your old HD and you're not sure about finding them again (like you've answered in your previous ask before). Would you like me to send them to you through e-mail/GDrive?

Also, for Sawa's doujins that I've found, sadly it seems like she doesn't have them anywhere anymore (not on her Twitter/Pixiv/Poipiku/blog), but I do recognize her works and there's her sign in every doujin I've found. But Idk how they ended up in VK and are still in them now. Would you like to ask permission from her to translate it? One of them is very sweet and makes me cry eventhough I just read it through raw translation from Google Lens.

I'm sorry if I sound impolite with this request, you can ignore me and please forgive me. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I'm glad I can share my happiness with everyone who also loves Rivetra :* and Yes, please send me the link. I will see what I can do :x